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BRIARBOUNDAbility Grimoire

Three pillars · Six classes · Five tiers

The Ability Grimoire

Pick a trick worth getting into trouble for.

90 abilities. Begin with your class’s essential and one other Tier 1 choice. Earn Marks on the road; choose new abilities together at Gather at the Hearth.

How ability choices work
  • Unlock tiers: learn 2 / 4 / 6 / 8 abilities in a class to open Tier 2 / 3 / 4 / 5. Lower tiers stay open.
  • Pay once: use your action unless the entry says otherwise. Roll effects succeed on 9+; Haggle adds a chosen price. Automatic effects need no roll.
  • Triumph: double damage to each target; recover 1 AP, or 2 AP total with Trouble. Award AP once per roll. Automatic effects never double damage.
  • Keep the limits: one concentration effect and one reaction per round. Duplicate effects do not stack; use only the strongest damage reduction.

Action rules → Learning & the Hearth →

Might

Fighter

A nick in the blade. A steady hand. First through the door.

Melee, ranged weapons, strength, and battlefield movement.

  • Your approach. Swordsman, archer, or weapon thrower: choose the tools that suit you.
  • Ranged attacks. Need a ready weapon, a clear shot, and ammunition.
  • Paired techniques. Share one learned choice and AP cost. Choose one technique each time.

Tier 1

1 APRollEssential starting ability

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.
1 APReaction

Brace

When a physical hit would damage you, reduce that hit by 3, to a minimum of 0.

FREEAutomatic

Long Jump

Leap to a nearby place you can see and land on.

  • This uses your move, not your action; it cannot carry you farther than Nearby.

Tier 2

1 APRoll

Disarm

Make one melee or ranged weapon attack against a visible creature within your weapon's range.

  • On a hit, deal normal weapon damage and knock one held object onto the ground nearby.
  • It takes an action to recover it.
2 APRoll

Cleave / Twin Shot

Choose Cleave with a melee weapon or Twin Shot with a ranged weapon.

  • Make one attack roll against two visible enemies: both must be in melee reach for Cleave, or within your weapon's range for Twin Shot.
  • On a hit, deal 3 damage to each.
  • Twin Shot needs one arrow, bolt, sling stone, or thrown weapon per target.
1 APAutomatic

Break Through

Break an ordinary wooden door, chain, or person-sized wooden obstacle within reach.

  • Enchanted barriers and thick stone remain intact.

Tier 3

2 APReaction

Counterattack

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.

  • This uses your reaction; a ranged counterattack needs a ready weapon and ammunition.
2 APRoll

Pin Down

Make one melee or ranged weapon attack against a visible target within your weapon's range.

  • On a hit, deal normal damage and pin it in place with a grip or a projectile fixing clothing or gear to a nearby solid surface.
  • Without a grip or suitable surface, deal only the damage.
  • It or an ally must spend an action to free it; it can still act.
1 APAutomatic

Mighty Lift

For one minute, lift, brace, or push an ordinary object up to the size of a small wagon.

  • You must stay in reach and use both hands; this grants no attack bonus.

Tier 4

3 APRoll

Whirlwind / Volley

Choose Whirlwind with a melee weapon or Volley with a ranged weapon.

  • Make one attack roll against up to three visible enemies: all must be in melee reach for Whirlwind, or within your weapon's range for Volley.
  • On a hit, deal 4 damage to each.
  • Volley needs one arrow, bolt, sling stone, or thrown weapon per target.
2 APAutomatic

Hold the Line

For the scene, enemies cannot move past you through a doorway or gap you could physically block while you remain standing there.

  • They can attack you, move you with an ability, or find another route.
3 APRoll

Crushing Shot

Make a ranged weapon attack against one visible target within your weapon's range.

  • On a hit, deal 6 damage and break one ordinary shield or piece of cover protecting it.
  • You must be able to see part of the target; this cannot shoot through solid walls.

