Legends of

Avallen
Rules Summary 2.2
 This Rules Summary introduces the basic rules needed to
play Legends of Avallen. The full version will include many
more character options, a detailed lore guide, as well as tools
and tips for Narrators to make their own content.

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Design, writing, and layout by Deren Ozturk

Art by Ricardo Herrera, Tom Trengrove,
Wasan Techawibulchai, Jane Chong, and Nicolas Arnold
Filler B&W Stock Art by JEShields
Editing by Jasmine Bernhardt and Kurt Samson
Icons used on character sheets from www.game-icons.net
 The Island of Avallen

In Legends of Avallen you take on the role of a humble The Vallic are proud but divided Iron Age peoples who call
townsperson questing to become a legend on a mythical island Avallen home. Their clans each claim ancestry to a different kind
inspired by Celtic mythology and Roman-occupied Britain. You of Fae and are lead by Warrior Chiefs that frequently raid one
undertake this epic journey with fellow players who control their another. Their mystic Druids also hold great power, acting as
own characters in your band of aspiring adventurers. priests, advisers, diplomats, and servants of the Fae. They revere
The Narrator of the game plays as the rest of the world and its the magics of nature and worship the Ever Ones of the
characters. The Narrator will set scenes for you to explore and Otherworld.
challenges for you to overcome. As you play your character, the The Raxian Empire invaded Avallen a generation ago, and while
Narrator may decide an action you take is risky and call for a most Vallic peoples resisted, some did not. The Imperial Arbiters
check to determine if your succeed or not. When that happens, brought concrete buildings, urban living, and taxes to the Vallic
you’ll want to stack the odds in your favour by using the situation under their dominion in the South. A former Raxian Empress had
to your advantage and seeking aid from your allies. Ultimately, her people rebel against their own Gods but many are willing to
the decisions you make will become the story you experience, worship the Ever Ones while in Avallen to gain protection and
change the world around you, and forge your character’s legend. influence over the Otherworld.
The Fae is the name given to a variety of mysterious creatures
a clash of cultures that are said to be the children of the Ever Ones. They are found
Avallen is home to two primary cultures, the Vallic Clans and the in natural places where the land of Avallen borders the
Raxian Empire, as well as the mysterious Fae of the Otherworld. Otherworld. Stories speak of travellers who unwittingly wander
into this entrancing realm, only escaping through a trying task to
earn the blessing of a Fae or an Ever One themselves.
You do not belong to any of these factions, at least not yet. To join
one you will need to earn a title from their leaders by performing
quests for their trust and favour.

2
3
 Character Creation
Shepherd, blacksmith, scribe, barmaid— you’re a humble townsperson Attributes
looking for the chance to be something more, to do something greater.
Your innate potential is described by ranks in two physical
Creating your Player Character (PC) is split into four small parts. Attributes: Agility and Vigour; and two mental Attributes: Wit
First, choose your profession school, describing how you have and Spirit. Agility describes your physical speed and subtlety,
made your way and what ability you start with. Second, choose while Wit describes your mental speed and subtlety. Vigour
your ranks in four attributes, describing your initial strengths and describes your physical strength and endurance, while Spirit
weaknesses. Third, choose your personal Aspects, describing describes your mental strength and endurance.
your personality and what you value. Last but not least, decide
Attributes are important since every check uses the rank of one
your name and appearance.
along with result of your cards. Foes acting against you use one of
your attributes as their Check Difficulty. Your Attributes start at
Ability Schools 0, average for a regular townsperson! Increase one Attribute of
Your PC learns special actions they can use from ability schools.
You begin the game with the first ability from a profession school
of your choice. Later you can learn from other profession schools F l aws Vi r t u e s F l aws
o f D e f ic ie n c y o f E xc e s s
as well as martial and magic schools, depending on the character
class you choose to follow. Here is a summary for each profession:
Ti m i d Va l i a n t Re c k l e s s
Alchemist: Use Wit or Vigour to concoct potions of your design
“ I a v o i d r i s k s .” “ I r i s k fo r c a u s e s .” “ I l i v e fo r r i s k s .”
that embolden allies, poison foes, or explode in a conflict.
Crafter: Use Agility or Vigour to repair broken gear, sabotage Callous Ju s t Ve n g e f u l
equipment , and craft tools to assist with challenges. “ T h e re a re n o w ro n g s .” “ I r i g h t w ro n g s .” “ I p u n i s h w ro n g s .”
Criminal: Use Agility to stalk your targets, learning about them Dishonest Ho n o u r a b l e Dogmatic
and stealing from them.
“ Wo rd s m e a n n o t h i n g .” “ I k e e p m y w o rd .” “ I o b e y t h e i r w o rd .”
Entertainer: Use Wit or Spirit to command the attention of
crowds, inspire emotions, and create disguises. Fo o l i s h Wi s e Va i n
Farmer: Use Vigour to improvise advantages from your “ W h o k n o w s a n y t h i n g ? ” “A l l k n o w s o m e t h i n g .” “ I k n o w e v e r y t h i n g .”
environment and temporarily patch up equipment or wounds.
G re e d y B e n e vo l e n t Servile
Healer: Use Spirit or Agility to recover sicknesses, treat wounds “ I o n l y h e l p m e .” “ I h e l p t h e n e e d y .” “ I h e l p t h e s t ro n g .”
in battle, and make salves that relieve the strains of adventure.
Merchant: Use Wit to barter trades and negotiate during your choice to 1, then decrease another Attribute of your choice
diplomacy. to -1. You gain more ranks with experience.
Scribe: Use Wit or Agility to read, write, and alter documents
while also developing encyclopedic knowledge. Personal Aspects
Socialite: Use Spirit to intuit the personality of others and Personal Aspects give a guide and for your PC’s personality. In
persuade them to your cause. play they are most relevant for social interactions and are later
used to gain a powerful resource called Resolve. Your PC has
Tamer: Use Vigour or Spirit to handle wild beasts and gain an
three personal Aspects: a Motivation, a Virtue, and a Flaw.
animal companion you can give tasks to help with challenges.
Your Motivation represents the reason why your PC wants to
Affix a double-sided tab that details the school’s abilities to the
venture out into Avallen, choose one.
bottom of your character sheet (you’ll find these at the end of this
guide). You can’t use your profession abilities without your Influence: You seek to gain renown or to change Avallen.
profession’s kit and supply, so be sure to add your kit to a medium Challenge: You seek to prove or to better yourself.
belt slot in your inventory, 5 supply to another, and a pouch of
copper coins (your recent earnings!) to a small pocket slot. Discover: You seek Avallen’s wonders or the secrets of its people.
There are five Virtues that represent an ideal your PC can strive
towards. Choose one. Each Virtue has two Flaws associated with
it, one is the deficiency of the Virtue and one is the excess of it.
Choose one Flaw that is not associated with your chosen Virtue,
either one of deficiency or one of excess. For example, if you are
Valiant you cannot be Timid or Reckless.

