Core RulesChapter the First

The New World

Across the Eastern Ocean from the old world lies a broad continent of deep forest, a great river, endless plains, red canyons and inland seas. Elves and dwarves have lived here for as long as anyone remembers. Nearly two centuries ago the ships came, bringing humans and halflings, iron, coin, gunpowder and sickness.

What drew them, and what keeps them, is the Worldsoul: the living breath of the land, which can be worked as magic here and nowhere else.

As the story begins, the continent is on the eve of a war.

Your characters belong to none of these powers, or not entirely.

They are the ones caught between them: a trapper who knows the back trails, an envoy carrying words no one wants to hear, a deserter with a price on their head, a Keeper guarding something old, a seeker just off the boat. Where the great powers move armies, characters like these decide what happens in the places in between.

And War is coming…

The basics

This is a roleplaying game: a story told together around a table. There is no board and no winner. One person runs the world, and everyone else plays a single character in it: a trapper, an envoy, a deserter, a Keeper, a seeker just off the boat. Together you find out what happens to them on the eve of a war.

The players

Each player makes a character and speaks for them: what they say, what they want and what they try to do. A player might say their character slips out of the trading post to look at the canoes, or offers the trapper a drink and asks who came through today. Characters can be brave or careful, honest or not. They grow over many sessions, and some of them will not live to see the war end.

The GM

One player is the game master, or GM. The GM describes the world: the forest, the river, the forts and the people in them. The GM plays everyone the characters meet, from a nervous trapper to a crown officer, and every beast in the woods. The GM sets up the trouble, decides how the world answers what the characters do, and applies the rules fairly.

The conversation

Play goes back and forth. The GM describes the scene, the players say what their characters do, and the GM says what happens next. Most of the time that needs nothing more than talk.

What you need

This book, a character sheet for each player, pencils, and some dice: two six-sided dice for every player, a third six-sided die of a different colour for hit locations, and two ten-sided dice for the occasional percentile roll.

Sessions and adventures

A session is one evening of play. An adventure is one story, such as following a stolen strongbox upriver, and usually takes a few sessions.

When the dice come out

Sometimes during an adventure a character tries something where the outcome is in doubt: a shot across the clearing, a lie told to a suspicious officer, a climb up a rain-slick cliff. When that happens, talk is not enough. The dice decide, and that is the roll.

The roll

Every test is one roll: 2d6 + characteristic + skill rank, succeeding on a total equal to or above the difficulty.

Difficulty	Target	Average, familiar (+3)	Above average, trained (+5)	Roll limit (+9)	With a cap talent (+10)
Very easy	7	92%	97%	97%	97%
Easy	9	72%	92%	97%	97%
Medium	11	42%	72%	97%	97%
Hard	13	17%	42%	92%	97%
Very hard	15	3%	17%	72%	83%
Nearly impossible	17	0%	3%	42%	58%

The 2d6 curve

The 2d6 curve is steep: +1 near the middle is worth about +3 on a d20.

Situational modifiers

Situational modifiers are small bonuses or penalties for the conditions of the moment, such as good tools, poor light, haste or help. Each stays within −2 to +2. Separate modifiers add together, so the total on one roll can go beyond that.

Characteristic and skill rank

Characteristic + skill rank is 9 at most, for every species. A cap talent raises that limit to 10 for one characteristic's skills.

Snake eyes always fails. A roll of 1 and 1 on the two dice fails, whatever the total and whatever the difficulty. No modifier, talent or Luck can turn it into a success.

Opposed rolls

When two characters work against each other, both roll and the higher total wins.

The roll

Each side rolls 2d6 + characteristic + rank in their own skill, with their own talents and modifiers. The difference between the totals is the margin.

Ties

Ties go to the defender, or to whoever is trying to keep things as they are.

Common pairs

Here are some common opposed rolls.

Attempting to...	Opposed by...
Deception	Insight
Stealth	Perception
Intimidation	Resist (Coercion)
Athletics (tug of war)	Athletics
Animal Handling	An animal's Resolve

Passive opposition

When one side is not actively trying, such as a sentry half asleep or a merchant who suspects nothing, only the active side rolls. The difficulty is 7 + the other side's characteristic + rank.

