General Mechanics Information

Character Creation

• Player characters in Scars of Risenholm start at level 3 and can advance up to level 10. Experience is also a resource that can be spent to increase the power of equipment.
• All ability scores start at 10. Every character receives 20 points to spend on raising ability scores at character creation. Each ability score increase costs 1 point.
  • Ability scores may not be raised above 16 at this point.
• Racial ability bonuses/penalties do not exist. Characters will instead be given 4 attribute points to distribute shortly after entering the game world.
• Ability score increases on level-up have been retired. Characters do not gain an attribute point at levels 4 and 8. The selection still appears during the level-up process, because it is hardcoded and cannot be removed, but a script reverts your choice immediately afterward and tells you that it has done so.
• A character's alignment has no bearing on combat mechanics or anything metaphysical in the game world. It is not displayed or used beyond character creation, where it cannot be removed as yet due to technical limitations.

Core Systemic Changes and Settings

• All classes possess full base attack bonus progression and start with two attacks per round. The second attack will not show on your character sheet until level 6 due to technical limitations.
• Armor class is still determined by your worn equipment and class features, though the maximum dexterity bonus has been adjusted to allow more flexibility in wearing half-plate and other medium armors.
• Character size has no impact on AC, AB, or Skills. Small characters can use all weapon types..
• The Weapon Finesse and Ambidexterity feats have been retired. Characters wielding weapons can use Dexterity for attack bonus with weapons that have the Finesse property regardless. Weapons of sizes larger than Small do not confer additional penalties in the off-hand.
• All PCs gain the Critical Hit Resilience feat at level 1. Critical Hit Resilience prevents a character from receiving more than one critical hit per round.
• Ability Point Maximum is your base score +10, allowing a maximum of 30 in a stat.
• Ability score increases on level-up have been retired. Characters do not gain an attribute point at levels 4 and 8. The selection still appears during the level-up process, because it is hardcoded and cannot be removed, but a script reverts your choice immediately afterward and tells you that it has done so.
• Bonus physical damage is calculated from both Strength and Dexterity bonuses.
• Casting spells no longer provokes attacks of opportunity and cannot be interrupted by damage.
• Cantrips can be cast at-will, without using spell slots.
• Stealth operates off a single skill, and players will receive visual information regarding perception and risk of discovery as they move while the mode is active. Players are encouraged to read the skill in its entirety and pay particular attention to feedback in the game world.
• Rolling a 1 on a saving throw is not an automatic failure.
• Characters gain maximum hit point rolls on level up.
• Saving throw bonuses are calculated from two attribute bonuses instead of one:
  • Fortitude is based on your Strength and Constitution.
  • Reflex is based on your Dexterity and Intelligence.
  • Will is based on your Wisdom and Charisma.
• Friendly fire is on by default for spells. The "Selective Spell" metamagic can make these spells harmless to your allies.

Scar Mechanics

Interacting with a Scar opens a chat window.

Scars are the static "dungeon" content that is available on the module. You may occasionally find an object in the wild with an orange name, these objects can be interacted with to begin the Scar exploration process. There are a few common rules to Scars:

• This is instanced content. If you see another group enter the Scar, you are free to enter your own version of the Scar as well and complete it at your own pace.
• Scars have level requirements. In general, you must travel further away from Risenholm to find higher level content.
• Scars can be challenged alone or with up to two allies. The challenge is generally balanced around the assumption of a pair of adventurers trying the content on the standard difficulty, though there are some extreme difficulty Scars in development.
• Difficulty levels can be adjusted prior to starting the Scar. These modify the enemies within and also the reward quality.
• All loot placeables in a Scar (or in the overworld) can be looted by every player for their own rewards.
• Upon overcoming the Scar, typically by killing the boss creature, characters will obtain an experience reward and a "Scar Fragment". These fragments can be brought back to Risenholm for a gold reward, attuning a summon theme, or attuning a scar (increasing difficulty for increased rewards).
• You will not receive the rewards of a Scar you just completed if you attempt it again - you must travel to another Scar and overcome it before you can gain rewards from the original again.

Resting

There are two kinds of rest. A Long Rest refills everything but needs a proper place to take it; a Short Rest can be taken almost anywhere but only gives back half of your resources.

