System Reference Document

Rules edition: v0.1 alpha · 12 October 2026 · Free open reference.

This document states the complete construction and play framework, including the base primitive families, characters, effects, capabilities, heritages, items, creatures and encounter procedures. It is a reference for play and compatible creation. The PHB teaches these procedures; the GM Guide demonstrates applying them. No fixed class system or exhaustive bestiary is required. One explicitly marked Vitality upkeep rule remains pending in this alpha.

Core procedure

Participants and intent

Players portray their characters. The Dungeon Master or Game Master describes the world, portrays other participants and adjudicates outcomes with the table. The group agrees the intended setting, starting budget and relevant expectations before play.

An intent states the result an actor wants. Before commitment, establish:

1. The intended result.
2. Applicable ordinary circumstances and extraordinary access.
3. Scope, targets, reach, output, timing and persistence.
4. Stakes, cost and consequences.
5. Resolution procedure.

The actor can accept, narrow or revise the attempt. Resolve uncertainty when needed, apply the agreed result and consequences, then continue from the changed situation.

Rule of Cool

Core rule. Give exciting ideas a chance. Discuss what makes the attempt possible, what it risks and how it will resolve. Use the actual situation to support a coherent, engaging and cinematic scene.

The table can agree an exception or variation. State its scope and consequences explicitly. An exceptional outcome does not silently grant unrelated permanent permissions or erase an existing consequence.

Rules and examples

Core rule identifies the framework. Default identifies the supplied procedure. Authored rule identifies a specific component's permission, condition, limit or exception. Optional guidance identifies a treatment the table may select. Example illustrates a case. App note explains a digital operation.

Use the agreed procedure for the actual situation. Published examples are not universal prices or consequences.

Character foundation and construction

Attributes and practices

Default. Base Physical, Mental and Magical total 10; each is from -1 to +5. Relevant primitives can modify the resulting values. Use current numerical attribute values directly rather than converting them into another modifier scale.

Ordinary attempts do not require training. Relevant full attribute applies to a practice check. Training adds PB where applicable; expertise uses twice PB where granted. Grants that establish the same training do not automatically add PB repeatedly. An explicit numerical bonus follows its own authored rule.

Build Units and components

BU pays for acquisition of reusable primitives. A default level 1 foundation has 25 BU. Item BU is separate. Agree custom or higher-level starting budgets with the DM.

A primitive establishes a reusable permission or rule. Effects group ingredients or outcomes; capabilities organize complete workings. Lineage, upbringing and manifest organize ancestry, experience and current expression. Their names do not grant mechanics beyond their stated content.

A character foundation requires owned positive verb and domain access in the character build; items do not satisfy this requirement. Missing range and output categories receive the zero-BU Touch and 1d4 baselines.

Reusing an owned primitive in another composition does not repurchase it. Deliberately acquiring additional occurrences, acquiring new ingredients and accepting permitted mirrored drawbacks require their own accounting.

Authored prices and stacking

Library/builder prices and tiers are guidance. Authors select BU prices; the DM may accept them or request adjustments. Scope, conditions, restrictions and stacking can affect the price.

Applicable contributions stack by default unless the authored stacking rules state otherwise. Enforce conditions, uniqueness and scope. Permission grants, numerical contributions and roll behavior are distinct; a counter is not automatically a static +1.

Construction reference

Component records

Authored rule. Record the name, readable rule, actual ingredients, recipients/targets, applicable conditions, operations and values, stacking/uniqueness restrictions and relevant ending conditions. State a proposed BU price for an acquisition. A label or descriptive name grants only the rules actually recorded.

A primitive may grant permission, contribute a numerical change or define a descriptive rule. An effect groups related ingredients or outcomes. A capability organizes a working or talent and may reference effects and primitives. Lineage, Upbringing and Manifest organize character heritage. Items carry their own ingredients and accounting. These containers do not automatically create additional acquisitions or permission grants.

Reusing the same acquired primitive in several compositions does not repurchase it. Deliberately acquired additional occurrences follow their authored rules and acquisition costs. Resolve overlapping references against the actual acquisitions rather than treating every appearance as another free contribution.

Find the base definitions

The primitive reference below reproduces the principal 29 families, bound access-tier meanings, reach/output ladders and core grant examples. Finished catalogue options and forks are supplementary. A family label alone is not a permission; read the actual subject, recipient, conditions and scope.

Construct an effect or capability

1. Describe the intended result.
2. Identify the ordinary circumstances and extraordinary access supporting it.
3. Select acquired primitives and, where useful, related effects.
4. Specify actual grants/changes and applicable recipients, conditions, stacking and limits.
5. Describe the normal use or trigger and any duration/continuation requirements.
6. Identify which details are fixed by the construction and which are appraised for each attempted use.
7. Review the definition and acquisition accounting with the table; test contrasting uses.

A capability need not contain a separately named effect. Neither container grants mechanics absent from its actual ingredients or descriptive rules. A new arrangement of existing purchases is not itself a new purchase of those ingredients.

Construct a heritage or character

For a heritage, choose Lineage, Upbringing or Manifest according to its narrative purpose. Describe the heritage, select actual ingredients/capabilities, identify acquisitions and record any genuine drawbacks. Review the resulting scope and suggested cost. A descriptive history need not grant mechanical benefits.

For a character, agree the starting budget/level, allocate base attributes, choose the proficient attribute and practice training, establish owned positive verb/domain access, acquire the chosen ingredients, organize heritage/capabilities, then resolve the final sheet. Keep Item BU and equipment accounting separate. Check derived formulas, active modifiers and consequences. A player may use an existing creation, adapt it or author one.

Checked example. Mira's upbringing organizes Verb II (8), Water domain I (4) and Knowledge proficiency (4): 16 BU. Near Range (4) and d8 (4) bring her total to 24/25 BU. Organizing Water/Verb/Near in Guided Water and River Hand does not change that acquisition total. Her attribute allocation and derived values appear in the PHB character example.

Construct creatures and encounters

Default creature foundation - current builder reference. Choose a positive base creature budget B. Rank r = sqrt(B / 25); base attribute points = ceil(3r); PB = 1 + ceil(r); baseline Vitality = max(1, ceil(B / 2)). Allocate the available nonnegative attribute points, select the proficient attribute and distribute practice slices consistently with the practice-allocation rules. Authored modifiers and an explicit agreed Vitality baseline can change the resolved sheet. These are creature baselines, not the player character's starting allocation or Vitality formula.

Describe the creature's encounter purpose, senses, movement and behavior. Select and review actual primitives, effects, capabilities, heritages or items that support its abilities. Resolve active modifiers, conditions, practices, output and Vitality. Show base budget, acquired/spent creature BU, permitted mirror credit and remaining creature BU separately; equipment contributes separate Item BU. Shared ingredients are accounted against their acquisitions rather than repeatedly charged through containers. A higher maximum does not automatically restore current Vitality.

Worked construction. A 25-BU Canal Watcher has r = 1, three base attribute points, PB 2 and baseline Vitality 13. Allocate Physical 2, Mental 0 and Magical 1. Verb II (8), Water domain I (4), Near Range (4) and d8 (4) spend 20 creature BU, leaving 5; this example has no mirror credit and no equipment. Its water manipulation is appraised through the recorded permissions. A title such as “guardian” grants no armor, extra actions or area attack.

For an encounter, record the objective/situation, party BU and separate Party Item BU, any known party size, the chosen creatures and quantities. Multiply chosen base creature budgets and resolved Item BU by quantity. Compare totals, counts and concentration of budget where those facts are available. Mirror credit is not another creature's budget. Spent/remaining creature BU describes a build; encounter appraisal uses its chosen base budget.

Worked appraisal. Two Canal Watchers contribute 2 × 25 = 50 enemy creature BU and 0 enemy Item BU. A party with 50 Party BU and 8 Party Item BU has a combined 58; the enemy combined total is 50. Enemy minus party is -8, and the enemy/party ratio is 50/58. If party size is two, counts match; each Watcher contains half the enemy creature budget. None of these facts establishes a difficulty rating.

Comparable BU does not promise comparable difficulty. Objectives, terrain, information, control, area effects, support, burst damage and how the table applies the rules affect play. Manual party totals are sufficient; linked sheets are optional budget references. Run the encounter with the shared Council → Fast → Measured → Heavy rhythm, current creature state and agreed consequences.

App note. Catalogue templates, immutable versions, independent play copies and encounter runs organize digital reuse and tracking. Publication links add convenience; offline construction requires the actual relevant definitions. Starting a digital run creates private play copies; choosing or previewing a template does not modify another user's creature or character.

Resolution

Progression and mirrored acquisitions

Default. Acquisition BU, Item BU and execution Cost are separate. Unspent BU may acquire or invent ingredients during play with table agreement. Spending acquisition budget does not undo progression. The DM/table establishes rewards and pacing; there is no compulsory XP or per-session award schedule.

The cumulative table includes bracket spikes. Add them only through the progression procedure, never again to a listed cumulative threshold. Apply active PB/Vitality modifiers after these baselines.

Compatible operations can be mirrored within their actual scope and access: Add ↔ Subtract; Multiply ↔ Divide; Minimum ↔ Maximum; Grant ↔ Revoke. Set To has no automatic opposite. Descriptive reversals require a coherent agreed meaning. An accepted personal drawback remains in effect and in the acquisition accounting even when a separate action proposes another direction.

The default debt ceiling is 4 × ceil(level / 4): 4 at levels 1-4, 8 at 5-8, 12 at 9-12, and onward. Ordinary remaining BU, available drawback credit and actual used debt are distinct. Creation fills ordinary budget, then eligible credit, then any remaining overflow; exceeding the ordinary allowance requires DM agreement and cannot exceed the next-level creation ceiling or permitted drawback debt. Later sheet warnings are app behavior, not permission to ignore those agreed constraints.

Checks and formulas

Default attack: d20 + relevant current attribute + applicable training + attack modifiers versus the target's DC. Meet or beat the DC to hit, then resolve damage/effect separately. A miss does not apply the hit's damage unless specifically stated.

Default save: d20 + relevant current attribute + applicable saving-throw training + save modifiers versus the user's DC. Select the Physical, Mental or Magical save according to the capability/source and its actual resolution. The chosen proficient attribute grants PB to its own save; others require an actual grant to gain that training. Repeated grants of the same training do not add PB repeatedly. Success/failure follows the working's stated or agreed outcome. An attack and a save are not both required by default.

Default check: d20 + relevant current attribute + applicable training + applicable modifiers. Meet or beat the agreed DC. A displayed combined bonus is added once.

One selected-attribute DC is distinct from Physical, Mental and Magical saving throws. An attack and a saving throw are different resolution methods; a working does not require both by default.

Use applicable combined bonuses once. Check/roll result floors, ceilings and fixed results apply at their authored scope, distinct from attribute/stat bounds. No automatic natural-20 success, natural-1 failure or critical-damage multiplier is imported; an authored rule or agreed table variation can establish its own effect.

