Introduction: Quickstart

Inspired by Dungeons & Dragons, Powered by the Apocalypse, and Daggerheart, Monsters & Magic (M&M) is a Table Top Role-Playing Game (TTRPG) made for telling narrative-driven stories with just enough crunch. It aims to strike a balance where combat feels both tactical and narrative, with a flow not bogged down in numbers and excessive rolls, and social interactions feel more like a conversation with an occasional roll. It strips down familiar rules to streamline play and adds flexibility to rules you might not expect, with the goal of giving you a fast, fun game play experience. Hope you enjoy!

Creatures & Characters

Player characters, or PCs, are the characters you play as you go throughout the world! PCs all have a lineage, a heritage, and a class. These describe your genetic background (lineage), your skills and training before becoming an adventurer (heritage), and your skills and training as an adventurer (class). Each class has a different theme, and taking a class will give you access to its two core feats—special rules that alter how you can play the game, for instance, granting you access to a Wizard’s spellcasting or a Barbarian’s rage. You can take feats from other classes, too, letting you mix and match to tell your character’s story. Creatures you encounter throughout the game and PCs share most of the same core attributes—ability scores, hit points, armor class, etc… while some options are specifically for PCs.

When you create a character, pick two traits from the lineage you choose and either two common heritages or one rare heritage. If you’d like your parents to be of different lineages, you can choose two lineages and pick your two traits from either lineage, however, you cannot pick two traits that provide the same features, for instance two traits that give you damage resistance, or a bonus to your speed or HP, or special movement.

Ability Scores & Prowess

Like most TTRPGs, M&M uses ability scores to help define a creature and determine the outcome of events. There are four abilities:

Focus

Your ability to think deeply and strategize

Power

Your strength of body and mind

Cunning

Your ability to think and act quickly

Luck

How often fortune swings in your favor

When starting the game, assign each of -1, 0, 1, 2 to an ability. You can then take away a point from 1 ability score to add it to another. You can’t have an ability score less than -2, and you can’t have an ability score greater than 2.

In addition to adding these scores to narrative-relevant rolls, Power is used when making a weapon attack roll, is added to your hit point total, and determines how much you can carry, Cunning is used when making attack rolls with agile weapons and is added to your armor when wearing light or medium armor, and Focus is used when making attack rolls with precise weapons. Luck is also used to determine how many Luck Points you have.

Finally, PCs also have a Prowess score, based on their current tier of play. Prowess describes a player’s overall knowledge and experience, and is equal to their current tier of play plus 1, so a Journeyman character has a Prowess of 2, whereas a Legendary character has a Prowess of 5. A PC’s ability scores can never be higher than their Prowess.

Hit Points, Armor Class, Resistance, & Vulnerability

Hit Points (HP) represent how much physical damage you can take before you start dying. Hit points are determined primarily by your class: fragile classes like Wizards have 12 HP, typical classes like Rogues and Rangers have 15 HP, strong classes like Fighters have 21 HP, and brutish classes like Barbarians have 27 HP. To each of these, you also add your Power, even if it’s negative, so a Wizard with a -1 Power would have 11 HP, and a Barbarian with 2 Power would have 29 HP.

To determine how much damage you take when attacked, characters have an Armor Class (AC). AC is based on a threshold system—you have your base AC, a low threshold, and a high threshold. To determine how many hit points you loose, compare the damage rolled to your thresholds! If it’s below your low threshold, you mark 1-fatigue. If it’s less than your base AC but greater than or equal to your lower threshold, loose 1-HP. If it’s less than your high threshold but greater than or equal to your base, loose 2-HP, and if it’s greater than or equal to your high threshold, loose 3-HP. If any threshold is less than 0, it’s treated as 0. Resistances and vulnerabilities shift the threshold by 1, so if the final damage lands in your base threshold and you have resistance, it’s treated as your low threshold, vulnerable, your high threshold.

If you aren’t wearing armor or you have light armor on, add your Cunning to your base AC, then subtract 4 to get your low threshold and add 5 to get your high threshold. If you’re wearing medium armor, add your Cunning, up to 2, to your base AC, then subtract 3 and add 6 to get your thresholds. Heavy armor doesn’t get your Cunning added, subtract 2 and add 7 to get your thresholds.

