Status Quick Start

GCS · Quick Start

Create one status, decide what a stack means, apply it from a card, and watch its icon and stack count behave in battle.

For your first buff or debuff. Works best right after Card Quick Start, since a card is the easiest way to apply a status.

Statuses carry everything in a GCS battle that outlives a single card play: buffs, debuffs, counters, and ongoing rules. A status definition owns its name, icon, stack behavior, decay behavior, and an optional behavior graph. This page creates one and applies it from a card, which exercises the whole loop.

Step 1: Open Status mode

Open the Workbench and switch to the Status tab:

Tools/TinyGiants/GCS/Game Card Editor

The list shows statuses from the active status databases. The demo ships 30 of them, from Strength and Poison to Holy Shield, and any one of them makes a good template to duplicate with the ⧉ button.

You should see the status list on the left and, for the selected status, its stack fields in the inspector and a preview on the right:

Workbench in Status mode with the status list on the left, the stack and decay fields in the inspector, and the preview on the right

Step 2: Create the status and set its rules

Pick a purpose you can see on screen within one turn. A protection buff, a "takes extra damage" mark, or a stacking burn all qualify. Create the status with + (or duplicate a demo one), then fill the fields:

Field	Guidance
Name	The name the player sees; it names the asset too. `Exposed` beats `dmg_taken_up_2`.
Description	What the status means to the player, in their words.
Type	`Buff` for helpful effects, `Debuff` for harmful ones. It drives how battle UI colors and presents the icon; it changes no math on its own.
Tags	Only if filtering, class identity, or project rules need them.
Icon	A temporary demo icon is fine for the first pass.
Stack Rule	How a new application combines with existing stacks: `Additive` adds them, `Max` keeps the higher value, `Replace` overwrites.
Max Stacks	The stack cap. `-1` means uncapped; a small cap is easier to observe in a first test.
Decay Rule	`PerTurn` removes one stack at the end of the holder's own turn; `Never` keeps the status until something removes it. Use `Never` for the first visibility test.
Show Stack Count	Keep it on whenever the number matters to the player. Turn it off for on/off flags where a count would wrongly imply a countdown.

One timing detail is worth pinning down now, because it decides what you will see in the test: PerTurn ticks on the holder's turn, not yours. A debuff on an enemy loses a stack after that enemy acts. A buff on you loses a stack when you end your turn.

With the rules set, the inspector's Stack foldout should spell out your choices at a glance: rule, cap, decay, and the stack count toggle.

The demo's Burn is that state in shipped form:

Workbench Status mode with the demo status Burn selected, its stack rule, cap, decay, and stack count choices readable in the inspector

Step 3: Say what a stack means

Before touching the graph, write one plain sentence that defines a single stack. For example:

Scorched: each stack marks the unit for burn-related cards.
It does not deal damage by itself.

That sentence is cheap insurance against the most common status mistake: a strong name with no defined behavior. If the status is only a marker, the description should admit it. If a stack should deal damage, grant armor, or draw cards, the status graph has to contain nodes that actually do that. The name alone does nothing.

Step 4: Apply it from a card

Open a simple card in Card mode (the one from Card Quick Start works) and extend its graph with one node:

On Card Played  →  Change Status

On the Change Status node, pick your status in Status, keep Mode on Delta and Amount at 1, and choose the Target: Opponent sends the status to the enemy the card was aimed at, Self puts it on the player. For a debuff test use a single-target attack card with Opponent; for a buff test, Self works from any card.

The demo's Poison is the shipped reference for this pattern. Poison Arrow applies it through a Change Status node, and the status itself owns a graph you can open from Status mode with Edit FlowGraph:

The demo Poison status opened in the FlowGraph window, showing how a shipped status defines its own behavior

Close the graph. The card's Behavior foldout should now list its entry chip, and the card is ready to deliver your status.

Step 5: Test in battle

Put the card in the player's deck and start a fight. Then verify each rule you chose:

The intended unit receives the status and its icon appears.
The stack count shows when Show Stack Count is on.
Playing the card again follows your Stack Rule: two Delta 1 applications read 2 under Additive, stay at 1 under Max or Replace.
The decay follows your Decay Rule at the holder's turn end, not before.

First Battle shows this from the player's side: Poison Arrow leaves the enemy with a Poison icon at 2 stacks. Your status should read just as clearly.

Common mistakes

Symptom	Likely cause
Status never appears	The status database is not active, the graph applies a different status, or the target resolves to no unit.
Stack count is wrong	Stack Rule or Max Stacks does not match the intended math.
Status disappears too early	Decay Rule is `PerTurn` when you meant `Never`.
Status lands on the wrong side	The `Change Status` node's Target is `Self` when you meant `Opponent`, or the other way around.
Players cannot read it	The name and description never say what the status does or whether it helps or hurts.

Step 1: Open Status mode​

Step 2: Create the status and set its rules​

Step 3: Say what a stack means​

Step 4: Apply it from a card​

Step 5: Test in battle​

Common mistakes​