Abyssal Craft (••)

Prerequisites: Guild: The Company of Artificers or Settlement: Oracaster, Artistry •

You’ve lived near the Abyss and know how to forge weapons of the void. You can take abysmal materials and craft deadly weapons from them. Gain +2 Enhancement to actions when repairing or crafting weapons with the Abyssal and Deep Stone tags.

Agitator (•)

You know just what to say to twist someone’s emotions negatively. Gain +1 Enhancement to shift negative attention to you away from an ally.

Air of Authority (•••)

Prerequisites: Ancestry: Human, Dogma: The Temple of the Benevolent Earth, or Guild: The Union of Cartographers and Stratigraphers; Leadership •

Your reputation precedes you in most settlements, but when it doesn’t, you can present a token of your authority to throw your weight around. When you or someone in your group is under intense scrutiny, you can project your authority to stop the line of questioning. On a reflexive Leadership action, you can choose to impose the Disgraced status effect on the accuser, regardless of the validity of their concern.

Always a Helping Hand (••)

Prerequisites: Dogma: The Church of Golthon or Fortuna; Persuasion •

You’ve earned the goodwill of the citizens of your settlement or religion, and it seems like whenever you need it, there’s someone willing to help you in your travels. In an occupied area, you can spend 1 Momentum to find a helpful character to assist you for a scene. In an area without people, you can spend 3 Momentum, and this person appears to offer assistance.

Always Prepared (•)

Prerequisites: Medicine • or Technology •

You must choose Medicine or Technology when you purchase this Thesis. If you want to apply the benefits of this Thesis to both Skills, you must purchase it twice. No matter what happens, you’re prepared to administer aid in your field. Gain +1 Enhancement to Medicine or Technology actions, as appropriate, to your selection when purchasing this Thesis. This benefit occurs regardless of the equipment in your possession, as your body functions as the required tool.

Architect (•)

Your experience building structures grants you a +1 Enhancement to build, reinforce, or study structures.

Armor Expert (••)

You’re trained in wearing armor and how to maximize its effectiveness. You have 1 additional injury box when you wear armor. This benefit stacks with other armor bonuses. You can buy this Thesis up to three times.

Battlefield Economy (•••)

Prerequisites: Dogma: The Temple of the Benevolent Earth or Settlement: Fortress; Leadership •

You quickly form a battle plan and deploy your party according to their strengths. On a successful simple Leadership action on your turn, grant your party a cost reduction of 1 to purchase Combat Tricks (to a minimum of 1).

Behind You (• to •••)

Prerequisites: Ancestry: Hobgob or Human, or Settlement: Skullcrag; Athletics •

You’ve learned how to quiet your footsteps and breathing to ambush your target, and you gain an Enhancement equal to the number of dots in this Thesis to the first attack you make when you successfully sneak up on your target.

Bloody Intimidating (••)

Prerequisites: Community: Ipreceans, Dogma: Well Worship, or Settlement: Fortress; Persuasion •

When injured, your demeanor is at its fiercest. So fierce that some enemies back down when given the option. Gain 1 Social Advantage to intimidate your opponents into surrendering instead of prolonging the fight after you reach the Bloodied Injury Level or lower.

Body of Kaos (•••)

When tethering Wild Kaos, your character can convert all hits made on a successful attempt to tether into healing, on a one-for-one basis. However, channeling Kaos through your body exhausts you, and you receive the Dazed status effect.

Boom! (•)

Prerequisites: Ancestry: Makiru, Guild: The Excavators and Explorers Collective, or Settlement: Eryhulk; Science • or Technology •

Your experience making explosives has taught you how to identify and use Kaos rocks to destructive ends. With this Thesis, you can use Kaos rocks as ranged or close combat weapons with an explosive, one-use effect with the Flaming and Kaos Touched tags. These detonations only affect individuals at Close range.

Burald Brewer (•)

Prerequisites: Community: Bura; Survival • or Science •

You’ve discovered that adding Kaos rock powder to a mixture of ground emeralds and zinc in a lichen juice has an intoxicating effect that makes you a highly effective combatant, but one likely to suffer from an aftereffect worse than a headache. Whenever you’re in combat, you can drink the burald you always have on your person and gain immunity to the Unsettle Antithesis and a +1 Enhancement on all attacks you make when trying to kill the opponent. However, once combat concludes, you gain the Deprived and Exhausted status effects.

By Your Side (••)

Prerequisites: Ancestry: Darv, Community: Bura, Dogma: Fortuna, or Settlement: Fortress; Leadership •

Defending your people and fighting alongside others allows you to make a reflexive Leadership action to lend an ally at Close range a +1 Enhancement on all combat actions for the scene’s duration.

