The wizard's staff hums with the power of an unleashed spell.

The assassin's cybernetic arm ejects a hidden blade.

The super-powered defender of New York melts the robots to slag with his heat vision.

The intrepid investigator stands firm against the mind wrenching eldritch horror before him.

Cleaner, clearer and more concise, Strands of Fate 2nd Edition continues down the path set forth by the origi­
nal Strands of Fate; providing a stand-alone set of core rules for using the Fate game system to tell exciting sto­
ries of action, adventure, horror and intrigue across an infinite variety of time periods and genres.

Strands of Fate 2nd Edition contains ...

Core Rules -This book is fully sel f -contained, and contains all the rules you need for making characters and
playing the game.

Aspects - Full rules for the creation and use of Aspects, the popular narrative mechanic that has defined the
Fate game system since its inception.

Strands -There are guidelines for creating them, as well as four sample Strands you can use as written, alter
to suit your needs, or use as examples when creating your own. These include:

Strands of Cthulhu- In which desperate investigators confront the minions of the Elder Gods.

Strands of Fantasy- In which bold adventurers fight against savage and ancient evils for honor and treasure.

Strands of Valor- In which heroes imbued with super powers stand against tyranny and annihilation.

Strands of Neon and Chrome - In which cybernetically enhanced underdogs fight back against the
oppressive mega-corporate elite.

Perks and Powers -The extraordinary and supernatural advantages that separate your characters from the
masses. Whether a mutant psychic, a crusty old wizard, a crazed cultist, an ancient vampire, a cross wield
ing priest, or a genetically enhanced cyber-soldier, we've got you covered. Powers are presented as self-con
tained special abilities that are defined with Aspects, and further detailed through the application of Limita
tions and Enhancements.

Deviations -An entire chapter is dedicated to providing modular, variant rules that are added to, subtracted
from, or used in place of the standard core rules. Deviations serve as a series of dials and switches, which
can be used to tune the rules to better suit the story you want to tell.

Antagonists - The Game Mastery chapter contains a number of sample NPCs and creatures to challenge your
PCs with, or to serve as examples when creating your own.
 THE BASICS
CHARACTERS
STRANDS
CREDITS
Produced by: Void Star Studios

GAMEPLAY
Written by: Mike McConnell
Additional Writing by: Jonathon Killstring
Edited by: Kristan McConnell
Layout: Mike McConnell
Additional Contributions: Tomi Sarkkinen, Michael Adams, James Townsley
Art: Marco Morte, Nolan Segrest, Cerberus, Mike McConnell

PERKS
Additional Thanks To: Andrew Chason, Tomi “Tonpa” Sarkkinen, Rick
“frws25” Sanders, Mitch A. Williams

Strands of Fate 2nd Edition

POWERS
© 2018, Void Star Studios
www.voidstarstudios.com

GEAR
MASTERY
GAME
DEVIATIONS

1
CONTENTS
 Contents
INTRODUCTION4 Goblin22
Halfling 22
THE BASICS

THE BASICS 6 Half-Elf23

Leonid23
Things You Should Have 6 Ogre23
Preparation 6 Orc23
Rolling the Dice 6
STRANDS25
CHARACTERS

Skill Ranks 7
Setting Difficulties 7 The Pitch 25
Degree of Success 8 Campaign Aspects 25
Spin, Surge, Stall & Aspects 8 Secret Campaign Aspects 26
Bonuses and Penalties 9 Sample Pitch & Campaign Aspects 26
Combining Skills 9 Tech-Level (TL) 26
STRANDS

Favor and Disfavor 9 Item Availability 26

Taking Action 10 Character Power Level  27
Test10 Character Experience Level  27
Contest10 Select Deviations 28
Conflict 10 Races, Perks and Powers 29
GAMEPLAY

Extended Actions 10 Strands of Cthulhu 30

Story and Action Time 11 Strands of Fantasy 34
Order of Action 12 Strands of Valor 50
Fate Points 12 Strands of Neon and Chrome 56
Aspects13
GAMEPLAY60
PERKS

The Nature of Aspects 13

Another Look at Test Factors 14 Aspects in Play 60
Special Aspects 15 Phrasing an Aspect 60
The GM’s Threat Pool 15 Refresh60
Invoking an Aspect  61
CHARACTERS16
POWERS

Invoking for Free 61

Step 1 - Experience & Power Levels 16 Wording vs. Intent 61
Step 2 - Race 16 Invoking External Aspects 62
Step 3 - Aspects 16 Secret Aspects 63
The Defining Aspect 16 Temporary and Lasting Aspects 63
The Aspect Alphabet 17 Declarations 64
GEAR

Step 4 - Skill Ranks 18 The Power of Declarations 64

Skill Descriptions 18 Keep it Narrative 64
Step 5 - Perks 19 Compels65
Step 6 - Resources 19 Offering a Compel 65
Increasing Resources 19 Accepting Compels 65
MASTERY
GAME

Step 7 - Starting Equipment 20 Hard and Soft Compels 65

Step 8 - Refresh Rating 20 Active vs. Passive Compels 66
Step 9 - Stress Track 20 The Power of Compels
Mechanical Compel Effects
66
67
Character Advancement 21
The Fate Point Economy 67
DEVIATIONS

Experience Points 21
Milestones21 Getting on the Same Page… 67
Non-Human Races 22 Maneuvers68
Construct22 Create an Aspect 68
Draconis22 Putting an Aspect on Another Character 68
Dwarf22 Aspect Duration 69
Elf22 Removing Aspects 69

2
CONTENTS
Assessments70 PERKS94
Setting Assessment Difficulties 70
Selecting Perks 98
Sample Character Aspects 71 Perk Evolution 98
Sample External Aspects 72 Grounded Perks 98
Conflict and Consequences 74 Heroic Perks 100
The Basics of Conflict 74 Paragon Perks 107

THE BASICS
1. Frame the Scene 74
Mythic Perks 112
2. Reveal Aspects 74
3. Determine Zones 74 Legendary Perks 114
4. Begin Exchanges 74
Attack and Defense 74 POWERS116
Acquiring Powers 118

CHARACTERS
The Exchange 75
Damage, Armor and Explosive Ratings 75 Power Enhancements 118
Movement in a Conflict 75 Power Limitations 118
Distance & Range 75 Removing Limitations 118
Stress & Consequences 76 Power Aspects 118
Wounds 76 Power Activation 119

STRANDS
Complications 76 Power Range 119
Recovering From Stress & Wounds 77 Target Selection 119
Wound Recovery Times 77
Sample Powers 120
Extreme Wounds 77
Sympathy Modifiers 137
Recovery Facilities 79 Universal Enhancements 167
Emergency Aid 79

GAMEPLAY
Recovering From Complications 79 Universal Limitations 168
Taken Out 79 Weaknesses 169
The Art of War 80
Special Rules 82
GEAR171
Aiming82 Purchasing Items and Services 171
Beam Weapons 82 Cost Ratings 171

PERKS
Block Actions 82 Item Statistics 171
Cover83 Damage Rating (DR) 171
Diseases and Viruses 83 Armor Rating (AR) 171
Falling84 Explosive Rating (ExR) 171
Filch84 Equipment Rating (ER) 171

POWERS
Fire and Environmental Hazards 84 Range Rating 172
Full-Auto Weapons 85 Minimum Might 172
Full Defense 85 Equipment Modifications 172
Hacking85 Other Notes 172
Help86 Ammunition and Ammo Checks 172
Hiding, Shadowing & Camouflage 86 Item Aspects 173
Lock picking 87 Firearms174 GEAR
Out of Ammo, Overheating & Reloading 87
Explosives175
Persuasion88
Poisons and Drugs 89 Slow Moving Projectiles 176
Push/Pull/Throw 89 Melee Weapons 176
MASTERY

Shields177
GAME

Repairs 90
Size and Weight 90 Armor178
Surprise Attack 91 Equipment 179
Time 91
Vacuum 91
DEVIATIONS

Zero Gravity 91
Zones 92

3
CONTENTS
 GAME MASTERY 184 Conflict 205
Called Shots 205
The Heroes 184
Card Deck Initiative 205
The Villains 184 Costly Complications 205
Preparing Combat Scenes 185 Facing206
Non-Player Characters 186 Miniatures and Battle Mats 206
Extras186 No Complications 206
THE BASICS

NPC Power Levels 186 Persistent Stress 207

Combat Ratings (CR) 187 Sanity (Mental Stress) 207
NPC Proficiencies 188 Structured Initiative 210
NPC Perks 188 Character Creation 210
Animals 190 No Aspect Alphabet  210
CHARACTERS

Fantasy Antagonists 191 Character Creation During Play 210

Modern/Sci-Fi Antagonists 199 Gear and Wealth 211
Bulk & Encumbrance  211
DEVIATIONS201 Dynamic Resources 
Gear Aspects
212
213
Dice mechanics 201 Simplified Weapons and Armor 213
STRANDS

Alternate Dice (d6-d6) 201 Specialties 214

Diceless Play 201
Zeroing Out 201
Character Development 216
Achievements216
Skill Modes 202
Aspects204 Open Milestones 218
Open Tiers 218
GAMEPLAY

Aspect Scopes 204

Power from Experience 218
Explicit Compels 204
Variant Advancement Speeds 219
No Declarations 204
Skill-based Declarations 204 Gameplay220
Narrative Exploits 220
Sequences 221
Survival224
PERKS

Introduction
POWERS

Telling stories is a tradition we’ve shared Each player makes up a character. Like a
since the earliest men learned to talk. Every- character in a book or movie, the charac-
one gathers around and the storyteller avails ter should have an interesting background,
GEAR

the listener with tales of adventures, mys-
tery, action or terror.
Role playing games (RPGs) were born of
this tradition. But instead of a single narra-
MASTERY
GAME
quirky habits, views and beliefs and other
traits that makes the character well-rounded.
But unlike a book or movie, the character is
assigned statistics and traits that are defined

tor telling the story and playing the part of
all the characters, role playing games spread
the work around a bit.
To play a role playing game you need at
DEVIATIONS
by the game system. These attributes tell the
player, and others, how capable the charac-
ter is at performing certain things.
It is the GM’s job to kick off the story, play

least two people, though three or four is
preferable. One person usually has some
sort of title, we call him the Game Master (or
“GM”) and the other participants are simply
called Players.
the other characters that show up in the
story, and serve as the final arbitrator of the
rules.
And that, in essence, is a role playing game.

4
CONTENTS
Strands of Fate 2nd Edition
The first published game to use the Fate
rule system was Evil Hat’s Spirit of the Cen-
tury, a game with a focus on telling stories of
adventure at the turn of the 20th century.
The last chapter in this book is all about
Deviations, the variant rules that add to,
subtract from, or alter certain core rules to
help you achieve the sort of mood and flavor
you want your particular story to have. In
many ways, you can think of Deviations as

THE BASICS
Strands of Fate took those rules, heavily
a series of switches and dials that can be
revised them, and reworked them into a
used to emphasize or deemphasize certain
framework for telling stories in other genres,
game elements such as combat lethality, the
from fantasy settings to science fiction.
importance of wealth and equipment, the
This book, Stands of Fate 2nd Edition, con-

tinues down the same path set forth by the
original Strands of Fate. Like its predecessor,
this book is written to provide rules, guide-
lines and advice for using a variation of the
Fate game system to tell an infinite variety of
CHARACTERS
player’s narrative input, etc.
In short, the core rules provide the game’s
backbone, Deviations make changes to the
core rules to better suit your specific game’s
needs, and your Strand ties it all together to

exciting stories.
Whether it’s a group of sword swinging
and spell slinging adventurers delving into
an ancient dungeon, or a crew of trained
STRANDS
insure everyone is on the same page.
Simulation vs Narrative
It’s worth noting that many RPGs try to
provide rules that, to the best of their ability,

gunslingers and cybernetic code crackers
boarding a hostile alien craft, or a burned
out detective and a vigilante taking on an
ancient cult of demon worshipers… this
book’s got you covered.
GAMEPLAY
simulate the “physics” of the real world.
The Fate system doesn’t do that. Instead,
Fate is meant to simulate works of fiction,
be it movies, television shows, or books.
Keep this in mind as you read this book, and

PERKS
Strands of Fate runs on a set of core rules
remember that Strands of Fate emphasizes
that are common across campaigns of any
fun and interesting storytelling over what is
genre, time period, or level of power. These
strictly “realistic”.
rules are the foundation of the game system,

POWERS
upon which everything else is built.
The core rules are covered in the “The
Basics”, “Gameplay” and “Game Mastery”
chapters.
Where the core rules are intentionally
generic, your Strand is very specific. The GEAR
Strand is developed together by the GM and
players, and defines the guidelines, permis-
sions, restrictions and optional rules (called
MASTERY

Deviations) that you’ll use in your game.

GAME

Strands have their own chapter in this

book. This chapter is devoted to guiding you
through creating your own Strands, as well
DEVIATIONS

as providing a few sample Strands that you

can use as written, or as a starting point for
creating your own.

5
CONTENTS
 Chapter 1
CHAPTER 2
THE BASICS
Things You Should Have
In addition to this book, you’ll need a few other
supplies to play the game. Here’s a list of the
necessities, as well as some recommendations:
CHARACTERS
You’ll Need...
ªª A set of Fate Dice, also called FUDGE
dice. If you can’t find any, you can use
two 6 sided dice (see pg. 201), or
download a dice rolling app for your
phone or tablet.
STRANDS
ªª Some character sheets or at least blank
paper to record characters on.
ªª Friends. The sweet spot’s
three to four.
GAMEPLAY
You’ll find Useful...
ªª A set of poker chips
or glass beads to use
as Fate Points.
ªª A laptop or tablet computer. The
PERKS
PDF version of this book is filled with
hyperlinks throughout the book, which
are very useful for finding what you
need during play.
POWERS
Preparation
First, you’re going to need to determine which
of you is going to be the GM, and who will be
players.
Familiarize yourselves with the game. That
GEAR
doesn’t mean every player has to read every
page in this book, but at the very least, the GM
should be familiar enough with Strands of Fate
to be able explain it to the players and answer
MASTERY
basic questions. And it’s a good idea for the
GAME
players to at least read this chapter.
Spend a little time making sure everyone is
on the same page with what to expect from
the game, and finding out what sorts of stories
DEVIATIONS
excite them. Once you’ve got a good idea of
what everyone wants, the GM will work with
the players to develop a Strand, a sort of
blueprint for the campaign. The Strand will
clearly define the options available to the
players and what special rules are used.
6
CONTENTS
The Basics
Rolling the Dice
When you want your character to perform
an action, your GM may call on you to roll the
dice. This is called performing a Test.
Strands of Fate uses Fate dice (also known
as FUDGE dice): a set of four six-sided dice
marked with a “+”, “-”, or “0” (blank) on each
side. To perform a test, you roll the four Fate
Dice and total them up. Each plus counts as
+1, each minus counts as -1, and a blank (or 0)
counts as 0. So if you rolled, +,-,+,0, the result
of your dice roll would be 1.
The average result of a die roll is 0, but can
range from -4 to +4.
Once you’ve rolled the dice,
check with your GM to determine
if there are any modifiers that
apply, and then add them to the
result of your dice roll to find your
total. This total is called your Effort.
The most common modifier applied to a die
roll is a Skill rating. For instance, if you were
told to “make a Mobility test,” you’d roll the
dice, add your Mobility Skill Rank, and then
add any other relevant modifiers to find the
total. The total, your Effort, is then compared
to a Difficulty (Diff) rating. This is a number,
usually 1 to 7, set by the GM to represent the
Difficulty of the task at hand. The higher the
Difficulty, the harder the task.
If your Effort is equal to or higher than the
Difficulty, you achieve at least some measure
of success at your task. Any amount by which
your Effort exceeds the Difficulty are called
Shifts. So if the Difficulty is 1, and your Effort is
3, that’s 2 Shifts. The more Shifts you generate,
the better you do.
While Skill ranks are the most common
modifiers added to a test, they can come from
other sources such as the bonus granted from
invoking an Aspect, or those provided by Perks.
4 Fate Dice + Modifiers = Effort
Effort – Difficulty = Shifts
1 or More Shifts = Success!
Skill Ranks
Skills represent what a character can do,
or rather, how well they can do it. They are
ranked starting at 0 and get better as the rank
increases.
Setting Difficulties
One of the GM’s most important tasks is
setting the Difficulty rating for the tests that
the players attempt to perform.
Difficulties can be somewhat subjective, but

THE BASICS
A character with a rank 0 Skill has very little you can use the following guidelines to help
natural ability and no training in that particularyou out:
area of expertise. A rank of 5 Difficulty What that means…
means the character is a master
of that Skill; probably the best SKILLS 0 Trivial – Requires little effort
most people will ever meet. or attention. The GM should

CHARACTERS
ACTION usually just declare tests this
A character with a Mobility rank Might easy an automatic success.
of 0 may break a sweat walking Mobility
up a short flight of stairs, but 1 Easy – Requires only a small
Precision amount of effort.
a character with a 5 may well
hold Olympic gold for jumping Reflexes 2 Moderate – A simple task, but

STRANDS
hurdles. requires a bit of effort.
WITS 3 Tough – Pretty difficult for
Any Skill the character doesn’t
put any Skill Ranks in during Knowledge someone without training.
character creation defaults to 0. Perception 4 Hard – Almost impossible
Reasoning without some training or

GAMEPLAY
The Skills listed in the sidebar
are twelve basic Skills that apply Resolve uncanny luck.
to any Strands of Fate game; 5 Very Hard – You need to be an
and are described later in this INFLUENCE expert to reliably pull this off.
chapter. Guile 6 Exceedingly Difficult – You’re
One special Skill, called an Sway going to need to be both

PERKS
Affinity Skill, represents a Insight highly skilled and very lucky.
character’s mastery of certain Networking 7 Seemingly Impossible –
supernatural abilities. This is You’ve really got to stack the
covered in more detail on pg. SPECIAL deck in your favor to hope to
18. pull this off.

POWERS
Affinity

Rank What that means…

GEAR
0 Mediocre – Any exposure or experience you’ve had is, at best, skimming the surface.
1 Average – You are familiar with the subject at hand, but have little experience.
2 Fair – Some training or education.
MASTERY
GAME

3 Good – You are sometimes noticed for your talents.

4 Great – You are one of the most talented people in the field and considered by most to be
an expert.
DEVIATIONS

5 Superb – You are among the truly elite.

6+ Super Human – Impossible to achieve without magic or augmentation.

7
CONTENTS
 Degree of Success
When performing a test, the more Shifts you
generate, the better you do. This means that
highly trained characters tend to not only
succeed, but succeed with flair.
THE BASICS
Shifts Description
-3 or less Massive Failure (Stall!) – You
failed, miserably. Not only did you
not succeed, but you likely made
the situation worse. Potentially
CHARACTERS
create a Minor Aspect.
-1 or less Failure – You fail to accomplish
what you set out to do.
0 Shifts Minimal Success – You pulled it
off—barely, and possibly at some
STRANDS
cost. You may accomplish what
you’d hoped for, but may break a
piece of equipment, put yourself
in danger, put someone else in
danger, etc.
GAMEPLAY
1-2 Success – You managed a clear-
cut success. The result is solid,
reliable, and generally what you
intended.
PERKS
3 or more Significant Success (Spin!) – Your
success is sufficient enough to
be noticeably well done, with
exceptional speed, grace, or
quality. Create a Minor Aspect.
POWERS
5 or more Spectacular Success (Surge!!)
– You REALLY knocked it out of
the park. Not only is the quality
of your success remarkable, it
may have some unexpected
secondary benefits, such as
GEAR
deeper insight into a related
problem. Create a standard or
Major Aspect.
MASTERY
GAME
Spin, Surge, Stall & Aspects
Aspects represent certain facts about a
character, your environment, an event, or
even an object. They are like “tags” that are
DEVIATIONS
placed on people, places and things that can
be Invoked to grant yourself an advantage or
hinder your foes. See pg. 13 for more on
Aspects.
8
CONTENTS
Spin
Spin occurs whenever your Effort exceeds the
test Difficulty by 3 or more, resulting in 3 or
more Shifts. In this case, you don’t just succeed
at your task, you succeed with speed, grace,
and style.
When you generate Spin on a test, in addition
to overcoming the challenge, the GM may also
allow you to create a short-lived Minor Aspect
that reflects the result of your exceptional
performance.
Minor Aspects are very ephemeral. Once
Invoked (pg. 61), they go away. And like
other Aspects, they can be Invoked for free the
first time.
You may not create more than one Minor
Aspect per round.
For example, if you generate Spin on a
Mobility test to climb over a wall, you might
do so quickly enough to spray some molecular
glue on the top of the wall before dropping
over. This would leave behind a Super Sticky
Wall(m) Aspect for your pursuers, possibly
resulting in one of them getting stuck and
unable to continue chasing you.
Surge
When you generate 5 or more Shifts, you’ve
achieved a truly spectacular result. You Surge.
While Spin typically results in a Minor Aspect,
a Surge can result in a standard Aspect. And
in some particularly favorable circumstances,
you may even generate a Major Aspect.
Stall
When the amount of Effort you generate
falls short of the Difficulty by 3 or more, you
Stall. Stall is the opposite of Spin, denoting a
significant or embarrassing failure. If the GM
wishes, Stall can also create a Minor Aspect,
but in this case it represents something likely
to hinder you!
Minor Aspects can be created with attack
and defense tests as well, but can only be
created on attack tests by electing to reduce
the number of Shifts generated by 1. These
Aspects can be placed on the scene, a zone, or
on your foes.
In the case of a contest or conflict, Spin
overrides Stall. The same action should never
grant one participant Spin and the other Stall.
In some cases, as outlined in some Perks and
elsewhere, generating Spin, Surge or a Stall can
result in additional effects.
Bonuses and Penalties
Whether from Aspects, Perks, equipment,
or other sources, there are many ways to get
bonuses applied to a test. In Strands of Fate,
almost everything stacks.
This means that if you get a +2 bonus from one
source and a +1 bonus from another, you may
add those together for a total of a +3 bonus.
Unless it is clearly stated otherwise, you can
assume any bonuses or penalties you have will
stack with any others, up to a maximum bonus
or penalty of +/- 5.
Combining Skills
Sometimes the character needs to perform a
task that actively requires two Skills at once.
You never know when a character is going to
need to climb an old broken ladder (Mobility)
while shooting an eldritch horror (Precision).
In those situations, the GM calls for a test
based on the main Skill being used (the
primary thrust of the action), but modified by
a second Skill. If the second Skill is of a higher
rating than the first, it grants a +1 bonus to the
test; if the second Skill is of a lesser rating, it
applies a -1 penalty. If they are the same, the
secondary Skill provides no modifier.
It’s important to note that combining Skills
can never be done to perform two full actions
at once—if that’s the goal, it should take two
turns.
9
Favor and Disfavor
Sometimes, whether because of some
beneficial circumstance, or because you
gain some benefit from a Perk, you might be
Favored when performing certain actions.
THE BASICS
For example, you might become Favored on
your test when using climbing equipment to
scale a cliff face, when using special cracking
software to hack a computer, or when trying to
manipulate someone who has a crush on you.
CHARACTERS
Likewise, you might have a Perk that makes
you Favored on tests to avoid notice by
blending into a crowd.
When you are Favored on a test, you roll the
dice as you normally would, but then pick up
and reroll any dice that resulted in a “-”. Then
STRANDS
use the new result as your die roll.
Similarly, you can become Disfavored. When
suffering Disfavor, you reroll any results of “+“,
and keep the new result.
GAMEPLAY
For example, you might suffer Disfavor when
trying to swim against a current while carrying
a friend to safety. Or, you might suffer Disfavor
when trying to appeal to the poor while
wearing extravagant clothes.
PERKS
Instances of Favor and Disfavor cancel
each other out. So if you are Favored, then
somehow become Disfavored, you would roll
the dice normally.
If you gain Favor or Disfavor from
POWERS
multiple sources, effectively becoming
“double Favored” or “triple Disfavored”,
you make your test as if you were
Favored or Disfavored, but then also
add a +1 bonus or -1 penalty for each
additional Instance of Favor or Disfavor. GEAR
So if you were “double Disfavored”,
you’d reroll all “+“ dice once, and then
apply a -1 penalty to your final result.
MASTERY
GAME
DEVIATIONS
CONTENTS
 Taking Action
Test
A test is an action wherein the dice plus Skill
(plus any other Modifiers) is rolled against a
Difficulty set by the GM. They are usually Major
THE BASICS
Conflict
Conflicts happen when two or more characters
come into opposition in a fashion that cannot
be quickly and cleanly resolved with a simple
test or contest.
A conflict is broken down into a number of

Actions, and are used to see if a character can
perform a task, and to determine how well
they did. The GM describes the situation,
selects the appropriate Skill, and sets the
Difficulty. The player then rolls the dice and
CHARACTERS
rounds, during which each character gets a
turn. During his turn, a character may attack
another, or perform other actions.
See page 74 for more on Conflicts and

totals up his Effort.
If the resulting Effort is equal to, or greater
than, the Difficulty, the character succeeds. The
amount by which they succeed is measured in
Shifts.
STRANDS
Consequences.
Extended Actions
Some actions simply cannot be resolved in the
short time usually allotted to a test or contest;
but aren’t really a conflict. Examples of this

Generating 3 or more Shifts results in Spin, 5
or more is a Surge, and failure by 3 or more is
a Stall. See page 8 for more on Spin, Surge
and Stall.
GAMEPLAY
might include repairing a starship’s reactor,
writing a career defining article, or trying to
sway a crowd to your point of view.
Extended Actions have Difficulties and Marks.

Some sample tests include:
ªª Looking up an obscure fact (Knowledge)
ªª Leaping from one rooftop to another
(Might)
ªª Noticing a strange pattern in the bullet
PERKS
Set the Difficulty as you would for a normal
test. Then multiply the Difficulty by 3 to set the
Mark.
Unlike a regular test, instead of making one
test to see if you succeed or fail, you perform
several. Once you generate enough Shifts to

holes in the wall (Reasoning) meet or exceed the Mark, you succeed on the
Extended Action.
Contest
If you generate Spin, the Extended Action’s
Contests are very much like tests, except the Mark is reduced by 1. If you Stall, you have
action is in direct opposition to someone else.
POWERS

failed in some catastrophic way, making it

Rather than setting a Difficulty, each party
performs an appropriate Skill test against a
Difficulty of 0.
The Shifts generated by each contestant’s
test is compared, and the highest wins. A tie
GEAR
impossible to continue. The amount of time
each test takes depends on the situation, and
is up to the GM.
Some examples of Extended Actions are
shown below:

means both succeed, but whether that means

the outcome changes anything, or if it calls
for another test, depends on the
situation. Time
Sample Extended Action Between Tests Diff Mark
Some sample contests include:
MASTERY
GAME

Building a short wooden bridge 1 hour 3 9

ªª Attempting to get away Bringing a heavily damaged 10 min 4 12
with a simple lie (Guile vs. reactor back online
Insight)
Pressuring local gangs to give 1 hour 4 12
DEVIATIONS

ªª Sneaking past a sentry up the location of a popular

drone (Mobility vs.
Perception) gambling den

10
CONTENTS
Story and Action Time
Strands of Fate, like most tabletop RPGS,
separate gameplay into two distinct phases,
Story Time and Action Time.
During Story Time, the game plays out as
a freeform exchange between the players
and the GM. There doesn’t need to be any
particular order in which things happen.
The players describe their character’s actions,
the GM describes the results of their actions
and the actions of NPCs. Dice are rolled when
necessary. Actions occur in whatever order
supports the narrative and makes sense, and
take as much time as you’d expect them to
take. The GM acts as arbiter whenever there is
question or a disagreement, and sets the pace
by asking the players for actions and describing
their outcomes.
Story Time is most often used to play out
scenes in which the characters plan, travel,
explore or talk to other characters. During
Story Time, the characters may take any
Actions that they would normally be able to
take during Action Time.
It’s also worth noting that if you are using
the Sequence Deviation (pg. 221), all Actions
occur during Story Time.
During Action Time, the game becomes a little
bit more structured. Action Time is used to play
out action scenes, during which the character’s
turns are divided into rounds that represent
about 2-3 seconds of in-game time. In a role-
playing game, a group of five PCs could be
racing down a busy street, firing guns, casting
spells, and swerving to miss pedestrians, all
while taking fire from a pack of gun wielding
ghosts. So when things can go that far off the
rails, breaking the action up into rounds and
turns helps manage the chaos, and ensures
that everyone is getting a chance to act.
11
Action Turns
During Action Time, each round typically lasts
2-3 seconds. And during each round, every PC
and NPC gets a turn.
You can do a lot in a few seconds, but there
THE BASICS
are limits. Actions you take are rated as one of
the following types of Actions; Instant, Minor
or Major. Reflex actions are special actions
that can be taken as a Minor or Instant action
in response to certain triggers.
CHARACTERS
On your turn, you may take one of each of
these types of Actions. However, you may also
choose to downgrade “greater” Actions to
“lesser” Actions. So you could, for example,
use your Major Action to perform a second
Minor Action.
STRANDS
Instant < Minor < Major
Instant Actions are Actions that do not
take any real time or effort. It happens in an
instant, can be taken at any time, and can’t be
GAMEPLAY
interrupted. Instant Actions that grant bonuses
or otherwise modify dice rolls can be applied
after the initial dice roll.
For example, if you have a Perk that grants
your ally a +1 on a Skill test, you may wait for
them to roll the dice and see the results before
PERKS
taking your Instant Action to grant them the
+1.
Instant Actions are typically only possible
through the use of certain Perks or Powers.
POWERS
Reflex Actions are special types of Actions
that can be taken instantly, when triggered by
certain events. For example, defending against
an attack is a Reflex Action that is triggered by
being attacked. Certain Perks and Powers may
grant additional Reflex Actions.
GEAR
Minor Actions are simple Actions that require
some effort, but are largely passive; allowing
you to perform other tasks at the same time.
Examples of Minor Actions include moving
MASTERY
into an adjacent zone, stowing a weapon, or
GAME
opening an unlocked door.
Major Actions are Actions that take up the
bulk of your time and concentration during
DEVIATIONS
your turn. Attacking an enemy, reloading a
weapon, or performing a Maneuver typically
count as Major Actions.
CONTENTS

THE BASICS
CHARACTERS
STRANDS
Order of Action
At the beginning of the round, the GM and
players will determine who gets to act first. Let
the fiction be your guide. You’re telling a story
GAMEPLAY
together, it’s a conversation. So you should try
to let the action happen naturally.
For example, Myrt checks the door and
determines it is locked. He pulls out his
lockpicks and sets to work. In just a few
PERKS
moments, the lock clicks open. He quietly
stores his picks and steps aside as Raygar kicks
open the door.
The goblins inside didn’t hear Myrt picking
the lock and are taken by surprise, giving
POWERS
Raygar a chance to make an attack against the
goblin near the door as he enters.
Generally one of the PCs gets to act first
unless they are all surprised. Once the first
character takes their turn, the GM describes
GEAR
the outcome of the character’s action and
then either acts on behalf of an NPC, or asks
a player what his character is doing. The intent
is to keep a natural storytelling flow going,
transitioning between each character’s actions
MASTERY
GAME
as smoothly as possible.
However, sometimes two characters will want
to take their turn at the same time:
Tie Breaker: If two PCs, or a PC and an NPC,
DEVIATIONS
want to take turns at the same time, the GM
should have the two characters make opposed
Skill tests. The character that generates the
most Effort gets to act first.
12
CONTENTS
Reflexes is the primary Skill used
to perform tie breakers. When
attempting to win a tie breaker for
a physical action, make a Reflexes
test combined with Mobility. If
trying to cut another person off in a
conversation, make a Reflexes test
combined with Sway.
Interrupt: If a character announces
his action, and another character
who hasn’t acted yet wants to
interrupt, have them both make
Skill tests as if they were engaging
in a tie breaker.
However, if the character
attempting to Interrupt fails, they
suffer Disfavor on their next Skill
test during this round. This instance
of Disfavor clears at the end of the round.
For example, when Raygar kicks in the door,
the goblin may try to interrupt Raygar’s attack
with his own. They both make Reflex tests. If
the goblin wins, he gets to make an attack of
his own before Raygar does. If he fails, Raygar
attacks first, and the goblin suffers Disfavor on
its defense.
Surprise: Characters who are not aware of
their attackers do not get to act in the first
round of combat unless they spend a Fate
Point. If a FP is spent, they may act normally.
Fate Points
Fate Points (FPs) may be spent, as an Instant
Action to add a +1 bonus to any Skill test. You
may only spend 1 FP per round in this way.
In addition, Fate Points may be spent to
Invoke Aspects (pg. 61).
Your character’s Refresh rating determines
how many Fate Points you get when you
Refresh, and the maximum number of Fate
Points you can have at one time.
In addition to Refresh, you may regain spent
Fate Points by accepting Compels (pg. 65).
Aspects
More than any other attribute, Aspects are
what make the character who they are. An
Aspect can be any phrase or quote that tells
you and the GM something important about
your character. Typically, an Aspect will relate
to a part of the character’s personality, past,
goals, training, disabilities, or other defining
characteristics.
Other things may have Aspects as well: other
characters, objects, zones, places—just about
anything in the game world. Aspects are used to
highlight notable features and characteristics,
particularly those that would be interesting for
the characters to interact with.
Aspects may at first seem daunting to new
players, but in a nutshell, this is how they work:
ªª Invoke Aspect - You may spend a Fate
Point to Invoke (pg. 61) an Aspect to
gain one of the benefits listed below. This
is an Instant Action.
• Gain a +2 bonus on a Test
• Create a Block (pg. 82)
• Make a Declaration (pg. 64)
• Offer a Compel (pg. 65)
ªª Create Aspect - You may create an Aspect
by performing a Maneuver (pg. 68) or
by making a Declaration.
ªª Discover Aspect - You may discover
a previously unknown Aspect by
performing an Assessment (pg. 70).
The amount of time this takes, and the
Skills used, depends on the nature of the
Aspect.
Some Sample Aspects:
Trained by Corporal Frank Sheppard
Rusted and Jammed Shut
Filled with Billowing Smoke
A Wretched Hive of Scum and Villainy
13
The Nature of Aspects
Aspects state something about a person,
place or thing that is true. They play a critical
role in defining who characters are, and filling
in details about the world around them.
Aspects come in three different degrees of
THE BASICS
importance: Minor, standard and Major.
Throughout this book, Aspects are italicized.
Minor Aspects –These are short lived Aspects
that have little effect on the world, and are
CHARACTERS
usually created as a side-effect of another
Action. Minor Aspects are treated just like
regular Aspects, but disappear after they are
Invoked the first time. When you write down a
Minor Aspect, it’s name should be followed by
a lowercase “(m)”.
STRANDS
Standard Aspects - Unless it is specifically
stated otherwise, an Aspect is assumed to be
a “Standard” Aspect. These sorts of Aspects
have the potential to greatly influence a
GAMEPLAY
person, place or thing, but tend to stay in the
background until someone Invokes them, or
uses them to offer a Compel.
Major Aspect – Major Aspects have a
significant effect on the people, place or things
they are attributed to; even when they aren’t
PERKS
actively Invoked.
This means that, even when not Invoked, a
Major Aspect may grant Favor or Disfavor. For
example, a Major Aspect like Pitch Black(M)
might inflict Disfavor on tests to navigate the
POWERS
affected area, or Favor on tests to remain
hidden within it. This application of Favor or
Disfavor is in addition to the normal option
to Invoke an Aspect. You could, for example,
spend a Fate Point to Invoke the room’s Pitch
Black(M) Aspect to benefit from both Favor GEAR
and gain a +2 bonus.
But remember, a Major Aspect’s Favor or
Disfavor only apply when they are relevant.
In general, if you couldn’t justify Invoking the
MASTERY
GAME
Aspect, it doesn’t apply Favor or Disfavor.
When you write down a Major Aspect, it
should be followed by a capital “(M)”.
DEVIATIONS
CONTENTS
 Another Look at Test Factors
During play the GM is regularly called upon to identify factors that help determine how easy or
difficult it is for a character to perform a certain task.
The variables that the GM can inject, and when they should be utilized, are discussed a bit
below:
THE BASICS

Difficulty: The test’s Difficulty should be set based on how hard it is to perform the task under
normal circumstances. If the PCs need to leap over a bottomless pit, the Difficulty should be set
by the distance needed to jump. Other factors, such as weight carried by the PCs or high winds,
should be accounted for by Favor/Disfavor or Aspects.
Skills and Modifiers: The Difficulty determines how hard it is for the average person to perform a
CHARACTERS

task. A character’s Skills are the primary factor for determining how easy it is for them. A high skill
is going to make a task easier, so a character with a high Mobility Skill is going to have an easier
time jumping over the pit than a character with a lower Mobility Skill rating.
Likewise, a character may have a Perk or special piece of equipment that grants a bonus.
Favor/Disfavor: Favor and Disfavor are the GM’s primary tools for influencing dice rolls. If the
PCs are hindered, such as when carrying a cumbersome bundle, or trying to get a running start on
STRANDS

a slick surface, the GM might inflict Disfavor. Similarly, cybernetic legs or a magical pair of jumping
shoes might grant Favor.
Aspects: Aspects play two major roles in tests. The first is the option to grant a +2 bonus, which
you get when spending a Fate Point to Invoke a relevant Aspect.
GAMEPLAY

The second is to bypass the test altogether. Aspects are a narrative tool that allow you to set the
dice aside and just tell the story.
By Invoking an Aspect to offer a Declaration the player puts the dice down and describes what
their character does, and what happens to them. And if the GM agrees, it happens.
Similarly, by using an Aspect to offer a Compel another player or the GM can suggest a less
favorable outcome; which the recipient can elect to endure in exchange for a Fate Point.
PERKS

In both cases, the dice, Skills and other Modifiers are ignored in favor of just telling the story.
POWERS
GEAR
MASTERY
GAME
DEVIATIONS

14
CONTENTS
Special Aspects
Character Aspects
These are the Aspects your character has,
which are selected during character creation
to help define things about the character’s
personality, their goals, their relationships, etc.
Unless otherwise specified, Character Aspects
are always standard Aspects.
Some sample Character Aspects are Trained
by Corporal Frank Sheppard, Always on the
Run, “Nobody gets left behind!” or Never
Forgets an Insult.
Consequences
When a character is forced to suffer stress,
the amount of stress suffered may be reduced
by electing to suffer a Consequence.
There are two different types of Consequences,
Wounds and Complications. And each type
may be rated as Mild, Moderate, Severe or
Extreme.
You may take multiple Consequences at once,
but never two of the same type and rating.
You could, for example, take a Minor and
Moderate Wound at the same time, or a Minor
Wound and Minor Complication, but not two
Minor Wounds.
Wounds are a special type of Character
Aspect that you are forced to take as a result
of suffering physical stress (also just called
“damage”). Typically, Wounds work exactly
like Character Aspects, but are removed as
the Wound heals. Examples include Twisted
Ankle(m), Sprained Ankle, or Sucking Chest
Wound(M).
Complications work exactly like Wounds,
but reflect stress and damage to your mind,
your surroundings, or your relationships.
Example Complications include Phobia of
Spiders(m), Civilian Casualties or Wanted by
the Authorities(M).
See pg. 76 for more on Wounds and
Complications
15
External Aspects
External Aspects are Aspects that belong to
other people, places and things. And like your
own Aspects, they may be Invoked.
External Aspects may already exist in the
world, or they may be created by characters
THE BASICS
performing a Maneuver (pg. 68) or as a side
effect of other Actions. External Aspects are
usually standard Aspects, though hey could be
Major if their effects are unusually significant
or wide-ranging.
CHARACTERS
Examples include Loud Machinery, Crowded
Room or Dense Tropical Foliage(M).
Some External Aspects reflect certain
characteristics of weapons, tools, armor,
vehicles or other items characters may own or
STRANDS
interact with.
Examples include Rusted and Dull, Infrared
Scope, Forged From Adamantine(M).
GAMEPLAY
The GM’s Threat Pool
Unlike PCs, the NPCs controlled by the GM do
not have their own allotment of Fate Points.
Instead, they all draw from the GM’s Threat
Pool.
PERKS
Any time an NPC needs to spend a Fate Point,
or earns a Fate Point, it is subtracted or added
to the GM’s Threat Pool.
When the GM offers to Compel a PC with
POWERS
an Aspect, the offered Fate Point comes from
the GM’s Threat Pool. Likewise, if a PC offers a
Compel to an NPC, if the GM accepts on behalf
of the NPC, the offered FP goes into the Threat
Pool.
Whenever you Refresh, a number of Fate GEAR
Points equal to 5 + 1 per PC go into the Threat
Pool. Unlike the PC’s Fate Points, the Fate
Points in the GM’s Threat Pool do not carry
over between sessions. The Threat Pool resets
MASTERY
with each Refresh.
GAME
Certain NPCs may have a special Perk called
Fated Foe (pg. 188). Each time an NPC with
this Perk appears in a scene, the GM’s Threat
Pool gains bonus Fate Points. The bonus Fate
DEVIATIONS
Points provided by this Perk disappear at the
end of the scene in which the NPC appeared.
CONTENTS
 Chapter 2
CHAPTER 2

Characters
THE BASICS

Each player in a Strands of Fate campaign Human

creates their own character. This chapter Humans are ambitious and adaptable, and
provides step-by-step guidance for creating set the standard by which the other races are
characters. compared.
Remember that the campaign’s Strand (pg. Benefits:
CHARACTERS

25) may change or add to these rules, so

make sure you talk with your GM about your
campaign’s Strand before you begin.
Step 1 - Experience & Power Levels
STRANDS
Bonus Perk - All Humans begin play with one
additional Grounded Perk.
Bonus Skill - All Humans begin play with one
additional rank in a Skill rated 3 or lower.

The first step is to

determine their Power Power Levels
Level and Experience
Level.
Grounded Step 3 - Aspects
Heroic You begin play with a total of 6 Aspects, which
These will be
GAMEPLAY

Paragon represent certain facets of your character’s life,

determined by your personality, methods and goals. One of your
Strand, and will tell you Mythic
Aspects is your Defining Aspect, which should
how many starting Skills Legendary serve as a concise description of your character
and Perks you get, as concept. The other five are derived from the
well as what Power Level your Perks may be. Aspect Alphabet (Ambition, Background, etc.).
See pg. 27 for more on Experience and
PERKS

Power Levels.
The Defining Aspect
Experience Levels Characters have one Aspect that should
clearly and concisely define their character
Character Starting Starting concept.
POWERS

Exp Level (CEL) Skill Points Perks

This is called your Defining Aspect, and it is
Novice 18 1 essentially your character’s concept summed
Adept 21 3 up in just a few words.
Expert 24 5 Sample Defining Aspects
GEAR

Veteran 27 7 ªª Honorable Knight of the Cross

Master 30 9 ªª Sorcerer of the Emerald Chantry
ªª Paranoid Paranormal Investigator
Step 2 - Race ªª Hard Nosed Special Forces Operative
MASTERY
GAME

In many cases, this one is obvious - Human.
However, in more fantastical settings, you
may have the option to play as a nonhuman
character, such as a dwarf, elf or even a robot.
DEVIATIONS
ªª Human Purist of House Jinzhan
ªª Sanctioned Exorcist from the Vatican
ªª Burned Out Cop on the Edge
ªª Disgraced Race Car Driver on the Run

Your Strand should tell you which races are ªª Vampiric Mayor of Detroit
available to choose from. See pg. 22 for a ªª Embedded Journalist who Saw Too Much
description of each race.
The benefits of being Human are described
below:

16
CONTENTS
The Aspect Alphabet
The Aspect Alphabet is a guide to helping
players select their character’s other Aspects.
While not entirely necessary (see pg. 210
for more on ditching the Aspect Alphabet), its
a great tool for new players, or even veteran
players in search of inspiration.
“A” is for Ambition
What are your character’s goals and
ambitions? Good ambition Aspects might be:
ªª Wants to Avenge his Father’s Death
ªª “I’ll make captain one day!
ªª “The hordes of Gog shall be driven from
my homeland!”
“B” is for Belief
What do you believe in? What religion or
philosophies guide your actions and make you
the person you are? Some good conviction
Aspects include:
ªª “God will grant me Strength”
ªª Ladies First
ªª “I’d lay down my life for my country.”
17
“C” is for Connection
This Aspect represents a relationship with
a person, place or organization important to
you. It could be where you grew up, who your
parents were, who trained you, or any other
sort of notable connection. Examples include:
THE BASICS
ªª Grew up on the Streets of New York
ªª Bastard Son of Prince Morlass
ªª Ex CIA Operative
“D” is for Disadvantage
CHARACTERS
Why haven’t you already achieved all your
goals? What are your weaknesses? Some good
disadvantage Aspects include:
ªª Soft Spot for the Poor
ªª “Lost my legs in ‘Nam”
STRANDS
ªª “I shall not harm an innocent.”
“E” is for Experience
Something happened to you, or you did
something that changed you in a profound
GAMEPLAY
way. Or maybe you had a hard childhood, or
grew up under unusual circumstances. More,
it continues to haunt you, forcing you to look
back on it again from time to time. Some good
experience Aspects include:
ªª Sole Survivor of the Holden Massacre
PERKS
ªª Responsible for the Destruction of
Tranquility Station
ªª Orphaned and Raised on the Streets
POWERS
GEAR
MASTERY
GAME
DEVIATIONS
CONTENTS
 Step 4 - Skill Ranks
During character creation, you gain a number
of Skill Points to distribute among your Skills.
The number of Skill Points you have depends
on your starting CEL, as shown on the
THE BASICS
Reasoning – A measurement of your mental
reflexes or “common sense.” It is used to
make quick and accurate decisions based on
unexpected or incomplete information. It’s
also your ability to apply your knowledge,
such as when crafting or repairing items, or

Experience Levels Table. performing research.

A Skill has a rating of 0 unless you put points
into it. For each point placed in the Skill, its
rank is increased by one.
Max Skill Rank: The maximum Skill rank a Skill
CHARACTERS
Reflexes – Your ability to react to sudden
changes in your environment, such as when
dodging blows. It is also your ability to
perform in circumstances that require quick

thinking, such as when driving or piloting

can achieve by distributing these Skill Points is
4. Higher ranks are achieved through aircraft.
taking the Skilled Perk (pg. 99). SKILLS Resolve – The measure of your
courage, willpower, and ability to
ACTION resist temptation. It also represents
Skill Descriptions the drive to persevere in the face of
STRANDS

Might
Guile – The ability to lie, con, seduce, overwhelming opposition.
or bluff. Also the ability to haggle Mobility
for a good deal. Precision Sway – The ability to talk with people
Reflexes in a friendly fashion, bargain for a
Insight – Used to intuit other’s deal, and make a good impression; or
GAMEPLAY

feelings, motivations or intentions. alternatively, to intimidate and bully

Knowledge – Knowledge measures
“book learning.” It covers history,
science, geography, literature,
sociology, government, physics,
math, and other academic fields of
PERKS
WITS others into doing what you want.
Knowledge
Affinity (Special) – An Affinity Skill is
Perception
a Skill used by characters who wield
Reasoning certain Powers. Depending on the
Resolve nature of your Powers, it might be

study. used to activate them, control them,

Might – Your strength, health, vigor,
and ability to withstand pain,
toxins, sicknesses, and diseases
of the body. Adds to your Physical
POWERS
INFLUENCE or govern how powerful they are.
Guile Powers are granted by special Perks,
Sway which determine both the nature of
your Affinity Skill, the type of Powers

Insight
Stress Track. you may select, and how you may
Networking acquire more.
Mobility – How quickly and Examples of these Perks, such as
gracefully you can move your body: SPECIAL Magic-User (pg. 36), are found in
running speed, balance, jumping, Affinity the Strands chapter.
acrobatics, stealth, and so on. If you’re character doesn’t have any
GEAR

Networking – The quality and special Powers, you don’t need to

quantity of the contacts you have that are worry about having any ranks in an
willing to provide you aid. Affinity Skill.
Perception – The quality of your five senses
MASTERY
GAME

and general awareness of your surroundings.

Can be used to make Assessments (pg.
70).
Precision – Your capacity to perform delicate
DEVIATIONS

tasks, throw objects, or fire projectile

weapons such as bows, crossbows, muskets,
coil guns, particle accelerators, or heavy
artillery such as cannons or vehicular
weaponry. It is the general measure of your
hand-eye coordination.

18
CONTENTS
Step 5 - Perks
Perks reflect the special training or abilities
that characters have. Many Perks grant
bonuses to certain Actions. Others allow you
to use existing Skills in new ways.
Perks are divided into categories based on
how powerful they are, which correspond to
the Character Power Levels. Unless otherwise
stated, you may not take a Perk if its Power
Level is greater than your own, and you may
not take the same Perk more than once.
See pg. 94 for more on Perks.
All characters begin play with one Perk. If you
begin play at an Experience Level above Novice,
you may have additional Perks as shown on the
Experience Levels Table (pg. 16).
Also, remember that Human characters begin
play with an additional, free, Grounded Perk.
Step 6 - Resources
Characters have a trait called Resources that
represents the character’s ability to purchase
items (pg. 171). This is a broad measure of
your character’s assets, salary, valuables on
hand, and/or the character’s lifestyle.
Your Resources rating is used to make tests
when you make a purchase. In this way it
acts like a Skill. To determine your character’s
Resources rating, you must first determine
how the character makes their money. The
answer to that question determines which Skill
the character’s Resources trait is based on.
Choose one of the following types of jobs
that best describes your character’s method
of acquiring wealth. Each type of job lists two
Skills. Your starting Resources rating is equal to
the lower of your ratings with these two Skills.
In this case the associated Skills do not reflect
how well you perform your job, but how well
you are able to leverage your efforts to make
money. The most skilled worker still needs to
be able to negotiate for his salary, and the best
blacksmith still has to be able to haggle for a
good price.
19
Craftsman (Reasoning or Sway): Your character
makes and sells something, combining
their ability to craft items with their ability
to make others want them; be it pottery,
weapons, computer programs, or anything
else of value.
THE BASICS
Entertainer (Sway or Resolve): You make your
living performing for others, either on stage
or in front of the camera. It might look easy,
but it takes tremendous dedication and the
ability to handle rejection.
CHARACTERS
Influencer/Sales (Sway or Guile): You work in
law or marketing, and make your living trying
to make people want what you’re selling, be
it a product or a perspective. Your success
depends on making a strong argument,
while downplaying the competition.
STRANDS
Service Provider (Resolve or Might): You
make a living providing a physical service
to someone. This sort of job can take a toll,
both physically and emotionally. Examples
GAMEPLAY
include soldier, mechanic, plumber,
policeman or spy.
Academic/Educator (Knowledge or Reason-
ing): You are some sort of teacher or re-
searcher. You could be a scribe, a college
professor, a scientist, or a renowned consul-
PERKS
tant. In any case, your success depends on
both having information, and your ability to
share it.
Self-Sufficient (Resolve or Reasoning): You
get by on your own, scavenging or stealing
POWERS
to survive. You might be a survivalist, a
frontiersman, a thief, a pirate or a bandit.
Increasing Resources
Once character creation is complete, and the
game begins, your Resources rating can only GEAR
be increased through Perks or by increasing
the Skills associated with your job type. Your
Resources is always equal to the lower of the
MASTERY
two associated Skills, plus any bonuses you
GAME
receive from Perks.
Note, however, that certain Deviations may
affect how your Resources rating may change
over time. Your Strand should tell you which of
DEVIATIONS
these Deviations, or any, you are using.
CONTENTS
 Step 7 - Starting Equipment
To determine your starting gear, first multiply
your Resources rating by 3.
If starting at an Experience Level higher than
Novice, add +3 for Adept, +6 for Expert, +9 for
THE BASICS
Veteran and +12 for Master.
The total is your Budget. For example, if you
were an Expert and your Resources rating were
2, your starting Budget would be 12 ((2x3)+6).
You may now select any items you wish to
CHARACTERS
purchase, and subtract their Cost from your
Budget until you run out. No single item,
however, may have a Cost higher than your
Resources Rating +1. And you may not buy
items that aren’t allowed by your Strand,
either because of your Tech-Level, or other
STRANDS
factors. Unspent Budget may be spent later,
during play.
When you purchase a ranged weapon, you
get 3 units of ammunition for free. See pg.
GAMEPLAY
172 for more on how much ammo you may
carry.
You may have any number of items with a
Cost of 0, so long as your GM agrees.
PERKS
POWERS
GEAR
MASTERY
GAME
DEVIATIONS
20
CONTENTS
Step 8 - Refresh Rating
Your Refresh Rating determines the total
number of Fate Points you get when you
Refresh. A Refresh occurs at the start of each
game session. During particularly long game
sessions, your GM may allow a Refresh mid-
session.
Every character starts with Refresh Rating of
5.
You may carry over unspent Fate Points
between game sessions, but the maximum
number you can have at any time is equal to
your Refresh Rating +2.
If the number of Fate Points you have when
you receive a Refresh exceeds your Refresh
Rating, you do not get any new Fate Points.
Certain Perks may increase your Refresh
Rating, while other particularly powerful Perks
(and some Power Enhancements) may reduce
it.
Note, however, that your Refresh Rating may
never be reduced below 1. Any Perk (or Power
Enhancement) that would reduce your Refresh
below 1 may not be selected.
Step 9 - Stress Track
All characters have a Stress Track, a series
of boxes upon which you track any stress you
receive.
A character has a number of stress boxes on
their Stress Track equal to 1 + your character’s
Size + their Might Skill Rating + their Resolve
Skill Rating (min 1). So a human character (Size
0) with Might 2 and Resolve 1 would have 4
boxes.
See pg. 76 for more on Stress Tracks and
how they are used.
# Stress Boxes = 1 + Size + Might + Resolve
Character Advancement
At the beginning of the campaign, your Strand
will determine the Character Experience Level
of all the PCs. However, as you play, you will
increase your Experience Level, improving
your Skills and unlocking new Perks.
next Experience Level, gained with every 4th
Milestone.
If you are using the Power From Experience
Deviation (pg. 218), gaining a Promotion may
also result in an increase to your Power Level.
Master Milestones: Milestones beyond your

If starting at an Experience Level higher than
Novice, your first Milestone will correspond
to the lowest Milestone for your Experience
Level.
For example, if you started as an Expert, the
THE BASICS
20th are called Master Milestones.
After achieving your first Master Milestone,
you can continue to accumulate Master
Milestones and gain new Perks. However,
the number of Experience Points needed to

first Milestone you achieve would be Milestone
9.
Experience Points
At the end of each game session, it is up to the
CHARACTERS
acquire the Master Milestone increases each
time.
After acquiring your first Master Milestone,
the next requires 9 XP. The one after that
requires 12 XP, and so on, increasing by 3 XP

STRANDS
each time.
GM to award your character between 1 and 3
Experience Points (XPs) depending on the
length of the session and how much got Character Advancement Ladder
accomplished.
Milestone 1 Skill
Note that the Achievements (pg 216)

GAMEPLAY
Deviation provides other means of gaining Milestone 2 Perk
Experience Points. Novice
Milestone 3 Skill

Milestones Milestone 4 Promotion, Perk & Skill

When a character gains 6XPs, they Milestone 5 Skill

PERKS
achieve a Milestone. Milestones allow Milestone 6 Perk
your character to improve in a few Adept
different ways, as described below, and Milestone 7 Skill
on the Character Advancement Ladder Milestone 8 Promotion, Perk & Skill
table.

POWERS
Milestone 9 Skill
Change Aspect: Each time you achieve
a Milestone, you may reword or replace Milestone 10 Perk
an existing Character Aspect to reflect the Expert
Milestone 11 Skill
growth of your character.
Skill: When you achieve a Milestone that Milestone 12 Promotion, Perk & Skill
grants a Skill, you may increase any Skill Milestone 13 Skill GEAR
rated less than 4 by one rank. Increasing
Skills beyond rank 4 requires the Skilled Milestone 14 Perk
Veteran
Perk (pg. 99). Milestone 15 Skill
Perk: When you gain a new Perk, you may Milestone 16 Promotion, Perk & Skill
MASTERY
GAME

select any Perk of a Power Level equal to,

or less than, your own. Many Perks have Milestone 17 Skill
other prerequisites, which must also be Milestone 18 Perk
met before selecting the Perk. Master
Milestone 19 Skill
DEVIATIONS

Promotion: Upon earning enough XPs

to earn your 4th Milestone, the character Milestone 20 Promotion, Perk & Skill
is promoted to a new Experience Level. Master Milestone Perk
You also gain a Perk, and a Skill Increase.
The character then starts over and begins
accumulated Milestones toward their

21
CONTENTS
 Non-Human Races
Some campaign Strands may allow players
to select non-human races, some examples of
which are listed below.
Many of these races come at a cost, or require
THE BASICS
the character to meet certain prerequisites.
Construct
The Construct race describes a character that
is comprised of non-living matter. They could
CHARACTERS
be a robot, a sentient tree, or an animated
statue.
Cost: Reduce Refresh by 1
Benefits:
Unnatural Composition – The Construct gains a
STRANDS
natural Armor Rating of +2.
Living Construct - The character gets the
Lifeless Power (pg. 154) with the Permanent
Enhancement, for free.
GAMEPLAY
Draconis
The Draconis are a race of bipedal reptiles
that resemble a magical hybrid of human and
dragon. They average 7ft tall, have a humanoid
body with a dragon-shaped head, and a
long tail. Their body’s are covered in thick,
PERKS
shimmering, scales.
Cost: Reduce Refresh by 1
Prerequisites: Heroic Power Level, Might 2+
Specialty Aspect: Draconic Bearing (Sway)
POWERS
Benefits:
Dragon’s Scales – The Draconis gains a natural
Armor Rating of +1.
Dragon’s Breath – The character gets the Bolt
Power (pg. 133) for free. This bolt takes the
GEAR
form of a stream of fire, cold or acid (chosen
during character creation), which is spewed
forth from the Draconis’ mouth. It may be
used once per scene. When using this Power,
the Draconis use their Might as their Affinity
MASTERY
GAME
Skill. This Power may be used more than once
per scene, but each time after the first, the
Draconis suffers 2 points of physical stress
caused from the strain this inflicts on their
bodies.
DEVIATIONS
22
CONTENTS
Dwarf
Dwarves look like short, stocky, humans with
a preponderance for long beards, excessive
body hair, and a love of all things alcoholic.
Specialty Aspect: Dwarven Resilience (Might)
Benefits:
Dwarf Sight - The character gets the Thermal
Vision Power (pg. 166) with the Permanent
Enhancement for free.
Elf
Tall, slender, and graceful. Elves look much
like lithe humans, with pointed ears and cat-
like eyes.
Specialty Aspect: Elven Grace (Precision)
Benefits:
Elven Awareness - Elves are Favored on all
Perception tests.
Goblin
Short, vicious, sneaky and crude, goblins are
seen by many as a blight on the world. Goblins
are about the same height and build of a
halfling, but have huge eyes, long pointed ears,
and are covered in short hair.
Specialty Aspect: Savage Hunter (Reasoning)
Size: -1
Benefits:
Ambush Tactics – Goblins are Favored on all
tests to set traps, track prey, and remain
unnoticed.
Halfling
Averaging no more than 4ft in height, halflings
are naturally curious creatures with a love of
food, drink and all things merry.
Bonus Aspect: Insatiable Curiosity
Size: -1
Benefits:
Halfling Luck – The halfling’s Refresh Rating is
increased by +1. They also get a +1 bonus on
all Reflex or Mobility-based Defense tests.
Half-Elf Ogre
You are the offspring of a human and elf, or Small by giant standards, but utterly massive
two half-elves. As such, you gain some of the as far as humans are concerned. Ogres average
traits of both. around 9ft tall, and when angered, reveal a
Benefits: vicious temperament.
Cost: Reduce starting Skill Ranks by 2.

THE BASICS
Mixed Heritage – You may select one of the
Human racial benefits (Bonus Perk or Bonus Prerequisites: Heroic Power Level, Might 4+
Skill) and one of the Elven racial benefits Size: +1
(Elven Grace Specialty Aspect or Elven Benefits:
Awareness). Savage Strength - You gain both the Brute

Leonid
The Leonid are a race of cat-like humanoids,
with feline heads and a thin coat of soft fur.
They have a reputation for being both proud
and devious, and are known to hold a lasting
CHARACTERS
Strength (pg. 101) and Unstoppable (pg.
106) Perks for free.
Orc
Orcs tend to be tougher and stronger than
humans, but also far more feral and savage.

STRANDS
grudge against those who wrong them.
Prerequisites: Might 3+
Benefits:
Specialty Aspect: Orcish Might (Might)
Cat’s Claws – The leonid’s strong fingers end
in retractable claws, giving them a natural Benefits:
Monstrous Resilience - The number of stress

GAMEPLAY
weapon with a Damage Rating of 2.
Night Vision - The leonid gets the Night boxes the orc’s stress track has is increased
Vision Power (pg. 155) with the Permanent by 2.
Enhancement for free.

PERKS
POWERS
GEAR
MASTERY
GAME
DEVIATIONS

23
CONTENTS
 DEVIATIONS GAME GEAR POWERS PERKS GAMEPLAY STRANDS CHARACTERS THE BASICS
MASTERY

CONTENTS
24
Chapter 3
CHAPTER 2
Every Strands of Fate campaign starts with
a Strand. The Strand clearly defines what the
characters need to know about the setting
their characters will inhabit, and what sorts of
things they should keep in mind while creating
characters. The Strand outlines how the
default rules might be changed to match the
needs of the campaign, and which Deviations
the GM plans to use.
The Strand consists of the following parts:
ªª The Pitch
ªª Campaign Aspects
ªª Tech-Level
ªª Character Power Level
ªª Character Experience Level
ªª Races, Skills and Perks
ªª Deviations
The Pitch
The first thing you’re going to need to do
is come up with a brief description for the
campaign you want to run. The pitch should
capture the time and place for the action, and
provide some sort of theme for the PCs.
The pitch is something the GM should work
on with the players in an effort to get on the
same page and talk about what to expect from
the campaign.
Here are a few sample pitches…
• A rag-tag band of adventurers delve into
ancient ruins seeking fame and fortune.
• Investigators, in pursuit of a stolen idol,
become involved with the mob and an
ancient cult of demon worshipers.
• Down on their luck traders and smugglers
search for salvage in the aftermath of a
great war in space.
• An eclectic band of mercenaries, once
thugs for a criminal syndicate, seek re-
demption by cleaning up the streets.
25
Strands
THE BASICS
Campaign Aspects
Campaign Aspects are another tool that,
along with the Pitch, helps you define what
sort of campaign you want to play through.
CHARACTERS
Like other Aspects in this game, the Campaign
Aspects can be Invoked or used to offer
Compels. They provide a tool for players and
the GM to maintain certain themes throughout
play.
Your Campaign should have at least 3
STRANDS
Campaign Aspects that are made known to
the players before play begins. However,
the GM doesn’t need to come up with them
all by themselves. If they want, this can be a
collaborative effort with the players.
GAMEPLAY
Good Campaign Aspects should address some
of the following questions about the world the
PCs will live in:
Where does the campaign start? What is that
place like?
PERKS
What is the most obvious threat that everyone
is aware of?
What is a secret threat that nobody knows
about?
POWERS
What is the political climate like?
What is scarce? Money? Time? Power?
Confidence? Trust?
Who is believed to be in power?
Who is really in power?
What emotions do you wish to evoke? Fear? GEAR
Distrust? Hope? Despair?
When selecting Campaign Aspects, make sure
they don’t unfairly penalize certain types of
MASTERY
GAME
PCs. Or if they do, make sure that the players
support it.
For example, if an Aspect implies that the
majority of the people in the setting are
DEVIATIONS
extremely intolerant of non-human races, be
sure to talk that over with players who want to
play non-human characters before you settle
on that Aspect.
CONTENTS
 Secret Campaign Aspects
Every campaign should have some mystery
to it. To facilitate this, the GM should come up
with at least 2 secret Aspects that only they
know about at the start of the campaign.
THE BASICS
Sample Pitch & Campaign Aspects
Below you will find an example of a Pitch and
its Campaign Aspects…
The Pitch: Unlikely heroes must rise up to save
CHARACTERS
their village from a roaming horde of undead.
Campaign Aspects:
• Sparse Civilization Built on the Bones of
an Ancient Dwarven Empire
STRANDS
• Magic is Rare, and Those Who Wield it
are Feared and Mistrusted*
• The Dead Are Coming, And the People Are
Scared
• (Secret) The High Priestess of the Lord of
GAMEPLAY
the Morning is Secretly an Acolyte of the
God of Undead
• (Secret) The Undead Were Raised by a
Merchant Guild Hoping to Profit from the
War and Recovery Effort.
PERKS
* This is a good example of a Campaign Aspect
that should be discussed at length if any of the
PCs are going to wield magic.
POWERS
Tech-Level (TL)
Strands of Fate supports play in all sorts
of time periods. Your characters could be
nomadic hunters fighting rival tribes at the
GEAR
dawn of civilization, a squad of Allied soldiers
battling Nazi werewolves on the blood soaked
beaches of Normandy, or space marines
battling the Thing That Should Not Be on the
dark side of the moon.
MASTERY
GAME
Different Tech-Levels means different types
of equipment may be available. But it also
means that supernatural powers need to have
more power to compete with the weapons
DEVIATIONS
and armor of the day. Magic should feel…
well… magical. And that means that magical
bolts of lightning and fire need to be at least as
effective as the weapons a character might buy
at the local sporting goods store.
26
CONTENTS
As such, how effective a Power is often
depends on the setting’s Tech-Level. So as the
TL goes up, and mundane weapons and armor
become more potent, Powers become more
potent as well.
The setting’s Tech-Level rating is a rough
estimate of the level of technology a setting
needs to have to feature an item. This is a very
general scale and the GM is of course the final
arbiter in regards to what has, and has not,
been invented yet in his game world.
TL 1: Sticks and stones. People of this TL are
very primitive. They hunt with rocks tied to
the end of spears, and dress themselves in
animal hides.
TL 2: The people of this era have discovered
basic metal working. Weapons of this time
include swords and crossbows; and medicine
consists of herbal remedies.
TL 3: The early to late Renaissance era. This TL
features the building blocks of modern day
tech; ranging from complex metal armors
to the first muskets. People have begun
to enjoy the benefits of the early internal
combustion engines and printing presses.
TL 4: This is the “modern day”. People have
automatic weapons, computers, and cars.
TL 5: In this TL, much of the “modern day”
technology has evolved into more fantastic
forms. Coil guns, powered armor, star ships
and full immersion VR are all possible.
TL 6: Compared to “modern day” TL 4
technology, the tech of TL 6 would be
considered almost magical. Man portable
beam weapons, force fields, digital
uploading of the conscious mind, faster
than light travel... all of these things may be
possible in TL 6 settings.
Item Availability
Your Tech-Level may not be the only factor in
determining what items are available to PCs. If,
for example, metal is very rare in your setting,
you need to make sure the players are aware
of it before they are ready to buy gear for their
PCs.
If availability is an issue, be sure to make it
clear whether or not items are just rare (and
thus more expensive), or do not exist at all.
Character Power Level
The Character Power Level (CPL) determines
how far above the average person the PCs are
at the start of play.
The CPL will determine what sort of Perks the
character can start with, and thus, how much
raw power they have at their disposal.
Grounded: The character probably works
a normal job, and either has no interest in
heroics, or has never been forced to act in
the face of danger. Before the campaign
begins, the character’s biggest troubles
probably stem from relationships and their
job (or lack thereof).
Heroic: The character is armed with
knowledge and skill that puts them above
the norm, though they are still a normal
person. Heroic characters are typically faced
with solving local issues, either fighting for
their survival or solving small town problems.
Paragon: The character can perform deeds
that the average person will never be able
to accomplish. Paragons often become local
leaders or regional celebrities, and tackle
problems that trouble large cities or small
national regions.
Mythic: The character is on the cusp of
surpassing what it means to be human,
possessing skills and capabilities that border
on (or clearly are) supernatural. Mythic
heroes fight monsters of legend,
battle for the fate of kingdoms or
nations, and sometimes become
rulers themselves.
Legendary: Characters at this level
of power can lay waste to armies,
warp the fabric of space and
time, and stand toe to toe with
angels and demons. Legendary
heroes are, as their name
implies, living legends. They take
the battle to gods and demons,
and might one day become divinity
themselves.
27
Character Experience Level
The Character Experience Level (CEL) is used
to determine how experienced the characters
are at the beginning of the campaign.
Novice: The character is still in, or fresh out of,
THE BASICS
whatever training they may have had. They
may still be apprentices, still be in college, or
might be new hires on the job.
Adept: The character has been practicing
CHARACTERS
their trade for a short amount of time, and is
comfortable with, and competent at, doing
what the do.
Expert: The character has been practicing
their trade for several years, and has grown
STRANDS
good at doing what they do.
Veteran: The character is exceptionally good
at what they do, and is well on their way to
gaining some real recognition.
GAMEPLAY
Master: The character has practiced their
trade for decades and is a master of their
craft. Likely they have built a considerable
reputation.
Characters who begin play at a CEL higher
than Novice begin with a larger number of Skill
PERKS
ranks and Perks. See the Power and Experience
Level table on pg. 16 for exactly how
your Experience Level affects your starting
capabilities.
POWERS
GEAR
MASTERY
GAME
DEVIATIONS
CONTENTS
 Select Deviations
Deviations are special rule modules the GM
may use to change, simplify, or build upon, the
core mechanics of the game to better shine
a spotlight on the elements that are most
important to your setting and your group’s
THE BASICS
preferred playstyle.
Take the time to think about what elements
of the setting and the characters you want to
emphasize, and select the right Deviations to
help with that. But don’t overdo it. In some
CHARACTERS
cases, a Deviation lends itself toward making
gameplay more detailed, but also more
complicated.
Be careful that you don’t stack on too many
complicating Deviations, and find your game
STRANDS
bogged down in juggling the minutia.
Remember, your campaign doesn’t need to
be all things to all people. Pick a theme or two,
outline what’s important, and stick to it.
GAMEPLAY
Different settings benefit from different
Deviations, but here we present some
common sets of tweaks that the group may
want to consider.
More Deadly Combat
PERKS
If you want to emphasize a down and dirty,
brutal and violent setting where character
death is a real possibility, you’ll want to
consider the following Deviations:
• Structured Initiative (pg. 218)
POWERS
• Card Deck Initiative (Pg. 205)
• Called Shots (pg. 205)
• Costly Complications (pg. 205)
• No Complications (pg. 206)
GEAR
Emphasized Wealth and Equipment
Beyond lethality and character death,
other factors you’ll want to consider is how
important money and gear should be in your
MASTERY
campaign. If your campaign is about characters
GAME
who have set out to acquire wealth, and the
accumulation and spending of that wealth is
an important part of the story, you might want
to consider using these Deviations:
DEVIATIONS
• Dynamic Resources (pg. 212)
• Survival (pg. 224)
28
CONTENTS
Less Important Wealth and Equipment
If the characters’ wealth and/or gear is
something you want to sort of fade into
the background, as might be the case in a
campaign that focuses more on the characters’
personal growth or relationships, you should
use the following Modules:
• Gear Aspects (pg. 213)
• Simplified Weapons and Armor (pg. 213)
Increased Narrative Control
The rules for Declarations and using Aspects
to Compel characters allow the players to
sidestep the game’s more detailed rules and
drive the narrative more directly.
The following Deviations add even more
options for direct narrative control by the
players:
• Skill-based Declarations (pg. 204)
• Narrative Exploits (pg. 220)
• Called Shots (pg. 205)
Decreased Narrative Control
While some groups prefer to lean more
heavily on narrative control systems, some
GMs prefer to take a larger role in telling a
more structured story for the players to enjoy.
In that case, the following Deviations can be
used to reduce the amount of direct narrative
control available to the players:
• Aspect Scopes (pg. 204)
• Costly Complications (pg. 205)
• No Complications (pg. 206)
• Explicit Compels (pg. 204)
• No Declarations (pg. 204)
• Structured Initiative (pg. 210)
Genre Enforcement
Campaign Aspects are perhaps the most overt
tool for promoting the trappings and tropes
of certain genres and themes, but it’s not the
only one. The following Deviations provide
additional mechanisms for encouraging play in
line with certain genre conventions:
• Achievements (pg. 216)
• Bulk and Encumbrance (pg. 211)
• Sanity (pg. 207)
• No Aspect Alphabet (pg. 210)
• Survival (pg. 224)
• Narrative Exploits (pg. 220)

