Introduction - alliancealberta.ca 2-v0.8.docx · Web viewWelcome to the Alliance Rulebook 2.0...

ARB 2.0 Playtest Packet version 0.8 (9/28/16) Bryan Gregory

Table of Contents:

Contents1. Introduction..................................................................................................................................................................2

1.1 How To Playtest.....................................................................................................................................................2

2. Effects and Delivery Changes........................................................................................................................................3

2.1 Qualifier Changes..................................................................................................................................................3

2.2 Defenses................................................................................................................................................................4

2.3 Effect Changes.......................................................................................................................................................5

3. Weapon, Armor, and Combat Changes.......................................................................................................................10

3.1 Shields and Armor...............................................................................................................................................10

3.2 Monster Abilities.................................................................................................................................................11

3.3 Combat Changes..................................................................................................................................................11

4. Spell Changes..............................................................................................................................................................11

4.1 Signature Spells...................................................................................................................................................12

4.2 Storm Spells.........................................................................................................................................................12

4.3 Spell Lists.............................................................................................................................................................13

4.4 Additional Spell Changes.....................................................................................................................................14

4.5 Wand Changes.....................................................................................................................................................14

4.6 Spell Incants........................................................................................................................................................14

Version A:....................................................................................................................................................................15

Version B:....................................................................................................................................................................16

5. Skill and Character Changes........................................................................................................................................17

5.1 Racial Updates.....................................................................................................................................................17

5.2 New and Changed Skills.......................................................................................................................................18

5.3 Purchasing Skills..................................................................................................................................................21

6. Alchemy and Traps......................................................................................................................................................23

6.1 Alchemy Changes................................................................................................................................................23

6.2 Trap changes.......................................................................................................................................................24

7. High Magic...................................................................................................................................................................26

8. Magic Items.................................................................................................................................................................27

Appendix 1 – Changes from Prior Version...........................................................................................................................35

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1. IntroductionWelcome to the Alliance Rulebook 2.0 playtest packet! This packet contains all that you need to know to try out some of the proposed 2.0 rules. There are a lot of changes, but we’ve tried to summarize them to help make them easier to pick up. Not all rules changes which were voted in have been included here, only those which might affect the mechanics of the game as played. Some specific passages are in bold, to help players zero in on key changes or reminders. It is entirely possible that proposed rules may change in minor or major ways from what is outlined here – that’s what playtests are for – so playtesters should not assume that anything in this packet is final.

In many places we’ll go over the differences from the current (version 1.3) Alliance rulebook, so keep it open while you read this document!

To assist participants who have already gone through a previous round of playtesting, changes can be found in red throughout this document. These will highlight differences from the playtest documents of the prior round.

1.1 How To PlaytestEach playtest location will have one specific person in charge of running the playtest (the Playtest Coordinator). This person is expected to thoroughly read over this packet and communicate questions (whether their own or from other people in their playtest group) back and forth with ARC and the Alliance GM. The Playtest Coordinator should set up times and locations for playtests to occur. Please keep in mind that playtests will not award XP to any Alliance characters and should not be considered Alliance events.

Anyone may apply to join a Playtest. The Playtest Coordinator in each Chapter has final say on allowing players to join or not based on availability, timing, and a player’s willingness to adhere constructively to the spirit of the playtesting process.

Once a group of playtesters has been collected, the Playtest Coordinator should go over the packet in detail before getting out on the field. This will help them answer questions that come up and make sure everyone understands what is needed. Each playtester should come up with a version of their existing PC(s) under the new system as well as one or two character concepts at different levels. This initial meeting is a great place to go over characters for the playtest. In addition, a collection of pre-generated characters, monsters, and magic items are available to the Playtest Coordinator; these should be handed out to players to try out over the course of the playtests.

After the playtesters have created characters and gone over the packet with the Playtest Coordinator, a playtest can be set up in any suitable location. Each playtest should be set up with a variety of scenarios - everything from free-form battles among PC cards to battle encounters and wave battles with the Playtest Coordinator handing out monster cards to some of the players. Roleplay encounters and character-building events should not be neglected, although the primary rules changes revolve around combat. We strongly encourage the Coordinators to run multi-encounter modules to better simulate a full day’s event. A Playtest

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Module has been included; this module must be run by the Playtest Coordinator at least once during a Playtest cycle so we can have a consistent baseline of player feedback on this item.

As a general rule of thumb, we encourage Playtest Coordinators to try a variety of equipment as well. Players using existing PC concepts should be allowed to playtest with (appropriately modified if necessary) their existing equipment. Players using new PC concepts should have appropriate equipment, including (as a general guideline) at least two batches worth of production items which they could create.

Following each playtest, every participant should fill out a feedback form. This will be sent out by the Alliance GM and/or ARC to the Playtest Coordinators. Turning in feedback is an essential part of playtesting.

Additional playtests and updates to this Playtest Packet may be sent out at later dates to the Playtest Coordinators.

2. Effects and Delivery ChangesMany of the core ARB 2.0 changes come down to how various effects, deliveries, and qualifiers work. We recommend that you first take a quick review over pages 96, 97, and 98 of the current ARB to remind yourself what effects, deliveries, and qualifiers are. The basic idea is that any call you make against another player is given via a delivery (the physical mechanism for the attack – a swing of a weapon, a packet, drinking a potion, etc.) and should include an amount (if applicable), a qualifier (how the attack is being delivered, i.e. “Spell” or “Elemental” or “Weapon”) and an effect (what exactly is being done, for example “Flame” or “Prison” or “Normal”).

Weapon swings still use an implied qualifier. When swinging a longsword for a normal swing, for example, a character will call “2 Normal”, not “2 Weapon Normal”. If you are struck by a weapon with no other qualifier, the Weapon qualifier should be assumed.

2.1 Qualifier ChangesNone of the Alliance deliveries have changed, but the qualifiers and effects have. First off, the “Magic” qualifier is removed and replaced entirely with “Spell”. This was to eliminate the confusion between having “Magic” both as a qualifier and an effect (from a Damage Aura sword or some monsters). Any time you hear “Spell”, it means something’s being delivered via a magic spell or some other similar magical source like a monster’s innate pyramid or a Ritual effect. Similarly, the “Spell Strike” verbal is removed – now you just need to use “Spell”. The applicable defenses (Magic Armor, Spell Shield, Resist Magic, etc.) have all been reworked to trigger based completely on the qualifier of the attack, so there’s no more exceptions for Spell Strikes in those places. The “Spell” qualifier now consistently works when it hits a target or their possessions, no matter what its delivery.

The “Skill” qualifier has been completely removed – you no longer need to say “Prepare to Die” before using a Slay, Eviscerate, or any other skill which previously required it. Slays and Assassinates are changed to simply be swings with a bigger damage amount, while other abilities which were previously Prepare to Die are simply swings with a different effect.

The “Damage” qualifier has been replaced by a “Weapon” qualifier, which is the default for any weapon swing (or bow shot) unless it is explicitly changed to some other qualifier (like “Spell” for a Spell Strike). This means that most weapon swings will just have a number and effect (just like today) – for example, “3 Normal” or “20

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Silver”. Some defenses – like Parry, Magic Armor, or other weapon-specific defenses – have changed to specify that they work against any attack with the “Weapon” qualifier. This helps eliminate some exceptions.

In pretty much every case, it’s safe to assume that you can deliver any attack by clearly stating its amount (if applicable), qualifier, and effect. This has been clarified for many things, including magic items where you now need to clearly identify the delivery along with the “Activate” keyword. All other existing rules for activating a magic item remain – you need to be able to speak, activating a spell still requires the incant if you couldn’t memorize it, etc. For example, a player with an activatable Silence (with a 5th level Earth spell slot on their character card) would now need to call “Activate Spell Silence!” when throwing the packet. This clearly identifies to the target that they can use any defense which works against the “Spell” qualifier.

2.2 DefensesDefensive calls have been significantly streamlined throughout the system. Each defense is classified as one of the following standard four categories:

Guard: This type of defense is used to completely block a single attack. In general, these denote expendable skills, spells, or abilities.Return: A specific defense was used against the attack, and the attacker will automatically be struck by whatever the original attack was. They may use any applicable defenses they have against this Returned attack. Keep in mind that any single source of a Return (such as a Bane or Riposte) may be only be used once by any single combatant on any single attack.Reduced: The effect of the attack was reduced by some partial amount.No Effect: The attack was completely ineffective.

When calling a Defense, you only call the name of the specific ability that you’re using (just like in the ARB 1.3). For example, if you use a Dodge, the appropriate call is “Dodge”. At any point, a player may make the quick OOG question “What does that defense do?” to which the person calling the defense should reply with the appropriate category above (e.g. “Guard”, “Return”, etc.)

Defenses are classified as either Smart or Dumb in their description. Smart defenses may be used at the discretion of the player against a specific attack, but may only be used when the character is conscious. Examples of Smart defenses are abilities such as Cloak and Resist Binding. Dumb defenses will go off against the first attack which they would activate against, even if the character is unconscious. Examples of Dumb defenses are Spell Shield and Elemental Shield.

Resist abilities are special. These defenses represent innate abilities of a creature's body, not the layered defenses of martial skill, magic, and rituals. Unlike other Smart defenses, Resists may not be used until all applicable Dumb defenses are expended.

Existing defenses are reclassified as below; this table lists whether a defense is Smart or Dumb and how it is classified. For example, a Dodge is a Smart Guard meaning that the player may choose when to activate it (Smart) and that it stops a single attack completely (Guard).

Dodge and Racial Dodge: Smart GuardResist <type>: Smart GuardEvade: Smart ReducedParry: Smart Guard

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Riposte: Smart ReturnImmunities: Dumb No Effect<Type> Guard: Dumb Guard, renamed to "<Type> Block"Phase: Smart GuardReduced Damage: Dumb ReducedThreshold: Dumb No EffectElemental Shield: Dumb GuardWeapon Shield (Magic Armor renamed): Dumb GuardPoison Shield: Dumb GuardSpell Shield: Dumb GuardReflect Spell (Reflect Magic renamed): Dumb ReturnCloak: Smart GuardBane: Smart ReturnProtection Aura: Dumb No EffectSpell Parry: Smart GuardRender Indestructible: Dumb No EffectStrengthening: Dumb GuardPaste of Stickiness (when Disarmed): Dumb GuardSpirit Link/Lock (when Disarmed): Dumb No Effect (you still need to put the item behind your back for 5 seconds)

Finally, characters may now find out if some unexpected effect healed their target to represent the fact that in-game this should be apparent upon careful inspection. A player may challenge another player, after striking them with some offensive effect, and ask the out of game question “Are you healed?” to which the challenged player must reply truthfully (out of game, of course).

2.3 Effect ChangesThe 2.0 rulebook will have a significantly smaller set of effects and effect groups. The intent was to streamline the system by reducing effects which were very similar to other effects without losing the flavor of the system long-term players know and enjoy. While not all players need to memorize all the changes, we strongly recommend that those who memorize spells look over the sections below which are pertinent to their characters.

