A GAME OF LORDS

AND LEADERS
 A GAME OF LORDS
AND LEADERS
WRITING AND DESIGN: GREG STOLZE
EDITING: GREG STOLZE
PRIMARY PROOFREADING: SKYLAR MANNEN
ADDITIONAL PROOFREADING: DOUGLAS BAILEY,
TORSTEN BERNHARDT, ROSE DAVIDSON, TROY LENZE,
S. BEN MELHUISH, CAMERON VEITCH
SECOND EDITION GRAPHIC DESIGN: HAL MANGOLD
ART DIRECTION: HAL MANGOLD & GREG STOLZE
COVER ART: ALYSSA MCCARTHY
INTERIOR ART: MAURO ALOCCI, DOUGLASS DERI,
STANISLAV DIKOLENKO, TOBY FOX, SIBA GASSER, DAVID HUESO,
[Link]/GRANDFAILURE, [Link]/IMAGE_
JUNGLE, [Link]/DANIEL ESKRIDGE, RHYS KIM,
DANIL LUZIN, MIRCO PAGANESSI, HEX SHARPE, NICOLE SLATER,
MICHAEL EDWARD SMITH, AND STEVE WOOD
FIRST EDITION GRAPHIC DESIGN: DANIEL SOLIS
VERY SPECIAL THANKS TO THE BACKERS OF THE REIGN KICKSTARTER.
ATOMIC THIS NEW EDITION WOULD NOT EXIST WITHOUT YOUR PATIENCE AND SUPPORT.
OVERMIND
PRESS DEDICATED TO TIM TONER, WHOSE IMAGINATION
IS MATCHED ONLY BY HIS GENEROSITY.
Reign: Rules is © 2022 Greg Stolze. All rightes reserved.
Published by Atomic Overmind Press LLC, with permission. First Printing.

Atomic Overmind Press, LLC 143 Wesmond Dr. A lexandria, VA 22305

 CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION...............6 The General's Visage.................................................... 51
Golden Insight ............................................................. 52
Rules and Setting....................................................... 6
Heart Stealing .............................................................. 53
What is the One-Roll Engine?................................... 7
Inner Senses.................................................................. 53
Which Dice do I use, and How Many?.......................... 7
The Jester's Course........................................................ 53
Reading the Result......................................................... 7
Military Deceit ............................................................ 54
Types of Rolls................................................................. 8
One With the Land ..................................................... 54
What If It’s Really Tricky?........................................... 10
Opetkan Vanishing....................................................... 55
Game Terms............................................................ 10
Path of the Moistened Eye........................................... 56
Types of Dice................................................................ 10
Pickpocket's Failsafe..................................................... 56
Other Terms................................................................. 12
Political Whispers......................................................... 57
CHAPTER TWO: Proper Climbing........................................................... 57
CHARACTER GENERATION.................... 14 Pure Breath Techniques................................................ 58
Generation Methods.................................................. 15 Relentless Pursuit......................................................... 58
Common Elements.................................................. 15 Respectful Clarity of Speech........................................ 58
Stats............................................................................... 15 The School of Perpetual Readiness............................... 59
Skills............................................................................. 15 Soul Armor .................................................................. 60
Martial Paths & Esoteric Disciplines........................... 21 Spiritual Escutcheon .................................................... 60
Money........................................................................... 21 Strategic Education....................................................... 61
Passions......................................................................... 22 Suuldru Mount ............................................................ 61
Advantages.................................................................... 22 Svrana Run................................................................... 61
Problems....................................................................... 23 Troubadour's Fortune................................................... 62
Point Buy................................................................... 23 Truil Bodywork............................................................ 63
One Random Roll...................................................... 23 The Tyrant's Command................................................ 63
Mix and Match...........................................................24 Ussient Herbalism......................................................... 64
Character Generation Strategy................................... 29 Constructing Esoteric Disciplines............................ 65
Money..................................................................... 72
CHAPTER THREE: Buying Things............................................................... 72
THE PLAYER’S CHAPTER...................... 31 Losing Wealth.............................................................. 73
Skills.......................................................................... 31 Gaining Wealth............................................................ 73
Character Development........................................... 38
Earning XP................................................................... 38
CHAPTER FOUR:
Spending XP................................................................. 38
GETTING THE GAME YOU WANT..........77
Advantages.............................................................. 40 Mixing It Up.............................................................. 79
Problems................................................................. 43 The Raider Reunion...................................................... 79
Esoteric Disciplines................................................. 44 Iron Gadflies................................................................. 79
Ardent Scholarship ...................................................... 44 Bardic Mania................................................................ 79
Autumn Warfare ......................................................... 45 CHAPTER FIVE: COMPANIES..................80
Beloved Dignity ........................................................... 46
What is a Company?................................................. 80
Blades for the Empress................................................. 46
Goal.............................................................................. 80
The Blessings of Ciovla................................................. 46
The Qualities of a Company......................................... 80
Brute Racing................................................................. 47
Managing Qualities...................................................... 85
The Courtier’s Legendary Appeal ............................... 47
Raising the Pool............................................................ 86
Dancing Unseen........................................................... 48
What Companies Do............................................... 87
The Divine Regimen .................................................... 49
Attack........................................................................... 87
Ear of the Bard's Guild ................................................ 49
Being Informed............................................................. 88
Elder Eyes..................................................................... 50
Counter-Espionage....................................................... 89
Eloquence and Elocution ............................................. 50
Defend.......................................................................... 89
The Eyes of the Crown of Salck ................................... 50
Espionage...................................................................... 89
Financial Sophistication............................................... 50

2 Table of Contents
 Improve the Culture..................................................... 90
Policing......................................................................... 90
CHAPTER SEVEN:
Rise in Stature.............................................................. 90 ADVANCED COMBAT........................... 126
Train and Levy Troops................................................. 91 Simple Maneuvers................................................. 126
Unconventional Warfare............................................... 91 Display Move.............................................................. 127
Merging and Dividing............................................. 93 Draw........................................................................... 127
Combining Companies ................................................ 93 Feint............................................................................ 127
Improving a Quality................................................... 96 Pin............................................................................... 128
Combining.................................................................... 96 Restrain....................................................................... 128
Conquest....................................................................... 96 Shove........................................................................... 128
Experience.................................................................... 97 Stand........................................................................... 129
Company Generation............................................... 98 Tackle.......................................................................... 129
Some Company Examples............................................ 98 Threaten...................................................................... 129
Small Companies.......................................................... 98 Wait............................................................................ 129
Medium Companies..................................................... 99 Advanced Maneuvers............................................. 130
Large Companies........................................................ 100 Charge........................................................................ 130
Assets.................................................................... 101 Disarm........................................................................ 130
Influence Assets.......................................................... 101 Disfiguring Strike ...................................................... 130
Might Assets............................................................... 101 Display Kill................................................................. 131
Sovereignty Assets...................................................... 102 Knockout.................................................................... 131
Territory Assets........................................................... 102 Slam............................................................................ 132
Treasure Assets........................................................... 103 Strangle....................................................................... 133
A Kingdom in a Fistful of Dice............................... 104 Trip............................................................................. 133
What Sets Mean......................................................... 104 Expert Maneuvers ................................................. 134
Combinations.............................................................. 134
CHAPTER SIX: COMBAT........................109 Iron Kiss...................................................................... 134
Resolving Combat................................................. 109 Redirect....................................................................... 134
The Combat Round ................................................... 109 Submission Hold......................................................... 135
Damage ...................................................................... 110 Martial Paths........................................................ 136
Cover .......................................................................... 111 Broadcutter's Path ...................................................... 136
Environment............................................................... 112 The Black Thirst.......................................................... 137
Gear...................................................................... 113 Eye of Death............................................................... 137
Armor ........................................................................ 113 Guai's Path................................................................. 138
Weapons..................................................................... 114 Hell's Hooks............................................................... 139
Combat Conditions............................................... 115 The Horsewoman’s Course......................................... 139
The Seven Maneuvers of Highly Effective People.... 116 Iron Tortoise Technique............................................. 140
Attack ........................................................................116 Maemeck War-Pick.................................................... 141
Dodge ........................................................................116 Path of the Razor Heart............................................. 141
Parry..........................................................................116 Path of the Serpent's Fangs........................................ 142
Move .........................................................................117 Path of Twin Fury....................................................... 142
Aim............................................................................117 Roloneepo (Kicking Sailor)........................................ 143
Called Shot.................................................................117 The School of the Insouciant Monkey........................ 145
Multiple Actions.........................................................118 Spearman Squad......................................................... 145
Unworthy Opponents............................................. 118 Thunder Fist Techniques............................................ 146
Threat.......................................................................... 118 The Winnowing Axe.................................................. 146
Out of the Action....................................................... 119 The Yielding Way....................................................... 146
Morale Attacks........................................................... 119
Ganging Up................................................................ 119 CHAPTER EIGHT: FLUID COMBAT.......... 148
Minion Tactics and Limitations................................. 120 The Phases of Fluid Combat....................................... 148
Strategies Against Mobs............................................. 121 Effects Of Fluid Combat............................................ 149
My Loyal Followers................................................ 123 Fluid Martial Techniques........................................... 152
Equipment & Enchantment....................................... 123 Flying Serpent's Coil.................................................. 152
Inspiration................................................................... 123 CHAPTER NINE: DIE, MEN!.................... 153
Simplified Combat ................................................ 125
Get on the Same Page................................................ 125 You Need..................................................................... 153
Trust Your GM........................................................... 125 Defining the Scale...................................................... 153
Try New Stuff............................................................. 125 The Map...................................................................... 154

Table of Contents 3
 Setting Up................................................................... 154 Crew............................................................................ 194
In Battle...................................................................... 154 The Storm.............................................................. 195
That's Enough, But There's More............................... 157 Sink or Sail............................................................ 196
Beforehand.................................................................. 196
CHAPTER TEN: In the Storm................................................................ 197
ENEMIES OF AWFUL SCALE................ 159 Fixing................................................................... 200
The Factors of an Epic Threat.................................. 159 Sinking................................................................. 200
The Factors.................................................................. 159 Love Blossoms............................................................ 201
Attack......................................................................... 160
Defend........................................................................ 160
CHAPTER FIFTEEN:
Epic Injuries.......................................................... 160 SPLENDID THINGS OCCUR..................201
Acquires an Enchanted Artifact................................ 204
CHAPTER ELEVEN: AFTER THEM!......... 162 Receives Lands, Titles & Awards of Merit................ 206
The Lead..................................................................... 162 Knight......................................................................... 206
Gaining vs. Offsetting................................................ 162 Lord/Lady.................................................................. 207
Ganging Up................................................................ 163 Duke/Duchess............................................................ 208
Trumping.................................................................... 163 King/Queen................................................................ 208
Pursuit Tactics............................................................ 164 Emperor/Empress....................................................... 208
Evasion Tactics........................................................... 164 Officer of the Crown................................................... 208
Equipment Advantage................................................ 165 General....................................................................... 209
Resolving Pursuit Rounds.......................................... 165 Judge........................................................................... 209
System-Specific Esoteric Disciplines...................... 168 Master_________..................................................... 209
Brute Racing............................................................... 168 _______to Her Royal Highness................................ 209
Elder Eyes................................................................... 169 Champion................................................................... 209
Pickpocket's Failsafe................................................... 169 Advisor to the Throne................................................. 210
Using Other Esoteric Disciplines........................... 170 Confidential Pursuer................................................... 210
CHAPTER TWELVE: MAGIC....................172 Ambassador................................................................ 211
Lives Happily Ever After.......................................... 211
What Can It Do?........................................................ 172
What Can It Not Do?................................................. 173 APPENDIX ONE: NAIN............................ 212
How Difficult Is It?..................................................... 173 One-Roll Monsters..................................................... 212
How Did It Affect the Setting?...................................174
Creating New Magic Styles.....................................174 APPENDIX TWO: ARDWIN..................... 216
Building Your Own Magic..................................... 178 The Dwarves............................................................... 216
How Do you Properly Balance Spells?....................... 178 Metal Heart...............................................................217
Spell Building Examples............................................ 180 The Dwarven Way.....................................................217
Burned At the Stake................................................... 183 The Elves..................................................................... 218
Poisoned by a Scorned Lover...................................... 183 Woodwise...................................................................218
Forest Wisdom............................................................219
CHAPTER THIRTEEN: The Gnomes................................................................ 220
DREADFUL THINGS OCCUR................ 183 Earth Affinity............................................................ 220
Thrown Off a Cliff...................................................... 185 Gnomish Manners..................................................... 220
Drowned..................................................................... 185 The Goblins................................................................ 221
Dying a Slow, Agonizing, Helpless, Goblinry.....................................................................222
Meaningless Death.................................................. 185 The Way Goblins Do Things........................................222
General Bestiary.................................................... 187 The Orcs...................................................................... 223
Unworthy Animals..................................................... 188 The Mysteries of Purity.............................................. 223
Meaningful Threats.................................................... 188 Orc Ways....................................................................224
CHAPTER FOURTEEN: The Sprites.................................................................. 225
WORK FOR YOUR LIVES!.................... 193 Glammer....................................................................225
Sprite Ways................................................................226
Overview............................................................... 193
Your Ship............................................................. 193 INDEX...................................................227
Locations.................................................................... 193 CHARACTER SHEET..............................234
It's A Custom Frigate................................................. 194 COMPANY SHEET................................. 238

4 Table of Contents
By my words, cities burn. In my youth, I carried the sword, led from
the front, charged the gap and showed the soldiers around me that I would risk death at their side. Those days their
shed blood mingled with that of royalty. I killed men face to face, in the clash of arms, and at night I drank in victory
and slept in perfect tranquility.
I miss those days.
War taught me well how to seize men’s hearts with words, and in the peace I traveled our new lands, telling
all they were now free, they were now part of a greater nation, they were partaking in a triumphant destiny that
would remake the world. I spoke my grand words and they believed, they endured the taxes on their labor and the
exhaustion of their fields and, in time, they gave me their children for the next war. The last war, I promised them.
I gave them my word, my royal vow.
Those nights I drank to be cordial. Most nights I slept, having listened only to the very
fanatics I’d persuaded. Most nights I believed it all.
That next war I served as general and I came to understand why my youth
had been a series of triumphs, that a good war is not built on fair fights but on
maneuver and advantage and the treachery of the frightened. I welcomed betrayers
and I poisoned brave champions before they could shake my ranks’ confidence. I
countenanced atrocity to terrify my enemies, I led sorcerers who could sweep the land
with plague, bring the dead back hungry, shatter walls in on the children, the wives,
the frail elders huddled within. Given the choice to crush everything the enemy
fought for, I accepted it and eagerly.
Those nights, I slept poorly. Or I drank.
Now I wear the crown. My father fell to an assassin who was never captured,
who may well be a laborer in my very castle. The people who once adored
me whisper that by my hand this deed was done. The whispers are fed by
the mothers whose sons never came back, by the soldiers who saw their
compatriots made monstrous by enchantment, by the paupers taxed
into penury by the army’s hungry demands.
I cannot sleep, and I dare not drink.
The conquered lands have rebelled, and the riots
are beginning even here. My own people cry out
against me. My people, for whom my blood fell,
and that of so many others. The people call me
a liar and a murderer, when everything I have
done is for them, for the land, for my country.
But the troops who looted and came home
rich in my employ, they are loyal. The wizards
answer my call, for gold or power or simply
a chance to test their twisted might. I speak
the word, sign the paper, gesture with
my royal scepter and all the horrors
I have raised can descend on those
cities, my cities, the cities I won.
At my command they too can burn.
If I do it, I know what the passionate speakers will say, and
I know what cause will call the brave swordsmen. If I turn
on my own in wrath, there is no turning back until the land is
completely broken, chained with despair, sapped of will like a whipped and
whimpering dog.

It may be the only way.

 Leadership and authority are not inherently dull.

W elcome to Reign, a
game of excitement,
intrigue, mass battles,
tough choices, and dramatic
personal responsibility. It’s a fantasy game, so you can expect
RULES AND SETTING
bizarre creatures and glint-eyed barbarians with battle-notched
Tabletop RPGs are conversation-created stories told, most often,
swords. It’s also a political game, so look forward to deceitful
by a group of players in collaboration with a game moderator or
ambassadors, wretched betrayers, cunning spies—but also loyal
“GM.” Now and again, to throw a wrench in everyone’s plans,
governors, heroic generals and stern, implacable monarchs.
dice get thrown. There’s a set of rules—the “engine” or “mechan-
Moreover, Reign is designed from the ground up to let you be
ics”—that open up some options and cut others off. “You can only
one of the movers and shakers. Your character can become the
kill that guy in a single stroke if you roll a pair of tens,” just to keep
High Priestess, the general, or even the ruler of a nation.
things interesting. If you’re an experienced gamer, you get all this.
You do this with a Company. Many roleplaying games pit
If you’re new, hey, welcome! You belong here. I’ve got a couple
a small mismatched band against the evil cult or the brain-
articles up on the internet for total beginners at the following
washed army or the mindless hordes of twisted Servitors of
places:
the Dark Ones. In Reign, you get some servitors of your own.
Your Company is larger and more influential than a few oddball • [Link]
adventurers, and you can use it to work your will on the world • [Link]
at large. There’s a price, of course: the power your followers give This edition of Reign has two books, divided by rules and
you is balanced by your responsibility to them. setting, but as you get into them, it becomes clear that the
Reign is based on the One Roll Engine, and I’ve tried to leave division is… imperfect. The rules have elements of setting
the system open. There are other One Roll Engine games out baked in to their descriptions because that’s how they were
there—Godlike, Nemesis, Wild Talents, A Dirty World and Better composed and conceived. The rules are tailored for the setting
Angels. The Company system from Reign should easily sit on (and, eventually, settings). So feel free to read either book
top of those, allowing you to add a layer of government to those first. Reading the rules can make the different cultures more
games’ personal focus. In fact, I’ve tried to make the Company sensible since this game focuses on societies and guiding or
rules portable enough that you could stack them on top of any controlling them. On the other hand, reading the setting first
other RPG you play. can inspire you to see what sort of character you want to have

6 Chapter One: Introduction

 YOU GET A PASS
As a GM, there is one set of circumstances where you should let the players succeed without rolling even if the task is important
or tricky. It’s when the options are “either they succeed or everything stops.” If there’s no story unless they succeed at getting
through a particular door, their attempts to pick it or batter it down shouldn’t require a roll.
D. Vincent Baker phrases it as “say yes or roll the dice.” My take on that is, if an outcome doesn’t matter, letting the characters be
awesome has few downsides. I’d clarify it to “make your yes/no/maybe situations clear.” Some things they just can’t do—“No, you can’t
roll to chew through handcuffs, c’mon.” Some things, many things, you roll for, but some you just give them. Understand that sometimes
your first instinct may be to make ‘em roll, but the game moves faster and has more interesting events if you let the little stuff slide.

and what sorts of adventures you want to pursue, leading you

to the many, many, many specialized options in this volume.
REIGN: REALMS
The first part of this rulebook is the general stuff that shows The rules in this book can definitely be adapted to a world
up in 90+% of the Reign games played—how players roll to do of your own creation, but Reign’s default setting is a pair of
things, how they make characters, etc. The second part is a col- continents named Heluso and Milonda, and the details on
lection of modular rules that your group can use to play the stuff them are covered in the second Reign book, Realms. The
you enjoy while disregarding elements that interest you less. If two continents are home to many nations, ranging from a
you want to emphasize combat, you can use a set of highly par- ragtag group of primitive nomads up through the world’s
ticular “advanced” rules. If that interests you less than having greatest political entity, The Empire. The Realms book
exciting chase scenes, you can use simpler fights and the more has a bit of a non-standard structure, starting out with an
elaborate pursuit mechanics in the chapter entitled After Them! overview of all of those cultures. After those individual
In different recipes, different ingredients get used. writeups, you get a general overview of the world, which is
This book also has a third section of appendices, covering decidedly non-scientific. Brace yourselves.
mechanics for the first two alternate fantasy settings: Nain, and Maybe this sounds backwards, starting with the
Ardwin. Each has been updated with suggested system recipes immediate and only then expanding out to the general,
from part two. but my intention is to clarify. By the time you reach the
chapter on the continents, you should already have a good
WHAT IS THE understanding of the daily concerns of the people living on

ONE-ROLL ENGINE? them, and that’s ultimately where your stories are going to
play out. Check out Reign: Realms and immerse yourself !

The One-Roll Engine (or ORE for short) is a set of rules for
deciding if an event happens in the game’s shared setting.
Players and the Game Master roll dice. The results of those rolls
READING THE RESULT
determine events that aren’t otherwise obvious. You want to look for matches—dice in your pool that turned
No one rolls for actions that are trivially easy or for actions up the same number. If I roll 2,3,5,6,9, and 10, I receive zero
that are impossible. You can’t roll to shoot down the sun. You matches and the roll fails.. If I roll 1,1,4,5,7, and 7, I receive two
don’t need to roll to tie your shoes. You only have to roll during matches. One is a pair of 1s (abbreviated 2×1), and one is a pair
an archery contest if someone cares about the outcome and if it of sevens (2×7). It’s a little like poker—you’re looking for pairs
matters to where the game is going. But if an event is in some and treys, and higher cards are generally better.
doubt, and matters to the course of events, you roll dice to see There are two measures of success with this system: how
what happens. many dice turned up in a set (the set’s Width) and the size of
the number itself (its Height).
WHICH DICE DO I USE, The most common set is the smallest, a pair. That’s a match
with Width 2. A pair of twos, a pair of nines, a pair of fives—
AND HOW MANY? they all have different Heights but the same Width.
Higher and Wider are both desirable, though in different ways.
The ORE uses ten-sided dice (or d10s). In most cases, you
A 4×1 result has poor Height but great Width. A 2×10 result has
roll a number of dice equal to a character’s Stat (a measure of
great Height but poor Width. Which is better? That depends on
general natural talent) plus a Skill (which measures training,
the situation because Height and Width indicate different things.
experience or narrow intuitive ability). This combined number
is called your pool for that task. If, for example, my character
is trying to convince a merchant to give me a break on a large
purchase, I’d roll my “haggle pool.” This consists of my Haggle
Skill (which measures mercantile bullying) and my Command
Stat (which shows how generally impressive and overbearing I
can be). If my Haggle Skill is 4 and my Command Stat is 2, my
pool for haggling is 6 dice (The abbreviation of this is 6d).
GOOD WIDTH, POOR HEIGHT POOR WIDTH, GOOD HEIGHT

Chapter One: Introduction 7

“H
Width usually indicates speed and competence. Wide sets
onored judge, do not do this thing,” the old priest happen before narrow sets—4×1 indicates something done with
said. much greater speed than that 2×10. In a fight (for a common
example), Wider sets go first and do more damage when they hit.
“I’m not a judge any more. My title is ‘Thubor.’”
Height usually shows how favorable circumstances were at
“That is their name for you. To me you will always be a judge, that exact moment and how well the character took advan-
elect by law, servant of the people. Don’t do this. It’s not our way.”
way.” tage of those circumstances. Sometimes the poorly skilled guy
The younger woman shifted on her seat, uncomfortable. The rack (the one with the small pool, who can’t get Wide results) still
upon which the priest lay stretched was new. It still smelt of fresh-cut gets lucky. In a fight, Height indicates where a blow falls. Low
pine. “I wondered how long it would take you to beg mercy.”
mercy.” results strike less vital areas like the arms and legs. Higher
outcomes are strikes to the body or even the head.
“I ask not for my sake, but yours. Once you torture me, it will
To sum up: you want to get results that are both Wide and
change you forever.”
forever.” The ropes were steady, but not yet taut. “You High. If I roll five dice, the best possible result is a 5×10. I may
fought them, once. That sword at your side has shed Opetkan wind up having to choose between Width and Height—that
blood. Why did you surrender?”
surrender?” same 5d pool could turn up 2,2,2,9, and 9, giving me a 3×2 and
“I saw their armies blacken the land. We could never win, a 2×9. The set I pick depends on what I’m trying to accomplish
and they respected me. I got us a better peace for having shown at the moment.
courage.””
courage.
“Now you kill us for them. Is that a better peace?”
peace?” TYPES OF ROLLS
“Yes.”” The judge, the Thubor, turned and glared and raised her
“Yes. Different circumstances pose different challenges. Thus, dif-
voice, a little. “You have not seen them lay pyramids of skulls. I have. ferent types of rolls are called for. For instance, trying to
They have traditions for brutality, old man, protocols for the way to overcome an inanimate obstacle—outwitting a cunning
burn prisoners alive! They… the piling of bodies is a language to the death-trap, translating a document, perfecting a finicky soufflé
recipe—is different from a competition with something that’s
Opetkans. If they lay a three-sided pyramid of heads before a village, it
alive and thinking (or, at least, reacting). Both are different
means one thing, and if it has four sides, that’s something else. Can you from striving against an adaptive creature whose goal is not to
imagine what they must be like to have their massacres so orderly? I accomplish something, but to prevent you from doing some-
don’t doubt that you hate them, but you can’t hate them more than I. thing. These differences are handled with static, dynamic,
I’m sure you despise me, but no more than I despise myself. But in the and opposed rolls.
night, when I wake sweating, it’s not from dreams of what they do now,
but what they would do if we resisted again.”
again.” STATIC CONTESTS
“The gods never neglect a righteous cause.”
cause.” These are the simplest challenges. It doesn’t mean they’re the
easiest, but the situation you’re trying to overcome isn’t actively
“They have gods too.”too.” The Thubor glanced at the soldiers. “Is he
adapting to what you’re trying. In a static contest, it’s your character
made fast?”
fast?” They nodded. against circumstance. Perhaps he’s trying to swim across a river, lift
“Take him before the crowd, but wait for me before you begin a big boulder, carve an exquisite statue, or get out of the way of an
the… before you begin.”
begin.” avalanche. It’s a one-time event in which he either succeeds or fails.
“You are a fool to give me an audience,”
audience,” the priest said. To get the result, roll your pool. Got a match? Good. You
“Am I? When your gods leave you to die, I think the people will succeeded. It’s that simple.
If it’s not that simple, meaning your GM wants to make the
lose their courage.”
courage.”
challenge more offputting, there may be a difficulty to your roll
“My son will carry on the battle.”
battle.” or a penalty to your pool. (They’re explained a little further on,
“Your son is an impressive warrior, but he is slow of speech. He under What if it’s Really Tricky?) That is, you may need to get
can win fights but not hearts. No, of the two of you, he is the pest. a minimum Height in your set, or you may roll a smaller pool
You are the peril.”
peril.” than you otherwise would. But still, it’s one roll; you either get
“If you kill me before their eyes, their anger is sure to boil forth it done or you don’t.
If you fail a static contest, you can try again if you’ve got the
and destroy you, the invaders, and their entire corrupt enterprise.”
enterprise.”
time. The difficulty or penalty doesn’t change, if there is one,
The judge met his gaze. “So it’s a good plan either way then,” then,” so you can generally just keep trying to scale that cliff until
she said. you find a way up or give up because it’s too hard. The excep-
There was a low and ugly sound from the crowd as the priest tion to this is if you’re in the middle of some peril that gives
was wheeled out. The Thubor had stripped him of his white you a time limit or if the action itself is draining. A perfect
robes, embroidered with the names of his followers. Those robes example is trying to swim across a river. You take your first
roll normally and, if that fails, you manage to struggle back
had long trains, the names stitched tiny with care, but now his
to shore. If you try again immediately, your GM may ask for
flesh, graying with age, was naked to the sun. The Thubor had a Body + Endurance roll to see if your lungs quit on you, or
not even left him a loincloth. maybe assess a penalty or put on a Difficulty rating because
you’re tired. But the important thing about static contests is

8 Chapter One: Introduction

that success or failure all comes down to your roll. You’re not • If the active character fails, the blocker’s roll doesn’t mat-
interacting with anyone else’s results. ter. If that rogue can’t get up the rope on her own, she sure
It’s often a good idea for GMs to be pretty generous with as hell can’t do it with someone grabbing at her legs.
static contests, imposing low penalties and Difficulties, if any are
• If the active character succeeds and the blocker gets
assessed at all. Moving the story along is a good thing. Blocking
no successes, then the attempt succeeds, just like you’d
characters because they can’t get up the hill wastes time and annoys
expect. The active character gets up, gets heard, or spills
players. The time to make static contests harder is when achiev-
a little blood.
ing it gives them a significant advantage. If, for example, scaling
a tall, sheer and deadly cliff lets them come at a fortress from a It gets interesting when both succeed. Then the dice in the
poorly-defended back side, then the roll should be challenging. blocker’s pool become Gobble Dice. Each Gobble die can
After all, if they succeed, they’ve made things substantially easier counteract one die in an opponent’s set as long as that die is of
for themselves, and substantially easy stories aren’t very involving. equal or lesser value. Once a set is broken down to one die or
fewer, it no longer has any value.
DYNAMIC CONTESTS EXAMPLE
A dynamic contest is when two people are trying to do the
same thing at the same time, but only one can succeed. An The active player rolls 1,2,7,7,and 10 to get her character
example is a footrace (two or more characters using their Body up the rope. The blocker rolls 8,8,and 9, and both his eights
+ Run pools), but it could also be a battle of wits as two cour- become Gobble Dice. By gobbling one die out of her 2×7
set, he reduces it to 1×7—no match.
tesans each try to impress a mysterious and beautiful stranger.
(In that case, it could be dueling Charm + Fascinate pools.)
Or two advisors could attempt to sway the opinions of a queen
by making Charm + Fascinate (or Command + Intimidate, or
Charm + Plead) rolls.
Regardless of the type of contest, the rules all work the same
way. All the involved contestants roll their pools and choose the But if timing matters, as it so often does, even a High set may
sets they’re going to use. Then those sets are compared and the not work if it’s not Wide enough.
best one walks away with the prize—the trophy of the race, the
attention of the stranger, or the favor of the queen. EXAMPLE
Which set is “best”? That depends on the nature of the com-
The attacking character rolls a 2,2,2,6,8,and 9 in her Body
petition. In a foot race, the GM might say that the Widest set
+ Fight roll, for a 3×2 result. The defender tries to dodge
is the best, because Width generally indicates speed. With the and rolls 2,4,6,9,and 9. He has a 2×9 set of Gobble Dice,
struggling suitors, Height might be a better gauge as it shows but because Width determines speed, the strike occurs
who’s favored by fortune and who’s adapting better to events. before he can react. Even though his dice were big enough,
To persuade a ruler, it might be Height if each side has plenty they weren’t fast enough.
of time to set out arguments and provide evidence. If the bar-
barians are at the gate and the debate is over “fight or flee,” then
Width might serve, as a tersely-stated case plays to the queen’s
need for decisiveness.
The GM should always make it clear whether Width is
the deciding factor, or Height… or whether there are differ-
ent rewards for each. Perhaps the quick wit wins the fair young
Thus, a Gobble set must often be at least as Wide and at least
man’s eye, but the narrow/High result keeps her dignity and
as High as any set it’s trying to spoil. That’s a pretty serious
impresses the onlookers, who dismiss the Wide/low character’s
drawback to being reactive instead of active. (In fairness, too
result as desperate clowning.
much of “I’m going to stop him doing what he’s doing!” does
OPPOSED CONTESTS tend to slow play to a crawl, so burdening the naysayer is a story
issue as much as a mechanical one.)
The final type of contest is when one character wants to climb It’s not always the case, however. If it’s a debate or discussion
the rope, present his evidence, or bury her sword in some- and you both get plenty of time to make your arguments, the
body’s spleen. Another character wants to pull her down, get Width of your Gobble set doesn’t matter. But remember that
his testimony dismissed as unreliable, or avoid that lethal sword you can only Gobble if you’re trying to discredit his argument—
thrust. These are opposed contests and they are handled with a not make an argument of your own. If your opponent is trying
mechanic called Gobble Dice (see page 11). to convince the Empress that the Dindavarans are massing to
The character attempting the action (climb, debate, stab) rolls attack, and all you have to do is provide reasonable alternate
their pool normally. In these instances, we’re looking at Coor- explanations for their movements because she doesn’t really
dination + Climb, Command + Inspire, and Body + Fight. The want to believe it, then it’s an opposed contest.
blocking character who wants to drag, obfuscate, or jump back Furthermore, the advantage to Gobble Dice is that once you
rolls a pool as well. In these examples, Body + Fight, Command have them, they’re more efficient—especially against multiple
+ Inspire, or Coordination + Dodge could be used. actions.

Chapter One: Introduction 9

 If you end up with a really, really high rating in a skill, you can
EXAMPLE
use dice beyond the upper limit of 5 to buy off penalties. See
Instead of just climbing the rope, the active character is trying page 38 for more details on that.
to do two things. She’s trying to seize a precious emerald off
a pedestal and then climb up the rope, but if she can’t get EXAMPLE
the gem, she still tries to flee the emerald’s guardian. She
rolls a multiple action (as explained on page 118.) hoping to Rugris is trying to find a misfiled scroll in a vast and poor-
get two sets—one to grab the gem and one to go up the rope. ly-organized library. Normally this would be a Knowlege +
She gets her two sets, a 2×2 and a 2×5. The guard, however, Lore roll, and Rugris’ pool for that is a measly 3. Since the GM
only has to roll one Body + Fight pool to interfere with what assesses this search as imposing a –2d penalty, Rugris is out
she’s doing. The guard rolls a 2×7, which lets him respond of luck. With only 1d in his pool, he cannot make a match.
to everything she tries. His two sevens become Gobble Dice. A character with a large pool—8d, say—would only roll 6d
With one, he knocks a single die out of the 2×5 set, reducing while trying to find that confounded parchment.
it to 1×5 and, therefore, nothing. With the other, he takes a
die out of the 2×2 set. Just by grabbing her, he’s prevented
her from taking the stone and from climbing the rope.
THE DIFFERENCE
There is a vital difference between penalties and Difficulties,
and it’s not immediately apparent unless you’ve crunched lots of
probability math. To spare you that, I’ll just write it out:
Difficulties make things harder for everyone to an equal
degree, regardless of pool size. Penalties are far harsher to
people with small pools than those with large pools.
As a GM, you’re almost always better off using a Difficulty and
WHAT IF IT’S REALLY TRICKY? saving the penalties for situations where (1) they’re in the rules
or (2) it’s something that should be damn near impossible for an
Climbing a ladder is easier than climbing a greased pole. Since amateur but not nearly as tricky for someone heavily trained.
the same pool reflects both tasks, the rules have to accommo- Note that with penalties, Expert Dice and Master Dice are
date varying challenges. There are two ways to do this: the GM removed from pools first. (Expert Dice and Master Dice are
can assess a penalty or can impose a Difficulty. explained in the next section.)
There are refinements of the system, but that’s the core of it.
DIFFICULTY If you’ve got a grip on that, there’s more detailed explanation in
A task’s Difficulty indicates how hard it is for everyone, novices the Player’s Chapter.
and experts alike. It’s indicated by a number, such as “Difficulty
3.” Any matches whose Height is under that number aren’t suf-
ficient to get the job done.
GAME TERMS
There’s a specialized vocabulary for the mechanics of the ORE.
EXAMPLE
If you’re just starting out, it may look like a lot. Don’t sweat it:
Boyles needs to get down the cliff fast, and it’s muddy. The you don’t need to know all of it at once and the learning curve
GM decides climbing down is a Difficulty 3 task. Boyles has been built into both the rules and the setting.
rolls his 4d Climb pool and gets 1,1,1,1. While it’s a nicely
Wide set, in this case it’s useless because its Height is lower
than the Difficulty. TYPES OF DICE
AREA DICE
When an attack or effect does damage to all the people within
an area, its damage is measured in Area Dice. Everyone in
Difficulty is best for problems that make a task more tricky, the area of the effect rolls that number of dice and applies the
but which don’t preclude great results, and which affect everyone appropriate type of damage to every hit location that comes
equally. Minor stumbles rate at Difficulty 1-2. Difficulty 3 is up. If a hit location comes up twice, apply two points.
pretty typical. Difficulty 4-5 is imposing, and Difficulty 8 is
appallingly hard. EXAMPLE
PENALTY While besieging a tower, the heroes get a cauldron of
scalding oil dropped on them. This is an Area 4 Killing
A penalty is when the GM knocks some dice out of your pool. attack. Everyone under the oil rolls 4d and applies a point
This indicates a problem where someone of lesser skill is unlikely of Killing damage to each hit location that turns up.
to even have a chance while even an expert isn’t going to get the
kind of superb results one expects. A –1d penalty is typical for
something that’s a little more obscure or complicated while a
Left Leg Left Arm Torso Left Arm
–3d penalty is about as high as you should go for anything other
than the most utterly demanding and outrageous stunts. Armor does not protect against Area Attacks.

10 Chapter One: Introduction

 EXPERT DICE
Expert Dice are a special kind of Skill die that indicate an
unusual degree of talent. Instead of rolling an Expert Die (or
ED, for short) you set it at whatever number you want before
you roll the other dice in your pool. You can never have more
W hen the Thubor emerged, there were a few boos and
hisses. Despite the armed men lining the courtyard—
the judge’s personal guard, she had persuaded
the foreigners this was an internal matter unworthy of their
attention—the people shook fists and yelled curses. The Thubor
than one ED in your die pool, and you can never have an Expert ignored them.
Die in a pool with a Master Die.
“This man has led the people astray,”
astray,” she bellowed, hand on
EXAMPLE sword hilt, glaring out at her people. “Rather than concern himself
with the righteous instruction of souls, he has seen fit to dabble
When using the Fight Skill, you have a pool of five regular
dice and one expert die. (This is abbreviated 5d + ED.)
in politics. Sure that his position of honor would protect him, he
You’re fighting a powerful warrior who has good armor on committed acts of treason against the Opetkans, who have brought
everything except his legs, so you decide to swing at his the blessings of peace to our land.”
land.” As she named the invaders,
leg. The legs are hit locations 1 and 2, so before you roll, the jeers redoubled. “Now it is time for him to learn that when a
you set your Expert Die at 2. Your normal dice come out
3,4,9,8,2. You can match the rolled 2 with your ED 2 and
priest dishonors his cloth, its protection is withdrawn.”
withdrawn.” She turned
get a hit on his vulnerable ankle. to the rack and said, “What are your last words?”
words?”
The man took a deep breath and the crowd fell silent.
Somehow, at that moment, naked and fragile, he was more
dignified than the woman who held him captive. “Do not
hate this woman, though she bears a title from our despised
GOBBLE DICE oppressors,”” he began. “She loves this land and, in her way,
oppressors,
seeks to protect her people. Any wrongs she does emerge
Skills that directly counteract other Skills (mainly Coun- from misplaced loyalty and not malice…”
malice…”
terspell, Dodge, and Parry skills) produce Gobble Dice, as The Thubor gritted her teeth. There were tears in her eyes. It
mentoned previously. When you roll those Skills successfully,
the dice in the set you use become Gobble Dice, which can suck
was time. “Break him,”
him,” she whispered to the guards.
dice out of your enemy’s pool and spoil his attacks. “But madam, he’s still…”
still…”
There are two limits on the use of Gobble Dice. First, you “Do it now.”
now.”
can only use them against dice that are equal to or lower than The guards had sick expressions as they turned the wheel,
their own Height. as the ropes tightened and groaned, as the priest’s deep and
resonant words turned to shrieks and screams. The Thubor
EXAMPLE had her back turned, watching the crowd, watching some faces
Tud swings his axe at Gorda the sorceress. No fool, she tries eager for bloodshed and some horrorstruck and grieving…
to get out of the way. He rolls a 2×6 on his attack roll. She
gets a 2×8 on her dodge roll. The two dice that came up in
Then the arrow struck.
a set become Gobble Dice. Since the Height of one of her “Take him alive!”
alive!” the Thubor cried, drawing steel and
gobblers (8) is greater than the Height of Tud’s attack (6), diving towards the people who were now suddenly roiling,
she can counteract it. With one of the dice in his pair gone, chaotic. There were screams, and fists thudded her armor,
it’s no longer a pair and his attack fails.
but she made straight for the man in the green cloak, the
priest’s son. He was armed with a small bow, something he
could hide, and with that weapon even his legendary aim
had needed short range to part the rope binding his father’s
Second, you can only use a Gobble die when the timing of an hand. The crowd scattered, fell, her men were closing in and
event allows it. this was her chance to seize the revolutionary leadership
entire, to bring peace, the crowd was fleeing and she could
EXAMPLE see the son, the deadliest archer for a hundred miles around,
If Tud had rolled a 3×6 against Gorda’s 2×8, she would nocking a second arrow.
have gotten hit, because Width determines the timing of The plan was all down to this. Where would he shoot? Would
events. His Wider set goes first, so he hits her before she he sever the second rope and save his father from an agonizing
even has a chance to react.
death? Or would he take aim at the charging Thubor and throw
Remember, some uses of Gobble Dice are not time sensitive.
the nation into chaos?, He’d only get one shot, but at this range
This is particularly true with social Skills. he would not miss.
The advantage of Gobble Dice is that you can use them Rushing to death or victory, the Thubor wondered what
against more than one attack even if you only rolled a pair. would happen next.

Chapter One: Introduction 11

 EXAMPLE WASTE DICE
Gorda gets a friend and they attack Tud together. This time, Any time you roll, the dice that do not match up are called
he’s the one parrying. He rolls a 2×10, while Gorda gets a Waste Dice. Some effects still make use of them.
2×7 and her friend gets a 2×2. Their sets are all the same
Width, so Height acts as a tiebreaker: Tud goes first. His
EXAMPLE
two tens become Gobble Dice, and he’s able to take a seven
out of Gorda’s set and a two out of her friend’s set. With just I have 9d in my pool. I roll and get 2,5,6,6,7,7,7,8,and 9.
one pair, he’s wrecked two attacks. The sets are 2×6 and 3×7. The 2,5,8 and 9 are Waste Dice.

Waste
Dice

Most other dice only work in sets of two or greater: Gobble Note that dice in a set never count as Waste Dice, even if that
dice are a special case. Once a set becomes Gobble dice, each set isn’t used. Similarly, if a set gets ruined (by Gobble Dice, for
can be used individually. However, unless you do a multiple example), the remainder isn’t a Waste die.
action (explained on page 118), you can only turn one set into
Gobble Dice every round. EXAMPLE
Gorda the sorceress casts a spell that does Width in Killing
EXAMPLE damage and a point of Shock damage to each location
Tud’s defending himself and his Parry roll produces a 3×4 shown by a Waste die. The pool she rolls is huge—ten dice.
and a 2×6. He can only change one of these sets into She rolls 1,1,2,2,3,4,4,6,8,and 9. She has a 2×4, a 2×2 and
Gobble Dice. Does he pick the 3×4, which gives him an a 2×1 when she hurls this spell against Tud the Barbarian.
additional die and lets him act faster? Or does he choose But Tud hits her first, and getting hit costs you a die from
the 2×6, which is Higher and can counter attacks of greater one of your sets. She takes a die from her 2×1 set, reducing
Height? Such decisions are a key part of the game. it to nothing. When it’s her turn, she activates the spell with
her 2×4 set. It does 2 Killing to Tud’s arm (hit location 4).
It also does a point of Shock to the locations indicated by
OR 3,6,8 and 9. It doesn’t affect location 1, even though that
die is no longer in a set, and it doesn’t affect location 2,
even though that set wasn’t used.
MASTER DICE
Master Dice (or MDs) are special dice that indicate tremen-
dous proficiency. Like an Expert Die (see above), you don’t
roll an MD: you can set it to any number you want. Unlike an Shock
Damage
Expert Die, you roll the normal dice in your pool before you Locations
set your MD. This means that you can always get a set when
your pool has an MD. You can never have more than one MD
in your pool, and you cannot have a Master Die and an Expert OTHER TERMS
Die in the same pool.
A rmor Armor is a factor, be it physical or occult or miscel-
EXAMPLE laneous, that protects your body from getting clobbered. No
matter its source, armor works the same. It has a numerical
You have a Master Die in your Stealth Skill along with four
rating, and all Killing and Shock damage to the perotected
regular dice in that pool (This is abbreviated 4d + MD).
When trying to find a hiding place in the forest, you roll your location is reduced by that rating.
four normal dice and get 3,4,6,and 10. You can now change
your MD into another 10, match it with the naturally rolled EXAMPLE
10, and have a pair of tens—you’ve successfully hidden. If
you’d rolled 3,4,4,and 10, you’d have had a choice to make. A character has one point of armor on his head. He gets hit
You could either match with your 10 and get the 2×10, or there with an attack that would normally do 3 Killing and
you could change your MD to a 4 and get a 3×4. Remember, 1 Shock. Instead, it does 2 Killing and 0 Shock because the
sometimes a Wide set is better than a tall one. armor reduces the harm.

OR Armor rating is abbreviated AR. If you have 3 points of

armor, that’s AR3.

12 Chapter One: Introduction

Bonus A bonus is anything that raises a numerical element For each additional action, you take another die out of the
of the game. If you get a +2 armor bonus and your armor pool and hope for another set. Thus, a character who tries
rating is usually 3, you’d get armor rating 5. If your Graces to hit four people in the time it would usually take to get a
pool is usually four dice and you get a +1d Graces bonus, you decent stroke at one makes the roll at a –3d penalty with the
roll five dice. player hoping to get four sets. Good luck.

Cr aving A Craving is a character element that indicates an Passion Missions, Duties, and Cravings (q.v.) are col-
irrational drive towards some activity, condition or substance. lectively known as Passions. These are things your character
While in pursuit of a Craving, a character gets a +1d bonus to cares deeply about, so much so that fulfilling them makes her
all rolls. While foregoing a Craving, the character gets a –1d stronger and failing at them makes her weaker.
penalty to all rolls. Cravings are explained in depth on page 22.
P enalty Whenever a factor is reduced by some number,
D uty When a character is dedicated to a certain code of that’s a penalty. It’s the opposite of a bonus (q.v.).
conduct or set of beliefs, it can be considered a Duty. When
acting in accordance with Duty, all rolls are made at +1d. P layer C har acter Or “PC” for short, the Player
When ignoring one’s Duty, or acting disgracefully according Characters are the main characters in the game, the most
to the code of behavior, all rolls suffer a –1d penalty. Duty is important people in the story, and the only characters whose
explained in depth on page 22. actions are not dictated by the Game Master (q.v.).

Game M aster Or “GM” for short. This is the person who Pool The total number of dice you roll when attempting
is running the game, describing the setting, controlling every to accomplish a task. It’s almost always a Skill (q.v.) plus a
character except the Player Characters (q.v.), setting the Stat (q.v.).
Difficulties, and basically overseeing the rules’ use to provide
Round A very fuzzily-defined amount of time used to keep
maximum satisfaction for everyone.
track of who hit whom first in a fight. It’s best thought of as
H eight The number shown on the dice in a matching set. “the time it takes every character involved to do one thing.” If
If four of my dice turn up sevens, that’s a set, and the Height a character tries to do more than one thing in a round, that’s
of that set is 7. a multiple action (q.v.).

M ission A Mission is a short-term goal that the char- Set When you roll dice, and some of those dice show
acter has decided to accomplish. While directly pursuing the same number, that’s a set. If I roll seven dice and get
a Mission, the character adds an extra die to all pools. If a 1,2,4,4,6,8,and 8, then I have rolled two sets—a pair of fours
character intentionally takes an action that jeopardizes the and a pair of eights.
Mission, or that causes her to miss a chance to pursue it, she
Skill Skill ratings measure how competent a character is
takes a –1d penalty to all rolls.
in certain narrow areas of activity such as swinging a sword,
Multiple Action When a character attempts to do playing music, hearing faint sounds, or begging for mercy.
two or more things in the time usually required one thing, Your Skill rating contributes to your pool (q.v.).
that’s called a multiple action. For example, trying to
Slow Some things you might want to do in combat (mostly
seduce someone while racing against them on horseback is
spells) take extra time. This is represented by a Slow rating.
a multiple action involving the Fascinate and Riding pools.
For each point of Slow, you have to spend a combat round
A more common example—trying to hit two people in quick
(q.v.) preparing before you make your roll. A heavy crossbow
succession—is a double use of the Fight pool. When trying
is Slow 1. It can fire every other round. A spell that’s Slow 3
to do two things at once, use the lower pool, apply a –1d
can only be cast every fourth round.
penalty, and look for two sets. If you get two sets, you can
apply one set to each action as you see fit. Stat A Stat rating measures a character’s innate ability
If you keep an Expert or Master die in your smaller pool to accomplish broad categories of tasks. Stats combine with
but not in the larger pool, you must assign at least one set to Skills (q.v.) to form the pool (q.v.) of dice rolled when under-
that pool’s action. If you don’t get any sets, obviously this taking an action. The six Stats are Body, Coordination,
isn’t an issue. Sense, Knowledge, Charm, and Command.

EXAMPLE Squishing Exchanging Height and Width on a one-for-on

basis. If you can squish a result two points, you can change a
Mouray’s Dodge pool is 3d+MD while his Fight pool is 8d. 4×5 to a 2×7 or a 6×3. If you squish something down to 1×,
He also possesses a Martial Technique that lets him make it’s no longer a set. You can’t squish a set above Height 10.
multiple actions with Dodge and not take the multiple action
penalty. When he tries to hit someone and dodge, he rolls his Width The number of dice that compose a set determine
3d+MD pool. If he gets two sets, he can assign them as he its Width. If four dice are in a set, its Width is four. If two
wishes. If he only gets one set, he has to use it to dodge.
dice are in a set, its Width is two.

Chapter One: Introduction 13

 A good character has different moods.

Y our player character (PC for short) is your proxy

in the game world. Your PC influences how the
setting is described and how you are able to influ-
ence it. You want a character you enjoy. (Note that I didn’t say
“like”. Most people prefer to like their PCs, but playing an
In the same spirit, make sure you build a team
player. Roleplaying games are social activities, and there’s
nothing less conducive to socialization than five players all
whining about how their character is the most important. Col-
lectively, the PCs are the center of the story, but individually no
unscrupulous lowlife has its charms as well.) one’s the most important. Give a little and you get a lot.
At the simplest level, PCs are collections of statistics that In fact, I’m going to take that a step further and assert that
measure how well they perform various tasks under various your responsibility to the party as a whole is greater than your
circumstances. Some players are content to quit with that, responsibility to your character. You are expected to take hits
which is fine. But for some, a PC is much more than one num- for the team. This can suck in the short term, but it’s worth it in
ericized element in a game world. Some players want deeper the long term because the whole collective of characters matters
levels of detail, explaining who their characters are, not just more than your individual character.
what they can do. They want a character with the depth and Think of it mathematically. Suppose you’ve got five players
personality of someone from a novel or play. That’s also fine. in your group, and each one is looking out for Numero Uno.
Or maybe you want a character whose function is primarily That means you’re looking out for your PC and that’s it. But if
to interact properly with the setting, someone through whom everyone accepts that the party matters more than individual
you can explore a grand and spacious world. That’s fine too. PCs, suddenly you’ve got five players looking out for your char-
But it’s important to know what you want from your char- acter instead of just you.
acter (and thus, from the game) before you put pen to paper. That’s all very sweet and feel-goody, but it’s got some concrete
It’s important to be on the same page as your GM. If you’re implications.
expecting a grand, emotional epic of shifting political alli- First, it means you should start play with reasons to stick
ances and unreliable personal loyalty, and the GM’s busy together. In many gaming traditions, it’s “unify or die”—which
arraying a set of purely tactical, military challenges, then is a compelling reason as it explains why varied characters are
you’re both in trouble. You’re in trouble because you’re not together, and it can even provide for some fun intra-charac-
getting what you want. The GM, unprepared for what you’re ter bickering as the soulless mercenary finds himself having to
doing, is in trouble too. make nice with the bleeding heart religious type.

14 Chapter Two: Character Generation

 (Intra-character bickering is good… up to a point. It’s good as COORDINATION
long as everyone’s enjoying it. When it starts to drag down the
plot, so the GM isn’t enjoying it, or when it soaks up so much Coordination is what you use to keep your balance, control
gaming time that other players are drumming their fingers, your limbs, move gracefully, aim, and climb up trees. A char-
shift the focus elsewhere.) acter with poor Coordination is a klutz. A character with good
Second, it means you should build characters who get along. Coordination moves smoothly and with skill.
In some games, the struggles between strong-willed PCs can
take center stage, but in this one, character conflict should be a SENSE
side dish, not the main course.
Sense measures your alertness and how well-attuned you are
Third, it means you should build characters who work
to the world around you. An intelligent character might still be
together. If you wind up with five really sneaky and defensive
absentminded and oblivious to her surroundings—she has high
characters, you can infiltrate any enemy stronghold: you just
Knowledge, low Sense.
won’t be able to do anything meaningful inside. Or if you all (for
some peculiar reason) built characters who were soothsayers, KNOWLEDGE
you’d all be able to foresee the future really well. Unfortunately,
that future would probably be something along the lines of Knowledge describes your character’s ability to learn and
“You’re going to get smacked because you have no fighters, and remember. An untutored character may still have high Knowl-
you won’t recover well because you have no healers.” edge: She just learned a lot through observation instead of study.
Similarly, a person who’s not naturally bright but who has had

GENERATION METHODS extensive schooling may have a low Knowledge Stat but make up
for it with high Skills.
There are two different options for character generation listed COMMAND
here. Point Buy is the simplest option. You pick Stats, Skills
and other factors you want and then pay for them. No drama, no Command is a measure of presence. A low Command char-
fuss, no muss, and you know exactly what you’re getting. acter is easy to overlook and ignore, while a high Command
One Roll is completely random. You roll 11d10 and, by character always gets your attention if he wants it. You may not
reading the results, get Stats, Skills, Advantages and life history like him, but you listen to what he says.
(with some assembly required). It’s fast, and it can give you a
character you might never have chosen or thought up on your CHARM
own. Whether that’s an advantage or a problem depends on
Charm measures how generally pleasant you seem. People with
you. Considering everything I just said about party unity, etc.,
high Charm are likeable, sympathetic, and fun to be around.
the One Roll system may seem like a bad idea, and it is if you
Low Charm people are crass, boring, irritating, and uncomfort-
take the first character you roll as gospel. But it’s pretty quick,
able to spend time with.
especially once you get the hang of it. So, if you get a small fish
with your first roll (or just one who won’t swim with the school)
throw it back and try again until you get something you like. SKILLS
Or just set some dice on the results you want. It’s OK. It’s not
If Stats represent broad aptitudes, Skills represent narrow appli-
even cheating.
cations of them. There are brief descriptions here; more specific
rules for using them are in the Player’s Chapter.
COMMON ELEMENTS When you combine a Stat number with a Skill number, you
get the total number of dice you roll when trying to use that
No matter what system you pick, some things are common to Skill. This total is called your pool. For example, Fascinate is a
both of them. They use the same set of Stats, Skills, Advan- Charm Skill. Suppose your character has Charm 2 and Fascinate
tages, and so forth. These are explained and described in detail 3. When trying to convince the Deputy Minister that you can
below. find the lost emerald mines of Pula Thark if she just fronts you a
stake to hire donkeys, you roll five dice (abbreviated 5d) because

STATS the pool is Charm 2+Fascinate 3. You have a 5d Fascinate pool.

You cannot start out with a Skill higher than five.
There are six Stats in the ORE. They describe the general,
inborn qualities of your character. You cannot get Expert Dice EXPERT DICE & MASTER DICE
or Master Dice attached to a Stat. You cannot start with a Stat With Skills, you can buy Expert Dice (EDs) and Master Dice
higher than five. (MDs). They count towards the number of dice in your pool, but
you don’t roll them the way you do normal dice. Instead, you
BODY can set your ED to the number you wish before you roll your
Body measures how big, strong, tough, and able to work your other dice. Or, if you have an MD, you can set it to the number
character is. A high Body character is better able to tote bales, you want after you roll your other dice.
overcome illness, and smack around punier specimens. A low Note that it’s possible to have only one die in a Skill but have
Body indicates indolence, lethargy, or inescapable scrawn. that be a Master Die. That represents someone who is quite able

Chapter Two: Character Generation 15

 but in a narrow way. They perform excellently under the cir- attitude is likely to be “spend your XP however you want.” If you
cumstances for which they were trained, but they are poorly feel better justifying practice of this Skill or growth in that Stat
equipped to deal with unpredictable obstacles. during the many hours your character isn’t “onstage”, go ahead.
Each Skill has a notation at the end listing Expected pos- It’s an opportunity for characterization, but it’s not necessary.
sessions. These are the tools or items that someone who’s
competent in that area would reasonably have. You don’t get BODY SKILLS
these just for taking the Skill. But if you’re good at it—meaning,
you have an ED, an MD, or 5 dice in it—your character starts ATHLETICS
play with that item or collection of items. Don’t get too excited. This is a catchall for most physical tasks that aren’t common
None of them have “pile of gold coins” as an expected posses-
enough to merit a Skill of their own. If it’s not running,
sion. In no instance should any of these possessions have any
climbing, riding, or enduring, it’s probably Athletics. Use it to
great value. You want something expensive, buy the Possession
jump, throw, and lift heavy weights.
Advantage.
Keep in mind that every character starts with a Master Die in E xpected Possessions None.
his or her native language. Thus, no PC enters the world com-
pletely naked. If you want other normal items in your possession ENDURANCE
as you commence, just ask the GM. GMs should be cool about
normal items (a pet mongrel, a stiletto, seductive underwear) Roll Endurance to keep running, or walking, or swimming
and skeptical about anything that qualifies as a Possession (a long past the point where less burly (or less driven) individuals
ship, a crown, or a home). collapse to pant, groan, or drown.

GETTING BETTER E xpected Possessions None.

As you play the game, you get rewarded with experience

points, abbreviated as XP. You can spend XP to improve your
FIGHT
Skills and Stats, or to buy Advantages, or to improve your This is the Skill for broad-based, untrained, naturally vicious
Company. They’re essentially the currency of the game engine brawling. Someone with a high Fight Skill may lack the finesse
(as opposed to the currencies of the game setting, which are and technique of someone with a more sophisticated Weapon
Wealth and Treasure, described on pages 72 and 103 respec- Skill (see Weapon Skill, following) but that’s rarely a comfort
tively). Using XP is described in full on page 38. when he’s buried his axe in your ribcage.
In one sense, XP are a concrete representation of narrative Fight can be used with any hand-to-hand weapon where
progress. There are the events of the game sessions, in which it’s obvious how you hurt someone with it. Even if you’d never
battles are won or kingdoms are lost, but it’s up to the players seen a sword before, Fight lets you figure it out without penalty.
to decide what those events teach their characters, what they Now, missile weapons are another matter—practice and control
mean, and how the characters grow in response. If your char- matter there. Exotic weapons that aren’t dangerous without
acter spent several sessions at court plying his wiles to get a
training are also useless for the Fight Skill. So don’t try using it
trade agreement passed in preparation for a diabolical betrayal
with a butterfly dart or a kusurigama.
he intends later, it’s perfectly fine to raise his Sword skill with
those sessions’ XP even though he never held a weapon during E xpected Possessions None.
any of the described action. Groups who lean towards the sto-
ry-focused end of gaming may want an explanation, in which PARRY
case you can say, “Clearly he’s mastered the arts of conversa-
tion and, beset by ennui, practices his fencing in private. He’s When you try to knock a weapon away before it impacts on
searching for new skills to master.” Alternately, “He knows you, or block it by meeting force with force, that’s a parry.
that when his plan comes to light, people are coming to kill You can use this Skill to protect yourself or others near you.
him.” However, Parry presumes that you’ve got something hard to
Not every group is so concerned with having the mechanics parry with—a mailed forearm, a shield, a weapon of your own.
of the game perfectly map to events of the story, of course. If If you try to parry a weapon with nothing but your bare hands,
your group tends more towards the “the game is a game” end, the you’re quite likely to get a nasty cut on your elbow, which still

USING SKILLS WITH OTHER STATS

Usually, a Skill combines with the Stat under which it’s listed. Almost every time you use the Parry Skill, it’s going to be paired
with the Body Stat. However, there may be times when you want use a Skill in an unusual way. Your character might watch
people dueling and wish to evaluate their blocking ability. In this case, you could combine your Parry Skill with your Sense Stat,
since you’re trying to sense how well someone parries. Similarly, Knowledge might work better than Charm with Jest if you were
trying to make a particularly obscure in-joke to an audience of scholars.
Most of the time, Skills go with their associated Stats. For the odd times out, it’s the GM’s call whether they can be used with
another Stat and, if so, which Stat comes into play.

16 Chapter Two: Character Generation

may be preferable to a nasty cut on the throat. (See Parry on
page 116 for more information.)
THE EXPERT SKILL
If you want a Skill that’s not listed on here, and nothing
E xpected Possessions A shield or a dagger.
seems to cover it, just take a Skill in “Expert ______” with
your desired talent filling in the blank. Then file it under
RUN whatever Stat works best. If you want to be a great chef,
Cowards run away from fights. The brave run towards them. The you could put “Expert Cook” on your sheet (probably under
cruel run down their fleeing enemies. The Skill they all need is Sense, since you need a discerning nose and palate). You
Run. Roll this to move fast on your feet. (To keep running for a could put “Expert Animal Trainer” under Charm (or Com-
long distance, roll Endurance instead.) In a fight, you can move 15 mand, depending on method). Or you might want to put a
feet every round automatically. If you want to move farther than “Jump Expert” Skill under Coordination instead of relying
that, roll Body + Run. A success lets you move farther—five feet on Body + Athletics. Just be sure to check with your GM,
for every point of Width. (See Move on page 117.) who may veto “Blow People Up With My Mind” if it doesn’t
fit the setting.
E xpected Possessions A comfortable pair of shoes. The Knowledge version of “Expert” is “Student,” just to
be exacting.
VIGOR
This is not a Skill that is learned or studied. Instead, it rep- RIDE
resents how well you overcome injury and illness. You make
Body + Vigor rolls to recover from combat (it’s described in When you’ve got a lot of ground to cover (or a short distance
detail on page 111), so this is often a good bet for belligerent really fast), you can get a dumb animal to do the work. Roll
types. It’s also what you roll to resist sickness and poison. this to beat the other riders in a race, to guide your horse
through the forest, and to charge down on your opponent in
E xpected Possessions None. a tournament.
Riding is a very general Skill. If you’re riding an unusual
COORDINATION SKILLS creature—something you’ve never mounted before—you may
face a Difficulty on your rolls until you get used to the quirks of
CLIMB riding a giant bat, seahorse, or rabbit.
You can travel vertically with confidence. Scaling trees, cliffs, or E xpected Possessions A decent saddle and a horse of
a ship’s mast are all the same to you. In combat, you can ascend no great worth.
five feet per round for every point of Width in your set—if the
surface is easy to climb on. If the conditions are inclement,
STEALTH
it’s five feet for every two points of Width. Or, if you’re not in
imminent danger and can take your time, a successful roll or A quiet step? Check. Remaining unseen while the household
two gets you to the top. searches for you? Check. Pilfering, purloining, and picking
pockets? All covered. This Skill is the one-stop shop for
E xpected Possessions A coil of rope. burglars and adulterers alike. (Okay, you might want some
Climb and Lie in there as well.)
DODGE Stealth is a remarkably versatile Skill useful for all manner
of deviousness and mischief. If your GM is using the After
You move your body away from a source of pain or injury, so
Them! chase system in Chapter 11, Stealth is just one color
that it does not pain or injure you. Ducking punches, diving for
on an elaborate palette of pursuit and disguise. But for games
safety, and leaping over bonfires without singeing all require
that don’t need that degree of specialization, one broad Skill
Dodge rolls. You cannot use Dodge to protect anyone but
is good enough.
yourself. It’s described in greater detail on page 116.
E xpected Possessions A black cloak with hood and scarf.
E xpected Possessions None.

PERFORM _________ WEAPON SKILL _________

Pick a category of weapons like “bows” or “axes” or “swords” or
You can put on a good show for the crowd. Pick a broad category
“pole arms.” Congratulations: You’ve been trained to hurt and
of entertainment when you select the Skill. It could be that
kill with weapons of that type. You can choose “empty hand
you’re a juggler, acrobat, or dancer. You can buy this Skill more
striking” or “grappling” as Weapon Skills, too, instead of using
than once for different specialties.
the broader Fight Skill.
The Perform Skill is listed under Command as well, but that’s
While the categories encompass a lot (there’s no separate
for putting on a show that’s mostly about who you are, not what
“bow” and “crossbow” Skills) they’re still narrower than
you’re doing. If there’s any question, just pick a Stat.
the generic Fight Skill. The difference between training
E xpected Possessions A costume. and natural talent is that a trained fighter can learn special

Chapter Two: Character Generation 17

T
Some GMs design their worlds without ready access to coun-
he mercenaries were bloodied, weary and upset. terspelling. If that’s the case in your game, cross this Skill off
“Our employer shall be exquisitely displeased,”
displeased,” your character sheet and ask exactly how characters can avoid
magical doom.
said the sorcerer from the east.
“Displeased? I’m displeased. I’m absolutely enraged!”
enraged!” E xpected Possessions Lucky charm or talisman.

This was their leader, the disgraced officer from the HEALING
south. “It’s luck we survived that debacle, luck only!
This is the mundane ability to clean wounds, apply bandages,
What happened?”
happened?” whip up dubious herbal remedies that always seem to work, and
“Don’t blame me that this savage can’t respect a retreat pat foreheads in a soothing manner. The Skill of helping people
get less sick and injured can often make you popular with your
sign and had to charge in screaming.”
screaming.” fellow PCs.
“There was no sign to retreat, coward,”
coward,” said their bulky
E xpected Possessions Bandages, splint materials, and
front fighter, baring sharpened teeth. “She raised her herbs of various potencies.
hand to strike! That means ‘bring the hammer down’!”
down’!”
“No,”” sneered the sorcerer. “It means ‘flee the clenched
“No, LANGUAGE _________
fist of entrenched defiance.’”
defiance.’” Every character starts out with one Master Die in his native
Their commander dropped her head into her hands. The language. If you wish, you can buy additional dice, which help
you explain complex concepts, or understand them, or read.
other two turned as her voice, muffled by her forearms, You can also purchase this Skill multiple times, picking a dif-
said, “You mean you didn’t know that means ‘hold up while ferent language each time. Language Skills are unique in that
we observe’?”
observe’?” you combine your Skill with your listener’s Skill and roll that
as a pool. This is explained in greater detail on page 34.
“Maybe in your army,”
army,” mumbled the sorcerer.
“You asked if we knew hand signs…”
signs…” said the barbarian. E xpected Possessions A set of decent, if unremarkable,
clothes.
“But not which ones,”
ones,” sighed the officer.
“Right. Let’s work on that before we go rescue the LORE
others.””
others. You’re educated. You know legends, history, folk tales, the great
myths of the major religions—you’ve studied it all.
Given that the people of Heluso and Milonda don’t separate
maneuvers that a generalist has no chance to know. Specifi- “fiction” from “history” from “occult allegory,” you may have
cally, you can follow Martial Paths, learn Techniques, and trouble sorting out exactly how your knowledge is to be under-
get special advantages when using a Weapon Skill. You can stood. But you do, indisputably, know.
never use a martial technique with the Fight Skill. That’s the The GM may not allow you to roll Lore for some facts, simply
drawback to treating a sword, a club, or an axe as if they’re because they are unknown to any but experts. If you want to
interchangeable. really specialize in some field of knowledge, be a Student of it.
Martial paths and techniques are covered in greater detail (See the Student of Skill following.)
starting on page 136.
E xpected Possessions Several fragile books and scrolls.
E xpected Possessions A weapon of the appropriate type.
STRATEGY
KNOWLEDGE SKILLS Where a tactician fights battles, the strategist fights the war.
COUNTERSPELL Past the level of yelling for the cavalry to shore up a faltering
flank is the larger picture of controlling supply lines, encircling
It’s possible to learn how to snarl the lines of occult force from or bypassing fortresses and encampments, choosing propitious
which spells are woven…if the spellcaster is weaving them battlegrounds, or winning by avoiding conflict altogether.
around you. Some people do this intuitively (just as some
people can naturally catch a ball without being taught) while E xpected Possessions None.
others receive expert instruction in counterspelling. Both work
the same way: just as a Dodge roll can let one avoid a sword- STUDENT OF _________
blow, so can a Counterspell roll avoid an arcane lightning bolt.
However, counter-casting only works on spells that focus on When you want to be knowledgeable about something that’s
the counterspeller. If the sorcerer collapses the tower you’re in, not already on the list, cram it in here. Like the “Expert” Skill,
counterspelling won’t save you. it’s a way to let people have characters who are wise in the ways

18 Chapter Two: Character Generation

of identifying birds or designing aqueducts without having to
list every conceivable field of human study.
MAGIC
There’s no “magic” or “enchantment” or “sorcery” Skill listed
E xpected Possessions Depends entirely on the stu-
under any of the Stats. In the default setting, the Skill for
dent’s pursuit.
working magic can fall under any Stat, and as it’s compli-
cated enough for its own chapter, we don’t cover it here.
TACTICS Many people like designing their own setting and deciding
You’re an expert at the allocation of unit-scale military force. how magic works and what it is—which is another way of
You know when a frontal assault is a bad idea, you can con- looking at what it means. In a magical world, enchantment
struct a pincer movement, you’re familiar with false-fallback underlies societies and history and what people expect. A
counterattack. It’s not much good for engagements involving generic Skill description isn’t going to cover that.
fewer than ten people or more than a hundred, but that covers If you’re building your own Reign setting, think hard
an awful lot of encounters. about what you want magic to do and be good for, and
work hard at explaining that to the players.
E xpected Possessions A game with pieces and board of
decent quality.
revenge, to a brutal beating is covered. It can be used on groups
COMMAND SKILLS or individuals.

HAGGLE E xpected Possessions None.

You are an expert at driving a hard bargain. By alternately PERFORM _________

debating, wheedling, cajoling, brow-beating, and feigning
indignation, you can get the best price for items, whether You can put on a good show for the crowd. Pick a category of
buying or selling. entertainment when you select the Skill. It could be that you’re
a mesmerizing storyteller, an actor, or a musician. You can buy
E xpected Possessions A rather nice hat with matching this Skill more than once for different specialties.
belt and gloves. Perform is also listed as a Coordination Skill, but that’s for
full-body action performances. With Command, it’s more an
INSPIRE issue of being a spellbinding speaker or having compelling
expression.
You can provoke the higher, nobler (or crueler, coarser) emotions
in those who listen. An inspiring speech could convince the jury E xpected Possessions An appropriate musical instru-
to let your friend off with just a cautionary branding by inspir- ment or two, for a musician. Otherwise nothing.
ing mercy. Or you could give the rousing address that spurs
your army into making that last, doomed charge against the SENSE SKILLS
ramparts. On the other hand, maybe you just want to rile up the
crowd so that they riot while you start looting. DIRECTION
Inspire is predicated on sympathy. It’s the Skill of getting people
Your sense of direction gives you a general feel for your location.
to feel what you feel (or, more deviously, to feel what you appear to
Some part of you is constantly aware of travel, direction, and
feel). It can also be used to taunt people into being very angry with
orientation. You can intuitively find north, retrace your steps,
you, but by and large, it’s used to get people on your side.
and guide your ship back to port by dead reckoning under
This Skill is only useful on crowds or groups. In a conversa-
cloudy skies.
tion with give and take, it’s probably more a Fascinate situation.
Inspire appeals to mass sensation, sweeping people up in a E xpected Possessions A map of the local region.
common swell of feeling. Even if you’re answering the questions
shouted out by the audience, you still use Inspire because, after EERIE
all, you can convince the group without convincing everyone
in it. The guy demanding answers may not be fooled by offput- This measures your ability to sense the uncanny, the unnatu-
ting language, but if you can get enough of the crowd to care, ral, and the unwholesome. It won’t protect you from a lurking
he doesn’t matter. footpad, but it might alert you that you’re in a haunted (or
cursed, or ill-omened) house. Sorcerers hate people with this
E xpected Possessions None. sort of mystic sensitivity unless those people have been co-opted
as apprentices.
INTIMIDATE
E xpected Possessions A good-luck charm.
Where Inspire provokes a broad range of emotions, Intimi-
date focuses on fear only. An Intimidate success presents you EMPATHY
as a person whom it is foolish to cross. The nature of the threat
doesn’t matter—anything from political ruination, to magical This social sense permits you to gauge those with whom you
speak and interact. Use it to see through lies, detect when

Chapter Two: Character Generation 19

 OPTIONAL RULE: JEST AND STRAIGHT LINES step on, the sail on the distant horizon, or the stealthy assassin
taking aim at the Lord Chamberlain from that high minaret.
If you like movies and books where the hero always has a
snappy comeback, you can use the Jest Skill to set this up. E xpected Possessions None.
Here’s how.
Before every game session, each player can present the
CHARM SKILLS
GM with a number of written-out “straight lines” equal to FASCINATE
his Jest score. The GM should make a good-faith effort to
provide these, and the player (presumably) has some clever With this Skill you can talk and make someone want to keep
rejoinder prepared. listening. Where the Inspire Skill riles up the crowd, Fascinate
is more intimate. It measures your conversational finesse, your
EXAMPLE talent for listening (or making people think you’re listening),
and your general ability to help people like you. If you want to
Joey’s character Bo has Jest 1. Before the session starts, he
charm, seduce, recruit, persuade or simply amuse an individual,
hands his GM a slip of paper that says “Indignant woman
says ‘Well! I never!’” During the course of the game, the this is the Skill you want.
GM arranges the requested line from the right type of E xpected Possessions A mirror.
character, so that Joey can come back with “And with that
unfriendly attitude, you never will.”
Enjoying this so much, Joey raises Bo’s Jest to 2. Next
GRACES
session he hands the GM two straight lines, anticipating Short for “social graces,” this measures your manners. It’s not
a confrontation with a hated enemy. “You! But… you’re
just obvious stuff like “Never pinch the hostess’ husband right in
supposed to be dead!” and the other is “When you’re in my
front of her,” though that’s in there too. It also indicates knowl-
power, your suffering will be legendary!” When these come
up, he responds with “Yeah, well, I’m supposed to brush my edge of foreign and exotic cultural mores. Take this Skill and
teeth every night too” and “Legendary suffering? And here you know how to dine cordially, dance passably, flirt acceptably,
I expected a nice foot rub.” and accept (or decline) a royal gift graciously. You also learn
which fork must never, ever be touched or even alluded to when
you dine with the Emir of Rumzallih.
It’s too bad if the GM can’t find a way to insert the line,
but don’t expect yours to contort the plot to work in bon mot E xpected Possessions A set of fine clothes.
opportunities.
JEST
people are attempting to influence your mood with guile, and
“So these two barbarians walk into a barber shop…” This measures
spot the envious ex-lover at the wedding.
your ability to make people laugh, whether it be through high-
E xpected Possessions A memento of a bittersweet love minded literary sophistry or low-brow fart gags.
affair. E xpected Possessions None.

HEARING LIE
Your perception of sound is exceptionally good. You’re superb Whether you’re stretching the truth, fraudulently name-drop-
at eavesdropping, hearing muffled footsteps in dark alleys, and ping, fabricating plausible claims of valor, or telling huge
recognizing which string on your friend’s violin is just a trifle whoppers, this is the Skill you need to remain unflustered, con-
sharp. sistent, and reasonable. It is typically countered with Empathy.
(Some lies may be detected by other means—Knowledge +
E xpected Possessions None.
Tactics or Strategy if someone’s gassing about a famous battle,
or Sense + Haggle if someone’s making a financial bluff. The
SCRUTINIZE GM judges and should tell you which pool to roll.)
Rather than a single ability, Scrutinize measures your char-
E xpected Possessions None.
acter’s ability to look around a locale and reconstruct what
happened there or to glean information that isn’t immediately
PLEAD
obvious. Use it to track someone in the forest, find the hidden
panel in the smuggler’s chest, or get a clue from a crime scene. Plead is rarely a Skill you want to use, but it may be one you
have to use. Plead is concerned with playing on the kindness or
E xpected Possessions None. sympathy (or even disgust) of someone you cannot sway through
other means. You can plead for your life, plead for a loan, plead
SIGHT for the good of the country, plead for the mercy of the court…
all covered by this single, shameless Skill.
You possess clear, keen vision—often a fine advantage, since
neither Heluso nor Milonda have developed eyeglasses. This Skill E xpected Possessions None.
improves your chances of spotting the trapdoor you’re about to

20 Chapter Two: Character Generation

 Martial Paths have a reputation for being graceful
MARTIAL PATHS & and elegant, if you’ve never seen one.
ESOTERIC DISCIPLINES
Martial Paths are narrow groups of techniques, often secret,
that warriors learn to give themselves an edge in combat. Paths
start out with simple maneuvers that provide a small advan-
tage and work their way up to almost inhumanly useful attacks
or defenses.
Esoteric Disciplines are the non-combat equivalent of
Martial Paths: they’re specialized knowledge that let you use
some Skills better.

HOW IT WORKS
To learn any technique from a Martial Path or an Esoteric Dis-
cipline, you have to know all the lower techniques. That is,
to learn the Four Legs Kick (the third technique in the Path
of Twin Fury), you must already know the first and second
techniques in the path—Double Fist and Brothers in Wrath
respectively. Until you master those, you don’t have the back-
ground to learn the Four Legs Kick.
The cost of each technique is equal to its level in the path (or
discipline). The first technique costs 1 point. The third tech-
nique costs 3 points and the fifth costs 5 points. Thus, to master
an entire Martial Path, or an entire Esoteric Discipline, you
have to spend 15 points (1+2+3+4+5).
You can never learn more than fifteen esoteric techniques and
fifteen martial techniques—up to thirty total, but no more than
fifteen of each.
A variety of Martial Paths are described in the Advanced
Combat chapter, starting on page 136. Esoteric Disciplines are
in The Player’s Chapter, and their description starts on page 44.

MONEY
Money should not be that important in fantasy games.
I realize that this statement shocks and confounds many readers,
but there it is. While poverty is often a motivating force for fantasy
heroes, handling and managing cash are not heroic actions. Do
you want to spend your precious gaming moments tracking your
nickels and dimes or gloriously conquering your neighbors?
Money has its place. It’s important to know whether your
character has the funds to arm that peasant uprising, and it’s
fun to wow the local gentry by strewing diamonds about as if
they’re earwax. But double-entry bookkeeping is contrary to
the spirit of the genre, so a simplified system has been devised:
the Wealth rating.
The Wealth rating is an abstraction. Its mechanics are on page
72. If you want to get rid of it and replace it with a more classical
dollars and cents (or gold and silver piece) model, go right ahead.
There are rough guidelines for cash equivalents on page 74.

HOW IT WORKS
Your character’s Wealth rating goes from 0 to 10. Someone with
Wealth 0 is a pauper without two thin copper coins to clink
together. Someone with Wealth 10 could ransom a kidnapped
prince, outfit an army, or simply live in decadent luxury for the
rest of their pampered natural life.

Chapter Two: Character Generation 21

 During character generation, you cannot raise your Wealth treaty signed between my country and the neighboring
above 5. Spend two points, you start with Wealth 2. Spend 5 empire.” If you complete your mission, you get a bonus
points, you start with Wealth 5. Simple. experience point and you can pick a new mission.
Wealth is similar to Treasure (described on page 103), but it
• Duties: Duty is something more nebulous—it’s a way
operates on a small, personal scale. You can turn Treasure into
you live your life, the ethical principles by which you
Wealth and vice versa—it’s 3 Wealth to 1 Treasure, rounding
abide. These are hard to change: It’s stuff like “Never
down. That’s all covered in the Companies chapter. Similarly,
take an action that would besmirch my family name with
the way the Wealth rating operates is in the Player chapter.
dishonor” or “Always aid children in distress” or “Defend
There’s an Appendix listing prices for various trade items.
the Empress to my dying breath” or “Always enrich and
glorify my country.” You can get rid of a duty, but it costs
PASSIONS 10 XP. If you don’t have a duty, you can only get one if
it’s offered in the plot.
Passions are clearly defined personality drives, things so import-
ant to a character that they actually have an in-game effect on the • Cravings: A craving is something more personal—a
rules. There are three kinds of Passions, and you can have one of selfish, egotistical goal. “Get drunk whenever no one’s
each. The three types are a mission, a duty and a craving. counting on me,” or “Make love with as many willing
Here’s what those are. partners as possible” or “Amass tremendous wealth” are
all good cravings. You can only get one of these at the
• Missions: A mission is something that you very much beginning, and you can never be rid of it.
want to accomplish. It’s a concrete task, something like
“Master the Plunging Hawk Style of spear fighting” or
“Avenge my master’s death” or “Get a meaningful peace HOW IT WORKS
Here’s how passions work: whenever you’re in the direct pursuit
of a passion, you add a die to your pool. If you’re in the pursuit
EXAMPLE: PASSIONS of two passions, you add two dice. If you’re ever obeying all three
Barney’s character Yao is a young, hot-headed nobleman passions at once, you add three dice. Alternately, instead of adding
and sword-fighter who has been assigned guard duties to dice, you can offset penalties (This may seem like the same thing,
his clan chief’s daughter Nui while she travels towards her but when a penalty is going to take away your Master Die, it isn’t).
marriage to a foreign prince. He decides that “Protect Nui The downside, if you’re acting against a passion, is that you
until she arrives safely” is a good mission. (Just having it be lose a die from your pool. The more passions you resist, the more
“protect Nui” would be bad because it’s open ended, not
indecisive and unsure you become, and the more your dice pool
the kind of thing that you can ever accomplish.) He decides
suffers. It’s perfectly possible—hell, desirable—to have your
to take a duty as well—“Never do anything that would
cause my family name to be remembered with dishonor” is passions conflict. Rules-wise, they just cancel out, but it makes
a good one. But running contrary to that (sometimes) is his for good characterization.
craving: “Have sex with as many women who will have me.” Duties, Missions and Cravings do not cost anything. In
In the course of a session, a chamber maid at an inn makes theory, they’re just as likely to harm your character as help:
a pass at Yao and suggests he desert his guard post that they’re really there to reward you for staying in character (or
night to make some sweet sweet love in the dairy pantry. If punish you for going astray). How balanced that punishment/
Yao does so, he’s disobeying his duty and his mission, losing reward ratio is depends on how you play and how sneaky your
two dice from his pool, but he’s obeying his craving, which GM is about throwing conflict and temptation in your path. Be
offsets one of the lost dice. All his rolls take a one die penalty warned: most are very sneaky. But a +1d bonus (or the ability to
while he’s away from his post with the maid.
offset the loss of a special die) is nothing to sneeze at.
If, on the other hand, he stays and gets into a fight with
Your GM may opt not to use Passions. That’s fine. The rules
some marauding assassin, he gets no bonus. He’s accom-
plishing his mission, but sexual frustration distracts him are equally balanced with or without them.
from truly magnificent swordplay.
The next day, however, he’s with Nui and a flirtatious
handmaiden when three bandits attack their carriage. If
ADVANTAGES
he springs to the attack, he gets a whopping +3d bonus: Advantages are things which benefit your character but which
one because he’s protecting Nui, one because he’s going don’t fit under any other category. As with all character gener-
to look good in front of a potential sexual partner, and one ation stuff, Advantages have point costs depending on just how
because running away would shame his family name. useful they are. The point costs are listed in parentheses next to
Later it turns out that his courage impressed more than the name of the Advantage.
just the handmaiden. Nui suggests that she’d like a last
You can acquire more Advantages during play but only if the
fling with a real man before she gets married to some
GM feels it’s reasonable. If you make it very clear to your GM
wizened old goat. This does not conflict with his mission
and it’s certainly in keeping with his craving, but it’s up to that you’d like to buy an Advantage after play begins, the GM
the GM to decide if his duty is transgressed. If it’s found out may decide to allow it (for something you can do yourself like
that he violated the supposedly-virginal Nui, he looks bad. Cannibal Smile) or not (for something over which you have
On the other hand, he might never get discovered, in which little control, like Thick Headed).
case no shame accrues to his family. Advantages are listed in Chapter Three.

22 Chapter Two: Character Generation

PROBLEMS •
•
Promoting a Normal Skill die to an Expert Die: 1 point.
Promoting an Expert Die to a Master Die: 5 points.
Problems harm or inconvenience your character. Because they • Acquiring an Advantage: Varies, but the cost is listed.
make trouble, they don’t cost points. Instead, they earn you • Acquiring a Problem: Free, but you can’t have more
experience points. Any time your Problem (or Problems) affect than 3 Problems.
play, you get an extra XP at the end of the session. Note that
you can never get more than 1XP per session from Problems no STEP THREE: MAKE UP A BACKGROUND
matter how many you take. Sometimes the player decides when
Where your character was born, details of upbringing, forma-
a Problem comes into play, sometimes the GM decides, and
tive events, preferences in food, clothes and erotic partners…
sometimes it’s up to the dice.
the other character generation options provide plenty of inspi-
You can never take more than three Problems.
ration for this kind of thing. But if you just want to saddle up
and slay some dragons, this step may be optional.
EXAMPLE: PROBLEMS
Wingu has the Problems “Missing Arm,” “Drunken Black- CREATION METHOD 2
outs,” and “Jinx.” During the course of a session, Wingu’s
player decides to activate his Drunken Blackout Problem ONE RANDOM ROLL
and hands the character off to the GM for a while. The next
If you’re really in a hurry, or don’t like making decisions, or feel
day, a group of armed men are after him, and Wingu can’t
remember why. While they try to beat on him, one of them like playing a character who’s a radical departure from the type
rolls a 2×3 which would usually hit Wingu in the arm. Since you know you’ll design if you make a lot of choices… well then
Wingu’s arm is missing, it goes straight into his torso instead. there’s the one roll system.
Finally, when Wingu tries to dodge their blows, the GM decides
to invoke the Jinx and nullify Wingu’s Dodge set. Wingu’s in STEP ONE: BASELINE
terrible trouble—he’s getting pounded and doesn’t even know
Start with 2 in each of the six Stats and one MD in your char-
why. All this trouble for that one extra XP at the end of the
acter’s native language.
session. He’d have gotten the same reward if he’d just taken
the Drunken Blackout, but those are the breaks when you ask STEP TWO: THE ROLL
for trouble.
Roll 11d10. Normally, you can never roll more than 10d in a
Problems are listed in Chapter Three. pool because you’re absolutely guaranteed a match with eleven
or more dice. But in this case, that’s exactly the point.
CREATION METHOD 1
STEP THREE: PROFESSIONS
POINT BUY You generate at least one match, probably two, possibly three or
Now that you understand Stats, Skills and Advantages, here’s more. The Height of the match (or matches) shows what profes-
the first of the two character generation methods: the quick and sion (or professions) you’ve practiced in your life. The Width of the
dirty, goal-oriented one. You have a budget of points, you buy matches shows how accomplished you were at the job you chose
what you like, you go. (or, just as likely, the job that circumstance thrust upon you).
This can create characters who do one or two things super- Note that each level includes all the preceding levels. If you
latively well and who are almost hopeless outside their areas roll 4×1, it’s not just that you get…
of expertise. It’s therefore a very good idea to consult with the
+2 Stealth, +1 Dagger, +2 Lie
other players so that you don’t end up with five expert warriors
and no one literate enough to negotiate a surrender treaty. You get that, plus…
+1 Sense, +2 Plead, +1 Run, +1 Sight, +1 Dodge
STEP ONE: BASELINE
…from the 2×1 level, along with…
Start with 1 in each of the six Stats and one MD in your char-
+1 Dodge, +1 Run, +1 Fascinate, +1 Jest, +1 Endurance
acter’s native language.
…from the Canny Beggar stage.
STEP TWO: BUY STUFF If you got a match of 6× or Wider, take the extra dice and
reroll them.
You get a number of points to spend, based on the scope of your
Note that Stats are listed in Small Capitals and bolded so that
campaign.
you won’t look for them under the Skill lists. Advantages are
• Beginner: 85 points listed in italics.
• Serious Adventurer: 120 points
• Epic Hero: 150 points STEP FOUR: UNUSUAL EXPERIENCES
You buy Stats, Skills and Advantages based on the follow- For each of your Waste Dice (that is, dice that didn’t come up
ing costs. in a set) consult one of the three following charts to see what
• Increasing a Stat by 1: 5 points. an interesting life you’ve led—and what abilities or benefits that
• Increasing a Skill by 1: 1 point. has given you.

Chapter Two: Character Generation 23

 Which chart you use—A, B or C—doesn’t really matter. A
SAMPLE POINT BUY CHARACTER CREATION: has the least-bizarre events, and C has the most, if that influ-
RUGRIS THE TEXT RAIDER
ences you. Only B has entries for passions, which is important
Darren’s GM tells him that she’s planning a Renais- if you’re using the passion rules.
sance-toned game—stilettos, masquerade balls, politics,
brocade, swashbuckling, treachery and decadence. She STEP FIVE: ORGANIZE
also explains that, in the nation she’s designed, the study
of magic is expressly forbidden by both church and state, Now you’ve got a pile of professions and experiences as well
meaning that it’s all practiced and taught underground as your complete Skill list. What your character lacks, at this
(often by conspiracies of both state and church). She’s point, is coherence. That’s easily acquired, however: all you
vaguely planning for the PCs to wind up leading one of the need to do is look at the list of events and put them in order.
many scheming power groups. For instance, if you roll a 3×5 and a 2×4, you’ve got someone
With the setting in mind, Darren comes up with a char- who has (at some point) been a sailor and a successful merchant.
acter concept: a thief who specializes in acquiring books of It seems a reasonable progression to start out manning the
forbidden magic. He likes the idea of someone sneaky but
yardarm and, eventually, make enough money to buy your own
scholarly and whose victims can’t report their losses. He
ship and become a merchant. But you could just as easily go
decides his character is named Rugris.
With 85 points to spend, Darren starts out with 1 in each the other way and decide that the merchant lost his money and
Stat and an MD in Rugris’ native language. He immedi- has had to become a sailor—he’s just now earned back enough
ately decides to raise Body and Charm to 2, just to get up to strike out on his own again. Similarly, 2×6 and 2×8 (Foot
to average. Each Stat raise costs 5 points, so raising two Soldier and Squad Leader) could indicate someone who got
Stats costs him 10. Next he figures that Coordination and promoted for competence, or someone who got demoted due to
Sense are going to be the key Stats for a booknapper, so corruption, scandal, or simple politics.
he raises them to 3 and 3—another 20 points gone. He has When you’re putting all this together, it’s often a good idea
55 points left. to talk to the other players to see what narrative they’re con-
With his Stats in a good place (for now), Darren starts structing. Unless you’re going to start out as strangers and
thinking about the Skills actually required to steal books.
build trust from scratch, you can take this opportunity to
Obviously Stealth figures prominently. He spends two points
decide that your character already knows (and trusts) one or
to get Stealth 2, then another point to raise one of his dice
to an ED, then another five points to get an MD. He now has more of the others. For example, if you both have the Enter-
Stealth 1+MD. Coupled with his Coordination pool, he rolls tainer profession, you might decide you were in an orchestra
4+MD when trying to hide, creep and filch. Very reliable. He together. Or if you rolled the “Sailor” profession and another
also envisions doing a lot of climbing, so he blows 5 points on player got the “Stranded” event, you two might decide that
Climb 5. He has 42 points remaining. your character was on the ship that rescued him. In this
Lying, running, and dodging are also likely to figure fashion, you can jump right into play with characters who can
prominently in his career. He considers taking one MD in rely on one another.
each (which would cost him 7 points per Skill—1 for the Once you have a story from start to finish that incorporates
regular die, +1 to raise it to Expert, +5 to raise it to Master). all your events and professions, your character is ready to go!
He decides to do that for Lie and Run since they’re unlikely
to ever get combined with other Skills. Instead of a Dodge
MD, he just spends 5 points to be very good at it but not
an expert. Spending those 19 points leaves him with 23 he
MIX AND MATCH
can still spend. There’s no real reason that everyone has to use the same charac-
Studying the blade seems like a good choice for someone ter generation methods. As long as the points are the same, you
as coordinated as Rugris, so he puts three ranks in Weapon: end up with “fair” starting characters (if that designation has any
Sword and raises a die to Expert, for a total cost of 4 points. meaning whatsoever in this context). It may even be desirable to
He also wants to be able to do something with the books he change it up. For example, if three of the players have randomly
steals, so a Knowledge score of at least 2 is appealing. That rolled up well-educated sages with other, minor talents, it might
Stat boost costs him 5 points. A pair of old languages at 2 (to behoove one player to point-buy a character with competencies
decipher the texts) and Sorcery 2 (to use what he puzzles out) that the GM suggests or the party feels are wise. Or perhaps
costs him another 6 points.
a player needs to generate a new character when joining a ran-
Eight points remain, and while he’s tempted by the
dom-rolled gang either because the player’s new to the group or
Martial Paths, he realizes that his budget is running low and
there are other things which will serve him better. First and to replace a dead PC. (“A letter has arrived, and it says the Dovo’s
foremost, Hearing and Scrutinize. Tempted by MDs again, brother Godo has embarked to get revenge for Dovo’s murder!”
he decides instead to put two in each—good for searching “Did he ever mention having a brother?” “Sure he did!”)
stacks by starlight while listening for guards (or rival intrud- All the methods produce characters that work the same way.
ers). He puts a couple points in Empathy too just to keep Some may be more focused and some broader, but they’re gen-
from being lied to easily. With his last two points, he gets a erally on the same level. The biggest differences are (1) detail
point of Lore (because he’s educated) and a point of Graces of backstory and (2) interconnectedness with other charac-
(because he doesn’t want to be an utter clod). ters. As long as one character’s sketchy backstory, or another’s
None of the Problems really appeal to Darren, and his rich epic history, don’t actively interfere, there should be no
GM isn’t using Passions, so Rugris is ready to play.
problem.

24 Chapter Two: Character Generation

2×1 LOWLY BEGGAR 4×4 BANKER 2×8 SQUAD LEADER
+1 Sense +2 Plead Change one normal Haggle die to +1 Command +1 Fight
+1 Run +1 Sight Expert. +1 Ride +1 Tactics
+1 Dodge +2 Wealth +2 Inspire
+1 Direction
3×1 CANNY BEGGAR +1 Lie 3×8 OFFICER
+1 Dodge +1 Run 5×4 CAPTAIN OF INDUSTRY +2 Parry +2 Tactics
+1 Fascinate +1 Jest +1 Endurance
Change your Haggle ED to an MD.
+1 Endurance
2×5 ABLE SEAMAN 4×8 COMMANDER
4×1 EXPERIENCED BEGGAR +1 Sight +1 Direction
+1 Coordination +1 Fight
+2 Stealth +1 Dagger +2 Strategy +1 Lie
+2 Climb +2 Student of Sailing
+2 Lie
3×5 WEATHERED TAR 5×8 GENERAL
5×1 BEGGAR MONARCH +1+ED Strategy
+1 Athletics +2 Endurance
+1 Charm +1 Tactics +1 Status.
+2 Vigor
2×2 PETTY THIEF 4×5 FIRST MATE 2×9 SORCERER’S APPRENTICE
+1 Coordination +1 Dodge +1 Lore +1 Eerie
+2 Direction +1 Sight
+3 Stealth +1 Run +1 Language +1 Student of Navigation +1 Knowledge (or whatever Stat helps
with magic in your setting)
3×2 CUTPURSE 5×5 CAPTAIN +3 Sorcery OR +1 Sorcery and +2 Spells
+1 Dodge +1 Dagger (if spells have to be acquired separately
+1 Command
+1 Run +2 Climb in your setting)
2×6 FOOT SOLDIER
4×2 BURGLAR 3×9 HEDGE WIZARD
+1 Body +2 Fight
Change one Stealth die and one Climb +2 Counterspell +1 Eerie
+1 Dodge +2 Parry
die to Expert +2 Sorcery OR +1 Sorcery and +1 Spells
+1 Wealth +2 Lie
3×6 VETERAN WARRIOR
4×9 ADEPT
+2 Weapon (you choose)
5×2 CRIMINAL MASTERMIND +1 Dodge +1 Parry Change one Sorcery die to Expert.
Change your ED in Stealth to an MD. +2 Eerie
Change one Fight or Weapon die to an
ED. +2 Spells OR +2 Counterspell
2×3 STREET ENTERTAINER
+1 Charm +2 Perform 4×6 FRONT LINE FIGHTER 5×9 MASTER ENCHANTER
+2 Fascinate +1 Jest Change Sorcery ED to MD.
Learn the first two techniques on one
3×3 TRAVELING BARD Martial Path, and the first technique on 2×10 NOBLE BYBLOW
a different Path.
+1 Command +1 Command +1 Wealth
+1 Weapon +1 Status +2 Graces
4×3 SUCCESSFUL PLAYER
5×6 CHAMPION +1 Sword
Change one Perform die and one Fasci-
nate die to Expert Change your ED into an MD. 3×10 MINOR NOBLE
+1 Graces +1 Inspire 2×7 LOWLY SAGE +1 Intimidate +1 Lie
+1 Language +1 Status +1 Graces
+1 Knowledge +2 Languages +1 Wealth
5×3 RENOWNED PERFORMER +1 Lore +2 Heal
4×10 PROMINENT NOBLE
Change one of your EDs (your choice) 3×7 CANNY SAGE
into an MD. Change one Intimidate die to an Expert
+5 ranks of Student in whatever fields Die.
2×4 MISERLY MERCHANT you choose.
+1 Wealth +1 Intimidate
+1 Charm +2 Haggle 4×7 EXPERT SAGE +2 Status
+2 Possession (pick a form of transport) +1 Heal +2 Lore
+1 Wealth 5×10 OF ROYAL BLOOD
+2 Fascinate
Change your Intimidate ED into an MD.
3×4 CANNY TRADESMAN 5×7 MASTER SAGE
+1 Language +2 Lie +1 Knowledge
+1 Haggle +1 Student of Navigation

Chapter Two: Character Generation 25

 CHART A
d10 Result
Exiled: You are no longer welcome in some province, country, or region. Just what did you do that was bad enough
1
to get kicked out but not bad enough to merit summary execution? Effect: +3 Plead, +1 Dodge, +1 Run
Robbed!: Someone has stolen pretty much every cent you have in the world. How was this done? Stealth? Confidence
trickery? Simple brute force? However it was accomplished, it’s made you more watchful. Effect: +1 Sense. If you’ve
2 gotten any levels of Wealth, you can trade them in for equal levels in any other Advantage you wish. (Note: If you had
some wealth and really want to keep it, just stick this event into your character’s history before the event that gets you
the riches. It’s okay. You have my permission.)
Someone Got Spurned: You either rejected or got rejected by some potential lover. Regardless of who denied
3 whom, regardless of whether it was swift and painful or slow and gentle (and painful) or cruel and heartless (and
really painful), someone’s heart got crushed. Effect: +1 Charm
Racer: You have, at some point, spent a lot of time jockeying an animal along a track while being cheered on (not
4
to mention bet on) by a feverish crowd of fans. What kind of animal was it? Why’d you quit? +3+ED in Ride
5 Outstanding Cook: Says it all, really. You’re a great cook. You make food taste good. Effect: +5 Expert: Cooking
Gladiator: You’ve fought for the entertainment of others. Maybe you were willing, maybe not so much, but you’ve
6 known the pressure of having people hoot and cheer while someone else tries to stick a trident in your thigh.
Effect: +3 Weapon: Spear, Thick Headed, the first martial technique in a Path based on Spear, Dodge or Parry
Rescued an Injured Animal: At some point, you saved a critter and nursed it back to health, probably when it
7
was young. Now it adores you. Effect: +2 Student: Animal Training, +3 Animal Companion
Kidnapped by Barbarians: “Barbarians” in this case meaning “Someone of a culture not your own.” Why did they
8 kidnap you? How did you escape? Did you escape? Did you come to share their beliefs, or were you always sullen
and resentful? Effect: +1 Ride, +1 Endurance, +1 Plead, +2 Language of Your Kidnappers
Gnostic/Mystic/Religious Experience: You’ve experienced something that fundamentally changed the way
you look at the world, nature, spirituality and the underlying order of existence. Or maybe you were just possessed
9
by evil spirits for a year. In any event, you’ve been up close and personal with the alien and bizarre. Effect: +2 Eerie,
+2 Lore, +1 Sorcery
Served the Decadent Rich: Maybe you played the nose-flute behind a screen in a brothel, or were the towel
10 steward at the Empress’ private bathworks, or were the door guard at the royal seraglio. You got to see society’s best
at their worst. Effect: +1 Fascinate, +2 Graces, +1 Plead, +1 Lie

CHART B
d10 Result
Mistaken Identity Shenanegans: You were, at some point, embroiled in zany misadventures when someone
1 mistook you for someone else. You still may not know exactly what was going on, but you came out of it okay.
Effect: +1 Wealth, +2 Lie, +2 Stealth
Imprisoned: Maybe you were locked up for your political views. Maybe you were in a prison camp after your
cowardly general surrendered. In any event, you were jailed somewhere crowded and unpleasant. Or maybe you
2
were crammed in a madhouse, with or without good reason. (Ask yourself this: Why was your character incarcerated
rather than killed out of hand?) Effect: +2 Fight, +3 Vigor
Love Triangle: At some point, you were in love with her and she was in love with him. Or maybe she was in
love with him and he was in love with you. Or maybe they were both in love with you and you didn’t want either.
3
Whatever happened, there were lots of hurt feelings and regrets and probably at least one really embarrassing
public scene. Effect: Beauty (3), +1 Lie, +1 Plead, Mission: Find True Love
Caravan Debacle: You were in a caravan that never went to its intended destination. Instead, it went terribly,
terribly wrong. This could be due to bandits, horrific weather, disease, monster attack, loss of food that forced you
4
all to resort to cannibalism… the details are up to you, but they were nasty. Effect: +3 Student: Navigation, +2
Direction
Press Ganged: Against your will, you were forced onto service aboard a warship. How’d you get out of that one?
5
Effect: +1 Body, Craving: Beat On Sailors
Vengeance Quest: They murdered your father! (Or maybe it was your husband, or sister, or child.) You’ve spent
6 years honing yourself into an engine of vengeance. Now they must pay! Effect: +2 Sword, the first two techniques
of a Martial Path. (The Path is up to you, but it must relate to Sword, Dodge, or Parry.)

26 Chapter Two: Character Generation

 CHART B
d10 Result
Magnificent Garden: You had a really great garden, once. It was your pride and joy. It brought you happiness and
7
tranquility. Now it’s [Link]: +5 Student: Plants and Herbs
Stolen Birthright: You were destined for better than this. Maybe you’re supposed to command a merchant fleet,
8 or rule a barony, or own Apple Blossom Ranch. But you’ve been tricked or conned or forced out of what’s yours by
right. Now, you’re going to take it back. Effect: +1 Coordination, Duty: Sustain Your Family’s Traditions
Survived Hideous Occult Ritual: Blasphemous religious ceremony? Arcane experiment? Whatever it was, it
9 went really, really wrong. Really. The question is, were you performing it or just there to be sacrificed? Effect: +2
Counterspell, +3 Eerie, Problem: Unwholesome
Diplomatic Incident: No matter what your current social station, or what your social station was when the…
unpleasantness… occurred, you managed to create tremendous antagonism between two states, nations, or tribes.
10
Did you intend to be an agent provocateur? Or was it just sheer mischance? Whatever it was, you’ve attracted
somebody’s attention. Effect: Patron (5 points), Problem: Enemy

CHART C
d10 Result
Raised Wild: Perhaps you were abandoned in the woods as a child and were nursed by wolves (or a bear, or an
ape, or whatever). Maybe primitives who have no real language of their own raised you. Whatever it was, you’re
1 used to living on the edge. Effect: Lose the normal MD everyone has for their native language—and note that
your GM now has the right to make you roll any time you want to explain something. +3 Hearing, +2 Sight, +3
Language, +2 Expert: Throwing, +2 Endurance
Death Defier: Maybe you fought free against incredible odds. Maybe you snuck out. Or maybe the rope just broke
2
at the right time. Effect: Fool Lucky
Star Crossed Lovers: Well, a parent just didn’t approve. Or maybe it was a spouse. Or maybe events just
conspired to trap you, hundreds of miles away from your beloved. In any event, it was not to be, leaving you sadder,
3
wiser, and unusually attentive to the quickest exit from any bedroom you enter. Effect: +1 Lie, +1 Stealth,
+1 Run, +1 Dodge, Beauty (1), Problem: Enemy
Unexpected Windfall: You’ve come to own something of great value. Maybe you won it at cards. Maybe it “fell
4
off the cart.” Maybe you found it while stranded in haunted ruins. Effect: +4 Possession, +1 Wealth
Stranded: You got shipwrecked, or were the lone survivor of an exploration mission, or you got lost somewhere
5 desolate. In any event, you had to survive solo for a really long time. Effect: +3 Throw, +1 Endurance,
+1 Athletics
Saved Someone’s Life: That’s got to feel good, huh? How’d you do it? Cure the fever no one else could? Pull her
6 from in front of runaway horses? Swim him to shore? Scare off the wolf pack? Whatever it was, you’ve got a friend
for life. And your friend is a good friend to have! Effect: Patron (5 points)
Unlikely Education: At some point, you’ve gained a great deal of knowledge about some subject that’s
completely unrelated to your professions and other experiences. Maybe you were apprenticed to someone. Maybe
7
you have an abiding interest. Maybe you were imprisoned in a specialized library for an extended period. Effect: +5
in a Student Skill you don’t already possess
Disastrous Mountain Expedition: Similar to the Caravan Debacle (above), you were involved in a horrible
mission that went awry. Maybe you were exploring uncharted lands, or trying to find a profitable new pass, or were
8
guiding mercenaries in to aid your beleaguered people. But by mischance or mischief, it all went awry. Effect:
Leather Hard
Strange Birthmark: You never thought too much about that birthmark on your neck (or ankle, or shoulder-blade,
or wrist). You know—the one that looks like a fish (or an anchor, or a crown, or a tree). But a few people who’ve seen
9
it have had very strange reactions, ranging from eagerness and awe, to anger or even fear. What does it mean? You
have no idea. Effect: Rabbity, Lucky, Problem: Enemies.
Majesty’s Personal Cobbler: You made the most beautiful, most comfortable, most durable shoes in the entire
kingdom, and as a result, you are one of the relatively few people to have seen the monarch barefoot. Do you still
have this exalted position? If not, what happened? If so, where’d all your money get to? (This result gives you a Skill
10
in Student: Cobbler that costs more than you should really get from a single die, but… come on, it’s cobbling. You
can make and fix shoes and other leather goods and that’s it. It’s not quite the lifesaver that a 4+MD Dodge Skill
can be.) Effect: +4+MD Student: Cobbler

Chapter Two: Character Generation 27

 SAMPLE ONE RANDOM ROLL CHARACTER CREATION: : LILITH PARANDROGASINAS
Becky is getting ready for a game that her GM assures her will be wild, wooly, fast, loose, over the top, and charmingly madcap.
Everyone’s using random generation with the vague instructions to “come up with a character fitting for ‘Raphael Sabatini writes
Alice in Wonderland’.” With a shrug and an interested grin, Becky rolls 11d10. She gets a 3×3 and a 3×8 in sets, with 2,4,5,7,and
10 on her Waste Dice.
A lot of her dice are outside sets, so Becky decides to assign at least some of them to moderately-plausible Chart A. She’s not that
crazy about the idea of picking up random Passions, so she’s going to avoid Chart B. Chart C certainly sounds appropriate for the larg-
er-than-life setting, so that should get some play too. She decides to alternate between charts A & C with her random events. With
this decision made, she looks up her results.

3×3 TRAVELING BARD 4C UNEXPECTED WINDFALL

+1 Charm +1 Command +4 Possession +1 Wealth
+2 Perform +2 Fascinate
+1 Jest 5A GREAT COOK

3×8 MILITARY OFFICER +5 Student: Cooking

+1 Command +1 Fight 7C UNLIKELY EDUCATION

+1 Ride +3 Tactics +5 Student: _______?
+2 Inspire +2 Parry
+1 Endurance 10A SERVED THE DECADENT RICH
2A ROBBED! +1 Fascinate +1 Plead,
+1 Lie +2 Graces
+1 Sense, option to trade in all Wealth

With a frown, Becky asks her GM if women are allowed in the army in his game. He thinks about it and decides it would be far
more interesting if the answer is “no.” “If you want to play a woman,” he says, “Perhaps she enlisted and rose through the ranks while
disguised as a man.”
As a fan of Shakespeare, Becky is intrigued. Military Officer in drag it is! And that seems to play well with “served the corrupt rich”—
perhaps her character (whom she names “Lilith Parandrogasinas” in a fit of profligate polysyllablism) got the unlucky task of bringing
bad news to the rulers after failed military escapades? Sounds promising.
She now has to puzzle out the order of Lilith’s life. Does she want to get robbed before or after she has her unexpected windfall?
She decides to put it after—Wealth doesn’t appeal that much, especially if it’s just one point. And if she loses Wealth 1, she can buy
Beauty 1, which could provide a lot more leverage in both her life story and the game itself.
After some thought, she puts things in the following order:
1. Military Officer 5. Robbed!
2. Served the Decadent Rich 6. Traveling Bard
3. Unexpected Windfall 7. Unlikely Education
4. Great Cook
To explain this, she tells the following story:
“When the army came to conscript my sickly brother, I went in his stead, knowing that war would surely kill him. To my great
surprise, I was successful and rose through the ranks. Noting my great personal charm, the generals decided that their capri-
cious noble overlords would prefer to hear about our disastrous military failures from me. Indeed, I was so successful at making
our routs and repulsed sieges sound amusing that I became a court favorite. One great noble rewarded me for a particularly
rousing account with a bag of gold and a ruby pendant in the shape of a monkey, which he assured me would keep me from
harm. But alas, because my masquerade was imperfect, another noble uncovered my femininity and declared himself smitten
with me. He was nice enough, but I just couldn’t bring myself to share his couch, however ardently he implored me. To put him
off, I used my prodigious cooking skills to stuff him fat every breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Overwhelmed by food, his libido was
kept in check until the next feast. I continued this ploy until he was too fat to ride astride, then fleeing in the dark of night.
“Unfortunately, while escaping, I was set upon by a trio of blind river robbers, who despoiled me of my bag of gold. I kept the
pendant hidden from them but was forced to fall back upon the jesting and japery skills that had won me such acclaim at court.
“It was in the course of this second career as a freelance jester that I encountered Irwise the Rugose, an astrologer of excep-
tional skill. He claimed that his star charts had led him to me, an astrological prodigy who was destined to learn his craft and
eventually excel him. I was dubious at first, but when he added that I was also destined to be his cook, I became a believer. And
so I have learned the secrets of astrology from Irwise while stuffing him with the same fatty fare that freed me from my previous
paramour. Sadly, my cooking once again had ill effects for the consumer—in Irwise’s case, it lead to weight gain, gout, and even-
tually a seizure. Now his nephew has claimed Irwise’s home and possessions and has unceremoniously turned me out on to the
street. If only I’d understood my horoscope: ‘Bad fortune falls between mealtimes.’”

28 Chapter Two: Character Generation

 ALTERNATE CHARTS, ALTERNATE PROFESSIONS
It’s perfectly possible to tinker with this system so that it’s customized to your setting. Fun, too.
Suppose your GM has built a setting that’s an academy of arcane study, and all the PCs are going to be instructors there. It’s
expected that they will be wizards. She could, therefore, write up a chart where ×1 matches indicate training in magic based on
altered perception, ×2 matches show that you’re an oracle, ×3 matches are for fire magi and so forth. There are a couple guide-
lines to make this work smoothly.
• Every Die is Worth 5 Points: Remember that the first level in a profession is formed from two dice, not one—that 2×4 match
indicates 10 points worth of goodies, not five. However, that 3×4 match only adds another 5 to that.
• Loose “Event” Dice Should Resemble the Profession: Check out the charts in place. All the 7 events give you some kind of
Student Skill, and two out of three 6 events give you combat Skills. This is no accident. When writing up charts A, B and C, I
knew that anyone who had a loose 7 die necessarily had no ×7 match. Since the ×7 match has all the brain Skills, I knew that
putting brain Skills on events that came up 7s wouldn’t produce redundancies. Similarly, anyone who has a loose 6 doesn’t have
an ×6 match and, therefore, could probably use a combat Skill or two.

CHARACTER ORE PROBABILITIES

GENERATION STRATEGY Pool Size
1
Odds of Getting One or More Matches
0%
With both of the character generation systems, you can end up
spending points to buy Skills and Stats. If you’re not familiar 2 10%
with the system, you may feel like you’re making uninformed 3 28%
purchases. Is a Master Die really that much better than an 4 50%
Expert Die? Should I focus on one Stat or have a broad array
5 70%
of Skills? Just how good is a 5 die pool, or a 3 die pool, or an 8
die pool? 6 85%
The ORE has many advantages, but instantly graspable 7 93%
probability is (alas) not one of them. Bigger pools are obviously
8 98%
better. What’s not apparent at first blush is just how much better
they are. So to help you out, we’ve done the math. The above 9 99.6%
chart compares and contrasts pools without special dice. 10 99.9%
As you can see, the odds change radically at the bottom of
the chart and minimally at the top. In terms of simple, succeed- of woman who can instantly persuade anyone of just about
or-fail matchmaking, raising your pool from 3 to 4 is a much anything? Whose tearful entreaties can sway the coldest
greater payoff than raising it from 7 to 8. (Now, the higher heart? Graces, Lie and Plead, all of which are also under
pools are also much likelier to produce Wide sets and multiple Charm, cover those acts. Let’s look at the Stat vs. Skill table
sets, both of which are highly desirable in some circumstances. to see how getting cool pools works out with a Stat-heavy and
Combat is definitely one of those circumstances.) a Skill-heavy approach
Keep this chart in mind when you’re trying to decide if it’s Going Skill-heavy gets her exactly the same pools for two
really worth it to have a 3d pool instead of raising another pool fewer points. Now, the Stat-heavy version can use a Jest pool at
from 4 to 5. 4d too… and if you add Jest 2 to the Skill-heavy column, both
come in at exactly 20 points.
STATS OR SKILLS? So the answer to the Stat vs. Skill question is really this: Do
Stats cost five times as much as Skills, but each Stat has (on you want to be good at every Skill governed by a particular Stat?
average) about five Skills under it. So superficially, it’s a wash, If the answer is yes, boosting that Stat is a good idea. But if you
right? only want to use one Skill under the Stat (Stealth under Coor-
Not necessarily. dination, say, or Perform under Command) you’re much better
Both Stats and Skills contribute to the size of your dice pool, off raising the Skill.
but pricey Stats contribute to pools much more often. The trick Just by counting the number of Skills available under each
to deciding is to figure out if you want a high pool for only a few Stat, you can see that having high Body and Knowledge pay off
Skills in an area, or if you want to be pretty good at all of them. better than high Command. If you’re just looking for immedi-
Take, for instance, a player who wants a great seductress ate dice pool payoff, those Stats are where it’s at.
character. That requires needs a big Charm + Fascinate pool. But remember this, too: Raising Stats with XP is hard.
Fine. Five points for a single point of Charm, or five points for Raising your Stats at the beginning may limit you at the begin-
five levels of Fascinate. No contest, right? ning, but your pools can grow faster when you’re buying Skills
But what if she wants her character to be generally persua- (which are cheap), and your friends can only improve by getting
sive? The kind who’s comfortable in any situation? The sort expensive Stats.

Chapter Two: Character Generation 29

 STAT VS SKILL EXPERT OR MASTER?
Trait Cost Trait Cost Master Dice sound cool. But are they really that cool? They’re
Charm 2 5 Charm 4 15 cooler than Expert Dice, but are they five times cooler?
The answer is, it depends on the Skill, and it depends on what
Fascinate 4 4 Fascinate 2 2
you’re doing with the Skill.
Graces 3 3 Graces 1 1 If you have an MD and at least one other die in your pool,
Lie 4 4 Lie 2 2 your roll succeeds. Period. You won’t necessarily do great, but
you cannot fail. That 100% costs you 7 points (1 for the regular
Plead 2 2 Plead 0 0
Skill die, +1 to make it Expert, +5 to make it Master). If you
TOTAL 18 TOTAL 20 spent 5 points to get that Skill at level 5, and it combined with
Stat 1, you have a 6d pool and an 85% chance of success. That’s
CONCLUSION pretty good. If that’s good enough, or if you’ve raised the Stat
All else being equal, you’re generally better off with Skills than to 2, you’re probably all right. But if you really want to never
Stats. However, for a Stat whose Skill set is going to see heavy fail, only an MD guarantees it.
use, buying it up is worthwhile—not just for the present, but for It does not, however, guarantee any degree of success. There-
future development. fore, MDs are good for Skills where degree of success doesn’t
matter—stuff that’s usually yes/no. Vigor rolls are a good
SPECIALIST OR GENERALIST? example: Roll a success once per day to heal the Width of the
roll in Shock damage. It doesn’t matter if you get a 2×10 or a
Is it better to have a few really reliable Skills, or a bunch of bor- 2×2, the success is what counts. An MD there is going to guar-
derline ones? Do you want to be a narrowly-focused expert, or antee you some healing every day, with additional dice giving
a jack of all trades? you the potential for exceptional Width.
The answer depends on the type of game you’re going to play. EDs are better used for controlling the degree of success. They
In a light-hearted game where failing is as fun as a succeed- can’t improve your chances of getting a match, but they can alter
ing, an array of low Skills is amusing because the uncertainty the odds of getting the match you want. For Skills where Diffi-
heightens the fun. But in a game where success and failure mean culties are often assessed, Expert Dice are worth a point. They’re
life and death, generalists often die. also good for Skills that are usually Dynamic Contests—stuff
There are dangers to being a specialist, of course, and the like Lie where you’re not opposing a static circumstance but the
most obvious is that you might need a Skill you just don’t have. efforts of another person.
But that’s where the strategy of play comes in (as opposed to Both EDs and MDs have tremendous effects in combat. EDs
the strategy of character building). Try to always position your let you pick your target. If you set your ED to 10 before taking a
character so that his strengths can be used to solve problems. shot, you’ve dramatically increased your odds of a head hit (with
(Provided, of course, that you don’t have to screw the rest of the its chances for rapid victory). As for MDs, the advantages of
party in the process.) If you can’t fight, negotiate. If you can’t being the archer who cannot miss seem self-evident.
sneak, do frontal assaults. Or rely on the Skills of other party The trick is, EDs and MDs get dropped first when you do
members. multiple actions. At the most basic level of combat, you may not
A less-considered but possibly worse risk to over-specializa- do many of those, but the bigger your pools are, the less daunting a
tion is the risk of specializing in something useless. Dialogue -1d penalty becomes and the more attractive it becomes to hit and
with your GM can avoid this nine times out of ten, but make dodge in the same round (or to hit twice). For the cost of an MD
sure you go into the game with your eyes open. If it’s going to you can have a pretty good pool. On the other hand, there are a
be a slaughterfest, those five dice in Graces won’t see much use. number of ways to offset multiple-action penalties (some Martial
CONCLUSION Techniques allow it, as do Passions if you’re using them). If you’ve
got that stuff on your side, trick dice become a better deal.
It’s impossible to be good at everything and very easy to be lousy
at everything. It is, however, eminently possible to be very good CONCLUSION
at several things. It helps if they’re controlled by the same Stat, EDs help most in dynamic contests or events where you’re
so that you can buy that Stat up, but you can afford several high facing a Difficulty. MDs help as much as EDs, but they are
pools built on Skills alone—if you’re willing to let your charac- even better in static contests where reliability is more important
ter be worse than average in other areas. than the degree of success. But neither one is that great if you’re
doing multiple actions because they probably just get penalized
out of your pool.

