IronTithe — Quickstart Rules

Introduction

What Is IronTithe?

You begin this game as a blank sheet of parchment — a hollow vessel of bone and muscle. There are no classes to guide you; your choices are the only ink available. Every time you sharpen a skill, forge a weapon, or make a desperate bargain to survive an encounter, you are adding permanent marks to your ledger. You can endure the first mark. You can manage the second. But the moment you are IronTithe, you have hit the absolute ceiling of physics, magic, and biology. The game is an accounting of how close you are to that third mark — and what you are willing to look like before you break.

You need: this document, one ten-sided die (1d10) per player, and people willing to find out what their character is made of.

The Unified Rule of Three

The number three is the structural limit of this world. It operates on three simultaneous scales:

Column I — Flesh	Column II — Matter	Column III — Trauma
The Power of Three Every 3 Skill Points in a category forces the parent characteristic up by +1. You are literally sculpted by what you survive.	The Runic Threshold No item may bear more than 3 total rune marks. A fourth rune shatters the material into shrapnel. The geometry of matter has limits.	The Condition Matrix A 3rd simultaneous condition triggers Overwhelmed — structural biological collapse. The body has a ceiling. It does not negotiate.

Three Questions Every Veteran Will Ask

What is marked upon my character sheet? An active, evolving ledger of systemic debt. Every row begins empty. You force the world to carve a path into it.

Who is doing the marking? Three forces compete for your ledger — the Church of the Radiant Compact demands your compliance; the borderland factions demand your blood; the outer void demands your sanity. To survive is to choose whose ink you are willing to wear.

What happens when the third mark lands? The Threshold of Collapse. The ledger closes. Your weapon shatters, your body locks, your characteristics freeze. The game is the calculation of how close you are to that third mark — and whether you can clear the ledger before you unravel.

The World in One Paragraph

The world has already survived one invasion — the Vraxxal, biomechanical harvesters from the dark between stars, were not defeated but entombed. Something has recently stolen the largest fragment of their shattered artefact. The awakening has begun. Into this world walk four races, seven magical traditions, and an unknown number of people who have decided their purpose is worth the price. The Church of the Radiant Compact provides theological unity across Human kingdoms — and maintains careful, deliberate gaps in its own historical record. The great Dwarven empire of Kel Thurum holds the mountains. The silver city of Thalasien holds its scholars and its silence. The Halflings hold knowledge no outsider will ever be given.

Chapter I

The Core Mechanic

IronTithe uses a single die: the 1d10. Almost every action that matters is resolved the same way — roll 1d10, add relevant bonuses, meet or beat a Target Number (TN). If you do, you succeed. If you don't, consequences follow.

The Core Roll

1d10 + Skill Points + Characteristic Modifier ≥ Target Number

Roll one ten-sided die. Add your relevant skill points. Add the modifier of the governing characteristic (score ÷ 6, rounded down). If the total meets or beats the TN set by the GM — or by the rules — you succeed.

Advantage: Roll 2d10 and take the higher result. Granted by skills, positioning, or circumstances in your favour.

Disadvantage: Roll 2d10 and take the lower result. Imposed by injury, environment, or being outmatched.

The Decisive Strike (Natural 10)

When a To-Hit roll meets or exceeds the target's Defence and the unmodified d10 shows a natural 10, the strike is decisive. The attacker immediately rolls an additional 1d10 for bonus wounds. No To-Hit bonuses apply to this secondary roll — only the raw instinct of the Precise Strike skill.

The Arcane Backlash (Natural 1)

The weave is volatile; the spirits are fickle; the gods demand perfection. An unmodified 1 on any To-Cast roll is an absolute failure. Unless mitigated by Fortune, this failure triggers a catastrophic backfire from the Miscast/Wrath table. In this Quickstart: on a Backlash, the spell fails and the caster loses 1d10 wounds from the feedback.