Pressing the Rest button when you are not somewhere you can Long Rest opens the Rest Menu instead, from which you can Short Rest, or spend Wellwater to make a camp.

Wellwater

Wellwater is the currency of resting. Every character carries a Wellwater bottle.

• Your bottle holds 3 measures by default. Equipment can raise that cap.
• The bottle only refills when you take a Long Rest inside areas which grant the Nearby Well Water effect, such as the town of Risenholm.
• A Short Rest costs 1 measure. Making a camp to enable a Long Rest in the field costs 1 measure.

Long Rest

A Long Rest restores everything - hit points, all spell slots, Stability to maximum, every Class Resource, skill resource, Maneuvers, Metamagic, Stamina, and the charges on your equipped items.

You can only Long Rest in one of these places:

• In a town. Resting in town is quick - your character does not lie down.
• At a camp, which any character can create from the Rest Menu for 1 measure of Wellwater. The campfire serves your whole party, not just the person who paid for it.

A Long Rest also removes all Combat Time effects, unlocks your spellbook, and clears placed objects such as satchel charges, decoys, and glyphs.

Short Rest

A Short Rest can be taken any time you are out of combat, from the Rest Menu or from your water canteen. It costs 1 measure of Wellwater and restores half of most things:

• 50% of your maximum hit points.
• 50% of your maximum Stability.
• Half your spell slots at each spell level.
• Half of every class resource.
• Half your Maneuvers and Metamagic.
• Half your skill resources - the free item uses granted by many skills.
• Half the charges on your equipped items.
• All of your Stamina.

It also unlocks your spellbook. It does not clear Combat Time effects, so your buffs survive it.

Two class features grant an ally a free Short Rest without spending Wellwater: the Bard's Harmony: Peace and the Cleric's Channel Divinity: Succor. Each is limited to once per ally per rest.

Stability

Using potions and other magical items while low on Stability is a bad idea.

Stability is a measure of your character's ability to use magic items and is restored fully when you Long Rest, half when your Short Rest, and fully when you complete a Scar.

• Your base Stability score is calculated as 10 + Character level and can be increased or decreased with equipment.
• Using potions, scrolls, and magical items will drain Stability with every use, usually at a rate of 1 Stability per spell circle level.
• Using an item that drains Stability while you are below 0 Stability is extremely dangerous and usually leads to your character receiving massive unmitigated damage (1d10 Internal damage per point of Instability).
• Items that posses the Additional Property: Mundane description will not drain Stability when used.

For example, a potion of Bull's Strength will drain 2 Stability when used. A scroll of the same spell will also drain 2 Stability.

Maneuvers

Maneuvers are a replacement for vanilla active combat feats such as Knockdown and Disarm. They use their own unique resource pool.

• Maneuvers will use your current target when activated and can be utilized with melee and ranged weapons.
• They are considered free actions and will not interrupt your current attack sequence.
• There is a short cooldown period between Maneuver use - a message will alert you to when you can use Maneuvers again, and you can watch the hotbar icon for a visual indication of cooldown progress.
• Your maximum Maneuver capacity is: 3 + Intelligence modifier.
• Your Maneuver DC is: 10 + half your character level rounded down + the higher of your Strength or Dexterity modifier.
• Equipment can increase your maximum Maneuver capacity and DC.
• You regain Maneuvers when non-minion enemies die nearby.

Metamagic

Metamagic feats have been overhauled, utilizing a system that is completely separated from spell level consumption. They use their own unique resource pool.

• How each Metamagic is used is described in the feat description. In general, Metamagic is activated to work on the next spell cast - you will not spend resources until the spell is actually cast or the Metamagic benefit is gained.
• Metamagic of different types can be stacked. For example, you can freely Empower, Heighten, and Silence a cast of Fireball so long as you have the required resources to spend.
• Metamagic is applied to anything that casts a spell. This includes potions, scrolls, and items.
• Your maximum Metamagic capacity is 3 + the sum of your Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma modifiers.
• Equipment can increase your maximum Metamagic capacity and DC.
• You regain Metamagic when non-minion enemies die nearby.

