Rules Reference: Bonuses

Bonus rules change a number or a roll on the character carrying the item: stats, defenses, speed, hit points, damage, hit dice, and similar. They apply automatically while the item is on the character, and they stack with other bonuses.

Shared fields

Every rule also has a Label, Identifier, Condition, Priority, a Disabled toggle, and a Suppress activation card setting. Those are explained once in Rules Builder Basics.

Armor Class

Add, multiply, or override the character’s armor class with a formula.

Field	What it does	Options	Default
Formula	A flat number or formula. Combined per the mode below.	Number or formula	None
How to apply	Add: stack on top of current AC. Multiply: scale current AC. Override: replace current AC.	add, multiply, override	add

Example: Sentinel's Amulet. A charm that adds +1 Armor on top of whatever the character already has.

• Label → Sentinel's Amulet
• Formula → 1
• How to apply → add

The Label is what players see in the armor breakdown on the character sheet. Use override mode instead (with a higher Priority number) for items that replace armor entirely, like a suit of enchanted plate with Formula → 16.

Conditional Bonus

Offer the wielder a per-attack choice of advantage or bonus damage when a target condition is met (e.g. a Hunter's quarry). Nothing applies automatically: the activation dialog surfaces the choice.

Field	What it does	Options	Default
Advantage stacks	Stacks of advantage offered as one option. 0 means advantage is not offered.	Number	1
Damage bonus	Damage offered as the other option. Flat (5), formula (@level), or dice (1d6). Leave blank to not offer damage.	Number or formula	@level
Damage type	Damage type applied when the damage option is chosen. Leave blank to match the attack.	Acid, Bludgeoning, Cold, Fire, Force, Lightning, Necrotic, Piercing, Poison, Psychic, Radiant, Slashing, Thunder	None
Delivery	Restrict to melee or ranged attacks. "Any" matches both.	melee, ranged, any	any
Source	Restrict to weapon or spell attacks. "Any" matches both.	weapon, spell, any	any
Target condition	Predicate evaluated against the target's state at activation. The choice is only offered when the target matches, e.g. { "$and": ["target:quarry"] }.	Condition	None

Damage Bonus

Add a flat, formula, or dice-expression bonus to damage dealt by attacks of a given delivery (melee/ranged) and source (weapon/spell).

Field	What it does	Options	Default
Bonus	Flat (5), formula (@level), or dice (1d6+2).	Number or formula	@level
Damage type	Restrict to attacks of this type. Leave blank to match all.	Acid, Bludgeoning, Cold, Fire, Force, Lightning, Necrotic, Piercing, Poison, Psychic, Radiant, Slashing, Thunder	None
Delivery	Restrict to melee or ranged attacks. "Any" matches both.	melee, ranged, any	any
Source	Restrict to weapon or spell attacks. "Any" matches both.	weapon, spell, any	any
Target condition	Optional predicate evaluated against the target's state. Bonus only applies when the target matches. Use $and / $or with atom strings, e.g. { "$or": ["target:bloodied", "target:concentrating"] }.	Condition	None

Example: Flametongue. A sword that deals an extra 1d6 fire damage on every melee weapon attack.

• Label → Flametongue: +1d6 fire
• Bonus → 1d6
• Damage type → Fire
• Delivery → melee
• Source → weapon

For a bonus that only applies to wounded enemies, add a Target condition row: key target · is · bloodied.

Damage Reduction

Reduce incoming damage by a flat or formula-based amount, or halve it (resistance), optionally scoped to specific damage types. Applied after armor, before temporary hit points.

Field	What it does	Options	Default
Mode	Flat subtracts the reduction value. Half halves the damage instead (resistance); halving applies once no matter how many matching sources the actor has.	flat, half	flat
Reduction	A flat number (5) or formula (@abilities.str.mod). Dice expressions are not supported. (Only shown when relevant.)	Number or formula	1
Damage types	Restrict to these damage types. Leave empty to reduce all incoming damage.	List	None

Example: Dragonscale Cloak. A cloak that reduces all incoming fire damage by 3.

• Label → Dragonscale Cloak
• Reduction → 3
• Damage types → Fire

Leave Damage types empty to reduce every incoming hit instead. Matching reductions stack, and they apply after armor but before temporary hit points; the damage preview on a chat card's Apply Damage button already shows the reduced number. Reduction takes formulas (@abilities.str.mod) but not dice expressions.

Set Mode to Half instead to halve the matching damage (resistance). The Reduction value is then ignored, and halving applies only once no matter how many matching sources the target has.

Dying Action Limit

Set the maximum number of actions the actor may take while Dying. The highest applicable limit wins, so it never lowers the baseline of 1.

