GAME RULES

Where the Mechanics of the Game are discussed and explained. 

CREATION

Creating a Character

Character Classes

Background Perks

Craft-Ritual System

Crafted Items and General item list

Fortification

Skill Disciplines

Stigmata (Bloodline and Grafted)

In-game terms for Game mechanics

Retirement and Alts

Resolution

Bank Vaults

Baseline Skills

Beneficial Modal Effects

Combat System

Control Effects

Diseases and Curses

Life, Death & Resurrection

Looting, Unlocking & Scavenging

Magic Overview

Out of game Problems & complaint procedures

Shields and Armor

PROGRESSION

ArchFaction Progression

Bounties Subsystem

Components - the BTF Currency

Deeds Subsystem

Interim Action

Experience and Milestones System

Guild System AND Player Guilds

Service Points

Town Expansions

Creating a Character

Creating a character in Beyond the Fall can be as simple or as complicated as you desire.

Regardless of what kind of character you pick, they may use any and all of the BASELINE SKILLS.

We recommend one of the following methods:

Pick an archetype as per above and then customize it to your liking.

Character Rewrite

For the Character Re-write, you can simply inform us of your new choices via email. Here are the features of the rewrite.

• This may only be performed within the first three Events attended

• A Player may opt to rewrite their Player Character’s choices during Character Creation, including starting Skills, Stigmata, chosen Class, name, Archfaction, etc.

  • These changes may reflect an actual change or retraining on the Character’s part.

  • Optionally, it can instead be that this was the Character’s true self/form the entire time.

• They may also refund all or any of their XP or LXP expenditures for that Character.  

• If a Character becomes ineligible for a Skill (e.g. loses prerequisites for it), it is removed from them. 

• This may only happen Once per Character.

Legacy XP may be spent or re-spent during a Rewrite, up to 30 LXP total.

• If spent during a Rewrite, they may only be used to purchase Basic Skills from one's Class.

• As it was during Character Creation, for the purposes of prerequisites, spending LXP occurs after the Character Choices during Character creation (i.e. spending LXP happens after choosing 3 starting Skills and 3 Background Perks) 

  • Similarly, if a rewritten choice changes the XP cost of certain Skills (e.g. because of a different class) and thereby makes such a choice ineligible, then the Skill is accommodated for or removed if it cannot be afforded.

  • For example: Taro Ham the Chimera changed his class from Warrior to Ranger. His Melee Expertise skill that cost 10 LXP now costs 20 LXP — if he does not have enough LXP after the rewrite, he will lose that Skill.

• However, any Components expended for Training or Crafting/Rituals remain expended.
  
  Developer’s Note:  The Rewrite mechanic is there for Players to finetune their Character closer to their vision for said Character, thereby allowing for a “re-do” of Character Creation. It is not there to allow a Character to start out far, far stronger than the Character Creation system would normally allow.

New character submission form

Character Archetypes

Step ONE: Choose an Archetype (pre-built character)

These are pre-built characters with some progression and itemization advice. Players should feel free to use these as is or substitute elements to fully customize their character, using the Character Creation rules.

STEP two: COMPLETE CHARACTER DETAILS 

Ensure that your new character has the following:

• a setting appropriate name***

• a place of origin

• a distinct personality

• and other necessary roleplaying details. All Player Characters must be 18 years old or older in-game.

While having a detailed backstory is not necessary, a basic knowledge of a character’s origins and upbringing helps one’s role-play immensely. Some Players like to know everything about their character’s background. On the other hand, many players choose to fill in the details while playing the game or after a few months of game play. Both methods are acceptable.

*** CHARACTER NAMES:

— need to be appropriate to the setting while also being appropriate with a game environment.

— are encouraged to be different from common western names or that nicknames be used — the greater the difference from a “conventional name” the less likely confusion will occur.

- While taking names from popular fiction is usually allowed, lifting directly from the source instead of altering may take other Players out of the game.

- Player Characters are recommended to have different names from their own real-life selves, to assist in a healthy degree of separation between in-game character and out-of-game person.

For any of the reasons above (or any reason they deem), Game Staff may ask a Player to change their Character’s name.

OPTIONAL: ALIGN YOURSELF WITH AN ARCHFACTION

If you did not choose the Distinguished Background Perk, you may choose to start as Allied (loyalty tier 1) with one Archfaction or Subfaction of your choice. You may not use a Loyalty Boon until the next Event.

Choosing an Archfaction is not necessary for creating a Character. While having Loyalty to an Archfaction may be useful for many folk, a neutral stance is just as valid of a play-style. Similarly, some folk choose to align themselves with none of the Archfaction so that they can shop around to see what values and allies suits them best.

IN-Depth Character Creation

Creating a character in The World Beyond the Fall using the In-Depth method is as below. The short version is as follows:

Pick 1 Class-> Pick 1 Aptitude-> Pick 3 Basic Skills -> Pick 3 perks -> Pick 3 starting items -> Complete details

Step One: Pick 1 Class

Choose between one of the following Classes:

• Builder: A crafter of the new sciences

• Counselor: A speaker and a student of the mind

• Ranger: An explorer and a survivor

• Warrior: A slayer and defender

• Arcanist*: A wielder of magics
  

Arcanists — Arcanist characters are more complex than other Classes and are not recommended for Players preferring less complexity or those who dislike classes with drawbacks.

Step Two: Pick 1 Class Aptitude

Choose one Aptitude from your Class, which are a specific class-based benefit.

Step Three: Pick 3 Basic Skills from your Class

Pick 3 Basic Skills from your Class, from any Discipline within it. These three “Starting” Skills cost 0 XP.

Arcanists — one of these skills must be the Etheric Arcana skill from the Channeler Discipline.  

Step Four: Pick 3 Background Perks 

Background Perks reflect your upbringing. They can grant skills from your Class, Skills from other Classes, and/or different Bloodline or Graft abilities. These three Perks and the Skills they come with cost 0 XP.

Arcanists — one of these Perks must be the Marked Perk or the Grafted Perk (see Step one)

Step Five: Pick 3 starting Items

• Your Character arrives with three basic-quality items chosen from the General Item List, such as armor, weapons, shields, ammo pack, knife pack, and a skill kit.

  • Take note that Firearm weapons and Bow/Crossbow weapons require ammo packs to function.

• Your Character automatically starts with any number of “Basic Clothing” items.

• You also begin the game with five Minor Components (aka CMP or Reggies) of a random type or a Basic CMP of a random type

  • After your first Event, you receive a similar amount of CMPs at the beginning of every event.

  • Components are the main form of currency, also used in rituals or crafting. 

Arcanists — Animancers are encouraged to get an Animus Crown. Talismongers are encouraged to get a Rune Wand. Diabolists need no such crutches to practice their art. 

Step Six: Complete Character details 

Ensure that your new character has the following:

• a setting appropriate name***

• a place of origin

• a distinct personality

• and other necessary roleplaying details.

• All Player Characters must be 18 years old or older in-game.

Backstories: While having a detailed backstory is not necessary, a basic knowledge of a character’s origins and upbringing helps one’s role-play immensely. Some Players like to know everything about their character’s background. On the other hand, many players choose to fill in the details while playing the game or after a few months of game play. Both methods are acceptable.

*** CHARACTER NAMES:

— need to be appropriate to the setting while also being appropriate with a game environment.

— are encouraged to be different from common western names or that nicknames be used — the greater the difference from a “conventional name” the less likely confusion will occur.

- While taking names from popular fiction is usually allowed, lifting directly from the source instead of altering may take other Players out of the game.

- are encouraged to be different from their own real-life selves, to assist in a healthy degree of separation between in-game character and out-of-game person.

For any of the reasons above (or any reason they deem), Game Staff may ask a Player to change their Character’s name.

Optional: Align yourself with an Archfaction

If you did not choose the Distinguished Background Perk, you may choose to start as Allied (loyalty tier 1) with one Archfaction or Subfaction of your choice. You may not use a Loyalty Boon until the next Event.

Choosing an Archfaction is not necessary for creating a Character. While having Loyalty to an Archfaction may be useful for many folk, a neutral stance is just as valid of a play-style. Similarly, some folk choose to align themselves with none of the Archfaction so that they can shop around to see what values and allies suits them best. 

Send game staff an email of your Character

or

Submit your character using the form below

Background Perks

Each character is allowed three Background Perks as per character creation. These perks represent various talents or other bonuses that they received from their bloodline, upbringing and/or the surviving circumstances of either. 

Take note that you may choose most Perks more than once, except for Distinguished, Marked, and Grafted. 

PERK LIST

Blooded – A Perk that draws from the Warrior class. 

Charmed – A Perk that draws from the Counselor class. 

Distinguished – A Perk that represents affiliation with a Subfaction

Energized -- A Perk only for Arcanists that allows further depth into their Class. 

Grafted – A Perk that grants Traits from a Graft or Imbued Stigmata

Marked – A Perk that grants Traits from a Bloodline or Inherited Stigmata

Rugged – A Perk that draws from the Ranger class. 

Talented – A Perk that draws from the Builder class. 

PERK OVERVIEW 

Below are the full descriptions for each Background Perk. 

Blooded 

You have been forged by the fires of battle. For most, this means having seen combat in the war against the sorcerous Harbingers. Perhaps you are a survivor of great tragedy or were the bringer of such sorrows unto others as a soldier, assassin, or brigand. 

Benefit: You begin the game with a Basic Skill of your choice from the Warrior Class. 

If you are of the Warrior Class, this Perk instead grants you one Basic or Complex Warrior skill of your choice, provided that you also possess its requirements. Normally, you may only begin the game with Basic skills.

Charmed 

You possess an understanding of other people, a knack that allows you to read others or simply get them to listen. Those with this Perk are more often the leaders, the advisors or spokespersons of small groups or communities. Whether they remain in such a position or are ousted for a different reason is a matter of circumstance and choice.

Benefit: You begin the game with a Basic Skill of your choice from the Counselor Class. 

If you are of the Counselor Class, you may instead choose one Basic or Complex Counselor skill of your choice, provided that you also possess its requirements. Normally, you may only begin the game with Basic skills.

Distinguished 

You have done one of the great Powers of the world Beyond the Fall a service, through military pursuits, diplomatic envoyship or other means of prestige. This has accorded you some measure of favor and even rewards within that Faction, although more is now expected of you as a representative of said Faction in most matters. Because your actions reflect that of your organization, you must conduct yourself accordingly or else face demotion or even expulsion. 

Benefit: You begin the game with the second Loyalty Tier (“Operative”) of an Archfaction of your choice and a Faction Title, if appropriate. You may activate a once per Event Faction Boon. This Perk may be lost through one’s in-game actions. Unlike other Perks, you may not choose this one more than once. 

Energized 

Requires: Arcanist Class

Magic flows through you quite readily, allowing you to make a quick study of what other Arcanists may find difficult or trying. This means that there are those around you that may be jealous of your powers or fearful of your potential. This may also mean that you are thrust into a position of prominence or danger earlier than you are ready for. 

Benefit: You may begin the game with an additional Basic or Complex Arcanist skill of your choice, provided that you also possess its requirements. Normally, you may only begin the game with Basic skills. Unlike the other Background Perks, you may not pick this Perk if you are not of the Arcanist Class. 

Grafted 

Your flesh and spirit have been renewed by circumstance or rite. For most individuals, this means a second chance – a chance beyond Death that is called the Necrotic Stigmata. After being killed by certain undead creatures such as a blood-drinking Leech or in certain death-haunted areas, some strong-willed individuals spontaneously “return to life,” avenging their own death or simply just attempting (and sometimes failing) to return to the life they had. In other cases, this Perk represents a more measured and intentional metamorphosis where specialists in magic and/or science, reforge and augment an individual’s body with special machinery or with xenobiology. 

Benefit: Choose one of the Imbued Stigmata, also called a Graft. From it, you gain the Biology Trait of that Stigmata (e.g. Golemic Biology, Necrotic Biology, etc.) and one other Trait of your choice to start with. As is expected, you must adhere to the prop and make-up requirements of that Stigmata.  You may only have one Imbued Stigmata. Unlike other Perks, you may not choose this one more than once. 

Below are the Graft Stigmata:

• Eidolonic Stigmata: You have been willingly implanted with an alien spore

• Metabionic Stigmata: You have mechanical parts, including a Metabionic Core in your chest.

• Necrotic Stigmata: You have risen from the dead and may have a thirst for blood or souls.

Marked 

You were born with gifts and abilities beyond most of humanity.This may manifest in fur, scales, wings, gems, or even gills. This means that one or both of your parents possessed this Stigmata -- they may have suffered for their heritage or were exalted for it, depending on the community that they lived in. 

Benefit: Choose one of the Bloodline Stigmata, sometimes called Inherited Stigmata. From it, you may choose one Trait to begin the game with. As is expected, you must adhere to the prop and make-up requirements of that Stigmata. You may only have one Inherited Stigmata. 

Unlike other Perks, you may not choose this one more than once. 

Below are the Bloodline Stigmata:

• Chimeric Stigmata: You possess some bestial characteristics and have access to the Arcanist Class

• Psionic Stigmata: You have potent mental powers and have access to the Arcanist Class. 

• Seraphic Stigmata: You have eldritch abilities and have access to the Arcanist Class.
  

Rugged 

You were always on the move. For some folk, that meant a desire to see beyond the next hill and a dislike of the mundane. For others, it manifested in a distrust in stagnation and authority. This path often leads to crime and exile, but may also lead to opportunity and exaltation – many are those in power that would fund and employ individuals with your expertise and your perspective.

Benefit: You begin the game with a Basic Skill of your choice from the Ranger Class. 

If you are of the Ranger Class, this Perk instead grants you one Basic or Complex Ranger skill of your choice, provided that you also possess its requirements. Normally, you may only begin the game with Basic skills.

Talented 

You saw things and figured out how they worked. Perhaps this meant that you were good at turning herbs into drinks or junk into gadgets, but you had a natural talent for such things or else, a great mentor. But such talent draws opportunities to you as others see your worth and your skills, elevating you above others. On the other hand, it can also draw danger from those who would take it from you or who envied what they did not have. 

Benefit: You begin the game with a Basic Skill of your choice from the Builder Class. 

If you are of the Builder Class, this Perk instead grants you one Basic or Complex Builder skill of your choice, provided that you also possess its requirements. Normally, you may only begin the game with Basic skills.

Character Classes

Below are the five Character Classes in Beyond the Fall. Each Class focuses on an aspect of adventuring life, with skills that reflect proficiency and mastery of said aspect. 

Each individual character may only have one Class, but one may learn skills from outside your class. The path in doing so is usually costly and slow. 

Basic-level and Complex-level Skills cost 10 Experience points (XP) and usually cost Components (CMP) to self-train or to be taught - these CMP costs can vary depending on the source of training.

• Erudite-level Skills cost +10 more XP to learn.

• Skills outside one’s Class (aka Cross-class Skills) cost +10 more XP to learn.

• Erudite Skills that are Cross-class therefore cost a total of 30 XP to learn.

Builder Class

Builders are makers and artisans. They are skilled craftsfolk and tradesfolk, creating the tools and resources necessary to survive in the horrific world beyond the Fall. They make your food and mend your wounds. They forge your weapons and construct your buildings. To have one as an ally is a blessing and to have none by your side is madness. 

Builder Skill Groups: Brewer, Chemist, Doctor, Tinker, Weaponer and Weaver

Sample Builders: the Combat Smith, the Field Medic, and the Technologist.

Ranger Class

Rangers are explorers and seekers, capable of delving deep into the perilous places of the world beyond the Fall and returning with precious, though bloodied, treasures. They are skilled in the arts of subterfuge and survival, capable of reading their environment and even other people to their advantage. Consider the Ranger: the presence of one can determine the survival or doom of an expedition.

Ranger Skill Groups: Hunter, Junker, Reader, Runner, Shadower, and Survivor

Sample Rangers: the Bounty Hunter, the Pack Rat, and the Wayfinder

 Craft-Ritual Sub-system

The Craft-Ritual Subsystem is a major part of Beyond the Fall. It is the primary means by which Crafting and Rituals are performed -- the end result is the creation of in-game items, useful enhancements, and/or certain special effects.

Craft skills are non-magical, but can be just as fantastical as spellcraft. Usually, they involve the creation of an in-game item, such as a sword, a firearm, or a lock. However, they can also involve the imbuing of special enhancements unto a person, intense research, or even curing them of disease. 

Ritual Skills are the magical counterparts to Craft Skills. They usually involve the imbuing of magical enhancements unto individuals but they can also involve the creation of items, the metamorphosis of material, or even the warding of an entire building from harm. 

Of note are several factors within this subsystem. 

• Non-combat: Craft-Rituals are intended for use outside of combat, during what is sometimes called “downtime.” They require at least 10 minutes of role-play, although they are allowed to go up to 30 minutes if desired.

• Limited frequency: Once a Craft or Ritual is completed, a character may not perform another until a character has rested and the current Period has expired.

• Logistical burden: Craft-Rituals usually require some logistical paperwork. It can be as involved as the introduction/inspection of a new item or as simple as writing down an Attunement upon a character sheet.

• Skill and Component requirements: Some items or spells have requirements before they can be learned and/or used. Similarly, some Craft-Ritual Skills require the expenditure of components to be used. 

General Craft/Ritual Procedure

Generally speaking, most Crafting and Rituals follow the below steps:

• Step 0: Fill out a Craft-Ritual sheet with the appropriate information such as what Skills are being used, if they are Augmented, and who is using the Skills. Show this sheet to Game Staff. The Logistics room will have unfilled sheets. 
  

• Step 1: Have Game Staff sign off on any new Attunements, take any used Components, or bestow Item Tags. 
  

• Step 2: Perform 10 or more minutes of roleplay that is appropriate to the task at hand. Crafting an item may require working with tools, cloth, junks, or herbs. Performing a Ritual may involve meditation, chanting, dance, or a similar activity. 
  

• Step 3: At the end of the role-play, invoke the name of the Skill involved. Resolve the effects that do not require any Game Staff intervention. 

Upkeep and Deterioration

In the World Beyond the Fall, Humanity must struggle to survive and even steel will fail if left unattended and unkept. 

Upkeep every 3 Events: Most items require Upkeep every 3 attended Events. The Upkeep of an item is the same process and the same cost as creating said item. Some Skills from the Junker Discipline and the Transmutation Sphere allow for their users to Upkeep existing items, but not create them. The Component/CMP cost can be mitigated if an item is Fortified.

Advanced and Superior become Basic items: Without Upkeep, an Advanced or Superior item loses all Augments and becomes a Basic version of its kind. Some items, such as Ammo Packs and rope are destroyed after such time. 

Safety Inspection required: Most Basic-quality items do not expire after 3 Events. However, the props for these items must be re-inspected and re-approved for safety -- this is more the case for combat related items such as Weaponry and Armor, than for non-combat items. This is a safety issue for the users of these items and those they would use it upon.   

Thus any item that reaches two seasons must get a new item tag if it requires inspection from Game Staff (e.g.  weapons or armors). 

Note: The Creation cost of items has been lowered to reflect the need to Upkeep items.  

Important Craft-Ritual concepts:

Attunement (ATN): An individual may have a maximum of 6 Attunements at a time, written on the back of one’s character sheet. Certain upgrades and augments to the local infrastructure may increase available Attunements.

Afflictions such as Diseases and Curses also occupy Attunements and may even render beneficial Attunements inert. Once an Affliction occupies an Attunement, that Attunement is unusable for the remainder of the Event -- however, if said Affliction is cured, this cure makes an individual immune to that Affliction for the rest of the Event. 

Component Cost: Some Craft-Rituals require the expenditure of components. For these, the components involved must be documented and signed-off by a Staff member.

Group Craft-Ritual sheet: This is a special out of game document that helps Game Staff track the logistics of a Ritual-Craft action. Groups and individuals performing a Craft-Ritual action need to fill this out and submit this to Game Staff.

Game Staff Sign-off: Any time a Component is expended, there must be one or two Game Staff Sign-off. This involves the initials of the GM, the Period of the Craft-Ritual and the month/year. 

Item Expiration: Most  items expire unless upkeep is maintained. When an Advanced or Superior item expires, it loses all Augments and becomes a Basic version of its kind. Some Basic items expire, such as Ammo Packs and Rope but many weapons and armor do not. Regardless, when an item reaches two seasons, it must get a new item tag. 

Item Tag: When an in-game item is made, it usually comes with an item tag. Most item tags will come with colors that assist the Staff in determining whether they have expired or not. When a Basic item has “expired”, its tag still needs to be changed and the item may need to be inspected (especially for weapons).

MARKET HOUR

This happens at least once during an Event. During a Market Hour: 

• A bell is rung or it is otherwise announced to all. This can be at the Inn or elsewhere.

• Several Trader/Merchant NPCs arrive to facilitate Component barter/substitution. Their supplies will be limited, although certain Town Expansions may improve this.

• Crafting and Rituals are Augmented for either bonus Output or bonus Quality. 

• 1 or 2 Game Staff is present to facilitate signing off on these activities and receiving expended Components.

• Characters may expend Components to engage in Self-Training, with Game Staff signing off on Skill gain.

 Crafted Items

Below are the different categories of Crafted Items that can be created by Player Characters.

 General Item List

Below are short list of items. A more extensive list can be found here.

Creation and Upkeep Costs: Higher item qualities cost more to create and upkeep. On the other hand, they have the benefit of being able to house Item Augments within them that grant additional or special properties.

• Basic items cost Minor Components to create/upkeep

• Advanced items (1 Aug) cost Basic Components to create/upkeep

• Superior items (2 Aug) cost Rare Components to create/upkeep.

*Take note that NPCs will never buy Basic items from Player Characters.

SKILL KIT OVERVIEW AND COSTS

Herb Kit (HK): medical kits, brewing kits, and similar items of utility.

• herbal/water x5; Needed by Brewers/Doctors/Chemists, Reverts to basic w/o upkeep

Scrap Kit (SK): These possess tools and scrap materials for crafting and repair. 

• herbal/metal x5; Needed by Tinkers/Weavers/Weaponers, Reverts to basic w/o upkeep

WEAPONRY COST OVERVIEW

Ammo Packs

Arrow Pack (AP): ammo for bows and crossbows.

• herbal/metal x5; Ammo expires w/o Upkeep

Knife Pack (KP): throwing knives, shuriken, kunai, etc.

• metal x5; Ammo expires w/o Upkeep

Slug Pack (SP): bullets for pistols/shortarms/longarms

• fire/metal x5; Ammo expires w/o Upkeep

Melee Weapons

Heavy weapon (HV): 2-handed weapons with heft and power.

• herbal/metal x7; Reverts to basic w/o upkeep

Medium Weapon (MD): Swords, axes, clubs, maces for 1 or 2 hands.

• herbal/metal x5; Reverts to basic w/o upkeep

Rune Wand (RW): magical foci for Arcanists

• astral/earth/herbal x7; Needed by Talismongers; Reverts to basic w/o upkeep

Shield (SH): These are bucklers, targes, and other shields

• herbal/metal x5; Reverts to basic w/o upkeep

Small weapon (SM): Daggers, combat crowbars, and other smaller weapons.

• herbal/metal x5; Reverts to basic w/o upkeep

Stave weapon (ST): 2-handed weapons with length and speed

herbal/metal x7; Reverts to basic w/o upkeep

Ranged Weapons

Bow (BW): Longbows and Short Bows.

• herbal/metal x5; Needs Arrow pack; Reverts to basic w/o upkeep

Crossbow (CR): Hand and Medium Crossbows as well as Arbalests.

• herbal/metal x5; Needs Arrow pack; Reverts to basic w/o upkeep

Longarm (LN): 2-handed firearms focused on stopping power.

• fire/metal x7; Needs Slug pack; Reverts to basic w/o upkeep

Pistol (PS): 1-handed portable firearms

• fire/metal x5; Needs Slug pack; Reverts to basic w/o upkeep

Shortarm (SA): shorter 2-handed firearms.

• fire/metal x7; Needs Slug pack; Reverts to basic w/o upkeep

Siege Caster**(SC): Huge firearms, including flamethrowers and similar weapons.

• earth/metal x10; Needs Slug pack; Reverts to basic w/o upkeep

WEAVER ITEMS COST OVERVIEW

Animus Crown (AC): Spiritual tethers used by Animancers to connect to magic.

