OddsAgainst

The four everyday outcomes

Doubles

• Critical success: gain 1 extra Momentum (2 total) and clear 1 wound, stress, or anguish.
• Critical failure: you still gain 1 Momentum, and the GM makes a move.

Critical success / critical failure. Doubles come up 10% of the time; difficulty decides how that 10% splits.

Snake Eyes and Against the Odds

• Snake Eyes (double 1s): mark the Setback box on your sheet. The GM can spend it later to complicate things through the story, or to make you reroll a roll on a later turn. A Setback can never force a failure outright.
• Against the Odds (double 10s): mark the Ace box. Spend it to force the GM to reroll any roll, to introduce something helpful through the story, or to bring another character back from the Brink (their Light fills to 3, so they gain Back From the Brink).
• You can hold at most 1 Setback and 1 Ace. Neither clears until it is used, so both carry over between sessions.

Tier Bonus

Traits

• Short phrases tied to a stat, such as Body: "Former circus acrobat." When a trait fits a roll, spend 1 Momentum for +2. Rolls only, never defenses.
• Start with 3 traits, at most 2 in any one stat (2/1/0 or 1/1/1).
• Species and origin are written as traits, such as Body: "Half-orc strength."
• More traits cost 3 XP each. A new trait can't leave more than half your traits (rounded up) in one stat. Starting traits are exempt.

Lessons

• Bad Habit (5 boxes): the minor one. It makes the moment worse without changing the scene's direction. Example: "Can't resist a bet."
• Flaw (3 boxes): the major one. It changes how the scene goes. Example: "Never leaves anyone behind."
• It comes up when the player or the GM mentions it. Mark 1 box right away, at most 1 box per type per session.
• Lesson Learned: when a row fills, it resolves at end-of-session cleanup. Earn 1 XP, empty the boxes, and the table decides whether to keep it or write a new one.
• Saying no: a player can decide not to use their Bad Habit or Flaw, with no cost and no box. A box is only marked if it caused a problem, and the GM makes the final call on whether it awards one.

Full rows

• One full row: gain that row's condition and take -2 to rolls with that stat. It ends as soon as the row is no longer full.
• Two full rows: Downed. You can't act, but you stay on the map and can still be targeted.
• Three full rows: the Brink. There is no forced death. You struggle to survive.
• Suffocating for more than 10 rounds fills every empty Stat box, so it puts you on the Brink too.
• Exhausted X reaching the box count of every row does the same (rows of 3, 4, and 5 boxes reach it at Exhausted 5).
• Wounded also gives Afflict 10 ft to movement (your current speed). Flat movement afflictions apply first (only the biggest counts, except Maimed, which always stacks), then Slowed and Bulky halve what's left. See Afflictions and stacking.

The Brink

• At the start of the player phase, characters on the Brink go first, in the order they reached it.
• Each rolls 2d10. Even: gain 1 Light. Odd: gain 1 Darkness. Snake Eyes: 2 Darkness. Against the Odds: 2 Light. Brink rolls never give Momentum, a Setback, or an Ace.
• 3 Light: you gain Back From the Brink. 3 Darkness: you are Past the Brink.
• Damage on the Brink: taking any damage while on the Brink gives 1 Darkness. That's at most 1 Darkness per round from damage, however many sources hit you.
• On the Brink, each point of Clear gives 1 Light instead (Heal gives 1, Lifeline up to 2). Items give at most 1 Light per round, however much they would clear. Stabilize gives 1 Light without a Momentum cost. An Ace fills another character's Light to 3. Any return to 3 Light grants Back From the Brink, whatever filled it.
• Back From the Brink: when you gain it, it takes effect right away. Remove the Brink and Past the Brink, clear 1 wound, 1 stress, and 1 anguish, and return to the scene Prone. It ends at the end of the next enemy's turn, or at the end of the scene if no enemies remain. While you have it, Revive can't target you, but you can still drop again.

Past the Brink and Passing On

• Revive: works on a character who went Past the Brink (or onto the Brink) this scene. They gain Back From the Brink.
• When the scene ends: a character still Past the Brink stays that way, and Revive can no longer reach them. Scenes don't end until the table naturally moves on, so a revive at the very end of a scene still counts.
• Treated: someone uses Treat on them on 3 different days, within 7 days of going Past the Brink. The days don't need to be in a row, which gives the party time to find treatment. After the third, they gain Back From the Brink.
• Extensive treatment: after day 7, each day past the 7th without Treat adds 1 day to the Treat needed. Days with Treat add nothing, so the party can always catch up.
• Passing On: the player agrees that their character should pass on. The character leaves the story on the player's terms. We call it passing on, not death.
• A new character: a player whose character has just passed on may make a new character. It enters at the party's minimum, with each part checked separately across the party: the lowest level, the lowest Item Value total, and the lowest Resources.
• Rests don't clear damage while you are Past the Brink.

Rests

• Short rest: each player gains 1 Momentum and clears 1 wound, stress, or anguish. "Once per rest" abilities refresh. The GM gains 1.
• Long rest: each player clears 1 of each damage type. "Once per rest" and "once per long rest" abilities refresh. Any player below 2 Momentum goes back up to 2. The GM gains 1 per player. Spent Durability returns, 1 Marked box clears, and Injured clears.

