Death Mechanics Update

After noting some frequent complaints and issues with how death functioned (namely, the disparity caused by +6 Fortitude and the confusion caused by a stacking -2 modifier), we've reworked our Death Mechanics! You can read the entirety here: [Death Mechanics]

Critical

• In addition to Dash and Evade, you can now Block, Hide, and Conceal while critical without triggering a death save. 
• Your death save modifier is now STR: Fortitude divided by 2 and rounded up (don’t worry, this will be handled automatically via a command!). To roll a death save, use: /roll death
• There is no longer a stacking -2 penalty each round, your saves are just a flat DC 10 with your death save modifier.

Bleedout

• What happens when you fail a death save? While you would previously die, now you enter a new state: Bleedout.
• In Bleedout, you are effectively incapacitated and quickly bleeding out. You can be stabilized by a successful INT: Healing check using both actions (or with relevant feats/spells).
• Once you’ve entered Bleedout, you’re out of the fight even if you get stabilized. You cannot be killed while in this phase, nor can you fight.
• While in Bleedout, you have a number of safe rounds equal to your HAR: Belief score (minimum 1). If you aren’t stabilized before you run out of safe rounds, then you die.
• Once stabilized, taking any damage before getting healed will kill you.

To accommodate the new mechanics and to address some frequent concerns, we've also updated some feats. [Feats]

• Second Wind now takes an action to use. It's maximum health boost has been increased to 8 HP to compensate for the adjustment to death mechanics.
• Adrenaline Rush can now only be used once per round.
• Physician has been completely overhauled to give healers a more pronounced role in Bleedout and stabilizing.

- October 11, 2025

Avalore Year 2 Combat Update Part 1: Maneuvers

The long-awaited, big update to Avalore combat mechanics - meant to broaden combat options, increase build variety, and make many other tools in the toolbox feel more rewarding to use. The first part of the Year 2 update introduces maneuvers, DEX: Finesse, and some updated and new feats related to them. 

Finesse

• The Thievery skill has evolved to Finesse and covers “fine motor control, sleight of hand, and deftness.” [Mechanics]
• This was done in order to round out the skill into a more useful form while still retaining its roots. This will be used for things that require precision, such as a finesse blade.
• To roll this new skill, so /roll finesse. /roll thievery will also work in the meantime so you can adjust. What about finesse blades, though? Those are now /roll finesseblade 
• With this change come a few tweaks throughout the system for feats & equipment, which will be covered in Part 2.

Maneuvers

Maneuvers are advanced physical actions you can take in combat to perform non-standard attacks such as shoving, pulling, and grappling people. They can be found on the new Extended Mechanics page [Extended Mechanics]. These actions utilize the STR: Athletics and DEX: Finesse skills and are a base mechanic (don’t require feats to utilize). These are the maneuvers we’re introducing:

• Grapple: To grab and hold someone. While holding them, you'll be able to restrict their movement & physical actions.
• Disarm: An action you can use after Grappling someone to take an object they are holding.
• Struggle: An action you can take while grappled to break free.
• Shove (Limited): An action that pushes the target in a direction of choice.
• Topple (Limited): An action that knocks a target prone.
• Pull (Limited): A whip or meteor hammer attack that pulls a target toward you.
• Prone: An effect that leaves you knocked down and vulnerable until your next turn.

Updated Feats

As usual, some feats have been rebalanced and revised based on feedback and observations. [Feats]

• Steadfast Defender: While active, you will now be immune to knockback, pulling, and pushing.
• LW: Lacuna: This feat has been reworked entirely; rather than high damage on a single foe, you now gain an impactful AOE attack capable of doing damage and knocking enemies prone.
• Whirling Devil: Goes from 2 actions back to just 1. It now requires rolling for your attacks, but enables compatibility with two-handed melee weapons.
• Riposte: Riposte was combined with duelist; riposting from failed evades is no longer possible, but you can now riposte both full evades and grazes with a single feat.

New Feats

In this update, following feats are introduced:

Ranged Feats

• Hamstring: Allows you to make a ranged attack against someone that reduces their movement & evasion capabilities for the next round.
• Quickdraw: Lets you Dash and Loose or Evade and Loose using a longbow, crossbow, or sling with an aim & damage penalty. A quick, one-action attack to use in a pinch.

Unarmed Feats

• Reactive Stance: Gives you the ability to take a maneuver action where you would ordinarily make a riposte. It only works if you are unarmed.

Greatweapon Feats

• Control: Allows polearm, greatsword, or large shield wielders to move their opponents after successfully hitting them. And, if moved into a structure, attacks on the same turn have added damage.
• Forward Charge: This feats gives allows you to make an un-blockable and un-evadable Topple or Shove on the same turn as a successful attack, making you a true unstoppable force. Works for greatswords, polearms, and staffs.
• Hilt Strike: Two-handed melee weapons can make a single-action attack before lifting and after striking. This attack deals half damage, but bypasses grazing and does not trigger Quickfooted.
• Mighty Strike: Your sling, staff, crossbow, mace, large shield, unarmed, and hilt strikes now knock a target back 3 blocks.

