Power Strike
Make one melee, bow, crossbow, sling, or thrown-weapon attack against a visible target within your weapon's range.
- On a hit, deal 4 damage instead of 2.
Official Core Rules · Launch Edition · v1.0 · 10 October 2026
You dream of a red fox with a green ribbon. He waits beside a cold fireplace, one paw lifted. From somewhere behind the bricks come three quiet taps.
A second fox sways on the mantel in a jester cap. He raises a flagon of ale in welcome and pours half of it down his sleeve. He looks surprised, then raises it again.
A silver-trimmed brass case. A spoon hanging in the air. Stairs descending beneath the earth. Every dreamer who joins you has seen them.
Then I offer you this book, open to a space for your name. We should fill that in before you wake.


Part I · Start your adventure · Everyone
There you are. I’m the Dream Master, and this book is my gift to you.
You’ll remember me from the dream: fine coat, questionable boots, a book waiting for your name. I chose a Mesmer’s face and a history to suit it—raised by an Alchemist, getting by on talent, luck, and excellent excuses. Apparently, that’s someone you’d trust with your future. We can examine that later.
Before you wake in Briarbound, choose who you’ll become: a name, useful skills, something to stand for, and a flaw worth the trouble. Start fresh or borrow one of six ready-made heroes. Their future is yours.
Your companions had the same dream. Decide why you’ll look out for one another. A shared dream is a promising introduction; lending someone your last rope makes it a friendship.
At the table, Briarbound is an adventure in RagNaroKolypse. Bring friends, a twenty-sided die, and a character sheet.
| At the table | Your part |
|---|---|
| Players | Speak and act as your heroes. Tell the Guide what you try and how. |
| Guide | Describe the world, play its people, and explain what follows the heroes’ choices. |
I’ve written the book. Your Guide runs the world. Tell them your plan before you climb out of the window.
Everyone · Table agreements
Agree on tone and boundaries before play. Choose a nonverbal signal too; anyone can step away without explaining.
| Say | What happens |
|---|---|
| Pause | Stop for a moment. |
| Rewind | Replace a moment that crossed a boundary. |
| Fade | Skip the details. |
Nobody owes the story their discomfort.
Everyone · Begin here
You need a hero and something you’re willing to try. The Character Vault walks you through the rest. No entrance exam. I misplaced it.
Can’t choose? Picture a moment you’d love to play: standing between a friend and danger, fooling a guard, or making something impossible happen. Start there. Your Guide can help.
Everyone · Choose your hero
What name will you answer to? Who will count on you? Give yourself a past and a hope for the future. You’re choosing a starting life, not planning every day of it.
| Detail | What to choose |
|---|---|
| Ideal | A belief that guides your choices. Nobody gets left behind. |
| Trouble | One flaw, fear, or habit that gets in your way. I cannot leave a mystery alone. |
| Knacks | Exactly two specific skills: rooftop courier routes, small machine repairs, or calming scared animals. |
A Knack helps when your experience fits. Trouble applies when your chosen flaw gets in the way; difficulty alone does not create it. Agree with the Guide before rolling. Other quirks need no extra numbers.
Three Pillars, six classes. Mix their abilities freely. A class gives you skills, not a personality. Aether is the magic running through this world.
Start with two Tier 1 abilities: your class’s included essential, plus one choice from any class. Your essential stays with you when you rebuild.
| Class | Every new hero starts with |
|---|---|
| Fighter | Power Strike — make your weapon hit harder. |
| Champion | Protect — step in and take a hit for someone. |
| Rogue | Thieves’ Toolkit — locks, disarming traps, and setting simple traps. |
| Mesmer | Thaumaturgy — ventriloquism, changing your voice, and dancing Aether lights. |
| Wizard | Aether Bolt — wield fire, frost, or lightning. |
| Alchemist | Scavenge — find useful scrap and ingredients. |
Choose your abilities → The library gives each cost, effect, and limit.