Canary (• to ••)

• Whenever you enter an unknown area, you can send a small beast or bug you keep at your side on ahead. Your “canary” is a creature you can easily capture again. You can use your canary to determine if the air is unbreathable or poisonous in any way.

•• As above, except you can infer from your canary’s condition what kind of airborne threat exists in the area ahead.

Careful Application (••)

Prerequisites: Settlement: Telver’s Hearth; Medicine •

Your understanding of Kaos allows you to prepare and carefully use it to enhance your ability to treat wounds. Gain +2 Enhancement to Medicine actions when you use Kaos rocks or a Sorcery as part of an attempt to heal yourself or someone else.

Cavern Detective (•)

Prerequisites: Dogma: The Lords and Ladies of Rot or Settlement: Mud Town; Esoterica •

Studying the walls and ground can yield valuable information about how a location was used and what lived there. You’ve learned how to interpret these signs to provide important information of questionable usefulness. With a simple Esoterica or Survival action, the Storyguide gives you a cryptic clue about the nature of what was in the cave before you or something that happened in the cave. It’ll be up to you to determine what these clues mean.

Cavern Farmer (•••)

Prerequisites: Survival •

You’ve mastered how to sustain a small supply of food, be it raising a particular kind of creature for sustenance, or even growing a crop of edible lichen, mushroom, or other vegetation. When exploring, make a simple Survival action (difficulty varies depending on your location), with each hit determining the volume of supplies obtained.

Cave Runner (• to ••)

You’ve devoted a great deal of time and energy to movement through the Vast Underneath. At one dot, when facing a Complication for moving at top speed, spend 1 fewer hit to ignore it. Each additional Complication on the same roll receives the discount separately. For two dots, you can run up walls at normal movement speed for 1 round before having to climb.

Chitinous Cavalry (•••)

Prerequisites: Community: Zilenz or Guild: The Moths; Empathy •

Gain a chitinous steed with Blight level antagonist traits that can be used in combat and 1 Social Advantage to intimidate or impress others with your steed’s fearsome features. You also have all the equipment needed to ride it. If this mount dies during the story, you’ve bred or discovered a new one at the end of the next Kalm season.

Climber (•)

You grew up navigating your settlement by climbing. You gain +1 Enhancement to climb with gear. You remove Complications imposed by climbing without gear. This Thesis stacks with the Ruby Talons Synthesis.

Cluster Bomb (••)

Prerequisites: Ancestry: Makiru; Science • or Technology •; Thesis: Boom!

You’ve learned how to fuse multiple bombs to explode at roughly the same time when you throw them. You can throw two bombs per turn without having to split your action pool. Doing this more than once in a scene results in any non-protagonists present dropping a level in attitude toward you due to your recklessness.

Commanding Presence (•••)

When you take charge of a situation, add 1 Social Advantage over the people you’re commanding for the duration of the scene.

Cosmopolitan (••)

Prerequisites: Ancestry: Human; Empathy •

You’ve spent time around people from other settlements, communities, dogmas, and guilds. You may not share an aspect of their Dawn, but you understand it. Gain a +1 Enhancement to Social actions to use this information to your advantage. You may buy this Thesis more than once, with each expenditure applying to another Dawn aspect (ancestry, dogma, guild, community, or settlement).

Crude Map (•)

You’ve managed to create or find a crude map of your travels. This can be carved on a stone you carry, a tattoo on a piece of stretched flesh, or engraved on crystal or chitin. This Thesis grants +1 Enhancement to navigation in the form of familiar references and descriptions, but if used in the wrong area (such as a map for the iron stratum being used elsewhere), it grants a Major Complication. If not bought off, it turns the user around and sends them into a dangerous encounter.

Crystalsmith (••)

Prerequisites: Guild: The Company of Artificers, or Settlement: The Crystal City or Eryhulk; Artistry •

You have both the tools and knowledge necessary to craft weapons and armor from suitable crystals. Gain +2 Enhancement to actions when repairing or crafting weapons with the Piercing, Elemental, or Exquisite Material tags.

Cure for a Muddled Head (••)

Prerequisites: Community: Bura or Guild: The Kitchen; Medicine • or Science •

Though your ingredients are questionable at best, this special soup energizes the drinker. You have one portion of the soup per session. Feeding someone this soup resolves the Stunned status effect.

Dark Harvest (••)

Prerequisites: Dogma: The Lords and Ladies of Rot, Settle- ment: Agosby, Oracaster, or Skullcrag, or Guild: The Company of Artificers; Artistry •

While living in the Vanyth Chasm, you’ve learned how to harvest the tangible darkness there. Gain +2 Enhancement to actions when repairing or crafting weapons with the Concealable and Shadow tags.

