Chapter 1: Playing the Game

Dice

Dice are what you roll with! They’re what add randomness to the game and help you determine whether what you’re trying to do will be successful or not. While you may be used to thinking of dice as little six-sided cubes, dice can come with many different numbers of sides!

Round Down

Whenever you need to modify what you’ve rolled, like if you multiply or divide your result, and you’re not left with a whole number, round down. There are some instances where.

Dice Notation

When you’re asked to roll dice, what dice (the number of sides the dice has) is indicated by a d followed by a number—a d6, for instance is a six-sided die, a d20 is a 20-sided die. The number of dice you should use is indicated by a number before the d—if you’re asked to roll 2d6, you’ll be rolling 2 six-sided dice.

If you have a modifier, you’ll add it after the dice you’ve rolled. If you’re rolling 2d6+5, you’ll roll 2 six-sided dice, then take that result and add 5 to it; 1d12-2, and you’ll roll 1 12-sided die, then subtract 2 from it.

Sometimes, you’ll be told to increase or decrease a dice’s size. Changing a dice’s size by one step should change the average you can roll with it by about 1. If you need to decrease the size of 1d6, for instance, you’d instead roll 1d4. Sometimes, though, you’ll need to change the number of dice you roll, not just the number of sides the dice has—increasing 1d12 would become 2d6 instead of 1d14 (which is fairly uncommon). With a typical set of dice, the you’ll generally use the following scale:

1d21d41d61d81d101d122d63d4

Percentile Dice

Some rules may refer to a d100 or a d%; this is a percentile roll. You’re unlikely to find a die with 100 sides, so instead, you should roll 2d10, designating one as the “ones” digit, with two 0s as 100. You may be able to find a d10 that is numbered in increments of 10 to make percentile rolls easier.

Odd Dice Faces

Dice with an odd number of faces, like a d3, are typically hard to find as well. In these cases, if you can find an even faced dice thats twice the odd number you need, in this case a d6, roll that instead, divide the results by two, and round up.

What are Dice Used For?

The most common uses of dice in Monsters & Magic are:

Ability Checks: The 20-sided die (d20) is the most common die you’ll use while playing Monsters & Magic—it’s the die used when you make an ability check, the mechanism to determine whether a creature succeeds or fails when they attempt something.
Damage Rolls: The second most common roll you’ll be making. Instead of rolling 1d20, you’ll be rolling with a die (or dice!) based on what you’re attacking with. Weapons all have a damage die associated with them, as do damage dealing spells. When attacking with a weapon, add the ability you used to make the attack roll with to the weapon’s damage.
Random Tables: Sometimes you’ll be asked to roll on a random table, for instance to determine what kind of loot you’ll find from a monster, or what items a store has in stock. These will each have their own dice associated with them.
Percentage Chances: Rarely, instead of using ability checks or random tables, a rule will say that something has a certain percent chance of happening, for instance a 5% chance. In those instances, roll d% and if the result is equal to or less than what you rolled, you’ve succeeded.

Interpreting die rolls in the story

The fun part of playing Monsters & Magic isn’t rolling dice, it’s telling a story! Think of dice rolls as a narrative device—they can add tension and drama, force you to rethink your strategy, or give you an unexpected boon. Use them to your advantage as you describe what’s taking place in the world around you, helping you drive your story forward. And if you find the dice just aren’t with you one session, you can always put them in dice jail.

Abilities

Every PC in the game has four abilities:

Focus: Your ability to think deeply about a subject, strategize, and connect disparate pieces of information. You can make a focus roll instead of a power roll when you attack with precise weapons.
Power: Your strength of body and mind. You make a power roll when you attack with weapons.
Cunning: Your decisiveness and ability to think and act quickly. You add your cunning to your AC when wearing light or medium armor, and you can make a cunning roll instead of a power roll when you attack with agile weapons.
Luck: How often fortune swings in your favor. You make a luck roll when trying to do something beyond your normal skills and proficiencies.

Unlike PCs, monsters don’t have abilities, instead they gain a flat bonus equal to their challenge rating. See Chapter 9: Monsters for more information on monsters and monster stat blocks.

Ability Checks

Ability Checks are the most common kind of roll you’ll make in Monsters & Magic. When you make an ability check, roll 1d20, add a corresponding ability and any modifiers. The result determines how successful you were in accomplishing your task.

