Stress, Panic & Mental Breaks
Space is stressful. It’s one of the most hostile environments known to humanity, where one bad malfunction could send everything you know and love toppling out into the void—and that’s before hostile kill-teams or bioengineered monstrosities enter the picture!
Becoming Stressed
Many situations are innately stressful. Each time your character suffers from a stressful event, she gains a Stressed consequence, representing her current level of psychological pressure and how close she is to a mental break.
Gain a Stressed consequence when your character experiences any of the following:
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Suffers a critical failure or succeeds on a Panic test (see page xxx).
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Uses the Focus action to remove a consequence (see page XXX).
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Encounters stressful events or situations, as determined by the GM.
The Focus Action Outside of Combat
Outside of combat, it may be trivial to take a Focus action to clear your head for a moment, thereby shrugging off Fear, Dazed, Stunned or other consequences, but don’t forget to gain a Stressed consequence when you do so!
Stress Boons (Stress ⊕)
While stress has many long-term detrimental effects, it can also help you to focus at critical moments. Characters with the Stressed consequence may voluntarily take a special “stress boon” (Stress ⊕) on any test they make. Pushing Your Luck also grants a Stress ⊕ (see page XXX).
Stress ⊕’s function exactly like normal ⊕’s, except that should the result die or card from the boon be equal to or less than your character’s Stress value, she panics (see page XXX).
If using dice, it may help to keep track of dice from Stress ⊕’s by rolling a different colored die. For cards, simply designate the last card flipped as representing the Stress ⊕.
Should a Stress ⊕ be canceled by a ⊖, always designate one of the remaining dice or cards as representing the character’s stress, checking its value for panic as described below.
Jörgen is attempting to sneak past a sleeping monstrosity and has Stressed 2. When the GM calls for a Stealth test, Jörgen’s player decides to voluntarily take a Stress ⊕. He rolls two dice, one of the usual color and one of a different color representing his stress. He gets a 4 on the first die and a 2 on the one representing stress. Since this latter number is equal to or less than his stress value, he panics.
Reducing Stress
All Stressed consequences are removed after your character gets a good night’s rest, unaffected by a source of stress. This rest is broken if she makes any sort of test, including to stay alert. You’re not decompressing if you’re on edge, watching for signs of trouble!
Alternatively, at any point, you may opt to spend an Edge to remove a Stressed consequence. This lowers your Stress value by one.
Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms
If you’re looking for ways to lower your overall stress, try developing some unhealthy coping mechanisms! Weaknesses like Bothersome Habit, Compulsive Behavior and Lecherous give you ways to gain Edge, which in turn can be spent to remove Stressed consequences.
Panic
If stress grows too powerful it can boil over into hysteria, forcing you to make a Panic test. Check for panic when your character experiences any of the following:
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Suffers an unexpected attack or Grave Wound.
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Panics due to a Stress ⊕ (see page xxx).
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Encounters a truly horrifying creature or event, as determined by the GM.
Panic Tests
A Panic test is a Willpower test—usually TN 12—but the GM may specify a higher or lower difficulty. On a success, your character’s stress grows, but she manages to keep it in check. Gain a Stressed consequence. On a failure, the GM may opt to either look up the result on the table below or make up a suitable effect.
| Margin + Stressed | Effect |
|---|---|
| 1 | Hesitate: Your rising panic causes you to momentarily hesitate. Lose an AP. If you don’t have one to lose, instead lose one at the start of the next round. |
| 2 | Tremble: Your body trembles uncontrollably. Gain a Fear consequence with a relevant subject. |
| 3 | Spasm: You drop everything that you are holding. Gain a Fear consequence with a relevant subject. |
| 4 | Shock: The panic rises in your chest, leaving you dazed. Gain a Dazed consequence, as well as a Fear consequence with a relevant subject. |
| 5 | Stagger: You stagger for a moment as the panic sets in. Gain a Disabled consequence, as well as a Fear consequence with a relevant subject. |
| 6 | Freeze: You freeze up due to fear and anxiety. Gain a Stunned consequence, as well as a Fear consequence with a relevant subject. |
| 7 | Scream: You scream your lungs out. Gain a Fear consequence with a relevant subject. All friendly characters in earshot gain a Stressed consequence. |
| 8 | Collapse: You are completely overwhelmed. Gain a Prone and a Stunned consequence, as well as a Fear consequence with a relevant subject. |
| 9 | Fight or Flight: You may choose between spending your next three turns either fleeing or attacking the nearest character wildly with whatever weapon you have in hand. You also suffer a mental break. |
| 10 | Catatonic: You collapse into a catatonic state, staring blankly into the void. Gain a Prone and Stunned consequence, as well as a Fear consequence with a relevant subject. You also suffer a mental break. |
| 11+ | Heart Attack: Your heart seizes up, and you are left gasping for breath. Gain a Dying and Stunned consequence, as well as a Fear consequence with a relevant subject. You also suffer a mental break. |
Mental Breaks
When your character suffers a mental break, her stress sublimates into some sort of prolonged mental illness. This takes the form of a lasting consequence or weakness that does not go away until the character undergoes treatment (see page xxx). You should work with the GM to come up with a suitable candidate. Some possibilities include:
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A Dazed, Desire, Fear or Fixation consequence with a relevant subject. It may not be removed without treatment.
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A primarily mental weakness, such as those shown in the table below.
| Likely Weaknesses | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Absent-minded | Amnesia | Bothersome Habits | Compulsive Behavior |
| Cowardice | Delusion | Depression | Fixation |
| Flashbacks | Impulsive | Insomniac | Intolerance |
| Multiple Personality | Phobia | Stutter | Suspicious |
Treatment
With time and therapy mental breaks can be treated. A character who seeks out treatment may make a Det-12 test each week. On a success, you may remove a consequence or weakness imposed by a mental break. Another character acting as a therapist may make a Chr/Empathy-10 test to provide a ⊕. Most therapists charge 200¤ per week for their labor.