Simple rules.
Complicated situations.

The Last War left broken routes, weakened settlements and dangerous opportunities. Build a home, restore a community and decide whom your power serves. Your deeds can earn authority to govern and defend a settlement, but its rulers may demand actions that harm the people you protect. Becoming stronger takes time; an unopposed threat can use that opportunity too.

What you need

One GM, players, character and party sheets, a way to record changes, and dice in d4, d6, d8, d10 and d12 sizes. Keep distinct colors for Affinity and supplemental dice. Use the Player Options book for selections and equipment; keep the quick references within reach.

How play works

The GM describes the situation. Say what you want to accomplish and how. Establish whether the method can work and what is at stake. If success is clear, describe it; if the result is uncertain and consequential, use a Test, Contest or the printed attack procedure. Resolve consequences, then record changed resources, Conditions, Tallies and shared circumstances.

Your first session

For a quick start, choose a pregenerated character and read its four sheet pages. For a new character, follow Character creation below and choose from Player Options. The Bleeding Grave is a short GM-run opening; Bitter Cargo supports a longer campaign. Players should read only its separate player briefing before play.

Reading an entry

Name - Category identifies the entry. Requires gives eligibility. Use gives timing or trigger, targets, reach, cost and frequency. Effect gives resolution, consequences and endings. Follow printed exceptions; omitted fields use the shared rules. Flavor appears in italics and grants no additional effect. Profile statistics are separate.

Preparing or acting quickly

Instruction, supplies, restored workshops, allies and information can improve your chances. Their availability depends on the people and routes you help restore, as well as Gold. You can also improvise or confront a threat early. Keep the benefit of what you accomplish: later danger does not erase a repaired road or a rescued person.

Finding a rule

Read the procedure in this book, then the exception in your ability or item. Player Options collects character choices, all Techniques including spells, equipment, magical items, biome resources and crafting effects. Creatures, Monsters, Wicked Ones and Followers, and NPC Reference are GM companions. The quick references summarize these rules; they do not add permissions.

State your intent and method. The method determines the relevant Skill; describing an action differently does not let you substitute a stronger Skill unless you actually change how you approach it.

An obvious success needs no roll. An impossible method also needs no roll: change your position, preparation, equipment, information, or approach until success becomes possible.

Tests

Roll the applicable Skill die. The ordinary Target Number is 4. A result meeting or exceeding the TN succeeds.

A specific rule or valid circumstance may establish another TN. A GM-created difficulty must remain reachable using the legal dice and effects available to that attempt. Do not substitute an unreachable TN for explaining why the method cannot work.

A specific rule can create an unreachable TN. For example, a Death Test increases its TN with negative Resolve. If the legal result cannot reach that explicit TN, it fails automatically.

Contests

Both participants roll the applicable Skill or dice specified by the effect. Resolve legal effects that can still change the result. The higher final result wins; the defender wins a final tie.

On Tests and Contests, each additive supplemental die must come from a distinct source: a specific effect, item, ability or independently assisting ally that actually grants that die. Repeated spending or activation of the same source cannot add more dice. Advantage copies are not additive dice. Printed attack and defense pool purchases retain their own rules.

Do not finalize a Test or Contest while a legal Reaction, reroll, replacement, or other effect still has the right timing to alter it. A result-changing ability needs its own valid trigger and timing.

Advantage and Disadvantage

Roll two copies of the affected die and retain the higher for Advantage or lower for Disadvantage. Apply only to the named component. Advantage and Disadvantage cancel and do not stack. Normally only the retained result counts. Formal Training has an explicit exception: an eligible maximum among paid training Advantage copies can grant progress. An unretained result does not trigger a combat critical.

Skills and Hindrance

Begin with the governing Affinity, then apply permanent Skill specialization, maintained Training, Hindrance, and immediate Advantage or Disadvantage.

Each applicable Hindrance stack lowers the affected Skill by one die size. Apply all relevant die-size changes together: penalties stop at d4 with Disadvantage; boons stop at d12 with Advantage. Further steps beyond either boundary grant no additional copies. Movement reductions accumulate to 0 feet; movement is then unavailable until the cause changes. Use a normal Test or Contest for consequential terrain or hazard uncertainty, not a separate resolution system.

An unavailable method receives no die. The d4 floor does not make an impossible defense or action possible.

The die ladder is d4, d6, d8, d10, d12. Applicable die-size increases and reductions stack and cancel step for step.

Resolve each procedure through this shared engine. A catalog entry supplies permission, costs, timing, applicable dice, targets, effects and exceptions; it does not create a second general resolution system.

Example: a Test and a contested hold

You cross a narrow, unstable beam while carrying supplies. If the risk matters, the GM calls for Maneuver against TN 4. Your d8 rolls 5: you cross. Crossing a sound bridge in ordinary conditions needs no roll. A blocked passage that your method cannot cross needs a changed approach, rather than an unreachable TN.

An opponent establishes a bodily hold using Force + Might. It rolls 3 + 5 = 8; you resist with Maneuver + Agility and roll 4 + 3 = 7. The hold succeeds. If its establishing Might is d8, an appropriate release Action later uses a Skill Test against TN 8, not a new opposing roll. Cutting an accessible binding can remove uncertainty when the method plainly works.

Turn order and ending a turn

Turn order proceeds clockwise around the table, beginning with the player seated immediately to the GM's left. After the last player acts, the order reaches the GM's seat. During the GM slot, each active foe takes one turn in an order the GM chooses; then a new round begins with the player to the GM's left. Resolve opposed rolls when they arise as part of the current turn, including defenses triggered during a foe's turn. A round ends after the GM slot. A foe with no valid decisions ends its turn; a foe may end early as a player may.

Surprise

Before combat begins, determine each unit’s awareness of the opposition. A unit unaware of every opposing unit is Surprised. If concealment makes awareness uncertain, resolve the concealed unit’s Maneuver + Agility against the observer’s Perception + Intellect; the observer wins ties. Use an existing applicable concealment record. An effect that reveals a unit establishes awareness unless another effect explicitly prevents that revelation.

Surprised: Reactions are unavailable until the start of the unit’s first turn in that combat. At that point Surprise ends and its Reaction becomes available. Keep normal turn order, Movement, Action and Bonus Action.

Movement

A grid space represents 5 feet. Split Movement around your Actions and Bonus Actions unless a rule prevents it. Dash uses your Action to gain additional Movement equal to your current Movement for that turn.

Standing from Prone/Toppled normally costs 5 feet of Movement when you are physically able to stand.

For each Might die step below worn armor's Requirement, reduce Movement by 5 feet, to a minimum of 0. This burden is separate from the armor's Withstand Support. At 0 Movement, Evade is normally unavailable unless an explicit rule supplies another legal method.

Alternate movement modes require permission from the character's capabilities and the situation. Having a Movement value does not itself grant Flight or Tunneling.

There is no universal opportunity attack. Moving past an enemy or leaving its reach does not automatically trigger an attack. Specific abilities, Techniques, hazards, or restraints may create their own movement triggers.

Each turn provides Movement, one Action and one Bonus Action. An Action may exchange down into another Bonus Action; a Bonus Action does not exchange upward. You may end your turn whenever you choose. A Reaction requires its valid trigger and permission; it refreshes at the start of your next turn. General Reaction-to-Reaction chains require an explicit exception.

