¶ Introduction
Glaives are the elite warriors of the Ninth World, using weapons and armor to fight their enemies. Hunters, guardians, and soldiers could be Glaives. Sometimes scouts, warlords, bandits, and even athletes are Glaives. “Glaive” is a common slang term used almost everywhere in the Steadfast and the Beyond for any person skilled with weapons or a martial art, but in truth, it applies only to the best of the best. Glaives are warriors who command abilities far beyond those of a typical person with a sword.
Most Glaives are either strong (using the heaviest armor and weapons available and having a high Might) or fast (sticking with light weapons and armor and having a high Speed). A few attempt to use both Might and Speed and stay somewhere in the middle. Glaives also use ranged weapons such as bows or darts. Some don’t rely on weapons at all, preferring to use their bodies in hand-to-hand combat— punching, kicking, grabbing, throwing, and so on.
Glaives in Society: In most cities and villages, people hold Glaives in great esteem. Although a Glaive could just as likely be a thug as a noble warrior, those who help protect their fellow humans from the dangers of the Ninth World are always treated with respect. There is no shame in getting paid for the use of one’s skills, so being a blade for hire is a perfectly acceptable profession. Restrictions on carrying weapons openly are rare, and most Glaives wear the tools of their trade with pride.
Not surprisingly, Glaives often get along best with other Glaives, or at least soldiers, guards, or similar comrades in arms. Nanos, scholars, and people who aren’t terribly physical are less likely to mix well with Glaives, but obviously not every Glaive is the same. They focus on their bodies, but that doesn’t mean they don’t value more cerebral pursuits as well. A Glaive need not follow the stereotype of the dumb bruiser with a sword or an axe.
Glaives in the Group: In a group of explorers, Glaives typically take the lead. They’re usually the most physically capable, the most durable, and the most ready to meet danger head-on. Sometimes they act protectively toward their companions; other times, they’re more self-interested. Either way, a Glaive’s place is often in the middle of the
fray.
Glaives and the Numenera: When it comes to the numenera, most Glaives are interested in weapons, armor, or devices that aid them in combat. The ancients produced all sorts of incredibly durable substances, many of which can be made into armor that is lighter and more protective than steel. Sometimes, Glaives can scavenge a suit of armor composed of these advanced materials, but more often they find the materials and then ask a crafter or smith to make the armor. Of course, the problem is that a substance that is difficult to damage is also hard to work.
As varied as armoring materials might be, numenera weaponry is infinitely more so. These items include melee weapons that shock, stun, or burn whatever they touch; and ranged weapons that blast projectiles with incredible power or bursts of strange energies. There are also bombs, damaging energy fields, poisonous gases, and far stranger weaponry, but some Glaives find that such complex objects are better off in the hands of a Nano. Maneuverability is just as important as attack or defense, however, so an item that allows a Glaive to move quickly or negate gravity is a great prize. As for cyphers, Glaives prefer physically enhancing or restorative objects, such as injections of chemicals that improve reaction time or pills with microscopic repair devices that heal wounds and restore fatigued muscle tissue. They use the nickname “boost” for any cypher that enhances their strength, stamina, reflexes, or other physical aspects, while one that repairs damage or alleviates fatigue is called a “treat."
Advanced Glaives: As they progress, Glaives become better combatants, often felling multiple foes in a single stroke. They gain special types of attacks and learn to use armor more efficiently to get the most out of the protection it offers.
¶ Glaive Background
Glaives are no mere bandits or town guards. They stand head and shoulders above ordinary soldiers and brawlers. Something in your background—whether intensive training, inborn traits, or biomechanical modification—has made you more than the others around you. Choose one of those three options (described below) as the source of your skills, strength, reflexes, and stamina. It will provide the foundation of your background and give you an idea of how you can improve. The GM can use this information to develop adventures and quests that are specific to your character and play a role in your advancement.