Darksight (•••)

Prerequisites: Survival •

You’ve adapted to living in the underground and can sense what lies waiting for you in the darkness. Remove all Complications imposed by the Darkness area effect but gain a Minor Complication when exposed to light brighter than a sunfly, including inside the Obscura. If the Complication isn’t bought off, suffer the Dazed status effect.

De-Escalator (••)

Prerequisites: Ancestry: Entissia or Human, or Community: Chlzyl; Leadership • or Persuasion •

When in the thick of combat, you know what to say to call for talks to stop the fighting. Gain 1 Social Advantage during combat to find a peaceful resolution.

Dialectic Translator (••)

You’ve spent enough time among other types of Dialectics to understand the ways they communicate with each other. While you may lack some of the attunement required to reply in the same way, you can relate to another Dialectic that isn’t your own. Gain a +1 Enhancement to Social actions to use this information to your advantage. You may buy this Thesis more than once, with each expenditure applying to each Dialectic.

Disruptive Strike (••)

Prerequisites: Community: Zilenz; Esoterica •

You’ve developed a technique that allows you to disrupt a person’s connection to Kaos. Your unarmed strikes come with the Stunning tag.

Divine Inspiration (•••)

Prerequisites: Esoterica •

Choose a Skill and declare that it is favored by the focus of your faith. You may take this Thesis up to three times for three different Skills. Whenever you succeed on an action involving this Skill (not a success with consequences), you gain 1 Momentum that must be spent on this or your next action.

Don’t Look in the Pot (••)

Prerequisites: Guild: The Kitchen; Survival •

You’ve figured out a way to make the most questionable ingredients edible. Once per session, you can harvest nourishing (but unappetizing) sustenance for one person from any environment with a reflexive Survival action. Your meals recover a whole Injury Level for the consumer, but they must make a Survival action with a Minor Complication. If they fail to buy off the Complication, they gain the Slow-Acting Toxin status effect.

Dreamweaver (••)

Prerequisites: Ancestry: Elv, Guild: The Company of Artificers, or Settlement: Telver’s Hearth; Artistry •

Living near the Obscura has given you skill at manipulating the dreams that lie within. Gain +2 Enhancement to actions when repairing or crafting weapons with the Dreamcrafted and Versatile tags.

Dropping Like Flies (•••)

Prerequisites: Ancestry: Elv or Dogma: Fortuna; Ranged Combat •

You’ve mastered using angles to maximize the number of enemies you take out in one shot. Each additional hit over the target on a ranged attack can be redirected to hit another enemy or desired object in range. Note that splitting an attack like this divides the hits from the first attack across multiple targets, reducing the number of Tricks you can purchase for each hit.

Dual Wielder (••)

Prerequisites: Guild: The Company of Artificers, or Settlement: Eryhulk or Oriasis; Close Combat • or Technology •

Your combat prowess allows you to wield two weapons as a combat action or your crafting skill enables you to use two tools simultaneously.

When making a Close Combat action, you can make one attack each with two distinct weapons, rolling once for each weapon. Any hits generated from a successful second weapon attack can only be used to damage a target’s armor. These hits can also be used to purchase non-damaging Combat Tricks. You can only wield two weapons with the Heavy Weapon tag if you have Strength •••••.

This Thesis can be stacked with the Rapid Strike Thesis, though only one weapon can benefit from the Rapid Strike (enabling up to three attacks in one turn, two from the Rapid Strike-named weapon, one from the secondary weapon).

When crafting, gain an automatic +2 Enhancement if you’re using Thesis.

Ear to the Ground (•)

Prerequisites: Dogma: The Hades Tract or Settlement: Mud Town; Larceny •

Few secrets escape your ears when you’re around. Gain +1 Enhancement to Larceny actions to eavesdrop or spy on others.

Encouraging Word (•)

Prerequisites: Dogma: The Church of Golthon; Empathy •

When others around you start losing hope, you can share words of encouragement to help them see the light in the darkness. Gain +1 Enhancement when attempting to influence another person with your prophecies. If you achieve more than 1 hit on attempts to bolster someone’s morale, you remove the listener’s Crestfallen status effect.

Endurance (•••)

You’ve learned how to push through pain and exhaustion to keep going. Gain 1 additional Injury Level of Bloodied (or Wounded, if you have the Kaos Spring Thesis).

Envenomed Weapon (•)

Prerequisites: Medicine • or Survival •

You’ve studied the flora and fauna of the world to learn how you can use harvested materials to empower the weapons of your community. One scene per session, you can provide your allies an oil to rub onto their weapons to grant their weapon the Poison tag for the remainder of this scene.

