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.
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.
Not having a Melee Weapon is not the end of the world.
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 FighterUpgrades 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.
Forced Entry. This attack counts as Loud when attacking an object or attempting to force your way into a container, through a door, etc.
Improvised Maneuver.Disadvantage when attempting an improvised maneuver to trip or shove an opponent. The GM will describe what may be possible and if there will be a saving throw for your target before you commit to using this Ability.
Improvised Weapon. If you are using an improvised weapon, you can Wield it as a Melee Weapon that matches, but gain a Disadvantage on the Test.
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 AttackTest.
Improvised Maneuver.Disadvantage when attempting an improvised maneuver, like trying to shoot an item out of someone's hand or pin their sleeve to the wall. The GM will describe what may be possible and if there will be a SaveTest for your target before you decide to roll.
Improvised Weapon. Can be a nearby object or junk from your pack. You can gain the benefits of Wielding a Ranged Weapon that matches the improvised weapon used, but gain a Disadvantage on the Test.
See Magic Weapon. Grants +1 Damage. Only one can be used per Magic Missile.
Tip: Status Conditions
Even if you "Miss" or deal 0 Damage, the target still must perform any relevant Saves. This Ability imposes no Save of its own, but other Abilities can augment or build on this one, adding Saves and effects to it.
Improvised Maneuver.Disadvantage when attempting an improvised maneuver, like trying to shoot an item out of someone's hand. The GM will describe what may be possible and if there will be a SaveTest for your target before you decide to roll.
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 AthleticsTest or gain a stack of Slowed.
The Shields UpAbility lets you reset your Shield. If you pick up the FighterUpgrades 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.
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 Evasive status in more detail and give full examples of covert operations in action.
The party is sneaking through a goblin camp with 6 goblins in it. The game is in the Freeplay phase.
The players start with two stacks of Evasive. (The players began outside camp, so they can all use Sneak with the "Distance" Bonus to get an automatic High Score for two stacks of Evasive. Players will often start with two stacks of Evasive.)
Two goblins are on watch and have one stack of Alert, while all others have no stacks of Alert.
All the player use Sneak Move to try to get past 3 of the goblins.
Most players Pass the Test, but #AliceFails, causing her to lose a stack of Evasive. The nearest goblin to #Alice also gains a stack of Alert. The GM announces that the goblin stops whittling for a moment, then returns to his spear-making.
#Alice takes a moment to Sneak, regaining her lost stack of Evasive. The rest of the players are out of Movement and take no additional actions.
The goblins patrol a bit.
The players go again and take a path past 1 more goblin. The goblin has a stack of Alert from being on guard duty. The players roll Sneak again. This time both #Alice and #CarolFail, each losing a stack of Evasive. The guard goblin gains a stack of Alert. The goblin with two stacks of Alert says "What's that!?" indicating that the goblin is going to come search for the heroes once they finish their turn. Since that goblin is already at 2 stacks of Alert, the #Carol's Fail causes an Alert to flow over to the next closes goblin. With their movement, #Alice and #Carol go Prone in the tall grass to gain half cover and #Bob jumps behind a bush for the same reason.
#Carol knows that a Search would reveal her position, so she has to either try to Hide 2 again or maybe get a drop on the enemy. #Carol decides to use her Sneak Attack to perform a Ranged Attack.
The goblin takes 3 Damage, plus an extra 1 sneak-attack Damage. This gives the goblin two stacks of Alert, but since the goblin is already at 2 stacks, those stacks flow over to its allies in sight range, bringing two more goblins up to one stack of Alert.
The other players decide not to act, hoping they can stay hidden.
The goblins take their turn to act.
The Bloodied goblin approaches #Carol and performs a Search. #Carol wins the contest, but even when winning she'll lose a stack of Evasive.
Since the goblin is Alert and #Carol has no stacks of Evasive, an Encounter is officially triggered, but the goblin will finish its Turn first. The goblin calls out to all its allies to signify this fact.
The goblin dies from the poison's Bloodied stacks.
To show Encounter stealth, the following is a continuation of the above example:
This Ability also does not require a Beat when used against a creature that is starting movement that will take them out of range of your Melee Attack. (This Upgrade does not affect the Beat cost of your chosen Subtle Act.)
The Sneak MoveAbility builds on the DashAbility, 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 SkillTest 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.
[7..9] Your Movement doesn't trigger reactions. When used as a Free Reaction against a triggering Ability, resolve your Movement before the triggering Ability's effects. (Your Movementcan make you an invalid target for a triggering Ability.)
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 SearchAbility to turn those Goods into concrete items.
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 SearchAbility 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 SearchAbility, 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 SearchTests.
The Item you chose will either specify a Score that you need to roll to get that item or a set of Score Ranges and item alterations for each Score Range.
Your roll for the Item also has the following Bonuses:
Boosting. Repeatable. You can spend half a Good from the same Wealth Category to add 1 to your Score, potentially increasing which Item Grade you get.
Treasure. Instead of spending General Goods, Grey Goods, or Obscure Goods into Items, you can spend from your Fine Goods. Doing so allows you to add your Fine Wealth Skilland the item's normal Wealth Skill to the roll, improving your chances of getting that item. The item you get will be fancier (e.g. made of gold, encrusted with jewels, or extra durable.)
Improvised Items
You can improvise items not found in the Item List, but that would be reasonably found in the world. The GM will offer you a Score that you then need to reach for that item. Falling short of the Score for that item will result in not having that item or having a flawed, poor quality version of that item (like a fraying rope or a rusted sword.) Below are example improvised items for each Score Range:
General Wealth
[..6] F Tier: Raw Materials & simple items: Bell, Candle, Raw Food, Hammer, Knife, Oil, Soap, String(10 ft), Water, Writing Supplies.
[7..9] C Tier: Common Manufactured Items: Commoner Foods, Compass, Crowbar, Lantern, Pickaxe, Sledge, Rope(50 ft), Tongs.
[10..] A Tier: Standard Shields, Armor, Weapons, Better Foods.
[7..9] C Tier: Strange Ingredients & Basic Magic Tools: Dowsing Rod, Eye of Newt, Pendulum.
[10..] A Tier: More Rare Ingredients & Magic Tools: Crystal Ball, Dragon's scale, Void Crystals.
Spend Fine Wealth
Any of the above: Will be higher quality, made of materials like gold, or come in a greater quantity.
Item Sell
If ever you wish to sell a concrete Item (turning it back into a Good) you can do so using the Item SellAbility.
You will need to give up the Item before rolling the Item SellAbility. 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.
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 TradeAbility. This Ability requires no Test, allowing you to exchange Goods at the listed exchange rates.
You will choose what effects you want to inflict after determining your FighterScore. The target will modify their SaveTest 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 SaveScore will then determine how many of your chosen effects they can avoid.
[10..] You start with 3 effect choices. Penalties:
Outsized. You have a Disadvantage for each Size your target is above your own Size. You can skip this Penalty if you choose 'Mount' as all your effect choices.
Choose from the following effects. You can choose each effect more than once:
Mount. Inflict a stack of Mounted where you are the source. All stacks Persist as long as this grapple does, then they are instantly cleared.
If the target Passes their Grit or Edge Save, they can remove 2 of your chosen effects. The target can remove 1 effect at the end of each of their Turns. You can use this Ability again to effectively refresh a grapple by adding effects to a grappled target.
You are Blunted against all but the grapple target.
If the target of your grapple moves, you can use a Free Reaction to use Movement from your next Turn to move with them (preventing the end of the grapple.)
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 SkillTests.
Clarifying Questions are Free
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.