Official Rules

The Eldiron Official Ruleset is the default fantasy RPG ruleset bundled with Eldiron. It gives characters, races, classes, weapons, armor, spells, progression, visuals, and world simulation one shared meaning.

Work In Progress

This is a preview of the official ruleset direction for the next release line. It is not the final v1 scope. Version 1 is expected to grow beyond the current draft with more classes, races, spells, equipment, crafting, conditions, loot, encounter tools, localization, and balancing support.

Official Ruleset

One Rulebook For The World

A Warrior, an Orc, a training sword, a healing spell, and a leather vest should all mean something before a project author writes custom scripts. The official ruleset is that shared meaning.

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Level 1 WarriorHumanHP 16 / 16STR 12Training Sword

How To Read The Rules

The official ruleset is a tabletop-style rulebook backed by TOML. The guide explains how the rules play. The TOML is the source of truth that Creator, clients, runtime systems, and tools read.

Rulebook term	In Eldiron TOML	Used by
Race	[races.Human], [races.Orc]	identity, relations, visual defaults
Class	[classes.Warrior]	stats, equipment, abilities, loadouts
Weapon	[items.weapons.training_sword]	damage, cooldown, range, visuals
Spell	[spells.minor_heal]	cost, range, cast time, effect
Intent	[intents.attack]	allowed actions and distances
Icon	[icons.basic_attack]	bundled UI/item masks and attribution
Combat kind	[combat.kinds.fire]	damage bonuses and reductions

The current bundled ruleset is assembled from split TOML files under the eldiron.official id.

Ruleset timing values are measured in seconds. Cooldowns, spell durations, FX durations, resource respawns, corpse lifetimes, and NPC respawn delays all use seconds so combat and abilities remain easy to tune. Script scheduling commands such as notify_in and block_events are different: they use in-game minutes because they schedule world-clock events.

Field	Current value
Ruleset id	eldiron.official
Name	Eldiron Official Ruleset
Version	1.0.0
Schema version	1
Engine minimum	0.91.0
Status	draft

Dice

Eldiron uses dice notation for readable random values.

1d6

Roll one six-sided die. Result: 1 to 6.

1d8

Roll one eight-sided die. Result: 1 to 8.

d20

Used for critical checks and future resolution rules.

A ruleset damage entry is intentionally readable:

[items.weapons.training_sword.damage]
roll = "1d6"
bonus = 1
bonus_attribute = "STR"
bonus_every = 4
damage_kind = "physical"

Read it as:

1. Roll 1d6.
2. Add the flat bonus.
3. Add one more bonus for every 4 points in STR.
4. Treat the result as physical damage.

So a Warrior with STR = 12 using a training sword rolls 1d6, adds 1, and then gains 3 more from Strength.

The TOML stays explicit. Tools can explain it, calculate it, and test it without requiring hidden formulas in character data.

Character Sheet

Every character starts from shared attributes. Race and class then shape those attributes into a playable role.

Group	Attributes
Primary	STR, DEX, INT, WIS, VIT
Resources	HP, MAX_HP, MP, MAX_MP
Combat	DMG, POWER, ARMOR, RESIST, FIRE_RESIST, INIT, SPEED
Progression	LEVEL, EXP

Attribute	Meaning
STR	physical force, melee scaling, carrying future heavy actions
DEX	agility, initiative, future ranged and avoidance hooks
INT	arcane spell scaling and knowledge hooks
WIS	divine spell scaling, resolve, and perception hooks
VIT	toughness and health scaling
HP / MAX_HP	current and maximum health
MP / MAX_MP	current and maximum mana; MP regenerates over time
ARMOR	physical protection
RESIST	general magical protection
FIRE_RESIST	fire-specific protection
POWER	general spell power

The official ruleset maps semantic runtime roles explicitly:

[attributes.roles]
health = "HP"
max_health = "MAX_HP"
level = "LEVEL"
experience = "EXP"
weapon_damage = "DMG"
armor = "ARMOR"

These names are official content, not engine constants. Standalone rulesets can map the same roles to different attributes or omit progression roles entirely. Spell and ability costs are typed action maps, so the official MP costs use the same runtime path as a custom FOCUS, stamina, or ammunition resource.

