Overview

Forged in Fantasy is a system for running a Fantasy style tabletop role playing game that is heavily based on the excellent system designed by John Harper et al. in Blades in the Dark (aka Forged in the Dark.) The intent is to allow for flexible and fun sessions in an archetypal fantasy setting that rewards creativity and daring over meticulous planning. Teams of brave adventurers should find themselves pushing their limits to tackle dangerous monsters, protect the innocent, find troves of treasure and magical items… or just robbing the local nobles. Whatever their goals may be, the system aims for structure to facilitate taking creative and exciting actions with a minimum of friction in numbers, rules, or general bean counting that can slow down combat, shopping, or other classic role playing activities while still offering depth, difficult choices, and progression. The focus should always be on the players, the characters, and the fiction they are writing together with their actions.

Setting

Campaigns of Forged in Fantasy, as the name may imply, take place in a classical fantasy world of swords and sorcery. The names and environments of the areas, cities, towns and continents therein may be defined by the GM or group (drafting a ‘canon’ environment or world map may come if these systems show promise enough to warrant that expenditure.) Outside of hard specifics, some general guidelines are:

• The underlying base world resembles Earth and real world environment analogues are common - forests, fields, mountains, rivers, oceans etc along with standard flora and fauna (trees, horses, flowers, dogs etc) with classical 1 G gravity and a single sun and moon for day and night. However, fantastical and magical environments also clearly exist within the world. While the world may not be called ‘Earth’ it may as well be as a general backdrop with all other fantastical elements layered on top (aka “it’s basically earth plus all the other stuff”)
• The world map is not fully known and unquestionably ancient. Wonder and mystery abound. The starting Continent, named Wenkroy but simply called The Continent by those who live there, is surrounded on all sides by a vast and dangerous ocean. Only a rare few born on The Continent ever even dream of leaving, let alone receive the opportunity to do so. Explorer and Adventurer are real job titles that ambitious folks may aspire to. Finding new areas, ancient artifacts, or passageways to unknown continents is the currency of the rich and powerful and their learnings are not freely shared. Nations and the wealthy alike fund bands of such folks, as well as soldiers and scholars to chart the world and make claims to what they may find. Many such groups never return. Those that do are lauded as heroes. Many of them return bearing fantastical objects, weapons, and treasures never seen before.
• Technology level is also along a medieval level as a baseline, horses are carriages are common whereas cars are not. Swords, spears, bows and the like are standard martial equipment. Firearms may exist but they are rare. Basic clockwork and magic based technology is common in larger cities, but becomes more rare in remote or rural settings. Some brilliant engineers and magicians have also created fantastical devices but they are also exceedingly rare(at least in the starting continent.)
• Humans make up the vast majority of the sentient population of the known world and they have the same qualities expected of any human. Adventurers are certainly a hardier sort, but they share many of the same limitations of their race (at least at the outset.) Though few, there are brave men and women that have seen the world and been hardened in combat and experience that have developed almost supernatural abilities. Some fantastical beings or other races like elves and dwarves may exist or they may exist only in legend. Either way, they aren’t commonly seen strolling the streets of any city on the starting continent.
• Magic is real and common. All people know of magic and the educated learn to do a little bit of it growing up, though most find it exceedingly difficult or dangerous and generally don’t bother doing it from day to day. Powerful magic users have created some of the most advanced technology of the world and they occupy many of the highest rungs of power and influence, but most folks don’t understand it or even care to. Regardless of their ability or understanding, one thing everyone agrees on is that it is real.
• The world outside civilized areas is wild and dangerous. Monsters are real and common enough to be feared. Beyond all the creatures common to earth, this world also contains beasts and horrors that claim their own places in the food chain. Some may even have some modicum of intelligence, but most are openly hostile to humans. Most common folks don’t wander the wilderness alone or without protection. While spending a day in a sunny field may be common, it may be just as common to see a 3-headed hydra taking a nap in that field. Towns and villages of any size are only the size they are based on the level of the creatures they are able to repel(or have encountered thus far.) Those unable to do so never have a chance to build or have their buildings stay up for any length of time to develop further.

Suggestions for Expanding the Setting

The world beyond the starting Continent is vast - and malleable for each campaign. What exists in those other places should start as a mystery to the players and can be set entirely by the Game Master(GM). A GM may choose for the entire campaign to take place on The Continent and stick to classic Fantasy fare. That said, exploration is a key component to this system, as opposed to the bottle settings of other systems, and remember that a large part of exploration is discovery. The initial setting on the Continent with the various City States and Kingdoms may be fully sufficient as its size and shape are also configurable. However, one suggestion is to retain the initial disposition of the powers that be in Wenkroy - that they jealously guard news and knowledge of the outside world. This lends itself to encouraging curiosity, and potentially distrust of the governmental organizations, that could lead to intrigue, escape, and adventure.

As a GM you should think “what else could be out there?” and “what would it be like for folks that were born and raised in an insular society that didn’t allow outside information in?” If the Party has cause to set sail or finds another way to a far off place, a GM should make it fantastical and new. It may be a dreamlike fey wonderland or a bustling metropolis full of unknown technology. It may be full of people just like them who always wished to free the folks of Wenkroy from their ignorance or it may be full of fantastical beings that couldn’t care less about the machinations of that small, to their eyes, island. It could be all of the above depending on where they go or it could simply be full of all the dangerous monsters and beasts that the schoolchildren hear about on The Continent. Whatever it may be, it should be wild and new to the character’s eyes. It should make them feel small and to encourage them to explore and discover whatever else might be out in the world. As the Party levels up they will become quite powerful in their own right so this offers ample opportunity to up the stakes and pit them against challenges they couldn’t possibly have dreamed of before.

As a GM, the openness of this system may seem intimidating to some, but with the openness comes the ability to improvise. Also, this freeform nature allows you to utilize other preexisting materials to help you where you might want inspiration or a more concrete setting. Most modules from other table top role playing games would be valid in this system, though this system should encourage you to use them as reference material and not stick to their layouts and items dogmatically. There are some basic unique reference materials provided here in the Starting a Campaign section as well as the GM Best Practices, but Forged in Fantasy encourages you to alter, bend, or break them as you see fit for your Party.

Character Creation

Gameplay

Taking Actions and Rolling Dice

All Actions and resolutions are resolved by a pool of d6 dice. Everything is a d6, no other types are needed to play. In a pinch you could even play with just 1 and roll it over and over but that is not recommended for speed and excitement. When groups of dice are rolled together the result is the highest value of all the rolled dice. For example, if 3 d6 are rolled and they come up 1, 4, 2 then the result is 4.

If the result of a roll (highest value of the dice rolled) is a 6, then the action is a success. On a success, the character does what they set out to do. If the result is a 4 or 5, then the result is a ‘partial success.’ On a partial success the character succeeds in doing what they were trying to do, but they also suffer consequences. Consequences can be nearly anything disadvantageous to the character, including but not limited to succeeding with less effect than intended, loss of an opportunity, alerting enemies, or, commonly in combat, taking damage. Consequences vary in degree, largely by the Position set before the roll - the more dire the position the more severe the consequences. The GM decides what the consequences are and how they affect the characters (harm), the result (lesser effect), the situation (lost opportunity, enemy activity, etc) or any or all of the above. Consequences may be Resisted by characters as explained in the Resistance section. If the result is 3 or below then it is a failure and the character does not achieve what they set out to do and they suffer consequences based on their Position and GM discretion.

If there are more than one 6 rolled then the result is a Critical Success! This means the character not only achieves what they set out to do but they also get some positive extra effect on the roll.

Player characters have ratings in various Daring Actions like(see below) Each ‘dot’ on their playbook sheet equates to 1 die whenever they take that action. For example if a player has 2 dots in Destruction they will roll 2d6 when they try to cast a Destruction spell. If they have 3 dots in Athletics they will roll 3d6 when they attempt to leap over some guarded battlements.

There are opportunities for characters to get additional dice on a roll by Pushing. Pushing costs 2 stress and allows them to add +1d or +effect. Or getting Assisted by a teammate, where another member of the party spends 1 stress to give them +1d but also shares in any consequences. Or using Gambit dice which the party can earn by making successful Daring rolls.

Position and Effect

On that note, rolls occur based on a Position and Effect that are set by the GM based on the current situation and the proposed action. Position and Effect don't influence the probability of success. They just set how strong the result will be on success(Effect) and how severe the consequences are on failure (Position.) So, generally the Position means how dangerous the situation for the character is, rated from Composed to Brave to Heroic, where Composed is generally safe and Heroic means the character is flirting with death and dismemberment and Brave, being the most common, is in between. Effect defines how strong of a result there will be on a success rated from Limited to Great, where Limited means it won't fully achieve what the player initially hoped to and Great means the action will be particularly effective at achieving the desired result. On a Critical Success or other special circumstances Extreme effect may also be achieved where the result will be even more powerful than the initial intention. The general ladder is No Effect -> Limited -> Standard -> Great -> Extreme

Players may also choose to move to a more dangerous position for greater effect. For example if an action had a Brave position and Standard effect, a player may choose to go to Heroic position to get Great effect thus taking on more risk for greater reward. Players may also Push to increase effect, spending stress to push themselves to get a better result. See more on how it works in action in the Process section.

Phase Cycle

The flow of play typically follows a cycle of phases. Namely Downtime->Mission->Camp->Downtime->Mission…

During Downtime players can do their bookkeeping, handle their XP, buy gear, train, heal, scout the area, and generally take a break from the fast pace of adventuring we hope to set in the missions.

Next, they will choose a Mission - which can be as simple as a direction to travel towards a destination or as complex as stealing a legendary item from a heavily secured fortress. Whichever they choose, the goal should be achievable within one session ideally. For highly complex Missions it can make sense to break them up into ‘setup missions.’ For example, one session they need to break down or through the defenses of a fortification. The next session they delve deep into it. This should also still allow breaks in between for Downtime to occur. String enough of these small missions together and it becomes a campaign. Note that the system allows for continual play if that is desired but with the costs in stress and harm any adventuring party will be hard pressed to survive multiple missions worth of dangers and challenges without being able to take a break from time to time.

Finally when the Mission is nearing its completion and the party no longer has any serious challenges to face they will Camp. Camp is a phase that does double duty as either extraction, as in escaping or trekking back out of the dungeon, or clearing, as in staying where they are but making the area safe to spend some time relaxing. So when the final major obstacles are overcome, then the party will make a roll to Camp. This roll can take many forms such as a group action to run out of a collapsing temple or a fight to kill the last remaining monsters to make a safe area or an illusion spell to hide the party from onlookers and remain in place or setting traps and alarms in their vicinity. The result of this roll may have consequences as usual, but it will also determine how other factions, monsters, or NPCs react to the activities of the party which could lead to some entanglements set by the GM.

Once Camp is established, wherever it may be, the party can take Downtime and the cycle continues

Daring Actions

The world is wide, ancient, mysterious, dangerous, and its true scope and depth are unknown. Adventuring out into it is a brave act in and of itself. Thus, the actions characters take to overcome challenges there are all daring by definition. All Daring Actions a player can take fall into 12 possible categories shown below. All characters are capable of basic activities like walking, talking, seeing, hearing etc unless specifically noted by their character and those kinds of actions don’t require any rolls for the fiction. The 12 Daring Actions are the type of actions an adventurer or explorer might take to overcome some challenge or obstacle that has an element of danger and thus requires a roll to see how it plays out in the fiction.

For example, a player hopping over a small babbling brook? No roll. It’s not a Daring Action. Even if they trip and fall there isn’t any serious danger in it (though you might roll if that hop was to impress someone and failing to do so had consequences.) However, a running leap over a river of lava? Now we’re rolling because success is unsure and failure has consequences. This would most likely be an Athletics roll but the actions are, by design, flexible and have notable overlap to allow for player creativity. The action taken is up to the player and should be allowed as long as it fits in the narrative. Stealth might make sense to cross the same lava river if there were small protrusions the character could gracefully hop along but rolling Boss wouldn’t make sense here for the character, though it might if you were trying to convince someone else to cross the river. So the Daring Actions have purposeful overlap where many skills might be viable actions to take to overcome the same challenge, albeit in different ways with different levels of position or effect.

For players, choose what you think fits the scenario and, to quote Harper, “Don’t be a weasel.” In fact, there are rewards for trying to do things the characters are not already experts in. In the same way that in the real world one must attempt something and be bad at it to then someday become better at it, characters that attempt any action where they have a 0 rating will gain 1 XP in that track.

Spellcasting Effectiveness

The potency and scale of spells is related to the player’s focus object, like a staff, wand, amulet etc as well as the character’s level. Higher level foci and characters increase the scale and potency of spells. While this is also true of other skills it is especially true for magic. For example, a new Magician with a normal staff at Level 1 party will not be able to conjure a hurricane. Though the same Magician leveled up to Level 5 with a legendary amulet and staff full of focus gems might be able to conjure that hurricane. Magic also uses a special mechanic called Channeling explained below.

Channeling

Magic is created through ephemeral and natural energies. Most spell casting is done by drawing on the innate energy of the caster and their focus objects, but energy exists everywhere in the world and savvy casters can mentally focus to draw on it, allowing them to further enhance their spells. This act is called Channeling.

Channeling is a special mechanic specific to Magic actions which allows the player to trade dice they’ve gathered for their roll for increased scale or potency on a 1 to 1 basis. The spell also takes another 6 seconds to charge for each die burned regardless of the source.

For example, a character with 3 dots in Destruction would get 3 dice to make a Destruction Roll which has certain odds of success. You could use that to cast a small fire bolt at an enemy instantly. Or, you may then choose to boost the spell's potency so it will do more damage and maybe penetrate some armor by channeling with 1 die, so now the roll will be done with 2 die instead, which means it has a lower chance of success but the results will be more powerful if it does succeed. Now it is a powerful fire lance that will take 6 seconds of channeling to produce and launch. The player may do this repeatedly as long as they have more than 0 die on the roll. So you could then burn another die to increase the scale so it will hit more than one enemy, creating an explosive fireball that will take 12 seconds to charge but you will now only roll 1 die to see if it succeeds. Other players may still assist the channeler to give them a die as usual, but they will also need to remain focused as long as the channeling is taking place and won’t be able to take other actions until the spell is cast either. This emulates them also concentrating to draw magical energies and sharing them with the caster. The player may always trade position for effect as always, but if they want to keep a certain position or the position is already Heroic then they may also choose to Channel instead.

Mechanically, since there is a time delay between starting the spell being cast and the result, to cast a channeled spell a player must declare their intention, hear the position and effect, and gather die as usual, then they must choose how many die to burn and to what effect (e.g. “I want to burn 2 die to up the scale twice” or “I want to burn 3 die to up the potency twice and scale once”) which will determine how long the casting will take then we wait… We do not roll yet and in fiction the casting begins. During the time of the cast many other things might happen with other members of the Party taking actions and enemies attacking etc and once the set time has passed then we roll the remaining unburned dice gathered earlier and get the result. If there is no immediate threat in the vicinity and the players have plenty of time you can cut right to the roll. Now ideally this build up leads to a spectacular display and release of tension, but with the risk versus reward of removing die from the pool this can just as easily lead to a fizzle and putting the party in danger after drawing so much attention. Such is the nature of dangerous magic drawing on the unwieldy energy of the world . Be forewarned. However, casters also have many ways of boosting their die pool so they can decide what they’re appropriate level of risk is.