Choose a ready-made hero in the Character Vault. Each starts with a class and an Ideal. Make either your own.
| Hero · Class | Ideal |
|---|---|
| Rowan Vale · Fighter | Nobody should face danger alone. |
| Aster Bell · Champion | Mercy is worth the risk. |
| Sable Quill · Rogue | Everyone deserves a way out. |
| Pippa Gleam · Mesmer | Help people feel seen and understood. |
| Mira Thistle · Wizard | Knowledge should help people. |
| Tilda Reed · Alchemist | Make life better with what you can build. |
Part II · For players · The Guide reads this too
Describe what you try and how. These chapters cover action, shared challenges, recovery, and growth. Keep your abilities handy; visit the brewing chapter when you need a mixture or a machine.
Players can stop at For the Guide. Leave the adventure’s secrets for the adventure.
For players · Action
The Fate Die is a d20. Roll only when the action is possible, the result uncertain, and failure would change the situation. Explain your plan first.
An open gate needs no roll. Passing its guard in a borrowed uniform might.
| Your roll | What to keep |
|---|---|
| Normal | Roll one d20. |
| Knack | Roll two; keep the higher. |
| Trouble | Roll two; keep the lower. |
| Both | They cancel: roll one die normally. |
Extra Knacks or Troubles never add dice. Use your kept result below.
| Die | Outcome | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Catastrophe | Fail; the situation takes a serious turn related to your attempt. Then gain 1 AP. |
| 2–8 | Failure | Your intent does not land; something changes against you. Then gain 1 AP. |
| 9–14 | Haggle with Fate | Succeed. The Guide offers meaningful prices; you choose. |
| 15–19 | Success | Achieve your intent. |
| 20 | Triumph | Succeed with an extra edge, double this roll’s damage, and recover 1 AP. |
A Haggle succeeds. You get over the wall but leave your rope or alert the guard. Making you fall instead would be failure wearing a false moustache. Don’t let it in.
You: “I cross the roofs to reach the upper window.”
Guide: “The tiles are slick. A slip will bring the guards. Your rooftop courier Knack fits: roll two dice and keep the higher.”
You keep a 12: Haggle with Fate. You reach the window. The Guide offers a price: leave your rope behind, or let a guard spot which roof you’re on. You choose.
Now you’re at the window, one rope or one secret lighter. What do you do?
You can sneak, bargain, disguise yourself, pick a lock with tools, follow tracks, or attack with a suitable weapon without an ability. Roll for real uncertainty and risk. Abilities grant reliable permission, stronger effects, or extraordinary possibilities.
| In conflict | Rule |
|---|---|
| Turn order | The party chooses its order, then the Guide’s active characters act. Enemies may lead after an ambush or an action already underway; the Guide explains why. |
| Your turn | A move and one action. Split movement around the action if you wish; you cannot trade movement for another action. |
| Weapon damage | Common weapons deal 2 damage; unarmed attacks deal 1. Special gear may say otherwise. |
Write useful verbs beside gear: cut, hook, brace, distract. Running out of AP does not turn your staff into a decorative stick.
| Distance | What it means |
|---|---|
| In reach | Touch or strike it from where you stand. |
| Nearby | Move there this turn. |
| In range | You have a clear ranged shot this turn. |
| Too far | Get closer first. |
Ranged effects need a clear route unless their text says otherwise.
Parley to change a mind. Improvise with the room. Retreat to change position. Clash to use force. These are starting ideas, not a menu.
Apply a fitting Knack or Trouble. Pay ability AP before rolling. Roll once; there is no second resistance roll.
| Attack | On 9 or higher | On 1–8 |
|---|---|---|
| Basic attack | Deal weapon damage. | Deal none. |
| Ability marked Roll | Apply its written damage and effects. | The effect fails; the situation changes. AP stays spent, then gain 1 AP for the failed roll. |
Use the optional 0–99 weapon tracker for arrows, bolts, bullets, or limited wand and staff charges. Leave melee weapons and unlimited items Untracked.
| Label | How to use it |
|---|---|
| Automatic | Meet the conditions, pay AP, and apply the effect. No roll. |
| Reaction | Use at its trigger, even outside your turn. One reaction per round; it does not spend your next action. |
| Free | No AP cost. Uses your action unless it says it uses your move. |
| Paired techniques | One learned choice, one payment, one technique per use. |
Concentration: Sustain one concentration ability at a time. Starting another ends the first. You can move and act unless directing the effect needs your action. Incapacitation ends it; damage ends it only when the ability says so.