Derived stats are calculated on demand from the ruleset. The saved character attribute remains the base, while the formula may reference level, another attribute, or another derived stat:

[derived_stats.POWER]
formula = "base + floor(max(0, INT - 10) / 4) + floor(max(0, WIS - 10) / 4)"
minimum = 0

The official rules define MAX_HP, MAX_MP, DMG, POWER, INIT, and SPEED this way. Derived values drive combat, action requirements, healing, resource caps and regeneration, and respawn health. Condition modifiers apply to formula inputs and then to the resulting stat, without overwriting saved base attributes.

Mana regeneration is configured by [resource_regen.MP] in the official ruleset. The default restores 1 MP every 3 real-time seconds while the character is active, capped by MAX_MP.

Class resource growth uses progression.level.resource_gains. Each entry names its current attribute, maximum attribute, and amount gained per level. Cleric, for example, grows both HP and MP; Warrior and Ranger grow HP. The same generic list supports custom resources and levels 11–30 without additional field types.

Races

Races provide identity, language, visual defaults, attribute defaults, and base relations.

Race	Role	Avatar	Languages	Key defaults
Human	balanced default people	humanoid	common	HP 10, all primary attributes 10
Orc	strong hostile test race	orc	orcish	HP 14, STR 12, DEX 9, INT 8, WIS 8, VIT 12
Skeleton	undead skeletal creature	skeleton	-	HP 12, VIT 12, traits undead, skeletal

Race names are not hardcoded factions. They are identity defaults that feed relations and reputation. Race traits are materialized as normal entity attributes, so custom actions can inspect them through the same public predicate system.

The bundled skeleton.eldiron_avatar currently copies the humanoid frames but has its own asset id, internal UUID, and name. It is an editable placeholder: importing a dedicated Skeleton atlas replaces its art without changing race or project references.

Disposition And Reputation

Disposition answers a practical AI question: should this character treat that character as friendly, neutral, or hostile?

From / Toward	Human	Orc	Skeleton
Human	friendly	hostile	hostile
Orc	hostile	friendly	hostile
Skeleton	hostile	hostile	friendly

Reputation starts at 0, which means the race relation is used as-is.

Reputation	Disposition
-50 or lower	hostile
0	normal relation
50 or higher	friendly

Scripts should use is_hostile(entity_id) or disposition_of(entity_id) when they need an AI decision. They should not inspect custom alignment numbers.

Classes

Classes are the main playable role definitions. A class controls attributes, equipment permissions, abilities, spells, progression hooks, and starting loadout.

Martial

Warrior

Durable weapon user. Strong opening class for melee, armor, shields, and basic combat tests.

• Primary: STR, VIT
• HP 16 / 16
• Training Sword
• Padded Armor

Divine

Cleric

Armored support caster. Establishes mana, healing, spell unlocks, and divine scaling.

• Primary: WIS, VIT
• HP 14 / 14, MP 8 / 8
• Novice Mace
• Minor Heal

Ranged

Ranger

Mobile hunter. Establishes ranged weapon range, bow damage, ammunition, and DEX scaling.

• Primary: DEX, VIT
• HP 14 / 14
• Hunting Bow
• Wooden Arrows

Civilian

Citizen

Settlement baseline for vendors, crafters, trainers, and other non-adventuring NPCs.

