Initiative and Condition Monitors

As is the case with limits (p. 46, CRB), Initiative and the Condition Monitors are character statistics derived from attributes. They should be calculated during the character creation process (p. 62, CRB).

INITIATIVE

Initiative governs how quickly a character responds in a combat situation. A character’s Initiative attribute is their Reaction plus their Intuition.

INITIATIVE DICE

Initiative Dice, as described on p. 159, CRB, are extra dice used to roll a character’s Initiative Score. They generally come from gear, spells, or adept powers. Everyone has one and can get up to four more (for a total of five) from various gear, spells, and other effects. Hackers get extra initiative dice depending on how they interact with the Matrix (see p. 214, CRB).

CONDITION MONITORS

Condition Monitors are used to track the damage inflicted on a character. Player characters have two Condition Monitors; one tracks Physical damage, the other tracks Stun damage. Each Condition Monitor has a specific number of boxes arrayed in rows of three boxes apiece. The Physical Condition Monitor has boxes equal to half the character’s Body (rounded up) + 8; the Stun Condition Monitor has boxes equaling half the character’s Willpower (rounded up) + 8.
When a row of the Condition Monitor is filled up, the player character takes a –1 penalty to all subsequent tests. This penalty stacks for each row of the Condition Monitor that is filled in.
Obviously, walking around with a damaged Condition Monitor is problematic, and characters will want healing as soon as possible. For possible methods of healing, see p. 205, CRB.