Many NPC encounters don’t involve conflict, so you don’t need character statistics for everyone inhabiting your world. However, for the scenes where conflict or combat are likely, you can use the adversaries in this chapter. Adversaries don’t have as many statistics and abilities as player characters, which makes it easier for you to coordinate multiple adversaries in combat.

This section describes how to use each adversary’s stat block, while chapter 3 presents general rules on running combat and tying these scenes into the larger story. Finally, the “Adversary Stat Blocks” section later in this chapter presents statistics for each adversary, grouped by tier to represent their general threat level.

Adversary Breakdown

Each adversary’s stat block presents its statistics in a simplified format, as described in the example below.

Jagged Knife Bandit - Standard

Description: A cunning criminal in a heavy cloak bearing one of the gang’s iconic knives.

Motives & Tactics: Escape, Profit, Throw Smoke

Tier: 1

Type: Standard

Difficulty: 12

Attack Modifier: +1

Daggers: Melee | 2d6+3 phy

Major 8 | Severe 14

HP: 5

Stress: 3

Experience:

Bandit +2

Features

Climber - Passive

This adversary can climb just as easily as they can run. “They get to higher ground.”

From Above - Action

Make an attack from above a target. On a success, deal 3d4+10 physical damage. “They drop in from above and take no mercy.”

Each stat block contains the following elements:

Name: Each stat block has a unique name—in this case, the Jagged Knife Bandit. If an ability affects all adversaries with a certain name, this includes any adversary who uses that stat block (even if you’ve given those NPCs individual names in the story)

Tier: Each adversary is designed to oppose PCs of a certain tier. You can use stat blocks from other tiers, but you may want to adjust their statistics, as described in the later “Improvising Adversaries” section. Tier 1 adversaries are appropriate for level 1 characters, Tier 2 lines up with levels 2-4, Tier 3 is for levels 5-7, and Tier 4 is appropriate for levels 8-10.

Type: The adversary’s type appears below their tier. The Bandit is a Standard adversary, meaning they comprise the rank and file of their faction’s forces. The later “Adversary Types” section lists all adversary types.

Description: A one-line summary of the adversary’s appearance, weapons, and/or demeanor.

Motives & Tactics: Each stat block suggests some general motives and tactics the adversary uses in a confrontation. When in doubt, the Bandit will try to escape (caring more for their own life than victory), profit (by any means necessary, including lying and stealing), and throw smoke (possibly obscuring the battlefield and escape route). There aren’t special rules about these—improvise the outcome like you would for a player character.

Attack Modifier: When you attack with this adversary, apply this bonus or penalty to your attack roll (see “Adversary Attack Rolls”).

Weapon: Each adversary’s weapon lists its name (in this case, Daggers), its range (Melee), and its damage on a success (2d6+3 physical damage). You can use this weapon to make an attack as an action; many adversaries also have special attacks in their “Features” section.

Difficulty: Adversaries don’t use Evasion like PCs—instead, all rolls against them use their Difficulty. The Jagged Knife Bandit is Difficulty 12, so any PC attack or action roll of 12 or above succeeds against this adversary.

Damage Thresholds, Hit Points, & Stress: Major 8 / Severe 14 represents this adversary’s Damage thresholds. They have 5 Hit Points and 3 Stress. These all function the same as for PCs (see “Hit Points and Damage Thresholds” and “Stress Points” in chapter 2).

Experience: Like PCs, some adversaries have Experiences that make them especially capable in certain situations. This stat block’s Experience is Bandit +2, which can aid them in rolls related to such skulduggery. See “Adversary Experiences” below for details on using these Experiences.

Features: Features represent the Bandit’s capabilities in a conflict and are denoted as either an action, which means you must spend a token on the action tracker to use it, a passive, which means it always applies and doesn’t require a token to activate, or a reaction, which means you can respond to the specified trigger without requiring a GM move or action token. The Bandit has an action called “From Above” that deals more damage when they are attacking from above -the 3d10 damage replaces their standard damage of 2d8. They also have a passive called “Climber” that allows them to climb without difficulty. The upcoming “Adversary Features” section details how to use various features.