An RPG is a different beast than theater, but some of its familiar terms can be useful for keeping track of things. If your gaming group enjoys certain types of scenes, steer the game towards more of them. If lucky and creative, they may find themselves in unusual situations not described here. In those happy cases, you are on your own.

Table of Contents

Staging

A Scene is an imaginary slice of time and space holding in-game events, such as arguments, discoveries, or unexpected encounters. This section describes the background parts of a Scene that help everything else work, such as time, space, and player spotlight.

Time

The amount of time a given scene takes in the game world is flexible and depends on what Actions (p.40) the Players and Guide are using. Fast-paced feats like fighting and sneaking only take seconds or minutes. Lengthy events like traveling and recovery can take days or weeks in-game. To the players themselves, most Actions should take about the same amount of time to resolve, barring disagreements.

For the most part, this game uses real-world time measurements like days, weeks, months, etc. A notable exception is Rounds. These are about six seconds long and come in handy for fast-paced combat Scenes after Initiative (p.38) comes into play.

Less formal means of measuring time can include Session; the entire real-life game day, or Campaign; a series of Sessions. Don’t get too hung up on time unless there is something urgent creating pressure.

Distance

Measure distance in Zones for most Scenes. These are flexible spaces, but usually about 10 square meters and 5 meters high. A small closet can be a Zone, as can an amphitheater. Split large areas into several Zones to keep things sensible. Zones can have interesting features or Scenery (p.52), such as cover, traps, obstacles, etc.

A normal character can move into an adjacent Zone for free. They must spend a Move Action (p.45) to get past an obstacle or run another Zone. Some creatures and most vehicles can move more Zones.

Range and movement vary depending on how many Zones an area holds! Small, cluttered areas are hard to aim around or move through. In these, the effective range of a move or weapon is not going to be as ideal as it would be on a spacious flat plain.

Initiative

This decides who goes when in Scenes where the order of action matters. Usually, this means combat, but it can apply just as well to tightly-paced social or stealth scenes. Mettle uses “Volleyball” Initiative where the acting character passes the next turn to their target, only choosing another if their target has no Action. The character who starts the conflict triggers Initiative. In case of an argument about who goes first, the Guide should give PCs the privilege.

The character taking Initiative gets to take the first Action. If their target has an Action, the target gets to go next. If not, the acting character passes it to anyone else with an Action. In the latter case, they may choose friend or foe, so think strategically. If they pass to a Guide NPC, they can be specific or let the Guide figure out which one.

Initiative splits an Action Scene into Rounds. When everyone has taken their Action, a new Round begins. Everyone gets their Action back, and the last one to go can now pass Initiative to their target or anyone else - even to themselves again if they targeted no one!

One may Wait by selecting a specific Action, such as “Attack” and holding off until the right moment. They may take that Action any time later, even interrupting someone else’s. They cannot change the type of Action. If no opportunity arises, they choose at the start of the next Round to keep waiting or rejoin the regular Initiative scheme.

Initiative ends when the conflict is over, by whatever means.

First to declare Action triggers Initiative.
Target goes next, if they have an Action.
Otherwise, pick anyone else with an Action.
New Round when no one has Actions left.

INITIATIVE

Movement

In Scenes with Initiative, everyone can normally make a Free Move (p.47) to an adjacent Zone before their Action. If they face hindrances, like obstacles or being Staggered, they must perform a Checked Move Action instead.

Creatures or vehicles with a higher Speed also get more Free Moves. They may Split Actions to deal with obstacles and hazards along the way. If they have no dice left, they must stop at the next hindrance.

Free Move into adjacent Zone before Action unless hindered.

Split Actions

Combatants may enjoy more than one Action in a Round by splitting their dice pool. Decide what the Actions will be, then divide the highest Attribute involved between them, as evenly as possible. For example, an attacker with a 5D Nature could make two Attacks, one at 3D and the other at 2D. Die Modifiers apply after the Split, treating each Action separately.

