Ailments & Recovery
Rest
There are two kinds of rest breaks; interludes and full rest. An interlude is a one-hour pitstop where characters rest, talk, tend gear, treat injuries, and eat. Sleeping is just that; a 6-8 hour window of unconsciousness. A full rest is particularly important to spellcasters, because magic is intrinsically tied to the part of the mind that dreams. When spellcasters sleep their minds brush the astral plane to replenish, so it is impossible to recover spell energy without sleep.
Healing. Characters engaged in adventuring recover their level plus their endurance modifier in lost health every full rest. Total bed rest or very light activity (carriage ride, rest at an inn, etc) for a full day restores twice as much health. In addition, a character with the medicine skill can treat a # of patients equal to their proficiency modifier each day with no roll required. Medical treatment restores extra health per day equal to your medicine skill modifier.
In GSS health is limited, but healing magic is potent. Characters are easy to break and easy to fix, which makes monsters more scary and validates the importance of characters with healing powers. It also reduces the speed of power creep and forces players to think tactically. Damage mitigation abilities are important for this reason, and players should become familiar with them.
Recharge. Certain class abilities are a limited resource, meaning they can only be used a set # of times before they must recharge. This is accomplished by taking a full rest.
Not all harm that characters experience can be expressed in health points. Danger may also take the form of environmental hazards such as weather, starvation, disease, etc. These threats are serious because they are ongoing and cannot be resolved through simple combat. To avoid unnecessary redundancy and paranoia, it is fine for players to address these concerns when establishing protocols. If the Storyteller wishes to ignore these “mundane” environmental dangers in favor of a more action-intensive game, that is their prerogative.
Blindness & Deafness. Creatures that rely on sight to function are hampered by its loss. A blinded creature fails any ability check involving sight. Attack rolls against the creature have advantage, and the creature’s attack rolls have disadvantage. Creatures that rely on hearing to function are hampered by its loss. A deafened creature automatically fails any ability check relying on hearing.
Charmed. This is a general term used to describe several different types of mental compulsion. Unless otherwise noted in the description of the effects, a charmed creature regards its charmer as an ally. It will not willingly harm or endanger its charmer, and all social skill checks made by the charmer to influence the target have advantage. This effect ENDS IMMEDIATELY if the charmed creature is attacked by the charmer or her allies. Just because a target is charmed does not necessarily mean it views its former allies as enemies. While most evil creatures will not hesitate to attack their former allies, neutral or good-aligned creatures will likely defend their charmer or flee in confusion to avoid being forced to choose who to support.
Disease. There are two basic ways to contract a disease; exposure to a source of illness (such as a crowd of sick people or a pile of rotten filth) or a random encounter. Because adventurers travel and come into contact with various people and places, adding incidental sickness to encounter tables is reasonable. Not all diseases allow for a fortitude save. If players take risky actions that expose them to a high viral load, it is reasonable to state that they simply get sick.
There are many types of disease, and some manifest very differently. Unless the Storyteller wishes to include this level of detail, the following rules can be used. After every long rest, the victim must make a fortitude save with variable difficulty. Every time a save is failed, the victim develops one level of exhaustion that cannot be removed with rest. If the victim succeeds on a fortitude save, one level of exhaustion is removed. They recover from the disease if they make two successful fortitude saves. If a character reaches six levels of exhaustion, they die. Getting complete bed rest offers advantage on the save. Medicine can offer hefty bonuses as well.
Characters who have already experienced a given disease may develop immunity. If the disease is particularly virulent and there is a risk of catching it again, assume the survivor gains advantage on any ensuing fortitude saves to resist. If an epidemic is underway, it is sensible for players to voluntarily catch a disease and weather it under ideal conditions (medicine, rest, magic, etc.) to reduce their chances of catching it later when these things may not be available.
Poison. Poison has two effects. First, it deals a certain amount of damage to the victim. Second, if the victim fails a fortitude save, they will suffer extra damage and some debilitating effect. Unless otherwise noted in the poison's description, the victim suffers disadvantage on attack rolls and ability checks until the poison is treated or overcome. Other forms of poison can induce paralysis, sleep, etc. While most poison damage occurs immediately, the poison's disabling effects normally occur after a variable number of rounds or minutes.