30 Chapter Two: Character Generation

 “It is impossible to prepare for the unexpected—by definition.”
-A. Hitchcock

Y ou’ve created a character who works with the other PCs

and your GM says it’s a decent fit for the plot. That’s
good. You’ve also read enough of the core rules that you
feel you understand what matches are, why you want them, and
what the difference between a 3×2 and a 2×3 is. Splendid. What
you’re in competition with another character, you engage in
a dynamic contest, as described on page 9. Other than that,
the GM is encouraged to adjudicate this Skill with common
sense—let the PC succeed with a simple match unless (1) it
harms the plot or (2) it reduces the general coolness and fun
follows are the specific rules governing Skills, along with char- instead of increasing it.
acter development material and some of those neat Esoteric Throwing is a special case, since characters may fling things
Disciplines that make Skills more useful and interesting. in fights and (reasonably enough) be uncomfortable with “GM
decides.” Lots of factors impact on how far and how well you

SKILLS chuck an object—its size, your strength, height advantages,

aerodynamics and density, et cetera. Rather than bother with
all that, use the following rules of thumb.
While the Character Generation chapter explains what the Skills
Light objects can be accurately thrown out to Short range.
are and what they do, this chapter has particular rules for how
(Short range is defined on page 115 of the Combat chapter; it’s
they work under the ORE. (Combat Skills like Fight and Dodge
about twenty paces.) A “light” object is anything your character
are exceptions. They’re mostly covered in the Combat chapters.)
could comfortably heft with one hand—a candlestick, an axe, a
stool. If it hits, it does Width in Shock damage. Items that are
ATHLETICS BODY
unusually dangerous—they’re pointy or white-hot or swarming
Rather than include a battery of charts for lifting and jumping with hornets—might add a point of Killing damage or might
and other obscure deeds that come up once or twice in a even do their Width in Killing damage.
month of gaming, the definition for Athletics is left inten- Heavy objects (things that the character needs both hands to
tionally vague. Someone with a high Athletics pool should be lift) can be accurately thrown out to about ten feet. When they
able to perform some impressive feats—without even a roll if hit, they do Width+1 in Shock, unless they’re somehow unusually
the GM’s generous. Otherwise, a straight static contest roll is nasty (bladed, spiked, dripping acid) in which case they might
sufficient for ordinary tasks. If you roll a match, you did it. If add a point of Killing damage or do Width+1 Killing.

Chapter Three: The Player's Chapter 31

 subtler emotional level of gauging their posture, expressions,
CLIMB COORDINATION
and the inflections of their words.
In combat, you can ascend five feet per round for every point of When someone is attempting to sway your opinions with
Width in your set, if the surface is easy to climb on. If the con- Fascinate or Inspire, a simple Empathy roll is usually enough to
ditions are inclement, it’s five feet for every two points of Width. intuit their intentions. This does not mean the attempt doesn’t
Or, if you’re not in imminent danger, a successful roll or two work. After all, when you try to persuade someone, don’t you
gets you to the top. Hard climbs are represented with Difficulties. do your best to make the pitch sweet? In any event, nothing a
Good equipment can offset Difficulty but rarely improves results. GMC rolls can make your character change their mind. All that
Inspire and Fascinate can do is make someone want to believe.
DIRECTION SENSE A far more common use for Empathy is “dishonesty detector.”
When you suspect someone is lying to you, roll Empathy. Your
With a successful roll, you’re not lost. GM then rolls some dice in secret—either the other character’s
Finding some general category of thing on a stretch of land— Lie roll or Fascinate or Intimidate or whatever else seems rea-
shelter, water, and the like—can be done with any Sense + sonable for telling the truth. If the character is lying, their Lie
Direction set. The goal must, of course, be something that is dice become Gobble Dice and go at whichever set you pick (if
of the land or that leaves traces through its presence. Finding you get one). If more than one person is squinting and trying
“jewelry” is hopeless, but knowing which mountain is most to figure if the slick talker is for real, the Lie roll only has to
likely to contain gold is certainly possible. destroy the Highest and the Widest roll by reducing them to a
Heluso and Milonda have unusual geography, as described in single point of Width. (This is described at greater length under
the Realms book. When this makes navigation easier (like when Lie). If you get no sets or your sets are destroyed, the GM tells
a character can see the sky, where every object is fixed), the GM you something like “He seems to be telling the truth.” If your
may give a +1d bonus to Direction. When the sky isn’t visible (and sets remain and he’s honest, the GM tells you the same thing.
sometimes characters look up and see ocean) a –1d penalty can If your sets remain and he’s lying, the GM says, “He seems to
be assessed. But maybe not if the character grew up in one of the be hiding something” or some similar line. When a character
dark lands. scans honest, the GM should never, of course, tell you whether
In any event, a roll with this Skill can fill in for all the usual it’s because your Empathy sets got ruined or whether there was
rigmarole of consulting maps, figuring movement rates, buying nothing to ruin them.
feed for horses, and so forth. Good roll = quick trip. Failure =
lost in swamp with exciting crocodiles. ENDURANCE BODY

DODGE COORDINATION If you’re trying to do something hard for a very long time, roll
Body + Endurance. If you succeed, you keep going unimpaired.
This beloved Skill of avoiding damage is thoroughly covered in If you fail, you take a point of Shock damage to your torso.
the Combat chapter, specifically on page 116. The most prom- Endurance can also be rolled in a contest against torture. Your
inent mechanical difference between this and Parry is that you Endurance successes become Gobble Dice that overwhelm the
can dodge without touching the incoming weapon, and you successes your torturer got on a Knowledge + Healing (or, as
can’t protect anyone but yourself by using it. likely, Expert Torturer) roll. This is not a time-sensitive use of
Gobble Dice, so if you get 2×7 against a 4×5, you can apply those
EERIE SENSE gobblers, cut it down to a 2×5 and at least blunt the impact.

Eerie is used to sense the distortion of energy when a spell is being

prepared. It can also be used to determine if a particular item is
FASCINATE CHARM
enchanted. (It cannot normally be used to scan a person or animal This personal-interaction Skill doesn’t need a lot of rules for
for enchantment—living creatures are too complicated.) Detecting its use. Roll a success and your listener is more inclined to
spellcasting is passive: The GM usually asks you to roll when you’re like you or be interested in what you’re saying or agree with
in an area where you might notice someone doing it. Checking your argument. Use common sense, of course: Fascinate can’t
items requires active concentration—meaning that it doesn’t overcome circumstances like “She saw you kill her mom” but
matter how powerfully magic that sword is, you’re not going to less traumatic problems (like, you belong to one political group
sense it with Eerie unless you take some time to really examine it. and the other person belongs to its rival) may just require you
In the world of Heluso and Milonda, most people have very to beat a Difficulty.
poor Eerie senses. While they might detect a sorcerous flux,
they normally have no way to determine its direction, intensity, FIGHT BODY
or its intended use. They can typically tell if it’s aimed at them
or not, but other than that they just know it’s occurring. This is Fight makes attacks, as described throughout most of the
described in greater detail in the Reign: Realms book. Combat chapters. It’s a versatile Skill that can be used to
wrestle, punch, or use any hand-to-hand weapon, as long as
EMPATHY SENSE its use is unsubtle and obvious. Anything that requires finesse,
special training, or an explanation can’t be used with Fight. It’s
Empathy is the Skill of understanding people—not, perhaps, the crude Skill of hard clobbering, so weapons like whips, bows
in the sense of understanding every word they speak but at the and lassos are beyond its purview.

32 Chapter Three: The Player's Chapter

 GRACES CHARM TAKING TIME AND DOING IT RIGHT
Any successful Graces roll keeps you from making a fool of When you’re trying to bullseye someone with a cross-
yourself. Therefore any failure means you committed some kind bow bolt, you add +1d to your pool for every round you
of faux pas. Even if you’ve never met someone before and have spend aiming, up to a maximum of +2d. This same idea
no clue about their culture, Graces makes you sufficiently sensi- can apply to almost any Skill. If you take twice as long to
tive to nuances of behavior that you’re able to abort rude actions investigate the crime scene before rolling, you can give
before completion—or perform them in a way that it’s clear you a +1d bonus to your Scrutinize pool. If you have all the
intend no offense. time you want to get secreted away you can add two dice
There is a subtler use of Graces. People who have a well-prac- to your Stealth pool. There are clearly some circumstanc-
ticed set of calming and mediating behaviors can fall back on es where this doesn’t work, but by and large taking your
those in times of stress. Because they’ve rehearsed how to make time and approaching a situation calmly makes success
personal conversations go easier, they can use their élan to mask more likely. As with the crossbow, no more than two dice
more devious activities. If you talk to someone and deliberately should be added to a pool.
make a successful Charm + Graces roll to incline them to trust,
like, and believe you, their next Sense + Empathy roll against
or poison is a drag and not producing intrigue for the party, a
you is at a –1d penalty. They cannot use Sense + Empathy to
simple Healing success may well cure it.
detect this manipulation because the only thing to detect is you
Of course, the greatest kindnesses become the vilest vices
acting the way everyone really ought to.
when perverted, and healing arts are no exception. If applied to
HAGGLE CHARM torture, the Healing Skill can extract information, though this
is always done at a –1d penalty. (If you want to lose the penalty,
Use this to get a better price—lower if you’re buying, higher take Expert: Torturer.) It’s a contested roll against Body + Endur-
if you’re selling. You can browbeat, wheedle, cajole, confuse, ance, with the victim’s Endurance successes becoming Gobble
mislead, or simply wear down merchants or clients with this Skill. Dice. (Naturally, this can only be attempted on someone who is
A simple Haggle roll evaluates the relative worth of an object, completely at your mercy.) Before rolling, the torturer says what
if your character has any excuse for being able to appraise it. body part he’s working on. For every point of Width the torturer
(Someone who owned jewelry at some point can evaluate gems, rolls, the victim takes a point of Shock to that location. Further-
but a beggar who spent their whole life in the gutter won’t know more, every time the interrogator gets a set past the defense of
how much rare perfume is worth.) Endurance, any Lie rolls the victim makes take a –1d penalty
You can also use Haggle when you want to buy something until all the damage is healed. (These penalties are cumulative.)
with a Cost equal to your Wealth rating. Normally, if you If the torturer rolls no successes, it inflicts Killing damage equal
bought it, your Wealth would drop by 1. You can choose instead to the Healing pool on the affected area. This means it is quite
to bargain for it using a contested roll against the seller. If you possible for an experienced physician to have a bad day and kill
get the Higher set, you get the object and keep your Wealth the person under interrogation. Needless to say, authorities who
rating stable. If the seller rolls Higher, you can’t get the object countenance duress are unlikely to accept “Ooops, the needle
at all. Alternately, if the object or the merchant or your Wealth slipped” as an excuse.
rating doesn’t matter much in the larger scheme of things, your
GM may give you the bargain with just a simple success. HEARING SENSE

HEALING KNOWLEDGE Hearing helps you notice things. The usual static contest rolls
(see page 8) are used for hearing things like the an incriminat-
When you want to help someone recover from an injury, roll ing conversation on the other side of a door or the twang of a
Knowledge + Healing. There are a couple ways to apply this. tripline releasing a trap.
Once per day, you can fuss with the bandages and splints on If someone is hiding from you, you roll your Sense +
your friends (or yourself) and remove a number of Shock points Hearing pool, and the hidden spy uses Coordination + Stealth
equal to the Width of the roll. successes as Gobble Dice against your successful sets. If
For the more seriously harmed, you can roll to help them multiple people are searching, the hider only has to beat the
after they’ve spent a full day resting and recuperating. If this Widest and Highest set. (This is described, with examples,
roll succeeds, you can change one point of Killing damage into under Stealth, following.) Environmental factors that make
Shock. The healer decides the location for the changed point. hidden people hard to hear (the sound of wind, or waves on
Successful Healing rolls can alleviate the effects of some the shore) are usually modeled with dice penalties. If you’re
poisons or illnesses—possibly even removing them altogether. inside a metal structure during a violent hailstorm, your GM
This is discussed at length in Chapter Thirteen but the rule may not let you make Hearing rolls.
of “what’s good for the story” can alter how easy (or possible)
such aid is. If the GM has told you that only the oil of the INSPIRE COMMAND
rare Gilded Mandrake can save you, and it grows only on bat-
For general purpose rabble-rousing, a successful roll produces
tlefields defended by unruly ghosts, she’s not going to let you
an emotional response, with greater Height indicating increased
off with just a Healing roll. On the other hand, if the sickness
passion. If your game doesn’t need more detail, there it is.

Chapter Three: The Player's Chapter 33

 A more concrete use of Inspire is to raise the Threat level
of allied troops. If you can give a grand speech before a fight, EXAMPLE
any success is sufficient to give them the Morale bonus to their Tud’s native language is Truil but he has Language: Imperial
Threat (described on page 118 of the Combat chapter) if they 1. He encounters Kipo, who has an MD in Futai but only 3d
don’t already have it. in his Language: Imperial Skill. Any time they want to have a
If you don’t get a chance to fire them up before the battle, you conversation, they roll Tud’s Skill + Kipo’s Skill, or 4d.
can still give your mooks the Morale bonus during the fight.
If your character spends a round yelling encouragement and Penalties are assessed to these combined rolls. Drop a die from
direction, your soldiers gain the Morale effect for all of that the combined pool if (1) the subject is particularly complicated,
round, starting with the Declare phase, and you don’t need to baroque or specialized (such as a conversation about detailed
roll. If you want to direct them while doing something else military strategy or magical theory) or (2) one of the characters is
(dodging or attacking, say) you need to make a multiple action trying to read something the other wrote. (As described in Reign:
between Inspire and whatever else you want to accomplish. This Realms, Heluso and Milonda both have very primitive writing
is described in detail, with examples, on page 123. systems, so even a smart reader can have trouble with something
a smart writer wrote.) If it’s a written document about something
INTIMIDATE COMMAND complicated or highly involved, it’s a –2d penalty.

Use of this outside of combat can produce various effects, EXAMPLE

but they’re up to the GM to adjudicate, based on the tough-
ness of the person being glared at and the ramifications of the Tud has a single MD in Truil and he’s trying to read a
actions the intimidator is requesting. Attempting to browbeat complicated religious tract. It’s written in Truil runes, and
the writer’s Language: Truil Skill was an impressive 4+MD.
a defenseless peasant into telling you which way the harm-
However, since it’s both complex and written, both the
less-looking old man went is pretty simple. Scowling at the
reader’s MD and the writer’s get removed. Rolling 4d, Tud
hardened guard at a fortress who knows his liege will kill him if
has a fifty/fifty chance of grasping its concepts.
he lets the wrong people in—that’s got to be against some Dif-
ficulty. Its uses in combat are discussed in Chapter Six.
Keep in mind that taking extra time can add dice or offset pen-
JEST CHARM alties. If you take twice as long as normal, you can add a die or
avoid losing one from your pool. If you take three times as long,
If you just state “My character laughs and jokes with the you can add two dice or protect two from penalties. Of course, you
servants” but don’t come up with any particular ha-ha examples, may not always have time to laboriously pantomime your meaning.
you can roll Jest. Any success elicits some laughs, ranging At the GM’s discretion, Difficulties might come into play if
from mild chuckles (for ×1 sets) to thigh-slapping guffaws (for the Language roll that establishes the dialogue has low Height.
a ×10 result). If you get no sets, your reward is flop sweat. If This is especially appropriate for Fascinate or Inspire rolls. On
you actually come up with a funny joke and tell it, you succeed the other hand, if it’s going to be a pain, don’t bother.
without rolling. If you think it’s funny and the GM doesn’t, roll
without penalty to see if the audience agrees with you, or your LIE CHARM
sourpuss Game Moderator.
Lying is a contested action between the liar’s Lie Skill and
(On page 20 in the Character Generation chapter, there are
the listener’s Empathy Skill. The roll off doesn’t happen if the
optional rules for using Jest to get free straight lines.)
listener isn’t suspicious (or doesn’t care). Depending on the
LANGUAGE KNOWLEDGE nature of the falsehood, other Skills can be used to detect it:
Knowledge + Lore if someone’s gassing about a historical event,
Language rolls work differently because they’re cooperative or Knowledge + Graces if they’re fraudulently claiming to have
between the speaker and the listener. It doesn’t matter how spent a summer at the palace. You can suggest variant truth
sharp one’s comprehension is, or how eloquent the other, if detection Skills, but the GM has the final say.
there’s no common vocabulary at all. Therefore, if two charac- The liar rolls and turns any results into Gobble Dice, which are
ters don’t share a Language, neither can use Inspire or Fascinate used to offset the Highest and/or Widest sets generated by the lis-
rolls on the other. (The other Charm and Command Skills can teners. It’s just like Stealth (see page 36). If you’re lying to multiple
be made through gesture and facial expression, though Dif- people, you just have to wreck the Widest set and the Highest,
ficulties may be assessed.) Furthermore, characters without a and you take no penalties for “multiple actions” when trying to
language in common can only exchange the simplest pieces of fool more than one listener. Liars do have to take a multiple action
information. penalty when two different lies collide—for example, when a liar
If characters do share a language, the pool is formed of gave a false name to his new wife and his old wife shows up asking
each character’s Skill (instead of one character’s Knowledge + who the other woman is. (The bigamist may actually pull it off if
Language). If either character has an MD (a native speaker) you the women don’t have a language in common.)
don’t need to roll and can proceed to seduce, mislead, mesmer- Keep in mind that telling a lie is not time sensitive. If your
ize and encourage at will. If there’s no MD available, roll. With Gobble Dice are 2×10 and your patsy rolled a 3×3, you can apply
a success, they can communicate simple ideas and try to outwit two of your tens to two of the threes, wreck the set and keep a
or bamboozle each other in some fashion. straight face.

34 Chapter Three: The Player's Chapter

 T
Furthermore, just because someone got Lie successes doesn’t
mean you have to decide your character trusts them. As always, he game board looked incongruous in the middle
the opinions of the character are up to the player. of the desolate battlefield. Some effort had been
LORE KNOWLEDGE made to haul away the dead soldiers and the pieces
thereof but, of course, many chunks were overlooked
Lore is a very versatile Skill that can serve as a catch all. For
this reason, it often has a Difficulty or penalty, depending on among the ridges and cracks of the rugged ravine.
how obscure the question is. For example, knowing the proper One army held the north passage. Another was massed
etiquette for a given circumstance in a foreign land usually falls
under Graces, and any successful Graces roll could yield the
at the south. Their collision the day before had trampled
right answer. But if you don’t have the Graces Skill, you might the grass, sprayed the stone walls with blood, drastically
figure it out with Lore. When using Lore for something that’s increased the local fly and maggot population, but had
off beat, or which would usually be covered by another Skill, a
Difficulty is in order. It can be as low as 2 (for something fairly
not otherwise altered the strategic situation.
well known, like the title of a foreign land’s ruler) to as high When the general from the north offered to settle the
as 10 (for something incredibly arcane and obscure—like the matter over a board game, the southern leader had been
name of the mother of the founder of an ancient city that has
long since been destroyed, with even its location a mystery).
confused, and then insulted, but she’d agreed. She figured
that if she refused, her men (who were unaccustomed to
PARRY BODY
her command, many of them mercenaries and some foreign
Parry maneuvers are covered in much detail in the Combat allies who had to take orders through translators) would
chapter, but they generally produce Gobble Dice (see page 11).
They differ from Dodge maneuvers in that you can use Parry to
think her weak. If she lost, she planned to break her word
protect someone other than yourself, but you need a hard object and attack immediately, and she expected the same of the
with which to block. enemy. It was, she suspected, a gambit to buy time and a
PERFORM COORDINATION OR COMMAND rapid betrayal would give none. Besides, she might win and
it was not quite impossible that the other man might keep
Often, this can be used without a roll. If someone has the Skill,
assume they can play a pretty tune or remember their lines in
his word.
a play, unless it’s desirable to produce tension (or comedy) by As events transpired, the southern commander never
introducing the possibility of embarrassing failure or spectac- got the chance to find out. She lost, she stormed out and
ular success. In that case, roll. A failure means the performer
humiliates himself. A low success means an able performance. launched her surprise attack which, to no one’s great
A high one means it’s marvelous. astonishment, was as expected by the northern defense as
PLEAD CHARM it was by the southern attackers. There was more bloody
conflict, and the day after, the northern troops withdrew,
If you roll a success while pleading, the person to whom you
plead feels really, really bad if they don’t do what you want.
ceding the pass.
Depending on their Passions and general character they may With great celebration the southerners swarmed
do it anyhow, but a good Plead roll could lead them to do it through and occupied a nearby town, which had also
half-heartedly—it might even produce a Difficulty or die pool
penalty, at the GM’s discretion. (This usually won’t work on
been abandoned, and it was there that the northern
PCs unless the plea really plays to one of their Passions. If you leader counterattacked, killing or maiming a quarter of
say “My character doesn’t give a damn that he’s about to kill her the invaders, capturing another third, and sending the
brother,” then the GM ought to respect that.)
rest routing south. One of the captives was the southern
RIDE COORDINATION general. When her rival visited in prison, the man of the
Roll this as a dynamic contest to beat the other riders in a race, north said, “It really came down to the game. I could tell
to charge down on your opponent in a battle, or as a static you were far better at attack than defense.”
contest to guide your horse through the forest.
From her gloomy chains, the southern warrior asked,
RUN BODY “Care for a rematch?”
In a fight, or in other time-sensitive circumstances, you can
The northern leader pulled a board from behind his
move 15 feet every round automatically. If you want to move back. “I thought you’d never ask.”
farther than that, roll Body + Run. A success lets you move

Chapter Three: The Player's Chapter 35

 farther—five feet for every point of Width. (See Move on page the Highest. If there are a variety of Widths and Heights (say,
117 of the Combat chapter.) your searchers roll 2×3, 2×10, 3×4, 4×5 and 4×7) you only need
You may also use the Run Skill outside a fight when it’s to beat the single Highest set and the Highest of the Widest
important to move faster than someone else—a chase scene or sets—in the above example, the 2×10 and the 4×7.
a foot race, for example. In that case, simply do it as a dynamic If your Gobble Dice can reduce both the Highest and Widest
contest (described on page 9) or a series of dynamic contests for set to only a single die, you’ve remained hidden. You only get
longer or more dramatic pursuits. For very lengthy runs, Body + to use the one set you picked (unless you tried a multiple action
Endurance rolls can be used as well. The easiest way to do that is to generate more sets), but using these dice isn’t time sensitive.
to give a –1d penalty to Run rolls for people who’ve failed their Thus, if you get a 2×8 result and the pursuer gets a 3×8, you can
Endurance tests, while those who succeed have no such penalties. ruin that set by reducing it to 1×8.
Are you playing a game where lengthy, intricate chase scenes
are desirable? There’s an optional set of rules on pages 162-170 EXAMPLE
that add some depth to what can otherwise be Run vs. Run. Good Luovis is fleeing across a sunlit field, finds a scant
for a cops and/or robbers game, less useful for courtly intrigue. hiding place, and rolls his 7+MD Stealth pool. He rolls
1,1,3,4,6,6,6,8. With a 2×1 and a 3×6, he decides to make
SCRUTINIZE SENSE his MD a 6 as well. He now has four Gobble Dice at the
value 6. There are six Xingh clan soldiers following him,
This is the Skill of closely analyzing your surroundings in order and because they’re Threat 4 elite guards, the GM decides
to reconstruct events. It makes you a detective or a tracker. Even to roll 4d for each of them. She rolls as follows.
someone with poor sight and hearing can be good at reading the
Xingh 1: 2×3 Xingh 2: no match
signs of passage. It’s a matter of analyzing patterns more than
Xingh 3: 3×6 Xingh 4: no match
having exceptional eyes or ears. Xingh 5: 2×7 Xingh 6: 2×3
To detect something simple, take a few minutes to look at
Luovis only has to beat the 3×6 (because it’s Widest)
the scene and roll any Scrutinize success. This is how you roll
and the 2×7 (because it’s Tallest). Unfortunately for him,
pursuit of mounted fugitives, for example.
he can only handle the 3×6 set. He has enough dice, but
If you’re trying to find something deliberately hidden, roll they’re not tall enough to manage the 2×7. Now he has to
Scrutinize while the player who hid it rolls Stealth. Their suc- either fight, run or surrender.
cesses become Gobble Dice, applied to the set you picked. (If
you want to really search hard in a short period, do a multiple
The best friends a spy can have are cover and distraction. If
action.) If more than one investigator is on the case, the Stealth
there are impediments to sight (such as clutter or darkness or
roll only has to defeat the Highest and Widest sets.
glare) and hearing (such as rain on the roof or nearby speech or
Naturally, circumstances often levy Difficulties. Trying to
music in the distance) the GM should give –1d or –2d penalties
find a trail in the dark, or find the one scroll you need when
to the searchers. Unless, of course, there’s a good reason not to.
the library is on fire, can deter even the most perceptive seeker.
EXAMPLE
SIGHT SENSE
Having seduced the jailer’s naïve offspring, Luovis is on the
The Sight Skill notices things. If you’re trying to determine if run from the same elite guards, only this time there’s eight
the ship that’s coming over the horizon is flying the Upunzi of them and they’ve been ordered to kill him instead of just
flag, use the standard rules for static contests, as described on dragging him back in chains. But this time he’s fleeing by
page 8. Difficulties may apply, as usual. night along a thickly forested riverbed, so each guard only
If someone is hiding from you, you roll your Sense + Sight, rolls 2d. Now his 7+MD pool yields him 1, 2, 2×4, 2×6, 10.
He decides to make his MD a 10 and chooses his 2×10 set
and the hidden spy uses Coordination + Stealth successes as
against his enemies, who get the following results.
Gobble Dice against your successful sets. If multiple people are
searching, the hider only has to beat the Widest and Highest Xingh 1: no match Xingh 2: 2×1 Xingh 3: no match
set. (This is described, with examples, under Stealth, below.) Xingh 4: no match Xingh 5: 2×8 Xingh 6: no match
Environmental factors that make hidden people hard to spot are Xingh 7: no match Xingh 8: 2×6
usually modeled with dice penalties. 2×8 is the Widest and Highest, and he can easily surpass
it. Now, Luovis could just as easily have chosen to make his
STEALTH COORDINATION MD another 6, giving him three Gobble Dice at six which
wouldn’t have helped him against that 2×8 but might have
When you roll Stealth, you produce Gobble Dice (described defended him against a Wider set. Of such decisions are the
on page 11) which you use to counteract the Sight, Hearing, game made.
Scrutinize or other detection rolls of the person you’re trying to
outfox. Essentially, it works like Dodge or Parry, only instead of If neither hunter nor quarry rolls a set, the runner remains
avoiding an attack, you’re avoiding notice. undetected.
When you’re trying to hide from a group, you don’t have to Stealth also applies when you hide an object or disguise
gobble up every set that every person in that group rolls. Instead, yourself. As with all Stealth attempts, you don’t need to roll your
you only have to beat (at most) two sets: The Highest and the pool until someone is trying to see through your costume or find
Widest. If all the sets are of equal Width, you only have to beat that box of blood-sticky goldmarks you buried. This means that

36 Chapter Three: The Player's Chapter

 It’s all about the teamwork.
you might be required to roll Stealth months or even years after
hiding an item. In cases like that, the GM typically rolls your old
Stealth pool without telling you since your character has no way • His Skill level at any combat Skill you see him use
of knowing someone’s digging up his old stomping grounds. (Fight, Weapon, Dodge, Parry, Throw and so forth.)
• His Tactics levels if you see soldiers carry out a plan
STRATEGY KNOWLEDGE
he executed.
The most obvious use of Strategy is this: When your Company You can also identify any Martial Technique you see
gets into a military engagement with another Company, each someone use—if you make a Tactics roll whose Difficulty is
side’s commander rolls Strategy. The higher roll gets a tempo- the effect’s point cost. That is, to recognize Spinning Steel,
rary +1 Might bonus. which costs 1XP to learn, any set would suffice. To recog-
nize the use of Ghost Draw (which costs 5XP) you’d need to
STUDENT OF _________ KNOWLEDGE beat Difficulty 5. Recognizing a technique gives you at least a
vague idea what it does.
This Skill is very much like Lore, except that since you define it,
it’s narrower. As a result, your GM is far less likely to assess a Dif-
ficulty when you use this Skill to see if your character can recall
VIGOR BODY
a relevant datum. Even if the GM does give you a Difficulty, it’s This is what you use to recover from fights. Once per day, after a
likely to be lower than the Difficulty for a Lore roll (if the GM good night’s rest, you can make a Body + Vigor roll. If it succeeds,
even permitted a Lore roll to know such specialized information). you recover a number of Shock points equal to the Width of the
roll, or you can convert one point of Killing damage into Shock.
TACTICS KNOWLEDGE You may make more Vigor rolls if you’re exposed to illnesses or
poisons: A simple success shakes off minor stuff, while serious
With a successful Tactics roll, you can get a yes or no answer to
diseases or toxins have Difficulties. If you’ve taken damage to
a question like “Given what we know of the defenses, is a frontal
a Stat (from poison or magic or exposure or whatever else your
attack a good idea?” There’s rarely a Difficulty for Tactics. But
GM cooks up) any success on your once-a-day Vigor roll can
remember that phrase “given what we know.” You can’t use
restore a lost Stat point instead of healing Shock damage.
Tactics to evaluate something’s importance when you’re unaware
of it. So your expertise may tell you that a pincers movement is a
great idea—because you don’t know an ambush is lurking.
WEAPON SKILL COORDINATION
With a successful Tactics roll, you can determine, simply by Almost exclusively used to make attack actions. A menu of attack
observation, one of the following facts about an individual. choices is available in the three combat chapters, but the basic
• His Body or Coordination Stats if you see him fight. description of attacking with a weapon Skill starts on page 109.

Chapter Three: The Player's Chapter 37

 • Problems: As described under Problems on page 43, you
CHARACTER can get an extra XP for any session in which one of your

DEVELOPMENT self-inflicted troubles comes back to bite you.

• Dramatic Plot Alteration: Any session in which a
Once you’re done with character generation, you play. Your really dramatic, climactic (or abysmal) plot event occurs
PC may encounter marvels and tragedies, wonders profane is worth an XP, if it was the PCs who spurred this event.
and exhilarating. Triumphs and setbacks are certain: Stasis is This could kick in when you finally overcome a hated
impossible. For better or worse, your PC changes. foe, or when you conclude some lengthy plot episode.
Your GM attends to the “worse” aspect of those inevitable Alternately, you could get it for dropping the hammer on
alterations, so here are the rules for improvement: At the end your own feet. In any event, this is not an award you can
of every game session, you get experience points, abbreviated expect every session, but it is one that should go to every
as XP. XP are the currency of your character’s power: You can player who was present.
earn them in a variety of ways, and you can spend them to make With these factors in play, you can expect to earn between
your character better. 1-5 XP per session, and it’s more likely to hang around the
middle of that range.
EARNING XP
XP are, in a sense, your bribe for playing the game. Accord-
SPENDING XP
ingly, your GM may opt to give you an XP for anything that As the poet once said, “Getting and spending, we lay waste our
makes the game more fun. But the default sources of XP are natural powers.” Now it’s time for the delightful spending phase
the following. of that equation.
• Attendence: Just for showing up for a game session,
you get 1XP.
IMPROVING SKILLS
You can permanently raise a Skill by spending an XP.
• Thespianism: If you play your character so engagingly,
so winningly, so convincingly that your GM or fellow • Promoting a Skill die to an Expert Die costs 1XP.
players are tempted to burst into spontaneous applause, • Promoting an Expert Die to Master costs 5XP.
you get another XP. (The line “And the worst part is… I
never learned to read!” usually only works once.) SKILLS ABOVE 5 DICE
• Out of Character Enhancement: Maybe you’re too
shy to emote up a storm like Meryl Streep and Jack By spending XP, you can raise a Skill to 6, but no higher. If this
Nicholson having a scene-chewing contest. That’s fine. If gives you a pool bigger than 10, you don’t roll more than 10
you’re artistically inclined, draw dramatic (or humorous) dice. Instead, you use the overflow to offset penalties.
images of the characters or events. If you like to write,
keep an in-character journal or an out-of-character
EXAMPLE
chronicle. Or maybe you just bring a pizza and a six- With 6 Body and 6 Fight, Ublon the Overslayer has a 12d
pack. Anything along these lines deserves an XP award. Fight pool. When fighting, Ublon’s player only rolls 10d.
But if Ublon takes an action that would usually require

P
a –1d or -2d penalty, it can be rolled without dropping a
die from the pool. For example, Ublon can take two extra
eople see a fight, or hear of one, and they attacks (which usually inflicts a -2d penalty) and still roll
10d because the actual pool is 12.
draw their conclusions. I have never seen
those conclusions be anything but wrong.
Wrong about what it’s like to kill, wrong about IMPROVING STATS
what it means, wrong about how to do it. Some You can permanently raise a Stat by paying 5XP. Every 5XP
you spend raises the Stat one level. Again, you can raise your
people study or train in an army or pursue ‘hidden Stats to 6 using XP, with the implications for pools above ten
doctrines’ and there learn an entirely different set described above.

of errors. But those carefully tutored mistakes are BUYING ADVANTAGES

much easier to forget than the native ones, and You can buy Advantages by paying their price in XP… if they’re
in this lies the virtue of study. If you can manage available. It’s up to the GM to decide if the plot has made it
possible for you to gain a given Advantage by buying it. Your
to forget everything you know about fighting, you PC is unlikely to become heart-wrenchingly gorgeous over-
might get good at it. night just because you decided to spend points on the Beauty
Advantage. (But it’s possible, if you describe the total makeover
-Laughing Midnight, quoted while inebriated or explain how recent events have conspired.) However, if you

38 Chapter Three: The Player's Chapter

 OPTIONAL RULE: CAROUSING FOR XP
Ever notice how a lot of fantasy stories end with the protagonist nabbing some huge cache of jewels only to be flat broke—
again—at the start of the next adventure? They seem able to accomplish any feat… except basic money management.
Hey: A rapidly increasing spiral of money doesn’t always make for great stories—especially episodic short stories. Therefore,
the characters gamble, are robbed while passed out, get tricked in confidence games, invest in cockamamie schemes, waste it in
besotted generosity, and so forth.
RPG players tend to be a lot more cautious with their imaginary funds. But to tempt you, here’s a reward for squandering
money. Lower your Wealth by a point, and you can get 1XP in return.
You can only do this when it’s plausible—not in the middle of a siege, not between sessions when a cliffhanger is unresolved.
But if you can find a reasonable excuse for pissing away cash, you can turn it into XP.
When you spend these XP, try to find a connection between the Skill you buy and the money you waste. A straightforward
example might be you drop your Wealth by 2 to get 2XP and buy up the Sword Skill. What happened? Well, perhaps you spent
the money getting expert instruction. Or maybe you got robbed and had to fight your way free. If you lost it gambling, you could
increase Sight (to spot marked cards more adroitly in the future) or Stealth (as your card-sharping skills improve by observing
your betters).

got along well with a GMC and want to spend XP to upgrade

them to Patron, that’s perfectly reasonable. OPTIONAL RULE: BURNING XP
It’s the same with Martial Techniques and Esoteric Dis-
Some games give players control over the plot. Maybe a
ciplines. Their XP cost is the same as their cost at character
little control, maybe a lot. Groups who want to play that
generation, but in play you cannot learn them without being
way can allow players to burn XP.
taught. (If you take them at character generation, however, you
Burning an XP means spending it to get some im-
can teach them to the other PCs.)
mediate in-game effect. It lets the player tip the odds,
The flip side of this limited availability is that the GM might
or even dictate them, on events that would otherwise be
give you Advantages for free. If you organize the orderly retreat
perfectly random. If this sounds like cheating to you, if it
from an earthquake-devastated town, you could wind up with
isn’t your bag, you can skip the rest of this sidebar. But if
some followers. Or if you engineer a brilliant heist, your Wealth
it sounds like common sense to give PCs an option when
can, sensibly enough, go up.
cold dice kill a character who has otherwise been ably
You can’t gain Wealth by spending XP unless your GM
played, read on.
decides to allow it in some special circumstance. You can only
By spending an XP, you can get any of the following
gain the Possession and Animal Companion Advantages by
one-time effects.
paying XP appropriate to the magnificence or power of some-
thing you’ve already obtained: If you get a magic sword, it’s easy • Squeak By: You can replace a failed roll with a 2×1
come and easy go unless you spend the XP to make it part of result. You can’t make this part of a multiple action.
your character as an Advantage—which may not be necessary • Power Through: Add 1d to a pool or offset a
at all if you keep a close eye on it. -1d penalty.

JUNKING • Shake it Off: Negate one point of damage that you just
received.
You may generate a character who has Skills you never use,
Skills that aren’t meaningful in your campaign, Skills you You can’t spend multiple XP to ignore loads of damage
don’t like, Skills that come to mock you from the character or add buckets of dice.
sheet like leering imps of wasted potential. Should you be
stuck with Direction 5 just because you got distracted during
character generation? Maybe in other games, but you won’t be Though, if you haven’t used it, presumably there’s no evidence
in this one. of suavity.
If you suffer from creator’s remorse, you can junk Skills. But As a note to GMs: There’s no point in engineering situa-
there’s a catch: You can only junk a Skill that is genuinely useless. tions where you force someone to roll a Skill they want to junk.
If you decide you want to ditch a Skill, tell your GM and Maybe if you know that Skill will become much more interest-
put a mark next to the Skill. Any session where you don’t roll ing and useful down the line, but other than that it’s probably
that Skill at all, add another mark. Any time you roll that Skill, best to just go along. This isn’t to say you shouldn’t call for rolls
erase all the marks next to it. that emerge naturally from the narrative, but if your player has
Once a Skill has two marks, meaning you decided you didn’t come to despise a Skill enough to mark it for destruction, it
like it and went a session without using it, you have the option probably hasn’t gotten much use.
to decrease that Skill and get 1XP for every level you drop. There’s no limit to the number of Skills you can slate for
If you want a drastic plunge in Skill—like converting your junking, but watching more than two is probably more trouble
entire Graces 5 at one swoop—you need an explanation for than it’s worth.
why a character who was previously suave is now obnoxious.

Chapter Three: The Player's Chapter 39

 ADVANTAGES BEAUTY 1,3, OR 5 POINTS
You’re gorgeous. If you take one point in this, you’re above
Advantages are specialized elements of a character that don’t average—the prettiest boy in your village, someone who gets
quite fit in as broad Stats, learned Skills, or narrow and studied a second look on the street, but that’s it. Three points is excep-
Esoteric Disciplines. They’re unusual quirks like having a lovely tional—the sort of thing where a decadent noble might want to
smile, or a terrifying one. Or they’re the positive residue of marry or abduct you, depending on culture and personal incli-
previous experiences, such as having a loyal pet, or a sack full of nation. Five points is spectacular and unforgettable. Painters
rubies. A large list follows. want you to pose, singers write songs, and non-artists can be
inspired to far more foolish and dangerous acts. Five points
ANIMAL COMPANION VARIES of beauty gets you a face that can launch a thousand ships, so
watch out where you aim it.
You’ve got a horse, a dog, a hunting falcon, or some other
In game terms, any time you roll a low success with your Fas-
trained animal. It helps you out. If you want to be a knight with
cinate or Graces Skills, there’s a minimum Height to your set.
an outstanding horse, take it as a companion. Ditto if you’re a
If you roll under it, your Beauty raises it. The new level depends
wizard with a familiar.
on how much you spend on your Beauty Advantage.
You can just purchase a horse (or a dog or falcon or
whatever) of course, but Animal Companions are part of your
character in a way that some swayback nag you stole from the BEAUTY
caravan isn’t. GMs are well within their rights to callously slay Cost Minimum Success
any bought animal to show how a monster works, or decide 1 3
you got cheated and the critter has the dreaded Wormhoof
3 7
disease, and so on. Animal Companions can’t be so summar-
ily dismissed. They aren’t invulnerable by any means—you 5 10
take it with you when you storm the castle and you’re taking
your chances—but their loss or death should mean something So, suppose you have a Charm + Fascinate pool of 5d and you
within the terms of the plot. have the 1 point Beauty Advantage. Chatting with the arch-
These are just examples, but from there you should be able to duchess, you roll a 2×1. Normally that would make you mildly
gauge a cost for your critter. The GM has veto power over any diverting. But because you’re beautiful, it’s treated as a 2×3. If
unreasonable companions. (“My pet basilisk adores me and pet- you had the 5 point version of the Advantage, it would act like a
rifies any who attack me!”) If you want to bump up an animal’s 2×10 success, keeping her absolutely enthralled.
intelligence to the level that it obeys orders beyond the ability of Note that you still have to roll a success. If you’re beautiful
an ordinary creature, add a point to the cost. but have poor Graces, you’re going to look like you just don’t
care and can’t be bothered with proper manners. People are
ANIMAL COMPANION often jealous of good looking folks and need only the slightest
pretext to vent their feelings of inadequacy.
Cost Animal It’s possible to purchase this Advantage with XP, but you
1 Good, loyal warhorse have to explain why your previously plain character is now more
1 Friendly dog attractive. It doesn’t have to be anything special. We’ve all seen
Trained hunting falcon (adds 2d to your pool when the movies where the heroine librarian lets her hair down and
1 suddenly she’s ravishing. Perhaps your character just needed a
you’re hunting food in the wild)
1 Dancing monkey chance to clean up and get a decent wardrobe or has matured,
or is more self-confident. Or maybe that facial scar is really
Exceptionally strong warhorse (+1 damage box in each
2 dashing.
hit location)
2 Exceptionally vicious dog (+2 Fight and Dodge Skills) CANNIBAL SMILE 1 POINT
Stealing monkey, trained to climb into homes and lift
2 For some reason, you have strong jaws and sharp teeth. By
jewels
making a successful Body + Fight roll, you can bite someone
Superb hunting pack (five dogs, add 3d to your pool
3
when you’re hunting food in the wild) for Width Shock damage, 1 Killing damage. Furthermore, you
can add 1d to your Intimidate pool when you’re trying to scare
Superb racehorse (when racing, it increases the Width
2 someone who knows you’re a biter.
of your Ride sets by 2)

2
Protective orangutan (Use the stats for an Great Ape, DARK ADAPTED 3 POINTS
as listed on page 190.)
Master warhorse (as the exceptionally strong, but you get You can only take this Advantage if you have the Blind Problem
3 (see page 43). If you became blind during play, you can only buy
a +1d bonus to all Ride rolls while mounted on him)
this Advantage after months of intensive effort coming to grips
4 Talking cat of human level intelligence
with the disability.
5 Giant flying mount of animal intelligence
If you lost points off of Sight, Direction or Scrutinize as a
5 Trained riding mammoth result of blinding, you gain them back, but can add them only

40 Chapter Three: The Player's Chapter

to Empathy, Hearing, and Eerie. Any time you’d take a -2d unconsciousness, run on a broken leg, or swing a weapon with
penalty due to blindness, it’s only -1d. Any time you’d roll two broken arms. Indomitable characters are not to be trifled
against Difficulty 4 due to blindness, it’s only Difficulty 3. with.
If your indomitable character has a limb filled with Killing
DIE WITH YOUR BOOTS ON 5 POINTS damage, you can choose to use it normally for one round at the
In addition to the effects of the Indomitable Advantage (see cost of putting a point of Killing damage into the character’s
below), the character never passes out from Shock to the head torso. Similarly, by changing a point of Shock damage in the
and never takes penalties from having a completely shocked head to Killing, such specimens can remain awake for one round,
torso. even after their heads fill with Shock. Finally, by changing a
If you already bought the Indomitable Advantage, Die With point of Shock damage in the torso to Killing you can ignore
Your Boots On only costs 4 points. the usual penalty for having a torso full of Shock, for one round.

FOLLOWERS VARIES LANGUAGE GENIUS 5 POINTS

You’ve got a group of people who follow you around, obey your A language genius who already has 1+ED in a language Skill
orders (usually), do your bidding (for the most part), and expect can change that ED to an MD for 1XP instead of the usual
you to lead and provide for them in return. cost. If you take this advantage at character generation, you can
For specific rules regarding followers (particularly for an apply its benefits while buying language MDs then, too.
explanation of Threat), look at Followers on page 123 along LAST PUSH VARIES
with Unworthy Opponents on page 118. The following chart
shows how many followers you get for your investment. The player can spend up to 5 points on a Last Push advantage.
Once such characters have taken enough damage to die, they
FOLLOWERS can continue to act for a number of rounds equal to the points
spent.
Threat
Cost
1 2 3 4 LEATHER HARD 5 POINTS
1 10 5 3 2
Get an extra wound box in every hit location.
2 20 10 5 4
3 30 15 10 6 LINGUIST 3 POINTS
4 40 20 12 8 Every session, you get a bonus XP that can only be spent to
5 50 25 15 10 improve Language skills. If you take this advantage at character
generation, you get a free point in one language as well.
A band of ten wheezy, nose-picking followers of Threat 1
LITERATE IN ______ 1 POINT
costs one point. A unit of ten elite, dedicated followers of Threat
4 costs five points. The character does not automatically lose dice from a Language
Of course, keeping your lackeys in liquor, livery, and limes pool when reading. This can be taken multiple times to reflect
isn’t cheap. Every month, there’s an upkeep cost for your follow- literacy in different languages.
ers, as listed on page 76. Depending on background and GM
lenience, you may be able to use the Status Advantage to keep LUCKY 1 POINT
unpaid followers around for a while. It depends on the nature of
Once per session, you can re-roll a pool when no matches turned
the followers and their relationship to your status.
up.
For followers, Threat is used as a general measure of compe-
tence. When you pick out your followers, you can select a job for PATRON VARIES
which they are all trained. In addition to fighting at the Threat
level described, they can roll a pool equal to their Threat when You’ve got someone thinking about you, advising you, and (to
doing that job. (That is, if you pick out a crew of eight Threat 4 some extent) protecting you. This could be a meddling parent,
sailors for 4 points, they individually roll 4d when climbing or an employer, or simply a person to whom you’ve become useful.
sailing or tying knots. If your 30 Threat 2 followers are monks, In any event, it’s somebody who’s in a position to aid you…
they each roll 2d for Lore or Eerie tasks.) sometimes

FOOL LUCKY 5 POINTS PATRON

You can re-roll a pool, but it costs you an XP every time you do Cost Example Patron
it. You can only re-roll each pool once. You have to accept the 1 Village Chief
second result, even if it’s worse than the first.
2 Wealthy Merchant
INDOMITABLE 1 POINT 3 Prosperous Regional Governor
4 Wizard, City Ruler
Indomitable characters can force themselves to keep going
past the point where their bodies should stop. They can resist 5 Powerful and Influential Wizard, Minor King

Chapter Three: The Player's Chapter 41

 This is not quite the wonderful setup it may appear. While you STATUS
have your patron’s resources to draw upon, the cost is that you’re
one of them. Your patron expects things of you—the nature of Cost Example Status
this expectation depending, of course, on the nature of your rela- Minor squire, village sage, knight, certified instructor
1
tionship. A king who favors a knight is going to trust him with of some skill or other
lots of important missions. A wizard who aids you may need you 2 Priest of a large temple, town mayor, titled noble
to perform some quest she cannot complete herself (for whatever
High priest of a capital temple, head of a large merchant
reason). Even that village chief may call upon you for aid when 3
clan, duke, possibly the ruler of a wee small country
he’s in danger from a bandit gang (or a corruption investigation).
Duke or admiral for a mighty state, world famous for
4
POSSESSION VARIES _______
5 Crown prince of a major nation, head of a religion
You own an item of value. Not only do you own it but, as with
an Animal Companion, it’s an important part of your character. Note that this Advantage doesn’t confer any of the material
It thus has limited plot immunity, meaning the GM can’t wreck benefits of position—you’d need Wealth and Followers and
it, steal it, or seriously devalue it without good reason. Possessions for that sort of thing. If you take this without those
To find the cost for a Possession, check out the price list for you could be a dispossessed noble who trades on his family’s
various items. It starts out on page 75. Find the type of item you good name, a deposed prince-in-exile, or maybe just a clever
want (or something you and your GM can agree is roughly of impostor who happens to resemble Angrovad the Arch-mage.
equal value). Look at the lowest Wealth level it can cost, and reduce
that number by one. That’s the cost of the Possession Advantage. SUBTLE BEAUTY 3 POINTS
This functions like the Beauty advantage, promoting all low Fas-
EXAMPLE
cinate or Graces rolls to a minimum Height of five. However,
Trincula starts out having inherited a mansion in the city from this physical appeal is conditional. Sometimes it’s active, some-
Trinculo, the father she never met. A used mansion of this sort times the character is as forgettable as anyone else. It’s up to the
usually costs 6-8 Wealth. The lower end of the range is 6, and player to decide when it’s off or on and why. Maybe she needs to
reduced by one, Trincula’s house is a level 5 Possession. let her hair down and stand up with good posture or change into
the right clothes. Maybe he’s only gorgeous to his fellow Truils
RABBITY 4 POINTS while other races can’t see past the white skin.

In combat, the character can move twenty feet per round THICK HEADED 1 POINT
without a roll instead of the usual fifteen.
You have an extra wound box in your head. (This Advantage is,
SECRET VARIES quite possibly, the best bargain in the game.)

You know something people would kill to protect. The cost of TRANQUIL PRESENCE 1 POINT
the secret depends on how many people would kill to protect it.
There’s something comforting and reassuring about the charac-
As a guideline, consider the Company that wants the secret pre-
ter’s demeanor and reactions. When Morale Attacks are made
served. For every five points that Company has in its combined
in his presence, they are reduced by one point. (That is, when
Qualities (rounding down), the Secret’s cost rises by 1. Thus,
someone produces a Morale Attack 5 against his followers and
the nation of Dindavara considers it an issue of national security
he’s there, it’s only a Morale Attack 4.) However, any Morale
to keep the means to forge a Dinda sword secret. Dindavara
Attacks the character creates are decreased by 3, whatever their
has 21 points in Qualities. The Secret of the Dinda is a 4 point
source. (Morale Attacks are described on page 119.)
Advantage.

SOLDIER’S SLUMBER 1 POINT UNCONVENTIONAL STRATEGIES 5 POINTS

Some soldiers believe the character’s brilliant. Some believe she’s
When at rest, the character can fall asleep with a simple Body
crazy. Some believe she’s simply thinking about troop movements
+ Vigor roll. To sleep through disturbances—shaking, the
with logic so alien to traditional thinking that she might as well
thunder of catapult stones, vigorous lovemaking by the next
be brilliant and crazy. Whichever it is, the character follows prin-
room’s tenants or their cats—another Vigor roll is all that’s
ciples that make sense only to her, and that makes her difficult to
required. Physical pain still wakes these sleepyheads, as usual.
predict. If your character is in charge during a big engagement, you
STATUS VARIES can forfeit your army’s Strategy roll in order to force the opposing
leader to forfeit theirs. (This applies only to the roll to get a +1
For some reason or another, people have reason to respect you. Might bonus, described on page 37. Any Strategy rolls that create
(This doesn’t mean they do respect you, but there’s a reason.) other effects or activate Esoteric Disciplines are unaffected.)
Perhaps you’re a scholar of note, or you have a good reputation,
maybe even one you deserve! Maybe your family name is asso- UNORTHODOX HEALING 2 POINTS
ciated with honor and deeds of renown. Whatever it is, you get
When the character treats illnesses, diseases or injuries, it’s done
intangible but real advantages because you’re one of the elite.
based on radically different theories of their own. Choosing to

42 Chapter Three: The Player's Chapter

use an experimental treatment, the Healing roll is at Difficulty
4, but any set that beats the Difficulty has its Height raised to 10.

WEATHER LIMB 1 POINT

With a successful Sense + Scrutinize roll, the character can tell
(by consulting the twinges and pangs in a long-healed injury)
whether the humidity, air pressure, or temperature are due for a
big change in the next 12 hours. Characters can only take this
Advantage at character generation if they have some kind of
missing limb Problem. It can be bought in the course of play
after a limb has filled completely with Killing damage

WHALE BLESSED 2 POINTS

When swimming, the character never faces Difficulties due to
rough or cold water. (Difficulties from exhaustion are levied as
usual.) Furthermore, the character can swim in Heavy armor,
though with a –4d penalty.

PROBLEMS
The opposite of an Advantage is a Problem, something that
crops up now and again to hinder your character in a hazardous
or amusing fashion or in some way that reveals their character.
These can, again, be personality quirks, the permanent remind- your GM into it with a damn good rationale. You get a bonus
ers of unfortunate events, or just unique bad luck. The list follows. XP in any session where the -1d penalty is levied.
BLIND HATED ENEMY
You have the problems described on page 115. They’re perma- Someone hates you. Maybe you know who it is, maybe you
nent—you can’t eventually regain your sight with time, Vigor don’t. Whenever this enemy acts against you, and said acts
rolls or the Healing Skill. Furthermore, the Sunwise can only harm or inconvenience you, you get a bonus XP.
help you with Sunwise Surgery. If you were blinded to feed an
Upunzi Elder, even the Sunwise can’t restore your sight. (The JINX
mercenary Sunwise and the voracious Elders of Upunzi are
described in Realms.) Once per session, the GM can nullify one successful set you’ve
You take that -2d penalty or Difficulty 4 on anything where rolled. You cannot appeal or re-roll.
vision helps. Your Sight Skill drops to zero and can’t be raised until MANIFEST DENSITY
your eyes are restored. Any session in which you fail a roll because
of the Difficulty, or when the penalty was in effect, you get an You can only take this Problem if your Knowledge score is 1.
extra XP at the end. Plus, you’re immune to the Beauty Advan- You can never raise your Knowledge above 1, and that’s not
tage. That’s a bonus, right? Being unable to appreciate beauty? even the issue. The real pain is that your dumbness is instantly
apparent to everyone you meet. Every session in which your
DRUNKEN BLACKOUTS dimness leads someone to mistrust you, take advantage of you
When you drink, you do foolish, dangerous and/or illegal or ignore your warning nets you 1XP.
things. Then, after sobering up, you don’t remember any of MISPLACED CONFIDENCE
them. The player decides when a Blackout kicks in, but once
that decision is made, the GM controls that character until the Pick a Skill in which you have misplaced confidence. Any rolls
binge is over. When this behavior causes trouble, you get the against that Skill are made at Difficulty 3, and any rolls that are
1XP reward. (If you find a way to black out without causing already hard have their Difficulty increased by 3. If you fail a
trouble—say you hire a skilled team to “babysit” you while Skill roll because of that Difficulty, you get an extra XP.
you’re boozed up—you don’t get the XP.)
MISSING ARM
GRUESOME
You can’t use two-handed weapons, you can’t play the fiddle,
You’re not just homely or plain. It’s actively unpleasant to look and you can’t perform any action that absolutely requires two
upon your face, and people can be painfully shallow about hands. If you attempt a task where you’d normally use both
that. Your GM may give –1d penalties to Command or Charm arms (trying to climb a tree or pull a rickshaw), your GM can
Skills, if being appallingly hideous might impact them. You assess a Difficulty—something around 3-5 is typical. Finally, if
cannot take this and the Beauty Advantage, unless you can talk someone hits you in hit locations 3-4 (if you’re missing your left

Chapter Three: The Player's Chapter 43

 arm) or 5-6 (if it’s your right) the damage goes straight into your
torso. Any time one of these difficulties arises, you can expect
an extra XP at the session’s end.
ESOTERIC DISCIPLINES
Skills determine how well you do most normal actions—climb
MISSING HAND a wall, make pleasing small talk, berate an underling, or dodge a
Similar to Missing Arm, but not as bad. You still have the arm, crushing blow to the cranium. There are some actions, however,
it’s just tipped with a hook or some other sort of prosthesis. You that most people cannot attempt because they don’t know how.
still may face Difficulties for two-handed actions, but you still These actions, while tied to a particular Skill, are unusual and
have wound boxes in your arm. Nevertheless, when a hit turns esoteric: Most people can stumble through a speech, but a
up at location 4 (if your left hand is gone) or 6 (if it’s right), the trained orator knows the tricks of breath, elocution, delivery
damage goes into your torso. and posture that make the same words more resonant. The
people who can do the extraordinary with ordinary skills have
ONE-EYED access to esoteric disciplines.
Keep in mind that there’s a difference between being able to
Far less serious than the fully blind are those who have, through
perform an action and being able to do it well. An obscure field
mischance, legal obligation, or Upunzine thirst, lost a single orb.
of study can show you how to run with good posture and proper
This Problem gives a -1d penalty to Sight rolls and to other rolls
breathing, but it’s no guarantee if your die pool is low.
where visual acuity is a strong component (such as firing a missile
That said, many techniques simply give bonuses to Skill pools
weapon). Furthermore, among the Ruhini at least, anyone
in narrowly defined circumstances. If those bonuses raise the
wearing an eye patch is assumed to be firmly in the pocket of
pool above 10d, only ten dice are rolled, but the excess can be
one of Upunzi’s Elders. (They’re described in Reign: Realms.)
used to buy off penalties. It’s exactly like having a Skill higher
When one is actually in the city of Upunzi, this can be as much
than 5, as described on page 38.
of an advantage as a problem. In any event, any session in which
These esoteric disciplines are written to the flavor of Heluso
a penalized roll fails gives the character a extra XP.
and Milonda, but the mechanical effects can work just as well
PEG LEG if you change “Pure Breath Techniques” into “Yoga” and “The
Divine Regimen” into “Attended the Olympic Training Center.”
Instead of a leg, you’ve got a shoddy wooden prosthesis. Any time Unless otherwise stated, only one Esoteric Discipline at a
you try to run, climb, or perform some other leg-intensive action, time can apply to a roll.
you face a Difficulty of 3-5 (GM’s discretion). Any time a hit
turns up that would strike you in your missing limb, the damage
goes right into your torso instead.
ARDENT SCHOLARSHIP
The libraries of the Uldish scholars’ guild draw students from
REPULSIVE TO ANIMALS all over the known world (and sometimes farther). Whether
All your Expert Animal Trainer and Ride rolls are against Dif- they realize it or not, many leave with not only an expanded set
ficulty 3 or have their Difficulty raised by 3. If you fail a roll of facts, but with expanded tools of thought.
because of this Difficulty, you get an extra XP at the end of the Ardent Scholarship is used with Knowledge + Lore.
session. Furthermore, wild animals or even tame ones are more
FALSE SCHOLARSHIP 1 POINT
likely to attack you. Any time this happens, you can expect the
XP payoff at session’s end. It’s a shame, but often the first thing a student learns is how to
alloy some knowledge and truth to a bluff or lie in order to seem
STUPIDLY FORGIVING more learned still.
Your character is foolishly forgiving. Instead of polishing off a After spending a day studying a subject of written or spoken
helpless foe, you tend to give them a lecture and let them go. It’s knowledge, you can roll Lore. If the Lore roll succeeds, the next
up to you to try and activate this Problem. You have to say you’re time the character tells a lie relating to that field, add a +1d bonus.
letting someone off with a warning. Your GM shouldn’t stop
INTELLECTUAL DIVERSION 2 POINTS
you from administering that coup de grâce if you really want to
(though a reminder about this Problem isn’t out of line). Once When this Discipline is bought, pick a narrow subject of study
you decide to show mercy to an enemy, it’s up to the GM to (such as herbalism, geography, history—anything that would
decide if this comes back to haunt you. Who knows? Maybe qualify for a Student of ______ Skill). Thereafter, the char-
your onetime foe straightens up, flies right, becomes a credit to acter can use Lore for that subject as if it was a Student Skill.
their community and saves your bacon in gratitude some day… Only one subject can be an Intellectual Diversion. Once picked
it can’t be changed.
UNWHOLESOME
STRUCTURE OF CURIOSITY 3 POINTS
The first time you meet someone, they roll their Eerie pool. If
they get a success, something about you just makes them feel Learning gets to be a habit, and then an instinct. If your char-
creepy. You can still win them over with charm or bribery or an acter has a Structure of Curiosity, you can roll Lore once per
obvious display of good deeds, but you start out with one social session. If you get a set, you get a free XP.
strike against you.

44 Chapter Three: The Player's Chapter

 Ardent Scholarship at work.
SCHOLARLY INSIGHT 4 POINTS
Sometimes the flashes of intuition among the sages are so Almost.
oblique and obscure that the sages, themselves, don’t under- Autumn Warfare is used when making Coordination +
stand their understanding. Not that they let on. Stealth rolls specifically to remain unheard.
Once per session, you can roll Lore. If the roll succeeds, the
GM gives you some form of clue, hint, or advice to advance the FEATHER TREAD 1 POINT
plot (or your character’s fortunes).
If the declared action is using Stealth to remain unheard, you
GENERAL SPECIALIST 5 POINTS get a +1d bonus (or can offset a -1d penalty).

Scholars seem to pick up a bit of expertise in a huge variety of QUICKSTEP GRACE 2 POINTS
fields, and it’s hard to tell when any given piece could come in
All Stealth sets for silent movement are timed as if their Width
handy. That ancient general’s motivational speech, the forgot-
was one greater.
ten manual of swordplay, the obscure volume of love poems…
recalling them at just the right time can make a scholar inspir- DUST’S FALL 3 POINTS
ing, fascinating, or deadly.
Once per session, the player may substitute Lore for any Skill Anyone attempting to locate someone with Dust’s Fall by ear
as long as he can come up with some justification for how obscure suffers a -1d penalty to their Hearing pool. Dust’s Fall can be
knowledge allows (for example) a bedridden old scholar to suddenly combined with all the other techniques of this path, but not
apply his Lore MD to swinging a battleaxe or climbing a tree. with other Martial Paths or Esoteric Disciplines.

STALKER FOOT 4 POINTS

AUTUMN WARFARE Any time you declare any action and roll a second set, a char-
Conflict is rife among the Ussient Tribes, and given the unusual acter with Stalker Foot can apply the extra set as a silent move
terrain on which their battles occur (up and down the sides, Stealth set. It doesn’t matter which Skill was used unless it’s an
and along the massive branches, of trees with trunks up to an action that necessarily makes noise.
acre in diameter) big head-on assaults are uncommon. Stealth, The bonus set cannot exceed your Stealth pool in Width. If,
ambush, and sabotage are far more favored, and the challenging however, you declared multiple actions and got two sets, you
season for it is autumn, when the dry bark underfoot combines can scrub one of the declared actions to move quietly instead.
with the crackling debris of giant leaves to make a silent tread In fact, you can turn any set into a silent move success, as long
almost impossible. as its Width isn’t greater than your Stealth pool.

Chapter Three: The Player's Chapter 45

 UTMOST STILLNESS 5 POINTS gains the Patron advantage at half your Company’s Sovereignty
level (round down, minimum 1).
A character who has a round to prepare and remain still cannot
be detected by hearing. There is simply no discernible sound
whatsoever. No roll is required.
BLADES FOR THE EMPRESS
Against those with truly supernal Hearing (10d+ pool or a The Crimson Guard needs to be able to fight against any and
Master Die) the character can only use Utmost Stillness if there all enemies of The Empire, the envious within and the resent-
is ambient sound or if wearing a special undergarment to muffle ful without. Fortunately, the inner steel required to give up easy
the sound of a heartbeat. eating and speaking can also be directed to the refinement of
sorcerous technique.
BELOVED DIGNITY Blades for the Empress is used (despite the name) with the
Sorcery Skill. It can only be applied to the Crimson Guard’s
To govern a populace from within requires empathy, respect blood magic, but since they’re the only ones who’re permitted to
and sincerity. That, or a folksy manner and well-maintained learn these techniques, that’s no great matter.
avenues for propaganda.
Beloved Dignity is used by making Charm + Graces rolls. DEFENSIVE CAST 1 POINT
You can use these techniques only in the context of trying to
Normally, one can’t make Sorcery part of a multiple action.
permanently improve your Company’s Sovereignty. That is, you
With Defensive Cast, the guard can combine Sorcery with
can use them only when involved with a Territory + Treasure
either Dodge or Parry.
roll against a Difficulty.
BLEED THE ENERGY 2 POINTS
LAYING GROUNDWORK 1 POINT
This technique lets the Jawless combine Sorcery with
Spend a month chatting pleasantly with opinion makers in your
Counterspell.
Company. With a successful Graces roll, the Difficulty to per-
manently raise Sovereignty next month is one less. ONLY BLOOD 3 POINTS
FASCINATING ANECDOTE 2 POINTS The Jawless who learn this aggressive technique can combine
Sorcery with an attack.
In the process of greasing the wheels, the character either hears
a good story or lives through one. Thereafter, you have three INTEGRATED ACTION 4 POINTS
chances to use that story to your advantage. With a Graces
roll, you can change a Jest or Fascinate die into an MD. (You The Jawless can combine Sorcery with one other action—
choose which the first time you use the Discipline, depending Dodge, Parry, Counterspell, or an attack—and take no penalty
on whether or not it’s a funny story.) After the third time you for doing so.
attempt to use the story (even if the roll fails), it gets old enough
UNSURPASSED GUARDIAN 5 POINTS
to lose its juice. Characters can only experience one Fascinating
Anecdote per month. The Jawless can now combine an attack and a defense with
Sorcery. Furthermore, doing so does not impose dice pool pen-
OBLIGATION IS A PRIVILEGE 3 POINTS alties. Three actions, no penalty, just roll the lowest pool and
The character’s gracious modeling teaches patriotism and look for three sets.
loyalty. When you make your Territory + Treasure roll, make
a Graces roll as well. If the Graces roll succeeds, your Territory
does not drop from use after that particular roll. The people are
THE BLESSINGS OF CIOVLA
inspired to give and keep giving. The Blessings of Ciovla are used with the Healing Skill and,
except where noted, require expensive and specialized tools and
PERSONAL LOYALTY 4 POINTS materials with which to cut, clean, bless, and sew up wounds.

After successfully raising Sovereignty, make a Graces roll. If IN THE PRESENCE 1 POINT
it succeeds as well, any Followers who fight at your side for the
next month gain the Morale bonus to their Threat. (That is, they Working in a temple, the holy energy of Ciovla fills the surgeon
behave as if you’d just made a successful Inspire roll.) They’ve with goodwill and peace. Or maybe it’s just easier to heal
become convinced you’re someone worth fighting to defend. someone when you’re in a quiet, clean and familiar place with
capable assistants. In any event, Ciovla ministers who make
THE BURDENS OF THE VISIONARY 5 POINTS Healing rolls in an Inner Temple can add a +1d bonus to their
pools.
After a failed roll to improve Sovereignty, you can make a
Graces roll. If it succeeds, your character impressed or made CRUEL MERCY 2 POINTS
a friend of someone else who was hoping that the proposed
measures would succeed. Sharing the disappointment of the These techniques can be used outside the Temple. Indeed, they
failure, the pair bond even tighter. The character permanently were perfected by Saint Mogantiu who took Ciovla’s words to

46 Chapter Three: The Player's Chapter

the battlefield, saving the lives of the wounded on both sides of tidbit can become a piece of lifesaving information. With a
the conflict. They are crude, but effective, using fire to cauter- successful Fascinate roll while chatting with dignitaries,
ize wounds. the character quite coincidentally learns something that is
With a successful Healing roll, Cruel Mercy can remove or becomes relevant to his life. Your next Lore roll gets a +1
up to the roll’s Height in Killing damage from a hit location, bonus because of this datum.
replacing it with twice as much Shock damage.
DASHING CONFIDENCE 2 POINTS
BEFORE THE GODDESS 3 POINTS
Presenting a pleasant air of imperturbable urbanity makes
The cleric’s knowledge of healing extends to encompass an anyone more confident. While plying wiles to improve Influ-
understanding of history, nature, and human belief. As long as ence, your character gets the benefits of the 1 point Beauty
you’re operating in a Temple, a Width bonus equal to your Lore Advantage (all Fascinate or Graces rolls of Height less than 3
Skill can be added to any Healing success treating wounds, have their Height raised to 3). If you already have it at that level,
poison, or sickness. it rises to the 3 point Advantage (Fascinate or Graces rolls less
than 7 rise to 7). Got the 3 point Advantage? It operates like
MOGANTIU’S SERVICE OF THE ALL 4 POINTS 5 point Beauty (all Fascinate or Graces rolls get Height 10). If
The same woman who used hot coals to save lives was noted for you’ve already a 5 point Beauty, enjoy it, because this Discipline
using whatever came to hand as a splint, cast, or (in dire cir- won’t help further. It does not affect the Gruesome Problem.
cumstances) scalpel. (Mogantiu was martyred in an Opetkan THE BENEFITS OF A STRONG FIRST IMPRESSION 3 POINTS
prison, if you’re curious.) Like Cruel Mercy, the ability to whip
up makeshift surgical implements doesn’t require a Temple for If human Unworthy Opponents of Threat 2 or less attack your
use. With Mogantiu’s Service of the All, a successful Heal roll character while you’re raising your company’s Influence, make
gives bonus dice equal to its Width to someone’s Vigor roll to a Fascinate roll before combat starts. If it succeeds, five of the
overcome injury. It doesn’t help with illness. Unworthies refuse to fight you.
This doesn’t have to represent a sudden change of heart. It
DEFY THE GATES OF DEATH 5 POINTS could be that you met them earlier and treated them well, or
The holiest, most secret techniques aren’t used lightly, as deals they heard your reputation and are frightened, or they’ve been
with death always have consequences, and they most often fall so misinformed that they’re too confused to act. In some way,
on the person saved. But for the desperate, someone who has however, your presence as a public figure prevents attack.
died of an injury can get carried to the Temple and possibly This only works if they weren’t sent after you by name, of
walk out under their own power. course.
If you decide to Defy the Gates of Death, take a -1d penalty KNOWLEDGEABLE DISCOURSE
to your Healing roll for every full hour that patient has been ON GEOGRAPHY AND ARCHITECTURE 4 POINTS
dead. If the roll succeeds, the patient lives again, but at cost.
The resurrected loses a point of Knowledge and one Wound Box Getting the lay of the land can be crucial, and the next best thing
from their torso location. to spending years roaming around a region or rattling around
a castle is knowing how to draw information out of people who

BRUTE RACING have it. In this case, the interesting information is good hiding
places, and the knowledge is how to frame questions that sound
This is a specialized Run discipline used with the After Them! completely innocent. (“Abandoned cider house, you say? Sounds
subsystem. It’s described on page 168. picturesque!”) If, in the course of glad-handing, your charac-
ter speaks to someone who knows the surrounding region well,

THE COURTIER’S you can make a Fascinate roll. If it succeeds, you can add a free
Gobble Die 10 to your next Stealth roll in that area. (This die
LEGENDARY APPEAL can be used regardless of timing.)

Diplomatic training takes years and, despite what some soldiers NAME DROP 5 POINTS
might think, is not just manners and dancing. A good emissary
does not only speak for a monarch but sees and listens as well. To By referencing the right impressive dignitary, the character is
ensure that your nation is heard, you must first listen to others. cloaked in reflected honor. Make a successful Fascinate roll
Legendary Appeal is used by making Charm + Fascinate before mangling the truth, and your Lie roll can be squished up
rolls in tandem with rolling Sovereignty + Territory to improve to 2 points in either direction.

W
your Company’s Influence. It can only be used when you are
attempting temporary Influence enhancements.
hen asked how to teach something the student
EIGHT EARS OPEN 1 POINT didn’t want to know, the Golden Monk gave a
Diplomats spend endless hours talking, talking, talking. terrible sigh and said, “Through example.”
Many also listen. By training oneself to pay attention to facts
and retain them, what started as an interesting conversational -Epigrams of the Golden Monk

Chapter Three: The Player's Chapter 47

 DANCING UNSEEN quickness, balance, and flexibility, so that they can more
smoothly flow from one area of concealment to the next.
Depending on the rumors one hears, these techniques were These disciplines are used with Coordination + Stealth. They
developed by Opetkan assassins, by long-defeated insurgents apply only to remaining unseen.
against the rulers of Upunzi, by sadistic natives in the Light- DANCE OF THE BURGLAR 1 POINT
less Jungle, or by the sinister nobles from the dark side of the
Empire. (Generally, the farther away one is from the nation in When you use Stealth with one other skill, or attempt to do two
question, the more likely the techniques are to be credited to stealthy things simultaneously (such as remain both unseen and
its natives.) unheard), you may roll without the usual -1d multiple action
Dancing Unseen is the result of a study of light, shadow, penalty.
how the eye moves and what catches it, and the myriad tricks
of human attention. Its adherents practice to improve their SHADOWS, HAZE, AND UNDERGROWTH 2 POINTS

A
When your character has some form of cover, or something that
obscures or interrupts vision, you can either remove all Penal-
fter the ambush, she stared at her Wu-hra ties and Difficulties from the Stealth roll, or add a +1d bonus
bodyguard and said, “That was remarkable.” to your pool.

He shrugged and frowned at his saber. There was DANCING WITHOUT AN AUDIENCE 3 POINTS
a new nick in the blade. Characters who master this technique so refine their sense of
“We should move,” he said. “There may be more.” where people are looking that they can dodge and weave out
“The one who snuck up behind you while you were of their way—contorting out of their visual field. To someone
unaffected by the technique, someone using it appears to be
distracted, fighting… how did you do that? How did you frantically ducking, stepping and twisting away from the obliv-
reach back and kill him without looking? How did you ious targets.
even know he was there?” Here’s how the mechanics work. You roll your Coordination
+ Stealth pool, but your successes do not become gobble dice
“I must have heard him,” he said, pushing her to her against Sense rolls. Instead, you can pick a number of persons
mount. in your presence, a number equal to the Width of your roll.
A hurried ride later, as they paused to water their horses Those people cannot see you. Period. No more than they could
see you if you were behind a brick wall. They don’t get rolls to
she said, “You couldn’t have heard him.” detect you because you’ve placed yourself outside their visual
“Who?” field. Other people can see you without rolling, so this isn’t a
“The man you killed without looking. You said you heard genius idea against a dozen searchers, but against one or two it
works wonderfully.
him but you couldn’t have, not above the shouting and the Of course, it’s difficult to keep vigorously dodging away from
clash of blades.” someone’s eyes, so this only protects for a number of rounds
“Then I must have felt his footsteps through the ground.” equal to the Height of the roll—and then, only if the dancer
doesn’t do something like attack the person being fooled.
“Set aside your jests and tell the truth.”
“The truth is, we shouldn’t delay. I know a safe place. It INSTINCT FOR DISTRACTION 4 POINTS
isn’t far.” If you’re under observation, and something startling happens,
Hours later, they were in the bottom of a thicketed hollow, you may take advantage of your observer’s momentary distrac-
tion to duck out of the way and begin Dancing Unseen. You
huddled back to back for warmth and not daring to light a may do this if you create the distraction or if you’re as surprised
fire. She said, “You didn’t feel his tread.” as anyone else. The only restrictions are that (1) you must be
“If you must know,” the Wu-hra said, as he tried to able to move and (2) the distraction is something that makes
them look away from you, or that gets between you and them,
sharpen the notch out of his weapon, “I saw him reflected even briefly. No roll is required to use Instinct For Distraction.
in the whites of the other man’s eyes.” It just lets characters use Dancing Unseen when they normally
She turned against him to glare at the back of his head. couldn’t.

“That’s impossible!” ASSASSIN’S DANCE 5 POINTS

“Then I don’t know! I don’t know how I sensed him! I just If you successfully combine a Coordination + Stealth roll with
knew he was there and I struck!” any attack action, your opponent may not dodge or parry.
She turned back and let him work, for she herself was too Essentially, your character has ducked out of their vision in the
middle of the fight, and can strike from the blind side. This
weary to argue. But she did not forget. combines with Dance of the Burglar.

48 Chapter Three: The Player's Chapter

 EXAMPLE UNYIELDING VIGOR 5 POINTS
Luovis is in a fight with someone who’s got a barrel full of You may continue to use an arm or leg normally, even when it’s
damn tricky Dodge and Parry techniques. Sick of seeing his filled with Shock or Killing damage. (If the limb has actually
every attack blocked, Luovis uses Dance of the Assassin. been severed, you can’t use it, of course.) Furthermore, any
His Coordination + Stealth pool is 8+MD, but his highest time you roll any Body Skill, your pool cannot be reduced by
attack is Body + Fight—a less impressive 7d. He doesn’t fatigue or injury. Penalties for attempting maneuvers (including
have to take the usual multiple action penalty, so he rolls multiple actions) are assessed as usual.
the lower pool, hoping to get two pairs. If he doesn’t get
at least two pairs, he doesn’t get the benefit from Dance
of the Assassin. If he does get both sets, he can use his
slower set as an attack that can’t be blocked or avoided—
EAR OF THE BARD'S GUILD
assuming, of course, that his enemy doesn’t hit him first and To be accorded the title of “Uldish Bard,” one must not only
ruin one of the sets. be literate in several languages and able to play several instru-
ments. One must also satisfy the other members of the guild
that one is worthy. This is easy for descendants of influential
THE DIVINE REGIMEN bards, less simple for others. In many cases, it helps to attend a
bardic college and master its heavily codified curriculum.
It’s not literally a divine regimen, unless you believe some of its
Ear of the Bard’s Guild is based on the Hearing Skill and
more wild-eyed and fanatical proponents. The name refers to a
helps use trained pitch and a ruthlessly disciplined sense of
series of athletic contests held to honor various gods—games
rhythm to aid performance.
hosted by numerous countries and watched by hundreds or even
thousands of spectators. One country developed a set of exer- FOLLOW YOUR OWN BEAT 1 POINT
cises that gave their athletes a decided advantage. At least, it did
until the other competitors stole their secrets. When performing tasks that require rhythmic synchrony,
The Divine Regimen is used when you roll Body + Athletics. you can combine a number of Skills equal to your Hearing
Skill without penalty. For instance, to mix Perform (Dance)
LIFTING STANCE 1 POINT and Flame Dance Sorcery into a single roll without the usual
-1d penalty, the bard would need Hearing 2 to align the two
If you have a chance to plant yourself well, adjust your grip
Skills.
and get at just the right balance point, you can add a +2 d
bonus to your Athletics roll when you’re attempting to lift a FLAWLESS TONE 2 POINTS
heavy object.
The character can combine Sense + Hearing with any musical
LEAP OF THE GAZELLE 2 POINTS or dance Perform Skill without penalty. If the Hearing roll
succeeds, he can raise the Width of the Perform roll by one.
You can add a +2d bonus to your Athletics roll whenever you
jump. TECHNIQUE WITHOUT INSPIRATION 3 POINTS
IMMOBILE POSITION 3 POINTS The name refers to the Bard Guild’s official disdain for relying
on inborn talent or (worse) intense emotion to fuel a perfor-
If you have a chance to get positioned, you cannot be pushed
mance. They like training and craft, and if you don’t have that,
back or knocked down unless your opponent beats a Diffi-
all your native power is going to come out flawed.
culty equal to your Body Stat. If you use Immobile Position in
When using a rhythmic Perform Skill (not Flame Dancing,
combat, it requires a full round to establish, and its protection
but possibly the dance that accompanies it) the character can
ceases if you dodge or move from that spot. You can still parry
squish the Perform set a number of steps equal to his Hearing
and attack, however.
Skill.
ATHLETIC PERFECTION 4 POINTS TECHNIQUE WITHOUT THOUGHT 4 POINTS
Any time you roll Body + Athletics, you can change the Height
Similar to the above, but described and taught with a vocabu-
of one set to 10. If any of the previous techniques apply to the
lary that approaches the mystic.
situation at hand, you may use them as well.
When rolling a rhythmic Perform Skill (again, not Flame
Dancing but possibly the dance that goes with it), any Height
EXAMPLE
lower than your Hearing Skill is raised to equal it.
While trying to jump a chasm, Baron Castelle rolls Body +
Athletics while using Athletic Perfection. His Body + Ath- A MASTER’S PERFORMANCE 5 POINTS
letics pool is 7, but since he’s jumping he can use Leap of
the Gazelle to raise it to 9. Rolling superbly, he gets 4×3, No matter how much they despise a master, the bards who listen
2×5 and 2×10. He can change his 4×3 to a 4×10. It does to a Master’s Performance are forced to admit virtuosity. This
not combine with his natural 2×10, but it’s easily sufficient discipline combines the previous four and allows them to be
to clear the gap. used simultaneously.

Chapter Three: The Player's Chapter 49

 ELDER EYES HEART CHAINING 5 POINTS
Any time you roll Inspire and have more successful sets than
This is a specialized Sight discipline used with the After Them!
are needed, you can dispose of one set to give the remaining
subsystem. See page 169.
set +2 Width, +2 Height, or +1 to each. This doesn’t need to be

ELOQUENCE AND ELOCUTION declared beforehand.

When the diplomat nobles of the Western Marches were slowly THE EYES OF THE
(but surely) supplanted by those who succeeded on the battle-
field, they had two choices. They could pursue arms and hope
CROWN OF SALCK
to augment their lineage with bloodshed for their flag, as many The librarian-kings of Salck wear a crown ornamented with
did. But those with no innate martial talent, who had gained eyes of ivory and ruby. It is passed from head to head situa-
their position through craft and persuasion, found a new niche tionally as the Salck family of priests and experts exchange
as advisors and figureheads. Or they simply stole the victories authority. Since each is expected to be a master scholar, their
from their ill-spoken generals, usually as a prelude to prosecut- memories are trained from infancy for sharpness of recall, even
ing them for slander or sedition. as their eyes are taught quick focus.
Naturally, once the Marches joined The Empire, these secrets These techniques are used with Sense + Sight.
didn’t stay confined in the land of their birth.
Eloquence and Elocution is used with Knowledge + DIPLOMAT’S GLANCE 1 POINT
Language rolls.
As rulers, it behooves the Salcks to remember the people with
DEXTROUS TONGUE 1 POINT whom they negotiate. When your character with Diplomat’s
Glance meets someone, you can make a Sense + Sight roll. With
Jests about the lurid methods used to produce such agile mouths any set, that face is indelibly etched in memory. Until death, the
aside, this is the ability to seamlessly combine an acute aware- face and (if known) the name can be instantly recalled.
ness of the general power of word choice, with the specific goal
of any particular speech. In other words, they always speak as if SCHOLAR’S GAZE 2 POINTS
they’d written it out beforehand.
When studying a document, you can make a Sight roll to drive
With Dextrous Tongue one can use Language for multiple
the letters or diagrams firmly into the character’s mind. There-
actions without penalty. It combines with all the other Disci-
after, with a Knowledge + Lore roll, the character recalls the
plines in the path, except Beyond Formality.
document with perfect fidelity.
BEYOND FORMALITY 2 POINTS LIBRARY OF THE EYE 3 POINTS
The diplomats and courtesans schooled Beyond Formality
As with the Scholar’s Gaze, the character can use a Sight roll to
elevate manners beyond correctness into an intensely personal
memorize a document. However, he can now remember it without
realm. It’s quite a trick.
a roll.
Any time you roll a second set on a Graces roll, you can apply
it as a free Fascinate set. This can’t be part of a multiple action PAINTER OF THE MIND 4 POINTS
or combined with any other Discipline. The Width of the free
Fascinate set can’t exceed your character’s Language Skill, and The character can regard a scene, a person, a document or
its Height can’t be greater than the Language pool. anything else visible and, with a Sense + Sight success, seal the
image in recollection. It’s like Library Of The Eye for anything
LASHING TONGUE 3 POINTS seen, not only documents.

Inspiring fear is often a matter of circumstance more than RELIVING SIGHT 5 POINTS
ability, but ability counts too.
To use Lashing Tongue, you roll Language to set up the The character can, without a roll, remember anything witnessed
threat. If the Language roll succeeds, you can add the lower of since mastering Reliving Sight.
your character’s Knowledge Skill, or your opponent’s Knowl-
edge, to your Intimidate pool. (This means it works better the
smarter both threatener and listener are. The subtleties require
FINANCIAL SOPHISTICATION
a certain degree of intellect to grasp.) Used with Command + Haggle, these techniques are the prov-
enance of the bankers in the Ob-lob families’ merchant fleets.
MESMERIZING RACONTEUR 4 POINTS They were the first ones to realize that vast sums of money
behave very differently than the small amounts usually col-
Using Dextrous Tongue, roll a penalty-free multiple action
lected by individuals. In the same way that a battle with armies
between Language and Fascinate. If both rolls succeed, use the
requires different tactics than a one-on-one conflict, so does the
best Height of either with the best Width of either as your Fas-
management of collective treasures differ from the handling of
cinate set.
mere personal wealth.

50 Chapter Three: The Player's Chapter

 WATER SEEKS THE LOWEST POINT 1 POINT bold and obedient. Many officers of The Empire have made a
study of instilling those virtues in their subordinates.
It does not take a lot of brains to spread money around and These abilities are used with Command + Inspire, and they
hope for the best. It requires intelligence to find the person affect the rolls of companies (see Chapter Five) rather than
who combines access and low low prices. Those who master this individuals.
technique refine that search to an art.
When using Treasure along with Sovereignty to improve WORDS OF IRON 1 POINT
Influence, the Height of all sets rolled automatically rises by 1,
By speaking to the officer corps in private, and by addressing
to a maximum of 10.
the troops before a battle, a speaker who makes a successful
CALCULATED SHOW OF AVARICE 2 POINT Inspire roll against a Difficulty equal to the Company’s current
Might can give it a +1d Might bonus that lasts for one day.
By seeming greedy at an importune time, the crafty merchant
leads an unsuspecting target to let slip valuable information in HEART-HARDENING RHETORIC 2 POINTS
return for what is only an apparent financial opportunity.
With a passionate speech to the troops about to carry out
To make a Calculated Show of Avarice, the character must
an unpleasant mission, the character convinces them that
be involved with and at the front of an intelligence gathering
the greater good justifies any dishonor, dishonesty, or tragic
operation in foreign territory, or operating in the domain of
acts they must commit. This requires about an hour and
someone else’s Company. (In other words, during an action
a Command + Inspire roll. If the roll succeeds, the troops’
that yields a Treasure + Influence roll.) With a successful
Might + Influence pool does not drop when attempting to
Command + Haggle roll, the character can, by flashing a rel-
escape after an act of unconventional warfare. (See page 91
atively small amount of money (the GM decides, but usually
for Unconventional Warfare.) In other words, if their pool
1-2 less than the character’s personal Wealth) raise either the
for the action is 6d, they’d usually roll 4 d to escape, since
Height or Width of the Treasure + Influence roll by one, to a
both Might and Influence would drop by 1 with use. After
maximum of 10.
Heart-Hardening Rhetoric, the escape pool would stay at
CALCULATED SHOW OF GENEROSITY 3 POINT 6d, although the Company qualities of Might and Influence
would decrease as usual.
Spending money to improve loyalty is a tricky business. Done
poorly, it looks like a hamfisted attempt to encourage lickspit- I SAY ONLY ENDURE 3 POINTS
tles and sycophants. Done well, everyone involved sees society
When leading the battle during a defensive action, the charac-
admirably paying back those who deserve rewards. Those who
ter can add one Gobble Die to a set from a Might + Territory
understand a Calculated Show of Generosity do this well.
roll. This die cannot have a Height greater than the size of his
When rolling Territory + Treasure to improve Sovereignty,
Knowledge + Strategy pool. He doesn’t need to roll to do this.
you can always use your full Treasure rating, even if you’ve
already taken an action (or actions) with Treasure that month. EXAMPLE
TIMED INCENTIVE 4 POINT Vance is defending his fleet from wave upon wave of pirate
attacks. His Knowledge + Strategy pool is 6. While rolling
The arrival of fresh provisions, newly-crafted weapons, or the Company’s Might + Territory to defend, he gets a 2×8
a large cash bonus can work wonders on the morale of an and a 2×4. He can turn that 2×4 result into a 3×4 by
invasion force. After making a successful Command + Haggle adding another Gobble Die to it, because 4 is less than
roll, the character can temporarily improve the army during his Strategy pool. He can’t add another die to the ×8 set
one attack action (not defense or unconventional warfare, only because it’s too high for him.
a direct attack) the following month. This improvement takes
the form of turning one die in the Might + Wealth pool into
THE ILLNESS OF COWARDICE
an Expert die. SPREADS BY MOUTH 4 POINTS
THE SHADOW OF GIANTS 5 POINT By speaking with members of an enemy fighting force and
making a successful Command + Inspire roll, the speaker can
The Company’s Treasure score can be used in pools with other
sap their confidence, spreading insidious rumors that travel
qualities twice per month without decreasing. This does not
with stunning haste through the ranks. Even if the character
apply to buying things with Treasure, and can only be used
is a captive, uses this while being tortured, and only tells the
if the character using it has total control over the Company’s
truth, the effect is the same: The Company takes a temporary
finances. It does not require a roll.
–1 Might penalty for a month in contests against one Company
of the speaker’s choosing.
THE GENERAL'S VISAGE HELL MARCHES WITH ME 5 POINTS
Flashy martial techniques to hew limbs and catch arrows
are fine in their place, but lands are usually taken and lost by With a successful Command + Inspire roll, the character can
the movements of masses, not solely the heroics of one great squish any Might + Treasure roll he makes during an attack
warrior. To truly make an army effective, it must be courageous, action by any amount. (Squishing is explained on page 13.) To

Chapter Three: The Player's Chapter 51

 A display of Golden Insight. alter the roll, the character must fulfill three conditions: (1)
be in command of the troops, (2) be at the front of the army,
in the thickest part of the fighting, and (3) be injured from
enemy action.

GOLDEN INSIGHT
The followers of the Golden Monk’s philosophy try to emulate
their master in surpassing their innate desires in pursuit of tran-
scendent truth. The process of unveiling their own minds often
gives insight into the minds of others, of course.
Golden Insight is used by making Sense + Empathy rolls.

HUMANITY UNBRIDLED 1 POINT

The disciples of the Golden Monk warily study lost control,
which is the shadow of intense emotion. Recognizing its signs
in others is the first step to understanding the dangers within
themselves.
To use Humanity Unbridled, roll Sense + Empathy and
choose a person to observe. If the roll succeeds, any time
thereafter that the person gains a bonus from a Passion,
the character recognizes it. (This assumes the behavior is
observed, of course.)

THE DONKEY RIDES THE MAN 2 POINTS

This works like Humanity Unbridled, but with nuance. Not
only does the character recognize impassioned action, it’s clear
what kind of Passion was used and how many are going off
simultaneously.

THE ENEMY OF DISQUIET 3 POINTS

The name of this technique arises from an ambiguous section of
a Golden Monk dialogue. From context, it’s unclear whether he
refers to disquiet as the enemy, or whether he means he is the
enemy (of disquiet).
Diligent study of this passage allows disciples a chance to
master themselves whenever taking an action that would give a
penalty for transgressing Passions. Roll Sense + Empathy. If the
roll succeeds, the penalty drops by the roll’s Width.

CHOOSE YOUR OWN DISASTER 4 POINTS

“So many of us choose our own disasters, and so few have
the presence of mind to decline our favorite poison when it is
offered.” So said the monk. Those who understand the nature of
human lust, dread, obligation, and compulsion can read others
with a precision that seems supernatural. It’s not. They’re not
terribly perceptive, they say, but most are willfully blind.
To use this ability, the monk observes someone who is in
the throes of a Passion and rolls Empathy. With a success, all
relevant Passions are revealed.

PROFOUND HONESTY 5 POINTS

The deepest level of empathy is understanding oneself. With
Profound Honesty, a character can be rid of a Duty, Craving,
or Mission. No roll is required, but once the Passion is elimi-
nated, it can never be regained, nor can another Passion of the
same type take its place.

52 Chapter Three: The Player's Chapter

HEART STEALING INNER SENSES
This practice is a closely kept secret of the Sect of the Grave- The Matriarchal society on The Empire’s border has poor magic
digger Queen. Many who have felt its icy grip assumed they of its own, but they are experts at spoiling the magic of others.
were under sorcerous assault, and some sorcerers and sensitives In order to spoil it, of course, they must know about it. There-
who’ve realized it wasn’t any magic they knew have come to fore they trained the innate sense for sorcery that everyone has,
suspect that the Gravedigger Queen is more active in the world focusing it to an unusually keen degree.
than other so-called gods. But in fact, there is nothing super- These three techniques are used with Sense + Eerie.
natural involved. It is simply the practical yield of years spent
interacting with terrified people. Gravedigger Priests believe INNER LISTENING 1 POINT
terror is their blessing, that they are owed fear as their due by all In addition to detecting the presence of something unearthly,
they meet. Their confidence and zealotry make it so. you get a hazy idea of its relative intensity—whether it’s a weak,
Heart Stealing requires Command + Intimidate rolls. “soft” effect or a powerful “loud” one.
THE DEVIL’S SHOUT 1 POINT INNER COMPASS 3 POINTS
Through posture, gesture, expression and tone, the heart stealer As Inner Listening. You also get a general idea which direction
projects aggression so forcefully that most people instinctively the effect is from.
flinch. If you’re using rules that include the Feint maneuver (see
page 127), this discipline allows the character to make it with INNER FLAVOR 5 POINTS
the Intimidate pool instead of an attack Skill.
As Inner Compass. You also get a vague sense of what effect the
I AND THOSE BEHIND ME 2 POINTS spell or enchantment actually does.

When the minister verbally intimidates someone, you can

squish the Intimidate set a number of steps equal to one of their THE JESTER'S COURSE
Company’s Qualities. The threat must involve the Company It was long held that some people were simply funny, and others
and the relevant Quality, however. To use Might to squish, weren’t. Perhaps that’s true for a tiny percentage of the pop-
threaten military action. If it’s Sovereignty, work in the loyalty ulation, but for most, humor can be learned and improved. A
of many followers. troupe of performers whose livelihoods depended on reliable
MORTAL SILENCE 3 POINTS laughs studied the matter, and the Jester’s Course explains their
conclusions and the practice thereof. These techniques are (nat-
The Gravedigger Queen’s cleric no longer has to speak to make urally) used with Charm + Jest.
an Intimidate attempt. Gaze and demeanor are enough to
shorten breath and shake knees. When making a silent threat, SURELY I JEST 1 POINT
add a +1d bonus to the pool. The character has to be visible, and One solid comic foundation is, of course, to “not be hated.”
Mortal Silence cannot be used by someone who has just been While it’s irrational to expect traveling clowns to understand
embarrassed or humiliated. every nuance of every society they encounter, it’s certainly rea-
HAIL TO THE QUEEN 4 POINTS sonable to have a plan in place to deal with inevitable blunders.
A well timed smirk and exclamation of “gotcha!” can defuse
Battle is, of course, terror-prone already. It is possible for the potentially lethal misunderstandings.
higher initiates of the Queen to incorporate their knowledge Whenever you fail a Graces roll, and are aware that you
of fear-mongering into actual combat maneuvers. Thus, every failed, you can immediately make a multiple action Graces
time these clergy kill someone in combat (even an Unworthy and Jest roll. If you get one set, you understand how you
Opponent) they create a free Morale Attack equal to their offended and can offer some weak excuse that it was all a joke.
Intimidate Skill. This doesn’t need to be declared, but it can’t It won’t get a laugh, but it can get you the benefit of the doubt.
be activated if any other Martial Techniques or Esoteric Disci- If you get two sets, you not only pass your error off as a joke,
plines were used that round. The Morale Attack is resolved at it’s a good joke.
the beginning of the next round’s Resolve phase.
DEFUSING PRATFALL 3 POINTS
GRAVE TRIUMPHALISM 5 POINTS
You can only attempt this “maneuver” immediately before
To use Grave Triumphalism, the minister must visibly kill a combat, or as your first action during a combat. It can’t be
(or disable) an enemy leader. (In practical terms, anyone who combined with an attack, unless you deliberately plan to fail the
isn’t an Unworthy Opponent.) As with Hail to the Queen, it attack. With a successful Charm + Jest roll, you do something
produces a Morale Attack after the fact. The Morale Attack is ludicrously funny, something that makes you appear laughably
equal to the killer’s Command + Intimidate pool. This can be inept. (If you’re willing to take a point of Shock damage to a
combined with other Martial Techniques and Esoteric Disci- location of your choice, you can accomplish this even if your
plines. The Morale Attack is resolved immediately. roll fails.)

Chapter Three: The Player's Chapter 53

 Seeing this breaks your enemies’ concentration. It has no travel around leaving false maps, letting peasants see mislead-
effect on major characters, but any minions who witness the ing troop maneuvers or “overhear” plans, and tearing down or
Defusing Pratfall have their Threat lowered by 1 for a number of re-arranging signposts. If your roll wins the contest, he takes a
rounds equal to the Width of your roll. (If you took the damage, –1 Treasure penalty for the rest of the month.
it’s two rounds.) This does not work on inhuman enemies who
have no sense of humor, such as wolves or zombies. Inhuman GAMBLER’S ASSAULT 4 POINTS
enemies who do have a sense of humor might be affected, at the In desperate straits, the final charge of an army on the verge of
GM’s discretion. being overwhelmed can (if properly managed) look like only the
THE HIGHEST COMEDY 5 POINTS first in a series of vicious assaults. No roll is required to make
a Gambler’s Assault. It gives you +1 Might for one roll, at the
If you succeed at a Charm + Jest roll, you make your target cost of taking an additional –1 Might penalty for the rest of the
laugh. In fact, the chuckles are so severe that their next roll is at month. (That’s in addition to the usual –1 degradation of Might
Difficulty 2. (Assuming, of course, that the roll is made before as a Quality. Usually you’d make an attack and take a standard
any chance to regain compose composure.) If you make another –1 penalty. With Gambler’s Assault you make an attack with +1
Charm + Jest roll, the laughs are even harder, and the Difficulty and then get a total of a –2 penalty.)
rises to 3. Make nine Charm + Jest rolls in a row, and the target
is so paralyzed with mirth as to be incapable of any doubtful FALSE FAILURE 5 POINTS
action. The only defense is to avoid hearing and seeing you. To use this technique, you must plan and execute a delib-
erate defeat. After that battle, your Might and Territory do
MILITARY DECEIT not decrease from use. Next month, the attacker’s Might and
Treasure do not recover from use.
Even with magic, it’s not always easy to get an overhead view
of a battlefield, or pass messages from one military squad to
another, or figure out where the enemies are and what they’re ONE WITH THE LAND
doing. The chaos and uncertainty of warfare can drive weaker The Hunter Kings are masters of their lands in a very literal
generals mad, no matter how brilliant their insights. way that few other monarchs approach. Most kings know the
But if you’re a strong general, confusion is just another arrow map, but by coronation time, a Hunter King has traveled each
in your quiver. province, scouted each forest, and walked each border. The
Military Deceit is used when you make Charm + Lie rolls to Hunter Kings, and their chosen scouts and trackers, know how
support your Company rolling Might + Territory to protect itself. to read the terrain and listen to it. In return, it surrenders to
GENERAL WINTER 1 POINT them its secrets.
One With the Land is used by making Sense + Direction
This is the tactic of pulling back while burning fields, fouling rolls. As it grows, the user can apply its benefits to additional
wells, and collapsing bridges. It’s meant to lure in the enemy terrains. The terrains that can be studied are: Shoreline, forest,
with seemingly easy pickings then trap them in a hostile envi- plains, hills/mountains, desert, jungle, and tundra. If a player
ronment to let indifferent nature do the dirty work. With suggests a terrain that’s not on this list (“city”?), it’s up to the
a successful Charm + Lie roll while setting this up, you can GM to decide if it’s all right. But an absolute requirement is
temporarily drop Territory by one for a month in order to give that the character spend at least a month traveling through and
your opponent a temporary –1 Might penalty for the rest of the studying the appropriate terrain. A Hunter King who never left
season. This can only be used for one season, and it has to be his kingdom would have limited use of these techniques outside
the most unforgiving and dangerous season in the nation. Thus, his domain, even if he’d learned up to Unveil Like a Lover.
it’s General Winter in the cold fields of the Heluso Confeder-
acy, but it could be General Summer in the deserts of Milonda. FIRST NEED 1 POINT

LIAR’S GAMBIT 2 POINTS When seeking fresh water, the character either gains a +2d
bonus or removes all Difficulty. If this is the only level of One
This risky maneuver involves getting deliberately captured and With the Land known, it can only be used a character’s home
interrogated by the enemy. If you do not lose any Lie contests terrain (that is, the one in which they were raised).
while being questioned, the enemy’s Treasure drops by 1 for the
rest of the month and for all the next month. (This represents SECOND NEED 2 POINTS
their misplaced efforts to compensate for what they think they This functions like First Need, except that it relies on finding
learned.) Escape is, of course, always desirable after the Liar’s game and edible plants. At this level, the character can use all
Gambit is complete. these abilities in one terrain besides their native.
WHIRLPOOL LURE 3 POINTS SHELTERING EMBRACE 3 POINTS
Relying on a superior knowledge of the terrain, the Whirl- This functions like First Need except that it helps find the best
pool Lure lets you instigate a contested roll—your Charm locations to shelter from the elements. The character can now
+ Lie against the enemy general’s Sense + Direction—as you use One With the Land in their home terrain and two others.

54 Chapter Three: The Player's Chapter

 CLOAK OF THE LAND 4 POINTS use in the Confederacy and the Sunless Plains, but almost uni-
versally, the art of closing something up to keep someone out
It’s like First Need, except that it helps in finding hiding places. relies on either enchantment, or else guards, barred doors and
The location may not be as warm, dry, or secure from animals heavy weights.
as the places found by Sheltering Embrace, but it is definitely Opetkan enchanters worked long and hard to develop a
harder to spot. The character can use this path in her home process that isn’t even really a spell as much as a painful and
terrain and three others. When using this hiding place, the unhealthy way to force your own energies to mingle with those
character can substitute their Sense + Direction pool for Stealth. of a magically locked box, door, or other enclosure. To use the
Series, one must spill blood, enough to do a point of Shock
UNVEIL LIKE A LOVER 5 POINTS damage, and smear it on the locked area. A successful Coordi-
This gives the bonuses of First Need, but each time it’s used, nation + Stealth roll opens the lock, but it must be made against
the character can designate a goal that either occurs in nature a Difficulty equal to the sealing spell’s Intensity.
(a particular moss) or that significantly changes the landscape
CLOSE TO THE MADDING CROWD 3 POINTS
(such as a road or building). Characters who have mastered this
final technique can use the path anywhere on their home conti- Another technique stolen from the Thief God (whose follow-
nent and in three terrains beside. ers, to the great surprise of Opetka, don’t seem terribly annoyed
or vengeance-minded), this one builds on A Stance Outside
OPETKAN VANISHING the Self. Instead of just erasing the qualities that comprise easy
identity, Close to the Madding Crowd lets you absorb those
With their typical charmless efficiency, the Opetkan espio- common to a group. If you’re in a mob and make a successful
nage masters learned a series of useful techniques for remaining Coordination + Stealth roll, you fade into it like a snake into
concealed and taught them to their agents, often after callously grass. Normal folks don’t even get a chance to spot you unless
murdering the innovators who first developed them. you leave the group. There must be at least fifteen people around
All techniques in Opetkan Vanishing are used with Coordi- you to use this technique, however, and your clothes must be
nation + Stealth. something that won’t stand out.

A STANCE OUTSIDE THE SELF 1 POINT SHADOW FOOT 4 POINTS

The outsider’s stance was taught by an apostate apostle of a An intense awareness of every action is common to everyone
Thief God. Initially, it was a form of meditation in which a trying to remain unseen, but Opetkan spies couple this with
robber monk sought to eliminate everything that made him memory training. When they sneak out of an area, they can
unique, that his will and individualism might no longer wall take ten to twenty minutes and, with a successful Stealth roll,
him off from communion with his deity. As an ancillary either remove or obscure identifying traces of their passage.
benefit, intense contemplation of everything that makes one What that really means depends on what they did. If they were
memorable—appearance, word choice and tone, body shape, trying to be hidden the whole time, they can usually remove any
posture, and mannerism—can teach one to offset and suppress clue of their presence. If they got in a fight or dragged away a
those traits. priceless statue, it means they create false trails and rework the
Using A Stance Outside the Self requires the spy to prepare genuine ones until they can’t be followed.
for at least a few minutes unobserved and then roll the Stealth
pool. With at least one set, strangers who see them for the next MIST’S VANTAGE 5 POINTS
hour or so are unable to remember them well enough to identify
The highest form of secrecy is to make it a part of everything
them by face, voice, or action. Sometimes, this technique simply
you do. Those who can take Mist’s Vantage have achieved that.
isn’t feasible. It can’t be done in the middle of hot pursuit, and
It cannot be used with any other Esoteric Discipline, but other
Truils in an Uldish city would be hard pressed to pass as Ulds
than that, if characters who use it roll more than one set on a
without some way of obscuring their skin. But if the person
Stealth roll, they can apply that second set to a second action.
chased can hide long enough to catch their breath, or that Truil
It’s as if they retroactively declared a multiple action and got
can find a ragged hood and mud to daub on exposed flesh, the
multiple sets. There is one restriction on use of the second set,
technique is possible.
however: It can only be applied to pools that are at least as large
Note that it doesn’t help the person hide or alter any Stealth
as the set’s Width.
rolls to be spotted. It just means that if they do get away, wit-
nesses won’t recognize them later as the person they chased. EXAMPLE
They remember only a vague, indistinct person, ordinary and
unremarkable. Tulaq uses Mist’s Vantage to position himself in a garden
while waiting for his wife’s lover to meet her. With an MD in
A SERIES OF UNDIFFERENTIATED Stealth and a big pool, he gets a 4×10 result. Splitting that
OCCULT KNACKS 2 POINTS into two 2×10 results, he can use one to remain hidden and
the other to spring out and bludgeon the adulterer with a
Mechanical locks are rare in Heluso and Milonda. Only in Body + Fight pool — as long as his Body + Fight pool is at
Uldholm are they well known among wealthy citizens, and even least 2d.
there they’re something of a curiosity. They’re beginning to see

Chapter Three: The Player's Chapter 55

 PATH OF INFINITE SORROW 3 POINTS
THE MOISTENED EYE You can use Plead without penalty even when you are demon-
strably better off than the person with whom you’re pleading.
Used with Charm + Plead, these techniques were once the For instance, you could have captives tied up and starving in
provenance of the skilled diplomatic corps of a small, weak your dungeon and elicit feelings of sympathy while you strut
and perpetually impoverished nation. Unfortunately, all before them eating peeled dates from a silver tray. (It won’t
their pleading could not stop an invasion—but it did keep make them like you, but they feel some pity.) You still must, in
the invaders from executing the diplomats. Instead they were character, come up with some explanation for why they should
stripped of lands and titles and kicked into the streets to beg. feel sorry for you, but even an outlandish rationale can work.
It was a task for which they were uniquely suited.
WIDE-SCOPE IMPLORING 4 POINTS
EXQUISITE WHINE 1 POINT
One of the original uses of the Path of the Moistened Eye was not
Any time you succeed with a Plead roll, the result is margin- to beg for oneself, but to plead for one’s country. By spending a
ally better than would ordinarily be the case. For instance, number of days equal to the Company’s current Treasure in heavy
if a normal roll would keep your captor from killing you, an negotiation with bankers, rich merchants, nobles, churches, and
Exquisite Whine might keep you alive and win your freedom other members of the moneyed class, the character can make a
(after beating you and stealing anything of value, of course). If Plead roll and, if successful, give their Company’s Treasure a +1
a normal success would get a coin flung in the dust at your feet, bonus for the rest of the month. This can only affect a Company
an Exquisite Whine produces two coins. once per month. However, if multiple people with this discipline
practice it at the same time for the same Company, the diplomat
DOGGED PERSISTENCE 2 POINTS with the best Plead pool makes the roll, and they can overlap
If you fail in your first attempt to gain someone’s mercy, you their efforts in order to take less time.
can immediately roll again with no penalty and without sub-
stantially changing the circumstances. If that second roll fails, EXAMPLE
you’re stuck. Ward and Grant are diplomats for The Empire, which has
Treasure 5. They both know the discipline. Ward spends two
days talking to the priests, while Grant goes to the nobles.
On the third day, Grant sees to some other matters while
Ward plies his wiles with the bankers. In this fashion they can
get a roll after three days, where one of them working alone
would have needed five days. If they had three comrades
who also knew the discipline, they could temporarily inflate
the entire Empire’s finances in just one day.

Note that this skill does not guarantee access to people with
money to lend. It can only be applied once a discussion has been
arranged by some other means.

GENEROSITY IS SELFISH 5 POINTS

Through a combination of dazzling obfuscatory rhetoric, pretzel
logic that indicates how losing money actually yields long-term
profit, and rationalizations that make base selfishness and saintly
altruism appear to arise from the same action, the character con-
vinces debtors and creditors alike that their interests are the entire
focus of the Company’s finances, and that after just one more month
a harvest of golden profit impends… and that if it somehow fails to
materialize, it is due entirely to the listener’s lack of faith and effort.
Once per month, after spending one day per point of Treasure
talking to the rich and important, the character may make a Plead
roll with no Stat added. If the roll succeeds, the implorer may turn
one normal die into a Master die when the Company is rolling a
pool that contains Treasure. This can only be done once per month.

PICKPOCKET'S FAILSAFE
This is a specialized Climb discipline used with the After Them!
subsystem. See page 169.

Walking the Path of the Moistened Eye.

56 Chapter Three: The Player's Chapter
POLITICAL WHISPERS THAT REMINDS ME OF A STORY… 4 POINTS
When making any Fascinate roll to attempt to alter an Influ-
The Uldish and Pahar experiments in governance through
ence score, the character may add their Jest Skill to the pool. If
“merit” have had many unusual effects, not the least being the
this would result in more than one Expert or Master die being
entry into the ruling class of those normally barred from it.
in the pool, excess special dice are rolled as normal dice. This
While they weren’t raised with the arrogance of blood nobles,
can be combined with all the other techniques in this path
many of these politicians have become quite as conceited on
except Spellbinding Discourse.
their own, though it’s pride with a less grand, more personal
flavor. Learning to apply this pride, or squelch it, has become a SPELLBINDING DISCOURSE 5 POINTS
powerful advantage.
Political Whispers are used with the Charm + Fascinate pool. By spending at least two hours talking to a leader of another
Its affects apply to companies more than to human beings. Company, the character can temporarily decrease its Influence
by 1 for a month. No roll is required. If someone in the other
PROPORTIONAL LISTENING 1 POINT Company directly suspects some sort of social sabotage, it’s a
Knowledge + Graces roll against a Difficulty equal to the speak-
Part of being a good conversationalist is knowing when to stop
er’s Charm + Fascinate pool to figure out how it was done. Even
talking. A well timed pause or a meaningful lacuna in speech
if someone is expecting it, however, there is no way to avoid it:
can draw out listeners and persuade them to fill in the gaps,
Someone using Spellbinding Discourse can easily incorporate
possibly without even thinking about what they’re doing.
suspicion and doublethink into the verbal strategy.
Through artfully crafted but apparently-spontaneous conver-
sation, a whispering courtier can learn a great deal about the
interests, aims, and access of another Company.
After speaking with a member of another Company for an
PROPER CLIMBING
hour or two, roll Charm + Fascinate. If you succeed, you can The methods of slowing an unexpected descent and reducing the
learn whether the other Company’s Influence is greater, less injuries from impact started in the mountains and mesas where
than, or equal to your Company’s Influence. the continents of Heluso and Milonda meet. Eventually, sailors
started learning them to protect themselves from falls off masts
COINCIDENTAL ALLUSION 2 POINTS and out of sail-lines. They’re hardly well known, but students of
this peculiar form of acrobatics turn up in the oddest places.
By making a Fascinate roll while talking to someone of a These techniques are used with Coordination + Climb.
different Company, the diplomat can raise their own Com-
pany’s Influence score by 1 for the remainder of the month. THE PROPER FALL 1 POINT
This only works if the person addressed is (1) powerful in the
other Company and (2) that Company has Influence equal to Any time you take damage from falling, the Shock and Killing
or higher than the speaker’s. Coincidental Allusion cannot damage to each limb is one less.
improve any Company’s Influence more than once per month. CATLIKE BALANCE 2 POINTS
It can’t ever provide a bonus greater than +1. Its benefits can’t
arise from more than one person using it. Any time you are downed (see Downed, page 115 in the
Combat chapter) you can instantly regain your feet without any
TIMELY CONFESSION 3 POINTS penalty.
The stock in trade of the power-monger is proprietary informa- FLAWLESS GRACE 3 POINTS
tion, which can be anything from knowing which city manager
in a dozen is crooked (or honest) to grasping the internal Climb rolls have no Difficulty even if conditions are bad or your
tensions among Dindavaran blacksmiths, to understanding character has no gear.
what particular viand a Matriarch judge requires every morning
to preclude intense grumpiness all day. One who has mastered RAPID ASCENT 4 POINTS
the timely confession can bargain away one such nugget (or If you make a successful Climb roll, you can change the Height
let it slip, seemingly by accident) in order to draw out similar of one set to 10. (This works just like Athletic Perfection on
information in return, or to lend credence to some other state- page 49.)
ment that accompanies it. Information released in this fashion
almost always becomes worthless in a few weeks or months— THE PERFECT WAY TO FALL 5 POINTS
and usually would have done so even if the timely confessor
hadn’t told it. Instead of normal damage from falling, you take one point of
By passing this information on to informers, spies and dip- Shock to each arm and each leg. If you happen to fall into or
lomats, or by using it personally, a character earns a Charm + onto something perilous—broken glass, molten lead, a pool of
Fascinate roll. If it succeeds, someone took the bait. The char- acid—those factors may complicate the injury. But anything
acter either immediately gets, or soon receives, an accurate you could walk on without harm, you can fall on with minimal
indication of what another Company he’s examining is doing harm, from any height.
with its Influence.

Chapter Three: The Player's Chapter 57

 PURE BREATH TECHNIQUES hasty lies. When rolling Stealth to oppose the pursuer’s Scru-
tinize pool, it’s handled as if the Stealth is time sensitive. This
Monks seeking enlightenment through spiritual purity have does not combine with Pursuer’s Eye.
practiced this set of stretches, breathing exercises, and calis-
thenics for at least a hundred years. Only in the last few decades
EXAMPLE
have soldiers noticed the advantages of staying healthy and Luovis is on the run again, and this time he’s got a highly
healing faster, but the news is spreading quickly trained bounty hunter on his trail. The bounty hunter has a
Pure Breath is used when you make Body + Vigor rolls. 5+MD Scrutinize pool and knows The Second Set of Clues.
Luovis rolls his 7+MD pool, getting 1, 2, 4, 2×5, 6, 8. He
CLEANSING RESPIRATION 1 POINT turns his MD into an 8, having assumed that he’s facing
another posse. Instead, the bounty hunter rolls 2×1, 4, 10
Once per day, you can make a Body + Vigor roll to regain Shock and turns his MD into another 1. Against a less canny foe,
damage, even if you didn’t get a good night’s sleep. Luovis’ hasty misdirection would work and he’d use his
two 8 Gobble Dice to ruin the 3×1 set. But since time now
STRETCH OF THE WAKENING CAT 2 POINTS matters, the tracker’s 3×1 is resolved before the 2×8. Run
Luovis. Time is of the essence.
If you perform this series of postures in the morning, you heal a
point of Shock damage. You get this regardless of whether you
failed or succeeded at a daily Body + Vigor roll. TIRELESS TRACKING 3 POINTS
BLOSSOM EXHALATION 3 POINTS When rolling to track someone, you can add your Direction
Skill to your Scrutinize roll. This combines with Pursuer’s Eye
You can use your Vigor Skill instead of Endurance to continue but not The Second Set of Clues. This addition cannot put more
performing an effortful task. You still have to use Endurance to than one Master or Expert die in the pool. Excess special dice
resist torture. are rolled as normal dice.
INVIGORATING STANCE 4 POINTS FOLLOW EVEN THE BREEZE 4 POINTS
When you master this technique, you can ignore all Difficulties While following tracks, the Height of your lowest set automat-
to your Vigor rolls when dealing with illness or poison. ically increases to 10. If you have another ×10 set in addition to
the low set, they do not combine. You can apply this discipline
SUPPLE POWER 5 POINTS
and The Second Set of Clues at the same time, but no others.
Once per day, you can add your Vigor Skill to your Athletics
Skill for one action. Doing so puts a point of Shock damage on
OMNISCIENT PURSUIT 5 POINTS
your torso. Supple Power cannot be used in combat. When tracking quarry, you can squish one set as much as you
like in any direction, though you cannot combine it with other
EXAMPLE sets. This can be used in conjunction with Tireless Tracking and
Rewis has Body 2, Vigor 5, and Athletics 2. A heavy cart Pursuer’s Eye.
has tipped over on his friend, and a 4d Athletics pool isn’t
much for this task, so he uses Supple Power for a burst of
strength. Adding his Vigor 5 to that 4d pool gives him a
RESPECTFUL
hefty 9d to shift the cart. CLARITY OF SPEECH
Formality is a fact of life at every court, and no court is grander,
RELENTLESS PURSUIT more opulent, and more extravagantly mannered than the
Imperial court. Layers of etiquette and protocol encrust even
The vast forests of the Heluso Confederacy gave rise to a class
the simplest interactions: It is a rare skill to cut through those
of wide-ranging harrier troops. Excelling at unconventional
amorphous baffles without giving offense. Naturally, foreign
defense and attack, they move far, they’re fast, and they’re hard
guests have learned these painful lessons and taken them home
to track. In pursuit of bandits, deserters, spies, or other trouble-
to other diplomats.
makers, they’re relentless.
This set of disciplines is applied to companies via a Charm +
This set of mingled abilities is used with Sense + Scrutinize.
Graces roll.
PURSUER’S EYE 1 POINT PATIENT EXPLANATION 1 POINT
When rolling to track someone, the Width of your Highest set
Misunderstandings abound, especially when people of different
automatically increases by one.
cultures, different backgrounds, or different social castes try to
THE SECOND SET OF CLUES 2 POINTS work together. Someone who understands the needs and desires
of all sides can ensure that what the workers in the field hear is
People who flee leave signs. People who attempt to disguise what the leader meant… or, if necessary, that what they think
their flight leave an entirely different set of signs. Trained to the leader meant is something that incites them to work as the
see through this deception, harriers can read the truth behind leader wants.

58 Chapter Three: The Player's Chapter

 The character must spend a day per point of Territory speaking into some kind of misstep and made them look weak, or impul-
with both leaders and followers, in order to “clarify” their posi- sive, or foolish, or unethical in front of their followers. This
tions to one another. After this, with a successful Charm + trickles down until the other Company has a –1 Territory
Graces roll, the character may apply a one-point squish to a set penalty the next month.
that arises from their Company’s Territory roll.
RESTRUCTURING AND RETITLING 5 POINTS
EXAMPLE The character goes through the entire organization and,
Kiao the diplomat is helping his Riyan prepare for a Confed- through gentle persuasion and appeals to loyalty, puts people
erate invasion. His gruff and surly Riyan barks orders at the into positions where they can work the most efficiently, where
lieutenants and becomes enraged when they ask for clarifi- they deal with people they can most easily tolerate, and where
cation. Kiao, on the other hand, knows how to engage the they reap the type of rewards they most desire. This can be done
Riyan in long, discursive conversations about strategy and in three months if the character does nothing else. A charac-
history and thereby learn what she’s really planning. Din-
ter who takes a year can do this while working on it for only a
davara has Territory 5, so Kiao spends five days talking to
couple hours a day.
the Riyan and then smoothing the ruffled feathers of the
lieutenants. A Company that has undergone Restructuring and Reti-
When the battle is joined, the Dindavaran defenders roll tling permanently gains a point of Territory. No Company can
Might + Territory and get a 3×9 set. While good, it’s too benefit from this discipline more than once or use it to raise a
slow to protect against a blisteringly fast but sloppy Con- Quality above six.
federate charge, which got a stunning 4×3 attack result.
By squishing the 3×9 into a 4×8, Kiao’s diplomacy turns
defeat into victory. Alternately, if the attackers had gotten
THE SCHOOL OF
a 2×10, Kiao could have turned the 3×9 into an equal set
and won that way, too.
PERPETUAL READINESS
One feature of the Imperial armies is their use of great swarms
of mass-trained troops. While there are drawbacks to using
SINCERE APOLOGIES 2 POINTS warriors who are many but comparatively weak, there are
The character can, without a roll, offset a –1 temporary penalty advantages as well. Over the years, Imperial commanders
to Territory for one month. Doing this, however, precludes studied what worked, what didn’t, and codified their findings.
using any other disciplines from Respectful Clarity of Speech These lessons are taught at the two Imperial war colleges but
on behalf of the protected Company. have been successfully stolen by a few other cultures as well.
Perpetual Readiness is used with Knowledge + Tactics.
NEGOTIATION FROM GRATITUDE 3 POINTS
BASIC MOBILITY 1 POINT
It’s important to remember where power really comes from,
and more importantly, to acknowledge it. By spending a week During the Declare phase of combat, state that you’re giving
speaking with community or society middlemen, the character orders to your followers or to other Unworthy Opponents under
tells how thankful the leaders are for their support… and com- your command, and describe what you’re ordering them to do.
municates, without baldly stating it, what sort of support the This should, ideally, be something too clever for them to think of
leaders need next. on their own. (“Don’t just take turns attacking the big guy. Swarm
With a successful Charm + Graces roll, the character may him!”) Roll Knowledge + Tactics and if you get any success, your
add a +1 temporary bonus to a Company’s Territory that lasts minions can keep one 4× set or 5× set at its original Width instead
for the next month. No Company can get more than a +1 bonus of having to divide it into 2× or 3× sets. (See page 129 for context
once per month from Negotiation From Gratitude. However, on why followers can’t have sets of Width 3 or higher.)
characters can use this multiple times with multiple Compa-
BRING FEAR 2 POINTS
nies. Furthermore, if one character fails for a Company, another
character can attempt to use it for that Company. If you prepare an attack plan and spend a couple hours making
sure your followers understand it, you can make one Knowl-
SET A GOOD EXAMPLE 4 POINTS edge + Tactics roll before battle is joined. If you get a success,
Two groups that get along should talk to one another. Open lines your troops produce a Morale Attack equal to your set’s
of communication are the only way that they can negotiate their Height during the first round of combat, because they’re so
differences and, eventually, come to some agreement. Of course, fierce and resolute.
it may sometimes happen that the plainspoken sincerity of one
IMPROVISED ARMS 3 POINTS
negotiator has a stronger effect on the followers of a Company
than its leader—especially if that leader looks bad by contrast. If your followers are unarmed and have no armor, you can give
To use this technique, the character must get into a nego- them the +1 Threat bonus conveyed by equipment. You have to
tiation or, at worst, a conversation with the leader of another spend an hour setting traps, building makeshift fortifications,
Company. There must be at least three underlings present to or improvising weapons. If you describe this entertainingly, no
witness what occurs. A character who can get a Higher set in roll is required. Otherwise, any Knowledge + Tactics success
a dynamic Graces roll against the leader has tricked the leader gives the benefit.

