Beginner Introduction

Ishanekon: World Shapers (IWS) is a tabletop roleplaying game (TTRPG). TTRPGs are collaborative storytelling games supplemented by rules and usually dice. The stories can take various forms, like classical fantasy adventures, detective stories, and cosmic horror. IWS is a flexible TTRPG that can be used for almost any setting and story you want to play.
It is played with one gamemaster (GM) and multiple players. The GM controls the world where the story takes place and all of its inhabitants. They create the foundation on which the narrative will be told. They also have the final say on how the rules are applied. Players control one character that has been constructed according to rules that have different strengths, weaknesses, and abilities. They decide what their characters attempt to do, and the GM determines, depending on the rules, the situation, and usually a dice roll from the player, if they succeed or not.

You can find a compressed version of the rules here that skips most of the non-essential information. You can also download a pdf version of them here.

General Rules

Here you will find basic rules that affect almost every element of IWS. You can find the full version here.

Complexity and Beginner Tag

Many features in this rule system have a complexity rating from 1 to 4. The complexity helps especially new players to narrow down their options to something more manageable. This allows IWS to offer incredibly diverse options while still being beginner-friendly.

Complexity 1 has the simplest options. They are easy to understand, straightforward, and offer the easiest gameplay possibilities. They are usually simple and have direct effects that are used by a multitude of builds. It is hard to go wrong with complexity 1. Beginners should start here.

Complexity 2 offers more options with extra effects. It is usually not too complex but allows for more tactical options and spices up your gameplay. Most players will feel comfortable in this range since just relying on complexity 1 features can get boring rather quickly for most people. Players that already have TTRPG experience should start here.

Complexity 3 is where things start to get complicated. Most options here require specific builds and strategies to be used effectively. This is where the power gamers’ playground really starts to unfold and where you can find more exotic effects.

Complexity 4 features require advanced knowledge of this rule system and are usually extremely specific in their use. They allow for complex gameplay for advanced players.

You will also find a Beginner tag. Filtering for this tag reduces all features to a few core options. It is a good place to start if this is your very first TTRPG game and you have little experience with RPG systems in general.

Dice

IWS uses seven different types of dice. Dice sizes are referred to by the letter d, followed by the highest number that you can roll on it. The classical cube-shaped six-sided die is referred to as d6.

The dice used in IWS are: d4, d6, d8, d10, d12, d20, and d100.

The number of dice you need to roll at any given point is indicated by a number in front of the dice. For example, 3d6 means that you must roll three six-sided dice and, in most cases, add up the results.

If you have to roll more than one dice of the same type, you can choose to roll it once and then multiply the result with the number of dice that you had to roll. Conversely, if you have to roll dice and you have an effect that multiplies the result, you may instead just increase (or decrease) the number of dice that you have to roll by the factor of multiplication. For example, if you use the Ability Physical Bolt with the Path of Damage, you have to roll 4d10 for the damage, but the result is halved by the Path of Damage. You can choose just to roll 2d10 instead to simplify the calculations.

You will be adding additional values to the result of the dice often. A natural roll refers to the number that you rolled without adding any other modifiers. For example, if you make a Skill Check, you would need to roll a d10 and add your Skill value to it. So if you rolled a 7 and had to add 2, you would have rolled a 9, but you would also have rolled a natural 7.

Advantage and Disadvantage

There are many situations in which certain actions are easier or harder to perform than normally. This is where the advantage and disadvantage mechanic comes into play. When somebody has advantage on a roll, they will roll the corresponding dice twice and pick the better result. In case they have disadvantage, they will also roll twice but have to pick the worse of the two results.

Advantage and disadvantage cannot stack and cancel each other out.

Calculations

When calculating values, the results are always rounded down to the next full number unless it is stated that they should be rounded up or handled differently.

Multiple Simultaneous Effects

A creature that has multiple active instances of the same Status Effect or Ability is only affected by the strongest version of that effect unless the Status Effect, Ability, or feature explicitly allows for the effect to stack. Should the stronger version stop affecting them, the weaker version takes over if it’s still affecting the creature. This is true for positive and negative effects.

Effects that are allowed to stack with themselves last as long as the longest-lasting stack that has been applied.

Different negative or positive effects can stack without restrictions.

Size

Objects and creatures can have different sizes. The standard size is Medium and corresponds to a creature or object that can easily fit in a 1m x 1m x 2m area.

Objects and creatures that are bigger than that are classified as Big. If they do not fit in a 2m x 2m x 4m area, they are known as Big+. If they are twice as big, they will be categorized as Big ++, and so on.

Similarly, an object or creature that can fit in 0,5m x 0,5m x 1m is considered Small. If it fits in half that area, it is Smaller -, and so on.

For more rules on how size can affect creatures, see the creature rules.

Size Category	Maximum Area
Big +++	16 m x 16 m x 32 m
Big ++	8 m x 8 m x 16 m
Big +	4 m x 4 m x 8 m
Big	2 m x 2 m x 4 m
Medium	1 m x 1 m x 2 m
Small	0.5 m x 0.5 m x 1 m
Small –	25 cm x 25 cm x 50 cm
Small – –	12.5 cm x 12.5 cm x 25 cm
Small – – –	6.25 cm x 6.25 cm x 12.5 cm

Targeting and Hitting

Whenever you attack something or want to affect somebody with an Ability or feature, you need to target them. To target something, you need a direct line of sight, and it has to be within range of the weapon, Ability, or feature you are using. This does not mean that you need to be able to see it. There just needs to be a straight line between you and the potential target that is not completely blocked by something else. Abilities and features that mention different conditions, like the Ability Long-Range Telepathy that allows you to target a creature you have seen before, do not need a direct line of sight.

When you target something, that thing is referred to as a target. A target can be a creature or an object.

Some effects are triggered if you hit something. You only hit something if your attack roll was successful or the target fails all Defense Rolls you forced them to do. An effect that targets something that does not have an attack roll or forces the target to make any Defense Rolls will hit automatically. Beneficial effects like healing that you target at allies or yourself also count as a hit. For more information, see the combat rules.

Area of Effect Forms

Some Abilities, weapons, and features affect an area rather than a single target. Their description will often refer to specific forms for the sake of simplicity. These are the forms you may find:

Cube

The most basic form for an area-of-effect is a cube. The cube has equal length, width, and height. To keep it simpler, cubes in IWS are described by their base length and not their volume. So when we refer to a 3 m cube, we actually mean a 27 m³ cube.

When you use a weapon, Ability, or feature that uses a cube, you need to have a direct line of sight to the cube’s center. Every creature within the cube is targeted from that center. That means the effect will not be able to target a creature within the cube if there is a wall between them and the cube’s center large enough to give them full cover.

Characters

The Character is the lens through which a player interacts with the world and shapes it. With this in mind, crafting them into the kind of person (or creature) they want to play is important. Here you will find extensive rules that allow you to create and customize your character.

This chapter goes through all parts that make up your Character. You can find character sheets under Character Sheets. See the Character Creation Guide for a guide that helps you create a character. For information on what you have to keep in mind while Leveling up, see the Leveling Guide.

You can find the full version of these rules here.

Flavor

Unlike most TTRPGs, Ishanekon: World Shapers does not enforce any form of flavor with most of its character features and Abilities. It is up to you to design the story behind your character, and the rules are only there to help you represent the Image that you have in your head. Just because you are playing a War Berserker, it does not mean that you need to play an ax-wielding rage machine. Maybe your character instead is a swordmaster that falls into a battle trance or a superhero that can increase their power for a short burst.

YOU decide the flavor, not the rules. Feel free to break stereotypes that you associate with the Archetype, feature, or Ability names and play what you want to play (as long as it fits the setting that your group is playing).

Level and Tier

Your Character (and every other creature) has two metrics that mostly define their progress. Those are their Level and their Tier.

Levels are the more basic measurement. A creature can have a Level as low as 0. There are no real limits on how high a Level can get, but I recommend that characters should not level much past Level 12 since the game balance can get a bit wonky if you push it too far, and the complexity of most characters starts to exceed what most players can handle. Level 1 is a good starting Level for most campaigns, but you can feel free to choose another starting level to fit the needs of your story and group. A character gains a level when the GM finds it appropriate for the story.

A character gains all kinds of benefits when they gain a new Level. You can see an overview of everything that you gain per Level (except for Vitality, Willpower, and general Archetype proficiencies and Stats) in the following table. For more details, see the rest of the Character rules. You continue gaining Talents, Stat Points, Skill Points, Tiers, and Abilities at the same rate should you level beyond Level 12.

Your Character also has a Tier. The Tier represents a rough category of power and is somewhat of a milestone. The Tier limits how high your Stats and Skills can get, what Abilities you can learn, how much Willpower you can use in one turn, and to what extent you can craft and upgrade items. Other things are also influenced by your Tier. Your Tier increases by one after every three Levels. You start with Tier 1 at Level 0. For more details, see the rest of the Character rules.