-If one of the Actions relies on an Attribute with a smaller pool, do not give it more dice than that.

-If one of the Actions is not Checked, it still uses up the dice allotted to it. If the pools are uneven, wise Players dump their lowest pool in an unchecked Action.

Initiative passes to the target normally after each Split Action, if possible. The splitter still counts as having their Action, so they get to take the next part of it when Initiative comes back to them. If their target had no Actions, they may choose themselves and take their Split Actions back-to-back.

Split Action: split your best relevant Attribute between Actions.

Downtime

Sometimes a Scene will take a long time, perhaps days or months. This is common when recovering negative Mettle, undertaking a long project, or traveling. Those not involved may wonder what they are doing during that time. The Guide will be tempted to ask: “So what are you doing while your buddy is healing up?” Resist this banal urge. The problem is this tends to lead into an impromptu adventure leaving out those tied up in the long action, or worse, a lengthy argument about how they fill their time.

METTLE Core is an action-packed game about boldly pressing ever onward, not micro-managing leisure time. Those engaged in a long action are advised to play a spare PC or NPC if the rest of the table absolutely must sally forth to their doom or glory.

Better, every party member fit enough for mischief during a long break should just accept a Downtime Voucher instead. This is a token their Player can spend later to retroactively reveal something helpful they did during the Downtime. For example, bought a speedboat or added a new feature to their utility belt. These are used during play, and if used cleverly they can be real lifesavers.

Those not involved in a long Scene may get a Downtime Voucher.

Actions

Most games spend a good amount of time resolving Actions. While it is fun to role-play these out to the hilt, it would be unfair to demand that a player be good at them personally. At a minimum they should describe what they are doing and let their character’s abilities fill in the rest.

Do not fret if you run into events in the game that genuinely call for a Check but are not listed here. Just as described in the Checks section; find a likely Attribute for the pool, take a guess at the Difficulty, and make up your mind about what success and failure mean. Then just throw the dice. If it’s something you end up doing a lot, save some time by writing up a formal Action for it. The ones to follow are just the most common actions, pre-baked so you don’t have to cook them up from scratch every time.

The default Twist for Actions is Delay, meaning they lose their next Action because they are still dealing with the consequences of their last. The Outcomes section of each Action also lists a few likely alternate Twists to liven things up. These are not exhaustive, and many other possibilities exist. Be creative!

Aid

This is for life-or-death trauma well beyond the ordinary stitching of flesh wounds. As such, it works only on the Staggered or Fallen; those with less severe injuries recover without drama. Aid Checks CONCEPT vs. current (0 or negative) Mettle, treating it as positive for this purpose. Success stabilizes the patient for the time being, and any Edge heals that much negative Mettle after a week’s recovery. Failure means the patient was too far gone, try not to blame yourself.

Check: CONCEPT vs. current Mettle.

  • Success: the patient is alive and somewhat stable.
  • Edge: each point restores a point of Mettle after a week’s rest.
  • Failure: patient succumbs to their wounds and dies.
  • Twists: Delay, patient disfigured, lower Resources, waste medicine or surgical tools.

Those alone or left for dead may Aid themselves using their Motive, but at double Difficulty. They may revive with visions of the beyond, or just a deep grudge against those who abandoned them.

If a PC is too debilitated, the best thing to do is to play another character until they are back on their feet. The Guide can just handwave that they are OK by the next campaign.

Attack

Adventurers get a lot of mileage out of bone-headed violence, so learn this Action well. This applies to any physical strike, whether unarmed, melee, ranged, or even supernatural. Attackers Check NATURE vs. their target’s POISE. If successful, they inflict the weapon’s DM plus any Edge as damage to Mettle. Use a relevant military or martial arts-related CONCEPT in place of NATURE, if higher.

