Combat

Treasure hunting is a lucrative and (often) noble business, taking you all across the world from lush and rainy forests, all the way into the forgotten depths of the earth through catacombs and dungeons. Yet no matter how carefully you may have planned it out, you'll come across some kind of opponent at one point or another.

And that's okay, because you're a treasure hunter. Naturally, you come equipped with the skills and abilities necessary to see you through the battle safely and in (mostly) one piece.

But beware, though. The world is full of powerful creatures with sharp teeth, keen wits, and bit of magic to boot. A treasure hunter's best asset will be their wisdom, in particular, knowing their limits.

Directory

Turns and Actions

Combat begins when one party instigates a fight with another party. This happens either when one or more combatants realize that a fight is about to start and choose to take the initiative, or when they're attacked.

In the case of being attacked, as soon as the attack action is resolved, initiative is calculated. Otherwise, when reacting to a threat, you calculate initiative as normal.

Combat ultimately ends when there are no more combatants left to carry on the fight, either on your side or the enemy's side. Combatants can be neutralized either by leaving the battlefield (fleeing), by being killed, or by being otherwise incapable of fighting.

Once the battle ends, XP and loot is given out to the players in exchange for the creatures they helped defeat. Enemies that've been neutralized without being killed are at the players' mercy. They may decide if the enemy combatants die of their wounds, or if they remain knocked-out.

Targeting

Many actions and abilities require you to target another combatant. There is a variety of ways with which you can target an opponent. Each way is different, in that it has its own limits.

Range Specifiers

Range specifiers often have a minimum and maximum range. These specifiers follow a common format.

Some abilities can increase (or decrease) the range of an ability. Unless otherwise specified as min or max, assume that it only targets the maximum range.

Area of Effect (AoE)

Some abilities have a Range modifier called AoE. These abilities target whichever enemies are within the specified space, instead of a specific target. In addition, AoE range tends to have shape-specifiers that describe a pattern, such as a circle, a cone, or a ray.

If your AoE ability makes an Accuracy check, then the check is to be made against every targeted combatant within the designated space(s). With every passed check, affected enemies take damage as normal. However, if your AoE has an Evade check, then all targeted enemies make Evade checks instead.

Unless otherwise denoted with the Smart modifier, assume that an AoE effect targets enemies and allies the same.

Initiative

At the beginning of combat, each combatant draws their weapons and readies to fight.
Every combatant rolls 1d20, adding in their Initiative score. Whoever rolls highest goes first.s

If two or more combatants get the same score, then they roll again, marking their score with an A or B to indicate who goes first.

In addition to the combatants, an initiative labeled "COUNTERS" is created. COUNTERS is granted an initiative score of 99, always going first. There is no COUNTERS combatant, and is used solely to help players remember when to update their counters and other start-of-round effects.

Surprise Attacks

If a combatant (or the party) was caught off guard as combat began - such that none of them were expecting a fight to happen at that very moment - they roll as normal, but their weapon is not drawn.

Turns and Rounds

Battle is measured in turns and rounds. Once per round each player takes their turn, starting from highest to lowest initiative. A turn (in-game) typically lasts 5 seconds. Once all players have taken their turns, the round ends and a new one begins.

When it's a player's turn, they first update any start-of-turn timed effects. Next, they are granted 20 Action Points (AP) with which to spend on actions. Common actions and abilities all use AP, and a few require resources. Finally, any end-of-turn timed effects are updated, and special effects such as poison are applied.

Using Actions and Abilities

Actions and abilities are seldom free and must be paid for with AP and/or vital resources.

All basic actions require an amount of AP, while almost all abilities require AP and an amount of stamina, mana, and focus. While you're able to spend an excess of AP and be stuck charging, you cannot spend more of a vital resource (stamina, mana, focus) than what you have, and if you don't have enough, then the ability can't be used.

Subtract the required resources from your character as indicated by Use attribute. Resources such as AP, Stamina, Mana, and Focus, may be listed there. If no AP is listed, then the score does not cost AP to use.

Some abilities, as part of their Use attribute, can only be invoked a limited amount of times per battle. This is listed as X/battle or X/Round, where X is most often 1 or 3. Even if you have enough resources to invoke the ability, if you've used it too many times, you cannot use it again.

Though not as common, some abilities that spawn objects like weapons, potion, and buildings, will require an amount of materials to build. Like spending vitals and AP, you'll spend the listed materials as part of the Use condition.