Weapons and Spell Foci supply their printed damage dice. Techniques and authorized resource expenditure can add damage, strengthen a defense or change a die as their entries state. A listed Skill identifies the method, Training bank or an explicitly required roll; it is not an automatic third attack die. Use one applicable defensive Skill plus its governing Affinity, not two unrelated Skills to fill a pool. A damage type describes harm, not delivery: follow the entry for avoidance, interception, bodily resistance or supernatural defense.

Spend an Action for an ordinary attack. Declare its target and method, then roll the assigned Affinity plus the supplemental die supplied by the weapon or Spell Focus. The source specifies die size and any exceptional quantity: "a d8" means one d8. Add only explicitly granted supplemental dice. Complete the Affinity critical chain before defense, then total the Damage Pool. Only the assigned Affinity die can trigger a critical. On its maximum, keep the result, reroll that same Affinity die and add; continue while it rolls its maximum. Roll weapon, Spell Focus, Skill and supplemental dice once unless an explicit Technique says otherwise.

Resisted hostile effects default to the acting Skill + its assigned Affinity against the resisting Skill + its assigned Affinity, including racial abilities and Technique follow-ups. Only Affinities crit; the defender wins ties. An explicitly stated TN Test or exceptional resolution remains its own procedure. Incapacitation preserves applicable bodily Withstand without a new Reaction; other methods require explicit permission.

Ordinary physical attacks permit feasible Evade, Block or Withstand unless their source restricts the choice. Choose one legal method for each incoming threat: Withstand + Vitality, Perception + Intellect, Block + Might, Composure + Tact, Evade + Agility, or Ward + Spirit. A defensive Reaction remains active until the start of your next turn; choose a different appropriate method against a later threat without spending another Reaction. Roll fresh for each threat. Withstand is an alternative, not a second roll after Evade or Block. An unavailable method grants neither die. Defender wins ties in resisted control Contests.

Perceptual deception uses Perception + Intellect; influence uses Composure + Tact; spiritual intrusion, hostile time alteration, resisted magical tracking and direct magical harm use Ward + Spirit. Biological affliction uses the actual Withstand Skill + Vitality when its source calls for a Contest, or the actual Withstand Skill alone when its source calls for a Test. Armor and unarmored physical-protection limits do not reduce resistance to an internal toxin or other bodily affliction. Apply any explicit condition-specific die change or Resistance only as its source states. Avoidance uses Evade + Agility; interception uses Block + Might with a suitable implement. Each entry names its applicable method. Never automatically layer defenses because an attack has multiple damage types or is magical.

Resolve a physical attack in this order:

Use one permitted defense per incoming threat. The defensive Reaction allows an appropriate method each time; it does not lock you into the first choice. Purchased supplements apply only when using the method for which they were purchased and remain available until the Reaction ends. They do not transfer to another method or add a second defense.

Evade: roll Evade + Agility when movement or positioning can avoid the attack. If its completed total equals or exceeds the Damage Pool, the attack misses. Otherwise subtract that total once; the remaining attack is a Hit. Do not add Withstand afterward. An unavailable Evade contributes no reduction.

Block: roll Block + Might with a suitable implement and subtract the completed total once. Block can reduce damage to 0 but cannot turn the Hit into a miss. If the source instead permits Withstand, roll Withstand + Vitality as the one defense. Do not add Block and Withstand together.

Damage type: keep each damage type identified and apply the defensive measures appropriate to that type and delivery. Apply Weakness, Resistance, or Immunity to the relevant portion; Resistance halves, rounding up, and alone cannot reduce positive damage to 0. Immunity removes only its damage type.

After the one assigned defensive reduction and the relevant type interactions, apply explicit buffers, then remaining damage to Resolve. Do not make an automatic passive Withstand roll.

Damaging Hit: the attack is a Damaging Hit only if this attack source reduces the target's Resolve after defense. A later Condition tick or other ongoing damage is attributed to its own source and does not satisfy a trigger requiring a Damaging Hit from the attack.

Resolve other source-attributed riders, then Hope and death if the result is lethal.

Keep mixed damage separated through its type interactions. A defensive reduction is one budget: allocate it only to portions the method can reduce, following the effect entry’s stated allocation. Do not subtract the full defensive total independently from every component. Resolve remaining portions and buffers before Resolve loss.

Defensive supplements: the normal legal Skill + Affinity defense costs no Stamina or Mana. During your defensive Reaction, pay 2 Stamina per physical supplemental die or 3 Mana per mental/spiritual supplemental die. Each die matches the effective defensive Skill when purchased, including equipment limits, and never crits. There is no purchase cap beyond resources. Roll purchased dice afresh with their own method against each applicable threat until the start of your next turn; pay once, not per attack. You may purchase more before a subsequent threat resolves. Changing methods does not transfer or erase these method-specific purchases. Only the Affinity crits.

Armor uses a Might Requirement and Withstand Support. For reducing external physical damage, use the lower of your Withstand Skill and the protection’s Support die; add Vitality separately. Unarmored physical protection supports d4 unless an explicit ability states otherwise. This limits that damage-reduction roll, not the underlying Withstand Skill or rolls to resist bodily afflictions. Natural protection follows its printed benefit; count it as armor only if its entry says so, and retain benefits that require being unarmored when no armor is worn. For each Might die step below its Requirement, reduce Movement by 5 feet, to a minimum of 0. Armor permits trained physical Withstand; it does not supply a replacement Skill die. For example, Withstand d4 + Vitality d8 in d12 armor rolls d4 + d8; training can raise this to d12 + d8. Against internal afflictions use actual Withstand, with d4 as the fallback; armor contributes nothing. Armor does not add flat damage reduction and does not protect against Bleeding or toxins already acting inside the body.

A suitable shield enables Block and sets its protection ceiling: use the lower of Block Skill and the shield’s defensive die. A weapon that can reasonably intercept the attack permits Block up to its Weapon Die, still limited by actual Block Skill. Parry is weapon-based Block, not a separately learned Technique; supplements use the general defensive purchase rule. Block is an active defense, not a second flat damage-reduction layer. Weapons state a Weapon Die, Damage Type, relevant Requirement, and any rules-bearing Tags. Catalog entries, item prices, tags, Properties, and crafting effects remain separate required content.

For an area or pooled multi-target effect, roll the shared Affinity and supplemental pool once, completing the Affinity chain before defenses. Resolve that completed pool separately against each originally declared target. Each gets one fresh appropriate defense. A critical adds no targets. Carryover needs an explicit Technique or source permission and never repeats the original pool or paid supplements.

Additional Mana or Stamina may buy supplemental offense or defense dice only through a printed rule, potentially gated by a Technique or special item. They add to that person’s current total without adding another Affinity die. The rule states cost, die size, quantity, timing and any alterations or negations. Bonus Actions remain choices for explicit tactical techniques; they do not automatically grant extra dice.

Damage types

Classify damage by how it harms, not its source. Holy and Unholy are source descriptors, not damage types or moral verdicts. Wound entries may retain slashing, piercing or bludgeoning as delivery qualifiers for a narrowly printed interaction; those qualifiers do not create additional types. A source-specific Weakness to Holy-tagged damage does not become Weakness to all Rend. Damage types grant no automatic Condition, Affliction, equipment destruction or ongoing damage. Add another type only for a meaningful form of harm outside these definitions.

Example: damage is already in the attack roll

An attack uses Agility d8 and a d6 Weapon Die. The Affinity rolls 8, then 3 on its critical reroll; the weapon rolls 4. The completed Damage Pool is 15. The defender chooses legal Evade d8 + Agility d8 and rolls 6 + 5 = 11. Evade fails to avoid the attack and reduces it once, leaving 4 Wound before applicable type interactions and buffers. Do not add another Withstand roll.