- Alteration: This effect group had four nearly-identical effects: Feeblemind, Laugh, Nausea, and Vertigo. They were different only in how exactly they took a character out of a fight. These were consolidated down into one effect, Enfeeble, that can be RP'd with any of the four old effects at the target’s choice. To maintain flavor, specific RP can be instructed with the effect for some monsters. In addition, Antidote was moved from Healing to Alteration to maintain consistency with other "fix this effect group" type effects (Release, Awaken, etc.). The game mechanic for the new effect is basically “Cannot use Game Skills, may not Run”.

- Binding: Web was removed as an effect since it entirely duplicated Confine. Slow was added as what used to be the Disease effect (see the Necromancy changes below). Bind was updated to allow targeting of either "arms" or "legs" and Pin was removed as a side effect. Entangle was removed as duplicative; we recommend that creatures which previously used it (e.g. Spiders) instead throw packets with "Weapon Bind <arms or legs>".

- Coating: Vorpal Coating was changed to something that comes with a number (so Serious Vorpal Coating would now be “10 Vorpal Coating”). Quicksilver was removed.

- Command: After several years of text updates and clarifications to make the intent clear and remove loopholes, Charm is updated to state that the specific commands which the ARB 1.2 Dominate can be used for

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may not be refused by the subject of a Charm. This makes Dominate duplicative and results in its removal. Finally, Command effects no longer override each other. This restores the original intent of spells like Shun (which are currently used as a substitute for Awaken).

- Curse: Curse was changed from a "each spell has its reverse as a specific removal" paradigm to a "one spell cleans up everything from this Effect Group" paradigm (similar to Binding with Release, Command with Awaken, Alteration with Antidote, etc.). Cleanse was added as a new effect to fix all Curses on a target (and is a new spell at Earth 4). This eliminates the Remove Curse effect group entirely. In addition, Death was moved from Gift to Curse (see the Healing and Necromancy comments below for more on the intent behind this change). Note that this means Death will affect many more creature types than it affects today, expanding its use and desirability (to balance out the change in utility from Life/Death reversability).

- Damage: Removed entirely due to common confusion with Necromancy and severe underutilization.

- Eldritch Force: Some of the Summoned Force group (Disarm, Shatter) was moved into this Effect Group and Enflame and Destroy were removed entirely. This allows us to remove the Summoned Force effect group as a separate entity. A new effect, Mend Armor, has been added to this school, replacing the old Shield spell (and changing what it does). Stun Limb was moved to this effect group (and added as an 8th level Celestial spell).

- Evocation: Existing Evocation effects and spells were consolidated down into a single spell at every Celestial spell level which will allow the caster to manifest the chosen element at an amount appropriate to the spell level. Flame, Ice, Stone, and Lightning were moved into the Evocation Effect Group to better track their intent. Evocation now covers all Flame, Ice, Stone, and Lightning effects, eliminating a lot of player confusion in questions like "wait, Flame Bolt is Evocation but 20 Spell Flame isn't?". Finally, the Magic damage type (used by Magic Storm and Damage Aura weapons or effects like Magic Blade, Race Reaver, Monster Slayer, etc.) moved to Evocation.

- Gift: Removed entirely (see Curse, Healing, and Necromancy comments for details).

- Greater Command: Remove Greater Command effects were moved into this Effect Group for simplicity. Love Potion #9 was removed as a duplicative effect. Remove Terror was added as a specific effect so each Greater Command effect has a specific antidote (Amnesia has its own special removal rules which are preserved).

- Healing: Existing Healing effects and spells were consolidated down into a simple spell at every Earth spell level which will allow the caster to manifest the chosen type (Healing or Chaos) at an amount appropriate to the spell level. Earth was removed as a separate damage effect, replaced in all cases by Healing. Life was added to this school with its reverse changed to the new effect Corrupt (see Necromancy below). This brings Life more in line with its in-game expectations of a Healing spell of great power and allows us to eliminate the tiny Gift effect group. Finally, with the addition of a Cure / Cause Wounds spell at every level, the Help / Harm Undead spells were removed.

- Necromancy: Existing Necromancy effects and spells were consolidated down into a simple spell at every Earth spell level which will allow the caster to manifest the chosen type (Healing or Chaos) at an amount appropriate to the spell level. Disease was updated to prevent all healing for 10 minutes as an Earth 4 spell (and Slow was added to Binding). Corrupt was added as an effect which instantly slays a living target and raises them as a Greater Undead under control of the caster as the new reverse of the Life spell. Other Necromancy effects had some additional minor changes for ease of use (such as Wither removing the functionality of all

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limbs, not just one at a time). Finally, with the addition of a Cure / Cause Wounds spell at every level, the Help / Harm Undead spells were removed.

- Protection/Enhancement: Endow is simplified down to simply a set of defined roleplay benefits (running with a body in hand, etc.). Shield and Bless are removed (though Shield was replaced by a different effect in Eldritch Force). Magic Blade and Elemental Blade are combined into a single effect, Enhanced Blade, which allows choosing any Evocation element.

- Remove Curse: Eliminated completely (see the Curse comments above).

- Remove Greater Command: Eliminated completely (see the Greater Command comments above).

- Summoned Force: Enflame is removed as both a very confusing effect (two separate and distinct effects combined into one) and an underutilized one. The other effects are moved into Eldritch Force.

- Other: Slay and Assassinate are removed, due to the Deliveries and Evade Core Proposals making the calls redundant. Magic is moved to Evocation. Last but not least, Shatter and Disarm are changed so that when weapon-delivered they automatically target whatever they happen to hit - no specific target is required in this case (or allowed). The skill versions are changed to only work for one single swing, not "until landed", due to this change.

The resulting (fewer) Effect Groups are summarized below; this replaces the existing entries on page 98 of the 1.2 ARB:

Alteration (Antidote, Enfeeble, Hallucinate, Intoxicate, Paranoia)Binding (Slow, Bind, Release, Repel, Confine)Coating (Alchemical Solvent, Liquid Light, Vorpal Coating, Oil of Slipperiness, Paste of Stickiness)Command (Awaken, Berserk, Charm, Fear, Love, Shun, Sleep, Vampire Charm)Curse (Destruction, Paralysis, Silence, Weakness, Cleanse, Death)Eldritch Force (Banish, Circle of Power, Fortress, Lesser Investment, Light, Prison, Solidify, Subjugate, Wall of Force, Ward, Wizard Lock, Disarm, Shatter, Mend Armor, Stun Limb)Evocation (Flame, Ice, Stone, Lightning, Magic, Magic Storm, Lesser Magic Storm)Greater Command (Amnesia, Enslavement, Euphoria, Terror, Enslavement Antidote, Euphoria Antidote, Remove Terror)Healing (Cure Disease, Earth Blade, Healing, Life, Purify, Restore, Sanctuary, Turn Undead, Destroy Undead, Earth Storm, Lesser Earth Storm)Necromancy (Corrupt, Chaos, Chaos Blade, Control Undead, Create Undead, Desecrate, Disease, Drain, Wither, Chaos Storm, Lesser Chaos Storm)Protection/Enhancement (Dispel, Elemental Shield, Enhanced Blade, Endow, Weapon Shield, Poison Shield, Reflect Spell, Spell Shield)Other (Body, Explosive, Eviscerate, Massive, Mechanical, Normal, Silver, Terminate, Waylay)

Some notes on specific effects:

Berserk: Berserk has been updated to allow players to choose whether to use expendable abilities to enhance their Berserk experience. As before, the victim must use basic weapon skills if they have them available (including shields, claws, and constant abilities such as Weapon Proficiency and Backstab). The player of a Berserked character may make an out-of-game choice whether they want their character to utilize and expend per-day abilities and equipment such as spells, Resists, Banes, alchemy globes, etc. etc. Please note that this is an out-of-game choice for the player based on how they wish to utilize their character's abilities and equipment; the character has no in-game options as to what they utilize. Characters are never forced to utilize

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Necromancy spells or items unless the player chooses to have them to do, with full understanding that this may impact their character in-game.

Bind: This spell snares either the arms or the legs of its victim. When the effect is used, the target (either "arms" or "legs") must be called; if no target is called the victim may choose whether their arms or legs are bound.If a victim's arms are the target, they are bound straight to its sides. The victim may talk freely, but may not use any Game Abilities requiring the use of arms, including using a weapon or shield, casting a spell, or activating a gas globe. The victim may walk, run or leave the combat area as desired.If a victim's legs are the target, their feet are stuck to the floor and may not be moved. The victim may move their body and arms freely but may not move the bottoms of their feet. It will not stop them from engaging in combat or spellcasting.This spell does not prevent the victim from being searched or being given a Killing Blow, although a moving victim is unlikely to allow either action.

Charm: Under Charm, remove the third paragraph and replace the fifth paragraph with the following:While Charmed, the victim must perform actions to the best of his or her ability and knowledge, including the use of spells and skills. The victim does not have the ability to pick and choose less effective abilities to use, nor may they choose to not perform certain commands due to their personality or race. For example, if the victim knows that the person who Charmed them is undead, and that person commands the victim to heal them, they will not only cast necromancy on that person but will not be able to choose to use less powerful spells if they have more powerful ones available that are needed. Similarly, if a Flame Elemental Charmed someone, and that character knew that Flame Elementals are healed by Flame, they would do their best to use Flame to heal the Elemental if commanded.The caster may attempt to convince the victim via roleplay of a variety of things. No matter what, the victim of a Charm cannot refuse any of the following commands:Defend me: The target must protect the caster from all attacks to the best of their ability, even if it requires using spells and magic items.Follow me: The target must follow the caster.Give your <item> to me: The target must give the named item to the caster.Heal me: The target must make every attempt to heal or Life the caster. During this time the target will not attack anyone and will do everything possible, including fighting their allies, to prevent the healing from being stopped.Return to normal: This command ends the Charm effect.If a character is Charmed to multiple people, the latest person Charming them will take precedence if their roleplay/commands conflict with those from others who have Charmed the victim.

Corrupt: This spell will slay a living target and cause them to immediately become a Greater Undead under absolute control of the caster. They retain the same intelligence and knowledge as the original creature, but operate without any memory of their living state. They have an innate understanding of their own abilities and items and may utilize any weapons or armor available to the creature as well as claws. The creature's visual appearance does not immediately change on receipt of this spell.The character gains all Undead immunities and vulnerabilities and is returned to full Body Points. The player (not the character) has the choice to use or not use per-day skills and spells while under the effect of Corrupt, and will use magic items based on the orders they are given.If cast upon a Dead body which contains a spirit, the target will immediately arise as Undead as per above.

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If the creature is reduced to zero Body Points, or the spell duration expires, then the body and the spirit return to the condition they would have been in had the Corrupt not affected them. This means that if during the five-minute Death Countdown, the creature is reduced to 0 Body Points and then given a Life spell, they will reawaken alive but with no knowledge of their time spent as Undead.The ten-minute spell duration may not be extended by any means, even by Formal Magic.