¶ Intensive Training
You are strong, fast, or both, but what really separates you from the crowd is your training. Perhaps you ascended the highest peak of the Black Riage or sought the deepest sewers beneath Qi to find teachers who could show you how to move, fight, and endure beyond normal human limits. You know a thousand ways to kill a foe, most of them secret to all but a chosen few. You’re privy to techniques and fighting styles that most people in the Ninth World have never seen. You have learned that the impossible is possible—as long as you know the secret. Your body is a weapon, and your weapon is part of your body. You have studied with the masters, and now you carry that regimen as you venture into the world.
Advancement: You need to train and practice constantly to hone your skills and develop new techniques, building on what you’ve been taught. Perhaps at some point you will return to your secret masters for further initiation or find new teachers or lessons that can take you to the next step. When you gain additional points for your stat Pools, an increase to a stat’s Edge, or an increase in the level of Effort you can apply, the benefit comes as the result of rigorous exercise and personal development. When you gain a new skill or Glaive ability, it’s the result of the martial arts you have studied
¶ Inborn Traits
You’ve trained under excellent instructors and have experience in many dangerous situations, but what makes you different is deep inside, entwined in your genetic heritage. Maybe it was the luck of being born fit. Maybe you’re a hulking brute—a mountainous figure who commands attention when you enter a room. Or maybe your strength is more subtle; you might be the descendant of a bioengineered species bred (or designed) for perfection. Perhaps you’re a mutant with psychic abilities that augment your physical nature; you guide and enhance your attacks with telekinesis, or you use a natural mutation in your brain to control matter on a molecular level to resist blows and inflict harm. Perhaps you’re something wholly new: an aberration or a human so perfect that you’re beyond human. You might be a posthuman—the next step toward the true destiny of the people of the Ninth World.
Advancement: You have talents of which you are only dimly aware. You must practice and experiment to find your limitations, if any. At some point in the future, you might have to seek out someone who can help you master your inherent abilities. You were born with great power. Now you need to learn how to use that power, even if the education takes a lifetime. When your stats improve, it’s because you’re tapping deeper into the unknown reserves within you. When you gain a new Glaive ability, it’s the result of your superhuman traits as much as it is about your study, practice, or knowledge. You can do things that other people simply cannot, no matter how hard they train.
¶ Biomechanical Modification
You might be a fighter, but you’re no archaic stereotype—this is the Ninth World, after all. Although you trained and gained your share of practical experience, you have the numenera on your side as well. Some of your knowledge of fighting techniques is implanted in your brain and spine, wired into your nerves and muscles. Your joints have surgically implanted servo motors. Subdermal plating makes you tougher than should be possible. Your muscle tissue is augmented with artificial fibers.
Perhaps your genetic code has been rewritten by engineered viruses, or the tissues in your body have been reworked by nanotech, turning you into an efficient battle machine. Or maybe you’ve been altered by strange science—radioactive treatments of bizarre energies, chemical compounds and drugs, or extradimensional enhancements—that makes you stronger, faster, tougher, and more proficient in attack and defense than anyone around you.
Whatever the case, you’re the result of ancient knowledge made manifest in the present, and now you’re shaping the future. Perhaps your modifications are obvious and visible; perhaps they’re not. Regardless, you know that you’re more than merely human.
Advancement: Your body is an ongoing project. In a way, it’s a work of art, although its beauty comes not from its appearance but from what it can do. As you go forward, you should keep an eye out at all times for new parts and systems that can be incorporated into your body, or new doses of drugs and supplements to maintain your abilities. You might need to seek out surgeons, mechanics, or bioenhancement specialists to take you to the next level. Perhaps the Aeon Priests can help. Perhaps the parts you need can be found only in the ruins of the past or the dangerous black market of a faraway city.
When your stats improve, it’s because you literally have added something new to your body. When you gain a new ability, it’s the direct result of a tangible change in your own physical being.