4
Wealth & Renown
Your group’s Renown rank describes how well known you are,
Wealth and Renown are attributes you will share and gain ranks
whether that be famously or infamously, or varying with the
in together as a group of adventurers.
people you are dealing with. This in turn determines what
Your group’s Wealth rank describes what metal you most followers and political influence you have access to while in
frequently trade in, be it copper, silver, or gold. This determines settlements. Your group’s Renown begins at 0.
what resources and quality equipment you have access to while in
The following page displays concept work for a character sheet.
settlements. Your group’s Wealth begins at 1.

5
 Basic Rules
The Narrator begins play by describing a scene, then each player Advantages and disadvantages cancel each other out. Turn over
describes their PC’s actions, and the Narrator describes the an additional card for each remaining advantage or disadvantage
world’s response to those actions. Those three steps represent one you have for the check. Use the two cards with best points from
round of play. When a PC takes a risky action, one that could among them if you are advantaged or the two card with the worst
succeed but is challenged by another character or the points from among them if you are disadvantaged.
environment itself, they make a check to determine their degree
of success using a deck of regular playing cards. Strain
In a deck, each suit represents an attribute: diamonds for Agility, If you fail a check, you can choose to strain yourself or your
hearts for Vigour, clubs for Wit, and spades for Spirit. What is equipment to change a critical failure to failure and/or a failure to
most important to remember is that red cards represent physical success. If a check against you, that you’re aware of, succeeds you
attributes and black cards represent mental attributes. can choose to strain yourself or your equipment to change a
critical success to success and/or a success to a failure.
Making a Check When you strain yourself you become Tired. Mark the “Tired”
The Narrator decides what attribute is used for the check and you condition on your character sheet. Being Tired prevents you from
turn over the top two cards of the deck to find your result. straining yourself again until you take a short or long rest.
Add 1 to your attribute for each of the two cards that match the When you strain your equipment it becomes Broken. Mark the
attributes colour (red for physical or black for mental). However, “Broken” box next to it in your inventory. Being Broken means
you also subtract 1 for each card that does not match. that it cannot be used again until it is repaired. You can only strain
equipment that was involved with the check.
Certain cards are worth more than 1 for a check. A Face card
(Jack, Queen, or King) instead adds or subtracts 2, depending on Legends of Avallen will feature an illustrated deck of playing cards. A
if its colour matches. While an Ace adds or subtracts 3. prototype for the Ace of Clubs, featuring Llyr-Don the Ever Elder of
Secrets, is shown here. The Roman numerals at the centre of the art
Compare your total from the cards and your attribute to the
represent the 3 points that an Ace is worth for checks.
Check Difficulty (CD) set by the opposition to find your result:
Critical Success: Total is 3 or more higher than the CD. You
achieve your intent and gain an Edge.
Success: Total is equal to or more than the CD. You achieve your
intent.
Failure: Total is less than the CD. You don’t achieve your intent
but gain an Edge.
Critical Failure: Total is 3 or more less than the CD. You fail your
intent and your opposition gains an Edge.
An Edge is a situational benefit that either the Narrator describes
within the story or is represented by a face-down card you gain
but do not look at. For any other check you or an ally make during
that scene, you can use that face-down card with the check as an
extra advantage (see Advantages & Disadvantages below).
After cards are revealed for a check they are placed in a discard
pile. When an Ace is placed in the discard pile, shuffle the discard
pile back into the deck.