If the defender instead rolls an Affinity maximum of 8, then 6 on its critical reroll, with an Evade result of 4, its defense totals 18. The attack misses. Both sides can critically succeed before the final consequence is resolved. A weapon maximum alone does not crit.

Example: changing your defense

You buy one Block supplement for 2 Stamina during your defensive Reaction. It remains available for Block until your next turn. Against a later threat you may choose legal Evade instead, but the purchased Block die does not transfer. If you Block another applicable attack before the Reaction ends, roll the supplement fresh without paying again.

Affinities

The defensive Skills most often used by attacks and effects are Evade, Block, Withstand, Ward, Perception, and Composure. The source identifies which defenses apply; do not assume every defense applies to every source.

Begin with six d8 Affinities. You may exchange equal die steps among Affinities, keeping each within d4-d12. For example, lower one d8 to d6 to raise another d8 to d10. Skills begin from their governing Affinity and may diverge through explicit rules. An Affinity sets a Skill’s starting die, not its permanent ceiling.

Start with no Training Tallies. Choose one free starter method under the Starter Technique rule below. No free Affinity increases are granted. Affinities remain innate; Skills can improve through Training.

Choose your Race, Homeland, and Profession/Education from the Player Options: Character choices. Each has a separate purpose:

Race: inherited physical or metaphysical capabilities.

Homeland: transferable regional or cultural capabilities.

Profession/Education: practical training, methods, tools, and domain knowledge.

An Archetype is a concept or example build, not another mechanical layer. Magical Techniques express learned mastery through a named Skill. Talent, session-XP Levels and separately awarded Perks are retired.

Starter Technique

At character creation, choose one Tier-1 spell or an Accessible Technique. Learn it for free in your Starter slot, which grants no resource growth or Skill die increase. You can learn nine additional Techniques through normal advancement. The Starter slot remains separate: a replacement must also be introductory or a Tier-1 spell, meets its actual requirements and grants no resource growth. All ten learned methods remain unique unless an entry explicitly permits repetition.

Skill scope

The eighteen Skills describe methods, not compulsory combat roles. Roll the Skill resolving the declared uncertainty; another roll is justified only for a distinct consequential uncertainty. Labor replaces Lift. Multiple Skills listed on equipment are applicable alternatives or different uses, never an instruction to add them together.

Vitality. Exert sustains bodily output; Withstand resists bodily harm, stress and afflictions, including poisons and disease; Recover manages recuperation. Force overcomes external resistance, while Labor handles loads.

Might. Force imposes physical power against resistance; Block intercepts or braces against force; Labor lifts, hauls, digs and manages loads. Load bearing does not guarantee fragile handling.

Agility. Aim places directed attacks precisely, including melee; Evade avoids threatened contact; Maneuver controls movement, footing and delicate handling. Avoidance does not replace every escape or route procedure.

Intellect. Cunning examines evidence, connects clues and works out explanations; Perception notices and recognizes details, threats and deception; Crafting designs, builds, repairs and operates tools or technical methods. Cunning does not take over social deception from Presence or Influence. Established knowledge needs no automatic recall roll; a procedure or uncertain clue supplies the actual Test.

Tact. Presence establishes a convincing presentation through performance, assumed identity, authority or attention; Composure preserves composure and judgment against fear, provocation or coercion; Influence obtains voluntary agreement or cooperation, including negotiation and bartering. Presenting an identity uses Presence; forging its credentials can use Crafting. Roll only the consequential uncertainty, not both automatically. No social roll grants unstated authority or removes agency.

Spirit. Invoke projects supernatural effects; Ward resists spiritual or magical intrusion when assigned; Attune establishes and manages supernatural connections. Magic uses its named Skill and Affinity, not automatically Spirit.

Knowledge: when Race, Homeland, Profession, a Contact or a learned Technique clearly supplies relevant knowledge, provide it without a roll. When consequential recall or application is uncertain, use the Skill appropriate to that task. Cunning is deliberate inquiry, not a mandatory roll for every fact.

Common Skill applications

Stealth and concealment. Maneuver controls quiet movement and concealment of your own position; an active observer uses Perception in the applicable Contest. Crafting prepares camouflage or hides an object; Presence passes openly as someone who belongs. Choose the uncertainty that matters rather than requiring every method.

Navigation, tracking and survival. Cunning follows evidence or establishes a route through inquiry; Perception notices trails, landmarks or dangers; Maneuver traverses difficult ground. Finding food uses the actual method, such as noticing a resource, following signs or making a hunting attack. Routine established knowledge requires no roll.

Animals and riding. Influence obtains cooperation through an approach the animal can understand; it does not imply human speech or automatic obedience. Maneuver handles riding and the rider’s position. Labor manages harnessing, draft work and loads. Ordinary care follows established knowledge.

Effort, work and exposure. Exert sustains effort, such as prolonged running; Labor completes physical work, such as hauling a chest; Withstand resists threatened bodily harm or affliction, such as dangerous cold. Do not routinely require all three for one outcome.

Social pressure. Influence seeks a response through persuasion, bargaining or a credible threat. Presence establishes convincing appearance, performance or authority. Composure resists fear, provocation and coercion. Roll only the consequential uncertainty; no social result overrides player agency.

Races

Playable Alpha v44 races are Human, Elf, Dwarf, Goblin, Orc, Gnome, Giant, and Hybrid. Use the Player Options: Character choices for complete selections. Vessel expressions are future-development material and are not selectable in Alpha v44.

Hybrid is modular. Choose one expression category, one compatible Innate Trait if available, and one compatible Racial Ability. Cosmetic expression grants no unstated mechanics.

Resources

Starting maximum Resolve equals Vitality maximum; Stamina equals Agility maximum; Mana equals Spirit maximum. Each occupied advancement Technique slot adds one growth step to all three resources. A governing d4-d8 adds +1 per slot; d10-d12 adds +2. Maximum resource = governing Affinity maximum + occupied advancement Technique count times that increase. Nine occupied advancement slots yield 13/15/17/28/30 at governing d4/d6/d8/d10/d12.

Low Resolve: while current Resolve is half maximum Resolve or less, Presence, Composure and Influence Skill rolls have Disadvantage. In a Contest, apply it to the Skill die, not the Tact Affinity or supplemental dice. Use normal cancellation and nonstacking rules. The penalty ends immediately above half maximum. For an odd maximum, round half down: maximum 9 means 4 or less. This applies whenever a character or profile uses those Skills.

Example: at Resolve 4 of 9, an Influence + Tact Contest rolls two copies of Influence and retains the lower; Tact rolls normally and can still critically chain. Healing to 5 removes this penalty. At 5 of 10, the penalty applies. An applicable Advantage cancels it under the normal rule.

A newly occupied advancement slot increases current resources by the corresponding maximum increases, capped at the new maxima. Forgetting lowers maxima and clamps current resources; replacing a method grants no refill. For a single forget-and-replace exchange, calculate final maxima once, preserving current resources unless they exceed the final maximum. Spells learned in advancement slots count normally. The Starter slot is excluded from resource growth; forgetting or replacing its method changes no resource maximum. Skill increases alone grant no resource growth.

Stamina pays for explicit physical methods; Mana pays for magical methods. Paying a resource grants no unprinted action or effect.