Ordinary rounding is upward. The explicit floor in the PB formula specifies its own operation. Authored result limits and other exceptions state their own scope.

Advantage and disadvantage

Default. Apply authored stacking restrictions, then cancel opposing advantage/disadvantage stacks one-for-one. Let N be the absolute remaining count.

• Net advantage: roll N + 1 resolution dice; keep the highest.
• Net disadvantage: roll N + 1 resolution dice; keep the lowest.
• Zero net bias: roll one resolution die.

Example. Two advantages and one disadvantage leave one advantage: 2d20, highest. Two advantages with no opposing source: 3d20, highest. The applicable static bonus is then added once.

Scope and targeting

Access and use

Verb and domain permissions determine eligible changes and subjects. Range and output permissions determine access to reach and die types. Selected dice count, area, targets, duration and other declared scaling can increase pressure without each requiring another purchase by default. Extra behaviors can require additional access.

Sensory location

Default. Targeting a specific creature or object requires locating it through an applicable sense. Ordinary vision, granted blindsight, tremorsense or another suitable sensory permission can provide that location.

Without it, an actor can propose targeting a known spot or area and resolve uncertainty at the table. A chosen area does not guarantee a desired creature is present.

Authored rule. A working such as scrying, widespread weather influence or “any qualifying target within range” can establish a different targeting method. Range alone does not grant information or override the working's targeting requirements.

Range permissions

Default reference maximums are Near 30 ft, Far 60 ft and Very Far 120 ft. Extreme permits continuous reach up to approximately three miles, including nearer targets. The table can agree broader scope, including Extreme beyond three miles, with appropriate access and consequences. These permissions do not reveal targets or remove sensory/targeting requirements.

Combat and movement

Shared rhythm

Council coordinates intent. Fast resolves Complexity 0-1, Measured resolves 2-3 and Heavy resolves 4+. Complexity describes timing dependencies rather than damage or power. There is no default initiative roll.

One independent Reaction Slot resets at Council. A default reaction has a valid trigger, immediate Complexity 0-1 and self/touch or a single-target scope. Relevant access and actual timing still apply.

Describe one coherent Main Intent and establish dependent actions. A Reaction Clash resolves colliding opposing intents within a track when timing matters: d20 + relevant attribute + applicable training/modifiers; higher acts first. On a tie the GM resolves simultaneously or follows the stronger fictional position. An Active Contest resolves a direct struggle using each side's relevant approach; higher wins the immediate struggle. Use combined practice totals once. Losing a clash does not automatically erase the Main Intent; pivot when changed circumstances require it.

For a valid reaction, pause the triggering event, resolve the response, then continue. It may occur before or after the Main Intent and does not automatically cancel its trigger.

Movement allowance

Default. Speed is ordinary movement available across the whole round. Spend some or all and divide it among tracks and valid reactions. It can accompany an intent or be used independently where the situation permits. Spending a Reaction Slot does not provide a new movement allowance.

Moving farther requires appropriate speed access or an agreed cost/consequence. Actual routes, hazards, interference and the Rule of Cool guide the ruling.

Example. Speed 30 ft permits 10 ft during Fast and 20 ft during Heavy. Additional movement requires a further permission or table agreement.

Swimming/climbing use half base speed rounded up. Apply authored changes; flight and burrowing require granted access.

Surprise

Optional guidance. There is no universal surprise mechanic. An ambush can justify the prepared side completing one round before surprised participants respond. Circumstances or an agreed d20 check can change this treatment.

Costs and persistence

Contextual consequences

Strain describes how an attempt pushes the actor and situation. Agree costs and their timing before commitment. Costs can be Vitality, resources, numerical penalties, restrictions, temporary loss of access, tasks, environmental effects or narrative consequences; combinations and negligible costs are possible.

Maintaining a working generally spreads pressure out or lowers upfront demand compared with forcing an increased expression in one round. There is no universal discount or conversion into damage. Specify the continuation requirements and the duration/ending of any consequence.

The 0-6 Strain grades guide appraisal: effortless, light effort, noticeable strain, heavy burden, dangerous instability, critical risk and catastrophic consequence. They are not automatic bills or fixed success probabilities. Consider scale, impact, dependencies/complexity, environment, opposition and urgency. Declared dice count, area, targets or duration can add pressure without each requiring another purchase by default; new behaviors may require additional access.

Optional guidance. Let B be the minimum evaluated composition and A the selected evaluated use. ΔCV = A - B; total CV = B + ΔCV = A. With B = 12 and A = 30, increase is 18 and total is 30. These illustrate arithmetic, not a universal spell price. CV is neither a roll bonus nor acquisition BU paid again, and numerical scaling cannot capture every contextual demand.

Core rule. A consequence records its cause, actual change, timing/trigger and ending/recovery terms. Names do not import universal numerical packages. Agree when Cost applies and what failure means; interruption has no universal refund.

Upkeep

Track, duration and upkeep are separate properties. A maintained capability has one upkeep track even when it contains multiple effects. Several capabilities can be maintained; their agreed requirements accumulate. Continuing and ending follow the working's actual conditions.

Agree an explicit continuation point in the shared round, such as Council. A recurring 4-Vitality requirement can be due again next round; a loss of access follows its own duration/ending condition. Interference needs actual access, position, timing and resolution. A hit alone is not a universal interruption. An actor unable to perform a required task cannot continue it. Instant actions cannot be interrupted retroactively after resolution; resulting ongoing effects may be separately disrupted through appropriate access.

Alpha rule pending - damage-triggered Vitality upkeep. Additional repayment triggered by incoming damage, including threshold and counter/reset/excess handling, is undecided. This edition does not impose that numerical scheme. Agree any temporary table treatment explicitly. Ordinary continuation requirements remain usable; do not apply the unresolved scheme to non-Vitality upkeep.

Recovery and equipment

Agreed rests

A short rest is a short pause, perhaps 15 or 30 minutes. A long rest is overnight sleep or equivalent recovery, not necessarily eight hours. DM and players agree whether their effects apply; elapsed time never applies recovery automatically.

Default short rest. Allow recovery equal to half maximum Vitality, rounded up, between completed long rests. Only actual Vitality restored consumes the allowance. Unused recovery carries into subsequent short rests; it cannot heal above maximum.

Default long rest. Restore to maximum and refresh the short-rest allowance. The table can agree partial healing after a completed long rest. Long-rest healing is independent of the short-rest allowance. Injuries and other lasting consequences use their stated recovery requirements.

Example. Maximum 13 gives allowance 7. At 10/13, heal 3; 4 remains for later short rests. A completed long rest refreshes that allowance.

Stabilization and healing

At zero Vitality, the character collapses, unconscious and incapacitated. Collapse uses a contextual rescue countdown; roughly a minute is guidance, not ten guaranteed safe rounds. Dedicate an action track to Fieldcraft stabilization or suitable owned primitives, with agreed access, resolution and Cost; no universal stabilization DC is prescribed. Success halts the countdown without granting Vitality or consciousness. Healing above zero ends the dying state and restores consciousness unless another consequence prevents it. A stabilized character can recover through assisted rest; active dying requires rescue first.

Damage and lethal thresholds

Physical, Magical and Psychic are execution sources; domains identify the output's nature. Mental is an attribute. Read actual source/domain scope: resistance halves matching damage rounded up, vulnerability doubles it, immunity negates covered damage. Multiple resistances do not quarter damage by default. Applicable resistance/vulnerability on an instance cancel. Damage immunity alone does not negate every associated condition.

Mixed output needs an explicit source/domain breakdown and identification of split versus separate instances. Apply final post-defense damage as Vitality loss. Healing is capped by current maximum; increasing maximum alone does not heal.

Examples. Nine Magical Fire becomes 5 under matching resistance, 18 under vulnerability or 9 with both. Six Physical Fire + eight Magical Fire totals 10 under Magical-only resistance (6 + 4).

One execution dealing at least twice maximum Vitality, or taking current Vitality to -maximum Vitality, can cause immediate death under the massive-damage rule. Establish lethal stakes beforehand. Use current Vitality before the hit and final post-defense damage rather than a sheet's stored zero clamp. Maximum 13/current 4/final damage 17 reaches -13; final damage 26 independently reaches twice maximum. The collapse clock is distinct from an outright lethal result.

Equipped slots

Default. Six universal equipment slots. An ordinary equipped item occupies one; a two-handed item occupies two. A higher authored requirement can represent unusual gear, and primitives can extend available slots. Size alone does not multiply the final requirement.

Load, Item BU and equipped slots are distinct measures. Equipped items still contribute carried Load. A small character's unusually large sword may be permitted with an explicit three/four-slot requirement or another agreed consequence.

Load and delivery paths

Capacity = size base + 5 × current Physical + applicable bonuses. Load above capacity is encumbered; the GM/table determines penalties and complications. Equipped items still count toward carried Load. Explicit authored Load rules can change an item's contribution. A backpack organizes contents without automatically adding capacity.

One pouch holds up to 1,000 tiny objects and contributes 1 Load. Item BU, ordinary value and Load remain independent.

Projected vectors travel through intervening space. Minor obstruction imposes -2 accuracy; standard half cover -4; total cover blocks the trajectory. Evaluate actual angle/path. Direct manifestation appears at a target and ignores those intervening projected-cover penalties, but still requires sensory location or an authored targeting method. Cover does not automatically grant knowledge of a hidden target.

Reference conventions and rule boundaries

This extended reference supplies readable record formats, explicit calculations and procedures for compatible SwordWeave creation. It supplements the principal primitive families and play rules in this SRD. It does not require a platform account, a particular database, a fixed class list or a separate monster book. Keep the actual definitions needed for play with the record; a name, image or unavailable link cannot substitute for an ingredient's rule.

Core rule. The table establishes an intended result, checks ordinary circumstances and extraordinary access, agrees the actual scope and stakes, chooses the appropriate resolution, then carries the result forward. Permission to propose an outcome and success at accomplishing it are different facts. Ordinary actions remain possible without purchasing a primitive for every task.

Default means the supplied procedure unless the table agrees a variation. Authored rule means a particular component's recorded permission, operation, condition, restriction or exception. Optional guidance means a tool the group may choose. Example means the stated construction or situation, including its example prices. App note describes digital organization or calculation; it does not add a tabletop prerequisite.

Three records to keep distinct

A new capability can organize existing acquisitions without changing the acquisition ledger. Using that capability can change state without editing its definition. Editing a definition can change the resolved sheet without automatically healing the actor or clearing a consequence. Track the relationship explicitly when several people use the same template.

Example. The definition of Guided Water references Verb II, Water I and Near. Mira owns one acquisition of each. She presently maintains one channel beside a stair. Adding another capability that references the same three acquisitions neither buys them again nor creates another channel already in the world. A second actual channel requires a new attempted use and appraisal of its scope and requirements.