• Primary: VIT
• HP 10 / 10
• No combat abilities
• Profession services

Warrior

Area	Rule
Role	martial
Primary attributes	STR, VIT
Weapons	sword, axe, mace, spear, bow
Armor	cloth, leather, chain, shield
Starting health	HP 16, MAX_HP 16
Starter money	5s
Starter weapon	training_sword
Starter armor	padded_armor
Starter clothing	wool_trousers, leather_shoes
Starter inventory	none
Level 1 abilities	basic_attack, guard
Level 2 unlock	power_strike
Level 4 unlock	rally
Level 6 unlock	crushing_blow
Level 8 unlock	iron_guard
Level 10 unlock	executioner_strike

Cleric

Area	Rule
Role	divine
Primary attributes	WIS, VIT
Weapons	mace
Armor	cloth, leather, chain, shield
Starting health	HP 14, MAX_HP 14
Starting mana	MP 8, MAX_MP 8
Starter money	5s
Starter weapon	novice_mace
Starter armor	cleric_vestments, round_shield
Starter clothing	wool_trousers, leather_shoes
Starter inventory	blessed_herb, moonwater
Level 1 abilities	basic_attack, guard
Level 1 spells	minor_heal
Level 2 unlock	holy_light
Level 4 unlock	blessing, turn_undead
Level 6 unlock	greater_heal
Level 8 unlock	smite
Level 10 unlock	sanctuary

Ranger

Area	Rule
Role	ranged
Primary attributes	DEX, VIT
Weapons	bow, sword, axe
Armor	cloth, leather
Starting health	HP 14, MAX_HP 14
Starter money	5s
Starter weapon	hunting_bow
Starter armor	leather_vest
Starter clothing	wool_trousers, leather_shoes
Starter inventory	wooden_arrows
Level 1 abilities	basic_attack
Level 2 unlock	aimed_shot
Level 4 unlock	quick_step
Level 6 unlock	piercing_shot
Level 8 unlock	hunter_focus
Level 10 unlock	deadly_shot

Citizen

Area	Rule
Role	civilian
Primary attributes	VIT
Weapons	none by default
Armor	cloth, leather
Starting health	HP 10, MAX_HP 10
Starter clothing	linen_shirt, wool_trousers, leather_shoes
Combat abilities	none
Professions	separate from class

Citizens are the default class for settlement NPCs. A blacksmith, merchant, or herbalist does not need to be a Warrior just to exist in the world. Use class for the character's combat baseline and profession for their economic or social role:

race = "Human"
class = "Citizen"
profession = "Blacksmith"

An armed town guard can still be a Warrior with profession = "Guard" or a future guard service role. The important split is that class answers "how does this character survive conflict?" while profession answers "what do they do in the settlement economy?"

Professions

Professions define services and future crafting families. They are not combat classes.

Profession	Role
Merchant	buys and sells goods
Blacksmith	metal weapons, armor, repairs, forge recipes
Tailor	cloth clothing, light armor, dyes, patterns
Herbalist	wild herbs, gathering, herb trade
Fletcher	arrows, bows, shafts, and ranged supplies
Innkeeper	rest, food, rooms, rumors
Trainer	ability, recipe, and skill unlocks

Professions do not cap what a player can learn. They describe social and economic identity: who teaches, trades, repairs, or specializes in a settlement. Crafting power comes from skills and recipe gates, so a Ranger with high Fletching can naturally become better at bows and arrows without being locked into a hard profession slot.

Crafting Skills

Official v1 starts with open sandbox crafting: there is no fixed two-profession limit. Recipes name a skill, a recommended skill value, a difficulty, and the attribute that naturally supports that work.

Skill	Attribute	Range	Early use
fletching	DEX	0-100	arrows, bows, shafts
herbalism	WIS	0-100	wild herbs and preparation
restoration	WIS	0-100	blessings, restoration reagents
alchemy	INT	0-100	moonwater, ember beads, volatile preparations
ritualism	WIS	0-100	warding salt, magical focuses, protective charms
weaponsmithing	STR	0-100	metal weapons
armorsmithing	STR	0-100	armor and repairs
tailoring	DEX	0-100	cloth, leather, dyes, patterns
woodworking	DEX	0-100	wooden handles, shields, furniture

Simple recipes are available immediately. Better skill values create better outputs instead of blocking the attempt. A character can expose skill points as attributes such as skill_fletching = 25.

Official crafting uses deterministic, use-based advancement. A successful craft grants 1 point in its recipe skill and another 1 while the crafter is below the recipe's recommended value. A recipe stops teaching once the crafter is 20 points above that recommendation, and a skill never exceeds its own maximum. Failed crafts and missing-material attempts grant nothing. This makes simple preparations the practice path into advanced ritual work instead of requiring authored skill points.

