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Core System

The Core system defines the foundational mechanics used across Kaernest. Detailed subsystems expand on these rules and are described on their own pages. The Core system includes dice, difficulty, modifiers, success, combat framing, magic overview, and advancement philosophy.

Dice System

The Prime Directive of Rolls

If something improves how you attempt an action, use dice.
If something expands what is possible, use permissions.
If something enhances raw power or scale, use numbers sparingly.

The dice system for Kaernest is similar in spirit to Pathfinder or D&D, but uses 2d12 instead of a d20. The standard roll for the system is 2d12, then add:

  • Your Skill (usually -2 to 10), and
  • Your Attribute (usually –3 to +6)

If the total meets or exceeds the Target Difficulty, you succeed. When rolling directly against another character or creature, the higher total wins.
In the case of a tie, the defender wins.

Bonus Dice, Penalty Dice, and Modifiers

Most modifiers in Kaernest affect how an action is attempted, not the raw numbers involved. As a result, the system relies primarily on bonus dice, penalty dice, and consequences, rather than stacked numerical modifiers.

Bonus and Penalty Dice

When circumstances strongly favor or hinder an action, an additional die may apply.

  • Bonus Die: Roll 3d12 and keep the two most favorable dice.
  • Penalty Die: Roll 3d12 and keep the two least favorable dice.

No more than one bonus die or one penalty die should apply.
If both would apply, they may cancel each other out, depending on circumstances.

Sources of Bonus Dice

Common sources of advantage include: - Help from another character
- Preparation or forethought
- Flashbacks
- Superior tools or equipment
- Favorable positioning or terrain
- Certain Gifts, techniques, or spells

Multiple advantages do not stack into multiple bonus dice.
Instead, they reinforce the narrative strength of the action.

Sources of Penalty Dice

Common sources of disadvantage include: - Poor positioning or footing
- Hostile environments
- Injury, fatigue, or exhaustion
- Acting under time pressure
- Lack of proper tools or information

Disadvantages are not all equal.
They are classified as minor or major based on their impact.

Minor Disadvantages

A minor disadvantage represents an inconvenience or obstacle that can be overcome through effort or preparation. Examples include: - Poor lighting
- Light weather
- Distraction
- Unfamiliar tools

A minor disadvantage cancels a bonus die, if one is present.
If no bonus die is present, it has no further mechanical effect.

Major Disadvantages

A major disadvantage represents a serious impediment or dangerous condition. Examples include: - Severe injury
- Extreme environments
- Acting while restrained
- Structural collapse or hostile terrain
- Severe exhaustion

A major disadvantage does not cancel a bonus die.
Instead, it escalates risk and consequence. This may include: - Worsening the consequences of failure
- Downgrading a degree of success
- Introducing additional complications
- Increasing danger, exposure, or cost

Major disadvantages make success riskier, not impossible.

Multiple Advantages and Bonus Protection

When multiple advantages apply to a single action: - Only one bonus die is granted.
- Additional advantages protect that bonus die from being canceled by minor disadvantages.

In these cases, minor disadvantages are treated as narrative color rather than mechanical cancellation. Multiple minor disadvantages do not stack beyond canceling a single bonus die.

Earning a Bonus Die

A bonus die is granted when circumstances meaningfully change how an action is attempted, not merely because the character is competent or careful. Spending Effort, preparing in advance, having the right tools, or receiving help may contribute toward earning a bonus die, but none of these guarantee one on their own.

In general: - Routine competence does not grant a bonus die. - Focused effort or preparation may justify a bonus die if it creates a clear advantage. - Multiple advantages together often justify a bonus die and protect it from being canceled by minor disadvantages.

If an action would reasonably succeed without special leverage, it likely does not merit a bonus die.

Numerical Modifiers

Flat numerical modifiers are rare and tightly bounded. - Situational numerical modifiers should not exceed ±4 total.
- Most numerical bonuses should be +1 or +2, and temporary.