Archetype

You get to choose one Archetype when you create your character. Your Archetype is the foundation of your character on which you build their identity. There are 10 Archetypes total, each with its strengths and weaknesses. You can see the different options under Archetypes. Your Archetype defines the following features:

• What your Primary and Secondary Stat is (You must choose one if there are multiple options).
• How much your Vitality and Willpower increase per Level (7 and 2, 5 and 3, or 3 and 4).
• The number of Skill Points that you start with.
• In what armors and weapons you are proficient in.
• What your Evasion Stat is (You must choose one if there are multiple options).
• How many Abilities you can learn per Level.
• One Archetype feature.
• Which Sub-Archetypes you can choose.

After you gain an Archetype, you must choose a Sub-Archetype. A Sub-Archetype gives you a new feature for each Tier that you gain up to Tier 5 (Level 12) and helps you define what kind of character you want to play.

Stats

Your Stats represent your Physical and Mental Attributes and form the core of your Character. There are seven Stats:

1. Strength: Your general physical fitness and power. Your carry capacity is equal to twice your Strength Stat.
2. Dexterity: Your flexibility, precision, and speed. Your base Evasion equals your Dexterity.
3. Constitution: Your general physical toughness. Your base Vitality equals your Constitution, and it increases your max Temporary Vitality by the same amount.
4. Intelligence: Your logical thinking capabilities and your memory. You gain Skill Points equal to your Intelligence stat.
5. Charisma: Your general charm and good looks, as well as your luck and artistic creativity. Your max Narrative Momentum is equal to your Charisma Stat.
6. Instinct: Your ability to act without thinking. Your basic Initiative equals twice your Instinct Stat.
7. Will: Your determination. Your base Willpower is equal to your Will Stat, and it increases your max Temporary Vitality by the same amount.

At Level 0, you have 7 in each Stat, and you can spend 27 Stat Points as you see fit in each Stat. Alternatively, you can roll 5+3d4, dropping the lowest d4 seven times, and use the results for your Stats if you prefer it to be random. The maximum value that a Stat can have equals 12 + your Tier.

Tier (Level Range)	Max Stat Limit
1 (0-2)	13
2 (3-5)	14
3 (6-8)	15
4 (9-11))	16
5 (12-14)	17

You also have a Stat Bonus for each Stat that results out of the Stat value. Your Stat Bonus equals your Stat – 10. Somebody with 13 Strength and 9 Dexterity would have a Strength Bonus of +3 and a Dexterity Bonus of -1.

Stat	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17
Stat Bonus	-3	-2	-1	0	+1	+2	+3	+4	+5	+6	+7

When you gain your Archetype, you also gain your Primary and Secondary Stat (which are each one of the seven stats). Both Stats influence your Ability hit bonus. The Primary Stat also forms the basis for your Defense Roll Power, and many features are also affected by it. For more information, see below under Abilities and in the chapter Combat.

Resources

Your Character has four Resources that they can use. These are Vitality, Temporary Vitality, Willpower, and Narrative Momentum.

Vitality

The Vitality of your Character represents their overall health. It is reduced whenever they receive damage, but it can also be replenished by Healing Abilities. Your maximum Vitality equals your Constitution plus the Vitality you gain each Level through your Archetype (and sometimes some features, Talents, and upgrades).

You do not immediately die when your Vitality drops below 1. Instead, you keep track of your negative Vitality, and you are restrained. This cannot be prevented unless a feature says explicitly otherwise. You also gain the Bleeding Status Effect. The DR Power of the bleeding is 10. You stabilize and stop bleeding if you roll at least a 20 on your DR against bleeding. If somebody heals you or uses the Stabilize action (3 AP) while next to you, you also remove the bleeding. You stay restrained until you have at least 1 Vitality.

You die if your Vitality drops below the negative value of your maximum Vitality. You would die with -31 Vitality, for example, should you have a maximum Vitality of 30 but still be alive with -30. A dead creature cannot be healed by any normal Healing Ability or feature.

Temporary Vitality

Your Temporary Vitality works as a buffer for your Vitality and is an abstraction for additional replenishable defenses like an energy shield or determination that allows you to endure more pain. Any damage that you receive is first subtracted from your Temporary Vitality. Only once you run out of Temporary Vitality does damage actually affect your Vitality.

Your maximum Temporary Vitality is equal to your Constitution plus your Will plus your twice your Level. It starts at 0 and is reduced to 0 after each rest you take.

Willpower

Your Willpower (WP) is an abstraction for your energy reserves, resources, physical endurance, and other things that limit your actions. You use your WP as fuel for your Abilities. You can only use a number of WP equal to your Tier times two plus two on one Ability and during one turn. These limitations are called WP upcast limit and WP turn limit.

Your maximum WP equals your Will plus the WP you gain each Level through your Archetype (and sometimes some features, Talents, and upgrades). It is harder to replenish WP compared to Vitality. You usually regain it by taking a rest or using stimulants. Your maximum Willpower cannot be less than your WP turn limit

Narrative Momentum

Sometimes, a protagonist can push themselves beyond their normal limits for the sake of the story, leading to clutch moments that barely get resolved. The Narrative Momentum mechanic allows player characters to achieve just that.

Each Character has a maximum Narrative Momentum equal to their Charisma plus their Luck Skill Level. A Character can use their Narrative Momentum at any time to reroll any rolled dice and choose one of the two results. How much Narrative Momentum has to be used depends on the die that is rerolled. 1 for d4, 2 for d6 and d8, 3 for d10 and d12 and 5 for d20. You can also use 3 Narrative Momentum for a Cinematic Action or Reaction.

A character regains half of their Narrative Momentum after a full rest. A character can also gain one level of Exhaustion to gain 3 Narrative Momentum at the moment they need it. The effects of the Exhaustion are applied after rerolls have taken effect if the Narrative Momentum is used immediately. This Exhaustion cannot be prevented in any way. The GM can award Narrative Momentum for good role-play and interacting with the story and environment in interesting and inventive ways.

Paths

Paths determine the core mechanic that your character revolves around. You choose one Path when you create your character. You cannot gain a second Path in any way.

Different Paths are more or less essential for specific playstyles. For example, a character that mainly relies on weapon attacks should take Path of Attack to gain more attacks for their attack action whenever they reach a new Tier.

You can find a list of all Paths here.

Skills

Skills are a list of 33 areas in which your character can be trained. Each Skill has one Stat with which it is connected and has a Skill Level. The maximum Skill Level a character can have equals 2 + their Tier.

A character can often use different Skills to attempt to solve problems during their adventure, such as sneaking by some enemies, repairing a machine, or convincing a merchant to give them a discount. The GM decides if a player has to make a Skill Check to determine if they apply their Skill successfully, but players can suggest Skills Checks combined with the action they are trying to perform.

To make a Skill Check, the Player rolls a d10 and adds their Skill Level in that Skill and half of their corresponding Stat Bonus to it. (Example: Stealth Check with Dexterity Bonus +2 and Skill Level 0, rolled a 4 on the d10, the result is 4+1+0 = 5.  History Check with Intelligence Bonus -1 and Skill Level 3, rolled a 7 on the d10, the result is 7-1+3=9). They succeed if they roll at least as high as a number determined by the GM. The number should correlate with the difficulty of the task. You can choose to fail your own Skill Check.

Difficulty	Example Number
Very Easy	1
Easy	4
Medium	7
Difficult	10
Very Difficult	13
Extremely Difficult	16
Nearly Impossible	19

The GM does not need to tell the players the exact number, but if they ask, the GM can, depending on the situation, imply how difficult or easy a task is. For example, the GM could say that it seems very dangerous to climb a cliff without climbing gear implying a very difficult Athletics or Nimbleness Check.

You have a critical failure that guarantees you fail the Skill Check if you roll a natural 1 on the d10. You cannot have a critical failure if you have a Skill Level of at least 5 in that Skill.

You have a critical success, which guarantees that you succeed on the Skill Check if you roll a natural 10. A critical success cannot help you with an impossible task. A normal human, for example, will not be able to jump to the moon just because they had a critical success on an Athletics Check. You cannot have a critical success with a Skill that has a Skill Level that is lower than 3.

You gain a number of Skill Points determent by your Archetype (3, 6, or 9) plus an amount equal to your Intelligence Stat at Level 0. You can use them to gain Skill Levels in any Skill you want. You can also use your Skill Points to learn a language, but only at character creation. You start with two languages of your choice as a default.