Crafted items use two numeric percentages:

• quality: 1..100, how well the item was made
• condition: 1..100, current wear or damage

Crafted items start with condition = 100. Their quality is calculated from recipe difficulty, recommended skill, the crafter's matching skill, and the supporting attribute. Weapon damage scales by both quality and condition.

Recipes

Recipes transform inventory stacks into item outputs. They use the same item templates as loot, shops, class loadouts, spell reagents, and text look paths.

Recipe	Skill	Recommended	Difficulty	Consumes	Produces
wooden_arrows	fletching	10	10	green_wood x1, feather x2	wooden_arrows x10
blessed_herb	restoration	8	8	wild_herb x1	blessed_herb x1
hunting_bow	fletching	25	35	green_wood x3	hunting_bow x1
moonwater	alchemy	12	12	moonleaf x2	moonwater x2
consecrated_oil	restoration	20	22	blessed_herb x1, sun_shard x1	consecrated_oil x2
warding_salt	ritualism	25	28	grave_dust x2, sun_shard x1	warding_salt x3
ember_beads	alchemy	18	20	ember_resin x2	ember_bead x3
ritual_censer	ritualism	35	38	green_wood x2, consecrated_oil x1, warding_salt x1	ritual_censer x1
sunward_charm	ritualism	50	55	sun_shard x2, moonwater x1, warding_salt x1	sunward_charm x1

profession_hint marks who usually teaches, sells, or performs the work, and class_hint can mark a class-flavored recipe such as Cleric blessing. The recipe gate itself is still the actual requirement: blessed_herb requires the minor_heal spell, so Herbalism supplies the wild_herb and Cleric restoration turns it into a reagent.

Ritual crafting deliberately forms a small production chain instead of a list of unrelated conversions. Moonleaf becomes Moonwater; sunlight and blessed herbs become Consecrated Oil; grave dust and sunlight become Warding Salt; and Ember Resin becomes Ember Beads. Those prepared reagents are spent by spells, but they can also be invested in permanent equipment. A Ritual Censer favors spell power and resistance, while a more demanding Sunward Charm protects against magic and fire. The same Sun Shards are therefore contested between immediate spell supplies and long-term equipment. This leaves room for Ultima Online-style character growth while giving towns useful roles such as Fletcher, Herbalist, Ritualist, Tailor, and Blacksmith.

Setting LEVEL on an authored character applies class progression during spawn/load. For example, a level 2 Cleric receives the Cleric level gains and level 2 spell unlocks from the ruleset. Explicit character overrides, such as a custom wounded HP = 1, are preserved.

Class starting loadouts are applied only when a character does not define its own startup item attributes. This keeps the official defaults useful while still allowing special templates.

Intents

Intent rules are fed by actions. For example, the attack intent resolves to the basic_attack action, and take resolves to the take action. This keeps buttons, scripts, and later sandbox tools on the same rules path.

Intent	Rule
attack	target must resolve to a hostile disposition
attack distance	comes from equipped weapon range, fallback 1.5 tiles
take	target must be an item, distance 1.5 tiles
use	distance 2 tiles

Official action distances are resolved before per-character [intent_distance] values. A single Attack button can therefore serve melee and ranged weapons: swords and maces use melee range, bows use the bow category range. In 2D directional play, choosing Attack and pressing a direction scans that lane out to the equipped weapon range, so a bow can target an enemy several tiles away without needing a separate ranged-attack intent.

Attack cooldown is rules-owned. A character script should call attack() for a normal weapon or unarmed attack. The runtime uses the equipped weapon cooldown and falls back to the basic_attack action cooldown. When damage resolves, the target receives the damaged event with the final amount, attacker_id, damage kind, and source_item_id payload fields. Ruleset spell damage uses this same damaged event path, so NPC reactions do not need separate weapon and spell handlers.

Combat

Combat is meant to be easy to explain and easy to test.

