Rules
How the war is fought. These six chapters are the engine of Bolt & Blade: the roll that decides everything, combat that respects cover, the Fate that keeps you breathing, the Corruption that keeps score, the wounds you carry out, and the price of touching the Warp.
The Rules codex holds the procedures of play — how to roll, fight, survive, and pay for it. Reference material lives in its own archives: attributes and proficiencies under Abilities, traits and class features under Features, and every weapon, armor pattern, and item trait under Wargear. Each chapter below is a working draft, transcribed ahead of the full rites.
Chapters of the Rites
06 Chapters · Working DraftThe Core Roll
One die, six attributes, and everything you are about to lose.
How every uncertain moment is resolved: d20 plus attribute plus training against a Difficulty the galaxy does not negotiate.
Combat
The numbers you need every time violence starts.
Turns, Vitality, Defense, conditions — and Cover & Exposure, because a firefight with no cover is a massacre.
Fate & Grit
The Emperor protects. The dice do not.
The signature survival currency: spend it to defy the dice, burn it forever to survive what should have killed you.
Corruption
Not damage. Evidence.
The dark mirror of Fate: exposure to the Warp, forbidden knowledge, and choices you can justify but never wash off.
Wounds, Scars & Death
Survival is not the same as being fine.
Player characters rarely die — but they bleed. Injuries, scars, augmetics, and the moments death is actually allowed to collect.
Psychic Powers & Perils
You can be powerful. You cannot be safe.
The psyker loop: use a power, Push it for more, and risk the Warp answering. The strongest damage in the game, and the most likely to kill the party.