Table of Contents

What is a Role-Playing Game?.......................2 Riding in Combat.....................................75

How to play....................................................2 Object hardness and Break Points...........75
Dice Pool....................................................2 Hazards....................................................76
Debate........................................................4 Attack keywords......................................78
Hive creation, stats, and level up....................6 Conditions................................................79
Hive Creation.............................................6 Expansion and Growth.................................86
Caste Creation............................................8 Rooms......................................................86
Character Creation (Synapse Drones)......11 Hive size..................................................88
Perks and Limitations..............................12 Growth.....................................................88
Skills........................................................18 Rooms...........................................................90
Rooms......................................................19 Room Statistics........................................90
Secondary Attributes................................20 Exploration.................................................100
Leveling up, Advancement, and Movement..............................................101
Enhancement............................................22 Locations, encounters, and their
Synapse Drone Death and Rebirth..........23 whereabouts...........................................103
Skills.............................................................24 Example Hex Table................................103
Basic: 1 skill point...................................25 Stocking the Hexes................................104
Physical: 2 skill points.............................25 “Achievements”.....................................105
Mental: 2 skill points...............................26 Light, Darkness, Vision, and Weather....105
Civil: 3 skill points...................................27 Item Rules...................................................108
Esoteric: 4 skill points..............................28 Esoteric Systems.........................................109
Target Numbers........................................31 Magic Rules and the Mana System........109
Wild Magic..............................................31 Psionics and Thoughtforms....................113
Perks and Limitations...................................33 Biotics Rules..........................................113
Perks and Limitations..............................33 Alchemy Rules.......................................113
Combat.........................................................59 Example Hives............................................115
Attacking and Advantages.......................59 Example Settings and The Spoked Wheel
Combat Maneuvers..................................65 Cosmology..................................................116
Size...........................................................69 Cosmology.............................................116
Natural and Manufactured Weapons........70 Settings...................................................121
Tactical Movement..................................74 Cheat, Character, and Hive Sheets.............122

Made by Aniikinis ”Noctus” Arcanis

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What is a Role-Playing Game?
If you’ve picked up this book, chances are that you probably know what a role-playing
game is. But on the off chance you haven’t been introduced to the topic through video games,
other tabletop games, fiction, pop culture, or any other possible venue, a role-playing game is,
to put it simply, a game where you play as a character that is not you within various situations
and settings. Typically in fantasy games, you’d take the place of a hardened mercenary, a
greedy adventurer, a proud knight, or a noble priest and go on adventures with a group of
companions for money, fame, and a nice time at the local tavern. In this game, however, the
idea is a little different.

In this game, you and your friends will act as the guiding influences and personalities of
a single creature that is made up of many smaller ones. You and your friends must cooperate
both far closer and further apart than you may have before, acting as the controlling will of a
hive mind and the swarm that it controls.

All you will need to play is some friends to play with (3-4 work best, but less and more
are fine as well), another friend to play as the Game Master who sets up the world and runs
the game itself, some paper, pencils, a good amount of imagination, and a whole lot of 10-
sided dice.

How to play
This game uses two separate mechanics each with their own uses and place: Dice
Pools and Debate.

Dice Pool
The dice pool mechanic is simple. When an action needs to be resolved, you roll a
number of d10s. If the die rolls over a number decided by the GM, typically 5 or 6, it counts as
a success. If a die lands on the highest number, it counts as 2 successes. If a die lands on the
lowest number, it removes one success. If a die lands on the highest number and another
lands on the lowest number, the effects cancel out and the highest number only counts as a
single success. Before dice are rolled, the GM decides a number of successes required in
order for the action to succeed.

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 When acting as a group roll a number of d10s equal to the number of drones you
control and add a number bonus to the roll based on the relevant attribute (if you have 10
drones, all of which have 1 strength, you may roll 10 dice with each getting a +1 number
bonus. If you have 5 drones all of which have 3 nimbleness, you may roll 5 dice with each
getting a +3 number bonus to the roll). When acting as a single unit roll a number of d10s up to
the total of the relevant attribute score+skill level.

Variant rule—Stacking Dice: Due to how quickly the number of dice can grow, GMs may choose
instead to apply a modifier to dice rolls once the number of dice reaches above 20. For every 5 dice
over 20 used, every roll gets a +1 automatic success bonus instead. This is used solely to keep things
from going too crazy and leading to mountains of dice being rolled.

Unless a specific type of die is specifically called out, the dice used will be d10s.

A die “explodes” when it lands on either the highest or lowest number possible that it
has on one of its sides. At which point, you re-roll the die and add the success or fumble it
landed on to the result. A die can explode any number of times as long as it lands on the same
number each time. If a die lands on the highest number, it is a critical and good things may
happen as a result. If a die lands on the lowest number, it is a fumble and bad things may
happen as a result. The more times a die explodes, the more extraordinary the result. If you
get both a fumble and a critical, the two cancel out and neither explodes. However, if you get
more criticals than fumbles or vise versa, the dice remaining explode. For example, if you
rolled 2 criticals and 3 fumbles, your 1 fumble would explode.

Variant rule—Critical hits: If the GM allows, when a dice explodes from a critical while being
used for an attack roll the damage from an attack increases. There are two ways to do this,
multiplying damage and adding to it directly.
If multiplying the damage, each time a die explodes, increase the multiplier by one. So if 1 die
explodes, multiply damage by 2. If 3 dice explode, multiply damage by 4.
Direct addition, adds either 1d2, 1d5, or 1d10 to the damage for each exploding die, chosen
when the game begins. So if three die explode and the rule is 1d5, then the damage would be (attack’s
normal damage)+3d5.

Some rolls don’t only require a certain number of successes, but instead have varying
levels of success and/or failure on various success totals

Actions requiring dice rolls take time in-game.

Any effect that gives a bonus does not stack with itself unless otherwise stated.

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 Example 1: Kezar directs his swarm of 12 workers to break through a wall. All of the
workers have a strength score of 1 and are acting as a group. The GM decides that the
number of successes required to break through is 8 and the number to roll over is 5. He rolls
12d10 and rolls 5 dice that land on numbers of 6 or greater, meaning he has a total of 5
successes, doesn't reach the target number to beat, and the action fails.

Example 2: Kezar decides to attempt to climb over the wall to get in himself. He has a
strength score of 3 and 5 ranks in acrobatics, allowing him to roll 8d10. The GM decides that
the number to roll over is 4 and the number of successes required to climb the wall is 3. He
rolls the dice and 5 dice land on numbers of 5 or greater, meaning he has 5 successes and
beats the target number leading to the action succeeding.

Debate
The debate mechanic is simple, but somewhat complex. When deciding for the next
focus of the hive, such as objectives or expansion, each of the players puts forth ideas for the
next move. When a player wishes to change the current or next objective for the hive or the
current objective has been completed, they declare that they wish to have a hive meeting.
While in a hive meeting players can introduce ideas for the next course of action, amend them,
and vote on them. This is to allow all players to voice their opinion and allow for a smoother
transition between goals and ideas without players feeling as though their voices aren’t being
heard.

Ideas are brought to the forefront by a player signaling that they have an idea they
would like to put to motion, typically by raising their hand, and the GM acknowledging them
and asking them what they wish to say. The player then says "I move to..." and briefly
summarizes their idea in basic terms, no flourishing or reasoning or anything of the sort,
creating a motion in doing so. At least one other player needs to indicate their interest by
saying "Second". Seconding a motion doesn't necessarily mean agreement, merely they'd like
to discuss and/or amend the motion. A motion without a second doesn't go anywhere and is
dropped. The GM then briefly restates the motion, says that it is moved and seconded, and
then deliberation and debate can begin, starting with the player who started the motion.

Anyone who wishes to, can offer an amendment to the motion by saying "I move to
amend the motion" then stating their amendment. The amendment can be an expansion,
correction, or integration of the main motion, not an entirely different action. The amendment
has to be seconded and goes through the same steps as before, including discussion. As a

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shortcut, the GM can ask if there are any objections to allow the amendment to go through
without a vote. If there aren't then the amendment is added and the modified motion restated,
but if there is then the debate continues. When discussion is over, the GM asks for a vote to
amend the motion, not to adopt it. Either way, discussion continues on the main motion after
the vote.

Once all amendments are integrated and debate is done, the GM closes the discussion
and asks for a vote by saying "The question is on the adoption of the motion that" and restates
the motion. The GM then provides voting directions and afterwards announces the result. If the
motion is adopted, the hive has made a decision to go along with it and will work towards their
new objective, goal, or whatever else. Whether the motion is adopted or not, a new motion can
be brought forth. When no more motions are brought forth or seconded, the hive meeting
ends.

Hive meetings do not take time in-game and can be done from any distance away from
other synapse drones as they are purely mental actions done by the hive mind as a whole.

Modifiers
Many effects in this game grant modifiers to various attributes or rolls, these impact
how the rolls work or how the stats function. Modifiers are removed if the effect causing them is
removed. These modifiers are as follows:

• Dice Pool Modifiers – If a perk, item, spell, or other effect would give a roll a dice pool
bonus, you add that many additional dice to your roll and count them as normal. If such
an effect would give a roll a dice pool penalty, you instead remove that many dice from
your roll and if you cannot roll any dice you instead automatically fail the roll.

• Number Modifiers – If a perk, item, spell, or other effect would give a roll a number
bonus, you roll as normal but consider the die as though it had rolled one number
higher. If such an effect would give a roll a number penalty, you roll as normal but
consider the die as though it had rolled one number lower.

• Automatic Successes – If a perk, item, spell, or other effect would give a roll an
automatic success bonus, you roll as normal but count your total successes with a
number of additional successes for your roll equal to the bonus. If such an effect would
give a roll an automatic success penalty, you roll as normal but remove a number of
successes from your total equal to the penalty.

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• Attribute Modifiers – If an item, spell, or other effect would give an attribute a modifier
it changes the number of dice you would add to any roll with that attribute. If an
attribute is reduced to 0 through a modifier, it is treated as though it was dealt damage
except in the case of Physique, where it just knocks the creature out. If the modifier is
to Armor or Will, the creature is treated as having that change to Armor or Will for the
entire time the effect is active. For example, if a creature with 2 armor and a +1 armor
modifier would be attacked by a creature that deals 3 damage, it would remove 3 armor
as normal, but would immediately gain the +1 armor modifier back and would always
have a +1 armor score until the effect ends.

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Hive creation, stats, and level up
Character, hive, and caste creation is a point buy system. Hive creation will be
discussed first, then caste creation, and finally character creation. The amount of build points
available for creation is determined by the GM. The build points used to buy primary attributes
and abilities are shared between all of the categories and players, so if you have a total of 30
points and each player uses 6 build points to increase their stats and buy perks, you’re left with
6 build points to share between the hive and the caste you will make.

A good rule of thumb for the GM to determine a good amount of BP to start with is to
give 30 points per intended caste, 45 points per player, and 30 points for the hive itself. This
helps things stay relatively sane at the start.

All primary attributes start at 1 and cannot be reduced below one. It costs a number of
build points equal to the next level of the attribute to increase its level by one. For example, if
you wanted to raise strength from 4 to 5, you would have to pay 5 build points. If you wanted to
raise dexterity from 1 to 6 you would have to pay 20 build points. Reducing an attribute grants
you as many points as it would cost to increase it to your current level. For example, if you
wanted to lower dexterity from 6 to 1 you would gain 20 build points.

Perks cost a number of build points that varies depending on the ability, dictated after
its name and limitations grant you the number of build points dictated after its name.
Secondary attributes will be explained after the four creation sections.

To help along, an example group will go through the steps with you.

Zachary and his group of 4 friends decide they want to play a game of Hive Mind with
Paul as the GM. Paul decides that they should have 195 points to split between them all, the
worker caste, and the hive.

Hive Creation
Hives are the largest form of the characters. It dictates their type, reach, power, and
capabilities, but also provides a base of operations. Hives are a combination of race and
super-character in one as it is the base upon which all other creation decisions are formed.
The look, feel, substance, and even the “biology” of the creatures within it are built from the
choices made here.

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 The primary attributes of the hive are: Mental Power (MPow), Hive Intelligence (HInt),
and Hive Range(HiRa).The secondary attributes of the hive are: Cohesion, Max Capacity, Hive
Size, and Flexibility. The descriptions of the attributes are:

• Cohesion (Coh) - Hive Mind Health. Impacted by various events and the death of
synapse drones. The lower it is, the higher the probability of drones defecting.
When it reaches 0, the hive mind dies.

• Hive Capacity (HCap) - The current total number of drones within the hive mind,
both at the hive and within synapse drone squads.

• Max Capacity (MCap) - The highest amount of drones the hive mind can effectively
hold. If it goes higher, the mind takes penalties. If Cohesion drops below this
number, drones can break free. Many rooms grant bonuses to MCap.

• Mental Power (MPow) - Used for willpower and protection against mental effects
for the entirety of the hive.

• Hive Size – The physical size of the hive structure where the majority of the hive
mind lives. All hives start with a Hive Size of 1 and 4 rooms.

• Flexibility (Flex) - Ability to learn and adapt. Used during events, when entering
new environments, and when dealing with new things. Also used to determine how
many build points are gained upon level up.

• Hive Intelligence (HInt) - The highest level of intelligence capable within the hive.

• Hive Range (HiRa) - The furthest that non-synapse drones without a synapse
drone to support them can be from the hive before being forced to make
synchronicity checks to stay within the mind. Each point is 6 miles or one
geographic hex in diameter. The first point is the hex that the hive is within. This
attribute cannot be raised through points, but can only be increased through rooms.

The hive starts with the following primary attributes: 1 MPow, 1 HInt, 1 hive size, and 1
HiRa before modifications

Zachary and his group all decide that their hive should have 3 MPow and 3 HInt,
costing them 5 points for each and a total of 10.

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Caste Creation
Castes are the next most important part of creating a hive. Castes dictate what different
types of drones can do within your hive and to what extent they’re proficient. The choices
made here will decide how well the caste can do things they are directed to do. Each hive has
two castes when starting out: the one made here and the synapse drones which will be
explained in the following section and act as the players.

When making a caste, there is a choice that needs to be made in addition to stats,
limbs, and abilities: Diet. Diet determines the type of food the drone needs to survive and along
with size how much is needed, with each of them granting a bonus. Not every caste is required
to have the same choices.

Bear in mind that it is far easier and less dangerous to passively grow plants than to
herd or hunt animals. The choices of diet are:

• Obligate Carnivore – Obligate carnivores require only meat to survive, but

cannot digest plant matter at all. They require 1.5 times as much food as their
size requires and cannot eat any plants at all. Drones with this diet can take the
natural weapon and advanced natural weapon perks at half price.

• Carnivorous – Carnivores require the majority of their food to be meat. They

require as much food as their size requires -1 and needs the majority being
meat. Drones with this diet can take the natural weapon perk at half price.

• Omnivorous – Omnivores can eat a wide range of food from both meat and
plant matter. They only require as much food as their size requires but require
equal amounts of meat and plants. Drones with this diet can take the Adaptive
perk at half price.

• Herbivorous – Herbivores require the majority of their food to be plant matter.

They require as much food as their size requires +1 and needs the majority to
be plants. Drones with this diet can take the Unassuming perk at half price.

• Obligate Herbivore – Obligate herbivores require only plants to survive, but

cannot digest meat at all. They require twice as much food as their size requires
and cannot eat any meat at all. Drones with this diet can take the Unassuming,
Poison Resistance, and Herd Mentality perks at half price.

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 • Extreme Omnivore – Extreme omnivores can eat practically anything that they
put in their mouths in any combination. They require as much food as their size
requires -2. This diet costs 2 points.

The Primary attributes of the drones are: Strength (Str), Intelligence (Int),
Nimbleness(Nim), Acumen (Acu), Physique (Phy), Synchronicity (Syn), Empathy (Emp), and
Size

The Secondary attributes of the drones are: Health, Speed, Mental Defense, Physical
Defense, and Physical, Agility, and Mental Saves.

The descriptions of the attributes are:

• Strength (Str) - A measure of physical power. For every point in strength, a

creature can carry up to 30 lbs extra.

• Intelligence (Int) - A measure of individual intelligence. A creature with 1 Int is

sentient and classified as an animal. A creature with 2 Int is semi-sapient and
usually classed as an animal, though exceptions exist. A creature with 3 or more Int
is considered fully sapient.

• Nimbleness (Nim) - Physical dexterity and grace.

• Acumen (Acu) - Perception and mental dexterity.

• Physique (Phy) - Physical hardiness, fortitude, constitution, and stability.

• Synchronicity (Syn) - For hive mind drones, it's used as a measure of their
connection to the hive mind. For singletons (non-hive mind creatures), it's used to
represent morale and ability to work as a group. A creature can benefit from being
helped by any number of creatures at once up to their Syn score, but beyond that
they cannot gain the benefits of additional help. For example, a creature with 4 Syn
being aided by 5 creatures could benefit from 4 of the creatures aiding them, but the
5th creature wouldn’t give them any bonus.

• Empathy (Emp) - Ability to deal with, influence, and understand others. Mostly
used with singletons, but can be useful if interacting with other hive minds or other
synapse drones.

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 • Armor – A measure of how much damage is resisted from physical attacks. Each
time a creature would be hit by a physical attack, the damage is reduced by this
attribute. Each time damage is reduced in this way, this attribute is lowered by that
amount for the remainder of the combat. Once reduced to 0, damage is not reduced
at all. This attribute starts at 0 instead of 1. This attribute cannot be raised by points,
only by purchasing perks.

• Will – A measure of how much damage is resisted from mental and esoteric
attacks. Each time a creature would be hit by a mental attack or attack that deals
esoteric damage, the damage is reduced by this attribute. Each time damage is
reduced in this way, this attribute is lowered by that amount for the remainder of the
combat. Once reduced to 0, damage is not reduced at all. This attribute starts at 0
instead of 1. This attribute cannot be raised by points, only by purchasing perks.

• Size – A measure of physical bulk and size, this attribute can modify dice pools
when another physical attribute is used and modifies how much food is required to
sustain the drone. Unlike other attributes this one starts at 3 and can also be
reduced as if you were paying to increase it. (reducing it to 2 would cost 4, reducing
to 1 from 3 would cost 9, reducing to 1 from 2 would cost 5).

• Health – A measure of how much damage a creature can sustain at a time, if it

reaches 0 the creature dies.

• Speed – A measure of how quickly a creature can move.

• Ranged Defense – A measure of how hard it is for ranged attacks to hit the drone.

• Physical, Agility, and Mental Saves – A measure of how hard it is for various
things to actually effect a drone based on their physical toughness, agility and
reaction time, and mental fortitude.

All castes start with 1 Str, 1 Int, 1 Nim, 1 Acu, 1 Phy, 1 Syn, 1 Emp, 0 Armor, 0 Will, and
3 Size before modifications

When creating a caste, first think about what you would like the caste itself to do or
excel at. For example Worker, Soldier, Guard, etc. Once you have a good idea of what exactly
their role will be, then you can more easily decide on where build points should be spent.

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 All drones start with 4 legs, one tail, one head with two eyes, and a single central body
divided into Torso and Abdomen. You can add arms, legs, tentacles, tails, or wings for 5 points
each and extra heads for 10 points each. You can remove body parts to gain the same amount
of points you would pay to buy them, but a creature must have at least a head and two legs.
For every pair of legs the drone has over two pairs, it gains +1 to speed. For every head a
drone gains it gains an additional level of protection from decapitation. You can decide the
method of movement at caste creation, but some movement types require perks.

Zachary and his group decide that they’d like their omnivorous workers to have 6 legs
and 2 in every stat, spending 24 points.

Character Creation (Synapse Drones)

Now that the caste has been created we move onto how the players will be
represented. Players take the role of synapse drones, directly controlling portions of the hive in
small groups. Synapse drones are a special caste of drones that can be wildly different from
one another, but all share a common thread: they act as a focus for the will of the hive mind
itself helping to keep command of drones outside of its influence and direct drones in the field.
Additionally, they are not considered to be mindless drones as they act as the overseers of the
drones under their command. This does however mean that they tend to be a bit of a large
target if they are to go up against enemies, as without a synapse drone the swarm becomes
disorganized and easy to deal with.

Characters have the same diets and list of attributes as mentioned above but with a few
extra ones befitting their status. The extra primary attribute is Synapse Range (SyRa). The
extra secondary attributes are: Synapse Capacity (SCap) and Current Capacity (CCap)

The descriptions of these attributes are:

• Synapse Range (SyRa) - The furthest range that drones can be from the synapse
drone before being forced to make synchronicity checks to stay within the mind,
while outside the range of the hive. Where Hive Range is measured in Geographic
Hexes, Synapse Range is measured in tactical hexes of 1 meter/3 feet each. Each
point in this stat adds 4 hexes of range from the synapse drone.

• Synapse Capacity (SCap) - The highest number of drones the synapse drone can
keep around their person. If it goes higher, all connected drones take penalties if

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 they make the synchronicity check. If they fail, a number of drones are cut loose
until the number equals this stat if they're outside the range of the hive.

• Current Capacity (CCap) - The current number of drones you currently have within
your thrall. Includes the player. Limits the number of actions that can be taken at
once and in a round. You may only take as many actions as you have drones under
your command.

All synapse drones start with 1 Str, 1 Int, 1 Nim, 1 Acu, 1 Phy, 1 Syn, 1 Emp, 0 Armor, 0
Will, 3 Size, and 1 SyRa before modifications

When creating your character, think first about what you want your character to be like
as your character’s decisions and personality help to shape the hive mind along with the other
players. Once you have a good idea of how your character will act, their goals, and desires,
then start spending build points to make your character better fit your idea.

Zachary decides to make his synapse drone the hunter of the hive, specializing
towards attacking creatures. In doing this, he chooses to be a carnivore, increases his
Physique and Strength to 4 each and the rest to 2 along with adding two arms and increasing
his Size to 5. His increase in size makes his drone take up another hex, but also allows him to
reach one hex further and deal additional damage with any natural weapons he may gain.
Zachary spends 47 points doing this after getting the go-ahead from the others, preferring to
bulk him up so they can use him as a shield against enemies.

Perks and Limitations

Perks are additional things that can be bought with build points that grant your drones
or hive additional actions or special abilities. Some can only be applied to specific parts of the
hive such as the hive itself (either the mind or the structure) or drones or even a subset of
drones such as only synapse drones, these are marked with the specific part in brackets
([Tag]). For example, the Acid Spittle perk has the [Drone] tag and costs 7 points, meaning that
its effects are only granted to drones made by the hive, but not to the hive itself, and that it
costs 7 points to even take it. If two or more modifiers say that you can take a perk at half price
or double price, they do not stack.

Limitations are additional flaws and hindrances that can be used in order to give
yourself more build points to use during creation. Like perks, some can only be applied to

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specific parts of the hive and are marked as such. For example, the Weak Synapse limitation
has the [Hive Mind] tag and grants 5 points, meaning that it affects the mind of the hive but not
the drones and grants 5 build points that can be spent elsewhere.

During level up, you can buy perks with the build points you gain from flexibility, but you
can’t buy limitations unless the GM allows.

Extra Caste [Hive]- 5 points

You may create a new caste of drones for your hive. If taken at creation, you may split
the build points among them as you wish. If taken after creation, you must use build points you
have saved and gained through level ups to build them, but may improve them as normal
afterwards.

Optimized Rest Patterns [Drone] - 15 points

This caste of drones need only a third of the normal sleep cycle to function normally, as
such they need only three hours of rest instead of nine to be fully recharged. This does not
cause limited use abilities to recharge faster and only allows the drone to function without
penalties.

Manipulator Limbs [Drone] - 8 points

This caste of drone has at least one pair of manipulator limbs that allow it to write, wield
weapons, pick locks, and do other such actions that require such dexterity. When this perk is
chosen, choose a single limb or a pair of legs, tentacles, or tails, they can now do the actions
above and other such actions. You also have the option to add more manipulators onto the
drones of this caste for 10 points each (20 for a pair).

Adaptability [Drone] - x points

When rolling to survive or avoid the natural hazards of an environment, the drone gains
additional dice equal to the number of points spent on this perk.

Emergent Synchronicity [Drone] - 4 points

Drones of this caste have a much more developed form of synchronicity, functioning as
though they have a minor gestalt consciousness. They gain a +2 dice pool modifier to
synchronicity checks to stay within the hive mind and if the synapse drone controlling them

14
dies, they may stay connected to the hive mind and directed as though it was still alive for a
number of rounds equal to the level of the synapse drone.

Natural Weapon [Drone] - 2 points

Drones of this caste have a natural weapon that can be used in battle or for other
reasons. When this is selected, choose one body part. That body part now has a natural
weapon of your choice that makes sense. For example: Forelegs can have claws, hind legs
can have talons or claws, tentacles can have tentacles or slaps, heads can have bites, horns,
or headbutts, tails can have stingers, etc. All limbs except for heads can have only one natural
weapon. Heads can have one bite, one spit attack (via Advanced Natural Weapon) and one
horn or headbutt attack, but the three cannot be used in the same turn. If Advanced Natural
Weapon is used to turn a melee bite attack into a ranged spit attack, you may select this perk
to add a bite attack to the head. The first Natural Weapon added is the Primary Natural
Weapon with all others being secondary.

Flight [Drone] - 20 points

Drones of this caste have a set of wings, the ability to levitate, or some other form of
movement that allows them to fly. They can take ranks in Flying and can move (speed+ ½ size
rounded up) in the air as a move action.

Climber [Drone] - x points

Drones of this caste are proficient climbers. They gain a number of automatic
successes to climbing checks equal to the amount of points spent on this perk. Additionally,
they can move their full speed when climbing.

Swimming [Drone] - x points

Drones of this caste are proficient swimmers. They gain a number of automatic
successes to swim checks equal to the amount of points spent on this perk. Additionally, they
can move their full speed when swimming.

Amphibious [Drone] - 10 points

Drones of this caste are able to breathe just as well on the surface as underwater and
cannot drown unless in a different type of liquid than they are used to or due to another effect.

15
 Advanced Natural Weapon [Drone] - 10 points

Requires Natural Weapon. Select a natural weapon the drone has, apply one of the
following effects, unless specified each option can only be chosen once per attack:

• Increase the damage of an attack by 1. Can be chosen more than once. Can be
added to Spewing attack even if a natural attack wasn’t used to qualify for it due
to the attack granted being a natural attack.
• Add one of the following qualities to the attack: Reach(add X to the perk cost,
with the reach being 1/3rd of the extra points spent), Disarming, Snatching,
Sundering, Constrict, Forceful, Swallow (Bite attacks only), or Tripping. (Note,
this perk can be applied to the Body and not a weapon if the Constrict quality is
chosen)
• Change the attack from melee to ranged
• Change an attack category from secondary to primary. This causes the current
primary to become a secondary.

Inter-Drone Perception [Drone] - 10 points

As a free action, a drone may spend an action point to use the senses of another drone
with this perk, allowing them to see, smell, hear, etc. through them instead. This effect may be
ended at any time as a free action.

Herd Mentality [Drone] - 10 points

Drones in this caste are easier to control and direct, but are a bit harder to reign in
when they get going. Drones with this perk gain a +1 modifier to all synchronicity checks per
drone with the same perk under the control of the same synapse drone. Additionally, when
making move actions you can select up to two drones to move at once, this does use up one
action for both drones but only costs AP for one drone.

Photosynthesis [Drone or Hive Structure] - 5 points

Drones with this perk require only half as much food as normal. If this perk is taken for
the Hive structures, biological structures and those made with wood or plants require only half
upkeep and plant food output is increased by 10%.

Strong Synapse [Hive Mind] - 10 points

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 Increase max capacity of the hive mind by +10. All drones controlled by the hive gain a
+2 dice pool modifier for synchronicity checks to stay within the hive mind.

Unassuming [Drone] - 5 points

Drones with this perk gain a +1 dice pool modifier when rolling stealth and disguise for
the purposes of not drawing attention to themselves. Additionally, synapse drones with this
perk cannot be picked out from the drones they are controlling, even if they don’t look similar.

Structural Camouflage [Hive Structure] - 10 points

The hive structures are much harder to spot unless you know exactly what you’re
looking for. Creatures take a -3 dice pool modifier to find hive structures of the hive that has
this perk..

Dungeoncrasher [Drone] - 4 points

Requires Strength of at least 5. When a drone with this perk attempts to deal physical
damage to an object, increase the dice pool by half the level of the hive controlling it.

Siege Bio-Weapon [Drone] - 20 points

Requires Dungeoncrasher and at least size 10. The benefits of Dungeoncrasher no

longer function and are replaced by this perk’s effect. When a drone with this perk attempts to
deal physical damage to an object, double the dice pool used for the attack and the dice rolled
for damage and halve the damage reduction of the object.

Cold Blooded [Drone] - +6 points

The drone takes one and a half times damage from attacks that deal ice or fire
damage, takes a -4 dice pool penalty against very cold and very hot environmental conditions,
but requires only a fourth as much food.

Acid Spittle [Drone] - 7 points

Requires the weapon to have Advanced Natural Weapon applied to it. Select an
advanced natural weapon and add +1 damage to it, this damage dealt is of the acid type. If the
weapon is ranged, instead do not add damage at all and instead change all damage dealt to
acid.

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 Pouncing [Drone] - 10 points

When this drone makes a charge attack, they may make an attack with all of your
natural weapons instead of just one.

Raking Strike [Drone] - 5 points

Requires Pouncing and at least two claw attacks on hind legs. The drone gains two
secondary rake attacks that deal rending damage and can only be used during a charge.
These attacks are in addition to the normal claw attack from the hind legs, giving two additional
attacks during the pounce.

Precise Strike [Drone] - 5 points

When deciding damage for a melee attack you may instead use your nimbleness score
instead of your strength score.

Apex Eyes [Drone] - 6 points

This drone does not take the penalty for attacking into water.

Aquatic [Drone] - +5 points

This drone has gills in place of lungs and as such cannot leave the water or begin
suffocating within 1d10 rounds. However, they can breathe within a single liquid.

Armored Body [Drone] - 6 points

This drone has some form of armor shielding its body from physical attacks. This drone
has 1 point of Armor.

Shielded Mind [Drone] - 6 points

This drone has a strong will shielding its mind from mental and esoteric attacks. This
drone has 1 point of Will

Enhanced Armor [Drone] - 5 points

Requires Armored Body. This drone’s armoring is thicker or covers more of its body.
This drone has 1 additional point of Armor. This perk can be selected multiple times. Each time
after the first that the perk is chosen its point cost increases by 2.

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 Enhanced Will [Drone] - 5 points

Requires Shielded Mind. This drone’s will is stronger or shields more of itself. This
drone has 1 additional point of Will. This perk can be selected multiple times. Each time after
the first that the perk is chosen its point cost increases by 2.

Miner Claws [Drone] - 10 points

This drone has strong claws that let it dig through soil and stone, allowing it to harvest
stone and ores. These claws cannot be used to attack and do not grant the burrowing ability.

Harvester Claws [Drone] - 10 points

This drone has sharp claws that let it cut through wood and plant matter, allowing it to
harvest wood and plants, as well as add +2 to the output of farms. These claws cannot be
used to attack.

Worker Claws [Drone] - 30 points

This drone has strong, versatile claws that let it dig through soil and stone as well as
shear through plant matter and wood, allowing it to harvest stone, ores, wood, and plants.
These claws cannot be used to attack and do not grant the burrowing ability.

Zachary previously chose to specialize in dealing damage, meaning he’ll be on the

front-lines a lot. Knowing this, he decides to take Armored Body, Natural Weapon (Claws)
twice, and Manipulator Limbs for his arms. He gains two Primary Natural Claw Attacks that
deal # Rending damage each, but can’t be used while his hands are holding something else.
However, to do this he does spend 10 points. His group also chooses to give the workers
Natural Weapon (Bite) and Harvester Claws, granting them a Primary Natural Bite Attack that
deals $ Rending damage and the ability to gather herbs, plant fiber, and wood for the cost of
12 points.

Skills
Skills will be talked about more in depth in another section, however they do bear
mentioning in creation as you can buy skill points with build points. 1 BP gets you 3 Skill points.

19
 All creatures in a hive mind share the same basic skills and in some cases those of
higher levels as well, but different drone types can have different skills. singletons do not share
any skills with each other.

Basic skills cost 1(one) skill point to increase. Physical and Mental skills cost 2(two)
points to increase. Civil skills cost 3(three) points to increase. And Esoteric skills cost 4(four)
points to increase.

Esoteric skills also require a perk that allows you to buy levels in them, meaning that
you might not be able to access them from the beginning.

Zachary and his group are now running pretty low on points, partially due to him taking
the lion’s share, but also just as course for making a hive. Seeing this, they decide to only
spend points on what the hive can share and buy 3 ranks in all basic skills, plus 2 in
Perception for each player.

Rooms
Rooms and their benefits will be explained more in depth in a later section, but do bear
keeping in mind. Rooms are locations within the hive that grant benefits for having them. They
cost time, BP, and resources to build and prepare and will be very useful to make, as such you
might not want to spend all of your BP during character creation as you can save it for later on.

Rooms are noted in the following way:

Name [Room Type Tag] (Size) - Build Points needed

Resources: Number of resource points needed to build
Upkeep: Any resource point upkeep if required
What the room does and the benefits/cost of the room

All hives start with 4 Rooms: 1 Spawning Pool, 1 Warren, 1 Nest, and 1 Hive Core.
These rooms will be noted here for clarity’s sake but will also be found in the list of rooms later
on.

Hive Core [Nodal Tower] (Special) - - points

Resources: None

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 Upkeep: Special
The Hive Core is a special room that cannot be built. All hives start with this room. This
room may be moved within the hive as a special action that requires many drones, lots of time,
and lots of food. The Hive Core houses the mind and will of the Hive Mind that is carried out
through the actions of the drones and rooms. The Size of the Hive Mind is equal in Length,
Width, and Height to the Hive Size, so a HSize 1 hive will have a 1×1×1 Hive Core and an
HSize 3 will have a 3×3×3 Hive Core. Additionally, the Hive Core has a food point upkeep
equal to the number of Hexes it occupies. For example, an HSize 1 core has an upkeep of 1
while a HSize 3 core has an upkeep of 27. Unlike drones, the Hive Core does not have a diet
and as such any food will do. If the Hive Core is destroyed, the Hive dies even if Cohesion is
above 0. All members of the hive have knowledge of everything that happens within the area of
the Hive Core room as though they can sense it directly.

Nest [Defensive] (2×4×2) - 5 points

Resources: 30 Stone/Wood/Metal/Etc.
Upkeep: 1 of the resource used to build it
The Nest is a defensive structure similar to a small fortification. Drones within it gain the
benefits of elevation and +1 successes when making defensive actions.

Spawning Pool [Spawning] (3×3×3) - 10 points

Resources: 10 Food, 10 Water, 10 Stone
Upkeep: 2 Food, 2 Water
The Spawning Pool is a room dedicated to rearing young and bringing more drones into
existence. The actual layout of the room, and whether or not it actually has a pool or any actual
features, is left up to the individual room and hive. The Spawning Pool adds +1 to Spawning.

Warren [Capacity] (5×5×5) - 10 points

Resources: 10 Stone/Wood/Metal/Etc. if building above ground. If underground, None
Upkeep: 1 of the material used to build it or stone if underground.
The Warren is a very useful room used to house resting drones as well as use to store
resources. Each warren adds +10 to Max Capacity and increases resource storage by 50.

Secondary Attributes
Secondary Attributes are derived from primary attributes using simple equations.

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Hive Attributes
Cohesion is equal to the (twice the number of players x MPow)x level of the hive +
modifiers from perks, limitations, and rooms. (Cannot be lower than Max Capacity at character
creation.)

Max Capacity is equal to (3 times the number of players)+ level of the hive x Hive Size
+ modifiers from perks, limitations, and rooms. A hive always starts with 2 drones per player (1
drone of any caste and the synapse drone that the player controls) and the player may choose
if their non-synapse drones are within their control or are within the hive.

Hive Size is determined by how many rooms the hive has and is equal to number of
rooms/4 (rounded down)

Flexibility is equal to Hive Intelligence plus Mental Power.

Zachary’s group’s hive has the following Primary Attributes: 3 MPow and 3 HInt. Since
they have 3 players and start at level 1, the secondary attributes are as follows: 18 Cohesion,
20 Max Capacity (+10 from Warren), 1 Hive Size, and 6 Flexibility.

Drone Attributes
Health is equal to Physique+Size+misc modifiers.

Speed is equal to Nimbleness+Acumen+½ Size (Rounded down)+misc modifiers.

Ranged Defense is equal to Nimbleness+Acumen+Armor-Size+misc modifiers. (Min. 0)

Physical Save is equal to ½ Physique+Size+misc modifiers.

Agility Save is equal to Speed-½ Strength+misc modifiers.

Mental Save is equal to ½ Acumen+Will+Mental Power+misc modifiers

The group’s workers have 5 Health points, 5 Speed, 1 Ranged Defense, 4 Physical
Save, 4 Agility Save, and 8 Mental Save.

Synapse Drone Attributes

Synapse Capacity is equal to Level+1+misc modifiers.

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 Current Capacity is equal to the number of drones you currently have under your
control including the synapse drone.

Zachary’s synapse drone has 9 Health points, 6 Speed, 0 Ranged Defense, 7 Physical
Save, 4 Agility Save, and 8 Mental Save.

Leveling up, Advancement, and Enhancement

Leveling up can be done in one of a few ways. The main ways are XP and Milestones.
Experience Points (XP) leveling requires a bit more bookkeeping than milestone leveling, but is
also more regular due to the constant flow of XP compared to milestones which occur at the
whim of the GM.

Goal-Based Leveling, or Abstract XP, is a leveling system where the GM awards the
hive XP based on the goal they have completed. This XP is given when the goal is completed
and should fit the difficulty of the goal in question. Something like “Acquire a water source”
might only be worth maybe 10-20 XP in a forest but could be worth maybe 200-300 XP in a
desert or wasteland. Additionally, the amount of XP required to reach the next level should also
be kept in mind. Where early on it might only take a few hundred XP to level up, at later levels
it could take thousands of XP to reach the next level and as such the difficulty of the goal
should be measured carefully. While typically the players will come up with their own goals, it
may be wise for the GM to come up with 3-5 goals to nudge them in a direction or to help them
if they don’t seem to be making much progress. This method of leveling up is a bit more in-
depth than the next one, but is much more likely to keep players engaged in the game and
usually working together. It is advised that the first level takes somewhere around 50-100 XP
points with each subsequent level taking an additional 40%-75% of the previous level.

Milestones, or Plot-based Leveling, is a leveling system where the GM awards level

ups based on achieving certain goals, story moments, plot events, or other such forms of fiat.
This is a much more sporadic form of leveling up that places the players at the whims of the
GM, but also allows for a much faster power rise as multiple levels can be granted at the same
time. Typically this works best in a story-driven game or a game with heavy themes or obvious
objectives much more like traditional fantasy games or stories. This method of leveling up can
lead to the players feeling much less involved in the game but can also lead to them getting
very into a story crafted by the GM and as such getting those power boosts at a fairly rapid
rate.

