How to Fight

Chapter Twelve summarized the rules. This chapter teaches you how to use them when someone is trying to kill you. It walks through combat in the order it happens: the moment the GM calls for structured play, the initiative roll, your turn, making an attack, absorbing damage, what happens when things go very wrong, and how the fight ends. A Quick Reference condensing this chapter appears in Chapter Fifteen.

When the GM Calls for Structured Play

When timing and sequence matter (when a sword is already drawn, when the ambush breaks, when magic fills the air) the GM calls for structured play. This is the game shifting into a mode where the order of actions has real consequences. The GM will announce it. Your job when that happens is to stop talking and start listening: the GM is about to call for initiative.

A few things to do immediately:

Know your weapon. Is it drawn? If not, drawing costs a Maneuver on your first turn. If your weapon is in a pack rather than on your belt, the GM may rule it costs an Action to retrieve. Fast Hands talent removes this restriction.

Know your range. Where are you relative to each enemy? The GM will establish this when structured play begins. If you're not sure, ask before you roll initiative; it may affect what you're going to do.

Know your Resistance. When you take a hit, you will subtract Resistance immediately. Your Resistance = half your Might (rounded up) + your armor bonus. Write it on your sheet now, not during someone else's turn.

Initiative

When the GM calls for structured play, every participant rolls initiative. The check used depends on the circumstances.

On watch, prepared, or had warning: Roll Savvy + Perception

Surprised, ambushed, or caught off guard: Roll Willpower + Readiness

Count your net . Higher net Successes act earlier. The GM collects all results and builds an alternating initiative order: player slot, GM slot, player slot, GM slot. Players choose which character fills each player slot as it comes up. The GM chooses for each GM slot. Ties between a player slot and a GM slot always favor the players.

Initiative order is fixed for the duration of the encounter. The same sequence repeats each round unless a specific talent or ability changes it.

Your Turn

Each round, when your slot in the initiative order arrives, you take a turn. Every turn gives you:

• One Action — a significant activity that takes real effort or concentration
• One Maneuver — a supporting activity: moving, aiming, drawing a weapon
• Any Quick Actions — brief, reflexive things (speaking a sentence, dropping an item, glancing at a door)

A second Maneuver costs either your Action or 2 Strain. You may never take more than two Maneuvers per turn. Quick Actions cannot substitute for anything that requires a check or more than a moment of attention. The GM has final say on what qualifies.

Actions

Maneuvers

Quick Actions

Quick Actions are declared by talent or effect. A sentence spoken in combat, the decision to drop an item rather than stow it, a glance at your exits; these do not cost anything. If it requires thought, a check, or would change the battlefield meaningfully, it is not a Quick Action.

Making an Attack

Step 1 — Choose a Target

Your target must be within range of your weapon. Check the weapon's Range entry in Chapter Eight. Melee weapons are typically Engaged. Ranged weapons list their maximum effective range. Attacking beyond that range is not possible without a special ability.

Step 2 — Build Your Pool

Each combat skill links to a Characteristic:

Use whichever rating (Characteristic or Skill) is higher as your total number of positive dice, then upgrade a number of those dice equal to the lower rating. Add any Boon or Bane Dice from talents, conditions, and circumstances. See Chapter Twelve for full pool construction.

Defense adds Bane Dice to your pool. Melee Defense from shields and the Defensive weapon quality reduces your chance of landing a melee attack. Ranged Defense (from cover and talents) reduces your chance with ranged attacks. Defense does not reduce damage; it makes the attack harder to land in the first place.

Step 3 — Set Difficulty

The GM sets difficulty based on range. These are the defaults:

The GM may upgrade Trial Dice to Crisis Dice for volatile or exceptional circumstances without changing the base difficulty level.

Step 4 — Roll and Read

Roll all dice together. Work through the results in order (see Chapter Twelve for the full resolution sequence). What matters for an attack:

Did you get any net ? If yes, you hit. If no, you miss.

How many net did you generate? These are yours to spend (see below).

Did you roll a ? Its positive effect triggers regardless of whether you hit.

Did you roll a ? Its negative effect triggers regardless. Even on a successful hit.

Step 5 — Deal Damage

On a hit, start with your weapon's base Damage value. Subtract the target's Resistance. What remains is lost from the target's current Wounds.