Tier 5

4 APRoll

Earthshaker / Arrowstorm

Choose Earthshaker by striking the ground, or Arrowstorm with a ranged weapon.

  • Make one roll against up to three visible enemies: nearby and standing on the same ground for Earthshaker, or within your weapon's range for Arrowstorm.
  • On a hit, each takes 6 damage and falls prone.
  • Standing costs their move.
  • Arrowstorm needs one arrow, bolt, sling stone, or thrown weapon per target.
4 APReaction

Unbreakable

When a hit would take you to 0 HP, remain at 1 HP instead.

  • Once per scene.
4 APAutomatic

Legendary Feat

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.

  • It cannot directly injure or trap a creature.

Might

Champion

A shield held over someone smaller.

Hold the line, shelter allies, and carry Aether into battle through weapons.

  • Your approach. Mix bulwark and spellsword abilities freely.
  • Weapon spells. Require a melee weapon. Their listed damage replaces normal weapon damage; it does not add to it.
  • Physical or magical?. Bulwark Stance is physical. Weapon spells, healing, Ward, Radiant Wall, Last Stand, and Restore Life are magical.

Tier 1

1 APReactionEssential starting ability

Protect

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.

1 APAutomatic

Healing Touch

Touch a living creature and restore 4 HP, up to its maximum.

  • You can help an Incapacitated creature.
1 APRoll

Aether Strike

Channel fire, frost, lightning, or radiance through a melee weapon and attack one visible creature in reach.

  • On a hit, deal 3 damage of the chosen type instead of normal weapon damage.
  • The element grants no extra effect; this is a magical weapon attack.

Tier 2

2 APRoll

Radiant Strike

Channel radiance through a melee weapon and attack one visible creature in reach.

  • On a hit, deal 4 radiant damage instead of normal weapon damage, and shed clear light around the target until your next turn; it cannot hide in darkness during that time.
  • This is a magical weapon attack.
2 APAutomatic

Ward

Touch a willing creature.

  • For the scene, reduce the next three hits it takes by 2 each, to a minimum of 0.
  • A new Ward replaces the old one.
1 APRoll

Challenge

Call to one nearby enemy who can hear and understand you.

  • On success, its next attack must target you if possible.
  • It can instead take a non-attack action or retreat.

Tier 3

2 APRoll

Spellcleave

Sweep a melee weapon through fire, frost, lightning, or radiance.

  • Make one attack roll against up to two visible enemies in reach.
  • On a hit, deal 3 damage of the chosen type to each instead of normal weapon damage.
  • The element grants no extra effect; this is a magical weapon attack.
2 APAutomatic

Bulwark Stance

Plant your feet and raise your shield, weapon, or armored forearm.

  • For the scene, while you stay in that position, you and one willing ally within reach each reduce the next three physical hits by 2, to a minimum of 0.
  • Ordinary shoves cannot move you against your will.
  • Moving voluntarily or being moved by an ability ends the stance; spent reductions do not return.
  • Use only the strongest damage reduction.
  • This stance is physical, not a spell.
2 APReaction

Stand Together

When an effect would forcibly move you or a willing ally within reach, prevent that movement.

  • Damage and other effects still apply.

Tier 4

3 APAutomatic

Healing Light

Restore 4 HP to each of up to three nearby living creatures, up to their maximums.

  • Incapacitated creatures can benefit.
3 APRoll

Spellbreaker Strike

Drive radiance through a melee weapon and attack one visible creature in reach.

  • On a hit, deal 6 radiant damage instead of normal weapon damage and end one active magical ability affecting that target that originally cost 3 AP or less.
  • The Guide identifies eligible effects before you choose.
  • This cannot end an item enchantment, a lasting curse, or a psychic or physical ability.
  • This is a magical weapon attack.
3 APAutomatic

Radiant Wall

Raise a nearby wall of light spanning an ordinary doorway.

  • It has 8 HP, blocks movement and attacks from both directions, and lasts while you concentrate, up to one scene.

