Native Rules
Resolution
One engine answers every question in the game: roll 2d6, add Capability, read the band. Risk and Effect are set before the dice, not after.
Rolling the dice
Roll 2d6 and add the character's Capability with the relevant Skill. One meaningful roll answers one meaningful question; do not roll twice for the same question.
10 or higher
- Meaning
- Success
- What happens
- The character does what they set out to do. Apply the stated Effect.
7–9
- Meaning
- Success with a consequence
- What happens
- The character does it, and something else also happens: a cost, a complication, exposure, or lost time. The consequence is separate from Effect.
6 or lower
- Meaning
- The situation changes against the character
- What happens
- The attempt does not deliver what was wanted, and the situation moves against them. The roll is never simply nothing.
| Result | Meaning | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| 10 or higher | Success | The character does what they set out to do. Apply the stated Effect. |
| 7–9 | Success with a consequence | The character does it, and something else also happens: a cost, a complication, exposure, or lost time. The consequence is separate from Effect. |
| 6 or lower | The situation changes against the character | The attempt does not deliver what was wanted, and the situation moves against them. The roll is never simply nothing. |
The 7–9 consequence is separate from Effect. A character can get exactly what they wanted and still take a cost: noise, a broken tool, a wound, lost time, or an enemy who now knows where they are.
Start with simple stakes
Start at Low Risk / Standard Effect and name one likely consequence. Change that call only for a concrete fact. On 7–9, apply the success and that consequence, rather than adding another twist. If no meaningful consequence can be named, skip the roll.
- First check whether uncertainty and a meaningful cost actually require a roll.
- Start Low. Delay, noise, suspicion or temporary lost position usually belong here.
- Move to Serious only for an established hazard or active opposition with a credible major consequence now.
- Use Deadly only when severe or potentially irreversible danger is already clear. Between two levels, choose the lower unless a concrete danger establishes the higher.
Risk measures severity, not task difficulty. Difficult research in a safe archive can be Low; crossing open ground under prepared musket fire can be Deadly. A method that cannot work needs changed Effect or a different approach. A task needing several meaningful steps may need a Clock.
A 6 or lower can realise the named danger more fully, but does not turn a Low-Risk action into sudden death. If the situation becomes more dangerous, state that new Risk before the next roll.
Native Rules, printed pp. 8–11.
Capability
Familiar
- Capability
- +0
- What it means
- Ordinary competence. The character can attempt it without embarrassment.
Trained
- Capability
- +1
- What it means
- Real training or sustained practical experience.
Expert
- Capability
- +2
- What it means
- Genuine expertise; the character is known for it.
Master
- Capability
- +3
- What it means
- The highest reach of personal skill, reserved for advancement.
| Rating | Capability | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Familiar | +0 | Ordinary competence. The character can attempt it without embarrassment. |
| Trained | +1 | Real training or sustained practical experience. |
| Expert | +2 | Genuine expertise; the character is known for it. |
| Master | +3 | The highest reach of personal skill, reserved for advancement. |
Familiar +0 allows ordinary plausible uses of a skill. Specialised technical methods requiring training or knowledge do not automatically become possible at Familiar. If the proposed method needs something the character lacks, judge that method as No Effect, explain what is missing, and let equipment, instruction, an appropriate Background, expert help, or preparation make the attempt possible. Familiar itself is not failure.
Dressing a wound or oiling a mechanism may be ordinary Familiar work. Surgery, unfamiliar Éterlumin repairs or reading a dead language need credible specialist knowledge or support. Explain what would make the proposed method possible.
Risk
Low
- What failure costs
- Delay, noise, suspicion, minor expenditure, lost position or brief exposure. A minor physical hazard may cause Strained, normally not Wounded or Broken. Start here.
Serious
- What failure costs
- A credible major consequence: Wounded, important equipment lost, separation, arrest, serious exposure, major alarm or dangerous system failure.