Cleanse: This spell will remove all Curse effects currently active upon the target. It does not matter how those effects were caused. Note that it will not cure a Death spell.

Cure Disease / Disease: This effect renders the target unable to be healed from any source When affected by any effect which would heal them (such as Healing or First Aid for most living creatures) the target must call No Effect. Like most Earth/Chaos spells, Cure Disease will remove a Disease on a living target or inflict one upon an Undead, while Disease will remove a Disease effect on an Undead.

Destroy: Destroy has been completely removed (note that Shatter now does what Destroy used to).

Disarm: Note that if this effect is delivered via the Weapon qualifier, no target may be called and only the target which is struck will be affected. If it is an invalid target for a Disarm (such as an item which is not held in the hand) the object will remain unaffected.

Endow: You may no longer swing +2 damage with Endow, nor may you break an Entangle (as that effect no longer exists).

Evocation Bolt: See the “Signature Spells” section under Spell List Changes below.

Enhanced Blade: This allows the recipient to choose any of the following carriers: Magic, Flame, Ice, Lightning, or Stone. It effectively combines the old Magic Blade and Elemental Blade effects together.

Mend Armor: This will instantly refit up to the specified amount of lost Armor Points on the recipient as per the Blacksmithing refit ability. It will not take a suit of armor over its maximum allowed value under any circumstances, nor will it work on a Shattered suit of armor. Note that the 2nd level Celestial spell of the same name will effectively deliver “10 Spell Mend Armor”.

Shatter: Note that if this effect is delivered via the Weapon qualifier, no target may be called and only the target which is struck will be affected. Shatter will now work on any suit of physical armor, even if it is over 20 points. If it is delivered via the Weapon qualifier and strikes any part of a suit of armor, the suit of armor is considered the target. Shatter now affects any single item up to a Door-sized item (instead of Shield-sized). If it is an invalid target for a Shatter (such as an object greater than door-sized) the object will remain unaffected. If Shatter is used on an indestructible suit of armor, the armor will still be reduced to 0 points (and thus require a refit before its Armor Points are restored) but the tag will not be destroyed.

Slow: The target will be magically slowed such that they are unable to run for 10 minutes. They may move at walking speed, even brisk walking speed, but attempting to jog or run is completely impossible for them.

Wither: Note that no limb is called anymore; Wither automatically affects all four limbs on the target (and Restore will fix all limbs).

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3. Weapon, Armor, and Combat Changes

3.1 Shields and ArmorShields are now much easier to measure. Please playtest the following two possible versions of shields during your playtesting. Both shield types may be playtested during the same session, but please make sure to be very clear with your playtesters which version is being used for each specific module you are running.

Shield Size Version A: A legal Alliance shield must fit entirely within *either* a 26” diameter circle, *or* a 36” x 24” rectangle. If any part of the shield fits outside these boundaries, it may not be used.

Shield Size Version B: Any size shield may be used in Alliance combat, so long as it is safe and reasonably considered a “shield” by a Rules Marshal – no trying to pick up a picnic table and using it as a “shield”! With this change, the Turtling rules are removed from the game (head and other unsafe shots are of course still illegal!).

When trying this version of the Shield rules, please remind your player base that there are many ways to get around players using Shields:

- The Shatter and Disarm weapon skills will now Shatter or Disarm a shield when they strike it- The Shatter and Disarm spells can be also used to remove Shields from usability- Teamwork is always the most effective way around a shield; two people working together can always

flank around a shield, or a spellcaster and a fighter working together to force their target to choose between taking packets and taking weapon blows, and so forth.

On the Feedback Form for this round of playtesting, we will specifically ask about reception for both versions of the Shield rules.

Armor is now evaluated based on its appearance, not on its materials – though material still plays a part. When a suit of armor is evaluated, the evaluation takes into account what the base material (whatever it is) looks to be. Note that this does not mean shoddy craftsmanship will be accepted! A coarsely knitted silver shirt is unlikely to count as chain mail, but a well-made latex breastplate may now be counted as plate mail. Remember also that costuming does *not* provide armor points – the 1 point per location level is intended for thick gambeseons or protective leather that doesn’t meet the 2 point level.

Appears to be leather or thick cloth: 1 point per locationAppears to be thick leather: 2 points per locationAppears to be chain, scale, or brigandine: 3 points per locationAppears to be solid plate: 4 points per location

Multiple types of armor may now be layered, though even with layering no location may surpass the 4 point per location maximum and no location may get multiple bonuses for the different layers. There is no longer a 40 point maximum, though the base class limits have not changed.

Most other parts of the system remain as they are today – head and torso locations are still doubled in value, bonuses may be given for Master Crafted and In Genre, the same 8 locations exist as before, etc. Note that there is one further bonus which can be given: Actual material (such as metal for 3 or 4 point location armor or real leather for 1 or 2 point per location armor) gives an additional bonus of +1 point per location. Note that all bonus points are applied after the rest of the evaluation is done, meaning it does not double for head and torso locations. of 37

The new Armor Cost table looks like this:

Armor Prod. Points Armor Prod. Points1 - 5 Armor Points 10 31 - 35 Armor Points 806 - 10 Armor Points 20 36 - 40 Armor Points 10011 - 15 Armor Points 30 41 - 45 Armor Points 12016 - 20 Armor Points 40 46 - 50 Armor Points 14021 - 25 Armor Points 50 51 - 56 Armor Points 17026 - 30 Armor Points 60 56 - 62 Armor Points 200

3.2 Monster AbilitiesA new Monster Ability has been added to help NPCs who get surrounded by multiple PCs and are unable to engage them properly due to flurries of blows. The Swarmed ability may be used by Plot teams as a standard rulebook ability, and works as follows:

Swarmed by <number>: <ability>. Any card with this ability allows an NPC to use the named ability without limit when they are actively engaged (meaning approximately 10 foot range unless otherwise defined locally) by <number> or more foes. For example, "Swarmed by 4: Spell Death by Weapon" would allow the NPC to swing for "Spell Death" with their weapons so long as 4 or more enemies are within approximately 10 feet. The named ability may alternately be called by OOG Marshals in the fight.

Note that when this ability is used, only the bonus effect needs to be called – “Swarmed by <number>” is just the name of the ability, it does not need to be announced.

3.3 Combat ChangesUnconsciousness duration has been lowered. Currently, if a character goes to 0 Body Points (almost always from First Aid) they are basically removed from play for 10 minutes. This is one of the more annoying parts of the game, especially in lower-level campaigns where First Aid is a common healing mechanism. In higher-level campaigns, First Aid is often avoided simply because of the long 10-minute wait time for consciousness. While there are other 10 minute effects, none come from a supposedly "helpful" effect that gets very little play once healing becomes more common.

To promote overall usage of First Aid, and as a customer service change, we’ve changed the time that a character spends while at 0 Body Points to 1 minute instead of 10 minutes.

Reduction has been tweaked. If a character has the Reduction ability, it may never be used to reduce the damage of an attack below 1 point of damage. The ‘Reduced’ call must still be used (even on an attack of 1 damage) to indicate that the attack isn’t doing as much as the wielder might expect.

4. Spell ChangesWith all of the effect group changes, the Earth and Celestial spell lists have changed substantially. The biggest single change is that each school now has what’s called a Signature Spell.

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4.1 Signature SpellsYou’ll note that all of the various Cure/Cause spells and the different Bolts and Storms were consolidated down to 3 specific effects. Each school of magic has a Signature Spell - one core piece of magic which is available at every level. For Earth, this is the Cure / Cause Wounds spell; for Celestial, this is Evocation Bolt. These spells can be memorized in any Spell Slots of the appropriate school that a caster cares to devote to them.

Evocation Bolt can be manifested as either Flame, Ice, Lightning, or Stone at the caster's choice. Cure / Cause Wounds may be cast in either its Earth form as Healing, or its Necromancy form as Chaos. Both choices are made at the time of casting.

When these spells are cast, their power depends on the level of Spell Slot they were memorized in. Each Signature Spell will have a value of 5 per level of Spell Slot it is cast from. For example, a Celestial caster who memorizes one Elemental Bolt at 3rd level will cast it for “15 Spell Flame” (or whatever element they chose). If they had one memorized at 5th level as well, they could later cast that one for “25 Spell Ice" (or another element). Similarly, an Earth caster could cast a 4th level Cure / Cause Wounds spell as either "20 Spell Healing" or "20 Spell Chaos”.

Note that Evocation Bolts inscribed onto Battle Magic Scrolls must have the element chosen at the time the Scroll is created.

4.2 Storm SpellsStorm Spells have undergone some changes in the new edition of the rules to help keep them balanced against both Wands and scaling damage from Backstabs and Weapon Proficiencies. First, we’re adding a standardized definition of “Storm”:

Storm: This effect type allows the caster to throw a number of packets as described in the specific effect. Unless otherwise specified, the caster may not move their feet during this time without breaking the effect. Each packet counts as its own effect for purposes of defensive abilities. In all other ways, these effects act as Concentration duration effects.

Individual spells have gotten tweaked with these changes. Magic Storm may now be cast as any Foundation Element, not just Magic, and Earth Storm can be used for healing the living as well as damaging the Undead. In addition, there’s now lower-level Storm spells that players may choose to memorize.

Note that a Storm spell can be cast/activated only on oneself and grants the target the ability to throw the packets. For example, someone with an activatable Magic Storm could activate the spell on themselves calling “Activate Spell Magic Storm!” and choose an element (such as Flame), after which they would throw 15 packets for “10 Spell Flame!” The Magic Storm spell itself is never thrown to be reflected, absorbed, etc., only the individual “10 Spell Flame!” packets are thrown.