Check NATURE vs. POISE

  • Success: Hit and inflict the weapon’s DM on the target.
  • Edge: adds to DM.
  • Failure: Target dodges or parries.
  • Twists: Delay, drop weapon, also hits unintended target (1d6+DM) waste ammo, etc.
  • Melee Attacks are close combat strikes on a foe in the same Zone. Narrate these as decisive strikes or flurries of blows, as you please.
  • Ranged Attacks travel through Zones up to the weapon’s Range. Past this, they face +1 Difficulty per Zone, up to twice the Range.
  • Area Attacks skip the Check and just hit everyone in a Zone or more, Damage is 1d6 + DM for each target. If there was an original target hit by the main Attack, it does not also suffer the Area Attack.
  • Grapple Attacks raise Difficulty instead of doing damage. This goes by raw FRAME; most weapons and armor do not count for either side. The target cannot Move without a Move Check vs. the Difficulty increase, but if successful they also escape the hold. The target also escapes if the Grappler does not reapply the hold next Round.
  • Disarm Attacks are melee or ranged Attacks that separate the target from their weapon. A Felling blow causes the target to drop the weapon instead of taking damage. An unarmed disarm may Seize the weapon and wield it themselves.
  • Stun Attacks knock a foe out instead of killing, such as by a pommel strike, sleeper hold, etc. A Felling blow inflicts the Incapacitated Status instead of damage. Weapons without the Stun feature do half damage after Soak on Stun Attacks.
  • Unarmed Attacks are less lethal. These have the (relatively!) Soft feature, inflicting only half damage after Soak. This gives combatants time to converse during the excitement.
  • Vehicle Attacks like ramming work much like regular Attacks but factor in current Speed. See Vehicles (p.65) for details.

COMBAT TWISTS

Twists can be a little loosey-goosey during most Scenes, but Players tend to demand more clarity in combat. After all, they might be losing their character! These are generally well-balanced, but either side may default to Delay as usual if they seem unacceptably harsh or mild.

Twist Example Consequences
Friendly fire Failure to read the room. An ally or precious object in range is hit, taking 1d6+DM damage. Makes a hero unpopular but oafs and villains do this all the time.
Waste ammo Wild shooting hits thin air. Lose all ammo remaining in the weapon, which must have held more than half of its capacity. Reload (Use Action) to fire again.
Delay (Default) The default Twist of losing next Action. Describe as a stumble, pulling a weapon out of a foe or object, being justifiably awed by the horrors of violence, etc.
Alienate ally Careless words or deeds under high stress. Lose a Contact or the aid of an NPC ally. Act out some ugly drama if a PC is chosen.
Lose cover A careless move in the enemy’s sights. Lose all benefit of Cover (p.55). Must actually be in cover and foes must present a ranged threat for this to be valid.
Provoke foes Unwanted attention. Foes focus Attacks on the character, reinforcements arrive (if possible), enemies go all-out with their most fearsome tactics, etc.
Jammed A firearm or other complex item bungs up. Make a Use Action on relevant Concept vs. Difficulty 1d6 to get it working again.
Butter fingers A weapon or item related to the Action slips from your grasp. May be lost to crevasses or mud, or your foes may get their hands on it before you do.
Broken Weapon or item loses breaks until repaired. Simple melee weapons like a broken sword may still do half damage but complex items become useless.

Always let the situation be your guide. Avoid overt humiliation in particular, as it spoils the heroic tone.

Keep in mind that these detailed options are not the only ones you can take. They absolutely should not prevent the group from making their own! These only clarify common cock-ups.

Defend

A last-ditch attempt to save your skin by reducing the damage from a successful incoming Attack. This takes the form of blocking, parrying, or dodging – whichever would be more effective or narratively sensible. Check POISE vs. the attacker’s NATURE. If successful, raise Soak by two against that Attack, plus one for every Edge. Even a failed Defend raises Soak by one.

Defend must be the very next Action after the original Attack, one cannot wait until later in the Round. This can “undo” the effect of what would otherwise have been a Felling blow. It can also interrupt Initiative to defend an ally in the same Zone, replacing them as the target.

Check: POISE vs. NATURE

  • Success: +2 to Soak
  • Edge: adds to Soak.
  • Failure: +1 to Soak
  • Twists: Delay, drop weapon, lose Cover, draw more foes, etc.

