WELCOMEFIREBORN can be many things: a

game of epic high fantasy, or darkmodern intrigue; a game of fast-pacedaction or carefully considered strategy; agame of self-discovery or self-destruction. Ifyou’re reading this, it means that you’ve likelyalready taken the first steps into a modern age ofmystery and magic, as well as the first steps into amythic age of adventure and fantasy . . . the firststeps, that is, into the world of FIREBORN.

We at Fantasy Flight Games only recently tookthose first steps into the world of FIREBORN our-selves, and as is often the case with the beginningsof uncharted journeys, there were surprises andchanges in course. Some information was lostalong the way, and as the horizon rolled forwardnew knowledge was revealed. It is to give you thatwhich was left behind, as well as to introduce thatwhich has been uncovered, that we offer Lost Lore.Herein you will find errata, a FAQ, and bonusmaterial in the form of action cards.

A monthly update of the errata and FAQ will beavailable via our website at www.fanta-syflightgames.com, and informal rules clarifica-tions and discussions by fans, FIREBORN authors,and FIREBORN developers can often be found onour messageboards on the same website.

COMING SOON

November: FIREBORN Gamemaster’s HandbookDecember: The Fire Within, a wide-ranging

FIREBORN adventure for starting characters.

ERRATA

CHAPTER 1:CHARACTERCREATION

Page 11: On Table 1–2, remove the Filthy Richlifestyle and increase all listed wealth scores, bothin the table and in the listed backgrounds, by 1.This will result in characters having a wealth scorebetween 1 and 6, with 1 being Homeless, 2 beingPoverty, etc.

Page 17: Under the Priest’s primary skills,replace “Stamina” with “Ka.”

Page 19, 24, and 27: The “Alluring” edge, ref-erenced in the sires Basilisk, Nehebkau, andZahhak, should be replaced in all three listingswith the “Confident” edge instead.

Page 29: In Diagram 1–1, the Health Chart ismarked incorrectly. It should look like Diagram1–1 as shown on the opposite page.

Page 32: Under the Finishing Touches section,add the following subheader:

LOST LORE: ERRATA

STARTING SPELLS

If your scion is one of the curious (and somewould say insane or foolish) few who have alreadybegun to practice magic, she may start the cam-paign with some spells already known. A scionbegins the campaign with a number of spell picksequal to her ranks in the Casting skill; each spellpick is the equivalent of one AP that may be spentto learn spells. These spell picks may be spent onas few or as many spells as the player likes, includ-ing purchasing casting options or rituals asdescribed on page 180. The maximum spell rank acharacter can start with is equal to his Castingedge.

CHAPTER 2: SKILLS& EDGES

Page 43: After the “Ranged” skill header,replace “[Mental]” with “[Mental/Physical].”

Page 49: Under the Arsenal edge, replace themechanics text with the following:

“When you purchase the first rank of this edge,regardless of your Wealth or Knowledge: Streetranks, you immediately gain one weapon of nomore than Cost 3 and Street Cost 3. You maintain aconnection with the person or organization thatprovided the weapon, such that you have a readysource for purchasing ammunition, arranging tohave the weapon cleaned and repaired, or evenselling it for some quick cash. They won’t sell youmore than one weapon of this sort at a time, how-ever.

For each additional rank you purchase, the max-imum Cost and Street Cost of the weapon increaseby two with each rank, and you may immediatelygain one weapon of up to that Cost and Street Cost.So a character that increases from rank 1 to rank 3in this edge could immediately acquire one weaponof up to Cost 5/Street Cost 5 and one weapon of upto Cost 7/Street Cost 7.

You may choose to acquire a weapon with alower Cost and Street Cost than your maximum,but may not save up your arsenal credit. Forinstance, a character that goes from 0 ranks inArsenal to 3 ranks cannot gain three Cost 7/StreetCost 7 weapons; instead, he must gain weapons ofincreasingly higher Cost and Street Cost as hisranks in the edge improve.”

Page 49: Under the Casting edge, replace themechanics text with the following:

“You gain the Weave Magic action and the Castmove. Without this edge, you may not use eitherone and may not cast spells or rituals. The maxi-mum rank of spells you can learn is equal to yourrank in this edge.”

Page 51: Under the Hoard edge, change all ref-erences to a “hoard item” to a “karmic item.”

CHAPTER 3:DRAGON CREATION

Page 58: Under Mirrored Dragon Creation, addthe following to the end of step 3:

“Your dragon also gains fighting style ranks andspell picks based on your scion’s sire. Double yourcharacter’s fighting style ranks to determine yourdragon’s fighting style ranks, and double yourcharacter’s bonus karma to determine your drag-on’s number of spell picks.”

Page 61: Under the guardian outlook, replacethe Rituals skill with “Quickness or Casting(choose one).”

Page 62: Under the hoarder outlook, replace theRituals skill with Stamina.

Page 62: Under the mystic outlook, replace theRituals skill with Stamina.

Page 63: Under the sage outlook, replace theRituals skill with Senses.

LOST LORE: ERRATA

DIAGRAM 1-1

LOST LORE: ERRATA

Page 65: Under the dire dragon breed, the“Mighty Leap” power should be “Mythic Leap.”

Page 67: Under the ice dragon breed, the“Adamant” power should be “Skin of Stone.”

Page 68: Under the sea dragonbreed, replace the Poisonpower with Aquatic,and replace theAquatic trait withVenomous.

Page 68: Under thespirit dragon breed,replace the Ki power withDistant Mind, and the“Heir of Lighting”power should be “Heir ofthe Storm.”

Page 70: Under theDependent Traits header,add the following sentenceto the end of the paragraph:“Additionally, dragons maystart with skill ranks higher than4.”

