Core Rules, GMG & Heroes Full Changelog

The second printing of the Nimble core books is ready! Below is every change from the first printing, book by book: the Core Rules, the Heroes, and the Game Master's Guide. If you'd like the video overview stream you can check that out right here.

You can still change your pledge or preorder the new books on Hive right here.

Core Rules

Entries marked [Updated] changed since the July changelog, and entries marked [New] weren't in it.

TL;DR

• Monster armor is a flat reduction now: Medium –10, Heavy –20 damage. Vulnerable is +10 damage, Resistant –10. Crits ignore monster armor.
• The hero stat "Armor" renamed "Defense". "Armor" is the gear you wear. Crits now also ignore heroes' Defense!
• Combat: While Dying, only attacking risks a Wound (casting a spell like Heal doesn't). Size now governs forced movement and moving through other creatures' spaces.
• Skills: Grappling is a DC 10 Might or Finesse check. Assess and Hiding reduced to DC 10. The max skill bonus is +10. Consistency! 
• Conditions. New: Silenced, Empowered, Weakened. Others removed.
• Spells:
  • The weakest spells were buffed, and Shield of Justice, the strongest, was reworked (still rad).
  • Omenrime and Echoburst replace Cryosleep and Fly (Fly moves to the GM's Guide as a secret spell).
  • Celestial Legion (radiant) and Vigor Mortis (necrotic) are new.
  • Big reworks: Zap, Razor Wind, Barrier of Wind, Updraft, Boisterous Winds, Warding Bond, Entice, Shadow Trap, Unspeakable Word.
• Equipment: the Greatmaul (now 3d4) and Greatsword (now 1d12) swapped dice. Spear and Medical Kit added.
• Optional rules: 8 new ones, including Blaze of Glory and Level 0 Funnels. Large Groups, Small Groups and the –1-per-Wound variant were removed.
• Updated Layout, Art, New FAQ, a full glossary. It reads more sensibly now. Better following the order of play.

Improved Layout, Art, & Design

• The book organization & layout is much improved: different rules in more logical places, clarifying text throughout, and updated art and design all make for a better reading experience and easier referencing.
• 3rd Party Creator License updated and expanded to be more generous and irrevocable (now covers ALL published Nimble text, current and future; adds the free-VTT/apps provision).
• MANY layout improvements, updated art pieces, and other minor clarification and quality of life changes.
• [New] Combat chapter reordered to follow play: Starting Combat, Heroic Actions, Heroic Reactions, then Monsters.
• [New] Class-only spells moved to their class books: Vicious Mockery (Songweaver), Shadow Blast and Summon Shadow (Shadowmancer), and Lifebinding Spirit (Shepherd).

Terminology & Core Stats

• "Armor" (the hero stat) is now called "Defense" for clarity. Your Defend reaction reduces damage by your Defense; "Armor" now refers to worn equipment. All items, ancestries, and spells updated accordingly (e.g., Fearless is now –1 Defense, Slow & Steady +4 Defense, Electrocharge +5 Defense).
• [New] Max skill bonus: +12 → +10. Everything else in the rules runs on a default of 10 (Assess, Grappling, Hiding), and +12 was the odd one out.

Monster Armor, Vulnerability & Resistance (Reworked)

While I very much appreciated the design of the original monster armor system (Med: "just the dice", Heavy: "half the dice"), it proved to be the least intuitive/fun and most friction-causing part of the game for many tables. Discussion on the change here.

• [Updated] Monster Medium Armor: was "damage from only the dice rolled, ignoring all damage modifiers" → now a flat –10 damage from incoming attacks (the July post said –5, it simply wasn't enough in play testing).
• [Updated] Monster Heavy Armor: was "half the damage from the dice, ignoring modifiers" → now a flat –20 damage (the July post said –10, after LOTS of play testing this number feels perfect).
  • [Updated] Why the bigger numbers: armor's job is to get players to CHANGE THEIR TACTICS. It isn't there to make fights harder, but to create situations where more of their abilities shine. Monster HP guidelines in the GM's Guide were retuned around these values.
• Vulnerable: was "that damage type ignores armor; double damage if unarmored" → now a flat +10 damage. Essentially the same net effect, but more sensible and consistent.
• Resistant: was "half as much damage" → now a flat –10 damage.
• Crits still ignore monster armor.

Combat Rules

Mostly clarity and quality of life changes.

• Help reaction intent clarified: was "grant an ally advantage on a roll" → now "allow an ally to reroll" (after seeing the result).
• 1/round clarified. Abilities now reset when your own turn ENDS (was: when your turn begins), to be consistent with when other things like regaining actions happen. Affects Defend, Interpose, and everything else 1/round.
• Interpose: the ally you push out of the way now moves to an adjacent space of their choice (was: your choice).
• [New] Defend: crits ignore Defense. Crits now ignore armor on both sides of the table, which keeps a monster's crit exciting even against a heavily armored hero.  Temp HP, shields, modifying dice, etc are all unaffected. Now certain classes are better or worse vs different kinds of enemies, this opens up a lot of very interesting design space and tactical play and counter play. 
• [New] Opportunity Attacks can be made against any adjacent creature that willingly moves away (was: an enemy).
• Unarmed strikes: made more consistent with the proficiency rules. Now roll 1d4+STR damage, and heroes not proficient in unarmed strikes cannot crit (was: roll 1d4, deal 1+STR on hit). [Updated] Only proficient heroes count their fists/feet as dual wielded.
• Moving through occupied spaces: size matters more and makes sense now. You can no longer move through enemy spaces as difficult terrain; now a creature can only pass through the space of enemies at least 2 sizes bigger or smaller.
• Forced movement now scales with size globally. Rather than having the exceptions written on every spell and ability that deals with forced movement, 1 rule was added globally: Small/Tiny/Flying creatures are moved twice as far, Large half as far, and Huge/Gargantuan ignore it. (This was previously spelled out per-spell, e.g., in Blustery Gale.)
• [Updated] Grappling:
  • Grabbing is now an action plus a DC 10 Might or Finesse check (was: the target's STR or DEX save vs DC 10 + your STR or DEX). If it makes sense, the GM may allow another skill, possibly at a different DC.
  • A grappler can move at half speed while grappling (regular speed if larger than their target). This was the unstated assumption, but now it's stated.
  • A grapple now also ends when the grappler or rider takes damage, or teleports. Escaping still takes an action and a STR or DEX save; monsters that can grapple list their own escape DC.
• Special skill checks, made more consistent and less punishing:
  • Assess: skill check DC lowered 12 → 10.
  • Hiding: Stealth DC lowered 15 → 10.
  • Removed: staying hidden after a kill no one saw.
  • Added: most creatures won't prioritize hunting hidden heroes while other dangers remain.
• Removed: "You can choose to fail any save instead of rolling." You can still fail instead of rolling, but this level of legality in the rules was perhaps not needed.
• [New] Dying: only attacking risks a Wound (was: attacking or casting spells), so a non-attack spell like Heal can be cast safely while Dying. Concentration now ends at 0 HP and can't be started while Dying or Incapacitated. A Dying healer should be able to save a friend without risking their own life; the risk belongs to attacking.
• [New] AoEs vs multi-target: in the first printing, multi-target attacks followed the AoE rules too (no miss, no crit). Now only area attacks do, so multi-target spells like Arc Lightning roll normally.
• Minions: clarified how advantage/disadvantage works with them (they ignore it).
• Smoldering (generalized): any effect that keys off a Smoldering target now ends the condition (this was previously stated only on Ignite).
• "Half on Save" defined: creatures who save take half damage and suffer no other effects.
• Poisoned: added "typically, healing ends this condition."
• Leveling up now happens while Safe Resting (was: whenever you complete a quest).
• [New] Leveling up: you may take a fixed HP increase instead of rolling (d4 +3, d6 +4, d8 +5, d10 +7, d12 +8). For tables that don't want one bad roll to follow a hero for the whole campaign.
• [New] Character sheet: tracks Speed and Size (replacing Height and Weight) and shows Defense (DEX + armor).
• Improvised weapons: likely to break "after a few hits" (was: on a crit).
• [New] Measuring AoEs: a cone is now as wide as it is long (was: up to X wide, narrower if you like). They can still be shorter, but not merely narrower.

Equipment

• Greatmaul and Greatsword swapped dice. The Greatmaul is now 3d4+STR (was 1d12+STR), which makes more sense: the Greatmaul would be best against heavy armor, and now the mechanics reflect this.
• The Greatsword is now 1d12+STR (was 3d4+STR).
• Spear added. For Mike Shea (the former Spear was promoted to Great Spear). [Updated] It can be wielded one-handed with STR 2.
• Medical Kit added: 1 use, heals a Wound during a Field Rest.
• Short Sword cost went from 10 → 15 gp.
• Armor tables relabeled ARMOR → DEFENSE (values unchanged).
• Mithril Plate → Adamantine Plate.
• [New] Golden Bastion: its grapple now triggers whenever you reduce melee damage with the shield (was a separate Reaction).