Complete does not mean automated

A complete record lets people decide what qualifies, what changes and what ends. Descriptive rules can be complete without becoming a static sheet number. A narrative obligation may identify a person, deadline and consequence rather than an arithmetic modifier. A sensory permission may describe information and barriers rather than supply an attack bonus.

When a rule is ambiguous, clarify its intended meaning with the author and table. Do not replace missing terms with a familiar package from another game. A condition named stunned, blessed or invisible grants only its stated consequences. A creature labeled boss has only its actual economy. A heritage title grants only its actual content.

What compatibility requires

A compatible creation should identify which SwordWeave defaults it uses and which rules it changes. It should retain intelligible acquisition accounting, actual permissions and scopes, the distinction between character and item budgets, and the agreed resolution procedure. A campaign may choose different budgets, consequences or optional tools without concealing those changes as unchanged defaults.

A construction's BU figure does not establish approval in every campaign. Its author proposes a price; the table reviews the actual content and can accept or revise it. Suggested catalogue anchors are reference points, not universal tariffs guaranteeing equivalence between every similarly priced rule.

Readable construction record formats

These formats specify the information people need to use a construction. They are not API payloads or mandatory software field names. Combine fields into readable paragraphs where convenient. Omit genuinely irrelevant details; explicitly settle details that affect the intended use. A paper label such as Water acquisition A can identify a purchase just as well as a digital identifier.

Primitive definition format

Example primitive. Steady Hands: add +2 to the owner's Finesse checks to thread or tie a rope while both hands are free. It is a numerical practice-check contribution, not a Physical increase. Its recipient is its owner, not everyone using their rope. The example proposes 4 BU. Its authored rule must settle any deliberate additional occurrence before that occurrence is used; two references to the first acquisition are not two qualifying purchases.

Effect definition format

An effect need not introduce a separate execution or upkeep requirement. If it is used inside a maintained capability, the capability's actual continuation governs that use. If the author intends an independently maintained working, identify it as such rather than allowing the nesting diagram to decide.

Example effect. Guided Water organizes Verb II, grounded Water I and Near. It supports guiding or reshaping existing located water within 30 ft. The attempted volume, route, opposition and continuation are appraised in use. It does not create water, grant Life access or automatically move every creature standing in the water.

Capability definition format

A capability may contain primitives directly. It does not require a separately named effect or one ingredient from every family. A reference expression helps people understand an ordinary use; it should say whether changed scope is appraised or prohibited. Do not present a reference expression as permission for unrelated behaviors.

Heritage definition format

Lineage can organize inherited or bodily features. Upbringing can organize learned practices, customs and work. Manifest can organize a current role, awakened gift or chosen expression. These meanings are useful organization, not compulsory one-of-each packages. A heritage can be descriptive without purchased mechanical benefits.

Item definition format

An ordinary rope or hook can have Item BU zero and still be useful. Zero Item BU does not mean zero Load, automatic availability or indestructibility. A rule attached to a hook does not apply to every check merely because the actor possesses the hook.

Actor and encounter record formats

An actor record combines a foundation, acquisitions, resolved values and current state. An encounter record organizes several such actors and a situation. Neither record grants new permissions merely by naming them.

For an encounter, record name, situation/objective, notes, Party BU, Party Item BU, any known party size, selected creature definitions or versions and quantities. During a run add independent actor state, round/phase, intent and resolution markers, objective changes and meaningful events. Visibility settings and digital ownership are platform properties, not encounter difficulty or character permissions.

Acquisitions, occurrences and dependency accounting

Count ownership before counting appearances

An acquisition is one owned occurrence counted in the appropriate ledger. A reference says that a construction uses an acquisition or definition. A nested appearance says where that reference can be found. Those are different relationships. The same acquisition can support several compositions without being charged again or supplying several copies of its numerical contribution to one check.

Identify shared ingredients when reading a bundled heritage or capability. If two capabilities both reference Water acquisition A, their container totals can each display Water's cost as composition information. Adding those displayed totals is not automatically the character's acquisition total. Resolve the actor's ledger against actual owned occurrences.

Deliberately purchasing additional occurrences is a different choice. Record quantity, cost and the actual stacking or uniqueness rules. A second purchase is not automatically useful: a unique training state or nonstacking defense may be unchanged. Owning several rules also does not automatically grant several Main Intents.

A complete reusable ledger

Example. An actor owns these five acquisitions. The bound access definitions below reproduce everything needed for the example; they are not a fixed class package.

Guided Water references V-A, W-A and R-A. River Hand uses Guided Water. Canal Impact references those same three acquisitions plus D-A. River Caravan Upbringing organizes V-A, W-A and K-A. All four constructions can be recorded without a second charge for their overlapping ingredients. The actor's positive ledger stays 24 BU.

If the actor uses River Hand to divert water and Canal Impact later to strike, both uses rely on the same ownership. Each actual attempt still has its own timing, scope, resolution and consequences. The names do not create simultaneous free outputs. If a rule instead explicitly consumes a resource on each use, track that authored resource separately from the acquisition.

Acquisition and active contribution are separate

A condition can make a purchased rule inactive without refunding its price. An unequipped item can remain owned and carried without supplying its equipped-only bonus. An accepted drawback can remain in the ledger while its condition is presently absent; its real eligible scope still matters when reviewing credit.

Likewise, suppressing a rule through a consequence changes availability, not ownership. If Water reshaping is unavailable until a stated task, the character does not silently receive its BU back. A build edit that removes a purchase needs table agreement about replacement, accounting and existing state.

Ingredient availability and adopted versions

A readable offline record should reproduce the relevant ingredient definitions or include an accessible reference copy. Record the adopted edition when changing versions could change mechanics. A newer published definition does not automatically alter everyone's current character, template or run.

App note. Digital compositions can reference pinned definitions and resolve their dependencies through the platform. A visible container does not grant access to another person's private ingredients. Availability and ownership are checked through existing permissions. If a preparation contains an inaccessible reference, treat its unresolved information as unknown rather than displaying private details or pretending its budget is zero.

For paper play, the same principle is practical rather than technical: make the actual approved rules available to the group. A missing page or inaccessible link prevents reproducible appraisal until the definition is supplied or replaced. This is not a requirement to obtain a digital account.

Quantity belongs to a real occurrence

State what quantity counts. Three creatures are three actors. Three hooks are three physical items. Two permitted numerical acquisitions can supply two contributions if their actual rules allow it. Three references to one hook are not three hooks; three references to one Steady Hands acquisition are not three bonuses.

Multiplying quantity does not automatically multiply every other property. Two creatures have independent Vitality and reactions, not one creature with double its maximum. Carrying two hooks multiplies Load, but only actually equipped items use slots. Repeating a training grant establishes the same trained state unless a separately authored rule specifies a different contribution.

Numerical operations, grants and scope

Operation meanings

Choose the quantity before choosing the operation. An operation on an attribute, a practice bonus, a selected die, a final result or maximum Vitality can produce very different outcomes. Read the rule's actual stage and scope.

Ordinary rounding is upward where a calculation needs an integer. A formula that explicitly says floor retains that operation. A rule may establish its own particular exception. Division by zero is not a meaningful numerical rule; choose valid parameters and state their use.

Some operations interact. Adding 2 then multiplying by 2 differs from multiplying by 2 then adding 2. The framework does not turn unspecified order in an ambiguous creation into a new universal tabletop hierarchy. Define the intended quantity and interaction, show a before/after calculation and settle conflicts before relying on them. Preserve explicit special procedures, such as damage-defense cancellation and training upgrades, rather than replacing them with raw arithmetic.

App note. A digital resolver uses its supported operation order and metric scope. Authoring a modifier that produces a number in the app does not resolve unclear tabletop prose. Keep the human-readable rule and intended example consistent with its digital representation. If they differ, review the construction rather than treating a storage detail as a new core rule.

Grants are not always additions

Permission, training, state and bias grants require their stated interpretation. Granting Water access does not add Water's tier number to a roll. Granting flight establishes its actual movement permission; its speed and conditions still need definition. Granting proficiency upgrades applicable training rather than adding PB every time the same word appears.

For a practice, the current full parent attribute is the baseline contribution. Applicable proficiency supplies one PB. Eligible expertise brings training to twice PB. An expertise record should establish or identify the required proficiency; a bare ambiguous label is not a way to purchase repeated PB. Separate explicit numerical bonuses follow their own scope and stacking rules.

Example. At PB 2 and Mental 3, untrained Knowledge is +3. A valid proficiency grant makes it +5. A second proficiency grant leaves the training component at +2, so the total remains +5. Eligible expertise gives a +4 training component and a +7 total. An independently qualifying explicit +1 Knowledge bonus brings that check to +8; it does not become another proficiency state.

Saving-throw training is separate from practice training. The chosen proficient attribute supplies PB to its own practices and saving throw. Knowledge proficiency does not by itself train the Mental save. A Defensive Save Upgrade can grant training to its stated saving-throw scope without increasing Reason or Influence.

Recipient and metric matrix

The bearer, user and recipient may be different. An item can be carried by one actor, actively used by another and target a third. Its rule must say whose metric changes and when. A projected support field can supply a stated ally bonus without transferring permanent ownership of its ingredients to those allies.

Provenance of a contribution

For a changed value, a useful breakdown identifies baseline, actual active source, recipient, condition, operation and result. Provenance explains why the value applies; it does not create an additional benefit.

Example. Torren's qualifying rope Finesse begins with Physical 5 and trained PB 2: +7. His owned Steady Hands supplies +2 while both hands are free. An agreed trembling-hands consequence subtracts 2 from delicate hand work until care and an agreed short rest. If both qualify, +7 +2 -2 = +7. The numerical cancellation does not end the consequence. If one hand is occupied, Steady Hands does not qualify, so the same injured check is +5.

Record the injury separately from the acquisition. Referencing Steady Hands through an upbringing and a capability is two provenance paths to one acquired rule, not an excuse to add its +2 twice.

Conditions, stacking and rule interactions

Define conditions that can be answered

A condition states when a rule applies. It can concern actor, target, scene, equipment, timing or a prior event. Identify the subject and enough detail for the table to answer. Avoid an undefined adjective doing the work of several different facts.

These replacements are examples, not mandatory definitions of those words. If the author intends a broader or narrower condition, write that condition. A restrictive condition can affect the proposed price, but no fixed percentage discount is implied.

Conditions do not import recipients or triggers

“While an ally falls” can qualify an actor's rule without establishing who can perceive the fall, whether they have reach or how they respond. “While singing” can restrict maintenance without granting a free action. “While equipped” does not make the item affect all allies.

For a trigger, identify the event, eligible observer, opportunity, response and action economy. If a response spends the independent Reaction Slot, it needs an available slot and the ordinary immediate scope unless an explicit exception changes them. If it is an automatic authored change, say what actually changes and when; do not conceal an extra action inside a trigger label.

