Cheat Sheet

The Basics
Rank
A character's Rank is a general measure of their skill and power, Unranked being Rank 0.
Second rank is the normal starting level.
Rolling Dice
First of all, for pretty much every roll you will be rolling your Lake in D10. For most characters the Lake is 7 dice
(the actual value is 5 + Rank No.). From the resulting numbers group them into similar results, for instance
9,7,7,7,3,3,0. Groups of dice are called Sets, the value of a set is:
[Number of Dice][Number on Dice], for example the value of the set {7, 7, 7} is 37.
A single die has a value of 10 + [Number on Die], but it is not a Set. Sets from a roll can be assigned to different
things, for instance an Attack roll could have sets assigned to an Attack and a Marvel.
Appropriate modifiers, such as Skills and Conditions, are then applied, always in multiples of 5.
Modifiers from the same source type do not stack. Types include Skills, Loresheets, Style, or Weapons.
Difficulties
If there isn't a direct opponent then the value you need to equal or beat is the Task Difficulty, either the value of
the roll that created an obstacle, or a value from the table below. Otherwise it's an opposed roll.
Trivial 10
Moderate 20
Hard 30
Memorable 40
Fantastic 60
Legendary 80
Impossible 100
If you succeed by 10 or more it is a Critical Success.
The River
The River stores dice from unused sets, it has a number of slots equal to Rank. You only get to keep one of the
dice from a set you send to the river. There are four actions using for river dice, each can only be used if you

haven't done one of the later ones yet that roll:

First, Wash dice out of your river for no effect.
Second, Float dice from sets into your river.
Third, Flood or Flow dice out, removing them from the River.
Dice you Flow dice become part of the group rolled. Dice you Flood do not, but activate other effects.
Breath and Luck
These are expendable resources. Luck is gained by performing heroic acts and by accepting Interesting Times
when using a Set of 0s to complicate the situation. Good Luck adds one to your lake for a round, Bad Luck
removes a die from your opponent's lakes when they act against you. Luck use is declared when rolling Intiative,
you can use up to Rank in points of Luck per Round, or per roll outside of combat. It can also be used as narrative
currency to purchase interesting coincidences.
Breath is used to power various effects, and determines how hard you are to damage. Breath regenerates at a rate
of Rank per round, modified by Conditions and the Focus on Breath action.
Combat Mechanics: On the Sheet
Fencing Styles
Your Style determines your combat attributes, which are modified by your weapon. If you have more than one
you decide which you are using before rolling initiative. They may also grant other abilities.
Additionally, Styles may give options of spending Breath; unless specified these must be activated when you
assign your sets and only last for the single roll. They can also be used to improvise Marvels in combat, giving a
bonus of +5 per Breath spent, up to the Breath cost of your highest ranked technique, and replaces any relevant
Skill bonus.
Laughter and Fear
Every Style has a thing that it Laughs at, gaining +5 on opposed rolls where relevant, and a thing that is Fears,
giving the opponent a +5 on opposed rolls. These can both apply to one roll.
Combat Mechanics: In Play
The Initiative Roll
Combat works in Rounds, short snippets of time in which everybody acts once. The order is determined by the
result of an Initiative Roll. Roll the Lake, then pick a Set (or single die and apply Speed as a modifier to get your
Initiative Score. Extra Sets on the Initiative Roll can be used for a number of Minor Actions, such as disguising
your style, or to set up a Wave.

A Wave is a longer action that those with higher initiative may attempt to prevent, such as Covering Ground or
Shaping, which is setting the difficulty of another action or otherwise modifying the environment.
You can also gather information on the situation by using a Minor Action. Moving within a Combat Zone is no
issue, but moving into another distinct area requires a Cover Ground Wave. A Minor Action can also be used to
Recover from a Disrupt or Disorient Marvel by beating the roll that created it. Hiding your style is a Stealth-based
Minor Action.
If you aren't sure if something is a Wave or not ask your GM before you roll initiative!
Attack Rolls
When it is your action you pick your Major Action, usually an attack though not always, and roll your Lake.
Major actions can be assigned a single die, but this will give a lower total than using a Set. Other Sets can be used
to do Minor Actions such as Marvels:
Skill-based extras such as Breaking a Wave (preventing the change of situation from occurring if you beat the
result used to create the Wave), Disrupt (applying a penalty to a Combat Stat), Knockback (force an enemy into
another Zone), Disorient (apply a penalty to a Skill), or stealing miscellaneous things from people, fast actions
that directly affect an enemy.
Other effects, such as Secondary Strikes can only be used if you have something that enables you to use them, and
are types of Attack. Usually you may only Attack someone in the same Combat Zone, unless an ability says
otherwise.
An attack can be described as either Best Dodged or Best Blocked, the effect of which will be described under
Defence Roll.
Area Attacks are apply the result of the roll to everyone in a Zone, you may Flood a die from the river to exclude
targets.
Once you have arranged all your actions, declare the Action and Result (total after modifiers) of every
component. Unless otherwise specified these are now final. Your opponent may now defend themselves!
Defence Rolls
When targeted by effects (including some beneficial ones!), roll the Lake for a Defence Roll. Now assign a Set or
Single Die to defending against each component of the attack roll. Modifiers to defence are usually of the same
type as that which created the effect, for instance a Combat Stat against an Attack Action, Skills (or Improvised
Breath) against Marvels. When deciding between Dodging (using Footwork) or Blocking keep in mind that using
the non-advantageous defence imposes a penalty of -5 to the roll. If your result beats the attacker's result you are
not affected by that particular effect. A result is needed for each component.
If you have the ability to Reply, now is the time to use it.

Ripples and the Rippling Roll

For every ten points or fraction thereof that an Attack (not a Marvel) exceeds the defence result a ripple is inflicted
on the defender. Ripples represent strain, damage and other factors that may come to effect the outcome of a
conflict.
A Critical Success that generates Ripples also forces an immediate Rippling Roll after adding it's ripples.
A Rippling Roll roll uses a number of dice equal to the ripples the character has. The character can protect
themselves using Aura, bought for one Breath per die for the single roll. Do not roll the Lake. Against normal
Attacks (or Secondary Strikes) the Rippling Roll is modified by Damage, the Aura roll is modified by Toughness.
Generate a single result from each roll, and compare the difference. If the Aura roll beats the Rippling Roll
nothing happens, otherwise a Condition is inflicted. Damage Threshold is (by default) equal to the total number
of points of maximum Breath a character has, plus a modifier from armour.
-If the Rippling Result beats the Aura Result by less than Damage Threshold a Trivial Condition is inflicted
-Minor condition if it exceeds Aura Result by Damage Threshold or more,
-Major Condition if the difference is more than twice Damage Threshold.
-If the Rippling Result exceeds the Aura Result by more than three times Damage Threshold the character is
taken out.
An existing condition may instead be increased in severity by applying a condition of equal severity, if it makes
sense for the two attacks to cause the same type of complication. Conditions are picked by whoever inflicted it.
At the end of a Combat each combatant makes a rippling roll, the opponent picks any conditions that make sense.
Secret Arts.
Secret Arts are special types of Skill-based Major Actions. They cost a point of Breath to use and can only be used
in combat if the character has the relevant Fast Work technique. Secret Arts manipulate Conditions, and each has
specific Tools that are needed in order to use it. If the character has Stealthy Work they may add a Stealth-based
minor action to hide what they are doing, which will need to be overcome in the defence roll to realise what is
happening.
Secret Arts can often Discover conditions, which effectively creates them from nothing. Bonuses are given for
plausibility!
Conditions
Summary of conditions.
Conditions modify how a character operates. They are always conditional and can be worked around by a clever
player. However they are still always important in the fiction. Penalties (Do not do this or take penalty X) are
generally bad, Hyperactivities (Do this and get bonus X) are generally good, the table below shows both.
A character is assumed to be able to maintain one condition without effort if they want to.

Conditions come in a number of flavours, Injury conditions being the most common. Each Condition causes a
single type of effect.
The difficulty to Soothe or Inflame a condition is equal to the roll used to create it.
Trivial Condition: -/+ 0 to Roll Results, -/+0 Breath regen per round,
Minor Condition: -/+ 5 to Roll Results, -/+1 Breath regen per round
Major Condition: -/+ 10 to Roll Results, -/+2 Breath regen per round

BASIC TERMINOLOGY
Round
In combat, time is tracked in rounds. Each round represents about three seconds of time within the game world.
See the combat chapter for more detailed information on how to handle rounds.
Scene
A scene is a period of time devoted to a particular sequence of events or encounters. A fight is a scene. A
conversation is a scene. Treating injured soldiers is a scene. Basically, whenever the characters see or do
something interesting, it warrants a scene. An uneventful walk from one town to another is probably not a scene.
If nothing is going on and nothing in the future will be influenced by it, feel free to skip the narration and dice!

Such events are assumed to have happened even if they arent explicitly detailed.
Chapter
Each session, each time you all meet face to face to play the game, is a chapter. It doesnt really matter how long
you meet one hour could be a short chapter or you can hold a monster marathon session of 24 hours straight.
Both are still chapters. It also doesnt matter how much time passes in the games narrative either. One chapter
could be devoted entirely to a series of intense fights that all take place within an in-character hour, while another
chapter could gloss over a voyage that takes a whole month.
Story
A story is a particular plot line with a distinct beginning, middle, and end. Finding out that an ally has been
murdered, the investigation, and the dispensing of justice can together be considered a single story. Most stories
take at least two chapters to complete, sometimes much more.
Some GMs like to handle one story after another. Others weave their plots together into greater whole, so that it
becomes trickier to tell exactly where one plot begins and another ends. Both methods are fine.
Lake
A strong cultivated inner power brings many benefits with it. Long life, strong health, acute senses, sharp
memory, quick reflexes the list goes on. Truly, excellence is universal!
To represent this benefit in game terms, Legends uses a concept known as the Lake. The Lake is your default
amount of dice in your pool when called upon to roll something, unless a different amount is specifically called
for. As your power grows, so does your talent and chances to overcome all difficulties in life.
The size of your Lake depends on your Rank, and it will automatically grow with your advancement. But in a
nutshell, its equal to 5 + your River size.
GAME MECHANICS
Legends is a game of sweeping passions, epic challenges, and superlative displays of skill. Heroes and villains alike
will do grand deeds and face seemingly insurmountable opposition. Whenever a character attempts an action
whose outcome can be reasonably doubted and an element of chance adds to the tension and fun, use a dice roll to
decide whether he is successful or not. Roll to see if you can negotiate for safe passage with the Mercenary Lords,
to see if your medical skills can provide a timely cure for a priest dying of poison, or to see if you can sneak past
the sentries of a grand fortress. But you dont need a roll to intimidate a small child or cook a bowl of rice.
To roll, gather an amount of ten-sided dice (also called d10s). For the most part this amount will be determined by
your Lake but on occasion you may be asked to roll a different amount; nevertheless the more dice youve got the
better. To see what result your roll provided, look for sets of dice whose numbers match. These sets translate into
numbers, where the ones digit is equal to the number on the dice, and the tens digit is equal to the amount of
matching dice in the set. You can pick any of the results that your roll created, but higher is generally better.
Solitary dice are not in a set, but still provide a result according to the rule above: the number that came face-up
will be the ones digit, and the tens digit is automatically ten.
That may sound a little complicated on paper, but in practice its easy. Some examples to help you along:
Two fives become 25.

Three sevens become 37.

A single six becomes 16.
So, a roll of seven dice with the following results, 2, 4, 4, 4, 9, 9, 0 can become 12, 34, 29, or 10.
One way to quickly see how high you rolled is to look for the number on the dice that came up most often. You
are free to pick whichever result from your roll you like, but remember that higher results are usually better.
Modifiers
Training, tools, or conditions can affect the outcome of your actions. These are represented by modifiers, which
add to or subtract from the number you generated with your roll. Modifiers are always in multiples of five you
could have a +5 or a +10 bonus, but never a +2 or a +9.
Modifiers come in several different types: skills, equipment, styles, what your style laughs at and fears, Lores,
conditions, and other techniques (e.g. the extraordinary techniques found in the Secret Arts). You use the highest
bonus and penalty of each type, ignoring any other modifiers of the same type that are equal or lower. For
instance, if you use two style techniques that both give you a +10 bonus to your roll, you only have +10. Well
explain these categories in more detail later in the rules.
Finally, the GM can always decide that the situation at hand is particularly to your (dis)advantage and apply an
extra modifier of +5 or -5.
Targets and Results
You know how to roll dice and create numbers out of that, so now well explain how you use that number to
actually determine success or failure. When rolling, you are either opposed by somebody else, in competition with
somebody else, or rolling against a certain difficulty.
Opposed Rolls
Opposed rolls occur when two or more people are in conflict. You may try to punch a guard, convince a stubborn
judge or sneak past a sentry all these have a human opponent with a dice pool of their own. Both sides should
roll and try to get the highest result they can. The winner is whoever rolled higher. In the case of a tie, the active
party wins.
To determine which character is the active party, try to imagine the scenario if you leave out one of the sides. You
can throw a punch at empty air, but you wont defend yourself from nothing. You can hold a monologue, but you
cant stubbornly refuse an argument that nobodys making. You can try to quietly tip-toe around, but you wont
raise the alarm when you suddenly dont spot an intruder. The character whose action does not depend on the
others is the active party, and wins ties.
Another way to tell which party is active is to see whose situation changes most between the two outcomes. That
party is the passive one, meaning the other is of course the active. To keep with our examples, the guard is the
passive party because the two results change him. Either he is injured or he is not. The judge is the passive party
because he will be convinced or not. The sentry is the passive party, because he will learn something new or not.
The character who receives the impact of the others action is the passive party, and loses ties.
Competing Rolls
A competing roll is also against a human opponent, and is very similar to an opposed roll, but in a competing roll

youre both trying to do the same thing, though your character will try to be better, faster, or more elegant than
the other. There is no active or passive party, just equals. Examples are racing across the city to see who runs
faster, trying to compose the best poetry, or when you both try to convince the same person of something else. (In
this last case, your roll is competing with the other arguing person, but it might also be opposed by the stubborn
person who doesnt want to hear either of your cases!) Simply determine the winner by the highest result. In the
case of a tie, there is no clear winner. For all appearances, these people are equally skilled!
Rolls Against a Set Difficulty
Often there is no clear human opponent for your actions, but your success is still in doubt. You may try to climb a
sheer wall of ice, decipher a coded message, or treat a life threatening injury. In these cases, the GM will
determine the difficulty and consult the following table. If you roll equal or higher than the difficulty calls for,
your task succeeds.
Task is Difficulty
Trivial... 10
Moderate... 20
Hard... 30
Memorable... 40
Fantastic... 60
Legendary... 80
Impossible... 100
Trivial tasks are usually not rolled, as they are so easy that one cant fail unless there are severe penalties at play.
Examples: walking around, getting dressed, or hearing a person next to you talk.
Moderate tasks can be done by anybody, even ordinary, untrained people. Those with actual training will find it
practically impossible to fail. Examples: jumping over a low fence, recalling a historic fact about an important
event, or giving medical treatment for everyday afflictions.
Hard tasks are still somewhat within the domain of normal human beings, but only those with the relevant skills
try and even they find themselves challenged. These tasks are better left to people who truly excel. Examples:
jumping over a wall, tracking an animal by vague clues, or designing a stone bridge.
Memorable tasks mark the boundary of where mundane peoples skills fall short and only those with cultivated
inner strength will even try. Feats of this caliber and beyond can seem magical in nature. Examples: catch a fly
with chopsticks or touch a person and instantly perceive their health by miraculously assembling minor clues.
Fantastic tasks are difficult to do even for those with a strong inner power. Excellence alone is not enough to
reliably succeed on one of such tasks; you probably need to be considered an expert even among practitioners.
And even then a bit of luck wouldnt hurt. Examples: shatter a stone wall with your bare hands or work in the
dark by scent and sound.
Legendary tasks are sure to be famous for generations to come. Flattering nicknames and reputations can be based
upon accomplishing such tasks. These tasks are the purview of those of the highest level of accomplishment at
their peak performance. Examples: shatter the wall of a fortress with your bare hands or hear all the individual
bird songs in a forest.

Impossible tasks, despite the name, have been successfully performed in the past but only a handful of times. To
most heroes, they are nothing more than a fanciful dream. Accomplishing such a task may bring both glory and
disbelief. Examples: shatter a village with your bare hands or follow every conversation held within the Imperial
Palace with perfect clarity.
Critical Success
If you roll high enough to reach a higher difficulty level than required, your success is correspondingly greater. If
your roll wasnt made against a set difficulty but was opposed by another roll, you achieve a critical success if your
final number is at least 10 points higher.
Sometimes this is merely a nice little bonus. If cooking a simple meal is a trivial (10) task, then achieving a
moderate (20) result just makes the food taste better. Other times, the benefit can be much more significant. If
you intimidate some bandits thoroughly enough, they might be so frightened that they give up on crime and
mend their ways!
Interesting Times
If the result of your roll is a set of zeros (not just a single zero), the GM can offer you Interesting Times.
Something can happen that was unforeseen or unintended, usually for the good of greater tension or comedic
value.
If your roll succeeds, the unintended event is some side effect or added challenge. This should never negate your
success, just complicate it. If you accept Interesting Times on a successful roll you gain one point of Good Luck.
Your mighty attack pushes away your opponent just as intended, but he smashes into a nearby house which
collapses. You can hear the cries for help from those within
Your impressive speech has made the locals see how corrupt the magistrate is, but perhaps a little too well. The
next day, shady figures follow you back to the inn
While searching for information, your friendly compliments towards the lady at the noodle shop have been
entirely misunderstood. Her husband would like a word with you
If your roll fails, the unintended event elevates your misery from merely being unsuccessful into something
disastrous. If you accept Interesting Times on a failed roll, you gain one point of Bad Luck.
Your earlier diagnosis was incorrect. Your herbal preparation doesnt cure the sickness, it just makes matters
worse!
You sneak into the fortress and accidentally made a sound. Thinking quickly, you spot an open window where
you can evade the incoming patrol and leap straight into the soldiers barracks!
You dont have what it takes to design a dam, but nobody realizes that. Construction begins but the first storm
sweeps away your hard work, your workforce, and your reputation.
It is important to stress that Interesting Times is an optional offer by the GM. You are not obligated to take it, nor
is the GM obligated to think of convoluted hijinks when nothing comes to mind that could add to the experience
of the game.
Extended Actions
Some actions can be resolved very quickly. You could jump over a chasm, introduce yourself to a senator, or recall
some obscure piece of lore. But other actions take far more time than this and are called Extended Actions, such as

building a house, negotiating a dowry, or writing a book. These actions can still be handled with a single roll to
determine how successful you are but they take a lot more time than simple actions. You cant make or work
towards Extended Actions during combat or similar high-action scenes where every second counts; the time
frames are just too different.
River
There will be many times your dice provide sets that you have no immediate use for. Fortunately you can store
unused dice from sets into a reserve called the River, which represents the momentum and fortune that ebbs and
flows during conflicts. Your River has a limited capacity to store dice depending on your Rank. At the end of every
scene, your River will always wash itself empty.
Each round you can do several things with your River. These steps are always in a set order, meaning that once
you float some dice into your River you cant Wash out dice anymore, although you could keep floating in more
dice if youve got space for them.
1. Wash
2. Float
3. Flow/Flood
Washing dice from the River means discarding them completely. You may want to do this if youre not happy
with what youve got and are about to get something better (though this general isnt the most efficient use of the
River).
You can float dice from unused sets into the River from a roll made with the Lake, but not from other rolls. The
roll needs to be opposed, meaning that it is competing with or against an appreciable difficulty. It most be noted
that you can only float dice from a set of two or more, never from a single dice result.
You can Flow dice out of your River and into a roll made with the Lake. These dice are treated as if they had been
created by the roll. This allows you to create new sets from nowhere or increase the size of any existing rolled
sets by added them together with those you flowed out.
Flooding dice works largely like flowing out dice, except that you cant combine them with dice you rolled to
make a bigger set out of them. This is a special limitation and only done when specific techniques that call for it.
Sometimes the dice are used to activate special abilities and the result on the dice does not matter, and sometimes
you need to use them as it they were a rolled result (though again, you cant combine them with any dice you did
actually roll).
Luck
Points of Luck represent fortune or possibly even divine favor. They come in two types, Good Luck and Bad Luck.
Good Luck represents good thing happening to you; Bad Luck represents bad thing happening to your enemies.
Both of them are good for you, but not quite in the same way.
You start each story with 3 points of Luck, divided between Good and Bad however you wish. You can have at
most 10 points of Good Luck and 10 points of Bad Luck stored. You decide to use Luck at the start of the round.
In any given round you can only spend 1 point of Luck for every Rank youve attained; this is of both types put
together. Example: if you can spend 2 Luck points per round, you can use, at most, 2 Good, 2 Bad, or 1 of each.
There are three uses for Luck:
First and foremost is improving your odds. Good Luck increases your Lake for the entire round by one/1 die for