Esoteric Technology (••)

Prerequisites: Guild: The Company of Artificers or Settlement: Tark; Technology •

You recovered an alien device from the edge of a Kaos portal leading to another plane or world. Discuss what this device is with your Storyguide and assign it to a Skill to which it grants a +2 Enhancement. Using it comes with a permanent Minor Complication. If not bought off, the technology breaks.

Excavator (•)

You’ve conditioned yourself on how to efficiently strike different types of stone to clear rubble. Beneath your pick and shovel, earth yields to your intention faster than others in your community. Gain +1 Enhancement on all excavation attempts.

Expert Diagnosis (•••)

Prerequisites: Medicine •

Your years of treating injuries within your settlement have given you the experience and perspective on the most adept treatment of illnesses and injuries. Gain a +3 Enhancement to Medicine actions to diagnose illnesses and treat wounds.

Fast-Talk (•)

Prerequisites: Ancestry: Entissia, Guild: The Moths, or Settlement: Mud Town; Persuasion •

You have the gift of the gab and can bewilder others with the flow of your words. You gain +1 Enhancement to attempts to lie to others.

Fool’s Gold (•••)

Prerequisites: Artistry • or Science •

You must choose Artistry or Science when you purchase this Thesis. If you want the benefits of this Thesis to both Skills, you must purchase it twice. You’ve honed your artistry toward creating convincing fakes. Be it a false contract or a piece of shale chemically altered to resemble a precious stone, your forgeries can pass as authentic under moderate scrutiny. When making a forgery, gain a +3 Enhancement to Artistry or Science actions as appropriate.

Frugal (••)

Figuring out ways to eke out a living has helped you utilize your resources more creatively. When crafting or cooking something, you don’t lose your materials on a success or failure.

Gemstone Eye (•)

Prerequisites: Artistry •

You’ve been taught how to harvest and appraise gems suitable for crafting. Gain +1 Enhancement for obtaining additional information from Culture or Artistry actions to determine where a crystal was harvested, its value to the Moths, and what it could be used for.

Glowing Tattoo (•)

Prerequisites: Ancestry: Darv; Culture •

A tattoo etched into your skin glows with iridescent minerals, creating a permanent illumination up to Close range, including within the Darkness area effect (but not in the phenomenon known as the Dark). This may act as 1 Enhancement when trying to navigate the gloom but could also serve as a Minor Complication when trying to remain hidden. Darvs appreciate it, though, and unless given reason to distrust you, your first encounter with new darvs always finds them with positive attitudes.

Grimoire (•••)

Prerequisites: Dogma: The Lords and Ladies of Rot or Well Worship, or Guild: The Union of Cartographers and Stratigraphers; Culture •

In your adventures, you’ve come into possession of an old tome that contains the lore of another Wisdom. This Thesis enables you to nominate a Wisdom outside your Calling’s for which you can buy Sorceries during the Kalm season. This Thesis can only be purchased once.

Heightened Immune System (• to •••)

Constant exposure to the clay of your home settlement has given you an oddly resilient immune system. Gain Enhancement equal to the dots purchased to resist diseases, intoxicants, and poisons. This benefit stacks with similar Theses or Syntheses that grant Enhancements to resistance.

Hidden Cache (•)

Prerequisites: Survival •

You’re someone who plans for every contingency. When you need emergency equipment, make a reflexive Survival action to remember where you hid your supplies, with the number of hits gained determining proximity from out of range (1 hit) to Short (4+ hits).

Hot Blooded (•)

Prerequisites: Settlement: Oracaster or Telver’s Hearth; Empathy •

The magma that flows around your habitat has settled into the blood of citizens. Gain +1 Enhancement to passionate Social interactions, such as flirtations, debates, and arguments.

Improvised Weapons (••)

Prerequisites: Ancestry: Hobgob, or Community: Zilenz; Close Combat • or Ranged Combat •

When you are without a weapon, you can use anything you can get your hands on to fight. Gain +1 Enhancement to fighting with items not typically used as weapons, e.g., stalagmites, a steaming geyser, or a directed bug swarm.

Inspired Demolitions (••)

Prerequisites: Guild: The Excavators and Explorers Col- lective; Science • or Technology •; Thesis: Boom!

You can use Kaos rock detonations to clear rubble, more efficiently carve out tunnels, and breach buildings. You know how to maximize the potential from any blast and use your Technology Skill to improve your charge. Detonations from your Kaos rocks can now expand by a range band for each hit after you meet a target’s difficulty.