Deadly
- What failure costs
- Clearly present severe or potentially irreversible danger: Broken, established death, catastrophic machinery or Fortera failure, destruction of a critical objective or immediately extreme capture.
| Risk | What failure costs |
|---|---|
| Low | Delay, noise, suspicion, minor expenditure, lost position or brief exposure. A minor physical hazard may cause Strained, normally not Wounded or Broken. Start here. |
| Serious | A credible major consequence: Wounded, important equipment lost, separation, arrest, serious exposure, major alarm or dangerous system failure. |
| Deadly | Clearly present severe or potentially irreversible danger: Broken, established death, catastrophic machinery or Fortera failure, destruction of a critical objective or immediately extreme capture. |
Effect
No Effect
- What success delivers
- Success changes nothing meaningful; usually a sign the roll should not happen.
Limited
- What success delivers
- Partial progress. Marks 1 segment on a clock.
Standard
- What success delivers
- The expected result. Marks 2 segments on a clock. This is the default.
Great
- What success delivers
- More than expected. Marks 3 segments on a clock.
| Effect | What success delivers |
|---|---|
| No Effect | Success changes nothing meaningful; usually a sign the roll should not happen. |
| Limited | Partial progress. Marks 1 segment on a clock. |
| Standard | The expected result. Marks 2 segments on a clock. This is the default. |
| Great | More than expected. Marks 3 segments on a clock. |
Combine Effect steps before rolling
Apply every relevant increase and reduction before the roll. Opposing steps cancel. Effect caps at Great; below Limited is No Effect. A rule that ignores a protection source removes that source, rather than adding an Effect step.
For example, a Standard shot beyond Normal Range falls to Limited. A relevant +1 Effect brings it back to Standard. Armour, Guard and Cover are resolved after the roll under their own triggers, outside this calculation.
Native Rules, printed p. 12.
Clocks
A clock tracks pressure that no single roll can resolve: a fire spreading, a boarding party crossing the deck, an investigation closing in. Progress is marked by Effect — Limited marks 1 segment, Standard marks 2, Great marks 3.
4 segments
- Use it for
- A straightforward but pressured objective.
6 segments
- Use it for
- A contested objective.
8 segments
- Use it for
- A heavily defended, difficult or multi-stage objective.
10+ segments
- Use it for
- A major operational or long-running objective.
| Clock | Use it for |
|---|---|
| 4 segments | A straightforward but pressured objective. |
| 6 segments | A contested objective. |
| 8 segments | A heavily defended, difficult or multi-stage objective. |
| 10+ segments | A major operational or long-running objective. |
Setup
A Setup action is a separate action that helps a later one. A successful Setup grants either +1 Effect or reduces Risk by one step on the action it prepares. Setups do not stack.
Use an Action and describe the help. Roll only if helping is itself uncertain and consequential. The supported action must happen before the end of the ally's next Activation or before the immediate opportunity passes.
Automatic help needs no extra roll. Establish the improved position and let Risk and Effect reflect it. Several Setups cannot stack on the same action.
Failure or a consequence does not automatically erase earned progress. Reverse it only when the fiction actually reverses the work. If one action would settle the goal, or it is genuinely unopposed with no meaningful time pressure, use the fiction instead of a Clock.
When limited uses refresh
Once per Combat
- When it refreshes
- When active fighting in that armed confrontation has clearly ended. A brief pause, repositioning or immediate pursuit of the same opposition does not refresh it.
Once per Scene
- When it refreshes
- When the continuous dramatic situation genuinely ends. A substantial change of location, objective, opposition, time or dramatic focus usually starts another Scene; a negotiation turning into a fight can remain the same Scene.
Once per Session
- When it refreshes
- At the start of the next play session.
| Limit | When it refreshes |
|---|---|
| Once per Combat | When active fighting in that armed confrontation has clearly ended. A brief pause, repositioning or immediate pursuit of the same opposition does not refresh it. |
| Once per Scene | When the continuous dramatic situation genuinely ends. A substantial change of location, objective, opposition, time or dramatic focus usually starts another Scene; a negotiation turning into a fight can remain the same Scene. |
| Once per Session | At the start of the next play session. |
Follow the situation, rather than splitting continuous action or taking a token pause to refresh an ability.
Native Rules, printed pp. 12–13.
Habits that keep this fast
- One meaningful roll per meaningful question. Do not re-roll the same question with a different Skill.
- If there is no risk and no doubt, the character simply succeeds.
- Set Risk and Effect out loud, in that order, before the dice leave the hand.
- A 6 or lower is never nothing. The situation moves against the character.