Every once in a while, you may see the variable X in the use cost, such as with XAP or Xsta.
This means that you spend as much of the resources as you want, in effect setting the value of other X's in the ability.

Status Effects

Status effects are temporary modifiers that most often hinder your performance. It might be that you're bleeding and will soon pass out, or that maybe you've been blessed with great accuracy.

When you get a status effect, you can only have it once and must wait until it has worn off or is removed for you to take the status effect again. The exception is for status effects that are marked as Stackable.

The influence of Status Effects occur at the end of the affected player's turn.

Charging Actions

You cannot make an action if you can't offer enough AP - however, you can choose to charge it instead. In charging an action, you spend any remaining AP on the action and remain in place while you wait for more AP from your next turn. While charging, you cannot make reactions or actions.

When your next turn comes around and you are granted more AP, the amount is automatically spent on your charged action. Once the action is fully paid for, the action is finally made.

Pay by Burn

Some AP costs have an exclamation mark (!) attached, meaning that the ability can be burned. If you don't have the AP but still have the Stamina, Mana, and/or Focus, you may execute the ability immediately, driving your AP into the negatives. Afterwards you're in cooldown, where the normal rules of charging are in affect until your AP is above 0 again. This cannot be canceled. Note: You gain AP by burning negative amounts.

Battle Transience

The first rule of combat is Battle Transience: what happens in battle, stays in the battle. Or more accurately, any changes made to your character are undone after the end of the battle. You might think of combat as though it were an alternate reality from the one you started in. This essentially covers anything done to you or your allies through actions and abilities, such as changes to your vital scores, status effects, and markers, counters, props, and mobs.

There are a few exceptions.

In the same respect, if you come into battle with missing equipment or stat changes, anything you did in combat to change those values are undone to the way before at the start. Minor encounters and obstacles don't count as combat, and may tax you in small ways before the real battle.

Though it may not seem like it at first, battle transience is ultimately to the advantage of your character. You don't have to overstock on equipment, allowing you to travel lighter and more battle-ready. Though any bonuses from your abilities don't last, any lost equipment and penalties that would have been permanent in battle are recovered.

Enlarged Scope

As an optional rule, the players (including the DM) can enlarge the scope of Battle Transience to include other measurable sequences of time and space, such as the dungeon itself, the entire day, or the entire week.

This is for the purpose of making the game just a bit harder, since then, resources would remain lost longer and player revivals would have to wait longer.

For example, if the transience was increased to cover the entire dungeon and not just the battles inside, if a player character died in one of the battles, then even though they had a revival coin on their person, the coin wouldn't take effect until after the rest of the party decided to head back to town.


Weapons

Weapons are the basis of a capable warrior. If you run out of any of you resources, you'll still have your weapons equipped to help you deal out damage.

You have two slots for weapons: primary and secondary.
Primary weapons are equipped to your dominant hand, while secondary weapons are equipped to the other.

Every weapon has a set of scores that explain how it is used and how it behaves.

Attributes

Attributes can be very effective. Throughout your adventures, it is even possible to enhance the properties of an attribute to make it even more effective. Just about any attribute can be enhanced.

Attributes with a plus-sign (+) beside indicate that their property has been enhanced. How this enhancement effects the attribute can be found in the weapon attributes listing in the equipment section.

Channel Ability

Preceding an action you can spend an extra +3 stamina, mana, or focus (depending on the weapon type) to instead channel your action- or reaction-type ability through one of your currently equipped weapons.

Doing so will augment the ability's scores with the weapon's own attributes. For example, if your weapon is Honed 3, then any accuracy checks made with your weapon gain +3. Or if the weapon has Ranged 2, then your attack's range increases by 2.

Status Effects

During combat you're certain to come across positive and negative status effects, such as poison, health increases, bleeding, damage buffs, and so on. None of these effects last forever, and many expire sooner than others.

In general, positive status effects are assumed to last until Transience takes effect. Negative status effects, such as bleeding, poison, and burning, are assumed to last 3 turns at most, unless negated by another effects. This of course is offset by specifications during affliction; some abilities grant longer-lasting negative effects.

The three most common negative status effects you'll come across are...

The three most common positive status effects are...

When afflicted with a negative status effect, should you be afflicted with it again, then the timer is reset on the status effect (unless otherwise specified). Additionally, if the effect is stackable, then the driving score of the effects are added together, becoming worse.

Common Actions

Every combatant possesses a set of basic actions that they can perform regardless of their primary class. These are called common actions.

To make an action, first declare which action you want to make, then spend the AP. Some actions require that you spend Stamina, Focus, or Mana, or else they won't work. You may also be required to roll dice to see if the action works.

