Resources

Types of Resources

Resources are things that can be acquired or drained from your character. They’re represented by boxes, such as in the following examples:

• Health □□□
• Endurance ⊠⊠□□
• Wits ⊠□□□
• Mana □□□□□
• Shield □
• Ki □□□
• Blood ⊠⊠□
• Reagents □□□
• Contracts ⊠□□□
• Rage □□
  

These are the some common resources, though players might acquire other resources during gameplay.

Tracking Resources

When a resource is lost, mark an “/” in the box. When a resource is restored, remove an “/” from one of the boxes. When all of a resource’s boxes have an “/” in them, that resource is depleted and can’t be used anymore. Neither the player nor the GM can choose the “Lose a Resource” Bad Tale option for that resource.

Having zero in a resource like Health does not mean you’re out of the conflict. You’re only out when you decide to surrender, pass out, or die.

Default Resources (Health, Endurance, etc.)

Health, Endurance, and Wits are assigned at Character Generation.

Health

Health represents your ability to endure bodily harm. You typically lose health when you suffer injuries.

To recover health, declare objectives like “pursue medical attention”, “wait for natural healing”, “drink potion”,  etc.

See Recovering Resources below.

Endurance

Endurance represents your ability to withstand exhaustion. You typically lose endurance when you travel great distances, push yourself too far, experience harsh weather, or go without food, water, or sleep.

To restore endurance, declare an objective like “eat and drink”, “rest a while”, “splash water on my face”, etc.

Wits

Wits represent your ability to make intelligent decisions, to “survive” difficult social situations, to manage your social anxieties and keep your intellectual avenues open during debates.

To restore wits, declare objectives like “relax without making any decisions”, “meditate”, “practice logical problem solving”, etc.

Signature Resource (Mana, Reagents, Willpower etc.)

When you purchase a trait, make a note of which resource it uses. You also receive 2 points of that resource.

Note: even if a trait seems like no resource is required (eg:  a passive trait may never receive a bad tale), take the 2 resource points anyways, to fuel your other traits.

The resource must make sense, given your particular character concept and the effect of the trait selected. For example, you’ll have to convince your group that your flowers power the dragon’s breath effect. Collaborate!

Describe the conditions required for you to attempt to recover your signature resources. Then, spend good tales to recover them.

See also: Character Generation → Choose Signature Resources

Defenses as a Resource

Defenses are provided by traits. They act like other resources which can be marked, to indicate loss, when you get a bad tale. Good tales can recover them, provided it makes sense, given your situation, objective and action.

Even if you don’t have a trait which provides a defense, if you come up with a suitable objective, you may spend a good tale to “gain a resource: defense [ ]”. For example, blocking someone with a shield.

Treasure as a Resource

This section is currently under review. it’s likely to change.

An abstract representation of how much currency you hold in assorted coins, gems, and promissory notes. Characters start with 0 treasure, but may acquire (recover) treasure at the end of challenges.

Temporary Resources

Some resources will be temporary by nature and fill up or disappear automatically after a certain time has elapsed. Work with your group to determine which resources are permanent and which are temporary.

For example: During combat, you declared the objective “use my shield to block” and rolled well, good tale. You spend your good tale to “gain a resource: defense [ ]” Everyone agrees that’s a temporary resource which will go away after the current combat is finished. (Note: in this situation, you could have declared the same objective as a bolster instead of a normal action. See “Approaches”)

Optional Resources (Ammo, Food, Drink, Light)

Normally, we don’t track ammo, food, drink, or light.

If you prefer, you can treat Food, Drink, Ammo, and Light as custom resources. Be aware though, the presence of additional resources gives players additional sinks to soak bad tales.

Ammo

Ammo is not tracked. Archers can shoot as much as they want without running out of arrows.

In some cases you could substitute your signature resources to represent a limited quantity of fuel or ammunition. For example, characters with tracking traits might list ammunition as one of their signature resources.

Design Note: The Ammo resource was cut from the game because it provided an inexpensive sink for bad tales, thus undermining a lot of traits and acting like a defense.

If you want to represent ammo in your game, your players can take the condition “out of ammo” when they suffer a bad tale.

Light

Light is not tracked as a resource. Characters don’t have to worry about running out of torches or oil. That’s not to say that darkness can’t be a problem, but it should be treated more like a condition than a resource.

If you want a particularly hardcore game, you may introduce light as a resource. If you do track light, characters should have disadvantage when they’re fumbling around in the dark.

Adventurers often travel to dark places, and need something to light their way. Oil, torches, even magic can all fail you in the depths of the earth, or in the catacombs. In those places, it may be important to track how much longer you have in the depths.

Losing Resources

When you get a bad tale which might result in you losing resources, you can choose the “Lose a Resource” option on the bad tale list. Then mark one box on that resource track.

The resource you lose should be related to the objective at hand. If you’re dodging a boulder, does it make sense to lose your arrows? That’s up to your group. Begin and end with the fiction.

Recovering Resources Under Pressure

Even in the heat of combat, you may be able to recover resources. Some traits and items allow resource recovery. If not otherwise stated, you’ll need to come up with a suitable objective, make a roll, then spend a good tale in order to choose the mechanical effect “gain a resource”. Some traits may allow you to spend your signature resource to replenish other resources (Health, End, Wits).

For example: you’re in combat but running desperately low on health. Earlier, one of your allies used an Alchemy trait to craft a healing potion. Drinking the potion during melee combat would still require a roll, and you don’t want to risk a bad outcome, so you declare a bolster objective to “escape the melee and find a safer position”, then you declare a normal action objective to “drink the potion and recover health”. Depending on your current situation, that could be an easy roll or no roll required. Discuss the difficulty with your group.

Running out of a Resource

When you are out of a resource, you are no longer able to lose that Resource as a Bad Tale. Instead, you must take the other, often more severe options.