More Strategic Combat
The following Deviations emphasize detailed
combat during play. More specifically, they
emphasize tactical decision making and
positioning:
• Called Shots (pg. 205)
• Explicit Compels (pg. 204)
• Facing (pg. 206)
• Miniatures and Battle Mats (pg. 206)
• Structured Initiative (pg. 210)
Speeding Up Play
There are several Deviations that can speed
up gameplay, reducing the amount of dice rolls
made, at the expense of reducing options or
normalizing die results. These include:
• Zeroing Out (pg. 201)
• Costly Complications (pg. 205)
• No Complications (pg. 206)
• Sequences (pg. 221)
Simplified Character Creation
Certain Deviations are available that can
reduce or simplify the traits that make up a
character, and as a result, speed up the process
of creating them. These Deviations include:
• No Aspect Alphabet (pg. 210)
• Skill Modes (pg. 202)
• Gear Aspects (pg. 213)
29
Character Advancement
The default rules assume that the character’s
Power Level is set during character creation,
and never changes. Their Experience Level,
on the other hand, is increased after gaining
enough experience to gain 4 Milestones.
THE BASICS
The following Deviations adjust the method
and rate of Advancement, and allow you to
increase in Power Level over time.
• Achievements (pg. 216)
CHARACTERS
• Power from Experience (pg. 218)
• Variant Advancement Speeds (pg. 219)
Races, Perks and Powers
STRANDS
Which Races, Perks and Powers (if any) are
available tend to be heavily dependent on the
campaign setting.
Is it a futuristic setting where cybernetic
GAMEPLAY
augmentation is possible? Is magic real?
Psionics? Mutations? Elves? Vampires? You’ll
need to figure this out, and then make a list
of which Races and Perks are appropriate for
your campaign.
But remember, just because a non-human
PERKS
race exists in your setting doesn’t mean its
suitable for play. If, for example, you’re playing
in a fantasy setting focused on a war between
dwarves and orcs, don’t assume that either
race should be available for play. If the rest of
POWERS
the PCs are orcs, and one player wants to play a
lone dwarf, the group should have a discussion
about why the other person wants to play a
dwarf, what that possibility brings to the table,
and (perhaps more importantly) what possible
disruptions and distractions it could lead to.
GEAR
And if Powers are available, you’ll need to
work out how they are acquired.
When in doubt, use the sample Strands in this
book as inspiration. You could, for example,
MASTERY
GAME
repurpose the guidelines for creating super
heroes in Strands of Valor as a basis for
creating modern vampires, or mix them with
the Talents from Strands of Fantasy to create
DEVIATIONS
an urban fantasy campaign.
CONTENTS
 THE BASICS
The most merciful thing in the world, I think,
is the inability of the human mind to correlate
all its contents. We live on a placid island of
ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity,
and it was not meant that we should voyage
CHARACTERS
far. The sciences, each straining in its own
direction, have hitherto harmed us little; but
some day the piecing together of dissociated
knowledge will open up such terrifying vistas
of reality, and of our frightful position therein,
that we shall either go mad from the revelation
STRANDS
or flee from the light into the peace and safety
of a new dark age.
The Call of Cthulhu
H.P. Lovecraft
GAMEPLAY
Strands of Cthulhu provides guidelines
for using Strands of Fate to tell stories of
unspeakable cosmic horror, alien malice, and
the madness of true enlightenment, set within
the setting of H.P. Lovecraft’s Chtulhu Mythos.
PERKS
The Setting
The Earth of Strands of Cthulhu is like our
Earth in every way, except for one minor
difference. It is touched by the Mythos, the
POWERS
unseen influence of the Elder Gods and their
minions. These beings are ancient beyond
mortal comprehension, powerful beyond
belief, and possess an intellect both alien and
vast.
GEAR
Sometimes called the Ancient Ones, they are
the embodiments of cosmic horror, and care
not for humanity or this Earth. Their goals
are unknowable and indecipherable, save the
most basic of desires to feed or be free.
MASTERY
GAME
Great Cthulhu is but one of several Elder
Gods, but is probably the most well-known due
to the near global proliferation of its twisted
disciples. The dead god of the sunken city of
DEVIATIONS
R’lyeh, Cthulhu seeks to be free, to rise from its
watery tomb and consume all life.
Though dead, Great Cthulhu dreams, and
sometimes its dreams brush against the fragile
mortal minds of those who dwell above.
30
CONTENTS
From the watery depths, through the veil
of sleep, the Great Old One corrupts and
influences, twists and perverts. And it is this
invisible frequency that calls to those who
might become the dead god’s children.
Through these fevered and maddening
dreams, Cthulhu bestows knowledge of
ancient rites of power. It blesses its cultists with
knowledge man was not meant to know, sanity
twisting rituals and incantations, so that they
might fulfill their dead lord’s commands. They
are tempted with the power to rise above the
rest of the human herd; to enslave others. They
are shown how to summon and (presumably)
command Cthulhu’s lesser minions; released
from their tombs in the sunken city of R’lyeh,
or brought to Earth from beyond the stars.
And yet other Elder Gods touch the world in
their own ways, their secret influence reaching
far and wide. Humanity at large has no idea
what waits beneath the waves, what watches
from beyond the stars, or what walks among
them unseen.
Legends speak of their minions and spawn,
servants and slaves. They speak of the dead;
spectral shades and shambling corpses, bound
to serve. They ramble of formless demons
and twisted abominations. They whisper
about terrible beasts from eons past, stepping
through the doorway of a shadowed corner; or
babble incoherently about beings born under
the light of a forgotten sun.
The Old Ones’ infection can be found
anywhere, from the poorest little churches
to the most extravagant high society clubs.
Anywhere people gather to share ideas is a
fertile ground to sow rotting seeds.
Some of the Old Ones’ disciples believe their
masters will grant them exalted positions
of power once they claim the Earth. Others
believe they bring only destruction, and wish
to hasten their coming as they revel in their
nihilism. Sadly, it is the latter who are most
likely correct.
Characters
The PCs in a Strands of Cthulhu campaign are
normal people who discover the existence of
the supernatural, and are driven to investigate
it.
Players should take care to create characters
who, for whatever reason, would be compelled
to keep digging for answers. Their reason for
becoming involved with such things may vary,
but they need a strong motivation to keep
from simply fleeing in terror at the first hint
that something fundamentally wrong is going
on.
It could be a strong desire to protect others,
or to prevent whatever horrible fate the Elder
Gods intend for the world. Your character might
instead seek revenge, having been harmed by
the Elder Gods’ influence in the past. Or maybe
it’s simple curiosity. The character caught a
glimpse of something they can’t explain, and
can’t let it go.
In any case, the characters should favor brains
over brawn. While human cultists can be put
down like any normal man, the unnatural
servants of the Elder Gods are often far too
powerful to destroy with pitchforks and
torches. To stop them, the characters must
find their weaknesses, or stop them from
being summoned in the first place.
Sample Pitches
ªª Disgraced College Professors become
investigators that delve into reports of
supernatural activity in New York City.
ªª Rachel Kelly went missing in the sleepy
little town of Innsmouth. Her brother,
sister and boyfriend set out to find her.
ªª A group of Marines, cut off from the rest
of their platoon, discover a hidden cult in
a village in Afghanistan.
ªª Members of different government agen-
cies are assigned to an elite task force
assembled to investigate the supernat-
ural.
ªª Police officers in the little town of Liddy,
Georgia are the townsfolk’s only hope
when people start mysteriously disap-
pearing.
31
Sample Campaign Aspects
ªª Knowledge is Power, Understanding is
Insanity
ªª Layers of Horror Beneath a Thin Veil of
Normalcy
THE BASICS
ªª The Corrupting Influence of an Alien
Mind with Unknowable Motivations
Tech-Level
Strands of Cthulhu campaigns typically take
CHARACTERS
place on Earth, either in the period ranging
from 1890 to 1920 (TL 3), or in the modern day
(TL 4).
That said, there is no reason your heroes can’t
battle the forces of darkness in earlier times,
STRANDS
or even the future!
Character Power Level
Characters in a Strands of Cthulhu campaign
are Grounded. This style of campaign focuses
GAMEPLAY
on the theme that humanity is fragile and
powerless in the face of the Elder Gods and
their servants. They are vulnerable. And if
they hope to succeed, they must be smart and
resourceful.
PERKS
Character Experience Level
The Character’s Experience Level should
be determined based on the specifics of the
campaign. Let the Pitch be your guide.
POWERS
In most cases, however, it is recommended
that you start the PCs Experience Level no
higher than Expert.
Races, Skills and Perks
All characters in a Strands of Cthulhu campaign GEAR
are human.
The campaign uses all the normal Skills, with
one exception. There is a new Affinity Skill
MASTERY
called Mythos Lore, which is described below.
GAME
All Perks are available as long as the PCs meet
their requirements.
DEVIATIONS
CONTENTS
 Deviations
Required: The following Deviations are
required for this Strand:
Sanity (pg. 207)
Costly Complications (pg. 205)
THE BASICS
Recommended: These Deviations are recom-
mended to support the themes important to
this Strand, but aren’t required.
Called Shots (pg. 205)
Achievements (pg. 216)
CHARACTERS
No Complications (pg. 206)
Survival (pg. 224) – If you want the campaign
to focus on the PC’s isolation.
Not Recommended: It is recommended that
STRANDS
you do not use the following Deviations,
as they represent modifications to
the rules that run counter to the
themes and flavor of this Strand.
Power from Experience
GAMEPLAY
(pg. 218) – If you do
wish to use this
anyway, it is highly
recommended
that you use the
Heroes Emergent variant.
PERKS
Zeroing Out (pg. 201)
Affinity Skill: Mythos Lore
The activities of the Elder Gods and their
POWERS
minions, and the lore that surrounds them, is
collectively referred to as the “Mythos”.
The Mythos Lore Skills works just like the
Knowledge Skill, but only in regards to the
subject of the Mythos. It is the measure of
how much the character knows about, and
GEAR
understands, the workings of the Elder Gods
and their supernatural minions.
Whenever you would be called upon to make
a Knowledge test, if the subject in question is
MASTERY
related to the supernatural, use Mythos Lore
GAME
instead. If you do not have any ranks in the
Mythos Lore Skill, you may use Knowledge. But
you automatically suffer a -3 penalty.
DEVIATIONS
32
CONTENTS
Mythos and Madness
The more a person learns about the Elder
Gods and the way they think, the more
damaging it is to their mind; for they are
delving into knowledge that man was not
meant to know and that human minds did not
evolve to comprehend.
Whenever you gain your first rank in the
Mythos Lore Skill, you automatically gain a
new Aspect that reflects the beginning of your
descent into madness. This Aspect is equivalent
to a Mild Mental Break (pg. 208), but differs in
that it doesn’t take up that Consequence “slot”
(meaning you can also take a Mild Break) and
that you can never recover from it. The Aspect
is permanent.
When you take your 2nd rank in Mythos,
you gain another Aspect. This Aspect
is equivalent to a Moderate Mental
Break, and like the first, cannot be
recovered from.
Likewise, the 3rd rank
results in an Aspect
that is equivalent
to a Severe Break,
and the 4th results
in an Aspect that’s
equivalent to an Extreme
Break. The 5th rank results in
the character becoming entirely
unhinged, and automatically results in
them being Taken Out. Obviously, this means
the character becomes unplayable, though
they may become an NPC.
Mythos Tomes
Mythos lore has been recorded for centuries,
but rarely published. Most such sources of
knowledge exists as hastily scrawled notes and
diagrams, written with shaky hands upon poor
quality parchment, and bound as best a person
in the throws of insanity can manage.
That’s not always the case of course. Some
volumes have been copied multiple times, and
some have even received a small print run.
And in some cases, the “tome” isn’t even a
book. There are secret rooms where the walls
are etched with eldritch lore, or tapestries
wherein the instructions for an ancient rite are
sewn.
The tomes include descriptions of, and stories
about, the Elder Gods and their minions. They
include summaries of the creatures’ power
and weaknesses, instructions for performing
ancient rites to invoke the favor of timeless
beings, or spells to twist the world to the
caster’s desire.
But the accuracy of the information in the
tome may be suspect. Most were written by
madmen after all, and much of the information
contained therein may have been warped by
the author’s skewed perspectives.
Mythos tomes are given an Edge rating,
usually from 2 to 5. Reading the book results
in a mental attack with an Edge rating equal
to that of the book. If you only skim through
it, just to get an idea of its contents, you are
Favored on your mental defense test.
Ancient Rites
Many mysterious rites can be found within
the pages of musty old Mythos tomes. Some
work; some don’t. And many are traps for the
foolish. True rites work by calling upon the
power of the Elder Gods, their minions, the
latent psychic energies of the living, or perhaps
even the primordial forces of creation itself.
Unlike Perks and Powers, there are no hard
and fast rules for Mythos Rites. The character
simply needs to learn them, then perform
them as instructed.
Learning the rite first requires the character
to discover it. This usually requires reading a
Mythos Tome. Once the book is read, the rite
can be committed to memory.
Performing the rite is generally somewhat
simple, if not easy. Almost every rite requires
some sort of sacrifice. The least powerful
might only require the life of a small animal
or the burning of an item of minor personal
value. Greater rites could call for the sacrifice
of a dozen virgins, burned in the heart of a
volcano; or one’s own suicide.
Once the rite is performed (if it is indeed a real
rite and not just the byproduct of a lunatic’s
opium-fueled imagination), its intended effect
occurs. Again, there are no specific rules for
this. The GM should craft each rite individually.
The most common rites are for summoning
and binding supernatural creatures. But that’s
not all they can do. Some bestow great fortune
on those who perform them. They might make
it rain, or make crops grow. Others might place
an entire town in a zombie-like trance, or drive
your enemies mad with horrific nightmares.
33
Perks
 Mythos Familiarity
Prerequisites: Mythos Lore 1, Must have
suffered a Break from exposure to the
supernatural more than once.
THE BASICS
While you may not understand it, or even
really accept it, you have somehow come
to terms with the idea that the supernatural
exists.
CHARACTERS
Whenever you suffer a mental attack as a
result of being exposed to a supernatural
creature, the amount of mental stress you
suffer is reduced by an amount equal to your
Mythos Lore Skill rating.
Note that this does not aid in resisting the
STRANDS
mental stress suffered from voluntary exposure
to Mythos lore, such as when reading tomes,
performing rites, or casting spells.
 Mythos Sorcery
GAMEPLAY
Prerequisites: Mythos Lore 1, Mythos
Familiarity, Special: Must have read a Mythos
Tome containing a spell
You have honed the mental discipline needed
to cast the reality warping spells found in
PERKS
Mythos tomes. The spells are Powers, which
may range from Heroic to Legendary in Power
Level.
Learning a Spell: To learn a spell, you must
first read about it in a Mythos Tome. You
POWERS
must then commit the spell to memory, which
results in a mental attack with an Edge based
on the Power Level of the spell. Heroic spells
have an Edge of +3, Paragon are +5, Mythic are
+7 and Legendary are +9.
Casting a Spell: To cast a Mythos spell you
have learned, make a Mythos Lore test with a
GEAR
Difficulty based on the Power Level of the spell.
Heroic spells have a casting Diff of 3, Paragon
are 6, Mythic are 9 and Legendary are 12.
MASTERY
GAME
If you succeed, the spell is cast as intended.
If you fail, but do not Stall, the spell is cast but
you suffer an amount of mental stress equal to
the amount by which you failed, x2.
DEVIATIONS
If you Stall, in addition to suffering stress as
a normal failure, you must give a Fate Point
to the GM; which goes into their Threat Pool.
If you cannot pay the Fate Point, you take an
additional 2 points of mental stress.
CONTENTS
 Strands of Fantasy
“There, peeping among the cloud-wrack
THE BASICS
above a dark tor high up in the mountains,
Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The
beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up
out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to
him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought
pierced him that in the end the Shadow was
CHARACTERS
only a small and passing thing: there was light
and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.”
The Return of the King
JRR Tolkien
STRANDS
Strands of Fantasy provides guidelines for
using Strands of Fate to tell stories of brave
and desperate heroes who venture out into
the darkness to bring the light of civilization,
find lost riches, and do battle with savage
GAMEPLAY
monsters to protect their homes.
The Setting
This is a savage land, brutal and unforgiving.
The light of civilization flickers in small towns,
where mankind gathers and huddles against
PERKS
the darkness.
Each town is a nation unto itself. Tradesmen
and farmers are the lifeblood of the community,
and faith in the old gods is often all that hold
POWERS
the good people together.
Beyond the relative safety of the town’s walls,
goblins, orcs and things more dangerous haunt
the wilds. Monsters most foul roam the forests,
killing and eating those unlucky enough to be
caught out alone without protection.
GEAR
Trade between towns is dangerous, yet vital.
Merchants and their mercenary guards traverse
the old roads in rickety wagons. But as many
fall to fellow men as monsters. Those who are
MASTERY
exiled from town often find themselves among
GAME
other exiles. These desperate criminals often
fall into dark cults or bands of bandits; and
learn to prey on others to survive.
DEVIATIONS
34
CONTENTS
Characters
The PCs in a Strands of Fantasy campaign are
heroes who stand against the creatures in the
dark, the would-be tyrants, or terrible dragons.
The players’ characters should be motivated
to help others, seek fame and glory, and
become heroes of legend. Some may be more
like anti-heroes, believing the ends always
justify the means. But at the end of the day,
they should desire, and be willing to fight
for, the betterment and safety of the civilized
races.
Characters in this setting may come from
all walks of life. Former soldiers, mysterious
rangers, wizard apprentices, devout clergy,
sneaky thieves… heroes wear many faces
and have a variety of skills. But all of these
backgrounds and skill sets tend to fall into one
of three broad categories, called Talents.
When creating a character for a Strands
of Fantasy campaign, you may (but are not
required to) select and advance in a Talent.
The available Talents are Magic-User, Warrior
and Rogue.
See below for more on Talents.
Sample Pitches
ªª Members of an adventurer’s guild must
set out to discover who burned down
their guild hall and killed their friends,
and get revenge.
ªª An army of goblins rises in the East, and
the King puts out a call for heroes to
come forth to defend their homeland.
ªª An ancient lich has awoken, and the dead
are rising from their graves. Somebody
must find the lich and end her once and
for all.
ªª During the exploration of an ancient tem-
ple, a group of adventurers discover the
reason why the kingdom is in turmoil…
The king’s most trusted advisor is a drag-
on!
ªª There is a serial killer in the Flying City,
and the evidence points to a shapechang-
ing sorcerer!
Sample Campaign Aspects
ªª The Town of Harrod’s Grove is a bastion
of civilization and order.
ªª The land is cursed, and the dead arise
each night at midnight.
ªª Famine has stricken the land.
Tech-Level
Strands of Fantasy campaigns typically
take place in a fantasy setting akin to the
Earth’s medieval period (TL 2), though early
gunpowder firearms may be available.
Character Power Level
Characters in a Strands of Fantasy campaign
are Heroic. They stand above the average
person, and are destined for greatness. They
are among the elite, chosen by the gods, or
just made of tougher stuff than the average
person.
Character Experience Level
Its recommended that the Character’s
Experience Level begin at Adept. The
characters should begin play having already
received training, or endured past trials, that
have forged them into heroes and champions.
Races, Skills, Perks and Talents
You may choose to play a Human, Elf, Halfling
or Dwarf.
The campaign uses all the normal Skills, as
well as any Affinity Skills that may be required
by certain Perks used to grant magical powers.
Such Perks are described later in this Strand.
All Perks are available as long as the PCs meet
their requirements.
Deviations
Required: The following Deviations are
required for this Strand:
Zeroing Out (pg. 201)
Power From Experience (Heroes Emergent, or
use The Heroes Journey if you desire more
epic tales) (pg. 218)
Recommended: These Deviations are
recommended to support the themes
important to this Strand, but aren’t required.
Sanity (pg. 207)
Survival (pg. 224)
35
Talents
Talents grant access to Powers or special
Techniques as outlined by the Talents and their
associated Perks.
Powers
THE BASICS
In Strands of Fantasy, Powers come in the
form of magic, which itself is represented in
four different flavors, Arcane, Divine, Spiritual
and Psionic.
CHARACTERS
Those who practice arcane magic are called
Sorcerers. They channel and manipulate the
primordial forces of creation, forging this
energy into spells and rituals.
Divine magic, on the other hand, are miracles
granted by the gods. Their most devout
STRANDS
servants, their clerics, learn the prayers and
rites used to call down and direct their patron’s
divine might.
Spirit magic is practiced by Shamans, mystics
GAMEPLAY
who commune with nature’s spirits. The
Shaman binds with and commands primal
spirits to adopt their traits or command the
elements.
Psionic powers come from within the mind of
the user. The practitioner, called a Psionicist,
PERKS
learns to cultivate, harness and channel their
own mental energies to influence the minds of
others, modify their own bodies, or manipulate
the world around them.
POWERS
Techniques
Magic is not the only path to power. Some
practice the arts of combat, or deception, to a
degree that borders on the supernatural.
The Warrior’s mastery of Techniques make
them among the most feared combatants in GEAR
the world.
And then there are those who survive by
avoiding direct conflict, achieving their goals
MASTERY
with trickery, deception and misdirection.
GAME
Rogues use their Techniques to keep their foes
off guard, confused, or helpless.
Selecting a Talent
DEVIATIONS
You enter a Talent by taking a Talent Perk. The
available Talents are listed below.
CONTENTS
 THE BASICS
CHARACTERS
STRANDS
GAMEPLAY

 Magic-User • You gain the Cantrips Power (pg. 135) with

Prerequisites: Reasoning 2, Occult Studies, both the Potent Cantrips Enhancement and
the Taxing Potency Limitation.
PERKS

You may not have any other Talent.

Cost: When you take this Talent, your Refresh
rating is permanently reduced by 2.
You’ve tapped into the supernatural, and can
perform astounding feats of power.
POWERS
Advancement: Whenever you achieve a
Milestone that grants a Skill increase, you also
gain the Power Mastery Perk (pg. 41) for
free.

Note: If you begin play at an Experience Level

When you select this Perk, pick a sub-
higher than Novice, you automatically gain
Talent (Cleric, Psionicist, Shaman, Sorcerer or
multiple free instances of the Power Mastery
Wizard). Your sub-Talent will determine which
Perk for free. Adept characters begin play with
Affinity Skills you use, how many Powers you
3 free instances of the Power Mastery Perk.
get, and how you activate them; as described
Expert characters begin with 6, Veterans get 9,
GEAR

later in this Talent description.

and Masters get 12.
These following benefits are common to all
Magic Users, regardless of sub-Talent. In addition, Heroic characters also gain the
following special ability:
• You gain 1 rank in an Affinity Skill depend-
MASTERY

ing on the type of Magic User you are, and • Cantrip Mastery: You can activate the Can-
GAME

may now increase this Skill like any other
(with Milestones or the Skilled Perk).
If you take this Perk during Character
Creation, you may redistribute some Skill
DEVIATIONS
trips Power automatically, for free. You
must, however, still pay the activation cost
if you still have the Taxing Potency Limita-
tion.

ranks to improve your Affinity Skill rating
as described in the “Affinity Skills and New
Characters” sidebar. Note: Psions use their
Resolve as their Affinity Skill.
• You gain one Heroic Power. This Power has
the Ritual Activation Limitation (pg. 168).
Sub-Talent Benefits: Select Cleric, Psionicist,
Shaman, Sorcerer or Wizard. This Talent
grants additional benefits depending on
your selection, as described in the following
sections:

36
CONTENTS
Cleric
Your Affinity Skill is called Devotion. Devotion
can also be used in place of Resolve when
called upon to perform tests to resist acting
against the will of your chosen deity.
You gain a number of Blessing Tokens equal
to your Devotion Skill rating. You may spend
a Blessing to become Favored on Devotion
Skill tests to activate Powers gained from this
Talent.
You may also elect to spend a Blessing
instead of a Fate Point to invoke an
Aspect while performing an act in
direct service to your deity, or in
place of a Fate Point when using
a Potent Cantrip with the Taxing
Potency Limitation.
You regain all spent Blessing
Tokens, once a day, by performing
an hour-long prayer.
Despite what some might say, the
gods aren’t all-knowing. As such,
Clerics may not activate their
Powers without praying, chanting
and performing the necessary gestures to
call upon their god’s attention and ask for a
miracle.
Affinity Skills & New Characters
During the character creation process,
Skill ranks are distributed before Perks.
However, if you take a Talent Perk during
character creation that grants a free rank
in an Affinity Skill, such as Magic User, you
may remove a number of Skill ranks from
other Skills and place them into your Affinity
Skill. The maximum number of Skills you
can redistribute in this way is based on your
Power Level, as shown below:
Max Redistributed
Power Level Skill Ranks
Grounded 1
Heroic 2
Paragon 3
Mythic 4
Legendary 5
So a new Heroic character with Magic User
(Cleric) gains 1 free rank in Devotion, and
can shift up to 2 ranks in other Skills into
Devotion, resulting in a max Devotion Skill
rating of 3.
37
Psionicist
Psionicists (or just “Psions”) use their Resolve
as their Affinity Skill, and unlike the other types
of Magic User, do not depend on any other
outside force to manifest their Powers.
In addition to the natural benefit of being
THE BASICS
entirely self-reliant, Psionicists gain a number
of Psi Tokens equal to their Resolve. A Psi Token
may be spent to become Favored on tests to
activate the Powers they gain from this
Talent.
CHARACTERS
You may also spend a Psi Token in
place of a Fate Point when using
a Potent Cantrip with the Taxing
Enhancement Limitation.
As an Instant action, a Psionicist
may spend one Psi token per
STRANDS
round to eliminate three points of
stress. A Psionicist may spend only
one Psi token per round in this way.
Spent Psi tokens are restored with
GAMEPLAY
rest and meditation, at a rate of 1 for
every 4 hours the Psion spends at
rest or performing light activity.
Shaman
Your Affinity Skill is called Spirit, which
PERKS
represents your sensitivity to, and ability to
commune with, the primal spirits of nature.
Spirit is used to activate Powers gained by this
Talent, and can also be used in place of Sway
to negotiate with nature spirits, animals, and
POWERS
other creatures strongly tied to the primal wild.
You also gain a number of Spirit Tokens equal
to your Spirit Skill rating. You may spend a Spirit
Token to become Favored on tests to activate
Powers gained from this Talent and to survive
in the wild - specifically, to hunt, find food, track
animals, hide in the wild, and create shelter. GEAR
You may also spend a Spirit Token in place of a
Fate Point when using a Potent Cantrip with the
Taxing Potency Limitation.
MASTERY
Spent Spirit tokens are replenished each
GAME
morning after a night spent sleeping in the wild.
While in cities or large towns, Shamans find
themselves insulated from the primal energies
of the world. Shamans do not recover spent
DEVIATIONS
Spirit and suffer Disfavor when attempting to
activate Powers gained from this Talent inside
cities or large towns. You may, however, spend
a Spirit Token to alleviate this Disfavor for a
scene.
CONTENTS
 Sorcerer
Your Affinity Skill is called Arcana, which
represents your sensitivity to, and ability to
manipulate, arcane magic.
Arcana is the Affinity Skill Sorcerers use when
casting rituals and spells. It determines how
THE BASICS
many Mana tokens you receive, and can also
be used to sense and study magic itself.
Mana is the raw essence of magic, the
primordial energy of creation. It permeates
the world, flowing in streams through time and
CHARACTERS
space. Sorcerers draw on this ambient Mana,
shape it, and release it back into the world as
a spell. However, Sorcerers also instinctively
collect and store a small portion of Mana while
they rest, drawing it out of their surroundings
and storing it within themselves. This stored
STRANDS
Mana may be spent to aid in the casting of
spells.
You gain a number of Mana tokens equal to
your Arcana Skill rating. Spent Mana tokens are
GAMEPLAY
restored with rest and meditation, at a rate of
1 for every 4 hours the Sorcerer spends at rest
or performing light activity.
A Mana token may be spent to become
Favored when activating a Power gained
from this Talent, or in place of a Fate Point
PERKS
when using an Potent Cantrip with the Taxing
Potency Limitation.
The Arcane Eye: A byproduct of a Sorcerer’s
innate awareness of magic, the Sorcerer may
use Arcana instead of Perception when making
POWERS
tests to detect and/or decipher details about
ongoing magical effects or rituals in progress.
Diff Information Learned
0 Detect Presence of Magic
GEAR
2 Detect Source (Magic Item, Glyph, etc)
4 Identify Effect or Nature of Magic
If the magical effect is intended to be hidden,
such as an invisible glyph or object cloaked in
MASTERY
an invisibility spell, add the Arcana Skill rating
GAME
of the person who cast the hidden effect to the
Difficulty.
Arcane magic is very difficult to channel and
shape. This process is made easier by focusing
DEVIATIONS
the magic through specific words, phrases
and gestures. These acts aren’t required, but
failure to perform them results in Disfavor
on your Skill test to activate Powers gained
through this Talent.
38
CONTENTS
Activating Powers (Casting Spells)
To activate a Power provided by the Magic
User Talent, Clerics, Shamans and Sorcerers
must perform an associated Affinity Skill test
against a Difficulty determined by the Power
Level of the Power.
That Difficulty is 2 for Heroic, 3 for Paragon, 4
for Mythic, and 5 for Legendary.
(Stall): You fail to activate the Power, and
suffer an additional effect depending on the
type of Magic User you are:
Cleric: Your deity not only refuses to grant
the miracle you requested, but has decided
to test your faith. You cannot activate any
more Powers gained from this Talent until
you perform an act of atonement.
Psion: You suffer a Wound, and suffer
Disfavor on all Power activation tests related
to this Talent until you recover a Psi Token.
Shaman: You have angered the spirits, and
cannot activate any more Powers associated
with this Talent until you make a worthy
sacrifice to them.
Sorcerer: You suffer a Mild Consequence as
the magical energies run wild through you or
out into the world.
(-2 to 0 Shifts): You may choose to either
fail to activate your Power, or activate your
Power by paying a special cost depending on
the type of Magic User you are:
Cleric: You may spend a Blessing Token to
activate your Power.
Psion: You suffer an amount of stress equal
to the number of Shifts by which you fell
short of the activation difficulty.
Shaman: You may spend a Devotion token
to activate your Power.
Sorcerer: You suffer Disfavor on tests to
activate your Powers until the end of the
scene.
(1 to 2 Shifts): You activate the Power, and it
has the intended effect.
(Spin): The Power is especially potent. It has
the intended effect, but you may also create
a Minor Aspect related to the Power’s Aspect
or invoke your Power’s Aspect for free.
(Surge): You may either activate the Power as
if you had generated Spin, or you may add
an Enhancement of your choosing for this
activation only. The Enhancement must be
equal to, or less than, your Power Level.
Wizard
Also called “Spellbinders”, Wizards are like
Sorcerers in that they wield arcane magic and
use Arcana as their Affinity Skill. They also
collect and store Mana, but their method of
doing so, and their uses for it, differ greatly.
Sorcerers shape their spells from ambient
magic in the world as they cast them. The
Wizard, on the other hand, Scours Mana from
the surrounding environment, shapes it, and
forges it into spells; which they then bind
within themselves to be cast later.
When binding a spell, the Wizard casts it
almost to completion. But at the last moment,
just before the spell would be released, the
Wizard ties it off. This leaves the spell ready
to be finished and released at a later time,
completing it with just a few words and/or
simple gestures.
In addition to the normal benefits that come
with the Magic User Talent, Wizards gain one
additional Heroic Power, and become capable
of storing a maximum number of Mana tokens
equal to 4 + their Arcana Skill rating, + 2 for
every Power Level above Grounded.
So a Paragon Wizard with an Arcana Skill
rating of 3 would have 11 Mana (4 + 3 + 4).
Spent Mana is restored by Scouring for more.
Scouring Mana: Scouring is a ritual performed
by the Wizard. It consists of about an hour of
meditation and mental exercises, which the
Wizard uses to harvest and consume portions
of the ambient Mana flowing around them.
The Wizard may perform a Scouring once
per day, for free, and with little effort. And in
doing so, they replenish all of their spent Mana
tokens, up to their maximum.
The Wizard may attempt to Scour more than
once per day, but doing so can be difficult. The
Wizard must spend an hour in meditation and
make an Arcana Skill test against a Difficulty
of 3. They recover one spent Mana token per
Shift, which they can use to bind new spells.
Each additional attempt to Scour after the
first requires another hour, and the Difficulty
increases by a +1. This resets each day at
sunrise.
Binding Spells: Mana that has been collected
by the Wizard may be spent to bind spells,
which in game terms means preparing Powers
to be activated.
39
Preparing a Power costs a different amount
of Mana depending on the Power Level of the
Power, as shown below:
Heroic 2 Mythic 4
Paragon 3 Legendary 5
So, a Grounded Wizard with an Arcana Skill
THE BASICS
rating of 2 has 6 Mana Tokens to spend on
binding spells. If they choose to prepare a
Heroic Power, this costs 2 Mana, leaving them
with 4 left to prepare additional Powers.
CHARACTERS
Regardless of how often they Scour, the
amount of Mana tokens the Wizard can have,
whether free or bound into spells, can never
exceed their maximum.
Casting Spells/Power Activation: Unlike other
Magic Users, Wizards do not have to make an
STRANDS
Affinity Skill test to activate a prepared Power.
You simply declare that you wish to activate
it, and once you have done so, the bound
spell is expended and the prepared Power is
activated. You’ll need to Scour for more Mana
GAMEPLAY
and re-bind the spell if you wish to activate
that Power again.
So a Wizard could spend 2 Mana to prepare
Bolt (Heroic). Later they announce that they
are activating their Bolt Power, after which it is
lost until they can spend the Mana to prepare
PERKS
it again.
Rituals: Powers with the Ritual Activation
Limitation are not prepared like other Wizard
Powers. Instead, they are cast from start to
POWERS
finish all at once, and require an expenditure
of Mana to do so. It takes 1 Mana Token to
activate a Paragon or lesser Power with the
Ritual Activation Limitation; or 2 Mana for
more powerful Powers.
Unravelling Mana: You may, at any time,
unravel a bound spell and free up the Mana it GEAR
utilized.
Spending Mana: In addition to using Mana
to bind spells, Wizards may spend a point of
MASTERY
Mana to perform one of the following actions:
GAME
• Activate your Cantrips Power using the Po-
tent Cantrip Enhancement. This Mana to-
ken pays the cost for Taxing Potency.
DEVIATIONS
• Spend one Mana to use the Arcane Eye spe-
cial ability for the duration of the Scene.
CONTENTS
  Rogue
Prerequisites: Guile 3, Special: You must have
a Specialty Aspect (pg. 99) that relates to
your deceptive practices. You may not have
any other Talent.
Cost: When you take this Talent, your Refresh
THE BASICS
rating is permanently reduced by 1.
You’ve spent time learning the ropes,
paid your dues, and have learned to get by
practicing the art of deception.
CHARACTERS
When you select this Perk, pick a sub-Talent
(Assassin, Charlatan, or Thief). Your sub-Talent
will determine which of the following special
abilities you gain:
Assassin: You may spend a Trick token to add
+2 to any attack test against a foe who isn’t
STRANDS
aware of you.
Charlatan: You are automatically Favored
on all skill tests to lie, manipulate, seduce or
otherwise deceive.
GAMEPLAY
Thief: You are automatically Favored on tests
to pick pockets, pick locks, set and disarm
traps.
These following benefits are common to all
Rogues, regardless of sub-Talent:
PERKS
• Rogue’s Tricks: You gain a number of Trick
tokens equal to your Guile, and may spend
a maximum of 1 Trick per round.
You may spend a Trick in place of a Fate
Point when Invoking Aspects related to the
POWERS
environment, such as Shadowy, Wet Floor,
or Damp Fog. Tricks may also be spent to
activate certain Rogue Techniques.
When you Refresh, you gain 2 Tricks. And
you regain 1 spent Trick at the end of any
scene in which you Surged on a Skill test.
GEAR
The maximum number of Tricks you may
have at any time is equal to your Guile
rating +2.
• Rogue’s Techniques: You may learn one
Rogue Technique.
MASTERY
GAME
Advancement: You gain one additional
Rogue Technique for each Power Level above
Grounded. So a Heroic Character would gain
1 additional free Rogue Technique. A Paragon
DEVIATIONS
would gain 2, a Mythic 3, and a Legendary 4.
40
CONTENTS
 Warrior
Prerequisites: Might 3 or Precision 3, Special:
You must have at least 6 stress boxes. You may
not have any other Talent.
Cost: When you take this Talent, your Refresh
rating is permanently reduced by 1.
You’ve experienced life and death combat
on the battlefield, and have learned special
combat techniques that can save your life… or
more efficiently dispatch your foes.
When you select this Perk, pick a sub-Talent
(Barbarian, Fighter or Ranger). Your sub-Talent
will determine which of the following special
abilities you gain:
Barbarian: You may spend an Edge to go
Berserk. While Berserk, you are Favored on
Resolve tests and melee attack tests; but suffer
Disfavor on ranged attack tests and all defense
tests. This berserker state lasts until you
choose to end it, or until the end of the scene.
Fighter: You gain one additional Warrior
Technique.
Ranger: You may spend an Edge to designate
a specific foe as your prey. This lasts until your
prey has fallen, or until the end of the scene,
and you may only have one foe designated
as your prey at a time. You are Favored on all
attacks against your designated prey, as well
as all tests to track them. To designate a foe
as your prey, you must either be able to see
them, or know them by name.
These following benefits are common to all
Warriors, regardless of sub-Talent:
• Warrior’s Edge: You gain a number of Edge
tokens equal to your Might or Precision.
You may spend an Edge, as an Instant
Action, to become Favored on any attack
test. Edges may also be spent to activate
certain Warrior Techniques. You may spend
a maximum of 1 Edge per round.
When you Refresh, you gain 2 Edges. You
also gain 1 Edge at the end of any scene
in which you killed a foe. The maximum
number of Edges you may have at any time
is equal to your Resolve rating +2.
• Warrior Technique: You may learn one
Warrior Technique.
Advancement: You gain one additional
Warrior Technique for each Power Level above
Grounded. So a Heroic Character would gain 1
additional free Warrior Technique. A Paragon
would gain 2, a Mythic 3, and a Legendary 4.

Talent Perks
The following Perks add additional options for
characters who have taken Talents.
 Power Mastery
Prerequisites: Magic User
Hours of study and dedication have opened
the door to new vistas of power.
Select one of the options below:
• You gain two new Powers (Wizards gain
three) with a Power Level equal to, or less
than, your own. One of these Powers has
the Ritual Activation Limitation.
• You may add two Enhancements (Wizards
may add three) to Powers you already
know. You may add them both to the same
Power, or split them among two different
Powers. The Power Level of the Enhance-
ment must be equal to, or less than, your
own.
If you are Grounded, you may select Heroic
Powers. But these Powers automatically have
the Taxing Activation Limitation (pg. 168).
41
THE BASICS
CHARACTERS
STRANDS
GAMEPLAY
PERKS
This Limitation goes away if you ever become a
Heroic character.
You may take this Perk multiple times, but no
more than once per Power Level. Any special
POWERS
abilities that grant free instances of this Perk
do not count against this limit.
 New Techniques
Prerequisites: Rogue or Warrior
Experience and training have exposed you to
new approaches to combat or deception. GEAR
You gain two new Techniques.
You may take this Perk multiple times, but no
more than once per Power Level.
MASTERY
GAME
 Ritualist
Prerequisites: Magic User
You have mastered new rituals, and have
learned how to use rituals to better focus your
DEVIATIONS
existing Powers.
You gain two new Powers with a Power Level
equal to, or less than, your own. Both of
these new Powers have the Ritual Activation
Limitation (pg. 168).
CONTENTS
 In addition, Clerics, Sorcerers, Shamans and
Psions may choose to temporarily add the
Ritual Activation Limitation to a Power they
know that doesn’t already have it. If they
do so, they become Favored on the Skill test
required to activate that Power.
THE BASICS

Wizards may simply activate any Power they

know as a ritual. This does, however, require
the expenditure of Mana; which may be
acquired by Unravelling previously prepared
spells.
CHARACTERS

The number of Mana required to activate a

Power as a ritual is listed below:
Heroic 1 Mythic 3
Paragon 2 Legendary 4
Paragon: You gain one additional Power with
STRANDS

a Power Level equal to, or less than, your own.

This Power has the Ritual Activation Limitation.
Mythic: You gain one additional Power with a
Power Level equal to, or less than, your own.
This Power has the Ritual Activation Limitation.
GAMEPLAY

Legendary: You gain one additional Power

with a Power Level equal to, or less than, your
own. This Power has the Ritual Activation
Limitation.

 Multi-Talented  Bard
PERKS

Prerequisites: Heroic, You must already have
a Talent
Select another Talent Perk. You gain that Perk
and the benefits it provides. However, your
Power Level is considered one rank lower
POWERS
Prerequisites: Sway 4, Multi-Talented, Magic
User (Shaman, Sorcerer or Wizard), Rogue
(Any)
You have learned to weave magic and the
power of song into a potent combination.

for the purpose of determining the benefits
gained from your new Talent.
For example, if you are a Paragon Warrior, and
select this Perk to gain the Magic User Talent,
you gain the benefits of being a Heroic Magic
GEAR
When you select this Perk, you may choose
one of the following special abilities:
• Bardic Inspiration: Once per round, as an
Instant Action, you may spend a Trick to
grant an ally Favor on any Skill test.

User. If you later become a Mythic Warrior, you
also gain the benefits of becoming a Paragon
Magic User.
Note: You must be able to meet all the
prerequisites of the new Talent, and must pay
MASTERY
GAME
• Bardic Lore: Once per game session you
may spend a Trick instead or a Fate Point
to make a Decleration related to some fact
about a person, place or thing you might
have heard about in your travels. In addi-

any associated Costs. tion, you are Favored on Knowledge tests

related to history, local customs, or politics.
• Bardic Song: By infusing your magic with
song, you may spend a Trick as an Instant
Action, to become Favored on any Arcana
DEVIATIONS

or Spirit Skill test.

Mythic: You may select another ability from
the list above.
Legendary: You may select another ability
from the list above.

42
CONTENTS
 Beguiler
Prerequisites: Guile 4, Multi-Talented, Magic
User (Sorcerer or Psion), Rogue (Any)
You’ve learned to wield your powers to
befuddle and confuse, deceiving the senses
and befuddling the mind.
When you select this Perk, you may choose
one of the following special abilities:
• Mask of Many Faces: As a Major Action,
you may spend an Edge to grant yourself
the Absolutely Stunning (pg. 100) or Ev-
ery-man/Everywoman (pg. 102) Perks un-
til the end of the scene.
• Cloak of Displacement: You may spend
a Mana or Psi Token to project multiple
blurred copies of yourself a few feet away.
This grants you Favor on defense tests until
the end of the scene.
• Impulsive Magic: When activating a Pow-
er, attempts to Interrupt your action suffer
Disfavor. In addition, whenever your would
spend a Fate Point to Interrupt another
character by activating one of your Powers
gained from the Magic User Talent, or en-
sure that Power’s activation isn’t Interrupt-
ed, you may spend a Trick instead.
Mythic: You may select another ability from
the list above.
Legendary: You may select another ability
from the list above.
43
 Druid
Prerequisites: Reasoning 3, Sway 3, Multi-
Talented, Magic User (Shaman), Warrior
(Barbarian or Ranger)
You’ve learned to call upon the spirits of the
wild, drawing them into you, and infusing
THE BASICS
them into your flesh.
You gain the following special ability:
• Primal Shapeshifter: As an Instant Action,
you may spend a Spirit Token to select one
of the following benefits listed below. Once
CHARACTERS
chosen, the benefit lasts until you choose
to deactivate it, or until you spend another
Spirit Token to select a different benefit.
Bat’s Sight – You can navigate with sonar.
You temporarily gain the Sight Beyond
STRANDS
Light Perk (pg. 113).
Bear’s Strength – Your Might is increased
by 1.
Cheetah’s Speed – You may move one
GAMEPLAY
additional zone each turn. If you Hustle,
you may move two additional zones. If
you run, you may move three additional
zones.
Eagle’s Site – You are Favored on all
Perception tests based on sight.
PERKS
Fish’s Gills – You can breathe water.
Lion’s Claws – Your unarmed attacks have
a DR of 2.
Rhino’s Hide – Your AR is increased by +2.
POWERS
Wolf’s Bite – Each turn you can make a bite
attack as an Instant Action. You attack with
Might, and the attack has a DR of 1.
Mythic: When you activate your Primal
Shapeshifter ability, you may apply up to two GEAR
effects.
If you choose to apply the same effect twice,
any numeric value associated with the effect is
increased by 1. So if you selected Rhino’s Hide
MASTERY
twice, your AR would be increased by +3.
GAME
Legendary: When you activate your Primal
Shapeshifter ability, you may apply up to three
effects. And as with the Mythic version of this
Perk, multiple applications of the same effect
DEVIATIONS
increase any numeric bonuses by a cumulative
+1.
CONTENTS
  Monk
Prerequisites: Magic User (Cleric or Psion),
Warrior (Fighter), Multi-Talented, Student of
the Art
Through the harmony of mind, body and
spirit, you are capable of performing feats of
THE BASICS
martial mastery that transcend the merely
physical.
When you select this Perk, you may choose
one of the following special abilities:
Body of Water: When a foe makes a melee
CHARACTERS
attack against you, and you generate Spin
on your Defense test, you become Favored
on your next attack against that foe.
Body of Earth: As an Instant Action, you
may spend an Edge to become Favored on
STRANDS
attempts to Push, Pull, Throw and grapple
with opponents until the end of the scene.
Spirit of Fire: Your hands glow with inner
fire. As an Instant Action, you may spend
a Psi or Blessing token to increase the DR
GAMEPLAY
of your unnarmed attack by an amount
equal to your Resolve for a single attack.
Spirit of Wind: As a Major Action, you may
spend a Psi or Blessing token to perform
an unnarmed strike against a target up to
PERKS
two zones away. This attack is made with
your Psi or Devotion Skill rating instead of
your Might.
Mind of Iron: You are Favored on attempts
to Defend against psychic attacks, Powers
POWERS
that charm or dominate, or any other
supernatural ability to read your mind or
influence your thoughts.
Mind of Void: Your mind is vast and empty,
free of distraction and concern. When
GEAR
not wearing armor, you are Favored on all
Defense tests against physical attacks.
Mythic: You may select another ability from
the list above.
MASTERY
Legendary: You may select another ability
GAME
from the list above.
DEVIATIONS
44
CONTENTS
 Ninja
Prerequisites: A total of 12 Skill ranks in
Physical Skills, Guile 3, Warrior (Fighter), Rogue
(Assassin or Charlatan), Multi-Talented
Your mixture of ancient techniques and
mystical arts makes you a master of dealing
death from the shadows.
When you select this Perk, you may choose
two of the following Ninjutsu Techniques:
Feather Step: By expending a Trick Token,
you may, for a single round, walk on
objects as if you had virtually no weight.
You may walk on water, run across dry
leaves without making a sound, or even
perch on the end of a swaying tree limb.
Endless Breath: You may spend an Edge
Token and take a deep breath. This breath
sustains you for up to an hour, during
which time you do not need to breathe.
No Mind: During combat you can enter a
thoughtless mental flow state in which you
let your instincts and subconscious guide
your attacks and defense. By spending an
Edge token, you gain a +1 bonus on attack
and defense tests until the end of the
scene. Multiple uses of this Technique do
not stack.
Taijutsu Master: You gain the Student of
the Art Perk (pg. 106).
Shadow Warrior: When wielding the
following weapons, their Damage Rating
is increased by +1: Short Sword, Shuriken,
Dagger, Kusarigama, Sickle, Quarterstaff,
or Shortbow.
Smoke Bomb: You know how to make, and
best utilize, smoke bombs. As a Major
Action, as long as you have access to your
gear, you may spend a Trick to throw a
smoke bomb at your feet, move into an
adjacent zone and, if you wish, attempt
to hide. The zone you left now has the
Smokey Aspect on it.
Mythic: You may select another Ninjutsu
Technique from the list above.
Legendary: You may select another Ninjutsu
Technique from the list above.

 Paladin
Prerequisites: Resolve 4, Magic User (Cleric),
Warrior (Fighter), Multi-Talented
You are a warrior or your faith, spreading the
word of your deity with sword and shield.
When you select this Perk, you may choose
one of the following special abilities:
Touch of Divinity: You can infuse your touch
with divine light. With a Major Action,
you may spend a Blessing to remove an
amount of stress from an ally you can
touch equal to your Devotion Skill rating.
Divine Smite: You may infuse your weapon
(or fists) with the wrath of your deity.
When you successfully strike a foe, with an
Instant Action, you may spend an Edge to
increase your weapon’s DR by an amount
equal to your Devotion Skill rating. This
bonus applies only to this attack, and
your deity may withhold their wrath if you
strike someone deemed unworthy of it.
Shield of Faith: Your faith alters chance and
turns weapons aside. When you are struck
by a foe, with an Instant Action, you may
spend an Edge to increase your AR by an
amount equal to your Devotion Skill rating.
This bonus applies only to this attack.
45
THE BASICS
CHARACTERS
STRANDS
GAMEPLAY
Consecrate Ground: You may spend a
Blessing to place the Blessed of X Aspect
on the surrounding area, where “X” is
PERKS
the name of your chosen deity. Within
this area, all beings friendly to the named
deity feel a sense of comfort, and a subtle
urging to serve the named deity.
Beings at odds with the named deity are
POWERS
overcome with a crushing sense of dread,
which makes it difficult to concentrate on
anything other than leaving the affected
area.
The Paladin can consecrate a number of
square yards (or meters) equal to their
Devotion Skill rating x 30. So a Paladin GEAR
with 3 ranks in Devotion could consecrate
90 square yards (or meters).
Mythic: You may select another ability from
the list above.
MASTERY
GAME
Legendary: You may select another ability
from the list above.
DEVIATIONS
CONTENTS
  War Mage
Prerequisites: A total of 12 Skill ranks in
Physical Skills, Reasoning 3, Magic User
(Sorcerer or Wizard), Warrior (Fighter or
Ranger), Multi-Talented
You masterfully blend magic and steel,
THE BASICS
wand and sword. You’ve trained to bring
the awesome power of the arcane to the
battlefield.
When you select this Perk, you may choose
CHARACTERS
one of the following special abilities:
Arcane Blade: With an hour long ritual, you
may infuse your weapon with magical fire,
and banish it into a pocket dimension. You
may later, as an Major Action, recall the
weapon. Or spend an Edge to recall it as
STRANDS
an Instant Action.
The summoned weapon returns in your
hand, now composed entirely of magical
fire. The weapon retains all of its normal
properties, but it’s DR is increased by an
GAMEPLAY
amount equal to your Tech-Level, and it
can be banished at will.
You may only attune one arcane blade at
a time. Attuning a new weapon changes
the original into a normal weapon.
Eldritch Bow: With an hour long ritual,
PERKS
you may infuse your bow with magical
energies. Whenever you pull back the
string, a magical arrow appears ready to
fire. Attacks with this bow gain a +1 bonus,
and can never run out of ammo. The bow
POWERS
otherwise functions like a normal bow of
its type.
If your eldritch bow becomes destroyed
or lost, you may create another by
performing the same hour-long ritual on
GEAR
a new bow.
Flicker Step: As an Instant Action, you may
spend an Edge to instantly teleport a
number of zones away from your starting
location equal to your Arcana Skill rating.
MASTERY
GAME
Runic Armor: The War Mage is able to
spend 12 long hours performing a ritual
that calls forth and forges a suit of rune-
carved armor from the purest of metals
DEVIATIONS
from the elemental planes.
The armor is like any other plate mail
armor except that it can be donned with
a single Major Action. Also, by spending
a Mana Token, the armor provides one
46
CONTENTS
of the following special effects for the
duration of the scene:
• You gain the Brute Strength Perk.
• Your AR is increased by an amount
equal to your Tech-Level.
• You become Favored on defense tests
to defend against arcane magic.
You may spend multiple Mana tokens to
gain multiple effects, but you may not gain
the same effect more than once.
If the armor becomes lost or destroyed,
you may perform the ritual to create a
new set. If you do so, the original set, if it
still exists, crumbles to dust.
Animated Shield: By performing an hour-
long ritual in which you carefully inscribe
magical glyphs over your shield, you grant
the shield the ability to animate and float
in front of you.
Animating your shield is an Instant
Action.
When activated, the shield is directed
with your mind, allowing you to benefit
from using a shield as if you were holding
it yourself, but while holding a two handed
weapon, or a weapon in each hand. You
may choose to attack with the shield as if
you wielded it in your hands, but you do
so with your Arcana Skill instead of your
Might.
Your animated shield may only be
directed by you, and you may only attune
one shield at a time. Attuning a new shield
disperses the magic in the original and
turns it into a normal shield.
In addition, whenever your shield is
animated, you may spend a Mana Token
as a Reflex action to cause the shield to
temporarily increase in size. This grants
a bonus on your defense test against a
single attack equal to your Tech-Level.
Arcane Artillery: You stand above the
battlefield, raining hell down upon your
foes. You gain two new Powers. These
Powers must be chosen from among the
following: Armor, Blast, Bolt or Imbue
Zone.
Mythic: You may select another ability from
the list above.
Legendary: You may select another ability
from the list above.
Rogue Techniques
You are a master of misdirection, and trickery;
assaulting or evading your foes in unexpected
ways.
When you are granted a new Technique by a
Perk, before you select it, you must meet any
listed prerequisites. Some Techniques grant
access to Perks, which may themselves have
prerequisites which must be met before the
Perk can be used.
Rogue Techniques represent mastery of
special tricks, Skill uses, and preparation
techniques. However, Techniques that
require that the character be of the Mythic
or Legendary Power Levels represent the first
steps on the path to ascension, allowing the
thief to steal abstract concepts as they evolve
into something beyond the mortal bounds.
All-Seeing Eye – You gain the All-Seeing Eye
Perk (pg. 100).
Burglar – You gain the Burglar Perk (pg. 101).
Cover of Darkness – You gain the Cover of
Darkness Perk (pg. 102).
Cursed Caltrops – Your foes suffer Disfavor on
tests to avoid caltrops (pg. 180) that you’ve
placed on a zone. In addition, whenever you
Refresh, if you have no caltrops, but are in
a location where you could acquire some
(or make your own), you automatically gain
enough for a single use for free.
Cutting Words – You gain the Cutting Words
Perk (pg. 102).
Death From Above – When you attack from
above (pg. 80), your weapon’s Damage
Rating is increased by 3.
Disarming Strike – When you generate Spin
on an attack test, you may spend a Trick to
attempt to disarm (pg. 80) your foe as an
Instant Action.
Improvised Assault – You gain the Improvised
Assault Perk (pg. 103).
Memory Thief - Prerequisites: Mythic Power
Level. You may steal another person’s
memories, taking them for yourself. To do
this, spend a Trick and touch your target.
Then contest your Guile against your target’s
Resolve.
If you succeed, you may steal a memory.
You must state which memory you wish to
steal, which can cover no more than about 5
minutes of time in the target’s life.
47
You retain the memory as if it were your
own, and the target loses it permanently.
Poison Master – You gain the Poison Master
Perk (pg. 110).
Promise of Pain – You gain the Promise of Pain
THE BASICS
Perk (pg. 105).
Redirection – When an enemy attacks you,
and you generate Spin on your defense test,
you may spend a Trick to force your foe to
attack another character in the same zone
CHARACTERS
you occupy instead.
Sandman – You are Favored on tests to throw
sand or dirt into the eyes of your foes (pg.
81). In addition, whenever you Refresh, if
you have no sand or dirt, but are in a location
where you could acquire, you automatically
STRANDS
gain enough for a single use for free.
Skill Thief - Prerequisites: Mythic Power Level.
You may steal another person’s knowledge
of a Skill. This doesn’t result in specific
GAMEPLAY
memories, but a sort of abstract knowing
that’s impossible to trace back to a specific
source.
To do this, spend a Trick and touch a target.
You then engage in a contest pitting your
Guile against your target’s Resolve.
PERKS
If you succeed, choose a Skill. You may
reduce your target’s Skill rating by a number
of Skill ranks equal to the number of Shifts you
generated. Your own Skill rating is increased
by the same amount, to a maximum equal to
POWERS
your target’s original Skill rating +1.
You may only have one stolen Skill at a time.
This change in Skills lasts for a scene, but may
spend Shifts to increase the duration by one
step along the Time chart (pg. 91).
Shadow’s Touch - Prerequisites: Mythic Power
Level. You are a master pickpocket, but also GEAR
something more. You have a tendency to
leave your victims confused and apathetic,
and unlikely to bother looking for the item
you stole for some time.
MASTERY
GAME
Whenever you generate Spin on a test to
filch an item (pg. 84), the item’s rightful
owner gains the “I’m sure it’s fine.” Aspect;
which lasts for a number of hours equal to the
DEVIATIONS
number of Shifts you generated.
CONTENTS
 Silencing Strike – Once per scene, when you
deal stress against a foe who wasn’t aware
of you before your attack, you may silence
them, making them unable to speak or cry
out for the duration of the scene.
You may use this Perk more than once per
THE BASICS
scene, but each time after the first requires
the expenditure of a Fate Point or Trick Token.
Soul Thief - Prerequisites: Mythic Power Level.
Any thief can steel a valuable item, you can
steal the truth. You may touch a person,
CHARACTERS
spend a Trick and make a Guile test against
a Difficulty of 5. If you succeed, you may
steal one of your victim’s Aspects!
A stolen Aspect works like any other Aspect
you have, and while you have it, reality is re-
written to make it true. For example, if you
STRANDS
steel another person’s Survivor of the Battle
of Gettysburg Aspect, as long as you have it,
you will have memories of the battle. Other
survivors will recognize you, and the person
you stole it from will lose their memories
GAMEPLAY
and relations. When you lose the Aspect,
everything returns to normal.
The precise effect of having a
stolen Aspect is up to the GM.
You can Invoke it, and it can be
used to offer Compels, but you
PERKS
do not get any associated traits.
For example, stealing an Aspect
like Witch of the White Rose Coven
Aspect doesn’t grant the ability to
cast spells, though it would remove your
POWERS
victim’s ability to cast them since they are
no longer a witch.
You may only have one stolen Aspect at a
time. You keep Aspects you’ve stolen for the
duration of the scene, but may spend Shifts
from your original Guile test to increase the
GEAR
duration by one step along the Time chart
(pg. 91).
Taunt – You gain the Taunt Perk (pg. 106).
Thief’s Sight – You gain the Thief’s Sight Perk
MASTERY
GAME
(pg. 111).
Trap Setter – You are Favored on tests to
perform Maneuvers or create Blocks by way
of building and setting traps.
DEVIATIONS
Tripping Strike – When you generate Spin
on an attack test, you may spend a Trick to
attempt to trip (pg. 81) your foe as an
Instant Action.
48
CONTENTS
Warrior Techniques
Your personal fighting style incorporates
techniques far more advanced than simple
striking and parrying.
When you are granted a new Technique by a
Perk, before you select it, you must meet any
listed prerequisites. Some Techniques grant
access to Perks, which may themselves have
prerequisites which must be met before the
Perk can be used.
Warrior Techniques represent mastery of
special attacks and combat techniques.
However, Techniques that require that the
character be of the Mythic or Legendary
Power Levels represent the first steps to
becoming something greater, something
beyond the confines of mortality.
Aura of Terror – Prerequisites: Mythic Power
Level, Menacing Display Technique. You emit
a vague sense of danger, a subconscious
dread that affects everyone around you.
All characters of Paragon or lesser Power
Level, who are capable of feeling
fear, automatically become Afraid
in your presence. This may, if you
desire, include animals.
If you Spend an Edge, anyone
already Afraid instead becomes
Terrified(M).
You may exclude anyone you wish
from the effect.
Avenger – When one of your allies suffers
a Wound, you may spend an Edge to declare
the person or creature who injured them as
the target of your vengeance. Your weapon’s
DR is increased by +2 when attacking the
target of your vengeance. This lasts until
your target is killed, or until the end of the
scene. You may only have one target of your
vengeance at a time.
Concentrated Fire – You gain the Concentrated
Fire Perk (pg. 107).
Dead Eye - You’ve trained to take aim, steady
your hands, lead the target and control your
breathing before taking the shot.
You automatically succeed on the Perception
test necessary to take aim (pg. 81) and
place the In My Sights(m) Aspect on your
target.
Death From Above – When you attack from
above (pg. 80), your weapon’s Damage
Rating is increased by 3.
Disarming Strike – When you generate Spin
on an attack test, you may spend an Edge to
attempt to disarm (pg. 80) your foe as an
Instant Action.
Expert Archer – You gain the Expert Archer
Perk (pg. 102).
Giantbane – Prerequisites: Mythic Power Level.
You gain the Giantbane Perk (pg. 112).
Ground and Pound – You gain the Ground and
Pound Perk (pg. 103).
Improvised Assault – You gain the Improvised
Assault Perk (pg. 103).
Juggernaut – When performing a charging
attack (pg. 80), your weapon’s Damage
Rating is increased by 2.
Lucky Fletcher - Once per session, so long as
you take the time to gather the arrows or
bolts you fired from the battlefield, you may
make a Reasoning test. You recover a number
of ammo units worth of arrows or bolts equal
to the Effort generated.
In addition, so long as you have access to
basic tools and materials, you can produce
one unit of ammo worth of arrows or bolts
per day.
Manhandle – When you generate Spin on an
attack test, you may spend an Edge to attempt
to Push/Pull or Throw (pg. 89) your foe as
an Instant Action.
Menacing Display – Once per scene, after
defeating a foe, you may spend an Edge to
force all who witnessed it to make a Resolve
test against a Difficulty equal to your Might
or Precision (whichever you used to slay your
foe). If they fail, they gain the Afraid Aspect.
If their PL is two lower than your own, they
become Terrified(M).
This Aspect may be removed by succeeding
on a Resolve test (Diff: 5) as an Instant Action.
49
Reaper – Prerequisites: Mythic Power Level.
You draw power from the death of your
foes. Whenever you slay a foe, you become
invigorated by the experience and clear some
amount of stress you’ve suffered. The amount
of stress cleared depends on the Power Level
THE BASICS
of the slain foe as shown below:
Grounded 1 Stress
Heroic 2 Stress
Paragon 3 Stress
Mythic 4 Stress
CHARACTERS
Legendary 5 Stress
Shield Bash – While wielding a shield, when
you generate Spin on a test to defend against
a melee attack, you may spend an Edge to
attack with your shield as an Instant Action.
STRANDS
Shield Ally – You gain the Shield Ally Perk (pg.
105).
Slayer – Prerequisites: Legendary Power Level.
You are a terror on the battlefield, a budding
god of war, leaving a trail of blood and bodies
GAMEPLAY
in your wake.
Whenever you generate Spin on your attack
test against a foe, and force them to suffer
stress, your foe must spend a Fate Point.
If you Surge, your foe must spend 2 Fate
Points!
PERKS
Failure to spend the required Fate Points
means your foe is slain by your attack,
regardless of the amount of stress inflicted.
When attacking NPCs, the GM must spend
the Fate Point from their Threat Pool. Failure,
POWERS
or refusal, to do so means the NPC is killed.
Sniper Shot – You gain the Sniper Shot Perk
(pg. 105).
Student of the Art – You gain the Student of
the Art Perk (pg. 106).
Sweeping Blow – You gain the Sweeping Blow
GEAR
Perk (pg. 106).
Tripping Strike – When you generate Spin
on an attack test, you may spend an Edge
MASTERY
GAME
to attempt to trip (pg. 81) your foe as an
Instant Action.
DEVIATIONS
CONTENTS
 Strands of Valor
THE BASICS
“It doesn’t matter what the press says.
Doesn’t matter what the politicians or the
mobs say. Doesn’t matter if the whole country
decides that something wrong is something
right. This nation was founded on one principle
CHARACTERS
above all else: the requirement that we stand
up for what we believe, no matter the odds
or the consequences. When the mob and the
press and the world tell you to move, your job
is to plant yourself like a tree beside the river
of truth, and tell the whole world – “No, you
STRANDS
move.”” - Captain America
Amazing Spider-Man #537
J. Michael Straczynski
Strands of Valor provides guidelines for using
Strands of Fate to tell stories about super
GAMEPLAY
heroes, super villains and the struggles of
special people to fit into a world torn between
hating and worshiping them.
The Setting
Everything changed on August 29th’ 1907,
PERKS
when a burst of gamma radiation from a
distant sun washed over the world. Over the
next couple of years, hundreds of thousands
the world over began to die of various forms of
cancer thought to be a side effect of exposure
POWERS
to the radiation.
But life for the survivors went on, and most
thought that was the worst of it. That is, until a
few years later. A small number of people who
had been exposed to the radiation went on to
GEAR
conceive and have children before their death.
Those children were special, and sometimes
passed on their unique gifts to their
descendants.
This setting is set in the modern day, or
MASTERY
GAME
slightly in the future, of an alternate version
of our Earth. The descendants of those who
died from exposure to the gamma radiation
have become living legends. Some inspire fear;
DEVIATIONS
others worship. Those Starborn who go public
are known the world over. They are celebrities,
and their exploits dominate the front page.
And because of this, many choose to live their
lives in the shadows, or attempt to maintain
secret identities.
50
CONTENTS
Characters
Most began life as normal people, but then
something happened to them. For some their
gifts emerged along with puberty. Others
seemed normal until they were exposed to
some traumatic event.
In any case, one day the Starborn awoke to
discover they had changed. Some change
physically, some emotionally, and others simply
develop new abilities. The specific changes
differ, but seem to have a common theme. It
is believed that all Starborn somehow exhibit
some limited ability to impose their will on
reality itself, resulting in the manifestation of
a power, or set of powers, that in some way
reflect their inner nature.
Changed as they are, the Starborn must figure
out their new place in the world. Many choose
to use their newfound abilities to help others.
They become super heroes, or mysterious
protectors. Still, some choose only to help
themselves. They use their powers for selfish
reasons, and walk a darker path.
Sample Pitches
ªª A group of young Starborn, mentored by
a forgotten hero, fight to protect their
city from super villains.
ªª A secret team of super heroes, backed by
the United Nations, face off against super
terrorists around the world.
ªª A team of heroes, loved the world over,
lead the people of Earth against an alien
invasion force.
ªª A once proud team of heroes, now fugi-
tives from the law, must stop a secret ca-
bal from summoning extra-dimensional
horrors.
ªª A group of disparate Starborn must come
together and put aside their differences
for the greater good, and to protect their
city from one of their own.
 Sample Campaign Aspects
ªª “With great power comes great respon-
sibility”
ªª “Power corrupts; absolute power cor-
rupts absolutely”
ªª “No good deed goes unpunished.”
Tech-Level
Strands of Valor campaigns typically take
place (mostly) on Earth, in the modern day or
very near future (TL 4).
However, it can certainly be interesting to
play the first generation of Starborn as they
battle Nazis in WWII, or act as cold war
spies in the ‘80’s.
Character Power Level
Characters in a Strands of Valor
campaign should be of at least Heroic
Power Level, though the Defender of
the Streets Perk is open to Grounded
characters.
Character Experience Level
The Character’s Experience Level
should be determined based on the
specifics of the campaign. Let the Pitch
be your guide.
In most cases, however, it is
recommended that you start the PCs no higher
than Expert.
Races, Skills and Perks
All characters in a Strands of Valor campaign
are assumed to be human.
The campaign uses all the normal Skills, and
may feature Affinity Skills as needed.
All Perks are available as long as the PCs meet
their requirements. In addition, there are a
number of Perks described later in this Strand
that form the basis for providing your heroes
with Powers.
Deviations
Required: The following Deviations are
required for this Strand:
Zeroing Out (pg. 201)
Recommended: These Deviations are
recommended to support the themes
important to this Strand, but aren’t required.
51
Power From Experience (either Street Level,
World Class, or Cosmic Super Heroes) (pg.
218)
Variant Advancement Speed (Slow and
Steady) (pg. 219)
Not Recommended: It is recommended that
THE BASICS
you do not use the following Deviations, as
they represent modifications to the rules that
run counter to the themes and flavor of this
Strand.
Sanity (pg. 207)
CHARACTERS
Costly Complications (pg. 205)
No Complications (pg. 206)
Survival (pg. 224)
STRANDS
GAMEPLAY
PERKS
Selecting Super Powers
Whether they are particularly heroic or not,
POWERS
the Starborn are super heroes. Or, at least,
they have the potential to be. When making
a super hero, the first thing you need to do is
select a Perk called Defender of the Streets,
which will prompt you to select a Power Set.
This determines which Powers you may select.
GEAR
Finally, you’ll need to select an Activation
Method for each of your Powers. A Power’s
Activation Method tells you how the Power
is activated. Some Powers cost nothing to
MASTERY
Activate, others inflict stress, require the
GAME
expenditure of a Fate Point, or require some
other action or cost. Note that some Power
Activation Methods provide special benefits.
DEVIATIONS
CONTENTS
  Defender of the Streets
Prerequisites: An Aspect that describes the
origin or nature of your Powers; Your Strand
must allow Powers
Cost: When you take this Aptitude, your
Refresh rating is permanently reduced by 1.
THE BASICS
Whatever happened to you, you possess
some Power (or Powers) that separate you
from the masses. And you wield those Powers
to protect your friends, family, and defend
your neighborhood from threats.
CHARACTERS
Select one of the Power Sets listed below:
Peak Human: You don’t actually have any
supernatural Powers. But you have received
some very special, highly specialized,
training. You gain the following benefits:
STRANDS
• Increase one Skill rated 3 or higher by 1
rank (to a max of 5).
• You gain the Specialty Aspect Perk to
Reflect your special training.
GAMEPLAY
• Your Refresh Rating is not reduced by
this Perk.
Single Power: You may select one of the
following benefits:
• You gain a single Heroic Power.
• You gain a single Paragon level Power,
PERKS
and one Weakness (pg. 169). You gain
no benefit from this Weakness.
Multi-Power: You gain two Heroic Powers,
and one Weakness. You gain no benefit from
this Weakness.
POWERS
Regardless of which Power Set you choose,
you must also choose an Activation Method
(see below) for every Power you learn. Different
Activation Methods can add Enhancements to
your Powers, or even increase their effective
GEAR
Power Level.
Heroic: You gain an additional benefit based
on your chosen Power Set.
Peak Human: Your Refresh Rating is increased
MASTERY
GAME
by 1.
Single Power or Multi-Power: You gain an
Enhancement to apply to a Power you
gained by selecting this Perk.
DEVIATIONS
52
CONTENTS
 Protector of the City
Prerequisites: Defender of the Streets
You’ve devoted yourself to your city, wielding
your Power(s) to defeat threats that would
endanger thousands… maybe millions.
You gain new benefits based off the Power Set
you selected when taking the Defender of the
Streets.
Peak Human: You gain all of the benefits
listed below:
• Increase two Skills rated 3 or higher by 1
rank (to a max of 6).
• Increase your Refresh Rating by 1.
• You gain a new Grounded or Heroic
Perk.
Single Power: Choose one of the benefits
listed below:
• You gain two Enhancements to apply to
the Power you gained by selecting the
Defender of the Streets Aptitude.
• You may apply a single Enhancement to
the Power you gained by selecting the
Defender of the Streets Aptitude. The
Power Level of this Enhancement may
be one Power Level higher than your
own.
For example, if you were a Paragon,
you could apply a single Mythic
Enhancement to your Power.
Multi-Power: Choose one of the benefits
listed below.
• You gain two Enhancements to apply to
any of the Powers you know.
• You gain two new Heroic Powers.
• You gain an additional Paragon Power.
• You gain a single Mythic level Power,
and one Weakness (pg. 169). You gain
no benefit from this Weakness.
Mythic: You gain an additional benefit based
on your chosen Power Set.
Peak Human: You gain one Perk of Paragon or
lesser Power Level.
Single Power or Multi-Power: You gain an
Enhancement to apply to a Power you
gained by selecting Defender of the Streets
or Protector of the City.

 Hero of the World
Prerequisites: Protector of the City
You are a protector of the entire world. You
battle the forces of evil around the globe,
giving your all in an effort to save humanity
from ultimate destruction.
You gain new benefits based off the Power Set
you selected when taking the Defender of the
Streets.
Peak Human: You gain all of the benefits
listed below:
• Increase two Skills rated 3 or higher by 1
rank (to a max of 7).
• Increase your Refresh Rating by 1.
• You gain one Perk or Paragon or lesser
Power Level.
Single Power: You gain all the benefits listed
below:
• You gain one Enhancement to apply to
the Power you gained by selecting the
Defender of the Streets Aptitude.
• You gain one Perk or Paragon or lesser
Power Level.
53
THE BASICS
CHARACTERS
STRANDS
GAMEPLAY
Multi-Power: Choose one of the benefits
PERKS
listed below.
• You gain two Enhancements to apply to
any of the Powers you know.
• You gain two new Paragon Powers.
• You gain an additional Mythic or
POWERS
Legendary Power.
Power Activation Methods
Super heroes come in all shapes and sizes.
And their Powers can be activated in all sorts
of different ways. GEAR
The Perks described above grant access to
Powers. For each Power you learn from these
Perks, you must choose an Activation Method.
MASTERY
GAME
Activation Methods may modify your Power
in certain ways. They may inflict additional
costs on the character, and they may require
Affinity Skills. See below for a description of
each type of Activation Method.
DEVIATIONS
CONTENTS
 Effortless Activation
A Power with Effortless Activation is always
active, or can be activated at will, with no
effort on the part of the character activating it.
Cost: An Effortless Power reduces your
Refresh rating by 1. Remember, your Refresh
THE BASICS
rating may never drop below 1. If taking this
Power would decrease your Refresh below
one, you may not select it.
Affinity Skill: If the Power requires an Affinity
CHARACTERS
Skill, select a Skill you already have. You should
be able to describe how your proficiency
in that Skill relates to how you control your
Power. That Skill doubles as your Affinity Skill.
Multiple Effortless Powers: If you have
multiple Powers that use this same Activation
STRANDS
Method, you must reduce your Refresh Rating
by 1 for each Power.
Fateful Activation
Activating your Power seems effortless on
GAMEPLAY
the part of the character. But it costs them
something, even if it’s not something they are
necessarily aware of.
Cost: The character activates their Power by
spending a Fate Point. If they cannot pay the
PERKS
Fate Point, they may go into Fate Point debt.
While in debt, they gain the Unlucky Aspect,
which may be Compelled in all sorts of
interesting ways.
Any FPs the character gets while in debt
POWERS
automatically, and immediately, go toward
paying off the debt.
Affinity Skill: If the Power requires an Affinity
Skill, select a Skill you already have. You should
be able to describe how your proficiency
GEAR
in that Skill relates to how you control your
Power. That Skill doubles as your Affinity Skill.
Unreliable Activation
Your Powers are inherently unstable. Using
MASTERY
GAME
them requires a certain amount of control
and/or training.
Benefit: You may select one of the following
benefits:
DEVIATIONS
• You may apply a single Enhancement
to your Power. The Power Level of this
Enhancement may be one Power Level
higher than your own.
54
CONTENTS
For example, if you were a Heroic,
you could apply a single Paragon
Enhancement to your Power.
• You gain two Enhancements to apply to
your Power.
Affinity Skill: You gain 1 free rank in an
Affinity Skill, after which it may be raised by
achieving Milestones or taking the Skilled Perk
(pg. 99). This Affinity Skill should be named
appropriately, such as “Control”, “Systems”,
“Mutagen”, etc. You must make a Skill test
with your Affinity Skill to activate your Power.
The Difficulty of this Skill Test is based on the
Power Level of the Power, as shown below:
Power Level Activation Difficulty
Grounded or Heroic 2
Paragon 3
Mythic 4
Legendary 5
(Stall): You fail to activate your Power.
Worse, you strain yourself, and can’t try
to use your Power again until you’ve had
a scene (or about 5 minutes) to recover.
(-2 to 0 Shifts): You fail to activate your
Power.
(1 to 2 Shifts): You activate the Power, and
it has the normal effects.
(Spin): Not only are you able to activate your
Power, but depending on the situation
and the nature of your Power, you may
also be able to create a beneficial Minor
Aspect.
(Surge): As Spin, but the Aspect may be a
standard Aspect instead of a Minor.
Variants: You may choose to apply the option
below to your Power. Once applied, your
Power always works like this.
• Strenuous: If you score 0 or fewer Shifts
on your Affinity test to activate your Pow-
er, your Power activates anyway. But you
suffer an amount of stress equal to the
amount by which you failed, +1.
For example, if the Difficulty was 2, and
your Effort was -1, you’d suffer 4 stress.
Multiple Unreliable Powers: If you have
multiple Powers that use this same Activation
Method, you do not get the full set of Benefits
for all of them. Instead, for each Power after
the first, you may choose to either gain one
free Enhancement or increase your Affinity
Skill by one rank (to a max of 5).
Fueled Activation
Each time you use your Power, it draws from
some internal reserve of energy. And once
you’ve drained the well, you can’t use your
Powers again until you recover. This specifics
of this Activation Method differs depending
on how difficult it is to restore your energy
reserves.
Affinity Skill: You gain 1 free rank in an
Affinity Skill, after which it may be raised by
achieving Milestones or taking the Skilled Perk
(pg. 99). This Affinity Skill may be named
whatever is appropriate, such as “Ki”, “Energy
Management”, “Sustenance”, etc.
Your Affinity Skill, whatever it is called, serves
two functions. First, it is used whenever your
Power requires you to make an Affinity Skill
test. Secondly, you gain a number of tokens
equal to your Affinity Skill. These tokens should
have a name appropriate to their function,
such as “Pulses”, “Charges”, “Meat“, etc.
Each time you activate your Power, you must
spend a token. If you do not have a token to
spend, you may not activate your Power.
Refueling: At some point you’re going to need
to replenish spent tokens. How difficult this is
determines what benefits are associated with
this Activation Method.
When you select this Activation Method,
select one of the different levels of refueling
difficulty listed below:
Passive: Restoring spent tokens requires no
effort on your part. You just need a bit of
rest. You automatically recover one spent
token every hour. This Activation Method
offers no benefit.
Easy: You recover spent energy by accessing
something easily attainable. You might
need to be bathed in sunlight, drink a glass
of water, or expose yourself to fire.
You recover a spent token each time you
are exposed to the source of your Power,
up to a maximum of two spent tokens per
hour.
Each day you go without being exposed
to the source of your Power, your Affinity
Skill rating temporarily drops by one rank.
It is restored upon being exposed to your
source of Power for at least a minute.
55
Challenging: This is the same as “Easy”, but
the substance or energy you need to be
exposed to is a little harder to come by.
The item should be easily and/or legally
obtainable, but isn’t normally found in
abundance in nature. Examples include
THE BASICS
drinking holy water, exposure to X-rays,
eating metal shavings, etc.
This Activation Method grants a free
Enhancement to your Power.
Hard: The substance or energy you need to
CHARACTERS
refuel is very rare, or illegal, to obtain. You
may have to eat gold, drink blood, consume
flesh, or bathe in molten steel.
Tokens equate to an amount of exposure
or material consumed. For example, you
might recover a token with every minute
STRANDS
of exposure, gallon of blood drank, pound
of flesh eaten, gold coin swallowed, etc.
This Activation Method grants two free
Enhancements to your Power, or you may
choose a new Power of a Power Level
GAMEPLAY
one higher than your Power Set normally
allows.
Multiple Powers: If you have multiple Powers
that use this Activation Method, each time you
gain a new Power you may choose to either
PERKS
increase the maximum number of tokens you
may have by one or increase your Affinity Skill
by one rank (to a max of 5).
 Upgrade Power
POWERS
Prerequisites: Defender of the Streets
You may apply two Enhancements to Powers
you know. You may apply them both to the
same Power, or a single Enhancement to two
different Powers.
The Enhancements must have a Power Level GEAR
equal to, or less than, your own.
 New Power
Prerequisites: Defender of the Streets
MASTERY
GAME
You gain a new Power. This Power must have
a Power Level equal to, or less than, your own.
When you gain this Power, you must also
select an Activation Method for your new
DEVIATIONS
Power
CONTENTS
 “You are still young and stupid. Human life as fading safety regulations give way to both
has no value. Haven’t you learned that yet, increased profits and workplace accidents.
Takeshi, with all you’ve seen? It has no value, Others, especially those who perform a lot
THE BASICS

intrinsic to itself. Machines cost money to
build. Raw materials cost money to extract.
But people?” She made a tiny spitting sound.
“You can always get some more people. They
reproduce like cancer cells, whether you want
CHARACTERS
of manual labor, often choose to replace or
enhance parts of their bodies with stronger,
more durable, equivalents.
Characters

them or not. They are abundant, Takeshi. Why

The PCs in a Strands of Neon and Chrome
should they be valuable? Do you know that it
campaign have an agenda. They want
costs us less to recruit and use up a real snuff
something. Maybe its money. Maybe its power.
whore than it does to set up and run the virtual
Perhaps it is revenge, or justice. Some fight for
equivalent format. Real human flesh is cheaper
their freedom, or the freedom of others. And
than a machine. It’s the axiomatic truth of our
STRANDS

some just want to watch the establishment

times.”
crumble into rubble.
Altered Carbon
Richard K Morgan There are many classic frameworks for PCs
in this sort of campaign. They might serve as
Neon lights reflect off towers of black glass.
freelance enforcers or thieves for elements
GAMEPLAY

Rain drops fall on cracked concrete, forming

of the criminal underworld. Or maybe they’re
rivulets of water that collect in dark alleys and
private investigators, hired security, data
mix with blood.
couriers, spies or government agents.
Strands of Neon and Chrome is about our
Whatever the case, likely the PCs do what
future, or at least one very bleak possible
they do to score another big payday. Money
future. It’s a time, not too far from now, where
makes the world go round, and never has that
PERKS

corporations rule the world and basic human

rights are sold away for profit.
Technology has continued to evolve, and
us with it. Blood and fiber, metal and bone,
circuits and veins… humanity and the machine.
POWERS
been more true than in this corrupt corporate
driven future. But in the end, the money is
often just a means to an end. And it’s up to the
player to figure out what their character’s end-
game really is.