Combat

Combat has its own opposed rolls, such as grappling, Feint and disarming, which follow these rules unless their own section says otherwise.

Helping

One helper or two. A character who helps with a task gives the roller +1. A second helper gives a further +1. More help than that adds nothing.

The helper must be able to do the job. They need at least Familiar rank in an advanced skill, or any rank in a basic one, and must be in a position to help.

Shared risk. If the roll fails by 5 or more, the helpers share whatever goes wrong.

Not for attacks, Resist rolls or casting. Fighting together is covered by Outnumbering, in chapter 8, and casters help each other only with rituals. Help is a modifier, not a talent, so it adds alongside one talent.

Trying again

A failed roll stands. A character may try again only if something changes: more time, better tools, a new approach, or a different character making the attempt.

Each new attempt costs the time and risk of the first, and the GM may raise the difficulty by 2 if the first failure made things worse, such as a guard now on the alert.

Character creation steps

Making a character is done in order, in the steps below. Have a blank character sheet ready, and note each result on it as you go.

1. Choose a species and people. Pick human, elf, dwarf or halfling, then one people of that species, such as the river traders or the canyon dwarves. The species sets your characteristic rolls, Luck and Size. Note the languages you speak: Portage, the tongue of your people and one more (see Languages in chapter 2).
2. Roll your characteristics. Roll each of the ten characteristics as shown for your species, and write the results in the Starting row. Note the caps for your species, the highest each characteristic can ever be raised, but this does not need to be recorded on your character sheet.
3. Choose or roll a career. Roll percentile dice on the career table, or choose any career open to your species. Note the career and its advancement profile, which sets what every later advance costs. Each career is described in chapter 3, Careers.
4. Note your starting skills. You start at Familiar rank (0) in every primary and secondary skill of your career. A human also starts at Familiar in one more basic skill of their choice, from the Adaptable talent.
5. Note your starting talents. You get two species talents free: the one your whole species shares, and one of the two offered by your people.
6. Take your 2 free advances. Add one advance to a primary (1) characteristic of your career (+1), and raise one primary skill from Familiar to Trained (+1).
7. Work out your derived values. Wounds, Movement, both Defences, Initiative and Luck come from your characteristics and species. Fatigue starts at 0.
8. Gather your trappings. Take the trappings listed for your career in chapter 3, plus travelling clothes, flint and steel, and d6 pieces.
9. Pick your starting spells. A Keeper or a Hearthwarden chooses three spells from their magic skill's list: two from the Very easy tier and one from the Easy tier. A Runewright chooses two runes from those tiers instead, one of them the rune on their starting device. Other careers start with no spells. See chapter 11, Spell and rune lists, for more information.

Species and peoples

Every character is one of four species and belongs to one people of that species. See chapter 2, Species and peoples, for more information on each species, its peoples and their species talents.

Species	People	Description
Dwarf	Canyon dwarves	Cliff-town dwellers of the red canyon country, who keep their rune-forges lit behind closed doors under the southern crown.
Dwarf	Shore dwarves	Copper workers of the inland seas, and the first to cut a rune into metal.

Species	People	Description
Elf	Forest elves	The League of five nations in the eastern forest, neutral between the crowns and pressed to choose a side.
Elf	Plains elves	Wealthy horse riders of the western grasslands, at home with the newcomers' coin and manners.
Elf	River elves	The secretive boat-clans of the great river, descended from the builders of the empty mound cities.

Species	People	Description
Halfling	Halfling homesteads	Quiet farmers who bought their land fairly and want to be left alone on it.

Species	People	Description
Human	Charter colonies	Farmers, traders and militia of the eastern shore, spreading west on royal charters.
Human	Merchant company	Factors and agents who trade with anyone and want to own the Worldsoul.
Human	River traders	Fur traders who live, trade and marry among the nations along the northern rivers.
Human	Seekers	Newcomers from every nation of the old world, drawn by the promise of real magic.
Human	Southern crown	The first crown to arrive. It mints the continent's coin and forbids the Worldsoul.

