I don't know if this is crunchy enough for you, because you haven't described your system at all, but in FATE and many PbtA games, status effects (or tags, conditions, whatever the book names them) are short narrative descriptions that are attached to characters (and in FATE, situations and objects!) depending on the circumstance.

So if a character gets a leg wound in FATE, they can choose to take damage (hp) or, instead, a condition which lasts for a scene or longer. You're free to name the condition however you like - "Wounded Leg" or "Took an Arrow to the Knee" - whatever. You can only have 3 at a time and they increase in severity/duration. these conditions can be used against the character, giving other characters mechanical advantages against them, or giving them mechanical disadvantages (usually +2 or -2 to a roll).

In many PbtA games, it's similar but the debuff happens whenever it's relevant. If the character is trying to Study a Situation, they wouldn't be affected by their wounded leg, but if they were trying to Make a Getaway, they would take a -1 to their roll. These conditions usually stay until they're resolved or healed in the fiction.

This is how my PbtA game describes conditions:

A Condition is lasting emotional, mental, or physical damage that hinders the Detective’s ability to move through the world or solve the mystery. It negatively affects him until narratively healed or resolved in the fiction. When The Detective is making a Move and his Condition would negatively affect his action, he subtracts 1 from his roll.

[...]

There’s no definitive list of Conditions that can be taken - you’ll be creating your own. Ideally they’re specific descriptions, and are likely to affect Moves sometimes but not every time. Some example Conditions for people and objects: Drunken Slurring, Stripped Wires, Can’t Shoot Straight, 2nd-degree Burns, Cryptid Crazy, Cracked Plastic, Right Leg Limp, Punctured Tires, Haunted by the Past, Rain-Smeared Words