Special weapons may grant a bonus to Defend, such as Shields and parrying daggers. This bonus only applies vs. melee Attacks, however.

Know

In-character knowledge can uncover helpful facts. For example, a scholar translating hieroglyphs inscribed on a door, a detective gauging weight from a set of footprints, a party using the library to delve for clues, a fashionista guessing how long a corpse’s outfit has been out of style, a gambler trying to spot a tell, etc. Know is a Check of CONCEPT vs. a fiat Difficulty for facts, or vs. MOTIVE if used to judge a person.

Check: CONCEPT vs. Difficulty (or vs. MOTIVE if a person)

  • Success: Guide answers the question in line with the character’s best understanding.
  • Edge: Answers more questions or finer details.
  • Failure: Guide tells what their CONCEPT should know outright.
  • Twists: Delay, half-truth, target alerted, one wrong clue, etc.

The Player should FRAME these questions carefully if they want useful info, and Guides should be generous with answers! Having the right CONCEPT can grant better information even without a Check. Always err towards giving out information, as it helps move the story along.

Make a Know Check only to understand, not perceive. As such, this does not detect traps, loot, lies, or ambushes. The Guide should usually tell the players what they see without gating it behind a Check. As such, even a failure grants them info – usually the info they got from the Guide by listening before they reached for the dice.

Move

Dedicates an Action towards moving into an adjacent Zone. This is normally covered by the Free Move, which does not use up this Action unless the character is Staggered or hindered somehow. Avoiding traps, ducking through brambles, swimming, clambering over debris, etc. may call for a Check of POISE vs. a Difficulty set by the Guide.

Check: POISE vs. Difficulty

  • Success: Overcome obstacle or trap.
  • Edge: compare to see who got there first.
  • Failure: Stopped by an obstacle or triggered trap.
  • Twists: Delay, drop item, cause a hazard, reveal location, etc.

Fast creatures or vehicles have a Speed higher than one, meaning they may Move more than one Zone in a Round. If a fast mover faces multiple Checks along their path, they may use Split Actions to overcome them. Slow movers have fractional speeds (1/2, etc.) and take two Moves or more to cross a single Zone.

  • Obstacles like walls, rivers, brambles, etc. hinder movement into the Zone. For example, you must hurdle a broken wall to enter. These usually provide Cover to those who cross them.
  • Climbing lets one enter Zones that extend up or down, like cliffs, pits, or large vehicle/creatures. Very large creatures or vehicles may present their own Zone(s) to climb, making it possible for the bold to deal with riders, find entry ports, etc. Difficulty is the large creature’s POISE or vehicle’s max Speed.
  • Hazards like falls, pits, quicksand, lava, etc. do not prevent movement but do call for a Check, with injury or inconvenience on a failure. A Hazard is similar to a Trap but is not hidden. For example, entangling vines may trap an intruder in that Zone until they succeed at a later Move Check, while broken bottles just damage those who fail to tread carefully.
  • Traps are carefully hidden surprise Hazards. The first to enter a trapped Zone gets a Check to detect it, using a relevant CONCEPT. If successful, the trap does not trigger and may even be disarmed with further Checks. A failure means they suffer the effect. A triggered trap may turn into a Hazard afterward.
  • Chases have the quarry and pursuers Move through a set of chase Zones, with the quarry deciding where to go. How well they overcome obstacles, hazards, and climbing along the way decides who wins.

Parley

Haggling, seduction, diplomacy, lies, threats, bribery, and negotiation are all good alternatives or preludes to battle. This is not mind-control and merely shifts the social situation in favor of the winner. Parley is a Check of NATURE vs. MOTIVE. The side with more leverage may get a bonus or better narrative outcome.

Check: NATURE vs. MOTIVE (or highest MOTIVE of an audience)

  • Success: The social situation sways in your favor.
  • Edge: Adds to Difficulty to persuade otherwise later.
  • Failure: The social situation plays out as it would.
  • Twists: Delay, lose Contact, offend ally, reveal secret, etc.

