Edges & Banes

Core GameplayDice
9/5/2025

Edges and Banes

An archer standing on a castle wall fires down into a throng of enemies, hitting the mark each time thanks to their high ground. A drunken bandit struggles to land blows on sober opponents as alcohol clouds their senses. Under certain circumstances, you need more than just a characteristic to represent the advantages and disadvantages that heroes, their enemies, and their allies might have.

Edge

An edge represents a situational advantage a hero or an enemy has when making a power roll. For example, a standing hero who makes a melee strike against a prone creature gains an edge on the power roll for their strike. A pair of magic gloves that makes your hands sticky might grant you an edge when making a power roll to climb walls!

When you make a power roll with a single edge, you add 2 to the roll. If you make a power roll with two or more edges, you have a double edge. This means you don’t add anything to the power roll, but the result of the roll automatically improves one tier (to a maximum of tier 3).

Bane

A bane represents a situational disadvantage a hero or an enemy has when making a power roll. For example, if you make an strike while prone, the power roll for the strike takes a bane. A rainstorm might give you a bane on a power roll made to climb an outdoor wall because the weather makes the stone surface extra slick.

When you make a power roll with a single bane, you subtract 2 from the roll. If you make a power roll with two or more banes, you have a double bane. This means you don’t subtract anything from the power roll, but the result of the roll automatically decreases one tier (to a minimum of tier 1).

Rolling with edges and banes

Under certain circumstances, you might have one or more edges and banes on the same roll. For instance, you might take a bane when weakened by poison, even as you gain an edge for strikeing a prone creature. In general, edges and banes cancel each other out, resolving as follows:

  • If you have an edge and a bane, or if you have a double edge and a double bane, the roll is made as usual without any edges or banes.

  • If you have a double edge and just one bane, the roll is made with one edge, regardless of how many single edge instances contribute to the double edge.

  • If you have a double bane and just one edge, the roll is made with one bane, regardless of how many single bane instances contribute to the double bane.

When to use edges and banes

The rules tell you when to modify a roll with an edge or a bane. The Director can also modify rolls with edges and banes as a response to narrative or environmental circumstances. For instance, no rule specifically says that rain imposes a bane on power rolls made to climb a stone wall. But it makes sense that rainy conditions should make climbing that wall harder, so a Director should absolutely do so!

Why Cap?

We capped edges and banes at a maximum of two each for several reasons, including thinking about the narrative of those penalties. Every little advantage or disadvantage in a heroic story has diminishing returns, acknowledging that a creature can only benefit or be hindered by short-term circumstances so much. For example, a character who is prone and weakened by poison already finds it difficult to attack—so that becoming restrained by a net can’t really make it harder.

We also liked capping edges and banes at two because it keeps play quick. It’s nice to not need to count beyond two positive or negative circumstances in a battle with a lot of effects flying around.

Bonuses and penalties

While edges and banes cover most circumstantial effects that can have an impact on a power roll, a few rules add numeric bonuses or penalties to power rolls. Bonus and penalty values are specified in the rules that impose them, and are calculated independently of edges and banes, and before edges and banes are factored into a power roll. There is no limit to the number of bonuses or penalties that can apply to a power roll, and bonuses and penalties always add together.

Though it might sound as if the math with bonuses and penalties can get confusing, fear not! Bonuses and penalties are rare except in the case of skills, which appear on your character sheet (see Skills for more information).

Automatic tier results

There are a few effects in the game that allow a creature to achieve automatic tier 1, 2, or 3 results. These effects supersede all edges, banes, bonuses, and penalties. When you are experiencing one of these effects and the roll would have special effects if you get a specific natural result, such as a critical hit when you use an ability as an action in combat, you can still make the roll to see if you achieve the natural result for an additional effect in addition to the automatic result.

If you are under two effects that each give you automatic results, then they cancel each other out and all automatic results are ignored.