Stacking and helpers: Duplicate effects do not stack. Use only the strongest damage reduction; never combine a reduction with halving. No extra turns unless explicitly granted. Helpers use your action unless their text says otherwise.
Conditions: Hidden, prone, pinned, and blinded describe the situation. They can change what you can attempt or bring a fitting Knack or Trouble. They add no hidden number modifiers; follow each ability’s end condition.
With no attacker—a fire or falling beam—each affected hero makes one reflexive roll, with a fitting Knack or Trouble. It does not spend your next turn. Usual failure and Triumph AP rewards apply.
| Result | Outcome |
|---|---|
| Success / Triumph | Get clear. |
| Haggle | Avoid the worst; choose a price. |
| Failure | Suffer the hazard. |
| Catastrophe | Suffer it and a related complication. |
For players · Shared challenges
Use a Trial for a shared challenge with several approaches: a chase, a mountain crossing, an escape from rising water. Before rolling, the Guide states what success achieves and failure changes.
| Trial | Finish before |
|---|---|
| Short | 3 successes before 2 failures. |
| Extended | 5 successes before 4 failures. |
Choose the matching tracker. Each contribution uses a distinct approach and one roll, with a fitting Knack or Trouble.
| Result | Mark the tracker |
|---|---|
| Success / Haggle / Triumph | One success. Haggle adds a chosen price; Triumph adds an edge, never a second success. |
| Failure | One failure and a setback. |
| Catastrophe | One failure and changed terms: a route closes, a threat arrives, or the party splits. |
Roll every contribution. An ability that solves the whole danger ends the Trial; otherwise, it sets up an approach and you roll for what remains uncertain.
There is no prize for rolling dice after you’ve solved the problem.
Outside Trials, a helper who can meaningfully assist and share the consequences may grant the acting hero a Knack. It does not stack with another Knack. Failure should leave something new to play, not a demand to repeat the same roll.
For players · Recovery
Start with 10 maximum HP and 10 AP. HP measures harm; AP pays for abilities. Neither measures how brave you sound.
| Track | Rule |
|---|---|
| HP | Damage bottoms out at 0; healing stops at your maximum. |
| AP | Pay when you use an ability; have enough before you begin. Pay the full cost even on a miss or interruption; a failed meaningful roll then earns 1 AP. Keep leftovers between scenes and sessions: there is no maximum. Routine AP comes only from rests and meaningful Fate rolls: kept 1–8 or 20 grants 1 AP. |
| Hero at 0 HP | Incapacitated: no normal actions or reactions until healed or able to take a Short Rest. Enemies return to their goals rather than continuing to attack you. |
| NPC at 0 HP | Defeated: unconscious, fleeing, surrendered, or captured. Choose what settles the conflict. |
All recovery lives in the sheet’s Regroup panel. Ask the Guide whether you have the safety and time to rest, then choose one button.
| Button or event | Recovery | When |
|---|---|---|
| Short Rest · HP to 5, +3 AP | Raise HP to 5 if lower; keep higher HP. Gain 3 AP. No advancement. | A safe breather with no enemies nearby. One award per actual rest; concoctions stay ready. |
| Full Rest · HP/AP to 10 | Restore all HP (normally 10); raise AP to 10, keeping higher totals. At 5/5 Marks, gain one level and one ability choice, then clear the track. Keep partial progress. Reset Mark slots only when you level up. Unused concoctions expire. | The Guide agrees there is safety and enough time to recover. No night/day requirement. |
| Triumph | Gain 1 AP. | Every hero Triumph, including reflexive rolls. |
| Failure or Catastrophe · kept 1–8 | Gain 1 AP after resolving the consequence. | A meaningful hero roll: attacks, exploration, reflexes, or harmful concoctions. Once per roll, never per target. |
Use the kept die. Normal, Knack, and Trouble all grant 1 AP on 1–8 or 20, and none on 9–19. Trouble grants no extra AP. Pay an ability’s listed cost before rolling; the failure reward comes afterward. No reward for pointless checks, automatic effects, or an interrupted action with no roll.
