First Steps

A Measure set to 5 grants a positive trait. Titanic Strength doubles carrying tolerance; Eagle-Eyed Perception spots hidden traps; Savant Knowledge identifies cursed items immediately.

A Measure set to 1 grants a negative trait. Weakling halves carry weight, Clumsy prevents sneaking, Ignorant cannot read books or scrolls, and Shattered cannot use runic magic spells.

Proficiencies rise through use. Weapons, spell schools, crafting, trap work, fishing, mining, runecraft, and similar actions gain progress by being performed.

A library will never spawn a swamp-rat. A mine has its own table of cards. A few rare things - wandering NPCs, lost relics - can show up almost anywhere.

Rooms fill according to where you are, how deep you have gone, and what the place can reasonably hold.

Entering a new slot reveals what the dungeon had prepared. Some doors can be forced. Some locks need keys. Some containers trigger traps before you see the loot.

Action Points are the turn's budget. Maximum AP is based on Dexterity, Perception, and Psyche. Moving, attacking, interacting, crafting, and most inventory actions spend it.

Overburdened characters slow to one AP. Carrying capacity comes from Strength and Endurance, then traits and perks bend the threshold.

Distance is tracked per card slot. Melee attacks close distance before striking. Ranged attacks need a weapon, ammunition where required, and enough space to draw.

Sneaking changes enemy awareness. Movement and closing distance can set enemies to oblivious, and attacking an oblivious target improves critical opportunity.

Traps can hide in rooms and containers. Perception may reveal them. Movement still tests avoidance. Disarming leans on Dexterity, Patience, and trap proficiency.

Some enemies roam. Cowardly logic flees the player's last known direction; angered logic seeks it. Moving enemies can trigger traps, attack doors, or equip gear.

Items roll from Dismal to Masterful. Quality multiplies durability, damage, defense, value, cure chance, spellcraft, sneak, and other relevant stats.

Fourteen domains drive description and mechanics: wood, leather, metal, textile, stone, glass, herb, mushroom, gem, bone, wax, organic, twine, and alch.

Crafting passes material bias from consumed ingredients into the result, so output can echo the things sacrificed to make it.

Rooms and non-consumable items can receive sockets. A rune inserted into a socket replaces any previous rune and consumes the old one.

Runes on weapons, shields, rings, armour, containers, and tools apply different buffs depending on the item category and rune school.

A socketed room applies rune effects while you stand there. Fire can warm, water can chill or affect flooding, and other elements alter survival or magic.

Every NPC you will ever meet - wandering townsfolk, the figure waiting in a dungeon room, the companion at your side, the merchant on the road - is a card. Your dealings with them follow you out of the dungeon.

Recruits move from the grid into your carried companion list. They can be dismissed back to a slot, equipped, asked for help, and sent to explore.

NPC hunger and thirst rise over turns. They search their own inventory and then the room for safe food or drink, and complain when need becomes severe.

Every merchant deals in one of three trades: food, books, or junk. Each carries their own coin. The more you buy and sell with them, the better their stock and the harder their prices.

Stealing requires the Thief perk and AP. Success improves stealing and transfers the item; failure can turn the merchant event into a hostile encounter.

The world waits. A merchant might not appear until you have slain your first wyrm. A spell might not unlock until you have read a particular book in a particular city. Timelines like these run quietly behind every game.