Afflictions and stacking

• An affliction is any debuff that lowers a number: a roll, a defense, or movement.
• Bonuses and afflictions from separate sources don't add. Only the biggest bonus and the biggest affliction count, then they combine. Maimed always stacks (it replaces Injured, so the two never apply together), and Exhausted stacks with itself. Ongoing effects with different names each apply; the same or similar ones don't stack.
• Movement order: flat movement afflictions apply first, and only the biggest flat one counts (Injured 5 ft, Wounded 10 ft), except Maimed, which always stacks. Then Slowed halves your current speed, rounded down to the nearest 5 ft. Bulky also halves and stacks with Slowed. Dash doubles the result. Example: Wounded takes 30 ft to 20 ft; Slowed halves that to 10 ft (Dash 20 ft).
• Within one ability, copies of a piece add if you pay for each (Hinder + Hinder = -4).

• Durability: some gear has Durability. Spend 1 to cancel a hit entirely. Spent Durability comes back with repair during a long rest. Pierce ignores 1 Durability.
• Armor and shields: shields go in the Off Hand and add on top of armor.
• Everyone has the Guard, Focus, and Ward default abilities: spend your Main Action for +2 to that defense against the next roll against you.

Each +1 Guard is worth 15, like a weapon's +1, and each Durability is worth 10. Armor pieces and Constraints are in Armor and shield pieces.

Gear and Burden

• Every item has Burden X. You can carry 10 + Body Burden. Worn gear counts; a Container adds capacity.
• Small items bundle: up to 5 small items together count as Burden 1 (6 to 10 count as 2, and so on). A small item is anything that fits in a hand or a pocket: consumables, ordinary keys, letters, candles, a pouch of coins.
• Overburdened: lose 10 ft of movement per point over (3 or more over: can't move). It applies to Dash too.
• Slots: Armor, Main Hand, Off Hand, Shoes, up to 3 Accessories (Augments and environmental gear are Accessories), and one Container. Two-handed items use both hands.
• Augments (cybernetics, magic tattoos, implants, blessings): installing or removing one takes a long rest, so they feel like part of your body.
• Conduit items: focus items an ability draws on, such as a wand, a holy symbol, or a scanner. They must be held in your Off Hand. Abilities with the Conduit or Devouring Constraint need one, and get +1 to attack rolls and save difficulty from it. See Conduits.
• Item types: Consumable X (X uses, then gone), Rechargeable X (X uses, then recharge), Useable (use freely).

The GM sets the Burden of anything bigger.

Weapons

• Basic Attack: your weapon gives you a Basic Attack. It deals 1 damage at the weapon's range, uses its Roll line, and adds its bonus.
• No weapon: the Basic Attack is Body vs Guard, Close, 1 wound, with no bonus.
• Weapon Constraints: an ability uses a weapon by taking the 1 Handed or Ranged Limit, or the 2 Handed Drawback. A Harm ability with one uses that weapon's Roll line and adds its bonus. 1 Handed and 2 Handed need a close weapon; every ranged weapon meets only Ranged.
• Range: a weapon's range covers its Basic Attack only. An ability with the Ranged Constraint gets its weapon's range free, at no rank cost: a 1 handed ranged weapon gives the first Reach free (Near), and a 2 handed ranged weapon the first two (Far). More range buys Reach as normal, up to Beyond.
• Reach with close weapons: an ability with the 1 Handed or 2 Handed Constraint may take Reach, but each copy adds only 5 ft, up to 15 ft (2 copies). Think spears, polearms, and whips.
• Dual wielding: with a 1 handed weapon (close or ranged) in each hand, once per turn after your Basic Attack, spend 1 Momentum to make a Basic Attack with your off-hand weapon, using its Roll line and bonus. It costs no action. Your Off Hand is busy, so you have no shield and no Conduit unless the weapon is Dual Purpose.
• 2 handed weapons use both Main Hand and Off Hand. Saves never count weapon bonuses.

Item pieces New

• Value = base x (1 + pieces - reductions). A 1 handed close weapon (15) with Accurate is Rank 2 and Value 30.
• Rank limits work like abilities: max rank is level + 1, and Constraint slots follow rank (Rank 2 to 3: 1 Limit; 4 to 5: a Limit or a Drawback; 6+: both; 8+: must take a Sacrifice). No pyramid rule for items.
• 0 sum guide: one multiple is worth +1 Boost, an Afflict 1 on an enemy (to a stat or as damage), or Afflict 2 to a roll that uses a trait.

• Storing X: using the stored ability is a Main Action, like any ability. You roll your own value of its stat, and save difficulty is your stat + its Tier Bonus. Value = base x (1 + the stored ability's price rank x X) x 10. A wand (Conduit, 10) storing a Rank 3 ability with 2 uses is 10 x 7 x 10 = 700. A scroll (base 5) storing it with 1 use is 200.

Armor and shield pieces

Supply

• Supply pack: Supply 5, Value 5, Burden 1. It works like Consumable 5. Think a quiver, a box of rounds, a battery pack, a fuel canister, or a pouch of mana shards.
• Using the weapon means its Basic Attack or any ability that needs it.
• Out of Supply: you can't use the weapon until you restock.
• One pack feeds one kind of weapon. Arrows don't fit a pistol; the GM rules on close matches.