I Was Never Here (••)

Prerequisites: Dogma: The Hades Tract or Settlement: Tark; Persuasion •

There’s just something about the air around you that makes people not want to be involved in your dealings. Gain +2 Enhancement to influence others to disregard or otherwise ignore your presence. Conversely, you gain a Minor Complication getting them to help you without intimidating or charming them first. If unresolved, this Complication causes the target to have a negative shift in attitude toward you.

Kaos Spring (•••)

Kaos has seeped into your body, making you a magnet for Kaotic energies but weakening you physically. When tethering Wild Kaos, you gain a +3 Enhancement to your action, demonstrating your innate attunement and communication with Kaos. Upon purchasing this Thesis, you lose your Bloodied Injury Levels. No form of healing or intervention can bring you above the Wounded Injury Level. Armor worn functions normally, but once depleted, the next injury you receive inflicts a Wounded Injury Level.

Keen Sense (• to •••)

This Thesis can be taken multiple times for more than one sense. Each dot in the Thesis grants an equal level of Enhancement to rolls using that sense, such as hearing the distant brush of spider toes across the cavern ceiling or feeling the thrum of a dragon’s heartbeat through the wall.

Killer’s Aura (•)

Prerequisites: Community: Ipreceans or Settlement Skullcrag; Persuasion •

Lesser animals scatter in your wake and wither beneath your predatory gaze. Impose a Minor Complication to all Pest level targets in Short range attempting hostile actions against you. If any of those targets fail to resolve the Complication, they suffer the Stunned status effect or flee.

Map Tattoo (••)

Prerequisites: Ancestry: Darv, Guild: The Union of Cartographers and Stratigraphers, or Settlement: Telver’s Hearth; Survival •

The Cartographers meticulously crafted a detailed map of this settlement on your skin. This map grants +2 Enhancement to navigation but imposes a Complication representing possible changes since the map was made. The level of the Complication is determined by the number of Kalm seasons you’ve completed since the tattoo was applied. Initially, there is no Complication. From one to three Kalm periods after receiving the tattoo, the Complication is Minor. At four to seven Kalm periods, the Complication becomes Moderate. At eight Kalm periods and beyond, the Complication becomes Major.

If the Minor Complication is unresolved, the character using the map becomes lost and ends up in a non-threatening, but incorrect location. If the Complication is Moderate, the user becomes lost and enters an area under a harmful area effect of the Storyguide’s choice. If the Complication is Major, the character becomes lost and encounters an antagonist of the Scourge template or lower. Openly using this map can attract unwanted attention and risk harm. Such things are sought after.

Metallurgist (•••)

Prerequisites: Ancestry: Darv, Guild: The Company of Ar- tificers, or Settlement: Telver’s Hearth; Artistry •

Choose an ore. When you make items and equipment using this material, you find it to be of exceptional quality. Gain +2 Enhancement to actions when repairing or crafting weapons with this material or adding the Brutal, Wounding, or Resistant tag.

Moment of Reflection (••)

Prerequisites: Ancestry: Elv, Community: Zilenz, or Guild: The Union of Cartographers and Stratigraphers; Artistry • or Empathy •

Take a moment to catch your breath and internalize the stillness of a darkened cave. On a successful reflexive Empathy action, you can collect yourself and remove the Crestfallen or Guilty status effects.

Mounted Combat (••)

Prerequisites: Community: Chlzyl or Zilenz, Guild: The Moths, or Settlement: Oriasis; Pilot •

Ride and fight atop your trusty steed without using a mixed action. You can make Ranged Combat and Close Combat actions, use the benefits of a Thesis or Synthesis, or use a Sorcery without taking Complications for being astride a beast.

Mud Town Hospitality (•)

Prerequisites: Dogma: The Church of Golthon or Settlement: Mud Town; Empathy •

As a respected leader of your community, you’re known for your faultless hospitality. The attitude of anyone you offer alms to always improves by a level, and any care they take under your supervision comes with +1 Enhancement.

Mysteries of the Well (•••)

Prerequisites: Dogma: Well Worship; Enigmas •

By meditating on the Well, you can divine images of the ever-changing future. At the start of the session where a journey is planned, you can ask your Storyguide for three cryptic clues about what dangers or locations lie ahead. How you interpret what it means is up to the player. Storyguides are encouraged to be as mysterious, vague, or misleading as they wish.

Negotiator (•)

Prerequisites: Ancestry: Human or Guild: The Moths; Persuasion •

You’ve learned a few tricks from the Moths on what makes a favorable deal. You know how to negotiate for supplies or for better conditions on a contract. Gain +1 Enhancement to influence actions during diplomatic talks or during trading.