Tier 5

4 APAutomatic

Last Stand

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.

  • The effect then ends for that creature; repeated uses cannot renew it in this scene.
4 APRoll

Dawnblade

Sweep a melee weapon to send a crescent of radiant force at up to three visible nearby enemies.

  • Roll once; on a hit, each takes 6 radiant damage.
  • Ordinary darkness nearby clears for the scene.
  • This is a magical weapon attack, and its arc does not pass through solid barriers.
5 APAutomatic

Restore Life

Spend ten uninterrupted minutes touching someone who died within the last minute when you began.

  • If their player consents and their body is present and repairable, return them to life at 1 HP.
  • Each creature can return this way only once; this does not reverse aging.

Guile

Rogue

Soft soles, clever fingers, and an entirely innocent expression.

Stealth, practical disguises, misdirection, and daring escapes.

  • Your tools. Disguises, props, mimicry, and misdirection are practical skills. Your kit carries ordinary portable materials.
  • Larger schemes. Need plausible space and supplies. These tricks create no magic, true invisibility, or mind control.

Tier 1

1 APAutomatic

Vanish

Move into nearby cover or darkness and become Hidden from creatures that cannot see into it.

  • This uses your action and does not grant extra movement.
  • Attacking or entering clear view reveals you.
1 APAutomaticEssential starting ability

Thieves’ Toolkit

With your tools, open an ordinary lock, disarm an ordinary trap you have found, or set a simple tripwire alarm or snare.

  • Work within reach; setting a trap takes a quiet minute and suitable parts.
  • A snare stops one creature until it spends an action freeing itself; no damage.
  • Enchanted locks and traps need another solution.
1 APAutomatic

Disguise and Mimicry

Spend one minute using makeup, wigs, costume pieces, and practiced mimicry to pass as a person whose appearance and voice you have studied.

  • The disguise lasts for one scene or until removed.
  • Your size and knowledge remain your own.
  • Close physical inspection or contradictory evidence reveals it; you gain no memories or passwords.

Tier 2

1 APRoll

Sneak Attack

Make a weapon attack from Hidden.

  • On a hit, deal 4 damage instead of 2.
  • The attack reveals you; Hidden grants its usual Knack.
1 APReaction

Dodge

When an attack hits you and there is space to dodge, halve its final damage, rounded up.

  • Stay in your current position.
1 APRoll

Misdirection

Use a performance, planted prop, or convincing diversion to occupy one nearby creature's attention.

  • On success, it focuses where you direct for up to one minute while you keep performing.
  • Danger or direct contradiction ends the distraction.
  • It is practical showmanship, not mind control, and cannot compel an action.

Tier 3

1 APAutomatic

Escape Bonds

Slip ordinary ropes, manacles, or a creature’s physical grip.

  • You need a moment to move; this cannot escape sealed containers, magic, or restraints fused to your body.
2 APAutomatic

Decoy Double

Use your action to deploy a dressed puppet or stand-in decoy resembling you at a nearby point.

  • For one minute, use your action to move it and supply its voice.
  • It needs a plausible screen or route for your apparatus.
  • A hit or direct inspection reveals the prop.
  • It cannot attack, carry useful loads, or take independent turns.
2 APAutomatic

Ambush

Spend an uninterrupted minute concealing your group in suitable terrain.

  • If enemies arrive unaware, up to three hidden allies gain a Knack on their first attack there.
  • Each is revealed when they attack.

Tier 4

3 APAutomatic

Ghost Step

For this turn, move silently through nearby occupied spaces and ignore mundane pressure plates or tripwires without triggering them.

  • You cannot pass through solid walls or sealed doors.
3 APRoll

Perfect Shot

Make a ranged weapon attack at a target you can see in range.

  • Ignore ordinary cover that leaves any part exposed.
  • On a hit, deal 6 damage.
3 APAutomatic

False Room

Spend ten minutes using screens, painted cloth, props, and sounds to disguise one ordinary nearby room for up to one hour.