As an example, If you’re a Rogue with a 3 Cunning wearing Leather armor, light armor, AC 4, your thresholds would be 3/7/12. If you’re a Barbarian with a 2 Cunning wearing Hide armor, medium armor, AC 5, your thresholds would be 4/7/13—you’re slightly more protected at the low and high end than the Rogue, but your middle range is the same.

Sometimes you’ll be hit by a devastating attack that does damage well above your high threshold: for every 5 points of damage above your high threshold, you loose an additional HP

Fatigue & Exhaustion

Fatigue is used to power you techniques (moves your character knows), spells, feats, and more! Think of it as a “giddyup” pool—you typically don’t need to spend any to do basic things, but spending them can let you deal more damage, make combat move faster, apply conditions, and the like. It’s not a bottomless resource, though!

You have 5 fatigue per level of exhaustion, and 5 levels of exhaustion. Marking fatigue within an exhaustion level has no negative effects, but if you need to mark more fatigue than you have left in your current exhaustion level, you increase your exhaustion level by 1. If you have 0 exhaustion and 3 fatigue marked and need to mark 3 more, mark 2 to get to 5, then instead of marking one more, you increase your exhaustion level to 1 and reset your fatigue to 0. If you had to mark 4 instead of 3, you’d do the same, but you’d mark 1 additional fatigue.

Exhaustion makes it harder for you to succeed in your tasks. Your first level of exhaustion doesn’t negatively effect you, but you take -1 ongoing to your ability checks and saving throws at levels 2 and 3 (non-cumulative), -2 ongoing at 4th level, and -3 ongoing at 5th level. If you need to mark an exhaustion and can’t, you fall unconscious until you finish the equivalent of a long rest.

Luck Points & Doom

Luck Points are a way for your character to bend their luck! Each character has a base pool of Luck Points equal to 1 + LUCK (minimum of 1). You can spend luck points to do one of the following:

Feeling Lucky

Roll a check with advantage

Bend Luck

Increase your success threshold by 1, up to a Strong Hit, or decrease the success threshold of something affecting you (like an attack or a saving throw) by 1, down to a Miss

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 Luck Point)

Change of Luck

Take the spotlight from the current team during combat

Whenever you spend a Luck Point, though, the GM gains a Doom. the GM can use Doom like PCs can use Luck Points, as well as to power monster abilities and advance campaign fronts more quickly.

At the end of a long rest, PCs gain 1 Luck Point if they have fewer Luck Points than their base pool. Any Luck Points above your base pool that you have get transferred to the GM as Doom. They also gain one Doom per player.

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. Low-light vision and darkvision do not have a range—the other senses will all include a range. If a vision has a range, creatures have normal vision for the current lighting conditions beyond the range of their special vision.

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 due to lighting conditions or cover. 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 due to lighting conditions. 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, and tell you what you perceive based on the result. 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 at this speed, provided they can reasonably grip it, and can stay on those surfaces as long as they have one hand free. 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.

When jumping, you can long jump a number of feet equal to five times your +POWER, and high jump a number of feet equal to your +POWER (minimum 0 for each). If you run for at least 10 feet directly prior to either of these, your long jump distance is increased by 5 feet and your high jump distance is increased by 1 foot.

Senses

All player characters are assumed to have normal senses of smell, touch, taste, and hearing. Where senses generally differ is in their vision, with some vision options able to mimic heightened other senses (blindsight mimicking sonar, for instance)

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.

Talents

Talents are a word or phrase that describes a specific set of skills, personality traits, experiences, or aptitudes your character has gained over the course of their life. There’s no set list of talents, but they can’t be too broadly applicable and can’t grant your character a specific mechanical benefit, like spells, special abilities, or senses. Talents like “One-Hit Kill” or “Invincible” are off the table because they imply game-breaking special abilities, while something like “Supergenius” or “Omniskilled” are too broad and could be applied to virtually any roll. Instead, they should be Specific, relevant in key key situations, Earned, through hard work or through your station in life, or Learned, something you could teach others or you’ve picked up from others.