Numerical modifiers represent raw force, supernatural reinforcement, or exceptional enhancement.
They should never replace bonus dice as the primary modifier.

Permissions vs Modifiers

Some effects do not modify rolls at all.
Instead, they change what is possible. Examples include: - Attempting a Supernatural Difficulty
- Affecting multiple targets
- Ignoring certain consequences
- Acting at unusual scale, range, or duration

These effects are permissions, not modifiers, and should not grant bonus dice or flat bonuses unless explicitly stated.

GM Guidance

When adjudicating modifiers, consider: - Does this affect how the action is attempted, or what is possible?
- Is the obstacle an inconvenience, or a serious danger?
- Should preparation reduce difficulty, or reduce consequences?

Good preparation should never be erased by a single minor obstacle.
Major dangers should raise the stakes, not nullify player choices.

Degrees of Success

In Kaernest, results fall into four broad degrees:

  • Critical Failure
  • Failure
  • Success
  • Critical Success

Your birth month reflects subtle cosmic influence over your life. When you roll doubles matching your birth month on a pure 2d12 roll, increase your Impact by one step:

  • Critical Failure → Failure
  • Failure → Success
  • Success → Critical Success

Birth month doubles only apply when rolling exactly 2d12.
If a bonus die or penalty die is used, birth month effects do not apply.

Critical Success and Failure do not add anything to Impact, instead they add a condition. The condition might be limited to a specific selection due to the weapon or skill being used.

Simple GM Rule

Most advantages and disadvantages grant a bonus die or penalty die.
Flat numerical modifiers are rare and should not exceed ±4 in total.
If an effect changes what is possible rather than how likely it is, treat it as permission instead of a modifier.

Success with a Cost

On a success with a cost, the action succeeds, but introduces strain, exposure, lost position, resource cost, or narrative complication. When characters narrowly fail a check (usually by 1 or 2), they may negotiate a cost to succeed. The cost should be significant and lasting. Examples are:
- Making an attack and taking on a condition to succeed.
- Trying to convince someone to help you and having them misinterpret your intentions and helping, but expecting something not intended as repayment.
- Attempting to dodge a shot and diving prone to be missed.

Typical Difficulty Targets

Target numbers are designed around the probabilities of 2d12.
Most mortal challenges fall between 10 and 30.

These six difficulty levels are spaced four points apart for ease of use.

Mortal Difficulties

  • 10 – Trivial : Success is expected unless circumstances are extreme.
  • 14 – Routine : Untrained characters often succeed. Trained characters succeed reliably.
  • 18 – Moderate : Competence is required for consistent success.
  • 22 – Hard : Trained characters succeed inconsistently without advantage.
  • 26 – Severe : Even skilled characters must push themselves or rely on preparation.
  • 30 – Extreme : Represents the upper limit of what mortals can plausibly achieve without magic.

Supernatural Difficulties

Targets above 30 assume special leverage, such as magic, powerful Gifts, exceptional tools, or strong situational advantage. - 34 – Legendary : Requires magic or equivalent extraordinary circumstances.
- 38 – Miraculous : Achievable only when everything aligns.
Supernatural difficulties are not simply “harder tasks.”
They represent actions beyond normal mortal limits.

Affecting Groups

Some actions are intended to influence, coordinate, intimidate, inspire, or otherwise affect more than one person at once. When an action targets a group rather than a single individual, increase the Target Difficulty based on the size of the group.

This adjustment reflects scale and inertia, not hostility or cohesion.

Group Size Difficulty Adjustment

  • 2–4 people: +2 TD
  • 5–10 people: +4 TD
  • 11–20 people: +6 TD
  • 21–50 people: +8 TD

Groups larger than this generally cannot be affected by a single roll without significant narrative leverage, preparation, or structural authority.

These adjustments apply only to actions meant to affect the group as a whole. Attacks and other actions that resolve against individual targets are handled normally.