Nerves of Stone (• to •••)

You possess a strong will and can resist efforts to forcibly change your mind. Each dot in this Thesis grants an equal level of Enhancement to rolls to resist fear, illusions (including the Obscura), interrogation, mind control, or mind-altering effects.

Non-Verbal Communication (•)

Prerequisites: Community: Chlzyl, Settlement: Eryhulk, or Guild: The Moths; Culture or Enigmas •

You possess an intricate sign language only you and other members of your community or guild understand. You can discreetly conduct conversations in this language, gaining +2 Enhancement to convey a message without anyone noticing.

Nourishing Brew (•••)

Prerequisites: Community: Bura or Guild: The Kitchen; Survival • or Medicine •

You’ve refined your culinary skills to warm the body and the spirit with the addition of a secret ingredient that, unfortunately, has a side effect. You can use this Thesis once per session. Consumers of this recipe recover 2 Injury Levels but for the remainder of the scene following ingestion, suffer a Moderate Complication on all Mental, Physical, or Social actions (the Storyguide’s choice) as their body works to process the potent brew. Failure to resolve this Complication results in the consumer suffering the Exhausted status effect.

One Man’s Trash (••)

Prerequisites: Ancestry: Makiru or Guild: The Union of Cartographers and Stratigraphers or The Excavators and Explorers Collective; Survival •

There’s not a debris pile in the strata you haven’t found something valuable in. Whenever you delve into ruins, you gain +2 Enhancement to find something of value in your present stratum.

Parlor Triks (•)

Prerequisites: Ancestry: Hobgob, Dogma: Fortuna, Guild: The Moths, or Settlement: Oracaster; Esoterica • or Technology •

You know how to use tricks to distract and confound those who seek to harm you. As a reflexive action you can grant +1 Enhancement to attempts by your allies to sneak, perform sleight of hand, or otherwise evade notice as you provide a distraction.

Patient Shot (••)

Prerequisites: Ancestry: Elv, Community: Chlzyl or Ipreceans, Dogma: The Hades Tract, or Settlement: Agosby, Fortress, or Oriasis; Ranged Combat •

Your training has given you experience with the proper way to breathe and to hold your weapon when shooting. Gain 1 Power Advantage to Ranged Combat actions when you aim with a simple action before making your attack.

Patron (• to •••)

During your travels, you’ve gained the attention of a patron who provides you with protection, training, and their experience. The exact nature of your relationship to your patron should be discussed with your Storyguide. Your patron teaches new skills, lends their resources, completes a challenge for you, or assists you in person if they’re nearby. Doing so always reduces the Complications attached to the action for which they lend their help, reducing the Complications by a rating equal to the dots spent on the Thesis. They can also provide a temporary contact rated at a dot level equal to the dots in this Thesis, who acts as a friend or ally of theirs.

Patrons also assist narratively in a way the Storyguide should roleplay, such as through imparting wisdom. A patron’s generosity comes with the drawback of gaining the Unexpected Favor status effect until you complete a task for them. If the patron dies, the character purchases a new Thesis of the same value.

Personal Cavern (• to •••)

You have access to a personal cavern on a stratum of your choice that isn’t the Well. The cavern’s size and resources vary depending on the number of dots in this Thesis. Personal caverns are hidden by default and are only discovered by predators seeking you if they succeed on a Survival or desperation pool action (difficulty equal to Personal Cavern dot rating). This Thesis can be purchased multiple times or shared between multiple characters.

Privileged Membership (• to •••)

Prerequisites: Culture •

When you present proof of your membership to another member of your guild or an associated group, you gain an Enhancement equal to the dots in this Thesis to overcome a character’s hostility, mistrust, or lack of confidence.

Quick Reflexes (•)

Your reaction time is abnormally fast. Gain +1 Enhancement to actions to avoid ambushes.

Rapid Ascent (••)

Prerequisites: Ancestry: Makiru or Settlement: Agosby; Athletics •

A lifetime climbing ropes, vines, and navigating the vertical structures of your home settlement has ingrained in you the ability to rapidly climb. When climbing, you can take the run movement and the rush movement as reflexive actions.

Rapid Shot (•••)

Prerequisites: Ancestry: Elv or Settlement: Crystal City or Oriasis; Ranged Combat •

You’ve cultivated your proficiency with ranged weapons to enable you to fire repeatedly in the blink of an eye. You select a weapon when purchasing this Thesis and name it in a ritual known as “Sceptering.” You can attack with this weapon twice as a simple action, making a separate roll for each attack. Hits from the second attack are less accurate and cannot be used to purchase the Critical Trick.

