Introduction

Legendfall is a strategy tabletop role-playing game about adventuring through a world of legends and villains. It’s about co-creating a universe through the journeys and decisions your characters make. When you open your first Legendfall Origin pack, your character is born: you could be an altruistic elven swashbuckler, an impulsive dwarven gladiator, an empathic halfling smuggler, and many more--there are over 21,000 starting character combinations. As a strategy game, players have the ability to craft a unique character, with a unique set of abilities, and tweak and adjust that character as they grow. As a roleplaying game, players walk the journey of a hero in a harsh world filled with corruption and redemption.

Choose your Storyteller

Your Storyteller is your narrator and guide, helping each of the other key roles in Legendfall do their jobs. They are the glue that ties things together. Unlike other tabletop RPG’s, the Storyteller does not control the monsters!

Character Creation

Your GM provides you with a single pack of cards called an Origin Pack. This gives you an assortment of cards that lay the foundation for a character. It’s everything you need to play. As you look through your pack, look for cards labeled: race, background, and trait. Let the other players know what you got (e.g., “I’ve got an Elf Mastermind Smuggler”). Don't worry about trying to understand what these cards do at this stage, you will learn that later. You can keep the first character you open or trade characters with other players. If you are familiar with games like D&D, you can think of this as a pre-generated character. For your first game, starting with the cards directly out of your Origin pack is an easy way to start.

Your First Encounter

Put your weapons, armor, and race cards face up on the table (“in play”). The rest of the cards are your deck; they start face down. You will draw from these each turn.

Your First Turn

Not sure what to do your first turn? Moving and attacking an enemy is a great place to start:

1. Look at your armor to see how many squares you can move. Move towards an enemy counting your squares of movement. Moving in any direction (including diagonal) counts as one square of movement.

2. Choose one of your weapons and attack by following the rules on the card. Attacks automaticaly hit unless something is done in response to prevent it. Legendfall is played with six-sided dice, henceforth referred to as a d6. Your weapon requires you to roll 1d6. If you see “make a high roll”, it means you roll 1d6 and roll 4, 5, or 6.

3. At the end of your turn, draw 1 card from your deck.

Defending Against Attacks

When you're under attack, your armor comes in handy. Read your armor card. If there is a Defense value, reduce damage dealt to you by that amount. A character only has one defense at any given time. If an ability grants you a higher defense than your current defense, defer to the highest value.

Role-playing

Legendfall is a collaborative role-playing game. Do your best to think from your characters perspective as you fight alongside your party. A player might shout, “Lerik, let’s flank the big guy.” If someone jumps in to help you, say thank you and remember to use their character name. Talking "in character" takes time to learn. You don't have to talk using your characters voice in order to role-play; you can describe what your character is feeling and doing: "Kirin looks with vengeful eyes at the big wolf who just took a bite out of Lerik."

Your Next Turns

In addition to moving a number of squares equal to the "Move" value on your armor, you can take three other actions in a round: one standard action (e.g., use your weapon), one swift action, and one immediate action. Immediate actions can be used anytime, even during your opponents turn; you can say: “Before that happens, I use an immediate action.” (A deeper exploration can be found in Actions, page 3).

The vast majority of the rules in Legendfall are baked into each characters cards. If your confused or unsure at anytime about what something means, ask your GM. Listen and learn when others ask also.

On your next turns, here are a few things to try:

• Use an ability card you drew from your deck. Pay attention to what type of action it uses (e.g., standard, swift, or immediate). Remember, you get one of each action each turn. Most ability cards are put in your discard pile after being used.

• Move. Attack. And move again. Sometimes the best way to stay safe is to attack and then move somewhere safe.

• Team up with an ally and fight side by side or back to back (it's the safest way to fight).

• Try to use an immediate action during an ally or enemie's turn. Try to think of a moment when you can say, ”Before that happens, I...”

Your limit of one standard, swift, and immediate action restarts at the beginning of your turn. If you've used all your actions, you'll need to wait a full round for them to refresh. If you try to draw a card but there are no cards left in your deck: shuffle and turn your discard back into your deck.

