8.2 Resources, Injury and Dying

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Resources, Injury and Dying

Character Resources

Player characters each have four main resources which are used throughout the campaign, and which are outlined in more detail below: Will, Grit, Coin and Luck.  Every PC begins the campaign with a score ranging from 1 to 10 in each of these resources (see Creating the Posse).

All character resources are tracked physically at the table using either chips (with specific coloured chips representing Grit, Coin, and Luck), or cards in hand (representing Will).

In the case of Will, Grit, Coin and Luck, the numerical statistic is always equal to the corresponding number of physical components. Any game effect which causes a player to gain or discard a chip or card commensurately raises or lowers the corresponding statistic (and vice-versa). 

For example, some game effects require a character to burn a card - ie, to play a card without drawing a replacement. Doing so reduces the total number of cards a player has in hand by one, so will subsequently reduce that character’s Will score by one. Similarly, being damaged by a weapon will require a player to discard Grit chips equal to that weapon’s Damage rating - this will lower the player’s Grit score by the same amount as the number of chips discarded.

At the end of a session, if the campaign is not completed, the Dealer  should record each player’s current statistics and statuses in the Posse Ledger.

Will

Will represents a character's resolve, strength-of-character, level-headedness, and composure. Each PC begins the campaign with a number of cards in hand equal to their Will,  and their hand size may never exceed ten (so resultingly, the maximum Will score for any PC is 10).

Will is lost when burning cards, which may come about as the result of a player failing tests against horror or the supernatural, using  Invocations or other powerful character abilities, or succumbing to their personality Flaws.

Will is gained when a character overcomes one of their Flaws, and at the end of a session if a player has actively played towards their PC's Motivation and personality (Characteristics and Flaws) they may choose to gain either two Grit or one Will. 

If a PC ever has zero will, they have abandoned all hope and have been overwhelmed by the burdens of the Fronter. They will never find absolution, and will play no further part in the campaign. The Dealer should describe some suitably ignominious and forlorn conclusion to their story.

Grit

Grit represents a character's ruggedness, durability, physical health and vitality. Each PC begins the campaign with a Grit score of between 1 and 10,  and they may never hold more than ten Grit chips (so the maximum Grit score for any PC is 10).

Grit is lost when a PC is damaged in Brawling or by a ranged weapon, or when a PC would suffer ill-health or injury due to a fall, explosion, starvation, poison, exposure, or similar event. The amount of Grit lost due to Brawling or by a ranged attack equal to the Damage rating listed under that weapon's entry (see Equipment for weapon entries, and Violence: Free-for-alls for guidance on Damage values for unarmed combatant or improvised weapons).

For guidance on Grit loss due to other causes (such as falls, explosions or poisons), the Dealer should consider the below:

• 1-2 Grit: for an experience which is likely to lead to pain, discomfort and some loss of function, but which will recover in time with minor care;
• 3-4 Grit: for an experience which will cause non-fatal bleeding, dislocated joints, broken extremities, and cause significant impairment; 
• 5-6 Grit: for an experience which is likely to lead to significant bleeding, to loss of function, and potential death without treatment;
• 7-8 Grit: for an experience where survival is unlikely, and a person would require immediate and significant medical attention;
• 9-10 Grit:for an experience where death is all but certainly, barring a miracle or some immediate and critical intervention.

Whenever a character would lose Grit in this way, they will also acquire an Injury Chip (see Injuries) below. If a character would lose 6 or more Grit in a single instance they instead gain two Injury chips.

Grit may be gained:

• by spending an entire scene resting, and being attended to by either an appropriately-qualified PC with a medicine bag (see Equipment), or an NPC doctor; 
• through the use of certain Invocations;
• at the end of a session if a player has actively played towards their PC's Motivation and personality (Characteristics and Flaws) they may choose to gain either two Grit or one Will. 

Coin

Coin represents an abstraction of a PC's wealth and liquid cash at hand. Each PC begins the campaign with between one and ten Coin chips, and there is no limit to the maximum number of Coin chips a player may hold (and as such, there is no upper limit to a PC’s Coin score).

Coin is spent when purchasing goods or services (see Equipment) or striking deals, and may be wagered when gambling. Coin may be earned by working odd jobs or contracts, taking out bounties, engaging in heists or larceny, or any number of other methods.

Typically, the cost of room, board and sundries when PCs are staying in a town will be equal to one Coin per PC per day. 

Luck

Luck quantifies a PC's capacity to narrowly avoid physical or psychological harms which would otherwise prove perilous on the Frontier. Each PC begins the campaign with between 1 to 10 Luck chips, and there is no limit to the maximum number of Luck chips a player may hold (and as such, there is no upper limit to a PC’s Luck score).

Luck is acquired through successful tests where a PC calls upon one of their Characteristics (see Personality - Characteristics and Flaws).

Luck may be spent in one of two ways:

Avoid Damage:

If a PC fails a Brawling test, or fails a test to avoid a Ranged weapon, or for any other reason would suffer physical damage (loss of Grit chips) as a result of failing a test, they may spend Luck chips to avoid the damage sustained from this peril (including the loss of Grit, acquiring Injury chips, being disarmed or grappled, or any other consequence).