every point spent. When not using rounds to mark the passage of time, it simply works for one/1 roll, maybe
two/2 if theyre shortly after another. Bad Luck reduces the Lakes of all people who make opposed rolls against
you by one/1 die per point, for the entire round. Again, when not using rounds to mark the passage of time, it
simply works for one or two/1 or 2 opposed rolls.
Secondly, you can use Luck to make minor coincidences occur, like a form of narrative currency. You can declare
that an item or circumstance can be found on the scene using either type of Luck, subject to GM approval. The
question of plausibility is key here. You dont need to spend Luck to find a tree in the woods because those are
obviously there. You cant spend Luck to find a tree in the middle of the emperors throne room because there just
isnt one. But you might find a conveniently tall tree near the window of that one mansion youd like to burgle.
You can also have chance meetings with people in this way. Again there is the restriction of plausibility. Theres
no need to luckily meet a person in his own home, nor can you summon people in prison towards your location
with your amazing coincidence-powers.
Third, some Secret Arts also require the expenditure of Luck. Besides the starting amount you gain in every story,
you can get Luck through the use of Interesting Times. The GM may also reward you with a point of Luck if you
did something particularly amusing or impressive, such as a very witty out-of-character comment that added
perfectly to the enjoyment of the scene.
MINOR ACTIONS, MARVELS, AND WAVES
Sometimes you roll several sets in your Lake at once. As stated in the River section, you can float excess sets to
your River, but this isnt the only option. Sometimes you can turn additional sets into secondary actions of their
own. They apply their own modifiers and get their own results, just like any other rolled actions. These are Minor
Actions. There is no limit to the amount of extra actions you can take this way, but each action does require its
own separate set of dice; you cant use a single die, and you cant use a set for more than one action. So, if you
want to perform ten extra actions, you better have some way of obtaining ten sets of matching dice. (Dont forget
that you still need a result for the primary action that you originally rolled your Lake for.) You can use this
multitasking to guess somebodys power. A person who can barely keep his mind on one task is probably not as
highly Ranked as somebody who can fight, read a book, and compose poetry all at once! As with any action,
Minor Actions have a target number of their own, either a static difficulty or an opposed roll of some sort.
Example:
You suspect a merchant might actually be an assassin in disguise. You want to check him for hidden weapons, but
you cant just openly accuse him or lay your hands on him. You decide to walk past him and surreptitiously brush
your fingertips over his clothes to feel for anything hidden. The GM allows this, letting you roll an Awareness
check to do the search and also a Stealth check as a Minor Action to prevent the merchant from feeling it.
Marvels
This is a special Minor Combat Action, and will get greater attention in that chapter. In a nutshell, Marvels make
sure you get more use of out your rolls by adding extra utility to them that can help you in your struggles. Some
Marvels hinder your enemies or allow you to accomplish certain goals. Unlike regular Minor Actions, Marvels
dont have a static difficulty but are usually opposed by a defense roll.
Example:
Your hammer slams into a soldier and knocks him right off the city walls! The attack itself simply hurts him, but

the way you forced him down was done with a Marvel.
Waves
A Wave is a variant Minor Action that changes the situation at hand in such a way that it might affect how other
people will act, such as breaking something, moving objects around, or running to some other place. Your Waves
begin during the initiative roll, but do not reach completion until your turn comes up in the initiative order. Like
a real wave of water, they can be seen rolling along well before they actually hit the shore. Anybody with a higher
initiative than you can try to prevent the action from completing, a process known as Breaking the Wave, but the
opposite is also true: you can try to Break the Waves of anybody who is slower than you. Waves get a more
thorough description in the combat chapter.
Example:
During the initiative roll, you devote a set of dice to cover ground, an action that will let you move from one
place to another. You dont actually complete the movement until your turn comes up, although youre already
starting to move before that. If anybody has a higher initiative than you, they could try to break your Wave and
stop the movement by blocking off the door you wanted to run through.
COMBAT SUMMARY
Step 1.
At the start of each round, the combatants roll initiative. Extra sets on this roll can be used for certain Minor
Actions or to start a Wave. Use of Luck should always be declared at this point
Step 2.
The first combatant declares his attack and the target, and then rolls his Lake.
Step 3.
After the roll, the combatant can use Style, the River, and other abilities to generate a Strike result and possibly
Marvels as well. He then describes the action and announces the value for his attack and any included Marvels.
Step 4.
The defender declares her defense (usually Block or Dodge) and rolls her Lake.
Step 5.
After the roll, the defender can use Style, the River, and other abilities to generate one defensive result against
each component of the attack. She then announces her results and describes the defense.
Step 6.
Resolve the effects of any attack that hit, as well as any other power or ability. If the attack causes a Rippling roll,
do that now.
Step 7.
Resolve steps 2 through 6 for every combatant until the round is over. At the end of the round, the combatants

regenerate Breath as determined by Rank, focus on Breath, and other modifiers.

Step 8.
At the end of the fight, each combatant suffers one final Rippling roll to determine if they acquire any additional
long-term effects from the fight.
COMBAT STATISTICS
The Style you use has several statistics and qualities. These are the cornerstones of combat to be explained first, as
well as the various actions and uses for them. Once they have been reviewed, youll have a basic understanding of
combat.
Speed
This measures your swiftness and decisiveness. A style with a high Speed bonus is quick and aggressive while one
with a lower Speed bonus is likely to be passive, preferring to let others make the first move. Your Speed score is
used to determine your initiative.
Footwork
This represents is your mobility and lightness. It is used for two distinct types of action. First is to Cover Ground.
When you wish to move from one location to the other, your Footwork will make it possible. Covering Ground is
a Wave on the initiative roll. More details about this action can be found in the section on Waves later on this
chapter The other action is Dodge, which is a type of defense. Attacks and defenses are explained in more detail
later in this chapter.
Block
Yet dodging is not always the best choice. By Blocking the attack, such as by battering the weapon aside with your
own, kicking a table into your opponent, or in any other way interfering with the execution of the attack, you can
defend yourself handily.
Strike
This is, quite simply, the accuracy of your attacks. It can represent economy of motion, furious power, elaborate
patterns, or deceptive feints.
Damage
Although it would be nice if you could instantly pulverize an enemy with a single hit, that probably wont happen
(much). If your strike hits, you inflict a Ripple. Suffice it to say that Damage makes it more likely for your attacks
to cause serious lasting harm. A high Damage bonus typically represents greater destructive force, with more
focus on specialized striking points on the body or sharpness.
Toughness
Some training tightens your muscles until they are unbreakable like iron. Others sway with attacks, rolling with
the blow rather than resisting it. However they accomplish it, Styles can provide an added level of protection by

not only making you harder to hit but also harder to hurt. Your Toughness bonus is instrumental in many
Rippling rolls.
Qualities and Descriptions
Besides your basic statistics, Styles also have qualities to them which serve as the basis for describing what your
actions look like. Each style specifies what its like or how it works. It also specifies what it Laughs at, which are
the things the style is specifically strong against. The things a style Fears in contrast are those things which the
style fares poorly against. You can use these things as the basis to improvise details about your style, although it
also works as a generic catch-all for the various more mundane techniques the style is comprised of. Weapons also
have similar descriptive qualities to them.
Whenever you make an opposed roll in combat (i.e. an attack or a defense) youre encouraged to describe what
your action looks like and what you actually do. Although its sufficient for the rules to simply state your final
Strike result, it doesnt conjure up a clear mental picture. But theres no need to get overly dramatic and wax
lyrical about the exact scents and sounds of the moment. Instead, you have an opportunity to exploit real tactical
advantages here. If your description plays to the strengths (what it laughs at) of your style or the qualities of your
weapon, you get a +5 bonus to your check (or checks, if your single roll covers multiple actions). If your
description exploits weaknesses (what if fears) inherent to your opponents style or weapon, you also get a +5
bonus. These bonuses stack so if you exploit both, you then have a total +10 bonus!
You can use not just your own qualities to exploit weaknesses but may also freely use stunts and descriptions to
claim these bonuses, subject to the approval of the GM. Say for example you know your opponents style is weak
against being contained but theres nothing in your own arsenal that fits the bill. No matter! Perhaps you can
force or lure your opponent into a narrow alley or a crowded marketplace. That would justify a marked
disadvantage for your opponent and thus you can claim the bonus.
Using creative descriptions the Laughs and Fear labels can be applied not only to Styles but to any opposed roll,
and even for rolls that affect the environment, granting appropriate bonuses and penalties with the GM approval.
If you want to determine what things your opponents style laughs at or fears, you could take some pointers from
somebody familiar with it. But a more immediate way to study a characters fighting technique is by making a
Tactics check. You can do this once per round if youre witnessing the combat, or as a minor action on the
initiative roll if youre also busy fighting. On a successful roll, the Sage must reveal to you the styles description,
the things the style laughs at, or the things the style fears.
INITIATIVE AND WAVES
Initiative
At the start of each round, you roll your Lake and apply your Speed bonus. The result is your initiative score
which determines when you act in the round. Each fighter gets one turn, taken from highest to lowest initiative
scores. On a tie the person with the higher roll on the dice, not counting modifiers, goes first. If theres still a tie,
the GM should determine who goes first, whether by a random die roll or a judgment call. You may use minor
actions on the initiative roll in order to accomplish several things. First of all, some actions specifically call for it;

for example Focus on Breath.

Secondly, you can use the action for a skill roll in order to obtain information. Maybe youre fighting but you
suspect theres somebody hidden nearby. In that case, you might want to try an Awareness check. And last, but by
no means least, you can try to initiate a Wave. When your turn comes up you may choose to delay taking your
action until a later point in time. You can then later take your action at any point, even during somebody elses
turn, but you cant interrupt anothers action this way. You can act before somebody else attacks or after it, but
not during the attack itself. This option might be useful sometimes, such as when demanding someones
surrender. This way you can hold off attacking him until you know whether he plans to surrender or not.
Focus on Breath
Normally characters regain their rank in breath each turn, modified by any relevant conditions. By focusing on
their training and centring themselves, fencers may increase this. The target number depends on the number of
additional points you would like to regain:
1 point of Breath requires a set of at least 10
2 Points of Breath requires a set of at least 20
3 points of Breath requires a set of at least 40
4 points of Breath requires a set of at least 80
Waves
Waves are special actions that influence the situation of the fight. Because they involve almost any action that a
player might think of its hard to give an exact definition. As a guideline, a Wave is any action that affects the
environment or other characters without necessarily hurting them. Shaping and Covering Ground are the two
most common Waves youll probably see. Neither of these directly harms anybody, but they do change matters
for others. If you run out of reach, people can no longer attack you. If you block off a door, people can no longer
walk through it. To initiate a Wave you need to use an extra set from your initiative roll. Like any other minor
action you then apply a bonus and that will result in the Waves final score. But although Waves are created
during the initiative roll, they dont yet reach completion until your turn comes up, at which time you can first
take your normal action and then resolve the Wave or vice versa, if the sequence matters. In between this time,
anybody who acts before you is aware of all present Waves and can try to Break those Waves. Breaking a Wave is
a minor action on your attack roll. You dont have to complete a Wave on your turn if you no longer want to or if
the circumstances have changed. For example, if you intended to break a wall but somebody else has already
broken it before your turn arrived, you are under no obligation to keep smashing the rubble even further.
The GM determines which skill bonus is used for the Wave-Breaking check and can apply further bonuses based
on the description of the player. Its also possible to improvise a technique using your style, getting a +5 bonus per
point of Breath spent up to a maximum of your Rank. The GM must approve of the way you use your Style to
improvise an effect you might use daring acrobatics to cross a room, but using them to smash through a wall

wouldnt make sense. If this check exceeds the one made to create the Wave, it is broken and the action doesnt
finish.
Example:
The assassin Vera Biacchi slipped some poison into Conrad Marsdens wine and hes gasping for air on the floor
as she moves in to finish him off. Fortunately Robert of York is also present! Initiative is rolled and Robert has a
total initiative of 30. He also tosses a small bottle at Conrad with a total result of 26 (the GM determines that
Finesse is best, trying to carefully aim a fragile bottle like that). But Veras initiative is 37 and she doesnt plan on
letting that cad hand him any antidote! Her attack roll only has a single set of three 9s and some individual other
results. Since you can only perform minor actions with sets of dice she devotes those to Breaking the Wave, using
a single die to attack with. She stabs at Robert but swiftly runs past him and grabs the bottle from thin air with her
Finesse skill of +10 (for a total of 49), the attack itself a feint never intended to hit. Since this is a critical success the
GM also allows her to grab the bottle rather than just knock it off course. But Veras joy is short-lived. The bottle
feels too light. She realizes too late that it is empty and that she spent his set of three dice on this Wave-Breaking
action for nothing! It was a trick!
ZONES AND COVERING GROUND
The stables beside the inn. The roof of the villa. An alley in the city. The throne room.
All these places have a distinct identity and form a different kind of backdrop in a fight. Rather than map out
every square inch on the battlefield, the rules use the concept of Zones instead. A Zone is such a distinct place that
separates itself from others through its own unique qualities. All combatants within a Zone are assumed to be able
to attack each other in melee. They may freely run around within a zone, run over walls, do backflips, or describe
movement in whatever fashion they can get away with. These descriptions are exciting and fun, but in terms of
rules, they are merely flavorful descriptors. Theres no check required for movement within a Zone.
If the GM feels that a place is too large to comfortably be described as a single Zone, he may cut up the location
into smaller sections. The main road of a town might simply be too long, so the GM determines that the road near
the towns northern gate is one Zone, the road near the taverns another separate Zone, and so forth.
If you want to move from one Zone to another, this is called Covering Ground and all you need to do is make a
Footwork check as a Wave during your initiative roll meaning youll need to devote a set of dice to the check
and decide which adjacent Zone you want to go to. If your check is good enough you will move from your current
Zone into that one, either before or after you make your regular action assuming your Wave doesnt get broken.
It is one thing to say you walk out the door, its quite another to actually do this when theres a crazy guy with a
spear in between!
The difficulty of moving from one Zone to another depends on the obstacles and terrain you face. Most of the
time, the difficulty is Trivial (10) because even in the middle of a fight its not so hard to run over a street or field.
So any set should be enough, even if you have a slight penalty of some sort. The set simply cant be used for
anything else, representing the focus it takes to do many things at once, but youre very unlikely to fail.
(Assuming nobody Breaks your Wave.) But, of course, the GM can assign a higher difficulty. The following chart

contains examples on what could make traveling more difficult;

Moderate (20): Light obstructions, loose sand, uneven terrain. Normal people can travel here but not
comfortably.
Hard (30): Heavy obstructions, walls, dense growth, water. Normal people can travel here, but not quick
enough to be worth measuring in the scale of the combat system. To those with training though, these obstacles
are not so great. Rather than climb or swim they can run over sheer walls and glide over the water!
Memorable (40): or higher: Very distant places or obstacles that are actively dangerous. Moving past deathtraps
with spinning blades or leaping from boulder to boulder in an avalanche.
The difficulty can be relative from one Zone to another. Its harder to jump up to the roof than it is to jump down
from it!
Besides helping you determine where everything is in relation to each other, Zones can have special rules in place
of their own. For example, a burning building might be such an inferno that anybody inside is in serious danger,
suffering frequent Ripples (depending on how fierce the fire is).
Example 1:
Vera rolls initiative and plans to flee from Robert. She rolls her Lake and uses one set for his Footwork skill to
Cover Ground with a final result of 30, while her initiative score itself is 40. Richard would love to be able to stop
her from getting away, but his initiative is only 39. And so the Wave completes before he has any chance of
stopping it. Vera chooses to attack him first with a boot to the face, using him as something to kick off from as she
soars out the window.
Shaping
You directly alter the battlefield itself, somehow changing whatever is there.
Shaping actions are made during the initiative roll using an extra set, working as a Wave. Your roll is not
defended against by any opponent but possibly they can possibly break your Wave before it finishes. Also,
depending on the action youre trying the GM may impose a certain difficulty. One of the most basic functions of
Shaping Marvels is altering how difficult it is to cover ground from one zone to another. It the Shaping succeeds
then the final result becomes the new difficulty of covering ground, replacing the old one if it was lower. The
opposite can also happen, removing a created obstruction by exceeding the result of a previous Shaping Marvel
and restoring the difficulty to its former level.
Besides this use there are many other possibilities. The Sage can determine what options you have and what
results there are. Some he might have planned out ahead as a centerpiece of a particular fight while others you
think of on the fly. You might flood a ships hold to limit the available hiding spaces around you, you might try to
break into a vault even as you fight off the guards, cause a stampede, or anything else you might want!
Many other shaping actions are of a much less spectacular nature. Because it takes some focus to do things in the
middle of a fight, shaping actions can also be things like catching a falling vase, opening a window, breaking a
statue, and so on.