Action	Roll	TN
Attack (melee)	1d10 + To-Hit bonus	Target's Defence
Attack (ranged)	1d10 + To-Hit bonus	Target's Defence
Cast a spell	1d10 + To-Cast bonus	Spell's TN
Resist magic (mind)	1d10 + Resolve	Effect's TN + Resist
Skill test (trained)	1d10 + skill points	GM-set DV
Skill test (untrained)	Dis.d10 + characteristic	GM-set DV

The contest rule. When two wills clash, both roll 1d10 + skill and the higher total wins (ties favour the defender). If you have no training in the skill, you fall back on raw nature — Disadvantage on the d10 + the governing characteristic. Two skills, Inspire and Performance, add their characteristic even when trained, as uncontested projection.

Resist Bonus: creatures defend by a standing bar — Characteristic TN + a Resist bonus that scales with their Tier — so a tougher foe is genuinely harder to sway, frighten, or dominate.

Chapter II

Action Points & Combat Flow

Time on the battlefield is measured in heartbeats and drawn steel. Every combatant is granted a base of 1 Action Point (AP) per exchange. This pool is expanded through the Quickness skill or deliberate investment of Experience.

Action	AP Cost
Melee Attack (one-handed)	1 AP
Melee Attack (two-handed)	2 AP
Ranged Attack (shortbow, thrown)	1 AP
Ranged Attack (heavier bows, crossbows)	2–3 AP
Cast a Spell (TN 1–6)	1 AP
Cast a Spell (TN 7–9)	2 AP
Cast a Spell (TN 10–12)	3 AP
Cast a Spell (TN 13–15)	4 AP
Move (full movement)	1 AP
Use an Item / Drink Potion	1 AP
Enter Reactive Stance	1 AP — declare trigger & held action
Riposte (reaction)	1 AP — triggers on enemy natural 1

A note on arms: A two-handed weapon costs 2 AP per swing but doubles your Physique bonus to wounds. Ranged weapons carry their own action economy — a shortbow looses for 1 AP, while heavier bows, crossbows, and blackpowder demand more to draw or reload (a pre-loaded weapon fires its first shot for 1). See the core rules for the full weapon list.

                    AP Carry-Over: For every 3 points of base AP a character has, they may carry 1 unused AP into their next turn — declared at the end of that turn. A character with 3 base AP can carry 1; with 6 they can carry 2. Carried AP is lost if not spent the following turn. It cannot be used with spells or channelling.
                

Wound Mitigation

When you take a hit, you don't always take the full wounds. Wound Mitigation (WM) reduces incoming wounds by a flat amount — from armour, skills, or abilities. If WM equals or exceeds wounds dealt, you take 0 wounds from that hit. WM does not apply to falling, environmental hazards, or poison damage unless a skill specifically states otherwise.

Chapter III

A Ready-Made Hero

Use this pre-built character to play immediately. Mira Ashvane is a Human soldier — experienced, pragmatic, and carrying the kind of faith that comes from having needed it and found it present. She can fight, endure, and call upon simple blessings when steel isn't enough.

Mira Ashvane

Human Soldier — Devotion-Touched

300 XP Spent
Human · Move 10

Characteristics

Agility4

Awareness3

Charisma4

Intellect2

Physique5

Willpower3

Combat Stats

Defence12

Action Points2

Wound Mitigation3

Resist Bonus+0

Melee Bonus+1

Devotion Skill3 pts

Total Wounds

Track on paper as you take damage

28

Key Skills

Combat (Melee)4 pts

Evasion3 pts

Devotion (Theology)3 pts

Fortitude1 pt

Hard as Nails2 pts

Resolve2 pts

Equipment

Longsword — 1d10 + Physique mod wounds | Chainmail — WM 3, Agility -1 | Shield — +1 Defence | Holy Symbol — required for Devotion blessings

How to Read Mira's Stats

Defence 12 — enemies need to roll 12+ to hit her. WM 3 — every hit she takes is reduced by 3 wounds before applied. Action Points 2 — she gets 2 actions per turn: attack + move, attack + attack, cast + attack, etc. Melee Bonus +1 — Mira has 1 point in Strength Conditioning which grants +1 to all melee wound rolls. Her Physique modifier is 0 (floor(5÷6)=0). She rolls 1d10 + 4 (Combat skill) + 0 (Agility mod, floor(4÷6)=0) to hit — needs to beat target's Defence. On a hit her longsword deals 1d10 + 1 (Strength Conditioning bonus) wounds.