Light Weapon Feats

• Dueling Stance: Duelist is not completely gone - it’s been replaced with this feat! While wielding a small blade, finesse blade, or arming sword, this feat allows you to parry instead of riposte on a grazing hit. A parry turns your graze into a full evade, sacrificing riposte damage for defense with patience. 

Shield Feats

• Bastion Stance: This feat introduces a limited action block that further fortifies your defenses. You become immune to most maneuvers and your subsequent successful shield bashes knock the enemy prone.

- October 17, 2025

Avalore Year 2 Combat Update Part Two: Templates

Part 2 of our October update phases out the arcane staff to deliver two new weapon templates and updates numerous old templates with new mechanics, requirements, and feat additions. There’s also new shield mechanics, improvised weapons, and non-proficiency. Finally, we introduce multiple new feats and rework or update numerous existing ones. 

Updated Templates 

There is a wide range of updates to templates. [Weapon Templates]

• Unarmed: Unarmed damage now scales with your STR: Athletics (like Smithing quality) from min 1 to max 4. Consequently, Harder Punch has been removed. This change allows strong characters to feel strong, and to utilize that strength without costing a feat slot. Soon the backend will be updated for /roll unarmed will take into account your athletics stat and display the damage automatically.
• Small Shield: This template has been made better for offense but worse for defense. It does 3 AP and grazing bypass damage with a +1 to hit. Its wielding requirements have changed to parity with large shield. 
• Large Shield: Large shields have been made better for defense but slightly worse for offense. It now does 2 AP damage.
• Finesse Blade, Whip, & Recurve Bow: The weapon requirements for these have been changed from DEX: Acrobatics to DEX: Finesse. However, the amount of investment needed (+2, +1, and +1 respectively) is the same.
• Throwing Knife: Attacks made with this template now synergize with stealth mechanics; missed attacks won’t reveal you to your enemies by breaking the Hidden condition.
• Longbow: Requirements have been changed to fit the need for athleticism to wield one. They are now DEX: Acrobatics +1 and STR: Athletics +1.
• Crossbow: Requirements for this template have been reduced to support its place as a tool with a low skill bar to use, but also a somewhat low skill ceiling to master. It now requires STR: Athletics +1.

New Templates

• Arcane Staff: This template has now been retired. In its place, two new ones are introduced.
• Spellblade: A merger of martial and arcane, this is a one-handed blade with magic flair. The spellblade has a +1 to hit, does 4 damage on a one-action attack. It is not included in neither Quickfooted nor Shieldmaster, but lacks synergy with feats.
• Staff: A mundane weapon, unassuming in untrained hands and deadly in skillful ones. The staff has a +2 to hit, does 5 damage on a two-action attack, and bypasses grazing. It is not included in Quickfooted.

Shield Mechanics

Some updates to shield templates. These can be found on the armour page. [Armour]

• Large Shields: When blocking with a large shield, attacks against you for that round are no longer AP (5 AP damage becomes 5 damage). This is to reinforce their role as a defense tool and compensate for the lowered damage.
• Small Shields: To serve the role of a more offense-oriented tool and to balance their capabilities, these shield are less effective at blocking and do not disable an attack’s AP trait. Small shields can also be used to take the Block action without necessarily being held in hand, allowing two-handed weapon wielders to play the fantasy of using an ecranche and light weapon wielders to use a buckler.
• Blocking for Others: This protection mechanic has been reworked; instead of declaring you're blocking for someone else, you only need to take the Block action and stand between someone & their attacker to protect them. This allows positioning to become more important in combat scenarios.

Improvisation

Have you ever wanted to use a stool in a tavern fight? Maybe pick up a table as a shield, or even stab at someone with a particularly sharp stick? Well, now you can!

• Improvised Weapons: We devised a simple system that allows non-ranged weapon templates to be improvised (i.e a fire-poker as an arming sword); they are not as effective as traditional weapons, dealing 1 less damage and having a -1 to aim. They do not synergize with feats other than Rage, either. To roll an attack as improvised, use /roll (weapon) i or /roll (weapon) improvised. These commands will be updated on the backend soon.
• Improvised Shields: Similar to weapons, you can improvise less effective versions of shields when in a pinch. These do not synergize with shield feats and block with an added -1 penalty. To roll a shield as improvised, use /roll block (shield) i or /roll block (shield) improvised.

Updated Feats

As usual, we have a plethora of refreshed and revised fears. Read more about feat updates here: [Feats]

• Quickfooted: Arcane staff has been removed, longbows have been added. Additionally, the feat now allows you to take free movement immediately after fully evading an attack.
• Shieldmaster: Arcane wand has been removed, staff has been added. The feat now grants an additional +1 against ranged attacks. 
• LW: Flexible Design: Simplified, no longer states it is a limited action. You may freely change between your two weapon templates on your turn.
• LW: Skewer: A reworked targeting criteria allows use of ranged weapons, and more freedom with how the skewer is applied for other distance category weapons.
• Piercing Strike: Rebalanced, now offers a risk to encourage more strategic use by increasing aim bonuses against you after making this attack. Best not to use this while surrounded.
• Dual Striker: Adds in whip template, and rebalanced to prevent the punishing aspect of triggering multiple ripostes or shield bashes for a single attack action. 
• Two Birds One Stone: Spellbook added as a secondary template for this feat.
• Harmonized Arsenal: Requirement changed to Finesse, and reworded Lineage Weapon exclusivity to prevent stacking of bonus but allowing synergy with other LW effects.
• Hostile Architecture: Additional use added; improvised weapons from architecture or terrain broken with this feat can be used by the feat-holder without aim penalty.
• Renowned: Feat reworked to integrate new mechanics. As a renowned fighter within a weapon category, you can now use weapons of that category without penalties from them being broken or other mundane penalties, and improvised weapons of that category can be wielded as if they were not improvised.