1Choose target

2Call attack()

3Roll weapon dice

4Apply damage kind

5Reduce by armor

6Apply final damage

Combat default	Value
Damage kind	physical
Unarmed damage	1d3, plus STR bonus every 4 points
Attack cooldown	1.0 seconds
Cast cooldown	1.5 seconds
Global cooldown	0.5 seconds
Critical roll	20
Critical multiplier	1.5

Example Attack

A level 1 Human Warrior attacks an Orc with a training sword.

Step	Result
Weapon	training_sword
Damage roll	1d6
Flat bonus	+1
Strength bonus	STR 12, so +3 from bonus_every = 4
Damage kind	physical
Cooldown	1.0 seconds

If the die rolls 4, the attack starts at 4 + 1 + 3 = 8 physical damage. The Orc's physical reduction then comes from ARMOR and equipped armor before the final amount is applied.

Damage Kinds

Kind	Meaning	Reduction
physical	mundane weapon and body damage	ARMOR plus equipped armor ARMOR
arcane	unshaped magical force	RESIST plus equipped armor RESIST
spell	compatibility name for arcane force	RESIST plus equipped armor RESIST
fire	heat, flame, and burning magic	FIRE_RESIST plus equipped armor FIRE_RESIST

Weapons

Weapons define category, slot, cooldown, damage kind, visual data, and dice damage.

Weapon	Category	Slot	Cooldown	Damage	Visual
training_sword	sword	main_hand	1.0	1d6, bonus 1, STR every 4	wooden diagonal sword mask
hand_axe	axe	main_hand	1.2	1d8, bonus 1, STR every 4	diagonal axe mask
novice_mace	mace	main_hand	1.15	1d6, bonus 0, STR every 4	diagonal mace mask
hunting_bow	bow	main_hand	1.5	1d6, bonus 0, DEX every 4	diagonal bow mask
training_spear	spear	main_hand	1.25	1d6, bonus 1, STR every 4	diagonal spear mask

Weapon categories add shared behavior.

Category	Hands	Base cooldown	Range
sword	one-handed	1.0	default melee
axe	one-handed	1.2	default melee
mace	one-handed	1.15	default melee
spear	two-handed	1.25	2
bow	two-handed	1.5	6

These declarations are enforced. Equipping a bow or spear occupies both main_hand and off_hand. A shield is stored in the shield equipment slot but also occupies off_hand, so it cannot be combined with either two-handed weapon. One-handed weapons can still be combined with a shield.

Each class's allowed_weapons and allowed_armor lists are also authoritative: Citizen has no weapon permission; Warrior accepts every current weapon and armor family; Cleric accepts maces with cloth, leather, chain, and shields; and Ranger accepts bows, swords, and axes with cloth or leather. A rejected equip attempt leaves the item where it was.

Armor And Clothing

The current armor model follows broad material families: cloth, leather, chain, and shield. This keeps equipment readable and gives crafting professions a natural future path.

Armor	Family	Slot	Armor	Avatar channels
padded_armor	cloth	torso	1	torso, arms
cleric_vestments	cloth	torso	1	torso, arms
leather_vest	leather	torso	2	torso
chain_shirt	chain	torso	3	torso, arms
round_shield	shield	shield	1	round shield mask
ritual_censer	focus	focus	POWER +1, RESIST +1	shared mace/censer mask
sunward_charm	focus	focus	RESIST +2, FIRE_RESIST +1	shared charm mask

Clothing	Family	Slot	Worth	Avatar channels
linen_shirt	cloth	torso	5c	torso, arms
wool_trousers	cloth	legs	6c	legs
leather_shoes	leather	feet	8c	feet

Container	Family	Slots	Visual
small_bag	bag	6	pouch mask
loot_corpse	corpse	8+	tombstone mask

Containers open as floating UI panels. They use procedural UI templates by default; a template defines columns, slot size, padding, gap, title, and palette colors. Projects can later skin the same template with tile ids for frame corners, edges, center fill, and slots without turning every bag into a custom screen.