Movement

AP Use: 5+(2/turn)
Declare that you are moving and to where.
Move to any adjacent space connected to your space with a dotted border.
You cannot enter into a space unless its border is dotted.
Spaces connected on a point count as being connected.

Sprint

AP Use: 20 AP
Declare that you are sprinting, then move four spaces instead of one.
Note: You suffer the effects of Difficult Terrain while moving through.

Difficult Terrain

It costs 10AP to move into terrain that is terribly bumpy, cluttered, or otherwise difficult to navigate.
Often, difficult terrain will require a check to enter or leave from. This check will test either your Melee, Skill, or Magic Power scores against a difficulty.

Bottomless Pits

If you fall into a bottomless pit, fear not! for you only take a quarter of your max health in damage, and if you survive, you'll return to the battlefield from your last point of stable ground.
Lava counts as a bottomless pit.

Ascending and Descending

Most maps have varying topography, with ramps, stairs, and hills to help the player reach higher elevations.
Spaces of steeply varying heights, such as stairs and rock-walls, are treated as difficult terrain.

Fall Damage

If you are pushed off a ledge and into the air, you'll fall to the ground and take neutral damage equal to 15 times however many spaces you fell. You do not take fall damage for not leaving your space.

Swimming

You may swim through water and other thin liquids, treating it as difficult terrain.
You will suffocate (and die) if you're underwater for more than 3 rounds.

Basic Attack

AP Use: [see weapon AP cost]
Declare who you are attacking and which weapon you'll be using to do it. You may attack any combatant that is within the same space as you.
First, make a hit check and compare against your opponent's melee evasion score. If the result meets or exceeds their evasion, the attack hits.
If you used a melee-type weapon, you'll aim with Melee-type Accuracy and deal Melee Damage, whereas if you used a skill-type weapon, you'll use skill-type Accuracy and inflict skill damage, and so on.

Critical Success and Failure

If your hit check rolled a natural 20, you use your Crit score for damage instead. Additionally, if your hit check rolled a natural 1, any additional executed actions for the rest of the turn have their rank reduced by 2 (min 0).
Please note: Class abilities use different critical rules. Additionally, crit-failure rules do not take effect until the ability resolves; extra checks from the same ability are not affected.

Non-Lethal Attacks

If you want to simply knock an opponent out, rather than potentially kill them, you can declare that your attack is non-lethal. If the attack hits, it will do enough damage to reduce the target's health to 0.

Ranged Attacks

Some weapons, such as crossbows, slings, and steampowered rifles, can also make ranged attacks by firing projectiles.

Ranged weapons have a range score listing their maximum ranges. Measure the distance in spaces. If the target is in the same space as you, the distance is 0. If they're in the next space over, it's a distance of 1, and so on.
If the target is out of your distance, the attack will fall short.

Additionally, if the target is in the same space as you, you can make a melee attack at it, treating the weapon's Pwr score as 1 instead.

The High Ground

Your Accuracy checks gain +3 for every 1 space of elevation you have over an opponent.
You may make ranged attacks against combatants that are more than 1 space above or below you.

Stealth and Hiding

During combat, if you're concealed behind Full Cover, you may make a Skill self-check to hide yourself. Upon success, you enter Stealth and become hidden.

If you move to another space or finish attacking an enemy combatant, make the check again to remain in Stealth. Some terrain conditions, such as darkness, or intense light, or glass on the ground, can either grant advantage or disadvantage to your checks - at GM discretion.

Some abilities grant Stealth, regardless of Cover. If unless specified that the ability requires Cover to work, assume you just turn nearly-invisible somehow.

While in Stealth, all your Evasion scores are increased to 20.

An enemy combatant can uncover your Stealth by choosing up to three spaces and making a Skill Accuracy check against you. Upon success, you lose Stealth.

Sneak Attacks

If you attack an unsuspecting opponent, either before battle has started, or if they are unable to respond (or unconscious), your attack automatically hits for critical damage.

Defending with Shield

AP Use: 5
Declare that you are defending and which shield you'll be using. Gain temporary health equal to the shield's Protection until the start of your next turn.
The shield's protection score is not damaged by defending - only the temp health.

Guarding

AP Cost: 5
Declare that you are guarding and then temporarily increase your evasion scores by +3. until the start of your next turn.