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 When leveling up, the hive as a whole, not each player individually, gains a number of
Build Points equal to ten times Flexibility. This can be used in the same ways as during
character creation, however you must make a Biotics(Mutation) check (TN = Half Total BP
Cost) if physically modifying a caste that has active drones. If successful, physical changes
appear over the course of 1d10 days as the physical structures modify themselves to the hive’s
will. If the check fails, or the hive does not have that skill, only newly grown drones will have
those changes, meaning that they will need to return to the hive to obtain the new drones.

When creating a new caste, they initially appear slowly at half the usual Spawning until
they reach a certain amount chosen by the players, after which they grow at the usual rate,
and will need to be gathered from the hive to be used.

If modifying a Synapse Drone(Player), the changes happen over one resting period as
the power of the hive mind forces them to acclimate rapidly, though this does cause one level
of exhaustion for the next day that cannot be avoided or reduced. Build Points can be saved
and don't need to be spent all at once.

Synapse Drone Death and Rebirth

When synapse drones die, all drones under their command must make increasingly
difficult synchronicity checks to stay within the hive mind that increase over distance from the
nearest nodal tower and time spent outside of it. Additionally, all drones within the hive mind
take a -1 penalty to synchronicity until the synapse drone respawns.

Reduce the hive's spawning stat by the level of the synapse drone and each time the
hive would spawn more drones, instead spawn none and increase the spawning stat by the
base spawning until it reaches 0 or higher. Once this happens, the synapse drone is
respawned and spawning returns to normal. If multiple drones die, the changes to spawning
stack and they all respawn together once spawning returns to 0 or above.

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Skills
All creatures have skills. Skills are typically tied to an attribute. The GM can choose to
have a skill roll made with a different attribute based on the circumstance. For example, a GM
could have a character roll Intimidate with strength instead of empathy if they decide it makes
more sense. Skills with no attributes listed after them tend to have a wide array of situations
they cover and as such are not tied to any one stat, requiring the GM to note which attribute
they’ll be using for each roll.

Some skills, notably most esoteric skills, have sub-skills that can only be increased
after the first point is added to the parent skill. Sub-skills can only have as many ranks as their
parent skill and the parent skill takes a -2 dice pool penalty on checks that would fit under a
sub-skill due to generalization vs specialization. If a skill contains nothing but sub-skills each
sub-skill is effectively treated as a separate skill under the same general category.

Skills are broken into 5 categories, each costing different amounts of skill points. The 5
levels are: Basic, Physical, Mental, Civil, and Esoteric. Each category has a limit on the
number of ranks you may have at any one time according to your level, though some skills
may differ. These limits are as follows:

Category Max Ranks

Basic 10x Level
Physical 5x Level
Mental 5x Level
Civil 3x Level
Esoteric 1x Level

All creatures in a hive mind share the same basic skills as the hive and in some cases
those of higher levels as well, but different drone types can have different skills. Singletons do
not share any skills with each other.

Basic skills cost 1(one) skill point to increase. Physical and Mental skills cost 2(two)
points to increase. Civil skills cost 3(three) points to increase. And Esoteric skills cost 4(four)
points to increase.

Esoteric skills also require a perk that allows you to buy levels in them, meaning that
you might not be able to access them from the beginning. Additionally some skills suffer from
Wild Magic. These skills will be noted with a star (*) and all sub-skills of the skill are affected
too. Wild Magic will be discussed in its own section.

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Basic: 1 skill point
Brawl (Str) - Unarmed melee attacks. Attacks with natural weapons and attempts to
withstand physical damage are made with this skill

Dodge (Nim) - Dodging melee attacks and slow ranged attacks

Gathering (Int) - Gathering edible plants and fungi

Hunting(Acu) - Hunting game, tracking, and fishing

Intimidation (Emp) - Scaring off predators and dissuading enemies from attacking.
Also able to demoralize and cause fear in enemies.

Survival(Phy) - Knowledge of how to survive in the wilderness and ability to survive

harsh conditions

Physical: 2 skill points

Acrobatics (Nim) - Ability to perform athletic feats such as jumping, balancing,
escaping from ropes, and such

Climb (Str) - Ability to climb vertical surfaces, trees, and the like with higher ranks
being able to walk upside down. Creatures with the Climber trait have automatic successes
equal to the cost of the trait.

Ballistics (Acu) - Ranged attacks. Attacks with ranged manufactured and natural
weapons are made with this skill.

Disguise (Emp) - Ability to successfully disguise as a different person or creature.

Driving (Nim) - Ability to control land and sea vehicles.

Flying (Phy) - Ability to fly through the air either with wings or in flying vehicles. Only
creatures with the Flyer trait or often find themselves flying with magic or in flying craft can put
points into this skill. The size of the object/creature flying is taken as a negative total modifier to
this skill.

Riding (Nim) - Ability to control mounts and vehicles

Sleight of Hand (Nim) - Ability to pickpocket, steal, and use the body in trickery

Stealth (Nim) - Ability to sneak, hide, move quietly, and avoid detection

26
 Swim (Phy) - Ability to swim through liquids (within reason). Creatures with the
Swimmer trait have automatic successes equal to the cost of the trait.

Weaponry (Str) - Armed melee attacks. Attacks with a manufactured weapon are made
with this skill.

Mental: 2 skill points

Appraise (Int) - Ability to gauge monetary worth of an item.

Bluff (Emp) - Ability to deceive and lie through words and body language

Diplomacy (Emp) - Ability to perform diplomacy, seduce, enact compromise, and other
such actions

Gather Information (Emp) - Ability to extract information in a non-violent way from

people, typically used for local information or information pertinent to a case

Haggling (Emp) - Ability to lower prices, broker deals, act as a merchant, and similar
actions

Knowledge (Int) - Must be taken exclusively as sub-skills. Each sub-skill has its own
range of topics with the more specific the topic the more narrow the range but deeper the
depth. This is only for mundane topics, for supernatural or esoteric topics use Forbidden
Knowledge instead.

Navigation (Int) - Ability to navigate through the wilderness without getting lost

Perception (Acu) - Ability to search, look, hear, smell, or otherwise use your senses.

Sense Motive (Acu) - Ability to see through lies, deceit, disguises, and other
dishonesty

Technology(modern or future settings) (Int) - Ability to use and understand electronic

technology.

• Coding – Ability to create and maintain programs

• Hacking – Ability to infiltrate systems, modify the programs of others, and attack
technology via electronic means

• Jamming – Ability to mess with the signals being sent between electronic devices

• Hardware – Ability to build, maintain, and modify electronic hardware

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Civil: 3 skill points
Animal Handling – Ability to breed, rear, control, and herd animals

Agriculture – Ability to work the land and understand natural cycles in regards to
farming and herding

• Farming – Ability to till, fertilize, and prepare land and plant, tend to, and harvest
plants

• Herbology – Ability to distinguish between, grow, forage, and cultivate herbs and
spices

Build (Str) - Familiarity with the physical side of architecture and ability to build basic
buildings. (Each main source of building material is its’ own sub-skill. Other materials
can be used as additions without needing the specific sub-skill)

Chemistry (Int) - Familiarity with chemical compounds and the results of such. (This
skill and sub-skills are for modern and future settings only. Acids, Bases, and
Explosives are under alchemy for non-modern and non-future settings.)

• Acids – Ability to create and use acids

• Analytical – Familiarity with how to identify and quantify materials in a mixture

• Bases – Ability to create and use bases

• Biochemistry – Familiarity with the chemical principles underlying basic

biological systems

• Explosives – Ability to create and understand explosives

• Inorganic – Familiarity with mostly non-carbon based reactions and compounds

• Organic – Familiarity with the compounds of life and most carbon-based

compounds

• Physical – Familiarity with the fundamental physical principles that govern the
way that atoms, molecules, and other chemical systems behave.

Craft – Must be taken exclusively as sub-skills. Each sub-skill has its own range of
items that can be made with the more specific the field, the more narrow but more magnificent
the number of items. Examples include, Brewing, Weaving, Smithing, Armory, Weaponry,
Food, Leather, etc.

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 Disable Item (Int) - Ability to disable traps, destroy items, sabotage, and similar actions

Forgery (Nim) - Ability to copy handwriting and forge documents and art

Language (Acu) - Ability to understand and/or speak languages. Must be taken as a

sub-skill for each language learned. Ability to write does not automatically come with the skill
unless GM says so. Hive mind creatures do not gain any ranks automatically upon creation.

Medical – Ability to heal and harm the body and mind through mundane means such
as surgery, medicine, drugs, tinctures, and torture

Mining – Ability to excavate earth, mine through stone, and to recognize and extract
ores

Profession – Must be taken exclusively as sub-skills. Each sub-skill represents its own
field of work and can be used in combination with relevant craft skills, but the narrower the
sub-skill the narrower but more magnificent number of items. Examples include Baker, Brewer,
Blacksmith, Armorer, Weaponsmith, Fletcher, Leatherworker, Tanner, Chef, etc.

Esoteric: 4 skill points

Alchemy (Int) - Ability to create and understand alchemical items. Requires the ability
to move and requires reagents.

• Solvents – Ability to create acids and other substances that break down matter

• Potions – Ability to create magical potions and other liquids

• Explosives – Ability to create and understand explosives (This sub-skill is for

non-modern and non-future settings only)

• Mutagens – Ability to create and understand alchemical items that cause

mutations or transformations in the subject (unguent of lycanthropy, a salve that
grows extra arms, etc.)

• Oils – Ability to create oils that, when applied to objects, grant various
enhancements (Silver-sheen, Oil of Silence, Ever-burning Fuel, etc.)

• Powders – Ability to create powders and dusts that produce various effects
(dust of sneezing and choking, melt powder, glow-powder, etc.)

• Solids – Ability to create and understand more solid alchemical items (fire-stick,
sunburst stone, ever-burning torch, smoke-twig, caryatid columns, etc.)

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 Biotics* – Control over biological systems.

• Manipulation – Ability to force movement and actions in unwilling biological

participants

• Mutation – Ability to modify, add onto, and remove parts, features, and even
change forms of biological creatures

• Healing – Ability to force healing in biological creatures

Forbidden Knowledge (Int) - Must be taken exclusively as sub-skills. Each sub-skill

has its own range of topics with the more specific the topic the more narrow the range but
deeper the depth. This is only for supernatural or esoteric topics, for mundane topics use
Knowledge instead.

Magic* – Ability to understand magic and to use it for spells and rituals. Requires
sound and motion to use.

• Divination – Ability to sense from afar, see the future, and gather information

• Foresight – Ability to see the future

• Augury – Ability to easily gather information and ask questions via

magical channels (such as speaking to gods or other powerful creatures)

• Scrying – Ability to see and sense far away places and people

• Enhancement – Ability to modify the attributes and capabilities of creatures and

items.

• Evocation – Ability to manipulate the primal energies of nature.

• Necromancy – Ability to manipulate the forces of life and death

• Heal || Harm – Ability to heal and harm creatures with the primal forces
of life and death

• Communion – Ability to speak with spirits and the recently dead

• Rot || Rebirth- Ability to debuff enemies and spread disease as well as

generate new forms of life or give new life to that which was once dead

• Protection – Ability to protect creatures and items from harm and conditions

• Summoning – Ability to bring creatures and items from elsewhere on the world
or other planes.

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 • Transmutation – Ability to mess with the forms of things

• Creatures – Ability to modify the forms and functions of creatures

• Materials – Ability to modify the forms and functions of materials and

items

• Metaphysics – Ability to modify the forms and functions of metaphysical

constructs, such as summoned walls or natural laws within an area

Poison – Ability to create, refine, and produce different kinds of poisons.

Psionics* – Ability to manipulate minds and the physical world with your mind.
Requires a mind to use on. Motion and Sound can help but aren’t necessary.

• Illusion – Ability to mess with senses to produce various effects

• Glamour – Ability to change the apparent physical properties of an

object or creature, such as making something red look blue or a massive
troll look like a small turtle

• Fantasy – Ability to implant false images into a creature’s mind that only
they can perceive

• Pattern – Ability to cause creatures to sense something that isn’t there

such as a wall of fake fire or a scream from the woods, where neither
actually exist

• Psychokinesis – Ability to manipulate forces to cause effects

• Elementalism – Psychokinesis functions similarly to Evocation in that

each element has its’ own sub-skill.

• Telekinesis – Ability to move things with merely the mind

• Enchantment – Ability to control the emotions and minds of others

• Charm – Ability to manipulate the feelings of love and hate and compel
people to like the user

• Command – Ability to compel others to follow the user’s will

• Fascinate – Ability to freeze thoughts and modify thoughts to force

inaction

• Telepathy – Ability to transmit information between minds

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 • Info Bomb – Ability to overload and damage a creature’s mind with
significant amounts of information

• Communication – Ability to speak to others using the mind, even

creating a web of telepathic speech between multiple creatures

• Block – Ability to resist telepathic abilities and mental compulsions

• Movement – Ability to modify the physical capabilities of creatures and teleport

• Clarity – Ability to sense things before they happen and increase

reaction speed

• Teleportation – Ability to bend space with the user’s will, moving across
distances with little trouble

• Impact – Ability to slightly modify the capabilities of creatures, leading to

minor physical changes but allowing for extreme usage of abilities

Technology(non-modern/non-future settings) (Int)

Target Numbers
All skill and attribute checks in the game need a number of successes to be completed
successfully. This number is referred to as the Target Number. The target number should be
based on the difficulty of the action. For a rough guide, the following table should provide a
quick and dirty example
Target Number Difficulty
4 Very Easy
6 Easy
8 Average
10 Hard
12 Very Hard
14 Intense
16 Never Done Before

Wild Magic
Wild magic is a primal upheaval in the esoteric forces themselves and is partially the
reason for casters wearing as little armor as possible, called “wild magic” due to the fact that

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magic is more prone to inducing it than any other esoteric skill. In addition to imposing a +1 TN
penalty for each armor point, when an esoteric skill is used that is marked as causing Wild
Magic there is a stacking 10% chance that Wild Magic will activate per armor point. This
chance is heightened for magic, as there is already a 5% chance for Wild Magic activation
whenever the skill is used. Additionally, if an esoteric skill is used in an area that is charged
with that form of esoteric force, it incurs an additional +20% of Wild Magic activation.
To determine if Wild Magic activates, roll 1d100 after the skill check is performed and if
the dice come up below the Wild Magic percentage then Wild Magic activates. Whenever Wild
Magic is activated, a random esoteric effect is generated that affects the caster and all
creatures surrounding the caster within 1d5 hexes.

Esoterically Charged Areas

Some areas are naturally charged with esoteric energies of varying types such as
magical, necromantic, psionic, fire, etc. These areas could be large enough to encompass
multiple geographical hexes or a single hex on a battlefield. No matter how big they are or
what type, all charged areas have the same effect. When an effect of the specified type is
created within the area or the creator of the effect is within the area, treat the effect as though it
was 3 successes higher in power and scope, increase Wild Magic chance by +20%, and if
materials were needed for the effect or used to empower it only half of the materials given
were used.

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Perks and Limitations
Perks are additional things that can be bought with build points that grant your drones
or hive additional actions or special abilities. Some can only be applied to specific parts of the
hive such as the hive itself (either the mind or the structure) or drones or even a subset of
drones such as only synapse drones, these are marked with the specific part in brackets
([Tag]). The [Total Hive] tag applies to the entire hive upon being taken and usually can only be
taken at creation. For example, the Acid Spittle perk has the [Drone] tag and costs 7 points,
meaning that its effects are only granted to drones made by the hive, but not to the hive itself,
and that it costs 7 points to even take it. Some perks require that a hive have a certain
physiology (such as Biological or Undead) or a certain play style (such as Swarm or
Assimilator) or have other prerequisites before the perk can be taken. If two or more modifiers
say that you can take a perk at half price or double price, they do not stack.

Limitations are additional flaws and hindrances that can be used in order to give
yourself more build points to use during creation. Like perks, some can only be applied to
specific parts of the hive and are marked as such. For example, the Weak Synapse limitation
has the [Hive Mind] tag and grants 5 points, meaning that it affects the mind of the hive but not
the drones and grants 5 build points that can be spent elsewhere.

During level up, you can buy perks with the build points you gain from flexibility, but you
can’t buy limitations unless the GM allows.

Perks and options with the [Singleton] tag may be taken by Singleton characters on
their level ups.

Perks and Limitations

Acid Spittle [Drone] - 7 points

Requires at least one Natural Weapon. Select an advanced natural weapon and add +1
damage to it, this damage dealt is of the acid type. If the weapon is ranged or area, instead do
not add damage at all and instead change all damage dealt to acid.

Active Camo [Drone] - 25 points

Requires Camouflage with a bonus of at least 5. By using a move action and spending
3AP, the drone can effectively go invisible, rendering it unable to be seen with normal visions
and normal cameras. This invisibility does not end upon attacking or activating an effect.

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 Adaptability [Drone] [Singleton] - x points

When rolling to survive or avoid the natural hazards of an environment, the drone gains
additional dice equal to the number of points spent on this perk. If this perk is on a singleton
creature, that creature also adds the rank of this perk as a perk bonus to BP gained during
level up.

Advanced Natural Weapon [Drone] [Singleton] - 10 points

Requires Natural Weapon. Select a natural weapon the drone has, apply one of the
following effects, unless specified each option can only be chosen once per attack and
singletons can only choose the specified ones unless otherwise allowed:

• Increase the damage of an attack by 1. Can be chosen more than once. Can be
added to Spewing attack even if a natural attack wasn’t used to qualify for it due
to the attack granted being a natural attack. [Singleton]
• Add one of the following qualities to the attack: Reach(add X to the perk cost,
with the reach being 1/3rd of the extra points spent), Disarming, Snatching,
Sundering, Constrict, Forceful, Swallow (Bite attacks only), Tripping. (Note, this
perk can be applied to the Body and not a weapon if the Constrict quality is
chosen)
• Change the attack from melee to ranged. Its range is a number of hexes equal
to Size+Str.
• Change an attack category from secondary to primary. This causes the current
primary to become a secondary. [Singleton]

• Change the skill used for an attack to an esoteric skill the creature possesses.
[Singleton]

Advanced Poison [Drone] - X points

Requires Poison with a cost of at least 10 points. The drone’s poison is very potent and
specialized to produce a specific effect in the victim. The Poison does not affect attributes or
use the original TN instead has a TN of half the number of points spent on this perk and
applies one of the following conditions, chosen when this perk is taken, for 1d10 rounds. The
conditions are: Charmed, Confused, Exhausted, Inflated, Nauseated, Paralyzed, Stunned,
Unconscious. If a drone has multiple poison perks, this perk only applies to one. If multiple
Advanced Poison perks are on the same weapon, only one can activate per attack. If the
drone has Transmutation 4 or Enchantment 4 it can also select between Petrified, Fascinated,
Euphoric, Blinded, Deafened, and Fear.

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 Amphibious [Drone] - 10 points

Requires Aquatic. Drones of this caste are able to breathe just as well on the surface as
underwater and cannot drown unless in a different type of liquid than they are used to or due to
another effect.

Anhydric [Drone] - 25 points

This drone does not need to drink at all and is immune to dehydration and desiccation.

Apex Eyes [Drone] [Singleton] - 6 points

This drone does not take the penalty for attacking into water.

Aquatic [Drone] - +5 points

This drone has aquatic gills in place of lungs and as such cannot leave the water or
begin suffocating within 1d10 rounds. However, they can breathe within a single liquid and if
the drone has the swimmer perk, they may change the dice pool bonus granted by that perk to
instead grant that number of automatic succeses to the Swim skill.

Arcane Seed [Drone, or Hive Structure] [Singleton] - 15 points

This drone has either been changed by or harnessed the raw power of magic, allowing
it to take ranks in the Magic skill and its sub-skills. If taken by the hive, however, it can produce
magical effects within its rooms, gain access to special rooms, and take ranks in the Magic skill
and its sub-skills.

Armored Body [Drone] [Singleton] - 6 points

This drone has some form of armor shielding its body from physical attacks. This drone
has 1 point of Armor.

Artillery Attack [Drone] - 25+X points

Requires Spewing Attack (Burst or Zone). This drone has a strange quirk to its spewing
attack, allowing it to modify where the attack lands and even to use it over walls. The drone is
allowed to choose a location within ½ X hexes where the center of the area attack will be
located. This attack technically follows an arcing path and as such reaches a maximum height
equal to ½ X hexes, allowing it to strike over walls that are under that number of hexes in
height.

Aware Dissociation [Synapse Drone] - 0 points

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 Allows the synapse drone to disconnect from the hive mind and act as a singular
creature without drones for however long it wants. This does remove the player’s voice from
Debate actions however.

Berserker Fury [Drone] [Singleton] - 20 points

As a free 1 AP action, this drone can fly into a berserker rage for 1d5 rounds. During
this time, it gains a +1 to Strength and Physique and takes a -1 to Nimbleness, Acumen, and
Synchronicity. Additionally, it can only focus on attacking enemies and as such can only make
the attack, move, and charge actions. Once this period is over, the drone gains one level of
exhaustion for 1 hour. While in this state the drone is considered to have the Enraged condition
for the purposes of effects that require it.

Bioformer [Hive Structure] - 15 points

Must be taken at hive creation. This hive creates everything it makes from its own flesh,
not caring for the non organic except for what it can use to prop itself up with easier. All non-
food costs and upkeep for rooms are reduced by 3/4ths but food upkeep is increased by three
times the listed amount.

Biological Control [Drone or Mind] [Singleton] - 15 points

This drone is able to understand and manipulate the biology of itself and others to
produce various effects. The drone gains the ability to take ranks in Biotics and its sub-skills. If
taken by the mind, the hive mind is able to effect changes to castes on already created drones,
allowing it to more easily control the physiologies of its members as well as take ranks in
Biotics and its sub-skills.

Biological Manipulation Adaptation [Drone or Mind] [Singleton] - 35 points

Requires a non-biological physiology and Biological Control. This drone is able to

bridge the gap in understanding between their physiology and the physiologies of other
creatures. The drone no longer takes Biotics penalties for having a non-biological physiology. If
taken by the mind, the mind no longer takes Biotics penalties for having a non-biological
physiology.

Biological Mastery [Drone] [Singleton] - 30 points

Requires Biological Control. This drone is able to use the bio within its’ targets to help
with its biowarping. If the target is willing, the drone may spent, bind, or bio from the target for
use in biowarping as though it were their own. If the target is unwilling, the drone must make a

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Biotics check and the target makes a Mental save with the TN being the result of the Biotics
check.

Bonded Item [Drone] [Singleton] – 10 points

This drone has an item bound to its very being. This item is in effect a familiar with the
drone as the master. [This will almost certainly change once Item Rules are written.]

Special: Speak with the GM before taking this perk and work out what kind of items
would be allowed.

Breathless [Drone] - 45 points

This drone does not need to breathe. The drone cannot be affected by effects that
require inhalation unless the drone needs to speak. The drone is immune to drowning and
suffocation.

Camouflage [Drone or Hive Structure] [Singleton] - x points

This drone has some method of camouflage whether it's a field projector,
chromatophores, magic, or some other means, that grants it a +1 dice pool bonus to stealth
equal to half the cost of the trait. If taken for the hive structure, it instead reduces hive disguise
by half the amount spent on the trait. This trait can be taken multiple times, stacking each time.

Centipede Legs [Drone] - 15 points

Requires Crawler. This drone has a large number of legs and as such makes it
impossible to trip. This drone never takes movement penalties from loss of a leg and cannot
get more legs from BP, but gets a +2 bonus to speed.

Climber [Drone] [Movement] [Singleton] - x points

Drones of this caste are proficient climbers. They gain a dice pool bonus to climbing
checks equal to half the amount of points spent on this perk. Additionally, they can move their
full speed when climbing.

Cold Blooded [Drone] - +6 points

The drone takes one and a half times damage from attacks that deal ice or fire
damage, takes a -4 dice pool penalty against very cold and very hot environmental conditions,
but requires only a fourth as much food.

Crawler [Drone] [Movement] - 5 points

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 This drone moves like a fish, serpent, or some other creature that moves without legs.
It takes no penalty for not having legs and can remove the last two legs during caste creation
or modification.

Delayed Poison [Drone] - 40 points

Requires Poison. Select a poison perk the drone has. Increase the time between first
damage to secondary effect from rounds to minutes.

Delayed Poison, Greater [Drone] - 30 points

Requires Delayed Poison. Select an extended poison perk the drone has. Increase the
time between first damage to secondary effect from minutes to hours.

Diplomat [Drone] [Singleton] - 50 points

This drone was purpose-made to be an excellent diplomat on behalf of the hive. The
drone gains a +2 dice pool modifier to bluff, diplomacy, haggling, and sense motive and takes a
-4 dice pool modifier to ballistics, intimidation, and weaponry. Additionally, intelligent creatures
always start as non-hostile to the drone though further actions can change things, and this
drone may consolidate all languages known by the hive into a single skill.

Discordant Explosions [Drone] [Singleton] - 40 points

Requires Magic 20. Whenever a die is rolled for this drone, if it would land on a 5 it
explodes and Wild Magic occurs affecting everything around it.

Disease [Drone] - X points

The drone has a disease within itself. Choose a disease the drone has be infected with
and successfully made a save against to cure itself. The drone becomes a carrier of that
disease. This perk costs a number of Build Points equal to four times the TN of the disease. If
the disease had the Injury transmission, the drone can spread the disease through its natural
attacks.

Special: If the drone or hive has Biological Control and at least 3 ranks in Mutation, the
disease chosen can instead be one of the hive’s creation instead of one that was previously
inflicted. It must still follow the rules for disease creation.

Draining Attack [Drone] - 35 points

Requires a Bite natural attack or a Natural Attack that deals piercing damage. When
this perk is chosen, select a bite attack or natural attack that deals piercing damage that the

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creature has and a single attribute. Whenever a drone that has this perk attacks with the
natural weapon chosen you may choose instead to deal a single point of damage directly to
that attribute.

Special: If Empathy is chosen, you may choose to, at no cost, change the diet of the
drone to Emotivore. If the diet is chosen, then the drone must deal a number of points of
empathy damage or siphon an amount of loosh per day equal to the amount of food points
necessary for it to survive. Additionally, choose a single emotion for the drone to feed on.
Whenever a creature is fed on, they gain a +1 automatic success to resist any effect that would
cause that emotion for the rest of the day. The bonus granted by this effect stacks with itself.

Special: If Synchronicity is chosen, you may choose to, at no cost, change the diet of
the drone to Concurrovore. If the diet is chosen, then the drone must deal a number of points
of synchronicity damage or inflict confusion a number of times per day equal to the amount of
food points necessary for it to survive.

Special: If Physique is chosen, you may choose to, at no cost, change the diet of the
drone to Hemavore. If the diet is chosen, then the drone must deal a number of points of
physique damage or drain an amount of Bio per day equal to the amount of food points
necessary for it to survive.

Special: If Acumen is chosen, you may choose to, at no cost, change the diet of the
drone to Faitivore. If the diet is chosen, then the drone must deal a number of points of
Acumen damage or be directly invoked by a believer a number of times per day equal to the
amount of food points necessary for it to survive.

Special: If Nimbleness is chosen, you may choose to, at no cost, change the diet of the
drone to Poisivore. If the diet is chosen, then the drone must deal a number of points of
Strength damage or inflict a number of levels of prarlysis per day equal to the amount of food
points necessary for it to survive.

Special: If Intelligence is chosen, you may choose to, at no cost, change the diet of the
drone to Psychovore. If the diet is chosen, then the drone must deal a number of points of
Intelligence damage or drain a number of Power Points per day equal to the amount of food
points necessary for it to survive.

Special: If Strength is chosen, you may choose to, at no cost, change the diet of the
drone to Vitavore. If the diet is chosen, then the drone must deal a number of points of
Strength damage or inflict a number of levels of exhaustion per day equal to the amount of
food points necessary for it to survive.

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 Dungeoncrasher [Drone] [Singleton] - 4 points

Requires Strength of at least 5. When a drone with this perk attempts to deal physical
damage to an object, increase the dice pool by half the level of the hive controlling it. If a
singleton would take this, increase the dice pool by half the Strength or class rank (whichever
is higher) of the creature

Elemental Blood [Drone] - 10 points

Requires Elemental Channeling. Whenever this drone is damaged, the opponent must
make an Agility save with a TN of 3 or be dealt 1 damage by this drone’s chosen element.

Elemental Channeler [Drone] - 30 points

Requires Elemental Connection. This drone has the innate ability to create the element
out of nothing. The bonus from Elemental Connection increases to +3 and the drone is able to
utilize its element in new ways. The drone can sheath its weapons in its element, dealing 1
additional damage and causing all of the damage to be of that element type. With various
actions that take various amounts of AP, it can create its element and use it however it wants
(and that the GM will allow), though some uses will require skill or attribute checks in order to
happen. If the drone has multiple instances of Elemental Connection, this perk may be taken
multiple times, each time selecting a different element.

Elemental Connection [Drone or Hive Structure] [Singleton] - 15(Normal) or

60(Special) points

The drone has an intrinsic connection to an element, allowing it to more easily deal with
things of that nature. Choose an element, the drone gains a +1 automatic success when
dealing with creating, using, or dealing with that element. If taken for the hive structure, the
hive itself has an intrinsic connection to an element. Choose an element, the hive gains a +1
dice pool modifier to all tasks related to that element as well as access to some special rooms.
Some elements are more pervasive or powerful than others. Ask the GM what elements you
can select from, as different settings may have different elements. This perk may be taken
multiple times, each time selecting a different element.

Special: If taken for the hive during character creation, you can instead pay 60 points.
If you do, all drones made by this hive automatically have the same elemental connection
chosen without paying for it (though it is still calculated in their total cost).

Emergent Synchronicity [Drone] - 4 points

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 Drones of this caste have a much more developed form of synchronicity, functioning as
though they have a minor gestalt consciousness. They gain a +2 dice pool modifier to
synchronicity checks to stay within the hive mind and if the synapse drone controlling them
dies, they may stay connected to the hive mind and directed as though it was still alive for a
number of rounds equal to the level of the synapse drone.

Energetic [Drone] [Singleton] - 45 points

This drone is quick and bursting with energy, allowing it to make 4 actions in a turn
instead of the usual 3.

Energy Immunity [Drone] [Singleton] - 100 points

Requires Energy Resistance of the same energy type taken at least 5 times. This drone
is resistant to some form of energy. When this perk is selected, choose one energy type that
you have Energy Resistance for. This drone is immune to that damage type

Energy Resistance [Drone] [Singleton] - 20 points

This drone is resistant to some form of energy. When this perk is selected, choose one
type of energy damage. The drone reduces all damage from that energy type by 1.This perk
can be selected multiple times. Each time after the first that the perk is chosen its point cost
increases by 20.

Special: If the drone also has Elemental Connection of the same damage type, this
perk costs half price.

Energy Storage [Hive Structure] - 10 points

Requires Photosynthesis and a way to store energy. The hive is able to store the sun’s
energy for later, either for when days are overcast or for other usage. This allows the hive to
slowly generate the energy resource at a rate of 1d5 per week.

Energy Weapon [Drone] [Singleton] - 10 points

The drone has the ability to generate a sheath of powerful energy surrounding its
natural weapon, allowing it to ignore 1 point of armor from its enemies. If this is used on a
ranged weapon, it instead deals 1 extra damage, changes the damage type to Force, and
doubles the range. If the drone has Elemental Connection, it can deal 1 extra damage of its
element when attacking with that weapon. If the drone has Mental Outreach or Arcane Seed it
can deal 1 extra damage or psionic or arcane damage respectively.

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 Enhanced Armor [Drone] [Singleton] - 5 points

Requires Armored Body. This drone’s armoring is thicker or covers more of its body.
This drone has 1 additional point of Armor. This perk can be selected multiple times. Each time
after the first that the perk is chosen its point cost increases by 2.

Enhanced Senses [Drone] [Singleton] - 30 points

This drone has special senses that aid it in various ways. Select one of the following for
the drone to have.

• Echolocation – The drone can sense physical things out to 5 hexes even if they
cannot be seen by utilizing high-frequency sound waves. Each time this is
taken, the range increases by 5 hexes. Especially loud creatures and objects
can be seen from further away. Range is tripled in water, but is completely
nullified by being deafened or in a silence effect.
• Low-Light Vision – The drone can see better in dim light than others, but finds
bright lights more potent. Increase the effective Light Level of an area for this
drone by 1, if it would push them over the max level increase the check
frequency accordingly. Each time this is taken increase the effective light level
by 1.
• Websense – The drone can accurately sense vibrations through web and
strings, allowing them to pinpoint the rough location of any creature touching the
web or string they are in contact with. This extends the length of the strands, but
the vibrations lose their strength over distance if in contact with ground. Taking
this multiple times does nothing.
• Electrosense – The drone can sense the electrical impulses in things, allowing
them to roughly sense things out to 5 hexes away even if they cannot be seen
or felt. Each time this is taken, the range increases by 5 hexes. Especially
strong electrical currents can be sensed from further away. Range is doubled in
water, but cannot penetrate through electrical insulators such as rubber.
• Thermosense – The drone can see in the infrared spectrum and as such is able
to see the body heat of creatures relative to the environment. This effectively
allows them to see living creatures easily in pitch darkness and can negate
stealth entirely. If a creature or thing does not produce heat, it is invisible when
using this sense. This sense extends out to the same range as normal sight.
This sense can be overloaded when faced with extreme hot or cold conditions
or effects.

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• Terrasense – The drone is acutely tuned to the vibrations within the ground,
allowing them to sense anything moving on the ground within 5 hexes of them.
This can be thwarted by flying above the ground or removing the drone from the
ground. Each time this it taken the range increases by 5 hexes
• Hydrosense – The drone is acutely tuned to the vibrations within the water,
allowing them to sense anything moving in the water within 5 hexes of them.
This can be thwarted by flying above the water or removing the drone from the
water. Each time this it taken the range increases by 5 hexes
• Tracking Scent – This drone has a strong sense of smell, allowing it to reliably
track creatures by scent overland as well as tell where things around it are by
scent. The drone gains a +1 dice pool modifier to tracking and can smell all
things that are within 2 hexes of it. Each time this is taken the range increases
by 2 hexes and increases the dice pool modifier by 1.
• Lifesense (Req: Undead Physiology or Elemental Connection(Life or Death)) -
This drone is strangely adapted to sensing life itself. This creature can see all
living things out to the extent of its normal sight surrounded by a vague outline.
This does extend to invisible creatures, but not undead, artificial, or animated
creatures. The more full of life a creature is the brighter the aura and the closer
to death or sicker the creature, the duller.
• Undeathsense (Req: Undead Physiology or Elemental Connection(Life or
Death)) - This drone is strangely adapted to sensing undead creatures. This
creature can see all unliving things out to the extent of its normal sight
surrounded by a vague outline. This does extend to invisible creatures, but not
living, artificial, or animated creatures. The more full of unlife a creature is the
brighter the aura and the closer to death the creature, the duller
• Arcana Sense (Req: Arcane Physiology or Arcane Seed) - This drone is able to
sense the flow of magic, allowing it to sense magical auras and determine the
relative strength of them without too much hassle. The drone is able to sense
the strength and location of magical auras, as well as the mana level and
coloring (if any) around them as a free 0 AP action.
• Psionic Awareness (Req: Psionic Physiology or Mental Outreach) - This drone is
able to sense strong psionic potential and powerful minds, allowing it to sense
intelligent creatures out to sight range. The drone is able to sense the relative
mental strength and location of all sapient creatures nearby as a free 0 AP
action.

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 • Biotic Intuition (Req: Biolocial Control) – This drone is able to sense the amount
of bio within creatures nearby as well as able to, as a free 0 AP action sense the
general state of health and number of biowarps of each creature around it.
• Planar Senses (Req: Must start on the Material Plane or a Coterminous Plane)
– This drone is capable of seeing into the Material Plane or a coterminous
plane. When this perk is taken choose a single Coterminous Plane (or the
Material Plane if starting on a Coterminous Plane). This drone can sense
everything around them on the other plane just as well as they can on their
home plane. If they enter the chosen plane, this sense functions identically and
allows them to sense things on their home plane. If they enter another plane,
regardless of if it is Coterminous or not, this perk stops working until they
reenter one of the chosen planes.
• Magneto Sense (Req: Lithoid Physiology, Biomechanical Physiology,
Mechanical Physiology, or Elemental Connection(metal or earth)) - This drone is
able to acutely sense the strength of magnetic fields in the area and their
location as a free 0 AP action.
• Grav Sense (Req: Astral Physiology, Starlight Swarm, or Elemental Connection
(Earth or Gravity)) - This drone is able to acutely sense the strength of
gravitational fields and the location of gravitational anomalies out to 5 hexes.
Each time this it taken the range increases by 5 hexes

This perk can be taken multiple times to increase the range of one sense or to grant a
new sense, but the cost increases by 5 points each time it is taken.

Enhanced Will [Drone] [Singleton] - 5 points

Requires Shielded Mind. This drone’s will is stronger or shields more of itself. This
drone has 1 additional point of Will. This perk can be selected multiple times. Each time after
the first that the perk is chosen its point cost increases by 2.

Esoterically Resistant [Drone] [Singleton] - X points

This drone is resistant to some form of esoteric effect. When this perk is selected,
choose one esoteric skill that isn’t Alchemy, Technology(if applicable), or Poison. For every 4
points put into this perk, the TN of all skill checks to affect this drone with effects of that type
increases by 1. If instead a sub-skill is chosen, for every 2 points put into this perk, the TN of
all skill checks to affect this drone with effects of that type increases by 1.

Executioner [Drone] [Singleton] - 70 points

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 This drone is specialized for making absolutely sure creatures are dead. When this
perk is chosen, select a number between 1-8. When this drone makes a coup de grace action
and causes another creature to make the physique roll to stay alive, the number to roll over for
a success is the number chosen, no matter what the circumstance is.

Extended Loyalty [Drone] - 25 points

This drone has a fundamental understanding that the mind is good. If the drone ever
becomes disconnected from the hive mind, there is a 50% chance it immediately attempts to
return to the mind. If it does not, it will always remain at least non-hostile to the mind unless
further actions change things.

Extended Poison [Drone] - 10 points

Requires Poison. Select a poison perk the drone has. Increase the length of time the
secondary effect is inflicted by +1d10 hours. This perk can be taken multiple times.

Extra Caste – 5 points

You may create a new caste of drones for your hive. If taken at creation, you may split
the build points among them as you wish. If taken after creation, you must use build points you
have saved and gained through level ups to build them, but may improve them as normal
afterwards.

Familiar [Drone] [Singleton] – 10 points

This drone has a familiar, a creature of another kind, bound to it. This creature is
considered the Master of the familiar unless otherwise stated.

Special: Speak with the GM before taking this perk and work out what kind of creatures
would be allowed. If instead another creature is the master and you are the familiar, speak with
the GM first.