Damage − Resistance = Wounds (minimum 0)

Each net beyond the first adds +1 damage before Resistance is applied.

Resistance = ½ Might (rounded up) + armor bonus. Resistance is always applied. If Resistance equals or exceeds the attack's damage, the target suffers 0 Wounds from that hit.

Use damage wording consistently: a source deals damage before Resistance; a target takes damage by applying Resistance to that incoming amount; a target suffers Wounds or suffers Strain when the listed amount is applied directly to that track unless the effect says otherwise.

Weapon Qualities

Many weapons have qualities that modify how they deal damage or are used. These are defined in full in Chapter Eight. The most common ones:

Full weapon listings, costs, and encumbrance appear in Chapter Eight.

Spending Boons on Attacks

Net Boons from an attack roll are yours to spend. If nothing better is available, 1 Boon recovers 1 Strain; the floor is never zero.

Spending a Breakthrough on an attack triggers a Critical Injury against the target (see Critical Injuries, below). A Breakthrough's positive effect is defined by the situation; the GM sets it, but it is always meaningfully stronger than a 3-Boon spend.

Defense and Resistance

These are two different things. Players often confuse them.

Defense, makes you harder to hit. It adds Bane Dice to the attacker's roll. Defense does not reduce damage; it reduces the chance the attack lands at all. Melee Defense comes from shields and weapons with the Defensive quality. Ranged Defense comes from cover and certain talents.

Resistance, reduces damage after a hit lands. Resistance comes from Might and armor. Even a hit that barely lands is soaked by Resistance before Wounds are applied.

A character with high Defense is hard to land a blow on. A character with high Resistance can take hits and keep moving. Both matter; they protect against different threats.

Guarded and Defensive Guard. The Guarded talent is a Maneuver that upgrades one Trial Die to a Crisis Die on attacks against you. Defensive Guard is an Action that adds 1 Bane Die to attacks against you. They do not stack; if both would apply, use the one you chose most recently.

Defense cap. No character's Melee Defense or Ranged Defense may exceed 3 from any combination of sources (shields, weapon qualities, cover, talents, or spell effects). Both Defense types are capped independently. A character can have Melee Defense 3 and Ranged Defense 3 at the same time, but neither can exceed 3 regardless of what is stacked.

Defensive Guard (your Action for the turn) adds 1 Bane Die to all attacks against you until your next turn. This is the basic defensive action available to any character: you give up your Action to make yourself harder to hit. Defensive Guard prevents you from taking Actions and attacking; it does not suppress Reactive talents, which trigger in response to events and still fire normally.

Guarded (a Maneuver, from the talent of the same name) upgrades one Trial Die to a Crisis Die on all attacks against you until your next turn. The trade-off is deliberate: Guarded costs a Maneuver rather than your Action, so your Action remains free for an attack, a spell, or anything else. Upgrading a Trial Die adds Bane and Calamity risk to an attacker's pool without simply reducing their dice count; it makes each attack more volatile rather than merely harder. Defensive Guard and Guarded are distinct options and do not stack. Choose Guarded when you want to act and stay dangerous; choose Defensive Guard when giving up your Action is worth the simpler protection.

Range Bands

Dort uses abstract range rather than measured distance. Range bands represent tactical relationship, not exact feet.

Moving between adjacent range bands costs 1 Maneuver. Moving from Medium to Long, or from Long to Extreme, costs 2 Maneuvers: these are long distances.

Range and Weapon Restrictions

Some weapons cannot be used at certain ranges. Heavy Melee weapons require Engaged; a greatsword is useless against a target at Short range unless you close. Ranged weapons cannot be used at Engaged range without penalty (Easy + 1 Bane Die). Spears and polearms (with the Short range entry) can be used from Engaged or Short.

Mounted Combat

A mounted character fights from a position of significant advantage: height, momentum, and the threat of a large animal bearing down on a target. The rules reflect this.

How the mount acts. The mount acts on the rider's initiative. On the rider's turn, the mount moves as a Maneuver (the rider's Maneuver, not the mount's own). The rider then takes their Action normally. The mount is not a separate combatant unless the GM rules otherwise.

Mounted attacker advantage. A mounted character attacking an unmounted target at Engaged range adds to the attack. The height and momentum of the mount press the advantage. This bonus does not apply when attacking mounted targets at the same elevation, or when fighting in spaces too confined for the mount to maneuver.

