[xenopulse]

Hi I.T.,

Let me see if I can answer your questions to your satisfaction.

1) There are two ways in which weapons and other tools can work in a conflict: officially, as resources that you purchased (which are offensive to give more damage or defensive to reduce opponents' damage against you), or unofficially when you use them in the description of your action to gain a higher advantage point offer from the Challenger (see summary of dice rules below). To make it simpler: if you've paid points for them, they definitely matter; if they're Color, they can still matter if you use them right.

2) The Chel'qhuri don't fit the noble savage cliche. They are vicious and brutal, sure, but they attack merchant convoys, pillage softling villages, and so on--not much nobility there. The whole Berengad peninsula has several distinct regions, all of which were united under a foreign empire until recently. The various magical beasts are most of the magic you will encounter; the manipulable streams of magic have been exhausted in a cataclysmic battle. If you want to categorize it, low fantasy would be it.

3) There are 20 different magical beasts listed in the game. Each one confers a different power when you slay it and use its blood as ink for a ritual tattoo. Most of them are physical encounters, but that doesn't mean you can't have social or mental conflicts in the course of the hunt for that particular beast. Sometimes you'll have a social conflict with a warring tribe over whether they'll let you pass peacefully, or a mental conflict testing your resilience and drive.

4) You don't have to hunt beasts; you can make an adventure about anything you think fits with the setting. The same rules apply, just that what's at stake, instead of "do I track down the beast" is "do I make peace between these two tribes" or "do I rescue my tribemate from the enemy" or whatever. The choice of whether to make this personal or epic here really lies with you and your fellow GMs.

Here's a basic overview of how the dice system works. It's really pretty straightforward.

Players take turns. You take one action on your turn. You can activate a trait, make an offensive maneuver (to gain advantage points), make a defensive maneuver (to deny the other side advantage points), deny a resource (frex, disarm your opponent), recover a resource, achieve secondary goals, or trade advantage points for damage dice against your opponent. Inflicting enough damage to take out the other side wins you the conflict.

For offensive maneuvers, you describe your action, including how you use your traits and resources, make use of the environment, do little tricks, and whatnot. The Challenger evaluates the action and offers you a certain amount of advantage points. You can either take them and thereby succeed, or you can roll 2D10 plus bonuses from your active offensive traits against the opponent's 2D10 plus defensive traits. It's risky, of course, as it might net you nothing, or you might gain more than what you were offered.

Damage levels work much like they do in FATE.

Does that make sense so far?

- Christian