You missed the goblin. Unfortunately, you have another idea.
A tiny use of a learned ability is free only when it carries no risk and no meaningful advantage. No roll is needed.
| A flourish may… | It cannot… |
|---|---|
| Add harmless color, motion, or drama to an ability you know. | Damage, heal, protect, make a mixture, bypass an obstacle, or duplicate another useful effect. |
Ask the Guide if the line is unclear. Useful exploration magic costs its listed AP. Enjoy the fluttering coat; pay for Fly across the chasm.
Agree before play and check again when death becomes possible. At 0 HP you remain Incapacitated. If you suffer further harm before rescue, you choose death or a lasting change of comparable weight. Never remove a hero through an unagreed rule. Champion’s Tier 5 Restore Life keeps its time limit and consent requirement.
For players · Growth
Earn Marks on the road. A Full Rest turns them into new tricks.
Each class has five tiers. Tier 1 is open in all six classes. Each tier has three abilities: 15 per class, 90 abilities in all.
| Abilities learned in this class | Available tiers |
|---|---|
| 0–1 | Tier 1 |
| 2–3 | Tiers 1–2 |
| 4–5 | Tiers 1–3 |
| 6–7 | Tiers 1–4 |
| 8 or more | Tiers 1–5 |
Starting choices count. Count each ability only in its own class. Spend one choice to learn one ability from an open tier; learn each once. Lower tiers stay available, and no ability requires a specific earlier pick. Levels do not increase maximum HP or weapon damage.
Each level has five reserved slots: two personal Class Marks and three shared story milestones. Record awards when the Guide gives them. Neither kind can replace the other.
| Award | Earn it by | Limit |
|---|---|---|
| Class Marks | Expressing your class through a meaningful action, including a hybrid class ability. Your Ideal or Trouble can inspire it. A clever failed attempt can count; repeating a tiny trick cannot. | Two slots per hero per level, across all classes. Resting does not reopen them. |
| Story milestones (Adventure Marks) | A planned party goal achieved together: rescue someone, uncover an important truth, or overcome a major obstacle. | Three slots per hero per level. Each milestone grants one Mark to every hero in the party. No individual contribution test, extra awards, or overflow banking. |
Two personal moments. Three team achievements. Give every player room to earn their two Class Marks during the planned leveling period. Most advancement comes from the party’s shared goals; one hero’s clever turn does not replace a team milestone.
Fill five Marks, then stop. The track stays at 5/5 and accepts no further awards until Full Rest in Regroup turns it into one level and one ability choice. Browsing spells can wait until nobody is chasing us.
Your Ideal or Trouble may inspire a deed worth a Class Mark within the same two-Mark allowance; neither grants a separate award or AP by itself. Knack and Trouble affect fitting rolls, including attacks, with the same AP rewards as normal rolls.
When the Guide agrees you can rest, press Full Rest in Regroup.
The sheet keeps your earned choices available. New Marks earned after resting wait for another Full Rest before granting further choices. Short Rest never advances your hero.
Mark limits are per level, period. Short Rest, Full Rest below 5/5, and a new tabletop session never reset them. If the party has all three story milestones but a hero has only one Class Mark, that hero stays at 4/5; give them a meaningful chance to express their class before the next leveling rest.
| Class | Make a difference through… |
|---|---|
| Fighter | Weapon skill or tactics. |
| Champion | Keeping a costly promise or standing up for someone. |
| Rogue | Wit or daring. Theft is optional. |
| Mesmer | Insight or performance. |
| Wizard | Magical knowledge or instinct. |
| Alchemist | Invention or experimentation. |
Reward meaningful attempts, including failures. Give quieter companions room to name theirs. Heroes may earn through any class and learn from any open tier.
During a Full Rest, the Guide may agree to a rebuild in legal tier order. Keep your level, Marks, essential, and choice budget: two starting abilities plus one per resolved advancement. Banked choices remain yours; no new rewards or refunds. Unused concoctions still expire. The rebuilt choices work immediately.