  • Conceal a doorway or make it look occupied, abandoned, or used for another purpose.
  • Actual terrain stays unchanged.
  • It needs plausible materials and space; inspection, touch, or a conflicting view reveals the trick.

Tier 5

4 APAutomatic

Walk Unseen

For the scene, move unnoticed while you remain in shadow, cover, or a crowd.

  • Even watchful creatures overlook you there.
  • Attacking, taking an obviously guarded object, or entering open light ends the effect.
4 APAutomatic

Perfect Impersonation

Spend ten minutes rehearsing a person you have observed closely, using your costume kit to copy their appearance, voice, and mannerisms for one scene.

  • Ordinary observers without contradictory evidence accept the impersonation.
  • It grants no memories, passwords, size changes, or authority over players.
  • Clear contradictions, direct physical inspection, or magical detection can expose you.
4 APReaction

Impossible Escape

When you would take damage, move to a safe nearby place you can see and avoid that one hit.

  • You must have a physically possible route; this cannot cross solid barriers.

Guile

Mesmer

A borrowed face. A whispered thought. Surely you imagined it.

Psychic insight, theatrical wonders, and illusions with a touch of Aether.

  • Start here. Thaumaturgy is included. Choose Read Emotion or Glamour next, or a Tier 1 ability from another class.
  • Psychic or magical?. Early tricks are psychic except Thaumaturgy and Glamour. Tier 5 entries identify manifested Aether explicitly.
  • Read the entry. Glamour changes appearance, not body or voice. Mind Whisper is Tier 3; Greater Telekinesis is Tier 4.

Tier 1

FREEAutomaticEssential starting ability

Thaumaturgy

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.

  • One effect at a time, lasting up to a minute.
  • Everyone can hear or see the trick.
  • It cannot hurt, blind, move objects, or force a reaction.
  • Risky deception or distraction still needs a normal roll.
FREEAutomatic

Read Emotion

Focus on a nearby creature you can see.

  • Learn its strongest feeling right now: fear, delight, anger, and so on.
  • You cannot read thoughts or tell whether it is lying.
1 APAutomatic

Glamour

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.

  • Everyone sees the disguise.
  • Keep your actual size, body shape, voice, and equipment; the illusion has no substance and cannot make you invisible.
  • Copy a specific person only if you have studied their appearance.
  • Touch reveals any physical mismatch, and suspicious scrutiny calls for a normal deception roll.
  • This is a magical illusion, not a physical transformation.

Tier 2

1 APRoll

Mental Veil

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.

  • Roll; on success it perceives that harmless detail, such as a key on a table or a cat meowing behind a barrel.
  • Direct contradiction or touching the image reveals it.
  • This psychic illusion cannot hide an obvious danger, deal damage, supply unknown information, or force an action.
1 APRoll

Mesmerize

Focus the attention of one nearby creature that can see or hear you.

  • On success, it watches or listens while you concentrate, up to one minute.
  • Danger, damage, or an ally shaking it ends the trance.
  • It does not make the creature friendly or let you command it.
  • Another player's hero requires their consent.
1 APRoll

Psychic Push

Push one nearby creature a few paces with your mind.

  • On success, it takes 2 damage and moves to safe ground.
  • This cannot push it over a drop or into a damaging hazard.

Tier 3

2 APReaction

Mind Shield

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.

  • Its AP remains spent.
  • This does not block physical damage, a mental image outside your mind, or an effect already active.
2 APAutomatic

Mind Whisper

Link minds with up to three willing nearby creatures you can see.

  • For ten minutes while you concentrate, you can exchange thoughts while everyone stays Nearby, even out of sight.
  • You gain no shared senses, languages, or secret thoughts.
2 APRoll

Psychic Decoy

Project a moving, speaking copy of yourself into the mind of one nearby creature you can see, up to one minute while you concentrate.

