Monsterpunk rules reference

Core Mechanic

Dice Result Noncombat Results Combat Results

1 Twist Base Effect
2 Twist Base Effect
3 Twist Base Effect
4 Twist Base Effect
5 Success with Twist Base Effect + 1 Bonus Effect
6 Success with Twist Base Effect + 1 Bonus Effect
7 Success with Twist Base Effect + 1 Bonus Effect
8 Success Base Effect + 2 Bonus Effects
9 Success Base Effect + 2 Bonus Effects
0 Success with Bonus Base Effect + 3 Bonus Effects

Common Keywords Beneficial Status Conditions

• Accurate: This Tech benefits from a base Advantage • Airborne: Being 1 meter above ground lets you ignore Dif-
when used. ficult Terrain, Extreme Terrain and Cover (1). It also makes
• Guarding: You get to use the Guard Action for free after you treat Cover (2) as Cover (1). Logically, you can ignore
the Tech resolves. other forms of Cover if you go higher than their height and
• Double: This Tech can target up to two enemies in range there aren’t any ceilings on the way.
instead of just one. If you use it against a single target, you • Hidden: While Hidden, you can’t be attacked except by
gain an Advantage to the Test. Blasts, Bursts, Lines and Waves. Even then, they must
• Inaccurate: This Tech suffers a base Disadvantage when guess at where you are as they must target a general area
used. rather than targeting you specifically. You can be attacked
• Defenseless: After using this Tech, all enemies gain an by other single-target Techs if the enemy Assesses your
Advantage to Offensive Actions against you until the end location first.
of your next Turn. • Invisible: While Invisible all Offensive Actions against you
• Heavy: This Tech will cost your Utility Action along with suffer a Disadvantage and you also gain an Advantage
your Offensive Action to use. to Offensive Actions against targets who can’t see you.
Bursts, Blasts, Lines and Waves ignore the Disadvantage
Common Status Conditions to attacking you. Note that Invisibility doesn’t grant the
Hidden status. Turning Invisible while in plain sight of oth-
• Suppress: You suffer a Disadvantage to all Offensive Ac- ers lets others get a rough sense of where you are. Turning
tion Tests. Invisible while Hiding does extend the Hidden status until
• Vulnerable: You grant an Advantage to all Offensive Ac- you are Tracked or the Invisibility wears off. While you are
tion Tests against you. Invisible you may spend a Utility Action to gain the Hidden
• Track: The user can tell the HP of the target and denies status, but you lose the Hidden status after using a Tech or
you the benefit of the Hidden and Invisible conditions. taking any Offensive Actions.
Optionally, they may share this benefit with their allies as if
they were Tracking you themselves. Positioning Status Conditions
• Mark: Your Offensive Actions that dont have the source
of the Mark as primary target suffer a Disadvantage. • Flanking: To Flank a target you and one ally must be both
Increasing the distance from the source of the Marking adjacent to the target and either on opposite sides or at
costs double as many movement points as normal. This least on opposite diagonals. Flanking a target grants both
also means you can’t Shift away from the source. Should Flankers an Advantage against it.
the source of Marking be Defeated, become Hidden or • Cornered: To Corner a target you must be adjacent to
somehow leave the battlefield, the condition is automati- them and on opposite side of Cover with them. Cornering a
cally healed. target grants you an Advantage against them.
• High Ground and Low Ground: High Ground consists of
targeting an enemy at lower altitude up to 5 meters away,
while Low Ground is a penalty to attacking targets at
higher altitude up to 5 meters away. High Ground grants
an Advantage to who has it. Low Ground is the opposite,
inflicting a Disadvantage.

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Arcane Ailments Damaged Status Conditions