¶ Glaive Connection
Roll a d20 or choose from the following list to determine a specific fact about your background that provides a connection to the rest of the world. You can also create your own fact.
| Roll | Background |
|---|---|
| 1 | You were in the military and have friends who still serve. Your former commander remembers you well. |
| 2 | You were the personal guard of a wealthy merchant who accused you of theft. You left her service in disgrace. |
| 3 | You were the bouncer in a local bar for a while, and the patrons there remember you. |
| 4 | You trained with a highly respected mentor. He regards you well, but he has many enemies. |
| 5 | You trained in an isolated monastery far away. The monks think of you as a brother, but you’re a stranger to all others. |
| 6 | You have no formal training. Your abilities come to you naturally (or unnaturally). |
| 7 | You spent time on the streets and even were in prison for a while. |
| 8 | You were conscripted into military service, but you deserted before long. |
| 9 | You served as a bodyguard to a powerful criminal who now owes you his life. |
| 10 | You worked as a constable. Everyone knows you, but their opinions of you vary. |
| 11 | Your older sibling is an infamous glaive who has been disgraced. |
| 12 | You served as a caravan guard. You know a smattering of people in many cities and towns. |
| 13 | Your best friend is a sage and a scholar. She is a great source of knowledge. |
| 14 | You and a friend both smoke the same kind of rare, expensive tobacco. The two of you get together weekly to chat and smoke. |
| 15 | Your uncle runs a theater in town. You know all the actors and watch all the shows for free. |
| 16 | Your blacksmith friend sometimes calls on you for help at the forge. However, he pays you well. |
| 17 | Your mentor wrote a book on the martial arts. Sometimes other warriors seek you out to ask about its stranger passages. |
| 18 | A man you fought alongside in the military is now the mayor of a nearby town. |
| 19 | You saved the lives of a family when their house burned down. They’re indebted to you, and their neighbors regard you as a hero. |
| 20 | Your old trainer still expects you to come back and sharpen her blades and clean up after her classes, but when you do, she occasionally shares interesting rumors. |
¶ Glaive Player Intrusions
As a Glaive, you can spend 1XP to use one of the following player intrusions, provided the situation is appropriate and the GM agrees.
Perfect Setup: You’re fighting at least three foes and each one is standing in exactly the right spot for you to use a move you trained in long ago, allowing you to attack all three as a single action. Make a separate attack roll for each foe. You remain limited by the amount of Effort you can apply on one action.
Old Friend: A comrade in arms from your past shows up unexpectedly and provides aid in whatever you’re doing. They are on a mission of their own and can’t stay longer than it takes to help out, chat a while after, and
perhaps share a quick meal.
Weapon Break: Your foe’s weapon has a weak spot and in the course of the combat quickly becomes damaged and moves two steps down the object damage track.
¶ Glaive Stat Pools
| Stat | Pool Starting Value |
| Might | 11 |
| Speed | 10 |
| Intellect | 7 |
You get 6 additional points to divide among your stat Pools however you wish.
¶
Glaive Tiers
¶ First-Tier Glaive
First-tier Glaives have the following abilities:
Effort: Your Effort is 1.
Fighter: You have a Might Edge of 1, a Speed Edge of 1, and an Intellect Edge of 0.
Combat Prowess: You add +1 damage to one type of attack of your choice: melee attacks or ranged attacks. Enabler.
Cypher Use: You can bear two cyphers at a time.
Trained in Armor: You can wear armor for long periods of time without tiring and can compensate for slowed reactions from wearing armor. You reduce the Speed Effort cost for wearing armor by 1. Enabler.
Weapons: You can use any weapon without penalty.
Physical Skills: Choose one of the following skills in which you aren’t already trained: balancing, climbing, jumping, or swimming. You are trained in this skill. You have an inability in crafting numenera, salvaging numenera, and understanding numenera.
Community Defender: While you are present within a community, and actively and personally working on behalf of that community, the community’s effective rank for damage inflicted is +1. Enabler.
Starting Equipment: You start with clothing, two weapons (or one weapon and a shield), light or medium armor, an explorer’s pack, two cyphers (chosen for you by the GM), one oddity (chosen for you by the GM), and 5 shins (coins). If you start with a ranged weapon that requires ammunition (arrows, for example), you start with 12 of that type of ammunition. Before selecting your weapons, armor, and other gear, you might want to wait until after you’ve chosen your fighting moves, descriptor, and focus
Default Starting Cyphers and Oddity: Your GM may provide you with starting cyphers and an oddity. Otherwise, you begin with the following.
