2

Fading Suns: Streamlined Credits:

The Fading Suns 4th edition rules presented in the Author: Bill Bridges
Character Book provide a robust way to resolve all Fading Suns™ Product Manager: Bill Bridges
sorts of actions your characters might take, while giv- Editor: Jennifer Hartshorn
ing players a lot of freedom for how they spend their Art Director: Maik Schmidt
resources (mainly, victory points). Cover Artist: Benjamin Giletti, Maik Schmidt
But all those resources can prove a bit difficult to Artists: Tim Brothage, Benjamin Giletti, Carl Hassler,
handle when you’re playing away from the table. Katharina Niko, Sebastian Watzlawek
Hence, this streamlined version of the rules! The goal is Logo Design: Steffen Brand
to make it easier to run Fading Suns with your friends Layout: Matthias Lück
online or through theater-of-the-mind style play. Fading Suns™ created by Bill Bridges and Andrew
In these streamlined rules, you won’t keep track of Greenberg
tokens from one turn to the next, but there’s still some
strategy to consider each turn: are you acting defen-
sively, aiming for maximum precision, or going for
the greatest effect? Longtime Fading Suns players
will find these rules reminiscent of previous editions,
but with more flexibility.
These streamlined rules rely on the Character
Book. We assume you have that book and can use
it to reference information on characters, traits, ac-
tions, equipment, and most everything not included
in this booklet. The simple yet dramatic differences
are described in the Streamlined Rules chapter and the
Converting from 4th Edition chapter.

ULISSES SPIELE
Zoe Adamietz, Jörn Aust, Philipp Baas, Mirko Bader, Steffen Brand, Bill Bridges, Simon Burandt, Alina
Conard, J-M DeFoggi, Trisha DeFoggi, Carlos Diaz, Nico Dreßen, Christiane Ebrecht, Christian Elsässer,
Cora Elsässer, Thomas Engelbert, Simon Flöther, Frauke Forster, Christof Grobelski, Kai Großkordt,
Markus Heinen, Nils Herzmann, Nikolai Hoch, Nadine Hoffmann, David Hofmann, Curtis Howard, Jan
Hulverscheidt, Nadine Indlekofer, Philipp Jerulank, Kirk Kading, Johannes Kaub, Nele Klumpe, Anke Kühn,
Christian Lonsing, Matthias Lück, Julia Metzger, Thomas Michalski, Carolina Möbis, Carsten Moos, Johanna
Moos, Phillip Nuss, Dominik Obermaier, Sven Paff, Stefanie Peuser, Felix Pietsch, Marlies Plötz, Markus Plötz,
Stephan Pongratz, Elisabeth Raasch, Nadine Schäkel, Maik Schmidt, Ulrich-Alexander Schmidt, Thomas
Schwertfeger, Alex Spohr, Anke Steinbacher, Stefan Tannert, Maximilian Thiele, Katharina Wagner, Jan
Wagner, Michelle Weniger, W. Gwynn Wettach, Carina Wittrin, Kai Woitczyk

© 2022 Ulisses Spiele

Fading Suns and all unique characters, concepts, locations, and
creatures are trademarks and / or copyrights of Ulisses Spiele.
All rights reserved.

