Combat

The round, your turn, the attack roll, and the three layers a hit passes through.

Combat Flow

Round Structure

Each combat round follows this sequence:

Enemy Leaders: If enemies have a Leader, they declare tactics BEFORE players (after initiative). If the Leader dies, enemies revert to declaring at end of round starting that same round.

Initiative

d8 + Mind die

Critical: Initiative is rerolled at the end of each round, not just once at start.

Tactical Phase (Detailed)

1. Roll Initiative (Start of Round)

• All combatants roll d8 + Mind die
• Players see the initiative order before declaring

2. Enemy Leader Tactics (if applicable)

• If enemies have a Leader, they declare tactics NOW (after seeing initiative)
• No Leader = enemies declared at end of previous round (blind)

3. Player Tactical Phase

• Pick ONE Maneuver each. Most are instant. Casting a spell IS your Maneuver (a Declared Maneuver: it resolves on your turn and can be disrupted)
• Coordinate strategy as a group
• Psions never declare (spontaneous casters; they keep their Maneuver)

4. Turns (Actions Resolve)

• Everyone acts in initiative order
• At the start of your turn, roll Tier exploding d4s: each 4 regains 1 Vigor
• Execute Declared Maneuvers on your turn
• Can make opportunity attacks as reactions
• Losing Vitality may disrupt your Declared Maneuver

5. End of Round

• Enemies without a Leader declare tactics for next round (blind, don't see next initiative)
• If Leader died this round, enemies declare now instead
• New round begins with initiative roll

Surprise

Surprised creatures lose their turn in the first round of combat. They cannot act, declare tactics, or use reactions until the second round begins.

• The non-surprised side gets a full tactical phase and acts normally
• Surprised creatures join combat normally starting round 2

Determining Surprise: GM decides based on stealth checks, ambush setup, etc. Some abilities grant immunity (e.g., Elf's Keen Senses, "cannot be surprised" effects).

Your Turn

Action Economy

Each turn you get:

• ONE action - Attack, resolve a Declared Maneuver, Dodge, Sprint, Help, etc.
• ONE movement - 30 ft, can split before/after action
• ONE reaction - Opportunity attack or triggered ability

NO bonus actions. Abilities either replace your action, cost nothing, or use your reaction.

Basic Actions

These require NO declaration. Decide and execute on your turn. Cannot be disrupted.

Movement

• Base: 30 feet per turn
• Splitting: Can move before and after your action
• Sprint: Use your action to move an additional 30 feet (total 60 feet)
• Difficult Terrain: Costs 2 feet per foot moved

Reactions

• Limit: ONE reaction per round
• Opportunity Attacks: When an enemy leaves your reach without disengaging
• Triggered Abilities: Some abilities trigger on specific events

Opportunity Attack: When an enemy you can see leaves your reach without taking the Disengage action, you may make one melee attack against them as a reaction.

Attacks

Making an Attack

Attack Roll:

d20 + stat modifier (from martial or mystic tree) + weapon bonus vs AC

Which stat? Your martial or mystic tree's associated stat:

• Body trees (Brawler, Guardian, Titan, etc.)
• Cunning trees (Assassin, Skirmisher, Opportunist)
• Mind trees (Swordmaster, Tactician, Wizard)
• Sense trees (Aspect Warrior, Stalwart, Druid)
• Heart trees (Commander, Champion, Invoker)
• Fate trees (Fortunate, Destined, Inquisitor)

Untrained (no martial or mystic tree): Use Body modifier (melee) or Cunning modifier (ranged). No tactics, no tree effects.

Armor Class

Armor base + Sense modifier

Tier is NOT added to AC. Unarmored is 10 + Sense. Light armor 11 + Sense (full Vigor); Medium armor 12 + Sense (-1 Vigor cap); Heavy armor 13 + Sense (-2 Vigor cap); a Shield is +1 AC. Heavier armor raises AC but its rigidity shrinks your Vigor shield: light armor and Sense-based dodging keep your full shield, plate trades some away for protection. Armor no longer taxes Stamina; its cost is Vigor.