Stat	Skills of that Stat
Strength	Athletics, Menace, Raw Force
Dexterity	Lockpicking, Nimbleness, Quick Fingers, Stealth
Constitution	Endurance
Intelligence	Analysis, Computers, Engineering, History, Medicine, Natural Science, Psychology, Supernatural
Charisma	Art, Deception, Disguising, Grace, Luck, Persuasion, Presence
Instinct	Animal Handling, First Aid, Improvisation, Intuition, Meta, Perception, Street Smarts, Survival, Vehicle Handling
Will	Perseverance

You can find more information about Skills here.

Power Source

Every character, creature, and item has some form of power source (or sources) that they use for their features and Abilities. There are four types of power sources:

1. Supernatural: Abilities and features based on supernatural powers, like magic, miracles, or curses.
2. Technology: Abilities and features based on technology, like gadgets, chemical concoctions, electronics, or machines.
3. Biology: Abilities and features based on biological abilities, like superpowers, mutations, or natural weapons.
4. Technique: Abilities and features based on training, talent, and skill, like a sword technique or a psychological trick.

The flavor of your character (which you choose freely) determines their power source. A character can have a mix of power sources for different Abilities and features. For example, a soldier could use technique to make a precision shot with their assault rifle but use technology to throw an explosive with the Grenade Ability.

Greater and Lesser Talents

Talents are features you choose whenever you gain a Level that gives your character different benefits. You can further customize your character with Talents and specialize. There are two kinds of Talents, Greater and Lesser.

You gain one Greater Talent whenever you gain an even Level other than 0. Greater Talents grant more powerful benefits and define and expand the core strengths of your character. You can, among other things, gain access to the features of other Sub-Archetypes, specialize in a specific weapon or damage type, or gain great boons associated with mastered Skills.

You gain one Lesser Talent whenever you gain an uneven Level. Lesser Talents give smaller benefits, which can be helpful nonetheless. They allow you to customize your character in ways that help you gain a specific flavor.

You can find a list of all Lesser Talents here and all Greater Talents here.

Abilities

Your Character can learn Abilities from a pool of over 700 Abilities. Abilities allow you to achieve all kinds of powerful and useful feats, like hurling a ball of fire towards your enemies, healing your allies, detecting the life force of creatures, and much much more.

You need Willpower (WP) to use Abilities. The more powerful an Ability is, the more Willpower you will need to use it. You can also use more Willpower than required to increase the power of the Ability with most of them. This is called upcasting, and an Ability will tell you what options you have to upcast it. Upcast effects can be, for example, that the Ability deals more damage, that it affects a bigger area or more targets, or that it lasts longer.

The Poison Grenade Ability, for example, costs 2 WP to use, but you can upcast it by 1 WP for a total of 3 WP to apply an additional stack of Poison if you hit your target. You can further increase the number of Poison stacks for each additional WP that you use while using this Ability. You can also use 2 WP to increase the area of effect of the Poison Grenade by 1 m. You can mix and match the different upcast options.

There is a limit to how much you can upcast an Ability. This is called your WP upcast limit, and it is equal to your Tier times two plus two. You cannot upcast an Ability beyond your WP upcast limit even if a feature or other effect reduces the amount of WP you have to spend on the Ability. For example, you would not be able to upcast the Poison Grenade Ability by 3 WP to a total of 5 WP if you are only Level 1 and therefore have a Tier of 1. Even if you have the Greater Talent Intuition Master that reduces the WP cost of all of your Abilities by 1, you can only upcast by 2 WP for a total WP Cost of 3 since, effectively, it is a 4 WP Ability. Features that allow you to upcast Abilities for free ignore your WP upcast limit unless stated otherwise.

Abilities also have a Tier associated with them. You cannot learn Abilities that are of a higher Tier than you. The Tier of an Ability depends on how much WP it costs to use. The limit is two times the Tier plus two before the Ability reaches a new Tier. The Tier of an Ability increases beyond their normal Tier if you upcast it to an extent that its new WP costs are within a new Tier. The Ability Tier depends on how much WP it would cost to use it without taking into account any WP cost reduction or free upcasting that you would get from features. For example, a Level 3 character with the Path of Damage might be able to use a Damage Ability for 1 WP, but since it is upcast to their upcast limit, it is still a Tier 2 Ability even if its effective WP cost is 1.

Ability Tier	1	2	3	4	5
WP Cost	1,2,3,4	5,6	7,8	9,10	11,12

You learn two Abilities at Level 0. You then learn Abilities while leveling up. How many new Abilities you learn depends on which Archetype you have chosen. Archetypes that gain 2 WP per Level (Bulwark, War) learn one Ability every second Level (even). Those that gain 3 WP per Level learn an Ability each Level (Cunning, Demolition, Nature, Technology, Unarmed). Finally, Archetypes that gain 4 WP per Level learn two Abilities per Level (Creative, Mental, Reality).

Not every Archetype can learn every Ability. Each Archetype has its own pool of Abilities that it can learn. There are, however, ways to tap into the Ability pools of other Archetypes through Talents.

Some Abilities have instantaneous effects, like causing an explosion, but other Abilities cause effects that last longer, like Buffs and Summons. The creature that used that Ability can cancel its effect at any time.

You only have to work 10 hours a day for any Ability that takes longer than 24 hours to use.

You can find a list of all Abilities here.

Ability Types

There are different types of Abilities. The Ability types do not only roughly describe what an Ability does, but they are also important for the rules. Many features affect only a specific type of Ability or do not work if the Ability is of a specific type. There are the following Ability types:

Buff

Buff Abilities grant benefits to one or more targets for a certain time. There are many varieties, like Stat boosts, defensive or offensive bonuses, or access to new actions.

You can only have one Buff Ability active at a time. Your first Buff Ability stops working should you use another Buff Ability while it is still active.

Control

Control Abilities change the battlefield and disrupt the enemy. Abilities that improve your and your allies’ defenses are also Control Abilities.

Damage

Any Ability that can directly deal damage is a Damage Ability. An Ability is also a Damage Ability if you can only directly deal damage with it if you upcast it.

Debuff

Debuff Abilities greatly weaken one or more targets. The effects usually go beyond normal Status Effects and can severely cripple your enemies.

You can only have one Debuff Ability active at a time. Your first Debuff Ability stops working should you use another Debuff Ability while it is still active.

Healing

Any Ability that heals a target or removes negative effects is a Healing Ability. Healing a target includes anything that restores or gives Vitality or Temporary Vitality to said target.

The WP cost of a Healing Ability cannot be reduced below 1 unless a feature specifically says so.

Maneuver

Abilities that require physical movement or are part of a weapon attack count as a Maneuver.

You can only use one Maneuver Ability with a weapon attack. You have to declare that you want to use a Maneuver Ability on a weapon attack (including any upcasts you want to make) before making that attack. Maneuver Abilities cannot be used with the attacks of area-of-effect weapons. For more Information see here.

Summon

Summon Abilities manifest objects or creatures and are more complex than other Abilities. For more Information see here.

Transform

Transform Abilities allow you to transform yourself or other targets into different objects and creatures and are more complex than other Abilities. For more Information see here.

Utility

Utility Abilities encompass many different Abilities that are usually most useful outside of combat. Many Abilities that do not fit in other categories are of this type by default.

Basic Movement

Every Character has a Basic Movement that determines how much they can move during their turn. The Basic Movement is 3 m if there are no modifiers.

Many features and Abilities can increase or decrease the Basic Movement of your character, allies, and enemies.

Basic Movement should not be confused with movement. Movement refers to what distance a creature can still move during a turn without taking any additional action into account. A creature with a Basic Movement of 3 m starts with 3 m of movement at the start of the turn. Should they take the Move action once and not move during their turn, they would have a movement of 6 m, for example. They have a movement of 5 m if they move 1 m.

Traits

Traits are an optional rule that allows you to customize your character further if a normal humanoid is not quite what you are looking for. For more information see here.

Combat

Depending on your type of game, you may have many encounters with foes where peace is not an option (or at least not the option you choose). These battle rules help you simulate those intense contests of might, be it with swords, magic, superpowers, guns, or just a well-placed fist.

Combat only starts if there are at least two parties involved that truly wish to fight and have the capabilities to do so. Randomly punching rocks does not start combat. Neither does attacking innocent civilians that cannot fight back if there is nobody there willing to defend them. Players randomly brawling with the intention of triggering and using features that only work during combat does not start combat either.

Everybody that fights on your side counts as an ally. That includes yourself. Every other combatant on the battlefield counts as an enemy.

Rounds and Turns

Each combat is divided into multiple rounds. Each combatant gets one turn during one round. How much time passes during one round depends on what kind of game you are playing. A relatively normal game with epic heroes and villains might have rounds that roughly take 12 seconds. On the other hand, you may be playing a game more akin to shounen anime, or one with extremely superpowered individuals, where a round could take less than a second. You decide what amount of time makes the most sense for your setting. Regardless, any feature or Ability that lasts for five rounds should roughly last one minute outside of combat.