The Quickcast Bar

The Quickcast bar is a spell interface that sits outside the standard hotbar. It is opened with the /quickcast chat command, abbreviated to /qc or /qcast. Only spellcasting characters can open it.

• One page per spellcasting class. The buttons along the top are your class icons - click one to switch to that class's page. Multiclassed casters get a page each.
• There is one row per spell level, from cantrips up to the highest level you can cast, and one column for each slot at your most populous spell level. The bottom row is reserved for sub-spells.

Casting from a slot

Action	Result
Left-click	Cast the spell. Self-only spells fire immediately. Anything else puts you into targeting mode to pick a target or a point on the ground.
Right-click	Cast the spell on yourself, without going through targeting mode. This works for any spell that can legally target its caster; if the spell cannot target you, it plays a failure sound instead.

A master spell - one with several variants, such as Polymorph - does not cast when clicked. It expands its variants into the bottom row of the grid instead, and you cast one of those.

Autocasting Combat Time spells

The star icon at the top of the bar casts every buff you have that carries a Combat Time duration, in one action.

Action	Result
Left-click	Pick a target, then cast all of your ready Combat Time spells on them. Use this to buff an ally.
Right-click	Cast all of your ready Combat Time spells on yourself.

• Out of combat, the whole sequence is instant. In combat it queues as normal casts.
• The checkbox beside the button toggles Overwrite. With Overwrite off, any spell the target already has running is skipped, so you can top an ally up without burning slots re-casting what they have.

Vitality

Vitality is an innate resource held by every character that converts food into faster advancement. It is not spent deliberately - it is drawn down automatically whenever you earn experience.

• Your maximum Vitality is 10,000. Every character has the same capacity.
• Whenever you gain XP, that XP is increased by the percentage of Vitality you currently hold, and the bonus granted is deducted from your Vitality pool.
• You regain Vitality by eating food. Meals restore 30% of your maximum Vitality, snacks restore 10%, and Grey Soup restores 5%.
• Vitality is persistent. It is not reset by resting or by logging out.

For example: with 5,000 Vitality (50% of maximum) you would gain 1,500 XP from a 1,000 XP reward. The 500 XP of bonus is deducted from your pool, leaving 4,500 Vitality, so the next award would be granted at +45% instead.

Stamina

Stamina is an innate resource consumed by movement abilities.

• Your maximum Stamina is 10 + your Constitution modifier.
• Stamina regenerates at a rate of 10% of your maximum every 6 seconds. Fractions are tracked behind the scenes and credited once they accumulate into a whole point.
• Regeneration halts when you spend Stamina, and restarts 6 seconds after the spending action.
• Equipment and feats can increase your maximum Stamina capacity.

Ability	Stamina Cost	Notes
Dash	2	+50% movement speed for one round, plus a further +1% per point of Athletics. Reusing it extends the duration rather than restarting it. Can also be activated with the Space key.
Dodgeroll	5	Rapidly cover a short distance in a straight line, passing through other creatures.
Thunderstrike	5	Way of Thunder monk archetype. Blink to a point between 5m and 20m away.

Class Resources

Several classes hold a dedicated resource pool in place of per-rest charges. These behave like Maneuvers and Metamagic - they have a maximum capacity, and they refill through play rather than only at a rest.

Resource recovery is driven by kills and rests. For example, Channel Divinity recovers 1 charge per 6 non-minion foes slain, Ki 1 per 4, and Barbarian Rage 1 use per 4.

Combat Time

Many buff spells now have durations measured in Combat Time rather than in real time. A Combat Time duration only ticks down while you are actually in combat.

• Spell descriptions state this explicitly, e.g. Duration: Long (30m Combat Time).
• Time spent in combat is deducted when you leave combat, and your remaining Combat Time is reported to you in the combat summary.
• Long Resting removes all Combat Time effects.
• Dispel Magic rolls against Combat Time effects like any other magical effect.

Death and Your Effects

Dying does not strip what is on you. Spell buffs, class effects, and the rest of what you are carrying survive death and are still there when you are raised, resurrected, or respawn, so there is no need to re-buff the party after a wipe.

• This covers the Combat Time buff suite and the great majority of class effects. Nothing is reset or refunded by the death - a buff comes back with the duration it had left.
• Harmful effects persist on the same terms. Curses and similar lasting maluses are not cleared by dying.
• Long Resting still removes all Combat Time effects. Death is not a rest.