Example authored response. When a conscious ally within ordinary reach begins to fall and the actor can perceive it, the actor may spend an available independent Reaction Slot to attempt a catch with a free hand. Resolve actual weight or interference through the agreed procedure. This example grants no remote rescue, additional slot or guaranteed success.

Resolve applicability before stacking

1. Identify the actual acquisitions or sources, avoiding duplicated references.
2. Confirm each source's recipient, metric, condition and scope.
3. Apply stated uniqueness, caps, exclusions or nonstacking rules.
4. Combine the remaining contributions using their actual operation or special procedure.
5. Record continuing consequences independently of the resulting number.

Applicable contributions stack by default unless their authored rules say otherwise. This does not erase training's upgrade semantics, make repeated resistance quarter damage, or turn a reference into a purchase. Those are different kinds of contribution with explicit procedures.

When two rules contain incompatible instructions, identify the conflict and agree their interaction. Do not invent a global priority such as latest, highest BU or strongest title unless the campaign has deliberately adopted it. A future use can be revised before commitment; a surprise reinterpretation after a roll is not a reliable adjudication procedure.

Probability bias calculation

Let A be qualifying advantage stacks and D qualifying disadvantage stacks after actual exclusions. Net bias is A - D. If positive, roll net bias +1 resolution dice and keep the highest. If negative, roll its absolute value +1 and keep the lowest. If zero, roll one. Then add the applicable static bonus once. Damage dice are not automatically resolution dice.

Checked example. Three advantage sources and one disadvantage qualify for a check with +6. Roll 3d20: 4, 11 and 17. Keep 17 and add +6 once for 23. If the first advantage's condition fails, the same remaining sources leave one advantage: roll two dice instead. A static -2 penalty affects the +6 separately; it does not cancel an advantage stack unless its rule actually changes bias.

Floors, ceilings and fixed results

Identify whether a rule constrains the raw die, the combined check result, a bonus or an underlying stat. “Minimum final Knowledge result 10” and “minimum d20 result 10” are mechanically different. Neither changes Mental by itself.

Example authored floor. A trained Knowledge check has combined bonus +5 and a rule saying its final result is at least 10. A die of 2 gives 7, then the stated final-result floor gives 10. If the rule instead says the selected d20 cannot be below 10, the same roll would become die 10 plus bonus 5, totaling 15. Record which was intended before use.

A fixed result likewise needs a stated stage and scope. Explain its relationship to bias and other modifiers. If a ceiling and floor conflict, revise or agree the interaction; this reference does not prescribe a secret winning operation. Natural 20 and natural 1 have no universal automatic success/failure or damage multiplier in the default framework.

Character construction in full

Foundation procedure for a new character

1. Agree the campaign, expectations, starting level or custom BU budget and separate equipment terms.
2. Write a concept, purpose and connection to the party. These descriptions do not themselves grant unlisted mechanics.
3. Allocate base Physical, Mental and Magical. The default total is 10; each base value is -1 through +5. Keep later contributions separate from that allocation.
4. Choose the proficient attribute under the agreed foundation and record additional actual training grants. Use the ten current practices, not an older eighteen-skill or sliced-bonus system.
5. Acquire positive owned verb and domain access in the character build. Identify each permission's bound scope. Items and mirrored access alone do not satisfy that foundation requirement.
6. Add other useful acquisitions, keeping actual ownership, permitted additional occurrences and credit readable. Missing range/output categories use Touch and 1d4 baselines.
7. Organize effects, capabilities and any useful heritages. Reusing an acquisition does not charge again.
8. Record equipment separately, including Item BU, Load, final slots and activation conditions.
9. Resolve current attributes, PB, practices, saves, selected DC, maximum Vitality, movement and capacities through their actual active rules.
10. Establish current state, including current Vitality, remaining short-rest allowance, consequences and any ongoing work.
11. Test normal, stretched and outside-scope uses. Review unclear rules, prices and limits before the first tense scene.

The foundation permits useful ordinary competence without purchasing a catalogue action for every task. A positive Water permission is not required to lift a bucket by hand. Conversely, ordinary competence does not provide distant extraordinary water control. Use the actual intended result to identify which access matters.

Derived character calculations

Use the cumulative BU table for progression rather than substituting a remembered flat growth rate. At level 5, the supplied threshold is 69, baseline PB 3 and maximum Vitality 65 before modifiers. At level 21, retain the explicit 286-BU threshold. Spending a purchase does not reduce the character's established progression level.

App note. A custom starting budget and explicit DM bonus can affect the platform's progression pool. Current pool calculation takes the greater of declared starting BU and the cumulative level budget, then adds the explicit bonus. Item BU is excluded. This is a way to represent an agreed foundation, not permission to silently choose whichever budget is most favorable during play.

Validation example for a complete foundation

Example. Nera is a lock-maintenance apprentice. Her table accepts level 1 with 25 character BU and ordinary equipment. Physical 4, Mental 4 and Magical 2 total 10; each is within the default base limits. Physical is proficient, so current PB 2 supplies training to Physical practices and the Physical save.

She purchases Verb II 8, grounded Metal I 4, Near 4, Knowledge proficiency 4 and d6 output 2: 22 BU. Metal I identifies grounded metal only. Verb II permits eligible changes to existing states; Near reaches up to 30 ft with actual targeting/path requirements. d6 establishes an output die type for suitable behavior, not healing or automatic attacks. Three ordinary BU remain.

Her Physical practices are +6. Awareness, Reason and Influence are +4; trained Knowledge is +6. Magical practices are +2. Saves are Physical +6, Mental +4 and Magical +2. Physical-selected DC is 5 +2 +4 =11. Maximum/current starting Vitality are 12/12 and the unused ordinary short-rest allowance is 6. Medium movement is 30 ft walking and 15 ft swim/climb; carrying capacity is 40 +5 ×4 =60 Load.

Align the Latch references Verb II, Metal I and Near: reshape a located existing metal latch within 30 ft. Its attempted precision, resistance, delivery arrangement and time are appraised. It does not identify a lock through an unseen wall or create a missing key. A descriptive Workshop Upbringing organizes Knowledge and those access purchases without changing the 22-BU acquisition ledger.

She carries one Medium two-handed hook: Item BU 0, Load 2, two equipped slots. She also carries one Medium rope bundle: Item BU 0, Load 2 and one slot if equipped. With both equipped she uses three of six slots and four of sixty Load. This entire record is reproducible without a catalogue lookup. Her unspent three BU supplies no unlisted mechanic.

Changing a character without erasing state

A new acquisition changes the ledger. An additional reference changes composition. A reorganization into another heritage changes presentation unless actual rules change. A replacement definition can change permissions and derived values. Identify which change is occurring and agree any price, replacement or retraining terms; no universal retraining fee or free replacement interval is prescribed.

Preserve current Vitality when a maximum rises. If a maximum falls below current Vitality, the current value cannot exceed the new maximum, but losing maximum is not a new damage execution with a new lethal overrun. Consequences and ongoing work follow their actual conditions rather than disappearing merely because the sheet was edited.

App note. Draft edits, revision checks, backups and synchronization help preserve state. A read permission does not grant gameplay editing permission. The GM preference exposes interface controls without granting access to another person's private character. Sharing and authorized editing remain separate decisions.

Creature construction and allocation reference

Budget-derived foundation table

Choose positive base budget B. Compute unrounded rank r = sqrt(B/25). Base attribute points are ceil(3r). Baseline PB is 1 +ceil(r). Baseline maximum Vitality is max(1, ceil(B/2)). Apply rounding at the specified stage, not by first rounding rank. Rank is a creature foundation measure, not a player character level.

Allocate exactly the available nonnegative base attribute points among Physical, Mental and Magical. Choose the proficient attribute and add actual granted modifications separately. Unlike the player foundation, this budget-derived allocation is not limited to a total of 10 or a maximum base attribute of +5.

App note. Creature definitions also retain practice-allocation slices whose sums match each base attribute. These satisfy the editor's allocation ledger. The current check procedure still uses the full relevant current attribute, not each slice as a reduced bonus. Do not teach a player to divide their Physical contribution among three checks because an older storage field remains present.

Complete creature construction procedure

1. State purpose, motives, encounter use and observable behavior.
2. Choose positive base BU and compute the foundation.
3. Allocate points, select proficiency, size and the actual sensory/mobility facts.
4. Select readable acquisitions supporting the intended abilities. Inspect actual dependencies and reuse.
5. Define capabilities, their normal expressions, source/domain, targeting, path and resolution.
6. Define actual defenses, triggers and economy exceptions; neither size nor role title supplies them.
7. Record separate equipment mechanics, Load, slots and activation conditions.
8. Resolve current attributes, training, DC, maximum Vitality and actual conditional contributions.
9. Show base budget, positive acquired BU, eligible mirror credit, used budget/debt and remaining build allowance separately.
10. Test the creature in a favorable environment, against a counter-approach and after a relevant dependency changes.

Use an explicit agreed Vitality baseline override only when actually chosen; record it distinctly from the normal budget baseline and active modifications. A portrait of thick armor does not establish resistance. An environment tag organizes discovery; it does not grant a swimming speed. A support role suggests tactics; it does not grant an extra reaction.

Reproducible example: the Gate Brace

Authored example. A small constructed assistant holds a dangerous gate steady while workers pass. Its chosen base budget is 50. Rank sqrt(2) gives five base points, PB 3 and baseline Vitality 25. Allocate Physical 3, Mental 1 and Magical 1; Physical is proficient.

Braced Frame's conditional defense and 8-BU price are this authored example, requiring table review. The rule covers Physical damage, not Magical or Psychic damage, every condition or an ally behind the creature. Let players observe the brace. Releasing the support removes the condition; taking a hit does not universally end every maintained working.

The creature's Physical practices are +6, Mental practices +1 and Magical practices +1. Saves are Physical +6, Mental +1 and Magical +1. Physical-selected DC is 5 +3 +3 =11. Small size gives walking 25 ft and ordinary swim/climb 13 ft. Ordinary sight and hearing supply no sense through walls. Capacity is 20 +5 ×3 =35 Load, with six equipped slots. Maximum/current starting Vitality are 25/25; its unused ordinary short-rest allowance is 13 when agreed recovery applies.

Brace the Gate references Verb II, Metal I and Near. It redirects or stabilizes a located existing metal mechanism within 30 ft. Appraise actual force, route, opposition and continuation. In its normal gate scene, the creature keeps both hands on a fixed brace; that maintained task prevents using those hands elsewhere. This is restrictive upkeep, not an automatic Vitality invoice.

Metal Tap uses the same access and d6 to strike one located target through an actual projected path up to 30 ft. This example uses Physical-trained attack +6 against DC, with 1d6 Physical Metal damage on a hit. It grants no disarm, armor, additional intent or healing. A changed expression requires appraisal and actual access. While both hands are bracing, the recorded circumstances may prevent performing this particular attack without releasing the brace.