Characteristics

There are ten characteristics.

Abbr	Characteristic	Covers
MS	Melee Skill	Aptitude in hand-to-hand fighting
RS	Ranged Skill	Aptitude with thrown and missile weapons
MIG	Might	Strength; adds to melee damage
AGI	Agility	Whole-body movement, defence, initiative; adds to damage with most ranged weapons and light melee weapons
END	Endurance	Physical resistance; soaks damage
INT	Intellect	Slow reasoning and knowledge
WIT	Wits	Perception and thinking under pressure
RES	Resolve	Mental resistance
PRE	Presence	Active influence; persuade, deceive, command, intimidate
APP	Appearance	Passive reaction from others; no skills

The table below uses Might as its example, and the creature examples in it are Might scores. Every other characteristic follows the same scale: 3 is an average human and 6 is the human peak. Some species can reach 7 in their strongest characteristics, and creatures can go higher still.

Might	Meaning
1	Below the human starting range.
2	Low for a human
3	Average human
4	High for a human; best starting score
5	Exceptional
6	Human peak
7-8	Might of a crown stag, moss bear or riding horse.
9-10	Might of an old tusker
11+	Beyond any creature known on the frontier

Starting characteristics

Rolling. Roll each characteristic as shown for your species in the table below. Humans roll d3+1 for all ten, giving 2 to 4 with an average of 3. Other species roll d3, d3+1 or d3+2, depending on the characteristic.

Recording. Write each result in the Starting row on the character sheet. The sheet tracks three rows: Starting, Career bonus (advances bought) and Current.

What the scores mean. Humans run 2 to 6 and creatures can go far higher. The full score always adds to a roll, however high.

	Human	Elf	Dwarf	Halfling
Melee Skill	d3+1	d3+1	d3+2	d3
Ranged Skill	d3+1	d3+2	d3	d3+2
Might	d3+1	d3+1	d3+2	d3
Agility	d3+1	d3+2	d3	d3+2
Endurance	d3+1	d3	d3+2	d3
Intellect	d3+1	d3+1	d3+1	d3+1
Wits	d3+1	d3+1	d3+1	d3+1
Resolve	d3+1	d3+1	d3+2	d3+1
Presence	d3+1	d3+1	d3	d3+2
Appearance	d3+1	d3+2	d3	d3+1
Luck	3	1	2	4
Size	Medium	Medium	Medium	Small

Career

To find a career at random, roll two d10s as a percentile: one die is the tens and the other the units, and a roll of 00 counts as 100. Read the result in your species' column. A player may always choose instead, from any career that is not marked None for their species.

Career	Human	Elf	Dwarf	Halfling
Acrobat	01-03	01-04	01	01-05
Antiquarian	04-06	05-08	02-06	06-08
Barber-Surgeon	07-10	09-10	07-10	09-13
Bowman	11-12	11-22	11	14-17
Charlatan	13-16	23-24	12-13	18-23
Duellist	17-19	25-28	14-15	24
Envoy	20-22	29-35	16-20	25-29
Hearthwarden	23	36	21	30-37
Highwayman	24-27	37-38	22-23	38-40
Housebreaker	28-31	39-40	24-26	41-47
Keeper	32	41-48	27	48
Lancer	33-35	49-54	28	None
Minstrel	36-39	55-60	29-31	49-55
Pilgrim	40-43	61-64	32-36	56-61
Powderman	44-47	None	None	62-63
Privateer	48-52	65-66	37-40	64-66
Prizefighter	53-56	67	41-47	67
Raider	57-58	68-73	48-56	None
Rifleman	59-63	None	None	68-71
Runewright	64	74	57-64	72
Soldier	65-72	75-77	65-74	73-74
Surveyor	73-77	78-80	75-80	75-79
Sworn Guard	78-82	81-84	81-89	80-81
Thief-Taker	83-86	85-86	90-93	82-85
Trapper	87-91	87-93	94-97	86-92
Witchfinder	92-94	None	None	93
Woods Runner	95-00	94-00	98-00	94-00

Note your career and its advancement profile on your character sheet. The profile is the line of cost multipliers beside the career's name in chapter 4, Careers.

