possible Observation Checks possible.
The Tough As Nails
process is disorientating and often disrupts
other senses, so Observation Checks not
amplified by Otherwordly Perception while
it is active are Against The Odds.
Radiant Blade (Holy)
Before making an Attack, spend 1 Grip to
gain the Upper Hand and deal an extra D3
damage (magical for any relevant Ad-
vancement and Adaptations) if it lands.
Rallying Shout (Martial/Holy/Bardic/Commanding)
In combat, the character can take an action
to grant 1 Vigour to each ally who can hear
them.
Restored Vigour
The character immediately returns to their
Max Vigour (5 + Brawn + Number of Ad-
vancements).
Shadow Glamours (Devious/Arcane/Bardic)
Spend 1 Grip to do one of the following:
• Gain the Upper Hand on a Wit Check to
hide.
• Make all Observation Checks to spot the
character Against The Odds for one
round.
• Alter the character’s visual appearance
(clothing, facial detail, hair, etc.) for one
minute. These hese changes are visual
only, and do not affect the other senses.
Shieldwall (Martial/Commanding)
Spend 1 Grip to reduce the damage of a
non-magical Attack by D3 or destroy a
shield the character is holding to reduce
damage to 0.
Spirits of the Beyond (Arcane/Holy)
Spend 1 Grip and an action to reanimate a
corpse (stats below) to serve the character
for a single combat, or five minutes.
Animated Corpse (Undead)
Armour 8 | Vigour 8
BRAWN 1 | WIT 0 | WILL 0
Prying Hands (Hand Weapon)
Increase Maximum Vigour by 1 for each
Advancement the character has. When they
suffer an Injury, spend 1 Grip to roll twice
on the Injury table and choose your pre-
ferred result.
Toxic Blades (Devious/Technical)
When taking this Advancement, choose 2
Poisons that the character can make from
the following: Brittleskinned, Dulling (-1
Will), Hex-Addled, Maiming (-1 Brawn),
Paralysing (-1 Wit).
At the end of evach Adventuring Day spend
1 Grip to prepare a dose of one type of Poi-
son.
Each time Toxic Blades is taken, gain 2 new
Poison types and the ability to make an ad-
ditional Poison each day.
Trap Breaker (Devious/Technical)
The character has the Upper Hand on Stat
Checks to make, modify or disable traps or
secret doors, and on Observation Checks to
detect them.
Weapons Master (Martial/Commanding/Technical)
Choose a Weapon type. Spend 1 Grip to gain
the Upper Hand on Attacks with that
weapon type until combat ends.
Each time Weapons Master is taken,
choose an additional Weapon type.
Witch's Curse (Arcane/Bardic/Druidic/Holy)
Spend Grip (minimum 1) equal to any Stat
of a creature within short range to curse it.
The target is Against The Odds on their
next 3 Stat Checks or Attacks using that
Stat.
Zini 3: Advancements
Published by SoulMuppet Publishing (www.soulmuppet.co.uk)
Written by Zachary Cox and Nicholas Spence | Art by Ben Brown | Layout by Lone Archivist
Editing by Vi Huntsman (MRC), Fiona Geist (MRC), and James M Hewitt
Advancements are abilities that make
characters better adventurers—potentially
granting a magical power or trained special
move or increasing their Stats.
Gaining New Advancements
Characters gather Experience through play
by accumulating treasurve, passing Grip
Journeyman Advancements
Arcane Wards (Arcane)
When the character is hit by an Attack,
spend 1 Grip to reduce the damage by their
Will.
Using Arcane Wards multiple times is
straining. Each subsequent use in a single
combat increases its Grip Cost by 1. (1 the
first time, 2 the second, 3 the third, etc).
Battle Frenzy (Martial)
Spend 2 Grip to enter a Battle Frenzy until
combat ends, granting the character the
Upper Hand on melee Attacks, and causing
any Attacks made against them to be
Against The Odds. While in a Battle Frenzy
they must move into melee with the near-
est enemy and Attack if possible. By spend-
ing 1 Grip, the Battle Frenzy ends early.
Checks and enacting cunning plans. When-
ever a character attains 8 Experience, re-
seting it to zero, they add a new Advance-
ment and gain 1 Vigour and Grip.
Child of Prophecy
Luck guides this character toward their
destiny. Roll a D6 at the start of each Ad-
venturing Day. The result can replace a sin-
gle die roll, regardless of who rolled it.
Choose to replace the roll after rolling but
before applying the outcome.
This advancement is exclusive to character
creation or, if the Doomsayer allows, fol-
lowing a weird or wonderful act of destiny.
Concoctionist (Arcane/Druidic/Technical)
At the end of each Adventuring Day, the
character can brew up to half their Will in
Potions for 1 Grip each.
When taking this Advancement, choose 2
Potion types they can brew: Amorphous,
Aquatic, Blinking, Flamewreathed, Fire-
breathing, Hex-Proof, Nimble, Shadow-
clad or Woundknitting.
Concoctionist can be taken multiple times,
learning 2 Potion types each time.
Chemiker’s Charges (Devious/Technical)
With a few hours’ work in a surface camp
and access to appropriate equipment, the
character can fashion one of the following
Chemiker’s Charges:
Jerrodine Fire: Popularized by Jerrodi-
ans clearing out giant rat nests. Fills the
Zone with flames, setting every creature
and flammable object aflame for D3
damage at the start of each turn per turn
until doused.
Dupontiane Gloop: Fashioned from
gelatinous pine sap, this coats a Zone in
sticky residue to slow movement, forc-
ing creatures that try to move through or
out of that Zone to make a Brawn Check
or remain stationary.
