Basically

Fantastic
A Fantasy Role Playing Game

By Andrew Shields
Draft 1, 4.21.19

PLAYER TEST BOOK

 Players. A DM and at least 2 players for best results (though playing with 1
DM and 1 player is possible.)
 Dice. Everyone needs at least 2-3 d10, one of which looks different.
 The Bowl. Where everyone can reach it.
 Awesome Points. These can be poker chips, d6s, or other tokens. At least 15
per player.
 Templates. Have a copy of all available templates (if starting fresh) or all
players should have a template for their existing characters.
 Character Sheets. Everyone gets one. Maybe have some extras on hand.

Optional Equipment
 Quick Reference. Everyone should be able to refer to the order of combat and
basic rules.
 Dry Erase Board (and marker and eraser). It’s a quick and simple way to
sketch out arenas and keep track of where people and objects are, as well as
tracking where characters are in the combat round and other details the DM
may wish to note.

Intended Play Style

Fictive Hack is designed to be low-prep, improvisational, reactive, cinematic, and
fast-paced. Character advancement is based on the kind of game the players and
DM want, and how they reward each other for playing in that style. (The game can
be silly and over-the-top, focused on tactics, serious with emphasis on character
development, etc.) Decide what is awesome, and that decision drives the game. A
few interlocked systems (Awesome Point economy, weapons and arenas, armor,
inherent abilities and talents) express a wide variety of action.

Why Play This Game?

 This game is built on a permissive, easily improvised mindset. It is fun.
 Preparation can be very fast, even improvisational. A few flexible rule sets
accommodate a wide variety of exciting action scenes and social interactions.
Allies, foes, and monsters can be swiftly developed and dropped into play.
 Skills, feats, magic, and abilities combine under the “talent” umbrella to create
a consistent but flexible system, integrated with the Awesome Point economy.
 The Awesome Point economy (points awarded from the DM and also shared
among players) encourages camaraderie and fun. It substitutes for many
complex mini-systems by charging Awesome Points to adjust outcomes.
 Codification of weapon types combines with the “arena” concept to create
simple tactical variety that encourages movement and swashbuckling.
 Characters advance quickly, they are customizable. Character advancement ties
into the Awesome Point economy, players drive the leveling process.

1d5. Sometimes the rules call for “1d5.” To get that result, roll 1d10 and divide by
2, rounding up. 1: 1-2. 2: 3-4. 3: 5-6. 4: 7-8. 5: 9-10.

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 Table of Contents
Arenas 4
Rapid Random Battlefields 5 Templates
Awesome Point Economy 6  Cleric of the Saints 34
Combat 10  Dwarf 35
 Combat Round 10  Elf 36
 Melee Weapons 11  Fighter 37
 Ranged Weapons 12  Halfling 38
 Armor 12  Wizard 39
 Wounds and Recovery 12  Thief 40
 Crippling 13
Alcohol 14 Warpriest Canticles 41
Encumbrance 15 Arnaxian Grimoire 42
Between Sessions 15
Everybody Else 17 Gods of Halemetria 46
Basic Systems for Tasks 19
 Physical Tasks 19 Character Advancement 48
 Social Tasks 20 Description of Talents 49
Morale 21 Improved Talents 51
Stealth Guidance 22 Open Talents 52
Evasion and Pursuit 23 Restricted Talents 54
Horses 25 Racial Talents 60
Beasts of Burden 27 Occupational Talents 63
Hirelings 29 Master Talents 65
Character Generation 31
 Languages 31 Reference 70
 Motives 32
 Character Record 33

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 Arenas
An arena is a place you might fight in that’s different from the places around it.
Characters can move around and maneuver within their arena without taking actions
to do it. A move action transfers a character from one arena to another adjacent arena.

In play, this usually looks like a bunch of ovals, squares, L-shapes, and triangles that
touch each other, ideally with some scribbled in scenery or an explanation to
understand what is in each arena.

Having a variety of arenas means players can move their characters to places where
they get an advantage from their weapon type, and variety helps combat be more
cinematic and dynamic than standing toe to toe and wearing each other down.

Arena Favored Weapon

Descriptions of Examples
Type Type
Tight Narrow halls, stairs, balconies, alleys, tunnels Light is +2 to hit
Hazardous Rooftops, slick rocks, rope bridges, swamps Reach is +2 to hit
Open Courtyards, water, gladiatorial arenas, fields Range is +2 if
target in open
Dense Shops, thick forest, ship deck, crowd, hayloft Heavy is +2 to hit
Neutral Not one of the others. None
An arena tends to be 15-20 vertical feet. On a cliff face, in the water, or with aerial
combat, that’s a guideline. Some monsters have an arena on their back and head!

If you want to do something cool, suggest arena possibilities next to the arenas the
DM notes.
 Example: a character in a marketplace is faced with a dense street and tight
alleyways as the guards close in. Her player asks if she can treat the awnings of
the shops as a hazardous arena to get up to the rooftops, which are open. The
DM may draw it in!

Arenas can change mid-fight. If you are in a hayloft and the barn catches fire, you
may go from a dense arena to a hazardous arena. If you’re in a crowd and they
scatter, the arena goes from dense to neutral, then maybe a round later to open.
Boundaries of arenas can change as the fighting space changes.

The size of arenas varies dramatically. If you’re in a house, arenas will be very
small; if you are riding horses out on the plains, they’ll be very big.

There are some circumstances that come up often, so here are some typical
arrangements.

 Roads. Road arenas tend to be narrow (but include the shoulder) and 2 or 3
arenas long for the purposes of the encounter. They are open unless there is
traffic, then they can be any arena type.
 Walls. If you can go over it or fight on it, the wall is hazardous. If the walls
hem you in, the arena is tight. If the walls mean you can’t go that way, the wall
is impassible (and not an arena). If the wall seems flimsy, you can try to break
it; if you do, the DM will tell you whether the rubble-strewn hole area is dense,
tight, or hazardous!
 Weather. Rain, mud, snow and ice tend to shift terrain to hazardous.
 Woods. Brush and saplings are likely to be dense, stands of trees close together
or with low branches tend to be tight, and old growth big forests with space
between trunks may be neutral.

Rapid Random Battlefields

Here is a method for quick generation of a more interesting scene of battle.

Plan to make your field of battle about 9 arenas (3 arenas across, three arenas
down), with the characters in the center arena. Assume surroundings default to open
(unless there are other clear circumstances, of course.)

Set a default: probably open. Then roll 3d5 to see what is 1. Open.
nearby that is of interest. 2. Dense.
3. Tight.
Note the three other types besides your center arena to 4. Hazardous.
include, and then quickly draw the battle field. 5. Inaccessible.

 Do not draw a grid with 9 squares, but instead keep that grid in mind as you
add in arenas.
 They can be bigger or smaller, longer or wider, even curved or other shapes.
 If two or three arenas next to each other seem to be one piece, make them all
one arena.
 Scale it in your mind. Arenas can be any size. In close quarters like alleyways
or shops, maybe lots of little arenas; if they are riding horses out on the plains,
big arenas!
 This process is to inspire you, you are not accountable to it.

Description adds excitement. Once you’ve got your arenas, tell them what is there,
based on the surroundings. In the woods, a dense arena is probably underbrush. In a
slum, a dense arena might be a crowd of people around a performer, or a clutch of
street vendors. On the beach, it could be a stand of bamboo. Try to describe
something fun to interact with.

Stay flexible. That dense arena that is a crowd could scatter, making the arenas
around it neutral instead of open. Fighters could leap up on the roof of the market
stalls, creating a hazardous arena. Traffic could jam, creating an impassible or
hazardous arena. This is not only okay, it’s a feature of the system; encourage it! Do
it yourself sometimes! Remind them they are in a dynamic world. Reward
creativity.
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 Awesome Point Economy
What is it? The Awesome Point “economy” is not about math. It is about rhythm,
direction, and style. When lots of Awesome Points are being earned, awarded, and
spent, a lot of awesome stuff is happening. If activity slows down, players forget
about the Bowl, and Awesome Points are not awarded (or not spent) for a while.
Those are signs that things may not be awesome enough.

What do we use to represent Awesome Points? Awesome Points are generally poker
chips or d6 dice, or some other plentiful token durable enough to withstand
enthusiastic play.

Where are the Awesome Points at the beginning of the game? The DM puts the
Bowl out where everyone can reach it, and generally there’s at least 5 Awesome
Points per player in the Bowl to start with. The rest of the Awesome Points are in
the Stack, the Awesome Points controlled directly by the DM and used to refill the
Bowl or reward individual players. If these characters have been played before, they
may have Awesome Points left over from last time the DM will give the players at
the beginning of the session.

How are Awesome Points distributed? Players can give each other Awesome Points
out of the Bowl, but only the DM can put more Awesome Points in the Bowl.
Players cannot give each other Awesome Points out of their own piles, only from
the Bowl. Players cannot take Awesome Points from the Bowl for themselves, they
can only give points to each other. Players get Awesome Points for doing awesome
things.

What counts as “doing awesome things”? The question is not “What is awesome?”
The question is, “What does your game group think is awesome?” Awesome Points
focus in with laser-like intensity on what is fun about role playing your game
around your table. You like movie quotes during the game? Award each other
Awesome Points for whipping out a good one. Want comedy? Award points for
laughs. You want to play a serious Gothic game? Award each other Awesome
Points for hitting highlights of the genre and getting into character, allowing
characters to be scared by spooky, unsettling elements. Playing a mystery? Share
Awesome Points around for having creative ideas, finding clues, and making
deductive leaps. Mix and match all you want; whatever is awesome and enjoyable at
the table should be rewarded by Awesome Points.

This game runs best in an atmosphere of delight and gratitude. Cool stuff is
happening! Reward the people who are part of it! Don’t forget about the Bowl.
Hand those points out to your fellow players. If somebody is giving you points,
don’t forget to keep an eye out for what they’re doing that’s awesome too. Got a
quiet player? Go out of your way to figure out how to explain why you’re giving
them Awesome Points.

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If a character concept makes you laugh, or somebody is brave and plays with an
accent, or they make a character based on some fiction you like, or maybe players
get you a drink while they are up—give out an Awesome Point. This builds the
sense of camaraderie and “team” and fun at the table.

Why not just empty the Bowl between the players every time the DM tosses points
in? Well, the Bowl is how you reinforce play style at the table, rewarding good
behavior and those who bring fun to the game. Give that away and the points
become tasteless mechanical game benefits.

Stop and think about why you are playing. To have fun with your friends. To
achieve goals in a fictional setting. To play as someone not yourself for a while. To
give an awesome character concept a spin. There are lots of reasons. Giving
Awesome Points is a way to say “thanks” or acknowledge a great moment or help
the group achieve goals. There are no rules to prevent abuse of handing out
Awesome Points, but if abuse becomes a problem, there’s probably a different game
out there the group would enjoy more.

Refilling the Bowl. There are a number of ways the DM can refill the Bowl with
Awesome Points for the players to share with each other. Ideally, there are always
some points in the Bowl, so when something awesome happens the players can
celebrate. Good players will be handing out those Awesome Points all the time, so
how does a DM get more in the Bowl?

 Progress! The DM may choose to put Awesome Points in the bowl at the
conclusion of an encounter.
 Evil Chuckle. Any time the DM chuckles evilly, or laughs maniacally, or any
other variation on the theme, the DM must feed the bowl a handful of
Awesome Points. (This is always available, and always entertaining, so use it!
You can choose whether or not to chip in when an NPC laughs—the more it
annoys the PCs, the more likely it is you should chip in.)
 Monster Talents. When monsters use talents, it’s good form to pay for those
talents by putting Awesome Points in the Bowl. Many monster talents note they
have a cost. If they do not have a cost, you don’t need to feed the Bowl.
 Pride. You like how your players and their characters are handling things, you
think they’re cool, and you want them to know it. Toss in a handful of
Awesome Points!
 Picking on Characters. When a target is hit and you spend 2 Awesome Points
for an NPC to ignore 1 Wound, one of those goes to the player whose character
was “cheated” and the other goes to the Bowl. Same when the NPC inflicts an
extra Wound. And if you are pulling some rude move in the game (like having
a character lock himself out of his house) that’s worth a sympathy point or two.
 Out-of-Game Contributions. Want to reward a player for bringing snacks, or
keeping the party’s map up, or doing play reports, or whatever? Give the player
Awesome Points that the character can start with next session.

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Now that players have Awesome Points, how do they spend them? Here are basic
uses.

Spending Awesome Points (Always a free action)

1  Add +2 to any attribute roll. (Spend up to 3 per roll.)
 Use a per-arena talent again in the same arena.
 Flexibility. Change what you want to do in the round. This cannot
allow you to act in a phase that is over, or to change your mind if
you have already rolled dice on an action in the current round.
2  Do +1 Wound after a successful attack. (But only one per attack.)
 Ignore 1 incoming Wound. (But only one per attack.)
 Recharge a rested Talent outside combat.
 Smite Fleeing Foes. Hit a foe who was in melee with you, but flees
before the attack phase.
3  Use a talent you don’t have, from your base template.
 Recharge and use a rested talent during combat.
 No Help to Hit. Awesome Points cannot be spent to boost the to-hit roll (unless
you are a Fighter.)
 Boosting. You can spend up to 3 Awesome Points to boost an attribute roll—to
the point where it is successful, and not beyond. (You can’t spend more points
just to level faster.)
 Entitlement. If a player should get Awesome Points for something (from a
talent), it is the player’s responsibility to remind the DM. If the player does not
remind the DM in a timely fashion, it is up to the DM whether or not to
reimburse the player.

A Note on Leveling. Players can ask for lots of rolls (so they can spend Awesome
Points boosting them) and shop for things they don’t need using Awesome Points.
There are lots of ways to finagle spending more Awesome Points to level faster.
Sometimes this is fun and helpful. Sometimes it is not. Managing borderline cases
of spending Awesome Points just to level is the shared responsibility of the DM and
the players. The point is to have fun, not to wring character power out of the system
as quickly as possible.

DM Spending Awesome Points

 Spend 2 to reduce 1 Wound done to an NPC, or to increase an NPC’s damage
by 1. Half this cost goes to the bowl, the other half to the player character who
is directly affected.
 Sending in reinforcements that weren’t planned? Upgrading a minion to a guard
suddenly? Adding a talent to a bad guy? Whisking the main enemy away before
the heroes finish her off? All these things are things you can pay Awesome
Points for, usually right to the Bowl.
 Attribute bidding war with PCs! They make a roll, you make it more difficult or
have an NPC resist them with Awesome Points matching their own

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 contribution, if you want to drive up the Awesome Point price or even make a
target immune to their attempt.
 Many monster talents require Awesome Points to go to the bowl if they are
used.

Bribery. If a player wants a degree of narrative control, the player can offer the DM
a bribe of Awesome Points. If a PC wants to have an item that they could find or
have on their person or in the area, or if the PC wants to create a new arena adjacent
to existing arenas, or catch a lucky break by finding a friend, or noticing a door out
of the blind alley, or whatever, the player can offer the DM Awesome Points.

The DM has the Stack, and all spent Awesome Points go to it, and the DM doesn’t
need the player’s Awesome Points. How is this bribe effective? What do the points
represent that the DM wants? Why would the DM agree to let the player’s
suggestion happen in the game?

1. Players come up with fun suggestions.

2. Players have a higher sense of buy-in to the world if they feel it is responsive to
their desires.
3. Players may have too many Awesome Points; lightening the load makes them
more vulnerable.
4. Players sometimes want to spend Awesome Points to get closer to leveling.
5. Players don’t often see all the consequences of what they are asking for.
6. This game is about having fun, not reinforcing the utter realism of the game. If
it makes a player happy to have something at hand or to meet a friend,
especially if it leads to better character development or advancing the plot
usefully, don’t stand in the way.

