How conditions work
A condition is a temporary state that changes what a creature can do — the shorthand the game uses for "you're poisoned," "you're terrified," "you can't see." Some are simple on/off states. Others carry a value: frightened 2 is worse than frightened 1, and most valued conditions tick down on their own over time.
You don't need to memorize these. They come up in play, the sheet tracks the ones you're under, and the Codex has the full list with exact numbers. This chapter is the orientation — the handful you'll meet most, grouped by what they do.
Conditions that weaken you
These sap your numbers, each by its value:
- — a penalty to Dexterity-based rolls and AC.
- — a penalty to Strength-based rolls and damage.
- — a penalty to mental rolls, and it makes spellcasting unreliable.
- — a penalty to Constitution rolls, and it costs you Hit Points that don't come back until the drain does.
- — a penalty to everything, and you can't willingly ingest anything until you recover.
They stack with the situation, not with themselves — a bigger value simply replaces a smaller one of the same name.
Conditions that cost you actions
The most dangerous conditions take away the thing the whole game runs on — your actions:
- — you lose actions at the start of your turn equal to its value.
- — you lose actions too, but stunned counts down as you spend them.
- — you can't move from your space.
- / — held in place by something, with restrained the harsher of the two.
Losing even one action a turn is a serious tax. Many fights are really a race to pin these on the enemy before they land on you.
Conditions of sight and position
A whole family of conditions is about who can see whom — the quiet math under every ambush and every stealthy rogue:
- — caught unprepared; a −2 to AC. This is the condition attackers are always trying to create, and the one flanking produces.
- — hard to see (fog, dim light); attacks against you must clear a flat check.
- Hidden — the attacker knows roughly where you are but not exactly; a steeper flat check.
- / — your own sight fails you, from total to partial.
- — unseen entirely, which makes you hidden or worse to everyone relying on sight.
Fear and the mind
Some conditions work on the will rather than the body:
- — a penalty to everything equal to its value, ticking down by 1 each turn as you steady yourself.
- — your attention is captured; penalties to Perception and skills, and you can't act against the source.
- — you can't tell friend from foe and lash out unpredictably.
- — someone else dictates your actions outright.
Frightened is the one you'll see constantly — a great many abilities inflict it, and stacking it is a legitimate way to win a fight.
When things go wrong
The conditions at the bottom of the track deal with falling and rising:
- — damage that keeps coming each turn (bleeding, burning) until you shake it with a check or a little help.
- Wounded — the mark a near-death leaves behind; it makes your next trip to start further along.
- — unconscious and slipping away; recover before it reaches its limit or you're gone.
- — the grimmest one: it lowers the threshold at which dying becomes death.
These are the stakes made concrete. They're also why a healer, a Hit Point to a downed ally, or a well-timed potion is never wasted.