3
 SAINT PAULUS THE TRAVELER
4
Streamlined Rules
In a nutshell, the streamlined rules are aimed at more
open-ended play away from the tabletop. They alter
the 4th edition rules by:
• Greatly reducing the amount of victory points
(VP) and the need for tokens
• Cutting Resistance in half
• Replacing the VP bank with an action stance that
you choose each turn before you roll the die
Let’s discuss the details….
Action Effects
In these rules, there are far fewer VP to manage, but
each point is potent.
Instead of gaining VP from a die roll, you now get
1 VP at the beginning of your turn. You can spend
this victory point to gain one specific action effect (FX
for short):
Defense = +1 to your Resistance vs a single
attack
Effort = cuts through Resistance; each Effort
in excess gives +1 impact
Precision = +2 goal to your roll
As you rise in level, you get more VP to spend for
these effects, so you can have more than one FX of
the same type. For instance, 2 Precision gives you +4
goal and 3 Defense gives you +3 Resistance.
Your die-roll result still rewards you, but instead of
VP, it gives you 1 or more Effort.
See the Revised Sequence of Play, below, for when and
how these FX are used during gameplay.
Design note: This should be very familiar.
They’re the same key effects that you spend
your VP for in the Character Book, as per the
“Spending VP” chart on p. 22. Here we give
them specific names.
Revised Sequence of Play
This revised sequence of play illustrates how the three
different action effects are used:
0. Begin the Round: Initiative
The troupe leader chooses who acts first — who takes
the first turn. Once that chosen character has acted
(has taken their turn), their player chooses who acts
next. Once everyone (PC and NPC) has taken their
turn, the round ends.
Example: Sir Badachal is the troupe leader. His
player, David, wisely chooses Sister Tarja, the troupe’s
warrior monk, to act first.
When it’s your turn in the initiative queue, use the
following sequence:
1. What are you going to do?
Action
Declare what you are doing: shoot a gun, yell a com-
mand, jump from a moving skimmer, etc.
Anything a character does is considered to be an
action. If it’s an action directed against another char-
acter (PC or NPC), that person is the action’s target.
Example: Sister Tarja fires a laser pistol at a Vuldrok
bandit.
2. How does that work in the
rules? Traits
Skill ranks + characteristic ranks = goal number.
Any given action can be described using a combi-
nation of two traits: a skill (a trained ability) and a
characteristic (one of nine innate abilities). These are
listed on the character sheet.
Example: Firing a laser pistol at short range involves
the Shoot skill and the Dexterity characteristic. Sister
Tarja has a Shoot of 5 and a Dexterity of 6, giving her
a goal number of 11.
5
 NEW: ACTION STANCE
Before you go to step 3 and roll the die, you choose
a stance for your action. You get 1 VP to spend for a
specific action effect.
• Defense — you’re fighting defensively: Boost your
Resistance by 1 (This bonus applies against a sin-
gle attack this round, although you can choose
which attack to apply it to.)
• Effort — you’re applying force: If the roll is suc-
cessful, cancel 1 degree of Resistance — or, once
there’s no Resistance, you get +1 impact
• Precision — you’re taking precise aim: +2 goal bonus
Example: Sister Tarja spends her stance’s VP for Pre-
cision. She adds 2 to her goal, for a new goal of 13.
Your stance awards more VP as you gain levels; see
Improved Stance, below.
Your stance isn’t just a game mechanic for improv-
ing your odds, it’s also your roleplaying cue to de-
scribe how your character does their action. Are they
weighing their words carefully to speak just the right
cutting remark to embarrass their rival (a Precision
stance for the Knavery-skill humiliate maneuver)? Or
perhaps bobbing and weaving as they duel with sa-
bers at dawn (a Defense stance)? Or unleashing their
anger on a foe with a psychic Brain Blast (an Effort
stance)? Use your stance to fully evoke an image of
your character’s action.
Design note: This takes the place of the VP
bank, giving you something to aid your action at
the start of your turn.
CHECK FOR EQUIPMENT/PERK FX
Some equipment and/or perks might lend a specific
FX to your effort. For instance, members of House
Hawkwood get a masterwork sword that lends 1 Pre-
cision to their sword strikes. (If you chose the Preci-
sion stance, add the bonuses together.)
3. Did you actually do it?
Goal Roll
• Roll less than your goal number = success (go to
step 4)
• Roll your goal number exactly = critical hit (go to
step 4, ignore Resistance, and gain 1 wyrd point).
6
• Roll higher than your goal number = miss (it’s
over; don’t complete the rest of the sequence).
• Roll a ‘20’ = critical miss (it’s over; don’t com-
plete the rest of the sequence and the GM gains
1 wyrd point).
Example: Andrew, playing Sister Tarja, rolls the die
and gets a 7 — a success.
4. How well did you do?
Effort
If you succeeded you gain Effort, depending on how
high you rolled:
Die roll Effort
1-5 +1 Effort
6-10 +2 Effort
11-15 +3 Effort
16-20 +4 Effort
Example: Sister Tarja succeeded with a 7, so she
gains 2 Effort.
Note: If you performed a defense maneuver,
such as dodge or stonewall, you get Defense in-
stead of Effort — and you get +1 Defense (defense
maneuvers yield slightly more results than other
actions). In Sister Tarja’s example, she’d have 3
Defense.
Design note: These are applied in the fol-
lowing steps; there’s no cache or bank to keep
track of for later use.
5. What opposes you? Resistance
Apply Effort to cancel the target’s Resistance: in com-
bat, you contend against Body Resistance; for influ-
ence, Mind Resistance; for the occult, Spirit Resis-
tance. 1 Effort cancels 1 Resistance
Your Effort must cancel all your target’s Resistance
before you can deliver your attack’s full impact in step
6. Any excess Effort is applied as impact.
Note: A critical hit allows you to bypass all Re-
sistance. You can apply all your Effort toward
impact.
Design note: Resistance in this ruleset is halved from
its 4th edition value: it runs 0-7 rather than 0-14. See
the Converting from 4th Edition chapter.
CHECK FOR ATTACK PROPERTIES
FROM EQUIPMENT/PERKS
Some equipment and/or perks might affect your Re-
sistance.