Each participant gets three Action Points (AP) during their turn. They can use their AP for all kinds of actions during combat. For a list of all common actions, see Basic Actions. They can also move by an amount equal to their Basic Movement (usually 3 m) without needing to use any AP. Each participant also gains two Reaction Points (RP) for the whole round. RP can be used to act outside of your turn but usually require specific features or Abilities to be used.

The order in which participants take their turns is determined by their Initiative. The creature with the highest Initiative goes first, then the one with the second highest, and so on. If two creatures have the same Initiative, the GM decides who goes first. Your Instinct Stat times two plus your Athletics, Quick Fingers, Analysis, Grace, and Improvisation Skill Levels determine your Initiative. The Initiative of objects is always 0.

A creature loses their turn in the first round if they are surprised by the combat. This can be achieved, for example, if the attackers sneak up on them with a successful Stealth Check or if they walk into an ambush without noticing it through a Perception or Intuition Check.

You can find more information here.

Basic Actions

Here is a list of the most basic actions that even a beginner should learn. It contains everything you need for a basic battle. You can find more advanced actions here.

Name	AP	Description
Attack	2	You can make one weapon attack. It does not have to be during the same action, but it has to be on your turn. You can make attacks in any order you like if a feature or Ability (like Path of Attack or Multi-Wielder) allows you to make additional attacks with this action.
Defend	2	Attack rolls against you have disadvantage, and you have advantage on all your DR until your next turn.
Interact with Target	1	You make a simple and quick interaction with an object or creature, like pushing a button, picking up a weapon, opening a door, giving an ally an item, or trying to poke a creature. You can make one free Interact with Target action on your turn unless you have already used a free Switch Weapons action.
Move	1	You increase your movement by an amount equal to your Basic Movement.
Sprint	3	You increase your movement by an amount equal to four times your Basic Movement.
Stabilize	3	You can make a First Aid Check against 8. On a success, you can remove the Bleeding Status Effect from a creature within 1 m of you.
Switch Places	1	You can switch places with an ally that is standing next to you. They must use a reaction (1 RP), or this action fails.
Switch Weapons	1	You can change the weapons/shields and equipment that you are wielding. You can perform this action for free on your turn once if you are not holding anything in the hand that you want to use to draw a weapon or if you just want to sheathe a weapon without replacing it with another. You cannot make one free Switch Weapons action on your turn if you already used a free Interact with Target action.
Taking Cover	1	Your Evasion increases by 2 and your DR by 1, as long as you are in half cover until your next turn. You also no longer grant half-cover to creatures of the same size category until your next turn.
Use Item	3	Use a non-ability consumable, such as a stimulant.

Cinematic Actions and Reactions

Sometimes, you want to do something during combat that would lead to an epic moment, but the rules do not directly allow it, or at least they make it hard to perform. In such a case, you can use a Cinematic Action (3AP) or a Cinematic Reaction (2RP) and get creative.

Using a Cinematic Action or Reaction costs 3 Narrative Momentum. You tell the GM what you want to attempt before you start your Cinematic Action or Reaction. The GM determines if it is possible or not. Should the GM agree, you must then make a Skill Check determined by the GM. On a success, you perform your Cinematic Action and Reaction as intended. On a failure, you are unsuccessful, and the GM determines what happens.

A successful Cinematic Action or Reaction should be at least as powerful as a fully upcast Ability. The GM determines the exact effects, but they should use this as a guideline. A Cinematic Action can also be far more powerful, depending on the suggestion, but the difficulty of the Skill Check should scale appropriately.

Two or more characters can perform a Cooperative Cinematic Action. Each character beyond the first has to perform a reaction (2 RP) to participate. Each participant only needs to use 2 Narrative Momentum instead of the normal 3, and everyone has to make a Skill Check. It does not have to be the same Skill Check, and they make it with advantage. The participants succeed in their Cooperative Cinematic Action if everybody succeeds on their Skill Check. A failure on the Skill Check of one participant can be compensated by a critical success of another participant. The effectiveness of the Cooperative Cinematic Action should scale with the number of characters participating.

You can find more information here.

Attacks

Using weapons or some selected Abilities against a target requires you to perform an attack. You must target them and (unless it is an object) make an attack roll to see if you hit them. If your target is an object, you hit it automatically. To make an attack roll, roll a d20 and add your weapon or Ability hit bonus. Your attack hits if you roll at least the same amount as the Evasion of your target. You can choose to miss with your own attack.

Every weapon has a Primary and Secondary Stat that determines, in combination with your Stats, how high their hit bonus is. The hit bonus is equal to the Primary Stat Bonus of the weapon plus half of its Secondary Stat Bonus. For example, let us assume that you are wielding an ax and have a Strength and Dexterity of 13. The Primary Stat of an ax is Strength, and the Secondary Stat is Dexterity. Should you try to attack with the ax, you add your Strength Bonus and half of your Dexterity Bonus to the attack roll, so 3 plus 1,5, which is rounded down to 1, for a total of 4. For more information about weapons, see the weapons chapter in the items rule.

You add your Ability hit bonus to the attack if you attack with an Ability instead. Your Ability hit bonus is calculated similarly to a weapon hit bonus, but it uses your Primary and Secondary Stat instead, which are determined by your Archetype.

An attack is either a weapon attack or an Ability attack. There is also a distinction between melee attacks and ranged attacks. Melee attacks have a base range of 1 m and ignore cover. Ranged attacks have a greater range than melee attacks that depend on the Ability or weapon, but you attack with disadvantage if you are within melee range of an enemy.

If you roll a natural 20 when you attack, you perform a critical hit. Critical hits with weapons increase the damage by 6. Critical hits with Abilities increase the damage by 6 plus an additional 3 for every Tier of the used Ability. Critical hits with weapon attacks that have a Maneuver added to them deal additional damage of 6, and the Maneuver deals additional damage equal to 3 times the Tier of the used Maneuver Ability.

You can find more information here.

Evasion

Evasion represents how good your character is at dodging, parrying, and blocking. It determines how hard it is to hit you with attacks. An attacker must roll at least as high as your Evasion with their attack roll to hit you with an attack. An attacker with a hit bonus of 4 would need to roll at least a 12 if they want to hit a target with an Evasion of 16. Any lower and the attack would miss.

Your base Evasion is equal to your Dexterity Stat plus the Stat Bonus of your Evasion Stat. Your Archetype determines your Evasion Stat. For example, let us presume that you have the War Archetype and a Dexterity of 13 and a Strength of 14. The Evasion Stat of the War Archetype is Strength. That means you would have a base Evasion of 13 + 4 = 17.

Armor and clothes you wear limit how high your base Evasion can get, but they can offer other advantages and be upgraded to loosen the restriction. For example, if you have a base Evasion of 17 but are wearing medium armor, then your base Evasion would be only 14 instead of 17 because of the Evasion Cap of the armor. The Evasion Cap does not affect any other source of additional Evasion like Buffs or features. For more information, see the chapter on armor in the item rules.

Armor

Your Armor is a value that helps you reduce almost any incoming damage. Your Armor is subtracted from any incoming damage. For example, if you have an Armor of 2 and are hit for 12 damage, you only receive 10 damage. Your Armor is only subtracted once if you are hit with multiple Damage Types simultaneously. A negative Armor value leads to taking increased damage if you receive any.

Armor does not protect you from Poison or Psychic damage. Instead, these types of damage take the Constitution DR value (Poison) or Will DR value (Psychic) into account as if it were Armor. A creature with a Constitution of 10 and an Endurance Skill Level of 3 (which leads to a Constitution DR of 3) that is hit by 12 Poison damage would receive 9 damage. Damage that deals multiple types of damage simultaneously, for which different defenses become relevant, takes the lowest defensive value into account. The attacker can choose from which damage type the Armor/DR value is subtracted. If you hit a target with an Armor of 4 and a Constitution DR value of 1 with an attack that deals 5 Physical and 5 Poison damage, you would deal a total of 9 damage, either 5 Physical and 4 Poison damage or 4 Physical and 5 Poison damage.

Effects that ignore Armor, like the Greater Talent Cursed Revenge, also ignore the DR values if you damage a target with Poison or Psychic damage. Such effects still deal increased damage if the target’s Armor or DR values are negative. Ignoring Armor does not allow you to reduce the effective Armor of a target below 0. For Example, attacking a target with 2 Armor with the Ability Armor Piercer, which allows you to ignore up to 4 Armor, allows you to deal damage as if the target had an Armor of 0 and not -2.

For more information on how much Armor you get from what kind of armor, see the chapter on armor in the Item Rules.

Defense Rolls

There are many Abilities and features for which the user does not have to aim actively. Instead, the target needs to defend themselves against the effects. The target must make a Defense Roll (DR) in such cases. A creature can choose to fail their own Skill Check. Objects automatically fail all DR.