Since Channeling draws from the ambient magic in the world, as opposed to the innate energy of the caster, many beings, like humans or monsters, that are sensitive to magic energy will notice that a spell is being channeled in the area and will know the general location of the caster even if not in plain sight. So be aware it will give away your presence and potentially draw unwanted attention.

Also once Channeling has begun the spell must be cast to completion or the caster takes either a level 2 magical harm or 2 stress to cancel it. The spell can be interrupted by taking damage in which case the caster will take the harm received from that damage plus the level 2 magical harm from having the spell canceled. These can be resisted independently. So, it is a good idea for the rest of the team to protect their casters when channeling.

Channeling can be very powerful. It allows lower level characters to cast great spells, but beware the dangers of lowering your success probability. Sometimes a normal spell will do. Also, beware the cost in time as your teammates might already finish off, or be overrun by, a group of enemies in the seconds spent channeling.

Concentration

When casting a spell with a limited time duration, like conjuring a platform or creating a persistent illusion, the Spell Caster may Concentrate to maintain the spell. Some spells will last for a few seconds without Concentration, but beyond that they require focus to maintain presence. The Caster may choose to drop Concentration by their own choice at any point, but Concentration can be broken against their will in two ways:

1. taking any other major actions, like running, jumping, attacking, defending, or exerting yourself in general. Anything beyond walking and basic conversation will break Concentration. The Caster may Push themselves to act while maintaining Concentration. This Push is independent of other pushes and does not confer extra die or effect to a coinciding roll, it simply represents the mental strain of maintaining Concentration and performing another action.
2. taking damage in any way. Being hit in any way breaks Concentration even if the harm is resisted beyond appearing on the table. However, Concentration being broken this way counts as a consequence in this case that can be resisted. Any Harm is resisted independently, so in theory a Caster could resist both the Harm and broken Concentration by resisting twice.

Reactions

While the majority of rolls will be for Daring Actions undertaken by the player seeking to achieve some goal and then dealing with the consequences of their actions, some beings or events may catch them off guard or act in such a powerful way that will require a Reaction on their part. The way they play out is very similar to standard Daring Actions (Position and Effect of varying actions to react) but the difference is the player can always decide to not do something in a standard action if they deem the consequences too dire. In contrast, with a reaction a consequence is thrust upon them by the initiative of the enemy or world and is guaranteed unless an action is taken by someone to intervene. As always the character may Resist the consequence, but oftentimes they are better off reacting if they have time and the consequence has not already occurred (the GM should make clear which it is.) In some cases Resistance may be the only option, but in most cases the player may react with an action on their part. Some characters may also have special abilities related to Reactions which may alter the balance.

For example, when confronted with a powerful beast it may move to strike a Soldier and cause grievous harm, but the Soldier reacts with Tank and is able to deflect the blow with their shield. In another case when confronted with a Sword Master they may move to pierce the Soldier’s heart so quickly that the only recourse is Resistance. There is more art than science to when a Reaction is allowed. Allowing more attacks to be reacted to, as opposed to resisted, can set the tone of the campaign where more Reactions make for lighter fare and vice versa. That said, a Game Master(GM) should take care not to constantly thrust consequences on characters through no fault of their own. Have no fear, let the players act and they will certainly get themselves into enough trouble without extraneous consequences.

Tomato Exercise

When trying to understand Daring Actions, a classic way to explain it is to take the same goal and see how the different Actions could accomplish it in their own way. For our example goal, we are going to say the Party needs to get a tomato from a merchant without paying for it. To get the tomato, characters could use:

• Scrap: punch the merchant in the mouth and take the tomato
• Tank: stop the merchant from intervening as the Party takes the tomato and walks away
• Athletics: grab the tomato and run away fast or pick up the tomato and throw it a block away to a Party member
• Boss: intimidate the merchant into gifting the tomato to the Party
• Engage: knock out the merchant with a single skillful strike and take the tomato
• Handle: use sleight of hand to swap the tomato with a fake
• Stealth: snatch the tomato and slip into the crowd or alley to hide or disguise yourself as their boss and take the tomato
• Style: befriend the merchant and ask to have it or fool the merchant into handing over the tomato
• Destruction: blow up the merchant’s stall with a lighting strike and take the tomato
• Illusion: make the tomato appear to be rotten so the merchant throws it away and you take it from the garbage
• Alteration: add wings to the tomato and have it fly away to a waiting Party member
• Conjuration: summon a small creature that steals the tomato for you

You can see that given a goal you can use any of the available Daring Actions to accomplish your tasks, so you should never shy away from something you don’t think you can do in a specific way. Now of course given the examples above, the Action taken will impact Position and Effect. Some are more dangerous than others. Some are more effective than others. Some might be best done with a group while some might be best done alone. Some might alert authorities or strain existing relationships. But all of them offer a path to your goal.

In Forged in Fantasy, creativity is your ally and risk is your companion. You should never be in a situation where you can’t advance as long as you think on your feet and are willing to accept some danger or repercussions. Such is the life of a dashing adventurer. Striving for perfect precision and optimal outcomes for all actions is the realm of pedantic academics who can afford such luxurious thinking in their safe, lofty towers. However the real world is messy and comes at you fast. You must accept that there is no ‘perfect move’ and act. The experience will be much more fun if you embrace the mantra of ‘Failing Forward’, which is exactly what you will be doing with Partial Success results. This doesn’t mean you need to be reckless or insane, but it should be an emphasis on not overthinking things and letting the fiction take precedence over trying to make the next perfect move. When you find yourself trying to ‘plan the perfect next step’, stop and jump immediately to someone in the Party making a move and see where it goes. Not only will the game move much faster, but the stories you write at the table will be much more interesting and fun.

And don’t forget you can call for Flashbacks if there is something you wished you had done. With a Flashback you can address what is actually happening in the moment instead of agonizing over 100 possible outcomes that might never come to pass.

Special Actions

Adventurers are a special sort, and as such they can make actions or gain insight in ways normal folks who might only be proficient in one or two things can’t. Special Actions allow characters who are well rounded in a type of action to leverage their breadth of abilities to do things that are greater than the sum of their parts. As such, Special actions are rolled with 1d6 for each first point in a section (much like Resistance in Blades in the Dark). For example a player character (PC) that has 1 rating in Engage, 2 in Handle, 0 in Stealth, and 0 in Style would have 2d to attempt to Target Weakness (2 ‘first dots’)

Feats of Strength

Rolls with 1d for each first point in Power

Can push (2 stress) to attempt a powerful physical action beyond mere human ability. Pick up and throw a grizzly bear. Tackle a galloping horse. Lift a closed portcullis. Punch a dragon in the mouth. Take on a small group by yourself. This roll can't be assisted by teammates as you step forth to be badass. Regardless of the outcome, due to the strain, the character will take level 1 Harm in addition to any consequences from the roll. This Harm can not be resisted.

Target Weakness

Rolls with 1d for each first point in Skill

Can push (2 stress) to make an attack or verbal gambit that will be an automatic critical on success (6). All attempts to Target a Weakness must be Set Up by another party member and all rolls are made at Heroic position. If a target survives the attack or remains unconvinced by the argument they will focus on the attacker/speaker next and will counter immediately if possible. Since these rolls are always Heroic, these counters can be devastating if not outright lethal. However, Targeting a Weakness is itself very powerful. In fact, certain high level beings might only be killable or persuaded by Targeting a Weakness

Scholastic Aptitude

Rolls with 1d for each first point in Magic

Scholars can get extra information about an object, person, environment, wound, situation or anything really. All adventurers are fairly attentive and won’t just miss basic facts. Scholars however can help gather a deeper understanding where it might otherwise be very difficult to ascertain. Decoding messages, deciphering ancient technology or language, or applying learnings of history and the world to give context and understanding to situations are all within the realm of the highly educated scholar. Scholastic Aptitude is not considered a spell for Channeling purposes even if magic is used as the flavor for the actions the character is taking, though other Special Abilities may apply.

Scholars with a wide range of knowledge on anatomy have a name: Doctors. As such, Scholastic Aptitude can also be used as a healing action and will have increased effect for successes though it will take longer than using magic. This means a result of 4-5 becomes a success and a result of 6 becomes a critical success, but it takes an additional 5 minutes for the healer to complete their task. Failures still fail. A critical success clears 2 Harms. For purposes of Special Abilities, this does not count as a spell.

Stress

The life of an adventurer is stressful. Aside from grievous injury the main concern of an adventurer is stress and mental trauma. Arguably even more adventurous careers were ended by the mental toll of facing monsters and dark magics than being killed by them outright, though that of course happens plenty as well. Stress is the main currency a character can expend face down the horrors of the world and succeed, but they need to be careful they don't push too far and end up traumatized and unable to continue their adventuring lifestyle.

Each character can take 9 stress but on the 9th the take a Trauma from the list and are removed from the mission and unable to take further actions to help the party. The fourth time they take trauma they must retire and can no longer partake in missions, though they may appear in the world as a Legacy NPC.

Stress may be spent on a mission for a character to push themselves, assist a teammate, call for a flashback, or resist consequences. Further Class Playbook abilities may incur a stress cost if defined.

Pushing

Any character can take 2 stress to gain +1d OR increased effect on any roll. A roll may only be pushed once for each effect but you may push twice for both (total of 4 stress). You may not push and take a Dark Pact at the same time.

Dark Pact

Any character can accept an otherworldly pact to get +1d on roll in exchange for taking a guaranteed consequence. So regardless of the result of the roll the consequence of the pact will be applied, though it can be resisted like all consequences. Any other consequences of the roll will still take effect and must be resisted independently if desired. Accepting a Dark Pact also means the character may not Push to gain more die or effect on the roll.

Assist

Any character can give another character +1d on a roll by spending 1 Stress to assist them. They must explain what they are doing to help the other character and it should fit in the fiction. Anyone assisting may also be affected by any consequences of the roll in addition to the character rolling dice.

Combo Tech

Sometimes a team needs to work together to overcome something that is beyond any of their individual abilities. In those times, they need to break out Combo Tech. Similar to a group action or assisting, you can declare a Combo Tech with 1 or more other players to combine forces to achieve a result that would be stronger than the individual parts mechanically increasing scale, potency, effect, or all of the above even beyond levels that would be attainable through Set Up actions. Unlike a Leading a Group Action each character can roll different actions depending on what they are adding to the action but the result will be the lowest score from the rolls following the same failure, success and partial success rules of individual rolls. Characters not contributing to the Combo can Assist individual characters that are contributing to the Combo for an extra die on that one roll, but only one as they all take place simultaneously.

For example, a Soldier and a Rogue may decide to do a Combo Action to have the Soldier throw the Rogue into the air who then shoots a bow down at an enemy who is otherwise protected behind cover. In this case the Soldier decides to roll Athletics and the Rogue decides to roll Engage. If the Soldier gets a 6 on Athletics and the Rogue gets a 4 on Engage, the result is a Partial Success, the Rogue makes his shot but also takes damage on landing from such a height. Consequences from a Combo Action may affect any number of the contributing characters as situationally appropriate, though a recommendation is for those that failed or got partial successes on their contributing rolls to be the ones who take the consequences.

The astute player might ask “how is this different from a Set Up action?” and they would be correct in asking. The main difference is in risk and reward. Using Set Up actions to improve the Position or Effect of your teammates is usually the best option as each roll is made individually with their individual chances of success and a Set Up can potentially impact many other rolls. That said, by making a combined maneuver, a group can further enhance their scale, potency, and effect beyond what is possible from setups but with the disadvantage of reducing their chances of success - which can be slightly buffered by being able to choose the Actions they will roll. A successful Combo Tech should generally be treated as a Critical Success. Combo Tech’s can also be used to fulfill the Set Up requirement for Target Weakness. A Combo Tech that culminates in a Target Weakness success (6 as the lowest of all rolls) or the overall Combo Tech results in a Critical Success (all participants roll Critical Success) should be counted as an Ultra Success (Ultra being defined as a result even higher than Critical.) If an individual member of a Combo Tech rolls Critical Success and others do not, that member can raise 1 other member of the Combo Tech’s result 1 level up to Success, but not from Success to Critical Success (e.g. if a Wizard rolled a Critical Success and a Thief rolled a Partial Success, the Wizard could raise the Thief’s roll to a Success which would have the Combo Tech resolve as as Success instead of a Partial Success)

Signature Tech

As Party members attempt Combo Techs, when they are successful(at least 4+ for all participants) they may claim the particular combination of participants and actions used as a Signature Tech. Defining Signature Techs creates an advantage on subsequent uses of the Combo. For each successful use of the Signature Tech, one die will be added to a pool for use on the next use of the Combo Tech up to the number of participants in the combo.

For example, if a Soldier, Rogue, and Magician all combine forces to have the Rogue be launched off the Soldier’s shield and then have his split daggers enchanted with fire while in the air to attack a particularly dangerous monster and the attack lands, then they can claim this as a Signature Tech and name it Flying Flame Daggers. The next time they’re up against something that needs this power of attack, they can call Flying Flame Daggers and roll the same actions but now they will also have 1 more die for any one participant to add to one of their rolls. If that second attack is successful, they will get 2 extra die the next time. If a next time happens and it lands again they will get 3 extra die, but as there are 3 participants in the combo they will not get more than 3 next time as they have reached maximum familiarity.

The extra die in the pool for the attack can be used in any combination. One character can take them all, or each can take 1. The extra die only count for the Signature Combo tech and are not available for other rolls like Gambits. There is no limit to the number of Signature Techs a Party can claim throughout their campaign. They may also be able to learn powerful Signature Techs from powerful beings in their travels which may start with higher familiarity than those imagined by the party.

Flashback

A character may suggest a Flashback where they claim they did something or something else happened before the current circumstances. There is a stress cost to calling for a Flashback though the cost may be variable depending on how elaborate or difficult it would have been for the character to achieve what they are claiming in the Flashback. The Flashback may also require Daring Action rolls if difficult or challenging things are needed to execute it and the stress cost of the Flashback still applies whether those actions are successful or not. This is also something commonly seen in movies or literature where it appears the hero is failing but then we learn about something they trained for or set up that allows them to succeed at the last minute.

All that being the case, Flashbacks are not a retcon or undo button. Anything that has happened up to the point of flashback still happened (aka you can’t make something not occur if it just happened in the fiction) but savvy players can use them to recontextualize events to their benefit. Get creative!

Harm

Player characters can take various types of harm as a consequence of any roll. These Harms will be recorded on the PC’s Harm Table. The Levels of harm vary in severity and repercussions. Many will be physical like Level 3 Broken Leg or Level 1 exhausted, but they can also be mental like Level 1 confused or afraid.

When a player takes a harm as a consequence they fill up that section of their Harm Table on their playbook. When a row is full all Daring Actions the player takes are done with the penalty described at that level on the table regardless of thematic application. For example if a PC has 2 Level 1 Harms then all their rolls will be made with reduced effect until those harms are cleared. Also, players will have a penalty applied from the harm for any actions they take that would apply. For example a Level 2 bruised leg -1 Die penalty would still apply on an Athletic attempt to run fast even if it was their only Level 2 Harm.

