Player's Handbook · Chapter 5

Weapons

Weapons

Initiative is 4d6 + AG, best first. Then:

  • Melee: 4d6 + ST against the target's Armor class.
  • Ranged: 4d6 + AG against AC.
  • Magic: 4d6 + IN against AC or resistance.

Damage follows your weapon's category — Short Melee 2d6+1, Medium Melee 2d6+3, Long Melee 2d8+2, Heavy Melee 2d8+4, Thrown 2d6+1, Light Missile 2d6+2, Heavy Missile 2d10+1 — plus your strength (melee) or agility/perception (ranged). Armor eats that damage — leather 0, steel 4 — and where armor swallows a hit whole, a single point of blunt force can still rattle through.

Weapon crits are your Critical Success doing double-time. Roll a raw Sum of 4–6 and the blow is critical, adding your weapon's bonus: Short Melee +1d6, Medium Melee +2d4, Long Melee +1d8, Heavy Melee +2d6, Thrown +1d4, Light Missile +1d6, Heavy Missile +2d6. A dagger's +1d6 finds a seam; a warhammer's +2d6 shatters bone. Every weapon crits at the same window — there is no d20 threat-range.

Situations matter: a surprised or off-balance foe is easier to hit, a stunned or prone one far easier still, and a paralyzed one nearly helpless. Pushing your attack recklessly earns you more bite but risks missing — the Master weighs these as roll modifiers, and each minus you earn edges you closer to that 4–6 crit. Surprises and consequences land as random events, the way the world breathes. (Genre tech decrees a share of your damage — see Genre & Tech Level.)

Manual updated Oct 7, 2026.