Chapter Three: The Player's Chapter 59

 FORTIFIED FORCE 4 POINTS weaponry. With an Endurance set, the tribesman can convert
Killing damage to Shock. Specifically, change points equal to
If you prepare a defense plan and spend at least an hour per- the Width of the Endurance roll. This ability only works on one
sonally overseeing the preparations and explaining the plan to attack made either the round it’s rolled or the next round.
your soldiers, you can make a Tactics roll before combat starts.
Your defenders can keep one 4× or 5× set unsplit each round UNBRUISING FLESH 5 POINTS
for a number of rounds equal to either the Height or Width
An Endurance roll (which can be piggybacked onto another
you rolled. However, those unsplit Wide sets must be used as
action with no multiple-action penalty) produces a number of
Gobble Dice (that is, they can only be used for defense).
“Soak Points” equal to its Width. By spending a Soak Point, the
MASTER MOBILITY 5 POINTS character can either ignore a point of Shock or change a point
of Killing damage to Shock. The Soak Points persist until the
When you roll the dice for your followers’ actions, you may use end of combat.
one of their dice as an MD. You do not need to roll or take an
action to do this, as long as you either trained the troops rolling
the pool or gave them orders before the fight.
SPIRITUAL ESCUTCHEON
In the Ruhini, there is a subculture of criminals who call them-
SOUL ARMOR selves “The Wronged.” Believing they are survivors of a people
conquered and mostly forgotten, they hold themselves above the
One tribe of Lightless Jungle natives developed a set of physical laws of the Ruhini’s cities. (The cities don’t quite see it that way.)
and mental conditioning exercises to help them survive the One argument that supports their origin myth is the practice
near-constant violence they face from their rivals and from their called “ruhui hanal,” which roughly translates as “Spiritual
fellow tribesmen. Their totem is the lizard, but even those who Escutcheon.” Whether they’re wronged revolutionaries or just
fail to attune and develop tough scales are still entertainingly self-righteous crooks, their study of foiling magic indisputably
hard to kill, at least according to the Sunless Plains’ defenders. works.
Soul Armor is used by making Body + Endurance rolls. Spiritual Escutcheon is used with the Counterspell Skill.
Unless otherwise noted, these disciplines can be part of a
multiple action, with the usual penalty. Soul Armor only MY POWER IS MY OWN 1 POINT
protects against cuts, bruises, abrasion, impact, and the like. It
Most counterspelling works through a mental process of rein-
won’t protect against fire or poison or magic unless it’s a magical
forcing one’s personal energies and separating them from the
punch or magically thrown rock. It helps if you fall, though.
environment. But instead of building a wall, the Wronged
BRACE FOR THE BLOW 1 POINT observe and avoid unwanted mystic changes rather than flatly
resisting them. My Power Is My Own can be combined with all
If your character takes no other action in a combat round than the other elements of Spiritual Escutcheon.
to brace for impact, you can roll your Endurance pool and The character can use Counterspell with Sense instead of
ignore Width+1 Shock damage. Note that timing matters on Knowledge.
this: If the attack goes off before your action, it doesn’t protect.
DEFENSE BEFORE THOUGHT 2 POINTS
MOVE WITH THE STRIKE 2 POINTS
Get targeted with spells often enough and avoidance becomes
As comfort with the techniques grows, the tribesman learns second nature.
how to redirect impacts so they do less harm. Now you can roll If a Sense + Eerie roll produces a second set, and detects a
Endurance as part of a multiple action, without penalties, and spell targeting the character, the later set can be applied as a
ignore Width Shock damage after getting the set. Counterspell as long as its Width isn’t larger than the charac-
ter’s Counterspell pool.
LIZARD TRANCE 3 POINTS
NO CHAINS 3 POINTS
By a process of “thinking no thoughts, very hard” (a phrase
that was never translated to any Uld’s satisfaction after they The character can use Counterspell to break lingering enchant-
captured a Lizard tribe exile) the warrior simply ignores pain. ments upon herself.
At least, some pain.
An Endurance success gives protection for a number of rounds COMMUNITY OATH 4 POINTS
equal to the roll’s Height. While protected, the character takes
The Wronged’s awareness of the mystic landscape is signifi-
one less point of Shock damage. That is, if they’re hit three times,
cant enough that they can not only perform the equivalent of
for two Shock each hit, they take five points of Shock instead of
ducking out of the way of a baneful spell: They can shove their
six. This defense takes effect the round after the roll.
friends aside too.
SHIELD FROM THE LIGHT-BEARERS 4 POINTS Such characters can counter spells that target anyone within
ten or fifteen feet as long as they’re aware of the enchant-
The Ulds were both distressed and flattered to learn the Lizard ment. This works exactly like a character using Parry to defend
tribe had developed a specific countermeasure for their advanced someone else.

60 Chapter Three: The Player's Chapter

 RECLAIMING WHAT IS MINE 5 POINTS something like Condemn Tomorrow) you can reduce that
Might loss by 1, at the cost of permanently reducing another
The character can break ongoing spells, not only on himself, but one of your Company’s Qualities by 1.
on friends or even on objects. The person or item to be disen-
chanted must be touched.
SUULDRU MOUNT
STRATEGIC EDUCATION The Sh’vani tribes dwell on the Milondese coast south of the
desert. They are primitive, having failed to even cast bronze.
Used with Knowledge + Strategy, these techniques were devel- But their one unique accomplishment is taming a large aquatic
oped in the Center Kingdom ages ago and are part of the reason predator called the suuldru. A suuldru looks like a manta ray,
that Center became The Empire. with a pair of stout, rending arms underneath, flanking a round
toothy maw like an eel. In the wild, suuldru hunt in groups of
FIGHT ANOTHER DAY 1 POINT seven to fifteen, surrounding schools of fish so they can’t escape,
By deliberately losing a battle, you can ensure that you per- ganging up on small whales or even attacking sharks.
sonally escape, along with a number of people equal to your The Sh’vani have improved on suuldru instinct with human
Knowledge + Strategy pool. Essentially, you use the rest of your cunning. They don’t ride them astride, but the back of the
army as a distraction while you flee. animal has two lines of indentations into which knees and
hands can fit. Lying along the creature’s back with arms around
STOKE THE FIRE 2 POINTS its shoulders, the Sh’vani range out to sea, spearing large fish or
towing nets between paired steeds.
Before battle is joined, tell your GM that you’re using this dis-
Trading with Ob-lobs over the decades, the Sh’vani have
cipline and explain how you’re escalating the danger for both
acquired javelins, heavy spear heads, and copper pipes, which
sides. For instance, you might maneuver to fight in a swamp
they use as snorkels for sneaking up on unsuspecting ships.
or on steep, freezing, avalanche-prone hillsides. You might
Suuldru Mount is used with Coordination + Ride rolls while
choose to commit all your reserves to a total charge, forcing
on the creature.
your opponent to either do the same or withdraw.
Once you describe your strategy, the other side usually SUULDRU FRIEND 1 POINT
has the option of withdrawing from battle or surrendering.
(If you have them cornered or they’re demonic fanatics, this The character can ride a suuldru without penalty.
may not be an option—it’s up to the GM.) If battle is joined,
TRAVEL FROM BENEATH 2 POINTS
any reductions of Might to the losing side are doubled. If you
would normally lose a point of Might permanently, you lose The character takes no multiple action penalty for combining
two instead. Swim or Endurance with Ride, usually to remain underwater
for an extended period.
CONDEMN TOMORROW 3 POINTS
SUULDRU BATTLE 3 POINTS
A king who’s willing to lavishly spend the lives of his troops
can win the day at the cost of tomorrow. Of course, sometimes The character can make multiple action Ride and Fight rolls
there’s no tomorrow if you don’t win, and sometimes there are without penalty.
no more battles to fight unless you lose.
By using Condemn Tomorrow, you may give a temporary VICTORY FROM BENEATH 4 POINTS
Might increase to your Company for a single roll. The amount
Instead of a penalty, the character gets a +2d bonus when combin-
of the increase depends on the sacrifice you’re willing to make.
ing Swim and Ride or Ride and Endurance to remain underwater.
• You can add +1d to your roll at the cost of permanently
losing a point of Might. WHELM AND DESTROY 5 POINTS
• You can add +2d to your roll if you permanently lose a Instead of a penalty, the character gets a +3d bonus when com-
point of Might and a point of Sovereignty bining Ride with either Fight or with any Weapon skill.
• You can add +3d to your roll if you permanently lose two
points of Might and two points of Sovereignty. SVRANA RUN
STRATEGIC ADAPTATION 4 POINTS Horses are not native to Milonda, and Opetkan culture was
resistant to their introduction—in part because they had the
At any battle where you’re personally present and calling the
svranas, a class of citizen who worked as trusted couriers and
shots, your Company has +1 Might. This is independent of any
messengers. Svranas were particularly important in large
other bonuses or the results of Strategy rolls.
combat actions, where they carried orders through danger to
STRATEGIC PRIORITIES 5 POINTS troops spread wide across the battlefield. Though the horse has
grudgingly been accepted in Opetka, the running skills of a
Whenever your Company would permanently lose Might svrana are still taught and used.
as a consequence of losing a battle (and not because you used Svrana Run is used with Body + Run rolls.

Chapter Three: The Player's Chapter 61

 INSTANT START 1 POINT Expert: Cook, if the GM permits it. These techniques can only
be learned to apply to one Skill at a time, unless the character
Characters who have mastered the Instant Start get a +2d bonus in decides to learn how to seduce with cooking and with dancing
any contested Run roll when both contestants are starting immobile. separately. (In other words, unless the character buys the tech-
nique twice, associating it with different Skills each time.)
WITH THE WIND 2 POINTS
WORDS FAIL, MY BELOVED 1 POINT
Instead of moving the standard 15 feet in a combat round, the
character can move 20 feet without a roll. If you’re trying to use your Skill to cajole someone into a
romantic entanglement with you, you can either (1) get rid of
TIRELESS STEP 3 POINTS all Difficulties to your roll or (2) add an extra die to your pool.
The character gets a +2d bonus to any Endurance rolls related to
THE TASTE OF MY TEARS 2 POINTS
running without rest.
You can use your Skill to influence the emotions of your
INEXORABLE TREAD 4 POINTS audience. Pick a sensation you want and then make your roll:
The character takes no penalties to his Run pools from injury, If it succeeds, you’ve shifted their mood in the direction you
illness, or poison until a leg is broken, severed, or pulped. desire. This may not make someone despair on a joyous wedding
day, but it can add a worrying undercurrent to the festivities.
UNSURPASSED FLEETNESS 5 POINTS Similarly, it won’t make someone at a loved one’s funeral feel
chipper and bright, but it may relieve their misery.
When the character rolls to improve their movement rate in
The truly interesting element of this discipline is that it’s
combat, each point of Width improves speed by 10 feet, instead
untraceable. It operates on an unwitting level, so those affected
of five.
have no real explanation for their mood. While this necessar-
ily keeps it from being attached too closely to issues or to any
TROUBADOUR'S FORTUNE subject of thought, the ability to make an invading officer corps
feel uneasy and depressed simply by cooking them grammaw’s
These techniques aren’t part of a formal path, but they represent
“suicide soup” is often a useful one.
the way that musicians, actors, cooks, and poets have (over the
decades) found methods of applying their skills to areas outside ROMANTIC OUTLAW CHARM 3 POINTS
the kitchen or stage.
While typically used with Perform pools and Charm + You can roll the Skill you perform with instead of Graces. It’s
Fascinate, they can be used with other Skills such as Sense + not so much that you know the proper thing to do and do it.
Rather, you apply your charisma and outré-ness so stylishly that
no one considers it rude.

THE BARBARIAN HAS NO CLOTHES 4 POINTS

Even if you fail at your Perform roll, you do so with such
blithe confidence and aplomb that people generally behave as
if you succeeded. Your apparent failure is interpreted as a clever
mockery of failure, or it’s considered an integral part of a higher
message, or… or anything, really, that puts a good face on it.
Perhaps most commonly, audience members blames themselves
for not being sophisticated enough to understand: They assume,
not that you performed a lousy dance, but that their tastes are
too crude to appreciate you.
This doesn’t mean that you totally escape the results of failure.
You won’t get any overt reward for your wretched performance.
But it certainly mitigates your disgrace.

IT WOULD BE A CRIME AGAINST ART 5 POINTS

Anyone who has been present when you made a successful roll
with the relevant Skill—someone who heard your fascinat-
ing anecdotes or who saw your magnificent juggling—forgives
you one gross breach of trust. One. After that, the technique
doesn’t work on them any more. Furthermore, it won’t get you
forgiveness for truly vile crimes like murder or torture (though
they might get your sentence reduced to imprisonment instead
of death). However, for thefts, embezzlements, inconvenient
seductions, vandalizations, blasphemies, minor treasons and

Witness the Troubador’s Fortune.

62 Chapter Three: The Player's Chapter
even some non-violent social uprisings, you can escape most rolled. The torso is one location, even though it can be hit with
consequences of your actions. It may reflect poorly on your rep- any blow of Height 7-9.) This cannot be used in conjunction
utation as a human being, but by the same token, it may improve with Limb Livening Pressure.
your reputation as a cook, speaker or dancer.
THE TYRANT'S COMMAND
TRUIL BODYWORK These rare techniques are the proprietary secrets of a royal
The Truil people’s medical tradition is somewhat different from family. From childhood, the ruling scions are taught that com-
that practiced by their neighbors. While they still bandage cuts moners are innately cowardly and stupid, especially in the face
and value medicinal plants, they also believe that the body’s of danger. These methods are used to enhance one’s own follow-
own healing ability can be accelerated by outside manipulation. ers while terrifying and confusing one’s opponents.
Where a Dindavaran would immobilize a strained joint, many Tyrant’s Command techniques are used with Command +
Truils believe that twisting and flexing it (if done properly) puts Intimidate.
it in a position to heal straight. Similarly, bruises are directly
rubbed to “get the bad blood out” while tiredness, aches, and SHOUT OF DOOM 1 POINT
blurred vision can all be cured by vigorous (and often agonizing) You can use Command + Intimidate when making a Display
massage, pinching, poking, slapping, and pressing of seeming- Move (see page 127). Any Morale Attack you produce with any
ly-unrelated points on the body. maneuver gets a +1 bonus.
Some Truils argue, quite seriously, that bodywork functions
by compressing a month’s suffering into ten or fifteen minutes. AIR OF DREADFUL COMMAND 2 POINTS
The bodyworkers themselves just roll their eyes at this jibe.
Bodywork applies to Knowledge + Healing rolls. Charac- You can use Command + Intimidate instead of Command +
ters who know bodywork cannot use it on themselves, only Inspire to raise the Threat of your followers.
on other people. VISAGE OF TERROR 3 POINTS
SHAKING OUT THE POISON 1 POINT As Shout of Doom, but any Morale Attack you produce is
By applying this technique, the bodyworker does two points of increased by your Command Stat. Adding Command + Intimi-
Shock to the character’s torso, but permits the character to imme- date to a multiple action does not produce the normal -1d penalty.
diately make a Body + Vigor roll to overcome poison or illness.
The Vigor roll is made with a +2d bonus. This only works if the
EXAMPLE
poison is something that can normally be resisted with Vigor. Prince Myrnock is a sorcerer and casts a spell which
This discipline requires only a single combat round, but it can’t be produces a Morale Attack equal to its Height. At the same
used on characters in Medium or Heavy armor. Shaking Out the time, he’s using Visage of Terror on the enemy mob before
Poison can’t be used on a character who resists it. him. His Command + Intimidate pool is 9d, while his pool
for casting the spell is only 6d. He still has to use the lower
STRONG MEDICINE 2 POINTS pool, but it’s not penalized, so he rolls 6d for his spell. He
gets a 2×2 and a 3×2—he succeeds at both tasks, but
The bodyworker can add their Body trait to their Knowledge + neither result is enough to terrorize attackers with Threat 3.
Healing roll. If this improved pool still yields no successes, the However, his Command Stat of 5 gets added to that Morale
character being treated suffers two points of Shock to randomly Attack 2, raising it to 7. Seven of the attackers flee in fear.
determined locations.

STRAIGHTEN THE BONES 3 POINTS THINK NOT, OBEY! 4 POINTS

The bodyworker may, when making a Knowledge + Healing roll When a Morale Attack has frightened your followers, you can
to remove Shock damage, use the Height of the roll instead of emit a rallying cry which brings them to their senses. (Or, at
the Width to determine how many points of Shock are removed least, switches them from senseless fear to senseless obedience.)
from a given limb. When you use Think Not, Obey!, a number of terrified follow-
ers equal to the combined Width and Height of your Command
LIMB LIVENING PRESSURE 4 POINTS + Intimidate roll come to their senses.
You cannot use Think Not, Obey! as part of a multiple action.
The healer can make a roll to convert a point of Killing damage
to Shock even when the injured character has been active all day. EXAMPLE
FULL ALIGNMENT 5 POINTS Myrnock, at war with his cousin, sees some of his troops
running away after a number of them got incinerated. He
Instead of rolling once per day per character to heal Shock takes his next action to yell at them. “If you’re worried
damage, the healer may roll once per location every day. Any about dying fast fighting him, you should worry more about
successes have to be applied to that location, and each roll rep- dying slow for disobeying me!” He rolls Command + Intim-
resents ten minutes’ work on that body part. (For the purposes idate and gets a 2×6. Eight of the fleeing troops see the
of Full Alignment, a location is a single limb, not a number logic of his argument and return to their positions.

Chapter Three: The Player's Chapter 63

 ABSOLUTE DOMINATION 5 POINTS roll. With a 5× roll, you find what you’re looking for right
underfoot.
Morale Attacks (see page 119) have no effect on your follow-
ers. Your followers must be able to see or hear you standing and BREW VIGOR WINE 3 POINTS
participating in the fracas to gain the protection of Absolute Dom-
The recipe for this tonic is closely guarded. In fact, there are
ination. However, as long as those conditions are met, they are
several recipes, with no one ingredient in common other than
protected. You can use other Martial Techniques or Esoteric Dis-
the obvious wine. Different recipes have varied results, ranging
ciplines and still sway your followers with Absolute Domination.
from (but not limited to) jittery nerves, itching, rapid heartbeat,
dizziness, headaches, blurred vision and unpredictable sexual
USSIENT HERBALISM arousal. But those effects typically fade within a half hour,
along with pain, stiffness, and swelling from bruises and cuts.
Just as a normal oak may have moss on its moonward side, trees
As with Potions and Poultices, vigor wine doesn’t keep: If not
in the Ussient Forest are covered with parasitic fungi, edible
consumed within ten minutes of its brewing, it loses its effect
mushrooms, creepers at the base, and mold colonies on the
and just becomes wine with flecks in it.
undersides of the sail-sized top leaves. The tribes have Ussient
If the Herbalism roll succeeds, the drink gives the drinker’s
fruit as a staple, but they’ve have spent generations finding
next Vigor roll a bonus equal to the Width of the Herbalism
anything else edible in their environment.
success.
Additionally, the constant frontier-branch skirmishes led to
battlefield healing lore based on the properties of local mosses EXAMPLE
and herbs. Many Ussient herbalists have traveled far from their
towering homes seeking foreign plant lore, and some have Nonik gets a 3×2 brewing his vigor wine and gives it to a
brought home shrubs and grasses with medicinal properties. friend who’s going to handle poisonous insects as part of a
judicial test in the aptly-named Unwelcoming Lands. When his
Tribesfolk have traveled as far as Deerwood and the Lightless
pal gets bitten and makes a Vigor roll to resist the poison, he
Jungle in this pursuit.
gets +3d to his Vigor pool. If his friend got beaten instead of
Ussient Herbalism is used with the Expert: Herbalism Skill. bitten, his Vigor roll the next morning would have the bonus.
POTIONS AND POULTICES 1 POINT
NIGHTLONG DRAUGHT 4 POINTS
If you’re an herbalist with access to plants common in the
Ussient forest, you can make purifying salves and medicinal This potion has only one recipe, and while it’s an admirable
concoctions. In the Ussient forest, they can be gathered with stool-hardener, that’s a side-effect compared to the steady burn
a Direction roll, or purchased. These plants have Cost 1 at any of alertness and energy it provides for about four hours. During
Ussient tree, and Cost 2-3 in adjoining countries. Farther afield that time, the first Endurance roll the character makes has a
than that, the Cost could be low or high, or familiar plants die pool bonus equal to the Herbalism set rolled to produce the
might not be available at all. Nightlong Draught. (It’s just like vigor wine, only with Endur-
With the right plants, you can make an Herbalism roll. If it ance instead of Vigor.) It’s only good for one roll, but unlike
succeeds, you can immediately attempt a Healing roll and, if vigor wine, nightlong draughts retain their potency for about a
that succeeds, raise its Height or Width by the Width of the year after being brewed. Someone who has this Discipline, has
Herbalism set. access to the requisite ingredients, and lives outside the Ussient
lands can reliably get Cost 2-3 for the stuff.
EXAMPLE
A JUNGLE OF HEALING 5 POINTS
Nonik is trying to set his friend’s broken arm. He knows
that purifying the wound and partially numbing the flesh A herbalist with this level of ability has hand-copied “A Jungle
is going to make this easier, so he makes a Herbalism roll, of Healing,” a lengthy text with elaborate drawings culled from
getting a 2×1 success. Good enough. Making a Healing the journals and sketches of many traveling Ussient healers.
roll with a 2×4 he can either make it into a 2×6 or a 4×4.
Several versions of the text exist, and while it’s a valuable item,
the real virtue of copying it comes from the deep study of the
If the Healing roll fails, the medicine is wasted. At this level, pictures and descriptions of foreign plants, their properties, and
the herbalist doesn’t know how to preserve the virtues of his explanations. A student advanced enough to copy the Jungle
concoctions. also gets to see an instructor’s private notes and collection of
foreign herbs. So, to be clear, the book is the symbol of the
FIND THE FORGOTTEN FLOWER 2 POINTS
knowledge, but it’s not the knowledge. Having it is useful if
You can make a roll to find the particular plants needed for your you can read Ussient, but someone with this Discipline doesn’t
art. In the Ussient forest, you can roll Herbalism or Direction, need the scroll to use it, and the scroll is only useful to others as
whichever is greater. Outside the forest, it’s a Direction roll. a pretext to spend XP on herbalism or healing related things.
Far, far from home or in an unfamiliar environment, this roll With this Discipline, you can roll to improve a Healing roll,
might have a Difficulty. adding dice equal to the Width of the Herbalism set, just like
Each failed roll indicates five hours of fruitless search. vigor wine does for Vigor rolls. In addition, you can squish the
When a roll succeeds, it took five hours less the Width of the resulting roll by three degrees in any direction.

64 Chapter Three: The Player's Chapter

 CONSTRUCTING MARTIAL PATHS?
ESOTERIC DISCIPLINES Combat is a more finicky and precise situation than most
Skill uses, for the very good reason that it leaves more
bodies littered in its wake than Fascinate or Empathy.
Designing the magic system for Reign was highly structured,
Therefore, effects that work fine for the non-bloodshed
logical, and consistent. I had a big list of effects, both positive
Skills may turn the game into a travesty if applied to
and negative, I had a lot of varying factors and they all fit
fighting. It’s your game to experiment with, but consider
together nice and tight.
this your red flag. These effects are not tested or being
All the Esoteric Discipline paths and martial technique sets
considered in light of Martial Techniques, only Esoteric
I’ve designed have been exactly the opposite. I followed no
Disciplines. They may work with fights just fine. Or they
concrete guidelines, just eyeball and head-scratch and doing
may blow your game to smithereens.
what felt about right.
In part, this was because there were fewer parameters
involved. With spells, there’s Intensity, range, duration, effect,
since nothing’s free in life, it should only come in a particular
and more. With a discipline, it’s basically a question of “well, is
instance. So, for a Stealth example, it could kick in to stay silent
it worth one point or three or five?”
or unseen, but not both.
Moreover, the variety of Skills that are open to being
modified with disciplines makes it hard to say that one partic- SQUISH A SET BY ONE
ular effect should always be at the third rank of a path. Take,
for example, squishing results. For a Skill that’s usually used Squishing is described on page 13. As a general rule, squishing
for simple contests and gives either a set or it doesn’t, squishing up or down by X points is a level X discipline. If the discipline
isn’t a big deal. For one where Height is more important than lets you squish either direction by three points, it should be the
Width, squishing can radically improve that 7d pool. third rank of the path. At five, though, you might as well squish
But all this is serving as an introductory “buyer beware” as many points as you want.
warning, because I now have broken down lists of what makes
TIME AN EFFECT AS IF IT HAD +1 WIDTH
for a good first level discipline and what’s more appropriate
for the fifth level. Please don’t just skim this and start bolting For Skills where timing matters a lot, this is a good level one
together your Frankenstein paths. These lists are meant as effect. If timing isn’t an issue, you are (of course) better off with
guidelines, not hard-and-fast rules. If an effect seems under- a different effect, or maybe with just giving a +1 Width bonus.
powered at its level with a particular Skill, go ahead and add
more pepper, but watch out for unintended, game-breaking, ADD A +1D BONUS TO ANOTHER SKILL
degenerate combos. By assembling your own paths with this
Pretty simple: If you roll a set with the Discipline Skill, it gives
section, you’re approaching the triple border where “player”
you a +1d bonus on a follow-up roll with a related Skill. Try
meets “game master” meets “designer.” So look at what you
and have a reason for the bonus: “Because I made a Jest roll, I
make as a designer, not as a player. Sure, it may be cool for
get +1d to my Weapon: Bow shot!” is random and, let’s face it,
you to have a cheap and powerful discipline that lets you use
kind of silly.
your best pool for just about everything and succeed all the
time, but something that so grossly goes against the spirit of SUBSTITUTE A CLOSE STAT
the game is likely to be a pain in the ass for everyone else at
the table with you. Instead of rolling its usual Stat with the Skill, you can use a dif-
All right, enough of me warning and crabbing and acting like ferent Stat. For instance, Climb is usually a Coordination Skill,
an old man. Here are the new toys. Go play. but it’s reasonable to train to use Body for it, or even Sense.
Again, using Charm to climb a hill is ridiculous.
ONE POINT EFFECTS REDUCE DIFFICULTY BY 2-3
POINTS IN NARROW CIRCUMSTANCES
IGNORE ONE DIE OF MULTIPLE-ACTION PENALTY
As with timing, this is only a good one to use for Skills where
Always a favorite. Usually, when you try to do two things at Difficulties are common. Variations would be “reduce Difficulty
once, you roll the lowest pool and knock a die off for each addi- by a Stat” or “reduce Difficulty by the Width of a set.”
tional action. With this effect, you still roll lowest, but you can
add an action with the discipline’s Skill without the penalty. REDUCE PENALTIES FROM FAILURE
Depending on the Skill, you may want to limit it to doing two
of the same action with the discipline Skill, or you may be fine A broad effect that works for a lot of Skills, this lets you reduce
with permitting additions to other Skills. the impact of attempting a risky act and botching it. It’s not
great for proactive Skills where a failure simply means you didn’t
ADD A +2D BONUS IN NARROW CIRCUMSTANCES get the bargain on that cape, or you didn’t make the princess’
eyes twinkle with your merry joke. It’s better for reactive Skills
For the cost of this Discipline, the player could have gotten an where you’re rolling to avoid something bad, and the disci-
extra die in the core Skill, so two dice seems reasonable. But pline can let you reduce the hassle of failure. For instance, if

Chapter Three: The Player's Chapter 65

 The pioneering of new esoteric paths requires a certain ... fervor.
explained on page 117), each die in a set improves the rate by 6
feet instead of 5. Alternately, you could do it with rolling Vigor
an Endurance failure would usually mean collapse, this could to recover from Shock and have the wounded person recover
permit the character to continue (though impaired, so it’s not as Width+1 Shock instead of Width Shock. Mechanically, that
good as succeeding at the roll). works just like “+1 Width,” below.
Keep in mind that while the 30% swing between 20% and
ADD A +1 HEIGHT BONUS, TO A MAXIMUM OF ×10 50% looks big, the ORE is grainy. It’s not necessarily as big as
If Height doesn’t matter for the Skill, this is unlikely to make the swing between a 2d pool and a 3d pool.
an exciting discipline, but there are lots of Skills where Height
GET A +2D BONUS IN BROAD CIRCUMSTANCES
matters a lot.
Much like getting the bonus in narrow circumstances but less
REDUCE THE DIFFICULTY OF A RELATED ROLL restrictive. There should still be some condition to make it inter-
Very similar to reducing Difficulty in narrow circumstances, esting, but it should be something that a character is going to
and the same cautions apply. The difference is, instead of the use often. So, to give a Haggle example, a narrow circumstance
restriction on when it can be used, it’s instead a general aid, but would be “when haggling with native Ob-lobs” while a broad cir-
to a specific other Skill. cumstance would be “when haggling from the seller’s position.”

TWO POINT EFFECTS GET A +1 WIDTH BONUS

Not just for timing, but for anything governed by Width. Of
IGNORE MORE THAN ONE
DIE OF MULTIPLE ACTION PENALTY course, if Width doesn’t matter much, the Discipline won’t
matter much.
In non-combat situations, it may be fine to just allow as many
actions as the player wants. Even in combat, it’s probably not REDUCE DIFFICULTY BY 2-3 IN BROAD CIRCUMSTANCES
unbalancing to allow extra defenses. Other than that, it’s just the
A “broad circumstance” should be about half the time. You can
same considerations as offsetting a single multiple action penalty.
have it be a flat -2 Difficulty (for Skills that almost always face
IMPROVE A BASELINE TRAIT BY 20-50% Difficulty, like Sorcery) or a -3 Difficulty for those where it’s
less critical. Alternates would be “Reduce Difficulty by a Stat”
The clearest example of this in canon disciplines is increas- or by a Skill, but for those you might want to narrow the situa-
ing the base unrolled movement from 15 to 20 feet. Another tions in which the Discipline applies, because it’s not hard to get
movement example would be that, when rolling to run (as a Stat or Skill above 3.

66 Chapter Three: The Player's Chapter

 REDUCE DAMAGE IN NARROW CIRCUMSTANCES had a tedious argument about why it should be the default Parry
Stat. That’s the kind of Stat substitution that merits a first tier
The narrower the circumstances, the greater the reduction can Discipline. Using Charm to parry would be a third rank Disci-
be without it causing envy and resentment among other players. pline, and then only if some tissue of explanation can be found
A Discipline that reduces damage from any kind of fall should to cover up its naked ridiculousness. For real mismatches, a nar-
have a small reduction. One that reduces falling damage as long rowing situation may be warranted. (“You can only use Charm
as you land in water, or only when you fall off a horse? There it’s to parry an attack from someone who, in other circumstances,
fine to eliminate lots of damage, maybe even all of it, because might have found you kind of cute.”)
those sorts of falls are unlikely to come up often. Taking less
damage from a punch when you’re dodging is more reasonable IGNORE A PREREQUISITE FOR A ROLL
than taking less damage from any kind of attack at all.
A classic example would be a Healing Discipline that lets you
IGNORE A MINOR PENALTY Heal someone who’s been out all night carousing and rolling
shopkeepers instead of resting like a good girl. Another would
When a situation gives you a -1d Penalty or a Difficulty of 3 be haggling unimpaired with someone when you don’t share a
or less, it’s nice to have a Discipline to ignore that—not only language. Or Counterspelling a spell that doesn’t target you.
because it provides a fairly balanced increase in success, but it
does so by making the rules simpler. SUBSTITUTE ONE SKILL FOR ANOTHER, FOR ONE NARROW USE
MAKE AN OPPONENT’S ROLL TIME-SENSITIVE This is for the narrowest of narrow circumstances. You can
use Haggle instead of Intimidate, but only when dealing with
Usually, argument and debate aren’t that pressing, so someone members of your same Truil tribe. You can use Tactics in the
with a Height advantage can go to town. This is particularly place of Run, but only in a huge and confusing battle with
distressing when they’re therefore able to gobble out your 3× hundreds of warriors clashing on each side. Otherwise, you
sets with pimply little pairs. If you can make the debate a pres- again run the risk of making a Skill obsolete very cheaply.
sure-cooker, now they need to meet triples with triples.
IGNORE ALL DIFFICULTY IN NARROW CIRCUMSTANCES
EVALUATE A RIVAL COMPANY’S QUALITY
The more important that Difficulty is to the Skill, the narrower
It can break the feel of the fiction to just blurt out num- the circumstances should be. There are rarely Difficulties to
bers—”They got Might 3!”—so a better way to handle these Skills like “Student of Apiary History” so a Discipline related
sorts of evaluations is through comparison. “Looking over their to that Skill could easily remove all Difficulties in almost any
troops, your own start to look distinctly scrawny and clumsy.” situation. Sorcery, on the other hand, faces Difficulty (in the
“You think their finances are roughly equivalent to your own.” form of Intensity) all the time. A Sorcery Discipline that ignored
“Their peasants are poxy and ignorant compared to the bright- Difficulty should only kick in when things are dire (“only when
eyed and well-groomed employees of your enterprise.” Keep the you’ve taken killing damage to your head”) or highly awkward
numbers and Quality names out of it. (“only when you’re being supported by a number of Salckian
Thaumurgeon followers equal to the spell’s Intensity”).
PERCEIVE RELEVANT HIDDEN KNOWLEDGE ABOUT A CHARACTER
COMBINE SKILLS IN NARROW CIRCUMSTANCES
As with finding information about Company Qualities, it’s better
to compare than to rattle off dry names and numbers: Compar- Be careful with this one, because the possibilities for abuse get
ing Skill levels is always a fairly fun and useful ability. Alternately, pretty horrible if you don’t watch out. But essentially, instead of
there are often Passions to suss out. Just make sure it’s relevant to the rolling Charm + Fascinate to get on the priest’s good side, you
Skill. Being able to find someone’s Craving by using carefully cal- get to roll Charm + Fascinate + Jest. You can see why the narrow
culated Jests to see what they laugh at is plausible with some selling. circumstances are needed, I’m sure: A character who could do
Learning someone’s Duty by making a Climb roll? Be serious. that all the time would be an unstoppable, mirth-spewing
social juggernaut, leaving the crushed and chortling husks of
THREE POINT EFFECTS GMCs in its wake. So put on a limit like “Only when speaking
to someone of the same social background.” Another thing:
ENABLE A SKILL TO DO SOMETHING IT COULDN’T BEFORE Try to keep the Skills related somehow. Combining Tactics
Normally, Haggle can’t directly influence a Company Quality. and Intimidation when you’re trying to frighten an enemy force
Enabling it to do so in limited circumstances could be a good makes sense. Combining Tactics and Vigor is more of a stretch.
third tier Discipline. It’s not a good idea to let a Skill trample too
PRODUCE A MORALE ATTACK AT STAT LEVEL
much on the purview of a different Skill—making a Dodge that
does damage is all right, but making it work just as well as Fight Use this, of course, only for Skills and in situations where a
makes the Fight Skill obsolete, and no one wants that, right? display of talent might conceivably scare someone into dropping
their sword and bolting. Moreover, it’s good to keep this as an
USE A DIFFERENT AND IMPLAUSIBLE STAT entirely free Morale Attack that spontaneously arises from a
Using Coordination instead of Body to Parry makes sense— successful attempt at something else, something unpenalized.
so much sense that I’m sure someone, somewhere has already There are plenty of ways to get low-level Morale Attacks by

Chapter Three: The Player's Chapter 67

 RANDOM PATHS
You saw this coming, right? The factors for each level are numbered, below. Roll 5d10 and you’ve got the skeleton of an Esoteric
Discipline. By my math, that makes a hundred thousand possible paths for each Skill, without using restraining flaws. That should
be enough to keep power-gamers occupied for a while. But the rolls only give you an outline. Filling it in requires creativity, but
with all the possible permutations, all I can do is vaguely wave my hands and say “fit the effect to the Skill, and if you can’t find an
obvious fit, re-roll or pick something.”

ONE POINT EFFECTS TWO POINT EFFECTS THREE POINT EFFECTS

Roll Effect Roll Effect Roll Effect
Ignore One Die of Multiple-Action Ignore More Than One Die of 1 Enable a Skill to Do Something New
1 1
Penalty Multiple Action Penalty 2 Use a Different and Implausible Stat
Add a +2d Bonus in Narrow 2 Improve a Baseline Trait by 20-50% 3 Ignore a Prerequisite for a Roll
2
Circumstances Get a +2d Bonus in Broad
3 Substitute One Skill for Another, for
3 Squish a Set By One Circumstances 4
One Narrow Use
4 Time an Effect as if It Had +1W 4 Get a +1 Width Bonus Ignore All Difficulty in Narrow
5
5 Add a +1d Bonus to Another Skill Decrease Difficulty by 2-3 in Broad Circumstances
5
6 Substitute a Close Stat Circumstances Combine Skills in Narrow
6
Reduce Difficulty by 2-3 Points in Reduce Damage in Narrow Circumstances
7 6
Narrow Circumstances Circumstances 7 Produce a Morale Attack at Stat Level
8 Reduce Penalties From Failure 7 Ignore a Minor Penalty Receive an Outcome Bonus Equal
8
9 Add a +1H Bonus, Maximum of ×10 Make an Opponent’s Roll Time- to a Stat
8
Sensitive Add a Point to a Quality, With
Reduce the Difficulty of a Related 9
10 9 Evaluate a Rival Company’s Quality Effort, Once a Month
Roll
Perceive Relevant Hidden Prevent a Quality From Tiring in
10 10
Knowledge About a Character Narrow Circumstances

FOUR POINT EFFECTS FIVE POINT EFFECTS

Roll Effect Roll Effect
1 Height Automatically Jumps to 10 1 Very High Improvement to Baseline Ability
2 Double a Baseline 2 Drastically Reduce Damage From a Moderately Broad Source
3 Substitute Height for Width 3 Remove All Damage From One Source
4 Broad Skill Substitution 4 Unlimited Squishing
5 Ignore All Difficulty in Broad Circumstances 5 Provides Benefit on a Fail
6 Impose a Difficulty on Someone 6 Change a Relevant Other Skill Die to a Master Die, One Time
7 Produce a Morale Attack Equal to the Set’s Height 7 Shut Down an Opponent’s Course of Action
8 Add a Temporary +1 Bonus to a Quality. Give a Permanent +1 Increase to a Quality, One Time Per
8
9 Add Gobble Dice Company

10 Receive an Outcome Bonus Equal to a Stat 9 Use an Excess Set for Another Skill
10 Substitute One Quality for Another in Defined Circumstances

devoting a roll to them. This should be a freebie, since it’s likely should be entirely free, this shouldn’t. If, for instance, I have a
to only work on small numbers of weak opponents. Jest path that lets me increase Territory (by raising the spirits of
the workers with brilliantly timely jokes), my character’s going
RECEIVE AN OUTCOME BONUS EQUAL TO A STAT to have to spend some time spreading those jokes around before
This can be a bonus to Width, Height or a factor unrelated to getting the roll, and if the roll fails, tough luck for me this month.
either. Before you apply this as a damage bonus to something, PREVENT A QUALITY FROM
remember that this could be as high as +6. TIRING IN NARROW CIRCUMSTANCES
ADD A POINT TO A QUALITY, WITH EFFORT, ONCE A MONTH Normally, every roll that involves a Quality lowers it by a point.
Preventing that drop is a potent effect, so either reserve it for
One person can make a difference, but it’s not easy, even with
exacting situations (“Might does not ever drop from defending in
Disciplines. It should take time and effort in addition to a success
wide-open plains when the attacker’s pool isn’t greater than my
at a dedicated roll. Whereas the Morale Attack two effects up

68 Chapter Three: The Player's Chapter

own”) or have it work only once a month for a particular appli- PRODUCE A MORALE ATTACK EQUAL TO THE SET’S HEIGHT
cation (“Might does not tire after my first attack of the month.”)
This is much like the previous Morale Attack effect. It should
FOUR POINT EFFECTS be something that’s added on as frosting atop another result,
not as a primary outcome of the roll. It’s nice because there’s the
HEIGHT AUTOMATICALLY JUMPS TO 10 chance of getting a 10, but that’s rare enough to keep the effect
This is easy to remember, doesn’t have the baggage of squishing closer to balance.
and it’s powerful. If, of course, it’s for a Skill where Height matters. ADD A TEMPORARY +1 BONUS TO A QUALITY.
Probably a bit risky to put on a Martial Technique though.
Unlike the Morale Attack above, this should require—at the
DOUBLE A BASELINE very least—a dedicated roll that can’t be re-attempted. Alter-
All the advice about improving a baseline element by a lesser nately, you can allow the Discipline to give the bonus for only
amount applies here. You could set it up, thus, that some- some circumstances—”Only when temporarily boosting Influ-
one’s base climbing speed is 10 feet per round for each point of ence” or “Only when Territory is being applied to improve
Width rolled on Climb. (Using this on a fighting Skill is going something permanently” for example.
to throw the combat system badly out of whack, even more so ADD GOBBLE DICE
than many of the entries in this section.)
Giving a free ×10 Gobble Die that can be used at any time is a
SUBSTITUTE HEIGHT FOR WIDTH wonderful fillip for any Skill where you might normally have to
This is particularly potent when Wide results are highly desir- choose between defending or acting aggressively. It’s not over-
able, as with the Healing or Vigor Skills. It’s not universally powering in the face of a 3×+ set, but even those can be blunted
great (since your chances of getting an ×1 set are as good as your nicely, and it can clear out a pair.
chances at ×5) but probably best to reserve for Skills where rou- RECEIVE AN OUTCOME BONUS EQUAL TO A STAT
tinely getting sets that have Width of ×5-10 aren’t going to be
ridiculous. Or where massively Wide sets aren’t going to suck Typically this means adding the amount of some relevant Stat
all the challenge out of a situation. to either the Width or the Height of a set. It may be wise to
limit the maximum Width to 5 and the maximum Height to 10,
BROAD SKILL SUBSTITUTION depending on the circumstances in which the Skill gets used.
Just like substituting a Skill in narrow circumstances, the consid-
erations here are (1) don’t be dumb and (2) don’t make that other
FIVE POINT EFFECTS
Skill obsolete. It could work well for Parry and Dodge, which are VERY HIGH IMPROVEMENT TO BASELINE ABILITY
similar in effect but differ in detail—letting someone use Dodge
to protect another person isn’t going to unbalance the game. Sim- By now you’ve got a sense of this, right? More than doubling
ilarly, letting someone use Eerie instead of Direction (for whatever something that’s standard, like letting someone accurately
reason) probably won’t get too weird because they’re both Sense throw a light object fifty feet, is pushing the limits of what
Skills and rarely used to have a drastic effect on other characters. humans can reasonably accomplish. But that’s what five-point
But letting someone use Jest for Athletics would be a very peculiar effects are all about.
substitution, and hard to justify in almost any situation.
DRASTICALLY REDUCE DAMAGE FROM A BROAD SOURCE
IGNORE ALL DIFFICULTY IN BROAD CIRCUMSTANCES
Pick something fairly specific and halve the damage from it.
This is a good one for Difficulty-plagued Skills, and by the This is a good one to have just as a flat, non-rolled ability,
fourth tier the player should be getting good bang for the buck. as long as the source of injury is narrow enough that it’s not
It’s particularly nice that it simplifies things. de-facto invulnerability. Good examples would be tempera-
ture extremes (losing a point of Body half as often), or taking
IMPOSE A DIFFICULTY ON SOMEONE two points less damage from magic. Bad examples would be
taking no damage from edged weapons (too broad and too
This is a mechanic to use with caution. The concerns are (1) that it
much of a reduction) or taking two points less damage from
can serve to pointlessly slow down the game by forcing multiple
punches (too narrow and not enough of a reduction). Look for
re-rolls by GMCs (or rival characters), (2) it can potentially rob
the middle ground, and adjust for your own game’s setting and
people of actions they ought to be able to at least attempt and
tone. Good luck.
(3) it can make characters who ought to be competent at a Skill
into laughingstocks. So this is best used for dynamic contests (see REMOVE ALL DAMAGE FROM ONE SOURCE
page 9) where there’s already an element of competition and this
is just tilting the odds. Though, if a dynamic contest already has As with the reduced damage above, negated damage has some
Difficulties, it may be best not to use this effect—not because it’s parameters you can fool with. Does the ability have to be
unbalancing, but just because adjusting Difficulties upwards and rolled? If it has to be rolled (and therefore requires an action)
downwards on the fly can be annoying. Be careful using it with it can probably work just fine with a damage source as broad
static contests for all the reasons listed above. as “unarmed attacks.” If it doesn’t have to be rolled, keep it

Chapter Three: The Player's Chapter 69

 extremely narrow—”no damage from magical fire” would be sense within the fiction of the game and is providing lots of
good, but no damage from any kind of fire is much too broad. interesting story for other players, then it’s probably just fine.
It’s not only implausible, it’s open to abuse. But if it’s just fiddling to get an unearned advantage, that’s not
cool. It’s a subjective judgment for the GM, though.
UNLIMITED SQUISHING
USE AN EXCESS SET FOR ANOTHER SKILL
This is more powerful on abilities where timing or Width matters,
because it allows that 2×10 to turn into an 11×1. It’s not bad with There are a couple ways to apply this one. If, for example, you
abilities where Height is most important, because really wide want it to be part of a Fascinate path, you could set it up so
sets aren’t that common. Be particularly careful with this around that any time you roll two sets with Fascinate, you can apply
abilities that allow for automatic improvements of Height, like the other one to Jest or Graces or Lie (or any of the above). Or
Advantage: Beauty. Granted, there are few times when Graces or you could have some sort of bedside manner Discipline that lets
Fascinate are going to rely heavily on Width, but it could happen. you apply extra Healing sets to Fascinate for free. Either way,
it gives those extra sets something to do, other than soak up
PROVIDES BENEFIT ON A FAIL Gobble Dice and the penalties of getting punched.
The best Skills or circumstances for this effect are the on/off static SUBSTITUTE ONE QUALITY
contest Skills where the character either gets it done or doesn’t. FOR ANOTHER IN DEFINED CIRCUMSTANCES
With this effect, even when the set fails to materialize, there’s
some sort of consolation prize, which could be something com- This is a good one to require a successful roll to activate, or else
pletely unrelated to the situation at hand. For instance, a path time-consuming arrangement. Using Might instead of Treasure
based on the Student of Mathematics Skill might offer some kind can be a tremendous advantage, and if it can be done any time
of insight every time the character fails at Athletics—maybe an a character feels like it, there’s little point in gaining Treasure
XP that can only be spent on “Student of Mathematics.” Alter- at all. (What kind of crazy game would it be if the organized
nately, if a character is trying to Dodge and still gets hit, this social groups didn’t want wealth?) Best, then, to limit it to once
could permit a small reduction in damage. That sort of thing. a month or to only very particular uses. (“For invasions, you can
roll Might + Might instead of Might + Treasure.”)
CHANGE A RELEVANT OTHER
SKILL DIE TO A MASTER DIE, ONE TIME RESTRAINING FACTORS OR "FLAWS"
What this lets a character do is apply the Discipline Skill to The individual effects already discuss germane limits. Some of
improve an action with a related Skill. So, for example, a Scru- those are repeated here so, naturally, if it’s supposed to already
tinize Discipline with this effect might let someone search for a be involved with a Fifth Tier effect, its presence ought not lower
great hiding place and then get the MD to Stealth when using its level. Use common sense. I’ll repeat that my method for
it. Or, for example, an Intimidate Discipline might let you scare making Esoteric Disciplines was extremely intuitive, so I can’t
people by proxy, building up a distant boogeyman into a menace put it in a tidy framework. That said, here they are.
that must be stopped—giving you the bonus to Inspire when
you call for a crusade to eliminate the menace. As you can see MAKES A PREVIOUS TIER IN THE PATH OBSOLETE -1
from these examples, the other Skill to be improved, and the If the third tier in a path adds +4d to your Direction pool in
circumstances of improvement, should be clearly defined. the same circumstances that the first tier Discipline offers +2d,
then there is no incentive to use the first tier ever again. Some
SHUT DOWN AN OPPONENT’S COURSE OF ACTION
Discipline paths are like that: They stack up, combining to get
Keep this narrow because it can be a bit of a drag on the progress bigger and better along their narrow focus. Other paths spread,
of the game when one character has broad powers to just deny, expanding the Skill in a number of different directions. If your
deny, deny. That said, it can accelerate the game when this just path stacks, it can be a little more powerful because it’s not pro-
cuts to the chase. “No, you’re not going to find him as long as viding as much variety.
he refuses to move, his Stealth is too good to even permit you to
roll it.” It can also be nice when someone tries to knock a char- YOU’RE HELPING SOMEONE ELSE WITH A ROLL -1
acter off his horse and the player gets to say, “Nyah nyah, my I give this a price break because it offers players incentives for
incredible Discipline keeps me in the saddle automatically.” making other players succeed and look cool, which is a behavior I
want to encourage. It also eases the ego-bruise that can arise from
GIVE A PERMANENT +1 INCREASE
TO A QUALITY, ONE TIME PER COMPANY using your power to make the other guy succeed and get the glory.

This is another one that has to be handled with caution to REDUCES WIDTH BY 1 FOR TIMING -1
prevent degenerate combinations from transgressing the spirit
Slowing an effect down is a good way to flaw down an effect, but
of its limitations through a mangled interpretation of the letter
only as long as timing already matters.
of the rules. One could, for example, improve a Company’s
Quality with this ability, then improve another Company, then INFLICTS A -1 PENALTY TO HEIGHT -1
combine them and form a third Company and improve that.
If all that maneuvering and combining and improving makes Height isn’t quite as narrow and volatile a quality as Width, so
losing a point of it is unlikely to have a radical effect on a set.

70 Chapter Three: The Player's Chapter

Be sure to clarify what happens with those ×1 sets, though— yielding injury. It’s usually simplest to have the damage go to a
are they ruined or does this penalty have a minimum of 1? Both random location, but to fulfill the demands of reasonableness, it
work, but pick one early. may have to be limited to a particular location.

AUTOMATIC ONE POINT SQUISH TO RAISE HEIGHT -2 MAKES MORE THAN TWO PREVIOUS TIERS OBSOLETE -3
This one cuts both ways, because it’s intended to be utterly The pinnacle of stacked effects. Really, the goal here is to not
involuntary. That means if you get a 2×5, it becomes a failure, only make this Discipline worth the points you pay to get it, but
transforming into a 1×6. Apply with care to keep the effect as also to make it worth discarding at least three other Disciplines.
an actual penalty and not a benefit.
COMBATIVE EFFECT IS TIMED LAST -3
MAKES EXACTLY TWO PREVIOUS TIERS OBSOLETE -2
It’s a big price break, but going after the mook with the 2×1 set
As with the -1 flaw, this is a more extreme example of stacking. is a big flaw for Skills that are at all relevant to fighting.
If the fifth tier in that Direction path offers a +6d bonus, there’s
no reason to use either of the earlier, weaker Disciplines. DIFFICULTY IS INCREASED BY 3 -3

INFLICTS A -1 PENALTY TO WIDTH -2 Just be careful with this one for Skills that already face regular
Difficulties. Having some Difficulties exceed 10 is all right if
In addition to the timing penalty, this runs the risk of just you want to make it impossible to do certain things with the
plain out killing a set. It’s often better to say “Reduces any sets” Discipline. The bigger concern is of having a bunch of Difficul-
Width by one, down to a minimum 2× set.” Put a floor on it. ties to calculate every time the Discipline gets used.

INFLICTS A POINT OF SHOCK DAMAGE -2 INFLICTS A POINT OF KILLING DAMAGE -3

The biggest caution with this is to keep it plausible. A Jest Dis- Just as with Shock damage, handle this carefully. Something
cipline that lets you get the laughs through genuinely painful that can both kill a character and make him look silly is some-
pratfalls makes sense, in a twisted sort of way, but it’s a little thing to approach with caution.
hard to imagine a reasonable way to have the use of Sight

AN EXAMPLE: DIRTY RACING

I felt like the Ride Skill didn’t have enough glamor, so I tossed the dice and got 1,10,1,5,and 4 for an esoteric riding discipline. Let’s
see what that yields.
Tier 1—Ignore one die of penalty for a multiple action Tier 4—Ignore all Difficulty in broad circumstances
Tier 2—Perceive relevant knowledge about another character Tier 5—Unlimited Squish
Tier 3—Add a new ability to the Skill
What’s a situation where a rider wants to be able to do many different things? A battle, obviously, but let’s look for something
less obvious. How about a race? Conflicts make for good stories. But buying five tiers’ worth of Disciplines just for a short little sprint
seems unlikely, so let’s posit a badass race.
(This is something that happens with me a lot, as it happens: I start with some mechanics and wind up developing an aspect of
the setting where those mechanics can shine to best advantage.)
Every year, the seven-city tour starts in Kiqwani. Anyone who can scrape together the entry fee (it’s not cheap) can enter, receiv-
ing an official lambskin stamped with elaborate seals for each city. When the contest begins, the race marshal at Kiqwani determines
the color for that year’s official stamp by random selection (to preclude cheating), stamps all the skins, and then sets the racers off
from the southernmost gate.
The first stage of the race, then, is either through the city of Kiqwani or (more commonly) around it. To win, a racer must arrive at
Punga on the same horse, with the marks of the other six cities, and be the first (and only) to take the Punga mark. Any route the rider
wants to take is permitted, as long as it starts in Kiqwani, ends in Punga, and hits all seven cities.
Some choose to charge along the seashore or even through the swamp to get from Kiqwani to Upunzi, while others loop up
through Sudevu—adding about a third again the distance as the straight route, but traveling that distance on road. A similar choice
comes at distant Kininguvu: Take the indirect (but safely paved) path, possibly right into the teeth of the riders coming after you?
Or set off directly across the desert? Winners have chosen many different courses (though in the entire history of the race, only one
rider has won taking the swamp).
Betting is heavy in all cities. Many of the riders are nobles, or religious leaders, who use the race to call out and snub rivals. Winners
are idolized, the lambskin with the Punga mark can be sold for huge profits, and the winning horse for even more. Even the losers’
lambskins have value, and the more marks the rider got, the greater the value.
For make no mistake, not every rider completes the course. Fights between riders and steeds, while officially discouraged, are common.
Professional gamblers in all cities find it a good investment to enter spoilers—racers who aren’t expected to win but who are expected to
take a cheap shot at another racer’s hamstring. Racers die from falls, from the weapons of “desert raiders,” from exhaustion and thirst.
But every year, eager women from every city put up their carefully saved money, hoping to enter and win—or just to have bragging rights
for the rest of their lives.
To win this, what Disciplines are desirable?

Chapter Three: The Player's Chapter 71

 MONEY
As I said in the last chapter, money should not be that important.
Nevertheless, it is. In the spirit of trying to match the importance
of personal wealth in a game of group politics with some rules
that don’t sandbag the course of play, I offer the following.

BUYING THINGS
There’s a list of objects you might wish to purchase, and it starts on
page 75. Each object has a price (or range of prices) listed. Under-
stand that prices fluctuate greatly in fantasy settings: Instead of
overnight delivery, items travel to distant lands via caravan or risky
sea voyage. The markup for transport is substantial, so you’re better
off buying local goods unless they’re desperately inferior. The GM
decides which direction to slide the price of an object, depending
on local factors. In barbarian lands where the people barely know
how to smelt iron, a steel sword is going to be pricey—if those who
have them are willing to sell at all. In more civilized countries,
that same sword won’t be nearly as expensive.
(By the same token, gems or spices or other trade goods
have wildly fluctuating values. Rather than set up an elaborate
system for tracking the relative worth of every commodity in
the game, we’re crunching everything you have into Wealth and
letting the GM decide the prices of everything you don’t have.
It may frustrate you sometimes, but it’s one of the tools the GM
needs to keep the game running quickly at a good challenge
level. Otherwise, instead of sacking temples, characters do the
fantasy equivalent of reading the Wall Street Journal all day.)
The abstraction that measures personal cash is the Wealth
score, which you can purchase at character creation as an
FENDING OFF THE JACKALS 1 POINT Advantage. If you don’t get that Advantage, you have Wealth 0
and are, if not flat broke, certainly getting there.
The rider can combine Ride and Parry without penalty.
• If your Wealth score is greater than an object’s price,
SMELLING THE LOSER’S SWEAT 2 POINTS you can buy it. Ta da. It’s yours. Your Wealth score
doesn’t change.
With a successful Sense + Ride roll, the character can evaluate
• If your Wealth score is less than the object’s price, you
another rider, as long as she sees her handle a horse or sit on
can’t get it and are stuck looking at it longingly while the
one. If the roll succeeds, she knows whether the other rider’s
shopkeeper memorizes your features.
ability is lesser than, greater than, or equivalent to her own.
• If your Wealth score is equal to the object’s price,
IT’S ONLY THE GROUND 3 POINTS you have a choice. One option is to simply pay full
price. If you do that, you get the object but your
Any time the character takes damage from a horizontal impact
Wealth drops by 1.
(that is, something like being thrown off a fast-moving vehicle)
the character can make a Ride roll. If she gets a set, she can • The other option is to bargain for it. If you do this, you
reduce the number of Area damage dice done by either the can either roll your Wealth as a pool, or roll Command +
Width or Height of the set. It won’t help if she falls out of a Haggle. This is a contested roll against the seller. If you
tree, but there aren’t many trees in the desert. get the Higher match, you get the object and your Wealth
doesn’t change. If you don’t get a match, you can’t get the
RELENTLESS RIDE 4 POINTS object at all—not even by dropping your Wealth rating.
The merchant has decided to teach you a lesson. Naturally,
The character can ignore any Difficulty to a Ride roll. (I figure
if you decide to sell something this can work in the oppo-
the Ride Skill gets limited play compared to some others, so it’s
site direction, but unless it’s a dramatic matter that’s going
fine to just banish all Difficulty with a four-point Discipline).
to illuminate a character or establish a rival or lead to a
MARK OF A CHAMPION 5 POINTS new adventure, it’s probably easier for the GM to avoid
having haggling GMCs. If a PC wants to buy something
The player can squish any Ride roll to any degree desired. and there’s nothing compelling hanging on them getting it

72 Chapter Three: The Player's Chapter

 or not, a simple success in the Command + Haggle may be
sufficient to get it on the cheap. LUOVIS: Then put a bandage over Tumri’s head and
This is all very straightforward for buying a single item.
But astute players quickly realize the vulnerability in the first
give the fighters a double ration of rum.
option: If they have Wealth 5, and want to buy a sword that
costs Wealth 2, they can automatically do so. If there’s no limit
QUARTERMASTER: Well sir, um… there’s no rum.
to the number of times they can do that, there’s no reason that
they can’t buy a hundred swords, or a thousand, and outfit an
LUOVIS: No rum? We carried barrels of it! How can
army on the cheap. Right? we have none now?
Well, no. There’s a separate chart for purchasing multiple
items. Sometimes you get a bargain for buying in bulk. More QUARTERMASTER: Pilferage, sir.
often, you pay a premium because each purchase depletes
the available supply, thereby making every unsold item more LUOVIS: Weren’t you monitoring liquor levels?
valuable in comparison.
Wealth converts to Treasure at roughly a 3-to-1 ratio, so QUARTERMASTER: I believe the thieves replaced the
you can outfit an army with private monies. However, using
Treasure to arm your people is more efficient. Presumably, an missing liquid.
organized group has a cart to haul the spears away with, not to
mention a quartermaster to hand them out. LUOVIS: With what? Their water rations? In the
middle of a desert? They’d need extra. Find out
LOSING WEALTH who had access to extra water and…
The most obvious way to lose Wealth is to buy expensive stuff.
But there are other ways. QUARTERMASTER: Er… I think they replaced it after
First and foremost, there’s robbery. The richer you are, the
more likely you are to fall prey to burglars, crooked accountants, drinking it. If you get my meaning.
or the old grabby-snatchy. These are all acts of GM caprice
which should be used sparingly, of course, and which should (VANLIM frowns at her drink and sets it aside.
generally provide some interesting plot turn in exchange for the CORNER shrugs and continues drinking hers.)
lost lucre. Rarely should they cost you more than a single point
of Wealth every few sessions. LUOVIS: You honestly expect these troops—
Another way your Wealth can drop is if you share it. By vol-
untarily decreasing your Wealth by 1, you can give one person mercenaries all, with no loyalty past silver, and of
Wealth equal to your newly lowered Wealth rating.
whom you were deemed an exceptionally capable
EXAMPLE specimen—to go into battle against an entrenched
When Jubelus the Merchant marries off her only daughter,
she provides a dowry equal to half her riches. Jubelus has
city ruled by three-eyed blood drinking oracles,
Wealth 6. By dropping to Wealth 5, she can raise her previ-
ously penniless daughter to Wealth 5 as well.
bolstered by nothing but wine?
QUARTERMASTER: There’s no wine, either.
GAINING WEALTH LUOVIS: (Pause) Exactly how did Tumri choose you
In the course of your adventures, you’re likely to encounter troves to be the replacement quartermaster?
of treasure, mounds of coin, and small piles of semi-precious
stones. These have Wealth levels (or ranges) attached to them. QUARTERMASTER: She asked if anyone could count
The reason for ranges is that (1) a treasure may have greater
or lesser value depending on the buyer and (2) its value may to twenty with shoes on.
also fluctuate depending on the ability of the seller. A GM
who assigns a changing value has a plan in mind—either for LUOVIS: I don’t believe this.
you to get a bigger payoff if you find the right seller, or by role-
playing a good story about getting rid of it, or by using that QUARTERMASTER: No, it’s easy! You just put the
good old Command + Haggle pool. Note that your GM may
not tell you what the Wealth range of a particular treasure is
fingers up for one to ten, then fold them down for
unless you have some skill or knowledge that would let you eleven through twenty!
appraise it.
Once the item’s Wealth level is set, you can decide what to —From the Imperial play “No Loyalty Past Silver”
do with it.

Chapter Three: The Player's Chapter 73

 JUST HOW MUCH MONEY IS IT?
As advertised, the Wealth system is fuzzy and imprecise. With that in mind, here are rough guides to exactly how many coins of
a given type are represented by a particular Wealth rating. (Don’t worry about gaps on the list. They explain why you can some-
times buy a Cost 4 item with Wealth 4 and not drop, and sometimes you can’t.)
It’s not precise and it won’t stand up to rigorous examination—but did you really start playing Reign so that you could rig-
orously examine the monetary model? These sums are here so that when your characters crack open a chest and see a thousand
Uldish Wreaths, they know they’ve struck it rich. The currencies listed are from nations in Heluso and Milonda and, as with the
real world, some are more valued than others.

WEALTH EQUIVALENTS
Wealth Dindavaran Goldmarks Imperial Pounds Uldish Wreaths Confederate Pounds
1 1-2 1-2 5 2-3
2 2-3 4-5 10 5-6
3 4-5 8-10 20 10-12
4 8-10 15-20 40 20-25
5 15-20 30-40 80 40-50
6 30-40 65-80 160 80-100
7 65-80 130-160 320 160-200
8 130-160 250-300 640 320-400
9 250-300 500-600 1300 640-800
10 500-600 1000-1500 2500 1300-1600

• If your current Wealth is higher than the level of the

treasure, you don’t change your character’s Wealth by
taking it. (You get the goodies as objects, but they have no
effect on your character sheet because they’re not signifi-
cant compared to your overall bankroll.)

EXAMPLE
Vados the Merchant has Wealth 5. While on a trading
mission, he acquires a trove of spices valued at Wealth 3.
He can take the trove, but it doesn’t raise his overall Wealth.

Vados’ player could note down “Wealth 3 spices” on

his character sheet and later give them to a poorer PC or
GMC. That’s perfectly kosher and probably a good idea.
But they don’t significantly impact his personal wealth.
• If your current Wealth is lower than the level of the
treasure, you can take it and jump up to the Wealth level
of the treasure.

EXAMPLE
Smelly Rahn the beggar is lucky enough to find an emerald
the size of a hen’s egg! It’s got a Wealth range of 3-5. Rahn
goes to sell it. Sadly for him, the jewel merchant is unim-
pressed by his rags and wretched odor, so Ron’s only going
to get Wealth 3 for it. If he manages (by some stratagem)
to clean up and get some good clothing, he might be able
to get Wealth 4 because the jeweler would no longer take
him for an ignorant, desperate man. If Rahn cleans up and
makes a good Command + Haggle roll, or if he arranges
to sell the thing at auction, he could jump up to Wealth 5.

The sources of wealth are many and varied.

74 Chapter Three: The Player's Chapter

 PERSONAL SERVICE OR ITEM VEHICLES/TRANSPORTATION
Personal Service Or Item Wealth Vehicles/Transportation Wealth
Stewed turnips with black bread (or local equivalent) 0 Mule or donkey 1
Pauper’s funeral (hole, cairn, no coffin or tombstone) 0 Rowboat or canoe 1
Night of hard drinking 1 Riding horse 1–2
Fresh and hearty repast 1 Ox or draft horse 1–2
Invigorating massage 1 Peasant wagon 1
Decent burial (prayers, wood coffin, simple 1 Small sailboat (crew of two) 2
monument) Warhorse 2–4
Ablutions (haircut, shave, manicure, bath with fancy 2 Racehorse 2–7
soaps)
Gentleman’s coach 2–3
Lavish personal feast 2
Merchant riverboat (crew of five) 4–5
Fine dinner for a small group of friends 2
Small ocean vessel (crew of ten) 6–7
Negotiable affection 1–3
Medium ocean vessel (crew of 20) 8
Sumptuous funeral (mourners, elaborate casket, 5
imposing tomb) Huge ocean vessel (crew of 35) 9
Crewed trio of huge ocean vessels with 10
PRECIOUS ITEMS a 3-frigate escort

Precious Items Wealth

WEAPONS
Plain gold band, earring or ampalang 1
Weapons Wealth
Signet ring 1
Small weapon (dagger, shortbow) of poor quality 0
Half-pound of rare local spices 1
Combat weapon of poor quality (typically iron) 1
Peasant’s wedding dress 1
Small weapon of adequate quality 1
Jeweled cape clasp 2
Combat weapon of adequate quality (typically steel) 2
Flask of fragrant oil or perfume (local) 2
Small weapon of exquisite quality 3–6
Perfectly adequate pearl 2–3
Combat weapon of exquisite quality (such as a 3–6
Half-pound of rare, imported spices 3 Dinda sword)
Simple diamond necklace 3 Exotic weapon (such as a Truil hornbow) 3–5
Solid gold “brass” knuckles with 3
your initials on them ARMOR
Enormous, intricate, tourmaline-studded jade lip disc 3–4
Armor Wealth
Flask of rare perfume from distant lands 3–5
Wooden helmet 0
Wedding gown for the minor nobility 4
Iron cap 1
Functional spinning wheel made, for some reason, 5
Small wooden shield 1
of silver
Cavalry boots 1
Immense ruby 5-6
Cuirass (boiled leather) 2
Pearl of great price 7-8
Large wooden shield 2
Begemmed wedding gown fit for a queen 8
Small metal shield 2
An Imperial crown 9
Steel gauntlets 2
• If your current Wealth is equal to the level of Reinforced full helmet 2
the treasure, you can sell it and raise your current
Breastplate 2
Wealth level by 1.
Chain shirt 2
EXAMPLE Large metal shield 3
The merchant who bought the emerald has Wealth 5. If he Chainmail 3
can get the emerald’s full value of 5 when he sells it in turn, Tower shield 3
his Wealth rises to 6.
Full plate armor 4

If you’d like to see some things to actually purchase, check

out the current page and the next.

Chapter Three: The Player's Chapter 75

 BUILDINGS (CONSTRUCTED TO SPECIFICATIONS) BUILDINGS (USED)
Buildings Wealth/Treasure Buildings Wealth/Treasure
House in town 3–4/1 Rude shack 1/1
House in the city 4–5/1 Tidy cabin 2/1
Lavish country manor 6–8/3–2 Modest home 3/1
Imposing city mansion 7–9/2–3 House in town 3–4/1
Small fortified tower 6/2 House in the city 4–5/2
Stout fort 8-9/2-3 Lavish country manor 5–7/2–3
Allegedly impenetrable fortress —/5 Imposing city mansion 6–8/2–3
Palace fit to stagger the sensibilities of —/5 Small fortified tower 5/2
a potentate Stout fort 7–10/3–4
ENTOURAGE EQUIPPAGE Allegedly impenetrable fortress —/4

Entourage Equippage Wealth/Treasure Palace —/5

A Month’s Coarse Rations For… Gilded palace of historical importance —/6
1 soldier 1/0
ENTOURAGE EQUIPPAGE
6 soldiers 2/0
Entourage Equippage Wealth/Treasure
12 soldiers 3/1
A Month’s Simple Lodging** For…
50 soldiers 4/1
1 soldier 2/0
100 soldiers 5/1
5 soldiers 3/0
200 soldiers 7/2
15 soldiers 4/1
400 soldiers 8/2
30 soldiers 5/2
600 soldiers 9/3
60 soldiers 6/2
1000 soldiers 10/3
100 soldiers 7/3
1500 soldiers —/4
200 soldiers 8/3
3000 soldiers —/5
400 soldiers 9/3
A Month’s Hearty Rations For…
800 soldiers 10/3
1 soldier 1/0
Simple Weapons and Shields For…
5 soldiers 2/0
1 soldier 2/0
20 soldiers 4/1
5 soldiers 3/0
60 soldiers 5/1
15 soldiers 4/1
100 soldiers 6/2
30 soldiers 5/2
200 soldiers 8/2
60 soldiers 6/2
400 soldiers 9/3
100 soldiers 7/3
800 soldiers 10/3
200 soldiers 8/3
1200 soldiers —/4
400 soldiers 9/3
2600 soldiers —/5
800 soldiers 10/3
A Month’s Rude Lodging* For…
Armor and Combat Weapons For…
3 soldiers 1/0
1 soldier 3/0
6 soldiers 2/1
5 soldiers 5/1
12 soldiers 3/1
15 soldiers 6/1
50 soldiers 4/2
30 soldiers 7/2
100 soldiers 5/2
60 soldiers 8/2
200 soldiers 6/2
100 soldiers 9/2
400 soldiers 7/3
200 soldiers 10/3
600 soldiers 8/3
400 soldiers —/4
1000 soldiers 9/3
1000 soldiers —/5
1500 soldiers 10/3

* includes ghastly food **includes decent food

76 Chapter Three: The Player's Chapter

 Sovereignty

R eign’s been around a while. I’ve written a lot of stuff

for it, sometimes based on what interested me at the
moment, sometimes what the fans wanted, some-
times a combination. As you contemplate the fat rulebook
weighing down your hands right now, the idea that every More and more, I find that collaborative construction works
rule in it could be applied must seem daunting, or even dumb. too. If you ask a group of players for ideas, they almost always
Honestly? Even if someone, for whatever misguided reason, have them. Now, the drawback is there may be friction between
wanted to use every rule in the book, they probably wouldn’t get different people wanting to examine different themes and tones
to. Having every single spell and martial technique be present in and plots, but if you can negotiate something everyone agrees
the world is certainly fine, but having the PCs meet and conflict with you get player buy-in, and that is a treasure well worth
with enough different people to roll every one? You’d have to pursuing. So even if you’re a traditionalist, try setting up the
game for decades, and that’s even without considering that Fluid original state of the scenario with the players. Being thrown
Combat and the standard combat rules don’t mesh up. surprises is healthy for creativity, and that applies to GMs as
It’s not possible and trying it isn’t desirable. It would be like well as players.
trying to eat everything on one of those giant salad bars. That With those approaches in mind, consider the rules elements
stuff on the buffet isn’t there for you to eat all of everything. It’s available in Reign.
there so you can pick and choose what you want. Similarly, all
this material is here so you can get the game that most appeals CHARACTER GENERATION
to you and your group. This is from Chapter Two, and nearly everything is premised
The traditional way RPGs get set up is somewhat authoritar- on this method, these stats and skills, and the passions as an
ian: The GM comes up with setting, plans out a few ways the option. But you could change it up! You could have every player
game could progress, and presents the package to the players make a character for someone else to play, like because Lucinda
who either go along or demur. It’s worked for decades, it’s road- always wanted to see Karamo play a scheming lying rogue
tested, and if you have a group dynamic where that works, great. instead of his usual fur-clad barbarian.

Chapter Four: Getting the Game You Want 77

 CORE RULES ADVANCED COMBAT
From Chapter Three and, to some extent, the Intro. These are Chapter Seven is accurately labeled. These rules are more com-
pretty sacrosanct, but even this stuff can be jettisoned. Consider plicated, allow you try to more things, and offer more options.
the Imperial Harlots scenario (found in the Reign: Realms book). If your characters are going to fight a lot, maybe this collection
You play that one with unstatted characters and only Company of maneuvers keeps it fresh and innovative. Or, maybe if combat
rolls as the ruling council steers a caroming Empire away from is constant the players would prefer a faster and simpler method
(or straight into) disaster. to get through rapidly. Tastes vary.

COMPANIES FLUID COMBAT

Chapter Five covers this, Reign’s core competency, rules for In Chapter Eight you get an alternative to the basic (and
governing mobs, cults, conspiracies, towns, crews and entire advanced) combat systems. It’s incompatible with them, though
countries. Maybe you just want to be lone wanderers with no still based on the core ORE and similar in profile. Fluid combat
ties, traveling to the next battle and bag of coin. If you’re having is a better fit for players who want to get more descriptive with
fun, you’re playing it right and may not need a company to keep their action and lets them play around more creatively while still
you company. maintaining some tactical rigor.

COMBAT DIE, MEN!

This is your basic ruleset for overcoming other individuals The other end of the spectrum is the chessmaster type who
through brute and sweaty violence. It’s pretty core to sword ’n’ wants a board, a set of defined rules, and a chance to outwit,
sorcery fantasy, but it could be kept at this simple stage if fights outclass, and out-maneuver an opponent on the field of glory.
are a more coequal element of the story, rather than a dominant Chapter Nine gives you the opportunity to bust out hex maps,
aspect. It’s in Chapter Six. build your own battlefield, and incorporate squad-level combat
into your Reign game.

ENEMIES OF AWFUL SCALE

You won’t believe that I put that title on Chapter Ten without
considering the dragon/Godzilla angle, but I swear it’s an unin-
tentional pun. Ahem. Anyhow, this is the rules-piece you want to
add on to pit your characters against giant monsters that no ragtag
team of outsiders could take down, no matter how puissant and
greathearted. These rules are for creatures that challenge nations.

AFTER THEM!
Chapter Eleven is a dedicated rules-set for seamlessly adding a
lot of detail and tactical decision making to escape and evasion.
If you have a spy game or a setting that’s fantasy cops and
robbers, this definitely elevates things beyond “roll Scrutinize
against Stealth to find the burglar.”

MAGIC
Chapter Twelve contains the default magic system for the
default setting of Heluso and Milonda, as well as a fair amount
of advice for building your own, entirely different set of physics
violations.

DREADFUL THINGS HAPPEN

Chapter Thirteen (of course) provides rules for miscellaneous
misfortunes, extremes of temperature, falling off buildings and
so forth. You can exclude this and just have the GM eyeball
damage or fiat outcomes, but some play groups thrive more
when players have a page they can look at to be sure they haven’t
fallen afoul of GM over-reach.

WORK FOR YOUR LIVES!

Chapter Fourteen is a very specialized set of rules for nautical
games where having a storm hit your ship can be worse than

78 Chapter Four: Getting the Game You Want

mutiny. Most games won’t need these rules, but I did a big
setting for pirates at sea and I couldn’t resist. IRON GADFLIES
By day, the PCs are courtiers from The Empire, honored guests
SPLENDID THINGS OCCUR of the Dindavaran Hai Riyan. They titter behind fans and gossip
Chapter Fifteen is the mirror-twin of Chapter Thirteen, offering scandalously and promenade through gardens, they discuss
not only rules for things like getting official titles and delicious, trade issues and perform traditional Imperial music with fash-
delicious authority, but also discussion of how some positive ionable ineptness, they spend obscenely to dress outlandishly
developments lead to boring stories, when a slight change in their and, and generally play directly to the perception that The
approach can turn them into fountains of engaging plot-stuff. Empire is run by capricious upper-class twits.
By night, they are spies and assassins, desperately seeking

MIXING IT UP to defend their homeland from a stab in the back for which
it is nowhere near prepared. They have to deniably fan tensions
between the clans, create confusion about The Empire’s true
Some of the material probably sounds lovely. Some, I bet, fails
strength, and look for weaknesses anywhere it can be found.
to appeal. That’s OK! That’s actually great, because it suggests
But they mustn’t get caught, lest their striving to keep war at
you’re taking control of the mechanics in the book to get the
bay become the diplomatic pretext for it.
game you want to play at the table. But to show exactly how the
You could even leave out Companies for this one, but having
different types of rules can be switched on or off to enhance a
a cadre of butlers and dressers and culong instructors who are
game, I’ve got some examples from within the default setting.
also the core of an espionage apparat has a lot of appeal. Combat
can be kept basic—these are Dindavaran nobles, if they get an
THE RAIDER REUNION excuse to swordfight you, you’re probably already dead. Anyone
with sufficient skill to face down a Riyan in a duel of honor
Once upon a time, there was a gang of rogue warriors, merce-
would never have gotten this assignment. But the chase rules
naries, and tomb plunderers led by a wise and insightful wizard
from Chapter Eleven would definitely get a good workout.
but… that was long ago. Having made their fortunes, the PCs
It’s entirely possible that no PC would take any knowledge of
are retired, prosperous, raising families and being pillars of the
enchantment, but that’s up to them.
community. Until it’s time for one more mission—finding the
fabled Fountain of Youth, something from which they’d all like Recipe: Combat, Companies, maybe Magic, After Them!
a little sip. Only problem is, the map they have indicates it’s
deep in the Lightless Jungle.
This is something straight out of Dungeons & Dragons (or Kings
BARDIC MANIA
of the Wyld), but the Reign twist is that they have camp follow- The twist in this one is that the PCs are not the insufferable
ers, siege weaponry, and governmental assistance when they take centers of attention. No, that role is played by a GMC, a bard of
their recon-in-force into the literal armpit of the world. stunning talent and beauty who has never, not once, had to deal
Obviously, this isn’t begging for any kind of variant character with anything resembling a “consequence.” The bard’s magne-
generation or massive changes to the first few chapters of rules. tism has paid for a luxury yacht with which they tour the coasts
Companies are definitely a go, and Combat is likely to get a good of the continents, playing across the water to adoring—often
workout beside Magic. Were I GM, I’d ask the players if they hysterical!—crowds, in between private concerts for rulers, rich
want to aim their sessions (and character builds, and attention) to merchants, and powerful enchanters.
big engagements, or to solitary PC heroism in the face of massed The company is the ship and its auxiliary entertainers,
resistance. If they want set pieces, go for Die, Men! If they want sailors, roadies, dressmakers, and associated hangers-on. The
to focus on the heroes being juggernauts, use Fluid Combat and PCs are the managers, fixers, bankers, bodyguards, musicians,
keep the clashes of armies in the purview of the Company rules. and personal enchanters who surround the bard in a protec-
Once they get to the legendary Fountain, that can be some- tive cocoon of competence. They deal with kidnap attempts,
thing really interesting… maybe use Enemies of Awesome Scale obsessed monarchs with “caged bird” chambers pre-decorated,
to take down some kind of magical megafauna, or else you can riots, civil unrest, piracy, hassles with ex-lovers, and financial
look up the Cults of Secret Places in the Reign: Realms book. shenanigans.
That’s without the blowback of coming out of the jungle and Since this is mostly about social interaction and wit, stripped
finding out they’ve sparked an international incident. After all, down combat is fine, chase scenes are unlikely, and military
the jungle borders Uldholm, the Sunless Plains, and the Con- engagements are beyond the company’s power to affect. But
federacy. No matter which country sponsored them, there are storms are likely at sea… especially if there’s a scorned ex-lover
two others just itching to contest their claim… who’s a stormtongue magus in the background.

Recipe: Combat, Companies, Magic, Fluid Combat OR Die, Recipe: Combat, Companies, Magic, Work For Your Lives!
Men!, Enemies of Awesome Scale OR Cults of Secret Places

Chapter Four: Getting the Game You Want 79

 Territory

I n Reign, your group of char-

acters can be more than
the sum of its parts. If you
and your comrades aren’t just
a gang—if you’re together for a
this goal that keeps the
group united, be it as vague as “Seek knowledge wherever
it’s found” or as concrete as “Assassinate the Hai Riyan of Din-
purpose and have a common goal—you become a Company.
davara and plunge the nation into chaos!”
For the purposes of Reign, “company” doesn’t mean a business
While a goal is very similar to a mission or a craving for a
enterprise (like “the gas company”), though you could focus on
player character, it cannot be used to add or subtract dice from
finance. Instead, it means a group, faction, or party who are
the Company’s pools. Companies are unlikely to ever contra-
joined together in pursuit of some shared objective.
dict their goals, and with just one goal there’s no conflict.
Your Company could be a religion, a political cause, a merce-
But even without mechanical effect, having a stated and
nary troupe, a secretive conspiracy… even a government. Any
agreed-upon goal is critical for the Company. Unless it stands
group of people with shared purpose are a Company.
for something, even something selfish (“enrich all members”)
Forming a Company welds your strengths together and
or sedentary (“prevent the discovery of the lost Temple of the
offsets your weaknesses. For this reason, companies get advan-
Uld Kings Undying”) or a little silly (“perform puppet shows
tages that individuals just can’t. By the same token, however,
in all the Empire’s nations”) it’s not going to grow or appre-
companies are more fragile and less flexible than people by
ciate in power.
themselves.

WHAT IS A COMPANY? THE QUALITIES OF A COMPANY

Each Quality reflects your Company’s ability to get things done
Just as a character is defined by Stats, Skills, and Advantages, a in the world. “Get things done” is vague, and there’s a reason
Company is defined by its Goal and by its Qualities. for that—companies are versatile. Spying out secrets, changing
governments, waging war, and making a fortune—all these are

GOAL actions that can be attempted and accomplished by a Company.

The five Qualities (Influence, Might, Treasure, Territory, and
Companies aren’t social clubs. They exist to do something, Sovereignty) are discussed in detail later, but each is measured
though that goal often changes over time. Nevertheless, it is on a scale of 1-6.

80 Chapter Five: Companies

 FOLLOWERS & MIGHT
If you have the Followers Advantage at rank 5, that is roughly equivalent to Might 1. If you assign your Followers to the Com-
pany as a whole instead of having them obey you, well, there it is. You can’t personally lead more people than is represented by
Followers 5 without forming a Company.
This does mean that if you have Might 3+, you can pretty much assign some followers to come with you on private missions
and, voila, instant Followers without paying the cost for the Advantage. That’s fine, it’s one of the benefits of having loads of
troops at your beck and call. If you keep withdrawing followers and getting them all killed, your GM may decide to give you a
temporary Might penalty as your troops become demoralized. Or it might come out of your Sovereignty.

Qualities are abstract, because there are so many elements that TEMPORARY RAISES FOR MIGHT
determine the wealth of a nation or the value of its lands. Keeping
track of them all would be incredibly tedious, contradicting this Gaining temporary advantage is what being a good commander
game’s goal of being incredibly fun. Instead of tracking exactly is all about. (During the war, anyhow. In peacetime it seems to
how many battle sorcerers and infantry and light cavalry your be all about staying funded.) Some ways to get the advantage
army contains, it’s much simpler to give you a single digit and be include…
done with it. You certainly can keep track of details like that—it
adds verisimilitude and makes the illusion of the situation more FIGHT FROM ENTRENCHMENTS
convincing—but accept that it all boils down to a Might rating.
A force that’s holed up in a massive fortress bristling with
(If you want to add rules of your own and think your group would
siege engines is a lot harder to eliminate than one caught out
dig them, go ahead. But for now, we’re keeping it simple.)
in the open field. Getting your enemy to attack you when
Instead of focusing on the minutiae of what Sovereignty 3
you’re defending from some impregnable fastness can directly
means, the game’s designed to encourage situational actions to
improve your chances of fending him off. Unfortunately, it’s
give your nation, gang, cult or conspiracy temporary advantages.
not an option for attackers (unless you seize a fort and provoke
The player characters have a direct and dramatic impact on
a counterattack).
the fate of the Company. If their Company has Qualities of 5
or 6, they are literally the people on whom the fate of nations SURPRISE MANEUVER
hinge. By acting smartly and succeeding, you can add ordinary
dice, an ED or an MD to the pools your Company rolls. On the If you can keep some grand plan secret and spring it at the last
other hand, PCs who make gross misjudgments or fail misera- moment, you can dismay and confuse an opponent. Dismay and
bly in their strategies penalize their Company’s pools. confusion are not conducive to effective brain-smashing and
gut-sticking. If you successfully conceal a cavalry platoon on
MIGHT the hill, waiting to descend on their flank, then said flank is
going to soften when the charge comes down. Keeping secrets
Might is a crude gauge of a Company’s martial prowess. It
is, of course, hard.
encompasses the number of soldiers active at a given time, their
degree of training and equipment, their access to enchantment, HEAD HUNT
and the brilliance (or foolishness) of their commanders. A vast
and unruly mob of peasants inflamed by dodgy religious dogma Sneaking in and murdering highly visible figures in the enemy
can have the same Might score as a group of a dozen well- command structure is a great way to get an advantage, if
armed, veteran cavalry soldiers. you can do it. Even if the general you assassinate is actually
a figurehead, while aides did all the strategizing… well, it’s
MIGHT still demoralizing to know your leader is vulnerable. Not to
mention how nervous those aides are going to be, wondering
Quality Example whose noggin’s next on the block.
Well-meaning but poorly trained spearmen, possibly
1 SCARE TACTICS
with leather caps.
A thin rank of untrained soldiers with adequate If you can get the enemy troops spooked before the engagement,
2
weapons, or adequate soldiers with poor weapons. by exaggerating your own fighters’ prowess or ruthlessness or
The typical large city guard, a small corps of eeriness, your enemies are more likely to collapse in a rout. Of
3 elite soldiers, or a huge gaggle of undisciplined course, this does pose the question of how you’re going to get
scrappers. them to trust your assertions.
4 Good troops with excellent leadership, or vice versa.
BE SMARTER
A well-honed, confident, experienced, superbly
5
balanced fighting force. In the spirit of old fashioned roll-playing, here’s a gamble. Your
Tough, experienced veterans, well organized and commander rolls Knowledge + Strategy against their com-
6
commanded, with plenty of magic backup. mander. The Higher set gets a temporary +1 to Might.

Chapter Five: Companies 81

 SPENDING TREASURE
In addition to combining with other Qualities to roll actions such as waging war, Treasure can be spent flat-out. Naturally, the
things that cost Treasure tend to be either breathtakingly unique or enormously expansive—adornments such as magic artifacts or
a private navy.
When you spend Treasure, it’s just like spending Wealth, with the exception that you can’t haggle with it. If the cost is less
than your Treasure, you can buy it without losing Treasure. If it’s greater than your Treasure, you can’t have it. If it’s equal to your
Treasure, you can have it at the cost of permanently reducing your Treasure by one point.
It’s important for GMs to understand that it’s quite reasonable to say “no” to some requested Treasure expenditures, limited
simply by availability. A character may want a fire-shooting sword and lead a Company with sufficient Treasure to buy it, but that
doesn’t mean that a rare artifact like that is on the market. Similarly, a Company that can afford to buy a fleet may still have to
wait for the ships it wants to be constructed, if there aren’t enough vessels for sale at that time.

WEALTH & TREASURE TREASURE

Quality Example
Wealth turns into Treasure at a 3 to 1 ratio, rounding
down. That means that if you have Wealth 3-5 you can in- Every level of the operation is visibly pitiful—worn
1 out tools, ragged clothing, scurvy livestock, bad
vest it into a Company as if it was Treasure 1. Wealth 9-10
haircuts, and so on.
is Treasure 3. No individual can manage Wealth above 10
without a Company (and may have trouble even then). A struggling Company working very close to the
2
margin with little in the way of a fiscal safety net.
In the same way that a leader can requisition Followers
without significantly dropping his Company’s Might, Perhaps a small but tightly run enterprise, or a large
characters can make purchases with Treasure that, while 3 and shabby one, or a settlement with some areas of
poverty and some prosperity.
meaningful to an individual (“A diamond bracelet? Oh
Rugris, you shouldn’t have!”) are trivial to a Company or A prosperous organization, well-managed and
4
king. Just withdraw Wealth at a level two or more below profitable.
your Treasure level and have a good time. With deep reserves and a strong record of success,
In the same way that abusing followers can backfire so 5 the Company can take greater risks without the
can fiscal irresponsibility. If the PCs are cavalier about dip- chance of being utterly wiped out.
ping into collective funds, GMCs might decide to advance The Company radiates casual opulence. It possesses
themselves loans to get baubles for their lovers, resulting in such significant reserves that it cannot count them
temporary (or permanent) Treasure drops. Also, a “let them and also an evolved fiscal system for exchanging
6 (say) quarried stone for milled wheat, pig iron, cut
eat cake” attitude can lower Sovereignty like little else.
timber, or the services of an expert builder. On top
of that, there’s plenty of potential for lending to and
borrowing from other companies of equivalent stature.
HIRE MERCENARIES
Make a pure Treasure roll with no other Quality. If it succeeds,
TEMPORARY RAISES FOR TREASURE
you’ve raised your Might by a point for one specific military Treasure is fiendishly difficult to increase for only a short
action. (GMs may not permit this action if it’s unreasonable period—ask anyone who’s ever needed a quick fifty until
that mercenaries would be acting freely in the area.) Even with payday. It’s no easier when you’re a trading cartel with empty
high Treasure, this roll is dodgy, so you may want to first boost coffers. But possibilities include…
that Treasure roll through some character play. Keep in mind
that this erodes your Treasure rating for a month, just like ASK FOR A LOAN
rolling it in conjunction with another Quality. (The erosion of
Qualities through use is explained on page 85.) Find another Company whose Treasure is sufficient that they
can give you some. Work out terms. If an agreement is reached,
TREASURE they transfer some Treasure to you for a pre-determined term
after which you either give it back or default on the loan. If you
Treasure is an easy Quality to understand. It measures how much default, you’d better hope their Might is insufficient to raid you
money a group can access, be it in the form of promissory notes in redress. Terms vary from loan to loan. Some expect a return
or big jingly bags of coin. More than that, however, Treasure rep- with interest. Others expect the same money back accompanied
resents intangible fiscal infrastructure. At the higher reaches of by concessions of another kind.
power, money is as much about appearance as actuality. In one
famous example, the Empress Illumine III built a huge treasure ISSUE BONDS (OR DEBASE CURRENCY)
vault on credit and was able to put off her creditors for two decades
with promises of payment. They assumed that she could afford Issuing bonds is a bit like getting a loan, only you’re asking your
it—if not, why build the vault? Eventually, she nationalized their own citizens. If you’re a business, the equivalent is asking your
merchant guilds and used the vault to store what she had seized. workers to accept deferred payment. For churches, you shake

82 Chapter Five: Companies

down the congregation. It works like a normal loan, only you IMPRESS THE GENTRY
permanently lose a point of Sovereignty if you default on the
debt. Nations can also debase their currency, if they’re sophis- If your characters are charming, suave, debonair and respect-
ticated enough to be using credit or paper money. In that case, ful to foreign dignitaries and opinion makers, without seeming
you borrow from Territory—and your people are compelled to flighty, smarmy, foppish, or ingratiating, it can give you pull
give you a loan. But everyone you know is mellow about paying with them. They have pull with others, and, if you keep at it
their taxes, right? long enough, you can pull just about anything.

THREATEN BLUFF
By making a pure Might roll (with no other Quality) you can If you create a convincing illusion of wealth, prestige, or force
shake down your creditors or your debtors or just some timorous beyond what you actually possess, you can influence others by
bystanders into extending you some credit. This erodes your playing to their misplaced greed, envy, or fear.
Might like any other use of Might (as explained on page 85),
so you may want to roleplay some to boost the pool. If the roll
THREATEN
succeeds, you get a temporary raise and avoid serious blowback— Reminding others of past military exploits, while subtly
there might be some ill will, but no one sneaking into your touching upon preparedness for future military exploits, can
bedroom with a stiletto. Some GMs may roll this in secret and often make people remarkably pliable. This can backfire, of
extend you the credit even on a fail—only to have repercussions course, if you get someone hard-headed or aggressive who’s just
crop up later in the form of covert attack, open attack, or the looking for an excuse.
choice between those and a temporary Treasure penalty when the
account comes unexpectedly (and persuasively) due. PROMISE
INFLUENCE The flip side of the threat is the promise, in which you play up
your vast wealth, staggering influence, or lush tracts of land in
Influence is less tangible than Treasure or Might since it order to get the greedy to aid you. Keep in mind, however, that
measures how much a Company knows and how easily it can the greedy are fickle without eventual reward.
learn. More than that, it gauges how powerfully (and subtly)
a group can sway the opinions of other groups. This is not TERRITORY
the power to redraw national borders directly, but the power
Territory measures more than just acreage (though that’s part
to learn what the Prince believes, and perhaps persuade him
of it). Territory means population, it means the strength of the
otherwise.
land and its fertility, and it means mills and workshops and
cattle. Good Territory indicates educated followers and efficient
INFLUENCE
Quality Example
Self-absorbed and unknown, your Company has
1
negligible pull.
A group like this might stumble on a fact now and
2 then or change the mind of someone noteworthy
through sheer luck.
Your Company can make its opinions known directly
3
and can learn of major events in a timely fashion.
Well-informed of current events for a decent
sized area, your group understands the intangible
4 connections between people and groups and social
trends. Your knowledge lets you choose arguments
most calculated to persuade.
An array of sources can be checked against one
another for maximum accuracy, while your legions
5
of advisors (or blackmailers) can make your will felt
throughout a nation.
For your Company, the walls have ears and the hills
6 have eyes. When you whisper, generals shout and
soldiers scream.

TEMPORARY RAISES FOR INFLUENCE

Some fine ways to temporarily improve Influence include the
following.

Chapter Five: Companies 83

 laborers. It is the measure of your Company’s physical ability to SOVEREIGNTY
grow and to recover from setbacks.
Quality Example
TERRITORY 1 Barely-suppressed hatred and rage.
Quality Example Grudging obedience with more resentment than
2
initiative.
A village and the surrounding farms, a small town,
or a neighborhood within a city. It could also be a Typical loyalty. The followers gripe about the leaders
1 3 to one another but band together and demonstrate
small church, a minor organization of tradespeople,
or a single large ship with crew. patriotism when an outsider makes remarks.
A town, a modest duchy, legitimate authority over Unusual dedication, due perhaps to personal
a large part of a big city. Alternately, a caravan 4 charisma, positive events, or the abject terror of
2
of decent size or a broad-but-shallow national those under a tyrant.
conspiracy. The commoners take actual pleasure in promoting
A very small country, a fair sized region, or a very the nation and feel pride when they do their civic
large independent city. If not physical land, this could 5 duty. If there’s rule by fear, it’s backed with equal
3
stand for a prominent regional religion, or a national amounts of glorious rhetoric, probably something
merchant empire, or a very large mercenary troupe. about having a manifest destiny.
A large region within a large nation, or a nation of Total cultural cohesion to the point of xenophobia
4 medium size in its entirety, or a huge independent 6 (or at least condescending snobbery). Profound
city and its surrounding area. devotion to the ruling clique.
5 A large country.
A vast and varied nation with a proud history and a TEMPORARY RAISES FOR SOVEREIGNTY
6
highly-developed culture.
Being so fluid, there are several good ways to raise Sovereignty.
TEMPORARY RAISES FOR TERRITORY DECLARE A HOLIDAY
It’s hard to accelerate the productivity of something as big and Once a year you can get away with declaring a holiday for some
amorphous as a fleet or a nation or a noble family because any reason or another—high priest’s anointment, the birth of an
obvious improvements have already been made. But there’s one heir to the throne, important wedding, to honor this dignitary
way to squeeze out a bit extra—if you’re willing to pay the price. or that historical figure. People like an excuse to quit working
and put on their good clothes, so their Sovereignty goes up by
EXHAUST THE FIELDS at least 1 the month after the holiday. If you give them a really
Or make your craftsmen work sixteen-hour shifts. Or mortgage good reason to celebrate—the long-unwed queen finally finds a
your property for a second time. Or borrow against money that’s prince, and he’s handsome and nice to people, or you’ve finally
already earmarked for something else. There are many ways to bested a long-grudged enemy—the bonus might increase or the
milk short term improvement at the cost of long-term damage. effect last longer.
If you think of one and the GM agrees, the mechanics are like DISPENSE JUSTICE
this: You get a temporary 1d Territory increase that lasts 3
months, or until used, whichever comes first. When it’s been Oftentimes, the leader of a Company is expected to adjudicate
used, you temporarily lose 1d of Territory for six months. If the conflicts within it. If you do this justly and personally, if you
bonus isn’t used in three months, it expires without the penalty. care (or at least put on a good show of caring) and avoid conflicts
of interest (or, again, make with the good show) and generally
SOVEREIGNTY present an image of Solomon-like wisdom, then the people
become more likely to trust your judgment in other matters.
Perhaps the least-tangible Quality, Sovereignty indicates your
On the other hand, if it looks like you’re helping your cronies or
society’s inner strength. It measures the people’s loyalty to the
selling out, your Sovereignty may suffer.
Company and its leaders, and more, their dedication to one another.
It is, essentially, their identity as followers of the Spider King, or PERMIT THEM TO IGNORE YOU
students of the Path of Twin Fury, or vassals to the Autumnhost
family. Companies with high Sovereignty can expect voluntary aid If your Territory is greater than your Sovereignty, and you do
from even its lowliest followers—acting not from hope of reward, nothing with Territory for a month, you may (at the GM’s discre-
but out of pride or civic duty. Companies with low Sovereignty tion) get a +1 Sovereignty bonus on your next roll for no reason
may dissolve from within, even when there’s no external threat. other than the people have a vague sense that you’re less demand-
Sovereignty is different from every other Quality in one ing than other monarchs, employers or conquerors. It won’t
important way: Every Company must have at least one point in get you cheers and flowers strewn in your path, but apathetic
it every month. It can be a temporary point caused by strenuous people don’t agitate for change. If things are going poorly for the
leadership, but it has to be there. Otherwise the Company fails. Company, you won’t get this bonus. But if things are on an even
You can survive hitting zero in anything else. If your group keel, or are going well, it’s probably something you can expect.
identity dies, your group dies.

84 Chapter Five: Companies

MANAGING QUALITIES
As you can see, prioritizing wisely is critical.
You can use a Quality once per month for each level you have in
it. Thus, if you have Territory 6, you can apply it six times each
month. If you have Might 3, you can engage in three major
SUBDIVISIONS
military actions per month. You can split a Quality if you need to do two things at once in
There’s a catch, however. Every time you use a Quality, it erodes wildly disparate areas. This is most commonly used with Might,
to the tune of a cumulative -1 penalty until the next month. This where you sometimes just have to send part of your troops to
can be offset by raising the pool (see page 86), but the first military the mountains and part to the seashore. It can come up with
action your Might 5 war machine takes in a month is going to other Qualities—maybe you conquer an island and have it as a
be far more effective than the fourth action when it’s eroded to a separate piece of Territory—but by and large, it’s best to consider
Might 1 war machine. a Quality as a single pot from which servings get ladled, dimin-
ishing with each serving. Splitting the pot can be necessary, but
EXAMPLE it’s not a great idea.
If you still want to do it, here’s how. All you do is allocate
Lord Lockfang has the misfortune of being beset by enemies
part to one task and part to another. The “chunks” of Quality
both foreign and domestic. Specifically, he is tracking both
a group of Confederate spies posing as horse traders and degrade through action as usual.
the Mothers of Liberty—a home-grown insurrection against
his many egregious abuses of power. EXAMPLE
Heavily invested in the covert arts, Lockfang’s Company The mighty armies of The Empire are split to deal with two
has Influence 4, Territory 2, and Sovereignty 2. More con- separate conflicts on opposite ends of its vast territory—a
cerned with the Mothers of Liberty, his first Influence action major Matriarchy incursion and the long-feared Dindava-
for the month is to try and find them with an Influence + Sov- ran invasion. The Empire has Might 6, and the Empress
ereignty roll, which is 6d. He fails. He now has a -1 penalty to allocates Might 4 to the Dindavarans in the west, with
both Influence and Sovereignty. He tries again at 4d, and this Might 2 guarding the east. When the Dindavarans pour
time he makes it. Good for him, but his Sovereignty can’t be across the border, the first battle is fought with Might 4,
used any more and his Influence only adds 2. He can combine the second with a -1d penalty, and so on. If the Matriar-
Influence with Territory to seek the Confederate spies with a chal forces attack long after the Dindavarans, they still
4d pool. He fails, and each Quality gets another -1d penalty. face Might 2 because those troops, separated by many
If he wants to keep looking for them he can roll 2d. Or he can miles of peaceful terrain, are unaffected by the events on
save his remaining Territory use in case someone attacks him the western front.
or to try and improve one of his other Qualities. Similarly, that
last dreg of Influence could still be applied to gather informa-
tion or to pursue his own secret agenda. This may seem out of synch with the idea that a Might 5
army isn’t made of five Might 1 armies but rather of two Might

Chapter Five: Companies 85

 ORDER & DISORDER
Typically, each Quality gets a -1d penalty every time it’s used. If you like, you can voluntarily penalize a Quality during an
early action to skip the penalty later. The order is not set in stone. When you’re first getting used to the system, however,
putting your Company’s actions for the month in decreasing order of importance is a good way to manage the diminishing
Qualities.

ACTION/EFFECT
Action Effect Example
Catastrophe! -3d Accidentally poison your entire army on the eve of the big battle.
Humiliating Failure. -2d Throw up on a foreign head of state during a diplomatic banquet.
Pursue support of your levies by saying, “I’ll tax you peasant bastards until you bleed if I feel like
Error. -1d
it. Be glad I don’t take your firstborn children!”
Try to persuade a neighbor to ally with you, but without offering any attractive incentives or
Washout. No effect
ominous threats.
Minor success. +1d Gain good tactical intelligence on the eve of the battle.
Significant success. +ED Become a key patron for an artist who, it turns out, is a genius of the very highest caliber.
Solidify your hold on the population’s hearts with a very public marriage to a very beautiful
Outstanding success. +2d
princess.
Persuade a neighbor that some of their land is completely worthless before you buy it cheap and
Major success. +MD
find gold on it.
Spectacular coup! +3d Assassinate your rival to the throne on the eve of your carefully planned “spontaneous uprising.”
Manipulate the enemy king into a position where he can’t honorably refuse to face you in single
Epic triumph! +1+MD
combat before his entire army—and then kill him.
Seduce the enemy’s Supreme Commander so thoroughly that he’s willing to throw away
Mastermind Maneuver! +2+MD
everything for your love.

4 armies or four Might 3s. It is, somewhat. But splitting forces characters are deeply involved with one particular aspect of gov-
and dividing command is hard. It inevitably creates ineffi- ernance, they can raise it.
ciencies. Plus, when you’re doing this stuff on the spur of the The exact actions required to raise or lower a Quality pool are
moment, it’s easier to do it this way. (The merging and subdivid- a matter for GM judgment, but the general guidelines can be
ing tends not to be done in the heat of warfare, but rather during found on the Action/Effect table on this page.
the more sedate post-conquest phase.) There is one important restriction on temporary improve-
ments, however. They cannot be “saved.” If you’ve cranked
RAISING THE POOL up your Might with a series of temporary improvements, all
the dice you’ve gained are applied to your next relevant Might
Discerning players may have noticed that the pools avail- roll. You can’t hoard them for later rolls that you expect to be
able, even to mighty nations, seem disconcertingly small. A harder.
nation defending itself may roll a measly 5d pool—and then Sometimes the characters put a bonus on a Quality. Some-
a 3d pool against a second attack! This makes companies seem times it’s for just one roll of a particular pool. Sometimes the
terribly fragile and explains why some characters just wander improvement only applies to certain uses of a Quality, while
around looting temples and taking high-pay/high-risk missions other times it operates across the board. There are many varia-
without bothering to accept responsibility. tions, and it’s largely the GM’s job to decide whether it’s a pool
Companies are fragile on their own. That’s why leaders are raise or a Quality raise, how big it is, and how long it lasts.
critical. As a general rule of thumb, a raise that only alters a single
The actions of player characters (and GMCs) can give tempo- roll should probably be more significant than one that puts a
rary bonuses and penalties to a Company’s Qualities or pools. bonus on a Quality for the whole month. But the variations are
These boosts never last long, but while they’re in effect, they can endless: If the PCs spend lots of time improving the defenses of
be extremely potent—adding as many as three dice to a pool, or one castle, it makes sense for the bonus to apply only when that
an expert die, or even the coveted MD. castle is attacked. If, instead, they rigorously drill the officer
If the PCs aren’t doing much, the GM and players can fast corps in new and unconventional tactics, that may improve
forward through long spans of times making their monthly every Might roll made… until the enemy has time to under-
Company rolls after five or ten minutes of discussion. But if the stand and adapt to what’s happening.

86 Chapter Five: Companies

 WHAT COMPANIES DO
Now that you understand the Qualities of a Company, here’s
how you put them into play. There are ten common actions
for groups to take, each governed by a roll of two Qualities
T he crowning of Empress Radiance III was
the only time that King Kuch of Uldholm and
Queen Pje of Opetka met. The Empress brought
them together at one of the feasts and offered each a cup
adorned with moonstones and emeralds.
combined into a single pool.
You may, if you wish, take an action with only one Quality
“Your majesty,” the Empress said to King Kuch, “Your lands
required of it—if you’re saving the other Quality for differ- are threatened from the north, a famine has swept through
ent tasks, or if that other Quality is penalized so much it adds the eastern quarter and you have no heir to your throne. Yet
nothing. All you do is roll that single Quality with any raises
that you’ve gained for it.
your people adore you.” She then turned to the Queen and
said, “Your land is prosperous, peaceful and admired from
ATTACK without, yet within your borders there is much discontent
and grumbling because you rule and not your uncle or his
Roll: Might + Treasure Against: Might + Territory
son.” She raised her own goblet to both of them and said, “I
This is the roll you make when your Company’s military forces would very much like to know how you govern.”
sally out to engage the enemy in combat. Call it invasion,
raiding, annexation or a war of liberation, what it comes down The Queen said, “I rise at first light and strive until
to is your troops going in against their troops’ fortifications. midnight, doing a thousand things, and in this fashion I let
WHAT THE ATTACK DOES no small problem grow into a large one.”one.”
What the attack accomplishes depends on its goal. There are
The King said, “I get up when there is good light too,
several typical goals in warfare, as follows. paint landscapes or portraits for an hour or so after
RAIDING breakfast, speak with my few counselors, then hunt or
listen to music or play at strategy with my brother. After
This is essentially robbery, on a national level. Your troops go
in, sack the town, loot the temple, pile everything on carts, and
that I typically take a warm bath for an hour before
haul it home. If you succeed at a raid, your opponent’s Treasure dinner. All this time I think only of the large things. I take
goes down by 1. There’s a catch, however: Raiding poorer care to solve no problem until it is critical, but then solve
enemies doesn’t raise your Treasure because getting your army
in the field costs more than you can take. If you raid a group
it quickly. Otherwise, I find it won’t stay solved.”
solved.”
with equal or lower Treasure, their Treasure drops but yours The Queen stared at the King. The King smiled at the
does not rise. If you raid someone with greater Treasure, their Queen. “Ah, how I wish your countries could go to war!”war!”
Treasure drops by 1 and your Treasure rises by 1.
exclaimed the Empress.
ANNEXATION
You want their land, so you take it. If you succeed, you take
Territory away from your enemy. As with raiding, however, defeats that foe). By the same token, it may gain nothing for
you can’t raise your Territory if the enemy is the same size or the attacker while temporarily, or permanently, damaging the
smaller. For example, imagine a huge country declaring war on defender’s Influence or Sovereignty.
a tiny, independent village. Once the country wins, the produce PRE-EMPTIVE DEFENSE
of that village is just a drop in the bucket. Of course, the village
may have other values—it may be strategically important, or Your sole goal is to weaken his army either because he’s massing
a religious site, but in those cases it’s better handled as a tem- for an attack or to loosen him up for a follow-up raid or invasion.
porary improvement to Might or Influence. Attacking larger If you succeed at this goal, his Might drops by one. You gain
companies is better. In that case, if you succeed, your Territory nothing other than the knowledge that you bloodied his nose.
rises by 1 and theirs drops a like amount.

SYMBOLISM ATTACK GOAL OPTIONS

Those are the typical goals of combat, though there are plenty
You defeat the enemy but don’t really take anything other than of other options for creative GMs and characters. When the
the right to say you defeated the enemy. This can be surprisingly clash comes, both sides roll and the results of the dice show
important. Depending on who the enemy was, the history of what happened.
both parties and the story elements involved, a symbolic victory It’s possible to combine goals as well, but every goal past the
may temporarily or permanently raise Sovereignty (if the enemy first levies a -1d penalty on the Attack roll and requires an addi-
has traditionally beaten down your Company) or Influence (if tional set. Thus, if you have Might 3 and Treasure 2, your attack
your allies and neighbors have reason to respect someone who pool is usually 5. If you’re attacking to both seize some money

Chapter Five: Companies 87

 and win a symbolic victory, you roll 4d and hope for two sets. If it’s just like hand to hand combat when two individuals attack
you only get one set, you have to pick between the gold and the and neither defends.) If the defender gets a set through, the
glory. It’s a standard multiple action. attacker’s Might drops by 1. If the attacker gets a set through,
the defender’s Might or Territory drops by 1 (defender’s choice).
RESOLVING ATTACK AND DEFENSE These penalties are in addition to the usual temporary losses for
Defenders get to choose if they want an opposed contest or a applying a Quality.
dynamic contest. These losses of Might and Territory are temporary until the
If it’s opposed, their dice become Gobble Dice. If they ruin Quality hits zero. The attack that knocks it to zero makes the loss
all your sets, you fail at your goal, with minimal damage on permanent. (Note that if you penalize your Might making attacks
either side. This is, essentially, just like dodging in combat. until it’s useless, it is not a permanent loss: Your Might returns to
Each side’s Qualities still suffer use erosion, as usual. its normal level next month, when the troops have had a chance
If it’s a dynamic contest, the Widest and Highest roll resolves to regroup, heal up, and get new orders.) Defenders have the
first and knocks a die out of a set on the other side. (Meaning, option to withdraw before reaching zero, but doing so lets the
attacker succeed at raiding or whatever. (Though, of course, that
goal might be to knock down Might or Territory. In that case,
TOTAL CONQUEST withdrawing to preserve the Quality under attack does no good.)
Maybe you don’t want to just harass the other Company, Some attackers make conservative attacks. This parallels a
burn its fields, kill its troops and spread nasty stories about multiple action attack/defense in hand to hand combat and is
its ambassadors and emissaries. Maybe you crave nothing resolved the same way: The pool loses one die, and if the roller
short of absolute eradication. gets two sets, he can attack with one and use the other to gobble
Here’s how you do that, then. enemy sets.
If you can reduce Sovereignty to zero, the Company Some defenders do the same thing—drop their pool by one,
collapses. hope for two sets, and use one for attack and one for defense.
If you reduce two of a Company’s Qualities to zero in Either side can do multiple action defenses (dropping one or
one month, including either Sovereignty or Territory, you more dice and hoping for multiple sets) or multiple action
have completely overwhelmed and subsumed that entire attacks (hoping for more usable sets, each with the potential to
Company. If it’s a nation, you now rule it (in fact, if not di- decrease the enemy’s Might by 1).
rectly in name). If it’s a merchant enterprise, you’re making Once battle is joined, you can make one Attack roll every day
the decisions. If it’s a religion, you’ve either (1) created a until one side or the other is defeated or until someone’s pools
schism so successful it overwhelmed the source or (2) you are too small to make sets. You get to pick what time of day you
have its old leaders in such a bind that they’re figureheads make your roll, giving your characters plenty of time to scout,
doing your bidding or (3) it’s been broken, dispersed, its skirmish, or spy in an attempt to better your odds (see Raising
temples rededicated, and its treasures melted down into the Pool on page 86). Opponents may choose to counter-at-
ornaments for your bedchamber. tack at any time during the day, however. In that case, they’re
This total conquest stuff sounds kind of cool, doesn’t it? making an attack and you’re choosing whether to make it an
Here’s what it means. When you take over the Com- opposed or dynamic contest. Defender still rolls Might + Ter-
pany, add all five of its Quality scores together—add the ritory and the invader still rolls Might + Treasure even though
permanent scores, not what they got chipped down to by they’ve temporarily switched roles.
the time it all fell apart. Then total the five Qualities for
your Company. BEING INFORMED
• If the Qualities of the losing Company were half or
Roll: Influence + Sovereignty
less than the total Qualities of the conqueror, the winner
Against: Influence + Treasure or a Difficulty set by the GM.
gains nothing. (When a mighty fleet sinks one enemy
ship, it doesn’t really change much.) A leader’s judgment is only as good as the information on which
• If the Qualities of the losing Company equaled their decisions are based. Applying sound reasoning to false data
more than half the winner’s total, but weren’t equal, can yield an outcome as disastrous as any blatant folly. There-
the winner can raise any one Quality by a single point, fore, it behooves rulers to keep up with what’s happening within
permanently. The GM may limit this based on narrative their domains. By going to the people who know people (that’s
plausibility—if you have Territory 4 and defeated a Ter- Influence) and by listening to loyalists who want to talk (that’s
ritory 1 enemy, it makes little sense for your Territory to Sovereignty), a Company can roll to find out what’s going on.
rise. But on the other hand, your GM may play fast and The result of the roll depends, of course, on what is going
loose with the rewards, as long as you can explain things. on. To simply get the news and be a well-informed citizen (or
despot), any success is sufficient. To learn something a little more
• If the Qualities of the losing Company were equal to
obscure—for example, if a warlord or military leader wants to
or greater than the winner’s total, the winner can raise
get the latest gossip from inside the Academy of Arcane Stud-
any two Qualities by one point each, permanently. You
ies—a Difficulty of 3 or so might be appropriate.
may also be allowed to raise one Quality by two points,
The real tricky part is when you’re trying to find out
but that’s the GM’s call.
about someone who’s actively attempting to remain hidden.