When a level is full in the Harm Table and the character takes further Harm, any subsequent Harms at that level roll up to the next available tier on the table. So, if the table is full any further harm is lethal.

Character Death

If a player takes Level 4 Harm without resisting it or takes another Harm after their Harm table is full then they will die. Additionally, if a PC is about to take their fourth and final Trauma, the player may also choose to die instead. The player’s have a wide assortment of mechanics to prevent this, like Resistance, Healing, and Special Abilities, so death will likely only come if they accept it. They may choose to do so if they think it thematically appropriate for their character to perish at that point in the fiction, they simply believe they should not survive, or for any number of other reasons, including choosing to sacrifice themselves for the greater good. The point is it will largely be up to the player to choose their time and moment so the GM shouldn’t hold back on applying potentially lethal harm. In the case where the character’s Harm table doesn’t have a place to fit a new Harm and a resistance won’t completely negate a new Harm, they can choose to instantly be Traumatized instead of dying. For a grittier campaign, this rule can be omitted, but be aware that it means that two level 3 Harms becomes a Level 4 Lethal Harm.

Should a player decide to have their character die then they can also choose one of the following:

• Blaze of Glory: the character can make an epic all-out attack which they cannot survive and sacrifice themselves to automatically deal epic critical damage to an adversary.
• Bless the Party: the character chants a blessing for their allies as they pass away and instantly clears their harm tables and reduces their stress by 2
• Cover their Escape: the character draws all immediate dangerous attention and hangs back to allow for the rest of the Party to make an unopposed Extraction. All other Party members will be able to retreat to safety regardless of their Harm or Status.

Once the character is dead, the Player may choose to create a new character or take over control of an NPC. It is up to them. The Player will also gain a Legacy Point assuming this character had a significant journey. No Legacy Points are awarded for One Shots or single session characters.

Retirement

All Characters should have goals that they are trying to achieve. It is their reason for putting up with all the stress, trials, trauma, and danger inherent in their adventuring lifestyle. As such, once they’ve achieved their goal they may decide to hang up their shield and retire to the quiet life unburdened and fulfilled. When the Character reaches this state, they must decide to retire in peace or define a new goal that will give them the motivation to continue such a difficult path. The new goal can be whatever the player believes would drive the character to continue, though it must be theoretically achievable.

Additionally, if a PC takes a fourth Trauma, they are immediately forced to retire. This represents them becoming too mentally and/or emotionally damaged to continue with the adventuring lifestyle. If this occurs, it is not a choice and the PC must retire in their current state.

If the player chooses to retire the character, then the PC becomes an NPC that still exists in the world. How this plays out is up to the Player and the GM. The retiring PC may become someone that the Party still encounters or engages with from time to time or they may walk off into the sunset not to be seen again(in this campaign at least.) Either way the Player may choose to roll a new character or take over control of an NPC (though not the reiring PC). Assuming the initial goal was substantial enough, the Player also earns a Legacy Point for retiring a character. (This is simply stated as a backstop to prevent Players from creating characters with easily achievable goals and stocking Legacy Points. A Legacy Point should only be awarded if a substantial and interesting journey has been completed.)

Legacy Points

Each time a player loses a character, whether they retire or die, in a campaign they gain a Legacy Point. The loss must occur as part of the fiction(e.g. death in battle or being traumatized too many times or achieving a previously defined life goal.) A player can’t just make and dismiss characters to gain Legacy Points. Each Legacy Point a player has translated to being able to select an additional Special Ability and Action Rating during character creation. These points are tracked per player and are not consumed on use. Which means each successive character a player plays will start slightly more powerful than their previous characters. Of course, even with additional Special Abilities and Action Ratings on start they will likely be underpowered compared to characters that have survived deep into any campaign, but it allows a player to continue after character loss without being completely left behind and opens the door for them to try something interesting and new more quickly.

The Tier of class the player may start at is up to GM discretion and they may offer only the Base Classes or open the available classes up to a Tier not exceeding the highest in the current party, however they will not get more points of abilities than the standard allotment as the available legacy points.

For Example, if Lisa’s character receives a 4th Trauma and has to retire, she can make a new character to continue the campaign. Her prior character died early on, so she now has 2 Legacy points. When she makes her new character, she will be able to pick 2 more Special Abilities and Action Ratings on top of the standard starting allotment.

As Legacy Points are awarded per Player, they may also be carried into a new campaign at the GMs discretion. For example, if a Party of four completed a long campaign with none of their characters dying or retiring, the GM may award them each 1 Legacy Point to be used at the start of a brand new campaign.

Healing

If the Party acts quickly to help their teammates when they’re hurt they have chances to help keep them going, even in the thick of battle. While some healing is done automatically during Downtime and other Recovery actions can be taken to allow the characters to rest and recuperate, during a mission, characters can also heal their teammates with various actions. They can not heal themselves and some Harms can not be healed without rest. But for those that can be healed on the battlefield, Healing actions can lower the harm received on their Harm table when successful. A healing action can only be used on each instance of Harm once, must be done in close range with the healer touching the subject, and must be started within 10 minutes of the Harm being inflicted. Fatal Harm (Level 4) can also be healed if the healing action is started immediately after taking the Harm, though if it fails then the patient will die. Some harms may be immune to healing, such as a self afflicted status like Drunkenness.

As a baseline, each healing action takes 30 seconds per level of harm being healed. For example, casting a healing spell on a Level 1 harm will take 30 seconds. But casting a healing spell on a level 3 harm will take 90 seconds. Healing actions may be assisted as usual, but the character assisting must also remain focused on the task for the duration to receive the extra die upon completion. The assisting character can stop helping and do something else but the final roll will not receive the extra die and they will not recover their spent Stress. As with Channeling, the healing action must be declared first with die gathered and then the roll will happen when the time required is complete. Both players and GM have discretion to roleplay complicated healing spells or surgery and may introduce complications as fun and fiction allows. As such, and regardless of externalities(aka other rolls), if the original healing action is interrupted in any way, then it fails and the harm must be tended to in Downtime.

Depending on the level of the result various outcomes may occur:

• On a success(6), the harm will reduce on the table by 1 level and will push other harms down to the table to make room. Level 1 harms will be removed altogether. If there is no room on the level below on the harm table, one of the harms will be pushed down to make room. If the harm that is pushed down is moved below level 1 it is removed.
• On a partial success (4,5) the harm is reduced on the table by 1 level but if the tiers on the table below it are full then it remains as is and is not reduced or removed. (aka it needs an open slot to be reduced into or it doesn’t work) Level 1 harms will be removed as there is no blocking level 0.
• On a failure (<3) the harm is not healed and the character will need to tend to it during Downtime as usual.
• On a critical success(2 or more 6s) the harm is removed entirely immediately.

Resistance

Resistance is the act of stopping a consequence from happening. It is always successful but how successful, from fully avoiding the consequence or just slightly mitigating it, is up to the GM. The level of the mitigation allowed by the GM sets the tone for the campaign with less mitigation making for a grittier and deadlier world where more mitigation making for a lighter feeling adventure.

Resistance is rolled based on a ladder where the first resistance of a mission is 4d then -1d each successive roll (4d,3d,2d,1d,0d) The GM may add or remove rungs of the ladder for lighter or grittier campaigns. The character then takes 6 stress minus the result of the roll.

For example if a character makes their second resistance roll of a mission it would be with 3d. Like other rolls the result is the maximum of the dice rolled is the result. If the max of those 3d was 4 the the character would take 2 stress (6 - 4 = 2)

On a Critical Success you may remove 1 stress for every 6 beyond the first (aka 2 6s for a critical success = -1 Stress, 3 6s = -2 Stress, 4 6s= -3 Stress)

Loadout

The gear carried by adventurers is handled in a ‘meta’ way in that they only claim what they need when they need it. So instead of painstakingly managing their character sheet and gear they have on hand, they simply claim a Load Level (Light, Normal, or Heavy) and Armor. Then during a mission they can then claim any items or weapons they would have at their disposal at the time of need.

For example, a Soldier who has claimed Heavy Load Level and Heavy Armor has a max Load of 6 and has used 3 for the Heavy Armor. When they get into a fight they claim a Martial Weapon which costs 1 Load so they are now at 4 out of 6 and a Fine Shield which costs 2 Load so now they are at 6 out of 6. Later on they are attacked from a distance and they want to use their Long Spear to throw at the enemy, but they can’t because they have already claimed all their carried items. If they still had room in their Load Level they could have claimed the Spear or a Bolo or any number of other things at their disposal. They only count once claimed and used.

Armor

Armor allows characters to avoid or resist harm from physical damage without paying Stress. Some mystical or magical armors can also protect from psychic or mental damage as well. As defined in Loadout, the players must declare their armor at the beginning of a mission. This is for several reasons. The first is, Armor counts as Load. Light Armor costs 1 Load. Heavy Armor costs 3 Load. This should be taken into account when players choose their load for a mission. This also helps set the potency, scale, and quality of the character’s defenses during combat for the purposes of setting position and effect. Stronger, larger, and/or higher quality armor can help increase the player’s position on a roll and decrease the effect of consequences of combat damage.

Once claimed, the player may check appropriate boxes in their character sheet (armor box for light armor and both light and heavy for heavy armor) For each check taken, a player may remove a check to resist a physical consequence without taking stress. This emulates the armor taking damage and becoming less effective, but it doesn’t mean that the armor is destroyed or broken by being used to resist. While not broken, it will still maintain its base effectiveness for setting Position and Effect.

That said, certain consequences or Dark Pact’s can result in Armor being broken. Broken Armor can’t be used for resisting or setting Position and Effect. It must be removed and stored and must be fixed by paying a merchant, smith, or working a long-term project for a player to fix themselves before it is able to be used again. If it is not broken and damaged from use (aka spending check marks to resist damage), Armor will be automatically repaired during downtime as the adventurers do maintenance on their gear (aka the checkmarks will be available for use again next mission.)

Heavy Armor Effect on Speed and Weight

Heavy Armor can hamper or help different Daring Actions depending on its scale and quality. For example, wearing Heavy Armor may reduce a character’s potency with running fast, jumping, or climbing due to its weight, though it does not outright prevent the wearer from doing those things. Similarly, Heavy Armor may increase a character’s potency in holding a position or preventing an enemy from moving as their increased weight makes them a much more formidable obstacle. Light Armor does not improve or hamper these abilities.

Armor Effect on Magic

Varying levels of Armor can hamper the ability of a character to properly harness the innate energies around them. For example, Heavy Armor prevents Channeling or Spell Burn outright. Light Armor can still be worn with appropriate loadout though Channeling time is doubled. Channeling may still be assisted by those wearing Light Armor or no Armor with no penalty in time to the caster (e.g. the time need of channeling is set by the caster and anyone capable of channeling may assist without slowing or speeding up the initial caster’s channeling time)

Standard Items

• Martial Weapon(1): Longsword, Ax, Mace. Your standard one-handed weapons of medieval warfare. Simple. Basic. Deadly in trained hands.
• Heavy Weapon(2): Big Fucking Swords. Scary Fucking Battle Axes. Heavy Fucking Warhammers. Requires 2-hands and real strength to wield. Laughs at all but the heaviest armor. Guaranteed to make your enemies say "fuck"
• Skill Weapon(1): Sharp. Blunt. Pointy. Stabby. Slicy. Regardless of their shape or size in the deft hands of a master they can be deadlier than any warhammer.
• Unusual Weapon(1): strange, non-standard weapon, but you know how to use it. Isn’t stronger than other weapons, just…different. May confer an advantage depending on what’s different about it.
• Hand Crossbow(1): Small hand crossbow capable of firing a single sharp bolt before it needs to be reloaded. The bolts aren't very powerful and generally worthless against armor but still not a good idea to get them in your eyes.
• Detonator(1): Extremely deadly explosive weapon that fits in the palm of your hand and can be thrown. Volatile and dangerous to handle. You shouldn't have this. No really.
• Explorer Tools(1): Torches, caltrops, snap traps, collapsible 10ft. pole, pickax. What every growing explorer needs.
• Camping Tools(1): Things you need to set up a camp, tinderbox, iron spikes, tents, rations, waterskin, crowbar, hatchet
• Demolition Kit(2): Sledgehammer, crowbars, clockwork drill, arcane cutting torch, metal bars and spikes
• Spy Gear(1): Disguises, masks, mirrors, telescoping viewer, dark hooded cloak, lock picks
• Illicit Drugs(0): Can have any number of pleasant, or not so pleasant, effects. Indulging doesn't make you a bad person. Let's chill.

Base Classes

Soldier

Loyal, Disciplined, Sturdy, Courageous

XP Trigger: You addressed a tough challenge with Power actions

Playbook Abilities

• *Thousand Yard Stare: You may use your special armor to push yourself on a Scrap, Tank, Boss or Feats of Strength roll where the Soldier is acting on a living being and is in plain view of the being the Action is being used on. This push both gains +1d and potency.
• Bulwark: The Soldier can use Heavy Armor at no loadout cost. Also wielding a shield can increase Position on any Scrap or Tank rolls by 1 without sacrificing Effect if the Soldier chooses.
• Muscle Memory: Twice per mission you can assist teammates without paying stress
• Eat the Pain: Penalties from harm are reduced by one level. Level 4 is still fatal. Record the harm at its true level for healing purposes.
• Heart of the Legion: an allies first push only costs 1 stress for any action you assist
• Bodyguard: When you Tank or Protect a party member, take +1d on resistance rolls. Reduce 1 stress if you accept Harm from a Tank or Protect consequence(i.e. the Harm makes it in to your table)
• Officer: when you lead a group action gain +1 potency or scale (e.g. group can fight at a level of a larger group) Multiple 6s from the different rolls of the group count as a critical success.
• Eat Iron, Shit Nails: You can ignore all harm penalties when you push yourself. Also take +1d to resist any consequence from a roll on which you pushed yourself.