Magic StormEvocation, Storm (not scrollable)

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When this spell is cast, the caster must choose any specific damaging effect from the Evocation effect group (Flame, Stone, Ice, Lightning, or Magic). This effect allows the caster to throw 15 packets at 10 damage each of the chosen element as "10 Spell <Element>!".Celestial 9

Earth StormHealing, Storm (not potionable)When this spell is cast, the caster may throw 15 packets at 5 damage each as "5 Spell Healing!".Earth 9

Chaos StormNecromancy, Storm (not potionable)When this spell is cast, the caster may throw 15 packets at 5 damage each as "5 Spell Chaos!".Earth 9

Lesser Magic StormEvocation, Storm (not scrollable)When this spell is cast, the caster must choose any specific effect from the Evocation effect group (Flame, Stone, Ice, Lightning, or Magic). This effect allows the caster to throw 8 packets at 10 damage each of the chosen element as "10 Spell <Element>!".Celestial 5

Lesser Earth StormHealing, Storm (not potionable)When this spell is cast, the caster may throw 8 packets at 5 damage each as "5 Spell Healing!".Earth 5

Lesser Chaos StormNecromancy, Storm (not potionable)When this spell is cast, the caster may throw 8 packets at 5 damage each as "5 Spell Chaos!".Earth 5

4.3 Spell ListsThe spell lists end up looking like the following (changes are in italics):

Celestial1: Evocation Bolt 5, Disarm, Fortress, Light, Lesser Investment 2: Evocation Bolt 10, Weapon Shield, Repel, Slow, Mend Armor3: Evocation Bolt 15, Bind, Shatter, Wall of Force, Solidify 4: Evocation Bolt 20, Awaken, Banish, Enhanced Blade, Shun5: Evocation Bolt 25, Release, Spell Shield, Subjugate, Lesser Magic Storm6: Evocation Bolt 30, Elemental Shield, Sleep, Wizard Lock 7: Evocation Bolt 35, Confine, Charm of 37

8: Evocation Bolt 40, Dispel, Reflect Spell, Stun Limb9: Evocation Bolt 45, Circle of Power, Magic Storm, Prison, Ward

Earth1: Cure/Cause Wounds 5, Disarm, Endow, Turn Undead / Control Undead2: Cure/Cause Wounds 10, Weapon Shield, Repel, Slow3: Cure/Cause Wounds 15, Bind, Sanctuary / Desecrate, Weakness, Shatter4: Cure/Cause Wounds 20, Awaken, Cleanse, Cure Disease / Disease, Poison Shield, Shun5: Cure/Cause Wounds 25, Release, Silence, Spell Shield, Lesser Earth Storm / Lesser Chaos Storm6: Cure/Cause Wounds 30, Earth Blade / Chaos Blade, Elemental Shield, Sleep, Wither / Restore7: Cure/Cause Wounds 35, Charm, Confine, Destroy Undead / Create Undead, Destruction8: Cure/Cause Wounds 40, Purify / Drain, Reflect Spell, Paralysis9: Cure/Cause Wounds 45, Circle of Power, Earth Storm / Chaos Storm, Life / Corrupt, Death

4.4 Additional Spell ChangesHigher level Spell Slots may now be used to memorize lower level spells. You could now use a 4th level Spell Slot to memorize a 1st, 2nd, or 3rd level spell if you like. The spell always counts as its original level for all other purposes (Spell Store, Meditate, etc.).

Battle Magic Spells don’t last longer than 5 days anymore. Everything which used to be “Indefinite” now expires after 5 days, ensuring that there’s no more question about “What protectives did I have active at the end of the last event again?”.

4.5 Wand ChangesAs damage has scaled down from Weapon Proficiencies and Backstabs, Wand damage has also been rebalanced. The current system is heavily balanced towards a certain style/level of play. Beginning casters see very little benefit from wands until they start getting 9ths, then they see an enormous upswing in damage in a very short amount of time. This new system better balances the growth of wand damage over a character's life.

Wand Charges are now generated at a rate of 1 per 3 build invested in Celestial Scholarly skills (which includes Read Magic, Create Scroll, Celestial spells, and Celestial Formal Magic), rounding down. Wand Damage starts at 1 and adds +1 per 50 full build invested in Celestial Scholarly skills.

4.6 Spell IncantsPlease playtest the following two possible versions of Spell Incants during your playtesting. Both sets of incants may be playtested during the same session, but please make sure to be very clear with your playtesters which version is being used for each specific module you are running.

As with ARB 1.3, the incant for each spell is slightly different though it starts with the same preamble based on effect group. Any time a spell incant is used, the “Spell” qualifier is implied but not spoken. Any defenses that work against this qualifier can be used against an incanted spell even though the qualifier is not announced.

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5. Skill and Character ChangesSeveral aspects of Alliance player characters and monsters have changed, some more significantly than others. While an updated character creation tool is provided with this playtest, we’ll go over the changes below so everyone understands them during the playtest period.

5.1 Racial UpdatesPC races have changed to make them more individualized and remove some old restrictions. In general, all weapon-related restrictions have been removed. Body Point bonuses and penalties now kick in every 10 Body Points that a character gains (instead of just once at character creation time). For example, a Dark Elf would be -1 Body Point at character creation, with another -1 Body Point when they have gained 10 Body Points and so forth. This is not affected by any other source of Body Points than simply gaining levels (for example, the new Hearty skill does not affect racial Body Point bonuses or penalties).

The Barbarian and Gypsy races are changing significantly in terms of background and necessary physreps. Barbarian characters keep the same racials, while Gypsy characters will swap Gypsy Curse for a new Resist Curse racial skill at 4 Build Points per purchase. As noted on the National Forums, the Gypsy race will be changing to the new Selunari race. For the purposes of this playtest, Barbarians should otherwise stay the same; in the Build Calculator sheet they should choose ‘Oathsworn’ as their race. Note however that other background changes are coming for them which are outside the scope of evaluating rules changes.

In addition, the Sarr race has been folded into the Wylderkin race. Sarr characters may choose two specific racials like any other Wylderkin. All Wylderkin now automatically gain the Claw racial skill as a purchasable option.

Other races change in subtler ways, outlined below. If a race is not mentioned (like Biata) it is staying the same as it is today, other than the Body Point change and weapon restriction removal mentioned above.

Dark Elf: Resist Magic becomes Resist Spell and its “one purchase only” restriction is removed.

Dryad: Although the Edged Weapon skill restriction is removed, remember that Dryads are still allergic to metal and this should figure into their weapon choices. An obsidian or stone dagger is acceptable, a metal dagger is not. The physrep should clearly represent a non-metal object.

Dwarf: Remove the double cost for Read Magic.

High Ogre: Remove the double cost for Read and Write. Racial Proficiency is removed. High Ogres may also purchase a new Racial Resolute skill (which works as per the Resolute skill, with no prerequisites) at 7 Build Points per purchase.

High Orc: Remove the double cost for Read and Write. Racial Proficiency and Racial Slay are removed. High Orcs purchase all Weapon Skills (this includes Shield, Style Master, Weapon Master, etc. but does *not* include Fighting Skills, which are a separate category) at half cost.

Hobling: Remove the “once only” limit from Racial Dodge purchase. Hoblings may be Fighters.

Sarr: Sarr are removed as a separate race.

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Stone Elf: Stone Elf characters gain a new racial benefit: -1 Build Point per purchase of Create Scroll (in a similar manner to the Dwarven racial benefit where each purchase is discounted by 1 Build Point).

Wylderkin: Remove the double cost for Read and Write. Wylderkin now automatically gain the Claw racial skill as a purchasable option in addition to their two custom racial choices. Plot approval of racial skills is no longer required. Note that Gypsy Curse is no longer a racial skill.

5.2 New and Changed SkillsSeveral skills have changed or added. This section will explain each of these changes.

Waylay is now a per-day skill and does not require surprise. It still circumvents most smart defenses – basically, unless you’re immune to Waylay for some reason (armored headgear, a Monster immunity, etc.) you’re knocked unconscious. Dumb defenses – like the Weapon Shield spell - will still work. It does not inflict Body Point damage and is no longer called with a value. Since surprise is no longer required, a character may swing multiple Waylays in a row at a single target, limited by how many times per day they have bought the skill. A successfully Waylaid character will still not necessarily know who their attacker was.

Note that this is now a standard weapon strike and no longer performed with the butt of a weapon. It must still be performed from behind to be valid, and may not be used with bows, bolts, arrows, claws, or shields. This means that Waylay tips are no longer required for any weapons (though as always the butt end of a weapon should be padded for safety purposes). Any headgear which could provide at least 1 point of armor protection will now provide Waylay protection.

Although we recognize that this is one of the harder skills to playtest due to most playtests taking place in environments that may not be conducive to wearing armor, sneaking, or nighttime skulking, we’d like to encourage Playtest Coordinators to come up with specific scenarios that might allow Waylay to be tested in action instead of just on paper. In addition, we encourage Playtesters to wear Waylay-protecting headgear if it would be appropriate for the character they are playtesting to do so.

Evade has changed significantly since there are no longer Prepare to Die calls. It can now be used on any damaging physical delivery attack (weapon blow, arrow, or bolt) which has scored a valid hit. It does not matter what qualifier was used, so long as a damage amount was called. An Evade will halve the called damage (rounding up) and negate any special carrier effects. If a physical strike is made with no damage number, Evade cannot be used. When using an Evade, the character must call “Evade”.

Prepare to Die skills no longer require the Prepare to Die verbal. Slays are simply called with the larger damage but otherwise act much the same way. Eviscerates and Stun Limbs are called by just changing one’s weapon call when the character chooses to use the skill. Disarms and Shatters have changed a little – they are now one-swing effects (like Assassinate and Terminate), and when swung as a skill are no longer called with a target. They will affect whatever the player actually hits – if you call “Disarm” and strike someone’s shield, the shield needs to be dropped for 5 seconds; if you call “Shatter” and hit someone’s armor, then their armor is destroyed.

Critical Attacks and Back Attacks now last 10 minutes against all targets, and may be stacked. For example, if a player has 10 Back Attacks, they may activate all of them at once and call +20 damage from behind or +10 of 37

damage with ranged weapons for 10 minutes. A player may activate no more than 10 Critical Attacks and/or 10 Back Attacks at any one time. Players may voluntarily end the 10 minute duration at any time. Players may not activate additional Critical or Back Attacks if they have some already running of the same time (they must “end” the prior batch first).

All other weapon skills now last for only one swing. This means that Disarm, Slay, Assassinate, Waylay, Shatter, Stun Limb, Eviscerate, and Terminate all last one swing only when used. Missed or blocked attempts may now be regained through the Meditate skill.

Slay and Assassinate are broken into two skills each. One gives a character another Slay or Assassinate at their current amount, the other (Improved Slay or Improved Assassinate) increases the damage of all of their Slays or Assassinates. In addition, Slay and Assassinate damage are calculated differently.

Slays will now inflict 10 times the base damage of a weapon. Improved Slay adds an additional 5 times the base damage per purchase. This means that with a base 2 damage weapon (such as a long sword), a Slay will start off at 20 damage and increase by 10 damage for each time that the character has bought Improved Slay.

Assassinate damage is calculated independent of the weapon type. As these deadly attacks are meant to simulate striking someone’s vitals From Behind, they are as dangerous with a dagger as with a two-handed sword. Assassinates simply do a flat 25 damage points each, plus 25 per Improved Assassinate purchased.

Both Assassinate and Slay now last only a single swing when called, but missed or blocked attempts may be regained through the Meditate skill.

Legerdemain has been removed. Instead, one level of Create Trap is required to pick locks or disarm traps. Different types of traps now require additional ranks of Create Trap to set.

First Aid has been slightly tweaked. If a character begins First Aid and the target is invalid (due to Alien Metabolism, Disease, being Dead, etc.) they should call ‘No Effect’ immediately instead of waiting until the end of the First Aid usage.

Finally, there are a number of new skills:

Fast Refit: The Fast Refit skill allows a character to halve the time it takes to refit a suit of armor once per day for each purchase. This skill can be used multiple times to enhance its effects, to a minimum of a 15 second refit.