Page 71: In the second sentence of theDragon Creation Example, replace “35 points”with “40 points.”

Page 73: Under the Awakening header, add thefollowing sentence to the end of the last para-graph: “The maximum awakened rank that anyscion can achieve within this rule set is awakenedrank 5. Future supplements may allow for higherawakened ranks.”

Page 74: Under the Draconic Form header, afterthe first paragraph, add the following:

“Each time a scion gains a new awakened rank,he may trade in previous traits for new ones. Forinstance, a scion could choose armor 1 at awakenedrank 1, then trade that draconic form point in whenhe reaches awakened rank 2, giving him 3 draconicform points; he spends those on the skull trait. Hecan now no longer manifest armor 1, because he hasfocused his connection to his draconic self on beingable to manifest a draconic skull with a bite attack.”

Page 74: Remove the “Full draconic form” entryon page 74, and remove “Full draconic form” entryfrom Table 3–3. The use of the full draconic form isintended for PCs above awakened rank 5, andshould be left out until rules for those higher rankshave been published.

CHAPTER4: POWERS& LEGACIES

Page 77: Under thePowers header, add the

following subheaderafter the last paragraph:

PURCHASING

POWERS

Powers are purchased withAPs (specifically with heritageAPs) at a cost of 1 AP per rank in

the power purchased. Each power mustbe purchased one rank at a time, starting at

rank 1 and proceeding upward; you cannotpurchase a rank in a power higher than 1

unless you have already purchased all of theranks preceding it.

For scions, the above rules only apply withregards to powers that the scion’s draconic self hasranks in during the mythic age. If a scion wishes to

purchase ranks in a power that his draconic self didnot have, he must pay for the rank as if it were onerank higher.

Example: Rob creates a scion who was a forestdragon in the mythic age. Forest dragons haveaccess to the Alternate Form, Nobility, Gaze of thePredator, and Rapport powers, and Rob choosesSkin of Stone for the dragon’s free pick of powers.

When Rob’s scion gains his first heritage AP, hespends it on Skin of Stone 1; he likes the idea of hisscion (whose name is Gutwrench) being harderthan average to take down. He goes through sever-al adventures, and at the end of them the GM givesthem a reward of four APs. Rob has some options.Gutwrench fought some mean Brothers ofCernunnos in that adventure, and expects to tanglewith them again, so he buys Skin of Stone 2 with twoof the APs. He considers spending the other twoAPs on Gaze of the Predator, but then he readsInstinct, and decides he’d really like his characterto be able to go first in an action scene. Since hisdraconic self does not have access to Instinct,

Gutwrench has to the pay for the first rank inInstinct as if it were rank 2, meaning he must spendhis last two remaining APs to get Instinct 1.

Page 93: Under the Shapeshifter legacy, under“Spending karma,” replace “but the karma thusspent cannot be renewed until you return to yournomal form” with “but the karma must be spent atthe beginning of each new scene if you wish toretain the form.”

Also, add the following text:“Unlike other legacies, your awakened rank +

prerequisite power do not determine the maximumkarma you may spend per turn to activate this lega-cy; instead, they determine the maximum karmacost of Shapeshifter effects that you may haveactive at any one time.”

Finally, under the Shapeshifter legacy, on thefirst line of the Effect table, change the cost to 5.Also, after “Increase or decrease your size by one,”add the following: “This effect may only be usedonce.”

CHAPTER 5:EQUIPMENT

Page 100: Under “Upkeep,” after the fourthsentence, insert the following: “In order to payupkeep, you must lower your available wealth atthe start of the adventure, before you make any sig-nificant purchases, by one.” Additionally, after thelast sentence, add the following: “A character can-not have a Wealth lower than 1 or available wealthlower than 0.”

Page 105: The mythic ranged weapons aremissing their reload values and weapon weights.They should be as follows:

Weapon ReloadLight Weapons

Blowgun 5Bow, Gauntlet 5

Medium WeaponsAtlatl 5Bola 5Bow, Standard 3Bow, Recurve 3

Heavy WeaponsBow, Compound 5Bow, Great 4Bow, Long 4Crossbow 10

Page 108-112: The modern weapons are miss-ing their weapon weights. Pistols and submachineguns should be light weapons, rifles and shotgunsshould be medium weapons, and machine guns andall miscellaneous modern weapons should beheavy weapons.

Page 109: The reload values for the Luger P–08should be 3/6.

CHAPTER 6:ACTION & COMBAT

Page 132: Under the Grit mental action, replace“an immediate physical action” with “all physicaltests until the beginning of your next turn.”

Page 134: Under the Steady action, replace “animmediate physical test” with “all physical testsuntil the beginning of your next turn.”

Page 135: Under the Defense Moves header,replace the first paragraph with the following text:

“If you wish to simply avoid an attack withoutstriking back, you may choose to use a defaultdefense move. By using default defense, you effec-tively create a sequence composed entirely of thatmove. The type of move you choose must apply tothe situation at hand (for instance, you can only usea block sequence if your blocking weapon is theappropriate size, and you can only use a dodgesequence when you aren’t completely surroundedor in tight quarters). All that matters when resolv-ing these sequences is who gains the most net suc-cesses. If you, as the defender, tie or exceed theattacker’s successes, you avoid the attack.

On the other hand, if you wish to attempt adefense sequence that includes positioning orattack moves, you must precede any such moveswith a specific single defense move for each of theattacker’s attack moves. See page 141 for moredetails on resolving a defense sequence thatincludes attacks.

If you do not have a high enough base Waterscore or skill ranks to complete the number ofdefense moves required, you still have a chance toavoid all of the attacks, but you will not haveenough time or prowess to attack back at the sametime, include positioning moves, etc.”