There are seven different kinds of DR. Each is based on one of the seven Stats in addition to one Skill. The target must roll a d20 and add the corresponding Stat Bonus and Skill Level. They succeed on their DR if they roll at least as high as the DR Power of the creature targeting them. The DR Power is equal to the Primary Stat of the creature. The seven kinds of DR are as follows:

1. Strength (Raw Force): A Strength DR is used when the creature has to resist direct physical force and stand their ground. A Strength DR will determine your ability to withstand Physical damage, as well as restraining and moving effects.
2. Dexterity (Nimbleness): A Dexterity DR is used when getting out of the way is the only or most efficient option to prevent the worst or if you need to keep your balance. You can often avoid Reality damage with it as well as line-based Abilities.
3. Constitution (Endurance): A Constitution DR is used when your body needs to resist a natural force. Elemental damage and Status Effects are usually resisted by it, as are stun effects.
4. Intelligence (Psychology): An Intelligence DR is used if somebody tries to trick you or messes with your senses or mind. You can see through illusions and attempts to distract you if you succeed with this DR.
5. Charisma (Presence): A Charisma DR is relevant if the power of your personality and sense of self is needed to defend yourself. You usually use it to prevent effects that take direct control over you or that transform you.
6. Instinct (Intuition): An Intuition DR is used when a quick reaction is the best way to prevent or lessen the effects. Something like looking away from a blinding effect or reacting before someone can manipulate something that you are holding can be achieved with it.
7. Will (Perseverance): A Will DR is used when your mind and spirit have to resist supernatural and mental attacks. You can defend yourself against Mystic and Psychic damage with it, and it also helps to overcome fear and other Mental Status Effects.

Damage Types

There are many ways to deal damage to your foes. There are 11 damage types that can be categorized into three categories: Other, Elemental, and Mystic. Creatures can have resistance, immunity, or vulnerability against different types of damage. Resistance reduces all incoming damage of that type by half. Immunity nullifies any damage of that type. Vulnerability increases all damage of that type by half. Knowing or being good at guessing resistances, immunities, and vulnerabilities can give you tactical advantages.

Damage Category	Damage Type
Physical	Physical
Elemental	Chemical, Cold, Heat, Poison, Shock
Mystic	Curse, Holy, Spirit
Other	Psychic, Reality

Status Effects

A creature or object can be affected by a Status Effect. Status Effects are negative effects that can be applied by all sorts of Abilities and features (not to be confused with Debuffs). There are three categories of Status Effects: Physical, Mental, and Elemental.

Physical Status Effects mainly affect the target’s body, limiting movement and representing injuries.

Mental Status Effects mainly affect the mind of the target, representing negative and uncontrolled emotions that hinder it.

Elemental Status Effects are connected with Elemental damage and represent a lingering form of them. Every Elemental damage type has exactly one Status Effect that is linked to it.

Dying does not remove Status effects. If a dead creature, which had a Status Effect when they died, is revived, they still have those Status Effects as if they had been alive the whole time.

You can find a list of all Status Effects here.

Terrain

The terrain of the battlefield also affects the combat itself. You can either play it as a theater of the mind, where the GM and the players imagine everything in their heads or with battle maps with a grid, where every square is 1 m long and wide. 1 m of movement allows you to move to a square (also called a space) that is next to you, even if it is diagonal from you.

Sometimes the terrain can be an obstacle that hinders your movement, such as tall grass, uneven ground, or slippery ice. In such cases, you need 2 m of movement to move one 1 m square. This is called difficult terrain.

You can freely move through a space occupied by an ally, but you cannot stop there.

You can try to move through a space occupied by an enemy, but you have to succeed on a Raw Force, Athletics, or Nimbleness check against a Raw Force or Athletics check made by the enemy. Moving through a space occupied by an enemy counts as difficult terrain. You can be in a space occupied by a creature that is two size categories bigger or smaller than you.

Cover

Standing behind an object that covers at least half of your body gives you half cover. Half cover grants you +2 Evasion against all ranged attacks that come from the direction of the cover and increases all of your DR by 1 against all effects that come from that same direction. Standing behind a creature of the same size category or bigger also gives you half cover, but all attacks that miss you target the creature in front of you instead, possibly leading it to be hit.

Standing behind an object that covers your entire body gives you full cover and you can no longer be targeted by any effects that come from the direction of your full cover. While you are in full cover, you can lean towards a space next to you, allowing you to see and target anything as if you were standing in that space. You have half cover while leaning out of full cover.

Moving and Teleporting

Moving a target into a space that is already occupied forces the creature or object occupying that space to make a Strength DR. The creature or object has advantage on that DR if it is at least one size category bigger than the target that you are moving into their space. On a failure, you deal physical damage – equal to the full distance in meters that the target would have been moved – to both the moving target and whatever is occupying the space. On a success, you only deal half as much damage. The moving target is stopped one space before it. You can add the damage that you deal that way to any damage that you might have caused through an Ability or attack that caused the movement in the first place, instead of treating it as a separate damage source.

Teleporting a target into a space that is already occupied deals Reality damage equal to the teleported distance to both the teleported target and whatever is occupying the space. The damage ignores Armor. The teleported target returns to its original position afterward. This cannot deal more than 100 damage to a creature.

Items

Your characters will have to rely on a multitude of different items during their stories. This chapter describes the main categories of items and how to craft and upgrade them. Items have Tiers just like creatures that determine their quality and power. See the items and weapon and armor lists for an extensive list of all items. You can also find all upgrades here.

Weight and Carry Capacity

Every item has a weight, usually between 1 and 6. The weight is an abstraction and does not directly correlate with any real-life weight measurement.

Creatures can only carry so much weight and are limited by how many items they can carry around. The Carry Capacity of a creature is equal to twice their Strength Stat. A creature that tries to carry more suffers multiple penalties. Their Basic Movement is set to 1 m and cannot be increased, their Evasion is reduced by half, all of their Skill Checks, DR, and attacks are made with disadvantage, and all creatures that they force to make a DR gain advantage on that roll.

Should they try to carry more than twice their Carry Capacity, they just fall prone and are restrained until they stop carrying that much weight.

Weapons

Weapons are some of the most basic ways to deal damage. You can make a weapon attack with the Attack action, and some Abilities trigger weapon attacks. For more information on weapon attacks, see the chapter on attacks in the combat rules.

Every weapon has a base damage die. One-handed weapons usually have a base damage die of d6, or d8, and two-handed weapons usually have a base damage die of d10 or d12. In addition to the base die, you add the Primary Stat Bonus of a weapon to the damage. For example, you would deal 1d8 + 3 damage if you have a Dexterity of 13 and hit a creature with a dagger (which has a Primary Stat of Dexterity).

You can only efficiently attack with a weapon that you are proficient with. You attack with disadvantage should you not be proficient with a weapon. You cannot be proficient in single weapons. You instead have proficiency with weapon categories (usually depending on your Archetype). There are six weapon categories:

Weapons can be either melee or ranged weapons. Melee weapons only have a short range which is usually not more than 3 m. Ranged weapons have an effective and ineffective range (usually written down like this 15m/45m, the first one being the effective range and the second one being the ineffective range). You make a normal ranged attack if you attack a target within the effective range, but if the target is within your ineffective range, you attack with disadvantage. You can only attack with ranged weapons if you have equipment equipped.

Weapons can have different properties that can be positive or negative. Here is a list of all the properties:

• Two-handed: You can only use this weapon with two hands. Melee Weapons with this property usually have a base range of 2 m.
• Elemental: This weapon deals Elemental damage if you attack with it. This Elemental damage type is fixed and cannot be changed.
• Mystic: This weapon deals Mystic damage if you attack with it. This Mystic damage type is fixed and cannot be changed.
• Psychic: This weapon deals Psychic damage if you attack with it.
• Adaptable: You can choose to deal physical damage instead of its normal damage type if you attack with this weapon.
• Flexible: This ranged weapon does not gain disadvantage if you attack while there is an enemy within 1 m of you.
• Heavy: This weapon is twice as heavy and expensive as it would normally be.
• Loud: Attacking with this weapon causes a lot of noise.
• Reload: Your Attack action uses 3 AP instead of 2, and your Flash Attack action uses 2 AP instead of 1 if you attack with this weapon.

If you hold more than one weapon, you can make a weapon attack with each weapon when you use the Attack action. This is called multi-wielding. If you do so, you only deal half the damage with each weapon, and the attack rolls are reduced by 1 for each weapon beyond the first one for all attacks. This reduction is handled additively. This means that if the damage of one of those attacks increases by 50% (like, for example, with Path of Attack), you will deal the full normal 100% damage instead of only 75%.