• astral/herbal/earth x5; Needed by Animancers, Reverts to basic w/o upkeep

Body Armor (BA): light armor for one’s torso to protect their life.

• herbal/metal x5; Reverts to basic w/o upkeep

Clothing (CL): simple or ornate non-armor dress and wear.

• herbal x1-3 (torso is x5); Can't gain any Aegis, reverts to basic w/o upkeep

Heavy Armor (HA): heavier and tougher armor, more useful for those with the right skills.

• herbal/metal x6; Reverts to basic w/o upkeep

Ultraheavy Armor (UH): the heaviest armor-type but also the least comfortable.

• metal x7; Reverts to basic w/o upkeep

War Banner (WB): A flag or banner for signaling and rallying allies.

• astral/herbal x7; Reverts to basic w/o upkeep

EQUIPMENT COST OVERVIEW

Basic Chain/Rope: Easier to break than higher quality Chain/Rope.

• Creation//Upkeep Cost: Minor x5 (Chain = metal and/or earth, Rope = herbal and/or abyssal)

Basic Lantern/Lamp: Higher quality Lanterns/Lamps may have additional Properties.

• Creation//Upkeep Cost: Minor x5 (Fire and/or Lightning)

Basic Lock-Door/Lockbox: Easier to disarm than higher quality Lock-Doors/Lockboxes.

• Creation//Upkeep Cost: Minor x5 (Metal and/or Earth)

Miscellaneous Equipment: These are everyday items without any in-game uses. This is included for completion’s sake. Large equipment/furniture - 5’x5’x5’ to 10’x10’x10’)

• Creation//Upkeep Cost: Minor x5 (for large, minor x10; type is dependent on item)

Precise Equipment: These are delicate/ornate/aesthetic items without any in-game uses. This is included for completion’s sake. Large artwork/equipment - 5’x5’x5’ to 10’x10’x10’)

Creation//Upkeep Cost: Minor x5 (for large, minor x10; type is dependent on item)

 Item Fortification

What:

Fortification is the process wherein an item becomes Fortified and its future upkeep has their CMP costs waived. This requires 5 upkeep cycles (creation->4th upkeep).

• 1st Cycle: Event* 1 (creation) - Event 2 - Event 3

• 2nd Cycle: Event 4 (1st Upkeep) - Event 5 - Event 6

• 3rd Cycle: Event 7 (2nd upkeep) - Event 8 - Event 9

• 4th Cycle: Event 10 (3rd Upkeep) - Event 11 - Event 12

• 5h Cycle: Event 13 (4th upkeep, fortify) - Event 14 - Event 15

• 6th Cycle: Event 16 (F-Upkeep no CMP) - Event 17 - Event 18

• 7th Cycle: Event 19 (F-Upkeep, no CMP) - Event 20 - Event 21

*Note: Item Duration is now based on attended events instead of IRL months.

Who:

Anyone who can create or upkeep that kind of item with the desired augments can fortify items as part of their skillset.

When:

Fortification is a rules addition that starts on Jan 2024 onwards. It is retroactive, applying to the items of current and returning players. That is to say, the upkeep cycles of their items count toward Fortification (5th Cycle).

How:

— Option 1: Gradual Fortification — Upon the 4th time an Advanced item has been Upkept, the Crafter/Ritualist doing so can choose to Fortify the item. This grants the Fortify Benefit above for future Upkeep but not the current one. This can also be done after the 4th Upkeep.

• One benefit of Gradual Fortification is that some Loyalty Boons, Service Point Awards, and other features can discount Upkeep CMP costs.

— Option 2: Instant Fortification — When an item is Crafted, its CMP creation cost x5 can be spent to start it out as Fortified. This has the benefit of requiring only 1 Craft-Ritual action, as opposed to 5 such actions.

Superior Items

Gradual or Instant Fortification can be used to Fortify Superior Items. But Instant Fortification has a way of discounting its cost.

— Paving the Road (Instant Fortification only):

• Expend an item to “build over it”

• It must be Fortified, of the same type, and with one of the desired augments.

  • Temporarily Obfuscated or Transmuted items may not be used.

• Doing so discounts the Fortification cost by 5x the creation cost of the Fortified Advanced Item. (E.G. an Advanced Pistol applies a 25 basic CMP or 5 Rare CMP discount)

Changing Augments

Changing one augment requires Upkeep with a CMP cost equal to an Advanced Item of its type with the Augment in question for each Augment that is being changed, whether the item is Advanced or Superior.

Superior CMP: If Hyper-refined Etherite or Flesh of the Empress is required of this augment’s creation, then 5 of that Superior CMP must be expended to change an augment to Apex-tech or Xeno-tech.

The cost to change an Augment is added to any Upkeep cost that needs to be paid. Furthermore, if more than one Augment is to be changed, the CMP cost is additive.

Losing a Fortified Item:

Losing a fortified item is a major loss. Players are highly advised to get their items Fate Bound or Magna Traced to them. This has a minor cost in CMP and in ATN, but it may well be worth it.

If said item is lost or destroyed, the Restore Tether spell may be able to return it to your hands, though it can be expensive to do so and few folk are believed to have it.

SKILL OVERVIEW

Class Skills

Each Class has access to Skills, which represent a Character’s abilities and talents. For example, the Melee Fighter Skill grants a Character the ability to smite their enemies with powerful melee attacks while the Mental Deduction Skill allows a Character to discern details about another person. 

Learning a Skill has a base cost of 10 XP and may have additional costs or increases to the XP cost, based on the type of Skill and how it is learned. Generally speaking, being taught a Skill costs less Components than self-teaching it. 

Skills and Disciplines

Skills are grouped into Disciplines, which represent a singular theme or concept. For example, the Tinker Discipline is focused on the creation of equipment and gadgets. Similarly, the Shadower Discipline is focused on concealment and misdirection.

A Skill may belong to more than one Discipline. Similarly, some Disciplines are shared by different Classes. The Warrior Class and the Ranger Class, for example, both have access to the Hunter Discipline. 

Take note, you cannot learn the same Skill twice unless specifically allowed to do so.

Skills and Skill Level

Every Skill is categorized into one of three Skill levels.

• Basic Skills are the lowest level Skills and more easily learned.

• Complex Skills require at least two Basic Skills to be learned

• Erudite Skills are the most powerful Skills of a Discipline. 
  
  

SKILLS, AUGMENTS, AND AFTEREFFECTS

One of the significant aspects of BTF’s Skill system is how Skills interact with Skill Augments and Aftereffects. A good rule of thumb is:

“1 Skill, 1 Augment, 1 Aftereffect”.

SKILL AUGMENTS (LIMIT 1 PER SKILL UPON USE)

Skills may only be affected by one Skill Augment. Augments always require a prefix attached to the Skill or Attack (e.g. “Tempest” Smite, “Forceful” Inspiration, or “Eagle-Eyed” Perception”). Multiple Skills may enhance or affect a Skill, but only ONE of these enhancements may be a Skill Augment.

For example: Bildo has the Treat Injury skill. The Empathic Remedy Trait from being born with the Psionic Stigmata.

When he uses Treat Injury, he can quicken its use via Focused Remedy, reducing it from a 7-count to a 3-count.

Alternatively, he can use Empathic Remedy to Augment the Skill with psychic energy to repeat that Healing on his patient or on an ally he can touch.

Thus, Bildo Daggins cannot Augment the Skill as Focused Remedy AND Empathic Remedy because of the One Augment limit on Skills.

AFTEREFFECTS (LIMIT 1 PER PERSON PER EFFECT)

These are effects that happen as a response to using a Skill or to a specific circumstance. These are always explicitly mentioned in the Skill description. For example, the Artful Dodger skill allows the user to gain “Resolve 1” after a use of the Dodge Defense. Similarly, the Deft Deflection skill allows a Character to change the effect of a Piercing attack as a response to that attack. 

There are three main rules to Aftereffects:

(1) A user may only use 1 Aftereffect as a response to a Skill/Circumstance

(2) A user may never follow up their own Aftereffect with another Aftereffect

(3) Unless otherwise stated, an Aftereffect must be performed/used within 3 seconds of the original effect.

This means that a Skill may be affected by two or more Aftereffects, if the Aftereffects are from different users.

For example: Jonas is a Counselor with training in the Binder Discipline. He is also blessed with the Eidolonic Stigmata (Dryad).

In the midst of a battle, Jonas uses the Ignite Inspiration skill and augments it with the Floral Bond Trait of his Stigmata. Normally, Ignite Inspiration allows a character to grant “Resolve 3” to one ally.

With the Skill Augment however, Jonas invokes it as “Floral Inspiration” and is able to grant Resolve not only his ally Brock, but also to his son, Rusty (as an Aftereffect).

Being Warriors with the Ironsoul Bravado Aptitude, Brock and Rusty can use the Bravado Aftereffect to increase the Resolve they gain. Alternatively, they can use Ironsoul Aptitude to turn the Resolve they would have gained to enhance their next melee or ranged attack.

Jonas wants to use the Floral Bond’s ability to Dominate one of his Inspiration targets as an Aftereffect. Unfortunately, he already chose an Aftereffect for this use of Ignite Inspiration. Maybe there will be another opportunity next time.

So, three Aftereffects were used on Floral Inspiration. However, each were used by a different individual. In the example above, Jonas could not use Floral Inspiration, imbue two people with Resolve, and imbue one of them with a Dominate effect because he would be using two Aftereffects. Similarly, Brock could not increase the Resolve he gained AND use Bravado to enhance his next ranged attack.

Also, as per rule (2), if Brock or Rusty used the Battle Bracing skill to grant themselves “Resolve 3” after using Block, they could not also use Ironsoul Bravado to increase that to “Resolve 5” because the previous Resolve gain was already a Aftereffect — an Aftereffect of Person A could not activate an Aftereffect from that same User (and potentially cause a never-ending cascade).

HOW DOES THIS AFFECT THE GAME?

Having and using Skill Augments on one’s Skills is optional. However, more established and experienced Characters may find them incredibly useful and will endeavor to use Augmented Skills whenever possible, due to their usefulness. Having an Aftereffect is of similar utility and such Player Characters will ensure that each Skill use has an Augment and an Aftereffect thereafter.

The 1 Augment and 1 Aftereffect limit on Skills ensures that there is a limit on how powerful Skills are, although some Augments and Aftereffects stronger than others. That said, many Players will seek out multiple Skills that provide Augments -- despite the fact that they cannot use them at the same time on one Skill, certain Augments are more useful in niche or corner case situations rather than in general use. For example: “Uncanny Parry” allows a character to defend against back attacks and is therefore good for general use. “Veering Parry” on the other hand, can be useful when a character is subjected to a powerful attack, since it allows them to redirect that attack unto another target.

Skills from another Class

During Character Creation you may use a Background Perk to gain Skill from another Class. This is the only way to do so during Character Creation.

After Character Creation, you may Self-Teach Skills from any Class except for the Arcanist Class (unless you are already an Arcanist). These Skills have an added cost of +10 XP. 

Skill Glossary

Below are the special types of Skills and Effects.

Active: This Skill must be actively used and may require a specific invocation to show that it is being used. Many of these Skills require the expenditure of a resource (such as Focus or Resolve) but some simply require time in the form of Concentration or in a specific kind of Role-playing. 

Aspect: These Skills require immense inner energy and spiritual will from the user to grant them significant benefits. To this end, these Skills occupy one of the user’s Attunements and they may only have one Aspect upon them at a time. 

Attack: This Skill inflicts damage or a Control effect upon its target. This may mean a ranged attack or a melee attack. This damage may be physical or of a different element.

Attunement (Atn): These Skills require one or more of the user’s Attunements.

Augment (Aug): This Skill will augment another Skill, a basic attack, or a special action. A Skill may only have one Augment upon it at any time. 

Bond: There are three main kinds of Bonds, that of Blood, of Oaths/Arcana, and of Allegiance. These emotional and/or spiritual Bonds allow individuals to work together or even affect each other in special ways. Some Skills are better when used with people you are Bonded to. 

Craft: Craft Skills represent feats of significant effort and skill, practically akin to a magical ritual. Some involve the creation of items but others may be the curing of diseases or the mixing of mighty elixirs. Once performed, Craft or Ritual Skills may not be used  again until the next Period (at 5am ot 5pm) 

Concentration (Conc): This Skill requires 3 or more “counts” of Concentration before it can be used. Concentration counts are spoken in a firm voice and never whispered unless specified as such. 

Conceal: These Skills hide or secret away a person or an item from plain sight. Perceive skills are needed to see them

Cure: This Skill cures a specific type of effect from its target.

Defense: When used, this Skill allows its user to negate attacks upon their person. Defense Skills are usually Active Skills.

Disarm: These Skills disarm or unlock “Devices” such as traps and locks. 

Escape: These skills briefly place their user out of game, preventing others from following them except through Pursuit skills.

Imbue: These Skills grant a beneficial effect to their target. However, they may be automatically resisted or refused if the target deems so -- unlike an attack. 

Focus: This Skill uses up Focus, a resource that represents willpower and energy. Once expended, Focus may only be replenished by a 10 minute Rest. 

Inquiry: These Skills allow their user to delve into another person’s details, discerning things about their target through observation and deduction. 

LOS: This Skill requires that you maintain Line of Sight with your target before using it. 

Parley: This Skill requires 10 or more seconds of close range conversation with the target before it works.

Periodic: Once used, a Periodic Skill may not be used again until the next Period. Periods begin and end at “the 5s” (5am or 5pm).

Pursuit: These Skills allow their user to go out of game in order to follow/chase a person using Escape skills. While you cannot attack during this time, you re-enter the game near your target. 

Rest: This Skill enhances and augments a Rest action, which usually requires 10 minutes. 

Ritual: This Skill expends a significant amount of effort and magical energy to create a magical effect or imbue allies with etheric power. Once performed, Craft or Ritual Skills may not be used  again until the next Period (at 5am or 5pm) 

RP: This Skill requires 10 seconds or more of a specific role-play, such as meditation, exorcism, or a similar activity.

Perceive: These Skills allow their user to peruse their environment and observe details that they would not ordinarily see, such as hidden creatures. 

Aftereffect Skills: These Skills have a specific Effect or Ability that is only usable if a specific condition is fulfilled or a specific action is performed. For example, the Battle Bracing Skill allows you to gain “Resolve 1” as an Aftereffect as a response to using the Dodge, Parry, or Block defense.

Take note, you may only use one Aftereffect at a time in response to a specific action or event. Aftereffects may never trigger other Aftereffects. 

Self-Inflict: These Skills inflict damage or a Control effect on the user. Such effects cannot be negated by the user or redirected to someone else, although they can be cured or healed. 

Toughness: This Skill increases the maximum HP of those that take it.

Common In-game Terms for Mechanics

Banged up/Hurt (IG and OOG): You have less than your maximum HP. It is encouraged that Players do not use numerical language to indicate how wounded their characters are.

Braced (IG): Used to describe being at your maximum HP value while having any amount of Resolve. 

Bruised (IG and OOG): An attack hurt you but didn’t take any of your HP – it depleted Resolve instead. EG: “I’m alright, that only bruised me” 

Bloodied (IG and OOG): You are “Hurt” and have 1 or 2 HP remaining. It is encouraged that Players do not use numerical language to indicate how wounded their characters are.  E.G. “Can you patch me up? That Reaper Bug bloodied me with that last swing!" 

Body/Armored Body/Total Body (OOG; Slang): Body refers to the numerical value of your maximum HP. Armored Body refers to the numerical value of your maximum HP while you are wearing Armor. Total Body refers the previous value plus any Resolve that you currently possess. 

To indicate this value in-game, it is recommended that you use the terms Mundane (less than 5 HP), Hardy (5 HP or more), or Tough (10 HP or more) 

Dead: A creature or a person that has elapsed beyond their Final Death count/their Critical stage. Such a character becomes inert and actionless, unable to do anything except lie there unless resurrected by a Greater Revive or they evaporate and turn into a Ghost.  

Death Blow/Grace (slang): A special attack that all characters are capable of doing that brings low health or Downed creatures to Critical. Example: “We’re all done here. Grace the bodies and let’s get out.  

Delve: A mission or a similarly hazardous task assigned by an employer. This comes from the fact that many such tasks involve going to the wilderness or into dangerous situations.

Delver: An adventurer that has survived a Delve. Below are the in-game names for how experienced a Character is. 

• 0 Milestones: Novice or Greenhorn Delver

• 1-2 Milestones: Aguerrido or Expert Delver

• 3-4 Milestones: Elite Delver

• 5-6 Milestones: Ultra-Elite Delver

• 7-9 Milestones: Renowned or Infamous Delver

• 10+ Milestones: Prime Delver

Downed/Dropped(IG or OOG): A character who is reduced to 0 HP and is at the first stage of their Death Count.

Dying/Critical/Bleeding out (IG or OOG): Someone who is reduced to 0 HP and is at the second and final stage of their Death Count. This is otherwise very similar to the Downed stage above except that the character has become unable to perform any actions at all. The benefits of a Revive effect is the same as with someone at the Crawl count.  

Grave Scar or Revenance: (IG or OOG): An affliction that befalls those who are revived after they die. This affliction grants a strange new strength, odd dreams and/or peculiar psychological effects to the revived creature.

Healing (IG or OOG): A game mechanic that allows Characters and creatures to regain HP. The ability to grant Healing is given by learned certain Skills like the Mender skill or through the use of certain spells. 

Healthy/Hale (IG and OOG): You are at your maximum HP.

Health/Grit/(OOG: HP): An abstract measure of how hard a character is to defeat. The damage a character takes is subtracted from their HP total. Therefore, the more HP a character has, the more damage they can take.

Patch (IG): To field-repair armor in combat. This is different from Re-fitting, which fully repairs armor. For example: “I need a Patch!”

Perm (OOG; Slang): This is slang for “permanently dead”. A character that has been permed can no longer be revived or resurrected. EG: “Viktoria was permed an hour ago. I couldn’t reach her in time”

Prone (IG or OOG): In a sitting, kneeling or lying position. Prone characters are vulnerable to Death Blows, which usually inflict 5 points of damage.

Reggies (IG or OOG): An in-game slang for Reagents or Components.

Revenant/Rev/Doom Walker (IG or OGG): This is someone who has returned alive from being dead. This is usually a term given to those who were confirmed to be slain and somehow stumble back from the wilderness.

Revive, Painful (OOG): A special effect that can be granted by characters with healing skills or healing magics. Revived characters can move and act, although they suffer a Pain Strike that lasts for 30 seconds.

Revive, Greater (OOG): A greater revive effect is able to resurrect a character from the dead. This does not work on all dead persons but it always works on Player Characters and some Non-player Characters. Such a character suffers a Pain Strike that lasts for 30 seconds. 

Resolve / Resolve Points/ (OOG, "Resolve" in-game): A game mechanic similar to HP, it represents exceptional stamina or morale that allows a character to endure damage. Resolve is subtracted when damage is taken. However, Resolve is always subtracted first before HP. This allows a character with Resolve to endure more damage that they would have otherwise.

 Retirement, Death, and Alternate Characters (Alts)

Below are the Rules regarding Alternate Characters (aka Alts). These are a different Player Character that a Participant may choose to play instead of who they usually play.

— Progression: Whenever a Player Character (PC) is awarded Experience Points (XP), it is applied to all of their Characters, current and future.  

— Main and Alt only: A Player Character may only have two Characters -- a “Main” and an “Alt”. A slain or retired Character does not count against this limit.

— Visually Distinct: A Player’s different Characters must be visually distinct.  For example: differing Stigmata, vastly different costuming, etc. A Character cannot disguise themselves as a PC of the same Participant.

— Sharing Items: A Player may share items or funds between their own Characters, though the two may not interact with each other except indirectly. Some items may be usable by one Character but not another, depending on that item’s requirements. This may be true for some plot-related or plot-specific items.  

— Game Staff Suggestion: Players with costume/makeup/prosthetic heavy Characters have an Alt that is far less costume/makeup/prosthetic intensive for those months where they want to focus more on their roleplay and their action.

Permanent Death and Retirement

— Permanent Death: When a Character has died and is beyond Resurrection, they are considered to have “permanently died” (aka OOG: “Permed”).  Players also choose to voluntarily Perm their Character, for whatever reasons they wish. 

— Retirement: Making a living Player Character permanently leave play is called “Retirement”. Retired Characters:

• NPC: Are no longer in that Player’s control 

• Staff Control Optional: Can be granted to the Game Staff for use in plotlines and the like. A Participant may also request that their old Character be exempt from plotlines, which means that they will vanish into obscurity and peace.

• Promotion and Death: When thusly granted by Game Staff, Retired Characters may still die according to the dictates of the storyline, but they may also be promoted and achieve official positions while “Retired”. 

• Cameo Appearance: Similarly, the Game Staff may also ask a Player to play their Retired Character as an NPC if a scene or an Event requires said character’s appearance. 

Permanent Choice: Once a Character is Retired, under no circumstances can they be “UnRetired” -- this decision is a permanent one.

Options after Retirement/Permanent Death:
During an Event, a Player who has been Permed or Retired their Character has several options:

1. Perform an NPC shift for the remainder of the Event (and grant the rewards for doing so to another of their Characters)

2. Leave the game area

3. Play as their Alt Character (or their Main, if their Alt was the one that Permed)*

4. Create a new Character and play them*

*Option 3 and Option 4 are the only way for a Player to play as more than one Player Character during an Event. 

New Characters after Permanent Death or Retirement

Creating a new Player Character follows the game rules outlined when normally doing so. New Character benefits: 

• These Characters will enter the game with the XP that the Player has accrued thus far.

• If they have the Components necessary, they may expend as many Components and XP as needed to enter the Event with additional skills. 

• If they enter the Event after learning these skills, they may do so without expending Attunements as self-teaching normally requires. 

• Take note that Permanently Dying may involve the theft or destruction of one’s equipment and Components.

BONUS LEGACY XP

After our 10th Event, all Participants that come in with new Player Characters are awarded with 30 Legacy XP (unless they already have 30 or more Legacy XP). 

Those without Legacy XP (LXP): You now have 30 LXP. LXP can be spent at this Event or afterward as per below. If you don’t know what LXP is, you likely have 0 LXP and are therefore eligible for this.

New PCs: You can choose to spend up to 30 LXP **during Character creation** with the restrictions below.

1) You can only spend LXP on Basic Skills from your own Class. 

2) Spending LXP chronologically happens after you have made your Perk and Skill picks. Therefore, you cannot spend a Perk to gain a Complex Skill from skills you learned via LXP.

If a new PC does not have LXP, then they get 30 LXP as per above. 

If a new PC decides to spend their LXP after Character Creation, then it can be used on non-Basic and/or Cross Class skills just like regular XP (see below)

LXP Expenditure: LXP is similar to XP except for the following restrictions:

1) LXP may not be combined with XP when used to learn a Skill. It's either one or the other. 

2) Legacy XP does not count when determining whether a PC receives a Milestone.

New Players and Returning Players

To ensure BTF’s progress and growth, Game Staff has incentivized the recruitment of new players/participants and the return of current players/participants. This program begins on May 2024 (Event 14) and continues onward until otherwise stated.

Recruiter Awards: Recruiters are individuals who have been designated by a new PC (aka a Recruit) as such. A Recruit may only designate one person as their Recruiter, although the Recruiter themselves may be responsible for more than one Recruit’s introduction. 

• +5 Minor CMP (or 1 Basic CMP) per Recruit

• Every 5 Recruits grants 1 Basic or Complex Skill training ATN

Upon a Recruit’s 3rd Event, their Recruiter can request the following “Recruiter Bundle”: 

• +5 Minor CMP (or 1 Basic CMP) per Recruit

• +5 XP per Recruit (+5 LXP if beyond the XP threshold)

Recruit Awards: Recruits are individuals who have never been to a BTF Event before. They receive the bundled awards below upon Sign in.

• +10 Minor CMP (or 2 Basic CMP)

• Verdant Lore (3 Events; 1 ATN): +1 to HP

• Training ATN in 1 Basic or Complex skill
  

Returning PC/Returner Awards: These folk have missed the past two Events, regardless of whether they registered for them or bought them back. They receive the bundled awards below upon Sign In, to help keep them current.