Flight [Drone] [Movement] - 20 points

Drones of this caste have a set of wings, the ability to levitate, or some other form of
movement that allows them to fly. They can take ranks in Flying and can move (speed+ ½ size
rounded up) in the air as a move action.

Genetic Thief [Drone] - 60 points

Requires a Draining Attack that targets Physique. When a drone with this perk deals
Physique damage, you can choose to learn a perk or drawback that the target has instead of

46
dealing the damage. Should you attack and deal damage to the same target again, you may
choose to either learn another perk or drawback that the creature has or copy a perk or
drawback that you know the creature has to apply at a later date, effectively learning how to
create and use that perk or drawback.

Special: Ask your Gm before taking this perk as it can get very crazy very fast.

Glue Skin [Drone] - 45 points

This drone has a strange, sticky substance covering its body. Upon touch, a creature
touching this creature must make a TN 10 Strength check or become grappled and entangled.
Additionally if a manufactured melee weapon would strike this creature, the wielder must make
a TN 10 Strength check or be disarmed. This creature does not become grappled and
entangled while holding onto the creature or weapon. The Strength check can be retried every
round.

Greater Good [Synapse Drone] - +25 points

The hive mind is incapable of needlessly sacrificing drones. The hive mind nor synapse
drones cannot force a drone to do something to harm itself unless it would cause a much
greater number of drones to survive an event or would guarantee the survival of the hive.
Additionally, the hive is required to provide good living standards to the highest number of
drones that it can.

Harvester Claws [Drone] - 10 points

This drone has sharp claws that let it cut through wood and plant matter, allowing it to
harvest wood and plants, as well as add +2 to the output of farms. These claws cannot be
used to attack.

Herd Mentality [Drone] - 10 points

Drones in this caste are easier to control and direct, but are a bit harder to reign in
when they get going. Drones with this perk gain a +1 modifier to all synchronicity checks per
drone with the same perk under the control of the same synapse drone. Additionally, when
making move actions you can select up to two drones to move at once, this does use up one
action for both drones but only costs AP for one drone.

Horrifying Swarm [Drone] - 5 points

They say there is strength in numbers, and that is absolutely true. This drone is an
expert at shock and awe, banding together with others to produce an effect that strikes fear

47
into the hearts of enemies. Whenever this drone does a dramatic action (such as attacking,
using an esoteric ability, roaring, or charging) within 10 hexes of an enemy, they must make an
Mental save with a TN equal to 1/4th the number of drones with this ability they can see or take
one level of fear. These levels of fear stack and last for 1d10 rounds each. Each enemy can
only be affected by one use of this ability per activation, meaning that if 12 drones have this
perk it will only affect the enemy once and have a TN of 3.

Hydrophobic [Drone] - +15 points

This drone takes damage from being in water. If a drone would enter water or start its
turn in water it takes 1 point of damage that cannot be stopped by any means whatsoever. It
does still need water to survive though, unless you take the anhydric perk.

Hypnotic Pattern [Drone] - X points

Requires Mechanical Physiology or Camouflage. As a 1 AP normal action, you can

have this drone produce a hypnotic pattern on itself that has a chance to fascinate enemies.
Creatures in line of sight to the effect must make an Mental save with a TN equal to half the
number of points spent on this perk or be fascinated for 1d5 rounds.

Incompatible Thought [Hive] - +40 points

The mind of the hive cannot understand or predict the actions of singleton creatures.
The hive takes a -4 dice roll penalty to dealing with singleton creatures when not in battle and
cannot even communicate with them unless a drone has the Diplomat Drone perk. This does
not occur with other hive minds.

Inter-Drone Perception [Drone] - 10 points

As a free action, a drone may spend an action point to use the senses of another drone
with this perk, allowing them to see, smell, hear, etc. through them instead. This effect may be
ended at any time as a free action.

Intimidating [Drone] [Singleton] - 5 points

This drone strikes fear into its enemies. Whether that be through a fearsome
appearance, mental power, obvious magic, or some other form. This drone gains a +1 dice
pool modifier on intimidation checks.

Inverted Climbing [Drone] [Movement] [Singleton] - 10 points

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 Requires Climber or Elemental Connection (Earth, Metal, Magnetism, or Gravity). This
drone can walk up vertical and along upside down horizontal surfaces without any problem. If
Elemental Connection (Earth) was used to qualify, only natural earth-based surfaces can be
scaled with this perk. If Elemental Connection (Metal or Magnetism) was used then only
metallic surfaces can be scaled with this perk.

Knocker [Drone] [Singleton] - 5 points

This drone is acutely in tune with the vibrational differences between stones and ores.
This drone gains a +2 dice pool bonus to harvesting rolls when harvesting stone, metals, and
gems.

Liquid Movement [Drone] [Movement] - 50 points

This drone has a mostly liquid-based or extremely flexible body. This drone can
squeeze into cracks less than 1 in/2.5 cm wide

Load Bearing [Drone] [Singleton] - 5 points

This drone has a sturdier build, allowing it to double its carrying load.

Long Range Reception [Drone] – 20 points

Requires the hive mind to have the Strong Synapse perk. This drone is specially
attuned to move beyond the reaches of the hive mind due to an extremely well-suited channel
back to the hive mind. This drone can enter 1 geographical hex outside of the range of the hive
mind. This perk can be taken multiple times, each time increasing the maximum distance by 1
geographical hex.

Long Shot [Drone] [Singleton] - 5 points

Requires a ranged attack. Double the range of the ranged attack. This perk can be
chosen multiple times, and the price goes up by 10 each time it is chosen. If taken by a
singleton, this applies to either a single natural weapon or ranged manufactured weapons.

Manipulator Limbs [Drone] - 8 points

This caste of drone has at least one pair of manipulator limbs that allow it to write, wield
weapons, pick locks, and do other such actions that require such dexterity. When this perk is
chosen, choose a single limb or a pair of legs, tentacles, or tails, they can now do the actions
above and other such actions. You also have the option to add more manipulators onto the
drones of this caste for 10 points each (20 for a pair).

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 Medic [Drone] [Singleton] - 10 points

This drone is adept at medical work, granting it a +2 dice pool bonus when making
medical checks.

Mental Outreach [Drone or Mind] [Singleton] - 15 points

This drone acts as a window for the hive mind to reach out and cause change in the
physical world. The drone can take ranks in the Psionic skill and its sub-skills. If taken by the
hive mind, it allows for mental links between the hive mind and other creatures as long as they
are close to the hive core or in certain rooms as well as allows the hive mind to take ranks in
the Psionics skill and its sub-skills.

Mind over Matter [Total Hive, Assimilator] - 45 points

Assimilators can modify their drones through Biotics as though they were a Collective
Swarm.

Mimicry [Drone] [Singleton] - 5 points

This drone has a special ability to modify its voice and sounds in order to mimic other
sounds and even voices. It gains a +2 dice pool modifier on stealth and disguise checks.

Miner Claws [Drone] - 10 points

This drone has strong claws that let it dig through soil and stone, allowing it to harvest
stone and ores. These claws cannot be used to attack and do not grant the burrowing ability.

Mobile Core [Hive] - 40 points

The Core of this hive is not a stationary mind, but is capable of movement. Treat this
core as though it were a synapse drone with a Size attribute equal to the Size of the Room and
a Synapse Range and Synapse Capacity equal to the Hive Range and Max Capacity of the
Hive Mind. The Core starts with a 1 in all primary attributes, but can be added to as though it
were a normal synapse drone. The Core gains the ability to take Drone perks as it is now a
synapse drone in addition to the Mind. The core does not move on its own, rather all other
synapse drones must agree on each action in order for the Core to do anything. The Core
Room still grows as normal and unless moved by the collective will of the Hive, the Core will
remain dormant within the Core Room.

Morphic Physiology [Drone] - 40 points

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 This drone is able to change the type of any natural weapons the drone has and is able
to hide them from sight at will. Additionally, it is able to switch out any movement perk it has for
another once per day.

Mutagenic [Drone] - X points

Requires at least 3 ranks in Biotics(Mutation) or Alchemy(Mutagens) or have the Poison

perk with a cost of 20. This drone has access to a strange mutagenic mixture that it uses when
it attacks. When you take this perk, select either stable or unstable. The natural weapon this
perk is applied to causes physical alterations in the target if at least one point of damage was
done. The target must make a Physical save equal to 1/2th the number of points spent on this
trait or begin taking on mutations. If the mutagen is stable, each time the effect activates the
same traits are added or removed. Choose any number of perks, limitations, or body parts that
the drone has. These are the traits that are added with each activation. If the mutagen is
unstable, the GM rolls randomly to decide what traits are added or removed. All of these
changes happen over 1d10 hours.

Mutilator [Drone] [Singleton] - 30 points

This drone is very adept in making sure creatures don’t get back up. When this drone
makes the coup de grace action, increase the damage multiplier by 1. This can be taken
multiple times, but the cost increases by 15 each time.

Natural Weapon [Drone] - 2 points

Drones of this caste have a natural weapon that can be used in battle or for other
reasons. When this is selected, choose one body part. That body part now has a natural
weapon of your choice that makes sense. For example: Forelegs can have claws, hind legs
can have talons or claws, tentacles can have tentacles or slaps, heads can have bites, horns,
or headbutts, tails can have stingers, etc. All limbs except for heads can have only one natural
weapon. Heads can have one bite, one spit attack (via Advanced Natural Weapon) and one
horn or headbutt attack, but the three cannot be used in the same turn. If Advanced Natural
Weapon is used to turn a melee bite attack into a ranged spit attack, you may select this perk
to add a bite attack to the head. The first Natural Weapon added is the Primary Natural
Weapon with all others being secondary.

Nocturnal Eyes [Drone] - +15 points

This caste has highly sensitive eyes that allow them to see near-perfectly in the
darkness, but the sun causes them near constant pain. This caste is blind while in bright light

51
and takes 1 point of damage when entering areas of bright light and for every hour they spend
in the bright light. However, they take no penalties for seeing in darkness and can see normally
up to their normal range.

Optimized Rest Patterns [Drone] - 15 points

This caste of drones need only a third of the normal sleep cycle to function normally, as
such they need only three hours of rest instead of nine to be fully recharged. This does not
cause limited use abilities to recharge faster and only allows the drone to function without
penalties.

Overflowing with Life [Drone] [Singleton] - 45 points

The number the drone needs to roll over for successes on physical saves to stabilize
itself is always 3.

Planar Split [Drone] - 50 points

Requires Enhanced Senses (Planar Senses). This drone exists at the same location in
two separate planes at the same time regardless of how different the planes are to each other.
When this perk is chosen, choose a plane you have chosen for Enhanced Senses (Planar
Senses). The drone now also exists physically in the plane chosen as well as their home plane
instead of just sensing the chosen plane and any sound or movement, willingly or not, made in
one plane is made on the other as well. Items carried on one plane can be used on and
brought to the other plane instantly with no problems. If they enter another plane, regardless of
if it is Coterminous or not, this perk stops working until they reenter either the chosen or home
plane, at which point they will also instantly reenter the other.

Pharyngeal Jaw [Drone] - 5 points

Requires Bite attack. Select a bite attack this drone has. If that bite attack deals
damage, it may instantly take a free 0 AP action to make a second bite attack against the
enemy just dealt damage. If this action is taken, the enemy cannot add their attribute bonus to
their defensive roll and if the attack hits, it deals the same damage as listed after the drone’s
attack.

Photosynthesis [Drone or Hive Structure] - 5 points

Drones with this perk require only half as much food as normal as long as they’ve had
access to sunlight. If this perk is taken for the Hive structures, biological structures and those
made with wood or plants require only half upkeep and plant food output is increased by 10% if

52
part of the hive is above ground and has access to sunlight. Additionally, drones and structures
with this perk are immune to light damage, and if hit by light damage do not need to have their
food upkeep paid.

Photovore [Drone or Hive Structure] - 30 points

Requires Photosynthesis. A drone with this perk does not need to eat, but instead
needs to be out in the sunlight for a number of hours per day equal to their food upkeep in
order to be fed. For every additional hex over 1 that the creature occupies the creature halves
the time required as there is more surface area to absorb sunlight. If this perk is taken for the
Hive structures, biological structures and those made with wood or plants require only a
quarter upkeep and plant food output is increased by 25% if part of the hive is above ground
and has access to sunlight. Additionally, drones and structures with this perk are immediately
healed the amount of damage they would normally take if hit by light damage, and if hit by light
damage do not need to have their food upkeep paid.

Poison [Drone] - X points

The drone has a disease within itself. Choose a poison the drone has be inflicted with
and successfully made a save against to cure itself or build one as if it were being made by a
biote using 1 Bio per 4 BP. The drone becomes a carrier of that poison. This perk costs a
number of Build Points equal to four times the TN of the poison unless you build it yourself, in
which case you do not pay additional costs. This perk can be applied to the drone itself or a
natural weapon the drone has. When an Ingested poison applied to the drone itself, if the
drone is bitten or eaten by another creature, that creature must make a Physical save with the
TN of the poison. When a Contact poison applied to the drone itself, if unprotected contact is
made with a creature not of the same hive, that creature must make a Physical save with the
TN of the poison. When an Injury poison is applied to a natural weapon the drone has, if a
creature is struck by that weapon it must make a Physical save against the TN of the poison. If
the poison is an Inhaled poison, the drone either passively emits the poison in a cloud around
it that constantly effects 3 hexes around it or can modify a spewing attack the drone already
has that allows the drone to spew out poison instead of dealing the normal damage, either way
if the poison is inhaled the affected creatures must make a Physical save against the TN of the
poison. This perk can be taken multiple times on the same part but only one perk can activate
at a time. Additionally, the drone can take ranks in the poison skill.

Poison Resistance [Drone] [Singleton] - x points

Drones in this caste are particularly resilient to poisons. They gain a +1 dice pool bonus
for every three points spent on this perk.

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 Pouncing [Drone] [Singleton] - 10 points

When this drone makes a charge attack, they may make an attack with all of your
natural weapons instead of just one.

Precise Mind [Mind] - 150 points

When acting as a group, instead of rolling 1d10 per drone with the drone’s attribute as
a modifier to the roll, you roll 1d10 per drone and point in the relevant attribute. Meaning that if
you have 5 drones all with 3 in strength working together, you’d roll 15d10 instead of 5d10 with
a +3 modifier to each roll.

Precise Strike [Drone] [Singleton] - 5 points

When deciding damage for a melee attack you may instead use your nimbleness score
instead of your strength score.

Raking Strike [Drone] - 5 points

Requires Pouncing and at least two attacks on hind legs. The drone gains two
secondary rake attacks that deal rending damage and can only be used during a charge.
These attacks are in addition to the normal claw attack from the hind legs, giving two additional
attacks during the pounce.

Rapid Spawning [Drone] - 20 points

When choosing which drones to spawn, for every three drones of this caste that are
chosen at once an extra is made.

Ravenous [Drone] - +5 points

This drone needs to eat double what it normally would.

Refuses to Die [Drone] [Singleton] - 80 points

Requires Still Alive. This drone just flat out refuses to die. This drone doesn’t die at -
100% health, instead it dies at -150% health. If the drone has a physiology that states that it
dies at 0 hp, it instead dies at -100% hp.

Regenerator [Drone] - X points

When this perk is chosen select a type of body part. This drone can regenerate that
type of body part. If the body part would be removed, roll 1d100 every round with a bonus

54
equal to half the points spent on this perk. If the check rolls over 70, the body part regrows and
all damage done to the body from the loss of that body part is removed.

Resource [Drone] - 15 points

This drone’s physiology allows it to create some form of organic resource. The number
of points obtained and how long it takes to generate depends heavily on the resource used.
For example, wool can be grown over the course of a year to produce 1d5 resource points
while milk can produce 1d3 resource points per day. Due to this, and different creatures
producing different amounts of the resource over different times, the perk is noted as follows:

• Resource (Resource, Time, Points)

The parenthesis denotes the specifics of the perk: which resource is created, how long
it takes to generate (how often it can be used for the resource), and how many points are
generated every time it is used noted in some number of dice (1d2, 4d5, 3d100, etc.).

Note: To generate energy a creature must either be encased in a specialized room or

have the photosynthesis perk.

Resource Dependent [Drone or Hive Structure] - +10 points

This drone or the hive structures require a specific resource to survive. Select a specific
resource. This drone needs 1 point of it per week in addition to its normal food and water
requirements. All hive structures need 1 point of it in addition to its normal upkeep. It is
recommended that you ask the GM before taking this both to find out what resources will be
available as well as if it is a good idea to even take it in the first place.

Shielded Mind [Drone] [Singleton] - 6 points

This drone has a strong will shielding its mind from mental and esoteric attacks. This
drone has 1 point of Will

Siege Bio-Weapon [Drone] - 20 points

Requires Dungeoncrasher and at least size 10. The benefits of dungeoncrasher no

longer function and are replaced by this perk’s effect. When a drone with this perk attempts to
deal physical damage to an object, double the dice pool used for the attack and the damage
and halve the hardness of the object.

Skill Mastery [Drone] - X points

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 This drone is the epitome of work when it comes to mastering a specific skill. Choose a
skill and a number between 2-8. That is the number that you must always roll over when rolling
for successes on that skill. This skill costs a different number of points depending on the class
of skill selected. Basic skills cost 30 points, Physical skills cost 50, Mental skills cost 50, and
Civil skills cost 90. Esoteric skills cannot be selected for this perk.

Specialized Attack [Drone] [Singleton] - X points

Requires Erorrcasting 2, Magic 2, Psionics 2, or Biotics 2 and one natural attack. This
drone has a specialized attack that deals 1 damage to a specific attribute, drain 1 point of an
esoteric resource, or give 1 Error chosen when this perk is chosen in addition to the normal
damage from the attack if the target fails a physical save equal to 1/5th the points spent on this
perk.

Spewing Attack [Drone] - X points

Requires Elemental Connection or a ranged attack with either Energy Weapon or Acidic
Spittle. If the drone has elemental channeler, it gains a natural ranged Area attack of one of the
following types, Burst, Cone, Line, or Zone with an Agility save TN equal to 1/5th the number of
points spent on this perk that deals the same damage type as the element chosen with
Elemental Connection. If the drone qualifies with a ranged attack, it gains a natural ranged
Area attack of one of the following types, Burst, Cone, Line, or Zone with an Agility save TN
equal to 1/5th the number of points spent on this perk that replaces the ranged attack used
and uses the same damage type as the perk used to qualify. If the check is made and the
creature is on the edge of the area(meaning they have at least one hex around them that is not
within the area), they take no damage. If the check is made and the creature is not on the edge
of the area, they take half damage. If a creature with multiple hexes has hexes that wouldn’t be
caught in the area, if over half of their hexes are within the area they do not count as on the
edge unless all of their hexes would be considered on the edge of the area normally.

The Length of the attack is as follows:

• Burst – Half TN (rounded down) in a radius around the attacker. (A TN 5 blast

would have a radius of 2 and would affect all creatures within 2 hexes of the
creature)
• Cone – A cone shape extending from the attacker out to the TN.
• Line – Twice the TN in a straight line
• Zone – A cloud with a Length and width equal to half the TN connected to at
least one side of the attacker’s hex that slowly moves in one direction at half TN

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 speed per round for 1d5 rounds. Each creature that moves into or starts its turn
within the cloud instantly takes the specified damage.

Spinnerets [Drone] - 5 points

This drone has the capability to produce silk from specialized areas on its body. The
drone can produce silk that can be made into webs, rope, sheets, clothing, and other crafts. As
a free action that costs 0 AP, the drone can anchor a line of silk to the ground that trails behind
it as it moves. As a move action that costs 2 AP, the drone can produce a rope that trails
behind it as it moves that it and other drones can use to climb. If used to produce silk as a
resource, a drone can produce 1d2 points per day.

Spread the Gift [Total Hive, Swarm] - 45 points

Collective Swarms can take Assimilation Protocol perks as though they were
Assimilators.

Special: In order to actually use assimilation protocols outside of hive rooms, the
swarm must take the Carrier Drones perk.

Stabilizer [Drone] - 60 points

This drone automatically passes all checks to stabilize itself.

Still Alive [Drone] [Singleton] - 40 points

This drone’s nervous system is extremely potent, allowing it to survive beyond what
most other creatures can. This drone doesn’t die at -50% health, instead it dies at -100%
health. If the drone has a physiology that states that it dies at 0 hp, it instead dies at -50% hp.

Strong Dose [Drone] - 10 points

Requires poison. Select a poison perk the drone has. Increase the damage dealt by
that poison by 1. This perk can be chosen multiple times.

Structurally Disruptive Camouflage [Hive Structure] - 10 points

The hive structures are much harder to spot unless you know exactly what you’re
looking for. Creatures take a -3 dice pool modifier to find hive structures of the hive that has
this perk.

Swarm [Drone] - 50 points

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 This drone is actually formed from a countless number of very small creatures acting as
one larger being, in essence a miniature hive mind all on its own. It is immune to physical
damage, meaning that most weapons are ineffective against it and only energy and esoteric
damage can damage it. Additionally, it is immune to most combat maneuvers and precision
and single-target damage effects, requiring area abilities to deal significant damage to it and
can move into enemy hexes without penalty. It is also completely immune to psionic abilities,
due to them needing to influence every single part of the swarm at the same time. It gains a
Swarm primary attack that deals rending damage and can only be used if the swarm is in the
hex of another creature that causes a level of sickening if the target fails a TN 7 Physical save.
This attack can be modified as if it were a normal natural weapon.

Swimmer [Drone] [Movement] [Singleton] - x points

Drones of this caste are proficient swimmers. They gain a dice pool bonus to swim
checks equal to the amount of points spent on this perk. Additionally, they can move up to
(2xSpeed-Size) in liquid as a move action.

Synapse, Strong [Hive Mind] - 10 points

Increase max capacity of the hive mind by +10. All drones controlled by the hive gain a
+1 dice pool modifier for synchronicity checks to stay within the hive mind.

Synapse, Weak [Hive Mind] - +5 points

Decrease max capacity of the hive mind by -10. All drones controlled by the hive gain a
-1 dice pool modifier for synchronicity checks to stay within the hive mind.

Terravore [Total Hive] - 20 points

This must be taken at hive creation. This hive thrives off of stone and dirt, rather than
normal food. Drones of this hive have the Terravore diet instead of the normal ones. All food
upkeep for drones and structures is replaced with stone or metal(either can be used to satisfy
the upkeep).

Thirsty [Drone] - +5 points

This drone needs to drink double what it normally would.

Unarmed Martialist [Drone] [Singleton] - 10 points

This drone has been specialized in using its body parts to deliver lethal damage. It may
use its unarmed strike as though it was a primary natural weapon. If the creature already has a

58
primary natural weapon, demote the original primary to a secondary with the unarmed strike
taking its place.

Unassuming [Drone] [Singleton] - 5 points

Drones with this perk gain a +1 dice pool modifier when rolling stealth and disguise for
the purposes of not drawing attention to themselves. Additionally, synapse drones with this
perk cannot be picked out from the drones they are controlling, even if they don’t look similar.

Weakness [Drone] - +5 points

This drone is weak to a specific damage type. Select a single damage type, this drone
takes double damage. This limitation can be taken multiple times. If taken for the same
damage type, the multiplier increases by 2 and you get the listed points. If taken for a new
damage type, you get +10 points to the listed points.

Wild Form [Drone] - X points

This can only be taken during caste creation and cannot be added later except by
special circumstances. Choose a creature from the bestiary that your GM allows. This drone
gains the appearance, form, attributes, perks, and drawbacks of that creature but does not
gain the skills of that creature. Unless modified in an obvious way, the drone is extremely hard
to distinguish from a normal specimen of that creature. Additionally, all perks that would cause
a physical change to the drone cost double for this drone caste. Point cost is determined by
GM decision due to wide variety of possible selection. [May be changed later if I get around to
adding point scores to bestiary entries.]

Worker Claws [Drone] - 30 points

This drone has strong, versatile claws that let it dig through soil and stone as well as
shear through plant matter and wood, allowing it to harvest stone, ores, wood, and plants.
These claws cannot be used to attack and do not grant the burrowing ability.

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Combat
Combat starts with all players and enemies rolling initiative. Initiative is determined by
rolling a number of d10s equal to Nimbleness with the highest total going first and then the
next lowest on until there is none left. If there are ties, each creature rolls 1d10 until the tie is
broken and the winner of the tiebreaker moves before the loser. Hive mind drones move on the
same initiative as the synapse drone they're under the control of.

Variant rule—No Initiative: Instead of rolling initiative as normal, the GM can decide to forgo
initiative entirely and have all actions happen at the same time rather than have each player and
enemy go on their own. Each player and enemy decides what they’re doing before the round begins
with the GM typically giving the player a minute or so to decide what they’re doing but once an
action is decided it cannot be changed. Once actions are decided, all dice are rolled and the GM
determines what happens as follows:
First ranged attacks are made, then spells, powers, and biowarps, and finally other actions. If a
creature dies before they can act their roll is wasted and does not happen. If the attack is a surprise
attack, any surprised creatures lose their rolls for the turn.

Players have a number of action points (AP) equal to the number of drones under their
control including their synapse drones, which are used to perform actions. Each drone can
only do up to 3 actions per round, though some actions may take the full round to do or be able
to be used on other player’s and NPC turns. Singleton creatures may take 3 actions per round,
and have a static 3 AP, though some spells, effects, or perks may modify these amounts up or
down.

The action types are:

• Full action—Actions that take up the full turn to do. Must be selected before any
normal actions have been chosen and cannot be chosen once a single normal action
has been used. Effectively, one Full action takes up all 3 normal actions for the turn
even if it doesn’t use all of the AP the creature has available.
• Normal action—Actions that can be done with time to spare. Each creature can
perform up to 3 normal actions per turn if they have the AP to cover the costs of those
actions.
• Free action—Actions that take very little time or can be done alongside another
action without interrupting it. These can be done at any time and any number of times
per round. Most free actions cost 0 AP, but some rare exceptions may cost AP.
• Interrupt action—This type of action is explained in the Combat Maneuvers
block.

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Attacking and Advantages
The Single Attack action costs 1 AP and lets you make one attack, the Minor Attack
action costs 2 AP and lets you make up to 3 attacks, the Full Attack action costs 3AP and lets
you make an attack with all of your natural and manufactured weapons once each but is a Full-
Round Action. Rolls made with these are rolled with Skill+Attribute+misc modifiers. The
defender rolls either Nim+Dodge+misc modifiers or Phys+Brawl+misc modifiers to defend
against melee attacks, and the attacker has to roll a number of successes over the number of
successes rolled by the defender in order to hit.

When using a ranged weapon, the attacker has to roll a number of successes equal to
or over the ranged defense stat of the defender. All rolls made with the attack action are
referred to as “attack rolls” and rolls made to defend against attacks are called “defense rolls”.

If an attack would cause an effect, you must roll a number of successes equal to or
greater than the rating of the effect using the relevant Save. For effects meant to be resisted
physically roll your Physical Save, for effects meant to be avoided roll your agility Save, and for
effects that target the mind or soul roll your Mental Save.

If the attack connects, the attacker applies damage and the defender subtracts armor
or will depending on the type of attack. The number applied for defense is subtracted from the
damage and the damage is subtracted from the attribute used to defend (armor or will) for the
rest of combat, once that attribute reaches 0 all damage goes directly to health. If the health of
a creature reaches 0 or lower, they fall unconscious and start to lose one hp per turn, known
as dying, and if they reach -50% of full health they die. Other effects can cause
unconsciousness or death, not just losing hp.

All attacks require line of sight and have a range, except for unarmed strikes which use
the base range of the creature’s size. Most melee attacks have a range of 1 hex, though large
sizes have a larger melee reach and some attacks have special ranges. Line of sight is
determined by tracing a line from a corner of the hex or hexes the creature occupies to the hex
or hexes that the creature it's targeting occupies and if there is no blocking terrain or
concealing object between the two hexes then the creatures have line of sight to one another.
Melee attacks cannot strike through an occupied space unless an ability states otherwise. A
max of 6 creatures may melee attack one creature unless an ability says otherwise due to a
hex only having six sides and the requirements of melee attacks needing to be in such short
range and the inability to melee attack through occupied spaces. When attacking an
underwater target from the surface of the water, on land, or above the water, the attacker takes
a -2 success penalty to their roll. If an attack would affect multiple hexes, such as through a

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spell, perk, or area attack, it cannot pass through blocking terrain such as walls unless a
specific effect of the attack overrides this rule.

Crippling
If a body part takes damage equal to at least 10% of max health in a single attack,
there is a chance it can be crippled. The most common way for a body part to sustain specific
damage is through the called shot and sundering maneuvers, but other effects such as
poisons, magic, psionics, etc. can also cause it. The effects of crippling a part are as follows
and last until the limb is healed:

• Leg—The creature moves at x/z speed on the ground until healed, where x is
the number of legs still working and z is the total number of legs. If all legs are crippled,
the creature can still move one hex per round on the ground. If a quadruped gets a leg
crippled, it moves at 3/4ths of max speed. If a biped has a leg crippled, it moves at
half(1/2) speed.
• Manipulator Limb/Arm—The arm is unusable for fine motor skills and cannot be
used well for anything. All checks involving the arm take a -4 dice pool modifier and all
checks involving fine motor skills are impossible with that arm.
• Wing—If the creature only has two wings, they are unable to fly. If they have
more than two wings, they move at x/z speed where x is the number of usable pairs of
wings they have and z is the total number of pairs of wings.
• Tail—The tail is unable to be used as required. If it granted an attack, a bonus to
stability, or any other bonus, that bonus is nullified. However, even though the bonuses
are removed the penalties remain.
• Head—Instead of 10%, the head requires over 30% damage to cripple. The
head is injured and mental faculties are impaired such as in a concussion. All rolls that
use intelligence, acumen, synchronicity, and empathy instead only roll half the normal
number of dice.
• Gizzard—Instead of 10%, the gizzards require over 30% damage to cripple. The
guts are struck hard. The creature is nauseated, and all physique rolls instead only roll
half the normal number of dice.
• Body—Instead of 10%, the body requires over 30% damage to cripple. The
structural integrity of the body is shaken hard. All rolls that use strength and nimbleness
instead only roll half the normal number of dice.

If a limb takes any further damage, it instead becomes destroyed and must be
removed, causing a total loss of the limb and a Physical save vs Stun for 1d10 rounds. If the
limb is regrown through magic or some other esoteric means after being removed all of the

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directed damage to that limb is healed as well and the creature regains that many health
points. If the following body parts are removed, it leads to instant death unless the creature has
a back-up body part: Body, Gizzard, and Head.

Attribute Damage and Drain

Attribute damage and drain are special effects that can happen due to some weapons,
effects, or perks. Instead of inflicting damage to the opponent’s health, damage is done to their
attributes and reduces them in some way. Attribute damage and drain are different in that
attribute damage is temporary and can be healed and attribute drain is permanent and can
only be reversed through purchasing the stats again with BP or powerful esoteric effects.
There are effects that do not drain or damage the attribute, merely lower it for some time. In
these cases, the moment that the effect ends, the attribute returns to full as if nothing
happened. Additionally, damage, drain, and reduction cannot cause an attribute to fall below 0.

The effects of reducing an opponent's attributes are wide reaching as they affect every
roll the creature makes and may restrict access to some perks or effects as long as the
attribute is reduced, but it does not change secondary attributes. However, should an attribute
be lowered to 0, certain conditions immediately happen that last until the ability damage is
healed or the creature is killed:

• Strength (Str) - A 0 in strength means that the creature cannot move itself
physically as it doesn’t have the strength to move and is rendered helpless on the
ground.

• Intelligence (Int) - A 0 in intelligence means that the creature falls unconscious

and is rendered helpless.

• Nimbleness (Nim) - A 0 in nimbleness means that the creature’s joints have

locked up and cannot physically move. This renders it paralyzed and helpless.

• Acumen (Acu) - A 0 in acumen means that the creature is perpetually confused

and may be rendered helpless in certain circumstances.

• Physique (Phy) - A 0 in physique means that the creature’s vital systems are
completely destroyed, and as such it immediately dies.

• Synchronicity (Syn) - A 0 in synchronicity means different things for singletons

and hive mind drones. In singletons, a 0 in synchronicity means they cannot work with
others under any circumstances, unable to follow orders, and are generally divorced
from other sentient beings. In hive mind drones, a 0 in synchronicity means an

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 immediate separation from the hive mind and if the drone cannot survive after the
separation, it may die. However, even if the drone regains even a single point of
synchronicity it cannot willingly rejoin the hive mind, it must be assimilated to return.

• Empathy (Emp) - A 0 in Empathy means that the creature cannot enforce its
will upon the world, leading to it being unable to do anything. This renders the creature
paralyzed and helpless, as it cannot even move to defend itself.

Temporarily reducing an attribute does not cause the above effects, as the attribute
itself is not actually changed.

Concealing Terrain
Concealing terrain and objects such as extremely thick mist, walls, fortifications, or
murky water may not always block attacks from attacking a hex of ground within or beyond it,
but it does make precise attacks such as directly attacking a creature or object impossible
unless you have some way to bypass or remove it, but these are not the norm.

Flanking
Flanking grants a +1 dice pool modifier to the flanking creatures on attack rolls and
defense rolls. To flank a creature, at least two creatures must be on opposite sides of a
creature the two are attacking.

Morale Checks
Morale checks are only used for singleton creatures and are used to represent strength
of passion, ability to stay calm in the face of danger, and ability to stay sane when confronted
with mind or reality bending creatures and phenomena. Some effects can cause a morale
check such as fear, eldritch manifestation, massive damage (50% of health in one attack),
amputation, intimidation, etc. A morale check is resolved the same way as saving against a
condition, roll Will+Acumen+Synchronicity and get a number of successes equal to or over the
rating of the effect that caused it. If it was the result of intimidation, you must get a higher
number of successes equal to or over the number of the intimidator in order to succeed. If
failed, the creature is routed and it attempts to flee the battle, cower, or any other such action.

Elevation
Elevation is useful to note in combat. When attacking or defending from a higher
elevation you gain a +1 bonus to the total rolled. One level of elevation is equal to roughly one
meter higher and is measured from feet to feet. When using the abstract method, simply note if

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the combatants are on an incline, different levels, or otherwise. If using a 2d battle grid, mark
on the map the levels of elevation via circles and/or lines and if needed mark the direction of
incline. If using a 3d battle grid using hex tiles, count the difference in tiles between the two
creatures as each tile above or below is a different elevation. Water, shadow, portal, and lava
spaces are always treated as one elevation lower than the surrounding area. If there is more
than one elevation of distance between attacking and defending creatures, treat them as if
they were one extra space away from each other for each level of elevation beyond one.
Additionally, if a creature were to fall from an elevation, they would take 1 damage for each
level of elevation beyond 2.

Healing
Healing is the process of regaining health points after losing them through various
means, typically by being attacked or through natural consequences of actions. There are
various ways to heal with varying levels of time required and health regained. You can never
regain more hit points than you naturally have, though you can gain more than natural through
various effects such as temporary hp, health boosts, and other such things. Be careful though,
as in some settings going over your max health can cause bad things to happen.

Natural Healing
After resting for 8 hours or more in a single sitting, a creature regains health points
equal to their Physique. Resting for a full day regains twice the normal amount. If the rest is
seriously interrupted, say by an encounter, event, or ambush, the creature does not heal
unless they restart their rest and rest the whole time.

Aided Healing
A creature using the Medical skill on another resting creature can choose to provide
care, allowing the creature to stabilize if dying or to regain health and heal ability damage at
double the normal rate or help them fight a poison or disease.

Esoteric Healing
If an esoteric source such as magic, psionics, biotics, or the like were to cause a
creature to regain health points, they regain those points automatically unless otherwise
stated.

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Recovery and Stability
As per combat rules laid out above, once a creature is dropped to 0 or lower, they fall
unconscious and begin dying. While in this state, they lose one hp per turn at the start of their
turn until they reach -50% of their maximum health, at which point they die. While various
esoteric effects can revive creatures from the dead, this cannot happen via mundane means
except through very specific examples.

However, this isn’t just a long countdown until death takes over. While a creature is
dying, after taking their damage from the dying condition they may make a Physical save as a
free 0 AP action with a TN of 10. If successful, the creature stabilizes and does not lose any
more hp. If they fail, they can try again on their next turn but continue to lose health points until
death. Dying creatures cannot regain health through natural healing, only healthy, disabled,
and stabilized creatures can.

If a stabilized creature is attacked again, they immediately regain the dying condition
and start losing health once more. If a dying creature is healed by even 1 health point by any
means, they automatically stabilize. If this healing brings them to 0 or above, they are
conscious and disabled until their health rises above 10% of their max health. Stable creatures
remain unconscious and disabled until their health reaches above 10% of their max health, at
which point they wake up and are no longer disabled.

Healing Ability Damage

Damage to ability scores is very dangerous, if temporary. Ability Drain, on the other
hand, is much more serious as it is a permanent loss of points from an ability score that can
only be restored through powerful esoteric effects or bought back through BP. Ability scores
slowly heal at the rate of 1 point per 8 hour rest or double that if resting for a full day. This
healing is considered natural and anything that would modify natural healing also modifies this.

