What Is Momenta?

Momenta Core Rules · Prologue · Welcome · Chapter 00

Version: 0.31

Momenta is a tactical, cinematic fantasy TTRPG built around modular archetypes and slottable masteries. This book covers the core rules, the character-build system, and how a Momenta adventure is structured.

About this document: The rules are presented concisely for TTRPG-veteran readers.

Acknowledgements: Momenta takes inspiration from many excellent TTRPG and JRPG games, including:

• Tri-Stat dX - BODY / MIND / SOUL primary attribute structure.
• Lancer - Zipper initiative, dual-track damage, Structure/Stress model.
• Draw Steel - Single-roll resolution, recoveries, tiers of success for attacks.
• Octopath Traveler - Break system and the Broken condition.
• Troubleshooter: Abandoned Children - Mastery board, mastery sets, “Vigor” terminology.
• Final Fantasy Tactics - Multi-archetype character building.
• Blades in the Dark - Slot-based persistent harm, mission structure, narrative play.
• One-Roll Engine / Yahtzee - Dice patterns-as-resolution lineage.
• Pathfinder 2e - Tag-based content design.
• Tales from Elsewhere - Hit-location concept (Mass/Edge/Mark adopted from Bulk/Brim/Ace).
• Ars Magica - Freeform verb-and-noun spell construction.
• 13th Age / Daggerheart - Experience-based narrative play resolution.

Momenta is a tabletop roleplaying game of cinematic, tactical fantasy. Battles play out on a grid, but they resolve quickly at the speed of a story. You spend Vigor to chain together daring maneuvers, take Strain when you push past your limits, and pour your party’s shared Momentum into Limit Breaks that turn desperate situations into legend.

Every roll is read twice. Roll your pool of d6s, count successes to see how well you did, then scan for dice patterns like in Yahtzee. Doubles land Solid Hits. Triples and Quads fuel rarer and more impactful techniques. Every throw of the dice carries a second chance for something cinematic to happen, and reading it takes a glance, not a calculation.

Your victories belong to the table. Momentum is earned by the whole party and spent by whoever needs it most. The game is built for the moment your friend’s character does something unforgettable because you set it up.

Magic is a grammar, not a spell list. Combine an Art (the verb: Rend, Mend, Compel, Impel…) with a Resonance (the noun: Ignis, Lux, Mens, Terra…) and the grid of combinations is yours to explore. Arts are fixed and comprehensive; Resonances are an open surface, built to be extended, hacked, and homebrewed.

Wounds tell stories. Getting hurt doesn’t just tick a number down. Physical Wounds and mental Burdens carry consequences, afflictions give you something to play, and pushing on versus resting is a real strategic choice.

Character building is a minigame in itself. Combine always-on archetypes and slot masteries to tune the build. Go deep to unlock specialist archetypes, go broad for access to new mastery domains, and retrain freely between missions. Experiment without regret.

Campaigns with a pulse. Play runs on missions with clear main and side objectives, ticking clocks, and a real strategic choice between pushing on and pulling back to rest. Fight on the grid, breathe during interludes, grow in downtime, and advance by achieving objectives, and not solely by counting kills. A tactical wargame and a visual novel, taking turns.

And one core design principle, applied everywhere: if tracking something isn’t fun, Momenta doesn’t track it.

The Loop of Play

Momenta Core Rules · Prologue · Welcome · Chapter 01

Momenta is two games that take turns: a tactical wargame and a visual novel. One is played on a grid, in rounds, with every Vigor point counted; the other is played in scenes, in conversation, with dice only when the outcome is in doubt. Neither half is the “real” game. The story happens in both, and the whole design is built so that what you do in one half matters in the other.

The shape of a campaign

A campaign is a series of missions. A mission is a sequence of encounters and scenes, separated by interludes, and it ends in downtime before the next mission begins.

                          ┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
   MISSION begins ──────► │  ENCOUNTER ──► INTERLUDE ──► SCENE ──► ENCOUNTER … │ ──► DOWNTIME ──► next MISSION
                          │  (combat)      (rest,        (narrative   (combat)   │    (recover,
                          │                short scene)   play)                   │     advance)
                          └────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Missions are the unit of story. Each has objectives, a mission clock that measures how much time the party has, and a campaign difficulty that sets the stakes. See The Mission Loop.

Encounters are the tactical half. Combat runs in rounds on a grid; sides alternate turns; you spend Vigor to act and you win by achieving the encounter’s objectives, not by clearing the map. See The Shape of a Fight and the rest of Moment 4.

Scenes are the narrative half. The GM frames a situation, you say what your character does, and you roll only when success is uncertain and failure would be interesting. Your Threads (who you’ve been) and Bonds (who you care about) are the tools of this half. See Narrative Actions.

Interludes are the breath between encounters: a short rest, a chance to recover, and room for one meaningful scene — a conversation by the fire, a vigil, a confession. See Interludes.

Downtime is the long rest between missions: full recovery, advancement, and the personal projects and relationships that grow when the pressure is off. See Downtime.

What crosses the line

Two resources belong to both halves, and they are what make the halves one game.

Momentum is the party’s shared pool. It is earned by achieving objectives, seizing dramatic moments, and playing your character truly — in combat and in scenes alike — and it is spent on the biggest swings in both: Limit Breaks in a fight, Momentous Feats and Developments in a scene. See Momentum.

Resolve is personal grit. It pays for pushing yourself, for invoking the Bonds that drive you, and for recovering from what a mission does to you. Spend it in a scene and you have less for the fight; spend it in the fight and you have less for the scene. That tension is deliberate. See Characters at a Glance.

Bonds are the third bridge. They are written and grown in scenes, and once they are strong enough, they change what you can do in combat. See Bonds and Bonds in Combat.

Reading the loop at the table

You are in combat when the GM calls for initiative and puts the grid on the table. You are in narrative play the rest of the time. The GM decides when to switch, and the switch is always a story beat: the ambush springs, the villain flees, the dust settles. When it does, Momentum you’ve built carries across, Threads and Bonds you’ve invoked are still true, and the mission clock keeps ticking.

How to Use This Book

Momenta Core Rules · Prologue · Welcome · Chapter 02

This book is the complete rules of Momenta. It is written concisely and assumes you have played a tabletop roleplaying game before. Content — archetypes, masteries, equipment, spells, Limit Breaks, enemies, and ready-to-play characters — lives in the separate catalogs, which this book points to but does not repeat.

Reading paths

• Playing a character: read the Prologue and Moments 1 through 4 in order. Moment 1 is the engine, Moment 2 is your character, Moment 3 is the story half, Moment 4 is the fight. Skip Moment 5.
• Running the game: read everything. Moment 5 is yours, and the chapter Running the Game is the best place to start.
• Returning to a rule mid-session: go straight to the chapter — each is one page in the online rules and one section in the book — or to Appendix B · Glossary, which lists every game term with a pointer to its home.
• Learning the game for the first time: a separate Quickstart, distilled from these rules and shipped with the pregenerated characters, is the gentler door. This book is the full house.

Conventions

• Bold marks a game term where it is defined and where a rule invokes it. Terms in Title Case are the names of specific things (Vigor, Hindered, Grunt, Basic Attack); lowercase words describe kinds of things (a maneuver, a condition, a stat block).
• Attributes and cores are written in capitals: POW, AGI, REA, INS, PRE, LUCK and BODY, MIND, SOUL, along with SPD, SEN, and SIZE.
• Dice are written as 3d6; bonuses and penalties to your dice pool as +2d and -1d; results as successes, with 0s / 1s / 2s / 3+ naming the bands a result can land in.
• “See Chapter Name” points to another chapter. Nothing is stated twice: if a rule seems to be missing from where you are, the pointer tells you where it lives.
• Blockquotes labeled Design Note explain why a rule is the way it is. They are for curious readers and for anyone modifying the game; you can skip them and lose nothing.
• The GM adjudicates is a rule, not an evasion. Where the book says so, the decision belongs to the GM on purpose (see Running the Game).

The catalogs

Rolling Dice

Momenta Core Rules · Moment 1 · The Basics · Chapter 03

Roll a pool of d6. Each die showing 5 or 6 is a success. Count your successes. The number of successes determines the result of the roll, split into four result bands plus an optional overflow band:

Every roll will define what each result band represents.

Always round down. Any division or fractional value in the game rounds down by default, unless specifically called out.

Dice Pool Size

The number of dice rolled depends on the attribute used for the roll, adjusted by modifiers. Typical dice pools for starting characters: 2-4 dice. Veterans: 4-6 dice. Legendary heroes: 7+ dice.

Reference probabilities:

Modifiers

Modifiers adjust the number of dice rolled in the dice pool.

• +Nd bonus - add N dice to the pool.
• -Nd penalty - remove N dice from the pool.
• If a roll is affected by multiple modifiers, add them all together (with bonuses netting out penalties), then roll.

Rolling with Zero Dice

If a dice pool results in rolling 0 dice or fewer:

• Roll 2d6 and take the lowest die
• If the lowest die is a 5 or 6, it counts as one success
• Patterns do not apply

Reference probabilities: 11% for 1 success, 89% for 0 success

Types of Rolls

Action roll - Every dice pool roll in Momenta is an action roll. Build the pool from one of the attributes, then apply modifiers (±Nd). Some action rolls are opposed. In narrative play, if the character has a Thread that is applicable to the situation at hand, they can make the action roll with a +2d bonus.

Attack (a.k.a. attack roll) - Attacks are action rolls made to inflict harm or another undesirable effect on a target. Threads do not apply to attacks, and attacks can usually be opposed by the target’s defenses.

Opposition roll - This is an action roll made to oppose someone else’s action roll. Subtract the opposition roll’s successes from the opposed roll’s successes; the result (minimum 0 successes) is the roll’s effective successes. Result bands are always read from effective successes, and an attack reduced to 0 effective successes becomes a graze. When opposing an attack, an opposition roll can also be called a defensive roll.

Luck roll (a.k.a. testing your luck) - A luck roll is an action roll using the LUCK attribute that is a straight roll that does not apply any modifiers. Momentous Feats and other similar abilities that change the number of successes of action rolls do not apply to a luck roll. This is the only way the LUCK attribute can be used for a dice pool roll. Nothing ever opposes a luck roll, although sometimes a luck roll can itself serve as an opposition roll.

Patterns

Momenta Core Rules · Moment 1 · The Basics · Chapter 04

How Patterns Work

Besides counting successes when rolling, patterns that emerge from the set of rolled values may also trigger special outcomes. There are three patterns:

• Double - two dice showing the same value
• Triple - three dice showing the same value
• Quadruple (Quad for short) - four dice showing the same value

Certain attacks or abilities may define special pattern outcomes.

Each d6 in the dice pool may only be allocated to a single pattern. For example, if a 5d6 pool shows the following values: 2, 3, 5, 5, 5

• You can pick out one double pattern (5, 5)
• Or a triple pattern (5, 5, 5)
• But you cannot pick out both the double and the triple, as that will require allocating two of the 5 to more than one pattern, which is disallowed.

A pattern is usually written as Double N, Triple N, or Quad N, with N representing the pattern value.

Every pattern that is allocated will trigger, including repeated patterns. For example, a roll of 1, 1, 4, 5, 5 will result in a Double 1 and a Double 5, and the outcome of the double pattern will be applied twice (if applicable). However, it’s always the choice of the person who rolls the dice whether to allocate any dice to a pattern or not.

By default, a pattern will only trigger if the action roll achieves at least 1 effective success. Thus, a graze will not trigger any patterns. Specific patterns may specify additional requirements that override this default.

Reference probabilities:

Solid Hit

All characters will by default have the Solid Hit pattern that can be applied for every attack roll.

[PATTERN] Solid Hit (Double N)
Applies to: Attack rolls that deal damage. (Attacks that deal Strain are not affected.)

Effect: Increase the damage of the attack by N.

Patterns for Narrative Play Rolls

All characters will by default have the Extra Success and Effortless patterns that can be applied for every action roll or luck roll during narrative play.

[PATTERN] Extra Success (Double N)
Applies to: Action rolls and luck rolls during narrative play.

Effect: If the result of the roll is "Success", then it turns into "Success with a Bonus" instead. If the result of the roll is "Success at a Cost", then it turns into "Success" instead.

[PATTERN] Effortless (Triple N)
Applies to: Action rolls during narrative play where Resolve was spent.

Effect: Recover 1 Resolve that was spent. This could apply to Resolve spent by allies to Assist (roller chooses who to recover the Resolve).

Characters at a Glance

Momenta Core Rules · Moment 1 · The Basics · Chapter 05

Attributes

There are six attributes, and they typically range 0–6, with 7–8+ for legendary characters. Attributes cannot be lower than 0.

Cores

Besides attributes, every character also has three cores, representing the foundational elements of every character. The values of each core is derived from their corresponding attributes:

Vitality

Vitality represents a character’s physical health. During combat, attacks cause damage, which is deducted from the character’s Vitality. If damage reduces a character’s Vitality to 0 or below, the character will receive a Wound, and their Vitality is restored back to full. If the character has too many Wounds, they risk becoming Defeated.

A character’s Vitality may never exceed their Max Vitality.

Max Vitality = (BODY + 3) × 3

Strain

Besides physical damage, a character may also gain mental and spiritual stress called Strain. Strain may be caused by powerful enemy attacks, witnessing horror, or even voluntarily taken to power certain abilities. If a character gains enough Strain to reach or exceed their Max Strain, they suffer a Burden, and their Strain is cleared. If a character is carrying too many Burdens, they risk becoming Lost.

Max Strain = MIND + SOUL + 3

Wounds and Burdens

Characters have Wound slots, which represents the maximum number of Wounds that they can receive. If all of their slots are filled, and they need to take another Wound, then they become Defeated immediately.

Similarly, characters have Burden slots, and if a character needs to gain a Burden when all of their slots are already filled, then they become Lost immediately.

Wound Slots = 3
Burden Slots = 3

Resolve

Resolve is a strategic resource that represents a character’s innate resilience, a character’s personal capacity to recover, push on, and endure. Characters can use Resolve during a mission to recover lost Vitality, clear Wounds, and remove Burdens.

Resolve = SOUL + 8

Resolve is refreshed during downtime.

Vigor

Vigor represents a character’s pool of “action points”, that can be spent during combat turns on maneuvers. Some Vigor is restored at the beginning of every turn, but it can never exceed the character’s Max Vigor.

Max Vigor = 7

As characters rank up, their Max Vigor will increase.

Guard

Guard is an abstract representation of a character’s armor and passive defenses, and helps absorb damage. Like Vitality, it is a depletable resource. Whenever a character takes damage, subtract it from Guard first. Only after Guard is 0, then damage reduces Vitality.

At the beginning of every turn, a character’s Guard is replenished to its Max Guard value, which for most starting characters, start at 0.

Max Guard = 0

Equipping armor will increase a character’s Max Guard. Certain abilities and masteries may also increase Max Guard. Guard gained from different sources are added together.

A character’s Guard value may temporarily exceed their Max Guard. When that happens, it is called Over-Guard. A character with Over-Guard will not have their Guard replenished to its Max Guard value at the beginning of the turn.

What Guard stops, and what it doesn’t. Guard absorbs Vitality damage from attacks before your Vitality is touched. Guard does not absorb: Strain damage (mental harm ignores armor and Guard alike); untyped damage (falling, drowning, and other environmental harm — these are not attacks); damage from attacks or effects with the Penetrating tag (including all damage from Wracked conditions); or any damage that is not from an attack. Resistance and weakness apply only to the damage that gets past Guard.

Speed

Speed (SPD) is a stat representing how many squares (or hexes) a character can travel every time they take the Move maneuver. It is determined by the character’s ancestry archetype, and the value generally ranges between 4 to 6.

Combat in Momenta can be played on either square or hex maps. For convenience, we will refer to only squares in the core rules when it comes to movement, but it is applicable to hexes as well.

Senses

Senses (SEN) is a stat representing the effective range in squares that a character can generally perceive without penalty. Like SPD, it is also determined by the character’s ancestry archetype, with typical values ranging between 10-15.

Size

Size (SIZE) is a stat representing how big the character is, and is determined by the character’s ancestry archetype. Most characters will be some variation of Size 1. The number in the SIZE represents the number of squares the character occupies on the map.

To determine which of two creatures are bigger or smaller based on their respective SIZE stat:

(Smaller) 1T < 1S < 1M < 1L < 2 < 3 < 4 (Larger)

Equipment

Characters carry three kinds of equipment. The full rules are in Equipment; the numbers below are derived stats.

• Gear - Weapons, armor, and spell foci, limited by gear slots.
• Wondrous items - Magical items with special benefits, limited by wondrous item slots.
• Consumables - Single-use items, tracked as consumable points rather than as individual items.

Gear Slots = 3
Wondrous Item Slots = MIND
Consumable Points = 2

Threads and Bonds

Threads are chapters of a character’s life; Bonds are the relationships a character develops through play. Both are used mainly in narrative play, and strong Bonds change what characters can do in combat. See Threads and Knowledge and Bonds.

Max Bonds = SOUL + 3

Momentum

Momenta Core Rules · Moment 1 · The Basics · Chapter 06

Momentum is daring rewarded — on the battlefield, across a negotiating table, or in the moment you tell the truth that costs you — and it lasts only as long as you keep moving. It’s a shared team resource that swells as the heroes seize the initiative, and it fuels their most powerful maneuvers, Limit Breaks.

Momentum

Momentum is a pooled resource shared by the whole party. It starts at 0 up to a maximum value determined by the following:

Max Momentum = Sum of every party member's SOUL + number of party members

For the purposes of calculating Momentum, only party members that belong to players are counted; NPC allies are not.

For example, if a party has 4 members, and they have SOUL scores of 1, 0, 3, and 3, then their Max Momentum is 11.

Momentum is earned through significant achievements and lost through genuine disasters. Glory comes from worthy foes and turning points. However, Momentum can never rise above the maximum value, or be reduced below 0.

Momentum persists across interludes within a mission and is reset to 0 at downtime.

Design Note: Having Momentum persist between combats encourages players to push on instead of frequently taking full rests by going into downtime.

Gaining Momentum

Other archetype abilities or masteries may also grant additional ways to gain Momentum.

Losing Momentum

Spending Momentum

Momentum can be spent to support allies and shift the momentum of battle against the enemy.

Momentum may also be spent to power certain special abilities, or spent out-of-combat in certain situations.

Archetypes

Momenta Core Rules · Moment 2 · Characters · Chapter 07

A character is a collection of archetypes, and your character rank (CR) is the sum of all of your archetype ranks (R). Players that focus their character build on breadth (having ranks in many archetypes) will widen their options (more abilities, more mastery domain access), and players who focus on depth (taking an archetype to its maximum rank) unlock capstone abilities and the most powerful abilities.

Every archetype rank you hold is always considered active, no matter whether you only have one or two archetypes, or a bunch of them.

Types of Archetypes

Realizing an Archetype

An archetype at its maximum rank is considered as realized. Realizing an archetype unlocks its most powerful capstone abilities, and qualifies you to equip its Limit Breaks, as well as satisfy any specialist path archetypes that requires it as a prerequisite.

List of Archetypes

For a full list of archetypes, refer to the separate document: Momenta — Archetypes Catalog.

Masteries

Momenta Core Rules · Moment 2 · Characters · Chapter 08

Masteries represent special abilities, boons, or other beneficial effects that characters can equip. They are organized across two dimensions:

• Mastery type - Either body, mind, or soul, corresponding to the three cores.
• Mastery domain - Access to masteries in different domains are granted by the character’s archetypes.

Masteries are slotted into mastery slots. Mastery slots can only contain masteries of the corresponding type. Wildcard mastery slots can contain masteries of any type.

Body mastery slots = BODY
Mind mastery slots = MIND
Soul mastery slots = SOUL
Wildcard mastery slots = 1, +1 per full 5 character ranks

Multi-slot Masteries

Most masteries take up 1 slot. Some particularly powerful masteries cost more than 1 slot. When a mastery costs more than 1 slot:

• The slot cost must be paid entirely within a single type board - e.g., all body, all mind, all soul, or all wildcard.
• The slot cost cannot be split across boards (e.g., a 2-slot body mastery cannot pay 1 body + 1 wildcard).

