Active Effects
Active Effects (AEs) provide a mechanism for modifying Agents and Items, either on a temporary or permanent basis.
An Active Effect can be applied directly to an actor, where it may have a limited duration (e.g., stimulants that suppress exhaustion) or function as a permanent modifier (such as a house rule that grants additional HP). Alternatively, an Active Effect can be attached to an item, in which case the effect is applied to any actor while the item is equipped.
Important
Active Effects are not currently supported for NPCs, Unnaturals, and vehicles.
To add an AE to an Actor, navigate to the Effects tab and click + Add Active Effect. Open the Changes tab, click + and select the desired Attribute Key, the Type of modification and enter the corresponding Value.
Foundry Virtual Tabletop provides five core change modes, which the Savage Worlds system does not change, but an explanation is still provided here for your convenience.
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Add: Add a number. -
Subtract: Subtract a number. -
Override: Completely replaces the value.
Foundry processes AEs by priority, where higher numbers apply later and take precedence. AEs are executed from lowest to highest priority (e.g., 10 before 20). If no priority is set, a default based on the application mode is used (e.g., 20 for Add).
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Add/Subtract(Default: 20): Effects stack in order, with higher priorities building on earlier changes. -
Override(Default: 50): Effects fully replace values on the set priority. When multiple overrides target the same attribute key, the highest priority is applied last and determines the final result.
AEs can be attached to Armor and Weapons, in which case the effect is applied to any actor while the item is equipped. AEs on Disorders activate automatically during an Acute Episode (toggled by the Acute Episode checkbox on the Disorder).
Note
See above for the Attribute Key, modification Type, and the corresponding Value and Priority.
Important
Currently, items cannot transfer their AEs to NPCs, Unnaturals, and vehicles.