Combat Maneuvers
Combat maneuvers are special actions that can be taken in combat beyond just moving
and attacking. Combat maneuvers take different amounts of AP depending on the maneuver.
Combat maneuvers are typically opposed checks similar to attack rolls. Many combat
maneuvers have an associated attack quality that allows for the attacker to roll a combat
maneuver check without paying the AP cost once per attack. The combat maneuvers, their
attack quality (if any), and their description/mechanics are as follows:

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 • Aid Another – 1 AP – This combat maneuver uses all of the drone’s actions for
a round. You may use this to help another creature with a skill check, task, or other
such roll. They gain a +1 dice pool modifier for every creature aiding them, but only as
many creatures that can reach the object of the roll can aid the same creature. For
example, 6 drones surrounding a table with an alchemical set could add +5 to the dice
pool of the drone using it and 5 drones attempting to force open a 5 meter wide door
could add +4 to the dice pool of the main drone attempting the feat. This cannot be
used with other maneuvers save for grappling and pinning, and only 6 drones may
grapple or pin a creature at once.
• Called shot – 2 AP – You choose a part of your opponent and make an attack
roll with a -2 dice pool modifier, opposed by their defense roll. If you fail, the attack does
not hit. If you succeed, apply damage as normal with a +2 damage modifier.
• Charge – x AP – This combat maneuver uses all of the drone’s actions for a
round. You may move x times your speed in a straight line towards a targeted creature,
and upon getting in reach of it you may make up to 1 attack. You can only pay up to 3
AP when using this maneuver.
• Coup de Grace – 3 AP – Can only be performed on a helpless enemy. As a full
round action, you strike a killing blow to a helpless creature, attempting to end it in a
single strike. As part of this action, you make a single attack against the target and deal
double the normal damage you would with that attack. The creature takes the damage
as it would normally, and must make a Physical save with a TN equal to the damage it
took from your attack.
• Dirty Trick – 1 AP – You may make a bluff check, with the opponent opposing
with a defense roll. If you succeed, you may force the opponent to gain one of the
following conditions for 1d4 rounds: blinded, distracted, deafened, tense, or sickened
• Disarm – 1 AP – You make an attack roll against an opponent, who rolls a
defense roll against you. If you succeed, the opponent is forced to drop their held item
or weapon. This does not affect natural weapons.
• Feint – 2 AP – You may make a bluff check with the opponent opposing with a
sense motive roll. If you succeed, that drone gains a number of automatic successes
equal to the amount of AP spent on this maneuver on the next attack roll you make
against that opponent.
• Grapple – 2 AP – This combat maneuver uses all of the drone’s actions for a
round. You may make a brawling attack roll and the opponent rolls a defense roll. If you
succeed, roll Brawling+Strength+Size check with the opponent opposing with the same
check. If you succeed, you are both grappled with you in control. Grappled creatures
that are not in control cannot spend AP to do other actions except to attempt to get out

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of the grapple, take control, or attack with natural weapons or unarmed attacks.
Grappled creatures that are in control of the grapple may only move half of their speed
when moving, take a -2 dice pool penalty on all rolls that don’t involve the creature
being grappled, and can only take the following actions: move, single attack (only
natural weapons, small weapons, and unarmed attacks may be used against the
grappled creature), disarm, pin, push, combat skill check, skin shot, throw. To attempt to
get out of a grapple or to take control of the grapple, both grappled creatures roll
Brawling+Strength+Size with the controller of the grapple winning on a tie. Should the
grappled creature succeed in their check, they may choose to either move one hex
away from the controller and break the grapple or to become the controller themselves.
Though it takes all of the actions to begin, it takes no actions and no AP for the
controller to continue the grapple.
• Interrupt – 1 AP – This can only be used on the opponent’s turn and only if you
have the action and AP to pay for it, if not then the action and AP is taken from your
next turn. This action does nothing on its own and only serves to augment an action to
be used as well as enabling effects such as counterspelling or acting in response to
something.
• Pin – 1 AP – You may only do this maneuver if you are currently controlling a
grapple. You and the grappled opponent roll Brawling+Strength+size. If you succeed
then you pin the opponent to the ground, a wall, or some other surface and restrain
them from moving easily. You remain the controller of the grapple and the grappled
opponent becomes pinned and can only make the following action: attempt to escape
the pin. Attempting to escape the pin is a special action that costs 1 AP and can only be
attempted once per turn. If the attempt is successful, the opponent returns to being
grappled instead of pinned, but if the attempt fails the opponent remains pinned and
cannot try again until the next turn. While pinning a creature, attempts to rack, stake, or
otherwise restrain the pinned creature gain a +2 dice pool bonus to the attempt.
• Push – 1 AP – This combat maneuver cannot be used by the same drone more
than once per turn. You may make a brawling attack roll against an enemy who makes
a defense roll. If the attack succeeds, make an opposed strength+size roll against the
opponent who rolls physique+size. If the attacker has more successes than the
defender, the defender is moved a number of hexes in a direction the attacker wishes
equal to the number of successes that they have over the defender.
• Rack – 1 AP – This combat maneuver uses all of the drone’s actions for a round
except if they were grappling the creature being racked. You must have a hook,
harness, or some sort of hanging restraint to place the creature on/in. You may make a
brawling attack roll with the opponent rolling a defense roll and adding in their size. If

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 you succeed, you force the creature onto the object and deal an amount of damage
equal to the weapon used (0 damage for a harness) and they are counted as pinned.
They may make a Strength check every turn with a TN equal to the number of
successes you had on the initial check to get off the weapon. If a harness was used,
instead make an Acrobatics check with the same TN.
• Ready – x AP – You reserve an action and an amount of AP for use later in the
turn after a specific condition has been passed. For example, readying a grapple action
to be used if an opponent begins to cast a spell.
• Skill Check – 0 or 1 AP – You attempt a skill check during a combat round. If
performed as an action, such as trying to pick a lock or intimidate an enemy, it costs 1
AP. If done as part of another action such as jumping, climbing, or swimming during a
move action or attempting to use magic in an attack action, it costs 0 AP.
• Skin Shot – 2 AP – This combat maneuver uses all of the drone’s actions for a
round. You attempt to strike an opponent at point blank range with a ranged weapon.
You roll Nimbleness+Ballistics as usual, but your opponent does not add their
nimbleness to their ranged defense against this attack. Additionally, the ranged attack
gains a +1 modifier to damage.
• Stake – 1 AP – This combat maneuver uses all of the drone’s actions for a
round except if they were grappling the creature being racked. You must have a spike,
spear, harness, or some sort of restraint to place the creature on/in. You may make a
brawling attack roll with the opponent rolling a defense roll and adding in their size. If
you succeed, you force the creature onto the object, or object into the creature, and
deal an amount of damage equal to the weapon used (0 damage for a harness) and
they are counted as pinned. They may make a Strength check every turn with a TN
equal to the number of successes you had on the initial check to get off the weapon or
remove the weapon from them. If a harness was used, instead make an Acrobatics
check with the same TN.
• Sunder – 1 AP – You may target an item, limb, or object and attempt to break it.
You roll an attack roll as normal and if you get a number of successes above the item’s
break number, it breaks and becomes unusable. If you fail, the break number is
reduced by the number of successes you rolled. Many items have damage reduction
due to hardness and as such you may need to roll an additional number of successes
over the break number in order to successfully break the item. If an item an opponent is
wearing or wielding is targeted, that opponent may choose to make a defense roll to
evade the sunder attempt and if they are successful the attempt fails.
• Throw – 1 AP – This combat maneuver uses all of the drone’s actions for a
round except if they were grappling the creature being thrown. You may make a

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 brawling attack roll with the opponent rolling a defense roll and adding in their size. If
you succeed, you may make a strength+Brawling roll with the size of the opponent as a
dice pool penalty. You may throw the opponent up to a number of hexes away equal to
the number of successes on this roll. This movement can move the opponent over any
creatures in the way up to 1.5 times your size.
• Trample – 1 AP – This combat maneuver uses all of the drone’s actions for a
round. You may choose to move up to twice your speed in a straight line, only able to
change direction once and only by up to 45 degrees (one side of a hex) and make a
strength+Brawling+size roll. Every creature in your way of at least one size smaller
must make a defense roll to avoid you. Each creature that fails takes your size in
damage. Each creature that is taking this action with you grants you a +1 dice pool
modifier to the attack roll. If multiple creatures move over the same hex and creature in
the same action, the creature may make a defense roll against each creature until they
fail, which each trampling creature that moves over them automatically rolls for damage
on the defending creature if the roll fails. If the creature is flying above the creatures,
they cannot be trampled.
• Trip – 2 AP – You may choose to make an attack roll opposed by your
opponent’s defense roll. If you succeed, your opponent falls prone. If you fail, the
opponent gains the ability to attempt to trip you for 0 AP on their next turn.

Size
Size modifies how many hexes a creature takes up and their maximum reach for melee
attacks (minus attacks with special ranges) and is measured from the longest line on the body,
meaning that Tall(bipedal) creatures are judged on their height and Long(quadrupedal)
creatures are judged on their length. Sizes below size 3 are as follows: Size 1 is smaller than a
quarter of a meter and size 2 is larger than a quarter of a meter and smaller than half a meter.
Size 3 is roughly equal to half to 1 meters. Size 4 is between 1.1 and 2 meters. Each increase
in size beyond 4 increases height by 1 meter.

From sizes 1-4, creatures only take up one hex on the battle map and have a maximum
unarmed melee range of 1 hex, meaning they can attack anything in the directly adjacent
hexes. Starting at size 5 and every 2 sizes larger the creature takes up an additional hex and
the creature occupies the central point of the area occupied with an additional row of hexes
able to be attacked in melee. Long creatures treat their reach as one size lower to a minimum
of one adjacent hex. For quick calculations for the number of hexes a creature occupies and
can reach: round up to the nearest even number, halve the size, and if they are a Long

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creature minus 1 from the total. This only works for creatures above a size 4. For example: A
size 4 human takes up one hex and can reach 1 hex around the occupied hex, a size 5 horse
takes up 2 hexes and can reach 1 hex, a size 5 Ogre takes up 2 hexes and can reach 2 hexes,
and a size 20 dragon takes up 9 hexes and can reach 8 hexes.

Natural and Manufactured Weapons

There are two main types of weapons, beyond whether they are ranged or melee.
These types are Natural and Manufactured. Natural weapons are what they sound like, a
weapon that is naturally part of a creature’s body such as claws, horns, bites, etc.
Manufactured weapons aren’t natural and are created by creatures to wield in place of natural
ones. Manufactured weapons include swords, knives, guns, rockets, bows, and the like. If a
weapon isn’t naturally part of the creature’s body, it counts as a manufactured weapon.

There are three kinds of natural weapons: primary, secondary, and unarmed. Primary
natural weapons are the main form of attack a creature uses, while secondary natural
weapons are all other natural weapons the creature uses. Unarmed weapons, or unarmed
attacks, deal very little damage as they are made by a part of the body not meant to be used
as a weapon.

• Primary natural weapons deal 1 point of damage for each hex that the creature
occupies (1 at 1 hex, 2 at 2 hexes, etc.). For melee and thrown attacks, add half the
strength score to the damage total(rounded down). Do not add anything extra to the
damage of ranged attacks.
• Secondary natural weapons deal 1 point of damage for every two hexes they
occupy (minimum 1) (1 damage at 1-2 hexes, 2 damage at 3-4 hexes, etc.). For melee
and thrown attacks, add a third the strength score to the damage total (min 0). Do not
add anything extra to the damage of ranged attacks.
• Unarmed attacks deal 1 point of damage unless specified by a perk.

Some perks can increase the amount of damage that natural weapons deal by adding
additional dice, riders and special modifiers to damage, straight numerical bonuses, cause re-
rolls on certain numbers, and more.

A creature cannot attack with a natural weapon if it is carrying something with that
weapon or it is restrained such as a bite being unusable with a muzzle or a claw being
unusable due to carrying a sack. If a creature has manipulator limbs with claws or talons at the
end, they may carry manufactured weapons in their hands, though the natural weapon

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becomes unusable and they must use the manufactured weapon instead of their natural
weapons.

Natural weapons can be sundered just like manufactured weapons. This is treated as a
targeted attack to that body part.

Manufactured Weapons
Manufactured weapons deal damage as if they were primary natural weapons (gaining
an extra damage point every 2 size increase beyond 3 and using half the creature’s strength
score if applicable) but start with specified damage not locked to their size. They must be held
to be used. The terms Small, Medium, and Large are used to refer to the size of the weapon
compared to the size of the wielder. A small weapon is a weapon with a size of at least 2 less
than the wielder and can be wielded in one hand. A large weapon is a weapon with a size of at
least 2 larger than the wielder and must be wielded in two hands. A medium weapon is any
weapon between a size lower and a size higher than the wielder and can either be one-
handed, hand-and-a-half, or two-handed depending on the weapon. A creature wielding a large
weapon takes a -1 success penalty for every 2 sizes above the first two that it is larger than the
wielder, for example a size 4 human would have no penalties for wielding a size 6 spear, but a
size 8 would impose a -1 penalty.

Unlike natural weapons, barring specific items, manufactured weapons can be

enchanted, enhanced, or otherwise changed through esoteric or mundane means. For
example, a Size 5 +2 Flaming Greatsword with Dragonbane 3 and Burning Hate 1 gains 2
automatic successes on attack rolls and deals 4+Str+2 S that deals +3 damage to dragons, +1
Fire damage, and +1 damage to creatures the wielder truly hates.

Weapon Damage Types

Weapon damage types are signified after the damage dealt and each has their own
effects. The damage types are split into three groups: Energy, Esoteric, and Physical. Melee
attacks tend to be physical and come in all of the four physical varieties but may have other
energies added on top of them. Ranged attacks are different as depending on the setting the
game is played in, they can come in practically all damage types or just one or two, but almost
always will only be a single damage type. For natural weapons, the types of damage they are
listed as doing is generalized. This means that some rare exceptions deal other types of
damage, but in general that the damage that is dealt.

No matter what type a weapon is, if a weapon changes form it has its damage type
changed to that of the new form but any added enhancements are unaffected even if they

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would normally not be applied to the new form. If the new form is made of a new material, you
lose the modifications of the previous material and gain the modifications of the new material
(if any). If the new form has multiple damage types, you may pick a single damage type for the
weapon to deal (again not including any added enhancements).

The list of and effects of weapon damage types are:

• Name – Abbreviation – Type – Effect

• Acid – Ac – Physical – For 1d5 rounds after being hit, the creature takes a -1
to armor and is dealt 1 damage that is not reduced by armor. Additionally, the break
resistance of an item is reduced by half the number of hours the item has been affected
by acid in the last 24 hours.
• Aether – Ae – Esoteric – For 1d2 rounds after being hit, if a creature would
take any other type of elemental damage, they take an additional 1d2 points of
damage.
• Arcane – Ar – Esoteric – For 1d2 rounds after being hit, if a creature would
attempt to make a magic skill check to cause an effect, there is a +25% chance of Wild
Magic. This is added onto the base amount for the creature, so if a creature had a 50%
chance it now has a 75% chance.
• Darkness – Da – Energy – If darkness damage is dealt and the attack roll
contained at least one exploding die, creatures must make a Mental save with a TN
equal to the damage dealt or take one level of fear.
• Death – De – Energy – If death damage is dealt, creatures must make a
Physical save with a TN equal to the damage dealt or lose additional health equal to the
amount lost.
• Electric – El – Energy – Electric damage bypasses all armor that does not
specify that it blocks but reduces damage by 2 (min 0). Damage reduction not applied if
on an enchanted melee weapon. If an opponent is wearing or wielding metal, the
damage is increased by 1.
• Fire – Fi – Energy – When fire damage is being dealt, roll an additional 1d10.
On a roll of 1-2 the creature catches fire and takes 1 damage per round. It takes one
action that costs 0 AP to put out the fire on a creature or item.
• Force – Fo – Physical – Force damage deals 1 less damage but is not stopped
by armor. Force damage also harms intangible creatures.
• Gravity – Gr – Physical – Gravity damage is bypasses armor and deals
increased damage equal to the number of hexes a creature occupies.
• Ice – Ic – Energy – When ice damage is dealt, roll 1d10. On a roll of 1 or 0 the
creature is slowed for 1d4 turns. If the creature has the cold blooded trait they are

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instead slowed on a roll of 1-2 or 9-0. If the creature is composed of water, such as an
elemental, they are slowed for 1d4 rounds on 2 and 9 and instead frozen solid for 1d4
rounds and then slowed for 1d6 on a roll of 1 or 0.
• Impact – Im – Physical – Attacks can be used as nonlethal with no penalty.
• Laser – La – Energy – Increase effective armor against laser attacks by 2, but
increases damage by 3. Laser damage counts as Light damage for the purposes of
weaknesses and resistances.
• Life – Li – Energy – If non-lethal life damage is dealt to a creature, it instead
heals it. If lethal life damage is dealt to a creature, it instead heals it and creatures must
make a Physical save with a TN equal to the damage dealt or heal double the damage
taken, going over their normal max health. If a creature is healed to over three times
their max health, they must make a TN 5 Physical save every turn or take 1d2 physique
damage. This physique damage cannot be healed until the creature’s health is reduced
to their max health or lower. Undead creatures dealt life damage do not heal and lose
health instead, they must also make an empathy check with a TN equal to the damage
dealt or lose additional health equal to the amount lost.
• Light – Lt – Energy – If light damage is dealt, creatures must make a Physical
save with a TN equal to the damage dealt or be blinded for 1d5 rounds.
• Piercing – Pe – Physical – Dice explode on 9 and 10 instead of just on 10.
• Plasma – Pl – Energy – When armor is used against plasma attacks, reduce
the amount by 2. Plasma damage counts as Fire and Electric damage for the purposes
of weaknesses and resistances.
• Psionic – Psi – Esoteric – If a psion is dealt psionic damage by an enemy, roll
1d10 per point of damage. For each die that lands on a 7 or higher, the psion regains
that many power points.
• Pure Energy – PuE – Energy – Ignores armor and deals +2 damage but has a
50% chance to grant the target +1 damage on their next attack
• Radiation – Rad – Esoteric – Radiation damage is not reduced by armor, will,
or object hardness. If radiation damage would be done, have the creature roll a
Physical save with a TN of 10+the damage dealt on the turn that damage was dealt and
for the next 1d5 turns. If the check fails even once, the creature does not make
additional checks. They are affected as though they were under a Physique poison that
acts once per day for the next month. Instances of this poison stack to increase the
physique damage dealt.
• Rending – R – Physical – If the attack roll included at least one exploding die,
the attacker gets a +2 dice pool modifier on the next sunder attempt on an item the
creature holds or is wearing for the remainder of combat. Does not stack with itself.

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 • Shredding – S – Physical – If the attack roll included at least one exploding
die, reduce the armor of the creature hit by 1 for 1d4 rounds. Does not stack with itself
and cannot lower armor below 0.
• Sonic – So – Physical – This attack’s damage is not reduced by armor or
object hardness. If sonic damage is dealt, creatures must make a Physical save with a
TN equal to the damage dealt or be deafened for 1d5 rounds.
• Void – Vo – Esoteric – Void damage deals 1 less damage but if the attack roll
included at least one exploding die, the target must make a Physical save with a TN
equal to the damage inflicted. If the creature fails the save, it takes a level of
exhaustion. If a creature dies as a result of Void damage, their body is disintegrated.
• Wind – Wi – Physical – Wind damage deals 1 less damage but if the attack roll
included at least one exploding die, the target is automatically thrown back a number of
hexes in a straight line equal to the number of exploding dice.

Example Weapons Damage

Engulf Acid
Club, Flail, Hammer, Headbutt, Hoof, Mace, Numchucks, Slam, Slap, Sling Bolt,
Impact
Staff, Stomp, Tentacle, Touch, Unarmed, Wing
Arrow, Bite (Beak or Fangs), Crossbow Bolt, Dart, Bullet, Gore, Javelin, Pincers,
Piercing
Polearms, Spear, Spikes, Sting, Trident
Bite (Teeth), Claw, Dagger, Sword, Scythe, Sickle Rending
Axe, Bite(Saw-tooth), Branch, Poleaxes, Talon, Whip Shredding

Tactical Movement
Tactical movement, or combat movement, is simple. You may only move into hexes
adjacent to the hex occupied by the creature being moved. A creature can move up to their
speed in a single move action that costs 1 AP or a number of times their speed in a run action
equal to the amount of AP spent on the action(up to 3) but it takes up the whole round.

Unless a creature has the right traits, they may take a move penalty when moving
through hazardous terrain spaces. The penalty to movement takes effect as soon as the
creature enters the space. A list of these hazards is found below.

Creatures can roll a climbing check to attempt to climb up or down vertical terrain such
as walls or trees up to half their speed, failing this check means they cannot climb. Creatures
with the Climber perk gain a number of automatic successes equal to the cost of the perk
when making climbing checks and take no penalty to speed when climbing.

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 Creatures can roll a swim check to attempt to swim through a liquid at half their speed
or to maneuver under stressful circumstances, failing this check means the creature cannot
move through the liquid that turn. Creatures with the Swimmer perk gain a number of
successes equal to the cost of the perk when making swimming checks and take no penalty to
speed when swimming.

Creatures with the ability to fly [TO DO]

Creatures may squeeze into small spaces with a size rating equal to their Size-2. For
most indoor spaces, their size rating is their ceiling height. Unless specified, a doorway is
considered to have a size the same as a creature that occupies the same number of hexes
would, but always the highest size. For example, a door that occupies one hex would be Size
4, a door that occupies 2 hexes would be Size 6, and so on.

Riding in Combat
Creatures can ride other creatures that occupy at least one more hex than them. While
this can allow for creatures to mount and ride on creatures that wouldn’t make sense, it is the
simplest and most elegant solution. To help this, creatures that are ill-suited to being rode
increase the TN by 3 and riding a creature without a saddle or harness imparts a -3 dice pool
modifier to the check. Additionally, any number of creatures can ride the mount so long as the
amount of hexes taken up is equal to or less than the amount of hexes that the mount takes
up. For example, a size 5 (2 hexes) horse could carry 2 size 4 (1 hex) humans. If a mount is
not trained or bred for combat, they must be handled with a TN 9 ride check at the start of each
turn or the turn will be spent controlling the mount to keep it from bolting.

Fighting on a mount is a bit harder than just riding it normally. To fight on a mount, after
making sure you have the creature under control, you must make a TN 2 ride check to steer it
while attacking. Creatures riding a mount or vehicle may gain elevation bonuses if their
mount/vehicle has a higher Size than their opponent, but this is DM dependent. Melee
attacking from a mount or vehicle has no penalties, but ranged attacking does. When ranged
attacking from a mount or vehicle, if the mount or vehicle has used an action to move, you take
a -2 dice pool penalty to your attack equal to the number of actions (or AP spent if the run
action was used). If knocked out of the saddle or harness, you may make a ride check to hold
on and use a 1AP action to get back in the saddle/harness. If attacked while riding a mount or
vehicle, the attacker had a chance to hit the mount instead of you. This chance is calculated by
40+(mount’s size - your size)%, with a maximum of 90% chance. Additionally, being ridden
causes a -2 defensive dice roll penalty. When moving, you may only make a single 90 degree
turn per move action.

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Object hardness and Break Points
If somehow an object is targeted by an attack, such as through a sunder attempt, and
an object would take damage, it may have that damage reduced through its hardness before it
even reaches the object’s break points. If an object is enchanted, it has additional hardness
and break equal to the rating of the enchantment (if an enchantment has no noted rating, it has
a rating of 1).

The following listed values are to be used as guidelines for non-stated materials.

Material Hardness Break

Plant Fiber 0 0
Silk 0 1
Wood 1 3+Size
Iron 4 5+Size
Steel 5 7+Size
Stone 3 3+Size
Chitin 2 1+Size
Leather 1 2+Size
Gold 3 4+Size

Hazards
Types of common hazardous terrain and their effects:

• Water – Requires swim checks to move through. If falling into Water from an
elevation level lower than 6, reduce damage taken by 2. If falling into Water from an
elevation level higher than 10, increase the damage taken by 4.
• Shallow Water – Reduces movement speed by half. If falling into Water from an
elevation level lower than 4, reduce damage taken by 2. If falling into Water from an
elevation level higher than 6, increase the damage taken by 4.
• Deep Shadow – Creatures on deep shadow terrain have a +1 automatic
success bonus to Stealth checks and can automatically use the sneak attack ability on
creatures not in deep shadow terrain if they have it. Additionally, portals to enter The
Shade gain a +2 automatic success bonus to open if done on any amount Deep
Shadow hexes,
• Deep Water – Requires swim checks to move through. If falling into Deep Water
from an elevation level lower than 20, reduce the damage taken by 2. If falling into
Deep Water from an elevation level higher than 30, increase the damage taken by 2.

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 • Lava – Deals 3 fire damage when moving through or starting their turn on the
hex and requires swim checks to move through. Fire resistance can reduce this
damage. This hex counts as 3 hexes for the purposes of movement.
• Shadow – Creatures on shadow terrain have a +1 dice pool bonus to Stealth
checks and can automatically use the sneak attack ability on creatures not in shadow or
deep shadow terrain if they have it. Additionally, portals to enter The Shade gain a +1
dice pool bonus to open if done on any amount Shadow hexes,
• Portal – Creatures must make a TN 3 Mental save to avoid being sent to
wherever the portal is linked to whenever moving over or starting their turn on this hex.
• Spikes – Deals 1 damage to creatures moving through or starting their turn on
the hex.
• Entangling terrain – Grapple checks must be made when moving through or
starting a turn on the hex. If failed, the creature is entangled. If successful, the creature
counts the hex as two hexes when moving.
• Debris – Creatures must make TN 4 Acrobatics checks when moving through or
fall prone. If successful, the hex is treated as two hexes when moving.
• Fire – Deals 1 fire damage to creatures moving through or starting their turn on
the hex. Roll 1d10 when a creature moves though the hex, on a roll of 1-2 they catch
fire.
• Quicksand – Creatures must make a TN 5 acrobatics checks when moving
through or become entangled. Creatures are unable to make actions that are not
acrobatics checks to get unstuck or to grab onto creatures or items to help them get
unstuck. Each failed check causes them to sink further into the quicksand. After a
number of failed checks equal to their size, they begin to suffocate.
• Rough Terrain – Creatures moving through this hex treat it as though it was 2
hexes for the purposes of movement.
• Elementally Charged – Deals 1 damage to creatures moving through or
starting their turn on the hex. Roll 1d10 when a creature moves though the hex, on a
roll of 1-2 they suffer lingering effects (if applicable).
• Magically Charged – When a creature moves through or starts their turn on the
hex, roll for Wild Magic.
• Psionically Charged – When a creature moves through or starts their turn on
the hex, roll 1d10. On a roll of 1 or 0, a random psionic effect is dealt to the creature.

• Biotically Charged – When a creature moves through or starts their turn on the
hex, roll 1d10. On a roll of 1 or 0, a random biotic effect is dealt to the creature.

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Attack keywords
Some attacks have special effects that happen during or after the attack. Oftentimes
this will be in the form of a keyword, or a shortened phrase/word that takes the place of a long
description. Typically keywords are for common effects that can be found across many
enemies, weapons, and creatures. These keywords are:

• Area – This attack affects an entire area, offering a Agility save to take half
damage. The type of area it affects is usually listed after the keyword in parenthesis
with a number denoting the number of hexes in a straight line from the origin of the
attack. Ex: Area (Cone 5) would mean an attack with an area of a cone that gets wider
out to a length and width of 5 hexes and deals the specified damage to all within that
area
• Constrict – This creature deals weapon damage automatically when they
succeed a grapple roll to either start or control a grapple. If the constricting weapon is
instead the body of the creature, deal impact damage equal to (half Strength + half
Physique)
• Disarming – If an exploding 10 was rolled on the attack roll, the wielder gains
the ability to do a 0 AP disarm attempt that does not take up an action but must be used
immediately after the attack.
• Diseased – This attack applies a disease dictated by the trait that grants it and
the creature’s statistics.
• Draining – This attack deals damage to attributes instead of health.
• Exhausting – This attack applies a number of levels of exhaustion as dictated
by the trait that grants it and the creature’s statistics.
• Forceful – If an exploding 10 was rolled on the attack roll, the wielder gains the
ability to do a 0 AP push attempt that does not take up an action but must be used
immediately after the attack. If the Size of the weapon is greater than the size of the
target, an exploding 10 does not need to be rolled. If the weapon was a ranged
weapon, make that push attempt with the weapon’s Size+½ your Str.
• Paralyzing – This attack applies paralysis dictated by the trait that grants it and
the creature’s statistics.
• Poison – This attack applies a poison dictated by the trait that grants the poison
and the creature’s statistics.
• Reach X – The range of this melee weapon is increased by X number of hexes

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 • Reeling – If an exploding 10 was rolled on the attack roll, the target must make
a TN 5 Physical save or be stunned for 1d5 rounds. If the Size of the weapon is 4 sizes
greater than the size of the target, an exploding 10 does not need to be rolled.
• Snatching – If an exploding 10 was rolled on the attack roll, the wielder gains
the ability to do a 0 AP grapple attempt that does not take up an action but must be
used immediately after the attack. If the Size of the weapon is greater than the size of
the target, an exploding 10 does not need to be rolled.
• Sundering – If an exploding 10 was rolled on the attack roll, the wielder gains
the ability to do a 0 AP sunder attempt that does not take up an action but must be used
immediately after the attack.
• Swallow – This bite attack can be used on a grappled/pinned opponent to
swallow them. The opponent remains grappled though the sallower does not, takes
damage as though it were a normal bite, and every turn afterwards takes an amount of
impact and acid damage equal to the size of the sallower minus the size of the
swallowed creature. A swallowed creature can attempt to cut itself out with a small non-
impact weapon by dealing 1/10th of the creature’s hp in a single attack or it can attempt
to escape the stomach by escaping the grapple where it immediately moves into an
adjacent square. A creature cannot use a swallow attack until the damage is healed. If
the creature attempts to escape the grapple, it climbs up the throat of the swallowing
creature and the creature is free to attempt the swallow attack again on the following
turn. If the creature is not swallowed again, they may attempt to escape the grapple
again.
• Tripping – If an exploding 10 was rolled on the attack roll, the wielder gains the
ability to do a 0 AP trip attempt that does not take up an action but must be used
immediately after the attack.
• More can be added as needed

Conditions
Conditions are special, usually temporary, modifiers to creatures. Usually they are
inflicted upon creatures through the use of effects, perks, and maneuvers.

• Attribute Damage – Tier 2 – The creature’s attribute has been damaged in

some way. The damage will heal normally.
• Attribute Drain – Tier 4 – The creature’s attribute has been permanently
damaged. This damage does not heal normally.

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 • Blinded – Tier 3 – The creature cannot see through normal means. If it does
not have another way to see that isn’t visual, it cannot see at all. A creature that is
blinded takes a 50% chance of missing on attacks and failing on all physical checks. A
creature that cannot see normally cannot read or tell fine detail, and a creature that
cannot see at all automatically fails perception checks based on sight.
• Charmed – Tier 2 [Morale] – Charmed creatures take a -2 success penalty to
charisma checks meant to resist the creature that charmed them, treat their charmer as
an ally, and gives their charmer preferential treatment unless attacked or otherwise
directly harmed by them. Indirect or hidden attacks that the charmed creature might
believe come from the charmer grant them another attempt to save against the effect at
the same TN as before.
• Confused – Tier 1 [Morale] – Confused creatures act erratically and randomly,
every turn roll 1d10 for to determine how the creature acts. On a 1, the creature attacks
the cause of the confusion. On a 2-4, the creature does nothing. On a 5-9, the creature
attacks the nearest creature. On a 10, the creature acts normally
• Dazed – Tier 2 [Morale] – A dazed creature cannot take actions.
• Dazzled – Tier 1 – A dazzled creature has visual over-stimulation, causing a -1
dice pool modifier on checks dealing with visual or physical checks.
• Dead – Tier 6 – Dead creatures cannot take actions and cannot be healed by
any means, eventually decaying to nothing. Dead creatures can be resurrected via
some esoteric effects, but may have to deal with decomposition depending on the type
of effect.
• Deafened – Tier 3 – Deafened creatures automatically fail audio-based checks
and increase their wild magic chance by +10%
• Disabled – Tier 4 – A creature that has 0 or less health and is stable and
conscious is considered disabled. Disabled creatures can take up to two actions per
round but cannot take full round actions. A creature that performs more than one action
a round, must make a Physical save with a TN equal to the number of rounds stable or
immediately take 1 damage and begin dying again.
• Dominated – Tier 3 [Morale] – Dominated creatures follow any orders given to
them by their controller. Any action that would be against their nature or threaten their
life grants them another attempt to break out at the same TN as the initial save.
• Drowning – Tier 5 – A drowning creature is a creature that needs to breathe
who has been forced to inhale a liquid that they cannot breathe in. Drowning takes at
least 4 rounds.
• On the first round, the creature takes 1 point of damage.

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 • On the second round, the creature must make a Physical save with a TN
of 10 to expel the liquid from its lungs and not breathe in any more, if successful
the creature instead begins suffocating but if unsuccessful they remain
drowning.
• On the third round, the creature falls unconscious.
• On the fourth round, the creature must make a Physical save with a TN
equal to the number of rounds they have had the drowning condition that, if
failed, immediately causes them to die.
• If they are removed from the liquid at any point and the liquid is expelled
through use of a Medical or Strength check by another party, or they were
removed before the second round and expelled the water themselves, they no
longer need to make the Physical saves, but will remain unconscious for 1d10
minutes if they were already unconscious. If the liquid cannot be expelled, the
creature remains drowning even if they were removed from the liquid.
• Dying – Tier 5 – Once a creature is dropped to 0 or lower, they fall unconscious
and begin dying. While in this state, they lose one hp per turn at the start of their turn
until they reach -50% of their maximum health, at which point they die. While a creature
is dying, after taking their damage from the dying condition they may make a Physical
save as a free 0 AP action with a TN of 10. If successful, the creature stabilizes and
does not lose any more hp. If they fail, they can try again on their next turn but continue
to lose health points until death. Dying creatures cannot regain health through natural
healing, only healthy and stabilized creatures can.
• Enraged – Tier 1 [Morale] – Entangled creatures gain a +1 to Strength and a -1
to Nimbleness as well as take a -2 penalty to Ranged Defense and rolls to defend
against attacks. The creature will usually choose to attack the source of their rage, but if
they cannot find or to not know the source they will instead attack the nearest creature.
• Entangled – Tier 2 – Entangled creatures move at half speed, take a -2 dice
pool modifier to physical actions, and cannot run, charge, or trample. If a creature
attempts to make an Esoteric check, increase their Wild Magic chance by +30%.
• Euphoric – Tier 1 [Morale] – Euphoric creatures wander around aimlessly and
take a -2 penalty to Acumen, Intelligence, and Synchronicity. Every round roll 1d10: On
a 1 or 10 the creature acts normally. On a 2-4 and 7-9 the creature uses only move
actions and walks aimlessly. On a 5-6 the creature does nothing.
• Exhaustion – Tier equal to level – There are 3 levels of exhaustion.
• Level 1 causes a -1 penalty to Strength and Nimbleness.
• Level 2 causes a -2 penalty to Strength and Nimbleness and the
creature moves at half speed.

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 • Level 3 causes a -4 penalty to Strength and Nimbleness, the creature
moves at half speed, and takes a -4 penalty to all physical actions.
• If a creature rests for 4 hours, it loses one level of exhaustion. If a
creature would gain a 4th level of exhaustion, it instead falls unconscious.
• If a creature would somehow gain a 5th level of exhaustion, it instead
begins dying.
• Fascinated – Tier 1 [Morale] – A fascinated creature spends all of its actions in
a round to pay attention to the creature or object that fascinated them. Additionally, they
take a -3 success penalty to all perception checks. Obviously hostile action towards the
fascinated creature automatically breaks the fascination, but if an act is done without
being obvious or remains unnoticed it does not.
• Fear – Tier equal to level [Morale] – A creature must have an Intelligence
score to be affected by Fear and Fear above level 4 cannot be caused by an effect
directly. There are 5 levels of fear.
• Level 1 causes a -1 dice roll penalty to physical actions and a -2 Syn
penalty.
• Level 2 causes a -2 dice roll penalty to physical actions, a -2 Acu and Int
penalty, and a -3 Syn penalty.
• Level 3 causes a -3 dice roll penalty to physical actions, a -2 Acu and Int
penalty, a -3 Syn penalty, and the creature attempts to flee using any means
necessary.
• Level 4 causes a -3 dice roll penalty to physical actions, a -2 Acu and Int
penalty, a -3 Syn penalty, and attempts to flee using any means necessary but if
it can’t it proceeds to freeze out of fear, can take no actions, and becomes
helpless.
• Level 5 forces a Mental save equal to the TN of the effect that causes it
that, if failed, causes the creature to die from a heart attack induced by stress
and fear. If a creature is immune to death effects, has no Physique score, or is
otherwise immune to such effects, it is immune to the effect of Level 5 but still
must suffer the effects of Level 4.
• Glitched – Tier 2 – while Glitched, the afflicted creature has a -1 penalty to all
primary attributes. Whenever the creature makes an action roll 1d100. On a roll of 1-25
the action is doubled with no additional action or AP spent, on a roll of 26-50 the action
is unchanged, on a roll of 51-75 the action requires double the actions and AP to
complete, and on a roll of 76-100 the action cannot be done but the AP and action is
spent anyways.

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 • Grappled – Tier 1 – While Grappled, you are either in control or not in control.
Grappled creatures that are not in control cannot spend AP to do other actions except
to attempt to get out of the grapple, take control, or attack with natural weapons or
unarmed attacks. Grappled creatures that are in control of the grapple may only move
half of their speed when moving, take a -2 dice pool penalty on all rolls that don’t
involve the creature being grappled, and can only take the following actions: move,
single attack (only natural weapons, small weapons, and unarmed attacks may be used
against the grappled creature), disarm, pin, push, combat skill check, skin shot, throw.
• Hasted – Tier 2 – A creature that is hasted gains a +1 dice bonus to attack and
defense rolls and their Agility Save, +1 to Ranged Defense, +1 AP per turn, and
doubles movement speed.
• Helpless – Tier 2 – A creature that is bound, paralyzed, unconscious, rooted,
suffering from high fear, or otherwise incapacitated and incapable of defending
themselves are considered helpless. Melee attacks gain a +2 success bonus to
attacking helpless targets and their Ranged Defense is considered to be (0-
Size+Armor). Some perks, actions, or effects grant bonuses against or can only be
used on helpless creatures.
• Intangible – Tier 4 – Intangible creatures are not bound by physical limitations
due to them not having a physical body. This allows them to walk through solid objects,
bypass non-esoteric defenses, and phase through physical attacks. Intangible
creatures use their Empathy in place of Physique for all effects and calculations.
Intangible creatures can only be attacked with esoteric effects, enchanted weapons,
and other specialized means.
• Invisible – Tier 3 – Cannot be detected through normal visual sight, but can still
be picked up by some other senses if they’d be picked up normally (Thermosense,
Terrasense, Echolocation, etc.). Invisible creatures gain a +1 dice pool modifier to
attack rolls against creatures that can’t see them and all attacks against the invisible
creature have a 50% miss chance if they can’t be seen through an alternate mode of
sight that the attacker has. A creature can attempt a TN 10 Perception check to see if
an invisible creature is within 1 Hex of them and if successful knows the general
location of the creature but not the exact location. The TN to see the outline of the
creature increases by 1 for each hex away from the creature the invisible creature is.
Additionally, an invisible creature is not intangible, meaning they have a physical body
and can be tracked as such. A creature can make a perception check opposed by the
invisible creature’s stealth check to listen for movement and if successful knows the
general location of the creature. A creature can still track an invisible creature if they
leave footprints or disturb the environment in a noticeable way.

