1.9. Basic Abilities
The Basic Ability List (in the Appendix) contains 19 Basic Abilities that all PCs start with. In this chapter we will discuss each Ability and give some examples on how to use them.
Basic Attacks
You will have three Basic Attacks: Melee Attack, Ranged Attack, and Magic Attack.
These three Abilities form the heart of all the Damage you will deal in the game. Most Abilities that deal damage will use these Basic Attacks as a base, building on them by altering their Damage amounts and Damage Type. For example, if you learn the Elemental Blast Spell and choose the "Frigid Bolt" Flavor, you can use your Elemental Blast to enhance your Magic Attack so it deals Fluid/Ice Damage and slows your target.
Melee Attack
Your Melee Attack is a great way to deal Damage at close range. The Melee Attack Test uses your Fighter Stat, so if you are more of a Rogue or Mage, this Ability won't not do as much.
The Melee Attack, unlike the other Basic Attacks, can still deal Damage on a Low Score. This makes it more reliable than the Ranged Attack and the Magic Attack.
You will almost always want to Wield a weapon when you Melee Attack. Doing so will increase the Damage you deal by 1. You will generally want to pick up a Melee Weapon at Level 1. If you can roll a Melee Weapon of a higher Item Grade, you may even be able to gain other benefits to your Melee Attack, like greater reach or a chance to trip enemies.
The Melee Weapon has the "Wield" Item Tag. Item Tags are common sets of rules that Items reference as a short-hand. You can find all the Item Tags in the Item Tags List in the Appendix. The chapter on the 2.6. Wealth Box will also cover Item Tags in more depth. In short, the Wield tag limits you to the effects of using one Wield Item at a time.
Since a Melee Weapon increases your Damage by 1 at most, going in unarmed is generally still a viable strategy. If you use some of the Fighter Upgrades that you have gained from Leveling Up to improve the Damage output of your Melee Attack, then going in unarmed can even be a breeze.
From the Appendix:
Opportunity Attack
The Opportunity Attack Ability is a perfect example of an Ability that builds on one of the Basic Attacks. The Opportunity Attack allows you to use your Melee Attack or Ranged Attack the moment a creature would leave Swinging Distance(1u) of you. In a way, this is like adding a Reaction Trigger to the Basic Attacks, You can also Upgrade your Opportunity Attack to add even more affects to your Basic Attacks.
Its worth noting that this Ability uses a Melee Attack or Ranged Attack in its description. As such, it can deal more Damage if you Wield a Melee Weapon or a Ranged Weapon.
From the Appendix:
Ranged Attack
Your Ranged Attack is like your Melee Attack, but your Ranged Attack does not deal any Damage on a Low Score. The Ranged Attack also has different Bonuses and Penalties and takes Rogue Upgrades instead of Fighter Upgrades.
Wielding a Ranged Weapon improves your Ranged Attack in the same ways that a Melee Weapon improves your Melee Attack.
If ever you find yourself unarmed, you can often still perform a Ranged Attack by throwing objects around you or throwing mundane objects from your pack. These count as an Improvised Weapon, which give you a +1 to Damage, but a Disadvantage on the Ranged Attack Test.
From the Appendix:
Magic Attack
The last of the Basic Attacks is the Magic Attack Ability. To use this Ability, you will need to know at least one Spell Ability.
Magic Attack deals 1 less Damage compared to the Ranged Attack, and its Damage Type is Fluid/Blunt Damage. You can increase its Damage by Wielding a Magic Weapon.
Of the three Basic Attacks, this one is the one most commonly built upon. Abilities like Elemental Blast and Planar Blast add effects to Magic Attack, changing its Damage Type or adding Status Conditions that it can inflict.
From the Appendix:
Combat Utility Abilities
You will want to learn the following Abilities, as they will help you stay alive and avoid Damage when a fight breaks out. The Dash Ability will help you run a further distance than you would otherwise be able to. The Dodge Ability lets you avoid Damage and the Dodges Up, Shields Up, and Heal Up Abilities let you restore your Dodge Points, Shield, and your Health or Vitality.
Dash
The Dash Ability allows you to give up a Beat to move further than you otherwise could. If you ever use it a second time within the same Round, you will need to Pass an Athletics Test or gain a stack of Slowed.
From the Appendix:
Dodge
You can use the Dodge Ability when someone targets you with an Ability. Dodge allows you to reduce any incoming Damage and possibly give yourself Advantage(s) on Saves.
The Dodge Ability takes a Dodge Point as a Component, meaning you will have a Disadvantage on the Dodge Test if you do not spend a Dodge Point. You can regain your Dodge Points using the Dodges Up Ability (discussed next) which is a Slow Action. As such, you will want to save your Dodge Points for when you need them most.
From the Appendix:
Dodges Up
When you run low on Dodge Points, you can use the Dodges Up Ability to regain one. Dodges Up is a Slow Action, so you will need to use it before you get into too much trouble. Gaining upgrades for Dodges Up lets you have a higher max number of Dodge Points, meaning you will generally start each Encounter with more Dodge Points.
Shields Up
The Shields Up Ability lets you reset your Shield. If you pick up the Fighter Upgrades for it, you restore your Shield to a higher value and, if you still have some Shield left over, boost your Shield to an even higher value. Using Shields Up takes a Beat, so you may have to give up attacking to use it.
From the Appendix:
Heal Up
The Heal Up Ability lets you regain Health or Vitality.
