Chaos and Breaking Point

Chaos tracks 0–6. At 6, normal play pauses. Resolve the compass sector’s Severe crisis through the emergency council, then reset Chaos to 3. Ordinary combat does not create Chaos unless a rule says so. Destroying a site does.

Emergency council

The instant Chaos reaches 6, stop normal play and flip the two-minute hourglass. Every House may participate, and no House is required to help. Activate the Distortion marker and read the compass: Forge, Accord, Conflict, or Veil. Chaos 6 always resolves that sector’s Severe crisis unless the table meets containment.

A House may contribute no more than 4 containment points. Paid resources are spent, surrendered Favor is removed, and a discarded matching-category card provides 1 point unless its text supplies a different crisis effect. Qualifying positioning supplies no more than 1 point per House. Advice or verbal support alone is not a material contribution.

If contained, each House that contributed at least 1 point chooses 1 Momentum or 1 Influence. Breaking Point grants no immediate Reign and cannot award the Crown, though a contribution may satisfy a later printed prerequisite. If containment fails, resolve the complete Severe effect. After either outcome, reset Chaos from 6 to 3, then apply any additional Chaos that was queued during resolution.

Forge — infrastructure crisis

Contribute: 1 point for each Order or Material; 1 point for qualifying position at a controlled structure or production site; 1 point for discarding an Infrastructure card. Contained: each House chooses one controlled structure or production site; it becomes inactive until the beginning of that House’s next turn. Severe: all player-built structures are inactive through the next complete cycle. During the next Production step, each House chooses one controlled production site that produces nothing. Routes, Waylines, and structure-based movement are inactive for the same duration.

Accord — political and economic crisis

Contribute: 1 point for each Influence or Luxury; 1 point for forgiving and removing 1 Favor owed to your House; 1 point for qualifying position at an Accord Hall or adjacent to another Champion; 1 point for discarding a Diplomacy or Commerce card. Contained: active Accords remain. Until the end of the next cycle, the proposer of each new Accord must spend 1 additional Influence. Severe: all active Accords end without Breach or Uphold rewards, and unresolved commitments return to their owners. No new Accords may be formed during the next cycle, and passive Influence from normal trade or diplomacy is suspended for that cycle.

Conflict — military and encounter crisis

Contribute: 1 point for each Order, Provision, or Momentum; 1 point for qualifying position near a contested site, enemy, Downed ally, or active hazard; 1 point for discarding a Conflict card. Contained: each House may shift one standing character up to 2 coordinates. These shifts cannot attack, react, claim, or interact. Severe: place Open War through the next complete cycle. The first successful attack during each House Turn gains +1 weapon damage before Armor. Characters Downed during Open War begin with Med Flag 2.

Veil — magical, relic, and secret crisis

Contribute: 1 point for each Influence or Luxury; a Clue contributes 2 points; 1 point for qualifying position at a Discovery, Resonance, or Veiled site; 1 point for discarding a Discovery or Relic card. Contained: place a central Breach with radius 1. Special movement, Reveal, and Relic activation within it require Insight 11; failure cancels the action without a wound. An adjacent character may use Command and pass Insight 11 to seal it. Severe: the Breach has radius 3 and requires Insight 13. Failure cancels the action and marks 1 wound. Sealing requires two successful adjacent Commands at Insight 13; each failed sealing check marks 1 wound. Remove the Breach after the second success.