PCs start with 2 talents, and can gain more as the game progresses. When a talent would apply to an ability check, you can substitute one of the d10s you roll with a d12, treating an 11 or a 12 on the die as a 10 for the purposes of determining doubles for a critical hit. If you roll with advantage or disadvantage, you roll an extra d10.

PCs can also gain expertise with a talent. If you have expertise for your talent, you can substitute both d10s with d12s, again treating all 11s and 12s as 10s for the purpose of doubles, and roll an additional d12 for advantage and disadvantage.

Talents cannot be applied to attack rolls or saving throws.

Classes, Feats, & Multiclassing

Feats are what define a PC’s class, effectively special rules PCs can follow that change how they play the game—think a Wizard’s spellcasting or a Barbarian’s rage. Classes all have two core feats, feats that truly define the essence of that class. When you choose a class, you gain those two core feats.

Whenever you level up and can take another feat, you have the option of taking a feat from your class, which will typically enhance the flavor, specialization, or capabilities of your core feats, or choose to take a feat from another class. If you opt for the later, you must first take one of that class’s core feats before you can take a non-core feat, and you can only use portions of a non-core feat that you have access to (for instance, if a non-core feat relies on aspects of both core feats, you can only use the portions for the core feat you have). Make your decisions wisely though, you can only take a total of 6 additional feats!

You can only have one spellcasting feat.

Equipment & Loadouts

Every character starts with proficiency with simple weapons. Some feats will give you additional weapon and armor proficiencies. Gaining a spellcasting feat grants you proficiency with spellcasting foci. If you do not have proficiency with a weapon you’re wielding or armor you’re wearing, you make attack rolls at disadvantage, and you cannot cast spells that require somatic components.

Each character also has two loadouts—sets of equipment that they can quickly and easily swap between. Equipment loadouts can include:

• Either a single primary or secondary weapon or focus, optionally with a shield
• A primary and a secondary weapon
• Two secondary weapons
• A focus and a secondary weapon
• Two foci

In addition, you have an item loadout with a number of small items (potions, spell scrolls, handheld tools, adventuring gear) equal to your Prowess available for easy access. Swapping between equipment loadouts, or using a small item in your item loadout, can be done with the Use Item technique. Armor does not change with loadout, and your loadout cannot require the use of more than two hands.

When you start the game, choose two equipment loadouts (only taking basic weapons, shields, or foci) and either Leather Armor, Hide Armor, or Ring Mail. You get this equipment for free, but may only choose equipment and armor with which you’re proficient. In addition, you get 100 gold that you can spend as you desire on adventuring gear, musical instruments, tools, and packs.

Techniques

Techniques provide characters with options they can take, typically in combat, and are divided into three categories: Basic Techniques, which all creatures know, Advanced Techniques, which an adventurer or creature may have access to and are available from the start of the game, and Rare Techniques, which are very powerful and can only be gained at higher levels or through the course of your story.

Techniques are powered by two things: Action Points (AP, see Combat below) and fatigue. Different techniques cost different amounts of both depending on how powerful they are or how much time and effort it takes to do, for instance, the Help basic technique costs 2 AP, whereas the Move technique costs only 1. Unless a technique says otherwise, you can only use it once per turn. Some techniques will call for you to use another technique, for instance, do something, then strike a creature—this does not count as a usage of the named technique.

Spellcasting

Monsters & Magic has a flexible spellcasting system—instead of preparing spells or using spell slots, spells are built on-the-fly from a combination of cantrips–basic spells–and charms–modifiers to basic spells–and are powered by fatigue, just like techniques. Say you wanted to cast “fireball”, to do so, you’d start with the fire bolt cantrip then combine it with the sphere targeting charm and maybe for fun upcast fire bolt to both deal more damage and apply the Doomed condition on a strong hit. This of course would cost a lot of fatigue, but it’s a lot of “bang for your buck”, so to speak. Charms can apply to multiple cantrips, so if you wanted to call down a hailstorm instead, you’d cast this with water whip. In addition, there are rare charms just like there are rare techniques—these can only be learned as part of your level-up options or through the course of your story. Charms all have one or more tags describing how they modify a cantrip: targeting, effect, trigger, or metamagic—you can only have one of each type of charm attached to a cantrip at once, and charms that have more than one count as both. Additionally, metamagic charms can only be learned and used if you have a specific feat that grants you access to them.