Result	1d20	Description
Critical Hit	Natural 20	You automatically succeed, and some additional beneficial things happens—defer t the GM. This also counts as a strong hit. Gain 1 thread
Strong Hit	18+	You succeed without issue
Weak Hit	10-17	You succeed, but with complications or trouble. Defer to the GM
Miss	< 10	You do not succeed—the GM decides what happens. Gain 1 XP
Critical Miss	Natural 1	You do not succeed. The GM decides what happens and something additional goes wrong. Gain 2 XP and 1 thread

Ability checks sometimes go by more specific names depending on what modifiers you add and their given context:

Skill check: Ability check made with a relevant talent as a modifier.
Attack roll: Ability check made to attack a creature with a spell or weapon, using +POWER for weapons (or optionally +FOCUS for precise weapons and +CUNNING for agile weapons), and +SPELL for spell attacks.
Saving throw: Ability check made with a provided ability to resist an effect.
Focus roll: Ability check made with +FOCUS.
Cunning roll: Ability check made with +CUNNING.
Power roll: Ability check made with +POWER.
Luck roll: Ability check made with +LUCK.

Group Checks

When a group’s success is determined not by an individual’s actions but how they work together, like finding their way out of a jungle, they make a group check. Each creature in the group makes an appropriate ability check, then determines the group’s success by:

Treating a critical miss as two misses and a critical success as two strong hits
For each strong hit, remove once miss
Add up each result, whichever has the highest total is how the group’s done
If there’s a tie, use the lowest of the tied results.

Advantage & Disadvantage

You sometimes have advantage or disadvantage on an ability check; if so, roll 2d20 instead of 1d20—if you have advantage on the roll, use the higher result, disadvantage, the lower result. You can’t have multiple instances of advantage or disadvantage at the same time, and having both at once cancels each other out.

Difficulty Class (DC)

Sometimes an ability check will have a difficulty class (often denoted as DC), which changes the minimum roll you need to score a weak hit. If a saving throw has a DC 12, for instance, you’d need to roll as 12 or better for a weak hit instead of the normal 10. For particularly challenging rolls, a DC may set the minimum you need for a weak hit higher than what you typically need for a strong hit; in that case, you need to roll above the DC for a strong hit, matching the DC would only result in a weak hit.

Effect Steps

If an effect happens at +1 step or -1 step, take the result you’ve rolled and either go up or down the result chart by one step (weak hit to strong hit, for instance). Unless otherwise specified, this cannot turn a strong hit or a miss into a critical hit or a critical miss.

Ongoing, Forward, and Hold

Throughout the game, techniques, spells, or feats may tell you to take +1 ongoing, -1 forward, or to hold 3-things. They are modifiers to the game and will include a description, for instance take +1 ongoing to attack rolls until the end of combat, or +3 forward to your AC, or hold 3-arrows. Each has a different expiration:

Ongoing: A modifier that is applied until the condition described when it was received is met.
Forward: A modifier that ends after it is used, or until the condition described when it was received is met.
Hold: A tracker of charges to be spent that lasts until the condition described when it was received is met or you take a long rest. Whenever you gain hold, it will be of some type (like arrows); hold of the same type stacks when you receive it.

Threads of Fate

Threads of Fate are a special resource that player characters have access to to bend the narrative, influence rolls, or maybe even get out of trouble. You have a number of threads equal to your proficiency bonus. When you spend a thread, choose one:

Feeling Lucky: Make a luck roll and use it instead of an ability check you’ve made, you’ve forced a creature to make, or a creature has made against you (like an attack roll).
Bend Luck: Add +LUCK as a bonus to an ability check you’ve made, or as a penalty to an ability check you’ve forced a creature to make or a creature has made against you (like an attack roll), after it’s been made but before it’s been resolved (like rolling for damage). Negative +LUCK will reduce an ability check you’ve made and increase one made by another creature.
Lucky Find: Add something helpful to the current narrative that you would have been lucky to stumble across, like the key to a locked door or a cipher for an ancient script. The GM may ask you to spend multiple threads depending on your suggestion, or may veto your suggestion (in which case you don’t spend your thread)
Bonds of Fate: Lean into your shared history with another character, letting them add their +BOND with you to their roll, or your +BOND with them to your roll.

At the end of a long rest, you regain 1 thread if you don’t have any. Whenever you roll a critical hit or critical miss, you also regain 1 thread. You can never have more threads of fate than your proficiency bonus.

Whenever you spend a thread (except when granted by being inspired), at the end of a long rest, and whenever you roll a critical hit or a critical miss, the GM also gains 1 thread that they can use to affect the scene, too.

Reroll an ability check and use either result
Use a monster’s thread powered ability
Make an unexpected, or otherwise previously un-telegraphed, change to a scene

Proficiencies

All characters and monsters are good at different things; some may be skilled with a sword, others may be masters of magic. A creature’s proficiency bonus (PB) represents how good they are at the things they’re proficient with. A PC’s proficiency bonus starts at +1 and increases by 1 whenever they reach a new tier of play (see Tiers of Play in Chapter 2). A monster’s proficiency bonus is equal to their Challenge Rating (CR).