Tools and kits

• Medkit: +1 to tending wounds and illness. During a short rest, one character clears 1 extra wound.
• Bypass Kit (lockpicks, an override tool): +1 to locks and security.
• Repair Kit: +1 to repairing and tinkering. During a short rest, restore 1 spent Durability to one item.
• Disguise Kit: +1 to passing as someone else.
• Survival Kit: +1 to tracking, foraging, navigating, and making camp.
• Analysis Kit (a field guide, a scanner, an alchemy set): +1 to identifying, studying, and analyzing.
• Fine (Rank 2, Max 2): the kit version of Accurate. A Fine kit gives +2 instead of +1.

Environmental accessories

• Breather (gas mask, rebreather): breathe normally in smoke and gas.
• Diving Gear (scuba, water-breathing charm): breathe underwater, and swimming costs normal movement.
• Climbing Gear (claws, mag boots): climbing costs normal movement.
• Insulated Wear (parka, cooling suit): extreme heat or cold doesn't give you Exhausted.
• Dark Sight (night-vision goggles, darkvision charm): see in darkness as if lit, but not through fog or smoke.
• Treads (snowshoes, grav boots): one kind of difficult terrain, chosen when it's made, costs normal movement.

Conduits, Containers, and Key Items

• Soul's weapon: Conduits are Soul's weapon, the way close weapons are Body's and ranged weapons are Mind's.
• Conduit: Off Hand, Value 10, Burden 1. Abilities with the Conduit or Devouring Constraint get +1 to attack rolls and save difficulty from it, whatever their stat. Channeling adds +1 per copy (Max 2). A Dual Purpose weapon gets both its weapon bonus and the Conduit bonus.
• Container: its own slot, one at a time. Containers take no Burden themselves. Packing adds +2 capacity per copy.

• Key Items: keys, keycards, and quest items. No Value, no Burden, no slot. Keep them on your sheet's Keyring.

Consumables New

• Using one costs half your max move speed (15 ft), and you must have that much movement available. A Slowed character has to Dash to use one. Use it on yourself or an Ally within Close, including one on the Brink. It's gone after one use unless it has Dosage.
• Throwing one is a Main Action. Range is 10 ft x Body, minimum 10 ft. Roll 2d10 + Mind against the target's Guard. Splash saves use 10 + your Mind + the Tier Bonus for its rank.
• On the Brink: an item gives at most 1 Light per round, however much it would clear. Abilities give Light as written.
• Rank limits work like abilities: max rank is level + 1, and Constraint slots follow rank.

Examples: healing draught (Tonic: wounds + Tonic: stress), Rank 2, Value 10. Alchemist fire (Harmful: wounds + Splash), Rank 2, Value 10. Blade venom (Weakening: Body + Harmful: wounds + Coating), Rank 3, Value 15; with one Dosage it's Rank 4, 2 uses, Value 30.

Resources

• Item Value: most items have a Value, always counted in Resources. An item with Value 3 costs 3 Resources from most sellers.
• The GM may change a price, and players can barter for items, discounts, or better sell values.
• Selling: you sell gear for half its Value, rounded down. Bartering can raise it.
• On the sheet, the Resources box sits beside the scene and rest buttons. Write the GM's name for them beside it, and track each item's Value in the pack.

Starting gear

• 100 Resources covers a weapon, light or medium armor, a bag, and a kit or two.
• Example: a 1 handed close weapon 15, medium armor 25, a light shield 25, a Backpack 10, a Medkit 10, and two Healing Draughts 10 come to 95, with 5 Resources left.
• A character who joins later, after a player's character passes on, uses the party's minimums instead (see Past the Brink and Passing On).
• The GM may change the starting budget for a setting.

Item list

Rations, rope, light, bedrolls, and tents have no rules of their own. The GM can call for them in the story: no food on a long march can mean Exhausted.

Size

Health rounds down. Ships, mechs, and airships are story Assets: they don't use these sizes.

• Creature or machine: a creature uses the spread +2 / +1 / +0, in any order. A machine has Body only (+2): its Focus and Ward are 10, stress and anguish can't hurt it, and it can't be Charmed, Frightened, or Taunted. Both gain +1 to a stat at the Asset's levels 4, 8, 12, 16, and 20. Defenses are 10 + the stat; Guard adds armor.
• Save difficulty: 10 + its Body + the Tier Bonus for its level.
• Level: an Asset starts at level 1. Each level up costs its base Value, and it can't go above its owner's level (for a shared Asset, the highest owner's level).
• Speed: creatures 40 ft, machines 60 ft. Overland, mounts travel 30 miles a day and vehicles 60.
• Turns: an Asset acts on its owner's turn. Riding it, your Move Action uses its speed. Commanding a trick uses your Main Action. Anyone aboard can use one of its weapons with their own Main Action, rolling their own stat plus the weapon's bonus. Attackers choose whether to target a rider or the Asset.
• Cargo: gear can be stowed on an Asset instead of carried. Stowed gear doesn't count toward your Burden; it counts toward the Asset's cargo (small items bundle the same way, up to 5 per Burden 1).