Range

Melee: Reach is 5 feet unless weapon or ability says otherwise
Ranged: Each weapon lists its normal range and long range

• Normal range: No penalty
• Long range: Disadvantage on attack
• Beyond long range: Cannot attack

Cover: Provides +2 AC (half cover) or +5 AC (three-quarters cover)

Firing Through Allies: Ranged weapon attacks (bows, thrown weapons, etc.) are affected by creatures in the line of fire:

• 1 creature in the way: Disadvantage on attack. On a natural 1, you hit that creature instead of your target.
• 2+ creatures in the way: Cannot attack that target.
• Mystic attacks and spells: Not affected by this rule.

Hits & Crits

There are no hit points. Attacks either hit or they don't, and what a hit deals depends on who threw it: Majors roll their Tier die, Minors deal flat Tier.

Glossary

Five terms the rest of this book uses exactly:

• Vigor damage: affects Vigor ONLY. Never touches Vitality, never inflicts wounds. Mystic attacks deal Vigor damage; many AoE spells and abilities do too. Ability text says "deals N Vigor damage".
• Damage (unqualified): moves through all three layers as normal (Vigor, then Vitality, then wounds for player characters).
• Major: player characters and Major NPCs (the boss role). Full attribute mechanics (stat dice, modifiers, crit ranges, Sense AC, Heart Vigor cap, regen), and they ROLL the damage die: their Tier die on a hit, two on a crit. A Major NPC's Vitality is 2 x Tier.
• Minor (mook): retainers and rank-and-file NPCs. Flat Tier damage, no attribute mechanics, and no Vitality: their whole pool is Vigor equal to their Tier; at 0 Vigor they flee, at twice their Tier in total damage they die (see Part 7B).
• Sovereign (solo boss): a single creature meant to face a whole party alone (a dragon, a lich, a demon lord). It uses the Major attribute path (rolls its Tier die, Vigor with regen) but with a boss-scaled pool and its own action economy: Vitality = 10 + 4 x Tier (14/18/22/26/30 by Tier), Vigor = Tier + Heart modifier, and 2 Sovereign Actions each round. A Sovereign spends a Sovereign Action AFTER another combatant's turn to take an extra attack or maneuver, so one creature can trade blows with four heroes. Refreshes to full each round. Promote only creatures fought as the lone centerpiece of an encounter; anything you would field more than one of is a Major or Minor.

What a Hit Deals

The die ladder is always the standard one: d4 / d6 / d8 / d10 / d12 for Tiers 1-5.

• Major hit = roll your Tier die. The target takes that much Damage.
• Major critical hit = roll TWO Tier dice (a natural roll in your crit range).
• Minor hit = flat points equal to Tier. No roll. Minors are the metronome: steady, predictable pressure.
• Minor critical hit (natural 20 only) = roll the Tier die, floored at the flat value. A crit is never worse than a normal hit.
• Some abilities add points, deal Vigor damage, or attach conditions. Flat riders ("+1 point on a hit") stay flat.

Critical Hits

Cunning sets how OFTEN you crit; your Tier sets how HARD. When a Major's crit lands, roll two Tier dice and the target takes that much Damage (moving through Vigor, then Vitality, then wounds like any hit):

• Tier 1: 2d4 | Tier 2: 2d6 | Tier 3: 2d8 | Tier 4: 2d10 | Tier 5: 2d12

A big crit against a target already low can cascade through their remaining Vitality into wounds.

Your crit range (the natural roll that crits) is set by Cunning:

• Cunning 8 or less: Cannot crit
• Cunning 10: Crit on 20
• Cunning 12: Crit on 19-20
• Cunning 14: Crit on 18-20
• Cunning 16: Crit on 17-20
• Cunning 18: Crit on 16-20
• Cunning 20: Crit on 15-20
• Cunning 22: Crit on 14-20

Crit range bonuses (Empower, tree abilities, enchantments) stack, but your crit range can never grow past 12-20. Weapons carry no crit mechanics: crit range belongs to Cunning and abilities only.