88 Chapter Five: Companies

Insurrectionist undergrounds, smuggling rings, bandit gangs, conversationalists, or invisible, you may want to send them into
insane and murderous cults… these are all companies in their enemy territory with a list of questions you want answered… or
own right, and they’re highly motivated to remain covert. If opinions you want altered.
they’re trying to stay hidden and you’re trying to find out about
them, you roll Influence + Sovereignty while they roll Influ- FINDING INFORMATION
ence + Treasure. This is an opposed contest, where their dice When they start investigating, you roll Influence + Treasure in
gobble yours. If you have a set remaining, you’ve learned some- an opposed contest against your rival’s Influence + Territory.
thing—exactly what you’ve learned is up to the GM. High (It’s also possible that the GM may decide they’re trusting and
results indicate good information. Low results indicate rumors oblivious. In that case, your roll is unopposed.) If their Gobble
and conjecture. Dice ruin your set (or sets), you learn nothing.
What you learn depends on what you’re asking about and how
COUNTER-ESPIONAGE obvious it is. Picking up the general feeling of the population or
tracking massive troop movements requires only a successful roll.
Roll: Influence + Territory Against: Influence + Treasure Something obscure or protected may impose a Difficulty.
If you fail to roll any success at all, it means your spies have
Your Company has some kind of competition—otherwise,
slipped up and alerted the authorities. Be warned. If you get a
this wouldn’t be much of a game. If they’re at all smart, they’re
set but it’s just too low to beat a Difficulty, your spies are still
trying to learn your weaknesses and secrets, just as you’re trying
undercover.
to learn theirs. (You’re not trying to learn theirs? Better go read
Another option you can use is put your spies in place and
up on Espionage.)
then, instead of pestering them for information immediately,
Finding spies is tricky, but the more adroit you are with
give them some time to establish their cover, earn trust, and
insinuation (your Influence Quality) and the more organized
find patsies and cut-outs… it’s time-consuming, but it makes
your underlings are (Territory) the more likely you are to pick
the dangerous enterprise of espionage marginally safer.
up on mysterious outsiders asking questions and spending freely
If you’ve got a spy in place building the confidence of his
around blabbermouths.
neighbors, roll Influence + Treasure in a static test. If you
When spies are active in your area, they’re rolling Influence
succeed, your next roll to gather actual information gets a +1d
+ Treasure to dig out the facts they seek (which could be troop
bonus. You can only develop a maximum of a +2d bonus doing
movements or fiscal secrets or who the Mayor’s spouse is sleeping
this, but that’s not an insignificant advantage.
with). If the PCs have been active in keeping their ear to the
When asking particularly tough questions, or asking them in
ground, the GM may allow you to roll your Influence + Territory
areas with repressive regimes or extensive secret police (or, for
(along with any raises you’ve gained) yourself, then use them as
that matter, wizards who can pull information out of a bowl of
Gobble Dice against the spies. If you haven’t been paying atten-
water), it may seem advisable to take some high risks with the
tion, the GM may roll the dice in secret once a month so that
chance of high payoffs. Mechanically, this is like a called shot:
you remain ignorant of the traitors in your midst. This roll still
You reduce your pool by 1d and turn one of the remaining dice
gives the typical -1 penalty to each Quality, so if you find yourself
Expert. It reduces both your chances of success and your oppor-
rolling fewer dice with Territory or Influence… well, figure it out.
tunities for Width, but a Wide set that gets gobbled doesn’t do
On the other hand, if the spies roll no successes, they’ve given
you much good. Your call, spymaster.
themselves away somehow. You may not know who they are,
or who sent them, or what they’re after, but you get word that
someone’s sniffing around. This does not occur when they get
CHANGING MINDS
a set and you wreck it with Gobble Dice: That just means you If you want to change the mind of a decision maker, or simply
guarded your secrets successfully. influence the tenor of public debate on a particular issue, roll
Influence + Treasure in an opposed conflict with the other Com-

DEFEND pany’s Influence + Territory. (Once again, overconfident groups

might choose not to roll, along with those who’ve used up their
Roll: Might + Territory Against: Might + Treasure Qualities, or who are hoarding them for later use.) If your oppo-
nent’s pool gobbles up all your successes, nothing happens. If
This is how you avoid becoming someone else’s cash cow, vassal you get successes, nothing visible happens, no Qualities change,
state, or symbolic whipping boy. The nuts and bolts of it are armies don’t immediately mass on the border… but opinions have
covered under Attack on page 87. The mechanics work exactly shifted. If the public was rallying behind the idea of war with
the same when it’s your fields being burned and your peasants a neighbor, expressing concern or dissent becomes more tolera-
running for the hills with all the chickens they can carry. ble. If the Prime Minister was dead-set against the heir marrying
someone foreign, that vehement opposition may soften. If the
ESPIONAGE Empress was thinking of getting involved in a foreign conflict by
sending troops to aid one side or the other, she may question her
Roll: Influence + Treasure Against: Influence + Territory decision to the point of only sending advisors or a couple sorcer-
ers or just some money.
If you’re smart, you’re trying to find out all you can about whatever The uses of a well-placed suggestion are many and varied.
enemies you’ve made for yourselves and your Company. If your Often they can provide a temporary raise for a logical follow-up
Company contains underlings who are notably sexy, or excellent

Chapter Five: Companies 89

 action. For instance, if you’re in the retinue of that foreigner roll you tire out their Qualities, giving them a reduced pool
marrying the heir, more acceptance might give your an Influence for the actual attack. On the other hand, you may be facing a
raise when attempting to sway public policy after the wedding. gambler who decides not to oppose. If you roll sets and they
Alternately, the results may have no mechanical reflection but aren’t countered (one way or the other), you permanently
still move the plot in a direction to your liking. That’s good too. lower their Might or Influence by 1. The enemy decides which
Quality gets lowered. More importantly, you can pre-empt the
IMPROVE THE CULTURE mission. Even without full knowledge of their foul plot, you
can strike, forcing the interlopers to either flee or hide. (On
Roll: Territory + Treasure the other hand, if you’re the risk taker you can watch and try
Against: Nothing or Difficulty equal to the current Sovereignty to catch them in the act. This doesn’t damage their Might or
Influence until they make the attempt and you spring the trap.
“Improving the culture” is a foggy mandate and, while everyone Be warned: Sometimes you catch the bad guys after they fulfill
has an opinion, no one seems to have a sure-fire recipe for their dark design.)
accomplishing it. Possibly because no one agrees on “culture.” But sometimes the King’s Guard gets there too late. When
In any event, rulers are always trying it—building roads, the infiltrators make their move—burning the temple, killing
libraries, universities and theaters, paying for monuments and the prime minister, sabotaging the fortress or whatever—you
hiring bards, declaring holidays and appointing poet laure- can make a contested roll to foil them. They’re once again rolling
ates—all with the goal of drawing the people together. Influence + Might. You roll Might + Sovereignty to form gobble
Regardless of how the characters go about strengthening the sets and, if you can ruin all his sets, their action fails. If you’re
community, whether it be through ephemeral emotional appeal or unaware of the attack until it occurs, you can only respond
by the mundane route of hiring teachers and sages, the mechanics with this contested roll.
are the same. Roll Territory + Treasure. If you only want a tem- If you were alerted beforehand, you still may want to make
porary improvement, it’s a static contest. Any set gives a +1 raise the contested roll. Or, as mentioned above, you can lure the
to Sovereignty that lasts for all of the next month. conspiracy into a trap. This is risky because it necessarily uses
Permanently increasing Sovereignty is more difficult, but their goal as bait. In this case, your rolls are dynamic. Widest
it’s still a static contest. The only change is, this time you roll set goes first and knocks a die out of one opposing set. If you
against a Difficulty equal to the current Sovereignty. If you beat get a set past the foe, you permanently lower their Influence or
the Difficulty, your Sovereignty goes up by 1 permanently. If Might by 1 (he picks which) and you lower the other Quality
you roll a set but fail to beat the Difficulty, you get nothing, not by 1 until the end of the month. If they get a set past you, they
even a temporary increase. achieve their nefarious goal. This means it’s possible for you
You can only attempt to improve your Sovereignty once per both to succeed.
month. You cannot use this method to raise your Sovereignty After the attempted attack, there’s one final set of rolls:
above 5. Your attempts to apprehend them after the fact. This conflict is
opposed, and they can only be the defender. If you don’t get any
POLICING sets after the enemy applies Gobble Dice, they escape. If you
get a set past them, you drop their Influence by 1 permanently
Roll: Might + Sovereignty Against: Influence + Might and you’ve either killed everyone who took part in the action,
or clapped them into prison, or some combination of the two.
Learning that there are people around who wish you ill is one
Crime doesn’t pay!
thing. (Specifically, it’s part of Being Informed, as described
on page 88.) Doing something about it… that’s another matter.
It is, one might say, a police matter. Once you become aware RISE IN STATURE
of some insidious social cancer eating away at the fair flesh of
Roll: Sovereignty + Treasure
your Company, it’s only reasonable to slice it out. To do so, you
Against: Nothing or Difficulty equal to current Influence
roll Might + Sovereignty against the enemy group’s Influence
+ Might. Just as there are many ways to improve a culture and none of
The nuts and bolts of this are covered under Unconventional them definitive, there are many ways to manipulate prestige,
Warfare on page 91. That’s what it looks like from the other few of which work exactly the same each time. Throwing
side. To recap from the defensive perspective, infiltrating forces elegant (or opulent) soirees, making carefully calculated
are there to take one shot at damaging your Company through displays of loyalty that appear spontaneous to their intended
sabotage or assassination or arson. Or maybe they’re just bandits audience, giving grand but meaningless titles to opinion-mak-
trying to rob the money caravan. Whatever, they’re doing some- ers or selecting the right dress-designer to patronize can all
thing you don’t want. give one’s words more weight. On the other hand, many have
If you’re aware of them before the event, you can try and had equal successes with stirring (or ranting) speeches, bellig-
roll up the conspiracy. You make a contested Might + Sov- erent army parades, openly spilling secrets about those who
ereignty roll against the cabal’s Influence + Might. They’re refused to be blackmailed… or just by giving the right people
defending, so any sets they roll become Gobble Dice. If you big, taut sacks of flawless rubies.
get no sets, or if they wreck all your sets, you do no damage Whatever you do to make your desires known, it boils down
to the enterprise… save indirectly, because by forcing them to to a Sovereignty + Treasure roll. If you want to temporarily raise

90 Chapter Five: Companies

Influence, any success is good enough. Permanent improve- This is entirely different from training troops to fight. If
ments are rolled against a Difficulty equal to your current they’re foreigners, it means teaching them your language and
Influence. Decide which you want to attempt beforehand, customs—and teaching your people to accept the strangers
because if you try for a permanent increase and fail to hit the and protect them as they would each other. Whether the forces
Difficulty, you do not get the temporary improvement—even are raised from within a society, or recruited and welcomed,
if you got a match. the result is the same—soldiers who won’t cavalierly betray or
You can only roll to improve your Influence once per month. desert your Company at the first sign of danger or the earliest
This method cannot raise Influence above 5. offer of better pay. It changes soldiers from “those you hired” to
“those who fight for your cause.”
TRAIN AND LEVY TROOPS Now that you know what it means, here’s how it’s done: You
roll Sovereignty + Territory against a Difficulty equal to your
Roll: Sovereignty + Territory current Might. If you succeed, your Might increases perma-
Against: Difficulty equal to current Might nently. Unlike similar uses of Qualities, you cannot temporarily
improve Might in this fashion. You cannot raise Might above 5
Is there any adornment so tempting to those in power as in this fashion. You cannot make this roll more than once per
a well-disciplined militia, or an endless array of infantry month.
marching in perfect step, or a new fleet of warships larger and
more imposing than any seen before in port? If you answered
“hell no!” then this should interest you a great deal. UNCONVENTIONAL WARFARE
By calling on its resources and the loyalty of its follow- Roll: Influence + Might Against: Might + Sovereignty
ers, any Company can raise its Might. For nations, this is
matter of recruiting from the youth (or, in true duress, insti- This is the stuff at which PCs typically excel. Instead of marching
tuting a draft) while forging weapons and armor, building forthrightly against a fortress with massive clots of foot soldiers
siege weapons, and purchasing (or simply seizing) wagons and and a few wizards to shut down those catapults, a small group
dray animals and food for the troops. For smaller groups, it’s of elite warriors crosses the border by night, sneaks deep into
not simply a matter of hiring some eager mercenaries with enemy territory, and then carries out what the defender would
notched swords and easy grins: That can be done easily enough call “banditry” or “acts of terror” and what the perpetrators typ-
by acquiring the Followers Advantage, which is described on ically call “forward missions” or “tactical preparation.” Instead
page 41. This is the process of integrating soldiers, however
they were recruited, into your society.

Conventional warfare takes place on battlefields and targets soldiers, which is what makes unconventional warfare so much messier.

Chapter Five: Companies 91

 of meeting the enemy face to face on the battlefield, the uncon-
ventional warrior poisons wells, burns crops, sabotages ships,
ONE SHOT, ONE KILL
and assassinates prominent military leaders. Whatever your mission, you get one chance to accomplish it…
Every decent nation condemns these methods as dishon- and one chance to get away clean. Each of these is a separate
orable, illegal, repulsive, and cowardly. If the participants are Influence + Might roll. Don’t forget to erode each Quality when
caught and live to stand trial, they’re usually termed war crim- it’s used, so the second roll is at a -2d penalty. (If the defender
inals and they become big embarrassments to the nation or uncovered the plot beforehand, they may pre-emptively attack
group that sent them. If, of course, that group is ever identified. the conspiracy, as described under Policing on page 90.)

THE MISSION RESOLVING AGAINST THE POLICE

When planning a sortie of this type, the infiltrators choose a The victimized company reacts to the mission by policing with
goal. GMs and PCs alike often get very creative with these Might + Sovereignty. The exact way these rolls—yours, and
goals, but typically they boil down to an attack on a Company’s theirs—interact depends on how much they know, and when
Quality. Some examples follow. each of you chooses to act.
If your dark conspiracy has been spotted beforehand, the
MIGHT defender can roll Might + Sovereignty in an opposed roll against
your Influence + Might. You can only respond by generating
Poison troops, sink ships, sabotage siege engines, spoil provi-
Gobble Dice (though you don’t have to roll if you don’t want.) If
sions, weaken a fortress with sorcery, or assassinate prominent
they get a set past you, they permanently decrease your Might
leaders. If you’re a risk taker, try killing some prominent war
or Influence by one point. You pick which Quality takes the hit.
mages.
Furthermore, you have to scrub the mission, either fleeing or
TERRITORY going to ground.
The potential victim doesn’t have to take this opportunity. If
Foul wells, sicken livestock, destroy roads and bridges, blockade their society is extremely ethical, they may have qualms against
streams, or knock down dams. Or, fire’s always a favorite— punishing someone before a crime has actually occurred. Most,
forest fires, crop fires… burn a whole town if you’ve got the however, are not nearly so finicky.
stomach for it. That’ll put a dent in the rulers’ plans. When you make your move, an informed opponent can
INFLUENCE choose between resisting you with an opposed or with a
dynamic roll. If you blindside them and they have no idea what
Applying military force to intangible opinion making is tricky, you’re planning before you spring it, they can only roll opposed.
but PCs often love a challenge. Eliminating diplomats is a start, You’re both still rolling the same pools. If they’ve already tried
but there’s a reason for all those honor guards and it’s not just to thwart the conspiracy and failed, remember that both of you
ceremony. Better, perhaps, to blackmail or bully one through now have reduced pools.
threats against family or other cherished interests. Alternately, If it’s an opposed roll, that means they’re just reacting defen-
sometimes soldiers from country C dress up as soldiers from sively, trying to derail the plan. If their Gobble Dice ruin or
country A while in country B and commit various atrocities in wreck your sets, or if you don’t roll any, you do not achieve your
order to chill relations between A and B. goal. If they can’t wreck your sets, mission accomplished.
If it’s a dynamic contest, it means they’re counterstriking
SOVEREIGNTY during your action or directly on its heels. In that case, you both
roll your pools and compare sets. The Highest set acts first and
Riding around terrifying the peasants works pretty well, if for
knocks a die out of one opposing set. If they can’t smash your
no other reason than it draws off the attention of the forces
sets, you accomplish the goal. But if you don’t smash their sets,
of law and justice. Spreading rumors about imminent polit-
you lose a point apiece from Might and Influence until the end
ical disaster or revealing embarrassing state secrets—that
of the month. It’s perfectly possible to deal them a hard blow
works too. Especially if the rumors and revelations are true.
and still get hurt yourself.
Most of all, however, attacks on Sovereignty are attacks on
Whether you succeed or fail, after your attack it’s time to
what makes a culture feel safe and secure in its identity—so,
exfiltrate your forces. (“Exfiltrate” is a military term for “get
defiling temples or murdering beloved artists is another way to
the hell out of town.”) This final roll determines how well your
shake things up.
forces cross the river by night, or disguise themselves as diplo-
TREASURE mats and bluff past the border guards, or simply flee to a cave in
the mountains and lie low until the heat dies down. Whatever
Raid caravans, murder prominent bankers, attack the treasury, you do, you roll Influence + Might against their Might + Ter-
or burn down the mint. Alternately, the more artful approach ritory again. This time, you’re the defender in a roll that can
is to devalue the currency by importing masses of counter- only be contested. If you gobble out their sets, you escape clean.
feit coin or by engaging in large-scale smuggling. The less If you don’t, you lose a point of Influence permanently as your
artful but more popular tactic is to massacre tax collectors. forces get captured or killed. It’s possible that they don’t get
You have to really kill a lot of them to get an effect though, traced back to your Company. Or maybe they do. Whichever
and unless you slaughter a bunch all at once, they’re going to way it goes, your enemy has them and you no longer do.
hunker down.

92 Chapter Five: Companies

 can’t enrich yourself at the expense of a poorer Company.
MERGING AND DIVIDING To raise your Territory through conquest, you have to attack
someone of equal or greater Territory. You can still push around
All companies, from the tiniest village to the mightiest empire, your smaller neighbors and decrease their Territory: It’s just
use the same rules. At the “mighty empire” side of the scale, that any lands you seize are insignificant compared to what you
however, a Company may be composed of many smaller ones. already have.
As you might expect, influence flows from the top downward. If you attack someone of equal size, you have to reduce their
For instance, the Kingdom of the Sunless Plains is composed Sovereignty and Territory to zero to raise your Territory. This
of several domains and is part of The Empire. Lords of those is total conquest: That Company no longer exists. If you attack
domains can apply the potencies of their lands as they see fit… and win short of complete annihilation, you can still lower their
unless ordered otherwise by the King, or by Imperial authority, Territory: You just don’t raise your own Territory.
which trumps even the royal will. Given the way that Quali- Now, picking on someone with superior Territory… that’s a
ties tire out through use, the timing of actions can become quite different story. If you succeed there, you can increase your Ter-
a political football—simply by prioritizing her Influence task ritory by 1 and decrease theirs by 1 simply by succeeding at an
before the king’s, a Sunless Lady makes her task more likely to attack with the goal of annexation. (See page 87 for rules on
come to fruition. On the other hand, Sunless Kings aren’t noted annexation.) However, if you continue to attack them and com-
for tolerating failure, so it all balances out in the long run. pletely destroy them, it won’t increase your Territory further.
It may, however, raise your Treasure. Treasure operates just
COMBINING COMPANIES like Territory. To recap:
• If you attack someone of equal Treasure, you can only
The Quality scale is not a strict, linear mathematical progres-
raise your own Treasure if you completely deplete their
sion. Here’s why: Dice in the ORE aren’t linear. Your chance
Territory and Sovereignty. If you attack someone of
of getting a set when you roll two dice is one in a ten. When
you roll four dice, it’s one in two. Clearly more dice aren’t only equal Treasure, you can drop their Treasure by raiding
better, they’re increasingly better the more you have. (see page 87.). You just won’t improve your own Treasure:
Now that I’ve justified why it works, here’s how: To raise a The property represented gets burned, smashed, stolen by
Quality by 1, you have to combine it with an equal Quality. If a opportunistic carpetbaggers or spent on unexpected army
Quality is combined with a higher Quality, it just goes to that necessities. War is hell.
higher level. • If you attack someone of greater Treasure, a simple
(If you understand how the Wealth rating works back on success decreases their Treasure by 1 and raises your
page 72, this is exactly the same.) Treasure by 1.

EXAMPLE Thus, if your smaller neighbor robs you, you can only regain
your losses from them if what they stole raised their Treasure
Grant, Duke of Harfast, is marrying Melody, the Duchess above your new score: That is, if the two of you effectively
of Welterwood. The joy of marital bliss is soon to be theirs, traded Treasure Qualities. If they were a lot poorer than you,
but that’s nothing compared to the joy of combining two
you have no chances of redress short of total conquest.
adjoining duchies in the Western Marches. Harfast and
Welterwood have the following Qualities:
EXAMPLE
Harfast: Might 3, Treasure 2, Influence 1, Sovereignty 2,
Territory 2. A street gang with Treasure 0 decides to rob the jeweler’s
workshop of a swank merchant family. (They’ve got Treasure
Welterwood: Might 1, Treasure 2, Influence 3, 3.) Succeeding at the heist, the gang’s Treasure goes up to 1
Sovereignty 3, Territory 2. while the family’s Treasure drops to 2. Enraged, the family’s
As they integrate their domains into the Grand Duchy of matriarch sends her guards and hired muscle to recover the
Welterfast, their Qualities stack up like this. Harfast’s sig- gems. She succeeds, dropping the gang’s Treasure back to
nificant Might really overshadows the minimal forces of 0… but presumably they’d already fenced, hidden or wasted
Welterwood, swallowing it whole. The combined Company a significant part of the loot. Furthermore, even if she recov-
will be Might 3. Their tied Treasure, however, combines to ered it all, the stain on her reputation from the robbery
reach a height neither had individually. Together, they have might account for the Treasure loss—people are less willing
Treasure 3. Just as Harfast’s troops sucked in Welterwood’s to trust her with her history of “poor security,” or maybe
small garrison, so does Welterwood’s awareness, panache the best artisans want a more secure workplace, or the
and connectedness overshadow Harfast’s Influence. The new workshop repairs eat up any recovered money.
Influence is 3. Similarly, Welterwood’s superior Sovereignty
raises Harfast’s, to 3. Finally, because their Territories are of
similar value, the combined Grand Duchy has a higher value THE EXCEPTION: SOVEREIGNTY
than either would possess alone, at Territory 3.
Sovereignty measures how strongly the members of the
Company identify themselves with it. That’s abstract. The
(See The Exception: Sovereignty section that follows.) concrete issue is one of loyalty in case of conflict. For example,
From this, it becomes distressingly clear to ambitious tyrants the Black Mountain Free State is a member nation of the Heluso
that you can’t steal Territory from a smaller Company, and you Confederacy, along with three other countries. If those other

Chapter Five: Companies 93

 countries pass laws that are unfair to Black Mountain, that’s a The Welterwood/Harfast marriage on page 93 is an
conflict. If the problem is bad enough, Black Mountain might example of this.
secede from the Confederacy. It all comes down to a question
• If the companies combine grudgingly and with reser-
of whether its citizens see themselves first and foremost as
vations, then their combined Sovereignty is one lower
Black Mountain people or as Confederates. If it’s the former
than the high score.
(and trust me, it is) a secessionist Black Mountain might have
a higher Sovereignty than the Confederacy to which it pre- EXAMPLE
viously belonged. The people there might feel better about
themselves after they rebel. Ten years ago, the Church of the Star Bones had a schism.
When companies combine, you can add their lands together, A charismatic preacher formed a xenophobic splinter sect
called the Inspired Star Skeleton and tried to purify the
pool their treasury, unify the armies, and integrate their diplo-
nation of foreign influence. The remaining 90% of the
matic corps. But you can’t so easily reinvent people’s identities.
church called themselves the Orthodox Star Bones Church.
Thus, when two groups merge (or when one faction rebels from Each sect condemned the other as heretics. Their Qualities
within), the changes in Sovereignty depend more on circum- are as follows:
stance than on a strict math formula.
The Orthodox Company: Sovereignty 2 (being a diverse
• If the companies combine harmoniously, with each and complacent group with a lot of rules and bureau-
group perceiving great advantage from the match, then cracy), Treasure 2, Territory 1, Might 0 Influence 2.
the normal rules apply: Two equal ratings go to the next The Inspired Company: Sovereignty 5 (because they’re
one up, and unequal ratings go to the highest score. shiny-eyed fanatics), Treasure 1, Territory 1, Might 2
Influence 0.
Eventually, the Inspired Star Skeleton crosses the wrong
group of immigrants and their firebrand leader disappears,
along with his daughter and four closest disciples. The
Orthodox Star Bones Church covets the Inspired Skeleton’s
property and promises to use its Influence to protect the
heretics from further reprisal. All the Inspired have to do is
repudiate their false doctrine and all is forgiven.
The reconciliation happens, and on the surface, it’s all
forgiveness and repentance and the will of the Great Skull.
In reality, some who were Orthodox don’t trust those crazy
Inspired, and some of the Inspired just went through the
motions out of fear or cunning. But there were also many
on both sides who regretted the split and are glad to see
it healed. It’s not entirely harmonious, but both sides know
they’re better off. The Sovereignty of the Unified Star Bones
Church is 4—less than the fanatical 5 of the splinter sect,
but greater than the complacent 2 of its parent.

HOSTILE MERGERS
Sometimes a merger isn’t grudging, it’s downright hostile. In
the case of an occupation or seizure by force, the combined Sov-
ereignty should drop to the lower score.

EXAMPLE
The Meppic family has traditionally guided the tiny fishing
village of Slepis, but a group of violent nomads led by the
wild-eyed warrior Gingrud terrorizes them and only ceases
when the Meppic heir agrees to marry her, cementing her
claim to rule the village.
Slepis: Might 1, Territory 1, Influence 0, Treasure 1,
Sovereignty 4
Gingrud’s warriors: Might 2, Territory 0, Influence 1,
Treasure 1, Sovereignty 2
When these companies merge, their combined Sover-
eignty drops to 2. The warriors can threaten and bluster,
but the newly-formed Company “Gingrud’s Village” only has
as much discipline and identity as the ruffians in charge.

Wisdom
94 Chapter Five: Companies
OPTIMIZED COMBINATIONS
Most players can skip this section. It’s deep nerd stuff about
squeezing every last bit of advantage from combinations, and
most groups, I reckon, are just going to slap companies together
and then go do more heroic deeds. If abstract issues of rule
“A s a warmaker, there are three
things I prize more than any
other: Officers without ambition, soldiers
free of disease, and enemies who have no patience.”
—Ahir the Conqueror, First King of Punga
timing in multiple combos interests you, continue. Otherwise,
don’t say you weren’t warned.

MERGER ORDER
It’s still better than they began, but the organization is far less
That said, one interesting feature of Company combination is efficient and the groups don’t fold together smoothly.
that when several companies are combined into one (as when As a third option, what if Dirty Brum and Winding Vine
provinces add up to a nation, or nations fuse into an empire) the are conspiring to take over the Brotherhood from within? They
order of combination matters. combine their companies first, and hope to bargain for enough
power to control the whole mass.
EXAMPLE
The Brotherhood of Iron Night initiates both Dirty Brum,
EXAMPLE
master of a large smuggling ring, and a mercenary captain The warriors’ superior Might and Territory stay at their
called Twining Vine. Both the mercenary troupe and the previous levels, but the matches in Sovereignty and
smugglers are now controlled by the Brotherhood. These Treasure each combine to 3 and their Influence rises to 2.
three groups have the following Qualities. When the brash newcomers flex their muscle and cow the
Brotherhood: Might 1, Territory 1, Sovereignty 3, secretive Brothers into obedience, their Company swallows
Treasure 1, Influence 2 the Brotherhood. Its Might stays at 2 while its Territory
rises to 2. Treasure doesn’t change, but Sovereignty reaches
Smugglers: Might 1, Territory 0, Sovereignty 2, Treasure 2, an impressive 4 and Influence hits 3. This means that the
Influence 1 infusion of new leadership really inspires the followers and
Mercenaries: Might 2, Territory 1, Sovereignty 2, makes things happen. This combination looks like this:
Treasure 2, Influence 1 Conquered Brotherhood: Might 2, Territory 2,
One option is to fold the smugglers into the Brotherhood Sovereignty 4, Treasure 3, Influence 3
first. Their two equal Mights go up to the next highest level.
The Brotherhood’s greater Territory sucks in the Smugglers’,
as does their Sovereignty and Influence. Since the Smug-
PLAYING WITH THE MATH
glers have more Treasure, the Brotherhood’s Treasure rises Some players are really going to enjoy fiddling with differ-
to the Smugglers’ old level. The Brotherhood is now at
ent Company Qualities to see how the math works out. Some
Might 2, Territory 1, Sovereignty 3, Treasure 2, Influence 2.
aren’t. Both ways are fine, because this does not come up often.
It goes on to incorporate the Mercenaries.
Their equal Mights rise again (to 3) as does Treasure, Usually, Companies conquer each another one at a time—simul-
while and their equal Territories rise to 2. The superior taneous combinations are rare. If the players in your group don’t
Brotherhood Sovereignty stays at 3, and the same thing want to mess about with these tricks, they shouldn’t have to—
happens with their Influence of 2. just stick companies together one at a time and be done with it.
Thus, by bringing Dirty Brum into the fold in a superior But if your group loves this kind of min-maxing (and yeah, that’s
position to Twining Vine, the Brotherhood ends up looking exactly what it is), go for it. You may even wind up in the position
like this: of having to choose between personal authority and Company
Brotherhood: Might 3, Territory 2, Sovereignty 3, strength. After all, combining your group in last may give the
Treasure 3, Influence 2 best structure, but leave the characters in a subordinate position.
Getting in line first may give them the whip hand, but only half
Hell of an improvement, isn’t it? But what if they did it in the the horses. Of such interesting choices are good games made.
opposite order—combining with the sell-swords first and then GMs may also concern themselves with this sort of combining
taking the criminals? when big Companies subdivide. That is, the PCs’ Company may
come into conflict with a local governor or provincial author-
EXAMPLE ity, and so the GM throws the Qualities of the province against
them. But that province is part of a nation, and the GM may also
The Brotherhood’s Might, Treasure and Territory all rise to 2,
calculate the nation’s Qualities. (In fact, some of the examples
their Sovereignty remains at 3, and their Influence stays at
in this book are nations with Qualities composed of provinces
2. When they bring Dirty Brum into the fold, neither Might,
Sovereignty, Influence nor Territory change, but their Trea- with Qualities.) Sometimes the combinations in this book are less
sures combine to 3. This way, favoring Twining Vine and his than optimal. That’s deliberate! It means the country’s inefficient,
thugs, the Brotherhood changes to this: just like in the real world. If you build your own Companies and
sub-companies, it’s okay for them to be inefficient too, especially
Brotherhood: Might 2, Territory 2, Sovereignty 3,
Treasure 2, Influence 2 if having that weakness to exploit leads to a more exciting or more
interesting game.

Chapter Five: Companies 95

 TRAITOR! I'LL STAB YOU IN THE FACE! EXAMPLE
Sometimes, your enemy isn’t the lion at the gates but the viper While the Pahar are making a spectacle of themselves in
lounging beside you in bed. Sometimes one faction within a the Imperial capital, The Empire simply marches a thousand
larger Company takes actions that are against its interests. soldiers into Pahar with orders to destroy any building taller
(Sometimes the PCs are leading a secret conspiracy trying to than two stories. Their attack on Pahar Territory succeeds.
bring down the despot from within.) Here’s how you manage it Because The Empire’s Territory 6 is comfortably higher than
when a component attacks the whole or vice versa. the Pahar’s Territory 3, they can attack it without meaning-
It’s just like a normal conflict. The only meaningful bit is fully damaging themselves.
determining the relative Qualities when they’re rolled.
The big Company’s Quality doesn’t change if it’s two or more Got it? The bigger Quality drops by one unless it’s at least two
greater than the traitor’s Quality. Otherwise, the big Company’s higher than the lesser one. (If it’s that much greater, the betrayal
Quality drops by one in conflicts with the rebels. The Qualities of isn’t big enough to hurt.) When resolving conflicts, both sides
the subordinate, “enemies within” company don’t change. are harmed if the damaged Quality is equal. Otherwise, they
can tear at one another with impunity.
EXAMPLE
The Empire has Might 5, Territory 6, Influence 5, Treasure 4,
and Sovereignty 3. One of its member nations, Pahar, indi-
IMPROVING A QUALITY
vidually has Might 3, Territory 3, Influence 3, Treasure 3, and There are three ways to permanently increase any of a Compa-
Sovereignty 3. If Pahar tries to throw off the Imperial yoke ny’s Qualities. Some Qualities have other routes to increase, but
(again), The Empire’s Might, Territory and Influence are all
these three can work for everything.
too great to be immediately harmed. Its Treasure and Sover-
eignty both drop a point, however. Apparently the citizens of
The Empire are dismayed by the insurgency, and their unease COMBINING
is reflected in The Empire’s already-shaky financial network.
If two small companies get mixed and mingled, they form one
bigger Company. This is explained in detail on page 93, but
The question that arises is what happens when groups so here’s the short version.
closely entangled manage to damage one another? Possibly
• When a Quality of the two companies is unequal, the
the bigger group gets hurt in the process of repressing its
merged Company has that Quality at the higher levels. If
component.
a Company with Might 3 joins forces with a Company at
If the Qualities started out equal, damage to either Company
Might 1, the new Company has Might 3.
reduces the Quality on each side by an equal amount.
• When a Quality is equal, the combination raises it
EXAMPLE by one point: If the two companies both have Might 5,
when they merge the new Company has Might 6.
The Pahar insurgents make an attack on The Empire’s
Sovereignty through an unconventional warfare attack. Sovereignty is an exception, as described on page 93, because
Specifically, they overrun a prison and break out a bunch of feelings are complicated.
Pahar prisoners… prisoners that The Empire claimed were
still roaming the hillsides, justifying the high taxes required
to find them. The attack succeeds, reducing The Empire’s
CONQUEST
Sovereignty by a point. However, since the insurgency is still If your Company attacks another Company, it might conquer
tied to The Empire’s fortunes, its own Sovereignty drops as it completely. This is described in full on page 88, but basically
well. Apparently the Pahar citizens aren’t too happy about you have to meet two conditions.
releasing a bunch of murderous thugs who serve nicely as
a national disgrace. • Reduce two of your enemy’s Qualities to zero.
• One of the Qualities zeroed out must be either Territory
If the defender’s Quality is two or more greater than the or Sovereignty.
attacker, a successful attack drops it without harming the The outcome depends on the relative size of your Company
attacker. and the Company you squashed. “Size” in this instance means
“combined total of all five Qualities’.
EXAMPLE
• If the Company was half your size or smaller, you
The Pahar insurgents, bolstered by the freed prisoners,
get nothing.
go up against the elite Imperial Guard and, to everyone’s
shock and surprise, are victorious. The Empire’s might of • If it was smaller, but more than half your size, you
5 was two higher than Pahar’s Might 3, so the Pahar can can improve any one Quality by a point if that increase
attack it without harming themselves. makes sense.
• If it was equal size or larger, you can increase any two
Similarly, if the defender’s Quality is less than the attacker’s, Qualities that make sense, or maybe raise one Quality by
a successful attack drops it without harming the attacker. two points if the GM agrees.

96 Chapter Five: Companies

 EXAMPLE
Remember the happy newlyweds who formed the Grand Duchy of Welterfast, back on page 93? One reason they were happy is that
their newly formed political unit was more powerful than either of its components, having combined a series of low scores to get
threes in every Quality. Grand Duke Grant wastes no time in applying his newly-boosted Influence against a criminal gang, the Bitter
Beasts, in his capital city. The Bitter Beasts have Might 1, Treasure 1, Influence 2, Sovereignty 2, and Territory 1. Back when Harfast
had Influence 1, the gang could hold Grant at bay. Now, he’s taking out the trash. He starts out with a Might + Influence attack to
wipe out their Territory (specifically, burning down the warren of mazy streets where their hold is greatest—a fire he later blames on
the Beasts), followed by a straightforward Might + Treasure to round up their armed members and kill them before they have an
opportunity to surrender. In one month, the Beasts are destroyed.
Added together, the Brotherhood’s Qualities totaled was 7 (1+1+2+2+1), which is less than half of the 15 Quality totals of the Grand
Duchy (3+3+3+3+3). The Grand Duchy can’t claim anything meaningful from smashing these punks other than the pure joy of it. If
the rulers do some nice roleplaying to make a big deal out of it, the GM might give them a temporary Sovereignty bonus.
Having helped her husband secure their interior, Melody turns on Lockfang, her neighbor to the south who has always been an
appalling swine. Unfortunately, while their lands belong to different kingdoms, they’re all part of the same Empire, and since they’re
close to an unstable border, settling things through open combat would be seriously frowned upon. Using sneak methods against
Lockfang is a bit like bearding a lion in his den, but Melody and Grant are in love and drunk on their own power, so their players
engage in several sessions of skullduggery to prop up the Mothers of Liberty in Lockfang’s territory, to provide deniable support
to that cabal of Confederate sneaks, and to plant a lot of rumors about Lockfang’s inability to keep foreigners out of the pantry.
Between leading sabotage missions by night and engaging in character assassination by day, the happy couple reduces both his Sov-
ereignty and Might to zero in one month. He’s forced to flee an insurrection (flee into the Confederacy, amusingly enough), and the
Empress has to give his lands to someone else to restore order.
Lockfang’s province had Might 2, Treasure 3, Influence 4, Sovereignty 2, and Territory 2. Its Qualities add up to 13, less than the
Grand Duchy’s total but more than half. The Grand Duchy gets to increase one of its Qualities for this triumph. They could take his
lands, but since they were smaller than the Grand Duchy, that wouldn’t raise their Territory. (Besides, it would mean moving lands
from one kingdom to another and that could bring repercussions the Duke and Duchess don’t particularly want.) Instead, they choose
to raise their Influence by letting certain of Lockfang’s prominent enemies know who was really responsible for his ejection.
In fact, their clout has become so great that the Empress herself suggests that they turn their attentions outward, to the
neighboring Dindavaran province. Its combined Qualities equal 16, just like the newly-influential Grand Duchy. If they succeed
in completely destroying it (something certain to bring two powerful nations to war), they can raise two of their companies’
Qualities. Then they can turn their attentions to the whole sovereign nation of Dindavara, a Company with a much higher total
of Qualities.

EXPERIENCE OTHER WAYS TO IMPROVE QUALITIES

The final way to permanently improve a Company’s Quality is Not every Quality can grow organically, but some can be
by having your PCs take risks and work hard at it. Your char- cultivated by other Qualities. These rolls are described at
acter earns experience points, as described on page 38. You greater length, but the possibilities are…
can spend those to improve your character’s Stats or Skills, or
on other personal improvements. You can also spend them to • Rolling Territory +Treasure to Improve the Culture
improve your Company’s Qualities. (page 90)
As with raising a Stat, you have to provide some justification • Rolling Sovereignty + Treasure to Rise in Stature
for the increase. However, it doesn’t have to be much justifica- (page 90)
tion. If you’ve spent several adventures with the army, raising
• Rolling Sovereignty + Territory to Train and Levy
Might is reasonable just because the troops know your face
Troops (page 91)
and recognize your voice and either admire you or fear your
wrath. If you’ve been wining and dining with the cultural elite,
increasing Influence makes sense. Wiping out smugglers and
Raising Qualities is expensive, but it’s not just you doing it.
bandits? Increase Sovereignty or Territory. Assassinating pro-
Only you can raise your character’s Parry Skill, but every PC in
tectionist trade ministers in order to open the free flow of goods
your group can contribute XP to the Company.
between your port and their country? Increase Treasure. Pretty
Only you can decide whether you want to sink XP into the
much anything you do that makes your Company better can find
Company or into your character, but consider this: If your char-
a reflection in a Quality. Even if it’s just something like building
acter dies, the Company remains. Even if all the PCs die, the
yourself a palatial mansion and putting up flattering statues of
Company can continue. As long as it’s plausible for a second
yourself next to every city well… arguably that improves Sover-
tier of leaders to step up, you can keep chugging along with the
eignty by raising morale and instilling civic pride.
Company you’ve built. Now GMs don’t have to tank the game
All that means nothing without the XP, of course.
if the whole party gets wiped out. Nor do they have to bend over
The XP cost for raising a Quality is equal to ten times its new
backwards to keep that from happening, because the plot can
level. If you want to raise your Company’s Might to 6, you need
continue without those characters.
to put in 60 XP. Raising Sovereignty from 1 to 2 costs 20 XP.
It’s easy math.

Chapter Five: Companies 97

 an entire month in the hot sun. Seeing this (and, moreover,
COMPANY GENERATION having failed to sense any influx of magic that could have pre-
served the body), the nobleman declared it a genuine miracle,
The easiest way to generate a Company is to give each player gave up his title, and spent his money founding the church. That
one (or more) points to assign to Qualities as they wish. One was long ago and far away, however, and the precepts of Tekop
per player is typical, but if you want to start a high-powered have not proven popular. Nevertheless, a loyal local cult strug-
campaign right away, you could give two or even three points gles away, perhaps waiting only for a firebrand leader to swell
per player. (The more players you have, the more burly their them into something more.
Company begins.) • Goal: Spread the word of Tekop, and show the truth to
When you’re just starting out, you can alter the dynamic of those who take advantage of the impoverished, be they
the game drastically by deciding what the base PCs are like and wealthy nobles or criminal predators.
what each character brings to the Company. A game where the
players start out with PCs at the Serious Adventurer level (see • Might: 0—Tekop was a pacifist.
page 23), but with only a point each to build their Company • Territory: 1—They have constructed a chapel and the
puts them in the roles of scrappy outsiders raging against faithful contribute a great proportion of their effort
entrenched society. But what happens if you start with char- to the cause.
acters at the lowest level of achievement, but give them three
• Sovereignty: 2—The nice thing about being a religion
points of Qualities to assign? Now you have a mighty Company
that preaches integrity and self-sacrifice, and which has
being led by people who are competent but who still need their
no money or land, is that the sincerity of the believers is
backs watched. The leadership of those who really need to rely
palpable and self-reinforcing.
on their Company is a different feel from those who don’t loose
much if they junk this group and start over. • Treasure: 1—As with Territory, the faithful give a lot of
Remember, a Company has to have at least one point in Sov- what they have. This is, admittedly, not much.
ereignty to remain viable. Otherwise it simply collapses into a • Influence: 0—So far, the cult is too small, too new,
mob, dissipates like a dust storm, or breaks apart into squab- too divorced from political action to have much sway or
bling factions. It’s possible to keep them going for a while with many connections. But if their program of freelance vir-
temporary improvements, but that’s just life support. Even- tue takes hold, that could change.
tually, the leaders have to tend to their people’s needs or the
people just won’t follow. THE CRIMINAL GANG
The Mudflat Toads are not anyone’s idea of flashy, high-roll-
SOME COMPANY EXAMPLES ing, elegant crime bosses. However, given their origins in the
mudflats—the mire downstream of town where all the city’s
A few examples are always nice, right? They give you a sense of
excreta and jetsam collects—they’re several degrees better than
scale, explain how things tend to go, and, as a bonus, you can
their neighbors simply by virtue of not being filthy.
easily slip them into your own game as is or change the name
Prostitution, gambling, and a few petty shakedowns keep
and use them as a template.
the Mudflat Toads solvent and together. They haven’t come into
FOUR POINTS real conflict with any of the larger gangs in the city, though
they’ve had to put up a few struggles to mark borders. Their
SMALL COMPANIES biggest challenge is these white-robed fanatics preaching purity
and reform. If those Tekop lunatics aren’t careful, they might
These are companies on the margins. A major nation or religion become troublesome enough to merit real violence.
could crush them without heroic effort by their leaders. But
huge companies generally have their hands full staying huge • Goal: Make the maximum money for the minimum
in the face of huge rivals, so they have few resources to spend work. Avoid trouble.
on small fry. Thus, groups like this typically struggle with • Might: 1—Among the Toads’ loose membership
other small groups until they grow big enough to merit serious and hangers-on, there are some who would stay in a
attention. tough fight long enough to break some bones or have
some broken.
THE STRUGGLING CULT • Territory: 1—Their hold on the flats is broad, if loose
The church of Tekop the Uncorrupted is a small religion with and shallow.
deeply held convictions. Tekop was an ascetic monk who never
• Sovereignty: 1—Their members are in it for the money
had the opportunity to study enchantment, as far as anyone
and swagger. They talk about being a fellowship and a
knows, but who instead spent his life ministering to the rural
family, but it’s a paper-thin commitment.
downtrodden and protesting the nobles’ abuses of the peasantry.
A few nobles were shamed into better behavior, but the last one • Treasure: 0—Their shabby brothels and petty scams
strung him up. Remarkably, Tekop hung by the neck three days bring in a little coin now and then, but their expenses
before dying. Furthermore, his corpse (hung up by the lord’s quickly devour it, and would just as quickly devour twice
gate as a warning against impolitic opinions) did not decay for as much of it.

98 Chapter Five: Companies

 OPTION: A SEASONAL REFINEMENT
If you want to make the system cleave a little closer to reality at the cost of a bit of simplicity, you can allow the seasons to have
an effect on the Qualities of a Company, as follows.
• Winter: With plants dormant and a lot of activity shut down by snow or rain, people have more time to stay inside and mend
tools, get caught up on old work, make preserves, or heal various injuries. +1 Territory
• Spring: In the spring, people travel around selling the goods they’ve spent the winter building or repairing. Whether you’re a
seller or a buyer, spring is the time to get and spend. +1 Treasure
• Summer: This was the traditional tax-time of The Empire, instituted under the theory that people would be too enervated from
the heat and exhausted from working the fields to complain about it. Regardless of the wisdom of that argument, it became
tradition (or the product of bureaucratic inertia) in many nations. If you’re not the government, this is the time you pay the
government. If you are the government, this is the time when your coffers are at their lowest ebb—after you’ve spent last year’s
income but before you’ve tallied it for this year. –1 Treasure. (If your Company can arrange it, another season might serve as tax
time. If you put it in the spring, it cancels out.)
• Autumn: In autumn comes the harvest, and while larders are full on the individual scale, large groups actually feel the pinch
because all their workers are busy filling larders. It’s similar to tax time that way. –1 Territory

• Influence: 1—They’re not terribly connected, but they • Treasure: 1—Their concern is not the mere acquisition
at least know who gives quality gossip after a few drinks of worldly goods but matters beyond greed and the
and who to buy off when they can afford it. fleshly pleasures.
• Influence: 1—Who can say where an Azure Anvil oath-
SEVEN POINTS taker might show up? The local baker’s friendly wife, the

MEDIUM COMPANIES man who sharpens the knights’ blades, the talkative bar-
ber… any one of them could have an ear to hear and a mouth
These groups are more potent, of course. Sometimes a group of to speak at just the right time. Or, far more likely, not.
this nature is a very broad section of society, loosely aligned.
A school and its graduates, perhaps, or the worshippers in a THE WEALTHY FAMILY
comfortably complacent faith. Other times, groups this large The Crowden family was once great, admired, a force to reckon
are tightly focused. They can alter the direction of society with. Now, the very name is synonymous with idleness, corrup-
though only in the matters of their narrow concern. The broad tion, and jaded, deviant desires. There are a few of them who
first type can push here and there, sometimes changing some- still long for their days of past glory, who would recreate the
thing that was not strongly set, and sometimes not even being legendary deeds of their ancestors and reclaim the awe that is
noticed. their due. But far more of them would rather spend what’s left
on gambling, peculiar copulation, and exotic narcotics.
THE OCCULT CONSPIRACY • Goal: Return to splendor.
The Sworn of the Azure Anvil take dire oaths and endure
• Might: 1—In addition to the shoddy men-at-arms the
terrible trials to gain membership. To be trusted with its inner
family employs, there are a few cousins whose sadism
secrets, initiates must leave their normal lives for an entire year,
is versatile enough to be equally useful in a back alley
being trained on a remote island. They’re essentially trapped
or a battle.
there, and the indoctrination is heavy. Everyone who survives,
however, feels it’s worth it. They are a secret group, and the • Territory: 2—Stately Crowden manor is now decaying,
oath to slay any who betray their goals is no bluff. They possess with the entire south wing sealed at the raving orders of
arcane knowledge, possibly magical, possibly just some sort of the last patriarch—sealed with magic barriers that none
esoteric self-improvement regimen or set of fighting tricks. The can penetrate (though, to be sure, few have tried very
Nacreous Council of Seven directs the Sworn, and they say the hard). Nevertheless, there are a few hard-taxed peasants
time is coming right to strike their ancient enemy… the inbred, scrabbling the fields and even some skilled laborers who
decadent Crowden family. at least remember stories about Crowden deeds of renown.
• Goal: ? Whatever the GM wants for a good story. • Sovereignty: 1—Most of the family is more loyal
to their odds-maker or procurer than to their sisters
• Might: 0—Open violence is not the Azure Anvil’s way.
and brothers.
• Territory: 1—They can call upon the services of their
• Treasure: 2—Much has been squandered, but a fair
members, though secrecy demands that this only be
amount remains.
invoked for serious matters. They also have that private
island, somewhere. • Influence: 1—A few among the honest remember what
the Crowdens were. Many among the loathsome under-
• Sovereignty: 4—Their oaths really are quite dire.
stand what the Crowdens are now.

Chapter Five: Companies 99

 ELEVEN POINTS fighting force. Don’t look to them for heroes, but there is
a minimum level of competence.

LARGE COMPANIES • Territory: 3—It takes a fertile and bounteous land

to support a parasite as vast and inactive as the
These are serious. If they’re not a society entire (albeit small) Scaracmad government.
they are major factions within the society. These are companies
• Sovereignty: 2—There is little in the nation today to
that have a daily effect on how large numbers of people live, and
inspire fanatic loyalty. On the other hand, anyone who
whether they continue to do so.
would be inspired to hatred has already taken to the hills
THE DECAYING NATION and joined the rebellion. Those who remain were doing
well and liked things as they were. They might not die
The Kingdom of Scaracmad had its chance for greatness and for their country, but they will fight for it.
squandered it on foolishness, vanity, and personal greed. Its
bloated bureaucracy wallows in its own senescence, not out • Treasure: 2—Something remains from the gleanings
of overwhelming dishonesty and cynicism, but because it just of the great farms, and the bureaucrats were as idle
cannot find any better way to run itself. There were reformers, and hapless at personal enrichment as they were at
all ignored because things weren’t bad enough to wake Scarac- everything else.
mad from its apathy. Now, however, there is a violent uprising • Influence: 2—The one thing the many ministers of
against the crown, and the government is feeling, at last, a Scaracmad did well was gossip, and there were plenty
sense of urgency. It still remains to be seen if it can rouse itself of them to make friends abroad as well as inside
and become a functioning nation or if it’s doomed to struggle the country.
like a turtle on its back until the rebels pick its carcass clean.
• Goal: Keep things as they are.
THE WELL-FUNDED UPRISING
Half the insurgents against Scaracmad are legitimate complain-
• Might: 2—Poorly trained, ill-
ers who despised the system’s injustices (or at least its appalling
equipped, with questionable
inefficiencies). Another quarter are opportunists who think
morale and personal
the best way to pull something nice out of the system from the
hygiene, the Army
outside is to tear it down and pillage the wreckage. Those who
of Scaracmad is,
remain are foreign agents providing training, supplies, equip-
nonetheless, an
ment, and funds. They are not, of course, doing this out of the
organized and
goodness of their hearts. They covet pieces of Scaracmad and
professional
the smarter rebels know it. Those revolutionaries have either
made their peace with seeing their homeland torn to
pieces, or they have a careful schedule for betraying their
current allies.
• Goal: Destroy the nation of Scaracmad and
remake it anew.
• Might: 3—Their numbers are fewer than
the Scaracmad army, but along with the fer-
vently angry peasants there are highly skilled
foreign magicians and some deeply blooded
exotic mercenaries. It’s not a stable combina-
tion, but it’s a nasty one.
• Territory: 1—The best land is the best
defended, so they’re stuck out in the
fallow hills.
• Sovereignty: 2—The homegrown fighters
are pretty intense, but their passion is diluted
by the mercenaries and schemers.
• Treasure: 3—The shadowy foreign support-
ers have been very generous.
• Influence: 2—Those spies and warmongers
know how to listen and when to speak. The
same skills that have let them pollute and
manipulate the original insurgency can be
applied to outsiders as well.

Alas, Scaracmad.

100 Chapter Five: Companies

 ASSETS ENTANGLING ALLIANCE
Your Company is tightly linked with another, though they
Assets are to Companies what Advantages are to individuals. remain separate and autonomous. It could be through a formal
While the Qualities of a Company let it adapt to broad situa- treaty, a political marriage, vassalage to the same master, reli-
tions, many companies have Assets that give them an edge in gious obligations, or cultural tradition.
particular, circumscribed conditions. Pick one other Company. You have +2 Influence when
Players who want to purchase Assets for their Companies can dealing with them, and they have +2 Influence when dealing
buy each Asset for 10XP. If they’re getting them at the begin- with you.
ning of the game, they cost as much as a point of Quality.
If you want to design custom Assets, here are the guidelines: ELOQUENT DIPLOMATS
• Assets giving a +2d bonus to a company’s Quality or pool Your company has a cadre of professional negotiators who do
should only do it in a very narrow set of circumstances. nothing but pursue your interests. It may be an entire corps of
This could be for one particular type of roll (“only Might elaborately-titled ambassadors, it may be a few bards with great
rolls made to defend Territory”), or after a certain prereq- hair, or it could just be the village brewer.
uisite is fulfilled (“after the Company has convinced the You get a +2d bonus to all rolls when rolling Influence +
targets of some relevant lie”). Treasure to alter opinions in another Company.
• If an Asset gives a +3d bonus, it should only be usable
one time, and in narrow circumstances. MOLE
That’s all there is to it. Most of the examples are built exactly Someone in a sensitive position owes you. You can call in this
that way. debt one time only. After that your mole decides you’re even,
or gets discovered and loses all authority (if not their life), or

INFLUENCE ASSETS loses power because the results of the betrayal are perceived as
incompetence.
Being that it is a shifty and liquid property already, “the ability Pick one Company and one specific use of Influence. You
to change minds and learn things” lends itself readily to situ- may add a +3d bonus to one roll of that sort against that
ational edges. Company, after which this Asset is discarded.
SINISTER OPERATIVES
Agents of this stripe never show up on battlefields, never engage
MIGHT ASSETS
in fair fights and almost never reveal their origin (if they even Every army has its strengths and weaknesses, so a straight Might
know it). Sometimes they’re heartless mercenaries. Other times rating with no Assets indicates a superbly balanced militia. To
they’re ideological fanatics. give your soldiery a little more flavor, use these Assets.
You get a +2d bonus when rolling Might + Influence to IRREGULAR FORCES
perform an act of unconventional warfare. This bonus isn’t
applied for escape or when they’re trying to avoid detection People who specialize excel, but often at the cost of versatility.
beforehand. Irregular forces are versatile, often at the cost of excellence at
any one task. They can’t fight an entrenched battle like heavy
EPIC HISTORY infantry. They’re not as mobile as cavalry or as devastating as
siege engines. But when it comes to dirty deeds and living to tell
Your Company, or the people in it, have a history of impres-
the tale, they’re unparalleled.
sive deeds. Perhaps their ancestors were great heroes ages ago,
or perhaps they did something mighty just last year. However it +2d bonus when rolling Might + Influence to get troops out
went, the people in the Company know they have something to after an Unconventional Attack. This bonus does not apply to
be proud of, and it shows. the attack itself or to staying hidden beforehand.
+2d bonus every time you roll Sovereignty + Treasure to tem- SHIPSHAPE NAVY
porarily increase your Influence.
Numbers are a major factor in a military conflict—but only if
SMALL HORIZON they can be safely delivered to the battle. A small army may
have an advantage if it’s experienced with amphibious assault
Everybody knows everybody else—and knows their business.
and has reliable boats to drop it at vulnerable points along the
Even a huge nation can seem claustrophobic if its gossip web is
enemy’s coast. (For ship to ship engagements, the benefits of
sufficiently broad and entangling. Or your Company may be an
better boats are obvious.)
intensely nosy small town.
+2d bonus to all Might rolls made when your Company is
When rolling Sovereignty + Treasure to improve Influence,
fighting aboard ships or boats.
the Difficulty is always reduced by 1.

Chapter Five: Companies 101

 MAGIC RESISTANT +2d to Might + Sovereignty rolls for policing against uncon-
ventional attacks.
Average bulk soldiers are vulnerable to powerful enchantment.
Most soldiers are frightened by magic—and if they’ve seen a DEFIANT TRADITION
friend reduced to ashes by it, that’s a justified fear.
If your Company has a history of repulsing an invader, citizens
Some fighting forces are less intimidated, however. It may
are likely to have casual knowledge of insurgent tactics—and
be that they’re tough, brave, and experienced. It may be they’re
encouraging stories to tell. Defiant cultures aren’t the easiest to
from a sorcerous culture and regard it with proper fear, but no
govern, but they don’t cave when times turn bad.
more than is proper. Or it may be blissful ignorance.
+2d bonus to all Sovereignty rolls if your Company is under
Add a +2d bonus to Might rolls when your enemy depends
attack from an outside force.
heavily on sorcery.

KEEN CULTURE OF SHAME AND GOSSIP

Is there a nice way to say, “your military forces kill with enthu- Your group has a self-righteous streak, expressed by a tendency
siasm”? It may be bloodlust, or it could be that grim experience to shame those who transgress the rules (written or unwritten).
has taught them that when you’re ahead, you don’t relax. “Keep your mouth shut about other people’s failings” is emphat-
ically not one of those rules.
+2d to all rolls when Might is brought to bear against a
Company with lower permanent Might. +2 bonus when making Might + Sovereignty rolls to police
the populace.
CLASSIC ENEMY
There is some group that has, historically and throughout
legend, been the enemy of your Company. Realizing they’re
TERRITORY ASSETS
behind an attack lights a fire of righteous rage in every defend- Land isn’t just an unrelieved plain of farms. The same elements
er’s heart. that make a countryside interesting to the eye provide variety to
the finances of those who dwell there.
Pick one particular other Company, religion, or other col-
lective that your followers consider blasphemous, evil, or a FORTUNE SMILES
rival. If you’re attacked by members of that group, you have Economies are complex systems buffeted by the effects of other
a +3d bonus to the first Might + Territory roll you make in complex systems, making the whole enterprise utterly unpre-
defense. dictable. Sometimes, this produces unlooked-for benefits.
UNEXPECTED DELIVERANCE +3d to the next roll that incorporates Territory.
At some point, a battle turns unexpectedly due to an unforeseen
FOUNDRIES, SMITHS AND ARMORERS
factor. (At the very least, unforeseen by the people on the bad
side of the Asset.) Whether it’s fate, a carefully planned long Manpower is an element of military strength, but giving
term strategy, the arrival of an unlooked-for hero, or dumb luck, soldiers something to stab with and something to hide behind
it is a very big deal. is also important. Your Company can equip its troops and repair
or replace equipment broken by the stresses of conflict.
You can add a +3d bonus to one attack or defense roll. Choose
attack or defense when gaining the Asset. It’s a one-time thing. +2d bonus to Sovereignty + Territory rolls to increase Might.

DEFENSIBLE TERRAIN
SOVEREIGNTY ASSETS Something in your land is a real pain in the arse for enemies to cross.
Loyalty. Honor. Obedience. These intangible principles are It could be mountains, a raging river, monster-infested woods, a
the glue that connect the disparate elements of a culture. Some string of fortresses, a blazing desert, a big long wall—whatever it is,
elements may be a bit more disparate than others. it really softens up anyone who tries to attack through it.

MASS APPEAL +2 bonus to Might + Territory rolls to defend your lands, if

the attackers try to come through the defensible area.
Something about your Company appeals to the ordinary people
who support it. This could be ideological, practical, or a matter CULTURAL TRADITION
of perfect style.
Your Company has a longstanding artistic history of methods,
When rolling Territory + Treasure to raise Sovereignty, or Sov- themes, and techniques. Artisans and speakers can draw from
ereignty + Territory to raise Might, reduce any Difficulty by 1. these to produce something unique to your people. Companies
without these touchstones have to start every act of persuasion
PATRIOTISM from scratch. You get to stand on the shoulders of giants.
Your company inspires loyalty above and beyond self-interest. Add a +2d bonus when rolling Territory + Treasure to tempo-
Members go the extra mile, not because they expect reward, but rarily raise Sovereignty.
because contributing is itself rewarding to them.

102 Chapter Five: Companies

TREASURE ASSETS
Treasure is specific. You either have gleaming arrays of coin, or
you don’t. But since Treasure also governs how you arrange and
control your money, there are a few Assets that can make your
money specialize.

UNBALANCED ECONOMY
It’s not necessarily bad that your cash flow ebbs predictably.
Like the tides, what goes out eventually comes back in. This
may be due to yearly loans given to cash-poor nobles before tax
time or a predictable crop.

Pick six months of the year. You get +2 Treasure during

those months. During the other six months of the year,
you’re at –1 Treasure.

PERMANENT UNDERCLASS
It’s unpleasant, but having a designated ethnic minority,
or family, or group of social outcasts who perform the ugly
scutwork can be a very slippery grease for progress. Oppressing
these underlings can yield bounties, as long as you don’t care,
or can drink yourself to sleep afterwards. They’ll recover, right?
They’re used to it.

Once per year you may permanently decrease Sovereignty by

1 in order to permanently raise Treasure by 1.

RULES OF PLUNDER
Your military forces have some sort of organizing principle or
discipline that governs their looting and pillaging. It could be
a code of honor, or rigidly enforced laws, or an officer corps
that gets the goodies first. Whatever it is, it means that your
Company is good at making defeated enemies pay for the costs
of their own defeat.

On the first Might + Treasure roll made to attack in a single

month, change one regular die to an ED.

PREDICTABLE BOUNTY
There’s some time of year when your Company has it good.
It could be a harvest festival, it could be when the snow pack
melts and the traveling merchants come, it could be a holiday
or religious event. Money flows freely and people let down
their guard.

Pick one month per year, during which your Company tem-
porarily has +1 Territory, +1 Treasure and –1 Might.

PAYOFF
Your Company is finally getting the benefit of some lengthy
planning or development. For example, a merchant voyage
funded years ago finally returns. Or a cabal of conspirators
infiltrates the halls of power enough to start embezzling. Or a
simple treasure map. Whatever it is, enjoy it because it won’t
last long.

Your Company gains a temporary +2 bonus to Treasure this

month and a temporary +2 bonus to Territory next month.

Chapter Five: Companies 103

 business—often with you. In a larger Company, this indicates a
A KINGDOM IN broader network of communication. Nothing formal, but word

A FISTFUL OF DICE gets around quick, and you listen.

+1 Influence, and the Culture of Shame and Gossip Asset.
Just as you can generate a character in a single roll, complete 3×1 PAID NETWORK OF INFORMANTS
with relevant abilities and a string of experiences, so can a
Company be produced with a single cast of d10s. What is says. There are people on your coin keeping an ear open
In many ways, it’s just like One Roll character generation: for matters of interest.
You roll, you pick out the matches and you look on the charts to +1 Influence
see what your 2×3 and your 4×4 netted you. Then you look at all
the dice that fell outside of sets and compare them with a chart 4×1 ELITE SECRET AGENTS
for “Singular Social Elements.” Heluso and Milonda have no conceptual equivalent of “James
As with One-Roll characters, getting one result on a set chart Bond” which is why your operatives often operate against
gives you everything that precedes it. That is, if you roll 3×1, you unprepared targets.
don’t just get the benefits of Paid Network of Informants. You
+1 Influence
get that and the result from 2×1, Gossipy Old Folks.
5×1 TRAITOR
ONE ROLE KINGDOMS
You have someone in place ready to backstab some trusting
Company Size Dice Rolled dupe as soon as you give the word. (Who is the betrayer? How
Small, local, only marginally effectual 3-4 have you secured their services? Can you trust them?)
Local, but meaningful on that scale 5-6 The Company gains the Asset Mole.
Regionally influential 7-9
Powerful within a region, or a tiny nation 10-12 ×2: COURTIERS, COURTESANS AND DIPLOMATS
Vast enterprise or small country 13-15 2×2 ACCESS TO BORED, JADED SYBARITES
A big country 16-19 For some reason, the educated and beautiful and cruel people
An enormous nation, an empire even 20+ find you less tedious than others, so it amuses them or (if your
Company is big) benefits them to help you. If your Company is
The primary difference is that you can roll a variable number really big, they may be too scared to do anything else.
of dice. With One Roll characters, you roll 11d10. With One +1 Influence and the Cultural Tradition Asset.
Roll Company Generation, you pick how many dice you want
depending on how big the company is. 3×2 OPEN EARS (AND DOORS) FOR THE RIFF-RAFF
Every company starts out with a single point of Sover-
You’ve helped criminals get off the hook (or, possibly, are in the
eignty, for free. If you roll a 6× or Wider set (which can easily
position to continue doing so). They, in turn, come to you with
happen if you’re generating an enormous company) keep it as a
news they think might interest you.
5× and re-roll the other dice.
+1 Influence

WHAT SETS MEAN 4×2 GOOD ROADS, FAST HORSES

When you roll a set with your dice, you consult one of the fol- The benefits of having messengers who can get from one town to
lowing tables to see what it means. For example, if I roll six the next can be surprising. Or, if you’re in a region where most of
dice and get 2,2,2,4,4,and 5, that means I got 3×2 and 2×4. the roads are bad and the going is tough, the people helping you
Consulting the ×2 chart, I see that my company contains some know the best fords and can find paths through the rough spots.
courtly types. With 3×, it’s Open Ears (and Doors) for the Riff- +1 Influence
Raff, which gives me an extra point of Influence. I also get the
benefits of the preceding entry, and 2×2 yields Access to Bored, 5×2 ELABORATELY TITLED DIPLOMATIC CORPS
Jaded Sybarites with its attendant +1 Influence and +2 bonus to
You employ paid negotiators to represent you. They’re icily dig-
rolls for temporarily improving the culture. Nice. The 2×4 result
nified, relentlessly polite, and endlessly composed. Their official
tells me I control some unspecified number of Pleasant Copses,
sashes look real impressive, too.
which give me +1 Treasure and a +2 bonus to all Might rolls
when the engagement happens at sea. The Company gains the Eloquent Diplomats Asset.

×1: SPIES, GOSSIPS AND RUMORMONGERS ×3: ORE-LADEN MOUNTAINS

2×1 GOSSIPY OLD FOLKS 2×3 FERTILE FOOTHILLS
In a small Company, this just means you know some people You control land with some nice hills where it’s easy to dig out
who have nothing better to do than chat about other people’s valuable stuff. (What is it? Iron? Copper? Emeralds?) That, in

104 Chapter Five: Companies

turn, brings in the merchant caravans. They’ve got all kinds of
curios to trade.
+1 Treasure and every PC gets the Possession advantage at +1.

3×3 BOUNTIFUL PEAKS

In addition to the hills, there are genuine mountains, complete
with snowmelt that sends rivers to irrigate your farms and mass
to favorably break up the weather.
+1 Treasure

4×3 TOWERING CRAG

The mountains seem endless, and their ability to produce ore
strikes seems endless as well.
+1 Treasure

5×3 IMPLACABLE SKY WALLS

Some of those mountains are really quite nasty and severe, even
in the mild season.
The Company has the Asset Defensible Terrain.

×4: LUSH WOODLANDS

2×4 PLEASANT COPSES
In addition to the fruit and the timber and the shade, these
particular trees grow straight and strong and tall. Just right for
masts and ship planks.
+1 Treasure, and the Shipshape Navy Asset.

3×4 EXTENSIVE WOODS

Really, you have all the lumber you need. 4×5 CODE OF DEATH BEFORE DISHONOR
+1 Treasure It’s not that your troops never cower, surrender, or break and
run. But they never live it down if they do.
4×4 VAST TRACTS OF TIMBER
+1 Might
In actual fact, you probably have all the lumber you’ll ever need.
+1 Treasure 5×5 ELITE SOLDIER-SORCERERS
You employ people who are acquainted with both blades and
5×4 DEEP DARK FORESTS
incantations. They may not be exceptionally good at either, but
Which is not to say the woods are always pleasant. There are they possess a versatility that just can’t be found in those who
some disturbing things and disturbed citizens in there. concentrate on one or the other.
The Company gains the Magic Resistant Asset. The Company has the Irregular Forces Asset.

×5: WARRIOR CLASS AND MARTIAL CULTURE ×6: TACTICAL KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE
2×5 STORIED WARRIOR FAMILY 2×6 BROAD APPRECIATION FOR TACTICS
It might just be one scarred veteran sitting in the place of honor at The people in your Company, for no good official or intended
the village smithy, or it could be a sprawling family tree of soldiers, reason, have an unusually refined grasp of tactics. Maybe a
with every new sprout hoping to blossom into a flower of battle. fondness for boardgames?
+1 Might plus the Defiant Tradition Asset. +1 Might and the Rules of Plunder Asset.
3×5 TRADITIONAL SOLDIER CASTE 3×6 WIDE READING OF A CLASSICAL STRATEGIC TREATISE
More than just one tough family, there is some entire sub-group Perhaps they brushed up on General Stead’s “Precepts” or “A
in your Company—a guild, an ethnic minority, a sacred band Playwright Turned Soldier” or the words of Piu Danifa in order
chosen at birth—who are extensively trained to fight. to get an edge in all those boardgames.
+1 Might +1 Might

Chapter Five: Companies 105

 PCS AND COMPANIES: A FINAL NOTE 4×6 ESTABLISHED WAR COLLEGE
Playtime is over. Now the study is concentrated, formal, and in
Reign is different from a lot of games because it resolves
deadly earnest.
on two levels. The PCs as individuals can massacre their
enemies, get a load of bonus dice on the Company roll, +1 Might
and still whiff. Alternately, they can get beaten up and
humiliated only to have their Company carry the day
5×6 PEERLESS TACTICAL SECRETS
for them. Your officers haven’t just been studying the past. They’re
This disconnect isn’t common. More often, PC success planning out the future of warfare.
gives critical dice to Company rolls, and PC failure
The Company has the Keen Asset.
leaves the Company with slim odds. But it’s import-
ant to understand how these levels interact if you want
×7: GENEROUS FARMLAND
the outcomes to pull together instead of working at
cross purposes. 2×7 NICE BIT IN THE RIVER VALLEY
One useful technique is to alternate between levels.
Farmland isn’t glamorous, it doesn’t stir the blood like tales of
Play a few sessions on the individual level, and then start
heroes past, but the gentle beauty of giving land next to water
the next session with the modified Company rolls. Then
can inspire an enduring desire to protect long after martial
do a few months of Company action for the rest of that
ardor has flagged in the face of brutality.
session, ending (perhaps) with a plan for the PCs to set
out on another mission. As a bonus, this method lets the +1 Territory and the Patriotism Asset.
PCs make a ton of Vigor rolls between risks.
3×7 PLEASANT FRUITING TREES
Another way to use the rules together is to use the
Company’s rolls as the session climax. A highly struc- Lumber, food, a place to tie your horse… the livin’ is easy, boss.
tured game could have every session as one month. The +1 Territory
PCs do what they can in that time, make their decisions,
and at the end make their modified Company rolls. 4×7 WE CALL IT “THE GRAIN SEA”
Because Company pools are usually lower, this makes It gets a lot less attention from the bards and historians, but
the outcome far more uncertain. If your group finds that having a net crop surplus to export or store for lean years is
exciting, you’ve hit gold. actually more likely to keep a monarch on the throne than
A third way privileges the individual PCs and treats superlative skill with the battleaxe.
the Company as a tool they use for their own ends. Some
groups prefer gouts of gory combat and like to gloss over +1 Territory
political machinations, or vice versa. Sometimes you have
5×7 BOUNTEOUS HARVEST
a GM who wants one thing and players who prefer an-
other—or, perhaps, are more interested in the outcomes Sometimes, the good weather comes during a year when the
of one type of event or another without dealing in details. locusts are dormant. If happenstance keeps cattle illnesses low as
With groups like that, setting up a Company with high well, it’s a time of extraordinary bounty and productivity. That, in
Influence can take the (to them) boring detective work turn, keeps people content, lowers prices for everything, and sends
out of their hands. Or if they find combat tedious (hey, it more merchants along the road to carry news, goods, and gossip.
happens), they can develop a Company with tremendous This Company has the Asset Fortune Smiles.
Might and let it go clean out the dungeon while they
engage in palace intrigue. ×8: ARTISANS AND GOVERNORS
Don’t be surprised if the characters pursue highly per-
sonal goals, getting as much aid from the group as they 2×8 HIGH-QUALITY SMITHING
can without putting a lot of effort into the Company’s Whether you’re a single village or a sprawling empire, good crafts-
intent. That’s okay, if the players are all having fun. The manship makes a difference.
PCs could start out with the noblest of intentions, form-
+1 Territory, and the Foundries, Smiths and Armorers asset.
ing a conspiracy to unveil the misdeeds and evils of the
state religion. As play progresses, they use the conspiracy 3×8 TIDY BUREAUCRACY
to enrich themselves by blackmailing priests, they use its
Might to bully their in-laws, they occasionally pander to Having someone nitpicking over the location of every mis-
its Sovereignty but, by the end of many sessions, they’re placed seed bag, someone asssiduously assessing taxes, and
comfortable and rich and influential and… well, suddenly someone checking roads and bridges for repair is boring.
those priests don’t seem so bad. If that’s a happy ending Annoying, even. Until you need money, bridges and seeds.
for your group, they may fondly remember the game +1 Territory
without ever contemplating their failure to bring down
the temple. 4×8 ARTISTIC RENAISSANCE
No one knows why these happen. Sometimes they’re not even
sure what to do with a spontaneous, explosive improvement

106 Chapter Five: Companies

of creativity and technique. But typically someone thinks of
something.
+1 Territory

5×8 OPPRESSION
For one reason or another, the Company has a group of persons
from whom it can take without giving nearly fair measure in
return. It could be conscripts, prisoners, an ethnic or religious
minority—even an entire gender. Whoever it is, it’s cultur-
ally tolerable to treat them like garbage, and they have little
recourse.
The Company gains the Permanent Underclass Asset.

×9: RELIGION
2×9 EXPECTATION OF PIETY
In your Company, religion isn’t just tolerated, it’s expected.
Maybe it’s a single, unifying church or a plurality of faiths, but
people follow a higher standard than mere self-interest. As long
as your Company respects that, the citizens tend to be a little
better behaved than if they were depraved agnostics or devil
worshippers.
+1 Sovereignty, and pick a rival faith as the focus for the Asset
Classic Enemy.

3×9 CULTURE OF WORSHIP

Religion isn’t just a part of day-to-day life; it’s a central part. It’s
possible to get along as an unbeliever but not easy.
+1 Sovereignty

4×9 CHURCH ACKNOWLEDGES THE CROWN

Lucky for you that powerful church has anointed your leader-
ship with the chrism of their approval. (Why is that, exactly?
Are you exceptionally faithful? Born under a beneficent sign?
Have them fooled? Bought off cynical church elders well
schooled in realpolitik? Or is it just lucky happenstance?)
+1 Sovereignty

5×9 HIGH HOLY DAYS

Whatever the dominant religion of your Company is, it’s not
content to just be terribly important to the day-to-day conduct
of the citizens’ business. Once per year, it has to be the only
order of business.
The Company gains the Predictable Bounty Asset.

×10: TRADITIONAL CULTURAL IDENTITY

2×10 RECENT HAPPINESS
Something good has happened to your nation, and not too
long ago. What was it? Whatever it was, the people are feeling
particularly cheerful and productive as a result.
This Company gains the Payoff Asset and every PC leading it per-
manently gains +1 Wealth.

Chapter Five: Companies 107

 3×10 JUST COURTS 5—MURDEROUS THUGS WITH NO MORAL CENTER
The people adjudicating disputes are fair, impartial and For whatever reason, you can have a gang of, for lack of a better
unbiased. They can’t be bent, bought, or bullied. How’d you word, “evildoers” perform their wicked acts on your behalf.
manage that? Who are these scum? How’d you wind up holding their leash?
+1 Sovereignty The Company has the Asset Sinister Operatives.
4×10 JUSTIFIED PRIDE 6—AN UNDERAPPRECIATED BUT SCRAPPY OFFICER WHO
Even if your Company isn’t great and magnificent now, they WILL TAKE CHARGE WHEN ALL SEEMS DOOMED AND SAVE
THE DAY, ONLY TO LOSE HIS LIFE IN THE PROCESS
were at one time. They haven’t forgotten and they don’t let
anyone else forget either. As players, you have to pretend not to know about this guy’s
The Company has the Epic History Asset. destiny. He’s some eager-beaver second-in-command type who
constantly has to be criticized for his crazy ideas and untenable
5×10 CULTURE OF OBEDIENCE plans. Only, when the pressure is on, he’s going to step up and
However it happened, your Company places a high value on knuck- prove his quality. Some options for this are:
ling under to authority (at least, to Company authority). Whether • He halts a rout with an inspiring one-man charge the
this is due to training or a quirk of history or plain ol’ social mores, other direction
people in charge (that is, the PCs) get the benefit of the doubt.
• He leads a badly-outnumbered suicide mission to hold
+1 Sovereignty the bridge and prevent the enemy from flanking
• He runs for days without stopping for rest or water in
SINGULAR SOCIAL ELEMENTS order to deliver the crucial message before expiring.
If some of your dice turn up outside of sets (as they almost
certainly do), consult the following chart to see what you got The Company has the Asset Unexpected Deliverance.
instead of splendid farmland or a cultishly docile populace.
7—SPLENDID ROADS TO MARKET
1—ORACLE
Merchants like being able to get apples delivered before they go
You have the services of a person or persons who have uncanny mucky, especially when they doesn’t have to worry about spending
ways of learning important information. It could be a lone hours pulling rocks out of the horses’ hooves afterwards.
prophet with a crystal ball, a group of Ob-lob scrying experts, or +1 Territory
just someone so obnoxiously smart and on top of things that their
deductions look like magic. 8—COAST
+1 Influence Land next to the ocean, or an inland sea or river, is often quite
productive. Besides fish and the possibility of freshwater irriga-
2—ADVANTAGEOUS MARRIAGE
tion, it’s a great way to transport goods and information.
Ooh, who’s the lucky spouse? Someone in your Company (pref- +1 Territory
erably a PC) recently made a high-profile and popular marriage
with someone involved in another Company. The two Compa- 9—CHARISMATIC ELITE
nies haven’t quite joined, but they’re now close enough to peer in
There is an upper class in your Company, whether they’re formally
one another’s windows.
recognized or just acknowledged through unspoken respect. Fur-
The Company gains the Entangling Alliance Asset. thermore, they’re not followed grudgingly or out of fear. They’re
accorded genuine appreciation and admiration. (Hey, could this
3—LOAN OPERATION
actually be the PCs?)
A large part of your capital (and the capital of others) is tied up in The Company has the Mass Appeal Asset.
loans lent at interest and the redemption of those loans. Not glam-
orous, but lucrative. 10—CULTURE OF INQUISITIVENESS
+1 Treasure The people in your Company tend to be curious, intellectually
spry, and sometimes actually quite nosy. They’re always interested
4—EXOTIC CROP
in learning a new skill, hearing tales of distant lands, and finding
You grow or produce or have access to some time-sensitive herb, out who’s visiting the brewer’s wife while her husband is off over-
product, or resource. seeing the hops harvest.
This Company gains the Unbalanced Economy Asset. The Company has the Small Horizon Asset.

108 Chapter Five: Companies

 Fighting is the lowest denominator of conflict, and therefore common.

C ombat is a staple of fantasy, especially

fantasy games, for good reasons: It’s
exciting. It’s unpredictable. It’s dangerous.
All those things create dramatic tension, open up (or
resolve) plot turns, and provide visceral thrills. Plus, the players
two excellent fighters dueling. If it’s a broad melee, it could be
as long as five seconds. (Even superb warriors slow down when
there are many friends and foes to track.)
often like it a lot. The goal of combat in the game is to change the
characters’ relation to their goals—either getting them closer or
pushing them farther away. (Sometimes winning a fight can push THE COMBAT ROUND
you away from your goals—witness Romeo and Tybalt.) There are three stages to every combat round.
From the start, I’ve tried to make Reign’s combat fast and
simple, without cutting off options or removing tactical 1) DECLARE
pressure. By “tactical pressure,” I simply mean this: Your
choices have a powerful impact on your effectiveness in combat. First, everyone involved states what action (or actions) they’re
It’s not all down to who has the biggest pool. Using your pool attempting. In casual gaming groups, people often do this in
wisely is as good as having a Master Die in it. whatever order they wish.
That said, over the years Reign has developed a lot of options, For those who feel it’s important to be able to react to what
and I don’t want to inflict analysis paralysis on anybody. That’s a slower opponent does, all the characters should declare their
why I’ve got a section at the end of this chapter discussing what actions in order, starting with the character with the lowest
you can/should use and how to decide what you definitely want Sense stat. In cases of tied Sense, GMCs have to declare before
to leave out. You can find that on page 125, but there are certain PCs. Tied PCs and tied GMCs use Sight as a tiebreaker. (Using
elements that aren’t optional. Let’s start with that core. this rule means that the people who are less aware are less able
to react to what other people are doing, even if they’re physi-

RESOLVING COMBAT cally faster.)

During the Declare phase, everyone should figure out how
many dice they’re rolling. If you need to consult the GM, fine,
Combat is broken down into “rounds.” A combat round isn’t but try to keep things moving along briskly. Paging through the
an exact measure of time—it’s pretty much “as much time as it book can really slow thing down, so if you want to try some-
takes for the combatants to act.” It’s a contrivance to make the thing tricky, try to familiarize yourself with any rules before you
rules work. It could be as little as half a second if the combat is use them.

Chapter Six: Combat 109

 2) ROLL Technique that lets you use more, or unless you declared that
you were using a multiple action (see page 13) to make more
Everyone rolls the appropriate dice pool. This is usually Body than one Dodge or Parry attempt.
+ Fight, Coordination + Weapon, Coordination + Dodge or Attacks do damage or otherwise inconvenience someone,
Body + Parry. depending on the action, the Width of the roll and the weapon
used. Dodges and parries avoid damage. These three techniques
3) RESOLVE are explained in greater detail below, but essentially, that’s all
there is to a combat round. Once one combat round is complete,
The Widest set gets resolved first. If two sets are equally Wide,
you go to another one until one side gives up or gets trounced.
Height serves as a tiebreaker. If two sets are identical, they
happen at the same time. If it’s illogical for them to be simulta-
neous, roll a die to see which one happens first. DAMAGE
When an attack hits, it immediately does damage. As soon as
Attacks produce damage, defenses avoid it, and it’s better to
your character gets hit, you lose a die out one of your sets (your
give than to receive it. Here are the rules for measuring just how
choice of sets if you have multiples), because being injured is
close to death or permanent injury your character is.
distracting. (In fact, you lose a die even if you somehow take
no damage. Armor and magic may protect your person, but it
doesn’t protect your actions.) If the set that loses a die is a pair,
TYPES OF DAMAGE
that action fails because, with one die lost, it’s no longer a set. There’s a big difference between being punched in the neck
(This is one reason it’s a good thing to have two sets, even if and being stabbed there. One hurts and bruises. The other just
you’re only trying one action: It gives you a backup success in might kill you. To represent the difference between superfi-
case your first gets ruined.) cial injury and serious wounding, the ORE has two types of
Dodge and Parry rolls produce Gobble Dice (see page 11) but damage: Shock and Killing.
those dice can only be applied to attacks that are timed after • Shock damage is what it sounds like: It rattles you
the Dodge or Parry. After all, if the attack is Wider, it happens and makes you uncomfortable, but unless you take lots
before you get a chance to react. repeatedly, it’s unlikely to leave you dead.

EXAMPLE • Killing damage is also what it sounds like: The stuff

that can rapidly give you a one-way trip to the boneyard.
Tud swings and Bufo dodges. Tud gets a 3×1 and Bufo rolls When a blow does both Killing and Shock damage, the
a 2×10. While Bufo’s Gobble Dice are certainly big enough
Killing damage is applied first.
to counter Tud’s hit, he can’t get his weapon up in time to
stop the attack. If Tud had gotten a 2×1, Bufo would have On your character sheet, there’s an outline
easily countered it, with a Gobble Die to spare. of a human body with boxes over various
limbs. It’s reproduced below. These
Furthermore, only the dice in one set from a Dodge or boxes represent how much damage you
Parry roll become Gobble Dice—unless you have a Martial can take at that spot. When you take a
point of Shock to a limb, you put a
slash in one unmarked box. If you
10
ALTERNATE RULE: SHOCK GOES FIRST take a point of Killing damage
If you get enough Shock in a limb, the damage starts to to that limb, you put an X in an
turn to Killing. Therefore, the timing of which type of open box.
damage goes first in a mixed attack matters quite a bit. In When there are no
the standard rules, Killing gets applied first. If you apply more open boxes, any 7-9
Shock first, it makes the character more durable. Shock damage to that
location becomes Killing
EXAMPLE damage—you put a second 5-6 3-4
slash in a shocked box to make
Rahn gets clobbered with a mace, which does Width an X. In other words, once a
Shock plus 1 Killing. The attack roll is a ghastly 5×2,
limb is completely shocked,
so he’s due for five Shock and 1 Killing in his leg. The
further Shock to that limb is
leg only has five wound boxes in it. If you apply Killing
taken as Killing damage. (Killing
damage first, as is standard, the four open boxes fill
damage is applied normally—if a
2
with Shock, and the last Shock point changes one of the
Shocked boxes to Killing damage. Rahn’s leg after the limb is completely shocked, Killing
damage to that limb just replaces the
hit has no open wound boxes. Three of them have Shock
damage and two have Killing damage. / in a box with an X.)
1
If Shock gets applied first, his five wound boxes fill up Furthermore, a limb filled with
with shock, and the Killing point overlaps one. He ends Killing damage cannot be used until
the round with four Shocked boxes and one with Killing some of the Killing damage gets
damage. healed. Once a limb is filled with

110 Chapter Six: Combat

Killing damage, any further damage to that limb goes into the
torso. (The exception to this is the head location. Once your
THIS IS IMPORTANT
head is filled with Killing damage, you’re dead. You also die if Just in case you missed it in the main text, half the Shock
your torso fills with Killing damage.) damage taken in a fight disappears when that fight ends.
Once your torso fills with Shock damage, you’re dazed.
Dazed characters take a -1d penalty to all actions on top of any
other penalties. Once your head fills with Shock damage, you’re Killing damage is turned into Shock at a location of the healer’s
unconscious. choice. Only one such attempt is permitted per day.
If a character goes a week without taking any more damage,
DAMAGE LOCATION one point of Killing damage on each limb turns into Shock all
There’s a big difference between being stabbed in the leg and by itself.
being stabbed in the chest, and ORE takes that into account. Depending on where they are, the players may have recourse
The damage silhouette on your character sheet has numbers to healing magic. Different types of magic have different rules
corresponding to the different limbs. When an attack hits you, for how they are used.
the Height of the roll indicates where the blow lands.
DYING
DAMAGE LOCATION When a character’s head or torso fills up with Killing damage,
Height of Roll Hit Location the character dies. That’s it. Let the wailing and gnashing of
teeth begin.
1 Left leg
Some settings allow characters to return from the grave in
2 Right leg one fashion or another. As described in Reign: Realms, so far,
3-4 Left arm Heluso and Milonda don’t. The only exception is coming back as
5-6 Right arm a ghost, but one must die in a very specific set of circumstances.
7-9 Torso
10 Head COVER
If a character is missing a limb, any hits to that location go If someone’s trying to hit you with arrows, axes, or arcane
to the torso instead. That is, if someone’s missing their right awfulness, it’s often a superb idea to take shelter behind some
leg and an attacker rolls a 2×2, it hits the body instead of the convenient rock, tree or fortified palisade.
(absent) limb. You cannot take cover from someone if you’re already
engaged in hand-to-hand combat. By that point it’s too late,
HEALING you’re too close, and they can probably move into any protected
area with you. However, you can take cover before someone gets
It’s fairly simple to get rid of Shock damage. After the fight, as
that close or take cover from long-range attacks.
soon as you’ve had a chance to shake it off, get your bearings
When you have cover, certain hit locations are immune to
and maybe rub your sore muscles, half the Shock you’ve taken
attack. If you’re standing behind a low wall and both your legs
in that fight disappears (round up).
are behind it, any hits that would have struck locations 1-2
simply miss, instead. If you’re firing at someone from around a
EXAMPLE
corner, you might have protection for your legs (1-2), and part
Lio gets punched up by his girlfriend’s brother. In the course of your torso (7-8). If you’re just peeking around the corner to
of his thrashing, he takes four Shock to the torso, three to his see if he’s following, everything but your head (hit location 10)
left arm, and a whopping five to his right arm. Once he’s had is protected while you sneak a glance. Or if you use a mirror to
a chance to wince, feel himself for broken bones, and maybe look around the corner, perhaps only location 3 (lower left arm)
sip some whiskey, half that damage goes away. He’s left with
is vulnerable.
two Shock in his torso, one in his arm, and two in his other arm.
Cover, then, depends on how good the available shelter is
and how well you rolled trying to get to it. To model this, the
In addition, the use of various healing skills can relieve Shock GM decides how many locations you can optimally conceal in
damage pretty easily. Once per day, a character can benefit a hiding place (from 1-10). If you have plenty of time to get
from the attentions of a healer. If the healer rolls successfully, situated, you can describe which limbs you want to protect.
a number of Shock damage points equal to the Width of the If you’re rushing for cover in the middle of a fight, roll Coor-
roll is removed from whichever locations the healer wishes. (For dination + Dodge. The Width of the roll indicates how many
this roll, Height doesn’t matter.) locations you can conceal. You get to pick which ones you
Rest and relaxation also cure Shock damage. Every time your defend, though the GM may veto certain improbable combina-
character awakens from a good night’s rest, you may make a tions. (“You want to conceal your head, right arm and left leg?
Body + Vigor roll. If it succeeds, you may remove a number of What, is your character a contortionist now?”) Once you’re in
Shock points equal to the Width of the roll. cover, you can get its optimum protection by spending a round
Killing damage is another matter. If a character does nothing doing nothing but arranging yourself. This happens during the
but rest and recuperate for a full day, a healer can attempt a roll declare phase, so you needn’t even roll. If you want to improve
to help him. If the roll is a success—any success—one point of

Chapter Six: Combat 111

 EXAMPLE
A squad of archers gets itchy and blows their cover early.
Tud (their target) has a chance to dive for cover while they
fire off their first salvo.
“Is there anything that might protect me?” Tud’s player
asks the GM. On hearing that there’s a small boulder—
maybe enough to protect three hit locations—the player
decides Tud is diving for it. He rolls his 5d Coordination +
Dodge and gets a 2×9 and a 2×1, enough to cover two hit
locations. The archers fire, getting a 3×8, a 2×8, and a 2×3.
Even though Tud is trying to protect himself, the 3×8 hits.
Because its Width is greater, it happens before Tud has a
chance to start his maneuver. Tud gets hit and loses a die
from a set, but he luckily has that extra 2×1 set and can
take the punishment there.
His remaining 2×9 action resolves next and he dives
behind the rock, asking to protect 10 and 8. The GM asks
just how he’s protecting his head and body while exposing
both arms, and the player comically describes Tud hugging
the stone with his head and part of his body behind it while
both arms encircle it. The GM buys it.
The 2×8 attack resolves next, and because Tud chose to
protect location 8, the arrow bounces off the rock. The 2×3
happens after he jumps, but his arm is hanging out and is
not protected by cover.
Now, if Tud’s player had been really smart, he would have
protected locations 8 and 7. Why? Because any 2×10 hit
would have gone off before his 2×9 roll and hit him before
he got behind the stone!
Next round, he wants to protect 10, 9, and 5. He gets
himself covered before anything else happens without even
your coverage while doing something else, roll Coordination + rolling. However, three locations are the best he’s going to
Dodge as part of a multiple action. If you retain a Dodge set, get out of that rock. With an arrow in his arm and one in his
when it goes off you can protect your bits as you see fit. belly, maybe it’s time to consider surrender…

ENVIRONMENT It may help to think of the fight location as if you’re a fight

director for an action movie. Instead of problems, look for
The setting for a fight has a big impact on the tactics used. If opportunities—cover, yes, but also ambush locations, hazards
you’re on top of a mesa and your opponents have to climb up a unto which foes can be lured, makeshift weapons and so forth.
twenty-foot ladder to reach you, that’s a big point in your favor. The other easy way to handle environmental circumstance is
If you’re at the bottom of a well and your enemies can throw through simple prohibition: The GM says, “You can’t do that.”
whatever they want down upon you… that barely qualifies as If the bad guy is coming in through a narrow window and all
a fight. five PCs want to swing axes at him… how does that work,
There are countless ways in which the setting can (and exactly? Unless they get their acts together enough to hit, move
should) impact on your battle, and trying to list them all would out of the way and give another guy a chance, the GM has good
be absolutely pointless. It would simply provide a huge, indi- reason to rule that only three (or two, or one) PC can strike at
gestible chunk of rules which, in actual play, would rarely a time.
be applied in pure form. (“Okay, yeah, I’ve got the rules for Smart PCs quickly adapt to this concept and start using choke
fighting on a swinging bridge, but not for a swinging bridge points to their advantage, of course. If you’re being chased by an
during a hailstorm…”) angry mob, you’re much better off to run inside and then chop
Most environmental factors can be simulated with cover. For them down as they come through the doors and windows than
everything else, it’s up to the GM’s common sense, with the fol- to let them surround you like a pack of wolves.
lowing caveat: Don’t sweat it too much. GMs—be firm but fair. PCs—take decisions you don’t like
The only time a GM really needs to assess penalties is when with good grace. Depending on the tenor of your group, a GM
the terrain affects one side and not the other. Suppose you give may permit brief rebuttals from the players as they describe the
everyone a –2d penalty on that bridge in the storm. What does contortions that let all five of them make club attacks against
that accomplish? No one has an advantage, and all it does is someone who’s peeking through a portcullis. Or it may just be
slow combat down. If it’s impeding the attacker’s swing and the that the players propose, the GM disposes and no debate is per-
defender’s dodge equally, there’s no reason to bother with Dif- mitted. Both ways work for some groups: Find out amicably
ficulty or penalties. which works for yours.

112 Chapter Six: Combat

 GEAR OPTIONAL RULE: HITS ALWAYS HURT
If you want, you can use this rule: If a blow from a weapon
Equipment matters in a fight. We all like to believe the superior (not a punch, bite or kick) hits, and isn’t blocked or parried,
combatant’s skill is the decisive factor, but like any tool, it always does at least one point of Shock. Even if the
weapons and armor make tasks a whole lot easier. It’s just that armor’s rating is sufficient to reduce the damage to zero,
these tools are for harm reduction, or harm enhancement. This one point of Shock damage gets through.
is one reason the best fighters, when confronted with a superior This alters the tenor of the game by speeding up combat
weapon, often scheme to take it away for their own use. and making it more deadly. Even characters with huge sup-
plies of armor can be chipped down this way. It’s a good
ARMOR rule to use if you’re worried that characters are going to
turtle up behind absurd layers of armor and then laze their
When you’re going into a fight, having something sturdy way through battles. But it also makes unexpected player
between you and the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune is defeat or death more likely.
often a superb idea. Here’s how armor works in the ORE. Getting hit should always be unfortunate, even if you
Different types of armor cover different hit locations. For don’t take damage. That’s why a hit spoils a set, even if no
instance, a helmet covers only the head, a breastplate only physical damage occurs. If you want to make getting struck
protects the torso, while a full suit of armor covers everything. even less appealing, use this rule. If not, it’s an unnecessary
The descriptions of different armors list the protected locations. complication.
Armor types also offer different levels of protection to
damage. A steel helmet does a much better job stopping an axe
than a wooden helmet. Therefore different armor types have ARMOR TYPES
a numerical rating, the Armor Rating (or AR for short) that
Locations
shows just how much damage they stop. Armor Type
Covered
AR Weight
For every point of AR, the armor stops one point of Shock
damage and one point of Killing damage. Wooden Helmet 10 1 L
Iron Cap 10 2 L
EXAMPLE Reinforced Full Helm 10 3 M
Morrec is wearing a wooden helmet with AR1. Thorvald Boiled Leather 1-9 1 M
swings at him with a battleaxe and gets a 2×10 success.
A battleaxe does Width+1 Killing and Width Shock—so if Chain Shirt 3-9 2 M
Morrec’s head was uncovered, he’d be dead. But the helmet Chainmail 1-10 2 H
stops one Killing and one Shock, so he’s still conscious—
Breastplate 7-9 3 M
and angry.
Full Plate Armor 1-10 3 H
Understand this: Armor on your torso does not protect you Steel Gauntlets 3 and 5 3 M
from damage that leaks into your torso when other locations Cavalry Boots 1-2 1 L
are filled up.

EXAMPLE believe me, put on an iron suit with imperfectly articulated finger
joints on the gauntlets, and then try to climb a tree.
Lio has on a breastplate that gives him AR3 to his chest To figure out if armor is going to impede a given task, look at
(locations 7-9). He gets chopped in the arm by a 5×3 hit. the chart and see if the armor is heavy, medium, or light. This
To make matters worse, the guy is using a greatsword, so
is based not only on physical weight, but on which locations it
it does Width+1 Killing and Width Shock. Lio only has five
protects. Armor that covers your arms and/or legs is going to
wound boxes in his arm, so the first five Killing go in there,
with five Shock and one Killing point spilling over into his get in your way a lot more than something that just covers your
torso. His armor does not reduce that damage. head or chest.
Next round he takes a blow to the chest from a mace. • Heavy armor protects the arms and the legs and pro-
It’s a 4×7 hit, so it does 5 Shock, 1 Killing—just like the vides at least AR2. It imposes a -2d penalty on all Climb
spillover damage. But because it hit location 7, which is
and Run rolls, along with Difficulty 4 on Endurance and
armored, he only takes 2 Shock. If that blow had been a
Athletics rolls. Trying to use Stealth or go swimming in
4×3, hitting his mangled arm, the full 5 Shock and 1 Killing
would have bled through into his chest. heavy armor is pointless: There’s no chance of success.
• Light armor provides AR2 or less to one or two loca-
tions. It doesn’t affect Skill use at all.
ARMOR RESTRICTIONS • Medium armor is anything that isn’t light or heavy.
As wonderful as it is to not get hurt, there is a downside to wearing It imposes Difficulty 3 on all Stealth, Climb, Run,
armor. It’s well suited for its task of keeping you unharmed in Endurance, and Athletics rolls. If you’re attempting to
combat. It’s dismal for many, many other tasks. If you don’t swim in medium armor, you lose 2d from your pool.

Chapter Six: Combat 113

 If you have a combination of armors, you always use the
TOWER SHIELDS highest weight when evaluating penalties. For example,
Really big shields—tower shields too large to swing around someone wearing cavalry boots (light armor) and a chain shirt
by one arm—are actually portable cover. When you use a (medium armor) is impaired as if wearing medium armor.
tower shield, it protects locations 1, 3, and 4 (if it’s on your
left arm) or 2, 5, and 6 (if it’s on your right). If you don’t SHIELDS
move more than one step from your starting position, you Shields are a specialized type of armor because they give a
can hide two other locations behind the shield. If you move, degree of mobile protection. When you have a shield, at the
you do so at half speed (because a tower shield is heavy beginning of each combat round, you can declare that you’re
and unwieldy) and the shield only gives cover to the arm protecting a specific body part with it. If you don’t declare a
locations for the arm you’re using to carry it. protected part, it protects the arm with which you’re holding it.
You cannot make Stealth or Climb rolls while dragging The protection begins before any actions resolve.
around a tower shield. Small shields protect one hit location at a time. Large shields
always protect one location on the arm and can either protect a
different location (if you wish) or protect both arm sites (if you
SHIELD TYPES don’t specifically say what else you’re covering).
Shield Type Locations Covered AR
Small Wooden Shield 4 or 6 or choice 1 EXAMPLE
Large Wooden Shield 4 or 6 and choice 1 Blina is up against a wild-eyed barbarian swordsman, and
Small Metal Shield 4 or 6 or choice 3 she’s heard they always strike for the head. She has a large
shield on her left arm. This shield always protects location
Large Metal Shield 4 or 6 and choice 3
4, and it defaults to location 5 if she doesn’t use it for some
WEAPONS other location. As it happens, she says she wants to protect
her head, so for one round, it protects locations 4 and 10.
Hand Weapon Damage
Bite (human) 1 Shock
EXAMPLE
Punch or kick Width Shock
Whip* Width Shock Li has a small shield on his right arm and has already taken
damage to his chest. He decides that he’s going to protect
Short club Width+1 Shock
his vitals with the shield rather than protect the arm. He
Bottle Width+1 Shock picks hit location 7 to defend—a torso location. If he hadn’t
Gauntleted punch Width+1 Shock done that, the shield would have protected location 6, his
Small knife 1 Killing, Width Shock arm. That round, his attacker rolls a 2×8. This is a torso hit,
but it’s not the number that the shield is covering. The blow
Dagger Width Killing
gets past the shield and sinks into Li’s belly.
Hand axe Width Killing
Club Width+2 Shock Some cultures use tower shields, which are extremely large
Mace 1 Killing, Width+1 Shock and, therefore, less mobile. Tower shields provide cover (see the
Flail* Width+2 Shock sidebar above) rather than armor.
Staff** Width+2 Shock If you’re actively using a shield to defend yourself, it’s con-
Shortsword Width Killing, 1 Shock sidered medium armor (as discussed above under “Armor
Longsword Width+1 Killing Restrictions”). If you’re just carrying it, it doesn’t impose penal-
ties, but neither does it offer protection.
Saber Width+1 Killing
Cutlass
Broadsword
Width+1 Killing
Width+1 Killing WEAPONS
Scimitar Width+1 Killing Weapons are tools to help you harm others more efficiently.
Short spear** Width Killing, 1 Shock Whether they work by bludgeoning, cutting, crushing, or
Longaxe Width+1 Killing stabbing, their mechanical effect is the same: They produce greater
Long spear** Width+1 Killing, 1 Shock or lesser amounts of damage. Some weapons have other qualities
Tournament lance*** Width+3 Shock as well—they aid in certain maneuvers, require both hands to use
and so forth—but generally speaking, broad classes of weapons
War lance**** Width Killing, Width+3 Shock
work the same way. Characters may prefer the saber or the broad-
Big club** Width+3 Shock
sword over the longsword, but they all do the same damage.
Polearm** Width+1 Killing, Width Shock Weapons that do damage from a distance work the same as
Battleaxe** Width+1 Killing, Width Shock melee weapons except that they have range limits. The more
Greatsword** Width+1 Killing, Width Shock powerful weapons can shoot farther, as determined by the
Range quality. Essentially, a weapon’s range limits the greatest
* Can use to trip. ** Requires two hands. *** Blunted. Can only be used
distance to which it can operate.
when mounted. **** Can only be used when mounted.

114 Chapter Six: Combat

 SHOOTING INTO FORMATIONS
Long range weapons can actually shoot much farther than 500 feet, of course, but once you’re past that distance, they’re only
good for shooting into crowds. An individual person that far away is too small a target to hit. If you’re shooting into a large crowd
(10 or more people) at extreme long range, any success hits someone. If the crowd is composed of unworthy opponents (see page
118) you might take one out if you roll well enough. If they’re not unworthy opponents, the GM decides who you hit, probably
with a random roll.

MISSLE WEAPONS
Missile Weapon Damage Range Special Features
Thrown rock Width Shock Short —
Thrown dagger 1 Killing, Width Shock Short —
Thrown hand weapon* Width Shock Short —
Sling Width+1 Shock Medium —
Shortbow 1 Killing, Width Shock Medium —
Light Crossbow Width Killing Long —
Longbow Width Killing Long —
Heavy Crossbow Width+1 Killing Long (Slow 1**, Ignores 1 AR)
Compound Bow Width Killing, 1 Shock Long —

*This assumes the weapon isn’t balanced for throwing as well as for hitting. If it was crafted to be dual purpose (like some axes and shortswords, for
example) it does 1 Killing, Width Shock. Its range doesn’t change. ** See page 13.

If the range is short, you can only really hit someone who’s
within sixty feet. The missile can probably go farther than that,
MASSIVE WEAPONS
but past that point it’s either ineffective or inaccurate. Medium If you’re going to swing around a big killing tool, you
range is as far as the average person can identify a face—call it might as well go the extra distance and have it be
250 feet. Long range is as far as you can see someone and see wickedly huge. If you choose to use a massive weap-
individual limbs—500 feet, more or less. on—one that’s even bigger and heavier than the typical
specimen—it does an extra point of Killing damage
COMBAT CONDITIONS on impact. However, you can’t use a Massive weapon
unless your Body is 4 or more. Only big clubs, battleaxes,
People don’t fight at the peak of their ability until dead. There are polearms, and greatswords can be made massive.
several things that can happen to you (before death) that impair
your ability to dish out and take damage. Here are the rules for
those gray zones between “perfectly fine” and “deceased.” try to take any sort of combat action—attacking, dodging,
parrying or whatever—from a downed position, you take a -1d
BLIND penalty in addition to any other penalties for the action. Once
you’re downed, you stay down until you take a round to stand
If you’re trying to swing at something you can’t see, your attack up. If you just stand up and do nothing else, you do it automat-
is made at Difficulty 4. If you’re trying to shoot or throw at ically during the Declare phase. If you try to stand and take
something you can’t see, your attack is made at a –2d penalty. another action, roll the second action with a –1d penalty. If you
Grapple attacks are exempt from this penalty as long as you get a set, you stand and take action when that set goes off. If you
had a grip on your opponent before you lost your vision. don’t get a set, you stand at the end of the Resolve phase.
DAZED You can’t move more than a few feet in any direction while
downed.
If your torso is filled with Shock damage, you’re in bad shape.
Your muscles burn with weariness, you can’t catch your breath,
UNCONSCIOUS
and every limb seems to respond half a beat too slow. When If your head fills up with Shock damage, you drop. You remain
this happens, your character is dazed and takes a -1d penalty to unconscious for at least ten minutes unless some friendly pass-
every action. This is in addition to any other penalties. er-by revives you. (Reviving an unconscious person requires
DOWNED a successful Healing roll. It doesn’t necessarily restore any
shocked boxes—some of them are likely to disappear when the
If you’re downed, it means you don’t have your feet under you— combat ends, as described on page 111 under Healing. But, just
you’re flat on your back, or sitting, or crawling on all fours. because you have an unshocked box in your head doesn’t mean
Whatever position you’re in, it’s a bad one to fight from. If you you’re awake and aware.)

Chapter Six: Combat 115

 either dive for cover when your action goes off (see Cover on
THE SEVEN page 11) or you can simply move your body parts so that they

MANEUVERS OF HIGHLY aren’t where the striking weapons are.

Note that you can only protect yourself by dodging: You

EFFECTIVE PEOPLE can’t defend anyone else. You can, however, dodge when you’re
unarmed and out of armor.
Dice that come up in matches during a dodge roll get con-
These are, by far, the most common combat actions. A large
verted to Gobble Dice (described on page 11). The brief version
number of increasingly-complicated options are included later,
of Gobble Dice is that each one can cancel out a die from a set.
but without these, the bells and whistles are just noise. You can
When dodging, you can apply Gobble Dice as long as both:
have a very successful combat career using just Attack, Dodge,
Move, and Parry—Called Shots and Multiple Actions aren’t 1. The Width of the Dodge roll is such that you can
a great bet without big pools. Other moves are best for nar- react in time.
row-concept characters or for special occasions when you really, 2. The Gobble Die has equal or greater Height than
really want to throw somebody off the balcony. the attack die.

ATTACK EXAMPLE
Strike with your sword. Throw a punch. Fire your crossbow.
The bully pulls out a dagger and, being unarmed, Hokoto
Swing your axe. All these common, straightforward assaults decides to dodge for a round while the bouncers are
are resolved the same way. You roll the relevant pool (Body + summoned. He gets a 2×8 result, while his attacker gets
Fight, or Coordination + Bow, or Coordination + Axe) and look a 3×1. While Hokoto’s Gobble Dice are Higher, the 3×1
for matches as described in the general combat rules starting attack gets resolved first, and Hokoto’s leg is sliced before
on page 109. There are no difficulties, no penalties, no special he has a chance to even react.
results—just the damage from the weapon if you hit. The round after that, Hokoto dodges again and gets a
The Wider your result, the sooner you act in the round. If 3×1 while the knife-fighter gets the 2×8. Hokoto still gets
you’re up against someone with a result of equal Width, the hit—he acts first, but his Gobble Dice are weak 1s and
Higher number resolves first. If Width and Height are both useless against stout 8s.
However, in the third round Hokoto gets lucky—sort
equal, the action is simultaneous. Height determines what part
of. The overconfident bully strikes twice and gets a 2×2
of the other fighter you strike. The weapon type determines
and a 2×5. Hokoto’s dodge roll yields a 2×6. With his
what type of damage (Shock or Killing) you do. Weapon type two Gobble 6s, he cancels one die from the attacker’s
and Width together determine how much damage you do. 2×2 attack (reducing it to 1×2, which isn’t a match) and
If someone else successfully damages you before your attack another from the attacker’s 2×5 attack (making it a 1×5
goes off, drop one die out of a set. If the set is still a pair or higher, and ruining it too).
it’s still good—it just happens later and does less damage. If it’s
reduced to one die, it does nothing.
If you have multiple sets for a single attack, you can pick PARRY
which one to use and which one is affected by various effects Parrying is like dodging, except that instead of getting out
(such as the die dropping described above). of the way of an attack, you deflect it with something hard or
interpose something between yourself and it. Knocking a sword
EXAMPLE away with a shield is a parry, as is blocking someone’s punch
Rufus’ character Hokoto is going to swing at a bully in a with the handle of a broom.
tavern. Rufus rolls Hokoto’s Body + Fight pool, which is a If you’re normally dressed and not holding something that
beefy 7d. He gets a 3×5 and a 2×2. However, the bully can block a blow (even once), you can only safely parry unarmed
gets lucky and rolls a 3×7 to plant a kick in Hokoto’s chest. attacks. If you’re holding a beer stein, a small chest, a chair…
Hokoto, understandably distracted, loses a die out of one anything like that can absorb the force of a blow (though some-
of his sets, and decides to ditch one from the 2×2. His 3×5 thing like the stein or the chair might be destroyed in the process),
is unaffected and hits the bully in the arm. you can parry, at least until your makeshift shield is broken.
If, however, Hokoto was fighting his drunken uncle after If you have nothing tough enough to stop a blow and you
a jealous misunderstanding, he might want to knock the
parry successfully anyhow, you just redirect the blow to the
fellow down instead of doing maximum damage to him. He
parrying arm. It does full damage, but to your arm instead of
might then choose to drop a die from the 3×5 and either
hit his uncle with the 2×5 or (if he knows his uncle will need (for example) your head.
his arm the next day for their reconciliation hug) he might If you’re wearing armor of at least AR 1 on your arms, you
kick him with the 2×2. can parry all you want with them and take no damage.
Mechanics-wise, parrying works exactly like dodging, as
described previously: Successful Parry dice become Gobble Dice
DODGE and are used to wreck incoming attack sets. The biggest differ-
Ducking a punch, stepping out of the path of a spear, and diving ence is that you can parry in order to protect someone other than
for cover when the arrows fly are all covered by dodging. If you yourself—and that you can’t dive for cover by making a Parry roll.
roll your Coordination + Dodge pool and get successes, you can Parrying is a Body Skill.

116 Chapter Six: Combat

 to temporarily upgrade another into an Expert Die. (See Expert
MOVE Dice on page 11.)
It’s a rare fight where it’s two warriors just standing toe to toe You have to assemble an actual set of the same numbers—not
and slugging one another. Far more commonly, people move just a set that indicates the same hit location.
around—often a lot.
Everyone in a fight can move about 15 feet per round without EXAMPLE
any penalty. (Your GM may not let you run through spaces that
Mary’s character Morgan aims at an enemy’s arm with her
are occupied by your enemies, of course.) If 15 feet just isn’t shortbow. Her pool is normally 5d. She loses one die for
going to cut it, you can roll Body + Run to move farther. If you the penalty, leaving her four. Of those four, she sets one to
succeed, you can add another 5 feet of movement for each die in hit location 6—one of the right arm locations. She rolls the
your set. Thus, if you get a 3× set, you can move another 15 feet. remaining three dice, hoping one of them comes up a 6 to
Note that if you want to run while doing anything else, form a set. Instead, however, she rolls 5,8,8. She now has
including attacking, it’s a multiple action as described below. a choice: She can miss altogether, or hit her target in the
chest with a 2×8 result. Even though she was aiming at a
AIM right arm, and 5 is a right arm hit location, it does not form
a set because she set her Expert Die at 6, not 5.
It’s often useful to take a moment and gauge your position
relative to your enemy before striking. Aiming is more
If you already have an Expert Die in your pool, called shots
commonly used with missile weapons, where it means judging
can’t add another Expert Die. If you have an ED you’re always
how much of a lead to give a moving target, but it is possible
making a called shot with no penalty. Similarly, you can’t do
hand to hand. In that case, instead of launching an immediate
called shots with a Master Die because rolling with an MD is
attack, you’re trying to improve your position for a later strike.
already better than making a called shot. (Under no circum-
PENALTY stances can you have more than one special die—either MD or
ED—in your pool.)
When you aim, spend one round either (1) without taking any
rolled actions or (2) rolling only Dodge or Parry with a –1d
penalty.

RESULT
If you attack the foe you aimed at next round, you can add one
normal die to your pool or offset a -1d penalty.
It is possible to aim for two consecutive rounds and offset a
-2d penalty (or add 2d to your pool) but any aiming after two
rounds has no effect.

CALLED SHOT
The standard attack action assumes you’re taking a swing at
whatever target happens to present itself, while generally aiming
towards the center of mass. Sometimes, however, you may want
to aim more particularly—striking at an arm to impair attack-
ing ability, or hacking a leg to prevent someone from fleeing,
or (perhaps most popular) aiming at the head for a quick kill.
Any time you pick one particular site to attack, you are
making a Called Shot. You can make these with hand-to-hand
weapons or with missile attacks.

PENALTY
Called shots are made with a –1d penalty to your
attack pool. This is in addition to any other penalties
assessed.

RESULT
Take one of the dice that remains in your pool and set it to
a number corresponding to what you want to hit—2 for a
leg, 4 for an arm, 10 for the head. Roll the dice that remain,
and if you get a match that hits that site, you succeed. (If you
get a pair that indicates another location, you can opt to hit
that or not, as you wish.) Essentially, you throw one die away
One needn’t be fancy to be effective.

Chapter Six: Combat 117

 MULTIPLE ACTIONS UNWORTHY
Whenever you try to do two (or more) things in the same combat
round, it’s a multiple action. Swinging at two opponents, firing
at one opponent twice, dodging and attacking simultaneously,
OPPONENTS
dodging while you pick up the evil vizier and toss him off the Henchmen. Minions. Cultists. Thugs. Followers, cronies, and
tower to hit the sorceress in the ballroom below… all these are underlings. Whether you call them “mooks,”“scrubs,” “red-
handled with the same multiple action rules. shirts,” or “extras,” many stories (and games) feature situations
where hordes of opponents assault the hero (or heroes). Often
PENALTY the heroes respond reasonably by surrendering and looking for
a chance to talk (or sneak) their way to freedom. Just as often,
If you’re using one Skill two times, you roll the pool with a -1d
however, they opt for a full-on confrontation.
penalty and hope you get two matches. If you want to use two
When PCs fight warriors of equal skill, it’s straightforward:
different Skills, you use the smaller pool, again with the -1d
You use the same rules with hit locations, dice pools, multiple
penalty.
actions, and so forth. However, against unworthy oppo-
Sometimes, your smaller pool has an ED or an MD while
nents—often poorly trained brutes whose purpose in the game
the larger pool does not. If you manage to keep that special die
is to provide a minor tactical challenge, not a climactic battle—
(through use of a Passion, perhaps) you must assign at least one
the rules are much simpler.
set to that Skill, if you get any. It’s common sense, really. An
Since minions are almost always encountered in groups,
inept swordsman with an MD in Athletics shouldn’t suddenly
they roll collectively. The GM rolls a pool of dice equal to the
be able to hit infallibly, just because he jumped over something
number of attackers, with a maximum pool of 15 dice. Ten
while swinging a blade.
cultists attack? GM rolls a 10d pool. Fifty soldiers? 15d, until
If you want to use a Skill three times, roll the pool with a -2d
the PCs whittle them down to fourteen opponents. There are
penalty. Using three different Skills, you use the smallest pool,
some refinements, but that’s the general idea.
drop two dice out of the pool and look for three matches. On it
These simpler rules are desirable for several reasons.
goes. You always use the smallest pool concerned, and you take
a -1d penalty for every action past the first, and need a set for 1. It makes the scrubs easier to beat. They can still hurt or
every action. even kill PCs if they roll well, but they’re rarely as much
of a threat as a single major villain.
RESULT
2. It makes things easier for the GM. PCs have one charac-
If you get a number of sets equal to the number of actions ter to attend, or two at most. Detailed injuries and fancy
you’re attempting, you can assign them as you wish. The only maneuvers are manageable for them. When the GM
restriction on this is that if one of your actions makes another wants to throw ten opponents at a PC group, it multiplies
possible, you have to assign a faster set to the one that goes to sixty wound locations. Detailed injuries work fine for
off first. PCs, who are central to the story. For unworthy oppo-
nents, this detail just gets in the way. It doesn’t matter if
EXAMPLE you hit his right leg or his left leg: It matters if he’s in the
fight or out of it.
Tud’s in a brawl and doesn’t want to parry. Instead, he
decides to do a multiple action dodge/punch. His Body + Unworthy opponents, therefore, have no hit locations or
Brawl is a meaty 8d, but his Coordination + Dodge is only wounds to track. They are binary, either fully functioning or
5d. He uses that smaller pool with a -1d penalty, so he rolls out of commission. (What “out of commission” means depends
4d and hopes to get two pair. Unfortunately for him, he on the means your PCs use against them. If it’s hand-to-hand
only gets one set. He can choose to succeed at his attack weapons, they could be killed and maimed, yes, or they could
or his dodge, but not both.
just be unconscious or surrendering or fleeing in terror. If your
PCs are using powerful magic or siege weaponry, death is more
EXAMPLE likely.)
Ruish wants to chop up the Thubor, but there are two Not all mobs are created equal, however, and to model this
guards standing between him and the hated authority. variance, unworthy opponents have one stat: their Threat.
With a Body + Fight pool of 10, he decides to make three
attacks. This knocks his pool down by 2 dice to 8. Rolling
well, he gets a 4×10 and a 2×3. But wait! Ruish can’t hit
THREAT
the Thubor until the two guards are out of the way. Split- Threat is a measure of how dangerous an individual minion is.
ting the 4×10 into two 2×10 pairs, he hits each one in the An unarmed, untrained minion, fighting by himself, has Threat
head and clears a path for his third lunge at the Thubor’s 1. When facing a PC, such a person would roll 1d when attack-
arm. Much as he might want to apply that choice head hit
ing. No match is possible even by sheer luck. This lone mook is,
to the main bad guy, if he’d used the lesser blow on one of
quite literally, not a problem.
the bodyguards, the guard would still be in the fight and
Ruish wouldn’t be able to make his third attack at all. There are three factors that can increase the combat worth
(and hence, the Threat) of a thug. They’re fairly self-explanatory.

118 Chapter Six: Combat

EQUIPMENT
A peasant clad in armor, with a spear or a bow, is more dan-
gerous than one who is totally unarmed and unarmored. If
the scrubs are equipped with any weapons better than clubs or
stones, or with armor (even just shields), or both, their Threats
all go up 1 and they do damage appropriate to weapon type.
I swear to send my foe to hell, even if I must earn a
place there.
—The Battle-Oath of the Night-Hunter Truils

(This means that scrubs in plate are no better than mooks with
shields. But really, an untrained soldier crammed into full MORALE ATTACKS
plate is going to be almost as inconvenienced by the armor as
In addition to being removed directly (by getting hit) unworthy
his enemy.)
opponents can also be scared away by Morale Attacks. Certain
spells, or maneuvers, are so impressive and awe-inspiring that
MOTIVATION the mere sight of them can send henchmen fleeing to the hills.
Someone who’s fighting because some distant ruler signed A Morale Attack’s strength is measured from 1-10 and
conscription order is generally less fierce than people who’re depends on what’s producing it. Some techniques produce a
fighting because their children’s lives are at stake. A fighter Morale Attack equal to the Height of a roll, or its Width, or
who’s been trained, even partially, shows greater mettle on equal to some outside factor. But regardless of the value of the
the battlefield. Someone who’s got an inspiring leader giving Morale Attack, they all work the same way. When such a scare
direct orders and making a show of courage is also more likely is used, a number of unworthy opponents equal to the Morale
to fight hard. Attack’s rating cut and run. The only exception is if their Threat
All these factors can provide the motivation boost to Threat. is equal to or greater than the Morale Attack.
If the scrubs are trained warriors, or are cornered with nothing Scary people can make Morale Attacks just by yelling. (See
to lose, or have a leader who has used the Inspiration Skill, their the Threaten maneuver on page 129.) Any Area Attack (see
Threat scores all go up by one. page 10) is resolved against groups as a Morale Attack. An Area
7 Attack removes 7 unworthies from the fray.
ENCHANTMENT
The real wild card is, of course, magic. There are many, many EXAMPLE
ways of making fighters better at fighting. Everything from A gang of twenty villagers with Threat 2 are storming the
bestowing magical strength to instilling maniacal bloodlust has sorcerer’s castle. Rather than slay them all, he decides to
the same mechanical effect: +1 Threat bonus. cast a spell which produces a Morale Attack. In his case, the
spell’s Morale Attack equals the Height of his roll. As they
WHAT THREAT MEANS start to batter down the gate, he casts it and gets a fine
2×10 success. The Morale Attack 10 halves the attacking
Thus we can see that the Threat scores of unworthy opponents mob as ten of them run off screaming. If he’d rolled a 2×2,
range from 1-4. Threat 1 enemies are peasant mobs—dis- however, his Morale Attack 2 would not have frightened any
organized, waving sticks and rocks, easily defeated. Threat 2 of them, because their Threat is high enough to resist it.
hordes have some sort of edge: Maybe they’re the ensorcelled
thralls of an evil magus, maybe they’re armed, or maybe they’re
simply desperate enough to fight to the death. Threat 3 hordes GANGING UP
are pretty decent: This covers any militia that has weapons and
The GM does not roll an individual dice pool for each scrub in a
knows how to use them. Your typical palace guards, pirate
group. Instead, it’s one pool for all of them. The size of this pool
crews, and field soldiers are Threat 3. Enemies at Threat 4 are
is equal to the number of fighters in the group. These pools can
the top-grade arrow bait—not only trained and equipped, but
never be higher than 15 dice, however.
given some sort of added magical edge. For royal honor guards,
defenders of the temple sanctum and similar elite units, 4 is an
EXAMPLE
appropriate Threat level.
The PCs face off against ten Imperial Guards, who have
OUT OF THE ACTION Threat 4. The GM rolls 10d. Their Threat does not change
the number in the pool.
It’s easy to remove scrubs from a fight: All you have to do is hit
them with any attack that has a Height or Width equal to their EXAMPLE
Threat or greater. Against Threat 1-2 enemies, this means any
The PCs face off against fifty rioting peasants, Threat 1.
success at all. Someone with Threat 3 falls before any 3× match, The GM rolls 15d, and continues to do so until there are 14
or by a set whose Height is 3+. A Threat 4 minion needs a 4× or fewer peasants.
match, or a set whose Height is 4 or more.
Minions are either fighting at their full capacity, or they’re
Unworthies can only gang up when they’re actually massed.
done. Middle ground isn’t really necessary, because unworthy
If a group of ten mooks splits up, one chasing the PC who fled
opponents are (by definition) not important to the plot.
north and the other chasing the PC who ran south, the GM

Chapter Six: Combat 119

 doesn’t roll one pool of ten for both groups. Each group gets 2. No Wide successes. The GM cannot assemble a set
a pool of five (or one of three and one of seven, or however the Wider than 3 from a mook pool. Any match of 4× must
mob splits). This doesn’t sound like it changes the odds at all, be broken into two pairs. A 5× match becomes a pair
since it’s the same number of dice, but the effect is drastic. By and a trio, a 6× match can be three pairs or two trios,
splitting the pool, you quarantine the Waste Dice from each and so forth.
group, keeping them from finding mates in the other group’s
3. Minions are slow. Any time there’s a tie between a worthy
Waste Dice.
opponent and an unworthy, the minion goes last. If you
both get a 2×5, your 2×5 happens before the mook’s 2×5.
MINION TACTICS The normal rule that injuries disrupt attacks does apply to the
AND LIMITATIONS pools rolled by unworthy opponents. Every time a PC takes out
a henchman, one die is removed from a successful set. Since
Minions don’t aim or do fancy maneuvers. They attack, parry, many of these sets are pairs, this means it’s not impossible to
and dodge. Unlike normal characters, they don’t have to disrupt even a large crowd.
declare their intentions (since their intentions are so simple). When using big crowds of unworthy opponents, GMs should
The GM has leeway to use sets from the minion pool as Gobble keep their motivations in mind. If a mob of twenty people
Dice or attacks, whichever seems most reasonable. Using most attacks five foreigners and, within seconds, half of them are
of them as attacks keeps things moving briskly, which may or bleeding paste on the pavement, the remainder runs even if no
may not be a good thing. It depends on the direction they’re one specifically made a Morale Attack.
moving. Unguided gangs fall apart pretty quickly. They’re disorga-
When the GM is rolling up to 15d in a pool, it means suf- nized and tend to spread their attacks evenly among all available
ficiently large crowds always get matches. In fact, they’re quite targets. Once a leader is present, a group is far more likely to
likely to get multiple matches. That’s why there are some special concentrate on one enemy (especially one using magic), fight
restrictions on the minions’ use of matches. longer, and protect one another. By the same token, if the leader
1. No fancy moves. As described above, unworthy oppo- falls the group probably has little incentive to fight to the death
nents only attack or avoid. rather than fleeing.