Some weapons make area-of-effect attacks. Such weapons target either everything with a 2 m cube, a 3 m line that starts within melee range, or everybody with 1 m of the attacker. When you attack with such a weapon, you make one attack roll and roll once for damage for all targets. This counts as one attack no matter of many targets you have. Area-of-effect melee weapons only have a base range of 1 m, even if they are two-handed.

Attacking without a weapon (called an unarmed attack) counts as a weapon attack. An unarmed attack can be a punch, kick, headbutt, bite, or any other attack you can think of that is made without a weapon. You can also make one additional unarmed attack for each empty hand beyond the first one if you use the Lesser Talent Multi-Wielder.

Armor

Most characters wear clothes or armor. There are four categories of armor: clothes, light, medium, and heavy. Every creature is automatically proficient with clothes, but you require training to be able to wear any other armor effectively. Most Archetypes give you proficiency in some of the other armor types.

The heavier your armor is, the more Armor it provides, but the lower its Evasion Cap is. The Evasion Cap of an armor limits how high your Evasion can increase through your Dexterity and Evasion Stat. It does not limit any other source of Evasion like shields or features that grant you a bonus to it. If you do not wear any clothes or armor, your Armor value is reduced by 1.

Your Evasion Cap is reduced by 4 if you wear armor with which you are not proficient.

Armor Type	Weight	Armor	Base Evasion Limit	Stealth Checks
Nothing	0	-1	∞	normal
Clothes	1	0	16	normal
Light Armor	2	1	15	normal
Medium Armor	4	2	14	normal
Heavy Armor	6	3	13	disadvantage

Shields

You can wield shields with free hands. They grant a bonus to your Evasion and can modify your Evasion Cap. There are three categories of shields: light, medium, and heavy. To use it effectively, you must be proficient in wielding the corresponding shield category. You are proficient with a shield category if you are proficient with the armor category of the same name.

The heavier a shield is, the higher its Evasion bonus, but the Evasion Cap modifier worsens.

You can also use shields like a melee weapon, but they are less effective than a normal weapon.

Your Evasion Cap is reduced by 1 per shield you wear that you are not proficient with.

The WP cost of Non-Manouver Abilities increases by 1 for each shield you are wielding.

The Evasion bonus of shields you wield beyond the first one is reduced by 1 if you wear more than one shield.

Shield Type	Weight	Evasion Bonus	Evasion Cap Modifier	Stealth Checks
Light Shield	2	+1	+1	normal
Medium Shield	4	+2	0	normal
Heavy Shield	6	+3	-1	disadvantage

Equipment

Equipment is an abstraction for various components, parts, ammunition, and other items you require for your Skills, Abilities, and ranged weapons. Equipment is vital for most characters. You can only have one equipment equipped at the same time.

You cannot attack with any ranged weapon if you do not have equipment. Most Abilities require you to have your equipment with you to use them.

You can also presume that you have basic tools to use Skills that you are trained in when you have your equipment with you. Some examples would be lockpicks for your Lockpicking Skill or mechanical tools for Engineering. This includes tools that you need to craft and upgrade items.

If you are unsure if your equipment includes a tool you want to use, you can roll a Skill Check related to that tool. The rarer the item is, the higher the Skill Check. You are only allowed to roll such a Skill Check if you have at least a Level of 1 in the relevant Skill.

Example Skill Check Number	Examples Tools (corresponding Skill Check)
4	Torch/Lamp (Survival), Knife/Lighter (Survival/Improvisation), Writing Utensils/Piece of Paper/Notebook (Any Intelligence-based Skill or Art), Cellphone (Street Smarts)
7	Cookingpot (Improvisation), Rope (Survival/Improvisation), Holy Symbol (Perseverance), Batteries (Natural Science/Engineering/Computers), Makeup (Disguising)
10	Map of the Region (History/Survival), Spices (Improvisation), Instrument (Art), Wig/Costume (Disguising), Mirror (Improvisation/Disguising), Travel Document (Street Smarts)
13	Specific Book (Relevant Intelligence-based Skill or Art), Specific Game (Street Smarts/Luck), Laptop (Computer), Stick of Dynamite (Engineering)
16	Solar Charging Station (Natural Science/Engineering/Computers), Autograph of an Important Person (Street Smarts), Piece of Art (Art), Expensive Jewelry (Disguising/Grace)
19	Specific Key/Offical Documents you should not have (Quick Fingers/Street Smarts), Alien Artefact (Natural Science/Meta), Archeological Relic (History)

Bag

A bag allows you to carry all sorts of objects and trinkets that do not fall into the other item categories without affecting your carrying limit. This includes ingredients and materials that you can use to craft items. You can only have one bag equipped at the same time.

There is no official limit on how much you can fit in your bag. The GM can, however, intervene if they think that you are starting to carry around a ridiculous amount of objects and limit how much you can actually carry around in a bag.

Credits

Credits are an abstraction for all sorts of monetary systems. Depending on your setting, you can use it to buy all kinds of items. The GM can feel free to change the name to any monetary system that fits the setting, like gold for fantasy or dollars for a modern game.

I recommend that players should roughly earn 500 + (1000 * Tier) credits per Level. The GM can, of course, adjust that number to fit the group’s needs.

Starting Equipment

The GM determines with which items the player characters can start, but I recommend the following Standard Starting Equipment:

• 1 clothes or armor
• 1 equipment
• 1-3 weapons/shields
• 1 bag
• 300 credits

Feel free to add minor flavor Items to iron out your character.

Ability Consumables and Items

Ability Consumables and Items allow you to use Abilities without WP even if you do not know the corresponding Ability.

Ability Consumables are one-use items that allow you to use a previously determined Ability once. The Ability stored in the Ability consumable can be upcasted, and the user can determine how they upcast it. The upcast is fixed and cannot be increased or reduced unless a feature allows it. The item is destroyed or useless after you use it. They weigh 1 and are relatively affordable.

Ability items have charges, which act just like WP. You can only use one Ability with this item. They regain all charges after their wielder takes a full rest. Their weight is 3, and they are significantly more expensive than Ability consumables. Ability Items have 4 charges, but they can be upgraded to have more.

Features and Talents that affect Abilities also affect Ability consumables and items and can be used to empower them further.

Stimulant

Stimulants are consumable items that grant WP when you consume them. They can be various things, like mana crystals, steroids, coffee, or ammunition packs. Choose what fits your setting and characters.

There are different Tiers of Stimulants. It starts with Tier 0, which restores 1d8 WP. Every other Tier restores an additional 1d8 WP, but they are also more expensive and rarer.

Crafting

Characters can craft items if they have the corresponding Skills and tools. To be able to craft an item, you need the following things:

• A corresponding Skill of at least 1 + Tier of the wanted item
• Materials that are worth at least half of the cost of the item
• Being of at least the same Tier as the item that you want to craft
• Your equipment
• A free hand

You can see which Skills can craft which items here.

What kinds of material you need are determined by the DM. You should usually be able to buy them in any location with a multitude of shops, like towns or trading hubs. You might also be able to find materials while you are adventuring. Your character would normally not just stumble upon materials, but they might be able to gather or salvage them with successful Skill Checks. An alchemist might be able to find magical herbs with a successful Survival Check, a blacksmith could mine some ore with a good Raw Force Check, or an Engineer can salvage a defeated battle robot for parts with a successful Engineering Check. The value of materials that they can find should not greatly surpass the number of credits that they would normally get with their Level if you wish to keep it balanced.

When your character crafts an item, you should think about what they are actually crafting and how they are doing it. Instead of just making a Simple Heal Ability consumable and leaving it at that, you could say that your alchemist brewed a healing position, that your doctor mixed some pain killer, or maybe your character just-baked chocolate chip cookies that are so good that they make you forget your pain. Feel free to be creative as long as it fits into your game setting.

You cannot just craft items instantly. You need some time to do so. You are going to need Item Price/50 in hours to craft something. Crafting Consumables only needs half the time (Item Price/100 hours). You can only work 10 hours per full rest on crafting and upgrading items. Any hour beyond that makes you gain 1 Level of Exhaustion.

Maneuvers cannot be turned into Ability Consumables and Items.

Upgrade

Characters can also upgrade and customize their non-consumable items. There are a variety of upgrades. You can find a full list of all Upgrades here.

Items that are not upgraded are of Tier 0. There are different upgrades with different Tiers. Once an item is upgraded, you add the upgrades Tier to the items Tier. A rifle without upgrades that you upgrade with the Improved Weapon Upgrade (Tier 1) would become a Tier 1 weapon, for example. There are also upgrades of Tier 0 that do not change the Tier and even downgrades that lower the Tier of the item. Non-permanent upgrades, like those granted by the Lesser Talents Computers Adept and Free Upgrade, do not change the Tier of the item.

