System

Advancement

You may earn an additional 4 (Plot) Beats, or 0.8 XP, per week, through various in-game tools. These beats are automatically capped at 4 per week, though the Aspirations system will allow you to defer for a period.

• Aspiration beats can be deferred up to 4 weeks if you're at the weekly cap.
• Event and Plot scene beats are automatically processed when the event ends
• Conditions only grant beats when resolved using condition/resolve - letting them expire does not grant a beat
• Weekly beats are automatically awarded at 11 PM Eastern on Saturday night

XP Spends

There are no XP expenditure justifications required here due to the subjective nature of a character's personal development. If you have the XP, you are allowed to spend it however you like. In very specific cases, scenes may be required for items like Tokens. Use help xp in-game for your current XP

Aspirations

Aspirations may be added and removed freely by the player whenever they like. There is no limit to the amount of Aspirations you can have, long-term or short-term. Achieving a short-term Aspiration grants 1 beat, and progress made towards a long-term Aspiration grants 1 beat as well. Use help aspirations in-game for more info.

Equipment

See the Equipment Guide for comprehensive information on crafting, buying, materials, durability, and communication items. Use help equipment in-game for command syntax.

Conditions

Players may add conditions freely from their own scenes. The only limitation is the weekly cap on resolving conditions for a beat, which is handled automatically. Conditions (and Tilts) show up on your character profile on the web, and other players can Use help conditions in-game for more info.

• Players may have a total of 5 positive conditions as at any one point. The system will not allow more than this. You can discard any condition you want at any point, although you can only gain a beat if you use the condition/resolve command, which is logged for audit purposes.
• When resolving a condition, it may not be used to immediately grant another condition. For example, if Inspired is resolved to grant an exceptional success, it may not be used to grant a condition, but should take some other benefit instead.
• If a condition is not resolved per its stated resolution guidelines within a month of receiving it, it will automatically expire within the system. This expiration does not grant a beat.
• All conditions last 1 month before expiring. Persistent conditions do not expire.

Positive Conditions

Any appropriate condition from the approved sources can be used for the positive conditions granted by exceptional successes. Conditions that are considered positive are marked as such in Conditions.

Death

If a character dies in play or a player wishes to permanently retire a character, the player may have up to 50% of the XP accrued for their starting character. This 50% of earned XP does not include post-CG XP awarded upon approval.

Total XP Earned - Starting XP / 2 = Transferrable XP

Player Builds and Organizations

See the Player Builds and Organizations guide for comprehensive information on rentals, residences, location enhancements, and creating player groups or businesses. Use help residence and help organizations in-game for command syntax.

Pools, Regaining, and Spending

Pools are Willpower, Glamour, Essence, etc. You can spend and gain feely.

Spending Pools:
- Use spend <amount> <pool> to spend from your pools (e.g., spend 2 willpower)
- Use spend all <pool> to spend all current points in a pool
- Most abilities will automatically spend the required pool when activated
- You cannot spend more than you have available in your current pool
- Some effects may spend multiple pools simultaneously

Regaining Pools:
- Pools typically refill through rest, meditation, or specific supernatural actions
- Willpower regenerates 1 point per day (24 hours) automatically
- Breaking points with exceptional success restore 1 Willpower
- Anchor fulfillment (see below) can restore Willpower
- Certain conditions and merits may modify pool regeneration rates

Tracking:
- Use pool to view your recent pool activity
- Pools are visible on your character sheet and profile
- All pool transactions are logged for audit purposes

Regaining Willpower Through Anchors

All characters have anchors that represent their character's core motivations and moral compass. These might be Virtue and Vice (for mortals), Blood and Bone (for changing breeds), or Needle and Thread (for changelings). By acting on these anchors in a meaningful way, characters can restore Willpower.

Use regain <anchor> to fulfill an anchor and regain Willpower. The system supports two fulfillment levels:

• Minor Fulfillment: Regain 1 Willpower (use regain <anchor>)
• Major Fulfillment: Regain all spent Willpower (use regain <anchor> all)
• Mortals: Can only do minor fulfillment (1 Willpower per anchor)
• Changing Breeds, Changelings: Can do both minor and major fulfillment

Breaking Points

Breaking points test your character's moral and spiritual resilience against traumatic or corrupting experiences. The roll uses Resolve + Composure for mortals and fae-touched, and a specific numeric for changelings and changing breeds depending on the inciting incident. Use bp to view the breaking point builder and bp/roll to execute a breaking point roll. Use help bp for full command syntax.