Success shifts the narrative for the better, but the views of those involved still depend on the actual argument. If no one uses Persuade, the Guide simply role-plays the other character or group’s reaction as they would expect it to play out.

Edge makes it more difficult for others to undo the persuasion later. Note this sticky belief in the Resources section of their character sheet. It is now something they “own,” for better or worse.

Players on the losing side of Persuasion can either choose to be good sports about it and go along, or outright reject the manipulation. Going along with it can easily justify an XP highlight!

Race

It takes a steady hand to keep control during a high-speed chase or aerial dogfight. The fastest racer wins, but if everyone is going the same Speed the winner is the one with the highest Edge. Racers can choose their own Speed up to their vehicle’s max, but the current Speed is also the Difficulty of their Handling (p.65) Check. The Guide can also spice up the course with obstacles, which add 1d6 to the Difficulty.

Check: Handling (CONCEPT) vs. current Speed

  • Success: Kept up pace and stayed in control.
  • Edge: Their lead on other racers in the same Speed group.
  • Failure: Crash damage to vehicle and occupants
  • Twists: Delay (sidetracked next Round, lose lead), create obstacle, waste fuel, lose parts, etc.

You can spend Edge on stunts instead of playing fair like a chump:

  • Steady: smooth out the ride and line up the target; add Edge as a bonus to any occupant’s Attacks on their target.

  • Swerve: juking or angling, Edge increased Difficulty of any foe’s Attack on the vehicle until your next Action.

  • Splatter: skid up mud or dirt onto the windshield. Inflicts Edge as Difficulty to target’s Handling Checks until cleaned. Must be going the same speed as the target and have something to splatter.

Ramming or sideswiping is an Attack. Current speed is king – a slower vehicle cannot normally ram a faster one. Altitude can matter too; a ground vehicle cannot ram an airborne vehicle, except in wild situations. The Guide must wield their best judgment as usual.

Rally

Restores Mettle by shaking off the pain of flesh wounds. This is a Check of MOTIVE vs. the current Mettle of the character, restoring one or two points of Mettle, more with Edge. This cannot restore negative Mettle – at that point, the harm is lasting. Rallies are vital for staying in a long fight against powerful foes.

Check: MOTIVE vs. current Mettle

  • Success: Restore two Mettle and end the effect of a Rattle.
  • Edge: Restore that many extra Mettle.
  • Failure: Restore only one point of Mettle.
  • Twists: Delay, reveal secret, offend ally, draw more foes, etc.

If a gracious ally who passed Initiative to them has a higher NATURE than the rallier’s MOTIVE, the Rallying character may Check on that instead. Play it up as words of encouragement.

A successful Rally also clears the effects of a Rattle, below:

Rattle

Taunting, threatening, trash-talking, and demoralizing an enemy. This Action is only effective if the target can understand the onslaught of indignity hurled at them. Rattle is a Check of NATURE vs. current Mettle, but a spiteful, authoritative, or comedic CONCEPT can do. This afflicts them with self-doubt and raises the Difficulty of their Rallies. A thoroughly rattled foe is inclined to surrender or flee.

Check: NATURE vs. current Mettle

  • Success: Foe adds +2 Difficulty to Rallies.
  • Edge: each Edge further raises Rally Difficulty by one.
  • Failure: Foe adds only +1 Difficulty to Rallies.
  • Twists: Delay, reveal secret, offend ally, draw more foes, etc.

The Difficulty increase lasts until the end of the Scene or a successful Rally. They may gripe about it later but the actual sting fades with time.

Difficulty increases from multiple rattlers do not stack. A target only feels the most hurtful heckling that Scene.

Sneak

Moving silently and hiding in shadows are great ways to evade foes and get into places you aren’t supposed to be. This only allows you to remain unnoticed by others. It is not possible if someone is looking right at you, or you do not have anywhere to hide. This is a Check of POISE vs. MOTIVE, or the highest MOTIVE in a group. A Stealthy CONCEPT can swap in for POISE, if higher.

