Keywords

Also called: Bleed Backlash, The Bite

The penalty for rolling 1s on Bleed Dice (or Cursed Dice from Desperation). One 1 is The Flicker; two 1s is The Tear; three 1s is The Breach. Each escalates from Strain to Erosion to immediate Memory burn.

Also called: Beats, Red Lines

A unit of combat time equal to 10 Ticks, half a turn of The Cylinder. One Beat passes each time The Hammer crosses a Red Line at Tick 0 or Tick 10.

Also called: Erosion Track, Soul Erosion

A character's tracked damage to their soul from touching the Current. Capacity equals ECHO + 5. Does not recover from rest. When full, the character must burn a Memory and reset to 0.

Also called: Burning a Memory, The Burn, The Break (when from Erosion)

The act of permanently destroying one of a character's five Core Memories, either as the Cost of a Rank 5 Miracle, as the consequence of a full Erosion track (The Break), or from Backlash: The Breach (three 1s on Bleed Dice).

Also called: Mettle Pool

A character's reserve of focus, grit, and desperate will. Pool size equals (SAVVY + GRIT) ÷ 2, rounded up. Spent on Reactions, rerolls, and Desperation. Refreshes fully at the start of each session, and partially through the Ember, a Full Rest, or a Critical Success.

Also called: Open, The Open State, Channeling Window

The phase between when a Psionic declares Channeling and when the Talent resolves. The caster's attention is inward, holding the Current open. They can only Shift, cannot make Reactions, and are vulnerable to Disruption.

Also called: Scenes, Once per scene

A continuous stretch of play in one place with one purpose. It ends when the place changes, time skips roughly 10 minutes or more, or the question it was about is answered. Once-per-scene limits reset at the start of a new scene; Mettle refreshes at the start of each session.

Also called: §, Consortium Scrip, Paper Money

The Consortium's paper currency, backed by their control of the rails. Works in Consortium towns and rail stations. Worthless in the deep wastes, Vulture territory, and isolated settlements that reject Consortium authority.

Also called: Strain Track

A character's tracked physical and mental exhaustion. Capacity equals GRIT + 3. Recovers fully on Long Rest. Excess Strain (over Cap) converts to Vitality damage 1-for-1.

Also called: Action Tempo, Tick Cost

The time cost of an action, measured in Ticks. After acting, you advance your token on The Count by your action's Tempo. Fast actions (Tempo 2–3) let you act again sooner; slow actions (Tempo 6+) create gaps where enemies respond.

Also called: The Pool, The Cylinder (metaphor), Tension Dice

A communal pool of d6s sitting at the table that tracks the world's accumulated stress, measuring how thin the Veil has worn at the current location. Caps at 6 dice. When the sixth die enters, the GM rolls it immediately to check for a Rupture.

Also called: Current, the Hum, the Flow

The raw chaotic energy of the dimension beyond the Veil. Existed before the Rupture but now leaks freely into our world, pooling in Thin Places and offering power at the cost of soul-erosion. Responsive to thought, indifferent to morality.

Also called: Rupture, the Tear, the First Rupture (specifically Ojo del Diablo's origin)

The historical event that tore the Veil and let the Current pour into the world. Caused by the Consortium's deep drilling for ghost-rock; the first tear opened at Ojo del Diablo. Followed by 20 years of chaos (the Long Silence) before fragile order returned.

Also called: Veil, the Barrier

The metaphysical barrier between our world and the dimension of the Current. Once whole, it is now torn; the Rupture opened wounds in the Veil that have never closed. Thinnest in the Fen of the Fallen and at Stable Breaches like Ojo del Diablo.

Also called: The Count, The Cylinder (combat track), Tick Position

A single unit of time on The Count combat track. The Cylinder runs 0–19. The Hammer (the marker) advances clockwise. When the Hammer reaches a character's token, they act.

Also called: The Bleed, Erosion Symptoms

The physical and psychological symptoms that progress as Erosion accumulates. Its four stages, Tremor, Flicker, Scarring, and Threshold, each carry worsening mechanical penalties and roleplay cues.