Class Items

• Fine Martial Weapon(1): Has a crest of your former regiment. Clearly used but equally clearly well maintained. Honed through use. Fits in your hand just right.
• Fine Shield(2): A medium to large shield that can be wielded with one strong arm. Can be 2-handed to grant +1d to any Push or Shove action. Sturdy but destructible. Feels safe behind it. +1d to any Resistance rolls related to taking damage in combat when held.
• Logbook(0): Personal logs. Contains maps of the surrounding starting areas and sketches of flora and fauna, including some common local monsters. Also contains bits and pieces of information about caves, tombs, and dungeons in the area cobbled together from the tales of other soldiers, travelers, and informants
• Fine Dress Blues(0): Offers no protection but always impresses. Adorned with badges and medals from past campaigns. Increases your ability to intimidate civilians and consort with soldiers
• Long Spear(1): Common spear 2 meters long. Good for keeping away pesky things, like death. Can be thrown.
• Bolo(1): Two heavy weights on the ends of a short rope. Can be thrown to tangle and incapacitate threats. Non-lethal unless you want it to be but "accidents" happen

Rogue

Smooth, Quick, Sneaky, Deft, Lucky

XP Trigger: You addressed a tough challenge with Skill actions

Playbook Abilities

• *See Right Through You: Can attempt to Target Weakness without a setup but at -1d. Gets +1d to any Target Weakness if setup properly
• Lucky: Can generate gambits while using gambits. Also may generate gambits when making Heroic actions. In any game of chance, you roll twice and take the highest result.
• Marksman: You may push yourself to make a ranged attack from a range far beyond what would usually be expected. Can also be used to pin enemies down with either suppressing fire or an arrow that sticks a target to a wall or the ground.
• Prey on the Weak: You can use special armor to pay the stress cost to Target Weakness. Regardless of the result of the attack the target will be considered ‘Marked’ and any following attacks on the target may also count as a properly set-up Target Weakness attack if the attacker chooses. The attack will still follow other Target Weakness rules (Heroic position, focus from target)
• The Machine: You can no longer overindulge from Indulge Vice rolls. You can also alter the Indulge Vice rolls +1 or -1 for anyone else who indulges with you.
• Trickster: You can push yourself to use make a Daring Action to maneuver amongst a group of enemies to make them attack each other. They will realize their mistake after a moment. On success, GM may make a secondary roll to see how much damage they do to each other.
• Fast Reflexes: when there is a question of who moves first, it's you. Gives you initiative in most cases but can’t be used to undo actions that already happened. You still need to make rolls but may improve your position or effect. For example if someone starts firing at you from a hidden position, you can’t just say you shot before them, but you can say you saw it coming and will have a better position to dodge it or counter attack. However, if you noticed them before they started firing and you wanted to shoot first you could.
• Must Have Been the Wind: you may use your special armor to resist the consequences of being detected, whether by a person, a trap, or subterfuge, like people questioning a disguise or a lie.
• Can’t Touch This: As long as your movement is uninhibited, if you are wearing no armor, all harm from combat starts 1 level lower than it would be. Level 4 is still fatal.
• Skill Monkey: Instantly upgrade 2 zero rating Daring Action to 1 (aka take the first dot in Daring Actions)

Class Items

• Fine Split Dagger(1): A beautiful, sharp dagger that can be split into two thinner daggers with a very specific and complicated hand motion. Can be Dual Wielded, thrown, or used with one hand at the discretion of the Rogue
• Fine Long Bow(2): A fine 2-handed bow capable of silent long distance firing. Deadly accurate in the hands of a marksman.
• Smoke Bomb(0): Pops on contact and fills a large room with thick smoke that is difficult to see through. Great for causing confusion or escape. Dissipates quickly in open air.
• Flashbang(1): Detonates on a short timer with a shocking loud blast and bright light. Can be used to disorient those in the immediate vicinity or as a distraction
• Grappling Hook(1): Grappling hook with rope, can be thrown by hand or attached to an arrow from a 2-handed bow
• *Wolf Friend(0): A large forest wolf. It's a friend, not a pet. It comes and goes as it pleases but seems to follow the Rogue throughout the land and never seems to be too far away. It will obey simple commands from the Rogue and is large enough to engage human sized adversaries. It won't attack friends of the Rogue but it won't listen to anyone but the Rogue either.

Magician

Arcane, Studied, Mystical, Mysterious

XP Trigger: You addressed a tough challenge with Magic actions

Playbook Abilities

• *Spell Burn: Can burn 1 point in any action to add +1d or 1 Channeling level to any magic roll. All burned points are lost until the end of the mission but are returned after downtime is complete.
• Overcharge: Can burn points in a given magic skill to enhance itself on top of the starting roll but must burn all points in the type (aka a magician with 2 in Destruction could overcharge to Roll 4d (2 to begin +2 more from burning them) but then would have 0 in the skill after the spell is complete) All overcharged spells also increase the effect on success. Caster takes Level 1 Harm Exhausted after spell is cast. All burned points are lost until the end of the mission but are returned after downtime is complete.
• Patch: instead of lowering the position of a Harm on the Harm table, allow team member to ignore penalties of a harm until mission end when the Magician succeeds with a healing action on them. Has no effect on Lethal Level 4 Harm
• Combat Medicine: get +1d to healing rolls under attack or +1d to tank for protecting a patient recently healed by the Magician. Healing under fire also happens in half the time.
• Warded: May expend Special Armor to resist magical consequences. Works whether those consequences are from enemies, traps, or your own fault.
• And Yet It Moves: push yourself to move an object with your mind. Any magic type can be used, though Destruction must be used in an attack and may break the object once the move is over. Come up with a flavor appropriate to the type chosen (aka conjure a beast to throw the object or alter the object into a flying version etc) Objects can be up to and including the size of a large human or a heavy table.
• Scrying: spend 1 stress to remotely view a person or place known to you for a moment. Spend 1 extra stress to be able to communicate with a person or to spend one minute moving around remotely in the place as opposed to just a moment from a fixed location.
• Rivet and Rosie: you may push yourself to make a conjuration roll to summon a powerful beast that is under your command and remains present beyond the standard moment. The conjuration roll always succeeds but the level of the roll determines how powerful the beast is and how long it will remain under your control (more powerful beasts tend to break free from control faster.) While the conjured beast is present you may not cast any other spells but you may make actions with the beast's skills (GM to set action ratings of the beast.) You may make an additional push to make Power or Skill Daring Actions while the beast is present. When the beast breaks free of control you may choose to banish back from whence it came and it will immediately disappear or to have it remain in the current area bearing in mind it will become hostile to both friend and foe alike.
• Precognition: You can not be surprised by an ambush and may act immediately when they occur. You can’t warn your party members unless you take a 2 stress Flashback to tell them it is coming before it happens. Any further preparation beyond simply telling your party requires an additional Flashback. Also your first Flashback of any mission costs 0 stress and you gain potency in all rolls during that first Flashback.
• Flaming Hand: can push yourself to attack in melee range with Destruction magic at the speed of a melee attack. The attack will penetrate any non-magical armor and some magical defenses.

Class Items

• Fine Focal Staff(1): Fine focal staff allowing for a greater energy draw for magic. Increases scale of spells cast.
• Breaching Charge(2): A large, heavy magical explosive. Capable of destroying castle walls and anything more fragile than a castle wall including anything in vicinity of detonation. Very difficult to carry and move. Can be triggered remotely.
• Fine Ceremonial Garb(0): Fine clothing exemplifying a life of learning and higher education. Certain to impress academics and scholars and intimidate the foolish. Comfy casting clothes.
• Arrow Break(1): A magical device that can detect and stop any inbound projectile above a certain speed. Can only trigger once before needing to be reset. Resets can only be done during Downtime
• Sacrificial Dagger(1): Curvy, engraved dagger. Doesn't seem to off any advantage over other daggers in combat but it is certainly unsettling
• Familiar(0): Magician's pet. Can be any small animal of player's choosing but can't be anything larger than a cat. They can't fight but they can useful in other ways. Willing to have spells cast on it by the Magician and follow simple orders.

*These are signature special abilities and in light campaigns all players should start with them automatically. These abilities also can not be chosen as Veteran abilities. In grittier campaigns they may need to be selected or unlocked like other special abilities

Downtime

The party takes time to rest in between missions. During that time they may take 2 Downtime Actions from the list below. Actions can be repeated. The Acquire Gear action may be taken for free for adventurers to spend some of their hard earned GOLD.

Indulge Vice

“The problem with people who have no vices is that generally you can be pretty sure they're going to have some pretty annoying virtues.” — Elizabeth Taylor

“If you didn't do anything that wasn't good for you it would be a very dull life. What are you gonna do? Everything that is pleasant in life is dangerous. Have you noticed that? I'd like to find the bastard that thought that one up.” — Lemmy Kilmister

Adventuring is stressful and difficult. All adventurers need to blow off steam somehow. A PC may engage their vice to reduce stress. If the PC has 6 or more stress then taking the Indulge Vice action will remove 6 stress, but to get the full value they need to describe how they relax to the group. If the PC has 5 or less stress then they need to roll 1d6. They reduce stress by the result. However, if that result is higher than the stress they had they are considered to have Overindulged and must choose a consequence for their PC from the options below. For example, if a PC has 4 stress and they roll to Indulge Vice and get a 3 then they will reduce it by 3 but if they get a 5 then they will clear their stress but have to take an Overindulged penalty.

Also note that if you choose to ignore your vice you will take stress equal to your Trauma. If you have no Trauma you are free to ignore it as it doesn’t have a hold on you yet.

Overindulgence

When a PC has Overindulged in their vice choose one of the following:

• They disappear for one session. Player plays a different character this session. The character may be another NPC or a PC created by the GM or player. Characters created for this purpose can only have as many action ratings and special abilities as a newly created character the first time they appear. They may receive XP as any other player and may be saved for further use.
  Note: that continuing to jump back and forth will be splitting XP between 2 characters and thus they may fall behind the party in ability level. That said, have fun the way you want.
• They lose 10 GOLD. Player must describe how. If they don’t have 10 GOLD then they go into debt for whatever they don’t have and the debt is paid back at a 2 to 1 ratio. For example, if they had 4 GOLD and lost 10 they would be in debt 6 GOLD and would need to pay 2 GOLD for each GOLD in debt for a total of 12 more GOLD to pay off their debt. Failure to pay debts in a timely manner will attract unwanted and dangerous attention. GM starts a hidden clock to decide when debt collectors and bounty hunters appear and they may tick it at will.
• They are hungover for the next session. Describe how they went too hard and take 2 level 1 harms that may not be healed or patched which will incur the ‘reduced effect’ level 1 harm penalty for the full next session. They will be removed as usual at the beginning of the next down time. Also, any Brave action taken with the harm penalty for the next session will also generate XP for the player, just like Heroic actions usually do.

Recovery

All harm automatically reduces by 1 level once downtime is reached to represent the team taking a break and patching themselves up. Also, one tick on the Resistance ladder is also reclaimed (aka going from Shaken to Fresh). Further harm levels and Resistance ladder ticks may be reduced by and reclaimed by taking the Recovery Action. The Recovery action at a rate of reducing 1 injury by 1 level per action taken AND 1 Resistance ladder tick. To be clear 1 Recovery action accomplishes both the Harm and Resistance ladder effects. The action can be taken many times but only works for one Harm at a time.

For example, if a PC has 2 level 2 harm injuries, they would both automatically reduce to level 1 at the start of Downtime. But each would require an action, to remove them entirely for a total of 2 actions (1 for each injury) If the PC has used all of their downtime actions then further Healing items may be purchased from the merchant for market price(aka GM discretion.)

Acquire Gear

Suddenly the smell of wet leaves and pine needles fills the air, like being in a forest after it’s rained. A man is standing behind a waist high row of wooden tables that you’re sure weren’t there as you approached the area. He sees you approach and with a grin, he grumbles “What’cha buyin’?”

Buying

The party has access to shops they come across, but they also have access to special traveling merchants and convoys. Using Acquire Gear does not cost an action and merchants are always available. While players are of course able to do basic shopping if they’re near a town, they can also take a special action in downtime when they’re in more dangerous areas to send for gear or materials to be delivered to them in the field from these other special merchants. Their ability to reach even the most inhospitable and far flung locations is legendary, and suspect, but they’re so valuable no one presses them too hard about how they do it. It’s considered bad form to even ask. The items, weapons, and gear are always changing and they have access to such a wide array of things its not worth looking at a list and instead simply asking the merchant for what you’re looking to buy and see what they might be able to offer that fits, whether you can afford it or not is another story.

Renting

They also offer ‘rentals’ where players can pay a reduced rate for a specific piece of equipment that then must be returned after the mission. These rentals can also become Rent-to-Own after several rentals. If a character loses or destroys the gear they are renting they will go into Debt with the merchant and be unable to buy new gear until it is paid off. Also Debt Collectors may come looking.

Selling

Merchants serve all types, so they will happily buy the various baubles and treasures the adventurers happen to find in their travels. They’re not particularly interested in common goods like swords, rope, shields, flatware and the like, but may be interested if an item is of great quality and could fetch at least a few GOLD on resale. The GM may set the GOLD the merchants will offer for a particular item directly (e.g. “they offer 4 GOLD for that necklace”) or they may choose to roll to find out how valuable it is.

GM may choose to set prices any way they like, but if a GM is unsure, a suggested way to handle it is to set a number of dice based on how rare you think an item is(1d for common, 2d for uncommon, 3d for rare, and 5d for legendary), roll them, and then treat the result like ticks in a clock but translate to GOLD (e.g. “It seems rare so let's roll 2d and they will offer 1 GOLD for 1-3, 2 GOLD for a 4-5, and 3 GOLD for a 6, and 5 GOLD for a critical”) This provides some excitement along with emulating the offer one might get on a given day with a given item from a given merchant. A player may choose not to sell at the price offered but they can not haggle or reroll with the same merchant for that item. To get a different price, they will need to find a different vendor interested in purchasing it.

Debt

Sometimes an item is just too good to pass up and a player may want to buy it now even though they don’t have the funds. When this is the case a player may choose to go into Debt. When they do they will get immediate access to the GOLD they request, but then Debt is paid off at a 2 to 1 ratio (e.g. to pay off 1 tick of Debt the character must pay 2 GOLD.) If no payments have been received in a while, at any point those that are owed the Debt can send Debt Collectors after the Party. They may be appeased by paying off some or all of the Debt, or given items and treasures that might cover the Debt when sold.

From the lowest beggar to the loftiest King, no one likes paying their Debts, so Debt Collectors are typically powerful beings capable of taking on the debtor and those they travel with. They are very hard to reason with, though it is possible, and even harder to take on in a fight. If you don’t have the funds, it might be best to run until you do. Don’t take Debt Collectors lightly as they will not take it easy on you.

Work on a Long Term Project

Characters are able to design and create their own gear. With enough time, imagination, and GOLD they can make amazing things. GM will start a clock depending on how complicated the project is and players may take the Work on a Long Term Project Downtime action to make rolls that will tick the clock. When it is completed, the project is finished.

Scouting

As the players explore the world they’ll continually find themselves in new locales they are unfamiliar with, and might not even be on any known maps (or known to the party anyway.) During Downtime characters can take actions to scout around the local area, be it a forest, mountain, or dark dungeon. By scouting the area characters will learn more about their surroundings and they may uncover opportunities, learn about monster or enemy types, numbers or locations thereof, possible directions they might travel and what lay in those directions and the possibility of treasure.

All characters are capable of scouting or getting new information. Players can choose any action that they like to roll for scouting as long as they can explain how it fits the fiction. An obvious choice is for a player to roll Stealth to sneak around an area and observe, but a character might also roll Boss to intimidate a local into giving them information about the area.

On a failed scout roll the party will still learn something, but there may be consequences, like the character going missing or returning with creatures on their heels. With partial or full success they will learn more about the world and there will be on consequences. Characters can scout more than once to learn more and other characters can also scout to add to the information learned. The GM can tell the party once they’ve tapped the information available or if it's worth using more actions. It is highly recommended that at least one party member take a scouting action in a given downtime.

Develop Character

The characters may spend their downtime developing their character, in more ways than one. By taking time to provide insight into their character, reveal their past, highlight their desires, then they will gain XP. They may mark 1XP in any track for each downtime action spent. A character may not mark XP in the same track twice in a given downtime (aka they may not gain XP in Power twice) but they may gain XP in Power and another track if they choose to use both actions in that way, but they need to speak about two separate things or tell 2 different stories.

Advancement

Player Advancement

Characters gain XP to become more proficient in their various skills and abilities. They gain XP by performing Heroic actions and roleplaying their character. Each class playbook also has specific triggers that allow those classes to gain XP by playing to the style of the class, for example a Magician gains XP by overcoming challenges with Magic.