Returning with an older hero? The Vault keeps your choices and adds a missing class essential without taking an ability away. Marks already banked under earlier rules are preserved and resolve at your next Full Rest; no further Marks can be added to a full track. That one-time extra starting choice stays on future rebuilds. The older session conversion grants five historical Marks per completed session, capped at 88 extra choices. New awards resolve at Full Rest. Earlier pending abilities activate when you load the updated sheet.
For players · Brewing and engineering
A bottle, a clever little mechanism, and something picked from a suspicious hedge. Now we have options.
| Concoction rule | At the table |
|---|---|
| Two ready doses | Includes gifts until used. They survive Short Rest and expire at your next Full Rest. |
| One action to use | Drink, give, apply, throw, or release a dose unless it says otherwise. Anyone can use it; AP was paid when making it. |
| Helpful use works | Beneficial doses require a willing recipient. You can administer healing to an Incapacitated creature. Medicine and buffs also work on NPCs. |
| Harmful use rolls | Use normal Fate with fitting Knack or Trouble. The dose is spent even on failure. Triumph doubles damage, not healing, targets, or duration; the roller gets normal AP rewards. No second resistance roll. |
| Respect the limits | Matching bonuses do not stack. No AP, extra turns, or stronger effects from unlearned abilities. A trigger uses its maker’s roll and grants no extra attack. |
Aether leaves useful peculiarities in living things. Learn what an ingredient likes to do; you needn’t memorize a formula. These are ideas, not extra abilities. The Guide may approve other ingredients with the same useful property.
Hushcap suits Vaporcraft’s sleeping vapor. Grinberry suggests a distracting hallucination; Stitchmoss supports stronger medicine as you learn it.
| Reagent | What it does in a concoction |
|---|---|
| Stitchmoss — Soft moss that grows along old bark seams. | Mending and recovery; useful in healing medicine. |
| Cinderpepper — Rust-red pods that stay warm after picking. | Heat and explosive force; useful in bombs and pressure devices. |
| Hushcap — A velvet mushroom that folds when touched. | Calm and drowsiness; useful in sleeping vapor. |
| Grinberry — Pale berries with a crooked red seam. | Odd colors and misleading sounds; useful in hallucination vapor. |
| Bristlethorn Bark — Tough bark from thorny hedgerows. | Stiffening and protection; useful in coatings and Ironhide tonic. |
| Springheel Root — A curled root that bounces when dropped. | Energy and springiness; useful in Boon or Springblood potions. |
| Whisperwillow Sap — Sticky sap from drooping silver leaves. | Dampened rattles and steady nerves; useful in a stealth-flavored Boon. |
| Copperdew — Copper-colored beads found on old aether-fed roots. | Slippery motion and loosened bonds; useful in repairs and solvent. |
| Glimmerpollen — Luminous dust caught inside bell-shaped flowers. | Light and bright confidence; useful in a signal gadget or a performance-flavored Boon. |
| Rimepetal — A cool blue flower that keeps its dew at noon. | Cooling and steadiness; useful in a pressure rig or a concentration-flavored Boon. |
A timer releases a flask. A pressure rig launches it. A clockwork courier brings medicine to someone you cannot reach.
The device delivers the concoction; it does not multiply it. Use its normal effect, action, and roll. Reusable devices need plausible parts and fitting reagents, not another resource meter. Keep the written limits: one action remains one action.
For players · Ability reference
The ability library gives every cost, effect, and limit. Search by name or effect, check your open tiers, and read the whole entry. Especially the part about how long you can fly.
Might
A nick in the blade. A steady hand. First through the door.
Melee, ranged weapons, strength, and battlefield movement.
Make one melee, bow, crossbow, sling, or thrown-weapon attack against a visible target within your weapon's range.
When a physical hit would damage you, reduce that hit by 3, to a minimum of 0.
Leap to a nearby place you can see and land on.
Make one melee or ranged weapon attack against a visible creature within your weapon's range.
Choose Cleave with a melee weapon or Twin Shot with a ranged weapon.
Break an ordinary wooden door, chain, or person-sized wooden obstacle within reach.
After a visible enemy within your weapon's range misses you with an attack, immediately make one basic melee or ranged weapon attack against it.
Make one melee or ranged weapon attack against a visible target within your weapon's range.