Still, the DM has to agree to the request; it cannot be a demand. The DM is

responsible for setting the tone of the game, and its challenge level. Player
characters are cocky enough. If they face a werewolf and all of them reach into their
socks and pull out silver daggers out of nowhere, or they go into an ancient castle
and find the front door key under the doormat, that can ruin some of the challenge
and fun of the game. If players get spoiled by getting everything they want, they’re
likely to be bored, and to pout when they get a “no.” That is NOT awesome.

Just One Player. Give 3 starting Awesome Points for taking an adventuring motive.
Give more for character sketches, back story, bringing snacks, or whatever effort
went into preparing. During play, any time the DM would normally put points in the
Bowl, the DM gives points to the player. This is not as fun as having a group giving
each other Awesome Points, but it allows for solo missions.

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 Combat
Combat has 6 phases to each round, and those parts are resolved in order. The DM
assigns the NPCs to the parts where they will act, then the players say what their
characters will do. Then, resolve the situation one phase at a time. Combat should
be fast, cinematic, and awesome. It is a free action to move within an arena, and to
draw or sheathe a weapon (but it costs a move action to do both in one round).

Initiative

Initiative is only needed when multiple characters want to act in the same phase of
the combat round. Every party rolls 1d10, highest roll goes first, and on through
descending order. Those who are tied go simultaneously or dice it off again, DM
choice.

 The DM always declares what the NPCs will do before the PCs decide what
they will do. This may be a description of their plan, or just noting what part of
the round they’ll use (shoot, move, attack, etc.)
o For example, a DM may tell players an NPC will defend or protect,
but not say which, or who may be defended. Or the DM can share that
information. It depends on how clearly the DM thinks the NPC is
telegraphing the action.
o If this inconveniences players to the point where they complain, the
DM may put Awesome Points in the bowl to pay for secrecy.
 It is helpful to put 1-6 down the side of the dry erase board and mark in when
everyone will act. Start by putting in the NPCs, then put in the PCs.

Combat Round
Choose one. Actions resolve in the order listed.

1. Defend or Protect. Both can counter-attack those that successfully hit you
in melee combat.
Counter Attacking Minions. When a group of minions attack, they roll
once to attack so the defender can roll once to counter-attack—not once
for each minion in the group.
 Defend: Foes are -2 to hit you. (-4 with a shield.)
 Protect: Attacks in this round that target a chosen friend in your arena
attack you instead.
2. Ranged Attack. Use a ranged weapon to attack someone in your arena or an
adjacent arena. Can hold and aim to shoot later in the round, and most
weapons can shoot further with a focus action.
3. Focus or Impede. Actions that take longer to manage.
 Focus: Announce what you are starting to do for a focus action; if
unharmed by 6, it happens.

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  Impede. Prevent someone from leaving the arena you are both in. Test
your Brawn, Cunning, or Daring against their Brawn, Cunning, or
Daring. (Both sides choose which attribute they’ll use.)
4. Move or Push. Control the movement of yourself or others.
 Move. Move from the arena you are in to an adjacent arena.
 If someone Impeded you, attack them; if you inflict a Wound,
you can move normally.
 Push. Move one or more opponents to an adjacent arena. Use your
Brawn, Cunning, or Daring, against their Brawn, Cunning, or Daring.
Each target after the first reduces your roll by 1. Those you beat are
hurled out of the arena.
5. Attack or Assist. Attack anyone in your arena.
 Attack. Roll to hit, using any applicable talents or weapon bonuses.
 Assist. Add 1d10 to the dice rolled by an ally in melee range; the ally
keeps the top 2 rolls, so you are contributing as though you were a
minion. You cannot use talents or weapon bonuses to help.
 To shift your action to attack independently or protect your ally
from another attack, spend 1 Awesome Point.
6. Focused Events. Focused actions go off if the focuser is still undamaged. A
successfully impeded target is Cornered and cannot move next round either.

Face Dice. One of the dice rolled to hit is the “face die” and if it comes up a 10 and
the character also hits, then the attack does +1 Wound. (This may or may not be a
hit to the face, it could be any kind of effective blow.)

Melee Weapons
+2 to hit
Type DMG Description
in Arena
Light 1 1d10 to hit, add Brawn, Cunning, or Daring. Tight
Hand 1 To hit, roll 3d10 instead of 2d10, ignore lowest.
Reach 1 2d10. Impeding or resisting impeding at +2. Hazardous
Ranged 1 Attack earlier, and adjacent arenas also. (target in) Open
Heavy 2 2d10. Big, so they do more damage. Dense
V. Heavy 3 2d10. Huge, no shield, ignore the first Wound armor soaks.
Unarmed 1d10 to hit, + Brawn, Cunning, or Daring, 0 Wounds, only KO target.

Parrying Weapon. A light weapon or hand weapon used with a light weapon, hand
weapon, or reach weapon. Can use a parrying weapon with a heavy weapon (with
Brawn 5+). One fewer 1d10 rolled to hit. (Light weapon just gets attribute bonus as
the to-hit total, hand weapon rolls 2d10 instead of 3d10. Reach and heavy weapons
roll 1d10 to hit.) Once a round, get one advantage:
 +2 to hit. Incoming attack -2 to hit. Inflict +1 Wound. Decide after seeing rolls
but before their effects are applied.

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Shield. Use with hand or reach weapon. Can use with a heavy weapon (with Brawn
5+). One die fewer rolled to hit. Ignore 1 Wound per incoming attack. Or, sacrifice
shield to ignore all but 1 Wound from an attack. Heavy shield can do that twice.

Ranged Weapons All are +2 to hit targets in an open arena.

Type DMG Description Reload
Light 1 Sling, knife, dart. 1d10 + Brawn, Cunning, or 1 action
Daring to hit. Max range: adjacent arena. to load
Hand 1 Light crossbow, shortbow, javelin. 2d10 to hit. and shoot
Heavy 2 Longbow, spear. 2d10 to hit.
V. Heavy 3 Heavy crossbow. 2d10 to hit. Focus action reload.

Armor
ATTACK ++ Heavy Heavy Medium Light None
20+ Full Dmg Full Dmg Full Dmg Full Dmg Full Dmg
17-19 -1 Wound
14-16 -2 Wounds -1 Wound
11-13 -3 Wounds -2 Wounds -1 Wound
8-10 -4 Wounds -3 Wounds -2 Wounds -1 Wound
1-7 Miss Miss Miss Miss Miss
Cunning -6 -4 -2
Loads 3 loads 2 loads 1 load
Type Full plate Chain & plate Chain Leather Clothes
The “-X Wound” on the chart is the amount of incoming Wounds the armor allows
its wearer to ignore.
For monsters and talents that simulate armor, armor stacks. Wearing leather over
hide like leather armor will stop 2 incoming Wounds.

Wounds and Recovery

What is a Wound?
A “Wound” is the amount of injury needed make a normal person stop fighting.

For characters with more than one Wound, or characters who are knocked out, they
can regain 1 Wound per 10 minutes of rest and attending to the injury.

Critical Chart
When characters lose their last Wound, roll 1d10, +1 per Wound beyond the
character’s maximum. (If the character had 1 Wound and took 3, the roll is +2.)
o 1-6 KO. Knocked out. At the end of the combat, get up and regain a Wound.
o 7-9 Dying. Badly hurt, helpless, (maybe) unconscious. Without quick medical
care, you’ll die.
o 10-12 Cripple. As “Dying” and even if you do get medical help, there’s
permanent handicap.
o 13+ Dead. Bang, you’re dead.

Consequences of “Dying.”
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 You get a cool scar (if you live.) Write it on your sheet.
 If you roll under your Brawn on 1d10, or get medical help, you can regain
consciousness, limp, and manage basic movement. You can carry ½ your
normal load capacity. Round up.
o Anyone can render basic medical help as a focus action.
 You heal back to 1 Wound after 24 hours of complete rest; that may be in 4
increments of 6 hours each, but 24 hours of bed rest total.
 Negative Wounds are not tracked. Each time a character is hit for Wounds
exceeding what the character has, you roll on the critical chart, negative
Wounds are not cumulative.

Consequences of “Cripple.”
If the result of the roll when the character is downed comes up “Crippled,” roll 1d10
to see what permanent damage the character sustains. The DM can assign one if
appropriate.

After each kind of crippling, a talent shows how the character can compensate at
least in part for the maiming. These need not be trained, a character can practice to
overcome the handicap. They do count as cross-template talents.

Crippling (d10)

1. Chronic Pain. Take a -2 penalty to Charm and Brawn.

 High Pain Threshold. Constant. Reduce penalties to 0 for 10
minutes by spending 1 Awesome Point.

2. Lose a Hand. You cannot use one of your hands.

 Hook Hand. Constant. You can compensate with a prosthetic, so
you are -2 to two handed tasks, but you can also attach a light
weapon or manage many tasks unimpeded.

3. Lose an Eye. All range attacks and Awareness are -2.

 Gauge Depth. Constant. You can spend 1 Awesome Point to gain
+2 to range attacks.

4. Lose an Ear. Awareness is -2.

 Sharp Ear. Constant. You are no longer -2 to Awareness.

5. Lamed. Cut movement to ½, and Daring for moving tasks is -2.

 Hopalong. Constant. Your movement is no longer ½, as long as
you have a prosthetic and/or a crutch. You are still -2 to movement
over barriers.

6. Smashed Teeth. Charm is -2, breath stinks, must speak slowly and carefully
to be understood.
 Charming Slur. Constant. You can compensate for your broken
teeth, slurring understandably, chewing substances that kill the
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 smell, and keeping your teeth out of sight. You are no longer -2
Charm.

7. Head Wound. Your thinking slows and moves sideways. Charm and
Commitment -2.
 Whisper of the Gods. Constant. You may not think like other
people do, but you work with it, in your own weird style. Spend 1
Awesome Point to ignore the penalties for 10 minutes.

8. Broken Chest. Breathing is hard. Brawn and Daring -2.

 Adrenaline Breath. Constant. You have adapted to the point where
you can spend 1 Awesome Point to ignore the penalties for 10
minutes.

9. Confined. Paralyzed from the waist down.

 Wheels. Constant. In a wheelchair, can move at ½ movement at -2
Daring (as “Lamed.”)

10. Lose a Limb. 1-3, right arm. 4-6, left arm. 7-9, right leg. 10-12, left leg.
Counts as “lose a hand” or “lame.”

Alcohol
Type Dose, affects 1 Brawn Default cost Sobering Up. The effects of 1
Lousy Beer 3 Pints 3 silver dose of alcohol leave the
Good Beer 2 Pints 4 silver system every half hour. Also,
Fantastic Beer 1 Pint 5 silver a shot of adrenaline gets rid of
Dwarven Beer ½ Pint 6 silver a dose. So does a dunking in
water.
Lousy Wine ½ bottle (5 glasses) 10 silver per bottle
Good Wine ¼ bottle (3 glasses) 20 silver per bottle Hangover. If you drink as
Fantastic Wine 1 glass 50 silver per bottle much water as alcohol, then
you don’t have a hangover.
Elven Wine ½ glass 75 silver per bottle
Otherwise, when you pass out
you are -1 to all rolls per dose
Lousy Whisky 5 shots 5 silver of alcohol still in your system.
Decent Spirits 3 shots 6 silver These go away 1 per hour
The Good Stuff 1 shot 10 silver upon waking in pain.

Overindulging Behaviors
You are pleasantly buzzed The first roll determines the character’s
with alcohol in your system, default drunken behavior.
until you have more doses
than you have Brawn. Your 1. Friendly. Loudly declares love.
first overdose determines your 2. Angry. Pick fights, simmering mad.
default behavior when drunk. 3. Weepy. Angst, misery, self-pity…
4. Sing! Even songs you don’t know!
Roll 1d10 +1 per dose past 5. Truthsome. Get creepy and tell truths.
Brawn. 6. Nostalgia. Open up about your past.
7. Entitled. Never get what you deserve.
11
 1-5. Default. 8. Idea Time. When you get ideas!
6-8. Roll a different behavior. 9. Stripper. Cloth confines. Dance!
9-10. Nausea. You forget what 10. Look What I Can Do! Show prowess.
you did.
11-13. Pass out.
14+. Roll as if reaching 0
Wounds, no modifier.

Encumbrance
 Brawn is the number of heavy things (loads) you can carry without penalty.
 Carrying [Brawn +1] loads is encumbered; fail all rolls (including combat),
stagger along.
o At 0 Brawn or lower, 1 load counts as being encumbered.
o A partial load beyond your limit does not count as being overloaded.
 Medium armor is 1 load, heavy armor is 2 loads, very heavy armor is 3 loads.
 500 coins is 1 load.
 Child-sized person=2 loads. Normal person=3 loads. Person with over 5
Brawn=4 loads.
 Dragging something over normal ground halves its encumbrance.
 More than one person can share the weight, splitting the loads between them.
 Encumbrance Rule on Weapons: What equals 1 load?
o 8 very light weapons are 1 load. 4 light weapons are half a load.
o 2 hand weapons or reach weapons are a load. 1 is half a load.
 Also quiver, short bow, crossbow.
o 1 heavy weapon or heavy shield is a load.
o 1 very heavy weapon is 1.5 loads, round to 2 if you don’t have another
½ load.

Awesome Points Between Sessions

You can keep up to 10 Awesome Points to transfer from one session to the next.
What to do with the rest?

 Leveling henchmen. Every 6 Awesome Points the players contribute to an

NPC, the NPC gains a level (up to 1 per session.) This is generally reflected in
adding appropriate talents, Wounds, or Attribute points (DM discretion.)

 Carousing. This isn’t a drink at the tavern, it’s commitment to a celebration.

Cost is 10 gold per Awesome Point spent towards leveling in reckless
indulgence over the course of 6 to 12 hours. This kind of conspicuous partying
must naturally overflow to everyone nearby, making it more expensive. One
player can spend gold and Awesome Points on another (willing) character’s
behalf, counting those spent points towards the other character’s leveling (and

12
 towards their Carousing roll.) Every spent Awesome Point adds +1 to the 1d10
Carousing roll.

1-8, The party was fine, I suppose.

9-12, Now THAT was a good time! 1 colorful event.
13-16, Maybe it got a little out of hand. 1 colorful event, 1 mishap.
17-20, The stuff of legends and wanted posters. 2 colorful events, 2 mishaps.

How are the colorful events and mishaps handed out? That’s up to the DM, to
decide who gets which consequences (and the DM can, of course, randomize as
seems fitting.) Here are some sample colorful events and mishaps. Add your own as
you use these up!

Colorful Events
1. Congratulations! You got married! We can’t wait to meet the lucky spouse.
2. You don’t get to party at that location until you pay 1d10 x100 gold in repairs,
and/or work it off (at the rate of 3 gold per day’s labor.)
3. You alienated a good friend of the owner of the establishment, and if you value
your reputation you’ll find a way to fix it.
4. You made a big deal about giving a prized possession to somebody you thought
was cute at the time. Are you going to get it back from your new admirer?
5. Yeah, about that new tattoo.
6. So have you made any plans for where you’re going to keep your new pet?
7. You paid (or owe) 50 gold for this new treasure map.
8. Now there’s a 30 day ban on you carrying any weapons in town.
9. Kind of you to agree to speak at that lonely man’s funeral today. If only you
could remember his name or anything about him.
10. Wake up naked with no idea where your clothes or gear could be.