Starting equipment and identity

A new adventurer begins at Renown 1 with at least one Rank-1 quest’s Gold reward: 50 G. Buy baseline gear through the Guild; pooling or borrowing is allowed. No free Uncommon gift. Experienced starts use a GM-agreed Tally budget and Renown separately. Starting cash equals the cumulative Gold rewards for the qualifying quests needed to reach that Renown, excluding loot, with a 50 G minimum: Renown 1-5 use 50/200/800/2,800/7,800 G. Higher starts receive one item from each additional item tier reached: Uncommon at Renown 2, Rare at 3, Venerated at 4, Exalted at 5. Normal use requirements apply. Designate one owned heirloom for preservation through character deaths; this grants no extra item or Gold. No even-Level half-tier adjustment remains.

The local Adventurers’ Guild coalition grants the party one shared sign-on Stronghold: a modest home, neglected guild hall or mostly ruined fortress. Ownership begins immediately; condition determines usable facilities. During Guild onboarding, players may revise legal starting choices until first departure. Shared history requires agreement. See Holdings and Leadership.

Carry capacity equals Might Affinity die maximum. Equipped weapons, tools, armor, shields and magical equipment do not count towards Carry; stowed items are Carried Inventory and count normally. The five Equipment rows on the sheet are provisional recording space, not extra equipment permissions. Labor determines uncertain physical load handling; improving Labor does not itself enlarge the innate capacity. Bulky or extraordinary objects may still require appropriate methods. Tact governs the number of maintained Contacts: record at most its die tier as formal Contacts (d4/d6/d8/d10/d12 permits 1/2/3/4/5); other acquaintances remain fiction. Contact access, obligations and Stronghold roles do not become compulsory obedience.

Companions and Contact Slots

Each companion occupies one Contact Slot within your Tact-based Contact capacity. Establish its willingness and a suitable written Creature profile before recording it. Companion Bond supplies its printed bonding permission; no purchase, roll or profile compels cooperation. Release a companion's maintained relationship to free its slot; it then remains an independent NPC.

Only one of your companions may fight alongside you in a combat. Choose it when combat begins; the others remain out of that combat rather than rotating in for extra attacks or combat assistance. During the adventuring day, other companions may still perform suitable Skill checks or assist when their anatomy, knowledge and circumstances permit. Use their profile Skills and the normal assistance rules; companionship grants no automatic bonus.

You direct the chosen companion's permitted actions on your turn; the GM retains its motives and may refuse impossible or unwilling orders. Commands use their printed costs: Coordinated Handling uses a Bonus Action for movement and one non-attacking profile action; Partner Strike uses your Action and 1 Stamina for movement and one profile attack. Bonding alone grants no independent combat turn or free attack. Combined commands do not multiply its Movement allowance or grant extra attacks.

Use the companion's own profile dice, resources and legal defenses against attacks on it; your defense does not also protect it. A companion has no default Hope and dies at 0 Resolve unless its profile or an explicit effect grants another outcome. Use ordinary rest and healing rules within its maximum Resolve; Conditions and Afflictions retain their own endpoints. Provide actual food, shelter and listed upkeep. The handler's advancement grants no automatic companion growth; a changed profile requires an explicit written permission.

Example: a new character

Keep all six Affinities at d8. All eighteen Skills begin at d8. Maximum Resolve, Stamina and Mana are each 8; Movement is 30 feet, Carry is 8, Fatigue Endurance is 4 and formal Contact capacity is 3. Choose your Race, Homeland and Profession/Education, one legal Starter method and 50 G of starting purchases. The Starter method adds no resource growth.

Using your four-page character sheet

Spells are learned Techniques that use Mana and use the Starter slot or one of nine advancement slots. Their named Casting Skill identifies Training progress; its underlying Affinity sets the spell tier ceiling: d4/d6/d8/d10/d12 permits Tier 1/2/3/4/5. Spell Rank and spell tier name the same effect scale in the catalog. Renown grants no spell access. Knowledge, Affinity access, Focus safety, Mana, targets and defenses remain separate requirements.

A Focus safely stabilizes through its CURVE item tier: Common 1, Uncommon 2, Rare 3, Venerated 4, Exalted 5. It grants no spell knowledge or Affinity access. Base casting Mana = effective spell tier minus one: 0/1/2/3/4 Mana. Catalog supplements and explicit extras remain additional costs.

Casting and maintaining spells

A spell Test uses its named Casting Skill. A resisted spell Contest uses that Skill + its governing Affinity against the printed defensive Skill + Affinity; only Affinity dice crit and defenders win ties. Damaging spells use the assigned casting Affinity plus one channeling die; do not add the Casting Skill as a third die. Automatic effects require no roll when the spell is learned and its requirements are met. Apply the shared attack, critical, defense and pool procedures.

Without a suitable attuned Focus, casting above Rank 1 gains effective Rank - 1 Fatigue immediately and on every subsequent persistent maintenance turn. Attune a Focus during the two-hour free-time phase of a Long or Full Rest.

At the start of each later caster turn, a Persistent spell costs half effective Rank in Mana, rounded up: 1, 1, 2, 2, 3 for Ranks 1-5. End the spell when you cannot pay or no longer meet its ongoing casting requirements. Range, visibility and components remain ongoing only when printed. Timed consequences of Instant spells require no maintenance. Outside initiative, track equivalent turns or settle their costs before advancing the interval. Maintenance does not reroll offense, add targets or refresh spent benefits.

Standalone control uses one initial Casting Skill + Affinity Contest against each target's appropriate Skill + Affinity. On success, apply the stated Condition and its duration or removal requirement. A Hit or Damaging Hit rider uses that trigger directly, without another Contest against the same target. Do not create repeated recovery rolls; entries state when the effect ends.

Focus damage playtest: every damaging catalog casting has one channeling die. Without a usable attuned Focus it is d4. An attuned Rank 1-3 Focus supplies up to d8, Rank 4 up to d10, and Rank 5 up to d12; use the smaller of that ceiling and the spell’s printed die. A lower-grade Focus still supplies its die but does not safely stabilize a spell above its safe Rank. An inaccessible, unattuned, broken or incompatible Focus supplies nothing: use d4. Each catalog-authorized extra 3 Mana buys one die of the actual channeling size for this casting, including d4 when focusless. Only the casting Affinity crits.

Focus compatibility: use one usable attuned Focus per casting. Its item tier sets safe spell tier; its separate channel-die ceiling controls supplemental damage and never adds its mundane Weapon Die. Rank 1-3 Foci supply up to d8, Rank 4 up to d10 and Rank 5 up to d12, capped by the spell’s die. Foci work with any casting Affinity or school unless printed otherwise. Multiple Foci do not stack.

Living Focus is a converted learned Technique: Attune d8, one Attune threshold to learn, one slot. Its safe tier equals the Spirit Affinity tier and uses that tier’s channel-die ceiling. It changes neither another Affinity’s spell ceiling nor spell knowledge, Mana or other costs. This prerequisite conversion is provisional for playtesting.

A spell supplies its applicable cost, action/timing, range, target or area, resolution, defense, effect, duration, recovery, and special rules. Follow that entry; do not infer unwritten effects from its name.

Known spells occupy the same Starter or advancement slots as other Techniques. They remain available without daily preparation. Learn through the combined advancement procedure and catalog costs; there is no separate Repertoire cap or immediate one-attempt spell acquisition.

Training progress is stored by Skill, not casting-Affinity group. Learning a spell records its printed method and costs; no separate trained group Rank is tracked. The catalog’s converted access requirements govern its learned use.

