Equipment, combat, and recovery

Weapons by Weight Class

A weapon's weight determines its Harm, its dice modifier at different ranges, and its tempo. Harm is applied directly when an attack hits; the dice modifier affects the attack roll, not damage.

Weight is not distance. Light, Medium and Heavy describe the weapon in your hands. Close, Near, Reach and Far describe the gap between you and the person you are trying to hit. The two sets of words never share a member, so "a Medium weapon at Near range" is unambiguous and always will be.

Ranged Weapons and Ammunition

Ranged weapons use the same weight classes and the same tempo rules, but not the same range curve — a Heavy melee weapon is at its best at Near, while a Heavy ranged weapon is at its best at Far. They need their own table.

Shooting into Close range moves Position, not dice: a Light ranged weapon manages it at Controlled, anything heavier at Desperate. A bow is not harder to aim at arm's length — it is harder to survive using.

Ranged weapons treat Reach as Near. An archer does not care whether the spear coming at them is at sword distance or haft distance; both are far too close. Reach is a melee band, and giving it a column here would be three numbers pretending to be a distinction.

Ammunition is tracked abstractly as part of Supply (see Section 6.6 below). A character may run low on ammunition when the GM spends SB on resource strain or during extended travel.

Armor

Armor does not reduce Harm directly. Instead, it converts incoming Harm into Fatigue. See the Armor Conversion Table below.

Shields (Optional)

Shields are worn in the off-hand. Using a shield restricts weapon size to Light or Medium.

Mundane Gear

Most gear is abstracted. When you need a specific item (rope, lockpicks, torch), assume you have it unless the fiction says otherwise or the GM spends SB to declare a shortage.

The following items are tracked as part of Supply (see Section 6.6 below):

• Rations (1 day)
• Crowbar
• Torches (3)
• Hammer and spikes
• Waterskin
• Sack (large)
• Rope (10m)
• Grappling hook
• Tinderbox
• Lantern and oil
• Bedroll
• Healer's kit (3 uses)

Supply Timer

Ticking the Supply Timer:

• The Quartermaster fails a travel roll (§16, Travel Framework).
• The GM spends SB on scarcity or resource strain.
• The party is forced to march without resupply.
• Extended travel through hostile or barren terrain.

Clearing Supply Segments:

• Reaching a settlement resets the timer to Full (0 segments).
• A successful foraging roll (Wits + Lore, DV 3) clears 1 segment.
• Spending a Cache token (see Asset rules) clears 1 segment.

When the Supply Timer is at 2 segments (Dangerous), each character gains 1 Fatigue per day until resupplied. At 3 segments (Empty), characters begin taking Harm 1 per day (starvation, dehydration, exposure).

Equipment Condition

All gear can become Neglected or Compromised.

• Neglected: Weapons suffer –1 die on attack rolls; armor conversion worsens by one step (e.g., Light behaves as Unarmored). Neglected gear is usable but unreliable.
• Compromised: Weapons suffer –1 die on the first attack each round; armor provides no conversion (all Harm applies directly). Compromised gear is barely functional.

Magical Items (Enchantments)

Enchantments are permanent magical modifications treated as Minor or Standard Assets (§14.2). Each enchantment costs XP and counts toward the item's enchantment limit.

Weapon and Armor Acquisition

• Mundane weapons and armor are acquired through play (found, looted, purchased with Supply, or granted as part of character background). No XP cost.
• Masterwork or enchanted items require XP expenditure (as Assets) or narrative quests.
• A character begins play with one Light or Medium weapon and one set of Light or Medium armor appropriate to their background.

Turn Structure

Each character takes 1 Action and 1 Move on their turn. Actions and Moves may be taken in any order. A character may use a Boon to re-roll their action at the expense of their Move if they still have it available.

Move

• Shift one range band: Close ↔ Near ↔ Reach ↔ Far.
• Reposition within the same range band (e.g., from behind one tree to another). This does not change your range band but may affect cover or line of sight.
• Stand: Use your Move to stand from prone.

Actions

Reactions (Out of Turn)

• Opportunity Attack: When an enemy leaves your Close range without using Disengage, you may make one free melee attack (Controlled Position, no action cost). This does not consume your action for the round.
• Protection may trigger when an ally is hit and you are in position.
• Class and asset reactions fire as written (e.g., counter-runes, ripostes).