Example 1:
Vincenzo is running for his life because a very angry Cardinal Brennon is chasing him through his mansion.
Fortunately he spots some jars of oil and a lit candle nearby. Thinking quickly he starts a fire to set a corridor
ablaze so that he wont be followed by the Cardinal and his servants. The GM lets him use his Finesse skill to
quickly manipulate these objects on the run. He also grants a bonus (fire laughs in the presence of oil!) and
another one (this narrow wooden corridor would certainly fear the presence of an inferno), so thats +10 total.
Vincenzos dice were two 5s, to which he adds his Finesse of +0 (alas!) and the extra +10 for a final result of 35.
Example 2:
Cardinal Brennon notices that a thief is trying to set his mansion on fire! Such an action is a Wave, which
happens to have a final result of 35, a fact the Cardinal is aware off. Fortunately for the Cardinal he has a higher
initiative score. As he reaches for the culprit he scowls and makes a dismissive wave with his other hand. His main
gauche, concealed in his sleeve, launches out and snuffs the candle out with its passing. The Cardinal spends a
couple points of breath on this Marvel, for a bonus of +10. A pair of sevens on his roll gives the Cardinal 37 total,
sparing the corridor from damage and leaving the difficulty of the Cardinals cover ground roll unchanged.
ATTACK ACTIONS
When your turn comes up youre allowed a single action; chances are that youre going to want to attack
someone. To do so, roll your Lake and apply your Strike bonus. The result is the total against which your
opponent must defend himself. You can include various effects and enhancements on your attack, such as Style
techniques and special Marvels. Once you have rolled and decided on which effects youll include, determine your
final result and inform your opponent of that. Anybody who is attacked is allowed a chance to prevent being hit.
When you dont interfere with the attack directly but instead try to avoid it, you are trying to Dodge it. If you
instead try to parry or deflect the attack youre using Block. Whatever the case, both work the same. Roll your
Lake and apply your bonuses, as well as any extra effects like River, Style, and so on. If your defensive result is
higher than the Strike, you have successfully evaded the attack entirely.
With two types of defense available, you might wonder why youd ever choose one over the other. The answer is
that while both options are valid in theory, in practice one is often preferable over the other. If you describe your
attacks, the GM will decide whether Blocking or Dodging would work best based on the description. The target is
still allowed to use the disadvantageous defense but hell suffer a -5 penalty for doing so. For instance, say a spear
comes at you with snake-like movements. You realize that if youd try to parry it with your saber it would twist
and shift out of the way, so your best bet is to leap backwards out of reach entirely! So in this scenario, Dodging is
a better choice over Blocking. Additionally, Block is more specialized than Footwork, but the former isnt
penalized by wearing heavy armor. If an attack hits it inflicts a Ripple and possibly forces a Rippling Roll.
Marvels
Besides simply trying to just stab or punch you, enemies will set you on fire, bruise your organs, paralyze nerves,
and fling you into the dirt. Marvels are special minor actions you can include on your rolls. They exist to allow

characters to try any trick or improvised tactic they reasonably could pull off. This system presents several default
options for Marvels, but these are outcomes, not methods. It is up to the players of the game to determine how the
characters attempt to accomplish these things. Whether you try to force somebody back with brute strength or by
cleverly using a dozen slashes that herd your opponent backwards, it is called a Knockback Marvel. In order to
attempt a Marvel you need two things. First, just like with any other minor action, you need a set of dice to form
the basis of the Marvel. Depending on what type of Marvel you attempt, this is either during the initiative roll or
with the attack roll
Second you need to justify your effect. Describe what youre doing. Take into account the various facts of the
situation, the comparable strengths and weaknesses of the kung fu styles involved, your available weapons and
tools, as well as any other aspect that sounds relevant. Dont just say, My enemy now has trouble dodging. Say
something like, I pick up the snake and throw it at him, distracting him until he can uncoil himself! or My
blade grazes across his hamstring, weakening his footing! Make it sound plausible, make it visceral, but most of
all make it cool.
Based on your description the GM will decide which skill bonus will function as the basic modifier for your
Marvel. So, forcing somebody back with brute strength? Sounds like Might. Cleverly using your attacks to herd
the opponent backwards? That would be Tactics. The GM might also allow you to improvise a special technique
by using Style. Instead of using a skill bonus as your basic modifier, you get a +5 bonus for each point of Breath
spent, up to a maximum amount of Breath equal to your rank. Of course, based on your description, the GM will
also grant you certain bonuses for exploiting advantages due to laugh and fear as described previously, just like
with any other opposed check.
Disorient
It can be hard to keep track of every detail at once in the middle of a fight, and its possible for even seasoned
warriors to get overwhelmed with too much going on at once. Breathing exercises, hidden lore and higher
education are swiftly forgotten when the pressure builds. Disorient Marvels are made during the attack roll,
targeting the same characters as the strike itself. Your opponent can defend himself against your Disorient
Marvel, blocking or dodging it just as if it were an attack. This defense is made from the same roll used to defend
against the strike, the defense does not count as a type of minor action; this means you can use a single die for it
instead of needing a set. If the Disorient Marvel succeeds the target will be less effective for a while. The attacker
chooses any one skill. The target then suffers a -5 penalty to all such skill checks for the remainder of the fight.
At the start of each round the defender may use a minor action on the initiative roll to make a skill check. The
difficulty of this check is the total result of the Marvel that inflicted the condition. On as success the condition
goes away. Exactly which skill is used depends on how you describe the efforts to restore yourself, just like with
inflicting it.
Example:
Veras turn comes up so she rolls her Lake and gets two sets, one of 25 and one of 28. First she decides to use the
25 for her attack, to which she adds her +10 Strike bonus. She plans on running away and hiding so she tries to
disorient Conrad, causing his Awareness to go down. She describes how she uses an improvised Aldana technique

to add some hypnotic and distracting motions. She is rank three, so she can spend three Breath at most on this.
The GM grants her a basic +15 for the improvised technique. For the sake of this example, well say that Veras
attack description earns her another +5 bonus across the board, so her final results are Strike 40 and Disorient 48.
Conrad manages to avoid getting struck but hes dazzled, getting only a 34 to defend herself with. He is now
Disoriented for the rest of this fight until he can make a skill check with a result of 34 or higher.
Disrupt
You directly hinder your opponents ability to fight. You could close off a key pressure point, weaken the grasp on
his weapon, force him to change his rhythm with carefully timed attacks, disturb his footwork just as he tries to
step forward, trick, feint, or otherwise prevent him from utilizing his full strength.
Disrupt Marvels are made during the attack roll, targeting the same characters as the strike itself. Your opponent
can defend himself against your Disrupt Marvel, blocking or dodging it just as if it were an attack. This defense is
made from the same roll used to defend against the strike, the defense does not count as a type of minor action;
this means you can use a single die for it instead of needing a set. If the Disrupt Marvel succeeds the target will be
less effective for a while. The attacker chooses one of the one of the combat stats provided by the Style the target is
using such as: Speed, Footwork, Strike, Damage, Block or Toughness. The target then suffers a -5 penalty to that
statistic for the remainder of the fight. At the start of each round the defender may use a minor action on the
initiative roll to make a skill check. The difficulty of this check is the total result of the Marvel that inflicted the
condition. On as success the condition goes away. Exactly which skill is used depends on how you describe the
efforts to restore yourself, just like with inflicting it.
Example:
Conrad has figured out how the style of a corrupt priest works and he waits for a critical moment. Just the priest
rushes forward, Conrad takes advantage of an opening and slashes the priest across the forehead, blinding him
with blood! The priest is now unable to see much at all, causing a -5 penalty to Strike. The Sage grants Conrad the
use of the Medicine skill as the basis for this Marvel, as it takes advantage of Conrads knowledge of how quickly
head wounds bleed.
Knockback
You often do not want your enemies in certain places. You may throw them back with the force of a hurricane,
cause them to stumble back a few steps with an intimidating glare, or maneuver your enemies with clever strategy
without them even realizing it.
Knockback Marvels are made during the attack roll, targeting the same characters as the strike itself. Your
opponent can defend himself against your Knockback Marvel, blocking or dodging it just as if it were an attack.
This defense is made from the same roll used to defend against the strike, the defense does not count as a type of
minor action; this means you can use a single die for it instead of needing a set.
If the Knockback Marvel succeeds the target will be forced out of the zone hes currently in and into another of

your choosing. This other zone must be next to the one the target starts in and should be accessible, using the
Knockback result in place of a Covering Ground roll if necessary.
Example:
Vera feels like showing off and thinks it would be cool to punch a bandit so hard that hed fly out of a window into
the canal below. Taking into account the various factors at play, the GM allows the use of the Might skill and
grants her a +5 bonus due to her exploiting something that the bandits style happens to fear. Her dice were two 0s
and her Might is +5, so in total shes got 30. The bandit only has 29 Block so he up he goes but the GM also
determines that the window is reinforced and that it would take a Memorable (40) result for the thief to break
through rather than just slamming into it!
Frowning, Vera watches as the bandit clearly wont make out. The GM grins and offers her a point of Bad Luck if
shes willing to accept Interesting Times. Vera shrugs because the bandit was pretty much defeated anyway so
shell take the Luck. The bandit crashes through a window, falling into a passing gondola and quite possibly
surviving the fall. Vera sighs. She isnt looking forward to having to watch for a knife in the back
Other
The Marvels detailed above are the most commonly used options but youre free to work out other improvised
actions with your Sage. As a general guideline, if a Marvel doesnt directly affect an enemy its a Wave. If it does
affect an enemy directly its a minor action on the attack roll, thus potentially allowing your target the benefit of a
defense roll. Dont underestimate the potential of Marvels. If youre involved in a fight over a special codex or
treasure, using Marvels to grab and steal the item from each others grasp might be far more important than
hurting your opponents.
Area Attacks
Some attacks cover a great area, send forth a shockwave, or are so quick and powerful that they seem to occur
everywhere at once. Such Area Attacks affect everyone within the same zone. Both the Strike and any secondary
effects on it apply to every target, who must each make their own individual defenses against it. Some targets
might escape entirely unharmed, while others are shredded to ribbons! Area attacks are also more effective against
units of minions, inflicting an extra Ripple per unit. Area attacks usually cant exclude anyone, so be careful when
using them around friends. If you Flood one die from the River, you may make your Area attack selective,
allowing you to pick specific people who wont be affected by it.
Reply
Usually if a defense succeeds it means only that the attack failed, nothing more. But certain special techniques
allow you to sometimes Reply, which is a sort of counter-attack. You can only Reply against people within the
same zone as you even if your weapon would allows you to reach further, the split-second precision required
can't cover that kind of distance. A Reply inflicts a single Ripple against the attacker. You can Reply only once

against any given attack.

Secondary Strikes
When an attack is so quick or effective that it lashes one opponent several times in the blink of an eye, it is
represented with a Secondary Strike. You may include another attack as a Minor Action against the same
opponent. This second attack uses the same basic statistics as the primary, but any Style techniques used are not
copied over. You may, however, use such techniques a second time to have them apply to the secondary strike as
well. (This is an exception to the normal rule that any given technique can only be used once per round.) The
target uses a single roll to defend against all components of the attack, requiring a result against the main Strike,
the Secondary Strike, and any Marvels that might be included. However, the Secondary Strike is not considered a
Marvel, and so the defender can use a single die to generate a defensive result without needing a set.
RIPPLES
A swordsman achieves victory, but at a price. He bruised three ribs, lost a lot of blood, and almost lost his eye
during the fight. Now that the rush of battle fades, shock sets in. An assassin cant stop thinking of her latest
victim. His face haunts her dreams, and she remembers how her hands trembled as she took his life. Only now,
far too late, does she realize that she has fallen in love. A defeated criminal vows to give up his violent ways and
become a monk, forever toiling to make amends for his misdeeds.
Conflicts have repercussions. Beyond the immediate risk to life and limb, they can change lives and reveal inner
turmoil. Few people can kill and not feel a thing. Whether it is displayed through guilt, acceptance, or glee,
violence leaves marks. The Ripples system is an abstract way of measuring the risks and consequences of a fight.
Generally speaking, the longer and more dangerous the fight is, the more significant the long-term effects will be.
(In a nutshell, Ripples apply undesirable conditions to the victim.)
All attacks (and some Secret Art techniques) that hit will inflict one or more Ripples. This is not a tangible thing,
but a mechanical representation of being pressured by the opposition. Most successful attacks dont immediately
decapitate or skewer you, but they still put you in danger and batter you around. They leave Ripples behind, even
if they dont cause obvious trauma. That punch might not have shattered you, but that doesnt mean it was
useless; the pain might distract you later on, making the difference between a narrow dodging and a narrow hit. A
fierce insult might not cause you to entirely lose your cool, but it might lead to just enough loss of focus for you to
make a vital mistake later. Just as ripples spread in a pond long after the stone has been cast, the consequences of
hostile action are not always immediately apparent, nor do they always result in quite what you had thought.
At the discretion of the GM, certain improvised Marvels or Waves can inflict Ripples as well. Normally they
dont, so use this cautiously, but, for example, if Vincenzo set a corridor on fire with people still in it, they might
be asked to make a Dodge roll to avoid suffering Ripples from heat and smoke.
Depending on how well the attacker rolled, the following happens:
Attacker succeeds by Result

0 to 9 - 1 Ripple
10 to 19 - 1 Ripple and an immediate Rippling roll.
20 to 39 - 2 Ripples and an immediate Rippling roll.
40 to 79 - 3 Ripples and an immediate Rippling roll.
80 or more - 4 Ripples and an immediate Rippling roll.
Rippling Rolls
The defender faces a Rippling roll if the Attacker succeeds by 10 or more. Roll an amount of dice equal to the total
amount of Ripples present on the victim and apply any relevant bonus. This doesnt consume the Ripples; they
are only compounded by new unfortunate events. The victim spend Breath to protect himself with Aura, i.e.,
brace for the attack. They roll one die per point of Breath spent up to the maximum allowed by their Rank. The
result of the Aura roll is subtracted directly from the result of the Rippling roll. Note: neither the aggressor nor the
victim can use the River with, or apply Luck to, these rolls!
If the remainder is zero or less, nothing happens; the attack is ineffective.
If the remainder is more than zero but less than the Damage Threshold of the target, a Trivial Condition is
inflicted.
If the remainder amount is equal to or greater than the Damage Threshold, a Minor Condition is inflicted.
If the remaining amount is equal to or greater than double the Damage Threshold, a Major Condition is
inflicted.
Finally, if the remaining amount is equal to or greater than triple the Damage Threshold, the character gets
Taken Out. Whether he is dead, unconscious, or something stranger depends on the description of the attack.
Nevertheless, a Taken Out condition can normally only be caused by Physical attacks or techniques that
specifically allow it under their description. Remember that the victims Damage Threshold is equal to their
maximum Breath points, not the amount of Breath they currently have.
The attacker chooses the details of the condition within the limits set by the event that caused the Rippling roll, as
defined by the GM. The Recovery of the condition is equal to the final result of the Ripple roll after subtracting
Aura. The Interval is one day, and the Duration is 1. Most of the time, Rippling rolls are caused by physical
attacks, so their results come in the form of injuries. However, injuries are not the only type of conditions that can
be inflicted this way. It should be obvious that the longer you keep fighting, the more Ripples youll suffer. And
the more Ripples you get, the more likely and more severe the consequences become. Consider retreating
sometimes
Example:
Vincenzos Damage Threshold is 11. If a Rippling rolls final result was 19, taking Aura into account, then he
would suffer a Minor condition. After all, its more than 11 but less than 22.

Physical Attacks
Swords, fists, and maces are dangerous things. Physical attacks work as described above, but there are a few
specialized rules that apply. Other types of attacks, such as those made with the Secret Arts, use the above rules
but have their own special rules to take into account. First, any Rippling roll from a physical attack adds a Damage
bonus to the result. The victim, in turn, can apply his Toughness bonus to his Chi aura. In many cases these two
bonuses cancel each other out, but very powerful or sturdy styles can offer an advantage to the user.
Physical attacks cause wounds, represented by special Injury Conditions. Each attack injures a body part. One
slash of your sword might cut an artery in the leg, another might send blood trickling into the enemys eyes, and a
third might pierce his left lung. Each distinctive injury you can think of is its own condition. You can also Inflame
an existing Injury Condition if your result would cause a condition of the same severity, instead of creating a new
one.
Physical attacks can also cause you to be Taken Out. This means you are defeated, and possibly killed or maimed
you are truly at the mercy of your enemies here. This happens if the total result of the Rippling roll is three
times your Damage Threshold or more, or if a Major Injury Condition is Inflamed to Taken Out by a Rippling
roll from a physical attack. Again, remember that armor adds to your Damage Threshold when determining how
badly physical attacks damage you.
Example 1:
Vincenzo already has six Ripples after a few rounds of fighting with the Cardinal. The Cardinal attacks once more
and scores a powerful hit! The hit overcomes defense by 13, inflicting one additional Ripple for a total of seven.
The Cardinal makes a Rippling roll with 7 dice and gets a set of 26, adding a +10 Damage bonus from his Style for
a total of 36.
Vincenzo spends two points of Breath and rolls two Aura dice, but only gets a final result of 19, meaning that 17
points of damage make it through. This is more than Vincenzos effective Damage Threshold of 16 (11 normal, +5
from armor), but less than 32, so he takes a Minor Injury Condition. The Cardinal lashes out and strikes him
square in the chest, so that Vincenzo sprays blood from his mouth and nose! Unless he rasps for air and keeps
spitting up blood, it will interfere with his lungs, and reduce the Breath he regains each round!
Example 2:
Guillaume, the Black Sands Bandit, strikes the caravan escort with his spear. However, after Aura, he only deals
enough damage to inflict a Trivial Condition - easily ignored. The bandit declares it's a small cut on the escorts
thigh. Later, Guillaume inflicts another Trivial Condition, and instead of inflicting another minor cut, he targets
the leg again to Inflame the Trivial Condition into a Minor Condition. Now the agent needs to start worrying, as
he can no longer run and leap as freely without incurring penalties... Death by a Thousand Cuts!
Example Injury Conditions
These are examples of conditions caused by physical damage. Of course, you can think of others.

Injured Leg
(Action penalty)
Youve suffered a leg wound; your joints and muscles are bruised, bleeding, or even severed! You limp around,
gritting your teeth at the pain when you accidentally try to support yourself on your damaged limb. Youre not
going to be Covering Ground any time soon unless you come up with a compelling explanation for how you work
around your handicap; if you want to ignore this limitation, you suffer an Action Penalty for all actions.
Crushed ribs
(Breath penalty)
Your chest hurts, it is hard to draw breath, and you cough blood. You have to make a big deal about the pain,
cough a lot, and grasp at your chest as you struggle to concentrate. Unless you make a proper show of this, you
suffer a penalty when regaining Breath. You will need proper rationalizations to justify taking a Focus on Breath
action without suffering the penalty.
Arm wound
(Action/Breath penalty)
Your arm has been mangled or cut; it is useless! Using two handed weapons suddenly becomes extremely difficult,
as do many other actions that require both arms to work. The arm is limp, or possibly twisted by the wound. You
need to protect it from further damage by putting it in a sling or otherwise keeping it out of the way.
Bleeding
(Action/Breath penalty)
Youve suffered a deep wound maybe a strike caused internal bleeding, or the slash of an edge has opened up
your arteries! You must do what you can to stifle the bleeding, and trying to keep your pulse from going up. You
avoid excessive movement; you grow pale and dizzy.
Death
(Special)
The victor can always choose this result when an enemy is Taken Out; it means that the persons life ends as the
victor chooses. It is common for dying people who are important enough to the story to have names and
motivations to have the time to utter a few final words of wisdom, regret at what they have done of their life, oaths
of vengeance beyond the grave, or just about anything appropriate to the situation at hand. When this is done,
they are taken out of the game; memories may remain, but it is time to make another character.
THE SECRET ARTS IN COMBAT
A Courtier, with proper training, unbalances her enemy with a few well-spoken words. The Secret Arts are ripe
for use in combat, and their users can pull out tricks to baffle even a battle-hardened fighter.
Here is how they work.

You must have the Quick Work technique from the appropriate Loresheet to use your Secret Art as a directly
applied combat technique. You make an attack using the Manipulation Skill of your Art as a Strike bonus. For
the Courtier Arts, for example, this would be Inspire. Your opponent defends, using the appropriate Resistance or
Recovery Skill as a stand-in for Dodge or Block respectively.
This is an alternative to making a physical attack, not a complement to it. To be able to do a Strike-dependent
attack as well, you need some sort of technique that allows for a Secondary Attack. You are, of course, free to
describe the Secret Art-based attack as occurring in a furious exchange of blows; that is highly genre
appropriate!
A successful attack is treated just like a normal attack: it inflicts one or more Ripples and it can force an immediate
Ripple roll if you get a critical success. If a mid-combat Ripple roll results in a Condition, the Condition chosen
must be appropriate to your Secret Art. A Courtier can choose to cause a Passion, for example, but he can not
choose to do break his foes arm, no matter how stinging an admonishment he delivers! These Ripple Effects are
subject to the same type of contextual penalties from the GM as those caused at the end of combat; combat cannot
sidestep higher Difficulties for unlikely conditions. Additionally, the Arts cannot directly cause someone to be
Taken Out unless the attacker has a specific Extraordinary Technique removing this limitation. They can deceive,
complicate, and hurt, and they can make a combat nearly unbearable for someone to continue, but they cannot
win the battle for you. Using the Arts in this accelerated manner relies upon large reserves of perception, quick
thinking, discipline and skill, so they cost Breath. A Secret Arts attack costs 1 Breath.
Fear and Laughter
Unlike Fencing Styles, Secret Arts do not have Fears, nor do they exactly Laugh At things. However, there is a
pattern to follow that allows you to to profit in the same ways for playing to your own strengths and exploiting the
weaknesses of an enemy. If you know about a functioning Weakness Condition and weave it into the description
of your attack (or defense!) in a way that makes sense, you get a +5 bonus to your roll. Likewise, playing to a
Hyperactivity of your own can net another +5, for a possible total bonus of +10. This is not a flat bonus given for
simply mentioning a Condition! You have to work it into an ongoing narrative, exploiting these Conditions to the
GMs satisfaction. Example: Captain Rogers has learned about a Grief Passion in Rheim he blames himself for
the crewmen that were slaughtered by King Louiss soldiers in retaliation for his piracy. When slyly making a
reference to the Rheims failures and the insurmountable weight of their deaths, he gains a bonus to his
underhanded Courtier attacks. If Rogers would also be Inspired towards petty cruelty (and lets face it, this is not
altogether unlikely!) he could look at a total bonus as high as +10!
Secret Arts and Marvels
Using the Secret Arts in combat is highly compatible with the Marvels depending on description they can be
part of the same discrete narrative action (your biting words fill your enemy with doubt, causing a Disorient effect
that targets his Confidence!), or separate from it (as your enemy feels the air thicken with ill intent, you kick him
in the belly so that he falls down from the balcony a Knockback!). The target defends against these Marvels as
usual. It is up to the Secret Artists player to make their description make sense no matter how proficient an

orator you are, you are unlikely to blow people off their feet with the sheer force of your voice!
Secret Arts Attacks
Your Armor and Toughness bonuses dont offer any protection against these kinds of Rippling rolls.
Examples of Conditions Caused by the Courtiers Art
These are the Passions born through conflict; by default, they are caused by end-of-combat Rippling rolls or the
Courtiers Art. Next to wounds, they are probably the most common conditions to be imposed by duels; through
fighting, fencers come to know themselves.
Fear of Dying
(Fear Passion, Action Penalty)
Youve stared your own death in the eye, and flinched you want to live! You think about all the reasons you
have to stay alive. You try to find ways to escape danger. You have to heartily try to avoid all risky actions, or
rationalize them as a part of your work to frantically avoid putting yourself in a life-or-death situation.
Enamored
(Joy Passion, Breath Penalty)
The battle awakens a passion inside of you is this love? You fidget and stammer, or you simply stare dreamyeyed; you cannot take your eyes off them! You have to spend time pondering this love and the admirable qualities
of your object of desire. You might blush and stare, or become caught in emotion. You cannot possibly oppose
them, except when you make it a part of your dance exclaiming your admiration or making internal monologue
about wanting to spend time with them.
Newfound respect
(Contemplation or Joy Passion, either penalty)
As so often happens among fighters, the clash of swords is merely the first step of a friendship, or at least lingering
respect. You see new qualities in your opponent; their positive traits are now apparent. You cannot help but
ponder these qualities, and how their behavior and form express them, and you spend time exclaiming this
respect and admiration to them. You will have a natural inclination to hear them out and treat them respectfully.
If you oppose them, you must do so with all due respect and apologies for what you are forced into.
Converted
(Any type of Passion. Action Penalties are common.)

