Status Conditions

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Status Conditions

In D&D and Pathfinder, status conditions date all the way back to the mighty Gygax. But old EGG was kind of a jerk, to be honest. (Seriously? A Sphere of Annihilation trap in the first room?! Dick move, man.)

So we are addressing status conditions, with an eye to the overriding point of all gaming: Having fun.

Frankly, missing an entire combat or gaming session because you rolled a "1" at the wrong time sucks. Bad luck is part of gaming, but bad luck that ruins your fun should not ever have a place at any gaming table that doesn't involve money.

To dive right in, all the status conditions in Epic Path are included in the table below, sorted into arrays: You can search the page to find them by name, or click in each header to sort alphabetically per column. See below the table for explanations of what arrays are and how they may optionally be used to add even more dynamism to conditions.

Status Condition Arrays

Weak	Moderate	Strong
Ability Dilution	Ability Damage	Ability Drain
Anxious	Startled	Panicked
Bruised	Bleed	Ruptured
Cloistered	Displaced	Exiled
Dazzled	Blind	Fogged
Distracted	Mesmerized	Fascinated
Drowsy	Sluggish	Asleep
[[Energy Drain]]	[[Energy Drain]]	[[Energy Drain]]
Fatigued	Exhausted	Incapacitated
Flat-Footed	Wobbly	Helpless
Gagging	Choking	Asphyxiating
Grabbed	Grappled	Pinned
Hindered	Entangled	Entrapped
Humbled	Slandered	Disgraced
Impaired	Crippled	Maimed
Influenced	Charmed	Dominated
Jinxed	Hexed	Cursed
Jostled	Rattled	Stunned
Muddled	Baffled	Confused
Nervous	Trembling	Cowering
Quelled	Prone	Splayed
Shaken	Cringing	Frightened
Sickened	Afflicted	Nauseated
Slowed	Immobilized	Paralyzed
Torpid	Benumbed	Petrified
Unsteady	Disoriented	Dazed
Vexed	Antagonized	Compelled
Weakened	Withered	Atrophied

Status Arrays Explained

The first thing we did for status conditions in Epic Path was examine all the status conditions in Pathfinder and categorize them as Strong, Moderate, or Weak. We then did a lot of play testing and designed a LOT of new status conditions that do a wider variety of interesting and inconvenient things to you, with an eye to making the variety of things that can happen wide enough that the game always feels dynamic and fresh.

All these status conditions are arranged into Arrays, with a Strong, Moderate, and Weak condition which are thematically similar. For example, Prone is a Moderate status condition which is quite common and has been in the game for ages and ages. We have added a weak condition, Quelled, which is a weaker version of Prone, to simulate that you have been knocked to one knee, or turned around, or otherwise discombobulated in a way not as bad as getting knocked completely to the ground. We then added a Strong condition, Splayed, which is like being knocked Prone but worse, so that you are splayed out spread-eagled on your back, or jumbled up in a heap of limbs, or otherwise just completely discombobulated. Like prone, but worse. We applied this same principal to all conditions.

A Strong status condition is a hard control: If you are hit with one of these, you are often very limited in what actions you can take until the condition is removed. These are things like dominated, stunned, nauseated or petrified. Some strong conditions even force you to use your actions in particular (usually bad) ways, such as running away screaming. Fear sucks.

A Moderate status condition severely degrades your ability to act, but doesn't prevent you from acting entirely. Things like entangled and prone fall here.

A Weak status condition is a soft control: They are debuffs to your a defined set of actions which make you worse at being an adventurer. Annoying, but not nearly as crippling as a Moderate or a Strong status. But be careful, getting several Weak statuses stacked up on you will, indeed, ruin your ability to be effective. Although it can be kinda cool to see a dude keep on operating under a pile of troubles.

In the Status Array above, we list out all the Strong, Moderate, and Weak conditions sorted into columns for each rank of severity. This allows the use of the optional At-Risk mechanic (see next section).