Actions that provoke opportunity attacks when performed while engaged in Close with an enemy:

• Making a ranged attack (bow, crossbow, thrown weapon).
• Casting a spell that does not have the [TOUCH] or [WARD] tag.

Sidestep Strike

As part of a melee attack action, you may move one range band (Close ↔ Near, Near ↔ Reach, or Reach ↔ Far) without using your Move action for the turn. If you do so, your Position for that attack worsens by one step (e.g., Controlled becomes Desperate, Dominant becomes Controlled). You cannot also use your regular Move action in the same turn.

Shove

Action. Opposed Body + Athletics vs. target's Body + Athletics. On success, push the target back one range band (Close → Near). The target suffers –1 Position on their next action.

Grapple

Action. Opposed Body + Melee vs. target's Body + Athletics. On success, both characters are engaged (cannot move apart). The grappled target suffers –1 die on all actions. Breaking free requires a new opposed roll as an action.

Hiding and Cover

• To hide, a character must be behind full cover (e.g., a large tree, a wall) or in heavy concealment (dense fog, darkness).
• Take the Interact action to hide, rolling Stealth (or appropriate skill) vs. the Perception of any observers.
• Once hidden, you are not a valid target for attacks unless an attacker first uses an action to Search (Perception vs. your Stealth) or you reveal yourself by attacking or moving into the open.
• If you move out of cover to attack, you are no longer hidden for the duration of the attack and may be subject to opportunity attacks if you leave an enemy's Close range.

Ready and Overwatch

Players may hold an action with a clear trigger (e.g., "I shoot the first enemy who comes through that door"). If the trigger occurs, resolve the held action before the next exchange starts.

Refresh Windows

• Once per scene effects reset at scene end.
• Once per exchange effects reset at the next beat.

Summary Table of Actions

Rhythm of Battle

Fate's Edge does not use fixed initiative. The GM spotlights characters based on the fiction, circumstances, and tension.

• Ambushers act first. Targets respond after the opening exchange.
• Spotlight shifts mid-scene if fictionally appropriate (e.g., reacting to a falling ceiling, seizing a moment).
• Players may suggest acting when it makes sense in the fiction.

Turn Structure

Each character's turn consists of 1 Action and 1 Move. Actions and Moves may be taken in any order. Repeating the same Action is not allowed unless noted.

Range Bands

Four bands, and each is named for what crosses it. Close is decided by hands, Near by a sword, Reach by a haft, Far by a bow. Absent is not a fifth distance — it is the scene declining to contain someone.

Reach exists because a polearm is not a long sword. A spear held at the haft governs a stretch of ground a blade cannot answer, and the person standing in it is in a fight the swordsman has not joined yet. A band is the honest way to say that: it is a place on the table that both players can point at, rather than an exception carried on one weapon's card.

On names. Three vocabularies describe a weapon in play and they share no word between them. Distance is Close, Near, Reach, Far. Weight is Light, Medium, Heavy. Tags are Hafted, Infighting, Accurate, Brutal, and the rest. Any sentence combining them reads exactly one way, which is the whole reason the lists are kept apart.

Melee Flag

Two parties are "in Melee" when they are directly engaged and within a band each can threaten — Near for most weapons, Reach for a Heavy or Hafted one. A spearman at Reach against a swordsman is in Melee; the swordsman is not, until one of them closes.

• Enter Melee: 1 Move from Near (Controlled if under fire).
• Leave Melee: 1 Move to break off. If threatened, you must take the Disengage action. Without Disengage, leaving Close range provokes a free opportunity attack.

Opportunity Attacks

Moving out of an enemy's Close range without using the Disengage action provokes one free melee attack from that enemy. The attack is resolved normally (Position usually Controlled) and does not consume the enemy's action for the round.

Additionally, the following actions provoke an opportunity attack if performed while engaged in Close with an enemy:

• Making a ranged attack (bow, crossbow, thrown weapon).
• Casting a spell that does not have the [TOUCH] or [WARD] tag.

Full Turn Actions

Cover and Hiding

Height Advantage

Attacking from higher ground (e.g., a ledge, rooftop, or horse) grants +1 die or +1 Effect (GM's choice).

Difficult Terrain

• Costs 2 Move actions to traverse one band (or a full action to Dash).
• Charge and Skirmish require open ground unless the character has the Relentless talent.