Calmyne Smoke Bombs: A grenade
beloved by Calmyn’s crime families. Fills
a Zone with thick smoke, rendering Ob-
servation Checks and Attacks made
through or in it Against The Odds.
A character with Chemiker’s Charges can
either set a Charge with a fuse up to a min-
ute long or throw it with an action to a
Zone in short range. Either way, the effects
last 1 minute. Charges expire 3 days after
creation.
Charges are volatile and may interact
poorly with each other. When a character
takes damage while carrying a charge, roll
a D6. If the result is equal to or less than the
number of Charges, they all explode.
Ears of the Owl
All Observation Checks relying on hearing
have the Upper Hand.
Eldritch Pact
The character pacts with a powerful extra-
planar creature like a Cinderbeast, Herald
or Beyonder, promising servitude in ex-
change for world-bending power. Immedi-
ately choose 2 more available Advance-
ments as gifts from their patron.
Make a note that they were gained from an
Eldritch Pact and do not grant additional
Vigour or Grip nor count towards requisite
Advancements to become Titled.
Touching such powerful beings’ minds ad-
versely affects one’s health, granting a
random Affliction, either chosen or rolled
randomly (see Zini 5).
Eldritch Pacts always return to bite. Pa-
trons may demand confusing or difficult
favours, which must be fulfilled. Conse-
quences for refusing can be dire, including
but not limited to, additional Afflictions or
Injuries, loss of Vigour or Grip, Stat reduc-
tion, revoking the Eldritch Pact’s Advance-
ments or even death.
Extra Brawn
Increases the character’s Brawn by 1. Re-
member to recalculate Maximum Vigour.
Extra Grip
Increases the character’s Grip by 3.
Extra Will
Increases the character’s Will by 1.
Extra Wit
Increases the character’s Wit by 1.
Eyes of the Hawk
All Observation Checks relying on sight
have the Upper Hand.
Fire & Lightning Strange (Arcane/Druidic)
When taking this advancement, choose an
element or magical substance: fire, ice, wa-
ter, lightning, thorns, gravity etc. The
character can magically strike down ene-
mies with this element.
Spend 1 to 3 Grip and an action to make a
Will based Attack (always with the Upper
Hand) against an enemy within short
range. Multiply the damage by the Grip
Cost. This damage is magical for any rele-
vant Advancements and Adaptations.
Fire & Lightning Strange can be taken
multiple times, granting a new element
each time. Specify which of your elements
you use each time you attack with the Ad-
vancement.
Flurry of Blows (Martial/Devious)
Spend 1 Grip when making an Attack with a
weapon held in one hand to make a second
Against The Odds attack on the same turn.
The Holy Song of War (Holy/Bardic/Commanding)
For 1 Grip and an action, the character can
grant the Song of War to a number of crea-
tures up to their Will. This grants the crea-
ture(s) the Upper Hand to a single Attack
Roll or Stat Check of their choice for a sin-
gle combat or five minutes, whichever is
shorter.
Horde Killer (Martial/Commanding)
When enemies Gang Up on the character,
negate the first two instances of the Upper
Hand.
I See Truth In The Stars (Arcane/Holy/Druidic)
At the end of an Adventuring Day, spend
any amount of Grip to receive cryptic vi-
sions from dreaming, stargazing or bone
throwing. The more Grip spent, the less
cryptic the Doomsayer’s description of the
next Adventuring Day’s events is.
Knife From The Shadows (Devious)
When the character Attacks an enemy who
is unaware of them, they have the Upper
Hand and deal double damage.
Lay On Hands (Holy/Bardic)
For 1 Grip and an action, roll D3 + Will. An-
other character of your choice gains Vigour
equal to the result.
Marksman’s Aim (Martial/Devious/Druidic)
The character can take an action to line up
a shot, examining their target and its
movement. The following turn, they can
make an Attack against their target with
the Upper Hand using a Ranged Weapon,
and ignoring any penalties of cover or ob-
scuration.
The Doomsayer may allow the use of
Marksman’s Aim before combat starts,
provided the character has time to do so,
granting the Upper Hand on their first At-
tack.
Master of Deceit (Devious/Bardic)
The character has the Upper Hand on Wit
Checks when lying to NPCs.
My Shining Armour Gleams (Martial/Commanding)
Non-magical Attacks against the character
are Against The Odds.
Nimble Dodge (Devious/Commanding/Technical)
All Wit Checks made to Escape are Trivial.
Nose of the Dog
All Observation Checks relying on smell
have the Upper Hand.
Otherwordly Perception (Arcane/Druidic)
When taking this Advancement, choose 2
supernatural senses that the character can
activate from the following:
Eyes of Cinder: Peer through non-
supernatural darkness as if there is low
light.
Herald's Gaze: See through less than 6
inches of a natural substance like dirt,
stone or wood. Unnatural or man-made
substances, such as metal, leather or
glass are opaque.
Fargone Taste: Taste a distant object as
if it was in their mouth.
Whispers of the Seer: Be able to hear
distant conversations as if a whisper.
Thermomancy: Know the exact temper-
ature of a distant object without touch-
ing it.
Stain of the Arcane: Tell if Arcane magic
has been cast in an area, and the identity
of the mage if the character has seen
them cast a spell before.
Spend 1 Grip to amplify the character’s
normal senses with one of the supernatural
abilities they possess for 5 minutes.
This may grant them the Upper Hand on
certain Observation Checks, or make Im-