Cover

AP Cost: 5
If your space has cover (such as walls or trees), declare that you are taking cover and where. While taking cover, grant yourself temporary health equal to {CL}(X5), where X is equal to the cover's rank.
If using Exponential growth, increase your temporary health by your {LB}(X5) instead.

Unarmed Attacks

For 10AP you can make an unarmed attack, kicking, punching, or using whatever else you were born with. Unarmed attacks melee-typed and have a Rank of 1, using your MlePwr for damage of the same element as your class.

Use Equipment

AP Cost: 5
Declare that you wish to use either one of your weapon, tools, materials, or consumables, and how you wish to use it. By this action you can: Additionally, with any piece of equipment, you can give one of them to an allie in the same space, granted that they are also willing to accept the equipment into either their inventory or into a free hand. In the case of stacked items, you may treat them as a single item when giving or receiving. Finally, if you just don't want an object, you can drop it on the ground, where it will remain until destroyed or recovered by another combatant.

As a note: consumable items are destroyed forever. They are not recovered at the end of combat. Materials can be consumed raw, and thus are lost forever.

Use Revival Coin

AP Cost: 5
Upon entering the space of a dead combatant, you may declare that you're targeting them for revival. Destroy one of your revival coins and then apply the coin's effect to the targeted combatant. They revive with 1 Health and regain whatever health is specified.
You may not loot the combatant's body for a revival coin to use on them; the gods above will curse you for your stolen offering.

Destroy Item

AP Cost: 10
Declare that you wish to destroy an object. Target an unequipped item outside of a target's inventory, such as a prop, a weapon, clothing, or accessory, and destroy it.
The destroyed item no longer offers any benefits, including an attack bonus, or abilities.
Additionally, you can also target environment features such as bushes, small trees, doors, pillars, and stairs.

Destroying Terrain

AP Cost: 20AP
Declare that you want to destroy a piece of the environment, such as a wall, a hill, a large tree, and so forth. Once destroyed, the obstacle is considered to be in multiple pieces, no longer restricting movement.
By prudent measure, differentiate terrain from items as anything that is too heavy for you to lift.
Generally speaking, the extent of destruction is limited to the space that the obstacle occupied. For example, if a wall spans across 5 spaces and you attempt to destroy it, then a large hole in the wall will be made in the space you're occupying.

Withhold Action

Withhold an action to use later on in the round.
AP Cost: 5 + action's cost.
Declare which action (or ability) you are withholding. During the round, either at the beginning or end of a combatant's action, you may finally use the action. If you don't use the action, it is lost at the beginning of your next turn and no AP (or resources) is refunded.

Supportive Checks

AP Cost: 10 (first check is free)
A Supportive check is an action made exclusively from an ability or basic attack action. Talent checks, checks to enter Stealth and to reveal Stealth, and arbitrary self-checks, all count as supportive. They idea is that you're making a check for the purpose of assisting you in between major actions, such as using an ability or attacking an enemy. Declare that you'd like to make a Supportive check and wait for the DM to determine how difficult it will be to accomplish.

Execute

AP Cost: 10
While an opponent is unconscious or in the KO state and you're alone with them in the same square, you can kill them. This means reducing their Health points to negative-half their full amount.

Befriend

AP Cost: 5
If a monster's intelligence is either drone, instinctive, or sapient, you can move into the same space and toss a Monster Treat at its feet.

Make a Luck check.

To improve your chances, reduce the difficulty by 1 for every 1/4 of its Health it's missing.

Upon success, the monster becomes neutral to your party and will no longer want to fight.

At the end of combat, the monster will come submissively creeping out of the bushes and join beside the party. It is now your new ally, and will no longer attack your party when you pass through the territory again.

Should you return with a Monster Collar, you can equip it to the friendly monster's Tool slot, in which it is now an official member of your party. It gets a name, a character sheet, can gain experience and level-up, and eventually gain Master status. You can take it with you into town without drawing the attention of the guards, and some hotels will even allow it inside.

Keep in mind, however, that while it's possible to befriend minibosses and bosses, once they join your party, they lose their miniboss/boss status and regain the stats of regular party members.

Befriended monsters, including NPC's in general, do not count towards the party as influencing the loot of monters.

Only one monster per player is allowed to be out with the party at a time. Other monsters must stay out of the fight as non-combatants. Keep in mind they can still travel with the party in between battles, but cannot participate in combat.

As a note: only Sapient monsters can use equipment without assistance from another party member.

Aggro

In combat, the most dangerous combatants should draw the most attention from the opposing side. Enemies will go out of their way to attack the player with Aggro. Depending on your team's build, this can be a good thing or a bad thing.