• +5 Minor CMP (or 1 Basic CMP)

• Verdant Lore (1 Event; 1 ATN): +1 to HP

• Training ATN in 1 Basic or Complex skill
  

Developer’s Note: The primary purpose of the bonuses is to allow new Players and returning Players a measure of in-game power and progression when they enter or re-enter the Game setting.

Established Players may feel that such measures are diminishing their own accomplishments. However, it is the hope of the Game Staff that Established Players will find that their own unique and onsite only achievements during Game Events offset this feeling so that newer Players and returning Players can find the same enjoyment they do. 

BASE-LINE SKILLS

The World beyond the Fall is a harsh place and a cruel era for humanity. Thus, the following assumptions are made with regards to their skillsets and abilities. Below are baseline skills that a Player Character (aka a PC) possesses. Longer and precise descriptions follow the short ones.

Quick View

Attunements: PCs may have up to 6 Attunement effects on them.

Carry: PCs can carry a burdensome object while Concentrating.

Combat Familiarity: PCs may use the basic functions of all weapons, armors, and shields

Death Blow: After 4-counts, any PC may inflict a powerful attack upon a stationary target.

First Aid: PCs may revive allies from the Downed or Critical states. Revived persons are in Pain for 30 seconds.

Focus: PCs have 5 Focus which are used for many Skills. Resting is the only way to regain Focus.

Health: PCs start with maximum 3 HP. Damage depletes HP while healing restores it. Being at 0 HP can lead to death.

Linguistics: All PCs can speak with each other.

Resolve: PCs may be imbued with Resolve. This is like HP except it is depleted first when damage occurs.

Rest: PCs may rest for 10 minutes away from combat to regain their Focus.

Scavenging: PCs may scavenge for 30-counts to take Components from a fallen monster or foe.

Self-Revive: While Downed (but not Critical), PCs may take a risk and revive themselves after 30 counts.  Revived persons are in Pain for 30 seconds.

Baseline Skill Descriptions

Unfamiliarity and Ignorance: A Player Character can roleplay an unfamiliarity of a base-line skill until they are “taught” in game – which can take 1 to 3 Events of instruction from other characters. However, this is a completely optional roleplaying choice that presents no mechanical benefits whatsoever. An example of this is a character who is unskilled with weaponry or illiterate.

Bank Vaults

With the defensive ensorcellment of the Peace Maker Cartel, the Lost Sheep Cantina has a series of immovable coffers that have been dubbed “the Bank Vaults”. These vaults provide support to the local traders and adventurers by allowing them to deposit and withdraw both coin, component, and item.

These vaults unlock only for a person attuned to them, as determined by the Cantina’s Innkeepers and the Peace Makers. The secrets/weaknesses of these powerful Eternal-level locks are known only to a select few individuals. Any Lost Sheep Innkeeper (e.g. Shepherd) or Peace Maker can connect one person to one coffer for an entire month at no cost, so long as there is free space.

When attuned to their vault, a character can visit it at any time and withdraw from it without need for a key, or ritual. While attuned to the coffer, it can only open to them, allowing valuables to be safely stowed away without threat of theft.

GAME RULES REGARDING THE BANK VAULT:

• Must be Labeled: A Bank Vault must be clearly labeled with the character name and CSN of the person (or persons) it is attuned to. Furthermore, this label must be stamped or signed by BTF Game Staff. Participants who want to use the Vault will need to bring their own physical representation for their Vault.

• Only Owners can Use (QConc-10): A Bank Vault can only be opened (i.e., items put inside or removed) by a person whose name is on the vault (as in, the vault can only be opened if you are attuned to it). Opening a Vault requires 10-counts of Quiet Concentration while touching it if you are in combat. No other action is required.

• Innkeepers and Peace Makers can attune Vaults: Being attuned to a Vault does not dispel upon death, and does not take up an Attunement slot. Only official Innkeepers and Peace Makers may attune vaults to customers.

• Don’t take from Others’ Vaults: You may NOT take anything from a vault you are not attuned to. Doing so constitutes willfully breaking game rules and therefore is a serious offense whose punishment may include loss of all XP for the event or even suspension or expulsion from the game.

• Vault Dimensions (1’x1’x1’): In order for an item to be put in the vault, it must be able to fit inside the vault. This means the item’s physical representation/prop, not just its item tag. To allow every Participant to have space for one, all Bank Vaults may not be bigger than 1 foot x 1 foot x 1 foot.

• Out-of-game Purpose: The Bank Vault is a way for players to store in-game valuables, primarily components. Using these Vaults or the Participant bags means that components are less likely to be lost or broken, especially since components are small and fragile. Many a Participant has mourned the loss of a Pure component due to a hard fall.

• Using a Lock: Participants who want to out-of-game lock their Vaults are allowed to do so — they can even hand Game Staff a copy of their key (or their key code) in case they lose their own key.

COMBAT OVERVIEW

CONCENTRATING AND SPELLCASTING

• Represents the mental focus needed for some actions, reflected by the need to speak clearly and count properly even in the face of danger.

• Concentration (Conc) is a game mechanic wherein the user needs to vocally count to a certain number while performing a task but not moving their feet -- this is followed by invoking the skill and/or effect being used.

  • For example, “Concentration 1, Concentration 2… Concentration 10 -- Remedy, Heal 1!”. 

• This verbal invocation is a mechanic to indicate to allies, enemies, and Game Staff that you are using an ability that requires time and can be disrupted (see below)

The following conditions disrupt/break Concentration:

• Moving: Making an attack, using a Defense, or moving one’s feet

• Receiving an effect: taking damage or a control effect

• Speedcasting: Not saying “Concentration” correctly, too quickly, softly (except QConc below), or counting incorrectly 
  

When Concentration is disrupted:

• The user must STOP their count.

• If they want to complete their count, they have to start over.

• Hitting a person’s weapon/shield does not break their Concentration, unless the attack is a Master or Piercing attack

Over Concentration:

• You need not stop at a required Concentration count.

• For example, if you need more time for your ally to get closer, you can keep counting upwards at no penalty. 

Special Kinds of Concentration:

Death Blow, First Aid and Targeting are types of Conc actions but are invoked differently. They otherwise follow the normal rules for Conc.

Other kinds of Concentration are below.

• Quiet Concentration (aka QConc):  The user whispers or mentally tracks the Concentration count and is expected to take the appropriate amount of time, even if they are inaudible or Silenced.

• Interlinked Concentration (aka IConc):  This requires that you are working on an ally or an ally’s equipment. If a detrimental effect (e.g. damage, Pain) hits your ally, you must stop Concentrating.

• Etheric Concentration (aka EConc): Used for Spellcasting, Etheric Concentration is far more open to physical attacks and disruption. Similar to the Feeble effect, any attack upon the character while performing Etheric Concentration and 3 seconds afterward affects them even if it hits their held weapon, item, or shield.

• Augmented Concentration: Certain skills allow you to augment your Concentration to bypass certain restrictions. For example, “Iron Concentration” is not broken from damage while “Steady Concentration” allows for a slow walk while Concentrating. 

• Anchored Concentration (AConc): This augment is actually a downgrade to normal Conc by preventing it from being augmented further. Some items require this to be used.

• Painful Concentration (PConc): This is an augmented form of Concentration where it can be used even while suffering the Pain effect.

MELEE WEAPON COMBAT 

• Melee Weapon combat is defined as combat where fighting is simulated with weapons such as clubs, swords, and the like for attack and/or defense.

• All weapons used for this simulated combat are subject to inspection by Staff and vetoing if deemed unsafe or unfitting for the game's aesthetics. 

• Combatants may only attack with the strike-safe portions of the weapon (i.e. don’t attack with handles or other hard parts).

CLEAN HITS vs NEAR HITS: A “Clean Hit” is a strike with a weapon that hits a legal target area and does not first hit a wielded melee weapon or shield. The power behind one’s blow should just be enough so that the target knows that contact has been made – intentionally injuring other players is severely prohibited.

The following are not clean hits and therefore do not deliver their effects (aka Near Hits)

• Drawback of less than 45-degrees (4-inches for thrusting**)

• Hits upon wielded (not worn) melee weapons or shields  (except for Piercing or Master attacks)

• Hits upon illegal target areas (i.e. Head, Groin, Feet)

• Hits on clothing unless the clothing is intervening between the weapon and the target’s body (i.e. a strike on a trailing cloak is not a clean hit). 

In situations of vagueness, the defender decides whether a strike was a clean hit or a near hit. If a participant is suspected of abusing this ruling, please contact Game Staff in private for an investigation of the matter.

Failing to adhere to these rules and causing out of game injury to Players is prohibited and habitual or egregious violations will result in sanctions. 

Note: If you believe that you are being hit too hard, you may politely remind an attacker by saying, “Caution -- lighter hits please,” or something to a similar effect.   

**Only boffer-type weapons are allowed to thrust, not latex or shaped foam weapons.

Types Of Melee Attacks

• Basic Melee Attack (BMA/Jab): When a weapon strikes a target with a valid, clean hit and no effect or damage is invoked or called, it inflicts 1 point of physical damage. This is the most common form of attack for most participants.

  • Carnage: Powerful entities or elite monsters may be able to strike for more damage on an at-will frequency. 

• Non-Basic Attacks (Bash): If a special effect (e.g. “Hobble”) or damage (e.g. “3 Shadow”) is invoked during the strike, it inflicts that effect.

  • Some are “Control effects” which inflict a negative condition. For example, Mangle effects numb the limb they hit. Knockback effects force the receiver to step away from the attacker.

Damage Cap: Effects that increase the damage of an attack cannot allow it to exceed “5 damage” unless specifically allowed to do so.

Wielding Weapons And Shields

• Weapons and Shields only function when they are wielded by hand or (shields or claws only) when strapped to an arm. 

• You may only wield a maximum of two weapons or a weapon or a shield at the same time. Holding more means that you are wielding none of them as per wearing them. 

• If a weapon/shield is worn instead of wielded, hits upon it count as hits upon the person who is wearing them (e.g. shields on one’s back or holstered weapons) 

COMMON MELEE FIGHTING STYLES

• Dual Wielding: Any participant may wield a small/medium weapon in each hand to use in offense or defense. 

• Players may not wield two or more weapons in one hand 

• Players may not wield weapons that are too long -- strikes you perform while doing this do not inflict any damage. 

• Heavy and Stave Weapons: Wield a melee weapon 49 - 72 inches long 

• These weapons have the advantage of reach — these extra inches can often spell the difference between a hit vs a miss or a win vs defeat

• They must be wielded with two hands when striking. 

• Weapon and Shield: Wield a shield and a weapon at the same time. 

• A hand and arm that is using a shield is considered to be “wielding it” for the purposes of free hands and weapons. 

• “A shield that leaves its wearer’s hand free (e.g. a Targe) does allow for the use of that hand for various in-game skills that require a free hand, except for wielding weapons.

• Einhander: This refers to wielding a small/medium weapon and nothing else. Some view it as stylish but for others, it is a necessity because they need a free hand to cast spells, perform healing, etc.

Melee Weapon Lengths

Small — 12 inches to 24 inches

Medium — 25 inches to 48 inches

Heavy — 49 inches to 60 inches

Stave — 61 inches to 72 inches

Shield — no larger than 32 inches in any dimension except thickness (length, width, diameter, etc)

RANGED WEAPON COMBAT

• Ranged Combat in BTF is simulated by the use of “packets” or foam darts that represent ranged weapon projectiles such as bullets, arrows, throwing knives and the like.

• A rare type of ranged attack is a “Vocal attack” - this is delivered only by one’s voice and can be negated just like a normal ranged attack. 

• Spell packets***: Generally speaking, packet creation involves a 6” x 6” square of cloth, placing about 1 oz. of birdseed in it, and securely tying it up with a rubber band or string. Throwing these packets determine whether or not you strike a target from a distance.

• Foam Darts***: Foam dart launchers and similar implements are allowed upon Staff inspection to represent firearms or crossbows in-game and must appear setting appropriate except for an orange mark or tape around the barrel. Staff may disallow the use of any weapon for safety or aesthetic reasons. 

***Spell packets and Foam Darts must have their owner’s CSN (Character Sheet Number) written upon them.

Targeting Count 

Most ranged attacks require a Targeting count (aka Targ) before they can be launched, usually this is 5 counts. As per Concentration, you may not move during this count and targeting should be visually obvious. You may continue Targeting beyond the required count, this is called “Over-targeting” and is for when you’re finished Targ but need to get into position or are waiting for an enemy to get into range.

TARGETING EXAMPLE:

• Step 1: Targeting count (5 counts)

• Step 2: (Attack invocation, if any)

• Step 3: Throw packet and invoke effect/damage.

• For Example: “Targeting 1, Targeting 2… Targeting 5! 1 Damage!”

Refunding Resources: If you hit a target with a ranged attack and they did not acknowledge the invoked effect, kindly clarify the hit at your earliest opportunity to your target or refund the resource (Focus or Periodic Use) expended to perform the attack. Naturally, negate any beneficial effects that you received from its use.

RANGED BASIC ATTACKS (BRA/Missile): These are the most common types of ranged attack performed by participants. Skills and Ammo Pack Augments may improve this damage but Basic Ranged attacks may not exceed 5 points.

• Knife Packs, Crossbows (Hand/Medium), Shortbows, and Pistols: 1 damage

• Longbows, Arbalest Crossbows, Firearms (Shortarm/Longarm): 2 damage
  

Special Ranged Attacks (SRA/Snipe): Non-Basic attacks also exist, such as Smite attacks. They can deliver higher amounts of damage or other non-damaging effects. As it is with most attacks, bonuses to damage cannot increase the damage of an attack beyond “5 damage” unless otherwise stated.  

Wielding Ranged Weapons And Ammo Packs

You need to be holding a Ranged weapon such as a firearm, bow, or crossbow in order to use it.  Furthermore, some of these weapons also require that you wear an “Ammo Pack”

• Arrow packs are needed to use Bows and Crossbows. 

• Slug Packs are needed for firearms: Pistols, Shortarms, Longarms, and Besiegers 

• Knife Packs do not require a weapon to be wielded, only spell packets or an appropriate throwing knife prop.  

• Similar to Skill Kits, you may only wear and benefit from one Ammo Pack at a time.
  
  

Defending with Ranged Weapons:

• Melee or ranged attacks that hit the Firearms you are wielding are counted as hitting you. This vulnerability

• The same follows for when attacks hit Bows or Crossbows, unless they are certified by Game Staff to be combat safe.

• With the Bow Defense skill, Bows and Crossbows with the proper construction can be used to make basic melee attacks.
  
  

Ranged Weapon Lengths

Short Bow — 24” to 48”

Longbow — 49” to 60”

Hand Crossbow — 10x10” to 18×18”

Crossbow — 19×19” to 24×24”

Arbalest — 25×25” to 30×30”

Pistol — Smaller than 18 inches

Shortarm — 18” to 24”

Longarm — 25” to 48”

Siege Caster — 49” to 72” (barrel to handle only) 

ILLEGAL TARGET AREAS

Melee or ranged attacks that strike a character’s body are considered to be clean hits unless they strike one of the following “illegal target areas.” It is also disallowed to use these illegal targeting areas, specifically the feet, to block attacks.

• HANDS AND FINGERS - only while they are wielding weapons

• HEAD – this also includes the neck

• FEET – this is primarily for safety purposes, as opposed to being sensitive areas

• GROIN – please avoid striking at all costs
  
  

Special Note: While the upper frontal chest is not an illegal target area, combatants are encouraged to avoid striking those regions as it may be a sensitive area.

Protective Eye-Wear: Due to the use of foam darts, combatants are highly encouraged to wear protective eyewear or incorporate it into their costuming. Game Staff is not liable for injuries resulting from the failure to wear protective eyewear. 

PIERCING AND MASTER ATTACKS

The exceptions to the clean hit rule are “Piercing” and “Master” attacks. 

• Piercing Attacks: When an attack’s damage or effect is prefixed by “Piercing”, then they affect a target as long as they touch the target’s body, gear, or clothing. These attacks represent magic, superstrong blows, or attacks that are difficult to avoid. 

• Master Attacks: Similar to Piercing attacks, “Master” is a special effect that prefaces an attack’s damage or effect. Not only do they affect a target through their gear/clothing but defenses cannot be invoked or used to negate them.. Only a defense prefaced with “Master” may negate a Master attack (e..g. “Master Dodge”)

Receiving Damage

Step-and-grunt Rule: Also called Grunt and Step or “Displaying damage” — Whenever you take damage or a Control effect, stop forward movement or take at least one step away from the source of the attack. If you are running, stopping movement should be done safely. Grunting in pain or verbally reacting to the hit is also a requirement, hence “Step and Grunt”.

If suffering enough pain to stop combat, please Clarify accordingly or even call a Hold (by loudly stating “Hold!” three times) if the injury is severe enough to require medical assistance. 

Step and Grunt with Defenses: Most Defenses and some effects require that you take steps away or towards individuals. If you feel that doing so is unsafe (out of game), you do not need to do so. 

Rule Of Rapid Numbers

• Too Many Attacks: When receiving many hits in quick succession, you may apply the rule of rapid numbers.

• Highest Damage per Second only: You lower your HP from the highest damage that you’ve received in that second, rather than subtracting from all the combined damage.

  • For example: If you receive 3 damage, 2 damage, and 4 damage at the same time, you reduce your HP by 4 damage since it is the highest of the series.

• Applies to Damage only: This rule does not apply to Control effects such as Hobble, Mangle, etc – these are rarer than damage.

• Bane Damage: If the type of the damage matters, you still count hits of the type for the purposes of any extra effects. Otherwise, the Rule of Rapid Numbers applies.
  
  

Ultimately, the Rule of Rapid Numbers is there to help a defender count damage while fighting multiple attackers and to encourage slower, clean strikes from attackers. It also discourages flurries of high damage attacks upon a single target.

Common Safety Violations in Combat

Charging: If you are running, come to a full stop before swinging on another player

Combat Hugging: Leave at least a weapon’s reach space away from the other player during combat. If too close, attempt to maintain this distance as best as possible.

Hard Swings: Be sure to swing from the wrist, not from the elbow – If someone tells you your swings are too hard, pull them back and slow them down

Head-Blocking: Because it is an illegal target area, do not overextend your head forward while fighting.

Machine Gunning: You must be sure to slow your swings and hit multiple different locations on the body while also pulling your weapon back at least 90 degrees

Rhino-hiding: You must attempt to role-play and respond to a hit, stepping back or stopping forward momentum. This also includes failure to react to hits or properly account for damage.

Shield Bash: At no times are you allowed to use a shield as an offensive weapon, they must always and only be used to defend from other melee damage

Turtling: If you are using a shield, do not tuck your head behind the top of the shield, this can cause injury to yourself or another player. Similarly, please attempt to cover your head when using a shield while sitting or kneeling.

HP and Damage

Hit Points (HP), sometimes called Grit, reflects one’s health and willpower. They are a measure of how much damage you can take before you are at 0 HP and in the Downed state. 

Death Roll: When you are brought to 0 HP, you may take up to 3 steps toward a location that is more combat safe. You may not roll through your assailant, each step must be away from them. 

GOING INTO CRITICAL: If you take a Death Blow while you are at 0 HP or its damage brings you to 0 HP, you are brought to your Critical state. Healing or damage has no effect on Downed creatures. This is covered further in the Life, Death, and Resurrection section. 

The following are In-game terms for HP - try to avoid describing your condition in numbers. 

• Healthy, Unhurt, or Bien -- at full HP

• Bloodied -- less than full HP

• Battered or Beat up-- 1 or 2 HP and less than full

• Downed, Bleeding out, or Herido -- 0 HP/Downed State, which lasts 30 Minutes

• Critical, Muriendo, or Dying -- 0 HP/Critical State, which lasts 30 Seconds

• Dead, Croaked, or Muerto 

Healing

• You can regain HP by receiving a Heal effect (e.g., “Heal 3!”).

  • This is “Heal”, followed by a number that you add to your current HP.

  • Regaining HP does not allow you to exceed your maximum HP. 

  • Some conditions prevent you from regaining HP, such as the Rot effect. 

Heal Limits/Cap:

• Unless otherwise stated, bonuses to the value of one’s “Heal” cannot allow it to exceed a “Heal 5” effect.

• On the other hand, one may voluntarily lower the amount that they heal although there are few reasons to do so.

• Most Skills and Effects that increase Healing only increase Outgoing Healing (i.e. healing to others and not the self). This means even powerful healer characters still need others to heal them.

Receiving Healing while at 0 HP: Heal effects do not allow you to be revived while you are Downed or Critical. You need a Revive effect (e.g. Painful Revive) to be brought up from 0 HP or from the Critical State.

RESOLVE

• When you receive damage, deduct it from the amount of Resolve you have (usually 0) before reducing your HP.

• When you are imbued with Resolve, it lasts until one of the following happens:

  • It is expended

  • Ten minutes have passed

  • The current combat has completed.

• Resolve is awarded by the Ignite Inspiration and Infuse Armor skills, amongst other skills.

Limitations:

• Resolve and Lasting Resolve always overlaps and never adds together.

• Resolve Limits/Cap: You may never have more than “Resolve 5” nor can you bestow more than “Resolve 5”.

• On the other hand, one may voluntarily lower the amount of Resolve that they grant although there are few reasons to do so

Lasting Resolve: is similar to its lesser version except it lasts until the end of the current Period.

DEFENSES

A Defense is an invoked ability that negates attacks that the invoker just received. There are many ways to gain Defense abilities, but foremost of them is the Stalwart Defense skill. This allows a Character to expend Focus and use one of the three options below, provided that they fulfill their requirements.

• Block: Must be wielding a shield and perform a step and grunt. This negates all attacks that hit you within the last second, unless any of those attacks are Ambush or Master attacks.

• Dodge: No armor only. Perform a step and grunt. This negates all attacks received within the last second, including melee weapon attacks and ranged attacks. Cannot be used against Ambush-type attacks or against Master-type attacks. 

• Parry: Must be wielding a melee weapon and perform a step and grunt. This negates all attacks that hit you within the last second, unless any of those attacks are Ranged, Ambush, or Master. 

**Ambush attacks are those that come from behind you and hit you on the back torso.

ARMOR

There are three main types of Armor: Body Armor, Heavy Armor, and Ultraheavy Armor. These torso garments are defined by the material they appear to be made of, their weight, and their flexibility. Take note that you may only wear and benefit from one Armor at a time.

• BODY ARMOR

  • This is the most commonly worn armor due to its wide range of movement, and its ease of creation.

  • The Armored Dodge skill allows an individual to use the Dodge defense even while wearing Body Armor or Heavy Armor.

  • Examples: Leather Vest/Jacket, Thin Chain Hauberk (Aluminum or similar weight), Padded Gambeson

    
    

• HEAVY ARMOR

  • Usually made of rigid, relatively flexible materials.

  • Having multiple layers of Body armor may be counted as a single Heavy Armor prop, upon the Game Staff's discretion.

  • Wearing Heavy Armor has additional benefits if you have the Faith in Steel skill.

  • Many Armor Augments that increase defenses are restricted to Heavy and Ultraheavy Armor only

  • The Armored Dodge skill allows an individual to use the Dodge defense even while wearing Body Armor or Heavy Armor.

  • Examples: Hard Leather Breastplate, Heavy Chain Hauberk, Motorcycle Jacket
    
    

• ULTRAHEAVY ARMOR

  • Armor that is made or primarily made of out-of-game or faux metal.

  • Besides the prop requirements, weight is the main difference between Heavy and Ultraheavy armor.

  • They are adorned with long coats, dusters, serapes, or similar pieces of garment to make them match the aesthetics of the setting.

  • Ultraheavy Armor has additional benefits if you have the Faith in Steel skill.

  • Many Armor Augments that increase defenses are restricted to Heavy and Ultraheavy Armor only

  • Examples: Steel Breastplate, Brigandine or Scale Coat, Bulletproof/Plated Vest
    
    

• CLOTHING -- Normally, this does not count as armor, representing various pieces of clothing are used as adornment. While basic clothing has no mechanical benefit, the Advanced and Superior versions of clothing may be Augmented, similar to armor. 