Page 139: Under the Positioning and OpposedTests header, in the third paragraph, replace“against any character within his reach” with“against any character trying to move through orpast him.”

LOST LORE: ERRATA

LOST LORE: ERRATA

Page 141: The Block move should be Type:

Defense rather than Type: Attack. Page 144: Under the Focus move, replace “an

immediate mental test” with “all mental tests untilthe beginning of your next turn.”

Page 144: Under the Grit physical move,replace “an immediate mental action” with “allmental tests until the beginning of your next turn.”

Page 144: Under the Interrupt move, replace“opposed by Water (Quickness)” with “opposed byFire (Quickness).”

Page 145: Replace the Description text for theJump move with the following: “For each success,leap forward a distance equal to your reach orupward a distance equal to one-quarter your reach.If this move is preceded in a sequence by a Dash,the distance increases by +50%.

The Jump move causes a disadvantage. If youuse Jump as a defense move, you must follow itwith a Ready move in order to perform an attackmove in the same sequence.

Page 145: Under the Knockout move, replace“The Knockout move must be preceded by a Strikewith a weapon that has a blunt striking surface,”with “To perform the Knockout move, you musthave a blunt weapon in hand (natural weapons likefists and kicks may work as well),”

Page 146: Under the Roll move, replace “If youuse Spin as a defense move . . .” with “If you useRoll as a defense move . . .”

Page 148: In the Putting it Together sidebar, 2ndcolumn, third paragraph,replace “(one from Earth,two from Air, one fromWater) with (one from Earth,one from Air, two fromWater)”.

Page 149-150 (alsoAppendix): In Diagrams 6–1through 6–6 (and on the char-acter sheets), the formula inthe left-hand column on theHealth Chart is markedincorrectly. The correct for-mula for the left-hand col-umn should match the rulespresented in the text andexamples. A blank healthchart would look like thatshown in the diagram here.

Page 157: Under the Fighting Styles header,under the Moves entry, delete the last sentence.Replace it with “As long as there are no terrainthresholds to pay for, the number moves in asequence determines the number of net successesnecessary to complete it. If there are terrain thresh-olds, however, and the sequence includes position-ing moves, they must be accounted for as normal,by paying for them with successes.

Additionally, under the Payoff entry, replace “ifit’s successful” with “if you perform all of itsmoves successfully.”

Page 158: Under the Resolving Fighting StyleSequences header, replace the first two paragraphswith the following text:

“To determine the results of a fighting stylesequence, the attacker and defender roll dice, bidkarma, pay off the successes necessary for posi-tioning moves outside of the opponent’s reach, anddetermine the winner’s net successes as normal foran opposed test.

Then the winner applies his net successes to anyas yet unpaid for moves in his sequence. Each netsuccess normally confirms one move in thesequence, from left to right (though if the combat-ants are in an area with a terrain threshold and areperforming positioning moves within each others’reach, those positioning moves may require morethan one success to perform). Any confirmedmoves are performed; if the entire sequence is per-formed successfully, the sequence is completedand the winner gains the payoff, as well. If theentire sequence is not performed, the payoff is not

gained.To say it another way,

positioning moves outsideof the oppoent’s reach arepaid for first, then moves inorder within the foe's reachare paid for. For each movepaid for, your characterchanges position according-ly or does appropriate dam-age. If you run out of suc-cesses before all the movesin your sequence have beenperformed, the rest of themoves do not occur and nei-ther does the payoff.”

Page 161-169: Replace all instances of the“Knockback” payoff with the “Push” payoff.

Page 161: Under the Payoffs header, add thefollowing entry after the Dismember entry:

Knockout: This payoff allows you to knock atarget unconscious without using the Knockoutmove. Just as with the Knockout move, the targetmust have suffered his maximum number of minorwounds or must be suffering from at least onewound die. If the attacker gains the payoff, the tar-get must make a Water (Stamina) test or beknocked unconscious; the TH for the test is equalto the PR of the sequence used.

CHAPTER 7: KARMAAND MAGIC

Page 175: Under the Casting Spells section,replace “If you gain fewer than the required num-ber of successes toward casting the spell, you mayaccumulate one success toward casting the spell,and may continue casting the next turn.” with “Ifyou gain fewer than the required number of suc-cesses toward casting the spell, you may record thesuccesses gained, and may continue casting thenext turn.”

Page 177: Under the Reaction Spells section, allreferences to the Gather Magic action should bereplaced by the Weave Magic action; delete the

words “and Weave Magic test” in the last sentenceof the first paragraph.

Page 179: Under the Learning Spells section,after the “Learning Casting Options and Rituals”subheader, add the following:

DRAGONS AND LEARNING SPELLS

While other races may study and perfect magicas a science more readily than dragons, none maymatch their abilities in magic as an art. When youuse your dragon’s spell picks for the mythic age,you need never use extra picks to learn castingoptions or rituals; your dragon automatically knowsand can use those options along with the base ver-sion of the spell (this means, among other things,that dragons almost never cause themselves overkilldamage from spells, only from rituals).

Additionally, unlike other creatures, dragonsmay use spell picks to learn casting options specif-ically for rituals. In many cases, casting optionslisted for the base spell may be redundant whenapplied to a ritual (such as a casting option thatincreases the duration of a spell, if the ritual makesthe spell permanent). However, some castingoptions make rituals vastly more powerful.

LOST LORE: FAQ

FAQCHARACTERCREATION

How much do fighting styles cost?In the title bar of each style, after the name, is a

number in parentheses; that is the cost of the style inAPs or fighting style picks. Once a style is purchased,you may perform all of the sequences for which youqualify (i.e., for which you have theminimum base Fire or base Water scoreand for which you have the minimumskill ranks).