Armor and Augments

• Armor: every Asset has one Armor slot for plating, barding, or a hardened hull. Light, medium, and heavy armor add their Guard and Durability, the same as on a character.
• Augments: anything bolted, strapped, or fitted on, one per Augment slot (by size, plus Extra Hardpoint): weapons, shields, cargo racks, Containers, Accessories, and gear that makes it better, like enchanted horseshoes or afterburners. A shield adds its Guard and Durability, and a Container adds its capacity to the cargo.
• Upgrades as Augments: an Augment can carry an Upgrade instead of the Asset having it built in. Afterburners are an Augment with Swift; enchanted horseshoes are an Augment with All-Terrain. It costs the same and still counts toward the Asset's rank, but it takes a slot, and it can be removed, moved to another Asset of the same size, stolen, or broken.

Building an Asset

• Value: base Value x multiples, plus its levels, plus its tricks. Buying, upgrading (pay the difference), and selling (half) work like items. Assets don't count toward your Item Value total.
• Snag slots: a Rank 1 Asset takes none. Rank 2 to 3: one Rank 1 Snag. Rank 4 to 5: a Rank 1 or a Rank 2 Snag. Rank 6+: one Rank 1 and one Rank 2. A Rank 3 Snag can be added from Rank 4.
• Tricks: an Asset's own abilities, built from the normal pieces and Constraints with its own stats for rolls and save difficulty. A trick costs its price rank in multiples of the base Value (a Rank 1 trick is 50 on a Small Asset, 400 on a Huge one). Max trick rank is the Asset's level + 1. A machine's tricks use Body.

Upgrades

Stunts

Snags

Damage, Out, and upkeep

• Out: at 0 Health, it flees, breaks down, or goes dormant for the scene. It isn't lost. A creature comes back after a long rest, which clears its damage. A machine needs a Repair Kit check and a tenth of its base Value in Resources (rounded up). An Asset is only lost for good through the story, with its player's agreement. Durability returns on a long rest.
• Upkeep: for each travel day it's used, a machine burns 1 Supply (fuel) and a creature eats 1 Rations. Without it: Afflict 2 to its rolls and half speed until it's resupplied.

Chases

• Chase checks: each round, every driver, rider, or runner on foot rolls against the course: Easy 8, Standard 11, Hard 14, or Heroic 17. Pick the stat by how you do it: Body to fight the waves, Mind to read the wind, Soul to trust your instincts. These are normal rolls, so players gain Momentum as usual (enemy rolls still don't).
• Moving the gap: if the quarry passes and the pursuer fails, the gap opens one band. If the pursuer passes and the quarry fails, it closes one band. If both pass or both fail, nothing changes, and Stunts are what break the tie. With several pursuers, each one has its own gap to the quarry.
• Obstacles: the GM can spend 1 Momentum to put one in front of an Asset or runner (a market stall, a reef, a crosswind). Its driver checks again; a failure costs a band, or Harm 1 to the Asset. Hazards work as obstacles too.
• Fighting on the move: everyone else aboard acts as normal, using the gap as the range. They can shoot from Augments, make repairs, or Assist the driver.
• Ram: a Main Action against a target within Close. Roll 2d10 + the Asset's Body against the target's Guard. On a hit, both take Harm 1 (wounds), and the target takes 1 more for each size the rammer is bigger.
• Falling off: when an Asset is rammed, crashes, or goes Out, its riders make a Body check against Standard 11. On a failure, they fall off, Prone, and take Harm 1 (wounds).
• Ending a chase: at Close, pursuers can board, grab, ram, or fight. Past Beyond, the quarry gets away; the GM can let pursuers pick up the trail later with Track.

Overflow: a full player gives the point to an ally who isn't full. If everyone is full, it's lost. GM overflow is lost.

Player spends

• Use a trait (1): +2 to a roll when one of your traits fits.
• Help an ally (1): outside your turn, the ally adds an extra d6. The d6 never counts toward even, odd, or doubles.
• Spend X: pieces with Spend built in, such as Heal, Endure, and every Interrupt piece.
• Subrole ability (1, once per scene): Riposte, Shove, or Quick Assist.
• Tag team (1 each): once per session, two players each pay 1. Both roll, pick one result, and it applies to both.
• Signature ability (2, once per rest): Ignore Pain, Precision, or Lifeline.
• Interrupt (2): take an action or use an ability out of turn.

GM moves and spends

• Free move: only on a player failure. An odd result only banks the point; an odd failure gives both.
• Interrupt (1): an enemy acts or uses an ability out of turn.
• Extra enemy turn (1).
• Strike on retreat (1): an enemy hits a character leaving Close range.
• Enemy and hazard abilities (1 to 3).
• Use an enemy Attribute (1): +2 to an enemy's roll when the Attribute fits. Rolls only, never defenses.

Main Action (one per turn)

• Attack: make your Basic Attack (see Weapons). Roll against the target's Guard; a hit deals 1 wound.
• Use an ability: one you built, or a default ability (Assist, Guard, Focus, Ward, Sense, Persuade).
• Throw: throw an item or consumable (see Consumables).
• Dash: double your current move speed until the end of your turn (normally 60 ft total, 30 ft while Slowed). If you can't move, Dash does nothing.
• Anything else: describe it, pick a stat, and roll.

Using an item

Free Action (one per turn)

The round

1. Player phase: players act in any order they agree on. Characters on the Brink roll first.
2. GM phase: every enemy acts. Identical Standard enemies act as one group and roll once.

Interrupt

• Stop an action any time before its result is applied, even after the dice land, to use an ability or take an action.
• Players pay 2 Momentum; Interrupt pieces cost 1 as written. The GM pays 1.
• Each action can be interrupted once, and an Interrupt can't be interrupted. A redone action counts as the same action.