- Cyphers: density nodule, rejuvenator
- Oddity: Blob of clay that takes on various
mysterious shapes when left alone
Fighting Moves: You have a special talent for combat and can perform feats that others can barely imagine. These feats are called fighting moves. Some fighting moves are constant, ongoing effects, and others are specific actions that usually cost points from one of your stat Pools. Choose two of the fighting moves described below. You can’t choose the same fighting move more than once unless its description says otherwise.
- Aggression (2 Might points): You focus on making attacks to such an extent that you leave yourself vulnerable to your opponents. While this ability is active, you gain an asset on your melee attacks, and your Speed defense rolls against melee and ranged attacks are hindered. This effect lasts for as long as you wish, but it ends if no combat is taking place within range of your senses. Enabler.
- Fleet of Foot (1+ Speed points): You can move a short distance as part of another action. You can move a long distance as your entire action for a turn. If you apply a level of Effort to this ability, you can move a long distance and make an attack as your entire action for a turn, but the attack is hindered. Enabler.
- Impressive Display (2 Might points): You perform a feat of strength, speed, or combat, impressing those nearby. For the next minute you gain an asset in all interaction tasks with people who saw you use this ability. Action.
- Misdirect (3 Speed points): When an opponent misses you, you can redirect their attack to another target (a creature or object) of your choosing that’s within immediate range of you. Make an unmodified attack roll against the new target (do not use any of your or the opponent’s modifiers to the attack roll, but you can apply Effort for accuracy). If the attack hits, the target takes damage from your opponent’s attack. Enabler.
- No Need for Weapons: When you make an unarmed attack (such as a punch or kick), it counts as a medium weapon instead of a light weapon. Enabler.
- Trained Without Armor: You are trained in Speed defense actions when not wearing armor. Enabler
¶ Second-Tier Glaive
Second-tier Glaives have the following abilities:
Skill With Attacks: Choose one type of attack in which you are not already trained: light bashing, light bladed, light ranged, medium bashing, medium bladed, medium ranged, heavy bashing, heavy bladed, or heavy ranged. You are trained in attacks using that type of weapon. Enabler.
Fighting Moves: Choose one of the following fighting moves (or a move from a lower tier) to add to your repertoire. In addition, you can replace one of your first-tier fighting moves with a different first-tier fighting move.
- Crushing Blow (2 Might points): When you use a bashing or bladed weapon in both hands and apply Effort on the attack, you get a free level of Effort on the damage. (If fighting unarmed, this attack is made with both fists or both feet together.) Action.
- Hemorrhage (2+ Might points): You make a powerful and precise strike that inflicts additional damage later. On your next turn, the target of this attack takes an additional 3 points of damage (this ignores Armor). The target can prevent this additional damage by making a recovery roll, using any ability that heals it, or using its action to attend to the injury. In addition to the normal options for using Effort, you can choose to use Effort to increase this duration by one round. Action.
- Reload (1 Speed point): When using a weapon that normally requires an action to reload, such as a heavy crossbow, you can reload and fire (or fire and reload) in the same action. Enabler.
- Skill With Defense: Choose one type of defense task in which you are not already trained: Might, Speed, or Intellect. You are trained in defense tasks of that type. Unlike most fighting moves, you can select this move up to three times. Each time you select it, you must choose a different type of defense task. Enabler.
- Successive Attack (2 Speed points): If you take down a foe, you can immediately make another attack on that same turn against a new foe within your reach. The second attack is part of the same action. You can use this fighting move with melee attacks and ranged attacks. Enabler.
If you become trained with a weapon that you have an inability in, the inability and training cancel each other out.
Defense tasks are when a player makes a roll to keep something undesirable from happening to their PC. The type of defense task matters when using Effort.
- Might defense: Used for resisting poison, disease, and anything else that can be overcome with strength and health.
- Speed defense: Used for dodging attacks and escaping danger. This is by far the most commonly used defense task.
- Intellect defense: Used for fending off mental attacks or anything that might affect or influence one’s mind
¶ Third-Tier Glaive
Third-tier Glaives have the following abilities:
Expert Cypher Use: You can bear three cyphers at a time.
Skill With Attacks: Choose one type of attack in which you are not already trained: light bashing, light bladed, light ranged, medium bashing, medium bladed, medium ranged, heavy bashing, heavy bladed, or heavy ranged. You are trained in attacks using that type of weapon. Enabler.