Dead characters that call drop_items("") create a lootable corpse container under the official rules. The corpse expands to fit the carried loot and uses the same open, click-to-take, drag, and text transfer paths as bags. Empty corpses despawn by default so cleaned-out tombstones do not remain on the map. Non-empty corpses also have a lifetime. For respawning NPCs, the corpse disappears shortly before the NPC returns, using despawn_before_respawn_seconds; other corpses use despawn_seconds.

NPCs respawn by default. [respawn.npc] defines the delay, restores health to full, restores the NPC's startup loadout and behavior state, and removes that NPC's corpse when it returns. Player death remains script-controlled so games can decide whether the player wakes at a shrine, returns to town, loses money, keeps a tombstone, or follows another custom death loop. Individual NPCs can override the timer with respawn_seconds or disable automatic respawn with respawn = false.

Ammunition	Family	Quantity	Used by	Visual
wooden_arrows	arrow	20	bow, 1 per attack	diagonal arrow mask

Reagent	Affinity	Default stack	Used by	Visual
blessed_herb	restoration / LO	3	Minor Heal, Greater Heal, ritual recipes	herb sprig mask
moonwater	life / VI	2	Minor Heal, Greater Heal, Sanctuary	shared moonwater mask
consecrated_oil	grace / YA	2	Holy Light, Blessing, Smite	shared holy-light mask
warding_salt	ward / SAR	3	Turn Undead, Sanctuary	shared shield mask
ember_bead	flame / FUL	3	Fire Spark, Smite	shared torch/ember mask

Material	Family	Quantity	Used by	Visual
green_wood	wood	5	shafts, handles, woodworking	wood shaft mask
feather	feather	5	arrow fletching	feather mask
wild_herb	herb	5	gathered herbalism material	herb sprig mask
moonleaf	herb	4	Moonwater distillation	recolored herb sprig mask
sun_shard	mineral	3	divine oils, wards, charms	shared holy-light mask
grave_dust	dust	4	Warding Salt	shared grave mask
ember_resin	resin	4	Ember Beads	shared torch/ember mask

Economy

Eldiron uses a classic copper, silver, and gold economy. All prices and rewards are stored as integer base units, where copper is the base:

Currency	Symbol	Base value
Copper	c	1
Silver	s	10
Gold	g	100

The UI formats base values compactly. 125 copper is shown as 1g 2s 5c. This keeps the rules and tools simple while still presenting familiar RPG money to players.

New player characters start with 50 copper, displayed as 5s, unless the character explicitly defines another wealth value.

Money item	Adds
copper_coin	1c
silver_coin	1s
gold_coin	1g

Money items are marked monetary = true. Taking one adds its value directly to the actor's wallet instead of placing the coin item in inventory. Normal item worth, shop prices, loot rewards, and character wealth are all measured in base copper units.

Money loot can use the same item template with a different value. For example, a dropped purse can set monetary = true, currency = "silver", and amount = 5 to add 5s when taken. worth = 50 is the equivalent raw base value and is useful for tools and display.

Resource nodes are the world objects that produce materials. They are distinct from inventory items.

Resource node	Action	Produces	Respawn	Visual
wild_herb_node	gather_herbs	wild_herb x2	300 seconds	herb sprig mask
green_wood_node	gather_wood	green_wood x3	300 seconds	wood shaft mask
bird_nest_node	gather_feathers	feather x2	300 seconds	feather/nest mask
moonleaf_patch	gather_moonleaf	moonleaf x2	360 seconds	recolored herb mask
sunstone_outcrop	mine_sun_shards	sun_shard x2	480 seconds	golden outcrop mask
old_grave	sift_grave_dust	grave_dust x2	420 seconds	tombstone mask
resinous_stump	tap_ember_resin	ember_resin x2	360 seconds	ember-colored wood mask

Tool	Worth	Interaction	State	Visual
torch	1s	use toggles it on/off	swaps light, tile, and look text; while lit it loses condition over game minutes and destroys itself at 0%	one bundled unlit tile, one bundled four-frame lit tile

Bows consume one matching ammunition item from the attacker's inventory when a weapon attack resolves. hunting_bow declares ammunition = "wooden_arrows" and ammunition_quantity = 1, so the ruleset owns both which item is needed and how many are spent. Stackable ammunition decrements its quantity; when the stack reaches zero the inventory slot is emptied. wooden_arrows therefore means one inventory stack of arrows, not one single arrow item per slot.

