Accents: The flavor of an Effect. Indicates the source or properties of an Effect such as “by Flame,” or “by Darkness,” and may affect what defenses will protect against it.
Advantage: Breed-related Perk that can be purchased with Breed Points.
Advanced Class: This is a class into which you can put levels. They will always have certain prerequisites, which may be skills, character level, plot interactions, or even another certain Advanced Class. Abbreviated as “AC.”
Armor: Armor can be physically represented (meaning that the player is wearing something that looks like actual armor) or summoned (created invisibly by a Power). Natural Armor is armor that is part of a creature's skin or hide and can be repaired with Healing. Armor acts just like Life Points except it must be mended, rather than healed.
Attune: Some potent magic items require Attunement and can then be used only by the character they are Attuned to. Characters by default can only Attune to three items.
Base Class: One of the Core Eight beginning Classes, a class is sort of like a profession. It determines a number of different statistics, such as Spike damage, what Powers and spell-progression a character has, what Proficiencies, and so forth.
Base Damage: The damage a character does when swinging a weapon without any temporary damage bonuses or detriments. In the vast majority of cases, this number is one, and is uncalled damage. However, some classes, powers, and abilities can alter this number.
Breed: These are special genetic lineages such as Elf, Dwarf, or Trollborn. The make-up, appearance, and roleplaying requirements of Breeds called Challenges are treated as Flaws (see below) that give special Breed Points (see below) that can be spent on Breed-specific Perks called Advantages.
Breed Points: When a character takes Breed Challenges, they get Breed Points that can be spent on the Breed Advantages of that particular Breed (and no other).
Call: Calls are the out-of-game words used to communicate damage, Effects, durations, and so forth to the target of a game Effect. Calls are separate from the in-game Incantations, and have a suggested (but not required) structure.
Challenge: Breed-specific Flaws, often costume related, that grant Breed Points that can purchase Advantages.
Cantrip: Magical Powers possessed by spell-casting classes that do not require Preparation or Spell-Slots, but otherwise follow the rules of Spellcasting.
Character Options: These are the various Perks and Flaws characters can take.
Character Points: These are points that are earned by a character as they go up in level and can be spent to buy Advantages, Skills, or Roles.
Casting Class: A Class that casts spells.
Conditions: States that a character can have such as Imprisoned or Dead.
Count: Durations are measured by Count. A Slow Count is a counting of seconds. A Quick Count is however fast the player can verbally (audibly) count to the number. Thus a Slow 5 is about 5 seconds, and a Quick 30 is also about 5 seconds.
Counter: A Power that is called immediately to negate an attack or other Power.
Dawn: The Long Rest time of 7am.
Dead: A dead character begins their “discorporation-count” which is a Slow 180. After this they discorporate, become a Spirit, pick up any unattended equipment and proceed to a Spirit Well.
Death-count: A Slow 180 that starts when the character drops to 0 LIfe Points. At the end of the death-count the character is dead.
Delivery: The method by which an Effect can be applied to a target, such as by Packet, by weapon hit, etc. Packet, Touch, Weapon, Verbal, and Voice are the most common.
Dusk: The Long Rest time of 7pm.
Dying: When a character drops to 0 Life Points they are Dying. They can make noise, but not impart information. After a Slow 180 (their “death-count”) they will die. Dying characters are considered Helpless, and also gain the Qualifier “Dying.”
Effects: These are the methods by which Conditions are applied, such as “Sleep” to make someone Slept. There are some Effects, such as Cure or Grant, that do more than just apply Conditions.
Flaw: This is a special hardship or obstacle that a character takes on. It grants additional Character Points that can be spent on Skills or Perks.
Focus: Focus is basically a silent Incantation. It is an amount of time that a character must concentrate on activating a Power. If a creature is attacked while focusing, the Power is ineffective and must be begun again.
Helpless: When a character is incapable or unwilling to defend themselves they are considered Helpless, and are subject to Touch spells by foes, and gain the Qualifier “Helpless.”
Incantation: The Incantation for a Power is a series of words that must be spoken in order to activate that Power. In order to complete the incantation, the right foot must stay planted, one hand must be free, and the character must remain undisturbed.
Life Points: These represent how much damage a character can take before they start Dying.
Long Rest: What constitutes a Long Rest will be determined by the story, staff, or setting. Sometimes it might require 4 hours of inactivity.
Martial Class: A Class that doesn't cast spells (Generally uses Tiered Powers).
Marshal Spirit: A Marshal Spirit is called a Marshal in many other games. It is a member of Staff devoted to answering questions, giving descriptions, or otherwise adjudicating rules and imparting knowledge. They often take the form of helpful Spirits that linger around events of importance.
Materia: Materia are the special material components needed to cast many spells. It is what makes up spell-packets and spell-balls. Often, in-game, Packets are just called “Materia."
