Harm, HP & Armor
The harm layer barely touches the dice at all — HP, damage dice, and armor don't reference stats, and never did. With stats gone, the only real change is to debilities, which used to name a stat category.
Damage
Your playbook lists a damage die. When you hurt a foe, roll it.
- Your damage die is independent of your weapon — the Heavy deals d10 with a maul or a dagger. Damage reflects how dangerous you are; the weapon is a tool.
- You don't add a stat to damage rolls.
- Some weapons of war grant +1 damage — the exception, not the rule.
- Some moves override your damage die (e.g. a Lightbearer's holy light).
Hit Points (HP)
HP is how much fight you've got left.
- Start at your playbook's max HP.
- HP is not modified by anything else — no stat, no trait.
- Current HP never exceeds max; you don't gain HP each level.
- At 0 HP from a killing blow, you're dying → make the Death's Door move.
- Regain HP via Recover or Make Camp.
Resolved (2026-10-18): with stats gone, HP is simply stat-independent. No open question here anymore.
Armor
Armor reduces incoming damage. Take 3 damage with 1 armor → lose 2 HP.
- Items with "x armor" don't stack — use the higher number.
- Items with "+1 armor" stack.
- Armor defaults to 0. Typical 0–1; 2 is tough; 3 is the best starting characters get.
Debilities
During play, a move or the GM may tell you to mark a debility. There are three — they color how you're suffering, and each gives disadvantage on certain moves (see 00-core-loop/dice-and-moves.md).
| Debility | Flavor | Disadvantage on |
|---|---|---|
| Weakened | Hurt, exhausted, shaky. | Clash, Let Fly |
| Dazed | Befuddled, reeling, not thinking clearly. | Know Things, Seek Insight |
| Miserable | Shaken, despairing, not yourself. | Defend, Persuade |
Disadvantage means you roll an extra die and discard the highest — a marked debility makes the affected moves meaningfully riskier. If a debility would affect an action that isn't on the list above, apply disadvantage to that action too. And related actions — ask the GM if in doubt.
Debilities reflect the fiction and dictate it. Something leaves you shaky and exhausted → mark weakened. A move tells you to mark dazed → you're befuddled, not thinking clearly.
Debilities last until a move (like Recover or Make Camp) clears them, or the GM says otherwise.
Death's Door
When you are dying, you glimpse the Last Door and the Lady of Crows (describe them). Then roll.
- If there are sixes in your final roll, you wrest yourself back to the realm of the living — return to X HP, where X is the total number of sixes — but say how your brush with death has marked you.
- On a success with no sixes, the Lady waves you off — you're no longer dying, but you're out of the action.
- On a bust, your time has come. Choose 1:
- Roll 2d6 and sum the results. Make one last move as if you had rolled that many sixes, then step through the Last Door.
- Refuse to go; gain the Revenant or Ghost insert.
- Call on one of the Things Below by name and beseech it to intercede; gain the Thrall insert.
Bands, plainly: sixes = you come back (HP = number of sixes). Success without a six = you live, but you're out of the action. Bust = you die (with three ways to go out).
Death's Door is a real threat in duet play — no party to pick you up. Followers are your lifeline.
XP & Level
- Gain XP when you bust — equal to the number of 1s in your final roll — or when a move says so.
- Start at level 1. At XP = 6 + twice your level, Level Up during downtime at home.
- Each Level Up: subtract the XP, +1 level, choose a new move from your playbook, review your instinct/appearance.
Level-up grants a playbook move, not a trait (locked 2026-10-18: no new traits on level-up for now).