 
Armor Benefits

The main mechanical advantages of wearing Armor are twofold. Take note, you may only wear and benefit from one Armor at a time.

• More HP (No requirements): +2 bonus to Maximum HP while wearing any Armor.

  • After you spend 5 minutes to “Refit” your armor, your maximum HP increases as per above if it hasn’t yet. If your current HP is at maximum, it also increases to the new maximum.

  • Taking off Armor -- A character's current HP is unchanged when they take off their armor, unless it was beyond their maximum HP without armor, in which case it reverts to the unarmored maximum HP value.
    
    

• Aegis Defense (requires Armor Expertise skill): You gain access to “Aegis Points” (aka Aegis) which can negate some attacks that hit you before needing to be Refitted out of combat

  • Aegis Points are a special resource that one may access by wearing armor and having the Armor Expertise Skill (see Using Aegis below).

    • Unlike most defenses, using Aegis does not require Focus points/Focus.

  • After Refitting one’s armor, the armor wearer loses all Aegis they currently have and then they regain up to 2 Aegis Points, up to their maximum.

  • The maximum amount of Aegis Points that Refitting armor grants may be increased by certain Skills and certain Augments to armor.

  • Aegis Cap/Limit: You may never have more than 5 Aegis at a time.

How to use the Aegis Defense

• Step 1: Invoke “Aegis”

• Step 2: Mentally deduct an Aegis Point from your current Aegis.

• Step 3: Safely stop your forward momentum and/or step away from your attacker.

• Step 4: You negate the damage or the effect of all attacks received within the last second. You cannot use Aegis if any of those attacks are Ambush attacks (from behind and hit your back torso) or Master attacks.

DAMAGE TYPES

There are seven main types of damage in the World Beyond the Fall.

• Corrosive -- Caustic or poison damage from certain poisonous creatures or from acidic weaponry.

• Damage --  Physical damage dealt by kinetic or concussive impacts or by cutting or impaling strikes.

• Flame -- Heat or fire damage from a flamethrower or a radiation-emitting creature.

• Frost -- Cold or ice damage from blistering cold or freezing chemicals.

• Lightning -- Shock or electricity damage from lightning bolts or electrical overloads.

• Psychic -- agony or mental damage from otherworldly creatures or from certain psychic attacks. This can also represent mental shock that destroys one’s bodily functions or a horror that stop one’s heart.

• Shadow -- Necrotic or Abyssal damage from an otherworldly source, but it represents physically corruptive and destructive magics and energies. This type of damage is difficult to resist.

The Importance of Damage Type: For most situations, damage type is irrelevant. The amount of damage matters more.

• Some creatures are vulnerable only to specific damage or have defensive measures that are weakened only by certain types of damage.

• Some creatures are resistant to certain types of damage.

The Damage Cap: As mentioned above, bonuses to damage cannot increase an attack’s damage beyond “5 damage” unless otherwise stated.

Related Mechanics

BANE

• This is not a type of damage. BANE specifies that which damage types you are weaker against.

• Sometimes taking this damage inflicts additional effects.

  • For example, some Seraphs and Necrotics take a Hobble Strike whenever they receive Flame or Lightning-type damage.

• Sometimes a monster is resistant to all damage except for its BANES.

  • For example, powerful Flame Geists may only take damage from Frost and Shadow attacks and Minimal damage from everything else.

SIEGE

• This is not a type of damage.

• “Siege” is short hand for a Piercing attack that inflicts 7 or more points of damage.

• This is usually the domain of Siege Casters.

• However, skilled and well-equipped wielders of heavy weapons/longarms may be able to inflict Siege damage.

MINIMAL

• When a creature or a person invokes “Minimal” in response to an attack, it means that the attack inflicts only 1 point of damage

• If it is a Control effect, it only lasts 1 second/step.

• This is usually because the attack is of the wrong type and/or of insufficient strength.

NEGATE/IMMUNE/NO EFFECT

• When “Negate” or “No Effect” is invoked in response to an attack, this means the attack has no effect.

• This is usually because a special defense was used or because the attack was of the wrong type and/or of an insufficient damage amount.

• “Immune” means that it takes no effect from those types of attack — this may be a function of its nature or merely a temporary defense.

NON-COMBAT PARTICIPANTS

For any reason during or at the beginning of an Event, a participant may declare themselves a non-combatant and wear an orange armband on each arm. These players may not be struck in combat or participate in any combat scenarios. 

If combat happens around them, they must vocally identify as a “Noncom” (Non-Combatant), go out of game, and leave the vicinity. Optionally, they may request assistance from a willing participant. This is similar to a “Scene Exit,” which allows a Player to leave a scene that is too stressful or otherwise harmful to them.

When within a step and arm’s reach of a Non-Combatant who is not leaving the vicinity, any Player or Non-Player character can invoke a Death Blow upon them after 4 counts—unlike other Death Blows, this does not involve any physical contact and will instantly kill the Non-Combatant Character and send their Player to Logistics. If others decide to “loot” the body, this follows the looting mechanics for determining if something is destroyed or looted. 

Control Effects

Control effects are special afflictions that cause a loss of “control” for your character. This may mean that one of your limbs is temporarily disabled, you are unable to use any Active Skills or you may even be forced to attack everyone around you.

Control Durations

Strike: Lasts for 30 seconds (or 10 steps for some effects).

Wound: Removed by “Cure Wounds”

Blight: Removed by “Cure Blight”

Ongoing: Lasts until the Affliction causing it is cured.

• Strike effects last for 30 seconds except for Knockback and Pull, which last for as long as needed to take the required steps, usually 10 steps if a number is not called. If followed by a number, the Strike lasts for that number in seconds. For example, a Rot 20 lasts for only 20 seconds. 

• Wound effects last until they are removed by an effect that Cures Wounds.

• Blight effects last until they are removed by an effect that Cures Blight. Because Blight represents poisons or magical effects, Cure Blight effects are harder to find than Cure Wound.

• Ongoing effects last until the Affliction (Disease or Curse) that causes it expires or is Cured. 
  

Multiple Applications -- take the longest duration. 

-- If a Character receives multiple applications of the same effect, they use the longest duration. 

-- For example, if a Character is suffering a Blind Wound effect, they do not suffer “additional” blindness from receiving Blind Strike effects. 

-- Similarly, a Character who is currently suffering a Snare 30 and receives a Snare 15 takes the longer duration between the two. This means being affected by the Snare 15 if they have 14 or less seconds remaining on the first Snare. 

-- In the same way, a Character currently walking through the effects of a Knockback 10 and receives a Knockback 5 need only receive the Knockback 5 if they have 4 or less steps remaining on their initial Knockback 10. 

Control Effect List

The following is a list of Control effects in alphabetical order. These are their short descriptions; their full overview is farther below. 

Blind: Your vision is blurry. You walk slowly and you cannot make ranged attacks.

Dominate: Your mind is possessed by another and you follow their commands. 

Feeble: You become fragile. Hits upon your wielded weapons/shields count as hitting you.

Frenzy: You go into a maddened state. You walk slowly and attack foes and friends alike.

Grapple: You are constricted by a monster. You are Stunned and cannot harm your captor. 

Hobble: One of your legs is considered Mangled. You walk slowly and cannot Dodge.

Knockback: You have been physically repelled, taking 10 steps away from your attacker.

Mangle: The limb that was hit is temporarily unusable, from agony or injury.

Pain: You are in agony and are unable to use Active skills. You can fight and move as normal. 

Pull: You take 10 steps toward your attacker. Any non-self melee damage breaks a Pull.

Rot: Your life force is inhibited. You cannot regain HP until this effect is removed.

Silence: You may not speak in-game or cast any Spells.

Snare: You may not move your feet from their position. 

Stun: You are in intense shock. You are in Pain and Hobbled twice, preventing movement.

Sunder: The weapon or shield struck is damaged, inhibiting its more powerful properties.

Effect Overview

Blind

You have been struck by an effect that renders your vision blurry and unreliable. You are able to see things but find it incredibly difficult to discern their details. 

• Slowed: You are limited to a stumble-walk or a slow-walk and therefore cannot run or fast walk. 

• Bad Vision: You are unable to use any Defenses (except as below), perform any Ranged attacks, or use any Sense/Inquiry effects such as Keen Perception.

• Near-Sighted: Despite the above, you are able to perform melee attacks. 

• Limited Defense: You are able to use the Aegis defense or defenses that have been Augmented with “Blind” or “Uncanny.”

Dominate 

Your mind is taken over by another entity or individual and your body obeys it. Take note that this ability is usually only used by non-player characters and rarely given to Player Characters. 

• Obey Commands: You must follow the commands of this effect’s Source or Original Source (if it is redirected or reflected somehow). This includes self-destructive commands but not Death Blows upon yourself.

• Retain Memory: You are aware of and remember everything that happens.

• Removed by Injury: Dominate is automatically removed when you are dropped to 0 HP. 

Feeble

You have become fragile and vulnerable to the slightest touch or even glancing blows. 

• Vulnerable to Everything: All melee/ranged attacks that you receive are considered Piercing.

• Limited Defenses: You are unable to use any Defenses except for the Dodge and the Intervene defense. Likewise, you are unable to use the Aegis defense.  

Frenzy

Your mind is muddled and a mindless fury takes over you temporarily. 

• Attack Everyone: You must perform melee attacks upon any individual near you. If you cannot make any melee attacks, you instead rage and flail about uselessly.  

• No Death Blows: You do not perform Death Blows. 

• Nearest Targets First: If you are already attacking someone, you may keep attacking them but if they move away, you must attack the closest individuals first before giving chase.

• Slowed: You are limited to a stumble-walk or a slow-walk and therefore cannot run or fast walk. 

• Retain Memory: You are aware of and remember everything that happens.

• Removed by Injury: Frenzy is automatically removed when you are dropped to 0 HP. 

Hobble 

One or more of your legs have been disabled or hurt in-game. 

• Slowed: You are limited to a stumble-walk or a slow-walk and therefore cannot hop, jump, run or fast walk. 

• Limited Defenses: You are unable to use the Dodge defense. 

• Two Hobbles Stop Movement: If you are hit by a second Hobble effect, you act as though both your legs are Mangled and are therefore unable to willfully move your legs. As per normal, you use the longer duration of the two Hobble effects. 

Mangle

The limb that is struck has become temporarily unusable through injury or numbness.   

• Mangled Arm: If your arm is affected by Mangle, it hangs limp beside you until this effect is Cured, it is unusable for any attacks, actions or any Active Skills. Do not drop any held items. 

• Mangled Leg: If your leg is affected, you become Hobbled and are unable to run or use the Dodge defense.

• Mangled Movement: If both legs have been Mangled, do not fall prone. You are unable to move from your location, although you are able to stand up or keep standing. You can be moved by the Knockback or Pull effect or dragged along by an ally’s Strength skill.

• Mangled Torso: If your torso (including shoulder) has been Mangled, take 1 damage instead.

• Master or Piercing: If you hit a weapon with a Master or Piercing Mangle attack, the arm holding that weapon takes the Mangle effect. If said weapon is held in both hands, then the target chooses which arm takes the effect.
  

Pain

You are hit by immense pain and agony. This is a relatively common effect.  

• No Skills: You are unable to perform Concentration/Targeting or use Active skills/defenses (except for below) 

• Limited Defenses: You are able to use the Aegis defense.
  

Rot

Your flesh and spirit has been struck by a strange contagion that prevents it from mending.

• No Healing: You say “Rot, no effect” to any Heal or Cure effect that you receive unless said effect Cures this effect. 

• Can be Revived: You may still receive any Revive effects to be brought to 1 HP. Similarly, Death Rage and Blood Rage are unaffected by Rot, as they Cure all Control effects from their user.  
  

Silence

You are rendered speechless through injury or a mental effect. 

• No Speech: You are unable to speak in-game and you are unable to use any Skills that involve in-game speech such as Inquiry-type, Parlay-type, or Inspiration-type skills. 

• No Spells: You are unable to use any Spells or use any Etheric Concentration.

• Out-of-Game Speech Only: You may still invoke Concentration (non-etheric), special skills and effects unless they are restricted by this Control effect.  
  

Stun

You are struck with a powerful blow to the body and brain that renders you insensate for the duration. 

• No Skills and No Movement: You are hit by a Pain effect and two Hobble effects. This prevents you from Concentrating/Targeting, using any Active skills/defenses (including Aegis), and moving your feet. If currently moving, halt your movement at a safe rate.

• Mangled Movement: You are unable to move from your location, although you are able to stand up or keep standing. You can be moved by the Knockback or Pull effect or dragged along by an ally’s Strength skill.
  

SPECIAL CONTROL EFFECTS:

These effects are rarely Wounds or Blights. Instead, they are almost always Strikes. If they are followed by a number, it is the number of seconds that the effect lasts instead of lasting the standard 30 seconds. 

Grapple

Some monstrous creatures have the ability to grab and incapacitate their enemies, preventing movement and shrugging off damage from their victims. This is usually the domain of monstrous non-player creatures. 

• Usually 30 Seconds: This effect is followed by a number which indicates how many seconds it lasts. If not followed by a number, it lasts 30 seconds. 

• Needs Contact: If Physical Contact is broken for more than 3 seconds, this Grapple ends regardless of its duration. 

  Stunned: You are Stunned while this effect’s source maintains physical contact with you via hand or melee weapon (an

• Ineffective vs. Captor: You may attack your captor but your attacks have no effect against it regardless of their type or what they would do. 

• Redirect Attacks: Some monsters may have the ability to redirect any or all attacks that they receive from others to you. 

• Forced Movement Breaks it: A Knockback or a Pull may break this effect upon the target prematurely, but it applies 1 damage to the freed person.

• Allied Assistance is Best: When held captive by this effect, the assistance of an ally is the best way to be freed from it. 

Knockback 

You have been physically repelled by some great force. 

• Move Away: This effect is followed by a number which indicates how many steps you take away from the source. If no number is mentioned, you instead take 10 steps away from the source of the effect.

• Choose Your Path: The recipient of the effect may determine how they are knocked away from the effect’s source, but every step must be away from the source with no lateral-only or side-only steps (except for out-of-game safety reasons).

• Damage if Limited Space: If you are unable to take the required amount of steps, you move as far as you can while being safe and then take 1 point of Physical damage. 

• Breaks Snare and Grapple: Receiving a Knockback breaks Snare and Grapple effects but it also inflicts 1 point of damage to the person affected.

Pull

You have been physically pulled toward an individual or an item by some great force. 

• Move Toward Source: This effect is followed by a number which indicates how many steps you take toward the source. You need not go closer than within one-handed melee weapon’s reach of your target’s body or their melee weapon. If not followed by a number, you take 10 steps toward the source of the effect.

• Melee Breaks It: Receiving a melee strike from anyone except yourself breaks the effect prematurely. 

• Choose Your Path: You may determine how you are pulled toward the effect’s source, but every step must be toward the source with no lateral-only or side-only steps (except for out-of-game safety reasons). If you are physically unable to take the required amount of steps, there is no special detriment. 

• Breaks Snare and Grapple: Receiving a Pull breaks Snare and Grapple effects that are affecting you but it also inflicts 1 damage on you. 

Snare

Your legs and feet have been rendered immobile by an external effect or an injury. 

• Usually 30 Seconds: This effect is followed by a number which indicates how many seconds it lasts. If not followed by a number, it lasts 30 seconds. 

• Don’t Move Your Feet: Your feet may not move from their position. This makes you exempt from the two steps required of certain Defenses and from the required Step & Grunt mechanic. If you are currently moving when struck by this effect, stop as safely and quickly as possible.

• Broken by Knockback, Grapple, Pull: You may not be moved from your position by any in-game effect except for Grapple, Knockback, or Pull, which also breaks the Snare but it applies 1 point of damage to you. 

Sunder

An item affected by this is rendered temporarily inoperable by crushing force. Multiple Sunders on the same weapon have no additional effect. 

• Limited Item Use: A Sundered Weapon or Shield may not be used for any Active Skills, Attacks, or Defenses that require weapons (e.g. Smite requires a weapon, Block requires a Shield, Channeler Aspect requires an Advanced Weapon, etc). 

• Simple Uses Only: You may still swing a Sundered weapon, shoot a Sundered gun, or deflect attacks with a Sundered shield (see below), as long as no Active skills are used. 

• Shields are Hindered: A Sundered Shield hit by an attack that inflicts more than one point of damage applies that effect to its wielder. Control effects and Basic attacks are negated as normal when they hit a Shield instead of its wielder.

• Repair Effects Fix Sunder: A Sundered item remains Sundered until it receives a Repair effect. 

• Sundered Limbs: If a body part is struck instead of an item, a Sunder attack inflicts a Mangle Strike upon the area in lieu of a Sunder effect.

• Limited Defenses: Using Parry, Block, Intervene, or Guard applies the Sunder effect to the weapon used to apply the defense (or limb, if an unarmed hand was used). If Sunder is enhanced by Piercing or Master, it applies to the item struck, not the body part holding the item.

 Diseases and Curses

aka Afflictions

What are Afflictions?

Afflictions are a category of negative, persistent effects that a Player Character may accrue. These effects reflect the various hazards and ailments that one may encounter in the World Beyond the Fall. 

Because of their exhausting and detrimental natures, Afflictions occupy an Attunement and must be written down on a Character’s Attunements by the Player or by a Staff member. Multiple instances of the same Affliction will only occupy the same Attunement unless specifically stated otherwise. 

Similarly, when an Affliction is Cured, it remains as an Attunement until the end of the Event but prevents the Player from receiving the same Affliction within the same month. When an Affliction is cured, a Staff member signs off on the Attunement slot and labels it as “Cured”.

If a Character does not have any empty Attunement slots, the Affliction will nullify a beneficial Attunement instead and replace it. The Player may choose which Attunement is replaced in this way, although it can never replace another Affliction. If all of a Character’s Attunements are filled with Afflictions, then they can continue to accrue Afflictions.

What are Diseases?

Diseases are detrimental effects upon a character’s body, specifically, ongoing effects until they are Cured. They mechanically represent fevers, physical trauma, bubonic plagues and even parasitic infections.

They can be inflicted by monsters or by traps. Sometimes environmental effects or corrupted items can inflict these upon the entire town.

What are Curses?

Curses are detrimental effects upon a character’s mind and spirit, specifically, ongoing effects until they are Cured. They are analogous to Diseases and follow much of the same mechanics except that effects that Cure Curses do not necessarily Cure Diseases and vice versa, unless they explicitly say so. 

What are Mutations?

Mutations are special Afflictions that both hinder and enhance characters that have them. They usually endow a character with additional abilities while inflicting various problems upon them. 

You can gain a Mutation via the “Suffer a Mutation” Interim Action -- this cures most of the Diseases and Curses that you possess (except Greater, Anathemic and Incurable diseases).  

What are Hauntings?

Hauntings are when an individual is influenced or possessed by an entity or a spirit. This can range from a ghost’s influence upon a person, to an Abyssal monstrosity’s machinations upon an unwitting individual. 

Curing Afflictions

Simply put, Afflictions can be removed by the appropriate “Cure” effect or by the “Rest and Recovery” Interim Action. For instance, most Diseases can be cured by a “Cure Disease” effect such as from the Medicine Maker skill or the Restore Harmony spell. 

The Rest and Recovery Interim Action cures all Afflictions except those of the Greater, Incurable and Anathemic variety.  

Distill Disease and similar effects:

If a Craft-Ritual action and the appropriate Skill is used to Cure most Diseases or Curses, the Skill User draws the impurities out of their patient and is rewarded by a component after delivering the Affliction Tag to a Staff member. This component is usually of the Abyssal, Death or Shadow variety and represents the distilled essence of the Disease or Curse, rendering into a usable and relatively inert form. 

Greater and Anathemic Afflictions:

Some Afflictions are Greater Afflictions or Anathemic Afflictions. These require the expenditure of components to Cure. These Afflictions, along with those of the Incurable and the Infectious-type, never grant components when Cured. Mutations and Hauntings are special Afflictions that always count as Anathemic.

Example Curses

Abyssal Delirium (Incurable Curse)

This affliction often affects those with prolonged contact with certain Eldritch Horrors or their haunts. It opens their mind to madness and terror.

Effect 1: Your maximum HP may not exceed 7 HP.

Effect 2: You may not resist or negate any Dominate or Frenzy effects upon you. These may be cured from you as normal. 

Dispirited Languor (Greater Curse) 

A powerful languor assaults your mind rendering all motivation useless to you and slowing your actions.

Effect 1: Hobble Affliction — You cannot move faster than a slow or stumble walk, nor can you use the Dodge defense, Escape/Pursue effects, or any other Skills that require mobility.

Effect 2: +5 to all Concentration/Targeting counts. Maximum 3 Focus.

Eldritch Efflorescence (Greater Curse) 

An agonizing energy suffuses your spirit, wracking your body and unsettling your mind.

Effect 1: Rot Affliction

Effect 2: Unsettling -- Your Bonds do not function, although you still have them. 

Jinxed Spirit (Basic Curse)

A fell energy has afflicted your spirit, causing your strikes or spells to falter.

Effect: Weakened -- Cannot inflict damage or healing more than one point. Cannot inflict Strikes or Wounds.

Soul Worms (Anathemic Curse) 

Ethereal parasites feed upon your mind and soul, their spiritual venom affecting you in odd ways.

Effect 1: Hobble Affliction

Effect 2: Scrambling: -- +5 to all Concentration/Targeting counts. Maximum of 3 Focus.

Effect 3: Hallucinating -- Cannot use Perception, Inquiry, or any Defenses.

Example Diseases

Brain Broil (Basic Disease)

Your mind is in immense pain, blurring your vision and your ability to think.

Effect: Blind Affliction — You are unable to perform any Ranged Attacks or use Defenses (except Aegis). You are also limited to a stumble or slow walk and cannot use Sense/Inquiry Skills.

Filth Fever (Basic Disease)

Whether delivered through a dirty wound or by a liquid borne pathogen, you are afflicted with shivers that prevent you from moving at your full capacity. 

Effect: Hobble Affliction — You cannot move faster than a slow or stumble walk, nor can you use the Dodge defense, Escape/Pursue effects, or any other Skills that require mobility.

Magna-Field Sickness (Incurable Disease) 

This is an Affliction caused by continued exposure to a Magnetic Mana field, causing minor hallucinations and dizziness. If the source of the Magna-field is removed, the afflicted easily recovers after one month.

Effect: You are unable to use Sense-type Skills (e.g. Perception) and the Defiance skill. 

Mishealed Wound (Greater Disease)

Whether it is a bone badly healed or shrapnel spiking you with pain, you are weakened and unable to strike at full strength. 

Effect 1: Hobble Affliction -- You cannot move faster than a slow or stumble walk, nor can you use the Dodge defense, Escape/Pursue effects, or any other Skills that require mobility.

Effect 2: Weakening -- Cannot inflict damage or healing more than one point. Cannot inflict Strikes or Wounds.  

Marrow Shivers (Anathemic Disease)

A deadly illness born of Abyssal attack, this Disease rots away at the body and prevents healing.

Effect 1: Hobble Affliction -- You cannot move faster than a slow or stumble walk, nor can you use the Dodge defense, Escape/Pursue effects, or any other Skills that require mobility.

Effect 2: Enervating -- Your maximum HP is lowered to 5 HP if it is more than 5 HP. Your maximum Focus is similarly lowered to 3 FP.

Effect 3: Terminal -- This requires 1 additional ATN every Event it persists. This inflicts 1 Grave-Scar every Event thereafter if it has occupied all ATN. 

Example Hauntings

Feral Hunger (Haunting)

You are possessed of a fiendish bloodthirst which unnerves even your allies..

Effect 1: If you successfully perform a Death Blow with at least 10-counts instead of 5, you may invoke and gain Resolve 3 as a Step effect immediately afterward. 

Effect 2: Unsettling -- You may not benefit from being Bonded to others nor may they benefit from being Bonded to you. However, any Bond ATN you have remains intact. 

Ghostly Physician (Haunting)

A fragment of a spirit has possessed you, that of a helpful Doctor that only wishes to help others.

Effect 1: You may use the Treat Injury skill as though you had it, provided that you have an Herb Kit. Furthermore, the Healing you provide with this skill is improved by one point. 

Effect 2: Delirious -- You are unable to negate or cure Frenzy or Dominate effects upon yourself.