Rapid Strike (•••)

Prerequisites: Community: Bura, Dogma: The Temple of the Benevolent Earth, or Settlement: Fortress; Close Combat •

Your weapon moves faster than most eyes can track. You can make a rapid attack with a melee weapon, allowing you to attack twice in one turn. You select a weapon when purchasing this Thesis and name it in a ritual known as “Sceptering.” You can attack with this weapon twice as a simple action, making a separate roll for each attack. Hits from the second attack are less controlled and cannot be used to purchase the Critical Trick. This Thesis can be stacked with the Dual Wielder Thesis, though only the named weapon can benefit from the Rapid Strike (enabling three attacks in one turn, two from the named weapon, one from the other).

Right Where I Want Them (•••)

Prerequisites: Settlement: Fortress; Close Combat •

Unfortunately for your opponents, clustering up to attack you is exactly what you wanted them to do. Each additional hit over the target on a close combat attack can be redirected to target another enemy or desired object in range. Splitting an attack like this divides the hits from the first attack across multiple targets, reducing the number of Tricks you can purchase for each attack.

Sacrificial Concoction (•••)

Prerequisites: Dogma: The Church of Golthon, Guild: The Kitchen, or Settlement: The Crystal City; Medicine • or Survival •

Your experiments have yielded a concoction that grants the drinker incredible benefits. Once per session, when you or your subject drinks the formula, they gain +3 Enhancement to the use of one chosen Attribute in the form of bulging muscles, a swollen, hyperactive brain, or perhaps a steeled resolve for a scene’s duration. There’s a cost, however, as the Storyguide chooses an entire Attribute group on which the drinker suffers Major Complications for the remainder of the scene. If those Complications are unresolved, the user suffers the Agony, Dazed, or Insensate status effect—the Storyguide’s choice.

Scavenger (••)

Life in the tunnels has given you a unique perspective on how to locate unusual objects to combine them into tools or how to make a broken device work. Gain +2 Enhancement on Enigmas, Science, or Technology actions to figure out how an object or device works and how it can be repaired or duplicated.

Silent Approach (•)

Prerequisites: Ancestry: Hobgob, Community: Chlzyl, or Settlement: Mud Town or Skullcrag; Larceny •

No matter your bulk or equipment, you know the correct way to carry yourself and wrap yourself in cloth to muffle the sounds of your approach. Gain +1 Enhancement to Larceny or Survival actions to avoid detection.

Silver Tongue (••)

You’ve got a way of easily bending truth with such convic- tion that others believe your lies. Gain +2 Enhancement to all attempts to deceive others. This Thesis doesn’t provide a de- fense against those using Sorceries to read your mind.

Smoke Bomb (••)

Prerequisites: Ancestry: Hobgob or Community: Ipreceans; Larceny •

Once per session, you can make a simple Athletics, Larceny, or Ranged Combat action to detonate a smoke bomb as a simple action, imparting a Moderate Complication of low visibility to anyone trying to hit you from any distance other than Close range. If unresolved, this Complication imparts the Dazed status effect on the attacker as they’re overcome by the smoke. Furthermore, the smoke bomb imparts the Suffocating area effect up to Short range from the point of detonation.

Snap Out of It (••)

Prerequisites: Ancestry: Human; Leadership •

You know just the right thing to say to rouse your comrades from a horrific shock in battle. When in combat, on a reflexive Leadership action, you can resolve someone’s Stunned status effect but convey a Minor Complication to the target’s Mental actions. If they fail to buy off this Complication, their status effect returns.

Stalwart Defender (•••)

Defending your settlement against countless threats has taught you how to effectively wield your weapon for offense and defense. Any weapon you wield gains the Shield tag and imposes a Moderate Complication to those attempting to disarm or sunder your weapon. If they fail to buy off the Complication when attempting one of these actions, they drop their weapon (if it can be dropped).

Striking (••)

You attract attention and gain 1 Social Advantage to actions benefiting from your “wow” factor. This also adds a Moderate Complication to hiding within a crowd or trying to avoid notice. If you fail to buy off this Complication, you’re noticed, and people approach you due to your striking looks. You cannot take this Thesis if you possess the Forgettable Synthesis.

Sure-Footed (• to •••)

Navigating unstable caverns has taught you where to place your feet and how you should move to stay upright. Gain an Enhancement equal to your Thesis rating when moving across uneven or hazardous area effects.

Swift (•)

Being faster than those around you is a vital (if sometimes harsh) reality in the tunnels. When you are running, gain +1 range band to outpace whatever or whoever is chasing you to give you time to escape.