Check: POISE vs. MOTIVE

  • Success: Remain unnoticed by your foes.
  • Edge: Adds to DM during Surprise, steal or plant more small items, etc.
  • Failure: They notice you.
  • Twists: Delay, leave telltale clues, end up in different area, drop gear, etc.  
  • Hiding is a matter of finding Cover rather than a checked Action. If their seekers move into a position where the Cover would fail, the hider can try a Sneak Check to slip away. The better the hiding spot, the less likely they will need to slip away from it.
  • Surprise attacks can trigger after a successful Sneak. The surprised side goes a Round without an Action. Next Round things go back to normal for the survivors.
  • Steal/Plant small objects under 1 Load, with Edge adding extras. Good for framing a suspect, snitching a set of keys, leaving trackers, live grenades, etc. Often done instead of an Attack or Defense, leaving the seemingly victorious foe unaware of their loss or gain.

Travel

Traveling between areas often just serves as the narrative opening of a new scene. This is perfectly fine. For example, “After a bit of the usual traffic on I-95, you find yourselves eating crabs at the Bulging Bushel.” If the journey is as important as the destination, use this Action to give it more weight. The players get to make decisions and the Guide gets to add drama with encounters!

The lead traveler Checks their best navigation or area knowledge CONCEPT, with the Difficulty being how troublesome the area between is. Success means the group arrived safely, and failure is an encounter along the way. You can also “zoom in,” requiring individual Travel Checks to get to places between the start and goal. In any case, this is meant to enhance not restrict. Parties who want to go somewhere else should be able to “drop a pin” and set an unplanned destination.

A single Travel Check can stand for hours, days, or weeks depending on the distance and vehicles. Adventurers “travel on their stomachs.” Lacking rations inflicts a +1 Difficulty per day without as they bicker and scrounge for supplies. It is important to prepare well.

Check: CONCEPT vs. Difficulty

  • Success: arrive at destination safely.
  • Edge: compare to beat rival parties or foes to destination.
  • Failure: arrive at your destination if you survive an encounter.
  • Twists: Delay, get lost and move to an adjacent area, ambushed later at the destination, lose supplies or trade goods.

An Encounter is an event rolled or chosen by the Guide. Whether enemies, obstacles, fortune, or misfortune, they tend to eat up precious time and resources. Examples include running across a hostile patrol, becoming fatigued, getting a flat tire, or finding a mysterious statue. Even on a success, the Guide may want to roll on an encounter table and describe the telltale signs (tracks, noises, spoor, etc.) of what they would have faced.

Rivals or foes can Travel too, giving them their own Edge result. The highest Edge arrives first, which can be important for staking claims or laying ambushes.

Use

This catch-all Action covers miscellaneous feats, normally using a device, tool, or item. For example, pulling a sticky lever, forging a famous painting, starting an unfamiliar vehicle, fixing a car, picking a lock, etc. For trivial but Round-consuming Actions like reloading a weapon or pulling a lever, this is usually unchecked. Otherwise, Check a relevant CONCEPT vs. a fiat Difficulty. Let a failure stand - move the story along instead of allowing retries.

Check: FOCUS vs. Difficulty

  • Success: Uses the item properly.
  • Edge: Quicker, better, with flair, etc.
  • Failure: The task is harder than it looks.
  • Twists: Delay (gonna need more time here!), break tools, attract unwanted attention.*

A party may split a lengthy Use project into smaller ones with varying Difficulties. This allows for incremental progress and taking advantage of specialized assistants. Naturally, the more people in a cohesive team working on a project, the less time it will also take.

Vehicle repairs face a Difficulty equal to their FRAME, making it troublesome to maintain big machines in the field. A proper garage for that vehicle type should ease the Difficulty down to a more manageable level. It takes about a day to fix one die of negative Mettle penalty.

Scenery

Active foes and enemies are not the only danger faced by characters, whether inside or outside of combat. This section holds all sorts of hazardous features to spice up a Scene.