Spellcasters all know a set number of cantrips and charms, and depending on their spellcasting feat will either choose charms spontaneously throughout the day or pick them as part of starting their day. Your spellcasting feat will also tell you what your spellcasting ability is—this is referred to as +SPELL. The Difficulty Class of a spellcaster’s spells is equal to their +SPELL.

Full spellcasters typically know 3 cantrips and a number of charms equal to their spellcasting modifier (+SPELL) plus their Prowess, half casters typically know 2 cantrips and half as many charms.

Cantrips each belong to a different school of magic. Effect charms all also belong to a different school of magic—applying a charm to a cantrip may change its school of magic. The schools of magic are:

School	Typical Effects
Abjuration	Prevents or reverses harmful effects
Conjuration	Transports creatures or objects
Divination	Reveals information
Enchantment	Influences minds
Evocation	Channels energy to create effects that are often destructive
Illusion	Deceives the mind or senses
Necromancy	Manipulates life and death
Transmutation	Transforms creatures or objects

Casting Components

Unless otherwise stated, all spells have three components when you cast them: specific words chanted to call forth the magic, its verbal components, specific movements made to shape the magic, its somatic components, and specific materials used to channel the magic, it’s material components. If a spell does not list a specific material component with a specific price, the material component is typically a spellcaster’s focus.

If you are unable to perform the verbal or somatic portions of casting a spell (like you are bound or gagged, you don’t have at least one hand free, etc…), or you do not have the required material components, you are unable to cast that spell.

Spells also have an AP cost or casting time and a fatigue cost—AP cost or casting time represents how complex a spell is to cast, and fatigue cost is how much energy you need to exert to shape the spell.

Ritual Casting

Some spells have a casting time—those spells are ritual spells, or rituals for short. In order for you to cast a ritual, you must spend its entire casting time performing the verbal and somatic aspects of the spell. Fatigue and material cost for casting a ritual are marked or consumed when you start casting it. If you are interrupted while performing the ritual, you must start from the beginning, paying the fatigue and material cost again.

Spells that neither have a trigger not have an existing casting time can also be cast as a ritual. To do so takes 10 minutes per AP plus 5 minutes per fatigue, minimum of 1 minute. When you cast a spell as a ritual like this, it does not cost you fatigue, and you can upcast it and combine charms as normal. Cantrips cannot be cast as rituals without an attached charm.

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 in-game time, during which time you can swap items in your loadout and take certain downtime activities. You can only rest if you’re in an area of relative safety. Several recovery options spend supplies—a unit of rations and remedies you can buy for 5g, gather during a rest, or earn as treasure.

Your HP is the clock for the adventuring day, not your exhaustion: combat damage costs you HP, while exhaustion mostly fills up from spending fatigue on your abilities. A full day of about 4–5 encounters drains the party’s HP and supplies, with exhaustion as a secondary resource you tap to push harder.

Short Rest

A short rests takes 1 in-game hour during which you can choose two of the following downtime activities—you cannot take more than 3 short rests in a row before taking a long rest:

Tend to Wounds

Spend up to 2 supplies to heal yourself or an ally 1/4 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. The GM may set a DC for this based on the area you’re in

Prepare

Complete a number of tasks available when you prepare equal to your Prowess. One of those tasks can be to prepare yourself for the path ahead—when you do so, describe how you prepare yourself for the path ahead and become prepared for that scenario before your next long rest. If multiple party members prepare for the same thing together, they instead each hold 2 prepared, which can be spent 1

to become prepared for a relevant roll.

Long Rest

A long rest lasts 8 in-game hours and cannot be interrupted by more than 1 hour of strenuous activity (such as combat), during which characters typically eat and sleep. You can choose two of the following downtime activities:

Tend Wounds

Spend supplies to heal yourself or an ally 1/4 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. The GM may set a DC for this based on the area you’re in

Take Watch

Spend 2 hours watching for danger. Make a Focus roll—the GM will tell you what you notice based on the result

Prepare

Complete a number of tasks available when you prepare equal to your Prowess. One of those tasks can be to prepare yourself for the path ahead—when you do so, describe how you prepare yourself for the path ahead and become prepared for that scenario before your next long rest. If multiple party members prepare for the same thing together, they instead each hold 2 prepared, which can be spent 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 a number of tasks available during your daily preparations equal to your Prowess.