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 • Mana Poisoning – Tier equal to level+2 – A creature with mana poisoning has either
spent too long in a place with more mana than they can handle, or has stored too much
mana within themselves and caused an overabundance within themselves. There are #
levels of mana poisoning and mana poisoning above level 3 cannot be caused by an
effect directly.
• Level 1 causes a -1 modifier to Physique and a -1 dice pool modifier to
all physical skills.
• Level 2 causes a -2 modifier to Physique and a -1 dice pool modifier to
all physical and mental skills.
• Level 3 causes a -2 modifier to Physique, a -1 modifier to Intelligence, a -
2 dice pool modifier to all physical and mental skills, and any skill the creature
uses forces a Wild Magic check at the Mana Level the mana poisoning was
caused by even if the creature is no longer in the area that caused it. If a mage
contracted mana poisoning, the Wild Magic check is instead made with the TN
of the check times 10 as a modifier to the base percentage.
• Level 4 causes the creature to mutate in addition to continuing the
effects of level 3. This effect occurs once per application of this condition and
does not occur if the condition was decreased to this level, only if the condition
was increased to this level. Roll 2d5 and the following effect happens to the
afflicted creature:
• 1 – The creature dies.
• 2 – The creature gains the Mutant template or gains a permanent
magical effect. GM decides or randomly determined.
• 3 – The creature gains a random perk for free regardless of
prerequisites.
• 4 – The creature gains 1d5 new body parts.
• 5 – The creature changes its physiology to a different one.
• Level 5 causes the creature to gain 1 skill rank in Magic and the Arcane
Seed perk if the creature does not already have it in addition to the effects of
level 3.
• Paralyzed – Tier equal to level+1 – A creature must have a Nimbleness score
to be affected by paralysis and paralysis above level 3 cannot be caused by an effect
directly. There are 4 levels of paralysis.
• Level 1 causes a -1 dice roll penalty to physical actions and a -2 penalty
to the creature’s Agility save.
• Level 2 causes a -2 dice roll penalty to physical actions, a -3 penalty to
the creature’s Agility save, and halves the creature’s Speed.

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 • Level 3 causes a -3 dice roll penalty to physical actions, a -4 penalty to
the creature’s Agility save, quarters a creature’s Speed, and the creature
becomes Stunned.
• Level 4 paralyzed creature cannot move and takes no physical actions. A
paralyzed creature’s Strength and Nimbleness are effectively 0 for as long as it
is paralyzed, is helpless, and cannot take any non-mental actions. A flying
creature may fall from the sky if the method of flight was physical and non-
aquatic, non-amphibious swimming creatures may drown. However, a level 4
paralyzed creature also counts as prone even if somehow still standing.
• Petrified – Tier 4 – A petrified creature cannot take actions, is considered
unconscious, and is turned to stone or another material. If the creature is broken before
being returned to normal and repaired, the creature suffers no penalty. If the creature is
broken and returned to normal, it suffers the normal penalties for losing said limb. If a
petrified creature is destroyed and returned to normal, they immediately die. A creature
can be returned to normal through various esoteric means.
• Pinned – Tier 2 – A pinned creature is immobile and grappled, but not helpless,
and the only action that can be taken while pinned is to escape the pin.
• Prone – Tier 1 – Prone creatures cannot use bows while prone but gain a +3
dice pool modifier to all other ranged weapons and gain a +2 bonus to Ranged
Defense. Melee attacks against them gain a +2 success bonus and tall creatures take
up double their normal hexes due to 1 hex being 1 meter wide and 2 meters tall.
• Rooted – Tier 3 – Rooted creatures are immobilized but not helpless, take a -2
dice pool modifier to physical actions, and cannot run, charge, or trample. If a creature
attempts to make an Esoteric check, increase their Wild Magic chance by +30%.
Effectively, Rooting is a more advanced version of entanglement.
• Sickened – Tier equal to level – Sickened has 3 Levels. Only levels 1 and 2
can be caused directly by a single effect.
• Level 1 causes a -1 success penalty to all physical rolls.
• Level 2 causes a -5 success penalty to all rolls and causes the creature
to only be able to make 2 actions a turn.
• Level 3 causes the creature to be unable to make any rolls whatsoever
and the only action that can be made is a single move action per turn.
• Slowed – Tier 2 – A creature that is slowed takes a -1 dice pool penalty to
attack and defense rolls and their Agility Save, -1 to Ranged Defense, -1 AP per turn,
and halves their movement speed.

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 • Stunned – Tier 3 – Stunned creatures can’t move or take actions and take a -2
penalty to Ranged Defense. Each turn there is a 50% chance to drop whatever items
they are holding.
• Suffocating – Tier 5 – A suffocating creature is a creature that needs to
breathe that either can’t or has been forced to inhale a gas or coarse substance that
they cannot breathe in. Suffocating takes at least 3 rounds.
• On the first round, the creature must make a Physical save with a TN of
10 to expel the gas or substance from its lungs and not breathe in any more. If
successful the creature instead stops suffocating unless there is no more air to
breathe or they were incapable of breathing to begin with, in which case they
remain suffocating.
• On the second round, the creature must make a Physical save with a TN
equal to the number of rounds they have been suffocating or the creature falls
unconscious.
• On the round after falling unconscious, the creature immediately dies.
• If they are removed from the gas or substance at any point and it is
expelled through use of a Medical or Strength check by another party, they
regained the ability to breathe, or they were removed during the first round and
expelled the substance themselves, they no longer need to make the Physical
saves, but will remain unconscious for 1d10 minutes if they were already
unconscious. If the substance cannot be expelled, the creature remains
suffocating even if they were removed from the substance.
• Unconscious – Tier 1 – Sleeping and helpless. Unconsciousness can result
from many different effects.

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Expansion and Growth
Rooms
Rooms are used to expand the hive, gain more resources, and increase the
amount of resources the hive can hold.

Rooms, buildings, and settlements take time, resources, and BP to build and
have upkeep costs that must be paid monthly, most require drones to work, and always give
some sort of benefit to the hive or the surrounding area. At higher levels, advanced buildings
can be built that increase the functionality of others or replace them altogether. If a room’s
upkeep goes unpaid, the room functions at half capacity for 1 month, after which double the
upkeep must be paid to get it running at full capacity again. If the upkeep goes unpaid for a
second month, the room stops functioning until three times the upkeep is paid. If this causes
Resource Storage to change, excess resources are not lost, but more cannot be added to the
total until it falls below the new limit.

Rooms take up space above ground and may create space underground.
Rooms above ground take up a certain amount of space, represented by the number of hexes
they take up, with each hex being roughly 3 feet/1 meter in diameter. They also have a height
rating, in hexes, showing how much vertical space they take up. A room or building with a size
of 4×2×6 has a length of 4 hexes, a width of 2 hexes, and a height of 6 hexes. If building
underground, the height of the room must be at least one hex below the surface to allow for
adequate reinforcement and insulation.

A geographical hex is roughly equivalent to 6 miles/9.6 Km across. This makes it easy

to adjudicate distances, but also allows for an easy breakdown when using as a map. Each
geographical hex is 12 ½ mile/.8 Km sub-hexes across, with each of those sub-hexes being 12
220 ft./67 m mini-hexes across, and finally with each of those mini-hexes being roughly 67 3
foot/1 meter hexes across.

Rooms are made by spending BP and sending drones to prepare an area by rolling a
number of d10s equal to the number of drones with each getting a bonus to their roll equal to
the drone’s most relevant build skill with each total roll representing one day of work. If the
number of successes is over the number needed for completion, the land is prepared and
building can begin. If the number of successes is lower than the target number, continue rolling
until the total is larger than the target number but keep track of the number of times rolled.

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 Once an area is prepared, building can begin. Each room and building has a number of
resources needed to construct it, listed below its name. Without the needed materials, the
room or building cannot be built, though the land will stay prepared for 1d10 weeks if building
does not begin. You can stop preparing an area at any time and get back the BP spent, but not
the time.

If the needed resources are on hand, building can begin. Assign a number of drones to
the building and roll a number of d10s equal to the number of drones assigned, with each total
roll representing one day of work. If the number of successes is over the number needed for
completion, the land is prepared and building can begin. If the number of successes is lower
than the target number, continue rolling until the total is larger than the target number but keep
track of the number of times rolled. You can stop building a room at any time and get back the
BP spent, but not the time or resources used. Do note that certain special perks may modify
the resources needed for buildings.

A room can be destroyed by events, attacks, or willfully by the hive. When a room is
destroyed, it stops functioning and the bonuses given by the room are completely nullified.
Destroyed rooms can be salvaged by drones for half the BP and resources used to build it.
Salvaging a room takes a number of days equal to the TN of the room minus the number of
drones used to salvage it (minimum 1).

Certain rooms have a cohesion rating. This rating is formatted as #/#. The first number
is the amount of cohesion it adds to/removes from the hive mind as a whole, the second is the
number that is lost/gained from the hive mind if it is destroyed. Typically only necessary and
powerful rooms have cohesion ratings. If a hive mind’s cohesion drops to 0, all hive structures
collapse and all rooms become destroyed if they were not before.

All resources have a storage capacity known as Resource Storage. This starts at 50 for
each resource due to the hive starting with a Warren, but can be increased through building
rooms.

Gathering resources is initially heavily dependent on the local area. The area the hive
starts in will determine what resources will be available at the start, though rooms can make
some later on. Gathering resources requires drones to be allocated to the action. The GM rolls
1d10 each day for each drone allocated to determine how many points of that resource are
gathered for that day. Some perks will grant better access to certain resources or even allow
them to be accessed in the first place. Resource points are purposefully abstract, as different
materials will have different weights and amounts to reach a specified amount leading to
weirdly disparate storage requirements beyond the basics.

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Hive size
Hive size is dictated by the number of rooms and buildings (simplified to just rooms)
that the hive has built. The hive gains 1 size per every 4 rooms within the hive. This does not
necessarily mean "within the hive structure itself", as nodal towers, nests, and other such
buildings aren't within the main hive structure but are considered part of the hive. Hive size
modifies Spawning, Hive Disguise, and Max Capacity.

Hive Disguise is the likelihood that other creatures will notice the hive, recognize what it
is, or be able to even find it in the first place. Hive Disguise is calculated with HSize+½
Rooms+modifiers. When something comes near a hive structure, the GM rolls 1d100-the
creature's Int or relevant knowledge skill. If the number is over Hive Disguise, the creature
doesn't recognize it as part of the hive or even the hive itself. If the number is under, however,
the creature notices that something isn't right or that it's part of the hive.

Hive Range is the number of geographical hexes that drones can act within without
being under the control of a synapse drone or without making progressively harder
synchronicity checks. This attribute starts at 1 to represent the Hex that the hive starts in. To
increase this range, a Synapse Node Tower must be built in a hex, increasing the Hive Range
by 1.

Expanding the hive to a new hex requires that a synapse node tower be built to
facilitate connection with the hive mind, a nest be built to act as a forward base and allow
easier protection, and a warren be built to allow drones to sleep and rest. Once they have
been built, other rooms can be built to exploit the area or develop it for the use of the hive.

Growth
Creatures need .22 kg/8 oz of food per day for each point in size they have. Food is
tracked by food points and 1 food point is equal to .22 kg/8 oz of material. Food points are also
tracked by their type: meat, vegetable, mineral, etc. Creatures also need 1 L/1 quart of water
per day for each point in size they have. Water is tracked by water points equal to 1 L/1 quart.
Some creatures may need to eat and/or drink more based on specific traits.

Drones are made according to Growth Rate and Spawning. Growth Rate is calculated
with available food + max capacity – current capacity + modifiers. If Growth Rate reaches
negative numbers, the hive begins to starve and lose drones over time until the Growth Rate
reaches 0. Some specialized traits of drones may modify spawning for that caste in particular.

Spawning is equal to the HSize+modifiers.

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 Every week, the GM rolls 1d100. If the roll is under the Growth Rate, the hive gains a
number of drones of any combination of castes equal to Spawning. If the roll is over the
Growth Rate, the hive gains no drones and the Growth Rate is compounded during the next
roll.

Rooms
Rooms are noted in the following way:
Name [Room Type Tag] (Size) - Build Points needed
Requirements: Requirements to build, if any
Resources: Number of resource points needed to build
Upkeep: Any resource point upkeep if required
What the room does and the benefits/cost of the room

There are a few room types, these types are as follows:

• Capacity – Involves capacity, resting, storage, and more.

• Defensive – Helps in defensive actions, grants defensive bonuses, or adds defense to
the hive
• Nodal Tower – Increases the synapse range of the hive
• Resource – Generates resources or grants bonuses to resource harvesting
• Spawning – Increases Spawning and/or Growth Rate, may also increase drone
capacity
• Structural – Increases structural integrity of hive structures, Increases defense of hive
structures, may grant defensive bonuses
• Crafting – Gives bonuses to specific types of crafting or professions.
• Misc – Anything that produces a specialized effect or that doesn’t quite fit into another
type

All hives start with 4 Rooms: 1 Spawning Pool, 1 Warren, 1 Nest, and 1 Hive Core.

Room Statistics
Alchemist Room [Crafting] (6×6×6) - 40 points
Requirements: Alchemy 5 or Profession (alchemist) 2
Resources: Stone 5, Glass 4, Herb 5
Upkeep: 1 Stone, 1 glass, 1 Herb
Allows the hive to more easily, efficiently, and safely produce alchemical substances. Grants a
+2 dice pool modifier to alchemy checks made within the room.

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 Arcane Tower [Defensive] (1×1×4) - 30 points
Requirements: Must be built above ground, the hive must have 3 ranks in Magic(Evocation)
Resources: 20 stone, 5 crystal
Upkeep: 2 stone
This defensive tower works automatically and attacks 1d5 enemies every round, dealing 1d2
damage of 1-2 random elements. The hive can focus its will and force the tower to conjure a
single element for a round, but this limits the damage to 1 damage.

Battery [Resource] (5×5×5) - 15 points

Requirements: The Hive must have at least 2 ranks in Technology
Resources: 25 Metal, 12 Acid
Upkeep: 2 Metal, 1 Acid
The battery is a room that allows for the storage of the Energy resource. Unlike other
resources, Energy cannot be stored via conventional means. The Resource Storage of Energy
increases by 100 per battery room.

Cage Farm [Resource] (6×6×3) - 20 points

Requirements: Must be able to feed and water the animals within.
Resources: 2 small (size 2 or lower) Live Animals of the same kind. 30 Stone/Wood/Metal/Etc.
If building above ground. If below ground, None.
Upkeep: Enough food and water for the animals kept inside, 3 of the material used to build it
or stone if underground
The Cage Farm is a small, if a bit time-intensive, room for carnivorous hives. The Cage Farm
involves obtaining at least 2 small live animals and caging them in a small space for breeding
purposes. Up to 1 drones can work in the farm at one time per 36 animals up to a maximum of
3 drones and 108 animals. At the end of every week, roll Empathy+Agriculture(Animal
Handling) (TN 4) for each drone that worked, for each drone that passed you can roll for up to
36 animals. Once the drones have rolled, roll for each available animal that lived in the farm for
the whole time and gain that many points of Food(Meat). Instead, you can leave any number of
Food points within the farm to allow another animal of the same kind to be born, which will then
mature in 1d5 weeks to a maximum of 108 animals.

Colony [Misc] (10×10×10) - 20 points

Requirements: Cannot be built in the same hex as any other room and the hive must be over
level 15
Resources: 25 Stone if above ground, if underground none, 10 Food, 10 Water
Upkeep: 2 Stone, 1 Food, 1 Water
The Colony is a special building capable of generating a sub-mind after 1d5 months. The sub-

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mind starts off friendly to you and only has one caste of drones with a number of synapse
drones chosen by you when the room is built. The sub-mind is completely subservient to you
for 1d10 months, after which it is completely independent, becomes neutral towards you, and
can make its own choices. Upon the sub-mind becoming independent, the colony transforms
into a Hive Core, Nest, Warren, and Spawning Pool.

Special: If a colony is made, before a sub-mind is generated a synapse drone may

choose to leave the parent hive and claim the colony. If they do, they immediately die and
recreate their synapse drone but now connected to the colony as the sole voice of the newly
created hive. If multiple synapse drones choose to do this, they all join together in the new
hive. Additionally, the parent hive takes a massive hit to cohesion and all stats including the
number of synapse drones must be recalculated.

Elemental Well [Misc] (4×4×5) - 40 points

Requirements: The hive must have the Elemental Connection perk
Resources: 20 Stone/Wood/Metal/Etc.
Upkeep: 2 of the resource used for building
This room houses a nexus of elemental energy within a deep pit. The energy is so potent that it
fills the entire well in the center of the room and oftentimes threatens to spill over the lip. When
this room is built, select an element the hive has an Elemental Connection perk for. All actions
using the specified element gain a +3 dice pool modifier. Cohesion 30/-60

Farm [Resource] (5×5×1) - 10 points

Requirements: Must be adjacent to a water source (lake or river) or be next to at least one
other farm for irrigation purposes. Must be built above ground.
Resources: 25 Food(Plant) points
Upkeep: None
The Farm is a useful, if a bit time-intensive, room for herbivorous hives. Up to 25 drones can
work in the farm at one time. At the end of every other week, roll
Intelligence+Agriculture(Farming) (TN 6) for each drone that worked in the farm for the whole
time. Roll 1d12 for each successful drone and gain that many points of Food(Plant). The farm
is automatically replanted after harvesting.

Fission Reactor Room [Resource] (6×6×6) - x points

Requirements: The hive must have at least 9 ranks in Technology
Resources: 70 Metal, 10 Water, and 2 Radioactive
Upkeep: 7 Metal and 1 Water. 1 Radioactive/5 months
This room is dedicated towards using radioactive material to generate Energy. This
automatically produces 4d10 energy per week. Should the room become damaged while

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active, the room will detonate within 1d10 hours. The room can be shut down, but the process
takes 1d5 rounds and will not produce Energy until powered up.

Fungus Farm [Resource] (3×3×3) - 10 points

Requirements: Must be adjacent to a water source (lake or river) or be next to at least one
other fungus farm for irrigation purposes. Must be built below ground.
Resources: 27 Food points
Upkeep: None
The Fungus Farm is a useful, if a bit time-intensive, room for herbivorous hives. Up to 27
drones can work in the farm at one time. At the end of every other week, roll
Intelligence+Agriculture(Farming) (TN 4) for each drone that worked in the farm for the whole
time. Roll 1d10 for each successful drone and gain that many points of Food(Plant). The
fungus farm is automatically replanted after harvesting.

Glassblower Room [Crafting] (6×6×6) - 20 points

Requirements: Craft (Glass) 5 or Profession (Glassblower) 2
Resources: Stone 5, Sand 3, 1 Combustible Material
Upkeep: 1 Stone, 1 Sand, 1 Combustible Material
Allows the hive to produce glass from sand. Grants a +2 dice pool modifier to craft checks
dealing with glass made within the room.

Hard Light Energy Reserve [Resource] (6×6×6) - 110 points

Requirements: The Hive must have at least 20 ranks in Technology or at least 9 ranks in
Magic(Summoning)
Resources: 500 Energy, 30 Metal
Upkeep: 50 Energy, 3 Metal
The penultimate version of the battery, the Hard Light Energy Reserve is capable of storing
3000 Energy per room.

Hive Core [Nodal Tower] (Special) - - points

Resources: None
Upkeep: Special
The Hive Core is a special room that cannot be built. All hives start with this room. This room
may be moved within the hive as a special action that requires many drones, lots of time, and
lots of food. The Hive Core houses the mind and will of the Hive Mind that is carried out
through the actions of the drones and rooms. The Size of the Hive Mind is equal in Length,
Width, and Height to the Hive Size, so a HSize 1 hive will have a 1×1×1 Hive Core and an
HSize 3 will have a 3x3x3 Hive Core. Additionally, the Hive Core has a food point upkeep equal
to the number of Hexes it occupies. For example, an HSize 1 core has an upkeep of 1 while a

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HSize 3 core has an upkeep of 27. Unlike drones, the Hive Core does not have a diet and as
such any food will do. If the Hive Core is destroyed, the Hive dies even if Cohesion is above 0.
All members of the hive have knowledge of everything that happens within the area of the Hive
Core room as though they can sense it directly.

Hive Lodging [Capacity] (5×5×5) - 10 points

Resources: 50 Stone/Wood/Metal/Etc. if above ground, if underground none
Upkeep: 5 of the resource used to build it, Stone if underground
Better living than the Warren, as it isn’t also used to store resources. +30 to Max Capacity and
Cohesion 30/-30.

Library [Misc] (5×5×5) - 10 points

Requirements: Must have 1 rank in a language and be able to read that language
Resources: 25 Wood/Stone/Metal/Etc.
Upkeep: 2 of the resource used to build it
The library is used to easily, carefully, and meticulously store books. Ancient tomes of magic,
grimoires of forbidden lore, scrolls of religious value, almanacs, valuable books, comic books,
magazines, etc. While not directly useful, if a specific book is within the hive’s possession and
the hive has a Library, the book can automatically be found without searching.

Mental Uplink Pod [Misc] (2×2×3) - 20 points

Requirements: The hive must have 4 ranks in Psionics(Telepathy).
Resources: 40 Food
Upkeep: 4 Food
This pod is used solely to extract and implant information to and from the brains of creatures.
The creature enters the pod and must pass a Agility save with a TN of 6 every round to avoid
having various tendrils be attached to their body. If they succeed, they may attempt to break
out with a Strength check with a TN of 5 once that round, though next round they will be forced
to attempt to avoid the tendrils again. If they fail, they must pass an Acumen+Will check with a
TN equal to the mental power of the hive mind. If they succeed, the hive cannot penetrate their
mind and they are let out. If they fail, however, the mind is able to dig through their memories
and collect knowledge to both extract or copy what it sees and to implant memories and
knowledge of its own. If the target was unwilling, their attitude drops to hostile and depending
on what was done they may have 1-3 levels of fear as well.

Nest [Defensive] (2×4×2) - 5 points

Resources: 30 Stone/Wood/Metal/Etc.
Upkeep: 1 of the resource used to build it

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The Nest is a defensive structure similar to a small fortification. Drones within it gain the
benefits of elevation and +1 successes when making defensive actions.

Outpost [Defensive] (2×2×8) - 10 points

Requirements: Must be built above ground
Resources: 10 Stone/Wood/Metal/Etc.
Upkeep: 1 of the material used to build it
The Outpost is a defensive fortification that can have up to 5 drones assigned to it. The
Outpost grants double elevation bonuses and grants ranged attacks triple range, but only
allows for ranged attacks to be made by the drones inside. Additionally, unless entered, the
drones inside cannot be targeted by melee attacks.

Pasture [Resource] (Special) - 20 points

Requirements: Must include a water source (river or lake). Must be built above ground.
Resources: 2 large (Size 5+) grazing animals, 5 Stone/Wood/Metal/Etc.
Upkeep: 1 of the material used to build it.
The Pasture is a useful, if time-intensive, room for carnivorous hives. Up to 14 drones can
work in the pasture at one time. At the end of every other year, roll
Empathy+Agriculture(Animal Handling) (TN 5) for each pair of animals that worked in the farm
for the whole time. If the roll succeeds, the pair has a child that weighs 1/20th the adults. The
child will grow to full size in roughly 2 years. The space needed for this room is dependent on
the number of animals used with each animal needing 1.5 acres/6070 m² or 3035×3035×1 in
order for them to stay alive in the long term. The animals, both young and adults, can be
slaughtered with a successful Intelligence+Agriculture(Animal Handling) check. These
slaughtered animals give a number of Food (Meat) equal to half the weight of the animal.

Portal [Misc] (1×2×3) - x points

Requirements: The Hive must have 10 ranks in Technology or 6 ranks in Magic(Summoning)
Resources: 15 Metal, 25 Circuitry, and 10 crystals or 15 Stone and 10 crystals
Upkeep: 1/10th of the resources used to build it
The portal is a special room used to transport drones, items, and other such objects to other
places. If the portal is technological in nature, then it must connect to a second portal
elsewhere in order to work at all. If the portal is magical in nature, it does not need to be
connected to a second portal unless the creatures passing through would like a way to return.
Additionally, magical portals are able to cross planar boundaries. In order to make a
technological portal cross planar boundaries the hive needs to build it or upgrade it if it has 18
ranks in Technology.

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 Scrying Room [Misc] (5×5×3) - 40 points
Requirements: The hive must have 4 ranks in Magic(Divination)
Resources: 5 Water, 20 Stone
Upkeep: 1 Water, 2 stone
This room allows the hive to seek information on targets far beyond the scope of the hive’s
scouts and range easier than elsewhere. Attempts to divine information, scry on creatures and
items, and other such uses of the Divination skill are granted a +1 dice pool modifier and 1
automatic success if performed within this room.

Smithy [Crafting] (6×6×6) - 20 points

Requirements: Craft (Metal) 10 or Profession (Blacksmith) 3
Resources: 10 Stone, 5 Metal, 1 Combustible Material
Upkeep: 1 Metal, 1 Combustible Material
Allow the hive to produce smithed goods on their own. Grants a +2 dice pool modifier to craft
checks dealing with metal and profession(blacksmith) checks made within the room.

Solar Panels [Resource] (10×10×1) - 15 points

Requirements: The Hive must have at least 4 ranks in Technology and this room must be built
both above ground and outside.
Resources: 10 Metal
Upkeep: 1 Metal
Solar Panels are technological devices used to capture the light of the sun and convert it into
energy. Solar Panels produce 1d5 Energy per week with a modifier to the total equal to the
average light level during daylight -2. So a Solar Panel room that had an average of low light
for one week produces 1d5+1 Energy while one that had an average of Very Intense light for
one week produces 1d5+5 Energy. Light Levels and their numbers can be found in the
Exploration section.

Solid Power Bank [Resource] (8×8×8) - 50 points

Requirements: The Hive must have at least 5 ranks in Technology
Resources: 50 Metal, 30 Acid
Upkeep: 5 Metal, 3 Acid
An upgraded version of the Battery, the Solid Power Bank increases the Resource Storage of
Energy by 500 per room.

Spawning Pit [Spawning] (8×8×8) - 30 points

Requirements: The hive must have at least 4 ranks in Biotics and be over level 10
Resources: 50 Stone or none if building underground, 45 food, 45 Water
Upkeep: 5 Stone, 4 Food, 4 Water

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The Spawning Pit is a more advanced and larger form of the Spawning Pool, allowing for far
more young to be brought up and for the swarm to grow larger. The actual layout of the room,
and whether or not it actually has a pit or any actual features, is left up to the individual room
and hive. The Spawning Pit adds +4 to Spawning.

Spawning Pool [Spawning] (3×3×3) - 10 points

Resources: 10 Stone if building above ground but none if underground, 10 Food, 10 Water
Upkeep: 2 Food, 2 Water
The Spawning Pool is a room dedicated to rearing young and bringing more drones into
existence. The actual layout of the room, and whether or not it actually has a pool or any actual
features, is left up to the individual room and hive. The Spawning Pool adds +1 to Spawning.

Store Room [Capacity] (5×5×5) - 10 points

Requirements: None
Resources: 10 Stone/Wood/Metal/Etc. if building above ground. If underground, None
Upkeep: 1 of the material used to build it or stone if underground.
The Store Room is useful for storing resources, increasing Resource Storage by 150.

Summoning Room [Misc] (3×3×3) - 50 points

Requirements: The hive must have 6 ranks in Magic(Summoning)
Resources: 20 stone, 4 wax, 9 crystals
Upkeep: 2 stone, 1 wax, 1 crystal
This room is set up to act as a nexus of arcane energies, allowing for ease of summoning and
binding creatures to serve the wishes of the hive. Attempts to summon and bind creatures
within this room gain a +2 dice pool modifier, but due to the nexus of energy the creatures
summoned also gain a +1 dice pool modifier to all of their abilities.

Synapse Node Tower [Nodal Tower] (special) - 15 points

Requirements: Not have a Nodal Tower in the hex it is being built in. Must be built above
ground and outside.
Resources: 70 Stone/Wood/Metal/Etc. and 120 Food
Upkeep: 7 of the material used to build it and 16 food
The Synapse Node Tower allows for drones not within a Synapse Drone’s group to move
within an additional geographic hex outside of the hive’s base range. The size of the tower is 7
hexes in a circle (one hex and all 6 hexes surrounding it) and 23 hexes high. Cohesion 30/-60

Synaptic Broadcast Tower [Nodal Tower] (special) - 40 points

Requirements: Not have a Nodal Tower in the hex it is being built in. Must be built above
ground and outside. Must be Level 15 or higher to build.

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Resources: 190 Stone/Wood/Metal/Etc. and 240 Food
Upkeep: 19 of the material used to build it and 30 food
The Synaptic Broadcast Tower allows for drones not within a Synapse Drone’s group to move
within an additional 7 hexes outside the hive’s base range (the hex the tower is within and all 6
hexes surrounding it). The size of the tower is 19 hexes in a circle (one hex, the surrounding 6
hexes, and the 12 hexes surrounding those 6) and 46 hexes high. The Hive gains a +50 to
cohesion

Wall [Defensive] (1×1×4) - 1 point

Requirements: Must be built above ground and outside
Resources: 3 Stone/Wood/Metal/Etc.
Upkeep: 1 of the material used to build it per 3 months
The Wall is a simple defensive fortification that stops movement through it. It can be scaled,
flown over, jumped over, or destroyed, but if not dealt with causes attackers and defenders to
move around it.

Warren [Capacity] (5×5×5) - 10 points

Resources: 10 Stone/Wood/Metal/Etc. if building above ground. If underground, None
Upkeep: 1 of the material used to build it or stone if underground.
The Warren is a very useful room used to house resting drones as well as use to store
resources. Each warren adds +10 to Max Capacity and increases resource storage by 50.

Watchtower [Defensive] (2×2×8) - 5 points

Requirements: Must be built above ground and outside
Resources: 10 Stone/Wood/Metal/Etc.
Upkeep: 1 of the material used to build it
The Watchtower is a defensive fortification that requires a drone to be assigned to it. The
Watchtower triples the drone’s range of sight and grants 4 automatic successes on perception
checks in open terrain. In close terrain, it doubles the drone’s range of sight and only grants 1
automatic success on perception checks.

Weaving Room [Crafting] (6×6×6) - 20 points

Requirements: Craft (Weaving) 5
Resources: 10 Stone, 3 Wood/Plastic, 5 Silk/Plant Fiber/Wool
Upkeep: 1 Wood/Plastic, 2 Silk/Plant Fiber/Wool
Allows the hive to create better quality woven goods. Grants a +2 dice pool modifier to craft
checks dealing with silk, plant fibers, and wool made within the room.

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 Wood Shop [Crafting] (6×6×6) - 300 points
Requirements: Craft (Wood) 10
Resources: 5 Stone, 1 Metal, 5 Wood Upkeep: 1 Wood
Allows the hive to produce higher quality wooden goods and keep the rest of the hive mostly
free of sawdust. Grants a +2 dice pool modifier to craft checks dealing with wood made within
the room.

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Exploration
Exploration in this system functions on a hexcrawl system, where the map is situated
into geographical hexes in a grid. A geographical hex is roughly equivalent to 6 miles/9.6 Km
across. This makes it easy to adjudicate distances, but also allows for an easy breakdown
when using as a map. Each geographical hex is 12 ½ mile/.8 Km sub-hexes across, with each
of those sub-hexes being 12 220 ft./67 m mini-hexes across, and finally with each of those
mini-hexes being roughly 67 3 foot/1 meter hexes across. This is to make adjudicating
distances within and crossing the hex easy and quick to make off hand.

Time exploring is broken down into hours, Shifts, and marches, with Shifts being
equivalent to 4 hours and marches being equivalent to two Shifts (8 hours).

The faster a creature is, the faster it moves when exploring. To determine speed of
overland travel check the speed of the creature. For every point in speed, the creature is able
to walk 33 miles/.5 kilometers in one hour. In the following table is the calculation for overland
speed and various times for various speeds. Bear in mind that the group can only move as fast
as the slowest members.

Time and Speed Speed 1 Speed 2 Speed 3 Speed 6

1 Hour (Walk) .33 m/.5 km .66 m/1 km 1 m/1.5 km 2 m/3 km
1 Hour (Hustle) .66 m/1 km 1.33 m/ 2 km 2 m/3 km 4 m/6 km
1 Shift (4 hours) 1.33 m/2 km 2.66 m/4 km 4 m/6 km 8 m/12 km
1 March (8 Hours) 2.66 m/4 km 5.33 m/8 km 8 m/12 km 16 m/24 km

Hustling: Creatures can choose to hustle for an hour and double their speed. Hustling
for an additional hour between sleep cycles causes one point of damage and one level of
fatigue. Continuing to hustle doubles the damage taken per hour, causing 2 damage on the
second additional hour, 4 on the third, 8 on the fourth, 16 on the fifth and so on. If a creature
would be brought to 0 health by this damage, they instead collapse into unconsciousness

Marching: Due to the strain of constant movement and walking, a creature can move
at a walking pace for up to 8 hours before requiring to rest. For each hour the creature is made
to walk over this limit, they must make a Physical save every hour with a TN equal to the
number of hours made to walk over 8 hours. Failing this check gives one level of fatigue and
1d10 damage. If a creature would be brought to 0 health by this damage, they instead collapse
into unconsciousness.

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 Cautious Movement: Under the threat of assumed danger or just if they feel like it,
creatures can move cautiously, dropping their overland speed to 75% of normal. While moving
cautiously, chances of encounters from creatures are halved.

Exploring: While exploring, the creature is assumed to be checking out every possible
route through the area and as such drops its overland speed down to half but the chance of all
forms of encounter is doubled. Additionally, the GM can roll for an additional encounter
whenever they would roll for one.

Terrain and road type can play a major role in the amount of time it takes to explore and
travel. Typically, the more open and flat the terrain and the more maintained the road the
quicker the movement. For a handy quick guide, the following table can help with the
percentage of overland speed used.

Condition Speed Modifier Navigation modifier

Wide, open land +0% -1
Clear road +50% -1
Mountains -50% +3
Thick Vegetation -25% +2
Unstable ground -25% +1
Uneven terrain -25% +2

Movement
Movement on a hex grid is purposefully abstracted to remove the tedium of tracking
every individual step on their journey. To measure progress, the GM tracks their general
location in the hex they are currently within.

When starting in a hex, it is assumed the party starts in the center of the hex, at which
point it takes 3 miles/4.8 km to get to the edge. Though if the party starts at another area, it
may take more or less time to get to an edge depending on the distance to the edge they are
headed towards.

When crossing a hex, it takes 6 miles/9.8 km to reach a far edge and only 3 miles/4.8
km to reach a near edge. These designations are relative to the edge entered from. If the
group decides to go backwards and cross the edge they came in from, simply subtract their
movement this far but keep the time spent.

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 When moving through hexes and not using a landmark such as a mountain or river to
help guide the way, a creature must make an Intelligence+Navigation check at least once per
Shift to avoid becoming lost and to make sure they are following their path correctly. If they fail
the check, or intentionally decide not to make the check for whatever reason, they become
lost.

A lost creature may not immediately know they are lost and in fact can go quite a long
time before realizing it. Once a creature is lost, they begin to veer away from their intended
direction in a direction chosen by the GM or by a random roll. This is the direction they move
until they realize they are lost. If they fail another navigation check, their direction only
becomes more off-course and increases their veer.

A creature can make a navigation check at the current TN at any point to check if they
are lost. If they succeed, they immediately know whether they are lost or not judging by the
area around them, but if they fail they assume they’re not lost regardless of the truth of the
matter. Encountering a new landmark, new type of terrain, or other such things may decrease
the TN or make it immediately obvious to the creature they are lost.

When lost, it is possible to reorient themselves using various methods. Some examples
are:

• Backtracking – Retracing your steps and making a Navigation check to see if

you recognize previous areas when you weren’t lost. Can give the wrong conclusion if
failed.
• Magic – Magic can help to reorient creatures, divination especially.
• Starting a new route – The creature can attempt to chart a new course towards
their destination by making an Intelligence+Navigation check against the previous
TN+3. If they fail they immediately become lost again without knowing it.
• Compass Directions – The navigation skill, as well as various items, perks, and
esoteric effects can all help determine what direction north is and can help to reorient
the creature
• Higher Elevation – Looking from higher elevation may allow the creature to
distinguish the landscape and landmarks better, allowing for an easier time picking the
right way up.
• And other methods that players may come up with

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Locations, encounters, and their whereabouts
While exploring, there are many things that can be found, or that can find you, but
depending on how familiar the area is and how it is searched may cause different outcomes.
Some locations are obvious and visible from quite a ways away, while others are hidden very
efficiently and purposefully, and how easily these locations are found depends heavily on the
way the creatures explore the hex.

Visible Locations are locations that are almost immediately obvious from where the
creature is. Be they mountains, towers, castles on hills, pillars of flame, or whatever else, the
creature is aware of them almost as soon as they enter the hex or may have been aware of
them from quite a ways away. If a location is along a highway or road that the creature is
following, it can easily be assumed that the creature will come across the location at some
point along their way unless they get lost.

Locations can also be familiar or unfamiliar to creatures. If a creature is in a hex with a

location they have been to multiple times or have some form of connection or highly accurate
map to, they can reasonably find the location without needing to make navigation checks
(unless they are lost, that is). However, if the location is unfamiliar they will need to make
navigation checks to find it and the GM can choose to roll additional encounter checks to see if
they come across the location or not.

Speaking of encounter rolls, while there are many ways to deal with such, we will go
over only one. If you have a better system, feel free to use it, as there isn’t enough space to go
over every possible encounter system.

The system we will discuss is simple. The GM rolls 1d10 whenever the creature or
group of creatures enters a new hex or spends more than an hour inside of a hex. On a roll of
1-2, an encounter happens at some point in that hex. Each hex has its own encounter table
that looks something like this:

Example Hex Table

Encounter type: Location 30%, Monster 50%, Other 20%

Spillover Likelihood: 20%

Roll Encounter Lair Fight Other

1 1 Dire Boar 5% 45% 40%
2 1d5 Crocodiles 10% 70% 20%
3 1 Swamp Ape 20% 30% 50%

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 Roll Encounter Lair Fight Other
4-6 1d10 Giant Wasps 40% 45% 15%
7 1d5 Zombies 0% 65% 35%
8 1d5 Bandits 30% 30% 40%
9 1d10 Giant Piranhas 25% 65% 10%
0 1 Giant Leech 0% 80% 20%

The Encounter Type decides what kind of encounter it is, whether the creature
stumbles onto a location, runs into some monsters or other creatures, or something else
happens such as running into a sinkhole or finding a strange item.

Spillover Likelihood is the percentage chance that, if the creature is near the edge of
the hex when the encounter happens, that instead of rolling on the current hex’s table instead
the table of another nearby hex is used.

Lair Percentage is the chance that the resting place, nest, cave, hive, or whatever
housing the creature rolled is found. If the lair is found, the creature may be within it or not,
either way it is treated as a location encounter instead of a monster encounter for the purposes
of modifiers. Fight Percentage is the likelihood of a fight occurring against the creature. Other
Percentage is the chance that some other form of evidence of the creature is found instead of
the actual creature.

Stocking the Hexes

When making the hexcrawl, it is important to make sure that each hex has a variety of
encounters that can happen on repeat visitations. While there can be one-off events, those
events shouldn’t be the only thing in the hex because once they’re over and done with, there is
no reason for the creature or group to return. Rather, it’s a much better idea to have a list of
locations and repeatable encounters for a hex. From wandering monsters, to ancient shrines,
to sunken caves, to abandoned mines, there should be reason for the players to want to return
or at least enjoy their time spent if they need to backtrack.