Mount control under pressure. Most riding animals are not trained for battle. When something frightens or threatens the mount (a loud explosion, a fire, a charging creature, supernatural fear), the rider must make a Riding check as a Maneuver to keep control. The GM sets difficulty by the severity of the trigger (Easy for a sudden noise, Hard for direct attack on the mount, Severe for supernatural terror). A war-trained mount has this threshold significantly higher; the Warborn talent (Mounted Combat tree) specifies exactly when it applies. Failure means the mount bolts, rears, or refuses; the rider's Action is lost that round.

When the mount is hit. If an attacker targets the mount rather than the rider, the mount uses its own Wound Points (see GM Guide, Chapter Fourteen for mount profiles). A mount reduced to 0 Wounds collapses; the rider immediately falls Prone and must make an Average Reflexes check or also suffer 3 Wounds from the fall. A rider who fails the check by 2 or more Successes falls into Engaged range of any enemy the mount was fighting.

Unseating a rider. An attacker can spend 2 Boons on a melee attack against a mounted target to attempt to unseat them. The rider makes an opposed Riding check against the attacker's net Successes. Failure means the rider falls Prone and is separated from the mount by one range band.

Charging. When a mount moves at least Medium range in a straight line before an attack, the rider gains to that attack and +2 damage. The mount cannot charge again until it has had a Maneuver to reset (change direction, slow, gather itself). The Charging Strike talent improves this further.

Mounted and Aerial Combat

Aerial combat (on flying ships or flying mounts) uses the same range band system with three-dimensional positioning. Elevation matters for ranged attacks: a target directly below you is at Long or Extreme range due to trajectory; a target at the same elevation follows the standard table. Piloting and Operate govern ship maneuvers; individual combatants aboard use normal combat rules. Ship-to-ship positioning is a Piloting contested check that determines which crew holds tactical advantage. Full rules for ship combat are in the GM Guide, Chapter Fourteen.

Flying Characters in Combat

These rules apply to all species with Flight as a listed ability, including Drakin and any other flying characters the GM allows.

Elevation

Flying characters exist at one of three elevation zones above the ground. Moving between zones costs 1 Maneuver each direction.

Most indoor spaces do not have High elevation. Most outdoor combat and large halls permit all three zones. The GM establishes what elevations are available when structured play begins.

A flying character who wants to make a melee attack against a ground target must descend to Low elevation first, putting themselves within normal reach of ground melee in return.

Movement and Altitude

The flight Movement Maneuver (moving up to Medium range through open air) counts as maintaining altitude for that round. A flying character who does not move must spend a Maneuver to hover. Moving between elevation zones costs 1 Maneuver per zone.

Flight is Audible

Wing-powered flight produces significant noise. Flying characters add 2 Bane Dice to all Stealth checks while airborne. A flying character cannot make a meaningful Stealth approach in any open area where targets could hear.

Sustained Flight Endurance

In structured play: A flying character may remain airborne for a number of consecutive rounds equal to their Might + 2 before sustained effort takes a toll. After this threshold, remaining airborne costs 1 Strain per round. The endurance counter resets between encounters; there is no benefit to landing briefly mid-fight.

Outside structured play: A flying character can sustain flight for a number of hours equal to their Might before needing to land and rest. A short rest (15 minutes) fully resets this travel endurance. This prevents indefinite aerial scouting without punishing normal use.

Landing and Takeoff

Landing on a solid surface costs a Maneuver. Lifting off from the ground to any airborne elevation also costs a Maneuver.

Disruption

Flight is immediately disrupted by the Restrained condition, Prone, or confinement in a space too small to spread wings. A disrupted flier falls; apply falling damage normally unless they catch themselves (Average Reflexes check to grab a ledge or reduce the fall).

Grappling

A grapple is an attempt to physically seize and control another creature. It is an Action using Unarmed or Athletics.

Initiating a grapple. Declare the grapple attempt and make the check. Build the difficulty from the target's relevant defensive ability: use the target's Might or Agility (whichever is higher) as the base die count, upgraded by their lower stat, the same pool-construction rule that governs any check. The attacker rolls against that pool. Success applies the Restrained condition to the target.