To upgrade an item, you need the same requirement that you would need to be able to craft it. Alternatively, you can go to a craftsman that can upgrade your items in exchange for credits. The price depends on the type of Upgrade that you want. If you craft it yourself, you only need materials that have a value of half as many credits.

The cost of positive upgrades (Tier 1 or higher) increases by 500 times the Tier of the item. The additional cost does not increase if you use an upgrade that increases the Tier of the item by more than 1. This additional cost cannot be decreased to lower than 0.

The cost of negative upgrades (Tier -1 or lower ) increases by 300 for each negative Upgrade it already has.

The cost of neutral upgrades always stays the same.

You can remove upgrades if you work one hour on the item. You do not regain the materials used for the upgrade. You can also just overwrite unwanted Upgrades with new Upgrades.

Skill	Power Source	Crafting	Upgradeable
Art	Supernatural, Technique	Mind, Unearthly, Clothes, Equipment, Consumables, Ability Item	Mind, Unearthly, Clothes, Equipment, Ability Item
Computers	Technology	Equipment, Consumables, Ability Item	Everything
Engineering	Technique, Technology	Simple, Medieval, Military, Tech, Mind, Armor, Shield, Bag, Equipment, Consumables, Ability Item	Simple, Medieval, Military, Tech, Mind, Armor, Shield, Bag, Equipment, Ability Item
History	Supernatural, Technique, Technology	Simple, Medieval, Military, Armor, Clothes, Shield, Equipment, Consumables, Ability Item	Simple, Medieval, Military, Armor, Clothes, Shield, Equipment, Ability Item
Improvisation	Biology, Supernatural, Technique, Technology	Simple, Medieval, Armor, Clothes, Shield, Bag, Equipment, Consumables
Medicine	Biology, Technology	Equipment, Consumables, Ability Item	Ability Item
Natural Science	Biology, Technique, Technology	Simple, Medieval, Military, Tech, Mind, Armor, Clothes, Shield, Bag, Equipment, Consumables, Ability Item	Simple, Medieval, Military, Tech, Mind, Armor, Shield, Bag, Equipment, Ability Item
Supernatural	Biology, Supernatural	Simple, Medieval, Military, Tech, Unearthly, Mind, Armor, Clothes, Shield, Bag, Equipment, Consumables, Ability Item	Simple, Medieval, Military, Tech, Unearthly, Mind, Armor, Shield, Bag, Equipment, Ability Item
Survival	Biology, Technique	Simple, Medieval, Armor, Clothes, Shield, Bag, Equipment, Consumables

World Interaction

Here you can find all sorts of rules on how your characters can interact with their environment and the world that they occupy. You can find the whole rules here.

Rest

Your characters will need to rest and recharge eventually after a day full of adventure and conflict. They have a couple of options to do so.

A full rest takes ten hours, eight of which have to be spent sleeping. It restores all of your character’s Vitality and Willpower and half of their Narrative Momentum. Any Temporary Vitality that they might have is reset to 0. Your character can only take one full rest within 24 hours.

A half rest takes only five hours, four of which have to be spent sleeping. A half rest grants the same benefits as a full rest but can only be used once after a full rest before it stops having any effect. It only restores half of your character’s Vitality and Willpower and no Narrative Momentum. Having two half rests within 24 hours makes them count as a full rest.

A short rest is a half-hour break of light activity. It restores half of your character’s Vitality and Willpower. Any Temporary Vitality that they might have is reset to 0. Your character can only take one short rest after a full or half rest.

Objects

Objects are almost anything that is not a creature or item. They can be anything from a chair or a box to a wall or the ground. Most objects do not do much on their own but they can be targeted by Abilities and attacks. They can also be destroyed. This opens up new tactical options, like making the ceiling of a room collapse on your enemies or making your own “door” by blasting a hole in the wall.

Objects have their own Vitality and Armor depending on their material. Those values can change depending on your setting and how powerful a normal character is. You can feel free to adjust them how you like so that they fit your game world. You can find examples you can use as guidelines on how strong materials should be in the following table.

Material	Vitality*	Armor*	Vitality**	Armor**	Vitality***	Armor***	Usual Properties
Crystal/Glas	40	0	20	0	80	0	Splintering
Energy	100	0	50	0	200	0	Regeneration
Ice	30	4	15	2	60	8	Splintering
Metal	50	10	25	5	100	20	Conductive
Organic/Earth	30	0	15	0	60	0	Flammable
Plastic	30	2	15	1	60	4	Flammable
Stone	50	8	25	4	100	16
Wood	30	4	15	2	60	8	Flammable

Objects fail all DRs and Skill Checks, and all attacks that target them automatically hit. Objects have an Initiative of 0. Objects have resistance against non-area-of-effect ranged weapon attacks and vulnerability against area-of-effect weapon attacks.

Objects can have the following properties.

• Hardened: Its Vitality and Armor are twice as high.
• Soft: Its Vitality and Armor are halved.
• Indestructible: It can only be damaged by very few means and has enough durability to survive something like an atomic bomb without any real damage.
• Hollow: Its Vitality is halved.
• Regeneration: It regains half of its Vitality at the end of each round
• Flammable: It catches fire if damaged through Heat or Shock damage, which gives it the Burning Status Effect. When the Burning damages it, it also damages any creature or object within 1 m of it by the same amount.
• Explosive: This object explodes if damaged through Heat or Shock damage. When it explodes, every creature and object within 2 m has to make a Constitution DR against 14. On a failure, they take 20 Heat damage (GM can adjust this damage). On a success, they take only half as much damage.
• Conductive: Every creature and object within 1 m of this object must make a Constitution DR against 14 when this object is hit by Shock damage. On a failure, they receive half of the Shock damage. Other conductive objects do not trigger this property if they receive this Shock damage.
• Freeze Burst: This object is vulnerable to Cold damage. It explodes if destroyed by Cold damage. When it explodes, every creature and object within 2 m has to make a Constitution DR against 14. On a failure, they take 30 Cold damage (GM can adjust this damage). On a success, they take only half as much damage.
• Splintering: It bursts into splinters if it is destroyed by Physical damage. When it splinters, every creature and object within 1 m has to make a Constitution DR against 14. On a failure, they take 10 Physical damage (GM can adjust this damage). On a success, they take only half as much damage.

Objects react differently to different types of damage. Here you can see their vulnerabilities, resistances, and immunities.

Material	Physical	Holy	Curse	Spirit	Heat	Chemical	Shock	Cold	Poison	Psychic	Reality
Crystal/Glas	Vulnerable				Vulnerable	Resistant		Resistant	Immune	Immune
Energy					Resistant	Immune	Vulnerable	Resistant	Immune	Immune
Ice					Vulnerable			Immune	Immune	Immune
Metal	Resistant				Resistant	Resistant	Immune		Immune	Immune
Organic/Earth						Vulnerable			Immune	Immune
Plastic					Vulnerable				Immune	Immune
Stone	Resistant				Resistant	Resistant	Resistant	Vulnerable	Immune	Immune
Wood					Vulnerable	Vulnerable	Resistant	Resistant	Immune	Immune

Movement

Any creature with at least one free hand can attempt to climb most surfaces. Their effective movement is halved while they do so. The GM can force a creature to make an Athletics or Nimbleness Check if they think the surface is hard to climb. On a failure, the creature cannot climb it. The GM can also decide that something is impossible to climb.

Any creature can normally swim. Their effective movement is halved while they do so. The GM can force a creature to make an Athletics check if they think that it would be difficult to swim, like if they were wearing heavy armor or they are swimming through rough waters. On a failure, they start sinking.

Any creature can jump up to 3 m + their Strength Bonus wide if they have a running start of 3 m and half as much if they do not. Their jump height is equal to a fifth of their jumping distance if they have a running start of at least 3 m and half as much if they do not. A creature that tries to jump further or higher than their Strength Stat allows has to make an Athletics or Nimbleness Check. The GM can freely adjust the standard jumping distance and height to make them fit the setting.

Strength Stat	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17
Jump distance (with 3m running start)	0 m	1 m	2 m	3 m	4 m	5 m	6 m	7 m	8 m	9 m	10 m
Jump distance (without running start)	0 m	0,5 m	1 m	1,5 m	2 m	2,5 m	3 m	3,5 m	4 m	4,5 m	5 m
Jump height (with 3m running start)	0 m	0,2 m	0,4 m	0,6 m	0,8 m	1 m	1,2 m	1,4 m	1,6 m	1,8 m	2 m
Jump height (without running start)	0 m	0,1 m	0,2 m	0,3 m	0,4 m	0,5 m	0,6 m	0,7 m	0,8 m	0,9 m	1 m

Falling

If a creature falls more than 3 m, they receive fall damage. For every 3 m, they receive 1d6 Physical damage. The damage increases to a d10 for every 3 m if the creature is of the size category Big + or bigger. The damage is reduced to a 1d4 for every 3 m if they are of the size category Small. The creature does not receive any fall damage if they are of the size category Small – or smaller.

