Rules

Core Resolution

Core Rules

• The system uses pools of six-sided dice.
• A pool usually combines Attribute + Foundation + Specialization + situational modifiers.
• Dice are counted individually rather than totaled.
• Default Target Number is 4.
• Each die equal to or greater than TN is a success.
• Sixes explode and are rolled again as new dice.
• Opposed successes cancel one-for-one.
• Advantage usually adds +1d6; disadvantage usually removes -1d6.
• Identical bonuses or penalties usually do not stack unless a rule says otherwise.

Five outcomes

Difficulty guidance

Required successes may increase for tasks demanding scale, speed, precision, or sustained effort.

Character Creation & Advancement

Current Character Rules

Characters choose ancestry, homeland, Attributes, Background, Foundations, Specializations, Gift expression, one starting Special Move, and personal beliefs, goals, bonds, and hooks.

Attributes are Brawn, Agility, Intellect, and Vigor, normally ranging from 1 to 6.

Current Attribute generation: Roll 6d4. Choose any four results and assign them to the four Attributes. Discard the other two. Add no extra points and no ancestry modifiers. If the four highest dice total 8 or less, reroll all six dice.

Foundations are Athletics, Combat, Craft, Influence, Investigation, Lore, Medicine, Nature, Stealth, Survival, Travel, and Magic.

Current suggested starting training is two Foundations at Rank 3, two at Rank 2, and two at Rank 1, with others untrained. Specializations provide narrower expertise beneath Foundations. Exact starting specialization allocation remains subject to the current playtest rules.

Advancement

XP improves learned Foundations, Specializations, spells, and Special Moves. A typical session awards approximately 5–10 XP for discovery, meaningful risk, personal goals, difficult choices, and accomplishments—not primarily for killing.

Fixed Gifts advance through Revelations rather than XP.

Combat, Movement & Survival

Range Bands

Combat uses Engaged, Near, Far, and Distant.

• Engaged: close enough for melee or direct physical interaction.
• Near: a short move away.
• Far: beyond immediate reach and normally requiring additional movement or ranged capability.
• Distant: at the edge of the scene or beyond ordinary combat reach.

Movement

Moving one band across clear, ordinary terrain requires no roll. Attempting multiple bands in one turn requires an Agility + Athletics Movement Check, with difficulty increasing by distance and terrain.

Default clear-terrain scale:

Terrain, hazards, pursuit conditions, load, and special movement can change the check.

Combat Basics

• Attacks and active defense cancel successes one-for-one.
• Damage is 1 + net attacker successes − Armor, minimum 0.
• Ordinary weapons do not carry inherent escalating damage ratings; distinction comes primarily from circumstances, training, reach, traits, and Special Moves.
• Armor reduces final damage. Shields add defense successes only when the defense roll achieves at least one success: wood +1, steel +2.

Stamina

• Stamina = (Agility + Vigor) × 2.
• Push Yourself costs 2 Stamina for +1d6 on a physical roll, once per round.
• Additional Reactions cost 2, then 4, then 6 Stamina.
• At 0 Stamina, a character is Exhausted, takes -1d6 on physical rolls, and cannot Push.
• Missing Stamina may be paid with Health one-for-one, but not voluntarily at 0 Health.
• A short rest restores Vigor Stamina; a full rest restores all Stamina.

Critical condition

At 0 Health, a character initially remains conscious, suffers -2d6 on physical actions, cannot Push, and makes a Death Save each turn. The Death Pool begins at Vigor d6, TN 4, requiring one success.

Bleed thresholds at 2, 4, 6, and so on remove one current Death die, to a minimum of 1d6. Successful saves can restore current Death dice up to Vigor, and later bleeding can remove them again.