If you have a situational disadvantage on a power roll, the roll has a Bane and you subtract 2 from the result. If you have two or more Banes, this is a Double Bane and the result decreases to the next lowest tier of effects instead.
Edges and Banes cancel each other out.
While you are bleeding, you can’t regain Stamina.
When you take the Charge action, you move up to your speed in a straight line, then make a melee free strike (see Free Strikes) against a creature when you end your move. You can’t shift when you charge.
When you make a power roll as part of an attack or action and the total of the roll is 19 or 20 before adding your characteristic (a natural 19 or natural 20), you score a critical hit. This allows you to immediately take an additional action after resolving the power roll, whether or not it’s your turn and even if you are dazed (see Conditions).
While you are dazed, you can do only one thing on your turn: use a maneuver, use an action, or take a move action. You also can’t use triggered actions, free triggered actions, or free maneuvers.
Range, reach, and movement are all measured in squares on the battle map.
Certain ability effects allow you to move and affect other creatures or objects during that move, such as the shadow’s Blade Dance ability. For such abilities, the move begins in the space you first leave when you begin the move, and ends in the last space you move into.
When your Stamina is 0 or lower, you are dying. While dying, you can’t take the Catch Breath action in combat, and whenever you make a test using Might or Agility, make an attack, or use an action, maneuver, or a triggered action, you lose 1d6 Stamina after the action, maneuver, or triggered action is resolved. This Stamina loss can’t be prevented in any way. While you are dying, your allies can help you spend recoveries in combat, and you can spend Recoveries out of combat as usual.
While your Stamina is lower than 0, if it reaches the negative of your winded value, you die.
If you have a situational advantage on a power roll, the roll has an Edge and you add 2 to the result. If you have two or more Edges, this is a Double Edge and the result increases to the next highest tier of effects instead.
Edges and Banes cancel each other out.
Unless otherwise indicated, any effects that are determined by a power roll result occur after the power roll’s damage has been dealt to all targets.
If an effect ends with “(EoE)” at the end of its description, a creature suffers the effect until the end of the encounter.
If an effect ends with “(EoT)” at the end of its description, a creature suffers the effect until the end of their next turn.
Some actions and maneuvers allow you to push, pull, or slide another creature a specific distance across the battlefield. Collectively, these types of movement are called forced movement:
When you force move a target, you can always move that target fewer squares than the number indicated. For example, when the conduit gets a tier 3 “push 5” result with their Thunder of the Divine ability, they can push targets any distance up to 5 squares, including choosing to not move certain targets at all.
Forced movement ignores difficult terrain and never provokes opportunity attacks. When you force move a target into damaging terrain or into terrain that produces an effect, they are affected as if they had moved into it willingly.
Every creature can make a free strike as an action on their turn, though doing so typically isn’t the most effective choice. Most of the time, you’ll use free strikes when the rules call for it. Specific rules let you use free strikes as part of an action that allows you to also do something else impactful, such as how the Charge action lets you move and use a melee free strike in one action (see Charge).
Many rules and abilities allow heroes to make free strikes when it isn’t their turn, such as the tactician’s Overwatch ability. As well, all characters can make an opportunity attack free strike.
If you are frightened, attacks you make against the source of your fear take a bane. If that source is a creature, their attacks against you gain an edge. You can’t willingly move closer to the source of your fear if you know the location of that source. If you gain the frightened condition from one source while already frightened by a different source, the new condition replaces the old one.
While you are grabbed, your speed is 0, you can’t be force moved, you can’t use the Knockback maneuver, and you take a bane on attacks that don’t target the creature grabbing you. If the creature grabbing you moves, they bring you with them. If the creature’s size is equal to or less than yours, their speed is halved while they have you grabbed.
The creature grabbing you can use a maneuver to move you into an unoccupied space adjacent to them.
The creature grabbing you can end the grab at any time (no action required). You can also attempt to escape being grabbed (see Escape Grab in Combat). If you teleport or if the creature grabbing you is force moved to a space that isn’t adjacent to you, you are no longer grabbed.
Your speed represents the number of squares you can move on the battle map when you use movement on your turn or when another effect allows you to move.
If your power roll dice roll two 10s or a 9 and a 10, the result will automatically be the highest tier of effects.
In combat this is a Critical Hit.
Whenever a creature within the reach of your melee free strike moves out of it without shifting, you can take advantage of their movement to quickly make a melee free strike against them as a free triggered action. This is called an opportunity attack.
If you have a bane or double bane on the power roll against the creature, you can’t make the free strike.
While you are prone, you are flat on the ground, attacks you make take a bane, and melee attacks made against you gain an edge. You must crawl to move along the ground, which costs you 1 additional square of movement for every square you crawl. You can’t climb, jump, swim, or fly while prone. If you are climbing, flying, or jumping while you are knocked prone, you fall.
While prone, you can stand up as a maneuver (see Maneuvers in Combat), unless the ability or effect that imposed the condition says otherwise. You can use a maneuver to make an adjacent prone creature stand up.
See Forced Movement.
See Forced Movement.
Recovers 1/3rd of your max Stamina.
Resistance rolls are special power rolls made to avoid harmful effects from traps, hazards, and other creatures’ attacks and abilities. You don’t decide when it’s time to make a resistance roll. Instead, you make one in response to a dangerous situation when the rules or the Director call for it. The higher the result of the resistance roll, the less harm the effect does to your character.
