Out of all the rulesets in Aeon, Augments are arguably the most important. Augments represent the building blocks for crafting your Abilities and differentiating your Character on the battlefield. The Augments are categorized into Active, Passive, or both which affect everything from how the Ability works to even the kind of rolls needed to succeed. GMs will need to work closely with new Players to ensure that the Players vision for their Ability matches the Augments chosen.
For new GMs and Players alike, one of the future chapters contains typical “RPG” Characters with thematic Abilities for inspiration. So if you’re struggling to come up with a concept, head over there for some interesting ideas. Without further ado, let’s create some Abilities. Creating an Ability requires only three, important steps of choosing an Active Augment and then choosing two, Passive augments:
The Active Augment represents the overall flavor or makeup of the Ability in question; i.e. what is the most important purpose of this Ability? An Ability may only have one Active Augment and must have one Active Augment to exist. Note that in all circumstances, the Active Augment’s level determines the dice used per the Dice Table. Thus, if a Character has an Active Augment at level two, they will use d6s, no matter the level of their accompanying Passive Augments.
The 4+ System: Most Active Augments state that you must roll a 4+ to succeed. This means that in order to achieve one Success, a Character determine their dice from the Dice Table, roll, and for each die that is greater than or equal to four, they have achieved one Success. Under the 4+ system, a Character does not consider their enemy’s Resistance (Physical, Elemental, or Supernal).
The Attack Augment: Unlike the other Active Augments, the Attack Augment considers the enemy’s Resistances. When using an Attack Ability, the Character would review the Dice Table and then roll against their enemy’s Resistances. For each die that exceeds the opponent’s Resistances, that die counts as one Success. For the sake of clarity, rolls that equal the opponent's Resistances do not count as a Success.
The Passive Augment represents what additional effects occur if the Active Augment is successful. Passive Augments also serve to enhance the Ability both in terms of RP’ing and in how the Ability works. Note that while every Ability must have an Active Augment, there is no requirement for an Ability to have a Passive Augment. Thus, an Ability could exist with an Active Augment and no Passive Augments; however, an Ability could not exist with one or two Passive Augments unless there is an accompanying Active Augment.
When building an Ability, a Character may not have the same Augment in more than one slot.
Thus, the following examples may not exist, since Sundering is used more than once:
But the following examples may exist:
Aeon possesses three "damage subtypes", being Physical, Elemental, or Supernal. The Character sheet denotes each of these damage subtypes for purposes of Resistances (and their commensurate Barriers). As an example, you could have 3 Abilities, each with a different Subtype: Attack [Physical], Attack [Elemental], and Attack [Supernal]. Some Augments interact and modify these subtypes (Meld, for example, lets you change Subtypes on your die).
As a rule, when a Passive has a damage subtype, it does not have to have the same damage subtype as the Primary Ability. Below are some examples of viable Abilities:
Deflection acts as a direct counter to Debuffs and prevents all future Debuff applications.
As with Restoration, when a Character is fully Cleansed of all Debuffs, any overcasting instead becomes Deflection stacks. Thus, if a Character has 3 stacks of Blinding, and is Cleansed with 4 Successes, then the Character no longer has any stacks of Blinding, and has 1 stack of Deflection, which will prevent any future debuffs.
For the sake of clarity, Deflection removes one of all stacks that would be applied. Thus, if a Character has Deflection 1, and receives 2 stacks of Blinding and 4 stacks of Cursed, said Character would walk away with no Deflection, 1 stack of Blinding, and 3 stacks of Cursed.
Most Passive Augments use the term Debuff per the Augment Table below. This means that for each instance that the Active Ability is successful, then the Passive ability also activates but only up to the total level of the Passive Augment. As an example, a Character has an Attack (3) with a single, Passive (2). Consulting the Dice Table, the Player notes that they have access to d8s. The Character rolls 6d8 and four of the die exceed the enemy’s pertinent Resistance. Even though the Player rolled four Successes, they only have Passive (2), thus only two Successes would apply towards the Passive Augment against the enemy.
Each of the Passives will go into greater detail about what kind of Debuff they apply; regardless, all Debuffs apply in 1 increment per Success.
Debuffs last until the end of combat. Once combat ends, all Debuff stacks dissipate.
Aeon provides a reference guide with each Character Sheet that goes over the Augments in detail, as provided in this guide. Below is a pared down version of that table:
| Name | Active | Passive |
|---|---|---|
| Amplifying | 4+ | Debuff |
| Attack | Target's Resistance | No |
| Blinding | 4+ | Debuff |
| Chain | No | See Desc. |
| Charging | No | See Desc. |
| Cleansing | 4+ | See Desc. |
| Cursed | 4+ | Debuff |
| Delayed | No | See Desc. |
| Forceful | 4+ | See Desc. |
| Meld | No | See Desc. |
| Ranged | No | See Desc. |
| Restoration | 4+ | See Desc. |
| Restraining | 4+ | Debuff |
| Seeking | No | See Desc. |
| Skein | 4+ | No |
| Shaped | No | See Desc. |
| Sundering | 4+ | Debuff |
These following sections describe each Augment with the following guidelines:
The following sections will cover all augments listed in the table.
Description: The Amplifying Augment Debuffs an enemy, whereby any attack gains additional damage up to the total Amplifying Debuff. Whenever a target afflicted with the Amplifying Debuff takes damage, they take X bonus damage from all sources. The bonus damage from Amplify may never exceed the amount of damage dealt. Thus, if an enemy has six Amplifying and you deal two damage, then you only gain the benefit of two additional damage, for a total of four damage.
Die Type: If Amplifying is the Active Augment, the caster must roll a four or greater to achieve a single Success. The enemy’s Resistance is not taken into consideration.
If Amplifying is the Passive Augment, then it only applies based on the Active Augment’s number of Successes; however, the number of Amplifying increments applied is capped at Amplifying’s level. Thus, if a Character achieves six Successes on the Amplifying Augment but only has Amplifying (3), then the Character receives 3 stacks of Amplifying or Deflection (Amplifying) if used in conjunction with Cleansing or Restoration.
Additional Notes: Amplify is the quintessential boss killer, where a Debuffing Character would stack Amplify on the boss to ensure that your Successes really count. As your Party attacks the same enemy, each Character’s strikes will deal additional damage. Thus, if your party is having a difficult time landing more one or two hits, Amplifying could double your Party’s damage and shorten the engagement where they would otherwise be in for a long fight.
While we've been testing out large creatures, this has come up multiple times since one of our Playtesters is the quintessential glass cannon boss killer with Amplifying as a Passive (as he should be).
In effect, the Players are fighting a large creature, who takes up multiple hexes. The Player with Amplifying Attacks any part of the enemy, and thus the whole enemy now takes Amplifying. If a Player with Shaped attacks multiple hexes, then each hex also gains the benefit of Amplifying, adding damage up to the level of Amplifying.
As an example, an large creature occupies 7 hexes and has 6 levels of the Amplifying Debuff. A Player throws a Shaped Attack against all 7 hexes, and gets 4 Successes. Each hex receives 4 damage + 4 Amplifying (since it's up to the level of Amplifying). 8 * 7 = 56 points of damage dealt to the enemy.
Description: The Attack Augment is your Character’s manifestation of damage against an enemy. Upon creation, a Character must choose the damage type, being Attack (Physical, Elemental, or Supernal).
Active, Passive, or Both for Augment Type: The Attack Augment may only be used in the Active slot.
Die Type: The Attack Augment always rolls against the Target’s Resistance. A Character must exceed their target’s Resistance to achieve a Success, with each Success dealing one damage to the enemy’s HP. In contrast, any Attacks which equal an enemy’s Resistance deal no damage to HP.
Additional Notes: No matter the Character, everyone should have at least a single Attack Ability. For Characters who are the party’s “damage dealer”, they would do well to ensure that this Ability receives most of their XP. For more backline Characters, they should spend at least one XP to gain an Attack (1), that way if the enemy gets too close you can somewhat defend yourself. After all, an Attack (1) in conjunction with a Called Shot can exceed most low-level Resistances.
Attacking an inanimate object does not require an Attack Roll, as an inanimate object typically does not have Resistance (though some may per the GM, and if they do, the GM will provide the resistances). See one of the future chapters for managing Character interactions with inanimate objects.