It Doesn’t Stack

Your proficiency bonus doesn’t stack. You can never add your bonus to a roll more than once even if multiple sources would have you add it.

Talents

Talents describe a PC’s background before they started adventuring and represent their skills and experience. Whenever an ability check, other than an attack roll or saving throw, would be relevant to one of your talents, you can describe how and add it to your roll; this is called a skill check. A talent’s bonus is equal to your proficiency bonus, plus any increases you’ve made when you’ve chosen to level up. You may have expertise with a talent–if so, double its bonus when used. For more on choosing talents, see Choose Your Talents in Chapter 2.

Equipment Proficiencies

PCs also gain proficiency with different kinds of weapons, armor, and shields. If you have proficiency with the weapon or focus you’re wielding, you can add your proficiency bonus to attack rolls made with it. While you can wear armor or wield a shield if you’re not proficient with them, the AC they provide is halved, and you take -2 ongoing to all ability checks while you do.

All PCss start with proficiency with simple weapons.

While adventuring, how you interact with the world and your fellow adventurers will shape how the world interacts with you. The two mechanisms for this are bonds and reputation

Languages

All creatures are assumed to be able to speak a common language with each other. If you would like to hve specific languages for story reasons, go for it!

Bonds

Bonds are what make you a party of adventurers, not just a random assortment of people, They’re the feelings, thoughts, and shared history that tie you together. You will always have at least one bond, and you’ll often have more.

Each bond is a simple statement that relates you to another PC or NPC, describing an imbalance in your relationship. It can be positive, like helping you through a difficult ordeal, negative, like going back on their word, or neutral, like boasting of a triumph without you seeing proof. Pick something relevant to your last session, your last interaction, or something you know about their reputation. Bonds should include what the imbalance is, as well as an open-ended way for that imbalance to be resolved. Good resolutions should allow for both positive and negative outcomes without dictating specific conditions; think “I need to keep my eye on them”, not “they must do X to regain my trust”. Think of bonds as a stitch in the fabric of your relationship with another character, weaving detail into how you interact, not as the definitive story of how you get along with them. Bonds will look something like the following:

Xavier says they’re working for the benefit of the king, but they don’t seem as committed to the cause as I am.

Gemma really saved my skin from that orc attack. I owe her one.

Urdan ran from battle instead of standing to help us defend the town. He’s proven himself a coward and a liability and needs to be watched.

You start with a bond for each of your companions, built from your Session 0 conversation. As you adventure, you’ll gain bonds with other NPCs. All bonds start at 0. At the end of each session, you can resolve one bond. See Ending a Session.

Reputation

Throughout the course of play, you’ll gain a reputation with the various factions and peoples you come across. Your reputation with everyone generally starts at 0, although your reputation with a new group may be unclear to you when you first interact with them. Whenever you complete a major action that would change how a group feels about you, you either gain, or lose, a point of reputationwith them. Your reputation is an ongoing modifier to social interactions with members of that group as long as the members of that group recognize you.

Exploration

You’re an adventuring party, exploring the world is what you do! This is some of how you’ll interact with the world while you do.

Perception and Detection

Light

Light, and how creatures see, are key to being able explore the world around them.

Bright Light: Full, clear illumination, like being outside on a sunny day.
Dim Light: Limited illumination, like being outside under a full moon without any artificial light sources. Creatures and items in dim light are concealed.
Darkness: No illumination, like being in a room with no windows, doors, or artificial light sources. Creatures and items in darkness are hidden.
Magical Darkness: Darkness that is fueled by magic instead of just a lack of light. It cannot be illuminated through non-magical means and cannot be seen through except by creatures that specifically can pierce it, including by creatures with darkvision.

Senses

With those levels of light come different ways creatures can perceive the world. All vision is described within a certain range, beyond that range they have no extra senses and normal vision for the current lighting conditions apply.

Low-Light Vision: Can see in dim light as if it were bright light.
Darkvision: Can see in dim light as if it were bright light and can see in regular darkness as if it were dim light. Your vision in darkness is in black and white only.
Tremmorsense: Can detect the movement of creatures and object on the same solid surface within the provided range—they cannot benefit from being concealed or hidden, although you cannot make out details.
Blindsight: Can detect the exact location of creatures and objects within the provided range—they cannot benefit from being concealed or hidden, although you cannot make out details.
Truesight: Can see in any lighting condition,including magical darkness, as if it were bright light, as well as see invisible creatures and objects, and see through illusions, within range.