When the Encounter Ends

At the end of each encounter put your hand and discard on top of your deck and shuffle them. If your party has an opportunity to rest between now and the next encounter, you'll also regain all hitpoints and gain experience.

Leveling Up

Leveling up is about growing your character, gaining new abilities, and becoming a better teammate. Each time you gain a level you add new cards to your deck via Class Packs. When you reach the 3rd level, you can optimize your character further by removing some of the basic starting cards from your deck.

Gaining Experience

When you complete an encounter, your GM will give you one or more experience cards. You can spend your experience between encounters to level up by simply handing experience cards totaling to the experience cost required for your next level to your GM. See the Leveling Table below.

How to Level Up

Each time your character levels up, you may open a new Class Pack of your choice. The table below outlines the leveling progression and some Level Abilities gained at each level. For example, at 1st level you only Draw 1 card at the end of each turn, at 4th level you begin to draw 2 cards at end of turn instead.

If you forget your level, you can figure it out by counting your ability cards and referencing the Leveling Table.

Class Packs

Each time you level up you open a new Class Pack and add it to your deck (5 new ability cards). Legendfall isn't made to force you to buy hundreds of packs. GMs are encouraged to make their own resealable packs as they recycle old characters for future play.

Choosing Your Class

Each class suits a unique style of play. Choose a class that aligns with how you want to play.

• Rogue (Fighter / Ninja) - Melee focused, Rogues aim to make big strikes and then fade into the shadows. While they have a talent for avoiding damage, their abilities come at a great cost to their own life force. Rogues flank their opponents and make aggressive assaults, depending on invisibility, their defensive abilities, and an occasional heal from an ally to stay alive.

• Warden (Ranger / Druid) - Ranged focused, Wardens rely on arrows and animal companions to get the job done. While their summoned beasts take the heat of battle, they provide both ranged support and healing to ensure their allies thrive.

• Vitalist (Monk / Cleric) - Melee focused, Vitalists are masters of life, death, and melee fist and foot combat. Vitalists manipulate the life energies of those around them with their strikes, both damaging enemies and healing allies in the same stride.

• Sage (Wizard / Warlock) - Ranged magic focused, Sages are master wizards, manipulating the energies and environment of the world around them. Devastating energy attacks, mind control, and powerful artifacts are their bread and butter.

• Marshal (Paladin / Bard) - Melee focused, Marshals are specialists in protecting their allies and manipulating crowds of enemies. When needed, Marshals are willing to sacrifice themselves to keep the heat off their allies. Marshals have a talent for defense that keeps them and others alive.

Customizing Your Deck

For the first two levels of the game, you use every card you open from your packs. Starting at third level, you will have enough cards to start to exclude cards from your deck--so long as you keep the minimum number of cards outlined below. By excluding cards, you can adapt your character to meet your playstyle and increase the likelihood of drawing the cards you prefer.

Leveling Table

LevelExperience CostLevel AbilitiesMax HPMinimum Cards in DeckTotal Ability Cards1st0Origin Pack, Draw 1 (End-of-turn)11662nd200Class Pack, Draw 2 during initiative1211113rd400Class Pack, Customize Your Deck1313164th600Class Pack, Draw 3 during initiative1416215th700Class Pack, Draw 2 (End-of-turn)1521266th800Class Pack, Draw 4 during initiative1621317th800Class Pack, 1 Accessory Starts in Play1726368th1000Class Pack, Draw 5 during initiative1826419th1000Class Pack, 2 Accessories Start in Play19304610th1000Class Pack, Draw 6 during initiative203051

Actions

As you begin to become more serious about Legendfall, the ability to optimzie your actions each turn becomes increasingly important. This section aims to take you a layer deepr into the nuances of each of the action types and how they work in a variety of situations. Don't feel overwhelmed as you read this section, many of these rules are advanced and will be brought up by your GM exclusively when their needed later in the game.

Action Types

• Standard Actions - Each character may take one standard action during their turn. If a player doesn't have a standard action card in their hand, they can make a standard attack with one of their weapons. A player may always sacrifice their standard action in exchange for an additional move, swift, or immediate action.

