Hero Forge

This is where your hero takes shape. Not just numbers on a sheet but a person with history and something to prove. You'll answer three questions: What are you? Who are you? How do you fight?

Origin covers the first. Your physical nature, your lineage—the stuff you were born with or built from. Personality handles the second. Your temperament, your instincts, the traits that make you you. Disciplines answer the third. The techniques you've mastered, the gambits you pull when steel clears leather.

Don't overthink it. There are no trap choices here. Every combination works. Pick what sounds cool, what fits the character in your head, what makes you want to take action. The mechanics will follow.

Your hero is out there… waiting. Time to meet them.

Building a Hero

Origin

Your Origin defines what you are and where you come from. It's built from two choices: Physical Build (your body type and natural capabilities) and Lineage (your heritage and background).

Each Physical Build grants attribute bonuses and traits tied to your body. Each Lineage grants additional attributes, skills, or special abilities tied to your heritage. Combine them, for your flavor.

Physical Build

Lineage

Example Combinations

Personality

Your Personality represents your natural temperament and instinctive approach to the world. Are you Observant and detail-focused, or Relentless and unstoppable? Perhaps you're Cunning and calculating, or Compassionate and empathetic? This fundamental trait shapes which attribute comes most naturally to you, granting a +1 bonus to the attribute that aligns with your core nature.

You will choose two of these personality traits for your hero.

Assign Attributes

All eight attributes start at zero. Blank slate.

Your Origin (Physical Build + Lineage) and your two Personality traits each grant +1 to specific attributes. That's 4 points distributed based on who you are. Then you get 4 more points to place wherever you want.

Need more points? Drop any attribute from 0 to -1 and gain a point to spend elsewhere. You can do this as many times as you like, but nothing goes below -2. Weaknesses make heroes interesting.

One rule: no attribute goes above +3. Spread the wealth.

Roll & Effort Bonuses

Each attribute has two values: +Roll (added to your d20) and +Effort (added to your Effort die). By default, both equal your attribute score. Finesse +3 means +3 Roll and +3 Effort.

But you can tune it. Shift points from Roll to Effort, or Effort to Roll, within the same attribute. Want to hit less often but hit harder? Drop Roll, boost Effort. Want precision over power? Do the opposite.

Defenses

Your Defenses determine how hard you are to harm. When something attacks you directly, a sword swing, a psychic assault, the enemy rolls against your Defense. You don't roll. They combine pairs of attributes:

When danger comes your way, you roll against the appropriate Defense.

represents someone who has: Might 3, Agility 2, Instinct 1, Reason 3, Presence -1, Vigor 2

Saving Throws

Saving Throws are your response to circumstance. The floor drops out. Poison hits your bloodstream. An NPC lies. Nobody targeted you specifically, the world just happened, and you're reacting.

Attributes double as saves. Danger comes at you and the GM calls for a roll. Dodge that floordrop? Agility. Resist that poison? Vigor. Discover a lie? Instinct. Same rules as any other check: roll d20, add the attribute to beat the TN. This is how you react to what the world throws at you.

Bonds

(Bonds pages contain no additional printed rules text.)

Disciplines

"First blood makes a fighter.
First failure makes a fool.
But the one who rises wiser?
That's the one who'll one day rule."
— Tavern verse, unknown origin

When you advance, you gain access to Disciplines.

Disciplines give you Gambits; techniques and abilities that define what you can do in combat or conversation. These are the things that you can do to help your allies and the world around you.

Go deep and stack Gambits in a single discipline and become a specialist; the unstoppable wall, the untouchable blade, the voice that commands rooms, the all knowing investigator. Or go wide, and pull from multiple disciplines to combine gambits into something no one's seen before. Create your path. Lean into your choices.

There's no wrong way to advance. Become the hero you feel you need to be.

Advancement

You grow by doing. Every Encounter overcome brings you closer to the next level. Every Arc completed marks a turning point in your story.

Victories

Complete an Encounter, earn a Victory. One encounter, one Victory. Doesn't matter if you killed everything, talked your way through, or did what players do....something completely random. The encounter resolved? That's a Victory.

Accumulate enough Victories and you level up.

Tiers

The game is broken into four Tiers:

At the end of each tier (levels 3, 6, 9, and 10), you hit an Arc Cap. Victories stop accumulating. You can't grind your way past this point.

