Ability Damage

Condition Severity: Moderate

   Some critical piece of your very being has been carved away, making you less yourself.

Effects

• Diseases, poisons, spells, and other abilities can all deal damage directly to your ability scores. This damage does not actually reduce an ability, but it does apply a penalty upon the affected creature, depending on the ability score which is damaged.
• For every point of damage you take to a single ability, you suffer the following effects, based on the ability which is damaged:

• Strength: -2 points of damage dealt with all attacks (including spells, ranged, etc).
• Dexterity: -1 to AC.
• Constitution: -5 to your maximum hit points. If your current hit points exceed your new maximum, they are reduced to the new maximum amount by this effect.
• Intelligence: -2 to all skill checks and combat maneuvers (including non-INT-based skills).
• Wisdom: -2 from all instantaneous healing received.
• Charisma: -1 to the save DC of any abilities you use.

• The penalties above are cumulative for each point of ability damage inflicted, though no ability score may ever be reduced below 1.

Ended By

If the ability, trap, or effect description includes specific directions for how the condition is ended, then that is the primary means of ending this condition. In many cases, it is the only way to end the condition. If nothing is specifically listed for ending the condition, then the following methods can be used to end it, instead:

• Unless otherwise stated by the spell, ability, or effect which inflicted it, ability damage heals at a rate of 1 point per full night's rest, applied to each ability score that has been damaged. If a character takes a full day of complete rest (24 consecutive hours), they heal 2 points of ability damage to each ability score which was damaged.
• Ability damage can also be healed through the use of Lesser Restoration, Restoration, or Greater Restoration, or through the use of comparable abilities, spells, or effects which specifically state they can be used to cure ability damage.

Array

Ability Dilution → Ability Damage → Ability Drain