3
The House Roster
Five bodies, five jobs, no hidden army
Each House fields a small, readable roster. You always know who is on the board. You always know who can stabilize, who can build, and who carries the House’s name into a Crown Round.
| Slot | Count | Function |
|---|---|---|
| Champion | 1 | House identity, strongest agency, micro skill tree, milestone growth. |
| Close cohorts | 2 | Combat presence, protection, coordinated actions. |
| Healer | 1 | Stabilization, rescue support, recovery economy. |
| Specialist | 1 | Building, repair, investigation, House-specific technical play. |
Activation
A House Turn selects one standing Active Character and resolves Traverse, Command, and Gesture. A character is normally selected once per round. Mark it Exhausted after selection and refresh it at the beginning of the next round. Reactions and assists do not count as selection.
A Downed character cannot be selected unless Stand or another explicit effect permits it.
Cohort advancement
A cohort upgrades after two successful uses. “Successful use” must be defined per cohort so advancement cannot be farmed through trivial actions. Upgrade form, reset behavior, and whether progress survives defeat remain OPEN.
Building and healing
Build during Command by a Champion or Specialist; activation begins next cycle. Structures use Guard / Armor / Integrity. A hit dealing at least 1 damage after Armor marks 1 Integrity. Full Integrity damage destroys the structure and adds +1 Chaos. Infrastructure creates no goods unless explicitly marked Production.
An adjacent Healer uses Command to stabilize. Mercy Lantern (033–040 suite) can let a Specialist spend 1 Provision to stabilize as Healer once per cycle. That is a printed exception, not a general rule.