• Move Actions - Each character may move during their turn. Typically a player may move a number of squares (including diagonals) as is marked on their armor. A character wearing no armor may move up to 7 squares during their turn. Characters may move through allies squares as if that ally we’re not there, but they may not move through enemy squares. A player may not end their turn standing in a square shared by an enemy or allie. Moving through water or climbing costs additional movement. (See Difficult Terrain, page 5). A player can take other actions in the middle of their movement. For example, move 3 squares, use a standard action to heal an ally, and move another 4 squares.

• Swift Actions - Each character may take one swift action during their turn. These are typically quick support abilities.

• Immediate Actions - Each character may take one immediate action per-round during another player or enemies turn. These are often disruptive or life-saving abilities. A player may choose to use their immediate action during their own turn if they so choose.

• Free Actions - Players may take an unlimited number of free actions. Some free actions are labeled as “Free Immediate” to clarify that they may be played during another player or an opponents turn.

Attacking

In Legendfall all attacks are assumed to hit unless the character you are attacking does something (e.g., uses an ability) or there are circumstances in the combat that might cause a player to miss (e.g., a dense fog covers the battlefield, you must roll high to hit). Attacks follow a simple pattern:

1. ** Choose a target and announce your attack.** Pick an enemy within the reach of your attack. Melee attacks typically require you to be adjacent to the enemy. Ranged attacks specify their range on the card.

2. Pause for reactions. Allow for enemies or allies to take actions in response to your attempt to attack (e.g., take an immediate move action).

3. Roll damage. Roll damage dice as described in the attack.

4. Pause for reactions Many immediate actions manipulate or modify damage after it has been rolled.

5. Resolve damage and defence. Subtract defence from the attack damage and apply any other effects.

Zoe: “I’m attacking the dark knight who just hurt Dina, I’ll use my short sword.”Dina: “That guy is going down! Before Zoe attacks I use an immediate action to summon a Giant Bird behind the dark knight--this gives Zoe an additional 1 damage on her attack.”Zoe: “By the might of the eagle I banish thee! I rolled a 6, plus one for the eagle--that’s 7 damage. Woot!”GM: “The dark knight is dealt a fearsome blow, his armor soaks 3 of your damage, but he takes 4 and falls to his knees blood gushing from his neck--he’s dead.”

Weapons & Ability Cards

Players with weapons in play may always take a standard action to use their weapon. Many standard actions in your deck will include phrases like this “Weapon damage +1”. This means that your ability is executed using your weapon. In these circumstances, you should follow the rules of both your weapon card and the card you are playing.

Zoe: “I’m going to use my Sneak Attack on the goblin, attacking with my short sword”GM: “Go for it."Zoe: “Sneak Attack lets me deal Weapon Damage + 2. My shortsword deals 1d6 damage and an additional 2 damage if I roll a 1. I just rolled a 1. So my weapon deals 3 damage and I get an extra plus two for my sneak attack. Hey, that's 5 damage--not bad!”

Refocusing & Moving

If the reaction would make the attack impossible (e.g., the target is no longer in line-of-sight), the attack is canceled. When this occurs, the attacker my use an immediate action in order to Refocus, if they do not their Standard Action is lost. After Refocusing, an attacker may choose to use any remaining movement they have and attack again.

Movement & Terrain

A player may move a number of squares as is marked on their armor. A character wearing no armor may move up to 7 squares. There are a few basic rules for how players move:

• A character may use a standard action to double their movement for the round

• Characters may not move through enemy squares

• Characters may move through allies squares

• Players may not end their turn in the same square with an ally or enemy

• Moving both horizontally and diagnally costs 1 movement.

Move, Action, Move

Players may take other actions between using their movement for the round. For example, a player might move to attack, then move around a corner to hide. Player or enemy movement may be interrupted mid-move by immediate actions. When this occurs, the remainder of that player or enemy movement may be spent after the effect is resolved.

GM: “The wolves move forward to attack you”Zoe: “When they reach this spot, I cast Ice Wall as an immediate action to block them.”GM: “The wolves are startled as huge sheets of ice slide up blocking their path, they howl and begin to circle around the ice blocks to find you, but you are too far away to attack.”