Set the Scene

1. Ambushed or prepared: the side with the edge starts.
2. Someone is sneaking: only that side checks. Pass and it starts; fail and the other side noticed them and starts. A side passes if more than half its rolls succeed.
3. Nobody sneaking or prepared: the GM makes one secret roll for the enemies: 2d10 + enemy Mind against 11 + the Tier Bonus for the average party level (rounded up) + 1 per stat raise at that level, so the target keeps up with enemy stats. Targets: level 1: 11; 2 to 3: 12; 4 to 5: 14; 6 to 7: 15; 8 to 11: 16; 12 to 15: 17; 16 to 19: 18; 20: 19. Success: enemies go first. Failure: players go first.
4. Split group: if a side's rolls split evenly, it rolls 2d10. Players pass on even; enemies pass on odd. These rolls give no Momentum, and doubles do nothing.

• Speed: 30 ft (6 inches) for everyone.
• Rough going: difficult terrain costs double.
• Measuring: base edge to base edge.
• Blocking: you can move through allies but not enemies.
• Leaving a fight: no automatic free attacks. The GM may spend 1 Momentum to have an enemy strike as you leave Close range.
• Forced movement (Push, Pull, Rescue, Swap, Shift, Shove, a grabber dragging you, an ally helping you stand) never gives anyone a chance to strike.
• Nearby means within Near range (30 ft).

Swimming, climbing, and tunneling

• Swimming: a non-swimmer swims at half their current speed. A swimmer (Diving Gear, the Amphibious Upgrade, or the Swimmer Feature) swims at full speed. While you're submerged, attacks from above the water get Afflict 2 against you, and going under ends a fire Ongoing (Burning, Conflagration). If you can't breathe underwater, the GM decides when you run out of air and gain Suffocating.
• Climbing: a non-climber climbs at half their current speed. A climber (Climbing Gear, the Climber Upgrade, or the Wall Crawler Feature) climbs at full speed. High ground: Boost 1 to attacks against a target at least 10 ft below you.
• Falling: a climbing character who is knocked Prone, moved by Forced movement, or rolls a critical failure while climbing falls. Any fall works the same way: Harm 1 (wounds) per 10 ft fallen, up to 5, and you land Prone. A Body check against Standard 11 halves the Harm, rounded down.
• Tunneling: only creatures and Assets that can tunnel (the Burrower Feature or Upgrade) move underground, at half their base speed. While underground, they can't be targeted, except by Seeking or once something like Detect (Life) finds them. The first attack after surfacing gets Boost 2. A tunnel its own size stays behind, and others can follow it.

Range bands

Overworld

A signature ability used outside your turn acts as an Interrupt.

Write it on your sheet as: Name [Role] (Rank X): pieces, Limit/Drawback. Example: Disabling Strike [Offense] (Rank 2): Harm (wounds) + Hinder (Body). Limit: Spend 1.

Default abilities

• Sense: reveal hidden information nearby.
• Persuade: change one or more characters' attitudes.
• Guard / Focus / Ward: Self. Boost 2 to that defense against the next roll against you.
• Assist: Ally. Boost 2 to their next roll.

Aim: who rolls

• One Hostile target or several: you roll against each target's defense.
• Area: each character in it makes a save.
• Self, Ally, Willing, or Object: no roll.
• Information: roll against a difficulty the GM sets.

Saves

• The target rolls 2d10 + their stat against 10 + your stat + the Tier Bonus for the ability's rank. Meet or beat it to resist.
• Gear doesn't count, except a Conduit: it adds +1 to the save difficulty of abilities that use it. Willing targets can choose to fail. Saves never give Momentum, and doubles do nothing.
• Pieces with Save always call for a save, even on one target. Alarm has Save +1. Stun has Save (Mind), with a difficulty of at least 11 + Tier Bonus. Charm has Save (Mind or Soul).

Flavor

Constraints (Limits, Drawbacks, and Sacrifices) and the price chart are in Constraints, after the pieces.

Starting characters

• Start at level 1 with 0 XP, your weapon's Basic Attack, two free Rank 1 abilities you build, your primary role's signature ability, 3 traits, a Bad Habit, and a Flaw.

• Locked once written: once it's on your sheet, it only changes with the GM's OK, when the story fits (you lost your fire magic and mastered ice instead). Only the flavor changes, never the mechanics.
• Conditions keep their names: a freezing Stun gives Stunned, and the sheet says Stunned. "Frozen solid" is how you describe it. Ongoing's name (Burning, Bleeding) is the one place flavor goes on the sheet.
• Story effects: outside rolls, the description decides what it can do in the scene, GM's call. A flashfire can light a fuse; a frost blast can freeze a puddle to cross. Story effects never deal damage, give conditions, or change numbers by themselves. A burn that keeps burning needs Ongoing (Burning).
• Flavor fit: when the description fits the moment well or badly, the GM gives a Boost or Afflict from the Conditional Modifier table to the roll, or to the save difficulty if it calls for a save. The GM says so before the roll. Fire against a dry, wooden creature: Boost 1 or more. Fire underwater: Afflict 1 or more.
• Flavor never blocks an ability: it still works, and the description explains how (the flame bursts into scalding steam).