  • On success, it perceives the copy.
  • Use your action to direct it, including its gestures and speech.
  • The first physical interaction reveals the trick; the copy has no substance, cannot deal damage, and gives no extra turns.
  • Other creatures do not see it.

Tier 4

3 APAutomatic

Greater Telekinesis

While you concentrate, up to one minute, lift one unattended object up to the size of a wagon nearby, or a willing creature.

  • Direct its movement with your action.
  • It cannot crush or strike creatures or remove held objects.
3 APRoll

Plant Suggestion

Place one short, plausible suggestion in the mind of one nearby creature that understands you.

  • On success, it follows that suggestion within the next minute.
  • It will not knowingly harm itself or allies, surrender something precious, or abandon a central loyalty.
  • Another player's hero requires their consent.
3 APAutomatic

Memory Echo

Over one minute, share one willing nearby creature's recollection of an event lasting no more than ten minutes.

  • Experience what it remembers seeing and hearing.
  • A mistaken memory remains mistaken; this cannot establish truth, recover forgotten details, change memories, or read an unwilling mind.

Tier 5

4 APAutomatic

Grand Illusion / Shared Trance

Choose one technique; concentrate for up to ten minutes.

  • Grand Illusion: weave Aether into a moving, sounding image filling up to one ordinary nearby room, perceptible to everyone.
  • Spend your action to animate it.
  • Touch or contradictory evidence reveals the image; it has no blinding effect or power to compel.
  • Alternatively, shape one creature-sized Phantasm with 8 HP.
  • Spend your action to direct it nearby to move and speak, manipulate one unattended object no heavier than a book, or roll to deal 2 damage to one object or nonliving construct in reach.
  • It has no independent actions.
  • It passes harmlessly through living bodies: it cannot damage, restrain, carry, or physically block them, manipulate their held or worn gear, or use objects or hazards to harm them.
  • It vanishes at 0 HP or when concentration ends.
  • Both manifestations are magical.
  • Shared Trance: share ordinary sight and hearing with up to three willing nearby creatures; all may exchange brief thoughts.
  • This technique is psychic.
  • Neither grants unknown information or extra turns.
4 APAutomatic

Dreamcraft

Choose one technique.

  • Dream Message: speak for one minute to send a dream to a willing sleeping person you have met, anywhere in this world.
  • They hear your message and may answer with one sentence; an awake or unwilling recipient receives nothing and AP stays spent.
  • This technique is psychic.
  • Solid Mirage: over one minute, weave Aether into one stationary, doorway-sized solid object nearby, such as a short ramp, steps, a table, or a barrier.
  • Anchor it on solid ground in empty space.
  • It has 8 HP, supports up to six people and their ordinary gear, and lasts while you concentrate, up to ten minutes.
  • It has no moving parts, cannot attack, restrain creatures, create consumables or valuables, or restore HP.
  • It vanishes at 0 HP or when concentration ends; warn anyone relying on it before dismissing it.
  • One at a time.
  • This technique is magical.
4 APRoll

Phantasmal Storm

Choose psychic force or manifested Aether, then roll once against up to three creatures you can see nearby.

  • On a hit, each takes 6 damage.
  • Psychic force strikes minds; Mind Shield can block it for its user as an explicit exception.
  • Manifested Aether becomes a storm of spectral shapes that deals magical damage, with no additional movement, fear, or restraint.
  • Mind Shield does not block this magical mode.
  • Neither mode leaves objects behind, damages scenery, or passes through solid barriers.

Magic

Wizard

A steady hand. An unruly spark. You meant to do that.

Shape Aether through natural instinct, studied spellcraft, or both.

  • Your approach. Instinct and study are expressions of one class, with identical costs and limits. Books, wands, ancestry, and academic training are optional. Describe your method; it grants no extra power.
  • Start here. Aether Bolt is included. Choose Telekinesis or Wildspark next, or a Tier 1 ability from another class. The stronger Aether Ward is Tier 2.
  • All spells are magical. Choose freely, without a required specialization or separate Sorcerer class. Each spell keeps its written elemental purpose and limits.

