How the war works
Archon runs the war: it rolls the dice, keeps the count and posts every result with the numbers behind it. The players decide what happens.
Most days you spend a minute or two on your action points. On Saturday night there is the Siege. A season lasts six weeks; in the last one the crater opens and every point of kleos counts double.
A week
| Monday | A core comes down on each of the three border regions, and the Archon draws a Decree that changes something about the week. |
| Tuesday | Operations and roleplay. |
| Wednesday | Operations and roleplay. |
| Thursday | Attacks must be declared by 18:00 UTC. |
| Friday | Operations. The leaders make their last plans before Saturday. |
| Saturday | Siege night from 18:00 UTC, then the count. |
| Sunday | Operations and roleplay, like any other day. |
A Decree is the week's twist, drawn by the Archon on Monday. It is one of these:
- A rich fall: the cores are worth double this week.
- Supply wagons: every supply run brings half as much again.
- A quiet sky: nothing out of the ordinary this week.
Every day: operations
You get 3 action points a day and can save up to 6. Spending one takes about a minute: pick a region your side is fighting over, pick an operation, and Archon rolls a d20 for it on the spot.
| Operation | Rolls with | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Assault | Might | Pushes the region's line toward you before the Siege. |
| Fortify | Guard | Adds a wall the defender fights behind. |
| Scout | Agility | Reports on your net who of the other sides is where in your region, and their walls. |
| Sabotage | Agility | Takes down one of their walls or some of their supply. |
| Supply run | Focus | Brings supply to your faction's store. |
| Core hunt | any | Only on a border region where this week's core has not been found yet. Every core is glory. |
The whole week of operations can move a region's line two steps at most before Saturday. That way the week matters, but it cannot decide the Siege on its own, and people who cannot be there on Saturday still shape it.
Readiness
Playing most days builds your Readiness, a ladder from 0 to 6. An operation at least 20 hours after your last step climbs it one step. From step 3, every operation pays 1 more merit, at most 3 a day, for your rank. Every 44 hours without an operation takes it down two steps, so a missed day costs a little and never everything. It counts in rolling hours, so it does not matter where your day ends.
Out in the field
Going out takes a character. Make yours under Your character. Then march out yourself, or your leader or a commander sends you. The war goes a region at a time: only to the regions next to where you are, and a march of your own once in half an hour. Use the War Table or /war in Discord.
Moving takes time
Marching to a region takes ten minutes, or four on a forced march for six stamina, and brings you in at your side's end of it; a place further in is a walk on from there. Inside a region, a step to the next place is three minutes walking, or one minute running for two stamina. Stamina is six plus your Agility, and a point comes back every six minutes. On the way you are at no place: nobody meets you and you meet nobody until you get there. Nobody walks out of a fight, and going home is at once.
Where you stand
Every place where some of your side stand has a thread in your side's comms channel, with exactly the people of yours who are there. That is where you talk in person, in character. When someone arrives or leaves it says so, and where they went.
Your net, on its frequency
At every region you are posted to you are on your side's net: its radio there, with your people at that region, the region's commander, and your leader, who hears every net. What you write goes out as a transmission under your character's name, cut short if it runs long; (( double brackets )) stay out of character. The same nets are under Comms.
Every net is on a frequency, like 47.35, and gets a new one each Monday. The other sides can listen in. Listen in is an operation (Focus): it finds the busiest net of another side at your region, and for six hours what they say comes through on your own net, some words lost to static. A strong roll catches their names too. Sweep (Focus) finds anyone listening to your net there, tells you which side, and moves the net to a new frequency, which loses them; they hear the signal go. Your leader, or the region's commander, can move a net whenever they like. Talk as if someone is listening: sometimes someone is.
You do not know where the other sides are
Nothing shows them until you get close. Someone arriving one place away from you may be heard: you learn that someone not yours is there, never who or how many. The better your Focus, the likelier. A Scout operation reports on your net who of the other sides is where in your region.
When people of two sides end up in the same place, Archon opens a scene in #⚔️contact with everyone there, and each side hears of it. Face to face: talk, bargain, threaten. Withdraw walks you back a place at once.