Yes! If a GM wishes that an inanimate object have Resistances, then dealing damage against that object would require an Attack exceeding the inanimate target’s Resistance. Note that in these kinds of situations, the Players will often have enough time to eventually break down the object.
Accordingly, GMs should build in some reason as to why the Players do not have enough time to spend an hour’s worth of time to eventually get the rolls needed to succeed. The easy fix to this is random patrols, so the longer Players batter against an object far above their level, the more patrols will harass the party.
No. Attack must be used against an Enemy. For anyone confused here, an example is useful. Let's say you have a Primary of Attack, and a Passive of Restoration (Supernal). You'd normally Attack an enemy, then heal yourself or give yourself Barrier (Supernal). The reason for this FAQ is someone may say instead "Uh, I attack my ally, so I can heal them." Since Attacks must be used against enemies, this is not possible.
Description: The Blinding Augment ensures that your enemy has a more difficult chance of landing a blow. The term “Blinding” does not necessarily mean obscuring vision; rather, it represents the obfuscation of your enemy’s senses to cripple them in combat. Thus, even a sightless enemy relying on echolocation could receive stacks of Blinding as a Character’s Blinding ability deadens the sounds of the battlefield.
For each increment of Blinding, the enemy receives a negative one to each of their dice rolls. For example, if an enemy has Blinding (2), then they would subtract two from each of their dice rolls.
Active, Passive, or Both for Augment Type: Blinding may be used in either slot.
Dice Type: If Blinding is the Active Augment, the caster must roll a four or greater to achieve a single Success. The enemy’s Resistance is not taken into consideration.
If Blinding is the Passive Augment, then it only applies based on the Active Augment’s number of Successes; however, the number of Blinding increments applied is capped at Blinding’s level. Thus, if a Character achieves six Successes on the Active Augment but only has Blinding (3), then the Character receives 3 stacks of Blinding or Deflection (Blinding) if used in conjunction with Cleansing or Restoration. The total levels of Blinding you can apply to a target is capped by the Augment's level, thus the ability above would only be apply to apply up to 3 stacks of Blinding to the target in total.
A Character’s roll may never go lower than 1; moreover, a Character's Resistance to any damage type may never go lower than 1. So in effect, you would reduce a target's attack to 1, and since the target's own target would always have at least 1 Resistance, then their attacks are nullified.
As an example, say a Character can roll 6d4, but has Blinding 6 applied to them. No matter what, each of their 6 die would only roll a 1, thereby negating their chance of dealing damage to any target.
Note that the Character above with Blinding (6) could still use a Called Shot Action to possibly exceed the detriment of Blinding for a roll greater than 1.
In short: Yes. If a Character has Blinding (6), they could still use a Called Shot Action to possibly exceed the detriment of Blinding for a roll greater than 1.
Using 6d4 as an example: a character could sacrifice 2d4 to create a 1d6, so 6d4 could now equal 3d6. The character could go further and convert 3d6 into 1d8 and 1d6, and further to create a 1d10. If the character rolls the 1d10 and achieves a natural 10, then the roll would be the Natural 10 - Blinding(6) for a roll of 4, which could possibly exceed their target's Resistance.
A Critical Die only applies if it exceeds the target's resistance. If an enemy rolls a Natural 12 on a d12!, then they will still receive two Successes so long as the attack pierces the enemy’s Resistance.
As an example, say a Character has Blinding(6) and rolls a 1d12!, achieving a Natural 12. Their roll would then be 12 - Blinding(6), for a total roll of 6. If the 6 exceeds the target's Resistance, then the Critical Die applies for two Successes.
Description: The Chain Augment ensures that your Abilities strike across a large battlefield.
For every level in the Chain Augment, the Character may hit additional targets that are within X hexes between the first target and each subsequent target. Thus, if a Character has Chain (3), their attacks can reach enemies with three or less hexes between them; note that the hexes in which the enemy’s stand do not count towards the total hex distance.
When applying your Active Ability, each target of Chain must have at least one die rolled against them, and the total die pool is split between the targets. Thus, if a Character rolls four die, then they could never hit more than four enemies since each would receive one die roll.
While Characters cannot normally attack enemies that are out of sight, Chain can reach enemy’s around corners, so long as the hidden enemy is not the initial target. This allows the Character to surprise and devastate enemies hidden in maze-like dungeons.
Enemies still benefit from Cover if, when drawing a line between one enemy to another, the second enemy directly has cover in between the two targets. Cover is applied to each individual enemy separately; accordingly, just because the initial enemy has Cover does not mean that every subsequent enemy will benefit from the same and vice versa.
Active, Passive, or Both for Augment Type: Chain may only be used in the Passive slot.
Dice Type: Chain does not have its own dice type or modifiers for Success, and thus always applies.
Additional Notes: Chain is a sister Augment to the Shaped Ability. Whereas the Shaped Ability requires contiguous hexes but allows damage to apply to all targets; the Chain Ability requires you to split your dice but cover a far larger area. While Chain, Ranged, Shaped, and other Augments are all subject to Cover rules, a clever tactician may be able to spot a continual line between enemies and, with a single ability, ravage the enemy formation.
Ranged applies on the initial cast. Thus, you can use Ranged to reach your initial target, then apply Chain from there. For the sake of clarificiation, Ranged does not affect the distance between targets, which is the domain of Chain.
Shaped's total hexes affected are split, at the Player's choice, between the Chain targets; however, the hexes per bounce must still be contiguous.
As an example, say a Character has Attack (Elemental 6), Shaped (6), and Bounce (6). Conveniently, there are 6 enemies. Each Bounce may have a maximum distance of 6 hexes between each target (remember the target's hex is not included). The Character has 7 hexes affected with Shaped (6). Thus, the Player could apply 2 shaped to the first bounce, but since Shaped applies to an occupied hex, Shaped of 1 for each of the targets does not convey a benefit; here, a Character should be aware of how they split up Shaped in conjunction with Ranged to ensure that the Shaped "hexes" aren't wasted on occupied hexes, which are already taken into account by Chain. The Player could also apply 7 Shaped hexes to the first bounce and no Shaped hexes to the subsequent bounces. The Character may mix and match at their discretion.
Yes, though your inaniminate-object-target must still have the minimum die of one applied. Players may ask why a Character would want to do this: in order to use the inanimate object to pivot around cover.
Note that you do not have to have the Attack Primary Augment to Chain into inanimate objects. The reason that a debuff or non-Attack Augments do not explicitly state they have the ability to hit inanimate objects is because, in the overwhelming majority of times, the act would be neither useful nor benificial for the Player.
Note that this is subject to Rule Zero like always, because if you want to explain how your Chain bounces off of a cobblestone road, that's between you and your GM.
Description: The Charging Augment allows a Character to quickly cross the battlefield to close the distance between them and their foe. For every point in the Charge Augment, the Player gains one additional, free hex of movement, and adds two to the total thereafter; the +2 movement does not apply per hex, it is added to the total. Thus, if someone has three levels of Charge, then they would gain 3 + 2, or five total hexes of free movement. The following requiements must be met:
Active, Passive, or Both for Augment Type: Charge may only be used in the Passive slot.
Dice Type: Charge does not have its own dice, and thus always applies.
Additional Notes: Akin to the Celerity Perk, the Charge Augment allows a Character to quickly dash across the battlefield and attack by being far more AP efficient. If an enemy is six hexes away, then a melee Character would normally need to spend two turns: one turn to spend six AP to close the distance; and six AP on their melee attack roll. By using the Charge Augment, a Character may instead combine both actions into one turn.
Melee Characters are highly encouraged to either create a powerful Attack Ability with the Charge Passive, or to create a weaker Attack Ability with Charge and combo this “opener” with a stronger Attack Ability option. As an example, a Character could use a weak Attack with Charge to close the distance, but then use another, more powerful Ability that has higher level Augments, such as an Attack coupled with Seeking and Amplifying.
The greatest foe to a melee Character is distance, and a handy Charge Ability ensures you can get into the fight on your terms.
Yes, as with all other actions. Melee Characters who may dash from one pocket of resistance to another would do well to synergize the Tactician Perk with Charging. Note that there isn't a "cap" per turn for using Tactician. Thus, if a Player encounters 6 enemies, each separated from one another, then having just Tactician (1) would be enough to continually break combat without penalties between enemies.