Conditions

• Blinded renamed to Blind.
• Clarified that conditions don't stack: a creature either has a condition or not. Gaining a condition it already has does no additional harm (a Dazed creature Dazed again doesn't lose another action, double-Poisoned doesn't double the disadvantage, etc.).
• Silenced added (new condition): cannot cast spells or use abilities that require speaking (e.g., Commander's Orders). A great design knob to have specifically defined.
• [New] Empowered X and Weakened X added: attack damage +X or –X. The effect that applies them says how long they last.
• Bloodied, Charmed, and Wounded moved off the Conditions page into the glossary. Abilities that end a condition generally can't remove Bloodied or Wounded, and Charmed is such a rare edge case it was just taking up space. Every condition is now also listed in the glossary.

Ancestries

• A new Uncommon tier was split out of Exotic, for a bit more control over what the GM will allow.
• Kobold (Wily): "+3 to Influence friendly characters" → advantage on checks to Influence friendly creatures (dragon-related advantage unchanged).
• Minotaur/Beastfolk (Charge): was "push a creature in your path: Medium 1 space, Small/Tiny up to 2 spaces, 1/turn" → now a flat 1 space with no 1/turn limit, since the forced movement rules are more consistent now.
• Changeling (New Place, New Face): the 1/day limit is gone; changing now takes 10 minutes instead. All 1/day gates removed.
• Ratfolk (Scurry): added +1 Speed.
• Dryad/Shroomling (Danger Pollen): spores now trigger whenever you gain Wounds from any source (was: only when an enemy causes them).
• Crystalborn (Reflective Aura): the reflected KEY damage now ignores armor.
• Planarbeing (Planeshift): phasing now ignores all effects of the attack (was: just the damage).
• Turtlefolk renamed Turtlefolk/Stonefolk (mechanics unchanged).
• [New] Gnome (Optimistic): now a Free Reaction, so it costs no action.
• [New] Dragonborn (Draconic Heritage): the bonus damage no longer ignores armor (not needed with the updated armor system).
• [New] Birdfolk (Hollow Bones): forced movement moves you twice as far only while flying (was: always).

Backgrounds

• Survivalist: added "(1/Safe Rest) End poison on yourself."
• Wild One: Field Rest bonus changed. Hit Dice recover +KEY HP in the wild (was: roll Hit Dice with advantage in the wild).
• So Dumb I'm Smart Sometimes: was "reroll an INT skill check 1/day, plus reroll a failed INT save with advantage 1/Safe Rest" → now (2/Safe Rest) reroll a failed INT-related skill or save with advantage.
• Wily Underdog: uses changed from 1/day → 2/Safe Rest (reroll a failed STR attack, STR save, or Might check using another stat).
• [New] Bumblewise: clarified that a total of 1 or less counts as a natural 20.

Spell Changes

Most spells were already in a very good place, but some lagged a bit behind (they were too rarely or never used). D/F tier spells were buffed a bit so that they can better compete with other options. Just a single S++ tier spell (Shield of Justice) was reworked so as not to warp the game into unfun play patterns. Overall, each spellcasting class should have more live options and interesting choices now!

• Defensive spells clarified. The defensive reaction spells read oddly to some. First printing reaction spells were 1-action "Reaction: When attacked, Defend for free" spells. Now they cost 0 actions but are castable only while Defending. Same net effect, just clarified!
• [New] Spells deal their school's damage type unless noted otherwise.

Fire

• [New] Flame Dart: Range 8 → 10. It's the yardstick for cantrips: reliable, decent damage throughout the level curve, longish range, no drawback, a small bonus.
• Heart's Fire: Range scaling improved to +2 Range per 5 levels (was +1). Now limited to 1/round to prevent "optimal but unfun" play patterns.
• [New] Ignite: Range 8 → 10. 10 is the thematic Fire number: Ignite follows Flame Dart, so the combo works at the same distance.
• Enchant Weapon: now Reach 8 (was touch). A needed flexibility bump. [Updated] Its +KEY damage now applies once per turn. A bonus on every hit encouraged attack, attack, attack a bit too much; once per turn keeps it a solid buff for any hero across the level curve.
• [Updated] Flame Barrier: improved to better compete with Frost Shield and to give it a better niche. It's now an AoE:
  • Damage 10+KEY (was KEY) and Smoldering hit all creatures within Reach 1 whenever you're attacked this round. The July post said "attacked in melee"; the first printing hit only melee attackers.
  • No longer "ignoring armor".
  • Upcast is now +KEY damage OR +1 Reach.
• Pyroclasm: no longer ignores armor (not needed with the updated armor system). Upcast improved from "+1 Reach, +2 damage" to "Advantage 1 and +1 Reach" for more consistently solid rolls and less math.
• [Updated] Fiery Embrace:
  • Reach 8 → 10. Upcast now grants +1 ally and +2 Reach.
  • The "lose damage resistance" clause is replaced: while you concentrate, effects that would end Smoldering don't, so Ignite and Pyroclasm keep paying off. Not letting Smoldering be extinguished is sPiCy, and it makes one dream.
• Dragonform: Immolating Breath's save is no longer a fixed DC 20 DEX save; it uses the hero's normal save DC. [Updated] The breath is now a Cone 10 (was 8).

Ice

• [Updated] Cryosleep was replaced by Omenrime (Tier 3, 1 action):
  • Roll 1d6; you may swap it for any die rolled within Reach 6, treating it exactly as the original.
  • Upcast: +1 Reach, and roll 1 more d6 (keep only 1).
  • An unused die now lasts until the end of the encounter (was: the start of your next turn).
  • "Save or suck" spells with a low floor (unfun) and a ceiling so high it trivializes the encounter (also unfun) are bad design.
• [New] Frost Shield: upcast +2×KEY → a flat +5 temp HP per mana. At high tiers the old upcast blocked far more than a monster's hit, with no roll. A flat +5 keeps it strong and is easier to add up.
• Arctic Blast: removed the STR save and Incapacitated effect. Already Hampered creatures are Restrained automatically.
• Arctic Annihilation: reworded. Encased targets are no longer also Incapacitated, and targets are no longer restricted to "objects or willing creatures"; it's now "any targets you choose".

Lightning

• [Updated] Zap:
  • Range 12 → 8; damage 2d8 → 1d8+4.
  • On a miss, you take half the damage instead (was: the full hit).
  • High Levels: +6 damage every 5 levels.
  • Earlier versions had the dual problem of either not scaling damage or risk enough. Now it lands in a really good place across the level curve.
• Arc Lightning: no longer self-strikes on a miss. It wasn't needed for balance and was a bit too punishing.
• Alacrity: reworked to be more useful. It's still castable to teleport while Defending (after damage), but can now also be cast during your turn, 1/turn, to teleport up to your Speed for 0 actions.
• [New] Stormlash: no longer ignores metal armor. Instead, metal-clad creatures roll with disadvantage and take +10 damage, so it scales with how heavy the armor is. A failed STR save now knocks targets Prone (was: Dazed, or Incapacitated on a failure by 5+).
• [New] Electrickery: your ally always teleports away; another creature is teleported into their place (and becomes the target) on a failed WIL save. Before, the swap happened only if the save failed.
• Electrocharge: touch → Reach 4.
• Ride the Lightning: save removed. Any creature knocked back 2 or more spaces is also knocked Prone, Dazed, and Deafened automatically. Upcast: +1 knockback.

Wind

• [Updated] Razor Wind:
  • Now 2d4 slashing without Vicious (was 1d4 Vicious). It never felt like something I wanted to use: unreliable and low power.
  • Now choose: roll with advantage OR also damage 1 adjacent target (was: always splashed to 1 adjacent target), giving utility even when enemies are not adjacent.
  • High-level scaling improved to +3 damage per 5 levels (was +2), needed to keep up with other cantrips.
• Breath of Life: heals 1d4 HP (was a flat 1 HP). New: if healed for 4+, the Dying creature also regains 1 action. Scaling now also improves healing.
• Blustery Gale: knockback simplified to a flat 2 spaces (per-size scaling moved into the general forced-movement rule).
• [Updated] Barrier of Wind: reworked to be more useful.
  • Was: ranged attacks have disadvantage against you this round. Disadvantage was simply not strong enough compared to other defensive spells; Frost Shield was always better.
  • Now: while Defending against a ranged attack, reduce its Primary Die by 3. If it then misses, redirect the attack to another space in Reach.
  • Upcast: +1 reduction and +1 Reach.
• [Updated] Fly was replaced by Echoburst (Tier 3, 2 actions). Fly moves to the GM's Guide as a secret spell.
  • Reach 1: d44 bludgeoning, ignoring armor. Any creature in that space at the start of your next turn takes it again.
  • Upcast: advantage OR +1 Reach.
  • Flight is hard to manage in combat at the table. Wind casters needed a single-target spell they can be proud of, one that's better against armor, with a real drawback.
• Updraft: reworked. Great idea, but it was both the worst spell in the game AND the longest one to resolve.
  • Cost reduced from 3 → 2 actions.
  • Was: enemies repeat a DEX save until they succeed, taking 1d6 falling damage per failure, and land Prone. Now: "20 damage minus a DEX save; on 10+ damage, they land Prone and Dazed."
  • Upcast: +2 damage (was +2 Range, +1 area).
  • Same idea, much better value, and quicker to resolve.
• [New] Boisterous Winds:
  • Redesigned, and no longer needs Concentration. Gently move every creature within Reach 12 up to 6 spaces, each in a straight line, then again on your next two turns (4 spaces, then 2).
  • Upcast: +2 spaces.
  • It was a spell nobody cast twice (allies gained flight, ranged disadvantage and a free move); its new job is tactical positioning over time for everyone. Very cool possibilities!

