D. Momentum

Momentum is a special mechanic which is central to playing Chalksworn. Your momentum value ranges from a -6 to +10 and represents how you are faring in your quests. Move results may tell you to increase or decrease momentum.

The momentum track is on the left side of your character sheet. You can use a paper clip or token to mark the current value.

When you have positive momentum, things are going your way. You have the advantage. You are in control. Your path is clear. You are properly positioned for success.

When you have negative momentum, the tide has turned against you. You face tough odds. You are outmatched. Your next steps are uncertain.

Momentum persists through scenes and between gaming sessions. When you finish a session, write down your current momentum value. Then, pick up where you left off when you return to the game.

Gaining Momentum

You gain momentum as an outcome or option when making moves. This represents securing advantages, acquiring new insight, and making progress in your quests. If a move tells you to add momentum (phrased as “take +X momentum”), increase your momentum track by the value indicated. The choices you make in a move, or the assets you use to support the move, may modify the amount rewarded.

In general, taking +1 momentum represents a minor advantage. Taking +2 momentum (or more) represents a major advantage.

Losing Momentum

When you suffer a cost that causes a delay or puts you at a disadvantage, make the Lose Momentum move. Using this move, as appropriate to the severity of the situation, reduce your momentum by -1, -2, or -3. Some moves or assets will prompt you to Lose Momentum as part of an outcome for an action, and may specify an amount of momentum to suffer, phrased as “Lose Momentum (-X).” You might also choose to Lose Momentum as a cost when you Pay the Price.

Burning Momentum

Burning momentum is a powerful option to build on your success and deliver a decisive result or avoid dire failure. When you have positive momentum, after you make an action roll, you may replace your action score with your current momentum value to improve your result.

For example, your momentum track is at +6 and your action score is 4. You roll a 5 and an 8 on your challenge dice. This would normally be a miss, but you can burn momentum to make your action score 7 instead of 4. This shifts your result from a miss to a weak hit.

Burning momentum is never required. Even if you score a miss on a move and have enough momentum to cancel the challenge dice, you can choose to suffer the failure and save your momentum for a more crucial moment.

After you burn momentum, you must reset your momentum.

Resetting Momentum

After you burn momentum, you must adjust your momentum track to your momentum reset value.
The default reset is +2. This value may be lowered when your character suffers from a debility. Debilities are conditions such as wounded, shaken, or deprived. They are marked on your character sheet as a result of a move or a narrative event.

If you have one debility marked, your momentum reset is +1.
If you have more than one debility marked, your momentum reset is 0.

There is a box below the momentum meter to record your current momentum reset. This may rise and fall through the course of a single session, but some impacts are lasting and will permanently alter your reset value. After you reset your momentum, resolve the move. If the move or an asset provides a momentum bonus as a reward for the move outcome (phrased as “take +X momentum”), adjust the meter appropriately.

Suffering Negative Momentum

When your momentum is negative (less than 0), and it matches the number rolled on your action die, you must suffer negative momentum. Your action die is canceled for the purposes of tallying your action score. You still check the success of your move by comparing your stat plus any adds to the challenge dice, but you won’t have your action die to help you.

To make matters worse, if your action die is canceled, you can’t take a bonus from an asset ability triggered by that die. For example, if an ability is enabled by a prompt such as “If you roll a 6 on your action die,” you won’t gain that benefit of the canceled die. But if an asset forces a penalty for a specific action die value, such as stopping an ongoing power when you roll a 1, that outcome stands. In other words, nothing good comes of suffering negative momentum.

You only suffer negative momentum when the number on the action die matches the negative momentum value. Otherwise, it has no effect.

Minimum Momentum

Your momentum cannot drop lower than -6. If you must Lose Momentum, and your momentum is already at its minimum, the Lose Momentum move will prompt you to apply the cost in some other way. This might include reducing a condition meter (such as health, spirit, or supply), or suffering a setback in a quest or other challenge.

Max Momentum

Your max momentum starts at +10, and is reduced by 1 for every marked debility. There’s a spot on your character sheet to record this value. You can’t increase momentum over your max. If you are at your max and a move gives you an option to increase your momentum, you can’t take that benefit.