When using this skill, a character must announce "Fast Refit". Once the skill is announced, it is expended even if the refit action is interrupted. It works with any source of armor (Celestial, Arcane, Natural, or a regular suit of armor).

A use of the Fast Refit skill will stack with the plateau skill of a Master Blacksmith.

Intercept: The Intercept skill allows a character to take the damage or effect of any weapon delivered attack that successfully resolves on a target within weapon range. It cannot be used against traps (except for weapon traps) nor can it be used against a packet delivered attack except arrows and bolts. When using this skill, you of 37

must call "Intercept" and clearly indicate which strike the skill was used against. It may be used once per day for each purchase.

Intercept may be used with any weapon that the character has skill with. It cannot be used with a crossbow or thrown weapon. You may not use an Intercept if you do not have a weapon or shield in hand or if your weapon or shield is not free. A two handed weapon must be held in two hands in order to Intercept. Bows and staves are considered one handed for use of this skill.

You may only Intercept a blow that you could logically reach with your weapon or shield. You may not use a bow to intercept across the battlefield.

You may call an additional defense if appropriate after using an Intercept to take a blow meant for another.

Hearty: Hearty grants a character 3 extra body for every purchase. This does not trigger Racial Bonuses or Racial Penalties.

Resolute: The Resolute skill allows a character to reduce the damage from any damaging attack (no matter what qualifier is used) that would take them to 0 Body Points or lower to an amount that would bring them to 1 Body Point. Note that this *will* work to mitigate a Terminate or Eviscerate (as they effectively reduce you to a Body Point amount less than 0). This will not prevent other effects from the attack (such as Death, armor damage, or another weapon carrier). The skill may be used once per day per purchase.

When using this skill, the character must call "Resolute".

Counteract: Some characters have honed their skills to the point that they can avoid nearly any attack which is returned to them. This Smart Guard defensive skill allows a character to call "Counteract" against any "Return" defense used against them. It may be used once per day per purchase.

Meditate can be used to regain spells or per-day weapon skills which “missed” or were “flubbed”. It may be familiar to some players who played the CT chapter, though there are differences with what is going into ARB 2.0. Here’s the full text:

Meditate - This skill allows players to regain expended spells or attacks that missed or failed due to an incorrect incantation or invalid target. The player must spend 5 uninterrupted minutes of appropriate Focus. If Meditate is being used to replace expended spells, the character must roleplay studying from a spellbook which contains the spell to be rememorized. If Meditate is being used to replace expended weapon skills, the character must hold, wield, or otherwise focus on a weapon they are proficient with. During this time, no game skills may be used other than Read and Write. The player should feel free to roleplay discussion, teaching or usage of appropriate subjects (magic or physical combat) with other players during this period of Focus. Once the meditation period has passed, the player may write the spell or skill back in on their Battle Board with an "M" instead of a circle, to denote that it was Meditated back into memory. After this point they may utilize it normally as though it had not been expended in the first place.

Each use of Meditate will return a single expended and missed spell or attack. Multiple Meditated skills or spells may be returned over time with multiple uses of Meditate.

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For magic spells, a player may only regain the use of a memorized spell that did not resolve in any way - that is, it completely missed all targets or the incantation failed. This ability does not work on spells that resolved in any way, including a call of "No Effect" or "Altered Effect" or being expended on any other active or passive defense. This ability may not be used to regain charges of spent magic items, potions, or scrolls for any reason. Any augmentations gained via High Magic are lost when the spell is Meditated.

For weapon skills, a player may only regain the use of a per-day weapon attack that did not resolve in any way. This includes blockable attacks (for example, not using the Massive carrier or the Spell qualifier) that were blocked by another player’s weapon or shield and did not trigger any defenses. It also includes weapon swings that completely missed and weapon swings required to be From Behind which did not hit a target From Behind. If an attack struck an opponent and was taken or resulted in a defense being called or expended, it may not be Meditated.

With one purchase of Meditate, a player may regain 1st through 3rd level spells or Disarm, Slay, Assassinate, or Waylay skills. With two purchases they may regain 4th through 6th level spells or Shatter or Stun Limb skills, and with three purchases they may regain any level of memorized spells or Eviscerates or Terminates. Additional purchases of Meditate past 3 will decrease the required Meditate time by 1 minute each, down to a minimum of 2 minutes per spell at 6 purchases of Meditate.

Meditate is a General skill and costs 4 BP per level for all classes with no prerequisite.

5.3 Purchasing SkillsIn ARB 1.3, Fighter and Rogue type skills are purchased based completely off the number of Backstabs or Weapon Proficiencies a character has. This restricted player choice and diversity, especially for high level characters. For ARB 2.0, the way prerequisites are fulfilled for these types of skills is completely reworked. The “Fighting Skills” category has been split into two categories, “Fighting Skills” and “Rogue Skills”. Several crafting skills have been added to these categories. Most of the skills in these categories have prerequisites based on how many Build Points you’ve spent in that category already. While the prerequisites are set up similar to ARB 1.2 to start, as characters gain in level they will find a much wider breadth of options. For example, a character with 10 levels of Blacksmith (30 Build Points) could now purchase a Parry (prerequisite: 30 Build Points spent in Fighting Skills), which itself would contribute towards satisfying the prerequisites of other Fighting Skills.

Florentine, Style Master, Weapon Master, Shield, and Two Weapons become Weapon Skills under this change.

Lastly, sources of persistent damage (Weapon Proficiency and Backstab) become harder to purchase as you buy more of them. Each one takes one additional “turn in skill” (either Critical Attack or Back Attack respectively) for each Weapon Proficiency or Backstab you’ve already purchased, up to the 10th purchase (it never costs more than 14 Critical Attacks or Back Attacks respectively). This helps close some of the gap between high-level players and low-level players, and gives additional reason to spread build expenditure around instead of just buying Weapon Proficiencies or Backstabs at high levels.

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Fighting Skills Fighter Scout Rogue Adept Scholar Templar Artisan PrerequisiteCritical Attack 3 3 5 6 7 3 6 Any Weapon SkillWeapon Proficiency

3 6 6 6 8 6 6 Critical Attack x 4, plus one Critical Attack per Weapon Proficiency already purchased

Disarm 2 2 2 3 8 3 8 1 per 15 Build spent in Fighting Skills or Rogue Skills

Shatter 3 3 3 4 8 4 8 1 per 45 Build spent in Fighting Skills or Rogue Skills

Parry 4 4 8 8 8 5 8 1 per 30 Build spent in Fighting Skills

Riposte 5 5 5 6 8 6 8 1 per 60 Build spent in Fighting Skills or Rogue Skills

Slay 2 2 4 4 4 2 8 1 per 30 Build spent in Fighting Skills

Improved Slay

2 2 4 4 4 3 8 1 per 30 Build spent in Fighting Skills

Eviscerate 5 7 14 14 14 7 14 1 per 60 Build spent in Fighting Skills

Fast Refit 2 3 4 5 6 3 2 1 per level of Blacksmith purchased

Intercept 2 2 3 4 4 2 4 1 per 10 Build spent in Fighting Skills

Hearty 2 3 4 5 6 3 4 1 per 20 Build spent in Fighting Skills

Resolute 5 5 7 8 9 6 8 1 per 50 Build spent in Fighting Skills

Blacksmithing 3 3 4 4 4 3 3 NoneWear Extra Armor

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 None

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Rogue Skills Fighter Scout Rogue Adept Scholar Templar

Artisan Prerequisite

Back Attack 5 3 3 3 7 6 6 Any Weapon SkillBackstab 6 6 3 6 8 6 6 Back Attack x 4, plus one Back

Attack per Backstab already purchased

Stun Limb 3 3 3 4 8 4 8 1 per 45 Build spent in Fighting Skills or Rogue Skills

Evade 8 3 3 4 8 8 8 1 per 15 Build spent in Rogue Skills

Dodge 8 6 5 6 8 8 8 1 per 30 Build spent in Rogue Skills

Assassinate 4 1 1 2 4 4 4 1 per 30 Build spent in Rogue Skills

Improved Assassinate

4 2 2 2 4 4 4 1 per 30 Build spent in Rogue Skills

Terminate 12 6 4 6 12 12 12 1 per 60 Build spent in Rogue Skills

Counteract 6 3 2 3 6 6 5 1 per 10 Build spent in Rogue Skills

Waylay 4 3 2 3 6 6 4 Any Weapon SkillAlchemy 6 5 3 4 4 6 3 Herbal LoreCreate Trap 6 4 3 4 6 6 3 None

6. Alchemy and TrapsBoth Alchemy and Traps have had substantial changes under the ARB 2.0 changes. This may change how players invest in these skills over time, and (especially for Trap Crafters) will result in different combat uses for both.

6.1 Alchemy ChangesAlchemy has had a smattering of different changes. Here’s the quick overview:

- Weapon coatings have been combined them with contact gels. These can be applied to weapons just like weapon coatings could. Contact gels used on weapons last until they connect, not one swing (other than Arrows/Bolts).

- Ingested poisons have been completely removed as a "mix in" effect. Amnesia is left as the sole elixir intended to be directly administered as a harmful effect.

- Costs have been consolidated between weapon coatings and gas globes.- Staves no longer have an exception allowing them to handle multiple coatings at once.- Cause <X> Damage has been removed, replaced with Blast Globes giving Alchemists some (very

limited) utility against non-Poisonable targets.- Quicksilver has been removed completely.- Vorpals have been streamlined to a “Vorpal Coating #” system. Keep in mind that as with all weapon

coatings they now last until landed.- Love #9 has been removed completely (Love is still in the system).

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The Alchemy chart now looks like this:

Name Cost (PP)

Types Changes/Comments

Alchemical Solvent 5 Contact May now be used to make any Contact Gel inert.Cure Light Damage 5 Elixir Now delivers “5 Poison Healing” when quaffed.Intoxicate 5 ElixirLiquid Light 5 ContactParanoia 10 Contact, GlobeHallucinate 10 Contact, GlobeLove 15 Contact, GlobeOil of Slipperiness 15 ContactPaste of Stickiness 15 ContactVorpal Coating 5 15 ContactWeakness 15 Contact, GlobeAntidote 20 ElixirPoison Shield 20 ElixirCleanse 25 Elixir New effect – removes all Curse effects on the targetBlast Globe 25 Globe Thrown as “10 Elemental <Stone | Lightning | Ice | Flame>”, chosen

when createdEnfeeble 30 Contact, Globe Combines Nausea, Feeblemind, Vertigo, Laugh (see Effect Changes

section)Sleep 30 Contact, GlobeCharm 35 Contact, Globe In place of Dominate (see Effect Changes section)Vorpal Coating 10 40 ContactParalysis 40 Contact, GlobeAmnesia 45 ElixirBerserk 45 Contact, GlobeEnslavement Antidote

45 Elixir

Euphoria Antidote 45 Elixir

6.2 Trap changesThe Alliance trap system has undergone significant changes. Many traps are now classifed as Area Traps. These will affect everyone in a single Game Room when triggered. Any person who has some or all of their body or direct possessions within the targeted Game Room will be affected by an Area Trap. Imagine a rain of spell packets hitting everyone even partially within the area for determining who is struck.