Design Note: This keeps multi-slot masteries as concentrated investments. Taking a powerful mastery means dedicating an unusual share of one board to it, not stitching small contributions together.

Bonus Mastery Slots

Some archetype or equipment abilities grant you bonus mastery slots. These bonus slots will usually come with restrictions on what kind of masteries can be equipped.

Mastery Sets

Masteries may belong to mastery sets. If a character has equipped all of the masteries in a mastery set, they will also gain additional benefits provided by that mastery set.

Retraining Masteries

During downtime, players can rearrange their mastery loadouts freely. If required, the GM will work with the player on a narrative reason as to why the character’s abilities have changed.

By default, masteries in bonus mastery slots can also be retrained, unless explicitly specified, and also as long as the restrictions from the bonus mastery slots are satisfied.

List of Masteries

For a full list of masteries and mastery sets, refer to the separate document: Momenta — Masteries Catalog.

Threads and Knowledge

Momenta Core Rules · Moment 2 · Characters · Chapter 09

A Thread is a chapter of your character’s life, written as a short provenance phrase: “Raised in the Ashmark War College”, “Twenty years keeping ledgers in Varga’s counting-house”, “Field medic on the Ashen March”. Every hero’s mantle is woven from the threads of their past.

Every Thread does two jobs:

1. Knowledge - a character should simply know what someone who lived that chapter would reasonably know.
2. Action rolls - a relevant Thread can be invoked to improve an action roll (see Narrative Actions).

Thread Guidelines

Characters begin with 3 Threads, each ratified by the GM against this test:

1. A story lives behind it. The GM can ask “how did you come by that?” and the answer is a story, not a shrug. Trait-shaped Threads are legal if they have roots: “Never forgets a face” passes when the answer is “twenty years matching faces to ledgers in Varga’s counting-house.”
2. Big enough to recur, small enough to have gaps. If you can’t name three adjacent things it doesn’t cover, it’s too broad. “Warrior” fails; “Raised in the Ashmark War College” knows tactics and drill but not sailing, poison, or courts.
3. Superlatives are flavor. “The best baker in East Swineland” adds the same +2d bonus as just “a baker”, but the former is infinitely more interesting to roleplay, and should be encouraged.
4. Is it compatible with the concept line? Threads should be chosen to flesh out the backstory of the character concept, and not just for mechanical optimization of narrative play.

Gaining Threads

Threads are earned through the following:

• Completing a Personal Project aimed at gaining a new Thread. The time spent on the project clock is the story of how you came by this new experience.
• GM reward at a defining story beat. This can either be awarded to individual characters, or given as a shared award to the whole party that lived through a defining experience in the game (i.e., “Survived the Sorrowmaw”).

Design Note: For calibration purposes, we should expect roughly one new Thread per tier of play. As characters advance and grow and become richer in their experiences, each Thread should be worth a little less than the last.

Rewriting Threads

Threads cannot be retrained, swapped, or refunded; you cannot retrain your past. However, with GM consent, a player may propose to editorially rewrite a Thread that isn’t working at the table into something else that is more usable.

Knowledge and Languages

In Momenta, there are generally no rolls required for knowledge checks. For every subject matter in the world, the GM will make a simple determination based on the character’s knowledge level:

• Expert - a character can be considered an expert in a subject if they have a Thread that reasonably covers it.
• Familiar - a character may not have an applicable Thread, but their concept line and backstory plausibly provides the character with exposure to the subject.
• Unfamiliar - a character does not know any more about this subject than anyone else in the world would.

Languages are governed by the same framework; all characters are assumed to be Expert in Common, which represents the prevalent language that almost everyone speaks in the world. For additional languages, it will depend on the character’s Threads and concept line.

Specialized knowledge or languages could also be granted from archetypes or masteries.

Action rolls that require clear language understanding may suffer a penalty if the GM adjudicates that there is some kind of language barrier in place.

Bonds

Momenta Core Rules · Moment 2 · Characters · Chapter 10

A Bond is a relationship that has become a part of who you are, written as a freeform descriptor, nurtured through play, and strong enough to change what you can do. If Threads are considered chapters and lived experiences of your past, Bonds are the chapters and new experiences still being written.

Holding Bonds

• You can hold up to your Max Bonds at a time (see Characters at a Glance).
• Bonds represent relationships between the player character and another character, either a fellow PC, or a named NPC of consequence (for enemies, only Champion and Nemesis-class villains should qualify). With GM approval, a Bond may instead target an institution, place, or even a treasured object (e.g., a fallen kingdom, a father’s sword).
• Bonds are one-directional. Your Bond toward someone is yours alone, and may not be reciprocated. In the case when both sides of a relationship hold Bonds toward each other at a high enough intensity, they may unlock new abilities and benefits.
• During character creation, you start with 3 Strands (see below) to allocate across any number of Bonds, subject to the GM’s approval of targets.

GM Note: While not mandatory, it is highly encouraged that at least one of the starting Bonds is towards a fellow party member.

Describing Bonds

Every Bond is described with a freeform descriptor, written like a Thread: a short phrase naming what this relationship is, in your character’s own terms. There is no fixed list of Bond types. Whenever certain abilities care about a Bond’s flavor, apply the Threads fiction-first test: if the descriptor plausibly qualifies, it qualifies.

Some example Bond descriptors:

• Towards a character - “My one and only rival, and the only one allowed to beat me.”
• Towards a character - “I find her cat ears cute, and I’m curious about her kind.”
• Towards a treasured object - “I must protect this sword at all costs; the fate of my kingdom depends on it.”

Bonds can be built on affection, loyalty, rivalry, mistrust, or anything in between. The rules treat them all the same — the fiction is what differs. Whenever you invoke a Bond, you explain how it applies, and the GM adjudicates whether the explanation holds.

Growing a Bond

Bonds are measured by their intensity level, and they grow by accumulating Strands. By default, a Bond intensity of 0 means that there is no Bond in place.

When describing Bonds, you can say a Bond 2 or a Rooted Bond, which mean the same thing.

Once a Bond becomes an Unbreakable Bond, it no longer counts towards the maximum number of Bonds that a character can hold.

Earning Strands

Changing Bond Intensity

Whenever a character earns enough Strands to rank-up their Bond intensity with a target, the GM may wish to play out a narrative scene to describe or explain why the Bond has ranked-up.

Similarly, there could be situations where a Bond is strained (usually as a consequence from narrative play). If that happens, the Bond intensity decreases by 1, and the character’s number of Strands are adjusted to the minimum value of the new intensity level (Example: Going from Bond 4 to Bond 3 will reset the Strands value to 6).

Also, each time a Bond changes its intensity, its holder may rewrite the descriptor in a way that befits the fiction and represents the increased (or decreased) intensity, For example, “Rival” may become “Rival I’d bleed for”.

Releasing Bonds

If the number of Bonds you are holding is already at max, and a new one demands room, you may release a bond at any time. Released Bonds lose all accumulated Strands, and they are not refunded to the player. Releasing a Bond 3 or higher will require a narrative scene, where the character describes or explains why their perspective or feelings have changed.

Releasing an Unbreakable Bond is a defining story beat, the kind of scene a campaign is remembered by. The name is a dare, not a rule (especially since Unbreakable Bonds no longer count towards the maximum number of Bonds that a character can hold).

Equipment

Momenta Core Rules · Moment 2 · Characters · Chapter 11

Gear

Your gear slots (see Characters at a Glance) can be used to equip weapons, armor, or spell foci (for spellcasting archetypes that grant access to it). Characters can freely choose the combination of gear they want to equip, but they can only equip one armor at a time.

The kind of weapons, armor, or spell foci that a character can equip will be dependent on the archetypes that they have. By default, characters only have access to Light weapons, and Standard armor.

Weapons

Weapons are gear that are used for attacking in combat. All weapons follow the following general template:

[WEAPON] Weapon Name (Tags)
Weight Class: Light / Medium / Heavy / Superheavy
Attribute: POW, AGI, POW/AGI, or others

Effect:
- 0s: damage effect
- 1s: damage effect
- 2s: damage effect
- 3+: damage effect

Example weapon:

[WEAPON] Mace (Crushing, Melee 1)
Weight Class: Medium
Attribute: POW

Effect:
- 0s: 2 damage
- 1s: 7 damage
- 2s: 13 damage
- 3+: 20 damage

Weapons take up a number of gear slots depending on their weight class:

• Light, Medium and Heavy weapons - Takes 1 gear slot to equip.
• Superheavy weapons - Takes 2 gear slots to equip.

Multiple Damage Types

Some weapons may have their damage type tag listed as X/Y. This means that for every attack, the weapon may either be of damage type X or damage type Y, but never both at the same time. The choice is made by the attacker when the attack is being made.

Example: A magical rapier of fire may have its damage type listed as Slashing/Piercing, Fire. This means that for every attack, the attacker can decide whether the attack should be a Slashing attack or a Piercing attack. Regardless, the attack will always carry the Fire damage type.

Combination Weapons

A combination weapon is two or more weapon parts that share the Combo tag and must be equipped together. Each part is a full weapon (with its own weight class, tags, attribute, and effect) and can be used to attack independently. The assembled combination weapon occupies one fewer gear slot than the sum of its parts (minimum 1).

Example: A combination weapon (e.g., “Gun-Sword”) consists of two medium parts, each of which will usually cost 1 gear slot by themselves. Together, a character can equip this combination weapon using only 1 gear slot. If a combination weapon (e.g., “Cannon-Sword”) consists of a superheavy part (costs 2 slots) + a medium part (costs 1 slot), then the combination weapon can be equipped with only 2 gear slots.

The individual parts of a combination weapon can be disabled separately.

Improvised Weapons

If the character wants to use an improvised weapon, the GM will assign a weapon profile that best matches the nature of the improvised weapon. However, attacking with the improvised weapon takes a -1d penalty, and the weapon will deal half damage (minimum 1). Every character can at most only have one improvised weapon at a time, but it does not take up any gear slots. Superheavy weapons profiles cannot be used for improvised weapons.

Unarmed Attack

By default, all characters will have the Unarmed Attack weapon always equipped. This does not take up any gear slots.

[WEAPON] Unarmed Attack (Crushing, Melee 1)
Weight Class: Light
Attribute: POW/AGI

Effect:
- 0s: 1 damage
- 1s: 3 damage
- 2s: 6 damage
- 3+: 9 damage

Armor

Armor is gear that is used for protection. All characters can only equip at most one armor at a time, no matter how many gear slots they have. All armor follows the following general template:

[ARMOR] Armor Name (Standard / Martial)

Effect: protection effect
Penalty: penalty, if any

Example armor:

[ARMOR] Chain Shirt (Martial)

Effect: +2 Guard
Penalty: none

All characters have access to Standard armor. Martial armor requires certain path archetypes (e.g., Warrior) to access.

Spell Focus

Spellcasting archetypes (e.g., Scholar and Channeler) can use their gear slots to equip a spell focus (plural: spell foci). This represents a trinket or gadget that helps the spellcaster with casting spells. It can take the shape of a wand, staff, amulet, crystal, spell book, holy symbol, tattoo, etc. - the flavor can be player chosen, but they share the same mechanics.

There is no limit to the number of spell foci that a character can equip, as long as they have enough gear slots. The effects of all equipped spell foci apply simultaneously. However, a character can benefit from only one copy of any given type of spell focus.

If a spellcaster attempts to cast a spell without a spell focus equipped (e.g., if it is lost, disabled, stolen, or deliberately removed), the spellcasting roll takes a -1d penalty.

All spellcasting archetypes will receive a basic spell focus with no special abilities; it simply enables casting at full effectiveness.

Wondrous Items

Wondrous items are unique, magical items that grant the wielder special abilities or bonuses. Wondrous items are unlike normal gear, and need to be equipped into a wondrous item slot. See Characters at a Glance for how many wondrous item slots a character has.

Consumables

Consumables are single-use items that can be used for healing, buffing, de-buffing, or even attacking. It is assumed that adventurers are generally well prepared and always in possession of a good mix of consumables for most situations. In Momenta, we do not track individual consumables, but instead use consumable points.

To use a consumable, a character will mark off a consumable point, and they can apply the effect of any of the consumables that are on the common consumables catalog. It is assumed that adventurers will have access to all of the common consumables.

As the characters go on adventures, they may discover and gain access to special and rare consumables that they can use.

Disabling Equipment

There could be abilities or events that cause a character’s equipment to be disabled. Disabled equipment still resides on the character sheet, but they just cannot be used until the cause of the disabling is rectified:

• Disabled weapons cannot be used for attacks or to deflect.
• Disabled armor do not offer their protection effect any more. However, the armor penalty (if it exists) still applies.
• Disabled spell focus do not count towards a spellcaster having a spell focus equipped anymore (-1d penalty on spellcasting rolls).
• Disabled wondrous items do not grant their active nor passive benefits anymore.
• If a character’s consumables are disabled, they keep their consumable points, but they can no longer spend it for consumable effects anymore.

Untracked Equipment

Standard adventuring gear is not tracked on the character sheet. It is assumed that every character has reasonable access to any piece of mundane adventuring gear, and thus it doesn’t have to be accounted for on the character’s stat block.

Similarly, players who receive McGuffins, maps, or other plot-specific items are assumed to just be carrying them without needing to be accounted for on the character’s stat block.

List of Equipment

For a full list of equipment, refer to the separate document: Momenta — Equipment Catalog.

Creating a Character

Momenta Core Rules · Moment 2 · Characters · Chapter 12

Determine Starting Rank

Step 0 - The GM will decide what is the starting rank of the party. Most standard “Heroic” campaigns will start at Rank 3.

The Concept Line

Step 1 - Every character should have a one-sentence description of their identity, which is also known as the concept line. The concept line itself has no mechanical weight, but is the logline that character Threads hang from (see below).

Example: We will try to build Mira, the Half-Elf skirmisher. Her concept line is: “An exiled princess of Exantria, hunting the ones who drove her family from the throne.”

Determine Cores and Attributes

Step 2 - A starting Rank 3 character will have 4 attribute points that can be freely distributed among the three cores of BODY/MIND/SOUL.

Example: Since Mira is going to be a martial, we will allocate 3 attribute points to her BODY core, and 1 attribute point to her MIND core.

So she will have BODY 3, MIND 1, and SOUL 0.

Step 3 - For each core, further allocate the attribute points across the two attributes for that core. No single attribute may exceed 3 at character creation.

Example: Mira is going for the mobile warrior concept, so she allocates her attributes as follows:

Core	Attribute	Attribute
BODY 3	POW 0	AGI 3
MIND 1	REA 0	INS 1
SOUL 0	PRE 0	LUCK 0

Equilibrium Rule

A being’s body, mind, and soul are bound to one another. Pull one too far ahead and the others must rise to anchor it.

Therefore, the equilibrium rule states that the difference between your highest and lowest core (BODY, MIND, SOUL) cannot exceed 4.

For example, a character can have BODY 6, MIND 2, SOUL 3. But they will not be able to have their BODY increased to 7 unless they increase their MIND to 3 first. And once they reach BODY 7, MIND 3, SOUL 3, they will not be able to increase their BODY to 8 unless they first increase both MIND and SOUL to 4 first.

Determine Archetypes

Step 4 - Every character must choose an ancestry archetype. Their ancestry archetype will take up at least one of their 3 starting ranks. The ancestry archetype will determine their SPD, SEN, and SIZE stats.

Example: We choose the Half-Elf ancestry archetype for Mira, which suits her skirmisher concept. She has a SPD of 5, SEN of 10, and SIZE of 1M.

Step 5 - For the remaining 2 starting ranks, the character can freely distribute them across any path archetypes. The 2 ranks can be invested into a single path archetype (rank 2), or split among two path archetypes (rank 1 each). Or, they can also be invested into further ranking up their ancestry archetype. Any combination is legal, as long as all of their starting archetype ranks add up to their starting rank of 3.

Example: Mira wants to dedicate herself to martial combat, so she spends her 2 additional starting ranks into the Warrior path archetype.

Mira’s final archetypes: Half-Elf R1, Warrior R2

Choose Masteries

Step 6 - The character has a number of mastery slots that can be filled with masteries (special abilities, boons, or features). See Masteries for the full rules.

Example: Based on her Core values, she has the following number of mastery slots based on mastery type - 3 body mastery slots, 1 mind mastery slot, and 0 soul mastery slots. In addition, she has 1 wildcard mastery slot that can be used to slot masteries of any type. Total of 5 slots.

Since she is a Half-Elf and a Warrior, she can pick her masteries from the following mastery domains: General, Human, Elf, Martial, Warrior

She picks the following masteries:

• Body mastery slots (3) - Lightning Reflexes (Body/General), Combat Reflexes (Body/Martial), Bloodlust (Body/Martial)
• Mind mastery slots (1) - Overwatch (Mind/Warrior)
• Wildcard mastery slot (1) - Visualization (Mind/Warrior)

Choose Equipment

Step 7 - The character can pick gear to fill out their 3 starting gear slots. The gear that they can choose is based on what their chosen archetypes provide access to.

Example: For Mira’s 3 gear slots, she will choose two weapons - a Rapier and a Shortbow, and a Chain Shirt armor for protection.

Write Threads

Step 8 - The character starts out with 3 Threads, representing different chapters of the character’s life, and each written as a short provenance phrase. The Threads should be plausibly aligned with the character’s concept line.

Example: Based on Mira’s concept line, she has three Threads representing her backstory before becoming an adventurer:

1. “Raised in the Pearl Court of Exantria”
2. “Last student of the crown blademaster, Maestro Corvine”
3. “Three years on the smugglers’ roads under a false name”

Choose Bonds

Step 9 - The character can allocate 3 Strands across any number of Bonds, subject to the GM’s approval of targets.

Example: Mira will allocate all 3 Strands towards a Bond with Kira:

• Bond 2 (Kira) - “I am forever indebted to him for saving my life during a moment of my weakness.”

Finishing Touches

Step 10 - Calculate all of your character’s derived stats, including Max Vitality, Max Strain, Max Vigor, Max Guard, and so forth.

Example: For Mira, here are her character stats:

Stat	Value	Calculation
Max Vitality	21	(BODY + 3) x 3 +1 from R1 Half-Elf +1 from R1 Warrior +1 from R2 Warrior
Max Strain	5	MIND + SOUL + 3 +1 from R1 Half-Elf
Wound Slots	3	Default starting value
Burden Slots	3	Default starting value
Resolve	8	SOUL + 8
Max Vigor	Max Vigor: 7 Regain (per turn): 4	Max Vigor = default starting value of 7 Regain (per turn) = 3 + (BODY / 2)
Max Guard	4	+2 from Chain Shirt +1 from R1 Warrior +1 from R2 Warrior
SPD	5	From Half-Elf ancestry archetype
SEN	10	From Half-Elf ancestry archetype
SIZE	1M (takes up 1 square)	From Half-Elf ancestry archetype
Gear Slots	3	Default starting value
Wondrous Item Slots	1	MIND
Consumable Points	2	Default starting value
Max Bonds	3	SOUL + 3

Advancement

Momenta Core Rules · Moment 2 · Characters · Chapter 13

Characters gain new ranks by banking merits during downtime (see Merits and Tiers of Play). When a character receives a new character rank, they can deploy the rank onto one of their existing archetypes to improve it, or spend the rank to acquire R1 on a new archetype.

As character ranks increase, attributes, mastery slots, and Vigor will also increase:

• Attribute increase - At every even rank from character rank 4, the character can choose to gain +1 to an attribute of their choice. This will also raise the core value, increase the number of mastery slots, as well as update any stats that are derived from the attribute/core increase. This can cause an individual attribute to exceed the limit of 3 during character creation, but the equilibrium rule needs to be applied here.
• Wildcard slots - At each multiple of 5 character ranks, gain +1 wildcard mastery slot.
• Bonus Vigor - Starting from character rank 7, and for each multiple of 7 character ranks, gain +1 Vigor cap.