Example: Grappling a character with Might 3 and Athletics 1. The difficulty pool is 3 Ability Dice upgraded by 1 (the lower stat) to 2 Mastery Dice, 1 Ability Die; a challenging opposing pool.

The GM may add or for circumstances: the target was caught off guard, has a weapon in both hands, is a trained wrestler, has greater footing, is wet or wearing slick armor, or any other factor that clearly affects the struggle.

Size limits. A creature can only grapple targets within one Scale of themselves. You cannot grapple a creature two Scales larger than you. You can be grappled by a creature two Scales larger; the size differential just makes escape harder.

Scale reference: Scale describes a creature or object's overall size.

Ships and vehicles also use Scale (see GM Guide, Chapter Fourteen). A Scale 1 character can attempt to grapple a Scale 2 creature; they cannot grapple a Scale 3 creature.

While Restrained. A Restrained target is Immobilized and adds to all checks that require free movement. Both the grappler and the target are considered Engaged.

What the grappler can do. On subsequent turns, the grappler can use their Action to: maintain the hold (automatically, costs no check), deal Might damage to the target (as an unarmed strike, no attack check needed), drag the target one range band (Average Athletics check), or attempt a takedown (Hard Athletics check; on success, both combatants fall Prone. On later turns, the grappler may stand normally while maintaining the hold, but the target cannot stand until they break the grapple first).

Escaping a grapple. The Restrained target may spend their Action to attempt escape: an opposed Might or Athletics check against the grappler's Might or Athletics (their choice). On success, the Restrained condition ends and the target may move normally.

Wounds and Strain

Characters have two damage tracks. Wounds count down from a maximum. Strain accumulates upward from zero. Both lead to incapacitation, but death can only come through Wounds.

Wound Points = species Wound base + Might

Strain Points = species Strain base + Willpower

A character begins at full Wounds. When a successful attack's damage exceeds Resistance, subtract the remainder from current Wounds. If Resistance equals or exceeds the damage, the attack causes 0 Wounds. Strain works differently: when accumulated Strain meets or exceeds Strain Points, the character is incapacitated by exhaustion and overload but is not in physical danger. Incapacitation by Strain represents being mentally overwhelmed, panicked, or pushed past the body's capacity to act under pressure.

Strain is also a resource. You spend it voluntarily; 2 Strain for a second Maneuver, or to activate certain talents.

When Wounds Reach 0 — Incapacitation and the Death Clock

Ix replaces the core default post-encounter stabilization rule with a harsher bleed-out procedure and adds an automatic Critical Injury trigger for attacks that harm an already incapacitated target. Use the rule below for Dort unless a specific effect says otherwise.

When a character's Wounds reach 0 or below, they are incapacitated: unconscious, helpless, out of the fight. This happens immediately.

At the same moment: roll on the Critical Injury table (adding +10 per existing Critical Injury already carried).

Wounds continue below zero. Track the negative total. These represent how deeply into mortal danger the character has gone. Negative Wounds must be healed back to 0 before any natural recovery can occur.

Bleed out. At the start of each of the incapacitated character's turns, they lose 1 additional Wound. This continues each round until they are stabilized by a Medicine check (Average, Action from any adjacent ally) or die. Stabilization stops the bleeding; it does not restore Wounds or end incapacitation.

Death threshold. When accumulated Wounds reach a negative total equal to their full Wound Point value, the character dies. A character with Wound Points 12 who reaches −12 total wounds is dead. Example: a character with 12 Wound Points who suffers 24 Wounds from full health dies. Medicine cannot reverse this. Only the Revive spell (within 24 hours) or Resurrection can return them.

Attacks on incapacitated characters. Any attack that causes an already incapacitated character to suffer at least 1 Wound or 1 Strain automatically inflicts a Critical Injury; no Boons or Breakthroughs required. Roll on the table (+10 per existing injury).

Death from Critical Injury. A Critical Injury roll of 141 or higher on the d100 plus bonuses produces the Killed entry: instant death regardless of current Wound total. No medical intervention prevents this result.

Conditions

Conditions describe specific states that change what you can do. Most are inflicted by Boon spends, Critical Injuries, or specific talents and abilities.

Ix uses Immolation for the core ongoing-fire condition so it remains distinct from the Burn X weapon and spell quality.