For this reason, it’s highly encouraged that you have a map of some kind and a key to
easily check which hex the party is in. While it may seem a daunting task to fill every single
hex, you can cheat in a way by reusing some encounters in different places across various
encounter tables, taking from fiction or published adventures and scattering them across the
map, and other such shortcuts. Additionally, there are random generators that can be found

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online, in various books, and across various games that can help give ideas for things to put in
your hexes.

“Achievements”
There may be special locations across the hex map that you’d like the players to go.
While there are many ways to get players to go there from quests, to geas, to hearsay, or even
just by putting them on the tracks, those don’t have much of a place when exploring in a
hexcrawl. So, how can you reward your players for finding these locations and leading to them
wanting to find more of them? Simple, give them XP for finding these special locations.
Whether it merely be as simple as “Walk into the City of Astoria” or as complex as “Stand on
the cliff of Haalia as the full moon’s light glitters over the subterranean sea of Sha’lil”, allow the
players to gain XP from finding certain locations across the map.

Now, obviously, not every location needs to give XP but once the players find out that
it’s not only possible for them to gain XP by exploring, but that they can gain just as much as
they would by achieving goals, they’ll want to explore as much as possible to find as many of
these locations as they can. This, in turn, allows you to easily set up encounters, story hooks,
plot threads, and all sorts of other things for them to come across, find, or stumble upon and
keeps them engaged in the game.

Additionally, you don’t only have to have these attached to locations. Certain events or
other qualifying things can grant experience, such as “seeing a volcano erupt”, “watching a
dragon take off or land”, “seeing a whale breaching”, or “traveled across the sea or air as a
dwarf”. These can all add flavor to the experience and keep the players interested in seeing
what else can happen on their road to more power.

Light, Darkness, Vision, and Weather

Light, darkness, vision, and weather can cause all sorts of differences when both
exploring the wilderness as well as when fighting or doing other such actions.

Vision
Normally, a human can see, unaided on a clear day with nothing blocking their sight
line, roughly 3 miles away. This distance may change based on relative elevation, terrain
features, light level, weather, vegetation, perks, esoteric effects, and other such things.

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Weather
Weather can cause all sorts of changes. From shifting the light level up or down, to
creating sheets of rain and fog, to natural disasters, or blanketing an area with snow, weather
can absolutely mess with a creature’s vision and ability to explore. In the following table,
general rules will be provided for weather trends. Only use the highest modifier if multiple
apply. If it is clear but raining, use the modifiers for precipitation with LLM at -1. If it is clear, but
with torrential rain, use the severe modifiers with LLM at -1.

Weather Vision Light Level Mod Overland Speed

Clear Unchanged +0 100%
Overcast As Light Level -1 100%
As ½ Light Level distance if -2 (if not overcast, only -
Precipitation 75%
above 1 1)
Fog/Mist As if Light Level 2 +0 25%
Severe As ½ Light Level if above 1 -3 (if not overcast, -1) 25%

Light Level
Light level measures the relative amount of ambient light in the area, from total
darkness to blindingly bright. This can modify various things such as cause creatures damage,
stop crops from growing, provide benefits or negatives from perks and drawbacks, among
other things, but more importantly for exploration, combat, and day-to-day living it can heavily
change the range of vision. Additionally, some creatures have ways of seeing and sensing that
aren’t based on visible light and as such, those forms of vision aren’t affected by light levels.
Light levels and their effects on normal sight are broken down as such:

Level Name Effect

0 Total Darkness Completely blind
1 Near Total Darkness Almost blind, can only barely see within 3 hexes
Can see normally out to 10 hexes, but further with sources of
2 Bright Night/Shadowy
light
3 Dim Half-normal range of vision
4 Average Normal range of vision
5 Bright One and a quarter normal range of vision
6 Intense Normal range of vision, harms vulnerable creatures
7 Very Intense Half-normal range of vision, harms vulnerable creatures,

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Level Name Effect
creatures not vulnerable must make Mental saves to avoid
being dazzled
Almost blind and harms vulnerable creatures, creatures not
8 Extremely bright vulnerable can see out to 10 hexes but must make Physical
saves every hour or take damage to their eyes
Completely blind, instantly kills vulnerable creatures,
9 Blinding creatures must make Physical saves every half hour or take
damage to their eyes

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Item Rules
Apex

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Esoteric Systems
The rules in this section expand on various esoteric skills, such as Magic, Psionics,
Biotics, and Alchemy.

Magic Rules and the Mana System

Magic is a chaotic force that pervades reality. While very easy to direct it takes a
tremendous amount of skill to make anything magical last in the long term without binding it to
a tangible anchor. Temporary and immediate effects are the main usage of magic as spells can
be crafted and used on the fly with little preparation but lasting effects either need specific
requirements, particular rituals, or loads of mana and skill to create. A creature capable of
wielding magic is known as a Mage.

Mana
Magic is powered by mana, a strange energy that can be harnessed to create
wonderful effects. Mana can be found in various forms, but the most common forms are those
of ambient mana, harnessed mana, and crystalline mana. Additionally, while most mana has
no particular properties some mana comes in various flavors based on which of the seven
outer planes it flows from.

Ambient Mana
Ambient mana is exactly what it sounds like mana that lingers in an area and fills
everything within the area that it can. This is noted as an area’s Ambient Mana Level or just
Mana Level for short. Ambient Mana Level modifies how easy it is for mages to cast spells, the
likelihood of Wild Magic activating when magic is cast, how fast the Mana Pool of a mage
refills, how difficult it is to keep magical effects going, the likelihood of creatures randomly
appearing or gaining new abilities, the likelihood of mana crystals forming, the likelihood of
mana poisoning, and even the likelihood of people gaining the ability to cast spells.

The scale of Mana Levels goes from -20 to 20 with values between -1 and 5 being the
most common. In an area with a positive mana level, mana is flush in the area and the
following effects occur:

• Mana regeneration is increased by the value of the Mana Level

• Wild Magic Chance is increased by 5*% per mana level

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 • If the area has a mana level of 4 or higher, Target Numbers to cast magic are
reduced by 1 per level above 4. This effectively reduces the number of successes
required to cast spells by the Mana Level -4 with a minimum of -0.

• If an area has a mana level of 1 or higher, increase the likelihood of colored mana
being within an area by 5% per level if the area fits the environment of the color.

In an area with a negative mana level, mana is being drained from an area and the
following effects occur:

• Mana Regeneration is reduced by the value of the Mana Level

• Wild Magic Chance is reduced by 5% per level

• If the area has a mana level of -1 or lower, Target Numbers to cast magic are
increased by 1 per Mana Level. This effectively increases the number of successes
required to cast spells by the Mana Level.

In an area with a mana level of zero, mana is neither flush or being drained and the
area is either devoid of mana or has been cut off from the flow of mana and as such none of
the things mentioned are affected in any way.

Harnessed Mana
Harnessed Mana is more commonly known as a mage’s Mana Pool. It is the sum total
of the mana a mage has absorbed and can use to cast spells. A mage refills their mana pool
by absorbing ambient mana, drawing mana from certain items, or by siphoning mana from
mana crystals. Every hour a mage is in an area, they add an amount of mana to their mana
pool equal to the Mana Level of the area. If the Mana Level is negative, they subtract that
amount instead. Any mana drawn into a mana pool is considered to be colorless unless the
mage has a perk, item, or physiology that allows them to convert the mana into a color or the
mage draws the mana from a crystal or area with a particular color of mana within in.

A mage can have as much mana in their mana pool equal to double their ranks in the
Magic skill plus any modifiers granted by perks, items, or other effects. Some perks may allow
a mage to hold more mana than their maximum, but doing so increases the likelihood of Wild
Magic and Mana Poisoning. For every point of mana a mage has in their mana pool over their
maximum, increase the chance of Wild Magic activating by 1%.

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Crystalline Mana
In areas of high mana concentration mana can materialize. When this happens it can
cause dangerous bouts of Wild Magic, but over enough time it can also form glowing fractal
crystals that act as natural batteries of magical energy just waiting to be unleashed in the form
of being drained, used in alchemy, integrated into technology, or any number of other uses.
They can be found in areas with positive mana levels and the higher the mana level the higher
the complexity of the crystal and the higher the amount of mana it holds. A mage can siphon a
number of points of mana out of a crystal equal to the Size of the crystal they wield times its
complexity. For example, a mage holding a Size 2 mana crystal with a complexity of 5 can
draw a total of 10 points of mana from the crystal before it becomes inert.

Mana crystals are typically found in places far from habitation where the mana is
allowed to stagnate. Mana crystals grow slowly over time and take on a color as dictated by
their environment if their environment is suitable for it, otherwise they remain colorless and
semi translucent. As a mana crystal grows it takes up space like any other creature, taking up
a number of Hexes as though it were a creature with the same Size stat. As a mana crystal
grows in size it also grows in volatility and resistance to being harvested. To harvest a crystal
you may use either Gathering or Mining.

If you use Gathering, the crystal must have a Size between 1 and 4 and the TN is equal
to the size times 3, though you can choose to harvest less than the whole crystal at a
proportionate decrease in the TN. If you use Mining, the crystal must either be within a wall
and/or take up more than one hex of space and the TN is equal to double the size of the
crystal you wish to remove from the total. Harvesting a crystal does come with the risk of Wild
Magic however, as the energies within the crystal become energized upon their structure being
disturbed. Gathering a crystal has a much lower likelihood of it happening with a 5% chance of
Wild Magic per Size of the crystal, with Mining a crystal having a 10% chance of Wild Magic
per Size mined off.

While mana crystals can be rare, it is possible to farm them with the correct
applications of magic and skill. If a mana crystal is planted in an area with the correct Mana
Level and cultivated with Agriculture (Farming) over a period of 1 month per complexity, the
crystal with grow by 1 Size. If a crystal is instead placed in an area with a lower or higher Mana
Level increase or decrease the time respectively by 1 month per difference in Mana Level (if
the time would go lower than one month it decreases by 1 week per difference with a minimum
time of 1 week). If the crystal also has a color, the area must also have mana of that color or
the crystal will not grow even in a much higher mana level. Mana crystals cannot grow in an

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area with a Mana Level of zero or lower. A mana crystal taken into an area of negative Mana
Level will lose one mana point per hour until it becomes inert.

Mana Colors
While mana does pervade reality and flows freely from The Source, it does also flow
from the Outer Planes and as it passes through them it also becomes colored by the nature
and ideals of that plane. As mana flows from the Outer Planes, through the Transitive Planes,
and onto the Material worlds it coalesces into certain areas dependent on the Outer Plane it
passed through and each of these colors also enhances a particular school of magic,
champions a different type of spirit, and makes spells more difficult to cast if the caster
attempts to use mana of an opposing color for the school of the spell.

Due to the nature of these planes each of the colors of mana also tends to draw people
towards them that best align with its basic values as well as lead others to distrust those who
align with the colors of planes that oppose theirs and prefer the company of those who align
with planes allied to their color’s plane. The colors are:

Name Ideal Locations School Allies Enemies Mana Spirits

Colorless None Anywhere None None None None
Black Power Ruins and Necromancy Purple White Devils
Swamps Red Yellow
Blue Progress Oceans and Divination White Red Enkim
Seas Black Green
Green Nature Forests and Enhancement Red Blue Fey
Jungles Yellow Black
Purple IndividualityCaverns and Transmutation Black Yellow Horrors
Trenches Red White
Red Chaos Deserts and Evocation Purple White Demons
Badlands Green Blue
White Order Mountains Protection Yellow Purple Angels
and Cliffs Blue Red
Yellow Community Plains and Summoning Green Black Eidolon
Grasslands White Purple

Mana Poisoning
Mana poisoning is an interesting phenomenon with a simple cause but an uncertain
reasoning and mages gain it differently from others. If a creature without the ability to cast
spells is in an area with a Mana Level higher than their Acumen score for more than an hour
they must make a Mental save with a TN equal to the Mana Level. If a mage has over 110% of
their maximum mana in their mana pool and holds more mana total than their Acumen score,

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they must make a Mental save with a TN equal to the percentage they are over their maximum
mana rounded down to the nearest 10% and divided by 10. Should the creature fail the save,
they gain the first level of the Mana Poisoning condition and each time the creature fails the
save afterwards the level of the condition increases by 1. The Mana Poisoning condition
reduces its level by 1 per day as long as the creature is removed from Mana Levels higher
than its Acumen.

Magic
Magic is the application of mana to cause change, albeit usually temporarily. Magic is
typically used in spells, but can also be used to imbue effects through item enhancements,
power curses, or affect large swathes of area through manaplagues. Most of the applications
of magic used by players will be in the form of spells and rituals however, so that is what we
will be mostly focusing on.

Spells
Mages work magic through spells for the overwhelming majority of all magical effects.
Spells can be constructed on the fly, written onto scrolls, imbued into items, or any number of
other mechanisms to affect the change the mage wishes to cause. Spells are very easy to
modify and very few mages have anything in their spell books beyond their most commonly
used spells, if they even have a spell book at all.

When casting a spell you must have at least one Effect, a Target or Target(s), a Range
and/or an Area, and a Duration. A mage might also think of the mana color (if any) that they will
be using, the Mana Level of the area they are casting in, the amount of AP they will use to
focus on the movements and words of the spell, any components they will be using, and any
resistances their target(s) may have. All of these will modify the mana cost and number of
successes a mage must roll in order to cast it.

In order to cast a spell, a mage must pay an amount of mana equal to half the TN to
cast the spell then roll a number of dice equal to their Magic skill plus any relevant Magic
Schools and Sub-Schools. If a mage does not roll a number of successes equal to or over the
TN of the spell, roll 1d5. On a roll of 1 the spell backfires and is cast on the mage instead, on a
roll of 2-4 the spell fizzles and nothing happens, and on a roll of 5 Wild Magic happens
immediately as the spell goes haywire (the mage must still roll for Wild Magic as usual). Either
way the mana is lost. If the mage rolls a number of successes equal to or over the TN of the
spell, the spell is cast as normal. No matter if a spell is successful or not, after the attempt is
made the mage must roll a Wild Magic check with a modifier to the roll equal to the mana

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spent on the spell plus any other modifiers such as those caused by Mana Level. A mage may
always pay more mana than required for a spell, increasing Wild Magic and any other effect if
they do.

A normal spell can be turned into a ritual to reduce the cost. A ritual requires at least
one mage to cast the spell, but can have any number of other participants that can expend AP,
components, and mana (if they have any) to aid in the casting of the spell. This is typically
used to reduce the cost of extremely expensive and far reaching spells.

Schools
As mentioned above, magic is subdivided into a number of schools. These schools help
determine the colors of mana that will affect a spell, the types of effects that are applied, and
the limitations of the spells cast with it. The schools are less formally defined traditions and
more so expressions of the effects of the colors they are associated with. A school may also
have sub-schools that more refine its effects towards specific means. The schools are:

• Divination – The School of Information Gathering. Divination allows mages that use it
to sense lies, communicate and see across great distances, learn secrets, glean the
fortunes of themselves and others, and know the correct path towards their goals. Its
sub-schools are Augury, Foresight, and Scrying.

• Enhancement – The School of Bolstering and Strength. Enhancement allows mages

using it to cause themselves and others to become smarter, stronger, faster, more
resilient, and capable of feats none others could possibly do.

• Evocation – The School of Energy Manipulation. Evocation mages can bend the
elemental energies to their command wielding devastating powers, calling down bouts
of flame upon their enemies, freezing armies in their path, producing walls of pure
force, and rending castles into pebbles.

• Necromancy – The School of Life and Death. Necromancy is a dualistic school and
mages utilizing it can both harm and heal in equal measures with the capability to
speak with spirits, create, cause, and cure diseases, poisons, and curses, even death
itself is little more than another affliction to be used, worked around, or removed as the
mage sees fit. Its sub-schools are Communion, Heal || Harm, and Rot || Rebirth.

• Protection – The School of Guardianship. Protection is a school focused around

protecting the mage and all that the mage holds dear as well as protecting others from

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 themselves through enforcing rules to follow, binding creatures, creating warnings and
wards, and granting shields to the worthy to keep damage at bay.

• Summoning – The School of Translocation. Summoning mages find themselves

utilizing a versatile school capable of teleporting them and their allies where they want,
their enemies far away, items whenever they have need, and creatures even from other
planes and worlds to be bound to their beck and call with the caveats of expensive
spells and accuracy of location.

• Transmutation – The School of Form Manipulation. Transmutation is a famous school

of magic as few people haven’t heard of turning lead into gold, farmers into newts,
houses into castles, and weapons into plowshares, though the versatility within this
school is far more expansive than just that short list and with just a little imagination,
even the laws of reality can be twisted, bent, broken, and reformed. Its sub-schools are
Creatures, Materials, and Metaphysics.

Effects
In simple terms, effects are what the spell does. From creating an oil slick, to dousing a
room in fire, or resurrecting a creature from the dead, effects can cover a wide variety of
potential use and their costs are just as varied. Different schools have direct access to different
effects though effects from other schools may be possible by paying an additional cost that
grows steeper based on the alignments of the colors that cause the schools to function. A
detailed list of spell effects, modifiers, and their costs will be provided at the end of the Magic
section to help keep things tidy and organized.

Targets
Spells do not just affect nothing, they must have some sort of target even if that target
isn’t readily apparent. The larger the number of targets the greater the cost and skill level
needed to direct the mana correctly, though this can be seen less as a restriction and more as
a challenge for the mage. A mage using an area spell can also instead pay a greater cost to
target every creature within the area of the spell. The cost can be somewhat discounted if the
spell can only affect certain types of targets and the greater the specificity the greater the
discount granted.

Ranges and Areas

Targets function in conjunction with ranges and areas but the two do not need to be
combined. Ranges determine the furthest distance any target can be from the mage and areas

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determine a specific area where the effect takes place. If a range is used with an area, it
instead determines the maximum range for the origin point or center of the area.

Ranges come in three flavors: Touch, Adjacent, and Ranged. Adjacent spells require
the target to be next to the mage but nothing more and Ranged spells affect targets further
away from the mage. Touch spells act a little differently than the other spells however, as they
require the mage to make physical contact with the target in order to be cast and if the target is
unwilling and aware the mage must make a Brawl+Magic attack roll against the target in order
for the spell to be cast on them. Additionally, the mage can choose to not cast a touch spell
immediately and can hold the spell for a number of rounds equal to the amount of mana used
to cast the spell before the spell fades and the mage cannot cast it whereas adjacent and
ranged spells must be cast immediately.

Durations
Magic is a chaotic force that does what it wants and as such it takes effort to make
magical effects and changes stick for too long. Durations scale in cost based on the time the
spell is active for with the smallest durations costing effectively no mana but quickly scaling out
of what is reasonable for the average mage. It it possible to make a spell permanent, though
the cost of doing so is extremely high and is typically done using a ritual rather than just
through normal spell casting.

Descriptors
Descriptors are special tags that signify how they modify the basic function of spell
effects. These descriptors are:

• [Creation]: Spells with the [Creation] descriptor may be cast with the Instant duration.
These spells create tangible objects that do not disappear if created with the Instant
duration but do disappear if created with any other duration.

• [Death]: Spells with the [Death] descriptor directly attempt to directly kill the target
through various means. This is most commonly found on effects with the [Energy]
descriptor and may have special effects based on the physiology of the creature
affected.

• [Dissolution]: Spells with the [Dissolution] descriptor linger for 1d10 rounds after the
duration ends and can be cast with the Instant duration.

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 • [Energy]: Spells with the [Energy] descriptor can be cast with the Instant duration and
do not have a cost increase for the Instant duration, but do increase the cost of other
durations by +2 successes.

• [Information]: Spells with the [Information] descriptor can be cast with the Instant
duration. These spells notify the caster about specific information or allow the caster to
know certain things at the moment of their casting but do not persist beyond the casting
of the spell. If an Information spell is given a duration and/or has the [Dissolution]
descriptor, the target of the spell is given constant updates to the information until the
end of the spell effect.

• [Life]: Spells with the [Life] descriptor directly attempt to directly heal the target through
various means. This is most commonly found on effects with the [Energy] descriptor
and may have special effects based on the physiology of the creature affected.

• [Type Save: Effect]: Spells with this descriptor note that the spell allows for the target
to save against it and either negate or reduce the effect of the spell. This descriptor
comes in multiple forms that note which save is allowed and what type of difference
making the save does. The TN of the save is always considered to be equal to the
mana cost of the spell unless otherwise noted.

◦ If the term Half is used for the Effect part of the descriptor then the effect is reduced
by half. The part of the effect that is reduced is noted after. Ex. [Physical Save:
Half Duration]

◦ If the term Negate is used for the Effect part of the descriptor then the effect has
absolutely no effect on a creature that makes its save. Ex. [Agility Save: Negate]

◦ If the term Special is used for the Effect part of the descriptor then the effect has a
different effect than normal and it is noted within the effect itself. Ex. [Mental Save:
Special]

Magic Auras
Magic auras are lingering energies of spells after they have been cast and last in the
are of the spell for a length of time equal to the amount of mana spent on the spell +1d5
rounds after the spell ends. Permanent effects, stationary curses, imbued items, and spells
who are still active due to still having time left in the duration of the spell have a constant magic
aura that can be felt out to a number of hexes equal to 1 hex per 4 mana spent on the spell if

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the creature has Mana Sense. The strength of a magic aura is equal to half the amount of
mana spent on the spell that caused it.

Magic auras are very faintly colored in the same color as the school of spell used. If the
magic aura of one school intersects with the aura of another school that is allied nothing
happens, if they are neutral add the strengths of both auras and roll 1d100, if they are enemies
add the strengths of both auras then double the total and roll 1d100. If the die rolls below the
number, the auras become fully visible and roll for Wild Magic as usual (5+ML% chance). If the
die rolls above the number but below that number doubled, both auras become partially visible
but nothing else happens. If the die rolls above that number doubled, nothing happens.

Curses and Manaplagues

A curse is a magical effect that is permanent unless a specific condition is met or can
only be applied through fulfilling a specific requirement. Creating a curse is the same as
creating a spell, save that you must specify the requirements and seal it into a Vessel. A curse
vessel is an item of your choosing that is worth at least 1gp per point of mana used for the
curse. Once a curse is placed inside of a vessel, if any creature meets the requirements of the
curse within a number of hexes equal to the mana cost of the curse that creature must
succeed on a Mental Save roll with a TN equal to (the mana cost of the curse – the distance
from the vessel in hexes) or be inflicted with the curse.

A manaplague is a curse that spreads like a disease. To create a manaplague, you

must first create a curse and place it into a vessel, you may then create a disease imprinted
with the curse as though you were creating a normal disease with the curse as the symptoms
applied by the disease and 10 mana in place of each point of bio. You may also choose an
additional form of transmission:

• Manaborne – This is treated as an airborne virus, however the infection strength is

dependent on the ambient mana level in the area. For every level of mana above 2, the
disease gains a +1 bonus to its TN. For every level of mana below 1, the disease takes
a -1 penalty to its TN. Additionally, for every level of mana above 0, the area the
creature was in is treated as though it was still there for one hour per level for the
purposes of infection time (if in an enclosed room, the radius does not increase). In
addition, if a creature attempts to regain mana or utilize ambient mana for their spells
while in the area they must immediately save against the disease even if they had
already saved against it.

119
Effects and Costs
All effects have a success cost to adding them to a spell. For every 2 successes added
to a spell the mana cost of the spell increases by 1 point. All parts of a spell are structured as
though they are effects for clarity and ease of use.

Effects and modifiers are structured in the following way

School/Effect Type – Color (If any)

Effect Tags Subschool Success Cost
Main spell effect, area, target, range, etc. If applicable
[Energy], etc. Cost of effect
to school
└Modification or specialization of effect Inherits the
Inherits the Changes cost of base effect,
tags of the
Subschool ofif there is no base effect this
main effect
the main is treated as the base cost of
and can add
effect the effect
more

Divination – Blue
Effect Tags Subschool Success Cost
Allowing yourself or others to be able to see, hear, or
speak in different ways costs different amounts -
depending on the effect you wish to create.
├Hearing at a distance +1/20 Hexes
Scrying
├Seeing at a distance +1/10 Hexes
├Seeing onto a coterminous plane +8 Successes
└Seeing onto a non-coterminous plane. The cost
+10 Successes
includes your current plane.
Creating a magic eye that can be moved like a drone
with perfect flight and lets you see what it sees out to
+5 Successes
a distance of 20 hexes and can have spells cast on it [Information]
Augury
that let it see more things. It has a speed stat of 4. [Dissolution]
└For each +1 success you add you can increase the
+1 Success
speed by 1 point.
Forcing someone to only speak the truth. [Mental Save:
Augury +3 Successes
Negate]
Gathering information costs different amounts
depending on your level of detail and the type of [Information] -
information you are searching for.
├Allowing creatures to see invisible creatures [Dissolution] Augury +2 Successes
├Finding a specific creature or item +1/10 Hexes
├General information from an area +1/100 Hexes

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Effect Tags Subschool Success Cost
+1/2 Item
├General information from an item
Quality
├See auras +2 successes
[Dissolution]
├Sense when others are scrying on the creature +4 successes
├Learning the direction of North +1 success

├Scanning a creature or item for a specific condition +Condition Tier

├Sensing amount of Health/Break Points and
+1 success
number of conditions [Mental Save:
Negate] +2/perk and
├Sensing perks and limitations of a creature Augury
limitation sensed
+4/Attribute
├Sensing the primary attributes of a creature
sensed
├Specific information from an area +1/10 Hexes
└Specific information from an item +Item Quality
Granting a creature the ability to read or speak
[Mental Save:
languages depends on your fluency and the fluency Augury -
Negate]
of those around you.
├If you are fluent +2 Successes
├If another creature in range is fluent +4 successes
└If no one in range is fluent (you must have a
+8 Successes
sample of the language as well)
Granting yourself or another creature a dice bonus to [Dissolution]
Foresight +3/die added.
attack or defense rolls [Information]
Granting yourself or another creature an automatic [Dissolution]
Foresight +5/die added.
success bonus to attack or defense rolls [Information]
Granting yourself or another creature the ability to [Dissolution]
Foresight +3 Successes
automatically tell when someone is lying [Information]
Granting yourself or another creature the ability to Augury
speak with different types of creatures costs different
[Mental Save:
amounts depending on type and physiology. -
Negate]
This assumes they either cannot speak a language or
do not have the ability to speak or make sounds.
├Different Types (Races, Animals, Dragons, etc.) +5/Type
├Different Physiologies (Flesh, Slime, Plant, etc.) +5/Physiology
└Speak with the Land itself +10 Successes
Granting yourself or another creature the ability to
Augury +10 Successes
automatically see past illusions
Granting yourself the ability to act in surprise rounds [Dissolution]
Foresight +5 Successes
and never be surprised [Information]
Hiding a creature or item from divination effects Augury +4 Successes
Remove the Invisibility condition from a creature [Energy] Augury +6 Successes
Scrying on a specific person or general place on the [Mental Save: Scrying
+1/100 Hexes
same world. Target is unaware unless made aware Negate

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Effect Tags Subschool Success Cost
whether the save is successful or not. Special]
├Attempting to contact another plane. The cost +15/Plane of
includes your current plane. distance
├Attempting to scry on another world on the
+1/Lightyear
material
├Cast spells onto your scrying target +2 Successes
├Hear things through your scrying spell +2 Successes
├Speak through your scrying spell [Mental Save: Scrying +2 Successes
Negate
└Be seen through your scrying spell +4 Successes
Special]
Seeing into the future costs different amounts per [Information] Foresight
day depending on your level of detail
├General events +1/Day Ahead
└Specific events +3/Day Ahead
Seeing into the past [Information] Foresight +1/Year in Past
Seeing the possible outcomes of a specific action [Information] Foresight +1/Year in Future
Seeing the specific actions needed to obtain a certain +3/Action
[Information] Foresight
outcome Needed
Seeing the specific actions that caused a certain
+2/Previous
outcome [Information] Foresight
Action
[Information]
Enhancement – Green
Effect Tags Success Cost
Allowing yourself or others to be able to see, hear,
[Mental Save:
or speak in different ways costs different amounts -
Negate]
depending on the effect you wish to create.
├Hearing at a distance +1/20 Hexes
├Seeing at a distance +1/10 Hexes
├Seeing onto a coterminous plane +8 Successes
└Seeing onto a non-coterminous plane. The cost
+10 Successes
includes your current plane.
Causing or healing the following conditions costs a
Removing a
number of successes equal to double the tier of
condition is
condition it is with each level being applied
[Energy]
separately.
├Blinded [Physical Save:
+6 Successes
Negate]
├Confused [Physical Save:
+2 Successes
Negate]
├Dazed [Mental Save:
+4 Successes
Negate]
├Dazzled [Physical Save:
+2 Successes
Negate]
├Deafened [Physical Save: +6 Successes

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Effect Tags Success Cost
Negate]
├Dominated [Mental Save:
+6 Successes
Negate]
├Enraged [Mental Save:
+2 Successes
Negate]
├Euphoric [Mental Save:
+2 Successes
Negate]
├Exhaustion [Physical Save:
+1xlevel Successes
Negate]
├Fascinated [Mental Save:
+2 Successes
Negate]
├Fear [Mental Save:
+1xlevel Successes
Negate]
├Glitched [Mental Save:
+4 Successes
Negate]
├Hasted [Physical Save:
+4 Successes
Negate]
├Intangible [Physical Save:
+8 Successes
Negate]
├Invisible [Physical Save:
+6 Successes
Negate]
├Mana Poisoning [Mental Save:
+2+level Successes
Negate]
├Paralyzed [Physical Save:
+1+level Successes
Negate]
├Prone [Agility Save:
+2 Successes
Negate]
├Rooted [Physical Save:
+6 Successes
Negate]
├Sickened [Physical Save:
+2xlevel Successes
Negate]
├Slowed [Mental Save:
+4 Successes
Negate]
├Stunned [Mental Save:
+6 Successes
Negate]
└Unconscious [Mental Save:
+2 Successes
Negate]
Granting a creature a movement perk. [Physical Save: +2 Successes per 1 BP in
Negate] perk cost
Granting a creature the ability to move through [Mental Save:
+10 Successes
solid matter without becoming intangible Negate]
└The creature can only move through a specific [Physical Save:
-4 Successes
material they can move through Negate]
Granting a creature the ability to read or speak [Mental Save:
-
languages depends on your fluency and the fluency Negate]

123
Effect Tags Success Cost
of those around you.
├If you are fluent +2 Successes
├If another creature in range is fluent +4 successes
└If no one in range is fluent (you must have a
+8 Successes
sample of the language as well)
Granting a creature various special abilities costs [Mental Save:
-
different amounts depending on the ability. Negate]
├The creature can exist comfortably in any
+5 Successes
temperature
├The creature can see Invisible creatures +2 Successes
├The creature loses its next turn. +10 Successes
| └The creature loses additional turns after. Cost
goes up by +5 successes for each additional turn +5 Successes
after the first
├The creature gains Flicker +10 Successes
├The creature gains Jaunter. The cost is applied for
each plane the creature can jaunt to including its +20 Successes
home plane
├The creature gains an extra turn +10 Successes
├The creature can see auras +4 Successes
├The creature gains the ability to go invisible for
an amount of time equal to the remaining duration
+6 Successes
of the spell. The ability can be activated and
deactivated at-will as an AP1 action
├The creature gains the ability to sense when other
+5 Successes
creatures are scrying on it
├Hiding the creature or an item from divination
+5 Successes
effects
Granting yourself or another creature a dice bonus
[Mental Save:
or penalty to various rolls costs different amounts -
Negate]
based on the roll.
├Attack or defense rolls +5 Successes per die added
or removed
├Physical skill checks +2 Successes per die added
or removed
Granting yourself or another creature an automatic
[Mental Save:
success bonus to various rolls costs different
Negate]
amounts based on the roll.
├Attack or defense rolls +8 Successes per success or
failure added
├Physical skill checks +4 Successes per success or
failure added
Granting yourself or another creature the ability to [Mental Save:
+15 Successes
automatically see past illusions Negate]
Increasing or reducing the attributes of a creature [Mental Save:

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Effect Tags Success Cost
as a modifier costs different amounts depending on
Negate]
the attribute.
├Granting or removing a damage immunity to a
+30 Successes
creature
├Granting, increasing, or removing a damage +3 Successes per point of
reduction change
├Increasing or reducing the damage taken from +2 Successes per point
falling added or removed
├Making a creature immune to effects targeting a
+30 Successes
specific Save
├Primary attribute +4 Successes per point
added or removed
├Save +3 Successes per point
added or removed
├Speed +3 Successes per point
added or removed
└Will or Armor +4 Successes per point
added
Increasing or reducing the attributes of a creature
[Mental Save:
directly costs different amounts depending on the -
Negate]
attribute
├Primary attributes, If the attribute is reduced, it is
+8 Successes
treated as ability damage.
|└Making the ability damage into ability drain
+10 Successes per point
costs an additional +10 successes per point [Energy]
removed
removed.
└Will or armor costs +8 successes for each point
added.
Modifying items costs different amounts
depending on the modification.
├Animating an item or set of items. The animated +2 Successes just to cast it,
item is under your control and acts on your turn. +3 per perk added, and +1
success per point each in
Intelligence, Acumen,
Empathy, and Synchronicity.
| └Animating the item or items as an intelligent
item requires you to have a spirit, soul, or Freed
Soul creature available to be transferred into the +5 Successes in addition to
[Energy]
item or items to be animated in addition to the base costs
extra costs. The item is not necessarily under your
control and is its own creature.
├Granting an enchantment to an item +1 Success per slot and a
number of extra successes
equal to half the cost
modifier

125
Effect Tags Success Cost
├Increasing or decreasing the damage resistance of +5 Successes per point
an item added or removed.
├Increasing or decreasing the durability TN of an +3 Successes per point
item added or removed
└Increasing or decreasing the quality of an item +(Qualityx5) Successes. You
must pay for each quality in
between separately.
Evocation – Red
Effect Tags Success Cost
Inflicting 1 point of damage to an item or creature [Energy]
costs different successes per 1 point of damage based [Agility Save: Half
-
on the type of damage. damage] if used as
an Area effect
├Energy damage types (cannot deal Death or Life +1 Success per point
damage) of damage
├Physical damage types +2 Successes per point
of damage
├Arcane damage +6 Successes per point
of damage
├Aether damage +8 Successes per point
of damage
├Radiation damage +10 Successes per
point of damage
└Void damage +12 Successes per
point of damage
Inflicting 1d5 points of damage to an item or [Energy]
creature costs different amounts of successes per 1d5 [Agility Save: Half
-
rolled based on the type of damage damage] if used as
an Area effect
├Energy damage types (cannot deal Death or Life +3 Successes per die
damage) of damage
├Physical damage types +5 Successes per die
of damage
├Arcane damage +15 Successes per die
of damage
├Aether damage +20 Successes per die
of damage
├Radiation damage +25 Successes per die
of damage
└Void damage +30 Successes per die
of damage
Increasing or reducing the attributes of a creature as [Dissolution]
a modifier costs different amounts depending on the [Mental Save:
attribute. Negate]

126
Effect Tags Success Cost
├Granting or removing a damage immunity to a
+30 Successes
creature
├Granting, increasing, or removing a damage +3 Successes per point
reduction of change
├Increasing or reducing the damage taken from +2 Successes per point
falling added or removed
├Making a creature immune to effects targeting a
+30 Successes
specific Save
├Primary attribute +4 Successes per point
added or removed
├Save +3 Successes per point
added or removed
├Speed +3 Successes per point
added or removed
└Will or Armor +4 Successes per point
added
Grant a creature the ability to go invisible at-will for
an amount of time equal to the remaining duration of
the spell. The ability can be activated and +6 Successes
deactivated at-will as an AP1 action and the duration
counts only as long as the ability is in use.
Create a ward that warns the caster of intruders in an
[Dissolution] +2 Successes
area
Modifying objects costs different amounts depending
on the modification.
├Keeping an object from being moved [Dissolution] +2 Successes
├Making a container or object deal damage when
+5 Successes plus the
opened or interacted with. Unless made permanent, it
[Energy] normal cost per point
only applies when the object is opened for the first
of damage
time.
├Increasing or decreasing the light level of an area +2 Successes per level
[Dissolution]
of change
├Causing an item or creature to being making light +1 Success per level of
[Dissolution]
illumination
| └You may choose to have the light form in a +2 Successes in
floating shape that follows your direction if you wish addition to base cost
└Moving an item (cannot perform dexterous acts) +1 Success for each
hex moved or action
performed
├Perform dexterous acts with the item +5 Successes per act
└Performing multiple actions across the duration
instead of a single action. You are not limited to a +10 Successes
single item.
Causing or healing the following conditions costs a Removing a
number of successes equal to double the tier of condition is

127
Effect Tags Success Cost
condition it is with each level being applied
[Energy]
separately.
├Blinded – Tier 3 +6 Successes
├Dazzled – Tier 1 +2 Successes
├Deafened – Tier 3 +6 Successes
├Drowning – Tier 5 +10 Successes
├Entangled – Tier 2 +4 Successes
├Exhaustion – Tier equal to level +1xlevel Successes
├Fascinated – Tier 1 +2 Successes
├Invisible – Tier 3 +6 Successes
├Paralyzed – Tier equal to level+1 +1+level Successes
├Petrified – Tier 4 +8 Successes
├Prone – Tier 1 +2 Successes
├Rooted – Tier 3 +6 Successes
├Sickened – Tier equal to level +2xlevel Successes
├Stunned – Tier 3 +6 Successes
├Suffocating – Tier 5 +10 Successes
└Unconscious – Tier 1 +2 Successes
Release a creature from bonds [Energy] -
├Physical +2 Successes per
restraint removed
└Magical +4 Successes per
restraint removed
Creating or muffling sounds costs [Energy] +1 Success per sound
└Constantly repeat the effect for the entire duration. +10 Successes
Create a wall or platform of a damage type. Any This effect costs the
creature that enters the space immediately takes 1 same as if you were
point of that type of damage. inflicting damage with
[Dissolution] the amount of damage
instead being the
number of hexes it
covers
├Increasing the damage dealt by 1 point costs the
same as it would to add additional points of the same
damage type for each hex of the wall or platform.
└Make the wall/platform incapable of being entered.
The wall/platform must be made of Aether, Force, +3 Successes
Gravity, Impact, Void, or Wind.
Creating or removing an illusion costs. A successful +1 Success for each
save lets the creature disbelieve it. action it does, +1
Each extra point of mana added and success made [Dissolution] Success for each Size
increases the mental save to disbelieve it. [Mental Save: it has, and +2
Special] Successes for each
sense it is supposed to
fool

