Clarification: Fatigue

There are 2 sources for Fatigue. One is Strenuous Activity, the other is Armor Fatigue.
In the case of wearing armor while doing Strenuous Activity, you gain both

For my example, I will say he is running around Chiaroscuro in through out the day and night saving people

• Under standard rule he will be ok, activity wise, for the first 9 hours.
• Let say he started at 9am, so his 9 hours is almost all in the day time.
• Chiaroscuro is pretty hot, but there is a windy breeze and he is often in the Shade of Buildings, I give him a 1 hour penalty
• He is ok for the first 8 hours
• Let say he is wearing Fatigue 1 armor
• He normally need to check fatigue every 4 hours
• But it is hot, he is active (combat and running/jumping is tiring) that is 2 modifiers
• Sun vs Shade means he evens out on that regard
• So he need to check Fatigue caused by armor every hour
• First Hour he Rolls and succeeds - no armor fatigue penalty
• So let say he got unlucky and failed that roll once out of the 9 hours
• He now have a Fatigue Penalty of -1, internal penalty to all actions (including Fatigue Checks)
• This penalty is also armor penalty so it is only gotten rid of by resting for 8 hours outside of the armor, which he cannot do.
• So on the 9 hour he automatically gains a -1 Fatigue Penalty for activity (thus 2 total, 1 needing 8 hour no armor rest, the other is just 1 hour rest)
• At this point he is -2 Internal Penalty to all activities, so his DVs are lowered by 1 already
• Let say he pushes on
• 10th Hour, he rolls 7 dice now (9-2 = 7) and suceeds, no armor fatigue
• He still adds -1 for Activity Penalty
• 11th Hour, -3 now, he rolls 6 dice and suceeds, no armor fatigue, but still activity fatigue
• Now it is night time, and getting cooler and he is in the shade. He now only need to check every 8 hours
  • 4/2 for Heavy Activity
  • x2 for Cool
  • x2 for Shade/Night
• 12th Hour, -4 now, No need to check armor fatigue till hour 19
• 13th Hour, -5 now
• 14th Hour, -6 now
• 16th Hour, -7 now … he is getting groggy and short breathed and his body is in pain, he is nearly at the point in which he passes out (Stamina + resistance = 9, he can only endure maximum of -9)
• He decides he cannot stop, must save the people, and uses 1 WP to channel Conviction
• Penalty is now back to -5
• 17th Hour, -6 now
• 18th Hour, -7 now
• 19th Hour, he rolls 4 dice (9-7 is 2, but Internal Penalty cannot lower dice pool to less than his Essence of 4) and fails, he gains another -1 Armor Fatigue Penalty, and gains -1 for activity penalty for the hour
• He passes out with -9 Fatigue Penalty, and hopefully wakes in 1 hour when he hits -8 due to sleeping 1 hour…. should he survive that long.

Standard Fatigue

• The Interval before Fatigue Kicks in is (Stamina + Resistance + Pertinent Resistance Speciality) Hours
  • Uncomfortable conditions can alter this total, usually no more than -3 hours
• Every Hour after that is an cumulative -1 Internal Penalty to all Actions
• By spending 1wp, one can negate all Fatigue Penalty for 1 action
• Using 1wp to Channel a point of Conviction negates fatigue penalty for the next minute
  • It also lowers the overall fatigue penalty by Conviction Rating
• When Fatigue Penalty exceeds (Stamina + Resistance) the character passes out
• He remains unconscious till her penalty is reduced to below that value (1 hour of sleep will lower it by 1)
• 1 hour of sleep or 3 hours of rest removes another -1
• If character exert herself before all penalty is gone, it immediately starts at the current penalty

Thus without channeling conviction a character can tread water for their ((Stamina + Resistance) x2 + Resistance Specialty) hours before passing out - and drown

• Keep in mind carrying around heavy weight (for one's strength) - such as camping gear - is considered Strenuous Activity
• Also keep in mind that sleep deprivation is a strenuous activity. Even if you just sit in an air conditioned room doing nothing, after certain point trying to stay awake would be considered strenuous. Though the starting time might be 20 hours since you woke up. Then from that point you start the fatigue calculation process.