Advantages & Disadvantages

When making a check, describe how you use aspects of your
equipment, circumstance, and surroundings to your advantage.
Each significant aspect you use as an advantage will grant you an
extra card for your check. However, your opposition and the
Narrator will be sure to point out aspects that disadvantage you.

7
When you take a risky action it falls into one of three types based Resting
on your intent and method to achieve it: Overcome, Set-up, or
Rests are necessary periods of downtime in which you consume
Protect. Though different situations will utilise these actions in
supply and recover from conditions.
different ways, they are the only kinds risky actions you can make.
Short Rest: Spend 1 supply and 10 minutes relaxing to eliminate
Overcome temporary effects and treat either your tired or overwhelmed
condition (see Conditions in the next section).
Overcome is the default risky action made to achieve or change
something, such as: racing through a thick forest, trying to make Long Rest: Spend 1 supply and 6 hours sleeping to eliminate
someone intimidated by you, or using a profession school ability. temporary effects and treat all of your conditions. If you are sick,
exhausted, withering, or wounded, instead of treating your
Many overcome actions defined in the rules will list an outcome
conditions, check Vigour or Spirit against the environment:
in square brackets, “move up to [2] spaces” or “deal [6] damage” for
example. Critical Success: Treat each condition and recover one.
If you get a critical success you double an outcome listed [in this Success: Recover one condition.
way] instead of gaining an Edge. Following the examples above Failure: Treat each condition but you become exhausted.
you would move up to 4 spaces and deal 12 damage.
Critical Failure: You become tired and exhausted.
When you get a failure, instead of gaining an Edge, you halve an
outcome listed [in this way] unless you are dealing damage (no If you take a long rest in a bed within a safe settlement you
damage is dealt on a failure). Following the above examples you automatically gain the effect of a critical success.
would move 1 space and deal 0 damage. If you do not take a long rest between days you automatically gain
the effect of a critical failure. Note that if you gain a condition,
Set-up such as tired or exhausted, while you already have that condition
Set-up is a risky action made to assist or hinder a character’s then you gain the next most severe condition instead. This means
action, such as distracting a guard while an ally sneaks past them, that if you do not sleep your conditions will get worse and you
preparing to cast a spell, or reaching over a dangerous gap to will eventually die!
catch an ally jumping across it.
When you Set-up a character to succeed, make a check against the
Supply
environment to give them two advantages for their check. If you Supply is a catch-all resource kept in your inventory that
critically succeed you can also give them your Edge. However, if represents the food and equipment provisions that you must
you fail you must save your Edge for another check. carry with you to survive in the wild. Supply is consumed to take
rests, use profession abilities, and to cast spells.
When you set-up a character to fail, make a check against them to
give them two disadvantages for their check. If you critically Since supply is required for rests, you will need to use at least one
succeed you can also use your Edge against them. However, if you supply a day to stave off exhaustion while exploring.
fail you must save your Edge for another check. This means that maintaining your supply can
become critical when undertaking long journeys,
Note that when you help an ally with a check in a simple way that especially if you come hazards that slow you
is not risky, such as lending your weight to help bash a door down down, or worse, become lost.
or reinforcing their point in a conversation, you simply grant
your ally a single advantage without making a check as if they Supply can be bought in settlements or traded
were using you as an Aspect. The Set-up action is used only when with other travellers on the road. While in the
you are helping in a way that is risky, it can fail or it can help a lot. wilderness you can hunt or gather it, and if you’re
particularly desperate you can always steal or
Protect scavenge some.

Protect is a risky action made to prevent other actions from

happening to another character or part of the environment, such
as shielding a relic from falling rocks, stepping in to prevent
someone from being intimidated, or stopping foes from moving
through a doorway.
When you Protect something you can act as the challenger for
actions that would affect them instead of the intended target. You
then become the target of the action unless the check critically
succeeds against you, in which case the original target is affected.
Note this is the only risky action that does not need a check.

