Builder's Manual · Chapter 1

The Character Sheet

Characters in Mist Engine Lite are tag-driven. The schema exists to keep groups honest and rolls simple — not to simulate a stat block.

Design intent

2d6 + called tags ± one item − invoked weakness is the only resolution math.
Ability scores were removed on purpose: tags are the modifiers, and they carry fiction the GM can read.
Tag groups are the atomic unit. Two tags and one weakness share a theme (the group's title) so the bundle feels like one facet of the character, not three unrelated strings.
Inventory participates in rolls as a single ±1 lever: one item may help or hinder a roll; extra items in the description are flavour. There is no schema flag for "this item was the one used" — it is a table procedure. Expendables use equipment category: Consumable (or obvious fiction) and are removed from inventory when spent.

Stored shape

Field	Role
`tagGroups`	Array of `{ title, tags[1–2], weakness? }` — the whole mechanical identity
`improvementPoints`	Number ≥ 0; banked weakness invokes; spend at 3
`inventory`	Equipment references; at most one may modify a given roll; remove when expended
`background` / `description` / `personality` / `notes`	Prose fields for the table
`totalInventoryWeight`	Computed from inventory — the only remaining expression

weakness is optional on purpose: mid-growth groups can sit at one tag, or two tags with the weakness still owed. The play rules (Player's Handbook → Tag Groups & Improvement) enforce the rest at the table; the schema only bounds lengths and the 1–2 tag cap.

Removed: stats, carryingCapacity (it depended on strength). Do not reintroduce ability modifiers — if you need a new lever on rolls, add a tag theme (or rely on the one-item rule).

House style for tags and weaknesses

Tags: ≤ 3 words (4 as a stretch), title case or sentence case, present tense.
Themes (title): 1–3 words; must plausibly own both tags and the weakness.
Weaknesses: one sharp line the GM can invoke without a rules debate.

Extending

New growth rules belong in the Player's Handbook first; only mirror structure here if the schema must hard-enforce it (e.g. a stricter minItems).
AI-assisted tags should generate into this shape: propose a theme, two tags, and a weakness that share one image — never three unrelated adjectives.
Layout (/file-types/character/layout.json) repeats /tagGroups and surfaces improvementPoints as a stepper capped at 3. Keep play-critical controls on the main sheet; dump prose below. Inventory stays a reference grid — players add and remove items there when gear is expended.

Manual updated Sep 23, 2026.

Mist Engine Lite Campaign

A witcher-toned, solarpunk world of sun-arrays, shared bread, and contracts that pay in crowns and scars. Play begins in the terrace-town of Solmere.

Crafted by

@nuno

Messages

Plays

Likes

Files

Versionv1

CreatedSep 23, 2026

UpdatedSep 23, 2026

Afterlight

Bright gardens. Dark contracts.

Afterlight is a compact campaign setting where solarpunk solaces meet the monster-hunt grit of the witcher tradition. Gardens climb copper towers; sunblades wake warm when umbrae draw near; the contract board under The Copper Fern never stays empty for long.

Start in **Solmere** with three ready hunters, signature gear, and the opening job: **The Orchard Goes White**.

Inside the World