This table summarizes all the different advancements at each character rank. Bolded cells mark “new at this rank.”

Narrative Actions

Momenta Core Rules · Moment 3 · Narrative Play · Chapter 14

Outside of combat (during interludes and downtime), the GM may ask players for action rolls or luck rolls in order to narratively resolve non-combat challenges. This is called narrative play. In these situations, the GM needs to determine the difficulty of the challenge:

• Routine - Carries some risk, but most characters can handle it without much trouble.
• Tricky - Comes with a chance of failure, and while most characters can succeed, it often comes at a cost.
• Daunting - Poses a higher risk of failure, with most characters likely facing some hardship in the process of completing the task.
• Insurmountable - Extremely difficult challenge that can only be accomplished by the most heroic characters of legend.

And also choose which attribute the player will need to use for the roll, and adjudicate whether any character Threads are applicable (+2d bonus). Since luck rolls are not affected by any modifiers, Threads will thus not apply to luck rolls.

If none of the character’s Threads apply, but one of the player’s Bonds plausibly supports, the player can choose to spend 1 Resolve to invoke the Bond (instead of a Thread) to gain the same +2d bonus on the action roll.

The players can choose to spend Momentum for a Momentous Feat to influence the outcome of the roll.

Design Note: An Insurmountable task never yields a pure Success on counting successes alone. The only path to an unqualified Success is to use the Extra Success pattern. This makes sense, as legend-tier feats always cost something, unless the dice themselves sing.

Increasing the Odds

Players have several ways to increase the chances of success for their action rolls (none of these apply to luck rolls):

• Invoke a Thread - If the GM agrees that one of your Threads applies to the action, the roll gains a +2d bonus. Every action roll can apply at most one Thread.
• Invoke a Bond - Before the roll, spend 1 Resolve and explain how one of your Bonds applies: the roll gains +2d. You may invoke a Bond for them - boosting a roll made by your Bond target, whom you must be able to perceive - or for yourself - when the Bond drives your action: fighting alongside them, protecting them, avenging them, proving yourself against them, or defending a place or object you hold a Bond toward. A roll can benefit from at most one Bond invocation. If the explanation doesn’t hold, the Bond doesn’t fire and no Resolve is spent. In combat, Invoke also applies to attack and spellcasting rolls (see Bonds in Combat).
• Push Yourself - The player can spend 1 Resolve to add a +1d bonus to the action roll. Note that the total contribution between Assists and Push Yourself is capped at +2d for any one roll.
• Assist - Before rolling, an ally may describe how they are assisting the player and the assistant spends 1 Resolve to grant a +1d bonus to the action roll. An ally may only assist on a roll if they themself have a relevant Thread to the situation at hand, or at least a Bond 2 relationship with the roller. Each ally may contribute at most +1d, and the total contribution between Assists and Push Yourself is capped at +2d for any one roll.
• Momentous Feats - The player can spend 1 Momentum each to add up to 3 successes to a single action roll. The player can decide to apply this after the roll is made.

For luck rolls, one option applies:

• Momentous Fortune - The player can spend 1 Momentum to reroll the an undesirable luck roll result.

Roll Outcomes

Before any action roll, the GM should explain what are the stakes: what success gets you, and what the cost will be. For “Success at a Cost” and “Catastrophic Failure” outcomes, the GM can draw from the following sample options, or come up with anything else that is appropriate:

Group Rolls

When the whole party attempts something together, the GM may call a group roll:

1. The GM sets one single difficulty (Routine, Tricky, Daunting, Insurmountable). Every participant rolls their own action roll against it. During group rolls, no one can Assist (everyone’s hands are full).
2. The group succeeds if at least half the participants score at a “Success at a Cost”, “Success”, or “Success with a Bonus”. However, if anyone rolls a “Catastrophic Failure”, everyone fails.
3. Any character that rolls a “Success at a Cost” or a “Catastrophic Failure” still suffer a consequence, regardless of the overall success of the group.
4. Carry - After all of the rolls have been made, a participant who succeeded their roll may spend 1 Resolve to “carry” one target participant, if they hold at least a Bond 2 with them. If the target participant suffers a consequence as a result of the group roll, the carrying player suffers the consequence instead. The player should narrate how their bond helped carry their ally. Note that Carry only re-distributes consequences, and does not affect any roll results.

Retrying Rolls

In many cases when you fail a roll, you can’t attempt the roll again unless the circumstances of the roll change. The GM will determine when the circumstances have changed enough.

Momentous Development

During narrative play, players can choose to spend 1 Momentum to declare a fact into the fiction that one of the character’s Threads makes plausible. This can represent a flashback, or a serendipitous coincidence, or some other plausible development that helps the party’s current situation. Examples:

• “As a former smuggler, I know a guy in this port that can get us the equipment we need.”
• “Since I am an experienced herbalist, I have picked up these medicinal herbs along the road here, which may help soothe the poison.”

The GM can either ratify the player’s declaration, or makes adjustments as required.

Design Note: The reason this costs Momentum is because this is considered authorship spend. We want to encourage player creativity during narrative play, but we also want to enforce the fact that editing the world is not free.

Clocks

Momenta Core Rules · Moment 3 · Narrative Play · Chapter 15

Using Clocks

Besides the mission clock, the GM may make use of additional clocks to support narrative play:

• Project clocks track long personal or party efforts (e.g., taking the Personal Project downtime action). General guidance: 4 beats for modest goals, 6 beats for serious ones, 8 beats for campaign-scale ones.
• Pressure clocks track a looming situation within a mission. Examples: the cult’s ritual, the rising flood, the garrison’s response. Pressure clocks can either be private (GM-only), or the GM can show a clock to the players whenever the characters could feel the pressure.

Interludes

Momenta Core Rules · Moment 3 · Narrative Play · Chapter 16

Momenta uses two rest periods: interlude (in between encounters within a mission) and downtime (in between missions). There are no fixed durations for these periods, and the GM can narratively specify the duration as required by the story.

Interlude

Any non-combat period within an active mission. The pause between encounters; the moment the party catches its breath. Interludes happen in two phases, in order:

PHASE 1 - Respite:

• Vigor and Guard get restored to their usual maximum. Any Over-Guard is lost.

• All Strain clears.

• The following combat-scoped conditions are removed:

  • All auto-clear and roll-to-clear conditions.
  • Persistent conditions: Faltering, Unraveling, Defeated, Lost, and Vulnerable.

• Narrative-anchored conditions do NOT clear automatically. Cursed and similar conditions persist until the narrative source is resolved (a quest completed, a relic destroyed) or a specific ability removes them. The GM may also rule that an otherwise combat-scoped condition persists for narrative reasons (e.g., a Defeated character fatally stabbed, or a Lost character runs off and abandons the party). Afflictions are also not automatically cleared (see below).

• Player characters can choose to spend 1 Resolve to fully restore their Vitality.

• Player characters can choose to spend 1 Resolve to heal 1 Wound or 1 Burden. For every Burden that is removed, the player can choose to remove 1 Affliction. The GM may also adjudicate that narrative-anchored Wounds or Burdens may not be healed by spending Resolve (e.g., cursed Wounds, magic-bound Burdens).

• Restore any disabled equipment, unless the disabling effect states otherwise.

• Equip any new gear or wondrous items, that the characters can find.

• Restock at least 1 consumable point (up to the character maximum, usually 2) and potentially more if the GM adjudicates so.

PHASE 2 - Interlude Scenes:

• Every player can choose to participate in one interlude scene.
• In addition, the GM may have special narrative challenges that the players will need to resolve before moving on to the next encounter.

Interlude Scenes

After the Respite phase in an interlude, every player can choose to participate in one interlude scene. This is usually a short scene with a small mechanical benefit, and if there is any narrative play that is required, the GM should limit action rolls to at most one roll. Scenes are optional - they are opportunities for the characters, not obligations.

[INTERLUDE SCENE] Bond Vignette

Play out a short scene with the target of your Bond. If it resolves meaningfully (GM adjudication), gain 1 Strand towards the Bond, and both participants in the scene restores 1 Resolve.

[INTERLUDE SCENE] Preparation

Scout the ground, scheme, set a ritual, lay a trap. Resolve with a narrative action roll against stakes the GM frames. Success yields a concrete advantage in the next encounter, adjudicated within the fiction - a known Signature telegraph, a pre-positioned party, a weakened obstacle, a mapped escape route, etc.

[INTERLUDE SCENE] Work a Lead

Chase information between encounters - question a captive, decode the ledger, read the tracks. Resolve with a narrative action roll. Success answers questions about the mission's threats, layout, or actors (based on GM discretion).

[INTERLUDE SCENE] Steel Yourself

Spend the scene in quiet focus, prayer, or trusted company. Recover 2 Resolve.

GMs are free to introduce other interlude scenes as appropriate.

Downtime

Momenta Core Rules · Moment 3 · Narrative Play · Chapter 17

Downtime

The mission-level rest, taken between missions, or voluntarily mid-mission if needed. Voluntary downtime spends at least one beat of the mission clock and resets the party’s Momentum. Downtime happens in two phases, in order:

PHASE 1 - Recovery:

• Vitality is fully restored.
• Strain is fully cleared.
• All conditions are cleared, except narrative-anchored conditions (see Interludes).
• All Wounds and Burdens are healed, except narrative-anchored Wounds and Burdens (see Interludes).
• Restore any disabled equipment, unless the disabling effect states otherwise.
• Restock all consumable points.
• Update their equipment loadout, as needed.
• Resolve is restored to maximum.
• The party will be awarded +1 merit if their Momentum at the time of entering downtime, is greater than or equal to half the party’s Max Momentum (minimum 1).
• Player characters can bank their earned merits for character advancement.

PHASE 2 - Downtime Actions:

• Every player can take two downtime actions.
• In addition, the GM may have special narrative challenges that the players will need to resolve before moving on to the next part of the mission.
• Before the party heads off for the next part of the mission, Momentum for the party is reset to 0.

Downtime Actions

After the Recovery phase during downtime, every player can choose to take up to two downtime actions.

[DOWNTIME ACTION] Retraining

Retrain your mastery loadout and equipped Limit Breaks. If required, the GM will work with the player to come up with a plausible narrative reason for these changes in abilities. Take note that masteries with the Dedication tag will not be removable/retrainable, although they can be freely moved around on the mastery board during retraining if required.

[DOWNTIME ACTION] Bond Montage

Play out a scene with the target of your Bond. If it resolves meaningfully (GM adjudication), gain 2 Strands towards the Bond.

[DOWNTIME ACTION] Work Contacts

Reach into your network for information or favors bearing on the next part of the mission. Resolve with a narrative action roll. Success yields intel, an introduction, or a modest favor; costs on the ladder are social - obligations, rumors, debts.

[DOWNTIME ACTION] Acquire & Craft

Buy, commission, or craft equipment and consumables, per the Equipment Catalog and GM adjudication. Crafting something unusual may require a roll and a project clock.

[DOWNTIME ACTION] Personal Project

Start or advance a project clock - researching a ritual, building a workshop, apprenticing to a master — or living your way toward a new Thread. Resolve with a narrative action roll; Success advances the clock 1 beat (2 beats if the roll yielded a Success with a Bonus).

GMs are free to introduce other downtime actions as appropriate.

The Shape of a Fight

Momenta Core Rules · Moment 4 · Combat · Chapter 18

Combat is conducted in rounds. Within each round, every combatant will take a turn. Some combatants may take multiple turns within a single round.

Before combat can begin, the GM will have to do the following:

1. Determine who are the combatants, and sort each of them into one of three sides:

   • Allies - combatants belonging to the player side, which includes all player characters, as well as non-player characters that are aligned with the players.

   • Adversaries - combatants that play the role of enemies or antagonists for the allies.

   • Independents - combatants belonging to neither the player side nor the enemy side.

2. Determine whether there are any combatants that are Surprised.

Once the above is done, the GM will start the first round of combat and follow the turn order.

Surprise

If the GM judges that some combatants are caught unaware as combat begins, those actors gain the Surprised condition before combat starts. In short, they act after everyone else and cannot take reactions (see Surprised in the Conditions section for the authoritative rules).

Surprise may also be inflicted mid-combat as determined by the GM. In that case, immediately apply the Surprised condition on the surprised combatant.

A condition is a status that is applied to a creature that can be removed. Rules for conditions are described in detail later.

Turn Order

A round follows a modified zipper initiative turn order. Combat alternates turns between the allies and adversaries.

• For Round 1, the players decide which of the combatants on the allies takes the first turn. The chosen combatant then takes their turn. If everyone on the allies side is Surprised, then the adversaries go first instead.
• Turns then alternate sides - adversaries, allies, adversaries, and so forth, with each side choosing which of its combatants will take the next turn (the GM chooses for the adversaries).
• When one side has no combatants left that need to take a turn, the other side freely takes all their remaining turns in sequence.
• Whichever side between allies and adversaries took the final turn in a round, the other side will take the first turn of the following round.

Special cases:

• Slowed combatants take their turn only after every other non-Slowed combatant (on either side) have already taken all their turns.

• NPCs belonging to neither allies nor adversaries are considered independents, and they always take their turns last in a round after both the allies and adversaries have already taken all their turns, regardless if anyone has the Slowed condition. An NPC allied to either of the two main sides is not considered independent; they will take their turn as part of either the allies or adversaries as appropriate.

In summary:

Allies/Adversaries --> Slowed Allies/Adversaries --> Independents

Taking a Turn

At the start of a player turn, the player character:

1. Regains Vigor equal to 3 + (BODY / 2); their Vigor cannot exceed their Max Vigor.
2. Restore Guard back to Max Guard.

Remember that characters with Over-Guard (temporarily with more Guard than their Max Guard) do not restore their Guard back to their Max Guard.

Characters enter the first round of combat with full Vigor and Guard, unless otherwise specified by the GM.

During the turn, the character can choose to take maneuvers, many of which will cost Vigor. If a maneuver has a Vigor cost that exceeds the character’s current Vigor, then the maneuver cannot be taken.

A player can choose to end their turn when they don’t want to (or can’t) take anymore maneuvers. Any unspent Vigor is kept, and may be used to power reactions.

If the character has any conditions that are roll-to-clear or auto-clear, they are resolved at the end of the turn as well.

Design Note: A key tactical decision for players is how to budget their Vigor across rounds. Not spending all of their Vigor during their turn allows them to reserve some Vigor for defensive reactions.

Taking Multiple Turns

Certain powerful combatants (like boss enemies) may be able to take multiple turns per round.

For combatants with multiple turns, each of their turns are taken one at a time, and each turn is treated as an individual event within the zipper initiative turn order. For example, if you have Player A, Player B, and a Boss enemy that can take 2 turns:

• CORRECT: Player A Turn –> Boss Turn 1 –> Player B Turn –> Boss Turn 2
• INCORRECT: Player A Turn –> Boss Turn 1 –> Boss Turn 2 –> Player B Turn

For combatants with multiple turns, certain turn-cycle hooks have to handled in a special manner:

• Unless otherwise specified, any events that refer to the “start of your next turn” will resolve at the start of the next turn that the combatant takes, regardless how many turns they can take in a round. And if the combatant gains resources at the start of a turn, it will apply to every turn that they take. For example, if a player character has an ability to let them take two turns per round, they will be able to restore Vigor/Guard twice during a round.
• Any events that refer to the “end of your turn” will resolve at the end of the combatant’s last turn of the round. This includes resolving conditions, Faltering and Unraveling checks, and so forth.

A combatant always has the option to forgo any extra turns they have and make the current turn their last turn of the round. However, every combatant must at least take one turn each round.

Design Note: A multi-turn enemy that spends all of its attacks on a single character is the deadliest behavior available in the game. Author it deliberately, and telegraph it.

End of the Round

• A combat round ends when every combatant has taken all their turns, and the next round begins.

• Remember, whichever side between the allies and adversaries took the final turn in a round, the other side will take the first turn of the following round.

Ending the Combat

The GM can declare combat to be over if any of the following are true:

• All of the enemy combatants have been Defeated.
• The players have already achieved the main objectives of the combat.
• All of the players characters are either Defeated or Lost.

Maneuvers and Reactions

Momenta Core Rules · Moment 4 · Combat · Chapter 19

Maneuvers

All characters can perform the following maneuvers during their turn. Certain masteries and archetypes may grant additional maneuver options as well.

Movement

When a character takes the Move (or Shift) maneuver, they can move a number of squares up to their SPD value. (or half their SPD value, for Shift). Additional rules:

• Diagonal movement (on a square grid map) costs 1 square, just like horizontal and vertical movement.
• Some squares may be considered difficult terrain, in which case it costs double to move into that square. If a character only has 1 square of movement, they will not be able to move into difficult terrain.
• Characters with any stacks of the Hindered condition can only Move up to half SPD (minimum 1), and they cannot Shift.
• Involuntary movement (like movement caused by the Shove maneuver) is called forced movement, and does not trigger Forestall reactions. (Forced movement can, however, trigger Intercept reactions; shoving an enemy into an ally’s reach is a legitimate setup play.)

Other forms of movement requires special rules:

• Climb - All characters are assumed to be able to climb. However, you cannot Shift while climbing. Whenever you take the Move maneuver when climbing, you may not move more than 1 square, regardless of your SPD.
• Swim - All characters are assumed to be able to swim. However, you cannot Shift while swimming. While swimming, all maneuvers cost double the Vigor (doesn’t apply to maneuvers with no Vigor cost).
• Horizontal Jump - When a character takes the Move maneuver, they can traverse obstacles (like empty space, pits, or hazards) of no more than one square long during their movement, as long as they finish their Move on a flat and stable surface.
• Vertical Jump - A character can take the Move maneuver to jump vertically straight up. The number of squares they can jump equals 1 + (POW / 2).

Falling: A creature that falls takes 2 untyped damage per square of distance fallen. The distance can be mitigated by the character’s AGI value. For example, assume that Mira falls 5 squares and has an AGI of 3. Effectively, that means she treats the fall as if it is only 2 squares distance, and thus she will only take 4 untyped damage from the fall.

Grab

To take the Grab maneuver, make one Unarmed Attack against the target. Instead of dealing damage, the target gets the Grabbed N condition, where N = number of successes rolled on the attack (maximum 3). Like any other attack, this Unarmed Attack can be mitigated with reactive defenses.

While the Grabbed condition is active, the target is considered grabbed by the attacker. While grabbed, neither the target nor attacker can Move or Shift. If one of the two is bigger than the other (based on SIZE), then the bigger creature can move freely, and the smaller creature will be dragged along to remain in the same relative position as the bigger creature (GM adjudication for terrain edge cases). Being dragged in this manner is considered forced movement.

Once all stacks of the Grabbed condition are removed, the target is no longer considered grabbed by the attacker, and both attacker and target can move freely. If the attacker and target are ever moved so that the distance between the two increases, the grab ends immediately and any remaining Grabbed stacks are removed.

The grabber may also choose to release the grab as a free action at any time, which removes all of the Grabbed stacks. If the grabber becomes Defeated, the grab also ends and all remaining Grabbed stacks are removed.

During the attacker’s turn, they can take the Grab maneuver again to attempt to add on more stacks of the Grabbed condition, to a maximum of 3.

Reactions

Reactions are maneuvers that can be taken at any time (usually outside of a character’s turn), in response to a trigger. When a trigger event is met, the character has the option to take the reaction immediately, provided that the Vigor cost is paid. For any single trigger event, the affected character may take at most one reaction.

All characters can perform the following reactions. Certain masteries or archetypes may grant additional reaction options as well.

An attack can be met by at most one reactive defense (Dodge or Deflect), whether by the target or by a tandem partner acting on their behalf (see Bonds in Combat).

For defensive reactions like Dodge which are triggered by another combatant targeting a character with an attack, the reaction is declared the moment they are targeted, before the attacker rolls.

Note that although Brace has no Vigor cost, effectively it can only be used once, as once a character receives the Broken condition, they are locked out of taking any further maneuvers and reactions until the condition is cleared. Players should treat this as a last resort. Note that Brace is not a reactive defense; it may be used after a reactive defense has already been attempted, and against Indefensible attacks.