Some abilities that are used by the heroes’ foes have the target of the ability make a resistance roll instead of the creature using the ability making a power roll. These abilities have the Resistance keyword, indicating that the target rolls to see how well they can resist the ability.
If an effect ends with “([CHARACTERISTIC] resistance ends)” at the end of its description, then a creature suffering the effect can make a resistance roll at the end of your turn to remove the effect. Unless otherwise specified, a resistance roll to end an effect is set up as follows:
Power Roll + [Specified Characteristic]:
• 11 or lower: The effect persists
• 12–16: The effect ends at the end of your next turn
• 17+: The effect ends immediately
Heroes’ abilities don’t apply effects that require resistance rolls, to prevent the Director from doing a lot of tracking and rolling.
A respite is a focused period of rest and recuperation that allows heroes to regain Stamina and Recoveries. During a respite, you must spend 24 hours uninterrupted and doing nothing but sleeping, eating, dressing your wounds, and recuperating. You can also undertake one respite activity
When you finish a respite, you regain all your Recoveries and Stamina, and your Victories convert to Experience. It is best to take a respite in a safe place where you aren’t in a hostile environment or at risk of being attacked. If your respite is interrupted by enemies attacking, an earth tremor, swarms of biting insects, and similar serious distractions, the respite ends early and you don’t gain the benefits for finishing it.
The standard eightish hours of sleep one gets at night doesn’t count as a respite.
While you are restrained, your speed is 0 and you can’t be force moved. Your attacks take a bane, attacks and damaging area powers against you gain an edge, and you have a bane on Might and Agility resistance rolls.
If you teleport while restrained, the condition ends.
When an ability targets multiple creatures, you make one power roll and apply the result to all the creatures you target. If you have edges or banes against some but not all of your targets, you might apply a different tier of result to individual targets.
Whenever you use your move action or when another effect allows you to move, you can instead shift to use up to half the maximum squares of movement the effect allows. Whenever you shift, creatures can’t make opportunity attacks against you during your movement (see Free Strikes).
Certain effects might also allow you to shift a specific number of squares, including many effects that let you shift up to your speed.
A creature’s size indicates how many squares they occupy during combat, which defines the creature’s space. If a creature’s size is 1, they occupy a space of 1 square. If a creature is larger than 1 square, their size equals the number of squares they take up in length, width, and height.
If a creature is a size 1, their size value includes the letter T, S, M, or L, abbreviations of tiny, small, medium, and large respectively. This letter indicates the difference between tiny pixies, small polders, medium humans, and large hakaan, each of which occupy of a space 1 square in combat.
Objects can also have a size rating. If an object has an O (an abbreviation for oblong) next to its size, it indicates that the object’s size isn’t the number of squares the object occupies, but rather it’s relative mass and weight to a creature of equivalent size. If an ability or feature allows you to interact with objects of a certain size that rule includes all objects of that size, oblong or otherwise.
Examples sizes of creatures and objects up to size 5, but there is no limit to what a creature or object’s size could be.
| Size | Example Creature | Example Object |
|---|---|---|
| 1T | Pixie | Potato |
| 1S | Polder | Heavy armor |
| 1M | Human | Wardrobe |
| 1L | Hakaan | Anvil |
| 2 | Ogre | Carriage |
| 3 | Treant | Sailboat |
| 4 | Ancient | Dragon Galley |
| 5 | The Kraken | Castle |
If you have a Skill that would apply to a test, you can add 2 to the power roll.
See Forced Movement.
While you are slowed, your speed is 2 unless it is already lower.
Your value to reduce any forced movement by.
Enemies are trying to deplete each hero’s Stamina value to stop them. Heroes will often need to do the same to the enemies to stop them.
Combat alternates between the Heroes Side (the hero player characters) and the Enemies Side (the director player’s characters). The Director will ask one of the heroes to roll 1d10 to determine which side takes a turn first. Heroes go first on a 6+.
If you are taunted, you have a double bane on attacks that don’t include the creature who taunted you. If you gain the taunted condition from one creature while already taunted by a different creature, the new condition replaces the old one.
When making a test, it has one of three difficulties: easy, medium, or hard. The result of the power roll is compared to the the following tiers of effects.
Easy test outcomes: ✦ 11 or lower: You fail the task. ★ 12-16: You succeed in the task. ✸ 17+: You succeed in the task with a reward.
Medium test outcomes ✦ 11 or lower: You fail the task with a consequence. ★ 12-16: You succeed in the task with a consequence. ✸ 17+: You succeed in the task.
Hard test outcomes ✦ 11 or lower: You fail the task with a consequence. ★ 12-16: You fail the task. ✸ 17+: You succeed in the task.
On your turn, you can take 1 Action, 1 Maneuver, and move your character. You can also choose to take 1 additional Maneuver or movement in place of your Action. You can do these things in any order.
While you are weakened, all your ability power rolls and tests (but not resistance rolls) take a bane.
Your winded value equals half your Stamina maximum. When your Stamina is equal to or less than your winded value, you are winded. Although being winded has no effects on its own, certain ancestry, class, item, and title abilities affect winded creatures.
You can tell when other creatures are winded and vice versa.