Core Mechanics
Checks
When you attempt something risky or challenging, you make a check to see how it plays out. If an action isn't risky, you simply succeed—no roll needed.
The GM telegraphs the risk before you roll. Then:
- Pick a skill that matches what you're doing
- Roll the die matching that skill's current rating
- Interpret the result:
- 1-2: You fail, and there's an additional complication
- 3-4: You succeed, but there's a complication
- 5+: You succeed. The higher the roll, the better
After rolling, reduce the skill's die rating by one step: d12 → d10 → d8 → d6 → d4. Skills cannot go lower than d4.
Group Checks
If an ally helps you, they also make a check, but they share the same risks and consequences. Both of you reduce your skill ratings. Take the highest die result.
Complications
Complications are how Duskara pushes back. They might be:
- A superstorm intensifies, forcing you to seek immediate shelter
- A predator detects your heat signature
- Your water supply is contaminated
- A rival faction notices your activity
- A geothermal vent shows signs of instability
- Psychic feedback causes disorientation
Complications escalate tension and often lead to stress.
Catch Your Breath
To reset all your skills to their original ratings, you can catch your breath. This is a brief respite in tension—finding shelter during a storm, taking cover in ruins, resting at a settlement.
Catching your breath can be done at any time, even during combat or crisis.
When you catch your breath, the GM looks at the scene and introduces a new complication for the group. The world doesn't wait while you rest.
Example Complications (GM picks or rolls on table in Section 5):
- Bandits arrive, attracted by your campfire
- The superstorm shifts course toward your position
- A water cache you were counting on has been sabotaged
- A psychic aberration manifests nearby
- A geothermal vent in your shelter begins to destabilize
- You're discovered by a hostile settlement patrol
Loot Checks
When the fiction allows it—scavenging ruins, salvaging day-side mining drones, looting abandoned settlements—you can make a loot check.
You start with a d12 loot die, which steps down after each use. You may continue using it at d4, but at your own risk. To reset your loot die, you must catch your breath.
Roll your current loot die and interpret the result:
- 1-2: Trouble is here… (immediate threat manifests)
- 3-4: There's trouble ahead… (danger is approaching)
- 5-6: You find a d6 item
- 7-8: You find a d8 item
- 9-10: You find a d10 item or a med kit
- 11-12: You find a d12 item or a med kit
Backpack
Items in your backpack can be used instead of skills for checks. They start with a die rating (d6, d8, d10, or d12) and degrade with use, just like skills.
When an item is reduced to d4, it either breaks, gets lost, or becomes irrelevant to the fiction. You can carry 3 items and 1 med kit at a time.
Med kits are special items that clear 2 stress when used. They don't degrade—they're consumed entirely.
Stunts
When you attempt something extraordinary—a stunt—you roll a d12 instead of your skill rating.
Stunts represent heroic psychic feats, desperate gambits, or acts of ingenuity under pressure:
- Channeling weather working to redirect a superstorm
- Shadow-walking through the Deep Roads to bypass a collapse
- Deep-bonding with a wind serpent to intimidate bandits
- Using thermal sense to find a hidden geothermal vent
After attempting a stunt, you must catch your breath before attempting another.
Stress
When you face complications, you may take stress. Stress represents physical exhaustion, psychic burnout, environmental exposure, or psychological strain.
Track stress with boxes or tally marks. If you reach 4 stress, your character becomes vulnerable—failing a dangerous check could mean being taken out or sudden death.
Clearing Stress:
- Use a med kit to clear 2 stress
- Rest in a secure location (settlement, fortified shelter) to clear an amount at the GM's discretion
- Narrative recovery (psychic counseling, geothermal rest chambers, communal support)