Those with the proclivity and the means use

cutting edge augmentation technology to
enhance their capabilities.
For many, this is limited to cognition
enhancements. The brain itself is augmented,
GEAR
Sample Pitches
ªª Ex-military mercenaries smuggle compro-
mised rebels out of a corrupt nation.

bolstered by always on Internet connectivity,
low-level AI assistants, and cloud stored
memories.
Others don’t stop there. Eyes, ears, arms…
whether out of necessity or convenience;
MASTERY
GAME
ªª Somebody hit our crew. And it was only
possible if we had a traitor among us.
ªª A terrorist organization has stolen a secret
military virus. It must be recovered, and
you’ve been tapped.

organics are replaced by synthetic upgrades. ªª A rogue military organization is attempting

It’s all the rage. Why be human when you a false flag operation. They plan to release
could be more? a virus in downtown Detroit and blame it
on rebels. They must be stopped.
Soldiers, law enforcement, mercenaries…
ªª Someone is selling recorded memories of
DEVIATIONS

they outfit themselves with the latest and torture and murder, from the perspective
greatest government and black market of the murderer and the victim. We must
military augmentations. But they’re not the discover who is doing this.
only ones. Most people don’t need combat
enhancements. Some just want to replace lost
or damaged limbs, a condition all too common

56
CONTENTS
 Sample Campaign Aspects
ªª The Corporations Have Their Tendrils in
Everything
ªª We See the World in Shades of Gunmetal
Gray
ªª The Poor Stay Poor While the Rich Get
Richer
Tech-Level
Strands of Neon and Chrome campaigns
typically take place on Earth; or if space travel
is more prevalent, at least in our solar system.
This Strand uses TL 5. Human augmentation,
deep dive virtual reality, and portable beam
weapons are common. More advanced
technology, like plasma swords, faster-than-
light space travel, or force fields,
have not been invented yet.
Character Power Level
Characters in a Strands of Neon and Chrome
campaign are Heroic, even if they might not
actually be particularly righteous.
Character Experience Level
The Character’s Experience Level should
be determined based on the specifics of the
campaign. Let the Pitch be your guide.
Races, Skills and Perks
All characters in a Strands of Neon and
Chrome campaign are human, though they
may be heavily augmented.
The campaign uses all the normal Skills.
All Perks are available as long as the PCs meet
their requirements. And there are a few special
Perks introduced in this Strand.
Augmentations and high-tech gear provide
the PCs with a number of additional options.
57
Deviations
This Strand has a tendency to focus on the
acquisition of wealth, and how that wealth
is turned into power. As such, the Dynamic
Resources (pg. 212) Deviation is required.
In addition to Dynamic Resources, the
THE BASICS
following Deviations are also recommended to
support the themes important to this Strand
(though they aren’t required).
Called Shots (pg. 205)
CHARACTERS
Costly Complications (pg. 205)
No Complications (pg. 206)
Sequences (pg. 221)
Zeroing Out (pg. 201)
STRANDS
GAMEPLAY
Perks
 Cyborg
PERKS
Prerequisite: You must have purchased an
Augmentation and had it installed.
You have acclimated to your Augmentations,
and your body responds to them well.
Your base Tolerance Rating is increased to 6,
POWERS
and your Refresh Rating is increased by 1 to
minimize the reduction that occurs to everyone
when they get an Augmentation installed.
 Technological Evolution
Prerequisite: You must have an Augmentation
GEAR
Select one Augmentation you have. You may
apply a free Enhancement to it, which may be
of a Power Level one higher than your own.
For example, if you were a Heroic character,
MASTERY
GAME
you would be able to apply a Paragon
Enhancement to your Augmentation.
You do not have to pay for the Enhancement,
and it does not decrease your Tolerance.
DEVIATIONS
 Transhuman
Prerequisite: Cyborg
Your Tolerance rating is increased by 2.
You may take this Perk more than once, but
not more than once per Experience Level.
CONTENTS

THE BASICS
CHARACTERS
New Trait: Tolerance
While augmentation technology can make
drastic changes to the human body, there
STRANDS
are limits. Sometimes your body just doesn’t
handle the genetic or synthetic tweaks and
additions very well. They might develop side
effects, or their bodies may try to reject the
hardware.
GAMEPLAY
Characters who purchase and have an
Augmentation installed automatically have
their Refresh Rating reduced by 2. And they
gain a Tolerance rating of 3.
Each time you gain a new Augmentation,
your Tolerance is reduced by an amount based
PERKS
on the Power Level of the Perk or Power that
serves as the basis for your Augmentation:
Grounded 2
Heroic 3
POWERS
Paragon 4
You may reduce the amount of strain your
Augmentations place on your body by taking
Consequences (-2 for Mild, -4 for Moderate,
-6 for Severe or -8 for Extreme). But as long
GEAR
as the Augmentation deficit remains, the
Consequence will not recover. You may
take measures to change the Consequence,
potentially rewording it or switching it
from a Wound to a Complication, but the
MASTERY
Consequences’ severity cannot change.
GAME
All Enhancements, regardless of their Power
Level, decrease your Tolerance by 1.
DEVIATIONS
Augmentations
Augmentations are represented with either
the Specialty Aspect Perk, or with Powers.
Note, however, that only Powers with a Power
Level of Paragon or less may be selected.
58
CONTENTS
Augmentations are purchased
with money, like any other sort of
equipment. But the number of them
you may acquire are limited by your
Tolerance.
Once purchased, the Augmentation
must also be installed.
Augmentation Activation
By default, Augmentations
automatically activate without any
cost or Skill test required.
Affinity Skills
If an Affinity Skill is required to use an
Augmentation, use Reasoning as your Affinity
Skill.
Augmentation Costs
Like other equipment, Augmentations have
a Cost rating. The Cost rating depends on the
Power Level of the Perk or Power, as shown
below:
Perk/Power Level of Power Cost
Specialty Aspect Perk 3
Grounded Power 3
Heroic Power 4
Paragon Power 8
You may also add Limitations and
Enhancements to Augmentations when
you purchase them. Limitations reduce the
Augmentation’s Cost by 1. Enhancements
increase the Cost of the Augmentation by
an amount based on the Power Level of the
Enhancement added, as shown below:
Power Level of Enhancement Cost
Heroic Enhancement 2
Paragon Enhancement 3
Upgrade Costs
You can also purchase Enhancements to
upgrade your existing Augmentations. Like a
Power, the Cost of an Enhancement depends
on the Power Level of the Enhancement, as
shown below:
Enhancement Power Level Cost
Heroic 4
Paragon 5
You may not select an Enhancement with a
Power Level greater than your own.
 Augmentation Installation Time
To have an Augmentation installed, you need
to be placed in surgery and go through a short
recovery and training period. The Cost to have
the Augmentation installed is factored into
the Cost of the Augmentation. The installation

THE BASICS
time depends on the Augmentation’s or
Enhancement’s Power Rating.
Power Level Installation/Upgrade Time
Heroic 1 Day
Paragon 3 Days

CHARACTERS
Mythic 1 Week
Legendary 1 Month

Specialty Aspects as Augmentations

STRANDS
Adrenal Boost Module (Might)
Basic Eye Augment (Perception)
Basic Hearing Augment (Perception)
Basic Muscle Augmentation (Might)

GAMEPLAY
Basic Smell Augment (Perception)
Grip Pads (Mobility)
Gyroscopic Stabilizers (Precision)
Metabolism Maintenance System (Might)
Pain Dampers (Resolve)

PERKS
Prehensile Feet (Mobility)
Skin-Weave Armor (Might)
Targeting Support System (Precision)
Smuggler’s Compartment (Guile)

POWERS
Reinforced Skeleton (Might)

Power Level
Sample Augmentation (Tolerance/Cost) Base Power + Limitations/Enhancements
Retractable Blades Heroic (3/4) Body Weaponry (pg. 132)
GEAR
Enhanced Pheromones Heroic (2/3) Awe (Emission) (pg. 125)
Retractable SMG Implant Heroic (3/5) Bolt (Ammo-Dependent, Full Auto) (pg. 133)
Light Screen Camouflage Heroic (3/6) Cloak (pg. 138)
MASTERY
GAME

Medichine Factory Heroic (3/5) Heal (Heal Self, Heal Self Only) (pg. 145)
Prehensile Tail Grounded (2/3) Extra Limb (pg. 143)
Emergency Life Support Heroic (3/4) Lifeless (pg. 154)
DEVIATIONS

Cognitive Implant Heroic (3/4) Computer Mind (pg. 138)

Neura-surge Paragon (4/6) Quicken (pg. 157)
Optic Drone Heroic (3/4) Clairsentience (Sensor) (pg. 136)
Sub-Dermal Armor Heroic (3/4) Armor (pg. 123)

59
CONTENTS
 Chapter 4
CHAPTER 2

Gameplay
THE BASICS

Aspects in Play
Typically, an Aspect will relate to some
strongly held belief, an event, an important
CHARACTERS

person from the character’s past, a part of

their personality, or a goal.
Aspects are used to describe important
aspects of your character, but keep in mind
that not every character quirk or detail makes
for a suitable Aspect. For example, your
STRANDS

character may be overly fond of blue hats, and

that’s an interesting character quirk, but it isn’t
something that’s likely to regularly come up
much in play in a meaningful way.
Aspects should describe parts of your
GAMEPLAY

character that you wish to be relevant to your

campaign. This insures that your character can
shine in situations you wish them to shine in,
and be challenged in ways you find interesting.
Your Aspects are a not-so-subtle message to
the GM about what types of scenes you’d like
PERKS

to see take place in the campaign.

A good story is about the protagonist’s highs
and lows, their victories and their defeats. Your
character may have to make sacrifices or hard Any time your Aspects harm you, or make life
more challenging for you, you get more Fate
POWERS

choices to accomplish their goals. Your Aspects

help both the player and the GM figure out
what the character wants, what they’re willing
to do to get it, and the sorts of interesting
challenges the character should face on their
journey.
GEAR
Points as a reward!
To make sure your Aspects are good ones,
you should be able to clearly describe at least
three different examples of how the Aspect
might both benefit and harm you.

Phrasing an Aspect
An Aspect can be written as a few words,
a short sentence, or a quote. A character’s Refresh
MASTERY

Aspects should always be at least three

GAME

words long, but generally no more than a full
sentence.
Remember that Aspects can help your
character overcome challenges, but at the
DEVIATIONS
At the beginning of each game session, or
whenever the GM believes all the characters
need a boost (such as in the middle of an
especially long game session), each character
gains a number of Fate Points equal to his

same time are a source of Fate Points.
Thus, an Aspect should work like a double-
edged sword. The Aspect can benefit you,
but it should also be a source of interesting
complications and challenges. But don’t worry!
Refresh Rating, up to the maximum number of
Fate Points your character may have.
See pg. 20 to determine your character’s
Refresh Rating, and the maximum number of
FPs they can have.

60
CONTENTS
Invoking an Aspect
You may spend a Fate Point to make an Aspect
important to the scene in a way that benefits
you. This is called Invoking an Aspect.
To Invoke an Aspect, you need to spend a Fate
Point, announce the Aspect you are invoking,
and (if necessary) explain why the Aspect you
chose is beneficial to you. This might be one of
your character’s Aspects, an Aspect on a zone,
an item, or anything else. Doing so grants you
one of the following benefits:
ªª Gain a +2 bonus on a Test
ªª Create a Block (pg. 82)
ªª Make a Declaration (pg. 64)
ªª Offer a Compel (pg. 65)
For example, you could spend a Fate Point to
Invoke your Big Dumb Ox Aspect, granting you
a bonus on a Might test. Likewise, you could
spend a FP to Invoke “Soon this city will be
mine!” and gain a +2 bonus on just about any
action that directly relates to your attempt to
take over the city.
In addition to bonuses on Skill tests, you may
also Invoke an Aspect to create a Block (pg.
82) that forces a foe to deal with an obstacle
created, or represented, by the Aspect. These
Blocks usually have a Potency of 2, but may be
higher if the GM feels it would be especially
effective or appropriate to the situation.
You may also Invoke an Aspect to make a
Declaration (pg. 64), gaining some measure
of direct narrative control that directly benefits
or interests you. In essence, you get to sit in
the GM seat for a moment and describe events
that relate to the Aspect.
For example, you may spend a Fate Point to
Invoke Trained by Corporal Frank Sheppard
upon meeting a fellow soldier to Declare
that this soldier also served under Corporal
Sheppard, and that you two know each other.
Keep in mind that Declarations must
be approved by the GM before they are
considered official.
Lastly, you can Invoke an Aspect owned
by another character, or an Environmental
Aspect they’ve come in contact with, to offer
a Compel.
61
A Compel is a sort of Declaration that directly
harms, or at least makes life more complicated
for, another character. If the chosen character
accepts the Compel, they gain a Fate Point and
the Declaration occurs. Alternatively, they may
pay a Fate Point to deny the Compel.
THE BASICS
The GM may also offer Compels to the PCs
based off their own Aspects, or Environmental
Aspects that could affect them.
See pg. 65 for more on Compels.
Sample Aspect Invocation: Captain of Charlie
CHARACTERS
Company
[Bonus] Gain a +2 bonus to die rolls when
leading men who are in distress.
[Declaration] Charlie Company’s recent
successes get you the attention of a high-
STRANDS
ranking general.
[Block] Force enemies to overcome a Block to
attack you because your men are trying to
protect you.
GAMEPLAY
[Compel] You are ambushed by rebels led by
a vengeful Sgt. Fishburn, a former grunt
you recently had dishonorably discharged.
Invoking for Free
Any Aspect intentionally created as a result
PERKS
of a character’s actions can be Invoked (or
Compelled) for free the first time. This includes
those created by performing a Maneuver
(pg. 68), forcing an enemy to suffer a
Consequence (pg. 76), or generating Spin.
POWERS
It doesn’t matter who created the Aspect; the
first person to Invoke or Compel it gets to do so
without spending a Fate Point.
Wording vs. Intent
When a character takes an Aspect, they GEAR
generally have some idea in mind for how it
will be used. For example, a character who
takes the Surgeon at 300 Yards Aspect to
demonstrate how good a sniper they are,
MASTERY
GAME
should not be able to Invoke that Aspect when
trying to grant medical attention to an ally.
Just because the Aspect contains the word
“surgeon” doesn’t mean the character knows
DEVIATIONS
anything about real surgery.
The only way they know how to open a heart
is with a high-powered rifle.
CONTENTS
 Invoking External Aspects
Many things can have Aspects. The PCs have
Aspects, the other characters have Aspects,
even their equipment and the scene itself can
have Aspects. Players and the GM can use their
Fate Points to Invoke Aspects belonging to
THE BASICS
Examples of Using External Aspects to Offer
a Compel
Drowsy – You Compel this Aspect to Declare
that the Drowsy guard falls asleep. This costs
you a Fate Point to offer the Compel. If the GM
accepts, they add a Fate Point to their Threat

other people, places, and things. This works a
lot like invoking your own Aspects, except the
Aspect doesn’t belong to you.
As a rule of thumb, invoking or Compelling
another person’s or thing’s Aspects requires
CHARACTERS
Pool and the NPC drifts off to sleep.
Off-Balance – After having Off-Balance placed
on them by an ally’s successful Maneuver, you
Compel that Aspect to suggest that your foe
stumbles into the adjacent zone. This costs

a little more justification than invoking one
of your own Aspects. For Aspects related to
the environment, the justification should be
some way to really highlight the nature of the
Aspect. For Aspects belonging to opponents,
the player needs to know about the Aspect in
STRANDS
you a Fate Point to offer the Compel. If the GM
accepts, they add a Fate Point to their Threat
Pool and the NPC stumbles into the selected
zone.
Poor Quality – After an enemy attacks and

rolls poorly, you Compel this Aspect on his

the first place and then play to it.
Keep in mind that a single Aspect may only
be Invoked, or used to offer a Compel, by the
same character once per turn.
GAMEPLAY
weapon and suggest that your foe’s rusty old
gun jammed. This costs you a Fate Point to
offer the Compel. If the GM accepts, they add
a Fate Point to their Threat Pool and the NPCs’
weapon jams. It must be cleared before it can

Examples of Invoking External Aspects be fired again.

Foggy – During a chase, you duck into a fog
bank to lose your pursuers, invoking the Foggy
Aspect for a +2 bonus on your test to hide. This
costs you a Fate Point to Invoke, which then Invocation Justification & Abuse
PERKS

leaves play. When an Aspect is Invoked or Compelled,

Small – You have a weapon that is Small. You
Invoke it to give yourself a +2 bonus when
attacking an enemy in very close quarters. This
costs you a Fate Point to Invoke, which then
POWERS
it needs to make sense to all involved. It’s
easy to justify invoking an Aspect like Built
for Long Distances on a test to run a long
distance, but not so much if the Aspect you

want to Invoke is Top of the Line Cyber-Eyes.

leaves play.
If there is a disagreement whether or not
Slick Ride – Trying to attract a date for the an Aspect is suitable to be Invoked or offer a
night, you pull up to the curb in your Slick Compel, the GM can either make the call, or
Ride, invoking that Aspect to Declare that one call for everyone at the table to cast a vote.
of the pretty young ladies nearby really digs
GEAR

your skiff. This costs you a Fate Point to Invoke,

which then leaves play.
Map of the Complex – You find a small
computer that contains a Map of the Complex
you’re currently hiding in. You Invoke that
MASTERY
GAME

Aspect to give yourself a +2 bonus on tests to

escape the exploding factory. This costs you a
Fate Point to Invoke, which then leaves play.
DEVIATIONS

62
CONTENTS
 Jazzing it Up
Aspects are a major source of flavor for your character and they’re the first thing a GM will
look at on your sheet when trying to work out what sort of stories to throw you into. An Aspect
is a subtle yet powerful request, and the best part is that you are in total control of it based on
the words you choose for it.

THE BASICS
Whenever you’re writing down the name of an Aspect, ask yourself: “How much flavor does
this Aspect suggest?” If it seems fairly colorless, it’s time to kick it up a notch.
For a few “poor – better – best” ideas…
Bland Better Spicy!

CHARACTERS
Smart Smart as a Whip Honored Graduate of Helios Academy
Outlaw Apostate Pirate Tsarya’s Most Wanted
Hacker Mage Mythic Code Slinger Tech-Shaman of Charon
In each of these cases, the “Bland” option certainly suggests its uses, but it’s too generic
and doesn’t really jump off the page in a way that suggests story ideas. The “Better” option
is certainly better by way of being more specific; both GM and player can see some potential

STRANDS
story hooks in these and differentiate them from their blander predecessors.
The “Spicy!” options are where it’s at, though. It’s easy to read those and instantly get an idea
of who a character is, where they are from, and/or what others might think of him.
All that said, be careful that you don’t focus on overly poetic or clever Aspect wording at

GAMEPLAY
the expense of clarity and intent. A good Aspect will tell you one or two facts, with a small
amount of detail. But don’t overdo it. A single Aspect generally shouldn’t convey more than
two notable facts.

Secret Aspects splattered with reactor coolant, or Dazed(m)

when suddenly flashed with bright lights.

Sometimes there is an Aspect in play that only
the GM, or certain players, may know about.
Only those who know about the Aspect may
Invoke it or use it to offer a Compel.
When offering a Compel with a Secret Aspect,
PERKS
In these cases, the GM can allow the character
to spend a round doing something to remove
this Aspect. Usually this requires a Test, with
a Difficulty of 2, 3 or 4 for Minor, Standard or

you do not have to reveal the Aspect, but make
sure you are very clear on the terms of the
Compulsion.
Temporary and Lasting Aspects
Aspects that arise in play, or are created by
Maneuvers, are usually Temporary Aspects.
Most Temporary Aspects are Minor Aspects,
and go away once it is Invoked. But in certain
circumstances, the GM may decide that the
POWERS
Major Aspects.
While most Aspects created during play only
last a short while, some, can hang around
for much longer. Lasting Aspects tend to
describe lasting changes to a place, or change
to a character’s relationship to someone or
something else. GEAR
Examples of lasting Aspects include “Never
show your face on Luna again!” or Deep in
Debt to Mother Bree.
MASTERY
GAME

Aspect is more potent, or longer lasting.
The time frame for which an Aspect remains
relevant is up to the GM, and mostly relies on
common sense. Obviously, a room made Dimly
Lasting Aspects like these should be recorded
on the affected character’s character sheet,
and usually remain until the issue has been
addressed, the damage has been repaired, or
the situation that caused them is resolved.
DEVIATIONS

Lit(m) or Pitch Black(M) by cutting out the

lights keeps that Aspect until the lights come
back on.
Sometimes a character may have an Aspect
applied to them, such as Covered in Goo when
Of course, the GM could also place a lasting
Aspect on a character as a reward of sorts. An
example of such an Aspect might be Hero of
Rho or “We hit the jackpot!”.

63
CONTENTS
 Declarations
Declarations allow players to place new
Aspects on a subject by suggesting some fact
about it, or state that their character took
some past “off-screen” action in preparation
for current challenges. Declarations add new
THE BASICS
information that benefits or interests you.
As a general rule, the effect of a Declaration
should not involve game mechanics. Instead,
it should be used to bypass them. Declarations
are a tool to allow the players to help fill out
CHARACTERS
details about the setting, or achieve a more
direct result; either by placing an Aspect on
the subject or simply stating that something
happens to it.
If the Declaration would directly harm another
STRANDS
PC, or a named NPC, it is probably a Compel
instead. The GM may allow Declarations to
directly affect Extras however.
The Power of Declarations
GAMEPLAY
At the end of the day, you play Strands of Fate
to tell a fun and interesting story. It’s not about
winning. It’s about creating drama, comedy
and excitement. Keep that in mind when you
offer Declarations. A good Declaration builds
drama, suspense, mystery, aids in story pacing,
PERKS
fills in details about the setting, and reinforces
its themes and genre conventions.
Declarations aren’t intended to be a “cheat”
or a way to bypass critical elements of the
POWERS
story.
The GM may veto any offered Declaration in
the interest of the rest of the players and the
story as a whole. If a player tries to Declare a
fact or Aspect that the GM has already decided
isn’t true, or that would hurt the direction of
GEAR
the story, they should feel free to reject it.
When the GM does so, the player offering
the Declaration gets their FP back, and the
described effect of the Declaration doesn’t
occur.
MASTERY
GAME
However, the GM should only veto
Declarations if they would bypass interesting
parts of the story, could unnecessarily (or
uninterestingly) slow the pace of the game,
DEVIATIONS
or would contradict important facts within
the setting. Remember, the player offered the
Declaration because they thought it’d be fun.
64
CONTENTS
Sample Declarations
Example #1: When combing a social event
in search of clues, you Invoke your Darling
of House Dalianis Aspect to Declare that the
host is an ally of House Dalianis and owes
you a small favor.
If the GM accepts, you spend the FP and
the host agrees to meet with your character
in private for a moment.
Example #2: When falling off the side of
a building, you Invoke the area’s Heavy
Construction Aspect to Declare that you
fall only a short distance, catching a nearby
crane arm, instead of plummeting to your
death.
If the GM accepts, you spend the FP and
the GM agrees that there was indeed a rane
arm below you, saving your life.
Keep it Narrative
It is highly recommended that you avoid the
temptation to mix Declarations with game
mechanics. Declarations are storytelling
mechanics, and as a general rule, shouldn’t be
used to affect the game’s rules.
In a conflict, for example, a Declaration may
be used to grant an extra action, instantly
defeat an opponent, render an opponent
helpless, inflict a Consequence on a foe, and
so on.
However, a player shouldn’t Declare things
like an attack only causing half the normal
stress it should cause, or that a character gains
a +4 bonus to his Armor Rating.
In all cases, Declarations should be used to
simplify a conflict by resolving actions outside
of the need for rolling dice. Using them to
create little rule adjustments on the spot
serves only to make things more complex.
Any mention of numbers or fractions should
be an immediate red flag that a Declaration
isn’t being used properly.
Compels
Aspects aren’t always used to grant you
benefits, bonuses, and narrative privileges;
sometimes they can get you into trouble.
Offering a Compel
You might be initially inclined to protect your
character by denying the Compel. But don’t be
too hasty! Compels can be a very good thing
for your story. Not only does accepting the
Compel net you a Fate Point, but it also tends
to push your character (and thus the story) in

THE BASICS
interesting directions.
You may offer a Compel to any character, PC
or NPC, so long as you are able to Invoke a Hard and Soft Compels
relevant Aspect. Aspect Compulsion is always defined as either
Compels based off Character Aspects tend a Soft Compel or a Hard Compel.

to be very personal, stemming from Aspects
that relate to a character’s attitude, biases,
addictions, relationships, or the nature of their
being.
Compels based off external Aspects can
require a little more justification. The Compel
CHARACTERS
A Soft Compel may only be offered to a player
by the GM, and is a great way to present
players with a chance to explore (and benefit
from) their character’s weaknesses and
vulnerabilities when the stakes are relatively
low.

should clearly highlight the nature of the
Aspect, and the GM may require some sort of
action to “trigger” the Aspect first.
For example, you might slam into a foe
STRANDS
The recipient of the Soft Compel may deny
the Compel at no cost to themselves. They just
lose out on the offered Fate Point.
A Hard Compel is used when the character’s

standing on a Slippery floor, and then Compel
that Aspect to declare that they slip and slide
down the nearby stairs. If your foe accepts, you
give them a Fate Point and they fall down the
stairs. If they wish to deny the offered Compel,
they must spend a Fate Point to do so.
GAMEPLAY
fundamental beliefs or intrinsic nature are
challenged. In this case, the Compel is offered
as usual, but if you do not wish to suffer the
effect of the Compel, you must pay a Fate Point
to decline.
For example, a starving vampire tries to

Accepting Compels
When you accept a Compel you gain a Fate
Point in exchange for suffering in a way that
relates to the Invoked Aspect. When you are
PERKS
suppress their hunger to spare a victim, or a
righteous paladin leaves an innocent to die
to spare herself. These deny the character’s
core nature or ethics, and Compels tied to
these sorts of actions should always be Hard

Compelled, the person offering the Compel
describes what will happen to you if you
accept.
POWERS
Compels.
In addition, Compels stemming from Major
Aspects are always Hard Compels. Major
Aspects are, by nature, very difficult to ignore.

GEAR
To Declare or Compel?
In some cases it may not be perfectly clear if what you want to suggest would be a Declaration
or a Compel. Declarations benefit the player who suggests them directly. Compels are harmful,
or at least a hindrance, to others. So what happens when its both?
MASTERY
GAME

When in doubt, answer these questions:

Who does the Invoked Aspect belong to? If you are Invoking one of your own Aspects, or an
Aspect of your gear, it’s probably a Declaration. You cannot Compel another character with
one of your Aspects. If the Invoked Aspect belongs to the character you tend to affect, and
DEVIATIONS

relates to their personality or past, it’s most likely a Compel.

Is it an External Aspect? If the Aspect belongs neither to you, nor the other characters affected
by the Invoked Aspect, it depends on the nature of the affected characters. As a general rule,
if the affected characters are Extras, it’s a Declaration. If the affected characters are other PCs,
or Named NPCs, it’s a Compel.

65
CONTENTS

THE BASICS
CHARACTERS
STRANDS
Active vs. Passive Compels
Compels tend to come about in one of two
GAMEPLAY
ways: actively or passively.
Active Compels are offered directly and
explicitly. For example, the GM may offer you
a Fate Point to Compel your Big Dumb Ox
Aspect when you are in a situation where quick
thinking is a must.
PERKS
Let’s say the character is on the run from the
police, and decides they want to try to outrun
them in their getaway car. As the character is
rushing to the car, the GM holds up a token
representing a Fate Point. The GM suggests
POWERS
that because the character is a “dumb ox,”
they have forgotten their keys back at the bar.
Passive Compels occur when an Aspect
results in trouble for a character during the
normal course of play, with no formal offering
GEAR
of the Compel ever taking place. In this case, if
the character has truly suffered some sort of
setback or complication, the GM should hand
them a Fate Point for their troubles.
MASTERY
For example, a character may have an Aspect
GAME
called Short Tempered and Itchy Triggered.
This Aspect implies that the character is
quick to anger and prone to settling disputes
with violence. This is a defining trait of the
DEVIATIONS
character, and the player should describe their
character’s actions accordingly.
So when the character loses their temper,
starts a fight, and gets in trouble because of
their Aspect, the GM should consider throwing
them a Fate Point.
66
CONTENTS
Sample Compulsion
After taking a direct hit from your coil gun,
your enemy staggers backwards, suffering
a Consequence of Dazed and Bloodied.
You then Invoke his Dazed and Bloodied
Consequence to Compel him to stumble out
into oncoming traffic.
If the GM accepts, he adds your offered FP
to his Threat Pool and, (being an Extra) the
NPC is killed as an oncoming car smashes
into him.
The Power of Compels
Compels are used to harm, or make life more
difficult for, the PCs and other characters in the
game world. And like Declarations, there are
no hard limits on the way this option may be
used. Compels are a narrative tool that allows
players and the GM to fore-go rolling dice in
favor of simply suggesting that certain events
transpire. And as always, this should be done,
first and foremost, in service of the story.
Most of the advice found above for making
Declarations also apply to Compels, but here
are a few additional guidelines:
Compelling PCs and Named NPCs: As a
general rule, a Compel can harm or severely
inconvenience a PC or named NPC. The effect
of accepting the Compel can be immediate or
lasting, but shouldn’t generally be fatal.
Compelling Extras: Extras are, by their very
nature, disposable. They are an obstacle, or a
way to test the PCs. But they aren’t generally
a critical component of the story. As such,
your GM may allow you to offer Compels and
Declarations that directly eliminate Extras, or
hamper groups of them.
No Pain, No Gain
As a GM, you want to avoid awarding a Fate
Point for a Compel prematurely. Don’t hand
over the Fate Point until the Aspect actually
impacts the character.
Something can always happen between
the time the Compel is agreed upon and the
point that the effects of the Compel actually
impact the character. Always make sure the
character has earned that Fate Point before
handing it over.
Mechanical Compel Effects
Generally Compels work best when they are
used to offer a narrative choice or wrinkle in
the plot. However, in some instances, it may be
useful to allow a Compel to have a more direct
effect on the game mechanics.
When offering a Compel, instead of simply
suggesting a course of action or sequence of
events, you may offer one of the following
options:
ªª Reduce the number of Shifts scored on a
Skill Test by 2.
ªª Change the number of Shifts scored on a
Skill test to 0.
ªª Force the recipient to suffer a Mild
Consequence (which may be worse if
they’ve already suffered a Mild Conse-
quence).
ªª Turn a failed Skill test (0 or fewer Shifts)
into a Stall.
As always, the GM has final say on what
constitutes a fair Compel, and may veto any
offer.
The Fate Point Economy
Whenever a Refresh occurs, PCs get a number
of Fate Points equal to their Refresh Rating.
Likewise, GMs may add Fate Points to their
Threat Pool (pg. 15) based off the number of
players at the table.
Whenever an Aspect is Invoked by a player,
or an Aspect is Invoked by the GM on behalf
of an NPC, the FP spent to Invoke the Aspect
leaves play.
The exception to this is when you Invoke to
offer a Compel. When the GM or a player offers
a Hard Compel, they must spend a Fate Point.
For GM’s, this comes from their Threat Pool.
If the Compel is accepted, the FP spent to
offer the Compel is given to the Compelled
recipient. If the Compel is denied, both the FP
spent to offer the Compel, and the FP spent to
decline it, leave play.
Soft Compels may only be offered by the GM,
and the offered FP does not come from their
Threat Pool. The GM essentially has an infinite
pool of FPs from which to offer Soft Compels.
67
Getting on the Same Page…
You may have noticed that, so far, we’re using
a lot of space to talk about how your Aspects
communicate things about your character to
the GM. We mean it. Out of all the things in
the game, Aspects are probably the clearest
THE BASICS
message you can send to the GM about what
you want from the game—short of outright
saying so.
Once you’ve picked all the Aspects for your
character, take a step back and look at them
CHARACTERS
as a whole. Ask yourself if they represent your
character the way you’d want them to; and if
they don’t, change them!
By themselves, Aspects can’t say it all, and it’s
important to remember that. Short of making
STRANDS
each Aspect a paragraph or essay, you’re
dealing with a few short, catchy phrases and
names here. Aspects need to be reasonably
short so that you can talk about them casually
without running out of breath. But, the brevity
GAMEPLAY
of an Aspect’s name means some things are
left unspoken. So take some time with the GM
to clarify these unspoken things when you can.
Both the player and the GM should look at an
Aspect not as the end of an idea, but the start
of one. You’re both going to bring your own
PERKS
ideas of what the Aspect means to the table
and—at least to some extent—you’re both
right. Usually this works out fine; the combined
perspectives make the whole greater than the
sum, but sometimes the GM and the player
POWERS
will have radically different ideas of what
an Aspect entails. Be clear with one another
and iron out any potential differences, ideally
before the Fate Points start flying.
GEAR
MASTERY
GAME
DEVIATIONS
CONTENTS
 Maneuvers
A Maneuver is an action taken to affect
the environment, other characters, or even
yourself in a way that creates an Aspect. When
a character flashes a bright light in an enemy’s
eyes to place a temporary Blinded Aspect on
THE BASICS
In some cases, if the action is incredibly
simple or requires no effort, such as dropping
a torch into a puddle of gas, or simply pushing
a door closed, the GM may let you perform the
Maneuver as an Instant Action, with no test
needed.

them, or counts to ten and takes a deep breath
to place a temporary Focused(m) Aspect on
themselves —those are Maneuvers.
The first Invocation or Compulsion of an
Aspect created with a Maneuver doesn’t cost
CHARACTERS
Zone and scene-altering Maneuvers allow you
to place some kind of Aspect over a targeted
zone or the entire scene, potentially affecting
everyone taking part in it. How hard this is to
do can range from trivial, with no test needed

(and usually allowed as an Instant Action) to

the player a Fate Point, even if they weren’t virtually impossible. It very much depends on
the one to create the Aspect. This allows teams what the character is attempting to achieve
to work together, with some members of the and how they intend to achieve it.
team performing Maneuvers and the others
taking advantage of the Aspects they create.
Putting an Aspect on Another Character
STRANDS

If you generate Spin on a test to perform a

If the target is another character, the
Maneuver, the resulting Aspect can be Invoked
Maneuvering character and the target engage
or Compelled for free twice.
in a Contest using whatever Skills the GM
deems appropriate.
Create an Aspect
GAMEPLAY

For example, a character might try to perform

A Maneuver is performed as a Major Action,
as either a test or contest.
The character makes a test against a Difficulty
set by the GM, usually 2, and the type of
Aspect created depends on the number of
PERKS
a Maneuver to slam into someone in an effort
to get them to stop attacking their friend.
Doing this this would require a Might contest.
If the character performing the Maneuver
succeeded with 2 Shifts, they could place the

Shifts generated. Minor Aspect Staggered(m) on their target. If

Shifts Aspect they succeeded with 3 Shifts, the Aspect could
instead be the Standard Aspect of Knocked
-3 (Stall) Minor (Detrimental) Prone. Success with 5 Shifts could result in a
<0 None Major Aspect like Down and Out(M).
1+ Minor
POWERS

In the event of a Stall, the character might

3+ (Spin) Standard
5+ (Surge) Major
The GM may grant Favor or Disfavor depending
on the circumstances and the nature of the
Aspect the character is trying to create.
GEAR
trip or bounce off the character they charged,
allowing the defender to instead put the
Staggered(m) or Off Balance(m) Aspect on
them.

For example, a character might take a

moment to relax and place the Focused Aspect
on himself. They’d make a Resolve test against
a Difficulty of 2. With 1 Shift, they’d place an
MASTERY

Aspect of Focused(m) on himself. With Spin,

GAME

the Aspect would be a standard Aspect. With

a Surge, the resulting Aspect might instead be
Perfect Clarity(M).
Alternatively, they might spend a few hours
DEVIATIONS

writing a program to adjust and monitor the

power distribution of a ship’s reactor. This
could result in a Power Optimization Program
Aspect that might help if the ship’s power
system is targeted by another ship’s cyber-
warfare suite.

68
CONTENTS
Aspect Duration
The amount of time an Aspect lasts might be
obvious. A Maneuver that sets a room on fire
lasts until it burns out naturally, or until it is
extinguished.
However, in some cases the GM may allow
the character to “spend” Shifts to determine
how long an Aspect lasts.
In this case, after you’ve made your Skill
test and determined how many Shifts you’ve
generated, you may determine how many to
allocate to the Aspect’s duration.
First the GM needs to determine the Aspect’s
base duration. Each Shift spent increases the
Aspect duration by one step on the Time chart
(pg. 91).
Removing Aspects
If a character is afflicted with an Aspect they
don’t want, they can try to remove it.
First, it must be possible to remove the
Aspect. For example, if a character is Soaking
Wet, they aren’t going to be able to dry off
instantly, no matter how well they roll on a
test.
69
But, assuming it is possible for the character
to overcome the Aspect on their turn, they
may attempt to do so.
Removal of a Minor Aspect is usually
automatic if the affected character devotes a
Major Action to removing the Aspect. No roll is
THE BASICS
usually needed.
A standard Aspect calls for a test of some
sort, using whatever Skill makes the most
sense. This is a Major Action, and the Difficulty
is set by the GM based on how effective the
CHARACTERS
character’s method for dealing with the Aspect
is. When in doubt, 2 is a good default Difficulty.
If the character succeeds with Spin, they may
treat the removal of the Aspect as an Instant
Action instead.
STRANDS
Removing a Major Aspect is the same as a
Standard Aspect, but the Difficulty is higher,
usually 5.
Depending on the circumstances and the
Aspect created, an Aspect may be easier or
GAMEPLAY
harder to remove. This could result in Favor or
Disfavor on the test to remove it.
PERKS
POWERS
GEAR
MASTERY
GAME
DEVIATIONS
CONTENTS
 Assessments
Skills can sometimes be used in careful
study of a subject before taking any sort of
action. This is called an Assessment, and
might be made while putting together a
plan, or while simply observing the target
THE BASICS

for long enough to learn something useful.

Assessing most often uses the Perception
Skill, sometimes combined with another
Skill based off the thing you are Assessing.
The character observes the subject for
CHARACTERS

a little while, then makes a test using the

relevant Skill(s). And if successful, the
GM reveals a relevant Aspect about the
subject. As usual, the first time this newly
discovered Aspect is Invoked, it can be
STRANDS

done so for free.

Alternatively, a character can make
an Assessment using Knowledge by
comparing what they know with other
collected information, or Reasoning to put
GAMEPLAY

together clues, to discover the existence

of an Aspect via logical deduction.
If the target of an Assessment is a person
or a group, the Assessment is usually
resolved with a contest (generally Insight
vs. Guile).
PERKS

Setting Assessment Difficulties
Static entities like locations or objects typically
have difficulties set by the GM. If there’s no
POWERS
For example, Jacob has been planning a heist
job for a while now. Now, with all the pieces in
play, he finds himself sitting across the street
giving the bank one last look before going in.

obvious way to determine the Assessment

Difficulty, consider the base Difficulty to be 2.
Performing an Assessment in the middle of
a conflict generally requires no fewer than 3
rounds, but the GM may allow the character
to reduce the amount of time required
GEAR
He decides to spend this time trying to Assess
the location. Given Jacob’s current position,
overlooking a crowded area, the GM sets a
Difficulty of 3 and a minimum time of 3 turns.
Jacob spends 3 hours sitting there, electing

(minimum one round) by electing to make
their Assessment test with Disfavor.
Outside of a conflict, performing an
Assessment takes about a minute. But by taking
MASTERY
to spend hours instead to gain Favor on his
test, and then rolls his Perception + Reasoning
and generates a total Effort of 4. The GM tells
his player that the bank seems to be popular
among local med-center employees, and he

your time, and increasing the Assessment time

GAME

to an hour, the character can become Favored
on their Assessment test.
At the GM’s discretion, if a character
generates Spin on an Assessment test, they
DEVIATIONS
sees a lot of people in scrubs going in and out.
Thus, the GM informs Jacob’s player that
the bank has an Aspect called Popular with
the Scrubs. Should Jacob find a way to Invoke

may discover other relevant information, and/
or an additional Aspect.
this Aspect, for instance by dressing in scrubs
to blend in during the getaway, it might make
things a bit easier for him. And since he’s the
first person to use that Aspect, he’d get to do
so for free if he acts quickly.

70
CONTENTS
Sample Character Aspects
“I’ll get rich, or die trying.”
Invoke: The heist isn’t going so well. But this
close to your goal, the Aspect provides a +2
bonus on your Mobility test to slip passed the
guards and get to the vault.
Compel: The escape plan allowed for you
to carry a reasonable amount of treasure.
You don’t really do “reasonable,” and when
squeezing through a tight space, the GM offers
a Compel. If you accept, you get stuck. And
you’re likely to stay that way unless you lighten
the load.
“Compassion is a necessity, not a luxury.”
Invoke: A cursory examination of the
wreckage reveals no survivors. You, however,
can’t accept that. This determination grants +2
on your Skill test to find anyone buried in the
rubble.
Compel: While buying supplies for your next
mission, you happen upon a poor family trying
to book passage out of the city. If you help
them, you won’t have enough money left over
to buy all the supplies you and your team need.
Legendary Outer Rim Outlaw
Invoke: Your reputation precedes you, striking
fear into your opponents. Their hesitation
provides a +2 bonus to your Interrupt test.
Compel: While fleeing the scene of your
heist, the commotion has attracted a lot of
attention - including some bounty hunters.
The GM offers a Compel: If you accept, a lot of
people have recognized you, and they can help
the bounty hunters more quickly locate you.
You’ll either need to get past them somehow,
or find a better escape route.
Reigning Heavyweight Champion
Invoke: Surrounded by adoring fans, Rudolph
Loggins, a particularly annoying member of
the press, will have to overcome a Potency 2
Block to bother you right now.
Compel: You take the back streets, change
vehicles a few times, and check in under a
different name to keep people from learning
which hotel you’re staying in. But the GM
offers a Compel: If you accept, the guy at the
desk is a big fan, and posts your location on a
popular social media site.
71
Accepting Death is the Warrior’s Way
Invoke: You do not fear the grave; neither will
you rush headlong to greet it. Despite being
outnumbered and outgunned, this serenity
grants you +2 on your Resolve test to fight
instead of flee.
THE BASICS
Compel: Objectively, you know you shouldn’t
accept a challenge from an unbeaten
deathmatch duelist, no matter your own skill.
But if you accept the Compulsion, you will
anyway.
CHARACTERS
Center of a Web of Intrigue
Invoke: The Empire is trying to unearth the
location of your sanctum through your paper
trail. You Declare that this tangled web leaves
STRANDS
them even more confused than when they
started.
Compel: Your intricate schemes are glorious
when they come together. But sewing
confusion can have consequences. If you
GAMEPLAY
accept the Compulsion, one of your own
agents comes after you, mistaking you for the
enemy in disguise.
Friends in Low Places
Invoke: After the watch confiscated your gear,
PERKS
you Declare that you know a smuggler near the
docks who can outfit your party - for a price, of
course.
Compel: Cooling your heels for a while, you
POWERS
endeavor to keep a low profile. The guards
were content to leave you alone - until the
usual suspects start getting chummy with you.
To Live by the Code of Arthur is to Live
Justly
GEAR
Invoke: Those who follow the code are known
to be honorable. The reputation of your order
grants a +2 bonus on your Skill test to convince
the local authorities to cooperate with you.
MASTERY
GAME
Compel: The startled guard dropped their
weapon as you suddenly appeared. However,
your code condemns striking an unarmed
opponent. If you accept the Compel you must
forego the advantage, waiting while they
DEVIATIONS
retrieve their blade and ready for battle.
CONTENTS
 Seikenmoto G-37 Cybereyes Sample External Aspects
Invoke: Even in the dim light and wafting
fog of the city, your image tracking software Flames Spreading Across the Complex
illuminates the correct path, granting a +2 on
Invoke: While sizing each other up, you
your Skill test to find your way.
Declare that the cultist Extra’s robes catch fire,
Compel: While hacking into the facility’s and they flee the scene in a screaming panic.
THE BASICS

security grid, you trigger a failsafe that wipes

Compel: While moving through the upper
the system with a powerful EMP. If you accept
levels, the GM offers a Compel: flames engulf
the Compel, the EMP damages your eyes,
the stairwell, cutting you off from the lower
rendering you blind until you can get them
floors. If you accept, you have to go back the
fixed.
CHARACTERS

way you came, and once again risk fighting

deranged cultists in a burning building.
Touched by the Fae
Invoke: Making sense of the winter court’s Precarious Footing
cryptic warnings is no easy task. However, your
Invoke: While dueling with your rival, they
unique perspective grants you a +2 on your
slip on a loose stone, giving you an opening in
STRANDS

Reasoning Skill test to decipher the clues.

the form of a +2 bonus on your Attack test.
Compel: You may not be a creature of myth, but
Compel: As you leap from rooftop to rooftop,
you’re hardly normal. When quietly climbing
the GM offers a Compel. If you accept, a
over the fence of the Seelie stronghold, your
shingle gives way, sending you sliding off the
GM offers a Compel. If you accept, the GM tells
GAMEPLAY

edge of the roof.

you that the fence is wrought from cold iron;
and you scream (loudly) in pain the first time
you touch it. Gale-Force Winds
Invoke: Leaping from the top of the tower,
Insatiable Curiosity you deploy your wingsuit. Declaring that the
air currents carry you to a distant landing site,
Invoke: Skulking through the old manor,
PERKS

you escape into the night.

you Declare that you spot an odd bookshelf.
Fiddling with the tomes, you activate a
secret passageway that leads directly to the
basement.
POWERS
Compel: Crossing the open plains, the wind
proves to be too much, causing you to lose
your footing. Your GM offers a Compel. If you
accept, you go tumbling into a raging river of

Compel: Although the rest of your party

freezing water.
knows better, you just can’t help yourself.
You open the sealed tome -- just for a peek --
releasing the evil trapped within. A Sea of Unfamiliar Faces
Invoke: Trying to shake the goons tailing you,
Haunted by my Father’s Ghost you blend into the massive crowd, gaining +2
GEAR

on your Skill test to remain undetected.

Invoke: While looking for clues to your
father’s murder in the abandoned factory,
you Invoke your Aspect in hopes of gaining
help from your father’s ghost. When you do,
MASTERY
Compel: The streets are clogged with
pedestrian traffic; moving through them
is going to be slow work. Your GM offers a

footsteps suddenly appear in the dust, leading Compel. If you accept, your either going to
GAME

you to the old manager’s office. have to force your way through, and risk
drawing attention from your pursuers; or move
Compel: Your father is restless, and so to
slow and risk them catching up.
shall you be. When you give put your father’s
murder investigation on hold to pursue another
DEVIATIONS

matter, the GM offers a Compel: If you accept,

you are tormented by nightmares, unable to
sleep, until you return to the case.

72
CONTENTS
Twisting Close Quarters
Invoke: The tight, twisting hallways make
evading your assault difficult; your foes must
overcome a Potency 2 Block to move more
than one zone at a time.
Compel: The plans for the heist
have you leaving through this
maintenance shaft. But if you accept
the Compel, you’re not going to
fit. You’ll either need to widen the
opening, or find another way out.
Whiskey Barrels by the Dozen
Invoke: After knocking an Extra
backwards, you Declare that they
tumble into the barrels, knocking
them over, and causing their fellow
thugs to slip in the ensuing mess.
Compel: The ensuing firefight has
left the floor covered in broken
barrels and spilled alcohol. And if
you accept the Compel, your last
missed shot instead hits a lamp,
which falls and sets the floor ablaze.
Miasma of Sorrow
Invoke: Attempting to enter a
restricted area, a magical aura of crippling
despair has left the guards listless and morose,
granting a +2 bonus on your Skill test to talk
them into letting you through.
Compel: Forced to backtrack into an area
affected by the aura, you find yourself
attempting to pick a lock while struggling to
find the motivation to do so. If you accept
the Compel, you simply give up, believing it
impossible to open the door.
Raging Blizzard
Invoke: The whipping winds, and whiteout
snowfall provide an excellent cover for your
approach, granting +2 on your Skill test to
reach the Imperial base undetected.
Compel: The cruel, relentless cold begins to
take its toll. If you accept the Compel, the storm
becomes increasingly difficult to navigate, and
you become lost.
73
Gently Falling Cherry Blossoms
Invoke: The wind, the soft blossoms, the
sunset in the background; it’s too much to
overcome. You Declare that rather than fleeing
in tears, your spurned love interest will at least
hear you out.
THE BASICS
Compel: Just like in the plan, you
make your way to the ambush point.
Unfortunately, the view has attracted
a number of young tourists, loitering
around your perfect sniper perch.
CHARACTERS
Raging Waterfalls
Invoke: Creeping up to the
Gryphon’s lair, the thunderous
rushing of cascading water masks
STRANDS
your approach. You Declare that
this allows you to ascend the steps
undetected.
Compel: Your party has, perhaps
foolishly, chosen to take a boat
GAMEPLAY
downstream to the nearest town.
But if you accept the Compel, one of
the waterfalls is too much, smashing
your boat as you go over it. Now you
must continue the journey on foot.
PERKS
The Ice-Covered Bridge to Winterstead
Invoke: Pursued by Frost Wolves, you hurl
a bucket of water over the bridge. It freezes
almost instantly. You Declare that they lose
POWERS
their footing on the now-slick ice, buying you
time to escape.
Compel: In a heated contest with the leader
of the berserkers, your sword is knocked from
your hand. If you accept the Compel the blade
flies over the edge, clanging loudly as it strikes
the frozen river below. GEAR
Ink-Black Darkness
Invoke: The cold veil of night shrouds your
MASTERY
approach through the city streets, granting
GAME
you a +2 on your Skill test to evade the police
lockdown.
Compel: While working your way through
the abandoned mansion, your flashlight
DEVIATIONS
only illuminates the barest hints of your
surroundings. If you accept the Compel, you
realize you’ve gotten lost.
CONTENTS
 Conflict and Consequences
The Basics of Conflict
No matter what sort of conflict you are
involved in, the basics of the system are
THE BASICS
essentially the same.
An attack test is a Major Action. The defender’s
defense test is a Reflex Action.
The Skills used to attack and defend depend
on the nature of the conflict. When making
CHARACTERS
an attack, you make an attack test using a
skill appropriate to the type of attack you are
making. The defender makes a defense test
using an appropriate Skill to defend with. The
defender’s Effort sets the Difficulty for the
attack test, and suffers an amount of stress
STRANDS
equal to the number of Shifts the attacker
generated.
Physical attacks generate stress. When the
character suffers stress, the player checks off
a number of stress boxes, left to right, equal to
GAMEPLAY
the amount of stress suffered.
So if the character suffers 1 point of stress,
the player checks one box. If they then suffer
2 more, they check off two more, for a total of
three.
PERKS
A character may elect to reduce the amount
of stress suffered by taking a Consequence.
If their Stress Track is ever filled up, the
character is Taken Out.
POWERS
When attacked in a physical conflict with a
weapon, on a hit the weapon’s Damage Rating
(DR) (pg. 75) is added to the amount of
stress inflicted. Similarly, if you are wearing
armor, the amount of stress suffered is
reduced by your armor’s Armor Rating (AR).
GEAR
An explosive’s Explosive Rating (ExR) is added
directly to the attack test rather than just to
the stress inflicted.
Before a conflict begins, the GM should follow
these simple steps:
MASTERY
GAME
1. Frame the Scene
Before the conflict begins, you will want to
give the players an accurate description of the
DEVIATIONS
surrounding area. You may call for Perception
checks if there are hidden NPCs, clues, or other
elements of the environment that may not be
immediately obvious.
74
CONTENTS
Describe the area using as many senses as you
can. Tell the players what they see and hear,
but also try to elaborate on smells and physical
sensations when possible. A warehouse is
going to smell like dust, and the air might be
cool and damp. Take a moment to mention it.
2. Reveal Aspects
Over the course of a conflict, elements in play
in the scene can affect how the conflict unfolds.
The GM should declare any immediately
obvious Aspects present in the scene, and
lays them out for the players. They might also
call for Perception rolls to notice more subtle
Aspects.
These Aspects can be Invoked or Compelled
by everyone present in the scene.
3. Determine Zones
After describing the area in detail, the GM
should explain how the area breaks down into
zones. Zones do not conform to any specific
size, but instead separate the environment into
its meaningful components. For an average
apartment, for example, the zones might be
the living room, the foyer, the dining room,
kitchen, hallway, and so on.
For complicated areas with many zones, it is
recommended that you draw out a zone map
for all the players to see.
See page 92 for more on the different types
of zones and how they work.
4. Begin Exchanges
Once initiative has been established,
characters may begin making attack and
defense tests as described in the next section.
Attack and Defense
Attacking and defending in a Conflict works
much like a Contest. Certain Skills are used to
make an attack test, and the target makes a
test to defend.
When making an attack, the Skill(s) used
depends on the type of attack made. Likewise,
the nature of the attack also determines which
Skill(s) can be used to defend. See the sidebar
on this page to determine which Skills are used
for each type of attack.
 Movement in a Conflict
Simple Attack and Defense
On your turn, you may move
Damien lunges at Jennifer with his broadsword. This is his
into a different zone using one of
attack. It is a Major Action, and a test using his Might. So he
the following options:
rolls 4dF and adds his Might.
Jennifer, not wanting to be stabbed through the chest with a Move – You move into an
adjacent zone. This is an Instant

THE BASICS
sword, tries to defend. This is a Reflex Action, and a test using
her Reflexes to parry Damien’s sword away with her spear. So Action, or a Major Action when
she rolls 4dF and adds her Reflexes. negotiating rough or hazardous
Damien scores 4 Effort. Jennifer scores 2 Effort. This means
terrain. If the transition between
Damien landed a solid slash with his sword.
zones is hampered, say requiring
you to climb a ladder, it may

CHARACTERS
Having succeeded with 2 Shifts, Damien adds his sword’s DR cause you to suffer additional
(which is 4), for a total of 6 points of damage. However, Jennifer penalties on any other actions
is wearing armor with an AR of 2, so she reduces the amount of you perform.
damage dealt from 6 to 4, and checks off 4 stress boxes.
Hustle – In addition to Moving
The Exchange on your turn, you may choose to
Hustle. When you Hustle, you may move one

An attack is a Major Action. Make your attack
test and total up all relevant modifiers to get
your total attack Effort.
Your target defends as a special Reflex Action.
They make their defense test, add modifiers,
STRANDS
additional zone. However, you suffer Disfavor
on all Skill tests in a Turn in which you hustle.
Run – Running works the same as Hustling,
but it is a Major Action. And instead of moving

GAMEPLAY
and total up their defense Effort. one additional zone, you move a total number
of zones equal to 1 + your Size rating, plus
Intent Attack Skill Defense Skill your Mobility rating. So, for example, a human
Touch Mobility Mobility (Size 0) with Mobility 3, could use their Major
Action to move a total of 4 zones.
Punch/Kick/Bite Might Reflexes
Note that some scene Aspects may also make
Melee Weapon Might Reflexes

PERKS
it more difficult to move through certain zones.
Ranged Weapon Precision Reflexes For example, a room filled with debris may
Poison/Disease Special Might have an Aspect of Debris-Filled, which when
used to Compel the character, may cause them
If the attacker’s Effort meets or exceeds the to stop or trip and fall.

POWERS
defender’s Effort, the attack hits, and deals an
amount of stress equal to the number of Shifts Distance & Range
generated (if any).
Distance and weapon ranges fall into one of
the following categories.
Damage, Armor and Explosive Ratings
If the attacker successfully hits with a weapon,
the defender suffers an amount of stress equal
Melee Your Zone (About 4 yds/m)
GEAR
Short 2 Zones Away (About 20 yds/m)
to the number of Shifts generated, plus the
Damage Rating (DR) of the attacker’s weapon. Medium 5 Zones Away (About 100 yds/m
If the defender is wearing armor that can help Long 20 Zones Away (About 500 yds/m)
MASTERY

defend against the attack, the amount of stress

GAME

Extreme 100 Zones Away (About 2500 yds/m)

suffered is reduced by their Armor Rating (AR).
When making an attack with explosives, a Attacks against targets outside of your
separate attack test is made against everyone weapon’s range suffer -2 penalty. For every
in the target zone(s). The attack test is made multiple of your weapon’s range beyond
DEVIATIONS

with Precision if the explosive is a thrown that, you suffer an additional, cumulative, -2
weapon, or Reasoning if it is a timed or penalty.
detonated weapon. The explosive’s ExR is
added as a bonus to the attack test.
Most forms of armor help reduce damage
from explosives.

75
CONTENTS
 Stress & Consequences Wounds
Every character has a Stress Track. Each Stress Attacks that cause you to check stress
Track consists of a number of stress boxes. To boxes represent the minor bumps, nicks, and
determine how many boxes a character has on scratches of battle. They might sting a bit, but
each of their Stress Tracks, see pg. 20. don’t hinder the character in a significant way.
However, sometimes conflicts will result in
THE BASICS

Whenever you are attacked lasting wounds—sprained ankles,

and suffer stress, you can choose broken arms, bullet holes, and so on.
to reduce the amount of stress Example These are Wound Consequences,
suffered by electing to take a
Consequence. W ounds and some examples can be found in
the accompanying sidebar.
A Consequence is a special type Mild
CHARACTERS

of Temporary Aspect. As such, it • Fatigued(m) Complications

can be Invoked exactly like a nor- • Dazed(m)
mal Aspect. Whereas Wounds represent
• Pulled Muscle(m) physical damage to your body,
There are two types of Conse- Complications represent damage
quences, Wounds and Compli- Moderate to your state of mind, relationships,
STRANDS

cations. Wounds reflect physical • Sprained Ankle
injury, while Complications repre- • Minor Laceration
sent mental trauma or some sort • Wrenched Back
of collateral damage.
Severe
GAMEPLAY
reputation, or the world around
you.
Whenever a PC suffers a stress, they
may elect to suffer a Complication

When you elect to suffer a Con- instead of a Wound. Like Wounds,

sequence, you may choose the • Broken Arm(M) Complications are rating as Mild,
type of Consequence you’re going • Severed Finger(M) Moderate, Severe and Extreme.
to take, and describe it. Howev- • Concussion(M)
er, you may only have one Mild, Like Wounds, you may not
Moderate or Severe Consequence Extreme suffer two of the same type of
of each type. • Broken Back(M) Complication. If you already have
PERKS

• Severed Arm(M) a Moderate Complication, you may

You may only have one Extreme not take another.
Consequence, regardless of • Ruptured Organ(M)
whether it is a Wound or Compli- The choice to take a Complication
cation. instead of a Wound should not be
made lightly. Complications can, and should,
POWERS

Remember: Like any other Aspect, a Conse- have a lasting impact on your life or the lives of
quence can be Invoked the first time for free. NPCs your character cares about.
Type of Consequence Stress Avoided Complications are informed by the narrative,
Minor(m) 2 and represent what’s left behind when the
Moderate 4 smoke clears. When the heart stops pounding,
GEAR

Severe(M) 6 and the last bullet casings ring off the floor,
Extreme(M) 8 what the characters are left to deal with are
the consequences of their actions.
The exact nature of each Complication
depends on two factors; its severity as
MASTERY
GAME

determined by the amount of stress it reduces,

and the context in which it was created.
When the player makes the choice to take a
Complication instead of a Wound, they get
DEVIATIONS

a chance to suggest what that Complication

should be. However, in some cases, some
negotiation with the GM may be required.
Complications should never be a way for a
character to get off easy, and the best ones
become fuel for new stories to come.

76
CONTENTS
 Mild – Mild Complications generally take the
form of new obstacles, or situations that are
relatively easy (if inconvenient) to resolve.
A Mild Complication might result in an
explosion or fire that you have to deal with
or avoid, the loss of valued personal property,
charges for a minor crime you didn’t commit
(or the discovery of proof that you did), etc.
Moderate & Severe – Moderate Complications
stick with you. They change relationships,
your reputation, and/or result in a string of
challenges you’ll need to deal with under less
than ideal circumstances. Some Moderate
Complications can be resolved quickly, but
failure to resolve them in time might result in
lives lost, be it your own, or others.
Examples of Moderate Complications
include gunfire that accidentally hits
innocent bystanders, or results in the rapid
decompression and loss of power in a space
station, the bursting of a dam that floods a
village, the freeing of a minor demon, etc.
Severe Complications are like Moderate ones,
but have an even more direct personal impact.
The innocent bystander is a friend’s husband,
the flooded village was your home, or the
demon vows to hunt you and/or your loved
ones.
Extreme - Extreme Complications change
your character, and/or the world around them,
in ways from which they may never recover.
These sorts of Complications represent the
loss of loved ones, destroyed relationships with
those you hold most dear, becoming exiled in
a dangerous land, becoming the target of a
nationwide manhunt, failing to save dozens or
hundreds of innocents and bearing the weight
of that guilt, etc.
Recovering From Stress & Wounds
All stress boxes, which represent fatigue,
minor cuts and scrapes, moments of panic,
embarrassment and so on, are automatically
cleared with a few minutes of rest and
reflection at the end of a conflict scene.
Consequences will recover as well, but take
more time. The flesh mends and people forget.
Wounds automatically heal and disappear
after a certain amount of time. But different
types of Wounds take longer to go away than
others. See the table below:
77
Wound Recovery Times
Wound Time Required
Mild(m) 1 hour
Moderate 1 day
Severe (M) 1 week
THE BASICS
Extreme(M) 1 month (Special)
At the end of the recovery time, the Wound
downgrades to the next lesser type. For
example, if you have a Severe Wound, after
one week it becomes a Moderate Wound.
CHARACTERS
The Wound should be reworded to something
more appropriate to its new type. For example,
a Severe Wound of Bullet Hole in Leg could
change to a Moderate Wound of Recovering
Bullet Wound.
If a Wound downgrades to a type you already
STRANDS
have, that Wound automatically downgrades
as well. For example, if you downgrade a
Severe Consequence to a Moderate Wound,
but you already have a Moderate Wound, your
Moderate Wound automatically downgrades
GAMEPLAY
to a Mild Wound, and so on.
Extreme Wounds
Unlike other Wounds, Extreme Wounds never
automatically downgrade. Instead, after the
PERKS
allotted time has passed, the Extreme Wounds
becomes an Aspect.
This new Aspect should be denoted with an
“(E)” after it. You may only ever have one of
these Aspects at a time. If you already have
POWERS
one, another cannot take its place until the
first is removed. In that case, an Extreme
Wound will never clear until the first Aspect
is removed and the new Wound can take its
place.
You may remove an Aspect gained from GEAR
suffering an Extreme Wound after achieving
two Milestones. Alternatively, at any time
you may elect to replace one of your existing
Aspects with it, making it a normal permanent
MASTERY
GAME
character Aspect.
Aspects of this type may be changed by magic
or advanced medical science, but it can’t be
removed. Instead, an Aspect of Severed Arm
DEVIATIONS
may become Post-Traumatic Stress or “This
Arm is Cheap Martian Crap”.
Science and magic can give you options, but
there is no such thing as a miracle cure-all.
CONTENTS
 Example of Taking Consequences
Echidna - Capitol City’s newest heroine - is in a bind. She’s been in a knock-down, drag-
out fight with the Legions of D.O.O.M., and she’s already taken Mild, Moderate, and Severe
Wounds for her trouble.
It’s been a long day, but it’s far from over.
THE BASICS

In the process of preventing some Legionaries from planting explosives in a parking garage,
she quickly finds herself overwhelmed by armed thugs. Echidna takes a hit that deals 2 stress,
but doesn’t have any physical stress left, and doesn’t want to take an Extreme Wound. So
she opts for a Mild Complication instead. The GM describes how she dodges the bullets -
CHARACTERS

which then proceed to ignite some of the explosives, taking a chunk of parking garage with
them. Echidna takes the Mild Complication Reckless Vigilante(m) as the public takes note of
the property damage in her scuffles.
On her way out of the debris, she’s greeted by a falling car, and another it that deals another
2 stress. She bites down and takes another Complication, a Moderate one this time. She
manages to deflect the falling vehicle with a burst of strength - which unfortunately, takes
STRANDS

out the side of a nearby building; the local courthouse. She takes the Moderate Complication
Part of the Problem, representing the mess she’s got to deal with now - in the eyes of local law
enforcement, she’s a problem that’s going to need addressing.
As if her day wasn’t going badly enough, a Legionnaire hurls a grenade at her - and gets a 5-shift
hit! It seems this can’t be helped - she takes a Severe Complication. With her superhuman
GAMEPLAY

agility, she manages to deflect the grenade - all the way to the exposed courthouse, where
Entropy - her rival, whom she’d recently managed to put away - is awaiting trial! Key evidence
is destroyed, and he manages to escape in the chaos. Because of course he does. Echidna
takes the Severe Complication “Really, I should thank you...”(M), which sends a shudder up her
spine. Her rival’s on the loose, and that spells long-term trouble.
PERKS

Echidna finally manages to put down the Legion, and quit the scene before too many awkward
questions are asked. But before she makes it back to her suburban home, she’s accosted in the
street by none other than her rival, Entropy! “Don’t be frightened,” he leers. “Really, I should
thank you...” (The GM, realizing what he just did there, slides a Fate Point to Echidna’s player,
as payment for the passive Compel.)
POWERS

An epic conflict ensues - but Echidna’s battered, and has disadvantage in this scene besides. It
can’t end well. As Entropy lands a devastating hit that delivers 6 stress, Echidna needs to either
take a Extreme Consequence - either a Wound or Complication - or she’ll be Taken Out. She’s
not willing to place herself at the mercy of her rival, so she absorbs the hit. And noting the type
of day she’s been having, she opts for the Complication.
Echidna’s supernatural reflexes allow her to dodge Entropy’s lunge, and she rolls off to the
GEAR

side. She then recoils in horror as he keeps going - and impales her younger brother! Her
player (who it should be noted, adores tragedies, and is eating this up) marks down the
Extreme Consequence A Death in the Family(M) - then stops, as that feels a little shy of the
mark. Instead, they write down “All I Could Do Was Watch”(M), which gets at the guilt and
MASTERY

shame inexorably tied up in this tragedy. Echidna swears to make Entropy pay, if it takes her
GAME

last breath to do it.

Given her luck, it very well might.
DEVIATIONS

78
CONTENTS
Recovery Facilities
Time in a hospital can help you recover from
some Wounds more quickly.
The chart below shows the amount of time
required to downgrade a Wound, and the Cost
associated.
Wound Time Required Cost
Mild(m) 5 minutes 3 of your character’s innocence. In a case like
Moderate 1 hour 4
Severe 1 day 5
Extreme(M) 1 week (Special) 6 reducing it to a die roll.
Emergency Aid
Characters with the proper Skills and access
to the necessary equipment can attempt to
speed up the recovery process.
Basic aid can remove a Mild Wound from
yourself or another character. To do this, the
person providing the aid must be able to spend
at least 10 minutes with the patient, have
some basic first aid gear, and succeed on a
Knowledge test (Diff: 2).
Recovering From Complications
More so than Wounds, recovering from,
sorting out, or overcoming Complications
very much depends on the nature of the
Complication and what your character can do
about it.
The exact amount of time required to remove
a Complication is up to the GM. But when
possible, if the character has been working to
repair the damage they’ve wrought, the GM
should allow them to attempt to downgrade a
Complication after some time has passed.
This requires a Skill test. The Skill required
depends on the nature of the Complication,
and how the player intends to deal with it. The
GM should feel free to grant Favor or impose
Disfavor if the PC is particularly adept or ham-
fisted in their efforts to make things right.
79
Complication Time Required
Mild(m)
Difficulty
1 scene to a few days 2
Moderate 1 week 3
Severe 1 month 4
Extreme(M) 1 year (Special) 5
At the GM’s discretion, a Skill test may not
THE BASICS
be required. Being accused of a crime, for
example, may be dealt with by obtaining proof
that, the GM is encouraged to make obtaining
that proof part of the campaign instead of
CHARACTERS
Extreme Complications: Upon achieving a
Milestone, the PC may elect to remove an
Extreme Complication by changing it into an
Aspect. This replaces or alters one of their
STRANDS
existing Aspects, and becomes a permanent
part of their character.
Taken Out
GAMEPLAY
If all your stress boxes become filled, you
are Taken Out. When you are Taken Out, the
person who defeated you gets to describe
what that means. They might describe it as
your character dying, becoming crippled, or
PERKS
however else they choose to remove you from
the conflict in a way that makes sense given
the method used to take you out.
The player being Taken Out gets the option
to cash in all their Fate Points (you must have
POWERS
at least 1) to force the person responsible for
taking them out to describe their defeat in a
different way. But, in any case, being Taken Out
should always result in your being removed
from the conflict and suffering some loss.
For example, instead of being shot in the head, GEAR
your enemy might hit a critical component of
your ship. This might result in an explosive
decompression that both destroys your ship
and sends you hurtling into space, left to float
MASTERY
helplessly in your vac-suit until you can be
GAME
rescued.
DEVIATIONS
CONTENTS
 The Art of War
The section below contains a summary
of many common combat options that a
character may employ.
This is certainly not an exhaustive list. Players
THE BASICS
may attempt anything, and the GM will need
to determine which rules to use to reflect the
player’s intentions. But this section should
offer several good examples.
Ambush/Sneak Attack – You attack a foe that
CHARACTERS
isn’t aware of you. Your target may not add
any Skills to their defense test. Armor still
helps reduce damage.
Attack (Major Action) – You swing a sword,
shoot a bow, or blast a foe with your shotgun.
STRANDS
As a Major Action, you make a Skill test with
the appropriate Skill (Might or Precision).
Your target defends (Reflex Action) with
appropriate Skill (usually Reflexes). If you
generate any Shifts, your target suffers an
GAMEPLAY
amount of stress equal to the number of
Shifts generated, plus an amount equal to
your weapon’s Damage Rating. The total
amount of stress suffered is reduced by the
target’s Armor Rating, if applicable.
PERKS
Attack from Above – You make an attack by
leaping off a high platform, letting the speed
of your fall and your bodyweight aid in the
attack. You are Favored on your attack test.
POWERS
Called Shot (Optional, pg. 205) – If you
generate Spin on your attack test, you may
spend a Fate Point to define the Wound your
foe suffers. If you Surge, you do not need to
spend the Fate Point.
GEAR
Charging Attack – If you attack after you Hustle
or Run, the added speed and momentum
results in Favor on your attack test.
Defend (Reflex) – When you are attacked, you
MASTERY
may make a Skill test (usually Reflexes), to
GAME
avoid suffering stress. If you generate any
Shifts, your foe misses.
Disarm (Major Action, Contest) – Target
DEVIATIONS
one of your foe’s weapons and Contest
your Might against your target’s Might or
Reflexes (their choice). If you succeed, your
foe suffers Disfavor on their next attack with
that weapon. If you succeed with Spin, you
make them drop the weapon. If you succeed
80
CONTENTS
with a Surge, you knock the weapon into an
adjacent zone of your choosing or (if the GM
allows) you break the weapon.
Full Defense (Major Action) – You forgo
attempting to harm your foe, and instead,
focus all of your attention of trying to keep
yourself alive. You are Favored on any
Defense tests until the start of the next
round.
Help Another (Major Action, pg. 86) –
When helping an ally, make a Skill test using
an appropriate Skill. The Difficulty is equal
to your ally’s Skill rating. If you succeed, you
grant them Favor on their Skill test. If you
get Spin, you grant Favor and an additional
+1. If you Stall, you instead inflict them with
Disfavor.
Hustle (Instant Action, pg. 75) – In
addition to Moving on your turn, you may
Hustle. When you Hustle, you may move
one additional zone. However, you suffer
Disfavor on all Skill tests in a Turn in which
you Hustle. See pg. 75 for more.
Knock Out (Maneuver) – If you generate
Spin on an attack that’s unarmed, or with a
blunt melee weapon, you may place the Out
Cold Aspect on your target. Your foe may
make a Might test, Difficulty 2, on its turn to
recover. If you Surge on the attack, the Out
Cold Aspect is a Major Aspect, the Difficulty
to remove it is 5 and the victim may only
attempt to recover every 5 minutes.
Menace Foe (Block, pg. 82, Major Action)
– You intimidate a foe into hesitating, or
fleeing from combat. Make an Sway Skill
test to set the Potency of your Block. Before
your foe can advance upon you, they must
overcome the Block with a Resolve Skill test
against a Difficulty equal to your Block’s
Potency.
Route Menaced Foe – If your foe Stalls on
an attempt to overcome your Block, they
gain the Afraid Aspect.
Move (Minor Action) – On your Turn, you may
move into an adjacent zone.
Overcome Obstacle (Major or Minor Action)
– There may be obstacles to overcome when
moving. Climbing a ladder, leaping over a
 barrier, picking your steps over a spiked
floor, etc. The Obstacles are represented
with Aspects, and can be overcome with
a Mobility test against a Difficulty of 2 or
5 depending on whether the Aspect is a
regular Aspect or Major Aspect.
Push/Pull/Throw (Major, pg. 89) – Contest
your Might + Size against your foe’s. If
you succeed, you may move them into an
adjacent zone. See pg. 89 for more.
Restrain (Block, pg. 82, Major Action) – You
grab your target, holding them to keep them
from moving or attacking. Make a Might test
to set your Block’s Potency. Before your foe
can move or attack, they must overcome
your Block by succeeding on a Might or
Mobility test against a Difficulty equal to
your Block’s Potency.
Bash Restrained Foe – If your foe Stalls
on an attempt to overcome your Block,
you may bash them against the ground,
a wall, etc. As a Reflex Action, you may
automatically inflict an amount of stress
equal to your Might Skill rating.
Run (Major Action pg. 75) – Instead of
Moving or Hustling, you may Run. When
you Run, you move a total number of zones
equal to 1 + your Size rating + your Mobility
rating.
81
Take Aim (Maneuver, Major Action) – Make
Perception (combined with Precision) test
(Diff: 2) to place the In My Sights(m) Aspect
on your would-be victim.
Take Cover (Maneuver, pg. 83) - There are
two types of cover: light cover and hard
THE BASICS
cover. Moving behind cover is an Instant
Action to perform a Maneuver that grants
the character the Aspect Behind Light Cover
or Behind Hard Cover (M). This Maneuver
usually does not require a test. Light cover
CHARACTERS
grants a regular Aspect. Hard cover grants a
Major Aspect.
Throw Sand/Dirt in Eyes (Maneuver) –
Contest your Guile or Precision against your
foe’s Reflexes. If you succeed, you can place
STRANDS
the Blinded Aspect on them. On their Turn,
they may make a Reasoning test, Difficulty
2, to recover and remove the Aspect. If you
succeed with Spin, the Aspect is a Major
Aspect, and the Difficulty to recover from it
GAMEPLAY
is 5.
Trip (Maneuver) – Contest your Might
or Mobility against your foe’s Might or
Reflexes. If you succeed, you can place the
Fallen Aspect on them. On their Turn, they
PERKS
may automatically stand as a Minor Action
instead of Moving.
POWERS
GEAR
MASTERY
GAME
DEVIATIONS
CONTENTS
 Special Rules
This section covers most of the things a
character may want to do that aren’t covered
in the earlier parts of this chapter.
In truth, no book will be able to cover every
THE BASICS
possible action a PC can take, but GMs who
need to come up with impromptu rules should
look to this chapter for inspiration.
Aiming
CHARACTERS
This is an example of a Maneuver (pg. 68)
that can be used to set up a careful shot using
a ranged weapon.
To do this you spend a Major Action watching
your target, and succeed on a Perception
combined with Precision test (Diff: 2) to place
STRANDS
In My Sights(m) on your would-be victim.
If successful, you may Invoke that Aspect
for free on your next turn. However, this
Temporary Aspect is very fragile, and the
GM may call for you to perform another test
GAMEPLAY
to replace it every few rounds if the target is
moving around a lot.
Also, the GM should consider imposing
Disfavor due to complicating factors such as
extreme distance, rain, fog, erratic movements,
shooting from an unstable position, and so on.
PERKS
Beam Weapons
POWERS
Beam Sweep
When using a beam weapon, such as most
laser weapons, you can hold down the trigger
and sweep a beam of energy across your
targets. This allows you to attack more than
GEAR
one target in a zone at a time.
Before the attack is made, determine the total
number of targets you are trying to hit. You will
then make an attack test against each target,
MASTERY
with a penalty equal to your total number of
GAME
targets.
So if you intend to attack 3 security drones
with a beam sweep, you’d make an attack
against each of them, each with a -3 penalty.
DEVIATIONS
When attacking a Unit (pg. 189) a beam
sweep simply adds a +4 bonus to the attack
test, and is resolved as an Area of Effect attack.
After the attack is resolved, your weapon
becomes overheated and you cannot use it
again this turn, or on your next turn.
82
CONTENTS
Overheat
You hold down the trigger on a target until
your weapon overheats. The weapon’s Damage
Rating is increased by +3 for this attack, but
you cannot use it again this turn, or on your
next turn.
Suppression Fire
Beam weapons may also be used to lay down
suppression fire. This is a Block Action (see
below).
Block Actions
When the character’s action is preventative—
trying to keep something from happening
rather than taking direct action to make
something happen—they can attempt to
perform a Block Action. They player declares
what their character is trying to prevent,
and what Skills they’re using to Block. They
then make Skill test, subject to any penalties
imposed by the GM. The result is the Block’s
Potency.
Later in the scene, every time another
character tries to perform the Blocked Action,
the character trying to get past the Block must
make a relevant test and compares their Effort
to the Block Potency.
If the attacker’s Effort meets or exceeds the
Block’s Potency, they successfully overcome
the Block. If it does not, they cannot perform
that action—they have been blocked.
Attempting to overcome a Block is usually a
Major Action. If you generate Spin on your test
to overcome the Block, you may do so as an
Instant Action.
Players may declare a Block against almost any
sort of action or actions, and may theoretically
use any Skills. However, the Blocked action
should be simple and clear, the GM may give
penalties based upon how hard the Block
would be to pull off or how much of a stretch
it would be. Players should never be able to
“cover all bases” with a Block.
Likewise, a variety of Skills may be appropriate
to getting past a Block.
For example, an assassin attempts to take the
life of a senator’s messenger that Reagan has
been contracted to protect. During an ambush,
the messenger is wounded. Reagan positions
himself over the messenger and tries to hold
off the attackers with a sword.
 During his turn, Reagan performs a Might test
to set up a Block. He rolls, setting the Block
Potency at 4, and positions himself between
the messenger and her attacker, focusing his
efforts on keeping her safe.
Thereafter, any attempt to attack the
messenger with a melee weapon requires the
assassin to first make a Mobility test (Diff: 4)
as a Major Action to overcome Reagan’s Block.
If the assassin fails, his Major Action is wasted
and he may try again on his next turn. If he
succeeds, the Block is overcome and he may
make a Melee attack against the messenger on
his next turn. And if he succeeds with Spin, he
can overcome the Block as an Instant Action
and attack the messenger as a Major Action in
the same turn.
Note that Blocks need not always be physical.
It’s entirely possible to attempt to Block
somebody from performing an action by
talking them out of it, distracting them, or
performing any other sort of action that could
hamper or stop them.
Stalling or Ignoring A Block
In some cases, such as suppression fire, it
may actually be possible to ignore a Block. But
doing so, or Stalling on an attempt to overcome
the Block, can be dangerous. Depending on
the nature of the Block, the GM may allow the
Blocker an Instant Action in response. In the
case of suppression fire, that Instant Action
would be a free attack.
Cover
A character may take cover behind objects
within the same zone as an Instant Action. This
is a good idea when you are about to come
under heavy enemy fire.
There are two types of cover: light cover and
hard cover.
Light cover represents being hidden behind
objects that may deflect incoming projectiles,
but not necessarily stop them. It may also
mean the character is behind hard cover, but
only a portion of their body is covered. This
includes hiding in or behind dense foliage,
furniture, alcoves in walls, concrete pillars,
and so on. Moving behind cover in your zone
is a Minor Action, and while the cover remains
between yourself and your attacker, attacks
against you suffer Disfavor.
83
Hard cover is something that will stop most
types of projectiles, like sand bags, reinforced
walls, and so on. When behind hard cover, you
gain the Aspect Behind Hard Cover(M). Since
this is a Major Aspect it automatically inflicts
Disfavor on attack tests against targets behind
THE BASICS
it. But like any Aspect, it may also be Invoked
for additional effects.
For example, if the GM allows, you may spend
a Fate Point to Invoke the Aspect granted by
your cover to Declare, “I can’t be hit behind
CHARACTERS
this.” In that case, you would be protected
from attacks as long as you stay behind cover
or until the attacking enemy moves to attack
you from a different location.
STRANDS
Diseases and Viruses
If a character comes into contact with a
dangerous disease, they can suffer Wounds
or Complications. The disease or virus should
have a rated Potency and a type: Airborne or
GAMEPLAY
Contact.
Upon contact, the disease or virus attacks
the character, adding its Potency to the attack
test (a simple dice roll, no Skill added). The
character defends with their Might.
PERKS
If the defending character loses, they become
a carrier. If the defending character is forced to
take a Consequence from the disease’s attack,
they become both a carrier and victim of the
disease.
POWERS
Regarding Potency, the common cold may
have a rating of 2 while some sort of super-
potent flesh eating plague could be rated at 10.
An infected character may be attacked
repeatedly, suffering additional attacks each
day until cured or killed. GEAR
The GM may rule that a disease can be
permanently overcome by generating Spin on a
defense test against these attacks. Time spent
in a medical facility may allow you to Invoke
MASTERY
GAME
the facility’s Aspect to aid in your recovery.
A character with an appropriate Aspect or
Perk may use their Knowledge to aid in the
healing process. They make this test against the
DEVIATIONS
Potency of the disease. Any Shifts generated
are added as a bonus when the victim must
next make a Defense test against the disease’s
or virus’ attack.
CONTENTS
 Falling
A character who falls from a great height
suffers an attack with a bonus determined by
the distance fallen. This attack is just a dice
roll plus a bonus (found below) based on the
distance fallen.
THE BASICS
Fire and Environmental Hazards
Fire, electricity, radiation, noxious fumes,
and other environmental hazards are rated by
their Intensity. When they appear, and at the
beginning of each round, they make an attack
against everyone in the affected zone adding

The character may defend against the “attack”
with Might combined with Mobility.
At heights slightly more than 300m the
character will reach terminal velocity. The
speed at which they fall will remain fairly
CHARACTERS
their Intensity rating as a bonus to the attack
test. So an attack made by an Intensity 3 Fire is
resolved as a simple dice roll + 3 since the fire
has no Skills to test.
This attack can be defended against with

constant after this height, so the damage from
impact isn’t going to increase if they fall from
a greater height.
Note that this assumes standard Earth
gravity. Adjustments may need to be made for
STRANDS
Might combined with Mobility, but most types
of armor are useless, depending on the hazard.
Fire Intensity works as the following chart
describes, which can also provide examples for
similar effects:

environments of greater or lower gravity. Intensity Description

Likewise, if the character’s descent is
0 The zone is on fire, but the fire
somehow slowed, such as by wearing a
can be avoided.
wingsuit, the GM should drastically reduce
the attack bonus used in the attack against the 3 Almost everything in the zone is
GAMEPLAY

character. Likewise, if the character is moving
faster than they normally would from a free
fall, the attack bonus might be increased.
Armor does not typically help reduce the
stress suffered from falling.
PERKS
on fire, and the heat is pressing
in on you in waves.
6 Everything in the zone is on fire,
and the flames lick up near you.
9 Inferno. The zone is essentially a

Height Attack Bonus massive furnace.