A fight, and help
Fight draws steel. The skirmish starts two minutes later, three rounds on the Siege rules in that place, and both sides' nets hear it with a Run to help button. Only people at the same region get there in time, and a side can have at most one more than the bigger side had when steel was drawn (never fewer than three, never more than six): it is a skirmish, not everyone who heard the call. Whoever gets there joins the next round. The side left holding the place stays and the other falls back a place.
The place decides the cover, never who holds the land or who pressed Fight. At one side's way in, that side has it, and if the line ends where it started, the place stays theirs. In the middle nobody has it, and a level line is a draw: nobody falls back.
The law
Your leader sets your side's rules of engagement: hold fire, defend our ground (fights only on your own ground or on ground nobody holds, and the rule until they say otherwise) or free to engage.
Another side's ground is a region it holds, and you go there on orders. Your leader or a commander gives you orders to cross for a day, or sends you there themselves. The side whose ground it is can give you safe conduct for a day, and it shows in every scene you are in: that is your proof. Without it you are fair game there, and fighting you breaks none of their rules.
Nothing stops you doing what you like. Crossing without orders, starting a fight against your side's rules, or attacking someone under your own side's safe conduct is written down and reported to your side's command room, and your leader or a commander can confine you to barracks for a day: you march home a region at a time, and until the day is up you cannot fight or run operations. Your leader or a commander can also lift orders they no longer need.
The ground leans toward numbers
Where your side has more awake people standing in a region than the others, it counts. In the Claim week each hour you hold it that way breaks a tie in the count. In the other weeks, every three hours of it is pressure on the region's line before Saturday, like an Assault, and winning a skirmish leans the line too. The Siege still decides; numbers give you the start.
Awake or resting
Archon counts the people who play. A move you make yourself, an operation, a line on your net or in a place, a pick in a Siege and a button in a scene are play. Opening /war or this website is not.
For 12 hours after you play you are awake, and you count in your side's numbers on the ground. For 90 minutes after you play you are on watch: only then does a scene open around you, or a skirmish take you in. After that your character rests where it stands. Only your own side can see that, on its comms card and its War Table. Nobody is taken out of a scene or a net for resting. In a Siege everyone posted there fights, and Archon plays whoever does not pick.
You are an active member of your side once you have played on two different days of the last seven, from a Discord account at least two weeks old. The Claim counts operations per active member.
Saturday: the Siege
Each faction can declare one attack a week: on a border region next to its land, or on one of another side's own regions, once it holds the border region in front of it. Homes can never be attacked. So a Saturday has at most three Sieges. They run one after another from 18:00 UTC (21:00 in Türkiye, 14:00 on the US east coast), 25 minutes each.
Every region is three places in a line, from one side's end to the other's: your way in, the middle, and theirs. Each place has its own ground, and the ground does something in a fight: walls and cover help whoever defends, the high ground helps Scouts, open ground helps Strikers, sand and mud cost energy to cross. At Ironpass the line runs from the Lower Gate over the Ledge to the Upper Gate; Ashfields and Kettle Bay have their own.
A side that sends nobody leaves its end to its garrison, which is weak. The line has a bar from -5 to +5: holding places and winning fights pushes it. Pushed all the way, it is a breakthrough and it locks. After six rounds, the attacker takes the region if the bar is on their side of the middle; a side's own regions are easier to keep, because the defender starts at home, behind their best ground.
What your own regions give
Each side holds two regions of its own, and every side's pair gives it the same two edges in a Siege. While your side holds one, your people get +1 to hit in the first round of every Siege they fight. While it holds the other, their faction power costs 3 command points instead of 4 in every Siege they fight. Lose a region and its edge goes with it: the side that took it gets no edge from it, only its kleos.
| Side | +1 to hit in round 1 | Cheaper faction power |
|---|---|---|
| Iron Legion | The Quarry Line | Southwall |
| Wildborn | The Thornline | The Drowned Wood |
| Starweavers | Mirror Lake | The Lens Works |
Everyone of the two sides posted at the region when the Sieges start fights, where they stand. The Siege runs in a private thread in #⚔️contact with all of them; Archon keeps the board up to date there and in #👀battle-watch for everyone else, and writes what happened after each round, using the lines the fighters shouted. A round ends when its three minutes are up, or a few seconds after everyone has picked.