This is to counter Parties with Forceful characters, since they also gain +2 to single targets. Charge is often the antithesis to Forceful, backline Characters.
Charge provides movement up to the maximum, so you can elect to not move, but still use an Ability that has Charge as a Passive. As an easy example, if you have an Attack with Charge, you can still use the Ability against an enemy in melee range.
Description: The Cleanse Augment is an important tool in a support Character’s kit. For every Success rolled, the target is cleansed of one point of every Debuff. Thus, if an ally has 2 Blinding and 4 Restraining, a single Successful Cleanse roll would lower these to 1 and 3 respectively. In effect, if a Character rolls six Successes on their turn, then a Character is cleansed of all Debuffs.
If a Character receieves Cleanse rolls that exceed their Debuffs, then all "over" Cleanses become stacks of Deflection. As an example, if a Character has no Debuffs, and receives 6 Cleanses, then said Character receives 6 Deflection.
Active, Passive, or Both for Augment Type: Cleansing may be used in either slot.
Dice Type: If Cleansing is the Active Augment, then every 4+ roll counts as a success. If Cleansing is used in the Passive slot, then its die and successes are based upon the Active Augment.
Additional Notes: Support Characters will always benefit from having a Cleansing Ability on hand to dissipate the debilitating effects of Debuffs. After all, high stacks of Blinding on the party’s damage dealer could prevent your group from dealing any damage.
Cleansing benefits from many of the same Augments as Restoration. Due to the chaos of the battlefield, it’s unlikely that your allies will be close at hand and neatly grouped together; thus, the Chain Augment is perfect to ensure that your Ability reaches even the most tenebrous portions of the battlefield. If a Character forgoes Chain, they could instead take Ranged to similarly reach the far reaches of combat.
Sure, let's walk through some examples:
Attack (Supernal), Cleansing. For every success you have on the Attack, you Cleanse yourself of one of all of your debuffs.
Restoration (Physical), Cleansing. For every success you have on the Restoration, you Restore/Barrier and Cleanse/Deflect your target.
Cursed, Cleansing. For every successful stack of Cursed you apply to the enemy, you also Cleanse yourself of one of all of your debuffs.
Description: The Cursed Augment applies a Debuff which prevents future healing and application of Barriers. For each stack of Cursed, the Player subtracts one healing or Barrier from the total amount received. Accordingly, if a Character has six stacks of Cursed, then they may not be healed or receive Barriers, unless the caster also uses an Inspiration Die.
Active, Passive, or Both for Augment Type: Cursed may be used in either slot.
Dice Type: If Cursed is the Active Augment, the caster must roll a four or greater to achieve a single Success. The enemy’s Resistance is not taken into consideration.
If Cursed is the Passive Augment, then it only applies based on the Active Augment’s number of Successes; however, the number of Cursed increments applied is capped at Cursed’s level. Thus, if a Character achieves six Successes on the Active Augment but only has Cursed (3), then the enemy receives 3 stacks of Cursed.
As with all other Debuffs, the total number of stacks that may be applied to an enemy is capped at the Augment's level. Thus, if an Ability had Cursed (3), the enemy may never have more than 3 stacks of Cursed from that specific Ability.
Additional Notes: The Cursed Augment is often used by GMs to ensure Players maintain a well-balanced Party of damage and support. Players interested in the Cursed Augment should ask their GM whether their future enemies are known healers or support Characters, as the Cursed Augment could either mitigate/prevent healing, or when fighting another support enemy, cause that enemy to waste precious turns with multiple Cleansing actions. GMs often ensure that their bosses have healing effects or support Characters as pure backup; thus, a Player could cut the legs out from underneath a once lengthy boss fight.
The Cursed Augment greatly benefits from the Shaped and Chain Abilities as apply even one stack to multiple enemies greatly increases Cursed’s efficiency whilst cutting down on the overall battle’s length by placing the battle of attrition in the Players’ hands. A quick demonstration of this is that six stacks of Cursed on a single target is difficult to achieve, while the same effect could be achieved with one stack on six enemies.
The Cursed Augment subtracts its level from the total sum of received HP and Barrier. As an example, say a Character has 16/18 HP; they have 2 stacks of Cursed; and an ally thereafter achieves six Successes on Restoration (Physical). The six Successes would be reduced by two due to Curse, for a total of four Successes. The Character would then be healed to full health at 18/18 HP, and then receive two Barrier (Physical) thereafter.
Description: The Delayed Augment allows Characters to tactfully deploy Abilities that would normally dissipate immediately out of combat. Perhaps second only to the Meld Augment, Delayed allows the greatest flexibility with Characters preparing for numerous situations. For each level of Delayed, the Character is granted one die to roll per the Dice Table; thus, a Player with Delayed (4) is granted four dice. Dice are always determined by the Active Augment level. Thus, if a Player has an Active (4) and Delayed (4), then the Character would be allowed to use a maximum of 4d10. The Delayed Augment allows Characters to alter their Abilities in two unique ways located in the notes below: Setting Traps and Buffing Outside of Combat.
Active, Passive, or Both for Augment Type: Delayed may only be used in the Passive slot.
Dice Type: Delayed does not have its own die, and thus always applies.
Additional Notes: It is not possible to spend AP beyond the level of Delayed if the Character is attempting to lay traps or buff outside of combat. This rule may easily be overlooked by a Player, and thus the GM should be on the lookout to ensure the Player does not inadvertently spend 6 AP if their Delayed level of the Ability is less than 6; in such an instance, the GM should notify their Player, and instruct them to use their "remaining" AP on another Ability.
A Character attempting to identify traps or buffs need only roll once to perceive all traps or buffs within line of sight. Thus, if a Character encounters a mine field, they only need to roll once to spot all mines, rather than having to roll individually for each one.
A Character may use multiple Abilities with Delay, with each being subject to the AP cap. Thus, if a Player is a trap builder, and their Abilities are only Delayed based, then they may spend their time out of combat to set up the battlefield as the situation permits. Be warned though, such a Character may not be very flexible in the midst of combat, but that's the life of a trapmaker!
A Character may lay a trap outside of combat with a specific command which, if triggered, will activate the Ability as if Player had rolled that turn. The trap benefits from all Augments of the Ability.
As an example, a Character has the following Ability: Attack (5) (Elemental); Delayed (3); and Shaped (4). Since the Character has Attack (5), they are granted d12s; with Delayed (3), the Character is allowed to use 3d12 out of the original 6d12 to use; and since the Ability has Shaped (4), then the trap would cover five hexes. The Player would then select the five hexes in question and inform the GM when it would activate, such as “if any enemy enters the hexes, it activates”; “if at least two enemies enter, it activates;” “if I command, out loud, for the trap to activate”; or anything similar.
A Character may place as many traps as they'd like, so long as the total AP of all active traps does not exceed the Ability's total Delayed Level (i.e. a Character may place 6 traps, but each trap would only have 1AP, not taking into account Inspiration Die, which could make this 7 traps for 7 AP. If a Character recasts a trap when capped based on their other traps on the field, the Player casting the spell may choose one or more traps to dissipate without activating and the new one is placed per the Character’s instructions. Note that the conditions of a trap may not be changed unless the Character recasts the Ability to replace the original trap and set new parameters.
A Player casting traps may always instantly dissipate one or more traps on their turn. Dissipating a trap means the trap does not activate. Dissipate one or more traps does not cost AP.
Traps last indefinitly and do not dissipate at the end of combat. Thus, a Player may cast their traps and journey 500 reaches away, and the traps would still be active, subject to the Delayed level cap rule.
The Delayed trap also gains the benefit of its own Stealth Check, equal to its Delayed level.
Normally, if a Character places a Barrier on the Party outside of combat, it would immediatley dissipate and provide no benefit, other than wasting everyone's time. If Delayed is placed on a Restoration Ability, then it would last into the start of combat. Note that Restoration Ability and Delayed Abilities apply whenever the Character receives damage, as this is often the most desired result; however, Players may always specify when a Delayed ability activates, though it is almost always beneficial to immediately use Restoration/Barrier a damaged Character to ensure they are as far from Wound range as possible.
A notable reason as to why a Character may request that a Restoration Ability not activate immediately is if the Character places a Restoration Ability on the ground and wishes to wait for the “right moment” to activate it. An example of this would be if the Players intentionally retreat to a more fortified position that contains a Delayed Augment.