During a Mission:

• Anytime you make a roll with Heroic position, mark XP in the track for the action being taken. For example, if you make a Heroic Engage roll, mark 1 XP by ticking 1 slot in the Skill track
• Anytime you make a roll for an Daring Action that the character has 0 points in, mark 1 XP in that action’s track

After a Mission:

Review the triggers on your Class Playbook. Mark 1 XP in any track, including Playbook, for each time you overcame a challenge by using your Class's defined trigger with a maximum of 2. For example, if you achieved your class trigger 1 time over the course of a mission mark 1 XP wherever you like, but if you achieved your class trigger 4 times over the course of a mission, mark 2 XP wherever you like.

Using the same rules (mark XP in your track of choice with a max of 2 XP per category) review the other triggers and mark your XP accordingly.

• If you showed, used or expounded on your character's beliefs, drives, heritage or background or flaws Mark XP 1 per instance with a maximum of 2.
• If you struggled with your character's vices, flaws, or trauma, Mark 1 XP with a maximum of 2 (note: just saying they're struggling with them does not count, you must take an action that might be considered a bad decision based on your vices, flaws, or trauma for the trigger to occur. (Aka do something rash, dangerous, selfish, etc because of those bad influences))

When the XP in the Power, Skill, or Magic tracks fills, the character can increase their Action Rating for any Daring Action in that track. For example, if a character fills their Magic XP track, they can add 1 point to Destruction, Illusion, Alteration, or Conjuration. They can receive this point immediately, even during a mission.

When the XP in the Playbook track fills the character will gain a new Special Ability point. They may use it to gain any Special Ability in their unlocked classes. For example, in a long campaign with Advanced Classes, a Tier 3 General can select any ability from their Tier 3 class or from their previous Tier 2 Black Belt or Tier 1 Soldier class. They can also choose to save this Special Ability point for later.

Veteran Advances

A character may use 2 Special Ability points to take a Veteran Advance. A Veteran Advance allows them to choose any Special Ability from any class up to their current Tier with the exception of the starred ‘*’ Class Abilities for any class. For example, a Tier 2 Ninja can pay 2 Special Ability points to gain any ability from the Tier 2 Cleric class except Major Light Magic as that is the starred Class Ability, but it cannot choose an ability from the Tier 3 Shadow class as it is above the character’s current Tier. Tier 3 classes have access to all the abilities in the game as a Veteran Advance excluding the starred ‘*’ Class Abilities though they may still take the starred abilities of their chosen lower tier classes if they had not taken them earlier.

Party Advancement

Regardless of size, groups and organizations have wills, skills, desires and minds of their own. Our humble Party is no exception. As the group comes together and forms their bond they become a Party of Level 1. As they achieve their objectives and chart a path for the group their bonds will grow and through that they will find that the Party can become more than the sum of its parts. Members may leave, retire, or die, and new members may join, but the Party remains as long as those who formed it wish it. It can be disbanded with unanimous consent, but apart from that the Party will abide.

The Party has its own XP track sheet and special abilities available. For each Primary Objective achieved, which is defined as the main objective of a mission, the Party will receive 2 XP. Note that Primary Objectives should also scale with the Party. A Level 4 Party should be aiming for grand adventure and legendary exploits and won’t receive XP for robbing a merchant. Secondary objectives will also be offered for given missions. They may be given at the outset or discovered along the way. There may be one, two, or even three depending on the length of mission and the options available. Each Secondary Objective achieved will grant the Party 1 XP. When the Party reaches 12 XP it levels up. At Level Up the Party may spend the new Level times 10 GOLD to upgrade all their existing gear to the next level. (e.g. To reach level 2 gear they must spend 20 GOLD collectively. Level 3 costs 30 GOLD etc.) They will also unlock new tiers of items available from merchants as they don’t just carry around the good stuff when they’re dealing with chumps. At special tiers, and at GM discretion, Party Level up may trigger Transformations.

A suggested Leveling Scheme for Long Campaign:

• Level 1: Wanderer - Campaign Start, Base Classes Available
• Level 2: Adventurer - Tier 2 Advanced Classes Unlocked, May Select new class from available tree, 1 new Special Ability, 1 optional Ability Respec
• Level 3: Veteran - 1 Veteran Ability (Tier 1 or 2, No-Dups suggested, may be used on already available abilities as well but only counts for 1), 1 Class Item from another Class (Tier 1 or 2)
• Level 4: Expert - Tier 3 Advanced Classes Unlocked. May Select new class from available tree which includes open tier 2 classes in the same tree, 1 new Special Ability, 1 optional Ability Respec
• Level 5: Master - Mastery Unlocked, 1 Veteran Ability (Any Tier, No-Dups suggested, may be used on already available abilities as well but only counts for 1), Typically the highest level achievable during normal campaign
• Level 6: Legend (optional) - Level for those that have ascended to the highest power and ability and achieved their full potential. Typically not achieved unless at or very near end of campaign. Unlocks (1) Legendary Attribute.
  • Signature Move - a powerful maneuver that costs 4 stress but never fails
  • Fully Immune to a single type of damage like slashing, bludgeoning, burning , freezing etc
  • May revive from Death 1 time - other normal death rules still apply
  • Can fly short distances
  • You can come up with your own and balance it how you like. These should be ‘final upgrades’

Transformations

There are many strange and wondrous things in the world. There are also abominations and horrors. Any of which might warp, weave or alter those that come in contact with them. There exist powerful places, objects, and beings that can affect these changes. Some adventurers seek them out while others do all they can to not become corrupted.

Transformation may be instantaneous or gradual (GM may ask the player from time to time if they wish it to progress or hold it) though it is almost always permanent. They can also affect the whole body or maybe just a part like a hand, eye, arm, or leg. Beyond the obvious visual changes to the character, these transformations usually confer some ability or mechanical benefit to the character as well as having penalties and downsides, some of which may be severe. Unwanted Transformations can’t be ‘healed’ or removed by basic magic, though some speak of powerful spells and rituals that may allow one to become fully human once more, though also some never wish it.

Some examples may include, depending on the object, place, or being the party comes across are: an arm made of fire, legs and talons of an eagle, a clockwork mechanical eye, head of a wolf, claws of a dragon, body turning to stone, or just your average everyday achieving a higher level of consciousness.

So, should you find yourself in such a situation know that your body, mind, and very soul may be at stake - or you may find a way to achieve higher states of being you may have never thought possible. Be on the lookout!

GM Best Practices

Do NOT Prep, But Be Prepared

This may seem counterintuitive. If you’re not supposed to prep then how can you be prepared? The distinction is ‘doing prep’ implies crafting storylines and scenes you want to play out. Outside of opening scenes, or perhaps the culmination after everything else has occurred, your players will likely immediately veer away from whatever you had planned. This means either wasted time and effort or artificially railroading the Party back to what you want. Either way doesn’t feel great, so don’t do it. That said, what you can do is be ‘prepared,’ which in this case means you fully understand the rules, the systems, how player abilities work, and have a rough sketch of the world and maybe some people or factions in it that might be interesting. These are the things you need to be able to answer questions about at the table and will inform the narrative that you will be creating live during play. As the players get closer to various places they should come more into focus, so that is when you start adding more details right then live at the table. Same goes for non-player characters(NPCs)in the world. There is no use working up detailed back stories for all types of NPCs that the players will never meet or only interact with for a moment - and maybe during play you might decide they should be different to fill some other role. As those characters become more important in the narrative, then, and only then, do you begin to put more details on the rough sketches as they are now relevant. It may take time to get comfortable with it, but as you gain confidence you will find this improvisational approach not only saves your time and sanity, but also allows you to be surprised and excited by how the world and stories unfold with the help of your players. Let the state of the world ebb and flow with the campaign and whims of the players. Where this may be difficult, tools are provided to allow you to create places and characters for any occasion if you’re stuck for ideas. Which also leads to…

Ask Questions

When dealing with new characters or settings try to ask players what they think about things. How do their characters feel? Is this familiar to them or foreign? Are they comfortable with this person? What do they want here? What other things would they expect to find around here? How is being here going to help advance your goals? It might seem awkward at times but many times you’ll get insight not only into your players and characters but also the world you’re building with them. You can lean into their responses to flesh out things that would otherwise be bland and since it fits with the player’s mental image the things you add in this way won’t feel out of place. The fluid nature of the world and its current state allows for the fun of discovery for both the players and the GM but also asks the GM to be able to improvise constantly. Don’t be afraid to offload some of that creativity onto the table and not only will your job get easier but it will also help get buy-in from the players themselves.

Open Your Mind

In improvisation there is an old mantra of “yes, and…” It means when someone suggests something you don’t just deny it, which would kill the flow. Instead agree and tag on to it with more details. When players come up with crazy ideas, always look for a way to say “yes, and” and encourage their wild schemes. Of course there are limits and don’t be afraid to say “no” when a player wants to do something that would break the world or fiction entirely. But generally remain open to letting them go wherever and do whatever they wish and tag their impressions of the world with your additional details to flesh it out and make it more ‘real.’

Telegraph Danger

When PCs seek to do dangerous things, as they should, let them know how dangerous it is. Tell them it could get them severely injured or killed. Tell them it could get them swarmed by unwanted attention. Tell them it will anger a rival group or could end up destroying other opportunities. Regardless, they should know what could go wrong with their proposed approach and goal. This has two benefits. First, if they are unwilling to take that risk it gives them an opportunity to come up with a different approach that might have a different effect. Second, when they inevitably roll and fail or get a partial success, it should not be a surprise when you drop Level 4 Harm on them.

Don’t Pull Punches

After Telegraphing Danger, stick true to your word. When the PCs act anyway, as they should, and suffer consequences, hit them with everything you warned of. This creates consistency in play and allows the stakes to be real. Telling a player that a move might get them killed and then holding back sets the expectation that the world is on their side and nothing truly bad will happen to them which takes the tension out of Action Rolls.

That said, the systems do conspire in their favor. You don’t have to worry about hitting them too hard, so swing away! Player Characters(PCs) are exceptionally resilient. Between Resistance, Armor, Healing, Special Abilities, Flashbacks, and Group Actions they have many opportunities to downgrade and mitigate the consequences you’ve warned them about. So when the time comes to dish out bad consequences, don’t hold back. Hit them with both barrels. Then when they inevitably resist or mitigate those consequences it will be because of their character’s great abilities or their Party’s teamwork and not because the GM was going easy on them. It puts the onus on the players and their characters and not the whims of the GM. Make them earn it and it will feel honestly earned.

Don’t Mess Around With Payout

The PCs should be doing big, dangerous things and if they do, they should be rewarded. When they successfully achieve a mission goal, give them treasure, GOLD, items, access to a new area, a new ally, or a lead on even greater treasures, all of the above or even a Level Up! Never cheat them out of a payout. There are plenty of opportunities for the PCs to be double-crossed, cheated, or defeated during play without pulling away a payout at the last minute. That isn’t to say surprises or getting something other than what they expected can’t or shouldn’t be done. Simply, if they achieve a goal they should get something.

Don’t Deny Downtime

In other systems one of the ways to increase the difficulty of a dungeon or mission is to extend the time between when the characters are able to rest and recuperate. Those systems are built around careful resource management and player’s needing to parse out their abilities so they don’t flame out and are still able to contribute in later sessions. This system encourages the exact opposite. Players should proudly use their powerful skills and abilities when the opportunities present themselves and you should give them the opportunity to do so. With Downtime generally assured at some point in the semi-near future, the players will be less likely to hold back and save all their resources and stress unnecessarily. They will also begin to develop a sense of how far they can push themselves in a mission and start to self regulate without shrinking from taking big swings. If you randomly deny Downtime after they’ve all pushed themselves to the limit and achieved a goal then they will be unable to use their abilities in whatever comes next. They will also become wary of pushing themselves in the future lest you pull their ability to recover and remove stress at your whim again.

Furthermore, beyond the mechanical advantages of removing stress and harm during Downtime it also creates moments of calm between the hectic chaos of adventuring and battle. Use these times to slow the pace so that when it inevitably ramps back up again everyone isn’t just burned out and they can feel the excitement again. If the game is constantly blazing at 11 then players become accustomed to that, and they will not feel it when the stakes are raised again.

Cut to the Good Stuff

Which leads to, once folks are rested and a decision about what the next goal for the players is, jump right into the fun parts. If they decide to travel to a new area and seek a treasure, get there as soon as possible. That isn’t to say you can’t describe some of the travel or how they got there, but don’t belabor three days on the road with extraneous details about what they ate for breakfast each day or the weather each hour. Explain the generalities of travel up to the first obstacle they encounter and jump off there as quickly as possible. This is where the players can interact and be engaged. Time spent away from letting them speak or affect the world is time where you can lose their attention or engagement.

To be clear, the first obstacle should also be something impactful that involves some risk or choice for the group, not just a wall. Sometimes it's even worth letting them overcome an obstacle or two automatically in your mind if it would slow down the session or not be exciting. For example, after they’ve decided to hunt for treasure in a cave you might decide to jump right to where they encounter a group of bandits or monsters in the cave and tell them the previously locked door to the cave is open behind them and maybe even some guards are knocked out already if those obstacles would be no match for the Party and might slow down the session. That said, sometimes it's fun to let your players be powerful and take out some ‘easy’ challenges as long as it is quick and gets to the more exciting aspects soon.

Move the Spotlight Around

In any group of players you will have some that are more aggressive about taking actions with their characters than others. There is no ‘initiative order’ or such turn based approach in Forged in Fantasy. Players are encouraged to jump in wherever they see their character being useful. And as we’ve seen in the Tomato Exercise basically any character can attempt almost any goal, for better or worse. So as a GM you need to be cognizant of how much time in the spotlight any member of the Party has had in a given session. If one player is trying to take all the actions don’t chastise them or try to implement mechanical turns. Simply ask them to hold on and ask someone else at the table who hasn’t taken an action recently what they are doing at this moment. Encourage them to take action. Different groups of players will handle all this differently and require different levels of intervention as the GM, but you should always be looking to shine the spotlight on every member of the Party at different times. Everyone will have more fun overall if each person gets their turn to pull off a daring maneuver or create a great memory at the table. The mechanics of the game also reward Parties that share the risk and the consequences. Encourage teamwork to keep the group engaged together. Group actions are a perfect time to widen the spotlight and shine it on multiple characters at once. Always remember the Party is an ensemble cast and they’re all the stars of the show. No one character or player gets top billing.

Player Best Practices

Be Bold and Take Risks

Fortune favors the bold and PCs are very resilient. The world is dangerous and messy and nothing will get done if you only move when things are perfect - and even then it might not work out the way you think. Adventurers are a brave sort and they know that an imperfect plan executed immediately will always beat a perfect plan executed too late. The abilities and actions of your character allow you to tailor your risk and reward. The world should reward taking bigger swings. Don’t be shy or wary (or at least too wary). Be bold. In the immortal words of Harper, “Drive your character like a stolen car.”

Go Big

PCs have lots of cool and powerful items and abilities, especially high level and tier characters. You should boldly deploy those whenever the opportunity presents itself. The world is dangerous and wild and won’t think twice about killing you where you stand. You should respond in kind. Your stress is a vital resource but you should always be able to reduce it during Downtime. So don’t hesitate to spend it to play your character as the incredible adventurer you know them to be. Use your items! Use your abilities! Spend your stress! Become a legend!

