Quick Reference

Each combat round follows this sequence:

The enemies always go first. The Enemy Tactical Phase opens every round, with or without an enemy leader. Monsters name their maneuvers and telegraphs where the table can hear them, and the players then pick knowing what is coming.

Vigor is full at the start of the fight and regenerates at the start of each combatant's own turn, not in the tactical phase (see Vigor, section 2).

d8 + Mind die

Critical: Initiative is rerolled at the end of each round, not just once at start.

Each turn you get:

• ONE action - Attack, resolve a Declared Maneuver, Dodge, Sprint, Help, etc.
• ONE movement - 30 ft, can split before/after action
• ONE reaction - Opportunity attack or triggered ability

NO bonus actions. Abilities either replace your action, cost nothing, or use your reaction.

These require NO declaration. Decide and execute on your turn. Cannot be disrupted.

• Base: 30 feet per turn
• Splitting: Can move before and after your action
• Sprint: Use your action to move an additional 30 feet (total 60 feet)
• Difficult Terrain: Costs 2 feet per foot moved

• Limit: ONE reaction per round
• Opportunity Attacks: When an enemy leaves your reach without disengaging
• Triggered Abilities: Some abilities trigger on specific events

Opportunity Attack: When an enemy you can see leaves your reach without taking the Disengage action, you may make one melee attack against them as a reaction.

Attack Roll:

d20 + stat modifier (from martial or mystic tree) + weapon bonus vs AC

Which stat? Your martial or mystic tree's associated stat:

• Body trees (Brawler, Guardian, Titan, etc.)
• Cunning trees (Assassin, Skirmisher, Opportunist)
• Mind trees (Swordmaster, Tactician, Wizard)
• Sense trees (Aspect Warrior, Stalwart, Druid)
• Heart trees (Commander, Champion, Invoker)
• Fate trees (Fortunate, Destined, Inquisitor)

Untrained (no martial or mystic tree): Use Body modifier (melee) or Cunning modifier (ranged). No tactics, no tree effects.

Armor base + Sense modifier

Tier is NOT added to AC. Unarmored is 10 + Sense. Light armor 11 + Sense (full Vigor); Medium armor 12 + Sense (-1 Vigor cap); Heavy armor 13 + Sense (-2 Vigor cap); a Shield is +1 AC. Heavier armor raises AC but its rigidity shrinks your Vigor shield: light armor and Sense-based dodging keep your full shield, plate trades some away for protection. Armor no longer taxes Stamina; its cost is Vigor.

Melee: Reach is 5 feet unless weapon or ability says otherwise
Ranged: Each weapon lists its normal range and long range

• Normal range: No penalty
• Long range: Disadvantage on attack
• Beyond long range: Cannot attack

Cover: Provides +2 AC (half cover) or +5 AC (three-quarters cover)

Firing Through Allies: Ranged weapon attacks (bows, thrown weapons, etc.) are affected by creatures in the line of fire:

• 1 creature in the way: Disadvantage on attack. On a natural 1, you hit that creature instead of your target.
• 2+ creatures in the way: Cannot attack that target.
• Mystic attacks and spells: Not affected by this rule.

The die ladder is always the standard one: d4 / d6 / d8 / d10 / d12 for Tiers 1-5.

• Major hit = roll your Tier die. The target takes that much Damage.
• Major critical hit = roll TWO Tier dice (a natural roll in your crit range).
• Minor hit = flat points equal to Tier. No roll. Minors are the metronome: steady, predictable pressure.
• Minor critical hit (natural 20 only) = roll the Tier die, floored at the flat value. A crit is never worse than a normal hit.
• Some abilities add points, deal Vigor damage, or attach conditions. Flat riders ("+1 point on a hit") stay flat.

When a Major MISSES with a weapon attack or mystic attack, they may deal Vigor damage to one target within the attack's range. Body sets how much:

• Positive Body die (Body 12+): roll the Body die and deal the result as Vigor damage.
• No Body die (Body 10-11): deal a flat 1 Vigor damage.
• Negative Body die (Body 9 or less): nothing; no Glancing Blow.

The default target is the one you missed, but any target within the attack's range is legal. A miss still grinds shields; Body sets how hard.

All mystic trees except Martial Artist gain access to a basic ranged attack:

Mystic Attack: 120 ft range

• Attack: d20 + casting stat modifier vs AC
• On hit: roll your Tier die and deal that much Vigor damage (d4 at Tier 1 up to d12 at Tier 5). A critical hit rolls two Tier dice. Damage type appropriate to your class.
• Vigor damage never touches Vitality and never wounds, against anything. But a Minor's whole pool IS Vigor, so against Minors it is simply damage: the mystic attack grinds Major shields and clears mooks. Real damage against Majors comes from your spells.
• A missed mystic attack triggers your Glancing Blow (section 2) like any weapon attack.
• No declaration required. This is a standard attack action.