Off-guard. Some talents (Precise Strike, Find the Gap, Punishing Hold) key off a target being off-guard. Off-guard is a state, not a tracked condition. A target is off-guard when it is Prone, Staggered, Disoriented, Restrained, or Grabbed, when it is Surprised or unaware of you, or when it is engaged in melee with someone other than you and has not attacked you this round. The GM may also rule a target off-guard for a clear fictional reason, such as a guard looking the wrong way.

Conditions do not stack unless explicitly stated. Applying the same condition multiple times extends its duration rather than increasing its effect. If a condition does not specify a duration, it lasts until the end of the affected character's next turn.

Fear

Some adversaries and situations carry a Fear rating from 1 to 4. The GM assigns the rating; creature entries in the Adversary Catalog list it in an ability line. A Fear rating means you make one check the first time that source is brought to bear on you in a scene.

Making the check. Make a Readiness check when the source arrives suddenly, or a Discipline check when the dread builds over time. The GM names which skill applies; if your character had time to see the source coming, you may use Discipline instead. Difficulty equals the Fear rating: 1 is Easy, 2 is Average, 3 is Hard, 4 is Severe. You make this check once per source per scene, not once per round.

Frightened adds 1 to every check you make against the source and to every check you make while it is present, and you cannot voluntarily move closer to it. You may still attack it, defend against it, hold your ground, and retreat. Frightened ends at the end of the encounter, when the source is defeated or leaves your sight for a full round, when an ally spends an Action and succeeds on an Average Leadership, Charm, or Negotiation check to steady you, or when a talent or spell that removes fear effects is applied to you.

Talents, species abilities, and spells that resist fear apply to the Fear check. Any effect that removes a , adds a , or downgrades a negative die "when resisting fear" modifies this check. Any effect that reduces the Strain suffered from a Fear effect reduces the Strain from a failed Fear check.

Who does not check. Undead, constructs, and any creature whose entry says it cannot be Frightened or Demoralized ignore Fear ratings entirely.

Groups and Demoralized. Minion groups and Elite NPCs make one Fear check for the whole group. A failure leaves them Demoralized rather than Frightened, and they withdraw, surrender, or break. Nemeses check individually. The GM Guide, Chapter Nine, holds the full GM-side procedure, including how a leader lifts Demoralized.

Mounts. A mount facing a source with a Fear rating does not make its own Fear check. Use the Riding check under Mounted Combat above, at a difficulty equal to the source's Fear rating.

An effect that names its own duration overrides this rule for that effect. A creature ability that reads "Frightened for one round" lasts one round.

Critical Injuries

A Critical Injury is a lasting wound; something that persists, compounds, and gets worse if ignored.

When They Happen

A Critical Injury is triggered when:

• A character's Wounds reach 0 or below (immediately, at the moment of incapacitation)
• An attacker spends a Breakthrough on an attack against you
• An attack generates net Boons equal to or greater than the weapon's Crit rating, and those Boons are spent to inflict one (a Breakthrough may always be used instead of Boon spending)
• Any attack causes an already incapacitated character to suffer at least 1 Wound or 1 Strain

How to Resolve

Roll d100 and add +10 for each Critical Injury the target already has. The GM assigns the result from the Critical Injury table in the GM Guide (Chapter Nine). The injury persists until medically treated.

Each untreated injury adds +10 to every future Critical Injury roll on that target. A result of 141 or higher is the Killed entry: instant death, and no medicine can prevent it.

Magic in Combat

Casting spells during combat follows the spell's listed Action type. Most spells are Actions. A few are Maneuvers or Quick Actions; the spell entry specifies.

Casting while Engaged with an enemy adds 1 Bane Die to the casting check. Casters who remain at Short or greater range avoid this penalty. Certain talents (Combat Caster is the most common) remove the Engaged casting penalty.

Spell difficulty is set by the spell itself, not by the GM. The caster is rolling against a fixed target, not against the target's defenses, unless the spell specifies otherwise.

Spells that deal damage use the same Damage − Resistance formula as weapon attacks unless the spell specifies it bypasses Resistance; Resistance can reduce a spell's damage so the target suffers 0 Wounds. Spells that impose conditions follow the same condition rules as those inflicted by Boon spends.

The full casting system is in Chapter Nine. This section is a pointer, not a replacement.

