Every step burns the fire that keeps you going.

Vitality is the measure of how long you can hold the line against a collapsing world. It is not just health—it is resolve, momentum, and the will to act when nothing remains. Vitality is the fire that fuels your presence in the story. When that fire dies, so do you.

To act, to strike, to survive, to conquer—it all begins with what you can endure.

What Is Vitality?

How much can you give before you fall?

Vitality (VIT) represents your total stamina, will, and resilience. It defines how many actions you can take, how long you remain in the fight, and how much punishment you can absorb. Your Maximum VIT determines your total dice body. While Active, your current VIT counts your unwounded Action Dice (AD) and Magic Dice (MD), including dice already spent. Wounds reduce VIT; spending dice or converting AD into MD does not.

Ask yourself:

• How long can I keep acting before collapse?
• What pushes me to keep moving through pain?
• Where do I draw the line between boldness and death?

Vitality Calculation

• Add together your five Core Vitals.
• Compare this total to the table below:

Maximum VIT cannot exceed 10. A combined Core Vital total of 21 gives 9 VIT; 22 gives 10 VIT. Higher totals still give 10 VIT.

Size changes Vitality. After the table, add or subtract for Size: Tiny −2, Small −1, Medium 0, Large +1, Huge +1. Maximum VIT can't go below 1. Every Bloodline is Medium, so this only changes beasts and other creatures; see Bestiary.

Each Core Vital can still develop up to its own limit of 10. Follow Character Development for the limits on each Score and Level.

How Vitality Works

Your Vitality is the core of your presence in the world—a measure of how much you can do and endure.

Vitality States

Vitality & Action Dice

Each point of Maximum Vitality grants 1 Action Die. For example, Maximum VIT 5 gives you a body of 5 dice. Your body cannot exceed 10 dice in total, counting Ready AD, Used AD, Ready MD, committed MD and Wounded AD. Trance converts existing Ready AD into MD; it does not add dice. Spend the appropriate Ready dice to act, move, react or cast.

While Active, current VIT = all unwounded AD + MD.

Spent AD and MD become Used AD; an MD holding an ongoing effect stays committed until that effect ends. Spending or committing dice does not reduce VIT. Wounded AD remain unavailable until healed. See Dice States for the tracked dice states.

• Each Wound reduces VIT by 1 and moves an unwounded die to Wounded AD while any remain. Wounds take Ready AD or Ready MD first, then Used AD or committed MD only when neither kind of Ready die remains. The character taking the Wounds chooses which kind to take within that state. Each chosen die becomes Wounded AD. Follow Applying Wounds for the procedure.

Tip: Guard your AD like the lifeline they are—when your AD runs dry, so does your ability to shape the scene.

Read the diagram as text

This character has five Action Dice and Maximum Vitality 5. They stay Active throughout this example.

1. Start with five Ready dice: five dice you can spend and current Vitality 5.
2. Spend all five. They become Used: zero Ready dice, but current Vitality is still 5.
3. Suffer one Wound. With no Ready dice, one Used die becomes Wounded: zero Ready dice and current Vitality 4.
4. At the start of your next turn, ordinary Refresh makes the four Used dice Ready. The Wounded die stays Wounded: four Ready dice and current Vitality 4.
5. Magical healing restores 1 Vitality and returns the Wounded die to Ready: five Ready dice and current Vitality 5.

Result: After spending all five dice, before the Wound, current Vitality remains 5 even though no dice are Ready.

• Every row follows the same five dice. This example uses only Action Dice.
• While Active, all unwounded Action Dice and Magic Dice count towards current Vitality, including Used Action Dice and committed Magic Dice.

Review Ready, Used and Wounded dice

Healing Vitality

Natural Recovery (Rest)

For the eight-hour Rest procedure, Wound recovery, and care, see Rest.

Magical Healing

Magical healing—spells, potions, magic items, etc.—restores VIT as stated by the spell or effect.

For each point of VIT restored by magic:

• Move 1 Wounded AD back to your Ready AD Pool unless the healing effect says otherwise.

Unless explicitly stated on the spell, trait or effect, magic healing cannot increase your Vitality beyond your maximum VIT. The absolute limit of 10 VIT and 10 dice in your AD/MD body always applies. Excess healing is lost if no Wounded AD remain.

For magical healing received while Unconscious, Critical, or Dying, follow the state procedure in Death & Recovery.

Collapse and Recovery

Death & Recovery governs Unconscious and Critical Recovery Rolls, the persistent Critical Recovery Pool, Dying, and Last Gasp.

Summary

• Calculate VIT: Add your Core Vitals and use the table to determine Maximum VIT, up to 10. A total of 22 or more gives 10 VIT.
• Your dice body: Maximum VIT determines your AD/MD body, up to 10 dice across all states. While Active, current VIT counts all unwounded AD and MD; spending or converting dice does not reduce it.
• At zero: At 0 VIT, you become Unconscious and stable.
• Below zero: Below 0 VIT, you enter Critical with a persistent Critical Recovery Pool.
• Dying: When that pool reaches 0, you enter Dying and make one Last Gasp at the start of your following turn.
• Last Gasp: A Critical Hit on Last Gasp sets VIT to 0. A Hit or Miss makes you Deceased.
• Natural recovery: Follow Rest for natural recovery and its requirements.
• Healing: Healing restores VIT and Wounded AD.