8
 Professions
Profession schools represent the talents and skills an average Other Abilities
townsperson can learn in Avallen. During gameplay, they grant
Other abilities in a profession might work using your first ability.
you new angles to tackle challenges or offer important utility
For example, the second ability for the Crafter reads:
abilities such as repairing broken equipment and healing
conditions. “Invent: Use Tinker with +1 supply to instead make a medium sized
Tool that can advantage a specific task it is designed for.”
Profession schools each have four abilities that can be learnt in
order. They begin ordinary but eventually grant you legendary This ability allows you to make grappling hooks to help you climb
talents such as inventing mechanical contraptions or concocting or modified footwear to help you run. You can even strain your
potions that let you see in the dark. invention instead of yourself if you use it with a check. However,
the item will take up a slot in your inventory.
Using Your Kit To use Invent you use the same rules written for the Tinker ability,
To use your profession abilities you need to be outside of a except you must spend an extra supply and you will not repair or
Conflict, have supply, and have your profession kit. disable something but instead make a tool.
The first ability of your profession is its basic function and has At the end of this Rules Summary there is a list of the first two
some choices for you to make when you use it. For example, here abilities for the profession schools currently in Legends of
is the first ability for the Crafter: Avallen.
“Tinker: Repair or disable an item. Use 2 supply and check Agility or
Vigour to choose [2] methods: Smart (or break something for scrap),
Efficient (and use -1 supply), Quick (or finish during next long rest).”
This ability can repair broken items or sabotage other equipment.
To use it you need 2 supply and to make your choice of an Agility
or Vigour check. There are three methods for you to choose from
when using the ability.
“Smart (or break something for scrap)” means that if you don’t
choose this method, you will need to break something else
in your inventory to get the job done.
“Efficient (and use -1 supply)” means that if you choose this
method you will only use 1 supply, instead of 2.
“Quick (or finish during next long rest)” means that if you don’t
choose this method, you won’t be able to finish the job until you
spend much more time on it during a long rest. If you need the job
done now you will need to choose this method.
The check you make determines how many methods you can
select, with more clearly being better! The two in square brackets
“[2]”, means you get to pick two methods with a successful check.
With a failure, you get to pick one, with a critical failure you pick
none, and on a critical success you get all three!
This means that even with a critical failure you still achieve what
you set out to do, you’re good at your profession after all, you
just won’t do it in a smart, efficient, or quick way
.

9
 Additional Rules

Parley Conditions
When you want a Narrator Played Character (NPC) to do This is a list of debilitating conditions that your PC can gain in
something that they have Objections to doing, you can Parley increasing severity. If you would gain a condition while you
with them to change their mind. During a Parley you must already have it, you gain the next most severe condition instead.
discover what their Objections are and find ways around them or Tired prevents you from straining yourself again.
offer incentives to outweigh them. Once you do, they will no
longer have a reason object to what you ask of them. Overwhelmed prevents you from using the Set-up and Protect
actions. You might also be compelled to do something when
Besides small talk, when you make a deliberate effort to uncover overwhelmed, such as to flee or to attack something.
or address an Objection it is important to describe what you are
trying to achieve and how you are going about it like any other Exhausted prevents you from benefiting from short rests.
action. When you make a check you can assist each other and use Sick prevents you from gaining or benefiting from Edges (this
relevant Aspects like any other check, especially your personal also means you gain no benefit from a critical success).
Aspects. However, while Parleying you cannot strain yourself or
Withering makes you periodically gain the least severe condition
your equipment.
you do not already have. The period of time that you gain
NPCs have personal Aspects just like your PC does. An NPC’s conditions could be seconds, minutes, hours, or days depending
personality might disadvantage some approaches you take be or on what you are afflicted by.
just make them not work. You can uncover their personal Aspects
Wounded reduces all of your attributes by 2. If you become
to avoid that happening and then use them to your advantage
wounded while you already have a non-treated wound you fall
instead.
unconscious and begin Dying instead. You die within an hour if
Finally, if you fail too many social checks an NPC can run out of someone else does not treat you or if you are wounded again.
patience with you: they will no longer Parley and you will have to
try a different method or give up all together. Treatment & Recovery
You get rid of conditions by resting.
Sneaking
Treat tired, overwhelmed, and wounded in short rests.
NPCs in Legends of Avallen respond to sneaky actions depending
on their level of awareness in a story driven “Three Strikes and Recover exhausted, sick, withering, and wounded in long rests.
You’re Out” system. When a PC does not succeed on check to be When you Treat wounded you regain 1 to each of either your
sneaky, the NPC’s awareness level increases by 1 on a failure and physical or mental attributes. Once treated, you can Recover
by 2 on a critical failure. wounded with long rests. After the first successful recovery you
Awareness 0: Asleep or very distracted. will regain 1 to all of your attributes. After the second successful
recovery the wound is cleared.
Awareness 1: Awake and paying attention.
Awareness 2: Aware of something and will investigate.
They will return to level 1 after investigating unless the players are
spotted because they did not then hide successfully.
Awareness 3: Has spotted the sneaking character and will
respond appropriately to the situation.

