Every PC has 9 boxes of stress. When someone marks their 9th box of stress, 2 things happen:

1. They are out of action until the next downtime.
2. They take a new trauma (see below).

“Out of action” means the PC is no longer an active participant in the current job. They could be…

• Present, but too exhausted or overwhelmed to act.
• Unconscious, either left behind or carried by their crewmates.
• Captured by the crew’s opponents.
• Trapped somewhere the rest of the crew can’t recover them.
• Forced to retreat to safety.
• Alive but unable to act in some other way.

Even if a PC maxes out, they can’t exceed 9 stress. If you only have 1 unmarked box of stress, you can’t max out to do something that takes 2 stress.

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