The Core Game
Most of play is conversation: you say what you do, the Games Master describes the world, and dice appear only when the outcome is uncertain and interesting. This chapter is the toolkit for those moments.
Game time
| Scale | About | Used for |
|---|---|---|
| Combat Round | 5 seconds | Fights, chases blow-by-blow, split-second danger |
| Skill Time | Minutes to hours | Picking locks, watching patrols, careful craft |
| Narrative Time | Whatever the scene needs | Travel, talk, downtime; may compress days into a sentence |
In a Round you spend Action Points on Turns in Initiative order. Outside combat, one skill roll usually covers a whole attempt unless the fiction demands several steps.
The skill roll, again
Roll 1d100 ≤ skill (after modifiers):
- 01–05 always succeeds
- 96–00 always fails
- Critical = one-tenth of the (modified) skill, rounded up
- Fumble = 99–00 (or only 00 if skill is over 100%)
If nothing pressures you and success is inevitable with time, do not roll.
Luck Points
Luck is the thin edge between an adventurer and a corpse. Your pool equals the Luck derived from POW and refills at the start of each session (unless the Games Master awards an extra mid-play).
You may spend one Luck Point per action you support. Spending Luck is a Free Action. You cannot spend Luck on Experience or training rolls.
| Spend | Effect |
|---|---|
| Cheat Fate | Re-roll any dice you just rolled, or swap the digits (75 ↔ 57). You may force an opponent to re-roll an attack or damage roll that just hit you. |
| Desperate Effort | Gain one extra Action Point when you have none left in a fight. |
| Mitigate Damage | When you take a Major Wound, downgrade it to a Serious Wound—damage becomes one Hit Point less than the Major threshold on that location. |
Spend when a hung contest or a death-spiral fight warrants it. Empty Luck that never fired did no one any good.
Fatigue
Hard work, failed Endurance/Athletics/Brawn rolls, asphyxiation, bleeding, disease—these push you down the Fatigue track. Each level worsens skill grades, movement, Initiative, and eventually Action Points.
| Level | Skills | Movement | Initiative | Action Points | Rest to clear one level* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fresh | — | — | — | — | — |
| Winded | Hard | — | — | — | 15 minutes |
| Tired | Hard | –1 m | — | — | 3 hours |
| Wearied | Formidable | –2 m | –2 | — | 6 hours |
| Exhausted | Formidable | Halved | –4 | –1 | 12 hours |
| Debilitated | Herculean | Halved | –6 | –2 | 18 hours |
| Incapacitated | Herculean | Immobile | –8 | –3 | 24 hours |
| Semi-Conscious | Hopeless | None | None | None | 36 hours |
| Comatose | None | None | None | None | 48 hours |
| Dead | — | — | — | — | Never |
* For physical exertion, complete rest needed per level equals Recovery Period ÷ Healing Rate. Asphyxiation recovers much faster (about a level per minute once air returns); blood-loss Fatigue often heals a level per day after bleed stops.
Past Incapacitated you are out of meaningful play until rescued and rested. Do not treat "one more forced march" as free—the track climbs fast.
Common opposed contests
| Situation | Typical pair |
|---|---|
| Sneaking | Stealth vs Perception (or Track) |
| Lying | Deceit vs Insight |
| Bargaining | Commerce vs Commerce (or Influence) |
| Staredown | Willpower vs Willpower |
| Crowd speech | Oratory vs Willpower |
| Chase on foot | Athletics vs Athletics or Endurance |
| Poison / disease onset | Endurance (or Willpower) vs Potency |
| Serious/Major Wound shock | Endurance vs the attack roll that wounded you |
Breaking things
Inanimate objects have Armor Points and Hit Points. Success on Brawn, Unarmed, or an appropriate Combat Style deals damage; AP subtract first. Using a weapon on something as hard as or harder than the weapon damages both. Ask before you chisel a vault door with a family longsword.
What success looks like at the table
Call your skill, accept the grade, and roll in the open when you can. On a Failure, look for the next approach—not the same roll louder. On a Critical, invite the Games Master to make the world tilt your way. On a Fumble, play the disaster; that skill gains a free 1% at the next Experience award for the lesson.
When in doubt: Is this uncertain? Does failure change anything? Then roll. Otherwise, narrate and move.