Two notable reactions that are available via the Warrior archetype:

Weapon weight classes: Superheavy > Heavy > Medium > Light

For attacks that do not have a specified weapon weight class, treat them as Medium weapons.

Indefensible Attacks

Certain attacks will carry the Indefensible tag. Against those attacks, the target cannot use reactive defenses like Dodge or Deflect. However, the target can still Brace or Counterattack.

Free Actions

Free actions are maneuvers that are taken during combat that can be freely taken without any Vigor cost (or maneuver cost, for enemies). Free actions can either be taken during the character’s turn, or during another character’s turn; the description of the action will specify.

Minor narrative actions during combat (e.g., opening a door, picking up a key from a table, shouting to an ally, etc.) can be considered free actions within reason (GM adjudicates).

Attacking

Momenta Core Rules · Moment 4 · Combat · Chapter 20

To make a Basic Attack, or any other maneuver that is an attack:

1. Determine the attack dice pool size, based on the attribute used for the attack, and applying any modifiers as required.
   • For weapons, the attribute used is either POW or AGI, depending on the weapon.
   • For other attacks, other attributes may be used.
2. Count the number of successes. If the attack is opposed by a reactive defense (e.g., Dodge), the defender will roll, and their number of successes will be deducted from the attacker’s number of successes (minimum 0).
3. Determine the damage from the attack stat block based on the resulting number of successes. For example, a weapon may have the following stat block:

[WEAPON] Mace (Crushing, Melee 1)
Weight Class: Medium
Attribute: POW

Effect:
- 0s: 2 damage
- 1s: 7 damage
- 2s: 13 damage
- 3+: 20 damage

4. Apply the damage to the defender’s Guard first, and only after it is depleted, then the remaining damage gets deducted from the defender’s Vitality.

Some attacks may force the target to take Strain, instead of damage. In which case, all of the rules above still apply, but Guard will not defend against Strain (since the defender is not taking physical damage).

Melee vs. Ranged Attacks

Attack tags determine whether an attack is melee or ranged.

Melee attacks are tagged with Melee N, with N indicating the reach of the weapon in squares. An attacker can attack any target within the stated reach as long as the attack can reasonably reach the target (GM adjudicates). Melee attacks are not affected by cover.

Ranged attacks are tagged with Range N. N is the maximum range of the attack in squares. An attacker can attack any target within the maximum range, as long as they have an unobstructed line-of-sight to the target (see Line of Sight). Ranged attacks are affected by cover.

For ranged attacks, there could be a penalty modifier to the attack roll depending on how far the target is:

If the attacker’s SEN is greater or equal to the maximum range, then any attack within maximum range will have no penalty.

If an attack has no Melee N or Range N tag specified, then by default assume it is Melee 1.

Line of Sight

Some attacks and abilities require line of sight to their target: every ranged attack, every spell delivered beyond Touch, and any ability that says so. You have line of sight to a target if you can trace an unobstructed straight line from any part of your square to any part of the target’s square.

• Solid obstacles — walls, closed doors, terrain the GM rules as impassable to sight — block line of sight. A target you cannot trace a clear line to cannot be targeted.
• Partial obstructions — low walls, furniture, other creatures — do not block line of sight, but may grant Cover (see below).
• Line of sight is about geometry, not eyesight. Darkness, Hidden, and Invisible are governed by the Vision rules; you may have line of sight to a target you cannot see.
• The Seeking tag ignores Cover, not line of sight.

Cover

Cover is a relationship between attacker and target; the target is behind something that shields part of their body. A creature with cover cannot have their Mass targeted by a ranged attack (the attacker can only attempt an Edge or Mark attack).

If the target offers no valid Edge or Mark (e.g., a creature that is all Mass), it simply cannot be hit by a ranged attack from that angle.

Melee attacks ignore cover entirely.

Hit Locations

There are three abstract hit locations that can be targeted:

• Mass - This is the default hit location for all attacks that does not specifically target a hit location. This usually represents the torso, center, or bulk of the target.
• Edge - This represents an appendage or limb of the target.
• Mark - This represents the command center, critical organ, or weak point of the target.

When making an attack, the attacker may declare a hit location before they roll:

All player characters will have Mass, Edge, and Mark locations. Every creature must always have a Mass. Some creatures may not have Edge or Mark locations. Individual enemy stat blocks may declare additional valid targets or restrictions.

Attacks that deal Strain will generally have no additional benefit from hit locations.

Damage Types

Every attack carries one or more damage type tags, set by the weapon, spell, or ability. Damage types could determine the kind of defense that could be used to mitigate the attack, or affect Resistances and Weaknesses.

A single attack may carry several damage type tags. For example, a holy flaming axe may carry the Slashing, Radiant, and Fire tags.

Resistance and Weakness

Resistances and weaknesses modify the amount of damage that a target may take from an attack:

• If a target has resistance, damage is halved (minimum 0) before being applied to Vitality.
• If a target has weakness, damage is doubled before being applied to Vitality.

Resistances and weaknesses are only applied to the portion of the damage that hits Vitality, and not to the damage that depletes Guard.

Also, attacks that deal Strain are not affected by resistance and weakness. Therefore, effects that grant resistance/weakness to an attack (Brace, Arcane Shield, the Mark hit location, etc.) do nothing against attacks that deal Strain.

Resistances and weaknesses are typed to specific damage types. Examples: Resistance (Crushing), Resistance (Fire), Weakness (Radiant), and so forth.

Some abilities like the Brace maneuver or targeting the Mark hit location say that you “gain resistance/weakness to the attack”. This just means that regardless of damage type, the character has resistance or weakness against that attack only. This follows the same rules for stacking and canceling out resistances/weaknesses as per below.

For a creature that has resistance to all three of the physical damage types, you can use the Resistance (Physical) shorthand to represent having Resistance (Slashing), Resistance (Piercing), and Resistance (Crushing). Same applies to weaknesses as well.

Special handling of resistances and weaknesses for attacks that carry multiple damage types:

• If an attack has multiple damage types, and the defender has resistance to at least one listed damage type and no weaknesses to any listed damage type, then the defender has resistance against the attack.
• Similarly, If an attack has multiple damage types, and the defender has weakness to at least one damage type and no resistances to any listed damage type, then the defender has weakness against the attack.
• If a defender has at least one resistance and one weakness against any of the attack’s listed damage types, then the defender treats the attack normally without any resistances or weaknesses.

Design Note: Cancelling out resistances and weaknesses in this simple manner is a design decision to speed up play.

Example: Kira deals 20 damage with the holy flaming axe (Slashing, Radiant, Fire) to a creature with 5 Guard:

Area Attacks

Any attack that affects an area (including spells) automatically gains the Imprecise and Seeking tags.

In addition, any creatures that are within the area of effect are affected, even if they are Hidden. An area attack affects the space, not a chosen target.

Damage, Wounds, and Burdens

Momenta Core Rules · Moment 4 · Combat · Chapter 21

Wounds

Whenever a character’s Vitality is reduced to 0 or below:

• If you have no Wound slot remaining, you immediately gain the Defeated condition.

• Otherwise, you fill an empty Wound slot with a Wound and restore your Vitality back to maximum.

Whenever you gain a Wound, roll against the following table:

If the character rolls a condition that they currently have:

• For Impaired N, if N is greater than the current Impaired stacks, then the number of stacks gets reset to N.
• For other conditions, the character rerolls.

Conditions obtained from Wounds are cleared as per the normal rules for that condition.

Once the character has filled up their last remaining Wound slot, they also gain the Faltering 1 condition.

Burdens

Whenever a character’s Strain reaches or exceeds Max Strain:

• If you have no Burden slot remaining, you immediately gain the Lost condition.

• Otherwise, you fill an empty Burden slot with a Burden and reset your Strain back to 0.

Whenever you gain a Burden, you also receive an Affliction condition. Roll against the following table:

If the character rolls an Affliction that they already possess, then they have to reroll again.

Affliction conditions are only removed when Burdens are healed. Whenever a Burden is removed, the player can choose to remove one Affliction.

Once the character has filled up their last remaining Burden slot, they also gain the Unraveling 1 condition.

Excessive Damage

When damage reduces Vitality to 0 or below, a Wound is taken, and Vitality refills. If there is any excess damage after reducing Vitality to 0, it carries over onto the refilled Vitality bar. For example, an unhurt character with a Max Vitality of 10 and no Wounds takes 15 damage from an attack. He will end up with 1 Wound and only 5 Vitality after the attack.

The same applies to Strain; when it reaches or exceeds Max Strain, a Burden is taken, Strain resets, and if there is excess Strain, the character will have to take it.

It is therefore possible for a single huge attack to cause multiple Wounds (or Burdens) at once, if the excess damage/Strain is large enough.

Defeat and Loss

• When a character becomes Defeated, their Vitality is set to 0. Defeated characters are essentially out of the combat until the Defeated condition can be removed.
• When a character becomes Lost, their Strain resets to 0. Lost characters are still in combat, but lose some player agency and must follow the GM’s commands until the Lost condition can be removed.

Healing

Wounds and Burdens persist after combat. They are healed during interludes and downtime (see Interludes and Downtime).

Conditions and States

Momenta Core Rules · Moment 4 · Combat · Chapter 22

A condition is a status applied to a creature that can later be removed. Every condition is either stackable or non-stackable and has one of three clear types.

Stacking

A stackable condition is written Condition N, where N is the number of stacks (e.g. Impaired 3). Stacks of the same condition are cumulative, up to the max limit. For example, if a character has Impaired 1 and receives Impaired 2 from an incoming attack, then now the character has Impaired 3.

All stacked conditions cap at 3 stacks. The only exception is Faltering and Unraveling, which are uncapped.

Unless a condition’s effect states that the effect scales per stack, additional stacks do not intensify the effect; they only prolong it.

Clear Types

There are three clear types for conditions. Note that for clearing purposes, a non-stackable condition counts as having 1 stack.

• Auto-clear - At the end of the affected combatant’s turn, lose 1 stack of the condition. The condition is fully cleared when the number of stacks reach 0.

• Roll-to-clear - At the end of the affected combatant’s turn, make a roll using the specified attribute, and remove a number of stacks equal to the number of successes. The condition is fully cleared when the number of stacks reach 0.

• Persistent - Does not clear on its own. The condition is only removed by specific means specified within the condition description.

Conditions may also be cleared via special abilities or maneuvers. For example, the Shake It Off maneuver can automatically clear stacks of the Exhausted, Grabbed, Hindered or Vulnerable conditions.

List of Conditions

Here are the list of general conditions. Special abilities, archetypes, or masteries may also define other unique conditions.

[CONDITION] Affliction (Affliction Type)
Stackable: no
Clear Type: persistent

Effect: You suffer a mental affliction that affects your behavior. Afflictions are usually given by Burdens, and whenever a Burden is removed, you can choose one Affliction to remove. You may not have more than one Affliction of the same type.

[CONDITION] Broken
Stackable: no
Clear Type: auto-clear

Effect: You may not take any maneuvers or reactions, except for the free Move maneuver during your turn.

[CONDITION] Cursed
Stackable: no
Clear Type: persistent

Effect: When you test your luck, it always results in 0 successes.

[CONDITION] Defeated
Stackable: no
Clear Type: persistent

Effect: You are out of the combat. You no longer take any turns, maneuvers, or reactions. When you receive the Defeated condition, your Vitality is set to 0, and any stacks of the Faltering condition are cleared.

When the Defeated condition is removed, your Vitality is restored to 1, and you may immediately take the Catch Your Breath maneuver as a free action (no Vigor cost) that is resolved immediately.

[CONDITION] Exhausted
Stackable: no
Clear Type: roll-to-clear (POW)

Effect: Refresh only half your Vigor at the beginning of each turn (minimum 1).

Special: Enemies and creatures that do not track Vigor are affected differently by Exhausted. While they have the condition, they lose one of their maneuvers each turn (either their Move maneuver, or their non-Move maneuver - either one qualifies), and they cannot use scripted defenses.

[CONDITION] Faltering
Stackable: yes (unlimited)
Clear Type: persistent

Effect: At the end of your turn, roll a single 1d6. If you roll above the number of Faltering stacks, you are safe and add 1 to your Faltering stack. Otherwise, you are at risk of being Defeated. Make a luck roll, and if you get 0 successes, immediately gain the Defeated condition. Otherwise, add 1 to your Faltering stack.

[CONDITION] Frightened
Stackable: no
Clear Type: roll-to-clear (PRE)

Effect: You cannot voluntarily move toward, or melee attack, the source of the fear (ranged attacks against the source are allowed). The source of the fear is assigned (with GM adjudication) at the moment the Frightened condition is inflicted.

[CONDITION] Grabbed
Stackable: yes (max 3)
Clear Type: roll-to-clear (POW or AGI)

Effect: You are being held by a grabber. While grabbed, neither you nor the grabber can Move or Shift. If one of the two is bigger than the other (based on SIZE), then the bigger creature can move freely, and the smaller creature will be dragged along to remain in the same relative position as the bigger creature (GM adjudication for terrain edge cases). Being dragged in this manner is considered forced movement.

All stacks are removed if the distance between you and your grabber increases, if the grabber releases you, or if the grabber is Defeated.

[CONDITION] Hindered
Stackable: no
Clear Type: roll-to-clear (POW or AGI)

Effect: Your SPD is halved (minimum 1). You apply a -1d penalty on all attacks, and all attacks against you gain a +1d bonus. You cannot take the Shift maneuver, or take the Dodge reaction.

[CONDITION] Impaired
Stackable: yes (max 3)
Clear Type: auto-clear

Effect: You take a -1d penalty per stack on all rolls, including attacks (except when you test your luck, which is exempt from all modifiers).

[CONDITION] Lost
Stackable: no
Clear Type: persistent

Effect: You remain on the battlefield, but your will is no longer your own. When you receive the Lost condition, your Strain is reset to 0, and any stacks of the Unraveling condition are cleared. While you are Lost, you cannot gain Strain from any source, including voluntarily.

At the start of your turn, the GM gives you a one-sentence command; you must act toward it, although the choice of tactical execution (e.g., choosing which maneuver to use, and which weapon to attack with, etc.) remains yours. You may attempt to resist the GM's command: make a PRE roll, and if you get 3+ successes, you instead take no maneuvers during that turn. The players can choose when within the round they want a Lost character to take its turn.

Special: If a combatant that is already under the GM's control gains the Lost condition, they gain the Defeated condition instead.

[CONDITION] Provoked
Stackable: no
Clear Type: auto-clear

Effect: You are fixated on this condition's source (your provoker). You take a -2d penalty on attacks and other hostile action rolls against any target other than your provoker. If you gain Provoked from a new source, the newest provocation replaces the old.

[CONDITION] Shrouded
Stackable: no
Clear Type: roll-to-clear (INS)

Effect: Your senses are degraded. All creatures beyond 1 square of you are treated as obscured to you, and your SEN value is effectively 1 for the purposes of spellcasting or ranged attacks.

[CONDITION] Slowed
Stackable: no
Clear Type: roll-to-clear (AGI)

Effect: You may take your turn in a round only after every non-Slowed combatant on every side has already taken all their turns. If you can take multiple turns per round, you can only take your turns after all of the non-Slowed combatants have taken theirs.

[CONDITION] Surprised
Stackable: no
Clear Type: auto-clear

Effect: While you have this condition, you also have the Slowed condition, and you cannot take reactions. When the Surprised condition is cleared, the attached Slowed condition is also cleared.

[CONDITION] Unraveling
Stackable: yes (unlimited)
Clear Type: persistent

Effect: At the end of your turn, roll a single 1d6. If you roll above the number of Unraveling stacks, you are safe and add 1 to your Unraveling stack. Otherwise, you are at risk of being Lost. Make a luck roll, and if you get 0 successes, immediately gain the Lost condition. Otherwise, add 1 to your Unraveling stack.

[CONDITION] Vulnerable
Stackable: yes (max 3)
Clear Type: persistent

Effect: The first attack that targets you next gains +1d per stack of the Vulnerable condition (this includes area attacks as well). All stacks of the Vulnerable condition are cleared once the attack has been resolved. Attacks that do not roll (such as a Grunt's fixed-success attacks, or a spell attack using the Channeler's Patron's Will ability) are not affected and do not consume the stacks.

[CONDITION] Wracked (Damage Type)
Stackable: yes (max 3)
Clear Type: auto-clear

Effect: The Wracked condition is always accompanied by a damage type when applied. At the end of your turn, take 2 damage per stack of the specified damage type. This damage is considered Penetrating (bypasses Guard), and it is taken before the stack is reduced by 1 from auto-clear.

Wracked (Bleeding) is a special kind of Wracked condition. Mechanically, it is treated as a combination of both the Piercing and Slashing damage types. Thus, if the target has any resistances or weaknesses to either Slashing or Piercing damage, it would apply to the damage from the Wracked (Bleeding) condition.

List of States

States are not conditions that can be applied and removed, but are instead derived from the character’s present state. States may be referenced by different special abilities.

[STATE] Crisis
Definition: A creature is in **Crisis** if they have either the **Faltering** or **Unraveling** conditions, or if they have **no Wound slots** or **no Burden slots** remaining.

[STATE] Stressed
Definition: A creature is **Stressed** if their Strain is at least **half of their Max Strain**. Example, if a character has a Max Strain of 7, they are considered Stressed if they have 3 or more Strain.

Vision, Lighting, and Stealth

Momenta Core Rules · Moment 4 · Combat · Chapter 23

Visibility

Environmental Lighting

Certain ancestry archetypes may grant special vision abilities to mitigate poor environmental lighting:

• Low-Light Vision - Characters with Low-Light Vision can treat Dim Light as Bright light, and Darkness as Dim Light for vision and targeting purposes.
• Darkvision - Characters with Darkvision can treat both Dim Light and Darkness as Bright Light for vision and targeting purposes.

Invisibility

Certain abilities may grant the Invisibility condition.

[CONDITION] Invisible
Stackable: no
Clear Type: persistent

Effect: You are always hidden to all other combatants. Combatants that are capable of locating invisible creatures will treat you as obscured instead.

Hiding

Combatants may hide in combat by taking the Hide maneuver.

[MANEUVER] Hide (Vigor 1)

Effect: You can attempt to hide from any enemies that you are obscured from or have cover from. Roll an AGI action roll. With 1+ success, you become hidden to the affected enemies. If you fail to be hidden, you can repeat the Hide maneuver again, spending 1 Vigor for every try.

If at any time you voluntarily show yourself, make an attack, or are otherwise no longer obscured or have cover from the enemy that you are hiding from, then you are immediately no longer hidden.

Attacking while Hidden

Attacks made by a hidden attacker gain +2d bonus to the attack roll against the affected target. (Attacks made by an obscured attacker has no bonus.)

After the attack, the character is no longer hidden, although if conditions to hide are still valid (they are still obscured or have cover), they can immediately take the Hide maneuver again to attempt to become Hidden again.

Spellcasting

Momenta Core Rules · Moment 4 · Combat · Chapter 24

Spellcasting in Momenta is constructed at the moment of casting from two components:

• Art (the verb)
• Resonance (the noun)

The caster can also shape the spell across three spell dimensions: range, duration, and area.

The same Art works differently with each Resonance; the same Resonance produces radically different effects across different Arts. A small set of Arts combined with a growing set of Resonances yields hundreds of expressible spells.

Casting a Spell

To cast a spell, the caster uses the Cast a Spell maneuver:

1. Names an Art and a Resonance they have access to - The Resonance must support the chosen Art (as specified in the Resonance description; if it doesn’t have an entry for the Art, the combination is invalid).
2. Decides how to further shape the spell - i.e., upgrade the spell’s range, duration, or area beyond the Art’s basic shape.
3. Pays the total Vigor cost - The Art’s base cost plus all spell-shaping upgrades.
4. Make a spellcasting roll - Roll using the caster’s archetype-specified attribute (REA for Scholars, INS for Channelers, and so forth). Apply any penalties to the roll based on the chosen area shape.
5. Resolve the spell effect based on the number of successes.