As a note, a Player could instead have a Restoration, Delayed, and Blinding Ability. Since Blinding, when paired with Restoration, creates Deflection (Blinding), then the Player could proc the Restoration and Deflection (Blinding) together, which would last into combat.
For the sake of clarification, the buff may contain any number of active or passive augments, and is not limited to Restoration, etc.
A Trap does not take up a single hex like a Player. An allied Player or enemy can occupy the same hex as a trap without automatically triggering it (subject to the trapmaker Character's purview).
For the sake of clarification, a Character's reach is every hex adjacent, and their own hex, which makes sense when you think of a Character trying to heal themselves through Restoration. Thus, traps affect their own space, such as a mine detonating when an enemy stands on it.
Subquestion: Can I place multiple traps on the same hex?
No, each trap may not occupy the same hex. Thus, one of the side benefits of having Delayed (6) versus 2 Abilities each with Delayed (3) on an ability is having a more powerful trap on a single hex. I.E. An Attack (6), Delayed (6) Ability could place a 6d12! trap on a hex, whilst two Abilities each with Attack (6), Delayed (3) could only place a 3d12! on that same hex, but another 3d12! trap on another hex. Note that the first ability could do this as well, while the second pair of abilities must do this.
It's technically more XP efficient to have the single Delayed ability. Note that each Delayed Ability will still require its own Active Ability, thus the XP savings are negligible, but still there.
In that same vein of thought, a Player using the same pool of XP could create multiple Delayed Abilities to give themselves flexibility in combat. Below is a quick table going over the math, in case anyone is curious.
| Total Abilities | Augments | XP Cost | Total Traps | Max Rolls |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Attack (6), Delayed (6) | 42 | 6 | 6d12! |
| 2 | Attack (6), Delayed (3) | 54 | 6 | 6d12! |
| 2 | Attack (3), Delayed (3) | 24 | 6 | 6d8 |
| 4 | Attack (3), Delayed (3) | 48 | 12 | 12d8 |
| 8 | Attack (3), Delayed (3) | 96 | 24 | 12d8 |
| 1 | Attack (6), Delayed (6), Delayed (6) | 63 | 12 | 12d12! |
Thus, someone having a single Attack (6) and Delayed (6) Ability is more XP efficient than having two Attack (6), Delayed (3) Abilities, at a cost of 42 vs 54. This doesn't, of course, take into account the flexibility of each Ability having their own, different secondary Passive Augments. So the difference of 12 XP must be weight against the flexibility afforded on the battlefield.
In the Aeon creator's purview, for anyone wanting to build a bonafide trapmaker or out-of-combat buffer should have multiple, low level Delayed Abilities to afford the most flexibility in any situation. Thus, if the Aeon creator were to roll a trapmaker, I'd choose having 4 Abilities with Primary (3) and Delayed (3) with a total cost of 48XP over a single Active (6) and Delayed (6) Ability costing 42 XP.
Aside from it being negligibly more expensive, the chance to place multiple traps outside of combat (12), coupled with the future flexibility of each Ability having a unique, secondary Passive well makes up for the cost.Sub Question: What's the Prevent a Player from Doing Nothing But Setting Up Tons of Traps Outside of Combat, Since There's No Cap on "Total" Number of Traps, Aside from Each Ability Being Capped?
None, other than the fact that each additional expenditure of XP limits the usage within combat. Thus, the Player may, using the instance above of 8 different Abilities using Attack (3) and Delayed (3), spend 96 XP to lay 24 traps, may be obviously powerful if they have the perfect conditions outside of combat and full purview of a battlefield without outside interference. An easy example of this would be a professional sapper preparing a castle against a future siege, or that same trapmaker building a tomb to be kept away from graverobbers.
But what if the trapmaker were caught unawares and unable to properly prepare? If they were thrust into combat, suddenly they may have 8 different Delayed Abilities with the flexibility of each, but they're limited to just spending 6AP + 1 Inspiration Die, just as with any other non-Delayed Player.
For any Player still going down this path, watch your step, the GM likely has such an enemy waiting for you.
Yes. If your Player is next to the enemy, and then throws a trap at them, the Player could proc the trap immediately.
Yes. Since traps have a Reach the same as Players, if you put a Delayed Attack on an Ally, and your Ally walks up to an Enemy, you could "proc" the trap to Attack any hex around your Ally (assuming the only Augment is Attack and there aren't other Augments like Ranged, Chain, etc.)
As an example from a Playtesting session, a Character used an Ability of Attack (6), Delayed (6), Ranged (6), being a portable crossbow trap. They affixed it to a friend and spent all 6d12! on the trap before combat started. When they ally went into combat, and at the opportune time, the trapmaker activated the trap, whereby the Ally revealed the hidden mechanism, which shot across the room and slew an enemy.
The answer is yes, however, it is almost never beneficial to Delay application of Deflection, since Deflection prevents future Debuffs. If a Character is afflicted by a Debuff, the Delayed Deflection would apply after; thus a Character would be Debuffed and have Deflection when that same Deflection could have prevented the Debuff in the first place.
The only times a Player should consider Delaying a Deflection is if a Player somehow has six stacks of Delayed, since additional applications would be worthless. Applying six stacks of any Debuff or Deflection is a difficult feat, thus this kind of situation would be rare indeed.
The trap is semi-sentient in that it will perform actions best in line with its maker's will. Thus, when a trap procs, the Player may dictate how the Shaped's contours apply on the battlefield.
As a secondary note: Shaped applies normally, thus both allies and enemy's are affected per Shaped's rules.
Subquestion: If I Have Multiple Traps, Each With Shaped, How Does That Work?
Shaped procs per turn. Thus, if your Ability has 6 Shaped, then no matter how many traps you lay, only 7 total hexes could have been affected by Shaped. As a counter example, a character may not drop 6 traps, each with 6 shaped, to affect 42 hexes; instead, it would only affect 7 hexes for that Players turn.
An easy example of this would be Ranged. With Ranged 6, a trap is afforded 7 hexes of Range, and each die sacrificed thereafter would afford an additional 6 hexes of reach. Since Delayed grants the number of usable dice per trap, the Player would sacrifice the die from the traps die granted from Delayed. Thus, let's say a Player lays two traps with 3AP each. The Player may use the 3 AP of a trap to be sacrificed or divvied appropriately.
For the sake of a complete answer, this same logic would apply with Chain. Since Chain requires at least one die to be placed per target, a Player would divvy up a trap's AP, granted by Delayed, to satisfy Chain.
A mage pulls out a rowan wand and begins to mutter. When nothing happens, the mage curses and thwacks the wand against his leather heel, like a pipe trying to dislodge tobacco, until the telltale feeling of cold spreads down the wood. Wiping off the building condensation, the mage casts a rune on the ground, ensuring that the strokes are a proper width. Any enemies who step onto its surface suffer a Shaped and Restraining effect, ensuring that the enemies are slowed as they try to make their way through the ravine.
The engineer cackles as they bury the shrapnel mine into the earth. While it only affects a single hex, the hallway is narrow and ensures that some fool will likely trigger it. Upon activation, the trap will Attack (Elemental); Sunder (Physical); and use Force to knock them back. The engineer tapped his pegleg and grimaced, remembering when he once fell for the same trick.
A ninja quickly writes a glyph ward on the tiny streamer, ensuring that the expensive, magical ink does not spill. The ninja applies a dab of adhesive and sticks the taper to the wall. As the enemy turns the corner in chase, the taper burns, spreading smoke across the alleyway. The pursuers cough as the smoke burns their lungs from the Attack (Elemental) and they are Blinded. The ninja hears the coughing echoing behind him and smiles, knowing that the blind rarely hunt well.
Description: The Forceful Augment allows a Character to move enemies or objects around the battlefield. Forceful acts differently if attacking a single target or multiple targets per turn: For every Success from the Active Augment, the Character may move an enemy or object a number of hexes up to the Forceful Level.
The Forceful Ability need not be in range of the final hex, only the initial. Thus, so long as you can reach the enemy, then you can Force them away; however, you cannot Force an enemy outside your reach towards you.
A Character has an Ability with Attack (5) (Physical) and Force (3). The Character rolls 6d12 against a single target and achieves four Successes on Attack. Since Force is capped at 3, then only 3 out of 4 of the Successes may be used. Since there is only a single target this turn, the number of hexes to be moved is up to 3 + 2 = 5.