Hits keep a descriptor from their source (slashing, fire, psychic, holy...).

• Resistance: hits of that type deal 1 less point (minimum 0).
• Immunity: hits of that type have no effect.
• Vulnerability: hits of that type deal 1 more point.

Every point of Damage moves through three layers, in order:

1. Vigor - the shield. Absorbs Damage first, 1 point per point. Vigor damage stops here: it never spills past this layer.
2. Vitality - the pool. Each point of Damage past Vigor removes 1 Vitality.
3. Wounds (players only) - a hit that would push you past 0 Vitality costs a wound instead: a lasting injury, rolled on d4 plus however far past 0 the hit reached. You catch a Second Wind, staying conscious and fighting with your Vitality AND Vigor both back at full, and the rest of that hit is negated. A hit that lands you on exactly 0 Vitality costs no wound and triggers nothing: 0 is a place you stand, not a place you fall. With no wound left to spend, you die.

What it is: A shield of battle focus and fighting spirit. Each point negates one incoming point of harm.

Cap: Tier + your Heart modifier (minimum 0). Heart sets how large your shield can grow. A negative Heart modifier can leave a low-Tier character with little or no shield; a high Heart makes for a deep one.

Generation:

• Start every combat with full Vigor (= your cap)
• At the start of each of your turns, roll a number of exploding d4s equal to your Tier. Each 4 restores 1 Vigor (a 4 explodes: roll it again and keep counting), up to your cap
• Vigor from abilities (Fortify rolls your Tier die, Rally, tree effects) still respects the cap

Special:

• Losing Vigor does NOT trigger disruption of Declared Maneuvers. A hit the shield absorbs entirely cannot disrupt anything
• Only Vitality loss (a hit past your Vigor) counts for disruption, and one such hit means one check however many Vitality it cost

What it is: Your capacity to keep fighting while hurt.

Vitality = 3 + Tier

Each point of Damage past your Vigor removes 1 Vitality. Vitality is battle damage: it returns in full on a Rest, and a Recovery can trade 2 Stamina for 1 Vitality.

A wound IS a lasting injury. Vitality is battle damage that returns on a Rest; a wound is what a hit costs you when it would push you past 0 Vitality (you are maimed but standing, and both pools refill: see Second Wind above). Roll d4 + how far past 0 the hit drove you on the table below; the GM chooses which table based on what caused the hit, or rolls randomly if the source was mixed. The GM may skip the roll if it is narratively inappropriate. You can carry wounds equal to your Tier; with no wound left to spend, you die.

A wound carries no ongoing penalty to your rolls. What it costs you is a slot, and a slot is a life. Carrying wounds does not make you worse at your job; it makes you closer to the end.

A character dies the moment they would take a wound and have none left to spend. There is no dying state, no death timer, and no stabilization: the wound track IS the countdown, and it is visible to everyone at the table.

What this means in play:

• Help has to arrive before the killing blow, not after it
• Clearing a wound (Treatment or wound-removal magic) gives back a slot, and a slot is a life
• A character at capacity should be played like it: they are one hit past 0 Vitality from the end

Announced in the tactical phase, resolved on your turn. CAN be disrupted if you lose Vitality before your turn.

What is Declared:

• Spellcasting (Wizard, Invoker, Druid) - tier = spell tier
• Prayer invocation (Prophet) - tier = stack count, clamped to 1-5
• A handful of telegraphed abilities marked (Declared)
• Psions and Martial Artists never declare (spontaneous)

Unresolved Declared Maneuvers are lost at end of round.

Every Declared Maneuver carries a tier from 1 to 5. The DC it sets and the Stamina a failed check costs are in Tier DCs.

When you lose Vitality (a hit past your Vigor) before resolving a Declared Maneuver, make a disruption check:

Roll: d20 + relevant stat die + Tier vs DC (by declaration tier).

Success: Maintained, no cost.
Failure: Spend Stamina equal to the tier to maintain, or lose it.

Multiple hits: One check per hit that costs you Vitality, no matter how many points that hit cost. Three separate hits past your shield are three checks; one hit that takes three Vitality is one check.

Important: A hit your Vigor absorbs entirely cannot disrupt anything. Only a hit that reaches past the shield and costs you Vitality calls for a check. Declaring paints a target on you; your shield is what stands between your spell and their steel.