Arts and Resonances

Every spell is a combination of one Art and one Resonance:

• Arts provide the structure: base Vigor cost, basic shape (default range, duration, and area), defines shapeable dimensions, and the general effect bands (what each band of successes produces).
• Resonances provide the substance: how the spellcasting roll resolves, what damage type or attack tags the spell carries, what conditions it applies, and any other reshaping of the Art’s default behavior to suit the Resonance’s fiction.

A Resonance lists each Art it supports as a separate entry in its stat block. If a Resonance does not have an entry for an Art, that combination cannot be cast.

There are 10 Arts in total:

Here are some sample Resonances:

Spell-shaping

Every Art has a basic shape, its default range, duration, and area when casting the spell at the Art’s base Vigor cost. The caster may upgrade any dimension that the Art lists as Shapeable, paying additional Vigor per step.

Range Shaping

The range value represents the maximum number of squares that the spell can reach. Most Arts will start with a basic range shape at either step 1 or 2. Every step up adds +1 to the Vigor cost of the spell.

A caster may always deliver a spell at any range step below its basic shape at no change in Vigor cost. Casting below the basic shape grants no Vigor discount. Touch can mean either the caster or a creature adjacent to the caster.

A spell delivered at Touch is a melee attack and carries the Melee 1 tag: it behaves exactly like any other Melee 1 attack. It is not affected by cover, takes no point-blank penalty, and may be impacted by Reactive Attacks and Reactive Defenses. A spell delivered at any range beyond Touch is considered a ranged attack and carries the Range N tag, where N is the delivered range.

Duration Shaping

At the beginning of a caster’s first turn each round, the duration values of all their spells are reduced by 1. If that reduces the duration to 0 rounds, then the spell is ended.

Most Arts will start with a basic duration shape at step 1. Every step up adds +1 to the Vigor cost of the spell. If the caster wishes to sustain a spell for a prolonged duration, it’s easier to do so with the Sustained Casting mastery that allows extending an active spell’s duration and paying the Vigor cost incrementally round-by-round, rather than committing all of the Vigor spend at casting time.

Note that a caster can always elect to end a spell early as a free action on their turn, even if there is still duration remaining.

Area Shaping

Most Arts will start with a basic area shape at step 1. Every step up adds +1 to the Vigor cost of the spell. Unlike range and duration shaping, area shaping is capped at step 4. As the area gets bigger, the attack roll gets increasing penalties as well.

When an Art is cast as an Area spell, the attack is rolled separately for each target within the area, against each target’s defenses individually. Every target in the effective area is affected by the spell, regardless whether it’s friend or foe. Area spell attacks automatically gain the Imprecise and Seeking tags.

How area shaping interacts with range shaping:

• If the Range is either Self or Touch, then the area is represented as an emanation that radiates outward from the caster (the caster is considered the center, and is not impacted by the spell effect).

• If the Range is greater than 1, then the area is represented as a blast with a center chosen by the caster that is within range. The caster must have line of sight to the chosen center square.

Special Area Shapes

Instead of area shaping emanations and blasts as described above, spellcasters with certain masteries can instead deploy a few special area shapes:

Grazing with a Spell

When a spellcasting roll produces 0 successes, the caster takes 1 Strain. If the caster has performed spell-shaping on the spell beyond the spell’s basic shape, they take 2 Strain instead. Note that the graze effect for the spell still applies.

When a Caster is Defeated

If a spell still has remaining duration, the spell ends immediately if its caster becomes Defeated. The persistent magic was sustained by the caster’s conscious effort; without the caster acting, the spell dissolves. Note that this doesn’t automatically apply to Lost characters, although the GM may instruct the Lost player to drop a sustained spell during their turn.

Spells as Attacks

If the spell is an attack, it follows all of the standard rules for attacks, including allowing reactive defenses to interact with it, unless the attack is tagged as Indefensible.

By default, spell attacks can target Edge/Mark hit locations, unless the attack is tagged as Imprecise, in which case it can only target Mass. Similarly, spell attacks are affected by cover, unless the attack is tagged as Seeking. Any spells that affects an area automatically gains the Imprecise and Seeking tags.

Some spells will state that they are Opposable, in which case the target can oppose the spell using an opposition roll. Opposing is free: it is not a reaction and costs no Vigor. Spells that are both Indefensible and Opposable have the opposition roll as their only defense.

Special Spellcasting Maneuvers

There are two notable maneuvers related to spellcasting that are worth highlighting:

List of Arts and Resonances

For a full list of Arts and Resonances, refer to the separate document: Momenta — Spellcasting Catalog.

Bonds in Combat

Momenta Core Rules · Moment 4 · Combat · Chapter 25

Bonds in Combat

Bonds change what you can do in a fight, not just in a scene. Two rules govern everything below:

• Invoking a Bond costs 1 Resolve, and requires roleplay. Whenever you invoke a Bond, say how the Bond is driving what you do — a line of dialogue, a memory, a promise. If the explanation doesn’t hold, the Bond doesn’t fire and no Resolve is spent. Maneuvers that a Bond unlocks (Tandem Maneuvers, Combo Limit Breaks) cost Vigor as normal, not Resolve.
• Defeated and Lost characters cannot invoke Bonds or use Bond maneuvers — but they can be reached by them.

Bond Maneuvers

Full-turn maneuvers follow the usual rule: no other maneuvers this turn except the free Move.

Tandem Maneuvers

Two characters who hold mutual Bond 3+ toward each other are tandem partners. Tandem maneuvers grant no extra action economy — everything costs its usual Vigor — but they let tandem partners act out of turn, together.

Combo Limit Breaks

Two characters who hold mutual Bond 4+ toward each other may perform Combo Limit Breaks — Limit Breaks executed together. Combo Limit Breaks are listed in the Limit Breaks Catalog, and follow these rules:

• Every participant must have the Combo Limit Break equipped.
• One participant initiates on their turn. Every other participant must not yet have taken their turn this round, and must be able to take a full turn (not Broken, Grabbed, Defeated, or Lost).
• Activating a Combo Limit Break uses up the turn of every participant — it is a full-turn maneuver for all of them.
• Only the initiator pays the activation cost: 3 Momentum, or their once-per-combat Crisis activation.
• A Combo Limit Break may state additional prerequisites (all participants adjacent, a required archetype, a formation, and so on).
• Learning them: you unlock a small selection of Combo Limit Breaks the first time you reach a mutual Bond 4 with anyone, and another selection the first time you reach a mutual Bond 5. Realizing certain Specialist Archetypes may unlock more. Some Combo Limit Breaks require mutual Bond 5.

Limit Breaks

Momenta Core Rules · Moment 4 · Combat · Chapter 26

Limit Breaks

A Limit Break is a signature ultimate maneuver. Performing a Limit Break is a full-turn maneuver.

Every character may equip a number of Limit Breaks based on the tier of play:

Limit Breaks come in two categories, with a uniform access rule:

• General Limit Breaks are gated by core minimums (e.g., BODY 2). Any character who meets the prerequisite may equip them.
• Archetype Limit Breaks (path, specialist, and ancestry alike) unlock when that archetype is realized. They carry no attribute or core prerequisites.

You may equip any Limit Break whose prerequisites you meet. A character who doesn’t qualify for any Limit Breaks may simply hold an empty Limit Break slot until they qualify. Equipped Limit Breaks may be retrained during downtime, like masteries.

A Limit Break can be activated in one of two ways:

• A character can spend 3 Momentum. There is no additional Vigor cost.
• If a character is in Crisis, they can perform a Limit Break without spending Momentum. There is no additional Vigor cost, but the character gains the Exhausted condition immediately after the Limit Break is resolved. This option can only be used once per combat (refreshes at the next interlude).

List of Limit Breaks

For a full list of Limit Breaks, refer to the separate document: Momenta — Limit Breaks Catalog.

Running the Game

Momenta Core Rules · Moment 5 · Missions and Campaigns · Chapter 27

The rules in Moments 1 through 4 are shared between players and the GM. This Moment is the GM’s: how missions are built, how progress is rewarded, and how encounters are designed. Before the procedures, three principles that the whole book leans on.

The fiction-first test

Many rules ask whether something plausibly applies: a Thread to a roll, a Bond to an action, a mastery’s flavor to a situation. The test is always the same — the player explains it, and you decide whether the explanation holds. A good explanation is the price of the benefit. A thin one means the benefit doesn’t fire, and nothing is spent. Be generous with players who are telling the truth about their characters, and firm with players who are reaching for dice. Over time, the table learns what “plausibly” means at your table, and that is exactly the point: it is a taste you set together.

The GM adjudicates

Wherever the book says the GM adjudicates, it is handing you a decision on purpose rather than writing a rule that would be wrong half the time: line of sight through a crumbling wall, whether a jump is a Move or a stunt, what a nemesis’s curse takes to lift. Three habits make these calls feel fair:

• Rule fast, revisit later. A quick call keeps the scene moving; write down anything you want to reconsider, and settle it between sessions rather than mid-fight.
• Favor the fiction. When two readings are equally defensible, choose the one the story is asking for.
• Be consistent. The same situation should get the same call next week. Your past rulings are house rules; treat them that way.

Working the loop

The Loop of Play describes the shape of the game (see The Loop of Play); running it means choosing when to switch halves.

Call combat when positioning and pacing matter — when where people stand and how fast things happen will change the outcome. Ambushes, standoffs, and chases are combat. A back-alley threat that a good line resolves is a scene.

End combat on the objective, not on the last enemy. When the encounter’s objectives are achieved or lost, say so and put the grid away — surviving enemies flee, surrender, or simply stop mattering. See Building Encounters.

Cut to an interlude when the party has earned a breath and the story has a beat to offer: the aftermath, the argument, the quiet moment before the next door. See Interludes.

Use the clocks. The mission clock is how the campaign’s stakes reach the table, and Momentum is how the party’s confidence does. Let both be visible; players make better decisions when they can see the pressure. See The Mission Loop and Momentum.

Narrative play from the GM’s chair

Set difficulty from the ladder honestly, describe what failure costs before the dice hit the table, and let “Success at a Cost” do its work — it is the most common outcome in the game and the engine of most of its stories. Group rolls are for moments the whole party shares; use Carry to let a strong character cover a weak one, and let the consequences land on someone. See Narrative Actions and Clocks.

Enemies are yours

Enemy stat blocks are written to be run fast: scripted defenses instead of reactions, fixed successes for the rank-and-file, tactics lines that tell you what they want. Use them as written until you know the game, then reskin freely — the challenge-class templates exist so that a new monster is a few minutes’ work. See Building Encounters.

The Mission Loop

Momenta Core Rules · Moment 5 · Missions and Campaigns · Chapter 28

Momenta is a mission-structured game. A campaign proceeds as a series of missions, with each mission involving a handful of combats and narrative scenes. Characters advance by completing mission objectives, not by solely defeating enemies.

Mission Arcs, Objectives, and Clock

The GM frames each mission as a mission arc - a set of objectives the party may pursue, with full agency over which they take on and in what order. Every mission arc has:

• One or more main mission objective - This is the spine of the mission, and usually directly references and advances the campaign plotline.
• A number of optional side mission objectives - These are optional objectives that can be pursued by the players, but is not critical for the mission’s success.
• An optional mission clock, measured in beats - A beat is an abstract unit of mission progress, and is not intended to represent a fixed duration of time, like a calendar day. The clock indicates the total number of beats available before the situation turns for the worse.
• A minimum beat cost per objective - If the mission clock is in play, then pursuing each objective will cost a certain number of beats as determined by the GM (minimum 1).
• A merit reward per objective, paid on completion.

Example: The party members arrive at Grimland, and meet with the king, who told them that the princess was kidnapped and brought to the cave in the north. At the same time, the city has been suffering from famine due to a mysterious creature that has been destroying their crops. With this premise, the GM sets up the mission arc as follows:

Mission Arc: Grimland

• Objectives:
  • [Main] Rescue the princess (2 beats, +3 merits)
  • [Side] Help find food for the city (1 beat, +1 merit)
  • [Side] Find out what has been destroying the city’s crops (1 beat, +1 merit)
• Clock: 6 beats

Spending the Mission Clock

• Pursuing objectives (both main and side) spends beats. Every objective will have a beat cost.
• Voluntarily taking downtime also costs one beat.

Running out the clock results in degraded outcomes, not failure. An exhausted mission clock does not erase the objectives; it worsens them. Any objective completed after the clock runs out only pays half its merit reward, and the GM narrates the consequence or cost. The clock provides players with urgency, but it is not a game-over timer. A mission arc with no mission clock simply applies no time pressure; the push-on tension then rests on the combat economy alone.

Design Note: The clock is a budget that the party manages. Parties can decide if they want to attempt everything and risk running short of clock, or focus on only what matters and bank it safely.

Campaign Difficulty

There are three default campaign difficulty levels in Momenta - The GM can choose which difficulty level to use for their campaign. Most games are on the standard “Heroic” difficulty level. Difficulty levels will impact starting rank, rate of advancement, and encounter building guidelines.

Design Note: In Momenta, the default difficulty level is “Heroic”, and all of the balance, encounter building, and adventure pacing are based on that. As a general pacing guide, at “Heroic” difficulty level, a party should clear roughly one tier of play (six character ranks) for every five missions, or about 1.2 character ranks per mission.

Merits and Tiers of Play

Momenta Core Rules · Moment 5 · Missions and Campaigns · Chapter 29

Merits

Merits are Momenta’s coarse, event-based advancement currency, awarded on objective completion. Merits accumulate across the entire mission, and are converted to ranks for character advancement.

Merits can be banked for character advancement during downtime. The number of merits needed to add one rank is based on the campaign’s difficulty level. For a standard “Heroic” campaign, it takes 5 merits / rank.

Tiers of Play

Momenta organizes 18 ranks of play (CR3 to CR20) plus open-ended Paragon play (CR21+) into four tiers of play:

Design Note: The typical attack pool is design guidance targeted for each tier; it is not a specific rule or constraint for character builds.

Building Encounters

Momenta Core Rules · Moment 5 · Missions and Campaigns · Chapter 30

In Momenta, combat encounters are won by completing their objectives, and not by killing everything on the map. Sometimes the objective is to “defeat them all,” but the moment it’s anything else (e.g., protect the cart, hold the door, reach the ritual before it finishes, etc.), the fight changes shape, because the party can no longer solve it by focusing fire on one enemy at a time. Encounter difficulty in Momenta is an attention economy: rosters set the price, but objectives decide how the party is allowed to pay. Losing doesn’t mean a TPK, but it usually means the objective died while the heroes lived, and they have to accept the consequences of the failure to the overall mission, as well as their Momentum.

Encounter Objectives

Combat encounters are a key part of gameplay. Every encounter will have:

• A main encounter objective - This is the key set of conditions that must occur for the players to complete the encounter successfully. Encounter objectives may include defeating all enemies, but it doesn’t always have to be. Completing a main encounter objective may be required for a mission objective to be achieved.
• A number of optional side encounter objectives - These are also known as encounter challenges. Achieving encounter challenges help the party gain Momentum (see Momentum).

Encounter Card

Build out every encounter by filling out five lines:

Encounter Difficulty

Scene Actions

A Scene Action is the battlefield itself taking a turn: fire spreading, a cart rolling, a blessed spring mending the wounded. Scene Actions are listed on the Encounter Card and resolve at the end of every round, after every participant has already taken their turn.

Scene Actions have no rolls and no decisions; just follow the guidance faithfully and directly. If targeting creatures is part of the guidance, it should be clearly prescribed (“every creature in the smoke”, “the nearest creature to the shrine”).

Notes on scene actions:

• A Scene Action that makes an attack resolves like a Grunt’s: no roll, a fixed success count stated by the entry (typically 1), mitigable by defenses according to its printed tags.
• A Scene Action dealing non-attack damage or Strain follows environmental rules: Guard, resistances, and weaknesses do not apply.
• Scene Actions may be beneficial, flat (simply happens each round), or telegraphed.

Telegraphed Attacks

Some of the most dramatic moments in combat are attacks announced before they happen. These are called telegraphed events, and they follow a simple grammar: Declare → Window → Resolve.

A telegraphed attack is a powerful, named ability printed in an enemy’s stat block that carries the Telegraphed tag. For an enemy to use a telegraphed attack:

1. Declare: Using a telegraphed attack consumes one of the enemy’s non-Move maneuvers that turn; an enemy with only its Move remaining cannot declare. The GM announces it in the fiction and states the attack’s lock and when it resolves. An enemy cannot make another telegraphed attack until the current one has already resolved.

2. Window: Time passes. Everyone acts with full knowledge of what is coming.

3. Resolve: The telegraphed attack executes exactly as declared. Resolving a pre-declared telegraphed attack does not cause a maneuver; it just happens.

Each telegraphed attack declares one of three lock types:

Each telegraphed attack will declare a resolution timing, which is usually one of two standard timings:

• Start of the enemy’s next turn
• Start of the enemy’s first turn of the next round

A pending telegraphed attack is cancelled (a.k.a. fizzled) if, before it resolves:

• The enemy gains the Broken condition
• The enemy loses the ability to take maneuvers when the resolution timing occurs
• Its behavior lock becomes invalid
• A unique disruption printed on the telegraphed attack’s stat block is met.

The Five Dials

1. Composition - Anchor + filler. The anchor (Elite or above) creates spike damage and the loss tail; filler creates tempo and attrition. Starting enemy rosters for a party of four Novices:

Design Note: Defeating enemies only grants Momentum at Elite and above. For combats with all Regulars and Grunts, consider adding side objectives to give the party opportunities to earn Momentum.

2. Behavior - Identical rosters may vary up to 6x in number of Wounds dealt depending on how the enemies target. Spread targeting (“harries whoever is closest”) is merciful; focus targeting (“finishes whoever is bleeding”) is cruel. Write the Behavior line deliberately. It is a difficulty dial, not flavor. Every enemy stat block comes with a default behavior, but feel free to override freely. Multi-turn enemies (Champion and above) that focus every turn on one character are the deadliest version of this dial; use with intent.

3. Objective Shape - “Kill” objectives collapse under focus fire; tension comes from objectives that forbid focus; i.e., protect something a filler enemy is attacking, holding two points on the map, extraction under pressure, etc. Split attention is a good way to make an otherwise Standard encounter into a Challenging one.

4. Objective Durability - For protection objectives, give the protected thing roughly 7–8 Vitality per filler enemy that will attack it. Less makes the fight desperate; more makes it safer.

5. Scene Actions - A hostile Scene Action is unbudgeted pressure — expect roughly a half-step to a full step harder. Beneficial Scenes lower difficulty. Non-attack Scene damage bypasses all mitigation — keep it small. A dial, not a default.

Reskinning Enemies

Feel free to reskin any enemy in the pre-generated enemy catalog. To turn the Bandit Thug into a Dockside Bruiser: rename it, change Cudgel to Boathook (Piercing, Melee 1) with the same damage ladder, and give its Behavior line an update (“drags victims toward the water”). Same math, new enemy, thirty seconds. To make it scarier, apply a challenge class template; to make it specific, add one signature maneuver and one hit-location row. Numbers are calibrated; fiction is free.

Example Encounters

List of Enemies

For a full list of pre-generated enemies, refer to the separate document: Momenta — Pre-Generated Enemies. Additional rules on running enemies are also there.

Appendix A · Tags

Momenta Core Rules · Appendices · Chapter A

Tags describe how attacks and weapons behave. A weapon’s tags apply to every attack made with it; spells and abilities may carry tags of their own. Melee N, Range N, and the damage type tags are the most common; the rest require special treatment.

Design Note: The Deflect and Shield tags mark weapons capable of deflecting. The Deflect reaction itself must be granted by an ability (e.g., Warrior Rank 1) — the tag alone does not grant it.

Appendix B · Glossary

Momenta Core Rules · Appendices · Chapter B

Every game term, one line each, with a pointer to the chapter that defines it. These are identifications, not rules: the chapter is always authoritative.