Up to 3m +2
Up to 6m +4 It’s also possible to be set on fire directly—
Up to 30m +8 such as when you are shot with a flamethrower
or doused in a flammable liquid and set alight.
Up to 150m +12
POWERS

In this case, you are considered to be in an

Up to 300m or more +18 Intensity 6 Fire.
While others do not have to worry about
taking stress when your character is on fire, it’s
very likely that the flames will spread. Every
Filch person, zone, or object that is on fire also has
GEAR

the Aspect On Fire!

You may use your Guile Skill to snatch items
carried or worn by other people, and deftly
move and/or pocket items left unattended.
MASTERY

When you try to pickpocket or lift something

GAME

unnoticed, make a Guile test. The difficulty

is equal to the highest Perception rating
possessed by anyone close enough to see what
you’re doing. If you succeed, you are able to
DEVIATIONS

pick the pocket or lift the object successfully.

Note that the GM may inflict Disfavor or other
penalties if the object you are trying to pick or
lift is especially large, heavy, secured, etc.

84
CONTENTS
Full-Auto Weapons
Burst Fire
You fire your fully automatic weapon in a short
burst of bullets. For this attack, the Damage
Rating of the weapon is increased by +3, but
you expend all the ammo in your magazine (1
ammo unit) and cannot use the weapon again
until you spend a Major Action reloading.
If the weapon has the High Capacity trait, you
may make a Reasoning test (Diff: 2) to avoid
running out of ammo.
Spray & Pray
You hold down the trigger and spray a zone
with bullets, just hoping to hit something.
Select the target zone and make an attack,
with Disfavor, against each target in the zone.
This is an “Area of Effect” attack, which have a
special effect on Units. See pg. 189 for special
rules for using Area of Effect attacks against
Units.
This attack expends your magazine (1 ammo
unit), and you cannot use the weapon again
until you spend a Major Action reloading.
If the weapon has the High Capacity trait, you
may make a Reasoning test (Diff: 3) to avoid
running out of ammo.
Suppression Fire
Full-auto weapons may also be used to lay
down suppression fire. See page 82 for
more on using the Block Action to lay down
suppression fire.
Full Defense
You may opt to do nothing but protect
yourself in a conflict.
By using a Major Action entirely to defend
yourself, you become Favored on all defense
tests until your next turn.
If you have not yet acted in the round at the
time when you are first attacked, you may
declare a Full Defense at that point, foregoing
your Major Action on your turn.
85
Hacking
Knowing how to use a computer is a
cornerstone of life in the modern day, and
even more so in campaigns set in the future.
In many sci-fi settings nearly everything is
controlled by a computer, from a personal
THE BASICS
time management app on a smart device to a
sophisticated artificial intelligence controlling
the functions of a vast interstellar warship.
Basic computer use does not usually require
a Skill test. In the modern day most younger
CHARACTERS
people should be able to use a computer,
find and launch apps, and search the Internet
without a Test unless they have an Aspect that
implies they don’t have any familiarity with
computers. But when characters attempt to
STRANDS
hack into a computer system, the GM should
assign the computer software a Security rating.
Here are some sample security ratings:
Security Type of System
GAMEPLAY
4 Household systems & alarms,
Basic handheld equipment
5 VIP Home’s systems & alarms,
factory equipment
6 Government systems & alarms,
PERKS
sensitive equipment
7 High security systems & alarms,
security services equipment
8 Military security systems &
POWERS
alarms, military equipment
Artificially (or virtually) intelligent targets,
such as robots or drones, automatically have a
security rating equal to their Resolve.
Hacking In GEAR
Attacking a computer system requires the
hacker to have some sort of connection to
the target system, and a method of input.
The hacker then performs a Knowledge Test,
MASTERY
GAME
adding any modifiers, as an attack against the
system. The target computer defends with its
Security rating.
As the computer suffers “Wounds”, the
DEVIATIONS
attacker gains progressively more control over
the target computer system.
However, if the defending computer ever
generates Spin on its Defense Test against
the attacker, the attacker’s efforts have been
noticed and they are locked out. Once locked
CONTENTS
 out, the hacker losses any control they had
over the system and must start from scratch.
A computer has a number of stress boxes
equal to its Security rating and will usually
be able to take up to three “Wounds”, which
are typically defined as; Mild: Limited Access,
THE BASICS
Moderate: System Access and Severe(M):
Admin Access.
Usually, the hacker can stop fighting the
system after the computer is forced to take a
Moderate Consequence, but not if they need
CHARACTERS
total system control.
Active Security
Computers protected by active security, such
as an administrator, expensive anti-intrusion
STRANDS
software, or artificial intelligence, are harder
to hack. The character (or AI) on the defensive
may protect the computer using Block actions
(see pg. 82 for more on Block Actions).
Failure to overcome the Block prevents the
GAMEPLAY
hacker from launching their attack.
The GM may allow the hacker to try again if
they change access points, computer systems,
intrusion software, or whatever else makes
sense.
PERKS
Help
Many hands make light work. If someone tries
to help you accomplish a task, they must make
POWERS
a test using a relevant Skill, with a Difficulty
equal to the primary character’s Skill rating.
For example, to aid a character using a rank 3
Skill, the Difficulty to provide help is 3.
Success grants the primary character Favor on
GEAR
their test, while generating Spin grants Favor
plus an additional +1!
Failure means you didn’t help. Stall means
you actually made things worse, causing the
primary character to suffer Disfavor.
MASTERY
GAME
DEVIATIONS
86
CONTENTS
Hiding, Shadowing & Camouflage
Hiding
When a character is hiding, they’re remaining
perfectly still and (hopefully) out of sight.
Aspects related to lighting, obstacles, and
other environmental factors can affect the
player’s test, which uses Mobility opposed by
a searcher’s Perception.
The smaller you are, the harder you are to
find, so characters who are hiding also gain a
modifier based on their Size.
Characters with a Size rating less than 0 add
their negative Size rating as a bonus. So a
character with Size -1 gains a +1 bonus.
Characters with a Size rating greater than
0 suffer their Size rating as a penalty. So a
character with a Size of 3 suffers a -3 penalty.
If someone is actively searching for a hidden
character, they are Favored on the test so
long as they have some reason to actually
be looking and are taking the time to do a
thorough search. When someone is searching
for you, assume that they’ll usually do logical
things like turn on lights, look behind boxes or
take other actions while searching that make it
more difficult to stay hidden.
For example, consider a character hiding in a
storeroom. If a guard opens the door, shines
a light in, and looks around, they and the
hidden character will engage in a Perception
vs. Mobility contest. If the guard flips on the
lights and starts methodically going through
the room, hiding is much, much more difficult
because they have both reason and time to
search.
The good news is that this sort of searching is
usually obvious, so when the guard flips on the
lights and starts looking, it’s the player’s cue
to act now.
Most of the bonuses and penalties in these
situations come from Aspects, either on the
scene or the characters. A dark room with
the Dark Aspect can be Invoked by the hiding
player for a bonus. On the other hand, the
moment the guard flips on the lights, that
Aspect is gone.
Shadowing
Shadowing is the art of moving while trying
to remain unnoticed. It uses many of the same
rules as Hiding. However, it is somewhat more
difficult for obvious reasons.
 When a character tries to move while
remaining unseen, anyone looking for them
gains a bonus to see them depending on how
fast they are moving: +2 for normal movement,
+4 for a Hustle, or +6 when Running. See pg
75 for more on movement.
Don’t forget the impact Aspects can have on
the situation, though. For example, a heavily
crowded street might have the Crowded(M)
Aspect, which would certainly help you
shadow a person on the move.
Characters may also attempt to creep. This is
a Maneuver that places the Creeping Aspect
on the character, which can be Invoked to aid
in moving stealthily. This Maneuver doesn’t
require a test to place the Aspect, but requires
a Major Action taken each turn to maintain it.
Camouflage
Reasoning (combined with Guile) can be
used to construct blinds and other hiding aids.
Perform a test (Diff: 2) and add any Shifts you
generate as a bonus on tests to hide while
camouflaged.
Constructing camouflage typically takes about
an hour.
Lock picking
Attempting to pick a lock is an Extended
Action (pg. 10) that uses Guile (Combined
with Precision) and requires that you have
some lock picks; or at least an improvised
substitute.
The Difficulty and Mark depend on the quality
of the lock.
A cheap pad lock has a Difficulty of 2, with a
Mark of 6.
A more expensive lock has a difficulty of 3,
with a Mark of 9.
A high-grade lock used by military or security
professionals would have a Difficulty of 4 and
a Mark of 12.
Improvised lock picks inflict Disfavor on the
attempt to pick the lock, while a lock picking
gun grants Favor (and destroys the lock).
Stalling while picking a lock results in broken
picks, or potentially a broken lock.
87
Out of Ammo, Overheating &
Reloading
You are not expected to track every round in
a clip, arrow in a quiver, or a weapon’s heat
levels. At the same time, running out of ammo
or overheating a weapon can sometimes be
THE BASICS
dramatically interesting, especially if you run
out just as a swarm of sentry drones comes
around the corner.
When a character makes an attack with
a ranged weapon, they may be firing one
CHARACTERS
projectile or several. The game mechanics of
the attack don’t change, but the description of
the attack might vary from round to round. You
can also generally assume that characters are
attempting to conserve their ammo and reload
STRANDS
as needed when the opportunity presents
itself.
However, should the GM choose, they can
have the player perform a Reasoning test to
see how well they have been paying attention
GAMEPLAY
to their ammo consumption or heat levels.
The Difficulty of this test is usually 2, but
the GM may inflict Disfavor if they feel the
character has been expending a significant
amount of ammo over a short period, or have
severely overheated their weapon.
PERKS
On a failed test, you must spend a Major
Action reloading before you can fire the
weapon again. If the weapon is a beam
weapon, or a weapon susceptible to jamming
or malfunctioning due to heat build-up, you
POWERS
must allow the weapon to cool until the end of
the next round before firing it again.
GEAR
MASTERY
GAME
DEVIATIONS
CONTENTS
 Persuasion
When attempting to convince someone to do
something, or believe something they typically
wouldn’t, the GM should first determine their
initial disposition.
Disposition: A character’s Disposition
THE BASICS
depends on what you are trying to persuade
them to do or believe, how deeply they hold
their current belief(s), or their motivations for
refusing to act at your request.
It is, for example, much easier to convince
CHARACTERS
your best fence, and sometimes informant, to
tell you who is arming the local gangs than it
is to convince a captured thug to give up the
name of their boss, knowing that their boss
will kill them for doing so.
STRANDS
When attempting to persuade someone, first
state what you are trying to get them to believe
or do. You then make a Skill test, usually with
Sway, against a Difficulty equal to the target’s
Resolve. The target’s current Disposition
GAMEPLAY
toward your request acts as another modifier.
So if their Disposition is -2, you’d suffer a -2
penalty.
The better you perform on your test, the
more the target’s Disposition increases.
Some sample Disposition ratings are listed
PERKS
below, sorted by the subject’s initial reaction to
being challenged on a topic, or consequences
for giving in to your request.
Disposition Ratings
POWERS
4 Obsessed / Desire to Serve
3 Infatuated / Desire to Please
2 Trusting / Desire to Help
1 Willing / Personal Amusement
0 Bored / Potentially Wasted Time
GEAR
-1 Slightly Annoyed / Minor Inconvenience
-2 Angry / Threat of Minor Punishment
-3 Enraged / Threat of Major Punishment
-4 Murderous / Threat of Death
MASTERY
GAME
DEVIATIONS
88
CONTENTS
-3 (or less (Stall!) - You say the worst possible
thing, or some variation of it. The character’s
Disposition rating decreases by 2, and the
character tries to break off the conversation.
Or, if their Disposition is already -3 or less,
they might become violent.
-1 or less - You’ve frustrated the subject.
Perhaps triggered a pet peeve, casually
dismissed something the subject holds dear,
or unintentionally insulted them.
The subject’s Disposition rating decreases
by 1.
0 - You’re saying enough to keep the other
person interested, but not much more. But
if they are already on the verge of giving in,
you might just win the debate or argument
through attrition.
If the subject’s Disposition rating is 2 or
less, it increases by 1.
If the subject’s Disposition rating is 3 or
more, nothing you said made any difference.
1 or more - You make some valid points,
propose a different but valid view of a
subject, or just turn up the charm.
The subject’s Disposition increases by 1.
3 or more (Spin!) - You’re a silver-tongued
devil, and know just what to say, and when
to say it. Or perhaps you just make a point
the subject can’t refute, turning their own
logic against them.
The subject’s Disposition increases by 2.
5 or more (Surge!!) – You say something that
seems to deeply appeal to the person you
are talking to. Maybe it hits on some inner
struggle they’d been having, or maybe it
reminded them of something a loved one
once told them. In any case, your target
finds themselves strongly swayed toward
your point of view.
The subject’s Disposition increases by 3.
Poisons and Drugs
Poisons and drugs both have two ratings:
Potency and Subtlety.
The Potency determines how hard it is to
resist using Might (see below). The Subtlety is
the Difficulty for any tests to detect or analyze
it, either to prevent exposure or to determine
the cause of someone’s sudden ailment.
Poisons and drugs also need to have a means
of application, such as food, gas, or injection.
Poisons
The first class of poisons is damaging poisons.
“Damaging” is used loosely here, as it may be
lethal, knock you out, or do any number of
other things.
Damaging poisons are often fast-acting, found
on the blades of enemies and tips of darts.
When such a poison is introduced to the body
it makes an attack, adding only its Potency (0
for a mild poison, 5 for something very potent)
rating to the attack test. No Skills are added.
The target may defend with Might.
This attack occurs at the start of your first
turn after exposure. It then repeats every
turn until the end of the scene, which it will
have run its course. The character can attempt
to stop the poison with medical treatment
(Knowledge, Diff: Potency + 2), or even
something as mundane as inducing vomiting
when appropriate. Most damaging poisons
stop if the player generates Spin on their
defense test.
Some damaging poisons are slow-acting and
kill over a much longer period of time, but
these types are often more appropriate in the
background rather than showing up directly in
play.
If you want to introduce a slower-acting
poison, rather than treating it as a standard
attack, make an attack test (adding Potency)
once per day. The victim may defend with their
Might. If the poison’s attack Effort generates
Spin, then the victim acquires a Consequence
relating to the poison’s physical symptoms.
Regardless of severity, these Consequences
cannot be recovered until after the poison is
cured.
89
The other class of poisons is special poisons.
These are poisons that violate the rules in some
way and tend to either leave a beloved NPC in
a coma until a very exotic cure is administered,
or might kill the person in a fixed period of
time.
THE BASICS
Drugs
Rather than damaging their target, drugs put
one or more additional Aspects directly on
them (as with a Maneuver). Their Potency sets
CHARACTERS
the Difficulty against which the subject tests
their Might.
If the subject wins, the symptoms are passing
and disappear at the end of the scene. If they
lose, though, they immediately gain an Aspect
based on the type of drug they’ve been exposed
STRANDS
to. The duration of the Aspect depends on the
drug and should be determined by the GM.
Push/Pull/Throw
GAMEPLAY
You can attempt to push, pull, or throw your
opponent out of the zone you currently occupy.
You and the defender engage in a contested
Might + Size test. If you succeed, the target
is pushed, thrown, or pulled into an adjacent
PERKS
zone of your choosing.
If you are larger than your target, you may
push or throw your victim even farther. The
target can be pushed or thrown a number
POWERS
of zones equal to the number of Shifts you
generate, to a maximum of the difference
between your Size and your victim’s. The
target also takes an equal amount of Physical
stress, which isn’t mitigated by armor.
When pushing or pulling, you may choose
to follow your opponent into the zone you GEAR
are pushing or pulling them into as an Instant
Action.
MASTERY
GAME
DEVIATIONS
CONTENTS
 Repairs Size Number
Given the right tools and Rating Sample Objects Weight Zones of People
enough time, Reasoning can -4 Bacterium .5g <1 <1
be used to repair damaged
gear. Repair is generally -3 Grasshopper 5g <1 <1
handled as an Extended -2 Baseball .5kg <1 <1
THE BASICS

Action, taking 4 hours per -1 Human Child 5kg <1 <1

test against a Difficulty equal
to half the Item’s Cost. The 0 Adult Human 50kg <1 1
GM may decide to increase 1 Large Motorcycle 500kg <1 4
or decrease these factors as
CHARACTERS

dictated by the campaign. 2 Elephant 5000kg 1 16

Some complex items, such 3 Tank 50,000kg 4 50
as vehicles, may have their
4 Large House half mil kg 16 250
own Stress Tracks. To repair
such an item, you must 5 Aircraft Carrier 5 mil kg 50 1000
remove its Consequences.
STRANDS

Removing Consequences 6 Space Station 50 mil kg 250 4000

from an item works exactly 7 City 500 mil kg 1000 16,000
like it does for a character
(pg. 79), except you must
perform a Reasoning test to repair the item’s Size and Weight
GAMEPLAY

damage. Living creatures and inanimate objects come

The amount of time required to repair a in all shapes and sizes. The table above can be
Consequence and the Difficulty of the test is used as a guide to assigning a Size category.
described below.
Lifting Things
Time
PERKS

Consequence Required Difficulty To determine a character’s lift capacity,

Mild 1 day 2 + Item’s Size multiply the weight associated with their Size
by their Might. For example, if a normal human
Moderate 1 week 3 + Item’s Size (Size 0) has a Might of 3, their lift capacity is
Severe 2 weeks 4 + Item’s Size 150 kg. This means they can lift and move 150
POWERS

Extreme 1 month 5 + Item’s Size kg without the need to perform a test.

The default Difficulty to lift an item that
If you fail to meet the required Difficulty, take weighs more than your lift capacity is equal to
note of the amount by which you failed. You your Might +2. To lift an item that weighs up to
have the option to make up the difference by double your lift capacity, the Difficulty of the
purchasing some replacement parts or hiring a Might test is equal to your Might +4.
GEAR

professional to complete the job. You may not lift more than double your lift
The Cost of the parts is equal to the amount by capacity.
which you failed the test to make the repairs.
For example, if you fail on your test and Carrying Things
MASTERY
GAME

miss the Difficulty by 4, you may make up the When a character carries something heavy,
difference by acquiring the necessary parts or heavier than half the character’s lift capacity,
labor at a Cost of 4. they suffer Disfavor on all tests related to
moving or overcoming obstacles.
DEVIATIONS

When carrying more weight than that, you

suffer Disfavor and gain the Major Aspect
Over-Encumbered(M).

90
CONTENTS
Surprise Attack Rating Time Increment
When you attack a foe that isn’t aware of you, 0 Instant
or of your hostile intent toward them, your
foe’s Reflexes and Mobility Sills are considered 1 A Round (Around 3 Seconds)
to be Rank 0. 2 A Scene (Around 5 Minutes)
Your target may still use their Armor Rating

THE BASICS
3 An Hour
to reduce the amount of stress suffered,
assuming it is the sort of attack armor would 4 A Day
normally help against. 5 A Week
6 A Month

CHARACTERS
Time 7 Three Months
When a character takes an action, it is 8 A Year
expected to take a certain amount of time, 9 Three Years
ranging from a few moments to a few days.
Sometimes characters need to take longer to 10 A Decade

STRANDS
do something or want to do something a little 11 Forever
faster.
When generating Spin on some tests, the GM Zero Gravity
may reduce the time required to perform the Zero-gravity environments have a Major
action by one increment.

GAMEPLAY
Aspect of Zero-G(M) which can be Invoked or
Compelled to affect all characters in the zone.

Vacuum
Exposure to vacuum is the same as any other
Hazard (pg. 84). It has an Intensity of 6, and

PERKS
can be defended against with Might.
Vacuum Suits (pg. 178) can allow you to
go for extended periods of time in a vacuum
safely.

POWERS
GEAR
MASTERY
GAME
DEVIATIONS

91
CONTENTS
 Zones
When setting the scene for a conflict, the
GM should thoroughly describe the area and
explain what and where the zones are.
For conflict scenes taking place in complex
environments, it can be very beneficial to
THE BASICS
Zones, Genre, and Physics
What kind of movement is normal in your
game? A lot of that has to do with the size of
your Zones. By default, Zones are assumed to
be around 10-20 square feet on average, which
keeps characters’ range of motion in-line with

most action films—cinematic, but believable.

show the players a map of the area with the
zones clearly labeled.
Characters in the same zone are in hand-to-
hand combat range. They can punch, grapple,
and stab with ease.
CHARACTERS
However, with a simple adjustment, you can
change the entire feel of your game.
Want the feel of gritty tactics with grounded
movement? Keep your Zones compact, no

more than 5-10 feet, and full of cover. Want

Characters in adjacent zones can make good
targets for thrown objects or short-range shots
from ranged weapons.
Characters five to ten zones apart are often at
the limit of effective weapon range—dozens to
STRANDS
to emulate wire-fu or anime, where two-story
backflips are an everyday occurrence? Make
big, open Zones; 50 feet or more.
Note: This doesn’t have to change the way
you represent your Zones—draw or model

hundreds of yards. them however you want—just the scale they

This is deliberately abstract and involves some represent.
bending of space. Maps made for a good fight How much distance someone can cover on
should be kept simple. their turn can set a certain tone for the action
GAMEPLAY

It’s a good idea to just lay a piece of paper (or a your characters take part in.
white board) down in the middle of the playing
area and then sketch the basic map. When a
few terrain elements have been drawn, it
should become obvious how to divide the map
into zones and apply scene Aspects.
PERKS

Avoid strictly laying out a grid unless the area

is relatively featureless, such as an open desert
or field of snow. The zone system works best
with non-orthogonal layouts. Zones should
not only represent loose distances but also
POWERS

represent the relationships between space and

ease of travel. Zones in wide-open spaces can
be big, for example, while zones in a spacecraft
or building can be much smaller: the individual
rooms, with their walls as boundaries. A long
straight corridor can reasonably be a single
GEAR

zone.

ZONE ASPECTS
Entry Hall Welcome Desk, Comfortable Chairs
MASTERY
GAME

Hall #1 Laser Motion Tracking System

Hall #2 (Door Locked) Stale Air and Silence, Nanoswarm Sensor System
Conference Room Faux-Oak Conference Table, Telecomm Hardware
Fab Lab Strewn with Memory Modules and Discarded Prototypes
DEVIATIONS

VR Lab Comfortable Recliners and Nutrient Feeds

Storage Scattered Containers
Security Station Security Desk, Alarm Panel
Stairs They go up!

92
CONTENTS
 93
CONTENTS
GAME GEAR POWERS PERKS GAMEPLAY STRANDS CHARACTERS THE BASICS
DEVIATIONS MASTERY
 Chapter 5
CHAPTER 2

Perks
THE BASICS

l Grounded Perks
Name Prerequisites Description Page #
Academic Knowledge 2 You are Favored on Skill tests related to math, science and history. 98
CHARACTERS

Carpe Diem None Once per scene, gain a FP when you Surge on a Skill test. 98
Linguist None Speak three additional languages. 98
Lip Reader Perception 2 You can “hear” what people are saying by reading their lips. 98
Occult Studies Knowledge 2 You are Favored on Skill tests related to knowledge about the occult. 99
Refreshed None Increase your Refresh Rating by 1. 99
STRANDS

Rich Resources 3 Increase your Resource Rating by 2. 99

Skilled* None Increase your Skill Ratings 99
Specialty Aspect None You gain a specialized Aspect, linked to a Skill, that can be Invoked 99
for free once per scene.
GAMEPLAY

Striking Looks None You are Favored on tests to persuade, deceive or manipulate people 99
who might find you attractive.
Tough as Nails* Might 3 or Res 3 You gain additional stress boxes. 99
PERKS

v Heroic Perks
Name Prerequisites Description Page #
Absolutely Stunning Sway 2 Gain the Absolutely Stunning Aspect and increase Resources by 1. 100
Acrobatic Exploit Mobility 3 You are Favored on Mobility Skill tests to perform Maneuver. 100
POWERS

Agenda Celebrity Networking 2 You are Favored to obtain goods and services from followers/ 100
supporters, and increase Resources by 1.
Agile Defense* Mobility 3 Gain +2 to defense tests when unarmored or lightly armored. 100
All-Seeing Eye Perc 2, Reas 2 You are Favored on tests to detect clues or hidden objects. 100
GEAR

Animal Ken Sway 2 You are Favored on tests to calm and command animals. 100
Armor Mastery* Might 3 Your armor has a stress track that you may divert stress to. 100
Artist Extraordinaire Reasoning 2 You gain a new Aspect related to your artistic talent, and increase 101
your Resources by 1.
MASTERY
GAME

Backstab* Guile 2, Prec2 Gain +2 bonus on surprise attacks, and increase the DR of small 101
weapons when backstabbing.
Burglar Guile 3 You may use Guile instead of Reasoning to pick locks, or disarm/ 101
bypass mechanical traps.
DEVIATIONS

Brute Strength Might 3 Increase the DR of your unarmed or melee weapon attacks, and 101
gain Favor on other actions aided by brute strength.
Combat Expertise Aspect Become Favored on certain types of attacks. 101
Combat Reload Reasoning 2 Reload a gun as an instant action once per scene. 101
Common Sense Reasoning 3 You are exceptionally good at reasoning out complex problems. 101

94
CONTENTS
Constant Vigilance Perception 2 You are especially good at avoiding being surprised. 102
Cover of Darkness Mobility 2, Guile 2 Aspects related to darkness are considered Major Aspects for you. 102
Cutting Words Guile 2, Sway 2 You are Favored on Maneuvers that shame, embarrass or distract 102
your foes.
Dead Inside Resolve 3 You are emotionally numb, and resistant to fear. 102

THE BASICS
Everyman/ Guile 2, may not You are Favored on tests to go unnoticed, and other suffer Disfavor 102
Everywoman have Absolutely when trying to remember you or things you did.
Stunning
Expert Archer Precision 3 Your bows and crossbows don’t have the Slow Firing Aspect. 102

CHARACTERS
Fame Resources 3, Sway 3 You gain a new Aspect that describes the nature of your Fame, and 102
your Resources is increased by 2.
Firing Discipline Reasoning 2 You are less likely to run out of ammo or overheat your weapons. 103
Fleet of Foot Mobility 3 Whenever you move, you may move one additional zone. 103
Freerunner Mobility 3 You gain a number of advantages when trying to traverse obstacles 103

STRANDS
and avoid attacks on the move.
Frenzied Assault Might 3 Once per scene you may make an additional melee attack as an 103
Instant Action.
Geek Speak Know 3, Academic You are Favored on tests to convince others of a scientific fact, or 103

GAMEPLAY
use science to cover lies.
Ground and Pound* Might 2 Foes suffer stress when Stalling on attempts to escape your holds. 103
Gun Slinger Precision 3 You deal additional stress and attack options when wielding a pistol 103
in each hand.
Improvised Assault Guile 2, Reas 2 You are especially adept at using items in your environment as 103

PERKS
improvised weapons.
Living Lie Detector Insight 3 or Perc 3 You are Favored on tests to detect lies. 104
Master Craftsman Reasoning 2 You are Favored on tests related to a specific field of crafting or 104
construction, or to buy tools or supplies.

POWERS
Master Engineer Reasoning 2 You are Favored on tests related to a specific field of design or 104
fabrication, or to buy tools or supplies.
Naturalist Reasoning 2 You are favored on skill tests related to surviving or hunting in the 104
wild.
Off the Grid Networking 2, People suffer Disfavor on Skill tests to track you using public or 104
Tech-Level 4+ government records. You are also Favored on tests to locate or GEAR
purchase illegal goods.
Over-Penetration Precision 3 You may fire through your target, and potentially hit another foe 104
behind them.
MASTERY

Promise of Pain Might 2 You may choose Might instead of Sway to intimidate others, and a 105
GAME

Favored when doing so.

Quick Release Mob 2, Prec 2 Once per scene you may make an attack with a bow as an Instant 105
Action. This may cost an ammo unit.
DEVIATIONS

Rapid Fire Mob 2, Prec2 Once per scene you may make an attack with a gun as an Instant 105
Action. This may cost an ammo unit.
See the Soul Insight 2 After spending a few moments with someone, you become Favored 105
on making Assessments about them.
Shield Ally Might 2, Mob 2 You may declare that an attack aimed at an ally targets you instead. 105

95
CONTENTS
 Sidestep* Mob 2, Refl 2 You may spend a Fate Point to reduce the amount of stress suffered 105
from an attack.
Slippery Combatant Mobility 3 If you generate Spin on a defense test, you may move into an 105
adjacent zone as a Reflex Action.
Sniper Shot* Precision 3 You deal bonus damage when firing a rifle or crossbow at targets 105
THE BASICS

you’ve placed the In My Sights Aspect on.

Student of the Art* At least 10 ranks in You deal additional damage when making unarmed attacks. 106
Physical Skills
Sweeping Blow Might 3 When generating Spin on an attack with a Heavy weapon, you may 106
make another attack against a nearby foe.
CHARACTERS

Taunt Guile 3 You are Favored on attempts to create Blocks by drawing attention 106
to yourself.
Tracker Perception 2 You are Favored on tests to follow someone, or discern facts about 106
the person you follow.
Unstoppable Might 2 Each Wound level absorbs 2 additional points of stress. 106
STRANDS

Web of Contacts Networking 2 You have a circle of contacts, and are Favored on Skill tests to collect 106
information from them.
GAMEPLAY

u Paragon Perks
Name Prerequisites Description Page #
Adaptive Identity Everyman/ You may sometimes use your Guile Skill in place of other Skills while 107
Everywoman or See in disguise
the Soul
PERKS

Banner of Hope Sway 3 You may grant an ally a chance to recover from stress. 107
Battering Ram Might 4, Brute Increase your weapon’s DR when you Hustle or Run before the 107
Strength attack
Body of Stone* Might 3, Resolve 3, You gain natural armor, become Favored on tests to resist drugs and 107
Unstoppable toxins, and only need half as much sleep as a normal person.
POWERS

Concentrated Fire Prec 2, Reas 2 You may spend a FP to ally an ally a bonus attack against a target 107
you share.
Crushing Blows* Might 3, Brute You can stagger foes with attack from a Heavy weapon. 107
Strength
GEAR

Genius at Work Know 4, Reas 2 Once per scene you can use Knowledge in place of any other Skill. 108
Great Fortitude* Might 3, Tough as When you suffer stress, you may elect to become Stunned(m) in 108
Nails exchange for reducing the amount of stress taken by 3.
Gut Feeling Reasoning 3 You can directly ask the GM for advice about something, which they 108
MASTERY

must provide.
GAME

Hollywood Bullets/ Precision 4 Whenever you would run out of ammo, you can spend a FP to 108
Quiver simply declare it didn’t happen.
Improvised Reasoning 3, Master You may improvise tools to grant bonuses on certain Skill tests. 108
Advantage* Engineer or Master
DEVIATIONS

Craftsman
Inspire Greatness Sway 3 You gain Inspiration Tokens, which can be given to allies to grant 109
them a +2 bonus on a Skill test.
Jack of All Trades* Common Sense You gain Jack Tokens, which can be spent to grant yourself a +1 109
bonus on any Skill tests.

96
CONTENTS
Lightning Initiative Reflexes 3 You are Favored on tests to break ties and interrupt. 109
Master of the Art* At least 12 ranks You may spend a FP to increase your unarmed attack’s DR 109
in Physical Skills,
Student of the Art
Narrative GM Permission You may use one additional Narrative Exploit per game session. 109

THE BASICS
Exploitation
Plot Armor* GM Permission You gain an Armor Rating when you aren’t wearing armor. 109
Poison Master* Reas 3 or Master You may create poisons that apply Aspects you your victims. 110
Craftsman (Poisons)

CHARACTERS
Shake it Off Might 3, Resolve 2 You may spend a FP and make a Might Skill test to clear stress. 110
Signature Weapon None You may select a special benefit you gain when wielding a specific 110
type of weapon
Shadow Walker Cover of Darkness Using shadows and concealment, you may move into an adjacent 110
zone as an Instant action.

STRANDS
Specialized Program* Reas 3 or Master You can create software that grants an Aspect related to a specific 110
Engineer (Software) task.
Titan’s Grasp Might 3, Brute You are Favored on attempts to Block a foe by restraining them, and 111
Strength you can deal bonus damage to restrained foes.
Thief’s Sight Perc 2, Burglar After performing an Assessment of a place, you may Invoke the 111

GAMEPLAY
Aspects you learn a number of times for free.
True Alchemist Reas or Know 3 or You can create alchemical substances that can convey certain 111
Master Craftsman Aspects.
(Alchemy)
Universal Lubricant Rich You may sometimes use your Resources in place of Sway or Guile on 111

PERKS
tests to obtain certain goods or services
Untouchable* Acrobatic Exploit, When wearing light armor, or no armor, you may spend a FP to gain 111
Agile Defense a bonus to defense tests.

POWERS
R Mythic Perks
Name Prerequisites Description Page #
Calculated Intuition Insight 4, Reas 4 You are Favored on attempts to make Assessments, and may 112
sometimes make a Skill test to make a Declaration.
Criminal Mastermind Guile 4, Sway 4, A You may spend a FP to select one of several benefits that come with 112
Specialty Aspect running a criminal empire. GEAR
Darkened Sky Prec 4, Expert Archer Once per scene, spend a FP to make an attack with a bow against 112
everyone in a zone
Giantbane Might 4 or Mob 4 You are especially adept at fighting very large creatures. 112
MASTERY
GAME

Hell Fire Precision 4, Combat Once per scene, spend a FP to make an attack with a full-auto or 113
Expertise (Firearms) beam weapon against everyone in a zone
Mythic Versatility None You may select two Heroic or lesser Perks 113
DEVIATIONS

Painless You gain Painless(Resolve) as a Specialty Aspect. 113

Red Wind Might 4, Combat Once per scene, spend a FP to make an unarmed attack, or an attack 113
Expertise with a melee weapon, against everyone in your zone.
Sight Beyond Light Perception 3 You can “see” with sound, and are Favored on any Perception tests 113
related to hearing.

97
CONTENTS
 Soulless Cover of Darkness Your ability to avoid notice borders on the supernatural. You gain a 113
or Everyman/ special Soulless Aspect.
Everywoman

Wealth Beyond Resource Rating 7 Increase your Resource, and you may assume you already own most 113
Measure things.
THE BASICS

] Legendary Perks
Name Prerequisites Description Page #
Celebrity Icon Sway 5, Fame Your Fame Aspect becomes Major, your Resources is increased by 1, 114
CHARACTERS

and you may spend a FP to select a benefit that come with being a
massive star.
Center of the Web Netw 5, Criminal Your Resources is increased by 2, and you may spend a FP to select 115
Mastermind a benefit that comes with running a global syndicate.
Child of Vulcan Reas 4, Know 4, You can craft items of a Tech-Level 1 higher than is the norm for the 115
STRANDS

Master Craftsman setting.

or Master Engineer
Perfect Recall Know or Reas 5 You never forget anything, and gain the Perfect Recall (M) Aspect. 115
Goliath Might 5 You are massive. Your Size rating is effectively increased by +1. 115
GAMEPLAY

Hyperkinetic Precision 5 You are Favored on all Precision skill tests. 115
Legendary Versatility None You may select two Paragon or lesser Perks. 115
You are Favored on all tests to make or defend against melee
Virtuoso of Violence Might 4, Reflexes 4 115
attacks.

* This Perks’ effects differ depending on your Power Level.

PERKS

Selecting Perks Grounded Perks

Perks are the special capabilities that set the
heroes apart from the masses.  Academic
Prerequisites: Knowledge 2
POWERS

Which types of Perks you are able to select

depends on your Character Power Level. And
unless otherwise specified, you may not select
a Perk with a Power Level greater than your
own, and you may not select the same Perk
more than once.
GEAR
You come from an academic background,
having spent a great deal of time studying
math, science, and history.
You are Favored on Skill tests related to math,
science, or history.

 Carpe Diem
Perk Evolution Once per scene, when you Surge on a Skill
Some Perks become more useful if the Power test, you gain a Fate Point.
Level of the character is higher than the
MASTERY
GAME

Power Level of the Perk. And if the character  Linguist

increases in Power Level over time, their You can speak three additional languages. You
Perk is automatically upgraded to the version may take this Perk multiple times, each time
associated with their new Power Level. gaining one additional language.
DEVIATIONS

For example, a Grounded character who

selects the Tough as Nails Perk gains 2
additional stress boxes. A Paragon character
who takes the same Perk gains 3 stress boxes,
while a Legendary character gains 4.
 Lip Reader
Prerequisites: Perception 2
You know how to read lips, and can “hear”
people talk just by watching their lips move. To
do so, make a Perception test (Diff: 2).

98
CONTENTS
 Occult Studies
Prerequisites: Knowledge 2
You grew up with, or have had extensive
exposure to, the world of the occult. Your
knowledge may come from oral tradition,
extensive study of musty old tomes, or personal
experience. In any case, you are familiar with
tales of monsters, magic and gods.
You are Favored on Skill tests related to
understanding or recalling information about
magic, religion, secret organizations, monsters,
and the like.
 Refreshed
Your Refresh Rating, and the maximum
number of Fate Points you may have, is
increased by +1.
You may take this Perk more than once, but
your Refresh Rating cannot exceed an amount
determined by your Power Level, as shown
below:
Power Level Maximum Refresh
Grounded 6
Heroic 7
Paragon 8
Mythic 9
Legendary 10
 Rich
Prerequisites: Resources 3
You have access to a large sum of cash, gold,
or otherwise liquid assets.
Your Resources rating is increased by 2.
 Skilled
You’ve spent a lot of time honing a particular
Skill, becoming better and better with time.
You increase the rank of two Skills, rated 2 or
less, by 1.
Heroic Skills: If you are of Heroic Power Level
when you take this Perk, you may increase the
rank of two Skills, rated less than 3, by 1; or
increase one Skill rated at 4 to 5.
Paragon Skills: If you are of Paragon Power
Level when you take this Perk, you may
increase the rank of two Skills, rated less than
4, by 1; or increase one Skill rated 4 or more by
1 (to a max of 6).
Mythic Skills: If you are of Mythic Power Level
when you take this Perk, you may increase the
rank of two Skills, rated less than 5, by 1; or
increase one Skill rated 5 or more by 1 (to a
max of 7).
99
Legendary Skills: If you are of Legendary
Power Level when you take this Perk, you may
increase the rank of two Skills, rated less than
6, by 1; or increase one Skill rated 6 or more by
1 (to a max of 8).
You may take this Perk more than once.
THE BASICS
 Specialty Aspect
Prerequisites: 2 or more ranks in linked Skill
You are especially good at some specific use
of a Skill, and gain a new Aspect that describes
CHARACTERS
this Specialty.
You may Invoke this Aspect like any other
Aspect.
In addition, your Specialty Aspect is linked to
a specific Skill, and once per scene you may
Invoke this Aspect for free on any relevant Skill
STRANDS
test with its associated Skill.
For example, if you had the Specialty Aspect
Honey Tongued Seductress (Sway), you could
Invoke it for free once per scene to help you
seduce someone.
GAMEPLAY
You may take this Perk up to a maximum
of three times, each time adding Specialty
Aspects to the same Skill or different Skills.
Examples of Specialty Aspects include:
Published “Biology: Life and Living Things”
PERKS
(Knowledge)
Survived Three Weeks Alone in the Amazon
(Reasoning)
Olympian Fencing Master (Might)
POWERS
Moderator on the “Web of Lies” Discussion
Board (Networking)
Coalition-Trained Sniper (Precision)
 Striking Looks
You are incredibly good looking, and are GEAR
Favored on tests to persuade, deceive or
otherwise manipulate people who might find
you attractive.
 Tough as Nails
MASTERY
GAME
Prerequisites: Might 3 or Resolve 3
You grit your teeth and bear it, fighting on
when others would fall.
Your stress track has 2 additional stress boxes.
DEVIATIONS
Paragon: Your stress track has 3 additional
stress boxes instead of 2.
Legendary: Your stress track has 4 additional
stress boxes instead of 2.
CONTENTS
 Heroic Perks
These Perks represent feats of strength,
extreme athletic prowess, or exceptional
physical attributes. They are the result of
intense training, natural talent, or exceptional
genetics.
THE BASICS
 Absolutely Stunning
Prerequisites: Sway 2
You are breathtakingly beautiful/handsome,
and those inclined to be attracted to you find
CHARACTERS
you very difficult to disappoint or ignore.
Of course, you also tend to stand out. Unless
you take measures to downplay your looks,
people will likely notice and remember you.
You gain the Absolutely Stunning Aspect, and
STRANDS
your Resources Rating is increased by +1.
 Acrobatic Exploit
Prerequisites: Mobility 3
You are an expert at positioning yourself
GAMEPLAY
just where you need to be; ducking, dodging,
spinning and flipping through the air to gain an
advantage.
You are Favored on Mobility Skill tests to
perform Maneuvers during combat.
PERKS
 Agenda Celebrity
Prerequisites: Networking 2
You are well known to those who share a
specific agenda. You might be a well-known
and outspoken representative of a political
POWERS
stance, a respected and revered clergyman, or
a highly regarded member of a noble house.
Whatever your agenda, you are Favored
whenever you attempt to obtain goods or
services from someone who supports your
GEAR
agenda.
In addition, your Resources Rating is increased
by 1.
 Agile Defense
MASTERY
GAME
Prerequisites: Mobility 3
When wearing light armor, or no armor,
you gain a +2 bonus on defense tests against
unarmed or melee attacks; or to avoid being
DEVIATIONS
touched by a foe.
Mythic: The bonus you receive on your
defense test is increased to +3.
100
CONTENTS
 All-Seeing Eye
Prerequisites: Perception 2+, Reasoning 2+
Perhaps you are a master of investigative
techniques; or maybe you just have an uncanny
eye for detail.
You are Favored on all Perception or Reasoning
tests to detect small clues or hidden objects.
 Animal Ken
Prerequisites: Sway 2
Animals are naturally inclined to like you.
Hostile animals tend to grow calm in your
presence, and you have a gift for training them.
You are Favored on tests required to calm
animals, issue commands to them, and get
them to obey.
 Armor Mastery
Prerequisites: Might 3
When wearing medium or heavy armor, your
armor has its own stress track. This stress track
has a number of stress boxes equal to your
armor’s Armor Rating.
When you suffer stress from a physical attack,
such as from a sword or gun, you may elect to
record that stress on your armor’s stress track
instead of your own.
Your armor’s stress track is automatically
cleared with a few minutes of basic armor
maintenance.
If you armor’s stress track completely fills
up, it gains the Damaged Armor Aspect until
it is repaired. Repairing armor requires the
necessary tools, one hour per point of AR the
armor provides, and a successful Reasoning
Skill test (Diff: 2).
Paragon: The number of stress boxes on your
armor’s stress track is equal to it’s AR +1.
Mythic: The number of stress boxes on your
armor’s stress track is equal to it’s AR +2.
Legendary: The number of stress boxes on
your armor’s stress track is equal to it’s AR +3.
 Artist Extraordinaire
Prerequisites: Reasoning 2
You are exceptionally talented in a specific
artistic field, be it painting, sculpting, music, or
some other form of creative expression
You gain a new Aspect that relates to the
 Combat Expertise
Prerequisites: See Below, An Aspect that
implies past combat training, such as a martial
arts master as a mentor or military experience.
You have received extensive training in a
certain type of combat.

THE BASICS
mastery of your artistic talent. Examples Select one of the following categories of
include: combat training:
Noted Southern Surrealist Painter Category Prerequisite
Renown Sculptor of Marble Nudes
Natural Weapons (Claws/Bite) Might 3+
Famed Author of the Red Knight Trilogy

CHARACTERS
In addition, your Resources Rating is increased Unarmed Might or
by 1. Mobility 3+
You may take this Perk up to two times. Each Small Melee Weapons Precision or
time you do, you may select a new artistic field Mobility 3+
and increase your Resources by another +1. Large Melee Weapons Might 3+

STRANDS
 Backstab Huge Melee Weapons Might 4+
Prerequisites: Guile 2, Precision 2 Bows and Crossbows Precision 3+
You gain a +2 bonus on your attack test when Firearms Precision 3+
making melee Surprise Attacks (pg. 12).

In addition, if the weapon used to Backstab
is a weapon with the Small Aspect, the DR of
your weapon is increased by +3.
Paragon: Your attack bonus is increased to +4.
Mythic: Your attack bonus is increased to +5.
GAMEPLAY
You are Favored on all attack tests that
correspond to your chosen category of training.
You may take this Perk multiple times, each
time selecting a different category.
 Combat Reload

PERKS
Legendary: Your attack bonus is increased to
+6. Prerequisites: Reasoning 2
You are intimately familiar with your firearms,
 Burglar and reloading them is second nature to you.
Prerequisites: Guile 3 Once per scene you can reload a gun as an

POWERS
A shady past and a clever mind are a good Instant Action.
substitute for mechanical inclination. You may elect to use this Perk more than once
You may use your Guile Skill instead of per scene, but each use after the first costs a
Reasoning to pick locks and disarm, or bypass, Fate Point.
mechanical traps.
 Common Sense
 Brute Strength Prerequisites: Reasoning 3 GEAR
Prerequisites: Might 3 You’ve learned a lot over the years, and it’s
You are strong, really strong. the kind of wisdom you don’t generally find in
books.
You are a mountain of muscle that can bash
MASTERY

through, or throw things aside, with ease. Once per scene you may use Reasoning in
GAME

place of Knowledge when called upon to

You gain a +1 bonus to your Damage Rating make a Knowledge Skill test. And you become
when attacking unarmed or with a melee Favored on this test.
weapon.
You are also Favored on any attempts to
DEVIATIONS

perform a Maneuver, or overcome an obstacle,

when your method for doing so is heavily
dependent on your ability to apply brute force;
as well as on any Skill tests to Push, Pull or
Throw your foes (pg. 89).

101
CONTENTS
  Constant Vigilance
Prerequisites: Perception 2
You are always on the lookout for trouble,
scanning dark corners, checking reflections,
and otherwise constantly paying attention to
your surroundings.
THE BASICS
You are Favored on tests to avoid being
surprised (pg. 12).
In addition, if you are attacked while unaware
of your attacker, you may spend a Fate Point to
defend yourself normally.
CHARACTERS
 Cover of Darkness
Prerequisites: Mobility 2, Guile 2
You are at home in the shadows, and know
how to use tricks of light and darkness to keep
STRANDS
yourself hidden.
Aspects that relates to dim light or darkness
are always considered Major Aspects for you.
 Cutting Words
GAMEPLAY
Prerequisites: Guile 2, Sway 2
Your remarks and retorts can cut like a razor.
You are Favored on tests to perform
Maneuvers to shame, embarrass or distract
your foes.
PERKS
 Dead Inside
Prerequisites: Resolve 3
Your mind has grown numb to the horrors
you have endured. Despite terrible emotional
trauma, you are able to hold it together, keep
POWERS
cool, and press on.
You are Favored when resisting any attempt
to place any Aspect relating to fear, sadness,
anger or other extreme emotions on you.
If you are using the Sanity Deviation (pg.
GEAR
207), you are Favored on tests to defend
against mental attacks.
MASTERY
GAME
DEVIATIONS
102
CONTENTS
 Everyman/Everywoman
Prerequisites: Guile 2, May not have Striking
Looks or Absolutely Stunning
You are notable in that you aren’t notable.
You are, in fact, exceptionally unremarkable.
Whether it’s because of your looks, your
mannerisms, or a combination of the two;
people tend to ignore you. They just look over
you, assuming you aren’t a threat, no one of
importance, and belong where you are.
You are Favored on any tests to go unnoticed
by blending into a crowd, or disguising yourself
to appear to belong where you shouldn’t be.
In addition, people suffer Disfavor on attempts
to recall you being at a certain place, or what
you were doing.
 Expert Archer
Prerequisites: Precision 3
Whether for hunting or killing on the
battlefield, you put in long hours training to
quickly aim and fire a bow or crossbow.
When attacking with such a weapon, the
weapon does not have the Slow Firing Aspect.
If the weapon normally has Slow Firing(M),
the Aspect becomes a standard Aspect instead
of a Major one.
 Fame
Prerequisites: Resources 3, Sway 3
You are famous for something. You might host
a well-known show, be a popular designer, a
celebrated politician, or otherwise.
When you select this Perk, you gain a new
Character Aspect that describes the nature
of your Fame. This new Aspect is in addition
to your normal allotment of Aspects, and
(for better or worse) functions like any other
Aspect.
Examples include:
Lord Duvhall, the White Knight of Ghallia
Self-Made Social Media Sensation
Champion of the 3rd Annual Lunar Games
In addition, your Resources Rating is increased
by 2.
 Firing Discipline
Prerequisites: Reasoning 2
You are especially adept at managing your
weapon’s ammo or heat, and know how to
keep cool and avoid wasteful firing.
When you use Beam (pg. 82) or Full-Auto
(pg. 85) special attacks, you may make a
Reasoning test to avoid running out of ammo
or overheating your weapon.
The Difficulty is 2 for Overheat or Burst Fire,
or 3 for Beam Sweep or Spray and Pray.
If your weapon has the High Capacity trait,
you are Favored on tests to avoid running out
of ammo or overheating.
 Fleet of Foot
Prerequisites: Mobility 3
You are incredibly fast, able to sprint at high
speeds and turn on a dime.
Each time you Move, Hustle, or Run; you may
move one additional zone.
 Freerunner
Prerequisites: Mobility 3
You are especially good at navigating
your environment on the run; using your
momentum to leap, roll, vault, bounce, or slide
under obstacles while maintaining your speed.
You gain the following benefits:
• You do not suffer Disfavor on other
actions you take in a turn in which you
Hustle.
• You are Favored on actions to overcome
obstacles while running, so long as it is
possible to leap over, dodge past, or roll
under the obstacle in question.
• If you Hustle or Run on the turn before,
or in the same turn, in which you fall
(pg. 84), you are Favored on your
defense to avoid suffering stress.
Frenzied Assault
 
Prerequisites: Might 3
You attack with unstoppable power and
ferocity.
Once per scene you may make an unarmed or
melee attack as an Instant Action.
103
 Geek Speak
Prerequisites: Knowledge 3, Academic
You are really good at seeding a conversation
with just enough pseudo-science or techno-
babble to baffle, confuse, and deceive others.
You are Favored on tests to impress others
THE BASICS
with your mental acumen, or convince
someone of a scientific “fact” (whether it is
actually true or not).
 Ground and Pound
CHARACTERS
Prerequisites: Might 2
You are a student of a fighting style that
specializes in dragging opponents to the
ground and beating them, or twisting them,
into submission.
STRANDS
When your foe Stalls on their attempt to
overcome a Block (pg. 82) you’ve put in
place to restrain them, they suffer 2 additional
points of stress.
Paragon: The amount of additional stress
GAMEPLAY
your foe suffers is increased to 3.
Mythic: The amount of additional stress your
foe suffers is increased to 4.
Legendary: The amount of additional stress
your foe suffers is increased to 5.
PERKS
 Gun Slinger
Prerequisites: Precision 3
You have trained extensively to fight with a
handgun in each hand, unleashing a hail of
bullets at your foes.
POWERS
When making an Attack with a handgun in
each hand, resolve the attack as if you had
attacked with only one gun, but you gain a +2
bonus to the attack’s Damage Rating.
You may also use the Burst Fire (pg. 85)
special attack (the +3 to DR stacks with the GEAR
+2 already provided by this Perk), but suffer
Disfavor on the test to see if you’ve ran out of
ammo.
MASTERY
Improvised Assault
GAME
Prerequisites: Guile 2, Reasoning 2
Almost anything is a deadly weapon in your
hands. Once per scene you may turn some
item in your environment into a weapon (DR:
DEVIATIONS
2).
By spending a Fate Point, you may choose to
either use this Perk more than once per scene,
or to increase the DR of your improvised
weapon to 4.
CONTENTS
  Living Lie Detector
Prerequisites: Insight 3 or Perception 3
You know what physical quirks to look for
when someone tells a lie, and you are good at
spotting them.
You are Favored on tests to detect lies.
THE BASICS
 Master Craftsman
Prerequisites: Reasoning 2
You are good with your hands, and have a firm
understanding of certain fields of construction
CHARACTERS
or maintenance.
Select one of the following fields: Alchemy,
Carpentry, Masonry, Blacksmithing, Farming,
Leatherworking, Medicines or Poisons.
When called upon to make a Knowledge or
STRANDS
Reasoning Skill test, if the subject matter falls
into your area of specialty, you are Favored.
You are also Favored on Resource tests to pur-
chase tools, or finished works, related to your
specialty. You know how to get the best deal,
GAMEPLAY
and can make at least some of the components
yourself.
You may take this Perk more than once. Each
time you do so, you may select a new specialty.
 Master Engineer
PERKS
Prerequisites: Reasoning 2
You are exceptionally talented in a specific
field of design and fabrication.
Select one of the following fields of engi-
neering: Electrical, Mechanical, Demolitions,
POWERS
Software, Robotics, Aeronautics/Spacecraft, or
Automotive.
When called upon to make a Knowledge or
Reasoning Skill test, if the subject matter falls
into your area of engineering expertise, you
GEAR
are Favored.
You are also Favored on Resource tests to pur-
chase a tool, or finished work, related to your
specialty. You know how to get the best deal,
and can design at least some of the compo-
MASTERY
nents yourself.
GAME
You may take this Perk more than once. Each
time you do so, you may select a new specialty.
DEVIATIONS
104
CONTENTS
 Naturalist
Prerequisites: Reasoning 2
You have spent a good portion of your life
learning to survive in the hostile wilderness.
As such, you are Favored on Skill tests to
identify, track, evade, hunt, and trap natural
wildlife. You are also Favored on Skill tests to
locate and identify natural vegetation.
In addition, you are Favored on Skill tests to
find or build shelter in the wilderness, craft
simple tools from the environment, or prepare
food scavenged from plants and animals
you’ve collected or killed.
 Off the Grid
Prerequisites: Networking 2, Tech-Level 4
You are nobody. Little record of your life
exists. You do not show on most government
records. You have no fingerprints or DNA on
file anywhere. You don’t have a social security
number, nor can anyone find your medical
records or a credit rating for you.
When you take this Perk, it is assumed you
have managed to find a way to make it in this
world without being tracked, and that you
spend a portion of your down time working to
keep your tracks covered. You may need to talk
the specifics over with your GM.
People suffer Disfavor of Skill tests made
when attempting to use government records,
surveillance and even social networking to find
you or learn details about your background.
In addition, you’ve survived using off-the-
books vendors, smugglers and other nefarious
sources. As such, you are Favored on tests to
locate and purchase rare, illegal or restricted
items.
 Over Penetration
Prerequisites: Precision 3
Your high-velocity bullets, arrows or bolts fly
right through your foe, striking another target
behind them.
When you Surge on an attack test with a rifle,
bow or crossbow, you may immediately make
another attack, as an Instant Action, against
another foe in the same zone as your original
target.
 Promise of Pain
Prerequisites: Might 2
You give off an aura of danger. Maybe you’re
just a huge bear of a person, or perhaps you
move with a predatory grace that makes
others think twice.
In any case, you are Favored on Skill tests to
intimidate others, and may use your Might Skill
instead of Sway to do so.
 Quick Release
Prerequisites: Mobility 2, Precision 2
You can knock, aim and fire an arrow with
blinding speed.
Once per scene you may make an attack with
your bow (but not a crossbow) as an Instant
Action.
If you succeed at dealing any stress with either
of these attacks, you automatically expend a
unit of ammo. See pg. 172 for more on ammo
expenditure.
 Rapid Fire
Prerequisites: Precision 2, Reflexes 2
You fire off a succession of accurate and lethal
rounds from your firearm.
Once per scene you may make an attack with
your firearm as an Instant Action.
If you succeed at dealing any stress with either
of these attacks, you automatically expend a
unit of ammo. See pg. 172 for more on ammo
expenditure.
You may not use this Perk with firearms that
have the Slow Firing(M) Aspect.
 See the Soul
Prerequisites: Insight 2
You are exceptionally good at reading people,
and are able to piece together the most subtle
of clues to create an accurate assessment of a
person.
After spending just a few minutes observing
someone, you are Favored tests to make
Assessments (pg. 70) about them.
105
 Shield Ally
Prerequisites: Might 2, Mobility 2
You leap to your ally’s aid, placing yourself
between them and harm.
Once per scene you may, as an Instant Action,
declare that an attack aimed at an ally within
THE BASICS
the same zone, is instead aimed at you.
You may use this Perk more than once per
scene, but each time after the first requires the
expenditure of a Fate Point.
CHARACTERS
 Sidestep
Prerequisites: Mobility 2, Reflexes 2
You’re quick to respond to an attack, slipping
out of the way just in time.
Once per scene you may elect to reduce the
STRANDS
amount of stress suffered from a physical
attack by 3.
You may use this Perk more than once per
scene, but each time after the first requires the
expenditure of a Fate Point.
GAMEPLAY
Paragon: The amount of stress reduced is
increased to 4.
Mythic: The amount of stress reduced is
increased to 5.
Legendary: The amount of stress reduced is
increased to 6.
PERKS
 Slippery Combatant
Prerequisites: Mobility 3
Whenever you are attacked, if you generate
Spin on your test to defend, you may
POWERS
immediately, as a Reflex Action, move into an
adjacent zone of your choosing.
 Sniper Shot
Prerequisites: Precision 3
You are highly proficient with rifles or GEAR
crossbows (choose which when you take this
Perk), and have trained extensively to eliminate
targets at long range with a single shot.
When firing your chosen weapon at a target
MASTERY
GAME
upon which you have placed the In My Sights
Aspect (pg. 82), your weapon’s Damage
Rating is increased by 2.
Paragon: Your weapon’s DR is increased by
+3.
DEVIATIONS
Mythic: Your weapon’s DR is increased by +4.
Legendary: Your weapon’s DR is increased by
+5.
CONTENTS
  Student of the Art
Prerequisites: The total of all your Physical
Skill ratings must be 10 or higher.
You have received extensive training in one
or more style of martial arts, and you have
learned how to deliver truly lethal blows to
THE BASICS
 Tracker
Prerequisites: Perception 2
When it comes to tracking a person or
creature on foot, you know what signs to look
for, and have a good sense about where to find
them.

your enemies. You are Favored on tests to follow or discern

Your unarmed attacks have a Damage Rating facts about a person, or group of people, you
equal to your setting’s Tech-Level. are following.
Paragon: Your unarmed attack’s DR is
increased by +1.  Unstoppable
CHARACTERS

Mythic: Your unarmed attack’s DR is increased Prerequisites: Might 2

by +2. You’re big, tough, and built like a rock. You
Legendary: Your unarmed attack’s DR is take the hits and just keep on going.
increased by +3. When you elect to suffer a Wound to reduce
the amount of stress you take from an attack,
 Sweeping Blow
STRANDS

the amount of stress absorbed by your Wound

Prerequisites: Might 3 is increased by two additional points.
Once per scene, when attacking with a Heavy For example, a Minor Wound would absorb 4
weapon, you may perform an arcing blow stress instead of 2. A Moderate Wound would
aimed at multiple foes. absorb 6 instead of 4, and so on.
GAMEPLAY

When you generate Spin on an attack test,

you may immediately make another attack, as
an Instant Action, against another foe in the
same zone.
You may use this Perk more than once per
scene, but each time after the first requires the
PERKS
 Web of Contacts
Prerequisites: Networking 2
You know people. And you know people who
know people. You are tapped into some ring
of individuals who are themselves tapped

expenditure of a Fate Point. into some cross-section of society. It may be

Mythic: If you generate Spin on your second the local gangs, an underground society of
target, you may attack a third. monster hunters, or international weapons
dealers.
 Taunt When you select this Perk, describe the
POWERS

Prerequisites: Guile 3 nature of your circle of contacts.

You’re an expert at getting under people’s
skin, knowing just what to say or do to keep
their attention focused on you.
You are Favored on tests to create Blocks (pg.
GEAR
As long as you can communicate with your
contacts, you are Favored on any attempt to
collect information regarding people or topics
of interest to your web of contacts.
You may take this Perk more than once, each

82) by drawing attention

to yourself. time selecting a new web of contacts.
MASTERY
GAME
DEVIATIONS

106
CONTENTS
Paragon Perks
 Adaptive Identity
Prerequisites: Everyman/Everywoman or See
the Soul
You are a master of disguise, studying your
subject and gaining enough experience with
the relevant subject matter(s) to pass yourself
off to even discerning observers.
Once per scene you may use your Guile Skill in
place of another Skill that one would assume
someone in your guise would possess.
For example, while disguised as a scientist,
you could use Guile instead of Knowledge
when attempting to convince a chemist that
their brilliant hypothesis is actually wrong.
You may utilize this Perk only when being
actively observed by someone who believes
your false identity.
 Banner of Hope
Prerequisites: Sway 3
Your presence on the battlefield inspires
others to fight on when they might otherwise
give up.
Once per scene, as an Instant Action, you may
grant an ally who can see you, or hear you
speak, a chance to recover from stress.
To do this, choose an ally and make a Sway
test against a Difficulty of 0. If you succeed,
your chosen ally immediately clears an amount
of stress equal to the number of Shifts you
generate.
You may elect to use this Perk more than once
per scene, but each use after the first costs a
Fate Point.
 Battering Ram
Prerequisites: Might 4, Brute Strength
You crash into your foes like a meteor,
combining your unstoppable might and
terrible speed into a devastating charge.
When you Hustle or Run before you Attack,
as long as you’ve got at least 20ft to gain
momentum, your unarmed or weapon’s
Damage Rating is increased by 2.
In addition, if you generate Spin on your
attack, you can push your target into the
adjacent zone, in your direction of travel. You
may choose to stop in the zone your target
occupied, or follow them into the zone you
pushed them into.
107
 Body of stone
Prerequisites: Might 3, Resolve 3,
Unstoppable
Your muscles are hard as iron, and your
metabolism runs at peak efficiency.
Your Armor Rating is increased by +2. In
THE BASICS
addition, you are Favored on all Skill tests to
resist poison, drugs or disease.
You also only need 4 hours of sleep each night
to perform effectively the next day.
Mythic: Your AR bonus is increased to +3.
CHARACTERS
Legendary: Your AR bonus is increased to +4.
 Concentrated Fire
Prerequisites: Precision 2, Reasoning 2
You are able to sync up your ranged attack
STRANDS
with an ally for maximum effect. When you
make a ranged attack with a bow, crossbow
or firearm, you may spend a Fate Point to
allow an ally that can hear you speak to make
an attack with their own ranged weapon as a
GAMEPLAY
Reflex Action.
Your ally must have a ranged weapon ready
and able to fire to take advantage of this Perk.
 Crushing Blows
Prerequisites: Might 3, Brute Strength
PERKS
Your mighty blows rain down on your enemies
like a crashing avalanche.
When attacking unarmed, or with a melee
weapon that is Heavy, and you generate Spin,
you may place the Staggered Aspect on your
POWERS
foe.
A Staggered foe may recover by spending a
Major Action to concentrate, and succeeding
on a Resolve test (Diff: 3).
Note: Creatures with the Lifeless Power (pg.
154) cannot be Staggered with this Perk. GEAR
Mythic: The Difficulty to recover is increased
to 4.
Legendary: The Difficulty to recover is
increased to 5.
MASTERY
GAME
DEVIATIONS
CONTENTS
  Genius at Work
Prerequisites: Knowledge 4, Reasoning 2
You have a talent for analyzing a situation and
figuring out how to get the best results with
the least amount of effort. This could mean
working out the best way to build a simple
THE BASICS
 Hollywood Bullets/Quiver
Prerequisites: Precision 4
Apparently, you found an extra mag and
reloaded (or scavenged and stowed some
arrows) when nobody was looking.
Once per scene, you may spend a Fate Point

tool, or just knowing exactly where to hit (or
what to say to) an opponent to make it hurt
the most.
Once per scene, you may use your Knowledge
Skill in place of any other Skill on a single Skill
CHARACTERS
to automatically avoid running out of ammo.
It simply didn’t happen. You do not need to
expend an ammo unit or take time to reload.
 Improvised Advantage

test. Prerequisites: Reasoning 3, Master Engineer

You may elect to use this Perk more than once or Master Craftsman
per scene, but each use after the first costs a Given time and access to some simple tools
Fate Point. and material, you are able to fashion just
about anything.
 Great Fortitude
STRANDS

As long as you have access to even the most

Prerequisites: Might 3, Tough as Nails
When you suffer stress, you may take a special
Wound called Stunned(m). This Wound negates
3 points of stress, and clears at the end of the
scene, or when you spend a Major Action
GAMEPLAY
basic tools and materials related to your
specialty, you can improvise for yourself some
tool, weapon, or advantage.
Describe to the GM what you want to build,

and what Action you intend to use it for. Then

making a Might (combined with Resolve) test
against a Difficulty of 2.
Mythic: Your Stunned(m) Wound reduces the
amount suffered by 5.
Legendary: Your Stunned(m) Wound reduces
PERKS
spend a FP and make a Reasoning Skill test
(Diff: 0).
You gain a bonus on the intended Action
equal to the amount of Shifts generated on the
Skill test.

the amount suffered by 7. You may only use the item once, but may add
additional uses in exchange for reducing the
 Gut Feeling bonus the tool provides at a rate of one use
Prerequisites: Reasoning 3 per -1.
You tend to have a primal instinct about You need at least one hour to use this Perk,
POWERS

people and situations, a subconscious ability
to piece together seemingly disparate clues
into a larger picture.
Once per game session you can ask the GM
for a “gut check”, a clue or bit of advice in
regards to a person, place or thing.
GEAR
but gain a +1 bonus for every 8 hours spent
working on it (to a max of +3).
Mythic: You gain a +1 bonus on your Reasoning
test to create the item.
Legendary: You gain a +2 bonus on your
Reasoning test to create the item.

For example, the GM might tell you that you

get a bad feeling about the plan you and the
other players are relying on if they don’t think
it will work, or that for some reason you don’t
MASTERY

feel like you can trust an NPC that has been

GAME

secretly planning to betray you.

You may use this Perk more than once per
game session, but each use after the first
costs a Fate Point. The GM need not offer any
DEVIATIONS

additional advice, but if they don’t, the FP isn’t

spent.

108
CONTENTS
 Inspire Greatness
Prerequisites: Sway 3
Your words and deeds inspire your allies to
greatness, motivating them to push past their
perceived limits.
When you Refresh, or whenever you generate
Surge on a Skill test, you gain an Inspiration
Token. As an Instant Action, you may spend an
Inspiration Token to grant an ally who can hear
or see you a +2 bonus on a Skill test, which
may be applied after the dice are rolled.
The maximum number of Inspiration Tokens
you can have at one time is equal to your
Sway Skill rating, and you can carry them over
between game sessions.
 Jack of All Trades
Prerequisites: Common Sense
It seems you know a little bit about everything.
This Perk gives you 3 special tokens, called
Jacks. You may spend a Jack to gain a +1 bonus
on any Skill test.
Spent Jacks are replenished when you
Refresh.
Mythic: The number of Jacks you gain is
increased to 4.
Legendary: The number of Jacks you gain is
increased to 5.
109
 Lightning Initiative
Prerequisites: Reflexes 3
You have an amazing gift for instantly reading
a situation, and reacting to it with blinding
speed.
You are Favored on all tests to break ties or
THE BASICS
interrupt (pg. 12) other characters.
Note: If you are using the Structured Initiative
Deviation (pg. 210), you instead gain a +3
bonus on your Initiative test.
If you are using the Card Deck Initiative
CHARACTERS
Deviation (pg. 205), you instead redraw any
card with a value less than 5, continuing to
redraw until you draw a 5 or higher.
 Master of the Art
STRANDS
Prerequisites: The total of all your Physical
Skill ratings must be 12 or higher, Student of
the Art
You have trained extensively to channel your
chi, directing the body’s energies into deadly
GAMEPLAY
strikes that land like hammer blows.
You may spend a Fate Point to increase
your unarmed attack’s Damage Rating by an
additional +3 for a single attack.
Mythic: The DR increase provided by this Perk
is increased to +4.
PERKS
Legendary: The DR increase provided by this
Perk is increased to +5.
 Narrative Exploitation
Prerequisites: Your Strand must allow you to
POWERS
use Narrative Exploits (pg. 220).
You may use one additional Narrative Exploit
per game session.
 Plot Armor
Prerequisites: The GM’s express permission. GEAR
This Perk may not be fitting for all campaigns.
Bulky armor really just doesn’t fit what you’re
going for style-wise. Thankfully, you’re always
just a little out of reach of the real danger.
MASTERY
GAME
You gain an Armor Rating equal to your
setting’s Tech-Level as long as you aren’t
wearing any actual armor.
Note that this isn’t real armor. If you can’t
move or otherwise have no way of evading an
DEVIATIONS
attack, your AR does not apply.
Mythic: The AR provided by this Perk is
increased to equal your TL +2.
Legendary: The AR provided by this Perk is
increased to equal your TL +4.
CONTENTS
  Poison Master
Prerequisites: Reasoning 3 or Master
Craftsman (Poisons)
You are master of deadly substances, and
sometimes coat your weapons in such things.
You are Favored any tests made to work with
THE BASICS
poisons, to produce them, to deliver them in
a non-combat situation, and to analyze them.
In addition, whenever you force an opponent
to suffer a Wound with a melee or slow-moving
projectile weapon, you can spend a Fate Point
CHARACTERS
to state that you have added poison to the
weapon, and place an Aspect on the target,
which takes effect on your next turn.
The Aspects you may place are Drowsy,
Nauseous, Dizzy or Blurred Vision. You choose
which of these Aspects you place when you
STRANDS
spend the Fate Point, and like a Maneuver, it
does not cost a Fate Point to Invoke or offer a
Compel with the Aspect the first time.
This Aspect lasts until the end of the scene, or
until your victim succeeds at overcoming the
GAMEPLAY
Aspect. They may attempt to overcome this
Aspect as a Reflex action on their Turn. To do
this, they must succeed on a Might test with a
Difficulty equal to your Reasoning Skill rating.
Mythic: If you generate Spin on your attack
test, you may choose to inflict Vomiting(M) or
PERKS
Blind(M) on your opponent.
Legendary: If you generate Spin on your attack
test, you may choose to inflict Paralyzed(M)
and Unconscious(M) on your opponent.
POWERS
Note: Poison does not work on creatures with
the Lifeless Power (pg. 154).
 Shake it Off
Prerequisites: Might 3, Resolve 2
You ain’t got time to bleed! Your focus and/
GEAR
or determination allow you to push pain and
minor injuries aside.
As a Major Action you may spend a Fate Point
and make a Might test (Diff: 0). For each Shift
MASTERY
you generate, you may clear a point of stress.
GAME
 Signature Weapon
Prerequisites: None
You have endlessly trained to use a specific
DEVIATIONS
type of weapon, honing your skill to exploit
the weapon’s strengths, and compensate for
its weaknesses.
When you select this Perk, select a specific
110
CONTENTS
type of weapon, then choose one of the
benefits listed below to apply to it:
Damage Increase - Regardless of the type of
weapon you choose, your signature weapon’s
Damage Rating changes to equal either your
setting’s Tech-Level +1, or is increased by +1,
your choice.
Throwing Weapon - You are not Disfavored
on your Attack when throwing your signature
weapon.
Weight Compensation – When attacking with
a Heavy signature weapon, the weapon does
not have the Heavy Aspect. If the weapon
normally has Heavy(M), the Aspect becomes a
standard Aspect instead of a Major one.
In regards to certain Perks that only affect
Heavy weapons; you may choose whether or
not the weapon qualifies.
Range Compensation – Your signature
weapon’s range is increased by one catagory.
 Shadow Walker
Prerequisites: Cover of Darkness
You are at home in the shadows, and move
like a ghost.
Once per turn, if no one can see you, you
may move into an adjacent zone as an Instant
action.
Also, either the zone you are leaving, or the
zone you are entering, must have an Aspect
related to shadow, darkness, fog, smoke or
some other form of concealment.
 Specialized Program
Prerequisites: Reasoning 3 or Master
Engineer (Software)
You’ve spent time honing and crafting specific
computer programs; custom built by you for
specific purposes. You can create up to three
programs. If you wish, you may delete one
program and replace it with another. This takes
about a week of full time work.
As long as you have access to the program in
question, you gain an Aspect that describes
what the program is used for.
Examples include: Structural Analysis of the
Compound, Time Study of Denver Police Routes
or Monster Index.
Mythic: You may create up to 4 specialized
programs.
Legendary: You may create up to 5 specialized
programs.
 Titan’s Grasp
Prerequisites: Might 3, Brute Strength
Your grip is like a vise, and if you get your arms
around your foe, you can squeeze the life out
of them.
You are Favored on attempts to place a Block
To determine how long the Aspect lasts,
refer to the Time table on pg. 91. The
Aspect normally lasts a day, but each Shift you
generate on your test to create the Aspect
pushes the duration of the Aspect one step
along the Time chart. So 2 Shifts means your

THE BASICS
Aspect lasts a month.
(pg. 82) on someone by restraining them.
Examples of alchemically applied Aspects
In addition, the Damage Rating on attacks you
include:
make against a restrained foe is increased by
+3. Maneuver
Mythic: The DR of attacks against your Difficulty Example Aspect

CHARACTERS
restrained foe is increased to +4. 2 Extremely Flammable
Legendary: The DR of attacks against your 2 Super Slippery
restrained foe is increased to +5. 2 Super Sticky
3 Light Weight
 Thief’s Sight 3 Magnetic

STRANDS
Prerequisites: Perception 2, Burglar 4 Invigorating
You are a master of getting in, getting the 4 Reduced Need to Breathe
goods, and getting out clean. 5 Incredibly Sleepy
To use this Perk, you must spend at least one 5 Vomit Inducing
hour performing an Assessment (pg. 70) of 6 Enraged

a target location. Casing requires you to learn
all you can about the location, researching
its layout, noting who goes in and who goes
out, timing guard rotations, noting employee
behavior and quirks, etc.
You may Invoke any of the Aspects you
GAMEPLAY
6 Catatonic
Note: Alchemical treatments that depend on
functioning biology do not work on creatures
with the Lifeless Power (pg. 154).
 Universal Lubricant

discover with your Assessment for free a
number of times equal to your Perception Skill
rating.
 True Alchemist
PERKS
Prerequisites: Rich
You have a stash of liquid assets on hand to
grease the wheels and smooth things over.
Once per session, you may use your Resources
rating in place of the Sway or Guile Skill on any

POWERS
Prerequisites: Reasoning or Knowledge 3 or test to obtain goods or services when dealing
Master Craftsman (Alchemy) with someone who is susceptible to bribery.
Most alchemists are really just herbalists You may elect to use this Perk more than once
or amateur apothecaries. As far as you are per scene, but each use after the first costs a
concerned, they are frauds. Fate Point.
But, you’re the real thing. And with the right
 Untouchable
GEAR
herbs, minerals, metals and occult catalysts;
you are able to create poultices and potions Prerequisites: Acrobatic Exploit, Agile
that have very real effects. Defense
You can use the higher of your Reasoning Your combination of speed and grace makes
MASTERY

or Knowledge Skills to perform a special you very difficult to hit.