The creature has one ordinary Medium two-handed support hook: Item BU 0, Load 2 and two final equipped slots. Its carried Load is two of thirty-five. The hook's ordinary function supplies no additional numerical modifier. The creature's remaining 24 BU does not become an unlisted ability or a runtime resource.

Template cost and encounter cost

For building the Gate Brace, 26 spent and 24 remaining describe acquisitions. For encounter appraisal, one Gate Brace contributes its chosen base 50 creature BU plus resolved Item BU zero. Two contribute 100 creature BU, not 52 because they spend only 26 each.

Accepted mirrored drawbacks can increase permitted build headroom within their actual rules; that credit is not added again to chosen creature BU for appraisal. An equipment modifier belongs to the Item BU contribution, not both creature and item totals. Resolve shared ingredients against actual acquisitions and actual equipment occurrences before multiplying creature quantity.

Independence when creatures share a definition

Gate Brace 1 and Gate Brace 2 can adopt the same pinned definition but occupy different places, have different current Vitality and make different choices. Each has its own ordinary Main Intent and Reaction Slot. Damage to one does not damage the other. Changing one play copy's state does not rewrite the template.

If the campaign authors a swarm or collective actor with shared state, state that exception and construct its actual rules. A quantity field alone does not create shared damage, shared reaction availability or simultaneous automatic actions.

Item accounting, Load and equipped use

Four independent measures

A valuable relic can be mechanically ordinary. A simple-looking tool can carry an extraordinary rule. State the real properties rather than infer them from cost, material name or art. Containers organize contents; capacity changes require an actual rule.

Quantity calculations for ordinary gear

For ordinary non-Tiny gear, multiply each item's stated Load by its actual carried quantity and sum the contributions. Size defaults are Small 1, Medium 2, Large 4, Huge 8 and Gargantuan 16 Load per item. Apply explicit authored Load changes at their scope. Equipped gear still contributes carried Load.

Tiny objects use the pouch treatment: one pouch holds up to 1,000 tiny objects and contributes one Load. Record actual packaging and any agreed special treatment. Do not invert the non-Tiny table into pieces per Load: a Large item's default is four Load for one item, not four Large items per Load.

For equipped gear, apply the final requirement to actual equipped quantity. Normally one slot; two-handed normally two; a higher authored requirement can represent an unusual item. Size alone does not multiply that requirement. Available slots begin at six plus actual slot grants.

Checked mixed equipment ledger

Example. A Small actor has current Physical 3, so capacity is 20 +15 =35 Load. They possess the following actual items. There is no capacity or extra-slot grant.

Carried Load is 2 ×2 +1 +4 +1 =10, below capacity 35. Equipped slots are 2 +1 +3 =6. The spare hook uses carried Load but no equipped slots. This table's unusual blade explicitly requires three slots; neither its Large size nor its zero Item BU quietly changes that requirement. Another unusual item could be agreed differently.

Unequipping the blade frees three slots but leaves Load at ten while it remains carried. Leaving it behind reduces Load by four. Enlarging slot capacity does not change thirty-five Load capacity. A Load contribution above capacity is encumbered; the table agrees actual penalties or complications rather than importing a hidden universal package.

Equipment modifier example

Authored item example. An anchored hook gives its equipped bearer +2 to Prowess checks to hold a gate while the hook is firmly fixed. Proposed Item BU 4, Medium Load 2, two-handed final requirement two slots. The actual condition must qualify; simply carrying it grants no bonus.

For an actor with current Physical 3 and applicable PB 3, ordinary trained Prowess is +6; the qualified hook makes this check +8. It does not increase Physical to 5, increase capacity by ten or improve every attack. If two capabilities reference the same equipped hook, that is still one item's contribution. If two actual augmented hooks are used, review feasibility and authored stacking before assuming both qualify.

Extraordinary equipment is not a substitute for the character's owned positive verb/domain foundation. It can supply its own usable behavior within the item rule. Record whether a capability depends on gear so losing or unequipping it has an intelligible effect.

Execution envelopes and contextual appraisal

Record the actual attempted expression

An acquired definition can support several attempts. The attempted expression identifies what happens now. Its scope may be fixed by the construction or negotiated within the access. Record enough detail to avoid turning every ambitious attempt into a vague request for more power.

This is a clarification tool, not eleven mandatory rolls or eleven new purchases. A small ordinary action can need only a sentence. An unusual multi-target maintained working needs more explanation because more facts can change its result.

Access before scale

Verb concerns change; domain concerns subject; structure concerns arrangement; range concerns reach; output concerns eligible intensity or dice. They are separate permissions. Domain Water I does not automatically grant every Tier I subject. Verb II does not become Domain II. d8 is not a healing behavior or a ranged path.

Read the actual tier definition and bound primitive. Broader permitted scope can support an eligible narrower use, but a tier number alone does not make every lower-labeled catalogue entry an additional acquired occurrence. A new behavior needs its actual permission or an explicit table exception; a higher Cost cannot purchase it invisibly during resolution.

Example. Redirecting a located stream within 30 ft can fit Verb II, Water I and Near. Redirecting a street flood adds scale and pressure within that subject. Restoring a drowned person's life introduces a different behavior and subject relationship; it is not simply a greater number of water dice. A known empty trough supplies no existing water to reshape.

Location, reach and path separately

For a specific target, establish location through a relevant sense. Vision, granted blindsight, tremorsense or another actual channel can qualify. A sense's limits matter: hearing an approximate sound does not universally pinpoint its maker. Authored alternative targeting, such as a defined scrying working or any qualifying target within range, must actually establish that method.

Then establish reach. Near permits up to 30 ft, Far 60, Very Far 120 and Extreme continuous reach up to approximately three miles, including the transition beyond 120. The DM can agree an extension. No extra distance reveals a target or negates the chosen sense's barriers.

Then establish delivery. A projected vector travels through intervening space; minor obstruction imposes -2 accuracy, half cover -4 and total cover blocks its trajectory. Judge the actual path. A supported direct manifestation avoids those intervening projected-cover penalties, but still needs legitimate target location and actual manifestation behavior. It is not granted solely by owning Far.

An area aimed at a known spot can be proposed without pinpointing every hoped-for creature. Resolve uncertainty and actual inclusion. The chosen area does not guarantee the desired target is inside or automatically exclude allies.

Complexity, Strain and output separately

Complexity concerns dependencies and timing: Fast 0-1, Measured 2-3, Heavy 4+. Output size does not automatically determine track. Strain concerns the pressure of the whole attempt in context. The 0-6 guide runs from effortless through light effort, noticeable strain, heavy burden, dangerous instability, critical risk and catastrophic consequence.

A grade is not a universal Vitality invoice, acquisition surcharge or probability of success. State the actual consequence. Time, tools, assistance, environment, opposition, recipients and urgency can change it. Cost may be negligible, numerical, material, restrictive, environmental or narrative; combinations are possible.

Optional evaluation. If a table compares minimum evaluated composition B and selected expression A, ΔCV =A -B and total CV =B +ΔCV =A. For B 12 and A 30, the increase is 18 and the total is 30. These are evaluation figures, not BU repurchased on execution and not numbers added to a d20. Do not impose a universal percentage conversion from CV to Vitality.

Resolution procedure and numerical edge cases

Select the actual uncertainty

The same scene can contain several different questions. Do not automatically demand every procedure for one attempt. A capability does not require both attack and save by default. A clash deciding timing does not universally delete the losing intent. When the situation changes, revise the remaining approach from the actual new facts.

Calculation sequence for a check

1. Establish the intended result, qualifying approach, DC and stakes before commitment.
2. Identify current attribute, applicable training and actual qualifying static contributions.
3. Resolve applicable bias after conditions and exclusions.
4. Roll/select the resolution die according to net bias.
5. Add the combined static bonus once and apply any authored result rule at its stated stage.
6. Compare to DC: meeting it succeeds under the agreed terms.
7. Apply the outcome and agreed consequences, including those that can apply independently of success.

Checked example. Physical 4, trained PB 3 and qualifying +2 produce combined bonus +9. One advantage and one disadvantage cancel. Roll one d20 showing 6: total 15, meeting DC 15. Do not add Physical and PB again to make 22. A separate final-result floor or unusual natural-result rule would apply only if actually authored and qualified.

Attack and save outcomes

An attack's relevant current attribute, eligible training and attack modifiers form its combined bonus. Meeting the recipient's DC hits. Then resolve the stated damage or effect. A miss does not deal hit damage unless the actual rule says so. Source/domain defenses are applied to the resolved output, not subtracted from every attack roll as an unstated armor package.

A save uses the recipient's relevant current attribute, actual saving-throw training and save modifiers against the user's DC. Use the actual working's success/failure outcomes. There is no universal half-damage-on-success clause attached to every save. A practice proficiency grant does not automatically add PB to that attribute's save.

Example. A working states that a successful Mental save prevents its temporary perception change. A recipient with Mental 3 and no Mental-save training rolls 9 for 12 against DC 12 and resists that change. Knowledge proficiency does not raise this save. If a real Mental-save training grant supplies PB 2, the combined bonus is +5 instead of +3. The procedure does not also require the user to hit an attack first unless this particular construction establishes it.

Damage instances and rounding

Identify execution source, domain and actual output portions before defenses. Resistance halves matching damage, rounding upward. Vulnerability doubles matching damage. Immunity negates covered damage. Matching resistance and vulnerability on the same instance cancel. Repeated resistance does not quarter damage by default. Damage immunity alone does not negate a separate condition.

State whether mixed output splits one expression or creates separate damage instances. Dividing nine damage into two separately defended instances can change rounding; do not invent that split after seeing the result. Covered and uncovered portions follow their actual scope rather than treating a mixed-domain label as blanket immunity.

Apply final post-defense damage to current Vitality. Compare lethal overrun against the pre-hit current value and actual maximum before a stored sheet clamps current to zero. One execution dealing at least twice maximum or taking current to negative maximum can cause immediate death under the massive-damage rule; lethal stakes should be established.

Checked boundary. Maximum 13, current 4: final damage 16 reaches -12, below zero but above the negative-maximum boundary; handle collapse and rescue unless another actual rule changes it. Final damage 17 reaches -13. Final damage 26 independently meets twice maximum. Resistance is applied first: a covered raw 17 becomes 9, leaving 4 -9 =-5 rather than -13.

Round movement arithmetic

Track one ordinary round allowance. For Speed 30, moving 10 in Fast leaves 20. A qualifying reaction using 5 leaves 15. Moving that 15 in Heavy exhausts the allowance. A later track or spent Reaction Slot does not reset it. Additional travel needs actual extra speed access or an agreed consequence/exception.

Actual routes and interference matter. A 30-ft allowance does not permit crossing 30 ft of sealed wall. Ordinary swim/climb defaults use half base speed rounded up; authored movement changes apply as written. When combining movement modes or special timing, state the intended interaction rather than inferring extra independent allowances from several displayed speed lines.