Radiant

• Rebuke: removed "does not miss". It was a far too powerful 2nd or 3rd action and encouraged attack, attack, attack a bit too much. It's still powerful vs undead, cover, frightened, and armored foes, but no longer feels like a required 3rd action. [Updated] Damage 1d6 → 1d8, and High Levels +2 → +3 per 5 levels: a bit below average value against normal enemies, a good bit above against armored, cowardly, or undead ones, especially given its short reach.
• [Updated] True Strike: was a bit weak. Buffed to Reach 4 (was 2), and it now ignores ALL disadvantage and grants +1 Reach on the next attack this encounter. The July post said "melee attack"; it's any attack.
• [New] Heal: 1d6+KEY → 1d8+KEY, and the upcast adds +1d8. A small bump: the d8 matches Rebuke, and healing still sits well below damage, so encounters don't become a slog.
• [Updated] Warding Bond: competed with Updraft for worst spell in the game.
  • Was: 1 action, lasts 1 minute; your ward takes half damage and you take the other half; upcast +1 creature.
  • Now: 0 actions and Concentration (a stealth buff: the caster previously had no way to end it early and would die prematurely because of it!).
  • Reach 4. Your ward takes 2 less damage from all sources, and (1/round) you may take some or all of an attack on them instead.
  • Upcast: +2 Reach and +2 damage reduction.
• Shield of Justice: reworked. Was the best spell in the game (by a lot). Was: reflect radiant damage equal to the amount your Defend blocked. Now: attackers this round are Blind until the end of their next turn, and you deal damage back (ignoring armor) equal to the damage you take. Upcast: +5 damage OR +5 Defense (was +5 Armor). [Updated] It's now Tier 4 (was 3).
• [Updated] Condemn: Tier 4, 2 actions → Tier 3, 1 action. It now targets any enemy that crit since your last turn (was: one that crit you or an ally). It was too hard to set up and too expensive for what it did. Radiant is efficient and safe, not the top damaging school, so it got cheaper to cast rather than bigger. Vengeance keeps its "since your last turn" window (the July post's "this round" change was reverted).
• [New] Celestial Legion (Tier 7, 1 action):
  • This encounter, any friendly creature may spend 1 of 3 charges (1/turn).
  • Reckoning: advantage ignoring all disadvantage, +1d20 damage.
  • Trembling: the attacker becomes Frightened, and you reduce the damage by 1d20 if Bloodied.
  • Upcast: +1 charge.
  • Radiant had nothing at tiers 7 and 8, so the Oathsworn's Tier 7 unlocked no new spell. This is a mass True Strike: a pool of d20s for the party to spend, with no Concentration (so it doesn't conflict with Warding Bond) and no healing (Radiant has enough of that).

Necrotic

• [Updated] Entice:
  • Now a d12 bargain: 1d12 damage ignoring armor, once a round.
  • The target moves Primary Die spaces closer (was a flat 2) and gains 1d12 to add to its next attack. Range 8 → 12.
  • Every 5 levels you may add another d12. "May", because you might not want to give 5d12 to an enemy you can't finish off.
• [Updated] Shadow Trap: now a Reaction when an enemy moves next to an ally within Reach 8: 2d12, and a Small/Tiny enemy is Restrained until it escapes. It was a 2-action Concentration trap for the next creature to approach you, at 3d12. The fantasy is using an ally as bait!
• Vampiric Greed: STR save removed. [Updated] You now gain an extra Wound for each creature that survives (was: each creature that saved). Upcast changed to +1 Reach OR +10 damage.
• Greater Shadow (Tier 4) removed. It's now a Shadowmancer-only ability. Other classes being able to summon shadow minions didn't seem right, and them not having access to the ability to command them was an oddity.
• Vigor Mortis (Tier 4) added: cast when an ally drops to 0 HP. While Dying they keep their max actions, skip STR saves to act, and damage causes 1 fewer Wound (min 1). Upcast: +10 temp HP.
• [New] Unspeakable Word:
  • Now always deals d66 with advantage (ignoring armor).
  • On a failed INT save, the target is Weakened 10 and you're Empowered 10 on your next attack; on a save, the reverse.
  • It was damage only on a failed save, with half to you both on a save.
  • The damage no longer hinges on the save: it always lands in full, and the save only decides who is Weakened and who is Empowered. The backfire stays, since Necrotic is meant to be tempting and risky.
• Creeping Death: upcast changed to +10 damage (was +1d20). Same net effect, but less mathy.

Utility Cantrips

• Ice Disk: carries "moderately heavy weight" (was a hard 250 lb limit) to avoid any weird conversion math.
• Wintry Scrying: casting time 10 minutes → 1 minute.
• Wind Whisper: the 100-mile limit removed; it's now "anywhere wind could reach."
• Spark Buddy: the ~1 lb fetch limit removed.

Optional Rules

Added a large number of new optional rules to improve and customize your game, and removed others that playtested poorly.

• Added:
  • Blaze of Glory (final-Wound heroes get 1 last turn).
  • Mighty Healing (recovering from Dying restores 1 action).
  • Simpler Characters.
  • Level 0 Funnels.
  • Dramatic Leveling.
  • Boon & Bane Actions.
  • Can't Cut Corners.
  • 1-2-1 diagonal movement.
• Removed:
  • Large Groups (2 actions per hero in 6+ player games; not really needed, and not fun).
  • Small Groups (sidekick rules).
  • The cumulative –1-per-Wound penalty variant.
• Abstracted Distances retuned: Close is now Reach/Range 3 (was 4), with explicit move counts between bands.

New FAQ Section, Full Glossary, & Rules Clarifications

• A bunch of helpful FAQ are included now. [Updated] New since July:
  • Defending, Interposing, or Helping after seeing the roll.
  • Deflecting a crit with a shield.
  • Interposing while hidden.
  • Entice with allies, doubling, and AoEs.
• Also new or expanded in the glossary: Charged, Burrowing, Bloodied-related save riders on necrotic spells, and the Closest Creature rule for Arc Lightning. [Updated] Plus Damage ("loss of HP"; damage stopped by Defending or temp HP doesn't count), Deafened, Primary Die, Minion, and every condition.

Heroes

TL;DR

• One book became eleven. Each class now has its own book with a FAQ, name lists and level 1 and 2 Quick Builds.
• 29 new subclasses, two to four additional ones per class. The four "Extra Subclasses" (Oathbreaker, Spellblade, Reaver, Beastmaster) moved into their class books as story-based subclasses.
• Every option list now shows its cost (Passive, 0 Actions, 1 Action, 2 Actions), and "Armor" the hero stat reads "Defense" throughout.
• 1/day is gone. Those abilities are now 1/Safe Rest or have no limit.
• Zephyr: rebuilt around a new resource, Momentum, gained by moving. Swift Fists, Reverberating Strikes and Ethereal Projection are gone.
• Stormshifter: shifting into a harmless beast is unlimited; Direbeast forms are per encounter, and all three forms were rebuilt (WAY better now). Beast of the Pack's attack is now Frenzy.
• Shepherd: the Lifebinding Spirit is now a cantrip from level 1 with Harm and Mend. Searing Light is gone from level 1 (same effects, rolled into the Lifebinding Spirit).
• Commander: Coordinated Strike buffed to be once per encounter at level 1. Gain an additional pool of INT Coordinated Strikes at level 5, all three Weapon Masteries are new, and Combat Tactics arrive at level 2.
• Songweaver: Vicious Mockery buffed to 1d6+INT, and Songweaver's Inspiration buffed to be able to raise a die by 1.
• Shadowmancer: Summon Shadow and Command Shadows are separate cantrips, every 5 levels summon MORE minions now, with a Shadow Limit of INT. Shadow Blast uses DEX.
• Oathsworn: Zealot is a flat +5 damage per mana, chosen after you hit. Judgment Dice work on any Reach attack (including your radiant spells).
• The Cheat: Sunder Armor is reworked one ability, Low Blow rolls a d4, and Cunning Strike is +2×INT damage on crits. New abilities.
• Berserker: Death Blow no longer spends Fury Dice, and Dismantle is new.
• Hunter and Mage: light touch. Pinning Shot rolls three times the dice; Shadowpath gets Dread Hunter.