Example: A laser pistol has the Laser attack proper-
ty; this subtracts 1 from the target’s Resistance (unless
the target’s armor is Laserproof).
Note: An attack property only affects Resistance;
if a target has no Resistance, the property does
not add to impact.
Design note: In 4th edition, attack properties
(Laser, Blaster, Slam, etc.) halve the Resis-
tance of any armor that isn’t proofed against it
(Laserproof, etc.). In this streamlined ruleset,
they instead subtract 1 from Resistance (ex-
cept against -proofed armor).
Example: The Vuldrok bandit is wearing stiffsynth
armor, which provides 2 Resistance against physical
attacks (and is Shockproof and Slamproof). Her pistol
has the Laser attack property; stiffsynth is not Laser-
proof, so the Vuldrok’s Resistance is lowered to 1.
Sister Tarja has 2 Effort from her roll. 1 Effort cancels
the Vuldrok’s remaining 1 Resistance, which leaves her
1 Effort to apply in step 6.
6. What’s the end result? Impact
• Full impact: If you cancelled all your target’s Re-
sistance, you can deliver your attack’s full impact,
like so:
• Physical attack: Inflict the weapon’s damage and
add +1 damage per leftover Effort
• Influence: Impose the action’s psychological state
on the target and add +1 persistence per leftover
Effort
Example: Sister Tarja’s laser pistol does 4 damage.
She applies her remaining 1 Effort for +1 damage, for
a total of 5 damage.
When your turn is over, any unspent Effort goes away.
Defense remains until it is used against an attack; any
unused Defense goes away at the beginning of your
next turn.
DESIGN NOTE: ARMOR
BEFORE DAMAGE
In Fading Suns, when you succeed in your
roll, that’s only half the story. You then need to
confront your target’s armor (their Resistance)
before you figure out how much damage you
inflict. Many roleplaying games reverse this
order: you roll your damage and then subtract
the armor’s protection value; if anything’s left-
over, that’s the damage you deal.
Fading Suns integrates combat and social
influence into a single system. While combat
deals out damage points to degrade a target’s
Vitality ranks, influence is less granular: you’re
either affected by it or you’re not. The degree
of impact is more about how long the resulting
state will last.
For this reason, Resistance is dealt with be-
fore you determine the exact effect your action
has on its target. There are a variety of effects
(impacts) in the game and we feel that sub-
tracting Resistance post facto just isn’t the best
way to account for them all.
However, it’s no fun to succeed in your roll
and have no effect whatsoever, so we’ve intro-
duced slight impact, a way that your action still
has an effect even if you couldn’t beat through
Resistance. See step 6 in the Revised Sequence
of Play.
• NEW: Slight impact: If your roll succeeded but you
didn’t cancel all the target’s Resistance, your attack
still has an effect, like so:
• Physical attack: Inflict 1 damage
• Influence: The target is slightly distracted and suf-
fers a -1 goal penalty to their action on their next
turn.
Improved Stance
As you rise in level, you get more things to do with the
action stance that you declare in step 2.
Level Stance
3 Reinforced stance: Your action stance now
gives you 2 VP. You can spend them on
whatever FX you want, in any combina-
tion. You might choose to spend them for
1 Precision and 1 Effort, or 2 Precision, or
whatever.
7
 Level Stance
6 Specialty stance: Declare a specialization in
an attack stance: either combat, influence,
or occult. When you engage in your chosen
form of attack, your stance gives you 3
VP. You might choose to put all three into
Effort, or one each into each FX, or any
combo. (For non-attack actions, such as
trying to remember something using Focus
skill, you have 3 VP for your stance.)
9 Expert stance: Choose either another special-
ty stance (if you chose combat before, you get
influence or occult now) or your existing spe-
cialty becomes an expertise: At the beginning
of your turn, you can choose to convert all
your of your specialty stance’s 3 VP into favor-
ability on the die roll. (You do not gain FX for
those stances; you get favorability instead.)
8
Design note: This gives you a somewhat similar
effect to your VP bank in 4th ed — which grows
as you rise in level — but with less bookkeeping.
BONUS ACTIONS & STANCES
Some perks, such as Fencing’s Swashbuckler, might allow
you to take a bonus primary action, like the Duello style’s
honorable strike. Just as with your main primary action,
you get to declare an action stance for your bonus action.
(Note that this bonus action is often an influence attack,
which requires a different specialty stance than combat.)
Additional Rules
We also streamline a few more of the basic rules me-
chanics, described below.
Equipment FX
Certain equipment might lend a
certain FX, like so:
MASTERWORK
A masterwork item lends 1 Preci-
sion. If it’s armor, it lends 1 De-
fense instead.
ATTACK PROPERTIES
As mentioned in the Revised Se-
quence of Play, above, the new
rules for attack properties are that
instead of halving Resistance, an
attack property subtracts 1 Resis-
tance — except against armor that
is proofed against it.
Surge Revised
Your Surge value is replaced by
1 wyrd point. Whenever you use
one of your limited number of
surges, you gain 1 WP instead of
victory points.
Wyrd Points
The streamlined rules still use
wyrd points for all the same things,
except that instead of converting 1
WP into 3 VP, you get 2 VP.
You must spend that VP then
and there on a particular FX: De-
fense, Effort, or Precision. Effort and Precision will
apply to your next action; Defense lasts until it is used
against an attack or until the beginning of your next
turn on the following round.
Design note: Wyrd points become slightly more
common in these rules. They can be used to give
you VP when you need it, in place of the VP bank
in 4th edition.
Favorable Rolls
Various things — perks, occult powers, spending a
wyrd point — might give you a favorable roll (roll
twice, take the best result). In the streamlined rules,
whenever you gain a favorable roll, you can choose
to use it or you can swap it for 2 VP (for your action
stance, spent before the roll). You have to choose
which option you’re taking before you roll.
Design note: Favorable rolls are quite beneficial