What better way to show off the superiority of your philosophies than through combat? Your opponent has done
just that you cannot deny the truth of their principles, although depending on the situation, you might force
yourself into denial! You have to ruminate extensively on this change of heart and on the truth of their words and
actions compare them to what you previously knew to be true, and either ponder your newfound strength of
conviction, or wallow in angst as you try to reconcile this with your previous beliefs. This new principle might
range from There is strength and truth in acting according to the churchs ideas of propriety! to The Kings
words are empty and full of lies. (As usual, the GM will want to assign modifiers to the Ripple roll to denote how
hard it would be to get a specific character to change their minds on specific philosophical stances.) You have to
either act according to the philosophy, somehow rationalize how your actions express it, or simply swallow the
penalty.
ENDING THE FIGHT
At the end of the fight, everybody suffers a Rippling roll for the total amount of Ripples theyve received. This roll
represents the total amount of injury and hardship that has accumulated through the battle, not any specific
attack, so this roll has no modifiers.
Characters also make their own Aura rolls without a need to spend any points of Breath. Note that Toughness
and Armor dont apply for this final roll; this might mean that highly resilient fighters might escape most wounds
during the fight itself, but suddenly feel all the bruises and shocks once the rush of adrenaline wears off.
If a condition would be imposed, then the opponents may determine what that condition is. It doesnt have to be
an Injury Condition. Regardless of the type of attacks used during the fight, end-conditions can be virtually
anything. However, the GM still imposes a modifier based on plausibility. People can discover long-term organ
damage after a fight (an Injury Condition), sudden pangs of guilt (a Passion) or they might be haunted by the
hateful ghosts of the people they just killed (a Curse), but its unlikely their latest fight results in them suddenly
hating their own mother. Of course, pangs of guilt arent particularly likely for anybody whos particularly
ruthless either. Consider all the factors at play when deciding if something is probable or not.
The most straightforward way of ending a fight (or just your own involvement in it) is to get Taken Out, or to
simply not fight anymore (such as when you find out youve been fighting for the wrong reasons). But there are
some other methods as well.
Example:
Vera lies defeated, her broken body surrounded by his slain minions, a drunken prostitute, the decoy leopard, and
the rubble of the Hundred Ton Zeus statue. (It was a pretty crazy fight.) Now it is time to check for long-term
consequences. Vincenzo had only a single Ripple. With his Aura of two dice, he escapes all harm. Maria dAbelio
had eight Ripples. The roll is made and comes up 31 while her Aura roll is only 12, for a net of 19! Her Damage
Threshold is 12, so she will suffer a Minor Chi Condition. Vera unwisely decides that she Maria has realized the
righteousness of Veras cause during their fights, but Marias faith makes this absurd! The GM applies a -20
penalty to the Rippling roll, which causes it to fail after all. (This shouldnt occur often in real play; this example
serves as warning to keep things plausible, so youll never have to squander the conditions you might inflict!)

Conrad had nine Ripples. His roll is disastrous: 46! His Aura is a respectable 17, but that still leaves 23 points,
enough for a Major Chi Condition! Veras player considers an injury, but realizes that Conrad knows a doctor
who could treat any wounds declared. So instead, she chooses to Curse him from beyond the grave so that Conrad
takes a -10 penalty to all rolls when in the presence of a statue of Zeus. She vowed that Conrad would die at her
hands, and the huge stone hand that crushed her seems like an appropriate extension of her dying words.
Surrender
This is a proposal to the opponent that you lose the fight and suffer specific consequences of your choice. If the
offer is accepted, the winner doesnt get to decide on the condition; you already did that with the offer. This
option is most commonly used when two sides fight for a very specific goal. By surrendering, the winner is
assured of having achieved that goal, while the losing party gets to cut their losses and prevent worse from
happening. There is no penalty to this Rippling roll due to implausibility; by making the offer, the loser has
already made it a likely outcome. The consequences can include swearing an oath, and the offer for surrender is
often made in-character. If you dont kill me, I will swear to Heaven that I wont harm these villagers anymore!
This is a perfectly acceptable way of dealing with a bandit problem. Oaths are voluntary conditions accepted by a
character when they surrender in combat.
Generally, they work out like Passions the character states something about how they will act and behave, and
the Ripple roll decides how much they are affected by the oath in a mechanical sense (as well as how easy it may
be to get rid of in the end, assuming an open-ended condition). They cannot be directly manipulated by Secret Art
techniques, although the behavior they impose might easily spawn secondary conditions that can be Discovered!
The person who volunteers the Oath can formulate it as they please, but this can be vetoed by another character
(in case that character is the victor to whom you have surrendered offer an inadequate oath and they just might
decide to continue fighting instead!). As usual, the GM is the final arbiter of the exact mechanical effect of the
condition. The most common effect is an Action Penalty, though this may vary.
Example:
You used to be the terror of the mountains, taking what you wanted from the silly goat herders and farmers who
inhabited these peaks! This was until that damned mercenary beat you down and worse, he forced you to swear
an oath to not only abstain from terrorizing them, but to also protect them from harm! Since this was a lot better
than having him slaughter you and the second half of your men like he did the first half, you offered
unconditional acceptance of her terms.
As long as you abide by the oath, doing your best to protect the villagers from stray beasts and other brigands (all
the while absolutely not helping yourself to their grains) you can escape the penalty. When you try to act against
it, your stomach locks in terror at the thought of the revenge that the hero will rain down upon you when he hears
of your betrayal. After nearly plunging down a ravine when your legs became weak at the thought, you decided to
abide by your oath.

Retreat
Some unbeatable opponents just want to kill you. Some people are too proud to ever offer surrender even when
theyre outmatched. In some cases, its best to just flee. To do so, announce your intention at the start of a round.
The opponent can simply accept, and then youve fled from him. If he doesnt accept, then it becomes a matter of
Footwork rolls, zones, and Wave-Breaking as you attempt to get away. The GM will determine whether youve
successfully fled at any point based on distance and comparative skill of the people involved, but if youre equally
matched it can become a very tricky challenge. Sometimes you simply wont be able to escape!
If you successfully retreat, the winner doesnt get to determine your consequences. You may decide on those for
yourself. The GM can still veto any improbable or abusive condition. Youre given the chance to determine your
own consequences, but they should still be serious, not meaningless or blessings in disguise. If the GM feels
youre trying to be too clever for your own good, he can give back the right to decide on your consequences to
your opponents!
Condition penalties
Rippling rolls are intended to create a nearly free-form system that allows you to creatively impose wounds and
other consequences. It can create results of anything from a thrown knife to a particularly terrifying glare.
However, you do need to keep plausibility in mind. Some attacks seek to create conditions upon their intended
target that, quite frankly, dont make sense. Keeping this in mind, there are special modifiers that the GM can use
if she feels a Rippling rolls intended consequence is particularly likely or unlikely to occur.
+5 Based on past descriptions and events, the condition is entirely expected. It's a little surprising the target
doesn't have such a condition already!
Examples:
Re-opening an old wound that only just healed
A Passion that the target is clearly exhibiting
+0 The default difficulty. The condition could be there, but nothing says it should be there.
Examples:
Almost every weapon attack under normal circumstances
A Passion relating to fear or anger in a pitched battle
-5 The condition is possible but not expected. There's something going on that makes this particular result
dubious, either because something is resisting or because the intended result is without any established precedent.
Examples:
An attack described in such a way that it strikes an armored portion of the body

 A Passion that the subject hasn't previously displayed

-10 The condition is unlikely because there's strong evidence that the exact opposite should be true. People who
hear about the result will act surprised that things worked out this way.
Examples:
A Passion that is out of character for the subject
-20 The proposed condition sounds so far-fetched that it's a little ridiculous. This is a very steep penalty that
should only be used if the intended consequence is really something unsuitable, so strange that you might ask
yourself if a roll should be allowed at all.
Examples:
An Passion that drives a magistrates senior torturer to suddenly become a pacifist
A Prediction that the emperor will die in poverty
A Injury Condition on a healthy young warrior who follows the advice of a famous doctor
However, if there's a penalty due to plausibility in play and the condition does appear despite it, then the penalty
is removed from the result for the purpose of determining the Recovery value. So if that senior torturer does
suddenly feel pangs of guilt, it's a very serious personal crisis that won't just blow over in a day or two! This is why
you should always allow a roll for a proposed consequence, even if it sounds entirely implausible. Stranger things
have happened in both fiction and real life. These sudden unexpected conditions can add interesting and fun plot
points for your game.

Character Creation
Step 1: Rank
The starting Rank of the characters. This determines not only their standing within the game world, but several
basic statistics. The default starting Rank second, which gives them Lake 7, River 2, Breath Replenishment 2,
maximum Aura 2, and a maximum Skill Bonus of +10.
Step 2: Skills
Spend 20 Destiny on Skills. Each +5 is 2 Destiny, with a maximum bonus of +10. Specialties are 1 Destiny each.
Awareness
Confidence
Crafting
Finesse
Hardiness
Inspire
Learning
Medicine
Might
Occult
Perform
Politics
Ride
Stealth
Survival
Tactics
Step 3: Style
Each character starts with one Fencing Style (compatible weapons in parenthesis):
Aldana (Sword, Smallsword) combines dancing and fighting to create an elusive, unpredictable style.
Ambrogia (Paired, Sword) is an aggressive style using a main gauche aimed to force particular reactions from a
fencers foes.

 Donovan (Saber, Sword) is an old fashioned school focused on short thrusts and blocking.
Eisenfaust (Massive, Unarmed) uses an armored gauntlet and heavy sword to disarm foes.
Leegstra (Massive, Paired) focuses on offense over safety.
Valroux (Sword, Paired) uses a dagger in the off hand and lures targets into overextending themselves.
Desaix (Sword, Smallsword) focuses on speed above all else, but has few tricks or flourishes.
Finnegan (Unarmed, Flexible) isnt a fencing style as such, rather a type of drunken boxing.
Rois et Reines (Ranged, Spear) is the musketeers school, focusing on firearms and bayonets.
Rogers (Saber, Unarmed, Flexible), developed for fighting at sea, focuses on balance both for the fencer and
their foes.
Characters start the game with one Style of their choice that will determine their basic combat statistics (as well as
what weapons they are better at to begin with).
Step 4: Final Touches
You begin play with a Weapon with a single tag: Flexible, Massive, Paired, Ranged, Saber, Smallsword, Spear, or
Sword. You may spend 3 Destiny in Step 5 to upgrade this to a Special Weapon with two tags. You begin play
with Light Armor. It does not impede your movements and raises your Damage Threshold by 5.
You may spend 1 or 2 Destiny in Step 5 to upgrade this to Medium or Heavy Armor, respectively.
You begin with 10 Breath, increased by Cultivation due to your Style in Step 5. Your base Damage Threshold is
equal to your maximum Breath.
Step 5: Additional Destiny
You may now spend 20 Destiny on Styles, Secret Arts, and Skills. You may buy a second Style at character
creation for 10 Destiny. You may buy additional points of Breath at a cost of [your current maximum Breath]; any
Destiny spent on Styles or Secret Arts, however, count for this purpose. For example, a starting character with 10
Breath who spends 10 Destiny on upgrades to their Style will gain an additional point of Breath.
Gear
ARMOR
Light Armor lets you count your damage threshold as 5 higher for the purpose of Ripple rolls intended to cause
physical injuries. All but the lightest clothing can already count as Light Armor. It costs no Destiny to obtain.
Medium Armor lets you count your damage threshold as 10 higher for the purpose of Ripple rolls intended to

cause physical injuries. It also imposes a -5 penalty to Speed and Footwork, as well as Finesse, Stealth and any
other skill use the GM deems appropriate. This represents thick hardened leather, heavy furs or simple plating. It
costs 1 Destiny.
Heavy Armor lets you count your damage threshold as 15 higher for the purpose of Ripple rolls intended to cause
physical injuries. It also imposes a -10 penalty to Speed and Footwork, as well as Finesse, Stealth and any other
skill use the GM deems appropriate. This is solid iron armor reserved only for wartime or elite guards. It costs 2
Destiny.
BASIC WEAPONS
All starting characters get one weapon for free. If you use one of the weapons listed under your Style, you may add
the weapon stats to the basic combat statistics provided by your style, and get access to the weapons special
properties while using that style. On the other hand, if your weapon is incompatible with your style, you wont
have access to its stats and properties while using that style, but you could learn a style compatible with it later on,
learn a technique that makes that style and weapon compatible, learn a secret that allows you to combine the
properties of another weapon with those of your own making it compatible with a greater range of styles, or spend
Destiny to turn it into a special weapon for the same end.
You can use a certain weapon in conjunction with a certain style even if you dont get any mechanical benefits,
simply because it fits your concept and it looks cool.
-Flexible Weapons incorporate chain or rope into their design, allowing them to twist and entangle. This can
make them seem unavoidable!
+5 Strike
If an attack with a Flexible weapon is described in such a way that it is best Blocked instead of Dodged, the
penalty to Dodge is -10 instead of -5.
You may Flood one die from the River to extend an attack into an adjacent zone.
-Massive Weapons, such as hammers and axes, deliver large impacts with their heavy heads. They can easily
smash or batter through any obstacle.
+5 Damage
If an attack with a Massive weapon is described in such a way that it is best Dodged instead of Blocked, the
penalty to Block is -10 instead of -5.
You may Flood one die from the River while you make the attack to ignore the targets armor on any resulting
Rippling roll.

-Paired Weapons are designed to be used in unison, one light weapon in each hand. They allow dazzling displays
of speedy flurries, overwhelming enemies with twice the fury!
+5 Strike
If you Block an attack against an opponent in the same Zone by 10 or more, you may Reply against that
opponent.
You can Flood a die or set of dice from the River as the basis for a Secondary Attack.
-Ranged Weapons, whether thrown or launched, can strike at a distance. Although there are marked differences
in the effective ranges of a crossbow and a thrown rock, in most practical fighting conditions it is the presence of
buildings and trees that limits range rather than their technical performances. To most martial artists these
differences are of little concern; those trained in kung fu can expertly sidestep any attack from more than a few
paces distance, unless the shot is truly exceptional.
+5 Strike
You can make attacks against targets in adjacent Zones.
You may Flood one die from the River to make an attack against targets further away, up to the limit that the
Sage feels is reasonable.
-Sabers are single-edged blades, from knives to ferocious broadswords.
+5 Strike
+5 Damage
You may Flood one die from the River to force an immediate Rippling check if the Strike exceeds the defense by
5 or more, instead of 10. You may do this after the defender rolls. (This doesnt apply to other attack forms, such
as Secret Arts or energy attacks.)
-The Smallsword is an extremely light weapon, designed in response to a preference among fencers for quick
thrusts and a disdain for slashing attacks.
+5 Strike
+5 Block
You can Flood a die or set of dice from the River as the basis for a Secondary Attack.
-Spears and other polearms feature a long handle upon which is a sharpened end.
+5 Damage

 You may Flood one die from the River to extend an attack into an adjacent zone.
You may Flood one die from the River while you make a Block. If you do, you may exploit your weapons
superior reach. For this defense you Laugh at your opponent and do not Fear him, unless he can claim a similar
long reach (such as from using a spear or a ranged weapon).
-Swords are straight, double-edged weapons.
+5 Strike
+5 Block
You may Flood one die from the River while you make the attack. If you do and cause a Rippling roll, any Aura
used to protect against this damage costs 2 Chi points per die to purchase.
-Unarmed fighting involves fist, palm, claw, kick, elbow or even the head if so inclined. Many warriors prefer the
use of a well-forged blade but there is a subtle power in fighting purely as yourself rather than being weighed
down by iron.
+5 Speed
+5 Footwork
You can Focus on Breath using only a single die from your initiative, instead of needing a set
Styles
*Note: Any style upgrade that requires points of Breath to be spent applies only to a single roll unless otherwise
noted.
Aldana is one of the rarest of styles - one weapon, no shield or off-hand weapon at all. Instead, an Aldana fencer
tucks his hand behind his back and faces his opponent in profile, to narrow the choice of targets. Aldana is
designed for fencing swords, and can be used by nothing else. It combines dancing and fighting to create an
elusive, unpredictable style. The duelist counts time in his head, mentally playing the song he "dances" to. This
lets him make unpredictable moves to the rhythm of the song, since his foe has no idea what song it is. Aldana
Masters are even able to work themselves into a trance that focuses them completely on the moment at hand,
making them some of the most terrifying foes in the world.
(Sword, Smallsword)
Laughs at: Fencers that rely or predictability are easily overwhelmed by Aldana.
Fears: The weakness of an Aldana fencer is his song's chorus. There, and there alone, the fencer is predictable whenever the chorus comes, he will move the same way. Someone familiar with the Aldana style can easily take
advantage of that.