Let's use the same ability above, but add Shaped (6). 7 Characters are targeted, and we achieve the same Four successes on Attack. Since Force is capped at 3, then only 3 out of 4 of the Successes may be used against each target. Since there are multiple targets this turn, the number of hexes is increased by 1 against each target. Thus, the number of hexes each enemy may be moved is up to 3 + 1 = 4 each.
The direction of Force is at the discretion of the casting Character, subject to a couple rules:
Active, Passive, or Both for Augment Type: Forceful may be used in either slot.
Dice Type: If Force is the Active Augment, the caster must roll a four or greater to achieve a single Success. The enemy’s Resistance is not taken into consideration.
If Force is the Passive Augment, then it only applies based on the Active Augment’s number of Successes; however, the number of hexes moved is capped at Force’s level. Using the example above, if a Character achieves six Successes on the Active Augment but only has Force (3), then the enemy may only be moved up to 3 + 2 hexes if targeting a single enemy this turn, or 3 + 1 hexes to each target if used against multiple enemies this turn.
When calculating Force against Deflection (Force), each hex worth of movement equals 1 Deflection. Thus, a Character with six Deflection (Force) could prevent themselves from being moved up to six hexes.
Additional Notes: Backline and support Characters often benefit from a couple points in Force in case an enemy sneaks upon them unawares. A Successful Attack with Force could knock the enemy into your allies, granting the support Character some breathing room and ensuring the enemy now has more to worry about than you. If a support Character combines this with Restraining, they can ensure that an enemy will have a more difficult time in closing the gap once more.
Frontline fighters also benefit from Force, as this allows them to directly manipulate the battle to their advantage. A tactical Character could knock an enemy adjacent to an ally, saving that ally from wasting AP on movement. Similarly, Characters with high Range could pick and choose their enemies, sending their enemies soaring across the battlefield into positions beneficial to the rest of the Party.
As a final note, enemies suffer from Breaking Combat the same as allies. Thus, if a Character uses Force to knock an enemy into the midst of your allies, the enemy is all but guaranteed to be unable to move outside their attacks, or otherwise suffer debilitating AP costs, effectively negating a whole turn.
Since a Character can determine the Force’s direction, subject to the rules above, the Player may choose that six enemies fly in six completely different directions. When applying Force’s direction to multiple enemies, the caster applies Force one at a time. Thus, if Force affects six enemies, the caster would choose their first target and fling them back; then choose the second affected enemy and move them; and so on and so forth. In these situations, a Character should focus on the most efficient way to disperse their enemies, so that no enemy suffers from colliding with ally or enemy hexes and mitigating the total distance of Force’s application.
No: Force is “up to” the number of hexes. Thus, a Character may decide that some (if Shaped, Chain, etc. is involved) enemies are moved up to the Force’s max number of hexes; some are moved partially; and others aren’t moved at all.
Yes. If your reach allows you to touch the enemy and you spend the appropriate amount of AP, then you can move them towards you. An easy example of this would be using Ranged. A Character with Ranged (6) could touch an enemy seven hexes away. If the Ranged Ability also has Force (6), then the Character could target any enemy up to seven hexes away and use their Force thereafter. This, in effect, could act as a pulling mechanic.
See the "Fall Damage" Game Mechanics' Section.
Yes. Per the ruleset, the damage to both the hurled object and target would each receive 1d2 physical damage per hex moved before collission. Note that in almost all circumstances, if a Character intends to do damage to HP, it is better to use Attack. The 1d2 mechanic exists for niche circumstances where a Character intends to affect the battlefield in a specific way, and the question of whether people are harmed needs to be addressed. In most circumstances, the supernaturally powerful foes you face will be able to shrug off such attacks, in that an Character with at least Resistance (Physical) 2 will be able to immediatley negate any rolls.
For RP'ing purposes, if a Character desires to attack similar to a Telekinetic, hurling nearly objects at the enemy, then this aim would be better served with an Attack (Physical) with Ranged, along with RP'ing about what nearby objects are being used to be thrown.
No. Only Characters falling will suffer the temporary Sundering effect unique to fall Damage.
Directly? No. Force is the only means of overpowering an enemy and Forcing them away. Thus, you can't say that you "shove" an enemy with your action unless it uses Force.
Subject to GM's discretion, everyone acknowledges that if a Character blows up the main tress holding a bridge, then everyone is likely Forced once direction or another, not by the Character directly, but by the Character's indirect actions towards the supporting structure underneath their feet.
Description: The Meld Augment allows a Player to convert their Physical, Elemental, or Supernal die rolls to another, up to the level of Meld. Thus, if a Character has Attack (4) (Physical) with Meld (5), the Character could convert up to 5d10 (Physical) dice into either Supernal or Elemental. Note that since Meld allows you to convert your dice into any other dice, a Character may mix and match. Thus, using the above example, a Character could roll 2d10 Physical, 3d10 Elemental, and 2d10 Supernal; or any combination thereof so long as the "Melded" die are not more than the Meld level of 5.
Active, Passive, or Both for Augment Type: Meld may only be used in the Passive slot.
Dice Type: Meld does not have its own damage type, and thus always applies.
Additional Notes: Since Meld only affects Abilities that require a damage type moniker of (Physical, Elemental, or Supernal). Meld is used for AP efficiency and the following example demonstrate this:
Using the above example, the only noticeable detriment is that, by having three separate Attacks, a Character could have two Passives apply to each, thereby making them more adaptable to different situation; however, there's a commensurate XP cost to having three separate, fully fleshed out Abilities.
When using a Meld, a Character must separate their dice and notify the GM which dice are what damage type before rolling.
For the sake of clarity, if the Active and other Passive both have damage subsets, you may divide your dice amongst both Abilities. I.E. if you have an Ability with Attack 6 (Phsyical), Sundering 6 (Physical), and Meld 6, you could divide your 6 Meld dice between the Attack and Sundering Ability, up to your 6 Meld die. For further sake of clarity, you are capped at your Meld level. Thus, using the example of Attack 6 (Physical), Sundering 6 (Physical), and Meld 6, you could split your Meld die 3 and 3 between the Attack and Sundering, 5 and 1, 6 and 0, etc.
Description: The Ranged Augment allows a Player to attack farther than adjacent hexes. Since all hexes adjacent to a Player are melee, these are considered “free” hexes or just your melee Reach. For every point of Ranged, the Character may up to two additional hexes; the Character also gains the benefit of adding additional hexes, equal to their Ranged Level (x2) for each additional AP spent.
For example, a Character has Ranged (6). The Player may then perform a Ranged Ability for one hex adjacent to them, being the melee hex, plus 12 hexes, being the level of Ranged (x2), away. If the Player wishes to attack an additional six hexes further than the initial the initial seven hexes, then the Player must spend one AP for a Reach of 25 hexes; for an additional six hexes, the Player would spend one additional AP for a reach of 37 hexes; etc.
Easy Rule of Thumb: Always begin counting your Ranged reach after the melee hex. Thus, if a Character has Ranged (6), the Player would skip their melee reach, then count 12 for their free Ranged reach, and know that every 12 hexes thereafter costs one AP.
Active, Passive, or Both for Augment Type: Ranged may only be used in the Passive slot.
Dice Type: Ranged does not have its own damage type, and thus always applies, subject to the AP expenditure rules contained herein.
Additional Notes: Any backline Character should always consider the means of reaching their allies or enemies, such as through the Shaped, Chain, Ranged, or any combination thereof.
Note that since a Player may take as many Attack Actions as their AP allows, a Ranged Character may attack up to six (or seven with an Inspiration Die) distant enemies during their turn; however, the AP cost for Ranged applies to each individual target. Thus, attacking one very distant target would likely keep you from attacking 6 close enemies within your free Ranged reach.
Yes. Having Ranged on an Ability does not force the Character to use Ranged; rather, it just provides more flexibility in using said Ability. As a final point, Ranged says “up to” that amount of hexes; thus, a Ranged Character may always attack less than their maximum range.
No. A Character may choose to use a Ranged Ability against an adjacent enemy or any other enemy. There are no consequences for going either route.
No. You must be one of the adjacent "Flankers" to gain the benefit of Flanking. I.E. you must be within the melee reach of the enemy to be considered Flanking them.