(a second chance at a success is always welcome),
but since the streamlined roll doesn’t award as
many gains (i.e., VP) as in the corebook rules,
you might prefer to channel it toward, say, more
Effort or Defense.
Momentum
What happens if you don’t have enough Effort? Your
action fizzles out and the next character in the queue
acts. This can be frustrating — but there’s a solution!
Rather than lose all the Effort you gained, you can
declare that you’re building momentum. You save the
Effort you gained on your roll (but not necessarily
those you got from equipment and perks) for use on
your next turn.
In your next turn, you repeat the same action
against the same target. If that action was a sword
strike, then you once more swing that sword at your
foe. If it was an attempt to befriend them, then that’s
what you’ll do again. If you instead perform a differ-
ent action, even against the same target, you’ve lost
momentum.
Your momentum action suffers a -2 goal penalty,
but you can take the Effort you gained on your first
attempt’s roll and add it to the Effort you gain on this
second attempt.
Momentum only carries over from one action to
a repeated action on the next turn; you can’t build
momentum over three turns.
Clarification: Successive
Occult Powers
The rules for “Successive Influence” (p. 34,
Character Book) state that multiple attempts
to use the same influence maneuver against
the same target in the same scene suffer an es-
calating goal penalty (-2 for the 2nd attempt, -4
for the 3rd, and so on).
This rule also applies to certain occult pow-
ers. Any power that acts directly upon a target,
such as Mind Sight or Brain Blast or even
Laying On Hands, should also suffer this esca-
lating penalty. As with influence, there might
be exceptions if the GM judges that condi-
tions have changed sufficiently in the interim
between one attempt and the next, but oth-
erwise, you can’t simply Brain Blast someone
over and over with ease or theurgically heal
them endlessly.
Powers that act indirectly, such as tossing an
object toward someone using Throwing Hand,
don’t trigger the penalty. Likewise, casting pow-
ers on yourself. (Unless stated otherwise in the
power’s description, you can’t have more than
one of the same power active upon you at the
same time; also see the rules for “Donning Mul-
tiple Rituals” on p. 292, Character Book).
This is the case for the 4th edition rules and
the streamlined rules.
Design note: This gives a somewhat similar ef-
fect to the VP bank, allowing you to build up re-
sources, although only from one turn to the next.
Example of Play
Here we present a modified Example of Play from the
Gamemaster Book. We pick up on p. 94 with the
heading:
WHEN MUTANT FERAL DOGS
ATTACK
The Mutant Feral Dogs are 1st-level Agent NPCs.
There are three of them.
9
 These poor creatures are lab experiments who have Andrew spends it on Defense, giving him 3 Defense.
escaped into the wild, but they haven’t left the area Bill asks David and Andrew to describe how this
where they were once held in suspended animation. happens.
They’re very hungry, but they’re also a bit scared. David: “I cry out. ‘Stand tall!’”
Only one of them has gained the courage to try to Andrew: “I do! She stands tall! Well, as tall as she
bring down prey; the other two hold back and wait to can. She’s pretty short.”
see what happens. The dog’s 2 Effort is not enough to overcome An-
Gameplay now enters Instantaneous time. drew’s now-boosted 3 Resistance. (While
Actions are measured turn by turn in it could use a surge to get 1 WP to
rounds. spend for 2 VP, it’s only got one
Since the dogs surprised surge available. Bill decides
everyone, they act first. to save it for later.)
Bill (the GM) rolls Bill: “The dog just
the lead dog’s at- can’t get a bite in. You
tack. The dog de- do some awkward
votes its action acrobatics as you
stance to Effort duck and weave,
— its slaver- avoiding the snap-
ing jaws open ping jaws. The
wide, ready to dog whines and
clamp down shuffles back.”
with full force. Andrew: “Phew!
Its goal is 12, Thank the Pan-
and Bill rolls a creator!”
5. This yields 1 Bill: “Good team-
Effort, for a total work. You each acted
of 2 Effort (from its pretty selfishly back in
stance). Elfhome, but Tyrzith’s
Tirza’s Body Re- generosity might help ce-
sistance is 1 (from thick ment your troupe’s bond.”
robes). The dog’s bite will Bill puts 1 WP into the troupe
get through with 1 Effort to coffer. This is what we call applause:
spare. Andrew (playing Tirza) the GM claps for the cast’s performance.
wants to boost his Resistance. He Bill asks the players if anyone has an ini-
could try to dodge in reaction to tiative edge. Ian declares that Mouse is using
the dog’s attack. This is a reflexive his Marksmanship perk to gain an initiative edge
action, performed in reaction to with his gun. Since nobody else — including the
an attack, so he can do it even dogs — has an edge, he gets to act first.
though it’s not yet his turn in David: “Hold on there. I’m going to step in and
the initiative order. hit the dog. I want to chase it away before
Andrew says that Tirza will Mr. Trigger Finger here harms it.”
definitely dodge. Tirza devotes Ian: “But I’ve got the edge.”
her action stance to Defense David: “Yes, but Tyrzith is a
(this gives her +1 Defense even if Brother Battle. I can interrupt with
her roll fails). Her goal is 7; she rolls an 11: a miss. a combat action so long as you haven’t acted
Her Resistance is now 2, from her robes and her yet.”
defensive stance, but the dog has 2 Effort — 2 will Ian: “Jeez. Not fair.”
cancel her Resistance and still allow its bite to deliver Bill asks David to describe just what he’s doing.
base impact. David: “Tyrzith strides over to the dog and swings
Andrew does have another remaining option for one of his middle limbs at it.” (Vorox have six limbs.
boosting Tirza’s Resistance: she can use her sole surge Tyrzith stands on two, leaving the other four free.)
to get 1 WP. She can spend that to gain +2 Defense. Bill asks him to roll.
David (playing Tyrzith) interjects: “Hold on. Tyr- David chooses to devote his action stance to Preci-
zith will inspire Tirza.” Tyrzith is a priest with the In- sion: he’s winding up for a backhanded slap. His goal
spiring perk. This allows him to grant someone 1 VP.