Persistent workings and consequence state

Duration and upkeep record

A maintained capability has one upkeep track even when it contains multiple effects. Several maintained capabilities can coexist; their agreed requirements accumulate. Their records can impose practical conflicts, such as both needing both hands. There is no default single-concentration limit and no universal hit-triggered interruption.

Example timeline. A channel remains directed while the actor sings and hears its echo. Council is the agreed continuation point. A separate lantern working consumes a stated material each Council. At the next Council the actor can still sing but has no lantern material: the channel may continue, while the lantern ends according to its terms. Losing one requirement does not automatically end every maintained capability.

If the channel's difficult use also imposed loss of Water reshaping after it ends until a stated task, stopping the song ends the channel but begins or preserves that separate consequence as agreed. Healing current Vitality does not perform the recovery task. Ending an encounter does not silently remove either record.

Interference and payment

State Cost and when it applies before commitment. An attempt may require payment at commitment, at resolution, at a continuation point or through another actual condition. Interruption has no universal refund; decide from the agreed terms and what actually happened. An instantaneous resolved execution cannot be interrupted retroactively, though its resulting persistent effect may be disrupted through suitable access.

An actor unable to perform a required task cannot continue it. Silence can matter to singing; loss of an anchor can matter to an anchored field; unconsciousness can prevent active direction. A wound matters if it changes actual ability or a relevant authored requirement, not because every hit imposes an imported concentration save.

Alpha rule pending. Additional Vitality repayment triggered by incoming damage, including its threshold, counter window, reset and excess handling, remains undecided. Do not automate or publish the historical damage-threshold proposal as settled. Ordinary agreed continuation, including recurring Vitality payments, remains available. This pending question supplies no damage counter for restrictive, material or narrative upkeep.

Consequence definition and state format

Record cause, subject, actual change, timing/trigger and ending/recovery. If a consequence has several effects, make each legible. A numerical cancellation does not end its state; an agreed ending does. A new round, scene, rest or session clears it only when its terms say so.

These examples have no universal price or compulsory Strain grade. Named consequences should create understandable choices. If a record has unclear scope or no intelligible ending, clarify it with the table before silently applying a broader penalty.

Recovery accounting and rescue transitions

Rescue states

An ally can dedicate an action track to Fieldcraft stabilization or suitable owned primitives. Establish access, time, resolution and Cost. There is no universal stabilization DC or mandatory training gate for an ordinary attempt. Roughly a minute is rescue guidance, not ten guaranteed safe rounds in every environment. A stabilized actor may recover through assisted rest; active dying needs rescue first.

Finite short-rest formula

Let M be the applicable maximum Vitality, C current Vitality, R remaining agreed short-rest recovery allowance and H the accepted requested restoration. Actual healing cannot exceed missing Vitality, remaining allowance or the agreed restoration. For ordinary nonnegative values, actual restored points are the least of H, M -C and R. New current is C plus actual healing; remaining allowance is R minus actual healing.

The normal pool at a completed long rest is ceil(M/2). Unused points carry across short rests. A pause does not replenish the pool. A table adjustment may change the available allowance or accepted healing, but it must be stated rather than inferred from time passing.

Checked ledger. Maximum 13 begins with R 7. At C 10, accepting up to 7 restores only 3, reaching 13 and leaving R 4. After later damage to C 9, another agreed rest restores 4, reaching 13 and leaving R 0. After damage to C 8, another ordinary short rest restores 0 from that exhausted pool. A completed long rest normally restores to 13 and refreshes R to 7 independently of those earlier uses.

Partial long-rest treatment

A long rest is agreed overnight sleep or equivalent recovery, not a mandatory eight-hour timer. The table can agree partial recovery under poor circumstances. State what a percentage applies to: an amount restored, a target current value or another explicit treatment. “70% recovery” without a denominator does not supply reproducible arithmetic.

Example agreed interpretation. At maximum 13 and current 2, the table permits restoration of 70% of maximum: ceil(0.7 ×13) =10 points. Current becomes 12, capped at 13 if the accepted amount would exceed it. This is one explicitly chosen interpretation, not a mandatory partial-rest formula. The completed long rest refreshes the ordinary short-rest pool to 7; long-rest healing is not charged against it.

Maximum changes and special recovery rules must have intelligible terms. Increasing maximum alone does not grant current healing. If a maximum changes during a rest cycle and an authored rule affects the allowance, record that rule or agree its treatment rather than silently refilling spent recovery. Lingering injuries, obligations and lost access retain their own endings.

Encounter preparation, appraisal and independent runs

Preparation procedure

1. Describe the actual situation, objective, visible pressures and possible alternatives.
2. Enter Party BU and separate Party Item BU manually, or choose to calculate from accessible characters.
3. Record party size if known; it is optional, and unknown size does not prevent preparation.
4. Select creature definitions, adopted versions and quantities. Review actual dependency availability.
5. Resolve each creature's chosen base BU and separate Item BU; keep build spent/remaining information distinct.
6. Calculate quantity totals and available comparisons without inventing missing values.
7. Review counts, budget concentration, tactics, terrain, information, objectives and alternatives.
8. Preserve the approved preparation separately from the state of each actual run.

Manual totals are the primary sufficient workflow. Linked characters provide optional budget references and quick access to their records. Linking does not grant the GM permission to change a character's gameplay state. If calculated totals are used, show the result and intentionally replace or override manual values; a later character change should not silently rewrite a saved preparation.

Appraisal equations

For each creature entry i, let qᵢ be actual quantity, Bᵢ its chosen base creature budget and Iᵢ its resolved Item BU. Enemy creature BU is the sum of qᵢ ×Bᵢ. Enemy Item BU is the sum of qᵢ ×Iᵢ. Combined enemy total is their sum. Party combined total is Party BU plus Party Item BU where both are known.

Difference is combined enemy minus combined party. Ratio is combined enemy divided by a known positive combined party total. Do not calculate a ratio with a zero or unknown denominator. Enemy count is the sum of actual quantities. Largest-creature share is the largest individual chosen base creature budget divided by total enemy creature BU where that total is positive.

Largest-creature share concerns one creature, not an entire repeated entry. Five identical 25-BU creatures contain 125 enemy creature BU; each is 20% of that total, not 100% because the roster has one row. An entry can separately show its group contribution.

Checked mixed-roster appraisal

Example. A prepared encounter uses two Canal Watchers and one Gate Brace. The Canal Watcher is the complete 25-BU creature in Worked records: no items, baseline Vitality 13 and its stated Water capabilities. The Gate Brace above is base 50, Item BU zero and baseline Vitality 25. No mirror credit changes appraisal.

Three default level 1 characters contribute 75 Party BU even if each has spent only 24. If their actual equipment is 8 Party Item BU, combined party is 83. Combined enemy is 100; difference +17; ratio 100/83, approximately 1.205. Enemy count equals known party size three. The largest individual creature is 50/100 =50% of enemy creature BU.

If the Gate Brace instead adopts the 4-Item-BU augmented hook above, enemy Item BU becomes 4 and combined enemy 104. Difference becomes +21 and ratio 104/83, approximately 1.253. Its chosen creature BU stays 50; do not count the same hook as four additional creature BU as well. The example equipment changes its actual qualifying Prowess contribution and item record, so review that definition rather than merely changing the displayed total.

The ratios are arithmetic summaries, not supplied difficulty grades. Budget concentration, control, area output, support, burst, environment, sensory barriers, objectives and table rulings can change the encounter substantially. Spending every remaining creature BU is not a requirement for usefulness; unspent build points do not grant hidden actions.

Missing information and incomplete comparisons

Unknown is different from zero. Party Item BU zero means known ordinary or zero-cost mechanics; unknown Party Item BU means combined comparison cannot yet be completed. An inaccessible template is not a free creature. Preserve the preparation's reference and identify the unresolved information without revealing private content.

An empty opposition can be a valid situation to prepare; it has no enemy creature budget concentration. Party size absent means omit count comparison. Combined party zero means omit a ratio even if totals and difference are known. The group can save notes and decide the roster later; complete numerical comparison is not a prerequisite to describing an encounter.

Starting and replaying

Create independent state for each actual creature from the adopted definition. Name repeated creatures clearly. Start with the actual maximum/current Vitality, position, consequences, available reactions and ongoing work. A future template edit does not retroactively rewrite an existing actor's pinned content or wounds.

App note. Starting a platform run creates independent private monster play copies from prepared pins. Previewing or adding an entry does not create a play copy. Repeated retry-safe starting requests do not create duplicate creatures. Resume opens an existing run; Start new run creates fresh copies and preserves previous runs. Starting needs connectivity; an authorized cached run can support existing offline gameplay and queued state changes through its established synchronization.

These platform protections are implementation behavior, not extra tabletop rules. Paper play uses separate state lines or sheets. If the party returns to the same injured guardian, continue its actual state rather than accidentally substituting a fresh copy. If the group deliberately replays the situation, identify that new run.

A minimal live encounter ledger

At Council, coordinate the changed scene, address due continuation and refresh ordinary independent reactions. Starting the next round clears prior round intent/resolved markers, not injuries, current Vitality or every ongoing effect. Resolve tracks from actual dependencies. Advancing a phase is organizational; it does not automatically apply damage, expire effects or alter a linked character.

Ending a run records completion and aftermath without deleting its creatures or erasing consequences. Deleting preparation is not permission to erase independently playable copies. Archive relevant history and keep actual authorized state controls distinct from a viewer's budget references.

Mirror accounting and creation boundaries

Eligible reversal

Supported opposites include Add/Subtract, Multiply/Divide, Minimum/Maximum and Grant/Revoke. Reverse the actual eligible rule within its scope and access, respecting authored non-mirrorable limits. Set To has no automatic opposite. A descriptive reversal requires a coherent agreed meaning; a negative name alone establishes neither drawback nor credit.

The accepted personal drawback remains applied to its recipient. Separately granting the opposite to an ally does not remove it or repay the ledger. A drawback's condition and duration must still represent its real reviewed scope. Review claimed credit against the actual acquired definition rather than treating every inconvenience in play as a purchase refund.

Distinct budget figures

The default ceiling is 4 ×ceil(level/4): four at levels 1-4, eight at 5-8, twelve at 9-12, continuing. Creation accounting applies ordinary budget, then eligible credit, then any uncovered overflow. DM agreement is required for exceeding the ordinary allowance; limits on permitted credit and the next-level creation ceiling still apply. Do not treat a later soft sheet warning as permission to ignore the original agreement.

Three checked credit cases

Example A. Level 1, ordinary budget 25, positive spent 23, accepted credit zero. Base used 23, ordinary unspent 2, used debt zero. The four-point debt ceiling is only a limit; it does not give four extra BU.