Tier 1

1 APAutomaticAether

Telekinesis

While you concentrate, up to ten minutes, move one unattended object no heavier than you could carry in one hand within Nearby.

  • Use your action for each meaningful manipulation.
  • No attacks, fine lock work, or taking held objects.
1 APRollEssential starting abilityElements

Aether Bolt

Choose fire, frost, or lightning as you cast, shaping it by instinct or a practiced formula.

  • Attack one visible creature in range; on a hit, deal 3 damage of that type.
  • The type grants no extra condition.
  • Alternatively, within Nearby and without rolling, kindle one unattended ordinary flammable object, chill a cup of liquid without freezing it, or make a harmless spark.
  • Pay 1 AP for a useful effect; purely cosmetic flourishes follow the free-flourish rule.
1 APAutomaticShaping

Wildspark

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.

  • The change lasts up to a minute; moved material stays put.
  • You cannot attack, carry a creature, open a lock, or make valuable material.
  • Harmless flourishes are free.

Tier 2

2 APAction or reactionAether

Aether Ward

Shape Aether into a shell of floating stone or shimmering force around yourself or one willing creature within reach.

  • Use your action to prepare it, or your reaction when that creature is hit.
  • For the scene, reduce the next three hits it takes by 2 each, to a minimum of 0; a reaction protects against the triggering hit first.
  • The ward breaks after the third hit or at scene end.
  • A new Aether Ward replaces the old one.
  • Use only the strongest damage reduction.
  • Its shape grants no extra effect or usable material.
1 APRollAir / Ice

Gust / Frost

Choose Gust or Frost each time you cast; pay 1 AP once for the chosen effect.

  • Gust: Shape a sudden gust by an instinctive gesture or a spoken formula. Roll against one nearby creature; on success, it takes 2 damage and moves a few paces to safe ground, never over a drop or into a damaging hazard. Alternatively, without rolling, blow loose unattended objects no heavier than a book a few paces along a clear surface nearby. This cannot attack, work a lock, or remove held objects.
  • Frost: Freeze one nearby creature’s footing. On a hit, deal 3 damage and it loses its next move. It can still act. Alternatively freeze a bucket-sized amount of unattended water without rolling.
FREEAutomaticDivination

Aether Sight

Study one visible object or creature within reach for one minute.

  • Feel the flow of Aether directly, examine it through traced signs, or study its reflection in water: choose your method.
  • Learn whether magic affects it and the effect's broad purpose.
  • This reveals no invisible target, caster's name, complete spell, distant location, or purely psychic power.
  • Tools are optional; all methods grant the same information.

Tier 3

2 APAutomaticAir

Windstep

Become a swift ribbon of wind and move yourself and your carried gear to a safe nearby place you can see.

  • You can cross a gap or pass through an open person-sized route, but not a solid or sealed barrier.
  • You arrive standing; this uses your action and grants no extra move.
  • You cannot carry another creature.
3 APRollElements

Aether Burst

Release a surge of fire, frost, or lightning, chosen when you cast.

  • It may erupt from an instinctive gesture or an inscribed pattern.
  • Roll once against up to three nearby creatures clustered together; on a hit, each takes 4 damage of that type.
  • Choose targets before rolling.
  • The element grants no additional condition or terrain effect.
2 APAutomaticIce

Icebridge

Over one minute, form a bridge or ramp of ice across a nearby gap you can see, anchored to solid ground at both ends.

  • It is wide enough for one person and supports up to six people and their ordinary gear at once.
  • It lasts while you concentrate, up to ten minutes.
  • It cannot form on creatures, restrain them, or deal damage; heat can melt it.
  • Tell everyone before ending it.

Tier 4

3 APAutomaticFire

Wall of Fire

While you concentrate, up to one minute, create a doorway-wide curtain of fire at a nearby point you can see.