• Action roll — The standard roll: a pool of d6s, each 5 or 6 a success. Rolling Dice
• Affliction — A persistent condition gained from Burdens; there are six named Afflictions, and they survive interludes. Conditions and States
• Archetype — A package of ranked abilities; every character has an ancestry archetype and at least one path archetype. Archetypes
• Area attack — An attack that affects every creature within a shape rather than a chosen target. Attacking
• Art — The verb of a spell — what it does. Combined with a Resonance to make a spell. Spellcasting
• Assist — Spend Resolve to add dice to an ally’s narrative action roll. Narrative Actions
• Attribute — POW, AGI, REA, INS, PRE, and LUCK; they set your dice pools. Characters at a Glance
• Auto-clear — A clear type: the condition loses a stack at the end of your turn. Conditions and States
• Basic Attack — The maneuver for attacking with an equipped weapon. Maneuvers and Reactions
• Basic path — The archetype class that defines a character’s trade: Warrior, Scholar, Channeler, and so on. Archetypes
• Beat — A unit of the mission clock; missions are measured in beats. The Mission Loop
• Blast, Cone, Line, Wall, Salvo — The shapes an area spell can take. Spellcasting
• BODY, MIND, SOUL — The three cores; each is the sum of two attributes and drives derived stats and mastery slots. Characters at a Glance
• Bond — A relationship with mechanical weight, grown through play and measured by Strands and intensity. Bonds
• Bond intensity — The five strengths of a Bond: Fleeting (1), Rooted (2), Enduring (3), Profound (4), Unbreakable (5). Bonds
• Bond Montage — A downtime action that grows a Bond. Downtime
• Bond target — The character, creature, place, or object a Bond is held toward. Bonds
• Bond Vignette — An interlude scene that grows a Bond. Interludes
• Brace — A free reaction that halves incoming damage at the price of Broken; not a reactive defense. Maneuvers and Reactions
• Broken — A condition that costs you your maneuvers and reactions until the end of your turn. Conditions and States
• Burden — Filled when Strain reaches its maximum; each Burden inflicts an Affliction. Damage, Wounds, and Burdens
• Called shot — Targeting Edge or Mark instead of Mass, at a dice penalty for a stronger effect. Attacking
• Campaign difficulty — The mission-level setting that governs merits and the mission clock. The Mission Loop
• Carry — In a group roll, covering an ally’s consequence with your own. Narrative Actions
• Cast a Spell — The maneuver for casting a spell from your repertoire. Spellcasting
• Catastrophic Failure, Failure, Success at a Cost, Success, Success with a Bonus — The five outcomes of a narrative action roll, read from the difficulty ladder. Narrative Actions
• Catch Your Breath — A full-turn maneuver that trades Resolve for Vitality. Maneuvers and Reactions
• Challenge class — An enemy’s weight: Grunt, Regular, Elite, Champion, or Nemesis. Building Encounters
• Champion — A challenge class: a boss with multiple turns, Wound slots, and telegraphed signatures. Building Encounters
• Clock — A segmented tracker for progress or pressure in narrative play. Clocks
• Combination weapon — A weapon in parts that share gear slots. Equipment
• Combo Limit Break — A Limit Break performed together by partners who share a mutual Bond 4 or higher. Bonds in Combat
• Come Back to Me! — The mutual Bond 4 maneuver that can bring back a Defeated or Lost partner. Bonds in Combat
• Concept line — The one-sentence description of who a character is, written at creation. Creating a Character
• Condition — A status with a clear type and, often, stacks; the full list is in one chapter. Conditions and States
• Consumable — A single-use item, tracked with consumable points rather than individually. Equipment
• Consumable point — The resource spent to use any consumable you have access to. Characters at a Glance
• Core — See BODY, MIND, SOUL. Characters at a Glance
• Counterattack — A reaction that answers a melee attack with one of your own. Maneuvers and Reactions
• Cover — Partial obstruction that limits which hit locations a ranged attack can target. Attacking
• Crisis — A state: you are on your last Vitality or Strain track. Conditions and States
• Cumbersome — A tag: attacks with this weapon cost more Vigor. Appendix A · Tags
• Cursed — A condition that turns your luck rolls into zero successes. Conditions and States
• Damage type — The kind of damage an attack deals — Slashing, Piercing, Crushing, Fire, and others — used by resistance and weakness. Attacking
• Defeated — A condition: you are out of the fight until something brings you back. Conditions and States
• Deflect — A reactive defense that turns an attack aside with a weapon or shield; also the tag that permits it. Maneuvers and Reactions
• Delivered range — The range step a spell is actually cast at; it decides whether the spell is a melee or ranged attack. Spellcasting
• Difficult terrain — Squares that cost extra movement. Maneuvers and Reactions
• Difficulty ladder — The four rungs of narrative difficulty: Routine, Tricky, Daunting, Insurmountable. Narrative Actions
• Dodge — A reactive defense using AGI. Maneuvers and Reactions
• Domain — The grouping a mastery belongs to (General, Martial, an archetype, and so on), which decides who can take it. Masteries
• Downtime — The long rest between missions: full recovery, advancement, and downtime actions. Downtime
• Downtime action — One of the activities each character takes during downtime. Downtime
• Edge — A hit location; a hit here hinders the target. Attacking
• Effortless — A narrative pattern (Triple) that refunds Resolve. Patterns
• Elite — A challenge class: a dangerous single enemy with Wound slots and multiple turns. Building Encounters
• Encounter — A combat, framed by objectives and won by achieving them. Building Encounters
• Encounter challenge — A side encounter objective; achieving one earns Momentum. Building Encounters
• Equilibrium rule — The limit on how far apart your highest and lowest cores can be. Creating a Character
• Exhausted — A condition that halves your Vigor refresh. Conditions and States
• Extra Success — A narrative pattern (Double) that raises the outcome of a roll one step. Patterns
• Faltering — The death-track condition gained on filling your last Wound slot; survive it turn by turn. Conditions and States
• Feint — A maneuver that makes a target Vulnerable instead of dealing damage. Maneuvers and Reactions
• Forced movement — Movement you did not choose; it never triggers Forestall but can trigger Intercept. Maneuvers and Reactions
• Forestall — A reaction that punishes an enemy leaving your reach. Maneuvers and Reactions
• Free action — An act that costs no Vigor and no maneuver. Maneuvers and Reactions
• Frightened — A condition: you cannot move toward or melee-attack the source of your fear. Conditions and States
• Full-turn maneuver — A maneuver that consumes your whole turn except the free Move. Maneuvers and Reactions
• Gear — Weapons, armor, and spell foci, limited by gear slots. Equipment
• Gear slot — A derived stat: how many pieces of gear you can equip. Characters at a Glance
• Grab — The maneuver that seizes a target; the target becomes Grabbed. Maneuvers and Reactions
• Grabbed — A condition: a grabber is holding you and neither of you can move freely. Conditions and States
• Graze — An attack reduced to zero successes; it still deals its lowest damage band but triggers no patterns. Rolling Dice
• Group roll — A narrative roll the whole party makes together. Narrative Actions
• Grunt — A challenge class: rank-and-file enemies that act in squads and never roll. Building Encounters
• Guard — A damage buffer that absorbs hits before Vitality and refreshes each turn. Characters at a Glance
• Hidden — A state: enemies cannot target you until you are found. Vision, Lighting, and Stealth
• Hide — The maneuver for becoming Hidden. Vision, Lighting, and Stealth
• Hindered — A condition that slows you and strips your ability to Dodge. Conditions and States
• Hit location — Where an attack lands: Mass, Edge, or Mark. Attacking
• Impaired — A condition: a dice penalty per stack on all rolls except luck rolls. Conditions and States
• Imprecise — A tag: the attack can only target Mass. Appendix A · Tags
• Indefensible — A tag: the attack cannot be met by reactive defenses. Appendix A · Tags
• Independent — A combatant on neither side, acting after everyone else. The Shape of a Fight
• Intercept — A reaction that strikes an enemy entering your reach. Maneuvers and Reactions
• Interlude — The short rest between encounters, with room for one meaningful scene. Interludes
• Interlude scene — A brief scene played during an interlude. Interludes
• Invisible — A condition: you are always hidden, and those able to locate you treat you as obscured. Vision, Lighting, and Stealth
• Invoke — Spending Resolve to bring a Bond to bear on a roll, in a scene or a fight. Narrative Actions
• Knowledge — What a character simply knows, decided by their Threads and Bonds. Threads and Knowledge
• Limit Break — A signature full-turn move powered by Momentum or by Crisis. Limit Breaks
• Line of sight — A clear line from your square to the target’s; required for ranged attacks and many abilities. Attacking
• Lost — A condition: your character’s mind is lost and the GM controls them. Conditions and States
• Luck roll — Testing your luck — a roll of your LUCK dice that no modifier can touch. Rolling Dice
• Maneuver — An action taken on your turn, paid for with Vigor. Maneuvers and Reactions
• Mark — A hit location; a hit here hurts more, and a Wound here also Breaks the target. Attacking
• Mass — The default hit location: the body. Attacking
• Mastery — A slotted ability that customizes a character; found in the Masteries catalog. Masteries
• Mastery set — A group of masteries that grants a bonus when equipped together. Masteries
• Mastery slot — A derived stat: how many masteries of each type you can equip; wildcard slots take any type. Characters at a Glance
• Melee N, Range N — Tags: the attack is melee with reach N, or ranged with maximum range N. Appendix A · Tags
• Merit — The advancement currency, awarded for objectives and banked for ranks at downtime. Merits and Tiers of Play
• Mission — The unit of story: objectives, a mission clock, and a campaign difficulty, ending in downtime. The Mission Loop
• Mission clock — The beats a party has to complete a mission. The Mission Loop
• Momentous Development — Spend Momentum to add a true fact to the world, anchored in a Thread or Bond. Narrative Actions
• Momentous Feat, Momentous Fortune — Spend Momentum to add successes to a roll, or to reroll a luck roll. Narrative Actions
• Momentum — The party’s shared pool, earned by objectives and dramatic play, spent on Limit Breaks and Momentous abilities. Momentum
• Move, Shift — The maneuvers for moving your speed and for stepping one square. Maneuvers and Reactions
• Narrative play — The half of the game played in scenes, with dice only when the outcome is in doubt. Narrative Actions
• Nemesis — A challenge class: the campaign’s great enemy, immune to most control and able to shrug off conditions. Building Encounters
• Opposable — A spell tag: the target resists with a free opposition roll. Spellcasting
• Opposition roll — A roll made to resist another roll; successes cancel. Rolling Dice
• Over-Guard — Guard above your maximum, from effects that grant it. Characters at a Glance
• Pattern — A combination of matching dice that triggers an extra effect; players choose how to allocate their dice. Patterns
• Penetrating — A tag: the attack bypasses Guard. Appendix A · Tags
• Persistent — A clear type: the condition ends only by its own rules. Conditions and States
• Point-blank — The penalty for ranged attacks against an adjacent target. Attacking
• Precise — A line in an enemy’s tactics that permits called shots. Building Encounters
• Provoked — A condition that punishes attacking anyone but its source. Conditions and States
• Push the Craft — A Scholar casting maneuver: take Strain for extra dice on a spellcasting roll. Spellcasting
• Push Yourself — Spend Resolve to add dice to your own narrative action roll. Narrative Actions
• Rank — A character’s level; ranks are gained with merits and raise attributes, slots, and Vigor. Advancement
• Reaction — An act taken outside your turn in response to a trigger, paid for with Vigor. Maneuvers and Reactions
• Reactive attack, reactive defense — The two families of reaction: strike back, or turn an attack aside (Dodge, Deflect). Maneuvers and Reactions
• Realized — An archetype at its third rank. Archetypes
• Reflexive — A tag: the weapon can make Forestall reactions. Appendix A · Tags
• Regular — A challenge class: standard enemies that roll but never clear roll-to-clear conditions. Building Encounters
• Repertoire — The Arts and Resonances a caster knows. Spellcasting
• Resistance, weakness — Halving or doubling the damage of a type that gets past Guard. Attacking
• Resolve — Personal grit, spent to push yourself, invoke Bonds, and recover; restored at downtime. Characters at a Glance
• Resonance — The substance of a spell — fire, light, mind, time, earth — combined with an Art. Spellcasting
• Roll-to-clear — A clear type: roll the named attribute at the end of your turn to shed stacks. Conditions and States
• Round, turn — A round is everyone acting once; a turn is one combatant’s action. The Shape of a Fight
• Scene — A unit of narrative play framed by the GM. Narrative Actions
• Scene action — An encounter feature that acts on its own turn. Building Encounters
• Scripted defense — An enemy’s fixed, no-roll answer to attacks, used in place of reactions. Building Encounters
• Seeking — A tag: the attack ignores Cover. Appendix A · Tags
• SEN, SPD, SIZE — Derived stats: how far you perceive, how far you move, and how much space you occupy. Characters at a Glance
• Shake It Off, Steady Yourself — Shed a stack of certain conditions, or spend a full turn to clear half your Max Strain. Maneuvers and Reactions
• Shield — A tag: the weapon can Deflect any melee attack, including spells. Appendix A · Tags
• Shove — A maneuver that pushes a target with forced movement. Maneuvers and Reactions
• Shrouded — A condition that collapses your senses to a single square. Conditions and States
• Slowed — A condition that pushes you to the end of the turn order. Conditions and States
• Solid Hit — The universal combat pattern (Double): extra damage equal to the matched face. Patterns
• Specialist path — An advanced archetype class with prerequisites, such as Ninja or Magus. Archetypes
• Spell — An Art combined with a Resonance, cast at a chosen shape and range. Spellcasting
• Spell focus — Gear that supports spellcasting. Equipment
• Spell-shaping — Paying Vigor to upgrade a spell’s range, area, duration, or targets above its basic shape. Spellcasting
• Squad — Up to four Grunts that act as one turn. Building Encounters
• Stat block — An enemy’s full write-up. Building Encounters
• Stay With Me! — The Bond 2 maneuver that calls a Faltering or Unraveling ally back from the edge. Bonds in Combat
• Strain — The mental track; it fills upward, and a full track inflicts a Burden. Characters at a Glance
• Strand — The unit of a Bond’s growth; enough Strands raise its intensity. Bonds
• Stressed — A state: your Strain is at least half its maximum. Conditions and States
• Surge — A maneuver that converts Strain into Vigor. Maneuvers and Reactions
• Surprised — A condition for combatants caught unaware as combat begins. Conditions and States
• Tag — A keyword on a weapon, attack, or spell that changes how it behaves; all tags are listed in one place. Appendix A · Tags
• Tandem partner — A character with whom you share a mutual Bond 3 or higher. Bonds in Combat
• Tandem Strike, Tandem Defense, Tandem Advance — The three Tandem Maneuvers: act out of turn alongside your tandem partner. Bonds in Combat
• Telegraphed attack — An enemy signature declared a turn ahead, giving the party time to answer. Building Encounters
• Thread — A chapter of a character’s past, written as a short phrase; the source of knowledge and narrative bonuses. Threads and Knowledge
• Tier of play — The four bands of ranks: Novice, Seasoned, Veteran, Paragon. Merits and Tiers of Play
• Touch — The range step at which a spell is delivered as a melee attack. Spellcasting
• Turn order — How sides alternate turns within a round. The Shape of a Fight
• Unarmed Attack — The weapon every character always has equipped. Equipment
• Unraveling — The death-track condition of the mind, gained on filling your last Burden slot. Conditions and States
• Use Consumable — The maneuver that spends a consumable point. Maneuvers and Reactions
• Vigor — The action currency, refreshed each turn and spent on maneuvers and reactions. Characters at a Glance
• Vitality — The body track; at zero you take a Wound and it refills. Characters at a Glance
• Vulnerable — A condition that gives the next attack roll against you extra dice. Conditions and States
• Weight class — A weapon’s size — Light, Medium, Heavy, Superheavy — which sets gear-slot cost and who can wield it. Equipment
• Wildcard slot — A mastery slot that accepts any mastery type. Characters at a Glance
• Wondrous item — A magical item equipped into a wondrous item slot. Equipment
• Wondrous item slot — A derived stat: how many wondrous items you can equip. Characters at a Glance
• Wound — Filled when Vitality reaches zero; each Wound rolls a consequence. Damage, Wounds, and Burdens
• Wracked — A condition that deals typed damage at the end of each of your turns. Conditions and States
• Zero-dice rule — What happens when a pool would be zero dice: roll two and keep the lowest. Rolling Dice

Momenta — Archetypes Catalog

Version: 0.31

Momenta is a tactical, cinematic fantasy TTRPG built around modular archetypes and slottable masteries. This catalog contains the archetype stat blocks. It is intended to be used with the Momenta Core Rules.

All of the catalog examples are a sample of the design space, and not to be considered an exhaustive list.

Ancestry Archetypes

Human

RANK 1

• Bonuses: +1 Max Vitality, +1 Max Strain
• Abilities:
  • Versatile - Gain an additional 1 wildcard mastery slot.
  • Human Experience - Gain one additional Thread.

RANK 2

• Bonuses: +1 Max Vitality, +1 Max Strain
• Abilities:
  • Mental Resilience - When you take the Steady Yourself maneuver, you can spend 1 Resolve to clear one Burden.

RANK 3

• Bonuses: +1 Max Vitality, +1 Max Strain
• Abilities:
  • Last Stand - While you are in Crisis, you gain +1d bonus on all attacks and reactive defense rolls.

Half-Elf

RANK 1

• Bonuses: +1 Max Vitality, +1 Max Strain
• Abilities:
  • Low-Light Vision

RANK 2

• Bonuses: +1 Max Vitality, +1 Max Strain
• Abilities:
  • Elven Memories - Whenever a situation calls for having knowledge about a subject matter, you can spend 1 Strain to upgrade your knowledge level by one step - from Unfamiliar to Familiar, or from Familiar to Expert. Only 1 Strain can be spent in this manner for each situation, and it only lasts for the duration of the current situation.

RANK 3

• Bonuses: +1 Max Vitality, +1 Max Strain
• Abilities:
  • Cultural Fluency - Gain a +1d bonus for all action rolls that involve performance, influence, intimidation, or persuasion as long as it either involves Humans, Elves, or Half-Elves (GM adjudicates).
  • Adaptability - During an interlude, you may retrain one equipped mastery for another mastery that you qualify for.

Elf

RANK 1

• Bonuses: +2 Max Strain
• Abilities:
  • Low-Light Vision
  • Elven Memories - Whenever a situation calls for having knowledge about a subject matter, you can spend 1 Strain to upgrade your knowledge level by one step - from Unfamiliar to Familiar, or from Familiar to Expert. Only 1 Strain can be spent in this manner for each situation, and it only lasts for the duration of the current situation.

RANK 2

• Bonuses: +2 Max Strain
• Abilities:
  • Dauntless Mind - You cannot gain the Frightened condition.

RANK 3

• Bonuses: +2 Max Strain
• Abilities:
  • Magic Initiate - You gain access to the Magic mastery domain.
  • Innate Spellcasting - You may cast spells, using PRE as your casting attribute. You gain 1 bonus mastery slot that has to be filled with a Resonance mastery (this mastery slot cannot be retrained once the Resonance is taken). You may not take additional Resonances unless you have a path archetype that grants spellcasting. You don’t gain any Arts for free; to actually cast a spell you must acquire at least one Art using your mastery slots. You also don’t gain access to spell foci, so your spells will always suffer the -1d penalty for not having a spell focus equipped (this can be mitigated with the Inner Focus mastery).

Dwarf

RANK 1

• Bonuses: +2 Max Vitality
• Abilities:
  • Darkvision

RANK 2

• Bonuses: +2 Max Vitality
• Abilities:
  • Tremorsense - You can sense the location of all creatures touching the ground within (SEN / 2) squares of you, regardless of environmental lighting or cover. Sensed creatures are considered as visible to you for targeting purposes. Flying or otherwise not grounded creatures are unaffected.

RANK 3

• Bonuses: +2 Max Vitality
• Abilities:
  • Stone Will - When you would gain the Broken condition from any source other than your own Brace reaction, you may test your luck. On 1+ success, you do not gain the Broken condition.