Pushing & Pulling

Many abilities specify effects like "Push 1" or "Pull 2". These effects allow you to force an enemy (or an allie) to move. The number represents the number of squares of movement they are pushed or pulled.

Push - A push effect must always move the target away from the source of the effect. At each step of the movement, the target must be one square further away from you--e.g., you can’t push an adjacent enemy into a different adjacent square.

Pull - A pull effect must always move the target towards the source of the effect. At each step of the movement, the target must be one square closer--e.g., you can’t pull an adjacent enemy into a different adjacent square.

If a character is pushed or pulled through or into a Hazard, resolve that Hazzard immediately as they enter the square.

Hazards

Hazards represent traps, fire, lava, or any other danger within the environment that a payer or enemy might find themselves moving into or through. When Hazards are triggered, this typically results in damage to the player. Hazards are triggered in two ways:

• When a player moves into a Hazard square

• When a player ends their turn in an ongoing Hazard square (e.g., lava)

Difficult Terrain

Boulders, mud, ice, are just a few of the types of difficult terrain that may slow down players. Moving into a difficult terrain square costs no additional movement, while moving through or leaving difficult terrain costs one additional movement. For example, climbing into a river would be a normal single square of movement, wading through he water would cost two squares, and then climbing out would cost two squares for a total of five squares of movement.

Swimming

Swimming follows the standard rules for difficult terrain costing one movement to enter the water, and two movement to move through or exit the water.

Climbing

If a character is attempting to climb, imagine if the wall itself is a square of difficult terrain. It takes one square of movement to move into this vertical square, and two squares of movement to move out of this square up on top of the wall. A player must end their turn standing flat on the surface they intend to climb or they fall.

Falling

If a character is standing on elevated terrain and falls, they take 1d6 damage, ignoring defense, for each square they fall. For example, a character falling from three blocks up would take 3d6 damage.

Line of Sight and Cover

Obstacles on the battlefield have a direct impact on your ability to target and hit enemies. Both players and enemies can “take cover” to avoid attacks and reduce the likelihood of taking damage.

Line of Sight

In order to target an enemy with an attack, you require a line of sight. If there is a wall directly between you and an enemy, you can’t see them, and thus can not target them with attacks. In times where it is more ambiguous whether you have a line of sight, there are some simple rules to help. As the attacker, choose a single corner of your square. If you can draw a line from that corner to at least two corners of your opponent's square without passing through a solid object, you have a line of sight. Enemies and allies between you do not block line of sight.

Cover

When you or an enemy is partially blocked by an object, another enemy, or an ally, you have a chance of missing your target and hitting something else. When you attack an enemy, choose a corner of your square. If you can draw straight lines to at least three different corners of the enemies square without passing through an object, enemy, or allie then you have a clear shot. If you can only draw two lines, you have a 50% miss chance. If you miss, proceed as if your attack was targeting whatever object, enemy or ally caused you to miss.

FAQ Questions

What does it mean to “put a counter” on a card?

Ancestry cards and many others say “Put a counter on this card.” You can use pretty much anything that will help you “count” how many times you have used this ability (we prefer a six-sided die). Counters can be added or removed, simply increment or decrement the die.

Where do cards go after they are used?

When you use a card you’ve drawn it goes into your discard pile (unless it says “Stays in play”).

What does it mean if a card says “Free”?

Some cards will say “Free” in their cost, for example: “Free Immediate” or “Free Swift”. These cards do not count against your action limit (you could use two Immediate actions in a turn if one is Free).

Items & Equipment

Equipment Starting in Play

Characters may start each encounter with any slotted equipment they have in play. For example, a player may start with their armor and weapons.

Items & Equipment Slots

A player can only have one item in play at a time for each of the following slots: head, body, feet, left hand, and right hand. Weapons and shields specify “One-handed” or “Two-handed”. A player may have two one-handed items (e.g., a sword and a shield) or may have a single two-handed item (e.g., a long-bow).

Switching Equipment

If a player has equipment in their hand and already has equipment occupying that slot in play, the player may choose one of the following as a part of playing the new equipment: (a) discard the item in play or (b) return the item in play to the player's hand.