Chapter IV

The Theology Discipline

Mira carries 3 points in Devotion — enough to call down blessings up to TN 6 without penalty. To cast, she rolls 1d10 + her To-Cast bonus against the blessing's TN. With steady faith the holy light answers readily; only the most demanding miracles risk slipping from her grasp.

Mira can hold 3 blessings in memory — equal to her Devotion skill points. She must choose which to prepare before play begins. Below are her available blessings for this quickstart.

Mend Minor Wound

TN 1 · 1 AP · Touch · Instant

Closes the smallest wounds. Target regains exactly 1 wound. Cannot be used on self in combat.

Purify

TN 2 · 1 AP · Touch · Permanent

Purify water or food of all poison or disease. Up to 1 gallon. Permanent effect.

Lesser Heal

TN 3 · 1 AP · 30ft · Instant

Restorative prayer. Target regains Dis.d10 + healing bonus wounds. Healing bonus = Charisma mod.

Fearless

TN 4 · 1 AP · 60ft · 2 turns

Target becomes immune to Fear and Terror for duration. Cannot be used on an already-Feared target.

Shield Ally

TN 5 · 1 AP · 50ft · 2 turns

If the shielded target suffers wounds, Mira takes half those wounds instead. Ends if Mira falls.

Turn Undead

TN 5 · 1 AP · Self · 15ft AoE

Roll Devotion vs each Undead's Willpower TN. Those that fail are Shaken and flee for 1d3 turns.

            Remember: An unmodified 1 on the casting roll is an Arcane Backlash — the blessing fails and Mira loses 1d10 wounds from the feedback. Fortune (if she has it) can prevent this. In this quickstart, she does not.
        

Chapter V

The First Encounter

Use this encounter to learn the system. Three Vraxxal Warriors have located Mira in the ruins of a village they emptied three days ago. They were not searching for her. They simply noted her presence as a variable.

Vraxxal Warrior

Construct · Biomechanical · ×3

Wounds 18

Defence 11

WM 2

AP 2

Attack: Bone-blade strike — 1d10 + 3 to hit, deals 1d10 + 2 wounds.
Frequency Pulse (1/turn): Free action. Any other Warrior within 30ft gains +1 to their next To-Hit roll — they are communicating.
Immunity: Fear, Charm, Poison. They do not feel these things.
Weakness: Take +2 wounds from Devotion blessings and Shaman spirit attacks.

Running the Encounter — GM Notes

Round 1: The Warriors advance in formation. They do not rush. One moves into melee range (costs 1 AP), the second prepares to strike (holds 1 AP as reaction), the third uses Frequency Pulse to link them. Mira gets the first action — she bought initiative with her Quickness investment.

Escalation: If Mira uses Turn Undead, remind the player it affects Undead — Vraxxal Warriors are Constructs, not Undead. This matters. It is not a mistake in the rules. It is information about what she is facing.

Victory Condition: Reduce all three to 0 wounds, or escape the engagement. Escape costs 2 AP and triggers a free attack from any Warrior in melee range.

Step-by-Step: Mira's First Turn

1. Declare actions — Mira has 2 AP. She declares: Attack (1 AP) + Cast Lesser Heal on herself if she took damage in the surprise round (1 AP).

2. To-Hit roll — 1d10 + 4 (Combat) + 0 (Agility mod) = result. Enemy Defence is 11. If she rolls 7+, she hits.

3. Wound roll — Longsword: 1d10 + Strength Conditioning bonus (+1) = wounds dealt. Enemy WM of 2 reduces this. Remainder applied to their 18 wounds. (Physique modifier is 0 at score 5 — the +1 comes from Strength Conditioning, not the characteristic.)

4. Natural 10? The strike is decisive — roll an extra 1d10 for bonus wounds. No bonuses apply to this roll.

5. Enemy response — one Warrior attacks back: 1d10 + 3 vs Mira's Defence 12. If they hit, roll 1d10 + 2 wounds. Mira's WM 3 reduces this.

            The Threshold of Collapse: If Mira acquires three different conditions simultaneously (Bleeding + Shaken + Stunned, for example), she is Overwhelmed — she cannot take any Reaction Actions until one condition is cleared. The Warriors know this. They apply conditions deliberately.
        