128
Effect Tags Success Cost
Creating smoke or mist costs. Disperses as normal if +1 Success for each
[Creation]
not contained. hex it takes up
├Make the mist grant cover. +2 Successes in
addition to base cost
└Create planar mists (Darkmist, Diaphog, Aether +5 Successes in
Mist, etc.) addition to base cost
Creating a mark that speaks a specified phrase when
[Energy] +4 successes
interacted with. Only works once.
├Making it repeatable +1 Success per use
└Making it infinitely repeatable. Any durations used
on this instead act as recharge durations and subtract
successes instead of add them. Successes removed in +25 Successes
this way cannot reduce the cost of the effect below
+1 Success.
Create an extra-dimensional space +10 Successes per
[Creation]
hex of space.
Making an area elementally charged. If the opposite
+5 Successes per hex
element is cast over the area, the effects of both are [Energy]
affected
removed.
Making ranged attacks towards a creature have a +1 Success per 5%
[Dissolution]
miss chance granted
Making melee attacks towards a creature have a miss +2 Successes per 5%
[Dissolution]
chance granted
Animating an item or set of items. The animated +2 Successes just to
item is under your control and acts on your turn. cast it, +3 per perk
added, and +1 success
per point each in
Intelligence, Acumen,
Empathy, and
Synchronicity.
└Animating the item or items as an intelligent item
requires you to have a spirit, soul, or Freed Soul
creature available to be transferred into the item or +5 Successes in
[Energy]
items to be animated in addition to the extra costs. addition to base costs
The item is not necessarily under your control and is
its own creature.
Necromancy – Black
Effect Tags Subschool Success Cost
Inflict 1 point of energy damage to an item or [Energy]
creature (can only deal Death or Life damage) [Agility Save:
+1 Success per
Half damage] Heal||Harm
point of damage
if used as an
Area effect
└Damage dealt to an opponent heals the mage. +1 Successes per

129
Effect Tags Subschool Success Cost
The mage must pay for each point of healing and
the amount of healing does not need to be equal to point of Health
damage inflicted. Cannot heal more than the total healed
damage dealt
Inflict 1d5 points of energy damage to an item or [Energy]
creature (can only deal Death or Life damage) [Agility Save:
+3 Successes per
Half damage]
die of damage
if used as an
Area effect
Heal||Harm
└Damage dealt to an opponent heals the mage.
The mage must pay for each point of healing and +1 Successes per
the amount of healing does not need to be equal to point of Health
damage inflicted. Cannot heal more than the total healed
damage dealt
Increasing or reducing the attributes of a creature
as a modifier costs different amounts depending on [Dissolution] Rot||Rebirth -
the attribute.
├Primary attributes +2 successes per
point added or
removed
├Speed +5 successes per
point added or
removed
├Will or armor +2 successes for
each point added
or removed
├Saves +3 successes per
point added or
removed
├Granting, increasing, or removing a damage
+3 successes
reduction
└Granting or removing a damage immunity to a
+30 successes
creature
Increasing or reducing the attributes of a creature
directly costs different amounts depending on the [Energy] Rot||Rebirth -
attribute.
├Primary attributes
+8 successes per
If the attribute is reduced, it is treated as ability
point added or
damage.
removed
|└Making the ability damage into ability drain has +10 successes
an additional cost per point
removed
├Will or armor +8 successes for
each point added

130
Effect Tags Subschool Success Cost
├Granting, increasing, or removing a damage
+8 successes
reduction
├Granting or removing a damage immunity to a
+80 successes
creature
└Granting or removing a [Life] or [Death] effect
+20 successes
immunity to a creature
Granting yourself or another creature a dice bonus
or penalty to various rolls costs different amounts Heal||Harm -
based on the roll.
├Attack or defense rolls +5 successes per
die added or
removed
└Skill checks +2 successes per
die added or
removed
Granting yourself or another creature an automatic
success bonus to various rolls costs different Heal||Harm -
amounts based on the roll.
├Attack or defense rolls +8 successes per
automatic
success or failure
added
└Skill checks +2 successes per
automatic
success or failure
added
Causing or healing conditions adds a number of
successes equal to the tier of condition it is.
Causing ability damage counts as an additional
condition for each point modified and must be
bought separately. Causing ability drain counts as
Rot||Rebirth
an additional condition for each point modified and
must be bought separately at triple the cost.
Healing is an [Energy] effect. [Physical Save:
Negate] or [Mental Save: Negate] depending on
condition. Healing is an [Energy] effect.
Causing or healing the following conditions costs a
Removing a
number of successes equal to double the tier of
condition is
condition it is with each level being applied
[Energy]
separately.
├Blinded [Physical
+6 Successes
Save: Negate]
├Charmed [Physical
+4 Successes
Save: Negate]
├Confused [Physical +2 Successes

131
Effect Tags Subschool Success Cost
Save: Negate]
├Dazed [Mental Save:
+4 Successes
Negate]
├Dazzled [Physical
+2 Successes
Save: Negate]
├Deafened [Physical
+6 Successes
Save: Negate]
├Disabled [Mental Save:
+8 Successes
Negate]
├Dominated [Mental Save:
+6 Successes
Negate]
├Drowning [Mental Save:
+10 Successes
Negate]
├Dying [Mental Save:
+10 Successes
Negate]
├Enraged [Mental Save:
+2 Successes
Negate]
├Entangled [Mental Save:
+4 Successes
Negate]
├Euphoric [Mental Save:
+2 Successes
Negate]
├Exhaustion [Physical +1xlevel
Save: Negate] Successes
├Fascinated [Mental Save:
+2 Successes
Negate]
├Fear [Mental Save: +1xlevel
Negate] Successes
├Glitched [Mental Save:
+4 Successes
Negate]
├Grappled [Mental Save:
+2 Successes
Negate]
├Hasted [Physical
+4 Successes
Save: Negate]
├Intangible [Physical
+8 Successes
Save: Negate]
├Invisible [Physical
+6 Successes
Save: Negate]
├Mana Poisoning [Mental Save: +2+level
Negate] Successes
├Paralyzed [Physical +1+level
Save: Negate] Successes
├Petrified [Mental Save:
+8 Successes
Negate]
├Prone [Agility Save:
+2 Successes
Negate]

132
Effect Tags Subschool Success Cost
├Rooted [Physical
+6 Successes
Save: Negate]
├Sickened [Physical +2xlevel
Save: Negate] Successes
├Slowed [Mental Save:
+4 Successes
Negate]
├Stunned [Mental Save:
+6 Successes
Negate]
├Suffocating [Mental Save:
+10 Successes
Negate]
└Unconscious [Mental Save:
+2 Successes
Negate]
Raising a creature from the dead and returning
them to life. This gives them a permanent -1 to all
[Energy] Rot||Rebirth +6 successes
primary stats (this cannot reduce Int below 2 or
any other stat below 1)
└Raise the creature with no stat drops +5 successes
Raising a creature as an undead creature costs
different amounts of successes depending on the
[Energy] Rot||Rebirth
type and how functional you wish them to remain.
The undead does not start under your control.
├Making it so the undead starts under your control +5 successes
├Raising the creature as a skeleton. In addition to +3 successes
the base cost, you may add +1 success each perk initially and +1
you wish to keep, and -1 for each limitation you success for each
wish to keep. point in size
|└Keep them intelligent. +10 successes
├Raise the creature as a zombie. In addition to the +2 successes
base cost, you may add +1 success each perk you initially and +1
wish to keep, and -1 for each limitation you wish success for each
to keep. point in size
|├Keep them intelligent +10 successes
|└Make the zombie infectious. Zombies made
through infectious zombies are not under your +5 successes
control even if the infector is.
| └Any zombie made by the infectious zombie is
also under your control if the infectious zombie is.
+10 successes
Can only be taken if the zombie starts under your
control
├Raise the creature as a ghoul. In addition to the +6 successes
base cost, you may add +1 success each perk you initially and +1
wish to keep, and -1 for each limitation you wish success for each
to keep. point in size
| └Any ghoul made by the ghoul is also under
+10 successes
your control if the ghoul is. Can only be taken if

133
Effect Tags Subschool Success Cost
the ghoul starts under your control
├Make a living creature into a vampire +7 successes
├Raise the creature as a ghost. In addition to the +1 success
base cost, you may add +1 success each perk you initially and +1
wish to keep, and -1 for each limitation you wish success for each
to keep. point in size
└Raise the creature as a bean sidhe +10 successes
Animating an item or set of items. The animated +2 successes, +3
item is under your control and acts on your turn. per perk added,
and +1 success
per point each in
Communion
Intelligence,
Acumen,
Empathy, and
Synchronicity
└Animating the item or items as an intelligent item
requires you to have a spirit, soul, or Freed Soul
creature available to be transferred into the item or [Energy] +5 successes
items to be animated. The item is not necessarily
under your control and is its own creature.
Trapping a soul. Requires a suitable vessel and a
living creature. While the soul is trapped, they
cannot be returned to life but the creature's body
[Energy]
may be raised as an undead creature. The soul
[Mental Save: Communion +4 successes
keeps their Intelligence, Acumen, Empathy, and
Negate]
Synchronicity scores while trapped. If the creature
targeted is instead a Freed Soul creature, reduce the
cost by half and no modifiers can be added.
├Keeping the target’s body alive after the soul is
removed. This renders the permanently
unconscious until a new soul is placed into the
body. If the unconsciousness is removed, the body
is treated as having nonexistent ability scores in +5 successes
Intelligence, Acumen, and Empathy, but has an
effective Empathy score of 1. The creature is
considered Mindless for the purposes of
influencing it and mind control.
├Granting the soul the power to possess nearby
bodies with an Acumen + Mental Power +
Necromancy check. If the target is a living creature
they are entitled to a Mental save with a TN equal
+5 successes
to the possession check and if failed the possessor
swaps the soul of the creature with the one in the
vessel. While possessing a body, you retain all of
your mental stats, non-physical perks, class

134
Effect Tags Subschool Success Cost
features (if any), and skills but gain the body's
physical stats, physical perks, and shape. You may
always switch back to the vessel at any time as
long as it is within range.
└Transforming the vessel into a phylactery and
+15 successes
making the target into a lich
Taking control of an undead. Intelligent undead are +1 success per
the only ones who can choose to save against it. point in
[Mental Save: Intelligence and
Negate Communion Acumen, any
Special] modifiers given
by the GM or
perks
└Commanding undead under your control.
Mindless undead will repeat the action unless [Mental Save: +1 success for
given a new order. Save is equal to Mana Spent + Negate] each command
Mage’s Empathy.
Curse a creature. you must also pay the mana cost +3 successes for
of the curse or have a vessel of the curse on hand. every point of
[Energy] Heal||Harm
Intelligent creatures are allowed to make a mental Acumen the
save to resist. creature has
Creating a disease follows the same rules as it does
for Biotics, save that you cannot freeze it, must pay
+1 success per 5
double to modify it after it infects someone, and [Creation] Rot||Rebirth
mana spent
must spend 5 mana per point of Bio that would be
used.
Creating a manaplague follows the same rules as if
you were creating a disease, save that you treat the
specified curse as the symptoms and may choose to [Creation] Heal||Harm Variable Cost
have it spread through mana as well. You must
have a curse vessel on hand.
Creating a poison follows the same rules as it does
+1 success per 5
for Biotics save that you must spent 5 mana per [Creation] Rot||Rebirth
mana spent
point of Bio that would be used.
Remove a disease Successes equal
[Energy] Heal||Harm to double Disease
TN.
Remove poison Successes equal
[Energy] Heal||Harm to double Poison
TN.
Kill a creature.
If the creature was living this spell gains the [Energy] +5 for every
[Death] descriptor. [Mental Save: Heal||Harm point in physique
If the creature was undead this spell gains the Negate] and size
[Life] descriptor.

135
Effect Tags Subschool Success Cost
Keep a corpse or perishable item/material fresh +1 success per
and not decaying. This can be used on food. Rot||Rebirth week of
preservation
└Forcing a corpse or perishable item/material to +1 success for
decay quickly. This can be used on food. [Energy] every day of
added decay
└Forcing a corpse to decay into a skeleton.
Duration increases reduce the cost instead of add to +20 successes
it.
Create a bodily duplicate of a creature. The
duplicate is effectively a mannequin of the same +10 successes
[Creation] Rot||Rebirth
physiology with the same physical shape, physical per size
perks, and same appearance but nothing else.
├Allow them to possess the duplicate if they die. +10 successes
└Give the duplicate an actual will or capabilities +3 successes per
point in each stat
above 1 and +5
per perk given
Sensing the amount of health and any conditions of
creatures. +1 success per
[Information] Rot||Rebirth
creature

Create an area of Consecration or Desecration. If

+5 successes per
the other effect is cast over the area, the effects of [Energy] Heal||Harm
hex affected
both are removed.
Contact the spirit of a dead creature costs. Every
question or statement you wish to ask/tell it costs Communion +3 successes
an additional +1 success.
Protection – White
Effect Tags Success Cost
Allow a creature to exist comfortably in any
+5 successes
temperature.
Creating a ward that warns the caster of intruders in
[Dissolution] +2 successes
an area.
Force a creature back to its native plane. It can
attempt to resist by rolling a Mental save with a TN +Any number of
[Energy]
equal to the amount of mana spent. Successes are successes.
equal to mana cost for this effect.
Forcing a creature to be unable to make certain
-
actions depends on the type of action:
├Unable to attack. +10 successes
├Unable to biowarp or use powers. +20 successes
├Unable to cast spells. +5 successes
└Unable to move at all with no other change. +30 successes

136
Effect Tags Success Cost
Force a creature to lose its next turn. +5 successes
└For additional successes you can also make them +5 successes per each
lose their next turns as well. extra turn
Forcing someone to comply with a specific
command. The creature affected may attempt to
+5 successes
resist by making a Mental save with the TN equal to
the mana spent.
Grant a creature a dice pool bonus to their saves. +3 successes per point
added
Grant a creature an automatic success bonus to their +5 successes per point
saves. added
Granting a creature the ability to move despite any +5 successes per
[Dissolution]
conditions or restraints keeping them from moving. impediment ignored
Granting a dice pool bonus to Stealth or Perception. +1 success per die
added
└If granting it against a specific type or physiology +1 success per 2 die
change the cost to +1 success per 2 die added. added
Granting an automatic success bonus to Stealth or +3 successes per
Perception. success added
└If granting it against a specific type or physiology
+2 successes
change the cost to +2 successes.
Granting an extra turn to a creature. +10 successes per turn
Granting yourself or another creature immunity to
[Dissolution] +5 successes
morale effects and emotional effects.
Granting yourself or another creature modifiers to
defense rolls costs differently depending on the [Dissolution]
modifier:
├A dice bonus +3 successes per die
added
└An automatic success bonus +5 successes per
automatic success
added
Granting yourself the ability to act in surprise rounds
[Dissolution] +5 successes
and never be surprised.
Granting yourself the ability to sense when other
[Dissolution] +5 successes
creatures are scrying on you.
Healing conditions costs a number of successes
equal to double the tier of condition it is. Healing
ability damage counts as an additional condition for
each point modified and each point must be bought [Energy] Variable cost
separately. Causing ability drain counts as an
additional condition for each point modified and
must be bought separately at triple the cost.
Hiding a creature or item from divination effects. +5 successes
Imprisoning a creature with magical bonds. [Energy] +4 successes per

137
Effect Tags Success Cost
restraint added
└If physical restraints are used as components, the
number of successes needed are reduced by half and
-2 successes per
the restraints are both physical and magical. These
restraint added
restraints need to be removed both magically and
physically for the creature to be freed.
Increasing or reducing the attributes of a creature as
a modifier costs different amounts depending on the [Dissolution]
attribute.
├Saves +3 successes for each
point added
├Granting or removing a damage immunity to a
+30 successes
creature
├Granting, increasing, or removing a damage
+3 successes
reduction
├Increasing or reducing the damage taken from +2 successes per point
falling added or removed
├Ranged Defense +3 successes for each
point added.
├Speed +2 successes per point
added or removed
└Will or armor +2 successes for each
point added
Increasing will or armor as a modifier. +2 successes for each
point added
Instantly sending a message in magical writing to +1 success per one
[Energy]
another creature. thousand hexes
├Make the message an image, moving or still. The
+1 successes per one
message does not need to include written words if
thousand hexes.
you choose this.
└Make the message spoken. The message does not +1 successes per one
need to include written words if you choose this. thousand hexes
Changing the effective mana level in an area. +20 successes per level
Making it so a creature cannot be affected by spells
of a certain mana cost costs 5 times the amount of [Dissolution] Variable cost
mana targeted in successes.
Making it so a creature cannot jaunt or teleport. [Dissolution] +10 successes
Making it so creatures cannot move close to you or +4 successes per hex
[Dissolution]
another creature. of distance
├Making it so certain materials cannot come close to +4 successes per hex
you or another creature costs of distance.
└Making it so they take damage if they try or
+5 successes per point
manage to do so. Can only deal Energy damage but [Energy]
of damage
cannot deal Death or Life damage.
Make it so that creatures of a specific type or [Dissolution] +5 successes per point

138
Effect Tags Success Cost
physiology take damage around you. You must of damage and +3
choose the type of damage upon casting this spell. successes per hex of
distance
Making melee attacks towards a creature have a miss +2 successes per 5%
[Dissolution]
chance. granted
Making ranged attacks towards a creature have a +1 success per 5%
[Dissolution]
miss chance. granted
Modifying objects costs different amounts depending
-
on the modification.
├Keeping an object from being moved. [Dissolution] +2 successes
└Making a container or object deal damage when +5 successes plus the
opened or interacted with. [Energy] normal cost per point
of damage
Releasing a creature from physical bonds costs. +2 successes per
[Energy]
restraint removed
└If they are magical bonds increase the cost. +4 successes per
restraint removed
Removing various effects costs different amounts
[Energy] -
depending on the effect.
├Dispelling a different effect. Additionally, this Costs a number of
effect costs an amount of mana equal to the successes equal to the
successes needed. mana cost
├Removing a curse. +A number of
successes equal to the
TN of the curse
├Removing an enhancement. +A number of
successes equal to the
TN of the
enhancement
├Removing disease, poison, rot, and other +1 success per unit
contaminants from food and water. affected
└Removing the enchantments from items. +4 successes per slot
Sensing the amount of health and any conditions of
creatures. The creature affected may attempt to resist
[Information] +1 success per creature
by making a Mental save with the TN equal to the
mana spent.
Summoning – Yellow
Effect Tags Success Cost
Summoning a creature costs a number of
successes equal to the creature's Size+Mental Variable Cost
Save.
Summon a disembodied hand to cast Touch
+3 successes
spells through.
Summon tentacles, vines, tendrils, and the like to +1 success per point in

139
Effect Tags Success Cost
perform actions. strength and nimbleness, +1
success per point in size, +1
success per point in a skill,
and +2 per perk added to
the summoned tendrils.
Making an area slick. [Dissolution] +1 success per hex
├Making the slick area flammable +1 success per hex
└Making the slick area acidic +2 successes per hex
Creating a wall or platform costs the same as if
you were creating a unit of material per hex it
covers and each action you perform with it [Dissolution] Variable Cost
counts as moving an item, though moving it does
not cost mana for the duration of the spell.
└You may instead create the wall or platform out
of energy. If you do it costs the same as if it were
dealing damage with the number of damage
Variable Cost
instead being the number of hexes it covers and
any creature that enters the space immediately
takes 1 point of that type of damage.
├Increasing the damage dealt by 1 point costs
the same as it would to add additional points of
Variable Cost
the same damage type for each hex of the wall or
platform.
└Making the energy wall/platform incapable of
being entered. The wall/platform must be made +3 successes
of Aether, Force, Gravity, Impact, Void, or Wind.
Create or remove an illusion. Each extra point of +1 success for each action
mana added and success made increases the it does and for each Size it
mental save to disbelieve it. has, +2 successes for each
sense it is supposed to fool.
Creating smoke or mist costs. Disperses as +1 success for each hex it
[Creation]
normal if not contained. takes up
├Make it grant cover +2 successes
├Making it cause a condition costs double the
tier of the condition in successes. Only certain
conditions can be chosen. Creatures affected may Variable Cost
resist with a Physical Save with a TN equal to the
mana spent on the spell.
└Create planar mists (Darkmist, Diaphog, Aether +5 successes per hex it
Mist, etc.) takes up
Modifying objects costs different amounts
-
depending on the modification.
├Keep an object from being moved. [Dissolution] +2 successes
├Causing an item or creature to being making +1 success per level of
[Dissolution]
light. illumination

140
Effect Tags Success Cost
| └ You may choose to have the light form in a
floating shape that follows your direction if you +2 successes
wish for an additional.
├Moving an item. You cannot perform nimble +1 success for each hex
[Energy]
acts such as write or pick locks with the item. moved or action performed
| ├Perform nimble acts with the item. +5 successes
| └Perform multiple actions across the duration
instead of a single action costs. You are not +10 successes
limited to a single item.
├Creating an item. You must pay for each quality +5 successes per material
rank of quality up to the quality you want. point it requires, +1 success
[creation] per base Break Points of the
material, and +4 per quality
rank of the item
| └Summoning an item instead requires both the
exact knowledge of where the item is as well as +1 success per 50 hexes
the distance. This is a teleportation effect.
├Create writing on a surface. [Creation] +1 success per 250 words
| ├Make it so that only a specific creature or +4 successes per
creatures can read it. requirement
| └Placing a spell within the writing that will be
activated upon a creature reading it costs the
Variable Cost
same amount of successes as the spell to be used
and an additional +3 successes.
| └Making said spell reusable on subsequent
+10 successes
readings.
├Giving, removing, or changing an item's magic +1 success per strength of
[Energy]
aura. the aura
├Create food or water. +1 success per unit of the
[Creation]
resource
├Creating other resources costs a number of
successes equal to the cost modifier of the [Creation] Variable Cost
resource per unit.
└Creating a mark on an object. This mark can
[Energy] +1 success
only be removed by being dispelled.
└Being able to sense that mark from a distance. +1 success per 100 hexes
you are able to sense the
mark from
Changing the weather to other mundane weather. [Energy] +8 successes
└Instead changing it to supernatural weather. +15 successes
Teleporting a creature. +1 success per size of the
[energy] creature and +1 success per
50 hexes of distance
├Teleporting a creature to another plane changes +20 successes per plane in
the cost of the distance. between the one you are

141
Effect Tags Success Cost
connecting to and the one
you are on including the
one you are on
├Teleporting multiple creatures changes the cost +1 per 25 hexes if on the
of the distance. same plane or +50 if to a
different plane
└Creating a portal. +10 successes per 1000
hexes and +2 successes per
size of the portal
└Having the portal connect to another plane. +30 successes per plane in
between the one you are
connecting to and the one
you are on including the
one you are on
Create an extra-dimensional space. +10 successes per hex of
[Creation]
space
Creating a shelter. You decide how the shelter
+4 successes per hex of
appears, but none of the material is usable [Creation]
shelter
outside of being shelter.
└Making the shelter an extra-dimensional space. +10 successes per hex
Binding souls or spirits. Once bound, a
summoned creature does not disappear after their
summoning spell ends until the binding is
removed. Depending on the binding made this
spell has a different descriptor. If an object is
created on the target it is a [creation] effect, if a
marking is created on the target it is an [energy] [Creation] or
+5 successes
effect. If a command is complete the binding is [Energy]
not removed but the target is free to do as they
wish. The binding must be removed in order for
the target to be banished. To remove a binding it
must either by physically removed in the case of
a physical binding or dispelled in the case of a
marking.
└Command the bound souls or spirits. They may
make a mental save to resits with a TN equal to
the mana spent. Unless otherwise specified, they +3 successes per command
are free to fulfill the command however they
choose.
Creating a disease follows the same rules as it
does for Biotics, save that you cannot freeze it,
must pay double to modify it after it infects [Creation] Variable Cost
someone, and must spend 5 mana per point of
Bio that would be used.
Creating a poison follows the same rules as it [Creation] Variable Cost

142
Effect Tags Success Cost
does for Biotics save that you must spent 5 mana
per point of Bio that would be used.
Creating a manaplague follows the same rules as
if you were creating a disease, save that you treat
the specified curse as the symptoms and may [Creation] Variable Cost
choose to have it spread through mana as well.
You must have a curse vessel on hand.
Allowing a creature to teleport via a medium +5 successes and +1
such as water, shadows, trees, or fire. success per 10 hexes of
distance allowed between
instances of that medium.
Creating Creep. +3 successes per trait and
[Creation]
+5 per hex covered
└Creating a Creep Source. +10 successes in addition to
the normal costs
Instantly sending a message in magical writing to +1 success per one
[Energy]
another creature. thousand hexes
├Make the message spoken. The message does
not need to include written words if you choose
+1 successes per one
this. It does not need to be spoken in your voice,
thousand hexes
but you must make a Disguise check to change
the voice it is spoken in.
└Make the message an image, moving or still. +1 successes per one
thousand hexes
Transmutation – Purple
Effect Tags Subschool Success Cost
Increasing or decreasing an attribute as a modifier. +5 successes for
[Dissolution] Creatures each point
modified
Increasing or decreasing an attribute directly. +10 successes for
Creatures each point
modified
Create smoke or mist. Disperses as normal if not +1 success for
contained. [Creation] Materials each hex it takes
up
├Make it grant cover +2 successes
├Making it cause a condition costs double the tier
of the condition in successes. Only certain
conditions can be chosen. Creatures affected may Variable Cost
resist with a Physical Save with a TN equal to the
mana spent on the spell.
└Create planar mists (Darkmist, Diaphog, Aether +5 successes per
Mist, etc.) hex it takes up
Modifying objects costs different amounts Materials

143
Effect Tags Subschool Success Cost
depending on the modification.
├Keep an object from being moved. [Dissolution] +2 successes
├Make a container or object deal energy damage +3 successes per
[Energy]
when opened or interacted with. point of damage
├Causing an item or creature to being making +1 success per
light. [Dissolution] level of
illumination
| └ You may choose to have the light form in a
floating shape that follows your direction if you +2 successes
wish for an additional.
├Moving an item. You cannot perform nimble +1 success for
acts such as write or pick locks with the item. each hex moved
[Energy]
or action
performed
| ├Perform nimble acts with the item. +5 successes
| └Perform multiple actions across the duration
instead of a single action costs. You are not +10 successes
limited to a single item.
├Creating an item. You must pay for each quality +5 successes per
rank of quality up to the quality you want. material point it
requires, +1
success per base
[creation]
Break Points of
the material, and
+4 per quality
rank of the item
| └Summoning an item instead requires both the
+1 success per 50
exact knowledge of where the item is as well as
hexes
the distance. This is a teleportation effect.
├Create writing on a surface. +1 success per
[Creation]
250 words
| ├Make it so that only a specific creature or +4 successes per
creatures can read it. requirement
| └Placing a spell within the writing that will be
activated upon a creature reading it costs the same
Variable Cost
amount of successes as the spell to be used and an
additional +3 successes.
| └Making said spell reusable on subsequent
+10 successes
readings.
├Removing writing from a surface. +1 success per
[Energy]
250 words
├Giving, removing, or changing an item's magic +1 success per
aura. [Energy] strength of the
aura
├Create food or water. [Creation] +1 success per

144
Effect Tags Subschool Success Cost
unit of the
resource
├Creating other resources costs a number of
successes equal to the cost modifier of the [Creation] Variable Cost
resource per unit.
|└Creating a mark on an object. This mark can
[Energy] +1 success
only be removed by being dispelled.
| └Being able to sense that mark from a +1 success per
distance. 100 hexes you are
able to sense the
mark from
├Creating a mark that speaks a specified phrase
[Energy] +4 successes
when interacted with. Only works once.
|├Make it repeatable +1 success per use
|└Make it infinitely repeatable. Any durations
used on this instead act as recharge durations and
subtract successes instead of add them. Successes +25 successes
removed in this way cannot reduce the cost below
+1 success.
├Increase or decrease the size of an item. +3 successes per
point added or
removed
├Increase or decrease the damage resistance of an +5 successes per
item. point added or
removed
├Increase or decrease the durability TN of an +3 successes per
item. point added or
removed
├Increasing or decreasing the quality of an item
costs a number of successes equal to the rank of
Variable Cost
qualityx5 and you must pay for every quality in
between as well.
├Increase the die explosion range for an item +20 successes per
when used. increase in
explosion range
├Granting an enchantment to an item costs +1
success per slot and half the cost modifier in Variable Cost
successes as well.
└Grant a weapon a bonus to damage. +3 successes per
damage increase
Creating a wall or platform costs the same as if
you were creating a unit of material per hex it
covers. Each action you perform with it counts as [Dissolution] Materials Variable Cost
moving an item, though moving it does not cost
mana for the duration of the spell. You must still

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Effect Tags Subschool Success Cost
make the successes required to move it.
Create an extra-dimensional space. +10 successes per
[Creation] Metaphysics
hex of space
Creating a shelter. You decide how the shelter
+4 successes per
appears, but none of the material is usable outside [Creation] Materials
hex of shelter
of being shelter.
└Making the shelter an extra-dimensional space. +10 successes per
Metaphysics
hex
Creating a disease follows the same rules as it
does for Biotics, save that you cannot freeze it,
must pay double to modify it after it infects [Creation] Materials Variable Cost
someone, and must spend 5 mana per point of Bio
that would be used.
Creating a poison follows the same rules as it does
for Biotics save that you must spent 5 mana per [Creation] Materials Variable Cost
point of Bio that would be used.
Creating a manaplague follows the same rules as
if you were creating a disease, save that you treat
the specified curse as the symptoms and may [Creation] Metaphysics Variable Cost
choose to have it spread through mana as well.
You must have a curse vessel on hand.
Creating Creep. +3 successes per
[Creation] Materials trait and +5 per
hex covered
└Creating a Creep Source. +10 successes in
addition to the
normal costs
Granting yourself or another creature modifiers to
attack or defense rolls costs differently depending Creatures
on the modifier:
├A dice bonus. +3 successes per
die added
└An automatic success bonus. +5 successes per
automatic success
added
Increasing or reducing the attributes of a creature
as a modifier costs different amounts depending Creatures
on the attribute.
├Speed +2 successes per
point added or
removed
├Armor +2 successes for
each point added
├Making a creature immune to effects targeting a
+30 successes
specific Save.

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Effect Tags Subschool Success Cost
├Granting, increasing, or removing a damage
+3 successes
reduction.
├Granting or removing a damage immunity to a
+30 successes
creature.
└Increasing or reducing the damage taken from +2 successes per
falling. point added or
removed
Granting a creature a movement perk. +2 successes per
Creatures
BP of the perk
Granting a creature the ability to move through
Creatures +10 successes
solid matter.
└Choosing a specific material they can move
-4 successes
through lowers the cost.
Causing or removing conditions adds a number of
successes equal to the tier of condition it is. Only
certain conditions can be caused or removed. Creatures
[Physical Save: Negate] or [Mental Save: Negate]
depending on condition.
Causing or healing the following conditions costs
Removing a
a number of successes equal to double the tier of
condition is Creatures
condition it is with each level being applied
[Energy]
separately.
├Blinded [Physical
Save: +6 Successes
Negate]
├Charmed [Physical
Save: +4 Successes
Negate]
├Confused [Physical
Save: +2 Successes
Negate]
├Dazed [Mental
Save: +4 Successes
Negate]
├Dazzled [Physical
Save: +2 Successes
Negate]
├Dead [Physical
Save: +12 Successes
Negate]
├Deafened [Physical
Save: +6 Successes
Negate]
├Disabled [Mental
+8 Successes
Save:

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Effect Tags Subschool Success Cost
Negate]
├Dominated [Mental
Save: +6 Successes
Negate]
├Drowning [Mental
Save: +10 Successes
Negate]
├Dying [Mental
Save: +10 Successes
Negate]
├Enraged [Mental
Save: +2 Successes
Negate]
├Entangled [Mental
Save: +4 Successes
Negate]
├Euphoric [Mental
Save: +2 Successes
Negate]
├Exhaustion [Physical
+1xlevel
Save:
Successes
Negate]
├Fascinated [Mental
Save: +2 Successes
Negate]
├Fear [Mental
+1xlevel
Save:
Successes
Negate]
├Glitched [Mental
Save: +4 Successes
Negate]
├Grappled [Mental
Save: +2 Successes
Negate]
├Hasted [Physical
Save: +4 Successes
Negate]
├Intangible [Physical
Save: +8 Successes
Negate]
├Invisible [Physical
Save: +6 Successes
Negate]
├Mana Poisoning [Mental +2+level
Save: Successes

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Effect Tags Subschool Success Cost
Negate]
├Paralyzed [Physical
+1+level
Save:
Successes
Negate]
├Petrified [Mental
Save: +8 Successes
Negate]
├Prone [Agility
Save: +2 Successes
Negate]
├Rooted [Physical
Save: +6 Successes
Negate]
├Sickened [Physical
+2xlevel
Save:
Successes
Negate]
├Slowed [Mental
Save: +4 Successes
Negate]
├Stunned [Mental
Save: +6 Successes
Negate]
├Suffocating [Mental
Save: +10 Successes
Negate]
└Unconscious [Mental
Save: +2 Successes
Negate]
Remove disease, poison, rot, and other such +1 success per
Materials
contaminants from food and water. unit affected
Change the outward appearance of a creature to [Mental
that of a similar creature. Save: Creatures +1 success
Negate]
└Change the outward appearance of a creature to
+5 successes
that of a completely different creature.
Add or remove a body part. Creatures +10 successes
Change a creature into another. The creature +5 successes for
retains its classes (if any), skills, and mental stats [Mental each point in size
but gains the physical stats of the new form. Save: Creatures difference and
Negate] each perk of the
new form
├The creature gains the mental stats of the new
-10 successes
form as well
├The creature loses its classes (if any) as well. -5 successes
└The creature loses its skills as well and replaces -5 successes

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Effect Tags Subschool Success Cost
them with those of the new creature as well.
Change the weather to other mundane weather. [Energy] Metaphysics +8 successes
└Instead change it to supernatural weather. +15 successes
Make an area Elementally or Magically Charged.
If the opposite element is cast over an area of
+5 successes per
Elemental Charge, the effects of both are [Energy] Metaphysics
hex affected
removed. Magical Charge can be removed by
casting it again or dispelling the area as normal.
Raise or lower the effective mana level in an area. +15 successes per
Metaphysics
level
Granting an extra turn to a creature. +10 successes per
Creatures
turn
Forcing a creature to lose their next turn. Creatures +5 successes
└For additional successes you can also make Each extra turn
them lose their next turns as well. costs +5 successes
Animating an item or set of items. The animated +2 successes, +3
item is under your control and acts on your turn. per perk added,
and +1 success
per point each in
Materials
Intelligence,
Acumen,
Empathy, and
Synchronicity
└Animating the item or items as an intelligent
item requires you to have a spirit, soul, or Freed
Soul creature available to be transferred into the
[Energy] Materials +5 successes
item or items to be animated and has an additional
cost. The item is not necessarily under your
control and is its own creature.
General Effects
Effect Tags Success Cost
All damaging spells with an area save grant the
affected creatures an Agility save with a TN equal to
[Agility Save:
the mana spent on the spell to move out of the area
Negate or Half -
of the spell as long as they haven't used all of their
Damage]
speed that turn and have enough to move out of the
area of the effect.
Spell effects used in spells of different schools cost
additional successes depending on the color that
rules the school of the spell.
├Allied colors cost +5 additional successes
├Enemy colors cost +20 additional successes
└Neutral colors cost +10 additional successes
Bypass an Immunity +100 successes

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Effect Tags Success Cost
If thematic components are used in the casting of a
spell, you may reduce the number of successes equal Variable cost reduction
to the cost of the components in Gold Pieces.
To make something bypass a resistance add a
+1 success per point of
number of successes needed equal to the amount of
resistance
resistance.
You can additionally postpone the activation of a
+5 successes for each
spell by adding triggering conditions. You must pay
triggering condition you
1/10th of the mana of the spell every round until the
want the spell to wait for
spell is triggered.
You can postpone the activation of a spell. +1 success for every turn
you wish to delay it
You may always pay more mana than the spell
requires. This increases the chance for wild magic by
+1% per additional mana but also increases any TN -
the spell forces onto another creature by 1 per
additional mana.
Other effects are DM dependent. The DM may add
or remove successes needed depending on the exact Variable Variable
type of effect you are trying to make.
Targets
Targets Success Cost
Single target 0
2-3 targets +1 success
4-6 targets +2 successes
7-10 targets +3 successes
└Each additional 5 targets affected. +1 additional success
The spell only targets a specific type of target such as only
-1 successes
Items or only Dragons.
└If the spell only targets a specific kind of creatures such as
-5 successes
only mimics or only elves, reduce it by -5 instead.
Affect all possible targets in the area of the spell. Cannot be
+5 successes
taken with No Area.
Range
Ranges Success Cost
Touch range. You must succeed on a Brawl+Magic+(Str or
Nim) roll to apply the spell on an unwilling target.
Additionally, you may choose not to cast the spell immediately
+0 successes
and keep the spell in your hand for a number of rounds equal to
the amount of mana spent on it before it cannot be used and the
power fades.
Centered on yourself or an adjacent hex. +0 successes
Multiples of 5 hexes. If the effect has its own range cost this is +1 success per 5 hexes

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Ranges Success Cost
ignored. If used with an Area, this decides the maximum range
for the center of the area.
Area
Areas Success Cost
Burst: If the spell effects targets in a burst +1 success for the surrounding hexes around the
center, but the cost compounds for each row out
from the center (+1 for 1 hex, +3 for 2 hexes, +5
for 3 hexes, +9 for 4 hexes, and so on). Cost is
calculated by adding the number of the next row
onto the current cost.
└If the effect is a burst but the center is meant to be hollow, there is no change in cost. If a radius
around the center is meant to be hollow, double the cost for those hexes (+2 for 1 hex, +6 for 2,
+12 for 3, etc.)
Cloud: The spell effects targets as though it was
a burst, but the area then moves in a direction
every turn until the spell ends or the effect This area costs the same as the burst area plus
dissipates. The direction is chosen when the an additional +5 successes
spell is cast and cannot be changed afterwards
unless 5 mana is spent per direction change.
Cone: The spell effects targets in a cone +1 success for the first two rows of hexes the
spell would effect in an expanding line away
from the caster, but for every row of hexes
effected the cost increases by 1
Line: The spell effects targets in a line. +1 success for every 3 hexes it would effect
No Area: The spell doesn't affect an area but
instead it only affects the targets of the spell, no
-
successes are added. Spells that affect all targets
cannot select this.
Duration
Durations Success Cost
Instant Duration. The spell is cast instantly with little time to react.
All non-energy effects without a descriptor that says otherwise cannot +2 successes
have an Instant duration as these would be permanent effects.
Timed durations differ in cost -
├Up to 1 minute +0 successes
├Up to 5 minutes +3 successes
├Up to 10 minutes +6 successes
├Up to 30 minutes +12 successes
├Up to an hour +24 successes
└Each increase afterwards double both the duration and cost Variable successes
Permanent. To make a non-energy spell without specific tags or other
+60 successes
exceptions permanent, you must cast the same spell as before but

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Durations Success Cost
must add to the total needed. The spell remains permanent as long as
you can supply it with the same amount of mana as the base spell
through direct application and/or ambient mana level.
Action Point Usage
AP
A spell cast as a ritual can have multiple participants, allowing multiple people to add their AP to
the casting of the spell and reduce the number of successes needed.
By default, all spells cost 1 AP to use. Any extra AP used to cast the spell reduces the number of
successes needed by that many points.
Mana Level and Color
Mana Success Cost
If cast in an area with a high mana level, reduce the total number -successes equal to Mana
of successes needed. Level-4 (minimum 0)
If cast in an area that would have mana which would influence the Increase or reduce the number
casting of the spell (such as Necromancy within Ruins or of successes needed equal to
Transmutation on the top of a Mountain), the successes needed double the mana level (this
changes. stacks with the reduction from
a high mana level)
If mana of a color that would influence the casting of the spell is Increase or reduce the number
used, but not in an area that would have it ambient, the color of of successes needed equal to
mana directly modifies how hard it is to perform a spell. double the amount of that
color used.