Active foes and enemies are not the only dangers to face. This section holds all sorts of hazardous features to spice up a Scene.

Affliction

Adventurers must beware of venomous snakes, blowgun darts, the miasma of the tomb, and a “mickey” slipped in their drink! These impart dreadful urgency to any scene. If exposed, the Guide Rolls the Dose. Instead of normal damage, Afflictions lower the maximum Mettle of the character over time. Rallies cannot raise Mettle above the new maximum, and if Affliction lowers Mettle to 0 or below they become Staggered or Fallen as usual.

  • Disease: Roll Dose and lower the victim’s maximum Mettle by one each day, up to the result.
  • Poison: Roll Dose and subtract the victim’s FRAME. If positive, lower their maximum Mettle by one each Round, up to the result.
  • Tranquilizers: as poison, but the Dose result also raises the victim’s Check Difficulties. This tends to put them out of action before death.

The Guide keeps the Dose result secret to create suspense. Afflictions may work over different time scales (months, years, etc.), the day or round intervals are just convenient defaults.

Afflictions end if the victim is still alive when cured or the result runs out. Max Mettle then recovers by 1 every day for diseases and every Round for poison. A Know Check on a medical CONCEPT may suggest treatments or how long until the affliction runs its course.

SAMPLE AFFLICTIONS
Source Type Dose Symptoms
Common cold Disease 1d6-3 Cough, sneezing
Monitor lizard bite Disease 1d6-1 Swelling, gangrene
Curare dart Poison 2d6-FRAME Shortness of breath
Cobra venom Poison 2d6-FRAME Fatigue, swelling
Tranquilizer dart Tranquilizer 1d6-FRAME Fatigue, clumsiness

Adjust the dosage for the victim’s size using the FRAME Conversion chart (p.89) as a loose guide. For example, the Dose must be at least 3d6 (3-18) for a 12 FRAME elephant.

  • Affliction: Roll Dose for max damage, lose Rally if any damage.
  • Poisons do 1/Round, Diseases do 1/Day, Tranqs also add Difficulty.

Cover

Combatants can freely use nearby obstacles to protect themselves from ranged attacks, referred to as taking Cover. This does not take an Action if the Cover is in their current Zone. There are two ways to use Cover: Partial and Total. Taking Partial Cover adds +2 to POISE Difficulty vs. incoming attacks. Total Cover prevents targeting entirely for both attacker and defender. Area Attacks do half damage in Partial Cover and none in Full Cover. One may pop out of Total Cover and target another character, but it then counts as only Partial until their next Action.

Whether one has Cover depends on where the attack is coming from. For example, a stone wall only grants Cover against those on the other side. A chain link fence grants full Cover against throwing axes but only +1 against gunshots, etc. If Cover is easily penetrated by an attack, such as a wooden wall versus a tank cannon, it can only ever count as Partial. Use your judgment as always.

  • Partial Cover: +2 to POISE vs. incoming Attacks, half damage from Area Attacks.
  • Total Cover: cannot target or be targeted.

Deprivation

Amid fantastic perils, it is still possible to suffer from basic thirst, hunger, fatigue, and suffocation. An adventurer needs one serving of rations, a canteen (liter or so) of water each day, roughly six hours of rest, and ample air. Lacking these can have real effects:

  • Hunger: each week without food lowers FRAME by one. At zero, the character has starved to death. Each day of normal rations restores 1 FRAME lost to hunger.
  • Thirst: each day without water lowers POISE by one. At zero, they die from dehydration. Each day of normal drinking restores 1 POISE lost to thirst.
  • Fatigue: each day without rest lowers CONCEPT by one. At zero, they die from exhaustion. A full day of rest removes this effect. A fatigued character might fall asleep as a Twist on a failed Check.
  • Suffocation: one can hold their breath in strenuous conditions for 1d6 rounds, or 2d6 if they have time for deep breaths beforehand. Beyond this, they lose 1 Mettle per round.