If I don’t have enough fight-ing style picks to purchase thestyle I want during charactercreation, can I save them tospend later when I haveenough APs to add to them topurchase the style I want?

That should be up to yourGM; it would be odd for amilitary veteran, forinstance, to know no fight-ing styles at all and thensuddenly become an expertat Lightning style after thefirst adventure. On theother hand, you mightselect a few fighting stylesduring character creationand be left with one ortwo extra fighting stylepicks, and no fightingstyles that fit your charac-ter concept. In such a case,it would be reasonable foryou to save them for later.

The noble dragon breed is theonly one that gets four powers, while the rest getfive. Is this intentional? And if so, what ranks arethe powers it gets? Should they be 5, 4, 3, 2, or 4,3, 2, 1?

Yes, the noble dragon breed only receives fourpowers; the trade-off for this is that, instead of onlybeing able to choose one power, the noble dragonbreed gets a choice of two powers. This flexibilitywas introduced because “classic” powerful dragonsthroughout myth and fiction have demonstrated awide array of abilities. The noble dragon shouldbegin with powers at ranks 5, 4, 3, 2.

SKILLS AND EDGESSince jumping distances are determined based

on a number of successes, how do I determine howfar I jump with a “Fire pistol + Stride + Jump +Sword” sequence?

The Jump move has a terrain threshold, just likeany other positioning move might. However, in thiscase, the character defines the TH rather than theGM; if the character wants to jump 10 ft., and is size0, he’ll need 5 successes devoted solely to the Jumpmove. If he wants to jump 2 ft., he’ll only need 1 suc-

cess devoted to the Jump move. Of course, ifthe gap he wants to cross is 6 ft., that prettymuch sets the TH for him!

In any case, the player should choose theTH (in other words, should declare how far heis trying to jump) before rolling dice. The

player must spend successes to accomplishthe jump before comparing net successeswith an opponent.

My character has 0 ranks inAthletics; does that mean I can’t

move anywhere?No. A character needs at least 1

rank in a skill in order to do thetwo following things:

1) Move dice to the appro-priate aspect when testing inthat skill.

2) Perform a move governedby that skill during a physicalsequence.

So if you don’t have anyranks in Athletics, you cannot

perform Stride, Climb, or Jumpmoves as part of a physical

sequence. However, you can per-form the move in isolation as a fullphysical action. You just don’thave the coordination or expert-ise to try to perform other actions

at the same time.

The rules note that Knowledge can be an eliteskill, but I haven’t found an edge yet that wouldmake it so. And if there is such an edge, what arethe benefits of having knowledge as an elite skill?

Specific uses of Knowledge as an elite skill will bepresented in future supplements; currently, it is onlynecessary when making Knowledge: AncientCultures tests regarding mythic age cultures. Thatelite level of skill can be gained by taking a rank 2independent edge called Knowledge (Elite); that edgeworks similarly to Weapon Use (Elite) and VehicleUse (Elite).

LOST LORE: FAQ

POWERS ANDLEGACIES

How much does it cost to advance powers?Powers have the same costs as ranked edges; see

the Errata for page 77 for more details.

I’m confused about how you resist the BalefulBeholder legacy. You say that each success beyondthe TH lowers the effect to the next lowest effect.So in the first example, you say that a dragon thatspends 7 karma might choose the petrification anddismemberment effects, and that a target that gets4 successes on the test to resist could negate thepetrification effect completely, and could lowerthe dismemberment effect to mere blindness. Ifthe target had 4 successes, why couldn’t he cancelall the effects?

Each effect must be lowered separately. So in theexample you cite, the target would look at the twoeffects, petrification and dismemberment; for eachsuccess he gains on his Water (Stamina) test beyondthe legacy’s TH, he can reduce one of the effects tothe next less damaging effect on the list. So one suc-cess allows him to reduce petrification to dismember-ment, another success allows him to reduce dismem-berment to blindness, and so on.

Why doesn’t a dragon start off with edges in theadvanced dragon creation system?

They do, as stated on page 70 in the Edges sectionunder “Bonus Ranks.”

WEALTH ANDEQUIPMENT

Will flying vehicles like airplanes and helicop-ters be detailed in the Game Master’s Handbook?

No. Rules for aircraft may appear in future supple-ments; however, the current scope of FIREBORN doesnot include them. If the PCs somehow get their handson aircraft (or some enemy of theirs decides to useattack helicopters to shoot them out of the sky) theyshould be treated more as scene settings than as ele-ments of a vehicle combat scenario. Aircraft are use-ful for providing cover for passengers, acting as aneasy way to enter and leave the scene, and of coursecan be mounted with masses of weapons. Strafingattacks with supersonic aircraft, however, are more inthe nature of an act of God; in other words, they arethe GM’s prerogative to narrate.

LOST LORE: FAQ

LOST LORE: FAQ

If a character doesn’t pay upkeep several timesin a row, does his available wealth keep dropping?What happens to a character who foregoes payingupkeep often enough to start out an adventure atavailable wealth 0? Once he drops to availablewealth 0, he can’t pay upkeep, so he can never “getback on his feet,” right?

