Status Effects

Status Effects are conditions applied to a creature as a result of powers, environment or other effects. These conditions typically impose a penalty to creatures in some way. What penalties a creature is subject to is dependent upon the specific Status Effect imposed and the creature's individual abilities.

Cumulative Status Effects

A creature can be subject to multiple status effects at the same time. If a creature is subject to the Save Ends status effect multiple times, the Saving Throw against the effect increases (according to Cumulative Saving Throw rules). Some exceptions to the cumulative nature of Status Effects are as follows:

There are some exceptions to Cumulative Status Effects, which are explained below:

• Ongoing Damage effects always apply separately, even if they are for the same Damage Type and/or the same amount of Damage. Typically this damage will be suffered in different segments (since this timing is based on when the effect was initially applied), but the effects are considered separately even if they occur in the same segment. This means that a creature suffering from multiple Ongoing Damage effects must save from each effect separately.
• Hobbled effects always apply separately. In this vein, damage from multiple Hobbled effects are suffered cumulatively and Saving Throws must be made separately against each effect.
• Marked for Death and Petrified effects have a Cumulative Saving Throw provided they have the same duration. If the effects have a different duration (i.e. Marked for Death (10) and Marked for Death (20)), the effects are considered separately.
• Delayed, Dazed, Stunned, and sometimes other status effects (such as Blinded) have a set duration instead of allowing a Saving Throw. Any Status Effect with a duration does not stack and instead the worse of the two durations are taken. For example, if you are Dazed for 5 segments, and then 2 segments later you are Dazed for 10 segments, you increase your original 5 segment daze to 10 segments, and do not need to wait an additional 10 segments until you may act. Therefore, the two segments for which you have already been Dazed count towards the total 10 segments.
• Delayed, Dazed and Stunned effects do not stack together, the worse effect is taken (with Stun always superseding Daze, and Daze superseding Delay).
• Pain effects are not cumulative and their durations are considered separately, but only the worst Pain effect will apply at any one time. Since most Pain effects are duration based, this may mean that levels of Pain become downgraded as a worse effect expires. For example, if a creature is subject to Pain (2) for 10 segments, and then afflicted with Pain (1) 5 segments later (for 10 segments), it will experience Pain (2) for 5 more segments till the 10 segment duration has expired. It will then experience Pain (1) for 5 more segments, until that effect's 10 segments duration expires. If the Pain effects are of the same level (i.e. Pain (1) and Pain (1)), then the durations are not cumulative and the worst duration is suffered (as per Delayed, etc).
• Powers that state "This effect is not cumulative" cannot be combined with another effect of the same type (usually resulting from the same power).
• Powers that state "This effect supersedes..." overcome and are not combined with the effects stated in the power.

Contradictory Status Effects

Sometimes, a creature may be subject to multiple status effects that seem to contradict each other. In these cases, it is generally left up to the Gamemaster to exert a level of common sense when deciding which effect takes precedence. For example, consider a creature who becomes both Stupefied and Confused. The former Status Effect prevents the target from taking any actions until they Save from the Stupefied condition, which requires them to utilize the Recovery Action to make saving throws. The Confused condition requires the target to roll a percentile each turn to determine whether they can act normally or whether they perform a random action based on the result of their roll. Since you cannot take actions until you save from the Stupefied condition, it is considered common sense that this effect takes precedence over the Confusion effect. In this case, the target must attempt to save from the Stupefied condition on its turn as normal, and then begins to make percentile rolls for Confusion after it saves. If there is every any question as to which Status Effect should take precedence, the decision is left to the Gamemaster's discretion.

Removing Status Effects

Most (but not all) abilities that impose a status effect allow a Saving Throw to remove them. Status effects can also be removed automatically by certain abilities and effects.

Abilities that impose more than one effect

Some abilities can impose more than one status effect (i.e. ongoing 5 fire damage and shaken). These effects are linked together and an ability that automatically removes one, removes all of them. However, a creature that is immune to one part of the status effect does not avoid the rest of the effect.