Aggro, standing for "Aggression" is a role that is taken as a kind of status effect at the beginning of combat. It can be asked for voluntarily at the beginning of your turn, and some abilities allow you to take or transfer it by force.

If a combatant dies while being an Aggressor, their body is marked for good luck. At the end of combat, when Luck checks are being made, marked bodies are gain +5 for their Luck checks.

If a PC is killed while being an aggressor, their killer regains all their Vitals and any negative status effects are removed. Alternatively, if a combatant has Aggro but for one reason or another cannot be targeted, such as due to Stealth, then the enemy will target the next nearest viable opponent.

Aggro applies to enemies up until their Health is reduced to the Danger threshold. The Danger threshold is determined by their Intelligence, where the smarter they are, the sooner they'll switch to focus on the enemies that are dealing the most damage.

Below is a list of Danger thresholds varied by Intelligence levels.

Taunt

You can spend 5AP to attempt to taunt. Target any opponent within line-of-sight of your character and make them make a Skill self-check. Upon failure, they take the Taunt status. Being under Taunt overrides your aggro threshold, making you attack the taunter regardless of your currentl health.

Elements

Many creatures and abilities possess attributes called elements that indicate their basic make-up. In combat elements can influence each other in often extreme ways.
Determining your damage's element...
  1. Your element is determined by the ability you're using.
  2. If your ability doesn't list an element, use the element of your weapon.
  3. If your weapon doesn't have an element, use your own element.
Elements that are strong against another element will increase their rank by 1 for the action.
Elements that are vulnerable to an element will reduce their rank by 1 for the action. Please note: When modifying ranks, elemental modifiers apply first, then ability modifiers. For example...

Meta Logic

While in combat, it is assumed that the written rules come first everyone is bound to the same basic combat rules, such that narrative sense comes second; that abilities and actions do as they are assumed to for everyone, all the time.

This is the for benefit of the players that, if they know the rules, then they can generally know what to expect from enemies and from each other.

Though you might wish to be creative - and there will be times when that is allowed - your creative endeavors may not always be possible. If they are, then it should be expected that your enemies will take the same liberties you have.

Abilities

Abilities are special actions that are best understood as simple programs. They contain common keywords, use conditions, and instructions that tell you how the ability works, when it can and can't be used. When executing an ability, read along its attributes from beginning to end, executing instructions as their conditions are met.

Application

When considering an action, first refer to its application identifier.

Outside of Combat

When using abilities outside of combat, such as prior to battle, your pre-battle state is saved, such that when battle transience takes effect, your scores revert as normal. This can be of disadvantage, because you are using your resources for all future conflicts, until you can recover from potions or from a rest.

Permanent buffs, or buffs without a listed expiration, only last an hour of non-combat time. Traveling, or general roleplaying, will quickly reduce and undo those buffs (or debuffs)

Outside of battle, each player is granted 100AP to spend on actions. After an hour, the AP is restored back. If the player would like another 100AP before the hour is over, they may take the 100AP and also take on the Tired status modifier.

At the beginning of their first turn during their next battle, 5AP is deducted for every instance of Tired they have. At the end of that turn, the Tired modifier(s) is removed.

Alternatively, the player can have their character rest one hour to remove an instance of Tired.

Note: If Tired subtracts their AP past 0, it will be subtracted from their next turn, and so on, until fully repaid.

Placeholder Brackets

Most abilities also have variable values that, as your character grows, also grow. These are called placeholders, and they are identified as a single number appended by a set of curly-braces with an abbreviate stat inside. Each placeholder is meant to be used for multiplication, where the initial number is multiplied by the power level of the referenced stat.
For example... If a placeholder doesn't have a number listed, assume it is 1.
Other placeholders also include...

Variable X.

Many abilities feature a special attribute of X, where X can be anything from a number to a name to a sentence. It is meant to represent a modifiable portion of the ability. When following the ability's instructions, read X as what it's meant to represent.

Accuracy

Many abilities have an Accuracy attribute that indicate a d20 plus their accuracy bonuys must be rolled and a difficulty score beaten before the effects of the ability can be executed. After you've paid for the ability, make a d20 check. If the check passes, then the Ability's OnPass/OnHit/Effect attribute is invoked.

Hit checks will refer to the enemy Evasion score that the ability is targeting in a Accuracy: [Score:Evasion] format. Many checks are just Luck rolls, and will read Luck: X, where X is a value between 1 and 20.