Example B. Level 1, ordinary budget 25, positive spent 27, accepted eligible credit 2. Base used 25; used debt 2; unused credit zero; uncovered overflow zero; net spent 25. The two-point drawback remains actual. The accepted credit is below the four-point ceiling and net spent is below the next-level creation reference of 35.

Example C. Level 1, ordinary budget 25, positive spent 31, accepted credit 2. Base used 25; covered used debt 2; uncovered overflow 4; net spent 29. The ceiling does not invent another two or four credit. This proposal requires explicit DM approval for its uncovered excess and remains subject to the current creation limits. It is not a legal claim that every under-next-level proposal must be approved.

Item BU remains outside these character acquisition figures. Mirror credit is not another creature budget in encounter appraisal. CV and runtime consequences do not silently reduce positive acquisition spending.

Reference validation before publication or play

Definition checklist

• Can a reader identify actual recipients, behavior, conditions and ending terms?
• Does each numerical operation name its metric and intended stage?
• Are training upgrades, static bonuses and bias distinguished?
• Does targeting specify location and path rather than relying on range alone?
• Are duration and continuation separate from track timing?
• Do unusual triggers state their action economy instead of hiding extra actions?
• Are suggested prices and custom example prices labeled as reviewed proposals?
• Can the required definitions be read without an inaccessible catalogue link?

Ledger and state checklist

• Count actual acquisitions once, resolving shared references and deliberate quantities.
• Keep positive character/creature BU, eligible credit and separate Item BU legible.
• Verify foundation formulas before active contributions and current state.
• Check item quantity, carried Load, equipped quantity and final requirements independently.
• Preserve spent current Vitality when a maximum rises; do not infer healing from editing.
• Consume only actual short-rest restoration and retain unused recovery.
• Keep injuries, obligations, restrictions and ongoing work until their own endings.
• For repeated creatures, keep independent state and actual adopted definitions.

Reproducibility checklist

Test a normal use, an ambitious eligible use and an outside-scope request. Show at least one numerical breakdown where the construction affects a number. For contextual consequences, show what changes and how the record ends. For encounters, show quantity multiplication and which comparisons are unavailable rather than substituting zeros.

Retain the one pending alpha rule in its actual section: damage-triggered additional Vitality upkeep and counter handling. A temporary campaign treatment can be written and used by agreement, but must be labeled as that treatment. It must not appear elsewhere as a quietly settled core formula.

Digital and tabletop limits

The platform can support creation, validation, versioned references, permissions and synchronization. A software limit on record length or creature count is not a new law of the fictional world. A GM interface preference is not an account role granting private access. A preview is not a write action. A template is not the same thing as a creature's present state.

For compatible offline creation, preserve the readable definitions, acquisition ledger, calculation procedure and actual state. For digital use, preserve existing authorized controls and access checks. Both approaches serve the same play framework: make intentions intelligible, establish what supports them, agree stakes, resolve the relevant uncertainty and carry the consequences forward.

The primitive reference

This is the base construction language, not a catalogue of finished powers. A family describes a kind of rule; a tier describes a family-specific permission. Write the bound subject, recipients, conditions and limits of the actual primitive you acquire. You do not gain all the examples in a family by owning its name.

Default reference. The prices below are suggested acquisition anchors. Authors may propose other prices; the table can accept or revise them. Scaling an eligible use and acquiring new behavior are different decisions. A bigger payment does not supply missing access.

Three access families

These are separate purchases. Verb II is not Domain II. Domain access must identify its subject: Water I permits working with grounded water; it does not grant every Tier I domain. A higher tier describes broader kinds of change, not automatic omniscience, infinite output or success. Read the actual rule when tiers overlap a particular idea.

Reach and output

Extreme has no inaccessible gap at 121-239 ft. Its upper scope can extend by DM agreement. Range never supplies knowledge of a target: locate a specific target through an applicable sense, or use a genuinely authored alternative targeting method.

An output permission establishes a die type for an appropriate damage or healing construction. It is not an automatic attack, heal, number of dice, number of recipients or delivery method. Appraise those details for the actual use. A character without an acquired range or output category uses the Touch and 1d4 baselines.

Resolution and expression families

Range Scaling grants the permitted distance. Specify the maximum reach and any boundary or targeting condition. Increasing reach does not remove obstacles, concealment or the need to locate a particular target.

Speed and Quickening changes execution speed or timing. Identify which working can act faster and under what conditions. It does not silently remove a real dependency: an action cannot use a bridge before someone has created it.

Duration and Persistence establishes how long a result remains. Say whether it is instantaneous, has a fixed duration, follows an ending event or needs continuation. Duration alone grants neither automatic upkeep nor immunity to interference.

Semantic State Tags establishes a named state or qualifying property. Define what the state changes, who qualifies and how it ends. “Invisible,” “frozen” or “blessed” is not a complete rule by itself; it imports no package from another game.

Targeting Arrays and Dimensional Sizing establishes eligible arrangements, selectivity and spatial relationships. Define who can be included or excluded, the shape or target rule and relevant limits. Proposed actual area and recipients still enter appraisal; a field is not automatically harmless to allies.

Intensity and Damage Dice establishes output dice or numerical intensity. Specify damage/healing behavior, source and domain where relevant. Increasing dice count expresses scale; it does not automatically add an unrelated behavior or permission.

Character foundation families

Vitality Extension changes maximum Vitality or another explicit Vitality rule. Record the operation and scope. Maximum Vitality and current Vitality are separate: increasing the maximum does not itself heal the difference.

Practice and Character Core Progression establishes attribute increases, training, expertise, PB or related core contributions. A named practice's proficiency adds PB where applicable; expertise uses twice PB if granted. Repeating the same training grant does not repeatedly add PB. Current base attribute contributes in full to each of its practices.

Universal Mathematical Modifiers applies an operation to an identified quantity. Add, Subtract, Multiply, Divide, Minimum, Maximum, Set To, Grant and Revoke have distinct meanings. Specify whether the target is an attribute, a check, an attack, a save, maximum Vitality, speed or another quantity. A minimum result for one check is not a minimum value for its parent attribute.

Advantage and Probability Bias changes resolution dice or an explicitly named probability rule. Define its scope and stacking. By default, cancel opposing stacks one-for-one; N remaining stacks use N + 1 resolution dice, keeping the highest for advantage or lowest for disadvantage. A static roll bonus is separate.

Perception and Detection Qualifiers establishes what can be noticed or distinguished. Define the subject, conditions and resolution. Detecting a trace of magic does not automatically identify its maker, read their mind or precisely locate them.

Sensory Arrays and Informational Horizons establishes sensory channels and their boundaries: ordinary vision, granted blindsight, tremorsense or another authored sense. Specify reach, obstacles, information and limits. A sense may establish target location without revealing every fact about the target.

Spatial Mobility and Kinematic Locomotion grants a movement mode or changes its speed. Flight permission and flying speed are distinct details: record both. Ordinary swimming and climbing use half walking speed, rounded up; flight and burrowing need suitable access. Track movement across the whole round.

Structural Defenses and Passive Mitigations establishes resistance, vulnerability, immunity or another covered mitigation. State whether it applies to a source, a domain, a condition or a combination. Damage resistance halves matching damage, rounded up. Vulnerability doubles it; immunity negates covered damage. Damage immunity alone does not block every associated condition.

System and reality families

These families help authors express unusual workings precisely. They are not compulsory extra layers for simple actions. No universal four-tier cost ladder is supplied for every family: record and price the actual permission.

Runtime Trigger Hooks establishes an event that can activate a rule. Define the event, eligible observer/recipient, response and limitations. A trigger does not grant an extra action or Reaction Slot by itself; state how the response uses the action rhythm.

Kinetic and Spatial Control changes force, motion, position or spatial relationships. Define what can move, along what path and against which opposition. Restraining a target, redirecting a projectile and teleporting are different behaviors; their access cannot be inferred from the general family label.

Agency and Information Overrides changes decisions, communication, perception or information. State the actual intrusion, its recipients, resolution and ending conditions. Agree boundaries with the people playing. A suggestion is not automatically unrestricted control, and altered information is not unrestricted knowledge.

Structural Metamorphosis changes form, material or internal organization. Specify what persists, what changes and how the transformation ends. A cosmetic change need not grant another creature's attacks, equipment, defenses or action economy.

Action Economy Alterations changes the available intents, reactions or permitted timing. State the additional opportunity and any restrictions. An action-economy grant is not implied by a grand title, large size or high BU.

Capability Evaluation, Resource Strain, and Dial Management establishes a specific evaluation, resource or scaling rule. Describe what the quantity measures, how it is spent or refreshed and its relationship to a working. BU is acquisition accounting; Cost is execution pressure. Neither is automatically a mana pool or a roll bonus.

Temporal Ordering, Durations, and Stasis changes ordering, time relationships or suspension. Identify whose actions or effects are affected, the permitted interval and the ending terms. Specify how this interacts with Council and the tracks; avoid an undefined instruction to “take another turn.”

Boss Action Economy and Encounter Rhythms supports an explicitly authored creature rhythm. Record extra intents, reactions, triggers or opportunities, and make them legible before they resolve. “Boss” alone grants nothing. The shared rhythm remains Council → Fast → Measured → Heavy unless the table deliberately agrees an exception.

Additional families

Size Tier and Scale establishes size or an explicit scaling change. Define its actual effects. Size affects baseline movement and carrying capacity, but does not automatically multiply final equipped-slot requirements or grant damage dice.

Sheet Augment changes a specified sheet quantity or available capacity. State the field, operation, scope and limit. A grant of extra equipment slots changes slots; it does not automatically increase carrying capacity or Item BU.

Heritage Augment adds or changes a specific heritage rule, ingredient or limitation. Lineage, Upbringing and Manifest are narrative containers, not a requirement to choose exactly one of each or a universal class progression.

Item Augment adds or changes a stated item permission, modification, capacity or requirement. Specify whether it applies while carried, equipped or actively used. Item mechanics stay in the separate Item BU ledger; a container or item title does not waive Load or slot requirements.

Write a primitive people can read

Use this compact record: name; readable rule; target/recipient; operation or permission; value/subject; conditions; stacking/uniqueness; ending terms; suggested BU; provenance/version. Descriptive rules are valid; numerical automation is useful where the behavior is genuinely numerical.

Example: Steady Hands. “Add +2 to Finesse checks to thread or tie a rope while both hands are free.” The recipient is self; the operation is Add; the value is 2; the check and condition are explicit. It does not improve every Physical action. An author might propose 4 BU; that example price requires table agreement, rather than becoming a new canonical tariff.

Test a normal use, an ambitious use and a use outside the scope. For Steady Hands: securing a quiet mooring qualifies; tying a rope in a storm qualifies but the storm still matters; lifting a gate does not qualify. An understandable limit makes both play and review easier.

Worked records and table references

The following constructions reproduce their ingredients so they can be used without a live catalogue. They are examples, not additional mandatory character choices. Acquisition costs use the reference anchors; execution stakes remain contextual.

