Triggering, Disabling & XP

Triggering a Hazard

A character or group that fails to detect a hazard triggers it and suffers its effect. Describe the hazard's trappings, then have each affected player describe how their character reacts in that instant. Most reactions fall into one of three kinds: Brace for Impact, Jump to Safety or Duck and Cover. Each hazard names the reaction that suits it best and the one that suits it worst: reacting the favoured way rolls the save with Fortune, the worst way with Misfortune. The third, unlisted reaction rolls normally, and so does a character who describes no reaction or one that fits none of the three.

Resetting a Hazard

Some hazards can be reset to trigger again: automatically (quicksand's surface settles after 24 hours) or manually (a hidden pit's trapdoor must be closed to hide it again).

Disabling a Hazard

The most versatile way to deactivate a trap is the Disable a Device action (Thievery), though most mechanical traps can simply be smashed and magical traps can usually be counteracted. Environmental hazards can often be overcome with Nature or Survival. The skill and DC are in the hazard's stat block.

• A character must first detect a hazard (or have it pointed out) to try to disable it. They can try whether or not it has already gone off, though some hazards are no longer dangerous once triggered, especially if they can't be reset.
• For most hazards, a success with the listed skill against the listed DC disables it without triggering it. Other ways to deactivate it, and any extra steps, are in its stat block.
• A critical failure on any roll to disable a hazard triggers it, including a critical failure to counteract a magical hazard.
• Some hazards need several successes (a complicated component, or several separate parts). For a complex component, a critical success counts as two successes on that component.

Damaging a Hazard

Instead of carefully disabling a hazard, a character might smash it. Damaging a mechanical trap or other physical hazard works like damaging an object: it reduces damage by its Hardness. Hitting it usually triggers it (see Attacking a Hazard). At or below its Broken Threshold it is broken and can't activate, though it can be repaired; at 0 Durability it is destroyed and can't be.

A hazard's saves, Hardness, Durability and BT are in its stat block. A hazard that doesn't list one of these can't be affected by anything that targets it: one with Durability but no BT can't be broken, but can still be destroyed. Hazards are immune to anything objects are immune to unless noted, can't be targeted by anything that can't target objects, and may have other immunities, resistances or weaknesses.

Attacking a Hazard

Hitting a hazard, especially a mechanical trap, usually triggers it, though the GM may decide otherwise. An attack that breaks it may stop it triggering, depending on the circumstances. If it has several parts, breaking one may still set it off: severing a tripwire in one place could still fire the attack launched from another. Destroying a trap in one blow almost never triggers it. The same applies to damaging spells and other effects.

Repairing a Hazard

The GM may let a character repair a damaged hazard to make it work again; the details vary by trap. The Repair action may not be enough if it means gathering scattered parts. If the hazard has a Reset entry, the character must do that as well as repairing the damage.

Magical Hazards

Some magical hazards can be removed with the Dispel spell, using a successful Mysticism check against the hazard's Dispel DC (in its stat block). Without Dispel, the effect can be temporarily suppressed with a Mysticism Skill Challenge, taking at least one stretch (10 minutes):

Hazard Experience

A hazard's XP goes into the crew's shared pool like any other XP (it isn't tracked per character); with milestone advancement, treat it as one more thing counting toward the crew's next level, like a finished job or a hard fight. A Reactive hazard is worth one fifth of the XP of a monster of its level (a single resolved moment); a Sustained hazard is worth the full XP of a monster of its level (real ongoing risk and resource cost).

• The crew earns it whether the hazard is disabled, avoided outright or simply endured.
• A hazard triggered again after being reset doesn't give XP a second time.
• A hazard far below the crew's level is trivial and gives no XP, using the same relative-level cut-off as monsters.