10
for a Fight-skill strike maneuver is 12. He rolls a 6, a
success that gives him 2 Effort.
The dog’s Body Resistance is 1. Tyrzith cancels the
Resistance and has 1 Effort remaining. His fist deliv-
ers 2 points of damage , plus 1 more for the 1 Effort.
David: “I don’t want to hurt him, just scare him. I’m
hoping he’ll take the hint and run. I’ll use 1 Effort to
restrain the damage by 1.”
Bill: “He takes 1 damage then.”
Ian (playing Mouse): “I fry him. I’m shooting him
with my laser pistol.”
David (speaking as Tyrzith): “Violence shatters the at-
tacker as well as the attacked.”
Ian: “Oh, go preach to a peasant. I fire!” He choos-
es Precision for his stance, squinting one eye as he
draws a bead with his gun’s sight, giving him +2 to
his goal. His modified goal is 12. He rolls a 16, a miss.
“Damn it!”
Bill: “Okay, since nobody else has an edge, Ian gets
to nominate who acts next.”
Ian (turning to Nydia): “Why don’t you take a crack
at it?”
Nydia (playing Vinkur): “Hell yes. That thing is going
down. I draw my medium revolver and fire.” She de-
votes her stance to Precision: she’s aiming for a vital
spot (and doesn’t want to miss like Ian did). Her goal
is 14. She rolls a 13, which succeeds with 3 Effort.
Bill: “Okay, your shot hits. It’s got a Body Resis-
tance of 1.”
Nydia cancels the dog’s Resistance and has 2 Effort
leftover, increasing her damage by 2.
Bill: “Your bullet hits, delivering 7 damage.”
Nydia: “Do I kill it?”
Bill has been tallying the damage against the dog’s
Vitality. It has 10 Vitality but has suffered a total of 8
wounds (7 from Nydia, 1 from David). “It yelps and
whines as blood spurts from the bullet wound, but it’s
still up.”
Nydia: “Darn it. Oh, well.” She turns to Tim (play-
ing Oliverus). “Your turn.”
Tim: “If I brandish my sword at it, can I scare it
away?”
Bill: “Sure. That would be an influence attempt.
I’ll let you use either Impress or Animalia, plus Pres-
ence.”
Tim does some addition and realizes his goal would
be 11 if he used his Impress skill or 7 if he used An-
imalia. Obviously, he opts for his commanding de-
meanor. He chooses Precision for his stance, judging
his timing for just the right moment to wave his sword,
raising his goal to 13, and rolls a 3. It’s a success, earn-
ing him 1 Effort.
Bill: “The dog’s Mind Resistance is 0, so you put it
into a Spooked state for its next turn. It will probably
break away and run into the woods, and the other two
dogs look like they’ll follow it.”
The turn ends, as does the combat.
11
 Converting from 4th Edition
Initiative: GM Interrupt
All the traits in the streamlined rules are the same as
in 4th edition, as presented in the Character Book,
except for Surge (as noted in the previous chapter).
When a GM uses an interrupt to allow an NPC to