Improved Community Defender: A community continues to modify its effective rank for damage inflicted by +1. However, you do not need to be constantly present in and actively working on behalf of the community for it to gain this benefit; it gains it merely because of your past defense of the community. Enabler.
Fighting Moves: Choose one of the following fighting moves (or a move from a lower tier) to add to your repertoire. In addition, you can also replace one of your lower-tier fighting moves with a different fighting move from the same lower tier.
- Energy Resistance: Choose a discrete type of energy that you have experience with (such as heat, sonic, electricity, and so on). You gain +5 to Armor against damage from that type of energy. You must be familiar with the type of energy; for example, if you have no experience with a certain kind of extradimensional energy, you can’t protect against it. Unlike most fighting moves, you can select this more than once. Each time you select it, you must choose a different kind of energy. Enabler.
- Lunge (2 Might points): This move requires you to extend yourself for a powerful stab or smash. The awkward lunge hinders the attack roll. If your attack is successful, it inflicts 4 additional points of damage. Action.
- Obstacle Running (3 Speed points): For the next minute, you can ignore obstacles that slow your movement, allowing you to travel at normal speed through areas with rubble, fences, tables, and similar objects that you would have to climb over or move around. This movement might include sliding on a railing, briefly running along a wall, or even stepping on a creature to boost yourself over something. If an obstacle would normally require a Might or Speed task to overcome, such as swinging on a rope, balancing on a rope, or jumping over a hole, you are trained at that task. Enabler.
- Slice (2 Speed points): This is a quick attack with a bladed or pointed weapon that is hard to defend against. You are trained in this task. If the attack is successful, it deals 1 less point of damage than normal. Action.
- Specialized in Armor: The cost reduction from your Trained in Armor ability improves. You now reduce the Speed Effort cost for wearing armor by an additional 1. Enabler.
- Spray (2 Speed points): If a weapon has the ability to fire rapid shots without reloading (usually called a rapid-fire weapon, such as a crank crossbow), you can spray multiple shots around your target to increase the chance of hitting. This move uses 1d6 + 1 rounds of ammo (or all the ammo in the weapon, if it has less than the number rolled). You are trained in making this attack. If the attack is successful, it deals 1
less point of damage than normal. Action. - Trick Shot (2 Speed points): As part of the same action, you make a ranged attack against two targets that are within immediate range of each other. Make a separate attack roll against each target. The attack rolls are hindered. Action.
- Vigilance (2 Intellect points): You take a cautious approach to combat, focusing more on protecting yourself than on hurting your opponents. While this ability is active, you gain an asset on Speed defense rolls against melee and ranged attacks, and your melee and ranged attacks are hindered. This effect lasts for as long as you wish, but it ends if no combat is taking place within range of your senses. Action to initiate
¶ Fourth-Tier Glaive
Fourth-tier Glaives have the following abilities:
Skill With Attacks: Choose one type of attack in which you are not already trained: light bashing, light bladed, light ranged, medium bashing, medium bladed, medium ranged, heavy bashing, heavy bladed, or heavy ranged. You are trained in attacks using that type of weapon. Enabler.
Fighting Moves: Choose one of the following fighting moves (or a move from a lower tier) to add to your repertoire. In addition, you can also replace one of your lower-tier fighting moves with a different fighting move from the same lower tier.
- Amazing Effort: When you apply at least one level of Effort to a non-combat task, you get a free level of Effort on that task. When you choose this fighting move, decide if this ability applies to Might Effort or Speed Effort. Enabler.
- Capable Warrior: Your attacks deal 1 additional point of damage. Enabler.
- Experienced Defender: When wearing armor, you gain +1 to Armor. Enabler.
- Feint (2 Speed points): If you spend one action creating a misdirection or diversion, in the next round you can take advantage of your opponent’s lowered defenses. Make a melee attack roll against that opponent. You gain an asset on this attack. If your attack is successful, it inflicts 4 additional points of damage. Action.
