Health & Recovery

Characters may receive Wounds, persistent Conditions, or other long-term physical afflictions. Maladies represent lingering effects with mechanical impacts; characters may narrative retain pain and discomfort even after mechanical recover, but those effects just don't have mechanical impact. Scarring and other cosmetic ramifications may remain if the Narrator and player agree that it would add to the game (but shouldn't create mechanical disadvantages).

Wound Penalties:

• 1 = Add to all checks
• 2 = Add an additional to all checks
• 3 = Also upgrade the Difficulty of all checks
• 4 = Gain 1 Rank of the Fatigued Condition
• 5 = Death

Test Vigor+Will, Difficulty = Wounds = heal 1 malady (Wound or persistent Condition). Heal one additional Wound for or every 3 additional .

You may make one natural recover test after 3 days, if after 1 week, and another after 3 weeks. If any malady lasts longer than 3 weeks, it can only be recovered by medical care.

If you have at least 1 rank of Medicine, test Reason+Medicine to Stabilize, Diagnose, or Treat a patient:

• Stabilize: difficulty = Current Wounds = No longer accrue accumulating Wounds (ie. Bleeding stops). Every additional removes 1 “accumulated” Wound (typically caused by Bleeding or Burning). = heal 1 Wound or Condition.
• Diagnose: Test Reason+Medicine vs Difficulty based on obscurity of illness. = ID illness, determine the best course of treatment. See Medicines below. = may skip the dosage test for 1 specific Medicine.
  • Common issues like infection =
  • Common diseases like the Flu =
  • Exotic Diseases requiring research = +
• Treating a Patient: Once stabilized, if you have access to a physician and a clean environment, all natural recovery tests (see above) automatically succeed with (ie one malady healed at each natural interval). Maladies remaining after 3 weeks' of care may be healed by a successful Reason+Medicine test (1 check per malady). Any failed checks may be retested after an additional 3 weeks of care.

You continue to suffer the effects of persistent Conditions and Wounds until they are removed by recovery. After a successful Diagnosis test, test Reason+Medicine to provide correct dosage of Medicine, Difficulty = the strength of the Medicine (see chart below).

• = found safe & effective dosage, and the Medicine will produce the desired Effect, lasting the Medicine's listed Duration.
• = add one Side Effect.
• = you become addicted (to any medicine with the Obsessed trait - gain the Condition).
• you may also self-medicate or prescribe for recreational purposes: state that you wish to intentionally receive a Side Effect (e.g. Dazed to represent Euphoria) and test Reason+Medicine vs Strength of medicine, upgraded twice. = double the normal Effect and gain the desired Side Effect. = take 1 Wound. = addiction (become Obsessed even without that trait in the Medicine).

If you receive a Wound or the Bleeding in an unclean environment, you must use antiseptic in the same scene or risk Infection. Test Vigor+Will vs once per day of no treatment. = safe for the day. = remove Infection risk. = Narrator assigns one of Crippled, Delirious, Deprived for each failed check (persistent Condition).

Infection is the leading cause of death in the Victorian era.

If Wounds >/= 5, you die. You are allowed to speak any dramatic last words you wish, but then will breathe your last, unless you choose to permanently lose 1 point of fixed Purpose or Ether. You then avoid the final Wound or other effect that would have killed you and immediately Stabilize. Refresh all temporary potential for that type, and you may spend potential of that type for the remainder of the sequence ignoring normal restrictions. In Conflict, you may also immediately take one turn (Move, Maneuver, Action), ignoring the effects of all Conditions. You may still be vulnerable to death, and if you take further Wounds or Conditions you may die again in the same Encounter if aid is not available.

In Social Conflict you may become convinced/persuaded or have your Affinities/Reputations altered. These require time to “recover” or change, and the ramifications will continue to affect you. Even after full recovery, you may still suffer from occasional rumors or jilted acquaintances - after mechanical consequences are gone, narrative consequences may remain (once something becomes known in society, it is never “unknown”).

A convincing argument will hold sway for one session - after that a character maintains the new conviction until evidence to the contrary surfaces. New evidence allows for a new social conflict to occur.

When one is persuaded, a character will perform the action they have been persuaded to do at the first convenient and physically safe opportunity. This persuasion lasts until an opportunity arises, or the end of the session.

Affinities & Reputations that have been temporarily changed will rise or fall back to its permanent rank over time: the 1st rank in 3 days, 2nd in 1 week, 3rd in week 3, and 1 rank for every 3 weeks after (same as natural physical recovery). Multiple Affinities/Reputations may recover at the same time.

Affinities/Reputations never chosen by the character, but forced, have a fixed value of 0 ranks, and will be eliminated over time.

For an altered Affinity/Reputation to increase back to normal, you must have a positive exposure to the subject of it, and no negative behavior counter to recovery. To reduce a temporarily elevated Affinity, you must avoid it for the recovery intervals, though if you actively work against the Affinity you may recover more quickly at the Narrator's discretion.

• Making Altered Affinities Permanent: You may spend XP = to the new rank of the Affinity to make it permanent. The Narrator may also make a player character's disadvantageous temporary Affinity permanent by awarding the PC XP = to 1/2 the new fixed rank.