Basic Path Archetypes

Barbarian

RANK 1

• Bonuses: +2 Max Vitality
• Abilities:
  • Martial Training - You may equip Medium, Heavy, and Superheavy weapons, and Martial armor.
  • Enter Frenzy - You have access to the Enter Frenzy maneuver to gain the Frenzy condition. Your maximum number of Frenzy stacks cannot exceed 1 (this limit can be increased with the Berserk mastery).

[MANEUVER] Enter Frenzy (Vigor 1, 1/turn)

Effect: Gain 1 stack of the Frenzy condition.

[CONDITION] Frenzy
Stackable: yes (max 3)
Clear Type: Persistent

Effect: The character is in a state of mounting battle-rage. While Frenzied...
- You gain +1d bonus per stack on all melee weapon attacks. This also applies to reactive attacks.
- You gain a +1 to your SPD.
- You cannot Brace, or use any reactive defenses.
- At the end of your turn, you take Strain equal to your current number of Frenzy stacks.

The Frenzy condition is cleared when you take the Steady Yourself maneuver.

RANK 2

• Bonuses: +2 Max Vitality
• Abilities:
  • Relentless - Your melee weapon attacks deal +2 damage for every stack of Frenzy.
  • Adrenaline - While Frenzied, you can perform the Surge maneuver using BODY instead of MIND. All other rules for Surge remain the same, including taking 2 Strain for each point of Vigor gained. A character with BODY 0 cannot Surge using Adrenaline.

RANK 3

• Bonuses: +2 Max Vitality
• Abilities:
  • Indomitable - While Frenzied, you can choose to auto-clear one stack of the Exhausted, Hindered, or Slowed conditions at the end of your turn, instead of rolling to clear.
  • Dauntless Frenzy - You cannot gain the Frightened condition while Frenzied.

Warrior

RANK 1

• Bonuses: +1 Max Vitality, +1 Max Guard
• Abilities:
  • Martial Training - You may equip Medium, Heavy, and Superheavy weapons, and Martial armor.
  • Deflect - You have access to the Deflect reactive defense.

RANK 2

• Bonuses: +1 Max Vitality, +1 Max Guard
• Abilities:
  • Counterattack - You have access to the Counterattack reactive attack.
  • Focused Strike - When you make a Basic Attack with a weapon, you can spend +2 Vigor to roll with a +2d bonus.

RANK 3

• Bonuses: +1 Max Vitality, +1 Max Guard
• Abilities:
  • Veteran’s Edge - When you take the Brace reaction, you may pay +1 Vigor to gain Impaired 1 instead of becoming Broken. You can do this as many times as you want as long as you have the Vigor to pay for it.
  • Endless Endurance - When you spend your Resolve to heal a Wound or Burden, reduce its cost by 1 (minimum 1).

Scholar

RANK 1

• Bonuses: +1 Max Strain
• Abilities:
  • Spellcasting - You may perform the Cast a Spell maneuver, and use REA as the spellcasting attribute.
  • Starting Repertoire - You get 3 bonus mastery slots that must be filled with Resonances and Arts. You must have at least 1 Resonance and 1 Art in those 3 slots.
  • Spell Focus - You may use your gear slots to equip spell focus. Attempting to cast a spell without a spell focus equipped will incur a -1d penalty on the spellcasting roll.

RANK 2

• Bonuses: +1 Max Strain
• Abilities:
  • Detect Magic - You have access to the Detect Magic maneuver.
  • Push the Craft - When you cast a spell, you may take up to MIND Strain. For each Strain taken, the cast gains +1d bonus. This has to be declared before rolling.
  • Magic Study - Gain 1 additional bonus mastery slot that must be filled with Resonances and Arts.

[MANEUVER] Detect Magic (Vigor 2)

Effect: Make a REA action roll to sense magic within SEN squares.
- 0s: Sense the presence of magic, if any exists within range.
- 1s: Sense the Resonance and Art of detected magic, but ONLY for Resonances and Arts you yourself know.
- 2+: Sense the Resonance and Art of any detected magic.

RANK 3

• Bonuses: +1 Max Strain
• Abilities:
  • Long Casting - When casting a spell, you may spread the Vigor cost of the spell across two turns: half on the current turn, and half at the start of your next turn (if the Vigor cost is odd, the one extra Vigor is spent on this turn). The spell resolves with its spellcasting roll on the second turn when the full Vigor cost is paid. During the holding period, you cannot take reactions (your concentration is locked on the casting), but you may take maneuvers if you have enough Vigor. If for some reason the full Vigor cost cannot be paid, or if you cannot take maneuvers at the start of the second turn, the spell fizzles out, and the Vigor spent in the previous turn is wasted.
  • Magic Expertise - Gain 1 additional bonus mastery slot that must be filled with Resonances and Arts.

Channeler

RANK 1

• Bonuses: +1 Resolve
• Abilities:
  • Spellcasting - You may perform the Cast a Spell maneuver, and use INS as the spellcasting attribute.
  • Starting Repertoire - You get 3 bonus mastery slots that must be filled with Resonances and Arts. You must have at least 1 Resonance and 1 Art in those 3 slots.
  • Spell Focus - You may use your gear slots to equip spell focus. Attempting to cast a spell without a spell focus equipped will incur a -1d penalty on the spellcasting roll.

RANK 2

• Bonuses: +1 Resolve
• Abilities:
  • Patron’s Aura - You project an aura of divine protection covering all squares within 5 squares of you. You also have access to the Helping Hand reaction.
  • Patron’s Will - When you cast a spell, you may bypass the spellcasting roll entirely and declare a number of successes by paying Strain. Every success costs 2 Strain. Since there was no roll, no bonuses and penalty modifiers apply, and no patterns apply. Patron’s Will must be used before the roll is made, and the caster must declare how many successes they want to pay for before resolving any opposed rolls.

[REACTION] Helping Hand (variable cost)
Trigger: An ally within your Patron's Aura is targeted by an attack.

Effect: You can cast a Mend Art spell on that ally immediately. The spell resolves before the triggering attack's damage applies. You must be able to pay the Vigor cost of the spell, including the necessary Range Shaping upgrades to reach the ally with your spell.

RANK 3

• Bonuses: +1 Resolve
• Abilities:
  • Patron’s Aegis - When you would take a Wound from incoming damage, you may spend 1 Resolve to prevent the Wound entirely. The damage is absorbed by your patron’s intervention. All of the other damage rules apply; your Vitality is restored to full as if a Wound was inflicted, even if no Wound was actually inflicted. This ability can only be used once per combat encounter.
  • Patron’s Gift - Patron’s Will has a reduced cost: 1 success costs 1 Strain; 2 successes costs 2 Strain; beyond that, every extra success costs 2 Strain as per normal.

Specialist Path Archetypes

Momenta — Masteries Catalog

Version: 0.31

Momenta is a tactical, cinematic fantasy TTRPG built around modular archetypes and slottable masteries. This catalog contains the mastery and mastery set stat blocks. It is intended to be used with the Momenta Core Rules (see Masteries for slot, multi-slot payment, and retraining rules).

All of the catalog examples are a sample of the design space, and not to be considered an exhaustive list.

Masteries

General

Martial

Warrior

Barbarian

Magic

Scholar

Channeler

Human

Elf

Dwarf

Mastery Sets

Momenta — Equipment Catalog

Version: 0.31

Momenta is a tactical, cinematic fantasy TTRPG built around modular archetypes and slottable masteries. This catalog contains the stat blocks for gear (weapons, armor, and spell foci). It is intended to be used with the Momenta Core Rules.

All of the catalog examples are a sample of the design space, and not to be considered an exhaustive list.

Gear

Gear includes weapons, armor, and spell foci.

Weapons

Weapons occupy gear slots by weight class and carry tags; both are defined in the core rules (see Equipment and Appendix A · Tags).

Unarmed Attack

[WEAPON] Unarmed Attack (Crushing, Melee 1)
Weight Class: Light
Attribute: POW/AGI

Effect:
- 0s: 1 damage
- 1s: 3 damage
- 2s: 6 damage
- 3+: 9 damage

Light Weapons

[WEAPON] Dagger (Slashing/Piercing, Melee 1, Range 5)
Weight Class: Light
Attribute: POW/AGI

Effect:
- 0s: 1 damage
- 1s: 4 damage
- 2s: 8 damage
- 3+: 12 damage

Special: When used as a ranged weapon, the damage type is always Piercing.

[WEAPON] Stiletto (Piercing, Melee 1, Penetrating)
Weight Class: Light
Attribute: POW/AGI

Effect:
- 0s: 1 damage
- 1s: 3 damage
- 2s: 6 damage
- 3+: 9 damage

[WEAPON] Rapier (Slashing/Piercing, Melee 1, Deflect)
Weight Class: Light
Attribute: AGI

Effect:
- 0s: 1 damage
- 1s: 5 damage
- 2s: 10 damage
- 3+: 15 damage

[WEAPON] Sling (Crushing, Range 10)
Weight Class: Light
Attribute: POW/AGI

Effect:
- 0s: 1 damage
- 1s: 4 damage
- 2s: 8 damage
- 3+: 12 damage

[WEAPON] Chakram (Slashing, Range 10, Seeking)
Weight Class: Light
Attribute: AGI

Effect:
- 0s: 1 damage
- 1s: 4 damage
- 2s: 8 damage
- 3+: 12 damage

[WEAPON] Whip (Slashing, Melee 2, Reflexive)
Weight Class: Light
Attribute: AGI

Effect:
- 0s: 1 damage
- 1s: 4 damage
- 2s: 8 damage
- 3+: 12 damage

[WEAPON] Buckler (Crushing, Melee 1, Shield)
Weight Class: Light
Attribute: POW/AGI

Effect:
- 0s: 1 damage
- 1s: 3 damage
- 2s: 6 damage
- 3+: 9 damage

Medium Weapons

[WEAPON] Longsword (Slashing/Piercing, Melee 1, Deflect)
Weight Class: Medium
Attribute: POW

Effect:
- 0s: 2 damage
- 1s: 6 damage
- 2s: 11 damage
- 3+: 17 damage

[WEAPON] Mace (Crushing, Melee 1)
Weight Class: Medium
Attribute: POW

Effect:
- 0s: 2 damage
- 1s: 7 damage
- 2s: 13 damage
- 3+: 20 damage

[WEAPON] Warpick (Piercing, Melee 1, Penetrating)
Weight Class: Medium
Attribute: POW

Effect:
- 0s: 2 damage
- 1s: 6 damage
- 2s: 10 damage
- 3+: 15 damage

[WEAPON] Spear (Piercing, Melee 2, Reflexive)
Weight Class: Medium
Attribute: POW

Effect:
- 0s: 2 damage
- 1s: 6 damage
- 2s: 11 damage
- 3+: 17 damage

[WEAPON] Shortbow (Piercing, Range 20)
Weight Class: Medium
Attribute: AGI

Effect:
- 0s: 2 damage
- 1s: 6 damage
- 2s: 11 damage
- 3+: 17 damage

[WEAPON] Light Crossbow (Piercing, Range 30, Cumbersome)
Weight Class: Medium
Attribute: AGI

Effect:
- 0s: 2 damage
- 1s: 7 damage
- 2s: 13 damage
- 3+: 20 damage

[WEAPON] Heater Shield (Crushing, Melee 1, Shield)
Weight Class: Medium
Attribute: POW

Effect:
- 0s: 2 damage
- 1s: 4 damage
- 2s: 7 damage
- 3+: 11 damage

Heavy Weapons

[WEAPON] Greataxe (Slashing, Melee 1)
Weight Class: Heavy
Attribute: POW

Effect:
- 0s: 3 damage
- 1s: 9 damage
- 2s: 17 damage
- 3+: 25 damage

[WEAPON] Warhammer (Crushing, Melee 1)
Weight Class: Heavy
Attribute: POW

Effect:
- 0s: 3 damage
- 1s: 9 damage
- 2s: 17 damage
- 3+: 25 damage

[WEAPON] Greatsword (Slashing/Piercing, Melee 1, Deflect)
Weight Class: Heavy
Attribute: POW

Effect:
- 0s: 3 damage
- 1s: 8 damage
- 2s: 15 damage
- 3+: 22 damage

[WEAPON] Halberd (Slashing/Piercing, Melee 2)
Weight Class: Heavy
Attribute: POW

Effect:
- 0s: 3 damage
- 1s: 8 damage
- 2s: 15 damage
- 3+: 22 damage

[WEAPON] Longbow (Piercing, Range 40)
Weight Class: Heavy
Attribute: POW/AGI

Effect:
- 0s: 3 damage
- 1s: 8 damage
- 2s: 15 damage
- 3+: 22 damage

Special: If using POW as the attribute, the weapon gains the Imprecise tag.

[WEAPON] Heavy Crossbow (Piercing, Range 60, Cumbersome)
Weight Class: Heavy
Attribute: AGI

Effect:
- 0s: 3 damage
- 1s: 9 damage
- 2s: 17 damage
- 3+: 25 damage

[WEAPON] Tower Shield (Crushing, Melee 1, Shield)
Weight Class: Heavy
Attribute: POW

Effect:
- 0s: 3 damage
- 1s: 5 damage
- 2s: 9 damage
- 3+: 13 damage

Special: While this shield is equipped, you have cover as long as you have not attacked since the start of your most recent turn. The moment you make an attack, the cover is lost.

Superheavy Weapons

[WEAPON] Great Maul (Crushing, Melee 1, Cumbersome, Imprecise)
Weight Class: Superheavy
Attribute: POW

Effect:
- 0s: 6 damage
- 1s: 16 damage
- 2s: 28 damage
- 3+: 40 damage

[WEAPON] Zambato (Slashing, Melee 2, Cumbersome)
Weight Class: Superheavy
Attribute: POW

Effect:
- 0s: 6 damage
- 1s: 14 damage
- 2s: 24 damage
- 3+: 34 damage

[WEAPON] War Scythe (Slashing, Melee 1, Imprecise)
Weight Class: Superheavy
Attribute: POW

Effect:
- 0s: 6 damage
- 1s: 10 damage
- 2s: 19 damage
- 3+: 28 damage

[WEAPON] Greatlance (Piercing, Melee 2, Cumbersome)
Weight Class: Superheavy
Attribute: POW

Effect:
- 0s: 6 damage
- 1s: 14 damage
- 2s: 24 damage
- 3+: 34 damage

Combination Weapons

A combination weapon is two or more weapon parts that share the Combo tag and must be equipped together.

[WEAPON] Gunsword Blade (Slashing, Melee 1, Deflect, Combo)
Weight Class: Medium
Attribute: POW

Effect:
- 0s: 2 damage
- 1s: 6 damage
- 2s: 11 damage
- 3+: 17 damage

Special: Combination weapon with Gunsword Barrel.

[WEAPON] Gunsword Barrel (Piercing, Range 20, Combo)
Weight Class: Medium
Attribute: AGI

Effect:
- 0s: 2 damage
- 1s: 6 damage
- 2s: 11 damage
- 3+: 17 damage

Special: Combination weapon with Gunsword Blade.

Armor

Armor is gear that is used for protection. All characters can only equip at most one armor at a time, no matter how many gear slots they have. A character with no armor equipped is assumed to be wearing plain clothes or explorer’s clothing with no damage mitigation.

Armor is classified as either Standard or Martial.

Standard Armor

[ARMOR] Leather Armor (Standard)

Effect: +1 Max Guard
Penalty: none

[ARMOR] Armored Cloak (Standard)

Effect: +2 Max Guard
Penalty: -1d on all AGI action rolls

Martial Armor

[ARMOR] Chain Shirt (Martial)

Effect: +2 Max Guard
Penalty: none

[ARMOR] Plate Armor (Martial)

Effect: +3 Max Guard
Penalty: -1d on all AGI action rolls

[ARMOR] Great Plate (Martial)

Effect: +4 Max Guard
Penalty: -2d on all AGI action rolls

Spell Focus

Spellcasting archetypes (e.g., Scholar and Channeler) can use their gear slots to equip a spell focus (plural: spell foci). This represents a trinket or gadget that helps the spellcaster with casting spells. It can take the shape of a wand, staff, amulet, crystal, spell book, holy symbol, tattoo, etc. - the flavor can be player chosen, but they share the same mechanics.

There is no limit to the number of spell foci that a character can equip, as long as they have enough gear slots. The effects of all equipped spell foci apply simultaneously. However, a character can benefit from only one copy of any given type of spell focus.

Basic Spell Focus

[FOCUS] Basic spell focus

Effect: none

All spellcasting archetypes will receive a basic spell focus with no special abilities; it simply enables casting at full effectiveness.

Exotic Spell Focus

Exotic spell foci are found, crafted, rewarded, or otherwise acquired. They may grant specific bonuses (and sometimes penalties) beyond the Basic spell focus.

[FOCUS] Ignis Crown
Description: A circlet of bronze-laid garnet, warm to the touch. Worn by the last fire-priests of the Sundered Order. Found, rarely sold.

Effect: +1d to all spellcasting rolls using the Ignis Resonance.

[FOCUS] Whispering Locket
Description: A small silver locket that hums faintly when worn near sleeping minds. The whispers inside it are never quite intelligible.

Effect: +2d to all spellcasting rolls using the Mens Resonance. -1d to all other spellcasting rolls using any other Resonance.

[FOCUS] Mender's Sigil
Description: A worn brass seal pressed with the image of a closed eye. Field-chirurgeons and battle-priests prize it above gold.

Effect: +1d to all spellcasting rolls casting the Mend Art.

[FOCUS] Reliquary of the Dawn
Description: A sliver of gilded bone in a sunburst case. It grows warm at dawn, wherever it is kept.

Effect: For Lux Resonance spells you cast, reduce the Vigor cost for spell-shaping by 1 (minimum total spell-shaping cost 1)

[FOCUS] Deadman's Choker
Description: A band of blackened silver, cold as a grave. Power answers instantly to the one who wears it — and luck abandons them utterly.

Effect: +3d to all spellcasting rolls. While this spell focus is equipped, you have the Cursed condition. The Cursed condition ends when you unequip the spell focus.

Wondrous Items

Wondrous items are unique, magical items that grant the wielder special abilities or bonuses. Wondrous items are unlike normal gear, and need to be equipped into a wondrous item slot. A character has a number of wondrous item slots equal to their MIND value.

[WONDROUS] Pathfinder's Compass
Description: A brass compass whose needle points not north, but home.

Effect: +1d to action rolls that apply to situations where navigation or tracking are involved.

[WONDROUS] Spider-Grip Gloves
Description: Supple leather gloves stitched with a faint, tacky resin that never seems to wear away.

Effect: When climbing in combat, the wearer is considered as having the Athlete mastery. In addition, while climbing, every square is not treated as difficult terrain, but as normal terrain instead.

[WONDROUS] Pendant of the Ox
Description: A soapstone ox on a leather cord, worn smooth by generations of labourers' thumbs.

Effect: The character gains Resistance (Slashing), but suffers a -1 to SPD.

Consumables

Consumables are single-use items that can be used for healing, buffing, de-buffing, or even attacking. It is assumed that adventurers are generally well prepared and always in possession of a good mix of consumables for most situations. In Momenta, we do not track individual consumables, but instead use consumable points.

To use a consumable, a character will mark off a consumable point, and they can apply the effect of any of the consumables that are on the common consumables catalog. It is assumed that adventurers will have access to all of the common consumables.

Common Consumables

[CONSUMABLE] Restoration Balm
Target: Self, Adjacent Ally

Effect: The target spends 1 Resolve and restores Vitality equal to half their maximum Vitality.

[CONSUMABLE] Energy Drink
Target: Self, Adjacent Ally

Effect: Restore the target's Vigor by 3.

[CONSUMABLE] Alchemist's Fire (Fire, Range 5, Seeking, Imprecise)
Weight Class: Light
Attribute: AGI

Effect:
- 0s: 1 damage
- 1s: 4 damage
- 2s: 8 damage, target gains Wracked 1 (Fire)
- 3+: 12 damage, target gains Wracked 1 (Fire)

[CONSUMABLE] Smoke Bomb
Target: Self

Effect: Target becomes Obscured from all enemies until the start of their next turn.

