int StartingConditional()
{
   object oPC=GetPCSpeaker();
   effect eEffect=GetFirstEffect(oPC);
   while(GetEffectType(eEffect)!=EFFECT_TYPE_INVALIDEFFECT)
   { // poll effects
     if (GetEffectType(eEffect)==EFFECT_TYPE_ABILITY_DECREASE) return TRUE;
     eEffect=GetNextEffect(oPC);
   } // poll effects
   return FALSE;
}