If an Area Trap is set off when not in a Game Room, it will affect only the person who triggered it. The trap may be linked to a trigger line of no more than five feet in this case.

A Game Room is defined in pretty much the same way as a Wardable space is now (in fact, the Ward and Wizard Lock descriptions update to refer to a Game Room as well). If an area is bigger than one Game Room, it can still be trapped by an Area Trap, but it takes multiple Area Traps of the same type to affect it. For example, a barn might be classified by a Marshal as 3 Game Rooms worth of size. This means it would take 3 Wards or of 37

Wizard Locks to cover it. It also means it would take 3 identical Gas Traps to trap it; this requires both the additional tags and the additional trap container(s) or a single container large enough for the appropriate number of traps. When the traps go off, everyone inside the Game Room is affected no matter how close or far they are from the actual traps. Keep in mind that this is an in-game thing – so if a Marshal on a module says “Treat this glade as an underground cave room” it should be treated as a Game Room even though it’s an OOG outside location.

Partitioned rooms behave much as they do for Wards – for example, a closet with a closed door will stop an Area Trap going off inside from reaching the rest of the room. If the door is open when the trap goes off, the rest of the Game Room is still affected. Note that other in-game partitions such as a Circle of Power will affect what is affected by an Area Trap.

Triggers for Area Traps must be entirely within the same Game Room where they are set and may not cross through partitions or barriers which would impede the effect of the trap.

Weapon Traps must now be constructed with a clearly marked “pivot point” for whatever weapon is used. When the trap goes off, a Hold is called and the weapon is rotated around the “pivot point”. Anyone touched by the weapon is affected as though they had been struck by a weapon blow of the stated amount and type. Note that the weapon should not actually move out of game for safety reasons.

Gas Traps, Explosive Traps, Noisemakers, and Mechanical Traps have not changed (other than Gas Traps and Explosive Traps being classified as Area Traps).

Scroll Traps are a new type of trap which behaves much like a Gas Trap but takes a Battle Magic scroll instead of a Gas. When it is triggered, the Scroll will be triggered on everyone affected. When a Scroll Trap goes off, the active trap physrep is considered the “caster”. In this case, any spell which has wording regarding the “caster” (such as Line of Sight spells, Charm spells, etc.) will effectively expire after a five seconds (for Line of Sight) or have no effect (Charm). Any legitimate applicable targets/physreps in the Game Room are targeted by a scroll going off inside.

Note that Protection/Enhancement and Eldritch Force scrolls may never be put into a Scroll Trap.

For Example: Ashlynn steps into a trapped room without looking around first and trips two Scroll traps simultaneously! Looking at the tags, she sees that one is an Evocation Bolt (20 Flame) trap and the other is a Confine trap. Every valid target in the room for each trap is hit. This means that Ashlynn must immediately take 20 points of Flame damage and is stuck in place for 5 seconds.

Trap Globes are new items which someone with Create Trap can create and throw. They are represented by orange packets (just like Alchemy Packets) and are thrown with the Elemental qualifier.

Legerdemain has been removed as a skill. Anyone with at least one rank of Create Trap may attempt to pick a lock or disarm a trap. To set a trap or throw a Globe, a character must have sufficient ranks of Create Trap:

1 Rank: Noisemaker, Gas, Scroll, Weapon Traps2 Ranks: Explosive Traps

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3 Ranks: Mechanical Traps and Globes

The Trap chart now looks like this:

Name Cost Type Changes/CommentsNoisemaker 5 TrapSlow Globe 10 Globe Thrown as “Elemental Slow”Shatter Globe 20 Globe Thrown as “Elemental Shatter <target>”Gas Trap 25 Area TrapScroll Trap 25 Area TrapSilence Globe 30 Globe Thrown as “Elemental Silence”Weapon Trap 2 damage per pp Trap Minimum of 10 damage (5 pp)Mechanical Trap 1 damage per pp Trap Minimum of 20 damage (20 pp)Explosive Trap 1 damage per 2 pp Area Trap Minimum of 20 damage (40 pp)

7. High MagicSeveral balancing changes have been made to High Magic:

Celestial Armor has been rebalanced to be stronger. The cost is reduced to 2 High Magic points per 5 Celestial Armor points, and up to 8 purchases (40 points) may be purchased. Celestial Armor’s maximum calculation is changed to be in line with the way Arcane Armor works (i.e. Formal Magic levels and/or Wear Extra Armor allow additional Celestial Armor points above the normal class maximum). Note that it still does not provide Waylay protection.

Elemental Augmentation has been reduced in cost to 1 High Magic point per Evocation spell augmented.

Elemental Burst no longer gives bonus Wand damage. This is to bring it more in line with the damage rebalancing in 2.0.

The Spirit Store High Magic ability is completely removed. See the Magic Items section for more details.

Rebirth no longer requires the ‘Activate’ keyword. This keyword may only be used when a character can speak, which they cannot do while Dead, thus it should not be required for Rebirth.

Note that changes around Ritual Casting (such as Foresight and Ritual Manipulation) are not covered in this playtest document.

New High Magic options are being added. These include the following:Storm Augmentation (2 High Magic Points per purchase): Each time this ability is selected, the caster chooses one of their Storm duration battle magic spells already memorized that Logistics period. This augmentation allows the caster to move during the Storm spell (though they still must follow all other Concentration requirements). The caster will also gain 5 additional packets to throw during the Storm. Only one Storm Augmentation may be purchased for any specific spell in memory, though other types of Augmentations (such as Magic or Elemental) may be used with the same spell.

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The augmented spell must be declared at Logistics and marked appropriately on the caster's battleboard. The Augmentation will persist up to five days until used or otherwise expended, so long as the caster does not swap out the Augmented spell from their spell selections.This ability may be purchased once for every 9th level spell slot a caster can memorize.

8. Magic ItemsThe Alliance Magic Item system has changed significantly. Overall, Rituals which create daily power without cost have been removed and/or changed for Rituals which alter or transfer a character’s existing power. For example, Expanded Enchantment has been removed, while there are more rituals modeled on Spell Parry (which takes a use of the Parry skill and allows it to be used against the Spell qualifier once per day).

These rituals have been removed entirely:

Cloak Bane Expanded Enchantment Monster Slayer Damage Aura Channel Spell Greater Wand Earth/Chaos Aura Elemental Aura Elemental Burst Protection Aura Spirit Store Store Ability Master Construct

Please note that High Magic choices remain for equivalents to some of these Rituals. Formalists may still purchase Cloaks, Banes, and Auras with their High Magic points.

These rituals have changed significantly:

Spell Store Race Reaver

Below is a list of new Rituals and a summary of their effect. Players will be required to convert their existing Magic Items to new Rituals. There’s a conversion system in place, but don’t worry about that too much for the playtest – simply swap rituals on a one for one basis (the final conversion system is a little

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more generous than this). At the bottom of this list is a set of suggested conversions for players who don’t want to get too deep into the new Ritual analysis.

Assassin's Edge (Item [Any]) - Assassin’s Edge allows the user to, once per day per charge, swing a melee strike with the “Body” carrier when striking from behind. This may be combined with any applicable skill, Ritual, or other effect that would alter a melee swing with a carrier.

Counterspell (Body, Item [Any]) - Counterspell allows the user to, once per day per charge, expend a spell from memory to protect herself from the same spell effect. Upon being struck with an effect (which must be delivered via the Spell qualifier) that matches a spell in the user’s memory, the user may expend that spell and the Counterspell charge to Guard against the effect. Counterspell may be used on any effect that replicates a spell in the user’s memory, regardless of its means of delivery, so long as it matches the Spell qualifier and numeric amount. Aspect of the effect is irrelevant. For example, a caster with a 3rd level Evocation Bolt in memory could Counterspell an attack of “15 Spell Flame” or a spell cast with the incant for a 3rd level Evocation Bolt, but could not Counterspell a packet for “15 Elemental Flame”. They must call “Counterspell” when this Ritual is used.

Defensive Burst (Item [Any]) - Defensive Burst allows the user to activate a batch of Critical Attacks or Back Attacks to gain a defensive bonus instead of an offensive one. The batch follows all applicable rules for Critical Attack batch size and duration. The user must call “Reduced” to any applicable attacks while this Ritual is active. If a batch of Critical Attacks are used with Defensive Burst, the user takes that much less damage from all Weapon qualifier attacks instead of adding to their weapon damage. If a batch of Back Attacks are used with Defensive Burst, the user takes that much (equivalent to the damage bonus from behind) less damage from all Spell, Elemental, and Poison qualifier attacks instead of adding to their weapon damage. As a character may have active batches of both Critical Attacks and Back Attacks simultaneously, they may also have simultaneous Defensive Burst effected batches, or an active regular batch of one and a Defensive Burst batch of the other, but a character may not have both an offensive batch and a defensive batch of the same type (Critical Attack or Back Attack) going at once.

Elemental Manipulation (Item [Any]) - Elemental Manipulation allows the user to, once per day, alter a single spell as it is cast from memory so that it manifests with the Elemental qualifier instead of the Spell qualifier. The user would incant the spell as normal, simply replacing the word 'Spell' with 'Elemental' in the incant. Only spells appropriate to the aspect of the Ritual may be used this way.

Elemental Strike (Item [Weapon]) - This Ritual (which must be cast on a weapon) grants its owner the ability to channel a Foundation Element carrier through that weapon when activated. The wielder may choose one of Flame, Ice, Stone, or Lightning when activated. Once activated, this carrier may be used for any number of weapon swings from that character within the next ten minutes. In order to fuel this Ritual the character must spend a Back Attack or Critical Attack. Once the ten minute duration passes, another charge (and Back Attack or Critical Attack) must be spent to reactivate it. Multiple charges (and multiple skills) may be active during the same time period for multiple choices on what to swing. Note that the character does not gain the standard benefit of the Back Attack or Critical Attack skill spent in this way.

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Empower Warrior (Spirit, Body, Item [Any]) - This Ritual allows a character to expend 5 more Critical Attacks or Back Attacks at a time than they would normally be allowed. The skills are expended upon use and grant the normal bonus. This Ritual does not grant any additional bonuses to the skill used. This Ritual may be used in conjuncture with other skills, abilities, or Rituals that allow additional expenditures of Critical Attacks or Back Attacks. A character may utilize no more than one Empower Warrior ritual at a time.

Empowered Armor (Item [Armor]) - The Empowered Armor Ritual will create a seed of magical force within the targeted suit of armor. Once per day, after performing an Armor Refit, the wearer gains temporary Armor Points equal to the current Armor Points granted by the suit of armor. These Armor Points will go away within 10 minutes, until expended, or if the Armor is removed and put on by someone else. The temporary Armor Points will go away first and cannot be refit or repaired in any way (such as by the Mend Armor spell). The Empowered Armor Ritual will fail to activate if the character has any temporary Armor Points (such as from a previous usage of Empowered Armor) at the time it's used.