Concealment

Concealed: If a creature or item is concealed, they can still be observed, but it’s more challenging to do so. Ability checks that rely on sight against something concealed are made with -2 ongoing.
Hidden: If a creature or item is hidden, they are only barely perceptible— you may know what space they’re in, but little else. You are blinded while trying to use an ability check that relies on sight against something hidden.
Undetected: If a creature is undetected, you don’t know what space they’re in—treat them as if they were hidden—but the GM will make your ability check in secret for you, with a hidden DC. Undetected creatures are subject to area effects as normal.

Cover

Partial Cover: At least half of your body is behind an ally or an object. Attacks against you are made with -2 ongoing and you gain +2 AC.
Total Cover: All of your body is entirely covered by an ally or an object. You cannot be targeted directly by an attack or spell.

Falling

Falling is dangerous! Try and avoid it! If you fall, take 1d6 damage for each 10 feet you fall. On the material plane, gravity works about the same as it does on Earth, so you’ll fall 580 feet in 1 turn (6 seconds), 2315 feet in 2 turns (about ½ a mile), and 5280 feet in 3 turns (1 mile).

Movement

All creatures have an amount they can move called their speed. This is given in feet per combat around (approximately 6 seconds) and typically refers to how far the creature can walk or roll in heat of action. Creatures, and vehicles, can have other kinds of speeds, too:

Flying Speed: Can fly up to this speed, and can hover in place. Unless otherwise specified, if it becomes restrained or unconscious, it falls.
Climbing Speed: Can climb up vertical surfaces and across ceiling up to this speed. Unless otherwise specified, if it becomes restrained or unconscious, it falls.
Swimming Speed: Can swim through liquids with the same ease as walking on dry land up to this speed. Unless otherwise specified, if it becomes restrained or unconscious, it sinks.
Burrowing Speed: Can burrow through the ground, up to this speed. Unless otherwise specified, it cannot burrow through harder material, like stone or metal.

Ranges Instead of Distances

Don’t like measuring things using feet? Use ranges instead!

Touch Range: Within 5 feet of a creature or object, able to physically touch them.
Close Range: Close enough to touch them with only needing to take a few steps, but no more than 10 feet.
Short Range: Close enough to run over to someone quickly, but no more than 30 feet.
Medium Range: Close enough that you can still make out details in what a creature’s wearing, but no more than 75 feet.
Long Range: Within shouting distance, but no more than 150 feet.

Long-Distance Travel

When traveling long distances, distance is calculated using hexes instead of ranges or speed. Each hex represents about 12 miles.

When traveling, you’ll make a group luck roll to determine what complications arise. A weak hit usually takes the form of a minor complication that can be bypassed by spending resources, like a toll demanding gold, or a rickety old bridge that you need to spend fatigue to cross. A miss should take the form of a major complication, like a bandit patrol you need to get around (or through) or maybe a party member injuring themselves. When traveling over well-traversed routes, like a trade route, the group should typically only need to make one roll per day. When traveling through the wilderness, forging your own path, you may need to make two or more. Whenever you make one of these rolls, mark 2-fatigue.

Overland Travel

When traveling overland, you can typically travel 8 hours before needing to take a long rest. You can’t take a short rest while traveling overland.

There are three speeds you can travel during a typical travel period: fast, normal, and slow. Each speed allows you to cover a different number of hexes and may require you mark exhaustion for traveling at that speed.

Speed	Hexes	Group Check Modifier	Exhaustion
Fast	3	-2 ongoing	2
Normal	2	-	1
Slow	1	+2 ongoing	0

While traveling overland, you can travel on a mount or in a vehicle drawn by pack animals, like a horse or an ox. When doing so, the number of hexes you can cover is increased by 2. When not mounted or in a vehicle and traveling slow, you can forage for supplies by making a group focus roll; on a weak hit, you gain 1 supply and on a strong hit you gain 2 supplies, and creatures gain -2 ongoing to try to track your movement.

Sea and Air Travel

Traveling in a seaworthy or airworthy vehicle is different from traveling overland. They have one speed. Vehicles that don’t solely rely on manual power to move can travel for a full 24 hours uninterrupted. Vehicles that do (like rowboats and keelboats) can only travel up to their travel duration before you need to take a long rest, much like overland travel. You can travel an additional travel duration’s worth of hexes, but doing so gives you +1 exhaustion. Vehicles that travel along a river gain +1 hex of movement when traveling downstream, and lose -1 hex of movement when traveling upstream.

While traveling in a vehicle, you can’t cover your tracks, but you are generally free to do other activities while in transit (provided you aren’t powering its movement).