EXAMPLE: MOB FIGHT 1

Aramis, Lefleur, and Schrenck are beset by a squad of 15 soldiers. The soldiers are trained, armed and armored, so they have Threat
3. Our three heroes have AR 2 on all locations, bows, swords, and 6d pools for Body + Fight, Coordination + Bow, and Body + Parry.
On the first round, Aramis and Lefleur declare attacks while Schrenck parries. The soldiers don’t need to declare their actions.
Everyone rolls. The soldiers get 3×2, 3×1, 2×9, and 2×4. Aramis gets 2×4 and 2×3, Schrenck gets 2×4 and 2×5, while Lefleur
gets nothing.
With their 3×2, the soldiers strike Lefleur. Schrenck can’t parry this attack on her friend because it happens too fast. Lefleur’s
armor takes half of it, but it still hurts.
With a 3×1, the soldiers strike Aramis. He loses a die from his 2×3 set, but still has a 2×4 to use.
With their 2×9, the soldiers hit Schrenck. Again, too fast to react—she loses a die from her 2×4 set but has 2×5 for backup.
However, since she’s got AR2, she takes reduced damage.
Aramis applies his 2×4 and nails one of the soldiers. It doesn’t matter that the soldier is in armor—even if it’s plate armor that
could (on a major character) absorb almost all the damage. The Height is greater than the soldier’s Threat, so they’re out of action.
This drops a die from the soldiers’ 2×4 match, ruining their last attack. Schrenck can finally act with her parry dice but—it’s too
late. There’s nothing left to parry.
Next round, the fourteen remaining soldiers roll 14d10 and the heroes all decide to press the attack. The soldiers get a sweet
3×9, a 3×2, a 2×7 and a 2×5. Aramis gets 2×5 and 2×3, Lefleur gets 2×8 and 2×6, while this time Schrenck gets no matches.
The GM considers holding those 3×9s back as a dodge—a good idea to draw out the fight—but instead applies them to Aramis.
It’s a hard hit, it gets through his armor, and it loses him a die from his 2×3 set. The 3×2 set goes on Schrenck, who has no choice
but to take it. With good armor, it’s not a problem… yet.
Lefleur goes next with 2×8. He kills a soldier and ruins their 2×5 set. The soldiers decide to parry with their 2×7 set, which
offsets Aramis’ 2×5.
Next round, the soldiers roll 13d, while the wounded heroes roll full pools. Aramis has been rolling hot, so he decides to drop
to 5d and do a multiple action—attack and parry. Lefleur and Schrenck both attack.
The GM rolls very well—a 3×10, 2×9, and 4×7! But, because unworthies can’t have a set bigger than 3×, that ×7 set has to
break into 2×7 and 2×7. Aramis, with his reduced pool, gets nothing. Schrenck rolls well—a 3×5 and a 3×7. Lefleur gets a 2×7
as well.
To put a scare in the players, the GM hits Aramis with the 3×10—that’s four points of Killing damage to the head, and Aramis’
helmet only cuts out two. The 2×9 goes against Schrenck, knocking her backup set to 2×5, but then it’s the PCs’ turn. Lefleur and
Schrenck kill one soldier apiece.
Now the tide should start to turn. The PCs press their attack, and the soldiers’ pool is down to 11d. The soldiers get 3×6, 2×9,
and 2×5. Aramis gets a 2×10. Schrenck gets 2×7 and 2×6. Lefleur gets the same—2×6 and 2×7.
The GM hits Schrenck with the 3×6, costing her a die from her backup set. Aramis goes next, ruining their 2×5 by killing a
soldier. The GM parries with a 2×9, providing Gobble Dice sufficient to counteract the 2×7 attacks from both Schrenck and Lefleur.

120 Chapter Six: Combat

STRATEGIES AGAINST MOBS
What do we learn from the previous example?
• Mobs are most dangerous early: There’s a good chance
that the PCs in the above example are going to take
out at least one soldier a round. This means the mob
gets less effective every round. Meanwhile, the PCs are
losing wound boxes, but not dice from their (admit-
tedly smaller) pools. As a corollary, small pool parrying
isn’t going to do much good at the beginning. Big pool
attacks are likely to be Wider and cost you dice from
your Parry pairs before you can even use them.
• Big hits are the same as medium hits: Since even the
stoutest scrub folds on any ×4 or Higher match, there’s
no practical difference between hitting one with a 2×4
and a 4×10. So when you do start defending against
them, apply your Highest and earliest sets to defense. But
at the same time, consider this…
• Small hits aren’t much good: Against tough mooks,
those ×1 and ×2 sets aren’t going to do much as attacks,
unless they’re unusually Wide. They can save your legs
from attacks if you assign them to defense, and that’s
about it. So ideally, you want to apply your High dice
to defense (because they protect you much better) and
your low dice (because they’re worthless as attacks any-
how) while keeping the middle ranges—3 to 7 or so—as
attacks on unworthy opponents.
All this assumes, of course, that you’re doing multiple actions
to protect and attack. As Aramis, Schrenck, and Lefleur
learned, that’s not always a good idea because it narrows your
pool, decreases your chances of getting any match, and espe-
cially lowers your chances of getting the Wide matches that put
you ahead of the game.
So then. How does one deal with big hordes?
• Area attacks are golden: All Area Attacks become
morale attacks when focused on unworthies, so they can
sweep a lot in one shot.
• Morale attacks: Scaring off legions of inferior foes is
what morale attacks are made for.
• Choke points: Letting the mob engulf you lets them make
as many attacks as they want. If you can get into a narrow
space where only two or three can maneuver at a time, the
odds change drastically. When mobs subdivide, the groups
roll separately. If only three of them can reach you, they’ve
become a separate group of three, rolling three dice.
• Martial techniques: Some martial techniques focus
specifically on multiple attackers or unworthy opponents.
Their application to these situations should be obvious.
But anything that lets you take multiple actions without
penalty (like Monkey Dodge) evens the odds substantially.
• Divide and conquer: Remember that the odds of a match
increase drastically as a pool grows. If you can split that
14d pool into two 7d pools, you’re a lot better off—and
not just because they don’t get guaranteed matches.
Now let’s look at that combat again—this time with some
different choices from our protagonists.

Chapter Six: Combat 121

 EXAMPLE: MOB FIGHT 2
In the first round, the soldiers roll their 15d. But instead of standing there, the three PCs do combined Run/Parry actions, rolling
5d each.
The soldiers get a 3×6, 2×4, 2×4, 2×2, and 2×1. Schrenck and Lefleur both fail. Aramis gets a 2×7 and a 2×6.
The soldiers apply their first attack to Aramis, knocking a die out of his 2×6 set. He uses his 2×7 to run away, getting out of their
range and into a nearby copse of trees. Schrenck and Lefleur both get hit twice—ouch!
But now the soldiers have a choice. They saw that Aramis has a bow, so if they ignore him he’s just going to start picking them off.
Or they can split up and divide their forces. On the spur of the moment, the GM decides that five mooks go after Aramis and ten stay
to “finish off” Schrenck and Lefleur.
Now the GM has two groups of followers. The smaller group chases Aramis and the larger continues to fight Schrenck and Lefleur.
The two who stayed behind decide that Schrenck parries for both of them while Lefleur tries to take down a soldier. Meanwhile,
Aramis’ player asks the GM if there’s enough of a break that he can attempt to Threaten the soldiers who are chasing him. She decides
to allow it. (The Threaten maneuver is described on page 129.)
The smaller group of soldiers rolls a 3×7 (quite good for a 5d pool!) and the larger one rolls only a 3×3 out of a ten die pool.
Schrenck gets nothing (again!) but Lefleur rolls a good 2×10. Aramis’ Command + Intimidate pool is 5d, and he gets a pair of 3s.
With their only success, one soldier from the small group gets to Aramis’ hiding place ahead of the rest—but he can’t attack yet
and Aramis is shouting, not fighting.
At the other battle, the 3×3 goes to Lefleur, ruining his 2×10.
Aramis yells at the mooks, but since they’ve seen him run, they’re not impressed. Mostly a stalemate round—except for poor Lefleur.
The next round all five of the soldiers can attack Aramis, but he’s fighting back—making a combined Attack/Defense roll at 5d.
Lefleur, seeing Aramis’ success, decides to bolt in the opposite direction, where there’s a low earthen berm he thinks he can hide behind.
His Run pool is 6d. Schrenck stands her ground and attacks.
The big group gets 4×5 but has to break it into 2×5 and 2×5. Schrenck gets a 3×5. Lefleur gets a 2×8. Aramis gets a measly 2×2,
but so does the squad that followed him.
Schrenck kills a guard and ruins a 2×5 hit. Lefleur makes it to cover. The second 2×5 hits Schrenck. Aramis uses his ×2 Gobble Dice
to block the incoming attack and ruins it.
Rather than pursue Lefleur (who’s injured anyhow) the big group decides to concentrate on Schrenck. Hearing this, Schrenck does
nothing but parry. Lefleur’s player asks if he can take cover while drawing his bow, and the GM tells him he can—it just delays his roll
for getting cover, which doesn’t much matter since no one’s firing at him. Aramis decides to make a full attack, counting on his larger
pool to ruin the smaller group.
Schrenck gets a fast but inept 3×2. Her nine enemies get a 2×2. Lefleur gets a 2×9. Neither Aramis nor his enemies roll any sets.
Schrenck has ample Gobble Dice to protect herself, and Lefleur gets into good cover with his bow out—the GM tells him that only his
arms, head, and hit location 9 on his torso can be seen. Not that it matters, since the guards only have swords.
Next round, Aramis continues to press the attack. Schrenck continues to parry, and Lefleur uses his 6d Bow pool to fire into the
crowd.
Aramis’ group rolls a lucky 3×5. Schrenck’s mob gets a 2×9 and a 2×6 on her. Schrenck gets nothing and Lefleur gets a 2×9 and
a 2×7—only one of which he can use, sadly.
Aramis gets hit. Lefleur kills a soldier, ruining their 2×6. Schrenck gets hit by the 2×9.
Next round, same thing… except that Schrenck decides to cut and run towards the berm, her crowd chases while attacking, and
now there’s only eight of them.
Aramis’ group gets no matches, and Aramis gets a 2×10 and a 2×8. (Again, he can only use one.) Lefleur gets nothing, but
Schrenck gets a 2×9 and a 2×6. Schrenck’s mob gets a 2×3 and a 2×4—but neither hits because she runs out of range before they
can reach her. Aramis kills one of his group (finally!) with Schrenck’s mob headed towards the berm next round.
Lefleur feels lucky and takes two shots with a 5d pool. Schrenck stands on the berm and attacks anyone who comes up it. Her
group reaches it this round (right behind her) and attacks as well. Aramis and his enemies continue their standoff in the saplings.
Lefleur gets a 2×8, Schrenck gets a 2×4, and Aramis gets a 2×2 and a 2×1—too low for the Threat, alas. But Aramis’ four enemies
get no sets at all. The eight assaulting the berm, however, get 2×8, 2×5, and 2×5.
Lefleur’s 2×8 ruins an attacker’s 2×5. They apply their first attacks to Lefleur, but his cover protects him from both, while Schrenck
takes out another with her 2×4.
Next round, neither the six soldiers nor the five get matches. Aramis kills one with a 2×7 and Lefleur kills one with an impressive
2×10. At this point, the GM decides that the soldiers start doing math: They started out with fifteen, now there are nine and their
enemies don’t seem to be slowing down. The soldiers sue for a ceasefire—offering to break off the attack if the PCs let them gather
their wounded comrades without further archery. It’s up to the PCs to decide whether to take the offer or continue the fight.

T here are two types of enemies.

The aggressive enemy seeks conflict and is most dangerous when it is offered.
The cunning enemy avoids conflict and is least dangerous when encircled, cornered, or forced into fight.
Of these two types, the cunning foe is by far the most difficult.
-General Stead, “Precepts”

122 Chapter Six: Combat

 This means that, unless otherwise stated, your followers lack
MY LOYAL FOLLOWERS the Motivation element to their Threat scores. There are a
couple ways to temporarily add that component to their Threat.
It’s quite possible that your character starts play with some fol- The first way is by inspiring them before the fight starts. If
lowers or acquires some in the course of an adventuring career. you give them a dose of the old Command + Inspire—some-
Don’t get too attached. thing involving “Our finest hour” or Shakespeare’s speech
Your followers use the same rules as unworthy opponents— about Saint Crispin’s Day—their morale may improve. In
they have a Threat, they’re vulnerable to Morale Attacks, they rules terms, this means that a successful Command + Inspire
gang up, they can’t get results greater than 3× Width, and they’re roll gives them +1 Threat—but only if they didn’t already have
either operating at peak capacity or they’re out of the fight. The high morale. If you use this method successfully, the Threat
player who has the followers rolls their pool in addition to any bonus lasts the entire combat, but you cannot give a lengthy
actions that player’s PC takes. speech in the middle of a fight.
There are clear upward limits to the effectiveness of your follow-
ers, so don’t rely on them too much. That said, EXAMPLE
there are several ways to improve them. Lady Nimue has a ragged group of twenty Threat 1 follow-
ers. She has equipped them with spears and shields, raising
EQUIPMENT & them to Threat 2, but she has no enchantments that can
improve all of them. So instead, right before they charge
ENCHANTMENT the gates, she makes a speech describing the incredible
treasures that await them within, tells them she doesn’t
These are the most obvious ways to raise give a damn about the money, she’s going in for revenge
the Threat of even poor followers. If you so they get the gold all to themselves if they win—but that
buy them arms and armor, their Threat if they fail, they’d better hope the enemy gets them before
goes up permanently (or until they she does. She makes a Command + Inspire roll and gets a
get killed, at least). Permanent 2×1. Not a great speech, but it plays on greed and fear,
changes wrought by magic raise which is enough to pump them up to Threat 3.
their Threat forever, of course,
while temporary changes raise You may not always have the option of prepping your
their Threat while the enchant- followers, however. If you get into a fight when their
ment holds. morale is poor (either because you weren’t
prepared or because you failed your roll)
INSPIRATION you can still boost their morale on the fly.
If you take no action for the round, except
Unless the circumstances in to shout directions and encouragement, you
which you acquired your fol- can raise their Threat by 1 for that round.
lowers indicate fanatical This happens before anything else in the
loyalty, it’s assumed that round. You don’t need to roll when per-
your welfare is not their forming this action.
first priority.
EXAMPLE
Prince Rorik is taken by surprise when
Lady Nimue attacks. His followers are
armed and enchanted but poorly trained.
They’re Threat 3. During the battle, he directs the archers
to concentrate their fire on Lady Nimue while the skir-
mishers slowly fall back in an orderly fashion. His sound
advice prevents them from panicking, so their Threat
goes up to 4 for that round.

If you order them around while doing something

else, it’s a multiple action. One part of the action is a
Command + Inspire roll, and the other is any other
pool you use. If you succeed at the Inspire roll, your
followers gain the morale bonus to Threat for the
round. This only takes place after your Inspire takes
effect, however.
This time, each major character got hit once, and
four followers on Nimue’s side perished or fled while
one of Rorik’s was lost.

Chapter Six: Combat 123

 EXAMPLE: THE FULL FIGHT
Nimue is doing well against Rorik, having frightened off a number of his guards with an impressive Morale Attack. She’s closed to
melee distance with him, and Rorik decides he’s going to fight her while calling out “Rally! She’s not invincible! Behold as I strike
her down like a lowly cur!” During the declare phase of combat, he describes this as a multiple action: Coordination + Sword and
Command + Inspire.
Meanwhile, however, Nimue is trying to scare off his followers by dispatching them in a notably gruesome fashion. (This is called a
Display Kill and is described on page 131.) Her particular method is to behead a follower with a single stroke and then cry out “Next!”
She rolls Body + Fight with a -1d penalty (as per the Display Kill rules).
The two pools of followers roll their dice as usual. They don’t have to declare any particular actions because they can only attack
and defend.
To the surprise and delight of Rorik’s player, he gets two sets—a 2×1 and a hearty 3×7! Nimue’s player gets a nice wide 3×3.
Nimue’s 15 remaining followers roll 15d and get a 3×7, a 2×5, a 3×5 and a 3×1. Rorik’s followers roll 15d as well and get 2×8, 2×8,
3×6, 3×3 and 2×2. So the order of resolution is as follows:
3×7: Rorik 3×3: Nimue 2×8: Rorik’s followers
3×7: Nimue’s followers 3×3: Rorik’s followers 2×5 : Nimue’s followers
3×6: Rorik’s followers 3×1: Nimue’s followers 2×2: Rorik’s followers
3×5 : Nimue’s followers 2×8: Rorik’s followers 2×1: Rorik
(That’s a lot of action to resolve, but you get that with huge gangs of followers. As you’ll see, some of those actions get winnowed
out.) Here it is step by step.
3×7: Rorik decides to raise the Threat of his followers to 4 for the rest of the round.
3×7: Nimue’s followers attack Rorik’s followers. Rorik decides this knocks a die out of their 2×2 set. One of his followers dies.
3×6: Rorik’s followers parry. These three sixes become Gobble Dice.
3×5 : Nimue’s followers attack Rorik. Rorik decides that his followers would defend him, and they spend two of their Gobble Dice
to spoil this 3×5 set.
3×3: Rorik’s followers parry with these as well. They now have one Gobble Die left at 6 and three at 3.
3×3: Nimue attacks one of Rorik’s followers, but because his Threat went up to 4, she misses.
3×1: Nimue’s followers attack Rorik. (There’s no point in attacking his followers with this set, since the Height is under their
Threat.) Rorik’s followers protect their liege, sacrificing two of their lower Gobble Dice and ruining the attack.
2×8: Rorik’s followers attack Nimue. Since her side has no Gobble Dice, they hit.
2×8: Rorik’s followers attack Nimue’s followers this time. Again, with no defenses in play they hit. One of Nimue’s followers dies,
and their 2×5 set loses a die.
2×5 : Nimue’s followers would have acted, but the set was spoiled.
2×2: Rorik’s followers. This set got spoiled by Nimue’s followers’ 3×7 attack, remember?
2×1: Rorik attacks Nimue, and with no defenses operating, he hits her in the leg.
This round ends with Rorik unhurt, Nimue hit twice, and one follower dead on each side. A pretty good result for Rorik, huh? But
what if he’d made some different decisions? Here’s the same round, same rolls, same declared actions but different tactical choices.
3×7: Rorik chooses to hit Nimue good and hard before improving his followers. She loses a die from her set, but it’s still a full set.
3×7: Nimue’s followers parry, seeing their mistress hurt.
3×6: Rorik’s followers attack Nimue’s followers. Nimue decides they won’t parry to protect themselves, but her. (After all, to stop
this would cost two Gobble Dice, which might later be used to save two followers.) One follower dies and her side loses a die
out of their 3×5 set, dropping it to 2×5
3×5 : Nimue’s followers get knocked down to a 2×5.
3×3: Nimue’s 3×3 gets knocked down to a 2×3.
3×3: Rorik’s followers attack Nimue’s followers. Again, they take the hit, losing a follower and ruining one of their 2×5 sets.
3×1: Nimue’s followers attack Rorik. With no parry dice, he gets hit.
2×8: Rorik’s followers attack Nimue’s followers, killing one and ruining a set.
2×8: Rorik’s followers press their advantage, killing another of Nimue’s followers and ruining another set.
2×5: Nimue’s followers lost this set.
2×5: Nimue’s followers lost this set too.
2×3: Nimue attacks, and because she was faster than Rorik’s encouragement, she hits and kills one of his Threat 3 followers.
Because she got a 2× Display Kill, this creates a Morale Attack equal to the Height or Width of the attack, whichever is higher.
In this case, it’s Morale Attack 3. But ties go to the mooks in Morale Attacks, so they stay steady.
2×2: Rorik’s followers stick it to Nimue’s leg, but it’s easily parried with the Gobble Dice that are otherwise going to waste.
2×1: Rorik raises his followers’ Threat—but it’s too late to do any good.

124 Chapter Six: Combat

 SIMPLIFIED COMBAT FLIPPING THE SILHOUETTE
Some enthusiastic fans have experimented with flipping
Some people like very explicit rules for combat. They want the wound silhouette, as illustrated below. Their reasoning
a set of rules for a variety of maneuvers, they enjoy intricate is that the head, in standard Reign combat, is very vulner-
systems, and they have fun when situations are finely detailed. able and that head-hunting with a called shot is usually
A set of concrete, reliable guidelines lets them choose strategies a good option—perhaps one so very good that doing
with confidence because they have a good idea how difficult any anything else seems foolish.
given action is. Flipping the silhouette means that defending your head
Other people like it generalized. They find that it’s faster and and torso becomes much easier, because gobble dice from
more enjoyable to wing it, and if there are occasions when a defenses still suppress smaller numbers—thus, that 3×2
maneuver is Difficulty 3 in the morning and a -1d penalty at that can, in the standard model, only protect your legs can
night—well, so what? No one cares, or even notices. They see now defend your tender noggin and
the fight as a narrative or a series of cool stunts, instead of a part of that fleshy box where you
sophisticated game of give and take between GM and players. keep your heart and stomach.
Neither way is right or wrong. There’s only a right and wrong If you want to change around
way for your group. If you love rules, use all of the maneuver the wound silhouette, go for it.
rules that follow. Enjoy. That’s what they’re there for, to give a It’s a quick, clean way to
1
framework to people who like that kind of structure. make everyone a little more
But… if you don’t want to run your combats that way, you defendable or durable. All
can use the basic maneuvers (from this chapter) and fall back you have to do is under-
on the GM’s judgment. That’s equally valid. It just means that stand that references
when you describe what you want your character to do, the GM to torso, head, and
decides what sort of penalties or Difficulties (if any) to assess. leg locations in 2-4
One GM may weigh in with serious restraints on “unrealis- the text have to be
tic” actions like parrying three different attackers in a round
or similar cinematic stunts. Another may love that kind of
reinterpreted, but as 5-6 7-8
long as you pay at-
over-the-top play and make outrageous triple-spinning kicks tention to the location
relatively achievable. That’s fine too. instead of the number, it
There are just a few things to consider if you go with a simple should be fine.
“GM decides” rule. (The alternative solution
to the “tender noggin” prob- 9
GET ON THE SAME PAGE lem is take advantages that
put more wound boxes in your
If your GM is planning on running something gritty and real- head, and wear a helmet. Even
10
istic, you’re going to get smacked around hard when you try wizards can wear helmets!
something you saw Jackie Chan do with a ladder. Before play I wear one when I go on a
begins, make sure you understand what level of actions your bike ride, and you’d be a fool
character can (or should) attempt. not to in combat if you had
the option!)
TRUST YOUR GM FLIPPED SILHOUETTE
By running combat in a looser, simpler fashion you’re trusting
Roll Loctation
your GM to be fair and unbiased. In all RPGs, there’s an
element of cooperation between GM and players. The GM’s 1 Head
role is to provide you a fair challenge—not an impossible task 2-4 Torso
against invulnerable enemies, and not a cakewalk full of paper 5-6 Right Arm
tigers. When you use the simplified combat option, you’re
7-8 Left Arm
giving the powerful GM even more power.
9 Right Leg

TRY NEW STUFF 10 Left Leg

The whole point of simplified combat is have fights that are

fast, furious, and fun. When nobody has to look up a set of him. I dodge.” GMs who prefer simplified combats are often
modifiers or special-case rules for “I’m going to slide down the GMs who reward creativity. Doing neato moves and creative
banister and slash at the Duke’s head as I go past him,” there’s stunts are the reward of the pared-down rules. You’ve paid for
little reason to stick to dull description like, “I block. I hit it with your trust, so be sure to reap the benefits.

Chapter Six: Combat 125

 Tactics are the means by which one may
overcome three, or vice versa.

F or those who prefer very specific rules for combat, a whole

raft of options follows. I’ve tried very hard to keep these
interesting, make them fun, and maintain a balance
between how hard they are to perform and how rewarding they
are when you pull them off.
rules for that move become easier for you (the player) even as the
maneuver becomes safer for your character.
The more time you spend with the system, the easier it
becomes. As you master the basics, you become ready to use
advanced stuff. Just like your character.
The biggest problem you’re likely to encounter using these
rules is task saturation. If the system only supported three
maneuvers, you’d rarely have problems deciding which to use— SIMPLE MANEUVERS
but by the same token, you might get bored with them fast.
The basic maneuvers in the previous chapter comprise the
With the long list of maneuvers, it can become overwhelming—
typical actions taken in a fight, armed or unarmed, ranged or
you’re tempted to try everything, all at once, and combats can
close up. You could go through an entire lengthy adventure
get bogged down as everyone flips through the book looking for
chronicle without using anything else.
That Perfect Move for a particular situation.
But variety is the spice of life, right?
The best way to prevent option clog is to give yourself time
The moves that follow are fancy, but not too fancy. By and
to learn the system. When you’re just starting out, stick to a
large, these actions are fairly simple, and even a warrior of
few basic moves. (Unless your characters are highly skilled, you
poor skill can attempt them with some chance of success. In
probably won’t have much of a chance at difficult feats anyhow.)
some cases (such as display moves and feinting) the use of the
When you feel like you’ve got those down, try a few exotic
maneuver improves a later move. Careful uses of these tactics
attacks that sound interesting and see if you like them.
can even the odds against a superior opponent.
It can also help to specialize. Many of the combat schools
The game mechanics for simple moves are straightforward.
make certain moves easier—often by removing rule restrictions
Still, if you’re just starting out and getting used to the system, it
instead of adding additional rules. For instance, the Living
may be wise to stick to the basic moves in the previous chapter
Weapon Stance lets you parry unarmed and unarmored without
for a while until you’re comfortable with the combat mechan-
the hassle of taking damage. By learning that technique, the
ics. This goes for GMs as well as players. Some people love a

126 Chapter Seven: Advanced Combat

deep bench of options, but many new or younger players find
it’s more fun to quickly choose between seven moves than con-
template seventy of them.

DISPLAY MOVE
A ny time you shed blood, you have lost
the larger victory. In taking the eastern
provinces of Uldholm, we had only a small
advantage in numbers, our enemies were entrenched and
had stolen from us the element of surprise. Yet by mobility,
When insulted on the steps of the temple, the humble monk
strikes with blistering speed and chops the shaft of a bully’s
by encirclement, by the breaking of roads and the flooding
spear in half with her bare hand. A charging barbarian howls of waterways, by sowing dissent among the rulers and
and swings a massive axe around as if it weighed no more than confusion among the leaders, we seized vulnerable towns
a feather. A challenged warrior steps out and flexes muscles
massive enough to shred his clothes.
and isolated the strong ones. In that campaign there were
All these are examples of display moves—actions that neither five major pitched battles, of which we lost three. Yet in the
attack nor defend, but which warn, threaten, or intimidate. A end, the nation was taken while the Dindavaran front—site
successful display can scare off enemies who were uncertain
about the wisdom of attacking or spook them into attacking
of battle after battle—never fell and cost us ten soldiers for
weakly. However, there are few things as embarrassing as an each felled by the Ulds.
unsuccessful display move.
-General Stead, “Precepts”
HOW IT CHANGES THE ROLL
You take no particular penalty for using a display move. It is
possible to Dodge, Parry, or Attack while Displaying, but doing HOW IT CHANGES THE ROLL
so is a multiple action (see page 13). The pool for this action
You do not roll to Draw a weapon. If you Attack or Parry with
is what you’d use to attack—Body + Fight or Coordination +
the weapon the same round you Draw it, any set is timed as if
Weapon.
its Width was one lower.
Display Moves only work at the beginning of a fight. If you
If you Dodge while Drawing, you take no penalty to your
try one in the middle of a skirmish, your opponents are too dis-
Dodge roll. If you’re wearing armor, you can Parry with your
tracted by genuine attacks to be impressed by martial theatrics.
armored arm (instead of your weapon) and Draw a weapon
RESULT without taking the penalty to your Parry Skill.

If your display move succeeds, you may add 1d (or offset a -1d RESULT
penalty) when you next attack anyone who saw the perfor-
You unsheathe a weapon.
mance. You do not hit or do damage.

EXAMPLE FEINT
Fruad of Wachacho charges a nest of enemy archers while A duelist raises the tip of her sword towards her foe’s face, then
emitting an earsplitting war cry. He rolls his attack Skill, plunges her dagger downward. A brawler raises a leg for a kick,
which is Body + Fight and gets a 2×1. It’s barely a success, then boxes his distracted opponent in the ear. One wrestler
but it’s enough. Next round, he makes a multiple attack
pushes another back, then uses the resistance to pull him
against two of the archers, and because his howl fright-
forward and trip him.
ened them, he rolls his full pool while striking. (Normally
he’d lose a die for making a multiple attack, but his display That’s how Feints work. Essentially, you make a phony attack
move has offset that penalty.) The round after that, he in one direction to draw off your opponent’s attention from a
attacks normally. different—genuine—attack.
If he tried to give another war-whoop after the first, he
wouldn’t even get a roll: He’d just stand there sounding
HOW IT CHANGES THE ROLL
somewhat silly while the archers regroup.
No penalty applies; just make a standard roll and pick one
opponent you’re trying to distract. You can Feint and Attack (or
DRAW Dodge, or do any other action), but doing so is a multiple action
(see page 13). If you do a multiple action Feint/Attack, you can’t
Unsheathing a dagger, stringing a bow, or taking an axe out of apply the benefits of the Feint to that Attack, even if the Feint
its sling—all these things take time. Not a lot of time, but when gets resolved first.
someone’s trying to open your skull with a scythe, moments count.
If you start a battle without a weapon in hand, you (obvi-
RESULT
ously) have to Draw a weapon before you can fight with it. These If your Feint works, your opponent loses a die from a set, just as if
same rules apply to picking a weapon up off the floor, grabbing you’d really hit. Furthermore, you get a +1d to your next Attack
it from a display rack, or pulling a torch from a sconce to use it on that opponent, just as if you’d spent the round Aiming. You
as a club. can Feint more than once, but never gain more than a +2d bonus,

Chapter Seven: Advanced Combat 127

 and you can’t benefit from both Aiming and Feinting. If you don’t trapped fighter rolls Body + Fight or Coordination + Grapple to
use your bonus the next round, you lose it. You can usually apply get free, but has to beat a Difficulty equal to your Body score or
the bonus to another feint attempt, however. your Grapple Skill, whichever is higher. If you have an ED in
Feints cannot be dodged or parried. Grapple, the pinned person takes a –1d penalty. If you have an
MD in Grapple, it’s a –2d penalty. Expert and Master Dice in
EXAMPLE Fight don’t give this bonus.
The Marquise of Harmark is dueling the Earl of Adanac, and Unless you pinned your foe against a wall or held them while
the cowardly Earl keeps making successful dodges with his standing, both of you are downed (see page 115) the round the
high pool and Dodge ED. On the first round, the Marquise pin ends.
makes a feint towards the Earl’s thigh. She rolls her Coor- When you have someone in a pin, you can attempt to use the
dination + Sword pool (5d) and gets an excellent 3×6. Strangle (page 133) or Submission Hold maneuvers (page 135)
However, she does no damage because it’s just a feint. without losing the pin or taking any penalties.
The Earl rolled a 2×10 dodging that round, and loses a die
from the set, but it doesn’t matter because the feint did no
damage. (Ironic, that.) RESTRAIN
Next round, the Marquise has a +1d bonus to her pool, so
Instead of a full-body pin (see above), you may just want to hold
she rolls 6d. But she’s feinting again. Just as well because
a friend’s arms so that he can’t get into an ill-advised fistfight.
the Earl rolls a 3×10, while the Marquise only gets a 2×1. If
she’d made a real attack, that would be a sorry waste against Or you may want to seize an enemy’s sword hand so that they
those ×10 Gobble Dice, but instead, it’s another feint. The can’t shove a weapon in your guts.
round after this, the Marquise gets another +1d bonus.
The Earl decides to attack with his inferior Sword pool
HOW IT CHANGES THE ROLL
while the Marquise negates her +1d bonus to do a multiple Name the character you’re attacking and say if you’re grabbing
action—a double feint! Remarkably, the Marquise gets a
arms or legs. Roll the appropriate attack pool (Body + Fight or
2×3 and a 2×2 while the Earl gets no successes at all. The
Coordination + Grapple) with no penalty. You can do other things
Earl is clearly baffled, upset, and playing into the Mar-
quise’s hands. while restraining someone, but doing so is a multiple action.
Next round, riding high on two successes in one round, RESULT
the Marquise gets a +2d bonus. She decides to drop that
to a +1d bonus in order to offset the penalty of making a If you succeed, you do no damage, but your successes can be
called shot. She sets her ED to 10 and rolls her five remain- used as Gobble Dice (see page 11) against that particular char-
ing dice. Rolling 1,2,2,7,10, she now has a 2×2 and a 2×10.
acter. (If you successfully did a multiple action with Dodge or
The Earl sets his Dodge ED at 10 and gets a splendid 4×9
Parry, keep those Gobble Dice separate from your Restrain
set, but it’s not splendid enough to prevent his pretty face
from erupting in blood as the Marquise cuts him. gobblers. You can use those dice against any attack, as usual.
Your Restrain Gobble Dice only work against whomever
you’re holding.) If you grabbed them by the arms, you can
PIN only prevent actions they were trying to do with their arms—
stab somebody, drink the vial of poison or pinch the wrong
Sometimes you don’t want to kill someone, you just want to buttock. The person can still move, dodge, and kick people
hold them down so they can’t do something unfortunate. (like you). If you seize someone’s legs, they can’t move around
Perhaps they knows a vital clue, so you can’t slay them out of but can still punch, parry, grab, and so on, but can’t kick or
hand. Perhaps it’s a friend who’s about to do something incan- get away.
descently foolish. Or perhaps you want to hold someone still so To continue the restraint, make a roll every round.
that your friend can slit their throat without a lot of struggle. (If you’re wondering what the difference is between this
In any such case where you’re trying to hold someone and Parrying, it’s simply that you get to roll a different pool.
immobile (usually against a floor or wall, but sometimes Someone who has a high Coordination + Grapple pool may
standing or sitting), you use the pin maneuver. have a lousy Body + Parry pool.)
HOW IT CHANGES THE ROLL
Make a Body + Fight or Coordination + Grapple roll. If you’re
SHOVE
trying to remain standing, drop a die from your pool. If you’re Sometimes you don’t want to hit someone. You just want them to
pinning the target against a wall or pulling them down to the move back—maybe back off a parapet or into a convenient pigsty,
floor, there is no penalty. or perhaps you just want to provoke them without doing anything
vicious. In any case, the act of driving someone back is a shove.
RESULT You cannot shove someone who is already downed. Common
sense, really.
If you succeed, you and your opponent are both motion-
less. Neither of you can attack, defend, or move until (1) your HOW IT CHANGES THE ROLL
opponent gets free or (2) you let go.
Every round you want to keep hold, you do nothing. They’re Make an attack pool roll (Body + Fight or Coordination +
automatically pinned unless they struggle (which is likely). The Grapple) with no penalty. Someone who tries to Trip (see page

128 Chapter Seven: Advanced Combat

133) or Slam (see page 132) you while you’re shoving, however, you. (Clever roleplaying can get around almost all these prohi-
gets a +1d bonus. bitions, but it’s up to individual GMs.)

RESULT HOW IT CHANGES THE ROLL

Your opponent takes no damage, but is moved back five feet or Make a Command + Intimidation roll with no penalty.
so. The foe loses one die from a set, as with a successful attack. If
you shove someone, you can try to trip or slam them next round
RESULT
with a +1d bonus. If you succeed, you produce a Morale Attack equal to the Width
of your success. (See page 119 for Morale Attacks. Essentially,
STAND they’re good for scaring away the riff-raff, but serious combat-
ants aren’t affected.)
There are any number of ways you can end up fighting from the
downed position (see page 115). Maybe you get attacked in your EXAMPLE
sleep, or you get slammed, or attacked when you’ve just fallen
out of a tree. In any event, trying to dodge kicks and blows Tud the barbarian refuses to pay his rent, and the landlord
has gotten her two brothers and a cousin together for an
without your feet underneath you is no fun, which is why smart
eviction. Seeing the four of them coming, Tud picks up his
fighters stand up as soon as possible.
sword and says, “Maybe I can’t kill all of you. But I sure as
HOW IT CHANGES THE ROLL hell can kill most of you.” Tud’s player rolls his Command
+ Intimidation pool (a healthy 7d) and gets 2×6 and 2×8.
No roll is made, but if you take any other action or actions while He can only use one pair, so he uses the eights. The Width
standing, they are made with a -1d penalty (in addition to any of his result is what counts, so he produces Morale Attack
others). 2. The family has Threat 1, which is lower than the Morale
Attack. Two of the combatants refuse to start fighting.
RESULT
You are no longer down. If you just stand up and do nothing
else, you do it automatically during the Declare phase. If you
WAIT
get a set, you stand and take action when that set goes off. If Sometimes you may want to give up the advantage of acting
you don’t get a set but tried for one, you stand at the end of the faster. Perhaps an enemy is charging and you don’t want to step
Resolve phase. out of cover to meet him, or maybe he’s trying to accomplish
something you want done before you hit him and cost him a die

TACKLE from a set. Whatever the reason, it’s possible to hold your action
back until you feel the timing is right.
This is essentially a pin with extra zest. You seize someone, Waiting is something of a meta-maneuver—you can wait to
wrap your arms around their hips or legs and plant them into hit, wait to slam, wait to threaten, or whatever. (Dodging and
the ground with yourself on top. It is possible to tackle someone parrying already go off only when an opponent acts, of course.)
who’s already down. It works very simply. You do whatever action you declared, and
then when it’s your turn in the Resolve phase, you simply say,
HOW IT CHANGES THE ROLL “I’m waiting.” You can then time that action to be simultaneous
with any other set that goes off. If you hold your action too long,
Make a Body + Fight or Coordination + Grapple roll with a -1d and there’s no one else acting, you lose it.
penalty. Someone who tries to Trip (see page 133) or Slam (see
page 132) you as a reaction to your tackle does so with a +1d bonus. EXAMPLE
RESULT Molad secretly hates Tud, and has been looking for a
chance to betray him. In the course of battling the sorcer-
You do the damage rolled, and both you and your opponent are ess Mei-Yung, Tud has gotten badly beaten. During the
downed (see page 115). Declare phase, Tud and Mei-Yung each declare an attack
on one another, and Molad (declaring last because of his
THREATEN high Sense) decides that (1) Tud is likely to cripple or finish
her off and (2) he’s unlikely to get a better chance at killing
This is similar to a Display Move (see page 127) but it’s verbal. his mighty Truil companion. He declares an attack on Tud.
Before combat actually begins, you shout out some kind of They roll. Tud gets a 2×8. Mei-Yung gets a 3×3. Molad
gets a remarkable 4×9.
threat—“I’ll eat your kidneys!” or “I am Ladio Heartseeker!
Molad should resolve first, but he’s waiting for Mei-Yung
None can stand before me!” or the old standby, “Do you know
to die, so he decides to hold off. Mei-Yung hits Tud with a
who I am?” (That last one, of course, only works if they know spell and costs him a die from his pool. Molad could act
who you are.) while Mei-Yung is, but decides not to. Tud is still a useful
Only one person on a side can Threaten—if multiple people human shield, from Molad’s perspective, so he lets it pass
try it, the best result is used. The tactic can only be tried on in hopes of doing it next round.
the first round of combat, and only if your opponents can hear

Chapter Seven: Advanced Combat 129

 ADVANCED MANEUVERS HOW IT CHANGES THE ROLL
Make a multiple action using your attacking pool with either
These are moves that are rarer, more complicated or which have Run or Ride. The results below depend on the Width of your
more varied results than the basic maneuvers. As a result, they Run or Ride result.
have levels of effect, depending on how Wide the set is. Narrow
successes may not do much. Wide successes may provide huge
RESULT
advantages. • Standard Success—2×: Your attack does an extra point
I honestly recommend against using these rules unless your game of Shock damage.
is primarily combat-focused. If you’re using the company rules as a
backdrop to a game of elite gladiators or remorseless mercenaries, • Expert Success—3×: Your attack does +2 Shock
these can satisfy the tetchy grognard tactician gamer. Don’t use them and +1 Killing.
if they’re more hassle than they’re worth. Get your group on board, or • Master Success—4× or more: Your attack does +3
else resign yourself to simpler maneuvers. Even the simple maneu- Shock and +2 Killing.
vers in Reign give you a rich tactical palette.
Alternately, you might import only a few maneuvers.
Playing a game of historical knights romancing the wrong
DISARM
ladies by showing off at tournaments? The “charge” maneuver The backstabbing assassin raises a dagger, only to have it
might fit that in a way that display kills and disfiguring strikes wrenched from their hand. The duelists spring forward, there’s
do not. Doing a game where secret criminal gangs settle their a clash of steel, and one sword spins away while its owner winces
disputes in arena fights instead of costly street wars? There and clutches a gashed arm. The priestess prepares to impale a
you might want knockouts and disarms and strangles, but helpless sacrifice when suddenly a whip cracks and her weapon
nothing else from the advanced stuff. The actions you spot- flies out of her hand.
light with mechanics can go a long way towards reinforcing Weapons hurt. To avoid getting hurt, take away the weapon.
tone, whether it’s “action movie heroics” or “grim, dark ultra- This can be done with skill (by carefully applying torque to the
violence.” But this only works if the players use them, which wrist and elbow so that the fingers and hand lose all strength)
they won’t unless they want to. So if they don’t want to order or with brute force (by bashing the arm with your frying pan).
everything on the menu, accept that, and understand that The mechanics work the same.
simplifying the system is usually a better way to tailor it to a
group than expansion. HOW IT CHANGES THE ROLL
Make a Called Shot to the arm holding the weapon. (If the
CHARGE weapon is held two-handed, pick any arm location.) If you are
trying to take away an edged weapon by seizing it bare-handed,
A knight levels his lance and puts in the spurs. A lone soldier
you have to make a multiple action with Dodge or accept a point
with nothing to lose raises his sword and runs at the enemy line.
of Killing damage to one of your arms. (If you take this option,
A prisoner flings himself bodily against the door that contains
any Dodge success is sufficient to protect your hands. Given the
him. In every case, someone is getting a run up on an attack to
multiple-action penalty on top of the called shot penalty, you
increase its force. This is the essence of the Charge maneuver.
might want to accept the cut.)
In combat, people can move about fifteen feet without any
particular effort. If you run fifteen feet and swing at someone, RESULT
it’s a standard Attack. To get the benefit of extra damage, you
need more significant velocity. • Standard Success—2×: You do no damage to your
You can only Charge if you’re using a hand-to-hand weapon. opponent, but the weapon flies out of their grip. It
(Riding towards an enemy while firing isn’t a “Charge” for lands on the ground X feet away, where X is the Height
the purpose of this rule because your momentum doesn’t add of your roll.
anything to a bowshot.) • Expert Success—3×: As above, except that your oppo-
nent takes a point of Shock damage to the relevant hand.

THE DEPTH CHARGE • Master Success—4× or more: Your opponent takes two
points of Shock damage to their hand. If you have a free
Sometimes, instead of covering horizontal distance to hand, you’re now holding the weapon. Otherwise, it’s
clobber someone, you want to drop down on them with at your feet.
apelike agility from atop the ramparts, or out of a tree, or
from the lip of the oubliette. To jump down on someone
as part of an Attack (as opposed to just hopping down and
DISFIGURING STRIKE
attacking normally) use all the rules for the Charge ma- Instead of killing an opponent, you may just want to leave them
neuver, only as a multiple action Body + Athletics action with something to remember you by. Specifically, you may want
instead of Body + Run. to leave them with such horrific scars that it looks like a blind
monk tried to write a poem on their face with a rusty meat cleaver.

130 Chapter Seven: Advanced Combat

 HOW IT CHANGES THE ROLL OPTIONAL RULES: MAIM AND COWER
Do this as a called shot to the head, with all the usual penalties. These rules are included as options. If you overuse the
You must use a weapon that does Killing damage. first maneuver, be prepared for your PCs to develop an
interesting set of prostheses, but it does permit serious
RESULT repercussions for combat that stop short of death. As for
• Standard Success—2×: You do one point of Killing the second, it can extend the PCs’ lives, but possibly at the
damage. If your opponent has the Beauty Advantage at price of drawing out battle scenes.
5 points, it drops to 3. If it’s at 3, it drops to 1. If it’s at 1,
it’s lost. Targets who don’t have the Beauty Advantage,
MAIM
gain the Gruesome Problem. Sometimes, you really want to cut off somebody’s limb.
That’s all there is to it, really.
• Expert Success—3×: As standard, but someone with
the 5 point Beauty Advantage has it dropped to 1, some- HOW IT CHANGES THE ROLL
one with 3 point Beauty loses it, and anyone lower than
Make a Called Shot to a hit location that is already full
that gains the Gruesome Problem.
of Killing damage. You take the normal –1d called shot
• Master Success—4× or more: As expert, but anyone penalty, and you miss if your strike is less than 3× Wide.
who gets hit loses any Beauty Advantage and gains the
Gruesome Problem.
RESULT
Instead of doing Killing damage that leaks into the torso,
DISPLAY KILL the limb immediately comes off. Naturally, this only works
on locations 1-6.
This is simultaneously a threat, and the fulfillment of a threat.
When you execute a Display Kill, you dispatch an opponent in COWER
such a viscerally mortifying or horrific fashion that some lesser Beyond dodging and parrying, there’s the last-ditch de-
comrades are frightened away. You should describe exactly what fensive cringe. If you Cower, you are abandoning anything
showboat maneuver you use to end this opponent’s life, and why but damage control. GMs may assess penalties if you later
it’s terrifying enough to scare off their comrades. try an Intimidate roll against anyone who saw you use
(Note: It is far easier to perform a Display Kill on an unworthy this maneuver.
opponent. Unworthy opponents are described on page 118.)
HOW IT CHANGES THE ROLL
HOW IT CHANGES THE ROLL
Cower operates differently than any other maneuver,
Make a normal attack with a -1d penalty. You must kill your in that you don’t announce it during the Declare phase.
opponent with this attack to get the benefit of the Display Kill. Instead, you may choose to abandon whatever other action
you were taking and try to preserve your life instead.
RESULT Here’s how it works: When you get hit, you declare that
• Standard Success—2×: You produce a Morale Attack you’re Cowering. Throw away any sets you have left. (If
equal to the Height or Width of your roll, which- you don’t have any sets, you can’t cower.)
ever is higher. If you Cower, you can only Dodge, Parry, or run away next
round. You can take multiple actions, but only by combining
• Expert Success—3×: As standard, but add your those three—you can’t do a Dodge/Attack, for example.
Command stat to the Width.
RESULT
• Master Success—4× or more: As expert, but also add
your Intimidation Skill. Instead of taking the damage to its indicated hit location,
you choose which arm to take it on. The arm takes the full
EXAMPLE damage, though shields and armor reduce the damage.
Tud is fighting five city guards in a brothel. They have
Threat 3. On his first round, he decides to use a Display
Kill on their leader. His player describes this as, “Tud
stabs him in the belly, lifts him off the ground in a fire-
KNOCKOUT
man’s carry, and throws his bloody corpse onto his fellow With a single sucker-punch, the square-jawed hero drops the
guards.” Usually Tud’s Body + Fight pool is 8, but for trying
bully to the floor, unconscious. The kidnapper swings a black-
an extra-gruesome attack it drops to 7. He gets a 3×1—the
jack and her victim crumples without a sound. The thief pinches
bare minimum needed to kill a Threat 3 attacker. But since
the guard dies, and it’s an expert success, he gets a Morale a series of vital nerves, and the guard passes out.
Attack equal to the Width of his roll (3) plus his Command The Knockout—reducing an opponent to unconsciousness
stat (2). The Morale Attack 5 is sufficient to scare off the without a lot of fuss or muss—is a choice maneuver when
rest of the guards. you don’t want to kill, but you do want someone out of the
fight quick. It’s very similar to a Called Shot (see page 117) to

Chapter Seven: Advanced Combat 131

 damage, or a combination of Killing and Shock, it’s han-
dled as with the 2× match, above.
the head, but the difference is that knockouts do only Shock • Master Success—4× or more: As with an expert
damage, even if you’re attacking with a weapon that is usually success, but instead of one extra Shock it does three.
lethal. Furthermore, once the head is filled with Shock,
HOW IT CHANGES THE ROLL extra damage is discarded instead of being con-
verted to Killing.
Make a called shot to the head.
EXAMPLE
RESULT
The next time Josiah tries to knock someone out with
• Standard Success—2×: Your weapon does its normal his shortsword, he gets a stunning (literally) 5×10. With
amount of damage. If it usually inflicts Killing damage, a normal called shot to the head, that would decapitate
that damage is Shock. someone—blood everywhere. However, since he’s trying to
be nice, it does a maximum of 8 Shock (Width 5 + 3 for
EXAMPLE a master success), but none of the damage overlaps into
Killing. Because Josiah’s control is so refined, this target
Josiah wants to knock someone out with his shortsword. It takes only enough Shock to get knocked out, and no more.
usually does Width Killing and 1 Shock. When he hits with There isn’t even Killing damage as a reminder. But do you
a 2×10, it does 3 Shock (instead of 2 Killing, 1 Shock). Not think they’ll be grateful?
quite enough to drop the average person.
Josiah later wants to knock someone out with a war
lance. It usually does Width Killing, Width+3 Shock. He hits
with a 2×10 this time, and it does 7 Shock. That’s more
SLAM
than enough to fell an ordinary opponent—if Josiah’s foe To execute a Slam, the fighter grabs a foe by the leg, upends
has the normal four head boxes, they all fill with Shock, them flat onto their back. The skilled wrestler seizes an enemy
and then three more gets converted to Killing. That’s gonna and jerks them off their feet to the ground. The musclebound
hurt in the morning, but a normal called shot would have ox simply hoists a troublemaker up with one hand and flings
been deadly. him aside like a rag doll. In all these cases, the target hits the
ground hard. It’s a Slam.
• Expert Success—3×: Your weapon does its normal You cannot use a Slam on someone who’s already down. In
damage and one extra Shock. If it usually does Killing that case, I recommend just kicking.

132 Chapter Seven: Advanced Combat

 A
HOW IT CHANGES THE ROLL
Make a Body + Fight or Coordination + Grapple roll with Dif- warrior is one man who can kill another. A tactician
ficulty 3. You can only use this maneuver against opponents is someone who could lead fifteen to victory against
who are within 100 pounds of your weight or smaller.
twenty. A strategist is somebody who just might be
RESULT able to get a thousand soldiers arrayed against a thousand.
• Standard Success—2×: Target is downed (see page 115) -Guildmaster Rolf Sorgersaard
until they take an action to stand. Target takes a point of
Shock damage to locations 3 & 5.
• Expert Success—3×: Target is downed until they Stand
attack against you is sufficient to break your choke as
and takes a point of Shock damage to both arms, both
long as it happens before your action next round. Any
legs, and the torso.
Gobble Dice from a defensive maneuver works because
• Master Success—4× or more: Target is downed and since the attack is ongoing and difficult.
takes a point of Shock damage to every location. Target
• Expert Success—3×: You do 3 Shock to the victim’s
takes an additional point of Shock damage to the loca-
head. Unless the victim does a successful Dodge or Parry
tion indicated by the Height of your set. (That is, if you
this round, or someone attacks you successfully this
rolled 5×7 to execute the throw, the target would take a
round, you do another 3 Shock to the victim’s head next
point of Shock damage to each arm, each leg, the head,
round before anything else occurs. You must still declare
and then two points to the torso.)
your action next round as “continuing the choke” if you
Note that all the damage assumes that your target lands on want to get that bonus.
a fairly flat, safe surface. Throwing people off balconies, under
• Master Success—4 or more+: You do Width+1 Shock
the hooves of a galloping horse, or into a lake of lava all do sig-
to the victim’s head. Unless dislodged, you do another
nificantly more damage. (The GM decides how dangerous such
4 Shock at the beginning of next round if you choose to
hazards are, according to guidelines in the Dreadful Things
continue the choke.
Occur chapter.)

STRANGLE TRIP
While distracted by the spearhead near his face, a soldier is
From the thug who seizes you by the throat with callused knocked to the ground by the spear’s butt clipping his knee.
hands, to the murderer who throws a garrote over your neck A charging swordsman takes an inelegant fall when his target
from behind, to the martial expert who can choke you with your sidesteps and blocks his ankle. A duelist absorbed by one
own clothing, the Strangle maneuver has many proponents. In opponent is taken off guard when another snakes in a whip to
every case, they’re trying to encircle your neck to cause uncon- wrap around his calf.
sciousness and, eventually, death. The Trip maneuver primarily serves to knock an opponent off
Strangling works best on people and on smaller animals. balance. Ordinarily, Trips don’t do much damage, but it’s very
Larger animals may have leathery hides, thick manes, or suffi- distracting and disturbing to be stumbling around during a fight.
cient muscle to protect them from choking out. It’s ultimately You can’t use this maneuver on someone who’s already
the GM’s common-sense call whether a given non-human is downed.
vulnerable to strangulation. Don’t try it on a rhino.
HOW IT CHANGES THE ROLL
HOW IT CHANGES THE ROLL
Make a called shot to hit location 1 or 2. Do not take the
Make a called shot to the head. You can’t strangle someone standard 1 die called shot penalty. If your opponent is using the
if your weapon has a sharp edge, but using an axe haft or a Shove or Tackle maneuver, add a die to your pool. If they’re on
sheathed sword works fine. If you already have the target in a foot and using the Charge maneuver, you also add a die, but you
Pin (see page 128), you don’t take the usual -1d penalty for a don’t get that bonus against mounted Charges.
called shot. While you’re strangling someone, you can’t make
additional Attacks, Dodge, or Parry, or Move more than four or RESULT
five paces. If you do anything other than choke him and maybe
• Standard Success—2×: You do no damage but your
move a little, you lose the constriction.
opponent loses a die from a set and has a –1d penalty to
RESULT any action taken next round.
• Expert Success—3×: As standard, plus target is downed.
• Standard Success—2×: You do 2 Shock to the vic-
tim’s head. Next round, you automatically get another • Master Success—4× or more: As expert, plus they
2×10 that does another 2 Shock to the head if nothing take a point of Shock damage to each arm from an awk-
dislodges you. (You have to declare your action as “con- ward landing.
tinuing the choke.”) Any successful Parry, Dodge, or Note that you can’t trip someone who’s already downed.

Chapter Seven: Advanced Combat 133

 Passions can be a tremendous help with multiple actions. If
EXPERT MANEUVERS the pirate in the example has a Mission to capture that partic-
ular ship, a Duty to lead his crew to victory, and a Craving to
Just as the advanced maneuvers were more complicated and show off in combat, he now has much better odds. Instead of
specific than the basic ones, expert maneuvers are more special- taking a -2d penalty to his lowest pool, he gets a +1d bonus
ized (or outrageous) still. As with the advanced maneuvers, give because his Passions are firing on all cylinders.
some thought to what you want to put in the game. When you’re buying off penalties, don’t forget that you can
keep special dice (EDs and MDs) if you kill the penalties that
COMBINATIONS take them away. If our pirate’s lowest pool is 7+MD, he just
might get that 4× success after all.
A daring intruder takes away one guard’s sword, dodges through
a formation of soldiers, and charges at the chamberlain, scream-
ing threats the whole time. The escaped “sacrifice” dodges a
IRON KISS
swing from a cultist’s ritual knife, picks them up and throws A favorite of villains, the Iron Kiss is when one holds a blade
them off the balcony… on top of the High Priest chanting below. right up against someone’s throat but doesn’t draw blood.
A fierce pirate parries a spear thrust, disarms the foe, and throws Villains like to use this one so they can utter lines like “One
the blade into the torso of another sailor ten paces away. more step, and your lover dies!” Other folks have been known
These outrageous combination maneuvers are not impossi- to use this one to give enemies one final chance to choose sur-
ble. They’re hard, but they can be done. In fact, any maneuver render over decapitation.
listed in this chapter can (if the setting permits) be combined
with any other. The multi-action rules cover it all: You just
HOW IT CHANGES THE ROLL
take your smallest pool, stack up any penalties, add the Make a Called Shot to the head with a -2 d penalty instead of
multi-action penalties, and try to get enough sets to assign the standard -1d called shot penalty. You can only perform
to each task. the Iron Kiss if you have an edged or pointed weapon in your
hand.
EXAMPLE
The escapee above is doing three actions: A dodge, a slam,
RESULT
and an attack (using Athletics to throw). The three pools • Standard Success—2×: No damage, but next round you
involved are Coordination + Dodge, Body + Fight (or Coor-
have the option of attacking this target and automatically
dination + Grapple), and Body + Athletics. She needs three
getting a 2×10 result. You do not roll. This 2×10 can only
sets, one of which must be at least ×3 if she wants to do the
slam. To have any chance of succeeding at everything, she be used as a full attack against the head.
needs to have at least 8d in her smallest pool. Why? Because • Expert Success—3×: As Standard, only you can auto-
there’s a -1d penalty to the smallest pool for each extra matically get a 4×10 roll next round without rolling.
action. Taking two extra actions gives a -2d penalty, and the
• Master Success—4× or more: As Standard, only you
smallest pool that can produce three sets is a 6d pool.
can get a 6×10 roll without rolling.

In actuality, you’re very unlikely to get three sets with a 6d

pool. That doesn’t mean she can’t get a partial success, however. REDIRECT
Suppose she only rolls a single set—a pair of eights. She might
As two guards attack, the hero seizes one as a human shield
choose to use them with the dodge and try for her railing kill
to defend against the other’s spear thrust. The surrounded spy
next round. Or maybe the cultist misses outright, or only gets
flings blinding powder in an attacker’s face, then steps aside to
a low pair. Now she’s got no need to dodge: She can apply that
let the attack hit the man who was stealing up behind her.
2×8 match to the slam (since it’s above the 3 Difficulty) and
The Redirect maneuver guides the attack of one opponent
chuck the cultist off the balcony. If she’d rolled a 2×8 and a 2×5,
against another, getting your enemies to do your work for you.
she could also succeed at the Athletics roll and drop the cultist
It can be an interesting choice for people whose Dodge pool is
on the High Priest.
substantially better than their attack pools. But, of course, it
Similarly, our pirate is parrying, disarming, and throwing.
only works when you have more than one enemy to fight.
The modifiers are really hairy though because it takes a 4×
success on the disarm to wind up holding it. HOW IT CHANGES THE ROLL
As you can see, the key to combining moves smoothly is
to keep it as simple as you can. Was the escapee really better Make a Dodge roll with a -2d penalty.
off stacking a Dodge on top of two other actions? Especially RESULT
since that lost die decreases her chance of getting a Wide attack
success that would spoil an attack anyhow. • Standard Success—2×: When you ruin an attacker’s
If she has the martial secret Monkey Dodge (see page 145), set, it is applied to another target of your choice as if
she loses the penalty for adding the dodge to any action, so she it was a success with one point less Width. You can do
might as well. Other martial techniques that offset penalties this each time you ruin an attack, but only when you’ve
make combinations far more attainable. reduced it to Width 1 (so that it would do no damage

134 Chapter Seven: Advanced Combat

 FORMATION CHARGE
The chariots of the Ruhini city-states provide a mobile firing platform for archers, defending them not with cover (since the light
wood of the frame would only slow a shot down) but with sheer speed. They, like other masses of fast-moving harassment units,
typically make formation charges.
A formation charge is made with the Ride Skill (or, of course, the Command-based Expert: Charioteer, or the Coordina-
tion-based Expert: Sand Craft Pilot). They can’t be used on watercraft, which don’t move or turn quickly enough. Most impor-
tantly, at least five horses/chariots/sand craft/dunim/biauchris/whatever have to be attempting the maneuver at the same time.
You can’t do it alone.
If you succeed at your roll, you can achieve one of several things during the Resolve phase of the round. More than one set can
give you more than one effect but only if you declared a multiple action rolled appropriately.
• Evasion: When your set goes off, you can impose a Difficulty equal to the Height of your roll to anyone firing at your vehicle,
your mount, or any person riding either one. This lasts until the Declare phase of the next turn.
• Superior Position: You can give yourself or all your passengers a +1d on their next round’s attacks off your mount or platform.
• Clash and Chaos: You can target other vehicles or mounts using the Formation Charge maneuver and apply your success-
es as Gobble Dice. This is (no surprise) extremely time sensitive, so you can only use it on those whose rolls are timed slower
than yours.

to you). Note that a Width 1 set is nothing, so you All of these are Submission Holds—something that causes so
can only redirect attacks that started as 3× successes, much suffering that the person so gripped must either surrender
which are then re-applied as 2× successes. (Normally, a or risk worse injury.
character with only a 2× Dodge success can’t stop a 3×
HOW IT CHANGES THE ROLL
attack because it’s too fast. Some Martial Techniques
make it possible, however.) Make a Body + Fight or Coordination + Grapple roll with a -1d
• Expert Success—3×: As Standard, only the attacker’s penalty. If you already have your target pinned (see Pin on page
set is applied at its full Width. 128), you don’t have to take the -1d penalty.

• Master Success—4× or more: As Expert, only you can RESULT

redirect any attack you change. If you fail to reduce a set
to 1 Width, you still take the reduced damage: However, • Standard Success—2×: You do a point of Shock damage
you also choose an opponent to take the full damage. to the indicated limb. (If the limb is armored, the attack
misses.) The target has the option of wrenching free,
which does 2 Killing to the limb. If they don’t wrench
EXAMPLE free, you maintain the hold and automatically get the tar-
Rhodis has a stunning 9+ED Dodge pool. When she’s get in a Pin (see page 128) next round.
unarmed and attacked by three enemies, she decides to try
• Expert Success—3×: You do 3 Shock to the limb. If the
to redirect their attacks. Her pool drops to 8d. She gets a
4×5. Her opponents get a 3×1, a 3×5, and a 3×6. target wrenches free, it’s 3 Killing. Otherwise, this is like
Rhodis goes first and has her four ×5 Gobble Dice ready a 2× success.
to go. The 3×6 opponent goes next, and Rhodis just has • Master Success—4× or more: Like a 2× success, except
to eat it because her dice are too low. Her next opponent, that you do 5 Shock, and if they get free, it’s 4 Killing.
however, is vulnerable to redirection. She spends two of her
dice to reduce his set to a 1×5, spoiling the attack on her

T
and redirecting it against the guy with the 3×6. It’s too
late to ruin his attack, but that actually works in her favor,
because when the 2×1 attacker strikes she can use one or he greatest skill soldiers can possess, for their own
both of her remaining dice to redirect him—either at the benefit, is a quick step and skill with the shield. For
already-wounded enemy or the fresh one. At the end of
the round she’s taken one hit and injured two foes without their captain, the greatest skill of a soldier is biting
doing anything other than dodge. deep with sword, spear, or arrow. But my general told me
that to her, the finest trait she could ask of a soldier was of
SUBMISSION HOLD falling asleep instantly in calm times and waking instantly,
His wrist bent at an awkward and painful angle, the highway- well rested, at need.
man realizes the error of his ways and tries to flee, but can’t
without breaking his arm. A wrestler digs into an opponent’s -Jirl Hoodfellow, “A Playwright Turned Soldier:
knee, eliciting squeals of misery. A dizzyingly painful nerve Advice and Instructions”
grip produces pleas for mercy.

Chapter Seven: Advanced Combat 135

 mobilized against the Pahar uprising, Broadcutter was carried
MARTIAL PATHS at the front of the column to show their seriousness. But
perhaps its greatest fame is its prominent place in the story
The difference between a warrior who is skilled, and one who of Rook (the style’s founder) and the Fadao twins Shai and
makes do with strength and ferocity, is that the skilled warrior Guai. It’s recounted in the companion book to this one, Reign:
has studied and learned the wisdom of fighters who preceded Realms.
him. These secrets, the lore of ages, are called Martial Tech- These techniques are used with Coordination + Sword, and
niques, and sets of them are called Martial Paths. Each secret unless otherwise noted must be used with a greatsword. None of
learned makes certain maneuvers or attacks easier or more them can be part of any multiple action unless otherwise stated.
effective.
Because of their emphasis on learning over instinct, there are
BATTER THE BLADE 1 POINT
no Martial Techniques that are used with the Fight Skill. They Rook was known for attacking the enemy’s weapon rather
need the refinement of a specific weapon Skill (or a Skill like than defending himself from it. This technique can be part of a
Dodge or Parry). multiple action. If your attack hits, the target takes no damage
No human being can ever learn more than fifteen different but all their remaining attack or parry sets lose a die. Batter the
Martial Techniques. Esoteric Disciplines (which are similar, Blade can only be used against one opponent per round. The
only for Skills) do not count towards this limit. If you’re won- Height of the blow does not matter.
dering, it’s a Martial Technique if it is based on Parry, Dodge,
or a weapon Skill (including Grapple or Unarmed Strike). IRON BREAKING BLOW 2 POINTS
As with the Esoteric Disciplines, these techniques have the
This is a curious twisting strike intended to auger into flesh
flavor of the Heluso and Milonda setting but can easily have
while prying off armor. The target of an Iron Breaking Blow
their tone changed just by changing names and ignoring the
takes only Width Shock at the location, but that location loses
flavor text. (For example, The Yielding Way easily becomes
a point of Armor permanently. This technique can be used with
Judo.) Also like Esoteric Disciplines, you need to learn the early
any type of sword and works against any type of permanent
(cheapest) ones before you can get the later, more expensive,
armor attached to a location.
more exclusive ones.
SHIELD RIVING 3 POINTS
BROADCUTTER'S PATH Rook felt that striking to cut through metal or wood was dif-
The Magistrate of Old Riverrun is the current holder of Broad- ferent than striking flesh and that one who understood the
cutter, a family relic from ancient times. It’s not the most difference could crack shields and breastplates more efficiently.
impressive of blades by modern standards: It’s old iron, man- Shield Riving is the fruit of his studies. When used, the target
tall, and weighty. It has no fancy decorations, no powerful takes no damage, but that location permanently loses Armor
enchantments. A jeweled scabbard was produced for it as a equal to the Width of the set.
wedding present three generations ago, but it actually looks a THE DOOM OF SWORDS 4 POINTS
little effete next to the plain, worn hilt.
Broadcutter isn’t an exceptional weapon, but it is an excep- This improved version of Batter the Blade works the same
tional symbol. When Danifa was taken, its Riyan asked to way, except that that the attacker must make a called shot to a
be decapitated by Broadcutter. When the Western Marches location that’s gripping the weapon, and the weapon’s damage

SPREAD VS. STACK

Some sets of techniques “stack up,” meaning that as you learn a higher technique, the previous one becomes obsolete. A very clear
example would be a martial path where the first technique gives you a +1 damage bonus, and the third technique gives you a +3
bonus. Once you learn the third level, there’s very little incentive to ever go back to the first.
Other paths “spread out.” Every additional level gives you new options, typically better than the lower levels but different
enough that you might go back sometimes. Take a martial path where the first level does extra damage, and the second times the
attack to go as if its Width was greater (without doing damage as if the Width was greater). Sometimes you want speed, some-
times hurt. Both remain valuable techniques; neither is obsolete.
As a general rule, the final techniques in stacked paths are more powerful, which offsets the narrower focus. Some people
prefer stacked paths because they’re simple. If your vision for your character is “hits real hard with a broadsword,” a stacked path
where every level makes a broadsword hit nastier is right up your alley, and you can spice up combats with maneuver instead of
keeping track of a bunch of different techniques you might want.
Other people like the versatility of spread paths and pursue them to have a lot of cool tricks they can pull out of their sleeves.
That’s fine, as long as they take care to understand the rules. Like a stage magician, no one wants to watch the trick unless it can
be done smoothly. No one likes to wait while a player rummages through the book to look up his path so he can decide if he
wants to make a trip with the second level or a slam with the third level. It drags things down. If you can’t keep track of what
different levels do, you’re better off with a stack path.

136 Chapter Seven: Advanced Combat

bonus is permanently reduced by the Width of the hit. (For THE STRENGTH OF MADNESS 2 POINTS
the purposes of this, “Width” in the weapon’s damage rating
is considered to be two. Width is removed from a weapon The typical resident of the Sunless Plains is a slender specimen,
last.) Weapons that mix Killing and Shock have both ratings often with an unhealthy complexion. They’re not known for
lowered. This attack doesn’t take the usual –1d called shot physical prowess. Unless, of course, they’re attacking with
penalty. If the damage bonus hits zero, the weapon breaks. bloody froth spraying from their mouths where they bit through
(Any weapon of Milondese steel breaks automatically if hit their own lips in excitement. That doesn’t happen every time the
with the Doom of Swords.) Strength of Madness is invoked, but people who fight them get
used to seeing it.
EXAMPLE Anyone struck by a blow backed with the Strength of
Madness loses two dice from sets instead of one. This technique
Mark and Tud are fighting. Mark has a greatsword and
knows the Doom of Swords. Tud is using a massive big doesn’t work on Unworthy Opponents.
club, which does Width+4 Shock damage. Mark uses the
Doom of Swords on it, setting one of his dice to 4 and
PASSIONATE ASSAULT 3 POINTS
rolling. He doesn’t get a match for the four, but he does A Passionate Assault adds a +3d bonus to the attacker’s Polearm
get a 2×9, which he can use as a normal attack to Tud’s pool (or offsets up to three dice of penalties). The next person
stomach. The next round, he tries again, setting the dice
who strikes that attacker does two extra points of damage
for location 6 this time. He doesn’t roll a second six, but
(Shock or Killing, according to the weapon used), as long as it
he does get a 3×4 match. (Luck is funny stuff.) Since that’s
a location that holds the club, he does no damage to Tud, strikes the round that Passionate Assault was used, or the round
but the club is now manifestly less dangerous. Mark’s 3× after. Passionate Assault can never be combined with any defen-
hit reduces its damage bonus from Width+4 to Width+1. sive maneuver.
The next round he does it again, gets a match for his 6
and with a 2×6, damages the club further. Since reducing DEATH SLAKING 4 POINTS
the damage by two doesn’t really work when it’s Width+1,
Every time characters using Death Slaking kill someone, they
the club is reduced to doing only a single point of Shock
add +1 Killing damage to all polearm attacks for the remainder
damage when it hits. Tud’s better off using his fists.
of the combat. It’s cumulative. Kill someone on the first round,
get a +1 damage bonus on the second round. Kill two people
BURIED IN THE CANYON 5 POINTS that second round, get a +3 damage bonus thereafter and so on.
This bonus can never exceed +10.
Just as Shield Riving teaches how best to cleave the inanimate,
Buried in the Canyon demonstrates the lessons on bone and DYING TO KILL 5 POINTS
sinew. The target permanently loses a wound box at the hit
location. That location permanently loses two points of Armor. The mad warrior adds +4d to the next attack and produces a
All adjoining locations take a point of Killing damage and per- Morale Attack equal to 4+ their Command Stat. All attacks
manently lose a point of Armor. Typically, the person who got that hit them the round they declared they’re Dying to Kill do
hit then cries. Exceptionally strong-willed individuals have an additional point of damage (Shock or Killing, depending on
been known to remain composed, however. the weapon).

THE BLACK THIRST EYE OF DEATH

The polearm fighters of the Sunless Plains are characterized by The Eye of Death path originated with the Sect of the Grave-
a curious nihilistic flair and by a taste for death (both their own digger Queen. The cultists believed in a threefold afterlife:
and their enemies’) chased with flamboyant recklessness. “The Hell for the evil, heaven for the blessed, and reincarnation for
Black Thirst” refers to an exhilarated, ecstatic state of bloody those in the middle. They also believed that any sinner buried
viciousness in which one’s own safety not only ceases to be a according to the goddess’ macabre funeral customs would
concern, but actually loses coherence as a concept. receive reincarnation instead of punishment, and that a person
Those who cultivate this battle-madness practice it with in the middle would get promoted to heaven. Furthermore,
Coordination + Polearm. this generous bounty extended to anyone slain with the sacred
methods taught by the Queen’s archer daughter. The most
RECKLESS ABANDON 1 POINT zealous believers considered it a good deed to shoot down just
about anyone since it would absolutely protect their soul from
By leaping heedlessly into the violent fray, the warrior adds
hell and was quite likely to send them to a better afterlife than
+2 d to an attack. However, if anyone declares a physical
they deserved.
attack on them on a round in which Reckless Abandon is in
They killed a lot of people.
effect, that enemy gets a +1d bonus (even if the attack is made
Eventually, some hypocrites paid lip service to the religion
with Fight or a missile weapon). The enemy gets this advan-
just to learn the combat secrets and then started teaching it
tage even if they declared the attack before Reckless Abandon
without all the holy claptrap. The old cult is all but gone (sup-
was applied. Reckless Abandon cannot be used as part of a
pressed by the authorities for being murderous, unsurprisingly),
multiple action.
so most people teaching the techniques are secular archers.

Chapter Seven: Advanced Combat 137

 But the cult still exists, believing that these secrets are theirs he was indisputably a fine and focussed student of the blade.
alone, and often try to kill blasphemers who have learned them He reinvented Dindavaran dueling tactics against weapons of
without the true faith. superior reach. On the other hand, he lied, violated hospital-
Eye of Death techniques are, of course, used with Coordi- ity and soiled his family name by raping a woman, and a foreign
nation + Bow. woman at that. His legacy persists as a cautionary tale and a set
of bladework techniques.
GODDESS IN THE GRAVE 1 POINT Used with Coordination + Weapon: Sword, these techniques
If you take a round to aim, you add 2d to your pool instead of 1. only work if the warrior is holding a short sword (typically a
If you take two rounds to aim, you add 4d to your pool. Other- bodinda) in each hand.
wise, aiming works as usual. CLING LIKE A LOVER 1 POINT
ARROW OF GENTLE REPOSE 2 POINTS Guai’s Path emphasizes getting close to an opponent and
Any time you fire, and it’s not part of a multiple action, you can remaining inches away, where the mobility of the short weapon
bypass 1AR that’s provided by armor. AR from martial tech- is a great benefit and reach is irrelevant. When using Cling Like
niques or sorcery still defends. a Lover, your attack sets reduced to ×1 Width still hit.

SPEED WELL, DEADLY GIFT 3 POINTS LONG RUNNING STRIKE 2 POINTS

Your quickest bowshot in a round is timed to match the This technique uses more of the blade in a strike, whether cut
quickest action by an opponent. (Mechanically, this works just or thrust. When using Long Running Strike, the short sword
like Lightning Foot from page 146, only for bows.) does damage like a long sword. If it’s used with a Milondese
short sword, it hits like a Milondese long sword. Used with a
THE UNBLINKING EYE 4 POINTS bodinda, that weapon hits like a dinda.

As Goddess in the Grave or Arrow of Gentle Repose, but not SHARE THE FINAL BREATH 3 POINTS
both. In addition, while using this technique, you do not lose
dice from bow attack sets when you get hit. Like the first technique, this emphasizes closeness—so near,
in fact, that the warrior is supposed to feel his enemy’s breath.
TWO DEATHS 5 POINTS Where Cling Like a Lover enhances attack, Share the Final
Breath combines defense and attack.
While using this technique, you do not lose dice from your bow Share the Final Breath is used with a combined Parry/Attack.
attack sets when you get hit. When you roll a success with an First off, there is no multiple action penalty for combining one
arrow attack, the attack is “twinned”—that is, a second attack is Parry and one strike. If the Parry goes off first and the blow is
resolved as if it had an identical roll, aimed at the same target. If against the person parried, the attack ignores 1AR.
you make multiple attacks, they all get doubled. The normal and
“twin” attacks require one arrow apiece, of course. DESPERATE SACRIFICE 4 POINTS
EXAMPLE When you state you’re using Desperate Sacrifice during the
Declare phase of combat, you can immediately roll Coordi-
Morgana uses Two Deaths and makes a multiple attack nation + Sword to throw one of your swords at a foe. No one
with her 9d Coordination + Bow pool. She’s firing at two
else acts while you roll and resolve this, not even to defend.
guards with a longbow, so she rolls eight dice. She rolls a
This extra action doesn’t change anyone’s preparation times for
2×9 and a 3×6. The 3×6 hits the guard in the arm and
does 3 Killing to that arm. The “twinned” 3×6 hits the same weapons or spells or activities with Slow ratings: It’s just you
guard in the same arm and does the same damage, ren- throwing your sword too fast to avoid. You can’t move or do
dering the arm useless and putting a point of Kill into his anything else or make this part of a multiple action.
chest. The second guard manages to hit her with a 3×1, but After you hit or miss, the rest of the round occurs, during
she doesn’t lose dice because of her incredible concentra- which you cannot attack. You can take other actions, however
tion. The second guard gets hit in the chest by her 2×9 and (such as drawing a backup sword).
takes 2 points of Killing damage. And then, he gets hit in
the chest by the “twin” 2×9 for another 2 points of Killing THERE IS NO 5 POINTS
damage. As the round ends, she’s fired four arrows.
Outsiders find the name of this technique puzzling, if they ever
hear it. Those educated in the system know it stands for “There
(Two Deaths can also be used to show off. If you use Two
is no defense, there is no attack.” There Is No eradicates the
Deaths while firing at a stationary target, any success is suffi-
difference between striking and parrying. There Is No must be
cient to hit the bullseye with your first arrow, then split your
used as a combined Parry/Attack with the short swords. There is
first arrow with the second.)
no multiple action penalty for taking these two actions, though
additional actions accrue penalties as usual. Any Gobble Die
GUAI'S PATH from parrying applied with There Is No also does a point of
Killing damage to the location indicated by the Gobble Die’s
The Dindavarans have ambiguous feelings about Guai Fadao,
Height. This damage ignores up to three points of Armor.
a famed warrior predating the first Hai Riyan. On one hand,

138 Chapter Seven: Advanced Combat

HELL'S HOOKS CLICKING SWIFT 3 POINTS

Unsurprisingly, the history of Obotilobitanolonikututano Now the hook fighter has gotten confident and experienced
fighting has a strong emphasis on naval combat. Being a culture enough to use both hands in a complimentary way, either simul-
of sailors, the Ob-lobs are hardly averse to hard work and are taneous or alternating, prepping one to strike while the other is
known for being deceptively strong and tough, despite their swinging, or hitting high and low with both at the same time.
diminutive size. Their unique fighting secrets, generated out of When the hook fighter makes two attacks, instead of the
the elements of their daily lives, reflect an emphasis on ship- usual -1d Multiple Action penalty, the roll gets a +1d bonus.
board activity and the use of guile over power. This cannot be combined with movement, a third attack,
A cargo hook (or “tuk” in Ob-lob language) is a simple Dodge, or Parry.
tool, in common use for hauling and lifting loads too small to THE PULL 4 POINTS
bother with a crane but too big to simply tuck under an arm. A
handle, metal or wood, rests in the middle of the grip. Perpen- If a strike misses going out, the Ob-lob using The Pull is adept
dicular to the handle is a finger-length metal strut, sticking at catching the target while pulling the weapon back in for
between the second and third fingers, terminating in a hook another try. If you miss lashing out, you turn the hook and try
about the radius of a fist. This can be stuck in bales of hay to catch something coming back.
or straw, inserted under belts or rope bindings, and generally Any miss is treated as a 2×5 Feint maneuver.
used to give a solid grip where otherwise fingers would need
to go. ENTANGLED TO SHREDS 5 POINTS
The first use of a cargo hook as a weapon is lost in the ancient The ultimate expression of this style is a receptiveness to all
mists of history, but surely it followed its use as a tool by less opportunities. To one using Entangled to Shreds, there is no
than a year. When a typical hook is used as a weapon, it does mistake that can’t be turned into an opportunity, and many suc-
WS+1K and can be used with the Fight Skill. cesses that can be modified into a greater success.
Over the years, however, sailors refined their techniques In addition to all the advantages of Hell Fishing, an Ob-lob
for scratching, grabbing, and piercing people with the hooks, using Entangled to Shreds can, to a limited extent, change the
and as they did they modified the tool to make it increasingly effects of a strike after seeing the result. This happens at the end
deadly. Christened a “tukuywuyuk” in their native tongue, the of the Roll phase. Specifically, if you get a set of ×1-2 Height,
weaponized tools are also known as hell-hooks. A hell-hook you may make it a Trip. If it’s of ×3-6 Height, you can make it a
is forearm-length, heavier (even though they’re made from Disarm. If it’s a ×10 Height set, you can do a Disfiguring Strike
steel instead of iron when possible) and has a hook double the instead of normal damage.
diameter of the tool. Furthermore, this hook boasts sharpened
edges along its interior and along the first ninety degrees of its
exterior, starting from the tip. Now it doesn’t just hook, it can THE HORSEWOMAN’S COURSE
catch and cut. These weapons are quite likely to damage any Mounted cavalry are a powerful force in open warfare—fast on
cargo lifted with them or cut any bindings they catch, but they the battlefield, able to get to distant fronts quickly, they’re a tre-
do WK+1S when used for their intended purpose. mendous resource both tactically and strategically. Of course,
The fighting techniques called “Hell’s Hooks” can be used they’re expensive and the riders are often arrogant, but when
with either a cargo hook or a hell-hook. Either way, the attacks you really need a flanking lance charge, they’re worth it.
enhanced must be made with Coordination + Weapon: Hook, The most highly trained cavalry drill in the maneuvers of the
and they must be used with a hook in each hand. Horsewoman’s Course. These techniques are used with Coor-
dination + Riding and can only be used by someone who’s
HELL FISHING 1 POINT
mounted. (Technically, these should be an Esoteric Discipline,
One of the most common moves arose from the accustomed but since they fit better in the Martial category, they count
gesture of hooking and lifting or pulling. When it’s a sharp point against the limit of fifteen martial techniques, not the limit on
going into someone’s calf or bicep, the pain can be dazzling. esoteric disciplines.)
If a hook is used as part of a successful Trip or Disarm, the
target takes weapon damage in addition to the normal effects
of the maneuver. HELUSO & MILONDA: HORSEWOMEN
CRUEL CARTAGE 2 POINTS It is an article of faith on both continents that riding any
steed astride is an essentially female act. It has always been
If getting a hook in the arm or leg sounds bad, it’s nothing this way, ever since horses were first tamed in what is now
compared to getting one in the ribs or thighs, and then being the Heluso Confederacy.
lifted and dropped. The complexities of this are dealt with more compre-
The hooks can be used with the Slam maneuver. The attacker hensively in the Reign: Realms book, but this sidebar is just
can choose, during the Declare phase, to either use this tech- a little reminder. Armies that use cavalry (1) train women,
nique to ignore the Slam’s Difficulty and weight restriction or to (2) use eunuchs, or (3) ride sidesaddle. The Horsewoman’s
try and beat them, doing the hooks’ weapon damage in addition Course can’t be used sidesaddle.
to the Slam’s effects.

Chapter Seven: Advanced Combat 139

 RAPID MOUNT 1 POINT During the two rounds that a Shattering Charge requires,
you get the benefits of Noble Seat as well.
If you’re within ten feet of your steed, you can get on its back
without a roll and without penalizing the rolls for any other
actions you take. If all you do is get on your horse, it’s timed as
IRON TORTOISE TECHNIQUE
if you’d rolled a 4×10. According to the students of this defensive art, the first rule of
combat is “Do not get hit.” But since the school originated in
EXAMPLE the Western Marches, a nation known for beefy fighters and
Reena the Confederate rider decides that an ambuscade heavy armor, relying on lithe dodging just wasn’t an option.
of a dozen crossbowmen is too many to face alone, so They therefore trained themselves to block hard, fast, and
she decides to saddle up and flee. If she just jumps in the effectively.
saddle, she can automatically succeed and probably get in Iron Tortoise technique uses the Body + Parry pool.
it before the crossbowmen can act. (It’s possible that their
non-mook leader might roll a 5× match, but not bloody IRON PARRY 1 POINT
likely.) If she chooses to jump in the saddle and make a
Coordination + Riding roll to get away, she rolls her full When you produce Gobble Dice with a Parry success, the
Riding pool (7d). In that case, she mounts at the same time Width of your narrowest Parry set is increased by 1. This can be
that she starts moving. If her Riding roll fails, she still gets used as part of a multiple action.
on at 4×10—she just has a little trouble persuading her
steed to get moving. THE SUPERIOR INTERCEPTION 2 POINTS
You can add Parry Gobble Dice together to form a single die
equal to the total Heights of the dice combined. You may apply
NOBLE SEAT 2 POINTS this against any attack that’s equal to or less than this combined
Any animal you’ve trained cannot be frightened while you’re Height, regardless of timing. This may be used as part of a
riding it. Any attempt to remove you from your saddle is made multiple action.
against Difficulty 4. You do not take a multiple action penalty Basically, you can total up your Gobble Dice into one single,
for combining Coordination + Riding with Coordination + superior Gobble Die and use it whenever you want.
Lance.
EXAMPLE
MAJESTIC REARING PLUNGE 3 POINTS Lilith uses The Superior Interception on a swaggering pirate
As Noble Seat. Also, your steed may attack without penalty lunging at her with a cutlass. She gets a 3×2 result, while
the corsair gets a 2×5. Normally, her three Gobble Dice
while you’re on its back, and you may attack from its back with
would be useless, since they’re lower than the attack dice.
a +1d bonus.
But she can combine them into a single Gobble 6 die, coun-
STRENGTH OF THE STALLION 4 POINTS teract one of the fives, and foil the attack. If she’d rolled
3×1 or even 4×1, she wouldn’t be able to parry. But if she
As Noble Seat, but if you hit your lance does damage as if the rolled 2×4, she could combine those two dice into one
Width of your roll was equal to your horse’s Body stat. Gobble 8, which she could use at will. Alternately, if she
rolled a 2×1 and a 2×2, she couldn’t combine all four of
EXAMPLE those low-Height dice into a single Gobble 6—unless she’d
declared she was making two Parries and had taken the
Reena is in a tournament with a blunt lance, but she still appropriate penalty.
hopes to really hurt her loathed rival, the Duchess of
Adanac. She uses Strength of the Stallion and rolls a 2×8 to
hit the Duchess in the chest. Normally, a blunt lance would RESOUNDING DEFLECTION 3 POINTS
do Width+3 in Shock—in this case, five points. Since they’re
both wearing full plate with 3AR, that’s barely a scratch. You block with such force that anyone to whom you apply a
But the Strength of the Stallion lets Reena use the Body Gobble Die takes a point of Shock damage to the limb that
score of her excellent horse instead of the Width. Her horse holds the weapon. (Armor protects against this Shock as usual.)
has Body 7, so now her blow does 7 Shock, even through You can use this as a multiple action, but only if you do not
the armor. Take that, Duchess!
combine it with an attack. You do not take the usual multiple
action penalties for additional Parry actions with Resounding
Deflection.
SHATTERING CHARGE 5 POINTS
If you take a single round to charge at full gallop before
THE HIDDEN SHELL 4 POINTS
striking, you can use a Shattering Charge when you hit. Shat- This cannot be used in a multiple action. If you roll even a single
tering Charge destroys up to 6 points of armor on a target, set parrying, you get AR2 protection on every hit location. This
permanently. The damage of the strike is doubled. While you’re is in addition to any other armor you’re wearing. You also get
charging, opponents cannot strike at your head—any blow that the roll’s Gobble Dice to use. The armor effect begins before any
would have hit location 10 is a miss instead. attacks are resolved.

140 Chapter Seven: Advanced Combat

 THE SECRET BLOCK 5 POINTS them to move or fall over. This is doubly true if you move one
hand up to the back of your pick-head, which is sticking out as
This works like Resounding Deflection, only the Secret Block a convenient handle.
can be combined with attacks. Furthermore, anyone to whom If you succeed at an attack with Stick and Handle, you get a
you apply a Gobble Die is disarmed in addition to taking +1d bonus on your next turn if you attack the same opponent
damage. Treat this like using the Disarm maneuver on page with any of the following maneuvers:
130 and getting a 2× success.
Pin, Restrain, Shove, Disarm, Slam,
Strangle, Trip, Redirect, or Submission Hold.
MAEMECK WAR-PICK You can then use your Pick skill to make those maneuvers.
The Maemeck Warrior class often trains and operates in its If you declare Stick and Handle the turn after successfully
homeland’s mountains. Moving through such rugged terrain striking someone with it (that is, when you’re already getting
encouraged them to carry as little as possible, and the tendency the +1d bonus) and your maneuver succeeds, it gets a bonus
of Milondese steel to break under stress left many unwilling point of Width for both timing and effect.
to carry swords that would fail in time of need. Instead, many
SUPERIOR FROM BENEATH 5 POINTS
adapted the picks used for mountain climbing (which had,
themselves, been adapted from mining tools). As discussed above, it’s usually disadvantageous to fight upward.
The war-pick has a shaft the length of a leg, made of steel Superior From Beneath makes the best of this bad situation by
or stout wood. It’s smooth for most of the length, but roughed bringing the opponent down to your level. It only works on
towards the base, where there’s a flared rim to give the best opponents above you.
grip. The working end has a straight spike, about dagger Make a normal attack. If it hits, instead of the damage to the
length, and a slightly curved prong opposite it. Both are indicated location, it does it to location 1 or 2 (you choose) and
sharpened and thick, usually triangular in cross-section to the attack also has the effects of both a Trip (page 133) and a
leave a wound that bleeds. Slam (page 132).
These techniques are used with Coordination + Pick.

DANGLING DEATH 1 POINT PATH OF THE RAZOR HEART

Fighting in the mountains, you sometimes find yourself Razor Heart is not just a set of skills (to hear its Dindavaran
fighting from a higher vantage point than your opponents. This adherents describe it): It’s a philosophy. The sword is used as
is good, since your head is out of the fight zone and theirs are in a metaphor for the soul. A soul that is clean, pure, and unified
the middle of it, and because it’s easier to strike down than up. in intent can shear through any obstacle. But when your soul
Dangling Death is a technique for accelerating the pick heavily, wavers, your actions become shallow.
creating a devastating impact on upraised limbs. Whatever outsiders may think of the abstract ideas, it’s hard
When striking from above, any blow to locations 3 or 5 gets to argue against the school’s effectiveness.
+6 Height. This bonus occurs during the Roll phase, so it affects Razor Heart techniques are used with Coordination + Sword.
timing as well as hit location.
PURE COMMENCEMENT 1 POINT
MINING FOR FLESH 2 POINTS You can draw a sword and attack in the same round without
The same postures used to chip through rock to get ore can be penalty. (See Draw on page 127 for the usual penalty.)
used to punch through armor and reach the fighter within.
SINGLE INTENT 2 POINTS
The strike bypasses three points of Armor. Mining for Flesh
can only be used once per turn. If part of a multiple action, the If you make a single attack and hit, your blow does a point of Shock
usual penalties apply. damage to your target’s torso in addition to any other damage.
That Shock ignores any and all armor. Combines with Pure Com-
THE TWIRL 3 POINTS mencement, if relevant. Note that you cannot use Single Intent as
To use the Twirl, hold the pick in front of you and, when it gets part of any multiple action (except drawing the weapon, of course).
close to your opponent, give the haft a rapid twist, so that the
SUBMIT AND KNEEL 3 POINTS
two heads sweep around in a fan of steel. This spin is used to
knock weapons out of the way before a strike. If you successfully strike your opponent in the torso, they’re
The Twirl can only be used with a Feint maneuver (as immediately downed and lose a die from every set, not just one
described on page 127). In addition to the usual benefits of a set. The benefits of Pure Commencement also apply, if appro-
Feint, the Twirl prevents the target from using a Parry maneuver priate. Submit and Kneel can be combined with drawing a
during the next combat round. weapon, but not with any other multiple action.

STICK AND HANDLE 4 POINTS ALL IS ONE 4 POINTS

Sometimes your pick goes deep enough to get stuck. Though If you make multiple sword attacks, or take other actions in
inconvenient if you want to hit someone again, having a weapon combination with sword attacks, all your actions are timed to
painfully lodged in an enemy is convenient if you want to force

Chapter Seven: Advanced Combat 141

 coincide with your fastest set. Furthermore, you do not lose dice
EXAMPLE
from your sets as a consequence of taking damage. Combines
with Pure Commencement, if relevant. Ratso uses Cross Block. His Parry pool is 6d, as is his
Dagger pool. Since he has to make an attack in order to use
SOUL SEVER 5 POINTS Cross Block, he rolls 5d. He only gets one set, a 2×3. His
opponent attacks him with a 3×10. Ratso decides to blow
Make a single attack and hit. If damage from the strike would all his Gobble Dice to block it—even though they’d normally
bleed over into the torso (because the limb is already full) it be worthless against tens. Note that he got to use this tech-
doesn’t do so. Instead, the limb comes completely off. The limb nique even though his attack failed.
is also severed if you hit a limb and fill its last box with Killing
damage.
If you hit the torso and fill its last box with Killing damage,
WEAVING DODGE 3 POINTS
the target is split in half—horizontally, diagonally, or verti- If you combine a Dodge with your attack, you gain AR2 to
cally, your pick. Killing someone in this fashion produces an your arms and legs. This effect kicks in after your first action
automatic Morale Attack 5. You cannot use Soul Sever as part for the round and lasts as long as you use Weaving Dodge.
of a multiple action, with the exception of drawing the sword. (That is, if you declare that you’re going to use it again, it’s still
Combines with Pure Commencement, if relevant. “on” even before you act for the second time.)

EXAMPLE VENOM BLADE 4 POINTS

Ming is battling her brother Tan to the death. They both You may ignore three points of armor while attacking. The
know and intend to use Soul Sever. Both start with weapons source of the armor does not matter.
sheathed and, in accordance with unspoken family tradi-
tion, they stare at each other until one cracks and draws. LOCKJAW 5 POINTS
They both have 7d Coordination + Sword pools, but since
the GM rules that the staredown counts as two rounds of Instead of pulling the knife free after striking, this is a tech-
aiming, they both begin with 9d. They’re unarmored and nique for leaving it in the same place while digging and
using greatswords that do Width+1 Killing, Width Shock. twisting to worsen the wound. It works like Venom Blade,
Each can draw and strike without a timing penalty. Ming but you can only attack once while using Lockjaw. (You
rolls 2×2 and 3×7. Tan rolls 2×4 and 3×5. Striking first, may, however, use Lockjaw as a multiple action with non-at-
Ming does 4 Killing, 3 Shock to Tan’s torso and knocks a
tack actions.) If you hit, during the Declare phase of the next
die from Tan’s lower set. But Tan’s 3×5 hits Ming in the
round you may forego making an attack roll and simply use
arm and puts 4 Killing, 3 Shock there. Since Killing damage
goes first, two of the three Shock convert to one Killing your previous result again. (If you use a multiple action with
point, filling the arm. The last Shock point doesn’t go into the continued Lockjaw attack, roll that pool with any appro-
the torso. Instead, Ming’s arm comes off and now she can’t priate penalties.)
use the greatsword. It’s up to Tan to decide whether to Because you’re keeping the dagger inserted, the normal
finish her or relent. timing penalties to parrying or dodging it don’t apply.
Someone whose Gobble Dice would normally be too slow can
use them to get free of the technique. However, by definition
PATH OF this only happens once it’s done its damage.
THE SERPENT'S FANGS EXAMPLE
This is a collection of dirty tricks used by sailors and street Ratso uses Lockjaw and rolls his 6d Dagger pool. He hits
toughs. It’s never been formalized into a “school”—one thug his opponent with a 3×4, stabbing the arm. He ignores the
teaches it to another. It was the authorities who started calling it foe’s 3 points of armor and does 3 points of Killing damage
“Serpent’s Fang,” and its rowdy adherents soon called it a “path” to the arm.
as a way of mocking more formal warriors. The next round, Ratso is going to continue his Lockjaw
These techniques are used with Coordination + Dagger. You attack. In addition, he’s going to make a multiple action to
must be fighting with a dagger or knife in each hand to use parry with his free dagger. Ratso rolls 5d (his 6d Parry pool
them. with the normal multiple action penalty) and gets a 3×2.
His Lockjaw attack is automatically 3×4—even though he
BITE STRIKE 1 POINT didn’t have 6d in his pool, his old rolls stays. His opponent
rolls to dodge but only gets a 2×8—it’s too slow to keep the
If your strike occurs before your opponent has had time to react, Lockjaw from taking effect. But when the 2×8 comes up,
it does an additional point of Killing damage. the enemy can at least get disengaged.

CROSS BLOCK 2 POINTS

If you combine a Parry with your attack, you can spend all your
PATH OF TWIN FURY
Gobble Dice to completely foil one attack against you—even if Those who study the Twin Fury school believe in teamwork
it would normally be too fast to block, and even if its dice are above all else. They train together rigorously and rarely stray
Higher than your Gobble Dice. more than five feet from one another while fighting.

142 Chapter Seven: Advanced Combat

 An unarmed fighting discipline, Twin Fury teaches its initi-
ates to aid one another—not just guarding each others’ backs,
but also throwing one another through the air or combining
their strength for devastating attacks. Fighting Twin Furies has
been likened to battling a giant octopus with the wits of two
warriors, fused into a single will. In combat, Twin Furies com-
municate by a series of touches, taps and barked code words.
W
to see?
hat is the difference between a
righteous man who does nothing he would
not wish his mother to see, and a righteous
man who does nothing he would not want his children

To use any Twin Fury technique, you must use your Coordina- —“Riddles of the Golden Monk”
tion + Unarmed Strike pool. The roll can be part of a multi-action
combination with another Skill. Furthermore, another fighter
who is using the same Twin Fury technique must be fighting at
your side. Even a Twin Fury student isn’t good enough to use MELDED SOUL 4 POINTS
these techniques without knowing the move you’re using. If your
As Four Legs Kick, but each participant gets a +1d bonus
partner only knows up to the Four Legs Kick and you’re trying to
to their attacking die pool. Additionally, if either (or both)
use the Flying Headsnap, your technique won’t work because you
choose to use a multiple action with Parry, they may do so
won’t have anyone who knows how to help you.
without the usual -1d multiple action penalty. If their Parry
DOUBLE FIST 1 POINT pool is lower than their modified attacking pool, they still
have to use the Parry pool.
Instead of Shock damage, your punch or kick does Killing
damage. (I recommend thinking of cool descriptions for just FLYING HEADSNAP 5 POINTS
how each fighter is taking advantage of the others’ strength.)
For this technique, one person (usually the one with the
WEDDING OF WRATH 2 POINTS higher Body score) flings the other through the air so that the
flyer can catch an opponent’s neck with their legs and break
As Double Fist. In addition, your attack goes off at the same it. Although both roll Coordination + Unarmed Strike, only
time as your partner. Both attacks are timed to coincide with one attack is made. The fastest result from either fighter is
the fastest attack. used as the attack. Regardless of the roll’s Height, it strikes
hit location 10. It does Killing damage as per Double Fist.
EXAMPLE In addition, the Width of the attack roll is increased by the
Ru and Lophan both use Wedding of Wrath against a Width of the other partner’s successful attack roll (if any).
menacing swordsman. Ru gets a 3×8. Lophan rolls a 2×1.
The swordsman’s parry roll is 2×5. Normally, the swords- EXAMPLE
man could easily parry Lophan’s slow kick, while Ru’s Lophan flings Ru at the swordsman using the dreaded
quick punch gets past him. But because the two are using Flying Headsnap. Both roll. Lophan gets a 3×2 and Ru gets
Wedding of Wrath, Lophan’s kick is timed as if he’d rolled a 2×2. The attack is timed as a 3×2. It hits the swords-
3×8. It still does damage as a 2×1, and it still hits the man’s head (location 10, instead of 2). It does damage as
swordsman in the leg instead of the torso. But because if it was a 5× attack.
Wedding of Wrath duplicates the effect of Double Fist, it
does two points of Killing damage instead of Shock.
If used against a creature without a head, the Flying
Headsnap still works. It just strikes the hit location indicated by
Note that when two women use this technique, it’s called the fastest roll, instead of hit location 10. Either combatant can
Sisters in Wrath. When a man and a woman use it, it’s Wedding use multiple actions while performing the Flying Headsnap.
of Wrath. If it’s two men, then it’s Brothers in Wrath.

FOUR LEGS KICK 3 POINTS ROLONEEPO (KICKING SAILOR)

As Wedding of Wrath, but you can use your partner’s Coor- Fighting on a rolling ship is challenging, and the more it’s
dination score or Unarmed Strike Skill instead of your own, if moving, the harder it is to climb, keep your footing, and resist
you prefer. This includes the use of Expert and Master Dice. sliding or falling. These difficulties are compounded if the deck
is wet, cluttered, or fouled with tangling lines. But some clever
EXAMPLE Ob-lob sailors practiced accepting the movements of the sea and
view crowded objects as an opportunity instead of an obstacle.
Ru’s Coordinaton is 2 and her Unarmed Strike Skill is 3.
This was the genesis of “roloneepo,” which is a conjoined word
Lophan has Coordination 3 and Unarmed Strike 2. Fighting
alone, each one has a 5d pool. But using the Four Legs that means, “kicking sailor” in the fodandutikanitandu language.
Kick, Lophan can borrow his friend’s Skill, and his friend can Roloneepo fighters stagger, seeming to lurch randomly into
borrow Lophan’s speed. Each rolls 6d for their Four Legs Kick. any nearby wall, table, railing, or curtain. They then use these
Now, if Lophan had Unarmed Strike 1+MD, he has a props to haul themselves up, conceal a strike, move away from an
choice to make. He can either use his own Skill, for a pool opponent, or interpose something between self and foe. It’s frus-
of 4+MD, or he can borrow Ru’s Skill for a pool of 6d. He trating to fight someone who seems to flow like water—doubly
can’t combine his Master Die with Ru’s bigger pool. so once they grab a railing and swing both feet up into your gut.

Chapter Seven: Advanced Combat 143

 Roloneepo is used with Coordination + Unarmed Strike.
Despite the name, it can be used with punches as well as kicks.

SAILOR FOOT 1 POINT

At sea, you instinctively time your attacks to blend with the
rhythm of the ocean’s swells, adding force just when your
enemy is off balance. If there’s anything nearby to climb on
or swing from, roloneepo shows how to direct the energy of
the movement into a strike. If there’s something to jump from,
push off of, or temporarily support oneself with while both legs
move, the sailor can take advantage.
Furthermore, since most sailors work barefoot when the tem-
perature allows it, their feet are usually gnarled and tough. If
they’re shod, their kicks become even more vicious.
The sailor never takes a penalty for fighting on a moving
surface or for combining the Climb skill with his Unarmed
Strike roll. Kicks do +1S if the attacker has sturdy shoes on.
Sailor Foot can be used at any time, even in conjunction
with one other Martial Technique or Esoteric Discipline.
However, it only helps if the character is making a Unarmed
Strike roll.

WATCH THE STEP 2 POINTS

Trips and foot-sweeps are common in many fighting styles.
Roloneepo just does them with extra assertiveness.
Whenever you succeed at a Called Shot to locations 1 or 2
with Unarmed Strike, the strike does damage and gets all the
effects of a Trip.

MOTION OF THE OCEAN 3 POINTS

When dodging and weaving, the Ob-lob astutely uses any ship
movement or local objects to their greatest benefit. Seemingly
erratic and random, the staggering and jumps always incorpo-
rate a sly attack.
When combining an attack with a Dodge maneuver, the
Ob-lob can’t be targeted by the Aim maneuver. Any Called
Shot against the Ob-lob is resolved as if its Height was 1 less
(that is, an attack to location 4 hits location 3, a hit to location
10 hits the torso and not the head, while a hit to location 1
misses entirely). These benefits take place even if the charac-
ter rolls no sets.

HIT TO BLOCK 4 POINTS

Beyond adding aggression to avoidance, there lies the trick of
using aggression for avoidance. Now the Ob-lob blocks attacks
with tremendous strength and leverage.
When making a combined attack and Parry, all sets can be
used for both. That is, if more than one Gobble Die is used to
ruin an attack, it’s treated as a simultaneous attack against the
person blocked. Single Gobble Dice used to ruin sets aren’t
given this advantage.

SPIDER KICK 5 POINTS

The sailor grabs a rope or simply leans back against a conve-
nient wall, table, or stable person in order to plant a foot in his
opponent’s belly—and then walk up his torso with a series of
follow-up kicks.

144 Chapter Seven: Advanced Combat

 Make a Called Shot attack against location 7, with usual MONKEY FIST 3 POINTS
penalties. This can be part of a multiple action if the appropri-
ate penalties are applied. If you get your hit on location 7, you If you roll only your Coordination + Dodge Skill and success-
succeed at simultaneously timed hits on locations 8, 9, and 10. fully apply a Gobble Die (or dice), you can make one attack
These attacks do damage as if their Width was one less than the to an opponent whose attack you ruined. This strike acts like
7 set, but 1× sets still do damage. an Area Die: He rolls one die and takes a point of Shock to
the location that turns up. This ignores armor. This attack isn’t
EXAMPLE spoiled if you take damage and is not improved by your weapon.
You can only inflict this damage once per round, however—no
Molokutai leans back against the ship’s rail and executes
a lovely Spider Kick against an aggressive fellow sailor. matter how many attacks you spoil. Note that you can’t use this
Her Coordination + Unarmed Strike pool is 8. She takes a with Monkey Dodge.
die out for her multiple action, sets one to 7 and rolls the
remaining 6d. Getting 1,3,4,6,6,7,0, she hits with a 2×7. If
DRUNKEN MONKEY 4 POINTS
it’s not blocked or ruined, she does 2S to her opponent’s As Monkey Dodge. Your bobbing and weaving acts like
torso for the 2×7 (she’s barefoot) and then another 2S (a
armor. You get an additional 1AR to every location. This
1×8 and 1×9) to the chest and 1S to the head.
works even if you don’t roll any successes. If you’re already
Later, the guy comes back for more punishment; she’s got
shoes on for the Sailor Foot benefit. She rolls a 2,2,4,5,7,7,8. wearing armor, this adds to it. The armor effect occurs before
Now her 3×7 does 4S to the torso, and he immediately any other actions.
takes a 2× hit to each of his locations 8, 9, and 10. That’s a
total of 10S to the chest and 3S to the head. He’s gasping
GRAND ULTIMATE SUPREME MONKEY KING 5 POINTS
and barely conscious. As Drunken Monkey, except that the armor bonus is now 2AR.
In addition, you can use your Dodge Gobble Dice at any time,
THE SCHOOL OF THE regardless of the Width of the roll that produced them.

INSOUCIANT MONKEY EXAMPLE

Fighting in the style of the Insouciant Monkey looks somewhat Trina uses Grand Ultimate Supreme Monkey King while
silly—it involves a lot of low crouching, loose arm waving rolling a Dodge/Dodge/Fight multiple action. She can
stack those extra Dodges without penalty, as with Monkey
and sudden, scuttling lunges. But it is a superb technique for
Dodge. She rolls her 5d Fight pool and gets a measly 2×4.
damage avoidance.
Her opponents roll a 3×3 and a 2×9. Normally, that 3×3
You may use Insouciant Monkey techniques when you are would be too fast for her to avoid, but with the timing
using any Dodge action. restriction lifted she can use both her Gobble Dice to spoil
it. The 2×9 hits, but its damage is reduced by her two
MONKEY DODGE 1 POINT points of armor. Nevertheless, next round she decides to do
You do not take a penalty for adding a Dodge to any action. a multiple action that’s all dodging.

EXAMPLE
Trina uses Monkey Dodge to do a multiple action. The two
SPEARMAN SQUAD
actions are Coordination + Dodge (a 6d pool) and Body + This suite of techniques is heavily practiced in the city-states of
Fight (a 5d pool). She still uses the smaller pool, but since the Ruhini desert.
she’s using Dodge as one of the actions, she doesn’t take a
-1d penalty to it. STEADY SHAFT 1 POINT
If Trina used Monkey Dodge and chose to do two Dodge
You can use a spear one-handed. Steady Shaft combines with all
actions, she’d roll her full 6d pool without penalty. She
could even do three Dodge actions and roll her full pool. the other techniques in the path.
If Trina wanted to make two attacks (with Fight) and one
Dodge, she’d roll 4d. She’d start with the smaller pool (her
PICK YOUR POINT 2 POINTS
5d Fight pool) take a -1d penalty for an additional action Any time you make a single attack with a spear, not combin-
that’s not Dodge (the second Fight) and then be able to ing it with any other Skill or making multiple attacks, you
add Dodge as well. Of course, since her pool’s down to 4d,
gain a +1d bonus, exactly as if you’d aimed. (Note that this
there’s no way she can get three successes.
means anything that would keep you from aiming precludes
the bonus.)
BOUNCING ROLL 2 POINTS
HOLD THE LINE 3 POINTS
As Monkey Dodge. Any attacks made against you are at Dif-
ficulty 3—even if you roll no successes. This protection goes Any time you make a multiple action Parry/Attack, instead of a
into effect before any attacks are made. (Essentially, this tech- -1d penalty you get a +1d bonus. However, you can’t use Hold
nique makes your legs impossible to hit, so it’s really good for the Line if you move, or if you add any other Skill to the roll.
running away.) You can only use Hold the Line for one block and one strike.

Chapter Seven: Advanced Combat 145

 STABBING SERPENT TONGUE 4 POINTS THE WINNOWING AXE
If you have at least one comrade parrying for you, you can focus The battle secrets of the Truil tribes’ elite front-fighters, Win-
on your attacks and use Stabbing Serpent Tongue. Instead of a nowing Axe techniques are prized for their ability to let a single
penalty for multiple actions, you can roll your Spear pool at +1d warrior mow through legions of lesser adversaries.
and can use every set that turns up as an attack. Like Hold the Winnowing Axe techniques are (naturally) used with Coor-
Line, this can’t be combined with other Skills. dination + Axe.
INFINITE COHESION 5 POINTS SWEEPING SLASH 1 POINT
If you’re fighting in the middle of warriors who are also armed You may make two axe attacks without a penalty. These attacks
with shield and spear, and who have trained in Ruhini forma- can only target unworthy opponents.
tion drills, you get a +1d bonus to your Spear pool for every five
comrades, to a maximum of +4. Furthermore, if those fellow REAPING AXE 2 POINTS
warriors are Followers, their pool gets an extra die.
As Sweeping Slash. Any minions you attack with Reaping Axe

THUNDER FIST TECHNIQUES is treated as if their Threat was 1.

INEXORABLE WINNOWING 3 POINTS

Another set of unarmed combat techniques, Thunder Fist
teaches students to hit hard and hit often. It’s used with Coor- When you use an attack set to kill an unworthy opponent, you
dination + Unarmed Strike. It’s not for the subtle. affect a number of minions equal to the Width of your set. Note
that this does not let you ignore the Threat of your enemies.
LIVING WEAPON STANCE 1 POINT Furthermore, you only damage one of the unworthies’ sets—
Using this technique allows the warrior to parry without unless, of course, there are fewer mooks remaining than sets for
penalty, even when unarmed and out of armor. them to apply.

THUNDER FIST 2 POINTS EXAMPLE

As Living Weapon Stance. Additionally, the warrior’s unarmed Ruhk uses Inexorable Winnowing against eight unworthy
strikes do Killing damage instead of Shock. opponents. They have Threat 3. He rolls a 3×6. Instead of
killing one minion, he kills three. If he’d rolled a 2×6, he
LIGHTNING FOOT 3 POINTS would kill two. If he rolled a 2×2, he would have no effect
because it’s under their Threat. If his enemies had rolled a
As Living Weapon Stance. In addition, the fighter’s strike is 2×2 and a 3×2, he would have spoiled only one set, even if
timed to coincide with the first action taken by any opponent. he killed three unworthies.
If making multiple attacks, only the fastest can be sped up with
Lightning Foot. CRIMSON REAPING 4 POINTS
EXAMPLE As Reaping Axe. In any round in which you attack unworthies,
you produce a Morale Attack equal to your Axe Skill. This
Ukla and his friends are fighting a gang of sailors. Ukla
uses Lightning Foot when he rolls to attack, and he gets happens even if you don’t roll any successes.
a 2×8. One of the sailors, against all odds, rolls a 4×3 to
attack one of Ukla’s allies. Ukla’s 2×8 jumps to the head
HARVEST OF CRIES 5 POINTS
of the line and happens at the same time as that 4×3. You must kill someone before you can activate this technique.
He chooses to hit the fast attacker, but his strike doesn’t
Once you dispatch at least one enemy, the others become wary
decrease the 4×3 because Ukla isn’t actually faster.
of you when you perform this technique, which is an intim-
idating, whirling dance. Every round you use this technique,
RAIN OF BLOWS 4 POINTS unworthy opponents can only target you with missile fire,
unless you’re the only available target. No unworthy opponent
A warrior who does nothing but attack may make as many chooses to attack you hand to hand if there is any viable alter-
multiple attacks as is desired, without penalty. Any attacks that native. You can only use Harvest of Cries if you’re attacking
hit do Width Killing +1 Shock. with an axe, and it only works on unworthies who’ve seen you
HEARTSHAKER 5 POINTS kill somebody.

To use Heartshaker, the warrior must make a single attack.

This cannot be part of a multiple action. If the strike hits, it
THE YIELDING WAY
ignores all armor, from any source (including martial secrets This unarmed school of combat emphasizes the need to yield to
and enchantment). Furthermore, instead of normal damage, it greater force, get out of the way, and let your boorish attacker
does 8 Shock. do the work of getting thrown. It is based on Coordination +
Grapple.

146 Chapter Seven: Advanced Combat

 GLIDING STEP 1 POINT VICTORIOUS SUBMISSION 5 POINTS
When you make Shove or Tackle attacks, your opponent doesn’t You can’t be pinned, slammed, tripped, tackled, choked,
get a +1d bonus on Trip or Slam attacks against you. You do not restrained, shoved, or placed in a submission hold. Any attempt
have to beat the usual Difficulty 3 when attempting a Slam. to use those maneuvers on you fails and the set from the attack
pool is wasted. The effects of Victorious Submission affect you
SNAKE AND GROUSE TECHNIQUE 2 POINTS at all times—even when you’re surprised or asleep. Further-
Snake and Grouse Technique has one of two effects. The “Snake” more, Victorious Submission protects you even when you’re using
lets you fight from the downed position without penalty (see another martial secret.
Downed on page 115) The “Grouse” lets you stand as part of a

T
multiple action without penalty (see Stand on page 129). If you
use this as part of a multiple action with an attack, it also gives he day before the duel it rained. As the sun
the benefits of Gliding Step.
dimmed, the weather turned to fat clumps of snow.
THE SPRING UNCOILS 3 POINTS When the sun swelled again in the morning, it was
As Gliding Step. This technique enhances a combined Dodge/ clear, and the trees, the edges of the walls, every leafless
Slam. You can combine those techniques without the usual –1d branch in the formal garden, was clad in a glittering
penalty. Furthermore, if you succeed at both, your Slam result
does damage as if it was 1 Wider.
sheath of ice. It was breathtaking.
“It’s better this way,” said the tall warrior. She was
EXAMPLE named Panjiao and was speaking to her friend Doniao.
Jigoro is attacked and uses The Spring Uncoils against his “Yes.” Doniao was short and stocky, a more typical build
attacker. Jigoro’s Dodge pool is 7d and his Grapple pool is
7+MD. He uses the smaller pool, and usually he’d take a
for a Dindavaran. The two of them were sharpening swords.
-1d penalty. But his technique offsets the penalty, allowing “One clean, sharp act and an end. Otherwise…”
him to roll his full 7d pool. He gets a 3×9 and a 2×1, while
his attacker gets a 3×5. Jigoro assigns the three nines
“The Xuedei clan would never let the insult lie,” Doniao
as Gobble Dice and completely avoids damage from his said. “It would fester and their anger against the Meiren
attacker. His slam goes off on 2×1, but it does damage as would cast its shadow on every word, every act…”
if it was a 3×1.
Note that if he’d rolled a 2×9 and a 3×1, he wouldn’t “Everything.” Panjiao sighed. “The Meiren banner chief
have been able to dodge the faster 3×5 attack. That can’t apologize, and even if he could, his words would
means he’d get hit and lose a die out of his 3×1 pool. But
he could still succeeded at both, so when his slam goes off, meet no need. Only blood will settle this.”
its damage rises back to 3×1 level. “Only blood,” Doniao agreed. “But blood will.”
If he’d gotten a 2×9 and a 2×1 against a 3×5 attack,
his dodge would get ruined and his attack would only be a
“Certainly. A duel or a battle, those are the only options,
normal 2×1 slam. and the Hai Riyan would never countenance the reopening
of conflict.”
INWARD WINDING 4 POINTS “Rightly so.”
As Gliding Step. Any slam you make is timed as if its Width The two women were in a small tent. A servant sounded
was 4. If you opt to be land on top of a person you slammed, a small bell outside, and they knew it was time to begin.
it also does damage as if its Width was 4 but leaves you in
a downed position. (See Downed on page 115) If you make
“When we first met,” Doniao said, “I disliked you. I
multiple slam attacks in a round, you can only land on the last thought you proud and cruel.”
person thrown. “I probably was.”
“Now I respect you above no one else. Not our ruler, not
A NOTE TO THE GM my father, not my mother.”
When you know a PC is immune to a particular attack or
“I feel the same, Doniao. I have no friend closer than you.”
type of attack, that doesn’t mean all the GMCs know. If “It’s good to say these things.”
someone knows Victorious Submission, then sure, anyone “Yes.”
who has fought them, heard of their mastery, or watched
them evade grapples may be more likely to decide on a
Then the two warriors left the tent for the snow. In front
crossbow. But you should definitely have the occasional of a small audience of nobles, Doniao Meiren drew her
mook or ignorant chucklehead decide to try a tackle. Other- sword and killed Panjiao Xudei with a single cut. In this
wise, the character gets no chance to strut. Strutting is fun.
fashion, the feud between the families ended.

Chapter Seven: Advanced Combat 147

 It’s all fun and games until the gamblers get involved.

R eign already has

the basic combat
system (described on pages 109-125), as well as the
specific, advanced options (pages 126-146). But where basic
emphasizes cooperative story-crafting by the players and the
1. DECLARE
You declare which skill you’re using, if you’re making multiple
actions, and what you’re striking with—so far, just like the
GM, and advanced works more as a framework for creating
other two systems. However, you can be very vague with your
predictable and vaguely-plausible fights, there’s also a third
attacks. “I’m hitting the third guard with my sword” is per-
path. Just make sure you and your gaming group all under-
fectly acceptable. You don’t need to decide how you’re hitting
stand which system you’re using and (perhaps as important)
him until it comes time to resolve.
why you’re using it.
The Fluid system is simpler than the specific details of the 2. ROLL
advanced maneuvers, while giving a little more tactical traction
than relying only on the basics. Its major alteration is that you This is just the same. You roll your pool and sort your sets.
have leeway to change your action after the dice hit the table. In
3. RESOLVE
both the other systems, you have to declare exactly what you’re
doing before you roll. With Fluid, you still declare who you’re Here’s where things change the most. Timing is no differ-
hitting and what you’re hitting with, but once you sort your sets ent—Widest sets still go first, and High sets still go before low
you decide between doing more damage or trading off damage ones. Parrying, Dodging, Gobble Dice—all the same old thing.
for a variety of other desirable effects. What’s new is how damage is resolved.
When you hit, you can choose to make it just a simple,
THE PHASES ordinary, white-bread hit. You strike, you do damage of a type

OF FLUID COMBAT and amount appropriate for your weapon and Width, located on
the body part indicated by Height. The hit does damage only.
As with the other combat systems in Reign, there are three Characters no longer lose a die from a set automatically when
phases—Declare, Roll and Resolve. They change a bit, but you struck. (Crowds of unworthy opponents, described on page 118,
can still recognize a strong family resemblance. still lose a die from their collection of sets when one of them is
removed from the fight.)