Sorcerous Conflux (Haunting)

Eldritch energies course through you, lashing out according to your whim. 

Effect 1: You may use the Project Wrath spell as though you had it. Whenever you use this spell, you may choose to Self-Inflict a Pain Strike to turn it into a Wave 2 spell. 

Effect 2: Enervating -- Your maximum HP is lowered to 5 HP if it is more than 5 HP. Your maximum Focus is similarly lowered to 3 FP.

Example Mutations

Grotesque Musculature (Mutation)

Your mutation has granted you muscular growth at the cost of some minor hallucinations.

Effect 1: You may use the Strength skill as though you had it. If you already have Strength, then you may use the Great Strength skill as though you had it. 

Effect 2:  Hallucinating -- You may not use Inquiry effects, Sense effects, or any Defenses.

Hardened Carapace (Mutation)

Some parts of your skin have hardened and your sense of pain has deadened, dampening any blows that strike you. However, you have a difficult time concentrating. 

Effect 1: Your Maximum HP is increased by 2 points.

Effect 2: Scrambling -- You add extra 5 counts to all Concentration/Targeting counts. Furthermore, you may not have more than 3 Focus. 

Otherworldly Senses (Mutation)

Your hearing and sight sharpens, but your hypersensitivity leads to an inability to strike out an your enemies or heal your allies.  You might even grow an additional sensory organ temporarily. 

Effect 1: You may use the Keen Perception and Mental Deduction skill as though you had it. If you have either skill already, you may augment their effects as “Greater” effects.

Effect 2: Weakening -- Cannot inflict damage or healing more than one point. Cannot inflict Strikes or Wounds. 

Affliction Types

Afflictions have effects based on Sub-type: 

Basic — This is the most common type and the easiest to cure.

Greater -- This Affliction usually needs Rare Components to Cure. This never awards Components when cured.

Anathemic -- This Affliction usually needs one or more Pure Components to Cure. This never awards Components when cured.

Curse -- This is a spiritual effect and is harder to cure without magic. Removed by a “Cure Curse” effect. 

Disease -- This is a physical effect and is easier to cure. Removed by a “Cure Disease” effect.

Haunting -- This is a spiritual effect that also has a beneficial aspect to it. Removed by a “Cure Curse” effect but is treated as an Anathemic Curse.

Mutation -- This is a physical effect that also has a beneficial aspect to it. Removed by a “Cure Disease” Effect but is treated as an Anathemic Disease

Common Effects of Afflictions

Crystallization -- Unlike other Greater or Anathemic Afflictions, curing this always awards a Minor or Basic Component to those that cure it.

Delirious -- You are unable to negate or cure Frenzy or Dominate effects upon yourself.

Enduring --  Persists across Events. Cannot be cured by the Rest and Recovery Interim Action.

Enervating --   Your maximum HP is lowered to 5 HP if it is more than 5 HP. Your maximum Focus is similarly lowered to 3 FP.

Hallucinating --  You may not use Inquiry effects, Sense effects, or any Defenses.

Incurable --  This Affliction may not be removed unless certain conditions are met. This never awards Components when cured

Infectious --  This Affliction infects others when in close contact. Being within arm’s reach and a step for at least one minute can spread this Affliction. Infectious Afflictions never yield components.

Invasive — This Affliction occupies 2 ATN. 

Persistent - Even when cured, this persists until the end of the current Period (or 3 hours, whichever is longer) before finally going away.

Scrambling -- You add extra 5 counts to all Concentration/Targeting counts. Furthermore, you may not have more than 3 Focus. 

Terminal -- This requires 1 additional ATN every Event that it persists. If a Character has no more ATN to occupy, this instead inflicts 1 Grave-Scar every Event thereafter. This is always considered to be Enduring and sometimes starts at 2 ATN.

Tummy ache - You cannot benefit from any Elixir or food effects. Your lack of food prevents your Maximum HP from exceeding 5 HP.

Unsettling -- You may not benefit from being Bonded to others nor may they benefit from being Bonded to you. However, any Bond ATN you have remains intact. 

Weakening -- You cannot inflict damage or healing more than one point. Similarly, you cannot inflict Strikes or Wounds.

Life, Death and Resurrection

Damage and HP

HIT POINTS (HP or Grit): This measures how much damage you can take before you enter the Downed state (0 HP).

MAXIMUM HP: Representing the maximum amount of HP that you can have, this starts at 3 HP and may not exceed 10 HP. This is increased by wearing armor and by Toughness Skills.

DAMAGE*: Whenever you receive damage (e.g. “3 damage”, “2 lightning”), subtract that value from your available HP. If you receive a hit with no damage mentioned, it inflicts “1 damage”. You drop to the Downed State if you go to 0 HP or lower — a Death Blow at 0 HP brings you to the Critical state instead. Most damage may not exceed “5 damage” unless specifically allowed.

HEALING*: Whenever you receive healing (e.g. “heal 2”), add that value to your available HP. Healing will not allow you to exceed your maximum HP. Similarly, most healing may not exceed “Heal 5”

*Track these changes mentally. Consistent and voluntary failure to accurately track your hits may result in an investigation from Game Staff.

Resolve: This is a special resource that is depleted by damage first instead of your HP, with the remainder of damage overflowing into your HP. Resolve lasts until expended, 10 minutes have passed, or combat is completed. Resolve is awarded by the Ignite Inspiration and Infuse Armor skills, amongst other skills, but never exceeds 5 points. Furthermore, instances of all kinds Resolve overlap and never stack.

Greater Resolve: is similar to its lesser version excerpt it lasts until the end of the current Period. Both types of Resolve are limited to a maximum of 5, unless specifically allowed.

Try to avoid describing your health in numbers. The following are suggested in-game terms that one should use to describe their health to other Characters.

• Healthy, Hale, or Bien -- at full HP

• Bloodied -- less than full HP

• Battered -- 1 or 2 HP and less than full

• Bleeding out, Herido, or Downed -- 0 HP/Downed State

• Critical, Muriendo, or Dying -- Critical State

Downed State (0 HP; 30 Minutes) 

The Death Roll: If you are brought to 0 HP, take 1-3 steps toward a location that is more combat safe. You may not move through your assailant; each step must be away from them. This is primarily meant for safety, although it is acceptable to “roll” toward a healer ally. 

Actions while Downed: While in your Downed State, you must go Prone (sitting, kneeling, lying down, etc.). Also, you are unable to move or use any Concentration, Skills, or Items unless they specifically allow you to use them while Downed. Healing does not affect you as does any further damage, except for Death Blows. Control effects are still effective. 

Exiting the Downed State -- You may be brought out of the Downed state by the following means:

• Painful Revive effect: brings you to 1 HP and inflicts a Pain Strike upon you. Any damage or Control effect on you also affects the person that is in the process using First Aid on you.

• Self-Revive effect (First Aid-30): As above, except you can do this for yourself instead of relying on others. If this is interrupted or you stop for any reason (except for Holds or other emergency out of game reasons), you slip into your Critical Count.

• Death Blow: Receiving a Death Blow brings you to your Critical State. 

• 30 minutes pass: If enough time passes and you do not help yourself or no one helps you -- you drop to Critical. 

• Your choice: You can choose to enter the Critical State of your own volition. 

The First Aid action

All characters are able to perform the First Aid action. Doing this requires: 

• that you be within arm’s reach of the person you are Reviving

• one free Hand over them (or touching them, if you have their permission for Physical Role-play)

• You are “Interlinked” with your target - if they take damage or a negative effect, you take it as well.

• Perform 10-counts of Concentration (aka Conc-10) by invoking (e.g. “First Aid 1, First Aid 2...etc”). 

• If you succeed, imbue a “Painful Revive” effect upon your target. Anyone may refuse an Imbued effect.

• Revived characters have a Pain Strike upon them. This effect lasts 30 seconds or until cured. 

Self-Revive and the risks therein

While Downed, you may perform the Self-Revive action -  this is a Conc-30, except that it cannot be augmented and you invoke it vocally and firmly as “First Aid 1, First Aid 2…First Aid 30.” If you succeed without interruption, grant yourself the Painful Revive effect as per above. 

The Risks of Self-Reviving: If your Self-Revive is disrupted (e.g. taking damage or a Control effect), drop to your Critical state immediately. Therefore, This is a last resort option when enemies are absent or sufficiently distracted.

Death Blow

All characters are able to perform a Death Blow. Many monsters have monstrous regenerative powers or are terrifyingly resilient- in order to kill these beasts, you need to inflict a Death Blow on them when they have been Downed. Worse yet, some monsters can only be killed by specific types of Death Blows. 

Death Blows require 4 counts of Concentration (invoked as “Death Blow 1, Death Blow 2...etc.”) while within weapon reach of their target. Upon completion, tap your target with your weapon and invoke “Death Blow, 5 damage*”. Weapon contact with the target is not required except for the Death Blow itself, but it must be obvious that you are simulating the act of killing someone or something. 

*Death Blows that are not followed by a Damage call inflict only one point of damage. 

Critical State (30 seconds)

When you are brought to the Critical State (aka going Critical, Critical Count), vocally start a count for 30 seconds: “Critical 1, Critical 2, etc.” At the end of this count, your character dies. 

However, even Death has changed in the World beyond the Fall. The dead may be raised back to life via the new sciences or spellcraft. 

Actions in Critical: While in Critical, you suffer the same restrictions as the Downed State except that you are not able to Self-Revive and you have a 30 second countdown before you die. 

First Aid pauses the Critical count: While someone is using “First Aid” upon you to revive you, pause your Critical count, until they are interrupted or they finish. 

Authorial Note: While every Player Character can be revived from the dead, most Non-Player Characters will not be able to do so. Canonically, only 1% of the world’s population appear to be subject to this benefit, defying geography, biometrics, and all other factors. 

DEATH AND LOOTING

When your Character dies, they become unable to perform any Actions (except for some specific ones). As their Player, you have two choices:  

Stay as Corpse - recommended if you have allies nearby

-- Benefit: You can keep your items if you are not Scavenged.

-- Disadvantage 1: You have to wait in one place until you are Revived.

-- Disadvantage 2: This may not be an option if your body is destroyed.

Turn into a Spirit - recommended if you are isolated

-- Benefit: You can seek out an ally who can Revive you, leading them back to your body or being revived via Spirit Revive. 

-- Disadvantage 1: Doing this deteriorates/destroys your items except for Fate-Bound items and “plot items”.

-- Disadvantage 2: You are vulnerable to certain effects and dissipate at the end of the current Event if not revived.

Being Scavenged: Although Player versus Player conflict is discouraged, other individuals may take from your fallen body, even before you are deceased. Taking items or armor from your person requires the Conc-30 Scavenge action.

If they successfully complete it, give them all items and Components on your person - give them item tags for props that you own. However, you can choose for said item or Components to have been destroyed when you were Downed instead, informing your Looter accordingly. Return any “destroyed” Staff props/components to Game Staff at the earliest opportunity. As per normal, Players are expected to adhere to this system with honesty and integrity -- failure to do so will result in maximum penalties.

Being a Spirit 

While you are a Spirit, wear a blue or violet headband. You have the following characteristics:

• Invisible but Present: You are invisible and intangible to everyone, although your presence can be felt but not located if you are nearby. 

• Blurred World: You can recognize individuals but you cannot understand what they say, read their lips, or even read in-game written text.

• Whispers only: You may talk to anyone as a Spirit -- but only through whispers. You cannot understand what they say unless a Skill is used to speak to you (e.g. Keen Perception, Detect Presence, Arcane Ember).

• Spiritual Hazards: You are vulnerable as a spirit. Using a Disrupt Conjuration ability within 5 feet of you (approx) can “disrupt” you, forcing you to leave an area for 10 minutes. Worse yet, some Eldritch entities can consume you, permanently killing you.

• Fading Away: You dissipate at the end of the current Event if not revived.

Resurrection and Grave Scars

Death is different in the World Beyond the Fall. What would kill a pre-Fall human would put an Afterfall person into a near-death state, even through wounds that would be lethal otherwise. 

Greater Revive: To raise back from the dead, they need to be Imbued with the “Greater Revive” effect. The Medical Redemption skill and the Restore Harmony spell can grant this effect. 

When someone is Imbued with Greater Revive, they receive all the effects of a Revive (1 HP, Pain Strike). Furthermore, they gain one Grave Scar (aka Revenance or Necrotic Corruption). Similarly, individuals with at least one Grave Scar are colloquially called Revenants, Grave-scarred, or Gravers. 

Doom Walkers: A person with 5 or more Grave Scars is too close to death and may not benefit from a Greater Revive. Colloquially called Doom Walkers, the Eidolonic Biology, Necrotic Biology, and Metabionic Biology Traits allow for a Character to be revived beyond 5 Grave Scars. In addition to a new Grave Scar, revived Grave Walkers gain a Soul Scar - a debilitating penalty. Too many Soul Scars that can eventually render a character’s skills unusable.  

Grave Gifts

(requires the Graveyard Expansion to unlock)

If you have at least 1 Grave Scar, you may choose to gain a Grave Gift (see below) - a temporary or permanent beneficial effect. You may not start the game with a Grave Gift. Grim Resilience and Spectral Sight can be chosen more than once, with different skills gained each time.

When the Graveyard Expansion is at Tier 3, individuals with 3+ Grave Scars can choose a second Grave Gift.

Option 1: Hollow Health (2 ATNs; permanent)

• Your maximum HP increases by +1

• This must be labeled as “G-Gift: Max HP +1”

  • If you don’t have a Milestone yet, this is Max HP +2 instead.

• For the first Event, this does not occupy Attunement slots. If the recipient is willing, this can be cured as a Basic Disease.
  

Option 2: Grim Resilience (0 ATN; permanent)

• You gain one Defiant, Survivor, or Scrapper skill of your choice.

• It can be Basic or Complex but you must have its requirements.

• This does not cost XP nor CMP to learn, but it must be labeled with “G-Gift”.

Option 3: Necrotic Stigmata (0 ATN; permanent)

• If you are eligible for it, gain the Necrotic Stigmata, the Necrotic Biology Trait, and the Necrotic Subtype of your choice.

• This is permanent but only grants the Necrotic Biology Trait and not any other Trait. 

Option 4: Spectral Sight (0 ATN; permanent)

• You gain one Hunter, Reader, or Detection skill of your choice.

• It can be Basic or Complex but you must have its requirements.

• You can prefix and augment it with “Spectral” to bypass any effect that would limit its use (e.g. Blind effects) unless said effect prevents all Skill use.

• This does not cost XP nor CMP to learn, but it must be labeled with “G-Gift”.

Option 5: Grim Martyr (1 or 2 ATNs; permanent but can be made inert)

• The Healing and Resolve you bestow on others is increased by +1

• Your Maximum HP may not exceed 7 HP. If you already have an effect that does this, then this takes 2 ATNs instead of 1 ATN.

• This must be labeled as “G-Gift: +Heal/Res”

• For the first Event, this does not occupy Attunement slots. If the recipient is willing, this can be cured as a Basic Disease.

Soul Scars

These Soul Scars are for those characters with the Metabionic Biology, Eidolonic Biology. or Necrotic Biology Traits. These are inflicted upon a character every time they accrue a Grave Scar when they have more than 5 Grave Scars already.  

If a Character has all of these Soul Scars and they perish again, they can still be revived but they do not get any further Soul Scars. Once received, a Character may never remove or cure a Soul Scar.

Developer’s Note: This means that a Character with the above mentioned Traits might never permanently die unless allies are unable to Revive them within 24 hours. On the other hand, a Character with too many Soul Scars may lack any utility or capacity for anything except within the bounds of Role-playing and Sentiment.  

• Broken Strength: You may never inflict more than one point of damage with a melee attack, although special attacks may allow you to inflict different damage types. Furthermore, you are unable to use the Strength/Athletics skill (or similar upgrades) or inflict any Wound or Blight effects
  

• Enervated Mind: Injury and trauma has warped your mind and its functions, sending tremors into your fine motor skills and disrupting your thoughts. All of your Periodic Abilities are only usable once per Month. This does not include any Mastercraft skills. Furthermore, you may never have more than 3 Attunements, even with beneficial effects from your community.  
  

• Fractured Spirit: Your vital energies and systems have been sapped by the pain of death. You may never have more than 1 Focus. Similarly, you are unable to negate or remove any Curse from yourself with any Skill or Item property. If affected by these, you will have to rely on others to remove them from you.
  

• Shattered Senses: You are unable to use any Defenses, Perceive, or Inquiry skills. Furthermore, you may never inflict more than one point of damage with a ranged attack.
  

• Withered Flesh: Your maximum HP may never exceed 3 HP. Similarly, you are unable to negate or remove any Disease/Wound/Blight from yourself with any Skill or Item property. If affected by these, you will have to rely on others to remove them from you. 

What is Scavenging?

Scavenging is a special action that all Player Characters are able to do. It represents combing through junk or organs to find things of value. Through this, they can take items from fallen bodies or containers. 

Under no circumstances are you allowed to go through another person’s pockets or clothing. In fact, beyond a simple touch on the arms or shoulders, you are not allowed to touch another participant without their explicit permission. 

How to Scavenge: 

• Perform 30-counts of Concentration with at least one free hand while in the prone position (i.e. sitting, kneeling or lying down)

• After completing the count, invoke "Scavenge" to take an item from a fallen body or a component from a fallen monster. 

Special Note 1: Some monsters or villainous Characters may be Scavenged multiple times -- these must be by different Player Characters. 

Special Note 2: The process of Scavenging from other Player Characters is listed in the Health, Death, and Resurrection section. 

What is Disarming?

Disarming is a special action wherein a Lock or a similar device is deactivated so that a container may be opened or a doorway may be accessed. Disarming is also used to render Traps or similar mechanical hazards inactive -- Skills that allow you to Disarm Traps may also allow you to salvage the Trap’s remains and convert it into usable Components. In certain scenarios, Disarming may also be used to bypass an obstacle or activate/deactivate a mechanism.

The following Skills or Spells allow a Character to Disarm Locks or Traps.

• Explosive Elementalist -- Chemist (Builder)

• Infuse Item-- Infusion (Arcanist)

• Junk Diver -- Junker (Ranger)

• Project Disruption -- Projection (Arcanist)

• Disarm Device -- Tinker (Builder)

• Transmute Material -- Transmutation (Arcanist)
  

How to Disarm (from the Disarm Device skill): When faced with a Basic-quality Device such as a Lockbox, a Doorlock, or a Trap, you are able to Disarm it. Such hindrances and hazards are typically clarified or labelled accordingly, being taped or strung to prevent opening the containers they guard. Basic Locks are designated with a Padlock symbol or a “L” while Traps are designated with a “<” or a “T”. Advanced Devices are encircled while Superior Devices have their symbols or letters enclosed in a rectangle or a circle and a rectangle. 

This requires the completion of 30-counts of uninterrupted Concentration while simulating the appropriate role-play on the device in question. At the end of the count, invoke “Basic Disarm”. In order to perform this action, you must have at least a Basic-quality Scrap Kit and  you may not have anything in your hands unless they are a Small Melee weapon such as a Dagger.

Locks and Traps

As mentioned previously, Locks prevent entry to an area or access to a container. Player Characters are able to create Doorlocks and Lockboxes, to secure their belongings or locations.

On the other hand, Traps are a type of hazard that inflict damage and/or an Control effect upon those that trigger them. Trapped containers or doors have telltale signs that showcase their dangerous nature. On the other hand, other Traps such as wire-triggered arrow Traps or electrified floors might not be as obvious unless one knows where to look -- usually the “T” or “<” symbol designates a place where a character may Disarm a Trap. 

Disarming Advanced and Superior Locks and Traps: Some Locks and Traps require greater amounts of skill to Disarm. 

The Greater Disarm effect allows for the Disarming of Advanced Locks and Traps. While the Superior Disarm effect allows for the Disarming of Superior Locks and Traps.

Traps vs. Hazards: Some Trap-like Hazards may not be Disarmed, representing machinery or magics that are too solidly made to be broken. Similarly, Hazards cannot be Disarmed. These represent bone-crushing river currents, deep pits, or irradiated patches of ground. Their effects will usually be described at the beginning of an Event or the scenario where they are present.

The Trap-Springer Skill: This Skill defends a Character and one ally they touch against a Trap.

What are Conjurations?

Sometimes called Ether Matrices, these are long-lived magical effects that accomplish a specific task. Many Conjurations function as traps or doors, punishing or preventing entry. Some Matrices power sorcerous machinery or light a room. 

Despite their longevity, the energy loops within Ether Matrices are relatively fragile for those with the knowhow to disrupt them. Applied pressure or energy in the right location can disturb and deactivate a Conjuration.

The Disrupt Conjuration effect is available to many of the same Disciplines or Spheres that grant the “Greater Disarm” effect. The process for using Disrupt Conjuration is similar to the process for the Disarm effect -- 30 counts of Concentration and then invoke “Disrupt Conjuration”. 

Superior Conjurations are far more difficult to Disrupt and may require specific stimuli. 

What is Ancient Tech/Antech?

Ancient Tech refers to electronic technology that has somehow survived the Magna-Storms of the Long Fall. While these were built at the height of humanity’s ability to create such hardware and software, time and malfunctions have corroded their capacity for interaction. Thus, only individuals with the Junk Diver and the Tech Diver skill are able to interface and use such items -- to glean information from them or to activate their functions (e.g. opening a door, activating a factory process, etc). 

Out of game Problem and Complaint Submission

While any Game Staff member can be approached for assistance, our Participant Safety Taskforce is always on site. Game Staff wear a pink armband at all times during game.When the Safety Taskforce is required, look for them or notify any Game Staff of your needs, starting your search with the Staff room or NPCland. For Participant Safety issues that are less pressing, leave a folded index card with a Game Staff request at the corkboard outside the Staff Room.

The Participant Safety Taskforce is led by the following individuals: 

• Kris Corcoran

• Jeffrey Porch Jr.

• and the rest of their helpers.

Text Contact: You may text 609-468-7112 at any time on site. Please leave your name and contact info.

Email Contact: You may also email BTF-Gamesafety@gmail.com between Events. It is highly recommended that you submit your report as soon as possible after any incident.

If you feel uncomfortable approaching the Participant Safety Taskforce for any reason, you may approach and talk to the other Producer Staff members: Jobert Aquino and Matthew Wagner.

Beneficial Modal effects

Beneficial Modal effects (aka Mode effects) are game mechanics which grant a character or a creature a few special abilities or advantages for a short amount of time. Often, the being that is affected by the effect will vocally count out the Modal effect.

Armored Rush: Walk into ranged attacks

Aura: Creatures that attack you take damage.

Barrage: Perform 2 or more consecutive attacks upon one or more targets.

Burrowing: Tunnel into the ground, being shielded and hidden by it.

Conceal: Become invisible to view. 

Escape: Run away from danger and from most pursuers.

Flying: Fly up into the air and become immune to melee attacks.

Perceive: Locate hidden creatures or details

Impervious: Be invulnerable to most attacks.

Wave: Perform an attack upon different targets.

Armored Rush 

• Description: The Armored Rush allows a creature to walk toward their opponent and shrug off ranged attacks. 
  
  

• Benefit: Point with a hand or a weapon at a single target you can see. Invoke “Armored Rush” to gain that status and the following benefits

• Unfettered Movement: You do not need to halt forward momentum or step back when struck by ranged attacks or using defenses (e.g Dodge, Aegis, etc) against them. Take note that you still suffer from these effects.

• No Running: For safety reasons, you cannot run, but you can move at a fast walk

• Duration: Armored Rush ends when you desire or when any the conditions below occur:

  • Time Limit: Approximately one minute has passed

  • Halted Movement: You stop moving for any reason or you move away from your target. This includes being Downed or suffering from an immobilizing Control effect. Holds or similar mechanics will not interrupt an Armored Rush.

  • Interference: Being struck in melee immediately halts your approach.

  • Lost Target: You stop pointing at your target or lose sight of them for 5+ seconds

Aura 

• Description: The Aura Modal effect represents dangerous energies or fumes radiating from the invoking creature. 