As an upfront disclaimer, the game has to work within a battlemat or battlefield, so we won't beat around the bush on that.
From a lore perspective, a Player has to take into account their supernatural characteristics versus that of mundane items.
A normal bow would likely only roll a 1d1, or 1d2, which would likely not damage more powerful units, but would be deadly against the common citizenry. Thus, Ranged acts as an accelerant to add more force (not the augment) to an Ability to ensure the supernatural power required to affect someone far away is maintained.
Similar to how there is electrical resistance, supernatural powers lose effect over a distance. The Ranged augment ensures that the supernatural Ability is still just as potent as when it leaves the caster's hands as it hits across a distance, but this effect is not infinite.
Description: The Restoration Ability allows a Character to both restore HP and apply Barriers to allies. For every Success, an ally restores one HP, or if they are at max HP, they receive a Barrier of a damage type chosen at the Restoration Ability’s creation.
When creating a Restoration Ability, the Character will choose which damage type will be used if a Barrier applies. Thus, a Restoration Ability will be Restoration (Physical), Restoration (Elemental), or Restoration (Supernal). For example, a Character has Restoration (Physical). They target an ally with 16/18 HP. The Character rolls six Successes. Two of the Successes restore the ally’s health back to 18/18, while the remaining four Successes apply four stacks of Barrier (Physical).
Active, Passive, or Both for Augment Type: Restoration may be used in both slots. If used as a Passive, the same rules apply, in that for each success of the Active, the Restoration Passive procs, up to the Passive level cap.
Dice Type: If used in the Active slot, Restoration uses the 4+ method; if used in the Passive slot, then it procs per Success of the Active Augment.
Additional Notes: Alongside Cleansing, Restoration is one of the primary abilities of a support Character. Being able to heal a Character, and prevent Wounds, will always be welcome during combat, especially during more prolonged encounters such as when fighting enemies.
Note that the Restoration Ability greatly benefits from applying to multiple allies. Thus, anyone creating a support Ability/build should readily review Shaped, Chain, and Ranged to ensure that they can both reach their intended ally and apply the same rolls across multiple targets. Using Shaped as an example, in the rarer event that your allies are grouped together, all of your Restoration Successes will apply to each ally, making your AP expenditure more efficient.
Description: The Restraining Augment hinders an enemy’s ability to move across terrain. For each stack of Restraining, a Character’s total movement for that turn is reduced by one. Thus, a Character with three Restraining would lose three hex’s worth of movement for their turn.
Active, Passive, or Both for Augment Type: The Restraining Augment may be used in either slot.
Dice Type: If Restraining is the Active Augment, the caster must roll a four or greater to achieve a single Success. The enemy’s Resistance is not taken into consideration.
If Restraining is the Passive Augment, then it only applies based on the Active Augment’s number of Successes; however, the number of Restraining increments applied is capped at Restraining’s level. Thus, if a Character achieves six Successes on the Active Augment but only has Restraining (3), then the Character receives 3 stacks of Restraining or Deflection (Restraining) if used in conjunction with Cleansing or Restoration. As with all other Debuffs, the total stacks of Restraining that may be applied to an enemy is capped by the Augment's level; thus, if an Ability has Restraining (3), then the target of said Ability may not have more than 3 total stacks of Restraining.
Additional Notes: The Restraining Augment benefits both front and backline characters alike. Meleers may use Restraining to ensure that their foes are rarely able to flee, especially when compounded with the Breaking Combat mechanic. In the same vein, if Restraining is used in conjunction with Tactician, then the melee Character is far more likely to successfully flee from their enemy and ensure the enemy cannot catch up.
Ranged Character’s benefit, in that they can be assured that they are afforded additional time to deal with foes who attempt to close the gap across the battlefield.
Since Restraining affects the total amount of movement per turn, Restraining would just be subtracted from a Character’s total movement.
For example, a Character has Celerity (6), and they spend six AP to achieve twelve movement that turn. If the Character also has 4 stacks of Restraining, then the twelve movement would be reduced to a total of only eight movement for the six AP spent.
These eight movements could cross eight normal terrain hexes or four Difficult Terrain hexes.
An easy rule of thumb is that Celerity essentially cancels out Restraining on a 1:1 ratio. Thus, if a Player has Celerity (3) and Restraining (3), the Player could spend 3 AP to move 3 AP, since their bonus from Celerity cancels out the Restraining.
Since Restraining directly affects movement, and Charge grants Movement, then Restraining directly affects Charge.
For example, a Character with Charging (3) may move up to three hexes for free. If that same Character has three levels of Debuff (Restraining), then the Charge’s benefit is wholly negated.
Since Restraining affects total movement, then a Character could still move, suffer the penalty, but thereafter benefit from Charge since the Character already suffered the movement penalty.
Accordingly, a Character has Charging (3) and 3 stacks of Debuff (Restraining). The Character spends six AP to move only three hexes due to Debuff (Restraining). Since the Character already suffered the detriment of Debuff (Restraining), they would now gain the full benefit of Charge without penalty.
They learn to bring someone with Cleanse.
On a more serious note, if the enemy lacks any ranged abilities, they are essentially sitting ducks and can be easily killed at a distance, or they are perfect for capture. Note that Abilities only last until end of combat, thus, if the Players wish to take their enemy captive, they'd do well to knock the enemy out, since the magical binds upon the captive will dissipate soon.
Description: The Skein Augment is a Character’s supernatural effort in ensuring that a friend or foe rolls a Skill Check in a particular way. Skein utilizes the Character's Skill Level, with Successes being given to an ally, while Successes will negatively impact a foe. Skein can be used to help allies with very difficult Skill Checks outside their normal abilities, or curse an enemy to fail at something that you both excel at. For each level of Skein, the caster may grant one of their Successes to an Ally, or use such Success to impede a foe.
Note that Seeking's points applies on a per die basis and does not apply to all dice. A Character chooses which dice to modify after they roll, not before. For the sake of clarity, in the event of a Called Shot Action, the Character would modify their die/dice after seeing the Called Shot’s Natural Roll. When interacting with Blinding, Blinding is applied after Seeking is applied.
Active, Passive, or Both for Augment Type: Skein may only be used in the Active slot.
Dice Type: Skein utilizes your Skill Dice for a roll, being xd12! Thus, if a Player uses Skein in conjuction with Stealth (6), then the dice used would be 7d12!
Additional Notes: Skein can be used, as with any other Augment, in conjunction with Passives. Thus if a Player wishes to apply Skein to a group of allies (or enemies), they could use Range, Shaped, etc. Notably, Skein synergizes extremely well with Augury, in that Augury can guarantee that some of Skein's dice will be Successes, and thus transfer to an ally in need, or an enemy in an RP situation where the stakes are high. Due to the odd nature of Skein, examples are provided below:
Generally? No. Cursed enemies are unaware of why they are suddenly unable to accomplish something they may be experts in, and will go out of their way to justify why their luck has turned, such as feeling cloudy headed, being upset at something else, etc. Per Rule Zero, the DM may find some reason why an especially shrewd enemy may suspect nefarious magic; in such situations, the DM should instead use this as an opportunity to develop the story, rather than have the NPC turn around, point the finger (without evidence), and make the Player feel that their XP investments were worthless.
Generally? No. It's rather obvious when a Player knows they should Succeed, and suddenly they don't. Again, per Rule Zero, the DM may find a way around this obvious quirk (such as explaining that the Skill Check was actually far higher than they expected), etc. A better way to go about this is for the Player to discover they are befuddled by a Skein, and they have to do something in order to remove it (if they don't have a Cleanse on hand).
Description: The Seeking Augment is a Character’s supernatural effort in ensuring that they achieve a Success. For each level of Seeking, a Character may increase a die’s Natural Roll up to the level of Seeking once per turn. Thus, if a Character has Seeking (6) and rolls a Natural one and a three, the Character could increase the rolls to a four and a six.
Note that Seeking's points applies on a per die basis and does not apply to all dice. A Character chooses which dice to modify after they roll, not before. For the sake of clarity, in the event of a Called Shot Action, the Character would modify their die/dice after seeing the Called Shot’s Natural Roll. When interacting with Blinding, Blinding is applied after Seeking is applied.
Active, Passive, or Both for Augment Type: Seeking may only be used in the Passive slot.
