Distinctions
A trait group that represents a characters background, personality and role in the game that differentiates them from other PCs and NPCs. This is the first part of the Prime Set each character has.
Attributes
Attributes represent raw ability, prowess and effort. They are one of the core building blocks of your character. The six Attributes are Courage, Faith, Grace, Guile, Reason and Vigour. This is the second part of the Prime Set every character has.
Skills
Skills represent natural talent, training or experience. They form third part of the Prime Set each character has.
Specialties
Specialties are narrow fields of expertise within a Skill set. A Specialty of Marksmanship, for example, might be crossbows or slings. A Speciality of Knowledge may be the History of Banteave.
Prime Set
The Prime Set in this game are Distinctions, Attributes and Skills. Whenever making a roll, players will assemble a dice pool that contains, at minimum, one die each from a relevant Distinction, Attribute and Skill. If a character doesn't have a die to add for whatever reason (they aren't trained in a skill, for example) it will default to a d4 rating.
Signature Assets
Signature Assets are key pieces of gear that are tied to your character; your family sworn, your faithful hound, your watchful squire. They can contribute dice to your pools when they are involved in the test and can help in a meaningful way; your hound may be great at sniffing out clues, but they're not as good at negotiating alliances. Specialty Assets can have SFX unlocked for them. The die rating of the Signature Asset defines your relationship with it and how much it can potentially help you.
SFX
SFX or Special Effects are dice tricks that are tied to traits. They are comprised of a Cost and a Benefit, as well as Conditions in which the SFX can be used.
Stress
Stress is a measure of physical, mental or social afflictions, such as injuries, exhaustion, panic or legal complications. A character can suffer Stress as a result of losing a contest against an opponent. When Stress would be relevant in a Contest, your opponent can add your Stress die to their pool when rolling against you. When Stress exceeds d12, the victim is usually Taken Out of the conflict and the winner chooses their fate unless they spend a Plot Point to stay in the contest. Trauma is also incurred whenever Stress exceeds a d12 rating.
Trauma
Trauma is long-lasting Stress that has the potential to end a character's story for good. Whenever a character suffers Stress that would push them past d12, they suffer an appropriate level of Trauma instead. Trauma can also increase as a result of failed Recovery rolls made to heal the Trauma. Just like Stress Dice, Trauma Dice can be added to an opponents pool if it's relevant to a contest and could hinder you in any way. If Trauma is ever pushed past d12, the character's story is over; they are dead, broken, lost to hopelessness or banished from the realm by their peers.
Plot Points
Plot Points are the meta-currency that both players and the GM use to alter the course of the story. Plot Points are earned by rolling Hitches and suffering Complications as a result, or from good roleplaying moments. Plot Points can be spent on SFX, to increase dice pools or results, or to introduce new elements to a scene.
Recovery
Also known as a Bridge Scene, a Recovery scene is a period of downtime between other scenes that allows characters to make Recovery rolls to remove Complications or reduce their Stress or Trauma.
Scenes
Every session is comprised of multiple scenes, including both the PCs featured in that episode and any relevant Supporting Cast and NPCs. The primary types of scenes are:
- Opening Scene - Establishes our core situation for the session
- Action Scene - Involves charged situations, action and conflict
- Exploration Scene - Involves discovery, travel from one place to the next, or discovering something new
- Intrigue Scene - Involves narrative drama between characters
- Bridge Scene - Also known as a recovery scene, represents downtime between other scenes
- Flashback Scene - Serves the purpose of establishing something new in the narrative
- Tag Scene - The last scene of the session, often used to wrap up plots or leave the door open for new ones.
Statements
A Statement is a sentence or phrase that clarifies or refines the trait it's attached to. Distinctions and Relationships both contain Statements in this game. Whenever a statement is challenged by the player, they act contrary to the statement and triple the dice from it for one roll. Once a Statement has been challenged, it drops its rating by one step until the end of the session. At the end of the session, the player must either rewrite the statement to reflect its changed nature and return it to its original die rating, or keep the statement the same and leave the die rating permanently stepped down.
Relationships
Relationships are traits that represent the intensity and importance of a character's connection with another character. This connection may be positive or negative in nature, so long as it motivates and empowers the character who has it. Each Relationship has a Statement tied to it that defines the nature of the relationship. A Relationship adds its die to the pool when the test involves the character or relationship it's linked to, or when that character has influence over or inspires the PC. Relationships can deepen and wane over time, and challenging their Statement can result in a dramatic shift.
Reputation
Similar to Relationships, Reputation represents a character's standing in a particular organization, such as a merchant's guild or a noble house. All PC's from a noble house begin with a d8 Reputation associated with their House. Note that increasing the die type of a Reputation is only allowed if justified in the fiction first; you can't step up your Reputation in an organization to a d12 unless you're the leader of that organization, for example.
Resources
Resources are special types of Assets that have limited uses. They are typically represented by two or more dice of the same size, which may be used to aid a test or contest where that resource is helpful or significant. Players choose how many resource dice to roll separate from their main pool, and the highest one rolled is added to their test result. After they're rolled, they're considered expended and can be recovered later during downtime. The four types of Resources are:
- Extra - A contact or ally that the player can draw on for help. A network of informants, a group of thugs or a retinue of bodyguards are a good example.
- Location - A place in the game world that may be used to set scenes or provide valuable resources. A library, a healer's hut, or a sacred shrine are good examples.
- Organization - A group of people who function under a specific ideology who can open channels that the PC doesn't normally have access to. The smugglers down at the docks who owe you a favour is a good example.
- Prop - A tool or object that helps the PC broaden the scope of what they can achieve in certain situations. Healer's kits, a collection of ancient tomes of lore, a collection of camping gear or a vial of poison are all good examples.
Resource Dice are recovered at the start of every session, or during any narrative period of downtime where their recovery would be appropriate. You may also spend Plot Points to recover Resource Dice, one for one.
All resources have
Tags, which are descriptions that help guide their relevance and usage. A group of Thugs might be
Violent Brutes, while your gang of informants may be
Stealthy Spies. Both are useful, but the Violent Brutes aren't likely to be able to glean much in the way of court secrets at a fancy ball.