Remember, if you roll a natural 20 on an ability, its Rank (found between parenthesis) increases by 1 for the rest duration of the check.

Evade

Some abilities feature the Evade attribute, which is like the opposing version of Accuracy. Instead of the offender making the check, the defender makes a self-check. They will roll 1d20, subtracting their Accuracy score and adding in the offender's Accuracy score, and must roll beneath their (the defender's) own Evasion score. If their check falls below the difficulty score, then they evade the attack; otherwise, they take damage.

Make a self-check, rolling below your specified evasion while subtracting the offender's acting Accuracy bonus from it. Rolling a nat 20 counts as a Crit for the attack.

For example, you make an AoE attack that has Evade: Melee, where your target takes their Melee Evasion score (10) and subtracts your Melee Accuracy score (2), and they roll 1d20 while subtracting their own Melee Accuracy score, hoping to get below 8.

Range

Many Abilities have range specifiers that indicate how close (or far away) a combatant has to be in order for the ability to be able to target them. Most often this is limited to how close something is, but some special attack require they be further away than the listed score. A more-than sign (>) specifies that the target must be equal to or further than the listed score.

Some abilities allow you to choose a target within a space, or series of spaces, or the whole battlefield.

Trigger

Reaction abilities are used in response to an action or event, most often in response to an enemy combatant. Once a Trigger's condition(s) have been met (if listed, you may choose to pay the Use cost) and then execute the rest of the Ability.

Teamwork Attributes

All classes have at least one or two abilities that feature a teamwork attribute. If one or more allies are with you in the same space then the teamwork attribute activates. Any effects specified by the attribute are followed-through.

Additionally, some abilities feature a TmWrk placeholder for the amount of allied combatants in your space. Many abilities change their effects or become stronger as more allies band with you. The TmWrk placeholder only goes up to 3.

Some Teamwork attributes instead feature a penalty for having multiple allies in your space. These penalties can vary from weakening to the ability or even actively hurting your allies when used.

As a side note: Miniboss and Boss-type opponents automatically trigger the Teamwork effect. Minibosses count as two combatants, and Bosses count as three.

An additional placeholder, OutNum, also exists. It stands for Outnumbered. It is equal to the difference between enemy combatants and friendly combatants belonging your team in the space you're in. If you're outnumbered, then the number is positive.

OutNum = [enemy combatants] - [friendly combatants]

For example: if you're the only allied combatant in a space and there are two enemies in the space, then the OutNum score is 1.

Another example: If you and two allies are in a space against three enemies, OutNum is equal to 0.

As a note: Even though minibosses and bosses count as allies towards their own teamwork attribute, they do not count as extra enemies towards your OutNum attribute; minibosses and bosses count only as themselves.

Solowork Attributes

An opposite of the Teamwork attribute is the Solowork attribute. It activates when you're the only combatant of your team in a space. It is unaffected by the amount of enemies in your space. However, once an allie joins your space, the Solowork attribute is disabled.

Ability Mods

Ability Mods are special modifiers that can be applied to your abilities in order to change how they work. Their purpose is to help make your abilities more suited to your build, making you more effective in the long run. This is done by re-balancing their values and behavior, making one aspect better while another becomes worse. Done blindly this can make the ability useless - but done wisely, it'll make the ability much better.

To begin, each Ability can only have one Mod equipped to it at a time. You may only equip mods in a safe setting, such as a cleared battlemap, a rest area, or in town. Every ability is compatible, including your Natural and Doctrine abilities. Sideboard Abilities cannot be modded, and if an Ability is moved to the sideboard, any Mods it has attached are removed.

You can't buy Mods from anyone - and neither can they be sold. Instead, you must either create them from crafting or by discover them on your adventures. This is because Mods don't physically exist; They are an abstraction of your abilities being subtly changed.

Flavor Text

Flavor text describes how an ability behaves inside and outside of combat. While in combat, the ability performs according to its listed processes (paying for use-cost, making accuracy checks, and executing effects). However, outside of combat when the processes can't be put into effect and you're effectively in "freeplay", you'll instead attempt to execute the flavor text instead.

Flavor text outside of combat is meant to explain how it is experienced. Obviously flavor text isn't a straight descriptor of roleplay, but hints at what it's like to experience the ability's effects.

Interpretation Pact

If you are willing, and if the DM agrees, you can pay the use-cost of your ability and execute it according (and faithfully) to its flavor text. However, in exchange, an enemy combatant from the other time also gets to interpret their one of their abilities according to its flavor text.