For one minute, lift, brace, or push an ordinary object up to the size of a small wagon.
Choose Whirlwind with a melee weapon or Volley with a ranged weapon.
For the scene, enemies cannot move past you through a doorway or gap you could physically block while you remain standing there.
Make a ranged weapon attack against one visible target within your weapon's range.
Choose Earthshaker by striking the ground, or Arrowstorm with a ranged weapon.
When a hit would take you to 0 HP, remain at 1 HP instead.
Perform one brief feat of strength with an ordinary object up to the size of a wagon: hurl it nearby into empty space, hold a falling gate, or tear open a stone wall.
Might
A shield held over someone smaller.
Hold the line, shelter allies, and carry Aether into battle through weapons.
When an ally within reach takes a hit, take that hit in their place and reduce its damage by 2, to a minimum of 0.
Touch a living creature and restore 4 HP, up to its maximum.
Channel fire, frost, lightning, or radiance through a melee weapon and attack one visible creature in reach.
Channel radiance through a melee weapon and attack one visible creature in reach.
Touch a willing creature.
Call to one nearby enemy who can hear and understand you.
Sweep a melee weapon through fire, frost, lightning, or radiance.
Plant your feet and raise your shield, weapon, or armored forearm.
When an effect would forcibly move you or a willing ally within reach, prevent that movement.
Restore 4 HP to each of up to three nearby living creatures, up to their maximums.
Drive radiance through a melee weapon and attack one visible creature in reach.
Raise a nearby wall of light spanning an ordinary doorway.
For the scene, you and up to two nearby willing allies ignore the first hit that would take each of you to 0 HP, remaining at 1 HP.
Sweep a melee weapon to send a crescent of radiant force at up to three visible nearby enemies.
Spend ten uninterrupted minutes touching someone who died within the last minute when you began.
Guile
Soft soles, clever fingers, and an entirely innocent expression.
Stealth, practical disguises, misdirection, and daring escapes.
Move into nearby cover or darkness and become Hidden from creatures that cannot see into it.
With your tools, open an ordinary lock, disarm an ordinary trap you have found, or set a simple tripwire alarm or snare.
Spend one minute using makeup, wigs, costume pieces, and practiced mimicry to pass as a person whose appearance and voice you have studied.
Make a weapon attack from Hidden.
When an attack hits you and there is space to dodge, halve its final damage, rounded up.
Use a performance, planted prop, or convincing diversion to occupy one nearby creature's attention.
Slip ordinary ropes, manacles, or a creature’s physical grip.
Use your action to deploy a dressed puppet or stand-in decoy resembling you at a nearby point.
Spend an uninterrupted minute concealing your group in suitable terrain.
For this turn, move silently through nearby occupied spaces and ignore mundane pressure plates or tripwires without triggering them.
Make a ranged weapon attack at a target you can see in range.
Spend ten minutes using screens, painted cloth, props, and sounds to disguise one ordinary nearby room for up to one hour.
For the scene, move unnoticed while you remain in shadow, cover, or a crowd.
Spend ten minutes rehearsing a person you have observed closely, using your costume kit to copy their appearance, voice, and mannerisms for one scene.
When you would take damage, move to a safe nearby place you can see and avoid that one hit.
Guile
A borrowed face. A whispered thought. Surely you imagined it.
Psychic insight, theatrical wonders, and illusions with a touch of Aether.
Mix stagecraft with a little Aether: throw your voice to a nearby spot you can see, change how you sound, or conjure an illusion of dancing colored lights nearby.
Focus on a nearby creature you can see.
Wrap yourself in an Aether illusion that changes your face, hair, skin, and the appearance of your clothing for up to ten minutes while you concentrate.
Project a simple false sight, sound, or matching sight and sound into the mind of one nearby creature you can see while you concentrate, up to one minute.
Focus the attention of one nearby creature that can see or hear you.
Push one nearby creature a few paces with your mind.
When a nearby creature tries to read your thoughts, alter your emotions or memories, or direct your actions with a psychic ability, block that one attempt.
Link minds with up to three willing nearby creatures you can see.
Project a moving, speaking copy of yourself into the mind of one nearby creature you can see, up to one minute while you concentrate.