Psionics and Thoughtforms

Apex

Psionics
Apex

Thoughtforms
Apex

Biotics Rules
Biotics is the power to manipulate, modify, and create biological life. With just a wave of
your arm armies can fall upon their swords, deserts spring to life, new species and biomes can
emerge to cover the earth upon your willing. Biotics is concerned more with lasting alterations
of biological creatures and quick manipulations of the physical structures of enemies.
Creatures capable of using Biotics are known as Biotes. Biotics can only be used by and on
creatures, biota, and items made of biological physiologies (Flesh, Fungus, Plant, or Slime).

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 For the purposes of these effects, creatures are any large biological organisms (grazing
animals, trees, birds, humans, etc.) and biota are small biological organisms that typically are
used as window dressing or have other useful properties (flowers, grass, fairy rings, algae
zooplankton, etc..

Bio Pool
Biotics is powered by the use of Bio. All biological creatures have an amount of bio
equal to their Physique+Size+any miscellaneous modifiers, this is called their Bio Pool. Bio
that has been used regenerates at a rate of 1 point per 4 hours but regenerates at double
speed while resting.
If a creature of a non-biological physiology wishes to use biotics they must find a way to
either generate bio of their own or use the bio of other beings to fuel their biotics workings,
otherwise they cannot even attempt to perform biotics. If they find a way to use biotics in this
manner, they take a -2 success penalty on their rolls and a -2 dice pool modifier due to the
difference in their very existence between them and the material they are attempting to force
change on.

Using Bio
Bio can be spent, burnt, bound, and unbound to use it.
• Bio is Spent to produce effects that do not last or are not controlled after being
produced, similar to magic.
• Bio is Bound to produce lasting effects such as Biowarping and Unbound when
removing them. When bio is unbound it is treated though it is spent and as such must
be regenerated before it is able to be used.
• Bio can be Burnt to produce bigger effects but burnt bio recovers as though
healing attribute damage and reduces the maximum amount of bio you may have in
your bio pool until recovered.
Without an ability or perk that states you can, you can only use bio from your pool and
cannot use bio in your target's pool for any reason. Attempting to use bio from another
creature’s bio pool allows them a physical save with a TN equal to the bio attempting to be
used, though a willing creature can intentionally fail this save.

Scar Damage
If a creature attempts to use more bio than they have available, the remaining bio is
automatically taken from their Maximum health at a rate of 4 Health per 1 Bio needed. Health
reduced in this way is called Scar Damage and cannot be healed away but does heal away 1
point at a time at half the rate that bio does. This regeneration takes place before bio begins to
regenerate and the creature does not regain the health points lost as a result of gaining scar

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damage but instead only allows the creature to heal back the health lost as normal up to their
normal maximum.
For example, if Jacob has 8 max health and takes 4 points of scar damage his
maximum health is cut down to 4. Each time a point of scar damage is healed, he regains 1
point of his maximum health until it returns back to 8, however unless he is healed through
resting, potions, magic, or other means he remains at 4 health until he heals back to his
maximum health.

Biotics
Biotics is split into three methods: Healing, Manipulation, and Mutation. These methods
note the different ways biotics can be used. Each use of biotics, whether noted here or allowed
by the GM, requires you to roll one of these skills in addition to spending bio. These methods
govern the following uses of biotics:
• Manipulation – Moves, Strengthens, and Weakens limbs, organs, and other
biological systems
• Mutation – Adds, Removes, and Modifies perks, limbs, organs, physiologies,
and other such things
• Healing – Adds or removes health, conditions, poisons, and diseases

Biowarping
Biowarping is the process of applying biotic modifications to creatures, though
creatures only have the capability to sustain a number of biowarps equal to their Physique plus
the number of hexes they occupy. Adding more than this number forces a 1d100 check every
minute to see if the creature is fine (00-39), mutates into an abomination and becomes an
uncontrolled creature (40-69, GM decides the creature it becomes), or immediately dies (70-
99).
To help keep this from being a problem, you may remove biowarps from a creature that
were placed by another biote by spending 1 bio per point of bio spent on the biowarp, 2 bio for
each point of bio bound for the biowarp, and must burn 2 points per point burned for the
biowarp. However if you were the one who placed the biowarp, you instead only have to repeat
what you used to create the effect in the first place.
To increase the attribute of a creature you must bind an amount of bio equal to 1/5th
the BP cost of the increase and roll a Manipulation check with a TN equal to 1/5th of the BP
cost of the increase. If successful it counts towards the maximum number of biowarps the
target can have. One Bio is equivalent to 5 BP.
To force a creature to do something, you must be within 10 hexes and spend a number
of bio equal to the AP cost of the action then roll Manipulation and the target may make a
Mental save to resist with a TN equal to the number of successes of the Manipulation roll. You
may spend an additional amount of bio to increase the TN by the same amount. If successful,
the creature then performs the action to the best of their ability regardless of if they want to or

155
not. If the action would be known to be instantly lethal by the target (fall on your own spear,
drop your weapon, etc.), the TN of the Mental save is halved. You may spend additional bio to
increase the range by 4 hexes per bio spent.
To give a creature a body part, you must bind 1 point of bio per body part and roll a
Mutation check with a TN equal to the number of body parts. If successful each body part
counts towards the maximum number of biowarps the target can have. Once bound you may
choose to burn an additional point of bio to allow them to buy the body parts with BP on their
next level up but the body parts cannot be unbound until then. Once the body part is bought,
the bio is automatically unbound and the biowarp no longer counts towards their biowarp
count.
To change a creature's body part into another body part or remove it, you must bind 1
point of bio per body part and roll a Mutation check with a TN equal to double the number of
body parts you wish to change or remove. The creature then may choose to make a Mental
save to resist the effect with a TN equal to the number of successes rolled. If successful, the
body part is removed or changed until the bio is unbound or the creature dies and the target
takes all penalties or modifications that come with the removal or change of said body part.
You may choose to burn one point of bio to make the change immediately permanent.
To give a creature a perk, you must bind an amount of bio equal to 1/5th the BP cost of
the perk and roll a Mutation check with a TN equal to 1/5th of the BP cost of the Perk. If
successful it counts towards the maximum number of biowarps the target can have. Once
bound you may choose to burn an additional amount of bio equal to the cost paid to allow them
to buy that perk with BP on their next level up but the perk cannot be unbound until then. Once
the perk is bought, the bio is automatically unbound and the biowarp no longer counts towards
their biowarp count. One Bio is equivalent to 5 BP.
To graft an item into or onto a creature, you must bind 1 point of bio per size of the item
and roll a Mutation check with a TN equal to the size of the item. If successful, the item takes
up an item slot and cannot be removed unless directly sundered. If the item was a weapon and
it was grafted in a way that the creature is capable of using it, the creature may treat it as
though it were a natural weapon for the benefit of perks or abilities as long as it is grafted.
To heal creatures, you must first be within 5 hexes of the creature and roll Healing. You
may spend an amount of bio up to the number of successes rolled. For each bio spent you
may roll 1d10 and heal the targeted creatures for up to the amount rolled on the die, divided
however you see fit. Any excess healing is lost unless 1 bio is bound, after which the excess
healing is applied normally. If a creature was healed over their maximum, you must roll a
Mutation check with a TN equal to the excess health, with failure counting as inflicting a
random biotic effect on the creature. The effect remains even if the health falls below
maximum, though the bio is automatically unbound if the health falls below the maximum.
While either the bio is bound or the random effect persists, it counts towards the creature's
maximum number of biowarps.
To harm a creature, you must first be within 5 hexes and roll healing. You may spend
an amount of bio up to the number of successes rolled. The target is allowed a physical save

156
with the same TN as the number of successes rolled. If they fail their save, you may roll 1d10
per bio spent and deal an amount of untyped damage to the creature however you see fit. You
may spend additional bio before rolling Healing to increase the range of the attack by 2 hexes
per additional bio spent.
To remove conditions, you must first be within 3 hexes of the creature, roll Healing
against the TN of the condition and, if successful, spend an amount of Bio equal to half the TN
to remove it. You may spend additional bio to increase the range by 2 hexes per additional bio
spent.
To add a condition to a creature, you must be within 3 hexes of the creature and roll
Healing. You may spend an amount of bio up to the number of successes rolled. The target is
allowed a physical save with the same TN as the amount of bio spent. If they fail, you may
apply a single level of a non-morale condition with a Tier of 1/4th the amount of bio spent to the
creature. This condition lasts for 1d2 rounds per bio spent. You may bind a point of bio to make
the effect continuous until it is unbound. You may burn a point of bio to make the effect
permanent. The following conditions are treated differently:
• Attribute Damage and Attribute Drain are considered automatically permanent for the
purposes of duration
• Dead is automatically permanent
• Glitched, Intangible, Invisible, and Mana Poisoning cannot be inflicted.

Homonculus Creation
Creating a homonculus is a lengthy process that depends entirely on the body plan of
the homonculus and the capabilities the homonculus will have. First you must choose the
physiology of the homonculus (flesh, plant, fungus, or slime) and pay the initial cost of the
homonculus. The initial cost of the homonculus is binding 1 point of bio per point of initial Size
and rolling a Mutation check with a TN equal to double the Size of the homonculus. This
process takes one day to complete. After this, normal costs apply and the bio initially bound is
automatically unbound. The homonculus is animate, may be modified as though it were a
normal creature, and you may spend your own XP to level up the creature as long as it is
under your control.
Homunculi are considered to be creatures with the Husk template under complete
control of their creator unless 1 point of Bio is burnt to give them intelligence and will, with an
additional point of bio needing to be burnt in order to give the homonculus free will and no
longer bound to the creator.
Homunculi cannot reproduce unless an additional point of bio is burnt for each other
creature they are able to reproduce with, though if two homonculi are made to be the same
they can reproduce with each other by spending a single point of bio. Any homonculi created
by reproducing have random traits of their parents unless both parents are the same, in which
case they instead have the same features of their parents at the time of their birth. If their
parents are Husked, they will also be Husked. If their parents are intelligent and have will, they
will also have intelligence and will. If the parents are free, they will also be free. If a population

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of homonculi can reproduce with each other and are free, they become a new species and
attempt to find their place in the ecosystem.

Living Wall Creation

Raising a wall made of biological matter costs 1 Bio for each hex occupied and takes 5
minutes per hex. The wall is not considered a creature, though you can burn 1 Bio to make the
entire wall animate and alive. An animate Bio Wall is not under your control unless you spend 1
bio and roll a Manipulation+Synchronicity check against the Wall's Mental save. If successful,
the wall remains under your control unless you release it. You may then modify the wall as
though it were a normal creature and may spend your own XP to level up the creature as long
as it is under your control.

Biota Creation
Creating Biota costs 1 Bio per hex it occupies and you must choose a biological
physiology. You may spend additional bio to add traits to it and, if given a way to reproduce, will
attempt to integrate itself into the ecosystem. You may add Creep traits to your biota at the
cost of 1 bio per change. The following creep traits cannot be added: Artery, Bio-Touch, Creep
Compatibility, Mobile Seeder, Networked, Relay, Self-Spreading, Speedway, Survivor, Web. A
form of reproduction can be added for 1 bio, but you must describe it. You may choose to burn
two points of bio to always be able to gather sensory data from the Biota as long as it is alive
(ie. not in a vase, case, meal, tube, tool, or processing plant somewhere).

Creep Creation
Creating basic Creep with no traits costs 1 Bio per 3 hexes covered and you must
choose a single physiology for it. Adding, removing, or changing traits or the physiology of it
costs an additional bio per change. Adding Self-Spreading to any creep requires burning one
point of bio. Making a single hex into a source for creep costs 3 bio on top of the normal costs
and you must bind an amount of bio equal to the radius that the source will spread to.

Living Item Creation

Creating a biological item works just the same as creating any other item. You may
spend 1 Bio per point of material needed with flesh, leaves, vines, mycelium, slime, and
organs in place of softer materials such as cloth, string and the like while bone, chitin, wood,
and the like in place of harder materials like stone and metal. You must feed and water it as
1/5th as much as a living creature of its size or can burn a point of Bio to make it not need food
or water. You can bind one bio to graft it onto a creature. When a biological item is grafted to a
creature it has no upkeep and is treated as another part of the creature's body. It follows the
normal rules for biowarps and counts as a natural weapon if the item was a weapon. A
creature may spend BP equal to the total Cost Multiplier to make it permanent and if they do,
the bound bio automatically becomes inbound. Organic guns have ammo that replenishes
once per day. Additional bio can be spent to increase its replenish rate by an additional time
per day per 3 points.

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Disease Rules
In order to create a disease you must have a host – willing or not – within 3 hexes.
Once you have a host, you may spend an amount of bio and roll a Healing check with a TN
equal to the Bio spent to create a disease. The host creature is then forced to roll a Physical
save against the disease with a TN equal to the bio spent. If the host succeeds, you cannot
create the disease and the bio spent is wasted. If the host fails, choose a biological physiology
that the host has. This will be the physiology the disease is capable of infecting.
Once the physiology has been chosen roll 1d10 twice and choose a transmission and a
condition. The first number rolled is the incubation time for the disease – how many days it
takes for the host to make a second Physical save against the disease or it becomes active,
begins affecting the host, and can be transmitted to other creatures. The second number rolled
is the affliction time for the disease – the number of hours before the host must reroll the save
against the disease and if the host fails their save the effects of the disease are applied again
and the host gains a +1 dice pool bonus to all future saves against the disease. Success
means the host has fought off the disease and is no longer affected by it, though any
remaining conditions last until their next rest and any damage sustained must be healed off as
normal. If a creature succeeds on their save against a disease they cannot become infected by
that disease for the rest of the day unless otherwise noted in the transmission or as a trait of
the disease. If a condition has multiple levels of effect, each application does not stack with
itself unless otherwise stated by a disease trait.

Transmission Name Requirements Effect

Being within 2 hexes of the host for longer than 5
minutes causes surrounding creatures to make a
Physical save to avoid becoming infected. Enclosed
spaces are easier to infect, with the radius increasing
Airborne None
every 30 minutes by 1 hex until the whole space is
covered. The space slowly stops being infectious by 1
hex per minute after the host leaves the space. Strong
wind can modify the radius outside.
Coming in direct contact with the host or the body fluid
from the host causes an immediate Physical save
against being infected by the disease. Contact diseases
Contact None
can linger on surfaces for 1d3 hours after being touched
by the host, though with half the normal TN and losing
half again every hour that passes.
Eating or drinking something contaminated with the
disease causes an immediate Physical save against
contracting the disease, as well as an additional save
Ingestion None every hour for 1d8 hours or less if the material passes
sooner. If the save is failed even once, the creature is
infected and no more saves are rolled after that one until
incubation and affliction progress as normal
Losing at least 1 Health to an attack with this disease
Injury None forces the creature to make a Physical save against the
disease or become infected.
Cognitohazard Mental Uses the cognitohazard transmission of the Psionics

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Transmission Name Requirements Effect
[Psionic] Outreach system
Manaborne [Magic] Arcane Seed Uses the manaborne transmission of the Magic system

Condition Name Skill Requirements

Blinded [Mutation 2]
Charmed [Enchantment 4]
Confused None
Dazed None
Deafened [Mutation 2]
Enraged [Enchantment 4]
Euphoric [Enchantment 4]
Exhausted None
Fascinated [Enchantment 4]
Fear None
Inflated [Mutation 2]
Intangible [Transmutation 4]
Paralyzed None
Petrified [Transmutation 4]
Sickened None
Stunned None
Unconscious None

After the disease infects another creature, you may, for an additional Bio cost and a
Mutation check with a DC equal to the Bio used, add a single modification. You may only add
one modification each time a creature is infected and it only applies to the new strain of the
disease created by adding the modification, meaning older hosts may catch the new strain but
if already infected with an older strain they will not automatically have the new effects added by
the modification. Additionally, some modifications have requirements that must be fulfilled in
order to use them. These modifications and their costs are:

Cost Effect Special

Choose a single condition that the disease inflicts
which has multiple levels. The condition can now
1 Bio stack with itself if reapplied to increase the level
of the effect. This does not increase the maximum
level of the effect capable which is still at level 1.
Increase the maximum level of any condition with
3 Bio levels that can stack by 1.

5 Bio Add one point of damage to a single primary attribute.

2 Bio Add an additional condition
4 Bio Add an additional transmission.
1 Bio Add an additional day of incubation time.
5 Bio Reduce the incubation time by 1 day. Minimum 0 days

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1 Bio Add 1 hour to the affliction time.
3 Bio Reduce affliction time by 1 hour. Minimum 1 hour
8 Bio Add an additional physiology you can select.
3 Bio Add a +1 to the TN of the disease.
Can be chosen multiple times.
Choose a single attribute. The disease increases that
5 Bio attribute by 1 point for the duration of the disease. Choosing the same attribute
stacks the effect
When failing a save against the disease, the infected
10
creature does not gain a bonus to future saves against
Bio the disease.
Make the disease capable of being transmitted during
5 Bio the incubation period.

The disease can now be spread to Spiritual beings. Must have 4 ranks in
10 You may now choose undead and any spiritual Transmutation and must make a
Bio physiology for the disease. This option does not grant Transmutation check with a TN
you an additional physiology when taken. equal to the disease TN
Must have 1 rank in
The disease can somehow now infect technology. You
Errorcasting or the Synthetic
10 may now choose synthetic physiologies for the
physiology. Must also make a
Bio disease. This option does not grant you an additional Technology check with a TN
physiology when taken.
equal to the disease TN.

You may bind one bio and make a Manipulation roll with a TN equal to the Physical
save TN of the disease to freeze a disease. Once frozen, a disease goes dormant and does
not continue incubating or affecting the host until unfrozen. Unbinding the bio of a frozen
disease causes the disease to become unfrozen. While a disease is frozen, a biote can roll a
Healing check with a TN equal to the TN of the disease to learn what it does and how to best
counteract it. If a disease is frozen and introduced to a host, the host gains a +2 automatic
success bonus and a +3 dice pool bonus to its' physical save against the disease. A biote can
make a mutation check on a frozen disease to copy said disease and apply it to another host
later using the same rules as above, though unless bio is bound to the new infection it will not
be frozen when applied.

Poison Rules
In order to create a poison you must have a container, victim, or object within 3 hexes.
You may spend an amount of bio and roll a Mutation check with a TN equal to the Bio spent to
fill a vial, produce poison through touch, or inflict through a single natural attack. If successful,
the base poison is now created and you may choose one biological physiology the poison is
capable of affecting, the primary non-size attribute it deals one point of damage to each time it
activates, and the method of infliction. The amount of bio used is the starting TN of the poison
before any modifications are made.

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 The way the poison is inflicted determines the starting stats of the poison. The infliction
determines how the poison is used on others, how long it takes for the poison to become
effective (infliction time), how the base save is modified, how often its effects are activated
(affliction time), and how long the poison lasts.

Infliction Effect Special

Can be removed via washing, lasts on
Half Base TN, half hour infliction time, half
Contact hour affliction time, lasts 1d3 days objects for 1d6 hours before becoming
inert
Ingeste 150% Base TN, one hour infliction time, one
d hour affliction time, lasts 1d5 days
Double Base TN, 1d5 round infliction time, Affects all hexes in a 1d10 hex radius
Inhaled 1d10 round affliction time, lasts 1d5 hours when used.
No change to Base TN, 1 round infliction
Injury time, one minute affliction time, lasts 1d2
days

Once the base poison is created, you may spend bio to modify it in the following ways:

Cost Effect Requirements

1 Bio Choose a single condition that the poison inflicts which
has multiple levels. The condition can now stack with
itself if reapplied to increase the level of the effect. This
does not increase the maximum level of the effect
capable which is still at level 1.
Increase the maximum level of any condition with
3 Bio
levels that can stack by 1.

5 Bio Add one point of damage to a single primary attribute.

2 Bio Add one condition.

Add an additional transmission. Transmission(s) used

4 Bio must be chosen upon initial use of the poison and
remains the same for each dose of that batch.
Add an additional period of infliction time. Incubation
1 Bio
time is dependent on transmission.

5 Bio Reduce the infliction time by half. (Minimum 1 turn)

1 Bio Add 1 period to the affliction time.

3 Bio Reduce affliction time by half. (Minimum 1 turn)

Add an additional period of duration. Duration time is

6 Bio
dependent on transmission.

1 Bio Reduce the duration time by half. (Minimum 1 turn)

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Cost Effect Requirements
8 Bio Add an additional physiology you can select.

3 Bio Add a +1 to the TN of the poison.

Choose a single attribute. The poison increases that

5 Bio
attribute by 1 point for the duration of the disease.
The poison now counts as an esoteric focus and can
Must have 4 ranks in
be applied to Spiritual beings. You may now choose
Transmutation and must make
10 Bio undead and any spiritual physiology for the poison.
a Transmutation check with a
This option does not grant you an additional
TN equal to the poison TN
physiology when taken.
Must have 1 rank in
The poison can somehow now infect technology. You
Errorcasting or have a
may now choose synthetic physiologies for the poison.
10 Bio Synthetic Physiology. Must also
This option does not grant you an additional
make a Technology check with
physiology when taken.
a TN equal to the poison TN
Grant the poison to a creature as the Poison Perk. The
5 Bio
bio is bound as normal, but the creature gains it
(bound)
automatically on level up without paying BP for it.

Alchemy Rules
Apex

Elements, Energies, and Elemental Crystals

Apex

Specialized Crafting
Apex

Esoteric Vessels
Apex

163
Example Hives
This section will give you a small example list of ready made hives and drones,
including synapse drones, to allow for you and your friends to quickly begin playing the game
without fussing with the process of creating a hive and drones for yourself. This is mainly to
allow everyone to begin playing as fast as possible and see if you enjoy the game before
sitting down and spending time on character creation. Each hive will have a small variety of
synapse drones for you to select from to allow for different archetypes to be played and only
some minor calculations will need to be done due to the varying number of players that could
be playing.

164
Example Settings and The Spoked Wheel Cosmology
This section will give you a number of example settings ready made for you to place
your players in and give you some ideas on how to build a setting to play in for yourself if you
don’t already have ideas or a setting you wish to use. This section is completely optional but
may be useful to newer GMs or those who wish to use an already made setting for a quick
game. The settings provided will be on the smaller side to both save on space and give you
room to expand the map as you see fit. The settings will fit different types of settings and
different time periods to give you the widest variety of possible choice when running your
games. From a fantasy kingdom, to a modern town, to a futuristic metropolis, there are a
number of backdrops for your story to unfold in.

Cosmology
Before the settings are presented though, it may be useful to have an idea of how
these settings work in comparison to many other established settings. The basic understanding
of how these settings work is similar to our own and much like other settings presented in
fantasy and science fiction, but one of the things that sets them apart is the cosmology. The
cosmology acts as a backdrop for the settings and gives the GM a way to answer questions
about where summoned creatures come from or where a portal may lead. This section can be
skipped over with no harm, but it may be interesting or useful to those wishing to make their
own setting.

The cosmology of the settings provided is reminiscent of a spoked wheel: seven points
sending out a single curved spoke which connects to others with similar curves and meet in a
central point that layers onto itself multiple times with the points and spokes all connected by a
strange web. Each of these points and spokes is a plane, an infinite expanse of space and
time that has specific properties and features separate from other planes, an entire universe
unto themselves. The outermost seven points are known as the Outer Planes, the point in the
center is known as the Material Plane, the layers that seem to overlap the Material Plane are
known as the Coterminous Planes, the spokes that stretch between the planes are known as
the Welkin, or Upper, and Cthonic, or Lower, planes, and the strange web is known as The
Mendicant.

The material plane is the place players would be most familiar with. Almost all settings
are found here and it’s the place most people would intuitively think of when asked to give an
example of a location. The material plane is the nexus of the planes as all planes connect to it
one way or another and all mana mingles within it to give rise to all manner of wondrous forms

165
and beings. It is filled with vast oceans of open space pocked with galaxies, stars, planets, and
possibly even multiple universes if you could zoom out to that wide of a scope. Just about
anything can be found here and the number of worlds means that there is more variety than
one could imagine at first glance. Gaia worlds lush with green perfect life, undead worlds
cursed into a strange impossible existence, death worlds where the very life beneath your feet
seeks only to devour the weak, frozen ice balls, barren lifeless rocks, worlds with the
beginnings of civilizations, worlds turned into massive cities or factories, habitats built around
stars or black holes, and far more can be found across this plane.

The coterminous planes are strange planes out of phase with the material plane that
are found in the same location. If one were to step from a world on the material into one of
these planes you would find yourself in the same location but slightly out of phase with where
you just were. These planes are strange reflections of the material worlds they overlap with
and the creatures found within them can be even stranger at times. From armies clashing in
the middle of a metropolis but not even moving a single hair on the head of the inhabitants of
the material space they’re slicing through to a world of impossibly deep mists shrouding ruins
that hint at a time older than time itself or a world of shadows where all appears ruined and
creatures seek to sap the very emotions from your being, the coterminous planes are a stark
contrast to the familiar that seems just out of reach.

The coterminous planes are:

• The Cybex (Digital World; computers are access points and internets are basicallly
demiplanes.)

• The Deep Mists (Endless, mostly formless sea of highly reactive off-white mist made of
protomatter that you can use to go between worlds, universes, most planes, and
contains The Source.)

• The Noosphere (Foggy World of Dreams, Thoughts, and the Collective Unconscious.
Psionics comes from here and intelligent minds twinkle like stars within the swirling
mists while other worlds shine like stars in the nebula-like sky.)

• The Shade (A dark reflection of our world. The plane itself is flat, yet connects to
everywhere across the material as though there wasn’t a difference. Worlds are
bounded by the Shadowsea, an impossibly infinite ocean of liquid shadow with horrific
beasts lurking within it but if crossed you can reach other worlds without needing a
voidship)

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 • The Spirit World (A world of beliefs made manifest, this is the final connection point
between the Outer Planes and the Material as all Welkin and Cthonic planes connect to
the Material through this plane. The beliefs and traditions of regions are reflected on
this plane and spirits dwell here, often clashing against those of conflicting morals or
color identity.)

• The Radiant (A bright reflection of our world. The world is hollow and inverse, as though
the surface of the material world was on the inside of a hollow sphere. You can exit into
the flowing rainbow radiance between worlds by entering the star in the center of the
cavity and from there you may travel between worlds. To enter a world, you merely
need to fly into its star-like surface where you’ll be spit out into the central cavity.)

The welkin and cthonic planes are often called the upper and lower planes by scholars
due to their appearances and likenesses to locations in folklore and mythology across various
material worlds, though some scholars call them the spoked planes likening them to the
spokes on a wheel much as they were likened to in the earlier example. Welkin planes are
wide open spaces that tend to be filled with clouds and feel as though they are extremely high
in altitude. Cthonic planes are the opposite and feel more like tunnels deep beneath the
surface and only moving deeper underground. Each of these planes connect to various
locations across the material plane and you can easily move between worlds by using a welkin
or cthonic plane if you know the way, but they also connect to each other and each one
connects to a single outer plane. It should be noted that welkin planes cannot connect to
cthonic planes and vise versa, as they have fundamentally irreconcilable differences..

The welkin planes are:

• Cloudwalk: A cloudy plane of endless fields, Cloudwalk is a realm of drifting fields lush
with all manner of crops each on their own fully solid cloud drifting between each other
like islands over a placid sea of air, softly glowing beneath them to provide light to the
clouds under them. Each field holds a doorway to another world and the further up into
the sky you climb the bigger the clouds, and their fields, become with the highest cloud
seeming to merge right into The Growth itself. The realm is inhabited by eidolons
farming the fields near the homes of their descendants, great flying creatures that feed
on the abundant food, and all manner of birds. Entrances are found only in the deepest
of grasslands and only at certain times of the year but artificial entrances are not hard
to open for short amounts of time.

• Diamond Sky: A plane that takes the appearance of a shimmering night sky threaded
with silver walkways leading between large balls of silver light that, if entered, may

167
 transport people between material worlds. It is said that if you travel all the way down
the silver path you may eventually end up at The Spire, but few have managed to walk
the whole length and come back. The realm is inhabited by angels keeping the serene
peace, beings of light playing among the star-like points of light, and creatures that
would look at home in the open space between star systems on the Material Plane.
Entrances to Diamond Sky are found only on the highest peak of the highest mountain
of a world with artificial entrances extremely hard to open and even harder to keep
open for long.

• The Maelstrom: This is less a plane than a disaster that can strike at any time. The
Maelstrom is a great storm of whirling power and debris that can appear out of nowhere
and transport people, items, and places to other worlds or even The Storm itself. There
is no discernible rhyme or reason for its appearances nor for what it takes and what it
leaves or for what it damages and what it repairs. It takes the shape of a massive
tornado or hurricane that blazes with an internal magic like an inferno in the eye of a
great whirlwind yet trapped within the walls, never escaping into the actual cyclone
itself. Those who have been able to stay for long enough in the great whirlwind to get a
good look at the inhabitants have told stories of elementals, demons, and dragons
among the swirling debris. It is impossible to safely open up an entrance to this plane
as it closes near instantly and may suck in surrounding items or creatures at random.

• Tidepull: This plane appears as though it was taken out of a fantasy novel. A massive
expanse of floating islands of various composition, some with small settlements or
buildings on them. Unlike other welkin planes it’s very rare to find an entrance to
another world on these islands, but it may still happen. The islands are filled with
resources of all kinds, secrets to be found, and possible treasures just waiting to be
claimed. It is inhabited by gremlins planting new wonders across the islands, sea
creatures capable of swimming through the air as though it were water, and all manner
of strange creatures depending on what the various islands are made of. Entrances to
Tidepull resemble strange rivers of air in the sky that appear with seeming regularity
according to some impossible to understand pattern with artificial entrances to it being
nearly impossible to make or maintain in any sense when they don’t fit the pattern.

The cthonic planes are:

• Fey’ri: A twisting mess of mushroom forests, tunnel networks, serene glades,

underground jungles, and dazzling colors. This strange realm is full of interesting food
and people, both of which may change parts of your very being and are not to be
trusted even when telling you the honest truth. Time flows stranger in this realm than in

168
 any other for one second may pass by for an eternity but 4 centuries may pass in the
blink of an eye. All of its denizens follow strange rules that are nearly impossible for
outsiders to understand or follow and breaking these rules may cause penalties
anywhere from loosing some coins or an item to being stripped of your name or having
your children stolen and replaced by fakes. Fey’ri is inhabited primarily by the Fey (from
whom it gets its namesake), but multitudes of animals and elementals are also found
within its’ twisting landscapes. Entrances aren’t that hard to find if you know what you’re
looking for but are nearly impossible to make and maintain for any length of time. A
simple ring of mushrooms on a hillside marks a possible entrance to this dizzying plane
for the hills they are hollow and home to the fey.

• Lostmaw

• Turnabout Trench

The outer planes are the sources of mana, ever flowing fountains of mana connected to
the material plane through the welkin and cthonic planes which function as both a filter and
passageway. Each outer plane is a representation of a single color of mana and lays bare its
desires, preferences, and goals for the various planes its mana touches.

The outer planes are as follows and listed in order of mana color:

• The Spire

• The Library

• The Pit

• The Abyss

• The Storm

• The Lush

• The Growth

The last plane to be mentioned above is also the last plane to be expanded upon; more
out of complexity than out of any biases. The Mendicant is a strange plane that was likened to
a web in the wheel analogy, but even that doesn’t quite come close to what it does or is. It is an
endless labyrinth of navy blue walls with seemingly infinite floors suffused by source-less dim
light which have uncounted rooms and corridors capable of being reshaped by those with
strong enough will and containing doors that can lead to anywhere. The Mendicant defies

169
classification as it does not fit into any of the categories for planes: It is not a wellspring of
mana and connects multiple planes together so it cannot be an outer plane, it does not overlap
with the material so it cannot be a coterminous plane, and it is neither welkin nor cthonic for
even though it appears cthonic in nature some levels are very open and it connects to both
types.

The Mendicant connects to all planes of all categories multiple times over and in the
most haphazard and random ways possible with entrances physically close to one another on
a world capable of connecting to vastly different areas within the endless maze. To make
matters worse, the plane is nearly inhospitable to life as there is no natural water, no light
strong enough to grow food with, and the only inhabitants are those who ended up accidentally
stumbling into one of the almost perfectly hidden entrances scattered throughout the other
planes. Due to its malleability and strategic value over the ages there have been many
colonization attempts from countless races across countless worlds with nearly all ending in
either abandonment or disaster, leaving behind ghost towns, half-finished construction
attempts, and vaults of resources for those who would break them open. However, there are
rumors from the maddest of the mad that say that in the lower levels of the maze, if indeed it
even has lower levels, there are things locked away in vaults that have existed since long
before any other plane existed.

Settings
Now that the background is out of the way, let’s get into the meat of the settings. Each
of the settings will be given a brief overview, a description of some of the important landmarks,
some important information on various forces or factions found within the area, and then a map
of the setting with fully stocked hexes for your players to explore and expand into.

170
Character, Hive, and Reference Sheets
The following pages will include character sheets to easily track information on the hive,
drones, and players. Following those will be a few pages condensing some of the more
important info and calculations. Please copy them out for ease of use.

171
 General
Main Resolution Mechanic: Attribute+Skill+Modifiers
Hive
Cohesion: (2 * players * MPow) * Level + Modifiers
Max Capacity: (3 * players) + Level x Hive Size + Modifiers
Flexibility: HInt+MPow
Size: Equal to # of Rooms/4 rounded down
Growth Rate: Available food + max capacity - current capacity + modifiers
Spawning: HSize + modifiers
Drones
Health: Physique + Size + modifiers.
Speed: Nimbleness + Acumen + ½ Size (Rounded down) + modifiers.
Ranged Defense: Nimbleness + Acumen + Armor - Size + 1 + modifiers.
Physical save: Physique + Size + modifiers.
Agility save: Speed - Strength + modifiers.
Mental save: Acumen + Will + Mental Power + modifiers.
Synapse Drones
Synapse Capacity: Level + 1 + modifiers.
Current Capacity: Number of drones currently under your control.
Skills (*-Special exceptions, (-)-No Base Attribute, +-Has Sub Skills)

Basic: Brawl(Str), Dodge(Dex), Gathering(Int), Hunting(Acu), Intimidation(Emp),

Survival(Phy)
Physical: Acrobatics(Nim), Climb(Str), Ballistics(Acu), Driving(Nim), Flying(Phy),
riding(Nim), Sleight of Hand(Nim), Stealth(Nim), Swim(Phy), Weaponry(Nim)
Mental: Appraise(Int), Bluff(Emp), Diplomacy(Emp), Gather Info(Emp), Haggling(Emp),
Knowledge(Int)+, Navigation(Int), Perception(Acu), Sense Motive(Acu), Technology(Int)*
Civil: Animal Handling(-), Agriculture(-)+, Build(-)+, Chemistry(-)+, Craft(-)+, Disable
Item(Int), Forgery(Int), Language(Acu), Medical(-), Mining(-), Profession(-)+
Esoteric: Alchemy(Int)+, Biotics(-)+, Forbidden Knowledge(Int)+, Magic(-)+, Poison(-),
Psionics(-)+, Technology(Int)*

Target Number Difficulty Target Number Difficulty

2 Very Easy 10 Very Hard

6 Average 14 Never Done Before

8 Hard
 Combat
Skills for Combat Types: Brawl for Natural Melee and Unarmed, Weaponry for Armed
Melee, Ballistics for Ranged
Defense rolls: Dodge + Nim + Mod or Phys + Brawl + Mod
Primary Natural Weapon Scaling: 1 damage/1 Hex (+½ Str for Melee and Thrown)
Secondary Weapon Scaling: 1 damage/ 2 Hexes(Round Up) (+⅓ Str for Melee and
Thrown)
Size and space: Sizes 1-4 = 1 Hex, 5-6 = 2 Hexes, 7-8 = 3 Hexes, Etc. (Size 5+:
Round up to nearest even number, divide by 2, minus 1
Exploration
Time and Speed Speed 1 Speed 2 Speed 3 Speed 6

1 Hour (Walk) .33 m/.5 km .66 m/1 km 1 m/1.5 km 2 m/3 km

1 Hour (Hustle) .66 m/1 km 1.33 m/ 2 km 2 m/3 km 4 m/6 km

1 Shift (4 hours) 1.33 m/2 km 2.66 m/4 km 4 m/6 km 8 m/12 km

1 March (8 Hours) 2.66 m/4 km 5.33 m/8 km 8 m/12 km 16 m/24 km

Hustling: Double speed for 1 hour. Longer causes damage and exhaustion.

Marching: Can walk normally and continuously for 8 hours before taking penalties and
damage.

Cautious Movement: 75% speed. Creature Encounter Rate Halved

Exploring: Half Speed and Double Encounter Rate

Terrain
Speed Modifier Navigation modifier
Condition

Wide, open land +0% -1

Clear road +50% -1

Mountains -50% +3

Thick Vegetation -25% +2

Unstable ground -25% +1

Uneven terrain -25% +2

Weather Vision Light Level Mod Overland Speed

Clear Unchanged +0 100%

Overcast As Light Level -1 100%

As ½ Light Level
Precipitation -2 (if not overcast, only -1) 75%
distance if above 1

Fog/Mist As if Light Level 2 +0 25%

As ½ Light Level if
Severe -3 (if not overcast, -1) 25%
above 1

Level Name Effect

0 Total Darkness Completely blind

1 Near Total Darkness Almost blind, can only barely see within 3 hexes

Can see normally out to 10 hexes, but further with

2 Bright Night/Shadowy
sources of light

3 Dim Half-normal range of vision

4 Average Normal range of vision

5 Bright One and a quarter normal range of vision

Normal range of vision, harms vulnerable

6 Intense
creatures

Half-normal range of vision, harms vulnerable

7 Very Intense creatures, creatures not vulnerable must make
Mental saves to avoid being dazzled

Almost blind and harms vulnerable creatures,

creatures not vulnerable can see out to 10 hexes
8 Extremely bright
but must make Physical saves every hour or take
damage to their eyes

Completely blind, instantly kills vulnerable

9 Blinding creatures, creatures must make Physical saves
every half hour or take damage to their eyes