Weapon Properties & Weapon Maneuvers

Weapons carry no damage dice and no crit or accuracy mechanics. Weapon classes (Light/Standard/Heavy) are descriptive flavor only. What a weapon brings to a fight is its weapon maneuver: every weapon grants ONE simple instant maneuver (0 Stamina, picked in the tactical phase like any maneuver, consuming the round's single pick; see the Part 7 table). Unarmed, natural, and improvised attacks grant none.

The Body Rule (Glancing Blow)

When a Major MISSES with a weapon attack or mystic attack, they may deal Vigor damage to one target within the attack's range. Body sets how much:

• Positive Body die (Body 12+): roll the Body die and deal the result as Vigor damage.
• No Body die (Body 10-11): deal a flat 1 Vigor damage.
• Negative Body die (Body 9 or less): nothing; no Glancing Blow.

The default target is the one you missed, but any target within the attack's range is legal. A miss still grinds shields; Body sets how hard.

Damage Types, Resistance, and Immunity

Hits keep a descriptor from their source (slashing, fire, psychic, holy...).

• Resistance: hits of that type deal 1 less point (minimum 0).
• Immunity: hits of that type have no effect.
• Vulnerability: hits of that type deal 1 more point.

Taking Hits: The Three Layers

Every point of Damage moves through three layers, in order:

1. Vigor - the shield. Absorbs Damage first, 1 point per point. Vigor damage stops here: it never spills past this layer.
2. Vitality - the pool. Each point of Damage past Vigor removes 1 Vitality.
3. Wounds (players only) - a hit that would push you past 0 Vitality costs a wound instead: a rolled lasting injury. You catch a Second Wind, staying conscious and fighting with your Vitality AND Vigor both back at full, and the rest of that hit is negated. With no wound left to spend, you die.

Vigor

What it is: A shield of battle focus and fighting spirit. Each point negates one incoming point of harm.

Cap: Tier + your Heart modifier (minimum 0). Heart sets how large your shield can grow. A negative Heart modifier can leave a low-Tier character with little or no shield; a high Heart makes for a deep one.

Generation:

• Start every combat with full Vigor (= your cap)
• At the start of each of your turns, roll a number of exploding d4s equal to your Tier. Each 4 restores 1 Vigor (a 4 explodes: roll it again and keep counting), up to your cap
• Vigor from abilities (Brace regains your Tier, Rally, tree effects) still respects the cap

Special:

• Losing Vigor does NOT trigger disruption of Declared Maneuvers
• Only Vitality loss (a hit past your Vigor) counts for disruption

Vitality

What it is: Your capacity to keep fighting while hurt.

Vitality = 3 + Tier

Each point of Damage past your Vigor removes 1 Vitality. Vitality is battle damage: it returns in full on a Rest, and a Recovery can trade 2 Stamina for 1 Vitality.

Wounds & Second Wind (Past 0 Vitality)

Running out of Vitality does not drop you. A hit that would push you past 0 Vitality costs you a wound instead: roll a lasting injury (d4 + Tier, section 5) and catch a Second Wind. You are maimed but still standing, and you come back up fighting.

• A wound refills both pools. Your Vitality returns to its maximum and your Vigor shield reforms to its maximum. The rest of that hit is negated: the blow that broke you can do no more.
• Wound capacity = your Tier. Your active lasting injuries ARE your wounds.
• With no wound left to spend, you die (section 5). There is no dying state to be rescued from.
• One wound per hit, however big the hit was. A crit that pushes you past 0 costs the same single wound as a 1-point hit; what a big hit really costs you is the whole Vitality pool it burned through first.
• Wounds persist through Rest: they heal only via their Treatment column or wound-removal magic.
• NPCs never take wounds. A Major NPC out of Vigor and Vitality is dead; a Minor at 0 Vigor flees, and dies outright at total damage equal to twice its Tier (Part 7B).