This pact lasts only one turn each - the ability is presumed to behave normally after it is executed. However, from then on, you can declare that you wish to use the ability's flavor text. Just the same, an enemy combatant of the DM's choice gets to choose have one of their abilities executed through interpretation next.

As a note, any number of abilities can be given flavor-text interpretations.

Swarming

During combat, you may come against large groups of enemies. While exciting, these extra enemies can quickly bog-down the pace of a battle with tons of extra checks. To help make it simpler, here are some rules for swarm combat. This only applies to swarms of similar monsters, where they have similar score and stats.

A group of similar monsters acting in tandem is called a swarm. Swarms take their turns, moves, and attacks together. While acting as a swarm, they operate under swarm rules, gaining bonuses and taking penalties as befit a tightly packed cluster of enemies.

When attacking a swarm, while you have the option to target a specific enemy, it's easier to use attack the swarm in general. From there, they take the Evasion penalty, making them much easier to hit. Upon hitting them, damage is inflicted to the enemy of your choice.

When making an AoE attack against a swarm, it's easier to have them operate under swarm rules. Have the swarm make a single check, suffering the evasion penalty as normal, and take damage as if they'd all been hit. This applies for AoE evasion and AoE accuracy checks.

Swarms don't have to be swarms. Instead, they may choose to split up into smaller groups. From there, the paired monsters operate under smaller swarm (or single) rules. On the other side of the coin, small groups of monsters can come together form larger swarms. This exception is towards monsters of differing scores.

Death and Defeat

All combat must come to an end eventually, and while your might side might have won, not all of your allies may have made it out alive.

Knocked Out

When your character's health is reduced to 0, they become Knocked Out (KO). While in the Knocked Out status, all of your character's Evasion scores are reduced to 0 and you cannot make actions or reactions.

While knocked-out, you cannot take damage unless an ability specifically allows it.
Unless executed or revived, your character will remain unconscious for the rest of the battle.

Death

Once your health reaches negative-half its max score, your character is dead. Their spirit has departed from their person and all biological functions have ceased to continue.

In accordance with the rule of Battle Transience, if your character dies before the battle is over and they don't have a revival coin, they remain dead after the battle.

If there was a revival coin on your person at the time of the battle's end, then the coin is destroyed and your character comes back to life with an amount of health, determined by the quality of the coin.

Revival Coins and The Ferryman

When one dies their soul departs from this plane to the depths of the underverse. There you awake at the shores of a subterranean ocean. Beyond the ocean a dim green light like a sick sun shines, signaling the way towards your eternal afterlife.

With you on the shore is a tall, hooded being, standing with a long pole at the bow of a long black boat. Beneath the hood is depthless darkness. You know him only as The Ferryman.

As you approach, they reach out with one skeletal hand to receive not a payment, but a ransom. Your money from the mortal realm is gone - but the old revival coins have gone with you. Should you give the Ferryman a coin, you'll return instantly to the mortal realm and the coin will be gone for good.

Sometimes a battle turns into a slaughter and the whole team goes down. In this case, the Ferryman is willing to offer you a deal. In addition to the coins, you'll pay the Ferryman half of the winnings from the next battle, and in return he'll set you and your team back in time to before your team started the dungeon. Using this knowledge, you proceed through the dungeon, anticipating every possible attack. This foresight lasts up until the point where you would have died in the last battle.

Mechanically speaking this is a team revival where your health is restored to full and your stamina, mana, and focus are refilled by 50%.

Shared Coins and Bound Fates.

On the chance that you appear at the afterlife with your teammate(s) and you don't have a coin, if your friend is willing and able, they can share one of their own coins with you to give to the Ferryman. However, this charity comes at a cost.

From that point on you become Fate Bound to your generous friend. Back in the mortal realm you receive the Fate Bound curse, where if you or your friend dies, so then do you.

Rechallenging NPC's

Any battles the players have already proven themselves at can be won again at no cost to their coins. This way, the players can easily return to their previous fights, or find a point to branch off from and try from another direction.

Small Encounters

Smaller, lower-stakes battles can be reduced to obstacle-like encounters that each combatant completed by making a check against. These encounters offer rewards and penalties like any other battle, but with one major twist: since they're part of narrative time, they are exempt from the rule of battle transience. With small encounters taxing the party's resources, larger battles will become more significant.

A small encounter can be anything from a fight against a small group of monsters, to overcoming a tall obstacle. Each are treated the same way and pose similar penalties for failure.

