Edge
Roll 2d20 and keep the higher result.
The rules
Essence NexusHow to Play
Everything you need at the table: the roll, the turn, the fight, the crossing. Keep it open whenever you need a fast reminder.
The roll you’ll use most
Check Total
d20+Skill Die+modifiers
Meet or beat the target number to succeed. Edge and Snag change the d20; shifts change the skill die.
At a glance
Common Table Rules
Resolve the modifier before rolling.
Snag
Roll 2d20 and keep the lower result.
Upshift
Move up the skill-die track before rolling.
Downshift
Move down the skill-die track before rolling.
Remember
Edge and Snag affect the d20. Shifts affect the skill die. If Edge and Snag both apply, they cancel each other.
Setting the number
Difficulty
The GM picks a difficulty before you roll. Most tests at the table sit at Easy or Moderate; Hard and above should feel like a real decision to attempt.
Very Easy
5
Anyone competent succeeds without thinking.
Easy
10
Routine for a trained character. Base DIF for Attuned spells.
Moderate
15
A real test of skill. Base DIF for Adept and Ascendant spells.
Hard
20
Specialists only, and they will want Edge.
Very Hard
25
Legendary. Expect to need an upshift and a plan.
Impossible
30
Not happening without a Story Point or a miracle.
Core Stats & Defenses
Toughness
14
Derived from 
Strength
Being hit by something physical
10 + Strength
Evasion
14
Derived from 
Speed
Most attacks — the default target
10 + Speed
Willpower
14
Derived from 
Smarts
Mental attacks, fear, illusion
10 + Smarts
Cleverness
14
Derived from 
Social
Being outmanoeuvred socially
10 + Social
| Stat | Defense | Protects against | Example | Formula |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strength | Toughness | Being hit by something physical | 14 | 10 + Strength |
| Speed | Evasion | Most attacks — the default target | 14 | 10 + Speed |
| Smarts | Willpower | Mental attacks, fear, illusion | 14 | 10 + Smarts |
| Social | Cleverness | Being outmanoeuvred socially | 14 | 10 + Social |
❤️
Health & Movement come from your Origin and Role, not from your Essence scores. Max Health is Origin base + Role bonus + (level − 1), and movement is measured in feet. Size then adjusts both — see Conditions & Size below.
🎲
Skill Die Progression
d2
Starting rank
1 pt
d4
Novice
2 pt
d6
Competent
3 pt
d8
Expert
4 pt
d10
Master
5 pt
d12
Legendary
6 pt
Shift track
d20 onlyd2d4d6d8d10d122d83d6Auto SuccessCritical Success
Downshifting below d20 only moves to Auto Fail, then Fumble. A critical success is a maximum roll on whatever the track is throwing — 16 on 2d8, 18 on 3d6.
Buying skills: each Essence score is the point budget for that Essence’s skill group, and you must spend it exactly. A d4 costs 2 points, a d8 costs 4. Untrained skills contribute no die.
🎯
Resolving an Action
1
Pick the skill
Choose the skill that best fits what your character is trying to do.
2
Roll your dice
Roll a d20 + your current skill die, then add situational bonuses or penalties.
3
Compare to difficulty
If your total meets or beats the target number, your action succeeds.
⏱️
In combat
The Turn
Initiative is d20 + Speed, highest first. On your turn you get one of each of the following, plus as many Free actions as the fiction allows.
Standard action
1 per turnThe main thing you do on your turn. Attacking, casting a spell, and most skill tests made under pressure all cost your Standard.
- Attack
- Cast a spell
- Lend Assistance
- Dash
- Administer first aid
Move action
1 per turnTravel up to your movement rate in feet. You may break it up around your Standard action.
- Walk or fly your rate
- Stand up from Prone
- Mount or dismount
Reaction
1 per roundTaken on someone else's turn in response to a trigger. Refreshes at the start of your own turn.
- Shield an adjacent ally
- Starstep Reflex
- Opportunity strike
| Manoeuvre | Cost | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Dash | Standard action | Spend your Standard action to take a second Move action this turn. |
| Lend Assistance | Standard action | Describe how you help. One ally who can see or hear you gains Edge on their next Skill Test this round. |
| Shift | Free (comes from an effect) | Move your skill die up or down the shift track before rolling. Upshift improves it, Downshift worsens it. Shifts stack; Edge and Snag do not shift anything. |
| Take Cover | Move action | Gain +2 Evasion against ranged attacks until the start of your next turn. |
| Catch Your Breath | Standard action, once per scene | Recover 1 Health. |
⚔️
Making it hurt
Attacking & Damage
An attack is an ordinary Skill Test. Roll it against the target’s defense; on a hit, deal your weapon’s damage. There is no separate damage roll.