Extended Rest

An extended rest lasts for 12 in-game hours and cannot be interrupted by more than 1 hour of strenuous activity (such as combat).

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.

Tiers of Play

There are four tiers of play in M&M, representing your character’s growth from a fledgling to the stuff of legend. They are:

Tier 1: Journeyman

Level 1—You’re just starting out, looking to make a name for yourself. Your Prowess is 2.

Tier 2: Heroic

Levels 2-4—You’ve got a little bit of experience under your belt and made a name for yourself locally. Your Prowess is 3.

Tier 3: Epic

Levels 5-7—You’re known far and wide, your adventures the stories parents tell their children. Your Prowess is 4.

Tier 4: Legendary

Levels 8-10—You’re the stuff of legend, your exploits shaping history itself. Your Prowess is 5.

Ability Checks

In Monsters & Magic, like other TTRPGs, you make rolls to determine the outcome of narrative events where success is not guaranteed. This is called an ability check. M&M uses a threshold system for ability checks—you roll 2d10, add the appropriate ability, and check it against success thresholds: a 10 or below is a miss, an 11-15 is a weak hit, and a 16+ is a strong hit. If you roll doubles and the result after adding your ability is a miss, that becomes a critical miss. Rolled doubles and its a strong hit? That’s now a critical hit! Here’s what that means:

Critical Miss

Failure with complications

Miss

Failure

Weak Hit

Success with complications

Strong Hit

Success

Critical Hit

Success with added benefit

If something tells you to move up or down one step, you’re traversing the threshold system: -1 step from a weak hit becomes a miss, +1 step a strong hit.

There are some additional phrases that you may come across that all mean make a specific kind of ability check:

Skill Check

Ability check with an applicable talent, if you have one.

Attack Roll

Ability check targeting a creature or object within your weapon’s or spell’s range

Saving Throw

Ability check to see if you can withstand something. See saving throws.

Ongoing and Forward

When you have ±X ongoing or forward to a roll, that’s a bonus (or hindrance) that you add to the provided ability check; ongoing is continuous until cleared, forward is for the next roll of that type. For example, if you rolled really well to try and influence a town’s mayor, you may get +2 ongoing to rolls to convince them to help you while you stay on their good side. If, however, you came into the mayor’s office and immediately called them the wrong name before getting to know them, you may take -2 forward to your roll as you start to interact with them.

Ongoing/forward and advantage/disadvantage can stack, and any ongoing/forward you get from multiple sources stacks as well, however, you can never have more that +2 total on a given roll from any combined ongoing/forward.

Advantage & Disadvantage

In addition, you’ll sometimes be asked to roll with advantage or disadvantage—when you do so, you roll an extra 1d10. With advantage, take the 2 highest results, or a set of doubles that would result in a critical success. Disadvantage is the opposite: take the 2 lowest results or a set of doubles that would result in a critical miss. Advantage and disadvantage don’t stack, so 2 advantages and 1 disadvantage don’t work out to 1 advantage, the advantage and disadvantage just cancel each other out.

Saving Throws

Sometimes, instead of testing whether a creature gets hit, you want to test whether a creature can withstand something, like being able to dodge out of the way of a fireball, or resist having their mind probed for information. This is a special kind of ability check called a saving throw. When a saving throw is asked for, the creature being targeted makes the roll instead of the active creature; in the case of the fireball, the goblins being attacked would make a Cunning saving throw, the Wizard wouldn’t make an attack roll. All saving throws have a difficulty class (DC)—in the case of the fireball, the DC equals the Wizard’s spellcasting ability. The DC acts as a negative modifier on the target’s roll, so in this case, the goblin would make a Cunning ability check at -3, if the Wizard’s Focus was 3. Because saving throws typically have their negative consequences happen on a miss instead of a strong hit, the step system is reversed: -1 step for a weak hit on a saving throw becomes a strong hit, +1 step becomes a miss.

To prevent excess rolls from the GM, if multiple non-PC creatures are affected at once, they should roll once and apply each creature’s ability scores individually instead of rolling multiple times.