  • It must start in unoccupied space.
  • A creature that chooses to cross it takes 4 fire damage, at most once per turn.
  • It grants no free attacks, cannot be placed on creatures, and ends if you stop concentrating.
3 APAutomaticAir

Aether Form / Fly

Choose one magical technique; concentrate for up to ten minutes.

  • Aether Form: physically transform into an Aether-infused beast from cat-sized to your normal size, such as an ember fox, storm raven, or tide otter.
  • Choose one adaptation: flight, swimming with underwater breathing, or climbing sturdy surfaces.
  • Use your normal move.
  • Keep your own HP, maximum HP, mind, voice, and strength; natural attacks deal 2 damage using the normal attack roll.
  • You gain no creature powers, resistances, extra actions, or healing.
  • Carried gear merges and is unavailable until you revert; drop anything you need first.
  • Learned abilities remain usable only if the form can meet their physical requirements.
  • You cannot copy a specific person.
  • Fly: retain your normal body and carried gear and fly on a current of wind using your normal move.
  • Neither technique carries another creature.
  • Revert when you end the effect or become Incapacitated; damage remains.
  • If airborne when the effect ends, descend safely unless a solid obstacle prevents it.
3 APReactionWater

Quenching Veil

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.

  • Cancel that use; its AP is spent.
  • A veil of enchanted water marks the interruption, then vanishes and cannot be collected.
  • This cannot end an already active effect or affect an item with no AP cost, a purely psychic power, or a physical ability.

Tier 5

4 APAutomaticWater

Tidegate

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.

  • It lasts one minute and permits up to six willing creatures with carried gear to pass, then closes.
  • The destination needs no water.
  • It cannot cross sealed magical boundaries; the doorway creates no usable water or flood.
4 APRollLightning

Lightning Storm

Roll once against up to three enemies you can see nearby.

  • On a hit, each takes 6 lightning damage.
  • Mundane shelter with no open route to the target blocks it.
4 APAutomaticEarth

Earthshaping

Over one minute, reshape a nearby mass of ordinary earth or stone up to wagon size into a bridge, doorway, ramp, or shelter.

  • Keep the material and volume.
  • The change is permanent; it cannot injure or entomb creatures, create valuable minerals, or reshape wood, metal, or enchanted material.

Magic · Brewing and engineering

Alchemist

A stained notebook. A patient hand. Something remarkable in the next bottle.

Inventor, chemist, and engineer: turn scraps into concoctions and ingenious machines.

  • Start here. Scavenge is included. Choose Healing Potion or Pipe Bomb next, or a Tier 1 ability from another class.
  • Make it work. Use the crafting rules and reagent ideas. Devices deliver concoctions; each keeps its own action, effect, and limits.

Tier 1

1 APAutomaticEssential starting ability

Scavenge

Spend 1 AP and a quiet minute searching for useful scrap or ingredients.

  • The Guide gives you fitting material for one small project you know how to make; add it to Inventory.
  • Empty or picked-clean places yield nothing and cost no AP.
  • Bought or found material works too.
1 APCraft

Healing Potion

Use fitting material and a quiet minute to make one healing potion for 1 AP.

  • Drinking or giving it takes an action and restores 4 HP, up to maximum.
  • It works on a willing or Incapacitated creature within reach.
  • No roll or further AP; the material is used up.
1 APCraft

Pipe Bomb

Use fitting scrap and a quiet minute to make one pipe bomb for 1 AP.

  • Throw it with an action: roll against one nearby target for 4 damage on a hit.
  • Triumph doubles damage.
  • The bomb is spent even on a miss; the scrap is used up.

Tier 2

2 APCraft

Vaporcraft

Prepare a sleeping vapor or a hallucination vapor with a fitting reagent.

  • Release it into a doorway-sized patch nearby and roll once against up to two breathing creatures there.
  • On a hit, sleep lasts a minute or until shaken or hurt; hallucinations give Trouble on the next roll within a minute.
  • Airflow clears the vapor after this release.
  • It cannot command actions, and allies in the patch can be affected too.
1 APAction

Tinker

With fitting scraps and your kit, spend a quiet minute making a palm-sized tool, timer, or trigger.