Tilting & Refreshing

Some items and equipment have the ability to “tilt”. When you tilt an item you rotate it 90 degrees to show that it’s special ability has been expended. Tilt abilities may only be used once-per-encounter, unless they are “refreshed” by another ability; for example, Second Wind states “Refresh all items you control.”

Roleplaying

Legendfall is a collaborative game. Players get to know each other's characters and strategize. For example, a player might shout, “Elric, let’s flank the big guy.” As a general rule, each character can communicate 5-10 seconds worth of information to other characters during their turn and a few words as a free action outside their turn (e.g., “Let’s do it!”). Before players take actions they should think about how they can best collaborate and say what they need.

Metagaming

Part of the fun of Legendfall is getting into character--seeing the world through your characters eyes. Often times there is information that you as a player might know that your character might not--when you leverage that information to gain an advantage, it’s called “Metagaming”. In general, this makes the game less fun. When a player needs help learning the game and understanding the rules, you should absolutely help them. However, you should try to return to your character's perspective after doing so. In general, you should avoid looking at each others cards (e.g., “If you play that, then I can play…”) and collaborating by talking about your strategy as players, instead of characters (e.g., “Stand in this square to be safe when I...”). The game rewards players who get into their characters and think about how their character would think. Do your best to try to stay “in character” as often as you can.

The Races & History of Legendfall

Legendfall is both a game system and a game setting. You're free to adapt and evolve this "fluff" to support your own worlds and game settings. It is our hope that the Legendfall game setting will evolve and grow based on community contributions, similar to the Warhammer 40k universe. See something you like? Have an idea? Expand on it and share it with the community. Your contributions will be a major driver in the growth and evolution of the game universe.

The Metalbound

In 1751 a wizard by the name of Edward Emrick invented the power to bind souls to metal armor--a cheap substitution for a resurrection. A full suit of armor and a quality gem were all that was required (plus the fee for the wizard performing the service). This ushered in an era of accessibility to an economic class of humanoids who could never afford resurrection. Entrepreneurs began to finance binding ceremonies for the recently departed in exchange for labor. Many signed contracts for 30 or more years
in the mines, working nights while
their families slept. This seemed
a fair exchange for a class of
people who could have never
afforded resurection otherwise.

The lifestyle of the Metalbound, however, was a difficult transition for many: no sleep, no food, and the loss of all sense of touch. Some went mad. As decades passed, families living side-by-side with Metalbound kin discovered the burden of their lifestyle first hand and the trend faded. In 1767 the ability for Metalbound to own property was outlawed as fears of a middle-class of immortal property owners spread. In 1773, it was discovered that anyone in close proximity to a Metalbound would experience accelerated aging and the binding spells for the creation of Metalbound were outlawed. Many left their families to seek work in isolation, where no harm could be done.

In the three decades of the rituals popularity, thousands of Metalbound had been created. With several corporations contracting Metalbound in the hundreds, fears grew of their power being leveraged for war. The potential for them to be converted into a fighting force that does not eat, sleep, or tire struck fear. The thought of that power resting with businessmen and entreprenures heightened tensions. Even Metalbound feared their powerlesness should their contracts be called to arms. Edward Emrick, who in his old age chose to become Metalbound himself, took on a new name: Ward. He commited his life to the Metalbound as a new race of people, with their own land, their own masters. He organized hundreds, along with their families, to travel through the Rift of Ohmakai and found the first Metalbound city in 1774.

The Bloodtouched

Bloodtouched are all that remain of what was once a great line of vampires, also known as the kindred. Many of the Bloodtouched who survived The Great Hunt are so human they can even bare children and pass on their Bloodtouched traits.

The Great Hunt

During the Great Hunt in 1741, humans located and destroyed members of the Vampire Council one by one. What ensued was a crumbling of the kindred hierarchy, sending lesser kindred into hiding across all of Ghalt. As their forces dwindled many desperately attempted to sire their own reinforcements, in spite of the dead councils echoed warnings of the thinning bloodline. The most common prey were injured soldiers, or wives and children. The result was a generation of half-human vampires showing only partial vampire characteristics, most of which were abandoned when their inferiority was realized. The Great Hunt devastated the entire bloodline. All that remained was a generation of awakened vampires who showed so few characteristics they passed as humans. Feared and hated by humans, they became known as the Bloodtouched.

