During the game you may have to suffer what are called Conditions, which can be likened to injuries or afflictions. These occur when you fail to protect yourself in dangerous situations, or when you push yourself to succeed.
There are three physical Conditions and three mental ones. Acquiring a Condition means that you get a -1 modifier to skill tests for that type of action.
Physical Conditions add a penalty to skills related to Physique and Precision. Mental Conditions add a penalty to skills related to Logic and Empathy. Also note that these modifiers accumulate: acquiring two Conditions adds -2 to your skill test. However, it is possible to cure Conditions during the mystery, and no matter how many Conditions you accumulate, you may always roll at least one die.
If you have incurred all Conditions of either type, mental or physical, and then suffer yet another one, you become Broken. The player character cannot continue without medical attention. Being physically Broken can mean that you are exhausted beyond your limits, or have sustained a serious wound. You might be unconscious or dying. Perhaps you have had your leg crushed or been shot in the gut, writhing in agony. While physically Broken you cannot move or do anything but utter a few words at a time.
The Gamemaster decides whether you are able to crawl away, roll to safety, or cry for help. When you are mentally Broken you might be terrified, shocked, or confused. Perhaps you have lost all hope of getting through the situation alive, or lost faith in yourself or your companions. Maybe you can no longer make sense of the world and collapse in tears. While mentally Broken you may move and flee the scene, should you wish to do so, but are unable to engage in any kind of sensible dialogue; at best, you can scream or whimper in monosyllabic bursts.
If you are Broken, you cannot make any successful die rolls, whether physical or mental. You also sustain a critical wound, which means that you must roll on a table to see whether you get a Defect or an Insight.
Conditions can help you portray your character: if she is upset, that should be reflected in how you play her. But in the end, it is of course you who decides the extent to which Conditions will affect the way you play your character.
HEALING INJURIES
After violent or frightening encounters, you and your friends may need to heal your Conditions. This section describes ways in which you can help each other.
TREATING CRITICAL INJURIES
When you have sustained a critical injury that might either kill you or become chronic, someone must treat you with MEDICINE or INSPIRATION before the time limit expires. If it succeeds, you cease to be Broken, while retaining all other Conditions. Extra successes can be used to heal additional Conditions.
If the attempt fails, the person treating you must either find help, gather more medical supplies, or move you to a safer location before she can try again. If no one has successfully treated you before the time runs out, you either die or become permanently Broken. Then it is time to create a new player character.
HEALING CONDITIONS
You can use MEDICINE to heal other people’s physical Conditions, but not your own. You and your patients must spend a full day on treatment, in a secure location where you can drink, eat, and rest. You cannot do anything else that day. Likewise, you can use INSPIRATION to cure others of their mental Conditions. In addition to spending a day, and having access to a safe place, food, and beverages, your friends must willingly engage in close contact and dialogue with you. If the skill test succeeds, your patients heal a total of three Conditions which you distribute between them. They decide which Conditions are healed.
Broken can also be healed this way. Each extra success can be used to heal another three Conditions.
A failed skill test usually means that a day has bee wasted, and may also give an enemy time to take further action against the characters. A patient cannot have her physical or mental Conditions treated by more than one person at a time. However, it is possible for one person to treat the physical Conditions while another treats the mental ones. While you are treating the Conditions of others, you yourself may not receive treatment. That goes for both physical and mental Conditions.
ACTIVITIES
It is possible to heal your own Conditions by engaging in an activity that provides relaxation and rest. Summarize what happens or play a short scene. The activity must involve at least one other person, NPC or player character. For example, you can have a conversation with someone or pray alone in the woods while a friend keeps watch nearby.
Activities heal two mental or physical Conditions of your choice, although Broken cannot be healed this way. Even if multiple player characters are participating in the scene, only one will heal Conditions.
You can heal Conditions through activities once per day, or as often as the Gamemaster sees fit.