GAME

Maneuver. This Maneuver requires at least
an hour to perform, and access to alchemical
tools and materials.
This is like any other Maneuver, but the
As long as you are unarmored, or wearing
only light armor, and not carrying a shield, you
may spend a Fate Point to instantly gain a +3
bonus to defense against a single attack.
DEVIATIONS

Aspect is placed on an alchemically altered
item and describes the effect of drinking,
eating or applying your alchemical concoction.
Only after the treated item has been used or
consumed does the Aspect take effect.
Mythic: The defense bonus provided by this
Perk is increased to +4.
Legendary: The defense bonus provided by
this Perk is increased to +5.

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CONTENTS
 Mythic Perks
 Calculated Intuition
Prerequisites: Insight 4, Reasoning 4
In your mind, tiny clues, seemingly
THE BASICS

unrelated facts, and chains of

coincidence resolve into a clear picture
of events.
You are Favored on any tests to make
Assessments. In addition, once per
session, you can make a Declaration by
CHARACTERS

succeeding on a Skill Test, as described

in the Skill-Based Declarations
Deviation (pg. 204).
Note: If your Strand uses the Skill-
Based Declarations Deviation, you
STRANDS

can choose to become Favored on

one attempt to make a Skill-Based
Declaration per game session.
 Darkened Sky
 Criminal Mastermind Prerequisites: Precision 4, Expert Archer
GAMEPLAY

Prerequisites: Guile 4, Sway 4, An Aspect

that describes your position in the criminal
underworld.
You sit at the heart of a criminal empire.
Nothing happens in the underworld that
you’re not a part of, or at least, aware of.
PERKS
You’ve mastered the technique of firing
multiple arrows at the same time, launching a
volley with each release of the string.
Once per scene, as a Major Action, you may
spend a Fate Point to make an attack with a

bow against everyone within a single zone.

By spending a Fate Point, you gain one of the
following benefits:
• You may call a number of Street Thugs
 Giantbane
(pg. 199) to do your bidding or provide Prerequisites: Might 4 or Mobility 4
you with protection. You have to be You know how to handle the great beasts of
POWERS

able to get word to them, and it may
take a little while for them to arrive. To
determine how many thugs arrive, roll
the dice and add your Sway Skill rating.
• You may add a +3 bonus to your
GEAR
legend. You don’t strike at their ankles; you
climb their colossal forms and plunge your
blade into their heart.
When fighting a creature larger than yourself,
make a Might or Mobility test (your choice)
against a Difficulty of 2 + the difference

Resources Rating for the purpose of

purchasing illicit goods or paying off
criminals.
• You become Favored on all Skill tests to
avoid being captured by authorities for
MASTERY
between your Size and your target’s Size. So,
for example, if your Size is 1, and your target’s
is 3, the Difficulty would be 4 (2+2).
If you succeed, you mount the target, gain

the Mounted Aspect, and a +3 bonus on attack

GAME

the duration of the scene. tests against the mounted creature.

While mounted, you may not move, and
instead move wherever the creature moves.
On its turn, the creature may try to swat you
DEVIATIONS

off, drop and roll, or otherwise try to separate

itself from you. To avoid this, you must succeed
in a Might or Mobility (you both get to choose)
contest against the creature.

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CONTENTS
 Hell Fire
Prerequisites: Precision 4, Combat Expertise
(Firearms)
Your spray of ammo isn’t just for show. You
know how to fully take advantage of a full-auto
or beam weapon, making each bullet or blast
of energy count.
Once per scene, as a Major Action, you may
spend a Fate Point to make an attack with a
full-auto or beam weapon against everyone
within a single zone, no more than three zones
from you.
 Mythic Versatility
You may select two Perks of Heroic or lesser
Power Level. You must still meet the Perks’
prerequisites.
 Painless
Something is wrong with your nervous
system. It could be disease, experimentation,
some sort of mutation… In any case, you
cannot feel pain.
You can still be harmed. You can die. But you
are highly resistant to any sort of torture that
depends on physical pain.
You gain Painless (Resolve) as a Specialty
Aspect (pg. 99). And like any Specialty
Aspect, it may be Invoked once per scene for
free when making Resolve Skill tests.
 Eidetic Memory
You can recall, with perfect clarity, every detail
of everything you have ever seen. This allows
you to perfectly remember events as you saw
them, remember every word in a written work,
anything you’ve ever seen.
You gain a Major Aspect of Eidetic Memory
(M).
 Red Wind
Prerequisites: Might 4, Combat Expertise
(Natural Weapons, Unarmed or Any Melee)
You are a whirlwind of blood and fury.
Once per scene, as a Major Action, you may
spend a Fate Point to make an unarmed or
melee attack against all enemies in the zone
you occupy.
113
 Sight Beyond Light
Prerequisites: Perception 3
Your sense of hearing is so acute you can
“see” the world around you by sound alone.
You still cannot “see” color, or fine detail. But
as long as you can hear, or produce, sound. You
THE BASICS
can detect objects as small a marble or grape.
You are also Favored on any Perception Skill
tests to detect sounds.
 Soulless
CHARACTERS
Prerequisites: Cover of Darkness or
Everyman/Everywoman
People’s eyes have a tendency to just slide off
of you in a way that borders on the supernatural.
They aren’t likely to notice you, even in a well-
STRANDS
lit room. And even if you interact with them
directly, they have Difficulty remembering the
details of the interaction later.
Your “Soulless” nature only affects normal
humans. Whatever it is about you that makes
GAMEPLAY
you hard to detect doesn’t fool animals or
other nonhuman creatures.
You gain a new Major Aspect called
Soulless(M) that represents your innate ability
to pass unnoticed.
Note: In settings where there are multiple
PERKS
sentient races, such as elves and dwarves, the
GM may allow you to use this ability to pass
undetected by them as well.
 Wealth Beyond Measure
POWERS
Prerequisites: Resource Rating 7
You have access to tremendous wealth. If it
can be purchased, you can own it; and money
is of no concern to you.
Increase your Resource Rating by +2.
In addition, if the Cost of the item is 7 or GEAR
less, unless the GM says otherwise, you may
assume you already own it.
MASTERY
GAME
DEVIATIONS
CONTENTS
 THE BASICS
CHARACTERS
STRANDS
GAMEPLAY
PERKS
POWERS
GEAR

Legendary Perks
MASTERY
GAME

 Celebrity Icon In addition, by spending a Fate Point, you gain

Prerequisites: Sway 5, Fame one of the following benefits:
You are a mega-celebrity, worshiped the • You may add a +3 bonus to your
world over by legions of adoring fans. Resources Rating for the purpose of
DEVIATIONS

First, the Aspect you gained when taking the purchasing items and gaining favors
Fame Perk becomes a Major Aspect. from fans.
Second, your Resources is increased by +1. • You become Favored on all Skill tests to
avoid punishment for breaking the law.

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CONTENTS
 Center of the Web
Prerequisites: Networking 5, Criminal
Mastermind
You sit in the center of a global syndicate, a
web of contacts, informants, and henchmen
that are dedicated to doing your bidding.
Your Resources rating is increased by +2.
In addition, by spending a Fate Point, you gain
one of the following benefits:
• You can Declare (pg. 64) that
you know someone working at, or
associated with a important person, at
a location you need access to.
• You can call on an elite bodyguard. This
maybe the same person each time, or a
member of a specific group. This NPC is
an Elite Soldier (pg 200) and remains
for the duration of the scene.
 Child of Vulcan
Prerequisites: Reasoning 4, Knowledge 4,
Master Craftsman or Master Engineer
If it can be built, you can build it. Hardware,
software, chemistry, biology; you have
mastered all of sciences of your time to
become one of the greatest craftsmen the
world has ever known.
You are Favored on all Skill Tests to craft items,
which stacks with any other instances of Favor
gained from other Perks.
More importantly, given the necessary time
and tools, you can build prototypes of items of
a Tech-Level one higher than your own.
 Perfect Recall
Prerequisites: Knowledge or Reasoning 5
You never forget… anything. You have a
perfect memory of every moment of your life.
You can remember every tiny detail, every
word of every book you’ve read, every word
ever spoken to you, every dog bark, every
bird chirp, the smell of every morning cup of
coffee, everything.
You gain a Major Aspect of Perfect Recall (M).
115
 Goliath
Prerequisites: Might 5
You are truly massive, rating among the
largest of your people. More than that, you are
incredibly strong, and can regularly perform
feats of strength well beyond what most
THE BASICS
people consider impossible.
Your Size rating is effectively increased by +1.
This affects your Stress Track, how far you can
Run, your ability to lift and carry things, and
Push/Pull and Throw objects and opponents.
CHARACTERS
This is mostly beneficial, but you do suffer a
penalty on attempts to hide equal to your Size.
 Hyperkinetic
Prerequisites: Precision 5
STRANDS
You have an innate understanding, and
sense of, speed, distance, and trajectory. This
grants you nearly inhuman levels of hand-eye
coordination and agility.
You are Favored on all Precision Skill tests,
GAMEPLAY
including attacks with ranged or thrown
weapons.
 Legendary Versatility
You may select two Perks of Paragon or lesser
Power Level. You must still meet the Perks’
PERKS
prerequisites.
 Virtuoso of Violence
Prerequisites: Might 4, Reflexes 4
You are a master combatant, an unstoppable
POWERS
warrior seemingly capable of knowing what
your opponent will do before they do.
You are Favored on all Skill tests to make, or
defend against, melee attacks.
GEAR
MASTERY
GAME
DEVIATIONS
CONTENTS
 Chapter 6
CHAPTER 2

Powers
THE BASICS

Power Name Min Power Lvl Description Page #

Affliction Heroic Directly attack a foe, causing the attack to manifest around 120
or from within the target
Animate Dead Paragon Create a corporeal undead creature or wraith 122
CHARACTERS

Armor Heroic Protect yourself with summoned armor. 123

Augmented Heroic You have an unnatural, or enhanced, method of movement, 124
Movement such as swinging, burrowing or climbing like a spider
Awe Heroic An unnatural ability to draw attention and affection 125
STRANDS

Banish Heroic Force creatures of a certain type away from you 126
Barrier Heroic Create barriers between zones, which may block or have 127
special effects on those who pass though
Beast Link Heroic Communicate with animals 128
GAMEPLAY

Binding Heroic You have a special ability to restrain foes 129

Blast Paragon The ability to cause an area of effect explosion of material 130
or energy
Body Weaponry Heroic Produce a deadly weapon from your body, such as claws, 132
fangs or hidden blades
PERKS

Bolt Heroic Produce a deadly projectile from your body 133

Cantrips Heroic An assortment of minor displays of power 135
Clairsentience Paragon See and hear far away locations 136
POWERS

Cloak Heroic Blend with your environment, making it easier to hide 138
Computer Mind Heroic A computer implanted in your brain 138
Control Paragon The ability to control some energy, substance or even reality 139
itself
Deflection Heroic Deflect attacks by manifesting an intervening wall of force 142
GEAR

Enhanced Reflexes Heroic Enhanced reflexes result in improved defenses against 142
attacks
Extra Limb Heroic You have one or more additional limbs 143
Flight Heroic You can slowly levitate, or with Enhancements, fly like a bird 143
MASTERY
GAME

or rocket
Grow Paragon Increase in size and strength 144
Heal Heroic Heal yourself or those you touch 145
DEVIATIONS

Illusion Heroic Create images, and with Enhancements, even sounds and 146
moving tangible objects
Imbue Creature Heroic Enhance, hinder or alter a creature in a number of different 147
ways

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CONTENTS
Power Name Min Power Lvl Description Page #
Imbue Object Heroic Enhance, hinder or alter an object in a number of different 149
ways
Imbue Zone Heroic Add an aspect to a zone or, with Enhancements, create 150
Hazards

THE BASICS
Influence Thoughts Heroic Control others’ minds 151
Insubstantial Paragon Become ghostly and intangible, or a liquid or vapor 153
Invisibility Paragon Become invisible 154
Lifeless Heroic Your body has no metabolism. You don’t need to eat or 154

CHARACTERS
breathe, are immune to poison, etc
Locate Heroic You can sense the location of specific objects, and with 155
Enhancements, people; over great distances
Night Vision Heroic You are not hindered by darkness as much as others 155

STRANDS
Poison Heroic Augment your physical attacks with poison 156
Precognition Paragon You can see the future 156
Quicken Paragon You move very quickly, and can take extra actions each turn 157
Read Thoughts Heroic You can read others’ minds 157

GAMEPLAY
Sense Grounded Detect the presence of certain creatures, materials, or 158
energies
Sleep Heroic Force others to fall into an unnatural sleep 159
Summon Heroic Summon creatures to serve you 160
Super Speed Heroic Move with super-human swiftness, and with Enhance- 160

PERKS
ments, perform special actions related to your speed
Super Strength Heroic Lift more than any normal human should be able to, and 163
strike with truly crushing blows
Telekinesis Heroic Move and manipulate objects at a distance 164

POWERS
Teleportation Paragon Instantly travel between two locations 165
Terrify Heroic Instill an unnatural sense of terror in your foes 166
Thermal Vision Heroic You can see heat 166

GEAR
MASTERY
GAME
DEVIATIONS

117
CONTENTS
 Acquiring Powers
Spells, Miracles, Mutations… it doesn’t matter
what you call them. They are all Powers.
A character may not select a Power unless
they have first selected a Perk that allows
THE BASICS
them to. Perks that grant access to Powers
determine which Powers they may select, how
they are activated, and how they get more.
Examples of these sort of Perks, such as
Defender of the Streets (pg. 52), can be
CHARACTERS
found in the Strands chapter.
Some Perks may also put restrictions on which
Powers the character may acquire. If this is the
case, the Perk will denote which Powers are
available, and which aren’t.
STRANDS
Power Enhancements
Each Power has a base Power Level. However,
you may select certain Perks that allow you to
add Enhancements to your existing Powers.
GAMEPLAY
Note that, unless otherwise specified by your
Strand or another Perk, you may not add an
Enhancement to a Power if the Enhancement’s
Power Level is greater than your own. A
character must be of the Mythic Power Level,
for example, to apply a Mythic Enhancement
PERKS
to one of their Powers.
A Power with an Enhancement of a higher
Power Level takes on that Power Level. For
example, a Heroic Power with a Paragon
Enhancement is now considered to be a
POWERS
Paragon Power.
Powers have their own specific
Enhancements. But you may also select a
Universal Enhancement (pg. 167).
Power Limitations
GEAR
Many Powers may also be modified by
selecting Limitations. Limitations can affect a
Power in different ways, making them weaker,
MASTERY
harder to activate, or otherwise more limited
GAME
in their use.
So why would you choose to limit your
Powers? When you select a Limitation, you
also get to select an Enhancement; which can
DEVIATIONS
be applied to the same Power from which the
Limitation was taken, or a different Power.
For example, you could take the Diminished
Limitation for the Armor Power, gaining an
Enhancement which you could then spend to
select the Ablative Armor Enhancement.
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CONTENTS
Unless otherwise stated, and you may not
select the same Limitation more than once.
Powers may have their own specific
Limitations, or you may select a Universal
Limitation (pg. 168).
Note that some Limitations are called Major
Limitations. These Limitations place an
extreme hindrance on the use of the Power.
When you place a Major Limitation on a Power,
you gain two Enhancements to apply to it or
another Power.
When a Perk grants a Power with a specified
Limitation, you do not gain an Enhancement for
that Limitation. For example, the Magic-User
Perk (pg. 36) grants access to a Power, which
must have the Ritual Activation Limitation. This
Limitation does not grant an Enhancement.
Removing Limitations
Enhancements can cancel out Limitations.
If you select a Perk that grants you the option
to add an Enhancement to one of your Powers,
you may instead opt to remove an existing
Limitation.
You may only do this if the Perk allows you
to choose the Enhancement you would gain.
Perks that grant specific Enhancements require
you to take the specified Enhancement.
Power Aspects
Many Powers can be used to represent
different effects. Blast, for example, can
be used to represent a magical fireball,
an explosion of ice shards, a grenade-like
projectile or a destructive rupture in time and
space. As such, when you select a Power, you
also gain a Power Aspect.
The Power Aspect describes the Power itself.
It might describe what it looks like, what it’s
composed of, where it comes from, or its
intended effects. It’s used to define how the
Power manifests in the game world, and
can help determine how it interacts with
the environment, other Powers, and other
characters. When you activate the Power, its
Aspect and works like any other.
While each Power entry is intended to
offer a generic expression of a certain type
of supernatural or extraordinary ability, the
Power Aspect provides your character with
more specific information, another layer of
detail and flavor.
 THE BASICS
CHARACTERS
STRANDS
GAMEPLAY
PERKS
Clever use of Power Aspects can really liven Each Power also has a listed activation time
up a conflict. Fire bolts clash with walls of and duration. In some cases, the Power’s

ice, force shields fail against clouds of gas,
and chemically engineered undead fall to a
cybernetic soldier’s gun-arm.
Each entry for each Power in this chapter lists
a few example Power Aspects. These cover a
few basic applications, but you are encouraged
to create your own.
Power Activation
POWERS
activation time may be altered by other factors.
The Sorcerer, for example, may activate some
Powers by performing a ritual; which adds a
significant amount of time and effort to the
Power’s activation.
GEAR
Power Range
Powers that can affect targets at a distance
have a listed range. Unlike weapons, which still
have a chance of hitting targets beyond their
MASTERY

The Perk that grants you access to a Power

GAME

usually also determines how your Powers
are activated. The Sorcerer from Strands of
Fantasy, for example, makes an Arcana Skill
test to activate their Powers (cast their spells).
listed range, Powers cannot.
They simply fizzle, or you are unable to sense
your target beyond that range.
Target Selection
DEVIATIONS

The Priest makes a Faith Skill test to request a

Miracle. Super heroes, as outlined in Strands Unless otherwise specified, you must be able
of Valor (pg. 50) have several options for to see or touch your intended target to affect
power activation. them with your Power.

119
CONTENTS
 Sample Powers
Affliction
Power Level: Heroic
Activation Time: Major Action to activate and
THE BASICS
Attack at the same time
Duration: Instant
Range: Medium
Example Power Aspects: Rotting Disease,
CHARACTERS
Psychic Assault, Devouring Nanomachines
You are able to directly affect a foe with some
sort of affliction. This manifests directly on
the target, or emerges from within them. It
cannot be dodged or evaded. Armor does not
provide any benefit, and neither does cover.
STRANDS
The Affliction must be endured or resisted.
You may select this Power multiple times, each
time selecting a different type of Affliction.
Regardless of the nature of your Affliction, the
GAMEPLAY
mechanics remain largely the same. After you
activate this Power, you must succeed on an
attack test against your target.
Physical Afflictions that affect the target’s
body are defended against with Might. Non-
physical Afflictions are defended against with
PERKS
Resolve.
Attacking the Target: After you activate this
Power, you must select a target within range.
Once the target is selected, make an attack
against them using your Affinity Skill. If you
POWERS
do not have an Affinity Skill, use Reasoning
instead.
The attack is resolved as a contested Affinity
Skill test against your foe’s Defending Skill.
If you succeed, add your Affliction’s DR to
GEAR
determine how much stress is inflicted.
Your Affliction has a Damage Rating
determined by your setting’s Tech-Level and
your character’s Power Level as shown below:
MASTERY
Power Level Damage Rating
GAME
Heroic Tech-Level
Paragon Tech-Level + 1
Mythic Tech-Level + 2
DEVIATIONS
Legendary Tech-Level + 3
120
CONTENTS
Limitations
ªªAmmo-Dependent: This Power manifests
as some sort of built-in weapon that re-
quires ammo. When you take this Power,
you get 3 units of ammo for free.
ªªLimited Damage: Your Affliction’s Damage
Rating is reduced by 1.
ªªSlow Build: It takes a full Major Action to
activate this Power. You’ll have to wait
until your next turn to attack with it.
Heroic Enhancements
ªªRepetitive: Your Affliction manifests as
a fast acting disease, poison, or flesh
dissolving attack. Targets who suffer a
Wound from your Affliction take addi-
tional stress on subsequent turns. At the
start of their next turn, your foe suffers
additional stress equal to the amount
they suffered in the previous round, -2.
This continues each round, with the vic-
tim each time suffering an amount of
stress equal to the turn before, -2, until
the stress they suffer is reduced to 0. This
stress cannot be offset with a Complica-
tion.
ªªLong Range: Your Affliction’s range is in-
creased to Long.
Paragon Enhancements
ªªLethal: Your Affliction’s base DR is in-
creased, and the new value is deter-
mined as shown below:
Power Level Damage Rating
Paragon Tech-Level + 3
Mythic Tech-Level + 4
Legendary Tech-Level + 5
ªªSalvo: Your Affliction’s Damage Rating is
reduced by 1. However, once activated
you may use this Power as many times as
you desire for the duration of the scene.
Activation is an Instant Action, but any
attacks are treated as a Major Action.
Mythic Enhancements
ªªSlaying: Your Affliction might manifest as
soul destroying death magic, a reality
twisting effect that dispels your target
from the universe, time manipulation
that results in your foe never having been

THE BASICS
born… Whatever the case, your Affliction
does not wound your opponent. It either
does nothing, or it kills them instantly.
When Attacking with a Slaying Affliction,
instead of resolving it as an Attack, you

CHARACTERS
instead make an Affinity Skill test, with a
penalty equal to your target’s Defending
Skill (Might or Resolve), plus a penalty
based on your target’s Power Level.
Grounded targets inflict no penalty.
Heroic inflicts a -1 penalty, Paragon

STRANDS
inflicts a -2 penalty, Mythic is -3, and
Legendary is -4.
Shifts Outcome
-3 or less (Stall) You fail to hit your target,
but may instead hit an

GAMEPLAY
innocent bystander,
an important relic, a
structural support, or the
like. You must either spend
a Fate Point or suffer a
Minor Complication.

PERKS
0 or less You miss. Your target was
able to somehow resist
the effect of your Power.
1+ Your target must spend 2

POWERS
Fate Points or be instantly
slain. When attacking
NPCs, the GM may pay
these Fate Points out of
their Threat Pool.
3+ (Spin!) As above, but our target GEAR
must spend 3 Fate Points
or be instantly slain.
5+ (Surge!!) As above, but your target
MASTERY

must spend 5 Fate Points

GAME

or be instantly slain!

Legendary Enhancements
DEVIATIONS

ªªAnnihilating: Requires Lethal. Your Afflic-

tion’s Damage Rating is increased by +1,
and can destroy just about any inanimate
substance with ease. It can disintegrate,
dissolve or otherwise obliterate about 2
cubic yards/meters of material per use.

121
CONTENTS
 Animate Dead
Power Level: Paragon
Activation Time: Major Action
Duration: 1 day
Range: Medium
THE BASICS
Example Power Aspects: Death Magic, Spray
of Alchemical Necro-Ooze, A Needle Full of
the Z-Strain Compound
You can infuse the body of a dead creature
with some sort of animating energy, restoring
CHARACTERS
it to a mockery of life. The dead creature is a
mindless automaton directed by your will. All
of its Physical Skills remain unchanged, but its
Mental and Social Skills are reduced to -1.
You can issue commands by voice as an
Instant Action, or telepathically as a regular
STRANDS
Action. The creature will obey your commands
to the best of its ability, but its limited mental
capacities leave it very little capacity to adapt
to changing circumstances.
When you activate this Power, the dead rise
GAMEPLAY
as Skeletal Warriors (pg. 195) or Zombies (pg.
198) depending on how much flesh remains
on the body.
These creatures are treated as Extras.
The total number of undead you can create
PERKS
and maintain at once it is equal to your Affinity
Skill. You may slay any undead you control as
an Instant Action.
Limitations
POWERS
ªªFreshly Dead: The dead creature you in-
tend to animate may not have been
dead for more than an hour.
Paragon Enhancements
ªªDeath Bringer: The DR of any attack
GEAR
made against an undead creature is in-
creased by +3.
ªªFortified: You may increase your un-
dead minion’s Armor Rating by 2.
MASTERY
GAME
ªªMaster of Death: The total num-
ber of undead creatures you
may have under your control is
increased by 2.
DEVIATIONS
ªªThe Thinking Dead: Your undead’s
mental Skills are reduced to 1 in-
stead of -1.
ªªImmortal Dead: The duration of this
Power is permanent, and undead
you raise remain animated until
destroyed.
122
CONTENTS
Mythic Enhancements
ªªCreate Revenant: When you activate this
Power using this Enhancement, reduce
your Refresh Rating by 1. It remains re-
duced as long as your revenant lives.
The creature you raise retains its normal
Skills, but also gains the Slave to the Mas-
ter Aspect. When a creature is raised as
a revenant, all of its Wounds are cleared.
However, the GM may require the crea-
ture to take some Consequences that it
suffered prior to death, (such as Severed
Arm) as Aspects. Extras raised as Reve-
nants are no longer Extras.
ªªDeath Golem: You may create a more
powerful undead creature by combin-
ing the bodies of multiple creatures. All
of the bodies must be in the same zone
when this Power is activated. The Death
Golem you create is the same as the one
described on pg. 194.
Legendary Enhancements
ªªLegion of the Dead: You transform a num-
ber of dead bodies within 3 zones of you
(or about 75yds/20m), in all directions,
into a small army of lifeless slaves. You
need not be able to see the corpses to
raise them (indeed they may well be bur-
ied), but you’ll need at least 12-20
bodies to create your horde. Un-
dead summoned in this manner
issue forth as a mindless zombie
horde (pg. 198). The horde is
comprised of several individ-
ual mindless zombies who
have no thoughts beyond
a limited capacity to obey
your commands.
ªªCreate Wraith: When
you activate this Power us-
ing this Enhancement, re-
duce your Refresh Rating
by 1. It remains reduced as
long as your Wraith lives.
The risen creature is like a
revenant, but gains the In-
substantial Special Ability.
Despite being insubstantial
however, its touch is dam-
aging to living creatures. The
Wraith’s touch can function as
an Attack made with its Might. It
has a Damage Rating equal to the high-
er of Wraith’s Resolve or Persuasion.
Armor
Power Level: Heroic
Activation Time: Major Action
Duration: Scene
Example Power Aspects: Ghostly Armor of
Scarlett Energy, Invisible Psionic Force Sheath,
Mutant Carapace, Impenetrable Alien Skin
You have the ability to bestow upon yourself
some form of protection. This may be hardened
skin, a shield of kinetic force, an hardened
carapace, etc.
When activated, for the rest of the scene,
this Power grants an Armor Rating based on
your setting’s Tech-Level and your character’s
Power Level as shown below:
Power Level Armor Rating
Heroic Tech-Level + 1
Paragon Tech-Level + 2
Mythic Tech-Level + 3
Legendary Tech-Level + 4
Unlike most bonuses, the Armor Rating
provided by this Power does not stack with
that provided by wearing actual armor. If you
have this Power and also wear armor, use the
greater of the two Armor Ratings provided.
Limitations
ªªDiminished: Decrease the Armor Rating
provided by this Power by 2.
ªªVulnerability: There is a certain type of
weapon, possibly made from a certain
(relatively common) substance or one
that has been exposed to a certain re-
peatable event. Examples include cold
iron weapons or weapons dipped in pu-
rified water within the last 12 hours. Your
armor does not protect you against these
weapons.
Heroic Enhancements
ªªAblative Armor: This Power does not pro-
vide an Armor Rating. Instead, it absorbs
stress and weakens as it does so.
The armor provided by this Power has
its own stress track. This stress track
has a number of stress boxes equal to
the Armor Rating that this Power would
normally provide, +2.
For example, the Heroic version of this
Power, activated in a TL 3 setting, would
have 6 stress boxes (TL 3 + 1 +2).
123
When you suffer stress from a physical
attack, such as from a sword or gun, the
stress is marked on this stress track first.
If your Armor Power’s stress track
completely fills up with stress, it is
deactivated. Any stress that overflows is
marked as your own.
THE BASICS
Activating this Power again freshly
restores your Armor Power’s stress track.
ªªExtended Duration (Day): Once activated,
your Armor lasts the remainder of the
CHARACTERS
day, or about 12 hours.
ªªReflexive Activation: You may activate
this Power as a Reflex in response to an
attack. You must be aware of the attack
however.
STRANDS
Paragon Enhancements
ªªFortified: The AR provided by this Power
is increased, and the new value is deter-
mined below:
GAMEPLAY
Power Level Armor Rating
Paragon Tech-Level + 4
Mythic Tech-Level + 6
Legendary Tech-Level + 8
Mythic Enhancements
PERKS
ªªAt-Will Activation: You may activate this
Power at will, at no cost, or without the
need to make any sort of Skill test. Acti-
vation is an Instant Action.
POWERS
ªªContingent Activation: You may activate
this Power as a Reflex in response to an
attack. You need not be aware of the at-
tack before hand.
Legendary Enhancements
ªªAdamant: Requires Fortified. Your armor GEAR
is impenetrable. When you suffer an at-
tack, if your Armor Rating would reduce
the amount of stress suffered, you in-
stead suffer 0 stress.
MASTERY
GAME
If the attack is made with a weapon
or Power that has the Adamant or
Annihilating Enhancements, you
suffer damage normally. However,
this Enhancement cancels out the
DEVIATIONS
attack’s Adamant and/or Annihilating
Enhancement. And the attack is resolved
as if their attack did not have those
Enhancements.
CONTENTS
 Augmented Movement Limitations
Power Level: Heroic ªªFleeting: Once Activated, your Augment-
Activation Time: Major Action ed Movement only lasts until the end of
your next turn.
Duration: Scene
Example Power Aspects: Bounding Leaps, ªªEnvironment Specific: You may only use
this Power in certain environments, such
THE BASICS

Flickering Teleportation, Swinging From Vines

and Limbs
When you activate this Power, you gain the
ability to move by swinging, bouncing or
sliding from location to location. You might
CHARACTERS
in the jungle or cities with tall buildings.
Heroic Enhancements
ªªInstant Activation: You may activate this

swing from sticky webs, telekinetically pull on Power as an Instant Action.

and push off of surfaces, project sheets of ice
upon which you can slide, climb on walls or the
ceiling, etc.
Select one of the following benefits:
STRANDS
ªªExtended Duration (Day): Once activated,
your Augmented Movement lasts the re-
mainder of the day, or about 12 hours.
Paragon Enhancements

Bounding: When using this Power you

bounce or swing between objects that can
support your weight. You can Hustle (pg. 75)
one additional zone; and are Favored on Skill
tests to Run.
GAMEPLAY
ªªExtended Duration (Permanent): Your
Augmented Movement is “always on”
and need not be activated.
ªªImproved Speed: In addition to this Pow-

Burrow: You can move by burrowing beneath
the earth. You must be standing on exposed
soil to use this power. While burrowing, you
cannot be seen by anyone who can’t see
through the earth, and your AR is increased by
+8 against attacks that are able to strike at you
PERKS
er’s standard benefits, you may move an
additional zone when you Hustle, and
gain a +1 bonus on Skill tests to Run.
ªªShared: You can bestow this Power on
one ally you can touch. It lasts for the rest
of the scene.

through the earth.

Feather Step: You move about like any normal
person except that when you walk, it’s as if you
are almost weightless. You actually possess a
normal weight, but you can walk and climb of
POWERS
Mythic Enhancements
ªªConfounding Mobility: Your strange
method of moving about is confusing to
enemies, making it hard for them to land

objects that should not be able to support your
weight, such as walking on water, the surface
of snow, or climbing along the leaves of a tree.
You also do not leave footprints where you
tread.
GEAR
a blow on you. During any round in which
you used this Power to move from one
zone to another, you are Favored on tests
to defend against Attacks.

Wall Walker: After activating this Power, you

may climb walls, and even climb on the ceiling,
as easily as you can move on level ground.
MASTERY
GAME
DEVIATIONS

124
CONTENTS

Awe
Power Level: Heroic
Activation Time: Instant Action
Duration: Scene
Example Power Aspects: Psychic Sway,
Beguiling Enchantment, Enhanced Pheromone
Emission, Alien Allure
There is something about you. Maybe it’s
looks, maybe its attitude. Whatever it is, people
naturally feel drawn to you. Your words have a
powerful effect on them, and they instinctively
wish to please you.
Anyone who can both see and hear you, and
who understands your language, is subject to
the effects of this Power.
Awe doesn’t make others your slave. Its effects
are more subtle, yet undeniably powerful.
After activating this Power, you draw the
attention of everyone within Short range
who can see you, their Disposition toward
you improves by 1, and you become Favored
on all tests to impress, persuade, seduce or
manipulate others.
Characters who suspect that you are capable
of using Awe on them, or who otherwise might
sense that something is amiss, may make a
Resolve Skill test against a Difficulty of 2 or
your Affinity Skill rating (whichever is highest).
If they generate at least one Shift, they are
immune to your Awe for the duration of the
scene.
Heroic Enhancements
ªªExtended Duration (Day): Once activat-
ed, your Awe lasts the rest of the day, or
about 12 hours.
125
THE BASICS
CHARACTERS
Paragon Enhancements
STRANDS
ªªCrippling Awe: The Disposition of those
affected by this Power is automatically
increased by an additional +1.
ªªUnshakable Feeling: Characters who at-
GAMEPLAY
tempt to shake off your Awe with a Re-
solve Skill test suffer Disfavor.
ªªVersatile Awe: Your Awe can affect any-
one who can either see or hear you, re-
gardless of distance.
PERKS
Mythic Enhancements
ªªPassive Awe: Your Awe Power is constant-
ly on, affecting everyone around you, all
the time.
POWERS
ªªPrimal Awe: Those affected by your Awe
need not be able to communicate with
you. And it even works on animals.
Legendary Enhancements
ªªLingering Awe: Your Awe leaves a mark, GEAR
and those affected by it are unlikely to
forget you. But be careful. Sometimes
this can turn into obsession. Anyone who
has ever been affected by your Awe suf-
fers the effects of this Power any time
MASTERY
GAME
they think about you. To intentionally
betray you, or attempt to do you harm,
they must test their Resolve, with Disfa-
vor, against a Difficulty equal to your Af-
finity. If they succeed, they are no longer
DEVIATIONS
affected by your Awe (though you may
attempt to Awe them again). If attack a
person affected by your Lingering Awe,
they gain Favor instead of suffering Disfa-
vor on their attempt to resist.
CONTENTS
 Banish
Power Level: Heroic
Activation Time: Major Action
Duration: A number of rounds equal to your
Affinity Skill rating.
THE BASICS
Range: The Zone you occupy
Example Power Aspects: Holy Exorcism,
Magical Repulsion, Psychic Warding
You may use the force of your will, the power
of your faith, or some other source of power
CHARACTERS
to drive creatures of a certain type out of the
zone you occupy.
When you take this Power, select a type
of supernatural creature to repel. Common
creatures repelled by this Power are undead,
STRANDS
spirits, demons, elementals of a specific type,
etc. Living creatures with the ability to possess
others, such as some magic users or psychics,
are considered spirits when in possession of
another.
GAMEPLAY
To repel a creature, perform a Block (pg.
82) with your Affinity Skill. The creature may
attempt to overcome the Block using their
Resolve, though they suffer Disfavor.
If it fails, the affected creature must
immediately retreat from the zone you occupy,
PERKS
and may not enter thee zone you occupy again
without overcoming the Block.
If it cannot leave the zone, the affected
creature must still move as far away from
you as possible, and may not take aggressive
POWERS
actions against you.
Note that in the case of a possession, you’ll
most likely need to somehow restrain the
body. Otherwise, the possessing creature can
just move away, taking the body with it.
GEAR
Limitations
ªªExile Only: Requires Zone of Exile. You
may only activate this Power using the
MASTERY
Zone of Exile Enhancement.
GAME
DEVIATIONS
126
CONTENTS
Heroic Enhancements
ªªDestructive Repel: Each time, including
the first time, the creature tries and fails
to overcome your Block, it suffers an
amount of stress equal to the amount by
which it failed. This stress cannot be ab-
sorbed with armor.
For example, if your Block’s Potency is
5, and the creature attempting to enter
your zone only generated 3 effort on its
Resolve test, it suffers 2 points of stress
in addition to being unable to overcome
the Block.
ªªZone of Exile: This Power’s duration is in-
creased to 1 hour, and becomes centered
on the zone you occupied when you ac-
tivated this Power instead of on you, and
remains on that zone after you leave it.
Affected creatures must overcome your
Block to enter the affected zone.
ªªExtended Exile: Requires Zone of Exile.
When activated using the Zone of Exile
Enhancement, the effect lasts the rest of
the day, or about 12 hours.
Paragon Enhancements
ªªPotent Banishment: You are Favored on
your Affinity Skill test to determine your
Banishment’s Block potency.
ªªVersatile Banishment: You do not need to
decide on the type of creature you can
Banish when you select this Power. In-
stead, you may make that decision when
this Power is activated.
Mythic Enhancements
ªªExile: If the creature you attempt to Ban-
ish is from another dimension or plane
of existence, and it fails to overcome the
Block you create with this Power, it is im-
mediately transported back to its home
dimension or plane.
Barrier
Power Level: Heroic
Activation Time: Major Action
Duration: Scene
Example Power Aspects: Telekinetic Shield,
Force Field Generator, Wall of Stone
You are able to materialize a semi-permeable
physical barrier between the zone you occupy
and an adjacent zone (or about 12 sq yards/
meters). You can see, hear and even smell
things beyond the barrier, but it’s very difficult
for a physical object or energy to pass through
it.
When you activate this Power, make an
Affinity Skill test against a Difficulty of 0. This
Power essentially functions as a Block action
(pg. 82) with a Potency rating equal to
the number of Shifts you generated on your
Affinity Skill test.
The Potency of this Block action applies to
attempts to penetrate the barrier by moving
through it. The Barrier also reduces the DR
of any attack that passes though the by an
amount equal to its Potency. Attacks whose DR
are reduced to 0 fail to pass through entirely.
For example, if the Barrier’s Potency is 4, an
attack from a Heavy Pistol (DR: 4) will fail to
pass though, and bounce harmlessly off the
Barrier.
Limitations
ªªIntangible: Your Barrier does not prohib-
it objects from passing through. This is
useful when used in conjunction with the
Alarm Enhancement, or Conditional Acti-
vation (pg. 168) and Linked Power (pg.
167).
Heroic Enhancements
ªªAlarm: Whenever something crosses your
barrier, you become instantly aware of
it. You may not know who crossed it,
but you know someone did. In addition,
you may make it so that only creatures
of a specific race or species trigger your
alarm. You may also specify yourself and
a number of individuals equal to your Af-
finity as able to pass through your Barrier
without triggering the alarm.
127
ªªDamaging: Creatures who manage to
penetrate your Barrier automatically suf-
fer an amount of stress equal to your Bar-
rier’s Block Potency.
ªªExtended Duration (Hour): Once activat-
ed, your Barrier lasts up to about an hour.
THE BASICS
ªªObscuring: Neither light nor sound can
pass through your Barrier.
Paragon Enhancements
CHARACTERS
ªªDome: Your Barrier can be made to com-
pletely surround the zone you occupy.
ªªExtended Duration (Day): Once activated,
your Barrier lasts the remainder of the
day, or about 12 hours.
STRANDS
ªªHardened: You become Favored on your
Affinity Skill test to set your Block’s Po-
tency.
ªªSpatial Lock: Requires Dome. Teleporta-
tion Powers cannot be used to pass in or
GAMEPLAY
out of a zone surrounded by your Barrier.
ªªScry Curtain: Requires Dome. Clairsen-
tience cannot be used inside a zone sur-
rounded by your Barrier, nor can they
perceive the area inside such a zone.
PERKS
Mythic Enhancements
ªªExpanded Coverage: Your Barrier runs
along the border of the zone you occupy
and a number of additional connected
POWERS
zones equal to your Affinity, or about 2
yards/meter + an additional 2 yards/me-
ters per Affinity Skill rank.
So a character with an Affinity of 3
would be able to produce a Barrier about
8 yards/meters wide.
If you use the Dome Enhancement, the GEAR
dome has a radius of a number of zones
equal to half your Affinity Skill rating
(round up), or about 1 yard/meters per
Affinity Skill rank.
MASTERY
GAME
DEVIATIONS
CONTENTS
 Beast Link
Power Level: Heroic
Activation Time: Major Action
Duration: Scene
Range: Short
THE BASICS
Example Power Aspects: Shamanic Bond,
Empathic Mutation, Gift of Elk Totem
You are able to communicate with animals.
They understand your speech, and you are
able to understand their chirps, squeaks, barks
CHARACTERS
and body language as if they were speaking to
you in your native tongue.
However, animals do not see the world the
same way humans do. Their priorities are
survival and reproduction, so discussion of
STRANDS
other subjects can often prove frustrating.
For the purpose of using this power, “Animals”
are any non-human natural creature. Humans
and magical creatures, or seemingly natural
creatures created through magic, are not
GAMEPLAY
affected.
Limitations
ªªOffering: Animals never deal with you
freely. You must barter with them to get
them to share any sort of information.
PERKS
Typically, the animal will require you to
offer it something that helps it acquire
food, a mate, or protect its offspring.
ªªRestricted: You may only target a specif-
POWERS
ic type of animal, such as birds, fish, in-
sects, cats, or dogs with this Power. Al-
ternatively, you might select an animal
with a theme appropriate to your set-
ting. An example might be “Creatures of
the Night”, which might allow you to link
GEAR
with rats, bats and wolves.
Heroic Enhancements
ªªAnimal Affinity: Animals feel compelled to
obey you. This isn’t outright dominance
MASTERY
GAME
or mind control, but whenever you try to
persuade an animal, its Disposition (pg.
88) is automatically increased by 2.
ªªExtended Duration (Day): Once activated,
DEVIATIONS
your Beast Link lasts the rest of the day,
or about 12 hours.
128
CONTENTS
ªªSense Link: While linked, you can see,
smell, touch, taste and hear from the an-
imal’s perspective. While doing this, your
own senses are dampened, and you are
Disfavored on any actions that rely on
your natural senses. Shifting your senses
between the linked animal and yourself
is an Instant Action.
ªªPrimal Telepathy: You do not need to
speak to the animal, and it does not need
to make any noise either. The communi-
cation happens purely telepathically, and
the animals is able to send you clips of
memory, such as past sights and sounds,
to aid in communication. This Enhance-
ment also changes the range of this Pow-
er to Medium.
Paragon Enhancements
ªªCall of the Wild: Requires Primal Telep-
athy. You may extend your telepathic
reach, allowing you to link with animals
as far away as a number of miles equal
to your Affinity Skill Rating, or 2, which-
ever is higher. When you use this Power,
you get a general sense about the num-
ber of animals that received your call and
where they are. You may then select a re-
cipient to converse with, and may change
participants at will as long as this Power
is active.
ªªPassive Link: Once activated, you main-
tain your Link with the target animal in-
definitely. You may only share a Passive
Link with one animal at a time.
Mythic Enhancements
ªªBeast Lord: Requires Animal Affinity.
Whenever you try to persuade an animal,
its Disposition (pg. 88) is automatically
increased by an additional +2.
ªªPack Master: Requires Passive Link. You
can create a Passive Link with a number
of animals equal to your Affinity Skill rat-
ing, or 3, whichever is higher.
ªªFar-Reaching Call: Requires Call of the
Wild. The range of your Call of the Wild
is tripled.
Binding 5+ (Surge!!) The Binding really took,
Power Level: Heroic and your target is stuck
Activation Time: Major Action fast. Your target is Disfa-
vored on all attempts to
Duration: Scene break free.
Range: Short

Example Power Aspects: Synthetic Spider Web
Blasters, Sticky Goo, Magical Energy Net
You have a special attack that binds an enemy,
rendering them incapable of willingly moving
into another zone.
THE BASICS
Breaking Free: At the end of your foe’s next
turn, as a Minor Action, they may attempt to
free themselves. To do so, the target must
succeed on a Might Skill test against a Difficulty
equal to your Affinity Skill rating. If they don’t

CHARACTERS
generate at least 1 Effort, they are unable to
When you activate this Power, you must escape.
engage in a contest pitting your Affinity Skill
against your target’s Might (which suffers
Disfavor). If the target is larger than you, Limitations
it receives a bonus equal to the difference ªªUnraveling Bind: Your binding dissolves or
between its Size and yours. fades, and your foe is automatically able

In addition, Perks or Special Abilities that
represent enhanced strength may apply to
your target’s Might tests.
The outcome of this test determines how
STRANDS
to escape at the end of their next turn.
Heroic Enhancements
ªªMystic Binding: Your binding isn’t a phys-

GAMEPLAY
effective your Binding is: ical restraint. It is an effect on the mind
itself. Instead of using Might to resist or
Shifts Outcome escape your Binding, your targets use Re-
solve.
-3 or less (Stall) You fail to bind your tar-
get. And worse, your tar- Paragon Enhancements
get wises up to how your

Binding works, and you
suffer Disfavor on addi-
tional attempts to bind
the target for the duration
of the scene.
PERKS
ªªCocoon: Targets you have bound can nei-
ther see nor hear anything while bound
by you.
ªªLock Down: Your target cannot move in
any significant way. They cannot make

-1 or less Perhaps they saw it coming,
perhaps they overcame
your Binding through
shear strength or force
of will. Or maybe you just
missed. In any case, you
fail to bind your target.
0 You hit your target, but
just barely. The target is
Favored on its attempts to
POWERS
melee or physical ranged attacks while
bound, nor can they perform gestures
with their hands.
ªªResilient Bonds: Your binding takes real
effort to escape, requiring a Major Action
instead of an Minor Action. GEAR
ªªZone Coverage (Area of Effect): You may
attempt to bind every target in a zone,
but you suffer Disfavor on your initial Af-
finity Skill test to place your Binding.
MASTERY
GAME

escape.
1+ You succeed. Your target
may not move into a dif-
ferent zone until they
Mythic Enhancements
ªªImproved Zone Coverage (Area of Effect):
Requires Zone Coverage. You do not suf-
DEVIATIONS

break free. fer Disfavor on your initial Affinity Skill

test to place your Binding.
3+ (Spin!) You succeed, and really
shut your target down.
Your target is Disfavored
on their first attempt to
break free.

129
CONTENTS
 THE BASICS
CHARACTERS
STRANDS

Blast The attack is resolved as a contest that pits

GAMEPLAY

your Affinity Skill + your Blast’s ExR against

Power Level: Paragon your foe’s Reflexes + AR.
Activation Time: Major Action to activate and
Attack at the same time Blast is an “Area of Effect” attack, which has a
special effect on Units. See pg. 189 for special
Duration: Instant rules for using Area of Effect attacks against
Range: Medium (Area of Effect) Units.
PERKS

Example Power Aspects: Built-In Electro-

Cannon, Explosion of Magical Fire, Pyrokinetic Limitations
Eruption
ªªAmmo-Dependent: This Power manifests
You are able to cause widespread destruction, as some sort of built-in weapon that re-
blasting a zone with damaging energies, or
POWERS

quires ammo. When you take this Power,

hazardous materials, and potentially harming
everyone and everything inside. This Power
might manifest as fiery explosions, blasts of
shrapnel, deafening sound, an eruption of life
draining darkness, etc.
GEAR
you get 3 units of ammo for free.
ªªLimited Damage: Your Blast’s Explosive
Rating is reduced by 1.
ªªSlow Build: It takes a full Major Action to

Your Blast has a base Explosive Rating activate this Power. You’ll have to wait
determined by your setting’s Tech-Level and until your next turn to attack with it.
your character’s Power Level as shown below:
Power Level Explosive Rating
Paragon Enhancements
Heroic Tech-Level + 1 ªªArmor Penetrating: Your Blast gains the
MASTERY
GAME

Paragon Tech-Level + 2 Armor Penetrating Aspect.

Mythic Tech-Level + 3 ªªExpansive: Your Blast’s area of effect may
Legendary Tech-Level + 4 be increased to encompass the target
Attacking the Target Zone: After you activate zone, and every zone adjacent to it.
DEVIATIONS

this Power, you must select a target zone within
range. Once the target zone is selected, make
an attack against each person in the zone.
ªªHazardous: Zones affected by your Blast
become afflicted with a Hazard (pg.
84), and gain an Aspect that is repre-
sentative of it. This Hazard has an Inten-
sity equal to your Blast’s ExR.

130
CONTENTS
ªªImmaterial: You create a telepathic
shockwave, spiritual eruption or some
other sort of intangible Blast. Your Blast
ignores armor and cover, and is defended
against with Resolve. Your Blast cannot
affect inanimate objects or any creatures
immune to mind affecting Powers.
ªªLong Range: Your Blast’s range is in-
creased to Long.
ªªRepetitive: Your Blast manifests as an
eruption of acid, a blast of napalm, or
some other sort of persistently damaging
material or energy. Targets who suffer a
Wound from your Blast take additional
stress on subsequent turns. At the start
of their next turn, your foe suffers addi-
tional stress equal to the amount they
suffered in the previous round, -2. This
continues each round, with the victim
each time suffering an amount of stress
equal to the turn before, -2, until the
stress they suffer is reduced to 0. This
stress cannot be offset with a Complica-
tion.
Mythic Enhancements
ªªCompressed Detonation: Requires Ex-
pansive. If your Blast cannot affect more
than 3 zones due to walls or other barri-
ers, you are Favored on your Affinity Skill
test to affect targets inside the affected
zones.
ªªDiscretionary: Your Blast does not harm
creatures or objects that you do not in-
tend for it to harm.
ªªForceful: Anyone who suffers a Wound
from your Blast is thrown clear of the tar-
get zone. They are instantly moved into a
random adjacent zone. And if they can’t,
due to walls or other obstacles, they suf-
fer 2 additional points of stress.
ªªLethal Blast: Your Blast’s base Explosive
Rating is increased, and the new value is
determined as shown below:
Power Level Explosive Rating
Mythic Tech-Level + 5
Legendary Tech-Level + 6
ªªMassive Expansion: Requires Expansive.
By spending a Fate Point, your Blast’s
area of effect may be increased to en-
compass a much larger region. Your Blast
affects your target zone, all zones adja-
cent to the target zone, and all zones ad-
jacent to those zones.
131
Legendary Enhancements
ªªExcessive Force: Requires Forceful. Foes
you move are moved one additional
zone.
ªªSlaying: Be it some sort of magic death
vortex, a disintegrating pulse, or some-
THE BASICS
thing equally devastating, your attack
does not bash, cut or otherwise wound
your opponent. It either does nothing, or
it kills them instantly.
When Attacking with a Slaying Blast,
CHARACTERS
instead of resolving it as an Attack, you
instead make an Affinity Skill test for each
character in its area of effect. You suffer
a penalty equal to your target’s Reflexes,
plus an additional modifier based on
your target’s Power Level.
STRANDS
Grounded grants a +1 bonus. Heroic is
+0, Paragon inflicts -3 penalty, Mythic is
-4, and Legendary is -5.
Shifts Outcome
GAMEPLAY
-3 or less (Stall) You fail to hit your target,
but may instead hit an
innocent bystander, an
important relic, a struc-
tural support, or the like.
You must either spend
PERKS
a Fate Point or suffer a
Minor Complication.
0 or less You miss. Your target was
able to get out of the way
in time and your Power
POWERS
has no effect.
1+ Your target must spend 2
Fate Points or be instantly
slain. When attacking
NPCs, the GM must pay
these Fate Points out of GEAR
their Threat Pool.
3+ (Spin!) As above, but your target
must spend 3 Fate Points
MASTERY
or be instantly slain.
GAME
5+ (Surge!!) As above, but your target
must spend 4 Fate Points
or be instantly slain!
DEVIATIONS
CONTENTS
 Body Weaponry
Power Level: Heroic
Activation Time: Instant Action
Duration: Scene
Example Power Aspects: Beastly Claws,
THE BASICS
Hidden Arm Blade, Magical Energy Whip
Whether a biological mutation, a cybernetic
augmentation, a magical enchantment, or a
gift of the spirits; you are somehow able to
produce a deadly weapon from your body
CHARACTERS
itself. This weapon may take the form of a set
of razor sharp claws, fangs, bone mounted
blades, dagger-tipped tentacles, or some other
form of melee weapon.
You may select this Power multiple times,
each time selecting a different type of Body
STRANDS
Weapon.
Regardless of the nature of the weapon
you produce, it has a base Damage Rating
determined by your setting’s Tech-Level and
GAMEPLAY
your character’s Power Level as shown below:
Power Level Damage Rating
Heroic Tech-Level + 2
Paragon Tech-Level + 3
Mythic Tech-Level + 4
Legendary Tech-Level + 5
PERKS
Limitations
ªªLimited Damage: Your weapon’s Damage
Rating is reduced by 1.
POWERS
ªªSlow Emergence: It takes a Major Action
to activate this Power.
Heroic Enhancements
ªªArmor Penetrating: Your Body Weaponry
GEAR
gains the Armor Penetrating Aspect.
ªªAt-Will Activation: Reduce your Refresh
Rating by 1. You may activate this Power
at will, at no cost, or without the need to
make any sort of Skill test. Activation is
MASTERY
GAME
an Instant Action.
ªªExtended Duration (Day): Once activated,
your Body Weaponry lasts the rest of the
day, or about 12 hours.
DEVIATIONS
132
CONTENTS
ªªFlexible: Your weapon takes a form sim-
ilar to a whip or flail and has the Flexi-
ble Aspect. This Aspect may be Invoked
to help bypass an enemy’s defenses, but
could also be Compelled to make your
weapon harder to attack with in some
circumstances, such as when in an en-
closed space.
ªªLong: Your weapon has the Long Aspect.
In addition, you may make melee attacks
against opponents in an adjacent zone.
Paragon Enhancements
ªªTwo Hands: You manifest a weapon that
either requires two hands, or a weapon
in/on each hand. When attacking with
both hands at the same time, increase
your weapon’s Damage Rating by +2.
You may not use a shield or attack with
another weapon in a turn when you used
both hands with your body weapon.
ªªLethal Weapon: Your weapon’s base DR
is increased, and the new value is deter-
mined below:
Power Level Damage Rating
Paragon Tech-Level + 5
Mythic Tech-Level + 7
Legendary Tech-Level + 9
ªªPoison: Enemies hit by your weapon are
exposed to a poison (pg. 89) with a Po-
tency of 2.
ªªPrecise: You are Favored on attack tests
with the weapon created by this Power.
Mythic Enhancements
ªªOnslaught: Once per scene, you may At-
tack with your Body Weaponry as an In-
stant Action. You may attack in this way
more than once per scene, but each time
after the first costs a Fate Point.
ªªDeadly Poison: Requires Poison. The Po-
tency of your poison is increased by 2.
Legendary Enhancements
ªªAdamant: Requires Armor Penetrating.
Your weapon can cut through just about
any substance with ease. Attacks with
this weapon ignore armor unless the ar-
mor also has the Adamant Enhancement.
Also, your weapon cannot be broken ex-
cept by another Adamant weapon.
Bolt
Power Level: Heroic
Activation Time: Major Action to activate and
Attack at the same time
Duration: Instant
Range: Medium
Example Power Aspects: Blast of Psychic Fire,
Stream of Magical Thorns, Lance of Pure
Kinetic Force
You are capable of projecting some form of
dangerous energy or substance, or otherwise
harming your foe at range. You might throw
balls of fire, spit acid, crush your foe’s mind
with a psychic assault, shred the fabric of space
around your foe, shoot laser beams from your
eyes, etc.
You may select this Power multiple times,
each time selecting a different type of Bolt.
Regardless of the nature of your Bolt, the
mechanics remain largely the same. After
you activate this Power, you must succeed on
attack test against your target.
Attacking the Target: After you activate this
Power, you must select a target within range.
Once the target is selected, make an attack
against them using your Affinity Skill. If you do
not have an Affinity Skill, use Precision instead.
The attack is resolved as a contested Affinity
Skill test against your foe’s Reflexes. If you
succeed, add your Bolt’s DR to determine how
much stress is inflicted. The amount of stress
inflicted is reduced by your target’s AR.
Your Bolt has a Damage Rating determined by
your setting’s Tech-Level and your character’s
Power Level as shown below:
Power Level Damage Rating
Heroic Tech-Level + 3
Paragon Tech-Level + 4
Mythic Tech-Level + 5
Legendary Tech-Level + 6
Limitations
ªªAmmo-Dependent: This Power manifests
as some sort of built-in weapon that re-
quires ammo. When you take this Power,
you get 3 units of ammo for free.
ªªLimited Damage: Your Bolt’s Damage Rat-
ing is reduced by 1.
ªªSlow Build: It takes a full Major Action to
activate this Power. You’ll have to wait
until your next turn to attack with it.
133
Heroic Enhancements
ªªRepetitive: Your Bolt manifests as a spray
of acid, a stream of sticky necro-goo, or
some other sort of persistently damaging
material or energy. Targets who suffer a
Wound from your Bolt take additional
THE BASICS
stress on subsequent turns. At the start
of their next turn, your foe suffers addi-
tional stress equal to the amount they
suffered in the previous round, -2. This
continues each round, with the victim
each time suffering an amount of stress
CHARACTERS
equal to the turn before, -2, until the
stress they suffer is reduced to 0. This
stress cannot be offset with a Complica-
tion.
ªªArmor Penetrating: Your Bolt gains the
STRANDS
Armor Penetrating Aspect.
ªªBeam Sweep: Your Bolt functions like a
beam weapon, allowing you to sweep it
across multiple targets. Once per scene
you may use your Bolt to attack more
GAMEPLAY
than one target, as described on pg.
82. You may use this ability more than
once per scene, but each additional use
requires the expenditure of a Fate Point.
ªªFull-Auto: Requires Ammo-Dependent.
Your Bolt is a Full-Auto weapon that re-
PERKS
quires ammo. But you can use it to Burst
Fire, Spray and Pray and lay down Sup-
pression Fire (pg. 85). You may use
your Affinity Skill to avoid running out of
ammo.
POWERS
ªªLong Range: Your Bolt’s range is increased
to Long.
ªªPull: When you generate Spin on an attack
with your Bolt, you may pull your target
one zone closer to you, or into your zone
if they are in an adjacent zone. GEAR
ªªPush: When you generate Spin on an at-
tack with your Bolt, you may push your
target one zone away from you.
MASTERY
ªªPrecise: Your Bolt’s DR is reduced by 1,
GAME
but you are Favored on attack tests with
this Power.
ªªShot Spray: Your Bolt manifests as a shot-
gun-like spray of projectiles. Your Bolt’s
DEVIATIONS
DR is increased by +2 at Short range, but
reduced by -3 at Long range.
Continued on next page...
CONTENTS
 ªªUnerring: Your Bolt’s DR is reduced by 2,
but tracks your target and hits automati-
cally. As long as you can see your target,
and there is a clear path between you
and the target, you do not have to make
an attack test. Resolve the attack as if you
hit your target, but scored 0 Shifts.
THE BASICS
Paragon Enhancements
ªªForceful: If you generate Spin on your at-
tack test, you may choose to send your
opponent flying into an adjacent zone.
CHARACTERS
When you purchase this Enhancement,
you must decide whether you “Push”
the target into a zone directly away from
you, “Pull” the target into a zone closer
to you, or “Shift” the target laterally, to
one side or the other. Once chosen you
STRANDS
cannot change it. But you may select this
Enhancement multiple times, each time
selecting a different direction.
ªªImmaterial: Your Bolt manifests a tele-
pathic or spiritual assault that ignores ar-
GAMEPLAY
mor and cover, and is Defended against
with Resolve. It cannot affect inanimate
objects or any creatures immune to mind
affecting Powers.
ªªLethal: Your Bolt’s base DR is increased,
and the new value is determined as
PERKS
shown below:
Power Level Damage Rating
Paragon Tech-Level + 6
Mythic Tech-Level + 8
POWERS
Legendary Tech-Level + 10
ªªSalvo: Your Bolt’s Damage Rating is re-
duced by 1. However, once activated you
may use this Power as many times as you
desire for the duration of the scene. Ac-
tivation is an Instant Action, but any at-
GEAR
tacks are treated as a Major Action.
Mythic Enhancements
ªªExcessive Force: Requires Forceful. Foes
you move are moved one additional
MASTERY
GAME
zone.
ªªSlaying: May not be applied to Bolts with
the Unerring or Precise Enhancements.
Be it some sort of magic death ray, a dis-
DEVIATIONS
integration beam, or something similar,
your attack does not bash, cut or oth-
erwise wound your opponent. It either
does nothing, or it kills them instantly.
You may not use this Enhancement in
conjunction with Unerring or Multi-At-
tack.
134
CONTENTS
When Attacking with a Slaying Bolt,
instead of resolving it as an Attack, you
instead make an Affinity Skill test, with a
penalty equal to your target’s Reflexes,
plus an additional penalty based on your
target’s Power Level.
Grounded grants a +2 bonus. Heroic is
+0, Paragon inflicts a -1 penalty, Mythic is
-2, and Legendary is -3.
Shifts Outcome
-3 or less (Stall) You fail to hit your target,
but may instead hit an
innocent bystander, an
important relic, a struc-
tural support, or the like.
You must either spend
a Fate Point or suffer a
Minor Complication.
0 or less You miss. Your target was
able to get out of the way
in time and your Power
has no effect.
1+ Your target must spend 2
Fate Points or be instantly
slain. When attacking
NPCs, the GM may pay
these Fate Points out of
their Threat Pool.
3+ (Spin!) As above, but our target
must spend 3 Fate Points
or be instantly slain.
5+ (Surge!!) As above, but your target
must spend 5 Fate Points
or be instantly slain!
Legendary Enhancements
ªªAnnihilating: Requires Lethal. Your Bolt
can cut through just about any substance
with ease, and can destroy about 4 cubic
feet of material each turn. Attacks with
this weapon also ignore armor unless it
has the Adamant Enhancement.
Cantrips
Power Level: Heroic
Activation Time: Minor Action
Range: Close
Example Power Aspects: Minor Magical Spell,
Simple Psychic Trick
You have the capacity to use your Affinity
Skill(s) or Power(s) to perform a number of
simple tricks. These tricks, while limited in
their usefulness, allow your character to use
their supernatural talents to entertain and
impress others, or perform simple tasks.
When you select this Power, pick three
specific Cantrips. Whenever you activate this
Power, you may choose to perform one of the
Cantrips you know.
Each trick must make sense for your Affinity
Skill and the general theme of your other
Powers. For example, a powerful shapeshifter
may be able to temporarily change their hair
color, but they probably shouldn’t be able to
make sparks dance between their fingers or
create illusory sounds.
Below you will find a list of example Cantrips,
which should give you an idea of the types of
tricks your character can perform.
ªªCreate a flame, about the size of a candle
flame, at a distance
ªªLevitate and move a small object weighing
less than 1 lb (about .5kg)
ªªCreate a small, obviously immaterial, illu-
sion in your hand
ªªCreate a sound at a distance no louder than
a person talking
ªªMake minor repairs to a mundane item
ªªScribe on an object without chalk or a pen
ªªClean or dry a soiled or wet item
ªªCreate soft music or chimes
ªªCreate a floating glowing ball that gives off
light like a candle.
ªªHeal or kill small animals, insects or plants
ªªAnimate a broom to make it sweep
ªªCreate a faint breeze
ªªDeliver a mild ranged attack (DR: +0, Short
Range) using your Affinity Skill vs. a Defen-
sive Skill chosen by the GM.
135
Limitations
ªªTaxing Potency: Requires Potent Cantrips.
You must spend a Fate Point to use Po-
tent Cantrips.
Heroic Enhancements
THE BASICS
ªªPotent Cantrips: Your cantrips can yield
more powerful and direct effects, allow-
ing you to attack or perform Maneuvers.
Pick three new, potent, cantrips. Exam-
ples of potent cantrips include:
CHARACTERS
ªªLight a camp fire at a close distance
ªªCreate a sound loud enough to disori-
ent a person. (Maneuver: Affinity vs.
Endurance to place Stunned(m) on
your target.)
STRANDS
ªªLevitate a small object weighing less
than 10 lbs (about 5kgs) and slowly
move it about.
ªªCreate a small, seemingly real, illusion
in your hand.
GAMEPLAY
ªªCreate a flash of light in front of some-
one’s face. (Maneuver: Affinity vs.
Reflex to place Blinded(m) on your
target.)
ªªNudge your opponent with a well
timed blast of air. (Maneuver: Affinity
PERKS
vs. Mobility to place Off Balance(m)
on your target.)
ªªTeleport an object in your pocket to
your hand, or from a cup in one hand
into a cup in the other.
POWERS
ªªWhisper a message containing a num-
ber of words equal to your Affinity
into the ear of a person within sight.
ªªMake your eyes glow, or your voice
echo, creepily (Maneuver: Affinity
vs. Resolve to place Unnerved(m) on GEAR
your target.)
ªªMake a Short ranged attack (DR equals
TL) using your Affinity Skill vs. a de-
fensive Skill determined by the GM.
MASTERY
GAME
Paragon Enhancements
ªªCantrip Mastery: Select three new Can-
trips. If you have the Potent Cantrip En-
DEVIATIONS
hancement, you may select Potent Can-
trips.
You may select this Enhancement
multiple times, each time learning three
new Cantrips.
CONTENTS
 Clairsentience
Power Level: Paragon
Activation Time: 1 hour
Duration: Scene
Example Power Aspects: Psionic Awareness,
THE BASICS
Divination Magic, Dimensional Gate
You have the power to remotely hear and see
some other person, place or thing. People,
places or things well known to you are easier
to peer in on, while the unfamiliar is much
CHARACTERS
more difficult.
If you succeed in locating your target, your
displaced senses last for the duration of the
scene, or until willingly returned to normal.
You may move your perspective around the
target of this Power, but may not move it
STRANDS
out of the same zone it occupies, nor do you
automatically know the location of your target
relative to your own. Any Powers you have that
enhance your senses may also be utilized, but
otherwise you view and hear your target as
GAMEPLAY
if you were actually standing there with it, or
within the target location.
While using Clairsentience, your normal
senses are dampened and you are Disfavored
on Skill tests that require them.
PERKS
To locate your target, after you activate this
Power, make an Affinity Skill test and apply
any Sympathetic Modifiers as described on the
next page. The result of this test will determine
whether or not you succeed.
POWERS
Effort Outcome
-3 or less Your attempt to cast out your
(Stall) senses fails in a spectacu-
lar, and rather disorienting,
manner. You gain the Aspect
GEAR
Stunned until the end of the
Scene.
0 or less You fail. You are unable to
locate your target, and don’t
MASTERY
hear or see anything.
GAME
1+ You succeed, and may see and
hear as if you were standing a
few feet away from the target
DEVIATIONS
person or object, or are stand-
ing in the middle of the place
you seek.
3+ (Spin!) As above, but you may shift
your perspective by as much
as about 5 yds/m (one zone).
136
CONTENTS
5+ The same as Spin, but you also
(Surge!!) establish something of a sym-
pathetic bond with the target.
You become Favored on your
Affinity Skill test for future
uses of this Power on this tar-
get.
Sympathy Modifiers: When you make your
Affinity Skill test to activate your Power, apply
the single most appropriate familiarity and link
modifier from the sympathy modifiers table.
The more you know about your target, the
easier the Skill test.
Limitations
ªªDreamer: The Power may only be used
while sleeping, and isn’t activated until
you have been asleep for at least an hour.
ªªClairvoyance Only: You may only see the
target of your Clairsentience. You hear
nothing from the target’s location.
Paragon Enhancements
ªªPower Conduit: After you locate your
target, you may spend a Fate Point to
use other Powers from the same Pow-
er Source as your Clairsentience Power
through the Clairsentient link, targeting
those you can see. When using Powers
through a Clairsentient Power Conduit,
you can target for as if you were actual-
ly standing at the location you perceive
your target from.
ªªTethered Senses: Your senses do not con-
nect to a distant place, but instead be-
come disembodied from your physical
self. Once activated, your senses detach
from your body; like a dimly glowing ball
of light, or ripple in the air, from which
you can see, hear, and touch. The sensor
can move through physical objects, and
moves at a normal walking speed. It can
move up to a number of yards (or me-
ters) from your physical body equal to
your Affinity Skill rating +1 x 100.
Mythic Enhancements
ªªWandering Senses: Requires Tethered
Senses. After successfully locating your
target, your perspective may drift away
from the target as per the Tethered Sens-
es Enhancement above with your target
serving as the anchor for your senses in-
stead of you.
 Sympathy Modifiers
Person Thing
Modifier Familiarity Modifier Familiarity
+8 Heard a description of the per- +8 Heard a description of the

THE BASICS
son. thing.
+4 Seen a picture of the person. +4 Seen a picture of the thing.
+2 Met the person once. +2 Held or used the thing once.
+1 Person is an acquaintance. +1 Held or used the thing often.

CHARACTERS
+0 Person is a close friend. +0 You are the owner of the
object.
-1 Person is a blood relative.
-1 The object is some something
Link Modifiers:
of personal importance to
+6 You do not know the person’s you.

STRANDS
name.
Link Modifiers:
-1 You have something that
-2 You have a piece of the object
belongs to the person.
-4 You created the object or are
-3 You have an item the person

GAMEPLAY
currently holding it.
values highly.
-6 You have a physical piece of the
person (i.e. blood, fingernail
clippings) or can touch them.
Event

PERKS
Modifier Familiarity
+8 You heard about the event.
Place
+5 You’ve heard or read a descrip-
Modifier Familiarity tion of what happened at the

POWERS
+8 Heard a description of the event.
place. +2 Witnessed a very similar event.
+4 Seen the place on a map or +1 Frequently witness very similar
seen a picture of the place. events.
+2 Been to the place once. +0 The event happened to you.
GEAR
+1 You frequent the place often. -1 You triggered the event.
+0 Personal property, you can see Link Modifiers:
the place, or you know exactly
where it is in relation to your- -3 You are at the place where the
MASTERY
GAME

self (such as the other side of event happened.

a door) -5 You are with someone who wit-
-1 Your home. nessed the event or have an
item strongly associated with
Link Modifiers:
DEVIATIONS

the event
-2 You have an item from the
place.
-4 You have an item closely tied
to the place or are currently
there.

137
CONTENTS
 ªª Cloak perform related tasks, but must be purchased
separately.
Power Level: Heroic
Activation Time: Major Action Your implant comes with a jack in the back
Duration: Scene of your head and a wireless interface, to allow
your implanted computer to interact with
Example Power Aspects: Psychometabolic other machines and networks.
THE BASICS

Transformation, Magical Illusion, Light-Screen

Projector Module
Heroic Enhancements
You may change color to match your
environment. This Power grants you Favor on ªªBuilt-In AI Assistant: Your implanted com-
rolls to remain unseen as long as you aren’t puter comes with an AI assistant trained
to perform computer-related tasks on
CHARACTERS

moving.
your behalf. The Activation Time for this
Power becomes Instant.
Limitations
ªªDigital Backup: Requires Tech-Level 6.
ªªSkin Changer: Only your skin changes col- Every few seconds a digital copy of your
or. So this Power only helps you hide if mind is backed up and stored in some
you are mostly nude.
STRANDS

part of the implant. With surgery, this de-

ªªSlow Transition: It takes a Major Action
to activate this Power, but it takes a full
scene (or about 5 minutes) for it to slowly
take effect. So you won’t be able to gain
GAMEPLAY
vice can be removed and a copy of your
mind can be uploaded into a computer or
another body outfitted with an implant
featuring the necessary inputs.

this Power’s effects until the next scene.
Heroic Enhancements
ªªNullifying Cloak: Your cloaking also hides
you from detection from thermal imag-
ing and motion sensors.
PERKS
ªªWireless Backup: Requires Digital Backup.
Every 72 hours, usually while you sleep,
your implanted backup module wireless-
ly streams a copy of your mind to a se-
cure storage facility. If the company used
to make the backup discovers that your

current body has been killed, and your

ªªQuick Change: You may activate this Pow- backup module cannot be recovered,
er as an Instant Action. the most recent copy of your backup
will be brought online in a virtual reality
construct. There you can make arrange-
ments to purchase and be restored in a
POWERS

Computer Mind new body. While this data is encrypted

with state of the art encryption software,
Power Level: Heroic interceptions are not unheard of. Also,
Activation Time: Major Action if for some reason your backup module
Duration: Scene cannot get a wireless signal out to the
server, a backup will not be made.
GEAR

Example Power Aspects: Brain Augmentation,

Biomorphic Mutation
You have a computer, or computer-like
object, implanted in your brain; which you can
interface with using your thoughts. Sensory
MASTERY
GAME

data provided by the implant is received

directly over your normal senses, providing
an augmented or virtual reality interface. This
computer has an Equipment rating of 2, and its
Security Rating is equal to its Equipment rating.
DEVIATIONS

The computer’s rating determines both

the quality of the hardware and usefulness
of the non-specialized software that comes
with it. Specialized software dedicated to
a task provides an added bonus on tests to

138
CONTENTS
Control
Power Level: Paragon or higher
Activation Time: Special
Range: Special
Example Power Aspects: Magical Weather
Control, Psionic Manipulation of Magnetism,
Master of Earth Shaping
Be it through magical training, psychic
ability, or divine will, you are able to control…
something. It might be a specific type of
energy or matter (such as fire, gravity, light,
sound, earth or metal), slightly more abstract
concepts like darkness or the weather, or
broad ranging concepts like kinetic energy, the
mind, or even reality itself.
The Power Level of this Power depends on
how prevalent the thing that you control is,
which is referred to as your “domain”. The table
below provides some examples of domains.
Power Level Sample Domains
Paragon Fire, Earth, Air, Metal,
Computers, Weather, etc.
Mythic Kinetic Energy, Matter, Mind,
Space, etc.
Legendary Reality
The following sections describe how Control
can be used to perform some common actions:
Attack
Depending on your domain and your
surroundings, you may be able to use your
control over your domain to make attacks. For
example, you might use your control over fire
to turn a cigarette lighter into a flame thrower,
or control of the mind to unleash a devastating
psychic barrage.
To resolve any attack using your domain, you
must first determine what type of attack you
are performing (physical or mental). Then
determine the attack’s Base Damage Rating:
Power Level Base Damage Rating
Paragon Tech-Level + 2
Mythic Tech-Level + 3
Legendary Tech-Level + 4
Once activated, roll your Affinity Skill
to perform the attack. Your target may
defend with whichever Ability seems most
appropriate, as decided by the GM. An attack
with this Power comes and goes in an instant,
requiring a Major Action to both activate
Control and make the attack.
139
Ranged: Ranged attacks have a Damage
Rating equal to Control’s Base Damage Rating.
Touch: Attacks that require Touch have a
Damage Rating +2 higher than Control’s Base
Damage Rating.
Area of Effect: You may elect to attack
THE BASICS
everyone inside a zone instead of a single
target. When doing so, instead of adding a
Damage Rating, you add an Explosive Rating.
Area of Effect attacks have a Damage Rating
equal to Control’s Base Damage Rating -2.
CHARACTERS
Ignore Armor: Certain types of attacks may
render armor useless. Such attacks have a
Damage Rating equal to Control’s Base Damage
Rating -4.
STRANDS
Defense
Often times your use of Control may allow
you to use your Affinity Skill to defend instead
of one of your mundane Abilities. For example,
you may be able to divert incoming projectiles
GAMEPLAY
with a current of air (substitute your Affinity
instead of Reflexes or Mobility), or disrupt a
telepathic control spell with your own mastery
of mind magic (substitute Affinity for Resolve).
To do this, activate Control as a Reflex action
in response to the attack. Once activated,
PERKS
you may use your Affinity Skill instead of your
normal Skill to for a single defensive roll that
turn.
Protection: You may, in some cases, be able to
POWERS
use your Domain to create a form of protection
that lasts for one round and provides an Armor
Rating based on your Tech-Level as shown
below:
Power Level Armor Rating
Paragon Tech-Level + 2
Mythic Tech-Level + 3 GEAR
Legendary Tech-Level + 4
MASTERY
GAME
DEVIATIONS
CONTENTS
 Block
This is any attempt to hamper or stop another
action from happening with Control. It works
very much like a normal Block action (pg.
82), but uses your Affinity Skill.
To do this, you must activate your Control
THE BASICS
Power, and once activated, as a Major Action,
make an Affinity Skill test to determine the
Potency of the Block. The Potency also gains
a bonus based on the Power Level of your
Control Power, as shown below:
CHARACTERS
Power Level Block Bonus
Paragon +1
Mythic +2
Legendary +3
Once activated, you can hold a Block action
STRANDS
as long as you concentrate on holding it.
Concentrating on a Block is distracting, and
causes you to suffer Disfavor on any other
action.
A Block will only last for a single round unless
GAMEPLAY
held with concentration.
Extended Coverage: By electing to suffer a -1
penalty on your Affinity test to set the Potency
of your Block, you can extend your Block to
cover another person instead of yourself. For
PERKS
every additional -1 suffered, your Block covers
another person (which can include yourself).
Your Block may cover an entire zone by
electing to suffer a -3 penalty.
Extended Duration: You may change the
POWERS
duration of your Block or protection to last the
duration of the scene by spending a Fate Point.
Perform Maneuver
After activating Control, you may use your
GEAR
control of your Domain to place an Aspect
on yourself, a target or a zone. Though for
especially difficult or complex Maneuvers, the
GM may add more penalties.
These Aspects are generally temporary, and
MASTERY
GAME
last either for a single round or until the victim
can remove them.
When performing a Maneuver that requires
a contested roll, once Control has been
DEVIATIONS
activated, roll your Affinity Skill contested
against their relevant Skill.
In all other ways, performing a Maneuver
with Control works the same as other attempts
to use a Skill to perform a Maneuver.
140
CONTENTS
Shape
Depending on your chosen Domain, you may
cause energy or matter to shape itself into a
new shape or configuration.
Create: You may shape raw substances into
finished objects which maintain their new
shape for the duration of this use of Control.
Once activated, make an Affinity Skill test with
a Difficulty is equal to the Size(x2) + TL of the
object created or amount of material being
shaped, and you need to have enough of the
appropriate materials on hand to work with.
Simple shapes are considered to have a Tech-
Level of 0.
So if you wanted to turn a pile of destroyed
cars into a new car, the Affinity Skill Difficulty
would be 8 (TL 4 + Size 2(x2) = 8), and it would
last until the end of the scene.
You may make the created object last longer
by electing to suffer penalties on the Affinity
Skill test as shown below:
Increased Duration Affinity Penalty
Day -2
Week -3
Year -4
Permanent -5
Create Minion: You may use Control to
animate raw materials, causing them to take
the form of a creature capable of performing
actions for you. You must have enough matter
on hand to create the minion, and the minion
has an Aspect that describes its make-up and
shape, such as Earthen Hound or Man of Fire.
To create the minion, activate this Power and
make an Affinity Skill test against a Difficulty of
5. If you fail, the minion isn’t created. If you
generate Spin or Surge, the Minion may take
additional Wounds as described below.
The minion has the stats of a lesser spirit of a
type based on the substance you can control. It
is not an actual spirit however, being instead a
mindless automaton fashioned from the base
matter or energy you control. See pg. 196 for
more on spirits.
The creature can may only take a single Mild
Wound before being destroyed. However, if
you generated Spin on your test to create the
Minion, it may take a Moderate Wound in
addition to the Mild Wound. If you Surged, it
may also to a Severe Wound.
Minions may not take Complications.
 By increasing the Difficulty to 7, your minion
instead uses the stats of a standard spirit. With
a Difficulty of 9, it can use the stats of a greater
spirit!
To create some other type of minion, use
Control to emulate the Summon Power (pg.
160). See below for more on emulating other
Powers.
Create Something From Nothing: If you
have the capability to create something from
nothing, you suffer Disfavor on the Affinity Skill
test when doing so. It is always easier to work
with existing material than to create it from
nothing.
Emulate Other Power
Depending on your chosen domain, you
may be able to perform acts that very closely
resemble another Power. For example, if you
can control the fabric of reality itself, you may
be able to grow claws (Body Weaponry) or see
distant locations (Clairvoyance).
When emulating another Power, use the
following guidelines:
Power Level: You may not emulate a Power
with a Power Level equal to, or greater
than, your Control Power Level.
Limits of Emulation: You may not emulate
a Power if doing so would provide a better
result than if you simply used Control. For
example, you may not emulate Bolt instead
of simply making an attack with Control.
As a general rule, Control should never
offer a more powerful or efficient result
than a dedicated use of a single Power.
Affinity: Regardless of the Power that is
emulated, it uses the same Affinity Skill
that is associated with your Control.
Duration: The duration of an emulated
Power is the same as it normally is for that
Power.
Limitations
ªªDefenseless: You may not use Control to
defend or create protection.
ªªInoffensive: You may not use Control to
attack.
141
ªªReality Sub-Domains (Major): Requires
Control of Reality. For you, reality is di-
vided up into different “sub-domains”,
over which you have different degrees of
control. Select a different Affinity Skill for
each sub-domain of reality. The sub-do-
mains you may pick from are determined
THE BASICS
by your GM. Example Sub-Domains are
Mind, Body, Forces, Matter, Space and
Time. However, some GMs may break
them down into themes such as Animals
or Weather.
CHARACTERS
Paragon Enhancements
ªªDeadly Control: When using Control,
the Damage Rating of your attacks is in-
creased by +2.
STRANDS
ªªPracticed Defense: When using Control,
you are Favored on Affinity Skill tests to
defend, and perform Blocks. When you
create protection, the AR it provides is
increased by +2.
GAMEPLAY
ªªFinesse: You are Favored on Affinity Skill
tests to perform Maneuvers, shape and
create objects (but not Minions).
ªªMinion Master: You are Favored on Affin-
ity Skill tests to create Minions.
PERKS
Mythic Enhancements
ªªSummon From Nothing: You are able
to summon the subject of your Control
from nothing, such as creating fire when
POWERS
no fire was previously present. Notice
that some domains, such as control of
reality, allow you to do this already. And
some domains, such as air or gravity, are
almost always present anyway.
If you were already able to summon
something from nothing, you no longer GEAR
suffer Disfavor when doing so.
MASTERY
GAME
DEVIATIONS
CONTENTS
 Deflection Mythic Enhancements
Power Level: Heroic ªªReflect Attack: One per scene, you may
Activation Time: Reflex or Instant angle your deflection shield such that you
are able to reflect bolt of energy, bullets
Duration: Instant or beam attacks back at your attackers,
Example Power Aspects: Magical Barrier, or other foes nearby. When you generate
THE BASICS

Telekinetic Parry, Force Field Generator
You call up a wall of force to deflect incoming
attacks. This deflection field is incredibly useful
when defending against most all sorts of
attacks, including those from swords, arrows,
CHARACTERS
a Surge on your defense test when using
this Power, you may choose a different
target for your foe’s attack.
This attack functions exactly as if your
foe had directed their attack against the

bullets and bolts of magical fire.
When activated, this Power grants a bonus on
defense tests, but only against a single attack
that you are aware of. The size of this bonus is
determined by your character’s Power Level as
shown below:
STRANDS
target of your choosing, and as if it had
came from your position.
You may elect to use this Enhancement
more than once per scene, but each use
after the first costs a Fate Point.