Untrained Casting: a spell not recorded as a learned Magical Technique may be attempted only with an available written method, mentor or explicit source permission, within the governing Affinity ceiling. Subtract its effective tier from the completed casting total before defenses. A negative result fails and causes caster-only Wound recoil, ignoring defenses: Tiers 1-5 deal 0/4/9/16/25. Above Tier 1 use tier squared for explicit outliers (6:36, 7:49, 8:64). Intended targets and nearby units take no recoil. Zero resolves normally without recoil. A critical does not waive the penalty. Trial casting grants neither knowledge nor a growth slot.

Automatic effects remain automatic when learned and legal. For an authorized unlearned trial, roll its Casting Skill, subtract effective tier and compare with TN 4. Four or more succeeds; 0-3 fails without recoil; a negative result triggers the normal caster-only recoil. Pay normal costs. Bloodroot modifies recoil only. Do not add a second check to spells already requiring a Test, Contest or Damage Pool.

Roll the Affinity separately from supplemental dice whenever any supplemental die has the same size. If every supplemental die differs in size, they may be rolled together while retaining the identity of the Affinity. Only the Affinity triggers a combat critical; formal Training can use the separate maximum-result rules below.

Upcasting: gain Corruption equal to every increase above the spell's base Rank, once when casting. Trained proficiency does not waive this cost. Apply the normal Piety/Corruption cancellation and conversion immediately; four Corruption consumes recorded Hope, including suppressed Hope, or kills if Hope is absent. Persistent maintenance uses effective Rank for Mana and Focus safety but does not charge upcasting Corruption again each turn. Corruption does not itself grant permission to exceed normal Rank access.

Example: casting access and Focus are separate

With the appropriate governing Affinity at d8, you can access spells through Tier 3, provided you know the spell and meet its entry. A learned Tier-2 damaging spell costs 1 base Mana. An attuned Rank-1 Focus can provide its channel die up to d8 and the spell’s printed ceiling, but cannot safely stabilize Tier 2: casting gains 1 Fatigue. A suitable attuned Rank-2 Focus removes that unsafe-casting Fatigue. Neither Focus teaches the spell.

Conditions are temporary effects with a stated endpoint. Afflictions persist until their stated removal requirement is met, including prolonged disease, injury or other lasting hindrance. Both use the existing resolution and penalty rules; their difference is how they end. Record source, effect and duration for a Condition, or source, effect and removal requirement for an Affliction. Restoring Resolve does not independently remove either. Ordinary resting uses Recover; specific treatment is required only by a lasting Affliction or an explicit source.

Resolve a standalone control with one initial Contest. Apply on-Hit and on-Damaging-Hit riders automatically once their trigger is met. Use the printed endpoint, such as the start of a turn, leaving reach, removing the source or completing an appropriate action; do not add an opponent recovery roll. Distinct applicable die-step penalties stack to the shared floor, and boons to the shared ceiling. A repeated identical effect follows any printed nonstacking restriction. Do not apply Disadvantage, Hindrance and unavailability redundantly for one impairment. State missing source-specific severity or duration before application.

Maintained holds and release

Maintained restraints and holds: establish a hostile hold with one initial Skill + Affinity Contest, unless a Technique establishes it on a Hit or Damaging Hit. After application, escape is an Action and an appropriate Skill Test, not another opposing roll. The escape TN is the source's relevant Affinity die maximum: Might for a bodily grip or braced door, the casting Affinity for a maintained magical restraint. A static binding names an equivalent fixed TN when introduced. Use the die maximum that established the hold; temporary attack bonuses and the initial rolled total do not raise it. The target or a reachable helper can attempt release. Suitable tools, leverage, cutting the restraint or removing its source may remove uncertainty. The holder rolls no recovery defense. Printed durations and maintenance still apply. Disarming, contested possession and interception remain fresh Contests for new outcomes.

Holding a door: resolve Force + Might versus the appropriate opposing Skill + Affinity once to establish control. While the holder continues bracing, an Action to force that same hold uses an appropriate Skill Test against the holder's Might maximum. Release, lost leverage or a materially changed contest ends that established state. A contest over a new position or object is a new outcome; ordinary pushes and trips need no release roll.

Condition effects

Exposed: A vulnerability marker. Apply only an effect that explicitly exploits it; no automatic damage bonus. Ends when the exposing circumstance ends or its printed duration expires.

Blinded: Sight-dependent methods are unavailable; impose ordinary Disadvantage only when a remaining method materially relies on impaired sight. Ends when sight returns or the source ends.

Deafened: Hearing-dependent methods are unavailable; affect other methods only when hearing matters. Ends when hearing returns or the source ends.

Restrained: Movement prevented by the restraint is unavailable; apply its stated Hindrance to other impaired methods. Use the shared maintained-restraint release procedure when escape is permitted. Ends on release, destruction of the restraint or its stated expiry.

Stunned: Actions, Bonus Actions, voluntary Movement, Reactions and Evade are unavailable. Withstand + Vitality remains the one bodily defense against applicable physical harm without a new Reaction; never add it after another defense. Passive type resistance remains. Ends at the source’s stated time or permitted recovery; Stasis also ends after another source deals damage.

Prone / Toppled: Same condition: on the ground. Spend 5 feet of usable Movement to stand when able; an applicable restraint must first permit standing. No automatic damage bonus or second defense. Ends on standing or being placed upright.

Burning: Apply only the source’s printed ongoing damage and timing. An Action to extinguish ends an ordinary accessible flame when unopposed; contested or unusual fire uses its stated method. Ends on extinguishing or the source’s explicit ending.

Bleeding: Apply only printed blood-loss damage and timing. The source names treatment and whether a Test is required; healing Resolve alone does not stop it. Ends after effective treatment or the source’s explicit ending.

Poisoned: Use the toxin’s stated Hindrance, damage, restricted function or single-use penalty. No universal extra penalty. Ends on its printed expiry, consumed roll, antidote or successful permitted treatment.

Diseased: use the illness's stated effects. A prolonged illness is an Affliction and ends when its treatment or removal requirement is met. No universal modifier or automatic rest cure.

Frightened: use the source's stated restrictions or Hindrance and fixed endpoint. A standalone application uses one initial Composure + Tact defense when specified; no repeated recovery Contest. Ends when its printed duration or removal requirement is met.

Unconscious: Actions, Bonus Actions, Movement and Reactions are unavailable. Retain Withstand + Vitality as the one bodily defense against applicable harm without a new Reaction, using normal physical protection limits; other defenses require explicit permission. This does not add a second defense. Passive type resistance remains. Ends when its cause is removed. Fatigue-induced unconsciousness permits a qualifying rest and ends below Endurance + 2, unless another cause remains.

Hope is binary: you either have it or do not. A character without Hope is Doomed, except where a specific rule provides a grace period. Excess Fatigue can also make a character effectively Doomed while their recorded Hope is suppressed; see Fatigue and recovery.

A lethal result

When a character has protective Hope and would reach 0 Resolve or suffer an immediate lethal result, choose before death resolves. Fatigue-suppressed Hope provides neither option:

Spend Hope: replace the lethal result, ignore resulting negative Resolve, remain at 1 Resolve, and become Doomed. Do not make a Death Test.

Trust Vitality: make a Vitality Death Test against TN 4 + the magnitude of negative Resolve. Success returns you to 1 Resolve, retains Hope, and leaves you Near Death. Failure causes death and loss of Hope.