Closed careers. Elves and dwarves never took up gunpowder, so neither can be a Powderman or a Rifleman, and neither serves as a Witchfinder. Halflings are too small to be Lancers or Raiders.

The three magic careers are open to every species but are rare outside the people whose tradition it is, because a teacher is hard to find.

Each career is described in full in chapter 4, Careers.

Starting skills

A new character starts at Familiar rank (0) in every primary and secondary skill of their first career. Where the career lists a skill as (all), that means every group of the skill.

Humans also start at Familiar in one more skill, from the Adaptable talent: any basic skill, or basic group of a grouped skill, that is not on their first career's lists. It is still a skill outside the career, so later ranks in it cost triple.

Entering a later career gives no starting ranks. See Changing career in chapter 3, Careers.

Skill descriptions and the rules for skills are in chapter 4, Skills.

Starting talents

A new character starts with two species talents, free: the one shared by their whole species, and one of the two listed for their people. See chapter 2, Species and peoples.

Every other talent must be bought with experience.

Talent descriptions and the rules for talents are in chapter 5, Talents.

Starting advances

A new character gets one free advance (+1) in a primary (1) characteristic from their first career.

A new character also gets one free advance in a single primary skill of their first career, raising it from Familiar (0) to Trained (+1).

The free advances count as bought. The next advance in that characteristic, its second, costs the normal amount for a second advance, and the next rank in that skill, Expert (+2), costs the normal amount for Expert. See chapter 7, Advancement.

Entering a later career gives no free advances. See Changing career in chapter 3, Careers.

Derived values

Work out these values and record them on the character sheet. How each one is used is explained later in the rules.

Value	Formula	What it is
Wounds	(Endurance + Resolve) x 2	How much harm the character can take before suffering critical wounds.
Movement	3 + Agility, or 2 + Agility for halflings	How many paces the character covers with one Move action.
Melee Defence	7 + Melee Skill + half Agility, rounded down	The total a melee attack roll must reach to hit the character.
Ranged Defence	8 + Agility	The total a ranged attack roll must reach to hit the character.
Initiative	Agility, highest first, no roll	When the character acts in each round of a fight.
Luck	Human 3, Elf 1, Dwarf 2, Halfling 4; refills each session	Points to spend to add to your roll. See the next page for rules on spending Luck.
Fatigue	Starts at 0. Each fight adds 1, whether you fight, cast spells or both. Outside a fight, each spell after the first in a scene adds 1, and rituals add ritual Fatigue. See Fatigue in chapter 9, Injury and recovery, for more details.	Physical and mental tiredness, which builds up and weakens casting and attacks until the character rests.

Luck

Luck is a derived value, like Movement and the Defences, and is not one of the ten characteristics. Its value is set by species. It is a pool of points to spend, not a score that adds to rolls.

Spending Luck. Spend 1 Luck to add +1 to a roll you make. You may spend several points on one roll.

After the roll. Luck is spent after the dice are seen.

Limits. Luck is outside the roll limit and the one-talent-per-roll rule.

Recovery. Luck returns to full at the start of every session.

Increasing Luck. Luck cannot be raised with experience. Only the Lucky talent raises it, by 1.

What talents are

Talents are special abilities. Some let a character do something no one else can, such as disarming a foe without penalty, reloading a crossbow faster or shrugging off the Fatigue of a fight. Most give a bonus to a skill in a particular situation, such as +1 Survival to track and hunt, or +1 Stealth in the wilderness. All talents are described in chapter 5, Talents.

Talents make easy tasks automatic. If you have a talent that covers what you are doing, and at least Familiar rank in the skill, you pass any Very easy (7) or Easy (9) roll with that skill without rolling. A character with Scale Sheer Surface climbs an ordinary wall without a roll, and a character with Hunter's Eye follows a fresh trail without one. This never applies to attack rolls or Resist rolls. You may always choose to roll anyway, for the chance of a better margin.

Characters start only with the two talents from their species. The rest must be purchased with experience.