Power Level Defense Bonus

Heroic +3 Enhanced Reflexes
Paragon +4 Power Level: Heroic
Mythic +5 Activation Time: Reflex
GAMEPLAY

Legendary +6 Duration: 1 Round

Example Power Aspects: Magical
Limitations Enchantment, Advantageous Mutation,
ªªDiminished: Decrease the defense bonus Adrenal and Neural Augmentation
provided by this Power by 1. When you activate this Power, your
PERKS

character’s reflexes get a much needed boost.

ªªFocus Item: You must be wielding a cer-
tain type of item, such as a shield or
plasma sword, to use this Power. Declare
what type of item is required when you
take this Limitation.
POWERS
As your cognitive functions speed up, to you,
the world seems to slow down.
When you activate this Power, you become
Favored on all tests used to defend or Interrupt

(pg. 12).
Paragon Enhancements You may also choose to use Mobility to defend
ªªFortified: The defense bonus provided by against fast moving projectiles, such as bullets
this Power is increased, and the new val- and arrows.
ue is determined below:
GEAR

Power Level Defense Bonus Paragon Enhancements

Paragon +6 ªªCombat Insight: Your Enhanced Reflexes
Mythic +7 help you better time and line up your
Legendary +8 own attacks. You may activate this Power
when making an attack to become Fa-
MASTERY
GAME

vored on the attack test.

ªªAt the Ready: While this Power is Active,
you do not suffer Disfavor on Actions tak-
en after Hustling or Running.
DEVIATIONS

Mythic Enhancements
ªªExtended Duration (Scene): Once activat-
ed, your Enhanced Reflexes lasts the rest
of the scene, or about 5 minutes.

142
CONTENTS

Extra Limb
Power Level: Heroic
Activation Time: Reflex
Duration: Scene
Example Power Aspects: Mutant Monkey
Tail, Tertiary Arm Biomod, Arachnetauric
Transformation
You can manifest one or more additional
fully functional limbs, be they extra arms,
legs, tentacles, etc., as defined by this Power’s
Aspect.
You might invoke the Power Aspect associated
with this Power to grant a bonus on grappling,
climbing, running, or complex work where an
extra hand might come in handy.
You may Invoke this Power’s Aspect once per
scene for free.
Heroic Enhancements
ªªEfficient: You are very adept at using your
extra limb in conjunction with your oth-
ers. This Power’s Aspect is a Major As-
pect.
ªªPermanent: Reduce your Refresh Rating
by 1. Your extra limbs are either always
present, or you may manifest them at
will as a Reflex action.
143
Flight
Power Level: Heroic
Activation Time: Major Action
Duration: Scene
Example Power Aspects: Mutant Wings,
THE BASICS
Magical Floating Disk, Telekinetic Levitation
You can levitate in place. When you
activate this Power, you can move up or
down at your normal movement rate, and
can achieve a maximum height of about 50
CHARACTERS
yards/meters.
You can also move horizontally, but slowly.
It takes a Major Action, or two regular
Minor Actions to cross a zone. And you may
not Hustle or Run.
STRANDS
Paragon Enhancements
ªªPropulsion: When you activate this
Power, you gain the ability to truly take
flight. The basic version of this Enhance-
GAMEPLAY
ment assumes you grow wings, activate
thrusters, or are otherwise able to fly
in much the same way a bird does. You
need air (so this Power doesn’t work in
the vacuum of space), and you can’t hov-
er in place. When in flight, you can move
at roughly 30mph/50kph, and you are Fa-
PERKS
vored on Skill tests to Run or Hustle.
ªªUnassisted Flight: Requires Propulsion.
You do not need wings, or any other
mundane means of propulsion of flight
POWERS
stabilization. Your body is acted on by
some other force, be it magical or some
form of highly advanced technology. You
can fly just fine in a vacuum.
ªªInstant Flight: You may Activate this Pow-
er as an Instant Action.
GEAR
Mythic Enhancements
ªªExtended Duration (Day): Once activat-
ed, your Flight lasts the remainder of the
MASTERY
day, or about 12 hours.
GAME
Legendary Enhancements
ªªAt-Will Activation: Reduce your Refresh
Rating by 1. You may activate this Power
DEVIATIONS
at will, at no cost, or without the need to
make any sort of Skill test. Activation is
an Instant Action.
CONTENTS
 Grow Paragon Enhancements
Power Level: Paragon ªªEnlarge: When you activate this Pow-
Activation Time: Major Action er, instead of increasing your own Size,
you may cause another person or object
Duration: Scene within the same or an adjacent zone to
Example Power Aspects: Size Increasing increase in Size as per the parameters of
THE BASICS

Mutation, Transmogrification Magic, this Power.

Molecular Expansion Device
You are capable of increasing your size and
mass. When you activate this Power you gain
a +2 bonus to your Might Skill, and your Size
CHARACTERS
You may select this Enhancement
multiple times, and each time you may
enlarge one additional person or object.
Sentient targets who do not wish to

is increased by one category. See pg. 90 for
more on Size.
When you activate this Power you also gain
a new Aspect to reflect your increased size
when this Power is activated, such as Large as
a Grizzly Bear.
STRANDS
be affected may resist with a Might test
against a Difficulty equal to your Affinity
Skill rating.
Mythic Enhancements
ªªIncreased Size: You may increase your

target’s Size by one additional category

You might also consider the Linked Power
Universal Enhancement (pg. 167), Universal
Limitations (pg. 168) or Weaknesses (pg.
169) to better define the effect of your
GAMEPLAY
and the bonus granted to your Might is
increased by an additional +2.
ªªGiant: Reduce your Refresh Rating by 1.
You are always large and do not need to

Growth; such as using Linked Power to gain

Super Strength, or a Weakness that lowers activate this Power. It is considered “al-
your Mobility as you suffer from the added ways on”.
bulk.
PERKS
POWERS
GEAR
MASTERY
GAME
DEVIATIONS

144
CONTENTS
Heal
Power Level: Heroic
Activation Time: Scene (Around 5 Minutes)
Range: Touch
Example Power Aspects: Curative Miracle,
Medi-Stimulant Injector, Healing Touch
Mutation
With a touch, you can heal the sick and close
the most grievous of wounds. Your recipient
must lay still for the duration required to
Activate this Power, during which time you
gather energies, pray, perform a short ritual,
psychically explore their injuries, or otherwise
work your magic.
When you activate this Power, you instantly
remove a Moderate or Mild Wound from your
target. Alternatively, you may instead instantly
allow the recipient to recover from Aspects like
Stunned, Sickened, Dazed, or other similarly
debilitating Minor and standard Aspects.
Note: Unless you select the Heal Self
Enhancement, you may not use this Power on
yourself.
Limitations
ªªExhausting: Your method of healing is
very draining. If the recipient’s Wound
is healed or downgraded, they gain an
Aspect called Fatigued for an amount of
time depending on the severity of the
Wound before it was healed.
This Fatigued Aspect may not be
removed through additional use of this
Power.
Wound Time Fatigued
Mild(m) 1 scene (About 5 min)
Moderate 1 hour
Severe 1 day
Extreme(M) 1 week
ªªSelf Only: Requires Heal Self. You may
only use this Power to Heal yourself.
Heroic Enhancements
ªªCombat Healing: You are able to activate
this Power as a Major Action instead of
the regular activation time.
ªªHeal Self: You may use this Power on
yourself.
ªªRanged Healing: Requires Combat Heal-
ing. You may use this Power on targets at
short range.
145
Paragon Enhancements
ªªSevere Healing: You may treat a Severe
Wound, downgrading it to a Moderate
Wound.
ªªRecoup: You may activate this Power as an
Instant Action. When you do so, you do
THE BASICS
not heal any Wounds, but may remove
all of the stress your target has received.
Alternatively, you may choose to remove
a debilitating minor or standard Aspect,
such as Fatigued, Stunned, Blinded, etc.
CHARACTERS
Mythic Enhancements
ªªCombat Restoration: You may activate
this Power as an Instant Action. When
you do so, you remove a Mild Wound.
STRANDS
ªªExtreme Healing: Requires Severe Heal-
ing. You may treat an Extreme Wound,
downgrading it to a Severe Wound. Al-
ternatively, you may instantly remove a
Severe Wound.
GAMEPLAY
ªªRegeneration: Reduce your Refresh Rat-
ing by 1. Requires Heal Self. This Power
activates automatically at the beginning
of every round.
Legendary Enhancements
PERKS
ªªResurrection: You may raise a living
creature from the dead. This is no trivi-
al matter, and it takes a lot out of both
you and the recipient. When you activate
this Power to raise the dead, both you
POWERS
and the recipient’s Refresh Ratings are
reduced by 1. Your Refresh ratings are
restored when you achieve a Milestone,
or play a minimum of two game sessions,
whichever takes longer. Regardless of
any other Enhancements, it takes at least
1 hour to activate this Power to raise the GEAR
dead.
MASTERY
GAME
DEVIATIONS
CONTENTS
 Illusion
Power Level: Heroic
Activation Time: Major Action
Range: Short
Example Power Aspects: Illusory Spell, Psychic
THE BASICS
Phenomena, Hologram Projector
You can create believable illusions within your
line of sight. The basic version of this Power
allows you to create static images. These
images cannot move or make sound, but are
CHARACTERS
detailed enough to pass for real.
After you activate this Power, roll your Affinity
Skill. The result of your roll sets the difficulty of
the Perception test needed to see the illusion
for what it is. A low result might result in an
image that flickers or has colors that don’t look
STRANDS
quite right.
If you generate an Effort of at least 3, your
illusion is almost always believable, and
tests to pierce the illusion should only be
GAMEPLAY
allowed if the observer has a reason to be
wary of illusions, such as an illusion that isn’t
registering to senses or sensors that it should,
or if the illusion is behaving in a strange way.
For example, an illusion of a rock in a field
full of rocks, and that was created with at least
PERKS
3 Effort, should not call for a test to notice
the illusion for what it is. On the other hand,
passing your hand through an illusion of an
unmoving man would allow the observer to
pierce the illusion automatically.
POWERS
The most basic illusion is the same size as a
human adult (Size 0), or smaller. To make larger
illusions, the character suffers a -1 penalty on
their Affinity test per Size category. So, if the
character wants to create the illusion of a car
(Size 2), they’d suffer a -2 penalty on their
GEAR
Affinity test to determine how believable it is.
You may maintain a number of illusions at the
same time equal to your Affinity Skill rank.
MASTERY
GAME
Limitations
ªªPhantasm: Your illusion only appears in
the mind of your victims, which can be
a number of people equal to your Affini-
DEVIATIONS
ty Skill rating. If you have also purchased
Tangible Illusions, any stress the Phan-
tasm inflicts is suffered as Mental stress
instead of Physical, and may only be mit-
igated with Complications (or Breaks if
you are using the Sanity Deviation).
146
CONTENTS
You must be able to see the victim at all
times. If you lose sight of them, they are
no longer affected by the phantasm.
Heroic Enhancements
ªªMaster Illusionist: Your Affinity Skill is
considered 2 higher for the purposes of
using this Power.
ªªAudible Illusions: Your illusions can make
sounds, up to a max of about 130 deci-
bels. The illusion can make any sound
you desire in a manner that is convinc-
ing to witnesses. So the illusion of a man
could talk, speaking the words you wish
him to speak. The illusion of a car could
honk or rev its engine. In addition, you
may create sound alone without a visible
component to your illusion.
ªªMobile Illusions: Your illusions can move
around in a way that is convincing. It may
move at any speed, but disappears if you
lose line of sight with your illusion.
ªªPermanent: Your illusions last until dis-
missed by you, and do not require line
of sight to maintain. If the illusion can be
made mobile, you may “program” them
to perform some scripted action over
and over again in your absence.
Paragon Enhancements
ªªTangible Illusions: You are able to create
illusions that are seemingly tangible.
Your illusion is under your direct control,
like a puppet, and with a simple action
you can command it to take a simple
action itself if the illusion is of an object
that can move, such as a car or forklift. It
disappears if you lose line of sight with
it. Your illusion has Physical Skills, each
equal to your Affinity Skill rating.
Your Illusion has a number of Stress
boxes equal to your Affinity Skill rating
x 2, but disappears if forced to take a
Wound.
In addition, if you spend a Fate Point,
you may grant your Illusion armor and
a weapon with an Armor Rating and
Damage Rating equal to your Affinity
Skill.
Imbue Creature
Power Level: Heroic
Activation Time: Major Action
Duration: Scene
Range: Touch
Example Power Aspects: Faerie Blessing,
Magical Enchantment, Transformation Ray
You have the ability to imbue yourself or
another creature with a special property or
hindrance for the duration of the scene. You
must be able to touch the recipient to activate
this Power.
If the recipient is willing, no Skill test is
required.
If they are not willing, you must first touch
the target. Once touched, make an Affinity Skill
test against a Difficulty equal to the target’s
Resolve Skill rating. If you generate at least 1
Effort, you succeed and the target is affected.
When you select this Power, select one of the
following effects:
Bestow Luck: The target gains a bonus Fate
Point, which must be spent before the
duration of this Power ends. If not spent in
the time allotted, this Fate Point is lost.
Bestow Weapon: The target manifests a
weapon with a DR equal to your Tech-Level
+ your Affinity Skill rating.
Bestow Armor: The target becomes protected
by some form of armor, which provides an
AR equal to your Tech-Level + your Affinity
Skill rating. If the target currently has an AR
higher than that which would be provided
by this Power, this Power instead simply
increases the target’s existing AR by +2.
Curse: The target loses a Fate Point. If the
target is an NPC, the GM may not spend
a Fate Point on behalf of the affected
character unless they first spend a Fate
Point from their Threat Pool to satisfy the
curse.
Enhance Skill: Select a Skill. You are Favored
when using this Skill.
Hinder Skill: Select a Skill. Your foe suffers
Disfavor when using this Skill.
147
Imbue Aspect: You bestow an Aspect on
your target. Sample properties include:
Heightened Senses, Increased Strength,
Nightvision, Sickened, Beneath Notice, etc.
And like any newly created Aspect, it can be
Invoked for free the first time.
THE BASICS
You may select this Power multiple times,
each time selecting a new effect to Imbue.
Limitations
ªªLimited Application: Requires Enhance or
CHARACTERS
Hinder Skill. A Skill is only Enhanced or
Hindered under certain specific circum-
stances. Examples include only Hindering
Might when your foe attacks you, or only
Enhancing Sway when attempting to se-
duce a person or intimidate a foe.
STRANDS
ªªSelf Only: You may only use this Power to
place effects on yourself.
Heroic Enhancements
GAMEPLAY
ªªEnchanter: You learn how to Imbue two
additional effects. You select which one
of these effects you wish to Imbue your
target with when you activate this Power.
You may take this Enhancement multiple
times.
PERKS
ªªExtended Duration (Hour): Once activat-
ed, your Imbued effect lasts for about an
hour.
ªªRanged Effect: You may target characters
within Short range. In this case, you do
POWERS
not need to touch them. Instead, when
using this Power on unwilling targets,
make an Affinity Skill test with a penalty
equal to the target’s Resolve. If you gen-
erate at least 1 Shift, you succeed at Im-
buing the creature.
GEAR
Paragon Enhancements
ªªAdditional Targets: When you activate
this Power, you may target an additional
MASTERY
number of characters equal to your Affin-
GAME
ity Skill rating.
Continued on next page...
DEVIATIONS
CONTENTS
 THE BASICS
CHARACTERS
STRANDS
GAMEPLAY
ªªBestow Heroic Power: Instead of the usu-
PERKS
al choices for the different effects, select
a Heroic Power. You may Imbue the target
creature with Knowledge of this Power. If
using this Power requires an Affinity Skill
the recipient does not have, their effec-
POWERS
tive Affinity Skill is equal to your own, -2.
You may spend up to 2 Fate Points when
bestowing this Power, adding a Heroic
Enhancement for each FP spent.
ªªExtended Duration (Day): Once activated,
GEAR
your Imbued effect lasts the remainder
of the day, or about 12 hours.
ªªLong Ranged Effect: You may target char-
acters up to Long range. Otherwise, this
Enhancement is the same as Ranged Ef-
MASTERY
GAME
fect.
ªªParagon Skill Effect: When using Enhance
Skill or Hinder Skill, the target receives
and additional +1 bonus or -1 penalty.
DEVIATIONS
148
CONTENTS
Mythic Enhancements
ªªBestow Paragon Power: As Bestow Heroic
Power, but the bestowed Power may be a
Paragon Power and you may spend FPs to
add Paragon Enhancements.
ªªMythic Aspect Effect: Aspects created by
this Power are Major.
ªªMythic Curse: When you Imbue a curse,
the target loses 2 Fate Points, or the
GM must spend 2 Fate Points from their
Threat Pool to gain the ability to spend
FPs for the affected creature again.
ªªMythic Luck: You may grant up to 2 bonus
Fate Points, both of which must be spent
during the current scene or be lost.
Legendary Enhancements
ªªBestow Mythic Power: As Bestow Heroic
Power, but the bestowed Power may be a
Mythic Power and you may spend FPs to
add Mythic Enhancements.
ªªLegendary Skill Effect: When using En-
hance Skill or Hinder Skill, the target
receives and additional +2 bonus or -2
penalty.
Imbue Object
Power Level: Heroic
Activation Time: Major Action
Duration: Scene
Range: Touch
Example Power Aspects: Elemental Enchant-
ment Magic, Alchemical Enchantment, An-
cient Rune Magic
You have the ability to imbue an unattended
object you can touch with a certain property.
If the object is held, and the person holding it
is not cooperative (such as an enemy’s weapon
or armor), you must first make a Mobility Skill
test to touch the item.
When you select this Power, select one of the
following effects:
Enhance Armor: When used on armor, the
armor’s Armor Rating is increased by +2.
Enhance Weapon: The object, if used as a
Weapon, has its Damage Rating increased
by +2.
Enhance Defense: When used on a shield, the
bonus to Defend provided by the shield is
increased by +1.
Enhance Precision: The object, if used as
a Weapon, aids its attacker. You gain a +1
bonus on attack tests with the weapon.
Imbue Aspect: You bestow an Aspect that
defines the property you can apply. Sample
properties include: Unreliable, Aged,
Locked, Unlocked, Rotten, Heavy, Light,
Like New, etc. This Aspect is applied to the
target object when this Power is activated.
And like any newly created Aspect, it can be
Focused on for free the first time.
Imbue Luck: You store a Fate Point in the
object, which can be withdrawn by anyone
holding it. Once the FP is used, the item
is no longer “Lucky”. You may only Imbue
Luck on one object at a time.
Curse Armor: When used on armor, the
armor’s Armor Rating is reduced by 2.
Curse Weapon: The object, if used as a
Weapon, has its Damage Rating reduced
by 2.
Reduce Shield: When used on a shield, the
bonus to Defend provided by the shield is
reduced by 2.
149
You may select this Power multiple times,
each time selecting a new effect to Imbue.
Limitations
ªªMundane Limited: You may not Imbue
magical items.
THE BASICS
Heroic Enhancements
ªªArtificer: You may select up to three oth-
er effects that you may apply when you
activate this Power. You may take this En-
CHARACTERS
hancement multiple times.
ªªExtended Duration (Day): Once activated,
your Imbued effect lasts the remainder
of the day, or about 12 hours.
ªªPermanent Harm: When you use this
STRANDS
Power to apply a harmful Aspect, or to
reduce the target’s Damage Rating, Ar-
mor Rating or bonus to Defend, the ef-
fect is permanent. However, when tar-
geting magical items, the duration of this
GAMEPLAY
Power is only an hour.
ªªRanged Effect: You may target items with-
in Short range. In this case, you do not
need to touch them. Instead, when using
this Power on items held by others, make
an Affinity Skill test against a Difficulty of
PERKS
2. If you generate at least 1 Effort, you
succeed at Imbuing the item.
Paragon Enhancements
POWERS
ªªArmorer: The AR increase added to armor
you imbue with Enhance Armor is in-
creased to +4 instead of +2. If your char-
acter is of the Mythic Power Level the
bonus is increased to +4. At Legendary, it
is increased to +6.
ªªExquisite Defense: The defense bonus GEAR
added to a shield you imbue with En-
hance Defense is increased to +2 instead
of +1. If your character is of the Mythic
Power Level the bonus is increased to +3.
MASTERY
GAME
At Legendary, it is increased to +4.
ªªExquisite Precision: The attack bonus add-
ed to a weapon you imbue with Enhanced
Precision is increased to +2 instead of +1.
DEVIATIONS
If your character is of the Mythic Power
Level the bonus is increased to +3. At
Legendary, it is increased to +4.
Continued on next page...
CONTENTS
 ªªLong Ranged Effect: You may target items
up to Long range. Otherwise, this En-
hancement is the same as Ranged Effect.
ªªMaster Artificer: Aspects created by this
Power are Major Aspects.
THE BASICS
ªªWeaponsmith: The DR increase added
to a weapon you imbue with Enhance
Weapon is increased to +4 instead of +2.
If your character is of the Mythic Power
Level the bonus is increased to +4. At
Legendary, it is increased to +6.
CHARACTERS
Legendary Enhancements
ªªPermanent Enhancement: When you use
this Power on a non-magical item, you
may spend a Fate Point to make the ef-
STRANDS
fect permanent and the item is now con-
sidered a magical item (or whatever the
equivalent to a “magic item” is in your
setting). However, when targeting mag-
ical items, the duration of this Power is
only a scene unless you choose to both
GAMEPLAY
spend a Fate Point and reduce your Re-
fresh Rating by 1.
If you choose to spend the FP and reduce
your Refresh Rating, the effect lasts until
you choose to dismiss it. Once dismissed,
your Refresh Rating is restored.
PERKS
Imbue Zone
Power Level: Heroic
POWERS
Activation Time: Major Action
Example Power Aspects: Magical Area
Enchantment, Cloud of Nanites, Dragon’s
Breath
You have the ability to imbue either the zone
GEAR
you occupy, or an adjacent zone, with an
ongoing effect.
When you purchase this Power, select a
Major Aspect that defines the property
MASTERY
you can apply. Sample properties include:
GAME
Fog(M), Silence(M), Heavy Rain(M), Lowered
Gravity(M), Darkness(M), etc. This Aspect is
applied to your target zone when this Power
is activated.
DEVIATIONS
Limitations
ªªIntermittent Effect: The Aspect you are
capable of imbuing a zone with is a Stan-
dard Aspect instead of a Major Aspect.
150
CONTENTS
Heroic Enhancements
ªªPersonal Zone: When you activate this
power, you may choose to bind the effect
to you. If you do so, when you move, the
effect moves with you. So if you imbue
the zone you occupy with Brightly Lit(M)
and then move into a dark zone, that
zone then becomes Brightly Lit(M) and
your previous zone falls dark.
ªªAdditional Properties: Select two ad-
ditional Major Aspects that you may
choose from when you activate this Pow-
er.
However, each activation of this Power
still only allows you to imbue one Aspect.
To imbue the same zone with multiple
Aspects you must activate this Power
multiple times.
Paragon Enhancements
ªªExpansive Effect: You may imbue a num-
ber of additional zones equal to your Af-
finity Skill. Each affected zone must be
adjacent to at least one other.
ªªHazardous: Whether you fill the area with
fire, radiation, acidic rain, or some other
dangerous effect, the zone you choose to
Imbue becomes in some way hazardous.
See pg. 84 for more on Environmental
Hazards.
The hazard you create has an Intensity
equal to your Affinity Skill rating + your
Tech-Level.
ªªLong Range: You may target zones up to
Long range (about 500 yrds/m) away.
Mythic Enhancements
ªªExtremely Hazardous: Requires Hazard-
ous. The Intensity of the Environmental
Hazard you create is increased by +2.
ªªExtreme Range: You may target zones up
to Extreme range (about 2500 yrds/m)
away.
ªªRegional Effect: You may imbue a very
large area. In addition to the normal cost
for activating this Power, you may spend
a Fate Point and roll your Affinity Skill.
The result of this roll determines the Size
(pg. 90) of the area affected, to a max-
imum of 8. This maximum is increased to
9 for Legendary Characters.
Influence Thoughts
Power Level: Heroic
Activation Time: Major Action
Duration: Special
Range: Short
Example Power Aspects: Telepathic Command,
Magical Enchantment, Mind Control Spores
You are capable of telepathically influencing
the thoughts of other living creatures.
However, to use this Power, you must first
batter your way through your target’s mental
defenses.
When activated, make an Affinity Skill test
contested against your target’s Resolve, and
consult the potential outcomes below:
Shifts Outcome
-3 or less Not only do you fail to influ-
(Stall) ence the mind of the target,
but you betray your inten-
tions and plans. The target
becomes aware of what you
just tried to do, why you tried
to do it, and if you are hidden,
where you are.
-1 or less You fail to influence your tar-
get’s thoughts, and the target
becomes aware that some-
one (but not specifically who)
attempted to get into their
head.
0 You fail to influence your tar-
get’s thoughts, but the tar-
get remains unaware of the
attempt.
1-2 You may implant a single word
command, such as “Freeze”
or “Kneel”. The target will try
to obey the command until
the end of the scene, or until
they successfully resist.
3+ (Spin!) You may implant a simple sen-
tence command, such as “Go
stand in the corner,” or “Drop
the weapon.” The target will
try to obey the command for
at least an hour, until they
succeed at their task, or until
they successfully resist.
151
5+ (Surge!!) You may implant a command
consisting of a few sentences.
The target will try to obey the
command for 24 hours, until
they succeed at their task, or
until they successfully resist.
THE BASICS
If you succeed in influencing your target’s
thoughts the target of this Power seeks to do
as the attacker intends. That is, they may not
attempt to exploit loop-holes in the command.
CHARACTERS
Resistance: The target may attempt to resist
any time they are forced to take an action that
would itself cause them any direct physical,
mental or social harm; or by spending a Fate
Point. For example, if you were to command
your target to shoot themselves, before pulling
STRANDS
the trigger, they’d get one chance to resist.
When a target tries to resist your influence,
they must make a Resolve Skill test with a
penalty equal to your Affinity. If they get at
least 1 Effort, they manage to resist your
GAMEPLAY
influence.
Once the target has successfully resisted, the
mental hold is broken and the target need not
continue to resist. Also, depending on how
potentially damaging the command is, the
PERKS
target may be Favored on its attempt to resist.
For example, causing the victim to drop their
weapon and run may not inflict Disfavor, but
causing them to harm a loved one or forcing
them to attempt suicide most certainly would.
POWERS
Limitations
ªªEmission: There must be open air be-
tween yourself and your targets for them
to be affected by your Awe.
ªªHypnotic Words: When you activate GEAR
this Power, you must verbally speak the
command to your target, and they must
clearly hear you. This also requires that
they be able to understand you.
MASTERY
GAME
ªªCommand Animal: You may only use this
Power on animals. Humans, other crea-
tures of human-level intelligence, or
magical creatures cannot be influenced
DEVIATIONS
by you.
Continued on next page...
CONTENTS
 Paragon Enhancements
ªªMarionette: When you generate
Spin on your attempt to influence
your target’s mind, you may im-
plant a command consisting of
several sentences capable of re-
THE BASICS

lating a series of steps. The target

will try to obey the command for
up to a week, or until they suc-
cessfully resist.

Mythic Enhancements
CHARACTERS

ªªDominator: When using this Pow-

er, you are Favored on your Skill
test to implant your commands.
ªªEnthrall: Instead of forcing the tar-
get to obey your commands, you
STRANDS

force them to become loyal to

you, or possibly fall in love with
you if you are of a gender the
target finds attractive. The target
automatically gets a chance to re-
GAMEPLAY

sist. If you score at least 1 Effort

on your Affinity Skill test to sup-
press their resistance the target
gains a new Aspect called Loyal to
X, where “X” is your name. If you
Surge on this Skill test, the target
PERKS

instead gain a new Aspect called

“X is my Master, and I serve at
their pleasure.”
This effect is permanent until
you dismiss it, or until the target
POWERS

spends a number of Fate Points

equal to your Affinity Skill Rating.
If you successfully Enthrall your
target, reduce your Refresh Rating
by 1. Your Refresh Rating recovers
only after your Thrall has been
GEAR

released.
ªªIrresistible: Your foe suffers Dis-
favor on attempts to resist your
commands. In regards to especial-
ly harmful commands, this Disfa-
MASTERY
GAME

vor instead cancels out the Favor

they would normally receive.

Legendary Enhancements
DEVIATIONS

ªªPuppet Master: Once established,

Heroic or Grounded characters
may not resist your commands,
regardless of how harmful they
would be to carry out.

152
CONTENTS
Insubstantial
Power Level: Paragon
Activation Time: Major Action
Duration: Scene
Example Power Aspects: Ghostly Corpus,
Magical Mist, Phase Matter Transitioner
You may spend a Fate Point to somehow
transcend the physical, making your body and
your equipment completely intangible for the
rest of the scene or until you decide to switch
back.
When you activate this Power you may not
pick up or interact with material objects in any
way. You may walk through walls and travel
through solid objects as if you could fly, but
you cannot see through such objects. You are
effectively “flying blind”.
To others you appear ghostly and transparent,
and you cannot be harmed by any physical
force. However, you may interact with other
insubstantial entities or objects as if they were
solid.
You are not entirely invulnerable however,
you can still be harmed by attacks from pure
energy, such as electricity or fire. And you may
be harmed by magical weapons.
While insubstantial, once per scene, you may
make a special attack called a phase attack. By
placing a portion of your body into another
person, and becoming solid again, you may
damage them significantly. This sort of attack
is made with your Precision or Mobility (your
choice), and is defended against with Reflexes.
The attack has a Damage Rating equal to your
Affinity + your setting’s Tech-Level, and cannot
be reduced with armor.
You may use your phase attack more than
once per scene, but each additional use after
the first costs a Fate Point.
Limitations
ªªInability to Materialize: Requires Perma-
nent Insubstantiation. You are perma-
nently trapped in an insubstantial state.
ªªLiquid: You take the form of a mobile pud-
dle of liquid. This is effectively the same
as becoming wholly insubstantial, but
you cannot move through water tight or
solid barriers, and you may not interact
with wholly insubstantial entities or ob-
jects. This Limitation makes it impossible
to use a phase attack.
153
ªªVapor: You take the form of a cloud of
mist or vapor. This is effectively the same
as becoming wholly insubstantial, but
you cannot move through air tight or
solid barriers, and you may not interact
with wholly insubstantial entities or ob-
jects. This Limitation makes it impossible
THE BASICS
to use a phase attack.
Paragon Enhancements
ªªExtended Duration (Day): Once activated,
you may remain Insubstantial for the re-
CHARACTERS
mainder of the day, or about 12 hours.
ªªImmune to Energy: Attacks from energies
such as electricity or fire cannot harm
you.
STRANDS
Mythic Enhancements
ªªResistant to Magic: You can still be
harmed by magical weapons, but remain
resistant. Your AR is increased by +4
when attack by magical weapons.
GAMEPLAY
ªªImmaterialize Other: You may make a
person or object you touch (with a Size
no greater than your Reasoning -1) in-
tangible for as long as you yourself re-
main so, or for the duration of the scene
(whichever is shortest). If an insubstan-
PERKS
tial object materializes inside of a materi-
al object, both are heavily damaged with
a phase attack. Both targets suffer stress
equal to the other object’s Size rating (x2,
min 1) + 5.
POWERS
Legendary Enhancements
ªªPermanent Insubstantiation: The dura-
tion of this Power is permanent. Acti-
vating this Power in this way cost a Fate
Point in addition to any normal costs, GEAR
and reduces your Refresh by 1. Once dis-
missed, your Refresh Rating is restored.
MASTERY
GAME
DEVIATIONS
CONTENTS
 Invisibility
Power Level: Paragon
Activation Time: Major Action
Duration: Scene
Example Power Aspects:
THE BASICS

Invisibility Cloak, Illusion Magic,

Light Bending Energy Field
You are able to wrap yourself
in some sort of cloaking field,
hiding you in the visible spectrum
CHARACTERS

of light for the rest of the scene,

or until deactivated. However,
you still make noise and may
still be noticed by heat sensing
equipment.
When activated, you gain a
STRANDS

+4 bonus to avoid detection or

defend against attacks aimed at
you by attackers who can’t see
you. Lifeless
Power Level: Heroic
GAMEPLAY

You immediately become visible if you make

a sudden move, such as making an attack;
or disrupt the field by channeling energy by
casting a spell, a miracle, or similar Power
activations.
PERKS
Activation Time: Major Action
Duration: Scene
Example Power Aspects: Earth Transformation
Magic(M), Android(M), Animated Golem(M)
When you activate this Power, your body’s

Paragon Enhancements substance changes, becoming non-living

ªªBestow Invisibility: When you activate
this Power, you may to extend your invis-
ibility to a number of people in the same
zone equal to your Affinity Skill rating,
POWERS
matter.
When in this form, you do not age, you do
not need to eat or drink, nor do you need to

sleep. You are also immune to the effects of

or one object you can touch with a Size
rating no greater than your Affinity Skill vacuum, poisons, disease and drugs, and the
rating. Power Aspect that comes with this Power is
considered a Major Aspect.
ªªExtended Duration (Day): Once activated,
you may remain invisible for the remain- Paragon Enhancements
GEAR

der of the day, or about 12 hours, or until

you make an attack or do something else ªªExtended Duration (Hour): Once activat-
that normally cancels this Power. ed, you may remain Lifeless for about an
hour.
Mythic Enhancements
Mythic Enhancements
MASTERY
GAME

ªªAt-Will Activation: Reduce your Refresh

Rating by 1. You may activate this Power
at will, at no cost, or without the need to
make any sort of Skill test. Activation is
an Instant Action.
DEVIATIONS
ªªPermanent: Reduce your Refresh Rating
by 1. This Power is permanent, and can-
not be deactivated.

154
CONTENTS
Locate
Power Level: Heroic
Activation Time: Major Action
Duration: Scene
Example Power Aspects: Magical Tracking
Spell, Psychic Tether, Tracking Device
You have the ability to lock onto and track a
specific object, allowing you to determine your
target’s distance and direction from you.
After activating this Power, perform an
Affinity Skill test. The Difficulty of this Skill
test is determined by your familiarity with the
object. The Difficulty to locate an object is 5
+ any relevant Sympathy Modifiers (pg. 137).
If you generate at least 1 Shift, you can
sense the direction the object is in, and have
a general idea of how far away the person is.
With Spin you can tell if the object is moving,
and if so, how fast and in what direction.
Limitations
ªªTracker: You must place a tracker on the
target before you can Locate them. This
may be an electronic device, or perhaps
a magical residue you can sense. In any
case, when you place the tracker, the
GM should secretly perform an Affinity
Skill test against a Difficulty of 0 on your
behalf. The tracker stays attached to the
target for a number of days equal to the
number of Shifts generated.
Note: If you have this Limitation, the
Locate Person Enhancement is a Heroic
Enhancement instead of a Paragon
Enhancement.
Heroic Enhancements
ªªReliable Tracker: Requires the Tracker
Limitation. If you have placed a Tracker
on your target, you automatically suc-
ceed with Spin on your Affinity test to
Locate your target.
Paragon Enhancements
ªªLocate Person: You can locate people in-
stead of objects.
Note: If you have the Tracker
Limitation, this Enhancement is a Heroic
Enhancement instead of Paragon.
155
Night Vision
Power Level: Heroic
Activation Time: Minor Action
Duration: Scene
Example Power Aspects: Evolved Mutation,
THE BASICS
Genetic Enhancement, Polymorphic Spell
This Power, when activated, gives the ability
to see in all but absolute darkness. You can’t be
Compelled by Aspects that relate to dim light,
but are still affected by pitch blackness.
CHARACTERS
This Power’s Power Aspect might be Invoked
to aid in navigating in darkened areas, or it may
be Compelled if you are suddenly flashed with
a blindingly bright light.
Heroic Enhancements
STRANDS
ªªAdaptive: Your night vision automatically
compensates for sudden flashes of light,
making it impossible to Compel your As-
pect in this way. The Aspect granted by
GAMEPLAY
this Power becomes Adaptive Night Vi-
sion.
Paragon Enhancements
ªªDark Vision: You do not gain the Night Vi-
sion Aspect. Instead, you simply do not
PERKS
need any light to see, and are capable
of seeing fine detail in even pitch black
darkness. You are also no more sensitive
to bright light than a normal person.
ªªPermanent Night Vision: This Power is al-
POWERS
ways active. When exposed to low light,
your eyes adjust to compensate naturally
as a Reflex action.
GEAR
MASTERY
GAME
DEVIATIONS
CONTENTS
 Poison
Power Level: Heroic
Activation Time: Instant Action
Duration: Scene
Example Power Aspects: Snake’s Fangs, Kiss of
Death Spell
THE BASICS
When you activate this power, you augment
an attack, such as a bite or claw strike, with a
vicious poison. The next successful attack you
make with the affected weapon delivers the
CHARACTERS
poison to your target.
The poison has a Subtlety of 3 and a Potency
of 3. (See more about poisons on pg. 89)
Heroic Enhancements
ªªLethal Dose: You may increase either your
STRANDS
poison’s Subtlety or Potency by 2.
ªªTaint: You may target a consumable, such
a piece of food or glass of water. Anyone
who partakes of the poisoned substance
becomes affected by your Poison.
GAMEPLAY
ªªRanged Poison: You may administer your
poison at range, as poison spittle or the
like. This attack is made with your Preci-
sion Skill, and has a range of Close.
Paragon Enhancements
PERKS
ªªDeadly Dose: Requires Lethal Dose. You
may increase either your poison’s Sub-
tlety or Potency by an additional 2 ranks.
POWERS
Precognition
Power Level: Paragon
Activation Time: Major Action
Example Power Aspects: Tarot Card Reading,
GEAR
Psychic Premonitions, Divination Magic
You have the ability to tap into the flow of
time, casting your senses out to perceive
future events.
When you activate this Power, ask the GM a
MASTERY
GAME
question about upcoming events and make an
Affinity Skill test against a Difficulty of 2.
The more specific the question, and the
more Shifts generated, the more accurate the
DEVIATIONS
information the GM should relate back. The
player should also keep in mind that this is the
most likely future, but not the only possible
one. After all, the GM doesn’t know how the
dice are going to land in future scenes, or what
choices the players will make. But they can
give it their best guess.
156
CONTENTS
Shifts Outcome
-3 or less (Stall) The torrent of information is
overwhelming. You fail to
learn anything useful, and
gain the Dazed Aspect for
the duration of the scene.
-1 or less You fail to learn anything
meaningful about the
future.
0 You get a few quick glimpses
of the future. It may pro-
vide a little information,
but nothing substantial.
1-2 You get a good sense of
what is about to occur, and
are even able to pick out a
few details.
3+ (Spin!) You get a detailed view into
the most likely course of
events. The GM should
inform you of any relevant
Aspects that you’d be able
to detect had you actually
witnessed the events to
come.
5+ (Surge!!) You get the same informa-
tion you’d get as if you
generated Spin, but may
also Invoke or offer a Com-
pel with one of the Aspects
you discover one time for
free.
For example, the PCs (all policemen) are
standing outside the door of the criminal’s
lair. But before they burst in, the player of the
Precognitive PC wants to get an impression of
what will happen should they do so. They close
their eyes, and open their mind to the flow of
time.
They then make an Affinity Skill test and
succeed with 1 Shift. This grants them a brief
glimpse of what would happen should they
burst in, guns blazing.
The GM already knows that the criminals
know the police are outside. They also know
that they are heavily armed and have taken up
positions behind cover in the room. Checking
the criminal’s stats, the GM also knows that
some of them are a pretty good shot. If the PCs
burst in, they are almost certainly dead meat.
 So the GM tells the player that in their
moment of precognition they see they and
Read Thoughts
their friends burst in, only to die in a hail of Power Level: Heroic
gunfire. The player, now armed with this Activation Time: Major Action
knowledge, informs their teammates that Range: Close
they’d better sneak around and try the back Example Power Aspects: Mind Delving Magic,

entrance.
Mythic Enhancements
ªªPredictive Sensitivity: Your Affinity Skill is
considered 2 higher for the purposes of
THE BASICS
Psychic Telepathy
You have the ability to listen in on the current
thoughts of another sentient creature.
To do this, contest your Affinity Skill against
your target’s Resolve. The number of Shifts

CHARACTERS
using this Power. you generate determines how effective your
reading is.
Shifts Outcome
Quicken -3 or less In addition to failing to read

Power Level: Paragon
Activation Time: Instant
Example Power Aspects: Magical Time Spell,
Cybernetic Neural Enhancement
When you activate this Power, you become
STRANDS
(Stall) any of the target’s thoughts,
you also alert them to your
attempt. They won’t know who
is attempting to enter their
mind, but may get a general

GAMEPLAY
sense of direction.
capable of moving and thinking at a greatly
increased rate. -1 or less You fail to breach your target’s
mind, and can’t hear any of
You may take an additional Major Action their thoughts.
immediately upon activating this Power. You
may not activate this Power more than once 0 You are able to get a vague sense
per round. of what your target is thinking

PERKS
Using this Power is straining and confusing about, but can’t make out any-
however, and causes you to suffer Disfavor on thing specific.
any Skill tests made during the round preceding 1-2 You can hear the target’s next
the activation of this Power. few surface thoughts in your

POWERS
mind as if they were speaking
Mythic Enhancements them out loud.
ªªEfficient: You do not suffer Disfavor as a 3+ (Spin!) You may hear your target’s
result of activating this Power. thoughts for the duration for
the scene.
5+ (Surge!!) As Spin, but you are also able GEAR
to discover one of the target’s
Aspects if it is relevant to their
current thoughts. The user of
Read Thoughts who discovers
MASTERY
GAME

this Aspect may Invoke or Com-

pel it for free the first time.
This Aspect may be very fragile
however, and could go away
depending on the situations
DEVIATIONS

and how it changes.

You must also be able to speak the same
language as the target to understand what
they are thinking.
Continued on next page...

157
CONTENTS
 Heroic Enhancements give you some hint at who cast the magic or
ªªLong Range: This Power’s range is in- created the item.
creased to Long. The ability to sense living creatures might tell
you what kind of creature it is with 1 Shift. Spin
Paragon Enhancements may tell you its gender, and/or how healthy it
ªªParagon Reader: Your Affinity Skill is con- is. With a Surge you may even get a sense of
THE BASICS

sidered 2 higher for the purposes of us- what its Physical Skill ratings are.
ing this Power.
The Power Level of this Power depends on
ªªSensory Link: When reading someone’s the rarity of the object you can sense. See the
thoughts, you can also perceive the table below for guidelines:
world through their senses. For a brief
CHARACTERS

moment you can see what they see and Rarity Power Level Examples
hear what they hear.
Common Paragon Water, Iron, etc.
ªªUniversal Reading: You may use this
Power on any thinking creature without Uncommon Heroic Living Creatures,
penalty and without the need to share a Weapons, etc.
common language. Rare Grounded Magic, Ghosts,
STRANDS

etc
Note that the GM may increase the Power
Sense Level of this Power if used to sense very
valuable objects, such as gold or diamonds.
Power Level: Varies (See Below)
GAMEPLAY

Also keep in mind that, depending on your

Activation Time: Major Action
Example Power Aspects: Magical Sensitivity,
Divination Spell, Tuned Olfactory Sensors
You have the ability to sense the presence
of specific objects, energies or substances at
PERKS
Strand and the nature of your Affinity Skill, your
GM may already allow you to use your Affinity
Skill to do basic sensing of things related to
your Power Source; even without this Power.

a distance of 4 + your Affinity Skill rating in Heroic Enhancements

zones away. (Or if exact distances are required,
4 + your Affinity Skill rating x 10 yards/meters
away.) And not only do you sense the target’s
presence, but you may be able to discern facts
POWERS
ªªLong Range: Multiply the distance at
which you can sense objects by 10.
Paragon Enhancements

about it/them.
ªªImproved Sensitivity: Your Affinity Skill
Your sensitivity allows you to determine rating is considered 2 ranks higher for the
your target’s distance from you, and estimate purpose of using this Power.
how large the target is, or how much of the
substance there is. The GM may call for an Mythic Enhancements
GEAR

Affinity test, treating it much like a Perception

roll, to determine what kinds of details are ªªPassive: This Power is always on, and you
available. do not need to activate it.
For example, the ability to detect water can
allow you to determine how much there is (1
MASTERY
GAME

Shift) and with a good result (Spin), determine

if it is poisoned. A Surge may even allow you
to determine if any creatures are in the water,
and if so, approximately how many.
DEVIATIONS

The ability to sense magic may allow you to

sense objects cloaked in invisibility spells or
find hidden magic items. 1 Shift may allow you
to tell how powerful something is, Generating
Spin may give you an indication of what a
magical item does. And a Surge may even

158
CONTENTS
Sleep
Power Level: Heroic
Activation Time: Major Action
Range: Touch
Duration: Scene
Example Power Aspects: Psychometabolic
Shutdown, Sleeping Gas, Magical
Enchantment
This Power can cause a person you touch to
fall into a deep slumber. To do this, make
an opposed Affinity Skill test against
your opponent’s Resolve or Might
(target’s choice). If you generate
at least 1 Shift, the target falls
into a deep sleep.
Once asleep, the victim may
spend a Fate Point each
round and make a Resolve
test (the Difficulty equals
your Affinity Skill) in
an attempt to rouse
themselves. If they
are attacked or shaken
violently, they may make
a Resolve test (Diff: 1),
without the need to
spend a Fate Point, to
wake up.
The target of this Power may
automatically awaken at the end of the
scene.
Paragon Enhancements
ªªDream Weaver: For the purpose of using
this Power, your Affinity Skill is consid-
ered 2 ranks higher.
ªªNightmares: While asleep, your target is
accosted by horrible nightmares. When
they finally wake, they must immediately
make a Resolve Skill test with a Difficul-
ty equal to your Affinity. If they succeed,
they suffer the Disturbed Aspect until the
end of the scene.
If they Stall, they suffer the Panicked
and Confused(M) Aspect until the end
of the scene, after which it degrades to
Disturbed. This Disturbed Aspect lasts for
a number of days equal to your Affinity.
159
Special: If you are using the Sanity
Deviation (pg. 207), you instead
make an attack with your Affinity Skill,
defended against by their Resolve. Your
attack has an Edge equal to your Affinity.
This is a purely mental attack, and may
only be mitigated by a Break.
THE BASICS
ªªRanged: You do not need to touch your
target, but they must be within Medium
range, and you must be able to see them.
Mythic Enhancements
CHARACTERS
ªªTorpor: By spending a Fate
Point when you activate this Power,
you may deny the target the
option to spend Fate Points
to rouse themselves. They
STRANDS
may only wake up in reaction
to outside stimuli, such as
being shaken, doused with
water, or falling. In addi-
tion, the victim stays asleep
for a duration equal to your
GAMEPLAY
Affinity Skill rating +2 unless
awakened. (See the Time
table on pg. 91) So if your
Affinity is 3, your victims will
sleep for a week unless awak-
ened.
PERKS
If you also have the
Nightmares Enhancement,
extended torpor may have
extremely adverse effects on the target’s
mind. The exact nature and effect of
POWERS
this mental trauma is up to the GM to
determine.
ªªZone of Slumber: Requires the Ranged En-
hancement. When you activate this Pow-
er, select a zone within Medium range.
You may attempt to affect anyone inside
the chosen zone with a single activation GEAR
of this Power.
MASTERY
GAME
DEVIATIONS
CONTENTS
 Summon
Power Level: Heroic
Activation Time: Major Action
Duration: Scene
Example Power Aspects: Summoning
THE BASICS
Spell, Transdimensional Portal, Psychic
Manifestation
When you select this Power, choose a type
of creature with a Power Level less than your
own. When you activate this Power, you may
CHARACTERS
summon a creature of the chosen type into the
zone you occupy, or an adjacent zone.
When the creature is summoned, you may
make an Affinity Skill test contested by the
summoned creature’s Resolve. If you succeed,
the creature may not willingly harm you or
STRANDS
your allies, and you may give the summoned
creature a single command which it must obey
to the best of its ability for a number of turns
equal to the number of Shifts you generated.
GAMEPLAY
If you generated Spin on this test, even after
the creature is free of your command, it still
may not attack you or your allies directly
during this scene.
If you failed to control the summoned
creature, the creature is free to act as it
PERKS
chooses.
The GM may allow the player to control the
summoned creature as if it were their own
character, but may take over when it fits the
story, or to ensure the creature behaves
POWERS
according to its nature.
At the end of the scene, or if it is killed, the
summoned creature vanishes. You may also
banish the summoned creature at any time, so
long as it is not hostile toward you.
GEAR
If you desire, any creature you summon may
use your Fate Points. If the creature becomes
hostile however, it must use Fate Points from
the GM’s Threat Pool.
MASTERY
Unless the GM says otherwise, summoned
GAME
creatures are considered Major Extras.
DEVIATIONS
160
CONTENTS
Limitations
ªªLesser Summons: The creature you can
summon is generally weaker than oth-
ers of its type. The Skill the summoned
creatures uses to make its most effective
attack, and its Affinity Skill (if it has one),
is reduced by 1.
Heroic Enhancements
ªªExtended Duration (Hour): Once activat-
ed, your summoned creature remains for
about an hour.
ªªPracticed Summoning: When you select
this Power, select a specific type of crea-
ture you can summon. When you sum-
mon such a creature, you automatically
gain control of it and you can give it new
commands each turn as n Instant Action.
ªªSummon Ally: You summon the same
creature each time, and it is generally
willing to help you achieve your goals.
You do not need to perform a Skill test
to make it obey you, and it will not at-
tack you unless you attack it first. You will
need to work with your GM before play
to determine the nature of this creature,
why you are able to summon it, and its
relationship with your character.
If your summoned ally is killed, the GM
should work with the player to insure
that this Power does not become useless,
either by letting the character summon a
different creature or swap out this Power
for another.
Paragon Enhancements
ªªExtended Duration (Day): Once activated,
your summoned creature remains for the
remainder of the day, or about 12 hours.
ªªMaster Summoner: For the purposes of
using this Power, your Affinity Ability is
considered 2 higher.
ªªStable Master: You may summon one ad-
ditional type of creature. The cost of this
Power is always based on the most pow-
erful creature you can summon.
Super Speed
Power Level: Heroic
Activation Time: Major Action
Duration: Scene
Example Power Aspects: Nanowire Muscle
Fibers, Seven-League Boots, Haste Spell
There’s fast, insanely fast, and too fast. Past
that, there’s you. You possess speed in excess
of what should be physically possible, making
you capable of clearly supernatural feats. At
higher Power Levels you become little more
than a blur to onlookers.
In a Conflict, you may move two zones as a
Minor Action or two additional Zones when
you Hustle. When Running, determine the
number of zones you’d be able to move
without this Power, then double it.
Outside of a Conflict, with fewer distractions
and obstructions, you can reach some truly
incendiary speeds. If you need to know the
numbers, multiply your Affinity by 5, and add
20. This is the miles per hour/kilometers per
hour you can achieve with a sprint.
So if you have an Affinity of 3, you could sprint
at a speed of 35 mph/kmph.
However, if you suffer an impact at these
speeds, you suffer an amount of damage equal
to 9 minus your Mobility Skill rating. And armor
doesn’t help!
Limitations
ªªBurst Speed: You’re able to dash at in-
credible velocities, but sustaining it is an-
other story. You do not gain the benefits
of your Super Speed outside of a Conflict.
ªªSprinter: Your brain can’t keep up to your
body – you may not apply your Super
Speed in a Conflict.
Heroic Enhancements
ªªExtended Sprint (Hour): Once activated,
you may use this Power to sprint outside
of a Conflict for up to an hour.
ªªFlurry: Once per scene, while this Power is
active, you may make an melee or ranged
attack as an Instant Action. You may not
use this Flurry with weapons that have
the Slow Firing Aspect.
ªªInstant Activation: You may activate this
Power as an Instant Action.
161
ªªNegotiable Physics: You can move at in-
credible velocities; as long as there’s a
surface to move along, you can do things
that seem frankly impossible. Running
up walls, sprinting across the surface of
a lake, even traversing upside-down – as
long as you keep moving, you’re too fast
THE BASICS
for gravity. You must be either Hustling or
Running for this power to function; if you
cease doing so, you lose the benefits of
this enhancement, and gravity would like
a word with you.
CHARACTERS
ªªSnap Reflexes: Your speed makes you dif-
ficult to land a hit on. While this Power
is active, you may use Mobility to defend
against Unarmed, Melee, or Ranged at-
tacks, even when dealing with fast-mov-
ing projectiles and beam weapons. Ad-
STRANDS
ditionally, if you are ever surprised (pg.
12), you may make a Reflexes test to
avoid being surprised as a Reflex Action.
Paragon Enhancements
GAMEPLAY
ªªBlur: You’re incredibly difficult to land a
solid hit on. When wearing light or no
armor, and this Power is active, you gain
a bonus to your Armor Rating equal to
your Affinity Skill rating.
ªªMobile Defense: You’re just too fast to get
PERKS
a bead on. In any round that you have
Hustled or Run, you may add your Mobil-
ity as a bonus to defend against the first
attack made against you.
ªªParagon Sprinter: Outside of Conflict,
POWERS
multiply your Affinity by 5, and then mul-
tiply that number by 10. This is the miles
per hour/kilometers per hour you can
achieve with a sprint.
If you suffer an impact, the damage is
equal to 12 minus your Mobility Skill
rating. GEAR
ªªTime in a Bottle: You move so fast, you’ve
got plenty of time to prepare. Once per
scene, you may make a Declaration relat-
MASTERY
ed to your Power Aspect for free.
GAME
Mythic Enhancements
ªªBlitz: It’s not just about the number of
attacks – you use your speed to create
DEVIATIONS
openings, revealing the weak spots in
your targets’ defenses, and striking ac-
cordingly. When making an unarmed at-
tack, add your Affinity Skill to your DR.
Continued on next page...
CONTENTS
 THE BASICS
CHARACTERS
STRANDS
ªªHyper-Mobile Defense: Requires Mobile
GAMEPLAY
Defense. In any round that you have Hus-
tled or Run, you may add your Mobility
as a bonus to defend against all melee or
ranged attacks.
ªªImpossible Physics: Requires Negotiable
Physics. At this point, your speed is quite
PERKS
literally the stuff of myths. Running up a
stream of bullets, leaping across falling
cherry blossoms – if there’s a surface,
you can traverse it, so long as you keep
moving.
POWERS
ªªMythic Sprinter: Outside of Conflict, mul-
tiply your Affinity by 5, and then multi-
ply that number by 100. This is the miles
per hour/kilometers per hour you can
achieve with a sprint.
GEAR
If you suffer an impact, the damage is
equal to 15 minus your Mobility Skill
rating!
ªªNewtonian Defiance: If you suffer a colli-
sion while sprinting, the amount of dam-
MASTERY
age you take is reduced by an amount
GAME
equal to your Affinity x2.
ªªPrecise Flurry: Requires Flurry. Rather
than just flailing at a high velocity, you’ve
actually trained at these speeds. You are
DEVIATIONS
Favored whenever you attack as an In-
stant action.
ªªSonic Boom: Requires Mythic Sprinter. By
localizing your speed burst, you can stra-
tegically break the sound barrier, causing
162
CONTENTS
immense discomfort to anyone nearby.
You may spend a Fate Point to make an
Area of Effect Attack as a Major Action
against everyone in the zone you cur-
rently occupy. This attack is made using
your Mobility Skill, and has an Explosive
Rating equal to your Affinity.
Victims defend with their Might, and
the damage is mitigated by armor.
Legendary Enhancements
ªªHypersonic: You’re damn-near impossi-
ble to land a clean hit on. When wearing
light or no armor, you gain a +3 bonus to
Defend against all physical attacks you
are aware of.
ªªLegendary Flurry: Requires Flurry. You
may unleash one additional flurry per
scene.
ªªLegendary Sprinter: Outside of Conflict,
multiply your Affinity by 5, and then mul-
tiply that number by 1000. This is the
miles per hour/kilometers per hour you
can achieve with a sprint.
If you suffer an impact, the damage is
equal to 18 minus your Mobility Skill
rating!!!
ªªSonic Superiority: Requires Sonic Boom.
In any turn in which you Run, you may
also make a Sonic Boom attack against a
single zone you pass through. This is an
Instant Action and does not cost the usu-
al Fate Point to activate.
Super Strength
Power Level: Heroic
Activation Time: Major Action
Duration: Scene
Example Power Aspects: Hydraulic Cyber-
Limbs, Belt of the Iron Gigas, Monstrous
Mutant Strength
You possess strength beyond that of mortal
human beings, and are capable of obviously
supernatural feats of strength. Though you
may not be physically larger, you gain +1 to
your Size rating (pg. 90), which affects
several things, such as your lift capacity; a
normal human with the Super Strength Power
could bench-press a large motorcycle with
little effort, and someone with Might 3 could
lift a sports car over their head.
You may add your Size modifier to any Might
tests that benefit directly from your strength.
In addition, you may apply your Size modifier
as a bonus to the Damage Rating of unarmed
or melee weapon attacks; though be careful -
many weapons are not designed to withstand
that kind of strain, and the GM may Compel
your Power Aspect to declare that you’ve
shattered, warped, or otherwise damaged
such weapons.
Note: This effective increase in Size does not
affect the number of stress boxes you have.
Limitations
ªªCombat Limited: You do not apply your
Size modifier to Damage Rating.
ªªPoor Lifter: You do not apply your Size
modifier to lift capacity or Maneuvers
that require Might.
Heroic Enhancements
ªªHeroic Leap: You can leap, flat footed, a
height equal to your Might +1 in yards/
meters.
When running and jumping, you can
clear a distance equal to your Might +10
in yards/meters.
ªªHeroic Potency: Your Size Rating is effec-
tively increased by an additional +1.
ªªInstant Activation: You may activate this
Power as an Instant Action.
ªªExtended Duration (Day): Once activated,
your Super Strength lasts the remainder
of the day, or about 12 hours.
163
Paragon Enhancements
ªªParagon Leap: Requires Heroic Leap. You
can leap, flat footed, a height equal to
your Might +1, x2 in yards/meters.
When running and jumping, you can
clear a distance equal to your Might +10,
THE BASICS
x2 in yards/meters.
ªªParagon Potency: Increase your effective
Size Rating by an additional +1.
ªªExtended Duration (Permanent): Reduce
CHARACTERS
your Refresh Rating by 1. Your Super
Strength is “always on,” and need not be
activated.
Mythic Enhancements
ªªMythic Leap: Requires Paragon Leap. You
STRANDS
can leap, flat footed, a height equal to
your Might +1, x5 in yards/meters.
When running and jumping, you can
clear a distance equal to your Might +10,
x5 in yards/meters.
GAMEPLAY
ªªMythic Potency: Increase your effective
Size Rating by an additional +1.
ªªShockwave: Requires Mythic Potency.
By clapping your hands or stomping the
ground, you may spend a Fate Point to
PERKS
make an Area of Effect Attack as a Major
Action against everyone in the zone you
currently occupy. This attack is made us-
ing your Might Skill, and has an Explosive
Rating equal to your Affinity.
Victims defend with their Might, and
POWERS
the damage is mitigated by armor.
Legendary Enhancements
ªªLegendary Leap: Requires Mythic Leap.
You can leap, flat footed, a height equal
to your Might +1, x10 in yards/meters. GEAR
When running and jumping, you can
clear a distance equal to your Might +10,
x10 in yards/meters.
MASTERY
ªªLegendary Potency: Increase your effec-
GAME
tive Size Rating by an additional +1.
ªªThunderstrike: Requires Shockwave. Your
blows land with explosive force. When-
ever you Surge on an unarmed or melee
DEVIATIONS
attack, you may elect to perform a Shock-
wave instead of creating an Aspect. This
does not cost the usual Fate Point re-
quired to use Shockwave.
CONTENTS
 Telekinesis
Power Level: Heroic
Activation Time: Major Action to activate and
affect object at the same time
Duration: Turn or Instant
THE BASICS
Range: Short
Example Power Aspects: Psionic Mind Over
Matter, Magical Force Spell
You have the ability to control objects at a
distance, without physically touching them,
CHARACTERS
using an invisible force.
Each activation allows you to manipulate
the object for one turn. Once activated, you
may move an object, attack by striking or
crushing your target with telekinetic force,
STRANDS
or performing a Maneuver as if you were
interacting with the target with a pair of giant
invisible “hands”.
The Might and Precision of your telekinetic
“hands” is equal to your Affinity Skill rating.
GAMEPLAY
For the purpose of lifting objects, they are
considered to be Size 0.
When striking with your telekinesis, your
targets are able to defend with their Mobility,
but suffer Disfavor due to an inability to see
the force that’s assaulting them.
PERKS
Limitations
ªªVisible Force: Your telekinetic force is vis-
ible to others. It appears as a phantom
POWERS
hand, translucent tendrils of glowing
mist originating from you, or something
similar. Enemies you attack with your
Telekinesis do not suffer Disfavor on their
defense tests.
ªªLimited Direction: You may only move ob-
GEAR
jects in a fixed direction relative to your-
self. When you purchase this Limitation,
you must decide whether you can “Push”
the affected object away from you, “Pull”
the object closer to you, “Lift” the target
MASTERY
GAME
straight up, or “Shift” the object laterally
to one side or the other.
Heroic Enhancements
DEVIATIONS
ªªEnhanced Precision: Your Telekinetic
“hands’” Precision is increased by +2.
ªªEnhanced Might: Your Telekinetic
“hands’” Might is increased by +2.
164
CONTENTS
Paragon Enhancements
ªªExtended Duration (Scene): Once acti-
vated, you may utilize your telekinetic
“hands” as a Major Action, for the du-
ration of the scene, without the need to
activate this Power again.
ªªExtended Range (Medium): Your Teleki-
nesis can target characters or objects at
Medium range.
ªªMultikinesis: Once per scene, while this
Power is active, you may attack or ma-
nipulate an abject as an Instant Action.
ªªParagon Force: Requires Enhanced Might.
Your telekinetic “hands” are considered
to be Size 1 for the purpose of lifting ob-
jects, and their Might is increased by +2.
Mythic Enhancements
ªªAt-Will Activation: Reduce your Refresh
Rating by 1. You may activate this Power
at will, at no cost, or without the need to
make any sort of Skill test. Activation is
an Instant Action.
ªªCrushing Will: Your Telekinesis manifests
as a crushing downward force, like a lo-
calized surge in gravity. Select a zone
within Medium range. The zone gains
the Crushing Force(M) Aspect and you
may use your Affinity to place a Block on
everyone in the affected zone, as you at-
tempt to prevent them from moving by
smashing them into the ground.
ªªExtended Range (Long): Your Telekinesis
can target characters or objects at Long
range.
ªªMythic Force: Requires Paragon Force.
Your telekinetic “hands” are considered
to be Size 3 for the purpose of lifting ob-
jects, and their Might is increased by an
additional +2.
Legendary Enhancements
ªªLegendary Force: Requires Mythic Force.
Your telekinetic “hands” are considered
to be Size 5 for the purpose of lifting ob-
jects, and their Might is increased by an
additional +2.
Teleportation
Power Level: Paragon
Activation Time: Major Action
Duration: Instant
Range: Long
Example Power Aspects: Psionic Teleportation,
Dimension warping Spell, Portal Generator
You can instantly move from one location to
another that you can see, within range. You
may carry with you any equipment on your
body, a small object in each hand, or a larger
object of a Size rating no larger than your own
in both hands.
Teleported objects maintain the same
velocity and direction of travel they had before
teleporting. So if you jump off a building
and teleport just before you hit the ground,
you aren’t saved from the impact. You’ll just
splatter elsewhere. Though teleporting over
water might be better than concrete!
Limitations
ªªLink: Requires Unlimited Range. Your
method of teleportation requires that
you make some kind of connection to
your target location. The type of connec-
tion could be a phone call to that loca-
tion, a beam of light or any other mun-
dane connection between locations.
ªªWarp: Your method of teleportation re-
quires that no barriers be between your-
self and your target location. So if you
could not walk or fly to the target loca-
tion without encountering any obstacles,
you cannot teleport there.
Paragon Enhancements
ªªShared: You may bring some other person
or object you touch with you when you
Teleport. If using the Unlimited Range
Enhancement you suffer a penalty on
your Affinity test equal to the object or
person’s Size +2.
ªªSpatial Swap: When you activate this Pow-
er, you and one other creature you can
see instantly swap places. When using
your Teleport Power in this way, if your
target is unwilling, you must generate at
least one Shift in a contest between your
Affinity and your target’s Resolve.
165
Mythic Enhancements
ªªBlink: You may spend a Fate Point to ac-
tivate this Power as an Instant Action in-
stead of a Major Action.
ªªPortal: Requires Unlimited Range. When
you activate this Power, you may instead
THE BASICS
elect to rip a hole in the fabric of space.
The portal connects two locations, and
stays open for a number of turns equal to
your Affinity Skill rating.
The portal has a maximum diameter
CHARACTERS
equal to your Affinity Skill in yards/
meters.
ªªPrecision Teleportation: Requires Unlim-
ited Range. You are Favored on your Af-
finity Skill test to target your destination.
STRANDS
ªªUnlimited Range: You may teleport over
great distances, to locations you cannot
see. This can be dangerous, but the more
familiar you are with your target area,
the easier it is to teleport there.
GAMEPLAY
Make an Affinity Skill test when you
activate this Power. The Difficulty is set
by the single most appropriate modifier
from the Sympathy Modifiers table on
page 137.
If you generate at least 1 Shift, you
PERKS
instantly disappear from where you are
currently standing and appear at your
chosen destination.
If you fail, you do not teleport.
If you Stall, you teleport to a random
POWERS
location, and suffer stress from the
uncontrolled warping of space and/
or teleporting into another object. The
amount of stress suffered is equal to the
amount by which you failed, x2.
Legendary Enhancements GEAR
ªªLegendary Blink: Requires the Blink En-
hancement. Instead of spending a Fate
Point, you may instead elect to make an
Affinity Skill test against a Difficulty of 3.
MASTERY
GAME
If you generate at least 1 Shift, you may
activate this Power as an Instant Action.
If you fail, you must either spend a Fate
Point or this Power fails to activate.
DEVIATIONS
CONTENTS
 Terrify Paragon Enhancements
Power Level: Heroic ªªHorrific: You are Favored on your Affinity
Activation Time: Major Action Skill test to Terrify your target.
Duration: Scene ªªAura of Terror: You may attempt to terrify
Range: Medium every person in the zone you occupy or
an adjacent zone.
THE BASICS

Example Power Aspects: Magical Enchantment

Spell, Psychic Dread, Mutant Fear Pheromones
You have the ability to instill a sense of terror
in your foes. You must be able to see your
target, and they must be able to see you.
CHARACTERS
ªªFear of the Unknown: The target need not
see you. You need only be able to see the
target yourself. In this case, the imposed
Aspect relates to a more general sense

of fear instead of fearing you specifical-

To do this, contest your Affinity against your
target’s Resolve. The number of Shifts you
generate, if any, determine the effectiveness
of this Power.
Note, if your target’s Power Level exceeds
STRANDS
ly. However, if the defending opponent
generates Spin on their Resolve defense
test, they sense that their emotions are
being artificially manipulated. And, with
a Surge, they may even sense the general
direction you are in.

your own, you suffer Disfavor on your Affinity

Skill test to Terrify them.
Shifts Outcome
-3 or less (Stall) In addition to failing to
Thermal Vision
GAMEPLAY

Terrify your target, you Power Level: Heroic

strengthen their Resolve.
They become Favored
on all other attempts to
resist your Terrify Power
until you increase your
PERKS
Activation Time: Minor Action
Duration: Scene
Example Power Aspects: Selective Mutation,
Cybernetic Eyes, Dwarven Heritage

Affinity Skill rating.
-1 or less Your Power has no effect,
and you fail to instill any
Terror in your target.
POWERS
This Power, when activated, gives the ability
to perceive in darkened or obscured areas by
sensing the comparative heat levels of different
objects and the ambient heat of the air.
You gain the Thermal Vision Aspect.

0 Your target gains the Anx-

ious of X(m) Aspect, Heroic Enhancements
where “X” is your charac-
ter’s name. ªªPermanent Thermal Vision: This Power
is always active. When exposed to low
1-2 Your target gains the light, your eyes adjust naturally to detect
GEAR

Scared of X Aspect, where heat as a Reflex action.

“X” is your character’s
name.
3+ (Spin!) Your target gains the Terri-
fied of X(M) Aspect where
MASTERY
GAME

“X” is your character’s

name.
5+ (Surge!!) As Spin, but your foe also
suffers Disfavor on all
DEVIATIONS

attempts to resist your

Terrify Power until they
increase their Resolve
Skill rating.

166
CONTENTS
Universal Enhancements
The following Enhancements may be applied
to any Power.
Like all Enhancements, you may gain a
Universal Enhancement in exchange for taking
a Limitation of a Power Level equal to, or less
than, your own. Or you may take a Universal
Enhancement any time a Perk grants you a free
Enhancement.
Heroic Enhancements
ªªDuplicate Power: You gain another ver-
sion of the Power you apply this En-
hancement to. The new version is of the
same Power Level as the original Power,
but has a different Power Aspect, and its
own Enhancements and Limitations.
For example, you might learn the Bolt
Power, and give it a Power Aspect of Ray
of Magical Flame. You may then take this
Enhancement, and gain a second Bolt
Power with a Power Aspect of Frozen Ball
of Magical Ice.
Each Enhancement or Limitation you
take after this only applies to one version
of your Power; you’ll need to choose
which at the time the Enhancement or
Limitation is selected.
You may take Duplicate Power multiple
times, each time gaining another version
of the associated Power.
Paragon Enhancements
ªªLinked Power: When you add this En-
hancement to a Power, select one other
Power you already know.
These two Powers become Linked, and
activate at the same time, on the same
target(s), as part of the same action.
For example, you may add Linked Power
to Affliction and select Imbue Creature.
These two Powers become linked, are
activated as a single Power, and both
effect the target at the same time.
Linked Power is especially useful
when you want to use Powers to create
complex effects, or model elaborate
transformations. A werewolf character,
for example, might link Body Weaponry,
Super Strength and Heal, which all
activate when he transforms.
Universal Limitations may be applied
to the entire “bundle” of Linked Powers,
treating them all as a single Power.
167
In general, most of the parameters of
the linked power set are equal to the
“worst“ parameter of each of the linked
Powers.
Power Level: The Power Level of the
Linked Powers is equal to the highest
THE BASICS
Power Level featured among the Linked
Powers.
Activation: All of the Linked Powers
activate as a single Power. If, for example,
you have a Talent that requires you to
CHARACTERS
make an Affinity Skill test to activate
Powers, you only need to perform one
test to activate the whole linked set.
If any of the Linked Powers require
additional costs or special Skill tests, all
of the costs must be paid or Skill tests
STRANDS
made before any Power is activated.
If any Power in the Linked Power set
fails to activate, the whole set fails.
Activation Time: All of the Powers in the
bundle have the same Activation time,
GAMEPLAY
which is the same as the Linked Power
with the longest Activation Time.
For example, if one has an Activation
time of Instant Action, and the other has
an Activation Time of Major Action, the
Activation Time for the entire bundle
PERKS
becomes a Major Action.
Duration: The Duration for all Linked
Powers is equal to the Duration of the
Linked Power with the shortest Duration.
For example, if one has Duration of 1
POWERS
hour, and the other has a Duration of
Scene, the Duration for the entire bundle
becomes Scene.
Range: The Range for all Linked Powers
is equal to the Range of the Linked Power
with the shortest Range.
GEAR
For example, if one has Range of Short,
and the other has a Range of Self, the
Range for the entire bundle becomes
Self.
MASTERY
You may take Linked Power multiple
GAME
times, each time either creating a new set
of Linked Powers, or adding an additional
Power to an existing set.
DEVIATIONS
CONTENTS
 Universal Limitations
The following Limitations may be applied
to any Power that meets the Limitation’s
prerequisites (if it has any).
Like all Limitations, by taking one, you gain
THE BASICS

the option to select an Enhancement of a

Power Level equal to, or less than, your own.
The Enhancement provided by a Universal
Limitation may be applied to any Power you
know. This may be the Power to which the
CHARACTERS

Universal Limitation is applied, or a different

Power you know.
ªªConditional Activation (Standard or Ma-
jor): You may only activate the associated
Power under specific circumstances. Ex-
amples include:
STRANDS

• You have suffered a Wound

• You are drunk or some other special item. If the item is
• You have tasted another’s blood in especially hard to obtain, retain, or hard
the last 12 hours to transport, the GM may allow you to
GAMEPLAY

• Must drink a cup of holy water take this as a Major Limitation.