Victory Points = FX
act, instead of paying the player who was interrupted
with 1 VP from the well, that player’s character gets
an initiative edge for the next round (that round only).
The general rule is:

2 VP in 4th edition = 1 streamlined VP, which

you spend for a specific FX: Defense, Effort,
or Precision
For example, see the Result chart on p. 27 of the
Character Book. Spending 2 VP on impact gives
you a Good result, spending 4 gives you a Better
result, and spending 6 gives you the Best result. In
streamlined, you’d substitute:
1 Effort = Good
2 Effort = Better
3 Effort = Best
Example: The psychic power Brain Blast allows you
to spend VP to inflict a state onto your victim. For 2 VP
you could choose Fatigued or Hindered. In streamlined,
that would instead require 1 Effort.
Perks
Below are some suggested rules for converting specific
perks. Refer to the full perk descriptions in the Char-
acter Book for preconditions and flavor text.
Clearly, you only need to worry about these special-
ized rules if your character has the perk.
ATTUNE FETISH
• It costs 1 VP (spent when you choose your action
stance) to use a fetish rated higher than your Psi
rating.
• Weapon fetish: You can “spend” your movement ac-
tion for that turn to instead gain +1 VP to spend for
a specific FX; this applies only to the next attack
made with the fetish (although this attack can be
held until a later turn).
• Armor fetish: You can “spend” your movement ac-
tion for that turn to instead gain +1 Defense; this

Resistance
applies only to the next attack made against you.
• Energy shield fetish: You can “spend” your move-
ment action for that turn to instead activate your
All the Resistance values listed in 4th edition are shield against an attack that does not meet its min-
halved (round up). Hence, Resistance 5 becomes Re- imum damage threshold.
sistance 3. • Tool fetish: You can “spend” your movement action
for that turn to instead gain +1 Precision; this ap-
4th edition Streamlined plies only to the next skill roll you make with the
2 Easy 1 Resistance tool.
• If a fetish is destroyed, a new item (of at least su-
4 Hard 2 Resistance perior quality) can take its place after you spend
6 Tough 3 Resistance at least 24 hours with it; you then spend 1 WP to
8 Demanding 4 Resistance seal the bond.
10 Severe 5 Resistance
BANKSTER
12 Herculean 6 Resistance
14 Miraculous 7 Resistance Once per scene per level, as a primary action, you can
give another character an exchange of confidence: a
consenting nod of approval, a thumbs-up, or an “at-
taboy.” They must be able to see or hear you and be
willing to accept your offer. They gain 2 VP to spend
on their action stance on their turn.

12

RESISTANCE BONUSES
Halve (round up) any Resistance bonus award-
ed by a perk. For instance, Noble Rank awards
+2 Mind Resistance per perk; this would in-
stead be +1 Mind Resistance.
For perks that award +1 Resistance (such as
Badges of Merit and Valor), this bonus instead
becomes +1 Defense for relevant defensive ac-
tions (in the case of the Badges, this would be
influence defense maneuvers).
By the end of the act, they must pay it back by per-
forming an action for your benefit. It can be something
you request (“Please shoot that guard over there”) or
something they chose but which clearly squares their
debt to you (such as shoving you out of the way of an
oncoming brute cart). Failure to pay puts the debtor
in the Penalized state until they either pay up, shake
off the state, or the drama comes to an end.
BATTLE SENSE
You gain one bonus surge that can be used once per
act, and that bonus surge gives you 2 WP.
CALCULATING
Calculated risk: Once per act, you can take out a wyrd
point loan. You can take an amount of WP based on
your level:
Level WP Loan
1–2 1 10
3–4 2 You choose which FX to drain and when to do it.
5–6 3 You might take Precision from their stance and Effort
7–8 4 from their die roll or Defense from their dodge action.
9–10 5 You can’t drain more than they have or gain during
You can choose to take less than you’re allowed.
Write down the number of WP you took. You can re-
pay this loan at any point by putting the amount you
took back into the well. You can repay using unspent
WP from the loan or from your own personal pool,
or even from the troupe coffer (should your troupe
mates allow it). The WP you spend to gain wyrd ef-
fects, such as favorability on a roll, don’t count toward
this debt.
Should the scene end with you still owing any WP,
you suffer a -2 goal penalty to all social rolls (for in-
fluence or defense) for the next scene equal to the
amount of WP you owe.
Example: You take a calculated risk and take out a
loan of 3 WP. You decide to repay 2 of those two turns
later, and then spend the other one while using influence
against a local lord. Your insult causes the lord to storm
out of the room, ending the scene. You have no WP left,
but you owe a 1 WP debt. This results in a -2 penalty
on social rolls during the next scene, as you fail to con-
ceal your cold and calculating nature.
You might appeal to your troupe to take a WP from the
troupe coffer, but if they say no or if it’s empty, you suffer the
consequences.
CAN’T YOU TAKE A JOKE?
Once per act, you can gain prank protection. For the du-
ration of the act, you gain +3 Defense against a single at-
tack or influence attempt by a person who has been the
butt of your pranks. You can use the bonus a number of
times equal to your level. (At 4th level, you can use the
bonus four times during the act.) At the end of the act, or
once all uses have been made, the protection goes away.
CONDEMN
Once per scene per level, you can remove a declared
type of action effect from someone’s next action. You
drain a number of that FX from the target based on
your level:
Level FX
1–3 1
4–6 2
7–9 3
4
their turn. You can take it at any step in the sequence
of play, but you can’t retroactively drain it. If your
target succeeded in a roll due to a Precision bonus,
you can’t drain it once it’s been used for the roll (but
you can drain it before the roll).
Example: Manager Carlyle (level 4) Condemns Dame
Brody. On her turn, she tries to strike him with her ra-
pier. She chooses Precision as her stance, reinforced by
her masterwork rapier; she now has 2 Precision. Carlyle
can drain 2 FX. He takes all her Precision.
The same person cannot be Condemned more than
once per scene.
13