Every Class

• Each class is now its own book, with a FAQ, name lists and Quick Builds (ready-made heroes at the back).
• Option lists (Savage Arsenal, Underhanded Abilities, Commander's Orders, Thrill of the Hunt, Sacred Decrees, Invocations, Sacred Graces, Lyrical Weaponry, Martial Arts) now print each ability's action cost beside its name.
• "Armor" as the hero stat is now "Defense", matching the Core Rules.
• Abilities that were 1/day are now 1/Safe Rest, or unlimited where noted below.
• Spell-tier lines reworded: "You may now cast tier 2 spells and upcast spells at tier 2" → "You may now cast spells up to tier 2."
  
• The four Extra Subclasses from the back of the Heroes book now sit with their classes as story-based subclasses.

Berserker

Class features

• BOUNDLESS RAGE (Level 20): was "Anytime you roll less than 6 on a Fury Die, change it to 6 instead" → less than 5, change it to 5. 5s are easier to count up than 6s, and the Berserker ran a tad hot anyway.

Savage Arsenal

• Death Blow: was "After you deal damage from a crit, you may expend any number of Fury Dice. Sum the dice and deal double that amount of damage." → "Whenever you crit, you may double the damage from your Fury Dice (instead of rolling any additional dice)." It no longer spends the dice. In playtesting, Fury Dice always felt very constrained. This has the same flavor but is a more viable choice and less mathy.
• Dismantle (new): "After you roll an attack, expend any number of Fury Dice, increase your Primary Die by 1 for each." It supports alternate crit builds for the Berserker and gives them another interesting way to better interact with armor.
• Deathless Rage: the Wound now buys 1 action and 1 Fury Die (was: 1 action).
• MORE BLOOD!: added "Whenever you drop to 0 HP, Rage for free."
• Into the Fray: the free attack needs you to land "within your weapon's Reach of at least 2 enemies" (was: adjacent to).
• Unstoppable Force: works "While Dying" (was: "While Dying and Raging").
• Whirlwind: now tagged AoE.

Subclasses

• Red Mist, Blood Frenzy: on a crit or kill you may now "gain 1 Fury Die or change 1 Fury Die to the max" (was: change 1 die only).
• Red Mist, Unstoppable Brutality: the reroll now ignores disadvantage.
• Mountainheart: unchanged.
• New Subclasses: Path of Burning Rage, Path of Titan's Grip, and the story-based Muscle Mage.

The Cheat

Class features

• Vicious Opportunist: new note: "Yes! If you can figure out how to attack on someone else's turn, you can use this again in the same round!"
• Cheat (Level 2): changing a skill check to 10+INT is 1/Safe Rest (was 1/day), and now says "any of your skill checks".
• Quick Read (Level 5): the 1/day advantage on an Examination check is gone; the 1/encounter Assess advantage stays.

Underhanded Abilities

• Sunder Armor: the Medium and Heavy versions are now one ability: "After you crit an armored creature, sunder their armor: give the next non-crit Primary Die rolled against them +2." It was "Until the start of your next turn, ALL melee attacks against that target ignore its armor", and Heavy armor needed a second pick. The +2 goes to whoever attacks that creature next, not only the Cheat. It needed to be updated for the new armor rules, and it's a much more interesting teamwork ability to boot.
• Exploit Weakness: was "Action: Make a contested INT check against an enemy" → "Whenever you successfully Assess: Create an Opening against a creature, you can use Vicious Opportunist against them, even if they are not Distracted." Contested checks were a bit fiddly. This plays better at the table and uses an already existing mechanic, Assess.
• Steal Tempo: was a second crit "on a turn: your target loses 1 action and you gain 1 action" → a second crit "in a round, your target is Dazed and you give an ally 1 action." It now uses the Dazed condition, counts crits on other heroes' turns, and hands the action to an ally, which makes it a teamwork ability (the Cheat doesn't really need extra actions anyway).
• Trickshot: was "When you throw a dagger, it returns back to your hand at the end of your turn. On a hit, it ricochets to another creature within 2 spaces, dealing half as much damage to them." → "You can use Vicious Opportunist on thrown weapon attacks (but you can't use Twist the Blade on them). Whenever you throw a weapon, you may spend an additional action to have it hit another creature within Reach 2 of it, dealing half as much damage to them." Opened up a tad to support a medium-range Cheat build and give more utility.
• How'd YOU get here?!: Reach 12 (was: up to 4 spaces away).
• New: Tangling Wire ("Whenever you Grapple, you may Restrain instead.") and The Setup (a reaction when an ally misses a creature adjacent to you: "You can make an Opportunity Attack against them, treating them as Distracted.").

Subclasses

• Silent Blade, Cunning Strike: was "(2/encounter) When you land a Sneak Attack, you may force the target to make a STR save (DC 10+INT)" for maximum Sneak Attack dice → "Deal +2×INT damage whenever you crit." Saves slow the game down. Same net effect, less fiddliness, and more flavorful: it improves based on how smart I am, rather than how lucky the monster is.
• Silent Blade, KILL: now reads "When you Sneak Attack an enemy with fewer max HP than you" (was: "When you crit").
• Scoundrel, Low Blow: was "you may spend 2 additional actions to Incapacitate your target for their next turn on a failed STR save (DC 10+INT). Save or fail, they are Taunted by you until you drop to 0 HP." → spend 1 additional action and roll 1d4: Taunted for the rest of the encounter; knocked Prone, then Taunted; Dazed, then Taunted; or Incapacitated until the end of the next hero's turn. Only on a creature not already Taunted by you. A much more interesting ability now: it puts the onus on the hero rather than the GM/monster, and it plays faster.
• Scoundrel, Pocket Sand: triggers when you Defend "against an adjacent creature" (was: against a melee attack).
• New Subclasses: Tools of the Gambler, Tools of the Serpent, and the story-based Honorseeker.

Commander

Class features

• Starting Gear: Short Sword (was Hand Axe??).
• Coordinated Strike: was "(1/round) Free action… You can do this INT times/Safe Rest." → at Level 1 it is "(1/encounter)", and it now allows an unarmed attack. At Level 5, Master Commander adds "an additional pool of INT uses of Coordinated Strike to use per Safe Rest (you may use Coordinated Strike only 1/round)"; it was "regain 1 spent use" when you roll Initiative. This allows the Commander to do his cool thing each encounter. A bit less restrictive; he needed a small bump.
• Level order: Fit for Any Battlefield (a Combat Tactic and your Combat Dice) moved from Level 4 to Level 2. Commander's Orders (choose 2) moved from Level 2 to Level 4.
• Combat Dice: the d8, d10, d12 and d20 upgrades are now part of Master Commander at the same levels (5, 9, 13, 17).
• Captain of Legions (Level 20): "INT allies gain +1 action" (was: "EVERY ally within 12 spaces").

Commander's Orders

• Commanding Presence: was a 2-word command on a failed WIL save (DC 10+STR) → "(1/encounter) Make an Influence check": 1–9 Move!, 10–19 Kneel!, 20+ Strike! This was by far the most OP ability the Commander had. It needed a bit more structure and a ceiling. Now it's still very powerful and interesting, but less likely to break a game.
• Face Me!: costs 0 actions, and now also triggers when an enemy "attacks a dying ally" (was: a Reaction after an ally within 12 spaces is crit).

Combat Tactics

• Sweeping Strike: was "2 actions… This attack does not miss on a 1." → "spend 1 additional action" and it now adds Combat Die damage to every target, with the usual AoE rule (no miss on a 1, no crit).
• Inerrant Strike: no longer rerolls the miss: "Whenever you miss, add 1 to the Primary Die and deal +Combat Die damage."
• Heavy Strike: "knockback your target STR spaces". The per-size distances are gone, since the Core Rules now handle size for all forced movement.

Weapon Mastery

All three were reworked: they needed to be updated for the new armor rules.

• Slashing: was "cannot miss unarmored enemies" → "(1/turn) Your attacks with slashing weapons can strike 1 additional creature adjacent to you and your target."
• Bludgeoning: was "When your primary die rolls a 7 or higher… ignore Heavy Armor" → "(1/turn) Your attacks with bludgeoning weapons deal +10 damage vs Armored foes."
• Piercing: was "ignore Medium Armor" → "(1/turn) Your attacks with piercing weapons can strike another creature behind your target within Reach."