Starvation. If a character goes without food for 2 days, they suffer one level of exhaustion. A character who goes without food loses 1d6 points of endurance a week. Eating normally removes this level of exhaustion after one day, and characters with regular food regain 1 lost point of endurance each day. Dehydration is far more dangerous. If a character goes without water for 1 day, they suffer two levels of exhaustion. Every day a character goes without water, they lose 1d4 points of endurance. Drinking normally removes these levels of exhaustion after one day, and characters with regular access to potable water regain 2 lost points of endurance each day.
Heatstroke. Prolonged exposure to high heat is dangerous to unprotected characters. Depending on the environment and level of exertion, a character in this situation will need to roll a fortitude save after a variable period. Failure causes 1 level of exhaustion. Successive failed checks result in additional levels of exhaustion. If removed from the heat, characters can use an interlude to remove one level of heat exhaustion.
Hypothermia. Prolonged exposure to extreme cold is dangerous to unprotected characters. Depending on the environment, a character in this situation must roll a fortitude save after a variable period. Failure causes 1 level of exhaustion. Successive failed checks result in the loss of 1d4 points of endurance. If taken out of the cold and given a source of heat, a character can attempt one new fortitude save every hour to regain 2 points of endurance. Being immersed in freezing water is extremely dangerous; it forces an immediate fortitude save, with an additional save required for every minute of exposure. Even after removal from the water, fortitude saves must continue every minute, and no attempt at recovery can be made while the character wears wet clothing.
Fatigue
In GSS the most common malady a character can suffer, apart from health loss due to wounds, is fatigue. Fatigue is broken into eight levels, and the effects are cumulative. After intense physical activity, a character may need to roll a fortitude save at the Storyteller's discretion to avoid developing one or more fatigue levels. Going without sleep for a full day also imposes 1d3 levels of exhaustion depending on physical activity. An interlude spent resting lowers fatigue by 2 levels. A full rest removes all levels of fatigue.
A -2 penalty to attacks, saves, and skill checks.
A -3 penalty to attacks, saves, and skill checks.
Speed halved.
Disadvantage to skill checks.
Disadvantage to attacks and saves.
Health point maximum halved.
Speed reduced to 0.
Death.
Madness
Some experiences have the potential to damage the psyche. When a character encounters this sort of thing the Storyteller may call for a sanity test; a will save made to avoid loss of sanity. Every character has a pool of sanity points equal to their spirit statistic or character level (whichever is higher). If their sanity points drop below 50% they suffer a temporary derangement. At 25% sanity, they suffer a second derangement, and at 0% they develop a permanent mental disability that can only be treated by magic or the services of an alienist. While there are many different forms of madness, the table below reflects the six most common derangements experienced by adventurers in response to trauma.
Delusions. The characters come to believe something untrue, and their decisions and actions reflect this belief. If directly challenged on their delusion, they may panic, become hostile, or turn inward and refuse to speak.
Hallucinations. The character occasionally experiences visions of a disturbing nature, typically related to the source of their trauma. These visions are often confusing or jarring, resulting in outbursts or tense silence.
Mania. The character becomes edgy, energetic, and prone to taking risks. They may chuckle randomly, talk to themselves, voice thoughts out loud, or embrace everything they see with suicidal enthusiasm.
Obsession. The character becomes obsessed with something to the point of distraction: an object, a person, an objective, or an activity. They may become frustrated if prevented from indulging in this obsession.
Paranoia. The character fears everything, constantly jumping at shadows and imagining worst-case scenarios. This eventually leads to being suspicious of nearly everyone.
Schizophrenia. The character hears voices, often indistinct and threatening, which cause anxiety. The character may talk to the voices, become agitated, or act like an imaginary friend (or enemy) is speaking to them.
Corruption
Sometimes adventurers encounter situations where they risk corruption by spiritual or psychic force. Corruption is measured on a scale of 1 to 10. As a character's corruption level increases they manifest symptoms. Barring special circumstances, these symptoms progress along the list below and are cumulative:
Minor edginess and unease.
Major edginess, unease, and rare hallucinations.
Physical illness and 1 level of exhaustion.
Minor derangement.
Minor mutations.
Minor alignment shift.
Major derangement and frequent hallucinations.
Major mutations.
Major alignment shift.
Altered identity.
At level 10 a character becomes an NPC under the Storyteller’s control. The effects of corruption only subside when a character's corruption level is reduced by supernatural means. Beyond this, ritual treatment by a zealot character and/or taking sanctuary on sacred ground or drinking sacred water will usually reduce corruption by 1 point per day.