Places and targets
You always stand in one of the region's three places. You see everyone in your own place. The other two are hidden unless someone from your side is there, or a Scout looked this round with Recon. Moving to the next place along costs 1 energy (Scouts move for free, and on the Old Road so does everyone), so finding the other side is part of the fight.
You attack a person, not a place. Your panel lists everyone you can see, with your chance to hit each of them. Strikers and Scouts can also shoot into the next place along, at -2.
At the end of each round, the side with more fighters still standing in a place holds it. The line's bar moves one step for every place your side holds more of than the other side, so holding all three in a round moves it three.
Anyone can Guard someone in the same place for a round: attacks on them hit the guard instead.
Guarding the leader
Each side's leader fights too, in a place they choose, with up to two bodyguards beside them. While a bodyguard is standing in the leader's place, nobody can attack the leader at all: the guards have to fall first. Vanguards make the best guards, since Taunt and Shield Wall keep the attacks on them.
That makes the leader's place worth finding. A leader who falls costs their side 15 morale, and whoever stands in for them takes over whatever command points are left, halved. A leader who stays at the back is safer, and their commands reach the whole line from there.
Your character
Four stats, from 1 to 10:
- Might: Hitting hard.
- Guard: Armour and health.
- Agility: Speed, dodging and scouting.
- Focus: Abilities, healing and magic.
And one of four roles, which decides what you can do in a Siege. Each side dresses them differently:
| Role | Its job | Iron Legion | Wildborn | Starweavers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vanguard | Holds a place and takes the hits. | a shield trooper in power armour | a rider on an armoured beast | a warden behind a wall of light |
| Striker | Deals the damage and pushes the line. | a breacher with a hammer or a cannon | a clawed berserker | a lancer who throws light |
| Scout | Sees, moves and sabotages. | a ranger with a rifle and a drone | a tracker who hunts by smell | an illusionist |
| Support | Heals, strengthens and curses. | a field medic and engineer | a shaman | a healer |
Characters go from level 1 to 30. Every level gives a stat point, and stats stop at 10. In a Siege everyone fights as at least level 8, so a newcomer is never useless.
If you are in a Siege and do not pick a move, Archon fights for you at half strength. Being there is better, but living in another time zone does not leave your side a fighter short.
You make your character on this site, under Your character. Its name is the one you speak under: on your net, and face to face in a scene.
Your turn, every round
Press "Open my panel" under the board. Only you see it: your health and energy, the enemies you can see with their health, and for every target and ability your chance to hit, as a word and a percentage. You have three minutes and 3 energy. Abilities cost 1 or 2; your ultimate costs 5 and works once a Siege.
| Role | Abilities | Ultimate |
|---|---|---|
| Vanguard | Shield Wall: allies in your place are harder to hit. Taunt: enemy attacks come to you. | Hold the Line: the line cannot move against you this round. |
| Striker | Heavy Blow: more damage, less accuracy. Execute: double damage on someone badly hurt. | Breakthrough: if it hits, the line moves two steps your way. |
| Scout | Mark: allies roll twice against the target and keep the better roll. Recon: see who is standing in any one place this round. Sabotage: break one of their walls. | Ambush: slip to any place on the line and strike with advantage. |
| Support | Heal. Hex: the target's defence drops by 2. Ward: an ally ignores the next hit. Revive a fallen ally. | Rally: everyone on your side heals, and morale goes up by 10. |
You can also move to the next place along (1 energy, free for Scouts), go all in (you hit harder this round and take more damage), or add a battle line: one sentence your character shouts, which may end up in the round's story. If you pick nothing, your character defends and earns nothing that round.