Mira: a complete starting character

Concept. Mira grew up repairing canal boats. She wants to reopen the abandoned trade route and discover why the river no longer follows its old course. She knows the work of water better than court etiquette and needs companions who can help her reach the old locks.

Her practices use the full parent attribute. Prowess, Finesse and Fieldcraft are +3; Awareness, Reason and Influence +3; Knowledge +5; Mysticism, Communion and Intuition +6. Those are combined check bonuses, not numbers to which the same attribute and PB are added again. Saving throws are separate: +3 Physical, +3 Mental and +6 Magical. The chosen proficient Magical attribute supplies PB to its saving throw as well as its practices; further grants and direct modifiers follow their actual scope.

River Caravan Upbringing organizes Verb II, Water I and Knowledge proficiency: 16 BU of the existing ledger. It describes canal work, communal repairs and the habit of asking where a current will go. It does not add a second charge for those acquisitions.

Guided Water, an effect. References Verb II, Water I and Near Range. It permits guiding or reshaping existing grounded water that Mira can locate within 30 ft. Define the actual volume, route and opposition for the attempted use. It supplies neither an invisible-target lock nor unconditional control of every flow.

River Hand, a capability. Uses Guided Water to redirect streams or transfer water between vessels. Ordinary small tasks can need no roll or meaningful Cost. A surging canal may require resolution, more time, help or agreed consequences. Duration and upkeep are agreed for the actual working. The d8 acquisition can support a separately defined water impact; River Hand's description alone is not a healing power.

Sample use. Mira diverts a narrow stream from a worker's legs. The table agrees that reshaping the existing water is within access; the worker is visible and 20 ft away. They choose a Magical check under current conditions, DC 12, before commitment. With Magical proficiency her combined bonus is +6. A roll of 7 gives 13. The diversion succeeds with the pre-agreed restriction: she keeps directing this channel until the worker crosses. There is no second purchase of Water I and no automatic d8 damage.

A complete ordinary item

Canal hook. A Medium two-handed pole with a hook used to draw a rope closer or brace a light object. It has no extraordinary ingredient: Item BU 0, Load 2, final equipped requirement 2 slots. A carried spare still adds Load but uses no equipped slot. Its length gives no automatic Near Range permission for extraordinary workings.

Mira can carry and equip one hook: 2 of 55 Load and 2 of 6 equipped slots. Two hooks contribute 4 Load; equipping both requires 4 slots. Ordinary price and availability are setting decisions, not BU. A backpack organizes them without increasing capacity by default.

Example authored augmentation. “While this hook is equipped and braced on a stable support, add +2 to Prowess checks to hold a gate open.” Record a proposed Item BU price, such as 4, for review. The condition and check are exact; it neither increases Physical nor helps every attack. The hook's two slots and Load 2 remain unless another explicit rule changes them. The augmented hook is a different item record, not a free benefit in the ordinary hook above.

Read a creature: Canal Watcher

Purpose. A river spirit guards a spawning bed beside a damaged sluice. It wants a safe flow, not slaughter. It warns anyone disturbing the gate and can negotiate if someone demonstrates a workable diversion.

The baseline follows r = sqrt(25/25) = 1; attribute points ceil(3r) = 3; PB 1 + ceil(r) = 2; Vitality ceil(25/2) = 13. It uses the same fully stated Verb II, Water I, Near Range and d8 definitions as Mira, totaling 20 BU. It has no Knowledge proficiency purchase.

Turn the Current. A capability referencing Guided Water's Verb II, Water I and Near Range ingredients. Redirect or reshape existing located water within 30 ft. State the actual path, volume, recipients and opposition before resolving. This does not automatically move a creature against its will; contest or another agreed resolution can be needed.

Water Impact. Uses those ingredients and d8 output to drive existing water into one located target within 30 ft. Example normal expression: 1d8 Magical Water damage, projected through the actual path. At this table it uses an attack check with Magical training, +3, against the target's DC; it does not also demand a save by default. Appraise changed volume, recipients, timing or effort separately. This sample expression grants no healing, resistance or extra actions.

Behavior and tells. The Watcher points toward the spawning bed before attacking. It prefers turning the current to injuring people. It retreats or talks when the threat to the bed ends. A dry bank deprives it of useful existing water; its unused BU does not grant water creation, armor or teleportation.

In the digital creature editor, practice-allocation slices may be recorded as Physical Prowess 2/Finesse 0/Fieldcraft 0; Magical Mysticism 1/Communion 0/Intuition 0; Mental all 0. Those allocations satisfy its base ledger; the displayed checks still use the relevant full current attribute and applicable training, as listed above.

Progress beyond level 21

Progression does not stop at level 20. Retain the published cumulative threshold at level 21, 286 BU. After that, add 10 each level and the subsequent four-level bracket spikes: +24 at level 25, +28 at 29, +32 at 33, continuing in that pattern. These are additions to the ordinary +10 at those levels. PB still follows 2 + floor((level - 1)/4).

Do not add a spike again to an already cumulative table value. Active PB and Vitality modifiers can change the resolved sheet.

Mirror credit without erasing the drawback

Example, not a mandatory build. A level 1 character has 25 BU and spends 27 on positive acquisitions. An accepted eligible personal drawback supplies 2 credit, giving 25 net spent and 2 actual used debt. The level 1 debt ceiling is 4. The positive build is also below the next-level creation ceiling of 35. Review the drawback's actual rule and obtain the DM's agreement to exceed the ordinary allowance.

Having a ceiling of 4 does not mean the character automatically receives 4 credit. A character spending 23 has 2 ordinary BU remaining, even if the sheet also shows potential mirror headroom. A character proposing 31 positive BU with only 2 valid credit remains 29 net spent: another 4 is not covered merely because a ceiling exists. Overflow still needs explicit agreement and must respect both applicable limits.

Compatible pairs are Add/Subtract, Multiply/Divide, Minimum/Maximum and Grant/Revoke. Set To has no automatic opposite. A personal drawback that revokes flight remains on that person; separately proposing flight for an ally does not repay or suppress it. A narrow condition or non-mirrorable rule must be respected.

At the table: a quick reference

1. State an intent. Confirm ordinary circumstances and extraordinary access.
2. Locate the target or establish an authored alternative. Declare actual reach, recipients, output and duration.
3. Agree uncertainty, stakes, Cost and its timing. Revise the attempt if needed.
4. Resolve the chosen check, contest, clash, attack or save; apply bias and modifiers once.
5. Record changed positions, current Vitality, movement used, reactions, consequences and ongoing requirements.

Glossary

Acquisition: an owned occurrence of a primitive, recorded in its ledger. References to it in several compositions are not extra purchases.

Attribute: Physical, Mental or Magical; use its current numerical value directly.

BU, Build Units: the acquisition measure. It is not automatically money, a spell resource or an encounter difficulty rating.

Capability: a working or talent organized from actual primitives, effects and readable rules.

Clash: a timing resolution when opposing intents meet; distinct from a contest of effort.

Complexity: the dependencies of an action, used in placing it in the shared rhythm; distinct from power or Strain.

Consequence: an actual change with a cause, applicable timing and ending/recovery terms.

Cost: the agreed pressure or consequence of an attempted execution; may be mechanical, restrictive, environmental or narrative.

Council: the coordination/continuation point at the beginning of a shared round.

DC: a difficulty target; a character's selected-attribute DC is distinct from their three saving throws.

Domain: the subject that an extraordinary permission can affect.

Effect: a reusable grouping of ingredients or outcomes; it is not an automatic new purchase.

Heritage: Lineage, Upbringing or Manifest: a narrative organization of actual acquired content.

Intent: the outcome an actor wants, stated before the resolution procedure is chosen.

Item BU: the separate acquisition accounting for equipment mechanics.

Load: carried burden; distinct from equipped slots, Item BU and ordinary value.

Mirror: an eligible reversed rule with actual scope and an accepted drawback; not an unrestricted cancellation trick.

PB: proficiency bonus. Apply applicable training once; expertise uses twice PB when granted.

Practice: an approach to a check associated with an attribute; ordinary attempts do not require training.

Primitive: a reusable permission or rule, with its own recipients, conditions and accounting.

Reaction: an immediate eligible response through an available independent slot and actual trigger.

Strain: contextual appraisal of how an attempt pushes the actor and situation, graded 0-6 as guidance.

Structure: the permitted arrangement of a working; it supplies no unrelated domain or verb access.

Template / play copy: a reusable creature definition / one independent creature's state in play.

Track: Fast, Measured or Heavy resolution timing in a shared round.

Upkeep: an agreed ongoing requirement of a maintained working; not necessarily damage.

Verb: the kind of change an extraordinary permission allows.

Vitality: current capacity to remain in action; its maximum and current value are separate.

Credits, rights and edition

SwordWeave by Marius Ion. Rules edition v0.1 alpha, digital publication 12 October 2026. Writing, design and technical preparation assisted by OpenAI tools under the creator's direction. The official source, current catalogue and corrections are at swordweave.quest. The three core books are free: swordweave.quest/books.

The original rules, explanatory game text, worked examples, tables and instructional diagrams in this edition are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International: creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0. You may copy, adapt and redistribute that material, including commercially, with appropriate attribution, a license link and an indication of changes. No royalty is required. Reuse does not imply official endorsement.

Suggested attribution: “Based on SwordWeave v0.1 alpha by Marius Ion, swordweave.quest, licensed CC BY 4.0. Changes: [describe your changes].” The bracketed phrase is an instruction to reusers, not a missing credit in this book.

The SwordWeave name, wordmark and brand identity identify the project; this notice grants no trademark or endorsement rights. Instructional diagrams and the original schematic adventure maps are included in the CC BY 4.0 text-and-diagram scope. Illustrations are AI-generated with OpenAI image-generation tools under Marius Ion’s direction; selected system creature art is reused from the original SwordWeave catalogue. Illustration generation records accompany the publication sources. The creator permits sharing the complete illustrated book noncommercially and printing it for personal or table use. Other reuse of separately identified illustrations requires permission; this notice does not assert exclusive copyright in purely generated expression. Keep the complete PDF, print it for your table and share it with friends. Fonts retain their own licenses: Unica One, Aubrey, Syne, Oxanium and IBM Plex Mono use the SIL Open Font License 1.1; embedding does not require licensing your new game text under the font license.

If these books help your games, you can buy the creator a coffee. Support is optional. Reading, downloading, sharing permitted content and playing do not require payment.

Alpha status. This is a complete alpha publication, open to corrections and table feedback. One specific rule remains undecided: additional Vitality upkeep payments triggered by incoming damage, including its threshold and counter handling. It is visibly marked in the upkeep section. Other agreed upkeep requirements remain usable; this edition does not impose that unsettled numerical scheme.

Topic index

Use this alphabetical index for a rule, construction procedure or worked example. PDF page numbers and links refer to this edition; web links go directly to the section.