Once a creature falls 30 m half the number of dice, exchange them with a dice that is twice as big. You add the new dice size every 6 m to the fall damage until you reach 60 m. Fall damage does not increase beyond 60 m.

Fall Distance

3 m

6 m

9 m

12 m

15 m

18 m

21 m

24 m

27 m

30 m

36 m

42 m

48 m

54 m

60 m

Small – and smaller

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

Small

1d4

2d4

3d4

4d4

5d4

6d4

7d4

8d4

9d4

5d8

6d8

7d8

8d8

9d8

10d8

Medium, Big

1d6

2d6

3d6

4d6

5d6

6d6

7d6

8d6

9d6

5d12

6d12

7d12

8d12

9d12

10d12

Big + and bigger

1d10

2d10

3d10

4d10

5d10

6d10

7d10

8d10

9d10

5d20

6d20

7d20

8d20

9d20

10d20

If a creature or object falls on another creature or object, the other creature or object also receives the fall damage. They can, however, decide to make either a Dexterity or Strength DR against 15. The DR is made with disadvantage if the falling creature or object is of a bigger size category than the creature they are falling onto. It is made with advantage if the falling creature or object is of a smaller size category. On a successful Dexterity DR, they can move to a free space next to where the creature or object fell and avoid the damage. On a successful Strength DR, they can catch the creature and prevent all fall damage to themselves and the falling creature or object and can either grab them, let them climb them, or put them in a free space next to them.

You fall 200 m per round. If you are falling during your turn, you can perform any actions you want while falling. You could, for example, perform an Attack action after jumping towards a flying enemy, performing all attacks it grants you before you fall down again or save yourself by using something that grants you temporary flight, like the Abilities Storm Spirit or Jet Boost. If you are falling outside your turn, you start falling immediately, only being able to use reactions.

Exhaustion

The adventures of your character are rarely cozy. They sometimes have to push themselves beyond their limits. This may cause them to become exhausted. Some extreme situations can therefore cause them to gain levels of Exhaustion.

A creature gains 1 level of Exhaustion if 24 hours pass without having a half or full rest.

A creature gains 1 level of Exhaustion if 24 hours pass without them eating enough. Most creatures only need one full meal or one ration per day not to start gaining Exhaustion. The amount needed is doubled (multiplicity) for each size category above Medium and halved (multiplicity) for each size category below Medium.

A creature gains 1 level of Exhaustion if 24 hours pass without them drinking enough. The levels of Exhaustion they gain increase by 1 for each subsequent day that they do not drink anything. A medium creature needs about 1.5 liters or one full water container per day to prevent Exhaustion. The amount needed is doubled (multiplicity) for each size category above Medium and halved (multiplicity) for each size category below Medium.

A creature gains 1 level of Exhaustion if exposed to extreme hot or cold weather without proper protection for 1 hour if they fail an Endurance Skill Check against 7. The Skill Check they need to roll increases by 1 for each passing hour they are exposed to the weather. You gain advantage on the Endurance Skill Check and prevent the needed roll from going up for extreme hot weather if you drink a whole day’s worth of water per hour. Resistance and Immunity to Heat damage make a creature immune to the effects of extremely hot weather. The same is true for Cold damage and extremely cold weather.

A creature loses 2 levels of Exhaustion after a full rest on a day where they had enough to eat and drink.

A creature can hold their breath for 0,5 minutes times their Constitution Bonus + 1,5 minutes (minimum of 30 seconds total). After that time passed, they gain 2 levels of Exhaustion after each round that they cannot gain air. They lose the levels of Exhaustion that they gained this way if they can breathe for a full round.

The GM can adjust all of these numbers so that they fit better with the setting.

Light and Vision

Creatures can have different ways of experiencing and sensing their environment. Every creature has Normal Vision by default. Normal Vision is roughly equivalent to how most humans can see. It allows you to see within the normal light spectrum and worsens if it gets darker. Without light, it does not work.

There are other ways a creature can sense their environment. These alternative ways of perceiving are called Visions. Most Visions can be gained through Abilities and features.

Some Visions still work if you are blinded. Also, some Visions do not require a direct line of sight to work like Normal Vision. Here is a list of all Visions:

Name	Description	Requires direct line of sight	Affected by Blindness
Atomic Vision	You can see everything on an atomic scale.	Yes	Yes
Dimensional Vision	You can sense anomalies in the space-time continuum and pocket/parallel dimensions close to your current one.	Yes	No
Electromagnetic Vision	You can detect if something is emitting electromagnetic waves and what kind of waves they are.	No	No
Life Vision	You can sense the life force of biological creatures and roughly feel how strong their body and spirit are.	No	No
Night Vision	You can see in the dark but cannot see different colors if there is no bright light source.	Yes	Yes
Normal Vision	The default Vision that most creatures have. You can see the normal visible spectrum of light.	Yes	Yes
Omega Vision	You can sense the true form of every object and creature.	Yes	No
Psychic Vision	You can sense minds and psionic energy with range. The lesser the mind, the harder it is to detect.	No	No
Seismic Vision	You can sense anything that is touching the same solid object you are.	No	No
Smell Vision	Your sense of smell is so good that you can effectively “see” anything with a scent within range.	No	No
Sound Vision	ou can detect any object or creature that makes a noise. You can also see silent objects or creatures if you emit a sound.	No	No
Supernatural Vision	You can detect supernatural energy and roughly identify what kind of energy it is.	No	No
Thermal Vision	You can detect heat signatures and minute differences in temperatures.	Yes	No
X-Ray Vision	You can see through objects and creatures.	No	Yes

Sometimes features and Abilities talk about a bright light source. This can be anything from a flashlight to the sun itself. Weaker light sources like a burning match or moonlight do not count as bright light sources.

Creatures

Your world is usually filled with all kinds of creatures, from friendly NPCs to powerful monsters. The GM can create any kind of creature that they think will fit into the story, but here are some rules listed that they can follow to help them create balanced creatures. These rules are also used to create the creatures that players can summon and transform into. Note that player characters count as creatures, and these rules apply to them as well. You can find the full rules here.

Creature Types and Categories

Creatures have four categories, which themselves have different types. Here, you can see an overview of all categories and types.

Creature Category	Creature Type
Biological	Humanoid, Alien, Animal, Mutant, Mystical, Plant
Material	Animated, Mechanical, Primordial
Spirit	Angel, Demon, Sprite
Undead	Ghost, Rotten, Undying

Creature Size

A creature’s size affects more than just the amount of space they occupy.

Creatures gain -1 Evasion for each size category larger than Medium. The range of their melee attacks also increases by 1 m for each size category larger than Medium, and the amount they can carry increases by their Strength Stat for each size category larger than medium. They gain +1 Armor for each size category larger than Medium.

The damage of area-of-effect Abilities is increased by half against creatures of size category Big + or bigger if the effect covers the entire creature.

On the flip side, for each size category smaller than Medium, a creature gains +1 Evasion and -1 Armor. Their carry capacity is halved. Creatures of category Small – or smaller receive only half damage from area-of-effect Abilities

Weapons and armor that are effective for the different sizes increase and decrease in weight correspondingly. For smaller creatures, it is only half as heavy. For bigger creatures, it increases by an amount equal to the normal weight for each size category larger than medium.

General Creature features

There are four ranks of non-player creatures: Minor, Normal, Elite, and Boss. Each represents different levels of complexity and strength that are useful in different situations.

Minor creatures are designed to be cannon fodder and are very useful if you want to throw hordes of enemies at your players. They only have 1 Vitality. This way, any hit that deals more damage than their armor will kill them, making it easier for the GM to track the Vitality of large groups of minor creatures. They do not have any Abilities, Temporary Vitality, WP, or Narrative Momentum and only up to 1 Creature Talent and up to 1 Path. They start with no additional Skill Points. If a path requires them to choose an Ability, they can learn Abilities that fit the required criteria.

Normal creatures are your standard enemies and allies. They are weaker than a player character of the same Level, but they can still be dangerous in higher numbers. They gain the same amount of Vitality and Temporary Vitality as a player character. They only have half as much WP and Narrative Momentum as a character. They also learn fewer features and Abilities to keep them simple and easy to control for the GM.

Elite creatures are almost as strong as a player character of the same Level and have a good chance of winning in a straight fight. They are useful if you want to distinguish a strong individual from other creatures, like a general or a companion that is supposed to be on the same level as the player characters.

Boss creatures are far stronger than a normal player character and are designed to be able to take down a whole group of them alone. All Bosses have advantage on all of their DR. There are different grades of Bosses. Each grade represents how many characters of the same Level it can take on. So a Level 1 grade 3 Boss is roughly as strong as three level 1 characters.

You can find more information about the creature ranks here.