While you concentrate, up to one minute, lift one unattended object up to the size of a wagon nearby, or a willing creature.
Place one short, plausible suggestion in the mind of one nearby creature that understands you.
Over one minute, share one willing nearby creature's recollection of an event lasting no more than ten minutes.
Choose one technique; concentrate for up to ten minutes.
Choose one technique.
Choose psychic force or manifested Aether, then roll once against up to three creatures you can see nearby.
Magic
A steady hand. An unruly spark. You meant to do that.
Shape Aether through natural instinct, studied spellcraft, or both.
While you concentrate, up to ten minutes, move one unattended object no heavier than you could carry in one hand within Nearby.
Choose fire, frost, or lightning as you cast, shaping it by instinct or a practiced formula.
Shape one small patch of nearby fire, water, air, or loose earth you can see: bend a campfire away from a trapped hand, lift a bucketful of water, send a gust through a dusty room, or heap loose soil into a step.
Shape Aether into a shell of floating stone or shimmering force around yourself or one willing creature within reach.
Choose Gust or Frost each time you cast; pay 1 AP once for the chosen effect.
Study one visible object or creature within reach for one minute.
Become a swift ribbon of wind and move yourself and your carried gear to a safe nearby place you can see.
Release a surge of fire, frost, or lightning, chosen when you cast.
Over one minute, form a bridge or ramp of ice across a nearby gap you can see, anchored to solid ground at both ends.
While you concentrate, up to one minute, create a doorway-wide curtain of fire at a nearby point you can see.
Choose one magical technique; concentrate for up to ten minutes.
When a creature you can see nearby activates a magical ability costing 3 AP or less, interrupt its Aether pattern by instinct or a practiced counter-formula.
Pour a bowl of ordinary water onto the ground within reach to open a doorway of flowing water to a safe place you have personally visited within a day's ordinary travel.
Roll once against up to three enemies you can see nearby.
Over one minute, reshape a nearby mass of ordinary earth or stone up to wagon size into a bridge, doorway, ramp, or shelter.
Magic · Brewing and engineering
A stained notebook. A patient hand. Something remarkable in the next bottle.
Inventor, chemist, and engineer: turn scraps into concoctions and ingenious machines.
Spend 1 AP and a quiet minute searching for useful scrap or ingredients.
Use fitting material and a quiet minute to make one healing potion for 1 AP.
Use fitting scrap and a quiet minute to make one pipe bomb for 1 AP.
Prepare a sleeping vapor or a hallucination vapor with a fitting reagent.
With fitting scraps and your kit, spend a quiet minute making a palm-sized tool, timer, or trigger.
Pack a fitting volatile reagent into a flask or simple charge.
Prepare a medicine that restores 6 HP, or ends one ordinary poison or disease.
In a quiet minute, fit your tools with a reagent-powered pressure chamber.
In a quiet minute, build a hand-sized helper with 3 HP, powered by a fitting reagent.
Prepare one tonic: Ironhide reduces the drinker’s next three physical hits by 2 each this scene; Springblood grants a Knack on their next three physical rolls this scene.
Spend ten quiet minutes building a reagent-powered guardian with 6 HP.
Prepare a solvent for ordinary wood, rope, or metal.
Prepare a restorative mist.
Spend an hour building a wagon-sized engine fueled by fitting reagents.
Over an hour, turn a wagonload of ordinary nonliving material into wood, stone, glass, or iron.
Part III · For the Guide · Behind the screen
Players: stop here. The remaining chapters cover Guide procedures and the first adventure’s secrets. Let those arrive in their own time.
Every hero remembers the shared dream. Begin awake, with a situation to act on, people with reasons, and choices that matter. My gift prepares them. They decide what happens next.
Look up a rule when needed, agree on what it means, and return to the scene. Confidence is useful; pretending to remember is considerably less so.
For the Guide · Running the game
Describe what’s clear, what seems odd, and what needs a decision. Give people wants; show danger before it strikes. If clever play avoids your fight, let it. Their choices are the adventure.
Before a roll: possible, uncertain, consequential. Establish stakes, agree on Knack or Trouble, and resolve the attempt once.