A character’s available wealth stays at the samelevel as the adventure before, unless he does some-thing to alter it: fails to pay upkeep or lives on thecheap. When a character starts out an adventure atavailable wealth 0, he is completely penniless. Hedoesn’t have anywhere to sleep unless it is providedfor him by another PC or an NPC, and he likewisedoesn’t have any food except that gained during thecourse of play. He doesn’t even have the basiclifestyle afforded by regular begging, such as thatclaimed by Wealth 1 characters with available wealth1. The only way the character can get back to havingan available wealth of higher than 0 is for a PC orNPC to pay his upkeep for him or for the pennilesscharacter to purchase the Windfall edge to increasehis available wealth, and then lower it by one to payfor upkeep. If the character can pay for his upkeepand avoid making any significant purchases for anumber of adventures equal to his Wealth, his avail-able wealth increases by 1, getting him back in thegame. It’s a long, hard road back to your originallifestyle once you’ve hit bottom, though!

ACTION ANDCOMBAT

If I’m 2,000 ft. away with a sniper rifle, usingthe Aim mental action against a target that does-n’t know I’m there, does he still get to use anEarth (Quickness) test? Can I perform anAmbush action at the same time, or does it auto-matically succeed?

The ambush move is most useful when you’reentering a combat that’s already ongoing, or against afoe that’s on the alert, and you want to somehow getthe drop on him. In the situation above, assuming bat-tle has not yet been initiated, the GM could use thefollowing steps:

1) The targets come into view or range of thesniper.

2) The sniper makes an Air (Stealth) test to remainhidden, while all potential targets of the sniper makean Earth (Senses) reaction test. The TH for the targetsis huge because of distance and cover, so there’s verylittle chance that they’ll succeed.

3) If the sniper fails, an action scene begins; rollinitiative. If the sniper succeeds, he has successfullyhidden from the targets. He may then, since he is notyet in an action scene, perform another mental action:

Aim. Since the targets don’t know of his presence,they have no reason to make Earth (Quickness) rollsto try to outguess his aim . . . however, if they are inmotion, the GM may opt to give the sniper a base THto overcome with his Aim action, similar to a terrainthreshold.

4) After the sniper has aimed, he fires. The targetmay make a Water test to avoid the bullet with hishair-trigger reflexes, but since he was not aware ofthe attacker, he cannot use a stance change to movedice to Water. The attack is resolved, then all charac-ters roll initiative.

I don’t understand how to use terrain thresh-olds and positioning moves when I’m trying to usea fighting style. I thought I just go from left toright in my sequence, getting one move for eachsuccess I rolled. But if there are terrain thresholds,do I count those before I compare net successes, orafter?

If there are no positioning moves in your fightingstyle sequence, you can do exactly what you initiallystated: after comparing successes with the defender,you count from left to right along your sequence, per-forming one move for each net success you have.

If you’re using a sequence with positioning moves,however, you have to go through one or possibly twomore steps.

Just as with normal sequences, the first step afterrolling, bidding, and counting your successes is topay for positioning moves that are outside any oppo-nents’ reaches. Each move may require more than onesuccess, depending on the terrain threshold of theground over which you’re trying to run, the distanceyou’re trying to jump, etc.

Once those are out of the way, you’re assumed tohave moved to within reach of an opponent, and youand the foe can start interacting. At that point, youcompare successes. The character with the most suc-cesses wins; the number of successes left after sub-tracting the loser’s successes from the winner’s givesyou the winner’s net successes.

Those net successes are then applied to theremaining, unpaid-for moves in the winner's fightingstyle sequence. If that sequence is a Power + Sword +Press, the winner needs one net success for the Powermove, one for the Sword move, and one for the Pressmove. If that sequence is Kick + Stride + Press, on theother hand, the winner needs one net success for theKick move, as many for the Stride move as arerequired to meet the terrain threshold, and one for thePress move.

So the only difference between resolving fightingstyles with positioning moves and those without isthat positioning moves may require more than onesuccess to perform.

LOST LORE: FAQ

There are several maneuvers that cause a char-acter to be disadvantaged unless he performs aReady move directly afterwards. Yet, the combatexample on pages 140-141 doesn’t show any char-acters being disadvantaged. Neither do the fight-ing styles. Were these forgotten? The descriptionsfor some moves state that you’re disadvantaged ifyou end the turn while using that move, while oth-ers state that you need to follow the move with aReady move or be disadvantaged. Which is right?

The example on pages 140-141 does not mentionthe disadvantage rule because that rule is firstdescribed on page 144, in Sidebar 6–9. Since theexample is there to clarify what has been presentedthus far and show it “in action,” it isn’t optimal to dis-cuss the disadvantage rule within its context.

The intention behind the disadvantaged rule is thatcharacters that end their turns off-balance or in sub-optimal positions (in the water, clinging to a wall, flaton their backs on the ground, etc.) will have a hardertime defending themselves from incoming attacks.Likewise, if they don’t do something about their dis-advantage at the beginning of their next turn, they’llhave a harder time attacking. The moves that causedisadvantage use the “If you end your turn” phrasingas a way to explain this, but it is not always entirelyaccurate. To clarify, if a character uses a Climb,Crouch, Dash, Jump, Roll, Spin, or Swim move out-side of a fighting style sequence, and does not includea Ready move afterwards, he is disadvantaged as soonas his sequence ends. He remains disadvantaged untilhe performs a Ready move specifically intended toend the disadvantaged state. Since multiple disadvan-tage effects from performing moves do not stack, onlyone Ready move is required to end a disadvantage,regardless of the number of moves performed thatcaused the disadvantage.

The Climb and Swim move are a special case. Aslong as a character without a Climb stride or Swimstride continues to use those forms of movement (ison a slope of 45 degrees or steeper for climbing, or isin water without being able to touch bottom forswimming), he is considered disadvantaged, regard-less of whether or not he uses Ready moves after theClimb or Swim moves. Only after the character hasgotten out of the precarious situation, whether byjumping off the slope or climbing out of the water,can a Ready move be used to end the disadvantage.

As for fighting styles, see the next question below.