COMBAT SPECIALTIES
Convert the Fencing, Marksmanship, and
Martial Arts perks like so:
ADEPT, GALLANT, SHARPSHOOTER
• You no longer need to spend 1 VP to gain one
of your benefits. Instead, choose which one
you’re using when you declare your turn’s ac-
tion stance. (If you’re claiming initiative edge,
do that at the beginning of the round.)
• +2 goal becomes +1 Precision
• +2 Resistance becomes +1 Defense
GUNSLINGER, MASTER,
SWASHBUCKLER
• For the bonus primary actions (i.e., honor-
able strike, penalizing strike, etc.), the target’s
Resistance is lowered by an amount equal
to half (round down) of your damage.
DANGER SENSE
Once per scene, as a primary action, you can become
vigilant. While you are vigilant, your instinctual per-
ception is increased by 3.
If you suffer any of the following states, you lose
your vigilance and cannot regain it until you’re no
longer affected by the state: Berserk, Dazed, Dis-
oriented, Dying, Euphoric, Heedless, Mesmerized,
Reckless, Stunned, or Unconscious.
DAREDEVIL
While piloting a vessel or craft, you may call upon your
inner calm or chant a prayer to a saint as a primary
action. Roll Pilot (or Drive) + Faith. Effort generated
from this roll becomes VP for your daredevil coffer.
You can apply your daredevil VP each turn to ac-
tions related to the piloting situation at hand or to
defend against attacks that target your vehicle. For
example, you might use it for Precision to avoid in-
coming missiles, as Defense to dodge rubble from a
collapsing tower, or as Effort for getting your engine
to run just a tiny bit faster to catch up to your target.
Example: Captain Marla prays to St. Paulus for
deliverance from the pirates pursuing her explorer. She
makes her Pilot + Faith roll (13 goal) and succeeds
with an 11. This gives her 3 VP for her daredevil coffer,
which she can use however she likes each turn, so long
as it involves flying her ship.
14
Once the situation is resolved (the battle is over; the
pursuer has been outdistanced or shaken) or the cur-
rent scene ends, you lose the daredevil coffer.
DELIVERANCE
Once per act, if you take Vitality damage that would
kill you, you can utter a prayer that instead recovers
Vitality equal to your highest Force characteristic rat-
ing plus your level.
Example: Sergeant Min’s highest Force characteristic
is Strength 8, and she is 2nd level. When she uses this
perk, she regains 10 Vitality.
This does not count against your number of allowed
surges.
ENLIGHTENED
Once per drama, you gain 1 WP per every 2 levels.
Level WP
1–2 1
3–4 2
5–6 3
7–8 4
9–10 5
FENCING
See the Combat Specialties sidebar.
GAMBLER
Once per scene per level, just before you make a roll,
you can make a bet that it will succeed. If it does in-
deed succeed, you gain +2 VP. If it fails, your next
action is Penalized.
GOSPEL
By devoting your action stance to singing a holy hymn,
you can provide “heart” against deleterious mental
and social states. You must have the Performing Arts
Lore (Song) capability. For each rank you have in the
Perform skill, one listener is affected. Those affected
enter a state of Epiphany for the remainder of the
scene, but only so long as you keep singing. (This is
a secondary action, although it’s interrupted if you
take damage that exceeds your Endurance rating.)
They gain +2 Defense to Mind and Spirit Resistance
15
 against unwanted states. (This bonus combines with
most others.)
HEDGE FUND
Once per scene as a primary action, you may create a
hedge fund coffer. Roll Focus + Wits. Effort gained from
the roll goes into the coffer as VP.
For each action you take thereafter, remove 1 VP
from your hedge fund coffer and apply it to your ac-
tion. Once the coffer is empty, your hedge fund is dis-
solved. (You can’t create a new one until the first one
is gone.) At the end of a scene, if there are any VP left
in the coffer, they go away.
IMBUE TABERNACLE
A tabernacle acts as a VP bank. You may use VP
“charged” into it to empower your occult powers, so
long as the item is on your person. Each tabernacle is
either imbued for psychic power or theurgic rites, but
not both. A psychic can use a psychic tabernacle but
not a theurgy tabernacle, and vice versa.
You charge your tabernacle by spending an hour
in ceremony then rolling Focus + Intuition or Will
(whichever is highest). Effort gained on the roll goes
into the tabernacle as VP. Your tabernacle’s VP
limit is equal to your current Psi or Theurgy rating.
(If you have Psi 4, your tabernacle can hold up to 4
VP.) Once a tabernacle’s stored VP has been used
up, you can recharge it with another hour-long cer-
emony.
This perk must be gained separately for psychic tab-
ernacles and theurgy tabernacles.
IMPERIOUS
Once per scene, you may, as a secondary action, as-
sume a regal bearing and imperious mien to shield
yourself from a single influence attempt or occult
power. You gain 1 Defense per level against that at-
tack.
INCITE PASSION
When you incite passion, you gain a number of WP
equal to your highest Spirit characteristic (Faith, In-
tuition, or Presence). Keep these in a separate passion
coffer, away from your other wyrd points.
You can draw from this coffer toward the achieve-
ment of your goal: rescuing your lady love, trounc-
ing your rival, saving the village from evil, etc. At
the end of the scene, so long as your passion is still
unresolved (your lady love is not yet rescued, etc.),
16
refill the coffer. Once you have achieved your de-
sire, or the act ends without a resolution, the coffer is
dissolved (any unspent WP go away). If, Pancreator
forbid, your desire is irrevocably thwarted (your love
dies, the village is destroyed), you are Penalized as a
chronic state until therapy can relieve your passion-
ate grief.
You may have only one passion coffer at a time.
INDEPENDENT
Once per scene, you may exert your freedom from
control against a single influence action or an occult
power. You gain 1 Defense per level against that at-
tack.
INGENIOUS
Once per scene, you can reap extra reward from a
single successful roll for a primary action: Effort you
gain from that roll can be converted into wyrd points
like so:
Effort WP
1 1 WP
3 2 WP
5 3 WP
Example: Ensign Malone works to befriend a noble
at the local watering hole and gets 3 Effort on his roll.
He converts these into 2 WP.
INSPIRING
Your behavior and sermons are an inspiration to
others. Once per scene per your level as a secondary
action (even when it’s not your turn in the initiative
queue) you can bless someone with 1 VP. This costs
you nothing; the VP is generated through mutual
faith, confidence, or the Pancreator’s grace, howev-
er you want to look at it. As your personal pilgrim-
age through life gathers steps, your beneficence also
grows: At 4th level, you can grant 2 VP, then 3 VP at
7th level, and 4 VP at 10th.)
All affected troupe members must be able to either
see or hear you (and vice versa), although distance
doesn’t matter — you can even Inspire over a vid- or
holo-transmission.
Also, once per scene, you can take 1 WP from the
troupe coffer to give to a troupe member without re-
quiring a vote. You can do this even if a vote has pre-
vented that member from taking from the coffer.
KEY SIGNATURE
Once per scene, as a primary action, you can sing to
set a tempo for your friends. Those troupe members
who can hear you each gain 1 VP on their turn for
each round that you maintain your singing. If you en-
ter combat or sing for another purpose (such as the
Harmonize perk), the effect ends.
LONG CON
Once per scene, you may open a long-con coffer as a
primary action. This coffer holds 1 VP. For the rest of
the scene, each time you generate Effort from a roll,
your long-con coffer gains +1 VP, up to a maximum
equal to your level. As a secondary action on any turn
in the scene, you may apply all VP from the coffer
to a single action and then remove the coffer. If you
still have the coffer at the end of a scene, it goes away,
along with all its stored VP. You can have only one
long-con coffer at any given time.
LOYALTY UNTO DEATH
Once per act, you may give a rousing speech in front
of your troops or your troupe, urging them to follow
you until death, if necessary. Giving the speech takes
at least one minute and requires a successful rouse ac-
tion against your units. The Resistance for this roll is
the highest Mind Resistance amongst your unit com-
manders or your troupe mates (who can choose to put
up no Resistance).
Effort from the roll goes into a courage coffer. If the
targets were in your troupe, add 1 Effort per troupe
member. The coffer is then locked. Each turn until
the end of the scene, you can dole out the coffer’s Ef-
fort to members of your troop who can see or hear
you. At the end of the scene, the coffer goes away. You
can have only one courage coffer at a time.
Example: Commander Chavez, devoting his stance to
Effort, rouses his troupes and gains 3 VP on his roll.
This goes into his courage coffer, along with the 1 Effort
from his stance. Two of his troupe mates are among the
ranks; each adds 1 more for a total of 6 Effort. Each
turn until the end of the scene, he can dole this amount
out to individual troupe members for use during their
turns that round. He might give 1 to a bowman, 2 to a
sharpshooter, and 3 to a troupe member.
Additionally, each ally who is Roused by your speech
is also put into the Courageous state. While in this
state, they are immune to mild fearful states, such as
Afraid or Daunted. They also gain +1 Mind Resis-
tance against influence or occult powers that could
leave them Terrified.
MARKSMANSHIP
See the Combat Specialties sidebar.
MARTIAL ARTS
See the Combat Specialties sidebar.
MONEY MANAGER
Once per scene, you may establish a general-funds coffer
to aid your troupe mates and/or associates/employees.
As a primary action, make a convince roll (Charm +
Wits) to demonstrate that your managerial skills are
worthy of their complete trust. The Resistance for this
roll is the highest Mind Resistance amongst your cho-
sen targets (who can choose to put up no Resistance).
You can affect one person per your level.
Effort from the roll goes into the coffer and becomes
a VP pool; the coffer is then locked. Each turn until
the end of the scene, you can dole out the coffer’s VP
to other individuals who can see or hear you; they
can use your funds transfer on their turns that round.
At the end of the scene, the coffer goes away. You can
have only one general funds coffer at a time.
Example: Reeve Malinda Chandra, devoting her
stance to Effort, establishes a general funds coffer and
gains 3 Effort on her roll, which goes into the coffer,
along with her stance’s 1 Effort, to become 4 VP. Each
turn until the end of the scene, she can dole this amount
out to individuals of her choice for use during their turns
that round. She might give 2 to her bodyguard (who
uses them as 2 Effort) and the other 2 to a pickpocket in
her employ (who uses them as 2 Precision).
NIMBLE
When you devote your stance to Defense, you gain +2
additional Defense against a single attack against you
until your next turn.
The drawback is that you don’t gain this perk’s ben-
efit if you’re wearing combat- or war-grade armor or
a spacesuit, nor does it apply if you’re wearing any
civilian-grade armor that levies a Dexterity or Vigor
penalty (such as stiffsynth). If you’re overloaded with
gear, such as an expedition pack and accoutrements
for a wilderness hike, you likewise forfeit this perk’s
discount.
17
 NOBLESSE OBLIGE
Through spoken decree, as a primary action, you can
lend the VP from your action stance to aid the social
influence actions of a non-noble character. They can
use the VP instead of you.
You can do this a total number of times per scene
equal to your level. Each use lasts for one round,
during which you can divvy up your stance’s VP
among any present non-noble characters in any com-
bination.
PARAGON OF ORDER
Choose a purpose fitting for your chosen order’s rea-
son for being. Once per scene, if your planned action
can be tied to furthering your purpose, you gain WP
based on your Faith rating:
PERFECT PITCH
You can memorize any song, poem, or play after hear-
ing it once. You are able to replicate it after just a few
minutes of practice. When you use it in a Perform skill
action, you can spend 1 VP from your action stance
to draw on your memory. Roll 1d20: 1–10 = you gain
favorability on the roll; 11–20 = the roll is normal.
PETITION
Once per act, a single surge you use awards you 1
WP per your Intuition ranks. (If your Intuition is 6,
you gain 6 WP.) However, you must give at least half
of these converted WP to the troupe coffer within the
same round in which you received them. If you don’t
do this, you are Penalized for the remainder of the
scene.

