😰 Managing Stress
Stress represents mental focus, emotional endurance, and spiritual resilience. It is a pressure mechanic — building as you push yourself. If it gets too high, it can lead to damage or breakdown.
⚖️ What Is Stress?
Stress is a measure of how much pressure you're under that rises when you strain your focus or willpower
If Stress is at maximum, and you gain more:
Most characters begin with 5 Stress boxes Some feature cards may increase or reduce this number
📈 Gaining Stress
You gain Stress from:
Using powers or features that require it
Choosing to absorb damage (see optional rule below)
Failing Resistance Checks or enduring fear, magic, or trauma
Pushing yourself beyond your limits (GM discretion)
Stress reflects mental and emotional strain, not just fear. Even brave or disciplined characters accumulate Stress.
🔥 Abilities That Use Stress
Some feature cards allow you to mark or gain Stress to:
Reroll a failed Aspect Check
Boost an ally’s Team Action
Avoid a condition or negative effect
Fuel a Domain ability
Example:
Berserker – Gain 1 Stress to deal +2 damage
Sorcerer – Gain 2 Stress to amplify or recover a spell
Monk – Remove 1 Stress if you end your turn without taking damage
You may only use Stress if a card explicitly allows it.
💥 When Stress Is Maxed
If you gain Stress while full:
Take 1 HP of damage per point you cannot add
GM may describe a Stress Break — panic, hesitation, emotional collapse, etc.
Stress damage bypasses armor and cannot be resisted. Resistances and Immunities do not apply.
🧘 Reducing Stress
Stress clears slowly unless you have special features:
| Method | Effect |
| Quick Rest | Remove 1 Stress |
| Feature Card | Often removes Stress conditionally |
| Roleplay (optional) | The GM may allow recovery for moments of calm, success, or introspection |
🧪 Optional Rule: Absorb Damage with Stress
This optional rule allows more flexible defense at a cost:
When you would lose 1 HP, you may instead gain 2 Stress to avoid the injury.
If this pushes you past your Stress limit, the excess becomes damage
The GM may require narrative justification (e.g., mental resolve, divine shield, etc.)
This rule adds a high-risk, high-agency option for surviving tough fights.
🎯 Tracking Stress
Stress should be visible and tactile — use:
Checkboxes on the character sheet
Beads, coins, or sliders on the table
This keeps mental strain front of mind for all players.
🔗 Related Pages
🩸
Damage — When and how injury happens
💊
Resting — How to recover HP or conditions
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