| Attack | Roll | Against | Typical use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heavy melee | Might | Evasion | Blades, hammers, claws, and anything that hits hard at reach. |
| Precise melee | Finesse | Evasion | Knives, rapiers, and strikes that trade force for placement. |
| Ranged | Targeting | Evasion | Firearms, bows, thrown weapons, and energy weapons. |
| Spell attack | Spellcasting | Evasion | Any spell whose effect text calls for an Attack Test. |
| Social attack | Intimidation | Cleverness | Breaking someone's composure rather than their body. |
Light weapon
1
damage on a hit
Standard weapon
2
damage on a hit
Heavy weapon
3
damage on a hit
Criticals & armour
A critical hit deals +1 damage. Armour and protective effects subtract a flat amount, and damage never goes below 0. Health is deliberately small — a fight is won by landing several hits, not one big one.
💔
When it goes wrong
Damage, Dying & Recovery
Dropping to 0 Health
At 0 Health you gain the Defeated condition and can take no actions. At the start of each of your turns, make a Brawn test against DIF 10.
3 successes
You stabilize at 1 Health and become Unconscious.
3 failures
Your character dies.
Any healing at all clears the whole track and brings you back at that much Health. One point is enough.
| Rest | Takes | Recovers | Resets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Catch Your Breath | A Standard action, once per scene | 1 Health | Nothing |
| Short Rest | About an hour of relative safety | Health equal to your level | Every "once per scene" ability, and your Spellcasting die to full |
| Full Rest | A night of real sleep or a full recharge cycle | All Health | Every "once per scene" and "once per day" ability, and all Story Points spent |
✨
Paying for magic
Spellcasting
Who can cast
Your Origin decides whether you can cast at all, and grants a starting Spellcasting rank for free. Your Role never gates magic — Samara’s Path instead grants an upshift on Spellcasting tests.
Spellcasting is an ordinary Wits skill. Raising it above your Origin’s free rank costs the difference in Smarts points, at creation and on every level up.
What casting costs
Spells are not slot-based. Casting downshifts your Spellcasting die by the spell’s cost. You recover one upshift at the start of each of your turns, up to your rank — so cost, not spells per day, is the limit.
You may keep up to 3 spells in your active loadout.
| Tier | Needs | Base DIF | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attuned | d2+ Spellcasting | 10 | 1 |
| Adept | d6+ Spellcasting | 15 | 1–2 |
| Ascendant | d10+ Spellcasting | 15 | 2–3 |
🌀
Between worlds
Crossing the Nexus
Every traveller rolls as the party steps through a door. A failed crossing never stops you arriving — it only decides what arrives with you.
Strength world
Brawn
The current tries to pull you apart on the way through. You hold together or you don't.
Speed world
Acrobatics
The corridor moves faster than you do. Land on your feet at the far end.
Smarts world
Alertness
The local laws change as you arrive. Notice which ones before you rely on the old ones.
Social world
Persuasion
A crossing is safest when the group shares one honest verse. Someone has to hold it.
Anchored door
DIF 10A door held open by an anchor-ring, a bondweaver choir, or a Ferrum ember-core. The safe way to travel, and the way you rarely get.
Charted door
DIF 15A door someone has been through before and written down. The default for a party following a map.
Wild tear
DIF 20A fresh rip in the Bleed, or a door an equation invented rather than predicted. Nobody knows where the far side settles.
| Result | Roll | What arrives |
|---|---|---|
| Clean crossing | Success | You step through and arrive where you meant to, when you meant to. |
| Shaken | Missed by 1-4 | You arrive Impaired until the end of the first scene on the far side. |
| Scattered | Missed by 5-9 | You arrive Frightened, and somewhere else — a scene late, or across the settlement from the rest of the party. |
| Echoed | Missed by 10 or more | You arrive Frightened, and a Memory Echo of you stays behind in the corridor. The GM decides what it does with the life it remembers. |
| Unmade | Fumble | You arrive as a Memory Echo yourself. Until the end of the next scene you cannot touch anything solid, and only those who know you can see you. |
Who crosses well
- snagMachine chassis. Living Machines and Hybrid Sparks suffer Snag on Crossing Tests through anything but an Anchored door — the corridor does not respect hardware.
- edgeEmber-core. A character carrying a Ferrum ember-core or equivalent anchor ignores the machine-chassis Snag and crosses with Edge.
- edgeShared verse. If one character spends their crossing to lead a song, rite, or shared count, every other traveller gains Edge and they themselves roll last, alone.
- edgeCharted by hand. A party crossing on a chart drawn by a Bleed Cartographer who is present gains Edge on a Wild tear.
Local rules. Every world bends something. Check the world’s entry in the Nexus codex for its local rule and what it makes easier or harder.
⭐
Party resource
Story Points
Story Points are a shared pool held by the whole party, not by any one character. You hold at most 5, and a Full Rest refills them.