Declare: In the tactical phase. Casting is your Maneuver for the round (no Defend, Fortify, or Empower on a casting round).
Resolve: On your turn.
Disruption: Can be disrupted by Vitality loss (see Declared Maneuvers above).

No check required - declare and resolve. Disruption is the risk.

What spells do: see the Magic Conversion table at the start of Part 4. A damaging spell deals the fixed number printed in its own entry on a failed save, 1 Vigor damage on a save (each target, for area effects). Healing heals Vitality equal to its tier, refills Vigor, or removes wounds (a wound is a lasting injury; removing one heals a real injury).

Tier determines:

• Dice pool size (add Tier dice to skill/checks)
• Successes needed (need [Tier] successes)
• Attack rolls (d20 + stat modifier + weapon bonus, no Tier)
• Vigor generation
• Damage on a hit (your Tier die: d4 / d6 / d8 / d10 / d12 for Tiers 1-5)

Roll [Stat modifier + Tier] d6s. Count successes:

• 1: Lose 1 stamina, gain 1 Fate point
• 2-4: Nothing
• 5: Success
• 6: Success + roll another die (explosion)

Need [Tier] successes to pass.

Negative Stats: If your stat modifier is negative, roll only Tier dice and successes require a 6. A +0 modifier is not a penalty: at a stat of 10-11 you roll your [0 + Tier] pool and succeed on 5+ as normal.

Fate Points: Spend 1 Fate point after rolling to add 1 die to your pool. Can spend multiple. You begin play with 3, and at the start of each session your Fate refreshes to 3 if you are below 3; anything above 3 carries over, so banking points between sessions is possible but slow.

GM Option - Narrative Consequences: When a player rolls 1s on a check, the GM can replace the standard stamina cost with a more fitting narrative consequence instead. The "1" represents something going wrong - this could be stamina loss, or it could be a broken lockpick, a torn rope, alerting a guard, or any other setback appropriate to the situation. The player still gains the Fate point. This keeps the fiction dynamic and responsive to context.

Roll d20 + the save stat's die + your Fate die, plus any bonus, against the DC.

DC by effect tier:

Key Differences from Checks:

• A save is one d20 roll, not a dice pool. There are no successes to count, no 1s to pay stamina for, and no dice to buy (saves are reactive, not active effort)
• Fate rides along on every save. On a Fate save you roll the Fate die once as the save stat; it is not added twice
• Advantage: roll 2d20 and keep the higher. Disadvantage: roll 2d20 and keep the lower. Both at once cancel. Exhaustion forces disadvantage on every save

The Six Saves:

• Body: Poison, disease, exhaustion
• Mind: Illusions, arcane effects, knowledge-based deceptions
• Sense: Divine/primal magic, curses
• Heart: Fear, despair, domination
• Cunning: Dodging, traps, feints, misdirection, pickpocket attempts
• Fate: Death effects, destiny manipulation

Advantage and disadvantage work one way on a dice pool and another way on a d20.

On a dice pool check:

• Advantage: Succeed on 4+ (50% per die)
• Normal: Succeed on 5+ (33% per die)
• Disadvantage: Succeed on 6 only (17% per die)

On a d20 roll (attack rolls, saves, ability tests, disruption checks):

• Advantage: Roll 2d20 and keep the higher
• Disadvantage: Roll 2d20 and keep the lower

If you have both, they cancel (normal). Multiple sources don't stack.

You can still use abilities. However:

On a failed check:

• Normal: Spend stamina to succeed
• At 0 stamina: Failure causes exhaustion instead, even if you would have spent more stamina than you have.
• At 0 stamina with exhaustion: Failure costs 1 Vitality, however much stamina you would have spent. Vigor does not absorb it, and at 0 Vitality it costs a wound like any other hit.

Exhaustion Effects:

• Roll all checks, attack rolls, tests, and saves at disadvantage

Recovering from Exhaustion:

• Rest: Removes exhaustion

Critical: Stamina does NOT recover from Recoveries beyond the Fate exchange below. Only rests restore stamina freely.

Requires:

• 8 hours of rest
• 1 ration consumed
• Relatively safe location

Benefits:

• Restore ALL Vitality
• Restore Stamina equal to your level
• Remove exhaustion
• Remove non-permanent conditions

Wounds do not heal on a Rest. They close only through months of convalescence, treatment by someone with the Healing tree, or a litany (see Lasting Injuries in section 5). A healer with 2+ points in Healing may treat one wound on one patient over a Rest, given proper tools.

Spend resources to patch up:

• 1 Fate: Recover Stamina equal to your Tier
• 2 Stamina: Restore 1 Vitality
• 1 Stamina: Reduce Attunement by 1 (Druid)

Vigor refills automatically at the start of each combat.