Dice Type: Seeking does not have its own dice and thus always applies.
Additional Notes: If you are the primary damage dealer in your party’s makeup, then the Seeking Augment is a necessity to ensure that every roll deals damage. After all, if you are fighting an enemy with four Resistance, and you roll dice that come up as four apiece, then having the Seeking Augment could bump up each of those dice to guarantee six Successes on your foe. A damage dealer can never go wrong with the Seeking Augment in their back pocket. Support Characters also greatly benefit from Seeking due to the nature of the 4+ mechanic. A Character with 6 Seeking could take two rolls, each at 1, and make them both successes by splitting the 6 seeking into +3 on each die.
In exceedingly rare circumstances, a Character may encounter an enemy with thirteen total Resistance. In this scenario, a Player could never achieve a Success since their d12! would never equal or exceed a thirteen. While attack rolls are capped at d12! per the Dice Table, total Attack Rolls, in conjunction with the Seeking Augment, are not capped. Thus, if a Player in the above situation rolled a Natural twelve, they could spend apply two of their Seeking Augment modifiers to bump that Natural twelve up to a fourteen in order to achieve a Success.
For the sake of clarity in the above scenario, if a Character fights an enemy with thirteen total resistance, rolls a Natural twelve on a 1d12!, and spends two of their Seeking Augment modifiers to guarantee a Success, then that attack gains the benefit of a Critical Strike if the die in question is a d12!. Thus, the die would result in two Successes since it pierced the enemy’s Resistance and it is a d12!.
Note that in all circumstances, it is never beneficial to increase a total die roll above a fourteen to achieve a Success, since an enemy may never have greater than thirteen total Resistance under any circumstances.
No. If a Character rolls a 1d12!, only a Natural 12 is a critical strike
Seeking's points are allotted as the Player sees fit, but may only be used once per turn. Thus, if a Player has 6 Seeking points and attacks 2 enemies, then the 6 Seeking points must be divided amongst the two enemies, but they are not duplicated.
The explanation on this relates back to our Changelog post on 1/15/2022, whereby we changed the rules of operation that were previously that Seeking applied after Blinding, to today's state where Seeking applies before Blinding. We'll plop it here:
The gist lies with the fact that the lower a Player's dice rolls are, the less beneficial Blinding becomes.
In the examples below, we'll use a 1d4:
Description: Shaped allows Abilities to affect multiple hexes per turn. For each level of Shaped, a Character is granted up to 1 + Shaped’s level worth of hexes. Damage is applied equally to every ally or enemy within the affected hexes, once per turn. A Character may only affect up to a maximum of 7 hexes for their turn, no matter the number of Abilities used.
As an example, if you roll 6d12! against 7 enemies within 7 shaped hexes, each enemy would suffer the 6d12! dice rolls.
Active, Passive, or Both for Augment Type: Shaped may only be used in the Passive slot.
Dice Type: Since Shaped does not have its own dice it always applies.
Additional Notes: The Shaped’s Augments affected hexes are granted per turn, thus, a Character with Shaped (6) may affect up to seven total hexes per turn.
Since a Character may take as many Ability Actions as their AP allows and Shaped’s affected hexes are per turn, then a Character may split their Shaped’s affected hexes amongst their separate Ability Actions, subject to the 7 hex total cap amongst Abilities.
When using Shaped, all affected hexes must touch each other; i.e. they must be contiguous. Players determine which hex is affected by starting with the initially targeted hex going from there.
When rolling die against enemies, rather than roll the die against each enemy like one normally would, the caster would instead roll their total dice once and the Success rolls apply to each enemy affected by Shaped. As a quick example, a Character with Shaped (6) affects seven hexes. Luckily, all seven hexes are filled with enemies. The caster rolls 6d10 only one time and achieves four successes. Those four successes apply to each enemy within the seven hexes.
A Character with Shaped (6), which affects seven hexes, decides to attack two separate enemies. The Character must split their Shaped’s seven hexes amongst the two enemies as they see fit, but must remember that the enemy’s “occupied” hex counts as one of Shaped’s hexes since it is affected by the Ability.
Thus, the Character could choose that one enemy receives six affected hexes, while the second enemy receives only one hex affected their occupied hex. Here, the second enemy would not receive the intended benefit of Shaped affecting multiple hexes since the Ability affects their occupied hex but does not go any further than that.
Using the same example above, a Character could attack two enemies, but instead have it where Shaped’s hexes apply four hexes to one enemy, and three hexes to another. Since each enemy’s occupied hex counts towards Shaped’s total hexes, the first enemy would be hurt and three contiguous hexes would be affected; while the second enemy would be hurt but only affect two contiguous hexes other than their own.
Since all Character’s may attack within melee range, then this hex is granted for “free”. This same logic applies to the Ranged Augment.
Yes! Shaped does not change how dice are rolled. Thus, if a Character uses Restoration (Physical) and Shaped, the Successes would apply to each Character affected. This same logic applies when casting Debuffs on enemies within Shaped’s affected hexes.
The Augments which use the 4+ mechanic are pretty easy to use when determining who is affected. I.E. you do not have to look at individual allies or enemies to know how a 4+ works, since a 4+ is in itself a Success on anyone.
When Shaped is used in conjunction with Attack, additional steps are required. A Character would still roll their total die, but then check each affected enemy’s Resistances individually to see if those die are Successes or not.
For example, a caster uses a Shaped Attack and rolls a five, seven, and nine.
This Attack (Physical) is used against two separate enemies who have the following Resistance: enemy one has Resistance (5) (Physical), while enemy two has Resistance (7) (Physical).
The first enemy would take two damage, since the five does not exceed their Resistance; while the second enemy would only take one damage, since only the roll of nine exceeds their Resistance.
Yes! One of the Aeon Team’s biggest gripes with other RPGs is that certain spells or abilities tell the Player how they manifest on the battlefield, rather than let the Player decide. The quintessential examples of this is that the classic fireball must be circular; flaming breath or its equivalent must be in a “cone” shape; and a wall of flame must be in a line shape. A casual observer would note that these spells all seem to be mostly the same, save for how they affect the terrain.
We agree, so why not let the Player decide? With Shaped, you can determine if the attack is circular, oblong, a line, a cone, or any other manifestation you see fit, so long as each affected hex touches another.
Yes! Since you may choose where Shaped’s hexes go, you can survey the battlefield and weave the ability through enemy lines whilst avoiding your allies.
No. Shaped allows you to gain “up to” the number of Hexes in question. Thus, you can always use less than that.
Players may ask themselves why they would ever do this. You may encounter certain situations in battle where you have enemies in a line; your allies are between them in their own line; and then additional enemies behind. In this situation, it may not be safe to use all of your Shaped hexes, since they may have to pierce through your allies to affect more enemies. Accordingly, you could scale back how many hexes you affect so you only hit your enemies.
Shaped is great for both. As an example, if a melee Character were completely surrounded, they could use a Shaped (6) to affect every hex around them, doing what is often called a “whirlwind” attack. Similarly, a Player could do a cone attack to affect multiple enemies in front of them. Lastly, a Player may be confronted with a line of enemies in front of them, forming a concave battle formation. Here, the melee Character could affect every enemy along the line, so long as they adhere to Shaped’s requirements.
Since Range affects an enemy, you’d start at that hex and go from there. So if you make a Ranged Attack against an enemy seven hexes away, that enemy’s occupied hex would be Shaped’s “initial” hex.
Yes. Shaped does not require that you start at one point and have to go in a specific direction; rather, it only requires that all hexes touch. So if you can affect seven hexes, the initial hex can be in front of you, then form a “T” to go both left and right.
Chain requires that the total dice granted by the Active Ability be split, to determine the number of enemies affected. The total number of enemies affected is different from the total damage rolled. For Chain, this means that each enemy would have one die rolled against them, but when coupled with the Shaped, the die is rolled against everyone.
An easy way of visualizing this is to imagine that you still “split” the die by placing a single die next to each Chained enemy and roll. Normally each enemy would only receive that damage if Successful. When coupled with Shaped, instead the Successes of each die are applied to all affected enemies.
As an example, a Player’s Ability has Attack (4), Chain (3), and Shaped (6). After moving across the battlefield, the Character only has 4 AP left over. Since the Attack is level 4, the Character has 4d10 to spend.