Faith WP PROXY
1–3 1
Once per scene, you can designate someone as your
4–6 2 “proxy” or “champion.” They act on your behalf,
7–9 3 making all the decisions in the arena for which they
10 4 have been empowered (a duel, the agora, etc.). As a
primary action, you can give them the VP you gain
from your action stance. To do so, you must be pres-
ent, within sight and hearing.

18
RESILIENT
Once per scene, when damage is inflicted onto you,
you can cancel some or all of it: 1 point of damage
per your Vigor skill.
SHEPHERD OF THE FLOCK
As Money Manager, but you can substitute entreat or
rouse for the roll and it applies only to your troupe or
to those to whom you directly minister on a regular
basis.
STEADY HAND
As per Incite Passion, but use the highest Mind char-
acteristic (Perception, Will, or Wits) for your steady-
hand coffer. The coffer goes away at the end of the
scene.
STRATEGIC MIND
On your turn, you can spend VP from your stance to
shout some orders to change plans. You may nudge
an ally’s next die result up or an enemy’s next die re-
TAXES
The first time in a scene that a PC or NPC uses De-
fense against your influence attempt, you gain 1 WP.
At the end of the scene, if this WP hasn’t been spent,
it goes away.
TEND THE FLOCK
Once per act, you may designate a number of people
equal to your Faith as your “flock.” Once per scene
when you are present, any time a member of your
flock uses a surge, they gain 2 WP instead of 1.
UNTOUCHABLE
Once per act, you may declare yourself untouchable
as a primary action. For the rest of the scene in which
you declared this, you are “above the law,” figurative-
ly speaking. PCs and NPCs who attack you cannot
spend VP for Precision or use Effort to improve their
impact. They can, however, still apply Effort to over-
come your Resistance or use Defense against your
attacks.

Skills
sult down by 2 per VP you devote. This doesn’t affect
the goal number; instead, it affects the actual number
rolled on the die. This perk may only be used against
the same target once per scene.
FIGHT
SWIMMING WITH SHARKS
GRAPPLE MANEUVER
Once per scene, you may take a “loan” as a second- In 4th edition, once you have a hold of your target, on
ary action. When you do so, collect an amount of successive turns you can spend VP to inflict damage
WP from the well based on your Charm, Impress, or or other effects without rolling. In streamlined, you
Knavery skill rating (choose only one): can spend your action’s stance VP for Effort, which
then becomes damage.
Skill WP
1–3 1 COMBAT
4–6 2 RESTRAINT
7–9 3 You can reduce your attack’s basic/weapon damage
10 4 by 1 dmg per 1 Effort.

Place them in a shark coffer. You can spend freely from

this coffer until it is empty or the scene ends. At the end
of the scene, you must return 1 WP to the well. Should
you not have enough WP to pay this debt (whether
from the shark coffer, your own reserves, or the troupe
coffer), you gain the Penalized state. You can pay off
this 1 WP debt at any point; when it’s fully paid off, re-
move the Penalized state. You can have only one shark
coffer at a time and you can’t create a new one until
you’ve paid any debt from a previous one.

19
 The Occult
Activating/Casting a Power
In 4 th edition, it costs 1 VP to activate an occult
power. In the streamlined rules, it instead re-
quires you to spend 1 VP from your action stance
to activate/cast the power. That is, instead of
spending VP for an action effect, you spend it to
use your power. (If you’ve got a reinforced or spe-
cialty stance, you can use those extra VP however
you like.)
The same is true for powers that allow you keep the
power active per turn by spending 1 VP.
Example: Lifting Hand allows you to keep the
power going by spending 1 VP. Moving your lift-
ed object then only requires a secondary action on
your turn; your primary action can be used for
something else (such as trying to command some-
one or shooting them). However, you must spend 1
VP from your action stance to maintain Lifting
Hand. If you have a reinforced or specialty stance
(gained at levels 3+), you can use the extra VP to
modify your primary command or shoot (or what-
ever) action.
ELEMENTAL POWERS/CHARISMS
In 4th edition, these don’t require rolls, just VP ex-
penditure. In streamlined, you can either spend 1 VP
from your stance to activate an elemental power or
substitute your move action (i.e., you can’t move while
activating).
Occult Impact
In 4th edition, you spend VP to improve your impact.
In the streamlined rules, you apply Effort. The con-
version rate is as listed above (under “Victory Points =
FX”: 1 Effort stands in for 2 VP).
This is especially true with occult powers, where
many of the really good effects require improved im-
pact. The default impact is stated in the power de-
scriptions, as well as how much VP it costs to get bet-
20
ter effects. Simply convert 2 VP to 1 Effort and you’ll
know how much improved impact you get.
Some effects might cost only 1 VP. In this case, it
still requires 1 Effort.
Example: For the Laying On Hands rite, you can
heal 2 Vitality on someone per 1 VP, or 1 Vitality on
yourself for 1 VP. In the streamlined rules, this is simply
1 Vitality per 1 Effort, regardless of whether it’s cast on
someone else or yourself.
Wyrd Force
Since attack properties are weaker in the streamlined
rules, it’s best to just leave wyrd force out of the game.
Psychic Powers
CRUSHING HAND
See the modified rules, above, for the Fight-skill grap-
ple maneuver.
FAR WALL
You get one shield activation plus 2 per 1 Effort you
apply to impact.
Urge: The Dark Twin
When the Dark Twin first awakens or is brought forth,
it gains 1 WP, as if it just used a surge. It henceforth
has its own wyrd-point pool that persists even when
it’s dormant. You cannot use your Dark Twin’s WP,
but it can sometimes use yours. (Exception: You can
make a “deal with the Devil”: use 1 WP from your
Twin’s bank; this awakens the Twin.)
You can resist your Twin’s Urge power by spending
1 VP from your stance. This cancels its power before
it can take effect.
SPIRIT DRAIN
The Twin attempts to drain your wyrd points to add
them to its own pool. 1 WP per 2 Effort.