Flour disturbed by a claw. A spoon shifting without a hand. A warm room with a cold fireplace. Give players a detail that offers a question, a clue, or something to use. Then let them investigate.
| Type | HP / Damage | Use |
|---|---|---|
| Commoner | 2 HP / 1 damage | Someone who yields or flees when threatened. |
| Minion | 4 HP / 2 damage | Capable opposition with a simple job. |
| Boss | 10 HP / 4 damage | A named opponent with an agenda and escape route. |
| Great threat | 16–24 HP / 4–6 damage | Clear warning, phases, and weaknesses players can exploit. |
Give each a want (their goal), tell (what reveals them), trick (what they can do), and break (what makes them bargain, flee, or surrender). Even someone blocking a door should have a reason to stay there.
Roll where everyone can see. Use this table for NPCs, not the hero Fate table.
| Die | Outcome |
|---|---|
| 20 | Double damage and an edge. |
| 15–19 | Full damage. |
| 9–14 | The target’s player chooses half damage, rounded up, or a smaller change in position you offer. |
| 2–8 | Miss; things shift toward the heroes. |
| 1 | No damage. Offer two disastrous outcomes for the NPC; the players choose one. |
Do not apply hero Knacks or Trouble to the Guide’s die. Hero reactions can still reduce damage. Opponents gain no automatic HP or damage when heroes level up; change their plans, tools, and positions. Stop combat when its conflict is settled.
Guide only · First-adventure spoilers
Players, leave these pages to your Guide. You’ll meet the fox soon enough. The people behind the borrowed faces are more fun to discover yourself.
Guide, these are the opening adventure’s facts. The dream offers glimpses of them, not instructions or guaranteed outcomes. Keep the heroes free to investigate, help, bargain, or walk another way.
Elira Vale, a merchant aboard the descending airship, begs the heroes in a forest clearing to deliver a closed chest to Mayor Sven in nearby Tallowmere. The Dawn Lantern travels inside this silver-trimmed brass chest. Elira lends her matching key and asks for it back. The Mayor holds the other key; either opens the case. He usually lights the Lantern, but anyone can light its wick.
First the heroes find Pip in a snare beside the road. Farther along, Crik and Tubble ransack a wagon. Defeating them yields a shared loot pouch: 12 silver coins, a polished amber stone, and two travel rations.
Loxxi is the very flirty human owner and bartender. She knowingly covers for the goblins because, good or bad, they buy plenty of food and drink. Lantern light leaves her human. Pip is Mayor Sven's ordinary pet red fox, with a green ribbon and a brass tag bearing the tavern’s name; reveal his owner after the rescue. MNO, Loxxi’s eleven-year-old relative, is hiding in the pantry. They have a small psychic gift for moving objects; its source is unknown.
Four goblins wear human glamours. They hold the real Mayor in the kitchen’s storage cellar. Their leader, Nib Knucklebone, wants the Lantern and a way out through the rear window. He also seeks an old entrance, but does not know it lies behind the fireplace.
Let the heroes notice clues: someone names the Lantern before being told about it; a claw print marks spilled flour; Pip distrusts a familiar-looking guest. Lantern light strips away glamour. Looking can reveal clues without a roll; roll only when the attempt brings real risk.
Keep the two routes separate:
After the tavern confrontation, free Sven from the cellar. Pip runs to him, revealing their bond. Sven happily lets his fox tag along if the heroes promise to feed him and give him tummy rubbles. Once everyone is back upstairs, a loud crash comes from beneath the fireplace, followed by a howl. End today's session there.
The Catarynths are ancient chambers beneath Tallowmere, not creatures. Their greater purpose remains unknown. The Hollow Crown backs Nib’s smugglers and their enchanted glamour pins; the pins’ maker is unnamed. Couriers headed for Briarwatch Tower keep disappearing. Leave their fate for a later adventure.
When Nib is trapped, Defeated, or gone, the other goblins may give up or flee. Check where the Lantern, Mayor, MNO, and smugglers are now, and what each wants. Follow the consequences of the heroes’ choices. Nobody needs to arrive at an ending merely because you prepared it.
Credits and copyright
Briarbound’s setting and original writing are © 2026 NeonWindmill.
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