Rules at the Table

Open this page when the table has moved from "what do you do?" to "what rule answers this?" It points to the parts of the manual that can settle checks, danger, fights, wounds, rest, and advancement without dragging the whole game out of the room.

Start with the scene. Then find the closest rule that actually touches the action: the character's job, bloodline, gear, weapon, spell, bauble, or the referee guidance for pressure and consequence.

When To Open This Page

Use this page when a question is bigger than a single line on a character sheet but still needs a table answer. It helps you decide whether to open a job, bloodline, gear, weapon, magic, or referee page.

Do not hunt for a rule before the scene needs one. Let players ask questions, make a choice, and name what they risk. Then open the page that can answer the moment.

A rule written for one thing stays with that thing. If a job tells you how its spellcasting works, use it for that job. If a weapon lists damage or a bloodline grants advantage, use that entry for that character in that scene.

Risky Action And Checks

When a character acts under pressure, first ask what they want and how they are doing it. If the answer is obvious, give it. If a job, bloodline, item, spell, or bauble names a check, DC, advantage, disadvantage, or opposed roll, open that entry.

Jobs and bloodlines are the best place to start for character-facing checks. Gear and weapons can answer equipment questions. Magic pages can answer spellcasting and strange-object questions. Read the exact entry, take the answer, and return to the scene.

Some equipment is very specific. Handcuffs, forged papers, binoculars, weapon properties, and odd tools can all answer one kind of trouble. They do not need to become a master table of every possible difficulty.

Danger, Pressure, And Fights

Danger should show itself before it lands. Let the room, witness, monster, creditor, police officer, weather, or bad bargain make the choice feel urgent.

When a fight or chase breaks out, keep using the same table rhythm: frame the danger, ask what the players do, open the needed rule, and let the result change the next choice. Weapon and armor pages cover damage, range, slots, properties, and special weapon text.

A weapon line does not run the whole fight by itself. If a job, bloodline, spell, or item says "turn," "round," "attack," "damage," "morale," or "advantage," use that phrase for the thing that named it. Let the referee guide carry the pressure around it.

Wounds, Rest, And Advancement

After danger, name what changed: wounds, spent gear, debts, clues, angry witnesses, broken doors, and things that will not stay buried.

If a spell, job, or magic entry says what happens after failure, healing, a long rest, or a level change, use that text for the character it belongs to. Spellcasting entries often say when a spell can be tried again. Job records can say when spells known, talents, and level choices change.

If the group needs a wider rest, death, downtime, or advancement rule than the current entry gives, use the table rule your group has in hand. Do not build a whole night of play from one special case.

Back To The Case

Before play, keep this page near Core Play and Running EldritchDark. During play, open it only long enough to find the next useful page.

The rule should send everyone back to the scene: what changed, who saw it, what it cost, and what choice comes next.