Conditional Modifier

The brackets match the Tier Bonus table (Boost = Tier Bonus + 1).

• Stacking: flavor fit is one source, so only the biggest Boost and the biggest Afflict count. A trait or Assist (+2) beats a 1; a 3 or 4 beats them.
• Items too: a fur cloak may give Boost 1 to Guard, or to a save, against a freezing attack.
• Both sides: enemy abilities and gear work the same way, and the GM may use it for or against player characters. Enemy Weakness and Resistance Features cover the rest.

• Max ability rank = level + 1. Rank 13 (level 12) is the top, so later levels go into stat raises and more abilities and traits.
• Stat raises: +1 to any stat at levels 4, 8, 12, 16, and 20. Automatic, no XP, no cap. Enemies get the same raises.
• Costs: new ability 3 x price rank; upgrade pays the difference; trait 3.
• Boxes: XP can't buy boxes. A row only gains a box when its stat gains a point, from the stat raises at levels 4, 8, 12, 16, and 20.
• Pace: XP per session isn't fixed. The GM sets the pace through the XP they award, not by changing the curve. A rough guide at 4 XP per session: level 6 in about 18 sessions, level 12 in 55. At 6: 12 / 37. At 8: 9 / 28.
• Difficulties stay fixed (Easy 8, Standard 11, Hard 14, Heroic 17), so growth is felt. The GM picks a harder tier for high-level obstacles. Set the Scene and hazards rise with stat raises.
• Pyramid rule: you need two abilities at a rank before buying one at the next rank up.
• Sacrifice + Limit unlocks at level 10 (Rank 11). See Constraints.

Earning XP

• Encounters: everyone in an encounter earns XP by its difficulty, win or lose. Easy 1, Standard 1, Hard 2, Heroic 3.
• Outside encounters: at the end of each session, every player earns at least 1 XP for something they did outside combat and encounters: voice acting, problem solving, good ideas, playing into a trait, helping another player shine. The GM may give more.
• Lessons: 1 XP for each Lesson Learned at cleanup.
• Most sessions have at least 3 encounters, so that adds up to plenty.

After the session

Targets

Self

You.

Ally

A character on your side, other than you. No roll.

Willing

A character who agrees to it. No roll, and a Willing target can choose to fail a save.

Hostile

A character who resists. You roll against its defense, or it makes a save.

Object

An item, a point, or part of the scene (a wall, fog, light). No roll.

Effects

Afflict X

Lower the stated roll, defense, or movement by X. From separate sources, only the biggest Afflict on the same thing counts. Copies in one ability add up.

Vulnerable X

Afflict X to Guard, Focus, and Ward.

Boost X

Raise the stated roll or defense by X. From separate sources, only the biggest Boost on the same thing counts. Copies in one ability add up.

Harm X

Deal X damage: wounds (Body), stress (Mind), or anguish (Soul), as stated. Copies in one ability add up.

Clear X

Remove X wounds, stress, or anguish, in any mix. On the Brink, each point of Clear gives 1 Light instead.

Lose (action)

Lose your Move, Main, or Free Action. Lose all: no actions of any kind, including Interrupts, role features, and subrole abilities.

Forced

Forced movement. No one can spend Momentum to strike the character being moved.

Durations

Brief

Until the end of the affected character's next turn.

Held

Until the start of your next turn. Each Linger keeps it going through one more of your turns.

Lasting

Until the end of the scene.

Costs and timing

Spend X

Costs X Momentum. Instances add up: each one adds 1 to X (Heal + Heal is Spend 2).

Interrupt

Use it during another action, any time before its result applies. Each action can be interrupted once, and an Interrupt can't be interrupted.

Once per scene

Usable once, then refreshes when a new scene starts.

Restricted

A Drawback: the ability can only be used once per scene. An ability can only have it once.

Once per rest

Usable once, then refreshes on a short or long rest.

All In

Spend all your Momentum (at least 3). A Sacrifice; an ability can only have it once.

Building

Add-on

Can't be an ability by itself. It modifies another piece.

Needs (piece)

The ability must also have that piece.

Excludes (piece)

Can't be in the same ability as that piece.

Max X

At most X copies of this piece in one ability.

Save

Always calls for a save, even against one target. Save (stat): both sides use that stat. Save +X: adds X to the save difficulty.

• Add-ons can't be an ability by themselves. They modify another piece.
• Of your choice: any choice a piece offers is made when you create the ability and can't change later.
• Role discount: if any piece matches your primary role, the ability costs 1 XP less to create.
• Forced movement (Push, Pull, Rescue, Swap, Shift, an ally helping you stand from Prone) never gives anyone a chance to strike.

• Built-in: a piece can have a Constraint built in. It's part of the piece's rank: no reduction, no slot used.
• With X (Spend X): instances add up, 1 per instance. Heal + Heal is Spend 2. Any piece that says "Spend 1 Momentum" has Spend 1 built in.
• Without X (Restricted): only once per ability. Two pieces with the same one can't be combined, and an ability can't take one a piece already has. Endure + Endure isn't allowed.
• Reductions change only the XP price. Rank before reductions sets the level cap, slots, and save bonus.
• Sacrifices: no ability is priced above Rank 7, so any ability above Rank 7 must take one. With a Sacrifice, a Limit unlocks at level 10 (Rank 11), a Limit or a Drawback at level 11, and both at level 12.