148 Chapter Eight: Fluid Combat

 That’s really important, so I’m going to repeat it in bold for TARGETED EFFECTS: 1 SHOCK OR 1 KILLING
readers who are just skimming.
When using Fluid Combat, characters do not automati- These effects can only be used if applied to the proper limb,
cally lose a die from a set when struck. meaning, you rolled the right Height. You can’t trip someone
If you want to ruin someone’s shot—or blind him, trip him, with a hit to the arm or blind them by grabbing their foot.
aim for a vulnerable spot, or something—you can achieve that However, if you really really want to get one of these and you
effect by trading in damage. Different effects have different have the budget for it, you can use the stackable redirected effect
damage costs, as listed on the menu on the next two pages. and make that ×5 hit into the ×2 you really wanted.

EFFECTS OF FLUID COMBAT • Blinded: Target is blind (see Blind on page 115) for
Width rounds. Set has to hit location 10.
Doing damage is like going shopping. Some effects are really • Disarm: Target drops his weapon, shield, or other object.
cheap. Some are expensive. They’re listed in groups by cost. Set has to hit the gripping limb (3-4 or 5-6).
Keep in mind that you can buy more than one effect with a • Tripped: Target loses a die from all his sets. Set has to be
single hit. If you do 1S and 1K, you could use those to buy the to a leg location (1 or 2).
cheap effects Shaken and Reckless Attack, doing no damage
but protecting yourself and setting up your next move.
SERIOUS SINGLE EFFECTS: 2 SHOCK OR 3 KILLING
• Downed: Target is downed (see Downed on page 115)
MINOR SINGLE EFFECTS: 1 SHOCK OR 1 KILLING
until they spend an action to stand up.
You can only use these effects once per set, for obvious reasons. • Gripped: Target can’t change location as long as the
• Escape: You break the effect of being gripped without grip is on. You can let it go whenever you like, simply by
taking damage. doing something other than “keep my grip” during the
• Opportunistic: Redirect your attack from one individ- Declare phase. If you try to keep your grip, you don’t roll.
ual to a different one. (The attack’s Height and Width The opponent can escape the grip when someone uses the
remain unchanged.) “escape” effect (described above), or by opting to take 3S
to the gripped limb.
• Pulled Punch: Changes all Killing damage from your
hit to Shock. Thus, if I hit for 4 Killing, I can spend one MAJOR SINGLE EFFECTS: 3 KILLING
Killing point to turn the other three into Shock. If I hit
for 2 Killing, I can spend one to turn the other into Shock. • Clobbered: Target takes 1S to each limb
• Reckless Attack: Time your first strike next round as if • Intimidating: Produce a Morale Attack equal to the
it was 1 Wider. roll’s Height regardless of the attack’s outcome.
• Shoved: Target moves five feet in a direction you choose. • Stuck: The target can’t change locations without declar-
• Wound Up: Does an extra 2S but is timed as if Width ing an action to get unstuck and getting a set with Body
was one less. + Athletics or Coordination + Climb or something else
the GM deems suitable.
STACKABLE EFFECTS: 1 SHOCK OR 1 KILLING • Armor Damage: Target permanently loses 1AR at
that location.
These, you can buy and apply to a single set as many times as
you like. • Armor Avoidance: Damage from this blow ignores all
armor at that location.
• Confused: Target takes a -1d penalty on their next roll.
Special dice like MDs and EDs get taken out first.

N
• Crushing Blow: Change a point of Shock damage to
Killing. The easy way to think of this is that Shock
converts to Killing at a 2:1 rate, because you spend one
o ballad or history dwells on this, but when an army first
point of Shock to convert a different point of Shock into marches out, perhaps one soldier in ten is slightly ill.
a point of Killing. Nothing to keep them from doing their duty, they think,
• Disdainful: Raise your set’s Height by 1 solely for the but they trouble with their noses and feel endlessly weary.
purpose of determining whether it overcomes an unwor- After a month in the field, two in ten are in such condition.
thy opponent’s Threat rating.
After your first battle, one fighter in ten is too sick to fight, in
• Ghastly: Produce a Morale Attack after killing someone.
• Rattled: Spoil an unused set of your choice from a group
addition to the mildly unwell and the injured and the dead.
of Unworthy Opponents. You can only use this if you After a month in enemy territory, half the troops who can walk
attacked the group. at all are walking in a fever, if you’re lucky. If your enemy can
• Redirected: Raise or lower your hit location by 1. If I’m trap you in the field until winter, you will lose greater numbers
doing 5K of damage to location 5, I can change that to
to disease than to the noble blows of combat.
3K to location 7.
• Shaken: Target loses a die from a set. -Fazhu the Unifier, “Secret Doctrines”

Chapter Eight: Fluid Combat 149

 ARMOR ATTACK UNITY
It’s important to remember with this system that Armor only It’s equally important to remember that each attack is just one
soaks up damage: It does not reduce the Width of the attacker’s attack. Even if you get a 5×5 with your massive battleaxe (so,
roll nor reduce an attacker’s budget for effects. If you’re fighting 7K and 5S) you can’t decide to hit the bad guy for 7K and then
heavily armored opponents, you may not be able to get through spend 2S to redirect 3S to a pair of unworthy opponents. You
their armor with 3K damage, but you still have 3K damage to have to apply all that damage to one hit on one person.
buy effects. That armor won’t protect them from getting shoved,
disarmed or gripped.

A SIMPLE EXAMPLECYGNET VS. DAWN, THE FIRST FIGHT

Now that you’ve seen the price list, here’s what the system looks like in action. Let’s start with a fairly straighforward example.
Cygnet and Dawn are fighting over a man, and it’s gone well beyond name calling. Both women have Fight pools of 8d, Parry
pools of 5+ED, and are armed with longswords that do Width+1K. Cygnet has a helmet that gives AR3 to her head. Dawn has on
leathers that give AR1 to everywhere but her head. Cygnet has the higher Sense Stat.

ROUND ONE
The first round, they each go for a full attack.
• Cygnet rolls 1,1,2,3,5,6,7,9—a lousy roll for 8d, yielding only a 2×1.
• Dawn does rather better with 1,1,2,2,7,7,7,10.
Dawn has 4K with with to buy effects, and Cygnet has 3K.
Dawn chooses only to do damage—4K to Cygnet’s unarmored torso. But since the Fluid system doesn’t automatically wreck sets,
Dawn has left Cygnet with 3K damage to spend, either on Dawn’s lightly-armored leg (location 1) or on other effects. 2K to the leg
is… okay, but Cygnet decides to buy effects. Doing 1S to every limb would be good if if wasn’t going to get gobbled by armor, so she
decides to disarm Dawn (1K), and give her a -2d penalty next round (2K). She describes this as grabbing Dawn’s arm after the blade
has struck and chopping down on it with her own sword, forcing Dawn to let go and awkwardly leap back. Dawn takes no damage
but is at -2d and disarmed.

ROUND TWO
Cygnet declares another full attack while Dawn picks up her sword and attacks with it. This means any set she uses is timed as if it
was one level narrower.
• Cygnet rolls 2,2,3,4,8,8,9,9. With a 2×8 and 2×9 to choose from, she’s happy.
• Dawn rolls 2,4,7,7,10,10. That 2×10 would be a lot sweeter without the timing penalty for picking her sword up.
Cygnet picks her 2×9 result, which aims 3K at Dawn’s armored torso. She spends 1K to redirect to Dawn’s vulnerable head. 2K to
the melon. Ouch.
With 3K to Cygnet’s head, Dawn spends a point to redirect down—to Cygnet’s unarmored and injured torso. She does 2K there.
No special moves, just bad injuries.

ROUND THREE
Headachy Dawn plays it cooler next round, rolling her full Parry pool with the ED at 10. With her superior Sense score, Cygnet realizes
Dawn isn’t striking and makes a full attack.
• Cygnet rolls 1,3,4,7,7,9,9,9. With a 2×7 and 3×9 to play with, she grins.
• Dawn sets her ED to 10, rolls 1,1,1,3,9 and swears. A 3×1 is quick, but unlikely to protect anything but her leather-clad leg.
Cygnet opts to use the 3×9, giving her another 4K aimed at location 9. Once again, she redirects to 10, doing 3K there. She
contemplates leaving it as is and enjoying a tidy, efficient fatality. But while she’s angry, she’s not quite wiling to face murder
charges and Dawn’s family. Besides, she thinks killing her romantic rival might send the wrong signal to the man in question. So
she spends 1K to turn the remaining 3K to Shock. Two of those Shock stack in a box to become a point of Killing, but it leaves
Dawn barely alive and unconscious.

WHAT ABOUT MY LOYAL FOLLOWERS?

Unworthy opponents follow the same rules from page 118-121. They hit, they parry, they fight or fall. They are a simple people,
master. They aren’t going to be doing fancy armor-piercing blinding head shots. They still resist any set with Height and Width
lower than their Threat.
Each time an unworthy opponent is killed, a set from the mooks’ pool of successful rolls loses a die. (Otherwise it’s theoretically
possible for a group to be attacked by 10 enemies, kill four, scare off five, and still get hit with three attacks.)
A single point of damage, of any type, removes a mook from the fray, as long as its set was significant to overcome their Threat.

150 Chapter Eight: Fluid Combat

 A COMPLICATED EXAMPLE: CYGNET VS. DAWN, THE FINAL FIGHT
“You should have killed me when you had the chance, Cygnet!” “I won’t make that mistake again, Dawn!”
Now let’s look at a more complex example. Nobody loves a grudge match, and yet, they keep on coming. Cygnet has gotten over her romantic
rivalry with Dawn. (Turned out the guy was lousy in bed. Who knew?) Dawn, however, can’t quite forgive and forget. She’s rounded up fifteen of
her family’s retainers, given them swords (to raise them to Threat 2), and then made a chilling and impassioned speech about the dishonor that has
befallen their entire way of life at Cygnet’s hands (to increase that Threat to 3).
Dawn, on the other hand, has taken up with a nice Truilish mercenary named Zwiche, who has sharpened teeth, one of those spooky moaning Truil
hornbows, a Bow pool of 8, Fight 6, and 4+MD in Dodge. Dawn got a helmet this time (AR3 for location 10) but stuck to leathers because you can’t clank
down the middle of town in full metal without attracting notice. At least, not yet. Cygnet, amusingly enough, took a page from Dawn’s book and got
some armor for the rest of her body, so the two women have exactly the same AR at the same locations. Zwiche, on the other hand, is wearing nothing
but a light cape, sandals, and a loincloth because it’s so damn hot in the sunlit lands.

ROUND ONE
Cygnet goes on the attack against the charging So, the order of action is as follows. damage on the “Rattled” effect, ruining three
retainers, Dawn hopes to get her licks in while • Cygnet, with 4K at location 10 to of the retainers’ sets. She obviously picks the
Cygnet’s distracted, and Zwiche decides to distribute. 3×5, the 2×4, and a 2×1. Then she kills a
scamper up to the top of a nearby building to • Retainers, with a 3×5 basic hit. That’s follower with one of her remaining points of
get a good sniper perch. (Did I mention that 4K damage. damage, taking out that last 2×1 set. She’s
Zwiche has 3+MD in Climb, too?) • Dawn, with a 4K at location 4 to fool done a nice job protecting herself.
• Cygnet rolls 2,2,4,5,9,10,10,10. around with. Dawn, however, has 4K to Cygnet’s hand.
• Dawn rolls 2,3,4,4,4,5,8,10. • Zwiche with his fifteen feet of climbing. She chooses to spend a point to disarm (since
• Zwiche rolls 2,2,6 and turns his MD into • Then the retainers with a 2×4, 2×1 and it’s a bargain at 1K for the location) and let
a 2 in order to climb fifteen feet up the 2×1. the rest go through. Cygnet’s AR1 reduces the
wall. Cygnet has 4K to apply to one mook’s remaining damage to 2, but she has dropped
• The retainers roll 1,1,1,1,2,3,4,4,5,5,5,6, head, which is serious overkill. So she spends her sword.
8,9,10. it down. She uses three of her points of Killing Zwiche is now five feet from the roof.

ROUND TWO
Next round, a disarmed Cygnet decides to parry • Zwiche rolls 1,4,5 and turns his • Followers with 2×1.
with her leathered forearms, setting her ED at MD into a 5.
So, before anyone can stop them, the fol-
10. Dawn is slicing right back. The followers • The followers roll 1,1,3,5,5,6,7,7,7,8,
follow. Zwiche has to keep climbing—he’s not lowers do 3K to Cygnet’s torso, after her AR is
8,9,9,10
in a position to hit yet. He asks if he can draw subtracted. With her two Gobble Dice she wards
once he’s at the top. The GM allows it. So events go like this. off the next two attacks to her chest, but that
• Cygnet rolls 1,6,7,9,10. With her ED, she • Followers, with 3×7. 2×5 hits her arm. Seeing that her followers are
has a pair of tens to Gobble with. • Cygnet with 2×10. going for the leg as well, Dawn just goes for
• Dawn rolls 1,1,3,5,7,8,9,10. Just a measly • Followers with 2×9, 2×8 and 2×5. damage, and they have no other option. Cygnet
pair of ones. • Dawn with 2×1. has now taken 4K to that leg as well.

ROUND THREE
Zwiche is on the roof and makes a multiple • Then comes Dawn with a 2×7 and on Recklessness to get his next action faster.
attack—one at the mooks, one at Dawn. Cygnet Zwiche with the same. (When the GM asks how one arrow ruins two
is ducking and covering, Dawn is hacking and • Dawn and the followers with a 2×6 attacks, Zwiche’s player describes an angry
slashing—she actually decides on making two apiece. domestic who’s about to land a blow when
attacks—and the followers are following. • Zwiche and the followers with 2×5s. suddenly her good friend gets shot right next to
• The followers’ 14d pool yields 2×10, 3×7, The followers’ 3×7 is plain ol’ damage, three her. Naturally, she flinches.) That leaves no more
2×6, 2×5 and 3×1. Ouch. to Cygnet’s chest. Then their 3×1 hits her leg, damage to Cygnet and a 2×5 to Dawn, 3K to
• Cygnet’s ED is at 10 and she gets a filling it with Killing damage and bleeding one Dawn’s hand. With one point, he disarms her,
brother for it, so she has two gobble dice more into her torso. while the other does 2K to the limb—that fancy
set at 10. Her backup pair is a 2×1. On Cygnet’s turn, she actually ignores the Truil bow ignores a point of armor, remember.
• Zwiche gets the two pair he needs, a head hit, since her noggin’s unhurt and she’s Will Dawn retreat? She’s been bloodied and
2×7, and a 2×5. got a helmet to soak all the damage She uses is unarmed, while her rival has indisputably
• Angry Dawn gets a 2×7, a 2×6, and a her 10s to ruin Dawn’s attacks. If she’s going learned a lesson, what with the broken leg and
2×3. down, she’s going to die frustrating Dawn. wheezing lungs. Plus there are those two downed
Seeing that Dawn’s stymied, Zwiche uses henchmen to explain to her parents (are they
So in order… dead, maimed or merely cowering?), and an
the 3K from his 2×7 on the followers. It’s still
• The followers’ 3×7 and their 3×1. one attack, so he kills one with 1K and auto- archer up top that she can’t readily attack. On
• Cygnet’s 2×10 defense and the follow- matically ruins an attack. He spends another the other hand, she’s never going to get a better
ers’ 2×10 hit to spoil their last attack, and his last point chance to finish off Cygnet, and in for a penny...

Chapter Eight: Fluid Combat 151

 FLUID MARTIAL TECHNIQUES without all the techniques at lower levels. Furthermore, char-
acters still can’t know more than fifteen Martial Techniques.
The Advanced Combat system has precisely defined Martial Other than that, it’s just a matter of buying off yet another
Paths. The Fluid system lets you design your own (within chart.
parameters) just as you can design your combat move (within SAMPLE MARTIAL PATH
parameters).
Every Martial Path has to have a focus. In Advanced Combat,
all these techniques are focused on a particular weapon. With
FLYING SERPENT'S COIL
Fluid Combat, a path can focus either on a weapon or on a par- The mountains near Kininguvu are home to a poisonous snake
ticular effect. If you want to build a Martial Path based on the called (in the local tongue) the “flying serpent.” The ridiculous
Wound Up maneuver, you can do that and have it work for image of lowly belly crawlers worming their way through the air
equally well for swords, sticks, and chains. leads some travelers to dismiss the stories, until they see one of
Martial Paths can have any number of techniques, but char- the leg-length serpents strike upwards from a coiled position.
acters can’t learn any second level technique without learning all They don’t remain in flight, but their jumps can reach a tall
the first level techniques. They can’t learn a fifth level technique adult’s face or cover the distance from the front of a wagon to its
back in an eyeblink.
A sect that reveres the river Nguzi as a deity studied the
FLUID COMBAT EFFECT COSTS flying serpents and applied what they learned to defending
themselves from regional rivals. Their fighting style teaches that
Benefit Level all weapons are largely the same, and a warrior who masters
One particular effect costs 1S or 1K less† 1 timing can take control of a fight as easily with a spear as with
One particular effect (or combination) costs 2S or 2K less† 2 a dagger. Therefore, they pay particular attention to fighting in
One particular effect (or combination) costs 3S or 3K less† 3
an unpredictable, staccato rhythm that confuses opponents and
allows the Nguzi worshipper to get past his guard.
One particular effect (or combination) costs 4S or 4K less†
4
Attacks with the Flying Serpent’s Coil can only be made in
One particular effect (or combination) costs 5S or 5K less† 5 conjunction with the Wound Up effect.
One particular weapon does 1K more damage* 1
One particular weapon does 2K more damage* 2
TIGHTENING COILS 1 POINT
One particular weapon does 1S and 2K more damage* 3 Any time you announce that you’re using Tightening Coils
One particular weapon does 2S and 2K more damage* 4 during the Declare phase, you can add the Wound Up effect to
one attack that round, for free.
One particular weapon does 2S and 3K more damage* 5
One particular effect (or combination) costs 2S or 2K less
1
UNPREDICTED FLIGHT 2 POINTS
with one particular weapon†
One particular effect (or combination) costs 3S or 3K less When you pay to use the Wound Up effect, your target is auto-
2 matically Shaken, and you may choose to make the strike
with one particular weapon†
One particular effect (or combination) costs 5S or 4K less Opportunistic for free.
3
with one particular weapon†
EXPLOSIVE LUNGE 3 POINTS
One particular effect (or combination) costs 8S or 5K less
4
with one particular weapon† When you pay to use the Wound Up effect, you not only ignore
One particular effect (or combination) costs 10S or 6K less the restriction of timing it as if it was a point slower, it instead
5
with one particular weapon† goes off as if its Width was one greater.
Offset the multiple action penalty for one use of one
1 LEG-NUMBING ENTANGLING BITE 4 POINTS
particular Skill
Offset the multiple action penalty for an unlimited When you pay to use the Wound Up effect, you can Down and
3
number of uses of one particular Skill
Clobber your opponent for 4S or 4K (instead of 8S or 8K).
Time an attack as if its Width was one greater 1
Time an attack as if its Width was two greater 3 THEIR EVERY MOVE PRESENTS A TARGET 4 POINTS
Time an attack as if its Width was three greater 5 When you pay to use the Wound Up effect, you can alter your
Get a free Morale Attack 2 after a kill 1 hit location by up to 4 points for free. (This works like the Redi-
Get a free Morale Attack 4 after a kill 2 rected effect.)
Get a free Morale Attack 6 after a kill 3 NGUZI’S SECRET 5 POINTS
Get a free Morale Attack 8 after a kill 4
When you use Nguzi’s Secret in the Declare phase, you get the
Get a free Morale Attack 10 after a kill 5
benefit of Tightening Coils. After your dice hit the table, you
†
If you’re wondering—yes, this can make an effect free. can choose to use any of the other levels of Flying Serpent’s Coil
*determine beforehand if this bonus is applied before
or after effects are paid for.
on your result.

152 Chapter Eight: Fluid Combat

 Might.

R eign has rules for face to

face personal stabbing in
the Combat sections, and
it covers vast, abstract collisions
of nations and cultures with the Company rules. The second
map, but I’d rather
fumble around
resetting a d6 from
six to four than trying to pick two
counters out of a hex, especially if your hexes are small.
are strongly influenced by the first, sometimes. But if you want Map Tools. You need a map on which to plan out the battle.
something for the middle level, a way to resolve tactical skir- You can buy hex paper or you can make your own easily enough;
mishes where maneuver and morale matter more than a single online resources are available with little searching. Me, I like
warrior’s skill, but where it’s still not an entire country at risk, to repurpose the sturdy cardboard hexes from my Settlers of
you can use this optional system. It’s called Die, Men! and one Catan game with a sheet of plexiglass on top to keep them from
playtester described it as “a minis game for gamers who hate shifting around.
minis.” It does have a lot in common with traditional wargames Alternately, you can do it on a square grid. That works just
(you can even use a hex grid, if you like) but I’ve tried to make it fine as well. It’s a little clunky going diagonal, but some people
as simple and quick as I could without sacrificing the essential prefer it, and it’s easier.
nitty gritty of making the right decisions. That’s what command If you’re using Die, Men as a companion to a roleplaying
is all about, right? That and looking good in armor. game, the map probably comes from your GM’s fervid brain. If
The Die, Men! system isn’t right for everyone or for every you just want to wargame a little and bash your neighbor, there
game. Use it only if you have a military-intensive plot, where are instructions for collectively generating a map by laying tiles
conflicts on this scale are commonplace and important. If you’re under The Map on page 154.
doing merchants or louche courtiers or secretive cultists, you
probably don’t need this level of detail. It’s probably actually
a bad thing for such settings. But with that warning stated… DEFINING THE SCALE
Just how big a battle is this? The rules scale so that you can rep-
YOU NEED... resent a brawl of twenty on twenty with the same map,with
supplies and rolls as an engagement of thousands. That twenty
Dice. Lots and lots of dice, actually. At least 15d10 just for on twenty fight could be part of a larger engagement, with the
rolling, plus more dice if you want to use them for groups of terrain that’s meaningful on the small scale (this patch of trees,
units. If you don’t have tons of dice, you can use counters on the that narrow stream through the field) being subsumed into one

Chapter Nine: Die, Men! 153

 huge “open” hex at the army level. It doesn’t change the rules. volcanoes, deep water, and the like. (If you want to represent
Just decide how many soldiers a “unit” represents and the rest of fortresses with the simple rules, impassible hexes surrounding
the scale builds from there. some units does nicely.)
This means that if I want to run a battle of 120 men against That leaves rough terrain. You can’t enter rough during the
150 enemies, I can choose to have 6 units of 20 men each, or free movement phase at the end of combat (except for cavalry
60 units of 2 men each, or any combination on the scale. I just units, if you’re using them). This means you have to spend a set
have to make sure that my opponent is on the same step! If to move into or out of it.
my units are 20 and his are 5, the system is going to collapse If your players are just throwing a battle together, I recom-
dramatically. mend having individual hexes made up (or, like I said, borrowed
Larger scale means less time to resolve. With fewer dice, you from another game). Divide them up between players and take
have a lot less handling time sorting your sets. However, if you turns putting them down. You can have one player put down all
get too grainy, your pool doesn’t yield many sets and you wind the mountains and another put down all the fields, or you can
up needing lots more rounds. Then again, since each round is just grab random handfuls. This can set up a game-before-the-
shorter, it may all come out in the wash. Most important of all, game where you build terrain with plans in mind, if you like.
the smaller the pools, the bigger the influence of luck. If I go
with 60 units of 2, I’m going to have the 15d maximum pool
for a long time. If it’s 6 units of 20, then I roll a pool of 6d and
SETTING UP
things are much more random. If this is an RPG scenario, the GM sets up the enemy units,
Given how much of a difference scale makes, in a roleplaying and possibly yours as well. Or, if your characters knew this fight
framework it might make sense to let the winner of a Strategy roll was coming, you may get to decide where your units are, within
off pick the scale, then let the other general adjust it up or down reason. If it’s a pickup war, just take turns picking a hex and
one step. In my 120 vs. 150 example, I might want to set it at ten putting as many units as you want in it.
men to a unit, so I start with a 12d pool vs. their 15d. That’s not
so random as a 6d pool, but still doesn’t give them as crushing of
an advantage. My opponent might then adjust it down so that I
IN BATTLE
have a 6d pool and they have 7d. Or switch it upwards, giving As with the standard ORE, you declare, roll, and resolve.
both of us 15d pools, but with mine less durable. However, since you’re dealing with great mobs of personnel,
Declaring is vague.
THE MAP Each general declares a general strategy for their whole
army. These are written down and shown simultaneously. Then
For the simplest form of the game, there are only three types each player rolls, producing sets. During the resolve phase,
of terrain: Open, rough, and impassible. If you want to spice they spend sets to have certain hexes take certain actions—but
things up, finer graduations (with rules) are available under the the actions they can choose are limited by the strategy picked
heading Terrain on page 157. during Declare. If you declared a retreat, you can’t have a hex
Open terrain doesn’t change the rules at all. It’s open, flat, attack, even if your opponent reveals a weakness. At the very
and easy to march and fight and die on. Impassible terrain is end of resolve phase, there’s a free movement phase where each
just what it says: No one can move units into it. This is for cliffs, group of units can move into one open, unthreatened hex.

WHAT IS A “UNIT”?
The basic element of these rules is the “unit,” representing a soldier or group of soldiers. You need to track units, you lose units to en-
emy action, the number of units you have in a given place indicates how effective you can be there. A unit could represent ten soldiers
or a hundred, but units are always the same for all players in a battle. If your units are fifty troops, enemy units are fifty troops too.
You can track units on the map with counters, or you can track multiple units on a single die by adjusting the top face to show
how many units are present.

UNIT STATISTICS
Soldiers per Unit Hex Size Command Interference Command Lag Each Round Lasts
1 15 feet Tactics, Difficulty 0 0 5 minutes
2 15 feet Tactics, Difficulty 3 0 5 minutes
5 30 feet Tactics, Difficulty 5 1 10 minutes
10 60 feet Tactics, Difficulty 5 / Strategy, Difficulty 0 1 10 minutes
20 60 feet Strategy, Difficulty 3 1 15 minutes
50 150 feet Strategy, Difficulty 5 2 30 minutes
100 200 feet Strategy, Difficulty 7 3 1 hour

154 Chapter Nine: Die, Men!

 COMMAND INTERFERENCE
There’s a column for Command Interference on the scale chart. That’s primarily a matter for Die, Men! as a roleplaying adjunct. If
your characters are in the battle, their characters are in a particular hex. They may want to give orders that are different from those
issued by the general or commander. Command interference indicates what a character has to roll in order to get the units in their
hex to obey.
Here’s the nifty bit: Successful orders from PCs ignore the Declared strategy. If your commander put your army in hold but
you see a vulnerability, make your Tactics or Strategy roll. If it succeeds, you can take one of the sets the general rolled and turn it
into an attack. You may get chewed out for it later. Then again, considering what an unexpected attack might do during a retreat,
you could wind up with a medal.
Understanding what’s actually happening in the scrum and confusion requires a cool observation and an educated understand-
ing of tactics and strategy. Command is guts and emotion. Giving the right instructions in the right order to the right troops is a
matter of thought.
If you want to factor in the force of personality, you can allow Command + Inspire (or Command + Threaten, if that’s your
method) to reduce the Difficulties of those Tactics or Strategy rolls. For each point of Width in the Command-based roll, the
Difficulty goes down by one. You can do this as a multiple action, or you can set it up one turn by commanding the attention of
the troops before giving them their new strategy or tactic.

DECLARE
There are four options: deploy, seize, hold, and retreat. You
pick one of these four for your whole army, and it restricts the
choices you have when assigning sets to actual actions. Usually,
the strategy you pick constrains where your units can move.
During the free movement phase, those restrictions no longer
apply.
T he matter of pillage is one to be handled with utmost
delicacy. The promise of reward can lend courage
more reliably than strong drink and with greater vigor
than stirring poems of patriotism. Yet soldiers with unbridled
license to rob are prone to lose discipline. At worst, they may
DEPLOY disobey orders to leave off looting and fight, for only a very
When you declare a deploy strategy, your units aren’t actively
loyal man will step away from the promise of gold for the
seeking conflict with the enemy—they’re trying to get into desired promise of bloodshed, or a cruel one.
positions. When you deploy, choose a general direction (“north,” Furthermore, once they begin to take those things that
“to high ground,” “towards the enemy troops”). When you spend can be held in the hand, they may be emboldened to
sets for troop actions, you can “defend” or “move.” The move order
cannot go directly away from the goal. (If you’re deploying north,
commit indignities against the population, and once that
your troops won’t go south.) You can’t attack while deploying. is the rule, you are no longer fighting battles but policing
SEIZE an insurgency. Rein in your men, find reliable provisioners
among the conquered, feed your troops well after victory,
With seize, you’re the aggressor. You’re trying to engage an
enemy force or occupy a particular location. As with deploy, you
strike deeply at civic treasuries and don’t fear to plunder the
choose a general goal (“the main force of their cavalry,” “the city vaults of hated merchants. But first find who among the rich
gate,” “the center of the battlefield,” “south”). Your troops can are hated and who beloved.
move, but as with deploying, they can’t move directly away from Critically, send only officers you trust to seize the wealth.
the goal. They can attack any adjacent square. They cannot,
however, move away from the goal in order to make an oppor-
Distribute it personally, to those whose behavior you would
tunistic assault. In seize mode, you cannot defend. have the bulk soldiers emulate. Promising a hundredweight
HOLD of gold to the first man to bring you an enemy captain alive
motivates clever tactics. Allowing all your men to enrich
When you Declare a hold, you’re trying to keep what you have.
Your troops can defend, obviously. They can also attack. Their
themselves at will impoverishes the land and leaves your
Move options are severely curtailed, however: They can only reavers more inclined to desert and slink home rich than stay
move into a hex that already contains some of your troops. and fight. The promise of gain is better, and less expensive,
RETREAT than actually rewarding the men. Keep them eager until you
have no need of their eagerness, then pay them generously so
You know what a retreat is. The army’s withdrawing from enemy
troops. When you retreat, your troops cannot attack. They can
that their sons crave glory in another ten years.
move, but they cannot move directly at an enemy unit. If they’re -General Stead, “Precepts”
surrounded, they can defend, but only, then.

Chapter Nine: Die, Men! 155

 ENCIRCLEMENT ATTACK
Encirclement occurs when your opponent has to defend You tell your troops in one hex to attack an adjoining hex. (You
more than one facet of a hex from your forces. If you’re can’t attack an empty hex, only move into it.) If you get a set past
in two hexes that adjoin theirs, they’re encircled—your any defense they’ve mounted, you knock a die out of one enemy
units don’t need to be next to one another. If your forces set. (The enemy commander picks which.)
are in three hexes, they’re considerably encircled. If you get More critically, your troops also eliminate a number of enemy
all six hexes around their unit, they’re completely sur- units equal to the Width of the set assigned. Several factors can
rounded and in bad, bad shape. increase the number of units removed.
Encirclement is a powerful tactical advantage, and it • Terrain can give bonuses. Hills and mountains both give
functions like a weapon in hand-to-hand ORE combat: It +1 damage when they’re the origin of an attack.
adds points to your Width for the purposes of determin-
ing how many units snuff it. (Not for timing!) For each • Position can give bonuses. See the boxed text on
facet your forces occupy, you do an extra unit of damage. Encirclement for details. Short version: each extra
When you’ve only got one face to an enemy hex, you do facing your enemy has to defend gives you +1 damage.
Width damage. Two faces is W+1. If you surround them You can’t do more damage than you have troops to
on six sides, every attack set from each of those six hexes do it, though.
does W+5 damage. However, your forces’ damage still • Some types of troops do extra damage. Archers give a
cannot exceed the number of units in the hex. +1 bonus to troops in their hex and adjoining spaces, the
presence of Player Characters gives a +1 bonus, and cav-
EXAMPLE alry troops do Width+1 damage.
Fifteen reserve units of the Royal Army have gotten cut All these bonuses work the same way. They take out more troops
off while trying to back up a failing flank. The Duke’s than the Width, but don’t actually change the Width.
Insurgents occupy three adjacent hexes between them
and the main force. One of the Duke’s hexes has five units EXAMPLE
and the other two have three apiece. When the Duke
spends aç 2×9 set ordering the five unit hex to attack, I’m seizing while my opponent is holding. I roll and get
it kills four Royal units: Width (two) plus the number of a 2×8, while they get a 3×8. As it happens, I’m pretty
extra faces from encirclement (two). However, when the buff: I’m attacking with cavalry units on two faces, so
hexes with three units are assigned attack sets, there’s my damage is at Width+2 with each squad (+1 for being
no way for their damage to exceed three units. If they Cavalry, +1 for encirclement). But because their 3×8 set
had four or more units, they’d get the full benefit, but as is timed faster, he can use a Gobble Die to wreck my 2×8.
it is the most damage that the total of eleven units can I do no damage.
do is… eleven. Though to put that in perspective, it’s not Next round, I’m still seizing, they’re still holding, neither
a bad yield from six points of Width. of us has moved. This time, I get a 4×10 and a 3×9 while
he gets a 4×10 as well. His four tens become Gobble Dice
and when I attack with my 4×10, he can cancel three of
the dice in my set, wrecking it. When I assign my 3×9, he
ROLL uses his last Gobble Die to reduce it to a 2×9. It still gets
through, though. Doing Width+2 damage, I clear out four
When all the generals have picked strategies, they roll the dice.
of his units.
Rolling dice produces sets, and you spend sets to attack,
defend, and move around in threatened hexes. The more dice
Damage is limited, however. The number of units in a square
you roll, the more sets you’re likely to get, so the obvious
or hex serves as a cap to the amount of damage it can do. If I
question is, “How many dice do you roll?”
have two units in a square, it doesn’t matter if they’re cavalry
You roll 1d10 per unit but only up to a maximum of 15d.
attacking a completely encircled foe and I assigned a 4×10
(Trust me, you don’t really want to roll and sort more than that.)
result. They kill two enemy units, that’s it.
You can get some pretty impressive sets this way—4× and 5×
When units are eliminated, the defender chooses which in
sets are much more likely to turn up in a 15d pool than in a
a hex are gone. (For example, if a hex has both cavalry and
smaller one. If you get a very wide set like that, you can use it
infantry troops, you probably want the infantry to take the
as-is, or you can break it into smaller sets. If I roll a 5×10, I can
damage.)
either keep it or turn it into a 2×10 and a 3×10.
Once a hex is emptied of enemies, it’s an open space like any
The timing of the sets is just like in all the other ORE rules.
other. Attackers don’t automatically move into the hex. If they
RESOLVE want to occupy it, they can do so with a move action or go in
during free movement.
Now we get to the meat of it. Your army has a single pool and
gets a string of sets. You spend those sets on hexes full of your DEFEND
units, and those units then pursue your interests.
You can spend your sets on three different tactics: attack, If you tell a group to defend, the set you assign it turns into
defend, and move. Gobble Dice to apply against incoming attacks.

156 Chapter Nine: Die, Men!

 MOVE extra point of Height, up to 10. This does not change timing,
since they don’t get the extra Height until they’re assigned to
With any set, you can move any or all the units in one hex into Defend, and they can’t be assigned to Defend before their spot
any adjacent hex that doesn’t already have enemies in it. It’s a in the timing queue.
nice use for sets with low Width and/or Height, if they don’t get
ruined by attacks.
MOUNTAIN
If their initial hex and the hex they’re entering are unthreat- Units on mountains get an advantage against enemies who
ened—that is, there are no enemy units in an adjacent hex—they aren’t (1) fliers or (2) on an adjoining Mountain. The advan-
can complete the move order even without an assigned set, tage is the same as for a Hill, plus that hex gets a free Height 10
during Free Movement. (But only then!) Gobble Die added to any Gobble Dice produced by Defense.
Moving some units from a hex and leaving some behind is
fine. EXAMPLE
FREE MOVEMENT Joe has units on a mountain and has Declared a hold.
Shannon has units in an adjacent hex and has Declared
This is a little addendum to the Resolve phase after all the sets a seize. When they roll, Shannon gets a 3×1, a 2×8, and a
have been spent. Each squad can move into an adjacent space 2×3, while Joe gets a 2×8. Shannon goes first, and her 3×1
as long as that space meets two qualifications. First it has to be wipes out three units before Joe has a chance to respond.
open terrain. Second, it has to be unthreatened (that is, there are When Joe applies his 2×8 to Defense, he gets two Gobble 9
no enemies adjacent to it). Heck, for cavalry troops, it just has Dice (because each gets extra Height) and one Gobble 10
to be unthreatened. It’s one space per group of units, however. Die. This is easily enough to spoil her 2×8 and 2×3.
If you want to split up a squad, sending some north and some
south, that’s fine as long as the spaces are available.
Free Movement really is free. Moves taken at this time aren’t
RIVER
constrained by the strategy chosen during the Declare phase. You can’t move into or out of a river hex during Free Movement.
So if you were in a full retreat and could only move away from
enemies, during Free Movement you could go back towards them CASTLE
as long as you were going into an unthreatened, open space.
Sketch out the castle walls. They’re impassible. Towers are

THAT'S ENOUGH, treated like mountains.

BUT THERE'S MORE

As is, you’ve got a simple, functional miniature wargame.
Position yields advantage through encirclement, a dynamic
balance exists between clumping units (which can carry bigger
sets and last longer) and spreading them out (where they’re vul-
nerable, but can encircle), and you’ve got a few kinds of terrain
to spice things up. But if you keep using this, or are already
an experienced wargamer, you may want things spicier still.
Thus, I offer a list of complications. Use any of them, use all,
use none, it’s all fine. But if you decide to kick in these compli-
cations, understand that it must, inevitably, make the process
more complicated. It’s going to take longer, it’s going to demand
more attention and effort. If your group likes that, grand. Just
be aware that not everyone does and that it’s OK to leave some
tools on the shelf, and often a good idea.

TERRAIN
Three basic types of terrain are OK, but why stop there? There
are no changes to open, rough and impassible, but there are
more to be had.

HILL
When you assign an attack or defense to a unit on a hill, it gets
an advantage against enemy units, as long as those units aren’t
(1) fliers, (2) also on a hill, or (3) on a mountain.
The advantages against all other terrains are as follows:
Attacks do +1 damage. Gobble Dice from defense all get an

Chapter Nine: Die, Men! 157

 PALISADE, DRAWBRIDGE OR PORTCULLIS means that “one enemy unit» damage is an absolute. Encircle-
ment and terrain don’t increase it.
These are Impassible until they (1) take a hit from a siege engine
or (2) are opened by the castle’s owner. (Palisades can’t be
CAVALRY
opened, naturally.) Then they’re open. Once they’ve been hit by Cavalry attacks do +1 damage. If a set is spent to move cavalry,
a siege engine, they’re gone. they can go a number of hexes equal to the Width of the set.
If you don’t want to fuss with different unit types, just give a During Free Movement, they treat rough terrain as open.
special counter to one group of units. That’s your battering ram. If
they can get that to the obstacle and apply an attack set, it’s down. CHARIOTS
FOREST If a set is spent to move Chariots, they can go a number of hexes
equal to the Width of the set. They can’t enter Forest, Hill, or
When a defense is declared for a unit in a forest, a free Height Mountain hexes at all during a battle.
10 Gobble Die is added to the Gobble Dice of the defense set. Chariots can Attack normally (doing Width in damage).
This works just like the free Gobble Die for mountains.
DEFENSIVE BLOC
COMMAND LAG A defensive bloc is a group of soldiers with really heavy armor,
Without Command Lag, your troops know, immediately, what tower shields, or some other protective advantage. Hexes con-
you want them to do, and then they do it. This is not, strictly taining a defensive bloc get a free Gobble 10 Die every turn,
speaking, realistic. To better mimic the confusion of the battle- which they can use at any time.
field, you can implement Command Lag.
Look at the scale chart way back at the beginning. The FLIERS
Command Lag column lists how many turns in advance you
have to declare strategies. (Best to write them down.) Flying units ignore all the negative effects of terrain.
So, if you have Command Lag 1, on the first round of the PLAYER CHARACTERS
battle, you have to declare two strategies for your army. The first
is applied during the first round. Then on the second round, you If you don’t want to play through the blow-by-blow, give a
choose to seize, hold, deploy, or retreat for the third round while the +1 unit damage bonus to sets for hexes that have a PC in it.
second-round actions you announced in the first round get imple- Multiple PCs means multiple bonuses.
mented. When you get up to Command Lag 3, you have to think
three moves ahead and are likely going to wind up giving orders to
SIEGE ENGINES
dead troops and launching attacks on units that aren’t there. Siege Engines can launch attacks on enemies two hexes distant.
They cannot launch them against enemies who are only one hex
UNIT TYPE away. However, any hex adjacent to them or two hexes away
In the basic rules, a group of mounted knights in heavy armor, is considered threatened. Furthermore, the number of units
trained from the first blossom of youth to kill without mercy, doesn’t act as a cap on damage. If you have a single siege engine
is treated the same as a group of naked primitives using their and assign it a 2×8, it wipes out two units.
ancestors’ thigh bones as weapons. To many, that just ain’t right. Moving siege equipment isn’t easy. It can’t move at all unless
So there are some options for modeling troops with special it’s accompanied by units of a different type. (Essentially, the
training or equipment. siege engine unit represents a big hulking thing and some guys
who know how to aim and load it. It doesn’t have an entourage
ARCHERS of the people or animals needed to move it around.) If it has an
A hex that has archers in it gives a +1 Width bonus to all attacks escort unit, they have to move together, with each spending a
made by normal troops from their hex or from any adjoin- set to move. Siege engines can’t move during Free Movement.
ing hexes. However, the total Width bonuses can’t exceed the
number of archer units.
THREAT RATING
By spending an attack set, an archer unit can remove one If you want to use the Threat ratings from Chapter Six for the
enemy unit anywhere within a two hex radius. They cannot make troops, it’s pretty easy to implement: Sets lower than the Threat
normal attacks (the kind that do Width damage), however. This rating of the target fail.

158 Chapter Nine: Die, Men!

 This might require more than a magic sword.

S o far, the many and varied conflict rules

have covered individual against indi-
vidual; small group against small
group; company on company; and mid-
dle-sized militias in between, along with
THE FACTORS
TERROR*. If the creature can produce a Morale Attack
every round without any limiting factor, it can produce stam-
guidelines on how one individual can help or hamstring a pedes and disrupt entire settlements.
company. This chapter, then, adds a framework for resolving CARNAGE*. If the creature can produce an Area Attack
physical clashes on the Company level when facing an indi- every round without a limiting factor, that makes it a
vidual that’s a credible threat to a city, army, or other armed broad menace.
enterprise. If you want a game with something that resembles
MAYHEM*. If the entity can reliably make three or
Godzilla or the Incredible Hulk, these are the rules you want.
more attacks per round, it’s more than most small unit tac-
tics can handle.
THE FACTORS OF AN INDESTRUCTIBLE. Armor 4+ on every location makes a

EPIC THREAT creature pretty epic.

MOSTLY IMPERVIOUS. If it has Armor 5+ on all but
What separates an “epic threat” warranting a general call to one location, that’s also a concern.
arms from a simple insurrection or (for that matter) from an AIRBORNE. Creatures that can fly are a particular prob-
unusually competent bar room brawler? Two things. One is, the lem for armies that can’t.
epic threat is an individual. (If it wasn’t, you could stat it with SWIFT. If the creature has a base movement rate of 50’+
the Company rules.) per round, it can outmaneuver infantry and give cavalry a
The second thing is, it possesses two or more of the following good challenge.
factors that let it resist individual deterrence, or which allow it
LEVIATHAN. Does it have 150+ total wound boxes?
to menace large, armed groups.
That’s epic.

Chapter Ten: Enemies of Awful Scale 159

 To qualify as an epic threat, an individual, monster or entity it can manage to terrify Territory 3 into obedience, but that’s it
must possess at least two of those factors, and one of the factors without forming some sort of Company to help it oppress.
has to be aggressive. (Those are the first three factors listed—
the ones in red with an asterisk.) SYMBOLIC VICTORY
For each factor it possesses, it has Might 1. This is why the Without the wide but diffuse presence of a Company and its
spell Cataclysmic Transformation produces Might 2: It gives the agents, the personal gains of a symbolic victory are transitory.
caster Terror and Carnage. An individual beast can temporarily increase an allied Compa-
ny’s Influence, but that’s its only real gain. However, if it attacks
EXAMPLE to reduce its target’s Sovereignty or Influence, those losses are
A drakon finds its way out of the mountains. The GM has permanent. (Providing memorable narratives is one thing at
given it two wings, two legs, and two heads (‘cause why which epic threats excel.)
not?). Each of these locations has 20 wound boxes and its
torso has 40. Each head can breathe scalding steam once PRE-EMPTIVE DEFENSE
before it has to go and reload its stomach and let its throat
cool. Each breath attack is an Area 10 Killing attack, ouch. This can be handled without any change to the rules.
It flies at 30’ per round. People who’ve never seen a giant
murder lizard before take a Morale Attack 4 every round.
Finally, it’s got AR4 on every location. It can make some
DEFEND
bite and claw attacks too, if it doesn’t spit steam. It’s a bit harder for one individual (invulnerable or not) to defend
This gives it the factors of Terror, Indestructible, himself against an encircling force than it is for a massed force
Airborne and Leviathan. Though it also has an Area to break, dissolve, and reform in a couple days. Therefore, when
Attack, it can only do that twice before needing a break, so attacked, an epic threat can only defend dynamically. It can’t
it doesn’t qualify for Carnage. With four factors, it attacks just generate gobble dice and try to ride it out.
with Might 4.
UNCONVENTIONAL WARFARE
Pretty simple so far, right? These entities are largely handled
While epic threats can target whatever they please with uncon-
like Companies that don’t have to worry about Sovereignty and
ventional attacks, if their scheme is discovered beforehand it
which can only take Might-based actions. There are some indi-
automatically fails. Unconventional warfare is premised on
vidual refinements to those specific actions, as listed below.
surprise and conspiracy. A collective on the defensive against
an individual has too many options to protect, move, or replace
ATTACK assets. Moreover, epic threats can’t exfiltrate. They might be
able to sneak away as individuals, but they can’t make rolls to
Let’s face it: This is largely what epic threats do. It’s what makes
cover their tracks the way a well-connected conspiracy can.
them threats. If they went around making huge statues of them-
selves (as if they were trying to Rise in Stature) they’d merely
be epic eccentrics.
POLICING
When epic entities attack, their Might temporarily drops, While an entity with epic capacities can, in the face of uncon-
just as it does for a regular Company. (This is covered in a ventional warfare, choose to either roll up the conspiracy or foil it
separate section Epic Injuries, following.) If they take a hit that during its deed (that is, can take dynamic or contested options),
would cause a Company to lose a point off a quality, that, too, is it cannot halt an exfiltration. A lone wizard of awesome ability
handled as explained under Epic Injuries. may singlehandedly strike down a group of villains, but when
they scatter to the winds along pre-planned escape routes, that
RAIDING same enchanter is unlikely to be able to get all of them.
If a threat makes a move on your treasury, you may just want
to back off slowly with your hands up and practice non-attach-
ment. Unlike an invading army, its ability to actually haul away
EPIC INJURIES
booty may be limited. Specifically, it can’t haul away more than When armies clash, it ends with ceded territory, strategic with-
Wealth 5. It can only increase a Treasure rating as much as it drawal, the honored dead, and the survivors bandaging their
could with Wealth 5. wounds. But what happens when one “side” is a single individ-
ual? What does “lose a point off a Quality” mean to a drakon of
ANNEXING Ardwin (or to a rampaging kaiju)?
Another job that’s really handled better by large numbers than It depends, because not all Might losses are created equal.
one deathless monster. An epic threat can only annex land equal Some are temporary and some are permanent. If the Company
to Territory 1, and that only as long as it’s physically present. rules would yield a temporary loss, use the results on the
Sure, the threat of its return works for a while—call it months Lesser Epic Injury table.
equal to its Might. But if it’s not there, people get lazy, no Typically, the GM assigns one which fits the narrative, but
matter how detailed their instructions were. the farther out you’re abstracting events, the more reason-
If the menace incorporates either the Swift or Airborne factor, able it becomes to roll at random. I’d recommend GM choice
it can take and hold a maximum of Territory 2. If it has both, unless it’s a background event—an epic GMC confronting a

160 Chapter Ten: Enemies of Awful Scale

 LESSER EPIC INJURIES
d10 Effect
Misery: The creature isn’t physically harmed, but if it has Passions, one of them is negatively impacted and the issue is ongoing. A
1
loved one or treasured object gets captured, for example.
2 Battered: Half the entity’s Wound Boxes at each location are filled with Shock damage.
Tragic Loss: Like Misery, only this time the valued thing has been destroyed beyond recall. Could be a tangible item, or a more
3
abstract price. (“This rampage has cost you all my respect, father.”)
Inspires Nemesis: Some individual has become dedicated to revenge on the entity. It’s an obsession. If they can’t kill the epic threat,
4
they make do ruining everything it loves and gathering others to do their dirty work.
Shows Weakness: In the course of its battle, the threat did something to give its enemies courage, revealing a fear or weakness—or
5 something they only perceive as such. The entity’s Morale Attack drops by 1 against this Company, permanently. (This is only an option
to epic threats that produce Morale Attacks, of course.)
Blistered: The epic beast has been weakened. Its Armor rating drops two points off every location for a month. (Naturally, this result only
6
makes sense against threats with Armor ratings.) Its foes may or may not know that it’s now more vulnerable.
Defilade Removed: The Armor rating on one hit location drops to zero for one month. (Assuming it has some ongoing Armor rating,
7
of course.)
Exhausted: The entity is forced to flee the site of the confrontation and is unable to attack or take any other meaningful action for a
8
month. (Probably licking wounds and/or sulking in its tent.)
Hurt: One limb is completely filled with Shock damage and two points of Killing damage as well. Lucky shot? Concentrated fire? Who
9
knows, but the threat may have never experienced pain like this before.
Grounded: If the entity can usually fly, it’s stuck on the ground for a month. If it usually has the Swift factor, its movement rate is reduced
10 to 15’ per round. If it doesn’t have either of those traits, it’s stuck in a small area, no bigger than a single village or mountain. What keeps it in
place depends on the narrative—illness, a curse, injuries, moral obligation? Whatever works.

GREATER EPIC INJURIES

d10 Effect
Flensed: “Flense” is a verb meaning “to strip the fat,” typically off a carcass, but in this case it was done alive. It’s not necessarily fat either
1 (though it could be). The creature has been burned or peeled or otherwise evenly basted with wounding force. It permanently loses a point
of Armor at every location. (This only makes sense if it has permanent Armor, naturally.)
Achilles’ Heel: All the Armor at one location is reduced to zero, permanently. Again, if the entity doesn’t have some sort of permanent
2
Armor, pick a different injury.
Grendeled!: Someone has removed one of the entity’s limbs, possibly hanging it over a door frame. Ouchies! It now has a missing arm,
3
leg, tail, pedipalp or what have you. Any hits to that location go straight to the torso.
Savage Pummeling: Half the wound boxes at each location are filled with Killing damage. This is the literal meaning of “beaten half
4
to death.”
The Rasputin Treatment: The entity has inspired the formation of a conspiracy to destroy it, like the infamous Russian mystic
5 Rasputin. This means the GM constructs a Company whose sole reason to exist is to destroy the entity or, failing that, stymie and thwart
it. It’s like a nemesis that you can’t physically kill.
A Bad Reputation: The epic threat is now renowned through the region as a, well, as an epic threat. The GM picks three companies in
6
the area: Each of them acts against the entity as soon as it’s opportune.
Impaired. Forever: The entity has permanently lost a facility that contributes to its menace. Maybe it’s now blind or deaf. Perhaps it
7 somehow lost that Area attack that was instrumental in driving off the hoi polloi. Or maybe it’s laboring under a curse and has to drink a
virgin’s blood every full moon, on penalty of death. It all depends on the resources the enemy Company brought to bear.
A Good Thing to Beat: News about the fight has gotten out, and it’s being told on the Company’s terms. Whether they’re telling the
8 truth, spinning the facts, or outright lying like rugs, their version of the battle is the standard narrative. Since they got some good licks
in on the threat, they’re now regarded with greater respect: The Company permanently gains a point of Influence.
A Most Excellent Enemy: You know what unifies a fractious and sullen community better than just about anything? It’s not new
9 public works or an inspiring leader. It’s a common foe. People who are scared and angry look for an outlet, and a Company that’s just
tangled with an epic menace is usually happy to give them one. The Company permanently gains a point of Sovereignty.
Tactical Intelligence: Regardless of who won or lost the battle, the Company did something to the beast that revealed a weakness.
Its many eyes were watching and now its many brains are thinking. Whenever this Company fights that entity in any sort of Might-based
10
clash, the Company’s sets all gain a +1W bonus. Indeed, this +1W advantage is permanent until either the Company or the epic threat is
no more

non-PC Company to set up some later plot point. Alternately, If an outcome would result in a permanent loss of Might,
an absurdly generous GM might let the players pick which issue the GM assesses a problem off the Greater Epic Injuries
crops up for the monster if they can explain how they accom- table and assigns it. In rare occasions, a targeted result or
plish the injury. But don’t expect that to go through without random outcome may be more fun, but it’s usually best to go
veto if the idea is (to be blunt) stupid. with GM judgment.

Chapter Ten: Enemies of Awful Scale 161

 Influence comes from knowledge,
The methods of acquisition vary.

F ight scenes are a staple

in action films because
they’re exciting. But the
neglected younger brother
of action tropes is easily effectively that searching won’t uncover you.
the chase scene, and— This has the disadvantage of trapping you
having grown from wargames—RPGs are more likely to have until you act or the searchers leave, but it can be done.
detailed fight mechanics than chase rules. Lead is changed by rolling dice and applying sets, just like
After Them! was built for games that skew more towards everything else in the ORE. The Lead you gain is based on
skullduggery, secrecy, and maneuvering behind the scenes. your set’s Width. When Lead hits 0, either party can initiate
With it, I hope to combine tense and quiet games of cat-and- hand-to-hand combat. When it’s one, the sides are close
mouse with parkour-inspired bounding through cities. enough, with a sufficient view, to start shooting arrows or
Again, if your game skews more towards Conan than James throwing dishes.
Bond, ignore these rules. They’re not for everyone, just the It’s possible to have multiple Leads, if more than one person
sneaky. is chasing a runner. If one person tries to chase two or more
runners who’ve split up, the pursuer has to pick one to follow.
THE LEAD
Much like combat, each character chooses how they’re going
GAINING VS. OFFSETTING
to try to escape (if pursued) or close to capture distance (if in Any action taken in a chase can be used in one of two ways.
pursuit). Players roll. Widest sets go first, Height breaks ties. It can gain, or it can offset. Gain means you’re changing the
Eventually, one side triumphs. Lead. Offsetting means you’re trying to prevent others from
Which side that is depends on one key factor: The Lead. (It changing the Lead. Gain’s like making an attack in combat:
rhymes with “bead” not “bed,” just so you know.) The pursuer It’s an active attempt to change the situation. Offsetting is like
wants to reduce Lead to 0 and get their hands on the prey. The dodging or parrying. It makes the other fellow’s attempt to
quarry wants to increase Lead to 10. If a chase round ends gain into an opposed contest, with Gobble Dice, as described
with Lead at 10, the runner has escaped. on page 11.
Lead often means physical space, but not always. It’s possible Usually, you want to gain. In fact, if you don’t explicitly
to amass Lead 10 in a tightly enclosed space simply by hiding so say you’re trying to counter what the other team is doing, it’s

162 Chapter Eleven: After Them!

assumed you’re gaining. Offsetting prolongs the chase without
the chance of improving your lot. On the other hand, when
you do turn it into an opposed contest, you can use all your
Gobble Dice even if your opponent rolled Wider. Keeping
someone in sight isn’t as time-dependent as avoiding a kick to
the shin. Indeed, many actions on both sides of the chase rely
on reacting to an opponent’s actions. So you may want to use
“T o you, she is lost and fled. For
me, she has left a trail as broad
as a highway, as bright as a sunrise, as
clear as a trumpet’s call.
—Avari the Hunter Queen, Third of Her Name
some offsetting actions when pursued by many people, or as
a multiple action with gain, as just one example. This is espe-
cially true when someone’s getting a big equipment advantage SORCERY
(see page 165). If you know that a set is going to net him
W+2 Lead, it may be in your interest to offset. Assuming you There are any number of ways to bring magic power to
both get pairs, spoiling his set keeps the +2 equipment bonus bear on a chase including (but not limited to) flying away,
from kicking in instead of putting you two to the bad when creating a cloud of inky darkness, changing into an animal,
their great big horse or ornithopter or whatever steamrolls or whipping up an instant trap out of smoke and cunning.
your gain set. There are no listed sorcery moves listed because Sorcery
In combat (the other big extended resolution mechanic in could be Rock, or Paper, or Scissors, depending on how it’s
ORE) a Skill usually attacks or defends. You can’t block with used. See also the boxed text It… It’s Not On the List!
your Fight Skill or kick someone with Dodge. Pursuit is dif- on page 165.
ferent. Any Skill you can bring to bear can either gain or offset
your opponent.
When you get a set past your opponent with a gain
maneuver, you can change the Lead by a number equal to
TRUMPING
the Width of your roll. If that was all there was to these pursuit rules, they’d be short,
easy to use, and terribly stagnant. Every contest would devolve
GANGING UP to “This is my best Skill. I use that” over and over. But it’s a little
more complicated. Sometimes you want to use a Skill with a
Sometimes you have multiple thieves running from one cop, lower pool because it might let you trump your opponent.
or many people searching for one escapee, or you have a small Trumping means that even if you failed your roll, something
group trying to escape the prison together. Lead works fine for about your tactical decision put you in a better position. If you
one-on-one, but what do you do with more? can predict your opponent’s action, it gives you the edge.
The answer is, you have multiple Leads. If there’s a group that Trumping works just like Rock, Paper, Scissors. If you pick
wants to stick together, there’s a Lead between that collective Rock and they pick Scissors, you trump them. If you pick Rock
and their competition. If many are chasing one in a big clump, and they pick Paper, you lose the advantage. If you both pick the
it’s one Lead. same thing, neither one trumps.
Splitting up is where it’s at with chases, though. If three Easy enough, right? The question is, what does “Paper” mean in
people split up and there are only two pursuers, one escapee the context of a chase? Good question, and one I’ll address right
automatically gets away. Each chase group can only keep one after I showcase the fabulous prizes that reward a successful trump.
Lead at a time. The hunter who pursues two rabbits probably
loses both. EFFECTS OF TRUMPING
When two hunters separate to pursue one rabbit, they each
If you trump your opponent, you get a choice. You can defer grat-
have a Lead, and any sets the rabbit rolls apply to both Leads.
ification, or take your benefit right away. The instant payoff is a
So what about hiding a whole group who flee together?
point of Lead. Get a step closer or farther, your choice. (If it takes
Shouldn’t that be harder than hiding one person? Yes it should
Lead to 10, the chase ends even before the roll!) If you wait, you
and, yes, it is. A group only gets one action per turn, and
can add a die to the next roll you make in the chase, or offset one
they roll the lowest relevant pool possessed by anyone in
die’s worth of penalty. (Nice for those multiple actions.)
the group. If you have two people fleeing together and only
You can only pick one trump effect per round, even if you
one is really stealthy, the klutz’s Stealth pool comes into play.
trump multiple opponents. If you choose the instant Lead
The blatant runner probably gives their sneaky friend away. It’s
change, you can change only the Lead between you and the
the same with moving fast. A fast and a slow fugitive moving
trumped party. If you choose the next-turn die bonus, however,
together are stuck at the slow one’s top speed.
you get it to whatever you roll. (This makes the die bonus a lot
There are some very important exceptions to this “Lowest
nicer if you’re facing many pursuers.) But if you Rock out and
Pool” rule, however, and they involve Sense and Knowledge.
two opponents picked Scissors, you still only get the die bonus or
When a group uses a Sense or Knowledge Skill for their
the Lead change. You can’t get one of each. Only one effect per
action, they roll the highest pool available from its members.
round. That’s simpler.
Just because you’re nearsighted, it doesn’t impair your eagle-
Furthermore, if Lead is already 0, trumping can’t take it into
eyed buddy. Similarly, your own stupidity isn’t going to blunt
negatives. In that case, just take the die bonus, if the chase even
someone else’s tactical excellence.
continues.

Chapter Eleven: After Them! 163

 “RELEASE THE HOUNDS!”
The easiest way to handle it when someone has hunting animals (particularly dogs) is by having the trainer roll his Expert:
Animal Trainer pool, typically with Knowledge or Charm or Command, depending on their method. The animals themselves can
provide an equipment advantage, as described on page 165.

WHAT TRUMPS WHAT? SCISSORS - PERCEPTION AND INTUITION

Rock represents direct action, like trying to overcome through Sometimes pursuit isn’t about covering distance, it’s about con-
brute force. Paper is an attempt to change the circumstances of cealment and deception. The fastest horse in the kingdom is
the chase, usually by falling back on authority, organization or only going to carry you farther from success if you can’t spot the
forethought. Scissors is intuitive adaptation, trying to gauge, runner through a brilliant disguise.
moment by moment, the optimum choice for the circumstances.
• Coordination + Stealth: Fade into the background and
Abstract, isn’t it? Here’s a breakdown, tactic by tactic, with
shadow your target so that they think you’ve given up or
appropriate pools.
can’t tell which direction to flee from you.

PURSUIT TACTICS • Sense + Direction: Intuit where they’re going and figure
out a shortcut. Head them off at the pass.
ROCK - PHYSICAL EFFORT • Sense + Empathy: Determine which of the identical-
Sometimes you can win a race by running faster. In fact, you can ly-masked revelers is acting furtive. Gauge the crowd
win a lot of races that way. If you’re quick enough, you may get to see who’s acting startled by a sudden appearance or
your hands on your runner before they get a chance to be cunning. disappearance.

• Body + Athletics: Dive in the moat and swim across • Sense + Hearing or Sight: Find the hiding place. Spot
instead of going all the way to the bridge. Shove heavy them in the shadows. Spy the tail of their cloak as they
obstacles aside, or jump over them. dart around a corner. See through a disguise. Hear their
tread on the roof.
• Body + Endurance: Keep jogging along effortlessly
while pursuers gasp for air. Hold your breath and charge • Sense + Scrutinize: Track footprints. Figure out which
through a midden to get a shortcut. window they went through. Notice the flaw in a disguise.
Catch their scent.
• Body + Run: This is obvious, right?
• Coordination + Climb: Scramble over obstacles, bypass
a lengthy staircase, follow when they climb.
EVASION TACTICS
• Coordination + Ride: Like Run, only you have a ROCK - PHYSICAL EFFORT
mount, which is the most common equipment advantage
Run. Climb. Jump. The uses of the body in putting distance
(see page 165).
between you and a tracker are obvious, right? Just in case
PAPER - ORDER, REASON though, here are some possibilities.
AND FORCE OF PERSONALITY • Body + Athletics: As you run, pull over obstacles behind
If you’re observant, you can find the hidden. If you’re smart, you you to trip them or make a mount rear up. Jump chasms
don’t need to follow because you can figure out where they’re they dare not cross. Break down doors. Swim across a
headed. If you’re commanding, you can get other people to do river to break your scent trail.
the sweaty work of chasing. • Body + Endurance: Outlast them, plain and simple.
• Charm + Lie: Confound the city watch into helping Go through a blazing hot crematorium without getting
you search. Tell passers-by you’re chasing a spy from a scalded. Get down under the water and hold your breath
foreign land. until they run past.

• Charm + Plead: Implore someone to tell you which way • Body + Run: Oh, you know.
they went or beg someone to stop them as they run past. • Coordination + Climb: Turn it into a rooftop chase.
• Command + Inspire: Motivate a crowd to seize them as Scramble over a wall their horses have to go around. Get
they dash by. down into the sewers (if there are such a thing) and give
the scent-hounds real fits.
• Command + Intimidate: Clear the area so that you can
find them or get a straight line of pursuit. Strike such • Coordination + Dodge: Go through a hazard they can’t
fear into their hearts that they stumble or dither. pass. Start a brawl and then escape it as they crash in.
• Knowledge + Tactics: If you have followers, instruct • Coordination + Ride: Steal a horse, a dunim, or a
them to fan out and look for clues, or surround the biauchrus to escape.
quarry, or clear the way before you.

164 Chapter Eleven: After Them!

 IT... IT’S NOT ON THE LIST!
The Skill applications in these tidy categories aren’t comprehensive and aren’t meant to be. They’re guidelines. Players who come
up with novel ways to use a Skill to throw a pursuer off track or flush out a hiding enemy don’t deserve a “No, you can’t do that!”
response, but rather “Cool! Roll it!” But when a player manages to justify rolling Coordination + Expert (Weaver), how does that
mesh with trumping? Is it Paper, Scissors, or Rock?
One approach is to simply judge whether it’s operating through blunt physicality, presence and intellect, or quick-witted craft.
The other is to simply make the unexpected trump-neutral—it neither gives advantage nor gives advantage away. Pick whichever
seems most reasonable and don’t let the decision break the flow of play. Debating whether this particular application of Knowl-
edge + Lore can qualify as a Rock move is not fun. So players, if you feel your GM has made a poor judgment, shrug and suck it
up. One trump ain’t everything.

• Coordination + Stealth: Duck into the shadows • Charm + Lie: Convince bystanders that you’re a legiti-
momentarily to escape their gaze. Cover ground behind mate authority who needs their assistance.
their back with ghostlike silence.
• Charm + Plead: Play on the sympathies of nearby peo-
PAPER - KNOWLEDGE AND PLANNING ple to get them to hide you.
• Knowledge + Tactics: Figure out their search pattern
A chase is an ever-evolving conflict, and it’s difficult to plan
and slip through its weak points.
in advance. But if you can, you can set traps for those who
pursue, or arrange other surprises to seize the advantage. Some
examples follow. EQUIPMENT ADVANTAGE
• Command + Perform (Theater): Adopt a practiced new Often, people in a chase think, “Oh, if only I had some rope!”
persona—different posture, voice and mannerisms are easy. (or a ten foot pole or a different cloak). They think this because
Costuming on the fly is harder, but not impossible. Better, people are tool-using animals and it’s instinct to look for some-
of course, to have a disguise prepared beforehand (for that thing that helps you do the job.
equipment advantage). It’s especially amusing if you change The rules for the tools are pretty simple. If you have some
your look and sound, then cry out, “Ooh! That way!” sort of object or situational advantage that relates to the Skill
• Coordination + Expert (Sailor): Get on a boat and take you’re using, it adds points of Width to the set (or sets) you use.
to the water. It’s just like a weapon in combat. Typical equipment bonuses
should be in the +1 range, while a really good one gives you +2.
• Knowledge + Tactics: Command your followers to
Examples follow.
block pursuit, or clear an avenue of escape, or clear a false
route while you sneak the other way. • Set of hunting dogs: +1 to Width of Scrutinize sets.
• Knowledge + Student (Local Area): Exploit a • A horse: +1W to Ride sets (in addition to permitting the
little-known aspect of the geography to hide or use of Ride at all).
avoid pursuit. • A simple prepared disguise: +1W to some Stealth or
• Sense + Direction: Go in circles to confuse them, then Perform rolls.
use your own superior sense of location to get past. • A set of 10-15 obedient followers without any particu-
SCISSORS - CREATIVITY AND ADAPTATION lar training: +1 to Width of Sight, Intimidate or Inspire.
Permit some Tactics rolls.
Not everyone anticipates a stalker, and not everyone has the
• A racehorse: +2W to Ride sets.
speed to escape through pure physical competence. Some need
to think on their feet, exploit any passing advantage, and think • A crewed racing boat: +2W to Expert (Sailor) rolls.
outside the cage. • An elaborate prepared disguise: +2W to some Stealth or
• Command + Intimidate: Make an Unworthy pursuer Perform rolls.
hesitate, flinch or momentarily dive for cover. (Probably
won’t work on more competent opposition.) Stampede
cattle towards your pursuers. Create a civilian panic to let
RESOLVING PURSUIT ROUNDS
chaos disrupt them. Pursuit operates in rounds, just like combat, in order to simplify
timing (just like combat) and, as in combat, the round is a fuzzy
• Command + Inspire: Get a crowd to resent them, hurl-
unit of time that can bend and stretch to accommodate momen-
ing spittle and abuse as they run by. (This requires a fairly
tary needs.
good rationale, however.)
Indeed, pursuit not only works a lot like combat, it can tran-
• Coordination + Stealth: Find a hiding spot and bur- sition directly into combat seamlessly when Lead hits 1 or 0. To
row deep into it. Change your appearance and fade understand how this is done in play, let’s break it down phase
into the crowd. Set a false trail to send them on a wild by phase.
goose chase.

Chapter Eleven: After Them! 165

 DECLARE ROLL
This is where the biggest difference arises. Trumping demands Pools are rolled, sets are sorted—it’s the typical ORE thing.
simultaneous declaration—otherwise, declaring last lets you Remember that some pools can be amped up by trumping.
trump your opponent into the ground without rolling. Besides,
in hand-to-hand combat the ability to sense an opponent’s move RESOLVE
in less than a second is far more critical than when you’re ten
Again, it’s bog standard ORE. Widest sets go first, Height
feet apart and you need to decide whether to jump the gap or
breaks ties. Timing matters less in chases, so if you’re using
climb down into it.
a Gobble Die maneuver, you can Gobble against sets that are
Therefore, the Declare phase works like this. You decide
timed quicker, as long as your Height is sufficient.
which pool you’re going to use, and how, and you put the appro-
priate number of dice in your hand. Then you play Rock, Paper,
EXAMPLE
Scissors. (If you have a big pool, keeping them in hand may
be tricky with Paper or Scissors. It’s your own fault for being Rahn is running and Juris is getting close. For whatever
so buff. Or you can hold the dice in your other hand.) Trump reason, Rahn decides to offset Juris’ gain. He rolls and gets
effects go off as soon as everyone describes their action, before a 2×10. Juris gets 3×5. Neither trumps. If this was hand-
to-hand combat, Rahn would be screwed, but since it’s a
the dice even hit the table. Once those one-point Lead changes
chase, he can use his Gobble Dice immediately, ruining
are dealt with, or pools get improved, everyone rolls.
Juris’ set and keeping the Lead static.

SAMPLE PURSUIT: A GAME OF CAT AND MOUSE

Meckler the light-fingered has 6+MD in Stealth, 5d in Lie, 5d in Sorcery, and 6d in Hearing. Bee the thief-taker has 7d in Sight,
4+MD in Scrutinize and 5d in Tactics. Her right-hand man Oamp has 7d in Run and Athletics, along with 5d in Climb. Meckler
has infiltrated the duke’s estate, walked past the rubies and coins (well… all right, he pocketed the rubies) and stolen the duke’s
greatest treasure, an enchanted walnut.
The GM has agreed to give Meckler one Stealth roll as a head start because he prepared for this heist so carefully. Meckler
assembles only a lowly pair, so Lead starts at 2. He’s making his discreet way out when Oamp checks the chamber, sees the rubies
are missing, and sounds the alarm.
Oamp and Bee are (it’s established) working separately. Upon declaration, Oamp’s doing Rock, racing around looking for a thief.
Bee is using Sight to Scissors out anything unusual. Meckler is using Stealth to disappear (Scissors fashion). Oamp has trumped
Meckler and chooses to drop his Lead to 1.
They roll. Masterful Meckler gets 3×8. Bee gets nothing. Oamp gets 2×8. Meckler can therefore increase both Leads by 3
points, getting to 5 with Bee and 4 with Oamp. Oamp can immediately drop that back down to 2, however.
They declare. Meckler uses Hearing (Scissors) to determine where the search is and where it’s going. Oamp proceeds with Rock
again, stomping up and down the stairs looking for the burglar. Bee goes Paper by using Tactics to deploy the guards. Because
Meckler trumped Bee, he can either widen the gap or raise his pool, and he opts for the bonus. Because Oamp trumped Meckler
(again) he drops that Lead to 1 (again) and actually sees him—at least for a moment. The GM and players decide that Meckler’s
up on a widow’s walk around the house, while Oamp is down below on the walkway to the carriage house.
They roll. Meckler gets two pair, nines, and sevens. Oamp gets a pair of fives. Bee gets a pair of fours. Meckler uses only his nines
(because he didn’t do a multiple action) and raises his Lead to 7 and 3. Oamp and Bee both bump those down to 5 and 1 again.
Next round, Oamp picks up a rock and chucks it at Meckler. Since this is a combat action, it is neither Rock, nor Paper, nor
Scissors (though it does use his Athletics pool). Meckler has a Scissors move: He uses his Lie pool to imitate Oamp shouting, “He
just ran across the throne room!” Bee is using Scrutinize to follow Meckler’s tracks from the treasury. It’s a Scissors move, so no
one trumps.
They roll, but Meckler gets nothing. Oamp gets a pair of eights, which probably explains Meckler’s failure to impersonate. (“He
just ran across—OW!”) Bee’s MD gives her a pair of eights as well.
In resolution, Meckler takes damage from that rock to the shoulder, but Oamp doesn’t get any closer. Bee, however, cuts her
personal Lead down to 3.
One more round. Meckler falls back on what he’s good at—Stealth. But this time it’s a Rock move, diving behind cover and then
quickly sneaking to a new location so that Oamp can’t aim. Oamp is throwing another rock. Bee is closing on the scene, her keen
Sight peeled in a Scissors move. Meckler’s Rock trumps Bee’s Scissors, but since he’s more concerned with Oamp right now, he
chooses a bonus to his roll.
Meckler only gets a pair of tens, and that with 7+MD. Ouch. Oamp gets a pair of threes, which is sure to salve Meckler’s pain.
But Bee gets a 3×4.
Bee closes to touch distance, then Meckler raises his Lead with her to 2 and with Oamp to 3. Oamp draws back his arm, then
furrows his brow and halts his throw when his target disappears, only to be replaced by his puzzled mentor.
Next round, Meckler is using the Scissors of Stealth to do a multiple action, hoping to trump someone and keep his MD. Bee?
Scissors to Scrutinize. Oamp? He’s dropping the rock in his hand to Rock the wall with Climb. That trump lets Oamp decrease the
Lead to 2 before anyone rolls.
Even without his MD, Meckler scrapes together 3×9 and 2×1. Bee has a pair of tens. Oamp has a pair of threes.
Going first, Meckler cranks both Leads to 5, where it stays after both chasers use their gains and Meckler uses his. Five rounds
into it, the pursuers are falling behind, but it’s still anybody’s game as they dance around the duke’s rooftops.

166 Chapter Eleven: After Them!

 SAMPLE PURSUIT: A SIMPLE CHASE
Agdala doesn’t like it in the seraglio. She has the following relevant pools: 3d in Hearing, 4d Climb, 8d Stealth, 6d Run, and 4d in Plead. The
master’s right-hand man is named Nirim and in addition to a collection of gardeners, maids, and footmen who can be cajoled (or cudgeled)
into service, he has 6d Sight, 3d Tactics, 6d Intimidate, 5d Direction, 6d in Run, and 4d in Ride.
Agdala plans her escape carefully, pinning a silk sheet into something resembling the local robes and stashing another sheet (knotted
to ease climbing) between the garden wall and some bushes. She slips away from the bath attendants: The GM rules that she just needs a
simple Stealth success for that. In the garden, she throws her rope ladder to the top just as Nirim glances out a window.
Declaring at the same time, Nirim’s player is going Paper: Nirim is bellowing that one of the harem girls is escaping. Get her! But Agdala’s
player anticipated a Paper move, because seeing the rope would so clearly lead him to think Rock. She went Scissors and uses her Stealth
to ease around behind the bush, creeping back towards the interior door while letting them think she’s already over the wall. She spends her
trump advantage on Lead, raising it to 1.
They roll: Nirim wants to use his 6d Intimidate, but the GM thinks that’s a nonstarter. The staff are already terrified of him. He needs
to direct them to where she actually is and tell them what to do about it. That’s Tactics, 3d. Agdala gets to use her hefty 8d Stealth pool.
Shockingly, Nirim gets a pair of tens. Less surprisingly, so does Agdala, in addition to 3×1. She asks the GM if the rope ladder gives her an
equipment advantage and gets it, it’s a persuasive piece of evidence that she’s over the wall. Nirim’s player curses.
The 3×1 goes off first and, with a +1 equipment bump, Agdala can crank her Lead to 5. When Nirim’s 2×10 goes off, he cuts it back down
to 3, but it’s still a nice beginning for her.
Next round, Nirim goes Rock by running down the steps and heading towards the wall—which is, providentially, on the opposite side of
the house from the stables. Agdala goes Scissors with more sneaking. Nirim trumps, but instead of changing Lead right away, he says he’s
going to position himself for a +1d bonus. They roll.
Just as he got an unlikely good result with a bad pool, Nirim gets a bad result with a good pool—no sets! Agdala gets a 2×9 and a 2×4.
She can only use one, picks the 2×9 and puts Lead back at 5.
Round three, Nirim falls back on Paper with a Tactics roll, telling all the staff to drop what they’re doing and fan out, and someone bring him a
horse! He’s hoping that Agdala stops sneaking after using it twice, but she’s sticking to the Scissors she’s good at. In fact, she declares a multiple
action—two gains. She describes this as getting deeper into the house and trying to disguise herself as a servant. Having trumped him, she too
decides on a bonus. She rolls her Stealth pool, with the penalty for doing two things at once offset, but gets only a 2×7. Nirim gets nothing. The
GM decides that Nirim gets his horse next round or the round after, depending. Agdala’s set goes, pushing Lead to 7.
Nirim Papers by bellowing that if Agdala gives up now, no punishment—otherwise, he’ll send her into the bowels of a galley to row! He’s
hoping to Intimidate her so that she gives up or, at least, makes a mistake. Agdala also Papers: She’s going to pause, listen, and figure out
where they’re going so she knows which direction to run. No trump, time to roll.
She’s got 4d in Hearing now and, with a squeal of delight, rolls up a pair of tens. Nirim, with no sound effects, gets a pair of threes. She
can raise Lead to 9, but he can immediately drop it back to 7. His horse arrives, though.
Next round, both of them Rock. Nirim’s is a Ride roll, intended to gain ground with a quick gallop around the perimeter to get the lay of the
land. Agdala chooses Run and stresses that she’s still in her harem gear—bangles and beads and wisps of gauze. The disguise sheet, she’s holding
to her stomach. Her plan (she explains) is to let them see her wearing the distinctive clothes before she tries to quick-change.
They roll, her 6d and his 4d. He gets nothing, while she gets a pair of eights. Lead’s now 9. Almost there.
Next round she picks Rock, using Stealth to duck behind a door while Nirim rides past. Nirim thought for sure she’d do Scissors to get in
costume, so he picked Rock with Ride again. No trump, just a pretty desperate difference in pools. She gets 2×10, 2×3 and 2×2, while he
pulls out a 2×6. She cranks Lead to 11, but his horse adds a point to his Width, so he can pull it back to 8. The GM decides that he hasn’t
seen her, he’s just happened to put himself in a good position to block her.
Cursing, Agdala goes for a multiple action, double gain Scissors maneuver—one to change her look and one to move behind Nirim and get
into the streets of the city. Nirim picks Scissors too, using his Sight pool to scour the landscape for a sign of her.
He rolls his 6d, she rolls her 7d. Neither gets a set. He’s got grit in his eyes. Her disguise is falling apart and she doesn’t get a chance to
bolt. Lead stays at 8.
Nirim opts for Scissors with a Direction roll. He wants to figure out a choke point and beat her there on horseback. Agdala picks Rock.
She’s going to Run back into the estate, then maybe make her way to the stables or find a better costume. Because she trumped, she decides
to push Lead to 9.
They roll. Pair of sevens for her. Pair of ones for him. Lead stays perched at 9.
Nirim jumps off his horse, wrenches open the gate, and runs after her (Rock). She’s going to ground in the house (Scissors). Wincing, he
decides to use his Trump as a dice pool increase. They roll.
Pair of threes and a pair of ones for her. Nothing for him. With a sigh of relief, Agdala sneaks to the laundry room and gets a great disguise
while Nirim hastily recalls the servants to seal up the grounds. When he deploys them to search the house top to bottom, Agdala mingles in
with them, goes along with the ones checking the perimeter and (making good and sure that no one’s watching this time) actually uses her
rope ladder to get over the wall and escape.

“THAT’S IT? IT’S OVER?”

As you can see from the Agdala/Nirim example, there can be a disconnect between what the rules say happened and what the narration
seems to indicate. In this case, it could seem like Agdala still has lots of rolls to make to assemble her costume, fool Nirim, climb unseen and
such. But the fact of the matter is, without a point where the mechanics say, “No, it’s over, let it go!” it’s possible for GM or player to extend a
chase almost indefinitely. Rather than let one person sandbag the game (even with the best of intentions) the Lead gives you a way to resolve
and be done. At 10, the runner gets to describe a fairly plausible escape. At 0, the chaser can initiate combat, or the runner can surrender.

Chapter Eleven: After Them! 167

 Bruising Block doesn’t have to be declared: Instead, it kicks
in any time the following criteria are met. (1) The brute is being

SYSTEM-SPECIFIC chased. (2) They declared a Run roll—doesn’t matter if it failed

or succeeded. (3) The pursuer closes Lead to 0. When that

ESOTERIC DISCIPLINES happens, even if the bruiser has already used an Esoteric Disci-
pline, they can activate Bruising Block. This does an immediate
Area Shock attack to the pursuer. The Area Attack is equal to
Naturally, something that absorbs as much human attention as
the combined Widths of the brute’s sets (if any) and the pursu-
getting away from danger (or getting close enough to provide it)
er’s (if any).
merits attentive study, and studied techniques have emerged on
both sides of the Lead. REAR LEG TRIP 2 POINTS

BRUTE RACING It’s not just for tripping, of course. All kinds of nasty attacks
to the back can be enhanced with the Rear Leg Trip. When
Foot racing is popular in Opetka, as it is everywhere, but where the character is pursuing and closes the Lead to 0, they can
most runs are straight contests of speed, the Opetkan assump- combine Run with any attack the next turn, and take no penalty
tion is that the race is a bit more… tactical. Tripping the fellow for doing so.
ahead of you or body-checking a close pursuer are common and
expected behaviors. Those who compete at a higher level, in
NECK AND NECKBREAK 3 POINTS
front of cheering crowds at yearly festivals, have a bigger bag This cannot be used on the first round of a pursuit, and it can
of dirtier tricks. The inclusion of obstacles in many races only only be declared when the round starts with Lead at 0. In other
offers more opportunities to make trouble. words, the people involved must both be moving, but close
Brute Racing modifies Body + Run. enough to touch one another. The brute can make an attack
without penalty, as with Rear Leg Trip. If it succeeds, its Height
BRUISING BLOCK 1 POINT
is promoted to 10 immediately.
When being chased, the brute runner slows, pretending to flag,
and when the pursuer gets close enough, the brute stops short
RUNNER’S DARE 4 POINTS
and throws an elbow or heel backwards into whatever part of At the highest levels, this sort of competition is as much about
the rival is within reach. guts as much as it is legs. Willingness to risk harm is often a

168 Chapter Eleven: After Them!

feature of race winners—as are scars from times when risks KNOW YOUR ZONE 3 POINTS
were misjudged.
When being chased and declaring a Run action, you can vol- Characters who’ve been in an area at least once before can use
untarily take a Difficulty as high as you wish on your Run roll. Sight as a Paper maneuver without any extra justification.
If you beat the Difficulty, you can change Lead by the Difficulty
instead of the roll’s Width. If you fail the roll, you take an Area
SHADOW IGNORED 4 POINTS
Killing attack equal to the Difficulty. As a Scissors maneuver in a pursuit, the character can roll Sight
On the next round, pursuers have the option of taking the + Stealth instead of Sense + Sight or Coordination + Stealth.
same risk. If they run, they can face the exact same Difficulty
and either take the Area Killing attack or gain Lead equivalent UNNOTICED, SEE ALL 5 POINTS
to the Difficulty. Unless, of course, the brute has hit Lead 10
This technique can be declared any round immediately after
with their daring maneuver.
a round when the observer got a successful Stealth set. If the
BATTER AND BREAK 5 POINTS character rolls a success with a Sight roll, he can change Lead
by a number equal to his Stealth Skill (instead of changing it by
This technique can be used any time a round starts with Lead at the Width of his Sight roll).
0, including the first round of a chase. The character can declare
a multiple action between Run and an attack, with no penalty.
If the attack set is timed first, the character can add its Width to PICKPOCKET'S FAILSAFE
his Run set. If the Run set is timed first, the character can add This set of techniques is exclusively urban in origin, and has
its Width to his Attack set. (Thus, Batter and Break only does spread to port towns on both sides of the sea, leading to spec-
any good if both actions succeed.) ulation that the Ob-lobs developed it. Those who’ve seen the
Ob-lob Roloneepo fighters can describe many similarities. The
ELDER EYES great Ob-lob families, of course, throw up their hands and
suggest there’s no way they can keep track of every sailor in
In Upunzi, it is said that the Elders see all. This is not literally every port, and that if the townsfolk are getting their purses
true, as there are only eleven of them and they often have better snatched, that’s their problem.
things to do than spy on your particular street. Their reputa- Wherever it came from, Pickpocket’s Failsafe tactics involve
tion for omniscience lies atw least as heavily on their network great agility and athleticism, enabling those wise in its ways to
of observers, informers, and spies. Many of these “eyes” operate climb nearly as quickly as they can walk. Pickpocket’s Failsafe
right out in the open, wearing tabards embroidered with the is used with Coordination + Climb.
eye-in-the-mouth sigil of the city. Just their presence is often
sufficient to quell trouble before it really starts. But when SQUIRREL SCRAMBLE 1 POINT
trouble does come, the servants of the Elders are highly trained
Crafty thieves work in an area where they know the way out. A
to watch it—often watching unobserved.
pickpocket who has had a chance to circulate through the area
These techniques are used with Sense + Sight.
and case it out can declare Climb actions as Paper, with no
THE LIDDED EYE 1 POINT special justification.

A heavy lidded eye may look fully closed, leading people to STRAIGHT PLUNGE 2 POINTS
believe they’re not observed when they are. Similarly, the secret
When deliberately dropping from a high place, the character
police of Upunzi do their most comfortable watching unseen.
reduces the Area attack from the fall by 5d instead of 2d.
When combining Sight and Stealth rolls, the watcher takes the
normal penalty but uses the better of the two pools. If only one UP IS DOWN 3 POINTS
set is rolled, it must be assigned to the skill whose pool was
rolled. One characteristic of these trained cutpurses is that they change
direction instantly, effortlessly—often with a taunting jibe. The
HEAVY STENCHING 2 POINTS character can now use Climb actions with Scissors, similar to
Squirrel Scramble.
The name’s something of a joke. The goal is to have an invisi-
ble tail that lingers for a while after the quarry moves on. Thus, QUICKSTOP 4 POINTS
the advice is “you want to follow him like a heavy stench.” To
“heavy stench” a target requires at least two people, though If you roll no sets when jumping, and would therefore start
more are desirable. They have to be following in a group, so falling, the character instead stops short just at the edge. You
that there’s only one Lead. Each one must know Heavy Stench- don’t make any gain, but you don’t plunge to your doom, either.
ing. Each pursuer follows for a while, then drops out of sight,
passing off the tail to another while either racing in front or
ROOF FLIGHT 5 POINTS
falling back and keeping the new follower in view. The character’s ability to jump over, squeeze under, and dive
For each person using Heavy Stenching to enhance Sense + through obstructions is now so great that even a flying opponent
Sight, the person rolling can add +1 to the Width of his Sight has trouble keeping up. Any time the character declares a Rock
rolls, up to a maximum of +3. action with Climb, success provides +2 Width.

Chapter Eleven: After Them! 169

 “H e doesn’t even know we’re pursuing him yet,” the
King said. The Prince frowned down at the tracks,
wondering what his father saw and he missed. He
was supposed to be leading this chase, but he and his father
both knew that, sharp though the young man’s eyes were, his
course. The five women, their lances now capped and stowed, had
accompanied the royal men on many hunts—boar, deer, fox, bear, all
manner of prey fit to hone the hunter’s skill.
The Prince trailed his hand in the spring. It was icy winter runoff
from the Dindavaran mountains. Even a fugitive wouldn’t want to
father saw far more. stay in it long. He’d wade across, even swim, trying to break the scent
“To horse,”
horse,” he said, and the five women with them obeyed. They trail, but he’d know he couldn’t afford an illness raised by a cold and
were harriers, elite cavalry who could outrace any man afraid to difficult immersion.
ride astride. The two royal men mounted sidesaddle, and the Prince He looked across at the steep bank, at the calm lake downstream
whistled for his dogs. and the rapids up above. His instinct told him to go up. This was a
They were chasing a thief. cunning man, after all.
At this stage, they were following footsteps in spring mud, while “We’ll swim across at the lake’s delta,”
delta,” he said, bracing himself for
the dogs kept to his scent. Their horses walked, the riders confident the icy spray. At least he’d have the heat of his mount to warm him.
that the animals’ endurance would overmatch a single man on foot. Across the river, they cast up and down the bank, until the dogs
The thief was a cunning one, not some common highway robber were once more barking with excitement. The horses cantered, even
or marketplace purse filcher. He’d penetrated the very heart of a through the uneven scrub, chasing after, when the Prince reined
ducal palace, stealing an enchanted necklace, a pendant in the form them in, whistling for the pack. The hounds whined and kept their
of a ruby monkey, from the duchess’ bedside table. Upon his capture bodies pointed south, where they’d run, but their heads turned back
the King had remarked how lucky they were that the burglar had no and, at a beckoning gesture and second whistle, they grudgingly
taste for military secrets or documents of state. returned.
“The dogs have lost the scent,”
scent,” the Prince said at a stream’s edge. “He knows he’s pursued,”
pursued,” the Prince said. The King raised an
Everyone around him would know that from the dogs’ attitude, of eyebrow.

USING OTHER get escape through disguise after the Salckite has the fugitive’s
image in mind. Reliving Sight gives a +2 bonus to Lead gains

ESOTERIC DISCIPLINES when using a Scrutinize roll to chase someone.

ONE WITH THE LAND (PAGE 54)

The simplest way to handle these is by working them as equip-
ment bonuses. Fulfill the conditions for use and add +1 or +2 to Cloak of the Land lets the character, when chased, use Direc-
the Width of your set. Some work better with specific changes, tion for a Paper or a Scissors whenever he wishes. When
however, as discussed below. pursuing, Cloak of the Land gives no particular benefit. As
for the rest of the techniques, they have no particular impact
AUTUMN WARFARE (PAGE 45) on chase scenes.

Quickstep Grace gives a +1 Width bonus for Scissors sets. The RELENTLESS PURSUIT (PAGE 58)
other disciplines just work as described (and if you can’t use
Stalker Foot in a chase, you’re not trying). Pursuer’s Eye, Tireless Tracking, Follow Even the Breeze,
and Omniscient Pursuit all work as written. When tracking
DANCING UNSEEN (PAGE 48) with The Second Set of Clues, the chaser gets a +2 Width
bonus to Scrutinize sets, but only when the quarry chooses a
Dance of the Burglar, Shadows Haze and Undergrowth
Scissors Stealth move.
and Assassin’s Dance all work as written. When Dancing
Without an Audience the character can pick a number of indi- THE SCHOOL OF PERPETUAL READINESS (PAGE 59)
viduals equal to the Width of a Scissors maneuver and gain
an extra +2 Width against them for the purposes of changing Master Mobility gives a +1 Width bonus to Tactics sets orga-
Lead. However, that set does not give any Lead against anyone nizing Paper chases.
else. (Normally, a set gives Lead against all pursuers.) Those
SVRANA RUN (PAGE 61)
shadowing others can also use this. This lets Instinct for Dis-
traction work normally as well. Instant Start gives a +2 Width bonus on the first round of a
pursuit only. With the Wind gives a +1 Width bonus to Run
EYES OF THE CROWN OF SALCK (PAGE 50) rolls for Rock tactics. Tireless Step and Inexorable Tread
Only Painter of the Mind and Reliving Sight impact chases. both work fine as is. Unsurpassed Fleetness gives a +2 Width
Painter of the Mind gives a -1d penalty to anyone who tries to bonus to Run rolls.

170 Chapter Eleven: After Them!

 “Surely you see the blood,”
blood,” the young man said, dismounting. The “No.”
“No.”
King shrugged, as if to suggest the man had cut himself in the course “Shall we precede you?”you?”
of his escape. The Prince sniffed the crimson daub, looked at the dirt “No. Wait here.”
here.”
and smiled. „Bows strung?”
strung?”
“Deer,”” he said. “Either our man managed to wound one with a
“Deer, “Yes, do that.”
that.” From the corner of his eye, the Prince watched his
cast stone, or he’s acquired a bow and tried for supper. Or, it’s just father for signs of disappointment, or satisfaction. He saw neither.
possible that he blooded it on purpose, to confound any hounds on “I know this is my task, father,”
father,” said the Prince. “Would you come
his scent.”
scent.” with me or have me face it alone?”
alone?”
“You think so?”
so?” the King asked, his voice neutral. “I am beside you in this, as in all things,”
things,” said the King, loosening
“Behold the tracks,”
tracks,” his son replied. The deer had set off south. his sword in scabbard.
The single smudged boot-track was pointed northeast. The Prince commanded the unwilling dogs to stay, and the two
Then, as one, both men’s heads came up and turned. “Smoke,” “Smoke,” the men went on alone. At first, he thought the man had used some
Prince said, although again, everyone must have noticed it. Squinting, enchantment to disappear, or fly off into the air, for the crevasse
he could see it atop a distant hilltop. seemed utterly abandoned. But there was a crack in the rock,
One of the women laughed. “Sire, this man is poor sport for slender, surely not big enough for a man…?
royalty.”” It was a familiarity, but in the field the men let such things
royalty. With care, the Prince looked within. “Come out,” out,” he said. When
go. “He’s given himself away clean.”
clean.” there was no reply he said, “Come out or I shall build a fire in with
“Perhaps he trusts too much the luck of his escape.”
escape.” The harriers you.””
you.
were among a very few people in the nation who knew that the “Will you swear me no harm if I comply?”
comply?”
Hunter Kings sometimes permitted criminals to escape, so that they “No,”” said the King, before the Prince could speak.
“No,
might better test themselves. “But I give my royal vow that I will harm you if you resist,”
resist,” the
“No,”” said the Prince. “Look at the hill. It’s steep—easier by far for a
“No, Prince added.
man than a horse. Far simpler for a man during the day than anyone The man who emerged was a miserable sight. He was lean, with red
at night. Our man, I wager, has set us a snare for our precious time. and weary eyes. The Prince had expected youth, given the exertions and
If we struggle to the top of that hill, stepping slowly and cautiously to agility he’d observed through the remove of the man’s trail.
approach a man who might have a bow to shoot or stones to fling, But this man had a wrinkled visage, a tan pate showing through
we’ll find only an abandoned fire.”
fire.” thinning hair, and it was a gray beard in which a lone green leaf was
“That’s careless wilder-craft,”
wilder-craft,” observed the King. tangled.
“Is our quarry a woodsman?”
woodsman?” asked the Prince. “We’ll take the “Royal vow?”
vow?” their quarry asked. “Forgive me, but you hardly look
dogs along his trail here, watching for footsteps too. It’ll go to the hill, princely.””
princely.
and then we’ll find where he left it.”it.” “Birds and bears care little for crowns,”
crowns,” said the King.
“It’ll be dark soon.”
soon.” “And we have had a hard chase with little food or sleep,” sleep,” added the
“Then he won’t see us coming.”
coming.” The Prince grinned. He hated to Prince with a small smile.
admit it, but this was excellent sport. “And now?”
now?” asked the criminal.
They did not catch the thief that night, nor the next day. He led them “Now your life belongs to my son,”son,” said the King. “It is his to
into deeper forest to reduce the advantage of their mounts, he left dispose of.”
of.”
traps and tricks and decoys behind while still making a good pace. The “I offer you complete and utter surrender,”
surrender,” the thief immediately
climbing skills that had gained him the Duchess’ chamber served him said, falling to his knees and raising his hands. The Prince sighed.
in dense woods as well—more than once, the royal pursuit followed him “This is difficult,”
difficult,” he said.
by leaves and twigs strewn on the forest floor as he leaped from one “You could strike off his hands and leave him,” him,” the King suggested.
tree-top to another, leaving his scent far beyond any dog’s reach. “That’s as good as a death sentence.”
sentence.”
But in the end, he was one man on foot, against two keen hunters, “Yes, or the dogs. But what I mean is, who am I to say this man
five chasers, and a string of excellent hounds. They cornered him in a dies?””
dies?
ravine, with three of the women riding ahead to its other end, boxing “Who are you to say he ought live? A Prince. One day you will be
him in while the royal pair walked his same trail. King.”
The dogs started growling at the same time the royal men spotted The Prince looked at his pleading captive, desperate fear sitting on
stones without dust—rocks that must have been disturbed from years a face whose line,s bespoke suspicion, anger and disdain. He knew
of stillness by the footsteps of the thief. that if he showed mercy, he would be responsible for anything the
“Will you flush him with the brutes, sire?”
sire?” asked one of the thief did thereafter. That was his family’s law.
remaining soldiers. “One day you will decide many lives,”lives,” said his father.

Chapter Eleven: After Them! 171

 Follow the rules, carefully.

B y far the biggest and most obvious difference

between a fantasy setting and an everyday (or
historical) one is the presence of magic. This
could take the form of rare and subtle sorceries, huge
army-shattering enchantments, miracles given only to
intelligently. It requires
engagement,
overly-powerful magic
just produces laziness.
while

Magic with good limits, now… that’s

the faithful, or even eccentric disciplines favored by wan, golden. That enhances every element of a game, in the same way
pretentious intellectuals who insist that it be spelled “magick.” that hazy, undefined, and powerful magic sandbags them. Here
There are a lot of ways to handle magic in your game. As a are some interesting, consistent magic concepts, with examples
GM, you’re much better off if you think about its impact, its of how they support player involvement instead of becoming
purpose in the game, and its essential nature earlier rather than the default.
later. Some critical questions to answer include the following.
GOOD LUCK/BAD LUCK
WHAT CAN IT DO? If all magic does is stack on bonuses and penalties, it’s not very
If the answer is “anything,” you may want to think again. Settings cool. You could model hexes and good luck charms that way,
where sorcerers are potentially omnipotent tend to devolve into but that sort of option has far more impact on the rules (“add
settings where only sorcerers matter. Not every player wants to a +1d bonus” “change an ED into a normal die”) than it really
screw around with magic: Some are perfectly happy with their does on the setting or how the players play.
baroque martial paths (or their MD in Fascinate). A far more interesting option is to build yourself a Fortune
But “magic can do anything” doesn’t just unbalance char- Deck. I made one of these from a set of fifty index cards and a
acter ideas: It also throws every other element of the game out week’s worth of horoscope columns from old-time newspapers.
of whack—clever planning, emotional investment, problem I cut out the predictions that seemed most interesting and taped
solving… if you can use sorcery instead of thinking, your game them to the cards. Now I’ve got a random set of fifty vague plot
can only suffer for it. This is especially true for Reign, where the turns.
emphasis is on the interactions of clans, conspiracies, churches, The fun way to model good luck and bad luck magic is to
and countries, not just one or two dominant enchanters. have people who control this stuff get a draw from the deck
Magic works best as either a weak tool or a specialized one. every time they cast a spell. Now, instead of a boring dice
If magic is strong and versatile and easy, why would anyone ever modifier, they can use a plot twist like “You might spend
do anything else? Magic with a narrow focus has to be used most of the day untangling other people’s messes” or “You

172 Chapter Twelve: Magic

can find a way around a seemingly insurmountable problem” expectation of a clear answer, a lot of potential player engage-
or “a romance based on materialism is in for a solid thwack.” ment just got flushed down the toilet.
Sorcerers become temporary, limited GMs. They can’t blow If that question gives a vague answer, or an incomplete one,
people up with fire and lightning—yet everything seems to go or if their sorcerous spying reveals only more riddles, then the
their way, while those who cross them struggle with a legion magic is once more in its proper place as one element among
of tiny hassles. (Countermagic? Easy. Instead of dropping a many—not the first and foremost concern of the game.
card to get its effect, you can drop it to cancel out someone Informational magic works better for some player groups
else’s effect.) You can hold one card for every point you have in than others. If your players aren’t really into riddle-solving and
your Sorcery skill. figuring out the big picture, this can be a godsend: They want
to get to the next big fight scene, and the party oracle is the
FORCES compass that gets ‘em there. But players who do like to figure
Magic controls energy, period. Wind, lightning, heat, cold, things out are going to feel cheated if their place is usurped by
strength—all good. But you can’t heal with it, turn someone a magic trick. Picture Sherlock Holmes if Dr. Watson suddenly
into a toad, spy from afar or control someone’s behavior. started solving every case with a ouija board. Would that
The strength of this approach is that it’s straightforward. improve The Hound of the Baskervilles?
Magic solves a lot of problems—you’re surrounded? Lift The question of whether spells that figure things out for you
yourself up and fly away (or just fry the lot of ‘em). Dense under- are bugs or features largely depends on your play style. If your
growth blocking your path? Blow a hole in it. Supper got cold? group plays a bunch of dungeon thugs who don’t mind being
Zap it. There aren’t a lot of the bad surprises where your players railroaded as long as the train stops in Bloodbath Gulch—then
want a spell to do X and you have to either (1) think of a reason clear and present divination is a blessing. Otherwise, you may
they can’t do X or (2) watch your plot derail. want to cloud it up a bit.
While it’s powerful, magic isn’t a substitute for being engaged
in the story. You can’t learn anything with force magic, or influ-
ence people (at least, not beyond the level of “do it or you’re a
WHAT CAN IT NOT DO?
cinder”), and if the effects are all short in duration you’re always The compliment to the first question defines the limits on magic.
going to be vulnerable while you sleep. These are often just as important as the capabilities, at least,
they are from the perspective of making things interesting.
HEALING Take Unknown Armies, for example. (It’s another roleplay-
ing game I worked on.) Magick in Unknown Armies (yes, it’s
Magic that can only heal, not harm, is a twist I’ve yet to see used got that K) is very versatile and powerful, but there are severe
in any game. But think about the implications for a moment. limits on it. One of the principal ones is this: Magick cannot
Warfare becomes much less threatening if your side can just override human will. It just can’t. It can make you want some-
stick that severed arm back on. But when both sides have mirac- thing, or fear something, it can punish you severely if you
ulous cures, why back down from a fight? resist a particular choice, it can take over your body and make
If this power is rare (or at least not common), it becomes a high- your limbs do something… but it cannot make you choose.
ly-sought commodity. Everyone wants access, and once they have Only you choose.
access they want control. Do the healers band together to form This seems like a small thing, but in the scope of that game,
a power cartel of their own? How do they deal with renegade it’s huge. The central issue of Unknown Armies is personal char-
healers? How do governments react to healers who go on strike— acter, so having an inviolate character core was essential. All the
can they afford to punish them? Can they afford not to? stuff about acting under duress or having your body act against
This approach, like the Forces example, cuts off a lot of the directions of your spirit—all that becomes fodder for ques-
magical laziness at the pass because magic is a solution to tions relating to identity. If my arms strangle someone, am I a
a very narrow range of problems, instead of being the sov- murderer? Even if I tried to stop them?
ereign remedy for every problem. PC healers in this setting Similarly, when you’re building a game around your central
are going to find ways to apply their magic outside the box— issue, see if you can identify any magic uses that are absolute
by surrounding themselves with reckless bodyguards whom poison to your concept. If I’m doing an exploration-based game,
they can “recharge” when injured, by allying with the sickly I don’t want magic to take the trouble out of travel. If I’m doing
rich… maybe even by alleviating symptoms but leaving the a game of revenge, I don’t want it to be easy for the PCs to level
illness intact until the patient does “ just one more” little favor up to the point that they learn the Spell of Phantom Stalking
for them… Nevertheless, health-only magic is an option Doom, cast it on the main bad guy, and then have a light supper
that enhances creative approaches, instead of making them while the magic flits off to what should have been the climax of
obsolete. the game. A quest game won’t be as fun if there’s simple magic
that leads the PCs where they need to go. Or that leads their
FORECASTING enemies right to them.
Another option is magic that has no physical effect whatsoever.
It just provides information.
Handled poorly, forecasting and remote viewing can be
HOW DIFFICULT IS IT?
a real plot-breaker. If your magic-using PC can ask “Exactly Similar to the question of limits, the question of difficulty
how do we get into the castle and rescue the princes?” with the often indicates how widespread magic is in your setting. Is it

Chapter Twelve: Magic 173

 something like reading, where almost everyone can learn to
do it at some level of competence? Or is it more like advanced CREATING NEW
differential calculus, requiring intense study that most people
don’t want to even attempt? Does it demand inner strength or
will that few people can muster? Or is it something that any
MAGIC STYLES
dirt-cutters out in the fields could learn, if only the Secret Wanting to create new styles of enchantment for your game is
Masters bothered to teach it to them? common, healthy, and normal. This kind of creative permission
Difficult magic is rare. Simple magic can also be rare, but is one of the great strengths of tabletop RPGs. But how to do it
only if the setting has lots of good reasons that it hasn’t spread. so that it feels integrated to the setting? How to do it so that it
Enchanters who master difficult magic may tend to be boastful, doesn’t throw everything established out of whack? The temp-
vain, and pushy because they regard themselves as superior tation to build a school that’s “better” than all the others in all
to ordinary folk—and maybe with good reason. On the other ways is strong, but resist it. Magic styles, like people, are inter-
hand, if it’s not that hard, people have little reason to regard a esting for their flaws, limits and weaknesses.
magician with awe, or even respect. First though, look at the schools from Heluso and Milonda
in Reign: Realms. There are quite a few references to them in the

HOW DID IT pages to follow, where they serve as the examples. If you’re just
building stuff for your own separate setting, cool—you obvi-
AFFECT THE SETTING? ously don’t need to true it up with those styles, though they
might still interest you as object lessons.
This is the most important question, perhaps. Did the presence After that, take a look at the considerations on the previous
of magic concentrate authority into the hands of a few? If so, pages. All the issues that arise with putting magic in a general
what are the qualities and stereotypes of that elite? Alter- setting also apply on the smaller scale of putting a type of
nately, did it serve as a social leveler, making societies more magic into a part of the setting. What does it change to have
just and equitable (perhaps at the cost of making them super- this sorcery present? How widespread is it? How is it limited?
ficial and short sighted)? Is it practiced in the open and widely This is especially important when designing a school for
admired, or is it hated, feared, and met with pitchforks and an established setting like Heluso and Milonda. It’s firmly
torches? All the answers to these questions flow out of the established that there’s no easy healing for Killing damage in
previous ones. the setting, and that (zombies and ghosts excluded) coming
If magic is complicated but not demanding, it could create back from the dead isn’t happening either. If a GM wants to
a ruling class of abstract thinkers who feel contempt for the add resurrection magic, fine. But unless it’s going to be really
brawny peasants who flog the dirt because they’re too dumb to limited (say, it’s a base effect at +7) or really rare for some
command the elements. On the other hand, if magic is simple other reason (you can only cast the spell if you die in the place
enough that anyone can use it, but it demands that you hack off of the person who’s coming back), it’s an upheaval. Think how
one of your own limbs to fuel your hex, then you might wind your neighborhood would react if technology found a way
up with a very polite society because no one wants to provoke a to bring back the dead. Yeah. Just because the Helusans and
deadly magic reprisal. Magic that can only make people sick or Milondese are somewhat familiar with magic doesn’t mean
insane is going to be the provenance of tyrants or a loathed and they won’t be shocked by a new magical development (or a
secretive criminal class. Magic that’s easy but only does minor rediscovered ancient one).
things could be as common as shoes and probably have just as Should you incorporate big effects? Sure. But make sure
little impact on the major events of the world. they’re balanced or limited. The Flame Dancers are powerful.
Thinking through your magic system makes it easier for your They have plenty of direct damage that is, point for point,
players to buy in. It removes nagging questions of “why doesn’t a pretty cheap. On top of that, they can defend themselves and
wizard just fix it?” by pre-empting them. Either the wizard did, others from fire (a very common threat). But to do it they have
or couldn’t. It gives your players a seamless expectation of what to dance, which either slows them down or makes casting very,
magic can accomplish, putting them on the same page with the very iffy. Ironbone priests have some mighty good effects too,
GM and removing dissonance from play.

WHY MULTIPLE ACTIONS ARE SO LIMITING

I was surprised during my own playtesting what a huge flaw it was to require a multiple action with another Skill. But on ex-
amination, your chances of getting two sets is iffy even with a great pool, and your chances of having both sets be good enough
to act before someone can hit you and ruin one is iffy on top of iffy. Let’s imagine a character with a 9+MD pool to cast Flame
Dance Spells, and they’ve also got a 9+MD Dance pool, and an Esoteric Discipline that combines those skills without losing
an MD to the multiple action penalty. This is someone optimized for the task. If this hypothetical badass tries to cast a spell of
the Fourth Intensity while dancing, they could easily roll 1,1,2,3,3,5,7,8,10. No matter how where the MD goes, if someone
hits them with a set faster than 2×3, the spell can’t go off. If they widen one of the low sets, the dance gets completed, but the
enchanter is left without the Height needed to beat the spell’s Intensity. With a 2×10 set, the caster has three sets and can pre-
serve two sets even after getting hit… but the dance set has to go first, so they’re still left with sets too low to activate the spell.
And this is a master enchanter!

174 Chapter Twelve: Magic

but can only apply them in limited ways unless they devote a
lot of their Skills to different ways to use the runes. Equine
Unity has few limits on it, which is why the Intensity of the
spells tends to run high.
To build a new school from the ground up, answer the fol-
lowing questions.

WHAT FUNCTION
DOES THE SCHOOL FULFILL?
Why do you want to create a new school? This does not have
to be a big, thematic reason. “I want guys who can make your
guts jump up your throat and strangle you” is a perfectly decent
reason. But try to broaden the vision a bit. Is it that you want
a body-based school of magic? Or just something that’s really
gross and scary? There are a couple concepts that can support
a gut-strangle spell. The obvious is something based on con-
trolling the flesh of others. Or maybe it’s a school based on
subversion and betrayal, with a lot of ways to make this turn
against that. Or perhaps it’s disease-based and has the gut-stran-
gle out on the fringes of general body-wrecking.
This, in turn, helps you figure out what the school does not
do. The Stoneheart Guardians are focussed on being the ones
who never give up and never submit. Therefore they have spells
that keep structures intact and spells that keep them from being
hurt but also spells that enhance the weaknesses of others,
making them frail or lazy. Spells that shape stone into statues
wouldn’t fit. Even though they’re associated with stone, they’re
not about creating. They’re about withstanding.

EXAMPLE
I want to build a school for the Pahar, who are known
as being powerful enchanters. That’s in comparison with WHAT METHOD FITS?
the Smoke Sculptors, who are pretty tough. I also want to
Methods aren’t just meaningless surface gloss. They can be as
put more freaky creatures in the setting and want a jus-
tification for singular creatures like the chimera of Greek limiting as the Domain or the Stat pick. You can find some-
myth. Plus, since I’ve got flying men and centaurs, why not thing, some action that’s a good match for the Domain. For
giants? Is there a way to pool all this together? Some kind instance, dance and fire are both beautiful, mesmerizing, and
of creature construction school, maybe. always in motion. They blend smoothly. But at the same time,
you can go for something directly against expectation and
generate tension. An example there would as-yet-undescribed
WHAT DOMAIN Earthquake Drummers, who combine music (which is creative
SUPPORTS THAT FUNCTION? and entertaining) with destruction. (Though there’s more to it,
A school’s domain is often more symbolic than literal. Your since they also build. They blend and contradict. That’s okay
school doesn’t have to be scientific in the way it connects effects. too.) The unexpected or the awkward often makes for good
The sun is life giving, therefore the Sunwise can both heal roleplaying opportunities by forcing players to think about
and create light and warmth. (In the spirit of balance, they’re how they’re going to (say) manage a scarce resource (the Shad-
heavily constrained by circumstance, because their purview is so owbinder with a limited number of puppets for the Wracking
open.) Darkness is scary and associated with bad things, so the Spell, or a follower of the Way of the Wood who only has a
Shadowbinders get scary spells and zombies in addition to just few of the necessary plants) or arrange a cumbersome ritual
causing darkness and seeing in it. (like a Death Forger who wants to turn a captive into a sword,
or anyone casting a high Intensity spell that takes hours to
EXAMPLE perform). It also provides another lever for play balance. Now,
My Pahar Monster Binders (ooh, is that a good name? “play balance” is always highly personal and idiosyncratic,
Nickname?) are focussed on hybridizing creatures. What’s but it’s basically a code for “not allowing one player to hog
a domain for hybridization? What is it about? It’s about the spotlight because he picked mechanics that trump every-
nature pushed to the breaking point, unnatural fecundity, thing else.” If a spell lets someone kill better than an expert
and hypertrophic fertility. So the mastery of animal forms warrior, it better have some other kind of limit. This is some-
and natures is the domain of the Monster Binders. times called “niche protection” and can be taken to ridiculous
extremes, but there’s a lot to be said for allowing the character

Chapter Twelve: Magic 175

 who’s good at a certain task be good at it, without worrying WHAT STAT MAKES SENSE?
about being rendered obsolete by a single spell.
When picking the Stat that binds to the Sorcery skill, it’s essen-
EXAMPLE tial to weigh “what seems to fit” against all those questions of
niche protection and game balance. A school might be very
Monster Binders are clearly going to be fearsome with their
aggressive and damaging and, thematically, basing it on Body
unpredictable creatures. There are already lots of options for
people who want to be scary with their followers—various might seem really cool. But if that happens, all sorcerers need to
Inspire and Tactics Disciplines are there for that exact do is add a couple cheap Skill points in Fight and suddenly, as
purpose. So what do we do to keep the Binders from being an afterthought, they’re half-optimized for combat too. Excel-
better leaders than leadership experts? First off, let’s keep in lence should only come with effort (represented in the game by
mind having the creatures be rarer and harder to create as investment of valuable points). So if the school is going to make
they get more powerful. Creating a legion of wussy mooks you really good at finding out information, perhaps it shouldn’t
shouldn’t be hard, but making something the equivalent of a be based on Sense, the Stat that finds information. If it’s going
Truil Walking Mountain needs to require some serious doing. to change your appearance and make you a super-trickster, it
At the same time, we want a method that’s not only limiting might be a good idea to base it on something other than Charm,
but also thematic. I think gardening is a good pick.
which is the Stat that mundane tricksters use. A good guide-
On one hand, it’s quirky and different and not attached to
line—not just for the Stat pick but for all these questions—is
much other magic. On the other hand, it fits perfectly with
nature being turned to mankind’s monstrous ends. Finally, “Does this system achieve some general end so easily and
it’s time consuming and ties you down to your plot of land. at such little cost that no one would ever bother pursuing it
This sets a Binder apart from the typical leader, who can fire without magic?” People are lazy. If a couple low-Intensity spells
up any group of troops or recruit more fairly easily. Thus, our let you dominate a fight, within a few generations those spells
Monster Binders can’t learn a spell whose Intensity is more are going to be well-known, with the forthright art of self-de-
than double their Skill ranks in Student of Agriculture. fense forgotten and obsolete. No one wins when a new school of
magic makes big chunks of the established material pointless.
WHAT CULTURE MAKES SENSE? EXAMPLE
Now that you know what the enchantments do and how they’re
done, it’s time to figure out the type of person who wants to Command is clearly right out for Monster Binding since that’s
what people are going to need for mundane follower wran-
do that stuff. As with Method, you can play to stereotype. The
gling. Body is a possibility, but since these creatures are
Death Forgers, for example, are practically a caricature of the
probably going to be quite dangerous, it might steal the
ruling elite. They jealously guard their secrets, they’re highly thunder of brawny, danger-dealing warriors. That leaves Sense,
trained, and they see everything and everyone as a potential Charm, and Knowledge. Charm has the issues of Command,
tool for their ambitions. But you can also switch it up: The ste- though not as intensely… Sense just doesn’t seem to make
reotype healer is saintly, benevolent, and boring. The Method sense… so how about Knowledge? It fits okay with the Argicul-
for Sunwise Healers flips that on its ear. People who are willing ture angle, it’s appropriate to the priestly culture, and it seems
to risk going blind in their pursuit of magic power? That sounds better than anything else. Knowledge it is.
a lot more like someone desperate, or crazy, or someone with
nothing to lose. Now instead of milquetoasty do-gooders, you
get people who are perfectly in character being arrogant, or
WHERE DOES ATTUNEMENT FIT?
selfish, or crazy. Isn’t that more fun to deal with? Some systems have no attunement at all and some require it for
Who wants to learn how to adopt the qualities of trees? Hermits every spell. Some attunement spells make minor or cosmetic
out in the wilderness. Who wants to be perpetually vigilant at the changes, and some have the potential to turn the caster super-
cost of their humanity? Religious fanatics trying to compensate human (or subhuman). Some systems don’t even have temporary
for failing to be noble. Don’t worry about making a distasteful attunement, only permanent—they demand commitment.
culture, either. If it’s too uncool, your PCs who still want the style When building your school, the question of attunement is
can have a change of heart or be heretics or apostates hated by the really a way to indicate openness. A school that doesn’t require
rest of the school. Now you’ve got a plot hook, too. attunement is much easier to learn, and even if people try to keep
it secret, hiding knowledge is more difficult with one less barrier
EXAMPLE to creating the effects. A school where attunement is necessary
means that getting any effect out of it demands greater devotion
Who wants to torque and twist nature? Who feels they’re of time (from the character) and greater investment of points
entitled to warp the shapes and habits of animals? One
(from the player). Secretive, private groups probably have required
pictures a cadre of shiny-eyed mad scientists, but the Pahar
attunement, and it’s a chicken-and-egg question whether the
are already characterized as intellectuals, so the predict-
able route doesn’t seem appealing. Groves that produce demands lead to secrecy or the secrecy leads to the demands.
monstrous guardians seem more mythic and fantastic to This is another lever for play balance. If you do the math on
me, so why not make this a religious organization? That’s a spell and it seems awfully good for its cheap price, making it
often a good match for magic. They revere a creator/nature require an attuned caster takes it a step back from the game-
goddess and see themselves as doing her work. Creating a breaker precipice. Now, in addition to just acquiring the cool
constant stream of new beasts is their form of worship. spell, the player has to also (1) pay for a flawed permanent
attunement Advantage, which comes with baggage, (2) pay

176 Chapter Twelve: Magic

W e were in front of the castle and we all felt it. Some sorcerer inside was doing something, and we could all tell
it was something big. The officers said it was just a bluff, like last time, but they pushed up the catapults and
sent charge after charge to clear a path for the battering ram. My sergeant said if it wasn’t a trick we needed to get inside
and kill the sorcerer before all that power got out. So we pushed and got the ram up to the gate, and we beat the doors down, and
the front cutters were climbing inside when we felt the spell go. I saw it at the gate, the ram flew backwards and then our troops
were flying away. An old man with a cane came out of the castle holding out his hand. He had it up with the fingers back, like he was
gesturing for us to stop. Anything he pointed his palm at, it shot away and came crashing down. There were four soldiers standing
behind him, wearing heavy armor, and the five of them moved onto the field. The sorcerer swept his hand back and forth and lines
of fighters were thrown back.
Once, I saw a woman take both rear hooves from a great noble’s horse, took them in the chest, and was hurled back thrice her
height, but that was nothing to this. Anyone he pointed at sailed away like bowshot arrows, screaming, they went flat and low and
crashed down dead.
Our line had broken and he was flinging the catapults aside like leaves in the wind, and then the officers brought up archers and
sent a wave of arrows through the sky at him. The four with him had big shields and they closed around him, he knelt and waved his
hand and the arrows were blown off course. His hand must have gotten too close to one of his guards because the shield was spun
up, it tore loose from the defender’s arm after lifting them head-high off the ground.
The sorcerer pointed at us and only missed me because there was a ditch nearby, half of us jumped in that, but my sergeant was
killed. I saw him fly back and break like a doll against a tree. Then one of our enchantresses came riding up, crying, “Encircle him,
fools! He’ll pick you off singly if you don’t! Follow my cover!” Horrible things flew out from under her cloak, black shapes I feared
to look close upon. They slithered through the air at him and I ran after, too frightened to disobey her. They had panicked him too,
for he was waving his arm wildly, striking his own defenders in his haste to blast the shadows, we came around him in a crescent,
running. He stared wildly, waving his head back and forth. I was to his left, going past him, and Ferrow was on his right. I remember
the magician’s face. He was as frightened as we were, I know it.
Maybe he saw how scared I was, too. Maybe he thought I was trying to run away, that I was running towards the fortress because
I was confused. That happens sometimes, I’ve seen people run the wrong way and look brave when they were scared beyond wit.
But Ferrow never feared anything and he was a big man. He must have looked worse to the sorcerer, who pointed his hand to the right
and not to the left, at me. As soon as he turned away I ran up and stuck my spear in his back as hard as I could. He didn’t die right away—
he tried to point that hand at me, but I kept the spear point in him, I lifted and shook it until he went limp. Ferrow didn’t die either, but
he can’t feel anything on his body except his head, can’t move his arms or legs, which all broke anyway. They tell me the sorcerer I killed
was the last man who knew that spell, that it was called Heaven’s Palm. I’m glad. I’m glad no one knows that spell anymore.

for an expensive permanent attunement Advantage, or (3) buy EXAMPLE

a temporary attunement spell, which effectively doubles the
casting time of combative spells. In the spirit of doing something different with the Pahar
This can feel like nickel-and-diming the player to death, so it’s monster builders, I’m going to include attunement, but
always a good idea to keep a few spells without the requirement it isn’t the sorcerers who get attuned. They have to build
many of their perfect beasts in consecrated, attuned land.
to keep the versatile enchanters happy. Just make sure they aren’t
Now the gardening bit is more than set dressing, their
spells so great that they’re getting cast over and over every session.
mystic gardens are sacred places to defend, even as they
Don’t misread this and think I mean that only weak, ineffec- spill forth their mutant blessings. Since this is a differ-
tive spells should be free of the attunement burden. But if you’re ent kind of attunement, I’m going to balance the plusses
going to make a powerful spell accessible, make sure it’s one and minuses a little differently. In addition to being a
that’s got some other limit, or is only powerful in a few narrow fertile ground for building wicked little critters, the land
circumstances, or requires player ingenuity to work well. also grows normal plants at a wildly accelerated speed—
The other thing you can do with attunement is put a unique say, what, ten times as fast as unenchanted soil? You put
stamp on the school. Fragile, winged enchanters are pretty dif- a patch of that in your castle and you can waggle your
ferent, I hope. Same for the dancers who bleed fire. Attunement naked bottom at besiegers for years as long as you’ve got
and its effects are your chance to make your school stand out. a good store of seeds. But it’s not really that unbalancing
in the big picture because having a hyperfertile square
Just make sure the positive and negative effects of permanent
mile isn’t much different from farming ten square miles,
transformation work out okay. If a transformation is universally
on the yearly scale.
positive, it should cost lots more than the transformation that
makes you emotionally dead (like the Stonehearts).

Chapter Twelve: Magic 177

 BUILDING YOUR
OWN MAGIC
Reign has all kinds of advice for building magic in homebrew
settings, and it has a starter kit of spells and systems for the
default setting. But somewhere between doing it all yourself
and having it all done for you is a place for guided expansion of
the setting. That is where this article sits, so don’t read this until
you’re pretty familiar with the magic schools and rules from
Reign: Realms.
Spells in Reign are defined by a few simple parameters, which
are listed right in each spell description. The Intensity indicates
how difficult it is to cast and learn. Casting Time is self-explan-
atory, as is Duration. Attunement just tells if the caster needs to
be aligned with the school’s occult framework.
The factors aren’t complicated, or at least they aren’t meant to
be. The trick lies in balancing them against one another. Other-
wise spells which are vastly superior get all the play while others
molder on the page as unused wastes of ink.

HOW DO YOU PROPERLY

BALANCE SPELLS?
Spells are balanced with sweet, sweet math. Don’t worry,
it’s just simple addition. First you figure out what the spell
targets. It’s harder to effect fifty swords than one, reasonably
enough. Next you gauge the cost of the effect, which could be
anything from mild to cataclysmic. The duration, simple, is
how long the spell lasts. Then you just add Extras and Flaws.
Each factor increases or reduces a single sum. When you’re
done? That sum is the Intensity. No spell can have Intensity
less than 1, no matter how flawed it is.
This sounds very concrete and precise, and it certainly can
be, but there are times it gets a little mushy. Most signifi-
cantly, there are lots—lots—of instances that aren’t covered
on the laundry lists below. It’s up to the GM to decide if that
effect is Minor (raising the spell’s Intensity by 1) or Major (+5
Intensity).
The other question that’s purely subjective is “Does the
caster need to be attuned?” That’s up to the GM. Totally and
entirely.

TARGET
What or whom does the spell target? Essentially, it’s either
changing an entity, an object, or an area. Pick one and add the
points.

TARGETING OBJECTS
This one has a bit of a caveat: “One item” or “a series of objects”
is vague, terribly vague. Is a catapult one item, or is it a com-
bination of objects, or should “very large objects” be bumped
up a category or two? This is left up to you and/or your GM
to decide. These are guidelines. I pictured these “objects” as
something a person could pick up with reasonable effort. For
your game, you may want to define it precisely or evaluate on
a case-by-case basis.

178 Chapter Twelve: Magic

 TARGETING CREATURES GENERAL EFFECTS
Target Cost Effect Cost
Self +0 Nugatory +0
1 within 100 feet +1 Minor +1
1 within eyesight +2 Significant +3
2-10 within 100 feet +3 Major +5
11-20 within 500 feet +4 Cataclysmic +7
21-50 creatures within a mile +5
ATTUNEMENT EFFECTS
51-100 within ten miles +6
Effect Cost
Everyone seen +7
Ordinary, “vanilla» attunement +3
TARGETING OBJECTS Attunement with physical transformation +5
Target Cost
MENTAL EFFECTS
1 item +1
Effect Cost
2-5 objects of the same type +2
Someone automatically succeeds
6-20 objects of the same type +3 +0
at an Eerie check
6-20 objects of different types +4
Morale Attack X +½X
21-50 objects of the same type +4
+1 Threat (morale) +1
21-50 objects of different types +5
Suppress a Mission +2
All of a type seen +6
Suppress a Craving +3
All objects seen +7
Suppress a Duty +3
TARGETING AREAS Add a Mission +4
Target Cost Add a Craving +5

Fist-sized or smaller +0 Add a Duty +5

A 5-foot radius +1 PROTECTION EFFECTS

A 6 to 50 foot radius +2 Effect Cost
Size of a large house +3 Armor X against a specific sort of damage* +X
A square mile +4 Armor X against all damage at one location +X
10 mile diameter +5 Armor X against all physical damage +2X
As far as the eye can see +6 Spell set acts to gobble** a specific
+2
sort of damage*
EFFECT Spell set gobbles** all physical damage +4
Difficulty X against a specific attack* +2+½X
As mentioned above, a lot of this is going to be a GM judgment
call, and that’s probably a good thing. An effect that demol- Difficulty X against all physical attacks +X+2
ishes plots in one game can be fairly minor in another. That Armor X against all attacks and
+3X
said, here’s a big framework of common effects that might dodgeable spells
come up a lot. They’re all specific examples of the General Spell set gobbles** all attacks and
Effects. Just keep a close eye on spells that can alter Company +6
dodgeable spells
rolls or Qualities.
*“Specific” could mean “fire” or “swords” or alternately, “all tem-
MENTAL EFFECTS perature-based damage” or “all cutting wounds.” Something that
protects against all weapons equally is probably widespread enough
I made this list back before I’d really given a lot of thought to cost more than the cost for “specific’. If a spell is narrower in
to how much mind-changing magic I wanted in the game. I’m effect (protecting only against falling instead of all impact, for
instance) you can make it up with slightly greater duration (lasting
unlikely to put in any canonical spells that “alter how people
for Height instead of Width in its duration category).
feel,” including giving the morale bonus to Threat. (I find that
**Spells that gobble defensively can usually do so regardless of
emotional reactions are best left as individual characterization timing—you get a 2×10 with a gobble spell, you can still use it
choices, but your games may differ greatly.) If I did, though, against a 4×2 to reduce it to a 2×2. But that’s also open to GM
here’s how much they’d cost. They’re also good for influencing interpretation and fiat, depending on what seems right and appro-
animals. The automatic Eerie check can be a lot of fun, too, I’ve priate to the specific campaign.
used that a couple times.

Chapter Twelve: Magic 179

 SKILL / STAT BOOSTS WEAPON ENHANCEMENT
Effect Cost Effect Cost
+1d to a rare Skill +0 +X Shock +X
+1d to a frequent Skill +1 +X Killing +2X
+MD to a rare skills +2 Waste Shock +3
+1d to a Stat, with some form of restriction +2 Waste Killing +4
+1d to a Stat +3 Ignores X Armor +2X
+ED to a frequent Skill +3
GROUP DAMAGE
Reallocate some or all stats in
+4 Effect Cost
a prearranged pattern***
Reallocate some or all stats at will +5 Area X Shock +½ X
+ED to a Stat +5 Area X Killing* +X
+MD to a frequent Skill +5 *Don’t forget that free Morale Attack at half the value!
***For example, “reduce Command by 2 and raise Body by 2’.
FOLLOWERS
DIRECT DAMAGE Effect Cost
Effect Cost One Threat 1 +0
Width Shock +0 Width Threat 1 +1
Width Killing +1 One Threat 2 +1
Waste Shock +1 Width Threat 2 +2
Width+3 Shock +2 Height Threat 1 +2
Width+2 Killing +2 One Threat 3 +2
Waste Killing +2 Width Threat 3 +3
Width+2 Killing, Waste Shock +3 Height Threat 2 +3
Width+2 Killing, Waste Killing +4 One Threat 4 +3
All locations fill with Killing damage +7 Height Threat 3 +4
Area X Shock attack +⅓ X Width Threat 4 +4
Area X Killing attack +½ X Height Threat 4 +5

Attack protection. If you want beasties that can’t be scared and

SKILL EFFECTS do extra damage, you can pay more for them, bumping their
What is a “rare Skill” and what is a “frequent Skill”? That cost up a few more points.
depends on whether your game focusses on skull-splitting axe
attacks or side-splitting Jest rolls.
DURATION
Every spell has a duration, even those that are combative, eye-
DIRECT DAMAGE blink-instant effects. True, that duration is “instant”, but it can
really help with the bookkeeping. When there is a duration,
This is what you use for your fireball, lightning bolt, and with-
it’s typically Width or Height in the relevant time scale. GMs
ering limb type spells.
get to dial in the specifics of those vague duration labels. Of
WEAPON ENHANCEMENT course, once you exceed 60 minutes, you have to pay for an
hour, and once you exceed 24 hours, you pay for days.
This is the chart for making magic swords, arrows, or just
making your kick real strong. You shouldn’t use these to beef up FINE TUNING
the effects from Direct Damage.
This is the section where you either jack up the spell’s Intensity
FOLLOWERS by adding shiny extras or reduce it by making it, in some fashion
or another, a pain to cast.
How many creatures can be created or summoned? What’s their
Threat level? To create a number of Threat 2 unworthies equal
to the Height of the casting roll, it’s a +3 effect. These crea-
SPELL BUILDING EXAMPLES
tures do Width Shock and are susceptible to Morale Attacks, I’ve put together a couple of worked examples of spell creation
unless there’s a balancing problem. For instance, followers that that you can see on page 183. They should give you some idea of
can only defend and not attack are more balanced with Morale “how the magic happens.”

180 Chapter Twelve: Magic

 DURATION
Effect Cost
Instant +0
Minutes +0
Hours +1
Days +2
Years +3
Forever +4

EXTRAS
Effect Cost
Repeats effect next round +2
Repeats effect for Width rounds +3
Repeats effects for Height rounds +5
Counterspell rolls against it are at X Difficulty +X
Can’t be detected by Eerie sense +3

FLAWS
Effect Cost
Casts in minutes* -2
Casts in hours* -3
Can be parried, if an attack spell -1
Can be dodged, if an attack spell -1
Must be cast after success with -1
another skill
Must be a multiple action with -2
another skill
Requires simple ingredients -1
and preparation
Requires baroque ingredients -2
and preparation
Kills the caster even if the casting roll fails -3
Does 1 Shock to each of the caster’s limbs** -1
Does 1 Killing to each of the caster’s limbs** -2
Can be blocked by armor -2

*The number of minutes or hours a spell takes to cast is

equal to its unmodified level—that is, the total of all the plus
factors before you take away the minus factors.
**Meaning, one each to head, torso, each arm and each leg.

SLOW RATINGS: A SPECIAL FLAW

A Slow rating is a Flaw rated at -1, but the exact Slow
rating varies. I like having the Slow rating equal to its
modified Intensity, with a minimum of Slow 1 and a
ceiling around Slow 3. This is a good place for the GM
to exercise some discretion, depending on how influential
the spell seems. Not all the published spells followed this
guideline, but they all “feel right.” More information on
Slow can be found on page 13.

They’re a side effect, ignore them, you get used to them.

Chapter Twelve: Magic 181

 SPELL BUILDING EXAMPLE 1: THE CURSE OF RUST
Instead of just giving other substances the qualities of metal, a GM decides the Ironbone Priests should also have spells that alter
metal. Specifically, a spell that corrodes worked metal into dirt so that it can nourish the land and, eventually, return to its rightful
place in nature.
Clearly, the target is one object (+1), and the effect is corroding it away to dirt. How much should the ability to destroy a single
metal object be worth? This is where the subjectivity comes in. Knowing that this is an Ironbone rune, the caster is going to have to
paint a symbol on the object. That limitation doesn’t have a numerical cost assigned, but we can factor it in to the effect. Instead
of “destroy a single metal object” it’s now “destroy a single metal object that I can paint a symbol on.” No one’s going to be vapor-
izing swords and shields in the middle of a brawl with this, but it’s still going to be nice for dissolving manacles, ruining those gold
bars that are too heavy to escape with, taking apart siege engines, or getting through some defenses. Not quite minor, but not quite
hugely significant. Looking at the +2 effects, this seems about that useful. As for duration, the metal stays transformed forever (which
is arguably a +4 effect), but since it’s not changing into any useful form, I’m more inclined to say this is an instant effect (+0). (See
how tricky this balancing can be?)
I could leave it right there as a Third Intensity spell, nice and simple, but… there’s the whole “rune drawing” element. As written,
this is something that can be cast in the time it takes Tud the Truil to swing his club, and Ironbone spells have always been a bit more
deliberate. Picturing this as a quick and dirty rune, let’s just give it a Slow rating (-1) equal to its modified Intensity, (which, after the
Slow rating is factored in, is 2). There’s a case to be made that, like most Ironbone spells, it requires a painting roll or the like, but this
doesn’t seem like it’s going to be overpowering if it’s not hobbled like that. It’s a simple shape. Leave it as is at Second Intensity. Now
the only question is, is Attunement required? I’m torn. On one hand, this is a useful spell that lends itself to all kinds of creative use.
On the other, it’s nice to have a few nifty spells that a non-attuned sorcerer won’t use every day, but which are very slick when they
come up. I’d say Attunement isn’t required, but I’d also understand GMs who changed that.

SPELL BUILDING EXAMPLE 2: PETTY DEFENDERS

If you read their entry in Reign: Realms, the Conjoiners do one thing (make creatures) very well. They’re versatile, making big, small,
vicious, and just plain weird chimerae, but there are a lot of conditions and constraints around them. At this point, I could put
a period on the end and be done, but a couple other thoughts occur. One is that it might be nice to include at least one decent
combative spell for these guys. Yes, they can create horrific combatant creatures, but making some hideous mutant that you need
to train doesn’t help you if a bunch of thugs kick your bedroom window in tonight. So something for quick self-defense would be
good. Given the structure of their attunement, it would also be a useful spell for generalist wizards. So that’s a double-dip.
The obvious way to run quick fightin’ for these guys is by creating a group of temporary Unworthy Opponents. To keep it consis-
tent and interesting, the spell—“Petty Defenders,” let’s call it—could enchant any insects and vermin around, making them huge,
vicious, and obedient. The target, then is 2-10 creatures within 100 feet (+3). It’s an Unworthy Opponent effect, and let’s make it
Height Threat 1 opponents (+2). It lasts for minutes, and I’m inclined to call it Height Minutes because at Intensity 5 it’s looking a
little expensive for producing a handful of mooks. Flawing it down seems like a good idea. At first, I thought about having the spell
do 1K to each limb, but that seems excessive. The image of the mage exploding in blood as all lice and skin mites leap off him,
growing to massive size… mm, tasty, but is it practical to take 5K in order to produce as few as 6 Threat 1 creatures? Let’s make it
1S to each limb (-1) which gives us an Intensity 4 spell. That’s pretty limiting, but for an expert or master sorcerer, you’ve got an
adequate chance of whipping up 20 followers in 2-3 rounds and remaining conscious. It’d be nice to give them extra damage if
summoned in an attuned area, but I’ll resist the temptation to make it more complicated and intense.
The other thing that would be nice to justify is the existence of big groups of weird creatures, not just single prodigies. This
school is more or less telling the story of monsters, so why not use it to encompass the story of monstrous races? How about, then,
a spell that lets the chimerae reproduce? In the long run, that’s a big effect, but Reign is all about big effects and the long run.
Let’s do it… as long as it’s hard enough.
The target for the spell is 2-10 creatures (+3) and the effect of making them fertile is pretty significant, verging on major. I’m
giving it (+4). It’s permanent (+4), giving us a base Intensity of 11. Impossible! But like most Conjoiner spells, this one (how’s
“Blessing of Fertility” as a nice, innocuous name for generating a race of monsters?) takes hours to cast (-3) and it requires complex
and finicky preparation (-2). Now it’s at Intensity 6, which sounds like a good level. I’m a little drawn towards the idea of having it
do Killing or Shock to the caster, but I actually think keeping it high Intensity will do a better job of dissuading players who don’t
want it really bad. There are a few details that need to be addressed—are the offspring themselves fertile, or do they need the
spell? That gives me more room for balance and detail. I’ll hold out the promise of a self-replicating monster race but at the same
time put some limits on when they become self-sustaining. Then I’ll hope for the best.

182 Chapter Twelve: Magic

 Sometimes you’re the hunter. Not always though.

A game or a story or a movie in which interest-

ing characters faced no particular challenges
might be very entertaining. I have vague
recollections of My Dinner with Andre being fairly
diverting. On the other hand, I have extremely
Fire is an Area attack. A
small, guttering fire provides
a small Area Shock attack (1-5
dice should do it) if you acciden-
tally step in it or can’t avoid running through it. An intense
specific recollections of Angel Heart and The Princess Bride fire scalds with an Area Killing attack. The rating of the attack
and L.A. Confidential and all three Lord of the Rings movies. (I depends on just how hot and how large. If it’s intense but small
also have specific memories of four of the six books on which (like a scalding steam vent in volcanic tunnels) Area 1-3 Killing
those films were based). All those stories featured interest- is appropriate. If it’s a raging holocaust that fills an entire room,
ing characters facing considerable challenges. If you can run a an Area 4-8 Killing attack makes sense.
good game without opposition, or with the ample opposition Even a large, hot fire is unlikely to instantly kill somebody.
provided by violence, political treachery, and evil magic, you Fires usually kill through exposure. Since the area effect is
may not need this chapter. Nevertheless, there’s more here if going to hit every round someone’s in the fire, it’s important for
you want it—all sorts of rules and suggestions for terrible fates GMs to know how fast the characters can get through.
that often menace characters in RPGs.

BURNED AT THE STAKE POISONED BY

Fire, as they say, is the universal cleanser, and characters in
A SCORNED LOVER
roleplaying games seem to favor this particular brand of ashen Humankind has resorted to poisoning for as long as there have
tidiness. But it’s easy for flames to get out of control, and more been cowards, inquisitive students of medicine, and inconve-
than one dastardly villain has preferred to light his throne nient people standing in the way of ambition.
room with braziers of oil, or conduct her midwinter sacri- While some poisons are administered in exotic ways (blown
fice before a blazing wicker effigy. Opportunities for harm in the face as powder, placed in the shoe to be absorbed through
abound. the feet, dripped in the ear, or added to a favorite smokable to

Chapter Thirteen: Dreadful Things Occur 183

 TWO REAL-WORLD POISONS
VIPER TOXIN RATTLESNAKE VENOM
Description: It acts in seconds and, if successful, paralyzes Description: Rattlesnake toxins attack the heart and
both your heart and lungs. Any questions? disrupt the regulated functioning of the body. They’re
Potency: 4-9, depending on the snake’s age and how long it nasty, but slow. Which may just mean you may have a
maintains its bite. long time to contemplate the sensation of your blood
Major Effect: Instant death. rotting in your veins.
Minor Effect: The character’s heart hammers and his limbs Potency: 6-8
shake violently for about five or six minutes. During this Major Effect: The character loses a point of Body every
time, no actions can be taken. hour until successfully treated. If the Body score hits zero,
Special: Like most snakes, cobra fangs aren’t long enough it’s fatal.
to penetrate leather, so any armor rating on a limb Minor Effect: The character feels dizzy, nauseous, and gets
protects completely. Furthermore, while their venom is terrible stomach cramps. All actions are at a –2d penalty
sophisticated, its delivery system is not: They have to for a full day.
hang on and let the poison drip into the wound. Thus, Special: Rattlesnakes have teeth like syringes, so when they
even a mature snake’s poison may take a –1 or –2 penalty bite you, special muscles constrict and push the poison in.
to its Potency if you pull it off the wound right away. Any bite yields a full dose. Any form of armor, even AR
Killing it may or may not dislodge the head: If it doesn’t, 1, is sufficient to keep the bite out, however.
the poison keeps right on drip-drip-dripping away.

be taken into unsuspecting lungs), the most common ways to

EXAMPLE
poison someone are ingestion or injection.
Getting someone to swallow poison depends on how strongly Bunis has been tricked into eating a large quantity of dream-
the poison smells or tastes, but mixing it in particularly strong berry jam. It’s got Potency 5, so when he consumes it, the GM
flavors (or feeding it to someone whose senses are already rolls 5d and gets 1,1,3,7,9. A match! This means that Bunis
blunted by, say, alcohol) can mitigate those problems. gets both the Major effect and the Minor. The Minor effect is
a deep sleep with nightmarish dreams. The Major effect is a
Injected poisons have their own drawbacks, the prominent
coma that lasts for 1-5 days, deteriorating into death.
one being that most poisons take some time to absorb into the
When Bunis finally remembers where he’s tasted that
victim’s body. Thus, while a sword painted with poison is a scary odd sweet-sour aftertaste before, it’s almost too late. He
idea, unless you stab someone and leave it buried in there for induces vomiting in an attempt to expel the poison, but his
a while, the free flowing blood of the wound is (likely as not) Body + Vigor roll produces no matches. A colleague makes
going to wash the poison out of the victim’s system instead of a roll on Knowledge + Healing and (thanks to a Master Die)
pulling it deeper in. Consequently, when poison is added on a gets a pair. Bunis still experiences the Minor effect, but he’s
weapon that doesn’t stay in the wound, the poison’s Potency safe from the coma.
rating (explained below) drops by four. Had both Bunis and the healer gotten successes, he
Other weapons are designed to stick in the wound, and these would have suffered no ill effects.
can be poisoned without any loss of potency. Knives and daggers
can be left in a wound—they’re light enough that their own If an exceptionally large dose is administered, the potency
weight won’t pull them out. Arrows and blowgun darts are ideal, may be rolled multiple times. However, these rolls are not
as are harpoons. (Crossbow bolts, ironically, are more likely to combined.
punch all the way through someone and come out the other side.
They take the same Potency penalty as other weapons.) EXAMPLE
Poor Bunis stumbles into a nest of young turem vipers. He
POTENCY gets bitten twice. Since they’re immature, their venom is
Every poison has a Potency rating, a Major Effect, and a weak—Potency 5. The GM rolls two 5d pools. The first one
Minor Effect. Here’s how those factors interact. comes up 1,4,7,8, and 10, and the second comes up 1,2,3,7,
When a poison is administered, its Potency is rolled as a die and 8. Neither roll produced a match. The ones, sevens and
eights that came up in both pools do NOT combine to form
pool. If a match comes up, both the Major and Minor effects
sets. Bunis takes the Minor effect twice, but does not die.
occur. If no match comes up, only the Minor effect kicks in.
Even if a match comes up, prompt action can mitigate the
effects of poison. If you realize your character’s been poisoned, Depending on the poison and the circumstances, victims
you can take an action to attempt a Body + Vigor roll to shake may get multiple Vigor rolls to recover, or only one. The same
it off. Alternately, you can try to use Knowledge + Healing goes for Healing rolls.
(or have a healer comrade try it). Each success on these rolls A whole bunch of setting-suggested poisons can be found in
removes an effect. Some poisons are particularly virulent and the The Tedious Matter of Material Goods section of Reign:
may place Difficulties on the Healing or Vigor rolls. Realms.

184 Chapter Thirteen: Dreadful Things Occur

THROWN OFF A CLIFF When your character goes in water over their head, roll
Body + Athletics. (Remember armor penalties: -2d if you’re in
Adventurous types in the realms of Reign have a distressing Medium armor, no chance of success in Heavy.) For every die
tendency to jump out of windows, fall off slanted roofs, get in a set, you can either move five feet in any direction (includ-
dropped by giant birds, or be flung from towering mesas. All ing up or down) in one round or stay afloat without rolling for a
these situations are dangerous, and potentially deadly. minute. Every five rolls, you should make a Body + Endurance
For every five feet a character falls, it’s a 1d Area attack to check. With a success, nothing changes. With each Endurance
a maximum of thirty dice. A character who takes a moment failure, all future Athletics rolls to swim are at –1d until you get
to dangle and drop in a controlled fashion can reduce the pool out of the water.
by 2d. This damage ignores mundane armor. The dice pool for Difficulties are a good way to model other hassles of staying
falling caps at 30d10, not ten. (After falling 150 feet, you hit afloat, such as stormy weather, high seas, or people on shore
terminal velocity.) trying to murder you. If you’re hauling someone out of the
The type of damage done depends on the surface onto which water lifeguard-style, for example, that increases the Diffi-
the hapless character falls. If it’s something yielding—water, culty of your Athletics roll by 2 if they’re small, 3 if they’re
deep mud, a snowbank after falling through many evergreen normal-sized or larger.
branches—the dice do Shock damage.
DYING A SLOW, AGONIZING,
EXAMPLE
Flugo is stumbling around in the dark woods and, unseeing,
HELPLESS, MEANINGLESS DEATH
goes right over the edge of a short cliff. He falls thirty feet into I don’t recommend it.
a duckpond. Since it’s thirty feet, he rolls 6d. He has the mis- Specifically, I don’t recommend having starvation, thirst, or
fortune to roll 1,3, 7, 9, 10 and 10. He takes a point of Shock exposure play a frequent and major role in your games. These
to a leg and an arm, and two points each to head and torso. threats can produce some tension, but only up to the point that the
characters either extricate themselves brilliantly (or desperately, if
If it’s an unforgiving surface, like soil or flat rock, the dice do you think a cannibal outcome has some drama) or get rescued.
Killing damage. Particularly vicious surfaces put in more dice Getting rescued is okay, especially if you want to introduce some
to the pool at the GM’s discretion, though adding more than new characters and give the PCs a reason to be friendly, but empty
10d is probably uncalled-for. threats don’t work. Your players have to believe you’ll pull the
trigger. Otherwise, they’re accepting it as a plot contrivance and if
EXAMPLE that’s the case, you’re just cheapening your whole game.
A hungry Biauchrus grabs Flugo just as he’s cresting the top Freezing to death is boring, it’s a coercive element in a plot,
of a mountain. The huge bird takes advantage of the nearby it doesn’t provide many interesting opportunities and it’s not
drop-off to send Flugo crashing down two hundred feet heroic. Getting cut down in battle, even by mischance, is a better
onto broken, jagged boulders. A 35d Area Killing attack death than a slow, grim, helpless crawl to the grave.
sounds about right—thirty because that’s the biggest pool Are there ways to use thirst and privation well in a game?
any fall can give just from impact, and another five for the Yes. They can raise the pressure by acting as a ticking clock.
spires of stone. The pool produces a horrifying 3×1, 5×2, For instance, siege is tense: Siege without food is much moreso.
5×3, 2×4, 4×5, 6×6, 3×8, 2×9 and 5×10. Starvation on its own, though, is most likely just tedious.
A normal man would certainly be little more than a
smear with a bit of ankle sticking out, but at character

N
generation Flugo’s player selected Leather Hard and Hard
headed, giving Flugo an extra wound box at every location o ballad or history dwells on this, but when an
except the head, which got two extra. This means that his
legs, amazingly, still function. Both arms are shattered, and army first marches out, perhaps one soldier in ten
five points from them overflowed into his torso, but he had is slightly ill. Nothing to keep them from doing their
eleven boxes there and only took five points directly. With
one point remaining undamaged in both torso and head, duty, they think, but they trouble with their noses and feel
he’s managed a remarkable feat of survival. Unfortunately, endlessly weary. After a month in the field, two in ten are
there’s that Biauchrus circling to finish him off.
in such condition. After your first battle, one fighter in ten
is too sick to fight, in addition to the mildly unwell and the
DROWNED injured and the dead. After a month in enemy territory,
Most of the time, characters bathing or swimming for recreation half the troops who can walk at all are walking in a fever,
don’t need to bother rolling. Drowning should only threaten
when it’s dramatically appropriate—the ship went down in a
if you’re lucky. If your enemy can trap you in the field until
storm, or you’ve jumped off the bridge in a hail of arrows, or winter, you will lose greater numbers to disease than to the
what you thought was going to be a frolicsome midnight swim noble blows of combat.
with the Contessa while her husband’s away at the front turns
out to have a riptide as a complication. -Fazhu the Unifier, “Secret Doctrines”

Chapter Thirteen: Dreadful Things Occur 185

 or more for people working hard or in hot climates), you can
make a static Body + Vigor roll. Any success keeps you from
If you’re going to use these elements, make sure you think losing Body. (Thus, a very Vigorous individual can theoretically
it through and satisfy yourself that it supports the players’ fun. survive indefinitely on extremely lean water rations. That’s fine.)
Having it be “realistic” that they’d have to deal with it in the Once Body hits zero, the character dies of thirst.
desert or a threat that “makes sense” on a long voyage probably Recovering from thirst is easier than recovering from star-
harms more than it helps. As with tracking every gold piece vation. Once the character is getting sufficient water, the lost
(see page 72), it can be realism at the cost of fun, when a little Body points return at the rate of one per day.
hand-waving can allow players to get to the good stuff.
EXPOSURE TO EXTREMES
STARVING TO DEATH OF TEMPERATURE
With that in mind, the best way to model starvation is to let Both heat and cold are modeled the same way: You lose a point
people go foodless for about a week without meaningful ill of Body per day if you’re in terrible cold or terrible heat without
effects. Then, for every day of lean rations, give each character a shelter or any way to regulate your body temperature. When Body
point of Shock damage in the torso. Vigor rolls can cure this, as hits zero, you die. If you’re stark naked with no way to get cover,
usual, so strong characters can pretty much survive indefinitely you lose a point of Body every hour if it’s below freezing, and every
on moss, nuts, rotten fruit and grasshoppers. But after they’ve two hours if it’s punishing desert heat. Once you return to normal
gone through their grace week, every day with no food gives a temperatures, the lost Body comes back at one point per day. (If
point of Killing damage to the torso. This way, even if they’re you’re dying of thirst, by the way, these losses are cumulative.)
making Vigor rolls to turn Killing damage into Shock, they’re
still accumulating a point of Shock every day. MAULED BY A WILD ANIMAL
Once they get some food, they can begin to recover, and this The combat chapter covers this pretty well, and a selection of mur-
is best handled simply by stopping the daily attrition. Their derous fauna is provided under the heading Bestiary, starting
Vigor rolls can catch them up, and if they don’t, then it rep- below. But a word of explanation may be in order before you look
resents some lingering illness arising from crash weight loss and up the stats for that tiger, orangutan, or woolly mammoth.
vulnerability. Animals are dangerous.
In the modern world, this is not so typically true. Big apex
DYING OF THIRST predators like tigers are the most likely to be knocked off their
Dying of thirst works like starvation, but it’s faster. Every day perches by ecological change. Furthermore, guns make loud
you go without any water at all, you lose a point of Body. Every noises and scare critters away. Finally, creatures in our modern
day you have to make due with very minimal water (say a pint, world have had generations to learn the hard way that anything

186 Chapter Thirteen: Dreadful Things Occur

walking on two legs and smelling vaguely of fire is bad news
and best avoided.
Animals in fantasy worlds, like animals in historical fron-
GENERAL BESTIARY
tiers, are in their element where humankind is not. They are A smattering of animal stats are provided in the following pages,
equipped to kill by nature, equipment that we (with the notable mostly as guidelines for how to manage animals (or monsters) in
exception of our brains and innate cruelty) definitely lack. In your own game. By and large, inhuman opponents break down
a lot of games, animals are treated as cannon fodder, and not into three categories.
very interesting cannon fodder. This is typically because they’re First, there are unworthy animal attackers. These are managed
under-statted, have no magic powers, and because they don’t act just like the unworthy opponents described on page 118 of the
like real animals act. Combat chapter. They have a Threat rating, they don’t do fancy
In the interest of making encounters with crocodiles and boa maneuvers, there may be some descriptive text to clarify par-
constrictors interesting and scary again, I’m going to suggest ticular actions or unique attacks, but by and large, they’re only
some guidelines on how to portray wild things. dangerous in swarms.
1. Animals don’t fight to the death, unless it’s your death. Secondly, there are more significant animals. Their stat
A wild boar isn’t like an indoctrinated soldier with some- blocks look like this.
thing to prove. Unless you corner it or are threatening
[CREATURE NAME]
its young, most animals turn tail after anything but light
injuries. Predation is an efficiency game and that lioness Location Roll Height # Of Wound Boxes
isn’t looking for a challenge, she’s looking for a meal. Head 10 —
2. Animals strike without warning. If that bear growls or Body 7–9 —
that snake starts its rattle, it’s not because the animal wants Right Hindleg 5–6 —
to kill you. It’s because the animal is alarmed and hopes you
Left Hindleg 3–4 —
slink away before it has to use whatever it’s got. Handled
smartly, a lot of animals that can cause serious harm won’t Right Foreleg 2 —
cause it because they just want you to leave them be. Left Foreleg 1 —

3. Animals hit the weak. Any time something that moves Body — Coordination — Sense —
in a herd gets eaten, it’s the slow ones who wind up as Bite — Claw — Hearing —
meals. This isn’t because predators have an instinct to thin
Run — Stealth — Sight —
herds of frail prey. It’s because the key to survival isn’t
outrunning the panther, it’s outrunning the other zebras. Scrutinize —
A lone hunter, then, is going to drop on the guy at the Trainability: This number is the Difficulty of teaching an animal
end of the line, and group hunters are going to gang up a new trick. Each Command (or Charm) + Expert Animal Trainer
on the character who looks most vulnerable. (“Nooo! Not (or whatever Skill a character is using to train an animal)
Follower #5! I loved him like a brother! Plus, the followers roll represents a day’s effort per point of Trainability, if the
now only have a 50% chance of getting a set.”) character is doing nothing else important. You spend all day
training that beagle not to pee on the rug, you get fast results.
4. Animals hate surprises. If startled by a loud noise or If training is going on between other activities, you get to roll
bright light, most flee. Curiosity is not in the program. after a number of weeks equal to Trainability. Some animals just
But if startled by pain, many animals that have horns, can’t be trained. In that case, this entry reads “not applicable.”
claws or poison spittle immediately lead with their stron- Tricks: This is the maximum number of actions an animal can be
trained to perform. (There’s variance between individuals within
gest stuff and plenty of it. From their perspective, any the species, but generally only by 1–2 points in either direction.)
mystery attack is terrible news and must be dealt with Note that “Don’t kill me” (or “don’t attack people”) is one trick,
severely. This is why it’s a bad idea to prod sleeping bears and it’s usually the first one dangerous animals must be taught.
or step right over logs in the forest without checking All wild animals also need to be taught “Don’t run away from
under them for poisonous snakes. me.” If you’re going to ride a particular steed, “Carry a rider” is a
trick too. So your warhorse already has three of its tricks taken
Therefore, instead of sneaking up on an animal and fighting with “Don’t attack me,” “Don’t run away from me” and “Carry
it when it won’t get out of the way, the typical Reign encoun- me on your back.” If you want to train it to wear armor and kick
ter should involve a hungry animal trying to get food from the for the head when you shout “Slay!” that’s two more tricks.
characters’ supplies (or carcasses), stalking for a while, striking Special: Any special rules that apply to this animal go here.
unexpectedly and (probably) fleeing when wounded. But by Movement: Its movement rate goes in here.
then the damage is often done, in the form of lost rations (if Attacking: A description of how it attacks and what
damage it does. Many animals get to attack twice or more
you’re tracking that sort of thing), dead followers, or maybe a
times per round. If that’s the case, the animal rolls two
savagely bitten forearm. separate pools. It’s not a multiple action.
Then there are trained animals. None of these rules have to
apply to them, except possibly the one about hating surprise. The damage silhouette works just like with humans. Height
Even then, if the trainer is present or the rider is mounted, the determines where you hit, weapon determines [Link]
will of the master may prevail. So the other interesting animal and Skills work just like they do for humans, though animals
encounter is the one backed by a devious human mind. don’t have Charm, Knowledge, or Command abilities.

Chapter Thirteen: Dreadful Things Occur 187

 PRIMATE PACK
Primates—monkeys, gorillas, apes—often operate in packs to
bring down dinner (or to defend themselves from being dined
on). Carnivorous primates such as baboons tend to encircle their
prey and, when the victim turns their back, dart in to bite the
legs or buttocks so it can’t get away. Then they just harass it until
blood loss does its work.
These creatures have Threat 1-3 (monkeys at the low end, big
critters at the high) and move in extended families number-
ing between 10 and 30. Their bites do a single point of Killing
damage if they’re small monkeys driven by hunger (or which
have never seen a human and think they’re easy pickings). Bigger
primates do Width Killing or Width+1 Killing, so watch out.

STINGING INSECTS
Bees, wasps, hornets, horrific hordes of army ants—these
sorts of things rarely kill unless their victim is feeble, felled by
some incidental environmental factor (such as drowning in a
panic while trying to get away from the bugs), or allergic. (No
PCs are allergic to bee stings, unless their player insists.) They
have Threat 1, and a typical swarm is only 10-20 strong. That
doesn’t mean “fifteen bees.” It’s an abstraction. A grown man
in armor can clobber about a tenth or a fifteenth of a swarm by
swatting. They’re immune to Morale Attacks, but there’s a limit
to their damage: They do only Shock damage, and can only do
a maximum of 2 Shock to each location. They do ignore armor,
however: They’re small enough to crawl in the joints.

WOLF PACK
ENEMIES OF AWFUL SIZE Wolf packs typically run in numbers from five to fifteen,
There are no naturally occurring animals in the third category, though rarely an extremely large pack (with a powerful alpha
but a very few monsters are so overwhelming that they are pair) might number as many as thirty. They’ve got Threat 2. If
handled according to the Company rules. Instead of wound it’s been a particularly lean year and they’re very hungry, they
boxes, they have Might: One lone warrior with a spear has as get Threat 3 from motivation. Their bites do Width Killing.
much chance of defeating such a behemoth as he has of subduing
an armed fortress all by himself. Some of these creatures are
intelligent. Others are merely so vast they operate on a differ-
MEANINGFUL THREATS
ent scale than humanity. Either way, they’re best assaulted when Larger animals, or simply more cunning and capable specimens
you’ve got some potent magicians, maybe some siege engines, of pack species, are menacing as individuals.
and a couple hundred well-drilled troops at your back. Their
mechanics are covered back in Chapter Ten. ALLIGATOR OR CROCODILE
For our purposes, pretty much any big, biting lizard can be
UNWORTHY ANIMALS modeled this way. These beasts tend to lie in the mud or drift in
the water, just eyes and nostrils over the surface, taking their ease
Like human unworthies, the only thing an animal pack has and playing at being floating logs until something edible comes
going for it is numbers. Unlike human thugs, few of these are into range. Then there’s a burst of movement, a flurry of splash-
too dumb to run away before death. ing and snapping, and (often as not) the croc drifts off sated. The
smaller specimens are only 2-3 feet long, but really huge crocodiles
PIRANHAS can get as long as 30. Adjust Body and wound boxes appropriately,
Piranhas are sharp-toothy fish legendary for their ability to with a standard six-foot alligator at Body 5 and 15 torso boxes.
“skeletonize” prey in mere minutes. (Sadly, it appears that Gators and crocs have AR 1 at all locations.
legends are the only place where this happens.) In Reign, of
course, devouring swarms are far more possible. These fish roam ALPHA WOLF (OR TRAINED DOG)
in schools of 10-30 (though oceangoing schools of saltwater Not all wolves are created equal. A very strong or cunning
piranhas might be as big as 60). They have Threat 1. Each bite wolf (or one that has just a touch of the unearthly about it)
does only a single point of Killing damage, but they’re immune can be modeled with these stats. These can also be used for
to Morale Attacks. trained dogs.

188 Chapter Thirteen: Dreadful Things Occur

 ALLIGATOR OR CROCODILE BIG CAT
Location Roll Height # Of Wound Boxes Location Roll Height # Of Wound Boxes
Head 9–10 3–6 Head 10 5

Body 5–8 5–30 Body 7–9 21

Right Hindleg 4 3–5 Right Hindleg 5–6 8

Left Hindleg 3 3–5 Left Hindleg 3–4 8

Right Foreleg 2 3–5 Right Foreleg 2 5

Left Foreleg 1 3–5 Left Foreleg 1 5

Body 2-7 Coordination 3 Sense 3 Body 3-6 Coordination 4-5 Sense 4-5
Fight MD Stealth MD Hearing 2 Bite 2–3 Claw MD Hearing MD

Swim 4 Sight 2 Run 1–3 Sight 2–4

Scrutinize 2 Scrutinize 3–4

Trainability: not applicable Tricks: 0 Trainability: 8 Tricks: 3

Special: These creatures can, of course, only use their Stealth Special: The big cat receives 1–3 free Dodge Gobble Dice
MD in their native environment. per round, usable at any time, with a value of 10.
Movement: 20’ Movement: Can move about 20–40’ a second and still
Attacking: If you’re in front, it bites doing Width+1 Killing attack. Run rolls add 10 feet per point of Width.
damage. If you’re in back, it smacks with its tail, doing Attacking: The cat can make two claw attacks per round,
Width in Shock. doing Width +1 Killing, or one claw attack and one bite. The
bite does Width +2 Killing.
WOLF OR DOG
Location Roll Height # Of Wound Boxes
Head 10 3

Body 7–9 6

Right Hindleg 5–6 4

Left Hindleg 3–4 4

Right Foreleg 2 3

Left Foreleg 1 3

Body 3-4 Coordination 2-3 Sense 4-5

Bite 1–2 Dodge 2–4 Hearing 2–3

Run 3–4 Sight 1–3

Scrutinize +MD

Trainability: 3 (1–2 for a dog) Tricks: 5 (7–10 for a dog)

Special: —
Movement: 20’ per round. Each die in a Run set adds 5’ to
their movement rate.
Attacking: A wolf’s bite does Width Killing.

BIG CATS
This entry provides a range of abilities for any big meat-hunt-
ing cat. Tigers should be towards the top of the Body scale,
cheetahs are at the top speed, lynxes and pumas have the best
Stealth. There is no real life big cat that has maximums in all
these stats. Then again, is your game set in real life?

Chapter Thirteen: Dreadful Things Occur 189

 their bellies, eventually pass the bones, and then climb a tree
BOA CONSTRICTOR to wait for the next meal. These critters can get to be twenty
The boa constrictor and the python are the really big, really feet long or longer. Luckily, they’re neither fast nor poisonous.
strong snakes. They drape themselves in jungle trees, wait for Unluckily, they don’t need to be.
some likely-looking prey to come down by the water hole, then
drop on them and grapple. Once the victim stops struggling, ELEPHANT OR WOOLLY MAMMOTH
they eat it whole, lie there for a few days with a huge lump in These huge herbivores are generally even-tempered, which would
be more reassuring if their scale wasn’t such that they could
BOA CONSTRICTOR calmly trample a human to paste just because it’s easier than
Location Roll Height # Of Wound Boxes walking around him. Usually pachyderms move in family packs
of 3-12, but now and again an old male gets driven out and goes
Head 10 4
rogue. Aged solitary males tend to be extremely foul-tempered.
Body 1–9 10–20 Mammoths and large elephants are rare enough to be con-
sidered legendary throughout most of Heluso and Milonda.
Body 3-6 Coordination 2 Sense 2
Constrict 4 Stealth MD Hearing 2 ELEPHANT OR MAMMOTH
Climb MD Sight 1 Location Roll Height # Of Wound Boxes

Scrutinize MD Head 9–10 8–10

0—Damage
Trainability: not applicable Tricks: 0 Back 9–10
Goes To Body
Special: Constricting snakes can use Scrutinize to detect if
someone is passing beneath them. Body 5–8 30–50
Movement: 5–10’ Right Foreleg 3–4 10–15
Attacking: The snake makes a Body + Constrict roll to drop
on its prey and get a good purchase. If the roll is a success, Left Hindleg 3–4 10–15
the target is pinned. While the target is pinned, the snake Left Foreleg 1–2 10–15
can roll its Body + Constrict pool every round as an Area
Shock attack. If the victim is dressed in flexible armor (chain Right Hindleg 1–2 10–15
or leather, for example) this attack ignores the AR rating.
Body 7 Coordination 1-2 Sense 2
Fight 0–3 Grapple 4 Hearing 2

Run 1 Sight 2

Scrutinize 3

Trainability: 1–3 Tricks: 6–8

Special: Elephants can bash through walls, push over trees,
and tear apart fortifications with their trunks.
When an elephant rears and trumpets, it’s a Morale Attack
4, or Morale Attack 10 against people who’ve never seen
one before. It can only do this once per combat.
Movement: 10–15’ per round, but only 5’ per round the first
round it starts moving. It can’t corner very well, either.
Attacking: The elephant or mammoth has three major
attacks. It can use any one of these once per round.
• Tusks: First, it can gore or bash with its tusks as a Body
+ Fight roll. This does Width+3 Shock and leaves the
target downed.
• Trunk: It can grab with its trunk, which is a Grapple roll
that does Width Shock the first round. The next round, the
character must make a contested roll to escape against its
Body + Fight or take 3 Shock to the torso automatically.
Furthermore, the elephant may choose to use one grappled
person as a club against someone on the ground. This is
a Body + Fight roll. If it hits, the guy on the ground takes
Width+1 Shock, while the poor fellow being grappled takes
an Area 4 Shock attack.
• Trample: Finally, it can trample, which is a Slow 1 attack
made with Body + Fight. It does Width+2 Killing, Waste
Shock, and leaves its target downed.

190 Chapter Thirteen: Dreadful Things Occur

However, the Truil tribe known as the Mountain Riders is well Horses vary greatly in size and speed. Some have been bred
aware that mammoths are real because they have domesticated for one trait, some for another. Generally, you can have one,
them. The expanding Uldish frontier is just now piercing the or both, or a nice balance, but it’s a rare (and potentially very
territory of the Blue-Faced Truil tribes and coming into contact pricey) animal that’s towards the top of both Body and Run.
with Mountain Rider turf. They’re in for an unpleasant surprise. Usually it’s one or the other.
Note that the damage silhouette is a little unusual, in that
sometimes numbers are assigned to two different locations. This RATTLESNAKE
represents how hard it is to hit an elephant’s head from the rear, Rattlers are found throughout the plains and deserts of
or one of its right feet from the left side. If two locations share Milonda. Every time they shed their skin, they leave a ring of
a number, simply apply damage to the location closest to the dried flesh at the end of the tail, forming the distinctive rattle.
character. That is, if your character is standing in front of it and Before striking in defense, they shake the tail and give a chance
rolls a 2×3 hit, it hits the right foreleg and not the left hindleg.
If it’s standing by the tail and rolls a 2×10, the damage goes into
HORSE
the torso instead of the head.
All locations on an elephant or mammoth have Armor 1, Location Roll Height # Of Wound Boxes
unless its rider has armored the creature, in which case it’s AR Head 10 4–5
2-3 and tough luck for you.
Body 7–9 13–17
GREAT APE Right Foreleg 6 4–6
As with wolves, the typical primate roams in a pack. But most
Left Foreleg 5 4–6
packs have an alpha calling the shots. The Great Ape stat block
shows how you stat up the silverback. Right Hindleg 3–4 5–7

Left Hindleg 1–2 5–7

HORSE
From the cavalrywoman’s noble steed down to the peasant’s Body 5-7 Coordination 3 Sense 2
plow-dragging hayburner, the horse has become the primary Bite 0 Kick 1–5 Hearing 2–3
work animal of almost the entire world’s cultures. Originat-
ing on the plains of what are now the Confederated States Run 3–6 Dodge 0–1 Sight 2
of Heluso, horses have spread to every corner of the known Athletics 2–4 Scrutinize 2
world. With them has come, as an article of absolute faith, the
idea that riding astride drains masculine energy. This is dis- Trainability: 2–4 Tricks: 3–9 Special: —
cussed more fully on in the Horses, Gender, and Sexuality Movement: 40–50’ Normal horses can increase that by 5’
section of Reign: Realms. per round for every point of Width in a Run roll, up to triple
or even quadruple their normal movement. Particularly
swift horses can accelerate by 10’ per round and are
GREAT APE highly prized.
Location Roll Height # Of Wound Boxes Attacking: The horse’s bite does Width Shock, while a kick
does Width Killing for horses with Body 6 or less, with
Head 10 4 an extra point of damage for every point of Body above
that. (Thus a horse with Body 7 does Width+1 damage
Body 7–9 12 with a kick.)
Right Arm 5–6 6
RATTLESNAKE
Left Arm 3–4 6
Location Roll Height # Of Wound Boxes
Right Leg 2 6 Head 10 1–2
Left Leg 1 6 Body 1–9 2–8
Body 4-6 Coordination 3-5 Sense 3
Body 2 Coordination 3 Sense 3
Fight 3 Dodge ED Hearing 2
Bite 2–6 Hearing 1
Athletics 3 Climb 2–6 Sight 3
Stealth 3 Sight 2
Run 1 Scrutinize 2
Scrutinize 3
Trainability: 1–3 Tricks: 6–10 Special: —
Trainability: not applicable Tricks: 0
Movement: 15’ and it can move as quickly through tree
branches as on the ground. Special: This snake’s rattle produces a Morale Attack 2.
Attacking: Gorillas strike with their fists for Width+1 Shock, Movement: 10–15’
or they can bite for Width+1 Killing Attacking: The bite does Width Shock and injects poison
(described on page 184).

Chapter Thirteen: Dreadful Things Occur 191

 RHINO VIPER
Location Roll Height # Of Wound Boxes Location Roll Height # Of Wound Boxes
Head 10 6 Head 9–10 2–6

Body 7–9 20 Body 5–8 5–20

Right Hindleg 5–6 9 Tail 1–4 5–20

Left Hindleg 3–4 9 Body 1-8 Coordination 3 Sense 3

Right Foreleg 2 9 Ram 0 Bite 3–6 Hearing 1
Left Foreleg 1 9 Swim 4 Sight 2

Body 6 Coordination 3 Sense 3 Vigor 2 Scrutinize 5

Fight 2 Hearing 3 Trainability: not applicable Tricks: 0

Run 2 Sight 0 Special: Sharks can use the Scrutinize Skill to track prey
through the water, even in silent darkness, for up to a
Scrutinize 2 hundred yards. If the prey has been blooded, they can scent
it for miles.
Trainability: not applicable Tricks: 0 Special: — Movement: 20’
Movement: The rhino can accelerate or decelerate 10’ per Attacking: The bite of the shark does Width+1 Killing.
round to a maximum speed of thirty miles an hour (call it Exceptionally large specimens may do Width+2. Sharks can
130’ per round). Surprisingly, they corner well. also ram to do Width in Shock. This is usually used to batter
Attacking: Once per round a rhinoceros can gore with its holes in boats when they can’t get purchase with their jaws.
horn, using a Body + Fight pool. It does Width+1 Killing. It
can also perform a modified charge. When a rhino charges, VIPER
it rolls its Body + Run as a separate pool from its Body +
Fight pool. If it takes a few rounds to gather momentum, it Location Roll Height # Of Wound Boxes
can make a Run roll each round and use the Widest result
for its charge bonus. (The charge bonuses are listed below Head 10 1–2
for quick reference.)
Body 1–9 1–12
GORE DAMAGE
Body 1-3 Coordination 3-6 Sense 2
Run Roll Width Bonus
Bite 2–4 Stealth 0–2 Hearing 1
2 Extra point of Killing
Sight 2
3 +2 Shock, +1 Killing
Scrutinize 3
4+ +3 Shock, +2 Killing
Trainability: not applicable Tricks: 0
Special: When vipers bite, they inject viper venom in the
to step back. When they’re attacking prey, of course, they give wound. This toxin is described on pages 184).
no warning. Movement: 10–15’
Attacking: The bite of a viper usually only does a point of
RHINO Shock. The danger is not from the size of the teeth or the
strength of the jaws, but the intensity of the venom.
Found throughout the warmer regions of the Heluso Confed-
eracy, the rhinoceros is a tough, fierce animal that fortunately
subsists on vegetation. They hate fire, like most animals, but stronger the shark. As common sense would dictate, smaller
unlike most animals, their response is to charge the fire and sharks have less Body. Smaller sharks also have smaller Bite
trample it out. Skills, even though that’s been listed as a Coordination trait.
Rhinos have AR 1 at all locations except for the head, which Sharks have AR 1 at all locations.
has AR 2.
VIPER
SHARK A “viper” is any of the class of snakes whose poison attacks by
These predators are found from the deep ocean to shallow bays. instantly stopping the heart. Cobras are the biggest and dead-
Sharks vary greatly in size, from tiny bioluminescent deep ocean liest of the class, but Heluso’s turem viper can kill you just as
sharks the length of your forearm to the great white variety dead. Generally, the bigger the snake is, the more wound boxes
known as an “ooloomek” to the Ob-lob sailing tribes. One and Body it has. The smaller it is, the greater its usual Stealth,
thing they have in common is fierceness and relentless hunger. though the brightly-colored coral snake is an exception to this
As a general rule, the farther from shore you are, the bigger and guideline.

192 Chapter Thirteen: Dreadful Things Occur

Many sailors would rather face a fair
fight than a hard storm

M an against nature is a classic

dramatic conflict, and few forces
in nature inspire as much awe as
a storm… especially when you’re on a boat
in the middle of it. Deafening thunder,
YOUR SHIP
The ship is where the action takes place. It’s
represented by a group of hit locations, just like people in Reign.
bludgeoning rain, and the terror of lightning are enough to put Instead of wound boxes, boats have structure boxes. When a
a quiver into the stiffest upper lips. Fortunately, sailors on a ship location runs out of structure, it becomes worthless. Any
in a storm typically have so much to do that there’s little time to further damage to that location goes to the next location up.
contemplate their own mortality. Thus, if your stern has been torn off (location 7) the damage
goes into location 8 (the aft hull).

OVERVIEW LOCATIONS
Work For Your Lives! is meant to put all the strategy and The different locations on a ship fulfill different functions.
danger of a combat encounter into the dangerous work of nav- Losing them creates different problems. Some of them are more
igation. Instead of being personal melee, though, it’s captain resilient than others so, without further ado, let’s examine the
(and crew) versus an uncaring force of nature that’s all the more ten places your ship can break.
deadly for its mindlessness.
The storm wreaks damage on the ship in various places. PCs LOCATION 1, THE MAST
aboard can attempt to either prevent this damage, or lessen its
The mast, or masts, hold up the sails that allow a ship to move
impact. The sailors aboard are another resource. One captain
at wind speed. Masts start with 3 Structure boxes. Once your
may callously spend their lives to preserve the hull and mast,
mast goes out, your ship moves at a greatly reduced speed until
while a more soft-hearted skipper gambles with the whole ship
a replacement can be found or made.
to conserve crew in the short term.

Chapter Fourteen: Work for Your LIves! 193

 LOCATION 2, THE SAILS AND RIGGING LOCATION 10, THE HULL AMIDSHIPS
The sails themselves, along with all the wooden stays and sheets This is the broadest part of the ship and, therefore, the weakest
and lines that keep them in place, are a flexible mass, but one part of the hull. If this loses all of its 5 Structure boxes, the ship
without the resilience of solid wood. Under the stresses of a is foundering, lost, and can only be abandoned. Even if the fore
storm, they may tear loose, shred, or collapse. They start with 3 and aft hulls are compromised, a ship still might limp ashore
Structure boxes. with the central hull as a sort of raft.
If you’re wondering how a hull could break when it’s pro-
LOCATION 3, THE DECK STORES tected by the decks and not exposed to the wind, here’s the
Shipboard space is limited, so any lengthy voyage carries explanation. The forces of the water on the ship aren’t steady
supplies and equipment lashed down on the deck. (If a ship or unified. It’s not just being pushed in one direction, though
on a short pleasure cruise gets caught in a storm, hits to this the push to one direction may be much stronger. It’s undergo-
location can either go to the Forecastle or do nothing, at the ing stretching, compression, and torque along with impacts and
GM’s discretion. Just make sure you decide and explain which sudden changes of direction. The forces at play on a hull in a
beforehand.) The stores start with 3 Structure boxes, and when storm have been likened to the forces exerted on a ball of snot
damaged, they may come loose, go overboard, or get water- when a child rubs it between their fingers.
logged to the point of uselessness.

LOCATION 4, THE FORECASTLE

IT'S A CUSTOM FRIGATE
Not all ships are created equal. To represent this, you can juggle
The front of the ship, for us landlubbers. Often, sails attach
Structure boxes between locations and rename or remove loca-
here, as do the lines holding up the mast. It starts with 4 Struc-
tions altogether. A poled river barge, for example, might simply
ture boxes. If it ruptures, the ship loses some ability to handle
take all the numbers below 5 and remove them, adding the 13
waves from the front: Instead of breaking on the solid prow,
Structure boxes gained thereby to the hull. For a fast, top-heavy
they pour into the hold or onto the deck.
racer, remove the forecastle and stern, putting their points into
LOCATION 5, THE STARBOARD DECK sails, mast and rigging.
Furthermore, when PCs buy a ship, a certain degree of cus-
The deck separates the underside of the ship from the open air. tomization is expected. This takes the form of adding Structure
This is where a lot of running around and fixing may happen boxes where desired. Most boats, you can add 4. If you pay
during a storm, so if the deck here splits, it can be hard repair- extra, or are an Ob-lob, or have any points in Expert: Ship-
ing anything that attaches to the boat’s right side. (That’s what wright, add 5. If it’s a “real bargain» it may have fewer extra
“starboard” means—“right” when you’re facing the front of the boxes, or none at all.
ship.) It starts with 4 Structure boxes. The rules scale up pretty easily: A bigger ship has a bigger
crew, but just use the Die, Men! (page 154) technique of desig-
LOCATION 6, THE PORT DECK
nating a token as three or five sailors instead of one sailor. The
As with the starboard deck, only on the left side. bigger ships have more people but more area to cover and more
to do. Sure, they’re heavy and strong, but they also carry a lot of
LOCATION 7, THE STERN momentum and can’t maneuver into waves as well as a smaller
boat. It all works out, right?
Steering takes place here, and usually it’s the captain’s station
during trouble. (Even captains who don’t personally handle the
wheel or tiller stand here to direct the pilot and issues orders to CREW
the crew.) Damage here drastically cuts a ship’s maneuverabil-
Every crew member is represented by a token. (See page 75 for
ity. If a ship drifts, instead of taking the blow of tons of water
crew sizes.) The captain assigns them duty locations, where they
on its strong front, the force hits broadside. It’s a lot easier for a
stay unless ordered to move by an officer (or a PC) The more
boat to capsize (meaning “turn upside down’) rolling side to side
sailors at a location, the more they can keep it safe. They provide
than it is to tumble end to end. The stern has 4 Structure boxes.
a layer of protection to the Structure, through their frenzied and
LOCATION 8, THE AFT HULL professional activity. In the rules, this protection is passive. A
location does not take damage from the storm unless the Width
Belowdecks is the “basement” of the ship. Cargo gets stored here, of the storm’s set meets or exceeds its number of sailors. However,
but more commonly, it’s where crew and passengers sleep, eat, bleed-through damage from other locations ignores the presence
and huddle for safety during storms. The floor (or hull) is all that of sailors. Since sailors can’t be assigned to locations with no
keeps the water out. If it lets go, the ship is in serious danger. Structure, this means that a lost section is a constant peril.
Luckily, hulls are strong, with 5 Structure boxes from the get-go. Sailors stationed at a location that loses all its Structure are
LOCATION 9, THE FORWARD HULL swept overboard or crushed, but this is rare since they can be
martyred. Any time a Structure box is going to fail, the captain
As with the aft hull, this is typically a work or storage space. can choose to have a sailor at that location die instead. The
Damage here may require repair on the fly or just a lot of decision to work sailors to death has to be made, and made
bailing. Again, it has 5 Structure boxes. clear, during the Declare phase (see below).

194 Chapter Fourteen: Work for Your LIves!

 THE STORM
The storm, for all the hell it brings, is a simple model. Before the
encounter begins, the GM determines just how big this blow
is, ranging from 8d (a fairly brief thunderstorm) to 15d (for a
monsoon). Every turn, the GM rolls the storm’s pool and sorts
sets, applying them to the ship in the form of various disasters.
Storms have limited energy, however. Every turn, the storm
loses a die until it can’t get a set and goes from being life-threat-
ening to merely unpleasant. This is central to how the GM is to
run storms, so let me repeat that in a box.

Every turn, the storm rolls one fewer die in its pool.
When it rolls no sets, it disperses.

What kind of damage does the storm do? It’s limited only to
the GM’s imagination, but some suggestions (by location) are
listed below. With them are actions that brave PCs can take to
block the damage.

LOCATION 1: SPLITTING MAST

The wooden support post is bending under the strain. Unless
dealt with, it splinters and collapses. It can be bolstered with
either an Expert: Sailor roll or Expert: Carpenter.

LOCATION 1: BREAKING STAYS

The lines holding the mast upright are beginning to give. If they
do, the mast might crash down on the deck. They can be tight-
ened, bolstered, or bypassed with an Expert: Sailor roll or a
Difficulty 5 check against any skill that includes heavy use of rope.

LOCATION 2: SAILS RENDING

If the sails are up, they’re in danger of tearing into tatters, badly
reducing the ship’s ability to move, which in turn makes it hard
to steer. Trim or drop them with Expert: Sailor. Figure out
which lines to cut with a Scrutinize roll and relieve the pressure.

LOCATION 2-3: LINES BREAKING

To relieve pressure on the ship’s intricate nest of lines and stays
as one starts to fray, bypass it with Expert: Sailor. To get up to
a slipped line or lash some loose rigging so it doesn’t collapse,
roll Climb, since tying the knot isn’t as hard as getting there.

LOCATION 3: GEAR BREAKS LOOSE

Some of the cargo, equipment, or livestock kept on the deck
has broken loose and is not only in danger of going over-
board, but of sliding wildly around and smashing into laboring
sailors. Options for dealing with this include grabbing it (Ath-
letics), holding it (Endurance), re-securing it (Expert: Sailor),
or throwing it overboard so it can’t cause more problems
(Athletics).

LOCATION 4-7: DECK AND RAILS SPLITTING

Anywhere on the topside, boards could buckle in response to
the storm’s torque. Loose material from the rigging could crash
down and punch a hole in the deck, or the side rails could fall

Chapter Fourteen: Work for Your LIves! 195

 CREATIVITY!
The list of problems is far from exhaustive, as are the sub-lists of responses. Lightning could hit the mast, a crewman could go
mad and start flailing with a cutlass, cargo could catch fire, necessary stores could be threatened with ruin. Those aren’t on the list,
but they’re all exciting complications. In the same vein, some smoke sculptor is going to use Sorcery to reinforce a hull or a mast,
a mighty warrior is going to suggest he should be able to Fight down that broken rigging, and I find myself strangely confident
that clever player is going to suggest a way to use Charm + Fascinate to deal with a deck breech. I approve. Be creative. If some-
one comes up with an unorthodox way to apply a Skill to a crisis, that’s good. Ingenuity should be rewarded. Unless it’s a blatantly
stupid ploy to use an MD in an inappropriate way.

apart under the impact of loose debris. These can be remedied Athletics) try to patch it (Expert: Sailor or Carpenter) or start
by lashing the boards down (Expert: Sailor), doing some ejecting ballast or cargo to lighten the load (Athletics).
hurried patching (with Expert: Carpenter or the like), or simply
by clambering over the broken areas (Climb). LOCATION 8-10: PANICKY PASSENGERS
LOCATION 7: TILLER TROUBLE Not everyone onboard is capable during a crisis, so the best
thing is to herd them belowdecks, safely out of the way. But
In Reign, most boats aren’t sophisticated enough to have wheel people are contrary animals, especially when really scared. To
steering—they’re guided by a pair of linked rudders on either keep them from doing something stupid (like running up on
side of the boat. If the connecting bar breaks or the tiller goes deck to seize the longboat, or jumping in the sea to swim for it)
out of control, it’s very dangerous. This can be brought under roll an Inspire or Intimidate set.
control by wrestling them down (Athletics or Endurance) by
tying them off (Expert: Sailor) by attempting an on-the-fly LOCATION 8-10: UNSECURED CARGO
repair (Expert: Carpenter) or by using Expert: Sailor to try
This is much like Gear Gets Loose, above (at Location 3) except
steering only by sails (if the boat has secondary sails for that).
that in this case it doesn’t bounce off the ship. It stays confined
LOCATION 8-10: HULL LEAK OR RUPTURE to smash against hull timbers and fall on people. Same remedies
apply—hold, lash or jettison.
Obviously, hull failure is dangerous. If the ship’s equipped, one
can work the pumps (Endurance) start bailing (Endurance or
SINK OR SAIL
Now that you understand the ship’s locations and the terrible,
terrible things that can happen to them, it’s time to walk
through the steps of confronting the storm.
Actions taken to prepare for or adapt to a storm are taken in
rounds (just like a fight). Unlike fights, each round is roughly
half an hour—but again, the time is an abstraction. Fanati-
cal adherence to a time standard isn’t necessary and
is, in fact, a pain.

BEFOREHAND
Every problem is less likely to turn completely disas-
trous if you prepare for it. Anticipating a storm and
preparing for it can mean the difference between a
little bit of sea sickness and a severe case of watery
graves.

SPOTTING THE STORM

Storms are noticed with Sense + Sight. If the roll
succeeds, the signs have been detected (typically
thick dark clouds massing, rising, then sinking
back down). For every point of Width in the Sight set,
the captain gets a round to prepare for the onslaught,
either by fleeing the storm or bracing for it.
Those who have the the Weather Limb advantage can
detect storms forming with just a Sense + Scrutinize roll.
If that succeeds, the captain gets four rounds to prepare.

196 Chapter Fourteen: Work for Your LIves!

 STORMTONGUES
On the surface of it, Stormtongues would seem to be a panacea for weather distress, but remember that the Weather Change spell
takes eight hours to cast. So if a Stormtongue starts casting Weather Change as soon as a storm is sighted, it’s going to be sixteen
rounds of storm conflict before the spell goes off. Since the storm is losing a die every round, by the time the spell goes off the
storm has, by necessity, already run out of steam on its own.
Frustrating! But what if the mage has more time to prepare? Weather Wisdom, a spell that gives certain foreknowledge of the
next day’s weather, is very popular, even on ships that don’t have Stormtongues aboard.
Casting Weather Change the day before the storm comes is much, much more effective. If successfully cast, the spell removes
Width+2 dice from the storm’s initial pool. Weather Change can also be used to keep a ship moving, but without knowledge that a
storm is brewing, it’s just as likely to make things worse as ameliorate them.
You can find out more about these spells and others in the Magic in Heluso and Milonda chapter of Reign: Realms.

However, if the GM calls for a Weather Limb roll and it in the hold, you can’t help with a problem in the rigging.) If
succeeds, it just means the weather is changing, not that it’s there’s no crisis in a PC’s location, they can effectively “aim”
specifically turning stormy. The twinge of the limb may for the next round, gaining a +1d bonus. If this happens twice
indicate clearing, a temperature shift, or heavy fog. But if a in a row, they can get a +2 d bonus, but it doesn’t go farther
Weather Limb goes off, for whatever reason, a Sight roll to than that.
detect a storm gets a +1d bonus. Note that while sailors can’t be assigned to locations with
If no set is rolled, the storm comes up with shocking speed, or no structure boxes, PCs with those void locations in their bloc
comes during the night, or represents an intensifying of a mild can still apply Gobble Dice when sets turn up that would damage
but non-threatening rain shower. them.
Instead of rolling an action, a PC can go to an adjacent bloc
BATTENING OR RUNNING of locations—from hull to deck or from deck to rigging. The
Captains with a chance to prepare for the storm have a choice. captain can reassign sailors to adjacent locations—sailors from
They can run, hoping to stay ahead of the front, or they can location 3 could go up the mast (location 1) or to location 5 on
prepare by tying down loose objects, tightening the sails, rein- the deck. PCs can also use their action to get sailors on deck.
forcing the mast, shoring up the hull, et cetera. Players who take these moves don’t have to roll for them, but
For each round that spent battening, the captain can add a tem- they aren’t allowed to roll for anything else.
porary point of Structure to one location. These take damage first. At this point, the captain says whether to take any unblocked
For each round the vessel runs, the Storm’s pool drops by one. storm damage on structure or crew at different locations.

TO YOUR STATIONS ROLL

Every sailor (or group of sailors on a big boat) is represented by Those who’ve declared actions roll the relevant pools.
a token. The commander sends each sailor to one location on the
ship. Player characters get to assign themselves a bloc of loca- RESOLVE
tions: Either in the rigging (locations 1-3), on the deck (4-7) or The sets the PCs rolled become Gobble Dice. They can apply
below decks (8-10). The captain is typically at location 7 but, if a those to one peril in their bloc. If a PC wants to try and address
PC, can roam around topside taking care of business as long as two different problems, it’s a multiple action.
there’s someone at the helm. Storm sets that get gobbled away do no damage. Sets whose
Width is lower than the number of sailors assigned to the
IN THE STORM location do no damage either. But sets that aren’t stopped do
Width in structure damage. (Sets whittled down without com-
Each round is broken into four segments, very much like turns
pletely collapsing do their reduced Width in damage.) However,
of combat. The difference is, instead of declaring actions for the
if the captain chooses, sailors at a location can die (or be horribly
storm, the GM rolls for its impact before the PCs decide what
maimed) protecting structure boxes on a one-per-one basis. Kill
to do (since their actions are a response to what the weather
two sailors, preserve two structure boxes.
coughs up). Therefore, the phases are: Crisis, Declare, Roll,
When a location is empty of structure, that’s bad. First off, any
Resolve.
remaining sailors assigned to that location are swept overboard,
crushed, or otherwise killed. (PCs are presumed to get to another
CRISIS location.) Additional hits on it bleed through to the next location
The GM rolls the storm pool, pulls out all sets, and describes (so if location 4 is empty, any other ×4 sets do damage to location
what’s happening. 5). Even if the next location has ten sailors on it, a Width 2 set
wipes out two structure boxes or kills two crew. However, PCs
DECLARE can still take action to knock dice out of damage to empty loca-
The PCs declare what they do in response to the storm. They tions. They just have to describe what they’re doing and possibly
can only help locations in their bloc. (That is, if you’re down take appropriate penalties or face Difficulty.

Chapter Fourteen: Work for Your LIves! 197

 SAMPLE STORM : THE FATE OF THE MERRIE MAYDE
The Merrie Mayde is a piece of crap freighter. It has no extra structure boxes, but it’s at least holding together. It has ten crewmen
and two PCs—Captain Shaw and her brother Sterling. Sterling’s a big strong guy but has no experience sailing. He does, however,
have a keen pair of eyes, which could help a lot as the sky darkens with the arrival of nasty (13d) weather.
Sadly, Sterling rolls no pairs to spot it, so everyone’s working in increasing rain and misery until—BAM!—a giant fork of lightning
heralds a redoubled storm with thrice the wind. Caught unprepared, the captain quickly tells Sterling to get below while she barks
orders to the sailors. Three go up in the rigging (location 2), three take the starboard deck (location 5), and four are assigned to
the widest part of the hull (location 10). They are not ready to die preserving the ship—yet.
The GM rolls the storm’s 13d. The good news is, it’s only three sets. The bad news is, they’re 2×1 (mast), 2×9 (forward hull) and
4×7 (stern castle). No sailors anywhere to react. The GM describes it thus.
“The storm’s upon you like a pouncing lion. A massive wave crashes broadside into the back of the ship, and you can see that
there’s something in the water—maybe a log or a piece of old shipwreck. It’s going to sweep over the deck and smash the hell out
of it if you don’t do something. The mast is starting to splinter under the pressure of the wind on the sails. And down below, you
can hear a horrible moaning sound coming from the front as the timbers strain. What’cha doin’?”
Cursing bitterly, Captain Shaw decides she’s going to reorganize the sailors, moving those from location 2 to 1 and those from
10 to 8. Sterling’s going to try and bolster location 9 by bracing the groaning hull with timbers—not an elegant repair, but at least
it could relieve some of the pressure. He rolls Strength + Athletics to move the brace-boards. The captain doesn’t have to roll—her
action is taken up with issuing commands.
Sterling rolls and gets 3×10—easily enough to wreck the storm’s 2×9 set. If only he’d been on the deck instead, he could have
saved the stern. But no such luck. The mast is now teetering with only one point of Structure left, but it’s got three deck monkeys
protecting it.
Next round, the storm’s down to 12d. It turns up 3×9, 3×1, 2×8, 2×6, 2×4.
“Just as the crewmen swing and swarm towards the mast, the lines supporting it start to snap! The reinforcements in the
forward hull are holding, but just barely—the boards are warping and water’s starting to spray in. In the aft hold, a pallet of casks
breaks loose, while on the portside deck, a big piece of wreckage from the stern is tangled in the railings, it’s starting to tip the
ship. At the front, the hatch is popping open and starting to slam up and down—looks like the hinges might pop at any second,
and then you’ll get water down into the hold that’s already threatening to leak…”
Sterling takes stock. Location 8 has crew, so that’s not an issue, it leaves location nine as his problem. He starts pumping furi-
ously (an Endurance roll). Up on the deck, the captain looks at the sailors who have crises on either side of them and decides she’s
going to the port area. She chops at the debris to break it up and disconnect it from the ship. The GM says she can use Expert:
Sailor or Fight, whichever is better. She picks her higher pool. Asked if the sailors are willing to die for their ship yet, she squints
and says… no.
With a pair of ones, the captain’s making little progress against the wreckage. With 2×9, Sterling does rather better with his
bailing—exactly what he needs to gobble out the 3× set and nothing more. The sailors lash the casks back into place with the
speed you’d expect from sailors saving rum. The crew on the mast find alternate support lines with the speed you’d expect from
sailors protecting the mast on which they’re perched.
11d for the storm. With an almost intelligent fury, it seems determined to strike at the ship’s weak points. Another ×9 hit, this
one a pair. 3×5 and 3×3, along with another threat to the mast (2×1).
“The bailing gives Sterling some breathing room, but shifting all that timber around seems to have dislodged something in the
wood supplies. Beams are starting to tip and come unsecured, raining down from above and threatening to knock out the supports
you wedged in. The starboard deck buckles and groans, splitting under the torque of the storm. Several stays attached to it give
way, sending the ship’s spare steering oars rolling across the deck. As for the mast, its base has now shaken loose from its setting,
leaving the whole thing teetering precariously.“
Gritting his teeth, Sterling drops a die from his Athletics pool to set one of the remaining dice at 10. He’s going to leap up on a
stack of supplies and cram the timbers back into place by brute force. That’s the plan, anyhow. The captain goes after the steering
oars, trying to lash them back in position. She also suggests that the crew is willing to die for Structure at this point. “But they’re
more willing to live for it!”
The captain gets a pair of tens and smiles. Sterling gets a pair of threes and winces. The crew at location 5 is sufficient—barely—
to hastily reinforce the deck, hammering fiercely. Similarly, the crew on the mast drop down and move like a well-oiled machine
to reseat it in its socket and brace it firmly. The steering oars get re-tied, but Sterling’s mighty arms tremble and fail, leaving him
partially buried under lumber as the water rises around him. Location 9 loses two points of Structure.
The 10d storm roll yields only a 2×3 and a 2×6. “There’s a momentary lull in the storm and you wonder if you’ve perhaps
reached its eye. But the surges are still enormous, and lines are starting to snap all around the edge of the deck. Also, the
collapse of some beams in the forward hull is undermining the port deck—it’s starting to tilt precariously and come apart from
the forecastle.”
Though she’s tempted to reassign some sailors (two in a location won’t stop a set, but can die a noble death to save the others)
the captain instead rolls Expert: Sailor to shim the deck back into place and hammer in some reinforcement. With a pair of nines,
she does it handily. But there’s nothing for Sterling to do except catch his breath or move, and given how beat up the hull is at
location 9, he decides to stay in place and work on his bonus die for next time. So the storm’s pair of threes goes off unimpeded,
taking location 3 down to a single structure box.
At 9d, it’s starting to become conceivable that the storm could run out of steam, and indeed, only one set turns up. Unfortu-
nately, that set’s a 4×2. “Though the swells are still great, they seem to be settling, and the sky looks even a little lighter. You see

198 Chapter Fourteen: Work for Your LIves!

 a moment of hope on the crewmen’s faces, but it quickly
turns to alarm as the dissonant tones of snapping lines
indicate a massive failure in the rigging.”
Worried, Sterling can only raise his bonus to +2d.
Turning gray, the captain takes stock and prepares for a
+1d bonus. But no one can do anything but helplessly
watch as the sails and rigging fall like a dying octopus,
snaring the deck gear and sweeping it off to the side.
Location 2 is now gone, and one point of damage rolls
over into location 3. With no sailors there, its last box gets
checked and it’s empty too.
The 8d storm pool hangs on, producing a 2×4 and a
2×2. Since locations 2 and 3 are both gone, there are
a couple points of unstoppable bleed-through coming
towards location 4. It’s doomed. The question is, can
captain Shaw keep location 5 from taking a hit too?
The GM describes the damage. “The sails and rigging
tore free from everything but the forecastle, and as you
watch, they serve as a giant sea-anchor, pulling the entire
structure forward and sideways.”
With her Fight pool, the captain leaps up, cutlass
swinging, trying to slash as many lines as she can to
liberate the decking. A pair of tens separates the forecas-
tle, and as she leaps away from the sundering surface, she
manages to wrench the deck staircase loose, allowing it to
collapse gracefully inward instead of ripping out any more
of the ship. Sterling, meanwhile, sits on his +2d bonus,
gritting his teeth and waiting for that high Height hit.
It doesn’t come. Instead, it’s a 2×3 and a 2×4. “You
must be reaching the opposite end of the eye now,
because the wind’s picking up and the waves are bigger
and more frequent. With no tiller and no sails, there’s no
way to steer, so the wave is going to hit broadside. This is
the sort of impact your ship is just not built to take.”
Sterling wishes so badly that he could get up there, that
he had gotten up there, so he declares that his action is
moving up to the compromised 4-7 bloc. The captain is
going to try to rig a sail on the fly and dig in one of the
saved steering oars in a last ditch attempt to take it on
the prow, not the ribs. She rolls Expert: Sailor.
She equals the storm: 2×3 and 2×4. Gobbling out the
storm’s 2×4 set, only two points bleed through to the
undamaged starboard deck. Since the captain made it
clear that the sailors at location 5 were at death’s door,
the structure remains intact. One of them overbalances
while pushing the tiller, slips, and impales himself on a
splintered spar from the aft deck. The other is rigging the
sails through a haze of exhaustion and fear when a rogue
gust whips a rope around her arm and pulls her straight
off the side.
The storm’s down to 6d, and the players watch
breathlessly as the GM rolls… 1,3,4,7,8,9! No sets! “As
if appeased by sailors» blood, the storm calms, the rain
drizzles, and the waves lose their frosty caps. You can see
a little blue sky ahead.”
The Merrie Mayde is a mangled wreck. It has a forlorn
mast sticking up, wavering, but the sails are lost and the
deck has been scythed clear of important equipment
and supplies. Both the fore and aft structures are simply
gone, while the port deck is warped and buckled and the
forward hull has a slow but steady leak.

Chapter Fourteen: Work for Your LIves! 199

 (so, what got swept overboard was either food stores or paid-for
FIXING cargo). Don’t throw a storm at your characters unless you’re ready
for them to be stranded for a while.
Fixing a ship isn’t as exciting as trying to keep it from getting
wrecked, so a lot of repair can be hand waved once the boat and
crew get to land. It’s just a matter of days, effort, and supply.
SINKING
If location 3 got through undamaged, you can assume that
Also, don’t throw a storm at your characters if you’re not ready
the crew has all the rope and sailcloth it needs to restore location
for the damn boat to sink.
2 completely in one day, even if it was completely wrecked.
Locations 1-3 can be torn clean off without really imminent
After location 2, it’s just a question of timber. If the landing
danger of submersion. It leaves a ship at the mercy of tides, unless
spot has trees, no problem. A few twelve-hour days of back-
it can be rowed in some meaningful fashion, but it’s floating
breaking labor and the ship can be almost good as new. With
dead in the water, with the operative word being floating.
adequate lumber, each crewman can restore one Structure Box
Heavy damage to locations 4-7 is manageable, with effort
to any location that wasn’t completely destroyed. The mast can
and patching and substantial jettisoning. Even breaches in loca-
be rebuilt on this schedule even if completely destroyed.
tions 8-10 don’t necessarily spell a trip to the bottom as long as
Utterly emptied locations are another matter. To replace a
each of them (8, 9 and 10) still has some Structure. If you need a
completely junked hull section or something like a big section
rule of thumb, count up how many points of damage have been
of decking, the ship needs to be beached (a task that takes a day)
done, collectively, to the hull locations. Subtract that number
and then each missing section takes a week to rebuild. It won’t
from fifteen: That’s how many days the ship has to find shelter
come out as good as new, either: Each completely destroyed
before it completely falls to pieces.
and reconstructed section starts with one Structure box less
When a hull location is gone, completely empty of Structure
than it had before the storm. All that assumes that at least half
boxes, then the ship is sinking. (When all the hull locations are
the crew survived. With less than half, repairs that size take a
gone, the ship is sunk.) If one hull location is gone, the people
month apiece.
aboard have about half an hour to get things out of the lower
levels and perhaps forty-five minutes to scavenge from higher
EXAMPLE
decks. They’re going to want something that they can float on and
Once the Merrie Mayde limps to shore, the captain takes something they can paddle away with. (Most ships carry long-
stock. The mast has a single point of Structure remaining. boats or life rafts or dinghies which are, of course, ideal.) Large
The rigging and sails are gone. The deck cargo (including sections of hull are decent makeshift rafts. On the other hand, if
extra sailcloth) is also gone. So is the entire forecastle and
the hull was in large sections, rafts probably wouldn’t be needed.
the stern deck. But the hull’s in good shape—only two Struc-
Is it dramatic to have your whole party go down to a watery
ture hits on location 9. The port deck is two down as well.
She’s got eight remaining crewmen to enact repairs, so they grave? In some circumstances, yes, but in most, not really. So
can replace the mast, shore up the hull, and re-chink the let them rush around and make a few Scrutinize rolls to find
deck in just one day. That’s the good news. water, food, water, oars, water, and that satchel of Dindava-
The bad news is, it’s going to take two weeks to fix the ran gold marks that the captain kept hidden somewhere. Let
stem and the stern. Though of course, without sails they’re them make Athletics rolls to paddle away from the suck-zone
not going far anyhow. Looks like it’s time for Sterling and of the sinking ship if they cut it too close, at the cost of cap-
the captain to go exploring and see if they can find any sizing and losing everything they scavenged if they can’t pull
friendly natives with textiles. free. Expert: Sailor or Sense + Direction can provide some
essential construction and guidance, too. But if the stakes
This shows, of course, how all this “broken ship” business can of the journey weren’t particularly high, the point of all this
fit into your game. Toil is tiresome, almost by definition. If canni- rolling and effort is to improve their situation, not to merely
bals don’t attack or the PCs don’t stumble across a demon-infested survive it. With good rolls, they wind up on a decent beach,
temple, the two weeks of repair can easily be dispatched with a a bit worse the wear but still roguishly attractive, near some
scene of the PCs talking to one another in character and then, fresh water and interesting natives. With bad rolls they drift,
“After picking the stitches out of all the clothing that decency helpless, have some interesting hallucinations from thirst
allows, you manage to make a short sail and get to port, now delirium, and eventually wash up in some barren wasteland
three weeks later than planned. Ready for some Company rolls?” populated by flinty eyed barbarians who immediately start
If getting them to port on time is critical, then perhaps the lost arguing whether to use them as food or forced labor. Thus,
sails wash up on shore, or they’re retroactively stored in the hold either way, the excitement and adventure continue.

200 Chapter Fourteen: Work for Your LIves!

 Treasure.

T he life of the RPG character does seem inex-

tricably slanted towards suffering, what with
the monsters and flayings and curses and so
forth. But it’s not all treachery and riptides. For the
bold and the cunning, there are no end of rewards avail-
IT'S BAD FOR THE GROUP
A romantic subplot between a PC and a GMC often leaves the
able to restore flagging spirits and provide a haven of bliss
other PCs twiddling their thumbs. They can get involved by
between episodes of terror and rage. Of course, once a benefit
helping out like Cyrano, or they can try to sabotage the burgeon-
is gained, the threat of its loss or the need to recover it can spur
ing romance because they’d rather Umthor the Excoriator kept
further heroic behavior.
his mind focused on chastising the infidels. In the first instance,
if they succeed you either have a player acting deeply content
LOVE BLOSSOMS (which raises the question of why they’d continue a risky life-
style) or ignoring the inamorata (and if the love affair isn’t going
I can speak only from my own experience, but love is the
to provide any characterization or plot fuel, why bother?). In the
ultimate reward of the human endeavor. (Hi, Martha!) Finding
second instance, it can end up funny or tragic or with the char-
another person you can implicitly trust, who illuminates every
acters despising one another, all of which are acceptable but all
facet of your life with joy, someone who is interesting and fun
of which are well beyond the boundary of “uncomplicated love.”
and lively and who inspires you to try harder and be better…
The possible outcomes, then, are: the other players are bored; the
what could exceed that? Yet most games give more attention to
other PCs get involved and it makes the lover less motivated;
magic swords than these bonds of affection. (To be honest, this
the other PCs get involved and there’s no character development
game is unlikely to be an exception.)
whatever, the love plot just sucks up time that could be spent
Why is this? Probably because, while genuine and uncompli-
robbing temples; The other PCs attempt to thwart it and things
cated love is indisputably great in real life, it’s kind of boring in
get interesting, but at the risk of the group disintegrating.
a game. Here’s why.
Short version? Yoko breaks up the band.

Chapter Fifteen: Splendid Things Occcur 201

 IT'S AGAINST TYPE taken a sacred vow, and if I broke my word I would no longer
be the person you admire”) that even makes the character look
The heroes of great fantasy fiction are generally lone wolf types. good. If they want to have angst and chew scenery, there’s now
Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser probably changed sex partners an excuse to do as much or as little as is fun (within the bounds
more often than socks, but with the exception of early heart- of the other players’ enjoyment). Players who want to create plot
breaking tragedies, they never got deeply involved or settled can, but don’t have to.
down—or, rather, the settling down always seemed to occur On the other hand, if a PC bites on the forbidden love bait,
between stories. Elric was another hero with that early tragic you’ve got a fine story hook. The lover can become false or star-
thwarting, while the only character in Lord of the Rings who crossed pretty easily, in addition to all the issues that come up
had erotic entanglements during the actual adventure was with keeping the affair secret.
Aragorn, who had a little bit of love triangle and a little bit of
star crossing going on. That worked fine as a minor subplot but, STAR-CROSSED LOVE
again, it was hardly “uncomplicated.” A star-crossed romance can be forbidden, but doesn’t have to
MANY PLAYERS HATE IT be. It’s just one where there are physical or magical or political
barriers to the relationship, not mere emotional ones. Falling in
Gamers play to have fun and if you’re in one of those groups love with Counselor Sorvaard’s wife is forbidden. Falling in love
with really impenetrable psychological separation between with an Uldish woman, when you’re in the Dindavaran army
player and character, good for you. Not everyone is, and not and the two nations are at war and she’s on the other end of
everyone wants to be. Many players don’t want their charac- the front—that’s star-crossed. If you’re the soldier/lover and the
ters to pick flowers and write poetry and discuss their feelings woman on the other side of the battlefield is Counselor Sor-
because that’s not what they signed up for. The only lust they’re vaard’s wife (and, for fun, let’s say General Ulmtrecht’s daughter)
into is bloodlust, culminating with seizing a crown in an orgy of then the relationship is both forbidden and star-crossed.
violence. Their characters might marry for political advantage The plot potential of star-crossed affection is obvious because
but, as in real life, the marriage of convenience is likely to be the barriers to the lovers exist on the level of plot. If your sweet-
trotted out only when you need to put on a show for company. heart gets kidnapped by pirates, it’s time to get a ship, have
Sometimes playing through a romance scene, even an “I’ma an exhilarating chase across storm-wracked seas, and duel the
let’cha down easy ‘cause I’m a rambling man an’ no good for lascivious sea-dog captain in the rigging of an accursed black
you” scenario, is uncomfortable between PC and GM, regard- cruiser. If your fiancé is deathly ill and the only person with the
less of their genders. Likewise interactions between PCs where cure is being held prisoner two hundred miles away in a nation
one player is really interested and one is really really not. If it’s torn by violent political upheaval… the travel plans are clear,
all in fun, that’s cool. Understand that for some players, it’s aren’t they? Far from easy, but they’re obvious.
neither fun nor cool. A different form of star-crossing is the love triangle. Now,
If players don’t want romance, trying to stab them in the back it’s an emotional and character issue instead of a plot issue.
with it is going to end badly. If you, as GM, think there’s savory (Or, it’s character and plot. The PC can dither over whether
plot meat to be had, leave it out as a lure. Just be prepared for your Lady Objavol would really be happier with them or with Sir
players to ignore it, no matter how appetizing. Maybe they’re not Waxwood, who can provide her the security and stability she
interested in that particular temptation. Or maybe that’s just not deserves… and then, next thing you know, Waxwood rides up
what they want to do with their character. Accept it. with a formal duel challenge prepared.) Some players can really
Am I saying that romance has no place in games? Oh no. I’m groove on their character being the ethical paragon who sac-
saying uncomplicated and genuine love has no place. Compli- rifices their own happiness because, deep down inside, they
cated and treacherous love can be loads of fun, even for those knows they’ll only bring trouble, misery, and possibly death to
players who are mainly in it for the crown-seizing or heretic the beloved. Even without making that choice, there’s a risk of
chastising. Here’s how. heartbreak if the beloved chooses someone else. (To be fair, you
might want to assume that GMCs choose to be with PCs by
FORBIDDEN LOVE default and only go to a GMC rival due to the player’s choices.
That could be the PC screwing up by choosing to take a perilous
For some reason or another, the character just cannot get roman-
mission after the lover begs them not to. Or it could be that the
tically involved. Perhaps there’s a credible prophecy that she’ll
other PCs get sick of dissecting the he said/she said and decide
give birth to a monster destined to leave her beloved homeland
to sabotage it for their own good.)
in ruins. Maybe he’s a priest in a religion that calls for a vow
The wickedest love triangle is between PCs. If your players
of chastity. Or it could just be that the PC is married already
can keep it all in fun and have it enable characterization between
(perhaps in one of the false love situations described below), or
them without disabling their ability to manage the plot and get
the object of the PC’s affections is, or both.
things done—great. If not, you may want to let it stew a session
Forbidden love allows you to tempt the PC with a promise of
or two before detouring it to tragedy.
happiness that is simultaneously the threat of misery. It’s a situ-
The problem with a star-crossed love plot is that eventually
ation that can define a character’s attitude towards honor when
you (the GM) either have to fish or cut bait. If you endlessly
it comes into conflict with desire, and that’s a powerful story.
dangle the romance just out of reach (the beloved is rescued only
But at the same time, if it’s something a player really just wants
to get sick and, when you get back with the doctor, is carried off
to set aside, there’s an easy out (“You’re… very nice. But I’ve
by a giant raven or something), eventually the players get tired.

202 Chapter Fifteen: Splendid Things Occcur

 R
Who can blame them? Endlessly striving for something when
there’s no sign they’ll ever be permitted to attain it is tiresome, ather than the rutting, brutish beast-men we in
and eventually, they are likely to give up. That’s not heroic. North Hold typically envision at the word “Truil,” in
No, if you establish a star-crossed romance, you have to my travels among them, I found them a singularly
permit the characters to resolve it. Then you can give the PCs a
break, some emotional bliss (possibly glossed over in downtime,
sober and chaste people. They possess not one or two,
or possibly as a subplot while you focus on some of the PCs but three separate words for sexual shame. “Haumach,”
who aren’t Romeo or Juliet), and either settle the lover/husband/ “obenmach,” and “kragmach” are each fascinating concepts
concubine into a position where they don’t get in the way… or with equally interesting foundations.
you transition to having the relationship get complicated again,
by becoming false, or tragic, or forbidden, or (after a suitable
“Hau” indicates a petty, unfortunate but inescapable
pause) star-crossed once more. annoyance—perhaps what we would call “a dirty job.”
Haumach, then, is the essential shame of being a man or
FALSE LOVE a woman—an inborn tendency towards lust and periodic
For long-term play, this is quite possibly the best arrangement. uncleanliness. A Truil youth with unwanted tumescence, or
Either the PC is lying to and using someone for gain or gratifi-
cation, or the PC is being used.
a woman experiencing her monthly distress, are exhibiting
In the first case, you can get characterization out of it. How haumach.
do the PCs handle the gross act of deceiving in order to get sex “Obenmach” literally means “middle shame.” It refers
or money or whatever? If they’re okay with it (or even delighted, to sexual activity and the outcome thereof—intercourse,
as many are) you can move to plot repercussions when the love
becomes star-crossed. Seducing a widower who owns a brewery
pregnancy and even miscarriage.
is great, but is it great enough that you ride into danger to rescue When something becomes “krag,” it is irreparably
his ne’er-do-well son after he gets captured behind enemy lines? degraded—stained beyond hope of cleanliness, even if it
Alternately, the widower might get wise, and suddenly all the can still function. I saw a Truil woman reduced to tears
advantages you enjoyed are not only cut off, but turned against
you. This can be a big deal, for characters seducing their way into
after an elaborately beaded shirt was torn. Even if she
a lucrative judicial appointment, or not so big a deal if it was only a sewed it back together, the stitches would show like
matter of saying, “Sure I love you!” to the baker’s pretty daughter. scars. It was krag. Better, she said, to strip out the beads
Then again, what if some competition steps in? Taking advan- and reuse them. Kragmach, then, is a sexual act (or one
tage of an emotionally-naïve consenting adult is bad enough
when neither one of you has anything much to lose. What if the
motivated by sexual drives) that stains a person’s soul.
character doesn’t really love that GMC, while the rival genu- Murdering in hope of stealing a spouse, adultery, gross
inely does? Yes, the PC was kind of a swine before, but are they crimes of romantic jealousy—all these are kragmach. It
willing to raise the swine ante? (If you go this route, be sure should be noted that what is kragmach in one tribe may
you’re ready for the answer to be “Hell yeah!” People do terrible
things in RPGs that they’d never do in real life.)
only be obenmach in another. Certain practices common to
Or, the PC may be the naïve tool instead of the deceptive prisoners and the courtesans of Center, for example.
craftsman. You can put a lover in play who says and does all the
right things while secretly spying on behalf of the characters’ -Cardamon Oils
most venomous rival. If the lover is also sexually involved with “Some Notes on Curiosities of Language”
said rival, it just cranks in the betrayal that much deeper. In this
case, you (as GM) are obligated to give the PCs an opportunity
to resolve the betrayal. Maybe the PC has a chance to kill the
way to avoid them. Spend the XP, take some combination of
pleading lover, Othello-style. Maybe the PC can’t do it, despite
Patron or Wealth Advantages, and get on with the non-erotic
the treacherous cupidity, and it falls to one of the other PCs to
focus of pillaging your neighbors. That’s fine. A GM may offer
bring the hammer down. Just maybe forgiveness shows the lover
forbidden loves later (such as that dashing warrior whose elan
the error of their ways, they realizes that the venomous rival was
and courage only highlight the qualities your older, plodding
just using them and that their true loyalty should always have
spouse lacks), but as always, it’s up to the player to get involved
been to the PC. Is it too late? Will the lover betray again? How
or walk away. Either way tells something important about the
much damage was done to the Company and can it be undone
character’s identity and priorities.
if the lover becomes a double agent? All these plots arise from
discovering the betrayal.
The final type of false love is barely a plot or character issue
TRAGIC LOVE
at all: It’s the loveless marriage where both partners go in clear- On the other hand, players who want a reason to turn down
eyed, pursuing political, or financial advantage. (Read your romantic entanglements without sacrificing angst-ridden
history. This is common among the nobility.) It’s quite possible speeches about heartache may opt for tragedy. (If you’ve never
to establish a marriage like this to shield a character from future made an in-character, angst-ridden speech—give it a try! It’s
romance plots, if the player really wants an easy, in-character surprisingly satisfying. Just know when to quit.)

Chapter Fifteen: Splendid Things Occcur 203

 A tragic love is one in which your lover dies, or is driven to approximate the sharpness of steel. They never need to be
incurably insane, or is exiled to a distant realm far out of reach, honed, they don’t rust, and they’re wonderfully light in com-
or otherwise becomes permanently unavailable. There’s no parison to an unenchanted blade, but they’re easy to break. It’s
“happily ever after” here—not even a chance. It is a relationship similarly possible for enchantment to make shields out of smoke
that leaves your character glaring murderously at anyone who or to replace a candle with captured moonlight. In these cases,
pulls out that old saying about “’Tis better to have loved and lost the enchanted objects are clearly “artifacts” but they may give no
than ne’er love at all.” (“Oh yeah? Lessee how affectionate you greater practical advantage than a candle or a meat cleaver. Items
are to your head and how you feel about losing that.”) of this sort can be purchased with Wealth. Their Cost is usually
It’s possible and permissible to build this heartbreak into 1-3 higher than an ordinary tool to accomplish the same purpose.
a character’s backstory. Like the loveless marriage of conve- (If your players are wondering how to get Treasure sufficient
nience, it provides a reason for a character to pass up erotic to buy an artifact that duplicates a spell of Intensity 7+, they
entanglements in favor of skewering or spell casting. (“There can’t. Items that powerful are beyond the purview of general
was only one woman for me. Riyan Xudei had her killed. Now rules like this. If you, as GM decide they’re even going to touch
I have sworn to be his doom.”) on your campaign, they’re unique and anyone who has one
But it’s equally possible to have the tragedy occur during probably won’t sell it at any price. See the Magic Items and
play, and it’s probably going to affect the character a whole lot Social Order header, following.)
more if the disaster plays out in full view of everyone else in the
group. If you’re going to do it that way, it’s best to start out as EXAMPLE
a simple case of star-crossing, with tragedy as the consequence A character is given a magic stick that changes the
for character choices. A predetermined sad ending is just as weather. Basically, it allows a non-spellcaster to cast the
unsatisfying and infuriating as having a character shoehorned spell Weather Change (see Reign: Realms) one time. It’s an
into a relationship that the player, doesn’t want. The likeli- Intensity 4 spell. The stick costs Wealth 4.
hood of crushed hopes is something individual GMs have to
gauge, ranging from “really probable unless the PCs do every- When used, items operate exactly as if they were cast by
thing right” (if the relationship threatens great disruption, like the sorcerer who created them. This means they can fail, and
when PCs are rivals and it’s stopped being fun) to “only going it means they don’t just click into action, unless the spell is
to happen if they totally drop the ball” (which is a better choice combative.
if the players are okay with a character getting married, and the
spouse provides lots of plot possibility). EXAMPLE
Don’t shortchange characters who just lost their One True
A sorcerer whose pool was 3+MD with the Weather Change
Love. On the other hand, don’t drag things out when the other
spell created the magic stick. When cast, the character
players are bored even if the tragedian is still enjoying the
spends nine hours using the stick—in this case, reading
character’s deep despair. A reflective scene during the funeral from a lengthy text that came with it, speaking the same
and some questions about how the character plans on dealing words the caster would have, even though the stick-buyer
with grief may be all you need. Assuming, of course, that the doesn’t need to understand them or gather the magic per-
untimely demise hasn’t set the character (and the Company) on sonally. Then the GM rolls the creator’s pool. In this case, it
an inexorable road to epic revenge. yields 1,2,2 and the MD is set to another 2. Unfortunately,
the Difficulty of an Intensity 4 spell is 4, so even with an
ACQUIRES AN MD the item has failed.

ENCHANTED ARTIFACT One advantage that magic items of either type have is that the
user doesn’t need to be attuned. In fact, some sorcerers perma-
For our purposes, we can break enchanted items down into two
nently attuned to one style of magic rely on items from another
categories. There are charms—little knick-knacks that have a
style to get effects they can’t produce themselves.
minor function or only operate once. These can be purchased
with Wealth. On the other end of the spectrum are real arti-
EXAMPLE
facts—items that have powerful effects or which repeat their
effects over and over. These are far more scarce, and valuable, Uthar is a permanently attuned Flame Dancer. In the
and generally can be bought only with Treasure. course of his duties serving The Empire, he has an oppor-
To determine the cash cost of an item, find a spell that the tunity to buy a ring that casts the spell Updraft (see Reign:
item duplicates. If the item’s a charm, it costs Wealth equal to Realms) over and over! It’s not cheap—he has to get his
Company to drop their Treasure from 6 to 5 to acquire it,
the spell’s Intensity. If the item does the effect over and over, it
which means that magic ring costs about as much as out-
costs Treasure equal to the spell’s Intensity. All those Dindava-
fitting a decent sized fleet. With it, however, he can cast
ran magic swords in the Magic in Heluso and Milonda section Updraft on anyone he feels like, any time he’s in the mood,
of Reign: Realms? They cost Treasure equal to their level. just by saying the magic word. There are no promises as to
Magic can be used to duplicate mundane items, for reasons how skilled the caster was, so he could be rolling 4d for his
practical or political. For example, in the lands of the Irone- Updraft or 7+MD. But that’s the price you pay for being
bone Theocracy, metal swords are an abomination, so the nation’s able to fling people out of combat over and over.
troops are equipped with wooden swords that are rune-carved

204 Chapter Fifteen: Splendid Things Occcur

 Particular spells are used to make magic items, and they’re not
as readily taught as other spells. Most spells, with the exception
of First Intensity cantrips, are guarded to some degree or other.
Spells that create permanently enchanted artifacts are very
tightly guarded indeed. If a spell to build a charm or artifact
isn’t written up, here are some guidelines.
Creating a charm requires a number of days equal to its
Intensity, working on it a number of hours per day equal to its
Intensity. Thus, the fellow making Blossom Freshness charms
from tulip petals can spend five hours in the course of one
day and make five petals, because it’s a First Intensity spell.
To create charms that cast a Third Intensity spell like, say,
Fiery Sphere, he’d spend three hours a day for three days and
make one. Or nine hours a day for three days and make three.
Assuming the creation spell was correctly cast each time, of
course.
For artifacts, it’s a number of months. In both these cases,
that’s in addition to the casting time for the spells themselves.
No artisan can work on more than one artifact at a time.

AVAILABILITY
The costs for magic items are a rough outline for general cases.
Any time your characters want to buy an artifact or charm,
it’s specific. At no time is there any guarantee that any magic
object, even a petal with a rune scratched in it that lets you cast
Blossom Freshness one time (Wealth 1 to purchase) is avail-
able where the PCs are. The cheaper it is, and the easier it is to
create, the more likely you are to find one. As a general rule,
you might find a First Intensity charm for sale even in a small
village… if it’s a charm for a spell that’s commonly known in
the area. In a large city, there might be one or two artifacts
on the market at any given time. Or three, if the city’s militia
recently plundered a temple. Or none.
Even in the largest and most cosmopolitan city in the
world, there are rarely more than five artifacts for sale on the
open market. (Real artifacts, that is. There are any number of
phonies or “reproductions” available to the gullible.) There’s
usually at least one, but there is no way for PCs to determine
in advance what it is.
In other words, the chances of walking into a “magic store”
(and such things exist in large cities, but they mostly sell
charms and ingredients) and buying a sword that shoots fire
because you want to shoot fire from a sword are almost exactly
nil. Characters who want fire-shooting swords need to find
someone who knows how to make them (which is probably a
quest in itself) and convince that person to put such a danger-
ous item in their hands (possibly another task), and then pay
the Treasure and wait for the item to be made. At the end,
they have a sword that replicates the spell Immolate, meaning
that the user has to make a successful Dance roll to active
that weapon, and then have the GM roll the swordsmith’s
pool. (If you’d chosen a sword that spat lightning instead, you
could have imitated Lesser Lightning Stroke, which does less
damage but doesn’t require dance.)

MAGIC ITEMS AND SOCIAL ORDER

Artifacts and charms have their limits, but anything that lets a
non-sorcerer access the power of spells is powerful. Even if it’s

Chapter Fifteen: Splendid Things Occcur 205

 a limited power, the fact that some ignorant untrained dunce who can shoot fire can probably do several other things. Not
could buy (or find) an item that lets him cast Inhuman Prowess least, they can drag your unconscious body to safety, if they’re
has big implications for the social order. loyal enough. Given that it’s often cheaper to hire a magician
In theory, magic artifacts could be far more common than to cast the spell than it is to buy a device that recreates it,
they are. They could be produced in much greater numbers. But the market doesn’t have that much pressure on the supply
in theory, hunger is a solvable problem and all nations could side. Finally, a magic staff doesn’t do you much good if it gets
peacefully coexist. Here’s why magic artifacts are rare. stolen—and the loss of revenue and morale when a nations’
citizens learn their most powerful artifact has been boosted
THE CREATORS AREN'T EAGER TO CREATE by the other side is often far more damaging than any use the
On the surface of it, it’s nonsensical to think that someone artifact itself might have.
would undergo years of training to become a sorcerer, put forth The final word on magical artifacts is this: Those in power
the effort and toil to learn the powerful spell needed to create an tend to see them as shortcuts. Powerful people don’t like there
enchanted item that can be used over and over again and then… to be shortcuts to power (at least, not for anyone but them-
what, just not cast the spell? Absurd! selves). Someone who trains for years to master a martial skill
But it’s equally absurd to think someone would undergo that is worthy of respect, while someone who’s dangerous only by
rigorous magician schooling and then blithely hand over that virtue of an enchanted goblet is a cheater who deserves to be
power to the highest bidder. To reflect it in somewhat warped manipulated. After all, the master warrior has an ability that
modern terms, if a professional basketball player discovered a can never be taken away. Once you take the magic goblet, its last
way to teach anyone to make an unblockable three-point shot, owner is a used-up tool, no longer required.
how widely do you suppose they’d spread that knowledge?
Maybe to a few teammates, or their kids, and they’d certainly RECEIVES LANDS, TITLES
use it personally, but if you’re a genius at lowering barriers, you
might just think yourself out of a job.
& AWARDS OF MERIT
It is unreasonable to think that magicians would never want It’s one thing when the Empress thanks you for uncovering and
artifacts built. But it is equally unreasonable to think they’d thwarting a plot to crack her domain into warring, fractious
want a market glutted with them, since ready availability just pieces. It’s altogether something else when she decides that,
drives the prices down and makes other enchanters obsolete after the conspirators starve to death or leap to their doom from
(and therefore, angry). To put it another way, if you could earn tall public columns, you will take their properties instead of the
a handsome living producing a magic sword every decade, or blood heir.
a less lavish livelihood busting your hump to make two of the No extra rules are required to just stack more Territory or
same swords every year, which would you pick? If you’re smart, Treasure onto a Company, and certainly there are any number
you take the lazy option. If you’re cunning, you collude with of plots that can arise when the displaced heir schemes for
other lazy magicians to make sure no other greedy fool ruins redress, and the bigoted citizens start making trouble, while
the market for everyone. the blue-bloods close ranks against the sweaty, plainspoken
In short, magicians have a monopoly and it is in every way upstarts who still have dried battle-gore under their finger-
compelling for them to keep the market tight. nails… but having a title is nice, getting official rewards impress
people and it doesn’t hurt to have some guidelines on how that
BUYERS WANT UNIQUENESS might affect the rules.
If you’re an infantry captain, there’s nothing like drawing a
flaming sword to make the enemy pause—unless their captain TITLED NOBILITY
has one too. The Empire started its era of massive conquest by The obvious rule about noble titles is that they’re bestowed,
realizing large groups of ordinary troops could be disrupted presumably because they’re earned but sometimes as a bribe,
and disorganized by small teams working impressive magic. If or due to family connections, or as a payoff because you kept
impressive magic becomes common, it turns into an arms race your mouth shut. Typically, only kings and emperors (and the
with diminishing returns as those same troops get blasé. In like) have the right to ennoble an entire bloodline, and only
other words, not only does your magic sword scare the enemies duke-equivalents have the right to even propose a name to the
less because they’ve got one, it encourages your troops less if ruler for such a singular honor. However, some nobles overstep
it’s just one of the many. Keeping artifacts rare makes them their bounds when their master is weak and, in a region where
unpredictable, mobile, and impressive. When they’re common, the ruling family’s word is law, no one is going to contest their
battles go from being risky to being completely random, and mayoral appointment.
every general wants a battle that’s predictable to them and not
to the opponent. KNIGHT
THERE ARE CHEAPER ALTERNATIVES Also Known As: Gentlewoman, Gentleman,
Reeve, Mayor, Overseer, Tax Collector
Even beyond the uniqueness factor, there are reasons to turn
aside from magic artifacts. One reason is they aren’t com- The lowest level of the gentry is knighthood, often bestowed for
pletely reliable, and that’s a tough sell at the prices they fetch. feats of valor on the battlefield but possibly given for cultural
Furthermore, a ring that shoots fire does one thing. Magicians achievements or because you loaded the queen 10,000 silver

206 Chapter Fifteen: Splendid Things Occcur

marks when she really needed to make good on her battle
mages’ back pay.
In many nations, only the nobility are permitted to carry
swords (though often, in the hinterlands, no one’s going to make
a big deal about it. “Sword? Heavens no, that’s just a machete
for cutting undergrowth!”) Furthermore, nobility often have
legal recourse that peasants lack. Commoners appeal to the
local gentry to mediate their disputes and, if they don’t like the
declared solution… well, tough. There’s no court of appeals.
Sometimes nobles can, if “provoked,” seize a peasant’s land or
property, if peasants even have such. (True feudal systems have
the peasants working land that belongs to their lord, and since
lords have real legal pull, just taking that stuff is more likely to
have consequences. On the other hand, when it’s a commoner’s
word against a knight, many lords find for the knight and make
it up to the serf later, if at all. Governance involves choosing
conflicts carefully.)
What this title really does is officially recognize any achieve-
ments the characters have done on their own. Knights are
common enough that the mere title isn’t enough to provide the
Status Advantage, but it’s sufficient to get the benefit of the
doubt from village elders, blacksmiths, local merchants and
innkeepers. Now, your higher grade of commoner—witches,
those who’ve earned their money through shrewdness, and any
variety of outlaw—are probably smart enough to know how
little a knighthood really means.
It is perfectly reasonable for a knight to govern a Company
of Territory 1 or even 2. The title isn’t necessary for that level of
authority, but it is typical.

LORD/LADY
Also Known As: Emir, Governor, Baron, Baroness

Just as knights control small companies (Territory 1-2), lords

usually govern larger ones (Territory 2-4). Lords with smaller
territories are unusual, but not so outlandish as to cause sus-
picion or comment. They’re just regarded as the unfortunate
remainder, after tragedy or incompetence has subtracted the
value from a once-noble lineage.
Lordships are rarely just bestowed, unless a kingdom has
undergone a sudden expansion. In most sizeable kingdoms,
the desirable pies were cut up and distributed long ago. Being
given the title “Lord” either means (1) new lands have been dis-
covered and you have to colonize them, (2) territory has been
seized from an enemy nation and you have to pacify it or (3)
some other lord has fallen from favor, you’re being given their
ancestral home, and it might be a good idea to check the master
bedroom for secret passages.
A character with no Status who gets appointed lord should
get the Advantage Status 1 at least. No wealth comes with the
title (other than what the lord can wrest from the land), but
there are some other privileges. Lords have the legal right to
maintain a company of soldiers, typically up to Might 3. (Unof-
ficially, many go higher, just as many knights and commoners
who lack the specific right to order soldiers about often control
groups of armed “guards” or “escorts”or “privateers.”) The
biggest advantage of lordship, however, is that there’s one less
layer of control on top of you.
“This one? Got ‘er for confidential services to the Bearer of the
Embroidered Placket, don’cha know? Can’t really talk about ‘er.”

Chapter Fifteen: Splendid Things Occcur 207

A
There are kings whose nations are too small to subdivide
ll gods preserve me from clever servants. Give me into ducal provinces or even lordly domains. Some nations
the dull plodders, the thoughtlessly obedient, give are small enough to have Territory 1. That doesn’t matter: The
ruler is still a sovereign and, as such, can never have Status
me agents without an ounce of imagination! They lower than 3. Furthermore, people raised in any kingdom are
are inevitably superior to the cunning. susceptible to the title. They can’t help it. They were raised in
First, the intelligent take initiative and eventually a culture that trained them to respond to “Royal Highness”
with awe and deference. Accordingly, a ruler making a roll to
surprise you. I prefer by far the predictable and ordinary, influence a commoner with Command or Charm gets a +1d
above even a surprise of good fortune. By this I mean only, bonus or can offset any number of dice in penalty. This only
I make plans. works on those with no noble title of their own, and those
who weren’t raised in nations with farcical notions of intrinsic
Second, the obtuse are rarely ambitious, and should human rights or “the equality of all before God” or some-
one ever aspire above a proper station, their schemes are thing, and of course, it only works if the commoners know
easy to spot and simple to thwart. they’re talking to a royal sovereign. But even a wealthy Imperial
merchant talking to the king of some tiny piece of Heluso
Finally, being unused to praise and genuine appreciation, mountain scree, a merchant whose personal honor guard could
they are so grateful! My unfeigned favor inspires take over that wee nation… that merchant still feels, deep
exceptional loyalty in my average thinkers, and spurs down, an instinct to submit. The queen who grows her own
potatoes and has bad teeth and gets her hands dirty helping
them to efforts that no reasonable person would expend. the cows give birth is still a queen.

-Empress Autumnfall II (attributed) EMPEROR/EMPRESS

Also Known As: Supreme Overlord,
High King, High Queen
DUKE/DUCHESS
Also Known As: Great Lord, Great Lady, If you weren’t born to it, you can only claim to be an Emperor
Margravine, Province Commander if you have Territory 5, and you’d better have meaningful
Might to back it up. The historical abuses and depredations of
Where the knight controls a village and the lord controls a The Empire have given many countries a bad attitude towards
town, the duchess is in charge of an entire province, possibly anyone who takes Imperial title.
with a significant city or two in it. Territories of size 3-4 are Emperors universally crown themselves (or are crowned by
most often under the thumb of a duchess or duke, and some heaven, if you prefer), since no one else has the authority to
powerful nobles at this level have Territory 5 in large nations. do it. Unlike kingship, there’s no Status protection in calling
Everything that’s true of lords is more true of great ladies, who yourself an Emperor: If you don’t already have the clout to back
are the next level in the hierarchy. Their Status Advantage can the claim, people are going to regard you as a lunatic.
never fall below 2 unless they’re stripped of their title, and On the other hand, if you can back the claim, you can be
they can typically enjoy Wealth 3 at least. Even if they’re flat one of the few to whom even kings bend knee. You can claim
broke or deep in debt, there’s always someone willing to lend absolute authority and issue orders none can gainsay. Your
money to a duchess, accept one’s letter of credit, or take their power as an emperor is limited only to what you can grasp.
word as bond.
In a typical large nation, the army of a duke can officially AWARDS OF MERIT
reach Might 4 without the ruler interfering. Of course, by
Sometimes a ruler doesn’t want to go all the way to setting
Might 4, it’s probably too late to interfere anyhow.
someone on the path of having the same rights as those of noble
birth and accomplishment but still wants to provide a reward
KING/QUEEN for exceptional service. These titles of merit are narrower than
Also Known As: Pasha, Sovereign, Overlord noble status but, within their purviews, can be just as impres-
sive—and maybe, sometimes, even more so.
There are nations that use other forms of government, but
typically there’s a single person with whom supreme author-
ity rests. When things go well, the ruler can take credit.
OFFICER OF THE CROWN
When disaster strikes, it is to the crown that the people cry Also Known As: Agent, Courier, Bearer of a Letter of Mark
for leadership.
An officer is someone a ruler has recognized with a specific duty.
Sovereigns often rule by divine mandate, or claim one
The recognition usually takes the form of a document, signed by
anyhow. Emperors and Empresses can “recognize” someone as
the queen (or duke, or lord) and suitable for framing. There’s also
a ruler who’s already running a country, but it’s very rare for a
typically some kind of ceremony, of a varying degree of pomp.
whole new nation to spring into being. When that happens, the
The prerogatives of an agent of the crown depend entirely
rulers most likely crown themselves, instead of appealing to an
on the office. A tax assessor can decree how much (or little)
outside authority.