Since Heal Up is a Slow Action, you will need to make sure you are out of harm's way until the start of your next Turn, when it will take effect.
Heal Up has a Requirement of one Recovery. That means you will need to spend one Recovery before you can restore Health or Vitality. If you run out of Recoveries, you can use a First Aid Kit to gain more.
From the Appendix:
Covert Abilities
The four covert Basic Abilities allow you to dodge, move, and attack in unexpected ways. The next chapter (1.10. Covert Operations) will cover the Sneaky status in more detail and give full examples of covert operations in action.
Sneak
The Sneak Ability is perfect for avoiding Opportunity Attacks or setting up one of the other Covert Abilities.
In short, the Ability gives you the Sneaky status and describes its benefits and how you can lose it.
From the Appendix:
Sneak Attack
The Sneak Attack requires that you have the Sneaky status, but can deal large amounts of Damage. You can also increase that Damage with Rogue Upgrades.
From the Appendix:
Sneak Dash
The Sneak Dash Ability builds on the Dash Ability, allowing you to attempt to Dash as a Reaction against enemies getting close to you or targeting you. You will need to Pass a Sneaking Skill Test for the Dash to take effect. If you use your Movement from this Ability to get behind cover, you can make yourself into an invalid target, thus causing the triggering Ability to Fail.
From the Appendix:
Sneak Evade
The Sneak Evade Ability gives you an easier way to evade an Ability altogether while remaining Sneaky. Sneak Evade is a lot like Sneak Dash, but it makes avoiding damage and other effects far easier to achieve, as you don't have to find cover for it to work.
From the Appendix:
Item and Inventory Abilities
These next three Basic Abilities all deal with your inventory and the items in your pack. The chapter on the 2.6. Wealth Box will go over Wealth in more detail, but in summary, you pack will contain generic resources called "Goods" that represent generic loot you've gathered. These Goods come in 4 categories: General Goods, Grey Goods, Obscure Goods, and Fine Goods.
The Goods allow the GM to hand out rewards without providing specifics of what you got. These Goods also take the place of any money you would have otherwise had to have.
Whenever you need a concrete item to help you, you can spend your Goods using the Item Search Ability to turn those Goods into concrete items.
You can also use the Item Sell Ability to turn Items back into Goods. The Item Trade Ability allows you to swap one category of Good for another.
Item Search
At any time you can perform an Item Search to try to turn your amorphous Goods into concrete Items.
For example, if you needed a rope, you could use 1 General Good with the Item Search Ability to turn that Good into an rope. To do so, you would give up your 1 General Good, then roll your General Wealth Skill. The Score you get would determine whether you found the rope in your pack or not. As indicated in the "Improvised Items" section of the Item Search Ability, you'd need to get a Passing Score to gain a rope, otherwise you may find a frayed, weaker rope or no rope at all. The GM will set the difficulty of finding Improvised Items and will describe the results of your Item Search Tests.
Items in the Item List Appendix don't count as Improvised Items and will instead provide their own Score Ranges. Some Items from the Item List will come with weaknesses if you get a Low Score, while others will cause you to gain no Item at all.
The Item List organizes the Items into the 4 categories of Good: General Goods, Grey Goods, Obscure Goods, and Fine Goods. You will need to spend a Good that matches the category of the Item that you want.
From the Appendix:
Item Sell
If ever you wish to sell a concrete Item (turning it back into a Good) you can do so using the Item Sell Ability.
You will need to give up the Item before rolling the Item Sell Ability. If you Fail the Test, you will not get anything in return. The item was likely too damaged or flawed to turn a real profit. For all other Score Ranges, the Good(s) you regain will be of the same type that you used to create the Item in the first place. For Items from the Item List, you will gain their matching category of Good. If you cannot determine the category of Good, the GM will choose one that they think matches best.
From the Appendix:
Item Trade
If ever the 4 types of Goods in your pack become unbalanced and you wish to trade one type for another, you can do so using the Item Trade Ability. This Ability requires no Test, allowing you to exchange Goods at the listed exchange rates.
From the Appendix:
Grapple
The Grapple Ability comes with some complexity, but it can come in handy in a pinch. In short, you can inflict Status Conditions on someone that you otherwise may not be able to inflict. (See 2.7. Status Conditions and Saving Throws.)
You will choose what effects you want to inflict after determining your Fighter Score. The target will modify their Save Test based on your Score (if you got a High Score, they must roll with a Disadvantage. If you got a Low Score, the target can roll with an Advantage.) Their Save Score will then determine how many of your chosen effects they can avoid.
From the Appendix:
Investigate
You can Investigate each Location once per Episode. A Location is a distinct area, such as a room, a clearing, or the depths of a large pond, etc. When you Investigate a new Location, you will first choose if you are using Recon, Analysis, or Sensing to do it. The Perception Skill you choose will affect what types of questions you get to ask as a result. You can hold your questions, asking them after engaging with the Location in other ways.
The GM will respond to each question with basic, but accurate information. Answers gained from this Ability will generally never put you in danger or reveal you. You can gain further info by engaging with the Location, but that can put you in harms way or draw unwanted attention. Your deeper prodding into a Location may also require further Skill Tests.
If ever a GM's description of a room or area is lacking or confusing, feel free to ask clarifying questions. These questions will not count toward the number you get from the Investigate Ability, though the GM may require your character take some exploratory action before revealing the answer. If those exploratory actions carry with them a risk, like if those actions would be Loud, the GM should warn you of the danger first.
From the Appendix:
Next Up: 1.6. Damage