Price chart

XP = price rank x 3, then -1 if any piece matches your primary role (on creation only).

1 mark clears per long rest. Dealing with the source in the story (a pardon, a paid bounty) can clear more.

Bandit Captain · Lv 2 · Standard · Human · 0/2/1 · Tough · Health 7 · Attributes: Body, Bar-room brawler; Soul, Commands the gang · Abilities...

• Health = 3 + level for Standard and Elite (one pool any damage fills). Minion halves it, Tough x1.5, Massive x2, rounded down. Specials can't take these.
• Stats by Type, in any order: Standard +2 / +1 / +0, Elite +2 / +2 / -1, Special +3 / +2 / -2. Enemies gain +1 to a stat at levels 4, 8, 12, 16, and 20, like players.
• Special enemies use a full character sheet with Wounds, Stress, and Anguish rows.
• Type abilities count toward the total. The remaining abilities are normal abilities.
• Durability is set by Type and level, not by gear. Hide, plating, or a leather coat is only how it looks. Spend 1 to cancel a hit; Pierce ignores 1, the same as for players.

Attributes

• An enemy Attribute works like a player trait: a short phrase tied to a stat, such as Body: "Pack hunter". When it fits a roll, the GM spends 1 Momentum for +2. Rolls only, never defenses.
• A Standard has 2 Attributes, an Elite 3, and a Special 4. The GM may add more at their discretion.
• Examples: Body: "Slippery" (+2 to break free of a grapple, and to saves against Grab or Restrain). Soul: "Dreadful" (+2 to rolls that cause Frightened).

Features

Features are monster-only pieces that shape the creature. They cost no XP and don't count as abilities. A Standard has 2, an Elite 3, and a Special 4, and the GM may add more.

• Health Features: Minion (half Health), Tough (x1.5), and Massive (x2). One applies. Standard and Elite only.
• Thick Skinned: Max 2. +1 Durability per copy, on top of the Type and level table.
• Self Repairing: restores 1 spent Durability at the start of its turn.
• Learns: after an ability hits it, it gets Boost 1 to its defense against that same ability for the rest of the scene.
• Wary: can't be Charmed or Taunted, and gets Boost 1 to Set the Scene checks.
• Cunning: once per scene, after seeing a roll against it, it may Interrupt without spending Momentum.
• Tactician: when the GM spends Momentum on another enemy's Interrupt or extra turn, that enemy gets Boost 1 to the roll.
• Mindless: can't be Charmed, Frightened, or Taunted.
• Shambling: its speed is 20 ft instead of 30 ft. A flat change, applied before Slowed. Can't be combined with Fast.
• Fast: its speed is 40 ft instead of 30 ft.
• Flying: moves through the air at its speed, ignoring ground terrain and hazards that need touching the ground. If it ends its turn in the air, only ranged attacks and abilities with Reach can target it until the start of its next turn.
• Dark Sight: sees in darkness as if it were lit. Not through fog or smoke.
• Keen Senses: Boost 2 to Mind rolls to notice things and to find Hidden characters.
• Light Sensitive: Afflict 1 to its rolls in bright light (sunlight, or within a Light piece's range).
• Wall Crawler: climbing costs it normal movement, and it can move along walls and ceilings.
• Amorphous: squeezes through any gap an inch wide, and can't be knocked Prone.
• Corrosive: a weapon that hits it from Close corrodes: Afflict 1 to that weapon's bonus until the next long rest. Doesn't stack.
• Large: takes up a 10 ft space, and its Close reaches 10 ft. Afflict 2 to its rolls to go unnoticed.
• Fanatic: when it's defeated, the GM gains 1 Momentum (if the GM pool isn't full).
• Cowardly: at half Health or less, or when an ally within Near is defeated, it tries to flee on its next turn unless the GM spends 1 Momentum.
• Gets Back Up: when it would be defeated, roll 2d10. On an even sum it stays in the fight at 1 Health, but Prone; on an odd sum it's defeated. This can happen each time it would be defeated.
• Swimmer: swims at full speed and breathes underwater.
• Burrower: tunnels underground at half its base speed (see Movement). While underground it can't be targeted, except by Seeking or once found, and its first attack after surfacing gets Boost 2.
• Weakness (type): takes 1 extra damage from attacks with that effect type.
• Resistance (type): takes 1 less damage from attacks with that effect type.
• How they apply: once per attack, after the Harm is totaled, and never below 0. The type (Fire, Holy, Mind, Body, and so on) comes from the attack's description (see Flavor) or the row it damages; the GM rules on it. An enemy can have several, but not a Weakness and a Resistance to the same type. Specials can take them too; the change goes to the row being hit.

Enemy XP and Constraints

• Example: a level 2 Standard has 2 XP. An ability of rank 3 with a Limit has price rank 2, so it costs 1 XP (2 minus the free rank 1). A rank 1 ability costs nothing.

Enemy-only pieces

Enemies can also take player pieces. Pieces marked Passive go in a Special passive ability.

Enemy-only Constraints

Enemy-only Sacrifices can be taken at Rank 4 and up (the Rank 8+ Sacrifice rule is for players). The other slot rules and the price cap of 7 still apply.

Encounter XP

• Everyone in an encounter earns XP by the tier it plays as, win or lose: Easy 1, Standard 1, Hard 2, Heroic 3. See Encounter Building.

