Threat and encounters
Threat estimates a creature’s power in a confrontation. It exists to prepare an encounter quickly. It does not guarantee the outcome.
Threat = total MP granted + total PP granted
Reading it on a character
Start from what the character received at creation, then add every MP and PP reward granted since.
You do not have to look at how they spread them. A value lowered to −1 returns 1 MP that is spent elsewhere, so the net sum does not move: what counts is what you gave, not what they did with it.
A standard starting character therefore has a Threat of 25.
XP does not enter the calculation. It decides the Skills, the combinations and the shape the power takes, not its quantity: effect budgets, MemoryRule wordMemoryThe number of Skills you can have Memorised at the same time. and EnergyRule wordEnergyThe reserve that pays the cost of Skills. handle that.
Threat is not a level. It limits no purchase, no crafting and no possibility in the fiction. It changes nothing for the player, who has no reason to know their own.
Group Threat
Group Threat = sum of the characters' Threats
When everyone has received the same, work out one individual Threat and multiply. Four starting characters make a group Threat of 100.
Monsters
A monster states its MP and PP totals, and their sum. It uses the same CharacteristicsRule wordCharacteristicOne of a character's six core scores. It makes up half of every Roll., AptitudesRule wordAptitudeA field of know-how. It makes up half of every Roll., RollsRule wordRoll2d12 + one Characteristic + one Aptitude, measured against a DC, an AC or an Opposed Roll., resources and Skill structures as the characters.
Spread its points according to its real role: damage, endurance, mobility, support, control, information, versatility. Two monsters of equal Threat can play very differently, and that is the point.
A high value needs a clear way to express itself, in the entry or in the tactics. A high Characteristic the monster never uses is Threat paid for nothing.
A boss ActionRule wordActionThe main action of your turn. You have one per turn., damage reduction, a phase or a special defence goes through an explicit resource, activation or limitation. Nothing is added after the Threat is worked out.
A creature of Threat 0 is not a standalone opponent. It is scenery, a hazard, part of a group, or a creature summoned by another rule.
Composing an encounter
Add up the opponents’ Threat and compare it with the group’s.
Encounter ratio = enemy Threat / group Threat
| Ratio | Estimated difficulty |
|---|---|
| under 0.25 | Trivial |
| 0.25 to 0.39 | Easy |
| 0.40 to 0.59 | Standard |
| 0.60 to 0.79 | Hard |
| 0.80 to 1.00 | Extreme |
| over 1.00 | Overwhelming |
Read the scale carefully: an encounter at equal Threat is Extreme, not Standard. An opponent as powerful as the whole group is comparable opposition, which is already the upper limit of what a table absorbs.
Against a group of Threat 100, an enemy Threat of 50 gives 0.50 and a Standard encounter. A Threat of 75 gives 0.75 and a Hard one.
What the ratio assumes
A direct confrontation, with no decisive advantage already established. Terrain, surprise, objectives, resistances, vulnerabilities, available information and the players’ decisions all shift the real result, sometimes a long way.
The ratio becomes unreliable when an encounter rests mainly on one of these:
- an effect able to inflict AgonieStatesAgonieUne créature tombée à 0 PdV gagne Agonie 3. Ses PdV ne descendent pas sous 0. Tant qu'elle subit Agonie, elle est À terre et ne peut pas se relever. Elle ne peut jouer aucune Action, Action Bonus ni Réaction qui coûte de l'Énergie. À la… on a healthy character in a single activation;
- repeated removal of Actions or whole turns;
- a large number of independent creatures;
- a lone opponent with no way to act between the characters’ turns;
- an immunity or resistance that neutralises most of the group’s options.
These do not change the formula. They say where to look first before bringing the encounter to the table.
The balancing principle
The formula is also a design constraint. At equal Threat, two different spreads should produce a comparable contribution, even where they create opposite play styles.
When a spread, a Skill or a combination regularly dominates the others, fix the rule at fault. Do not add a coefficient to Threat: that hides the imbalance instead of treating it.