These are not very heroic ways to go but they give good reason to buy rations, shelter, and water. This sort of “resource management” is a whole sub-game some players enjoy. The Guide may find them useful for evoking a sense of urgency in extreme conditions.

  • Hunger: -1 FRAME per week, restored by food.
  • Thirst: -1 POISE per day, restored by water.
  • Fatigue: -1 CONCEPT per day, restored by sleep.
  • Suffocation: Hold breath for 1d6 Rounds before taking damage.

Falls

Damage of course depends on how far the character fell: 1d6, plus 2 for every full building story or ~5-meter vertical Zone. This damage Soaks with POISE instead of FRAME. For example, a short fall like tumbling into a trench does 1d6, a second-story window or tree does 1d6+4, a tall tree or several floors of a building may do 1d6+8, etc. Terminal velocity limits damage to 1d6+20, such as skydiving without a parachute.

Hard ground like concrete or rubble may inflict +1, spikes or traps Roll separate damage (1d6+), water may be -2, jumping purposefully instead of falling grants -2, etc.

The truly daring may Plummet onto an enemy below, raising their DM by two for every Zone fallen. They still suffer their own falling damage, soaked by POISE as usual.

  • Falls: 1d6 damage, +2 per Zone (~5m), Soak with POISE.
  • Plummet: +2 to DM per full Zone fallen.

Fire

Fire does damage 1d6 or more damage each round until the target escapes it. This damage depends on how big the fire is and how hot it is burning, soaked by FRAME and armor. For example, a torch or campfire would do 1d6 or so, a raging Bonfire 2d6, and a forge or lava flow 3d6 or more.

Some targets are naturally flammable, such as wood, mummies, tree monsters, or rags. Others become so via napalm, gasoline, or magical curses. Flammable targets take on the Burning Status, meaning they cannot Rally and continue to take the same damage each Round until extinguished or burnt to cinders.

  • Fire: 1d6 or more damage, soaked by FRAME.

Traps

Traps are sinister surprises for daring adventurers; faceless, “ambient” dangers without their own will. Every hidden trap has a Trigger, such as the Character walking down the hallway, turning a door handle, etc. At that moment, it is also possible to detect it. Detecting a trap is a Move Check upon encountering the device, using POISE or a relevant trap-related CONCEPT. If they succeed, they do not trigger the trap and may avoid it, or even disarm it with a later (Use) Check. If they fail, they suffer the trap’s effect. A triggered trap may then become a Hazard for everyone else.

  • Flooding room: this small adjoining room has a strange idol in the center. If players linger, the doors close and it begins to fill with water, flooding entirely in 5 Rounds. If anyone kneels before the idol the water drains away. Difficulty 8, Suffocation.
  • Pitfall: a carefully weighted trapdoor covers a shaft down to the next floor. Triggered by the first one to walk onto it, anyone nearby could also blunder in. Difficulty 4, 1d6+2 Falling damage.
  • Scything blade: a pressure plate in the hallway triggers a massive hidden blade to swing towards the victim. The victim hears a metallic whirring at head height and has a split second to get horizontal and avoid decapitation. Difficulty 6, 2d6 damage.
  • Tripwire: stout twine between two trees around the bandit camp sets off a crude tin-can alarm. Difficulty 4, alerts the bandits.

Clever parties may come up with alternate ways to escape or avoid traps, Reward these creative ideas instead of forcing them to play out the trap as intended.

An obvious “trap” such as an open pit or lava pool is more of a Hazard the party may just choose to avoid. Some are still irresistible to overly curious parties. This is also true of already-known proper hidden traps, which simply turn into Hazards.

  • Traps: Move Check to avoid suffering effects.

Visibility

Darkness, underbrush, and smoke make tasks related to vision more difficult. In general, dim light is +1 Difficulty and total darkness +3. Equipment such as torches or night vision goggles can prevent this. Sudden flashes of bright light can also hinder visibility.

  • Poor lighting adds +1 to +3 Difficulty.