Mishaps
1. You’ve agreed to 3 duels once you sober up. The seconds of the injured parties
have served your various summons to the chosen fields.
2. When the guard captain was summoned to settle your party down, he died
somehow and you tried to smooth it over by volunteering to do the job for free.
3. One of your stupid bar games ended with putting out an eye of a popular bar
server—everyone in town knows about it already, and they’re mad at you.
4. An assassin failed to kill you at the party—there’s a secret bounty out on you.
5. A local tribe of monsters has a prophecy that requires them to capture you
alive. They make their first attempt during the party.
6. Your past rival showed up looking fine while you were drunk and stupid, and
now it’s a popularity contest.
7. Apparently there’s an invasion on the way, and the duke put you in charge of
the town and its safety without providing any other support.
8. While you were passed out, a key leader in town was killed, and you’re framed.
9. An evil cult blackmails you, demanding you spy for them.
10. You defiled the shrine of the Saints and now you must atone. Or else.

13
 Everybody Else
The characters are mighty and heroic, but they are not alone in the world. Here are
the other broad types of people and creatures, friend and foe, that exist.

Type Wounds Description Examples

Swarm 1-5 Little things that fight as a mass. Rats, big bugs, bats,
lap dogs
Minion 1 Normal people, soldiers, Guards, soldiers,
skirmishers. people
Tough 2+ Hardier person, leader, elite Bandit leader, guard
soldier. captain
Monster 3-30+ Any sort of beast or creature. Lots of books on this
topic…

Swarms
Swarms take a single Wound from an attack even if it would normally do more, but
spending 2 Awesome Points can allow more Wounds to apply to the swarm
(especially with a good description of how.)

Minions
Minions aren’t skilled or strong enough to get any kind of benefit from weapon
types. They benefit from armor. If they are using shields, the whole mob is -1 die to
hit, but all get to ignore 1 Wound.
 How Minions Fight. Each minion rolls 1d10 to hit; in a group of minions, keep
the highest 2 to see what the mass’s to-hit is instead of counting each roll
individually. The mass, together, does 1 Wound unless the DM boosts it to 2
using Awesome Points. They also combine to do a Push action, or a Shoot
action, etc. Minions can “mob up” into multiple groups for multiple dice pools.
 Plowing Through Minions. If you are fighting a bunch of minions, you can
possibly hit more than one if you do more than one Wound. Each one after the
first reduces your to-hit by 1 and requires +1 Awesome Point. You can kill as
many in a round as you can manage.
 The first kill costs 0 Awesome Points. The 2nd costs 1 and is -1 to hit. 3rd
costs 2 and is -2 to hit. 4th costs 3 and is -3 to hit. 5th costs 4 and is -4 to hit.
 You can spend 2 Awesome Points to increase damage by 1, and more
Awesome Points to include another target.
 When fighting defensively and gaining a counter attack, you get 1 strike
against all the minions, since they all combine to one roll to hit you.
 This only works with range attacks if they line up and the DM allows it.

Toughs
Toughs get the benefit of weapon types and usually have armor, same as characters.
They sometimes have 1 Talent. Giving them shields helps them survive.

14
Monsters
The DM may throw any kind of monster at you, and the rules that apply to you
don’t apply to monsters… Be careful, anything could happen.

“Skinning” these creatures (how they are described) is important to the feel of the
game, but less important to the mechanics. Minions may look different, but have the
same game mechanics. The same stats for a monster could look and feel very
different described differently. These rules help improvise foes quickly for pretty
simple clashes. Armor also makes a big difference in their survivability.

Mix and Match. Mix and match types and you have lots of variety for fights.

15
 Basic Systems for Tasks
The DM can decide how difficult something is on the spot, and call for an Attribute
roll (which can be boosted by Awesome Points) or a blind luck roll (which can’t) to
see how the attempt turns out. These suggestions are for clarification, not to bind the
DM to a single way of working these challenges out. The DM is encouraged to be
consistent and creative.

Competition and Uncertainty

When characters compete or the outcome is uncertain (outside of combat) roll 1d10.
A tie is a win for the player character over an NPC. If characters compete, a tie goes
to the character with the higher attribute; if the attributes are the same, the outcome
is uncertain.
 Opposed. One attribute against an adversary attribute. Both roll 1d10 modified
by attribute. Higher win, tie is inconclusive.
o Save vs. Magic. Commitment is usually used to resist magic effects as
an opposed roll.
 Challenge. Roll 1d10 + one attribute, against a difficulty assigned by the DM.
Tie is inconclusive.

Difficulty Description
4 Simple Routine, normal, everyday. (Don’t call for a roll.)
7 Standard Challenging, professional level.
10 Difficult Complex, unlikely, expert level.
13 Amazing Almost impossible, superhuman difficulty.
16 Epic Stories should be told about this feat.

Physical Tasks

 Breaking Down a Door. Those trying to break down a door by kicking it or

bashing it with their shoulders take 1 Wound per effort; this can be soaked by
metal armor.

 Pickpocketing. Cunning vs. Awareness. If Awareness beats Cunning by 4 or

more, the lift is prevented. If Awareness beats or ties Cunning, the lift happens
but is detected. The DM may make the lift more difficult for objects bigger than
a palm.

 Balance. In a high place, test Daring to move. If Daring fails, test Brawn or
Cunning not to fall. If successful, test Daring to move again.

 Climbing. Use Brawn, a success moves up or down 1 arena (generally about 20

feet or so.) If Brawn fails, test Daring or Cunning, player choice, not to fall.
Every 10 feet of falling is 1 Wound.

16
 Standing Watch. Usually 3 shifts of 4 hours each. Test Brawn or Awareness.
First shift difficulty 6, second shift difficulty 10, third shift difficulty 8. If not
roused, wake for your shift at +2 difficulty.

 Swimming. Use Brawn, a success moves 1 arena. If Brawn fails, the character
only moves ½ arena. A character can try to swim for 10 rounds, -1 per load,
before needing to rest. Only characters with a Brawn bonus know how to swim;
others move ½ arena on a success. On a failure, begin drowning.
o Drowning. Test Brawn each round of drowning, starting at 5
difficulty, +1 difficulty a round. Each failure inflicts 1 Wound.

Social Tasks

 Deception. Test Cunning against the target’s Cunning or Awareness. Success

means the target will acknowledge the possibility, success by more than 5
means the target believes you are telling the truth. The DM may add difficulty
for outrageous or dangerous lies, and reduce difficulty for truth mixed artfully
in with fiction (or calculated and edited to mislead.)

 Inspiration. As a minimum of a focus action, ideally about 10 minutes, one

character can inspire another by testing Charm. If successful (DM sets the
difficulty) the target gets +2 to a Commitment roll at an appropriate moment.

 Intimidation. If the character did something really cool, this could be a free
action that takes place during the Defend/Protect phase. If the character must
show off, intimidation can be a focus action. To scare someone, choose either
Brawn, Charm, Commitment, or Daring to test against the target’s Brawn,
Charm, Commitment, or Daring (target choice). An intimidated target is -2 to
all rolls until a focus action lets the target shake it off automatically. Either side
may get a bonus for superior strength or numbers.

17
 Morale
A great way to shorten battles, rout a statistically superior force, and keep the action
moving is to make the enemy’s morale a factor. To keep it fast and simple, roll
1d10, and set the difficulty based on how the situation looks.

This is optional, and you can boost it by feeding Awesome Points to the Bowl (to
encourage the characters and escalate the tension, and replenish their supply.) This
is window dressing for your inspiration and amusement. Pick a number based on the
situation or your whim, and roll it. Or, don’t bother with the morale system at all,
and decide morale issues.

Situation Diff on 1d10 Events Modifier

Feeling superior Don’t roll Lose a leader +2 difficulty
Evenly matched 4+ Lose THE leader +4 difficulty
Outmatched 8+ First blood +/- 1 difficulty

Troops Modifier Who is Scarier? Modifier

Elites -2 difficulty Troop Leaders -2 difficulty
Rabble +2 difficulty Foe Leaders +2 difficulty

Why Roll Morale? Sometimes you want to let the players’ estimation of the odds
play out, being as impartial as you can be. Then it is helpful to let the dice
ultimately decide (after you set the odds) how the NPCs will act. Also, this is a fun
system to use for the allies and henchmen of the characters, to see if they are willing
to fight on when the going gets tough.

Rallying Call. If the leader of wavering or fleeing troops can be seen and heard by
them, the leader can try to intimidate them or the enemy that has broken them. If the
intimidation succeeds, the troops rally as a focus action. Successful intimidation can
call for a new morale roll, with +2 for being scary.

Gut Check. If the characters are facing a frightening situation, you can always call
for a Daring check modeled on the difficulty of morale (except they add their
attribute, and can boost it with Awesome Points.) The characters should pass no
problem, but the roll can help heighten the tension as they realize that simply
undertaking a course of action requires a success. Spending Awesome Points on the
roll to decide to go on can contribute towards leveling.

Failed Nerves. This is where an inspirational speech by another character may help.

18
 Stealth Guidance
The purpose of this guidance is not to load the game up with a lot of rules, but instead
to offer some guidance on ways of handling stealth in Fictive Hack—it is an important
element of the genre, atmosphere, and specific objectives.

Stealth is Cunning vs. Awareness. The rest of this is commentary.

Detection Ranges
 Those with light sources will only see other light sources and silhouettes
beyond the range of their light. Their night vision is spoiled by their light.
However, they can hear just fine.
 In general, bright lights and loud voices are detectable from 5 arenas away.
Conversation and muted lights, from 3 arenas away. Otherwise, adjacent arena.

How to Use Awareness

 Seeing lights does not require an Awareness test—there they are.
 Hearing sounds can allow an Awareness test to figure out the origin of the
sound (if the source is not clear.)
 The DM will often describe the presence of something, and players will want
more information.
o Looking at something more closely does not have to trigger an Awareness
test, the DM can just describe it better. Don’t automatically default to dice.
o If something is difficult to perceive due to lighting, distance, or other
factors, Awareness helps determine how much the character can make out.
o Only roll to get more information if there is some question about whether
the character’s senses are sharp enough to get more information.

Modifiers
 If the characters have some kind of advantage, give them up to +5. If they have
some kind of disadvantage, give them up to -5. Do not consult a table. Stay fair,
keep the numbers low, keep the action moving
 If characters look in the place where their quarry is hiding, don’t make a roll—
let them find the target. If the characters are hiding somewhere, it is poor form
to arbitrarily let the searchers find them.

Sneaking
 Basically, sneaking opposes the stealthy character’s Cunning to the searching
character’s Awareness.
 Don’t call for rolls very often, unless they get positively brazen.
o One roll should get them past an obstacle. If you call for a roll to approach,
a roll to get around, and a roll to retreat, the dice will sooner or later betray
the players and you’ll have a chase instead. This discourages attempts at
stealth—stealth is vulnerable. And you want them to at least try, right?
 If the searching party is unaware of the presence of others, and unsuspecting, as
long as the stealthy characters’ Cunning is higher than the searchers’
19
 Awareness and there are hiding places, no roll is needed. If there is a tie, or if
the searchers have good Awareness, go ahead and roll.
 The DM can feed the Bowl to create circumstances that may interfere with
stealth; a tickle in the nose, a snake nosing between boot heels, a spider down
the neck, a guard has to take a leak, etc. This should lead to an opposed roll, not
automatic discovery.
 If someone is hiding from the characters, and the characters state they are
looking around, give them a roll. Reward good description of character actions
by allowing them a chance (or an improved chance) to spot hidden danger.

Stealth is hard. Dicing for stealth is even harder—the more rolls, the more likely
discovery. In general, err on the side of the players. Being stealthy and sneaking
around is fun, and in most games you can’t get away with it. Err on the side of
deeper shadows here, and your players will greatly appreciate it.

Evasion and Pursuit

Eventually stealthy people get spotted, and a chase ensues. In Basically Awesome,
the system is not granular enough to measure who is faster, or to account for
varying speed because of loads carried. There’s no accounting for getting winded by
sprinting. Therefore, if one character flees in a straight line, and another character
follows, the chase could dully proceed forever. No one wants that. Also, chase rules
can get complicated, and no one wants that either. Here is some advice on running a
chase.

Every arena separating quarry and pursuer adds +3 difficulty to Awareness tests to
see the other party.

 Transition Points. If visibility is not good for any reason, when quarry moves
from one arena to another, allow an opposed Cunning and Awareness test to
see if the pursuer can keep the quarry in sight. Do not tell either party what the
other party rolled.
o Hiding. If the pursuer lost sight of the quarry, the quarry may be well
served by immediately hiding if out of line of sight, so the pursuers chase
on. If the pursuers did not lose sight of the quarry, the chase is over right
there.
o Multiple Exits. A pursuer who succeeds in Awareness vs. Cunning may
see which way the quarry goes if there is more than one possible arena to
escape through. If the pursuer does not succeed, then the pursuer loses an
arena and gets another Awareness vs. Cunning test to re-acquire the trail
(at -3, for adding an intervening arena).
o Arena Difficulties to Detection. “Open” is +3 difficulty for the quarry.
“Dense” is +3 difficulty for the pursuer.

 Burst of Effort. If one party wants to pour on the speed and is in the same
arena, so it matters, the runner can spend 1 Wound to get the edge. The pursuer
20
 can spend 1 Wound to gain the opportunity to impede, attack, or throw. The
pursued can spend 1 Wound to negate that opportunity.
o Bidding War. If both parties spend a Wound, then the pursuer can spend
one or more Awesome Points. If the pursuer out-spends the quarry, then
the pursuer can attempt an action. Otherwise, the quarry remains
frustratingly out-of-reach.
 If a character is in a chase with an NPC, the player gets half the Points.

 Obstacles. By racing to hard-to-reach places, the quarry can be harder to

pursue. Trying to climb, knock over a cart, start a brawl, or involve various
other obstacles means the DM assigns a difficulty and the quarry tries to hit it.
(Generally involves Daring, Brawn, or Cunning.)
o If the quarry fails, the obstacle defeats the character, and the pursuers get
an arena closer or get to interact with the quarry.
o If the quarry succeeds and the pursuers fail, the quarry gains an arena’s
distance and the pursuers must try again or go around.
o If the quarry succeeds and the pursuers succeed, the obstacle is overcome.

 Range Attacks. “Range” is before “Move” in the combat round, and it can end
a chase. The pursuer or quarry can stop running for a round and use a range
attack. To shoot on the run, spend 1 Awesome Point and use only 1d10 to hit.
This only works with weapons that could be used while running; not bows or
slings, but possibly thrown weapons or crossbows.

 Winded. Generally minions can run for 5 rounds, and toughs for 10. Subtract 1
round per load carried. Don’t bother winding player characters, let them run
their hearts out. NPCs can run longer if you want them to.

21
 Horses
While there are many possible mounts in a fantastic setting, these rules cover horses
specifically. They are the most common mount, and a good system for horses can be
adapted to other mounts.

Basics

A horse has 2 Wounds. The horse can attack as a heavy weapon, instead of the
rider acting. A horse can carry 2 normal riders, or 1 rider with up to 3 loads (total
6 loads.) The saddle is free.

 Mounting or dismounting is a move action.
 Falling from a horse, take 1 Wound per speed.

 Being on horseback is being in an arena within an arena; attacking a mounted
foe, or from horseback, counts as being in a hazardous environment.
 Against a lower, unmounted foe, gain +2 to hit or inflict +1 Wound, after
rolling to hit.

