The Status Boxes on your Character Sheet shows a lists of your resource, including your Health and Vitality, along with your Defenses and Status Conditions. Watching and managing your status is key to avoiding Death and achieving victory in Encounters.

Hooks

The first resource listed in the Status Box is your Hooks. You will start each Encounter with 0 Hooks, unless you gain Perks or Abilities that say otherwise. You will then gain a Hook whenever you use an Ability that requires a Beat and that Ability takes effect. Hooks expire at the end of an Encounter and you can never bank more than 6 Hooks at any given time. For more on Hooks, see 1.5. Phases of Play.

Luck

The second resource listed in the Status Box is your Luck. Your luck resets to 1 at the start of each Episode, though you can increase your starting value with Perks or the Lucky Charm Item.

Whenever you need to perform a Luck Test, use your current Luck as the Modifier for the Tests.

You can spend 1 Luck (reducing your Luck by 1 for the rest of the Episode) to give yourself an Advantage on a Test. You can choose to do so after rolling dice for the Test, but before finishing the Test and announcing your Score. If ever your Luck drops below 0, you will have to add your negative Luck to all Tests you make for the rest of the Episode.

The GM may grant you Luck as a reward for good roleplaying, like if you embrace a Low Score and roleplay character growth.

Staying Alive

The next four Status Boxes track your Recoveries, Shield, Health, and Vitality.

At the end of each Episode you will reset all your Point Banks to their respective maximums, unless the GM says otherwise.

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.)

Adventurers 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 Recoup Dodges Ability, which you can find in the Dodge Ability description.

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 Recover 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 Recover if you get a good Score while using it.

Defenses

Under Defenses, you will list all your Resistances, Immunities, and Weaknesses.

When someone hits you with an Ability, any Damage you would take and any Status Conditions you would gain are first modified by your Defenses. Some Defenses may also come with other side effects. If more than one Defense is applicable, they are always applied in the following order: Weaknesses, Resistances, Immunities. If there would still be a tie, the Adventurer decides which order to apply them in.

Weaknesses

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

For Damage Type Weaknesses, whenever you would take Damage of the specified Damage Type, you must first double the amount of incoming Damage. This occurs before it's applied to your Shield, Health, or Vitality.

For Status Condition Weaknesses, whenever you would gain Stacks of the specified Status Condition, you must first double the number of Stacks that you will gain of that Status Condition.

Some Weaknesses may also add other side effects. For example, a tree creature that takes Fire Damage doubles the Damage, but then its next Melee Attack deals 2 extra 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.

For Damage Type Resistances, whenever you would take Damage of the specified Damage Type, you first halve (rounding down) the amount of Damage you will take. This occurs before it's applied to your Shield, Health, or Vitality. Note: Reducing an Ability's Damage to 0 does not make it a miss and will not remove any Saves imposed by that Ability.

For Status Condition Resistances, whenever you would gain Stacks of the specified Status Condition, you first halve (rounding down) the number of Stacks you gain.

A Resistance may have requirements, like that you must be submerged in water or lying Prone, etc. To apply such Resistance, you must meet the Requirements.

A Resistance may also list other side effects that will occur. You must take on the other effects, if possible, unless they are listed as optional.

Immunities

Immunities negate incoming Damage or Status Condition Stacks.

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

For Damage Type Immunities, whenever you would take Damage of the specified Damage Type, you reduce the Damage to 0. This occurs before it's applied to your Shield, Health, or Vitality. Note: Reducing an Ability's Damage to 0 does not make it a miss and will not remove any Saves imposed by that Ability.

For Status Condition Immunities, whenever you would gain Stacks of the specified Status Condition, you can instead gain no Stacks of that Status Condition.

An Immunity may have requirements. To apply these Immunities, you must meet the Requirements.

An Immunity may also list other effects that will occur after the Immunity is triggered. When you apply an Immunity, you must take on the other effects, if possible.

Next Up: 3.7. Status Conditions