Fatigue & Resting

This chapter covers the Fatigue economy: how every card you play depletes your deck, what happens when your deck runs empty, and how different types of rest restore your resources.

The Fatigue Pile

Every card you play—for checks, attacks, Techniques, Active Guard defenses, and initiative—goes to your fatigue pile. Unplayed cards from draws return to the bottom of your deck. Your fatigue pile is public information: anyone can look at it, including the GM and other players.

Your deck starts at 52 cards. As you act, it shrinks. This creates a natural tension curve: early in a session, cards flow freely. As encounters stack up, your deck thins and your options narrow. High-value cards you played early are gone. Matching-suit cards that might have given Resonance are sitting in fatigue. The question "do I play this card now, or save it?" becomes more pressing with every draw.

Strategic Implications

Deck Exhaustion

If your deck is completely empty when you need to draw, you draw nothing. This is an automatic failure. You are totally exhausted—your character has nothing left to give. Combat checks fail, skill checks fail, initiative produces no result (you act last).

Deck exhaustion is dangerous but rare in practice. Most characters will rest before reaching this point. If it does happen, it's a dramatic moment: the hero has given everything, and now they need rescue.

Resting

Resting is how you recover your deck and, in some cases, your Vitality. There are three rest types:

The Breather: Stamina Without Healing

A Breather gives you your deck back but no Vitality. Your stamina and focus replenish faster than your body heals. A character can catch their breath but still be battered and bleeding—an interesting resource asymmetry that creates real tactical decisions about whether to push forward or commit to a full rest.

Short Rest Strategy

During a Short Rest, you choose which half of your fatigue pile to shuffle back. This adds a micro-strategy layer: do you recover your high-value face cards for raw power? Your matching-suit low cards for reliable Resonance? The party can never fully recharge without committing to a Full Rest, so Short Rests are about choosing which resource matters most right now.

Full Rest

A Full Rest resets everything and should represent real downtime. If players can Full Rest after every encounter, the tension system collapses. Make Full Rests narratively meaningful—they require safety, time, and sometimes a cost (the enemy advances, the timer ticks down, the prisoner suffers another day).

Pacing Guidance for GMs

The fatigue system self-regulates pacing, but GMs should be aware of a few principles:

The Adventure Day

Two to three encounters between rests is the sweet spot for most groups. After one encounter, decks are thinned but manageable. After two, players start making hard choices. After three without a rest, things get desperate—which can be exactly what you want for a climactic sequence.

Encounter Card Costs

Strategic Rest Timing

• Breathers are "cheap" rests—they restore the deck but not health. Players who take Breathers can keep acting at full mechanical efficiency while their Vitality slowly erodes. This lets you string together sequences where the party is functioning but fragile.
• Full Rests reset everything and should represent real downtime. Make Full Rests narratively meaningful—they require safety, time, and sometimes a cost.
• Track fatigue totals openly. Announce how many cards are in each character's fatigue pile at the end of each encounter. This gives the table a shared sense of how depleted they are and creates natural "should we press on?" moments that drive the story forward.

Perks That Affect Fatigue

Several Perks modify how the fatigue system works for your character:

Second Wind

Once per rest, shuffle 3 cards from your fatigue pile back into your deck. You choose which 3 cards. This can be done on your turn as a free action (no action cost). You cannot use Second Wind while Broken. "Once per rest" means it refreshes on a Full Rest only; Short Rests and Breathers do not refresh it.

Iron Will

When your deck has 10 or fewer cards, +1 to all effective values. This applies to all checks including initiative, attacks, Active Guard defenses, and Technique activation. Count your deck before each draw. If a rest or card-return brings you above 10, the bonus deactivates immediately. At exactly 10 cards, the bonus applies.

Resonant Soul

On a Resonance play, draw the top card of your deck and place it on the bottom unseen. Your deck doesn't shrink for that play. This Perk compensates by cycling one card from top to bottom, keeping deck size stable. Triggers on any Resonance play: attacks, Techniques, skill checks, even Active Guard defenses. Does not trigger on initiative (no Resonance check). The cycled card is placed unseen—you don't look at it.

Efficient Fighter

Your first Strike each turn: the played card returns to the bottom of your deck instead of going to fatigue. Only basic Strikes, not Techniques. Only the first Strike on your turn—Brace Reactions and Opportunist Strikes don't count (not your turn). If the Strike is also a crit, effects are redundant—card returns either way. If the Strike misses, the card still returns to deck bottom (doesn't require a hit).

Arcane Battery

When you use a Technique and the played card's base value is 4 or less, the card returns to your deck instead of going to fatigue. Base value means the card's printed number before Resonance. A 3♠ on a Spirit Technique has base 3 (qualifies) even if its EV is 7. Aces are base 14 and never qualify. Works whether the Technique hits or misses. Does not apply to basic Strikes or non-Technique checks.

Managing Your Deck

Smart deck management is the difference between a character who lasts all day and one who collapses mid-fight. Here are some strategic considerations:

Early Encounters: Spend Freely

With a full deck, you have options. Don't be afraid to play high cards for guaranteed successes. Your goal is to clear encounters quickly and efficiently, minimizing damage taken.

Mid-Session: Conservation Mode

As your deck thins, start thinking about card efficiency. Can you meet the DC with a mid-range card instead of burning an Ace? Are there Perks or Talents that can stretch your resources? This is when Resonance becomes critical—a 5♣ for a Body 4 character is EV 9, just as good as playing a raw 9.

Late Session: Desperation Plays

With 15 cards left, every draw matters. The Comet Star Sign (+1 EV when your deck has 15 or fewer cards) starts to shine. Iron Will kicks in at 10 cards. This is where high-stat characters can still pull off dramatic reversals, even with a depleted deck.

The Recover Action

Don't forget that you can spend 2 actions in combat to Recover—choose cards from your fatigue pile equal to your highest stat value and shuffle them back into your deck. This is a powerful mid-fight reset, especially if you can afford to sacrifice offense for one turn. You choose which cards, so grab the ones you need most.