Help your Party

One of the core tenets of Forged in Fantasy is that the ‘Party’ is somewhat sacrosanct. This is a cooperative game. You are all adventurers that care about the well being of each other and the success of the group as a whole. This doesn’t mean they can’t bicker or disagree. What family doesn’t? But in the end, each should be looking out for the other. When asking “what would my character do?” one of their core beliefs should be “they would help the party.” Of course that is up for wide interpretation on ‘How’ they would help the party, but they shouldn’t be actively sabotaging or acting against the party’s success.

In fact, the systems offer a myriad ways to help your fellow party members. There is no defined turn order in Forged in Fantasy and while the spotlight should be moving around, you also have the opportunity to shine during anyone else’s “turn” too! Think of ways how your character might better set up the others for success. Think of how your character might be able to lead the group through a difficult challenge for better chances of success for all. Think about how your character could assist with a Daring Action someone else is taking. Think about how your character might protect and save someone in danger or being harmed. Think about how your character could synergize with other character’s skills and abilities to execute a devastating Combo Tech. In general, think about how your character fits or would act during not only ‘your’ actions but also all the actions of your party.

Be Imperfect(within reason)

There are mechanisms in the system that encourage you to play your character as an imperfect individual. XP triggers for playing to their Flaws, Vices, or Traumas reward you for acknowledging that each character has their own baggage and issues they are dealing with. This makes them more interesting and gives them depth. It also allows them to try to redeem themselves or potentially have an arc of growth throughout a campaign where otherwise there would be none. All of this is by design and has proven itself as a way to create better stories around the table. That said, it is not a green light for you to play your character as a purely terrible person to the constant detriment of your Party. “It's what my character would do” is an old cliche for a reason and not a cudgel with which to beat your fellow players. This may feel like a fine line to walk, but it’s easy to see when it has gone astray.

Are you playing a character that occasionally makes non-optimal choices and sometimes gets the Party into trouble due to their issues? Great! That can lead to lots of interesting things. Furthermore, when other characters act ‘imperfectly’ you should embrace it and view it as a source of joy and excitement.

Are you playing a character that constantly murders everyone in sight, refuses to engage with the wider will of the Party, and generally aggravates both the characters in the fiction and the players around the table in the name of “playing their character?” Awful. This isn’t fun for anyone and is not welcome. Remember that one of the key tenets for each player to accept is that they are part of a team and that taking the best interests of the team to heart is also “what your character would do” on many occasions.

Fail Forward

The complications of ‘imperfect play’ and Partial Successes might initially feel bad to min/maxers who want everything to be perfect. Remember Partial Successes are still successes! They will still help advance your goals, but just not in a pristine way. The consequences of your actions piling up can and will lead to some of the most exciting moments of the game which almost always end up being more fun and memorable than a perfect session where every roll succeeds. Imagine how boring the Lord of the Rings would be if the story was “Frodo carries the ring to Mordor without issue. The end.” Instead, take small wins where you can get them and lean into the world disrupting your plans and expectations. Embrace the chaos. If you’re following the previous advice of accepting imperfection, taking risks, and going big you will be handsomely rewarded with incredible stories you can retell for a lifetime - and stories like that are never about how everything went perfectly.

Help Shape the World

In Forged in Fantasy the players are not only allowed to help shape the world, they are actively encouraged to do so. If the GM is describing an interesting new environment and it sparks an idea of what else might be cool to have there say something. It might be the missing piece to make the next area truly shine. Maybe the GM takes the idea but twists it into something that more fits the environment, but something that they wouldn’t have thought about on their own. Everyone will always have a slightly different picture in their mind of what is happening, so let people into your view. And as they let you into their view, a deeper and more interesting communal picture can emerge.

Participate in the Storytelling

Your characters, and their backstories, personalities, abilities, goals, flaws, and hopes and dreams are core to the story we’re all telling together. They are one of the stars of the show and stars get to make suggestions about how their stories play out. Share your thoughts. Ask ‘what if’ questions about what might be going on with the party. The GM should only have loose thoughts about what is going to happen next, so you can and should help drive that story.

Engage with the World

When characters appear and events happen, look to engage with them. If no one in the party engages with the world then you’ll all just be sitting around drinking ale in the tavern. While that might be nice for a given Downtime, it doesn’t make a compelling narrative. So, go through that door! Talk to that wild nymph! Attack the bandits in their own camp! Come up with ideas for what you, and your character, would like to have happen and go for it!

Pay Attention

Should go without saying, but with the GM working hard to build tracks in front of the train as it drives while also incorporating suggestions and thoughts from the players as they go, few things are more derailing and deflating than someone chiming in minutes later asking a question about something that was fully talked through moments before. Of course when things aren’t clear, questions should be asked, but when everyone else at the table is on the same page and someone clearly just wasn’t paying attention when all of the information that was just relayed, and then all that information needs to be described and talked through again it kills energy and momentum. The GM has to repeat themselves, and likely needs to do so in a synopsis style that lacks the excitement and depth that it had when first encountered. The players who already know what’s going on get annoyed and bored that they need to listen to info they already know again - potentially losing their limited attention as well.

It is understood that everyone can’t maintain 100 percent focus the whole session, so don’t stress yourself or worry too much about it, but please don’t spend your whole session on your phone or Browse the web. Unlike some other systems, this game offers many opportunities for character involvement during other player’s actions so don’t just zone out until your ‘turn’ or you might miss out on big chances to help and save your party members. Those missed opportunities can reverberate through the world.

Give the GM Knives

As you come to know and understand your own character, be free with information about their past and things they hold dear. Expound on their fears or deep desires. You can even gain XP for this both in a mission and during Downtime while you Develop Character. These things may in turn give the GM options for how to raise the stakes for your character. Don’t worry about this but revel in it instead as you’ve not only grown your character but helped create better and more interesting fiction at the table.

Advanced Classes:

One such Transformation that is possible is the unlocking of new avenues of being in the character’s mind. These higher levels of consciousness and self-understanding bring with them new capabilities and specialization. Mechanically this translates to unlocking new Advanced Classes for the characters. Advanced classes come with new powerful abilities as well as new class specific items.

As such, it is recommended that the moments of unlocking these Advanced Classes coincide in the fiction with the Party finding a vault or cache after an important story beat or large challenge. The cache then would contain the items for the chosen Advanced Classes in the fiction, as well as other potential relevant narrative items.

When a new Advanced Class is unlocked for a character, they should also get 1 new Special Ability immediately from the new list. The character retains all the items and abilities from their Base Class but they also gain the option to drop one Special Ability they already possess and select any other Special Ability from the new full list available to them, which includes the Base Class and their unlocked Advanced Class

Each Base Class has a Tree of possible Advanced Classes they can unlock related to their section. At the time of Level Up the GM may decide to assign Advanced Classes based on how the player has been playing or they can leave the decision up to the player. There is no hard route through the Trees which means any Tier 2 class can upgrade to any Tier 3 Class (e.g. a Thief can become a Shadow or a Spy or an Assassin.) This creates many possible combinations of abilities and items for high level builds.

Power Tree

Tier 1

Soldier

Tier 2

• Knight: honorable defender. Specializes in protection and aiding party members and civilians. Gains access to light magics.
• Reaver: feral warrior. Specializes in aggressive assault and breaking defenses. Puts self and party in danger
• Black Belt: versatile brawler. Disciplined and trained in a wide variety of physical techniques

Tier 3

• General: powerful leader. Specializes in leadership, influence, and tactics
• Warlord: feared destroyer. Specializes in heavy weapons and intimidation
• Edge Master: battle hardened veteran. Capable of wielding any weapon effectively. Gains bonuses for using a wide variety of gear

Skill Tree

Tier 1

Rogue

Tier 2

• Thief: a silent cat burglar. Capable of impressive feats of stealth, trickery, and thievery. Increased abilities to climb, jump, sneak, cheat, and steal.
• Ninja: a hidden danger. Specializes in attacking from the shadows and subterfuge. Gains access to dark magics.
• Duelist: a focused fighter. Specializes in one on one combat and turning an enemies weakness against them

Tier 3

• Shadow: a whisper on the wind. Silent and speedy. Capable of short jumps of teleportation
• Assassin: a deadly blade in the dark. Specializes in target elimination, by any means necessary
• Spy: a trained agent. Specializes in gadgetry and espionage

Magic Tree

Tier 1

Magician

Tier 2

• Battle Mage: a toughened caster. Mystical fighter not afraid to get up close and personal
• Wizard: a wise generalist. Gains potency in all spell types and scholastic endeavors. Has something for every occasion
• Cleric: a trained healer. Uses magical energies to heal and buff. Also understands potions, poisons, and debuffing magic

Tier 3

• Elementalist: an elemental bender. Focuses on the application of base elements, Fire, Ice, Electricity, Earth to enhance allies and destroy enemies
• Traveler: a weaver of worlds. Uses Illusion and Alteration to remake the minds and worlds of those around them. Can alter time
• Beast Master: mystical shepherd. Capable of controlling wildlife, natural beings, and some monsters alike, both present and conjured. Gains a mount.

Advanced Class Playbooks

Tier 2 Classes

Knight

Honorable soldier. Specializes in protection and aiding party members and those in need. Gains access to light magics.

prerequisites: Soldier

Playbook Abilities

• *Chivalric Code: add +1d to any Tank roll made to defend a party member or an innocent NPC. Add +1d to any Feat of Strength roll made to attack, incapacitate, or intimidate an adversary you’ve witnessed commit a heinous act (assault of an innocent NPC, slavery, murder etc. Petty non-violent crime does not apply)  You or a party member must witness the act first hand. Hearsay doesn’t trigger the additional die.
• Minor Light Magic: May heal self. add +1d to healing rolls made on combat wounds. Tank action gains the ability to create a basic magical warding effect which blocks the effects of low level spells on the Knight and those in close proximity to the Knight. Take +1d to any resistance related to taking magical damage.
• Beacon of Hope: reduce 1 stress for anyone who the Knight protects and takes harm for. The harm may be reduced by armor or resistance but the stress reduction only triggers if some harm is added to the table. Knight also gains an XP trigger of 1XP per mission for using the Protect action whether they take damage or not.
• Light in the Darkness: you can use your special armor to remove the negative consequence from a Dark Pact.
• Unwavering Loyalty: When an ally makes an action that is because of their vices, flaws, or trauma, you can assist them without paying the stress cost. Also once per downtime you may alter any party members roll up or down one value. (5 becomes a 6, 4 become a 3. etc)

Items

• Fine Heavy Armor(3): Excellent Protection. Crafted metals and mail combine to protect the wearer from all types of damage.
• Crested Shield(2): Shield with a crest of the Knight’s choosing. Acts as a Ward against Magical Damage, increasing potency of Tank and Resist rolls against magic.
• Weighted Censer(1): A heavy one-handed mace with a place to put incense inside it. While the incense is burning the mace has increased potency against dark beings or magic users. Incense included. Will certainly give away your position when lit.

Reaver

Feral warrior. Specializes in aggressive assault and breaking defenses. Puts self and party in danger

prerequisites: Soldier

Playbook Abilities

• *Berserker: Can wield a two-handed weapon and get +1d on Scrap rolls but decreased position on any Scrap rolls when you take the extra die. Increase potency for any attack aimed at more than 1 target(Cleave.) You also take -1d on resisting any consequences from the roll. Further pushing a scrap roll will increase both potency as well as add +1d with a single push. Accepting a Dark Pact also gains both potency and +1d with a single bargain, provided you also take the decreased position and resistance cost penalty.
• Courtesy of Savages: when disrespected, threatened, or after you’ve just committed an act of violence, take +1d to any Boss or Style social rolls. Boss rolls also gain increased potency.
• Tooth and Claw: all bare-handed attacks gain potency and quality. +1d to all bare-handed surprise attacks.
• AaaaAaAAAAAH!(Battle Cry): you may push yourself when leading a group action or combo tech for all other participants to get +1d on their rolls at the cost of decreased position for everyone. Doesn’t work on stealth or social rolls. Any resistance rolls made by anyone in the group get -1d.
• Scar Tissue: you may use your special armor to resist the consequences of combat or violence.
• Air It Out: Add a new XP trigger. Take 1 XP on any mission you don’t use any armor

Items

• Rage Powder(0): gives frenzy and +1d to attack rolls as well as increased potency and scale. Applies statuses: Must continue attacking until they’re all broken and Can’t tell friend from foe. These can be resisted individually
• Fine Javelin(1): long, heavy, evenly weighted and with a proper tail for flight. Great for making a mighty heave and skewering cowards who won't get near you
• Loincloth(0): Every military guide states explicitly that it should never be worn by itself. You know better. You prey on their fear.

Black Belt

Versatile brawler. Disciplined and trained in a wide variety of physical techniques.

prerequisites: Soldier

Playbook Abilities

• *Like Water: you may roll to attack when reacting to an attack and if at least partially successful(4 or above) you will successfully avoid the attack and also be able to strike your attacker. You may also attack when Protecting a Party member as well while Resisting its effect. Roll Resistance and count the result for your stress(6-result) as normal but also as the result of an attack roll. If at least partially successful(4 or above) you successfully strike back against the attacker. While the hit will land, the effect of the damage will still follow tier, quality and scale rules.
• Box Breathing: Reduce 1 stress after succeeding(6 or above) with an attack on which you pushed yourself.
• Ankle Weights: pay stress to perform an act of superhuman athleticism: run on walls or water, leap a huge distance, perform a jumping triple kick, vault with a staff to incredible heights, chop flying arrows out of the air, run so fast you're just a blur etc. The stress cost can range from 1 to 3 depending on how incredible the action is.
• Top Chamber: you may push yourself to attack with a melee action at range. This could be through projection of your aura or unseen energies. Flavor is up to the player but the result is an equivalent attack you would make in melee range but applied at a distance up to 50ft.
• Blitz: Pay 1 stress to focus your mind and body, then attack in rapid succession with increased potency. Gather 9d6. You may add 1 more die for each 6 second period you spend focusing. Then roll the group. (e.g. Focus for 18 seconds and roll 12d6, 24 seconds 13d6 etc) For each 6 in the pool, one of your attacks lands. For each 1 take 1 stress up to a maximum of 3. The attacks can be spread amongst a group of targets or all focused on one target. You can not push, be assisted, use gambits or take Dark Pacts for the Blitz roll. If no 6’s are rolled the attack fails completely. After the attack completes, take a Level 1 Harm Exhausted. Box Breathing may apply but triggers only once.
• Senkaku-Jime: use special armor or push to perform a Feat of Strength to grapple and submit or subdue any single adversary of great size or smaller. Take +1d on the roll in addition to any other dice. If successful you can hold them as long as you Concentrate. If your Concentration is broken they escape. Powerful beings may force you to resist losing your Concentration after periods of time.
• Channeled Strike: The Black Belt can Channel a physical strike in the same way as spells can be channeled: You may remove die from the pool being rolled for the given strike. For each die removed remain motionless and focus for 6 seconds and increase potency or scale one level. The final strike is further increased by one level of quality and can be treated as a magical attack if it would be beneficial. Works on living beings as well as inanimate objects. Works for both armed and unarmed attacks.