How a hit is decided
Roll a d20 and add your stat and bonuses, never more than +8 in total. To hit, beat 10 plus the target's Guard and cover, never more than 18.
A 20 always hits, and hits hard. A 1 always misses. Two misses in a row give +2 on your next roll.
The limits keep every fight open. A beginner still hits the best-armoured defender about one time in four, and working together counts for more than one big number. Combos work by giving advantage (roll twice, keep the better roll) instead of piling up bonuses, which is also easier to follow.
An example. At Ironpass the Starweavers push for the Ledge. Their Scout marks the Legion's Vanguard, their Support hexes him, and their Striker attacks with advantage against a lowered defence: a 50% chance becomes about 85%. The Legion's commander saw it coming and sent two more to the Ledge, and their Vanguard spends his ultimate, so the line does not move. Next round the Starweavers' Scout looks at the Lower Gate, finds it thinner, and they go round.
Morale
Each side has morale. It drops when fighters fall and when the line is lost. At zero the side breaks and the Siege ends early. Otherwise, after six rounds, the side that has pushed the line its way wins. The count afterwards shows every roll, bonus and limit.
Leaders and commanders
Each faction has one leader and two commanders, one for each of its own regions. In Season I the Wardens name the leaders from those who put themselves forward (Willing to lead, in /war under Settings); from Season II each side elects its own. The leader appoints the commanders. A commander runs their region's net, moves their people there, and stands in for the leader on Thursday and in Sieges. A post ends when its holder leaves the server or is barred from the field.
The week never waits on one person. The leader can set a standing target at any time: if nothing else is declared by Thursday 18:00 UTC, it is declared for them. If the leader has set nothing at all by Thursday 12:00 UTC, the commanders can declare. A leader who wants no Siege that week presses 'We hold this week'. Until Thursday 18:00 UTC only the command knows the target, unless the leader turns on 'Tell the side'.
Before a Siege
The leader chooses the target by Thursday and, in secret, the doctrine for Saturday. Each doctrine beats one and loses to another: the side whose doctrine beats the other's starts the Siege with 10 more morale. So finding out the other side's doctrine during the week is worth a lot. The sides themselves are even: none of them beats another by nature.
| Doctrine | What it does | Against the others |
|---|---|---|
| Blitz | +1 to hit in rounds 1 and 2, -1 in rounds 5 and 6. | Beats Pincer, loses to Fortress. |
| Fortress | +1 defence everywhere, -1 to hit. | Beats Blitz, loses to Pincer. |
| Pincer | +1 at either end of the line, -1 in the middle. | Beats Fortress, loses to Blitz. |
The War Table
Before a Siege the leader and the commanders set up their side on the War Table, a page on the website that only their side can open. It shows every region as a map with its places and everyone of the side on it, and they move people to the places they want held.
At 17:30 UTC on Saturday the map freezes: everyone fights where they stand. The other side never sees the table; during the Siege, Recon shows them one place at a time.
The leader also decides who fights where, and uses the side's orders channel and the command room, which only the leader and the commanders see.
During a Siege
Every side in a Siege has one field commander. The leader, if fighting, has 8 command points for the whole Siege. Without them, a commander who is there stands in with 6, taking turns so it is not always the same one; with no commander there either, the fighter of the highest rank does. Every other commander there has 2 of their own. Points not spent are lost. Faction power works once a Siege for each side, and Rally twice, whoever gives them.
| Command | Points | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Focus | 1 | Everyone of yours in one place rolls with +1 this round. |
| Fall back | 1 | Everyone of yours takes half damage and deals half this round. |
| Rally | 2 | Morale +15. |
| Reserves | 3 | Garrison troops join at your end. |
| Faction power | 4 | Once a Siege, on one place: the Legion's artillery barrage, the Wildborn stampede, the Starweavers' portal storm. Every enemy there is hit. It costs 3 for a side that holds its own region with that edge: Southwall for the Legion, the Drowned Wood for the Wildborn, the Lens Works for the Starweavers. |
Between Sieges
The leader appoints and dismisses the commanders, and each commander runs one of the side's own regions. For Season I the Wardens name each side's first leader at the Founding.