Field	What it does	Options	Default
Action limit	Number or formula	Number or formula	1

Healing Potion Bonus

Add a flat or formula-based bonus to healing received from potions.

Field	What it does	Options	Default
Bonus	Number or formula	Number or formula	1

Hit Dice

Add to the actor’s maximum hit dice. Optionally targets a specific die size.

Field	What it does	Options	Default
Bonus	Number or formula	Number or formula	None
Die size (0 = class default)	Number	Number	0

Hit Dice Advantage

Grant advantage on hit-dice rolls. Raise the amount to roll with greater advantage (e.g. advantage 2), and choose whether it applies to field-rest healing or the max-HP increase when leveling up.

Field	What it does	Options	Default
Condition	Optional narrative condition shown to the player (e.g. ‘in the wild’). Field-rest rules appear as a toggle during a rest.	Text	None
Advantage Level	1 = normal advantage (roll 2, keep highest). 2 = advantage 2 (roll 3, keep highest).	Number	1
Applies To	Which hit-dice roll the advantage modifies: field-rest healing or the max-HP increase when leveling up.	fieldRest, maxHpIncrease	fieldRest

Hit Points

Add a flat bonus to the actor’s maximum HP. With perLevel, the bonus scales with character level.

Field	What it does	Options	Default
Bonus	Bonus HP added to maximum.	Number	0
Multiply by character level	When on, the bonus is applied per level (e.g. +2 per level → +20 at level 10).	On/off toggle	Off

Increment Hit Dice

Increase the size of the actor’s hit dice (e.g. d8 → d10) by a flat or formula amount.

Field	What it does	Options	Default
Die size bonus	Number or formula	Number or formula	1

Initiative Bonus

Add a flat or formula-based bonus to the actor’s initiative roll.

Field	What it does	Options	Default
Bonus	Number or formula	Number or formula	None

Initiative Roll Mode

Set or adjust the actor’s default initiative roll mode (advantage/disadvantage).

Field	What it does	Options	Default
Roll mode value	Number	Number	1
How to apply	Text	set, adjust	set

Maximize Hit Dice

Causes hit-dice rolls to take their maximum value instead of rolling.

This rule has no settings of its own beyond the shared fields (label, condition, and so on).

Modify Incoming Attack

Modify attacks made against this actor. Disadvantage, forced rerolls, and automatic misses apply when this actor is targeted; Redirect to Self offers this actor a reaction to swap in as the target when a nearby ally is attacked.

Field	What it does	Options	Default
Modifier	Disadvantage and Auto Miss apply automatically to the attack roll. Force Reroll and Redirect to Self offer an interactive prompt on the attack card.	disadvantage, forceReroll, redirectToSelf, autoMiss	disadvantage
Range (spaces)	How far away a targeted ally can be for this actor to redirect the attack to themselves. The baseline heroic Interpose reaction covers 2 spaces. (Only shown when relevant.)	Number	2
Automatic	Reroll happens automatically when the attack resolves instead of offering a button. Use when you want a reroll to be mandatory. (Only shown when relevant.)	On/off toggle	Off
Reroll when	Always, only when the attack hits (not a miss), or only when it is a critical hit. (Only shown when relevant.)	always, hit, criticalHit	always
Reroll at disadvantage	The forced reroll is made at disadvantage instead of a straight reroll (e.g. FAST). (Only shown when relevant.)	On/off toggle	Off

Example: Pocket Sand. A trick that lets the target force an attacker to reroll, at disadvantage.

• Label → Pocket Sand
• Modifier → forceReroll
• Reroll when → always
• Reroll at disadvantage → checked

This rule changes attacks made against the character carrying the item. It is consulted when the attack is rolled, not during data preparation, so positional predicates like alliesAdjacent are checked with fresh positions.

The Modifier picks what happens:

• disadvantage gives the attack one level of disadvantage. Two matching rules give two levels. Advantage and disadvantage cancel one for one.
• autoMiss turns the attack into a miss, even against attackers who normally cannot miss.
• forceReroll offers a button on the attack card to discard the roll and roll again; the second result stands.
• redirectToSelf offers an Interpose: when an ally within Range (spaces) is attacked, this character may swap in as the target.

disadvantage and autoMiss apply on their own. forceReroll and redirectToSelf show a button on the attack card that only the reacting player (or the GM) can use.

Force Reroll has three extra options. Check Automatic to reroll the moment the attack resolves with no button, for rerolls that are not optional (for example, rerolling an incoming critical hit). Reroll when limits it to always, only on a hit (not a miss), or only on a criticalHit. Check Reroll at disadvantage to make the reroll itself roll at disadvantage.