Vehicle	Terrain	Hexes	Duration
Rowboat	River, Lake	2	8 hours
Keelboat	River, Lake	4	8 hours
Galley	Ocean	8	24 hours
Sailing Ship	Ocean	10	24 hours
Airship	Air	16	24 hours

Weight & Carrying Capacity

While adventuring, you’re going to pick up stuff, and that stuff has weight. How much weight you can lug around is your carrying capacity, and how much you’re currently carrying is your load.

Each 1 weight weighs approximately 5-10 lbs. There are some items, though, that have a negligible effect on your load; they have 0 weight. Other items only have an effect on your load when you’ve got a bunch of them, those are marked as light weight 10 light weight items, in any combination, weighs 1 weight. Some equipment, like a backpack, make it easier to carry more; their weight is negative. Any combination of 1000 gold and gems that don’t have their own weight has 1 weight.

Your carrying capacity is the most you can carry before becoming encumbered and is equal to double your +POWER plus 10. When you’re encumbered, you speed is halved and take you take -1 ongoing to all rolls until you’re no longer encumbered. Your load can never be more than your carrying capacity +3.

Loadout

While your character may carry a number of items with them, the items they have available to use at a moments notice is called their loadout. You can have a number of 0-weight items in your loadout equal to twice your +CUNNING (minimum 1) that you can use as part of the Use Item basic technique.

In addition, each character has two weapon loadouts that they can swap between. Each weapon loadout consists of either a two-handed primary weapon or focus, or a one-handed primary weapon or focus and optional either a one-handed secondary weapon, a shield, or an additional one-handed focus. You can use the Retrieve Item basic technique to swap between your weapon loadouts, and can draw one of your weapon loadouts as part of a technique if you don’t have any weapons currently equipped.

Combat

When all else fails, it’s time for combat!

Order

Combat happens in rounds, each taking approximately 6 seconds to happen. At the start of combat, make a cunning roll; this is your initiative and determines the order in which you act, but is a direct roll without success steps like a normal ability check. Instead, the initiative order starts with the creature rolled the highest, going down from there. If there’s a tie, player characters go first, then monsters. Two or more allies with the same initiative can take their turns interchangeably, but once they take any action, that is considered the start of their turn.

Dynamic Initiative

If you’d like to add a more dynamic feel to combat, at the end of a round, instead of using the same initiative, roll initiative again!

Action Points

When it’s your turn to go in a round, you have 3 Action Points (AP) you can spend to take actions. Techniques, spells, and feats may provide you with actions to take. Each action has an AP cost. Unless otherwise specified, you cannot use the same action more than once per turn. Cantrips and charmed versions of the same cantrip count as different actions for this purpose, as do actions that have you take another action (like moving).

Reactions

Unless otherwise specified, you can also take one reaction. Unlike AP, which you can only use on your turn, reactions can be taken whenever their trigger condition is met. Once you take a reaction, you can’t take another one until the start of your next turn.

Ready an Action

You can also choose to ready an action; when you do so, you choose a specific trigger and spend the appropriate AP for the action you want to make, but wait to resolve it (mark any fatigue or take the action) until the trigger is tripped. In response to the trigger being tripped, you then resolve it. This uses your reaction. If the trigger is not tripped by the start of your next turn, it ends without resolving.

Basic Techniques

Every creature can take use one of these basic techniques as an action on their turn. provided they meet any prerequisites (like being able to cast spells). You may gain other techniques as you progress throughout the game. See Chapter 5: Techniques for full rules on techniques.

