Overview
Power Effects in Combat
AX.C.08.05
This section defines how Odd Talents function in combat across four basic categories: Attack, Defense, Boon, and Bane.
It does not define specific traditions, those are provided by Genre Catalogs. It defines what any tradition effect does at the table when a practitioner uses their power offensively, defensively or to modify a situation.
Core Resolution Principles
All power effects in combat use the same base roll:
Governing Attribute + Odd Talent (+ Focus if applicable)
The result is interpreted differently depending on the effect category:
| Category | Roll Resolves Against |
|---|---|
| Attack - Targeted | Target's Defense |
| Attack - Area | A Threshold, scope-based; each target rolls a Save |
| Defense | A Threshold set by duration and scope |
| Boon | A Threshold set by scope and target count |
| Bane | A Threshold set by scope; each target rolls a Save |
The Wild Die applies normally to all power rolls.
Optional
The two-state resource mechanic (Clear/Strained, under catalog-specific names) applies equally to all four categories, effect type does not change the resource cost.
Threshold & Scope
The following table governs how Threshold is affected by range, target/area and duration. Evaluate the Threshold based on each variable independently. The base Threshold will use the highest value of the three.
Example
- An effect with Range of Near, burst is Threshold 3
- An effect with Target Area Medium Radius is Threshold 4
- An effect with Duration of Instant/One Turn is Threshold 1
- An effect that is all 3 defaults to Threshold 4
See AX.C.10.03 - Range Bands for approximate distance correlation.
Genre Catalog tradition files may specify values that differ from this baseline; those values take precedence.
| Threshold | Range | Target/Area | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Touch | 1 | Instant / one Turn |
| 2 | Close/Near | 1 | End of scene |
| 3 | Near, burst | Small (5-10') radius | End of scene |
| 4 | Far, burst | Medium (15-20') radius | Until Short Rest |
| 5+ | Distant, burst | Large (30') radius | Persistent / structural |
Catalog Author Notes
These categories are not mutually exclusive. A single tradition application may function as Attack + Bane simultaneously (deal damage AND impose a condition) or Defense + Boon (ward an ally AND grant them a bonus die). When combined effects are defined in a tradition file, their total scope determines the Threshold, use the higher of the two individual Thresholds +1. Do not require two separate rolls for a single defined application.
Save type assignment: Assign one Save type per tradition or per Expression within a tradition. Do not require the GM to determine Save type at the table on the fly. Every defined application in a tradition file should specify the Save type.
Damage type is setting fiction, not mechanics. Fire damage and arc damage are identical at the core level unless the setting explicitly defines vulnerabilities and resistances. Catalog authors who want damage types to have mechanical weight must define those interactions in the catalog (e.g., radiant damage doubled vs vulnerable targets in AX.GHW). The core rules do not assume any damage type modifies the formula.
Boon and Bane are Odd Talent applications, not perks. They use the tradition's dice pool, consume the scene's Clear use, and are subject to Backlash. Do not reuse the perk format for Boon/Bane effects that are intended as in-scene tradition applications. If a Boon or Bane is a fixed, named, per-rest ability of a Profession, use the perk code block format (AX.C.08.02). If it is an improvisational tradition application, it follows this framework.
Do not introduce gradations to the two-state system. There is no "slightly Strained" or "deeply exhausted" state. The states are binary and the rule for recovery is specific. Catalog-specific resource names change the fiction; they do not change the mechanic.