Common Game Terms

+n Forward - Add n to your next roll of the dice.

+n Ongoing - Add n to your next dice rolls until told otherwise. Usually this is for specific kinds of dice roll.

Advancement - When you earn enough XP, it is turned in for an advancement to your character and your XP track is reset. See Advancement

Advantage, Rolling with - Rolling 3d6 and taking the best two dice results.

Archetypes - Archetypes are packages of semi-built characters based on common characters and tropes seen in the source materials. They are both a touchstone to inspire you on what is expected for this game and a shortcut to create character more easily. Each character playbook is based on an archetype appearing in the source material.

Approaches - Approaches differentiate how your character differs from others and how they prefer to solve problems. Things they are better at and things they are worse at. See approaches

Alter - an Approach (see above) and also a catch-all word to cover non-conventional things and concepts such as non-linear time, alternate timelines and alternative technologies (ie magic). Alter is easily sensed (and often disturbing to) any time sensitive/witchblook and breaks several heavily enforced laws of great

Clock, Progress - Progress clocks are a way to abstractly link an outcome that has many working parts, with the results of several actions and moves. See Clocks

Completion - Completion is the measure of a character's fate. It is always increasing, never decreasing. The final checkbox of those you must fill in will alway retire your character and you must create a new one as a replacement. See completion

Disadvantage, Rolling with - Rolling 3d6 and taking the worst two dice results.

Discharge - Some Moves and Gear may have a discharge state. You declare you are discharging it to use that state and may not use that move or gear again until you use the recover move.

Downtime - A book keeping time when the protagonists aren't out adventuring. See downtime

Exhaustion - Accumulated from using too much Stress. May only be relieved with rest or certain Moves. While exhausted all rolls are at Disadvantage.

Flags - An aspect of your character you would like other players to acknowledge.

Flashbacks, Untethered - A form of flashback that is justified in a time other than the past. They cost a Temporary Completion and if not fulfilled, actual Completion points. See Flashbacks

Flux - The currency of changes in time. Not a physical object. This is earned through completing scenarios and spent to improve your coterie playbook

Harm - Damage that occurs to your character. It can be physical, mental, emotional or even to your timeline. Too much Harm and your character is retired. You may convert Harm to Stress

Hold, n - Some Moves give a resource called Hold of n amount. You may spend points of n to do things with that Move until you run out or it is no longer relevant.

Hooks - Social and plot based connections between your character, other player characters and the universe.

Invoking the Spirits - Also called a Devil's Bargain. You decide with the Grandfather what price is to be paid for increasing the results of a dice roll to the next higher category. The price is always paid and must not lessen the effects of the outcome achieved.

Malevolance - This is the a combination of entropy and being noticed by the major powers in the universe. It is a track affected by your character's actions and may increase or decrease. All members of Faction Paradox have at least 1 Malevolence. See malevolence

Move - Moves are specific rules on how something the character does should affect the fiction. They help the Grandfather determine outcomes and often involve dice rolls with modifiers based on context. See Moves

Move, Advanced - A move that can only be obtained after at least five advancements have been made. See Advancement

Move, Basic - Any move that can be obtained within your first five advancements. See Advancement

Paradox - a flag on your coterie playbook to remind everyone in the coterie that they have an unfinished paradox usually created with an untethered flashback. Two Paradox and everyone marks a completion

Pushing - Paying Stress to improve your dice roll. This must be done before rolling any dice.

Resistance Attributes - These three attributes are the sum of any +1 or -1 you have in its subgroup of Approaches. They are exclusively used for the resist Move.

Story Points - A resource accumulated from having characters retired (death or becoming an NPC) that may be spent for automatic successes when narratively important

Stress - This is a combination of fortitude and luck. The track is usually increased as payment for Moves or as the result of Harm. It usually is reduced in Downtime. See Stress

Trauma - The result of maxing out Stress without relief. You may have 4 traumas at most, after your fourth Trauma, your character is retired. See Trauma