Redirect to Self covers an ally within Range spaces (2 by default). Every living allied character is already offered the baseline Interpose within 2 spaces without any rule; use this modifier for feature versions that reach further or that let a non-character (such as an animal companion) step in. Using an Interpose swaps the attack card's target to the protector, so armor and damage reduction are resolved against them when damage is applied. Moving the token into place stays manual.

Gate any modifier with the rule's Predicate, for example self: dying so a reroll only applies while the character is Dying. Only the first target of an attack is checked, and area attacks are left alone so one target's defense does not change a roll shared by everyone.

Save Bonus

Add a flat or formula-based bonus to one or more saving throws. Use ‘all’ to apply to every save.

Field	What it does	Options	Default
Bonus	A flat number, formula, or dice expression added to the save.	Number or formula	None
Apply to	Pick one or more saves. Use "all" to apply to every save.	List	None

Save Roll Mode

Set or adjust the saving throw roll mode (advantage/disadvantage), optionally requiring a player choice at use.

Field	What it does	Options	Default
Roll mode value	Number	Number	0
Target save	Text	Text	all
Selected save	Text (Only shown when relevant.)	Text	None
How to apply	Text	set, adjust	set
Player chooses save at use	On/off toggle	On/off toggle	Off

Skill Bonus

Add a flat or formula-based bonus to one or more skills. Use ‘all’ to apply to every skill.

Field	What it does	Options	Default
Bonus	A flat number, formula, or dice expression added to the skill check.	Number or formula	None
Apply to	Pick one or more skills. Use "all" to apply to every skill.	List	None

Example: Gloves of the Second-Story Guild. Fine leather gloves that grant +1 to Stealth and Finesse.

• Label → Guild Gloves
• Bonus → 1
• Apply to → Stealth, Finesse

The Bonus also accepts formulas: @level makes the bonus grow with the character. Pick all to affect every skill at once.

Skill Roll Mode

Set or adjust the roll mode (advantage/disadvantage) for one or more skill checks. Use ‘all’ to apply to every skill.

Field	What it does	Options	Default
Roll mode value	Positive values grant levels of advantage; negative values grant levels of disadvantage.	Number	1
Apply to	Pick one or more skills. Use "all" to apply to every skill.	List	None
How to apply	Adjust stacks with other sources; set overrides them. When mixing modes on one skill, order matters: a set that runs after an adjust discards it, so use priority to control which wins.	set, adjust	adjust

Example: Professional Skulker. A feature that grants advantage on Stealth checks.

• Label → Professional Skulker
• Roll mode value → 1
• Apply to → Stealth
• How to apply → adjust

Advantage stacks: two separate advantage rules (or a value of 2) roll two extra dice. Negative values apply disadvantage instead, and advantage and disadvantage from different sources cancel each other one for one. Use set to override other sources entirely.

When mixing set and adjust rules on the same skill, order matters. Rules run in priority order, so a set rule that runs after an adjust rule discards that adjustment, while a set that runs before it composes normally. Use the rule priority to control which one wins.

Speed Bonus

Add a bonus to the actor’s speed. Without an explicit movement type, applies to walk; otherwise scoped to fly/swim/climb/burrow.

Field	What it does	Options	Default
Bonus	Bonus to speed in tiles. Negative numbers reduce speed.	Number or formula	None
Movement type (blank = walk)	Leave blank to apply to walk speed only. Pick a specific type to grant or modify it.	walk, fly, climb, swim, burrow	None

Example: Winged Cloak. A cloak that grants a fly speed of 6.

• Label → Winged Cloak
• Bonus → 6
• Movement type (blank = walk) → fly

For simple "+2 speed" boots, set Bonus → 2 and leave the movement type blank. It then applies to walking speed.

Stat Bonus

Add a flat or formula-based bonus to one or more ability scores. Use ‘all’ to apply to every ability.

Field	What it does	Options	Default
Bonus	A flat number, formula (e.g. @level), or dice expression.	Number or formula	None
Apply to	Pick one or more abilities. Use "all" to apply to every ability.	List	None

Example: Belt of Giant Strength. A magic belt that grants its wearer +2 Strength.

• Label → Belt: +2 Strength
• Bonus → 2
• Apply to → Strength

Leave the Condition box empty; equipping and unequipping the belt turns the rule on and off automatically.

Unarmed Damage

Override the actor’s unarmed-strike damage formula.

Field	What it does	Options	Default
value	Dice formula	Dice formula	1d4 + @abilities.strength.mod

Wounds

Add to the actor’s maximum wounds before death.

Field	What it does	Options	Default
Bonus	Number or formula	Number or formula	None