Exotic Consumables

[CONSUMABLE] Phoenix Ember
Target: Adjacent Ally

Effect: Remove the target's Defeated condition.

[CONSUMABLE] Lightning in a Bottle (Shock, Range 5, Seeking, Imprecise)
Weight Class: Light
Attribute: AGI

Effect:
- 0s: 1 damage
- 1s: 4 damage, target gains Wracked 1 (Shock)
- 2s: 8 damage, target gains Wracked 2 (Shock)
- 3+: 12 damage, target gains Wracked 3 (Shock)

Momenta — Spellcasting Catalog

Version: 0.31

Momenta is a tactical, cinematic fantasy TTRPG built around modular archetypes and slottable masteries. This catalog contains the Art and Resonance stat blocks. It is intended to be used with the Momenta Core Rules.

All of the catalog examples are a sample of the design space, and not to be considered an exhaustive list.

Arts

An Art stat block declares the structure of casting it — the cost, the default shape, what dimensions can be shaped, and the band ladder for effect resolution. It does NOT carry damage types, conditions, or defense classifications — those come from the Resonance.

The Art list is closed; Resonances are the open surface. The Arts above are the load-bearing frame of the magic system — the shaping economy, the type table, and the tag grammar all hang off them, so modifying an Art cascades through everything. Resonances, by contrast, are structurally inert to add: invent freely, price access at 1 mastery slot (2 for rare and powerful ones), and ship each new Resonance with its access mastery.

The standard Art template:

[ART] Art Name (Type)
Base Cost: X Vigor
Basic Shape:
- Range: X (Shapeable / Fixed)
- Duration: X (Shapeable / Fixed)
- Area: X (Shapeable / Fixed)

Description: [evocative line(s) on the Art's fiction]

Effect:
- 0s: effect. Caster takes Strain from grazing.
- 1s: effect.
- 2s: effect.
- 3+: effect.
- OF: Overflow - any additional effects per additional success above 3.

[any Art-specific universal mechanics]

Rend

[ART] Rend (Attack)
Base Cost: 2 Vigor
Basic Shape:
- Range: SEN (Shapeable)
- Duration: instantaneous (Fixed)
- Area: single target (Shapeable)

Description: Channels the raw power of the applied Resonance into direct harm against a foe. The bolt, lash, or jet of damage - instantaneous and singular.

Rend has two effect ladders - one for Vitality and one for Strain. The Resonance's Rend entry will specify which ladder applies.

Effect (Vitality):
- 0s: 2 damage. Caster takes Strain from grazing.
- 1s: 5 damage.
- 2s: 10 damage + 1 stack of [Resonance-defined condition].
- 3+: 16 damage + 3 stacks of [Resonance-defined condition].
- OF: +6 damage / success

Effect (Strain):
- 0s: 1 Strain. Caster takes Strain from grazing.
- 1s: 2 Strain.
- 2s: 3 Strain + 1 stack of [Resonance-defined condition].
- 3+: 5 Strain + 3 stacks of [Resonance-defined condition].
- OF: +2 Strain / success

If the [Resonance-defined condition] is non-stackable, the condition will just be applied at 2 and 3+ successes.

Default attack tags: "Melee 1" when delivered at Touch, otherwise "Range N" (N = spell range); "Imprecise" + "Seeking" if area effect.

Afflict

[ART] Afflict (Attack)
Base Cost: 2 Vigor
Basic Shape:
- Range: Touch (Shapeable)
- Duration: 1 round (Shapeable)
- Area: single target (Shapeable)

Description: Channels the Resonance into a curse that takes root in the target. The affliction is the point, direct harm is incidental.

Effect:
- 0s: 1 damage. Caster takes Strain from grazing.
- 1s: 1 stack of [Resonance-defined condition].
- 2s: 2 stacks of [Resonance-defined condition].
- 3+: 3 stacks of [Resonance-defined condition].
- OF: +2 damage / success

While an Afflict spell is still active on the target, if the condition inflicted on a target is reduced (either through auto-clear or roll-to-clear) - for each stack removed, the caster may take 1 Strain to restore it.

If the [Resonance-defined condition] is non-stackable, the condition will just be applied at 1+ successes.

Afflict ends immediately if the caster is Defeated.

Default attack tags: "Melee 1" when delivered at Touch, otherwise "Range N" (N = spell range); "Imprecise" + "Seeking" if area effect.

Bolster

[ART] Bolster (Utility)
Base Cost: 2 Vigor
Basic Shape:
- Range: Self (Shapeable)
- Duration: 1 round (Shapeable)
- Area: single target (Shapeable)

Description: Channels the Resonance to grant the target a transient boon - protection, power, Vigor, or insight - shaped by the Resonance that powers it.

Effect:
- 0s: Apply the [Resonance-defined bolster effect] for 1 round only,
      regardless of the duration shape. Caster takes Strain from grazing.
- 1s: Apply the [Resonance-defined bolster effect] for the duration.
- 2s: Apply the [Resonance-defined bolster effect],
      and target gains +1d to all [Resonance-defined qualifying rolls] for the duration.
- 3+: Apply the [Resonance-defined bolster effect],
      and target gains +2d to all [Resonance-defined qualifying rolls] for the duration.
- OF: +2 Guard / success.

Bolster ends immediately if the caster is Defeated.

Mend

[ART] Mend (Restoration)
Base Cost: 2 Vigor
Basic Shape:
- Range: Touch (Shapeable)
- Duration: instantaneous (Fixed)
- Area: single target (Shapeable)

Description: Channels the Resonance to restore - knitting Wounds, unspooling stress, releasing accumulated harm. The mage's hands carry the Resonance into the target's body or mind, undoing damage the Resonance's nature can undo.

Mend has two effect ladders - one for Vitality and one for Strain. The Resonance's Mend entry will specify which ladder applies. Some Resonances support only one ladder, and some may support both.

Effect (Vitality):
- 0s: Target gains +5 Guard. Caster takes Strain from grazing.
- 1s: Target recovers Vitality equal to half their maximum.
      Caster or target spends 1 Resolve (caster's choice).
- 2s: Target recovers Vitality to full.
      Caster or target spends 1 Resolve (caster's choice).
- 3+: Target recovers Vitality to full and gains the [Resonance-defined bonus effect]
      Caster or target spends 1 Resolve (caster's choice).
- OF: +3 Guard / success.

Effect (Strain):
- 0s: Target clears 1 Strain. Caster takes Strain from grazing.
- 1s: Target clears 2 Strain.
- 2s: Target clears 3 Strain.
- 3+: Target clears 5 Strain and gains the [Resonance-defined bonus effect]
- OF: +2 additional Strain cleared / success.

Resonances

A Resonance stat block describes the substance of casting, the Resonance’s fiction, then lists each supported Art with that combination’s specific resolution, tags, conditions, and any reshape of the Art’s default behavior.

The standard Resonance template:

[RESONANCE] Resonance Name

Description: [evocative line(s) on the Resonance's fiction]

[Art Name]
Describe the specific effects and interactions with the Art.

[Art Name]
Describe the specific effects and interactions with the Art.

...

Arts not listed in a Resonance are not castable with that Resonance. The combination is refused by fiction.

Ignis

[RESONANCE] Ignis

Description: Flames, heat, transformation through consumption. The most volatile of the elemental Resonances - quick to apply, quick to consume itself. Ignis takes; Ignis reveals.

[Rend]
Deals Vitality damage. Bonus damage +2. Additional attack tags: "Fire". Condition: Wracked (Fire).

[Afflict]
Additional attack tags: "Fire", "Indefensible", "Imprecise", "Seeking". Condition: Wracked (Fire). Opposable by POW action roll.

[Bolster]
Bolster Effect: +2 Fire damage on melee weapon attacks. Qualifying rolls: Melee weapon attacks.

[Mend]
Heals Vitality. Bonus Effect: The caster may further choose to spend 1 Resolve to heal one Wound on the target. The Resolve cost may be paid by the caster or the target (caster's choice). The target then gains the Wracked 3 (Fire) condition.

Lux

[RESONANCE] Lux

Description: The light made manifest - banishing darkness, revealing truth, scouring corruption. Lux insists where Ignis transforms and Tempus distorts. To channel Lux is to wield certainty against shadow.

[Rend]
Deals Vitality damage. Bonus damage +2. Additional attack tags: "Radiant", "Indefensible", "Imprecise". Condition: Shrouded. Opposable by PRE action roll.

[Afflict]
Additional attack tags: "Radiant", "Indefensible", "Imprecise". Condition: Shrouded. Opposable by PRE action roll.

[Bolster]
Bolster Effect: All weapon attacks made by the target gain the "Radiant" tag. The target is immune to becoming Frightened (any existing Frightened condition on the target is cleared immediately when the Bolster takes effect). Qualifying rolls: None.

[Mend]
Can heal either Vitality or Strain (caster choice).
- Vitality Bonus Effect: All stackable conditions on the target that are auto-clear or roll-to-clear are immediately cleared, regardless of stack count.
- Strain Bonus Effect: All non-stackable conditions on the target that are auto-clear or roll-to-clear are immediately cleared.

Mens

[RESONANCE] Mens

Description: The realm of thought, will, and perception. Mens reaches past flesh and bone to act directly on consciousness. No armor guards the mind; only the mind itself does.

[Rend]
Deals Strain damage. Additional attack tags: "Mental", "Indefensible", "Imprecise", "Seeking". Condition: Frightened. Opposable by INS action roll.

[Afflict]
Additional attack tags: "Mental", "Indefensible", "Imprecise", "Seeking". Condition: Frightened. Opposable by INS action roll.

[Bolster]
Bolster Effect: +2d on REA and INS rolls made to oppose another roll. Qualifying rolls: All other REA and INS rolls.

[Mend]
Heals Strain. Bonus Effect: The target is cleansed of the Frightened condition. The caster may further choose to spend 1 Resolve to heal one Burden on the target. The Resolve cost may be paid by the caster or the target (caster's choice).

Tempus

[RESONANCE] Tempus

Description: The rarest of Resonances - the flow of moments themselves. Tempus does not destroy; it accelerates, retards, or reveals. Those who touch Tempus learn that every act has its proper instant.

[Rend]
Deals Vitality damage. Additional attack tags: "Cosmic", "Indefensible", "Imprecise", "Seeking", "Penetrating". Condition: Slowed. Opposable by a luck roll. Damage manifests as accelerated decay - flesh ages, edges dull, materials brittle.

[Afflict]
Additional attack tags: "Cosmic", "Indefensible", "Imprecise", "Seeking", "Penetrating". Condition: Slowed. Opposable by a luck roll.

[Bolster]
Bolster Effect: If the target starts a turn with less than 3 Vigor after refresh, their Vigor is set to 3. Qualifying rolls: Any roll made as part of a reaction.

[Mend]
Not Supported.

Terra

[RESONANCE] Terra

Description: The stubborn weight of the world made into a weapon or a shield. Terra presses, crushes, grounds; it is the slowest of the elements and the most enduring. Where Ignis burns and Tempus decays, Terra simply is immovable until something stronger moves it. Magically channeled, Terra becomes the spell of force applied to the body: hammering blows, pinning weight, stone-skin defenses.

[Rend]
Deals Vitality damage. Bonus damage +1. Additional attack tags: "Earth", "Crushing". Condition: Impaired.

[Afflict]
Additional attack tags: "Earth", "Imprecise", "Seeking". Condition: Impaired.

[Bolster]
Bolster Effect: Target gains +2 Max Guard. Qualifying rolls: All POW rolls.

[Mend]
Heals Vitality. Bonus Effect: Target gains +2 Guard.

Momenta — Limit Breaks Catalog

Version: 0.31

Momenta is a tactical, cinematic fantasy TTRPG built around modular archetypes and slottable masteries. This catalog contains the Limit Breaks stat blocks. It is intended to be used with the Momenta Core Rules.

All of the catalog examples are a sample of the design space, and not to be considered an exhaustive list.

Limit Break Basics

Limit Breaks come in two categories, with a uniform access rule:

• General Limit Breaks are gated by core minimums (e.g., BODY 2). Any character who meets the prerequisite may equip them.
• Archetype Limit Breaks (path, specialist, and ancestry alike) unlock when that archetype is realized. They carry no attribute or core prerequisites.

General Limit Breaks

[LIMIT BREAK] Crescent Onslaught
Prerequisite: BODY 2

Effect: Make one melee weapon attack against every enemy within your weapon's melee range (treat the weapon's reach as a minimum of 2 for this maneuver). Roll each attack separately with a +1d bonus.

[LIMIT BREAK] Deadeye Requiem
Prerequisite: BODY 2

Effect: Make one attack with an equipped ranged weapon with a +2d bonus. The attack gains the Seeking tag and ignores all attack roll penalties, including distance, visibility, and hit-location targeting penalties. You cannot target a Hidden creature.

[LIMIT BREAK] Arcane Overdrive
Prerequisite: MIND 2

Effect: Cast one spell. Its total Vigor cost is 0, including up to 4 Vigor of spell-shaping upgrades for free. The spellcasting roll gains a +2d bonus (area shaping roll penalties still apply). Grazing with this spell causes no Strain.

Because a Limit Break is a full-turn maneuver, free maneuvers that accompany casting (e.g., Push the Craft) cannot be used.

[LIMIT BREAK] Undying Vow
Prerequisite: MIND 2

Effect: Every non-Defeated ally within SEN squares (including yourself) restores Vitality equal to half their Max Vitality at no Resolve cost, then chooses one of the following:

- Clear Strain equal to half their Max Strain; or
- Clear one condition on themselves that is auto-clear or roll-to-clear; or
- Clear either the Faltering or Unraveling condition

[LIMIT BREAK] Bulwark Unbreakable
Prerequisite: SOUL 2

Effect: Gain +20 Guard (this can result in Over-Guard). Until the start of your next turn, you are immune to forced movement. Every enemy within 5 squares gains the Provoked condition with you as the source.

[LIMIT BREAK] Golden Hour
Prerequisite: SOUL 2

Effect: For every ally within SEN squares: Each ally may take a free Move or Shift maneuver, and may then immediately make one Basic Attack by paying its Vigor cost. An ally without enough Vigor may still make the attack, but immediately gains the Exhausted condition.

Archetype Limit Breaks

[LIMIT BREAK] Inazuma Crash
Prerequisite: Warrior Realized

Effect: Double your SPD for this turn. Choose one equipped melee weapon. As you move, make one Basic Attack with that weapon against each enemy that comes within the weapon's reach at any point during your movement this turn (each enemy can only be struck once this way). On 3 or more successes, the enemy disregards the attack's normal effects and instead takes a Wound (if the enemy has no Wound slots, they become Defeated).

Combo Limit Breaks

Combo Limit Breaks require mutual Bond 4+; see Bonds in Combat in the quickstart. Entries to follow.

Momenta — Pre-Generated Enemies

Version: 0.31

Momenta is a tactical, cinematic fantasy TTRPG built around modular archetypes and slottable masteries. This catalog contains ready-to-run enemy stat blocks and overlay templates for the Novice tier of play. It is intended to be used with the Momenta Core Rules (see Building Encounters for the challenge-class rules that govern everything below).

All of the catalog examples are a sample of the design space, and not to be considered an exhaustive list.

Enemy Basics

Enemies work differently than player characters in Momenta, with optimizations to speed up gameplay. They have a separate, streamlined action economy, and are also scaled across two dimensions - Challenge Class and Tiers of Play.

Design Note: Authored stat blocks are sovereign; a baseline stat block may natively include Guard, defenses, or other features resembling class-menu abilities regardless of the menu’s minimums — the minimum challenge class governs only what a template may add.

Action Economy

Unless otherwise specified in the enemy stat block, the default action economy of an enemy is 1 Move maneuver + 1 extra maneuver. Enemies do not track Vigor and have no reactions by default. For the extra maneuvers, enemies are limited to the following maneuver choices:

Unless otherwise specified, all enemies have a default Unarmed Attack, which can either be used to do a Basic Attack or a Shove.

Challenge Class

Every enemy stat block will indicate the challenge class of the enemy. There are five challenge classes, in order of deadliness: Grunt, Regular, Elite, Champion, Nemesis.

Enemy stat blocks in the catalog represent the baseline stat block, and most of the enemies will be defined at the Regular challenge class. If you need an enemy of a different challenge class, you can apply one of these challenge class templates to a baseline stat block and apply the updated stats to make it into an enemy of a different challenge class.

Note that these templates can only be applied on baseline stat blocks that are designed at the Regular challenge class. Stat blocks that are already designed for higher challenge classes should not apply the templates.

Regular is not a valid template (since the baseline stat blocks should already be at Regular), but it is included in the table below for benchmarking.

Special rule: Grunts are usually fielded in squads. As such, in order to speed up gameplay, up to 4 Grunts may take their turns consecutively (they are treated as a single turn from the enemy side in the turn order).

Conditions by challenge class. Auto-clear conditions behave normally for every class unless the table says otherwise. Elites and Champions do not roll to clear: at the end of each of their turns they shed 1 stack of each roll-to-clear condition (and auto-clear conditions shed as normal). A Nemesis removes all stacks of every auto-clear and roll-to-clear condition at the end of each of its turns. Persistent conditions — such as Vulnerable — are never shed this way; they end only by their own rules. End-of-turn effects (such as Wracked damage) resolve before shedding.

Regulars never clear roll-to-clear conditions on their own. Hindered, Grabbed, Slowed and the like stick to the rank-and-file until removed by other means (separation, an ally’s help, the end of combat). This is deliberate: control is strongest against the many and weakest against the few.

Tiers of Play

Apply adjustments to each baseline enemy stat block based on the current tier of play:

Challenge Class Abilities

Enemy Tags

Enemies may have tags that indicate the type of enemy they are. Certain player abilities may have special effects against specific enemy tags. Enemies may have one or more tags.

Hit Locations, Wounds, and Burdens

Unlike player characters, not all enemies will have the standard Mass/Edge/Mark hit locations. Most Humanoid foes will, but some exotic monsters and creatures may not have an Edge, or a Mark, or may have multiples of each. Every creature will define in its stat block the valid hit locations for that particular creature, as well as what happens on a hit to that location (1+ success on a damage dealing attack), or a Wound to that location.

Creatures with no Wound slots (usually Regular enemies) can ignore the Wound Effect hit location column, but it is still included in the stat block just in case the GM wants to apply a challenge class template to the enemy to give it additional Wound slots.

By default, if there is no special Wound Effect listed, then the creature gains the Impaired N condition, where N = number of Wound slots now filled (including this Wound). If a Wound Effect is specified, then they suffer the listed effect instead, and does not get the Impaired condition. Enemies never roll on the Wound or Burden consequence tables; they use their listed effects, or the Impaired N default.

Similarly for Burdens, all creatures who receive a Burden will gain the Impaired N condition, where N = number of Burden slots now filled (including this Burden). There are no Afflictions for enemies (since enemy behavior is always under the GM control anyway).

Calling shots. By default, enemies attack Mass. An enemy calls Edge or Mark shots only if its stat block says so, via a Precise line in its Tactics / Behavior entry naming which location it favors and when. Grunts never call shots.

Challenge Class — Regular

Goblin Skirmisher

Bandit Thug

Cultist

Ironshell Sentinel

Crag Troll

Razorwing

Alley Blade

Challenge Class — Elite

Bandit Captain

Cult Mindbinder

Challenge Class — Champion

Cult Hierophant

Reads patterns on its action rolls (Solid Hit applies; 1+ effective success required, as normal).

Challenge Class — Nemesis

Sorrowmaw, the Grief-Drake

It remembers every death it has ever caused. It treasures them. When Sorrowmaw descends, the air itself weeps.

Reads patterns on its action rolls (Solid Hit applies; 1+ effective success required, as normal). Clears all auto-clear and roll-to-clear conditions at the end of each of its turns (persistent conditions unaffected).