• Must have had sex with another
person in the last 12 hours
More exotic, or infrequently occurring
conditions may result in a Major
Limitation. Examples include
PERKS
ªªRitual Activation: Activating a Power with
this Limitation takes much longer than
normal. If the Power Level of the affected
Power is equal to your own, the activa-
tion time of the Power is increased by an

additional hour.
• Must see a full moon
If the Power has a Power Level less
• Must swallow a wedding ring than your own, the activation time is
• Must eat a pound of uncooked, only increased by one Scene, or about 5
recently dead, flesh minutes.
POWERS

• Must draw an ace from a deck of
cards (may only draw once per
turn, and may only be applied to a
Power with a duration of Scene or
shorter)
GEAR
You may not apply this Limitation to a
Power with a permanent duration, or
with the At-Will Activation Enhancement.
ªªTaxing Activation: You must spend a Fate
Point in addition to the normal activation

ªªCrippling (Major): Select a Skill in which requirements as determined by your At-

you have a rating of 3 or higher. While
the associated Power is active, or until
the end of the Scene (whichever is lon-
ger), your rating in the selected Skill is
MASTERY
tainment.
You may not apply this Limitation to
a Power with a duration greater than
one day, or with the At-Will Activation

effectively 0. Enhancement.
GAME

ªªDiminishing: Select two Skills. While the
associated Power is active, or until the
end of the Scene (whichever is longer),
you suffer a -2 penalty on all tests with
DEVIATIONS
ªªWounding (Standard or Major): When
you activate the Power associated
with this Limitation, you suffer a Minor
Wound.

the selected Skills. You may not apply this Limitation to a

ªªFocus Item (Standard or Major): You can-
not use your Power unless you are able
to wield a focus item, such as a magic
wand, a crystal ball, a bag of pixie dust,
Power with a duration greater than one
hour.
This Limitation may be taken as a Major
Limitation, but deals a Major Wound
instead of a Minor one.

168
CONTENTS
Weaknesses
You have some sort of weakness, be it an
allergy to a type of material, vulnerability to
a certain type of attack, some condition that
makes you lose your Powers, etc.
Weaknesses are like Limitations in that they
you typically elect to take them in exchange for
some benefit.
The benefit gained from taking a Weakness
depends on how frequent it is likely to be a
problem for you, how damaging it can be, or
how much of an inconvenience it is.
Weaknesses fall into three separate categories
based on how much they are likely to cause
you problems, and the benefits they provide.
See below for what types of benefits you may
gain from taking Weaknesses, and examples of
different Weaknesses for each category.
You may select multiple Weaknesses, but no
more than one of each type (Minor, Major or
Severe).
Minor Weaknesses
When you take a Minor Weakness, you may
select one of the following benefits.
• You may add an Enhancement to one of
your Powers.
• You may increase a single Skill with a
rating less than 4 by 1.
• You do not cast a reflection.
• Animals are naturally terrified of you.
Sample Minor Weaknesses
• The smell of garlic results in a physical
attack (+2 Damage Rating) resisted by
Might.
• You cannot harm an innocent. Doing so
costs you a FP and you suffer Disfavor on
all tests related to activating or using your
Powers until you atone for your crime.
• You must perform elaborate rituals
that take at least an hour, or consume
some mundane substance, each day or
temporarily lose your Powers until you are
able to do so.
• A Wound from an attack with a wooden
weapon robs you of all of your Powers
until the sun goes down.
• You cannot tell a lie, or willingly allow
another to be deceived by you. If you do,
your Affinity Skill is reduced by -3 for 24
hours.
169
• Holy water burns you like acid (+4 Weapon
Rating) every round you are exposed.
• If you do not act in accordance with the
will of your patron, you lose access to your
Powers until you make amends.
• Permanently reduce a Skill with a rating of
THE BASICS
0 to -1.
Major Weaknesses
When you take a Major Weakness, you may
select one of the following benefits.
CHARACTERS
• You may add two Enhancements to your
Powers. You may add them both to the
same Power, or you may add one to two
different Powers.
• You may increase a single Skill with a
rating less than 5 by 1.
STRANDS
• You may gain a free Grounded or Heroic
Perk.
• You may gain one new Heroic Power.
Sample Major Weaknesses
GAMEPLAY
• You suffer double damage when harmed
by a silver weapon or bullet.
• You must perform dangerous rituals or
consume some rare substance each day
or temporarily lose your Powers until you
are able to do so.
PERKS
• You are blind and do not possess some
other sense to compensate.
• You suffer a -3 penalty on all Skill tests
made during the day time.
POWERS
Severe Weaknesses
When you take a Severe Weakness, you may
select one of the following benefits.
• You may add three Enhancements to your
Powers in any combination you choose.
• You may increase a single Skill with a GEAR
rating less than 6 by 1.
• You may gain a free Grounded, Heroic or
Paragon Perk.
MASTERY
• You may gain one new Paragon, or lesser,
GAME
Power.
Sample Severe Weaknesses
• You suffer double the physical stress when
DEVIATIONS
successfully attacked with a weapon made
of iron or steel.
• Exposure to water robs you of all of your
Powers until dawn.
• Sun light burns you (+6 Damage Rating)
every round you are exposed.
CONTENTS
 DEVIATIONS GAME GEAR POWERS PERKS GAMEPLAY STRANDS CHARACTERS THE BASICS
MASTERY

CONTENTS
170
Chapter 7
CHAPTER 2
Purchasing Items and Services
All items have a Cost rating, which determines
how rare or valuable it is. If something is
ranked with a Cost of 1 or more, it requires a
Resources test to purchase. The Difficulty on
this test is equal to the Cost of the item.
If you succeed, you purchase the item and
may continue to make purchases in this
manner until you fail a test.
If you fail, you are unable to scrape together
the resources at the moment. In addition, you
may not attempt another purchase of that
item, or an item of equal or greater Cost, this
session. The GM may, however, allow you to
attempt another purchase if your character
comes into some money during the session.
If you Stall, your Resources rating is
temporarily reduced by 1 until you come into
a new windfall of cash, or until you Refresh.
When you Refresh, your rating is restored by
1 rank.
You may spend Fate Points to Invoke relevant
Aspects to help purchase equipment.
Cost Ratings
An item’s Cost is the measure of the average
value of an item. Generally the Cost is about
4x more expensive than an item of the next
lowest Cost. So with that in mind, in a modern
setting Costs would work out something like
this:
Cost Rating Estimated Value in US Dollars
0 Around $6
1 Around $25
2 Around $100
3 Around $400
4 Around $1,600
etc… etc…
Note that GMs may decide to adjust the Cost
of an item depending on the setting Tech-
Level, how much demand there is for the item,
whether or not its legal to own, how hard it is
to purchase or transport, etc.
171
Gear
THE BASICS
The Costs for items listed in the tables later
in this chapter are based on the Cost of the
item during the Tech-Level in which it was
introduced. For example, a Light Pistol was
introduced in TL 4, so the Cost listed is based on
CHARACTERS
a TL 4 campaign. In later TL campaigns, it might
be cheaper since more advanced weapons are
commonplace or maybe even more expensive
if it is viewed as an antique. Get with your GM
to determine exact pricing.
STRANDS
Item Statistics
This section deals with defining pieces of
equipment in game terms. Pieces of equipment
GAMEPLAY
not given stats in this chapter are either too
insignificant to need stats, or have been left
up to the GM to create themselves, using the
existing items as guidelines.
Most all items will have one or more of the
following statistics:
PERKS
Damage Rating (DR)
A weapon’s Damage Rating (DR) is added to
the amount of stress inflicted on a successful
attack. If the attack misses, the Damage Rating
POWERS
has no effect.
Armor Rating (AR)
A suit of armor’s Armor Rating (AR) indicates
the amount of stress it negates from a
successful hit. For example, if you have an AR GEAR
of 2 and you are hit for 3 points of physical
stress, you would only check one stress box.
Explosive Rating (ExR)
MASTERY
Explosives allow you to make an attack
GAME
against everyone in the target zone, and the
explosive’s Explosive Rating (ExR) is added as a
bonus to the attack test.
Explosive weapons have an Area rating, which
DEVIATIONS
determines the number of zones affected.
Equipment Rating (ER)
The Equipment Rating (ER) for tools indicates
the bonus gained on a Skill test when that tool
is used in a relevant way.
CONTENTS
 Range Rating
A weapon’s Range is the maximum number
of zones away the target can be without the
attacker suffering penalties.
See pg. 75 for more on Range. Ranges
marked with “TH” indicate that the item may
THE BASICS
be thrown, in which case it has a Short range.
You suffer Disfavor on attacks when throwing
a weapon not designed to be thrown.
Minimum Might
CHARACTERS
Weapons: To wield a weapon effectively, your
character’s Might rating (plus their Size rating)
must equal or exceed the weapon’s Minimum
Might rating.
You may wield a weapon with a Minimum
STRANDS
Might Rating 1 greater than your effective
Might, but when doing so, you must either use
two hands or suffer Disfavor.
So a Halfling (Size -1) with a Might rating of
2, could use a weapon with a Minimum Might
GAMEPLAY
Rating of 1 in one hand, or a weapon with a
Minimum Might Rating of 2 in two hands.
If the same Halfling tried to wield a weapon
with a Minimum Might Rating of 2 with one
hand, or a Minimum Might of 3 with two
PERKS
hands, they’d suffer Disfavor on their attack
tests.
Shields: When wielding a shield, your Might
must meet or exceed the shield’s Minimum
Might to gain the Defense bonus it provides. If
POWERS
it does not, the shield provides no bonus.
Armor: If your Might does not meet or exceed
your armor’s Minimum Might Rating, you
suffer Disfavor on all Reflexes and Mobility
tests.
GEAR
Equipment Modifications
Accessories and modifications may be added
MASTERY
GAME
or made into various weapons, armor, or other
equipment. These provide the items with
Aspects. For example, adding a scope to a rifle
may add the Scoped Aspect.
DEVIATIONS
Adding an Aspect to an item increases its Cost
by +1 for every Aspect added, and you may not
add more than 2 Aspects this way.
The GM may also allow you to add primarily
negative Aspects, such as Poorly Maintained,
to an item to decrease its Cost by -1.
172
CONTENTS
Other Notes
Beam Weapon – These weapons fire a
constant stream of focused energy. You may
use beam weapon special attacks (pg. 82).
Full Auto – These weapons feature extremely
high rates of fire. You may use full-auto weapon
special attacks (pg. 85).
Pulse – These powered melee weapons utilize
a power supply to emit a blast of kinetic force,
delivering it to the target when struck.
Mono-Edged – These bladed melee weapons
are created with an almost infinitely sharp
edge. At the very tip of the edge, a single
carbon nanotube runs the length of the blade.
Such weapons never need to be sharpened,
but over time may need to have their leading
edge (the nanotube “wire”) replaced. Despite
the advanced technology required to build
them, mono-edged weapons do not require
power to function.
Shotgun – Weapons with this trait fire a
blast of projectiles in a cone-shaped pattern.
Because of this, their DR is higher at short
range, and decreases at longer ranges.
High Capacity – Weapons with this trait tend
to hold a lot of ammo. Any time you need to
make a Skill test to see if you’ve ran out of
ammo, you do so with Favor.
Ammunition and Ammo Checks
When you purchase a ranged weapon, you get
3 units of ammunition for free. A unit of ammo
represents an abstract amount of individual
bullets, shells, arrows, etc. A single unit might
be 6 rounds in a revolver, a magazine worth of
bullets for an assault rifle, 5 arrows, etc. The
amount of ammo in a Unit is left intentionally
vague since Strands of Fate isn’t about tracking
every bullet or beam fired.
So when do you run out of ammo? The GM
can call for an ammo check whenever they feel
like you’ve been expending ammo at a high
enough rate to justify it - usually after 3-4 turns
spent attacking with a ranged weapon. This is a
Reasoning test, usually against a Difficulty of 2.
Also note that certain special Full-Auto (pg.
85) attacks may require you to make an
ammo check immediately.
Should you fail to generate any Shifts on
the ammo check, you run out of ammo. Your
current Unit is spent and you’ll need to reload.
 Reloading is typically a Major Action.
Additional units of ammo have a Cost of 1.
You may purchase 4 units of ammo for a Cost
of 2, or 16 for a Cost of 3.
A character may typically carry a total number
of ammo units equal to 3 + their Might Skill
rating. This assumes that the character is
wearing an ammo belt, a quiver, a hip pouch,
or whatever you would normally carry your
weapon’s extra ammo in.
Item Aspects
Aspects of items such as weapons or armor
can be Invoked just like normal Aspects.
You have the Aspect just by wielding the
weapon, wearing the armor, or holding
the item. Item Aspects are ways to inject
some realistic-feeling tactical detail into
combat. For example, if you‘re using a
dagger and you get into close combat
with a halberd wielder, you might Invoke
their halberd’s Huge(M) Aspect to get a
bonus to attack or defend against them
in tight quarters.
Aspects are listed in italics
in tables to separate
them from other notes.
Common weapon and
armor Aspects are as
follows, with some advice on
how to use them:
Anti-Vehicular – These weapons are
specifically designed to deal damage to
vehicles and hardened equipment. Hand-held
weapons typically aren’t powerful enough
to deal significant damage to most types of
vehicles. And in those cases, this Aspect might
be Invoked to allow you to potentially damage
a vehicle that you might otherwise not be able
to.
Armor Penetrating – Rounds fired from these
weapons move very quickly and fragment
little, packing enough focused kinetic energy to
penetrate the toughest armor. However, since
these rounds tend to fragment less and usually
pass cleanly through the body, they are often
less damaging to soft targets than rounds that
break up and/or get stuck on impact.
Bulky – This item is heavy, cumbersome, and/
or unbalanced. It can often be Compelled to
hinder movement or balance, and is tiresome
to carry or wear for long periods of time.
173
Huge(M) – These weapons are massive in
size, very heavy, and next to impossible to
hide. They deal tremendous damage, but do
not work well in confined areas. You might
Invoke this Aspect for intimidation, or it may
be Compelled to indicate collateral damage
THE BASICS
when fighting in close quarters or striking
at targets very close to you. This Aspect can
also be Compelled by others to give them an
advantage in initiative or to force a penalty any
time a weapon this large is used one-handed.
CHARACTERS
Large – These weapons are awkward and
heavy. While they offer substantial damage
potential, they are cumbersome. Typically,
this Aspect is Compelled by others to get
an advantage to interrupt you, or it can be
Compelled when you try to hide such
STRANDS
weapons. This Aspect could also
be Compelled any time you use a
weapon this big with one
hand.
Long – These melee
GAMEPLAY
weapons are very long
and allow you to attack
enemies at a greater
distance than most. The GM
may allow you to Invoke this
Aspect to Declare that you can
PERKS
attack enemies in an adjacent
zone or even to gain a bonus to
interrupt an opponent who must
get by your weapon to get to you.
On Fire! – See page 84 for information
POWERS
on burning targets and zones. If you
have this Aspect placed on you, you are
effectively exposed to an Intensity 6 Fire
and will continue to take damage until it is
removed.
Slow Firing – These weapons take a little while GEAR
to prepare to fire, or take a few seconds to
acquire a target. This Aspect can be Compelled
on a turn after the weapon has been fired to
declare that the weapon is not yet ready to be
MASTERY
GAME
fired again.
Small – These weapons are small enough to
be hidden on the body, and work well in close
quarters combat. You might Invoke this Aspect
DEVIATIONS
for a bonus on tests to break ties or interrupt
actions, or attempts to hide the weapon.
However, their small size and light weight
mean they don’t fare well when defending
against larger weapons.
CONTENTS
 Firearms
Pistols DR/ExR Range TL Cost Notes and Aspects
Matchlock Pistol 3 Short 3 3 Slow Firing(M), Unreliable, Small
Light Revolver 3 Short 3 3 Reliable, Limited Ammo, Small
THE BASICS

Heavy Revolver 4 Short 3 4 Reliable, Limited Ammo, Small

Light Pistol 3 Short 4 3 Small
Heavy Pistol 4 Short 4 4 Small
Light Gauss Pistol 5 Short 5 3 Armor Penetrating, Small
CHARACTERS

Heavy Gauss Pistol 6 Short 5 4 Armor Penetrating, Small

Light Laser Pistol 6 Short 6 3 Beam Weapon, Small
Heavy Laser Pistol 7 Short 6 4 Beam Weapon, Small
STRANDS

Submachine Guns (SMGs) DR/ExR Range TL Cost Notes and Aspects

Light SMG 3 Short 4 4 Full Auto
Heavy SMG 4 Medium 4 5 Full Auto
Light Coil SMG 5 Medium 5 4 Full Auto
GAMEPLAY

Heavy Coil SMG 6 Medium 5 5 Full Auto

Light Laser SMG 7 Medium 6 4 Beam Weapon
Heavy Laser SMG 8 Medium 6 5 Beam Weapon
PERKS

Assault Rifles DR/ExR Range TL Cost Notes and Aspects

Carbine 5 Medium 4 4 Full Auto, Armor Penetrating, Large
Heavy Assault Rifle 6 Long 4 5 Full Auto, Armor Penetrating, Huge(M)
Coil Carbine 7 Long 5 4 Full Auto, Armor Penetrating, Large
POWERS

Heavy Coil Assault Rifle 8 Long 5 5 Full Auto, Armor Penetrating, Huge(M)
Gauss Carbine 8 Long 5 4 Armor Penetrating, Large
Heavy Gauss Assault Rifle 9 Long 5 5 Armor Penetrating, Huge(M)
Laser Carbine 10 Long 6 4 Beam Weapon, Large
GEAR

Heavy Laser Assault Rifle 11 Long 6 5 Beam Weapon, Huge(M)

Shotguns DR/ExR Range TL Cost Notes and Aspects

MASTERY

Light Shotgun +4/+3/+2 S/M/L 3 3 Large, Shotgun

GAME

Heavy Shotgun +5/+4/+3 S/M/L 3 4 Large, Shotgun

Light Gauss Array +6/+5/+4 S/M/L 5 4 Armor Penetrating, Large, Shotgun
Heavy Gauss Array +7/+6/+5 S/M/L 5 5 Armor Penetrating, Large, Shotgun
DEVIATIONS

174
CONTENTS
Rifles DR/ExR Range TL Cost Notes and Aspects
Musket 4 Medium 3 4 Huge(M), Slow Firing(M), Unreliable
Light Sniper Rifle 6 Long 4 4 Huge(M), Scope
Heavy Sniper Rifle 7 Extreme 4 5 Anti-Vehicular, Huge(M), Scope

THE BASICS
Anti-Vehicular, Armor Penetrating, Day/Night
Gauss Light Sniper Rifle 9 Extreme 5 4
Scope, Huge(M)
Anti-Vehicular, Armor Penetrating, Day/Night
Gauss Heavy Sniper Rifle 10 Extreme 5 5
Scope, Huge(M)
Light Laser Sniper Rifle 11 Extreme 6 4 Anti-Vehicular, D/N Scope, Huge(M)

CHARACTERS
Heavy Laser Sniper Rifle 12 Extreme 6 5 Anti-Vehicular, D/N Scope, Huge(M)

Heavy Weapons DR/ExR Range TL Cost Notes and Aspects

Full Auto, High Capacity, Armor Penetrating,
Light Machine Gun 5 Long 4 5

STRANDS
Huge(M)
Full Auto, High Capacity, Armor Penetrating,
Coil Light Automatic Rifle 6 Long 5 5
Huge(M)
Full Auto, High Capacity, Armor Penetrating,
Portable Minigun 6 Long 4 6

GAMEPLAY
Huge(M)
Full Auto, High Capacity, Armor Penetrating,
Portable Gauss Minigun 7 Long 5 6
Huge(M)
Beam Weapon, Anti-Vehicular, Huge(M), Slow
Heavy Laser Cannon 14 Extreme 6 7
Firing(M)

Light Plasma Flamer
Heavy Plasma Flamer
Grenade Launcher
PERKS
Targets who suffer stress, and the zone attacked,
4 Short 5 4
are On Fire; Huge(M)
Targets who suffer stress, and the zone attacked,
5 Medium 5 5
are On Fire; Huge(M)
Varies Medium 4 3 See grenades in “Explosives” below for DR

POWERS
Rocket Launcher (RPG) +9 (ExR) Long 4 5 Explosive, Anti-Vehicular, Huge(M)
Gauss Rocket Launcher +11 (ExR) Long 5 5 Explosive, Anti-Vehicular, Huge(M)
Firearms & Minimum Might: The Minimum Might Rating of the different types of firearms are as follows: Pistols 1,
SMGs 2, Carbines 2, Heavy Assault Rifles 3, Shotguns 2, Rifles 2, Hvy Weapons 4
GEAR
Explosives
Explosives ExR Area TL Cost Notes
Fragmentation Grenade 8 1 3 3
MASTERY
GAME

Incendiary Grenade 4 1 4 3 Places On Fire on target and target’s zone.

Targets in the zone, who suffer stress, are Stunned until
Stun Grenade 1 1 4 2
they succeed on a Resolve test (Diff: 2) as an Instant Action.
DEVIATIONS

See
EMP Grenade 1 5 3 ExR is +10 vs. machines, but only +1 vs. organic beings.
Notes
Plasma Grenade 10 1 6 3
Smoke Grenade None 1 3 2 Fills zone with smoke, granting the Smokey Aspect.
High Explosive Charge 10+TL 3 4 5 Attack roll uses Reasoning.

175
CONTENTS
 Slow Moving Projectiles
Min.
Projectile Weapons DR Range Might TL Cost Notes and Aspects
Sling 1 Short 0 1 1 Slow Firing(M)
Short Bow 3 Short 1 2 2 Large
THE BASICS

Long Bow 4 Medium 2 2 2 Armor Penetrating, Huge (M)

Compound Bow 5 Medium 2 2 3 Armor Penetrating, Huge(M)
Pistol Crossbow 3 Medium 0 2 2 Slow Firing, Small
CHARACTERS

Crossbow 4 Medium 1 2 3 Armor Penetrating, Large, Slow Firing

Heavy Crossbow 5 Long 2 2 4 Armor Penetrating, Huge(M), Slow Firing(M)

Melee Weapons
STRANDS

Min.
Bladed Weapons DR Range Might TL Cost Notes and Aspects
Knife / Dagger 2 Melee/TH 0 1 1 Small
GAMEPLAY

Short Sword 3 Melee 1 2 2 Small

Machete 3 Melee 1 2 1 Large
Shuriken 1 Melee/TH 0 2 1 Small
Rapier 3 Melee 2 2 3 Quick
PERKS

Longsword 4 Melee 3 2 3 Large

Great Sword 5 Melee 4 2 4 Huge(M)
Dagger, Mono-Edged 3 Melee/TH 0 5 2 Small
Short Sword, Mono-Edged 4 Melee 1 5 3 Small
POWERS

Longsword, Mono-Edged 5 Melee 3 5 4 Large

Plasma Sword 8 Melee 2 6 6 Energy Blade

Min.
Axes DR Range Might TL Cost Notes and Aspects
GEAR

Hatchet 3 Melee/TH 2 1 1 Small

Wood Axe 4 Melee 3 2 1 Large
Battle Axe 5 Melee 4 2 2 Large
MASTERY
GAME
DEVIATIONS

176
CONTENTS
 Min.
Blunt DR Range Might TL Cost Notes and Aspects
Punch/Kick 0 Melee N 0 0 Unarmed
Small Club/Baton 2 Melee 1 1 0 Small

THE BASICS
Quarterstaff 2 Melee 2 1 0 Large
Tonfa (Police Nightstick) 2 Melee 1 2 1 Quick
Hammer 1 Melee 2 2 0 Small
Club/Baseball Bat 2 Melee 2 2 0 Large

CHARACTERS
Mace 3 Melee 3 2 2 Large
Flail 3 Melee 3 2 3 Flexible
War Hammer 4 Melee 4 2 1 Large
Large Club 4 Melee 4 1 0 Huge(M)

STRANDS
Maul 5 Melee 5 2 2 Huge(M)
Pulse Baton 4 Melee 1 6 3 Small
Pulse Hammer 7 Melee 2 6 4 Huge(M)

GAMEPLAY
Min.
Reach Weapons DR Range Might TL Cost Notes and Aspects
Short Spear 3 Melee/TH 2 1 2 Large
Long Spear 4 Melee 3 1 2 Long, Huge(M)

PERKS
Halberd 5 Melee 4 2 3 Long, Huge(M)
Spear, Mono-Edged 4 Melee/TH 2 5 4 Large
Halberd, Mono-Edged 6 Melee 3 5 5 Long, Huge(M)

POWERS
Min.
Misc. Weapons DR Range Might TL Cost Notes and Aspects
Chainsaw 5 Melee 3 4 2 Huge(M)
Adds to standard unarmed
Brass Knuckles 1 Melee 0 2 1
punching damage.
GEAR

Shields
MASTERY

Bonus on Min.
GAME

Shields DR Defense Tests Might Range TL Cost Notes and Aspects

Buckler/Light Shield 1 2 1 Melee 2 2 Small

DEVIATIONS

Heavy Shield 2 3 3 Melee 2 3 Large

Tower Shield 2 4 4 Melee 2 3 Huge(M)
Riot Shield 2 2 2 Melee 4 3 Large

177
CONTENTS
 Armor
Min.
Historical Armor AR TL Cost Might Type Notes/Built in Accessories
Leather or Hide 1 1 2 1 Light None
THE BASICS

Chain Mail or Breast

2 2 3 2 Medium None
Plate
Ring/Scale Mail or
3 2 4 3 Medium Heavy
Lamellar
Plate Mail 4 2 5 4 Heavy Heavy(M)
CHARACTERS

Min.
Modern Armor AR TL Cost Might Type Built in Accessories
Chronometer, biomonitor, radiation
STRANDS

Flight Suit 0 4 2 0 Light

patch
Reinforced Clothing
1 4 3 1 Light None
or Protective Vest
Heavy(M), Vacuum support,
GAMEPLAY

temperature control, radiation

Vacuum Suit 2 4 4 2 Heavy
detection and protection, air pack,
biomonitor
Heavy(M), Vacuum support,
temperature control, radiation
Reinforced Vacuum Suit 3 4 5 3 Heavy
detection and protection, air pack,
PERKS

biomonitor
Heavy, Chronometer, biomonitor,
Battle Armor 4 4 4 2 Medium
radiation patch
Heavy(M), Chronometer, biomonitor,
POWERS

Heavy Battle Armor 5 4 5 3 Heavy

radiation patch

Min.
Powered Armor AR TL Cost Might Type Built in Accessories
GEAR

Vacuum support, temperature control,

Powered Recon Armor 5 5 5 1 Light radiation detection and protection, air
pack, biomonitor
Heavy, Vacuum support, temperature
Powered Assault Armor 6 5 6 2 Medium control, radiation detection and
MASTERY
GAME

protection, air pack, biomonitor

Heavy(M), Vacuum support,
Powered Heavy Assault temperature control, radiation
7 5 7 3 Heavy
Armor detection and protection, air pack,
DEVIATIONS

biomonitor,

178
CONTENTS
 Equipment
Equipment ER TL Cost Equipment ER TL Cost

Torch N 1 0 Cell Phone N 4 2

Flint and Steel 1 1 0 GPS Receiver 2 4 2

THE BASICS
Trail Rations N 1 0 Computer +V 4 1+

Backpack N 1 1 Camera (Photo or Video) N 4 2

Caltrops N 1 2 Fiberscope N 4 4

CHARACTERS
Tent (2 man) 1 1 2 Portable P. Computer +V 4 2+

Meal, Simple N 1 1 AR Identification (ARID) N 5 0

Horse +V 1 4+ Credit Disk (“Credisk”) N 5 0

STRANDS
Lodging, Inn, Common Room
N 2 1 Ration Lozenge N 5 1
(1 night)
Oil, 1 pint N 2 0 Box Tent 1 5 2

Rope, Hemp 50’ 2 2 1 Plasti-Rope Dispenser 1 5 1

GAMEPLAY
Lantern N 2 2 AR Display Device N 5 2
Lodging, Inn, Private Room
N 2 2 Aerial Condensator N 5 2
(1 night)
Lock Picks N 2 2 Network Extender N 5 2

PERKS
Flashlight N 3 0 Spider Gear Kit 3 5 2

Chronometer (Watch/Clock) N 3 0 4D Spatial Camera N 5 3

Clothes, Daywear N 3 2 Portable Plasma Torch 2 5 3

POWERS
First Aid Kit N 3 1 Bio-metric Cloner 3 5 4

Tank of Gas N 3 1 Computer Network Uplink N 5 4

Clothes, Eveningwear N 3 3 Broadcast Power Generator N 5 4

Lodging, Hotel (1 night) N 3 2 Molecular Glue w/ Solvent 2 6 1 GEAR

Radio Hand/Headset N 3 2 Medi-stimulant Injection (MSI) 2 6 3

Hospital Care N 3 V Simulated Memory +V 6 2+

MASTERY
GAME

Motorcycle +V 3 5+ Virtual Reality Interface N 6 3

Car or Truck +V 3 6+ Broadcast Screen N 6 4

Software (Specialized) V 4 1+ Trauma Pod (hour/day/week) 4 6 4/5/6

DEVIATIONS

179
CONTENTS
 Aerial Condensator: Popular among explorers
and outdoorsmen, this small device is capable
of removing moisture from the nearby air and
condensing it into drinkable water. In most
locations it can create a gallon of water in
about three hours.
THE BASICS
Objects designed to run on broadcast power
never need batteries or power cables.
Broadcast Screen: By activating this device,
usually worn on the wrist, as a belt buckle,
or even a piece of jewelry; you create a
field roughly 2 yards (2 meters) around

Augmented Reality (AR) Display Device:
Though the casual observer may notice the
occasional flash of light across their surface,
these glasses look like any other set of head-
worn spectacles. To the wearer however, they
CHARACTERS
you in all directions. This field blocks or
dampens incoming and outgoing electronic
transmissions.
This is a popular item among people who
dislike being bombarded with information

are a gateway to a wealth of information. AR from advertisers and the like.

display devices allow the wearer to see AR
objects and data.
This same technology can also be found in
contact lenses, though the Cost for contacts is
increased by +1.
STRANDS
Attempts to wirelessly manipulate a computer
through a broadcast screen suffer a -4 penalty.
Cell Phone: A cell phone allows you to make
phone calls anywhere within a area covered

by your cellular network. The price covers the

Augmented Reality Identification Tag (ARID):
Depending on the amount of data they hold,
ARIDs range in size from that of a small coin
up to about the size of one’s thumb. They are
GAMEPLAY
phone and the startup charge of the contract.
Caltrops: Tiny metal, usually triangular,
shapes with sharpened edges. When thrown
into a zone, they present a danger to anyone

programmed with (typically) read-only data

that is displayed and accessible in augmented who might step on them. When placing
reality. Caltrops in a zone, the zone gains the Scattered
Caltrops Aspect, which may be invoked to slow
ARIDs are attached to most retail items,
a pursuer, discourage them or whatever else
people, information booths, or anything else
the GM may feel is appropriate.
used to relate information. Usually an ARID
PERKS

carried by a person will be worn as jewelry or
as a sub-dermal implant.
Bio-metric Cloner: This small device can copy
and reproduce the information necessary to
bypass a bio-metric scanner. However, you
POWERS
Camera (Photo or Video): A standard high-
resolution camera. It may take still pictures or
video, possibly both.
Car or Truck: This is the cost of a standard car,
truck or SUV.

must first touch the person whose bio-metric

Chronometer (Watch/Clock): This is a simple
data you wish to copy with the device.
wall clock, pocket watch, or wrist watch.
Box Tent: When not in active use, the box Clothes, Daywear: A change of clothes for
tent is about as big as a few books stacked day-to-day wear. Consists of a basic shirt,
together, and weighs about half that. When
GEAR

pants, shoes and undergarments.

activated, it transforms into a rigid tent capable
of comfortably sleeping two in about five Clothes, Eveningwear: A change of clothes
minutes. Once activated, it uses solar power to for a formal occasion. Consists of an evening
cool or heat the inside of the tent as needed. gown and shoes, or a nice tuxedo or suit, and
undergarments.
MASTERY
GAME

Backpack: A simple pack made of leather,

nylon or other material depending on tech
level.
Broadcast Power Generator: These
DEVIATIONS

generators are essentially compact reactors,

usually ranging from about the size of a car
to that of a large building. Smaller models
broadcast at a range of about a mile (two
kilometers), while larger generators can power
an entire city.

180
CONTENTS
 Computer: This is a standard desktop
computer or workstation. The price of a
computer depends on its rating, and its rating
is determined by its Tech-Level.
Its rating determines both the quality of the
hardware and usefulness of the software that
to provide medical attention to yourself
or another, but you will likely suffer major
penalties on your attempt to do so without
one.
Flashlight: The typical flashlight will provide
good illumination for several hours.

comes with it, and provides a bonus on most
rolls when using the computer or network it is
connected to. This includes programming and
hacking.
Rating Cost
THE BASICS
Flint and Steel: A primitive fire making kit
consisting of a piece of flint and steel struck
together to produce sparks. The listed bonus
may be used on Craft checks to make fire.

CHARACTERS
TL -5 1 4D Spatial Camera: Utilizing over a dozen
TL -4 2 forms of imaging techniques, this camera can
TL -3 3 create fully three dimensional representations
TL -2 4 of an area, with audio, in still frame or full
TL -1 5 motion “video”. These captured spatial maps
TL -0 6 are often displayed in augmented and virtual

Computer Network Uplink: These systems
connect computer systems together through
wireless data transmission. The hub itself
connects to a major relay through a satellite
STRANDS
reality.
GPS Receiver: A GPS receiver allows you to
triangulate your position anywhere in the
world using Global Positioning Satellites. It

GAMEPLAY
uplink. A small hub can provide network access grants a +2 bonus on all navigation related
to every computer within a mile. Larger hubs rolls.
cover entire cities. Horse: This is a simple riding horse. You may
Credit Disk (“Credisk”): These small purchase a trained horse for a cost of 4. When
electronic devices, usually about the size of a riding a trained horse, you gain a +1 bonus
coin, are designed to hold the necessary data on riding related rolls. See pg. 190 for horse

PERKS
required to perform a one time monetary statistics.
transaction. In an economy built around credit, Hospital Care: The price of hospital care
this is usually the closest thing people see to a depends on the quality of the facility and the
physical representation of money. amount of time spent there. See below for

POWERS
Programming a credit disk is usually average costs:
performed with a PPC, and
the amount of credit it is set Hospital Care Costs
to transfer and who it can be Facility Rating Time Spent: 1 Night 1 Week 1 Month
transferred to is visible on a 1 2 3 5
small screen on both sides of
the “coin”. Once the transaction 3 3 4 6
GEAR
is complete, the credit disk can 4 4 5 7
be reprogrammed for a different 5 5 6 8
transaction.
Lantern: When filled with oil and lit, a lantern
MASTERY

Fiberscope: This is a small fiber optic cable

GAME

attached to a small monitor. It can be snaked will provide light in all directions for about six
under doors, through vents, or similar hours. A TL 4 or better lamp can be adjusted
obstacles. Attached to the end of the cable is for brighter or dimmer light, and can last for up
a high resolution camera capable of seeing in to 12 hours providing dim light.
DEVIATIONS

multiple light spectrums as well as a directional Lock Picks: This small roll of tools comes with
audio amplification system. a series of probes, tweezers, a magnifying glass
First Aid Kit: A small box of bandages, and other small devices used to pick locks.
antibiotics, pain killers, needle and thread, Lock picks provide no bonus to pick a lock, but
etc. A first aid kit does not provide a bonus you will likely suffer major penalties on your
attempt to pick a lock without them.

181
CONTENTS
 Lodging, Inn, Common Room (1 night): This
is a night’s stay in the common room of an inn
and a simple meal. A common room is usually
a wide open room where several people can
place their bedrolls. It offers little to no privacy,
but at least it gets you out of the rain.
THE BASICS
Lodging, Inn, Private Room (1 night): You get
a night’s stay in a private room, and a simple
meal.
Lodging, Hotel (1 night): This is a one night
CHARACTERS
stay in a standard hotel, meal not included.
Meal, Simple: This is a basic meal of meat,
vegetables, and maybe fruit served with a
glass of water, milk, ale or soft drink that you
might find in any inn or restaurant.
STRANDS
Medi-Stimulant Injection (MSI): This is a
protected syringe within which is housed a
cocktail of nanites, painkillers and various
chemicals specifically designed to regenerate
tissue while keeping the mind focused. An
GAMEPLAY
hour after you take an MSI you can roll to
downgrade every Wound you have suffered,
rolling once per Wound, but at a -2 penalty. If
the character spends this hour at rest, they do
not suffer the -2 penalty on the roll.
As always, you may only have one of each type
PERKS
of Wound, so with a success you may cause
others to automatically downgrade as well.
See page 77 for more on healing Wounds.
Motorcycle: This is the cost of a standard
POWERS
motorcycle.
Molecular Glue & Solvent: This hardened
bottle dispenses a small amount of glue. The
glue bonds to anything and is nearly impossible
to remove without a solvent. M-Glue is often
used in place of welding or soldering. Each
GEAR
pack contains both a bottle of glue and solvent.
Network Extender: This small device
amplifies the strength of a wireless network
signal from a hub and extends it out to another
MASTERY
GAME
half kilometer or so in all directions.
For a Cost of +1 greater you can also purchase
a directional extender. Like a normal network
extender, this device extends the area of
DEVIATIONS
coverage for a hub’s network signal. However,
instead of spreading the signal in all directions,
it focuses the signal in a specific direction with
a range of about 2 miles (1 km).
Directional extenders see a lot of use in
military applications. Military grade extenders
182
CONTENTS
have a Cost rating that’s +1 higher than the
civilian version, but have more than double
the range. And a chain of extenders can extend
the network out for dozens or hundreds
of kilometers with less risk of the enemy
detecting the signal.
Oil, 1 pint: A small bottle or canister of oil. It
can be used to set and spread fires, or it can
be used to keep an oil lamp burning for about
six hours.
Plasti-Rope Dispenser: Not much bigger than
a closed fist, the dispenser can be activated to
dispense about 100 yards/meters of rope. The
material leaves the dispenser as a liquid, but
hardens almost instantly into a flexible rope
capable of supporting about four tons of static
weight.
Portable Personal Computer (PPC): PPCs
range in size from laptops to wrist worn
systems. For TL 4, most such systems are small
laptops, netbooks or tablets. PPCs integrated
with cellular phones are also common, though
not exceptionally powerful or versatile. The
need for a screen and interface, such as a
small keyboard, keeps it from being further
miniaturized.
By TL 5, computer systems can be worn on the
body, such as hanging off the belt or strapped
to the forearm. They are interacted with by
voice command or through augmented reality
display and interface devices.
By TL 6, such systems may produce interactive
holograms.
The Cost of a PCC is the same as a regular
computer, +1.
Computer ratings are limited by size. At most,
a laptop sized computer can feature a rating
equal to the setting’s TL -1. A forearm or belt
worn system can have a rating of TL -2. A smart
phone maxes out at a rating of TL -3, and a
wrist or clothing mounted micro-computer
cannot normally exceed a rating of TL -4.
Portable Plasma Torch: About the size of a
can of soup, this small device burns hot enough
to cut through most any material, including
diamonds with sufficient time.
Radio (Hand/Headset): Whether sitting
on your head or held in your hand, a radio
generally allows two-way communication
between another radio set on the same
frequency within about 10 miles (5km). For
every TL increase above 4, double the range.
 Ration Lozenge: This small lozenge, about the
size of a large bean, contains all the vitamins
and nutrients a person needs for half a day.
By itself it is not very filling, but with a glass
of water, the lozenge expands and a moment
later the imbiber will feel quiet satisfied. These
are very popular among survivalists.
Simulated Memory: These are the recorded
memories of another person, captured by
a brain implanted computer and uploaded.
Many celebrities give away “simms” for free,
while others can be very expensive depending
on what they depict. Simms of recorded sex,
crimes and even suicide are very popular
underground items many of which are illegal.
Rope, Hemp, 50’: A coil of hemp rope
measuring 50’, grants a +2 bonus on rolls to
climb.
Software (Specialized): Computer software is
designed to act as a tool for some specific need.
A computer comes with all the basic software
tools required for your basic computing needs.
Purchasing additional software assumes you
are in the market for something special and
of a much better quality than what the basic
computer package offers. When you purchase
a piece of software, first determine what it
helps you do. After that, decide what rating
the software has. This rating replaces the
bonus the computer grants you. However, the
computer you are using must be able to run
the software. A computer cannot run a piece
of software with a rating more than twice the
computer’s rating.
Typically a piece of software cannot aid
you in the use of a Skill that requires a very
small amount of time. It can help craft items,
research, program your own software, hack,
etc. It cannot help you shoot better or jump
higher.
Rating Cost
TL -3 1
TL -2 2
TL -1 3
TL 4
TL +1 5
TL +2 6
183
Spider Gear Kit: These gloves, boots, and
knee pads can adhere to almost any solid
surface, allowing the wearer to climb sheer
walls or even hang suspended upside down.
Their adhesiveness is triggered by an electronic
signal, so it can be effectively switched on and
THE BASICS
off.
Tank of Gas: This is the cost to fill up your
average vehicle at the gas station.
Torch: A length of wood or metal wrapped
CHARACTERS
tightly in cloth. When lit, it will burn and
produce light for about an hour.
Tent (2 Man): This tent, designed to sleep
two people comfortably may grant its bonus
to Reasoning or Might rolls made to determine
the effects of extended outdoor exposure.
STRANDS
Trail Rations: A wrapped bundle of dried
meat, bread, and cheese, with a bladder or
flask of water to provide nourishment on the
road.
GAMEPLAY
Trauma Pod: This coffin-like device closes
down over a wounded patient and covers
them with a medi-stimulant gel specifically
designed to promote healing. The gel consist of
a number of different chemicals, all delivered
through nanite carriers. While in the trauma
PERKS
pod, the character is placed into a coma, and
the time to heal any Wound is reduced by two
steps (minimum 10 minutes).
The pod can heal any physical damage, up to
POWERS
an including replacing lost limbs with cloned
replacements. Given time, it can heal anything
short of death.
Virtual Reality Interface: A “VRI” is usually a
small computer, often a specialized PPC, capable
of running a VR interface program. With a VRI,
the user can cast their consciousness into the GEAR
computer’s virtual environment and interact
with it as if it were a real place.
The interface usually consists of a series
MASTERY
of electrodes attached to the skull. These
GAME
transfer the data, both ways, between user
and computer system.
DEVIATIONS
CONTENTS
 Chapter 8
CHAPTER 2
THE BASICS
The Heroes
What sort of characters best fit the campaign?
Are they heroic souls, battling the forces of evil
to the bitter end? Or are they tragic figures,
doing what must be done in the face of greater
CHARACTERS
evils. Or are they the evil themselves, paving
the road to hell with their good intentions?
The GM should make an effort to ensure that
all of the players are on the same page, and are
creating characters that are logically capable
STRANDS
of working together. A righteous paladin might
tolerate the presence of a thief if they can be
made to serve the greater good. But a demon
worshiper? A necromancer?
The old saying goes: “The enemy of my
GAMEPLAY
enemy is my friend.” But there are limits, and
the players should find ways to weave their
characters’ motivations and personalities
together in a way that promotes interesting
play. They don’t have to like each other. In fact,
they may hate each other. But they need a
PERKS
reason to work together if the GM and player
are going to have any hope of telling a cohesive
and fun story.
That doesn’t mean a player can’t play the
lone wolf anti-hero, or that the wise old wizard
POWERS
can’t secretly be a half-mad necromancer. But
you need an excuse to tie them into the rest of
the party.
As the GM, when a player wants to play
a character that you feel might present a
GEAR
challenge in keeping the party together, you
should put the responsibility of maintaining
that cohesion back on them. Ask the player to
provide you with reasons why their character
would stick with the rest of the party, and then
MASTERY
you, as the GM, should try to create plot hooks
GAME
that stem from their answers.
DEVIATIONS
184
CONTENTS
Game Mastery
The Villains
The best villains are the heroes of their own
stories. They don’t see themselves as evil. Or
if they do, they find ways to justify it. They are
just doing what must be done, for the good of
others, or as payback for the wrongs that have
been done to them. The villain does what they
do because they believe it is the right, best, or
only solution to their problems.
And the heroes are in their way.
The amount of attention the GM should give
the villain(s) in a campaign depends largely on
the type of story you’re telling. If your story
calls for faceless, nameless Extras, then go
with it. Nobody is going to miss Thug #2.
But Thug #2 has a boss, and he’s probably
worth investing a little more thought into. And
it’s their motivations and capabilities that we
want to explore.
In a typical action fantasy game, the PCs
might set out to explore a dungeon, slaying
nameless Extras until they get to their boss. In
a campaign focused on politics or intrigue, the
characters they interact with are the dungeon.
They are an intricate complex, with a facade,
different rooms for different purposes, hidden
rooms, some monsters, some treasures, and
some demons dwelling below.
Every good story has at least one good villain.
And to help flesh them out, we need to ask
ourselves some questions:
Who is/are the villain(s)? Are they related to
anyone else of note? Are they important in
their community? Are they famous? Are they
what they seem or do they harbor secrets?
What do the villain(s) want? Money?
Power? Fame? Respect? Love? Acceptance?
Redemption? Change?
Why do they want what they want? What is
their motivation? What drives them to do the
things they do? Ideology? Greed? Vengeance?
Attention? Self-Fulfillment?
How does the villain plan to achieve their
goals? Do they have the resources they need?
Do they have support from others? Do they

have the conviction to do what needs to be
done? How far will they go? Will they kill for
it? Will they kill dozens for it? Hundreds?
Thousands?
When will the villain act? Are they ready
to put their plans in motion, or are they still
scheming and gathering resources?
Where does the villain call home? Where
will they hatch their scheme? Where will the
strike? Where have they already struck?
Preparing Combat Scenes
When you are planning a combat scene,
you’re going to want to get an idea of how
“fair” the fight is going to be for the PCs. That’s
not to say that the fight always has to be fair,
but you should have a good sense of what
you’re throwing against your players.
The first thing you’re going to want to do
is determine the Combat Rating (“CR”) of
all combatants. See pg. 187 for how to
determine CRs.
As a general rule, if you want to make sure
both sides are relatively even, you need to add
185
THE BASICS
CHARACTERS
STRANDS
GAMEPLAY
up the total CRs of all the combatants on each
side. And if their totals are about even, and no
PERKS
CR is more than 5 higher than any other, the
fight should be relatively fair.
So an armored knight, with a CR 30, should
be able to hold his own against three goblin
hunters being used as Extras (CR 10 each).
POWERS
If the knight’s mage buddy (CR 26), had tagged
along. They’d need to fight five or six goblin
hunters to yield about the same challenge.
The numbers won’t tell you everything
however. For example, if most of your PCs
attack with fire-based Powers and weapons, GEAR
and you pit them against a foe that’s immune
to fire, they’re going to have a very difficult
time no matter what the Combat Ratings say.
MASTERY
But again, you don’t want all the fights to be
GAME
fair. Sometimes you may want to let the PCs
flex their muscles a bit. Other times you may
want them to have to really give it their all.
In general, an easy fight would be one where
DEVIATIONS
the total CR of the PCs foe(s) is 20-30% less
than their own. Likewise, if they are fighting
an enemy with a CR 20-30% higher than their
own, they’re going to be in for a tough time.
CONTENTS
 Non-Player Characters
Extras
Extras are the nameless masses of people
your characters will encounter on a day-to-
day basis. For the vast majority of them, these
THE BASICS
characters don’t even need a name, much less
a full write-up with stats.
When you need to introduce a new NPC,
simply start with a blank character sheet and
fill in a few critical pieces of data—their best
CHARACTERS
Abilities, their most important Aspects—while
leaving the rest blank. When a situation arises
where the Extra needs to test a Skill or use an
Aspect you haven’t written down, go ahead
and write it down, then roll appropriately. This
results in Extras getting fleshed out over time
STRANDS
without needing to invest a lot of time up-
front.
The number of stress boxes for each of an
Extra’s Stress Tracks is calculated the same as it
GAMEPLAY
is for PCs. However, Extras cannot take the full
complement of Consequences. They are not
an important part of the story, and in a conflict
they will be quickly Taken Out.
The two types of Extras, the Consequences
they can take, and the number of Fate Points
PERKS
they get are described below:
Minor Extras
Minor Extras are nameless guards, bartenders,
back-alley thugs, and so on. Minor Extras may
POWERS
only elect to take a Mild Wound to reduce
stress.
Major Extras
Major Extras are equally nameless individuals,
GEAR
but serve greater roles in obstructing the
PCs and challenging them. They can take two
Wounds, Mild and Moderate, before being
Taken Out.
MASTERY
GAME
DEVIATIONS
186
CONTENTS
Named NPCs
These characters are the most important
characters in the game that aren’t your PCs. A
named NPC typically fills the role of one of the
big bad guys, or maybe a beloved mentor.
Named NPCs should be approached with the
same level of care as a new PC. They should
have the full assortment of Aspects, Skills,
Perks, Consequences, equipment, and so on.
As the GM, however, it is especially important
to treat your Named NPCs and PCs fairly. It’s
not uncommon to develop a Named NPC that
you find especially interesting, but be careful
not to go overboard in protecting them, and
be especially careful about overshadowing
your PCs.
Strands of Fate is a game about the adventures
of your players’ characters, and their stories.
And while your NPCs will serve a critical role,
be very careful that they do not overshadow
the PCs.
NPC Power Levels
NPCs, like PC, are given Power Levels to
describe how powerful they are. In general, a
character of the same Power Level as the PC is
a credible threat, either in combat or indirectly.
Characters of a Power Level lower than your
own are suitable to be fought in groups of 2-3,
while characters of more than one Power Level
lower than your own are just cannon fodder or
a distraction to keep the opposition occupied.
Characters of a Power Level higher than your
own is a serious threat. You’re going to want to
prepare, or try to gather allies to help.
Threats of two or more Power Levels higher
than your own likely means certain death if
your plan is direct engagement. You’re going
to need to stack the deck in your favor by
gathering several allies, researching your foe’s
weaknesses, and undermining their strengths
wherever possible.
Combat Ratings (CR)
The Combat Rating is an abstract measurement
of the character’s general effectiveness in a
combat situation.
To determine a character’s Combat Rating,
add up the following:
CR Calculation Example
The following is an example of how you would
determine the Combat Rating of the Skeletal
Warrior, found on page 195.
Attack Skill: The Skeletal Warrior primarily
attacks with its longsword, which depends

Attack Skill + DR + Defense + Special + Power
Level + Type = Combat Rating
Attack Skill: Add the rank of the character’s
THE BASICS
on the creature’s Might Skill. The Skeletal
Warrior’s Might is 2.
Damage Rating: The Skeletal Warrior’s most
powerful attack is with its longsword, which
has a Damage Rating of 4.

primary attack Skill. If they use melee weapons,
claws, bites, etc. use Might. Ranged attacks
use Precision. Certain special attack Powers
may use an Affinity Skill.
Damage Rating: Add the DR of the character’s
CHARACTERS
Defense: The Skeletal Warrior’s Reflexes is 2,
its Armor Rating is 3, and it has 6 stress boxes.
Add these together to get 11, and divide by 2
(round up). So, in this case, the total is 6.
Special: The only notable special benefit the

most Powerful attack. If the character is limited
to using their attack roughly no more than once
every other round, or if it requires some special
activation action or has an activation cost,
reduce their DR for the purpose of calculating
STRANDS
Skeletal Warrior has is that it is Undead. This
adds +1 to the calculation.
Power Level: The Skeletal Warrior is meant
to be a moderate challenge for normal people,
or inexperienced heroes. Thus, it has a Power

the character’s CR by 1. If they may only use it
once per scene, reduce the weapon’s DR by 2.
Defense: Add up the character’s Reflexes Skill
rating, their Armor Rating, and the number of
stress boxes they have. Divide the total by 2
(round up).
GAMEPLAY
Level of Grounded, which adds +2 to the
calculation.
Type: By default, the Skeletal Warrior’s Type is
that of a Minor Extra. This could be adjusted by
the GM depending on the needs of the scene,

Special (Perks, Powers and Racial Benefits):
Add +1 to the character’s CR for every Perk
or Power that provides a benefit in combat,
offensively or defensively.
Note that the Multi-Attack Perk counts as 2
PERKS
but in the case, it remains a Minor Extra. This
adds 0 to the calculation.
Unit: The Skeletal Warrior is a single creature,
and thus, isn’t a Unit. So there is no adjustment
made.

POWERS
Perks. Adding all of this together you get a total
Power Level: Grounded characters add +2. Combat Rating of 15 for the Skeletal Warrior.
Heroic characters add +4, Paragon characters
add +6, Mythic characters add +8, Legendary Attack Sill: Might 2
characters add +10.
Type: Minor Extras add +0. Major Extras add
Damage Rating: Longsword 4 GEAR
+5. PCs or Named PCs add +10. Defense: Ref 2, AR 3, Stress 6 (6)
Units: If the NPC is a Unit (pg. 189), increase Special: Undead 1
its CR by 5. Power Level: Grounded 2
MASTERY
GAME

Type: Minor Extra 0

DEVIATIONS

187
CONTENTS
 NPC Proficiencies
The GM typically does not need detailed
statistics for the NPCs in play. You don’t need
to know every Perk or Power. You just need to
know what the NPC is capable of in the context
of when your PCs meet them.
THE BASICS
The NPCs written up in this chapter feature a
section called “Proficiencies”. Proficiencies are
shortcuts that provide the total Modifiers for
certain actions.
CHARACTERS
For example, the Goblin Hunter has “Stab with
Spear” and “Defend Against Melee Attacks”.
These are very common sort of Proficiencies
that provide the Modifiers and other factors
that come into play when the Goblin takes
these actions.
STRANDS
So when the goblin makes an attack with their
spear, you don’t need to worry about what
their Might is, what Perks they might have that
grant bonuses to attacks with spears. You just
roll the dice and add the listed attack bonus.
GAMEPLAY
And if they hit, use the listed Damage Rating.
When the NPC needs to take an action that
isn’t covered with a Proficiency, that’s when
you’ll need to start looking at their Skills, Perks,
etc.
PERKS
NPC Perks
NPCs have access to Perks that PCs do not.
POWERS
Many of these Perks are designed to simplify
otherwise complex tactics or combat options.
Overrun
Prerequisites: Savage
GEAR
Packs of wolves, hordes of zombies or similar
groups of savage creatures benefit from
attacking in numbers, overwhelming their
prey.
When attempting to grab a foe as part of a
MASTERY
GAME
Savage attack, creatures with this Perk are
Favored as long as they have an ally with Drag
Down in the same zone.
DEVIATIONS
188
CONTENTS
Fated Foe (Minor or Major)
This Perks comes in Minor and Major.
When an NPC bearing the Minor version of this
Perk first appears in a scene, the GM’s Threat
Pool gains a bonus Fate Point. If unspent, this
bonus Fate Point disappears at the end of the
scene in which the NPC appeared.
NPCs with the Major version of this Perk
increase the GM’s Threat Pool by 2.
Monstrous Resilience (Minor or Major)
This Perks comes in two forms, Minor and
Major.
Perhaps it has a tough hide, or maybe it just
ignores pain. Whatever the case, an NPC with
the Minor version of this Perk is very resistant
to injury, and gains a +4 bonus to its Armor
Rating.
NPCs with the Major version of this Perk are
even more resilient, and gain +6 to their AR.
Multi-Attack
Maybe its because the creature has multiple
limbs, or maybe it just moves really fast.
Whatever the case, NPCs with this Perk may
attack, once per turn, as a Minor action.
Note: This Perks counts as two Perks when
calculating a NPC’s Combat Rating.
Savage
Animals and other savage creatures attack by
grabbing or pouncing on their prey, and then
biting and clawing them while holding on.
This requires the attacker to generate at least
one Shift in a Contest, pitting the attacker’s
Might against their target’s Might or Mobility
(their choice).
If the attacker fails, nothing happens. If they
win, they place the Grabbed Aspect on their
foe, and as an Instant Action, may attempt to
claw and/or bite them.
This is a Favored attack with Might, and has a
Damage Rating equal to the attacker’s Might
+ Size + 2.
Their foe may defend with Might, and Armor
helps absorb any stress suffered.
The attacker may then attempt to attack a
Grabbed opponent on subsequent turns as a
Major Action.
The Grabbed victim may escape by succeeding
on Might contest with the attacker. Attempting
to escape is a Major Action, but if you succeed
with Spin, it’s treated as an Instant Action.
Swarm
The NPC is actually a mass of small creatures,
or a dangerous substance. The swarm may
only attack foes in the same zone it occupies.
The swarm attack is an area-of-effect attack,
attacking everyone n the zone with hundreds
of tiny bites, exposing them to dissolving slime,
a burning gas, etc.
While not necessarily “explosive”, this attack
functions much like one, and effectively has an
Explosive Rating instead of a Damage Rating.
Unit
A Unit is not a single creature, it is a pack or
swarm of similar creatures that act as one.
All of the creatures that make up a Unit act
at the make time, attack and defend as one,
and occupy the same zone. For the most part,
they are exactly the same as a single creature,
except when it comes to taking stress.
A typical Unit consists of a swarm of a
hundred or so rats or spiders, 6-9 imps, or 3
human-sized opponents.
Unit Stress: A Unit’s stress track is divided
into 3 separate tracks labeled Mild, Moderate,
and Severe. Any remainder is attributed to the
Mild track. For example, a Unit with 13 stress
boxes would have a stress track that looks like
this:
Example Unit Stress:
Mild 
Moderate -1 
Severe -2 
And it takes 7 points of stress, it would now
look like this:
Example Unit Stress:
Mild 
Moderate -1 
Severe -2 
When a Unit suffers stress, it’s marked off
the Mild stress track from left to right, just
like a normal stress track. However, when the
Unit’s Mild stress track is filled, any is taken on
the Moderate track. And once that’s filled, it
overflows onto the Severe stress track.
As the Unit suffers stress, members of the
Unit begin to die or are otherwise Taken Out.
And as the Unit is diminished, it becomes less
189
effective. As such, when a Unit takes stress on
its Moderate stress track, it begins to suffer a
-1 penalty on all Skill tests. And once it takes
stress on its Severe stress track, this penalty is
increased to -2.
The Unit may not take any Consequences.
THE BASICS
Each row represents, roughly, 1/3 of its
members. And when a row is filled, that third
is Taken Out. Once all of its stress boxes are
filled, the whole Unit has been destroyed.
Area of Effect Attacks: Powers or weapons
CHARACTERS
that attack everyone ins a zone are considered
Area of Effect (“AoE”) attacks. These attacks
are especially effective on Units.
When a Unit suffers stress from an AoE attack,
instead of marking stress from left to right on
the uppermost track, you instead mark the
STRANDS
first clear stress box on each row, starting from
top to bottom. If enough stress is dealt to
mark a stress box in every row, go back to the
uppermost row and continue marking down.
For example, if the Unit’s stress track looks like
GAMEPLAY
this:
Example Unit Stress:
Mild 
Moderate -1 
Severe -2 
PERKS
And it takes 8 points of stress from an AoE
attack, it would now look like this:
Example Unit Stress:
POWERS
Mild 
Moderate -1 
Severe -2 
Undead GEAR
Undead creatures do not age, do not need to
eat or drink normal food, nor sleep. They are
also immune to the effects of vacuum, poisons,
disease and drugs.
MASTERY
GAME
Some special attack or Powers, such as a Bolt
with the Holy Enhancement, may be more
effective against Undead.
DEVIATIONS
CONTENTS
 Animals Rat Swarm
Power Level: Grounded CR: 17 (Minor Extra)
Bear Aspects: Size: 1
Power Level: Grounded CR: 27 (Minor Extra)
• Massive Swarm of Little Rodents
Aspects: Size: 1 Skills:
THE BASICS

• Big Bear Might 3 Know 0 Guile 0

Skills:
Mob 2 Per 2 Sway 0
Might 6 Know 0 Guile 0
Prec 0 Reas 0 Insight 0
Mob 3 Per 6 Sway 0
Ref 2 Res 1 Net 0
CHARACTERS

Prec 0 Reas 0 Insight 1

Proficiencies:
Ref 1 Res 4 Net 0
Swarm: Atk +3, ExR: +2
Proficiencies:
Defend Against Attack: +2 Def
Bite: Atk +3, DR: 5
Detect Hidden Creatures: +2
Swipe: Atk: +4, DR: 3
STRANDS

Unit Stress:
Savage: +2 to grab, Atk: +6 (Favored), DR: 8
Mild 
Defend Against Attack: +1 Def, +4 AR
Moderate -1 
Detect Hidden Creatures: +6
Severe -2 
GAMEPLAY

Stress:   

Notable Benefits/Perks:
Notable Benefits/Perks:
Swarm
Overrun (pg. 188), Monstrous Resilience,
Savage (pg. 188)

Wolf
PERKS

Power Level: Grounded CR: 15 (Minor Extra)

Horse Aspects: Size: 0
Power Level: Grounded CR: 6 (Minor Extra) • Powerful Canine
POWERS

Aspects: Size: 1 Skills:

• Docile and Trusting Riding Horse Might 4 Know 0 Guile 0
Skills: Mob 3 Per 6 Sway 0
Might 5 Know 0 Guile 0 Prec 0 Reas 0 Insight 1
Mob 3 Per 4 Sway 0 Ref 2 Res 2 Net 0
GEAR

Prec 0 Reas 0 Insight 2 Proficiencies:

Ref 2 Res 3 Net 0 Bite: Atk +4, DR: 1
Proficiencies: Savage: +2 to grab, Atk: +4 (Favored), DR: 6
Defend Against Attack: +2 Def
MASTERY

Bite: Atk +2, DR: 1

GAME

Kick: Atk: +3, DR: 2 Detect Hidden Creatures: +6

Defend Against Attack: +2 Def Stress:  
Detect Hidden Creatures: +4 Notable Benefits/Perks:
DEVIATIONS

Stress:   Overrun (pg. 188), Savage (pg. 188)

Notable Benefits/Perks:
Specialty Aspect: Trained Mount (Might)

190
CONTENTS
Fantasy Antagonists
Notable Benefits/Perks:
Dragon
Fated Foe (pg. 188), Monstrous Resilience
Power Level: Mythic CR: 48 (Major Extra) (Major, pg. 188), Combat Expertise (Unarmed),
Aspects: Size: +2 Tough as Nails, Absolutely Stunning, All-Seeing
Eye, Brute Strength, Unstoppable, Body of

THE BASICS
• Primordial Beast
Stone, Titan’s Grasp, Red Wind, Sight Beyond
• Greedy, Clever and Patient Sight
• Scales Like Plates of Steel
Draconic Claws: Body Weaponry, Two Hands,
Skills: At-Will Activation, Onslaught

CHARACTERS
Might 4 Know 4 Guile 4 Stream of Fiery Breath: Bolt, Long, Atk: +5,
Mob 4 Per 5 Sway 4 DR: TL+5, Rng: Long
Prec 2 Reas 5 Insight 3 Blast of Fiery Breath: Blast, Expansive, Lethal,
Slow Build, Atk: +5, DR: TL+5, Rng: Medium
Ref 3 Res 5 Net 2
Massive Wings: Flight, Propulsion, At-Will
Proficiencies:

STRANDS
Activation
Slash with Claws: Atk +4, DR: TL+4 (Favored) Color Changing Scales: Cloak
Bite: Atk +4, DR: 6 (Favored) The Dragon uses its Resolve as its Affinity Skill
Slap with Tail: Atk +1, DR: 4 (Favored) for its Powers, and are activated by spending a
Defend Against Attack: +3 Def, AR: 9 Fate Point.

GAMEPLAY
Hide in Ambush: +2 Notes: Dragons are true terrors to confront.
They are smart, wise, patient, cunning, savage
Detect Hidden Creatures: +5 (Favored when and astonishingly violent when angered.
Cloaked) They can come in many forms, but the one
Stress:    described here has gray-green scales than can
change color to match their surrounds. And

PERKS
* The Unstoppable Perks means each Wound level
when pressed, the dragon can unleash either a
mitigated two additional stress.
focused stream of fire, or build up and unleash
a tremendous explosive blast.

POWERS
GEAR
MASTERY
GAME
DEVIATIONS

191
CONTENTS
 Goblin Hunter Goblin Mutant
Power Level: Grounded CR: 10 (Minor Extra) Power Level: Grounded CR: 10 (Minor Extra)
Aspects: Size: -1 Aspects: Size: -1
• Savage Hunter • Four armed Abomination
• “Cowardly little thieves and killers” • “Did that thing used to be a goblin?!”
THE BASICS

• Goblins are a blight on civilization!” • Insane with Rage

Skills: Skills:
Might 2 Know 0 Guile 2 Might 4 Know 0 Guile 0
Mob 3 Per 3 Sway 0 Mob 3 Per 4 Sway 0
CHARACTERS

Prec 2 Reas 1 Insight 1 Prec 1 Reas 0 Insight 0

Ref 2 Res 1 Net 0 Ref 3 Res 3 Net 0
Proficiencies: Proficiencies:
Stab with Spear: Atk +2, DR: 3 Flailing Daggers and Axes: Atk +4, DR: 4
STRANDS

Shoot Short Bow: Atk +2, DR: 3, Rng: Short, Defend Against Attack: +3 Def, AR: 2
Large Hide in Ambush: +3
Defend Against Attack: +2 Def, AR: 1 Detect Hidden Creatures: +4
Hide in Ambush: +4 Stress:  
GAMEPLAY

Detect Hidden Creatures: +3 Notable Benefits/Perks:

Stress:  Tough as Nails, Dead Inside,
Notable Benefits/Perks: Notes: The goblin mutant is a horrible
Ambush Tactics – Goblins are Favored on abomination created from foul magic. The
all tests to set traps, track prey, and remain creature looks like a slightly larger, much
PERKS

unnoticed. tougher and more muscular, hairless goblin.

Notes: The goblin hunter ranges out from
their tribes lair, usually in groups of 4-6. They
will usually lie in wait along game trails, but
when in need of food or other supplies from
POWERS
But the similarities end there. The creature
has a second set of eyes above their original
set, and a second set of arms emerge from
their original arm pits. The creatures usually

other civilized races, will employ the same attack with a weapon in each of their four
tactics along trade roads. hands, flailing wildly and savagely.
Goblin mutants are completely insane,
their already fragile minds broken by their
transformation.
GEAR
MASTERY
GAME
DEVIATIONS

192
CONTENTS
Goblin Pack Goblin Shaman
Power Level: Heroic CR: 16 (Minor Extra) Power Level: Grounded CR: 13 (Minor Extra)
Aspects: Size: 1 Aspects: Size: -1
• A Small Pack of Savage Hunters • The Tribe’s Spirit Talker
• “Cowardly little thieves and killers” • A Voice of Reason Among Savages

THE BASICS
• Goblins are a blight on civilization!” • Goblins are a blight on civilization!”
Skills: Skills:
Might 4 Know 0 Guile 2 Might 1 Know 1 Guile 2
Mob 3 Per 5 Sway 0 Mob 2 Per 2 Sway 3

CHARACTERS
Prec 4 Reas 1 Insight 1 Prec 2 Reas 2 Insight 2
Ref 2 Res 1 Net 0 Ref 2 Res 3 Net 0
Proficiencies: Spirit (Affinity) 2
Stab with Spears: Atk +4, DR: 3 Proficiencies:

Shoot Short Bow: Atk +4, DR: 3, Rng: Short,
Large
Defend Against Attack: +2 Def, AR: 1
Hide in Ambush: +3
STRANDS
Smash with Staff: Atk +1, DR: 2
Defend Against Attack: +2 Def, AR: 1
Hide in Ambush: +3
Detect Hidden Creatures: +3

GAMEPLAY
Detect Hidden Creatures: +5 Stress: 
Unit Stress: Notable Benefits/Perks:
Mild o Magic-User (Talent, Shaman)
Moderate -1  Spirit Tokens: 
Severe -2  Bolt of Frigid Air: Bolt, Atk: +2, DR: TL+3

Notable Benefits/Perks:
Unit
Ambush Tactics – Goblins are Favored on
all tests to set traps, track prey, and remain
PERKS
Summon Forest Wolf: Summon, Lesser Spirit
of the Forest
Ritual Magic – The Shaman knows 2-3
additional Powers that may be activated as

POWERS
unnoticed. Rituals.
Notes: The goblin pack is a small group of Notes: The goblin shaman is uses spirit
goblins, about 3 to 4, that ranges out from magic to aid his tribe and enforce his will. In
the rest of the tribe to hunt or lay in ambush a society where only the strong survive, the
to rob passing travelers. Goblins tend to be physically weak survive through cunning or
cowards, and will likely flee if the pack suffers
Moderate stress.
magic. GEAR
MASTERY
GAME
DEVIATIONS

193
CONTENTS
 Voices of the Damned: Terrify - The Death
Golem can emit a chorus of tortured moans
that strikes fear into even the bravest of hearts.
It uses it’s Resolve as its Affinity Skill.
The Death Golem has an Affinity Skill rating
of 4.
THE BASICS

Notes: The Death Golem is a true horror, a

fused together mass of dead flesh, shaped into
a huge, vaguely humanoid form.
The creature is massive, usually standing over
16ft tall, and crushes its foes with “arms” that
CHARACTERS

bristle with sharp edged bones.

Man-at-Arms
STRANDS

Power Level: Grounded CR: 15 (Minor Extra)

Aspects: Size: 0
• Armored Warrior
Skills:
GAMEPLAY

Might 3 Know 1 Guile 1

Mob 2 Per 2 Sway 1
Prec 3 Reas 1 Insight 1
Ref 3 Res 1 Net 1
Proficiencies:
PERKS

Stab with Short Spear: Atk: +3, +3 DR, Large

Death Golem
Longsword Slash: Atk: +3, +4 DR, Large
Power Level: Paragon CR: 32 (Minor Extra)
Bash with Flail: Atk: +3, +3 DR, Flexible
Aspects: Size: +2
POWERS

Shoot Crossbow: Atk +3, DR: +4, Rng: Med,

• Animate Mass of Skeletal Undead(M) Armor Penetrating, Large, Slow Firing
• Unholy Abomination Born of Foul Defend Against Attack: +3 Def, AR: +3,
Sorcerery Heavy
Skills:
Detect Hidden Creatures: +2
Might 6 Know 0 Guile 0
GEAR

Spot Trap or Ambush: +2

Mob 1 Per 4 Sway 0
Stress: 
Prec 2 Reas 0 Insight 0
Notes: The Man-At-Arms is a human town
Ref 2 Res 5 Net 0 guardsman, a mercenary, or a low ranking
MASTERY

Proficiencies: soldier.
GAME

Slam with Spurred Appendage Atk +6, DR: 5

Defend Against Attack: +2 Def, AR: 6
Detect Hidden Creatures: +4
DEVIATIONS

Stress:   

Notable Benefits/Perks
Undead (pg. XX), Tough as Nails, Brute
Strength

194
CONTENTS
Ogre Skeletal Warrior
Power Level: Paragon CR: 30 (Minor Extra) Power Level: Grounded CR: 15 (Minor Extra)
Aspects: Size: +1 Aspects: Size: 0
• Savage Beast • Skeletal Undead(M)
• A Mountain of Muscle and Fury • Unholy Abomination Born of Foul

THE BASICS
• Dumb as a Dung Bucket Sorcery
Skills: Skills:
Might 4 Know 1 Guile 0 Might 2 Know 0 Guile 0
Mob 2 Per 2 Sway 1 Mob 2 Per 2 Sway 0

CHARACTERS
Prec 1 Reas 1 Insight 1 Prec 2 Reas 0 Insight 0
Ref 1 Res 2 Net 0 Ref 2 Res 3 Net 0
Proficiencies: Proficiencies:
Pound with Fist: Atk +4, DR: 1 Stab with Longsword: Atk +2, DR: 4
Shoot Short Bow: Atk +2, DR: 3, Rng: Short,

STRANDS
Smash with Massive Club: Atk +4, DR: 6,
Huge Large
Throw Rock: Atk +1, DR: 4, Rng: Short Defend Against Attack: +2 Def, AR: 3
Defend Against Attack: +1 Def, AR: 4 Detect Hidden Creatures: +2
Stress:  

GAMEPLAY
Hide in Ambush: +1
Detect Hidden Creatures: +2 Notable Benefits/Perks:
Stress:   Undead (pg. 189)
Notable Benefits/Perks Notes: The Skeletal Warrior is a long
dead reanimated soldier, infused with
Monstrous Resilience (Minor, pg. dark magic. Skeletal Warriors retain

PERKS
188), Tough as Nails, Brute Strength, the ability to use weapons and armor,
Sweeping Blow, Crushing Blows, and are typically raised to serve as
Titan’s Grasp guards or soldiers for powerful
Notes: The ogre is a savage necromancers.
humanoid who lives on the In some rare places, those

POWERS
edges of society. They prey on tainted by dark magic, enough
the weak and isolated, often foul magic may infuse the bones
ambushing caravans and lone of the fallen to cause Skeletal
travelers. Warriors to rise on their own.
Ogres are huge, standing twice The skeletal nature of
as tall as the average man. And these creatures make them GEAR
what they lack in brains, they more particularly susceptible to
than make up for a in bashing and crushing weapons,
brawn. but more resistant to slashing and
piercing ones. Similarly, they are
MASTERY
GAME

somewhat resistant to magical

attacks that burn or freeze. Their
Skeletal Undead(M) Aspect
should be Invoked or used to
offer Compels to represent
DEVIATIONS

these inherent strengths and

weaknesses.

195
CONTENTS
 Spirit of Fire, Lesser
Power Level: Grounded CR: 12 (Minor Extra)
Aspects: Size: -1
• Small Creature Composed of Fire
• Exists Only to Burn
THE BASICS

Skills:
Might 1 Know -2 Guile 0
Mob 3 Per 3 Sway 0
Prec 1 Reas 1 Insight 2
CHARACTERS

Ref 3 Res 2 Net N

Burn (Affinity): 3
Proficiencies:
Fiery Touch: Atk +3, DR: 3
STRANDS

Stream of Fire: Atk +3, DR: 3, Rng: Short

Defend Against Attack: +3 Def
Detect Hidden Creatures: +3
Stress: 
GAMEPLAY

Notable Benefits/Perks:
Body of Fire (Insubstantial, Permanent,
Vapor, Immune to Energy, Inability to Spirit of the Forrest, Lesser
Materialize) – May only be harmed by Power Level: Grounded CR: 12 (Minor Extra)
magic weapons or weapons made of ice. Aspects: Size: 0
PERKS

Notes: The spirit of fire is a small creature, • Magical Creature Composed of Leaves
about the size and shape of a child, comprised and Sticks
entirely of elemental fire. The creature is • Protects the Forest From Encroaching
capable of limited speech, but really only Civilization
cares about sating its hunger; which it does by
Skills:
POWERS

burning objects to ash.

Might 3 Know -2 Guile 0
Mob 2 Per 3 Sway 0
Prec 1 Reas 1 Insight 1
Ref 2 Res 3 Net N
GEAR

Proficiencies:
Smash/Claw: Atk +3, DR: 3
Savage: +3 to grab, Atk: +3 (Favored), DR: 4
Defend Against Attack: +2 Def, AR: 4
MASTERY
GAME

Detect Hidden Creatures: +3

Stress:  
Notable Benefits/Perks:
DEVIATIONS

Tough as Nails
Notes: The spirit of forest is made of leaves,
sticks and forest vegetation, magically bound
together in the shape of a humanoid, wolf,
large cat, or some other predatory animal of
similar size.

196
CONTENTS
Spirit of Fire, Greater Spirit of the Forest, Greater
Power Level: Heroic CR: 25 (Minor Extra) Power Level: Heroic CR: 25 (Minor Extra)
Aspects: Size: 0 Aspects: Size: +1
• Humanoid Creature Composed of Fire • Large Magical Creature Composed of
• Exists Only to Burn Leaves and Sticks

THE BASICS
Skills: • Protects the Forest From Encroaching
Might 2 Know -2 Guile 1 Civilization
Mob 4 Per 3 Sway 0 Skills:
Prec 2 Reas 2 Insight 2 Might 5 Know -2 Guile 0

CHARACTERS
Ref 4 Res 3 Net N Mob 2 Per 3 Sway 0
Burn (Affinity): 3 Prec 1 Reas 1 Insight 1
Ref 2 Res 4 Net N
Proficiencies:
Fiery Touch: Atk +4, DR: 4 Proficiencies:
Stream of Fire: Atk +5, DR: 6, Rng: Medium Smash/Claw: Atk +5, DR: 5

STRANDS
Defend Against Attack: +4 Def, AR: 2 Savage: +5 to grab, Atk: +5 (Favored), DR: 8
Detect Hidden Creatures: +3 Defend Against Attack: +2 Def, AR: 4
Stress:   Detect Hidden Creatures: +3
Notable Benefits/Perks: Stress:   

Body of Fire (Insubstantial, Permanent,
Vapor, Immune to Energy, Inability to
Materialize) – May only be harmed by
magic weapons or weapons made of ice.
Notes: The spirit of fire is a humanoid
GAMEPLAY
Notable Benefits/Perks:
Tough as Nails
Notes: The spirit of forest is made of leaves,
sticks and forest vegetation, magically bound
together into the shape of a large creature

PERKS
creature, comprised entirely of elemental comprised of a mixture of traits from several
fire. This larger version of the Spirit of Fire is natural predators.
a bit more clever, and hostile, than the Lesser
version.