Name	Action	Description
Cast a Spell	1 AP	Attack a creature with a charmed cantrip. Total AP depends on the charms used.
Concentrate on a Spell	1 AP	Concentrate on a cast spell. You can use this multiple times per turn, each time you must concentrate on a different spell.
Mount or Dismount	1 AP	Spend half of your total speed to mount or dismount a creature at least one size category larger than you.
Move	1 AP	Move up to your speed. You can use this multiple times per turn, each time you do so, its AP cost is increased by 1.
Retrieve Item	1 AP	Mark 1-fatigue to retrieve an item that's either within close range or that's on your person and not part of your current loadout. As part of this, you can add a number of small items (like potions or daggers) to your current loadout equal to your +CUNNING, provided you have free spots for them. Alternatively, you can use this to swap your current weapon loadout.
Strike	1 AP	Attack a creature with an equipped weapon, dealing the weapon's damage or marking 1-fatigue to inflict 2-fatigue. Alternatively, attack a creature with an uncharmed cantrip. You can use this multiple times per turn, each time you do so, its AP cost is increased by 1.
Use Item	1 AP	Use an item from your current loadout, such as a potion. As part of this action, you can hand the item to another creature within touch range of you, or administer it to an unconscious creature within touch range. If an item has an AP cost to use (like a spell scroll), the AP spent on this technique counts as part of the total AP cost to use.
Aid	2 AP	Lend your aid to another creature that can see or hear you; they recover fatigue equal to your +BOND with them. Increase AP by 1 to use this on an unconscious creature you can touch or to stabilize a dying creature. This can only be used once per short rest per creature.
Disengage	2 AP	Cover yourself, preventing opportunity attacks for the rest of the turn. Optionally mark up to 2-fatigue; for each fatigue you mark, reduce the AP cost by 1.
Distract	2 AP	Mark 1-fatigue to distract a creature within close range of you. Make a cunning roll. On a weak hit, the creature becomes sundered until the start of your next turn, on a strong hit, the next attack against it before the start of your next turn is made with advantage.
Dodge	2 AP	Until the start of your next turn, any attack rolls made against you have disadvantage if you can see the attacker, and you make cunning saving throws with advantage, as long as you aren't incapacitated and have a speed greater than 0.
Grapple	2 AP	Mark 1-fatigue to grapple a creature within touch range. They must make a power saving throw, +POWER DC, On a miss, they become restrained until they are freed. On a weak hit, they become restrained. If you become impaired or stunned, restrained ends.
Hide	2 AP	Make a cunning roll while behind total cover or otherwise out of line of sight; on a weak hit, you become invisible, on a strong hit you also gain advantage on the first attack roll you make against a creature you are invisible from. If you move into line of sight of a creature, you attack, or otherwise make your location known, the invisible status ends on you.
Help	2 AP	Assist a creature in accomplishing a task. They gain a modifier to their next ability check equal to their +BOND with you.
Regroup	3 AP	Clear 2-fatigue. Cannot be used outside of combat.
Opportunity Attack	1 R A creature leaves your melee reach	Strike the triggering creature with your equipped melee weapon or a spell that can be cast at touch range.
Retaliate	1 R A creature within your reach deals damage to you with a weak hit	Inflict 1-fatigue on them.

Attacking & Dealing Damage

If you use an action that has you attack a creature, you’ll target a creature you can see within your weapon or spell’s range and make an appropriate ability check—for weapon attacks, you’ll make a power roll, for spell attacks you’ll roll with +SPELL. On a hit, if you don’t deal a fixed amount of damage or fatigue, roll the damage die or dice associated with your action. Unless otherwise specified, on a weak hit, you deal ½ the rolled or fixed damage or fatigue (minimum 1), on a strong hit, you deal full damage, and on a critical hit, you deal double damage.

If you use an action that forces a creature to make a saving throw, instead of you rolling an attack, the creatures and objects affected by your action makes the saving throw. These actions will include what happen on a miss or a weak hit.

Reach & Range

Some actions will use a phrase like “whin your reach” to describe a distance; this is the range of your equipped weapon and, if unspecified, refers to your equipped melee weapon. If it’s used as a trigger for a reaction and the action has you make an attack, it must be with the equipped weapon, unless otherwise specified. If you do not have a melee weapon equipped, it’s within touch range of yourself (5 feet).

Melee weapons cannot be used at a distance further than touch range, and spells can’t be cast further than their stated range. Ranged weapons, however, can; you can try to attack a creature up to twice your ranged weapon’s range away, making your attack roll with disadvantage if it’s beyond normal reach. Anything further away than twice your ranged weapon’s range cannot be targeted.

Mounted Combat

A willing creature that is at least one size larger than a rider and has the appropriate anatomy can serve as a mount. You can use the Mount or Dismount technique to get on and off of a mount. If you’re on a mount and an effect would force you off of it, make a cunning saving throw—on a miss, you’r thrown from your mount and knocked prone in an unoccupied space within 5 feet of the mount, on a weak hit you can either mark 2-fatigue to stay on your mount or be knocked from your mount to an unoccupied space within 5 feet but land on your feet. You make the same save if you or your mount are knocked prone.

If a mount has been trained to accept a rider, the rider can control it. A controlled mount’s initiative becomes the same as its rider, and it can only use the Move, Dodge, or Disengage techniques. An independent mount—one that lets you ride but ignores your control—retains its own initiative and can move and act as it likes.

Underwater Combat

While underwater, everything has resistance to fire damage. Attacks with are made with disadvantage unless the creature has a swim speed or is riding a mount with a swim speed, and the range of ranged weapons is halved.

Harm & Healing

All creatures in Monsters & Magic have two pools that they draw from, hit points (HP) and fatigue. Hit points are your health and vitality—they represent how much physical punishment a creature can take before they start dying. Fatigue is your physical and mental fortitude—it represents how much energy you can exert before being knocked unconscious. Balancing your use of fatigue as you adventure will be key to keeping you and your party members up and active.