Combat

When in combat, there is no prescribed turn order, instead, who’s going is determined by what side of combat has the spotlight. Combat typically has a natural narrative beginning—someone flips a chair, throws a punch, or triggers an ambush. When there’s a clear instigator, that side starts with the spotlight, otherwise the players start with the spotlight. That side keeps the spotlight until either every allied creature on that side has gone, they choose to give up the spotlight to the other side, or a player on their side rolls a miss on an attack roll. At the end of a PC’s turn, if they still have the spotlight, they choose who goes next. No creature can go more than once until all creatures have gone at least once—this is called a round. At the start of a round, whoever ended the previous round with the spotlight retains it. As long as it’s not the end of a round, PCs can also spend a Luck Point at the end of a turn to regain the spotlight, or the GM can spend one Doom to do the same. On a critical miss on an attack roll, the spotlight is immediately switched, no waiting until the end of the current creature’s turn. If a technique or ability targets multiple creatures, all attack rolls needs to be misses, or critical misses, for the spotlight to change.

Combat is dangerous: in addition to the normal rules, attacks deal damage on any hit and for weak hits and misses, if either are rolled, the creature(s) being attacked sees an opening and is able to use their reaction to make a 1 AP move. This does not change, and is not affected by, the AP they can use on their turn. On a critical hit, though, double the number of damage dice rolled, or increase the duration of an applied condition by 2 rounds.

Saving throws also have additions to their normal rules: on a weak or strong hit, the creature rolling the saving throw sees an opening and is likewise able to use their reaction to make a 1 AP move. On a critical miss, instead of the spotlight switching, either double the number of damage dice rolled or increase the duration of the condition applied by 2 rounds, attacker’s choice. Just like attack rolls, on a strong hit the spotlight will change at the end of the turn, or immediately for a critical hit. If there are multiple targets, all saves need to be a strong or critical hit for the spotlight to change.

Encounters & Treasure

Every monster has a tier—Easy, Medium, Hard, or Very Hard—and you build encounters by grabbing monsters until their units add up, no arithmetic or budgets required. Each tier is worth a number of units, anchored on Medium = 1 unit:

Tier	Units	Treasure
Easy	½	25g
Medium	1	50g
Hard	2	150g
Very Hard	4	300g

The treasure here represents the total value for the whole party, and should typically be dolled out as 40% gold and gems, 40% crafting material, and 20% consumables.

Action Points

On a creature’s turn, they have a set number of Action Points (AP) that they can spend to do things with—move, attack, help another creature, etc…. PCs typically have 3 AP per turn, whereas monsters, especially more dangerous ones, may have more. You can’t spend more AP in a turn than you have, and unused AP doesn’t carry over to your next turn.

Conditions, Statuses, and Combos

While in combat, you may conditions (negative) or status (positive) modifiers to your ability to act or defend yourself. Unless otherwise noted, whenever you gain one of these, they last until the end of the next round. Some charms allow you to apply a condition or status as long as you concentrate on it, meaning it lasts as long as you use the Concentrate on a Spell technique on your turn for that spell, or until its max duration expires. Whenever you apply the same condition or status again to the same creature, it’s duration is increased by 1 round.

Many conditions or statuses represent escalating danger or power. These represent a chain of conditions or statuses, and allow players, and the GM, to coordinate attacks to produce bigger and better results, comboing off of each other. For conditions and statuses in these chains, applying the same condition again behaves a little bit differently—instead of increasing the duration by 1 round, you can upgrade it to the next item in the chain.

Condition Chains

Slowed -> Impaired -> Stunned Doomed -> Weakened

Status Chains

Hastened -> Quickened Invigorated -> Empowered

When you get to the end of the chain, you have one of two options when you apply the same condition again: either extend its duration by 1 round, or “detonate” it, removing the condition immediately in exchange for a boon. For conditions, the target takes 3 HP of damage of whatever type caused the explosion (or physical, if no damage type specified)—if the attack specifies marking fatigue based on wounds taken, like the Mind Spike cantrip, that happens based on the 3 HP. This entirely bypasses armor thresholds (but not resistance or immunity). If you detonate a status, the target immediately recovers 3 fatigue.