Toughness
Your Physical Toughness is equal to your armour’s defence +
Vigour. Your Magical Toughness is equal to your armour’s
magical defence + Spirit. If you take physical damage that exceeds
your Physical Toughness or magical damage that exceeds your
Magical Toughness you become Wounded.
Note that you can strain yourself, your armour, or a shield to
change a successful (but not critical) attack or spell into a failure
to avoid taking damage that exceeds your Toughness.

10
 Fate Cards
Throughout the game you will find situations where the longer Tempt fate
you remain the more you tempt fate with additional dangers and
When a PC aggravates the situation, the Narrator will Tempt Fate
complications, such as sneaking through an Imperial camp or
by drawing a card face-down for each Fate card currently in the
exploring the wilds of the Otherworld. When this is the case, the
row and then Face Fate with them. If there are no Fate cards in
Narrator will introduce Fate cards, which represent risk and the
play then the Narrator will include one first.
passage of time in tense scenes.
When the Narrator includes Fate cards in a scene, they draw one Complications
face-down place it in a row next to any previously drawn Fate
Complications that arise from Fate cards are determined by the
cards whenever a round of play ends. A round ends after each
Narrator. Typically they will have a list for that scene or the whole
player has taken their turn to act and the Narrator has responded
quest. Templates in the full rulebook will include suggestions.
to their actions. Each round can represent a different period of
time depending on the scene. If there are already four Fate cards Complications can range from minor inconveniences, a change of
in a row, the Narrator will instead start a new row and Face Fate circumstance, or a new sudden danger. If the complication is a
with the four cards of the previous row. sudden danger, the PCs will have the opportunity to make a split
second reaction to a prompt made by the Narrator to hopefully
face fate get the better of it.
To see if a complication arises the Narrator Faces Fate by turning
over the four Fates card one by one in order. If a colour has a Risk
combined total of 2 or more higher than the total of the other Risk can be lowered in a scene, if the Narrator believes the PCs
colour then a complication arises. The suit of the last revealed have significantly eliminated sources of it, by having the total of
card of that colour determines for the Narrator what the fate cards required to equal 3 instead of 4 (reducing the
complication it is. chances of a complication from approximately 60% to 40%) or by
using only physical or only mental complications (reducing the
For example, revealing the Two of Diamonds (+1 Red), Ace of
chances of a complication from approximately 60% to 30%).
Clubs (+3 Black), Seven of Hearts (+1 Red), and Four of Spades (+1
Black) will result in a complication as Black has 4 points while
Red has 2. The complication will be related to Spirit since the last
Black card revealed was a Spades.

11
 Example of Play
The PC we will be playing is a shepherd girl named Llysaera. Her You reveal the Ace of Clubs, worth 3 points as a matching Ace, and
chosen profession is Tamer and she has a pet dog named Chigau. the Seven of Spades, worth 1 point as a matching card. With your
Her Motivation is Discover, her Virtue is Valiant, and her Flaw is Wit of 0, this totals to 4. Your result is 3 more than the CD, a
Vengeful. Her starting Attributes are Agility 0, Vigour 1, Wit 0, critical success! Together you patch over the stairs and the
and Spirit -1. Her character sheet can be seen following the Narrator gives you an Edge (a face-down card).
Character Creation section. The Narrator then takes a fourth Fate Card.

Setting the Scene Facing fate

You and your friend, who is playing Selwyn the healer, have You both decide that you will go upstairs to look for the trapped
spotted smoke on the horizon. The Narrator takes a card from the survivors. The Narrator describes what happens,
deck and places it face-down in front of them as a Fate card,
signifying that time is of the essence. You race to investigate and “You each make your way carefully over the patched up stairs and get
find the large wooden tower that defends your town aflame. It to the next floor. You don’t need to make a check for that. However,
looks like it could collapse. You hear shouts from the top floor but before I describe what you see I will draw a fifth fate card, which means
can’t see anyone. You both agree to go inside, telling Chigau to we will Test Fate with the first four.”
keep watch here. The Narrator describes the scene: The Narrator slowly reveals the first three cards: a Four of
“The swing open the door to find a blazing fire coming from the kitchen Diamonds (+1 Red), a Five of Spades (+1 Black), and a Three of
to your right. The floor boards above you are broken in places and some Hearts (+1 Red). A Complication will arise if the last card is a any
fallen debris has crushed the table and chairs that would make this the Red card (putting Red at 4 against 2 Black) or a Black Ace (putting
common room. You see stairs in one corner but they lead over the Black 4 against Red). The Narrator reveals the last card: a King of
kitchen fire and are shrouded in smoke. What do you do?” Diamonds. A Complication!

The Narrator takes a second Fate card.