Subclasses

• Bulwark, Shield Expert: was "you may Defend 2× each round", with a free opportunity attack the first time you blocked all of an attack → "you can Defend for free; when you do, you may deal damage to an adjacent enemy equal to your shield's Defense."
  • Defending soaking up 2 actions per round was (long term) neither fun nor healthy for the balance of the game. We can still fulfill the "Tank" fantasy without breaking the game, becoming annoying for the GM, or making the player feel like he is always action-starved. This was one of the very first subclasses designed, and I learned a lot about what makes the game un/fun in further playtesting and design. He was due for an update.
• Bulwark, Juggernaut: now costs an additional action for the +1 to your Primary Die and the extra damage.
• Bulwark, Taunting Strike: Taunts "a creature you attack" (was: a creature you hit).
• Bulwark, Shield Wall: was "Allies within 2 spaces gain ALL the benefits of the shield you have equipped" → "(Reach 2) Your shields gain +2 Defense. Your allies can also use your shield's Defense when they Defend."
• Vanguard, Experienced Commander: no longer grants +1 use of Coordinated Strike.
• Vanguard, As One!: was advantage, ignore all disadvantage, and "Your chosen allies gain 1 additional action to use on their next turn" → "All attacks made with your Coordinated Strike are made with advantage." Coordinated Strike comes up more often now, so handing every chosen ally an extra action each time was too much.
• Spellblade: Face Me! (Glimmering Decree) follows the new Face Me! trigger and is a Free Reaction. Withering Strike, which rode on Coordinated Strike, is now Withering Presence on Commanding Presence. Firebrand is renamed Spellforge.
• New Subclasses: Champion of the Arena, Champion of the Phalanx, Champion of the Siege-Breaker.

Hunter

Thrill of the Hunt

• Pinning Shot: still 3 actions, but you now shoot "rolling 3 times the normal amount of dice" before the target is Restrained (was: "Spend 3 actions shooting your quarry" and it oddly broke a few different things).
• Fleet Feet: now 1/round.
• Heavy Shot: "knock them back 2 spaces" (was 4 / 2 / 1 by size; the Core Rules now handle size).
• Hail of Arrows: targets are Slowed (same effect, now the named condition).

Subclasses

• Shadowpath, Level 11: Pack Hunter (mark a second creature within 6 spaces for free) is replaced by Dread Hunter: "Choose both Hunter's Mark options when attacking your Quarry." The old ability gets overwritten at higher levels, and it needed to be a bit more interesting.
• Wild Heart, Resourceful Herbalist: adds "Add your WIL to your Examination skill." Healing Salves heal WIL d8 (was WIL d6).
• Wild Heart, Unparalleled Survivalist: the free half move comes "When you attack" (was: with a ranged weapon).
• Beastmaster:
  • Large companion, Go for the Throat!: costs 1 Thrill of the Hunt charge (was 2). Was the weakest, now very competitive.
  • Medium companion, Protect Me!: 1d8+LVL (was 1d4+LVL).
  • Medium companion, Ferocious: triggers "Whenever you crit your Quarry" (was: you or your companion).
  • Small companion, Go for the Throat!: the 1/round limit at Levels 11 and 15 is gone.
• New Subclasses: Keeper of Traps, Keeper of the Pack.

Mage

• The class table and Spellshaper list are reworded for clarity, with no rules changes.
• Control, Supreme Control: the doubling and the Reaction now name Force of Will (was: "Whenever you Demand Control").
• Control, Deny Fate: triggers on a miss "(or if one or more creatures save vs a spell you cast)".
• Chaos, Force of Chaos: Invoking Chaos on a crit is now optional ("Whenever you crit you may also Invoke Chaos").
  
• Chaos table reworked. More fun, less punishing.
• New Subclasses: Invoker of Wards, Invoker of Flame, Invoker of Surges, Invoker of Frost.

Oathsworn

Class features

• Radiant Judgment: your Judgment Dice are spent "on your next Reach attack this encounter" (was: your next melee attack), so a Reach spell can take advantage of the ability too.
• Zealot: was a choice per mana between Condemning Strike (+5 radiant damage) and Blessed Aim ("Decrease your target's armor by 1 step for this attack") → "Whenever you hit with a melee weapon, you may spend mana to deal +5 damage for each mana spent". Blessed Aim is gone, and you now decide after you hit.
• Weapons: "Melee STR Weapons" (was STR Weapons).

Sacred Decrees

• Explosive Judgment: hits "all enemies within Reach 2" (was: in your aura). Was simply too big and too good for a selective AoE. Now covers 25 squares rather than  EIGHTY-ONE (or more with Improved aura)!!
• Unstoppable Protector: +2 Speed (was +1), and "Nothing can stop you from Interposing for an ally within your aura."

Subclasses

• Refuge, Glorious Reprieve: was "You and allies in your aura cannot drop below 1 HP. Whenever this triggers, they gain 1 Wound instead" → "You and allies in your aura do not lose actions from Dying. (1/Round) You or an ally in your aura can ignore 1 Wound gained while Dying." The old version warped the game in very unfun ways in some edge cases (some classes benefit from Dying). Revised to keep the same flavor, without the unintended side effects.
• Vengeance: unchanged.
• Oathbreaker (was an Extra Subclass): gains "Blood Magic. You can use Entice on yourself." at Level 3.
• New Subclasses: Oath of Roaring Thunder, Oath of Valor.

Shadowmancer

Class cantrips

These moved here from the Core Rules and are now "Shadowmancer Only".

• Summon Shadow and Command Shadows are now two cantrips (was one, Summon Shadows).
  • Summon Shadow: "Summon 1 adjacent Shadow (a d12 minion)". High Levels: "+1 Shadow every 5 levels" (was +1 Reach). WAY better scaling now.
  • "Shadow Limit. You can have up to INT Shadows." (was: INT or LVL, whichever is lower). The lower limit wasn't really needed at level 1.
  • Command Shadows: "ALL your Shadows move 6 then attack (1/round)."
• Shadow Blast: 1d12+DEX (was 1d12+KEY).

Class features

• Eldritch Usurper (Level 20): was "Whenever you summon a single shadow minion, summon 2 instead. They die only when they receive 12 or more damage at one time." → "(1/Encounter) When you cast Summon Shadow you may summon a Greater Shadow instead": a 5d12 minion that explodes into 5 Shadows when it dies. Greater Shadow was a Tier 4 spell in the first-printing Core Rules. Summon Shadows was revised and the Shadowmancer needed a spicy new capstone. The new Greater Shadow does a number of subtly very fun things.

Invocations

• Lesser: Beguiling Influence, Blood Sight and Whispers of the Grave are 1/Safe Rest (was 1/day).
• Hungering Shadows, Swarming Shadows: trigger when a Shadow "rolls the max" (was: would crit; minions don't crit). Swarming Shadows ignores your Shadow Limit.
• One with Shadows: also works "While adjacent to a Shadow", and summoning or commanding minions doesn't count as attacking.
• Shadow Spear: adds "Crits on a 1."
• Repelling Blast: "On hit: knockback 2" (was: push a Medium or smaller creature up to 2 spaces).
• Vengeful Blast: removed. Shadow Blast is limited to once a round, and this broke that limit every time a minion died.

Subclasses

• Red Dragon, Abyssal Depths: "would crit" → "roll the max"; otherwise unchanged.
• Reaver (was an Extra Subclass):
  • Shadow Exploit and Martyr Spawn are one ability, and the rising cost (1 more Shadow each use) now covers the Defend use too.
  • Grim Harrow: "treat each die as Primary".
  • Reap ignores your Shadow Limit.
  • Level 15 is renamed Sovereign One and also summons your Bonescythe.
• New Subclasses: Pact of the Void, Pact of the Endless Swarm, Pact of the High Celestial.

Shepherd

Lifebinding Spirit

Was a Tier 1 Radiant spell learned at Level 2. It is now a Shepherd-only cantrip learned at Level 1 (My Buddy!). Completely reworked. It never made much sense as a tiered spell, since it always follows you. Combined with Searing Light, the Shepherd overall has much more utility and ability to heal and deal damage as expected across the level curve, and is less fiddly as well.

• Was: summoned with mana; it lasted until it "heals a number of times equal to the mana spent summoning it"; it attacked or healed within Reach 4 for 1d6+WIL; upcasting grew the die and added a healing use.
• Now: one spirit, no mana. "It can travel up to Reach 4 away from you in order to act before returning to your side."
  • "Harm. 1 Action: It attacks for 1d8+STR (ignoring Armor)." High Levels: +STR damage every 5 levels.
  • "Mend. 1 Action: (WIL/Safe Rest, Reach 4) It restores WIL d20 HP to a Dying creature."

Class features

• Searing Light (Level 1): removed. It healed WIL d8 to a Dying creature or dealt WIL d8 radiant to an undead or Bloodied enemy, WIL times per Safe Rest. Its healing is now the spirit's Mend.
• Sacred Graces: choose 1 at Level 4, a 2nd at 9 and a 3rd at 13 (was: 2 at Level 5, then one more at 9 and 13).
• Assist Me, My Friend!: now a Level 5 class feature instead of a Sacred Grace: "Instead of your spirit attacking this round, you may add its damage to one of your melee weapon attacks." It was an addition to your first melee attack each round.