Banes, Calamity, and the GM's Options

You generate Banes from your own roll. The GM spends them against you; losing your footing, your weapon jamming, an ally being endangered, a door slamming shut at the worst moment.

A Calamity is worse. Its negative effect triggers regardless of whether your attack succeeded. Rolling a on an otherwise excellent attack roll means something goes very right and very wrong in the same moment.

The GM may also spend Peril Points to upgrade difficulty dice to Crisis Dice or to activate Calamity effects after a roll. When they do, that Peril Point flips to your Fortune pool. Pressure creates Fortune. Use it.

Ending a Fight

A combat encounter ends when:

• All enemies are incapacitated or have fled
• The players have fled successfully (the GM sets what "successfully" means; outrunning, hiding, or making it past a threshold)
• The situation resolves without violence (negotiation, a third party intervenes, the objective is accomplished)

End-of-Encounter Recovery

When structured play ends, each character immediately recovers Strain equal to their Willpower. This happens automatically; no check required.

Wounds do not recover at encounter end. They require a full night's rest (restore Wounds equal to Might) or medical care (Medicine check from another character; Average difficulty; each net restores 1 Wound; 2 can restore an additional Wound or reduce recovery time). Healing cannot raise current Wounds above Wound Points.

Critical Injuries do not recover on their own. They persist until medically treated with a Medicine check of appropriate difficulty, combined with full rest and time.

When Characters Die

Three paths to death:

1. Wound threshold. Accumulated Wounds reach a negative total equal to the character's full Wound Point value (see above). Medicine cannot prevent this; only Revive or Resurrection can return them.

2. A Killed result. A roll on the Critical Injury table produces 141 or higher. Instant death regardless of current Wound total. No medical check applies.

3. Bleed out unattended. An incapacitated character bleeds out at 1 Wound per round. If no one reaches them in time to stabilize them, they cross the death threshold naturally.

Death is not the default. Most enemies want to capture, chase off, or rob, not kill. But when the fiction demands it, the rules apply cleanly.

What Happens After Death: Sheol and the 24-Hour Window

When a mortal dies in Dort, the soul does not vanish. At the moment of death the soul coin forms in an ethereal state, still bound to the soul's passage rather than held in anyone's hand. The soul travels to Sheol, the plane of the dead, administered by the priesthood of Nyxollox. There it takes the shape of a soul-being and joins the dead awaiting judgment. Think of it as divine bureaucracy: every soul gets logged, queued, and eventually called before judgment. The process is thorough, impartial, and slow.

This creates a window.

In the first 24 hours after death, the soul has not yet crossed the River of Souls into the judgment realm. It is present in Sheol's outer passage, technically addressable, and findable by a caster who knows the name and face of the deceased. During this window, the Revive spell (Chapter Nine, Divine Adept) can call the soul back. It is not easy and it is not free; a gem is required as an offering, and the caster must have personally known the target. But it is possible.

After the 24-hour window, the soul crosses the river, enters judgment, and receives its destination. Claims on the soul coin are made and recognized during judgment. A lawful infernal contract is binding here: Sheol acknowledges it because that is the entire point of such contracts. Once the claim is resolved, the soul-being takes its final form, the coin becomes accessible to the rightful claimant, and the soul is sent to the plane of final rest or taken into the claimant's plane. Reaching it now requires the Resurrection spell (Chapter Nine, Divine Master), which is substantially harder, consumes a much more valuable gem, and carries the risk that the casting fails entirely. A failed Resurrection means one of two things: the soul refused to return, or something more powerful has claimed it. The caster generally does not know which.

The soul's choice matters. Neither Revive nor Resurrection forces a return. The soul must be willing. Most are (dying is rarely welcome) but a character who died at peace with their passing, or one whose situation in Sheol has become preferable to the life they left, may choose not to come back. This is never a random result. If a soul refuses, the GM knows why, and that why is a story.

Chases

When someone is running and someone is pursuing, the GM may call for a chase: a structured sequence that uses the same initiative framework as combat but replaces attack checks with movement and obstacle checks.

Setting Up a Chase

Define the gap. A chase begins with a gap between pursuer and quarry measured in range bands (typically 1–4 bands). Close the gap to zero to catch someone; widen it to Extreme and hold it to escape.