• Benefit: Such a creature counts down with the effect, starting with the highest intensity and then diminishing until the end. For example, “Aura 10 Flame, Aura 9 Flame, Aura 8 Flame, etc” 

• Being touched or struck by a creature invoking an Aura effect also means being affected by that effect, which is usually damage. Striking such a creature in melee subjects the attacker to the most recent invoked effect. Ranged attackers have no such penalty.

Barrage 

• Description: Barrage effects allow the user to deliver one effect multiple times, affecting one target multiple times or multiple targets. 

• Benefit: Skills that allow for this Modal effect are labeled as “Barrage X”, where X is the maximum number of iterations of this effect. While performing a Barrage skill and delivering its effects, you may not move your feet from their positions. Furthermore, you have a maximum of 5 seconds (or 10 seconds with Barrage 5) to deliver all of the effects. If your feet move from their positions, you lose any attacks/effects that you haven’t delivered yet.

  • For example, a Skill that allows the user to inflict a “3 Flame” attack as a Barrage 3 effect will let said user to perform the Flame attack up to three times, on the same targets or on different ones.  

Burrowing 

• Description: This is similar to flying and impervious, representing a creature burrowing underground. Like a flying creature, it is apparent where a burrowing creature is. However, said creature takes limited damage as though considered Impervious (see below). 

• Benefit: To reflect the Burrowing status, vocally count up the Burrowing count (e.g. “Burrowing 1, Burrowing 2…” etc). While in this state, you are immune to all attacks and do not have to take your grunt and step. This represents the fact that your precise location is hidden and the ground offers you protection.

• You lose some of this immunity when an Unveiling effect (see Perceive) is inflicted upon you via melee or ranged.

  • When Unveiled, the Burrowing creature or character is considered Impervious while Burrowing for the rest of the current Burrowing count. Effects that would end Impervious (e.g. Bane, Siege, etc) also end Burrowing.

• Most burrowing creatures have deadly barrage attacks that they use upon emerging so following them closely is not encouraged.

Chain

• Description: Chain effects allow the user to deliver one effect to one or more targets, similar to the Barrage effect.

• Benefits: This is similar to the Barrage effect except you may only perform the next attack in the series if the current attack hits and is not negated. Skills that allow for this Modal effect are labeled as “Chain X” where X maximum number of iterations of this effect.

• For example, Treboj has a Chain 3 attack that inflicts “3 Lightning” via packet/dart.

  • First packet: He hits the first target and they do not negate it.

  • Second packet: He throws a packet at a second target, but he misses.

  • Third packet: He does not get to throw this attack because he missed his second packet. The same would follow if he hit his target but they invoked “Dodge” or “Block”.

Conceal

• Description: The Conceal effect represents Characters that are hiding with exceptional skill or magic, becoming invisible from view.  

• Concealed Characters: Characters that are Concealed cannot be seen or pinpointed, although other Characters can vaguely sense their presence in a "I think we're being watched" manner. 

• On the other hand, Concealed characters are able to perceive their surroundings, except for other Concealed characters. When hit by an attack, they can respond with "Immune, I am Concealed" or with a similar clarification -- the only effects that will hit them are Unveiling effects and Global effects. 

To become Concealed, you must fulfill and maintain the following requirements:

•  Positional: You must lean against immovable cover such as a wall, tree, or a shrub that can block at least half of your body from one direction. You may not use it in the middle of a field or a road. 

•  Equipment: You cannot be wearing Ultraheavy/Heavy armor or carrying an item/weapon larger than 4 feet. You also may not be carrying an active light source.

Skill Restrictions: You may stay Concealed for as long as you wish. However, in order to do so you must follow the restrictions below:

 • Stand Still: You must be standing and you may not move. Certain Skills may be used while Concealed and they may even allow you to move but all other Skills, attacks, Concentration/Targeting, and actions will end Concealment.

 • Stay Silent: You may not say anything, except for out-of-game clarifies. 

 • Crossed Arms: Your arms must be crossed over your chest. You may hold items.     

Being Revealed: Even if the restrictions above are followed, you can be Unveiled if you are hit by an Unveiling effect or a Global effect. The latter is an effect that hits everyone that can hear it, representing something that affects the entire area. 

• Unveiling effects are usually delivered via melee touch or a spell packet and only by someone using a Sense-type skill such as Perception or Detect Presence -- these Skills allow their user to perceive Concealed creatures for a short time after their use. Perceiving individuals will announce themselves and while holding their hands over their brows as though shielding their eyes from the sun or be holding forward a light source.  

• Sense Skills like Keen Perception will not reveal someone using Superior Concealment although the incredibly rare “Master Unveiling” effect can do so. 

Escape

• Description: This allows an individual to attempt an escape from the current battle or scene. 

• Benefit: See below

  • Escape 30: Begin an audible “Escape count” that goes up to 30. Put your hand or weapon atop your head to show that you are "out of game". During the Escape count, you may slow or fast walk out of the current area. No one may interact with or pursue you without the proper Skills. 

  • No Return: You may not return to the current area (your judgment) until approximately after 10 minutes, even with help. 

  • Last 10 counts: Ensure that these last 10 counts of the Escape effect are extra audible to indicate your return to the game environment -- at “Escape 30”, lower your hand from your head. 

• Pursuit effects: Other creatures may use “Pursuit” effects to follow you. They will exit the game and enter the game at the same time you do so. Similarly, other characters may join your escape by using their Skill simultaneously to your own use.

Flying 

• Description: This is a modal effect that represents flight or a high jump. 

• Benefits: You must raise an arm above your head. While you are doing this, FIRMLY invoke “Flying 1, Flying 2…” in an audible tone, up to the count limit (which is usually 10 but can go up to 30).

  • This lasts until make X seconds pass or X counts are reached -- whichever comes first. For example: a Flying 10 ends at 10 counts, 10 seconds or 10 steps, whichever comes first.

  • While Flying, you take no damage or effects from melee attacks or melee touches. Only ranged attacks, vocal attacks and global effects will affect you.

  • You may use Defenses or Item defenses to negate attacks against you as normal. But you may not attack while flying, even with ranged attacks. Take note, some monstrous creatures and beings may be flying by default (aka True Flight) and may attack while doing so. 

• Ending your flight: If you are affected by a Snare, Stun or a Hobble effect, you drop from this effect and take 5 points of physical damage from your fall. 

  • The Seraphic and Chimeric Stigmata allow for the Diving Dodge and Safe Landing abilities.

    • Diving Dodge: This grants you the benefit of a Dodge then ends Flying immediately afterward.

    • Safe Landing: This grants you “Resolve 3” if you willingly end Flying or reach the end of your Flying count naturally.

• Take note, most flying creatures have deadly barrage attacks that they use upon landing so following them closely is not encouraged.

IMPERVIOUS

• Description: You are shielded from harm, through magic or through a special technique.

• Benefit: Invoke “Impervious 1, Impervious 2…” to “Impervious X” in a FIRM voice (The value of X is dependent on the skill, but usually 3, 5, or 10). You may move at a slow or fast walk.

  • Duration: This status ends when you reach Impervious X or when X seconds have elapsed, whichever happens first.

  • Minimal Damage: While doing so, you take no damage from basic melee attacks although they still stop forward momentum. -- Other damaging attacks are reduced to “1 damage”. Control effects work normally.

  • Weak to Bane and Siege: Bane damage and Siege damage inflict their normal amount and end the effect prematurely.

  • Other actions: You may use defenses to negate attacks while Impervious and you may make melee basic attacks. However, you may not perform Concentration or use any other Active Skills while Impervious

• Unyielding Creatures: Some monsters are incredibly tough. Most damaging attacks upon them inflict 0 damage (although they still Step and Grunt). Siege attacks (PRC 7 dmg or more) or Bane attacks inflict 1 damage instead. Healing upon them only heals 1 - respond with “Minimal”. Same with Resolve.

• There are several grades of Unyielding, with escalating durability. Fighting Unyielding monsters requires the utmost of teamwork and preparation.

Perceive

• Description: You can locate and potentially unveil Concealed creatures.

• Benefit: You must hold one empty hand to your brow (as though shielding your eyes from the sun) or hold a light source in front of you to further signify that you are Perceiving. 

  • While Perceiving: You can see Concealed individuals and speak to Spirits (within step and arm’s reach only). Concealed characters have their arms crossed over their chest and otherwise cannot be seen/pinpointed. Spirits wear purple headbands and otherwise cannot be spoken to. A Game Marshall may point out a Concealed item to you or clarify an unknown facet of the current situation to you. Similarly, there may be some Out-of-Game notes that require the use of this skill to read.

  • Unveiling: Tap Concealed individuals with a hand/melee weapon or throw a spell packet at them while invoking "Unveiling". If you do not miss, they lose their Concealed status -- this does not deal damage or have any other effect.  

  • Skill Restrictions: Damage does not disrupt you from Perceiving but being unable to use Active Skills will do so (e.g. being Downed or receiving a Pain effect). Also, this Skill cannot reveal a person that is under a Superior Concealment effect. 

  • However, it can be used to defeat a “Conceal Item” effect by applying the Unveiling on the item or the person Concealing the items. You must be adjacent to them. 

Wave 

• Description: Wave effects allow the user to deliver one effect to one or more targets, similar to the Barrage effect. 

• Unlike the Barrage effect, you must aim your attacks at different targets, though those who are hit by them must take their effects regardless. Skills that allow for this Modal effect are labeled as “Wave X” where X maximum number of iterations of this effect. 

 SHIELDS AND ARMOR

ARMOR

Armor is clothing that defends its wearer from attack by absorbing hits to their vitals. In the World Beyond the Fall, it does this by passively decreasing the amount of damage its wearer receives. Furthermore, those with the Armor Expertise skill are able to angle their bodies when struck to allow their armor to take the worst of a hit (see Armor Expertise skill below).

What constitutes an Armor is more art than science, although Armor must cover at least the front and back torso (minimum of 50% of both). At the wearer's discretion, it may also cover more than that but torso coverage is the minimum. A leather duster is considered to be armor. The same applies to a hard leather vest or leather jacket. Naturally, a breastplate or a mail hauberk counts as armor. By themselves, gloves are not armor, nor are boots or helmets or the like.

Also of importance is the safety of an Armor prop. The heat of battle and the armor wearer’s movement will require resilient and tough armor physreps.

Armor should not possess sharp edges or points, for the safety of the players and their weaponry. It should also be able to withstand out-of-game physical strikes. If it breaks and exposes dangerous edges or materials, it must be removed from the game area as soon as possible.

Armor Types

There are three main types of Armor: Body Armor, Heavy Armor, and Ultraheavy Armor. These are defined by the material they appear to be made of, their weight, and their flexibility. Normally, the Dodge defense cannot be used while wearing Armor. On the other hand, certain defenses rely on their user wearing Armor or a specific quality of Armor.

Take note that you may only wear and benefit from one Armor at a time.

BODY ARMOR

This is the most commonly worn armor in the World Beyond the Fall due to its wide range of movement, its breathability, and its ease of creation. such as a leather vest, leather jacket, or a duster. The Armored Dodge skill allows an individual to use the Dodge defense even while wearing Body Armor.

Examples:

• Leather Vest/Jacket

• Thin Chain Hauberk (Aluminum, Steel wire, or similar weight)

• Padded Gambeson

• Corset

HEAVY ARMOR

Usually made of rigid, relatively flexible materials. Having multiple layers of body armor may be counted as a single Heavy Armor prop, upon the Game Staff's discretion. 

Wearing Heavy Armor has additional benefits if you have the Faith in Steel skill of the Warrior Class. Furthermore, many Armor Augments that increase defense or toughness are restricted to Heavy and Ultra Heavy Armor only

Examples:

• Hard Leather Breastplate

• Heavy Chain Hauberk

• Motorcycle Jacket

• Padded Gambeson + Thin Chain

• Leather Vest + Duster

ULTRAHEAVY ARMOR

Armor that is made of real or faux metal. Alternatively, it involves significant amounts of metal or a similar material in their construction. They tend to look solid and sturdy but can be more uncomfortable to wear for long periods of time. Besides the prop requirements, weight is the main difference between Heavy and Ultraheavy armor. Characters usually adorn these armors with long coats, dusters, serapes, or similar pieces of garment to make them match the aesthetics of the setting.  

This has additional benefits if you have the Faith in Steel skill of the Warrior Class. Furthermore, many Armor Augments that increase defense or toughness are restricted to Heavy and Ultra Heavy Armor only.

Examples:

• Steel Breastplate

• Brigandine or Scale Coat

• Bulletproof/Plated Vest

• Padded Gambeson + Heavy Chain

CLOTHING

Normally, this does not count as armor. This represents various pieces of clothing and dress that a Character may use to adorn themselves. While basic clothing has no mechanical benefit, the Advanced and Superior versions of clothing may be Augmented, similar to armor. These Augmented items have abilities that are more useful for those who favor mobility over toughness or spellcasters who want to enhance their magical power.

Wearing Augmented Clothing (as opposed to normal or basic Clothing) prevents a Character from benefiting from any other worn Armor or Augments. The reverse is also the same. However, it is technically not armor, especially for the purposes of the Dodge defense.  

Armor Benefits

The main mechanical advantages of wearing Armor are twofold. They are tied to increasing their wearer’s resistance to injury and are activated by the Refit Armor action. — this is a 10 minute out-of-combat process of donning armor and/or maintaining it. This must be done away from fighting and similarly stressful situations, similar to Resting, and it can be done while taking the Rest Action.

As per usual, you may only wear and benefit from one Armor at a time.
Armored HP  — +2 bonus to Maximum HP. 

Reflecting an increased resistance to injury, refitting Armor allows an armor wearer to use their Armored HP value instead of the normal maximum HP value. The Armored HP value is your maximum HP +2. Certain Skills and Armor Augments may increase this. 

Taking off Armor -- A character's current HP is unchanged when they take off their armor, unless it was beyond their unarmored maximum HP, in which case it reverts to the unarmored maximum HP value. 

Aegis Points

Requirement: Armor Expertise Skill

Aegis Points are a special resource that one may be granted by having the Armor Expertise Skill while wearing armor. With this Skill, a character may “Refit” their armor -- this process takes at least 10 minutes, can be done while resting and requires the simulation of repairing/donning one’s armor. 

At the end of this process, the armor wearer loses all Aegis they currently have and then they gain their maximum Aegis (starting at one, without any other Skills or Augments). You may never have more than 5 Aegis at a time.

Using Aegis: Invoke “Aegis” and expend an Aegis Point to negate the damage or the effect of all attacks received within the last second. You must stop forward motion and/or take a step away from your attacker. You are unable to use Aegis to defend yourself if any of those attacks are Ambush attacks (blows that come from behind and hit your back torso) or Master attacks.

Other Benefits — Certain Skills and Weaver Augments may add more functionality and bonuses to wearing armor. For example, the Heatproof Weave Augment grants armor wearers the Resist Radiation skill and can negate Flame attacks. The Full Coverage skill allows armor wearers additional Aegis when wearing armor on both of their arms/hands and on both of their legs/feet.

SHIELDS

Shields in BTF are defined as hand-held or arm-strapped defensive items. Examples of these are bucklers, round shields, targes, and similar items. For the purposes of item creation, they are Weaponry Items despite their purely defensive qualities.

BTF allows both homemade shields (often made of bread trays or plywood) and most commercial latex shields. A shield should have padded edges, and be free of any sharp or pointed objects that may damage weapons or injure fellow players. 

Shields that are easily breakable, or are made of dangerous materials will also not be allowed to enter the game. It is for this reason that all shields are subject to the same inspection rules as weapons. 

Shield Sizes

For out-of-game reasons of balance and simplicity, Player Character shields in BTF have a size-limitation of 32 inches diameter for round shields. For non-round shields, there can be no dimension exceeding 32 inches, with regards to shield height, width, diagonal length or any other dimension except thickness.

The in-game reason for this limited shield size is that several monsters, attacks, and horrors are able to easily penetrate shields. Thus, the denizens of the World Beyond the Fall have relegated their shields to smaller versions that maintain their own physical maneuverability to dodge such assaults.

Policy and Safety Violations involving Shields

• No Shield Bashing: For the purposes of safety, “Shield Bashing” or striking someone with a Shield is not allowed and is considered a safety violation. 
  

• Not a Free Hand: A hand or arm that is using a shield is considered to be “wielding it” for the purposes of free hands and weapons. That said, a shield that leaves its wearer’s hand free does NOT allow for that wearer to use that hand for various in-game skills that require a free hand. Furthermore, they may not wield a weapon with that hand. 
  

• No Turtling: Crouching or being prone while using a Shield is called “Turtling”, as it blocks legal targets from attack and exposes illegal targets to attack. Moreover, many monsters have a special attack called a “Prone Attack” that bypasses such defenses and inflicts major damage to prone targets.

Benefits of Using a Shield

Shield Use: Weapon strikes that hit a shield are not counted as hitting the character. This means that you may manually and legally maneuver a shield to intercept weapon strikes from hitting you without expending Focus or other resources.   

Block defense (usually requires Stalwart Defense skill): This is the potent defense but is usable only when wielding a shield. Invoke “Block!”and expend 1 Focus to negate all melee and ranged attacks that just hit you in the last second. You need to be wielding a shield of basic quality or better to use this. The following conditions prevent you from invoking the Block defense:

• You are not wielding a Shield

• Any of the attacks come from behind you and hit your back torso (aka Ambush attacks)

• Any of the attacks are Master attacks and are invoked as such.
  

Other Bonuses: Certain Skills and Weaponry Augments may add more functionality and bonuses to wielding a Shield. For example, the Grav Barrier Augment allows you to defend others with your shield while the Furious Rebuke skill allows you to knockback an enemy after you use the Block defense.

ArchFaction Loyalty

Also called Loyalty, Standing, Reputation or Faction, this subsystem exists to give Player Characters a way to improve their rapport with their own faction and benefit from said association. This measures your relationship to an Archfaction or a Subfaction, specifically how their authorities and leaders perceive your own allegiance to their cause. Low loyalty means that they assume you to be a free agent A high Loyalty means that an Archfaction sees you as a hero or a paragon of their people. 

You may begin at Loyalty 1 (Allied) with a Faction of your choice. If you choose to gain the Distinguished Background Perk at Character Creation, you may instead begin at Loyalty 2 (Operative).

If desired, a Character with the Mental Deduction skill or a similar Inquiry-type Skill or Spell can use it to ask another Character for their Loyalty tier. The inquirer may only ask about the Loyalty to their own Archfaction. 

Loyalty Tier Description

Loyalty Tier 0 -- Neutral

This is the default Loyalty a Character has to all Archfactions. This has no requirements, or restrictions. In fact, individuals with no Loyalties to any Archfactions may sometimes be sought out by interested parties for their perspective and lack of ‘liabilities’.

• Benefit: If sponsored by an Operative (Tier 2) and are Neutral to all Archfactions, you are allowed to join in ArchFaction Missions of your Sponsor. 

• Requirements: None

• Promotion to Allied: 3 Subtiers

Loyalty Tier 1 -- Ally to the Archfaction

This marks the first display of Loyalty to an Archfaction, because you come from that Archfaction or because you have become willingly indebted to it. In either case, you represent your alliance and your favor to this Archfaction -- whenever it benefits, so do you. 

• Special: New Player Characters may choose to begin at this Subtier for no cost. 

• Benefit: You may join in Faction Missions and Market Hours that involve this Archfaction. Furthermore, you are counted as a member of this Archfaction for the purposes of certain rewards or Bounty tables. 

• Requirements: An Ally of an Archfaction must wear a “Favor” of that Archfaction at the very minimum (a strip of cloth with the sigil of that Archfaction or one of its Power Groups). More dedicated individuals may wear more distinctive clothing/props, below. Furthermore, you may not have a Loyalty higher than 0 for any other Archfaction.   

• Promotion to Operative: 3 Subtiers

Loyalty Tier 2 -- Operative of the Archfaction

Those that possess this Tier of Loyalty are willing and expert agents of their Archfaction. Their Archfaction may be called upon for lesser boons.  

• Special: New Player Characters may choose to begin at this Tier via the “Distinguished” Background Perk.

• Benefit: As per above. Furthermore, (1/Event) you may request a Lesser Loyalty Boon to benefit from -- this may be denied if the Archfaction deigns to do so. You may only request one Loyalty Boon per Event. These cost 1 Minor Component (any type) and an Interim Action. 

• Requirements: You must wear and display a tabard, a cloak/coat/jacket, or a shield (or a similarly distinctive prop/clothing) that reflects your allied Archfaction (or a Subfaction/Power Group within it).  Furthermore, you may not have a Loyalty higher than 0 for any other Archfaction.   

• Restriction: Starting at this Loyalty Tier and higher, you are barred from joining in the Guilds of other Archfactions.  

• Promotion to Guardian: 5 Subtiers

Loyalty Tier 3 -- Guardian of the Archfaction

Time and time again, you have proven yourself as a defender and a champion of your people. They count on you more than you count on them and you can call upon Greater Boons from them. 

• Benefit: As per Operative above, except that you may instead choose to perform one Greater Loyalty Boon. These cost 1 Basic Component (any type). 

• Requirements: You must wear and display a tabard, a cloak/coat/jacket, or a shield (or a similarly distinctive prop/clothing) that reflects your allied Archfaction (or a Subfaction within it).  Furthermore, you may not have a Loyalty higher than 0 for any other Archfaction.   

• Promotion to Exalted: 5 Subtiers

Loyalty Tier 4 -- Exalted of the Archfaction

The people of your Archfaction look up to you as your reputation and your deeds have raised you above the masses. Even the leadership has taken notice of you.

• Benefit: As per Guardian above, except that you may instead choose to perform one Exalted Loyalty Boon. These cost 1 Rare Component (any type). 

• Requirements: You must wear and display a tabard, a cloak/coat/jacket, or a shield (or a similarly distinctive prop/clothing) that reflects your allied Archfaction (or a Subfaction within it).  Furthermore, you may not have a Loyalty higher than 0 for any other Archfaction.   

• Promotion to Paragon: 5 Subtiers

Loyalty Tier 5 -- Paragon of the Archfaction

You are a hero of the people and an exemplar of their values. When you speak, they listen. Even the leadership considers your wisdom to be of import. 

• Benefit 1: As per Exalted above. In addition, you get a bonus Interim action that must be used to Request a Loyalty Boon from your Archfaction. You still cannot Request a Loyalty Boon more than once between Events and this still counts against the three Interim Action limit.  

• Benefit 2: If the Player chooses to retire this character, they can ascend to an office of power among their people as an NPC under Game Staff control. For some scenarios or modules, Game Staff may request a Player to return as this Character to play a supporting role to the other Player Characters.

• Requirements: You must wear and display a tabard, a cloak/coat/jacket, or a shield (or a similarly distinctive prop/clothing) that reflects your allied Archfaction (or a Subfaction within it). Similarly, you must have a banner or a flag of your Archfaction (or the Subfaction that you serve)  at your camp or your sleeping area. Furthermore, you may not have a Loyalty higher than 0 for any other Archfaction.   

• Promotion: Subtiers are still recorded-- every 5 Subtiers, you are awarded a Rare component. 

Boons of Loyalty

Once per Event (as an Interim action), you can send an email to Game Staff and invoke one of the Loyalty Boons below. Higher tiers of Loyalty grant access to different and sometimes better Boons.

• 1/Event: A Player may only benefit from a Loyalty Boon once per Event, regardless of how many Characters they have.

• Interim Action: This is usually declared after an Event within the two week deadline as most Interim actions are.

• Distinguished Perk: Characters attending an Event for the first time and have the Distinguished Perk may declare the use of a Loyalty Boon when they Pre-Register.

• Cannot be saved up: Loyalty Boons cannot be stored or accrued. They are either declared after an Event (except as per above).

However, a Player that does not physically attend an Event but paid for it (or bought it back) may have one of their Characters use a Loyalty Boon to get training or send letters, etc. Said Player Character must be able to use Loyalty Boons, have the necessary costs in their Character Bag, and have attended at least one BTF Event. The Loyalty Boon must be declared via email within two weeks after the Event has elapsed.

If a Participant buys an Event back well beyond the 2 week mark, they do not get to use a Boon of Loyalty.

Lesser Loyalty Boons

OPERATIVE (Tier 2) or higher: 1 Minor Component (any) 

PARAGONS (Tier 5) do not pay a Component cost.