Sacred Graces

• Dark Benediction (new): "Your Lifebinding Spirit can now cast Entice and Withering Touch."
• Empowered Companion: "+STR damage vs Undead and +WIL healing" (was: cast the spirit as if you spent 1 more mana, with a d20 maximum die).
• Illuminate Soul: now passive: "Whenever you Mend a creature, make them glow with radiant light for 1 round. Attacks against them are disadvantaged and attacks they make are advantaged." It was an action, WIL times per Safe Rest, on any creature within 6 spaces.
• Light Bearer: "Your Lifebinding Spirit can cast Heal", and you regain a use of Mend (was Searing Light) when you roll Initiative.
• Vengeful Spirit: now a single burst: "(AoE Reach 2) Your Lifebinding Spirit sacrifices itself to deal its Harm damage to all enemies within Reach." It was a vortex that damaged enemies within 3 spaces at the end of each of your turns.

Subclasses

• Mercy, Merciful Healing: "You can use Mend on non-Dying creatures" (was: healing a Dying creature heals twice as much).
• Mercy, Level 7: Conduit of Light is renamed Searing Light and spends a use of Mend to damage another target for the HP you healed (was: heal or damage another target, spending a use of Searing Light).
• Mercy, Level 15: Empowered Conduit is now Lifebinder's Embrace: "Your Mend may heal 1 additional creature."
• Malice, Soul Reaper: "(1/round) Your companion's attacks can target a 2nd adjacent enemy" (was: a second target for Searing Light).
• Malice, Veilwalker's Blessing: "your Lifebinding Spirit crits the attacker back" (was: a STR save, Bloodied on a failure, or 0 HP if already Bloodied). "Save or suck" effects with a low floor and a ceiling so high it trivializes the encounter are bad design. Now it always does something, with no save to slow things down, and the spirit does the work.
• Malice, Deathbringer's Touch: "Your Lifebinding Spirit and Withering Touch crit on 1 as well" (was: your first melee attack each round against a Bloodied creature is an automatic crit, and the spirit deals +STR damage). Updated for the new spirit: Harm already adds STR, so the feature now makes the spirit and Withering Touch crit more often.
• New Subclasses: Luminary of Protection, and the story-based Luminary of the Forge.

Songweaver

Class features

• Vicious Mockery (moved here from the Core Rules, now "Songweaver Only"): 1d6+INT (was 1d4+INT); High Levels +3 damage every 5 levels (was +2); Taunted "until the end of their next turn". A d4 misses one cast in four, which made the Taunt unreliable. The d6 lands more often, and the scaling now keeps up with other cantrips.
• Songweaver's Inspiration: "Allow an ally to reroll any single die or increase the result rolled by 1." It was a reroll of a die "related to an attack or save". More flexible: it works on any die, and the +1 can turn a miss into a hit, or a hit into a crit, without gambling on a reroll.
• Spell schools: Level 1 gives Wind cantrips and Vicious Mockery; the second school now comes at Level 2 (was Level 1).
• Song of Rest: "friendly creatures gain +1 healing for each Hit Die spent", with no daily limit (was: 1/day, +WIL HP for each creature that spends Hit Dice).
• Windbag (the Utility Spell feature) is renamed I Know Just the Song.
• I'm So Famous! (Level 20): "Your Songweaver's Inspiration also grants that ally advantage on all subsequent rolls this round" (was: your Inspiration "cannot fail (your target succeeds)"). "Cannot fail" was hard to rule on for attacks and damage. Advantage for the rest of the round is clear.

Lyrical Weaponry and A "People" Person

• Not My Beautiful Faaace!: on a save, "reroll the attack and choose either result" (was: they attack you with disadvantage).
• Song of Domination: enemies who save still move half as far.
• Stompy: 2 actions (was 3).

Subclasses

• Snark, Opportunistic Snark: triggers "when an enemy's attack deals 0 damage" (was: when an enemy misses), and the cast "can't miss". Monsters only miss on a 1, so the old trigger rarely came up. Now it also fires when you or an ally Defend an attack down to nothing.
• Snark, Words Like Swords: "Your Vicious Mockery damage die becomes 1d12" (was: the damage becomes 1d6+INT+WIL). A d12 is far more accurate than a d6, so she Taunts and uses Fight Picker far more reliably, most of all on a second or third cast in a turn.
• Courage, Inspiring Presence: "Whichever ally is nearest to you has advantage" (was: allies within 12 spaces gain WIL temp HP whenever you use Songweaver's Inspiration). Less bookkeeping than handing out temp HP on every use, and it makes where you stand matter.
• Courage, Levels 7 and 11: Fire in My Bones moved down to Level 7. Unfailing Courage, now Unfailing Resolve at Level 11, lets the target "reroll with advantage or increases a die face by +2".
• New Subclasses: Herald of Singing Steel, Herald of Torment, and the story-based Herald of Legends.

Stormshifter

Beastshift

The charges are gone! This lets the Stormshifter do their cool thing every encounter instead of rationing shifts across a whole day, and it's less to track.

• Was: "You have DEX Beastshift charges; they reset on a Safe Rest", and every shift cost one.
• Now: shifting into a harmless beast is free. "You can Beastshift into a Direbeast form DEX times/encounter (for up to 1 min)."
• Expert Shifter (extra charges at Levels 6, 9 and 12) is removed.
• Forms come earlier: Fearsome Beast at Level 1 (was 2), Beast of the Pack at Level 2 (was 3).

Direbeast Forms

• Fearsome Beast: "Gain WIL Defense, WIL+LVL temp HP, advantage on STR saves" (was: DEX+LVL temp HP). Gore is 1d8+LVL (was 1d6+LVL).
• Beast of the Pack: rebuilt. Thunderfang's stacking dice and Supercharge's mana math were fiddly, and Supercharge hurt you on a miss. Frenzy keeps the build-up with less to track.
  • Was: Thunderfang (1d4+LVL, growing by 1d4 lightning on each crit or kill) and Supercharge (mana for +1d8 lightning each).
  • Now: +DEX Speed, "you can move DEX spaces for free each turn", and advantage on DEX saves.
  • "Lightning Step. (1/turn) Spend 1 mana to teleport DEX spaces for free."
  • "Frenzy. 1 Action: 1d6+LVL damage. Your next attack gains increasing advantage instead of disadvantage. This bonus resets whenever you crit, or after you use a different attack."
• Beast of Nightmares: Sting is "1d4+3×LVL acid damage (ignoring Armor), on crit: Dazed" (was: 4×LVL damage on a crit). They didn't need another nuke ability, but a more controlling/utility one was needed.

Class features

• Stormborn (Level 8): "Gain Charged whenever you roll Initiative. Advantage on Naturecraft checks and Concentration saves" (was: resistance to lightning damage, and advantage on one such check 1/day).
• Stormborn (2) (Level 13): keeps the free cantrip when a Direbeast form ends; spending a Beastshift charge to maximize a Wind spell is gone.
• Archdruid (Level 20): "After you cast a tiered spell, you may Beastshift for 0 Actions" (was: 1/encounter, cast a spell up to tier 4 for free when you enter or leave a form). Updated for the new Beastshift, so the capstone is weaving spells and forms together freely.

Chimeric Boons

• Beast of the Sea: adds "Whenever you Defend vs a melee attack, you can Blind the attacker until the beginning of their next turn." Squid ink!
• Fleet Footed: "Can move 2 spaces for free each turn" (was +2 speed).
• Earthwalker: "+STR Defense" (was +2 armor), burrowing without leaving a tunnel, and "Can stand from Prone for free on your turn." Burrowing is strange, hard to manage at the table.
• Leader of the Pack: adds "Allies can move 2 spaces toward you for free on each of their turns."
• Prehensile Tail: "Your melee attacks gain: On hit: Grappled (max 1)."

Subclasses

• Sky & Storm:
  • Attuned to Nature: WIL/Safe Rest (was 1/day).
  • Raging Tempest: any spell crit (was a tiered spell).
  • Primordial Force: "(1/round) Your tiered spells grant an additional effect" (was: spells of 2+ mana).
  • Master of Storm: "(1/encounter) When you would cast a tiered spell, it costs 1 fewer action and 3 fewer mana" (was: 1/Safe Rest, Ride the Lightning for 0 mana).
• Fang & Claw: rebuilt, since it needed to be updated for the new Beastshift and the new forms.
  • Level 3 Swiftshift: Beastshift for free when you roll Initiative, and "(1/turn) You can Beastshift between Direbeast forms for 0 actions (this still costs a Direbeast form charge)."
  • Level 3 Unleash the Beast: "Gore also Taunts until the end of the target's next turn. Frenzy increases to 1d8+LVL damage." It was a Level 7 ability that turned a miss into a crit, 1/encounter.
  • Level 7 Windborne Protector: "Double the WIL Defense and temp HP bonuses from Fearsome Beast form. (1/encounter) You may Interpose from Reach 12." It was a Level 3 reaction costing 2 mana.
  • Level 7 Stormstrider replaces Storm Wake: "Double the DEX movement and Speed bonuses from Beast of the Pack. When you move as a Beast of the Pack, you may teleport instead."
  • Level 11 Master of Forms: "(1/encounter) When you would miss or crit while in a Direbeast form, you may increase or decrease the Primary Die by 1 instead." It used to give 2 Chimeric Boons at a time. Venomous Gaze is gone.
  • Level 15 Chimeric Sovereign: "You know all Chimeric Boons, your Direbeast forms can have 2 at a time" (was: 3 at a time, 2 more boons, and 2 more Beastshifts).
  • Friend of Beasts is removed; harmless shifts are free for everyone now.
• New Subclasses: Circle of Cinder & Ash, Circle of Venom & Web.

