Strain & Conditions

 Represents Physical, Mental or Emotional stress you are currently dealing with. You take Strain when you Meet or Miss the CL on Action rolls. Additionally, the Facilitator may impose indirect Strain when you choose to do something risky that would cause strain regardless of outcome. They will explain that the action WILL result in indirect Strain and allow you to rethink your choice, but it’s still up to you. You may remove 1 Strain during an action roll by spending 1 Surge or using items or abilities, such as healing items or magic, depending on the setting you are playing in.

Taking Strain

A hero takes Strain when they meet or miss the CL on their Action Roll. They take one point of Strain if they meet the CL, which means they succeed at a cost. The more they miss the CL by, the more Strain they take. Anytime Strain is taken, the player will need to work that into the narration of the action outcome. The player will say what kind of Strain, mental, physical or emotional, and then describe what that looks or feels like. Once you reach six points of Strain you take a Condition, or a lasting negative effect, and your Strain remains at a six until you do something to reduce it or the Facilitator says you are in downtime.

Indirect Strain

Indirect strain is caused by risky actions where the hero is knowingly putting themselves in harms way. Regardless of the outcome of the action roll, they will still take the indirect strain. You may want to let a hero know that their action will result in indirect strain and allow them to reconsider, assuming that it makes sense. 

Examples:

•  Jumping through a thick glass window instead of using the door.
•  Crashing into an enemy shield wall to break through it.
•  Leaping out of a fast moving vehicle on a paved road.
•  Running through a burning entrance to rescue someone.
•  Stepping in the way of an explosion to shield someone.

Recovering Strain

Since Strain represents the current mental, physical and emotional stress you are dealing with, once the situation is no longer stressful you can remove the Strain you currently have. Depending on the setting you are playing in, Strain can also be reduced with healing magic or abilities, magical potions, medicine, first aid kits, drugs or other methods.

Reducing Strain

If you are playing in a setting that allows for it, things like armor, shields and magical abilities might be able to reduce the amount of Strain you take. The basic rule to follow here is that you should only be able to reduce, or soak, a certain amount of Strain per action and only for a limited number of uses. If you are wearing armor, it may have two to four uses. Each time you reduce a point of Strain taken in the game you can spend one of those uses to not take that Strain. The player needs to explain why it makes sense that they can use the armor to reduce the Strain. Once all the uses are depleted, the armor would no longer be able to reduce Strain until it is repaired or replaced. For things like protective spells or technology, it should follow the same rule. It has a set number of uses and reducing Strain with it must make sense in the story.

Conditions

Conditions are lasting negative effects that heroes sustain by reaching their max strain level, six points, and by taking additional Strain while at their max. When a hero’s Strain reaches six they take one Condition and each time Strain is taken while at their max results in one additional Condition, but no more than one per action roll. Conditions are applied to one of the three Aptitudes: Mind, Body or Will. A single Condition applied to an Aptitude results in a penalty of +2 to the CL when using any of the approaches that are governed by it. A second Condition applied to the same Aptitude means that they cannot use any of those approaches to try and overcome challenges. They must be creative and find another approach. When a condition is taken, the player gets to decide on what the Condition is and describes it, but the Facilitator can offer suggestions and should encourage them to be creative and use it as an interesting story element for their hero.

Taking Conditions

•  1 Condition to an Aptitude = +2 to the CL when using those Approaches
•  2 Conditions to an Aptitude = Cannot use those Approaches to overcome challenges 
•  4 Conditions total = Overcome by your Conditions and taken out of the scene

Overcome by Conditions

If a hero reaches four Conditions they are taken down. This means that they are overcome by their conditions and can no longer actively try to overcome challenges in the scene. The Facilitator may suggest how you are taken out of the scene or leave it up to the player. The things to consider when describing how a hero is taken out of the scene are their current conditions, the situation happening in the scene and the final condition they received that took them down. This does NOT mean the hero is dead or out of the game permanently, unless the player chooses that to be their end.

Scars

Any time a hero is taken down, or overcome by their conditions, they get a scar. Scars are permanent story elements that are recorded as Struggles and become new negative story elements that could hinder the hero in future action rolls. The Facilitator can suggest the scar, but it is up to the player. Scars should be something that changes the hero in some way and will inform how the player will roleplay them. The only way to remove a scar is if the Facilitator presents that as an option when awarding hero advancements between sessions.

Removing Conditions:

• 1 Condition can be removed during downtime
• Players should explain how the condition is removed and it should make sense narratively