Packet: A Packet is a small, soft bundle that is thrown at others and can be charged with spell-power. Spell-packets are a type of Packet which is an inch or so in diameter and filled with birdseed. A spell-ball is a type of Packet which is 2 inches or more in diameter and filled with cloth or foam.
Perk: This is a special attribute. It may grant access to special Powers, between-game abilities, or cosmetic benefits (such as a castle). Perks usually cost Character Points to purchase.
Power: Powers are anything listed with a name, Incantation, Call, Effect, target, Accent, duration, Delivery, and refresh or anything specifically referenced as a Power (such as NPC abilities).
Power Words: These are words or phrases that connote that information is already understood by the character hearing the phrase, even if it’s new to the player. Refer to Chapter 1: “Power Phrase.”
Prepared/Preparation: Spell-casting classes Prepare a certain number of Spells from their Spellbook that they can then cast by exhausting spell-slots.
Prevented: A Power is Prevented if it is Countered, Resisted, or if “No Effect” is called. Many Powers are not expended if their effects are Prevented.
Proficiency: Being able to use a particular weapon, shield, or armor effectively.
Qualifier: A Qualifier is a special part of a call which limits an effect only to a certain kind of person. “10 damage by flame to Undead” (italics indicate the Qualifier) would only damage those creatures that have the Undead trait.
Refresh: This is a term used to describe getting back access to a Power or spell-slot that has been exhausted. Many Powers refresh at the end of a Short Rest. Spells refresh after a Long Rest or after using particular Powers.
Repped Armor: Physical armor that is worn is often referred to as the represented or “repped” armor that a character is wearing. This is the total armor points that the character is awarded for the armor that is currently worn via the physical armor table.
Roles: Special templates that can be purchased, usually with Character Points. Roles add choices or special Powers, and usually represent cults, organizations, or special training that a character may have taken.
Safety: If any participant calls out “Safety!” the entire game should come to a complete stop, called a Safety hold. No game actions (or even discussions) will take place while the safety issue will be handled.
Selective Immunity: This ability allows the recipient to have immunity to a source (such as an Accent), but at-will, the character may “turn off” this immunity on an Effect by Effect basis.
Short Rest: Any five minute rest that the character wishes to count as a Short Rest. This can be spent doing anything non-strenuous, up to slow walking. Fighting, combat, running, and heavy exertion or high emotion will disrupt a Short Rest. Completing a Long Rest will also complete a Short Rest.
Signature Item: An especially powerful attuned item. No character can be attuned to more than one Signature Item at a time and a Signature Item also takes up one of the character’s Attunement slots.
Skills: Skills are abilities, such as being able to use a sword, or being able to track. They are usually purchased with Character Points just like Perks.
Spells: Magical Powers possessed by spell-casting classes that require Preparation and Spell-slots of the appropriate tier. These Powers follow the rules of Spellcasting.
Spell-slots: Spell-casting classes have a limited number of spells they can cast each day from each tier of spell. This number is represented by spell-slots.
Sphere: Spell-casters can cast Arcane or Divine spells. These are the two different standard spheres of magic. Some games may have others.
Spike Damage: By default, all weapon hits do one point of damage, unless an audible Call is made. Characters have a certain number of attacks that do extra damage, called Spikes. A character’s Spike Damage is the addition of their Base Damage, plus one, plus any Spike Damage modifiers.
Tier: Powers are organized into four tiers. For Fighters, these might be Basic, Advanced, Veteran, and Champion. For a Mage, they might be Novice, Adept, Greater, and Master.
Wielding: A general term to denote that you are using an item that you are proficient in one or both hands, whatever is the standard legal way of using that item.
All weapons must be padded safely, and may not have sharp edges or hard parts that are likely to strike others (such as on the guard or pommel). Spikes that could hurt eyes should be adjudicated very carefully. Any weapon that causes bruising or significant pain when used normally should be avoided.
These weapons are between 16” and 22" long from butt to tip, and include daggers, small hatchets, and saps.
These weapons are between 22” and 36" long from butt to tip, and include shortswords, maces, hand axes, and other similar weapons.
These weapons are between 36” and 48” long from butt to tip, and include longswords, bastardswords, long maces and morningstars.
Should be constructed for safety and softness. Particularly large thrown weapons may be ruled illegal by Staff as they tend to be both hard and heavy. Common throw weapons include rocks and throwing daggers.
These weapons are no longer than 36" in total, and may measure no more than 18” from the beginning of the flexible part to the tip of the weapon. Flails may have only one striking head. The chain (flexible part) of the flail is not a valid striking surface, nor is any part of the flail other than the head. The flexible part must have safe padding over the connective rope. For safety reasons it is recommended that the head be at least 2.5 inches in diameter and no more than ½ inch of rope be exposed at any given point. Flails can end up moving very quickly and will be given additional scrutiny for safety. Additionally, the top foot of the non-flexible part of the flail must be padded as if strike legal, even though it is not a valid striking surface. Although flails may diverge from these recommendations, their chances of being found safe diminish significantly.
