Stress and Fallout

Success Comes at a Price

Stress

Stress affects not only the results of Volatility Dice, but also a creature's defensive capabilities. As the representation of the strain a creature has accumulated during gameplay, Stress builds up in each of your Potential tracks and overflows if it exceeds the maximum value, so the more Potential a player has, the more defense they have against the setbacks of Stress.

The more Stress a player accumulates, the more likely they are to fall to this strain. Stress can come from enemies' attacks, or the call can come from inside the house:

1. Rolling a Success on a Test causes a player to take 1 Stress in the relative Potential Track.
2. Rolling a Crit on a Test does not cause any Stress, whether it is due to a Volatility modification or a natural roll of the D20.

Better Luck Next Time...

Fallout

Fallout is an accumulation of misfortune and heroic strain, providing an extra risk to initiating Tests. Fallout can be triggered in a few ways, including sources of damage and the rolling of Tests:

1. When a character would take Stress in a Potential Track that does not contain enough free slots and would result in an overflow, this triggers Fallout.
2. If a character would spend a Resistance in a Potential Track that does not contain enough free slots and would result in an overflow, this triggers Severe Fallout¹ as the character attempts to push past their own limits. Doing this grants Advantage on their next roll and allows them to gain a Beat.
3. Rolling a Mixed Success on a Test results in Narrative Fallout.
4. Rolling a Failure results in Situational Fallout.
5. Rolling a Miff results in one Fallout level higher than the default Situational Fallout.

Recap!

Here's a one-stop cheat sheet for Test success levels and their results:
- Natural Crit: Regain a Resistance of your choice (best plausible outcome)
- Crit: Take no Stress (best plausible outcome)
- Success: Take 1 Stress (intended outcome)
- Mixed Success: Narrative Fallout + take 1 Stress + 1 Beat (positive and negative outcome)
- Failure: Situational Fallout + 1 Beat (negative outcome)
- Miff: Increased Situational Fallout + 1 Beat (worst plausible outcome)
- Natural Miff: Increased Situational Fallout + 1 Beat - 1 Resistance (worst plausible outcome)

Situational Fallout

Depending on the context of the Fallout, Fallout can take different forms or intensities. Whenever a consequence calls for Situational Fallout, it is asking the player and GM to determine an appropriate level of Fallout given the circumstances of the narrative action. Since all Tests are made when there is at least an Uncertain outcome, there should always be at least a narrative consequence to triggering Fallout on a Test. If you cannot think of any sort of consequence for a course of action, it should not require a Test.

Levels of Fallout

1. Narrative Fallout - immediate consequences of failing to succeed in a certain task.
2. Minor Fallout - consequence of a Risky Test, or the overflow result of 1-2 Stress applied
3. Major Fallout - consequence of a Dire Test, or the overflow result of 3-5 Stress applied
4. Severe Fallout - consequence of a Desperate Test, or the overflow result 6+ Stress applied

Minor Fallout is often a result of a Test resulting in a success level with a cost, only causing a Minor Condition, Equipment Stress, or 1 Mark, then resetting the relevant Stress Track.

Major Fallout can be a result of a Miff, and causes either Equipment Fallout, 3 Marks, Minor Condition with 1 Mark, or a Major Condition, then resetting the relevant Stress Track.

Severe Fallout can only be caused by Abilities, and often causes a Major Condition with 3 Marks or a number of Marks equal to the number of Stress points applied, then resetting the relevant Stress Track.

GM Discretion

Determining the exact outcome of Fallout can be interpreted by the GM based on the narrative situation. Your GM may be open to increasing the duration of a Condition applied in a lower Fallout outcome, thus considering it as a higher level of Fallout (e.g. a Major Condition that lasts Until a Long Rest or even Until Dispelled may be considered Severe Fallout instead of Major Fallout).

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1. Since there is no Stress overflow, triggering Severe Fallout in this way only allows for the option that causes the character to take 3 Marks and a Major Condition, or another option determined by GM discretion. ↩