Stress and Conditions are how your character withstands the mental and
physical toll of running in the shadows.
When a character successfully Attacks another character, they deal an amount of Shifts equal to the difference between the two results. The target must absorb all the Shifts with their Conditions or else they are Taken Out of the scene.
Conditions
Conditions are mini-aspects that you can take to represent your character
getting increasingly worn out by the pressures and dangers of the Sixth World.
They are divided into two categories: Physical, representing bodily
stress and harm, and Criminal, representing the big guys being hot on
your tail. Conditions come in three degrees of increasing severity:
| Type | Physical | Criminal |
| Current (1) | Winded | Suspected |
| Bruised | Alerted | |
| Hurt | Spotted | |
| Lasting (2) | Injured | Hunted |
| Wounded | Exposed | |
| Terminal (4) | Dying | Apprehended |
- Current conditions reduce incoming damage by 1 per box checked. You can uncheck a box after you've had a scene to recover, or if you or an ally make a specific, directed effort to clear it. This is typically an Overcome action vs. a Good (+3) difficulty.
- Lasting conditions reduce incoming damage by 2 boxes. You can uncheck a box after you've received extensive care of some sort, usually requiring at least one session, or a long time between sessions. These conditions often involve significant harm being caused to the character, so recovery typically means serious medical care, therapy, or work to hide yourself from the authorities.
- Terminal sessions reduce incoming damage by 4 boxes. They can be recovered in the same way as Lasting conditions, but they require immediate attention once inflicted, or the character is taken out of the game (typically dead, retired, or apprehended). A character can be stabilized (or similar) with a series of Good (+3) or better rolls on an appropriate skill, similar to how a Contest works; three victories must be achieved before three failures happen. This doesn’t clear the box, but it does satisfy the “immediate attention” requirement.
In addition to the above, some Assets and rules might give you a
Special condition. A Special condition can't be used to absorb damage,
and typically has its own special triggers for being marked or cleared. For
example, Contacts have a condition Debt (Special) that you mark to call
in a favour, and clear when you pay them back (more details below).
Being Taken Out
If a character takes a hit that they cannot absorb (or the player chooses not to), they are Taken Out from the scene. They cannot act anymore until the next scene, and whoever took them out gets to narrate what happens to them. Death is on the table when a character is taken out, but killing player a player character without their consent should typically be avoided, both to maintain player agency and because death is often the least interesting way out of a fight scene.
Conceding a conflict
When a fight scene starts to turn south and being Taken Out seems inevitable, Conceding the scene might prove a better way out. A character may choose to concede during their turn, at any point before the dice hit the table to resolve their action. When you Concede, your character doesn't get what they were after in the scene- the villain gets away, the artifact you were protecting gets stolen, and the like - but you get to narrate how your character exits the scene.
Additionally, you get 1 Fate Point as compensation for willingly Conceding the scene, +1 Fate Point if you took a Lasting condition in this scene, or +2 if you took a Terminal condition.
Damage and Conditions example
After Jamie killed one of his goons, the head gangster opens fire on him. Matt declares that Jamie ducks for cover, so he rolls to defend with Quick + Move. The GM rolls a Superb (+5) for the gangster's attack and Matt rolls Good (+3) for Jamie's defence, for a net difference of 2 shifts. Matt marks Jamie's Winded and Bruised conditions, and the game continues from there. Jamie will have to take a short break later to catch his breath, but should otherwise be fine. After obtaining the file he's after, Click is on his way out of the secure server, but his path is blocked by a swarm of IC. One of the security programs attacks him, netting 4 shifts of difference. Evan marks the Winded, Bruised, and Injured Conditions as Click's brain is asssaulted by biofeedback damage. He'll probably have to take some painkillers once he gets out of VR. It's Click's turn now, and he tries to disconnect from the server as fast as possible - he already got what he's after. He rolls with Quick + Move, and fails. The GM offers Evan to succeed at a major cost: Click successfully disconnects from the server, but not before one of the IC programs hits him with a tag - revealing his physical location and marking his Hunted condition.
Evan accepts, so Click wakes up from VR, safe in his room, but not for
long. He'd better relocate, and security will probably be on the
lookout for him when the time comes for the real run. |