Domains & Card Loadouts

Your abilities and spells come from domain cards. Each class draws on two domains.

The Domains

• @Missing file: Those who choose this path tap into the raw, enigmatic forces of the realms to manipulate both their own energy and the elements.
• @Missing file: Whether by steel, bow, or perhaps a more specialized arm, those who follow this path have the skill to cut short the lives of others.
• @Missing file: Practitioners of this domain have an uncanny control over their own physical abilities and an eye for predicting the behaviors of others in combat.
• @Missing file: Those who seek magical knowledge turn to the equations of power recorded in books, written on scrolls, etched into walls, or tattooed on bodies.
• @Missing file *: Dread is the domain of nightmares and fear.
• @Missing file: Through rapturous storytelling, charming spells, or a shroud of lies, those who channel this power define the realities of their adversaries, bending perception to their will.
• @Missing file: Whether by clever tricks, deft magic, or the cloak of night, those who channel these forces practice the art of obscurity and can uncover sequestered treasures.
• @Missing file: Those who walk this path tap into the unfettered power of the earth and its creatures to unleash raw magic.
• @Missing file: Through this magic, followers gain the ability to heal and, to an extent, control death.
• @Missing file: Whether through attack or defense, those who choose this discipline channel formidable strength to protect their allies in battle.

Entries marked * come from the Hope & Fear expansion material in this project rather than the Core Rulebook volumes.

Reading a Card

• Level: you can only take cards of your level or lower.
• Domain: the deck it belongs to.
• Recall Cost: the Stress it costs to swap the card in outside downtime.
• Type: abilities are typically mundane, spells are magical, and grimoires are collections of smaller spells unique to the Codex domain.

Loadout and Vault

Your loadout is your active cards, up to five. Every other card you know waits in your vault. Once you reach level 5, you'll have more cards than loadout space.

• During a short or long rest, you can swap any loadout cards for vault cards before you choose downtime moves.
• At any other time, mark Stress equal to a card's Recall Cost to move it from your vault into your loadout immediately.
• A spell that is already in effect keeps going even if you move its card to your vault.

Casting Spells

A Spellcast Roll uses the Spellcast trait from your subclass. If a spell can damage a target, the roll also counts as an attack roll. A spell does what its card says. You can flavor how it looks, but flavor gives no extra mechanical benefit. Spells end as their text says, and you can maintain several at once unless a card says otherwise.

New Cards

Each time you level up, take a new domain card of your level or lower from a domain you have access to, or trade one you hold for another of equal or lower level.