Mortals and Fae-Touched (Integrity)

Breaking Point Modifiers (Chart-based):

Results:
- Dramatic Failure: Lose 1 dot of integrity, gain 1 beat, suggested severe conditions
- Failure: Lose 1 dot of integrity, suggested mild conditions
- Success: No change (endured the experience)
- Exceptional Success: Gain 1 beat, regain 1 Willpower

Suggested Conditions:
- Mild: Guilty, Shaken, Spooked
- Severe: Broken, Fugue, Madness

Changing Breeds (Harmony)

Changing Breeds use a two-stage system - first a resistance roll, then potentially an attack roll when Harmony decreases:

Breaking Point Modifiers (Chart-based):

Resistance Roll Results:
- Dramatic Failure: Lose 1 Harmony, gain 1 beat, triggers attack roll
- Failure: Lose 1 Harmony, triggers attack roll
- Success: No Harmony loss
- Exceptional Success: Gain 1 beat, regain 1 Willpower

Attack Roll (only when Harmony decreases):
- Success/Exceptional Success: Harmony remains intact (no derangement)
- Failure: Mild Beast-Folk Derangement condition
- Dramatic Failure: No derangement

Suggested Beast-Folk Derangements:
- Mild: Cage Shock, Neoprimitivism, One with the Bears, Beast Fears, Filthy Brutes, I'm No Animal
- Severe: Feral Frenzy, Feral Antics, Hate of Man, Obsessive Humanity, Hunter King, Banish the Beast

Changelings (Clarity)

Changelings do not have breaking point modifiers. They DO have Perception modifiers (morality traits) based on current Clarity, and they DO have various factors that work into the Wyrd Attack stage of a Clarity Attack (assuming the initial roll succeeds). What the book calls breaking point modifiers is actually situational modifiers, which you can set up with bp/set situational=<N>.

Changeling morality is COMPLEX. See the Changeling page for full details on touchstone positioning, Icon and Grounded merits, and visual examples.

Morality Trait Modifiers (Calculation-based):

Perception Modifier Rules:
- +2 dice when Clarity is undamaged (current = maximum)
- -1 die for every 2 points below Clarity 5 (cumulative)
- Clarity 3-4: -1 die
- Clarity 1-2: -2 dice
- Clarity 0: -2 dice

Examples:

Special Case - Low Maximum Clarity:
Even if maximum Clarity is below 5, the penalty still applies. For example:
- Clarity 4/4 (undamaged): +2 (undamaged) -1 (below 5) = +1 net modifier

Basically, the better Wits and Composure you have, the higher your Perception benefits.

Changelings use a two-stage system with touchstone mechanics that modify the attack roll:

Resistance Roll (A number based on the inciting incident):
- Dramatic Failure: No Clarity loss, regain 1 Willpower
- Failure: No Clarity loss
- Success: Triggers Wyrd attack roll
- Exceptional Success: Triggers Wyrd attack roll, gain 1 beat, regain 1 Willpower

Wyrd Attack Roll (if triggered):
- Pool: Wyrd + Touchstone Modifier (0 attached = +2 dice, 1 attached = -1 die, 2+ attached = -2 dice)
- Success: Mild clarity damage (net successes)
- Exceptional Success: Severe clarity damage (net successes)
- Failure: No clarity damage
- Dramatic Failure: No clarity damage, regain 1 Willpower

Clarity Conditions: Only granted if damage hits the 3 rightmost boxes (8, 9, 10)
- Mild: Confused, Dissociation, Distracted, Shaken, Spooked, Withdrawn
- Severe: Comatose, Broken, Delusional, Fugue, Numb, Sleepwalking

The Material, The Shadow, The Hedge

There are two reality layers (material and Shadow), and one reality location (Hedge). They have specific methods of entry, such as Loci, founts of essence manifested in the material realm, born of intense emotion, and Hedgways, gates through portals like doors and windows poured by glamour and keys. These are narrative tools, and thus, if anything hinders your RP, you can use hedgeway/exit and locus/exit to force a return to the material world.