Zephyr

The class was rebuilt around Momentum. The old Zephyr's was a bit OP, and his best turn was to stand still and punch three times, since Swift Fists ignored the Rushed Attack penalty. Not a fun game loop. Momentum makes movement the thing that powers the class.

New

• Momentum (Level 1): "Gain 1 Momentum for every new space you enter this turn. You may expend 1 Momentum to add 1 damage to any melee attack. All Momentum is lost if you take damage, or at the end of combat."
• Piercing Blows (Level 2): spend Momentum before an unarmed strike to gain advantage for each spent.
• Supernatural Speed (Level 5): "While unarmored, you may use Momentum to treat a Primary Die rolled against you as if it rolled 1 lower/Momentum spent."
• Kinetic Marvel (Level 10): "Double the damage granted by Momentum."
• Blur (Level 14): "Gain 10 Momentum when you roll Initiative."

Removed

• Swift Fists (Level 1): unarmed strikes that ignored the Rushed Attack penalty. The name now belongs to a Level 6 feature: "If you have no actions and haven't attacked this turn, your Galeforce Strike costs 0 actions."
• Reverberating Strikes (Level 5): +LVL bludgeoning damage on every melee attack.
• Ethereal Projection (Level 3).

Changed

• Burst of Speed: the 1/turn limit is gone, and there are three maneuvers instead of four.
  • Slipstream: "Apply your Defense to every attack against you this round OR you may first move up 1 space." It absorbs Whirling Defense and no longer makes the attack miss outright.
  • Galeforce Strike (replaces Swiftstrike): "Roll 1d20 instead of 1d4, and ignore rushed attack and opportunity attack disadvantage."
  • Windstep: ignores "all movement restrictions until your turn ends" (was: difficult terrain).
• Iron Defense (2): "(3×STR)+DEX" at Level 4 (was: doubled Defense at Level 13).
• Swift Feet: +2 Speed and Initiative at Level 9, and again at 16 (was: +2 speed and +LVL Initiative at Level 2, +2 more speed at 9).
• Infuse Strength: now rides on any unarmed strike: "you may expend 1 or more Hit Dice and add them to the strike's total. Instead of dealing damage, heal the target for that amount."
• Unyielding Resolve: Levels 10, 13 and 17 (was 4, 10 and 17).
• Martial Master: 5 picks, at Levels 4, 6, 8, 12 and 18 (was 8).
• Kinetic Momentum is renamed Reactive Force.
• Weapons: "Melee, Unarmed Strikes".

Martial Arts

• Kinetic Barrage: "(1/turn) Whenever you make a melee attack and spend no Momentum, gain DEX Momentum" (was: a growing +STR damage bonus each time you missed).
• Use Momentum is now two abilities: Cyclonic Pull (swap places with the attacker) and Twisting Deflection (1 action: another target within Reach is hit instead).
• Bodily Discipline: ends "any single condition", including Dying.
• Airshift: also stops Restrained.
• Mighty Soul: the Wound adds STR to any failed roll (was: saving throws).
• I Jump On His Back!: uses the Riding rules and also works with Airshift.
• Removed: Blur (the Defend-and-move ability) and Vital Rejuvenation.

Subclasses

• Way of Pain:
  • Bring the Pain: "Damage no longer causes you to lose Momentum. (1/round) You may take 1 Wound to gain 10 Momentum for free." It turned a melee attack against you into a crit, halved it, and reflected it.
  • Share My Pain: "(1/round) Whenever you take damage, you can take half as much, and deal that much to another creature within Reach."
  • Pain Sharpens the Mind: "While you are Bloodied, gain advantage" (was: on your first attack each turn and on saves).
  • Echoed Agony: Share My Pain reaches a 2nd creature within Reach 4.
• Way of Flame:
  • Exploding Soul: a Wound now triggers an unarmed strike "dealing the damage to ALL others within Reach 1" (was: STR+Wounds damage and Smoldering within 2 spaces).
  • Burning Palm replaces Blazing Speed: "Your unarmed strikes gain: On crit: Smoldering. You may double the effects of Momentum vs Smoldering creatures (ending the condition)."
  • Chain Reaction: unarmed crits only, adjacent creatures, and STR+Momentum spent (was STR+Wounds, within 2 spaces).
  • Encompassing Flames replaces Burning Soul: "You may double the Reach of Chain Reaction and Exploding Soul" (was: double any fire damage you deal).
• New Subclasses: Way of Iron, Way of Hurricanes.

Game Master's Guide

Monster stat blocks are summarized, and adventure text is left out but they've been updated too!

TL;DR

• Monster armor is a flat reduction now: Medium –10, Heavy –20 damage from each attack. Crits still ignore it.
• New Monster Builder chart. HP and damage were retuned at every level, damage is given for monsters with 1, 2 or 3 attacks, and the sample dice are simpler and easier to use at the table.
• Legendary monsters now fully scale with the party: their HP is written per hero, with unarmored, Medium and Heavy columns.
• Armor comes in later: Medium Armor not before level 3, Heavy not before level 8. The 60/30/10 mix is gone. GMs are not more free to use a mix of armor however they wish!
• Encounter building: your Monster Budget is the heroes' total levels. Aim for 1–3 monsters per hero (was 1–4), and 1–4 fights a session (was 2–5).
• Every monster was rebuilt on the new charts. The lowest-level monsters can't crit, Flunkies are gone, six monsters changed level, and the Treant left the bestiary.
• New optional rules: Enraged Monsters and Cowardly Monsters, to maintain the tension curve for fights that are already decided.
• Unique Encounters and Flavorful Monster Abilities are now roll tables (d66 and d20).
• Boons: a handful changed, and "Armor" reads "Defense" throughout.
• 5e conversion is simpler: ignore the to-hit roll and AC.
• The book was reordered: Monsters and the starter adventure now come first; the advanced GM tools and rewards moved behind the bestiary.

Layout & Organization

• The book was reordered so a new GM reaches play sooner:
  • Was: Starting as a GM, Advanced GM Tools, Adventuring Rewards, Monsters, Bestiary, Legendary Monsters, Garden of Death, the regions, 5e Conversion.
  • Now: Starting as a GM, Monsters, Garden of Death, Combat Encounter Guidelines, Monster Builder, Bestiary, Legendary Monsters, Advanced GM Tools, Adventuring Rewards, the regions, 5e Conversion.
• 3rd Party Creator License updated to v2.0, matching the Core Rules.
• "Armor" as the hero stat is now "Defense" throughout (Battle Hardened, Lionhearted, Epic Defense, the Phoenix Helm), and distances use Reach.
• Epic Boons are now on pg. 75 (was pg. 23).
• GM advice chapters (Starting as a GM, Advanced GM Tools) were edited for clarity, with no rules changes.

Monster Armor (Reworked)

While I very much appreciated the design of the original monster armor system (Med: "just the dice", Heavy: "half the dice"), it proved to be the least intuitive/fun and most friction-causing part of the game.

• Medium Armor: was "Just the Dice" (ignore all damage modifiers) → Medium Armor monsters "take –10 damage from each attack."
• Heavy Armor: was "Half the Dice" → Heavy Armor monsters "take –20 damage from each attack."
• Crits still ignore armor, as do some spells and abilities. Damage vulnerabilities no longer do; they are a flat +10 now (see the Core Rules changelog).
• Armor Variety: was "60% Unarmored, 30% Medium Armor, 10% Heavy Armor" → no ratio. "Medium Armor monsters should not be introduced any earlier than level 3", and "Save Heavy Armor until the heroes are level 8+."
  • Armor's job is to get players to CHANGE THEIR TACTICS. In the book's words: "Armored monsters are not intended to be harder than an equal leveled monster, rather armor promotes variety in combat—allowing different abilities and tactics to shine."

Running Monsters

• Clarified: "Monsters do NOT have 3 actions like heroes".
• Flunkies removed. They were monsters that couldn't crit, for low-level parties. Now the lowest-level monsters simply can't crit.
• Minions: their attacks now also ignore advantage and disadvantage.
• Stat blocks show saves with their own icon.
• The example goblin is now level 1/2 with "Haha, Didn't Hurt! Whenever you survive an attack, deal 2 psychic damage (ignoring Defense)" (was level 1/3, 1 psychic damage whenever an attack missed).