• Challenge Level (CL): the party level that finds the hazard challenging.

Difficulty = 11 + (CL - average party level) + stat raises at the CL

• Average party level is rounded down here, the same as for Threat (Set the Scene rounds up). Stat raises add +1 each at CL 4, 8, 12, 16, and 20.
• Examples: a CL 3 hazard is 13 for an average party level of 1, and 9 for a party of 5. A CL 8 hazard against a level 8 party is 13.
• No floor or cap: a hazard far below the party simply can't go off (CL 1 against a level 15 party is -3). Hazards that low only belong in a scene as a clue.
• Happens once, unless an Effect or Requirement says otherwise.
• Allowed checks: each hazard lists which stats can make its check, chosen when it's built (usually one or two). Body to dodge or endure, Mind to keep your nerve or react in time, Soul to resist corruption or magic. The character picks. Harm names its damage type when it's built.
• Critical failures deal no extra damage on their own; only an Effect that says so (Spikey) does.
• Timing: a Trap happens when it's triggered (stepped on, touched, opened). An Environment happens when a character first enters it, or when the GM sets it off (a rockfall, a gas burst). Persistent and Repeating keep it going. The GM can still spend 1 to 3 Momentum on hazard abilities.

Trap or Environment

• Disarming: a Main Action check against the hazard's difficulty. Success disarms it. Any failure, odd or even, sets it off on the character disarming it.
• Supernatural and tech dangers are Environments. There is no third type.

Building hazards

• Abilities: 2, plus 1 per odd CL from 3. Max rank: CL + 1.
• XP = CL, in price ranks. The first rank of each ability is free, so it costs its price rank minus 1, never below 0. The total can't exceed the CL.
• Going off together: a hazard's abilities that share a trigger go off together. Triggers: when it's set off or a character enters it; at the start of a character's turn in it (Persistent); at the start of each GM phase (Repeating); when a character moves through it (Spikey). Each of those abilities makes its own check, and a failure applies only that ability's effects. Each one costs twice its XP (price rank minus the free rank, then doubled).
• Example: Freezing Rain has two abilities, each Harm (wounds) + Persistent (price 2, XP 1). They go off together, so each costs 2 XP, 4 in total. It needs CL 4, or Requirements to lower the price.
• Requirements have a rank of 1, 2, or 3 and lower the price rank by that much. Slots: a Rank 1 Requirement at ability Rank 2+; a Rank 1 or Rank 2 at Rank 4+; one Rank 1 and one Rank 2 at Rank 6+; a Rank 3 at Rank 4+. Price cap 7.
• Player pieces: any ability piece can be an Effect too (Harm, Snare, Toxic, Obscure, Burst, and so on).
• There are no Elite or Special hazards.

Examples: Spike Pit (Trap, CL 1, Body or Mind): Hidden + Harm (wounds), Rank 2, price 2, XP 1 of 1. Mire (Environment, CL 2, Body): Cloud + Slowing + Persistent, Rank 3, price 3, XP 2 of 2. Effects and Requirements will be tuned after play.

1. Average party level = total of the levels / number of PCs, rounded down. Levels 3, 3, 4, 4 = 14 / 4 = 3.5, so 3.
2. Budget = number of PCs x the multiplier, rounded up: Easy x1, Standard x1.5, Hard x2, Heroic x3. Heroic is the ceiling.
3. Threat: add up every hostile and hazard (x its count). The GM picks the target difficulty.

Threat

• Level gap: within 1 level of the average party level, no change. +1 for every 2 levels above (2 to 3 above: +1; 4 to 5: +2). -1 for every 2 levels below. Never below 0.
• Extras: +1 each for Thick Skinned (per copy), Self Repairing, Flying, Burrower, Gets Back Up, Regenerate, Second Wind, and Final Stand. Summon +2.
• Hazards: 1 if it happens once; 2 if it keeps going (Persistent, Repeating, Resets, or Spikey). The level gap uses its effective CL: CL, +1 Tricky, +2 Treacherous, -1 Shoddy, -2 Glaring (the worst of its abilities). 4 or more levels below the party: 0. +1 for each extra ability that goes off together (abilities that share a trigger; see Hazards). Freezing Rain (two Persistent abilities) is 2 + 1 = 3.

Caps

• Low-level limit: the level cap is never more than half the average party level, rounded up (level 1 to 2: +1; 3 to 4: +2; 5+: +3). A Special's cap is 1 lower. At average level 1, nothing goes more than 1 level above the party, and a Special can't be above it at all.
• A Special can only use three quarters of the budget, so it always has other hostiles or hazards beside it.
• Budgets are for fights. In other scenes, hazards stand alone.
• Encounter XP: everyone in it earns XP by the tier it plays as, win or lose: Easy 1, Standard 1, Hard 2, Heroic 3.
• One turn each: each enemy takes one turn per round. There is no Solo rule; the GM already responds through free moves on failed rolls. The extra enemy turn spend (1 Momentum) stays as an occasional option for an under-tuned encounter.

Example, 4 PCs at average level 2 (Standard 6): Bandit Captain (Lv 2 Standard, Tough) 3 + 2 Bandit Cutpurses (Lv 1 Standard, Minion) 2 + Spike Pit (CL 1, happens once) 1.