A season: six weeks
Week 1 is the Claim. No Sieges. Each border region goes to the side that ran the most operations in it for its number of active members, a side counting as at least five. Hours held by awake people break a tie.
Weeks 2 to 5 are the war.
In week 6 the crater opens: anyone can march into it, and every point of kleos counts double.
After the last count the side with the most kleos wins the season. Then the map resets for the next one; ranks and characters stay.
Coming later
These are planned and not in the war yet. When one arrives, it is announced in #☄️world-news and this page changes.
- Elections. From Season II each side elects its leader; the Wardens name the first ones.
- Research, supply spending and bounties. Supply is counted now; spending it comes later.
- Wounds, scars and heirs. For now falling puts you out of that fight only.
- Diplomacy: truces and pacts in threads the Archon opens between leaders.
- Gear, and new abilities every third level.
- Standing orders for a Siege you cannot be at.
- A Siege with all three sides at once in the crater, in the last week.
- A Sunday Siege night once a month, for players in Asia and Oceania.
- More help for the outnumbered: extra merit for a side that is short of players, double kleos for taking land from a side that holds everything, and a week's shield after two lost Sieges.
- The winners' twist: the side that wins a season chooses a twist for the next.
| What | When | How it works |
|---|---|---|
| Duels | Any time | One against one on the Siege rules, five rounds. A ranked ladder each season. Blood duels only when both players agree. |
| Missions | Two a day | Short stories in three steps, with a choice and a roll at each one. Alone or with a friend. |
| Raids | Every other week, for 48 hours | A rogue core or a starbeast attacks and all three factions hit it with their daily points. |
| Champion's Challenge | Before a Siege | The two sides' rank VI champions duel in front of everyone. The winner's side starts with +5 morale. |
| Tournaments | Event weeks | Duel brackets in the Crater, run by the Heralds. |
| Training grounds | Any time | Fights against dummies, to try a build without losing anything. |
Wounds and death
Planned for a later season. For now, someone who falls is out of that fight only.
At 0 health a character is down for the rest of the Siege, unless a Support revives them. Afterwards they are wounded for a day: a small penalty that a Support's Mend or an infirmary takes away.
Falling twice in one Siege gives the owner a choice: a scar, which is a permanent trait with a small upside and a small downside, or a heroic death, which gives their side +15 morale on the spot.
A character only dies for good with the owner's say-so: a heroic death, a blood duel both players accepted, or a story event agreed beforehand. A leader's death also needs a Warden to approve it. Any death can be undone within 7 days.
A dead character's heir starts with half the experience, one piece of the old gear and a family trait. The dead get a line in the Hall of the Fallen and in the season's chronicle.
Keeping it fair
- The three sides are equal: none of them beats another by nature. Only the leaders' secret doctrines beat each other, and only by 10 morale.
- The sides are kept even at the papers: a side with three more people in play than the smallest is closed to new papers until the others catch up.
- Archon counts the people who play, not the names on the roll: the Claim counts operations per active member.
- Holding land gives kleos at every count. In a fight it gives only two small edges, the same two for every side: each side's own two regions give them to it while it holds them, and give nothing in a fight to a side that takes them.
- In a Siege everyone counts as at least level 8.
- You pick a side for the whole season.
Safe to play
Leave any scene at once, and report anything that is not OK. A moderator will look.
Leave this scene is on every scene card and fight board, and in /war while you are in one. You are out of it at once and you do not fall back. In a Siege Archon fights for you to the end, and you keep the pay for being in it and for the rounds you picked, though not the pay for winning. For 30 minutes you are not put in a scene at that place again. Nobody asks why.
Report sends the scene and who is in it to the moderators. A report stays open until a person has looked. Only the staff can freeze a fight, so a report never takes a result from anyone. On a single line, Report message names the person who wrote it, even though Archon sent it on under their character's name.
Every act of the Wardens is on the Wardens' log, with its reason. If an act of the Wardens or of your side's command touched you, Appeal in /war, under Settings, sends it to the Admins.