Armor Fatigue

Armor Fatigue is far more deadly than normal fatigue, and it is generally assume that characters do not wear armor with Fatigue Values for prolonged period of time

• Character need to check for armor fatigue every interval they wear armor
  • 4 hour is the Standard interval for Normal Activity under comfortably cool day
  • For every condition below you half the time between checks
    • Hot Weather
    • Prolonged Exposure to Heat Source (such as sun)
    • Strenuous Activity
    • So Harborheadian soldier fighting in the desert under the blazing sun will have to check for armor fatigue every 30 minutes
  • For every condition below you double the time between checks
    • Cold Weather
    • In Shade (or at night)
    • Resting
  • 8 Hours is the maximum interval between checks
    • Even if the character is air conditioned, sleeping on a bed, and in a pitch black room he will still find it tiring because he is sleeping in armor
• Difficulty of the Fatigue check is the mobility value of the armor
• Armor Fatigue is always rolled - you never use the "double dice pool = automatic success" rule
• The penalty is considered Fatigue Penalty and is inconjunction with the penalties above.
  • If Fatigue Penalty total is (stamina + resistance) the character looses consciousness
• Unlike the above Fatigue Penalty, Armor Fatigue dissipates at the rate of 1 point for every 8 hour of rest outside of the armor

Keep in mind that Jade Armor is not fatiguing at all if attuned for magical material bonus, there are also Charms that lower fatigue penalties.

Core Rule Excerpts

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Strenuous Activity (Resistance)

Exalted 2E - Core Rule, Pg 130
Characters can perform continuous heavy exertion for a number of hours equal to their (Stamina + Resistance + pertinent specialty). Such exertion includes running, swimming, sex or any other athletic activity. For each subsequent hour of activity after that, characters suffer a cumulative one-die internal penalty to all actions from fatigue. Spending a Willpower point negates all fatigue for one action and reduces total fatigue by one. Channeling a point of Conviction negates fatigue for the next minute and reduces fatigue by a character’s Conviction rating. When the fatigue penalty exceeds a character’s (Stamina + Resistance), the character passes out and remains unconscious until she has slept for at least one hour (which removes one die of penalty). Every additional hour of sleep or three hours of rest removes another one die until the penalty is removed. Until the penalty is completely gone, the character automatically begins accruing more penalty dice for doing anything strenuous. Characters who are treading water will drown unless they have a buoyant object to keep them afl oat while they rest.

Particularly extreme conditions of temperature (in either direction) can penalize a character’s effective (Stamina + Resistance) total for the purposes of determining resistance to fatigue. Generally, such conditions do not impose a penalty greater than -3.

Armor Fatigue

Exalted 2E - Core Rule, Pg 130. pg. 374
The third important number is the armor’s fatigue value. Player’s must make a (Stamina + Resistance) roll when their characters wear armor, with a difficulty equal to the armor’s fatigue value. If a player fails the roll, his character takes a -1 internal penalty to all actions due to soreness and fatigue. This penalty continues to accumulate as the character continues to fail Resistance rolls. Accumulated penalties dissipate at the rate of one point of penalty per eight hours of rest outside the armor.

The frequency with which the character has to make these rolls is determined by the weather conditions and the exercise in which the character is engaging. If a character is engaging in normal activity under a partly cloudy sky on a cool day, the player will have to make a roll every four hours of game time that passes. Characters in very hot weather, characters exposed to prolonged sun or characters engaging in strenuous labor will cause their players to have to make a fatigue roll more frequently. For each of those factors (extreme heat, sun and activity), halve the time between checks. The player of a character fighting a battle in a desert under a bright sun would be making (Stamina + Resistance) rolls every 30 minutes of game time.

Characters in the shade, in cold weather, or those not exerting themselves at all, double the time between checks. These factors can offset aforementioned the negative factors. For example, the player of a character exerting himself in cold weather would make Resistance rolls every four hours of game time—four hours, halved for hard labor and doubled for cold weather. The maximum amount of time a character can go between checks is eight hours. Even sleeping in armor is tiring to some degree.

Exalted characters have access to Resistance Charms that offset the negative effects of armor, and jade artifact armor is also known for being less fatiguing.