This chapter gives you the rules you need at the table. When an action is uncertain and its outcome matters, roll 2d6 + one relevant skill. Your skill rating is between +0 and +3. The GM tells you what is at stake and, when practical, what a costly result might mean before you roll.
| Total | Result |
|---|
| 6 or less | The action fails, and a fitting consequence follows. |
| 7 | You succeed, but pay a cost, accept a complication, or make a hard choice. |
| 8–10 | You succeed as intended. |
| 11+ | You succeed and gain one fitting extra benefit, such as speed, better position, information, or reduced cost. |
Use the skill that best matches how you act, not the result you hope for. Roll only when both uncertainty and consequence matter; don’t repeat an identical roll after a failure unless the situation changes. A +0 skill means untrained, not incapable.
Skills and resources
The 13 core skills are Endurance, Intellect, Vigor, Awareness, Influence, Resolve, Melee, Ranged, Stealth, Survival, Craft, Medicine, and Arcana. There are no separate ability modifiers or proficiency bonuses.
Your three resource maximums are:
- Health = (Endurance × 2) + level
- Mana = (Intellect × 2) + level
- Stamina = (Vigor × 2) + level
Health measures how much harm you can endure; Mana fuels magic and supernatural abilities; Stamina fuels exertion and strenuous techniques. A feature or spell states its own cost. You cannot spend a resource you do not have. Current pools cannot exceed their maximums or fall below 0.
At 0 Health, you are incapacitated and unable to act, but you do not automatically die. An ally who can reach and treat you can attempt a Medicine check: 8+ stabilizes you, 7 stabilizes you with a cost, and 6 or less fails with a fitting consequence. You remain unconscious until you regain Health. The GM establishes the stakes before further harm threatens an incapacitated character.
Rerolls
After seeing a check total but before the GM resolves it, you may spend 1 point from an appropriate current resource to reroll both dice once. Use Stamina for physical exertion or combat technique, Mana for magic or supernatural effort, and Health only when the effort clearly means enduring bodily harm. Keep the new total, even if it is worse. A check can be rerolled only once; a reroll does not change the skill or the stakes.
Turns and attacks
Use rounds when timing and danger matter. The GM establishes a sensible order from the fiction. On your turn, you can move a reasonable distance and take one significant action—for example, attack, cast, help, or overcome an obstacle. Minor speech and simple interactions can accompany it. There is no default grid, fixed movement speed, initiative statistic, opportunity attack, or extra action type.
For a weapon attack, roll 2d6 + Melee for a melee weapon or 2d6 + Ranged for a ranged weapon. Apply the normal result bands: a 7 hits with a cost, 8–10 hits, 11+ hits with one fitting extra benefit, and 6 or less misses with a fitting consequence. The roll total is not harm. When an attack deals harm, calculate attack skill rating + the weapon’s flat added damage (+1 to +3).
Damage Reduction (DR) is 0–3 and subtracts from harm, to a minimum of 0. If armor and an actively used shield both apply, use only the higher DR. After DR, matching resistance halves remaining harm (round down); matching vulnerability doubles it. Resistance and vulnerability to the same attack cancel. Use only defenses that are actually stated to apply.
Rest and magic
A safe rest restores Health, Mana, and Stamina to their current maximums. It takes enough uninterrupted time and safety to genuinely rest; a brief pause or unsafe shelter does not automatically qualify.
Magic has no universal spell slots or default effect. Each spell states its target or range, duration, cost, and effect. When a use is uncertain and consequential, resolve it with 2d6 + Arcana (or another clearly relevant skill) and the usual result bands, unless the spell gives a specific procedure. Spell checks are not automatically harm: use the spell’s stated effect, then apply relevant defenses.
