First Steps

A Measure set to 5 grants a positive trait. Titanic Strength doubles carrying tolerance; Eagle-Eyed Perception spots hidden traps; Savant Knowledge identifies cursed items immediately.

A Measure set to 1 grants a negative trait. Weakling halves carry weight, Clumsy prevents sneaking, Ignorant cannot read books or scrolls, and Shattered cannot use runic magic spells.

Proficiencies rise through use. Weapons, spell schools, crafting, trap work, fishing, mining, runecraft, and similar actions gain progress by being performed.

Card eligibility depends on deck: main dungeon, region/external area, alternate variant, mine/chasm, or lab. Multideck cards can cross those boundaries.

Room contents are drawn by location weights and filtered by deck, level, uniqueness, and location rules such as natural or dangerous natural spaces.

Entering a new slot reveals what the dungeon had prepared. Some doors can be forced. Some locks need keys. Some containers trigger traps before you see the loot.

Action Points are the turn's budget. Maximum AP is based on Dexterity, Perception, and Psyche. Moving, attacking, interacting, crafting, and most inventory actions spend it.

Overburdened characters slow to one AP. Carrying capacity comes from Strength and Endurance, then traits and perks bend the threshold.

Distance is tracked per card slot. Melee attacks close distance before striking. Ranged attacks need a weapon, ammunition where required, and enough space to draw.

Sneaking changes enemy awareness. Movement and closing distance can set enemies to oblivious, and attacking an oblivious target improves critical opportunity.

Traps can hide in rooms and containers. Perception may reveal them. Movement still tests avoidance. Disarming leans on Dexterity, Patience, and trap proficiency.

Some enemies roam. Cowardly logic flees the player's last known direction; angered logic seeks it. Moving enemies can trigger traps, attack doors, or equip gear.

Items roll from Dismal to Masterful. Quality multiplies durability, damage, defense, value, cure chance, spellcraft, sneak, and other relevant stats.

Fourteen domains drive description and mechanics: wood, leather, metal, textile, stone, glass, herb, mushroom, gem, bone, wax, organic, twine, and alch.

Crafting passes material bias from consumed ingredients into the result, so output can echo the things sacrificed to make it.

Rooms and non-consumable items can receive sockets. A rune inserted into a socket replaces any previous rune and consumes the old one.

Runes on weapons, shields, rings, armour, containers, and tools apply different buffs depending on the item category and rune school.

A socketed room applies rune effects while you stand there. Fire can warm, water can chill or affect flooding, and other elements alter survival or magic.

Dungeon NPCs, world NPCs, companions, and merchants all use the card model. World NPC quest state lives on the player through tags, so progress can be personal.

Recruits move from the grid into your carried companion list. They can be dismissed back to a slot, equipped, asked for help, and sent to explore.

NPC hunger and thirst rise over turns. They search their own inventory and then the room for safe food or drink, and complain when need becomes severe.

Merchant stock is generated from template and type: food, book, or junk. They carry gold, gain experience from trade, level up, and restock.

Stealing requires the Thief perk and AP. Success improves stealing and transfers the item; failure can turn the merchant event into a hostile encounter.

Timelines wait for triggers: entering or leaving locations, kills, spells, skills, cards used, containers opened, items crafted, cards seen, or cards acquired.