Scope Versus Difficulty

The Target Difficulty adjustment reflects how hard it is to move a group at all. It does not represent how unified, hostile, or attentive the group is. Those factors are handled through fiction, Conditions, Effort, and consequences.

Increasing the size of the group affected does not reduce this difficulty. Some abilities allow a character to affect larger groups without lowering the Target Difficulty, but the challenge of acting at scale always remains.

Partial Success and Consequences

When affecting a group, partial success is common. Success may create compliance without commitment, attention without agreement, or coordination with immediate strain or fallout. Consequences often emerge at the group level rather than from any single individual.

The GM may use escalation, Conditions, or GM Effort to represent the instability of group outcomes.

Character Creation

Characters are not class or level driven. The various sections will be point-buy. Attributes will pull their points from one pool. Skills will mostly be defined by the character's background, but points can also be spent from a pool for skills and gifts.

Combat

Most combat actions are available to all characters. Gifts improve reliability, efficiency, or outcomes. Some actions might cost 1, 2, or 3 actions. Free actions will be a thing, but they will be limited, you'll only get one per turn.

Health and Healing

Characters have a number of wounds based on their Vigor. Taking wounds often causes Conditions. A character that has marked all of their wounds is unconscious and possibly dying.

Initiative and Turns

Initiative is decided by the character at the table with the highest Leadership score. They get to decide for everyone at the table, including the opposition. Each character takes one turn per initiative pass and has three actions which can be used for movement, attacks, skill use, manipulating objects in the world, or other declared activities.

Movement and Positioning

Movement in Kaernest is handled using distance bands rather than exact measurements. These bands describe relative position and tactical space, not precise distance.

Characters typically move one distance band by spending one action. Spending additional actions allows further movement. Difficult terrain, pressure, or Conditions may reduce movement.

Distance bands are intentionally flexible and are defined by the GM based on the scene.

Engagement

Engaged is not a distance, but a state of mutual pressure that occurs at Close range. Characters become Engaged when they commit to binding combat through positioning, shield pressure, grappling, or similar tactics.

Being Engaged carries risk. Breaking engagement requires spending an action and may involve Effort, Conditions, or consequences. Any advantage gained from an opponent disengaging must be paid for with an action on the acting character’s next turn. Engagement represents commitment, not proximity.

Intrigue

See also Intrigue Intrigue is based on a system of "Renown", Reputation (or Rep), and Relationships. Relationships change the quickest, with Tags helping define them. Reputation can move fairly quickly when you act in public with witnesses. Renown is slow to move and long-term. The higher your Renown the more well known you are. The Intrigue system assumes you're playing a hero, or at least not a villain.

Narration

Narration includes flashbacks, where characters can spend effort to set themselves up during an adventure, for something their character probably would have thought of (being an expert) where the player did not. This helps reduce time spent on deep planning. Narration will also cover elements of character creation that include gaining effort through role-playing your characters Foundations, Loyalties, and Ambitions.

Magic

Magic has more than one system. Sorcery is personal magic, and is limited by Species. Access to Sorcery requires specific Gifts and prerequi

Species Magic

The racial magic system is specific to each race; only Humans can learn magic from another race (and don't have a magic of their own). Not all racial magic will be "spells", in fact, most won't be.

Rituals

The other magic will be ritual magic that takes at least 2 participants, but they don't need to be of the same race. This will be limited to specific rituals.

Enchantments

Enchantments represent long-term magical alterations and are covered separately.

Rewards

There's more than one game economy to play with.

XP

How do characters improve and grow (mechanically)?
See Experience Points and Spending XP.

Spent XP

Remember to track how much XP you've spent because you get to spend it a second time. Long term benefits and legacy Gifts.

Effort

This allows characters to push themselves and succeed when the dice don't necessarily agree. Playing a character according to their Foundations and Ambitions gains Effort, which can be spent on Flashbacks, minor modifiers, and Bonus Dice (see Effort Use).

Reputation and Relationships

As mentioned in the Intrigue section above.

Loot

Loot includes coin, equipment, magical items, and other narrative rewards.