Statistics
Speed: +5
Footwork: +10
Strike: +10
Damage: +5
Block: +5
Toughness: +0
Upgrades
2 Destiny: Overture
You may flood one die to change your song, rendering your style immune to Fear for one round.
3 Destiny: Apprentice Dancer
You match the tempo of your song to the fight, increasing your speed bonus to +10.
4 Destiny: Journeyman Dancer

A Journeyman Aldana moves in a weaving, disorienting style that increases their footwork to +15.
1 Destiny: Aldana Trance
By spending 1 Breath, you gain +5 to any wave or marvel that would disorient your opponent, as you focus on
blinding sword strokes and hypnotic footwork.
2 Destiny: Refrain
Spend 2 Breath to increase your footwork by +10, as you add a dramatic flourish to your dance.
2 Destiny: Chorus
Spend 2 Breath. Falling back into your Chorus, you refocus, gaining +10 Speed.
3 Destiny: Deaf to the World
Spend 3 Breath. You can ignore any Passion you have that would affect your roll.
3 Destiny: Hear the Heart
Spend 3 Breath. If your foe has a Passion weakness or hyperactivity, you gain a bonus to your strike equal to the
absolute value of the bonus or penalty.
5 Destiny: Masters Focus
Spend 5 Breath to ignore the results of one rippling roll until the end of combat. Your Trance is so complete that
you can fight with a broken arm, noticing nothing until the battle ends.
Ambrogia teaches the fencer to fight with the sword in their left hand and a main gauche in their right, making
them very hard to fight with normal training. Also, it was invented by one of Rome's most famous courtesans,
Veronica Ambrogia. The school emphasizes practicality over style, as it's the winner who tells the tale of a duel.
Other Swordsmen sometimes mock Ambrogia fencers for learning from a courtesan, but it's an excellent style.
(Paired, Sword)
Laughs at: Simple or direct styles are the most easily manipulated by a knowledgeable Ambrogia fencer.
Fears: The greatest weakness, however, is that Ambrogia relies on forcing the opponent to react to the fencer's
moves and tricks. If an opponent is able to ignore those tricks, the fencer's in trouble. Statistics
Speed: +10
Footwork: +10
Strike: +5
Damage: +0
Block: +10
Toughness: +0

Upgrades:
2 Destiny: Twist the Blade
Increase your damage to +5
4 Destiny: Sinister
You fight using your left hand, something most fencers are not trained to deal with. Increase your Strike to +15.
1 Destiny: Courtesans Veil
Spend 1 Breath. Anyone attempting to determine your style this turn suffers a -5 penalty to the roll.
2 Destiny: Subtle Blow
Spend 2 Breath to gain +10 Damage.
3 Destiny: Poisoned Blade
Spend 3 Breath. If your opponent makes a Rippling Roll in response to your attack, they suffer a -5 to Toughness.
4 Destiny: Step into Danger
Spend 4 Breath to force one opponent to make a Rippling Roll. You must make a Rippling roll as well.
4 Destiny: Riposte
Spend 4 Breath to make an immediate Reply when attacked, inflicting one Ripple.
5 Destiny: Poisoned Fate
Spend 5 Breath. If your River is Empty, add one 0 and gain one Bad Luck.
Donovan is an old-fashioned style using a buckler and shortsword rather than a rapier or main gauche like most
modern styles. It's a style of slashes and thrusts, which can confused fencers trained to fight only against thrusts the shortsword, after all, has an edge, unlike most rapiers. The Donovan school takes advantage of that.
(Saber, Sword)
Laughs at: Slow styles give a Donovan fighter the time they need for their most effective and elaborate techniques.
Fears: The great weakness of Donovan is that its elaborate slashes require a moment of preparation that a clever
foe can exploit to get past their defenses.
Statistics
Speed: +5
Footwork: +0
Strike: +10
Damage: +5
Block: +10

Toughness: +5
Upgrades
3 Destiny: Buckler
You have trained with a sword and small shield; as long as you use a shield increase your Block to +15
3 Destiny: Shield Bash
You may flood one die to Reply to an attack, inflicting 1 Ripple.
1 Destiny: Deceptive Attack
Spend 1 Breath to get a +5 to marvel intended to cause knockback, as you feint before shoving your foe with your
shield.
2 Destiny: Donovans Twist
Spend 2 Breath. Block and Dodge rolls against this attack suffer a -5 penalty.
3 Destiny: Shield Lock
Spend 3 Breath to trap your foes blade against your shield. That target gains no block bonus to their defense until
the start of their next action.
3 Destiny: Shelter from the Storm
Spend 3 Breath. Gain +10 Block, and your Style now Laughs at any style not using a Massive weapon.
4 Destiny: Shattered Shield
Spend 4 Breath to reroll an Aura roll with a +5 bonus.
5 Destiny: Edwards Thrust
Spend 3 Breath to gain a reply against an attack. You may spend additional breath to increase the damage of this
reply, +5 for each point spent, up to a maximum of +20.
Eisenfaust is unlike most other popular fencing styles. It is practiced with a broadsword in one hand and a
panzerhand on the other - an iron glove that's meant to catch swords. It's a highly defensive style, despite using a
heavy weapon instead of a fencing one. It waits for the foe to attack, and then exploits any mistake they make. Its
slow buildup and patient style can infuriate foes, and that's just when the Eisenfaust master attacks, tearing them
apart with the broadsword.
(Massive, Unarmed)
Laughs at: Small or weak blades can be easily ruined by the heavier weapons Eisenfaust employs.
Fears: The great flaw of Eisenfaust is its rigidity. Eisenfaust teaches over 70 moves - but they all have specific
circumstances to them, and rules to be followed when flowing between them. Some moves cannot be used after

each other due to the awkward movements necessary. This means that against a knowledgeable foe, the
Eisenfaust fencer is predictable enough to be exploited.
Statistics
Speed: +0
Footwork: +0
Strike: +5
Damage: +10
Block: +10
Toughness: +10
Upgrades
2 Destiny: Patience
You have a +5 on any roll to determine the style of an opponent who acts before you in a turn.
4 Destiny: Armor-Trained
Reduce the penalties for wearing armor by 5.
2 Destiny: Red Right Hand
Spend 2 Breath to increase your Block by +10.
2 Destiny: Biting Blade
Spend 2 Breath to increase your damage by +10.
3 Destiny: Seize the Blade
When attacked, you may spend 3 Breath to immediately reply, inflicting 1 Ripple.
3 Destiny: Iron Hand
Spend 3 Breath to gain +15 to a marvel that would Disrupt your foe.
4 Destiny: Avalanche Blow
Spend 4 Breath. Your damage increases by +20, and you Laugh at any attempt to Block your blow.
5 Destiny: Dragons Steel
Spend 5 Breath before making a Rippling Roll to reduce the number of Ripples by 2.
Less a fighting style than a philosophy: Leegstra can be used with any heavy weapon, be it broadsword or axe, and
it focuses on the will over safety. Leegstra warriors are slow but inevitable, ignoring any assaults on themselves in

favor of focusing their strength into one killing blow. Leegstra fighters have spawned many tales of immense
warriors cutting off heads in a single blow.
(Massive, Paired)
Laughs at: Any fencer who does not dispatch a Leegstra user within the first few exchanges risks being
overwhelmed by the styles building ferocity.
Fears: The flaw of Leegstra is that it is slow. Most fencers are used to starting off with testing and experimental
lunges - which is just what doesn't work against Leegstra. However, there is little a Leegstra "fencer" can do about
a foe who knows to go for a decisive blow quickly.
Statistics
Speed: +0
Footwork: +5
Strike: +10
Damage: +10
Block: +5
Toughness: +5
Upgrades:
2 Destiny: Sacrifice
If you are attacking an enemy who has made an attack against you this turn, increase your damage to +15.
3 Destiny: Unrelenting Bladework
You may make a Knockback Marvel rather than an attack.
2 Destiny: Inviting Rebuke
Spend 2 Breath. You gain +5 damage, and if you inflict a condition this turn you can elect to inflict a Passion of
fear rather than an Injury.
2 Destiny: Numbed by the Cold
Spend 2 Breath to gain +10 Toughness.
3 Destiny: Unending Fury
Spend 3 Breath to gain a Secondary Strike.
3 Destiny: Scratches Mean Little
Spend 3 Breath to reroll an Aura roll.
4 Destiny: Ruin
Spend 4 Breath to gain +20 to a shaping roll

5 Destiny: Berserk
Spend 5 Breath to gain these benefits for the rest of the round. You may extend this for additional rounds by
spending 2 Breath at the start of each round. Gain +25 to Toughness and +15 to the Hardiness skill, but reduce
your footwork to -5.

Valroux is the signature style of Montaigne, which uses a fencing weapon in the main hand and a main gauche in
the off-hand. It is a defensive style, using the dagger only to parry, and famous for teasing foes into overextending
themselves on attacks and leaving themselves open. Valroux fencers don't finish duels by taking advantage of
those, though - rather, they draw attention to them and humiliate their foes, ending the fight only when bored.
Valroux is a very fast style, making this a viable strategy - its students are fast strikers and quick movers, dancing
rings around slower foes.
(Paired, Sword)
Laughs at: Styles that teach their users to fight to win, rather than fight for show.
Fears: The great flaw of the style, though, is arrogance. Someone who knows how to fight a Valroux fencer can
fake openings for their opponent to exploit - and when the Valroux fencer takes the time to mockingly draw
attention to the opening, he lowers his guard, giving a canny foe time for a powerful strike.
Statistics
Speed: +10

Footwork: +10
Strike: +5
Damage: +5
Block: +5
Toughness: +0
Upgrades
2 Destiny: Graceful Step
You gain +5 to Cover Ground Waves.
3 Destiny: Oration
You gain +5 to Influence rolls while using this style in combat.
4 Destiny: Insult to Injury
If you inflicted a Ripple last round, your Strike increases to +10
5 Destiny: Noblesse Oblige
Your Style Laughs at anyone who is your social inferior.
2 Destiny: Arrogance
Spend 2 Breath to gain +10 Confidence
4 Destiny: Twisted Circle Attack
Spend 4 Breath to gain a Secondary Strike
5 Destiny: Transcendant Moment
Spend 5 Breath. Your Lake increases by 2.
Desaix, a style derived from Valroux. It lacks the fun of Valroux, favoring an overwhelming offense rather than
the tricks and taunts, and it is taught by the current head of the Desaix family at any time - which at the moment
is Sprague.
(Sword, Smallsword)
Laughs at: Any foe who rises to compete with a Desaix fighter for speed and aggression puts themself at risk.
Fears: A The flaw of Desaix is that it is far too aggressive, and a good swordsman can lure a fencer of Desaix into
an attack and strike them down when they take the bait.
Statistics

Speed: +10
Footwork: +5
Strike: +5
Damage: +10
Block: +0
Toughness: +5
Upgrades
2 Destiny: Blind to Fear
Increase your Strike to +15, but reduce your toughness and Footwork to 0.
3 Destiny: Overwhelmed by Steel
Any opponent you inflict a Rippling roll on suffers a -5 to their next attack roll
2 Destiny: Strike the Heel
Spend 2 Breath to gain +5 to speed. If this is the first round of combat, gain +15 speed instead.
2 Destiny: Precise Thrust
Spend 2 Breath to gain +10 Strike
3 Destiny: Unhesitating Speed
Spend 3 Speed to gain +15 to Speed.
3 Destiny: How Swift thy Sword
Spend 3 Breath to make an additional Cover Ground wave. You must have an available set to use on this action.
4 Destiny: Clap of Thunder
Spend 4 Breath. You gain +20 to Strike, and if your attack inflicts Ripples, it inflicts one additional Ripple.
5 Destiny: Pyrrhic Victory
Spend 5 Destiny. Gain +25 footwork, and ignore up to 10 points of penalties on this roll. You gain one ripple each
time you activate this ability.
The Finnegan School of fencing! Which isn't fencing. You don't learn to use a sword and people who learn
Finnegan are not considered Swordsmen. This is because Finnegan School is a boxing style, taught by the famous
Rory "Fighting" Finnegan, which teaches the user to put their weight on the balls of their feet instead of the heel,
to move in circles and to use sidesteps, uppercuts and roundhouses instead of quick jabs. All Finnegan fencers
learn how to duck around foes, acting faster whenever their opponent misses them.

(Unarmed, Flexible)
Laughs at: Many fencers can be spooked if an unarmed fighter suddenly rushes at them, something a Finnegan
fighter can take advantage of.
Fears: The big weakness of Finnegan is a tendency to hang back and observe, and someone who presses the attack
and forces the Finnegan fighter onto the defensive can knock them off balance.
Statistics
Speed: +5
Footwork: +10
Strike: +0
Damage: +5
Block: +5
Toughness: +10
Upgrades
2 Destiny: Boxers Eye
When you inflict an injury condition on a foe, you learn the details of their style as though you had used an
Analyze Style action.
3 Destiny: Fire in the Belly
As long as you are drinking as you fight, increase your Speed and Footwork by 5.
5 Destiny: Arm Trapping
If you successfully block by 10 or more, you may reply and inflict one ripple on your attacker.
2 Destiny: Takedown
Increase the Styles Damage to +10
2 Destiny: Unexpected Twist
Spend 2 Breath to gain +10 Footwork.
3 Destiny: Untouchable
Spend 3 Breath to reroll a defense roll
3 Destiny: Drunk Talk
Spend 3 Breath. You gain +15 to Aura rolls that would resist Courtier Techniques.
5 Destiny: Pleasant Fog

Spend 5 Breath to increase your Toughness by +10 for the rest of the round. You may extend this into subsequent
rounds by spending 2 Breath at the start of each round.

Rois et Reines, the Musketeer school - it trains in muskets and pistols. They also learn to use their bayonets to
make makeshift spears. They're amazing at range, though. They also aren't Swordsmen.
(Ranged, Spear)
Laughs at: At range, nothing is more deadly than a skilled gunman.
Fears: Their big weakness? Well, they're not great in close combat, especially against anyone ready for spears.
Statistics
Speed: +0
Footwork: +0
Strike: +10
Damage: +10
Block: +10
Toughness: +5

Upgrades
3 Destiny: Unexpected Attack
You may flood one die to inflict a -5 to any attempt to dodge your attack.
4 Destiny: Point Blank
As long as your target is in the same zone as you, increase your damage to +15
2 Destiny: Cloud of Smoke
Spend 2 Breath. If you make a Shaping Wave to increase Cover Ground difficulties, you get a +10 bonus.
3 Destiny: Hammer on Iron
Spend 3 Breath and make a ranged attack. You can make a Secondary Strike with your bayonet on a target in
range.
4 Destiny: Careful Aim
Spend 4 Breath to gain a +20 strike. This attack is always best dodged.
4 Destiny: Watchful Eye
Spend 4 Breath to make a ranged attack an area attack.
5 Destiny: Pack the Powder
Spend 5 Breath. Your attack gains +20 Strike, and inflicts two additional Ripples should it hit.
Rogers , a new swordsman school favored by pirates. It is said to have been made by the famous Captain Rogers,
and of course many new tricks have been added to it since. It relies heavily on tricks to fool its foes, as well as
teaching its users to fence while a ship rolls under their feet.
(Saber, Unarmed, Flexible)
Laughs at: Rogers trains its users to move with shifting terrain, whether at sea of on land, and its users can run
rings around less mobile foes.
Fears: Its big weakness? Well, that balance that you learn for ships can be watched - it causes a peculiar flexing of
the legs that can be exploited to prevent dodging. This happens even on land, it's so ingrained.
Statistics
Speed: +10
Footwork: +15
Strike: +0
Damage: +0
Block: +5

Toughness: +5
Upgrades
2 Destiny: Watch the Horizon
You get a +5 to footwork against any attack made from outside your current zone.
3 Destiny: Clear the Deck
If you make an area attack, increase your damage to +10.
3 Destiny: Sea Legs
You may Flood one die after successfully Disrupting an opponent to inflict a -10 on any roll that opponent makes
to Cover Ground on their next turn.
3 Destiny: Shed the Albatross
Spend 3 Breath. You may select one ally who can spend your luck as though it were their own this turn.
4 Destiny: Scramble Across the Deck
Spend 4 Breath. You may make a minor action on your attack roll as a special Cover Ground action. Anyone
acting after you this round may attempt to break this wave.
4: Ocean Feeds the River
Spend 4 Breath. You may spend one additional Breath at the start of subsequent rounds to extend this effect. You
gain one additional River slot. If you let this effect lapse while that slot is filled, the die immediately Washes.
5 Destiny: Oath of Revenge
Spend 5 Breath to convert an Injury Condition into a Passion of equal severity. This Passion must involve the
individual who injured you.
Repartee
Passions and Inspirations
People are a passionate lot; from the farmer toiling at his field struggling to make ends meet, to the general who
declares war on another country to possess the wife its ruler, their actions are dictated by emotion. However, they
are also a principled lot; from the bureaucrat who lives by the ordinances handed down by the Pope, to the
warrior who conquers his fear and doubt to defend an uncaring, selfish lord against an army of assailants because
it is the proper thing to do, they are guided by their higher principles.
In moderation, these elements are like an artists paint: they blend together to create a harmonious whole, a
functional human being. Out of control, they can manifest in dramatic ways! When emotion runs unchecked, it
becomes a Passion: a Condition that drives and influences. It clouds reason and promotes strife! A Passion usually

creates a Weakness, which forces you to behave in certain ways and punishes you if you try to pace yourself.
When principles are sufficiently elevated in ones mind, they become Inspirations, which call you to a higher duty
and push you to ever greater heights of principled action. This is generally a good thing, since most Inspirations
demand that you make yourself better than you are. An Inspiration is still a kind of sickness, however, just like a
Passion. It usually manifests as a Hyperactivity, making it easier for you to strive to embody your principles.
Whether theyre a help or a hindrance, your unbalanced emotions will eventually destroy you if you give in to
them for too long! (Of course, this might be so dramatically appropriate that the player doesnt mind.)
The Story of Self
3 Destiny
This is the art that provides insight into the motivations of others both individuals and social groups. A
Courtier can spy the motivations of a man by the subtle cues of conversation, as well as the hidden plans of the
Pope by studying the seemingly spurious actions of the members of the court.
This Lore helps in spotting subtle Conditions; instead of forcing the player to try to spot usefully exploitable
personality traits in play, the player is allowed to state his own conclusions and have their character make a roll at
a Difficulty based on how well the diagnosis matches up to obvious, observable behavior in play.
Spotting Passions
Courtiers can create Passions, should they make the effort, but people are quite capable of developing imbalanced
emotions on their own. When people have unresolved desires, it unbalances their humors. This means that
characters in the game can suffer from Conditions even before the Sage or players explicitly creates them if an
emotion is too strong and it fits an established pattern of behavior it only stands to reason that the character is
suffering from a Passion!
If you have this Lore, and you notice an interesting pattern of emotional behavior, you can make an Awareness
roll to discover (ie. declare) that it is a Passion. You can only make this roll once for any given set of observations
if you fail, you have to wait for more displays of emotion before you can try again. If others have tried this roll
before, you automatically make a roll to oppose it, as usual for Discoveries. If Cardinal Tomas has already studied
the target and found no passion, it is doubtful any lesser Courtiers would succeed!
Difficulty Procedure
Simple(10) The GM and anyone who cares to look already knows that the Condition is there; this merely
confirms it.
Moderate(20) The GM might not have decided the existence of the Condition in beforehand, but it is a pretty
obvious reading of the situation.

Hard (30) You make a reasonable explanation, and the GM finds it an entertaining proposition.
Memorable(40) Difficult; there might be a case for your interpretation, but it is far from a straightforward reading
of evidence.
Fantastic (60) Youre just making stuff up now.
Legendary/Impossible (80/100) So... the black-hearted mercenary is Inspired towards altruism and universal
love?
On a standard success on your roll, you have found a Trivial Weakness. If you have the Controlling Passions
Lore, you can work to Inflame it into something useful.
On a Critical Success, you can Discover a Minor Weakness or a Trivial Hyperactivity.
The Recovery for this Condition equals the value of the roll made to Discover it.
You can choose between [Duration 5, Interval 1 Scene] or [Duration 1, Interval 1 Story].
As usual, the GM stipulates one circumstance in which the Condition fades by itself.
Controlling Passions
4 Destiny
This Lore requires The Story of Self
This Secret Art uses well-chosen words and a keen understanding of human nature to unlock hidden desires.
Inflaming and Soothing Passions
Cost: 0 Destiny (You get this for free when purchasing the Lore.)
The basic tool of Passion manipulators, used to boost gainful Passions or weaken bothersome ones.
Paired Passion Technique
Cost: 5 Destiny
This allows you to create two matching Passions from nothing, one Weakness and one Hyperactivity.
Stealthy Work
Cost: 1 Destiny
You can hide your use of these techniques by making a Minor Stealth Action opposed by your opponents Minor
Influence or Awareness Action. In combat time, opponents that don't match your Stealth roll with their
opposition cannot try to break this Wave.