Items

• Martial Arts(0): The Black Belt has their own style of Martial Arts. It can be any style of the player’s choice including mixes of techniques. How did the Black Belt learn these techniques? Any actions taken using bare hands or light weapons gain potency and scale.
• Fine Nunchucks(1): two hardened wood sticks with unique engraving connected by a chain. As apt to cause damage to the user as an adversary when wielded by a novice. Can inflict deadly, lightning quick blunt force trauma in the hands of a master. Also useful for grappling, choking, and countering attacks.
• Fine Bo Staff(2): long wooden staff with weights at either end. Nicely balanced and can be wielded skillfully with 2 hands. Keeps enemies at bay. Great for crowd control and mobility.
• Headband(0): keeps hair and sweat out of your face. Let people know you mean business.

Thief

Silent cat burglar. Capable of impressive feats of stealth, trickery, and thievery. Increased abilities to climb, jump, sneak, cheat, and steal.

prerequisites: Rogue

Playbook Abilities

• *Loaded Dice: Can use special armor or take 2 stress to alter a single die on any roll made by the Thief up or down by 1.
• Second Story Work: Can spend 1 stress to automatically climb or jump off any height safely. Only works for the Thief and only counts for the climb or fall, doesn’t mean they can simply avoid other obvious dangers (i.e. can’t just jump past a dragon automatically).
• Catch Me If You Can: Thief gets +1d to any Stealth or Style rolls made to escape or evade capture, being chased, or active danger. Any gadget use on escape and evasion gets increased potency
• Old Hat: Thief can automatically spot non-magical traps. +1d to any rolls to disarm traps. Can spend Special Armor to automatically disarm a trap. The player needs to ask for it to trigger.
• Alpha Carotene: you can see in the dark. Level and quality of vision can vary by environment but you'll always be able to see at least a little. In some cases you'll be able to see perfectly where others can't see at all.
• Finger-Smith: deft sleight of hand and misdirection for thieving. Gain +1d to any Handle, Stealth, Style, or Illusion roll being made to pick someone's pocket, pick a lock, snatch jewels from display, or generally steal an item.

Items

• Blackjack(1): Weighted black leather slapper. Easily concealable. Can be used to incapacitate people, and some beasts, non-lethally. Increased effect on unsuspecting enemies. You sent away for it.
• Soft Soled Shoes(0): shoes with soft rubber soles. Allows walking silently on any surface.
• Throwing Knives(1): sharp and weighted for throwing. Small enough to palm. Quick to draw and good at mid-range. Only lethal in a weak spot.
• Trick Arrows(1per/3max): Water arrows can put out torches and fires. Popper arrows can make a distraction. Oil arrows. Binder arrows. What else is in this quiver? Generally non-lethal. Get creative.
• Skeleton Key(0): Very rare clockwork lockpick mechanism. Can quickly and silently automatically unlock any common or basic lock

Ninja

Hidden danger. Specializes in attacking from the shadows and subterfuge. Gains access to dark magics.

prerequisites: Rogue

Playbook Abilities

• *Quick Change: Can push yourself or use special armor to instantly burst into smoke and replace yourself with a log. You may reappear somewhere else nearby, including in the air.
• Minor Dark Magic: Gain innate potency in magic used for attack. +1d to Destruction rolls made as a surprise attack.
• Poison Broth: you possess and are proficient with a minor poison that can make a human or small monster sick. Can also be used to coat your weapons. If a human or small monster is cut with the weapon or imbibes the poison they will become sick after a delay. The speed and effectiveness will vary by target. You may pay 2 stress to make the poison take immediate effect.
• Head Forward, Arms Back: can run safely across any surface including tree branches, lava, or a single rope. Can still be knocked down but take +1d to resist being stopped or hit while running in pose. +1d to any roll related to leaping any gap.
• Random Bullshit Go!: push yourself to throw up to 3 items at the same time with a single roll. The result of the roll applies individually to each item thrown(e.g. Throw a shuriken, detonator, and smoke bomb and get a 6 then the shuriken hits its target, the detonator goes off in the desired location and the area fills with smoke) Can be any combination of items that weigh 1 or less loadout. Loadout rules still apply for claiming them.

Items

• Wakizashi:(1) Expertly crafted 16in. curved blade. Gives +1d for melee attacks on enemies unaware of the Ninja
• Ninja Kite: (2) Kite capable of carrying the Ninja. Can be used to glide from great heights or launched skywards with something fast pulling it or strong winds. Fairly obvious in daylight, hard to detect at night or in the dark.
• Caltrop Bomb:(1) Large ball, throwable. Bursts in air scattering caltrops over a wide area
• Poison Rice Ball: (0)Small ball of rice filled with toxic poison. Looks and smells delicious. Who could resist?
• Shuriken: (0) Small bladed throwing objects. Light, silent. Good desperation or distraction throwing weapons. Rarely lethal unless applied directly to the forehead.

Duelist

Focused fighter. Specializes in one on one combat and turning an enemies weakness against them

prerequisites: Rogue

Playbook Abilities

• *Let’s Dance: Duelist gains +1d to Engage and Style Rolls made in an open 1v1 fight where no other Party members are assisting or targeting the Duelist’s opponent.
• Now You Can't Leave: can fight ferociously with bare hands and objects found around the room at the same scale as a fine light weapon. +1d to scrap or engage rolls while drunk. Drunkenness still counts as level 1 harm and may impair other abilities, but scrap or engage rolls are immune from this impairment.
• I Ain’t Hear No Bell: Spend special armor to instantly lower a single Level 3 or 4 harm received in combat to level 2. Get +1d and ignore all harm penalties on your next attack roll.
• Glove Slap: you can spend 1 stress to compel an opponent to fight you one on one for a few moments. Add 1 stress for each additional feature: fight can last minutes instead of moments(assuming you can survive that long), none of the opponent's allies will intervene, your fight draws an audience(where applicable.)
• 100 GOLD Baby: you gain a new XP trigger. Gain 1 XP(Max 2/mission) when you defeat an opponent in 1v1 combat without any assistance or set-ups.

Items

• Fine Rapier(1): thin, light, deadly. Pointy end goes in. Lowers ability to block or defend but increased potency on parries when applicable.
• Pocket Sand(1): Sand. In your pocket. Mother told you to never put it in your eyes.
• Flask(0): always have enough quality liquor on hand for a little buzz, at least for yourself.

Wizard

Wise generalist. Gains potency in all spell types and scholastic endeavors. Has something for every occasion

prerequisites: Magician

Playbook Abilities

• *Arcane Knowledge: The Wizard can Channel one level instantly (take -1d for increased spell potency or scale without the time cost). The Wizard can also now burn more than one point per spell to increase die to roll with Spell Burn. If Wizard does not possess the Spell Burn ability, they gain the base Spell Burn ability as stated with a max use of +1d.
• I Told You It Would Work: Everyone who participated in a successful(6) Combo Tech with the Wizard removes 1 stress.
• Pattern Recognition: you can take 2 stress to divine the location of an artifact or treasure. Stress doesn't trigger if none are present. Depending on the environment you may understand the exact path to the item or a vague direction.
• Occultist: can take +2d for any Dark Pact. May or may not incur a worse consequence. If the +2d option is worse, can still choose to take only +1d for a lesser consequence. It is always a benefit over a standard +1d Dark Pact.
• Fantastic Beard: (applies to any gender) Gain 1 point in any 2 magic disciplines(can’t take 2 dots in one school). Mastery rules still apply.
• Polymath: select a Magic type. Take 2 stress to use that Magic type to roll any action. Explain how you apply that knowledge or experience to do the new action.

Items

• Pointy Hat(0): wide brimmed, pointy hat. Has a band around the base that has a slot capable of holding an attuning gem.
• Long wooden pipe(0): wooden pipe with a long thin stem to draw from. Great for sharing a moment with a friend or just taking some time to think.
• Spellbooks(1 each/3max): Collection of arcane books covering all things magical, one for each magical school. May contain knowledge of artifacts or guides to becoming a better caster. Using a spell book of a matching school while channeling further increases the potency or scale of the spell being cast. Also works with Arcane Knowledge.

Cleric

Dedicated healer. Uses magical energies to heal, buff and soothe. Also understands potions, poisons, and debuffing magic. Tough and capable in a fight.

prerequisites: Magician

Playbook Abilities

• *Major Light Magic: Cleric can now cast healing spells from a distance. Healing spells can now be Channeled which allows for the healing of multiple subjects at once. Add 1 target for each die burned to Channel. The time the spell takes to cast is the time it would take to heal the single highest Harm amongst the targets. The Channeling time cost is already included in the healing spell time cost. The patients can act while being healed from a distance but if they take further damage the heal will fail on them. The Cleric can also now heal themselves.
• Dr. X: May expend Special Armor to warp to a patient’s location within your eyesight and once there can make an instantaneous touch-based healing action regardless of level of Harm.
• The Good Shit: Cleric can spend special armor to give a dank potion or drug(Cleric’s choice) to a party member, or imbibe it themselves. It reduces 2 stress instantly but user will take -1d on their next Brave or Heroic roll. If the user doesn’t make a Brave or Heroic roll before Downtime they take 1 stress at the start of Downtime as they come down.
• Life Transfer Magic: Cleric can take Level 3 Harm to instantly heal a party member’s Level 3 or 4 harm. The spell works at great distances. The Level 3 Harm applied to the Cleric can not be resisted or healed outside of downtime.
• Chili P Recipe Book: Book containing recipes for potions of all kinds. Improved effect on any long term project rolls to create potions and drugs and increased tier of resulting potion.
• Rejuvenation Magic: take 1 stress to move any Party member 1 step back up the Resistance Ladder. Takes time at range, works instantly with touch.

Items

• Magical Buckler(1): Small shield capable of repelling magical assaults as well as small arms. Increased potency for tank rolls and +1d to resist magical harm.
• Medic Robes (1): Comfortable and clean. Classic healers garb. Contains basic magical warding for protection against dark magics. Allows use of Light Armor against magic damage without casting penalty. Increases potency of Boss Actions in a medical environment.
• Healing Tome(1): Contains many ancient and modern healing techniques. Written in shorthand for quick reference. Allows healing spells to be cast in half the time stacking with other time reductions.

Battle Mage

prerequisites: Magician

Playbook Abilities

• *Ephemeral Weaponry: get +1d to any Conjuration roll to summon a magical weapon. If successful, the weapon counts as a Fine Weapon of any type and also strikes with increased potency against non-warded adversaries. Attacks with the weapon can be made with Destruction or Conjuration in addition to the other standard actions. The weapons remain in your possession without Concentration though may be dismissed at will. Can only have 1 magical weapon at a time. If a second is Conjured the oldest weapon disappears. Conjured weapons cost 0 Load.
• It’s Part of Me: the Battle Mage no longer incurs the penalties of Light or Heavy Armor on casting, including movement, channeling, or spell burn restrictions. They must still take the loadout to use it. May flavor as standard armor or magical infusion.
• After Image: use Special Armor to resist taking a single harm suffered in combat. When used, roll Illusion at base level. A result of 4 or above negates the harm entirely. A result of 3 or below it is simply resisted/reduced.
• Embiggen: push yourself to cast Alteration on yourself or a willing Ally and change the target’s size up to being three times its normal size. You can dictate how large up to the max you wish. The target’s gear and clothing also change to match the new size. The spell doesn’t require Concentration so you may continue acting while it is active. It always succeeds, but duration is based on the roll result. 1-3: 3 seconds. 4-5: 12 seconds. 6: 1 minute. Critical: Lasts until dispelled by spellcaster or 1 hour whichever comes first.
• Danger Close: the Battle Mage can shape their Destruction spells that would hit an area to ignore any beings or objects of their choice within the damage radius. They can also bend direct shots around friendlies or obstacles.

Items

• Mystical Armor(3): shiny, glowing Heavy Armor with warding to increase defenses against magical damage.
• Switch Staff(2): a heavy spellcasting focus staff that has a hidden retractable blade in its head. When the blade is hidden, the staff counts as a fine focus. When the blade is revealed, it counts as a fine melee weapon. Gains increased potency from spells that would enchant or enhance it.
• Dyed Cape(0): Looks fantastic flying behind your armor. Might get snagged on something, but also useful for other things. Any Alteration spells cast on it have increased effect. Get creative with it.

Tier 3 Classes

General

Powerful leader. Specializes in leadership, influence, and tactics

prerequisites: Knight, Reaver, or Black Belt

Playbook Abilities

• *Lead from the Front: Push yourself for all other members to get +1d in any group action led by the General. Also counts for Combo Techs that include the General as an active member. Replaces Battle Cry. If the character has both, the player may choose a new ability instead of Battle Cry.
• Clear Who’s in Charge: get +1d to any Boss or Style rolls made in the presence of your whole Party. If you take the die, you will draw attention to you.
• Tactical Genius: you may roll Boss on any Group Action or Combo Tech that the General is not actively taking part in to coordinate the team. Works as long as you’re in earshot of the participants. When you do, roll first and if at least partially successful choose one: everyone else gets +1d on their roll, 1 roll of the final action may be rerolled, or increased effect on the action to a max of Great Effect.
• Long Career: your deep experience and training means you're no longer affected by quality and tier of opponents or their gear in combat.
• General Ackbar: your first flashback in a mission is free when used to set a trap or ambush. Works even in locations you have just arrived in if you have time to plan (e.g. You just arrived in a stronghold of enemies and decided to attack. During the attack a party member is attacked by a guard. General Ackbar can be used to claim they set a trap to disable a guard once the fight started as long as they had a short moment before the attack starts)

Items

• Ancient Weapon(1): An exquisite weapon handed down from leader to protege through the years. May be of any type of the General’s choosing though must be wieldable with one-hand. Those with knowledge of history will recognize it.
• War Banner(0): Sigil and banner of your party. Creates an air of respectability.

Warlord

Feared Destroyer. Specializes in heavy weapons, intimidation, and turning pain into power

prerequisites: Knight, Reaver, or Black Belt

Playbook Abilities

• *Reckless Assault: go all out on an attack. Get +2d to any Scrap, Athletics, or Feats of Strength roll being used to do damage to an adversary. Increased scale for any attack targeting a group instead of a single target(Cleave). You are unable to resist any consequences of the attack. Does not stack with Berserker. A character may have both abilities, but one must be chosen and declared before the attack.
• Bloody Smile: the Warlord gets +1d for each level of Harm filled on their table. The Warlord can also self harm to gain the benefits before a given roll. All harm penalties still apply but the Warlord will only take the penalty related to self harm after the next action is completed. If the Warlord’s Harm Table is completely full, excluding Level 4, then all harm penalties are ignored and any action they take becomes Legendary in scale and potency. (Bear in mind that with a full Harm table any additional Harm no matter how small will roll up to Level 4 Lethal Harm) The Warlord can’t self inflict Level 4 Harm of course.
• Spin to Win: you can push yourself to wind up and make an incredibly powerful swing with a 2 handed weapon against a single target. If the swing successfully defeats the target, roll again to continue swinging with the momentum of your previous attack to attack a new target if desired. Continue rolling and attacking until a target is not defeated by an attack. After each attack, if there are consequences they may be called out, but they will not take effect until the assault is over. After each attack the Warlord can choose to stop the onslaught. Once the assault has completed, apply all consequences from all the rolls at once. Each may be resisted individually by the Warlord at the time of application.
• Humongous: you can push yourself or use special armor to attempt to intimidate a large group up to and including an entire settlement or battalion.

