Composure
Composure could be considered something like ‘emotional HP.’ It tracks stress, fear, fatigue, and other things that wear on the body and mind without causing physical injury. All investigators have a maximum of 7 Composure Points, but how easily they lose them depends on the individual.
Composure is not a measure of “sanity” and losing it does not indicate that an investigator has “gone insane,” rather it means that they are too distressed, fatigued, and/or overwhelmed to act effectively in the situation. It is generally reduced when the investigators are exposed to stressful situations or push themselves to extremes, and as they lose their Composure, investigators will find themselves fumbling more often as stress, exhaustion, and fear creep in.
When an investigator is confronted with anything threatening, exceptionally stressful, or otherwise disturbing, they must make a Composure roll.[1] A Composure roll will have a Contextual (not Base) modifier ranging from -3 to +3, depending how emotionally affected the investigator is by the incident. (See Tiers of Fear, below.) If the
If the total modifier is a -3 or worse, the investigator takes 1 extra Composure damage if the roll is anything but a Full Success.
[1 off to the side in the final formatting] Composure Rolls are always Non-Investigative Rolls, so remember the Eureka! Point ability “Focus” can be used on them.
Full Success: No Composure loss, even if the modifier was -3 or worse.
Partial Success: 1 Composure loss. If the modifier was -3 or worse, this is increased to 2 Composure damage.
Failure: 2 Composure loss. If the modifier was -3 or worse, this is increased to 3 Composure damage.
Composure Points cannot go into negative values. Instead, any Composure loss beyond zero rolls over into Superficial Damage.[1] The Superficial Damage that results from Composure loss is not reduced by armor or any other item or ability that would reduce damage. See p.XX, “Character Health & Status”.
[1 off to the side in the final formatting] So if an investigator had 1/7 Composure, and lost 2 points of Composure, they would take 1 Superficial Damage.
[1.1 off to the side in the final formatting] This does mean that investigators can potentially pass out or even drop dead as a result of overwhelming stress or fatigue.
As investigators lose their Composure, well, they start to lose their composure. Sweat drips into their eyes, their hands start to shake, they make rash and hasty decisions, and screw up tasks that they’re usually good at. Composure “caps” Base Modifiers on rolls. The sum of penalties and Base modifiers on any given roll cannot be higher than an investigator’s current Composure. What this means is that a high Base modifier can negate penalties as normal, but there is a ceiling to how much benefit a scared and stressed investigator can get from their Skills.
For example, say an investigator has 1 Composure Point remaining and a +3 in Close Combat. When making a Close Combat roll, the full Base modifier of +3 won’t apply in most circumstances. If there are no penalties, the Base modifier will be capped at +1. However, if some circumstance is applying a -2 penalty to the roll, then the Base modifier of +3 negates the -2 penalty and is still able to add +1 to the roll, which is under the Composure cap. Both situations would add a total of +1 to the roll.
Contextual modifiers, however, are not affected by Composure. So, for example, if that same investigator has 1 Composure Point remaining, and they make a Close Combat roll while acting within their Truth, then they get the capped +1 Base modifier and also the +1 Contextual modifier from their Truth, adding up to a +2 total modifier for the roll.
Excerpt from #Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy. anim-ttrpg.itch.io/eureka-urban... #ttrpg #indiettrpgs #composure