Near Death prevents another Death Test until your Resolve rises above 1. A Doomed character reaching 0 Resolve dies immediately without a Death Test.

Transfer and Intervention

You may willingly give Hope to a nearby ally who can perceive meaningful communication from you. This has no Action cost. You lose Hope; the recipient gains it. Transfer must occur at a valid point before the consequence it would affect is finalized.

On your turn before your Action, you may instead spend Hope and end your turn to request Intervention. Describe the immediate help you need. The GM supplies a reliable opening through an event, person, discovery, or environmental change. This creates meaningful help, not automatic victory or reversal of a resolved consequence.

Doom

Once per affected character per Full Rest, after a Doomed character succeeds at a consequential Test, the GM may introduce an additional unexpected complication. The success still occurs. A lethal new threat must allow at least one meaningful opportunity to recognize and respond.

Regaining and losing Hope does not refresh this invocation.

Revival

When a character dies, mark their initiative position. The Revival Window remains open until they would begin their turn during the following round. An untaken turn in the round of death does not close it.

Stop active destructive damage to the body or remove it from the source before attempting Revival. Hope is not spent until a valid attempt can begin.

Another character transfers and consumes Hope. The dead character makes a Spirit Test against TN 4; negative Resolve does not increase this TN.

On success, remove negative Resolve, return at 1 Resolve, and gain 1 Fatigue. If Hope remains absent, Doom settles in at the start of the revived character's next turn. Existing bodily Conditions that would deal damage are suspended until that character completes their first turn. External hazards remain active.

On failure, the character remains dead and the Hope is spent. There is one Revival Test per affected character per Full Rest, whether it succeeds or fails.

Piety and Corruption are character-side spiritual states. They cancel one-for-one before resolving the remaining state. Item Blessings and Curses remain separate.

At 1 Corruption, lower the check die one size (already d4: Disadvantage); at 2 or more, retain the reduction and apply Disadvantage. At 1 Piety, raise the check die one size; at 2 or more also apply Advantage. If the die is already at its legal maximum, declared Piety grants Advantage instead of a larger die; Advantage still does not stack. Modify the relevant check component, not every supplemental die.

At 4 Piety, consume four stacks and restore missing Hope. At 4 Corruption, consume four stacks: remove recorded Hope if present, including Hope whose protection is suppressed by Fatigue; if Hope is absent, the character dies. Suppressed Hope can be consumed by this passive conversion but cannot be actively declared or spent while suppressed. Item Blessings/Curses remain separate; Full Rest removes one remaining Piety/Corruption.

A Full Rest removes one stack of the remaining Piety or Corruption. Short and Long Rests do not remove these states unless an explicit effect says otherwise. Sources grant stacks explicitly; these tracks are not a universal morality score.

Fatigue

Fatigue Endurance equals half the unmodified Agility die maximum. At Endurance + 1 Fatigue, become Doomed through exhaustion; at Endurance + 2, become Unconscious; at Endurance + 3, die. Apply the complete new Fatigue total immediately, including when a single gain crosses multiple thresholds. Fatigue no longer supplies the continuing check penalties transferred to Corruption.

While Fatigue exceeds Endurance, retain recorded Hope but suppress its protection. Hope cannot regain its protective effect until Fatigue no longer exceeds Endurance. Exhaustion therefore makes the character effectively Doomed while the Hope remains recorded. Reducing Fatigue does not create missing Hope or remove another independent cause of Doom.

This consolidated recovery procedure is the current playtest model. Resolve the rest's resource recovery, Fatigue removal and spiritual-stack change, then update consciousness and Hope suppression. Apply explicit effects that prevent recovery. A dead character requires Revival within its window; ordinary rest does not revive the dead.

Short Rest: one uninterrupted hour, at most two benefits per 24 hours. Restore all Stamina and roll Recover once; regain Resolve equal to the result, capped at maximum. A known conversion may use only starting unspent Stamina before refill; do not convert newly restored resources repeatedly during the same rest. Remove no Fatigue, Piety or Corruption.

Long Rest: eight hours, including 2 hours of free time before bed unless explicitly skipped by going directly to bed. Restore all Stamina; regain half maximum Resolve and Mana, each rounded up; remove 1 Fatigue. Remove no Piety or Corruption. Suitable light activities, including Focus attunement, may use the free-time phase. Instruction uses its agreed hours and attempts; no daily Training allowance remains.

Full Rest: a Long Rest in a safe, supplied location after escaping or resolving the immediate danger. Restore all Resolve, Stamina and Mana; remove all Fatigue; remove 1 remaining Piety or Corruption; restore missing Hope. Refresh only abilities and limits that explicitly recover on a Full Rest. Receive Long or Full Rest benefits once per 24 hours; a Full Rest includes the Long Rest benefits, using only Full Rest amounts.

A rest does not automatically clear every Condition, item Curse or disease. Timed Conditions end at their printed expiry; recoverable effects use their printed method and saved total; bodily injuries, poison, Bleeding and similar effects require their stated treatment. Near Death ends when Resolve exceeds 1.

Medical treatment uses the equipment or Affliction’s stated action, cost, method and removal requirement. Healing potions, healer’s kits and similar items provide only their printed effects; there is no generic Render Aid Action or stabilization tracker. Equipment cannot reverse a finalized death or reopen Revival unless an explicit effect says otherwise. Existing Hope, Death Test and Revival timing remain unchanged.

Exhaustion-induced unconsciousness counts toward a rest when it lasts for the normally allotted rest duration and the required safety, interruption and recovery conditions are satisfied. Resolve that completed rest's normal Fatigue removal. Consciousness returns when Fatigue falls below Endurance + 2, unless another source prevents it; recorded Hope protection returns at Endurance or less. An effect that lowers Fatigue below the threshold may awaken the character earlier; simply waking them does not award a completed rest or remove Fatigue. Ordinary rest does not revive the dead. Daily limits and explicit ongoing hazards still apply.

Combat, strenuous activity or an interruption preventing required sleep or recovery breaks the rest. Resume counting its duration when suitable resting conditions return. Brief waking or quiet activity does not itself break a rest. Explicit recovery prevention still applies.

Example: rest does not remove a lasting injury

After a qualifying Short Rest, refill Stamina and roll Recover for Resolve. A Bleeding source still requires its printed treatment; recovering Resolve alone does not end it. A later Full Rest restores the listed resources and stacks, but does not silently cure an Affliction whose removal requires something else.

Skills develop through meaningful play and instruction. Record a separate Training Tally bank for every Skill; no designation or maintained-slot restriction is required. Training Tallies are not Marks of Fortune. Temporary effects do not permanently change the recorded Skill die.

Progress

An eligible primary maximum grants the normal award: normally one Tally, or two for Human Jack of All Trades when applicable. Qualifying critical-chain maxima grant their normal additional awards. Paid formal instruction allows its eligible maximum Advantage copies to award progress; unretained combat dice do not crit. Supplemental damage dice grant none. The declared action’s named Skill receives progress. Damage uses its existing assigned Affinity die; do not roll another Training die. Damage-related Training Tallies are awarded only when that attack causes Resolve loss after defense, type interactions and buffers. A Hit causing no Resolve loss earns no damage-related Tallies; later Condition damage does not qualify the original attack. Qualifying Affinity critical-chain maxima retain their normal awards. Automatic actions grant no adventure progress.

The GM calls meaningful consequential rolls. Players cannot roll merely to generate Tallies. There is no daily free-attempt counter or universal adventure-hour quota. Normal repeat permissions and changed circumstances determine retries; Fatigue from actual exertion and unsafe magic remains.