Taking Actions
Both PCs get a turn to take an action each round. You tell the
Narrator you want to investigate the stairs. Selwyn says that he
will call through the broken ceiling to the trapped people. The
Narrator describes what happens. “The tower begins to shake, you have a split second to react! What do
“Llysaera, you reach the stairs and peer through the smoke. You see that you do?”
many of the steps have broken. You could try going up, but you would You decide that you will steady yourself while Selwyn says he calls
risk falling to the fire below. Selwyn, you call up and hear frantic to those upstairs.
responses, but can’t make out any words through the chaos. What do
“Rubble falls from above that you must avoid. The environment will
you do?”
make an Agility check against you both with a value of 1. Llysaera,
The Narrator then takes a third Fate card. You shout to Selwyn steadying yourself advantages you.”
that the stairs are broken. After a moment of thought, he says that
You decide you want to give Selwyn the Edge you earned from the
you could use the broken table and chairs to try and bridge the
critical success from before so that you are both disadvantaging
gaps. You agree and begin to scour the rubble for debris that you
the environment’s check against yourselves. The Narrator turns
can use. Selwyn says that he will help you.
over three cards and takes the worst two, revealing an Ace of
Failing to fix the stairs risks wasting time, the Narrator calls for a Diamonds (+3), a Ten of Hearts (+1), and a Queen of Clubs (-2).
Wit check with a Check Difficulty (CD) of 1. The Narrator states Taking the worst two, the environment totals 0.
that smoke rising in the stairwell is an Aspect that will
Selwyn’s Agility is 1, the check fails against him. Your Agility is 0,
disadvantage you, but Selwyn helping you will advantage you, so
the check succeeds against you.
they cancel out. You turn over two cards hoping for black.
“Llysaera, you will take 6 damage from the falling rubble! Your
Physical Toughness is 6; this will wound you...”
You decide to Strain your armour, changing the check from a
success to a failure. You are unharmed but your armour is broken.
You better do what you can before Fate is tested again!

12
 Conflict

Conflict is a more structured scene used for combats and chases. Attack to harm a foe within your weapon’s range. Make an
Each member of a group in the conflict takes their turn at the overcome check with Agility against your foe’s Agility to deal
same time. In addition to all the main actions you can normally your [weapon damage + Vigour]. If your weapon has no range you
imagine doing in a scene, a conflict has additional special actions become engaged with them. If your damage meets or beats their
described below, Push, Attack, and Grapple. Physical Toughness you Wound them, if it does not, your attack
If it is not clear which group should go first a PC makes a Wit has no effect and you gain an Edge. This means that against
check against a foe. When you reach level 1, also get a quick action heavily armoured foes you will want to grapple with them, work
to use for small efforts each round of a conflict in addition to your together to get a critical hit, or avoid the conflict altogether.
normal main action. Your choice of weapon can change the Attributes used for this
During a conflict the Narrator divides the environment into check. Weapons with the Bludgeon trait make the check with
spaces that are often defined by a feature or Aspect of the Vigour. While weapons with the Finesse trait add Agility to the
environment within them. Spaces are not small or precise sizes weapon damage.
and multiple characters can fit within a space. Grapple is an Aspect you apply to or remove from yourself and a
foe by making an overcome check using a free-hand with Agility
Movement & Main Actions or Vigour. Being Grappled prevents you from using items that are
You can use your main action to move from one space to another. not small (including armour), targeting anyone not in the grapple,
You can also use up a space of movement you have to drop prone, or moving without Pushing those in the grapple with you.
stand up, or interact with an object in the middle of a Conflict.
Quick Actions
Some aspects of a scene (difficult terrain) or actions (pushing a
foe) make movement difficult. You need to use up an additional Step to gain a space of movement on your turn.
space of movement to move in those circumstances. Focus to gain an advantage for an Attack or spell you are involved
Push yourself or a foe to move spaces. When you Push you make in, even outside of your turn.
an overcome check to move [2] spaces instead of the usual 1. Ready a main action on your turn. You can then take it with this
Carrying heavy objects or being in a space with difficult terrain quick action anytime before your next turn.
are Aspects that can disadvantage Push. Pushing a foe uses up an
Exploit a vulnerable foe to make a simple Attack against them,
additional space of movement for each space you want to move.
even outside of your turn. A foe is vulnerable when you Push into
melee range of them, they move out of your engagement, or they
take a main action that is not a melee Attack or Protect.