- Minor to Major: You treat rolls of natural 19 as rolls of natural 20 for Might attack rolls or Speed attack rolls (your choice when you gain this ability). This allows you to gain a major effect on a natural 19 or 20. Enabler
- Snipe (2 Speed points): If you spend one action aiming, in the next round you can make a precise ranged attack. You are trained in this task. If your attack is successful, it inflicts 4 additional points of damage. Action.
¶ Fifth-Tier Glaive
Fifth-tier Glaives have the following abilities:
Adept Cypher Use: You can bear four cyphers at a time. Mastery With Attacks: Choose one type of attack in which you are trained: light bashing, light bladed, light ranged, medium bashing, medium bladed, medium ranged, heavy bashing, heavy bladed, or heavy ranged. You are specialized in attacks using that type of weapon. Enabler. (In place of this ability, you may instead select Skill With Attacks to become trained in one type of attack.)
Fighting Moves: Choose one of the following fighting moves (or a move from a lower tier) to add to your repertoire. In addition, you can also replace one of your lower-tier fighting moves with a different fighting move from the same lower tier.
- Mastery in Armor: The cost reduction from your Trained in Armor ability improves. You now reduce the Speed Effort cost for wearing armor by an additional 1. Enabler. • Arc Spray (3 Speed points): If a weapon has the ability to fire rapid shots without reloading (usually called a rapid-fire weapon, such as a crank crossbow), you can fire your weapon at up to three targets (all next to one another) at once. Make a separate attack roll against each target. Each attack is hindered. Action.
- Battlefield Tactician (2+ Intellect points): You scrutinize your surroundings, learning whatever facts the GM feels are pertinent about attacking, defending, maneuvering, and dealing with environmental hazards within a short distance. For example, you might notice a pile of rubble you can stand on for an advantage in melee, a sheltered corner to help protect against enemy attacks, a less-slippery part of a frozen lake, or a place where the poison gas is thinner than elsewhere. If you (or someone you tell) move to that location, you (or the person told) gain an asset on tasks related to that optimal position (such as attack rolls from the high ground, Speed defense rolls from the sheltered corner, balance rolls on the frozen lake, or Might defense rolls against the poisonous cloud). Instead of gaining an advantageous location, you might learn a disadvantageous location that you could use against your enemies, such as maneuvering them into an awkward corner that hinders their melee attacks or a weak spot on the frozen lake that will break if they stand on it. You can apply Effort to learn one additional good or bad location within range (one location per level of Effort), increase the range of this ability (another short distance per level of Effort), or both. Enabler.
- Jump Attack (5 Might points): You attempt a difficulty 4 Might roll to jump high into the air as part of your melee attack action. If you succeed at the jump and your attack hits, you inflict 3 additional points of damage and knock the foe prone. If you fail at the jump, you still make your normal attack roll, but you don’t inflict the extra damage or knock down the opponent if you hit. In addition to the normal options for using Effort, you can choose to use Effort to enhance your jump; each level of Effort used in this way adds +2 feet to the height and +1 damage to the attack. Action.
- Mastery With Defense: Choose one type of defense task in which you are trained: Might, Speed, or Intellect. You are specialized in defense tasks of that type. Unlike most fighting moves, you can select this move up to three times. Each time you select it, you must choose a different type of defense task. Enabler.
- Parry (5 Speed points): You can deflect incoming attacks quickly. When you activate this move, for the next ten rounds you ease all Speed defense rolls. Enabler
You can use Jump Attack to reach an opponent that is above you. GM intrusions and other significant changes to the location may negate the advantages and disadvantages discovered by Battlefield Tactician.
¶ Sixth-Tier Glaive
Sixth-tier Glaives have the following abilities:
Mastery With Attacks: Choose one type of attack in which you are trained: light bashing, light bladed, light ranged, medium bashing, medium bladed, medium ranged, heavy bashing, heavy bladed, or heavy ranged. You are specialized in attacks using that type of weapon. Enabler. (In place of this ability, you may instead select Skill With Attacks to become trained in one type of attack.)
Ability Choice: Choose either Rampaging Beast Horde or Recruit Deputy as an additional tier 6 ability. The ability you do not choose remains available as a choice from the list of other tier 6 ability options that you normally choose from.
