Getting Hurt (and Getting Out)

Shifts

When an attack hits, its severity is shifts = attack roll − defense roll. A hit's shifts must all be absorbed, or you're taken out.

Absorbing a hit

You have two tools, and you may use both on the same hit:

• Stress — check one stress box to absorb some or all of a single hit. Box 1 absorbs 1 shift, Box 2 absorbs 2, Box 3 absorbs 3. You can't check an already-checked box. Everyone has the same three-box track.
• Consequences — mark off consequence slots and write a new aspect for each: Mild absorbs 2, Moderate absorbs 4, Severe absorbs 6. Each slot can hold only one consequence. Opponents can invoke your consequences against you — and the character who hit you gets one free invocation on it.

Example: a 4-shift hit → check Box 2 (absorbs 2) and take the mild consequence Sprained Ankle (absorbs 2). You keep fighting.

Taken out

Can't absorb the whole hit? You're taken out — out of the scene, and whoever took you out narrates what happens to you, fitted to how it happened.

Giving in (conceding)

Grim-looking fight? You may give in — but you must declare it before your opponent rolls. You get a say in how you exit (your opponent gets a major concession from you), and you earn 1 fate point + 1 for each consequence you took in the conflict.

Recovery

• Stress: clear all boxes at the end of the scene.
• Mild consequence: clear at the end of the scene, provided you get a chance to rest.
• Moderate consequence: clear at the end of the next session, if the story supports it. You may rename it as it heals (Painful Broken Leg → Hobbling on Crutches).
• Severe consequence: clear at the end of the scenario, if the story supports it.

Full rules: [Stress, Consequences & Recovery](@Missing file).