Items

• Power Weapon(2): A Legendary Heavy Weapon. May be of any type of the Warlord’s choosing though it must be heavy. Extremely potent in its own right, but if the Warlord already has a Legendary Heavy Weapon, then the Legendary Weapon can now be infused with a power of the Warlord’s choosing (Fire, Ice, Electric, Acid, etc) by spending 2 stress. Attacks with a weapon powered in this way gain even more potency and ignore any non-magical defenses. The potential to power up the weapon in this way still exists if the Warlord acquires a different Legendary Heavy Weapon after unlocking the class.
• Spiked Tower Shield(2): large shield with spikes on the outside. Increases damage done on any Tank rolls. Offers +1d to resistance rolls
• Horned Helmet(1): metal helmet with bone or antler horns protruding from its sides. Offers increased protection for your head as well as increasing potency of any Boss or Tank actions.

Edge Master

Battle hardened veteran. Capable of wielding any weapon effectively. Gains bonuses for using a wide variety of gear

prerequisites: Knight, Reaver, or Black Belt

Playbook Abilities

• *Burning Soul: The Edge Master gains +1d for any Power or Skill rolls related to combat for each different weapon used successfully in combat up to that point in the mission after the first. A weapon is considered used successfully if it is used in a Brave or Heroic action and resulted in a Partial Success or Sucess. Counter gets reset in Downtime.
• Quartermaster: The Edge Master may claim any Martial Weapon at any time and it will be of exquisite quality. Loadout limit is increased by 1 for light or normal load. If the Edge Master chooses Heavy Loadout then Load levels no longer apply to them during a mission related to items they would use themselves (aka they can’t just arm an army with weapons)
• Grip Strength: wield 2-handed weapons with 1 hand without reduction in potency.
• Oh Wise One: A Party Member may use their Develop Character Downtime action to train in Power or Skill actions with the Edge Master. Any such actions will result in 2 XP for the appropriate track of the Party Member and 1 XP in any track for the Edge Master for the first use of this ability in each Downtime (i.e. the Edge Master only gains 1 XP no matter how many folks train with them) In this case the story should reflect how the Edge Master trains and/or how the Edge Master was trained themselves in the past.

Items

• Dimensional Rucksack(0): A standard looking rucksack, but it's enchanted to be larger on the inside. Capable of holding any weapon an Edge Master might reach for. All weapons they draw are of fine quality.
• Training Weapons(1): Wooden weapons of any type. Non-lethal and low potency in combat. Any XP granting action taken with a Training Weapon gains 2 XP instead of 1. Sometimes a dose of humiliation is what your adversaries really need.

Shadow

Whisper on the wind. Silent and speedy. Capable of short jumps of teleportation

prerequisites: Thief, Ninja, or Duelist

Playbook Abilities

• *<Bamf>: spend 1 stress to instantly teleport to a location you can see within 30 meters including up in the air. Spend 2 stress to teleport to a location you can't see within 30 meters(aka through a wall or behind something.) Teleport may or may not require an action roll depending on the situation.
• <Hand Wave>: push yourself to plant an idea in someone's mind. The idea planted is additional information the target will take as something they thought of or sensed on their own, but they can’t be tricked into harming themselves or people they care about. Add one stress for each additional effect: works on a small group, they forget the interaction. <Hand Wave> automatically succeeds without a roll if the target’s intelligence is equal to or lesser than the Shadow’s. Some high level beings may be immune.
• <Windy Night>: when hiding in shadows or darkness you are undetectable without being touched. Gain +1d to any Stealth rolls that involve using darkness or shadow as cover.
• <Settling House>: you can fit into the tightest spaces and still retain the ability to move. You can pass through chimneys, vents, drainage holes, small pipes and anything similar freely as long as it would be big enough to fit your bones.
• <Chirping Birds>: you can push yourself to hide in plain sight. Roll Stealth and if successful you will be invisible regardless of the surroundings until you move again. Partial Success complications may include drawing suspicion or being imperfectly hidden.

Items

• Dark Cloak(1): heavy dark hooded cloak that can be worn over other clothing or gear. Provides a modicum of physical protection while also allowing the wearer to easily cover their face and hide in the shadows.
• Underground maps and keys(0): Maps of off-the-record underground and sewer systems of cities and towns on the continent. Possible for the Shadow to obtain similar documents and items elsewhere.
• Wrist Mounted Grappling Hook(0): magical clockwork grappling hook device on one arm. Capable of silently launching a hook and line with a subtle action of the arm. Has a special hook capable of latching on to most surfaces. It also has a retraction mechanism capable of lifting or pulling the Shadow, or the latched object towards you depending on weight. Allows for quick escapes, climbing, swinging, dodging, and potentially pulling anything lighter than yourself to you.

Spy

Trained agent. Specializes in gadgetry and espionage

prerequisites: Thief, Ninja, or Duelist

Playbook Abilities

• *Llewelyn’s Guile: The Spy has something for every occasion. The Spy may use Special Armor to instantly produce a hidden gadget. It can be anything the Spy imagines within the potency, scale, and quality of the Party. Large objects cost Loadout as determined by the GM and must be something the Spy could have been carrying on them. Could be larger if the Spy can make a flashback to planting it in the location. The item is destroyed or lost after use. The Spy may decide to use the same gadgets on future missions with the same cost, but also might be better to craft or buy them from a Merchant if they’re going to be used repeatedly.
• Mr. Phelps: you can apply and remove disguises almost instantly. It works on yourself as well as any allied beings. You get +1d to Style rolls when using a false identity. You have initiative and potency in any situation where you remove your disguise while previously undetected.
• I Know A Guy: In each town or area you have a trusted contact that is willing to help you. Spy can flavor and invent this character and their relationship.
• The Nerdery: The Spy has access to talented craftsmen, makers, and hackers. All long term projects the Spy has will automatically tick 1 tick every Downtime. The Spy may pay 5 GOLD to tick any clock 2 ticks without taking a Downtime action to work on it themselves. The Spy can offer the same services to other Party members at the rate of 1 tick for 5 GOLD paid to the creators. The Spy may request a separate finders fee if they choose.
• Endurance Training: The Spy will get 2 uses of Special Armor per Downtime.

Items

• Fancy Dress(0): An expertly tailored suit or dress that fits the Spy perfectly. Made from luxurious materials and in fashion for the locale. Increases attractiveness of the wearer. Welcome and impressive in even the highest of high society.
• Expert Disguise Kit(1): Magical face mask that can mimic the look of anyone the Spy knows along with voice mimicry. Extensive wardrobe options including but not limited to lifts, fake jewelry and medals. Can’t alter the overall shape of the spy so they will still be the same relative height and weight as their base persona within a range. High level magicians or experts may be able to spot it under close inspection, but passes for real to the uninitiated.
• Forged Documents(0): expertly crafted fake documents for any occasion. They won't pass extended scrutiny if background info is looked into, but all initial signs are that they are legitimate.
• Fake Bottomed Flask(0): flask with an empty secret compartment in the bottom for hiding small objects. Will pass any cursory inspection or pat down.

Assassin

Deadly hunter. Specializes in target elimination, by any means necessary

prerequisites: Thief, Ninja, or Duelist

Playbook Abilities

• *Mind the Gap: any attack made with a dagger ignores enemy armor and non-magical defenses.
• Iocane Is Delicious: you are immune to most poisons and gasses and you can always handle them safely.
• Advanced Parabolics: push yourself to make a shot from an unfathomable distance and in complex positions, like needing to bank a shot around cover or into a building. Gain +1d on the shot if a Party member has eyes on the target and can communicate with you.
• 47 wasn’t here: remove 1 stress for eliminating a target in a way that makes it look like an accident. Remove 2 stress if the target is of a Level at least 1 higher than yourself.
• You Know You Want To: you may push yourself to implant a dangerous idea in someone’s head that they otherwise wouldn’t entertain. May be done socially or magically. Tier and target intelligence play a strong factor in effectiveness. If successful they will perform the action. If they’re still alive or conscious after the action they will snap out of the suggestion immediately.

Items

• Exceptional Rifle(2): expertly crafted long rifle. Breech loading. Capable of firing a single shot at a time at extreme range. Open for modification.
• Gas Bomb(1): Fills a small room with fumes that are lethal or incapacitating if inhaled. Volatile and dangerous to handle. Lasts until the area is fully ventilated. Ineffective in open air or large environments.
• Antidote (1): rare potion capable of neutralizing poisons. Useful for intense negotiations.
• Monowire (0): a 1 meter long wire almost one molecule thick. Nearly invisible and capable of slicing through unprotected body parts easily. Incredibly potent in surprise attacks though may leave a bit of a mess.

Elementalist

Elemental bender. Focuses on the application of base elements, Fire, Ice, Water, Earth, and Lightning, to enhance allies and destroy enemies

prerequisites: Wizard, Cleric, or Battle Mage

Playbook Abilities

• *Major Dark Magic: Gain innate potency and scale in casting Destruction spells. Any die spent Channeling a Destruction spell gains both potency and scale instead of one or the other. Gain +1d to any spell cast as a surprise attack. Replaces Minor Dark Magic, if the character already has it they may choose another Tier 1 or 2 ability in your tree.
• Classically Trained: gain +1d in the use of spells that use Fire, Ice, Water, Earth, or Lightning.
• Power Inverter: The Elementalist can use Destruction for Healing Rolls and can use Healing Rolls to do damage to enemies. The player should flavor the spell uses creatively.
• Boulder Block: use special armor to resist harm to yourself or to Protect an ally by casting Alteration. Instead of taking consequences and Resisting, make an Alteration roll and if the result is greater than a 4 then the harm is fully negated by a spell. If the result 3 or below it is simply resisted/reduced.

Items

• Elementalist Staff(1): a simple wooden staff that appears to be no more than a severed branch about 6ft long. It has various sub-branches at its end, perfect for fitting multiple attuning stones or other things to increase spellcasting potency or scale. The staff further increases the spellcasting scale itself for any spell using base elements.
• Embroidered Robes(1): Robes with a hood. Finely stitched with embroidery showing elements of the Elementalist’s choosing. Provides basic magical warding acting as light armor against magical damage without impeding spell casting. Increases potency of Boss and Style actions in an academic environment.

Traveler

Weaver of worlds. Uses Illusion and Alteration to remake the minds and worlds of those around them. Can alter time.

prerequisites: Wizard, Cleric, or Battle Mage

Playbook Abilities

• *Chronomancy: use Special Armor to reroll any roll including those of other Party members. The reroll uses the same die pool as the original roll and the result of the reroll will be the final result no matter if the outcome is better or worse than the original.
• Mass Delusion: push yourself to cast an illusion spell that has the scale to cover an entire city block. This illusion can persist without your Concentration but can still be dismissed at your discretion. You may choose specific targets to remain immune from the spell. You may only have a single Mass Delusion active at any given time and if a new one is cast then the older one is immediately dismissed.
• Remaster: use special armor or take 2 stress to cast an alteration spell that can change any object into something else of similar scale and type but changed in some way. Doesn’t work on humans or allies, but works on beasts and monsters as well as buildings, ships, tools etc. If it only partially succeeds the end result may differ from the desired result. This alteration is permanent and as such doesn’t require Concentration.
• Mayhem: push yourself to cast an Illusion to make everyone in the scale of a large room or courtyard turn on each other and begin fighting. You may choose targets to be immune from the spell. All affected targets will begin attacking indiscriminately and may target you or your party amongst others if present. Must be held with Concentration but becomes more difficult as more people are injured or killed potentially requiring you to resist losing concentration at points. Becomes unsustainable when only one target remains.
• Replicator: Once per Downtime, you can use your magic to apply 3 ticks on any 1 long term project clock of your choice where you or a Party member are working to create or alter an object. The action is automatic and does not require a roll or count as a Downtime action.

Items

• Jeweled Staff of Lore(1): legendary ancient staff made of special materials and with a large cracked globe at the end of it. Greatly increases the scale of Magic but increases Channeling time by double.
• Chronicles of the Wave(0): a unique magical tome that contains alternate histories of other timelines and possibilities. It isn’t completely full yet and occasionally new pages are magically written and rewritten. The Traveler may occasionally be able to read from it to see future possibilities.

Beast Master

Mystical shepherd. Capable of controlling wildlife, natural beings, and some monsters alike, both present and conjured. Gains a mount.

prerequisites: Wizard, Cleric, or Battle Mage

Playbook Abilities

• *Elk’s Heart: Beast Master may roll any magic besides Destruction to charm a monster or animal or dim-witted human within their scale rating to fight on the side of the Party. The Beast Master must maintain Concentration to hold the effect if successful and will lose control of the subject when Concentration is broken or the subject dies. Does not work on humans or beings with sufficient sophistication or intelligence.
• Rabbit’s Whisper: the Beast Master can communicate with animals or beasts. The Level of communication is directly proportional to the subject’s ability to think and respond.
• Eagle’s Eye: the Beast Master can Concentrate to see through the eyes of their familiar, mount, or any charmed subject under their control.
• Lizard’s Breath: Beast Master may push themselves and roll Destruction to breathe a magical force of their choice to attack. The attack creates a sustained spray over a wide area and reaches up to 20 meters. On a Successful roll (6 or above) all enemies within range will be damaged if they are unable to resist or dodge. Alternatively, the Beast Master may focus the attack on a singular target for increased potency and scale.
• Bear’s Strength: Beast Master may push themselves to attempt Feats of Strength but by rolling a Magic action of their choice instead of the standard ratings.

Items

• *Incredible Mount(0): gain a Creature that you may ride and control. The creature may be any creature, monster or animal, of the Beast Master’s choosing as long as it fits with the scale of the Beast Master’s Conjuration ability. The Mount may take actions based on the Beast Master’s direction and may get their own Action Ratings as set by the GM. The Mount can be released or left behind in areas as desired and will respond to a summoning command as quickly as it can, though it must travel to your location. The Mount may also Protect the Beast Master as desired and may take damage in their stead. Mount’s can’t be healed outside of Downtime and can be killed. If a Mount dies, the Beast Master may summon a new Mount during Downtime.
• Tack Nip(0): a small leaf that gives simple animals great pleasure. Has no effect on humans or intelligent species, but beasts and some monsters love it.
• Electro-Noose(1): an extendable pole with a metal wire loop at the end which can be expanded or contracted from the grip. Conductive with electrical magic but the grip is insulated. Useful for catching beasts alive, and sometimes people.
• Monarch’s Pheromones(1): a small vial of pheromones from a queen or leader of a beast type. It can be poured or broken on a location to draw all the beasts of that type in the immediate area to the scent.

Dedication

Dedicated to Lisa, Olivia, and Annabelle.

Special Thanks

Sincerest thanks to Dan, Nic, Conor, Matt, and Jim

Aka the A-Team:

Adon (The Beast)
Albertus Sinclair
Amaximus (Max) Paddington
Ace (Porkchop)
Angus (The Night Badger)

Legends of Wenkroy and the best adventurers a GM could ask for.

Thanks to Buffalo Game Space. The best game dev group out there.