Hit Points

A PC’s hit points are based on their character class, whereas a monster’s is based on their CR and point buy. Whenever something deals damage to you, reduce your current HP by the total damage done.

Armor Class

Some creatures will have an Armor Class (AC), this represents a level of protection they have against incoming damage. Reduce any damage you take by your AC. For PCs, your AC will be based on what armor you’re wearing (see Chapter 7: Equipment); if you’re not wearing armor, or wearing light or medium armor, add your +CUNNING to your AC.

Resistance & Vulnerability

Creatures may have resistance or vulnerability to certain damage types—a red dragon may resist fire damage, for instance, or a water elemental may be vulnerable to lightning damage. After reducing damage by your AC, either cut the remaining damage you’d take by half if it’s of a type you resist, or double it if it’s of a type you’re vulnerable to. Some creatures may be immune to certain damage types; they take no damage from that type.

Temporary Hit Points

You may be granted temporary hit points. Temporary hit points are a hit point pool you reduce from first when taking damage instead of your normal hit point pool. Think of them as an extra boost of vitality. Temporary hit points do not stack, so you cannot gain them from multiple sources.

Fatigue & Exhaustion

Fatigue and exhaustion are two sides of the same coin. You mark fatigue when you take an action that requires extra effort, or something drains your energy, and you can mark a certain amount of fatigue per level of exhaustion, which acts as a ratcheting mechanism to describe how much total energy you’ve got left. All PCs have 5 fatigue and 5 exhaustion, monsters’ fatigue and exhaustion are based on their point buy.

Whenever you need to mark a fatigue and you have none available in your current exhaustion level, mark your next level of exhaustion, reduce the remaining fatigue you need to mark by 1, then reset your fatigue to 0 and continue marking fatigue at your new exhaustion level. While some techniques or spells can let you heal fatigue, healing fatigue can’t reduce your exhaustion level—you can only do that through taking a long rest or through other means that specifically let you reduce exhaustion.

The first exhaustion that’s marked has not effect on your ability to adventure, but further marks do. Following a Fibonacci sequence, your second and third exhaustion bestows a -1 ongoing to all ability checks, the fourth, -2 ongoing, and the fifth -3 ongoing. These penalties are not cumulative with each other, but they do stack on top of any other bonuses or penalties you have, and cannot be negated or reduced in and of themselves other than by reducing your exhaustion.

For monsters, they receive -1 ongoing to all ability checks per level of exhaustion they have.

If you need to mark an exhaustion and don’t have any more to mark, you fall unconscious until you’ve finished a long rest or, for PCs, someone performs an action that lets you recover fatigue.

Death & Dying

If your HP total is reduced to 0, you fall unconscious and prone and start dying. Your goal is to stabilize, which you can do by rolling a strong hit or a critical hit, or accumulating 3-deathsave. When you stabilize, you remain unconscious until you’re healed at least 1 HP or until you’ve finished a long rest.

On your turn, or every 6 seconds, make a luck roll. On a weak hit, hold 1-deathsave, n a strong hit, you stabilize immediately, and on a critical hit you stabilize, heal 1 HP, and recover from being unconscious. On a miss, you mark 1-exhaustion.

If you take damage wile dying, mark 1-exhaustion. If you are healed while dying, your HP is reset to 0 plus the amount you were healed, you stabilize, and you are no longer unconscious. When you stabilize, reset your held deathsave.

While dying, if you need to mark exhaustion and you can’t, you die.

When you die Death themself come to bargain with you. The GM will give you with a deal—a path you need to take, a change you need to make, or something of the like. Either accept the bargain and stabilize, or refuse, seal your fate, and pass on.

Rest & Recovery

There are three kinds of rests you can take as you adventure: a short rest, a long rest, and an extended rest. Each rest takes a certain amount of time, during which you can swap items in your loadout and take certain downtime activities, depending on the rest.

At your GM’s discretion, when you’er able to take shelter in a comfortable setting, you may be able to choose additional downtime activities. Inns, or particularly generous hosts, typically offer food, beverages, and other creature comforts to travelers (like a bath or extra comfy bedding)—these typically give you extra supplies for you to spend during your rest.

Short Rest

A short rest lasts 1 in-game hour. You cannot take more than 3 short rests in a row before taking a long rest. You can choose two of the following downtime activities:

Tend to Wounds: Spend up to 2 supply to heal yourself or an ally ¼ of their total HP per supply spent.
Clear Fatigue: Clear 2 fatigue.
Gather Supplies: Search the area for supplies. Make a focus roll—on a weak hit, gain 1 supply, on a strong hit gain 2 supply.
Prepare: Describe how you prepare yourself for the path ahead. Become prepared for that scenario. If you prepare for the same thing with one or more members of your party, instead you each hold 2-prepared which lasts until you take a long rest, which you can spend 1:1 to become prepared for a relevant roll.

