Conditions, Threats, Progress, and Equipment

Use Conditions for persistent character states, Threats for problems that move on their own, Progress Tracks for shared work, and Equipment for capabilities.

Conditions

A Condition is a reusable definition for a state that matters beyond the current beat. Its effect should say when the state worsens Position or Effect, blocks an action, or requires recovery.

Create Conditions around your genre's real costs. Do not keep Wounded just because other RPGs have injuries if physical harm is not central to your game.

Each Condition needs a credible recovery rule. “Until the GM decides” is not a useful contract. Say what treatment, restitution, time, or changed circumstance clears it.

Threats

A Threat is an active problem that can move without direct player action. It owns an agenda, stakes, signs, a pressure clock, likely consequences, vulnerabilities, and GM truth.

Do not create a Threat for every obstacle. Use one when the problem has independent momentum, such as a storm front, alert state, political vote, or spreading curse.

A Threat clock is not a per-turn timer. Advance it when enough time passes to matter, a consequence says it advances, the players give it room to act, or an established trigger occurs. This prevents the AI GM from escalating every quiet conversation merely because messages continue.

Progress Tracks

A Progress Track is the positive or neutral counterpart to a Threat clock: a bounded undertaking that accumulates work but has no agenda of its own. Use it for repairs, research, rituals, investigations, or other shared projects whose completion matters across scenes.

Its advancesWhen rows define what counts as progress; its optional regressesWhen rows define what can undo work. Do not tick progress once per roll, scene, or message. A mixed hit may advance the project while adding one consequence. A setback leaves existing progress intact unless a listed regression trigger occurs. When the track fills, apply its completionResult and mark it Complete.

Use a Threat when the problem acts or worsens independently. Use a Character Resource when the value is a recurring personal currency.

Equipment

Equipment definitions are shared capabilities, not character-owned counters. Describe what the item enables, the edge it offers, and its limits.

If a world needs ammunition, durability, charges, fuel, or per-character item state, add that state to the Character inventory row or a dedicated state model. Do not store a mutable use counter on one shared Equipment definition and accidentally make every character consume the same copy.