Travel & Environment

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

Environmental Effects

Deep Water

Swimming through deep water (more than 100 feet deep) presents additional challenges because of the water’s pressure and cold temperature. Creatures that lack a Swim Speed must make a POWER saving throw every hour—on a miss, they gain one level of exhaustion, on a weak hit, they become weakened while they stay at depth.

Extreme Cold

When the temperature is 0 degrees Fahrenheit or lower, a creature exposed to the extreme cold must succeed on a POWER saving throw every hour—on a miss, they they gain one level of exhaustion, on a weak hit, they become weakened while they stay exposed. Creatures that have resistance or immunity to Cold damage do not need to make this save.

Extreme Heat

When the temperature is 100 degrees Fahrenheit or higher, a creature exposed to the extreme heat and without drinkable water must succeed on a POWER saving throw every hour—on a miss, they gain one level of exhaustion, on a weak hit, they become weakened while they stay exposed. For every additional hour they stay exposed, the DC increases by 1, starting at 0. Creatures wearing Medium or Heavy armor take -2 ongoing to to their saves, and those with resistance or immunity to Fire damage do not need to make this save.

Frigid Water

A creature can be immersed in frigid water for a number of minutes equal to its POWER before suffering any ill effects. Each additional minute spent in frigid water requires the creature to make a POWER saving throw—on a miss, they gain one level of exhaustion, on a weak hit, they become weakened while they stay in the water.Creatures with resistance or immunity to Cold damage automatically succeed on the save, as do creatures that are naturally adapted to living in ice-cold water.

Heavy Precipitation

Everything within an area of heavy rain or heavy snowfall and beyond 30 feet from a creature is Concealed. Heavy rain also extinguishes open flames.

High Altitude

Traveling at altitudes of 10,000 feet or higher above sea level is taxing for most creatures because of the reduced amount of oxygen in the air. Because of this, travel speeds are reduced by half.

Creatures can become acclimated to a high altitude by spending 30 days or more at this elevation. Creatures can’t become acclimated to elevations above 20,000 feet unless they are native to such environments.

Slippery Ice

Slippery ice is Difficult Terrain. A creature that moves onto slippery ice for the first time on a turn or starts its turn there must make a CUNNING saving throw—on a miss, they become Prone, on a weak hit, they’re instead Slowed.

Strong Wind

Strong wind imposes Disadvantage on ranged attack rolls with weapons. It also extinguishes open flames and disperses fog. A flying creature in a strong wind must land at the end of its turn or fall.

A strong wind in a desert can create a sandstorm, everything beyond 15 feet of a creature is considered Concealed, and everything beyond 50 feet is considered Hidden.

Thin Ice

Thin ice has a weight tolerance of 3d10 Weight per 10-foot-square area. Whenever the total weight on an area of thin ice exceeds its tolerance, the ice in that area breaks. All creatures on broken ice fall through. Below the ice is frigid water.

The Math

There is math behind how everything was created. If you want to make a custom spell or monster, here’s how to do it:

Conditions

Tier	Conditions	Description	Fatigue
T1 (Minor)	hastened, slowed, prepared	single-use micro-buff	1
T2 (Moderate)	protected, sundered, prone, restrained	Defense only or can be self-cleared	1
T3 (Strong)	empowered, weakened, quickened, impaired, invigorated, doomed, invisible, frightened, blinded, charmed, inspired	Persistent mechanical shift with no self-clear, but still allows for actions	2
T4 (Devastating)	stunned, unconscious, petrified	Full action denial	4

inspired is single-use (clear it to gain and immediately spend a Luck Point) rather than a persistent state, but it is priced at T3 (2F): a free Luck Point — advantage, a threshold bend, or a spotlight steal — is a strong-tier effect, not a micro-buff. Generally speaking, if a condition is applied to more than one creature at a time, it costs the full fatigue for the first creature, and then half fatigue for each additional creature.

Conditions typically are applied in one of two ways: if there’s an attack roll, it gets applied automatically on a strong hit, when it’s a saving throw, it’s applied on a miss, sometimes with a lesser, narratively coherent condition applied instead on a weak hit. Attack rolls forcing a creature to make a saving throw to avoid a condition should be exceedingly rare, usually only when it’d apply a T4 condition or a T3 condition that’d last more than the typical one round.