The Status Boxes on your Character Sheet shows how close you are to death.

Immediately below that, the Defenses Box lists your Resistances, Immunities, and Weaknesses that can modify what Damage and Status Conditions you take.

Status Boxes

The Status Boxes depict a set of Point Banks used to track your Shield, Health, Vitality, Dodge Points, and Recoveries.

A blank Point Bank is also provided alongside the others. This space can be used to track any other type of points that may come from your Class or Constitution.

Note that the end of each Episode, you will be able to reset all of these Point Banks to their respective maximums.

Shield

Your Shield represents an added level of defense, a boost of temporary health, or a blessing of protection.

Any incoming damage (that remains after applying your Defenses) is first subtracted from your Shield points. If your Shield reaches 0, it will then immediately flow over into your Health or, if your Health is at 0, your Vitality. Your Shield cannot go below 0 and no maximum.

When you (or someone else) uses an Ability that sets your Shield, you will set your Shield equal to the new value, replacing your old Shield value, unless your current number of Shield points is higher. Shield points are never added to existing Shield points.

Health

Your Health is generally your largest tally of points from which Damage will be subtracted. Your total amount of Health usually starts at 12, but may be altered by the Constitution, Abilities, and Perks that you gain throughout the game (for better or for worse.)

Each time your Health reaches 0, any remaining Damage from the current attack is immediately discarded. If your Health was already at 0, incoming Damage not blocked by your Shield will flow over and cause you to lose Vitality as described below.

Vitality

Once Damage has been modified by your Defenses and subtracted from your Shield, if your Health is at 0, any remaining Damage will result in you losing one Vitality.

If ever a single source of Damage totals 10 or more (after being modified by your Defenses) you will also immediately lose one extra Vitality for every 10 Damage.

If ever you reach 0 Vitality, you die (unless your chosen Constitution says otherwise.)

Player Characters generally start at 4 Vitality, though some Constitutions, Abilities, and Perks may alter that value (for better or for worse.) Many non-player characters may also have more or less Vitality. You may also choose to deal "Non-Lethal" Damage to a character to knock them Unconscious at 0 Vitality instead of killing them. (Though, the GM may have you roll a Tinkering Test to ensure that you didn't kill them on accident.)

Dodges

Your Dodge Points determine how many uses you have left of the Dodge Ability. You can regain your Dodge Point by using the Dodges Up Ability.

Recoveries

When you are running low on Health or Vitality, you may need to take a moment to recover and tend to your wounds. Below is a look at the Heal Up ability from the Basic Ability List appendix, which will be one of your go-to ways to restore Health and Vitality:

If you ever run out of Recoveries, you may need to use the Item Search Ability to look for a First Aid Kit. First Aid Kits grant you an additional Recovery and may even let you immediately Heal Up if you get a good Score while using it.

NPC Statuses

Most NPCs will lack some of the Dodge Points, Shield, Health, or Vitality values in their description. When any of those values are missing, you can assume they are 0, except Vitality, which has a default of 1.

Many smaller creatures do not explicitly list a Health or Vitality value at all. In these cases the creature just has 1 Vitality and would die if it took any damage amount above 0. Take care, however, as that does not mean these creatures are harmless.

Defenses

In the Defenses box, you will list all of your Resistances, Immunities, and Weaknesses.

When you are affected by an Ability, any Damage you would take and any Status Conditions you would gain are first modified by your Defenses. If mor than one Defense is applicable, they are always applied in the following order: Weaknesses, Resistances, Immunities.

Weaknesses

Each Weakness will specify a Damage Type or a Status Condition to which it applies.

If a Damage Type is specified, whenever you would take Damage of the specified Damage Type, you must first double the amount of Damage you will take. This occurs before is is applied to your Shield, Health, or Vitality.

If a Status Condition is specified, whenever you would gain Stacks of the specified Status Condition, you must first double the number of Stacks that you will gain.

Some Weaknesses may also add other side effects. For example, a tree creature that takes Fire Damage may take double the Damage, but all of its attacks afterward may also deal some additional Fire Damage.

Resistances

Resistances work much like Weaknesses, but they instead halve (rounded down) incoming Damage or Status Condition Stacks.

Each Resistance will specify a Damage Type or a Status Condition that they apply to.

If a Damage Type is specified, whenever you would take Damage of the specified Damage Type, you can first halve (rounded down) the amount of Damage you will take. This occurs before is is applied to your Shield, Health, or Vitality. Note: If an Ability's Damage is reduced to 0, you will still need to perform any Saves imposed by that Ability.

If a Status Condition is specified, whenever you would gain Stacks of the specified Status Condition, you can first halve (rounded down) the number of Stacks that you will gain.

A Resistance may stipulate other conditions that must be met as well, like that you must be submerged in water or lying Prone, etc. In order to apply these Resistance, you must meet the additional Requirements listed.

A Resistance may also list other side effects that will occur if you choose to use them. If you choose to apply these Resistance, you must take on the other effects, if possible.

Immunities

Immunities, again, work much like Resistances and Weaknesses, but they instead negate incoming Damage or Status Condition Stacks.

Each Immunity will specify a Damage Type or a Status Condition that they apply to.

If a Damage Type is specified, whenever you would take Damage of the specified Damage Type, you can reduce the Damage to 0. This occurs before is is applied to your Shield, Health, or Vitality. Note: If an Ability's Damage is reduced to 0, you will still need to perform any Saves imposed by that Ability.

If a Status Condition is specified, whenever you would gain Stacks of the specified Status Condition, you can instead gain no Stacks of that Status Condition.

An Immunity may stipulate other conditions that must be met as well. In order to apply these Immunities, you must meet the additional Requirements listed.

An Immunity may also list other side effects that will occur if you choose to use them. If you choose to apply these Immunities, you must take on the other effects, if possible.

Next Up: 2.6. Wealth Box