• Silence: You may not Negotiate, use Advanced Techs or • Wounded: A combatant at half HP or less hits Wounded
use Offensive Limit Techs. status. The first time a PC is Wounded during combat, they
• Curse: All HP you would Heal yourself or Heal to others is gain an Orgone Point. Some abilities care about Wounded
halved. status but it doesn’t have any special rules by itself.
• Blind: You treat all Enemies and objects as if they were • Defeated: A combatant at 0 HP is Defeated. A Defeated
Invisible. You suffer an additional Disadvantage to all Of- combatant cannot or will not fight. They cannot take any
fensive Action Tests and Enemies gain an Advantage to Actions until the combat ends, not even Free ones. A De-
their Offensive Action Tests against you. feated character that is Healed is first brought to 0 HP and
then Healed on top of that. Doing this clears any Ailments
Mind Ailments that were on them. The first time a PC is Defeated during
combat, they gain a Orgone Point and lose one Grit. The
• Rage: You can’t willingly move farther from the source second time a PC is Defeated during combat they lose
of the Rage and any Offensive Actions taken must use the another Grit point and become Helpless. Once defeated,
source as the primary target. You may still be forcefully NPCs can’t be Healed to rejoin the fight again.
moved away from the source. Should the source become • Helpless: A PC that has been Defeated twice or NPC that
Hidden, you must do your best to locate them, such as by has been Defeated once is Helpless. The Helpless char-
Tracking or through the Assess Action. Should the source acter is alive but unconscious, tightly bound or otherwise
of Rage be Defeated or otherwise stop fighting, the condi- incapable of stopping anyone from hurting them. Offensive
tion is automatically healed. Actions taken against Helpless combatants automatically
• Fear: You can’t willingly move closer to the source of the get a result of 10 on the Test. A combatant that is attacked
Fear and any Offensive Actions taken must use the source while Helpless and reaches negative starting HP loses all
as the primary target. You may still be forcefully moved Grit points and is Retired.
towards the source. Should the source become Hidden, • Retired: A PC with 0 Grit is Retired. Retired PCs cannot
you must do your best to locate them, such as by Tracking take any Actions at all, not even outside of combat, until
or through the Assess Action. Should the source of Fear their Grit goes up again.
be Defeated or otherwise stop fighting, the condition is
automatically healed. Terrain
• Charm: Your Offensive Actions can’t use the source of
the Charm as a target (primary or secondary) unless it is • Difficult Terrain: Entering or leaving Difficult Terrain
to Heal them. Should the source of Charming be Defeated costs two movement points instead of one.
or otherwise stop fighting, the condition is automatically • Extreme Terrain (X): Standing on Extreme Terrain does
healed. (X) Damage at the beginning and end of your turns on it
• Cover (X): Cover interrupts the area of effect of Blasts,
Bind Ailments Bursts, Lines and Waves. If you stand adjacent to Cover
(1), enemies on the other side suffer a Disadvantage to
• Slow: Your Speed is halved and you cannot Shift. attacking you. Cover of higher values (2 and above) blocks
• Restrain: You can’t Move or Shift, but can still be forced line of sight, light and attacks.
to Move with effects that Slide or Teleport. • Darkness: Being inside Darkness grants the beneficial
• Dizzy: You can’t take Offensive Actions other than Nego- status condition Hidden. You are also Hidden from en-
tiate. You can still downgrade your Offensive Action into a emies on the other side of Darkness from you and vice-
Utility or Simple Action. versa.
• Energizing Terrain: Energizing Terrain is charged with
Delayed Damage Ailments one Orgone Point. After any combatant uses up this
Orgone Point charge, the instance of Energizing Terrain is
• Burn: At the end of your turn you take 3 Damage. now Plain Terrain.
• Bleed: At the end of your turn you take 3 Damage, plus 1
more Damage for each Bonus rolled by the source when
you were inflicted the Ailment.
• Poison: At the end of your turn you take 6 Damage.

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Simple Actions Assess Advice

• Focus Orgone: Heal yourself for 1 HP. Example Questions to ask when using Assess
• Shift: Gain 1 movement point and use it to move, at a
rate of one point consumed per meter you walk. Shifting • What is an enemy’s current and total HP?
cannot cross Difficult Terrain or be used to Climb, Jump or • What is the most important Feature of a specific Enemy
Swim. that I don’t already know?
• Ready a Charge: This Turn you may use an Offensive Ac- • What is the most important Tech of a specific Enemy
tion in the middle of your Movement then continue using that I don’t already know?
the rest of your movement points afterwards. You may use • Are there any special Terrain features that can be ex-
this to attack an airborne target after jumping, levitating or ploited?
teleporting upwards, striking before you fall. • Do any Enemies have a weakness that can be exploited?
• Take Cover: Crouch to treat all Cover as if it were 1 size • Are there any enemy reinforcements in hiding or coming
larger until the beginning of your next Turn. This way Cover this way?
(1) effectively becomes Cover (2) if you are next to it. • Is there a way to win by accomplishing an objective other
• Assess: As the entry below. than defeating everyone?
Assess Skill Test Sight • Where is a Hidden Enemy located?*

Targeting: Test Perception once against any number of * This will not make that enemy lose their Hidden status, it
targets in range of sight. just allows the use of single-target Techs against them or
Base Effect: You ask the GM a question about a single tells you where to aim with your Blasts, Bursts, Lines and
Enemy, the battlefield or the state of the battle itself. Waves.
Bonus 1: You ask an additional question.
Tip: If you want to reveal the Features and Techs of a
Bonus 2: You ask an additional question.
specific target, you can trade them at a rate of 1 Feature
Bonus 3: You ask an additional question. or Tech per question. Just tell the GM what to prioritize
Simple Action. (Offensive Techs, Defensive Features, etc.) and after the
roll they reveal the corresponding number of abilities us-
Utility Actions ing the criteria you've specified.

