Rules Reference

Roll 1d100 vs. Skill %

Equal to or less than the skill = success. Greater = failure. 01–05 always succeeds; 96–00 always fails, regardless of skill value.

Critical: roll ≤ one-tenth of the skill (round fractions up). Fumble: roll of 99–00 (skills over 100% fumble only on 00).

Four outcome tiers only: Fumble / Failure / Success / Critical — there is no separate “Special” tier.

Modify the skill before rolling.

Opposed: both sides roll their skill; better success tier wins. Tied tiers → highest roll (still within success range) wins.

Differential (used for combat): margin between success tiers grants the winner 1–3 Special Effects.

Skills over 100%: the top skill subtracts (its value −100) from everyone’s skill in the contest, including its own.

STR

Physical strength; feeds Damage Modifier

CON

Constitution; feeds Healing Rate, HP

SIZ

Size/mass; feeds Damage Modifier, HP, Height/Weight

DEX

Agility; feeds Action Points, Initiative

INT

Reasoning; feeds Action Points, Initiative

POW

Willpower; feeds Magic Points, Luck Points

CHA

Charisma; feeds Experience Modifier

Humans: 3d6 for STR/CON/DEX/POW/CHA; 2d6+6 for SIZ/INT.

By STR + SIZ

Each +10 after that continues the progression.

Action Points

INT+DEX: ≤12 = 1, 13–24 = 2, 25–36 = 3, +1 per further 12

Experience Mod.

CHA: ≤6 = −1, 7–12 = 0, 13–18 = +1, +1 per further 6

Healing Rate

CON: ≤6 = 1, 7–12 = 2, 13–18 = 3, +1 per further 6

Luck Points

POW: ≤6 = 1, 7–12 = 2, 13–18 = 3, +1 per further 6

Magic Points

= POW

Initiative Bonus

Average of DEX and INT

Base % formula

Culture/career-dependent

* Magic skill pairs by discipline: Animism = Binding & Trance; Mysticism = Meditation & Mysticism; Theism = Devotion & Exhort; Sorcery = Invocation & Shaping.

Starting %

Rolled like a skill (1d100 vs. Passion %) to invoke heroic/reckless surges of will in relevant moments.

CON+SIZ, humanoid

Ranges scale by CON+SIZ in bands of 5; each location gains +1 HP per further 5 points.

Initiative = 1d10 + Initiative Bonus

Highest acts first, descending; ties act concurrently.

Initiative penalty: total armour ENC ÷ 5, rounded up.

Surprise: −10 to initiative, flat-footed until your turn, and the first hit against you gains a bonus Special Effect.

Round = 5 seconds. Cycle = one pass through initiative order. Each character acts as many times per round as their Action Points.

Default cost: 1 Action Point per action.

Proactive

Attack, Cast Magic, Move, Ready Weapon, Change Range, Mount, Outmanoeuvre — only on your own turn

Reactive

Parry, Evade, Counter Spell, Interrupt, Ward Location — usable anytime you have AP

Free

Assess Situation, Drop Weapon, Signal — no AP cost

1. Attacker spends 1 AP, rolls Combat Style.

2. Defender may spend 1 AP to Parry/Evade, rolling their skill.

3. Compare as a Differential Roll — the better tier wins the margin.

4. The margin grants the winner 1–3 Special Effects (chosen freely, may stack where noted) — independent of whether damage lands.

5. If the attacker succeeded or critted, roll weapon damage + Damage Modifier; determine Hit Location.

6. If the defender succeeded or critted (parried), reduce damage per weapon Size comparison.

No parry available (no AP, or declined) = automatic failure, granting the attacker’s Special Effects outright.

By weapon Size

Sizes run Small < Medium < Large < Huge < Enormous.

Selected examples

The full list runs to roughly 40 named effects covering offense, defense, and ranged-specific options.

1d20, humanoid

Mounted attacker vs. a lower target: roll 1d10+10 instead, favouring upper locations.

Order: Damage Modifier → magic adjustments → parry reduction (by Size) → subtract Armour Points at that location.

Minor Wound

Location HP still positive — a scratch, no real effect

Serious Wound

Location HP ≤ 0 — stunned 1d3 turns; failed Endurance vs. the attack roll cripples the limb or (torso/head) knocks unconscious

Major Wound

Location HP negative by its own starting max — incapacitated, prone; failed Endurance = unconsciousness (limb) or instant death (torso/head)

Charging: needs a full round of movement first; the attack is one grade harder; Damage Modifier improves one step (two for quadrupeds); weapon Size effectively +1.

Knockback: triggers when raw damage (pre-parry/armour) exceeds the target’s SIZ; the target rolls Easy Acrobatics or Standard Athletics or falls prone, pushed back 1m per 5 points over SIZ.

Requires: clear thought, a free hand for gesture, the ability to vocalise, and (usually) sight of the target — losing any of these makes casting harder or impossible.

While casting: walking pace only, no Attack action, only Free/Reactive actions permitted.

Minor Wound while casting

Willpower check or the spell is one grade harder

Serious Wound

Willpower check: pass = one grade harder, fail = two

Major Wound

Casting automatically fails

Mental domination

Casting automatically fails

Magnitude: how hard the effect is to dispel. Intensity: the effect’s raw power (e.g. Sorcery Intensity = one-tenth of Invocation skill). Neither changes with the casting roll’s Difficulty Grade.

Magic from different disciplines never stacks; same-discipline effects with similar purpose don’t stack either — the higher Intensity (or newer, on a tie) prevails.

Base attribute: MP = POW. Spending fuels spells, miracles, and talents at a per-ability cost.

Self (default)

Own MP, recovers with rest

Sacrifice

Creature’s POW (or 1d3/1d6/2d6/3d6+ by size)

Magical location/object

25/50/75/100% of MP attribute, per its Magical Strength

Veneration

25% (<100 worshippers) up to 100% (10,000+)

Only the single best available source counts per recovery period — sources don’t stack. Recovery is paced 1 MP/hour to 1 MP/week depending on setting. Running out (default): you simply can’t cast further, no extra penalty.

A beginning magician knows 1 ability per full 20% (or part) of their governing magic skill.

Folk Magic (Folk Magic, POW+CHA)

Simple community-taught cantrips, limited effects, open to almost anyone; content varies by culture.

Animism (Binding & Trance)

Builds relationships with spirits bound to the mortal world to work magic; teaches restraint and reciprocation with nature.

Mysticism (Meditation & Mysticism)

Inner contemplation and philosophical insight channel power from within the self, not an external source.

Sorcery (Invocation & Shaping)

Manipulates the mathematical and existential “laws” underlying reality directly; needs no gods or spirits, flexible but viewed with suspicion.

Theism (Devotion & Exhort)

Miracles drawn from a worshipped deity via devotion; power scales with the strength of that relationship and matches the god’s portfolio.

01–05 always succeeds, 96–00 always fails, no matter the skill.

Special Effects resolve independently of damage — you can win effects and still get hit, or vice versa.

Armour reduces damage before Hit Points are touched; 0 AP means that armour location is useless.

A Combat Style is rolled like any Standard Skill (base STR+DEX) for both attack and parry.