POWERS
GEAR
MASTERY
GAME
DEVIATIONS

197
CONTENTS
 Zombie Zombie Horde
Power Level: Grounded CR: 13 (Minor Extra) Power Level: Grounded CR: 35 (Minor Extra)
Aspects: Size: 0 Aspects: Size: 2
• Shambling Undead(M) • Pack of Shambling Undead(M)
• “You have to destroy the head!” • “You have to destroy the head!”
THE BASICS

• Unholy Abomination Born of Foul • Unholy Abominations Born of Foul

Sorcerery Sorcerery
Skills: Skills:
Might 2 Know 0 Guile 0 Might 6 Know 0 Guile 0
CHARACTERS

Mob 0 Per 1 Sway 0 Mob 0 Per 3 Sway 0

Prec 0 Reas 0 Insight 0 Prec 0 Reas 0 Insight 0
Ref 0 Res 5 Net 0 Ref 0 Res 5 Net 0
Proficiencies: Proficiencies:
Savage: +2 to grab, Atk: +2 (Favored), DR: 4 Savage: +6 to grab, Atk: +4 (Favored), DR: 10
STRANDS

Defend Against Attack: +0 Def, +4 AR Defend Against Attack: +0 Def, +4 AR

Detect Hidden Creatures: +1 Detect Hidden Creatures: +3
Stress:   Unit Stress:
GAMEPLAY

Notable Benefits/Perks: Mild 

Overrun (pg. 188), Savage (pg. 188), Moderate -2  -1 Per
Undead (pg. 189), Monstrous Resilience (pg. Severe -4  -2 Per
188)
Notable Benefits/Perks:
Weakness (Head): When you
Surge on an attack against a Unit (pg. 189), Undead (pg.
PERKS

zombie, you may forego any 189), Monstrous Resilience (pg.

other benefits from Surge to 188)
declare that you’ve struck the Weakness (Heads): When you
zombie’s head. This ignores Surge on an attack against a
the zombie’s Armor Rating. zombie horde, you may forego
POWERS

Notes: The zombie is slow any other benefits from Surge to

moving, but relentless. It’s declare that you’ve struck one of
a mindless undead monster, the zombies’ heads. This ignores
driven only by a burning the horde’s Armor Rating.
desire to consume living flesh. Notes: The zombie horde is a
GEAR

The zombie’s body is pack of about 10 zombies, all

dead, and has no need for shambling mindlessly in an effort
functional organs, blood, to overrun and consume the
or a beating heart. The sole living, ripping them apart and
exception is their brain, consuming them.
MASTERY
GAME

which, if destroyed, slays the

zombie.
DEVIATIONS

198
CONTENTS
Modern/Sci-Fi Antagonists Street Cop/Security Guard
Power Level: Grounded CR: 12 (Minor Extra)
Street Thug Aspects: Size: 0
Power Level: Grounded CR: 11 (Minor Extra)
• “I’ve walked this beat a thousand times.”
Aspects: Size: 0 Skills:

THE BASICS
• Born and Raised on the Streets Might 2 Know 2 Guile 1
Skills:
Mob 2 Per 3 Sway 2
Might 3 Know 1 Guile 2
Prec 3 Reas 2 Insight 3
Mob 2 Per 2 Sway 1
Ref 2 Res 2 Net 1

CHARACTERS
Prec 2 Reas 1 Insight 2
Proficiencies:
Ref 2 Res 1 Net 1
Hit with Baton: Atk: +2, +2 DR
Proficiencies:
Shoot Pistol: Atk: +3, +3 DR, Rng: Short,
Hit with Bat/Stab with Knife: Atk: +3, +2 DR Small
Shoot Pistol: Atk: +2, +3 DR, Rng: Short,

STRANDS
Defend Against Attack: +2 Def, AR: +1
Small
Detect Hidden Creatures: +3
Defend Against Attack: +2 Def
Stress: 
Detect Hidden Creatures: +2
Stress: 

GAMEPLAY
PERKS
POWERS
GEAR
MASTERY
GAME
DEVIATIONS

199
CONTENTS
 Soldier Combat Drone
Power Level: Grounded CR: 14 (Minor Extra) Power Level: Heroic CR: 23 (Minor Extra)
Aspects: Size: 0 Aspects: Size: 0
• Trained Soldier • Android Soldier
Skills: Skills:
THE BASICS

Might 5 Know 1 Guile 0

Might 3 Know 2 Guile 1
Mob 3 Per 3 Sway 1
Mob 2 Per 3 Sway 2
Prec 4 Reas 2 Insight 2
Prec 3 Reas 3 Insight 3
Ref 3 Res 3 Net 0
Ref 3 Res 3 Net 1
Proficiencies:
CHARACTERS

Proficiencies:
Stab with Arm-Mounted Mono-Edged
Stab with Knife: Atk: +2, +2 DR Blade: Atk: +5, +4 DR
Shoot Pistol: Atk: +3, +3 DR, Rng: Short, Shoot Coil Carbine: Atk: +4, +7 DR, Rng:
Small Long, Full Auto, Armor Penetrating, Large
Shoot Carbine: Atk: +3, +5 DR, Rng: Med, Defend Against Attack: +3 Def, AR: +4
STRANDS

Full Auto, Armor Penetrating, Large Detect Hidden Creatures: +3

Defend Against Attack: +3 Def, AR: +1 Stress:  oo
Detect Hidden Creatures: +3 Notable Benefits/Perks:
Spot Trap or Ambush: +4
GAMEPLAY

Notable Benefits/Perks
Stress:   Monstrous Resilience (Minor, pg. 188)
Advanced Sensors: Thermal Vision,
Permanent
Soldier, Elite
Power Level: Heroic CR: 21 (Minor Extra)
PERKS

Aspects: Size: 0 Hunter-Killer Drone

• Special Forces Training Power Level: Paragon CR: 29 (Minor Extra)
• Veteran of War Aspects: Size: +1
Skills: • Autonomous Attack Platform
POWERS

Might 3 Know 2 Guile 2 Skills:

Mob 3 Per 4 Sway 3 Might 5 Know 0 Guile 0
Prec 4 Reas 3 Insight 3 Mob 2 Per 4 Sway 0
Ref 3 Res 4 Net 1 Prec 4 Reas 2 Insight 1
GEAR

Proficiencies: Ref 2 Res 5 Net 0

Stab with Knife: Atk: +3, +2 DR Proficiencies:
Shoot Pistol: Atk: +4, +3 DR, Rng: Short, Shoot Mounted Coil Guns: Atk: +4, +7 DR,
Small Rng: Long, Full Auto, Armor Penetrating, Large
MASTERY

Defend Against Attack: +2 Def, AR: +6

GAME

Shoot Carbine: Atk: +4, +5 DR, Rng: Med, Full

Auto, Armor Penetrating, Large Detect Hidden Creatures: +4
Defend Against Attack: +3 Def, AR: +2 Stress:   o
Detect Hidden Creatures: +4 Notable Benefits/Perks:
DEVIATIONS

Spot Trap or Ambush: +4 Monstrous Resilience (Major, pg. 188),

Stress:  oo
Notable Benefits/Perks:
Specialty Aspect (Expert Marksman
(Precision)) Rapid Fire, Firing Discipline
Multi-Attack (pg. 188)
Advanced Sensors: Thermal Vision,
Permanent
Gravitic Thrusters: Flight, Propulsion

200
CONTENTS
Chapter 9
CHAPTER 2

Deviations

THE BASICS
Dice mechanics Zeroing Out
When using this module, a player (or the GM)
Alternate Dice (d6-d6) may choose to forgo rolling dice when making
Whether you don’t have any Fate dice, or you a test, and assume an outcome of zero on the

CHARACTERS
just prefer slightly less predictable results, you roll. This has two major effects on gameplay;
may use two six sided dice. it emphasizes the Fate Point economy, and
it makes results much more consistently
There are two ways to do this. The first predictable.
method is to use four of them just like Fate
Dice, counting 1-2 as “0”, 3-4 as “-“, and 5-6 On the Table
as “+”.

The other option is to take two different
colored six sided dice and decide which will
be the “negative” die before you roll. Roll the
dice and subtract the “negative” dice from the
other dice to get the result.
STRANDS
Players and the GM have the option to zero
out, instead of rolling dice. You simply state
that you are going to Zero Out before rolling
the dice, and add up your Effort as if you had
rolled 0.

GAMEPLAY
Note that using this method of randomization NPCs are Zeros
will have a tendency to create much more Extras always Zero Out, which makes most
varied results. In fact, unlike when using 4 Fate rolls player-facing and speeds things up for the
Dice, this method produces results ranging GM; allowing them to focus on other aspects
from -5 to +5. of the game.

PERKS
The GM may opt to roll for Named NPCs if
Favor & Disfavor they choose.
When using this Deviation, when you have
Favor, you roll your positive die twice and take Favor and Disfavor
the highest value. If dice are out of the equation, then the role

POWERS
When you suffer Disfavor, you roll the negative of Favor and Disfavor must likewise change.
die twice and take the highest result. Simply grant a +1 bonus for Favor, or a -1
penalty for Disfavor.
Diceless Play
Completely removing randomness from the
equation, this can be useful for circumstances GEAR
when dice are unavailable - such as a LARP - or
simply as a matter of preference.
When playing Diceless, use the Zeroing Out
Deviation, with the following change:
MASTERY
GAME

Because of the increased emphasis this

change places on Aspects and Fate Points,
every character’s Refresh Rating is increased
by 3.
DEVIATIONS

201
CONTENTS
 Skill Modes After character creation, you’re done with
Skill Modes; when you achieve a Milestone
A Skill mode is a package of several different
that grants a Skill, increase your individual
Skills, representing a broad area of capability.
Skills just as you would normally.
Instead of distributing Skill points at character
creation, players choose and rate three Modes,
each containing an assortment of different Skill Mode Experience Levels
THE BASICS

skills. Starting Character Skill Point

Skill Modes are great for streamlining Experience Level (CEL) Adjustment
character creation, reinforcing archetypes Novice -3
within the world, and encouraging players
to take particular skills. This Deviation also Adept 0
CHARACTERS

provides an additional layer of communication Expert +3

about the kind of character and game that
players are interested in. Veteran +6
When using this Deviation, you’ll want to Master +9
identify some archetypes and themes you’d
STRANDS

like to see in your campaign. For each of these, Special Modes

select four relevant skills; these grouped
Skills comprise a Mode. It’s perfectly fine for
the same Skill to show up in multiple Modes,
just be aware; that Skill is likely to take on
GAMEPLAY
In some games, it might be appropriate to
include one or more Special Modes, consisting
of two Skills -- usually, but not always, including
an Affinity Skill -- and associated Perks, all

additional prominence in your game, and can
lead to all the PCs being proficient in that area.
When building your list, it’s a good idea to start
with the basics. Skills are already grouped into
three categories -- Action, Wits, and Influence
-- and unless you have a specific reason not
PERKS
scaling with rating. This offers additional
flexibility at a cost, essentially swapping
versatility for specialization.
The addition of Perks to a Mode can be
handled one of two ways; either Structured or
Freeform. A Structured Special Mode grants its

to, it’s a good idea to include those as Modes,
adding additional Modes to reinforce the
themes of your Strand. For most games, the
sweet spot is between four and ten different
Modes; enough to provide options, but not so
POWERS
Perks in a specific order, starting with a core
Perk, and adding others as rank increases.
Conversely, a Freeform Special Mode presents
a curated list of options, from which you select
a number of Perks equal to the Mode’s rating.

many that it bogs down the selection process.
Mode Ratings
In step 3 of character creation, rather than
assign Skill Points as normal, you select three
Modes and rate them; one at Good (+3), one at
GEAR
Regardless of how you handle it, the rules
for Perks still apply; unless otherwise stated,
you many not take a Perk with a Power Level
greater than your own, nor take the same Perk
more than once.

Fair (+2), and one at Average (+1). Each Mode’s

rating becomes the default rank for Skills in the
mode.

Adjustments
MASTERY
GAME

If a Skill shows up in more than one mode,

that Skill is reinforced: take the highest-rated
Mode it appears in, and add +1 to the Skill’s
rank for each duplicate entry. When finished,
no Skill should appear more than once on your
DEVIATIONS

character sheet. After adjusting for reinforced

Skills, add (or in the case of Novice characters,
subtract) additional Skill Points according to
your starting CEL, as shown on the Skill Mode
Experience Levels table.

202
CONTENTS
 Strands of Cthulhu Sample Skill Modes
ACTION WITS INFLUENCE ACADEMIC ATHLETE BUSINESS DETECTIVE SOLDIER SCOUNDREL
Might Knowledge Guile Insight Might Guile Insight Might Guile
Mobility Perception Sway Networking Mobility Networking Perception Networking Mobility

THE BASICS
Precision Reasoning Insight Knowledge Reflexes Reasoning Reasoning Precision Perception
Reflexes Resolve Networking Reasoning Resolve Sway Resolve Resolve Reflexes

Example Skill Modes Looking at your Modes, you have a lot

Using the Strands of Cthulhu Strand (pg. 30), of overlapping Skills; Insight, Knowledge,

we start with the core Modes of Action, Wits,
and Influence, and then add groups based on
profession or background. Academic, Athlete,
Business, Detective, Soldier, and Scoundrel
round out our choices, giving us a spread of
nine modes to choose from.
CHARACTERS
Perception, and Resolve each show up twice,
raising each by one rank, and Reasoning
appears in all three Modes, raising it by two.
Making adjustments, your Skills now look like
this:
+5 Reasoning

STRANDS
Looking at the options, the Reasoning and +4 Insight, Knowledge
Resolve Skills both show up in four different +3 Networking, Perception, Resolve
groups; for a campaign focused on themes of
Given the starting CEL of Novice for the
mystery, and sanity-shattering horror, that’s
campaign, you need to subtract three Skill

probably fine. Since we have room for one last
Mode before things start looking too cluttered,
let’s add a Special Mode with the Strand’s
Affinity Skill:
Mode: Occultist (Structured)
Skills: Knowledge, Mythos Lore
GAMEPLAY
ranks. If you were beginning at Expert or
higher, you would be adding ranks right now;
but your investigators are simply not that
experienced yet. Looking over your skills, you
opt to reduce your Insight by two ranks, and
Networking by one. You’re now ready to move

PERKS
+1 Mild Madness Aspect, Mythos on to step 4 of character creation; and your
Familiarity Perk final Skill distribution looks like this:
+2 Moderate Madness Aspect, Occult +5 Reasoning
Studies Perk +4 Knowledge
+3 Severe Madness Aspect, Mythos

POWERS
+3 Perception, Resolve
Sorcery Perk +2 Insight, Networking
The Occultist Mode may not work for every
campaign in this Strand, but it’s there if we
need it.
So let’s say that you want to play a disgraced
Professor, investigating rumors of strange GEAR
behavior in their city. You select the Academic
Mode at +3, the Wits Mode at +2, and the
Detective Mode at +1. So far, your Skills look
like this:
MASTERY
GAME

Good (+3) Fair (+2) Average (+1)

Academic Wits Detective
Insight, Networking,
DEVIATIONS

3
Knowledge, Reasoning
Knowledge, Perception,
2
Reasoning, Resolve
Insight, Perception,
1
Reasoning, Resolve

203
CONTENTS
 Aspects Suffer a Block: The Compel levies a Block
against a certain action. The Potency of the
Aspect Scopes Block depends on the type of Aspect used to
offer the Compel. Minor Aspects result in a
When using this rule, PCs are a bit more Block with a Potency of 2, standard Aspects
limited in which Aspects a character may result in a Block with a Potency of 3, and Major
Invoke or use to offer Compels.
THE BASICS

Aspects result in a Block with a Potency of 4.

A character may only Invoke (or use to offer
a Compel) one Aspect per Scope, per test. No Declarations
For example, the character could Invoke a This Deviation simply removes the option to
Character Aspect and an Aspect created by offer Declarations. This means that, when using
a Maneuver for a single test, but not two
CHARACTERS

this Deviation, the amount of direct narrative

Character Aspects. control available to the players is reduced.
The types of scopes that Aspects fall into are: Declarations are most often used to represent
Your Character’s Aspects Consequences
good fortune, or to nudge coincidence in a PC’s
favor. As such, this Deviation may be useful for
Wound Aspects Scene Aspects campaigns in which the PCs are more likely
STRANDS

Perk Aspects Zone Aspects to be unlucky, downtrodden, or struggling to

Temporary Aspects
Another Character’s Aspects
GAMEPLAY
keep hope alive against all odds.
Equipment Aspects
This Deviation may be a good fit for stories
focused on survival; or in any campaign where
the focus is on the PCs’ struggle against a harsh

Note that Major Aspects can always be used,

environment or against hard times.
and do not count against scope limits.

Explicit Compels Skill-based Declarations

When using this optional rule, the GM may
By default, using an Aspect to Compel another
allow you to make tests using Skills that
character is a narrative tool to inflict some sort
PERKS

represent knowledge of certain topics to

of story-based punishment. As a rule, Compels
perform a Declaration.
(and Declarations) are used to side-step the
rules, eschewing the use of dice in favor of For example, you might use Knowledge
getting directly to the heart of the matter. to place an Aspect of Undiscovered Tribal
Matriarchy on the people of the island the PCs
When using this Deviation, the amount
POWERS

are about to visit.

of narrative control available to the person
offering the Compel is reduced. Instead of
describing a story effect, accepting a Compel
results in one of the following effects, picked
by the player offering the Compel.
GEAR
This works the same as invoking an Aspect to
make a Declaration, but relies on a test instead.
The GM is encouraged to use creativity
as their guide when determining the test

-2 Penalty: The character accepting the Difficulty to make a Declaration.

Compel reduces the Effort they generate on a The default Difficulty is 2, but attempts to
test by 2. Declare creative and entertaining Aspects
Re-Roll: The character accepting the Compel or facts should be more likely to succeed
than boring Aspects or facts. Ideas that
MASTERY

is forced to reroll their dice when performing a

GAME

test. If they have Favor or Disfavor, the victim would disrupt the game, or are just plain
of the Compel must reroll their dice, and then unreasonable, should simply be vetoed.
apply Favor (or Disfavor) again.
So, for example, your foe has Favor on a Skill
DEVIATIONS

test. They roll a total of 2 Effort, and then apply

Favor and re-roll all “-“ results to get a total of
3. If they then accept a Compel to re-roll, they
must start over, rolling the dice and applying
Favor again.

204
CONTENTS
Conflict
Called Shots
Sometimes a character wants to attack their
opponent in a specific way, targeting a precise
area, and doing structural damage. This can
be particularly useful when trying to blow the
head off a zombie, take out your opponent’s
sword arm, or otherwise directly debilitate
your target.
When using this Deviation, any time a player
causes their target to take a Wound, the
attacker can spend a Fate Point to describe the
Consequence instead of the defender.
If the attacker Surges, a Fate Point need not
be spent.
As with all Consequences, the Aspect needs
to make sense; it should be consistent with the
type of attack performed and the severity of
the Consequence, and the GM still has final
say on what is appropriate. In addition, the
defender has the option to spend a Fate Point
of their own to veto the description, and come
up with their own as normal.
Called Shots for Complications
By default, Called Shots only apply to Wounds;
if the character opts to take a Complication
instead, the attacker has no avenue to
determine the nature of the Consequence
beyond a helpful suggestion. If this optional
rule is in play, the attacker may spend a Fate
Point to define the Consequence, even if the
affected character opts to take a Complication
205
Card Deck Initiative
This is a variant of the Structured Initiative
Deviation. But instead of relying on die rolls,
you instead use a deck of cards.
At the start of each turn, the GM deals a card
THE BASICS
to each player, and takes one for himself for
each NPC (or small group of like NPCs).
The character with the highest card goes first
(Aces are high), and then other characters take
their turns after them, in order of highest card
CHARACTERS
to lowest.
In the event of a tie, the character with the
highest Reflexes goes first.
If a character draws a Joker, they get a Fate
Point! If the GM draws a Joker, they get to add
STRANDS
a Fate Point to their Threat Pool.
The deck is shuffled after any turn in which a
character drew a Joker.
Costly Complications
GAMEPLAY
Complications allow character to differ stress
onto certain elements in their environment.
And while this may at first seem like an
“escape” from the stress they would otherwise
endure, Complications can (and should!) come
back to haunt you later.
PERKS
But sometimes there is no “later”. Short
lived campaigns, or campaigns where the GM
doesn’t expect the PCs to interact with a lot of
NPCs, can mean that Complications may never
get a chance to come back around and have a
POWERS
significant effect on the PC.
In this case, it’s recommended that the GM
require PCs to pay a Fate Point for the option
to take a Complication instead of a Wound in
response to physical stress.
GEAR
MASTERY
GAME
DEVIATIONS
CONTENTS
 Facing Likewise for purposes of determining distance;
if a character can make a ranged attack against
In Action Time, characters are usually
a target beyond the zone they occupy, they
considered to be in constant motion; which
can make that attack against anyone within
direction they are facing is abstracted away.
5 Units, adding 1 additional Unit per rank of
When using this optional rule, at the end of a
Precision (or Affinity for ranged Powers).
character’s turn, make note of what direction
THE BASICS

they are facing; this determines their field of A character can only make an unarmed or
vision, roughly 180 degrees in front of them. melee weapon attack against a target in an
adjacent Unit, however, they can move an
Attacking a character from behind grants
additional 2 Units as part of a melee weapon
Favor on the attack test. Perception tests to
or unarmed attack, but only before the attack
detect a sneaking character suffer Disfavor if
CHARACTERS

the sneaking character is behind the character.
When interacting with a target from behind,
they are considered unaware of you for the
purposes of certain Perks (such as Backstab).
While the Miniatures and Battle Mats
STRANDS
is made.
Ganging Up
Characters can outnumber their targets to
gain an advantage. If a character ever has more
adversaries than allies in adjacent Units, they

Deviation is not required to use Facing, it is suffer Disfavor on all Defense tests.
highly recommended.
Zone-Affecting Powers and Effects
Miniatures and Battle Mats When abilities state that they affect all
For a more tactical gameplay experience, targets in a Zone, select an origin point for
GAMEPLAY

and one that benefits strongly from props like
miniatures, battle mats, and 3D terrain, this
Deviation eschews abstract movement and
positioning in favor of something a little more
concrete.
When this Deviation is in effect, zones
PERKS
your Power’s effected area. The origin must be
within range for your Power or effect.
It then affects everything within 2 Units of the
origin, effectively covering a 5 Unit by 5 Unit
square on the map, centered on your chosen
origin point.

function normally in regards to Aspects, and as

descriptive devices. However, more concrete
information - such as distance, or relative
positioning - will be described in Units.
One Unit is equivalent to one inch on the play
POWERS
No Complications
In some settings, the threat of physical
violence is very real, very deadly, and should
be entered into very carefully.

surface. We assume you are using a 1” square
grid, but you could instead use a hex overlay or
a measuring tape or ruler. In any case, the scale
remains the same.
In game terms, most maps and miniatures
GEAR
When using this Deviation, characters cannot
divert their stress into Complications, and
must more often deal with the cuts, bruises
and bullet wounds that come from physical
combat.

assume a 1/28 scale, which means each unit

is somewhere around 5 feet or 1.5 meters,
give or take. Consistency is more important
than specificity - if you want to use a different
scale, go for it - just understand the effect that
MASTERY
GAME

moving significantly more or less has on the

genre of your game.
When the rules refer to zones for purposes of
distance, assume that one zone is equivalent
DEVIATIONS

to 5 Units. So if a character makes a Standard

Move they would be able to move 5 units; or
10 when hustling. Additionally, characters can
travel an additional unit per rank of Mobility:
so a character with Mobility 3 could cover 8
units in a Standard Move.

206
CONTENTS
Persistent Stress
By default, stress is ephemeral—the
scrapes, bruises, and moments of doubt that
occur—and is cleared at the end of a scene,
keeping lasting harm squarely in the realm
of Consequences. When using this Deviation,
stress leaves a much more lasting impact,
leading to a game that has a more gritty,
grounded, and perilous feel.
Instead of clearing at the conclusion of a
scene, Persistent stress accumulates over time,
only being cleared when actions are taken to
directly address the situation.
Clearing Persistent Stress
Much like when recovering from
Complications, specific action needs to be
taken in order to clear stress tracks; just
as going to bed when stressed out doesn’t
necessarily mean waking up calm, the passage
of time alone won’t rid a character of their
accumulated stress—they need to take action,
and they need the time and space to do it in
relative safety.
Characters can attempt to clear their own
stress, or someone else’s; though which Skills
are used will depend heavily on context, such
as using Precision to massage out the knots
in someone’s muscles, Reasoning to calm
yourself down, or even Guile to assure your
followers that the danger has passed.
After deciding on an appropriate Skill, make
a Skill Test, Diff: 1. For every Shift generated,
clear one box of stress. In a given scene, a
character may attempt to either clear stress
or downgrade a Consequence, but not both
unless the scene takes place at a recovery
facility).
207
Sanity (Mental Stress)
When using this Deviation, the catch-all
system of Stress is split into two distinct types
of tracks: Health and Sanity.
By default, “stress” is the abstract measure
of your character’s ability to withstand
THE BASICS
physical and mental abuse. But when using
this Deviation, the line between physical and
mental stress is more clearly defined.
What would normally be called your Stress
Track now becomes your Health Track. You
CHARACTERS
determine how many boxes you have on your
Health Track the same way you would your
Stress Track, and any Perks that normally affect
your Stress Track instead affect your Health
Track.
STRANDS
When you are attacked with a weapon, a blast
of magic or suffer any sort of physical stress,
instead of marking it on a “Stress” track, you
mark it down on your Health track. And as with
regular stress, you can reduce the amount of
GAMEPLAY
stress suffered by taking a Wound.
However, stress suffered from a mental
attack, or from exposure to some emotionally
or mentally scarring event, is tracked on your
Sanity stress track.
This track has a number of stress boxes equal
PERKS
to your Resolve + Reasoning.
As with physical attacks, when you suffer
mental stress attack, you can absorb that
stress by taking a Consequence. In this case,
the Consequence is called a Break.
POWERS
A Break, like a Wound or Complication,
reduces the amount of stress suffered
depending on the severity of the Break. By
default, the amount of stress reduced is the
same as with Wounds or Complications:
Mild(m) -2 GEAR
Moderate -4
Severe -6
Extreme(M) -8
MASTERY
GAME
DEVIATIONS
CONTENTS
 Breaks Instead of Complications Edge and Familiarity
When you are not using this Deviation, Edge is the “Skill” used in a mental attack.
characters suffers mental instability in the form It’s an abstract measurement of just how
of Complications, which can also represent disturbing, horrific or downright alien a thing
changes to your environment, relationships, or event might be.
reputation, and other more abstract challenges The amount of Edge granted to a mental
THE BASICS

and difficulties. attack is determined by the GM. Usually the

But when using this Deviation, amount ranges from 0 to
a clear line is drawn between
damage to your mental health S ample reaksB 10, with 0 being something
disturbing but not
and more external Complications. immediately threatening, 5
Mild(m)
CHARACTERS

So while Breaks represent being something that flies

• Flushed in the face of everything
post-traumatic stress, paranoia,
schizophrenia, or other symptoms • Shamed the character thought they
of mental and emotional trauma; • Withdrawn knew, and that poses a very
Complications reflect external real and immediate threat
concerns, such as being wanted Moderate of a horrific death, and 10
STRANDS

by the police or becoming • Uncontrollable Trembling being some elder god from
denounced from your noble • Unwilling to Speak outside of time and space.
heritage. • Desire to Lash Out The GM is free to adjust
these numbers based
Mental Attacks Severe on other circumstances,
GAMEPLAY

When using this Deviation, • Flashbacks usually determined by how

certain attacks are defined as vulnerable the character is
“mental attacks”. A mental attack • Paranoia during the encounter.
is any sort of overt assault on the • Psychotic Tendencies For example, stumbling
target’s sanity. This may come in Extreme(M) upon a dead body in the
the form of witnessing a traumatic woods while on a camping
PERKS

event, the loss of a loved one, • Mute trip might have an Edge
exposure to certain Powers (see • Severe Hallucinations rating of 0. If it’s at night, it
below) or encountering mind- • Suicidal might instead be 1. If its at
warping abominations from night, and you’re by yourself,
beyond the stars. Taken Out it might 2 or even 3.
POWERS

• Dead Likewise, encountering a

Mental Attacks and Defenses
• Catatonic shuffling zombie in the dead
Mental attacks can come in
many forms, but as far as the • Crippling Dementia of night might result in a
conflict rules are concerned, they mental attack with an Edge
all basically work the same. rating of 4. The creature is
GEAR

terrifying to behold, and an affront to all that is

During a mental attack, attack and defense good and holy. But it’s slow, and if there is only
tests are made in much the same way as with one of them, not a great threat.
a physical attack, with the main difference
being that the “attacker”, since it is a situation On the other hand, if it’s a roaring werewolf
MASTERY

instead of a deliberate act of another person charging at you instead, the GM might up the
GAME

or thing, doesn’t have a Skill to add to the dice. Edge rating of the attack to 7.
Instead, the GM attributes the sanity Circumstances will dictate what the Edge
damaging event an Edge rating. And the rating should be, and the GM should use
victim defends with Resolve. Under certain their best judgment. That said, here are some
DEVIATIONS

circumstances, more worldly victims may guidelines that can help:

benefit from Familiarity.

208
CONTENTS
 Assume the base Edge rating is 0, and add to
it based on the following circumstances:
+1 A dead body (no signs of violence)
+3 A dead body (mutilated)
+2 A loved one killed in an accident
+2 You adventuring buddy is killed in
combat
+5 A loved one murdered in front of you
+2 A loved one died because of you
+2 The victim was a child
+1 It’s night
+1 You are alone
+1 You are already hurt, tired, hungry, etc.
+2 The creature is unnatural, but not a
deadly threat (a single zombie, a small
gremlin, etc)
+4 The creature is unnatural, and an
obvious threat (ghost, werewolf,
vampire, etc.)
+6 The creature is an alien whose very
nature claws at the mind (elder gods,
Lovecraftian horrors, etc.)
Familiarity is the opposite of Edge, and
functions like a sort of armor used to mitigate
the effects of a mental attack.
Character’s who regularly stand in the face
of evil eventually become desensitized to it to
some degree. Those character build Familiarity.
Familiarity isn’t something that helps with
very personal loss, such as the death of
loved ones. But it does help deal with death
on the battlefield, and encounters with the
supernatural.
Heroes don’t shrink from evil. So a character
gains a base Familiarity rating based on their
Power Level, as shown below:
Grounded 0
Heroic 1
Paragon 2
Mythic 3
Legendary 4
209
Furthermore, those who have been around
the block a few times gain a bonus based on
their Experience Level.
Novice +0
Adept +1
Expert +2
THE BASICS
Veteran +3
Master +4
Eventually, characters may become
accustomed to specific threats that they
CHARACTERS
encounter regularly. As a general rule, each
time a character succeeds on a mental attack,
they gain a +1 bonus on their defense test
to defend against mental attacks from the
same source. And once they can’t fail, even if
they roll -4 on the dice, the GM can assume
STRANDS
they have become accustomed enough to
that particular threat that they have become
immune to mental attacks from that source.
Characters witnessing the first days of the
zombie apocalypse, for example, are going
GAMEPLAY
to have a hard time coming to grips with the
walking dead. But those who survive the first
few months eventually come to think of the
roaming hordes of undead as a normal, if
unpleasant, part of life.
PERKS
Recommendations
This Deviation is especially useful for horror
themed games, where characters become
deeply affected, and slowly unravel, the more
they deal with the supernatural.
POWERS
Consider using the No Complications or Costly
Complications Deviation when using this these
rules for Sanity. Otherwise, you’re going to
end up having to keep track of three different
types of Consequences (Wounds, Breaks and
Complications) for each character. GEAR
Recovering from a Break
Character who suffer a Break will find that it,
like physical Wounds, get better with time.
MASTERY
GAME
Breaks are downgraded and replaced the
same way Wounds are.
DEVIATIONS
CONTENTS
 Structured Initiative
The default initiative system is designed to be
very free-flowing, with the action being driven
by the narrative fiction woven by the GM and
players at the table.
But to introduce a little bit more chaos into
THE BASICS
the narrative, the GM can implement a system
for initiative that more definitively governs
when characters may act.
When using this Deviation, as soon as the
game transitions into Action Time, the GM
CHARACTERS
has the players make a test to determine their
Initiative rating. This is a 4dF dice roll with a
bonus equal to double your Reflexes.
The GM then records each PC’s result, and
makes the same test for each NPC. To help
STRANDS
things move along a little faster, they might
instead roll for a group of NPCs, who would
share the same result.
The characters then all act in order of Effort
scored, from highest to lowest. And once
GAMEPLAY
everyone has had a turn, the next round starts
and everyone acts again, in the same order.
Surprise: In some cases, Action Time may
start before some characters are aware of the
threat. In that case, a surprised character does
not get to act in the first round. But, unless
PERKS
they have somehow managed to remain
oblivious through the first round, They’d get to
roll Initiative and act in the second.
Delayed Actions: A character may choose to
POWERS
delay their Action until after a character that
is lower in the Initiative order has acted, or
until a stated event occurs after their turn. A
character could, for example, state that they’re
delaying their turn to fire their weapon until
after their ally opens the door. On their ally’s
GEAR
turn, they’d open the door, and the first PC
could then fire at whatever is on the other
side, immediately after.
MASTERY
GAME
Character Creation
No Aspect Alphabet
DEVIATIONS
The Aspect Alphabet is a convenient tool to
help players round out their characters with
Aspects that cover important facets of their
character’s personality and backstory. But in
truth, so long as the players understand the
210
CONTENTS
role of Aspects in character creation and play,
adhering to the Aspect Alphabet isn’t critical.
When using this Strand, more experienced
players can fore-go the structure provided
by the Aspect Alphabet, and instead simply
create whatever Aspects they feel best fit their
character concept.
As always however, the character’s Aspects
should be interesting, and should be expected
to contribute to the narrative somewhat
regularly. Be mindful of overly specific or
situational Aspects, as these will likely see very
little use in play. Likewise, you should watch
out for overly broad Aspects, which tend to be
rather generic.
Character Creation During Play
When using this Deviation, simply pick a
name and write down your Defining Character
Aspect and maybe some basic equipment.
Seriously—that’s it. Don’t worry. You can add
more Character Aspects, fill out Skill ratings,
and select Perks as you go. Each player is
given a Fate Point for each Aspect they come
up with, to a maximum number set by their
Refresh. Every time a player thinks of another
cool Aspect to add to their character, give them
another Fate Point (up to a maximum equal to
their FP max).
Did you read about a great Perk in the rulebook
or have an idea for one that’s not listed? Great;
as long as you meet the Perk’s prerequisites,
just add it to your character sheet.
Just keep an eye on the total number of
Skill ranks and starting Perks a character of
your Power and Experience Level should
have, and make sure you don’t surpass those
limits. Characters created using this Strand
are no more powerful than characters created
without it, they are just created in a different
way.
In this way you can build characters as you
This Deviation help players jump directly into
play, with minimal delay. It’s especially good
for people who’ve not played a game like this
before who don’t yet understand what Aspects
or Skills do or what Perks would be cool for
their characters.
 THE BASICS
CHARACTERS
STRANDS
Gear and Wealth Encumbrance

Bulk & Encumbrance
Strands of Fate doesn’t normally put much
emphasis on things like carry weight or how
cumbersome a character’s equipment might
be.
GAMEPLAY
Your character can carry a total Bulk rating
equal to their Might x3.
If you exceed this, you gain the Encumbered(M)
Aspect, and suffer Disfavor on all Might,
Mobility, Precision and Reflex tests.

PERKS
You may not carry more than your Might x4 in
But when using the Survival Deviation (pg. Bulk (min 2).
224), it naturally benefits characters to load
themselves down with all the gear they think Sample Bulk Ratings:
they might need.
Item Bulk

POWERS
But that may not always be practical. When
you find yourself in the midst of brutal battle, One day Rations 1
or decide that the smart move it to simply run Waterskin 1
for your life, the last thing you need to worry
about is a big bulky backpack or sloshing water Dagger 1
jugs. Pistol 1 GEAR
Bulk Shortsword 2
Undiscovered caves and creepy old dungeons Shortbow 3
rarely feature all the amenities of home, and
Assault /Sniper Rifle 4
MASTERY

it’s difficult to fight off a slobbering ogre if you

GAME

are weighed down by a backpack full of gold. Longbow 4

However, instead of tediously tracking the Long Sword 3
weight of each item the character carries,
items are instead assigned a Bulk rating, which Spear 3
DEVIATIONS

is an abstract measurement of the combined Leather Armor 2

size and weight of an object.
Plate Mail Armor 4
An object’s Bulk rating will determine how
it can be carried, and containers can store a Quiver of Arrows (3 Ammo Units) 2
certain amount of Bulk depending on the type.

211
CONTENTS
 Dynamic Resources For example, if your track looks like this…
The core rules assume that your Resources
rating rarely, if ever, changes. Increasing
your Resources requires you to increases its
dependent Skills, or take certain Perks.
When using this Deviation, your Resources
THE BASICS

rating can rise and fall over the course of play.

As you accumulate wealth, your Resource
rating increases. As you spend it, it decreases.
This Strand is used to track the rise and fall of
your characters’ fortunes. It is not as complex
CHARACTERS

as tracking each and every penny spent, but …and you get an increase with a Value of 5,
this is a game and it doesn’t need to be. your track should now look like this…
Tracking Resources
Your Resources is recorded on a track like the
STRANDS

one shown below, which shows a Resources

Track in which the character has a Resources
rating of 4 and has gained 6 boxes worth of
wealth.
The boxes represent incremental changes in
GAMEPLAY

your character’s Resources.

If you purchase something, erase a number

of ticks equal to the Value of the expenditure,
working counter clockwise, starting with the
PERKS

marked box farthest along the track.

For example, if your track looks like this…
POWERS

When you receive an increase in wealth,

either as payment for a job well done,
discovering a hidden treasure, or the like,
place a number of marks equal to the Value
of the increase, starting in the box designated
as the starting point, continuing around in a
GEAR

clockwise fashion.
Additional increases are ticked off starting in
the next free space. …and you suffer a loss with a Value of 3, your
If you fill the wheel with ticks, increase your track should now look like this…
MASTERY
GAME

Resource Rating by 1, erase all your marks, and

start over with the overflowing remainder.
DEVIATIONS

212
CONTENTS
 If a loss causes you to erase all of your ticks,
reduce your Resources Rating by 1. Then refill
your Resource Track, leaving only enough
boxes unchecked to account for your hits.
So, if your track looks like this…
Invoked to gain a bonus on your defense test
against an attack from a short sword, but offers
little protection against the crushing blows of
a mace.
This Deviation can be used alone, but also
works well when used in conjunction with the

THE BASICS
Simplified Weapons and Armor Deviation.

Simplified Weapons and Armor

When using this Deviation, weapons and
armor still have Range, Damage and Armor

CHARACTERS
ratings, but no other statistics matter.
Instead of using the item statistics in the Gear
chapter, weapons, armor and other equipment
instead fall into the following broad categories:
…and you suffer a hit of 5, your track should
now look like this… Small Blades DR: +1

STRANDS
Medium Blades DR: +2
Heavy Blades DR: +3
Spears DR: +2

GAMEPLAY
Clubs DR: +1
Bow/Crossbow DR: +2
Pistols DR: +1 Range: Short
SMGs & Assault Rifles DR: +2 Range: Med
Shotguns DR: +3/2 Range: Sht/Med

PERKS
Gear Aspects Rifles DR: 3 Range: Long
This Deviation greatly downplays the degree
of impact weapons, armor and other gear has Light Armor AR: +1
on the rules of the game. When using this

POWERS
Deviation, players do not have to worry about Medium Armor AR: +2
gear stats or ammo units. Heavy Armor AR: +3
Instead, notable pieces of equipment are
represented with Aspects. Most regular Shield +1 Defense Bonus
weapons, armor and pieces of equipment are
standard Aspects. More powerful weapons This Deviation can be used alone, or in
and armor, any that would normally have a DR GEAR
conjunction with the Gear Aspects Deviation.
or AR bonus of +3 or higher, are Major Aspects.
These Aspects can be Invoked for a bonus
when making tests that use the equipment
MASTERY

your Gear Aspects represent.

GAME

For example, when making an attack, you may

invoke your Long Sword Aspect to gain a bonus
on the attack test. Likewise, you might invoke
your Chainmail Armor Aspect to gain a bonus
DEVIATIONS

on your defense test.

However, because of the situational nature
of Aspects, some Gear Aspects may be more
appropriate for invocation than others. For
example, your Chainmail Armor Aspect may be

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CONTENTS
 Specialties
This Deviation offers an alternative to the
Specialty Aspect (pg. 99) Perk. Instead of
adding a new Aspect, you instead gain the
ability to become Favored when performing
specific tasks.
THE BASICS
Direction Sense – You almost always know
which direction is north. You are Favored on
Skill tests to navigate, or avoid getting lost.
Doctorate – You are an authority in a specific
scientific field, be it physics, chemistry,
medicine, etc. You are Favored on tests

When using this Deviation, you may select the to recall knowledge, or reason out truths,
following Grounded Perk. related to your specified field.
Engineer – You are an authority in a specific
 Specialized engineering field, be it computer hardware
You have had some specialized training, which or software, explosives, vehicles, etc. You are
CHARACTERS

grants you Favor when using Skills in a certain
way.
Select two Specialties.
Some example specialties are listed below,
but this is not an exhaustive list, and you are
STRANDS
Favored on tests to analyze, build, or repair
items related to your specified field.
Eye for Crime – You are Favored on tests to
notice someone performing a criminal act.
Fast Talker – Whether the truth or a lie, you

encouraged to use them as examples to create
your own.
You may select this Perk more than once,
each time selecting two additional specialties.
GAMEPLAY
are Favored on any test to convince another
person to believe what you say.
Fearless – You are Favored on tests to resist
fear.

You may never take this Perk more than two

Grappler – You are Favored on test to push,
times (for a total of 4 specialties).
pull, throw, restrain, pin or trip another.
Acrobatic – You are Favored on tests related
Grease the Wheels – You are Favored on tests
to surviving falls and negotiating your
made when attempting to bribe someone.
environment.
Hunter of the Wild – You are Favored on
PERKS

Alertness – You are Favored on any tests to

tests to set ambushes and lay traps in the
detect a foe before they attack you from
wilderness.
surprise.
Hide In Plain Sight – You are Favored on rolls
Animal Insight – You are Favored on tests to
to blend into a crowd, or avoid notice while
discern the motives of animals, and to make
POWERS

stationary.
Assessments related to animals.
In the Name of God – You are Favored on all
Architect of Death – You are Favored on tests
tests to convince another to do as you say, in
to create or repair implements of war, such
the interests of your religion.
as weapons or combat vehicles.
In the Name of Science – You are Favored on
Artist – You are an authority in a specific
GEAR

all tests to convince another to do as you say,

artistic field, be it painting, sculpting, singing,
in the interests of academic research.
dancing, etc. You are Favored all tests related
to your specified field of artistic creation or Locksplitter – You are Favored on tests to pick
performance. locks or crack safes.
MASTERY

Black Hat – You are Favored on tests to hack Master of Disguise – You are Favored on tests
GAME

into a secure computer system. to disguise yourself, or remain disguised.

Book Worm – You are Favored on all tests to Scary – You are Favored on tests to frighten or
research information about a specific person, menace (pg. 80) others.
DEVIATIONS

place, or thing using a library. Scene of the Crime – You are Favored on tests
Digital Spider – You are Favored on all tests to to notice clues at a crime scene.
research information about a specific person, Sense Deception – You are Favored on tests
place, or thing using the Internet. to detect a lie.

214
CONTENTS
 THE BASICS
CHARACTERS
STRANDS
GAMEPLAY
PERKS
POWERS
Shadow – You are Favored on tests to follow, Survivalist – You are Favored on rolls to find
or sneak up on another person unseen. food and water in the wilderness.
Smooth Over – You are Favored on tests to Tracker – You are Favored on tests to track
calm others. someone (or something) on the move.
Sniper – You are Favored on tests to perform Trap Sense – You are Favored on tests to
the “Aim” Maneuver (pg. 82). detect traps and alarms. GEAR
Scavenger – You are Favored on tests to locate
valuable or useful items.
Sticky Fingers – You are Favored on tests to
MASTERY
GAME

filch (pg. 84) items.

DEVIATIONS

215
CONTENTS
 Character Development
Achievements
Like real people, your character needs
motivation to do the things they do. One of the
character’s suggested Aspects might be tied to
THE BASICS
their ambition, which sets a long term goal,
and provides direction for many game sessions
to come.
But that’s a long-term goal; something that is
difficult, if not impossible, to achieve.
CHARACTERS
When you use this Deviation, in addition to
your character’s long term goal(s) as defined
by their Aspects, your character will want to
pursue certain short-term goals; which are
called Personal Achievements.
STRANDS
Your character should always have three
Personal Achievements in mind, which fall into
one of the categories listed below.
If a single act would achieve more than one
Achievement, you only get 1 XP for the second
GAMEPLAY
one. And the GM should allow you to replace
both of the Achievements you met.
Strand Achievements are Achievements that
can be accomplished by any character, at any
time. They are meant to enforce a genre, the
themes of the campaign, or simple challenges
PERKS
to add more spice to the campaign.
Personal Achievements
Personal Achievements are determined by
the player, and fall into the sub-categories
POWERS
of Acquisition, Discovery, Glory, Protection,
Redemption or Relationship. When an
Achievement is met, the character gets a Fate
Point, 2 Experience Points, and must replace it
with a new Achievement.
GEAR
GMs should strive to insure that the PCs get
an opportunity to meet at least one Personal
Achievement every 2-3 game sessions.
The players should be sure they select
Achievements that are achievable in the short
MASTERY
GAME
term, but difficult enough to represent real
character growth or progress. The GM has
final say over the suitability of a character’s
Personal Achievements.
DEVIATIONS
Personal Achievements are meant to add
variety to your character, and their story.
So while there is a lot of overlap in the
Achievement categories, when possible, try
to insure that your Achievements are written
such that only one can be achieved at a time.
216
CONTENTS
Acquisition
An acquisition Milestone is very simple - You
want something. You achieve the Milestone
when you get it. Examples include:
• The Glass Staff of Malkoth
• Claim the Dragon’s Horde
• Access to the Silver Mines of Sazar’vos
Discovery
Discovery Milestones generally hinge on
finding out some sort of information important
to you; be it a foe’s dirty secret, or some
arcane lore that further reveals the secrets of
the universe. Examples include:
• Learn the Identity of the Bandit Chief
• Find out why the Orc Tribes are
Migrating
• Determine the Identity of the Spy
Glory
Some things you do for love, some you do for
riches. And some you do to ensure your name
is spoken in revered tones for generations.
Glory Milestones, when achieved, do not
necessarily yield immediate tangible results.
But they help build your legacy. They make
people talk about you, respect you, and maybe
even worship you. Examples include:
• Defeat Captain Donnal in Single Combat
• Slay the Dragon Terrorizing the Village
• Perform a Legendary Feat of Strength
Protection
Protection Milestones represent a desire to
protect a person, place or thing from a specific
danger. The Milestone should clearly state the
person in need of protection (which can be
yourself), and what they need to be protected
from. This Milestone is only completed when
the subject is clearly no longer in any danger.
Examples include:
• Find my way off the Deserted Island.
• Free the Village from the Curse of
Winter
• Give Elisa the Antidote
Redemption
You’ve wronged someone in some significant
way. Perhaps you betrayed a friend. Perhaps
you betrayed your own convictions. In any
case, the Milestone should clearly state who
you wronged, and how. The Milestone can
only be achieved once you have been forgiven
by the subject of the Milestone, or you’ve
achieved (or sacrificed) enough to forgive
yourself. Examples include:
• Prove to Jason that I’m not a Traitor
• Save the Villagers that I Betrayed.
• Return the Jewels that I Stole to the
Museum
Relationship
These Milestones should focus on forming,
or repairing, a relationship with another
character. The character may be a PC, or NPC,
or a group of characters. The Milestone should
name the person in question, and describe
what needs to occur to meet the Milestone.
Examples include:
• Get Dixie to go out with me.
• Earn Raniel’s Respect as a Warrior
• Get Promoted to Captain in the Red Gua
Strand Achievements
Strand Achievements are specific actions or
events that, when they happen, are particularly
genre-supporting.
For example, in a game about vampires, there
might be an Achievement that grants extra
XPs the first time you make a new vampire, or
the first time you are burned by the sun.
In a zombie apocalypse-themed campaign,
you might get an Achievement the first time
you kill an infected (but still living) character
before they turn. Or maybe you get an
Achievement the first time you betray another
person, condemning them to death to save
yourself or a loved one.
Achievements should be used as a way to
reward players for having their characters
behave in ways that aren’t necessarily optimal,
or even smart, but support the genre or
campaign’s style/themes.
Like Personal Achievements, Strand
Achievements grant XP. Their XP value
should range from 1-2 for relatively easily
accomplished Achievements.
Achievements that are more difficult to
accomplish, or that come at great sacrifice,
might grant as many as 6XPs.
Generally, a character may only complete the
same Achievement one time.
217
Achievements should be listed in the Strand,
but not every Achievement needs to be in
there. The GM is encouraged to create a few
secret Achievements that are only revealed
when they are accomplished.
That said, the GM should provide enough
THE BASICS
Achievements, up front, to inspire the players
and get them thinking about how they might
accomplish some of them early on.
Example Strand Achievements
CHARACTERS
I Am the Night (2XP): Progress through an
area (start to finish) without being detected.
Shadow Warrior (3XP): Frame someone or
get them to take the fall for something they
didn’t do.
STRANDS
I Love The Way You Lie (2XP): Bluff your way
through an encounter. (This can be several
levels - a verbal lie, faking a skill you don’t
have, etc.)
GAMEPLAY
Let Me Handle This (2XP): Successfully turn
a violent conflict into a conversation using
only words.
Why Did You Let Me Handle This (2XP):
Successfully turn a conversation into a
violent conflict using only words.
PERKS
On the House (3XP): Persuade your superior
or patron to cover up a failure or liability on
your part.
One For the Team (3XP): Step forward to
POWERS
take the fall for someone else because it’s
politically advantageous.
Knife in the Back (2XP): A character sells out
another character.
GEAR
MASTERY
GAME
DEVIATIONS
CONTENTS
 Open Milestones The Heroes’ Journey
In this variant, characters advance Power Skill
as normally, with one distinction – Experience Level Level Points Perks*
when gaining a new Milestone, you Novice Grounded 18 1G
may choose whether it grants a
Skill or a Perk. Every 4th Milestone Adept Heroic 21 2G, 1H
THE BASICS

still grants a Promotion, Perk, and Expert Paragon 24 2G, 2H, 1P

Skill as normal.
Veteran Mythic 27 2G, 2H, 2P, 1M
Open Tiers Master Legendary 30 2G, 2H, 2P, 2M, 1L
In this variant, character Rise of Heroes
CHARACTERS

advancement is decoupled from

Milestones – characters may Adept Heroic 21 2G, 1H
purchase improvements at any Expert Paragon 24 2G, 2H, 1P
point, so long as they have enough Veteran Paragon 27 2G, 2H, 2P, 1M
banked XPs to do so. In Open Tiers
advancement, it costs 5 XPs to Master Mythic 30 2G, 2H, 2P, 3M
STRANDS

increase a Skill rated less than 4 by Heroes Emergent

one rank, or to acquire a new Perk.
Once the character has accrued 25 Adept Grounded 21 3G
XPs, they are promoted to a new Expert Grounded 24 6G
Experience Level, but gain no other
GAMEPLAY

Veteran Heroic 27 6G, 1H

benefits.
Open Tiers advancement is much Master Heroic 30 6G, 3H
more free-form, and presents a Street Level Super Heroes
trade-off: characters advance to Adept Paragon 21 2H, 1P
individual bonuses more quickly,
but lags ever-so-slightly behind Expert Paragon 24 2G, 2H, 1P
PERKS

in overall advancement. While Veteran Mythic 27 2G, 2H, 2P, 1M

this isn’t a massive difference—
at 150 total XPs, or Milestone Master Mythic 30 2G, 2H, 2P, 3M
20, characters using traditional World Class Super Heroes
Milestone advancement will have
POWERS

Adept Mythic 21 2P, 1M

one more Skill or Perk than their
Open Tier counterparts. Expert Mythic 24 2P, 3M
Additionally, using Open Tiers Veteran Legendary 27 2P, 4M, 1L
requires tracking your total XPs Master Legendary 30 2P, 4M, 3L
and you current XPs separately.
GEAR

Cosmic Super Heroes

Power from Experience Veteran Legendary 27 6M, 1L
Your campaign may allow your Master Legendary 30 6M, 3L
character’s Power Level to increase
when they increase in Experience. * G=Grounded, H=Heroic, P=Paragon, M=Mythic,
MASTERY
GAME

This is how farm boys rise to L=Legendary

become archmages.
If the Strand uses this Deviation, each time enough XPs to get Promoted to the Expert
your character gains a Promotion, depending Experience Level, you also become a Paragon
DEVIATIONS

on the variant of this Deviation used, they may character. This means, as a Paragon Expert,
also increase in Power Level. you may select Perks and Powers normally
only available to Paragon or lower characters.
For example, when using the Heroes’ Journey
variant, if you started as an Adept character Also, many Perks or Powers automatically
of the Heroic tier (a “Heroic Adept”), and gain become more powerful as the character’s
Power Level increases.

218
CONTENTS
 This Deviation offers multiple different
advancement schemes, and your Strand
should clearly define which is used.
The different advancement options are listed
below, and on the table on the previous page.
The table shows the path of advancement,
along with the projected Skill Point and Perks
available as they progress.
Note, however, that you can always take
a lower level Perk than the one listed. If, for
example, the table says you can take 4 Mythic
Perks (“4M”), you could instead take 1 Mythic
and 3 Heroic, 4 Grounded, 2 Paragon and 2
Grounded, etc.
The Heroes’ Journey
This is the sort of story where the down-on-
his-luck orphan rises to challenge the gods
themselves. Character’s begin as Grounded
Novices, and each time they gain an Experience
Level, they also increase in Power Level,
eventually becoming Legendary Masters.
Rise of Heroes
Character begin as competent Heroes, and
over time, can rise to Mythic levels. Character’s
begin as Heroic Adepts, and increase to
Paragon at Expert and Mythic at Master.
Heroes Emergent
Characters begin as Grounded Adepts,
struggling with the problems of the real world.
Upon becoming Veterans, they rise to Heroic
Power Level.
Street Level Super Heroes
These characters wield incredible Powers,
and use them to fight crime and super-villains
who might be a threat to their city.
They begin at Adept Experience Level, and
Paragon Power Level. Upon achieving Veteran
level, they rise to Mythic Power Level.
World Class Super Heroes
These characters can shake the foundations
of the Earth with their powers, and even hold
their own against some cosmic threats.
They begin at Adept Experience Level, and
Mythic Power Level. Upon achieving Veteran
level, they rise to Legendary Power Level.
219
Cosmic Super Heroes
These characters travel between worlds and
explore other dimensions. They battle threats
to the world and even the galaxy.
They begin at Veteran Experience Level, and
Legendary Power Level.
THE BASICS
Variant Advancement Speeds
The normal advancement rules state the a
character gets a Milestone after accumulating
6 XPs.
CHARACTERS
However, some groups prefer slower
advancement, while others prefer faster.
Below are a few options to modify the PCs’
advancement speeds:
STRANDS
Fast-Track Advancement
With this option, character achieve a new
Milestone after every 4 XPs. This increases the
rate of advancement by roughly 1/3, and gets
characters to higher experience levels much
GAMEPLAY
faster.
Slow and Steady
Using this option, characters need 9 XPs to
achieve a Milestone. This gives the players
more time to explore their character’s
PERKS
capabilities before offering them new options
to play with.
Flat Milestone
This option can be used with either of the
POWERS
two above it. Instead of getting a Promotion
with every 4th Milestone, the PCs instead get
Promoted with every 5th. However, every 3rd
Milestone of a level (Milestones 3, 8, 13, 18,
etc.) offers neither a Perk or Skill increase.
Instead, this “Flat Milestone” only allows the GEAR
player to change an Aspect and perform a “Skill
Swap”. A Skill Swap allows you to increase one
Skill rank by 1 (to a max of 4), at the expense
or reducing another Skill of the same rank by 1.
MASTERY
GAME
So if you had two Skills at rank 2, you could
increase one to 3, and reduce the other to 1.
DEVIATIONS
CONTENTS
 Gameplay
Narrative Exploits
Narrative Exploits are like Perks in that they
offer some special ability. But unlike Perks,
they are not selected during character creation
THE BASICS
Love at First Sight
Prerequisites: You generate Spin while
attempting to persuade someone of something
The person you are trying to persuade falls
in love with you. Or, if they aren’t necessarily
attracted to you, they still become infatuated

or when achieving a Milestone.
Instead, anyone can use a single Narrative
Exploit, once per game session, provided they
meet the prerequisites.
CHARACTERS
or even somewhat obsessed with you for some
reason.
One Left in the Chamber/Quiver
Prerequisites: You must have at least one
ammo unit left, and you may not be out of

Narrative Exploits are only available to

characters of Heroic or higher Power Level,
and only if they are allowed by your Strand.
He Was Just Here
Prerequisites: Mobility 2+, Guile 3+
STRANDS
ammo when stating that you intend to use this
Exploit.
You may declare that you have one bullet
or arrow left. After doing so, check off all
remaining ammo units.

You disappear when no one is watching,
mysteriously vanishing without a trace.
Whenever you are not being directly observed,
you may make a Guile Skill test. If you generate
any Effort, you slip away unnoticed.
GAMEPLAY
On your next Attack, using your one remaining
bullet or arrow, you gain a +3 bonus on your
Attack Skill test.
You are then out of ammo.

Right Place, Right Time

Note that if you were being chased or hunted,
the GM may apply a penalty equal to the
highest Perception Skill Rating among your
pursuers.
The GM may also deny the use of this Exploit,
or Disfavor the Skill test, if you were somehow
PERKS
Prerequisites: You are not in a scene, but it is
possible for you to have been there.
You always seem to show up when it matters
most, or at least when it’s most convenient for
you.

detained or otherwise have Difficulty leaving You may appear in any scene in which you
the area. were not previously present.
People hate when you do this. You may not use this Exploit if you are clearly
detained or have no reasonable way of getting
I’ve Got Just the Thing to the scene.
POWERS

Prerequisites: Reasoning 3+ Ultimate Sacrifice

You have a tendency to carry a number of
gadgets and tools with you, some mundane,
some a bit more specialized. And if you don’t
have it on you, you can probably piece one
GEAR
Prerequisites: An Ally in the same, or an
adjacent, zone is Taken Out.
You may use this Narrative Exploit retroactively
sacrifice yourself, placing yourself between

together on the fly. your ally and the oncoming danger.

With the expenditure of a Fate Point, you You are then Taken Out.
can declare that you have just the tool for
any particular job. And not just any tool, but
a quality tool well suited for the task at hand.
MASTERY
GAME

The tool grants Favor on the first Skill test

made when using it.
Last Stand
Prerequisites: Resolve 3+, You are Taken Out
DEVIATIONS

If you are Taken Out, you may use this

Narrative Exploit to take a single Action as a
Reflex Action, and you are Favored on any Skill
test required to perform that Action.

220
CONTENTS
Sequences
The rules for Sequences are used when the
PCs need to perform a series of actions to
achieve a goal. Using a Sequence is similar to
a running a conflict, and it can even involve
conflicts. But Sequences offer many different
ways to achieve a specific goal, usually through
using a variety of Skills.
Sequences are useful for showcasing the PCs’
skills in a quick series of mini-scenes. They are
also useful any time the party needs to split up
to achieve a task.
Most regular scenes take place in “real time”
or a little slower. The speed of conversations
between PCs often match the time elapsed in
game, and conflicts generally only take up a
few seconds of in-character game time.
Sequences, in contrast, move the story along
at a faster pace. They can turn an entire scene,
or even a conflict, into a single Skill roll.
Using the Sequence rules can be useful
when the PCs need to sneak into a secured
warehouse, pull off a complex heist, engage in
a high-speed chase, repair a ship full of undead
pirates, or perform other long, complex
operations.
Setup
ªª Set the goal.
ªª Set the time between rounds.
ªª Set the Difficulty.
ªª Set the number of check boxes on the
Success Track. This number should equal
the Sequence Difficulty times the num-
ber of participating players.
ªª Name a number of Aspects equal to the
Sequence Difficulty + 2. New Aspects can
be added via Declarations.
221
Running the Sequence
Each turn, each participating PC names the
Skill they want to use and explains how that
Skill will help achieve the Sequence goal. If the
GM agrees that the Skill is relevant, the acting
PC performs a Skill test against the Sequence
THE BASICS
Difficulty. If a PC uses the same Skill two rounds
in a row, they suffer a -1 penalty.
If the PC succeeds, they check off boxes on
the Success Track equal to the amount their
Effort exceeds the Sequence Difficulty. Once
CHARACTERS
the Success Track is full, the PCs attain their
goal.
In addition, each successful test allows
the acting player to make a Declaration or
Assessment (depending on the Skill and how
it was used).
STRANDS
While the PCs cannot change the Difficulty
of a Sequence, their chance of success can
depend on the Aspects they use. Also, the GM
can raise the Difficulty of tests where the Skill
GAMEPLAY
being used doesn’t seem particularly helpful
or the task described by the player would be
exceptionally difficult.
Players can use Declarations to add Aspects
to the Sequence or to state specific facts, such
as “The front door is now unlocked.” Also, a
PERKS
PC can use an Assessment to learn a hidden
Aspect of the Sequence.
Each failure allows the GM to add a Sequence
Consequence. The GM may immediately
initiate a scene and may also state a fact based
POWERS
on the Consequence. (For example, Moderate
Consequence: Silent Alarm; “Your failed
Mobility test means the guard heard you on
the roof. He turns, spots you, and triggers the
alarm.”)
If the PCs cannot fill the Success Track before GEAR
the Sequence suffers four Consequences,
they are Taken Out and cannot achieve the
Sequence goal.
MASTERY
GAME
DEVIATIONS
CONTENTS
 Sequenced Conflicts
As stated before, gameplay during a Sequence
shifts to a slightly larger scale. When a PC uses
a Skill like Precision or Might in a Sequence,
this might replace the events that would nor-
mally take an entire conflict. For example, on a
THE BASICS
single successful Precision test, you might use
your pistols to bring down an entire hallway of
bad guys.
Succeeding on a Skill test is the same as suc-
ceeding with any other Skill: check off success
CHARACTERS
boxes as usual, and you can make a Declara-
tion or Assessment.
Failure also works normally: don’t check
off any success boxes, and the GM adds a
Sequence Consequence.
However, even if you succeed on a Skill test in
STRANDS
a Sequenced conflict, you may become injured.
When you use a Skill to work toward your
Sequence goal by attacking others, you also
suffer an attack. The rating of the Sequence’s
attacking Skill is equal to the Sequence Diffi-
GAMEPLAY
culty. If you fail the Skill test, this attack has a
Damage Rating equal to the amount you failed.
If you use a weapon on your Skill test, add
half of its DR (rounded down) as a bonus. If
you have armor, add half of its AR (rounded
down) on rolls to defend against attacks from
PERKS
a Sequence.
For example, in a Sequence where the goal
is to board and take over an enemy ship, you
might make a Might test. This might encom-
POWERS
pass trying to enter a room and bring down
a batch of security drones with a mono-edge
longsword. Making a Might test against the
Sequence Difficulty (let’s say 4), you’d get a
+3 bonus because the DR of your mono-edge
blade is 5, and half of that rounded down is 3.
GEAR
If you succeeded, you’d destroy the drones,
check boxes on the Success Track equal to the
amount you succeeded, and could make a Dec-
laration like “The Hangar Is Clear”. You would
then suffer a physical attack from the Sequence
MASTERY
GAME
with a Skill rating of equal to the Sequence Dif-
ficulty. Wearing light battle armor, you’d get a
+2 bonus (half of AR +4) on your defense test.
If you failed, the Sequence would gain a Con-
DEVIATIONS
sequence, such as Killer Drones Have Secured
the Hangar! You would then suffer a physi-
cal attack with a Damage Rating equal to the
amount you failed. But remember, armor
would reduce this.
222
CONTENTS
Sequences and Stress
As described above, using some Skills in
particular ways can cause characters to suffer
stress. Stress and Consequences gained from
Sequences are recovered at the usual rate. This
means the amount of time elapsed between
each round can be very important.
If the time between each round is more than
5 minutes or so, any stress suffered will clear
between rounds.
Mixing Sequences and Full Conflicts
If the GM prefers, a failed Skill test can lead
to a full-fledged conflict instead. This is usually
best when more than one PC wants to take
part in the fight.
Even if the PCs “win” the conflict, the
Sequence may or may not suffer a Consequence
depending on what happened during the
conflict. For example, if PCs are trying to be
sneaky to work toward their Sequence goal,
discharging many weapons would almost
certainly cause a Sequence Consequence,
even if they “win” the conflict. In the end, they
would still hurt their chances of achieving the
Sequence goal.
If they “fail” the conflict, then they get killed,
must retreat, or otherwise botched things. In
any case, they almost certainly don’t get closer
to their goal.
Because of how you can mix conflicts into
Sequences, Sequences are a good way to
structure an entire game session packed with
action. Because Sequences are free form, you
won’t often need to create elaborate maps of
buildings, starships, alien planets, or the like.
Sequences and Affinity Skills
Affinity Skills alone aren’t often useful in
a Sequence. However, they can be used to
activate Powers to help reach your goal.
What you can use your Affinity Skill to do
depends on which Powers you have. For
example, Imbue Zone can be really handy when
making Declarations about the environment,
Clairsentience can help you make Assessments,
and so on.
Perform an Affinity test like you would with
any Skill. If you succeed, check boxes on the
Success Track as normal, and you can make
Declarations as well as Assessments depending
on which Powers you have.
 If you fail, the Sequence gains a Consequence
as usual, and you will suffer an amount of
system stress equal to the amount you failed.
Sample Sequences
Infiltrating the Smuggler’s Lair (Assumes 5 PCs)
Escape the Collapsing Tunnels (Assumes 5 PCs)
Success Track: o|o|o
o|o
Goal: Reach one of the tunnel system’s exits.
Time Between Rounds: 10 sec

THE BASICS
Success Track: |||| Difficulty: Hard (4)
Goal: Reach target in the secured facility. Aspects:
Time Between Rounds: 5 min ªª A Complex Maze of Worked and Natural
Tunnels
Difficulty: Tough (3) ªª Formerly Occupied by a Variety of Sub-

CHARACTERS
Aspects: terranean Monsters
ªª Warehouse Is a Front for Ego Trafficking ªª The Air is Thin and Dust Filled
ªª Patrolled by Local Thugs Hired for Secu- ªª Surviving Residents Are Also Trying to
rity Escape
ªª High-End Physical Anti-Intrusion Tech ªª “Some of the tunnels are flooding!”

STRANDS
ªª Standard Density Mesh ªª Intersection Checkpoints are Locked and
ªª Known to Have Purchased Three Cerbe- Barred
rus Drones Consequences:
Consequences:  Mild,  Moderate,  Severe,  Extreme

GAMEPLAY
 Mild,  Moderate,  Severe,  Extreme

PERKS
POWERS
GEAR
MASTERY
GAME
DEVIATIONS

223
CONTENTS
 Survival
Most Strands of Fate games gloss over minutia
and “bookkeeping” whenever possible. The
focus is on the action; the story, struggles,
and personalities in play. We assume that
the characters eat when they’re hungry, find
THE BASICS
shelter when they’re tired, or otherwise take
care of their needs between scenes.
But there are other stories to tell. When
using the Survival Deviation, those struggles
step to the forefront; rather than fade into the
CHARACTERS
background, they become the story.
Characters still have goals and ambitions,
grand quests and epic victories, but those
peaks thrust ever higher in contrast to the
valleys. When using this Deviation, the
characters will have to keep track of their
STRANDS
supplies. They’ll need to make sure they have
food and water, a chance to rest, and a safe
place to sleep. And as time marches on, they
get thirsty, hungry and tired. Torches go out.
Batteries die. Appointments are missed, and
GAMEPLAY
finite resources are spent. In the Survival
Deviation, the world doesn’t sit idly by, waiting
for the heroes to take notice; it moves on, with
unrelenting, uncaring certainty.
Intervals
PERKS
Time is constantly pressing forward, but
keeping track of its passage can quickly devolve
into tedium. Rather than tracking every minute
that goes by, we instead note when an Interval
has occurred.
POWERS
An Interval is basically a way of denoting
that some time has passed, and things like
hunger, thirst, and fatigue might be setting in.
Typically, an Interval occurs in one of two ways;
at the conclusion of a scene, or as a Compel—
although common sense should prevail here,
GEAR
and if a given scene takes place over hours
or days, intervals should occur as they make
sense within the story. The exact duration
between Intervals can vary widely based on
MASTERY
circumstance, but an approximation of roughly
GAME
four hours will do in a pinch.
Attrition
When an Interval occurs, the GM checks
DEVIATIONS
to see if the PCs have rested, eaten and
drank in the intervening time. If the answer
is yes—or no, but they are in a position to
do so immediately—they can do so. Nothing
happens, and they can continue on without
issue.
224
CONTENTS
If the answer is no, and they cannot (or
choose not to) eat, drink or rest, they may
suffer Attrition, which is a special kind of stress.
When suffering Attrition, make a Diff: 1 Might
Skill test. For each additional element (food,
drink or rest) the PCs have gone without since
the last Interval, increase the Difficulty by 1.
Note, however, that you always suffer Disfavor
if Thirst is a factor in the test—it’s important
to stay hydrated! Difficulty increases are
cumulative; repeatedly deny your needs and
things will start to go downhill quickly.
So, for example, if the PC ate, but didn’t
drink or rest, they’d make a test at Diff: 2,
with Disfavor; one rank of difficulty for each
type, and Disfavor for the inclusion of Thirst.
If they rested and drank, but didn’t eat, they’d
only have to manage Diff: 1 for Hunger. If, at
the next interval, they again rest and drink—
but still haven’t acquired any food—they’ll be
facing a Diff: 2 test, Diff: 3 for the next instance,
and so on.
Regardless of the difficulty, if the PC succeeds
with 0 or more Shifts, nothing happens.
If the PC fails to generate any Shifts, they
immediately suffer an amount of Attrition
equal to their margin of failure. So if their
Effort was -2 (against a Diff of 1), they’d suffer
3 points of Attrition.
Eating, drinking, and taking a moment of
reflection is a common practice for everyone,
not just adventurers. All of the requirements
to stave off Attrition can be performed at the
same time, with the exception of sleeping.
Sleep is a little different than the other Attrition
factors. Once per day, characters should sleep
for about eight hours. Failure to do so results
in suffering Attrition: make a Might Skill test,
Diff: 2. if the character managed at least four
hours of sleep, they are favored on this test;
if they slept for two or fewer hours, they are
disfavored. Like other factors, missing sleep
is cumulative. Add an additional +1 to the
difficulty for every consecutive night that the
character receives less than a full night’s sleep.
Tracking Attrition
If using this Deviation in conjunction with
the Persistent Stress Deviation (pg. 207),
no further actions are necessary—just treat
Attrition like any other form of stress—but
if not, Attrition needs to be handled a little
differently.
 When you suffer Attrition, mark the number
of points suffered off on your stress track,
starting from left to right, and covering over
any stress you might already have. However,
be sure to mark the boxes in a way that’s
different from how you normally mark stress,
Any time the character would suffer Attrition,
they can instead opt to swap their current
Condition for the next worse option. So, after
missing a full night’s sleep, a character could
choose to change their Drowsy Condition to
Exhausted(M), rather than suffer Attrition.

THE BASICS
because unlike normal stress, Attrition doesn’t
go away at the end of the scene. Survival Conditions
When you take additional stress, any boxes Fatigue Hunger Thirst
filled in by Attrition are considered full, so Rested Fed Hydrated
you’ll have to start tracking stress after them.
Tired(m) Peckish(m) Thirsty(m)

CHARACTERS
For example; if you have five stress boxes, and
the first two are filled with Attrition, the next Drowsy Hungry Parched
point of stress you take would go in your 3rd
stress box. Exhausted(M) Ravenous(M) Dehydrated(M)
Whether you succeed or fail on your Attrition Crashing(M) Starving(M) Delirious(M)
test, unless you stop to eat, drink and rest, the Dying(M) Dying(M) Dying(M)

Difficulty of your next Attrition test increases
by 1.
Clearing Attrition
As in the Persistent Stress Deviation (pg.
STRANDS
Recovering Conditions
As their Conditions worsen, PCs will invariably
look for ways to halt, and reverse, the process.
The act of recovery is slightly different for each

207), clearing Attrition requires time, safety,
and the means to recover. That means food,
drink, and the ability to rest. If—and only if—
these are in place, the character can make a
Diff: 1 Might Skill test; for every shift generated,
clear one box of Attrition. If even one of these
GAMEPLAY
type of Condition.
Fatigue - Fatigue can only be reversed by
resting; refraining from physical activity in
relative peace, or at least quiet. The amount
of rest required to clear the Condition
escalates, depending on severity. Tired(m)

three elements is missing, you cannot attempt
to clear Attrition, though you can forestall an
increase in your next Attrition test.
So, if you stop at an oasis while traveling
the desert, and take a moment to catch your
PERKS
takes 15 minutes, Drowsy takes half an hour,
Exhausted(M) takes two hours, Crashing(M)
takes eight hours, and Dying(M) requires 16
hours of rest. If a character’s rest is significantly
interrupted—meaning they cannot simply

breath, as well as some food and drink, you
can attempt to clear your Attrition. Conversely,
if you merely stop to sit for a moment, taking
long swigs of water from your canteen but
otherwise skipping lunch, you cannot clear
your Attrition, but will not factor in fatigue or
thirst when the next interval passes.
Optional Rule: Conditions
When suffering stress, you can always
mitigate the amount taken by electing to
POWERS
resume—if they have rested for at least
half the listed time, they may downgrade
their Condition by one step. If not, then the
condition remains the same, though the rest
still counts for purposes of avoiding future
Fatigue Attrition. GEAR
Hunger - Eating a meal reduces the severity
of a character’s Hunger Condition by one
step. So, if a character is Ravenous(M) and
has lunch, they would downgrade to merely
MASTERY
GAME

take Consequences; this is no different when
tracking Attrition. But in some games, a sharper
focus on the act of survival is warranted; this is
where survival Conditions come in.
In this sub-Deviation, characters gain three
Hungry. They’d need another meal’s worth of
food to downgrade to Peckish(m), and another
still to feel truly Fed.
Thirst - Drinking 8oz of water allows a
DEVIATIONS

character to reduce the severity of their Thirst

new types of Consequences, one each for
Thirst, Hunger, and Fatigue. Unlike normal
Consequences, you can only have one type of
Condition at a time; so when things get worse
(or better), you simply change the type of
Condition to reflect the new situation.
by one step. A Dehydrated(M) character can
drink 8oz of water to become merely Parched,
and another 16oz to become Hydrated once
more.

225
CONTENTS
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None of the material found in this book is deemed to be
product identity.
First Printing
NAME: ________________________________________

Race: ______________________________ Size: ______

Refresh: ________ ( ______ Max) Milestone: ________
CEL: _____________ CPL: _____________ TL: _____

ASPECTS
Defining: ___________________________________________________
Ambition: __________________________________________________
Belief: _____________________________________________________
Connection: ________________________________________________
Disadvantage: ______________________________________________
Experience: ________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
PERKS
__________________________________
__________________________________
__________________________________
__________________________________
__________________________________
__________________________________
__________________________________
__________________________________
__________________________________

SKILLS
Might  Knowledge  Guile 
Mobility  Perception  Sway 
Precision  Reasoning  Insight 
Reflexes  Resolve  Networking 

HEALTH:  

WOUNDS COMPLICATIONS
-2 Mild(m): __________________________________ __________________________________
-4 Moderate: __________________________________ __________________________________
-6 Severe: __________________________________ __________________________________
-8 Extreme(M): __________________________________ __________________________________

RESOURCES: ______ GEAR: ___________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

ATTACK DEFENSE
___________________________ ATK: ______ WR: _____ ______________________ AR: _____
NOTES: _________________________________________ MISC. NOTES
___________________________ ATK: ______ WR: _____ _________________________________
NOTES: _________________________________________ _________________________________
 ADDITIONAL GEAR / NOTES:
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________

POWERS
Power Power Aspect PL

______________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ______

Effect: ___________________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ______

Effect: ___________________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ______

Effect: ___________________________________________________________________________________________________

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Effect: ___________________________________________________________________________________________________

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Effect: ___________________________________________________________________________________________________

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Effect: ___________________________________________________________________________________________________

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Effect: ___________________________________________________________________________________________________

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______________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ______

Effect: ___________________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ______

Effect: ___________________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ______

Effect: ___________________________________________________________________________________________________
 ADDITIONAL GEAR / NOTES
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________

POWERS
Power Power Aspect PL

______________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ______

Effect: ___________________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ______

Effect: ___________________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ______

Effect: ___________________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ______

Effect: ___________________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ______

Effect: ___________________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ______

Effect: ___________________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ______

Effect: ___________________________________________________________________________________________________

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Effect: ___________________________________________________________________________________________________

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Effect: ___________________________________________________________________________________________________

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Effect: ___________________________________________________________________________________________________

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Effect: ___________________________________________________________________________________________________