New Feats

The following feats were introduced:

Ranged Feats

• Ranger's Gambit: Allows for a powerful risk vs. reward attack with a ranged weapon that can bypass most defenses, at the cost of leaving you vulnerable to melee attacks.
• Trick Shot: Using both actions, ranged weapon attacks can apply a limited effect such as becoming armour piercing, bypassing grazing, causing an area-of-effect explosion, or disrupting spellcasting several times per combat encounter. Trick shots also allow for cool environmental interactions with a bonus to the roll, at DM discretion.

Unarmed Feats

• Feint: Allows a limited action unarmed attack that can disrupt your opponent’s defenses and strike without triggering bonuses from Quickfooted or Shieldmaster.
• Rakish Combination: A feat that allows unarmed fighters to combo their attacks to get bonuses to aim rolls or increased damage without having the full STR: Athletics requirements.
• Patient Flow: Allows a powerful defensive technique with a limited action evade for fighters that have a free hand. If successful, a riposte can instead redirect the initial attack to another target in range. 
• Momentum: Allows a single powerful limited action attack following a dash (or vault) with damage rivaling that of a polearm, at some cost to yourself. 

Greatweapon Feats

• Galestorm Stance: A feat allowing synergy between two-action weapons and evasion. Staff, greatsword, and polearm fighters who evade are able to channel successful evades into a powerful flurry of retaliation strikes on their turn. These strikes are more potent when split between several targets, rewarding characters with Galestorm Stance that choose to fight outnumbered.

Shield Feats

• Sentinel: A feat for the spear n’ shield users. Allows polearms to be used with a large shield, as well as allowing a reaction spear or javelin attack instead of a shieldbash on a successful block. 
• Shield Wall: A feat that encourages shield-wielders to form impenetrable walls by standing adjacent to one another. When blocking next to another allied character with a large shield, you get a further +1 to block rolls against ranged attacks, and +1 to shield bashes and sentinel attacks.

- October 17, 2025

Avalore Arcane Update!
The much-anticipated Arcane Update is finally here! This update is packed with new spells, new cantrips, new mechanics, and (soon!) new Arcane Hindrances!

General Arcane Mechanics

• The Arcane page has been updated with clarifications on “casting,” aesthetic flavor, flavorful casting, casting methods, and more. We highly recommend reading this page! [Arcane]
• Overcast effects have been updated and mildly adjusted.
• Cooperative Casting has been added, a new method that allowed multiple mages to cast a spell together!
• Mage 1’s spell slots have been increased to 6.
• Mage 2’s spell slots have been increased to 10, and its anima to 14.
• Mage 3’s spell slots have been increased to 14.

Spells

• Each Arcane discipline now features 31 total spells. These include some old, reworked spells and many brand new ones!
• In addition to the 30 core spells, each discipline now features a Capstone spell. Mages inherently know their Primary branch’s Capstone spell, and it can’t be learned otherwise.
• Each branch’s spell requirements have now also been streamlined. Each focuses on two primary skills that scale up from +1 to +3.
• In total, there are now 186 spells. [Grimoire]

Cantrips

• There are now 10 general Cantrips to choose from.
• We’ve also introduced Inherent Cantrips! Each branch has an Inherent Cantrip which, similar to the Capstone, is inherently known and can only be cast by a mage whose Primary is that branch.
• All Patron cantrips have been reworked and reworked as well!
• In total, this amounts to 31 total cantrips. [Grimoire] 

Dreaming One

• Our previously announced new patron, the Dreaming One, is now officially released! Read about them here: [Dreaming One]

Coming Soon…

• As noted in the Arcane page, mages will be taking Arcane Hindrances. These are going to be added soon - stay tuned!
   

- November 9, 2025

Late November Hotfix

Maneuvers

• General
  • Critical hits (10, 10) on the Unarmed roll to execute a maneuver results in the maneuver automatically succeeding.
• Topple
  • Clarified that rolling equal in the contest results in a stalemate; no one is knocked prone.
• Pull
  • Clarified that the Whip/Meteor Hammer attack deals damage.
• Prone (Major change!)
  • Added that while prone, you cannot make reaction attacks (Shield Bash, Riposte, etc.) or move. This is to make the condition more impactful.
• Grapple
  • Added that if someone who was grappled is knocked prone, the grapple ends. This is to avoid stacking grapple and prone penalties.
  • Added Cast to the list of physical actions that receive a -3 when Grappled.

Feats