Push
1 SPReroll one failed Skill Test, keeping the second result.
Upshift
1 SPUpshift one test by 1 after seeing the difficulty but before rolling.
Hold On
2 SPAn ally who has just been Defeated stabilizes immediately at 1 Health.
Of Course We Did
2 SPDeclare that the party prepared for this — a piece of ordinary gear, a contact, or a route is simply available. The GM may not veto it, only complicate it.
✦
Getting better
Advancement
Starting out
At level 1 you spend 15 Essence points across the four Essences, with a minimum of 1 in each. Your Origin then adds +1, so a starting character totals 16.
Levelling up
Each level raises one Essence score by 1. That score is also its group’s skill budget, so every level buys you a skill point in the same breath — and 1 more max Health.
level = 1 + (Essence total − 16)
Skill Groups
Toughness Skills
Athletics
Running, jumping, climbing, swimming — all-around physical activity.
Brawn
Endurance and toughness — resisting pain, pushing through exhaustion, holding on.
Intimidation
Frightening others through sheer presence, threats, or a scary glare.
Might
Raw physical power — lifting heavy things, breaking down doors, feats of brute strength.
Evasion Skills
Acrobatics
Flips, dodges, tumbles — keeping your balance and moving gracefully under pressure.
Driving
Piloting vehicles, carts, or mounts at speed — keeping control when things get wild.
Finesse
Precision and dexterity — picking locks, sleight of hand, delicate handiwork, and precise melee strikes.
Infiltration
Moving silently and staying hidden — sneaking past guards and slipping through shadows.
Targeting
Accuracy with ranged attacks or thrown objects — hitting what you aim at.
Willpower Skills
Alertness
Noticing details others miss — spotting traps, sensing danger, reading a room.
Culture
Knowledge of history, customs, legends, and the ways of different societies.
Science
Applying logic and research — medicine, alchemy, experiments, and natural philosophy.
Spellcasting
Channelling Essence into a working. Your rank sets which spell tiers you can cast, and casting downshifts it until you recover.
Survival
Thriving in the wild — finding food and shelter, navigating terrain, tracking creatures.
Technology
Understanding, repairing, and operating mechanical or magical devices.
Cleverness Skills
Animal Handling
Calming, training, and communicating with animals and magical creatures.
Deception
Lying convincingly, disguising your intentions, or bluffing your way through.
Performance
Singing, acting, dancing, or storytelling — captivating an audience.
Persuasion
Convincing others through honest appeals — inspiring, negotiating, or pleading your case.
Streetwise
Reading social situations, knowing the lay of the land, connecting with communities.
Conditions & Size
Track these on your live character sheet during play. Conditions change defenses and actions; size modifies Evasion, Toughness, reach and movement. Reach and movement are in feet, like everything else.
Conditions
Asleep
Incapacitated. Attacks against you have Edge. Any damage wakes you.
Blinded
−2 Evasion. Your attack rolls suffer Snag.
Core Starved
−2 Toughness and −2 Evasion while a Living Machine runs on reserve power.
Deafened
You automatically fail Alertness tests that rely on hearing, and suffer Snag on tests needing spoken coordination.
Defeated
You are down and out of the fight. See the dying rules.
Frightened
Snag on every test while the source is in sight, and you cannot willingly move closer to it.
Grappled
Your movement is 0 and your attack rolls suffer Snag.
Immobilized
Your movement is 0.
Impaired
Snag on every skill test you make.
Invisible
Your attacks have Edge. Attacks against you suffer Snag.
Mesmerized
Snag on every test, and you cannot take hostile action against the source.
Poisoned
Snag on every test, and you take 1 damage at the start of each of your turns.
Prone
Melee attacks against you have Edge; your ranged attacks suffer Snag.
Restrained
−4 Evasion, your movement is 0, and your attack rolls suffer Snag.
Stunned
Incapacitated. −5 Evasion.
Unconscious
Incapacitated. −5 Evasion, and attacks against you have Edge.
Size Categories
Small
+1 Evasion, -1 Toughness, 5 ft reach
Medium
Standard humanoid size — no modifiers, 5 ft reach
Large
-1 Evasion, +1 Toughness, 10 ft reach, +5 ft movement
Huge
-2 Evasion, +2 Toughness, 15 ft reach, +10 ft movement
Towering
-4 Evasion, +4 Toughness, 25 ft reach, +20 ft movement
| Size | Evasion | Toughness | Reach | Movement |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Small | +1 | -1 | 5 ft | — |
| Medium | 0 | 0 | 5 ft | — |
| Large | -1 | +1 | 10 ft | +5 ft |
| Huge | -2 | +2 | 15 ft | +10 ft |
| Towering | -4 | +4 | 25 ft | +20 ft |
Size and conditions stack with your base defenses on the live character sheet.