Establish the terrain. Name two or three obstacles in the chase environment before it begins: a market crowd, a narrow alley, a canal crossing, a stairway collapse. These matter mechanically.

Running a Chase

Initiative works the same as combat. On each participant's turn:

The quarry's turn: Move to widen the gap (one range band per Maneuver) and optionally invoke a terrain obstacle. The quarry may spend their Action to force all pursuers to make a check or add 1 Bane Die to their movement on the following turn. The specific check depends on the obstacle: a canal crossing is Athletics; a crowded market is Stealth or Athletics; a rooftop gap is Athletics or Reflexes.

The pursuer's turn: Move to close the gap (one range band per Maneuver) and optionally interact with any obstacle the quarry set. You may spend your Action on a called skill check to cut ahead, using knowledge of the area (Streetwise, Average), calling for help (Leadership, Average), or forcing a shortcut through dangerous terrain (Athletics, Hard). Net successes on a called check close the gap by 1 additional band.

Ending a Chase

The chase ends when the gap reaches zero (caught) or the quarry successfully maintains Extreme range for two consecutive rounds (escaped). Escaped quarry must lose pursuit actively, simply reaching Extreme does not mean escape until held.

Caught means physical proximity; what happens next is narrative. Escaped means genuine separation; the GM determines whether the quarry is locatable again and on what terms.

Chase in Other Environments

Aerial (flying mounts, flying ships): Replace Athletics with Piloting or Riding. The gap is still measured in range bands; elevation changes add 1 Maneuver to close if above the pursuer.

Mounted: Use Riding instead of Athletics. Mounted characters gain 1 Boon on movement checks in open terrain; they gain 1 Bane in dense crowds or tight corridors. A fallen rider immediately reduces the gap to Engaged and ends their movement.

Aquatic: Use Athletics for swimming pursuits. Fortitude checks replace most Athletics checks for obstacles (current, waves, wake). A character who cannot breathe water loses 2 Strain per round they spend submerged beyond their breath capacity.

Recovery

Wounds, Strain, and Critical Injuries all recover on different timelines through different means. This section consolidates all recovery rules in one place.

Strain Recovery

End of encounter: At the end of any structured encounter, restore Strain equal to your Willpower.

Short rest (15 minutes of relative safety): Ix adds this recovery option to the core default. Restore Strain equal to your Willpower. This is in addition to the Strain recovered when the encounter ended; if the party wins a fight and then rests for 15 minutes, both recoveries apply. A second short rest in the same session requires genuine safety, not just a pause: a secured room, defensible camp, friendly shelter, or enough distance from immediate pursuit that the group can actually stand down.

Catch Breath (Maneuver, once per encounter): Recover 1 Strain. Increases to 2 with the Catch Breath talent.

Full rest (8 hours, safe and uninterrupted): Recover all Strain, unless you were incapacitated by Strain during the preceding encounter, in which case recover only half your Strain Points (rounded down).

Wound Recovery

Natural recovery (full rest): Restore Wounds equal to your Might per full night's rest, up to your Wound Points.

Medicine — treating a conscious wounded character: A character with Medicine can spend an Action to treat a wounded ally. Make an Average Medicine check. Each net Success restores 1 Wound. Spending 2 Boons restores 1 additional Wound or reduces treatment time. This check can only be made once per encounter on the same target; a second attempt requires new medical supplies or a change in conditions.

Medicine — stabilizing an incapacitated character: When a character reaches 0 Wounds or below, they are incapacitated and bleeding out (losing 1 Wound per round). An ally may make an Average Medicine check as an Action to stop the bleed. Stabilization ends the Wound-per-round loss. The character remains incapacitated and at negative Wounds; they require positive Wound recovery before they can act again. Negative Wounds must be healed to 0 first; natural recovery cannot proceed from a negative total. A character who is incapacitated cannot stabilize themselves; they require another character's assistance.

Negative Wound recovery: Healing spells and Medicine checks restore Wounds normally, counting from whatever negative total the character is at toward 0. Once at 0, further healing restores positive Wounds as normal.

Medicine — treating your own wounds: A conscious, mobile character may attempt to treat their own wounds, but working on yourself adds 2 Bane Dice to the Medicine check. The once-per-encounter limit applies as normal.

Medicine — Critical Injuries: At Death's Door (121–130) requires a Severe Medicine check or a divine healing working that same turn. Lights Going Out (131–140) requires one before the end of the round. Killed (141–150) is instant death; no medical check applies.

