TL;DR

RB (Radiation Buffer, aka Body Contamination)

The Radiation Buffer represents how much radiation your body has absorbed. You can't see this without a dosimeter.

Use a dosimeter to get a rough idea of the surrounding contamination.

To get a clean reading of your RB, it's best to check yourself in a low-radiation area, naked and away from contaminated gear or objects.

RS (Radiation Sickness, aka You Might Be Dying)

Radiation Sickness (RS) starts once your Radiation Buffer (RB) gets too high. When your body accumulates too much radiation, it begins to convert into sickness. This will cause symptoms like nausea, vomiting, and eventually, if it reaches a certain point, death.

You can see your RS (Radiation Sickness) as an icon on your HUD.

Why Does Radiation Hurt

1. The radioactive zone is an invisible glow in the air.
2. The glow fills your Radiation Buffer (RB). Picture RB as radioactive dust on your body, in your lungs...
3. When RB is low, it just sits there. Once it climbs past set points, it starts dripping into your blood and raises a hidden Radiation Sickness (RS):
   • RB < 100 → no drip into RS
   • RB 100–499 → slow drip into RS
   • RB 500–1499 → medium drip into RS
   • RB 1500 + → big drip into RS
4. Your symptoms depend on your Radiation Sickness (RS) itself, not on your RB:
   • RS Level 1 → light sickness (queasy, shaky).
   • RS Level 2 → heavy sickness (slow HP loss, vomit, blurry sight).
   • RS Level 3 → critical sickness (Major HP loss, bleeding).
5. RB drains on its own (≈ 0.1 per second). An anti-rad pill, ampoule or injector shot makes it drain faster.
6. RS only begins to fall after RB is back to a low value.

Stay below 200 RB and RS will never climb high enough to hurt you.

Dosimeters

Dosimeter Reading = Radiation Buffer (RB) + Zone Radiation + Worn Item Contamination + Nearby Item Contamination