Quick Work
Cost: 3 Destiny
You can use your Secret Art as a combat technique directly applied in combat. You can freely assign Passions as a
result of mid-combat Ripple rolls.
Extraordinary Courtier Techniques
1 Destiny
These are techniques that exist separately from the Divination/Manipulation Lores secret tricks passed down
through the generations that allows Courtiers to adapt and excel in new situations! Many of them work according
to the normal Secret Art rules but are more reliable (granting the same result each time) even as they are less
flexible.
The Proper Forms of Conflict
Cost: 2 Destiny
(Flood)
A proper warrior does not lose their sense of propriety in the heat of combat. Rather, they integrate their lessons
with the flow of battle - the better to educate their opponents. Flood dice to make a secondary Secret Arts-based
attack using Inspire, defended with Confidence. This attack has all the normal requirements for an attack made
using the Courtiers Art but it has no Chi cost.
Fear-Inspiring Technique (3)
Cost: 3 Destiny
(Flood)
The Courtier knows that Man is prone to fear and superstition; with posture, gaze, or a few barbed words, he can
inflame it in his enemy.
Make a Flood + Inspire action, resisted by the target's Confidence. This creates a temporary Chi Condition that is
soothed with Confidence or treated with Inspire, should someone else want to soothe it on the terrified character
s behalf. The victim suffers a -5 when directly opposing you or when Blocking your attacks, unless they weave
their excessive fear into the action without simply making it an act of defiance. (Dodging does not suffer this
penalty it only makes sense to try to get out of your reach!)
Heart-Breaking Words Technique
Cost: 5 Destiny

(Augment)
It is said that it is easier to break the body than it is to break their spirit. That said, if you truly know the secrets of
the heart, you can destroy it utterly. Whether you can cause fear so intense as to turn hair white and freeze breath
in the lungs, or wield words which sap conviction from someone so as to leave them without the will to even lift
their arm, your Arts can bring a swift end to conflict.
You can Take Out an opponent by Inflaming a Passion or Inspiration beyond Major intensity through the use of
Ripples, or by rolling triple their Chi Threshold on a Rippling check.
Cordial, Upright, Courteous, Temperate, and Complaisant Technique
Cost: 5 Destiny
(Extended)
Who can fail to be accommodating to a perfect gentleman? By talking to someone for a full scene while observing
proper forms and etiquette, you automatically learn an interesting secret about them or the organization that they
represent. No matter how guarded they are, they have to let something slip.
Distracting Conundrum Technique
Cost: 3 Destiny
(Extended, Flood)
The world is full of puzzling questions and enigmas to distract the mind. The Courtier is particularly apt at
making suggestions that dig in and demand to be pondered like tenacious weeds!
Flood (in combat) or roll (out of combat) an Inspire action, resisted by the targets Confidence roll. If successful,
you cause a Contemplation Weakness! This Weakness requires them to either make a Hard (30) Minor
Confidence Action on their Initiative, or act according to the conundrum you posed while pondering it aloud. If
they do not or cannot, they suffer -5 to all Skill bonuses for the remainder of the scene as doubts gnaw at their
mind.
Protection through Humility Technique
Cost: 5 Destiny
(Wave)
True humility drains aggression and promotes civilized behavior. Excessive humility can be practiced to
perfection, shaming proud warriors to leave you alone.
Make a Hard (30) Inspire Wave to attain some measure of protection through debasing yourself! You seem like
such an inconsequentially harmless opponent that anyone who treats you as a credible threat such as by picking

you over other opponents, or taking security precautions against you suffers a -2 Breath penalty. This lasts for
the remainder of the combat, or until you get caught doing something significant. (If you use Stealthy Work,
maybe they wont notice your manipulations.)
Anyone who can beat your Inspire roll with a Minor Confidence Action on their Initiative or Attack can ignore
this trick for the rest of combat. The technique also fails to work if, prior to debasing yourself, youve proven that
you are not in fact worthless and/or humble. Holy men use a similar technique, which banishes aggression with
the force of their obvious piety.
Auspicious Navigation of Courts Technique
Cost: 3 Destiny
(Augment)
A refined courtier knows how to measure the ebbs and flows of the chambers of power regardless of the exact
nature of those chambers and the people passing through them, a bureaucracy will always possess certain
essential qualities. Properly applied, this knowledge allows you to set up seemingly coincidental meetings, exploit
barely-known protocols and open almost every door.
You are exceedingly practiced at navigating bureaucracies and similarly complex organizations; spending Luck to
set up lucky coincidences is much enhanced in these circumstances. One point of Luck will allow you to approach
the right person for a task with effortless grace, coincidentally run into someone you are trying to get an
audience with, and so on. The GM may demand some Politics or Stealth rolls for exceedingly unlikely or
outrageous requests, or completely veto farcical requests, but you should be able to cut through red tape with
ostentatious ease.

Rome Loresheets
"As one looks from the Villa Negroni windows, one cannot fail to be impressed by the strange changes through
which this wonderful city has passed. The very spot on which Nero, the insane emperor-artist, fiddled while
Rome was burning, has now become a vast kitchen-garden, belonging to Prince Massimo (himself a descendant,
as he claims, of Fabius Cunctator), where men no longer, but only lettuces, asparagus, and artichokes, are
ruthlessly cut down. The inundations are not for mock sea-fights among slaves, but for the peaceful purposes of
irrigation. In the bottom of the valley, a noble old villa, covered with frescoes, has been turned into a manufactory
for bricks, and part of the Villa Negroni itself is now occupied by the railway station. Yet here the princely family
of Negroni lived, and the very lady at whose house Lucrezia Borgia took her famous revenge may once have
sauntered under the walls, which still glow with ripening oranges, to feed the goldfish in the fountain, or
walked with stately friends through the long alleys of clipped cypresses, or picnicked alia Giornata on lawns
which are now but kitchen-gardens, dedicated to San Cavolo." Story's Roba di Roma.
0 Destiny: You have lived in Rome for some time, and are familiar with the city.
0 Destiny: You are staying in a boarding house, but one frequented by travellers. You are well informed with news
from across Europe.
2 Destiny: You have come to the city with money, and are staying in a villa as the guest of nobility.
3 Destiny: You are nobility, and your family owns a house in the city filled with staff and your relatives.
0 Destiny: You are new to Rome, and unfamiliar with its streets and people.

+1 Destiny: You met a great many people on the road to Rome, many of whom were fencers themselves and may
be valuable contacts now that youve arrived.
+3 Destiny: You trained with heavier weapons than most of the southern European styles use. So long as you are
using a weapon with the Saber or Massive tag, any of your attacks that are best dodged inflict an additional -5 to
Block attempts.
3 Destiny: You are remarkably attractive, and gain a +5 to social rolls where your looks would be an asset.
0 Destiny: You are a woman. Female fencers are few and far between, so many will not expect you to be prepared
to duel on your own behalf, let alone issue a challenge.
+1 Destiny: You have passed yourself off as a man. No one will see through this disguise unless you reveal
yourself, so long as you take precautions. You may need to learn to treat your own wounds to maintain this for
any length of time, but should you be revealed you will be able to buy the technique below for 1 Destiny.
+2 Destiny: You have learned to exploit your opponents preconceptions, and can take advantage of your foes
shock at being faced with an armed woman. As long as you are fighting at least one man, you can spend 2 Breath
to reroll your Initiative.

When the sun draws down to the horizon the people flock forth from their houses. All the chairs and benches in
front of the caffe are filled the streets are thronged with companies of promenaders every door-step has its
little group the dead town has become alive. Marching through the long green corridors of the "gallerie" that
lead for miles from Albano or Castel Gandolfo to Genzano, whole families may be seen loitering together, and
pausing now and then to look through the trunks of the great trees at the purple flush that deepens every moment
over the Campagna. The cicale now renew their song as the sun sets, and croak dryly in the trees their good-night.
The contadini come in from the vineyards and olive-orchards, bearing ozier-baskets heaped with grapes, or great
bundles of brush-wood on their heads. There is a crowd around the fountain, where women are filling their great
copper vases with water, and pausing to chat before they march evenly home under its weight like stout
caryatides. Broad-horned white oxen drag home their creaking wains. In the distance you hear the long
monotonous wail of the peasant's song as he returns from his work, interrupted now and then with a shrill scream
to his cattle. White-haired goats come up the lanes in flocks, cropping as they go the overhanging bushes and
mounting up the bank to pluck at the flowers and leaves, they stare at you with yellow glassy eyes, and wag their
beards.
The sheep are huddled into their netted folds. Down the slopes of the pavement jar along ringing files of winecarts going towards Rome, while the little Pomeranian dog who lives under the triangular hood in front is
running about on the piled wine-casks, and uttering volleys of little sharp yelps and barks as the cars rattle
through the streets. If you watch the wine-carriers down into the valley you will see them pull up at the wayside
fountains, draw a good flask of red wine from one of the casks, and then replace it with good fresh water.
The grilli now begin to trill in the grass, and the hedges are alive with fire-flies. From the ilex groves and the
gardens nightingales sing until the middle of July ; and all summer long glow-worms show their green emerald
splendour on the grey walls, and from under the road-side vines.
In the distance you hear the laugh of girls, the song of wandering promenaders, and the burr of distant
tambourines, where they are dancing the saltarello. The civetta hoots from the old tombs, the barbigiano answers
from the crumbling ruins, and the plaintive, monotonous ciou owls call to each other across the vales. The
moonlight lies in great still sheets of splendour in the piazza, and the shadows of the houses are cut sharply out in
it, like blocks of black marble. The polished leaves of the laurel twinkle in its beams and rustle as the wind sifts
through them. Above, the sky is soft and tender ; great, near, palpitant stars flash on you their changeful
splendour of emerald, topaz, and ruby.
The Milky Way streams like a torn veil over the heavens. The villa fronts whiten in the moonlight among the grey
smoke-like olives that crowd the slopes. Vines wave from the old towers and walls, and from their shadow comes a
song to the accompaniment of a guitar it is a tenor voice, singing 'Non ti scordar, non ti scordar di me.'
"Nothing can be more exquisite than these summer nights in Italy. The sky itself, so vast, tender, and delicate, is
like no other sky. As you stand on one of the old balconies or walls along the terraces of the Frescati villas, looking
down over the mysterious Campagna, and listening to the continuous splash of fountains and the song of
nightingales, you feel Italy the Italy of Romeo and Juliet. Everything seems enchanted in the tender splendour.
The stars themselves burn with a softer, more throbbing and impulsive light. The waves of the cool, delicate air,
passing over orange and myrtle groves, and breathing delicately against the brow and cheeks, seem to blow open
the inmost leaves of the book on which youth painted its visionary pictures with the colours of dreams. In a word,

we say this is Italy the Italy we dreamed of not the Italy of fleas, couriers, mendicants, and postilions, but of
romance, poetry, and passion." Story's Roba di Roma
0 Destiny: You are British, German, or perhaps Spanish. You speak Italian as well as your native tongue, and
while the native Romans may see you as tourists, you find your countrymen welcoming.
+2 Destiny: You are French. Your country and the Papal States are not precisely friendly, so how is it that you
have been accepted in Rome? You must have money, influence, or blackmail. Work out the details with the GM.
+1 Destiny: You have enemies in your home country, and they have followed you. Their leader will challange you
rather than ambushing you, though may well menace you before doing so. Your fear is a minor Hyperactivity, so
long as you are evading this foe you gain a +5 bonus to your rolls.
+2 Destiny: You work as an agent of a company from your home country. So long as you conduct business on
their behalf, they can assist you with money and perhaps political pressure.

The district beyond the Porta Salara, and that extending between the Via Salara and the Monte Parioli, are
completely undermined by catacombs. The most important are
i. Nearest the gate, the Catacomb of St. Frficitas, which had three tiers of galleries, adorned by Pope Boniface I.,
who took refuge there from persecution, now much dilapidated. Over this cemetery was a church, now
destroyed, which is mentioned by William of Malmesbury.
2. The Catacomb of SS. Tiraso and Saturninus, much decorated with the usual paintings.
3. The Catacomb of Sta. Priscilla, near the descent to the Anio. This cemetery is of great interest, from the number
of martyrs' graves it contains, and from its peculiar construction in an ancient armarium, pillars and walls of
masonry being added throughout the central part, in order to sustain the tufa walls. Here were buried probably
because the entrance to the Chapel of the Popes at St. Calixtus was blocked up to preserve it in the persecution
under Diocletian Pope St. Marcellinus (ob. 308), and Pope St. Marcellus (ob. 310), who was sent into exile by
Maxentius. On the tomb of the latter was placed, in finely cut type, the following epitaph by Pope Damasus :
"The truth-speaking pope, because he preached that the lapsed should weep for their crimes, was bitterly hated by
all those unhappy ones. Hence followed fury, hatred, discord, contentions, sedition, and slaughter, and the bonds
of peace were ruptured. For the crime of another, who in (a time of) peace had denied Christ, (the pontiff) was
expelled the shores of his country by the cruelty of the tyrant. These things Damasus having learnt, was desirous
to narrate briefly, that people might recognise the merit of Marcellus."
Several of the paintings in this catacomb are remarkable; especially that of a woman with a child, claimed by the
Roman Church as one of the earliest representations of the Virgin. The painting is thus described by Northcote :

"De Rossi unhesitatingly says that he believes this painting of our Blessed Lady to belong almost to the apostolic
age. It is to be seen on the vaulted roof of a loailus, and represents the Blessed Virgin seated, her head partially
covered by a short light veil, and with the Holy Child in her arms ; opposite to her stands a man, clothed in the
pallium, holding a volume in one hand, and with the other pointing to a star which appears above and between
the figures. This star almost always accompanies our Blessed Lady, both in paintings and in sculptures, where
there is an obvious historical excuse for it, e.g. , when she is represented with the Magi offering their gifts, or by
the side of the manger with the ox and the ass ; but with a single figure, as in the present instance, it is unusual.
The most obvious conjecture would be that the figure was meant for St. Joseph, or for one of the Magi. De Rossi,
however, gives many reasons for preferring the prophet Isaias, whose prophecies concerning the Messias abound
with imagery borrowed from light." Roma Sotterranea.
This catacomb is one of the oldest, Sta. Priscilla, from whom it is named, being supposed to have been the mother
of Pudens, and a contemporary of the apostles. Her granddaughters, Prassede and Pudenziana, were buried here
before the- removal of their relics to the church on the Esquiline. With this cemetery is connected the
extraordinary history of the manufacture of Sta. Filomena, now one of the most popular saints in Italy, and one
towards whom idolatry is carried out with frantic enthusiasm both at Domo d'Ossola and in some of the
Neapolitan States. The story of this saint is best told in the words of Mrs. Jameson.
"In the year 1802, while some excavations were going forward in the catacomb of Priscilla, a sepulchre was
discovered containing the skeleton of a young female ; on the exterior were rudely painted some of the symbols

constantly recurring in these chambers of the dead ; an anchor, an olive branch (emblems of Hope and Peace), a
scourge, two arrows, and a javelin: above them the following inscription, of which the beginning and end were
destroyed : LUMENA PAX TE CUM FI
"The remains, reasonably supposed to be those of one of the early martyrs for the faith, were sealed up and
deposited in the treasury of relics in the Lateral) ; here they remained for some years unthought of. On the return
of Pius VII. from France, a Neapolitan prelate was sent to congratulate him. One of the priests in his train, who
wished to create a sensation in his district, where the long residence of the French had probably caused some
decay of piety, begged for a few relics to carry home, and these recently discovered remains were bestowed on
him; the inscription was translated somewhat freely, to signify Santa Philumena, rest in peace. Another priest,
whose name is suppressed because of his great humility, was favoured by a vision in the broad noon-day, in which
he beheld the glorious virgin Filomena, who was pleased to reveal to him that she had suffered death for
preferring the Christian faith and her vow of chastity to the addresses of the emperor, who wished to make her his
wife. This vision leaving much of her history obscure, a certain young artist, whose name is also suppressed,
perhaps because of his great humility, was informed in a vision that the emperor alluded to was Diocletian, and at
the same time the torments and persecutions suffered by the Christian virgin Filomena, as well as her wonderful
constancy, were also revealed to him. There were some difficulties in the way of the Emperor Diocletian, which
incline the writer of the historical account to incline to the opinion that the young artist in his wisdom may have
made a mistake, and that the emperor may have been not Diocletian but Maximian. The facts, however, now
admitted of no doubt ; the relics were carried by the priest Francesco da Lucia to Naples ; they were enclosed in a
case of wood resembling in form the human body ; this figure was habited in a petticoat of white satin, and over it
a crimson tunic after the Greek fashion ; the face was painted to represent nature, a garland of flowers was placed
on the head, and in the hands a lily and a javelin with the point reversed to express her purity and her
martyrdom ; then she was laid in a half-sitting posture in a sarcophagus, of which the sides were glass, and, after
lying for some time in state in the chapel of the Torres family in the Church of Sant' Angiolo, she was carried in
grand procession to Mugnano, a little town about twenty miles from Naples, amid the acclamations of the
people, working many and surprising miracles by the way Such is the legend of Sta. Filomena, and such the
authority on which she has become within the last twenty years one of the most popular saints in Italy." Sacred
and Legendary Art, p. 671. It is hoped that very interesting relics may still be discovered in this Catacomb.
"In an account preserved by St. Gregory of Tours, we are told that under Numerianus, the martyrs Chrysanthus
and Daria were put to death in an arena, and that a great number of the faithful having been seen entering a
subterranean crypt on the Via Salara, to visit their tombs, the heathen emperor caused the entrance to be hastily
built up, and a vast mound of sand and stone to be heaped in front of it, so that they might be all buried alive, even
as the martyrs whom they had come to venerate. St. Gregory adds, that when the tombs of these martyrs were
rediscovered, after the ages of persecution had ceased, there were found with them, not only the relics of those
worshippers who had been thus cruelly put to death, skeletons of men, women, and children lying on the floor,
but also the silver cruets which they had taken down with them for the celebration of the sacred mysteries. St.
Damasus was unwilling to destroy so touching a memorial of past ages. He abstained from making any of those
changes by which he usually decorated the martyrs' tombs, but contented himself with setting up one of his
invaluable historical inscriptions, and opening a window in the adjacent wall or rock, that all might see, without
disturbing, this monument so unique in its kind this Christian Pompeii in miniature. These things might still

be seen in St. Gregory's time, in the sixth century ; and De Rossi holds out hopes that some traces of them may be
restored even to our own generation, some fragments of the inscription perhaps, or even the window itself
through which our ancestors once saw so moving a spectacle, assisting, as it were, at a mass celebrated in the third
century." Roma Sotterranea, p. 88.
3 Destiny: You are well acquainted with the Catacombs, and can use them to move about the city unseen.
+1 Destiny: You know of a secret access way into somewhere important, perhaps an escape route or hidden access
way to the Vatican. Determine the details with the GM when you buy this.
2 Destiny: You have had a vision of St. Filomena, which has strengthened your faith. Any attempt to impose a
condition that would be counter to Catholic belief suffers a -10.
3 Destiny: You have discovered a new chamber in the catacombs, containing either wealth or the bones and relics
of a saint. You have not yet sold off this fortune.
4 Destiny: You can take advantage of the tight corners and low ceilings of the catacombs, allowing you freedom in
a fight others may not have. Your style never Fears while in the catacombs.
4 Destiny: You have found a large chamber with access to running water and turned it into a home, or at least a
lair. You may still need a more acceptable address if you will be mingling with nobility or clergy, but your lair is
secret, defensible, and comfortable.
+1 Destiny: Your lair was an early church. Any Christian who discovers you have been living here will readily
believe you are a hermit and a source of wisdom.

Beyond this, on the right, is the entrance of the Villa Palombara, occupying a great part of the site of the Baths of
Titus.
"This villa once belonged to Queen Christina of Sweden, who has left upon the little doorway exactly opposite the
ruin called the Trophies of Marius, a curious record of her credulity. It consists of a collection of unintelligible
words, signs, and triangles, given her by some alchymist, as the rule to make gold, and which, no doubt, he had
found successful, having obtained from her, and probably from many other votaries, abundance of that precious
metal in exchange for it. But as she could make nothing of it, she caused it to be inscribed here, in case any
passenger, wiser than herself, should be able to develop the mystic signs of this golden secret." Eaton's Rome.
Though the existing ruin is misnamed, the trophies erected in honour of the victories which Marius gained over
the Cimbri were really set up near this ; and, curiously enough, on this site also Marius was defeated at the Forum
Esquilinum by Sylla, who suddenly descended upon Rome from Nola with six legions, and entering by the Forta
Esquilina, met his adversary here, and forced him to fly to Ostia.
4 Destiny: You have studied these markings, and think you may just be able to discover the secret of making gold.
In the meanwhile, you have a well equipped laboratory and all manner of chemicals to hand. These may be of
some use when inventing marvels in combat, and will apply a +10 to any roll outside of combat where they may be
relevant (using acid to break a lock, treating someone with medicine, etc).
3 Destiny: You have studied these markings, and convinced a rich benefactor that you can turn common metals to
gold. You cannot, of course, but your benefactor believes you can, and is funding your (extravagant) lifestyle.
2 Destiny: Your alchemical studies have given you insight into new cures and medicines. When rolling medicine,
you may Flood one die to reroll your lake.