- Rampaging Beast Horde (12 Might points): You can take community actions with a horde or a community as if you were a rank 3 rampaging beast horde for one hour. You can spend a few rounds or minutes here and there taking character actions if something requires attention and still retain your horde status. For each allied PC that joins you and remains with you during this period who also spends 12 points from one of their Pools, you can extend the duration by one hour. Each point of damage you take while being treated as a rampaging beast horde is deducted from your Might Pool, or if you have allied PCs helping, the damage is split up and deducted from all your Might Pools evenly. Action to initiate.
- Recruit Deputy: You gain a level 4 follower. They are not restricted on their modifications. Enabler.
Fighting Moves: Choose one of the following fighting moves (or a move from a lower tier) to add to your repertoire. In addition, you can also replace one of your lower-tier fighting moves with a different fighting move from the same lower tier.
- Again and Again (8 Speed points): You can take an additional action in a round in which you have already acted. Enabler.
- Finishing Blow (5 Might points): If your foe is prone, stunned, or somehow helpless or incapacitated when you strike, you inflict 7 additional points of damage on a successful hit. Enabler.
- Slayer (3 Might points): When you successfully strike an NPC or creature of level 5 or lower, make another roll (using whichever stat you used to attack). If you succeed on the second roll, you kill the target outright. If you use this fighting move against a PC of any tier and you succeed on the second roll, the character moves down
one step on the damage track. Enabler. - Spin Attack (5 Speed points): You stand still and make attacks against up to five foes, all as part of the same action in one round. All of the attacks have to be the same sort of attack (melee or ranged). Make a separate attack roll for each foe. You remain limited by the amount of Effort you can apply on one action. Anything that modifies your attack or damage applies to all of these attacks. In addition to the normal options for using Effort, you can choose to use Effort to increase the number of foes you can attack with this ability (one additional foe per level of Effort used in this way). Action
¶ Glaive Example
Colin wants to create a Glaive character who is fast and strong. He puts 3 of his additional points into his Might Pool and 3 into his Speed Pool; his stat Pools are now Might 14, Speed 13, Intellect 7. As a first-tier character, his Effort is 1, his Might Edge and Speed Edge are 1, and his Intellect Edge is 0. His Glaive is not particularly smart or charismatic.
He wants to use a broadsword (a medium weapon that inflicts 4 points of damage) and a heavy crossbow (a heavy weapon that inflicts 6 points of damage but requires the use of both hands). Colin decides not to wear armor, so for his first fighting move, he chooses Trained Without Armor so he eases Speed defense actions. For his second fighting move, he chooses Impressive Display so he can use his physical fitness to compensate for his lack of social skills.
The GM generously gives Colin an extra 10 shins because he chose to forgo armor, and he uses this money to buy more crossbow bolts. The Glaive’s starting equipment includes two cyphers, and the GM decides that Colin’s cyphers are a pill that restores 6 points of Might when swallowed and a small device that explodes like a firebomb when thrown, inflicting 3 points of damage to all within immediate range. Colin chooses swimming for his trained physical skill.
He still needs to choose a descriptor and a focus. Looking ahead to the descriptor rules, Colin chooses Strong, which increases his Might Pool to 18. He also becomes trained in jumping and breaking inanimate objects. (If he had chosen jumping as his physical skill, the Strong descriptor would have made him specialized in jumping instead of trained.) Being Strong also gives Colin an extra medium or heavy weapon. He chooses another broadsword as a backup blade. He decides that one sword is slightly smaller than the other, and he’ll sheathe them together on his left side.
For his focus, Colin chooses Masters Weaponry. This gives him yet another weapon of high quality. He chooses a broadsword and asks the GM if his first sword can be a shield instead, which will ease his Speed defense rolls (the shield counts as an asset). The GM agrees to the change. During the game, Colin’s Glaive will be hard to hit—he is trained in Speed defense rolls and his shield also eases those rolls.
Thanks to his focus, he also inflicts 1 additional point of damage with his chosen weapon. Now he inflicts 5 points of damage with his blade. Colin’s character is a deadly combatant, likely starting the game with some amount of renown as a swordsman.