Empowered Wand (Item [Wand]) - This Ritual empowers a Wand so that a Celestial Caster may enhance its power at the cost of daily charges. While using this Wand, a Celestial Caster may double the damage of any Wand packets they throw. For each packet that they choose to add damage to in this way, they must expend three Wand Charges instead of the normal one. If they have less than three Wand Charges available, they may not utilize this power.

Enhance Armor (Item [Armor]) - This Ritual protects its wearer from carrier attacks of less than or equal to 1/3 (rounding up) the value of the enchanted suit's maximum Armor Points. This protection is effective against carrier attacks that normally bypass armor (Body, Chaos, Healing, and others as dictated by local Plot teams). The Ritual does not add any protection while the suit is at 0 current Armor Points. For Example: Grognak has a 30 point suit of armor. A Chaos Elemental attacks him, swinging '5 Chaos'. Since the attack is less than 1/3 the value (10) of Grognaks 30 point suit, the carrier is ignored until his armor is breached.

Enhanced Quiver (Item [Quiver]) - A Quiver with this Ritual gains the ability to hold increased quantities of arrows. While the quiver stays the same shape on the outside, its interior expands outside the normal laws of Fortannis physics to fit a larger quantity of arrows or bolts (and only arrows or bolts, not other items). The Item Tag for an Enhanced Quiver must be marked with how many arrow/bolt tags it allows the owner to carry (instead of the normal 20). If the Enhanced Quiver Ritual is destroyed, any arrow/bolt tags in excess of 20 which were allocated to that quiver are immediately destroyed. Based on difficulty at which the Ritual is cast, the Quiver can be expanded to hold 40, 60, 80, or unlimited quantities of Arrow Tags.

Healing/Chaos Strike (Item [Weapon]) - This Ritual (which must be cast on a weapon) grants its owner the ability to channel either the Healing or Chaos carrier (chosen each time the Ritual is activated) through that weapon when activated. Once activated, this carrier may be used for any number of weapon swings from that character within the next ten minutes. This Ritual may be cast as either Earth or Necromancy though the effect does not change. In order to fuel this Ritual the character must spend a Back Attack or Critical Attack. Once the ten minute duration passes, another charge (and Back Attack or Critical Attack)

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must be spent to reactivate it. Note that the character does not gain the standard benefit of the Back Attack or Critical Attack skill spent in this way. Keep in mind that Weapon Qualifier attacks may never be used to heal.

Heroic Interception (Body, Item [Any]) - Heroic Interception allows the owner to, once per day, use the Intercept skill to take the effect of any weapon or packet delivered attack instead of a just a weapon delivered attack. All other requirements for use of the skill still apply.

Instant Trap (Item [Trap]) - Instant Trap enchants one or more Trap tags (depending on difficulty) to be able to be set almost immediately. All Traps to be Targeted by the Ritual must be in the Circle of Power during the Ritual Casting, but are separately tagged and tracked upon completion of the Ritual. They do not need to be the same type of Trap. Once a Trap Tag has been enchanted by the Instant Trap Ritual, it may be set with only three seconds of Focus (instead of sixty seconds) by any character with the appropriate level of the Create Trap skill to set that type of Trap. Physically arming the Trap is still required and may take additional time depending on the physrep. An Instant Trap is not indestructible or resettable unless it otherwise would be from some other effect.

Karma (Item [Any]) - Karma allows the user to, once per day, use a Return instead of a Guard. The Guard used to trigger the Karma is expended along with the Karma, and may come from any applicable skill, Ritual, or other effect. When this Ritual is used, the verbal will be ‘Karma <Original Skill>', for example 'Karma Dodge'.

Life Leech (Necromancy) (Item [Weapon]) - A character with a Life Leech Ritual may choose to activate it on a single weapon blow (once per day per charge) to siphon foul energies from their opponent's wounds. The Ritual may be activated immediately after a single damaging attack made with the Weapon qualifier which strikes the Target and is not prevented or altered via a defensive call. When activated, the wielder will regain Body Points equal to the damage called in the attack. The wielder may not go over their normal Body Point maximum. This Ritual may be used in conjunction with an Eviscerate or Terminate delivered via the Weapon qualifier. In this case, the user will regain 200 Body Points. The character need not make any verbal declaration that they are utilizing this Ritual.

Magic Evocation (Spirit, Body, Item [Any]) - The possessor of a Magic Evocation Ritual may choose Magic as the delivered effect in addition to their standard choices when casting an Evocation Bolt from memory.

Magic Strike (Item [Weapon]) - This Ritual (which must be cast on a weapon) grants its owner the ability to channel the Magic carrier through that weapon when activated. Once activated, this carrier may be used for any number of weapon swings from that character within the next ten minutes. In order to fuel this Ritual the character must spend a Back Attack or Critical Attack. Once the ten minute duration passes, another charge (and Back Attack or Critical Attack) must be spent to reactivate it. Note that the character does not gain the standard benefit of the Back Attack or Critical Attack skill spent in this way.

Memory Strike (Item [Weapon]) - Memory Strike allows a weapon to be charged, once per day, with a spell from memory of the same Aspect as the Ritual. This will expire at the next logistics. In order to do this the Caster will need touch cast the spell to be charged onto the weapon in a Circle of Power of the Aspect

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of the spell to be charged. This can also be done at logistics even if you do not have access to a Circle of Power. When the spell is channeled through the weapon as a spellstrike, the wielder does not need to fully incant the spell or use magical aura. The Qualifier for spellstrike delivered spells is 'Spell'.

Merchant Insight (Item [Any], Location) - The Merchant Insight Ritual allows a character, if they have the prerequisite skill, to identify Potions, Alchemy and Trap Globes in 3 seconds (if within a Location with this Ritual) or 15 seconds (if they bear an item with this Ritual) instead of the normal required identification duration.

Mystic Smith (Item [Armor]) - This Ritual will imbue a suit of armor with mystical power. Once per day, the wearer of the suit, when using a Fast Refit skill to refit this suit of armor, will require only 3 seconds to refit the armor. They must still perform appropriate roleplay (taking a knee, representing readjusting the armor, etc.) and both the Fast Refit skill and the Ritual use for the day will be used up even if they are interrupted during the required 3 seconds. This may not be utilized in conjunction with any other rituals to reduce the time to less than 3 seconds. The verbal call for using the Fast Refit skill does not change.

Poison Cache (Item [Melee Weapon]) - A weapon with a Poison Cache Ritual may have an additional Contact Poison applied. The wielder may choose in which order any applied Contact Poisons will be used. Multiples of this ritual may exist on a weapon at the same time, allowing for larger numbers of Contact Poisons on the weapon at the same time.

Poison Strike (Item [Any]) - This Ritual allows the owner to, once per day, swing a weapon with the Poison Qualifier instead of any other Qualifier. You may use this to augment normal swings, weapon skills, and even combine with other Rituals as appropriate.

Poison Trigger (Item [Melee Weapon]) - When a weapon with Poison Trigger has a Contact Poison applied, the wielder may choose on which weapon swing to release the Poison (instead of it automatically invoking on the next weapon swing). Once a character activates a Contact Poison, it is considered used even if the character stops swinging for its effect before it lands or resolves. This affects any Contact Poisons applied to the weapon.

Potency (Body, Item [Any]) - The Potency Ritual pulls elemental forces into the wielder's body to empower all spells of a specific type to deal increased damage for a limited time. This Ritual allows the wielder to, once per day, add 5 points of damage to any numeric call they make from casting a spell in memory or from a Battle Magic scroll for ten minutes. The damage will only be added to the specific Elemental force which is bound into the Ritual. The Elemental force may only be chosen from the following: Chaos, Healing, Flame, Ice, Stone, Lightning. When this Ritual is cast for the Healing element, it is considered an Earth Ritual; when cast for the Chaos element, it is considered a Necromantic Ritual; and when cast for Flame, Ice, Stone, or Lightning, it is considered a Celestial Ritual. Note that this does not affect Wand damage or weapon damage.

Potion Coating (Item [Melee Weapon]) - The Potion Coating Ritual allows Earth Potions to be applied to the target weapon in exactly the same manner as a contact poison. These potions are delivered with the Spell qualifier. This Ritual may be combined with other Rituals as appropriate.

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Quicken Aid (Item [Any]) - Once per day per charge of this Ritual a character may shorten the time to perform the First Aid skill to 3 seconds. The player must make every attempt to perform the required role play for the duration of the ability. If interrupted during the three second activation time, the charge is expended. This Ritual confers no other benefits to the First Aid skill.

Quicken Meditation (Item [Spellbook]) - This Ritual allows the owner to (once per day per charge) reduce the time necessary to perform the Meditate skill to three seconds. All other prerequisites of the Meditate skill must still be met – for example, for a spell, the user must have a thrown but unresolved spell and their spell book open for study per the rules of the skill. After three seconds the user will recover the unresolved skill or spell per the Meditate skill as if they had completed the required amount of roleplay.

Racial Store (Body, Item [Any]) - This Ritual will create a rechargeable Racial Ability slot. To charge the item, a character must be touch the item and call one of their Racial Abilities as though it were being used. The possessor of the item must then incant "Absorb." A Store Ability Ritual may not be used to intercept or stop any Racial Ability which is not being explicitly used to store into this Ritual by its possessor. Once charged, anyone in possession of the item may activate the Racial Ability stored within as if they were activating a magic item, by incanting "Activate <Racial Ability Name>". Unused Racial Abilities will be lost at the end of the event; a Store Ability Ritual is always brought into a game empty. Note: A Racial Ability for the purpose of this Ritual is defined as any standard PC race obtainable Racial Skill listed in the current version of the Alliance rules and rules addendum used by Alliance LARP.

Raging Blow (Item [Any]) - Raging Blow allows the user to, once per day per charge, swing a melee strike with a number with the “Massive” carrier. The damage of the swing is halved (rounding up). This may be combined with any applicable skill, Ritual, or other effect that would alter a melee swing with a number.

Recharge Prowess (Item [Any]) - This Ritual creates an item which can restore the usage of a spent skill once per day. A character may only benefit from this Ritual once per Logistics Period for each category of skill. The skill being renewed must be in one of the following categories: Fighting Skills, Rogue Skills, Battle Magic spell, Racial skill. Note that the Recharge Prowess Ritual itself is not specific to a single category, but will only renew skills in a limited fashion as described below. This item may not be used to renew Production skills. The chosen skill must have been used earlier in the same Logistics Period and be one they normally have on their base character card, not from any additional abilities or Rituals. To activate the Ritual, the character must Focus for at least sixty seconds without interruption. They may then mark the skill on their battleboard with a 'P' over the used circle, to denote that they have used a Recharge Prowess to renew the skill. For example: Boris has two Recharge Prowess Rituals in his possession. He has used a Critical Attack, a Parry, and a 3rd level Battle Magic spell. He uses the first Recharge Prowess to renew his Parry skill by focusing on fighting practice with his man-at-arms for sixty seconds. He can use the other Recharge Prowess to renew his Battle Magic spell, but he may not use it on the Critical Attack as he's already used a Recharge Prowess Ritual on a Fighting Skill (the Parry) that same day.