Several of the combat manuevers in the fightingstyles, based on the moves performed, shouldcause a disadvantage to their user, yet this is notmentioned. Also, what are the effects of specialmoves like Grab or Slam when used in fightingstyle sequences?

LOST LORE: FAQ

Fighting styles are a special case; you’re never dis-advantaged by performing moves in a fighting stylesequence, because fighting style sequences are devel-oped to allow a warrior to maintain total control andbalance.

Fighting styles also use slightly different rulesconcerning other moves. Just as with normal actionsequences, each move preceding an attack (position-ing moves to approach your target, for instance)requires a success; however, the system by whichfighting styles are designed gives you a greater pay-off for those successes. For instance, normally if asize 0 character needs to cross a 6-ft.-wide chasmbefore hitting an enemy with a mighty kick, he’dneed to Dash + Jump + Power + Kick. After payingone success for the Dash move and two successes forthe Jump move (each success accounts for the char-acter’s reach + 50%, or in this case 3 feet), the char-acter would require 3 net successes and would deal 9damage (4 for the kick and +5 for the Power move).However, if you know Eastern Small Style, you caninstead perform the Grasshopper sequence, whichrequires 4 net successes on a Dash + Jump + Power +Kick sequence, but deals 39 damage (4 for the kickand +35 for the fighting style sequence payoff)!

So, not only do positioning moves in fighting stylesequences get you where you need to be, theyincrease the potential damage of your attackimmensely. In a way, characters using them arerewarded for the effects of their momentum, speed,and unexpected maneuvers. The same holds true forSlam, Grab, and other attack moves; their normaleffects occur, whether it be getting an opponent in aGrab or causing damage equal to your size category+2 with a Slam. These effects are not specificallydescribed under a sequence’s payoff, and must becalculated depending on the sequence in question. Inthe cases in which a move’s normal prerequisites areignored, however, the move’s normal effects are like-wise ignored (for instance, if a fighting style sequencerequires a Slam but is not preceeded by a Grab orDash, then the Slam move has no effect beyond thepayoff).

The only move effects that are not calculated asnormal in a fighting style sequence are the bonus dam-age added to a strike from Power and Press moves.The damage gained from these moves is already fac-tored into the payoff of the sequence, and in someinstances the “force” of the attack is translated intogross trauma, disadvantage penalties, or other effectsinstead of raw damage.

I don’t understand why I have to use multipledefense moves in a defense sequence. Let’s say Ihave a base Water score of 1, and my opponentlaunches three attacks at me. At first I thought I

simply couldn’t defend against two out of thosethree attacks, because my base Water score wasn’thigh enough. But then I realized that I could justuse a single Roll move. As soon as I do, I’m out ofthe way . . . so why do I need two more defensemoves to counter his attack moves?

Page 136 and the errata presented in this documentfor page 135 both help to clarify this issue. First of all,in your case, you must use default defense becauseyour base Water score is not high enough to allow youto include positioning or attack sequences after fendingoff your opponent’s blows. This allows you to avoidall of the opponent’s attacks, no matter how many hethrows at you.

Second, the question of just rolling out of the way.You could choose to use Roll as your default defense,but when you use Roll as a defense move, you traveljust far enough to get out of the way of your attacker’sswing, bullet, throw, or whatever. You do not move asubstantial enough distance to take you out of hisreach, however.

If you wanted to Roll away so that the attacker’sbuddy can’t hit you as easily, though, you’d need abase Water score of at least 4; you would have to cre-ate a defense sequence, starting with three defensemoves and adding Roll as a positioning move. Thatsequence might look like this: Dodge + Dodge +Dodge + Roll. The three defense moves are there todemonstrate the amount of attention that deflecting ordodging the attacks requires before you can even con-sider the Roll positioning move.

I still don’t understand defense sequences.What happens if I have a base Water score of 5and Melee 5 and am going up against an attackerwith a base Fire score of 5 and Melee 5. He throwsa L Fist + R Fist + Ready + L Fist attack sequenceat me; I respond with a Block + Block + Block +Ready + Fist. We make our opposed test and bidkarma, he ends up with 3 successes and I end upwith 5. So I have 2 net successes. Does that meanhe loses and I get to perform my Ready and Fistmoves, or does it mean that I only perform 2 of theBlock moves and one of his attacks get through?

Neither one is the outcome, though your setup iscorrect. First the attacker declares his attacksequence; then the defender must decide what sort ofdefense she wishes to use. If the defender wants to doanything other than a default defense, she must havethe base Water score and the skill ranks to create anappropriate sequence. In this case, you do have ade-quate scores, so you can create an actual defensesequence rather than using a default defense. If youtried to create a defense sequence, but couldn’t, youwould return to default defense. In either case, once asequence is approved or denied by the GM as being

appropriate, you won’t needto pay further attention to howthe attack moves and defensemoves stack up against oneanother. All that matters afterthis point is who wins theopposed test.

Once you’ve decided whatsort of defense you want touse, you and the attackermake opposed tests. After“paying for” positioningmove terrain thresholds, bid-ding karma, and comparingsuccesses, you determine whohas net successes. If neither ofyou have net successes, theattacker misses. If theattacker has one or more netsuccesses, he performs themoves in his attacksequence from left toright, regardless of thedefender’s moves. If thedefender has one or morenet successs, he performsthe moves in his defensesequence from left to right,regardless of the attacker’smoves.

MAGIC AND KARMAHow does the Ephemeral Armor spell work

when the payoff ratings of an attack are greaterthan the points worth of physical redirection youhave left?