These Walls Talk (••)

Prerequisites: Dogma: The Lords and Ladies of Rot; Culture • or Esoterica •

The World Below’s wisdom finds a way to your ears. When performing an investigation, you may pair your evidence-finding Skills with Social Attributes instead of Mental Attributes.

Tracker (•)

Prerequisites: Dogma: The Temple of the Benevolent Earth; Survival •

Protecting your settlement from possible monster attacks has trained you to recognize uncommon signs of their presence. Gain +1 Enhancement on actions to track or detect a monster’s presence.

Trap Sense (•)

Prerequisites: Community: Ipreceans; Survival •

You’ve developed a gut instinct to where there’s a trap nearby. Gain +1 Enhancement on rolls to detect traps. On extra hits, you discover how to safely disarm the trap.

Treasure (• to •••)

You’ve come into possession of valuable treasures that allow you to live more lavishly than your community. Each dot purchased conveys an Enhancement to influence actions when using your wealth as leverage. Your form of wealth must be specified, and this Thesis can be purchased multiple times for different kinds of treasure.

Trophy (••)

Prerequisites: Community: Ipreceans, Guild: The Union of Car- tographers and Stratigraphers, or Settlement: Fortress; Persuasion •

You proudly display your combat and hunting prowess with a trophy on your body. Each trophy should be described and provides a +2 Enhancement when attempting to intimidate or impress, but conversely applies a Minor Complication in interactions with people or creatures from whom these trophies have been harvested. If not resolved, the people you’re dealing with reduce their attitude level toward you. You can purchase this Thesis multiple times for different trophies.

Unbreathing (•••)

Prerequisites: Survival •

Once per session, you can go an entire scene without needing to breathe. Even when exposed to airborne toxins, where the difficulty not to breathe typically increases, you are unaffected, and you can continue to communicate. If you take any injuries while holding your breath in this scene, you must make a reflexive Survival action (difficulty equal to the number of injury boxes filled in), and on a failure, the Thesis ends.

Underhanded Tactics (•)

Prerequisites: Ancestry: Hobgob or Makiru, Community: Bura, Dogma: Fortuna, or Settlement: Oracaster or Tark; Close Combat •

You may sacrifice all damage from an attack you make in order to impose a Minor Complication to your victim’s subsequent Close Combat actions in the scene, as you’ve poked them in the eyes, kicked them in the genitals, or otherwise played dirty with them. If they fail to buy it off, they take the Agony, Dazed, or Stunned status effect—player’s choice.

Welcome Presence (•)

Something about you puts the people you encounter at ease around you, even when your appearance might otherwise cause suspicion. Gain a +1 Enhancement toward influence actions with strangers who don’t have a negative attitude toward you.

Well of Fortitude (•••)

You draw on your inner reserves of strength to push through injury. You can ignore up to Moderate Complications stemming from injuries, physical trauma, or other impairments to your body. This does not negate area effects.

We’re In This Together (•••)

Prerequisites: Ancestry: Entissia or Settlement: Mud Town; Leadership •

When things get difficult and people get disheartened, you know the right things to say to raise their spirits. On a reflexive Leadership action, any characters you address who aren’t suffering from negative status effects gain the Inspired status effect for the dictated action.

Wisdom Is My Strength (•••)

Prerequisites: Dogma: Well Worship; Artistry • or Culture •

You feel as if every swing of your weapon is a channeling of honed Kaos, shaped through your artistic ability or deep know- how. In instances where you would normally roll Close Combat to attack a target, you may instead use your Esoterica Skill.

Worse Than It Looks (••)

Prerequisites: Dogma: The Temple of the Benevolent Earth or Guild: The Kitchen; Medicine •

Once per session, you provide a pain-suppressing potion to a person. Your patient acts as if they’re not injured, though their ailments ultimately catch up with them. The drinker recovers 2 Injury Levels and gains the Insensate status effect upon consuming the potion, but they lose them at the beginning of the next scene.

You’re Not Dead Yet (•••)

Prerequisites: Ancestry: Human, Dogma: The Hades Tract, or Settlement: Skullcrag; Medicine •

When your patient is at Near Death level, you can spend 2 Momentum to remove 1 injury, returning them to Maimed. They still gain the Taken Out status effect after their next action.

You’re Not Going to Like This (•••)

Prerequisites: Ancestry: Darv or Makiru, or Community: Chlzyl; Survival •

Whenever an obstruction blocks your path, you can describe a way around it that the Storyguide must incorporate into the adventure, but your companions aren’t going to like it. Describe what you and your pack must do to reach the secret entrance or pathway into the area. This route is available to you, but traversing it comes with a Major Complication for each character. Failing to buy this Complication off leads to a very dangerous encounter with a Scourge level antagonist or lower.