Rogue's Evasion (Spirit, Body, Item [Any]) - This Ritual allows the wielder of the item the Ritual is cast upon to expend a Back Attack to Rip Free from a Bind or Confine effect once per day per charge of the Ritual.

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Sorcerous Triage (Spirit, Body, Item [Any]) - Sorcerous Triage allows the user to be instantly affected by a successfully completed First Aid when they would otherwise go from “Bleeding Out” to “Dead.” At 59 seconds into their bleed out count, the Player may make the OOG choice to activate this Ritual by stating “First Aid complete.” The user is restored to 0 body and must wait 1 minute to be restored to consciousness, per the First Aid skill. Note that this Ritual is Times Ever, not Times Per Day.

Spell Swap (Item [Spellbook]) - Once per day per charge of this Ritual a character may expend a memorized spell to regain use of a previously expended spell of an equal or lower level. The use of the Ritual must be accompanied by at least 10 seconds of Focus roleplay and the character must be in possession of a spellbook containing both spells. Once the character has completed their Focus, the player must recite the incantation of the spell to be expended and will then regain the use of the target spell. They must mark the expended spell off of their battle board and mark the regained spell with an "S".

Stalwart Shield (Item [Shield]) - This Ritual allows the wielder of the shield the Ritual is cast upon to expend a Critical Attack or Back Attack as well as the Ritual charge to Guard against any Spell, Weapon, Poison, or Elemental Qualifier attack that strikes the shield once per day. They must call 'Stalwart Shield' when this Ritual is used. This Ritual may not be used against any effect which explicitly lists the abilities that can be used to Guard against it such as Waylay or Massive.

Sturdy Armor (Item [Armor]) - This Ritual will create a suit of armor that takes 5 seconds less to refit. The Sturdy Armor Ritual grants a passive effect to the suit of armor it is cast upon that does not require an activation phrase to use as the refit time will be decreased by 5 seconds for the entire duration of the Ritual. This Ritual may only be cast once per suit of armor and must be cast on a physical suit of armor. When combined with the Fast Refit skill this effect reduces the refit time after the fast refit effect has been applied. When someone else begins a refit on your suit of armor that has the sturdy armor Ritual cast on it, you must inform the person that your armor takes 5 seconds less to refit.

Trap Avoidance (Spirit, Body, Item [Any]) - Once per day per charge of this Ritual a character may expend a use of the Dodge skill to avoid the effects of an Area Trap. The use of the Ritual does not protect a character against Voice delivery or any other area of effect attacks or abilities.

Warrior's Incantation (Item [Weapon]) - This Ritual allows the wielder of the weapon the Ritual is cast upon to use a Critical Attack or Back Attack and a spell of the item's Aspect from memory to spellstrike that spell one time per day through their weapon. When the spell is channeled through the weapon as a spellstrike, the wielder does not need to fully incant the spell or use magical aura. The Qualifier for spellstrike delivered spells is 'Spell'.

Note that there are additional Logistics-effecting Rituals which are not covered here.

These Rituals have changed significantly:

Race Reaver - This Ritual creates a weapon that grants its owner the ability to channel the Body carrier through that weapon against any single Player Race (determined at time of casting) for ten minutes per

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day per charge. Only one Race Reaver Ritual may be active on any character at any one time. Activating a new Race Reaver Ritual on your character will cause the first activated Race Reaver to end.

Spell Store - This Ritual will create a rechargeable Battle Magic spell slot. To charge the item, a spell must be touch-cast into it. The possessor of the item must then incant "Absorb." A Spell Store item or person may not intercept a thrown spell and absorb it in any circumstances. Once charged, anyone in possession of the item may activate the spells stored within as if they were activating a magic item. The spells stored can be of any combination of levels up to the maximum spell levels allowed by the Ritual performed. Thus a fifth level Spell Store item or person could hold one fifth level spell or five first level spells. Note that the spells stored in the item must be of the same aspect as the Spell Store itself. Thus you cannot store earth Battle Magic spells in a celestial Spell Store item or vice versa. When a reversible spell is activated out of a Spell Store, either version may be activated no matter which version was put into the Spell Store (e.g. a Life spell put into a Spell Store may be activated as either a Life or Corrupt). Unused spells will be lost at the end of the event; a Spell Store is always brought into a game empty.

Enchant - When a reversible spell is activated out of an Enchant, either version may be activated no matter which version was put into the Enchant (e.g. a Life spell put into an Enchant may be activated as either a Life or Corrupt).

Ability Store - This Ritual will create a rechargeable Skill slot. To charge the item, a character must be touch the item and call one of their per-day Fighter or Rogue Skills as though it were being used. The possessor of the item must then incant "Absorb." An Ability Store Ritual may not be used to intercept or stop any ability which is not being explicitly used to store into this Ritual by its possessor. Once charged, anyone in possession of the item may activate the Skill stored within as if they were activating a magic item, by incanting "Activate <Skill>". Unused Skills stored in this Ritual will be lost at the end of the event; an Ability Store Ritual is always brought into a game empty. At the time of Absorbing a Skill, when the Skill to be stored is placed in the Ritual, the possessor has the option to "record" any Carrier the Skill has or to save the ability as a basic record. If a Carrier used with a stored Skill, then that Carrier must be manifested when this item is activated. If no Carrier is listed the Carrier is assumed to be "Normal" and the activator may apply any Carriers as with a normal weapon attack. A stored Disarm, Slay, Assassinate, Stun Limb, Shatter, Terminate or Eviscerate must be called exactly as it is put in the item, including damage type, if such damage type exists. No additional effect from another Ritual, ability of the body using the item, spell, or effect can change the damage or damage type if it is present in the Stored Skill.

Arcane Armor – Note that this ritual no longer grants Waylay Protection.

Recommended Exchanges: For your convenience, here’s some possible exchanges for existing rituals.

Cloak or Bane: Counterspell (if a caster), Racial Store, Karma, Rogue's Evasion (if the character has Back Attacks), Stalwart Shield.

Expanded Enchantment or Channel Spell: Spell Swap or Warrior's Incantation (if a caster), Memory Strike, or Spell Store.

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Damage Aura: Magic Strike or Empower Warrior (if the character has Critical or Back Attacks)

Earth/Chaos Aura: Healing/Chaos Strike (if the character has Critical or Back Attacks)

Elemental Aura: Elemental Strike (if the character has Critical or Back Attacks)

Greater Wand: Empowered Wand, Potency

Protection Aura: Defensive Burst (if the character has Critical or Back Attacks), Empowered Armor, Enhance Armor

Elemental Burst: Potency, Elemental Manipulation

Appendix 1 – Changes from Prior Version

To assist playtesters from prior versions, you can find a summary of changes from the prior playtest packet in this section. Minor clarifications were made throughout which are not covered below.

A1.1 Critical / Back Attack Cost Tweaks

Fighters are now able to purchase Back Attacks for 5 (instead of 6), to mirror the existing Rogue cost for Critical Attack of 5. Scholars are now able to purchase either Critical Attacks or Back Attacks for 7 (instead of 8); this makes the skill cost for the appropriate split classes (Adept and Templar) exactly where it should be instead of .5 cheaper.

A1.2 Ritual Changes

Several defensive rituals were updated to have specific defensive verbals.

All X Strike rituals, Race Reaver, and Warrior’s Incantation were changed to be castable only on Weapons. Applicable Ritual targets were specified for all new Rituals.

Counterspell: May only be triggered against Spell qualifier attacks.

Spell Swap: May be used for an equal or lower level spell (instead of only lower level).

Spiritual Smith: Renamed (and flavor text tweaked).

Stalwart Shield: Stalwart Shield now requires a Critical Attack or Back Attack to activate.

Healing / Chaos Strike: The choice of whether to use Healing or Chaos is made each time the item is activated (not when the Ritual is initially cast).

Spell Store: When a reversible spell is activated out of a Spell Store, either version may be activated no matter which version was put into the Spell Store (e.g. a Life spell put into a Spell Store may be activated as either a Life or Corrupt).

Enchant: When a reversible spell is activated out of an Enchant, either version may be activated no matter which version was put into the Enchant (e.g. a Life spell put into a Spell Store may be activated as either a Life or Corrupt).

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Empowered Armor: This ritual’s effects will now last only 10 minutes/until expended (not until the next Logistics period) and require a full refit to activate (instead of a 3-count).

Instant Trap: Wording clarified.

A1.3 ShatterIf Shatter is used on an indestructible suit of armor, the armor will still be reduced to 0 points (and thus require a refit before its Armor Points are restored) but the tag will not be destroyed. The Fighter Shatter skill has been updated to remove the 20 points or below restriction.

A1.4 Per-Day weapon attacksAll per-day weapon skills (other than Critical Attack and Back Attack) now last for only one swing. This means that Disarm, Slay, Assassinate, Waylay, Shatter, Stun Limb, Eviscerate, and Terminate all last one swing only when used. Missed or blocked attempts may now be regained through the Meditate skill.

This solves the cases that both Powerful Blows and Flurry (in prior playtests) were attempting to fix, and thus those proposed solutions are removed entirely.

A1.5 MeditateMeditate has become a General Skill and its scope expanded significantly to include per-day weapon attacks.

A1.6 RebirthRebirth no longer requires the ‘Activate’ keyword. This keyword may only be used when a character can speak, which they cannot do while Dead, thus it should not be required for Rebirth.

A1.7 Unconsciousness time is lowered

When at 0 Body Points, a character spends 60 seconds unconscious before waking up at 1 Body Point (instead of 10 minutes).

A1.8 Reduction

Reduction can never reduce damage below 1 point.

A1.9 First AidFirst Aid has been slightly tweaked. If a character begins First Aid and the target is invalid (due to Alien Metabolism, Disease, being Dead, etc.) they should call ‘No Effect’ immediately instead of waiting until the end of the First Aid usage.

A1.10 Additional High Magic OptionsStorm Augmentation was added as a new High Magic option.

A1.11 Armor CostsSignificantly lowered the Production Point cost of smaller suits of armor. This can help make it easier for newer players to replace "newer adventurer" levels of armor, while the high-end armor that requires multiple Wear Extra Armor levels of investment stays expensive.

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A1.12 Assassinate DamageAssassinate damage is calculated independent of the weapon type. As these deadly attacks are meant to simulate striking someone’s vitals From Behind, they are as dangerous with a dagger as with a two-handed sword. Assassinates simply do a flat 25 damage points each, plus 25 per Improved Assassinate purchased.

A1.13 Playtest Process

NDAs are no longer required. We have added a module that we need the Playtest Coordinators to run; it will be sent out separately.

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