Damage Types and Mitigation

Renamed damage types

Old Name	Current Name
Negative	Necrotic
Divine	Radiant
Electricity	Lightning

Elemental damage is now referred to collectively as non-physical damage.

Resistance and Immunity

Flat damage reduction (the old "10/+5" style) has been removed entirely. Mitigation now comes in two forms:

• Damage Resistance - a flat reduction against a damage type, backed by a finite absorption pool. Stoneskin, for example, grants resistance 10 versus physical damage with a 100 point pool.
• Percentage Immunity - a multiplicative reduction. The Protection spell grants 5% multiplicative physical immunity.

Threshold and Absorption

Every Damage Resistance effect is described by two numbers, and both are terms particular to Risenholm.

• Threshold is how much damage the effect removes from each individual hit of a matching damage type. Threshold 10 takes 10 off every qualifying hit, so a 30 damage hit lands for 20 and a 6 damage hit is stopped entirely.
• Absorption is the total pool of damage the effect can remove before it is spent. Each time it reduces a hit, the amount it actually removed comes out of the pool. When the pool is empty the effect ends, whether or not its duration has run out. Magnitude is the same quantity under a different name - feats and item properties that refer to "DR Magnitude" are raising the size of the pool.

Effects are written Threshold / Absorption, in that order.

Stoneskin is the standard example: Threshold 10 and Absorption 100 versus physical damage. It shaves 10 off every physical hit and expires once it has shaved off 100 in total - ten full-value hits, or rather more than that if several of those hits were for less than 10 each, since a 6 damage hit only costs the pool 6.

The hit that empties the pool is reduced by whatever is left in it rather than by the full Threshold. A Stoneskin with 4 Absorption remaining takes only 4 off the next hit, then ends.

Other things worth knowing:

• Several Damage Resistance effects can apply to the same hit. They resolve in ascending Threshold order, each reducing what the previous one left behind, and each drawing from its own separate pool. Only effects whose damage types match the hit take part at all.
• When an effect is granted by somebody else, DR Threshold bonuses use the better of the caster's and the recipient's, while DR Magnitude bonuses from the caster and the recipient are added together.
• The /dr chat command lists every Damage Resistance effect on you and on your associates as Threshold/Absorption Type (Name), and opens a tracker window showing the same. While fighting, feedback reports each effect as it drains: [DR (Stoneskin) -10: 90 Remaining].

Energy Affinity

Energy Affinity is a family of ten General feats, each with a defined damage type. When you inflict damage of the specified type, that damage is calculated against the enemy's damage immunity as though it were the type the target has the lowest immunity to instead.

Clerics choose the energy type of their spells and abilities at level 1 via Divine Polarity, and gain the matching Energy Affinity feat at level 3.

Gear Damage Bonuses and Spells

Two damage bonuses that read as weapon properties also apply to the damage your spells deal, not just to your weapon swings.

• Enhancement Bonus on the weapon you are wielding is added as flat damage to every damaging spell you cast - a +5 weapon is +5 damage per spell.
• Rune Damage is rolled for spells as well, whenever you have a weapon rune active. The die is the Rune Damage property on your main hand, or 1d6 if that weapon carries none.

Points worth knowing:

• Both are dealt as the spell's own damage type. They do not arrive as a separate packet of weapon or elemental damage, so it is the target's resistance to the spell that applies.
• Both are added before percentage damage bonuses, so any percentage spell damage you carry scales them too.
• On a Persistent spell, the two bonuses land once per creature - on the first tick - rather than on every round of the effect.

Spell Keywords

Spells carry keywords describing how their effects behave. Every keyword that applies to a spell is spelled out in its description.

Keyword	Meaning
Hard Control	The effects of this spell are subject to ongoing saving throws. Each round, the target may attempt a new saving throw to end the effect. Each failed saving throw provides a stacking +4 bonus to further saving throws for 5 rounds versus the following effects: Confusion, Daze, Domination, Fear, Knockdown, Paralysis, Petrification, Sleep, Stun
Pernicious	This effect is not removed upon a successful saving throw, instead continuing to attempt to apply itself each round upon a failed save for the full duration of the spell/effect.
Intense	The target is denied the first saving throw against this effect. A creature may only suffer the effects of the Intense keyword once per minute.
Swift	This spell has a shortened cast time, executing in only half a secon
Persistent	The spell occupies a space for its full duration.
Enemy-Only	Affects hostile creatures only.
Ignores Self	The caster is not affected.
DoT	Damage over time, with saves taken periodically.