Unless otherwise defined, all status conditions persist until the end of the encounter in which they were inflicted, unless actively removed. Most if not all of the Status Conditions have 'common sense' removal conditions right in their write-up: For example, Prone can be removed with a move action, as described in the status description. Note that many, if not most, of the Monster Bestiary Entries and Item Descriptions also include more detailed and usually more generous expiration and removal conditions. In all cases, defer to the Monster or Item description, then the actual condition write-up page, and last to the general rule, for removal of status conditions.

At-Risk

Status Arrays allow the referee to (optionally) declare that all monsters and spells which inflict a Strong condition upon a failed save to now inflict the associated Moderate condition instead. This removes most cases of 'instant suck' from the game. To maintain balance, Strong conditions also place the victim in an At-Risk state. To resolve At-Risk, use the following progression.

When a condition is applied, if it is a Strong condition, instead bump it down to the associated Moderate condition in the Status Array and allow a save at the listed DC. If this is successful, resolve as normal. If this save is failed, the character is affected by the Moderate condition and gains the special At-Risk condition, which CANNOT be cleared in any way except by resolving the underlying condition. An At-Risk character must roll a second save at the end of their NEXT turn against the original DC of the status. If this second save is successful, the Moderate condition changes to the associated Weak condition. If this second save is failed, the Strong condition is applied as normal. The Weak condition gained from At-Risk always lasts one round, ending at the end of the characters next turn.

Similar conditions from any number of sources do not stack, as per the normal rules. It is possible (if your DM hates you) to have multiple At-Risk rolls to make, as long as they are from different rows of the Status Array. All these rolls and effects are resolved separately at whatever DC applies to each one.

Only Strong conditions can place a character At-Risk. A moderate or a weak condition which is applied directly from a monster is not affected by these rules, they are only triggered by 'save or suck' Strong conditions. Optionally, GM's can also create attacks which inflict a moderate status condition, that then reduce to a weak status condition on a successful save. Noe that it is possible (although mercifully rare) for extremely powerful monsters to have String conditions against which there is no save: Players should be prepared with alternate methods of handling such situations, as such terribly unfair attacks are not subject to the At-Risk mechanic unless the referee especially grants such a mechanic.

Spells or abilities which cure the strong status condition also cure the moderate and weak conditions of that condition's array.

Creatures immune to a strong condition are generally afflicted with the moderate condition of its array instead.

Some abilities, such as the paladin's immunity to fear protect against multiple conditions.

Status Array Example using At-Risk

Say you want to make a creature which has a Panicked attack (or you want to adjust an existing monster). Using the table above, you would find the Panicked condition's row, and the special attack would inflict a Startled condition on any target that fails the save, instead of Panicked. At the end of any afflicted player's next turn, they would make a second save, and if they fail that save as well, they become panicked. If you wish, this creature's attack could inflict the weak status: Anxious, even if a successful save is made, or only inflict it if the first save is failed but the second save is made. Any player with the Anxious status suffers its effects for 1 round and then it ends.

Other Ways To Modify Status Conditions

GM's can strengthen or weaken status conditions using several simple methods.

Weakening the Severity

• The creature can only use the ability once per encounter.
• A PC may not be the target of the ability more than once per encounter (or hour, or day, or ever).
• The status condition wears off (or is reduced to a lower status on the array) automatically after 1 round.
• The ability requires a full attack action to use.
• The ability is single-target.
• The ability requires a to-hit roll, in addition to allowing a save.

Strengthening the Severity

• The creature can use the ability once per round.
• The ability is always on.
• The ability always inflicts the weak status on any successful save.
• The ability requires only a swift action to use.
• The ability has an area of effect.
• The ability requires a to-hit roll, but does not allow a save.

Curing Status Effects

Most status effects last a fairly short period of time, as defined in the creature or item writeup, then the status writeup, then in the general rule above. The exact time when the effects end are usually described in the power of the creature who inflicts the status effect. If there are ever status effects which persist, the Lesser Restoration, Restoration, and Greater Restoration spells have been updated to reflect the fact that those spells cure just about anything.

In addition, the Heal and Mass Heal spells will instantly remove a considerable array of deleterious conditions.