Mounted Combat (Simplified)

If you have a War Mount and the Cavalier talent (or equivalent):

• Charging into melee from Far → Near: +2 dice.
• Firing while disengaging Near → Far: +2 dice.

The bonus applies only when movement is part of the action. Misses and Partials often cost mount Fatigue, equipment damage, or narrative complications.

Combat Action Options

In addition to standard actions (Attack, Disengage, Dash), characters may take:

• Shove (Action): Opposed Body + Athletics vs. target's Body + Athletics. On success, push the target back one range band (Close → Near). The target suffers –1 Position on their next action.
• Grapple (Action): Opposed Body + Melee vs. target's Body + Athletics. On success, both characters are engaged (cannot move apart). The grappled target suffers –1 die on all actions. Breaking free requires a new opposed roll as an action.
• Protect (Action): Adopt a guarding stance. Choose a nearby ally; until your next turn you may intercept one hit on them and roll to resist it. On success, reduce or negate Harm; you take any fallout the GM assigns.
• Setup (Action): Create advantage for an ally. On a success (appropriate roll, DV set by GM), grant their next action +1 Position or step up Effect.
• Defend (Action or Move): Enter a defensive stance. Until your next turn, improve your Position by one step when resisting any attack or effect (or gain +1 die if already Dominant).

Default Combat Assumptions

To keep play moving, the GM may assume:

• Default range = Near.
• Default Position = Controlled.
• Default Effect = Standard.
• Move one band per Move action unless terrain or fiction says otherwise.

Example: Melee Exchange

Integration with Fatigue and Harm

Combat frequently marks Fatigue (from Charge, Skirmish, and enemy abilities) and Harm (from successful attacks). See §9, Health, Fatigue, and Harm.

Fatigue Track

Each character has a Fatigue track equal to their Body attribute (minimum 1). Fatigue represents exertion, strain, and the accumulation of minor physical toll.

Marking Fatigue: Mark Fatigue for the following:

• Performing a Charge or Skirmish action (1 Fatigue).
• Forced marches, extreme effort, or environmental strain (GM discretion).
• Magical costs (e.g., Pushing a Rite, Backlash, Obligation overflow).
• Converting a Boon effect to Fatigue (substitution rule).

Effect of Fatigue

Each point of Fatigue worsens your Position by one step:

Dominant → Controlled → Desperate

If you are already at Desperate Position, each additional point of Fatigue instead imposes a –1 die penalty on all your rolls (cumulative).

Harm Levels

Harm represents serious injury. There are three levels:

Taking Harm and Fatigue — The Procedure

When you take Harm from an attack, hazard, or magical backlash, resolve in the following order:

1. Convert. Use the Armor Conversion Table to turn incoming Harm into Fatigue. Minimum 1 Fatigue per hit, even if conversion would give 0.
2. Apply remaining Harm. If any Harm remains after conversion:
   • Clear all existing Fatigue (the shock of a wound resets exhaustion).
   • Increase your Harm level by the number of Harm points remaining.
3. Add Fatigue. Add the Fatigue from step 1 to your Fatigue track.
4. Check for Overflow. If your Fatigue total equals or exceeds your Body (track size):
   • Increase Harm by one level.
   • Clear all Fatigue.
   • Any excess Fatigue beyond the track size is lost.

Check overflow once per resolved hit or separate Fatigue event; discard excess Fatigue.

Armor Conversion Table

Armor does not reduce incoming Harm directly. Instead, it converts Harm to Fatigue according to the table below.

Example: Light armor vs Harm 2 becomes Harm 1 + Fatigue 1. Heavy armor vs Harm 3 becomes Fatigue 2.

Recovery

Substituting Fatigue for Boons

If you have no Boons remaining (or wish to conserve them), you may pay 1 Fatigue in place of 1 Boon to activate an active, in-the-moment effect that normally costs a Boon:

• Re-rolling a die.
• Activating an Asset (GM discretion; delicate assets may not be usable while exhausted).
• Improving Position by one step before a roll.
• Powering a Rite or ability that explicitly requires a Boon.

This substitution cannot be used for:

• Boon-to-XP conversion (downtime only).
• Effects that require a Boon as a narrative resource (e.g., certain Talents or Patron bargains).

Example: Armor and Overflow

Death and Dying

At Harm 3, a character is incapacitated. They cannot take actions. They may still speak weakly or crawl at the GM's discretion.