Fights
Combat
A fight is another snippet. You act, the foe acts, statuses tick, and your resource regenerates a little. Silence blocks skills. Stun and fear skip your action entirely.
One hit, in order
A basic attack’s raw number is your swing: ATK plus half of STR, DEX, or INT. A skill multiplies that by its power first. Empowered attacks add 25% before anything else. Then, in order: an evade charm or Evasive Roll wastes the hit; Absorb or Mana Shield wastes it; the defender may dodge; defense bends what remains; a crit adds half again; a shield blocks for half about 15% of the time; if they used defend, the hit is halved once more.
Defense never subtracts a flat number. Damage taken is the hit × 100 ÷ (100 + defense), and a real hit is at least 1. One hundred defense cuts a blow in half. Sunder multiplies defense by 0.75. Guard multiplies it by 1.35. Those stack by multiplying.
Crits are 1.5× after defense, from DEX, and never above 40%. Dodges come from SPD and never above 30%. Poison, burn, and bleed do not crit and do not roll dodge — they just hurt. Heals do not crit either.
You cannot attack, cast, or drink outside a fight. skill() with no name tells you it needs a quoted skill. A skill you have not reached, or whose weapon you are not holding, is refused before it spends the resource.
Conditions
| Status | Kind | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Poison | 3 turns | 2 damage a tick. Forests, swamps, and the underground may apply it when you enter. |
| Burn | 3 turns | 3 damage a tick. Volcanic ground may apply it on entry. |
| Bleed | 2 turns | 2 damage a tick. Daggers and some runes open it. |
| Heat | 3 turns | 1 damage a tick. The desert may apply it on entry. |
| Stun / Fear | 1 turn | You lose the action. |
| Root | 1 turn | Pins. Crossbows and Pinning Shot apply it. |
| Slow | 2 turns | Speed ×0.7. Coasts, mountains, grassland, and the Aetherium may apply it on entry. |
| Sunder | 3 turns | Defense ×0.75. |
| Regen | 2 turns | Heal 4 a tick. |
| Guard | 2 turns | Defense ×1.35. Defend also sets a one-hit guard. |
| Empowered | 3 turns | Attack ×1.25. |
| Haste | 2 turns | Speed ×1.3. |
| Absorb / Evade | 1 hit | The next hit deals nothing, then the charm ends. |
| Silence | 1 turn | Skills fail. A basic attack still works. |
The same condition does not stack. A fresh application refreshes the duration. Tundra is written to chill you on entry; chill is not one of the conditions your own skills inflict.
Warrior, archer, mage
Class skills unlock at 1, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 36, 42, and 50. Cost is stamina, except a mage’s cost is mana. Weapon skills are not level-gated; they appear while that weapon is in hand.
Warrior
| Level | Skill | Cost | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Power Strike | 4 | 1.6× one foe |
| 5 | Brace | 4 | Guard yourself for 2 turns |
| 10 | Bash | 6 | 1.2× and stun 1 turn |
| 15 | Cleave | 8 | 1.1× every foe |
| 20 | War Cry | 6 | Empower your attack for 3 turns |
| 25 | Whirlwind | 10 | 0.9× every foe |
| 30 | Bloodlust | 8 | 1.2×, then regen 2 turns |
| 36 | Sunder | 10 | 1.3× and lower defense 3 turns |
| 42 | Execute | 12 | 1.4×, and +50% if the foe is under half HP |
| 50 | Rampage | 14 | 1.3×, empower, and haste |
Archer
| Level | Skill | Cost | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Quick Shot | 3 | 1.2× one foe |
| 5 | Double Shot | 6 | Two hits at 0.8× |
| 10 | Precise Shot | 6 | 1.7×. aimed_shot is this same skill |
| 15 | Hamstring | 6 | 1.1× and slow 2 turns |
| 20 | Evasive Roll | 5 | Evade the next hit |
| 25 | Volley | 10 | 0.85× every foe |
| 30 | Poison Arrow | 8 | 1.0× and poison 3 turns |
| 36 | Pinning Shot | 8 | 1.2× and root 1 turn |
| 42 | Rain of Arrows | 12 | 1.0× every foe |
| 50 | Killing Shot | 14 | 1.5×, and +60% under half HP |
Mage
| Level | Skill | Cost | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Firebolt | 4 | 1.3×. fire_bolt is the same spell |
| 5 | Mana Shield | 6 | Absorb the next hit |
| 10 | Fireball | 8 | 1.5× and burn 2 turns |
| 15 | Ice Spike | 7 | 1.3× and slow 2 turns |
| 20 | Arcane Ward | 6 | Guard for 3 turns |
| 25 | Thunder | 10 | 0.9× every foe |
| 30 | Drain | 8 | 1.1× and a short regen |
| 36 | Haste | 6 | Speed up for 2 turns |
| 42 | Meteor | 14 | 1.2× every foe and burn |
| 50 | Overload | 16 | 1.8× and burn 3 turns |
Weapon and offhand skills
| Weapon | Skill | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Dagger | Quick Cut | 1.1× and bleed |
| Short sword, long sword | Slash | 1.3× |
| Great sword | Great Slash | 1.6× |
| Club, mace | Smash | 1.2× and may stun |
| War hammer | Ground Pound | 0.9× every foe and slow |
| Battle axe | Chop | 1.2× and sunder |
| Great axe | Cleaving Chop | 1.1× every foe |
| Spear, halberd, pike | Thrust | 1.4× |
| Any bow | Aimed Draw | 1.5× |
| Crossbow | Bolt Shot | 1.3× and root |
| Wand, arcane focus | Spark | 1.1× and burn |
| Staff, battle staff | Arcane Sweep | 0.9× every foe |
| Shield | Shield Bash | 1.0× and stun. Offhand. |
| Quiver | Extra Arrow | 0.7×. Offhand, even with a two-handed bow. |
| Focus | Focus Bolt | 1.0×. Offhand, only with a one-handed wand. |
What a kill pays
A normal foe pays 16 XP + 12 per their level, plus 15 XP for each level they have above you, and 10 gold + 7 per their level. A boss purse is flat: 25 gold plus 10 gold for each point of that champion’s number in the boss ledger. Early foes (base level 1–5) are given extra HP and attack so a fresh hero does not erase them in one swing; levels 6–10 get a smaller bump. Past that, the map itself raises numbers: a little for each stage, a little for each hero level, and a little for the biome’s danger, never past six times the written stat, and never past enemy level 40 on the scaling cap.
Monster skills
Foes do not use your class tree. Each species brings its own named tricks. Power is a multiplier on their attack, the same way yours is.