Hedgeways

Hedgeways are actual items within rooms that can be passed through in different ways depending on your template. They expire when the seasons turn and will need to be reactivated with either glamour or vice/blood for usage.

Entering the Hedge via Hedgeway

1. If you're a changeling and the hedgeway isn't expired, you can just enter hedgeway. If it IS expired, you get to be the lucky 'ling that has to spend 1 Glamour (hedgeway/glamour) to make it active again.
2. If you know the secret keyword (thematically, it's a key, ritual, gesture, scenario, etc), you can just use the keyword to pass through. Sometimes the hints to these keys are in the description.
3. If you have a Vice (mortals) or Blood (changing breeds) you can use hedgeway/vice to tumblr through and get 1 beat with an additional Hedge Addiction condition that lasts for 1 month.
4. If you have the goblin oddment Lost Key in your inventory, you can use enter hedgeway even if you're not a changeling, and it will consume the oddment.

If a changeling is in a location without a hedgeway, they can portal back through to the Material realm with hedgeway/glamour. It spends 1 Glamour and flings them to a random public location in Miami. Same is true for the other side, but be aware this can toss you into the Thorns.

Hedgeways, like all items, can be damaged. If broken, they will cease to allow passage and will need to be repaired.

Loci

Likewise, loci are actual items that can be used to pass through to the Shadow. They all have a rating, along with the strength of the local gauntlet. Werewolves and changing breeds can use them to reach. Rolls are automatic - when you use reach, the system automatically rolls the appropriate dice pool and handles success/failure.

Werewolves: Roll 10 - Harmony (entering) or Harmony (leaving) + Locus rating bonus

Changing Breeds: Must have Shadow Bond ability. Roll Intelligence + Presence + Feral Heart + Locus rating bonus

Gauntlet strength is generally based on the location (a city is thinner than a tundra), but for the sake of sanity, gauntlet strength is included in the locus stats.

Entering the Shadow via Locus

1. Fera can reach as described above, with Shadow Bond.
2. Helldivers must first use activate dive to gain the ability to cross (lasts 1 scene/12 hours), then use the locus.
3. Mortals suffering from Delusion (changing breed variant of Lunacy) can get the Reception condition. This gives them access to loci, and thematically, Dramatic failure on any action sends them into the Shadow.
4. Certain occult shops stock items like gravemold, rust flakes, raven livers, rose petals, capable of granting the ability to use a locus for a scene (12 hours) before the effect wears off.

Essence Generation

Loci are fonts that generate essence. Characters can draw essence from loci to replenish their Essence. Each locus has a resonance type that determines the flavor of essence it generates (e.g., "spirit", "fire", "death").

Essence Pool:
Each locus generates 3 × its rating in essence per day. It replenishes daily at midnight EST.

Drawing Essence:
Use the draw command to extract essence from a locus and transfer it to your character's essence pool. Only characters with essence-based supernatural pools can draw from loci (e.g., werewolves, demons, angels). Changelings and other templates with different supernatural pools cannot draw from loci.

draw [<amount>|all][=<locus_name>]

Examples:
- draw 5 - Draw 5 essence from a locus (if only one in the room)
- draw all - Draw all available essence from a locus
- draw 3=sacred grove - Draw 3 essence from "Sacred Grove"
- draw all=ancient tree - Draw all essence from "Ancient Tree"

The essence drawn matches the locus's resonance type and fills your character's essence pool.

Note: The draw action is visible to others in the room and logged in your pool transaction history.

Narrative Time

Examples of how this applies:
- Effect Duration: Many effects expire after 1 day (1 scene)
- Chapter Resource Purchases: Limited to once per chapter (1 week)
- Condition Duration: Conditions last 1 month (1 story) before expiring
- Resource Suspensions: Temporarily suspended dot returns after 1 month (1 story)
- Equipment Cooldowns: Tracked in weeks and months based on the table above
- Seasonal Events: Hedgeway expiration and other world events turn with the seasons