Player Handbook

Eight steps, in order. The first seven are decided, the last is calculated. Do not fill in a single numbered box before step 8: a character is placed first and counted afterwards.

What the GM gives you

A new character receives:

• one Domain Tree;
• one Archetype Tree;
• two Species Skills;
• 25 Experience Points (XP);
• 22 Mastery Points (MP);
• 3 Potential Points (PP).

The GM announces any change to that set before the table starts. A one-shot and a long campaign do not open on the same numbers.

Three currencies

They do not convert into one another. A currency spent in the wrong place is only recovered in play.

XP

Buys Trees, Skills and their Levels. A character has no overall level: their XP is everything that goes up.

MP

Buys the six CharacteristicsRule wordCharacteristicOne of a character's six core scores. It makes up half of every Roll., the AptitudesRule wordAptitudeA field of know-how. It makes up half of every Roll. and the Speciality.

PP

Buys the three resource paths: Vitality, MemoryRule wordMemoryThe number of Skills you can have Memorised at the same time. and EnergyRule wordEnergyThe reserve that pays the cost of Skills..

The order of the steps

1. Species, Archetype, Domain. Choose them from what the GM offers, and your regional origin where the Species has any. They fix your two Trees, your two Species Skills and your movement.
2. The Soul. Write down the Phobia, the Mania, the Flaw, the Speciality and the Gift.
3. Characteristics. Spend MP.
4. Aptitudes and Speciality. Spend MP.
5. Resources. Place the 3 PP.
6. Skills. Spend the 25 XP in your Trees.
7. Equipment. Fill the eight worn slots.
8. Derived values. Work out HPRule wordHPHit Points, what a creature can take. At 0, it falls into Agonie., Memory, Energy, ACRule wordACArmour Class, the total an Attack has to reach to hit you., Speed and Initiative.

A step can be replayed as long as nobody has rolled a die. After the first RollRule wordRoll2d12 + one Characteristic + one Aptitude, measured against a DC, an AC or an Opposed Roll. of the first session the sheet is fixed, and progression takes over.

The Soul

The Soul is what sets a character apart once the numbers are equal. It is decided with the GM, in whatever tone the table has set for itself.

Every character carries five pieces of it.

Phobia

A fear that weighs on their decisions. It earns its place when it costs something.

Mania

A habit, an obsession, a gesture that keeps coming back.

Flaw

A lasting trait that draws trouble towards them.

Speciality

A narrow personal field they excel in.

Gift

An exceptional faculty that belongs to them alone.

Karma

The Phobia, the Mania and the Flaw each carry a KarmaRule wordKarmaPoints granted by the GM. By default, a point can add an Advantage or a Disadvantage to the Roll of your choice. slot. A character therefore holds at most three points, one per slot.

The GM grants a Karma point when they judge it deserved, and chooses the slot. A slot already filled does not take a second. Karma you hold disappears neither at a rest nor at the end of a session.

Spend a point before a Roll, or after the throw while the result is still unresolved. Each point adds an AdvantageRule wordAdvantageAdds a d12 to the Roll. Keep the two highest dice. An Advantage and a Disadvantage cancel out. or a DisadvantageRule wordDisadvantageAdds a d12 to the Roll. Keep the two lowest dice. A Disadvantage and an Advantage cancel out. to the Roll of your choice: yours, an ally’s, an opponent’s. Several points can land on the same Roll.

A point spent after the throw adds its dice to what is already on the table, and the two kept dice are then worked out again across the lot. That is what lets you rescue a failed Roll, and equally what lets you ruin a successful one when the point lands on an opponent.

Some Skills take Karma as their resource. That is why they are rare in play.

The Speciality

The Speciality is an Aptitude you invent, with a deliberately narrow field: “Navigation”, “Cooking”, “Monsters”. It goes up with MP like any other Aptitude.

When it applies, it enters the Roll like an ordinary Aptitude and grants an Advantage on top. A broad field gives a lukewarm bonus that helps often; a narrow one gives a real push that helps rarely. The GM settles the edge cases.

The Gift

The Gift establishes a capability, a perception or a peculiarity: “I see and speak to the dead”, “My drawings come to life”, “I know when I am being lied to”. It opens up information, permission or an opportunity another character would not have.

When a consequence of the Gift has an uncertain outcome, it resolves with the ordinary rules. The Gift does not touch Rolls, damage, healing, AC, resources or your number of actions, unless another rule bought separately says so.

Mastery Points

The six Characteristics and every Aptitude start at 0. Your 22 MP raise them. They are the two halves of every Roll, and they are paid for in the same currency.

A Characteristic costs its new value. An Aptitude costs half its new value, rounded up. Both cost at least 1.

The cost is cumulative: taking a Characteristic from 0 to +3 costs 1 + 2 + 3, so 6 MP. The same climb on an Aptitude costs 1 + 1 + 2, so 4 MP.

At creation a Characteristic caps at +3 and an Aptitude at +2. In play both reach +6.

You may drop a Characteristic or an Aptitude to −1. Each value lowered this way frees 1 MP to spend elsewhere. A −1 is paid on every Roll that uses it, and since the GM chooses the pair, you do not control when it lands.

A Characteristic serves everywhere it appears, an Aptitude only in its own field, and a Characteristic costs twice as much. The question is therefore not which is better, but how many different Rolls you want to be able to attempt.