To avoid damage, a PC must spend Luck chips equal to the margin of failure on the test, plus the amount of damage incurred (ie, the number of Grit chips which would be discarded). 

Example: 'Buffalo' Ben Watkins initiates Brawling against a bandit armed with a bowie knife, and when the scores are finalised Buffalo’s player has a total score of 8 and the Dealer has a total score of 10. Typically a bowie knife (which has a Damage rating of 3) would force Buffalo to lose 3 Grit and acquire 1 Injury chip, but  his player chooses to instead spend Luck chips to avoid this damage. The amount of Luck Buffalo is required to spend this way is five (two for the margin of failure, three for the Damage rating of the weapon). Buffalo spends the five required chips, and the Dealer narrates how Bufalo barely ducked out of the way of the bandit’s knife.

Avoid Loss of Will:

If a PC fails a test and would suffer a resulting loss of Will when experiencing a horrific or metaphysical event, confronting a supernatural foe, or as a result of the Dealer using a Woe chip, that player may spend Luck to mitigate the loss of Will.

To avoid loss of Will, a PC must spend Luck equal to double the margin of failure.

Example: Daisy ‘the Kid’ Hutchins has been afflicted with nightmarish visions of her own death, due to the Dealer's use of Woe. She resolves cardplay to attempt to shrug off this effect, and ends with a total score of 12 vs the Dealer’s total score of 15. Typically she would be required to burn the card she played and suffer loss of Will as a result of this failure, however Daisy’s player could choose to instead spend six Luck chips (double the margin of failure) to ignore the loss of Will and draw a replacement card regardless. 

If a PC would suffer both physical injury and loss of Will as a result of the same failed test, they may spend Luck chips to avoid all effects of failure, at a high cost. Calculate the Luck required to do so as double the margin of failure, plus the grit which would otherwise be lost.

Note that regardless of how Luck is spent, spending Luck does not lead to success, it only mitigates the effects of failure. If a PC initiates Brawling against a bandit and fails their test, but spends Luck chips to mitigate the damage they would suffer from the bandit’s attack, this does not retroactively mean that the PC succeeded in their Brawling attempt. It simply means that the NPC’s weapon narrowly missed and did no damage. 

Injuries

Red Chips represent Injuries - players do not start with any Injury chips, they are acquired through play as PCs suffer wounds and other deprivations (see Grit, above). When one or more Injury chips is gained, the Dealer should describe an appropriate narrative injury to the player, which will persist in the campaign until that Injury chip is discarded. 

For example, if a player would gain an Injury chip as a result of a failed Brawling attempt during a fistfight in a saloon, the Dealer might describe the PC as getting their jaw broken.

Whenver a PC holds one or more Injury chips, they suffer a -1 penalty to all cardplay for every Injury chip held. 

Injury chips sustain throughout the campaign, and if any number of PCs end the session with Injuries this should be noted in the Posse Ledger (see Ending the Session).

An Injury chip may only be discarded by spending an entire scene resting, and being attended to by either an appropriately-qualified PC with a medicine bag (see Equipment), or an NPC doctor. Note that each player may only ever discard one Injury chip per session for any reason. 

Dying

Any character (PC or NPC) will die if they either:

• lose all of their Grit;
• acquire five or more Injury chips.

The Afterlife

Given that Texarkana is a horror game, PC deaths are expected. If the session is a one-shot, the PC is simply dead and plays no further role in the story until its conclusion, when the Dealer determines whether they found absolution on the Frontier and how they will be remembered (see Ending the session).

If the campaign will continue though, and the player of the dead PC would like to continue being involved, then a spectral vestige of their PC might remain on the frontier as a lingering presence. In any future campaign sessions, that player continues to use their PC's character sheet,  but always receives a hand of 3 cards per session (regardless of what their PC's Will was at the time of their death).

While lingering, a PC typically cannot engage with the world or be perceived in any way, except under specific circumstances, each of which requires burning a card:

• if any other PC initiates cardplay, the lingering presence can burn a card of a matching suit or value to Assist (see Cardplay and core mechanics);
• if any other PC initiates cardplay, the lingering presence can burn a card of a matching suit or value to apply the effects of a relevant Trait possessed by the lingering presence;
• if the Dealer flips a card and Woe is in effect, the lingering presence  can burn a card matching its suit or value to allow the PC to ignore the effects of Woe until cardplay is resolved (see Skulls cards and Woe); 
• if the Posse devise a course of action yet none of them have the proficiency required to make an attempt, the lingering presence may burn any card to grant temporary proficiency up to the lingering presence's rating in any suit.

In any of these circumstances, the player of the lingering PC should explain in a narratively appropriately way how they intervene (a voice on the wind, reminisces of encouraging words, a ghostly image beckoning the way, etc).

Note that a lingering presence has no equipment. 

Next: Personality - Characteristics and Flaws

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