Mechanics

Abilities abilities Abilities are named actions characters can attempt - magical powers, combat techniques, special manoeuvres. Each ability is gated by skill or trait `requirements` and modifies how the engine resolves the resulting roll. Attributes attributeSettings Attributes are the core stats of your system - strength, dexterity, intelligence, or whatever names fit your world. They drive skill-roll modifiers and optionally scale resource pools. Combat Settings (Advanced) combatSettings Numeric tuning for the combat system: XP rewards for defeating enemies, ability recharge timing, ability effectiveness bonus, NPC daily healing, and the canonical list of valid damage types for your world. Death Rules death Defines what happens when a character's health hits zero. `permadeath` controls whether `death` is permanent; `instructions` is prose fed directly to the narrator describing the downing and recovery process. Item Settings itemSettings Defines the equipment system: the name of your currency, the item categories that exist, the equipment slots characters have, and the `items` given to every player at the start of every game regardless of trait or story start. Resources resourceSettings Resources are the tracked bars in your game - `health` is required, everything else (mana, stamina, corruption, etc.) is optional. Each resource defines a current/max value, UI bar color, recharge rate, and usage instructions for the narrator. Skill Settings (Advanced) skillSettings Global skill mechanics — XP costs for leveling, skill learning chance, maximum skill level, and the difficulty check thresholds that translate difficulty labels (Easy/Hard/etc.) into numeric bonuses. Skills skills Skills are the rolled actions characters attempt. Each skill connects to one attribute (which contributes to the check total), has a `type` string for difficulty bonuses, and a description that defines what it covers. Trait Categories traitCategories Categories group `traits` together and control how many the player can pick from each group. Each category must be defined before `traits` can be assigned to it - the `traits` array lists which trait names belong to this category. Traits traits Traits are the character creation choices - race, class, background, and any other categories you define. Each trait is a bucket of `skills`, attributes, resources, `items`, and `abilities` the chosen character receives. Triggers triggers Conditional automations that fire effects when their conditions all pass. The primary mechanism for quest activation, state flags, world-mutation, and one-time narrator instructions. Triggers are deterministic where narrator instructions are probabilistic -- use `triggers` for anything that must mechanically happen.