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Ambushes & Sneak Attacks Heighten a spell to increase its scope or range. When you do so
you also increase its backfire value and gain that many
Ambush a foe when you attack while they are unaware of you.
disadvantages to casting it. Heighten a spell by 1 to affect an
You gain a free turn in which attacks and grapples are advantaged
additional target, or by 2 to target everything in a space. Heighten
and foes cannot use Aspects or strain. After the ambush turn,
a spell by 1 to extend its range to within one space of yours, or by
make a Wit check to determine whose turn is next.
2 to anywhere in a place you are in.
Sneak Attack a foe when you ambush them with a small melee
You can advantage yourself when casting spells by spending time
weapon after successfully sneaking up to them. When you sneak
to focus on it, using a magical item called a muse (such as a symbol
attack, you automatically begin grappling first, which means your
of power or an arcane tome), or by having an ally assist you in
attack will ignore their armour’s defence. If your attack is a
casting it (they must also use up a supply). By working together
critical success you can use the Edge to ensure your attack is silent
you can cast truly powerful magics.
instead of doubling your damage.
If you fail to cast a spell, you and anyone assisting you will suffer
Chases magical damage that can break your equipment, strain you, and
even kill you. Each spell has a backfire value that determines how
Chases use the Conflict scene rules. If you can simply interact
much damage you take when you fail to cast it and it is doubled if
with something to create difficult terrain (such as knocking
you critically fail. The value is increased when you heighten the
something over as you pass it) you can do so by using up a space
spell. The example spell shown above, Bend Element, has its
of movement to interact with it, as mentioned in the Movement
backfire value of 3 listed in brackets next to the spell name. More
section earlier. Characters that are chasing can either take a route
powerful spells have a higher backfire value and so are riskier to
to avoid the created difficult terrain, use a main action to change
heighten.
it, or accept how the difficult terrain affects their push checks.
This is why spellcasters often choose to wear ornate robes with
Magic magical symbols sewn into them instead of armour. Caster's robes
protect against magical damage more than leathers and metals,
Mages and Mystics learn spells from magic schools, though
allowing them to use more dangerous spells at the cost of making
anyone can cast a spell if it's contained within a scroll made by an
them vulnerable to conventional weapons.
experienced scribe. Spells are flexible in nature, can be often used
for multiple purposes. For example, Mystics can learn from the Some spells can be maintained over time using concentration,
Elemental school of magic, which lets you manipulate air, water, such as the second Elemental spell, Don Element, which coats you
earth, and fire. The first spell in the school is Bend Element and it in armour made from your chosen element. You concentrate on
reads as follows: any number of spells each turn by using up an advantage for each
of them it in the same way you would for a spell you are trying to
“Bend Element (3). Move an elemental Aspect or attack with one to deal
cast, for example by using your focus, a muse, or Set-up.
[5+Attribute+Spirit] physical damage. Agility: fire, Vigour: earth, Wit:
air, and Spirit: water.” Resisting a Spell: when targetted by a spell you set the CD using
your Wit and prevent any damage with your magical toughness. If
Form a bridge of earth to cross a gap or sling a firebolt at a foe all
the spell specifies that it deals physical damage, you can choose to
with the same spell! Where non-casters have the capabilities to
use Agility for the CD and your physical toughness instead.
tackle challenges directly, making the most of their environment,
Magic-users can often find creative solutions to problems with Multi-Targeted Checks: when a check has multiple targets only
their spells. As you'll see, however, spells are limited by your one check is still made. A number of additional cards are turned
supplies and can be just as dangerous as falling short of a jump or over to satisfy the most advantages or disadvantages among the
mistiming a parry. targets. A check result is made for each target using their CD and
an appropriate number of the cards for their individual
Casting Spells advantages and disadvantages. A target that strains themselves to
make the check a failure only makes it a failure for themselves.
Casting a spell is a loud process that requires being able to move—
it's generally obvious when someone is using magic.
Using Magic Example
Spells default to affecting a single target that you must touch but
With a lit torch in hand you can cast Bend Element with fire to
you can increase a spell's range and scope by heightening it. A
attack a foe in a space next to yours. To do so you would need to
heightened spell can be cast at a distance and affect multiple
heighten it by 1 to increase its range. Make an Agility check as the
targets or even an entire area. Turn that firebolt into a fireball! Be
spell states that manipulating fire uses Agility. The check will be
warned though, the more a spell is heightened the more
against the target with one disadvantage since you heightened the
disadvantages you will have when casting it and the more
spell by 1. If you critically succeed you would deal them double
dangerous it will become if you fail.
4+Agility+Spirit physical damage. If you fail you would deal no
damage and gain an edge but take 4 magical damage because the
spell has a backfire value of 3 that is heightened by 1.

14
Conflict Sheet Similarly, if you have an Off-hand item, such as a shield or muse,
a face-down card is placed under the bottom right Off-hand
This is an example of a Conflict reference sheet in use. The sheet
section. This reminds if you whether you have used the advantage
lists the special actions you can take during a conflict and also
your off-hand item grants you that turn and is also replenished at
gives a brief description of their rules. Four face-down cards can
the beginning of your turn. When you use the item use that card
be seen placed under the conflict sheet. At the top of the sheet is a
as the advantage. For more information, see the Items section.
location to store the Edges you gain during the conflict.
In the bottom left is a list of the quick actions you can use in a
conflict. The face-down card placed underneath reminds you
whether you have used your quick action or not. Once you use the
action discard the card and replenish it at the beginning of your
next turn. If you use Focus simply use that card as the advantage.
Note that you only gain access to quick actions when your
character gains their first level.