Critical Injury Recovery

A Critical Injury persists until medically treated. The Critical Injury table (GM Guide, Chapter Nine) assigns each injury a Grade (1–15) and a treatment requirement.

Treatment in the field: Each injury's table entry specifies what clears it. Treat one Critical Injury per Medicine check. Minor entries (01–30) clear on their own or with simple care, Moderate through Deadly entries (31–100) require the listed treatment, and Mortal entries (101 and above) require extended care before they are fully resolved.

Extended recovery (multiple days, receiving care): Some severe injuries require extended rest and daily care after the immediate treatment succeeds. The GM Guide's Critical Injury table gives the treatment and recovery requirement for each entry. When a rule says a Critical Injury reduces by one step, move it down one row on that table.

The 121–150 entries (life-threatening injuries) do not reduce through standard extended care. At Death's Door (121–130) requires a Severe Medicine check or a divine healing working that same turn. Lights Going Out (131–140) requires one before the end of the round. Killed (141–150) is instant death; no check can prevent it.

Magical Healing

Healing spells (Lesser Heal, Bone Heal, Bloom Heal, Reactive Heal, Greater Heal, Vital Heal, Tide Heal, and similar) restore Wounds as specified in their spell blocks and follow the same "once per encounter" limit that Medicine does; a target can benefit from both a Medicine check and a healing spell in the same encounter, but not two Medicine checks or two casts of the same healing spell.

Critical Injury recovery through magic: Healing spells do not automatically remove Critical Injuries unless the spell specifically states otherwise. Some high-tier divine spells (including Resurrection) can clear a Critical Injury as part of their effect; each spell's block specifies this.

Strain recovery through magic: Some divine spells restore Strain directly. Magical Strain recovery follows normal encounter limits; the same target cannot receive Strain restoration from the same source twice in the same encounter.

Summary Table

Environmental Hazards

Not everything that hurts is a weapon. The world of Dort has plenty of ways to kill a character that do not require an adversary.

Falling

Falling deals 2 damage per 15 feet fallen, before Resistance. A fall of 30 feet deals 4 damage; 60 feet deals 8 damage; 90 feet deals 12 damage.

A character may attempt an Average Athletics check to reduce falling damage. Each net success reduces the damage by 2, representing catching a ledge, tucking into a roll, or slowing the fall against a surface. Landing on a soft surface (water, hay, awning) reduces damage as if the fall were 15 feet shorter. Landing on something harder than ground (spikes, jagged stone) increases damage by 2.

Falling into water from high altitude still deals damage (half), and the character enters the water Incapacitated unless they make an Average Athletics or Reflexes check before impact.

Fire

A character in contact with open flame or burning material suffers 2 Wounds per round until the fire is extinguished. Extinguishing requires an Action (rolling, immersion, smothering) or a Boon spend from a nearby ally also using an Action. A character on fire may not use Catch Breath.

A room or building fire is a hazard on a clock: typically 3–4 rounds before the structure is fully involved, at which point characters inside are exposed to fire damage, falling debris (2 damage, Average Reflexes to avoid per round), and smoke (see Suffocation).

Suffocation and Drowning

A character deprived of air (underwater without waterbreathing, in a sealed room with no oxygen, etc.) may hold their breath for a number of rounds equal to their Fortitude skill rank + 1 (minimum 1; a character with no Fortitude ranks holds for 1 round). After that, they must make a Hard Fortitude check each round. On failure, they lose 2 Wounds per failed check. At zero Wounds while suffocating, death follows within 1 round without intervention.

A character who reaches air again before dying recovers normally. A Calamity on a suffocation Fortitude check means total incapacitation immediately: they have passed out.

Extreme Cold and Heat

Sustained exposure to extreme temperatures requires a Fortitude check at the end of each extended period (roughly every hour). The difficulty scales with severity: cold weather is Easy; the interior of the Ember plane is Extreme. Failure adds 2 Wounds (cold: frostbite, hypothermia; heat: burns, heat exhaustion) that do not recover until the character reaches a survivable temperature.

Characters with appropriate equipment, species adaptations (Sand Elves in heat, cold-adapted species in cold), or magical protection are immune to the base difficulty level of the environment.