When an effect requires you to mark a Stress, do so on the slots on your character sheet. When you mark your last Stress, you become Vulnerable (see the “Conditions” section) until you clear at least 1 Stress.

If you’re ever forced to mark 1 or more Stress but your slots are already full, you must instead mark 1 Hit Point. For example, if an adversary forces you to mark 3 Stress but your Stress is already filled, you instead mark 1 Hit Point. If you would take 2 Stress from an enemy and you have 1 Stress left, you would mark 1 Stress and 1 Hit Point.

As with Hit Points, when you make downtime moves (see the “Downtime” section), you have the opportunity to clear some of your marked Stress. Additionally, as your character levels up, you can choose to permanently increase the amount of Stress they can withstand.

Stress from Adversaries

Some adversary actions require you to mark Stress. These actions represent the adversary’s ability to demoralize your character, exhaust them, or similarly push their physical and mental limits.

Stress from Complications

Your GM can tell you to mark Stress to represent a complication or consequence of an action, especially when a roll doesn’t go as well as it could have. For example, you might mark Stress while having a difficult conversation, clashing swords with a worthy foe, or committing an act of incredible bravery. The GM might also allow you to mark Stress to avoid a different complication.

Stress from Moves

Certain moves require you to mark Stress. Unless an effect states otherwise, you can’t mark Stress multiple times on the same feature to increase or repeat its effects (see the “Spending Resources” section).

You can’t use a move that requires you to mark Stress if you don’t have slots to mark.