Combat Encounter Guidelines

• Monster Budget is the new name for the heroes' total levels. The difficulty steps are now exact shares of it:

	First printing	Second printing
Easy	less than half	50%
Medium	around 75%	75%
Hard	equal	100%
Deadly	100–125%	125%
Very Deadly	150%+	150%

• Monsters per hero: 1–3 (was 1–4).
• Encounters per session: 1–4 (was 2–5). Easy fights: 0–1 a session (was 1–2). Medium: 0–2 (was 1–2).
• Deadly now warns that "Heroes will likely take Wounds, one may die."
• Fewer, tougher monsters keep turns moving at the table.

Fine Tuning Difficulty

• New optional rules, "Keep it exciting!", for when a fight is already won:
  • Enraged Monsters: "choose a monster each round to gain 1 additional attack!"
  • Cowardly Monsters: "once monsters are outnumbered or a leader is defeated the remaining monsters may run away, ending the combat early."
• Minions now have a price:
  • "2 minions/hero: Counts as 1 monster of equal level to a hero."
  • "3–4 minions/hero: MUCH more challenging. 2 monsters of equal level to a hero."
• Minion die sizes by party level now overlap (d4 at 1–3, d6 at 2–5, d8 at 4–10, d10 at 10–13, d12 at 12–17, d20 at 15–20).
• Unique Encounters is now a d66 table of 36 entries. "We Give Up!" was folded into Reinforce! and Cowardly Monsters.

Monster Builder (New Chart)

The chart was rebuilt for the new armor.

• HP and damage retuned at every level. A few rows, unarmored HP and damage per round:

Level	HP, was → now	Damage, was → now
1	26 → 21	11 → 7
5	58 → 64	19 → 20
10	118 → 126	30 → 37
15	203 → 202	43 → 52
20	313 → 292	54 → 68

• Armored HP: Medium and Heavy columns are rebuilt for –10 and –20 (level 10: Medium 94 → 107, Heavy 71 → 88). Rows below the recommended levels are starred: "Not recommended to introduce Medium Armor before level 3, or Heavy Armor before level 8."
• Damage for 1, 2 or 3 attacks. The first printing gave one number and a "(2×)" option. Play testing showed that more than one attack was much more valuable than the initial charts gave credit for. Each additional attack discounts the total damage.
• Simpler sample dice: plain dice, or one die plus one number (level 5: "2d8+10 or (2×) 1d8+6" → 1d10+15, or two attacks of 1d6+6, or three of 1d8).
  • Monsters who make a single attack can roll more dice; for ones who make more attacks it's more critical that they roll a single die if at all possible, since we want to streamline play at the table.
• Levels 1/3 and 1/2 can't crit. The level 1/4 row is gone (those were essentially equivalent to minions but without the benefit of easy tracking).
• A "+" row for monsters past level 20: +20 HP and +3 damage a level.
• Save DC: now runs 10 to 18 (was 9 to 20).
• Special abilities flipped: was "For each special ability added… lower the HP or damage 1 step or treat the monster as 1 step stronger" → "Monsters are assumed to have a simple ability… For monsters with no ability, increase the HP or damage 1 step."
• Flavorful Monster Abilities is now a d20 table with two columns (40 abilities). Climbing was dropped, Bloodthirsty now works against any damaged target, and Spiked deals X damage.

Legendary Monster Builder (New Chart)

• HP is now per hero. In the first printing the numbers "stay the same regardless of the number of heroes in the party". Now a legendary monster's level matches a single hero's level, and its HP and Last Stand HP are multiplied by the number of heroes.
  • Example from the book: a level 10 legendary monster against 4 heroes has 344 HP (86 per hero) and a 132 HP Last Stand (33 per hero).
• Three armor columns: Unarmored, Medium and Heavy. The first printing had Medium and Heavy only, and said legendary monsters "will typically have at least Medium armor". But this may not fit the story, or the kind of encoutner you might have wanted to build.

Level	First printing (whole monster)	Second printing (per hero; Last Stand in brackets)
1	Medium 50, Heavy 35, Last Stand 10	Unarmored 22 (3)
10	Medium 275, Heavy 215, Last Stand 100	Unarmored 86 (33), Medium 77 (24), Heavy 64 (20)
20	Medium 525, Heavy 415, Last Stand 200	Unarmored 166 (67), Medium 151 (49), Heavy 124 (40)

• Attack damage: Small attacks now run 5 to 37 (was 8 to 27), Big attacks 8 to 58 (was 16 to 54). Save DCs are unchanged.
• Pacing: "roughly 3 rounds to get to the Last Stand" (was: roughly 15 hero turns).
• The two worked examples were rebuilt: Pudge the Blunderer is now 28 HP per hero with no armor (was 75 HP, Medium), and Kelebek & Poppy are 20 and 24 HP per hero.
• Per-hero HP means the fight lasts about the same number of rounds whatever the size of the party.

Bestiary

• Every stat block was rebuilt on the new chart: HP, damage dice and armor (for example, the Kobold Clanger went from Heavy to Medium Armor).
• Level changes:
  • Goblin: 1/3 → 1/2.
  • Kobold Sneak: 1/2 → 1. Kobold Clanger and Kobold Trapper: 1 → 2. Kobold Denwarden: 1 → 3.
  • Hill Giant: 12 → 10.
• Minions are now labelled "minion" instead of level 1/4, and an Ooze Minion block was added.
• Renamed: the plant monsters are now Briarbane Seedling, Briarbane Acidpod, Briarbane Tangler and Briarbane Rootbreaker.
• Reworked abilities:
  • Goblins: "Haha, Missed Me!" became "Haha, Didn't Hurt!" (2 psychic damage when the goblin survives an attack).
  • Kobold Clanger: "Preoccupied Noisemaker. Doesn't attack".
  • Bandits: the family's Parry is renamed Mortal Panic (same effect), and the weakest are now "Inept. Your attacks miss on 8." The Bandit Captain's new Strict Training switches Inept off for allies.
  • Cobra Captain: new "Coiling Command. (1/Round) Command an ally to Grapple an adjacent enemy."
  • Oozes: Goopy now says how many minions each ooze summons, and Digested adds a fixed 3 damage each time.
  • Gnolls: Frenzy became "Bloodthirsty. Advantage vs damaged creatures" (was: Bloodied creatures).
  • Hill Giant: its knockback is now part of a new Punt attack (was the Brute trait).
  • Blue Drake: its death burst is now Burst Lightning, an area attack.
  • Mummy: new Cursed Slam.
  • Basilisk: its gaze now Lithifies, and a creature Lithified 3 times is Petrified (was: Dazed 3 times).
  • Cultists: Fanatical Zeal and Blood Boil are gone; the Doomsayer's Ecstatic Ravings became Ecstatic Outburst.
• Sample encounters for each family were rewritten for the new levels and the 1–3 monsters per hero guideline.

Legendary Monsters

• The same 17 monsters, levels 2 to 20, rebuilt on the new chart with HP per hero.
• Every block now spells out its BLOODIED and LAST STAND, and the Last Stand's HP is per hero too.
• Reworked abilities:
  • General Flameheart: new Flamespawn (when Bloodied) and Flameburst.
  • Vael, Undying Necromancer: new "Resummon Bane".
  • Azriel, Lord of Pain & Flame: new Rending Winds when Bloodied. His tagline is now "Cruelty Incarnate".
  • Alaric Draegoth: Beckon & Bite became Beckon & Feast.
    

Adventuring Rewards

Items, the gold table and Lodging Boons are unchanged apart from wording.

• Secret Spells: Greater Windform now gives "a flying speed of 10".
• Minor Boons:
  • Fiery: "+1 damage on crits" (was +1 fire damage).
• Major Boons:
  • Natural Talent: "Learn any cantrip" (was: 1 cantrip in a school you don't know).
  • Hardy: advantage 2 "Whenever you increase your max HP" (was: when you roll Hit Dice to increase it).
  • Unflinching: advantage on Concentration saves (was checks).
  • Tenacious is renamed Unwavering.
• EPIC Boons:
  • Epic Knowledge: 1/Safe Rest (was 1/day).
  • Epic Senses: "Gain Blindsight 6" (was: Blindsight 6 or Darkvision 16).
  • Epic Mind: "+8 max mana".

5e Conversion

Now titled "5e/5.5e CONVERSION".

• Monsters: was "change their AC to armor" (14–17 AC was Medium, higher was Heavy) → run them as written and "ignore the 'to hit' roll and AC." For armor, use the Monster Builder chart's HP for that level.
• Conditions: Paralyzed, Stunned and Unconscious now become Dazed (was Incapacitated).
• Monster saves and skills: "roll a d20 for saves and skill checks without bonuses", with advantage or disadvantage where a monster is notably strong or weak. The extra-die table for monster skill checks was removed.
• The 60/30/10 armor guideline was removed here too.