Thresholds and banks

Persistent Skill d4/d6/d8/d10/d12 uses an advancement threshold, normal retained bank cap and default Technique learning cost of 12/8/6/5/4 Tallies. Pay the current cap of the named Skill bank, including for lower-requirement Techniques and spells; requirements govern access, not a cost multiplier. Only a specific printed exception changes a learning cost. No Intellect reduction. One maximum per ordinary roll yields mean attempts 48/48/48/50/48; the d10 difference is accepted. Advantage, enhanced awards and critical chains change actual pace.

When a bank reaches its current threshold, its advancement is available. Choose and record it when you are not already making a decision: outside the narrative spotlight, or off-turn if this does not slow combat. No Full Rest is required. Apply it to future rolls, never retroactively to the result that earned it. Tallies may exceed the normal bank cap until this opportunity; subtract only purchase costs and retain unspent progress. Resolve sequential purchases using the threshold of the resulting persistent Skill. No daily attempt or acquisition counter is added.

Combined advancement

Spend a Skill’s current threshold to increase it one die size, maximum d12. Alongside that improvement, select an eligible Technique from the same bank; the payment covers both. Check the Technique’s prerequisites and normal learning cost against the resulting Skill die. An explicit cost exception or required additional Skill bank may need additional payment; follow that entry. Each purchase subtracts only costs and retains the remaining balance. Resolve sequentially; the same Tallies cannot fund two purchases.

At d12, pay four Tallies from the named Skill bank to acquire a Technique without a further die increase, unless its entry explicitly changes that cost. A specific discounted Technique grants no free Skill increase; pay the full improvement threshold if taking both. At nine occupied advancement slots, Skill improvement remains available, but acquiring another method requires forgetting/replacement. Without a selected Technique, a paid improvement grants only the Skill increase. No automatic Affinity improvement occurs.

Learned methods and growth

Record one Starter method and at most nine additional unique learned Techniques, including spells, one slot each. No duplicates or repeat purchases unless an entry explicitly states an exception. There is no Intellect acquisition-per-Rest limit. Ordinary equipment functions and innate/background capabilities use no learned slots; advanced acquired methods require their own entry and slot. Occupied advancement slots, not Renown or the Starter slot, determine resource growth.

Instruction

An appropriate mentor offers eight attempts over eight hours with paid eligible Advantage. One eight-attempt block costs one Fortune Mark at the current Skill tier: d4/d6/d8/d10/d12 = 50/100/250/500/1,000 G. Partial sessions cost one eighth of that fee per hour/attempt. Pay for the agreed attempts; removing a daily counter grants no extra paid rolls. No double-fee four-attempt extension or special extra-Training Fatigue procedure remains. General commerce handles negotiated terms.

Forgetting and replacement

An appropriate institute can remove a learned method for half one Fortune Mark at its printed Technique tier. If no tier is printed, use its minimum required Skill tier. Release one slot and remove that method’s benefit; retain unrelated trained Skill dice, Tallies and innate/background features. Forgetting a prerequisite makes dependent methods unavailable until their prerequisites are restored; they remain recorded unless also forgotten. Narrative services may separate memories by enchantment, seal them through chronomancy or draw the practiced imprint into a vessel.

Recalculate maxima from occupied advancement slots and clamp current resources. For a single forget-and-replace exchange, calculate the final maxima once; replacement grants no growth refill. An additional occupied slot grants only its actual increase in maximum/current resources. Repeated forgetting/relearning never multiplies growth.

Renown

Begin at Renown 1 with zero Impact. A participating adventurer earns 1 Impact for completing an established quest objective whose Quest Rank equals or exceeds their Renown. Higher-rank quests grant 1 Impact, not several. Encounters and incidental objectives grant no separate Impact unless established as separate quests. At Renown 1/2/3/4, reaching 4/6/8/10 Impact automatically raises Renown by one and resets Impact to zero. Renown 5 is the current maximum. Impact is individual quest progress; Economic Impact is a separate settlement record.

Renown records Guild recognition and suitable commissions. It grants no automatic resource, Skill, Affinity or Technique. Class is independent. Table conduct is handled through shared expectations and feedback, not XP deductions.

Experienced starts

Agree Renown and a separate Training Tally budget with the GM. Spend that budget through normal advancement, prerequisites and one Starter plus nine advancement slots; apply resource growth. No universal Renown-to-Tally budget is invented; compare actual capability when selecting a higher-start build. Use the creation chapter for starting cash and tier gifts.

Example: improving a Skill and learning a method

A persistent d6 Skill has an 8-Tally threshold. Spend 8 Tallies to improve it to d8 and, alongside that improvement, choose an eligible Technique from the same bank under the combined purchase rule. Check prerequisites and any explicit additional cost. If this fills the first advancement slot and Vitality, Agility and Spirit are all d8, their three resource maxima each rise from 8 to 9, with the corresponding current-resource increases. The separate Starter slot still grants no growth.

Class records economic standing: Peasant, Serf, Freeman, Aristocrat, or Noble. Class advances through Fortune Marks. Peasant to Serf: 4 Marks at 50 G each; Serf to Freeman: 6 at 100 G; Freeman to Aristocrat: 8 at 250 G; Aristocrat to Noble: 10 at 500 G; subsequent Noble domain Mark: 1,000 G. A completed quest normally pays each participant one Mark at the Class tier corresponding to the quest’s rank: Ranks 1-5 pay 50/100/250/500/1,000 G. The recipient’s personal Class does not change the stated quest commission. A full available town workday retains one Mark at the Class held at its start. Loot and discovered resources are additional.

Record discovered resources and crafted items when they are resolved. Personally controlled, credibly valued goods may contribute to Fortune once they have a stable value; do not count both an item and the proceeds from selling that same item. An ordinary merchant begins at 50% of listed value. When haggling matters, use a Tact Contest: Critical Success 100%, Success 75%, Failure 50%, Critical Failure 25%.

A Black Market is a shop in its settlement, not a separate economic abstraction. Its ordinary purchase offer is 25% of listed value. When a Tact Contest matters: Critical Success 50%, Success 37.5%, Failure 25%, Critical Failure 12.5%. The general black-market table never exceeds 50% of listed value.

Crafting

Describe the intended object, select suitable materials and effects, and confirm tools or Workshop access. Resources and Crafting contains the material-price and size tables, Workday requirements, daily Crafting Tests, failure replacement, Property limits and expected value. Use that procedure for equipment, repairs, Stronghold additions and vehicles; an entry supplies its specific requirements and benefit.

Travel and harvesting

The GM sets an appropriate reachable TN for Perception. On success, roll Yield: Common d12, Uncommon d10, Rare d8, Venerated d6, Exalted d4. The result is the number of raw units found. On failure, no yield is recorded.

A discovery roll resolves that character's harvesting opportunity for that travel day. The same character cannot repeat the search simply because the first result was poor or failed. On a later travel day, the character may search again, including in the same biome. If the party remains stationary to exploit a known deposit, grove, carcass, or other fixed source, stop using the travel-day discovery allowance and treat further extraction as a time-consuming work activity whose remaining supply and risks are established by the GM. This prevents one discovered location from creating unlimited consequence-free yield while preserving deliberate resource operations as campaign play.

Successfully harvested resources follow the harvested creature’s appropriate resource tier and may exceed the daily resource-search limit. The normal limit still applies to searches.