Greater Loyalty Boons

GUARDIAN (Tier 3) or higher: 1 Basic Component

PARAGONS (Tier 5) do not pay a Component cost unless a cost is specified (e.g. Greater Boon of Education)

Exalted Loyalty Boons

EXALTED (Tier 4) or higher: 1 Rare Component (any)

Bounties Subsystem

Bounties are a form of meta-currency in BTF given at the conclusion of large-scale and/or important missions or Delves. They can represent one of the following:

• Personal specific payment for the accomplishment of a task

• Useful residual energy from an area/incident that can be used in crafting or magic.

• A intangible favor owed to an individual by an organization or person of influence

Out of game, Bounties typically appear as in the form of a Bounty Item Tag (aka. Bounty Tag), which is a piece of Paper that specifies when it expires and if it has any Alternative uses. Due to their representative nature, they cannot be Stolen as they are specific to that person. They can be freely given to others, however.

— Bounties expire several months after they are given. These will usually be noted on the Bounty Tag. Expiration represents energy expiring, the tides of change within an organization, and/or a stronger focus on a different issue.

— Expired Bounties can be exchanged for a Basic Component if within one year of its Expiration.

Awarding Bounties

Generally speaking, Bounties are awarded for important missions that may involve the entire Player base. At least one such mission or Delve occurs every Event. Some Archfaction specific missions may also award Bounties. Some powerful Monsters or Antagonists may yield one Bounty to the first handful of Players that Scavenge from it. 

GAINING BOUNTIES

Generally speaking, Bounties are awarded for certain missions of importance or significance. At least one such mission or Delve occurs every Event. Some Archfaction specific missions may also award Bounties. Some powerful foes may yield one Bounty to the first handful of Players that Scavenge from them. 

USING BOUNTIES

Like currency, Bounties can be spent to receive awards during a Market hour or between Events. You may also grant or sell one of your Bounties to an ally. As mentioned previously, Bounties cannot be stolen. 

OPTION A -- CASHING IN

Bounty -> Component (Cmp): A Bounty may be “Cashed in” for one random Basic Component. As per above, a Bounty can be cashed in up to one year after it has expired. 

OPTION B -- EVENT SPECIFIC BOUNTIES

However, some Events may present additional options in exchange for Bounties. These options are specific to that Event’s themes and enemies. Furthermore, these options are only available for that Event and possibly for similar Events.

For example, a strange merchant or weaponer might be present who can turn Arctic Essences into powerful Frost-Rune Weaponry.

OPTION C -- ARCHFACTION BOUNTIES

Positive association and loyalty to an Archfaction also grants access to additional Bounty options. These options may be slightly better than Cashing in a Bounty, but they are only available to those who are Allied to an Archfaction (i.e. Loyalty Tier 1 or higher). All the uses below are for Market Hour or Between Events only. 

Free Tribe Bounty Table

While smaller in size than the other two Archfactions, the Free Tribes are blessed with a vast diversity of resources and knowledge. Though others may look askance at their lack of centralization, the Freefolk are far stronger than the sum of their parts. The Freebooters represent one of the more recent efforts of unification for the Freefolk and they are more than willing to reward the submission of Bounties to them.

Illustrados Bounty Table

In the World Beyond the Fall, few locales can match the technological sophistication and industrial infrastructure of the Illustrados Union. Bounties can be exchanged for upkeep with technological items or certain reagents that are commonly associated with mechanical maintenance.The Technocratic League (La Liga Tecnocratica) represents a unified front for the lawful Illustrados in Mid-Atla and their expertise can be used in exchange for Bounties.

Templar Bounty Table

The Templars are not alone in their study and refinement of the sorcerous arts, but none can match the breadth and depth of their magical expertise. In this arena, they have dynasties of arcane knowledge, decades of eldritch research, and the blessings of divine insight. The Avataral Hand represents the long arm of the Oracle-Avatar in Mid-Atla, granting and accepting Bounties on their hierarchs’ behalf.

Example Bounties

ARCTIC ESSENCE

Water/Wind Bounty

Issued: Specific OOG Date

Expires: Specific OOG Date

You have struck down Sath-Ymir the Winter Titan and his minions. As such, you and yours have been awarded a usable part of their essence as a Bounty. 

• Property 1: Watery Protection - Expend an Arctic Essence and use the Brew Maker skill (or the Etheric Arcana Ritual action) to grant yourself the effects of the Radproof Elixir or the Leatherskin Elixir.

• Property 2: Wintry Crafting - If at least three Arctic Essences and a Craft-Ritual action are expended to Craft Weaponry, Weaver Items, or Skill Kits with a Wind or Water Affinity (such as a Nitro Weapon), they count as Components and waive the Skill Requirements for performing such a task. Three Arctic Essences count as a Rare component and 15 such Bounties count as a Pure component.

AVATARAL MANDATE

Astral/Abyssal Bounty (Templar)

Issued: Specific OOG Date

Expires: Specific OOG Date

You have a minor favor from the Oracle-Avatar, granting you a special dispensation from their priesthood.

• Property 1: Avataral Panacea - You may expend one Avataral Mandate to Cure all Afflictions from yourself. This does not work on Anathemic or Incurable Afflictions.  

• Property 2: Extended Life - If 30x Avataral Mandates are expended as part of a Cure Curse or Cure Disease effect, you may remove up to two Grave Scars from a character and stave away aging for 10 years. This has no effect on those who have five or more Grave-Scars already or those who have benefitted from this in the past. This must be marked on your Character Sheet.

INSIDIOUS MOTE

Shadow/Wind Bounty

Issued: Specific OOG Date

Expires: Specific OOG Date

The Umbral Geists and the Dread Geist at their head have been driven into the dust and dispelled from this world.

• Property 1: Insidious Whisper - Expend an Insidious Mote to waive the CMP cost of Self-Training a Basic Skill. This must belong to the Shadower, Masker, Obfuscation, or Binder Disciplines. If you expend 3 such Bounties instead, you waive the CMP cost for a Complex Skill of said Disciplines.

• Property 2: Umbral Crafting - If at least three Insidious Mote and a Craft-Ritual action is expended to Craft Weaponry, Weaver Items, or Skill Kits with a Shadow or Wind Affinity (such as a Nitro Weapon), they count as Components and waive the Complex/Erudite Skill Requirements for performing such a task. Three Insidious Mote count as a Rare component and 15 such Bounties count as a Pure component.
  
  
  

NECROTIC MOTE

Death Bounty

Issued: Specific OOG Date

Expires: Specific OOG Date

The Necrolossus has been brought low but its deathly energy still lingers, like static to your skin.

• Property 1: Necrotic Craft - If three of these are expended, they count as 1 Rare Death Component when used to Craft or Upkeep a Necrotech Weapon, Deathweave Armor, Spectral Gadget Kit, or Eldritch Vial Kit.

• Property 2: Necrogenesis -If expended as part of the Training Cost of Self-Teaching a Necrotic Trait or the Component Cost of granting the Necrotic Stigmata, each Necrotic Mote counts as 1 Rare Death Component. 

 TOWN EXPANSIONS

The Expansions of a Town are an abstract representation of its infrastructure.

All Tiers are 300 Infrastructure points (AKA Infra) — gaining or losing Expansions is explained HERE. Information on what each Tier of an Expansion does can be found further below.

Expansion Details

Below are the Tier 1 benefits of the Core Expansions Their other Tier benefits will not be fully detailed until the previous Tier has been achieved. Also below is a brief summary of their Overflow section, which is a recurring happenstance after the Tier 3 of an Expansion has been achieved and when Players continue to put Infra into that Expansion. 

Library Lane (Campus) TIER 3: 40/300 Infra to Overflow

A part of town for scholars, students, and teachers. 

Market Exchange (Mercado) tier 3: 60/300 Infra to Overflow

Where the exchanging of ideas, words, and commerce takes place.

Fringe Farmlands (Farms) tier 2: 9/300 to Tier 3

Integral to the town’s growth and health, the Farms are also the most commonly attacked.

Graveyard (Tombs) TIER 1: 4/300 UNLOCKED to Tier 2

Where the dead are remembered and where they may rise again.

La Gran Fragua (Forge) Tier 1: 105/300 UNLOCKED to Tier 2

Illustrados industry, Templar dedication, and Free Tribe innovation have raised a manufacturing district in town: “the Great Forge”. In this development’s shadow, craftworks are improved in ease and employment can yield better rewards.

Stormbringer Spire (Spire) Tier 1: 184/300 Unlocked to Tier 2

An amalgamation of the eldritch and the mechanical, these Spires shield a town from harm. With further innovation, they can also empower the machinery and spellcraft of those nearby.

 Currency and Components

Components (sometimes called Reagents, Reggies, or CMP) are the main in-game currency for the World Beyond the Fall. These represent near-miraculous and sometimes magical materials that are needed to create items, perform rituals, and succeed in certain other processes. It is because of this versatility and power that they are highly prized by every society in the world, supplementing or even substituting money.

Each component subscribes to both Tier and Type, though many have multiple elemental types and are therefore more versatile. For example, a component might be a Minor Earth component and be of the lowest tier and of limited use. More valuable is a Rare component that is of the Metal, Lightning, and Fire Type.

Special Note: The World Beyond the Fall uses “Components” as currency and as reagent props. Rare and Pure Components from Seventh Kingdom IGE LARP are not recognized as legitimate currency — attempts to pass them off as currency will be met with harsh sanctions similar to those given to counterfeiters.

Tiers of Components

There are five different Tiers of Components: 

• MINOR (Green): This is the lowest Tier of Components and the most commonly found. 

• BASIC (Blue): These are the staple currency of the World Beyond the Fall and the standard through which goods and other currencies are measured. Generally speaking, a Basic Component is worth five Minor Components. Similarly, five Basic Components are worth one Rare component. 

• RARE (Red): This is the middle Tier of Components, utilized to buy or create more Advanced items or magics. Sometimes found within powerful monsters. Five Rare components are worth one Pure component. 

• PURE (Violet): This is the second highest Tier of components, used for Superior items or magics. Five Pure components are worth one Superior component.  

• SUPERIOR (Orange): This is the highest Tier of components. These are also extremely uncommon. 

Types of Components

Components are also characterized by their elemental type, of which there are 12 kinds: 

• ABYSSAL: Monstrous and otherworldly. Usually found in places or creatures accursed by the Abyssals.

• ASTRAL: Ethereal, bright, and tied to the stars. Usually found in places of sunlight or creatures made of magical flame.   

• DEATH: Lethal, poisonous, or shimmering with deadly energies, usually found with undead creatures or around death stones.

• EARTH: Dirt, Stone, or crystal. Usually found underground or in earthen creatures.

• FIRE: Ember-like and burning. Usually found in fiery creatures or pyroclastic domains.

• HERBAL: Flowers, fungi, and other similar material. Usually found among plant and fungus creatures or similarly verdant areas.

• LIGHTNING: Electric and stormy. Usually found in mechanical monstrosities and stormy environments.

• METAL: Scrap parts or raw ore. Usually found underground or on mechanical creatures.

• PRISMATIC: A special type of component that can be used in lieu of any other component Type. It tends to be more valuable in this way and thus is unavailable from most traders and merchants. 

• SHADOW: Dark, fell, and ever-shifting. Usually found in Abyssal creatures or supernaturally dark domains.

• WATER: mercurial and liquid. Usually found in watery areas or in marine para-fauna.

• WIND: ethereal, quick, and nigh intangible. Usually found in cloudy domains or in air-based monsters. 

Uses for Components

Crafting and Rituals: The primary use for Components are in Crafting and in Rituals. Components are expended to create an item by using Skills like Weapon Maker or the Etheric Arcana skill. Alternatively, Components are expended to bestow special effects on others via the Brew Maker Skill or Spells like Obfuscate Material.

Furthermore, when Components are used in this manner, a Crafter or Ritualist may substitute a Component for up to five Components of a lower Tier. For example, crafting an Empowered Rune-Wand requires 5 basic Components of the Astral, Earth, or Metal Type. A Weaponer in this instance, may expend a Rare Astral Component to fulfill the necessary costs of making such an item. 

That said, this Downgrading of a Component may not be used to create multiple items out of one Component. 

Currency: Because of its value in Crafting and with Spells, Components are also accepted as currency in the World Beyond the Fall. Most lesser transactions are done with Basic Components.

Eating a Component: Eating a Component is ill advised. It has a bitter taste that cannot be disguised as anything else except a toxic substance. Ten seconds later, if it has not been spit out or regurgitated, it inflicts a death blow for 5 points of damage upon whoever consumed it.

Market Hour

This happens at least once during an Event. During a Market Hour: 

• A bell is rung or it is otherwise announced to all. This can be at the Cantina or elsewhere.

• Component Barter: Several Trader/Merchant NPCs arrive to facilitate Component barter/substitution. Their supplies will be limited, although certain Town Expansions may improve this.

• Improved Crafting/Rituals: Crafting and Rituals are Augmented for either bonus Output or bonus Quality. 

• Logistical Assistance: 1 or 2 Game Staff is present to facilitate signing off on these activities and receiving expended Components.

• Self-Training: Characters may expend Components to engage in Self-Training, with Game Staff signing off on Skill gain.

Ways to gain components

There are many ways to gain components but the five methods below are the most common ways. 

• Game Start: At the beginning of every event, a Player Character is given 5 Minor components. Their type is chosen at random by Game Staff. 

• Scavenging from Foes: The monsters and outlaws of the World Beyond the Fall may be scavenged for Components or other wealth after they are killed. For the former, scavenging represents going through organs to find useful materials from their anatomies. For the latter, scavenging represents going through pockets and bags to find wealth and/or items.

• Given from Players: As with most in-game items that they possess, a player may give a Component to another player. Although hostile actions against other players are discouraged, stealing Components from the unattended bags of other Players is another way to get Components.

• Completing a Mission: The awards for completing a mission (a.k.a. a “Delve”) are usually more valuable than other activities, depending on the employer and on the scope of the mission. Fortunately, the dangerous and monster-infested areas nearby allow for profitable employment for those who are willing to brave hazard and horror for riches.  

• Performing an NPC shift: One of the more profitable ways to gain Components, performing an NPC shift awards 1 basic component per hour spent on the Shift, with possibilities for additional rewards for exceptional work and signing up ahead of time. Certain times and conditions may increase the amount of Components earned. Besides helping the game and being a fun distraction, NPC shifts also award XP and may help the local infrastructure, benefitting the town as a whole. 

• Clean up: Although it is another out-of-game activity, assisting the Game Staff in cleaning up the camp after the Event is highly appreciated. This can award 1 Basic Component for help and up to three Basic Components for those folk that keep helping until Game Staff leaves camp.

Deeds 

After an Event, a Player may declare one Fateful Deed or a Pyrrhic Deed that their Character performed during the Event. The Deed may be used to waive the Component costs (but not the XP costs) for Self-Teaching a Skill.

• Fateful Deeds are the basic type and may be used to waive the costs for learning Basic Skills.

• Pyrrhic Deeds may be used to waive the self-training costs for Complex Skills.

• Deeds may not be used to waive the costs of Erudite Skills.

• Declaring a Deed is NOT an Interim Action.

How to declare a Deed

When declaring a Deed, post a basic description of an action you have undertaken during the previous Event. This post must include the type of Deed you are declaring (Battle Deed, Persuasive Deed, etc).

Obviously, this means that some Deeds can be flavored one way or another. If you claim to have smote a powerful monster with a mighty spell, you can claim this deed to be a Battle Deed or a Magical Deed. Similarly, if you used your medical skills to revive an ally before they perished in battle, you can claim this to be a Ingenious Deed or a Battle Deed.

Between Events, a Deed can be expended via the “Train yourself in Skills” action to replace a Basic Component when self-Teaching a Basic Skill. This Skill must be of a Class that matches the Deed in question (Battle = Warrior, Persuasive = Counselor, etc) Also, this means that Fateful Deeds can only be used to completely waive the Component cost of gaining a Basic skill.

Deeds will also be listed on that Character’s Wall, which can be viewed on the Website. 

Take note: Deeds are public knowledge. This means that Deeds should not be declared on one’s own clandestine dealings or actions. 

Fateful Deed

After an Event, you may declare one Fateful Deed on the appropriate Discord channel. This Deed must be declared a maximum of two weeks after the Event that it was performed at. This Deed must have actually occurred in-game and at the Event. Deeds must also be specific when they can, indicating certain actions and certain individuals in its description. The declaration of a Deed must also have the Skill that the Player intends to Train in. 

Deeds are one of the following types, each tied to a Class. Some actions may appear to belong to more than one type of Deed, but they may only be declared as a single type: 

Battle Deeds (Warrior)

Fighting, killing, defending, enduring, pursuing, and shooting.

Example 1: In a pitched battle against Umbral Geists, Ser Athalarian lent his shield and his body to his allies as a bulwark against enemy attacks. Behind the knight, his Tinker friends disarmed the bombs and prevented destruction from befalling the town. 

Example 2: Siff the Severed harried her quarry across the battlefield. Though she was one sword among many, hers brought the killing strike to Magnus the Fell and ended his murderous spree. 

Example 3: The Mantis Wolves tore through her comrades, but Fallen Winter did not share the same fate. She managed to deflect the worst of the beasts’ attacks, surviving the fight long enough for reinforcements to arrive.

Cunning Deeds (Ranger)

Fleeing, surviving, pursuing, seeking, scavenging, and disarming.

Example 1: Teacher Trickster worked feverishly and expertly to disarm the bombs on the battlefield, earning a lion’s share of scrap as his reward. 

Example 2: Elizu Vulturehead saw the Umbral Geist give chase but gave it no avenue for attack. Their legs and their cunning easily left the befuddled pursuer behind. 

Example 3: The ambush was sprung at the perfect time - Captain Crimson had hidden his boys well and now, their prey found themselves utterly surprised. 

Ingenious Deeds (Builder)

Building, repairing, healing, augmenting, and assisting.

Example 1: Shaper Konrad was bolstered by an auspicious Market Hour but the talent was all his: the newly created Chainblade possessed mechanical finesse and sorcerous frost.

Example 2: The plague swept through the town but it could not survive the ministrations of Marya Green -- with herb and lore, she purged the “Chittering Malfeasance” disease from ten of her patients.

Example 3: Avarak’s fingers worked swiftly on the field, patching the armor of each comrade as they came to him. Each repair was only a stopgap, but every blunted strike was a blessing and every small blessing brought them closer to victory.

Magical Deeds (Arcanist)

Spellcasting, augmenting, destroying, transmuting, hiding, detecting, and mending.

Example 1: Ilyana Maryanu wove Infusion magic across her waiting allies, chanting a mantra and wrapping a ritual rope around each of them. At the Ritual’s end, each of her comrades now bristled with protective magics. 

Example 2: Again and again, Grim Galtha smote the giant Serpent with righteous fire. Eventually, scale, flesh, and vitality yielded to Galtha’s sorcerous fury. 

Example 3: The Favored Son hovered his hands over Kragach and Pollus. Through spell and skill, flesh and bone were Transmuted into a state of repair. 

Persuasive Deeds (Counselor)

Inspiring, soothing, assisting, teaching, researching, deceiving, and deducing.

Example 1: Aine Bittercloak taught Belit and the rest in the ways of medicine and mending. She was able to reach past their own doubts to bequeath upon them the indispensable skills of healing. 

Example 2: Kasuga the Slow belied his name in speaking to the cultists. With word and wit, he got them to lower their weapons and listen to reason. The cultists left soon thereafter, disillusioned with the faith that made them prey on farmers.

Example 3: Rayne played her ocarina and her comrades listened. Her words drew forth their sorrows and their pains, filling them with Resolve and girding them for the dangers to come.

Disproven Deeds

Deeds that have been disproven or deemed a lie by Game Staff are struck from the record. In fact, having your Deed disproven prevents a Player (not just  a Player Character) from benefiting from any future Deeds. 

Pyrrhic Deeds

This allows a Player to improve their Deed at some cost to themselves. A Pyrrhic Deed waives the Component Cost for Training in a Complex Skill. However, these Deeds describe a setback, an injury, or a similar negative effect that befalls the Deed’s actor while they perform the Deed. 

This also grants a Greater Disease or Curse that hinders a character until it is cured (usually requires one or more Rare components to Cure). Game Staff is the ultimate arbiter of what Affliction befalls the performer of a Pyrrhic Deed.

While you are suffering from an Affliction from a Pyrrhic Deed, you may not benefit from another Pyrrhic Deed. 

Example 1: “Grey the Tulken defended their friends from a Mantis Wolf ambush, but fell to their claws while doing so. He managed to survive but his festering, poisoned wounds made it a difficult task”

Example 2: “Gruul assisted in quieting the spirits of the Boneyard, but they left a piece of themselves behind while doing so. This lack haunts Gruul, indicating a lingering malice that has infested their essence”

Example 3: “Acolyte Arius explored the woods outside town and fell to a bout of radiation. His allies revived him but could not easily remove the strange energies that suffused and burned his flesh”

Designer’s Note: Although it appears that the costs of Self-Training a Complex Skill and the Pyrrhic Deed are comparable in cost, the latter might be of use to those that have access to a healer that can remove Greater Afflictions without expending Components. Naturally, the cost in Attunement slots might make these Afflictions of less worth to some kinds of Characters.

Example Diseases:

Bone Shivers

Greater Disease

Your flesh and bones quiver against your will, making you stumble in your gait. 

• Effect 1: Hobble Affliction - You cannot use Dodge, Escape, or Pursuit effects. You cannot walk faster than a slow or stumble walk.  

• Effect 2: Persistent - Even when cured, this persists until the end of the current Period (or 3 hours, whichever is longer) before finally going away.

Lingering Languor

Greater Disease

A common battlefield affliction, this disease often strikes at those in the thick of battle or danger. Limbs become sluggish as one’s vitality seems sapped -- it even appears to resist curative efforts. Once you get it, it lurks around the corner yet again. 

• Effect 1: Enervating - Maximum HP cannot exceed 5 HP, Maximum Focus cannot exceed 3 Focus.  

• Effect 2: Persistent - Even when cured, this persists until the end of the current Period (or 3 hours, whichever is longer) before finally going away. 

• Effect 3: Crystallization -- Unlike other Greater Afflictions, curing this always awards a Minor or Basic Component to those that cure it.
  
  

Spasming Entrails 

Greater Disease

Usually called “the Spasms”, this affliction can come from eating infected food but also from the muck of the battlefield or injuries from badly cleaned weaponry. 

• Effect 1: Tummy ache - You cannot benefit from any Elixir or food effects. Your lack of food prevents your Maximum HP from exceeding 5 HP. 

• Effect 2: Persistent - Even when cured, this persists until the end of the current Period (or 3 hours, whichever is longer) before finally going away. 

• Effect 3: Crystallization -- Unlike other Greater Afflictions, curing this always awards a Minor or Basic Component to those that cure it.
  
  

Toxified Veins

Greater Disease

Poison surges through your blood vessels, wracking your flesh and mind with agony.

• Effect 1: Pain Affliction - You cannot use any Skills or Defenses (except Aegis)

• Effect 2: Terminal (2 ATN) -- Occupies +1 ATN every event. Causes 1 Grave-Scar every Event when you have no ATN available.

• Effect 3: Crystallization -- Unlike other Greater Afflictions, curing this always awards a Minor or Basic Component to those that cure it.

Example Curses:

Agonizing Infusion

Greater Curse

Sometimes borne by working with malfunctioning Magna-tech items or from exposure to raw magic forces, agonizing energy suffuses your flesh preventing any healing.

• Effect 1: Invasive - This Affliction occupies 2 ATN

• Effect 2: Rot Affliction - You must invoke “No effect” and negate any Healing you receive. You receive Revive or Resolve effects normally.

• Effect 3: Crystallization -- Unlike other Greater Afflictions, curing this always awards a Minor or Basic Component to those that cure it.

Chittering Malfeasance

Greater Curse

Drawn to those too exhausted or too drained to raise up their wills, the spectral parasites that cause this affliction are content to keep their prey alive.

• Effect 1: Invasive - This Affliction occupies 2 ATN

• Effect 2: Scrambling - Any action that requires a Concentration Count, requires 5 more Counts than normal. 

• Effect 3: Crystallization -- Unlike other Greater Afflictions, curing this always awards a Minor or Basic Component to those that cure it.