15
16
 Character Growth
Though wondrous it may be, Avallen is also a dangerous place, The Druid
home to warring factions, vicious predators, and otherworldly
Eilir relaxes, the wind creaking branches, the sun warming leaves.
abominations known as Ffieidd-Dra (Fieithe-Dra). In the course of
While on the mountain, her companions appreciate the shelter and the
your adventures, you will need to learn abilities to defend yourself
one less mouth to feed. Now it is night, she feels the approach of
during a conflict, whether that be through martial prowess or an
unnatural beasts with her outstretched roots. The Druid casts a spell in
understanding of magic.
a shower of spores to awaken and bolster her allies. Bark and leaves
After each session of play you’ll gain a new character feature of shift to fur and claws, and Eilir howls at the moon to greet their foes.
your choice, either an increase in an attribute or a new ability.
The Druid is the unique path for the Mystic and can learn to
Player characters in Legends of Avallen will pick up conflict
shapeshift into four different forms: the bird, the rodent, the
abilities from character classes that they can cultivate alongside
predator, and the tree. However, you should travel light or
their starting profession, and later, their legendary paths.
shapeshift carefully as your possessions will be left behind when
you do. Each form has particular strengths, with the rodent being
Character Classes adept at sneaking for example. This makes the Druid a spellcaster
There are four classes that give conflict abilities and they each who can play many roles, adapting to situations in the moment.
have a different style of fighting. There are two martial classes—
For the Vallic, Druids are revered priests, independent of the
the Reaver and the Warrior—and two magic classes—the Mage
clans, who advise leaders by communing with the Otherworld to
and the Mystic. Each of these classes gives your character access
find the will of the Ever Ones. For the Raxians, Druids are feared
to five ability schools to learn from that are exclusive to and
werefolk who are said to stalk vulnerable communities.
embody the spirit of that class.
Following the path of the Druid will see you became a legendary
The Reaver is a scrappy skirmisher who uses Agility to always shapeshifter and a bridge between this world and the next.
have the upper hand. Martial schools: Acrobatics, Archery,
Boxing, Dueling, and Two-Weapon. The Gladiator
The Warrior is a hardy fighter who uses Vigour to face Neferu whirls her weapons, diving into the fray, dazzling the audience.
challenges head-on. Martial schools: Athletics, Great-Weapon, Every motion is purposefully made to preserve her flow for the next as
Guardian, Shield-Mastery, and Wrestling. she weaves between her weapons, stances, and foes in a deadly dance.
The Mage is a student of magic who uses Wit to shape reality. Neferu ends her performance with a flourish and relishes in the beat of
Magic schools: Illusion, Psychic, Sigil, Time, and Void. silence that lingers before the roar of applause that only a Gladiator's
work can bring; the audience was hers now, and hers alone.
The Mystic is a medium of the Otherworld who uses Spirit to
channel natural forces. Magic schools: Aether, Divination, The Gladiator is a path shared by the Reaver and the Warrior.
Elemental, Lunar, and Solar. Fighting as a Gladiator you will begin each conflict with a level of
flow that you must maintain and grow by using multiple martial
Each of these martial and magic schools has four abilities that schools to attack different targets. Keeping your flow makes you
characters will learn in order as they level up, much like more difficult to hit and allows you to chain attack combos that
profession schools. For example, the Archery school abilities are end with vicious finishers. This makes the Gladiator a flexible
Focussed Aim, Pinning Shot, Eagle-Eyed, and Hail of Arrows. fighter that is particularly skilled at handling multiple opponents.
Some examples are given at the end of this Rules Summary.
In Raxian society, Gladiators are celebrated performers who
Legendary Paths often accompany a Legion to bolster troop morale and train elite
soldiers. The Vallic have a long tradition of settling diplomacy
Once you've gained enough experience with a class, you will with one-on-one duels to avoid the bloodshed of many and have
choose to follow a legendary path. Following a legendary path recently adopted the title "Gladiator" to describe those that excel
grants powerful abilities that will change the way you approach in this kind of negotiation. Following the path of the Gladiator
the game and will see you become a mythical archetype from will see you become a legendary master of spectacle and
Vallic and Raxian folklore, influencing the way the people of weaponry.
Avallen see you. Here’s a teaser for two of the paths you can
follow, the Druid and the Gladiator.
The following pages show the first two abilities for some example
profession, martial, and magic schools.

17
Profession Schools

Example Reaver Schools

Example Warrior Schools

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Example Mage Schools Example Equipment
Items are stored in your inventory slots and come in five sizes: too
small for a slot (put it in your notes), small, medium, large, or too
large for any slot (it must be carried). You have 3 small slots, 3
medium slots, 1 large slot, and 1 slot for an outfit or armour on
your person. Your backpack has 3 small slots and 3 medium slots.
In a conflict equipped items are accessible to you. Those in your
backpack require two spaces of movement to access. Here are
some basic examples that would cost a pouch of copper each:

Example Mystic Schools

19