Ephemeral Armor, like most magic in FIREBORN, isvery precise. First it “checks for” a PR value of afighting style sequence or a spell rank; if the attackfits either of those criteria, it redirects it (or not). Sucheffects can only be redirected entirely, or not at all. Ifan attack is not a fighting style sequence or a spell,the Armor then “checks for” the dice wounds it wouldinflict on the Armor’s wearer. It redirects those dicewounds, one at a time, until it runs out of protectiveability.

For example, let’s say you have a character withthe following health chart:

5m; <4 / 4+ / 4+ / 8+ / 12+ / 16+ / 20+ / 24+If that character, while protected by a fresh cast-

ing of Ephemeral Armor, is attacked by a characterusing the Howling Gods sequence (PR 10) from theLightning style, the PR of the attack exceeds the abil-ity of the Ephemeral Armor to redirect; it “goesthrough.” If the character were attacked by the

Adder’s Fangs sequence (PR 4)from the Ravager style, the spellwould redirect the entire payoffof the sequence. If the characterwere attacked by a Power +Power + Power + Warhammerattack by a troll (damage 30,which would be 7 wound dice;staging up for size twice wouldbring it to 9 wound dice), thespell would redirect as many ofthe wound dice as it could, 8 ofthem, and 1 wound die wouldstill “go through.”

This does indeed mean that, insome cases, a weak attack dealtby a large creature, which nor-mally wouldn’t be enough toeven scratch a creature of hisown size, could be redirectedback and kill the attacker. The

eventual result of the redirectedattack is always from the “pointof view” of the target, the charac-ter benefitting from EphemeralArmor.

Can you accumulate moresuccesses than you need to usecasting options intentionally?

For instance, if I want to cast Disintegrate on a size3 target using casting option d, can I keep castingthe turn after I get the required 5 successes?

No. As described on page 176, as soon as the min-imum number of successes are achieved with theCasting test, the spell is performed. If the caster hasaccumulated too many successes on this turn, theymay damage him or may be channeled into castingoption effects, but successes may not be accumulated.

SEQUENCECARDS

The next few pages include special bonus cards forFIREBORN players. These cards may be photocopied andcut out to be used as quick references for when you needto remember what a specific attack, defense, or posi-tioning move does in an action scene; alternatively, theymay be used as “building blocks” to help novice andveteran players alike build sequences on the fly. Theycan even be used by the GM for his NPCs, so the play-ers can see exactly what the bad guys are throwing atthem.

LOST LORE: FAQ

BLOCKSKILL: Melee TYPE: DefenseEFFECT: Interpose a meleeweapon (or shield, or fist, orother object) between yourselfand a foe’s incoming meleeweapon, negating the attack.Block must be followed by aReady move in order to performan attack move in the samesequence.

BURSTSKILL: RangedTYPE: Mass AttackEFFECT: Target a 10-ft. cube ofspace with a hail of bullets (using10 rounds of ammo). Everythingin the area suffers the weapon’sdamage rating. Creatures in thearea may attempt to Dodge orRoll, reducing the damage by 5for each success; as with explo-sive weapons, creatures may onlydodge the attack if they are with-in reach of appropriate cover orthe edge of the area of effect.

You may target differentareas with the Retarget move.

CASTSKILL: Casting TYPE: Full Physical ActionEFFECT: Cast a spell.

CLIMBSKILL: AthleticsTYPE: PositioningEFFECT: Move up to one-quarter your Stride on a slopeof 45 degrees or more.

The Climb move causes adisadvantage, and you remaindisadvantaged for as long asyou are climbing.

CRAWLSKILL: AthleticsTYPE: PositioningEFFECT: Move up to one-halfyour Stride distance whileprone. Is usually preceeded by aCrouch or Roll move.

CCRROOUUCCHHSKILL: QuicknessTYPE: Positioning or DefenseEFFECT: Drop to a crouch orto prone. May be used as adefense move.

The Crouch move causes adisadvantage, and you remaindisadvantaged for as long asyou are prone.

If you use Crouch as adefense move, you must followit with a Ready move to per-form an attack in the samesequence.

DASHSKILL: Quickness TYPE: PositioningEFFECT: Move up to doubleyour Stride distance.

The Dash move causes adisadvantage.

DELAYSKILL: NoneTYPE: Full Physical ActionEFFECT: You spend yourphysical action to time yourmental action; rather than per-forming it immediately, youinstead wait until you’re goodand ready. You may act at anyinitiative you wish, up to thenegative integer of your origi-nal initiative, but cannot inter-rupt another’s action. Your ini-tiative then changes to the newinitiative.

DODGESKILL: QuicknessTYPE: DefenseEFFECT: Stepping out of theway of an attack, whethermelee or ranged. You must havea clear space to either side of orbehind you in order to dodge,so dodging in tight quarters orwhen completely surrounded isnot possible.

If you use Dodge as adefense move, you must followit with a Ready move to per-form an attack in the samesequence.

EESSCCAAPPEESKILL: QuicknessTYPE: Full Physical ActionEFFECT: Escape a Grab.

FIRESKILL: RangedTYPE: AttackEFFECT: Pull the trigger on amechanical ranged weapon. Foreach Fire move that hits, the tar-get suffers the weapon’s dam-age rating. Can be used againstfoes within reach.

FOCUSSKILL: WillTYPE: Full Physical ActionEFFECT: Make a Fire (Will)test. You may ignore one disad-vantage penalty per success onall mental tests until the begin-ning of your next turn. If youare suffering from any fadingmental disadvantage penalties,they are removed instead ofignored.

GRABSKILL: MeleeTYPE: AttackEFFECT: Grab hold of anopponent. The number of suc-cessful Press moves followingthe grab sets the TH for the tar-get to break the grab, each caus-es 2 damage, and each causes a–1 disadvantage penalty to allphysical or all mental tests (yourchoice) made by the target otherthan those spent trying to escapethe Grab.