 A horse can move 1, 2, or 3 arenas in 1 move action.
 A horse can only move 3 if it is not fully loaded.
 Riders on a moving horse can declare they are riding, then act as they wish
in the round, getting one action (out of order if desired) as the horse moves.
Initiative still matters.
 Attacking in melee from horseback is +1 Wound to a melee attack and -2 to
hit for all attacks per current speed of the horse.

 Controlling your horse, roll 1d10 as a free action against a difficulty set by the
DM. (Usually 6.)


Carrying capacity. A typical horse can carry 6 loads; as little as 3, and as much as
9, depending on horse quality.
 A child is 2 loads, a typical character 3 loads, with 5+ Brawn is 4 loads.
 Basic saddle, bridle, and tack costs no encumbrance.
o Barding costs encumbrance like humanoid armor costs encumbrance; it is
heavier, but as it is strapped to the horse, it encumbers the same.
 Loads worn or carried by riders apply against the mount too.
 A horse can only sprint if it is not fully loaded, and an overloaded horse can
only walk and will fail any rolls. You can only overload a horse by 1 load.

Mounted combat.
 “Horseback” is an arena within an arena. This does not affect weapon ranges.
 Mounting or dismounting is a move action.
22
o In exciting circumstances, require a Brawn or Daring test, base difficulty 6.

Attacking a mounted foe, or attacking from horseback, counts as being in a Hazardous

arena.

Attacking from horseback grants either +2 to hit or +1 Wound, determined after the
roll, against targets on foot (as long as they are lower).

Riders on a moving horse can declare they are riding, then act as they wish in the
round, getting one action (out of order if desired) as the horse moves. Initiative still
matters. If you declare an action after people in that phase have begun acting, go last.

Fighting horse.
 Horses attack as heavy weapons. Warhorses attack as very heavy weapons.
o The rider cannot attack in the same round as the horse.
Speed.
 A typical horse has a speed of 3.
o Walking is speed 1.
o Canter is speed 2.
o Gallop is speed 3.
 A horse can only gallop if it is not fully loaded.
 Attacking from horseback does +1 damage per horse’s current speed.
 The horse can cross 1 arena per current speed each round.
 A rider can act once while the horse is moving, even if that action is not in its
normal place in the round.

Falling Off.
 Falling off a horse does 1 Wound per the horse’s current speed.
 Staying mounted under difficult circumstances takes a move action and a 1d10
test.
o Difficulty 3; the horse maneuvers, up or down steep hills or turning.
o Difficulty 6; the horse is startled and rears, or takes off.
o +3 difficulty per Wound sustained by the rider or the horse.
o If the character already acted before the horse requires a test, the test is +6
difficulty.

Controlling the horse.

 Roll above a 6 on a d10 to maintain control as a free action.
o This is to control a startled mount, to get the mount to attack, to compel the
mount to back up, go down stairs, pass something unsettling, or stop
running wild.

23
 Beasts of Burden
Adventurers need to travel, and traveling involves moving equipment and supplies.
Beasts of burden become important. Here is a simple rule set for beasts of burden.

Size Wounds Loads Carried Min/Max Example

Small 1 2 1-3 Riding dog
Medium 2 4 2-6 Donkey
Large 2-4 6 3-9 Horse
Huge 4-10 9 5-14 Small Elephant
 Min/Max is what the weakest to the strongest specimens can carry; generally,
they cost half or double the cost for the animal.
 Flying, swimming, and climbing beasts often have their carrying capacity
halved because of their unusual movement methods.

Riders. Riders count as loads.

 2 loads per small person. (No Brawn bonus.) Child.
 3 loads per normal size person. (Brawn 0-4.)
 4 loads per large person (Brawn 5+.)

Saddle and tack do not add to loads for the animal unless they are specialized.
 +1 load for a flying rig.
 +1 load for a large creature.
 +1 load for a specialized arrangement, like a jousting saddle.
 +2 loads for a howdah.

Loads the riders carry are loads the animals carry too. If a rider is 3 loads, and the
rider has a heavy weapon and heavy armor, the rider counts as 5 loads.
 Animals can drag twice as many loads as they can carry.

Vehicles
Wheeled vehicles add x3 to the carrying capacity with 2 wheels, x6 for 4 wheels.
 The vehicles take 1-3 loads per multiplier. That’s the weight of moving the
vehicle while empty.
 Up to 4 animals can contribute to pulling the load; more animals just means
rotating which ones are pulling and prolonging the time they can pull.
 For sleighs, use the wheel equivalent.

Basic Calculation
Road Hazrd
Type Wheels Load Multiplier Load Weight Wounds
Dmg Diff
Rickshaw 2 x3 Counts as 3 loads 3 3+
Cart 2 x3 Counts as 6 loads 3 6+
Wagon 4 x6 Counts as 6 loads 6 6+
Coach 4 x6 Counts as 12 loads 6 12+
24
Look at how many loads the one pulling the vehicle can carry, then multiply the
Load Multiplier and subtract the Load Weight of the vehicle to see how many loads
the vehicle can carry.

Road Hazard. The DM can add these to spice up a journey. They could be a tree
branch in the road, or a chug-hole, or running over an unfortunate who fell under
the wheels, or a crumbling edge of the road. When encountering these while
moving, roll 1d10 for the vehicle; if it does not beat the difficulty, the vehicle takes
1 Wound.

The DM can feed to bowl to add to the difficulty, add to the damage, or add a
special effect (like a wheel coming off.)

If the vehicle gets stuck as a result of a road hazard, then the vehicle counts as +1/2
loads for the vehicle and everything on it, and it must be shifted out of the hole or
over the fallen tree or whatever. Wise characters will empty the vehicle before
trying to shift it.

Loads the Vehicle Can Carry Besides Itself

Type Donkey (4) 2 Donkeys (8) 1 Horse (6) 2 Horses (12) Elephant (9)
Rickshaw 9 X X X X
Cart 6 18 12 X 21
Wagon 18 34 30 66 48
Coach X 28 24 60 38
Howdah 2 X 4 X 7

Pulled by Character Strength (Characters may combine strength, “loads” is how

much they can carry)
Type 2 loads 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Rickshaw 3 6 9 Rickshaws too frail to carry more
Cart X 3 6 9 12 15 18 21 24
Wagon 6 12 18 24 30 36 42 48 54
Coach X 6 12 18 24 30 36 42 48
Howdah X 1 2 3 4 5 X X X

25
 Hirelings
Characters hire 3 kinds of employees: labor, guards, and experts.

Pay Rates. A laborer expects 3 gold a day. A guard expects 5-10 gold a day. An
expert expects 10-25 gold a day. These rates double for difficult or dangerous work.
If an employee is expected to do the work of more than one kind of employee, then
the pay should stack.
 Examples: If a guard must carry loads, the guard is paid as a guard and a
laborer. If a fighter is hired, the fighter can command guard and expert pay.
o Characters paid to go on a dangerous expedition where they carry their
own gear, provide expertise, and expect to fight may command 35-60
silver a day.
o Expected practice is to identify a beneficiary should you be killed. Your
employees will do the same.
 The employer is expected to provide rations, weapons, armor, equipment, and
transportation.

A character can command a number of “tough” level employees (henchmen)

equal to the character’s Charm, or a relevant attribute. They should be paid 1
gold per [Wound + highest attribute] per day. That is also the rate characters should
deserve for their services.
 Brawn. Warriors.
 Cunning. Thieves, rogues.
 Daring. Bandits, pirates, machismo types.
 Commitment. Acolytes.
 Charm. Anyone.
 Awareness. Scholars, wizards.

In a mixed group, only the Charm bonus determines the maximum number of
henchmen.

A character can command a number of minions equal to the character’s

Charm rating x5. The character can command more, because the minions can only
handle pretty simple requests, and generally they operate in groups or are at the
character’s elbow.

Leaving Employment. If mistreated, the hirelings test Commitment against the

character’s Charm or appropriate attribute; if they succeed, they leave employment.
(And that’s only if the character wants them to stay employed anyway.)

Porters. Expect to pay 1 gold per Brawn rating of porters; default is 1, but stronger
porters may be available, costing (for example) 3 gold a day for a porter with a
Brawn of 3.

Talent. All hirelings are expected to have a single Occupational Talent.

26
Leveling Henchmen. If the party has a really fun henchman and they want to level
the henchman, then once per adventure the table can volunteer 6 Awesome Points
from their supply (it can come from any number of players, it doesn’t have to be
one person or everyone) that do not count towards leveling. The DM will then add a
level to the henchman (as well as an advance.) Henchmen cannot be equal to the
highest level in the party, or they are characters entitled to a share (not a payment.)

27
 Character Generation
For draft 1 we’re assuming you’re basically familiar with Fictive Hack. While this
game will eventually be developed as a stand-alone, for the first round it’s added on
top of Breathing World and World Between and pulls from those talents and rules.
If you want to pull something from there, check first to make sure it fits or gets
needed tweaks.

Basics of character generation

1. Choose a template. Stick to the templates in this document.
2. Details for Awesome Points. For now, the only option is adventuring motive
for 3 points. Choose, randomize, or make one up.
3. Assign Attributes. You get 5 points, you can get up to -4, no more than -2 for
any one attribute. Maximum 8.
 Get 1 bonus level per Awareness point. Characters are literate.
4. Choose a starting talent. From template, occupational, master, or unusual
upbringing as per normal.
5. Equipment. Starting cash is 3d10 gold. Start with light or medium armor, 1
hand weapon and 1 shield (or a 2 handed weapon), 20 ammo for any ranged
weapon chosen, and a light weapon.
6. Backpack or Home. Characters may start with a stocked backpack if they
wish, or a living space with some extra equipment in it. Carrying all this counts
as a load, so it affects encumbrance. However, it has in it the normal sorts of
supplies characters would want.
 10 yards of rope, 6 torches, a lantern, 1 flask oil, a bedroll, 1 change
clothes, 1 week food, 3 days water, flint and steel, 12 iron spikes, small
hammer, small cookpan.
 If they want other objects, they can spend 1 Awesome Point to have it
conveniently in the backpack during play. If it is bulky or not something
that makes sense, 2 or more Awesome Points. The DM may deny a request
to have an object handy.

Languages
 Byzi. Scholarly and religious language.
 Cantish. Hand signals and slang criminals use to conceal messages.
 Delvish. Language common to diggers and delvers.
 Dolvatchi. Dwarven runic language.
 Draconic. Language common to scaled dragon-blooded races.
 Filestrian. Language of elves and magic.
 Gobbly. Language common to goblins, orcs, hobgoblins, and greenskins.
 Metrian. Regional common language.
 Ruffish. Language of big predators like ogres, gnolls, and ettins.

28
 Adventuring motives
Your character needs a reason to go out into danger! Roll 2d10, pick one, or make
one up. The motive should propel your character out into the world and give you
something to do, either short-term or long-term. The DM will give you 3 Awesome
Points for your adventuring motive, and may choose a motive for the whole group.

2. Grandpa told stories of a legendary treasure he never found. Find it for him.
3. Get 10,000 gold, put your masterpiece before the critics and get famous.
4. Your lover has a wasting disease, the doctors are helpless. Can you find a cure?
5. Your older sister, who is better at everything, killed a forest drake. Kill
something bigger, display it.
6. A mysterious oracle will answer one question. Ask who your father is.
7. An evil stepmother wrecked your comfortable life. Find a new home.
8. Kidnappers sold your child to slavers. Find them, get your child back.
9. Thieves used stolen art to frame you. Clear your name.
10. Your nephew disappeared a week ago, look for him.
11. Your mother was a famous adventurer. You are ready to go search for her at
her last known location.
12. The necromancer that raided your home took half your family as shambling
dead. Lay them to rest.
13. The House of Baltrisan formerly ruled your area in peaceful times. Find their
heir, and restore their rule.
14. You were pressed into service for the military, but you escaped. Don’t get
hanged as a deserter.
15. You have always wanted to browse the bookmarkets of Trestra. Can you travel
that far and find them?
16. You had a whole life where everything went wrong. Now you want to be
famous for being awesome.
17. Raised religious following the Saints, you’ve always wondered how real and
active the old gods are. Go and find out.
18. Your ailing parents did everything for you in your youth; earn enough so they
can retire comfortably.
19. Bandits wiped out your village. They think they can get away with anything.
Show them they can’t.
20. Stay beyond your noble family’s reach until your mother dies and you inherit;
don’t let any other heirs get you out of their way.

29
 Basically Awesome Character Record
Name Birthyear Player
Description
Languages Template

Level Awesome Points spent this level Current APs

Wounds ( of ) 1-6 KO, 7-9 Dying 10-12 Cripple, 13+ dead

Attributes Description Extra Usefulness

Awareness Alertness, perception, insight Notice things. Starting languages
Brawn Size, physical intimidation Carry heavy objects, wear armor
Charm Likeability, leadership, social Persuade, inspire, intimidate

Commitment Devotion, intensity, stubbornness Strength of will, magic resistance

Cunning Trickery, sneakiness, theft Lying and stealth
Daring Courage, reflexes, managing risk Reflexive dodging

Talents
Name Source Type Description
C A R p.
C A R p.
C A R p.
C A R p.
C A R p.
C A R p.
C A R p.
Motive, Gear, Treasure, Quirks, Notes

30
 Cleric of the Saints
You area human serving Virtue, wielding the Light in service of the Saints.

Inherent Ability—Sanctify START WITH 2 WOUNDS

You can focus cosmic energy through your holy symbol as a focus action.

Limitation—NO Blades or Edges

You are forbidden by your religious code from using edged weapons.
Attributes, minimum -2, maximum 8.

Signature Item
You bear a holy symbol, usually on a necklace. It can also be on the face of a shield.

Languages. Metrian. Byzi.

Talents
 Grant Resistance.** Use once between dawns per Commitment.. (Upgrades to
twice per Commitment.) Focus action. (upgrades to defend action.) You can
touch a creature suffering from fear or cold (or threatened by them) and bolster
their natural resistance to fear or cold. Spend up to 3 Awesome Points per
creature. Each point increases their Brawn or Commitment against cold or fear
by +2 for 1 hour. This stacks with Awesome Points they spend to increase their
resistance. One point will quell normal emotion or normal cold effects
(equivalent to wearing basic winter gear) for an hour.

 Supernatural Senses.** Constant. Focus action (upgrades to defend action.)

You can concentrate to detect magical or cosmic energy within 120’. (Upgrades
to 240’.)

 Turn Undead.** Rested. Focus action (upgrades to defend action.) Use

Sanctify, and generate 1 point of holy energy per Commitment; spend 1
Awesome Point to add another point, up to doubling your Commitment. Apply
against undead in the same arena. If an undead is hit with points up to its
Wounds, it must flee (or cower, if trapped) for a minute or so.

 Warpriest Canticles.** Constant. You steep yourself in the lore of your Order
and can learn spells from the Warpriest Canticles, beginning with the First
Circle. These spells cannot be cast until this talent is learned. Once you have
this talent, Warpriest Canticle spells can be cast as a focus action by reading
from a scroll or book with the spell inscribed on it and spending 3 Awesome
Points to activate an untrained talent.

31
 Dwarf
You are a stubborn, practical, sturdy, demi-human warrior with a fondness for
craftsmanship and gold.

Inherent Ability—Tough START WITH 3 WOUNDS

Start with 3 Wounds and the ability to spend up to 5 Awesome Points to resist the
effects of magic, disease, or temperature.

Limitation—Short
You are too stubby to use large shields or two-handed weapons. Clothes and armor
must be customized for a dwarven frame.
Attributes, minimum -2. Charm max 4. Commitment max 10.

Signature Item
You have an iron flask with a drink of your clan’s home brew, and if there is so
much as a drop left in it, the flask will refill itself once a day.

Languages. Metrian. Delvish. Delvish. Draconic. Gobbly.

Talents
 Builder Sense.** Constant. Observe as a focus action (upgrade to make the
sense automatic) and automatically detect slanting passages, traps, shifting
walls, and new construction.

 Infravision.** Constant. You can make out vague outlines of walls, floor,
furniture, and so on that are the same temperature even in the dark. You see
heat signatures. Black is cold, blue warmer, up through red, orange, yellow, and
white for very hot. The range is 60’. (Upgrade Range to 90’.) (Upgrade
Darkvision, for better detail of things the same temperature, including the
ability to read in the dark.) (Upgrade Persistence, for penetration, to see heat
through up to 6 inches of obstacles, and signs persisting up to 10 minutes after
a normal shod person passes.)

32
 Elf
You are a slender, graceful demi-human with delicate features and pointed ears, in
love with magic and merriment, easily bored by human civilization.

Inherent Ability—Magelore START WITH 2 WOUNDS

You can learn spells from the Arnaxian Grimore, starting with the First Circle. You
can cast Arnaxian Grimoire spells as a focus action by reading from a scroll or book
with the spell inscribed on it and spending 3 Awesome Points to activate an
untrained talent.

Limitation—Slow Learner
You must spend 30 Awesome Points to level instead of 20.
Attributes, minimum -2. Brawn & Commitment max 6, Awareness & Daring max 10.

Signature Item
You bear a blade from your home settlement, usually a dagger. It glitters in the
presence of orcs.

Languages. Metrian. Filestrian. Gobbly. Ruffish.

Talents
 Fey Resistance.** Constant. You are immune to paralysis from ghouls, and
you can spend up to 1 Awesome Point per your Daring to gain +2 to rolls to
resist magical effects. (Used untrained, spend 3 to activate the talent, then every
additional Awesome Point grants +2 to the roll.) Some magical effects can be
automatically resisted by spending Awesome Points with this talent.

 Infravision.** Constant. You can make out vague outlines of walls, floor,
furniture, and so on that are the same temperature, even in the dark. You see
heat signatures. Black is cold, blue warmer, up through red, orange, yellow, and
white for very hot. The range is 60’. (Upgrade Range to 90’.) (Upgrade
Darkvision, for better detail of things the same temperature, including the
ability to read in the dark.) (Upgrade Persistence, for penetration, to see heat
through up to 6 inches of obstacles, and signs persisting up to 10 minutes after
a normal shod person passes.)

 Sense Secret.** Constant. Observe as a focus action and automatically detect

secret or hidden doors, or patterns in a background, or other clever secrets
relating to architecture or hidden compartments in an object.
33
 Fighter
You are a human trained for battle.

Inherent Ability—Nailed It START WITH 3 WOUNDS

Spend up to 5 Awesome Points to boost a to-hit roll in combat. Each Awesome Point
adds +1 to hit. Spend them after rolling.

Limitation—Haunted
You bear invisible and insubstantial traces of those you’ve killed, wisps in an ever-
growing shroud of bloody darkness in your wake.
Attributes, minimum -2, maximum 8.

Signature Item—Scar
You lost someone. You bear a scar that reminds you of the circumstances somehow.
If telling others of the circumstances could affect your goal in a discussion, or you
or someone else seeing that scar could affect a battle somehow, you may get 1
Awesome Point to spend or give to someone else from the Stack once per
conversation or scene.

Languages. Metrian.

Talents
 Charger. Arena. (Update to Constant.) You can automatically attack after
moving. You get a +2 bonus to hit or inflict +1 Wound, decide after rolling. To
use the talent again, spend 1 Awesome Point or move to another arena first.

 Combat Toughened. Constant. You get +2 Wounds. Your confident

experience with violence gives you a +2 on any Charm check when trying to
talk someone out of fighting.

34
 Halfling
You’re a short, friendly demi-human seeking treasure to gain comforts for home.

Inherent Ability—Sneaky START WITH 1 WOUND

You can vanish into the background, doubling your Cunning to hide or move
quietly if not in direct view. Also, when in nature, you can spend up to 5 Awesome
Points (+2 each) to Cunning rolls to be stealthy.

Limitation—Small
You are too little to use large shields, armor, or two-handed weapons. You also
carry 1 less load than your Brawn.
Attributes, min -2. Brawn & Commitment max 6, Awareness & Cunning max 10.

Signature Item
A lucky rock. You get +2 to hit or +1 Wound when throwing or slinging it. (Stacks
with Accurate.) Decide after rolling.

Languages. Metrian.

Talents
 Accurate.** Constant. When using a ranged attack, you can get +2 to hit or +1
Wound at will. Decide after rolling.

 Dodgy.** Constant. Creatures larger than humans are -2 to hit you in melee
range.

 Quick.** Constant. Add +2 to all Initiative rolls.

35
 Wizard
You are a human trained to cast magic spells.

Inherent Ability—Caster START WITH 1 WOUND

You can learn spells from the Arnaxian Grimore, starting with the First Circle. You
can cast Arnaxian Grimoire spells as a focus action by reading from a scroll or book
with the spell inscribed on it and spending 3 Awesome Points to activate an
untrained talent.

Limitation—Weapon and Armor Restrictions

You may not wear armor, use shields, or wield any weapon save a staff or a dagger.
Attributes, minimum -2, maximum 8.

Signature Item
Grimore. You have a spellbook with the First Circle of Arnaxian spells inscribed
within.

Languages. Metrian. Filestrian.

Talents
 Identify.* (Only available to those with “Caster” or “Magelore” inherent
abilities.) Spend 12 hours (upgrade to 6 hours) to attempt to identify 1 trait of
an enchantment (time halved with access to a decent mystical laboratory) (time
halved by using mystical components equal to 50 gp per use, upgrade to 25 gp
per use). A trait could be a mechanical bonus, a special effect, a built-in talent,
an activation word, number of charges, etc. Test Awareness, difficulty 10; if
there is something to find, it is revealed on a successful roll (up to 3 Awesome
Points can be spent as usual at +2 each) and if failed, or there is nothing more
to discover, results are negative.

 Scribe Magic.* (Only available to those with “Caster” or “Magelore” inherent

abilities.) You can read magic, and write magic, able to copy spells from one
source to another. Each spell level copied costs 3 Awesome Points for known
spells, 6 Awesome Points for spells in a Grimore you know, and 9 Awesome
Points for unfamiliar spells.

 Supernatural Senses.** Constant. Focus action (upgrades to defend action.)

You can concentrate to detect magical or cosmic energy within 120’. (Upgrades
to 240’.)

36
 Thief
You are a human trained in the art of stealing, sneaking, opening locks, and finding
traps without magic.

Inherent Ability—BAckstab START WITH 1 WOUND

If you strike a foe who does not know you are there, you are +4 to hit or inflict x2
Wounds with a light or hand weapon. Decide after rolling. Multiplier affects
Awesome Point boosted damage and extra damage from talents.

Limitation—Travel Light
You may not have armor heavier than light armor or use a shield.
Attributes, minimum -2, maximum 8.
Signature Item
A roll-up pouch with a lock picking kit.
Languages. Metrian. Cantish.
Talents
 Climbing Expert.*Constant. Awesome Points spent to boost climbing grant +4
instead of +2 to the roll.

 Mechanics.* Rested. (Upgrades to Arena.) You can study a mechanism or

portal (usually a focus action) and determine if it is trapped. Another focus
action usually reveals how to disable the trap, which can be done automatically
or require a Cunning roll, variable difficulty. Opening a lock with the
appropriate tools is a Cunning roll, variable difficulty. An Awareness test may
be able to detect signs, vibrations, or energies from magical traps.

 Pickpocket.* Constant. Lift something from a target in melee range. Test

Cunning against the target’s Awareness to take the object without the target
noticing. If you want the object and don’t care if the target knows or not, add
Cunning and Daring together. Targets aware of the attempt can resist with
Daring or Cunning instead of Awareness. Difficulty may be increased by the
object being tied in place, held, secured in layered clothing, etc. In combat, the
attempt happens during the Shoot phase, and you may also Move.

 Ranged Backstab.** Constant. Light or hand ranged weapons get the inherent
ability “Backstab” advantage if conditions apply, in the same arena or an
adjacent arena when attacking from an advantaged position.

 Stealth.* Constant. You can spend up to 5 Awesome Points to move stealthily

or hide (Cunning), or listen for noise (Awareness). You can spend Awesome
Points to notice things on a passive roll if the GM offers. Each point is +2.
37
 Warpriest Canticles
These enchantments are the gift of the Saints to their followers.

First Circle
 Cure. Rested. (Upgrade to Arena.) Cast as a focus action and touch an adjacent
target. The target regains all Wounds. There is no help for a dead target.
UPGRADES
o Cast as a move action.
o Affect any visible target in the same arena.
o If the target is Dying as the spell is cast, the target does not get a scar and
regains a Wound at once.
 If the target was Crippled less than an hour ago, then the target’s
damage is reduced to a scar, and the target regains a Wound at once.

 Light. Rested. (Upgrade to Arena.) Cast as a focus action (upgrade to a move

action.) Light emanates from you (or an object you touch when casting) in a 30’
diameter, bright enough to read by but not as bright as the sun. If cast on a
creature’s eyes, the target cannot see; in combat, that is generally -10 to hit. A
target can resist by rolling higher than you on an opposed Commitment test.
The spell lasts 2 hours (upgrade to 4 hours).

 Protection From Evil. Rested. Cast as a 1 minute chant (upgrade to a Focus

action.) You are clothed in cosmic glimmering. Supernaturally evil creatures
are -1 to hit you, and their attacks are -1 Wound, and you can spend up to 5
Awesome Points resisting any supernatural effect they throw at you.
Summoned and created creatures cannot engage in hand to hand (but can use
missile attacks) but that protection is lost if you attack in hand to hand. The
protection lasts 2 hours (upgrade to 4 hours).

 Purify Food and Water. Rested. Cast as a 1 minute chant (upgrade to a Focus
action.) Food and drink within 10 feet is purified of poison or spoilage or
disease, affecting 12 servings (food is a serving, drink is another serving.)

 Secrets of the Second Circle. You must take this talent to unlock the Second
Circle of spells. Tradition demands that before you do this you have an
apprentice trained up and introduced into the First Circle, and that you have
built or reclaimed a shrine to a Saint, and that you have donated 3,000 gp to the
Order.

38
 Arnaxian Grimore
These spells are the foundation of the wizard’s art. Unless otherwise stated, cast as a
focus action using motions of one free hand or speaking activation phrases.

Upgrading a spell costs the equivalent of 1 talent. If one upgrade has others nested
under it, then that upgrade is a prerequisite for the upgrades under it.

General upgrades that can be taken once for each spell:

o Cast as a move action.
o Cast silently without hand motions.

First Circle
 Best Friend. Rested. Activate the spell within a minute of triggering it while
speaking to a target who is humanoid (elf, human, dwarf, halfling, monsters
under 20 feet tall with humanoid shape who are alive; in unusual cases the GM
may allow use but charge more Awesome Points). The target must be aware of
the attempt to communicate, and the target may resist with an opposed roll
where targets use Daring, Commitment, or Cunning against your Commitment
(you can spend Awesome Points as usual, an actively resisting target may also
spend Awesome Points, but not a target unaware of a magic threat.) An
enchanted target will think you are a best friend and will try to defend you and
help you. If you can communicate, requests will usually be obeyed, unless they
are against the target’s nature (they may be resisted) and orders to commit
suicide or self-harm will usually be refused. Smart or appropriately resistant
targets test to free themselves every dawn, dull or normal targets test once a
week at dawn, and susceptible targets test once a month. Harsh treatment may
allow a roll to resist in an earlier timeframe and give it a bonus. The spell
leaves an after-effect of distaste and humiliation in the target, who is aware of
the spell as it ends.
UPGRADES
o Make memory of actions taken while enchanted hazy.
 Blank memory of actions taken while enchanted out altogether unless
flashes of memory come back over time if the target actively struggles
to piece it all together.
o Remove the automatic detection of the spell as it ends.
o Specifically allow self-harm or suicide in susceptible targets; they get a new
roll to escape the enchantment, but if they fail, they carry out the act.
o Roll Daring or Cunning instead of Commitment to enchant the target.
o Add or subtract romantic feelings.
o Also work on animals, who get a bonus to their rolls of at least +1 per
current Wound.)
o Also work on monsters, who get a bonus to their rolls of at least +1 per
current Wound.)
39
 Communicate. Rested. You can speak to any entity that uses and/or
understands a normal language. Lasts for 20 minutes. Supernaturally inflected
languages may cost 3 Awesome Points to access for communication, and some
languages used by gods and monsters will not be accessible.
UPGRADES
o Also access non-verbal communication like sign language or musical
communication.
 Also access communication by chemicals, scents, spores, color
shifts, etc.
o Lasts for 1 hour.
 Lasts for 1 day.
o Also read languages.
 Read and write nonmagical codes and ciphers. If generating a
code, its difficulty to crack will be 10 + your Cunning.
 Read and write magical codes and ciphers. If generating a
code, it cannot be cracked by mundane means, and magical
attempts have a difficulty of 10 + your Cunning.

 Energy Bolt. Rested. A glowing, insubstantial bolt hits any target less than 3
arenas away and inflicts 2 Wounds.
UPGRADES
o The bolt is invisible.
 The bolt is invisible even to those who can see magic.
o The bolt inflicts 3 Wounds.
o The bolt ignores mundane armor.
 The bolt ignores tough hide, carapace, and natural defenses.
 The bolt ignores defensive spells and magical barriers.
 The bolt destroys 1 level of armor. (On targets larger than human
size, the damage is localized to a human-sized area. The bolt can
target a shield instead of armor.)
o The spell generates two bolts, both with all upgrades. They can aim at
the same target, or different targets.
 Bolts can be combined, only counting against armor once.
 The spell generates three bolts.
 The spell generates four bolts.
 The spell generates five bolts.
o The spell’s range extends to line of sight.
 The spell’s range extends to perception, including scrying.

 Floating Disc. Rested. You create an invisible magical platform about the size
and shape of a small round shield which can carry up to 5 loads of weight. It
cannot be created in another object’s space. It will remain at the height of your
waist, following you within 6 feet. It lasts for 1 hour, vanishing with little
warning and dropping its contents.
UPGRADES
o Carry 7 loads of weight.
40
 o Increase the size to a large shield, also able to add walls around it to
contain material like coins or water.
o Attach it to someone else.
o Control its movements within the same arena as yourself.
o Duration of 4 hours.

 Knockout. Rested. Affect living targets in the same arena. The spell generates
1 magic point per your Commitment, Cunning, or Daring (choose one) and you
can add 1 Awesome Point to add 1 additional magic point, up to a total of
double your attribute. Knock out one minion per magic point, for at least an
hour (or until they are woken up by an external influence.)
UPGRADES
o Also affect targets with more than 1 Wound; those who have Daring or
Commitment ratings can resist by rolling higher than a 10.
 Only magical beings or those with magical protection get a save.
o The knockout is gentle, stealing over the target as drowsiness rather
than a knockout blow; the target is unlikely to realize magic used.
Also, consenting targets automatically succumb and fall into a
dreamless sleep for 6-8 hours unless woken.

 Light. Rested. (Upgrade to Arena.) Cast as a focus action (upgrade to a move

action.) Light emanates from you (or an object you touch when casting) in a 30’
diameter, bright enough to read by but not as bright as the sun. If cast on a
creature’s eyes, the target cannot see; in combat, that is generally -10 to hit. A
target can resist by rolling higher than you on an opposed Commitment test.
The spell lasts 2 hours (upgrade to 4 hours).

 Lock. Rested. Add 10 to the difficulty to breach a portal. (A door, glass pane,
curtain, or similar barrier must be in place to enchant.) If there is already a door
with a lock, its difficulty is bolstered by 10. The aggressor may use Brawn to
batter at an enchanted portal, either using a tool like a ram or taking 1 Wound
per attempt to smash it, succeeding by overcoming the difficulty. Lasts 2 hours.
UPGRADES
o Add 13 to the difficulty instead of 10.
o If the portal is open, a shimmering barrier settles in place.
o Efforts to batter the enchantment cost 2 Wounds.
o Lasts 4 hours.
 Add 1 additional hour per Awesome Point.
 Add 1 day per Awesome Point.
 Add 1 month Awesome Point.
 Every casting is in effect until dispelled.

 Shield. Rested. Generate a floating, dimly glowing magical barrier the size of a
small shield that automatically orients between you and a threat. It moves with
you and penalizes ranged attacks against you -4 to hit, and melee attacks -2.
You can sacrifice it to stop all but 1 incoming Wound from a single attack, or 1
spell. The shield lasts 20 minutes.
41
 Ventriloquism. Rested. You can make the sound of your voice come from
somewhere else, like a statue or animal or person. Range, up to 3 arenas away.
UPGRADES
o Include sounds you can imagine, including audio effects and other
people’s voices.
o Steal the voice of a target in the same arena and make it come from
somewhere besides them; targets can resist with a Commitment test
difficulty 8.
o Magically copy the voice of a target in the same arena, and store the
“template” to speak through with ventriloquism. Store one at a time, to
use at will upon activating the spell.
 Capacity for 1 template voice per Cunning stored in your mind.

42
 Gods of Halemetria
In the beginning there was primordial chaos. The gods emerged to organize the
wool of the world into threads, from which life could be woven; as the world’s
energies were shaped and reshaped, the gods assumed familiar forms to reflect those
who worshiped them.

Halemetria turned from the gods an age ago, instead following the Saints who led
the way to the Light by the path of Virtue. Still, the old gods linger, and are still
worshipped by some, though their power is greatly reduced from when they inspired
their paladins and avatars to roam the land. Here are the best known of the old gods.

They may have holy followers who can draw magic from the old traditions, but that
kind of channel is rare now that Halemetria is protected by the Saints.

Alorn. God of light and civilization, inspired the Saints that now shield the land
from monsters. His paladins were cavaliers infused with Light.

Dolvatch. God of the dwarves, acting through curated bloodlines of rulers and
dedicated to taming the undermountains with unparalleled craftsmanship. His
paladins were defensive vanguards.

Faleeshi. God of flame and darkness, generally worshiped by draconian monster

races.

Filestria. Goddess of magic and elves, a graceful and mysterious figure equally at
home in woodlands and in arcane libraries. Her paladins mixed spellcraft and
archery, performing impossible mystical feats through their longbows.

Khorus. God of war, a brutal and bloody figure whose legacy was to return when
he was forgotten. His pact with Nuzagoth is that the death god got all of Khorus’s
possessions when he was through with them. His paladins were barbaric warriors.

Kluganogg. God-thing of filth, ooze, corruption, and foulness (especially in dark

places.) Primarily worshiped by monsters, a primal essence seeping up towards the
light in all the worst places under the earth. Paladins included oozes, slimes, and
puddings of all kinds.

Lunestra. Goddess of the moon, inspiration, and romance, protector of adventurers

in dark places. Her paladins were bards.

Nuzagoth. God of death, pumping dark animating energy into corpses through a
compact with Khorus in the prehistoric past, patron of necromancers. His paladins
were assassins.

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Silamos. God of shadows, deceit, and scheming. His paladins were elven
shadowdancers, mixing art and stealth to baffle the senses with beauty and
misdirection.

Wingit. God of chance, improvisation, and risk. Little is known about worship of
this enigmatic god, patron of adventurers with poor judgement.

Zeen. God of woodlands and their inhabitants.

Zomok. God of the crossroads, twisted dealmaker famed for giving you what you
want (and then you’re sorry.) Potentially the most powerful god, but powerless
without a consensual contract with its outcome twisted to bring misery to his client.

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 Character Advancement
When you have spent 20 Awesome Points through your character, your
character gains 1 level. You can gain an advantage right then, or save it for later.
Choose one from the list each level.

+1 to an Attribute.
Gain a talent.
Upgrade a talent.
Gain a background.
Learn a language, musical instrument, or art form.
Gain +1 Wound.

 Gaining an attribute. No training is necessary.

 Gain a talent. No training is necessary if it is from your template, otherwise
you need a teacher for at least 24 hours of instruction. (Sometimes training has
been happening in the background.)
o Half your talents must be from your template.
 Upgrade a talent. Look at the section that describes how that is done. Not every
talent upgrades.
 Gain a background. This must fit in with the ongoing story.
 Learn a language, musical instrument, or art form.
 Gain +1 Wound. This stacks with talents and inherent abilities that grant extra
Wounds. You can buy up to 1 more Wound per your base Brawn.

Upon leveling, with DM agreement, you can cash in one advantage to raise
something else, if desired. For example, a fighter who was no longer so honorable
could lower Commitment by one to buy a sneaky combat talent. Characters can
lower one Attribute to raise another, trade out talents, trade talents and attributes,
trade either attributes or talents for languages or Wounds, and so on.

A Note on Balance

Not all character types will be awesome in battle. Some character builds will be
really effective in a narrow context, far outshining other characters. The main focal
point in balancing this game is this: “Can the player have a character that the player
thinks is awesome? Can the character do things the player really wants to do in the
game?” For some players that will be combat, for others it will be customized
magic, for others it will be diplomacy and the domain game.

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 Description of Talents
Talents are abilities the character can use.

Difficulty to Learn. How widely available is the talent?

 Base Template Talents. You can gain talents from your base template without
further training.
 Open Talents. Training for “open talents” is easily located, or spend 3
Awesome Points that do not count towards leveling to automatically “figure it
out” somehow with DM permission. Training generally takes 24 hours of
instruction.
 Restricted Talents.* Gaining “restricted talents” (with 1 asterisk) that are not
on your base template is only possible if the DM agrees, and there are special
circumstances and training (or if the DM allows you to spend 5 Awesome
Points that do not count towards leveling.) Training generally takes 24 hours of
instruction.
 Exclusive Talents.** Training for “exclusive talents” (with 2 asterisks) is not
possible unless the talent is on the character’s base template, or the character is
a spellcaster learning appropriate magic. The DM can make an exception for
extraordinary circumstances, but isn’t required to. Training generally takes 24
hours of instruction minimum.
 Master Talents. You can only get a Master Talent if the attribute base for the
talent is 5 or higher. However, if your attribute is 5+, you can gain the talent
without instruction.
 Occupational Talents. These professions ideally take at least 6 months of
training, but can be mastered in about 2 if the DM is generous. If connecting to
the character’s background, it may be no further down-time training is needed.
They cost 1 talent slot AND 1 attribute slot.

Frequency of Use. How often can the character use the talent?

 Constant. The character can always use this talent, it is available any time its
use is appropriate.
 Arena. The character can use this talent once per arena. If the talent involves
moving between arenas, the talent is reset when it enters a new arena. The
talent is only exhausted in the arena if its use is successful. The talent can be
“recharged” in the same arena by spending 1 Awesome Point as a free action.
The talent automatically recharges when you move out of the arena where you
used it.
 Rested. The character can use this talent successfully once between periods of
rest and nourishment. The talent can be “recharged” between periods of rest by
spending 2 Awesome Points outside combat, or 3 points during combat.
Generally, rest is about 6 hours of sleep and a meal.

Time to Use. Different talents take different amounts of time to use.

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 Free action. This takes no time. If in doubt about when it activates, it is used
on the character’s turn.
 Action. This counts as a ranged attack action, move action, combat action, etc.
 Focus action. This starts in phase 3 and activates in phase 6 of the round if the
character is not injured in that time. The talent is only exhausted if it is
successful. If you are hit while doing a focus action, but not injured, you are not
interrupted.
 Longer. Some talents specify they take a minute, or an hour, or some other
time increment.

Character Building Advice on Talents

 Unusual Upbringing. If the character had an unusual upbringing that the

player wants to emphasize, then the player may ask the DM for access to a
restricted talent from another template at first level, to “get the foot in the door”
and show how the character had access to unusual training. Adding a restricted
talent from another template at first level is a nod to the years of life the
character had before first being played.

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 Improved Talents
Instead of taking a new talent upon gaining a level, a player character can improve a
talent the character already has. Here are the available improvements. Areas that can
be improved are underlined in the talent description.

 Upgrade one time frame—rested to arena, arena to constant.

 Add +1 Wound (damage) for an attack talent.
 Add +1 to hit for an attack talent.
 Add +2 to an attribute roll talent.
 Reduce Awesome Point cost by 1.
 Speed—change a focus action to a shorter action type (default to “move” if not
explained).

Here are some specific guidelines for upgrading talents.

 A talent may be upgraded more than once, but only one of each upgrade type
may be applied to a talent.
 Players must get DM approval before improving a talent, to make sure the
interpretation works for the DM’s game and preferred play style.
 Spell talents may be improved.
 Every talent is not subject to improvement, and that’s fine.
 Improving a base template talent counts as taking a base template talent, when
counting talents towards the cross-template requirement that half a character’s
talents must be from the base template.

Improving talents generally cannot allow these possibilities.

 Adding a penalty to an opponent’s Attribute or combat test.

 Reduce incoming damage.
 Grant Awesome Points to the character through its use automatically (without
player or DM involvement.)
 Increase a player character’s wounds, or improve healing.

If you see this makes a talent more powerful and cooler, and worry about balance,
remember that the player character gave up a whole other talent to improve this
one. And there are some really neat talents out there.

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 Open Talents
Training for “open talents” is easily located, or spend 3 Awesome Points that do not
count towards leveling to automatically “figure it out” somehow with DM
permission. Training generally takes 24 hours of instruction.

 Armor Skill. Constant. Armor counts as 1 load lighter (minimum 0 loads.)

 Butchery. Constant. Small animals can make 2 servings of meat and 3 silver of
hide. Medium animals (half human size) can make 6 servings of meat and 10
silver of hide. Big animals (human size) can make 20 servings of meat and 50
silver of hide. Huge animals can make 60 servings of meat and 150 silver of
hide. It takes about 5 minutes to extract a serving of meat from a corpse, and 5
minutes per silver piece to prepare the hide. Special elements like ivory,
venom, and delicacies can be identified, removed. Adjust guidelines as needed.

 Carousing. Rested. You know how to celebrate in a way that includes

everyone nearby. You start rousing songs, make all jokes funny whether they
are or not, and show people a genuinely good time. Easy come, easy go. You
can buy 1 Awesome Point per 10 gold and create a low-risk environment where
others can do the same. You can allow others or yourself to spend up to 10
Awesome Points (to help level.) This takes at least 6 hours.

 Disarm. Arena. If you successfully Push your target, you can disarm your
opponent instead of moving your opponent. Upgrade to take a target’s weapon
for yourself if you succeed. If you lose the attempt, the target gets a free attack
as though you were impeding the target.

 Escape. Arena. Automatically strike a single impeding character as though you

rolled 8 + Cunning. This talent doesn’t stack with a shield or parrying weapon.

 Fight Dirty. Constant. Any time you roll a 1 on the Face Die, you have pulled
a dirty trick on your target. Maybe you hit them somewhere sensitive besides
the face, or threw sand in the eyes, etc. Add +2 to hit or inflict +1 Wound,
decide after rolling. (You may choose not to use this talent if in a “fair fight”
because it violates whatever code applies.)

 Flattery. Constant. You instinctively sense what they want to hear, and you
have no trouble suppressing your gag reflex and saying it to them. Gain +4 to
Charm attempts when you want to really turn on the flattery—but if you still
fail, then they sense manipulation, and you are then –2 Charm until you get past
the awkwardness somehow.

 Management. Constant. You can automatically manage a number of people

equal to your Charm + Cunning, and a business with monthly business up to
1,000 x Cunning gold. To manage more, you can test Cunning as the DM asks
49
 for it. You are +2 on all social interactions (intimidating, ordering, or inspiring)
with your employees. You are familiar with researching trade laws and working
with governments for permits.

 Paired Weapons. Constant. No longer -1d when fighting with paired weapons.

 Reckless. Arena. When you attack in hand to hand or melee, inflict +1 Wound
by taking 1 Wound of damage yourself as you tear into your target. Awesome
Points and armor do not reduce this damage.

 Roll With It. Arena. Spend 3 Awesome Points to reduce 2 Wounds as they are
inflicted.

 Salute. Arena. Salute a foe who fights like a tough or a monster, as a free
action. For the duration of the fight, you are +2 to hit that foe.

 Shield Skill. Constant. You are not -1d10 when fighting with a shield.

 Sketch Artist. Constant. You can draw glyphs, portraits, statues, etc.— visual
representation as needed given a few minutes to do so. Skilled enough for the
accurate work to be useful.

 Sprinter. Rested. You can lose 1 Wound to cross +1 arena as a Move action.

 Sweeping Blow. Arena. Do +1 Wound when spreading damage between

minions or hitting a swarm.

 Targeted Strike. Arena. Attack as a focus action to get +1 to hit per Cunning.

 Threaten. Arena. Managing the help and your peers requires a grasp of the
subtleties of how to properly threaten them; violence is mundane. Threatening
their freedom or reputation or comfort gets their attention more than offering to
punch them in the face. You can even smile while doing it. Double the Charm
bonus to intimidate.

 Weapon of Choice. Constant. As long as you are wielding a specific weapon,

all your attack dice are Face Dice. If you take up a new weapon, a week of
training will switch this talent advantage to the new weapon. (Used with “Fight
Dirty” this talent allows use of a ten and a one result, but not more than one of
either.) This can be a ranged weapon. If you have a talent that allows your
unarmed attacks to imitate a weapon type, you can choose that unarmed style as
your weapon of choice.

 Whack Swarm. Rested. Do double damage when attacking a swarm.

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 Restricted Talents
Gaining “restricted talents” (with 1 asterisk) that are not on your base template is
only possible if the DM agrees, and there are special circumstances and training (or
if the DM allows you to spend 5 Awesome Points that do not count towards
leveling.) Training generally takes 24 hours of instruction.

 Animal Empathy.* Constant. Upon seeing an animal, you can immediately

tell its mood, the source of any distress or enthusiasm it is experiencing, what it
wants, and its gender. In obscured, swift, indirect, or other difficult cases, an
Awareness test may help uncover these facts.

 Appraise.* Constant. You know quality. Whether it is real estate, food,

furniture, art, gems, or horseflesh, you can quickly assess its base value and
determine the best market for it. Difficult cases or subtleties, or detecting
forgeries, may require an Awareness test. You can often increase the value of
an item when it is sold by 10% by going to the best market for it. Sometimes
more.

 Arsenal.* Constant. You strap blades to your arms, legs, ribs, small of your
back; you can carry as many knives as you want, and they do not count as
weapons carried for encumbrance. If you carry enough knives to count as light
armor, they count as 1 load.

 Balanced.* Constant. Honed sense of spatial relationships grants +2 bonus to

all movement related tests, including Impede and Push.

 Bash.* Arena. Focus action. (Upgrades to Combat action.) If you are wielding
a blunt weapon, you can knock a target unconscious. If you hit, do damage if
you choose to (not required), then test Cunning. If you roll higher than [the
target’s remaining wounds x5, +5 per level of armor on the head], the target is
knocked out for at least a minute. The DM can feed the bowl to increase the
difficulty, or to make a target immune. You get half of those Awesome Points.

 Battle Oath.* Rested. Focus action. Make a solemn vow about a specific
outcome in the current fight. (“I swear I will kill that man.” “She will leave
with me, alive.” “You will not reach the door.”) Gain Commitment x2
Awesome Points to use towards that objective. If you fail to keep your oath,
you must repay the Stack; spent Awesome Points count towards leveling, but
repaid Awesome Points do not. If you fail, you cannot spend Awesome Points
until the Stack is repaid.

 Birdcall.* Constant. You can imitate the calls of various local and exotic birds.
These calls are generally used to communicate basic information and orders
with a minimal risk of detection—those who are proficient detect the bird calls

51
 with an Awareness test difficulty 5, others with difficulty 10, and even then
they don’t understand it.

 Bluff.* Constant. When you are lying or bluffing, use Cunning or Charm. To
detect a bluff, use Cunning or Awareness.

 Book of Power.* Rested. You have a magical tome that is filled with secrets,
spells, and lore. You can spend a few minutes looking through it to find 1
important fact about any given subject. (Without taking the talent, it is much
harder to coax the book to reveal its secrets if you aren’t bonded.)

 Bookie.* Rested. You can lay odds, take bets, hold money, and pay out. You
can work the crowd and keep track of the chaotic tumble of shifting bets during
a fight, race, or whatever. When it is over, your management gets you a share
equal to your Cunning x 1d10 in copper, silver, or gold (as appropriate.) You
can place your own bets too, of course.

 Canny Prey.* Constant. Either a base Awareness test when none would be
allowed, or +2 to a normal Awareness test, to detect traps and ambushes. You
know how to set them, where they should be, and how they work.

 Cartographer.* Constant. You can accurately read and make maps. Upon
studying a map, you may be able to draw one useful conclusion from it that
others would miss. (DM discretion.)

 Cheating.* Constant. You know sleight of hand, dice gripping techniques, and
counting cards. If you want to cheat, add Cunning to your roll. If Cunning is
already part of the game, double it. Others detect the cheat on a Cunning or
Awareness test difficulty 10.

 Classical Education.* Rested. You can know one important fact about a
region, a person, a legend, or some other appropriate subject that may have
been covered in your extensive education. If it is sufficiently obscure, or there
is a backup question, test Awareness.

 Compose.* Rested. Once per level, you can create a song or poem about an
event or an exploit. Crafting and sharing the work of art with other musicians in
a process that takes at least 1 week. In a situation where fame would make a
difference, the DM can call for a roll on a 1d10, modified only by the DM’s
sense of context. On a success, people have heard of those immortalized in
song and verse. Only one song can be created for each adventure arc, but
characters in multiple arcs can witness their legend’s growth.

 Connected.* Rested. Your family has developed networks and friendships and
enemies in a surprisingly broad context. Your signet ring and name may open
doors for you. You may ask the DM for a sympathetic family ally in an

52
 appropriate situation. The DM should then prepare a family enemy for a future
encounter.

 Conversationalist.* Constant. Widely read, you can engage just about anyone
in conversation on something that interests them. Gain +2 on a Charm check.

 Custom Fletching.* Rested. By spending 10 minutes of work with a proper

toolkit per arrow, you can customize your arrows to give you +1 to hit
shooting. Each use of this talent works on up to 20 arrows, given the time and
equipment.

 Demolitions.* Rested. Focus action. You can see load-bearing points and
weaknesses in structures and machines. Test Awareness to make a plan to
bolster or collapse the structure or machine. You may not be able to bolster or
collapse it, but you know how to. This talent allows you to create or use
explosives, siege engines, or forceful water.

 Dodge.* Arena. When hit with a melee attack roll 1d10. If you get 7+, the
attack misses. Take -1 from the roll for every load carried and every level of
armor.

 Driving Attack.* Rested. Attack up to five targets in the same arena. Each
attack after the first costs 1 Awesome Point.

 Educated Poise.* Constant. You relate to nobility and the educated with
comfortable ease, gaining +2 to any attribute needed in social dealings with
them.

 Elusive.* Arena. Focus action. If you can get out of line of sight long enough,
you disappear. Pursuers without special means (like scent ability or magic
tracking) cannot detect you; they only get a roll if the DM feeds the bowl and
gives you half.

 Fancy Footwork.* Arena. If someone impedes you, and you successfully

strike during the Move phase, you can automatically push the target out of the
arena instead of inflicting damage, and also move unimpeded.

 Flashbang Exit.* Arena. During the “Defend or Protect” phase of combat,

cause a distraction with a smoke pellet or other improvised method (any
distraction will do) and move to an adjacent arena. Only those who succeed
with their Awareness vs. your Cunning will see where you went.

 Flexible Truth.* Constant. Years on the margins of society have gifted you
with a talent for reframing a story (or generating one from scratch) in a very
convincing way. Gain +2 to Cunning tests when lying or offering misleading
truths. Gain an additional +1 per absolutely true fact included in the story. This

53
 talent is countered by the target’s Awareness. You automatically keep your
story straight.

 Hail of Projectiles.* Arena. You fling a rapid-fire mass of palm-sized ranged

weapons, gaining +2 to hit or +1 wound damage, choose after rolling to hit.
Attack as a light ranged weapon, 1d10 + Cunning for 1 Wound.

 Healing Touch.* Constant. Spend a focus action on an unconscious ally (not

dying or crippled) to give the ally a Wound and the capacity to rise and fight on
next round. If treating a crippling injury right after the fight (less than 10
minutes after) allow another roll on the critical chart to possibly get less
damaging result. Also, spending 1 hour tending the wounded counts as 6 hours
of bed rest for the wounded, once between periods of rest.

 Herding.* Constant. Combine your attribute bonus with your horse’s attribute
bonus (default +2) when impeding or avoiding being impeded while mounted.
Counter-attacks are at -4 to hit either of you.

 Inventor.* Rested. Every time you level, you can spend a week making a new
and unique invention. You can make 1 invention per level; you don’t have to
make the invention immediately. The invention can grant +1 on a type of roll,
or allow the user to spend Awesome Points up to the level you were when you
built it to create a special effect once before being reset or reloaded. If the user
rolls doubles while using the device, it breaks until you fix it. You can test
Cunning to figure out how an unknown device works. To work out the bugs so
the device can be duplicated in numbers, spend an attribute slot for it upon
leveling. The DM is the final word in using this flexible talent.

 Juggling.* Constant. You can juggle objects equal to your Daring x2 without
needing to roll. Also, +1 to hit when throwing ranged weapons within the same
arena. Jugging between more than one person, the group keeps a number of
objects in the air equal to the lowest capacity juggler.

 Logistician.* Constant. You can pack your gear to reduce it by 1 load

effectively. This works on carried armor, not worn armor. On a group level,
you can increase a group’s travel time by 1/5. On an army level, you can either
increase a column’s speed by 1/5 or increase its carrying capacity by 1/5.

 Long Shot.* Arena. You get the benefit of aiming (+1 arena per Brawn range,
if conditions are right) when using a shoot action with a bow.

 Make It Look Good.* Arena. Strike to disable instead of kill. Instead of doing
Wounds, substitute a penalty of -2 on the target’s to-hit and attribute rolls for
each Wound you would have inflicted. This goes away at the rate of -1 per 30
minutes. GM’s call whether this works on targets otherwise immune to the
attack, much bigger targets, or other complicated circumstances; duration may
be reduced, Awesome Points may be required to get the effect.
54
 Monster Lore.* Rested. You know the “rules” (and habits) for common
monster types, and may remember some obscure monster trivia with an
Awareness test. You may recognize a monster’s “tells” on a successful
Awareness test even if it pretends to be something else.

 Mounted Combat.* Constant. You can fight normally while your horse
undertakes a Protect action, or vice versa. You can shoot from horseback
without penalty.

 Multiple Arrows.* Arena. Focus. You can fire 1 additional arrow per +2
Cunning at once. Roll once to hit, at -1 per additional arrow fired. That roll
counts against all targets. The arrow targets must be in an area no more than 5
feet across. Multiple arrows hitting one target each count as a separate attack to
the target.

 Net of Steel.* Constant. You can use your parrying weapon once per round per
level.

 Poison and Venom.* Constant. Can identify, harvest, handle, appraise, and
brew dangerous substances for ingestion, skin contact, inhalation, or other
unpleasant entry vectors. You can put venom or poison on one or more
weapons. This takes a full minute, or a focus action for a single dose in a rush.
You do not risk poisoning yourself.

 Politician.* Constant. You can see past the immediate consequences to the
long-term implications of political and military decisions. You speak the
special code of politics, understand and offer veiled threats and promises, and
think one thing while saying another. Gain +2 to Awareness and Charm when
understanding or dealing with political situations.

 Ranged Impede.* Arena. You can throw caltrops in half an arena, or use a
reach weapon (that has a long rope or chain) to cover up to half an arena, to
impede someone across a barrier or at a distance. The target can counter-attack
the rope or chain, and hitting it, is freed. A successful impede can also act as a
grapple hook and line if the character is falling but in range of something
stable.

 Rapid Shooting.* Arena. You can fire a bow (not a crossbow) more than once
in the round. This takes a lot of strength. You can get up to 1 extra attack per 2
Brawn (upgrade to get +1 extra attack). Spend 1 Awesome Point for the second
attack, 2 for the third attack, and 3 for the fourth attack (maximum). Upgrade to
reduce the Awesome Point cost for each extra attack by 1.

 Reach Target.* Arena. If you successfully Push those defending a target,

instead of moving them you get a free attack on the target instead.

55
 Read Signs.* Rested. You can connect rising flocks of birds with movement of
foes, estimate forces based on dust columns from marching armies, and predict
the weather for the next 12 hours. Test Awareness to gain a fact from signs in
your surroundings.

 Repair.* Rested. You can fix it. Whether it is the great stone wheel that
operates the ancient gate, or the broken serpentine on a pistol, or a mast
snapped off a ship, or a wall fallen to sappers, you have the know-how to direct
a work crew, delegating as needed. Scale determines time frame; a sailing ship
or wall, 1 day per task. A gate or room, 12 hours. Wagon or door, 6 hours.
Hinges or wheel hubs, 1 hour. Anything smaller, 30 minutes. Halve times with
ideal conditions. Confronted with an unknown device, test Cunning to figure
out how it works. (+2 with “Inventor” also.)

 Scholarly Familiarity.*Constant. You have studied a lot of language roots,

and ancient forms. You can’t read clearly, but you can pick lore out of books,
even if they are in dead or foreign languages. This takes 4 times as long as
normal. You can also read rituals and incantations with enough accuracy, even
if you don’t understand all you’re saying.

 Scholar of Note.* About once per level, you gain enough insight to create a
scholarly work that, if released into the academic community, gains you [100
silver per level when it was earned] and +1 to Charm when dealing with those
who have heard of your work. It takes about a month with the proper resources
to create a scholarly work. (Must have a background in academia, access to a
library, proper languages, etc.)

 Sensitive Spots.* Arena. Striking unarmed or with a light weapon, gain +2 to

hit or +1 Wound. Decide after rolling.

 Show Off.* Arena. Focus action. Strut around and flex, working the crowd;
there must be an appropriate audience (if no one cheers or quakes with fear, this
won’t work). Either heal 1 Wound or gain 2 Awesome Points.

 Stunt Rider.* Constant. As a free action, move around on horseback to face

any direction, hang down on the side, dismount, stand up, transfer horses, or
whatever. If unhorsed, take 1 less Wound from falling.

 Survivor.* Rested. Focus action. You can shrug off 1 Wound (can be used with
Sprinter). Also, halve penalties when you must make a Critical roll to survive.

 Tracking.* Constant. Identify who or what was present, and where they went.
Add difficulty for elapsed time, rain, difficult terrain, and so on. Can test
Awareness to know one important fact about what happened or the state of
those making the tracks. Can be opposed with Cunning.

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 Racial Talents
If you have a character who was a result of a rare pairing of two races, or was
infused with the essence of that race some other way, it can be possible to make
mixed race characters. They generally add “ish” to their race, like “elvish” or
“shortish” (for halflings.) So a dwarf with elven essence might be “an elvish dwarf”
or a “dwarfish elf.” This is more about magic than genetics; in a fantasy world there
are many ways to combine essence with peculiar results. Few communities
normalize this kind of mixing, but they can be found.

Check with the DM for permission, but you may reflect that mixed identity with a
starting talent from another race. Otherwise, these talents are intended for characters
who explore their racial gifts and develop new abilities as a result.

 You can take a racial talent for your starting talent if you are that race, and
otherwise with DM approval.
 They do not count as template or cross-template talents.
 They require no training to learn, only a high enough attribute.

Dwarven Talents
 Compact. Constant. Ignore 1 load of encumbrance from armor, and 1 load of
encumbrance from weapons.

 Drinker. Constant. When drinking, add +5 to Brawn to aid in withstanding

alcohol. Drinking enough alcohol to overindulge (more doses in your system at
once than your Brawn) counts as 6 hours of rest, for purposes of healing, and
counts as a solid meal. This healing can be done once every 12 hours.

 Family Honor. Rested. Bellow your family’s oath or catch-phrase as a free

action to gain +2 on an attribute roll. Given the time needed to chant your full
name and family lineage, you automatically pass a Commitment test (unless
your family is dishonored.)

 Hammer Mastery. Constant. You have learned the depths of interactivity with
kinetic energy transfer, planes and angles, and the creative application of force.
You are +2 to any test using a hammer. In combat, after rolling to hit you can
choose: +2 to hit or +1 Wound.

 Stubborn. Rested. Your people are focused and determined, able to focus all
your strength when challenged. You can add your Commitment and Brawn
together when testing either Commitment or Brawn.

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 Tireless. Rested. Once between periods of sleep you can dig into your body’s
reserves of vitality and count as though you just ate a meal and slept 6 hours
after a few minutes of dozing.

Elven Talents
 Fey Arrows. Arena. Spend 1 Awesome Point on an arrow as you whisper to it.
The arrow will count as magic. After you roll to hit, chose one advantage: +1 to
hit, +1 Wound, or hit incorporeal target.

 Fey Step. Constant. You get +2 to any roll to travel from one arena to another.
You are untrackable and seldom get lost in the woods.

 Focus Archery. Rested. You can hit anything within range with a clear line of
fire when using a longbow. Firing takes a focus action. You do not need sight,
wind can be blowing, there can be any number of distractions. But the arrow
will hit one target.

 Ghost Strike. Arena. You can strike incorporeal targets as though they were
physical. You can use this with a melee weapon or a thrown weapon. Improve
this to ignore physical armor on targets.

 Quickened. Arena. Spend 1 Awesome Point to win initiative. You declare

victory instead of rolling.

Halfling Talents
 Defuse. Rested. When violence threatens, if you can gain a hearing, your small
voice can compel those arguing to test Commitment difficulty 8 to continue
heatedly. Those involved can choose not to test, accepting a cooling of the
situation.

 Hearthmaster. Constant. You have an uncanny relationship with fire. You can
always get a fire started as a focus action if you have flint, steel, and tinder
(unless the DM feeds the bowl, then you may get a Cunning test.) You can also
automatically put out a fire campfire size or smaller as a focus action (unless
the DM feeds the bowl, then you may get a Daring test.)

 Hospitable. Rested. You can make a group feel at ease. With a pack of crackers
and a waterskin, you can use your friendly wit, creative eye, and humor to
create a small restful haven even in dangerous environs like caves or cells. You
can help up to 1 person per your Charm count as Rested in 1 hour, as long as
there is something (however minor or unpleasant) to eat, and a place to stretch
out. You can use this for yourself or include yourself in a group.

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 Sensitive. Constant. You can sense supernatural energy when it is in your
arena. If it is hiding, you can still detect that something is near with a successful
Awareness test. You can tell an item is enchanted by touching it and
concentrating as a focus action. Strong enchantments may not require a focus
action.

 Uppercut. Arena. Your combat training focused on fighting things bigger than
yourself. As long as you can attack upward, you can use a fancy move to gain
+2 to hit or +1 Wound against something bigger than yourself—decide which
after rolling to hit. This stacks with spending Awesome Points for more
damage.

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 Occupational Talents
Civilization has division of labor. People have different jobs, and all contribute
towards the well-being of the community. Most people the characters encounter will
have 1 Wound and 1 talent and not be interested in adventuring; this list helps flesh
out some of those occupational talents.

Characters can get an occupational talent with the DM’s permission.

These talents allow a character to automatically do basic tasks related to the

profession, and do more difficult tasks with an attribute test.

 Animal Trainer. Learn animal behavior, offer rewards and discouragements,

teach commands.
 Apothecary. Identify chemicals, brew potions, make poison, blend healing
salve, make blackpowder.
 Armorer. Repair and craft weapons and armor, both for all shapes of people,
and for mounts.
 Beggar. Survives on coins offered by others. Judge when to push and when to
shrink back. Evaluate who has money, who has compassion.
 Blacksmith. Shoes horses, makes and fixes tools and cookpots, handles metal
and fire.
 Brewer. Takes basic ingredients and makes intoxicating beverages.
 Butler. Runs a noble household, maintains the wine cellar, manages servants.
 Carpenter. Uses wood to make furniture, barrels, wagons, buildings, ships.
Skilled at repair.
 Castellan. Manages a castle; its rations, fortifications, military posture, army,
and so on.
 Priest/Priestess. Offers rites and education from the perspective of a church,
cares for those who need it.
 Cook. Takes basic ingredients on a broad spectrum and makes them into
sustaining food.
 Criminal. Instinctively senses forces of law, shifty judge of character, knows
fences and locks.
 Doctor. Skilled in bandaging injuries, diagnosing ailments, handling healing
chemicals, and surgery.
 Entertainer. Singer, dancer, storyteller, general all-around source of
amusement and good feelings.
 Farmer. Knows about seeds, crops, plant cycles, fertilization, animal care, and
hard, thankless work.
 Fisher. Can handle small boats, mend and use nets and traps, and bait fish. Can
turn fish into food.
 Guard. Used to standing for hours, patrolling, intimidating, keeping the peace,
holding a poker face.

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 Jailer. Brutish, intimidating, dangerous, bullying, repairing locks, evaluating
health, interrogation.
 Laborer. Long experience carrying heavy things and doing heavy work of
various kinds.
 Mason. Skilled with tools, technique, and blueprints for building with stone,
evaluating stonework.
 Merchant. Familiar with appraisal, bartering, managing servants and guards,
charming customers.
 Navigator. Knows constellations and how to steer by the stars, as well as
cartography.
 Sailor. Familiar with ship-board tasks all over a sailing ship, rowing, working
sails, drinking, cursing.
 Scribe. Can read and write, often in several languages, and interpret law,
manage correspondence.
 Servant. Patient and used to demanding masters, carrying out orders and
maintaining tasks.
 Shepherd. Care for and diagnose ailments for herd animals, weather elements,
shear wool, castration.
 Soldier. Endures hardships, is prepared to kill, fight in formation, march long
miles, understands orders, sleeps outside.
 Tanner. Turns dead animals into leather, and leather into clothes, armor,
decorations, and so on.
 Weaver. Knows how to spin thread or yarn and make various cloths and
clothing or hangings.

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 Master Talents
Here are some boundaries for using master talents. These talents are available when
the attribute rises to 5 or more.
 You can take one master talent for each attribute for each point above 4 in the
attribute, if you buy them as you level (instead of template talents, cross-
template talents, occupational talents, additional Wounds, etc.)
 You can take a master talent for your starting talent if you have an attribute at
5.
 They do not count as template or cross-template talents.
 They require no training to learn, only a high enough attribute.
 They cannot be improved.

Awareness
 Anticipate Move. Constant. You can read opponents, anticipating what they
will do. Gain +2 to Initiative and Impede (whether impeding or escaping.)

 Faces and Names. Constant. You never forget a face or a name, and if you
connect them, you can recall them both at once later on. (DM must help.)

 Lie Detector. Constant. Only those with Cunning equal to or higher than your
Awareness have a chance at successfully fooling you with a lie, without using
magic. Others cannot spend Awesome Points to increase their ability to lie to
you.

 Light Sleeper. Constant. If there is a chance you will wake up due to

something happening in your arena or an unusual sound, you will wake. You do
not have to pass a test. Because your system is used to light sleep, you are not
more tired from being roused in this way; as long as the wakefulness is brief,
your sleep is not disrupted.

 Recall Expert. Rested. You have an astonishing memory. If there is a follow-

up Awareness roll to remember something due to a talent, you automatically
pass it and get an additional follow-up roll for more. You can remember any
information you’ve been exposed to (though your recall may not be complete, it
will be helpful.) This includes smells, flavors, symbols, pictures, and text.

 Spyreading. Constant. You can read upside-down text, quickly hidden papers,
and details in dim or fast-moving conditions. Your mind is trained to catch and
hold information of this kind, and you automatically retain anything you see
under these difficult conditions for at least an hour.

Brawn
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 Bashmaster. Constant. Take 1 less Wound from damage that is specifically
bashing. This includes blunt weapons and attempts to batter down doors.

 Dangerous Might. Constant. You can spend an additional 2 Awesome Points

to increase damage by 1. (You can improve damage by 2 Wounds with
Awesome Points instead of maximum 1 Wound. Even if adding 1 Wound costs
less Awesome Points due to another talent, the second Wound costs 2
Awesome Points.)

 Healthy. Constant. Gain +2 Wounds and immunity to normal sickness (unless

the DM feeds the Bowl and gives you half.)

 Heft. Constant. You can carry 1 more load than your Brawn. If you are scantily
clad, you get +2 to Charm tests with those who may be attracted to your
muscular body.

 Powerful Attack. Constant. Your unarmed attack counts as a heavy weapon,

making the most of gripping and twisting with your mighty hands or crushing
with your dense fists.

 Resilient. Constant. You are always -2 on the Critical roll to survive. If you
score a number less than 1, you still have 1 Wound.

Charm
 Bully. Constant. If you use Charm to intimidate someone, gain 1 Awesome
Point.

 Confidante. Constant. If you can get a target talking, the target will reveal
things the target didn’t mean to talk about. Every minute of conversation, test
Charm against the target’s Commitment, Charm, Cunning, or Daring. If you
win, gain another useful statement or line of inquiry.

 Deflect Anger. Constant. If you are confronted by an angry person, pass an

intimidation test using Charm. If you succeed, the angry person is not
intimidated, but the rage is deflected to another target or a counter argument
has made a convincing case for blaming the angry person.

 Empathy. Constant. If you have the same mood as your target (or pretend to
have the same mood) get +2 on Charm tests. On a success, the target believes
you understand their feelings.

 Inspire Loyalty. Constant. You attract henchmen who are loyal to you until
death, regardless of pay or conditions (though abuse may drive them off or
make them disloyal.) You may have 2 Wounds or levels (whichever is higher

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 for those involved) per your Charm. The DM chooses your henchmen, but you
may make requests.

 Recruit. Rested. Gain 1d10 Wounds of followers after an hour of appropriate

activity with them. They will help out for up to 1 hour per your Charm with no
payment, or agree to work for you if you offer them a deal that could be seen as
fair.

 Sympathetic. Constant. You are capable of rendering yourself or someone else

sympathetic. If they have been trained to think of you as an inhuman monster,
you can forge a relationship to seem not so very unlike them after all. This
requires conversation or exchange, and winning an intimidation test of your
Charm against the attribute they choose (they are not intimidated, instead you
are sympathetic). Succeeding on this intimidation test can also serve to forestall
imminent violence, execution, and dismissal from authorities holding you.

Commitment
 Confident. Rested. Faced with a difficult challenge, gain 1d5 Awesome Points
from the Stack. This talent cannot be recharged with Awesome Points.

 Defiant. Constant. Each time you refuse to satisfy the demands of a greater
power than yourself, gain 1 Awesome Point from the Stack.

 Ignore Limits. Constant. Add 1 Wound from sheer will.

 Lend Confidence. Rested. You may give another person up to ½ your

Commitment in Awesome Points from your reserve as the climax of inspiring
them with a speech or symbolic act. This counts as spending them unless the
DM says otherwise.

 Mental Peace. Rested. Spend up to ½ your Commitment in Awesome Points

while meditating for at least an hour. (This is used to speed leveling. The talent
cannot be recharged with Awesome Points.)

 Stubborn. Constant. If you make a decision, no use of non-magic talents or

attributes can change your mind.

 Vow. Constant. When you promise to do something, as long as you are doing
your best to honor your vow you cannot be persuaded to abandon it, even by
magic.

Cunning
 Alternate Identities. Constant. You can maintain in your mind up to 1 other
persona per your Cunning attribute. You keep straight what each persona
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 knows, the plans each persona has, allies and foes, life history, and other
critical information. You can switch between them at will.

 Deadly Attack. Constant. Your unarmed attack may count as a light weapon.

 Disguise Expert. Constant. With a handful of props you can change your
persona to a generic archetype (beggar, guard, merchant, etc.) You use voice
tone, posture, gait, expression, and other acting skill. Only those with Cunning
or Awareness equal to your Cunning can even attempt to see through your
disguise.

 Lend Idea. Constant. You have a talent for conversing with people and giving
them an idea, but leading them to it so they think it is their idea. For them to
realize it was your idea, they must test above [your Cunning x2] with a
Cunning or Awareness test. They don’t have to act on the idea, but they will
think it was theirs and they will consider it.

 Mimic. Constant. You have skill in imitating body language and vocals of
others. Those with Awareness or Cunning less than your Cunning are
automatically fooled.

 Resourceful. Constant. When in danger from a worthy opponent, gain 1d5

Awesome Points from the Stack to help use unexpected methods or means to
strike or escape. Unused Awesome Points are returned to the Stack at the end of
the encounter (whether you succeeded or not.)

Daring
 Counter-Attack. Constant. You are +2 to hit or +1 Wound when counter-
attacking. Decide after rolling.

 Count Coup. Constant. Each time you commit an act of defiance against a
worthy target when there is significant risk, gain up to 3 Awesome Points from
the Stack. DM decides (you should ask for a call on this, the DM is too busy to
remember to give this to you unprompted).

 Dare. Rested. If you dare a target to do something, and the target does not,
attempt to intimidate the target. If you succeed, the target is not intimidated, but
you gain 1 Awesome Point per the target’s Wounds or level, whichever is
higher.

 Fearless. Constant. You are immune to non-magical intimidation, +2 against

magical fear.

 Honed Reflexes. Constant. Instead of rolling, get 10 + Daring when allowed a

Daring test to get out of the way.
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 Inspire. Rested. When you yell a battle cry, those on your side within hearing
are +2 to their Daring tests in the face of the immediate danger, and they can re-
roll if they failed a Daring test the same round or the round before. Your
presence gives allies +1 attribute to resist terror and horror.

 Long Reach. Constant. You may attack in hand to hand as though armed with
a reach weapon.

 Unarmored. Constant. Gain an additional Awesome Point (total 3) each time

you fight in real danger without armor.

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 Combat Round
1. Defend or Protect. Both can counter-attack those that successfully hit you in melee combat.
 Defend: Foes are -2 to hit you. (-4 with a shield.)
 Protect: Attacks in this round that target a chosen friend in your arena attack you instead.
2. Ranged Attack. Attack in your arena or an adjacent arena. Can hold, shoot later in the round.
3. Focus or Impede. Actions that take longer to manage.
 Focus: Announce what you are doing for a focus action; if unharmed by 6, it happens.
 Impede. Prevent someone from leaving the arena you are both in. Brawn, Cunning, or
Daring against their Brawn, Cunning, or Daring. (Both sides choose which they’ll use.)
4. Move or Push. Control the movement of yourself or others.
 Move. Move from the arena you are in to an adjacent arena.
 If Impeded, attack them; if you inflict a Wound, you can move normally.
 Push. Move one or more opponents to an adjacent arena. Use your Brawn, Cunning, or
Daring, vs their Brawn, Cunning, or Daring. Each target after the first, -1.
5. Attack or Assist. Attack anyone in your arena.
o Attack. Roll to hit, using any applicable talents or weapon bonuses.
o Assist. Add 1d10 to the dice rolled by an ally in melee range; the ally keeps the top 2 rolls.
o To shift your action to attack or protect your ally, spend 1 Awesome Point.
6. Focused Events. Focused actions go off. Impeded targets cannot move next round either.
Melee Weapons
+2 to hit in
Type DMG Description
Arena
Light 1 1d10 to hit, add Brawn, Cunning, or Daring. Tight
Hand 1 To hit, roll 3d10 instead of 2d10, ignore lowest.
Reach 1 2d10. Impeding or resisting impeding at +2. Hazardous
Ranged 1 Attack earlier, and adjacent arenas also. (target in) Open
Heavy 2 2d10. Big, so they do more damage. Dense
V. Heavy 3 2d10. Huge, no shield, ignore the first Wound armor soaks.
Unarmed 1d10 to hit, + Brawn, Cunning, or Daring, 0 Wounds, only KO target.
Ranged Weapons +2 to hit targets in open arena. Current/adjacent arena range, or focus further.
Type DMG Description Reload
Light 1 Knife, dart, sling. 1d10 + Brawn, Cunning, or Daring to hit. 1 action to
Hand 1 Light crossbow, shortbow, javelin. 2d10 to hit. load and
Heavy 2 Longbow, spear. 2d10 to hit. shoot
V. Heavy 3 Heavy crossbow. 2d10 to hit. Focus action reload.
 Face Dice. One of the dice rolled to hit is the “face die” and if it comes up a 10 and the character
also hits, then the attack does +1 Wound.
 Parrying Weapon. Pair light, hand, or reach weapon, heavy if Brawn 5+. One fewer 1d10 rolled to
hit. Once a round, get one advantage:
o +2 to hit. Incoming attack -2 to hit. +1 Wound. (Choose after roll.)
 Shield. As parrying, but ignore 1 Wound per incoming attack. Or, sacrifice shield to ignore all but
1 Wound from an attack. Heavy shield can do that twice.
Armor Critical, 1-6 KO. 7-9 Dying. 10-12 Cripple. 13+ Dead.
ATTACK ++ Heavy Heavy Medium Light None
20+ Full Dmg Full Dmg Full Dmg Full Dmg Full Dmg
17-19 -1 Wound
14-16 -2 Wounds -1 Wound
11-13 -3 Wounds -2 Wounds -1 Wound
8-10 -4 Wounds -3 Wounds -2 Wounds -1 Wound
1-7 Miss Miss Miss Miss Miss
Cunning -6 -4 -2
Loads 3 loads 2 loads 1 load
Type Full plate Chain & plate Chain Leather Clothes

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