Note that Hard Control and Pernicious are not contradictory - a Pernicious Hard Control effect can be saved out of each round, but a failed save re-applies it rather than ending it.

Status Effects

A handful of named status effects are applied by spells, feats, and gadgets across many different classes. They always mean the same thing, wherever they came from.

Effect	What It Does
Sundered	-4 AC and -4 to all saving throws for the duration. Multiple sources do not stack.
Sickened	-2 attack bonus, -2 to all saving throws, and -2 physical damage. As with Sundered, the penalty does not stack with itself.
Primed	A stored burst of bonus damage that is consumed by the next hit the creature takes, added to that hit's damage. Each application is a separate charge, so a target may hold several at once and each is spent in turn.
Provoked	The target halts what it is doing and attacks the provoker. While Provoked, it deals half damage (post-mitigation) to anyone other than the provoker, and its AC is reduced by 1. Duration is 1 minute. Elite, Solo, and player targets may only have their actions interrupted once per minute, though the damage and AC penalties are not limited in this way.

Retaliation

Retaliation is a custom effect that injures creatures that attack whoever is carrying it. Fire Shield, Wounding Whispers, Death Armor, the Cleric's Channel Divinity: Succor, and a number of class features all grant one.

• Retaliation triggers on being attacked, whether that attack hits or misses. Some effects also trigger on damage that did not come from an attack, such as a spell.
• It has a range. The attacker must be within it for the effect to fire, and the default is 4 metres - roughly melee reach, so an archer shooting you from across the room is not punished by an ordinary Retaliation effect. An effect with a longer reach says so in its description.
• Each attacking creature carries its own cooldown, normally 1 second. A single enemy attacking you four times a round triggers the effect once; four enemies attacking you once each trigger it four times.
• Every firing spends one point of the effect's Limit. When the Limit reaches zero the effect ends, even if its duration has not expired. Floating text reports the remaining count each time it fires: [Retaliation (Fire Shield): 14 Remaining].
• The damage is credited to whoever created the effect, not to whoever is wearing it. It is ordinary damage of its stated type, and the attacker's own resistances and immunities apply to it as normal.
• If you are carrying more than one Retaliation effect, they all fire, one after another over the following moment, smallest damage first.
• Retaliation does not fire against a creature that is already dead.
• Retaliation damage is increased by anything that raises Retaliation damage specifically, such as the Storyteller's The Vengeful role, as well as by general damage bonuses.

Reading a Retaliation description

Because Retaliation has so many moving parts, every spell and feat that grants one writes them out in a single bracketed block, in a fixed order:

[Trigger: Attacks, Damage: 5+1d6 (Type: Selected), Limit: 20 attacks, Duration: Medium (15m Combat Time), Cooldown: 1s, per-Attacker]

Field	What It Tells You
Trigger	What sets the effect off. Attacks means any attack made against you, hit or miss. Attacks/Damage means it also fires on damage that did not come from an attack, such as a spell or a trap.
Damage	What each firing deals, as a flat amount, dice, an ability modifier, or a combination of them. The bracketed Type is the damage type: a named type such as Sonic, Selected where you chose it when the effect was created, Weapon where it follows the weapon you are holding, or Variable where something else decides, in which case the description explains what.
Limit	How many times the effect can fire before it ends. Some abilities raise the Limit on an effect you already have rather than granting a fresh one.
Duration	How long the effect lasts if the Limit is never exhausted. This follows the usual duration conventions, including Combat Time.
Cooldown	The minimum gap between two firings against the same creature.
per-Attacker	The cooldown is tracked separately for each creature, so several attackers cannot be shielded from the effect by one another's cooldowns.
Range	Only stated when it is not the default 4 metres. The Eldritch Knight's Force Feedback, for example, is noted as having a special 20 metre range, which lets it reach attackers that an ordinary Retaliation effect cannot.