• Move: Gain a number of movement points equal to
your Speed and use them to move, at a rate of one point
consumed per meter you walk. Crossing Difficult Terrain,
Climbing, Jumping and Swimming consume two points
for each meter moved. Each Move Action has its own pool
of points. Any remaining points at the end of your move-
ment are wasted, even if you take multiple Move Actions
during one turn.
• Guard: You inflict one Disadvantage to all Offensive Ac-
tions against you until your next turn. Multiple instances of
Guarding will stack.
• Aim: Choose one target combatant and one Offensive
Action or Offensive Tech. Your next Offensive Action using
that Action or Tech gains an Advantage to the Test as long
as it designates the chosen combatant as primary tar-
get. You may also choose to Aim at a target area of effect
instead of just Aiming at an enemy. Multiple instances of
Aiming will stack, but Aiming at a different target will can-
cel previous instances. You can Aim any Offensive Action,
from standard Attacks to Healing Techs to even Negotia-
tion Tests.
• Sustaining Flight: You stay airborne and continue Fly-
ing instead of landing at the beginning of your next Turn.
At that point you must use an ability that grants Flight or
spend a Utility Action to sustain it or you land safely before
you can do anything else.

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Offensive Actions Negotiation Skill Bonuses

Basic Attack: As the entry below. Bribery: You may deal 1/3 of the target’s current HP in
Basic Attack Basic Attack Range 1 Damage. If you do and they’re an Elite or Boss NPC, you
lose one Wealth.
Base Effect: Damage 2. Contact: You may deal 1/3 of the target’s current HP in
Bonus 1: Damage 1. Damage. If you do and they’re an Elite or Boss NPC, you
Bonus 2: Damage 1. lose one Humanity.
Deconstruction: The target suffers an additional amount
Bonus 3: Damage 1.
of Damage equal to the highest number of questions
Offensive Action. you’ve asked this combat.
Faith: You may deal 1/3 of the target’s current HP in Dam-
You can make your Basic Attack lose the Damage 2 from age. If you do and they’re an Elite or Boss NPC, you lose
its Base Effect in order to grant it any of the following one Grit.
modifiers: Inspiration: You may deal 1/3 of the target’s current HP in
Damage. If you do and they’re an Elite or Boss NPC, they
• Add Mark to the Base Effect. gain 1 Orgone Point
• Add Suppress to the Base Effect. Intimidation: Inflict Fear. If you do, the Enemy gains an
• Add Vulnerable to the Base Effect. Advantage to Offensive Tests against you until the end of
• Add Slide 2 to the Base Effect. your next Turn.
• Increase its Range to 5. Quipping: Inflict Rage. If you do, the Enemy gains an
Advantage to Offensive Tests against you until the end of
Negotiate: As the entry below. your next Turn.
Negotiate Skill Test Voice Seduction: Inflict Charm. If you do, all other Enemies gain
Targeting: The target must be able to hear and under- an Advantage to Offensive Tests against you until the end
stand your speech. If you are trained in the Negotiation of your next Turn.
method you’re using, this Action gains an additional
Advantage to the Test. Tip: When calculating Damage from Negotiation, remem-
ber that division happens after the other operations. So
Base Effect: Damage 2. If the target is Wounded (but not first you do Damage from the Base Effect, then you cut
Defeated) after the Negotiation, they react according to 1/3rd (rounding down) of Enemy HP from using a Negotia-
their NPC tier: tion Skill that does that, then finally you check for addi-
• Minions and Grunts will drop their weapons and flee or tional effects based on the NPC’s tier.
otherwise surrender.
• Medium enemies will have their HP reduced to 1.
• Elites and Bosses will lose an Orgone Point.
Limit Breaks
Bonus 1: Pick a Negotiation Bonus.
Limit Break Free Action Self
Bonus 2: Pick a second Negotiation Bonus.
At the beginning of your Turn, if you’re at 0 HP or less,
Bonus 3: Pick a third Negotiation Bonus. you may spend one Humanity to Limit Break until the
Offensive Action. end of your next Turn.

There are four possible Negotiation Bonuses available to During the Limit Break you (and your Monster, if you
all PCs, listed below: have one) return to the fight and may take Actions as if
you weren’t Defeated, are immune to Damage and to all
• Add Mark to the Base Effect. Ailments.
• Add Suppress to the Base Effect.
• Add Vulnerable to the Base Effect. At the end of the Limit Break you may remain standing
• Target an additional Enemy. if you’ve been Healed over 0 HP. Otherwise, you return
back to being Defeated just as you were before.
Free Action. Once per Day.