Destined Death

Greater Curse

Something ineffable has marked you for death. Your doom approaches with startling speed - you know it to be true, in your spirit and in your mind.

• Effect 1: Feeble Affliction -- all attacks that hit you or your worn/wielded items are considered to be “Piercing”

• Effect 2: Terminal (2 ATN) -- Occupies +1 ATN every event. Causes 1 Grave-Scar every Event when you have no ATN available. You permanently die if you have this Affliction and have more than 5 Grave Scars.

Experience and Progression

Gaining Experience Points (XP)

Experience Points are one of the primary methods of improving a character’s power and utility. Along with in-game currency, XP is expended to allow a character to learn a Skill. After an Event they have attended, a Player is granted 5–15 XP to all of their characters. The upper levels of these XP awards is dependent on performing an NPC shift and assisting in Clean up based on NPCing and clean up.

The break down of this XP gain is as below, to a maximum of 15 XP per Event:

• Attendance: 5 XP for attending the event

• Clean Up: 3–5 XP for assisting in Clean Up. More XP is given to those who stay until the task is finished.

• NPC Shift: 3–5 XP for performing an NPC shift (at least 3 hours), based on time and quality. Patron-level attendance automatically awards 5 XP from this section.

Legacy XP (LXP)

As mentioned above, some Players will be awarded Legacy XP based on their attendance of certain previous games.

LXP is used as normal XP to add Skills or Traits for a Player Character but they may not be mixed with normal XP (you cannot use both XP and LXP to purchase a Skill). Furthermore, they do not count when determining whether a Character receives a Milestone. Lastly, LXP may not be spent during Character Creation or during a Character Rewrite — they may only be spent when a Character is “in-play”, though not necessarily only during Events.

Learning Skills

Any Player Character may teach themselves Basic or Complex Skills, which costs XP and Components. The latter reflects training and studying materials expended in the process of learning. With specific Town Expansions, even Erudite Skills may be self taught at great cost of XP and Components.

As long as any Component, XP, and Attunement costs have been paid, a Player Character may use the Skill that they learned—even during the same Event they were taught or self-taught it. 

However, Skills in an Attunement slot or those that are temporary Skills may NOT be counted as a prerequisite or requirement for other Skills. 

Game Staff may be approached to facilitate this during the following times:

• Between Events via e-mail

• When a Player signs in for an Event 

• During a Market Hour

During one of the above times, a Player may inform Game Staff of what skill(s) they want their character to learn. This process requires that the Player pay the associated costs below in XP and Components. The Player Character must also have an unused Attunement slot that will be filled in with the name of the Skill, suffixed by the word “Training” and signed off by Game Staff to confirm that they paid the required costs. Between Events, Game Staff will update the character card to have the trained Skill in their learned Skill section.

If a Skill is learned between Events, it does not cost an Attunement to learn.  

Naturally this means that you must have a free Attunement slot to gain Training in a skill. Not having an open Attunement slot will prevent you from learning a skill. The same penalty applies to Training Attunements that are made inert by Afflictions, such as curses and diseases. This means that if an Attunement is taken over by an Affliction that Training is lost. All costs except XP remain expended.  

The prices for self-teaching skills are below:

Self Teaching

• Basic Skills: 10 XP and Basic Component x1***

• Complex Skills: 10 XP and Rare Component x1***

• Erudite Skill: 20 XP, Pure Component x1, and a Specific Town Expansion

• Stigmata Trait**: 30 XP, Rare Components x3 (specific types)

**Stigmata Traits may have specific costuming or prop requirements.

*** Fateful Deeds and Pyrrhic Deeds can be used to substitute Component costs.

CROSS CLASS SKILLS: You may learn Skills from a different Class but these cost +10 XP.

Special Note: Arcanist Skills and Spells have additional requirements before Non-Arcanists can learn them. In particular, the Etheric Arcana skill requires that you be of certain Stigmata before you may self-teach it. 

Teaching Skills

The Scholar Discipline allows a Player Character to teach Skills to other Players. More experienced Scholars may be able to teach their students Skills that they do not possess. The main benefit of being Taught skills by a Scholar vs. Self-Teaching skills is the reduction in Component cost.

• Basic Skills: 10 XP

• Complex Skills: 10 XP and Basic Component x3

• Erudite Skill: 20 XP, Rare Component x3, and a Tier 3 Lorebook

CROSS CLASS SKILLS: As per above, Skills from a Different Class cost +10 XP.

Experience Point Limit

No Player Character may have more XP than the number of Events that have transpired times 15 — this limit is based on Events that have occurred, whether they attended the Event or not. Legacy XP does not apply to this limit but Legacy XP does not apply for determining Milestones either.

For example: 

Events XP Limit

1st Event 15 XP

2nd Event 30 XP

3rd Event 45 XP

Milestones

Every 100 XP that a PC earns, they qualify for a Milestone.

Milestones function as a measure of character progression. 

With a Milestone, a PC may choose one effect from a menu. This includes instantly learning a Cross-class Skill or Erudite Skill for 0 XP, gaining additional Traits from your Stigmata, etc.  

ARCANISTS AND ELDRITCH CORRUPTION: Arcanists and anyone with the Etheric Arcana Skill may suffer Eldritch Corruption (see Arcane Traditions page) whenever they receive a Milestone.

Below are the in-game names for how experienced a Character is. 

0 Milestones: Novice or Greenhorn Delver

1-2 Milestones: Expert or Aguerrido Delver

3-4 Milestones: Elite Delver

5-6 Milestones: Ultra-Elite Delver

7-9 Milestones: Renowned or Infamous Delver

10+ Milestones: Prime Delver

How do I get a Milestone?

Player characters are awarded a Milestone for every 100 XP they have earned. Only normal XP grants Milestones, Legacy XP does not do this.

NOTE: Arcanists and any Stigmatic Character with spells gain one Spell Sever of their choice every time they gain a Milestone. They do not gain a Spell Sever if they already have one. This represents the hazardous aspect of magic use.

Using Milestones

To use an unexpended Milestone, you simply send an Email to the Game Staff at the appropriate email address -- this Email must designate which Milestone Award a Player desires to receive (listed below). 

The expenditure of Milestones may only happen between Game Events and not during them, not even during Sign-In. In the circumstance that a Player buys back enough Events that awards them a Milestone, they still must inform Game Staff in advance as to the usage of their Milestones. 

MILESTONE QUICKVIEW

UQ - this is a Unique Milestone and can only be gained once per Character.

Advancement Milestones

Erudite Learning: Gain an Erudite Skill (needs Skill requirements)

Evolving Bloodline: Gain a Trait from your Bloodline Stigmata

Fortified Graft: Gain a Trait from your Graft Stigmata at no XP and Component Cost.

New Graft (UQ): Gain a Biology Trait and a second Trait from a Graft you do not have yet.

Sorcerous Awakening: Gain the ability to cast spells, if you have a Stigmata.

Customization Milestones

Deviant Mutation (UQ): Gain a beneficial mutation similar to an Elixir. 

Eldritch Haunting (UQ): Gain a beneficial effect similar to an Attunement spell

Multi-Class: Gain a Class Aptitude from another Class. 

Signature Item (UQ): You possess an item that reflects your person and can never be parted from you, although it still requires upkeep. 

Signature Skill (UQ): Perform a special version of a skill that you possess. 

Unique Subtype (UQ): Gain an additional Stigmata Subtype.

Versatile Aspect/Anchor: Gain some versatility with certain Aspect or Anchor skills.

Advancement Milestones Overview

These Milestones represent increased mastery or versatility in terms of their skills and other abilities. 

Customization Milestones Overview

These Milestones represent changes to a character that deviate from the norm and render them more unique.

Guild Subsystem

Guilds are groups of Player Characters (a.k.a PCs) that are aligned to and supported by one of the Archfactions in BTF. In exchange, said Archfaction calls upon their Guilds to advance their goals or protect their interests. 

Being in a Guild is not a required part of BTF. However, there are benefits accorded to those Guild members (a.k.a. Guilders) that coordinate with each other between Events. For example, performing Guild Harvests is a good way to receive additional currency in the game. Similarly, only Guilds may perform the Guild Tracking action to perform research or pursue personal objectives.

LEADERSHIP: All Guilds have a Guild Leader, with bigger Guilds also having a Subleader. To streamline Guild matters, the Guild Leader or Subleader (a.k.a Leadership) sends emails to Game Staff regarding Guild activities. However, it is recommended that Leadership listen to their fellow Guilders regarding their group’s direction. If a group does not mesh well together, it may be worthwhile to consider leaving the Guild or splitting it into two (or more). For this reason, leaving a Guild is an easy process, as is building one up from scratch.

GUILDLESS PCs: Joining a Guild is optional, especially as it requires coordination and complexity that some folk are not interested in. PCs without a Guild may still partake in missions from their Archfactions via the local NPC-led Archfaction Guilds. The Free Tribes have the Freebooters, the Templars have the Avataral Hand, and the Illustrados have the Technocratic League (a.k.a. La Liga Tecnocratica).

Creating a Guild

Special Note: Incoming groups of Players who have yet to play the game may come in with a Guild. At least one of them needs to take the “Distinguished” Background Perk for this to happen. They need to inform Game Staff ahead of time of their intent and have a list of Guilders & Leadership. Only pre-registered PCs and those who have attended a BTF Event are eligible for membership.

Membership changes

Guild Tiers and Benefits

The benefits of being in a Guild are largely Between Event activities, although those can affect an upcoming Event in various ways. Some Benefits are labeled as Ventures -- between Events, a Guild may perform only one Venture at a time. 

BASIC GUILD (TIER 1)

These Guilds are newly created and untested. However, they have extensive options available to them. Those labeled with “Venture” require any Guild Leadership plus several Guilders’ Interim Actions.

EXPERT GUILD (TIER 2)

These are Guilds that have successfully completed at least 1 Guild Delve.

Benefit: Choose one Guild Augment from the list below

ELITE GUILD (TIER 3)

These are Guilds that have successfully completed at least 3 Guild Delves (total). 

Benefits: Choose a second Guild Augment from the list below, giving your Guild a total of two Guild Augments. 

Guild Augments

These are improvements that benefit all members of the Guild. These enhance Guild Ventures or the Guild Attunement. Similar to items, Expert Guilds (Tier 2) may have one Guild Augment. While Elite Guilds (Tier 3) may have two Guild Augments. 

How to choose Guild Augments: When a Guild ascends a new tier, Leadership may choose an Augment and informs Game Staff via email.

Changing Guild Augments: A Guild leader may choose to change any or all Augments of their Guild via the Guild Overhaul venture and 3 Rare components. 

Guild Estate

You have a headquarters that is maintained by your Archfaction.

• This Guild Augment enhances the “Guild Harvest” action so that it grants Basic Components instead of Minor Components, provided that there were at least five Interim Actions expended.

• These Headquarters may be one of the following:

GUILD SYNERGY

Through spellcraft, faith, or emotion, this Guild’s members are spiritually aligned.

• Ceremonial Binding: When the Guild Leader or Subleader performs the Guild Ceremony for the month, they have temporary use of the Ceremonial Binding skill (Binder Discipline)

• Assist Crafting/Rituals: This Augment grants their members a limited use of the Inspiring Assistance skill. This is usable only on fellow Guilders who are bonded to you.

Operative Guild

The Guild has deeply aligned itself to its Archfaction for good or ill.

• When the Guild completes a Guild Delve, they gain +1 Subtier of Loyalty with the Guild’s affiliated Archfaction.

  • This has no effect on those who are at Tier 0 of that Archfaction or those Allied to a different Archfaction.

  • Normally, you may not gain more than 1 Subtier of Loyalty per Event. But this limit is increased by 1 for those of Operative Loyalty or lower AND for those of Paragon Loyalty - these individuals are able to gain 2 Subtiers per Event.

Venture Crew

Your Guild has many useful contacts and is skilled with coordination.

• When your Guild performs a Guild Venture, it is counted as having +1, +2, or +3 Interim Actions for that Venture.

• The variable bonus matches the amount of people expending actions (e.g. 2 Guilders’ actions count as 4 actions total, 5 Guilders’ actions count as 8 total). This Augment may not allow you to exceed 10 Interim Actions and it may not benefit your Guild more than once per Event. 

Warband

Warband Guilds are mercenary companies or military agents of their Archfaction.

• The Bond from the Guild’s Leadership (and only its Leadership) becomes a “Battlebond of Command” or “Battlebond of Oaths” (as per Ceremonial Binding).

  • Effect 1: Battlebonds improve Smite damage, Spell damage, and basic Ranged attack damage by 1 point, following the limits for damage (usually 5).

  • Effect 2: If they cannot do so already, Guilders with this attunement may expend 1 Focus to use the Smite attack for ranged and melee weapons.

Greater Harvest: This Guild may perform a Guild Harvest and receive Bounties as though they had a Warhall. Unlike having a Warhall, Guilders cannot opt for a basic component or Vorpal Lore.

NPC ARCHFACTION Guilds

There are three NPC-led Guilds in the game. They are affiliated with their Archfaction but they do not allow for Player Directed Guild Delves (NPC directed only). 

Unlike other Guilds, these do not have a member limit and are intended for newer players to enter if they so choose. 

THE AVATARAL HAND

Archfaction Guild

This Guild works under the direction of Skull Hierophant Autumn-Sky-Topaz. The Avataral Hand seeks out threats to humanity and snuffs out eldritch horrors in the name of the God-Empress and Her Oracle-Avatar. They are people of faith, of righteousness, and of the will necessary to do what must be done.

Those Templars without a Guild may find membership and fellow faithful within the Hand.

THE FREEBOOTERS

Archfaction Guild

A fellowship mired in cooperation, self-interest, and a little bit of controlled chaos, the Freebooters Guild is granted first glance to the mercenary and grey market contracts of the Scavvers, Cartels, and other Free Tribes. The Booters like to operate in the light and the shady spaces of local law, which grants them no small amount of scrutiny from the Peace Makers and other lawful individuals.

Those Freefolk without a Guild may find camaraderie and some profit therein.

The TECHNOCRATIC LEAGUE

Archfaction Guild

Also known as La Liga Tecnocratica, this Guild is associated with the Illustrados Union. They are technologists and explorers that seek the advancement of Illustrados interests and the uncovering of profitable resources.

Those Illustrados and without a Guild may find membership here, provided they pull their weight.

Interim Action Subsystem

Interim Actions are activities that Player characters may perform between Game Events. This is part of the Event cost and therefore only available to those who have paid for a recent Event.

Here are the basic mechanics of this Subsystem:

• After a BTF Event, Players may send an Email with 1 Interim Action (see list below) to BTFGameStaff@gmail.com. The deadline for such Emails is the two Sundays after an Event. 

  • The Subject Line for these Emails must have the “Interim Action” with the month and year of the Event in it. 

  • The Body of the Email must have the Player name and the Character name. 

  • Failure to adhere to these guidelines may mean that your Interim Action does not resolve.

  • Alternatively, use the Form below.

• Limitations:

  • Only one Character: Regardless of how many Characters a Player has, they may only submit Interim Actions for one of their Characters. The other Character in a Player’s roster is expected to be using the Rest and Recovery Interim Action instead.

  • Maximum of 3 Interim Actions: While a Player may accrue more than one Interim action between Events, such as by NPCing, they are limited to a maximum of three such Actions. 

HOW TO GET MORE INTERIM ACTIONS:

• Paragon Interim Action: When a Player achieves Paragon Loyalty status (Tier 5) with an Archfaction, they can use one Loyalty Boon between Events without expending their Interim action for doing so. These Players are still limited to one Loyalty Boon between Events and this still counts against the three Interim Action limit. 

• NPCing: Performing an NPC shift during an Event grants an additional Interim Action.

• Interim Actions and Service Rewards: The Overtime Service Reward allows a Player to spend Service Points to get an additional Interim Action. This is subject to the three Interim Action limit, as per above. 

• Interim Actions and Event Buybacks: Interim Actions are not awarded for buying back Events, only for upcoming Events or for Events that just transpired if the Buyback is purchased within the two week limit of the Event.

INTERIM ACTION FORM

Here is a form that can help guide Participants on the necessary information needed when performing an Interim Action.

If you are taking multiple Interim Actions, you only need to submit one form - just add all the information of the other Interim Actions in the “2nd and 3rd Interim Actions” box.

Interim Action List

Rest and Recovery (Default): Rest and shrug off your Afflictions. 

Craft Items: Create several items or effects for use in your next Event.

Curry Favor: Make connections and establish your worth with your Archfaction

Guild Venture: Coordinate with your fellow Guilders toward a goal.

Investigate a Mystery: Perform an inquiry into a topic of interest. Requires Library Lane T3.

Perform Rituals: Cast several ritual spells for use in your next Event.

Request a Loyalty Boon: Utilize your contacts with your Archfaction to produce an effect.

Send a Letter: Use a courier to bring a brief missive to a recipient. 

Suffer a Haunting: Allow a curse to mark your soul and grant you some ghostly power.

Suffer a Mutation: Allow a disease to alter your flesh and leave you with a strange mutation. 

Train Yourself in Skills: You may train in one or more new Basic or Complex skills.

Rest and Recovery (Default) 

This represents rest, recovery, and only enough labour to sustain oneself. This is the default Interim action for most Player Characters.

Benefit: Most Diseases, Curses, Wounds and Blights are removed from you. This Action does not cure Diseases or Curses that have the following Types:

• Anathemic -- these Afflictions are the most expensive to Cure.

• Greater -- these Afflictions can be costly to Cure. 

• Incurable -- these Afflictions will fade away only if a specific condition is fulfilled. 

• Enduring -- these Afflictions may be inexpensive to Cure but they are resistant to Rest and Recovery. 

Additional Benefit: If the Farmlands Expansion has been established, you may choose for this action to grant you the Vital Lore Attunement below, lasting until the end of your next Event.

Vital Lore (1 ATN): Your maximum HP is increased by one point, though it may not exceed 10 HP. This stacks with other bonuses to Maximum HP. As per normal, you cannot have more than one iteration of this attunement at a time.

Craft Items

Between Events, you set some time aside to create items or effects according to your skillset. 

Requirements: You must have the necessary Skills, Components, and any other requirements to Craft said items. You expend the Components as per normal, except that you do not use up your Craft-Ritual action for the upcoming Event. You may not benefit from another Character’s Skills or Augments (even an Alternate Character).    

Benefit: When you physically sign-in for the next Event, you may be awarded with up to 5 item tags for the appropriate items -- this frees you from needing to use your Craft-Ritual action to create or maintain these items or effects. 

If the Items Created or Upkept through this have a duration, this duration begins at the start of the next Event they are brought in.

These items may be Weaponry, Weaver items, Equipment, or Skill Kits. You may even grant up to 5 Elixirs or Cure Disease/Curse effects if you have the necessary skills. You must present the Logistics Staff with any necessary props or physical representations that said items require (if any). Such props and physical representations may not represent more than one item. 

These items or Elixirs may not be of Superior-quality. 

Market Exchange Tier 3: While this Expansion Tier is active, you can craft up to 10 items or effects instead of only 5. Sufficient damage to the Market Exchange Expansion will suspend this benefit.

Curry Favor 

This represents performing footwork, labour, and mingling with the right individuals to prove your Loyalty to your Archfaction. You may not have a Loyalty of Ally (Tier 1) or higher with more than one Archfaction. 

Requirement: This Interim Action also requires that you expend 5 Basic Components (any type).

Benefit: You gain 1 Subtier of Loyalty with the chosen Archfaction. Take note that you may only gain a maximum of 1 Loyalty Subtier per Event. Ascending to the next Tier of Loyalty will require gaining multiple Loyalty Subtiers.

Guild Venture 

Between Events, a Guild may pool some or all of their members’ Interim Actions toward a single Guild Venture. This represents Guilders working with the Guild’s Archfaction toward an objective. See the Guild page for the mechanics of a Guild Venture.

Investigate a Mystery

This is a new Interim Action (from Library Lane Tier 3) that is available for everyone to use, allowing individuals to perform their own inquiries upon a topic of interest.

Benefit: This functions much like the Research Skill except without the Component cost and the need for helpers. Only one question can be asked at a time. Individuals with the Detect Truth spell or the Researcher skill may ask two questions instead. Multiple individuals working on the same topic (or similar topics) may get identical answers -- cooperative research/tracking is done with the “Guild Tracking” Interim Action while deeper research is best done by contacting specific NPCs in the world.

The topic limitations and other restrictions of the Research Skill apply.

Perform Rituals

Between Events, you set some time aside to perform your magical abilities on yourself or on others.

Requirements: You must have the necessary Skills, Components, and any other requirements to perform said Rituals and create up to 5 effects or items. You expend the Components as per normal, except that you do not use up your Craft-Ritual action for the Event. You may not benefit from another Character’s Skills or Augments (even an Alternate Character).  

Benefit: When you physically sign-in for the next Event, you and/or your allies arrive with Attunements from spells you cast between Events -- this frees you from needing to use your Craft-Ritual actions to cast the necessary spells. This Interim action allows for a total maximum of 5 such effects. You must present the Logistics Staff with any necessary props or physical representations that said items require (if any). Such props and physical representations may not represent more than one item. These spells may not be Erudite spells.

If the Items Created or Upkept through this have a duration, this duration begins at the start of the next Event they are brought in.

Market Exchange Tier 3: While this Expansion Tier is active, you can craft up to 10 items or effects instead of only 5. Sufficient damage to the Market Exchange Expansion will suspend this benefit.

Request a Loyalty Boon 

You use your contacts and resources within your Archfaction to complete a task to your benefit. See the Archfaction Loyalty webpage for the list of Loyalty Boons. You may use this Interim Action once per Event.

Send a Letter 

You send a letter to a known individual, using the necessary services to ensure its arrival.

Requirement: Expend 1 Basic Component [any type] per letter sent or use a Loyalty Boon from your Archfaction to lessen this Component cost.

Benefit: Send a 1 page letter (10 font minimum; Times New Roman or similar) to a Player Character or a Non-Player Character. You may have this letter’s contents in the body of the email or as an attachment. 

Take note -- you may not send a letter to a fugitive or someone similarly inaccessible, except as a response to a letter they sent you directly. Furthermore, letters sent by individuals with no stature or no loyalties are often ignored by those in power. Messages sent to them are best sent through trusted/valued proxies.

Special: The Loyalty Boon of Postage (costs 1 Minor CMP [any]) only allows a letter to be sent to a member of your Archfaction. The Greater Boon of Postage (costs 1 Basic CMP [any]) has no such restriction. 

Suffer a Haunting

Requirement: You must be afflicted by a Curse

Benefit: As per Rest and Recovery, except that you also gain a Haunting from a Choice between two Random Haunting that will be sent to you as a response. 

Suffer a Mutation 

Requirement: You must be afflicted by a Disease

Benefit: As per Rest and Recovery, except that you also gain a Mutation from a Choice between two Random Mutations that will be sent to you as a response. 

Train Yourself IN SKILLs

Through this Interim Action, you choose to spend your off hours honing your skills and gaining new ones. You may self-train in more than one Skill or Trait.

Requirements: You must have the necessary skill prerequisites, Component costs, and XP costs to learn the desired Skill(s). 

Benefit: Between Events, a Player may inform Game Staff of what skill(s) they want their character to learn. This process requires that the Player pay the associated costs in XP and Components, although there are methods to waive the Component cost (e.g. by using a Fateful Deed or a Pyrrhic Deed). 

These may be Basic Skills, Complex Skills, or Stigmata Traits. With certain improvements to the community, Erudite skills may become open to Self-Training. 

Lastly, Skills learned this way cannot be used and do not count as pre-requisites for anything until the start of the next Event.

LIBRARY LANE Tier 3: While this Tier of the Library Lane Expansion is active, Player Characters may now Self-Train in Erudite Skills whose requirements they possess. The costs for doing so are below. Sufficient damage to the Library Lane Expansion will suspend this benefit.

MARKET EXCHANGE Tier 2: While this Tier of the Market Exchange Expansion is active, Player Characters may now Self-Train in Erudite Counselor Skills and Erudite Builder Skills whose requirements they possess. The costs for doing so are below. Sufficient damage to the Market Exchange Expansion will suspend this benefit.