Enemy Tiers and Roles

Every creature is rated by a Tier and at least one Role. Both are shown when you examine it, and both are worth reading before you commit to a fight.

Tiers describe how much of a threat a single creature is:

• Minion - a low-threat creature that fights in numbers. Minions do not count toward resource recovery.
• Normal - the default. No Tier is shown.
• Elite - substantially tougher than a normal creature of its level.
• Solo - built to fight a whole party alone. Bosses are usually Solo.

Roles describe how a creature fights: Artillery, Brute, Controller, Leader, Lurker, Skirmisher, and Soldier.

Subdual

When damage dealt by another player, or by their associates, would reduce your character to 0 hit points, that damage is capped so it leaves you at 1 hit point, and you are Subdued instead.

• Subdued - knocked down and unable to act for 30 seconds. You cannot be brought down again during the first 6 seconds of this.
• Unconscious - if you are brought down again while still subdued, you are knocked unconscious and blinded for 60 seconds.
• Woozy - for 30 seconds after being subdued you suffer -10 attack bonus, -10 AC, and 50% spell failure, so you cannot simply stand up and continue the fight.

Subdual applies to damage between player characters.

Inner World

The Inner World is a private page on your character sheet, found on the Description tab alongside Description and Timeline. It exists to serve as a communication layer between you and the DMs, and to give you a space to contemplate the development of your character.

Other players cannot see any of it. DMs can, when they examine your character.

The top of the page is free text - thoughts, memories, whatever you like. Beneath it is your list of Bonds.

Bonds

A Bond is a single, specific statement about your character. Bonds give DMs something to work with, so the more particular they are, the more useful they become. There are five types:

Type	What It Is
Principle	Something your character believes and tries to live by. What line will they not cross?
Goal	Something they are actively working towards. Goals can be finished, and then replaced with new ones.
Tie	A connection to a person, faction, or place. Ties are what give the rest of the world a hold on your character.
Secret	Something they hide.
Turmoil	A conflict between two of your other Bonds. Turmoil is where the difficult, interesting choices come from.

You can add, edit, and remove Bonds at any time - use the View/Edit Bonds button on the page. They are meant to change as your character does, and there is no penalty for revising or discarding one. Each Bond is a short statement of up to 255 characters; the free-text area above has no practical limit.

The ? button on the page brings up this same explanation in-game.

Other Sources of Experience

Combat is not the only way to earn experience, and everything below is also multiplied by your current Vitality.

• Discovery - reaching an area or landmark you have not visited before awards 50 XP and displays its name. Discoveries are recorded per character and are only awarded once each. Scar interiors are not discoverable.
• Roleplay (RP) - During RP, other players accumulate experience in the background, awarded in blocks of 50 XP.

Work around town

Risenholm has work that needs doing, and it pays in experience. These tasks are repeatable, open to any character regardless of class or level, and they leave a visible mark on the town.

• Repairing the town wall - 100 XP per section. Broken sections of the wall can be used to repair them, provided you are carrying Building Stone. The repair takes a few seconds and consumes one stone. Building Stone is free: take it from the brick piles around the world, each pile restocking after an hour or two.
• Handing in Foodstock - 50 XP for each piece of Foodstock, turned in all at once. Foodstock is gathered out in the world and carried back to town; it is not eaten.

Gathering Foodstock

There are four kinds of Foodstock, and they all hand in for the same 50 XP each:

Foodstock	Gathered By
Animal Meat	Butchering the carcass of an animal you have killed, by opening its remains. Each animal has a Survival rank you must meet before you can butcher it.
Edible Berries	Picking berry bushes.
Edible Mushrooms	Picking mushroom patches.
Caught Fish	Fishing, with a fishing rod.

Each harvest has a percentage chance equal to your Survival skill rank to yield two units instead of one.

Berry bushes, mushroom patches, and fishing spots each replenish an hour to three hours after being worked.

Neither task is only a source of XP:

• Handing in Foodstock lowers food prices for everyone. The town keeps a persistent store of food, and the markup the market charges on meals and snacks falls as that store grows. Since food is what restores Vitality, stocking the town larder makes everybody's advancement cheaper - your own included.