Status Conditions & Magnitude
Characters may suffer from, or inflict Status Conditions. Conditions vary from taking damage over time like Poison and Burn, to ones that affect how they can act, such as Mind-Control and Fear. Some conditions are beneficial as well.
Status conditions work on a point system known as Magnitude, and targets a character’s Status Threshold, which is based on their Core Values (Body, Reflex, Mind). When Magnitude is equal or greater than the core value it is affecting, the status condition is fully applied to the character. Note that Status conditions and effects can still occur even if magnitude does not exceed the Status threshold, those are described by the condition itself.
Status Severity
Status conditions have varying levels of intensity known as Severity. The main severity states are Partial, Full, and Severe. Conditions must have at least one state in order for its effect to function.
Partial Severity occurs when a Status condition has effects on a target but the Magnitude is less than or equal to the target's affected Status Threshold. Full severity occurs when Magnitude exceeds their threshold. Severe occurs when the Magnitude exceeds 10 points over the target's status threshold.
Resisting Status Magnitude
Whenever a character is subjected to status magnitude of any kind, there is an action that can be spent to minimize the magnitude taken, this is called a 'Resist' action.
Much like how the Dodge action can be used to increase a character's Evasion from an incoming attack, Resist reduces the amount of incoming Status magnitude by the result of a Attribute die (to a minimum of 1). If the character has no bonus to the appropriate attribute, this is considered a 1.
The appropriate Attribute for a given Status is usually linked to the affected core. Endurance affects Body and Charisma affects Mind. In other situations, the Game-Master can decide which attribute can help resist a condition.
There may be conditions which can’t be resisted in this way. For example, a status condition that ignites a character on fire may not be able to be resisted, and instead only be used to recover from by putting out the flames.
Components of a Status condition
Status conditions can be broken down into Effect, Affected Core, Resist Attribute, Magnitude and Persistence.
Effect (Minor/Full/Severe)
Effect is what the status condition does when a character is affected by it. Partial is the version of the status when Magnitude does not exceed the target's Threshold. Full is the version that does. Severe can occur when Magnitude is 10 or more points over the target's Threshold. At times, the magnitude value of a condition scales its effect.
Not all status conditions have a Partial or Severe effect, but all must have a Full effect.
Affected Core
Affected Core indicates which of the target's character’s Core Values or Status Threshold is affected by this condition.
Generally physiological conditions are Body-affecting and psychological conditions are Mind-based. Some special states like being caught inside a trap or grappled by an enemy can also be Reflex-affecting.
Magnitude
Magnitude is a numerical value that states how many Status points are applied when an attack or ability inflicts it, and depending on the condition's Persistence property, may also stay on the affected target for a period of time.
An attack or ability that inflicts status conditions is usually determined by rolls made and Metaphors or Features used to inflict it. Magnitudes may also be dealt as side-effects to attacks that do not innately create them, such as dealing knockback to a concussive attack that normally only deals damage.
Resist Attribute
Resist Attribute indicates the Attribute to which a target may resist Magnitude points applied. As an Action, a character can 'Resist' an attack or effect that inflicts status magnitude, Endurance for Body-affecting conditions, and Charisma for Mind-affecting ones. This uses the character's Attribute die.
If the status condition can be recovered/cleansed naturally, then the appropriate attribute can be used to remove status points during each interval of rest. This uses the character's Attribute modifier to reduce Magnitude taken by its result, to a minimum of 1.
Persistence (Persist / Flash)
Persistence is how long a status condition’s magnitude remains after being inflicted upon a character. By default, Status conditions persist indefinitely (Persist), removed over time as part of recovery or until cleansed by an item or ability. Part of a Status condition’s effect will describe how points are added or removed whenever it triggers.
Flash Status Conditions are extremely temporary conditions that wear off by the next round of an encounter. Flash conditions often allow the one who used it to roll a die in order to boost the magnitude of their status-inflicting effect.
Fatigue / Stamina
Status points can be used to track a character’s status, such as Fatigue. There are a few ways characters can accrue and cleanse Fatigue during a game. Fatigue is a special condition that affects both Mind and Body cores, but only inflicts its strongest penalties when both cores are exceeded.
Fatigue does nothing to a character when below either Mind or Body core values. But when Mind is exceeded, the character loses Advantage to all Mind-affecting attributes and Metaphors. Same goes for when Body is exceeded for its affected assets.
10-Over Rule
If a status condition is permitted to accumulate further through the user’s own actions, then the 10-Over Rule may come into effect. 10-Over means if a player-character’s status points exceeds 10 over their appropriate Core value, they may suffer severe effects of the status condition.
If Fatigue exceeds 10 points over the character’s lowest Core value, they may fall unconscious due to exhaustion. They may only wake once their status points have dropped to at least the value of their highest core value.