208 Chapter Fifteen: Splendid Things Occcur

property is worth and then call in the army if the owner won’t enemies of those very people who are inclined to ignore the rules
pay. A military officer commands troops and is commanded of decent conduct, and the adventure becomes one of self-de-
in turn by a general. A defender of the faith has a respon- fense, both political, and physical. Either way, judge characters
sibility to ensure that all lesser priests and lay people follow are a fountainhead of plots, as long as (1) the GM genuinely lets
church doctrine correctly. If the church is powerful, religious them decide what’s right and wrong without leading or refusing
offices may include the right to arrest blasphemers and bind and (2) the cases are genuinely difficult and obscure, resistant
them over to a judge for trial. Alternately, an official may have to easy answers.
a duty to oversee one particular part of a region (like making
sure that all the bridges are strong enough to support a full MASTER_________
wagon of goods). In those cases, they’re probably in charge of
Also Known As: Living Treasure, Craftsman Laureate
a budget or are given authority to levy tolls to fund the project.
In short, an official is someone with a narrow duty and the The title of “Master” indicates supreme skill in a narrow field
equally narrow set of rights needed to pursue that duty. In of study. There are master poets, master smiths, masters of the
that bailiwick, their word is law. Until, that is, they run into sword of course, master potters, and so forth. In some nations,
someone in the same bailiwick with a higher level of right. For there is only one Master Poet at a time, appointed by the sov-
instance, a ducal officer in charge of ensuring the roads remain ereign (who may have a tin ear for verse, if it comes to that).
unobstructed and in good repair is going to have to cave when In others, a council of brewers may confer the title of master
at cross purposes with a royal officer who has the same duty. brewer, while only professional musicians can induct a singer as
one of the elite. In any case, whether the official title comes with
GENERAL a stipend or simply has enough cachet, the master never goes
Also Known As: Admiral, Supreme Commander broke. A master’s personal Wealth can never drop below 1, and
the cost of anything the master creates—a dress from a master
This one’s pretty obvious. The troops, as represented by a Com- tailor, the sword of a master smith, education from a master
pany’s Might, respond to the general, and generals respond to archer—is 1 higher than it would usually be. In other words,
the leader who invested them with authority. Or not. When the item is paid for as if it was of exquisite workmanship, even
the general issues one order and the ruler says another, it can if the master has become a drunken wretch with only a shred of
all come down to what the soldiers personally believe or want their former skills.
to do. One thing’s for sure: Attempts at coup d’etat typically
end with either the old leader or the upstart dead, dying, or _______TO HER ROYAL HIGHNESS
exiled. This title applies to a group rather than to an individual, and
it functions much the same as the “Master” title. It means that
JUDGE the Queen (or a Duke, or an Emir, or the Mayor) pays the
Also Known As: Inquisitor, Arbiter Company for its services and therefore, presumably, deems them
of superior quality. Thus, a farming collective might be “Provi-
The duty of the judge is to interpret the laws of the land, or sioners to the Royal Army” or a winery might be “Vintners to
the edicts of the church, or the rules of concord that sustain a the High Priest” or a group of architects and masons might be
Company, with the ultimate goal of seeing that justice is done “Builders of the Tyrant’s Palace.” Any time the group drops its
and grievances settled. Treasure to zero due to expenses, it only spends the next month
This is a very noble calling, to hear it told, and sometimes at zero before returning to 1 as new clients or opportunities
in practice it lives up to that ideal. Sometimes a judge gets a present themselves.
chance to right a great wrong and is the only person standing
between the whims of the strong and the dignity of the weak. CHAMPION
It must be noted, however, that siding with the weak against
the strong can earn a judge strong enemies. Beyond that, a Also Known As: Defender of the Faith,
judge may have to choose between “justice done” and “griev- The Queen’s Blade, Inexorable Warrior
ance ended.” In some cases, the lawful choice is obvious, but Typically, there is only one champion in an army, recognized
clinging to the strict words of legal formula may cause more (often rightly) as its most puissant fighter. The champion gets
strife and trouble for a community, while actually satisfying no some kind of unique armor, something that can be seen at a
one. Who is the good arbiter in that case? The one who stretches great distance, and goes in at the front to give courage to the
the lawmaker’s intent in the name of a tranquil city? Or the one soldiers in the thickest fighting. In some cases, armies send
who opts for hard justice, holding fast the faith that it’s for the their champions out to do single combat before the main battle
enduring good? begins. This only happens if both sides want more time to
There are no particular rules modifications for those who prepare or maneuver, however, and furthermore if both think
are given the authority to interpret laws, whether those laws they can make better use of the time than their foes.
be broad, specific, religious, secular, voluntary, or sovereign. It is possible to be the champion of a town, a country, a
Crooked or self-interested characters typically have little religion, or an empire. The only difference is the scale on
problem earning coin from their willingness to sell an opinion: which the fighter fights and the skill of the competition.
Then the adventure becomes one of concealment and deceit.
Genuinely virtuous judges, on the other hand, inevitably make

Chapter Fifteen: Splendid Things Occcur 209

 When champions clash, the winning champion can influ-
ence their army’s Might roll for that battle, by squishing a
successful set one step. This is the most obvious advantage.
Furthermore, champions get a +2 d bonus on any speeches
to give unworthy allies the Morale bonus to their Threat (as
described on page 34).
Of course, the most prized perquisite of the champion, in
addition to getting the best rations and finest weapons in the
army, is the admiration. It’s not hard to get bought a drink or
find a willing sex partner when you’re considered the embodi-
ment of your society’s noble band of warriors.

ADVISOR TO THE THRONE

Also Known As: Sage, Vizier, Palace Wizard,
Royal Librarian, Oracle

Someone with at least a bit of skill at sorcery typically occupies

the role of “learned advisor to the ruler,” if for no other reason
than those inclined to study rarely forgo a passing familiar-
ity (at least) with the thinking person’s route to power. It
happens, however, that the job sometimes falls to someone
who is purely an intellectual and who has no practical skill
at casting spells. But even those sages who don’t command
the forces of magic understand them, just as they might have
a grasp of farm policy without ever getting their hands dirty,
or a knowledge of military history without ever going onto a
battlefield. Their job, in short, is to know and to provide the
perspective of ages as filtered through a thorough education.
Advisors seldom have any actual authority to command,
though they may surround themselves with lackeys, research
assistants, specialist scholars, and apprentices. Indeed, the
best of them rely on experts in particular areas to save the
advisor from having to be anything but a generalist able to
understand and distill the wisdom of the educated.
While they have direct control over nothing, advisors are
consulted on just about everything. (Unless they fall out of
favor with the ruler, in which case they probably won’t remain
advisor for long.) Thus, unless the sovereign personally inter-
venes, it is the advisor who gets to decide the priority of tasks
that use a Company’s Influence Quality. They may not decide
exactly what’s to be done, but in mechanical terms, they decide
which tasks get the highest dice pools and which have to make
do with exhausted ones.

CONFIDENTIAL PURSUER
Also Known As: Spycatcher, Thief Taker,
Left Hand of the Prince

Everyone has a private life, from the lowliest pig-stall mucker

to the most elegant lady of the realm. The difference is, the
elegant lady can appoint a confidential pursuer to keep her
private life private while the pig-boy has to do his own dirty
work.
Whatever you call the position, it’s a delicate one. The job
of the confidential pursuer is to clean up embarrassing messes
for the powers that be without any hint of them getting out to
anyone who matters. Sometimes this is accomplished through
elegant deceptions that re-interpret the visible facts in a fashion
“Confidential Pursuer” is usually a metaphor, that’s favorable to the employer. (“Stole the jewels? Heavens
but now and again it’s literal.

210 Chapter Fifteen: Splendid Things Occcur

no, he gave her the jewels in an attempt to cozen her into In addition to getting to play with the toys after the ruler
an intimate liaison! Of course she refused, which is why I’m is done, many nations and organizations confer a great deal
bringing them back to you now. I only hope that you can keep of pomp and grandeur on their ambassadors simply because
this indiscretion quiet, for both our masters’ sakes. It would they don’t want to look shabby or second class. Mechanically,
certainly besmirch both dignities if accusations of seduction ambassadors can freely spend Wealth equal to their Compa-
and theft began flying recklessly about.”) Alternately, matters ny’s current Treasure.
may be solved with bribes, blackmail, kidnapping inconve-
nient witnesses and putting them on a slow caravan to the
other side of The Empire, or even murder. Murder is a matter
LIVES HAPPILY EVER AFTER
of last resort, of course, since it has the potential to yield an This is the traditional end of the fairy tale, and, although the
angry ghost, and ghosts are notoriously hard to keep silent. exact words “ever after” are seldom used, it’s a very common
Typically a thief taker can rely on the Influence apparatus of finish to books and movies as well. Should it happen to char-
his patron for protection, but only to a point. Because the tasks acters in RPGs?
are sensitive, their priority may be high. However, that very The answer is a resounding and definitive “perhaps.” If
sensitivity impedes any other agents and operatives, because you’re done with the game, done with the characters, and have
the thief taker may not be permitted to explain the mission in no interest in ever doing a continuation, why the hell wouldn’t
full. It’s fine to show a letter of authority and ask aides to get you let the players extrapolate their characters’ futures from
some food, a place to stay, and a nice deep hole to stash certain the present at the time of game’s end? Particularly if you end
items. But when assistants aren’t told the details, they can’t on a high note. Let them describe their characters settling
take initiative and they can’t foresee obstacles. down into a life of responsibility and mellow good gover-
Confidential pursuer is a position that has no rules material nance, peace having finally come to their town after all their
associated with it, but it can be a good source for plots. Fur- bitter striving and sacrifice. Let the wizard set aside transgres-
thermore, a spycatcher’s patron often goes to great lengths sions against nature to become a prosperous apple farmer. Let
to ensure that this skilled asset doesn’t get interrogated and the thief become a respectable businessman with an under-
spill all the humiliating secrets to which such operatives are standing wife. When you’re done putting forward Something
privy. This can mean a duke or queen bends over backwards to To Do next session, you can let your players express their
keep the spycatcher from getting jailed… or that behind the characters directly.
shadowy investigator there’s someone in deeper shadow, ready That’s what you do if your game ends like a traditional
to kill if matters get out of hand. novel. These days, however, it must be said that a franchise is
more popular. You know what a franchise is, right? It’s a series
AMBASSADOR where, after one book’s done, the author can always kick out
another one that continues with the same setting and charac-
Also Known As: Envoy, Messenger, Diplomat, Emissary
ters (or maybe previously-minor characters get the spotlight,
The ambassador negotiates on behalf of a country, in the same or maybe the book chronicles the children of the first book’s
way that an envoy or minor diplomat conducts business on protagonist). A particular story ends, but the story never reaches
behalf of a province, business concern, merchant fleet, or a terminal conclusion. Most comic books are ongoing fran-
religion. Diplomats answer to senior diplomats, and the most chises like this. So are most RPGs.
senior diplomat answers to the ruler (or rulers). In theory, If you think you and your players are going to revisit these
their duty is to smoothly convey the desires of their employer characters, then you don’t want “ever after” you want “To Be
to the sovereigns of other lands (or the mayors of towns and Continued…?” complete with the ellipsis and question mark.
so forth). In practice, diplomats often pursue private agendas Leave the players hanging and let them fantasize about the
as well—enriching themselves, influencing local politics, next astonishing reversal that’s in store for their intrepid band.
settling personal grudges, or practicing the arts of seduction. Alternately, you can retire one set of characters, advance the
In many cases, their bosses don’t care about these side-proj- story’s timeline a decade or two, and have their heirs ride out
ects, as long as the master’s main goals are met. to reclaim the glory of their enfeebled (or tragically assassi-
In rules terms, diplomats get to use a Company’s Qualities nated) parents. You can work in something a hundred years
in their immediate region, but only after all the “official” tasks later when their characters are legendary. Or, if you’re really
to which those Qualities were assigned are finished. Often perverse, you can allow the characters to complete their dreams
this leaves an ambassador with a very low pool of 1 or even of empire and glory… then, after a nice refreshing pause, hand
no dice. That’s still useful: By their own initiatives, they can the players blank character sheets and say, “It’s five years after
boost those pools (as explained on page 86) and roll them. the end of the game with your old characters. Generate new
Without the authority of a Company, a normal person can’t ones who are going to destroy or take over everything the last
even attempt those actions. Company accomplished.”

Chapter Fifteen: Splendid Things Occcur 211

 N ain is an alternate Reign setting
inspired by J.K. Rowling, Robin
McKinley, fairy tales and a general
sense of isolated, magical monoculture.
Where the default realms of Heloso and
ROLLING
For a weak monster that could slow down
a few starting magic students, roll 2d. For a serious threat to
several adolescents, or to one well-trained fighter, roll 5d. Want
Milonda involve cross-cultural conflict something terrifying? Sky’s the limit. Ten dice, fifteen… some
by design, Nain was meant to be smaller, closer, and more dragons have twenty.
personal. It was also meant to have lots of wizards solving their Once you’ve made your roll, sort them into sets and isolate
problems with wand-waving and foolish, foolish emotion. the waste dice. The more dice you roll, the greater the possibil-
This appendix contains the rules hacks built for Nain, which ity of getting a set Wider than 5×. If that happens, just re-roll
may still be very useful for non-Nainian games. until they’re gone.
Consult the charts for your results. Each includes the
ONE-ROLL MONSTERS previous levels, so if you roll 4×3, your monster doesn’t just get
AR1 over its whole body. It gets that, plus another AR2 every-
As with all Reign’s one-roll tools, this is meant to inspire and where (the 2×3 result), and an additional AR2 on its head (the
not to constrain. The more dice you roll, the tougher and nastier 3×3 result).
the monster is (and feel free to set some dice to ensure results
you want), but just copying a set of attacks and defenses from ×1: NATURAL WEAPONS
the lists misses the point. That’s just the framework, the blank
canvas on which you can draw the details that make a creature Does your creature have talons, fangs, antlers, or something
interesting even before (or after) fighting it. more exotic?

×2: RANGED ATTACKS

THE FOUNDATION
All monsters start out with the following traits, even before any Does it spit acid? Swallow stones and expel them with great
dice are rolled. force? Magically animate nearby trees to attack?

• They have a normal human wound silhouette. If the ×3: ARMOR

monster is shaped like a horse or a lizard, it still has four
Wound Boxes in the head at location 10, ten Wound What makes it so tough? An affinity to the earth making its
Boxes in a torso at 7-8, and so on. flesh stone hard when struck but swift and supple when it
lunges? Thick, matted fur? Does it craft elaborate leather armor
• It has a Fight pool of 4d and its attacks do Width in made from human skin?
Shock damage.
• It has 2d in Body, Coordination and Sense if necessary.
×4: SIZE/TOUGHNESS
Mechanically, this is just extra wound boxes, but does that
NATURAL WEAPONS mean it’s really big? Or is it just dense like lead and a blow that
×1 Sets Result would behead a man merely dents it?

2×1
Damage from Fight attacks is Width in Shock and ×5: FEAR
Killing. Fight pool +2d.
Poisonous bite or sting. The poison is Potency 4. The Monsters are scary, pretty much by definition, and some augment
3×1 Minor effect is -1 to Body for a day. The Major effect is a their native terror with magical enhancement. What about the
point of Shock damage to every location. creature is so frightening? Its roar? Its hideous face? The icy chill
4×1 +1d Fight. Attacks ignore a point of armor. of death that all mortals feel when its gaze falls upon them?
5×1 +1d Fight. Damage increases by +1 Shock and 1 Killing.
×6: WINGS AND FLIGHT
RANGED ATTACKS
Just what wings does it have? Flame-wreathed angel pinions?
×2 Sets Result Leathery bat wings? Transparent insect wings? What tactics
It has 4d in its attack pool, range equal to a longbow, does it use its flight for?
2×2
and it does Width in Shock damage.
3×2 The ranged attack does Width in Killing and Shock.
×7: SUPERNUMERARY HEAD(S)
4×2 +2d to ranged attack pool. The creature has one or two extra heads. Are they identical to
+1d to ranged attack pool, does an additional +1 shock its primary head, or are they different altogether? How do the
5×2
and 1 Killing. heads interact with its other abilities?

212 Appendix One: Nain

 ARMOR TOUGHNESS
×3 Sets Result ×4 Sets Result
2×3 +2 AR on all locations. 2×4 +1 Wound Box on every location, +1d to Fight pool.
3×3 +2 AR to location 10. 3×4 +1 Wound Box on every location.
4×3 +1 AR to all locations. 4×4 +1 Wound Box on every location.
5×3 +2 AR to all locations for defense against magic only. 5×4 +1 Wound Box on every location.

FEAR
×5 Sets Result
The creature produces a Morale Attack 6 every round. This is in addition to its other actions, it requires no roll, and it doesn’t penalize
2×5
its other rolls.
The creature has a 4d Terrorize pool. If it rolls a set with it, all who perceive the terrifying act (be it a sound, a look, or some other
3×5
threat) lose a die from the Widest set they have.
Terrorize pool gets +1d. In addition to causing all around it to quail, it can focus on one specific target. That target takes a penalty
4×5 to his next attack on the creature, equal to the Width of the creature’s Terrorize set. This occurs whether the victim attacks the next
round or after ten years of having nightmares about it.
Terrorize pool gets +1d. In addition to the 4×5 effect, if its Terrorize roll beats a Difficulty of 6 and you don’t counterspell, you’re
5×5 turned to stone. Magic can restore you exactly as you were before petrification, if the statue is undamaged, but it requires a lengthy
ritual.

WINGS AND FLIGHT

×6 Sets Result
Locations 4 and 5 each become wing locations with 3 Wound Boxes each. The creature can automatically fly 15’ per round and has a
2×6
4d Flight pool. With a Flight success it can perform a difficult maneuver or increase its speed by 5’ per point of Width.
3×6 Its base flight speed increases by 10’/round and it gets +1d to its Flight pool.
4×6 It gets two more Wound Boxes on each wing and +1d to its Flight pool.
5×6 +1d Flight, speed increases by 5’/round, each wing gets another Wound Box.

SUPERNUMERARY HEAD(S)
×7 Sets Result
Location 9 becomes a secondary head with four Wound Boxes. As long as the creature has a Wound Box in one head and in its torso
2×7 with no Killing damage, it’s still alive, even if the other head is completely severed. It is not unconscious until both heads are full of
Shock.
3×7 The secondary head gets +1 AR and another Wound Box.
Location 8 becomes a third head with two Wound Boxes. As long as it has an unshocked Wound Box in any head, it can stay awake.
4×7
As long as it has a box without Killing damage in one head and in its torso, it survives.
The third head gains a 4d Bite pool that does Width in Shock damage. This is entirely separate from its Fight pool and is rolled
5×7
separately.

FLAME AFFINITY
×8 Sets Result
It gains +2 AR against fire (or whatever you decide) at all locations. Anyone who gets within ten feet of it suffers an Area 1 Killing
2×8
Attack.
It produces a Morale Attack 3 every round without a roll. If it already produces a Morale Attack from another result, that Morale Attack
3×8
rating increases by 3.
It can create an Area 2 Killing attack on everyone within fifty feet, but this attack is Slow 1. This does not penalize or interfere with
4×8
any Fight rolls or other attacks.
5×8 Its Area attack rises to Area 3 Killing and it can do it every round.

SPEED AND CUNNING

×9 Sets Result
2×9: The creature gains +1d + MD to its Stealth and Sight pools.
3×9 It can attack with its full Fight pool twice per round.
4×9 Its attacks with full Fight pool are now thrice per round.
5×9 It gains +2d to Stealth and +1d + MD in Scrutinize. Now it stalks its prey...

Appendix One: Nain 213

 EVIL
×10 Sets Result
By taking an action and doing nothing else, it can strike an individual within its sight with blasphemous terror. This replaces the
2×10 target’s Craving (if it has one) with a temporary Craving to get as far from the creature as possible. (People without Cravings are
unaffected.) This lasts until the person can no longer see, hear, or otherwise perceive the creature.
3×10 All spells cast against the creature are at +5 Difficulty.
It produces a Morale Attack 5 every round without a roll. If it already produces a Morale Attack from another result, that Morale Attack
4×10
rating increases by 5. However, none of its Morale Attacks affect creatures or persons already dedicated to the principles of Evil.
By taking an action and doing nothing else, it can inflict a stifling sense of despair on one individual within sight. As long as that
5×10
person can perceive the creature, their Duty has no effect.

WASTE DICE
Roll Result
Its natural weapons do Width in Shock and Killing. Are these fangs, thorns, razor scales, or does its touch simply cause unnatural aging
1
or disease?
It spits venom or some other noxious substance. This attack has Potency 2 and its Minor effect is an Area 4 Killing attack on one
2 target. The Major effect is that the target loses a point of Body per hour until death at, Body 0, or until healed. Once the Major effect
is stopped, Body returns naturally at the rate of one point per day.
3 It gains +1 AR to all locations.
4 It gains an extra Wound Box at every location.
It can inflict an Area 3 Shock attack on people in a ten-foot diameter ring within a hundred paces. What is this? A noxious scent, an
5
eldritch blast, deceptively sweet poison?
6 The creature can swim 20’ per round and breathe easily underwater.
It has a deadly tail. Location 7 becomes a separate location with 3 Wound Boxes. If the target is standing behind the creature, its
7
Fight attacks do an extra point of Shock and Killing damage.
Anyone who successfully attacks the creature with a hand to hand or magical attack takes an Area 1 Killing attack. Is this a mystic
8
curse? Does its flesh roil with unearthly cold that chills the blood of all who touch it, whether they use body or will?
The creature has a specific vulnerability, and other than that it’s hard to harm. (What’s the vulnerability? Silver? Yew wood? Weapons
9 anointed with phoenix blood or covered over and over with the magic rune for “bread”?) All Killing damage that originates from a source
that doesn’t incorporate the vulnerability becomes Shock. But any source that uses the vulnerability can ignore all the creature’s armor.
The creature is infused with supernatural Good. It seeks to defend beauty, purity and innocence. It can give itself or another person a
10
+MD bonus to their next Vigor roll at will. (This requires an action in which it does nothing else.)

WASTE DIE CHART #2

Roll Result
It’s poisonous. In addition to standard damage from a bite, the creature has a Potency 5 poison on its glistening fangs. The minor
1
effect is to lose a point of Body for an hour. The major effect is to lose two points of Coordination for a day.
If you meet this creature’s glance, you’re hypnotized and unable to look away until it breaks its gaze. Here’s how this works. The creature
rolls a 6d Mesmerize pool, and everyone nearby rolls a dice pool equal to their Sense. Did anyone’s Sense dice form a match with the
creature’s Mesmerize dice? Any PC who formed a set caught a glimpse, and their actions are timed as if they had one point less Width…
except for the character whose set had the greatest Height. That one’s trapped, looking into its eyes, for a number of rounds equal to the
2
result’s Width. The creature has to hold still to keep prey mesmerized, but it can attack the victim without penalty. If you have more than
one mesmerizing creature, it gets lots worse. Have the PCs roll their Sense only once, but each creature rolls 5d. Anyone who gets snared
long term is immune to getting trapped by others. (Scant consolation, I know.) Anyone who gets a glimpse and takes the timing penalty
only takes the penalty once and for a single point of Width. It’s not like you met five things’ looks and your action gets set back five times.

×8: FLAME AFFINITY ×10: EVIL

You can change this to “Frost Affinity” or “Acidic” or any In Nain, there is the everyday evil of cruel choices and selfish
other similar effect you wish. Perhaps it constantly gives birth weakness, but there is also supernatural Evil—a force of chaos
to horrid, skittering offspring and it is these that produce the and destruction that revels in sadism and seeks to subsume all
listed effects. that is kind and good and beautiful. Creatures with ×10 sets are
infected with supernatural Evil. Think about that.
×9: SPEED AND CUNNING
WASTE DICE
What gives it these extra attacks? Is it just blindingly swift?
Does it have swarms of tentacles, each semi-independent? Is it The Waste Dice that turned up outside of sets indicate unique
all down to cunning? factors about the creature. If you want to change things up, we
are providing two additional charts with some less-common
effects. Skip around between charts, if you like.

214 Appendix One: Nain

 WASTE DIE CHART #2 (CONTINUED)
Roll Result
The creature’s always in motion, and even when you think you got a piece of it, it manages to twist and contort so that your blow lands
3
weakly. Every round, the creature gets a free Gobble Die at Height 10, usable at any time, for dodging.
Every round, the creature heals itself of a point of Killing damage or two points of Shock. Sometimes you can see the wounds closing
4
up. Other times, it just looks like it’s getting bloodier and more mangled without slowing down.
Once per combat the creature can emit a bloodcurdling shriek, audible for miles around. In addition to any other effects, this howl
5 might have (summoning its mate, alerting everyone in earshot, waking the baby) anyone within 20 paces of the creature loses their
hearing for three turns and can only understand gestures or writing, not spoken instructions.
6 The creature gets a 5d + MD Climb pool and can climb vertically at half its horizontal movement speed.
The thing looks like a person, to a greater or lesser extent. Maybe it can only pass from ten feet or more in dim light, or maybe it’s
completely human looking until it opens its mouth and shows its gooselike tongue-teeth. (Go look up “goose tongue teeth.” You
7 won’t be disappointed.) Usually there’s some sort of tell-tale sign which an alert and educated person can spot with a Sight roll.
It’s up to the GM to decide if the Sight roll has to be requested or can be made spontaneously. (It all depends on how good the
imposture is.)
The creature thrives in the cold. No frost-based attack can harm it, and anyone who grabs it (or gets grappled by it) loses a point of
Body every round until Body hits zero, or until the grapple is broken. At that point the person is in a hypothermic coma and can’t act
8 until someone makes a successful Healing roll. If no one does that within eight hours, the frozen character dies. A successful Healing
roll takes three hours to gradually bring someone out of it without damage, but if the Healing roll fails the victim takes a point of
Killing damage to both arms and both legs. They wake up, though.
9 It’s magic resistant. If it gets hit with a spell, it can roll a 3d pool in addition to any other rolls. Any set breaks any spell.
The creature has some kind of influence on the world around it. Maybe it repels rain and dries the soil, leaving the world cracked
and barren and ripe for a devastating ground fire. Maybe it brings highland frost with it wherever it goes and even in the height
of summer it can walk through a forest leaving a trail of snow and icicles. Or maybe it radiates fertility and where it wanders the
10
grass is lush, the trees and shrubbery burst into bloom midsummer, fields swell with bounty and squirrels fall into ecstasies of
reproductive effort. Most of this can be handled with a simple +/-1 Territory adjustment, temporary but renewed every month the
creature remains in a region.

WASTE DIE CHART #3

Roll Result
The creature sets snares in the environment near its nest. These can be biological, magical, or built by hand. However they’re
constructed, it’s a Difficulty 5 Sight roll to spot it. If PCs are moving through the creature’s territory, have everyone roll Sight. If no
one beats the Difficulty, someone stepped in it or walked under it or otherwise set it off. Each PC rolls a d10 and the person with
1
the lowest roll (or the people who tie for lowest) get hit. The trap does an Area 5 Killing attack. Once one has gone off or been
spotted, however, the Difficulty of seeing the next one drops to zero. Nothing keeps you on your toes like seeing a buddy knocked
off their feet.
If you meet the creature’s gaze, you turn to stone. Every round, it rolls a 3d pool, and everyone fighting it rolls their Sense dice as
2 a pool. Anyone whose Sense dice match up with its Petrify dice are at risk. The highest set formed between a PC and the creature
indicates which PC is now a statue.
There’s some specific assault which does no damage to the creature. Examples include “metal weapons,” “fire spells,” “ranged missiles.”
3
The attack form just doesn’t work. Simple.
4 Every time it inflicts a point of damage on anyone, Shock or Killing, the creature heals a point of damage.
The creature cannot be seen. Anyone trying to fight it does so as if blind (see page 115). Some creatures can turn invisible for short
5
periods, others are just unseeable all the time. A few can only be seen in reflection.
The creature can dig with preternatural speed. When it starts to dig, it can put two hit locations per round under cover just by sinking
them into the ground. Once it’s completely submerged, it can move 10’ per round under the surface, even through solid stone. Its
6 direction is visible as long as it’s shallow, but if it takes a round to drop ten feet down, its course is invisible from above. People can
follow along through the tunnels, but only at a rate of three feet per round. On the plus side, if it tunnels up under you and attacks, it
can only ever hit Locations 1 or 2.
It can perfectly mimic any sound it has heard and, depending on how smart it is, it’s probably figured out that a child’s cry of “Help!
I’m drowning!” is a terrific lure. It may also “sample” the PCs’ voices for added amusement and confusion. But the fidelity is so great
7
that even a Listen roll can’t tell the fake from the genuine, though kindly GMs might let great Listen rolls indicate the position from
which the sound came as a clue...
8 The creature takes no penalties for acting in total darkness. In fact, when it’s pitch black it gets a +1d bonus. On everything.
It’s wise. This could mean it’s wise in the sense of having a deep understanding of reality’s secrets, or it could mean you want to say,
“Oh, a wise guy!” to it. These creatures are usually haughty and playful, and it’s not uncommon for them to have a cruel streak. They
9
have the Knowledge Stat at 5 and may know many important (plot-driving) secrets. But usually they want something in exchange for
their hints and clues. If you’re really unlucky, they’ve got a riddle they insist you solve.
As soon as this thing’s within a quarter mile, normal animals panic. Wild creatures flee. Domesticated animals cry out and attempt to
10
get away. Any Ride or Animal Handling rolls have their Difficulty increased by 5.

Appendix One: Nain 215

 T he land of Ardwin is detailed in
Appendix Two of Reign: Realms,
but the thumbnail version is,
it’s the traditional fantasy races of
orcs, dwarves, elves and sprites and so
them serve only to reinforce
this separation. But for all
that, it’s far more common to
meet someone with friends of all races than it is to meet an
Ardwinian so bigoted he has no friends outside his own group.
forth, but with two twists. Twist #1: No humans as the “most
versatile,” which is usually code for “you don’t have to adhere
to or play against a set of broad stereotypes and can just be
THE DWARVES
an individual.“ Twist #2: They are the same species and can The typical dwarf is about four and a half feet tall, with six
interbreed freely. All their racial traits are matters of parental inches more or less being common enough to avoid comment.
descent. Their skin tends to be smooth, solid, and cool to the touch,
Ardwin is a setting built to center cultural/racial clashes ranging in tone from dull brown to a buttery tan. They are
and conflicts. So, for all their commonalities—language, blocky, solid, and heavy-boned. A common dwarf weighs
culture and, not least, sexual entanglements—the races of between 120 and 160 pounds. Their hair is usually blonde and
Ardwin live apart, pursue different goals, and see themselves wavy, turning silver or iron-gray starting in their twenties.
as very distinct. The undeniable physical differences between Those who have red hair or darker often start turning gray in
their teens. Male dwarves have beards. Females who develop
facial hair avail themselves of splendid dwarven razors for a
close shave.
The most common dwarf occupations are miner, smith, or
a merchant overseeing trade in objects made by smiths from
the miners’ ore. There are few professional functionaries in
dwarven society, so even the hult-lord can most often be found
evaluating a seam or demonstrating how to get an even airflow
for a forge.
Outside the molten core of dwarvish society, one finds service
providers common to all societies—dressmakers, doctors, dog
breeders, and so on. Among those specialized professions, one
finds professional warriors. While every adult dwarf is expected
to be a competent hand with an axe or a war-pick, this is often
because the hult’s masters-at-arms have trained them and
shown them the finer points of fighting in armor.

RACIAL CHARACTERISTICS
• Dwarves are tough. Every dwarf character gets the
Leather Hard Advantage (an extra wound box at each
location) for free.
• Dwarves are dark-adapted. When they’re in dim light
or even complete darkness, they can still roll Scrutinize,
Sight, or Direction without penalty or Difficulty.
• On the downside, however, Dwarves are light-sen-
sitive. In full daylight, they take a -2d penalty to
Scrutinize, Sight, and Direction. Moreover, in sunshine
they can’t aim at individuals out beyond sixty feet with
hand-held missile weapons. (They are not penalized for
aiming at a distant crowd with a longbow or aiming
a catapult.)
• Like every race, the dwarves possess secrets that are
theirs alone, either due to cultural snobbery or a plain
inability for other races to perform the tasks.

216 Appendix Two: Ardwin

METAL HEART THE DWARVEN WAY
Only those who are racially dwarves can learn the magical This esoteric path is available to anyone culturally dwarfish.
secrets of Metal Heart, and not all of them. Anyone can learn That is, an orc can learn it, but only one who lived among
to forge iron (well… maybe not sprites) but only the dwarves dwarves as a dwarf for at least ten years. People like this—
can reach out to it on a spiritual level, putting something of gnomes or elves who live as dwarves and are dwarven in all
their souls into the tools they’ve made. Or reaching out to influ- but biology—are known as kurkas. Depending on subtleties
ence a tool someone else has made, for that matter. of pronunciation and emphasis, this word can be a mark of
Metal Heart is an Esoteric Discipline, but instead of being respect or a deadly insult.
limited to a single Skill, it is bound to the dwarven species itself.
TEND YOUR TOOLS 1 POINT
WEAPON ADORATION 1 POINT
Dwarves know how metal bends, how it breaks, and how it can
In addition to the normal toil with a whetstone, this is a method be repaired. Sharpening a knife isn’t a chore to someone who
of sharpening a blade that seems to give the weapon a mind of tends his tools; it’s a pleasure.
its own. The next time a success is rolled when striking with When characters have this discipline, any metal tool owned
the adored weapon, it gains a +1 Width bonus. Then it needs for more than a week is in excellent condition. When making
to be adored again before the bonus repeats. Performing the any sort of Expert Craftsman roll for a tool-focussed action,
Weapon Adoration takes about twenty minutes and only works they can add a +1d bonus or ignore a single die’s worth of pen-
on swords, knives and axes—anything that cuts or chops. alties. If they own a dwarf-forged weapon that relies on cutting
Weapons that pierce or bludgeon don’t benefit from it. or slicing, its attacks do an extra point of Shock damage, thanks
to excruciating keenness.
THE COVETOUS TWIST 2 POINTS
TUNNEL STUFFING 2 POINTS
This is one key to the dwarven dominance of the jewelry market.
When a goldsmith who knows the Covetous Twist incorporates When a hult is under attack, everyone who can lift a hammer
it into a piece of worked gold, the item becomes preternatu- is expected to partake in the defense. It’s part of what makes
rally compelling. (In game terms, the maker has to roll a success hult invasion so bloody. Another factor is the dwarvish tactic of
on a smithing set to create it.) When selling an item made with crowding their tunnels, dousing torches, and fighting in tightly
Covetous Twist, or offering it for trade, it adds an MD to one’s coordinated groups.
Haggle pool. As long as a character with Tunnel Stuffing has a dwarf or
a wall to either side, they can put a hit location of their choice
LOVE IRON WITHOUT FEAR 3 POINTS under cover. For the purposes of this technique, “dwarf ” means
The dwarven passion for metal begins to get reciprocated at this either a biological or cultural dwarf.
point. When struck by any weapon made of metal, the charac-
OUR FOES BURY THEMSELVES 3 POINTS
ter who knows this discipline takes one less point of Shock and
one less point of Killing damage, automatically. If someone with this technique sets strategy for an under-
ground hult, the hult Company does not tire out its Territory
FULFILLMENT OF FORM 4 POINTS with defense rolls. This requires no roll, but needs a month
If a character has a quantity of unworked mineral wealth, he at least to set traps, plan contingencies, and practice holding
can take a number of days equal to its Wealth rating and make choke points.
a smithing roll of some type to begin forging it into items of
HULT INDUSTRY 4 POINTS
value. (Finishing work can be done by less accomplished smiths
and apprentices.) If his smithing roll is a success, the finished Dwarves are at their best when times are at their worst.
goods are worth 1 Wealth more than the raw metal. If a leader with this talent makes an impassioned plea to an
This can also be applied to a Company. Spend a month applying Company where dwarves are at least a 60% majority, the people
Fulfillment of Form on Treasure that’s based largely on raw ore to buckle down. This does not require a roll, but only works if
end that month with a permanent +1 Treasure increase. the Company initiates no actions for a month. (That is, it can
make rolls in response to other companies’ actions, but can’t try
MASTER FORGE 5 POINTS anything on its own.) If it does so, the Company permanently
Working off and on for about a month, the character can (with gains a point of Treasure at month’s end.
a successful blacksmithing roll) create a masterpiece weapon
GRUFF SPEECH OF THE HULT LORDS 5 POINTS
exquisitely balanced and tailor-made for one person. If the des-
ignated owner is using it, the weapon gives a +2d bonus to all Dwarven lords aren’t known for eloquence, but their follow-
attacks, or offsets two dice of penalties. If anyone else wields it, ers usually hold them in such high regard that they perceive
the bonus drops to +1d. In dwarf culture, if a weapon is recog- honesty and virtue in their leaders’ words, even if they hold only
nized as a masterpiece by two smiths of other hults, it is formally stammers and vagueness. If you know this technique and fail a
named and put on a registry of dwarven cultural treasures. Cur- roll to give your followers a Morale bonus with an Inspire roll,
rently the list numbers 85, and a good half of them have been they still get the Morale bonus for the first round of a combat.
lost or else buried with their rightful possessors. (Stammers only go so far.)

Appendix Two: Ardwin 217

 THE ELVES they acquire it in the course of their adventures, it’s effec-
tively a sentence of exile. They aren’t forced out of aeries,
Living in their high and delicate homes, other races claim the but other elves become distinctly unfriendly. Judicial
elves disdain the earth as if it’s unfit to know their tread. This disfigurement is the strictest punishment elves practice
is an exaggeration, but it’s based on long experience of elvish short of death.
pride. Tall (usually at least six feet) and typically lovely, elves • Long Stride. Elves have a base combat movement rate of
have skin as pale as birch wood and wide green or brown eyes twenty feet per round instead of fifteen.
best suited to expressing sorrow and contempt. Their hair is
• Elves are graceful. Elves get a free point of
usually light or dark brown and ornamented with elaborately
Coordination.
carved combs. Like dwarves, they typically weigh between 120
and 160 pounds. It’s just distributed very differently. • Keen elven eyes. Any time an elf rolls a Sight set with
Elves feed on air and sunlight. Without the need to hunt food Height of ×2 or less, its Height gets promoted to ×3.
or scratch it from the soil, they’re freed for meditation, philos- • Elves are frail. Every elf has one fewer wound box at
ophy and culture. Or, if you prefer, laziness, political meddling every location.
and pointless romancing of people they ought not lay with.
• Elves are slender. No elf can raise their Body score
Most elves are at least competent carpenters and musicians,
above two under any circumstances.
and more than competent archers. Hunting is common—not
for food, but for skins to make into handsome leather garments, • Claustrophobia. Any time elves are in an enclosed
or to trade with the “digesting races.” place, unable to see the sky for more than hour, their
actions are all at Difficulty 3.
RACIAL CHARACTERISTICS
WOODWISE
• Inedia. Elves do not require food to live (which means
Others live in the woods: Elves live the woods. Their tie to the
they’re also spared toileting, another factor they lord over
trees extends to a breadth and depth that others simply can’t
the others when they can do so subtly).
match. Perhaps it’s because, like the groves in which they live,
• Elves are beautiful. Every elf gets the 1-point Beauty elves take their sustenance without consumption. Perhaps it’s
advantage for free and can buy it higher if desired. Elves because (as they privately opine among one another) they’re just
rarely start play with the Grotesque flaw, and should better than the others.
This is an Esoteric Discipline, but instead of limited to a
single Skill, it is bound instead to the elvish race itself.

CRAFT BIRCH TORCH 1 POINT

Elven birch torches are a common trade item because, when
made properly, they burn twice as long as an unenchanted torch
and produce only the smoke of a candle to boot. Carving one
with the elaborate and sinuous patterns that evoke its magic
takes most of a day, and three of them can be sold for Wealth 1.
(Or for a beating if one sells counterfeits.) This requires no roll.
Used as a weapon, it does Width+1 Shock damage, whether it’s
lit or not.
In the hands of an elf who knows their secrets, birch torches
can be given an added ability. By taking a minute to carve one
additional rune into the base, the nature of the enchantment
changes. Instead of producing torchlight for hours, it burns in
mere minutes, producing a bright flare equivalent to daylight,
along with heat to match a silversmith’s forge. In this form, the
birch torch does Width Killing damage when lit and permits
its wielder to make Intimidate actions without any penalty or
Difficulty.

CRAFT YEW BOW 2 POINTS

The elvish yew bow is a rightly feared weapon, dangerous in
anyone’s hands but never moreso than when held by elves-by-
blood. A gnome raised elven is dangerous with a elf bow, but has
not the magic parity with it that an elf raised gnomish would.
No matter who holds it, such a bow does Width in Killing and
ignores a point of armor. In the hands of someone born elvish,
its sets aren’t disrupted by attacks.

218 Appendix Two: Ardwin

 CRAFT OAKEN BRIDGE 3 POINTS to Sovereignty or Territory, provided its user made enough suc-
cessful Perform checks. If the use was particularly subtle or
The lightweight bridges that span homes and platforms in inspired, the bonuses should go higher.
elf-aeries are as delicate and intricate as a necklace of woven Where the other works of elvish magic are famed for their
flowers. They look like they shouldn’t be able to support their power, the few elves with the skill to craft these flutes rarely
own weight, let alone the weight of a dozen adult elves. Indeed, describe them. Trusting few with the power they represent,
they can’t… without magic. But with magic, the bridges bend cedar flutes are almost always found in the hands of their
and sway in high wind but do not break unless burned or until makers or their heirs.
the serpentine designs upon them are marred. Making one
requires a successful Coordination + Expert Woodworking roll. FOREST WISDOM
Making an oaken bridge takes three weeks, from felling to Unlike the magic of elven woodworking, anyone who spends
installation. Those who need a span bridged typically pay ten years living with elves in an aerie can learn Forest Wisdom.
Wealth 3-4 for an oaken bridge—more if the span is particu- It’s not really a formal body of knowledge. Instead, it’s just a set
larly wide (a challenge that would require an extra week of build of practical lessons that one either learns or fails to learn when
time). Communities typically pay Treasure 1 for such a bridge. hunting in the forests or when fighting in the bitter tree-top
Oaken bridges are economic boons, since they’re usually wide, philosophical conflicts.
comfortable, sturdy, and easy to get animals to walk across.
Putting in a bridge (or multiple bridges) can give a Company a WIDE-STRIDE KICK 1 POINT
temporary boost to its Territory or Treasure (installer’s choice).
However, the bigger a company is, the more bridges it needs Elves have a game called pulara which involves three poles with
to get any benefit. Specifically, the advantage accrues after a loops at their tops and a cork-stuffed leather ball about the size
number of bridges equal to its current Territory are installed. of a fist. The ball can only be kicked, and touching it with any
(Particularly long bridges may count double, but give a Diffi- other part of the body is a violation. Most who grow up playing
culty 5 on the Woodworking roll.) pulara learn how to kick high and fast, a habit that many elves
continue when dealing with goblins and orcs.
CRAFT HICKORY SHIELD 4 POINTS Any time a character uses Wide-Stride Kick with Body +
Fight or Coordination + Unarmed Strike to kick someone, the
The elven hickory shield is carved with a grotesque face on its attack gets a +1 Height bonus (maximum 10).
front, twisting runes of power on its back, and meticulously
shaped channels through its center. The channels exit through ELFLORE 2 POINTS
the nose or mouth of the face, with their other end terminat-
ing in a mouthpiece near the top, on the defender’s side. This Full elves are freed for study by biology, and even those who
allows the shield bearer to blow through it and cause the shield need to eat often learn a lot simply by being surrounded by
to resound with a horrible, dissonant howl. Even orcs who pride people with the time to study their fascinations. Any Lore
themselves on recklessness pause at that cry. rolls dealing with herbalism or philosophy have their Difficulty
A hickory shield takes two weeks and an Expert Woodwork- reduced by 3 for someone who knows Elflore, because that’s
ing roll at Difficulty 3 to create, if that’s all the craftsman does what they talk about all day.
during that time. Far more typically, the process is stretched out TO EYE WITH ARROWHEAD 3 POINTS
over a few months.
The end product is a large wooden shield that has AR2. Someone Elvish archers are renowned for marrying their heightened
bearing one can perform the Display Kill maneuver without coordination and exquisite senses. Someone with this technique
penalty. Sounding the horn within it takes an action and no roll, who takes at least one round to aim, and then makes a called
and gives a +1d bonus to any Intimidate roll the round after. shot with Coordination + Bow, can ignore the effects of cover.
Elves do not sell these to outsiders, and doing so is a trans-
gression of elf-law warranting exile from the entire forest. Sold BAREFOOT ASCENT 4 POINTS
between elves (an act that would raise eyebrows for its crassness) Elves climb fast barefoot simply because they’re used to it. If you
such a shield can bring Wealth 4 or 5. The dozen such shields in climbed trees for a couple hours every day, you’d do it quickly
the hands of non-elves were either gifts to demonstrate a breath- too. Those who possess Barefoot Ascent are the quickest among
taking degree of trust or gratitude, or they were spoils of war that elves. Their base climbing speed is doubled.
can provoke elven resentment, even decades afterwards.
THE ARROGANT FEINT 5 POINTS
CRAFT CEDAR FLUTE 5 POINTS
Elvish swordplay is less respected than their archery, but that
The cedar flute is the apex of the mystic woodworker’s art, doesn’t mean they don’t have some skill. Their calmness and
requiring six months of part-time labor (or two months of ability to see everything around them (seemingly without
intense obsession) and an Expert Woodworking roll at Diffi- looking) makes their fencers uncannily adept at misdirection.
culty 5 to create. But their power is great. If someone who knows the Arrogant Feint gets a second set
Someone who bears an elf ’s cedar flute can sway crowds with when making a Coordination + Sword attack, it can be used
music. Whenever the flute’s music has been used in a concerted as a feint maneuver (see page 127) without having to declare it
attempt at persuasion, it gives a minimum +1d temporary bonus beforehand.

Appendix Two: Ardwin 219

 THE GNOMES DRAW UPON THE ROOTS OF EARTH 1 POINT
Most gnomes are about four feet tall at full growth, with ruddy Once per day, any character can make a Vigor roll to regain
skin, round features and plump bodies. Farming is the most hit points after a good night’s rest. Gnomes who make this roll
common occupation among the gnomes, but their open towns while barefoot on fertile soil add a +2d bonus.
and villages, along with their well-built roads, make it easier to
go find a farrier or blacksmith or specialized tailor. Where hults
THE COURTESY OF ACCEPTING MEDICINE 2 POINTS
and aeries tend to be self-contained, gnomes are more likely Gnomish politeness gives especial honor to physicians, who
to run errands at several different small settlements—this one often love tending gnomes because it makes them feel unusu-
with a good herbalist, that one with a shoemaker, and especially ally competent. A gnome who receives the benefit of a Healing
the one with the full-time distiller. roll recovers an extra point of Shock or converts an extra point
Gnomes are very often taken for granted by their larger, of Killing damage.
fiercer or more glamorous peers. All they seem to do is till the
soil, smoke their pipes and endure the disasters and triumphs of GROWING HEALTH 3 POINTS
the other races. When events impose on them, the gnomes don’t
Being honored among their people, gnomish doctors tend to be
let things get to the point of disaster and, if they triumph, they
a content group—some say smug. If a gnome physician makes
see no point in making a big to-do about it. Modest, humble
a Healing roll to help someone recover from injury, the patient
and willing to show you the sharp end of a pitchfork if you steal
recovers an extra point of Shock or converts an extra point of
from their melon patch. That’s the gnomish stereotype for those
Killing damage.
who live beyond their fertile fields.
If you actually move into a gnome village, town or city, it may ROOT INTRANSIGENCE 4 POINTS
take you a while to see beyond the surface of genial politeness,
because the gnomes aren’t big on conducting private business in Even gnomes who don’t get the benefit of a professional are
public (unlike, say, sprites). But live there long enough and you often remarkably stubborn in the face of death and injury. If
get a sense of who the teams are (and every gnome community they roll a Vigor set to regain Shock (using Draw Upon the
is fissured with ever-shifting factions) and what the stakes are. Roots of the Earth or not), they regain an extra point of Shock.
Before you quite realize how it happened, you find yourself in If they repair Killing injuries with time, they change two points
the midst of some social stratagem, and though it may superfi- of Killing on each limb after a week instead of just one.
cially be about who snubbed whose wedding invitation, or who
danced a bit too closely with another’s daughter, or who really
LONGEVITY 5 POINTS
smashed that sure-to-be-prizewinning pumpkin the day before Gnomes are no less subject to death by age than anyone else, but
the county fair, gnome politics are, at the bottom, about the they are known to recover from falls, injuries, and farm acci-
same thing as any other politics. It’s about power. And when dents that would have felled a dwarf or even a sturdy orc. A
one of those disasters in the making impends, it’s the gnomes gnome who fails a daily Vigor roll still recovers two points of
who won the petty power struggles who direct the rest, just as Shock damage.
it’s those winners who reap the rewards of opportunity.
GNOMISH MANNERS
RACIAL CHARACTERISTICS As mentioned, they’re polite folk. Many think they’re actually
• Gnomes are small. Any hit to location 7 is a miss on a ethically superior to other races. (Certainly, many gnomes
gnome. They’re small targets. But their base movement is do.) But those who’ve lived in several cultures over the years
only ten feet per combat round, not fifteen. opine that this isn’t necessarily so. Stealing, bullying and sexual
impropriety happen among gnomes as often as they do with
• Gnomes are excellent farmers. All gnomes get a free
anyone else. They’re just too polite to talk about it in public.
MD in Expert: Farmer.
Because these are lessons and not instincts, anyone raised
• Gnomish digestion. Any poison ingested or otherwise gnome, or who has lived with them for at least a decade, can
inflicted on a gnome has its Potency diminished by two. learn these even if not taught.
• Seasickness. Whenever traveling on water, cut off CHEERFUL HUMILITY 1 POINT
from the soil, gnomes take a Difficulty of 3 on all
Coordination, Command, and Body -based rolls. Gnomes get a +2d bonus to Graces rolls when dealing with
elves and orcs, simply because the idea of treating others with
EARTH AFFINITY respect is somewhat alien to the mainstream of those cultures.
Gnomes are creatures of earth and soil, and they draw strength
FARMER’S EYE 2 POINTS
from it even as they serve and renew it. Dwarves and orcs who
seek to invade gnomish lands often wind up frustrated by the If you have Farmer’s Eye and succeed at a Difficulty 3 Scrutiny
seemingly endless numbers that the gnomes can field. In actual roll, you get a pretty good idea what the weather’s going to do
fact, many of those soldiers are warriors they’ve seen before. tomorrow. For each day out you try to predict, the Difficulty
They just got better fast and back to the fight faster. rises by 1.
These abilities are available only to those born gnomish.

220 Appendix Two: Ardwin

 WHAT THE CROWD WANTS 3 POINTS RACIAL CHARACTERISTICS
Gnomes tend to be affable, they make friends easily, and adapt • Goblins never drown. They can breathe underwater like
to the group they find themselves with. A gnome who makes an a fish. Additionally, they can’t be strangled or choked
Empathy roll can add a number of dice equal to the roll’s Width like normal people. Those maneuvers just don’t work
to a Perform or Inspire roll. To make the Empathy roll, they on goblins. They never take Difficulties or penalties for
have to spend at least an hour in the crowd. Interestingly, this swimming or sailing in rough water. They don’t have to
technique won’t work on a crowd that’s more than half goblin. make Endurance rolls after five rounds of swimming,
Partially, this is because goblins don’t trust gnomes. Partially, and for every die in a set rolled to swim, they move ten
it’s because gnomes don’t trust goblins. feet instead of five.

FRIENDLY LITTLE FELLOW 4 POINTS • Goblins are small. Any hit to a goblin’s location 7 is a
miss. They’re small targets. But their base movement is
When you talk with the nicer gnomes, they can make you feel only ten feet per combat round, not fifteen.
like you’re the only person in the world who interests them.
• Goblins are sneaky. Any time a goblin rolls a set
When using this technique, the gnome can make an Empathy
with a Stealth roll, its Height is increased by a point
roll and, if it succeeds, add its Width in bonus dice to the next
(maximum 10).
Graces, Lie, Fascinate, Plead or Haggle roll made to influence
the person observed. This requires a minimum of a half hour of • Black Thumb. Any time a goblin tries to grow a plant,
chit-chat. it’s at Difficulty 5.
• Goblins are coarse. There’s just an unlikeable, unfin-
GOSSIP HUB 5 POINTS ished aspect to their appearance. Goblins can never
Gnomes gossip almost as much as sprites, and more efficiently. have a Charm score above 3, and any Charm-based
(After all, they have to get their tales borne swiftly—chores are roll they make (other than Lie) cannot exceed a Height
always waiting!) When the people considered Gossip Hubs are of 7. They can never get the five point version of the
in their own home region and their Company makes a roll to be Beauty advantage.
informed, it doesn’t tire out the Company’s Sovereignty.

THE GOBLINS
The rudeness of goblins is a subject of much disgusted dis-
cussion in those communities that have them as neighbors.
(Within goblin communities, it’s just taken for granted.)
Goblins are around five feet tall and usually thin, often as little
as a hundred pounds in weight. Their skin often has sallow or
even greenish overtones that would look sickly on the other
races. Their webbed hands are cool to the touch. Goblin men
start losing their hair at puberty and can almost never grow
beards. Goblin women usually keep their hair, but it’s incredi-
bly fine and thin, usually a mousy brown that, in time, fades to
pure white. But goblin eyes are usually brightly colored, blue,
or striking green.
The typical pinched frown of a goblin man or anxious moue
of a goblin maid is more a matter of culture than nature. When
one can get a goblin to relax, it’s often quite a shock to realize
their features tend to be even, well-proportioned, and delicate.
But relaxation is not a goblin value. Hustle, ambition, and
doing the most with the least—these are the goblin virtues.
Goblin towns are generally lengthy things, stretching away on
both sides of a river (or even a stream). The businesses front the
water and those who don’t live in their places of employment
build houses back in swampy or marshy areas. Most bridges
over goblin-controlled rivers are toll bridges, since the only
people who don’t just swim it (or walk along the bottom, where
they often build pleasant foot-paths) are (1) businesspeople who
have wares and (2) non-goblins. Both of those classes should
(from the goblin perspective) pay for the privilege of crossing
their water.

Appendix Two: Ardwin 221

 Also, if used in the presence of spritely glammer (described
GOBLINRY on page 225), this discipline ruins the effects of Flight Unseen,
Goblin mystics are more likely to say “The river is my path” Hunting Stripes, and Trick of the Light. Other glammers are
than they are to confess to what orcs, dwarves and gnomes more unaffected.
often call “evil goblin spit” or “that vile bog-bottom witchcraft”
or, most common of all, “goblinry.” RAIN 5 POINTS
While elves and dwarves make much of the items their affin-
Think of this ability as working along the following continuum:
ities for wood or metal produce, goblins, with spiritual gifts
Clear—clouds—overcast—drizzle—downpour. Ten minutes
are far more cautious about revealing them. Strangely, among
of concentration is enough to shift the conditions one step in
the river-people there’s an inverse relationship between how
either direction for a ten square mile area. The change lasts two
much occult ability you have and how much you claim. For
hours, and cannot be used repeatedly to cause more changes.
every goblin who has real magic, there are probably a pair who
(That is, once changed it can’t change again for two hours.) A
fake their way along with misdirection, quick thinking, and
character who uses the Rain gift daily for a month can give
vague statements that can be retrofitted around anything that
the area they’re in a +1d bonus to Territory or a -1d Territory
really happens. The real goblin enchanters tend to keep silent
penalty.
about it because an advantage is less advantageous when it’s no
surprise. Or they fear blame for every flood and thunderstorm
that happens along.
THE WAY GOBLINS DO THINGS
One must be a born goblin to learn these abilities, and while In the same way that one raised among elves can easily gravitate
some prodigies learn them on their own, it’s far more common towards deadly accuracy and philosophical nattering, anyone
to be apprenticed to a more experienced mystic. Often the raised in the soggy mud flats of the river valleys tends to pick up
occultists are referred to as “potters” or “clay spinners,” which the goblin attitude on everything from the frank, crude, insult-
causes no small confusion with outsiders because goblins are laden way to conduct business to the best way to fight dirty. (Or,
also known for their ceramics. This is undoubtedly what the as goblins usually call fighting dirty, “fighting.”)
goblins had in mind. AVARICE UNASHAMED 1 POINT
WATER WEARS DOWN STONE 1 POINT When they haggle with others, goblins at least try. They don’t
Simply by stroking a stone with their pale, webbed fingers, a call you a lying, thieving double dealer to your face (complete
goblin with this gift can crack it straight in half, as if it had been with unnecessary volume and spittle flecks). They rein in their
dropped from a tremendous height. It takes a half hour of effort impatience for the indirect circumlocution of the gnomes,
and a successful Endurance roll, but it can cleave a single rock the blasé superiority of the elves, the truculent density of the
weighing up to ten times as much as the goblin. Smaller stones dwarves, and the inconsequential blabbery of the sprites. (Orcs,
require less effort—a fist-sized rock could be split with just a whatever their flaws of demeanor or aroma, at least do business
minute’s attention. by getting down to business, even if they are incredibly oversen-
sitive to insults real or perceived.) But really, there are only two
WATER RUSTS IRON 2 POINTS classes of people that goblins enjoy haggling with. One is other
goblins, because it’s a fun challenge and they all know the rules.
To use this ability, the goblin spits towards a weapon within Goblins get a +2d Haggle bonus with other goblins, be they
ten paces, but no roll is required. When used on any cutting or goblins by blood or by upbringing.
cleaving weapon, that weapon’s attacks are timed as if they had The other people they like haggling with? Oh, all kinds of
a point less Width until the edge is sharpened. If done in a fight, fools. They love taking a fool for everything but his skin. It’s
this happens before anything else. the goblin way.
WATER WARPS WOOD 3 POINTS FOOLS DROWN 2 POINTS
Again, the goblin has to spit in the direction of an object. They Speaking of fools, that’s a good title for anyone who fights
must be able to see it clearly and it must be within a hundred a goblin in the water. As long as a goblin is in waist deep or
paces. No roll is required. If the item is wooden and weighs less deeper, they get a +2d bonus to Fight, Dodge and Parry rolls,
than the goblin, it warps out of shape. Doors crack free of their along with any weapon-based attacks, against attackers who
frames, shields split, and bows turn into fragments. If done in weren’t raised half in the water. Surprisingly, their gills aren’t
combat, this happens last in the round. the major element of this superiority. If you’re a gill-less goblin,
WATER FRACTURES LIGHT 4 POINTS you still better be a damn good swimmer if you want any kind
of social life, and water wrestling is common horseplay on a
Few goblins study their innate esoterica enough to reach this hot summer day. As many orcs and elves have learned when
point, because it’s hard to hide what’s happening when you tempted to wade in after a gnome or dwarf who went native
wreathe a twenty-pace radius in garish, glinting rainbow trails. with his goblin wife, in the water there’s no difference between
When this ability is used, everyone within its area (including fighting someone who can hold their breath a minute longer
the goblin who did it) takes a -1d penalty to all actions, except than you and someone who can hold it an hour longer. But few
for dwarves, who take -2d. of those elves and orcs ever got a chance to pass that lesson on.

222 Appendix Two: Ardwin

 INNOCUOUS ALLIGATOR TECHNIQUE 3 POINTS Orc hults are like undecorated dwarf-hults—networks of
caves and tunnels, usually branching off a central stair-lined
Cold blooded goblins and those they raise tend to develop a shaft. They are often not as extensive, since orcs are far more
stillness that would be unnatural in others. When they want to likely to spend their time outside hunting dinner then they are
remain unobserved, they don’t even seem to breathe or blink. inside excavating (though they do mine some ores). They do
Thus, instead of rolling Coordination + Stealth to remain much of their crafting inside, after a hunt, in communal work-
unfound when hidden and staying silently still, they roll Coor- shops where tools are shared around. But sleeping and praying
dination + Stealth + Endurance. and other intimate actions are carried out in private chambers.
Of all the races, orcs value their privacy the most.
MUDFOOT STEP 4 POINTS
Goblins have wide, webbed feet and know how to place them RACIAL CHARACTERISTICS
without noise. When using Stealth to move silently, their
• Orcs are incredibly tough. Orcs get the Advantages
Widest set gets its Height promoted to ×10.
Hard Headed and Leather Tough (meaning, an extra
STIRRING THE MUD 5 POINTS wound box at every location except the head, which gets
two extra) for free. This does not mean they can buy them
Because they’re rude, crude, and uncultured, many people again, if you’re thinking that.
think goblins aren’t manipulative. Unfortunate people think
• Orcs are strong. Any Difficulties levied on Body based
that. A merchant who has perfected the technique of Stirring
Skills are reduced by 2. (That is, if a task normally has
the Mud has become an expert at playing groups against one
Difficulty 5, it becomes Difficulty 3.)
another.
This technique influences a Company to which the mud-stir- • Night vision. When they’re in dim light or even com-
rer doesn’t belong, but to whom they are selling something. If plete darkness, they can still roll Sight without penalty.
that Company is in conflict with another Company (and again, • Carnivore. Orcs get the Advantage Cannibal Smile for
it can’t be the stirrer’s company), and the goblin rolls a Haggle free, but they can only subsist on meat (though they can
set, in addition to any other effects of the Haggling, the goblin eat it cooked).
can give the buying Company a +1d bonus or -1d penalty on its
• Orcs are inelegant. Perhaps it has something to do with
next conflict roll.
the pointy teeth. Orcs can never have a Charm score
EXAMPLE above 3, and any Charm-based roll they make cannot
exceed a Height of 7. They can never get the five-point
A goblin learns that an orcish warband is planning version of the Beauty advantage.
an attack on a nearby gnome settlement. He likes the
gnomes, but he’s not going to let a business opportunity
pass by, so he engages the orcs and offers to sell them a
THE MYSTERIES OF PURITY
couple head of sheep to sate their hunger, since they don’t Orcish religion is a touchy topic for anyone who isn’t both
want to alert their victims by hunting in the forest near blood-orc and raised in an orc-hult. So touchy, in fact, that most
the village. They offer Wealth 1 but they’re no match for questions end with pointed silence, pointed insults, or pointed
his haggling. He pockets Wealth 2 and, in passing, sticks sticks lancing through the questioner’s most vital bits.
the orcs with a -1d penalty to their attack. How does this The principle doctrine of the Purity Mysteries is that the orc
happen? Maybe the sheep aren’t terribly wholesome to race expresses the foundation of the world. Curiously, though
eat. Maybe they slow the orcs down. Or maybe he just
it’s a racist faith, and it’s a hate-filled faith, it’s not a religion of
sends a tip to the gnomes.
race-hate. Orcs believe there is a proper place for all the races
of Ardwin, and that a safe and peaceful nation will persist end-

THE ORCS lessly once the orcs assume their role as the rulers of the farmers,
miners, woodworkers, and the rest.
The tallest orcs reach six feet tall, and the shortest still tower In theory, anyone raised culturally orcish could learn these
over gnomes. They’re not as stocky as the dwarves, but they’re abilities. In practice, they don’t.
solid and muscular with mouths full of sharp teeth. Their
BLESSING OF THE PURE 1 POINT
features tend to be a little flat, except for pronounced jaws.
According to the orcs, this is so it’s easier for them to really An orc with this trait has been chosen by the priesthood as
sink their fangs in and, to those who’ve fought them, it makes being unusually blessed and predestined for greatness. The
sense. priesthood favors orcs born of orcs for this commendation, but
Orc skin tends to run the gamut from gray to brown to those born of other unions can and do receive it. The blessing
green, and is usually dull and unreflective except when they’re takes the form of a scarified pattern on the forehead. It’s hard to
sweating profusely. Their hair, similarly, ranges from black forge, and the penalty for claiming a false blessing ranges from
through gray. It’s slow growing and coarse, and many orcs death to being scalped alive. That said, if you do get a good
keep it cut short. Only the priests and priestesses grow it long forgery, few orcs are going to question it. The blessing gives a
and curl it elaborately, and then only if they lack the Mark of +2d bonus to all Command based rolls issued to people who are
the Blessed (see following). culturally orcs.

Appendix Two: Ardwin 223

 HYMN OF BLOODLUST 2 POINTS ORC WAYS
Most orcs know this, but not every orc can really perform it. To Orcish culture is informed, to an unusual degree, by orcish
sing it, roll Command + Inspire before leading followers into instinct. Unlike the other races, orcs are exclusively predators.
battle. If you succeed, your followers are temporarily immune While those who live among orcs without being born sharp-
to Morale Attacks as they get swept up with the promise of toothed partake in the religion and the culture (meaning,
sweet red murder. But as soon as anyone in the group parries or born-dwarf orcs in a scar-kin warband still get bonuses from
dodges, the effect ends. the hymns and chants if they’re followers) there are some tech-
niques that only those orc-born can learn. While these are
ORCISH DEATH CHANT 3 POINTS far more common in orc culture, where they’re accepted, orcs
There’s a natural transition from the Hymn of Bloodlust (sung raised by an elf or dwarf parent, or adopted into a gnome town,
before carnage) to the Orcish Death Chant (sung during carnage). can develop them as well.
This does not require either action or roll—any decent orc leader HUNGER-KEEN SENSES 1 POINT
can lead a Death Chant without it interfering with
the warmaking. With the chant in effect, enemy They say the only things more keen-eyed than an elf are eagles
troops can’t be given the Morale bonus during and an orc who missed breakfast. For every day that orcs with
the fight unless they outnumber the chanting this trait go without food, they get a +1d bonus to Sight,
orcs. If they had the Morale bonus beforehand, Hearing, Direction, and Scrutiny, up to a maximum of +3d.
it remains. But while they’ve got any bonus from Hunger-Keen
Senses, they take a -1d penalty to Lore, Eerie,
STONEFELLING HYMN 4 POINTS and Empathy.
This is typically taught to the priests SPEAK TO ME,
of the pure, who sing it as they SILENT BROTHER 2 POINTS
lead assaults on stone-ensconced
enemies. It’s open to debate Just as elves are comfortable
whether the song, as claimed, climbing trees, orcs are comfort-
“turns the stone against our able climbing rocks. If orcs need
foes” or whether it’s simply to make any Climb roll to avoid
very inspiring to orcs when falling, failure doesn’t mean
they see a priest standing there they fall, they just get stuck in
chanting against a brick wall. place for three rounds. (And it
However it works, it means that doesn’t actually have to be stone
an orc Company’s Might doesn’t that’s getting climbed.)
tire during attacks on stone-based
fortifications.
IT’S ONLY STONE 3 POINTS
Orcs have a instinct for stone that parallels their
PREDATOR’S FOCUS 5 POINTS own sense of where their bodies are. They never
Priests of Purity undergo many secret take Difficulty when they’re moving, cutting,
and mysterious rites and ordeals or working stone.
involving heavy stones on their chests
for extended periods, starvation, pri-
SCAR-BOUND DISCIPLINE 4 POINTS
vation, the ingesting of toadstools It may be an actual scent that some orcs emit
usually considered poisonous, and the when leading in battle. Even non-orcs know
like. Among other effects (knowing what it means when they smell it or, if they
who’s to be Blessed, twitching) these don’t, they soon learn. As long as someone
rites make orc priests into obses- with this ability is leading fifteen or more orcs
sive bloodletters. Once such an orc has (either blood-orcs or other races raised in an
injured an enemy, they get a +1d bonus orc-hult), they have the Morale bonus without
on his next attack against that foe as needing speeches and promises.
long as they don’t relent or do anything
but attack. No dodging, no parrying, ELVEN FULFILLMENT 5 POINTS
no inspiring speeches, though multiple
If an orc kills an elf and then immediately takes
action attacks are just fine. Every suc-
an action to drop down and bite off a mouthful
cessful hit on that opponent after that
of its flesh, the orc feels an incredible sense of
raises the bonus another die, until
completion. This immediately heals a point of
the attacker pauses or the
Killing damage or removes two points of Shock.
target perishes.
This experience can become addictive.

224 Appendix Two: Ardwin

THE SPRITES light around them, much as a prism breaks white light into
rainbow. With greater practice, concentration and skill, the
Sprites are by far the smallest and lightest of Ardwin’s peoples, bending can become more and more precise.
rarely getting as tall as three feet and more commonly two and a Unfortunately, only those born sprites can learn glammer.
half. They’re even lighter than they appear, not weighing much FLIGHT UNSEEN 1 POINT
more than a house cat. They usually have fair, rosy skin, brown
eyes, and blonde or light-brown hair. But that’s not what people The first step towards controlling light is learning to squelch
notice. They notice the wings. it when it’s unwanted. With this ability, a sprite’s wings can
Sprite wings are not physical, they’re radiant forms of light in turn invisible. This lasts until the sprite next sleeps, or until
gently shifting rainbow patterns. By night, you can easily read they choose to reveal them. It doesn’t make the rest of the sprite
by their light and if you look at them long enough, you may start hard to see, but when you’re trying to move unseen it’s better to
to feel dizzy, or giddy, or you may lose track of time. lack brightly glowing appendages. Activating this power takes
Few sprites till the soil. They get by far more easily by hunting one combat round and removes their usual -3d Stealth penalty.
and gathering, through casual gardening or by bargaining for
merchandise. Few sprites master a particular trade. It’s far more HUNTING STRIPES 2 POINTS
common for them to do this and that, a little fishing, a little Sprites can’t fade from sight, but they can camouflage them-
herb gathering, a little craft if they have the skill for it. It’s a selves by changing the color of their wings, skin and clothing
casual culture that tends, ironically, towards generosity within to match their surroundings. The color change isn’t permanent,
settlements. When times are good, they share as a matter of like a dye, but is rather a surface of glammer. As with Flight
course. There’s no insult worse to a sprite than “miser” except Unseen, it takes a round to put on the stripes and they last until
possibly being called “goblin greedy.” the sprite sleeps or until the glammer is released. It offers a +1d
bonus to Stealth rolls for remaining unseen, when appropriate
RACIAL CHARACTERISTICS to the location.
• Sprites are adorable. All sprites get the three-point TRICK OF THE LIGHT 3 POINTS
version of the Beauty Advantage for free. They can buy it
higher if they wish. Unlike elves, sprites don’t ostracize At this point, the sprite can create visions of things that aren’t
sprites who get the Gruesome Flaw inflicted on them. there, though only briefly. After a round of concentration,
They just feel bad for them. sprites can create a silent illusion of something no larger than
they are. As long as they concentrate and do nothing else (not
• Sprites are tiny. Any hit to location 7 or 9 is an auto-
even moving), the illusion remains. It can move and change, but
matic miss. However, due to their light weight and innate
it does not make any sound or have any heft.
quickness, they move fifteen feet per combat round even
when they aren’t flying. STARE NOT AT THE SUN 4 POINTS
• Sprites fly on radiant wings made of rainbows. They
This is more a matter of light quantity than quality. Where the
can fly twenty feet per round automatically. However,
previous ability relies on having a skilled and accurate imagina-
they can only do this for fifteen minutes at a time before
tion, this is just a matter of making lots. It takes the form of a
they have to take a few minutes’ break, usually by land-
searing, blinding corona of sparkling color that streaks straight
ing but (if they started from a high point) sometimes just
into the eyes of one target. The sprite rolls Sense + Coordination
gliding lower.
and blinds the target for a number of rounds equal to the roll’s
Sprites’ wings, being immaterial, can’t be injured by
Width. It has a range of about a hundred paces.
anything known in Ardwin. However, sprites can’t carry
more than ten or fifteen pounds while aloft. Sprites take GREAT GLAMMER 5 POINTS
a -3d penalty on any Stealth rolls based on remaining
unseen if their wings are visible. This combines the deftness of Trick of the Light with the bulk
of Stare Not at the Sun. The sprite magician can create a visual
• Sprites are frail and weak. Sprites lose one wound box
illusion with all the caveats of Trick of the Light, except that it
from every hit location and can never raise their Body
fills an area the size of a large tent or wedding pavilion. It takes
score above 1.
about fifteen minutes of concentration before the image appears,
• Iron hates sprites. Any weapon made of iron or steel but no roll is required to create it. There’s no sound or scent, no
does an extra point of Shock when it hits a sprite. sense other than sight, but within that area the illusion is tre-
mendously persuasive. The caster has to stay in the illusion’s area
GLAMMER and can speak, move about, and conduct any business that doesn’t
Unlike the goblins, sprites are well-known for their use of require intense concentration. (In other words, as soon as the
magic. Indeed, most outside the sprite settlements think sprite makes any roll, the illusion vanishes. It also evaporates if its
advanced magical talent is more common among sprites than maker gets hurt.) After the first hour, it requires an Endurance
is actually the case. roll to continue maintaining the Great Glammer. Every hour
Glammer is the control of light. The sprites’ immaterial, after that, it’s another Endurance check with a -1d penalty. The
glowing wings seem to act as antennae that bend and distort penalty is cumulative, so after five hours, it would be a -4d roll.

Appendix Two: Ardwin 225

 EXAMPLE
Juho the sprite flits out of an orc’s reach, waiting for her
chance. She rolls Body + Coordination and gets a nice
3×4 result. The next round, she makes a single attack and
gets a 2×1. Normally that’s a pretty meager success, but
she gets a +3 Width bonus, mangling the orc’s leg with a
5×1 strike.

THREAD THE NEEDLE 3 POINTS

The sprite-born use small weapons by necessity, and they’ve
made a virtue of it by emphasizing precision over force. When
striking with Coordination + Weapon and using some sort of
stabbing blade, Thread the Needle lets the attacker ignore all
mundane armor by targeting joints and weak spots.

BREW HEARTLOCK ELIXIR 4 POINTS

It drives the elves mad that they can’t make this stuff, which is a
black, sticky ointment that smells faintly of grass. It’s obviously
an herbal concoction, but there’s some secret ingredient that the
elves are just unable to find.
The secret ingredient is sprite blood. If a sprite bleeds will-
ingly, it’s two points of Shock damage. If it’s taken despite
resistance, that’s a minimum of a point of Killing damage.
With that much blood (and a dozen common herbs), one can
Not all sprites are adorable. make ten doses of the elixir. Applying it to a weapon takes one
combat round, but it only stays potent for about an hour, or until
the weapon is sheathed or strikes something. Kept bottled, it
remains good for a month or so.
SPRITE WAYS The heartlock elixir is a poison (or drug, if you prefer),
One needs the glowing wings to learn glammer, but Sprite Ways administered by smearing it on a pin or a weapon and poking
are cultural, rather than a matter of inborn potential. Anyone it through the skin. Only a tiny amount is required to take
raised in a sprite town or village can pick up these abilities. effect. It’s Potency 6 and the Minor Effect is dizziness, disori-
entation, and a brief heart stoppage. This causes victims to lose
SPRITELY KNOWLEDGE 1 POINT a die from their next action’s Highest set (if any). The Major
Effect is weakness, trembling, and a thready, irregular heart-
A sprite conversation is a lively interplay, and rather than pas-
beat, bestowing a -1d penalty to both Body and Coordination
sively examining others for clues about their feelings, sprites
for a day. Multiple doses have cumulative effects, and if Body is
are often adept at sounding them out subtly with active ques-
dropped to 0, the target dies.
tions, often questions that seem unrelated to the matter at hand.
Sprites mostly use this stuff while hunting to bring down
When using this ability, a sprite can base Empathy rolls off
bigger game. But they have no compunctions against using it
Charm instead of Sense.
in war.
DIVE-STAB 2 POINTS
GENIAL CURIOSITY 5 POINTS
Most blood-sprites do this aerially, dropping down with a
Sprite culture places a premium on political gossip. One can’t
shrill shout as they impale that night’s supper (or an unwanted
get away from it, but if one gets into it—really into it—all the
intruder). But non-fliers can also learn the trick of looking
disparate threads of history provide a running intuition about
for an opening and then charging in with total commitment,
the fate of Ardwin’s races as a whole.
flinging one’s entire body weight behind a single stab.
To benefit from Genial Curiosity, roll Knowledge + Lore. A
To execute a Dive-Stab, spend one action circling and roll Body
success rates each of the six races, top to bottom, according to
+ Coordination. The next round, make a single attack against a
their current rating in a particular Quality. Genial Curiosity
single opponent using Body + Fight or Coordination + Weapon.
can be used five times per month, once per Quality. It can also
If it hits, that attack gets a Width bonus equal to the Width of
be used to rate any other six Companies.
the Body + Coordination roll.

226 Appendix Two: Ardwin

 Bleed the Energy (discipline).............................................................. 46
SYMBOLS Blessing of the Pure (discipline)........................................................ 223
_______to Her Royal Highness (award)......................................... 209 Blind.................................................................................................. 115
Blind (problem).................................................................................... 43
Blossom Exhalation (discipline).......................................................... 58
A Boa Constrictor................................................................................. 190
Absolute Domination (discipline)....................................................... 64 Body..................................................................................................... 15
Advantages...............................................................................22, 40–43 Bonus................................................................................................... 13
Advisor to the Throne (award).......................................................... 210 Bouncing Roll (technique)................................................................. 145
Airborne............................................................................................. 159 Brace for the Blow (discipline)............................................................ 60
Air of Dreadful Command (discipline).............................................. 63 Brew Heartlock Elixir (discipline).................................................... 226
A Jungle of Healing (discipline).......................................................... 64 Brew Vigor Wine (discipline).............................................................. 64
Alligator..................................................................................... 188–189 Bring Fear (discipline)......................................................................... 59
All Is One (technique)........................................................................141 Broadcutter’s Path...................................................................... 136–137
A Master’s Performance (discipline)................................................... 49 Bruising Block (discipline)................................................................ 168
Ambassador (award).......................................................................... 211 Brute Racing.................................................................................47, 168
Animal Companion (advantage)......................................................... 40 Buildings.............................................................................................. 76
Animals.............................................................................................. 186 Burdens of the Visionary, the.............................................................. 46
Ardent Scholarship........................................................................44–45 Buried in the Canyon (technique)..................................................... 137
Ardwin....................................................................................... 216–226 Burning.............................................................................................. 183
Area Dice............................................................................................. 10
Armor.................................................................................... 12, 75, 113 C
Arrogant Feint, the (discipline)......................................................... 219
Arrow of Gentle Repose (technique)................................................ 138 Calculated Show of Avarice (discipline)............................................. 51
Artifacts.....................................................................................204–206 Calculated Show of Generosity (discipline)........................................ 51
Availability....................................................................................205 Called Shot (maneuver)......................................................................117
A Series of Undifferentiated Occult Knacks (discipline).................... 55 Cannibal Smile (advantage)................................................................ 40
Assassin’s Dance (discipline)............................................................... 48 Carnage.............................................................................................. 159
Assets..........................................................................................101–103 Castle................................................................................................. 157
Influence......................................................................................... 101 Catlike Balance (discipline)................................................................. 57
Might............................................................................................. 101 Champion (award)............................................................................. 209
Sovereignty.................................................................................... 102 Character Development................................................................ 38–39
Territory......................................................................................... 102 Character Generation.................................................................... 14–30
Treasure.......................................................................................... 103 Common Elements......................................................................15–23
A Stance Outside the Self (discipline)................................................ 55 Methods............................................................................................ 15
Athletic Perfection (discipline)........................................................... 49 Mix and Match................................................................................ 24
Athletics (skill).............................................................................. 16, 31 Point Buy......................................................................................... 23
Attack................................................................................................ 156 Random Roll.................................................................................... 23
Attack (company action)................................................................ 87–88 Strategy......................................................................................29–30
Attack (maneuver)............................................................................. 116 Charge (maneuver)............................................................................ 130
Attunement.........................................................................................176 Charm.................................................................................................. 15
Autumn Warfare................................................................... 45–46, 170 Charms.............................................................................................. 204
Avarice Unashamed (discipline)........................................................ 222 Chases.........................................................................................162–171
Awards of Merit......................................................................... 208–211 Equipment Advantage.................................................................... 165
Evasion Tactics.............................................................................. 164
Gaining.......................................................................................... 162
B Ganging Up................................................................................... 163
Barbarian Has No Clothes, the (discipline)........................................ 62 Lead, the........................................................................................ 162
Bardic Mania....................................................................................... 79 Offsetting....................................................................................... 162
Barefoot Ascent (discipline).............................................................. 219 Pursuit Rounds.............................................................................. 162
Basic Mobility (discipline)................................................................... 59 Pursuit Tactics................................................................................ 164
Batter and Break (discipline)............................................................. 169 Resolving............................................................................... 165–166
Batter the Blade (technique).............................................................. 136 Trumping............................................................................... 163–164
Beauty (advantage)............................................................................... 40 Cheerful Humility (discipline).......................................................... 220
Before the Goddess (discipline)........................................................... 47 Choose Your Own Disaster (discipline).............................................. 52
Being Informed (company action)................................................. 88–89 Classic Enemy (asset)......................................................................... 102
Beloved Dignity................................................................................... 46 Cleansing Respiration (discipline)...................................................... 58
Benefits of a Strong First Impression, the (discipline)........................ 47 Clicking Swift (technique)................................................................ 139
Bestiary.......................................................................................187–192 Climb (skill)....................................................................................17, 32
Beyond Formality (discipline)............................................................. 50 Cling Like a Lover (technique)......................................................... 138
Big Cats.............................................................................................. 189 Cloak of the Land (discipline)............................................................. 55
Bite Strike (technique)....................................................................... 142 Close to the Madding Crowd (discipline)........................................... 55
Black Thirst, the................................................................................ 137 Coincidental Allusion (discipline)....................................................... 57
Blades for the Empress........................................................................ 46 Combat....................................................................................................

Index 227
 Conditions...................................................................................... 115 Dice.............................................................................................7, 10–12
Resolving............................................................................... 109–112 Die With Your Boots On (advantage)................................................. 41
Simplified....................................................................................... 125 Difficulty.............................................................................................. 10
Command............................................................................................ 15 Diplomat’s Glance (discipline)............................................................ 50
Community Oath (discipline)............................................................. 60 Direction (skill)..............................................................................19, 32
Companies................................................................................... 80–103 Disarm (maneuver)............................................................................ 130
Actions....................................................................................... 87–92 Disfiguring Strike (maneuver)........................................................... 130
Assets...................................................................................... 101–103 Display Kill (maneuver)..................................................................... 131
Combining................................................................................. 93–95 Display Move (maneuver).................................................................. 127
Generation...............................................................................98–100 Dive-Stab (discipline)........................................................................ 226
Large..............................................................................................100 Divine Regimen, the........................................................................... 49
Medium............................................................................................ 99 Dodge (maneuver)............................................................................. 116
Qualities................................................................................... 80–84 Dodge (skill)...................................................................................17, 32
Small................................................................................................ 98 Dogged Persistence (discipline)........................................................... 56
Condemn Tomorrow (discipline)........................................................ 61 Donkey Rides the Man, the (discipline)............................................. 52
Confidential Pursuer (award)............................................................ 210 Doom of Swords, the (technique)...................................................... 136
Contests........................................................................................... 8–10 Double Fist (technique)..................................................................... 143
Dynamic............................................................................................ 9 Downed............................................................................................. 115
Opposed.............................................................................................. 9 Drawbridge........................................................................................ 158
Static.................................................................................................. 8 Draw (maneuver)............................................................................... 127
Coordination....................................................................................... 15 Draw Upon the Roots of Earth (discipline)...................................... 220
Counter-Espionage (company action)................................................. 89 Drowning........................................................................................... 185
Counterspell (skill).............................................................................. 18 Drunken Blackouts (problem)............................................................. 43
Courtesy of Accepting Medicine, (discipline).................................. 220 Drunken Monkey (technique)........................................................... 145
Courtier’s Legendary Appeal, the....................................................... 47 Duchess (title).................................................................................... 208
Cover.................................................................................................. 111 Duke (title)......................................................................................... 208
Covetous Twist, the (discipline)........................................................ 217 Dust’s Fall (discipline)......................................................................... 45
Cower (maneuver).............................................................................. 131 Duties................................................................................................... 22
Craft Birch Torch (discipline)........................................................... 218 Duty..................................................................................................... 13
Craft Cedar Flute (discipline)........................................................... 219 Dwarven Way, the............................................................................. 217
Craft Hickory Shield (discipline)...................................................... 219 Dwarves......................................................................................216–217
Craft Oaken Bridge (discipline)........................................................ 219 Dying................................................................................................. 111
Craft Yew Bow (discipline)................................................................ 218 Dying to Kill (technique).................................................................. 137
Craving................................................................................................ 13
Cravings............................................................................................... 22 E
Crimson Reaping (technique)........................................................... 146
Crocodile................................................................................... 188–189 Ear of the Bard’s Guild....................................................................... 49
Cross Block (technique)..................................................................... 142 Earth Affinity.................................................................................... 220
Cruel Cartage (technique)................................................................. 139 Eerie (skill).....................................................................................19, 32
Cruel Mercy (discipline)...................................................................... 46 Eight Ears Open (discipline)............................................................... 47
Cultural Tradition (asset).................................................................. 102 Elder Eyes.................................................................................... 50, 169
Culture of Shame and Gossip (asset)................................................ 102 Elephant............................................................................................. 190
Elflore (discipline)............................................................................. 219
D Eloquence and Elocution.................................................................... 50
Eloquent Diplomats (asset)............................................................... 101
Damage.......................................................................................110–111 Elven Fulfillment (discipline)............................................................ 224
Killing............................................................................................ 110 Elves............................................................................................218–219
Location......................................................................................... 111 Empathy (skill)...............................................................................19, 32
Shock.............................................................................................. 110 Emperor (title)................................................................................... 208
Types.............................................................................................. 110 Empress (title).................................................................................... 208
Dance of the Burglar (discipline)........................................................ 48 Endurance (skill)........................................................................... 16, 32
Dancing Unseen.......................................................................... 48, 170 Enemy of Disquiet, the (discipline)..................................................... 52
Dancing Without An Audience (discipline)....................................... 48 Entangled to Shreds (technique)....................................................... 139
Dangling Death (technique)..............................................................141 Entangling Alliance (asset)............................................................... 101
Dark Adapted (advantage)................................................................... 40 Entourage Equippage.......................................................................... 76
Dashing Confidence (discipline)......................................................... 47 Environment...................................................................................... 112
Dazed................................................................................................. 115 Epic History (asset)........................................................................... 101
Death Slaking (technique)................................................................. 137 Epic Injuries................................................................................160–161
Defend............................................................................................... 156 Epic Threats............................................................................... 159–160
Defend (company action)..................................................................... 89 Esoteric Disciplines.....................................................21, 44–64, 65–72
Defense Before Thought (discipline)................................................... 60 Constructing............................................................................... 65–72
Defensible Terrain (asset).................................................................. 102 Five Point Effects....................................................................... 69–70
Defensive Cast (discipline).................................................................. 46 Flaws......................................................................................... 70–71
Defiant Tradition (asset).................................................................... 102 Four Point Effects............................................................................. 69
Defusing Pratfall (discipline).............................................................. 53 Martial Paths................................................................................... 65
Defy the Gates of Death (discipline).................................................. 47 One Point Effects........................................................................65–66
Dehydration....................................................................................... 186 Random Paths.................................................................................. 68
Deploy................................................................................................ 155 Three Point Effects...................................................................... 67–69
Desperate Sacrifice (technique)......................................................... 138 Two Point Effects.......................................................................66–67
Devil’s Shout, the (discipline)............................................................. 53 Espionage (company action).......................................................... 89–90
Dextrous Tongue (discipline).............................................................. 50 Experience points.......................................................................... 38–39

228 Index
 Earning............................................................................................ 38 Goblins...................................................................................... 221–223
Spending....................................................................................38–39 Goddess in the Grave (technique)..................................................... 138
Expert Dice.................................................................................... 11, 15 Golden Insight..................................................................................... 52
Explosive Lunge (technique)............................................................. 152 Gossip Hub (discipline)..................................................................... 221
Exposure............................................................................................ 186 Graces (skill).................................................................................. 20, 33
Exquisite Whine (discipline)............................................................... 56 Grand Ultimate Supreme
Eye of Death...............................................................................137–138 Monkey King (technique)............................................................. 145
Eyes of the Crown of Salck............................................................... 170 Grave Triumphalism (discipline)........................................................ 53
Eyes of the Crown of Salck, the.......................................................... 50 Great Ape.......................................................................................... 191
Great Glammer (discipline)............................................................... 225
F Growing Health (discipline)............................................................. 220
Gruesome (problem)............................................................................ 43
Falling................................................................................................ 185 Gruff Speech of the Hult Lords (discipline)..................................... 217
False Failure (discipline)...................................................................... 54 Guai’s Path......................................................................................... 138
False Scholarship (discipline).............................................................. 44
Farmer’s Eye (discipline).................................................................... 220 H
Fascinate (skill).............................................................................. 20, 32
Fascinating Anecdote (discipline)....................................................... 46 Haggle (skill)..................................................................................19, 33
Feather Tread (discipline).................................................................... 45 Hail to the Queen (discipline)............................................................. 53
Feint (maneuver)................................................................................ 127 Harvest of Cries (technique)............................................................. 146
Fending Off the Jackals (discipline).................................................... 72 Hated Enemy (problem)...................................................................... 43
Fight Another Day (discipline)........................................................... 61 Healing.............................................................................................. 111
Fight (skill).................................................................................... 16, 32 Healing (skill)................................................................................ 18, 33
Financial Sophistication................................................................ 50–51 Hearing (skill)................................................................................ 20, 33
Find the Forgotten Flower (discipline)............................................... 64 Heart Chaining (discipline)................................................................ 50
First Need (discipline)......................................................................... 54 Heart-Hardening Rhetoric (discipline).............................................. 51
Flawless Grace (discipline).................................................................. 57 Heartshaker (technique).................................................................... 146
Flawless Tone (discipline).................................................................... 49 Heart Stealing..................................................................................... 53
Flight Unseen (discipline)................................................................. 225 Heavy Stenching (discipline)............................................................. 169
Fluid Combat..............................................................................148–152 Height...............................................................................................7, 13
Effects..................................................................................... 149–150 Hell Fishing (technique).................................................................... 139
Martial Techniques........................................................................ 152 Hell Marches With Me (discipline).................................................... 51
Phases..................................................................................... 148–149 Hell’s Hooks...................................................................................... 139
Flying Headsnap (technique)............................................................ 143 Hidden Shell, the (technique)........................................................... 140
Flying Serpent’s Coil......................................................................... 152 Highest Comedy (discipline)............................................................... 54
Followers.................................................................................... 123–124 Hill..................................................................................................... 157
Enchantment..................................................................................123 Hit to Block (technique).................................................................... 144
Equipment.....................................................................................123 Hold................................................................................................... 155
Inspiration.....................................................................................123 Hold the Line (technique)................................................................. 145
Followers (advantage).......................................................................... 41 Horse.................................................................................................. 191
Follow Even the Breeze (discipline).................................................... 58 Horsewoman’s Course, the........................................................ 139–140
Follow Your Own Beat (discipline)..................................................... 49 Horsewomen...................................................................................... 139
Fool Lucky (advantage)....................................................................... 41 Hult Industry (discipline).................................................................. 217
Fools Drown (discipline)................................................................... 222 Humanity Unbridled (discipline)........................................................ 52
Forest................................................................................................. 158 Hunger-Keen Senses (discipline)...................................................... 224
Forest Wisdom................................................................................... 219 Hunting Stripes (discipline).............................................................. 225
Fortified Force (discipline).................................................................. 60 Hymn of Bloodlust (discipline)......................................................... 224
Fortune Smiles (asset)........................................................................ 102
Foundries, Smiths I
and Armorers (asset)..................................................................... 102
Four Legs Kick (technique)............................................................... 143 I And Those Behind Me (discipline)................................................... 53
Friendly Little Fellow (discipline)..................................................... 221 Illness of Cowardice Spreads by Mouth, the (discipline)................... 51
Fulfillment of Form (discipline)........................................................ 217 Immobile Position (discipline)............................................................ 49
Full Alignment (discipline)................................................................. 63 Improve the Culture (company action)............................................... 90
Improvised Arms (discipline).............................................................. 59
G Indestructable.................................................................................... 159
Indomitable (advantage)...................................................................... 41
Gambler’s Assault (discipline)............................................................. 54 Inexorable Tread (discipline)............................................................... 62
Game Master....................................................................................... 13 Inexorable Winnowing (technique)................................................... 146
General (award)................................................................................. 209 Infinite Cohesion (technique)............................................................ 146
General Specialist (discipline)............................................................. 45 Infinite Sorrow (discipline).................................................................. 56
General’s Visage.............................................................................51–52 Inner Compass (discipline).................................................................. 53
General Winter (discipline)................................................................. 54 Inner Flavor (discipline)...................................................................... 53
Generosity Is Selfish (discipline)......................................................... 56 Inner Listening (discipline)................................................................. 53
Genial Curiosity (discipline)............................................................. 226 Inner Senses......................................................................................... 53
Glammer............................................................................................ 225 Innocuous Alligator Technique (discipline)...................................... 223
Gliding Step (technique)....................................................................147 Inspire (skill)...................................................................................19, 33
Gnomes...................................................................................... 220–221 Instant Start (discipline)...................................................................... 62
Gnomish Manners............................................................................. 220 Instinct For Distraction (discipline).................................................... 48
Gobble Dice......................................................................................9, 11 Integrated Action (discipline).............................................................. 46
Goblinry............................................................................................ 222 Intellectual Diversion (discipline)....................................................... 44

Index 229
 In the Presence (discipline).................................................................. 46 Lucky (advantage)................................................................................ 41
Intimidate (skill)............................................................................ 19, 34
Invigorating Stance (discipline)........................................................... 58 M
Inward Winding (technique)..............................................................147
Iron Breaking Blow (technique)........................................................ 136 Maemeck War-Pick............................................................................141
Iron Gadflies........................................................................................ 79 Magic....................................................................................19, 172–182
Iron Kiss (maneuver)......................................................................... 134 Forces............................................................................................. 173
Iron Parry (technique)....................................................................... 140 Forecasting..................................................................................... 173
Iron Tortoise Technique.............................................................140–141 Healing.......................................................................................... 173
Irregular Forces (asset)...................................................................... 101 Luck............................................................................................... 172
I Say Only Endure (discipline)............................................................ 51 Styles.............................................................................................. 174
It’s Only Stone (discipline)................................................................ 224 Magic Resistant (asset)...................................................................... 102
It’s Only the Ground (discipline)........................................................ 72 Maim (maneuver).............................................................................. 131
It Would Be A Crime Against Art (discipline).................................. 62 Majestic Rearing
Plunge (technique)........................................................................ 140
J Maneuvers...................................................................116–118, 126–135
Advanced................................................................................130–133
Jester’s Course, the............................................................................... 53 Combinations................................................................................. 134
Jest (skill)....................................................................................... 20, 34 Expert.................................................................................... 134–135
Jinx (problem)...................................................................................... 43 Simple....................................................................................126–129
Judge (award)..................................................................................... 209 Manifest Density (problem)................................................................ 43
Junking................................................................................................. 39 Mark of a Champion (discipline)........................................................ 72
Martial Paths........................................................................21, 136–147
K Mass Appeal (asset)........................................................................... 102
Mass Combat............................................................................. 153–158
Keen (asset)........................................................................................ 102 Command Interference.................................................................... 155
Kicking Sailor.............................................................................143–144 Command Lag............................................................................... 158
Kingdom Generation................................................................. 104–108 Declare........................................................................................... 155
King (title)......................................................................................... 208 Encirclement.................................................................................. 156
Knight (title)...................................................................................... 206 Free Movement.............................................................................. 157
Knockout (maneuver)........................................................................ 131 Map, the......................................................................................... 154
Knowledge........................................................................................... 15 Resolve................................................................................... 156–157
Knowledgeable Discourse on Geography Roll................................................................................................ 156
and Architecture (discipline).......................................................... 47 Scale....................................................................................... 153–154
Know Your Zone (discipline)............................................................ 169 Setting Up...................................................................................... 154
Terrain................................................................................... 157–158
L Threat Rating................................................................................. 158
Unit Type....................................................................................... 158
Lady (title)......................................................................................... 207 Master_________ (award)............................................................... 209
Language Genius (advantage)............................................................. 41 Master Dice................................................................................... 12, 15
Language _________ (skill).............................................................. 18 Master Forge (discipline)................................................................... 217
Language (skill)................................................................................... 34 Master Mobility (discipline)................................................................ 60
Lashing Tongue (discipline)................................................................ 50 Mayhem............................................................................................. 159
Last Push (advantage).......................................................................... 41 Melded Soul (technique)................................................................... 143
Laying Groundwork (discipline)......................................................... 46 Mesmerizing Raconteur (discipline)................................................... 50
Leap of the Gazelle (discipline).......................................................... 49 Metal Heart....................................................................................... 217
Leather Hard (advantage).................................................................... 41 Might............................................................................................. 81–82
Leg-Numbing Entangling Bite (technique)...................................... 152 Military Deceit.................................................................................... 54
Leviathan........................................................................................... 159 Mining for Flesh (technique).............................................................141
Liar’s Gambit (discipline).................................................................... 54 Minions.......................................................................................118–121
Library of the Eye (discipline)............................................................. 50 Limitations.................................................................................... 120
Lidded Eye, the (discipline).............................................................. 169 Tactics............................................................................................ 120
Lie (skill)........................................................................................ 20, 34 Misplaced Confidence (problem)........................................................ 43
Lifting Stance (discipline)................................................................... 49 Missing Arm (problem)....................................................................... 43
Lightning Foot (technique)............................................................... 146 Missing Hand (problem)..................................................................... 44
Limb Livening Pressure (discipline)................................................... 63 Mission................................................................................................ 13
Linguist (advantage)............................................................................ 41 Missions............................................................................................... 22
Literate in ______ (advantage)........................................................... 41 Mist’s Vantage (discipline).................................................................. 55
Living Weapon Stance (technique)................................................... 146 Mobs...........................................................................................119–121
Lizard Trance (discipline)................................................................... 60 Mogantiu’s Service of the All (discipline)........................................... 47
Lockjaw (technique).......................................................................... 142 Mole (asset)........................................................................................ 101
Longevity (discipline)........................................................................ 220 Money................................................................................ 21–22, 72–75
Long Running Strike (technique)..................................................... 138 Equivalents...................................................................................... 74
Lord (title).......................................................................................... 207 Gaining............................................................................................ 73
Lore (skill)..................................................................................... 18, 35 Losing.............................................................................................. 73
Love........................................................................................... 201–204 Monkey Dodge (technique)............................................................... 145
False...............................................................................................203 Monkey Fist (technique)................................................................... 145
Forbidden.......................................................................................202 Morale Attacks.................................................................................. 119
Star-Crossed...................................................................................202 Mortal Silence (discipline).................................................................. 53
Tragic.............................................................................................203 Mostly Impervious............................................................................. 159
Love Iron Without Fear (discipline)................................................. 217 Motion of the Ocean (technique)...................................................... 144

230 Index
Move.................................................................................................. 157 Portcullis............................................................................................ 158
Move (maneuver)................................................................................117 Possession (advantage)......................................................................... 42
Move With the Strike (discipline)....................................................... 60 Potions and Poultices (discipline)........................................................ 64
Mudfoot Step (discipline).................................................................. 223 Precious Items...................................................................................... 75
Multiple Action................................................................................... 13 Predator’s Focus (discipline).............................................................. 224
Multiple Actions (maneuver)............................................................. 118 Predictable Bounty (asset)................................................................. 103
My Power Is My Own (discipline)...................................................... 60 Primate Pack...................................................................................... 188
Mysteries of Purity, the..................................................................... 223 Problems..................................................................................23, 43–44
Profound Honesty (discipline)............................................................ 52
N Proper Climbing.................................................................................. 57
Proper Fall, the (discipline)................................................................. 57
Nain........................................................................................... 212–215 Proportional Listening (discipline)..................................................... 57
Name Drop (discipline)....................................................................... 47 Pull, the (technique).......................................................................... 139
Neck and Neckbreak (discipline)...................................................... 168 Pure Breath Techniques...................................................................... 58
Negotiation From Gratitude (discipline)............................................ 59 Pure Commencement (technique)......................................................141
Nguzi’s Secret (technique)................................................................. 152 Pursuer’s Eye (discipline)..................................................................... 58
Nightlong Draught (discipline)........................................................... 64
Noble Seat (technique)...................................................................... 140 Q
No Chains (discipline)......................................................................... 60
Qualities.........................................................................................80–85
O Influence........................................................................................... 83
Managing........................................................................................ 85
Obligation is a Privilege (discipline)................................................... 46 Sovereignty...................................................................................... 84
Officer of the Crown (award)............................................................ 208 Subdivisions..................................................................................... 85
Omniscient Pursuit (discipline)........................................................... 58 Territory.....................................................................................83–84
One-Eyed (problem)............................................................................ 44 Queen (title)....................................................................................... 208
One-Roll Engine................................................................................... 7 Quickstep Grace (discipline)............................................................... 45
One-Roll Monsters.................................................................... 212–215 Quickstop (discipline)........................................................................ 169
One With the Land............................................................... 54–55, 170
Only Blood (discipline)........................................................................ 46 R
Opetkan Vanishing.............................................................................. 55
Orcish Death Chant (discipline)....................................................... 224 Rabbity (advantage)............................................................................. 42
Orcs............................................................................................ 223–224 Raider Reunion, the............................................................................ 79
Orc Ways........................................................................................... 224 Rain (discipline)................................................................................. 222
Our Foes Bury Themselves (discipline)............................................. 217 Rain of Blows (technique)................................................................. 146
Rapid Ascent (discipline)..................................................................... 57
P Rapid Mount (technique).................................................................. 140
Rattlesnake........................................................................................ 191
Painter of the Mind (discipline).......................................................... 50 Rattlesnake Venom............................................................................ 184
Palisade.............................................................................................. 158 Reaping Axe (technique)................................................................... 146
Parry (maneuver)............................................................................... 116 Rear Leg Trip (discipline)................................................................. 168
Parry (skill).................................................................................... 16, 35 Reckless Abandon (technique).......................................................... 137
Passion................................................................................................. 13 Reclaiming What Is Mine (discipline)............................................... 61
Passionate Assault (technique).......................................................... 137 Redirect (maneuver).......................................................................... 134
Passions................................................................................................ 22 Relentless Pursuit........................................................................ 58, 170
Path of the Moistened Eye.................................................................. 56 Relentless Ride (discipline)................................................................. 72
Path of the Razor Heart............................................................. 141–142 Reliving Sight (discipline)................................................................... 50
Path of the Serpent’s Fangs............................................................... 142 Repulsive to Animals (problem).......................................................... 44
Path of Twin Fury......................................................................142–143 Resounding Deflection (technique).................................................. 140
Patient Explanation (discipline).......................................................... 58 Respectful Clarity of Speech......................................................... 58–59
Patriotism (asset)............................................................................... 102 Restrain (maneuver)........................................................................... 128
Patron (advantage)............................................................................... 41 Restructuring and Retitling (discipline)............................................. 59
Payoff (asset)...................................................................................... 103 Retreat............................................................................................... 155
Peg Leg (problem)............................................................................... 44 Rhino................................................................................................. 192
Penalty........................................................................................... 10, 13 Ride (skill)......................................................................................17, 35
Perfect Way to Fall, the (discipline).................................................... 57 Rise in Stature (company action).................................................. 90–91
Perform _________ (skill)............................................................17, 19 River................................................................................................... 157
Perform (skill)...................................................................................... 35 Roloneepo...................................................................................143–144
Permanent Underclass (asset)............................................................ 103 Romantic Outlaw Charm (discipline)................................................. 62
Personal Loyalty (discipline)............................................................... 46 Roof Flight (discipline)..................................................................... 169
Personal Service................................................................................... 75 Root Intransigence (discipline)......................................................... 220
Pickpocket’s Failsafe.................................................................... 56, 169 Round.................................................................................................. 13
Pick Your Point (technique)............................................................... 145 Rules of Plunder (asset)..................................................................... 103
Pin (maneuver)................................................................................... 128 Runner’s Dare (discipline)................................................................. 168
Piranhas............................................................................................. 188 Run (skill).......................................................................................17, 35
Player Character.................................................................................. 13
Plead (skill).................................................................................... 20, 35 S
Poison......................................................................................... 183–184
Policing (company action)................................................................... 90 Sailor Foot (technique)...................................................................... 144
Political Whispers............................................................................... 57 Scar-Bound Discipline (discipline)................................................... 224
Pool...................................................................................................... 13 Scholarly Insight (discipline)............................................................... 45

Index 231
 Scholar’s Gaze (discipline)................................................................... 50 Spritely Knowledge (discipline)......................................................... 226
School of Perpetual Readiness, the....................................... 59–60, 170 Sprites........................................................................................ 225–226
Scrutinize (skill)............................................................................ 20, 36 Sprite Ways........................................................................................ 226
Second Need (discipline)..................................................................... 54 Squirrel Scramble (discipline)........................................................... 169
Second Set of Clues, the (discipline)................................................... 58 Squishing............................................................................................. 13
Secret (advantage)................................................................................ 42 Stabbing Serpent Tongue (technique)............................................... 146
Secret Block, the (technique).............................................................141 Stalker Foot (discipline)...................................................................... 45
Seize................................................................................................... 155 Stand (maneuver)............................................................................... 129
Sense.................................................................................................... 15 Stare Not at the Sun (discipline)....................................................... 225
Set........................................................................................................ 13 Starvation........................................................................................... 186
Set a Good Example (discipline)......................................................... 59 Stat....................................................................................................... 13
Shadow Foot (discipline)..................................................................... 55 Stats...................................................................................................... 15
Shadow Ignored (discipline).............................................................. 169 Improving........................................................................................ 38
Shadow of Giants, the (discipline)...................................................... 51 Status (advantage)................................................................................ 42
Shadows, Haze, and Undergrowth (discipline).................................. 48 Steady Shaft (technique).................................................................... 145
Shaking Out the Poison (discipline)................................................... 63 Stealth (skill)...................................................................................17, 36
Share the Final Breath (technique)................................................... 138 Stick and Handle (technique).............................................................141
Shark.................................................................................................. 192 Stinging Insects................................................................................. 188
Shattering Charge (technique).......................................................... 140 Stirring the Mud (discipline)............................................................. 223
Sheltering Embrace (discipline).......................................................... 54 Stoke the Fire (discipline).................................................................... 61
Shield from the Light-Bearers (discipline).......................................... 60 Stonefelling Hymn (discipline)......................................................... 224
Shield Riving (technique).................................................................. 136 Storm, the...................................................................................195–198
Shields.................................................................................................114 Spotting.......................................................................................... 196
Ships................................................................................... 193–194, 200 Stormtongues..................................................................................... 197
Crew.............................................................................................. 194 Straighten the Bones (discipline)........................................................ 63
Fixing............................................................................................200 Straight Plunge (discipline)............................................................... 169
Locations................................................................................ 193–194 Strangle (maneuver)........................................................................... 133
Sinking...........................................................................................200 Strategic Adaptation (discipline)......................................................... 61
Shipshape Navy (asset)...................................................................... 101 Strategic Education............................................................................. 61
Shout of Doom (discipline)................................................................. 63 Strategic Priorities (discipline)............................................................ 61
Shove (maneuver)............................................................................... 128 Strategy (skill)................................................................................ 18, 37
Sight (skill)..................................................................................... 20, 36 Strength of Madness, the (technique)............................................... 137
Sincere Apologies (discipline)............................................................. 59 Strength of the Stallion (technique).................................................. 140
Single Intent (technique)....................................................................141 Stretch of the Wakening Cat (discipline)............................................ 58
Sinister Operatives (asset)................................................................. 101 Strong Medicine (discipline)............................................................... 63
Skill...................................................................................................... 13 Structure of Curiosity (discipline)....................................................... 44
Skills............................................................................ 15, 15–20, 31–37 Student of _________ (skill)....................................................... 18, 37
Body........................................................................................... 16–17 Stupidly Forgiving (problem).............................................................. 44
Charm.............................................................................................. 20 Submission Hold (maneuver)............................................................ 135
Command......................................................................................... 19 Submit and Kneel (technique)............................................................141
Coordination...............................................................................17–18 Subtle Beauty (advantage)................................................................... 42
Improving........................................................................................ 38 Superior From Beneath (technique)...................................................141
Knowledge.................................................................................. 18–19 Superior Interception, the (technique).............................................. 140
Sense..........................................................................................19–20 Supple Power (discipline).................................................................... 58
Slam (maneuver)................................................................................ 132 Surely I Jest (discipline)....................................................................... 53
Slow...................................................................................................... 13 Suuldru Battle (discipline)................................................................... 61
Small Horizon (asset)........................................................................ 101 Suuldru Friend (discipline).................................................................. 61
Smelling the Loser’s Sweat (discipline)............................................... 72 Suuldru Mount.................................................................................... 61
Snake and Grouse Technique (technique).........................................147 Svrana Run............................................................................ 61–62, 170
Soldier’s Slumber (advantage).............................................................. 42 Sweeping Slash (technique)............................................................... 146
Soul Armor.......................................................................................... 60 Swift................................................................................................... 159
Soul Sever (technique)....................................................................... 142
Speak to Me, Silent Brother (discipline)........................................... 224 T
Spearman Squad.........................................................................145–146
Speed Well, Deadly Gift (technique)................................................ 138 Tackle (maneuver).............................................................................. 129
Spellbinding Discourse (discipline).................................................... 57 Tactics (skill)...................................................................................19, 37
Spells...........................................................................................178–182 Taste of My Tears, the (discipline)...................................................... 62
Balancing....................................................................................... 178 Technique Without Inspiration (discipline)........................................ 49
Direct Damage............................................................................... 180 Technique Without Thought (discipline)............................................ 49
Duration........................................................................................ 180 Tend Your Tools (discipline).............................................................. 217
Effect...................................................................................... 179–180 Terror................................................................................................. 159
Extras............................................................................................ 181 That Reminds Me of a Story… (discipline)......................................... 57
Flaws............................................................................................. 181 The Blessings of Ciovla........................................................................ 46
Followers........................................................................................ 180 Their Every Move Presents a Target (technique).............................. 152
Group Damage............................................................................... 180 There Is No (technique)..................................................................... 138
Intensity......................................................................................... 178 The School of the Insouciant Monkey.............................................. 145
Skill Effects..................................................................................... 180 The Way Goblins Do Things............................................................. 222
Target......................................................................................178–179 Thick Headed (advantage)................................................................... 42
Spider Kick (technique)..................................................................... 144 Think Not, Obey! (discipline).............................................................. 63
Spiritual Escutcheon........................................................................... 60 Thread the Needle (discipline).......................................................... 226
Spring Uncoils, the (technique)..........................................................147 Threat..........................................................................................118–119

232 Index
Threaten (maneuver).......................................................................... 129 Victory From Beneath (discipline)...................................................... 61
Thunder Fist (technique)................................................................... 146 Vigor (skill).....................................................................................17, 37
Thunder Fist Techniques................................................................... 146 Viper................................................................................................... 192
Tightening Coils (technique)............................................................ 152 Viper Toxin........................................................................................ 184
Timed Incentive (discipline)................................................................ 51 Visage of Terror (discipline)................................................................ 63
Timely Confession (discipline)............................................................ 57
Tireless Step (discipline)...................................................................... 62 W
Tireless Tracking (discipline).............................................................. 58
Titled Nobility...........................................................................206–208 Wait (maneuver)................................................................................ 129
To Eye With Arrowhead (discipline)................................................ 219 Watch the Step (technique)............................................................... 144
Trainability........................................................................................ 187 Water Fractures Light (discipline).................................................... 222
Train and Levy Troops (company action)........................................... 91 Water Rusts Iron (discipline)............................................................. 222
Tranquil Presence (advantage)............................................................ 42 Water Seeks the Lowest point (discipline).......................................... 51
Transportation..................................................................................... 75 Water Warps Wood (discipline)........................................................ 222
Travel From Beneath (discipline)........................................................ 61 Water Wears Down Stone (discipline).............................................. 222
Treasure......................................................................................... 82–83 Wealth........................................................................................... 21–22
Trick of the Light (discipline)........................................................... 225 Weapon Adoration (discipline)......................................................... 217
Tricks................................................................................................. 187 Weapons...............................................................................75, 114–115
Trip (maneuver)................................................................................. 133 Weapon Skill _________ (skill)........................................................ 17
Troubadour’s Fortune.................................................................... 62–63 Weapon Skill (skill)............................................................................. 37
Truil Bodywork................................................................................... 63 Weather Limb (advantage).................................................................. 43
Tunnel Stuffing (discipline)............................................................... 217 Weaving Dodge (technique).............................................................. 142
Twirl, the (technique).........................................................................141 Wedding of Wrath (technique)......................................................... 143
Two Deaths (technique).................................................................... 138 Whale Blessed (advantage).................................................................. 43
Tyrant’s Command, the.................................................................63–64 What the Crowd Wants (discipline)................................................. 221
Whelm And Destroy (discipline)........................................................ 61
U Whirlpool Lure (discipline)................................................................. 54
Wide-Scope Imploring (discipline)..................................................... 56
Unbalanced Economy (asset)............................................................. 103 Wide-Stride Kick (discipline)........................................................... 219
Unblinking Eye, the (technique)....................................................... 138 Width................................................................................................7, 13
Unbruising Flesh (discipline).............................................................. 60 Winnowing Axe, the......................................................................... 146
Unconscious....................................................................................... 115 With the Wind (discipline)................................................................. 62
Unconventional Strategies (advantage).......................................................42 Wolf........................................................................................... 188–189
Unconventional Warfare (company action).................................. 91–92 Wolf Pack.......................................................................................... 188
Unexpected Deliverance (asset)......................................................... 102 Woodwise...................................................................................218–219
Unorthodox Healing (advantage)........................................................ 42 Woolly Mammoth............................................................................. 190
Unpredicted Flight (technique)......................................................... 152 Words Fail, My Beloved (discipline)................................................... 62
Unsurpassed Fleetness (discipline)...................................................... 62 Words of Iron (discipline).................................................................... 51
Unsurpassed Guardian (discipline)..................................................... 46
Unveil Like a Lover (discipline).......................................................... 55 X
Unwholesome (problem)...................................................................... 44
Unworthy Opponents.................................................................118–121 XP.................................................................................................. 38–39
Unyielding Vigor (discipline).............................................................. 49 Burning............................................................................................ 39
Up is Down (discipline)..................................................................... 169 Carousing for.................................................................................... 39
Ussient Herbalism............................................................................... 64 Earning............................................................................................ 38
Utmost Stillness (discipline)................................................................ 46 Spending....................................................................................38–39

V Y
Vehicles................................................................................................ 75 Yielding Way, the.......................................................................146–147
Venom Blade (technique)................................................................... 142
Victorious Submission (technique).....................................................147

Index 233
 PLAYER

CHARACTER NAME

COMPANY

CHARACTER MISSION DUTY CRAVING

RECORD SHEET
BODY CHARM COMMAND ADVANTAGES
❍❍❍❍❍❍ ❍❍❍❍❍❍ ❍❍❍❍❍❍
ATHLETICS E M FASCINATE E M HAGGLE E M
❐❐❐❐❐❐ ❍ ❍ ❐❐❐❐❐❐ ❍ ❍ ❏❏❏❏❏❏ ❍ ❍
ENDURANCE E M GRACES E M INSPIRE E M
❐❐❐❐❐❐ ❍ ❍ ❐❐❐❐❐❐ ❍ ❍ ❏❏❏❏❏❏ ❍ ❍
FIGHT E M JEST E M JEST E M
❐❐❐❐❐❐ ❍ ❍ ❐❐❐❐❐❐ ❍ ❍ ❐❐❐❐❐❐ ❍ ❍

Permission is granted to reproduce this page for personal use only.

PARRY E M PARRY E M PERFORM:
❐❐❐❐❐❐ ❍ ❍ ❐❐❐❐❐❐ ❍ ❍
RUN E M LIE E M ____________ E M
❐❐❐❐❐❐ ❍ ❍ ❐❐❐❐❐❐ ❍ ❍ ❐❐❐❐❐❐ ❍ ❍
THROW E M PLEAD E M ____________ E M
❐❐❐❐❐❐ ❍ ❍ ❐❐❐❐❐❐ ❍ ❍ ❐❐❐❐❐❐ ❍ ❍
VIGOR E M ____________ E M ____________ E M
❐❐❐❐❐❐ ❍ ❍ ❐❐❐❐❐❐ ❍ ❍ ❐❐❐❐❐❐ ❍ ❍
____________ E M ____________ E M ____________ E M
❐❐❐❐❐❐ ❍ ❍ ❐❐❐❐❐❐ ❍ ❍ ❐❐❐❐❐❐ ❍ ❍
____________ E M ____________ E M ____________ E M
❐❐❐❐❐❐ ❍ ❍ ❐❐❐❐❐❐ ❍ ❍ ❐❐❐❐❐❐ ❍ ❍
KNOWLEDGE COORDINATE SENSE
❍❍❍❍❍❍ ❍❍❍❍❍❍ ❍❍❍❍❍❍
COUNTERSPELL E M DODGE HEARING E M
❐❐❐❐❐❐ ❍ ❍ ❐❐❐❐❐❐ ❍ ❍ ❐❐❐❐❐❐ ❍ ❍
HEALING E M CLIMB SIGHT E M
❐❐❐❐❐❐ ❍ ❍ ❐❐❐❐❐❐ ❍ ❍ ❐❐❐❐❐❐ ❍ ❍
LORE E M RIDE DIRECTION E M
❐❐❐❐❐❐ ❍ ❍ ❐❐❐❐❐❐ ❍ ❍ ❐❐❐❐❐❐ ❍ ❍
TACTICS E M STEALTH EERIE E M
❐❐❐❐❐❐ ❍ ❍ ❐❐❐❐❐❐ ❍ ❍ ❐❐❐❐❐❐ ❍ ❍ PROBLEMS
LANGUAGE (NATIVE) E M WEAPON SKILL: TASTE, TOUCH
❐❐❐❐❐❐ ❍ ❍ & SMELL E M
STUDENT OF: ____________ E M ❐❐❐❐❐❐ ❍ ❍
❐❐❐❐❐❐ ❍ ❍
____________ E M ____________ E M WEALTH
❐❐❐❐❐❐ ❍ ❍ ❐❐❐❐❐❐ ❍ ❍
____________ E M ____________ E M
❐❐❐❐❐❐ ❍ ❍ ❐❐❐❐❐❐ ❍ ❍
____________ E M ____________ E M
❐❐❐❐❐❐ ❍ ❍ ❐❐❐❐❐❐ ❍ ❍
 WOUNDS & ARMOR
10
WEAPONS CARRIED
7-9 MELEE WEAPON DAMAGE ATTACK POOL NOTES

5-6 3-4

2
1

RANGED WEAPON DAMAGE ATTACK POOL RANGE NOTES

ARMOR RATING
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LOCATIONS COVERED
PARRY DODGE

PREFERRED MOVES
MOVE NAME POOL PAGE EFFECT MOVE NAME POOL PAGE EFFECT

MARTIAL TECHNIQUES
TECHNIQUE NAME PATH POOL PAGE EFFECT
ESOTERIC DISCIPLINES
DISCIPLINE NAME RANK PAGE EFFECT

SORCERY SPELLS

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❍❍❍❍❍❍
SPELL NAME POOL INTENSITY PAGE EFFECT
BODY E M
❐❐❐❐❐❐ ❍ ❍
COORDINATION E M
❐❐❐❐❐❐ ❍ ❍
SENSE E M
❐❐❐❐❐❐ ❍ ❍
KNOWLEDGE E M
❐❐❐❐❐❐ ❍ ❍
COMMAND E M
❐❐❐❐❐❐ ❍ ❍
CHARM E M
❐❐❐❐❐❐ ❍ ❍

ATTUNEMENT EFFECTS
 DESCRIPTION PORTRAIT

PERSONAL HISTORY
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GRUDGES & ENEMIES DIRTY SECRETS (OWN & OTHERS)

GEAR CARRIED OTHER PROPERTY

FOLLWERS
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T he Reign roleplaying game expands the frontiers of fantasy gaming by elevating the action to an
international stage. Monarchs and mercenaries gamble armies and fortunes to win nations in a
rich and vibrant fantasy setting. Reign’s simple but complete rules model the triumphs and disasters
of societies as small as a village or as large as a realm-spanning religion. With Reign, your characters
can defend and bring prosperity to threatened lands–or, if you prefer, conquer and pillage on a vast
and awesome scale. This Second Edition of Greg Stolze’s game of lords and leaders is built from the
start to put the characters in charge of nations, churches, cults, and criminal mobs. You aren’t just
doing the King’s tasks—you can be the King doing the tasks. You become the movers and shakers in
the setting, or fail due to your own glorious hubris.

ONE ROLL DOES IT ALL

Powered by the One Roll Engine (or ORE) popularized by games like Godlike, Nemesis, and Wild
Talents, Reign can take your characters from beggars to emperors. A throw of the dice tells you not just
whether you succeeded but how much and how you did it, or it can tell you not only your character’s
stats, traits, and skills, but how and why they developed those strengths and weaknesses. If you’re
already a fan of the ORE, Reign is familiar (though with a few interesting refinements). If it’s new to
you, the ORE resolves events in delicate detail without cumbersome layers of contingent rolls.

REVISED AND EXPANDED

Reign Second Edition completely reorganizes the Reign rules for easier references and better clarity,
offering loads of options that let you mechanize what you want to emphasize–whether that’s sailcraft,
chase scenes, or duels of manners. Rules for making your own esoteric disciplines, a fluid hand-to-
hand combat system, systems for ordering your minions into glorious war, and even methods for
navigating the stormy seas await you within these pages.

THE PERSONAL AND THE POLITICAL

Reign’s group-resolution rules are self-contained and easily stacked on top of any other roleplaying
system. Want a concrete way to model what happens to the city when your superheroes destroy the
Cult of Moloch Triumphant? Use Reign to stat up the city and the cult. Ever wonder who’d win
if two rival government conspiracies went head to head? Reign lets you measure their weaknesses
and strengths then test them against one another. Fantasy kingdoms, cosmic empires, and secretive
cabals can all be easily managed and modeled with Reign.
The companion volumes Reign: Realms and Reign: Realities offer fully developed worlds for use with
Reign but are not necessary for play.

Atomic Overmind Press

143 Wesmond Dr.
Alexandria, VA 22305
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