The six Characteristics

StrengthCharacteristicStrengthThe character's physical power, the kind that lifts, pushes and strikes.

The character’s physical power, the kind that lifts, pushes and strikes.

DexterityCharacteristicDexterityThe character's coordination and precision, in gesture as in movement.

The character’s coordination and precision, in gesture as in movement. Carries AC and Initiative.

ConstitutionCharacteristicConstitutionThe character's health and endurance, what lets them take punishment and hold on.

The character’s health and endurance, what lets them take punishment and hold on. Carries HP.

IntelligenceCharacteristicIntelligenceThe character's ability to analyse, remember, learn and deduce.

The character’s ability to analyse, remember, learn and deduce. Carries Memory.

SpiritCharacteristicSpiritThe character's attention and empathy, the sharpness of their senses and their bond with the supernatural.

The character’s attention and empathy, the sharpness of their senses and their bond with the supernatural. Carries Energy.

CharismaCharacteristicCharismaThe character's presence, their way of expressing themselves and the authority they carry.

The character’s presence, their way of expressing themselves and the authority they carry.

Four of them carry a derived value. That does not make them more important: a Characteristic with no derived value serves every Roll that uses it, which happens far more often.

The Aptitudes

The sheet carries the full list, one box per Aptitude. They cover what a character can do, from tracking to negotiation.

Four of them are also the four crafting disciplines: CraftAptitudeCraftKnowing metal, leather and wood and how to work them. Can also be used to make weapons, armour and equipment., ArcanaAptitudeArcanaKnowing magic, its Spells, its runes and its objects. Can also be used to carry out arcane crafting., TechnologyAptitudeTechnologyKnowing mechanisms, locks and traps. Can also be used to make bombs, grenades and other devices. and ScienceAptitudeScienceKnowing substances and how they react. Can also be used to prepare potions, philtres and mixtures.. There are not two ideas here, only one. The discipline a piece is worked under is the Aptitude you roll to make it.

Six come up more than the rest, and they are the combat ones: MeleeAptitudeMeleeLanding a blow in close combat, with a weapon, unarmed or with a natural weapon., FinesseAptitudeFinesseLanding a precise blow with a weapon suited to it, such as a dagger or a rapier. and AimAptitudeAimHitting at range, by shooting, throwing a weapon or an object, or hurling a Spell. to land a blow, ReflexesAptitudeReflexesReacting on instinct to dodge an explosion or an area effect., ResistanceAptitudeResistanceHolding out against poison, disease, cold or being stunned. and WillAptitudeWillKeeping a cool head in the face of fear, intimidation or manipulation. to resist one.

Resources

Each Potential Point raises one of the three paths by one level. They are independent and each caps at level 10.

Vitality

HP = 20 + 2 × Constitution + 5 × Vitality Level

Memory

Memory = 4 + Intelligence + Memory Level

Energy

Energy = 8 + Spirit + Energy Level

Your 3 PP go wherever you like: three paths at one level, or one path at three.

Memory is the room you have for your Skills. A MemorisedRule wordMemorisedSaid of a Skill you carry and can play. You can change yours during a rest. Skill takes 1 Memory, whatever its Level and its cost. Your two Species Skills are Memorised without taking up any Memory, as the Species chapter explains, and the ones your equipment grants take up nothing. Apart from your two Species Skills, you can change your Memorised Skills during a Short RestRule wordShort RestTen minutes of pause, during which you can do light activity, that restore half your maximum HP and Energy. You can take at most 2 Short Rests per Long Rest. or a Long RestRule wordLong RestEight hours of sleep, once per day, that restore all your HP and all your Energy..

Energy pays for the Skills that cost something. A Skill whose cost exceeds your reserve cannot be played. An attempt whose conditions are not met consumes nothing.

Spending the 25 XP

XP buys the Skills of your two Trees and their Levels. Each purchase costs 5 to 100 XP, in steps of 5, and the price is printed on the Skill.

Twenty-five XP does not make a complete character. It makes an opening: two or three cheap Skills that say how they act in the first round. The rest comes in play.

Buy what you will play in every fight first. An expensive Skill far out in a Tree will wait until the table has paid for it.

The six values to carry over

These six boxes are the only ones that are calculated. Work them out again after every purchase of MP or PP.

Armour replaces the AC formula instead of adding to it. A shield and the other explicit modifiers are added afterwards.

A worked example

Sélène, a scout. Her 22 MP:

Twelve MP in all. She accepts the −1 in Strength: she does not push doors open, she goes around them.

Ten MP, and the count lands exactly on 22.

Her 3 PP go one to each path. Her derived values:

• HP: 20 + 2 × 2 + 5 × 1 = 29
• Memory: 4 + 1 + 1 = 6
• Energy: 8 + 2 + 1 = 11
• AC: 12 + 3 = 15 unarmoured
• Speed: 9 m
• Initiative: 1d4 + 3

Her 25 XP go into two cheap Skills from her Domain Tree. Six Memory slots for the two Skills that take one, since her Species Skills take none: she has room to grow before she has to choose.

On a shooting Roll she throws 2d12 + 3 + 2. When she tracks, her Speciality enters the Roll and gives her an Advantage on top.