For more details on theeffects of a Grab, see the Player’sHandbook, page 144.

GRITSKILL: StaminaTYPE: Full Physical ActionEFFECT: Make a Fire(Stamina) test. The number ofsuccesses you gain are the num-ber of total wound dice andweariness dice you may ignorewhile performing mental testsuntil the beginning of your nextturn.

IINNTTEERRRRUUPPTTSKILL: QuicknessTYPE: Full Physical ActionEFFECT: Specify an event youwant to interrupt with a mentalaction. When it occurs, make aFire (Quickness) test opposedby the acting character’s Fire(Quickness) test. If you win,you may carry out and resolveyour mental action first. If youlose, you may still carry outyour mental action, but do soafter the acting character.

JUMPSKILL: AthleticsTYPE: Positioning or DefenseEFFECT: For each success,you may leap forward a dis-tance equal to your reach orupward a distance equal to one-quarter your reach. If this moveis preceded in a sequence by aDash, the distance increases by50%.

The Jump move causes adisadvantage. If you use Jumpas a defense move, you mustfollow it with a Ready move inorder to perform an attack movein the same sequence.

KNOCKOUTSKILL: MeleeTYPE: AttackEFFECT: Target must havesuffered his maximum minorwounds or at least one wounddie. You must have a bluntstriking weapon available andbe able to hit the target’s head.Target must make a Water(Stamina) test with a TH equalto the number of Power movespreceding the Strike, or loseconsciousness as if down for 10minutes per Power move pre-ceding the strike, until stabi-lized with the Medicine skill.

POWERSKILL: None TYPE: AttackEFFECT: At the expense ofaccuracy, put greater power andleverage behind one of yourattack moves. For each Powermove you perform in a squencebefore an attack move, theattack move does +5 damage.

PRESSSKILL: NoneTYPE: AttackEFFECT: Driving an attack indeeper or harder once it hits.For each Press move you per-form in a sequence after anattack move, the attack movedoes +2 damage. Presses areoften used to “fill in” an attacksequence if you have moves leftover.

READYSKILL: NoneTYPE: AllEFFECT:

—Draw a weapon, requiringa number of Ready moves equalto its ready requirement

—Use a weapon a secondtime, requiring a number ofReady moves equal to its readyrequirement

—Recover from a disadvan-tage

—Prepare to perform anattack move after a defensemove

—Perform a miscellaneousaction

RETARGETSKILL: NoneTYPE: AttackEFFECT: When using aranged or melee weapon, directyour subsequent attack movesto a new target.

ROLLSKILL: Quickness TYPE: Positioning or DefenseEFFECT: Dive and move for-ward one-half your Stride dis-tance while prone. Can also beused as a defense move, effec-tively combining Crouch andDodge, but has the same spacerequirements as Dodge andcauses a disadvantage; also,you remain disadvantaged foras long as you are prone. If youuse Roll as a defense move, youmust follow it with a Readymove to perform an attack inthe same sequence.

SIDESTEPSKILL: QuicknessTYPE: PositioningEFFECT: Step a few feet toone side, forward, or back, so asto extend your reach, peer downa hallway, move behind a door,etc. Commonly followed by anattack and then anotherSidestep to return to your origi-nal position.

SLAMSKILL: MeleeTYPE: AttackEFFECT: Use your body toslam into your opponent, orslam his body into someone orsomething else. The Slam movemust either be proceeded by aGrab move (in which case itinflicts damage equal to yoursize category +2) or a Dashmove (in which case it allowsyou to move through and pastyour foe). Inflicts a –1 fadingphysical disadvantage penaltyper successful Press after theSlam move.

SPINSKILL: QuicknessTYPE: DefenseEFFECT: Spin in place toavoid an attack.

The Spin move causes a dis-advantage. If you use Spin as adefense move, you must followit with a Ready move to per-form an attack in the samesequence.

SSTTRRIIDDEESKILL: AthleticsTYPE: PositioningEFFECT: Move your Stridedistance.

SWEEPSKILL: MeleeTYPE: Mass AttackEFFECT: Attack multiple foes.In order to sweep a group offoes, all targets must be smallenough that they would beunable to block your attackeven with heavy weapons.

SWIMSKILL: AthleticsTYPE: PositioningEFFECT: Swim a distanceequal to one-half your Stride.

The Swim move causes adisadvantage, and you remaindisadvantaged for as long asyou are swimming.

ThrowSKILL: RangedTYPE: AttackEFFECT: Throw a spear,knife, or other potentially dam-aging object at a non-adjacentfoe. Because they use strength,thrown weapons may be used inconjunction with the Powermove. You cannot use thismove against opponents withinreach.

TOSSSKILL: MeleeTYPE: AttackEFFECT: Must be preceded bya Grab move. For each success-ful Press move afterward, youmay throw or push a foe a num-ber of feet equal to your reach.

If the thrower is larger thanthe victim, the thrower gains 1automatically succesful Pressper size category the thrower islarger. If the thrower is smallerthan the victim, the throwerloses 1 Press per size categoryhe is smaller.

FISTSTRIKESKILL: MeleeTYPE: AttackEFFECT: Attack a foe withyour fist, dealing 3 damage.

KICKSTRIKESKILL: MeleeTYPE: AttackEFFECT: Attack a foe with akick, dealing 4 damage.

WEAPON

NAME

SKILL:TYPE: AttackEFFECT:

WEAPON

NAME

SKILL:TYPE: AttackEFFECT:

WEAPON

NAME

SKILL:TYPE: AttackEFFECT:

WEAPON

NAME

SKILL:TYPE: AttackEFFECT: