No more wasted sessions…
Tired of Sessions falling apart as the action scene(s) drags on? Tired of spending entire sessions, sometimes multiple, on a single encounter?
The Eternity Engine™ focuses on quick & realistic encounters that instill the fear of death back into your participants. We chose to drop the timeless ‘Health Point’ design in favor of the more intricate Wound system.
With the Eternity Engine™ all Conflicts will average roughly 3x turns upon the Wheel per participant involved. This even includes NPCS! Our system uses 90% less math and minutia so that players and storytellers can focus on their favorite aspects of the TTRPG genre without having to break out a calculator.
Power scaling, sometimes referred to as ‘creep’, is dynamically designed to adapt as player’s advance. The Players drive the narrative, and whether they become ‘protagonists’ or the ‘antagonists’ within their Tale their Renown across the Infinite Kingdoms fluctuates and those that stand in opposition will inevitably learn of their many deeds and prepare accordingly. To quote our author:
“Power invites challenge. Challenge invites conflict. The more power the player(s) character obtains, by necessity so too must their opposition. This also means player characters should never be forced to waste valuable session time in conflict against foes below their current Tier unless there is a legitimate threat to their goals.”
Soak:
A creature's Soak value is the number of wounds they may ignore before sustaining damage. Soak is calculated by Species, Deviation, Specialization, and Armor type.
Anytime a creature is struck by an Attack their Soak value reduces the incoming Wounds, provided their Soak is the same as the damage type. If the creature has no Soak value, they receive Wounds equal to the remainder.
Wounds:
Wounds are our method of determining disabilities and death. Each time you suffer wounds, the total number taken at once determines whether the result is Minor (1-2), Major (3-4), Grievous (5-6), or Lethal (7+).
Then the GM will roll to determine what kind of wound you receive based on where you were hit and flavor the wound with the element that you were hit with. If you are hit by a Lethal Wound, you suffer the Shock condition and roll on our Grievous Wound table.
Some wounds are more intangible than the breaking of bones or tearing of flesh. There are countless ways to affect a creature’s mind, which can cause strain that leave mark as debilitating as a fractured leg. When a character sustains a Major, Grievous, or Lethal Mind Wound, you use our Psychosis chart.
Conflict:
Conflict begins when the GM determines that player action in a scene has consequences, even if the players are unaware. A Conflict Round is roughly 1 minute and will run until all participants have exhausted their resources and have used the Recover action.
Each creature gets a Turn during a Round based on their initiative, provided they are conscious. During a creatures Turn, they may take two actions, only one of which may be a Major Action.
Initiative is a D20 roll + the creature’s Finesse or Intellect Die. All creatures involved in the conflict roll initiative. This includes summoned creatures.
Actions:
Actions cost either Stamina or Mana, and in some rare cases, Wounds to perform. There are 4 kinds of Actions in Conflict: Major Actions, Minor Actions, Swift Actions, and Reactions.
Major Action:
A Major action costs 3 or more Resource points depending on the action taken. If the action is Physical, then the resulting feature, skill, etc. will require the use of Stamina.
When a creature wishes to begin Manipulating, wield a majik item, or activate a mental feature, they are spending Mana.
You only spend the resource when you activate an ability or feature for the first time, except for concentration effects which require a repeat investment of Mana at the start of each Round to upkeep the effect.
Explained below are a few of the Major Actions a player may take during Conflict:
Attack:
Anytime a creature takes aggressive action against a creature, object, or structure they are making an Attack. In short, attempting to harm something is attacking it. To make an Attack, a character rolls a D20 + the applicable Attribute die.
Delay:
Anytime a creature wishes to hold their actions until they are ready, they may choose to Delay their Turn, until their Turn would start naturally when the Wheel comes back around. After taking the Delay action, you may at the end of another creatures Turn, declare you are taking your Delayed Turn. After your action(s) are finished, you return to your original place in the Turn order.
Disengage:
Anytime a creature attempts to remove themselves from the direct area of a hostile creature during Conflict, they are attempting to disengage. To Disengage, a character declares their intention, then moves up to their full Conflict speed as a Major Action. This prevents hostiles from taking Attacks of Opportunity.
Escape:
Whenever a creature attempts to escape, they are currently under the effects of the status effect “Restrained” or they are “Grappled.” To Escape, a character rolls a D20 + their choice of Might, Finesse, Intellect, or Allure.
Grapple:
Simply put, the act of engaging in close quarters, to struggle without weapons. IE., wrestle. To engage a Grapple, a character rolls a D20 + Might or Finesse.
Help:
Anytime a creature wants to make it easier for an ally to do something by offering one's services or resources granting the target advantage on any applicable attack or check. To Help, all a character needs to do is declare “I am giving ___ the Help action.” However, this action is wasted should the conditions change or prevent the targeted ally the ability to reach the character that declared the action.
Minor Action:
A minor action costs 1 to 2 Resources to activate. Minor actions can inflict a Condition, interact with the scene, creatures/characters, or provide a small to moderate spell-like effect. If the action deals Wounds, then the number of wounds is restricted to your Tier. Below are the standard Minor Actions:
• Attack*
• Dodge
• Hide
• Interact
• Move
• Reload
• Search
Explained below are most of the Minor Actions a player may take during Conflict:
Attack*:
Minor action attacks are not available to everyone. They may be granted by certain features acquired through Specializations, Deviations, Archetypes, and Weapon Maneuver. Minor action attacks may only deal your tier in Wounds.
Dodge:
Dodging is any action, cunning trick, dissonant movement, or special ability, that is intended to avoid something unpleasant.
When a creature declares they are taking the Dodge action, the creature rolls a D20 + any applicable Attribute die. The result becomes the creatures “Dodge Chance” until the start of their next Turn. Anytime a creature attempts to target them with an Attack, their Attack must meet or exceed the Dodge Chance to land a Wound. And the target may still choose to React.
Interact:
To interact means to communicate with creatures, activate or engage an object you are not wearing or carrying. Or to pull something from your inventory.
To Interact with a creature or object, a character simply declares that they are Interacting with it. If the target of an Interaction is a creature, the target is under no obligation to respond.
The Interact action may or may not require resource expenditure based on GM and scene.
Move:
Anytime a creature attempts to go in a specified direction or manner or change their position on a battlefield, they are Moving. To Move, a creature simply declares they are moving. Moving costs Stamina, 1 point gives half movement and does not provoke attacks of opportunity, 2 points gives full movement and leaving a threatened space will provoke attacks of opportunity.
Reload:
Weapons with the Loading property must use this minor action before they may fire the weapon again. This action does not require Resource expenditure but requires ammunition.
Search:
Anytime a creature attempts to locate something by looking or otherwise seeking carefully and thoroughly they are Searching. To Search, a creature rolls a D20. There are Deviations, Talents, and Specializations that could be used to alter or enhance a creature’s ability to locate their quarry. Searching may or may not require resource expenditure depending on effort, time, scene, and GM.
Reaction:
Reactions are taken in response to being attacked, being the subject of a spell, trap, effect, etc. A creature may react to each new instance that targets them with an Attack or effect provided they have resources to spend. A creature may only react once per instance, even if they are targeted with more than one attack or effect. Below are the standard Reactions:
• Attack of Opportunity
• Clash
• Dying Breath
• Evade
• Resist
• Soak
Explained below are all of the Reactions a player may take during Conflict:
Attack of Opportunity:
A reaction where a creature can Attack a target that chooses to move their full movement speed away from them without taking the Disengage action.
Clash:
A reaction where a creature wielding an applicable weapon, majik, or shield attempts to block an incoming attack by swinging their weapon, majik, or shield as hard as they can against the incoming blow with the intent to deflect or disarm. Performing a Clash requires the creature to expend 2 Resource points to roll their applicable Attack action against the incoming Attack, some restrictions apply. Should the defenders result be higher than the attackers, then the attack is deflected.
Dying Breath:
A special “reaction’ that allows for a creature to take a single Major Action directly after succumbing to a Lethal wound. This action is restricted to the Major action only. IE; No Attack + Minor action attack.
Evade:
If a creature is inside an area of effect, it may spend 1-2 resource points, depending on distance, and make a Finesse check. If they succeed, they move to the outer circle/edge, or out of the area entirely. Should they fail, their resources are spent, and they suffer the consequences of the effect.
Resist:
When a creature targets another creature with an ability, spell, or attack, the targeted creature or object may choose to React by using the same Attribute as the ability, spell, or attack. Should the defenders result be higher than the attackers, they Resist the effect.
Soak:
This section is under construction and will soon be updated
Swift Action:
Free actions that can be done during any of the above actions and do not require resource to perform. Swift actions are granted by Deviations, Specializations, or given at GM discretion.
Exertion:
Anytime a creature makes a check or Attack, they may choose to Exert themselves. Exerting allows the creature to roll their chosen Attribute die a second time and add it to their total roll. The character may choose to do this after seeing their result, but not after hearing the GM declare the outcome. When a character Exerts, their maximum Mana or Stamina decreases by 1 until the end of a Camp Cycle.
A character can only exert their actions during a Delve, or while in Conflict.
Escalation:
Determines the threat to the players in a scene, which is determined by Motivation. Escalation is measured from 0 to 5. The higher the number, the more aggressively the scene attempts to defeat the players. For instance: At zero, the scene is amicable towards the players and all the chips are in their favor. At 2 the scene has turned hostile, but manageable. By 4 players are at a disadvantage and should consider retreating or changing tactics. By 5, retreat is the only option.
Motivation:
Quite simply: “What any given character wants from another character, location, etc. Motivation is the lynchpin that de/escalates conflict. Below you will find a quick and dirty example of how Motivation is used to determine de/escalation.
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