Bows need not be padded, but sometimes padding on the very tips is advisable. Arrows for bows should be constructed for safety in the following manner: They must have a fiberglass, aluminum, plastic, or graphite shaft, must have been stripped of the actual arrow head, and the tip of the shaft must have been built up to at least a half inch across. The head must be 2 ½ inches in diameter and must be soft from the sides as well as the front. The tip must have 2 inches of padding and must be compressible rather than stiff or hard, but not so compressible that the built up shaft can be felt. Bows may be of no greater than 35 pound pull. Nearly all shots should be done using a partial draw of the bow, with a full draw only allowed at extreme ranges. By default, bows and crossbows take any damaging attack as a Shatter effect.
Crossbows are also allowed, but it can be difficult to find or create crossbows that are safe, as one cannot half-draw a crossbow, and low-strength crossbows are often rare. Crossbows may not have a draw weight of more than 25 pounds. They may not have any sharp or dangerous protrusions. Bolts must have a fiberglass, aluminum, plastic, or graphite shaft, and must have been stripped of the actual arrow head. The tip of the shaft must have been built up to at least a half inch. The head must be 2 ½ inches in diameter and padded around the outside. The tip must have 1 inch of padding and must be compressible rather than stiff or hard, but not so compressible that the built up shaft can be felt. Crossbows may not be fired at an individual that is close enough to hit with a melee weapon.
These weapons must be longer than 48" in length to a maximum of 90." Great weapons often strike with greater force than normal weapons and should be well padded. Polearms should have padded hafts and should be safe should someone be struck with the haft. You may block attacks with it wielded in one hand but to deal damage or Effects with the great weapon it must be wielded in two hands.
A Great Weapon with a length between 61" and 90", they otherwise follow all other requirements of a Great Weapon.
These are weapons that are fully padded and have no handle or haft. These weapons must be at least 36" long, to a maximum length of 72.” You may block attacks with it wielded in one hand but to deal damage or Effects with the staff it must be wielded in two hands. These are not great weapons (which do have a handle or haft).
Other weapons are generally allowed. Using the rules above, a Staff member can determine if the weapon is legal and how it should be categorized. We recommend discussing any creative/alternative designs with Staff before investing time or money.
Shields must be well-padded and may be no smaller than 9" in any dimension, except thickness. Shields must always be safe and should have enough padding on the edges that no hard core can be felt. They should never be used for punches, rushes, or bashing.
The following table shows the maximum values for the different classifications of shields based on “taut-string perimeter:” the length a string would be if it were pulled taut around the outside of the shield. This will ignore voids in the shield. No shield may have a taut-string perimeter of more than 125 inches.
Shield Type | Buckler | Small | Medium | Large | Great |
Perimeter | Up to 38” | 39”-63” | 64”-94” | 95”-106” | 107”-125” |
The main requirement for “repping” physical armor is that it is built in such a way as to believably model the armor it is meant to be. When viewed from more than a few feet away plate mail should appear to be made of steel plates, leather armor should appear to be made from boiled or tanned hides, etc. Modern riot gear, plastic armor, etc. cannot be counted as armor unless it looks like it would fit a medieval fantasy setting, or unless the specific Setting allows for these kinds of armor.
Gear fabricated out of modern or alternative materials must be fully and convincingly disguised as an in-genre material. If there are any doubts or concerns, please talk with Staff ahead before you invest time or energy in something that might be disallowed at the game. The goal of the experience is to add to the immersion of all players. Although Staff has final judgment on all armor values and representations, unless there is a need for adjudication, the players should be able to judge and value their own armor.
Some campaigns may use packets to represent various other things such as globs of venom-spit, bursts of magma, or even arrows. In these campaigns, the packets will generally be made from non-natural colors such as green or red, and those will be described in the campaign setting.
Spell-packets are small balls that are made out of cloth and bird seed. Small bird seed varieties should be used, and even sunflower seeds should be avoided if possible. Rice and other materials (like sand) may not be substituted. To make the packet, place a small pile of it in the center of a square or circle of cloth approximately 6 to 7 inches across. The fabric is then gathered up around the birdseed and held together (often with a rubber band or stitching). Spell-packets should be loose, rather than tight, and the cloth should be of a suitable in-period material (no bright colors, no printed patterns, etc.)
Spell-balls are larger bundles that represent non-Cantrip spells. Built in much the same way as spell-packets, they are made by putting a core of foam or soft material inside a square or circle of cloth 10 to 11 inches across. This is to make a mostly spherical object at least 2.5” in diameter. The core can be foam balls wrapped in cloth, rubber bands, or bundles of heavier cloth. The fabric shell is pulled up around the core and bound with a rubber band or stitching. Spell-ball cloth should be of a suitable in-period material (no bright colors, no printed patterns, etc.). Spell-balls should be soft and light enough that when they hit at speed, they do not hurt.