The DM first presents the small encounter either as mandatory or as optional. In a mandatory encounter, the obstacle has surprised the players and they must react; likewise, in an optional encounter, the obstacle has been noticed first and the players have the ability to turn around.

Some encounters may require materials or tools to be able to complete, such as in repairing a broken bridge, or in swimming to the bottom of a lake. In the case of materials, before any checks are made, the players must come together and provide the required materials. With mandatory tools, only players with the proper tools can make the check.

Any players participating in tackling the encounter each make a check to overcome it. The difficulty is determined by the DM by looking at the scale and potential threat of the encounter, then giving it a score between 8 and 25. Obstacles with a difficulty below 8 should not be considered serious obstacles, being too easy to overcome. Difficulties over 20 should be considered potentially too difficult for players to overcome.

Obstacles

In the case of an obstacle, the DM prompts the players to make an efficiency check against the determined difficulty score. Upon success, the players overcome the obstacle normally. Upon failure, the players still pass the obstacle, but with a penalty such as time, resources, and potentially - a revival coin.

The DM can determine how well passing and failing turns out based on the below list.

While anything might be considered a resource, there should generally be no penalty of focus, mana, stamina, or health for passing the check. Instead, failure of the bare minimum should set the par for what's at risk for your well-being, with each successive grade of failure increasing the penalty by 50% and then 100%.

For example, if you would risk 10 points of your health for an adequate success, then a sloppy success would penalize 15 points, and a horrible success would take 20.

Battles

Against a small battle, the DM first summarizes the challenge of the battle to the players as a single difficulty score ranging between 8 and 25. Scores below 8 are considered too easy and that the players will automatically win, while scores above 18 should be considered too hard and that the players will most certainly lose.

Additionally, the DM should quickly summarize the threat of an encounter by how it might tax their resources. Vital scores like Health, Stamina, Mana, and Focus count as resources. Unlike in obstacles, even if you win, you will still take damage, and only by a perfect success can you get off without penalty.

Players may then choose which of their scores (Melee, Magic, or Skill) to make a self-check off of. Each player is independently graded according to the same difficulty threshold.

No matter what, they'll succeed, but based on how well they rolled the penalties and rewards may vary. In fact, they may even die. Before the fight, the DM explains the base resource cost to engage in the fight, along with the difficulty score. Then each player makes their check.

No matter how poorly everyone rolled, so long as at least one player is left alive, then it's considered a victory. Anyone who died expends a revival coin (if they have one) and the adventure moves on.

Loot without XP is then given out for their success as if they had won the fight normally.

Best Practice

No matter if you're doing obstacles or surprise battles, there is a certain art and science to ensuring that players feel that these compulsory challenges are fair. Likewise, as the player, you can ask the DM and expect a straight-ish answer.

Before embarking into dangerous territory, the DM should first warn the players of the difficulty if the smaller encounters they'll be facing, and what resources they'll be risking along the way.

For example: The party is about to embark across the countryside to a neighboring town. However, the town is an hour away by foot. The DM warns the players that each encounter will risk 10% each member's HP, and that night is falling, the difficulty score will increase from 10 to 15.

The players decide that the reward of getting to the next town and saving time in their adventure outweighs the risk of their health. They decide to proceed anyway.

Additionally, if the DM decides to use a system for random encounters, it is fair practice to inform the players of the chances of facing an encounter, just as much as the likeliness that it'll be a dangerous one.

Experience and Rewards

At the end of a battle loot from slayed monsters is collected and experience is rewarded. Each monster drops their own loot upon death, while each battle has its own loot just for winning. (Where that loot comes from, no one knows!)

All experience is collected and then divided equally among the combatants (including the ones who were neutralized). Loot is presumably collected into a neat pile, at which the characters briefly sit around and divide the spoils among themselves. The amount of gil dropped multiplies by the amount of non-NPC players, so that way there's enough for everyone.

Many monsters may have the chance to drop a better spoil of loot. This is done with a Harvest check, and on its monster sheet the chance will be marked with the score that must be beaten. Upon beating that score, you get the new, better loot drop instead of the other one.

After having killed multiple monsters, the DM decide how the loot drops are done. There are a few ways, each of which can be fast and/or fun depending on the circumstances. Whichever way is decided upon, they DM should stay consistent throughout the rest of the game.

Not all campaigns utilize experience points, and that's perfectly okay. Instead, if the campaign is utilizing milestones, then after each boss battle, each combatant gets to level-up.

Next steps

After collecting enough experience, or when the DM says it's time to level-up, you can head over to Level Progression to learn how to improve yourself.