To break through, you need a Deed.

Deeds

A Deed is a narrative milestone. Something meaningful accomplished together. Not just any accomplishment. THE accomplishment your story has been building toward.

When you hit an Arc Cap:

1. 1 Stop tracking Victories
2. 2 Work with your GM to choose a Deed from the list (or create one that fits your story)
3. 3 Pursue that Deed
4. 4 When accomplished, break through to the next tier

One moment that defines this chapter of your story. Until you choose a Deed, nothing on the list counts. You don't stumble into advancement. You earn it.

Deed List

Leveling Up

When you gain a level, consult the Advancement Table. Each level tells you what type of reward you gain. You choose the specifics.

Disciplines & Gambits

Your character's combat identity isn't defined by a rigid class, but by the Disciplines you master over time. Each discipline is a thematically cohesive collection of gambits & maneuvers that reflect a specific combat philosophy or style.

Want to be durable in a fight? Take Grit. Need to shield your companions from harm? Master Bulwark. Prefer striking from the shadows with lethal precision? Take Opportunist. Each discipline comes with a suite of abilities called Gambits & Maneuvers. These function as either a unique action you can perform or an enhancement that modifies how standard Actions work.

As you level, you'll gain access to additional disciplines, building a unique combination that defines your role on the battlefield. Some disciplines are foundational (anyone can learn them). Others are advanced, requiring prerequisite disciplines to unlock them. For example, Elementalist becomes available only after you've trained in Magecraft.

What Each Gambit Tells You

Gambits are the individual abilities within each discipline. They represent techniques, powers, and maneuvers you've mastered through training and practice. Each Gambit tells you:

Stamina vs Power

Gambits specify whether they require Stamina or Power to activate.

Power can substitute for Stamina. If a Gambit requires Stamina, you can spend Power instead. Power is more versatile—it's your combat-ready fuel.

Stamina cannot substitute for Power. Gambits that require Power need that active energy. You must Prepare dice into Power before you can use them.

Checks & Failures

Some Gambits require an Attribute Check to succeed. The Gambit will tell you which Attribute to roll.

Roll your d20 + Attribute modifier against the target number (usually the encounter TN). Your Effort die is rolled simultaneously if the Gambit deals Effort.

On Success: The Gambit takes full effect. Apply all listed benefits and Effort.

On Failure: One of three things happens, depending on the Gambit:

Always Boost: Even when using Gambits, you can still spend additional Momentum to Boost your Check or Effort as usual.

Area of Effect & Range

Every Gambit specifies its Range and Targets.

Range Categories

Targeting

Upgrading Area

Many Gambits let you spend additional Stamina or Power to:

The Gambit will specify the cost for each upgrade.

Locking Dice

Some Gambits require you to Lock Momentum to sustain an ongoing power. This represents maintaining concentration, channeling energy, or holding a stance.

How Locking Works

1. 1 When you activate the Gambit, move a die from the required pool (Stamina or Power) into a Locked position.
2. 2 The die remains Locked while the effect persists.
3. 3 You cannot use that die for anything else while it's Locked.
4. 4 If you take a Hit, you can choose to move a Locked die to Fatigue (ending the effect).

You have a limited number of Lock slots. You cannot Lock more dice than you have slots.

Sustaining a Lock

The Gambit tells you what's required to keep it going. Four common types:

When the Effect Ends

The Gambit specifies where the Locked die goes:

Limitations

Limitations are restrictions you can voluntarily place on your Actions or Gambits to reduce their Momentum cost. By accepting a drawback or handicap, you make the ability cheaper to use.

When you activate a Gambit or enhanced Action, you may apply one Limitation to reduce its Momentum cost by 1. Not all abilities support Limitations.

Debuffs

Debuffs are narrative tags you put on enemies. Flags that trigger abilities and tell the table “this one's ready to exploit”.

Starting Paths

Before you become something unique, you start with a foundation. At 1st level, choose one of the four Paths: Warrior, Rogue, Priest, or Mage.

Each Path contains a set of Disciplines. Pick two. These are your initial areas of training.

From those two Disciplines, choose 3 Gambits. Spread them however you like; all three from one Discipline, or split between both. These are your tools and tricks.

Path of the Fighter

Path of the Rogue

Path of the Priest

Path of the Mage

Shared Disciplines