Each character may search once per travel day. The GM selects a biome-appropriate resource opportunity and tier using the Game Master Book; a search is not automatic. Creature harvesting follows its actual resource tier and may exceed the search allowance. Resource names, values and effects appear in Player Options: Resources and crafting.

Using mounts and transport

Player Options: Mounts and vehicles provides ordinary horses, mules, oxen, carts, wagons and boats, with capacity, crew, care and component damage. Obtain access and agree route/time, load and terms before departure. Personal Carry remains Might-derived; an animal or vehicle has its own printed capacity. Reserve body and gear load as that catalog specifies. Routine competent care and travel need no repeated rolls; use Maneuver, Labor or Influence only for the actual consequential uncertainty.

A rider/driver directs ordinary transport Movement on their own turn instead of adding personal Movement. Mount/dismount costs 5 feet from a reachable position. A consequential handling Test uses an Action. Your Action may Dash the transport when feasible; no independent extra turn or free animal attack is granted. Declare attacks on rider, animal and component separately, using their actual defenses. Companionship separately requires the Contact Slot and command permissions under Companions and Contact Slots.

Owning and leading holdings

Stronghold, Settlement and Realm describe reach, not settlement supply tier. Leadership appointments (draft): Noble Class opens settlement leadership opportunities. When the GM judges the party’s restoration deeds, means, Renown and local relationships sufficient, the governing authority offers a settlement-level commission. Completing its agreed objective grants authority to govern and defend that settlement. Realm responsibility follows a broader commission when the GM judges wider deeds and support sufficient. Record powers and obligations in Contacts and on the Party Sheet. Holdings and Leadership explains the transition. Holding options retain their capacities; improvements engage Wicked One development.

Equipment and structures use the same consequential targeting rules, with different damage records. Choose an object and a method that can actually harm it; ordinary attacks on its wearer do not automatically target it. Structures and other substantial objects use their assigned Durability Die and Integrity; d8 is the default material Durability when no better value exists. A qualifying damaging effect exceeding material Durability maximum causes one damage mark; reaching Integrity destroys that component.

Equipment records qualifying critical strikes rather than a separate wearer Property Tolerance. Its break threshold equals CURVE tier: Common 1, Uncommon 2, Rare 3, Venerated 4, Exalted 5. Count one strike for an actual damaging critical impact on that item, not each reroll in one critical chain and not every critical against its owner. At the threshold the item breaks and cannot provide its normal benefit until repaired. Explicit imperishable protection or a printed destructive effect remains an exception.

A qualifying equipment strike requires the item itself to take the destructive impact: a declared sunder, a shield or armor taking the brunt, or another source explicitly threatening it. A critical that misses, causes no relevant harm, or only injures the wearer adds no equipment mark. Declare object exposure before resolving its damage; do not retroactively attach equipment loss to an impressive roll.

A successful crafting check with appropriate tools and materials repairs recoverable equipment damage and resets its critical-strike counter. Use Crafting TN 4 and the normal crafting requirements; significant reconstruction follows an actual crafting project. A destroyed object requires replacement or an explicit restoration method. Maintenance uses existing crafting and Gold, with no wearer Property Tolerance or overload tracker.

Quick Repair and Reinforcement

If a damaged object can reasonably be strengthened using available material, a character may attempt a quick repair or reinforcement using Crafting or another Skill justified by the method. On success, add the reinforcing material's assigned Durability to the object's current Durability against the relevant threat for as long as the reinforcement remains applicable.

Example: a d8 door braced with material the GM rates as d6 may resist the current damaging attempt as d8 + d6. The GM may assign Durability quickly to beams, furniture, metal plates, stone, rope, or other available resources according to the fiction.

For a structure, choose a component and a method that can damage it. Apply its material’s type interactions before comparing damage with Durability. Personal weapons cannot damage massive masonry without suitable permission. Component profiles and siege examples appear in the Game Master Book.

Initial range thresholds are Close 15 feet, Nearby 30 feet, Far 60 feet and Very Far 90 feet. Preserve current Movement and printed reach while testing these conversions; Close does not automatically extend melee reach.

Keep one party Reputation record and one Economic Impact record per settlement. Reputation records the community’s disposition; Economic Impact records an established change to its prosperity or useful supplies. Record the cause alongside each change. Individual NPC opinions and memories remain fiction; do not add separate numeric Rapport or shop-development counters. Contacts still record access, obligations and useful relationships. Stronghold records remain distinct. At the first meaningful stay beyond a travel-rest stop, note settlement tier 1–5 from its access routes and threats; lower tiers generally fit the setting. Reassess when a quest or event changes those conditions. Relevant fortifications can prevent or limit a consequence; construction alone does not raise tier. Higher-tier stock becomes available only after a quest-length interval following the relevant tier change, with suitable access and supply.

Recovering goods can restore economic utility without securing a road. Change Economic Impact only when that restoration is established; do not automatically alter Fortune or Class. A stranger elsewhere need not know the party’s reputation.

Before departure, confirm current Skill dice, Skill Tally balances, learned Technique slots and resource maxima. No retrospective designation is required for legitimate progress; missing records should be reconstructed only from actual eligible results.

Stronghold: begin with a place

The local Adventurers’ Guild coalition grants the party one shared sign-on property: a modest home, neglected guild hall or mostly ruined fortress. It is already yours. Agree its condition and usable spaces; it grants no unlisted facilities, staff or stock. Repair, buy supplies, craft additions or hire labor using existing rules. A small starting town can retain connections to capital guilds.

Settlement: earn an appointment

Draft offer: Noble Class opens settlement leadership opportunities. When the GM judges the party has done enough to restore the settlement and establish the means, deed-earned Renown and local relationships needed to serve it, its governing authority offers a settlement-level leadership commission. State the objective and appointment reward before acceptance. Completing it grants authority to govern and defend that settlement as its representative.

Use established improvements to safety, access, useful supplies and services as evidence. Record causes through existing settlement notes. There is no fixed restoration-quest quota or minimum Renown score for an offer; the GM considers the actual deeds, local needs and available support. Restoration grants only its normal rewards and established consequences; it does not automatically raise settlement supply tier.

Means: resources, usable assets and willing support to fulfill the role. Reputation: relevant deeds, Renown and the settlement’s disposition. Recognition: the offered commission and completed appointment. Record the appointing authority, powers, assigned military assets, obligations and governing principles in Contacts and on the Party Sheet. Noble is economic standing, not a required hereditary title.

Realm: extend responsibility

A Realm spans multiple settlements: a kingdom, republic or other political territory. When the GM judges wider deeds, demonstrated leadership and support sufficient, offer a broader commission or recognized agreement. State the objective, reward and limits before acceptance; fulfilling it establishes the wider authority. Specify the settlements, routes and forces included. No fixed quest quota or Renown threshold applies. One settlement or capital appointment grants no automatic authority elsewhere.

Authority, consequences and succession

Make authority useful first. Later, an order may conflict with the people you protect. Establish the authority’s principles and permit investigation, negotiation, obedience or defiance to change what follows. The patron need not be secretly wicked in every campaign. Lost support or broken obligations create consequences; resolve them through quests/events. On death, property and office are distinct: an agreed successor or a new claim resolves recognition.

Use existing records and rules

Renown is Guild recognition; settlement Reputation is local disposition. Retain your original Stronghold. Rough pacing: advancement Techniques 1–3 / 4–6 / 7–9 suggest Stronghold / Settlement / Realm; exclude Starter. Scope enlarges reach, not asset capacity. Player Book · Party Sheet