Long Rest

A long rest last 8 in-game hours. You can choose two of the following downtime activities:

Tend to Wounds: Spend supplies to heal yourself or an ally ¼ of their total HP per supply spent.
Clear Fatigue: Clear all fatigue and optionally spend supplies to recover 1 exhaustion per supply.
Gather Supplies: Search the area for supplies. Make a focus roll—on a weak hit, gain 1 supply, on a strong hit gain 2 supply.
Take Watch: Spend 2 hours watching for danger. Make a focus roll against a hidden DC, set by the GM.
Prepare: Describe how you prepare yourself for the path ahead. Become prepared for that scenario. If you prepare for the same thing with one or more members of your party, instead you each hold 2-prepared which lasts until you take a long rest, which you can spend 1:1 to become prepared for a relevant roll.
Work on a Project: With GM approval, pursue a long-term project, such as deciphering an ancient text or crafting a new weapon.
Daily Preparations: Complete items marked as part of your daily preparations

Extended Rest

An extended rest lasts 12 in-game hours and cannot be interrupted by more than 1 hour of strenuous activity (such as combat). You can choose one of the following downtime activities:

Recuperate: Heal all HP, clear all fatigue, and recover 2 exhaustion
Level Up: Reflect on your adventure and advance to the next level, provided you have enough experience to do so
Work on a Project: With GM approval, pursue a long-term project, such as deciphering an ancient text or crafting a new weapon. Countdown twice, with +2 forward for each roll you make towards it.
Get a Job: Find work to earn some gold. This is typically a day job and the amount you earn is up to the GM’s discretion.

Conditions & Statuses

While adventuring, you may be subject to a condition or a status, a positive or negative state that has an effect on you. While conditions and statuses stack, and you can have one that cancels another, you cannot have the same condition or status applied more than once to you. Unless otherwise specified, a condition or status lasts until the end of a creature’s next turn in combat, or after 6 seconds.

Conditions

Conditions are a negative state. While they don’t stack, if you would inflict a condition on a target that already has that same condition, you can choose to either extend the duration by 1 turn or detonate the condition, ending it immediately to deal either 1d10 damage of the same type as your attack, or 3 fatigue, your choice.

Weakened: Your strength has been drained—ability checks are made with -2 ongoing
Sundered: Your armor is less effective—take -2 to your AC.
Impaired: You can’t exert much energy—lose 1 AP at the start of your turn
Stunned: You’re dazed and unable to act—you’re immobile and you can’t spend AP or take reactions.
Doomed: You’re in grave danger—mark 1-fatigue at the start of every turn until you free yourself.
Restrained: You’re being held back—you’re immobile and can’t spend AP until you mark 3-fatigue on your turn to free yourself. If you’re being restrained by a creature, they can mark the same to prevent you from freeing yourself.
Slowed: It’s harder for you to move—movement speed is halved
Prone: You’ve fallen to the ground—you become slowed, can only crawl to move, have disadvantage on attack rolls, and attack rolls against you have advantage if the attacker is within touch range of you and disadvantage if they’re further away. You can end this condition by taking the Move technique to stand up, spending ½ your maximum Speed.
Unconscious: You’re out—you become prone and stunned and are unaware of your surroundings
Frightened: You’re scared for your life—you are weakened while you can see, hear, or feel the source of your fear, and you cannot move closer to the source of your fear.
Blinded: You cannot see—ability checks that rely on sight automatically fail, attack rolls are made against you with advantage, and your attack rolls are made with disadvantage.

Statuses

Statuses are a positive state. While they don’t stack, if you would bestow a status on a target that already has that same status, but whose remaining duration is less than or equal to what you’d bestow, you can choose to either extend the duration by 1 turn or give them +1 forward to their next ability check.

Quickened: You’re ready to go—gain +1 AP at the start of your turn
Empowered: You feel stronger than ever—attack rolls are made with +2 ongoing
Invigorated: It’s tough to tire you out—recover +1 fatigue at the start of your turn
Hastened: You’ve got a pep in your step—movement speed is doubled
Prepared: You’re ready for what comes next—take +2 forward on an appropriate roll
Protected: It’s harder to hurt you—you gain +2 AC while protected.
Inspired: You’re ready to shape your destiny—clear inspired to use a thread of fate without expending one, even if you don’t have one available.
Invisible: You, and everything you’re wearing or carrying is hidden from sight—you become undetected and have advantage on initiative rolls and attack rolls.