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= Consequences

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While playing Mage characters may face consequences of dealing with the danger. Hits of fiery bolts, stress after an all nighter, twisted ankles, this is what the following chapter will describe.

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  == Complications
  A complication is an unhelpful temporary trait that the opposition includes in their dice pool to make the opposed roll harder for the character with the complication. Complications are given descriptive names and a die rating, starting at #spec_c.d6.
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  === Creating Complications
  When a player rolls a hitch on any of their dice, the Storyteller can hand over a #spec_c.pp and to create a complication instead of adding that die to the doom pool. This doesn't affect the success or failure of the roll — a complication means something else has gone wrong, making life difficult.
]

Complications start at #spec_c.d6, and additional hitches in the same roll step up the complication without the Storyteller giving the player more #spec_c.pp. The Storyteller may choose to create multiple complications if there is more than one hitch, but each new complication requires handing over a #spec_c.pp. If the player rolls a botch, the Storyteller creates a #spec_c.d6 complication without giving the player a #spec_c.pp, and steps it up for each hitch past the first.

Complications are persistent and last until either the PC has recovered from them, or the complication is made irrelevant.

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  === Worsening Complications
  Whenever a player or the Storyteller has the option to give a character a complication, they can instead choose to step up an existing complication, making it worse for the affected character.
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Generally, only one complication applies to a specific hindrance or problem. To make a complication worse, it should be stepped up.

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  === Using Complications
  Whenever a player or the Storyteller is rolling against a character that has a relevant complication, they may add it to their dice pool. Doing so doesn't cost anything, and there's no limit to how many applicable complications can be included in a dice pool, nor is there a limit on how many complications a character can have.
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  === #spec_c.d4 Complication
  If a complication is stepped down to a #spec_c.d4, the very next time the complication might affect your character, you add it to your own dice pool and earn a #spec_c.pp (much like a distinction being used with the Hinder SFX).
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Immediately after it's used this way, it's stepped down to zero and eliminated—unless the dice come up with one or more hitches, in which case the Storyteller may choose to activate them and step up the complication to 6 or more.

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  == Stress
  In addition to complications each character also has four stress tracks, these represent a type of a complication that is likely to occur often and will be used often, and thus have some additional rules.
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In addition to complications being used to represent temporary traits that hinder the character's actions stress is a measure of your damage and injury. There are four types of stress:

/ Harmed: Pain and injury.

/ Unsound: Confusion and brain fog.

/ Rattled: Fear and anxiety.

/ Tired: Exhaustion.

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  === Inflicting Stress
  Whenever a character fails an action that causes harm as a consequence they receive a #spec_c.d6 die of appropriate stress. Being a target of a successful attack inflicts stress equal to the effect die of the attack. Some SFX can also inflict stress upon a character.
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Whenever stress is inflicted, check your stress die, if the stress die rating is equal to or greater than the new stress die, step up your stress die, if the stress die rating is lower than the new stress die or the PC has no stress, inflict stress equal to the new stress die.

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  ==== Stressed Out
  If any stress die rating is ever stepped up past #spec_c.d12, the character is taken out (or stressed out) and no longer takes part in the scene. By default, you can't spend a #spec_c.pp to delay this effect, though certain SFX may allow to do that. When you're stressed out, you are assumed to have #spec_c.d12 stress for the purposes of taking any additional stress, even though you can no longer act in the scene.
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  === Using Stress
  Just like a complication, whenever a PC engages in a test or contest where their stress would make things more difficult for them, the Storyteller (or an opposing PC) can add the stress die to their opposition pool as if it were an asset.
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Stress rated at #spec_c.d4 functions just like a complication rated at #spec_c.d4; it goes into a player's dice pool instead of being added to the opposition dice pool and earns the player a #spec_c.pp. Right after that test or contest, it either goes away or — if the player rolls a hitch on one of their dice — gets stepped up as the injury gets worse.

Only one type of stress can be used against a character at any given time, unless the Storyteller pays the player a #spec_c.pp to add an additional stress die to the opposition dice pool. Characters can be affected by both stress and complications at the same time, however.

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  === Recovering Stress
  All stress die ratings are always stepped down by one during any scene specifically framed to act as a rest period, downtime, or transition between action-heavy scenes. If a character takes stress in one scene from a battle, and the next scene is another battle soon after the first without any time spent resting up, then no stress is recovered.
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To recover any remaining stress, characters can attempt a recovery test vs a dice pool consisting of the stress die and a base difficulty of #spec_c.d8 #spec_c.d8. The Storyteller may rule that other traits affect the roll, similar to a standard test. The PC or their circumstances must be capable of improving the situation to make a roll.

When the test is complete, one of the following happens:

- If the PC beat the difficulty and the effect die is greater than the stress, the stress is eliminated.

- If the PC beat the difficulty and the effect die is equal to or smaller than the stress, the stress is stepped down by one. Time must pass before another test can be made to recover the stress.

- If the PC failed to beat the difficulty, the stress remains as it is.

- If the PC beat the difficulty but rolled a hitch, the Storyteller may hand over a #spec_c.pp and introduce a new stress or complication related to the one that was just recovered.

- If the PC failed to beat the difficulty and rolled a hitch, the stress is stepped up by one step for every hitch rolled.

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  == Trauma
  Trauma is long-term stress. Any time a PC's stress is stepped up past #spec_c.d12, they're stressed out of the scene, and they gain #spec_c.d6 trauma of the same type of stress that just increased. Trauma functions just like stress but is much harder to recover.
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During any scene in which a character is stressed out and has taken trauma, additional stress to the character goes directly to trauma. Once trauma is stepped up beyond #spec_c.d12, the character is permanently out of options — they're dead, hopelessly incoherent, lost to their own psyche, or whatever seems most appropriate.

If the next scene is a recovery, transition, or otherwise restful scene in which the PC can be taken care of or allowed to recuperate, the PC's stress automatically steps down by one, but the trauma remains at the level it was at the end of the previous scene. Recovering trauma requires a test using any appropriate traits vs a base difficulty of #spec_c.d8 #spec_c.d8 plus the trauma die.

When the test is complete, one of the following happens:
• If you beat the difficulty, the trauma die rating is stepped down by one.
• If you fail to beat the difficulty, the trauma does not get any better or worse. You can't try to recover that trauma again until time passes.
• If you beat the difficulty but roll a hitch, the GM may hand over a #spec_c.pp and introduce either a complication that will hinder the PC in the next scene or inflict stress of a different type than the trauma that was being recovered, starting at #spec_c.d6 (or stepping up by one if the PC already had stress of that type).
• If you fail to beat the difficulty and roll one or more hitches, the trauma gets worse, stepping up by one for each hitch rolled. If this steps the trauma up past #spec_c.d12, that's all, folks.