Those Bloodtouched who were unfortunate or unable to control their cravings were destroyed in the Great Hunt. Those who survive live their lives in the shadows. Many are mercenaries or assassins, drinking from those they are paid to kill. Others drink from cattle and horses in the night, and when insane and desperate even the rats on the streets. Most Bloodtouched who are still alive are paranoid and alert to their surroundings, for it is these traits that allowed them to survive. While many Bloodtocuched have shown visible signs of aging, no known Bloodtouched has died of old age to this day--their lifespans are unknown.

The Need to Feed

Bloodtouched can survive without blood for up to a year, but eventually become weak and sickened. While animal blood meets their physiological needs, it is deeply unsatisfying. Bloodtouched addiction to humanoid blood is a kin to opiate addiction; many have sworn off it entirely knowing the power it has over them. Those who give in find themselves constantly looking for their next fix.

The Early Settlment of Ohmakai

In 1766, many of the first explorers of Ohmakai we’re Bloodtouched seeking safehaven for their crimes in Ghalt. Some say that the Ohmakai “Boom” and the first reports of wealth and fortune came from the Bloodtouched underground. In 1769, a band of Bloodtouched set out to create the first Settlement in Ohmakai, Ironvein. The first scale Bloodranches began in Ohmakai in 1771. The import of animal blood from Ohmakai to Ghalt proved an unprofitable profession, but as rumors spread of wealth and fortune, the brothals of Ohmakai proved far more lucrative. In Bloodtouched circles to this day, fresh human blood often goes by the name “Drunk John”. Long-gone are the days of bite marks on the neck. The blood industry is far more sophisticated these days.

Leyfal

Leyfal are plant-like fey. Once isolated in the deep forests, Leyfal have been forced to deal with the expansionist human world which is slowly enveloping their lands. As children of their great treant ancestors, the leyfal are striving to find their place in this new world, some fighting for the old ways, while others accepting and joining the expanding human lands. Many have moved into human cities, but because of their awkward sizes and odd natures, Leyfal have challenges integrating with humans. Leyfal adventure in order to protect the forests of the world, to find others of their kind, to be the voice of the forests within the cities, to witness the wonders of life and to have stories for their seedlings when their limbs grow stiff and they finally set themselves to root.

Some leave their grove communities out of religious conviction, to separate themselves from the neutrality of nature to discover the good in the world. Others leave in anger for the lack of retaliation to the attacks on their forests and wildlife. For whatever reason, most leyfal adventure in hopes of making change in the world. Their care for life earns them a great deal of respect among most humanoids, although some see this compassion as weakness.

City leyfal endeavor to fit in with their human neighbors, often picking up habits that would seem juxtaposed to their nature (e.g., smoking).

Leyfal Tree Bonding

Leyfal come in as many shapes and sizes as the plants of the land they originate from. Oak, maple, pine, and even cactus.

As seedlings Leyfal are unbonded nymph like sprites. With time they begin to bond with single specise of plant and take on characteristics based on this bond. For example, oak and maple Leyfal are shorter and thicker, pine Leyfal are tall and thin, and cactus Leyfal have spine covered skin. Leyfal skin and hair resemble that of their bonded plant. Every part of the leyfal has a distinctly plantlike look that changes with the seasons as appropriate to their bonded tree. Evergreens are light green in early spring, and darken during the summer. Deciduous bonded leyfals leafy hair turns yellow, orange, or red in the fall and a dry brown in the winter.

As Old as The Land

Leyfal have been discovered to exist in every land explored, wherever there are plants, there are Leyfal. They are the only known race to be native to Ohmakai.

Solarin

Solarin are the remains of a once great cosmic order. They used to be the servant of the higher powers of righteousness and order, but after the cataclysm and the disappearance of their gods, have had to find a new place in the cosmos.