Because Chain requires that each enemy “receive” one die, that means that the total number of enemies affected may not be greater than four. Once the Player determines how many enemies will be attacked, Shaped’s total affected hexes of seven would be split amongst those enemies; however, the damage roll from Shaped would affect each target equally.
So, if the Player chooses to attack four enemies, then the Player would roll the 4d10 and achieve two successes. The Player would then distribute the Shaped’s hexes amongst the four enemies (in case they have their own allies nearby). Anyone under the affected hexes would receive two points of damage.
No, the damage from Shaped applies only once per your turn. So if you deal an attack with 6 dice, and you decide to stack Shaped on the same hex over and over, there would be no benefit. Thus, A Character should always spread out their Shaped ability as much as possible.
Per the rules, even if a Player uses 6 different abilities which each have Shaped, only up to 7 hexes may be affected, in total, for that Player's turn.
Per the description, Shaped affects each Character only once. Thus, even if a large creature occupies 7 hexes, and you used Shaped to cover all 7 hexes, the large creature only takes damage once. Using the example of 7 hexes above, if a Character rolls 6 Successes, the large creature would receive 6 damage, and would not receive 42 damage (6 Successes * 7 Hexes).
Description: The Sundering Augment allows a Character to temporarily lower an enemy’s Resistances, or, if used in conjunction with the Cleansing or Restoration Augment, to apply Deflection. When creating a Sundering Ability, the creator must choose what Damage Type is chosen. Thus, a Character could create Sundering (Physical), Sundering (Elemental), or Sundering (Supernal).
For each application of Sundering, an enemy’s Resistance to that damage subtype is lowered by 1.
Active, Passive, or Both for Augment Type: Sundering may be used in either slot.
Dice Type: If Sundering is the Active Augment, the caster must roll a four or greater to achieve a single Success.
If Sundering is the Passive Augment, then it only applies based on the Active Augment’s number of Successes; however, the number of Sundering increments applied is capped at Sundering’s level. Thus, if a Character achieves six Successes on the Active Augment but only has Sundering (3), then the Character receives 3 stacks of Sundering against that Damage Type or Deflection (Sundering) if used in conjunction with Cleansing or Restoration. Note that as with all other Debuffs, Sundering's total stacks may not exceed the Augment's level; thus the target of an Ability with Sundering 3 (Supernal) may not ever have more than 3 Sundering (Supernal) from that specific Ability.
Additional Notes: Sundering allows Character to knock down high Resistance enemies both to allow the caster an easier time to hit, and to also benefit allies’ chances of hitting as well. It is highly advised that the Party, or at a minimum of the Party’s “damage dealer”, possess one or more Sundering Abilities, especially when confronting bosses. Otherwise, Characters may become grossly AP inefficient by having to make success Called Shots in order to deal damage.
It is highly recommended that the damage dealer of the Party keep a separate Sundering Ability on hand in case of a difficult encounter, especially with bosses who typically have very high Resistances. Thus, a damage dealer may have an Attack Ability, and when they realize that their enemies Resistance is too high, switch to a Sundering Ability for a couple turns to whittle their enemy’s Resistance to something more manageable.
Note that since Sundering could be used as an Active Ability, a Character is granted greater flexibility in its use. Using the above example of a damage dealer with two Abilities: the first Ability could be the quintessential Attack Active Augment. After getting nowhere due to the enemy shrugging off even the best rolls, the Character could switch to a Sundering Active. Here, the Character would only have to roll a 4+ to successfully reduce an enemy’s Resistance. After a couple turns of this, they could switch back to their Attack Ability.
In juxtaposition to the above, a Character could still use a Sundering Passive to great effect. With each Success, a Character is not only dealing damage, but also reducing the enemy’s Resistance to further improve their chances at further damage. This idea of constantly whittling away at an enemy’s armor is often referred to as “hammering the gap”.
No. Per the Resistances Section, a Character may never go below one Resistance.
Deflection counts towards any future applications of a Debuff. Since Deflection would prevent any kind of future application, having a separate Deflection category for each would be redundant.
As a separate note, Sundering is applied separately to each Resistance Type. Unlike the other Debuffs, the application of Sundering is found under the Resistances Section of the Character Sheet.
Since Meld changes damage subtypes, a Character could choose how their Sundering would apply. So, if a Character had Meld with an Active Sundering (Physical), they could change those Active Ability dice to be either Sundering (Elemental) or Sundering (Supernal). Per Meld’s rules, the Player must announce which dice are attributed to which damage subtype before rolling.
Description: The Threat augment allows a Player to become a quintessential "tank", by forcing enemies to pay attention to them, and hopefully grant their allies some breathing room on the field. Threat applies a Debuff on an enemy where if the enemy tries to spend AP on an Attack roll against anyone other than the Threatening Character, the enemy suffers AP detriments. As an analogy, Restraining is to movement as Threat is to Attacks. The Threat Augment only applies to Attack rolls, and does not apply to any other Augments. If the Threatened enemy attacks the Threatening Player, then the enemy has access to all of their AP for Attacks. Threat may be applied only by one Character, and any stacks of Threat applied by other Characters do not take effect.
Active, Passive, or Both for Augment Type: The Threat augment may be used in either slot.
Die Type: If used as a Primary Augment, the Player rolls 4+. If used as a Passive Augment, then threat relies upon the Successes of the Primary Augment's roll.
Additional Notes: As a quick example, if an enemy has 6 stacks of Threat, then they effectively have 0 AP they can spend on Attacks against any player other than the Threatening Character. If the enemy has 3 stacks of Threat, they can spend up to 3 AP to Attack the non-threatening Player.
As a side note, after now years of playtesting, we often found that our Playtesters, after enough time in a campaign, would start dumping their points into health and Resistances, just for the off chance that they ever get jumped on the battlefield. After doing some polls, we found that, even in situations where Players had effective teams that protected the backlines and the backlines were never ambushed for lack of a better term, the overwhelming majority of those polled stated that they'd still feel safer taking away from their roles' main purpose (DPS, controller, etc.) and dumping the points into Resistances and HP. This Threat mechanic was born of it, in that after shopping the idea around, said Playtesters came back and said that if an actual game mechanic was implemented, like Threat, rather than relying on their team to "hopefully" perform their roles, then they'd instead spend their XP on Augments more befitting their position. So we hope it helps!
The answer is yes, so as not to break the Axioms. However, I advise against granting Enemies this Augment unless you have an overwhelming RP reason, or an encounter is specifically built for this. You want your Players to have the freedom to react on the field; in juxtaposition, Threat allows Player backlines some comfort in letting their frontline tank and instead focusing on their roles.
Our advice to GMs is to just imagine that the Character views the Threatening Player as, well, the biggest threat. This is not to say that the sniper, now Threatened, will drop their sniper rile, grab a knife, and run in frothing at the mouth. The sniper may take a shot; evaluate their surroundings and find a better location; or even abscond and set traps down the road. A Threatened enemy doesn't mean that they drop everything to Attack, it just means that they generally turn their focus towards the Threatening Character and, if they decide to try and Attack something else, they are hindered from an AP perspective.
We generally recommend the Chain Augment for this. It allows Threat to be applied around corners, and not suffer from line of sight; you can divvy up your dice as you see fit; and it covers the most distance, in general, amongst multiple enemies.
On the topic of applying Threat, I recommend you generally have two Threat Abilities: one where Threat is the Primary Augment, so you can rapidly rack up threat; and an Ability where Threat is Passive, so you can switch to it once you feel you have a comfortable amount of Threat built up.
No. Threat can only be applied by a single Character. If a Player applies a single stack of Threat, then no other Character may apply Threat.
The simple rules for this is that if Threat applies from multiple Characters, you'd have to track up to the Party's number of Players per Enemy, and you'd start getting some weird interactions with multiple stacks of Threat interacting amongst the Party. Thus, the hard and fast rule is that you should have one person with Threat, and anyone else that tries to build Threat on the same Enemy is not applicable. For the sake of Clarity though, if, for some RP reason, your Players wanted to have two tanks that applied Threat to different enemies, and never cross pollinated, then it's possible. As a personal note from me, this doesn't work well after testing, in that one of the two tanks could have, instead, taken the points they put into tanking and instead put it towards something else. So you end up with 2 good tanks that are doing as good of a job (barring some weird circumstances, such as huge battlefields and the Party is separated) as a single tank.