Opposite this is a peculiar round arched doorway unique in Rome forming the entrance to the Church of S.
Antonio Abbate, said to occupy the site of a temple of Diana. The church is decorated with very coarsely-executed
frescoes of the life of the saint, his birth, his confirmation by a bishop who predicted his future saintship, and
his temptation by the devil in various forms.
" S. Antonio, called 'the patriarch of monks,' became a hermit in his twentieth year, and lived alone in the
Egyptian desert till his fifty-fifth year, when he founded his monastery of Phaim, where he died at the age of 105,
having passed his life in perpetual prayer, and often tasting no food for three days at a time. In the desert Satan
was permitted to assault him in a visible manner, to terrify him with dismal noises ; and once he so grievously beat
him that he lay almost dead, covered with bruises and wounds. At other times the fiends attacked him with
terrible clamours, and a variety of spectres, in hideous shapes of the most frightful wild beasts, which they
assumed to dismay and terrify him ; till a ray of heavenly light breaking in upon him, chased them away, and
caused him to cry out, ' Where wast thou, my Lord and Master ? Why wast thou not with me ? ' And a voice
answered, ' Anthony, I was here the whole time ; I stood by thee, and beheld thy combat : and because thou hast
manfully withstood thy enemies I will always protect thee, and will render thy name famous throughout the
earth.' " Butler's Lives of the Saints.
"Surely the imagery painted on the inner walls of Egyptian tombs, and probably believed by Anthony and his
compeers to be connected with devil-worship, explains his visions. In the ' Words of the Elders' a monk complains
of being troubled with 'pictures, old and new.' Probably, again, the pain which Anthony felt was the agony of a
fever, and the visions which he saw its delirium." A'ingsle/s Hermits.
Hither, on the week following the feast of St. Anthony (January 17), horses, mules, and cows are brought to be
blest as a preservative against accidents for the year to come. On the 23rd, the horses of the pope, Prince
Borghese, and other Roman grandees (about 2 p.m.) are sent for this purpose. All the animals are sprinkled with
holy water by a priest, who receives a gift in proportion to the wealth of their master...
" ' Long live St. Anthony,' writes Mabillon (in the 17th century) as he describes the horses, asses, and mules, all
going on the saint's festival to be sprinkled with holy water, and receive the benediction of a reverend father. ' All
would go to ruin, ' say the Romans, ' if this act of piety were omitted.' So nobody escapes paying toll on this
occasion, not even Nostro Signore himself." Stephens'' French Benedictines.
" S. Antonio Abbate is the patron of the four-footed creation, and his feast is a saturnalia for the usually hardworked beasts and for their attendants and drivers. Gentlefolks must be content on this day to stay at home or go
on foot, for there are not wanting solemn talcs of how the unbelievers who had obliged their coachmen to drive
out on this day
This pagan benediction of the animals is represented in a bas-relief in the Vatican. A peasant bearing two ducks as
his offering, brings his cow to be blessed by a priest at the door of a chapel, and the priest delaying to come forth, a
calf drinks up the holy water. Ovid describes how he took part in the feast of Pales, and sprinkled the cattle with a
laurel bough. [Fasti, iv. 72S.}
The church of S. Antonio stands in a large piazza, usually looking like a desert ; but to-day it was enlivened by a
varied throng : horses and mules, with tails and manes splendidly interlaced with ribbons, are brought to a small
chapel standing somewhat apart from the church, where a priest armed with a large asperge plentifully

besprinkles the animals with the holy water which is placed before him in tubs and pails, sometimes apparently
with a sly wish to excite them to gambols. Devout coachmen bring larger or smaller wax-tapers, and their masters,
send alms and gifts, in order to secure to their valuable and useful animals a year's exemption from disease and
accident. Horned cattle and donkeys, equally precious and serviceable to their owners, have their share in the
blessing." Goethe, Romische Briefe.
"At the blessing of the animals, an adventure happened, which afforded us some amusement. A countryman,
having got a blessing on his beast, putting his whole trust in its power, set off from the church door at a grand
gallop, and had scarcely cleared a hundred yards before the ungainly animal tumbled down with him, and over its
head he rolled into the dirt. He soon got up, however, and shook himself, and so did the horse, without either
seeming to be much the worse. The priest seemed not a whit out of countenance at this ; and some of the standersby exclaimed, with laudable steadfastness of faith, ' That but for the blessing, they might have broken their necks.'
" Eaton's Rome.
"The hog was the representative of the demon of sensuality and gluttony, which Anthony is supposed to have
vanquished by the exercise of piety and by the divine aid. The ancient custom of placing in all his effigies a black
pig at his feet, or under his feet, gave rise to the superstition, that this unclean animal was especially dedicated to
him and under his protection. The monks of the Order of St. Anthony kept herds of consecrated pigs, which were
allowed to feed at the public charge, and which it was a profanation to steal or kill ; hence the proverb about the
fatness of a ' Tantony pig.'" Jameson's Sacred Art, p. 750.
2 Destiny: You have spotted a number of furtive looking individuals leaving or arriving at churches built on the
grounds of pagan temples; surely this is evidence of a pagan cult operating in the holy city!
+2 Destiny: You recognized one of the faces, a rather important Cardinal. Have you already begun to blackmail
him?
3 Destiny: You are a member of a cult worshipping the Roman gods. You operate in secret, either in churches at
night or celebrating rituals disguised as Christian rites. You have allies throughout the city, ones who can be
found in the strangest places...
+1 Destiny: You are well practiced at concealing your movements as you go throughout the city. You gain +5 to
stealth while on the streets of Rome.
+3 Destiny: Your faith borders on obsession; when in the presence of a statue or other icon of one of the Roman
gods, you have a minor hyperactivity. The details should reflect the nature of the god, so discuss the details with
the GM.
1 Destiny: You have a farm and herds of animals outside the city. While the cattle may be of little practical use,
you can always get a good horse when you need one, as well as some quite nice cheeses.

The ancient Palace of the Lateran was the residence of the popes for nearly 1000 years. Almost all the events
affecting the private lives of a vast line of ecclesiastical sovereigns happened within its walls. Plundered in each
successive invasion, stricken with malaria during the autumn months, and often partially burnt, it was finally
destroyed by the great enemy of Roman antiquities, Sixtus V. Among the scenes which occurred within its walls,
perhaps the most terrible was that when John X., the completer of the Lateran basilica, was invaded here by
Marozia, who was beginning to seize the chief power in Rome, and who carried the pope off prisoner to St.
Angelo, after he had seen his brother Peter murdered before his eyes in the hall of the pontifical palace.
The only remnants preserved of this famous building are the private chapel of the popes, and the end wall of their
dining-hall, known as the Triclinium, which contains a copy, erected by Benedict XIV., of the ancient mosaic of
the time of Leo III. which formerly existed here, and the remains of which are preserved in the Vatican.
"In this mosaic, Hallam (Middle Ages) sees proof that the authority of the Greek Emperor was not entirely
abrogated at Rome till long after the period of papal aggrandisement by Pepin and his son, but he is warranted by
no probabilities in concluding that Constantine V., whose reign began A.n. 7S0, is intended by the emperor
kneeling with St. Peter or Pope Sylvester." Henans' Ancient Christian Art.
Professor Bryce finds two paintings in which the theory of the mediaeval empire is unmistakeably set forth; one of
them in Rome, the other in Florence (a fresco in the chapter-house of S. M. Novella).
"The first of these is the famous mosaic of the Lateran triclinium, constructed by Pope Leo III., about A. D. 8oo,
and an exact copy of which, made by the order of Sixtus V., may still be seen over against the facade of St. John
Lateran. Originally meant to adorn the state banqueting-hall of the popes, it is now placed in the open air, in the
finest situation in Rome, looking from the brow of a hill across the green ridges of the Campagna to the olive
groves of Tivoli and the glistering crags and snow-capped summits of the Umbrian and Sabine Apennine. It
represents in the centre Christ surrounded by the apostles, whom He is sending forth to preach the gospel; one
hand is extended to bless, the other holds a book with the words ' Pax vobis.'
Below and to the right Christ is depicted again, and this time sitting: on His right hand kneels Pope Sylvester, on
His left the Emperor Constantine ; to the one He gives the keys of heaven and hell, to the other a banner
surmounted by a cross. In the group on the opposite, that is, on the left side of the arch, we see the Apostle Peter
seated, before whom in like manner kneel Pope Leo III. and Charles the Emperor; the latter wearing, like
Constantine, his crown. Peter, himself grasping the keys, gives to Leo the pallium of an archbishop, to Charles the
of the Christian army. The inscription is ' Ueatus Pet rus dona vitam Leoni P. Pet victoriam Carulo regi dona;'
while round the arch is written, ' Gloria in excelsis Deo, et in terra pax omnibus bonse voluntatis.'
"The order and nature of the ideas here symbolized is sufficiently clear. First comes the revelation of the gospel,
and the divine commission to gather all men into its fold. Next, the institution, at the memorable era of
Constantine's conversion, of the two powers by which the Christian people is to be respectively taught and
governed. Thirdly, we are shown the permanent Vicar of God, the apostle who keeps the keys of heaven and hell,
re-establishing these same powers on a new and firmer basis. The badge of ecclesiastical supremacy he gives to
Leo as the spiritual head of the faithful on earth, the banner of the Church militant to Charles, who is to maintain
her cause against heretics and infidels." J. Bryce, Holy Roman Empire, ch. vii. pp. 1 17, 1 18, 3rd ed., 1 87 1.
2 Destiny: You are a member of the clergy. Your fencing may mark you as slightly strange, but no one denies that

anyone can be in danger these days, even a priest.

+4 Destiny: You are a Cardinal, with great wealth and influence. Your time is often occupied with the duties of
your office, but theres still time for a pleasant trip out on the bay, or a brisk swordfight with pirates.
2 Destiny: You are related to someone important in the church. You can learn of scandals or other rumors
without much effort, and may be able to secure a place to hide out if you need one.
2 Destiny: You have a minor Passion while in service to the Church; so long as you are fighting on their behalf
you regain one additional Breath per turn.
4 Destiny: You possess a relic of one of the saints. As long as it remains on your person, you are considered to
have one additional River slot, filled with a 0. Once this die is used, you must wait until the start of the next
session for it to refill.
3 Destiny: You are intimately familiar with the politics of the Papal court. Any Courtier Techniques you use on a
member of the Clergy gains a +5. On the other hand, caught up in the politics as you are, you suffer a -5 penalty to
Confidence rolls to resist Courtier Techniques used by the citys clergy.

The Strada del Borgo Sto. Spirito contains the immense Hospital of Santo Spirito, running along the bank of the
Tiber. This establishment was founded in 11 98 by Innocent III. Sixtus IV., in 1471, ordered it to be rebuilt by
Bacio Pintelli, who added a hall 376 feet long by 44 high and 37 wide. Under Benedict XIV, Ferdinando Fuga built
another great hall. The altar in the midst of the great hall is the only work of Andrea Palladio in Rome. The
church was designed by Bacio Pintelli, but built by Antonio di San Gallo under Paul III. Under Gregory XIII.,
Ottaviano Mascherino built the palace of the governor, which unites the hospital with the church.
The institution comprises a hospital for every kind of disease, containing in ordinary times 1620 beds, a number
which can be almost doubled in time of necessity ; a lunatic asylum containing an average of 450 inmates; and a
foundling hospital, where children are received from all parts of the papal states, and even from the Neapolitan
towns. Upwards of 3000 foundlings pass through the hospital annually, but the mortality is very great, in 1846,
as much as fifty-seven per cent. The person who wishes to deposit an infant rings a bell, when a little bed is turned
towards the grille near the door, in which the baby is deposited. Close to this is another grille, without any
apparent use. " What is that for ? " you ask. " Because, when nurses come in from the country, they might be
tempted to take the children for money, and yet not feel any natural tenderness towards them, but by looking
through the second grille, they can see the child, and discover if it is simpatico, and if not, they can go away and
leave it."
2 Destiny: You are a doctor in the Hospital
+1 Destiny: You gain a +5 to medicine rolls performed in the Hospital or another well equipped and prepared
room.
+2 Destiny: You have a minor hyperactivity related to medicine or the hospital. Work out the details with the
GM.
-2 Destiny: You are haunted by a failure, either in the Hospital or earlier in your medical career. This is a minor
weakness, details to be worked out with the GM. If you have both this and the hyperactivity above, these are a
paired condition, and resolving the weakness will also remove your hyperactivity.
3 Destiny: In thanks for your aid during a typhus outbreak, the poor across the city happily feed you and keep you
informed about their lives. Invitations to weddings and funerals are common, ensuring you have a busy social
schedule and hear a little bit about almost everything.
3 Destiny: You were abandoned at the hospital as an infant, but have recently learned your true parentage. One or
both of your parents are powerful people, and your existence could bring them shame. Who are they?
+2 Destiny: Your parent has welcomed you with open arms, either in secret or publically.
2 Destiny: Your time in the orphanage toughened you, giving you a +5 to any Hardiness roll to resist disease or
pain.

We now enter the Trastevere, the city " across the Tiber," the portion of Rome which is most unaltered from
mediaeval times, and whose narrow streets are still overlooked by many ancient towers, gothic windows, and
curious fragments of sculpture. The inhabitants on this side differ in many respects from those on the other side
of the Tiber. They pride themselves upon being born " Trasteverini," profess to be the direct descendants of the
ancient Romans, seldom intermarry with their neighbours, and speak a dialect peculiarly their own. It is said that
in their dispositions also they differ from the other Romans, that they are a far more hasty, passionate, and
revengeful, as they are a stronger and more vigorous race. The proportion of murders (a crime far less common in
Rome than in England) is larger in this than in any other part of the city. This, it is believed, is partly due to the
extreme excitement which the Trasteverini display in the pursuit of their national games, especially that of
Morra :
" Morra is played by the men, and merely consists in holding up, in rapid succession, any number of fingers they
please, calling out at the same time the number their antagonist shows. Nothing, seemingly, can be more simple
or less interesting. Yet, to see them play, so violent are their gestures, that you would imagine them possessed by
some diabolical passion. The eagerness and rapidity with which they carry it on render it very liable to mistake
and altercation ; then frenzy fires them, and too often furious disputes arise at this trivial play that end in murder.
Morra seems to differ in no respect from the Micare Digitis of the ancient Romans." Eaton' s Rome.
1 Destiny: You are well known in Trastevere, and can walk the streets in some safety.
2 Destiny: You have a friend in Trastevere who works as a fence, and can lay hands on all manner of valuables
with a bit of notice
+1 Destiny: You get the occasional job from this friend, as well as advice on how to carry out these jobs.
4 Destiny: Youve picked up a few tricks for cold reading; spend one Luck of either type to learn one useful or
interesting fact about someone on your first meeting.
4 Destiny: You have a gift for gambling, and can flood one die to reroll any roll relevant to a game of chance.
5 Destiny: Long hours drinking and fighting have taught you a few tricks. Whenever using a weapon with the
Unarmed tag, it also counts as having the Paired tag.
3 Destiny: You have started a new life, but your old one may yet cause you trouble. Whenever you act as the
person you used to be would (work out the details with the GM, as usual) you benefit from a minor hyperactivity.
This should risk exposing your identity to those who only know you as you now are.
4 Destiny: You own a small tavern near the Tiber. It provides you with a home, steady income, and a variety of
colourful customers.
+2 Destiny: Your tavern is popular with Fencers, and a favored place to duel. You can stack the deck in favor of
one fighter or the other, ensuring that their style will be able to Laugh at their foe so long as the duellist remain in
the building or courtyard.

BEYOND the Piazza Bocca della Verita, the Via della Marmorata is spanned by an arch which nearly marks the
site of the Porta Trigemina, by which Marius fled to Ostia before Sylla in b.c. 88. Near this stood the statue erected
by public subscription to Minucius, whose jealousy brought about the execution of the patriot Mselius, B.C. 440.
Here also was the temple of Jupiter Inventor, whose dedication was attributed to the gratitude of Hercules for the
restoration of his cattle, carried off by Cacus to his cave on the neighbouring Aventine.
It was at the Porta Trigemina that Camillus (b.c. 391), sent into exile to Ardea by the accusations of the plebs,
stayed, and, stretching forth his hands to the Capitol, prayed to the gods who reigned there that if he was unjustly
expelled, Rome might " one day have need of Camillus."
Passing the arch, the road skirts the wooded escarpment of the Aventine, crowned by its three churches Sta.
Sabina, S. Alessio, and the Priorato.
From the landing-place for modern Carrara marble, a new road on the right, planted with trees, leads along the
river to the ancient Marmorata, discovered 1867 68, when many magnificent blocks of ancient marble were
found buried in the mud of the Tiber. Recent excavations have laid bare the inclined planes by which the marbles
were landed, and the projecting bars of stone with rings for mooring the marble vessels.
In the neighbouring vineyard are the massive ruins of the Emporium, or magazine for merchandise, founded by
M. Emilius Lepidus and L. Emilius Paulus, the aediles in B.C. 186. Upon the ancient walls of this time is engrafted
a small and picturesque winepress of the fifteenth century. The neighbouring vineyard is much frequented by
marble collectors.
A short distance beyond the turn to the Marmorata the main road is crossed by an ancient brick arch, called Arco
di S. Lazzaro, or Arco della Salara, by the side of which is a hermitage.
About half a mile beyond this we reach the Porta S. Paolo, built by Belisarius on the site of the Ancient Porta
Ostiensis.
2 Destiny: You own a small ship, suitable for no more than five passengers.
+2 Destiny: Your ship is much larger, and has a crew. If you do not regularly captain the vessel, it has a captain as
well.
+1 Destiny: Your ship moves valuable cargo on someones behalf, and they look after the ships safety while it is in
dock.
+1 Destiny: Your ship has smugglers compartments suitable for a handful of people to hide out, or for a few boxes
of cargo.
2 Destiny: You know of something valuable that is soon to be offloaded on the docks. It is vulnerable if a few
skilful thieves wanted to take it...
+1 Destiny: You also know of a buyer for the cargo, one who would be greatly indebted to someone who happened
to drop by with it.
4 Destiny: You know an old captain, retired now but a master of the Rogers Style. He has offered to teach you a
few unique tricks, ones not normally included in the school.

+4 Destiny: Like, for example, a way to use pistols with the style. Your Rogers Style now allows weapons with the
Ranged tag.
3 Destiny: You have learned to survive jumps from great heights, and to leap from crossbeam to crossbeam. When
using Cover Ground, you may spend 3 Breath to cross not just to the next zone, but to the one beyond by
increasing the target number by 10.

