Stress

In a world full of extraordinary events and perils, the will and sanity of those who traverse it are constantly tested, battered and broken. Either trough slow, insidious build-up, or sudden corruption by something that shouldn’t be conceived, accumulated Stress can prove to be more deadly than any tangible threat.

### ***Stress Threshold***

All creatures have a Stress Threshold, which represents their capacity to withstand the mental hardships of combat, such as grievous injury, mind-damaging magic and indescribable foes. Creatures with a higher stress threshold are more resilient to the horrors of prolonged combat, whereas those with a low stress threshold will easily break.

A creature's Stress Threshold is equal to 3 plus their Willpower modifier (minimum of 0), and as such, the minimum Stress Threshold is 3.

### ***Gaining Stress***

When a character encounters a particularly distressful event, suffer too much damage or are afflicted by a particular effect, as detailed below, they may gain a Stress token. If a creature's Stress tokens grow equal to its Stress threshold they suffer a Mindbreak, and must roll on the table, as explained further below. Stress can be gained in the following ways:

* Whenever a creature suffers damage from a Critical Hit, they gain a Stress Token.
* When a creature suffers psyche damage from a Critical Hit, they gain two Stress Tokens
* When a creature is in an environment where they cannot sense their surroundings, such as a creature who lacks the Darkvision trait being underground with no light, they must perform a Willpower save once every 15 minutes against a DC of 10, with a cumulative +2 to DC for every consecutive check. On a failed save, the creature gains a Stress token.
* When a creature becomes Afraid of another creature, or is attacked by a creature they are Afraid of, they gain a Stress Token.
* When a creature is Injured or enters the Deathblow stage, they gain a Stress Token.
* When a creature becomes aware that an ally is killed, that creature gains a Stress Token.
* Whenever a creature directly witnesses the True Form of a creature of Saint or higher Stratum, they gain a Stress Token for each Stratum of difference and are Stunned for as long as that creature is in their direct line of sight.

Additionally, the GM may choose for other events to trigger characters gaining stress, such as a failed attack at a critical time, encountering a particularly dreaded foe, or the sight of some horror that would leave their characters to pause in terror.

 **90-100** | ***Dauntless.*** When you gain this effect, immediately lose half of your Stress Tokens. Additionally, you may re-roll one damage die on each of your attacks.

The effects of the Mindbreak table are dispelled only when a creature's loses all of its Stress Tokens. A creature can only have one effect of the Mindbreak table active at any one time, except for the Breakdown effect.

#### ***Further Stress and Breakdowns***

Even when a creature reaches their Stress Threshold and gains an effect from the Mindbreak table, they can still continue to gain Stress Tokens. When a creature's total Stress Tokens reach double their Stress Threshold, they must make a DC 18 Charisma saving throw at the start of each of their turns for as long as that level of Stress is maintained. On a failed save, a character suffers a Breakdown (as shown on the table above) and loses control instantly.

### ***Stress Relief***

During a Rest, a creature may expend their Hit-die to remove a Stress Token instead of recovering their Condition. When a creature takes a long rest, they lose all of their Stress Tokens.