  • It can sound an alarm, work a simple latch, or release a prepared concoction using its normal roll.
  • One device at a time, lasting until Full Rest; no automatic lockpicking or extra attacks.
  • Or prepare a Boon potion: a willing drinker talks themself into a Knack for one action this scene.
  • It cannot make an impossible action possible or stack with another Knack.
2 APCraft

Blast Flask

Pack a fitting volatile reagent into a flask or simple charge.

  • When used, roll one attack against up to two nearby targets standing together.
  • On a hit, deal 3 damage to each.
  • It can also break an ordinary lock, hinge, or similarly small object.
  • A timer or trigger may deliver it; no extra damage or attacks.

Tier 3

3 APCraft

Potent Medicine

Prepare a medicine that restores 6 HP, or ends one ordinary poison or disease.

  • Choose when brewing.
  • Give it to a willing creature or administer it to an Incapacitated creature within reach.
  • Curing an illness does not also restore lost HP.
2 APAutomatic

Pressure Rig

In a quiet minute, fit your tools with a reagent-powered pressure chamber.

  • Use your action to lift a fallen beam, pull a person-sized unattended object, or force a stuck door within reach.
  • You may instead launch one prepared concoction to a visible target In Range, using its normal effect and roll.
  • Lasts until Full Rest; one rig at a time.
  • No free doses or extra damage.
2 APAutomatic

Clockwork Courier

In a quiet minute, build a hand-sized helper with 3 HP, powered by a fitting reagent.

  • Spend your action to send it Nearby: carry a small object, operate a simple latch, or deliver one prepared concoction.
  • Delivery uses that concoction’s normal action, effect, and roll.
  • Lasts until Full Rest; one at a time.
  • It cannot act or attack independently.

Tier 4

3 APCraft

Battle Tonic

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.

  • Choose when brewing.
  • Willing drinker only; matching bonuses do not stack.
3 APAutomatic

Clockwork Guardian

Spend ten quiet minutes building a reagent-powered guardian with 6 HP.

  • Use your action to direct it Nearby: carry a person-sized load, hold a door, deliver one prepared concoction with its normal roll, or roll a melee attack for 2 damage.
  • Your reaction can instead make it absorb up to 3 damage from a hit against a nearby ally, losing that much HP.
  • Lasts until Full Rest; one at a time, no independent turns.
3 APCraft

Universal Solvent

Prepare a solvent for ordinary wood, rope, or metal.

  • Apply it for a quiet minute to dissolve a door-sized patch within reach.
  • It cannot dissolve living or enchanted material or stone.
  • Handy for a rescue, a jammed machine, or a door with unreasonable opinions.

Tier 5

4 APCraft

Grand Remedy

Prepare a restorative mist.

  • Release it with an action to restore 8 HP and end ordinary poisons or diseases in up to three willing nearby creatures.
  • Incapacitated creatures can benefit.
  • It cannot revive the dead or remove a curse.
4 APAutomatic

Aether Engine

Spend an hour building a wagon-sized engine fueled by fitting reagents.

  • It can move a small boat or wagon, raise a portcullis, or power ordinary machinery.
  • Spend your action to start, stop, or redirect it.
  • It lasts until Full Rest and cannot attack, create AP or reagents, or run enchanted machinery.
  • One at a time.
4 APAutomatic

Transmute

Over an hour, turn a wagonload of ordinary nonliving material into wood, stone, glass, or iron.

  • Keep its volume; the change is permanent.
  • Make the casing, bridge, or missing part your invention needs—not precious metals, food, reagents, finished concoctions, or a working complex machine.

Ten known reagents

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.
Pip the red fox, wearing his green ribbon and brass tag, sleeps beside a lantern and travel satchel. Briars curl past a notebook, aether vial, tea, and bread.
A warm lantern, a dry page, and something left for the journey.