The Pantheon, the most perfect pagan building in the city, built B.C. 27, by Marcus Agrippa, the bosom friend of
Augustus Caesar, and the second husband of his daughter Julia. The inscription in huge letters, perfectly legible
from beneath, " M. Agrippa. l. f. cos. tertium fecit," records its construction. Another inscription^ on the
architrave, now almost illegible, records its restoration under Septimius Severus and his son Caracalla, c. 202,
who, " Pantheum vetustate corruptum cum omni cultu restitverunt." Some authorities have maintained that the
Pantheon was originally only a vast hall in the baths of Agrippa, acknowledged remains of which exist at no great
distance ; but the name " Pantheum" was in use as early as a.d. 59.
In a.d. 399 the Pantheon was closed as a temple in obedience to a decree of the Emperor Honorius, and in 608 was
consecrated as a Christian church by Pope Boniface IV., with the permission of the Emperor Phocas, under the
title of Sta. Maria ad Marty res. To this dedication we owe the preservation of the main features of the building,
though it had been terribly maltreated. In 663 the Emperor Constans, who had come to Rome with great pretence
of devotion to its shrines and relics, and who only staid there twelve days, did not scruple, in spite of its religious
dedication, to strip off the tiles of gilt bronze with which the roof was covered, and carry them off with him to
Syracuse, where, upon his murder, a few years after, they fell into the hands of the Saracens. In 1087 it was used by
the anti-pope Guibert as a fortress, whence he made incursions upon the lawful pope, Victor III., and his
protector, the Countess Matilda. In 1101, another anti-pope, Sylvester IV, was elected here. Pope Martin V, after
the return from Avignon, attempted the restoration of the Pantheon by clearing away the mass of miserable
buildings in which it was encrusted, and his efforts were continued by Eugenius IV., but Urban VIII. (1623 44),
though he spent 15,000 scudi upon the Pantheon, and added the two ugly campaniles, called in derision "the
asses' ears," of their architect, Bernini, did not hesitate to plunder the gilt bronze ceiling of the portico, 450,250
lbs. in weight, to make the baldacchino of St. Peter's, and cannons for the Castle of S. Angelo. Benedict XIV.
(1740 58) further despoiled the building by tearing away all the precious marbles which lined the attic, to
ornament other buildings.
The Pantheon was not originally, as now, below the level of the piazza, but was approached by a flight of five
steps. The portico, which is no feet long and 44 feet deep, is supported by sixteen grand Corinthian columns of
oriental granite, 36 feet in height. The ancient bronze doors remain. On either side are niches, once occupied by
colossal statues of Augustus and Agrippa.
"Agrippa wished to dedicate the Pantheon to Augustus, but he refused, and only allowed his statue to occupy a
niche on the right of the peristyle, while that of Agrippa occupied the niche on the left." Merivale.
The Interior is a rotunda, 143 feet in diameter, covered by a dome. It is only lighted by an aperture in the centre,
28 feet in diameter. Seven great niches around the walls once contained statues of different gods and goddesses,
that of Jupiter being the central figure. All the surrounding columns are of giallo-antico, except four, which are of
pavonazzetto, painted yellow. It is a proof of the great value and rarity of giallo-antico, that it was always
impossible to obtain more to complete the set.
" Being deep in talk, it so happened that they found themselves near the majestic, pillared portico and huge black
rotundity of the Pantheon. It stands almost at the central point of the labyrinthine intricacies of the modern city,
and often presents itself before the bewildered stranger when he is in search of other objects. Hilda, looking up,
proposed that they should enter.
" They went in, accordingly, and stood in the free space of that great circle, around which are ranged the arched

recesses and stately altars, formerly dedicated to heathen gods, but Christianized through twelve centuries gone
by. The world has nothing else like the Pantheon. So grand it is, that the pasteboard statues over the lofty cornice
do not disturb the effect, any more than the tin crowns and hearts, the dusty artificial flowers, and all manner of
trumpery gewgaws, hanging at the saintly shrines. The rust and dinginess that have dimmed the precious marble
on the walls ; the pavement, with its great squares and rounds of porphyry and granite, cracked crosswise and in a
hundred directions, showing how roughly the troublesome ages have trampled here; the grey dome above, with
its opening to the sky, as if heaven were looking down into the interior of this place of worship, left unimpeded for
prayers to ascend the more freely : all these things make an impression of solemnity, which St. Peter's itself fails to
produce.
'I think,' said Kenyon, 'it is to the aperture in the dome that great eye, gazing heavenward that the
Pantheon owes the peculiarity of its effect. It is so heathenish, as it were so unlike all the snugness of our
modern civilization ! Look, too, at the pavement directly beneath the open space ! So much rain has fallen there,
in the last two thousand years, that it is green with small, fine moss, such as grows over tombstones in damp
English churchyards.'
"' I like better,' replied Hilda, ' to look at the bright, blue sky, roofing the edifice where the builders left it open. It
is very delightful, in a breezy day, to see the masses of white cloud float over the opening, and then the sunshine
fall through it again, fitfully, as it does now. Would it be any wonder if we were to see angels hovering there,
partly in and partly out, with genial, heavenly faces, not intercepting the light, but transmuting it into beautiful
colours 1 Look at that broad, golden beam a sloping cataract of sunlight which comes down from the
aperture, and rests upon the shrine, at the right hand of the entrance.'" Hawthorne.
"In the ancient Pantheon, when the music of Christian chaunts rises among the shadowy forms of the old
vanished gods painted on the walls, and the light streams down, not from painted windows in the walls, but from
the glowing heavens above, every note of the service echoes like a peal of triumph, and fills my heart with
thankfulness." Mrs. Charles.
" 'Where,' asked Redschid Pasha, on his visit to the Pantheon, 'are the statues of the heathen gods ? ' 'Of course
they were removed when the temple was Christianized,' was the natural answer. 'No,' he replied, ' I would have
left them standing to show how the true God had triumphed over them in their own house." Cardinal
Wiseman.
"No, great Dome of Agrippa, thou art not Christian! canst not, strip and replaster and daub and do what they will
with thee, be so ! Here underneath the great porch of colossal Corinthian columns, here as I walk, do I dream of
the Christian belfries above them; or, on a bench as I sit and abide for long hours, till thy whole vast Round grows
dim as in dreams to my eyes, I repeople thy niches, Not with the martyrs, and saints, and confessors, and virgins,
and children, but with the mightier forms of an older, austerer worship; and I recite to myself, how 'eager for
battle here stood Vulcan, here matronal Juno, And, with the bow to his shoulder faithful, he who with pure dew
laveth of Castaly his flowing locks, who holdeth of Lycia The oak forest and the wood that bore him, Delos' and
Patara's own Apollo.'" A. II. C lough.
Some antiquarians have supposed that the aperture at the top of the Pantheon was originally closed by a huge "
Pigna," or pine-cone of bronze, like that which crowned the summit of the mausoleum of Hadrian, and this belief
has been encouraged by the name of a neighbouring church being S. Giovanni della Pigna.

The Pantheon has become the burial-place of painters. Raphael, Annibale Caracci, Taddeo Zucchero, Baldassare
Peruzzi, Pierino del Vaga, and Giovanni da Udine, are all buried here.
Taddeo Zucchero and Annibale Caracci are buried on either side of Raphael. Near the high altar is a monument
to Cardinal Gonsalvi (1757 1824), the faithful secretary and minister of Pius VII., by Thorwaldsen. This,
however, is only a cenotaph, marking the spot where his heart is preserved. His body rests with that of his beloved
brother Andrew in the church of S. Marcello.
During the middle ages the pope always officiated here on the day of Pentecost, when, in honour of the descent of
the Holy Spirit, showers of white rose-leaves were continually sent down through the aperture during service.
" Though plundered of all its brass, except the ring which was necessary to preserve the aperture above ; though
exposed to repeated fire; though sometimes flooded by the river, and always open to the rain, no monument of
equal antiquity is so well preserved as this rotunda. It passed with little alteration from the pagan into the present
worship; and so convenient were its niches for the Christian altar, that Michael Angelo, ever studious of ancient
beauty, introduced their design as a model in the Catholic church." Forsyth.
In the Piazza della Rotonda is a small Obelisk found in the Campus Martius.
"At a few paces from the streets where meat is sold, you will find gathered round the fountain in the Piazza della
Rotonda, a number of bird-fanciers, surrounded by cages in which are multitudes of living birds for sale. Here are
Java sparrows, parrots and parroquets, grey thrushes and nightingales, red-breasts {petti rossi), yellow canarybirds, beautiful sweet-singing little cardcllini, and gentle ringdoves, all chattering, singing, and cooing together, to
the constant splashing of the fountain. Among them, perched on stands, and glaring wisely out of their great
yellow eyes, may be seen all sorts of owls, from the great solemn barbigiani, and white-tufted owl, to the curious
little civetta, which gives its name to all sharp-witted heartless flirts, and the aziola, which Shelley has celebrated
in one of his minor poems." Story's Roba di Roma.
2 Destiny: You have heard rumors of a treasure currently held in the Pantheon. Now you just need to work out
how to get it...
2 Destiny: You have been inspired. You have a minor hyperactivity, gaining +5 to any roll involving architecture.
3 Destiny: You have regular access to the Pantheon, either as clergy, a scholar, an artist, or something else.
7 Destiny: You have uncovered the great secret of the Pantheon. So long as you utter a brief prayer, either to the
pagan gods or Christian god, before a duel, neither you nor your opponent may use the River, Luck, or Breath
during your fight.

This great building of Scaurus was three storeys high. On the level of the ground were marble columns by the
hundred, on the first floor glass columns (the only instance on record), on the upper floor they were of gilt wood.
Pliny says that part of this insane work was only calculated to be of a temporary character, and it was in fact all
destroyed by fire a few years afterwards, and the glass columns perished equally with those of gilt wood ; he also
adds that other parts were calculated to be eternal, and this equally applies to the part we have remaining, the
great substructures, which being underground, and built of large blocks of tufa, would last as long as the hills if let
alone. Many of these great blocks of tufa appear to have been used a second time; they were most probably
brought from the second wall of Rome, which enclosed the two hills (the Capitoline and Palatine) in one City,
and therefore must have passed under the south end of the Palatine, close to this great amphitheatre. Immediately
in front of it, and separated from it only by a paved street, the south end of the Surama Sacra Via is supported by a
rough concrete wall of the time of Sylla, and on the surface of this concrete wall there are impressions of large
blocks of tufa in the plaster with which the concrete is covered. It is well known that Roman mortar is often
harder and more durable than stone. A few of the large blocks of tufa also remain in their places, where they were
necessary to carry the vault of the platform above. These tufa blocks were used under the podium at the bottom,
to the height of twenty feet, and parallel to them is another wall of the same kind, with just room enough for a
narrow passage between them c . In these walls, on both sides, are vertical grooves, evidently for lifts to be pulled
up and let down, and larger apertures at intervals for the counter-weights.
Behind this wall, under the path in front of the podium, are the dens for the wild beasts. At the back of each den,
in the corner, is a vertical aperture about four feet square, descending from the passage in front of the podium ;
this descends to ten feet from the ground only, and was for the men to go down and feed the animals below
without being exposed to danger. In front of each den is a hole in the original brick pavement, sometimes with a
bronze socket remaining in its place. These sockets (of which there are a great number in the pavement) are
evidently made for a pivot to work in each, and these pivots must have been the lower end of a post for a capstan
to wind the twenty-one feet of cord upon, when the animal in his cage was pulled up to the top, and the trap-door
opened by the same cord from below, to let him jump out when required for effect on the stage d . It is recorded
by contemporary authors that on several occasions a hundred lions leapt on to the stage or arena at once. Some
very curious graffiti, or scratchings on marble, by the workmen of the third century, have been found, one of
which represents a hunt of wild beasts on the arena, in which apparently the dogs have broken loose. Another
shows the framework of the netting of gilt wire in front of the lower gallery.
1 Destiny: You have made extensive studies of the various fencing styles, their strengths and weaknesses. You get
a +5 to Tactics if using it to evaluate a Fencers Style during the initiative roll.
3 Destiny: You have a reputation among local Fencers as a duellist. They may seek you out to challenge you, but
you secretly enjoy the rush. Whenever in a pre-arranged duel you benefit from a minor Hyperactivity that
provides a +5 to Speed.
5 Destiny: Your teacher is one of the best swordsmen in the city. By seeking their advice before facing an
opponent, you can get insights that will aid you in the battle to come. Choose one of the benefits below:
-You learn secrets that will help set your opponent off balance. Gain +5 to any Influence roll to use Courtier
Techniques during the battle.
-You practice against your master while he mimics your foes footwork. Gain a +5 to break any Cover Ground

Waves your foe makes.

-Your master explains your foes history, including old wounds. Should you inflict an injury condition on your foe
during the battle, you gain +5 Damage against your foe for the rest of the battle.
7 Destiny: You have studied enough firsthand accounts and frescos to have a working knowledge of an old
gladiator style. Work out the details with the GM, but an example is provided below.
Retarii Style uses a trident and net to disable opponents and strike them with they are helpless. The style normally
incorporates a few pieces of armor, like an armguard, and the user is trained to twist their body so as to take blows
on those few areas.
(Spear, Flexible)
Laughs at: anyone caught in a Retarius net has good reason to fear this style, given how restricted their
movements will be.
Fears: a fencer fast enough to get up close to a Retarius can deny them their greatest weapons.
Speed +5
Strike +10
Damage +5
Footwork +0
Block +10
Toughness +5
Upgrades
2 Destiny: Taste of Blood
You have a +5 to strike against any foe you have inflicted an injury condition on during this battle.
3 Destiny: Control the Field
You get a +10 bonus to break any Cover Ground wave.
5 Destiny: Mancatcher
If you inflicted a ripple using a flexible weapon on a target, gain +10 to strike so long as you continue to attack that
target and do not make an attack roll targeting anyone else. You may still attempt to break others waves.
2 Destiny: Into the Blow
Spend 2 Breath. Gain +10 to Block
3 Destiny: Distracting Net
Spend 3 Breath. If your attack is best blocked, the target suffers an additional -5 to dodge.

4 Destiny: Arms Length

Spend 4 Breath. If you would be making an area attack using your flexible weapon, it may target a zone other than
the one you are in.
5 Destiny: Crowds Favor
Spend 5 Breath. Any negative condition your foe suffers increases in severity by one step when determining any
penalties they might have against you.

At the other end of the lake stands, on the hill-side, Castel Gandolfo, embossed against the delicate hues of the
distant Campagna. Beneath us, buried in verdure, is the famous Emissarium ; on the opposite shore was the site of
Alba Longa; and on the right, beyond the convent of Palazzuola, rise Rocca di Papa, and the Alban Mount. The
lake itself, which occupies the crater of an extinct volcano, is 6 miles in circuit, 25 miles long, and if miles wide.
Concerning its origin, a legend was related to one of the translators of Niebuhr's History, by a peasant boy, who
guided him to Frescati, as follows:
"Where the lake now lies, there once stood a great city. Here, when Jesus Christ came into Italy, He begged alms.
None took compassion on Him but an old woman, who gave Him two handfuls of meal. He bade her leave the
city : she obeyed : the city instantly sank ; and the lake rose in its place.' To set the truth of the story beyond
dispute, the narrator added, Sta scritto nei libri." Niebuhr's Hist, of Rome.
"The lakes of Alba and Nemi, like others in the neighbourhood of Rome, are of a peculiar character. In their
elevation, lying nestled as it were high up in the bosom of the mountains, they resemble what in Cumberland and
Westmoreland are called tarns ; but our tarns, like ordinary lakes, have their visible feeders and outlets, their head
which receives the streams from the mountain-sides, and their foot by which they discharge themselves, generally
in a larger stream, into the valley below. The lakes of Alba and Nemi lie each at the bottom of a perfect basin, and
the unbroken rim of this basin allows them no visible outlet.
* Macaulay's Lays
3 Destiny: Beyond Rome lie small villages, including resorts for those Romans rich enough to escape the
sweltering heat of summer in the city. You are one of these people. You have a villa overlooking the lake, and
opportunity to rub shoulders with the other wealthy and influential citizens of Rome.
+1 Destiny: You have found a pupil among these vacationers. While still unskilled, they will aid you should you
require.
-1 Destiny: You have found a pupil among these vacationers. While still unskilled, they are eager to duel and will
issue a challenge over trivial matters. You will have to come to their aid.
4 Destiny: The sanctuary of Diana at Nemi lies in ruins, but you have discovered one of its traditions continues.
The King of the Wood exists, and possesses a long lost fighting style using staves and bare fists. They are
extremely skilled, but should you defeat them you will take their title and learn their style.
+5 Destiny: You have watched the King, and while you have not quite grasped their style, you have learned a few
tricks. If you have Finnegan Style, you learnt the following:
Spend 3 Breath. You gain +10 to your Speed, and Laugh at anyone fighting unarmed this turn.

About a mile below the town the ruins of the Castello Savelli crown a conical hill above the plain, and form a
pleasant object for a short excursion. The great family of the Savelli continued to be lords of Albano till the middle
of the sixteenth century, when tragical circumstances led to their extinction. The young and handsome heir of the
house was betrothed to the daughter of the Marchese del Vasto Of Naples, who had a dowry of 800,000 crowns.
But while waiting for his bride to attain her thirteenth year, when the marriage was to be solemnized, he became
passionately in love with a beautiful young girl of Albano, of humble but respectable parentage. Her father,
fearing the addresses of his young lord, hastened her marriage with one Cristoforo, a vassal of the Savelli. But the
young count continued to persecute her with his attentions, took a house immediately opposite to the married
pair, and wrote constantly in the hope of softening the object of his love. She remained faithful to her husband, to
whom she showed all the letters of the count : but Cristoforo constantly mistrusted her, and was full of jealousies.
One day he borrowed her flounced petticoat (guardinfante) and other attire, and forced her to write a letter to
Savelli appointing an assignation, persuading her that he only intended to humiliate him by a disappointment.
Savelli arrived at the rendezvous and was received by Cristoforo in his wife's dress, who shot him through the
heart, cut his throat, and dragged the corpse to the front of the Savelli palace, where he left it weltering in its
blood. On the discovery of the murder all the inhabitants of Albano were shut up in their houses to prevent flight.
Cristoforo had made good his escape, but his innocent wife and all her family were arrested and frequently put to
the torture, in the hope of extorting the whereabouts of the fugitive, of which they were really ignorant. After six
months' imprisonment, the relatives were set at liberty, but the wife was condemned to death, and was only saved
by the intervention of the Duchess of Parma, who received her into her service, from whence she was transferred
to that of the Duchess of Modena.
The bereaved father never recovered the shock of his son's murder, and died in a lunatic asylum, and the only
survivor of the Savelli having no heir, all the property of that ancient race passed to the family of Chigi.
0 Destiny: You are married, and have a family in Rome or just outside.
+1 Destiny: You have sufficient money to spend the days idle in Rome, but no more.
+2 Destiny: Your spouse is a person of status, even if you are not. You can use their name to your advantage,
gaining +5 influence in appropriate circumstances.
3 Destiny: Though you are now aging, your children have carried on your discipline, and are well known
journeyman fencers.
2 Destiny: Your spouse is as skilled with a blade as you are; take care not to upset them, or you may end up facing
them in a duel!
+3 Destiny: Should you and your spouse fight side by side, you each benefit from a minor hyperactivity, regaining
one additional Breath each round.
+2 Destiny: You marriage has soured, and your spouse has sworn to see you ruined. What thrill! You benefit from
a minor hyperactivity when facing your former spouse in battle, regaining one additional Breath each round.
+1 Destiny: Should you defeat your spouse in honourable combat, you stand to gain the family fortune and
holdings, which are not insignificant.

...the beautiful Arrone circles and sparkles through the trees, and unites itself to another little stream, the Fosso,
just below the citadel. In the eleventh century Galera belonged to the Counts Tosco, troublesome barons of the
Campagna, against whom in 1058 Pope Benedict X. called in the assistance of the Normans, who were only too
happy to ravage and plunder the town. In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries the place became an important
stronghold of the Orsini, who held it by tenure of an annual payment of three pounds of wax to the Pope. Their
arms are over the gateway, and they built the tall handsome tower of the church, which was dedicated to S.
Nicholas ; but they were unable to defend the town against their deadly enemies the Colonnas, who took it and
utterly sacked it in July, 1485. The last historical association of the place is that Charles V. slept there, the day he
left Rome, April 18, 1536.
Only a short time ago Galera had ninety inhabitants. Now it has none. There is no one to live in the houses, no
one to pray in the church. Malaria reigns triumphant here, and keeps all human creatures at bay. Even the
shepherd who comes down in the day to watch the goats who are scrambling about the broken walls, would pay
with his life for passing the night here. It is a bewitched solitude, with the ghosts of the past in full possession. All
is fast decaying : the town walls, some of which date from the eleventh century, are sliding over into the thickets of
brambles. Above them rise the remains of the fine old Orsini castle, from which there is an unspeakably desolate
view, the effect of the scene being enhanced by the knowledge that the strength of Galera has fallen beneath no
human foe, but that a more powerful and invincible enemy has been found in the mysterious "scourge of the
Campagna." The only bright point about the ruins is the old washing-place of the town in the glen, where the
waters of the Arrone, ever bright and sparkling, are drawn off into stone basins overhung with fern and creepers.
4 Destiny: You have taken up residence, at least on occasion, in Galera, confident that no one will disturb you.
The village may be abandoned, but wild vegetables and game are easy to find, and the ruined building sufficient to
ensure you are unlikely to be found.
+6 Destiny: You have found old fencing manuals in the ruins. They are incomplete, however. You learn one Style,
but may not buy any upgrades until you have found a trainer or more complete manuals (and pay an additional 2
Destiny for the Style)
4 Destiny: You know one of your rivals is using Galera for something, be it banditry, smuggling, or simple
debauchery. They do not know you know, so you now simply have to plan your attack.
+2 Destiny: One of your rivals minions has turned traitor, and informs you of their movements.
5 Destiny: The ghosts of Galera speak to you. Whether you are mad or not, the ghosts offer insights and advice.
Choose one skill; you have a major hyperactivity to this skill, and a minor weakness to any influence rolls that
would depend on your seeming sane.
+3 Destiny: The ghosts feed when you fight. Whenever you Take Out a foe, regain 2 Breath, as the ghosts share
their bounty with you.