When an item defines avatar_channels and no explicit icon or tile source, Eldiron derives its preview from the bundled humanoid avatar. Inventory, equipment, and ground item visuals use the same generated shape.

Some official items are interactive templates rather than passive gear. A torch contains its own script, authored state text, light definition, and lit/unlit visual state. Its unlit tile and animated lit tile are bundled with the official rules, so projects can place a complete working torch without rebuilding that behavior by hand. Its burn time is rules-owned through [durability]: while active, it drains condition by 10% per 60 game minutes, and on_empty = "destroy" removes the burned-out torch.

Abilities And Spells

Abilities and spells define what exists. Actions define how an actor performs a gameplay verb. This keeps the current RPG layer compatible with future sandbox verbs such as harvesting, crafting, lockpicking, stealing, or taming.

Spellbook

Words of Power are listed directly beside their spells. They are an optional input vocabulary: a graphical game may show spell icons, a text game may accept the words, and a rune-based game may draw the same tokens as symbols.

Spell	Words of Power	MP	Reagents	Effect
Minor Heal	LO VI	3	Blessed Herb x1, Moonwater x1	restore 1d6 + 1, scaling with WIS
Holy Light	YA FUL	4	Consecrated Oil x1	deal 1d6 + 1 arcane damage, scaling with WIS
Blessing	YA	5	Consecrated Oil x1	grant divine power and resistance
Turn Undead	SAR IR	5	Warding Salt x1	weaken and repel an undead target
Greater Heal	LO LO	7	Blessed Herb x2, Moonwater x1	restore 2d6 + 3, scaling with WIS
Smite	FUL YA	6	Consecrated Oil x1, Ember Bead x1	deal 2d6 + 2 arcane damage, scaling with WIS
Sanctuary	SAR VI	9	Warding Salt x1, Moonwater x1	grant strong physical and magical protection
Fire Spark	FUL	2	Ember Bead x1	deal 1d6 fire damage, scaling with INT

The six-word lexicon is intentionally small:

Word	Meaning	Material affinity
LO	restore	herbs
VI	life	moonleaf and Moonwater
FUL	flame	Ember Resin and Ember Beads
YA	grace	Sun Shards and Consecrated Oil
IR	banish	graves and the dead
SAR	ward	Warding Salt

The ingredients echo the spoken construction without enforcing a mechanical one-token/one-item rule. That keeps each spell memorable while leaving room for recipes, substitutions, reagent-free settings, or entirely different input schemes in custom games.

Action	Kind	Target	Cost	Result
basic_attack	attack	hostile or neutral entity	-	weapon damage
power_strike	attack	hostile or neutral entity	-	power_strike damage
guard	stance	self	-	apply guarded for 2.0s
rally	stance	self	-	apply rallied for 6.0s
crushing_blow	attack	hostile or neutral entity	-	crushing_blow damage
iron_guard	stance	self	-	apply iron_guarded for 5.0s
executioner_strike	attack	hostile or neutral entity	-	executioner_strike damage
aimed_shot	attack	hostile or neutral entity	-	aimed_shot damage
quick_step	stance	self	-	apply quick_step for 4.0s
piercing_shot	attack	hostile or neutral entity	-	piercing_shot damage
hunter_focus	stance	self	-	apply hunter_focus for 6.0s
deadly_shot	attack	hostile or neutral entity	-	deadly_shot damage
minor_heal	spell	friendly or self	3 MP, Blessed Herb, Moonwater	minor_heal healing
holy_light	spell	hostile or neutral entity	4 MP, Consecrated Oil	holy_light damage
blessing	spell	friendly or self	5 MP, Consecrated Oil	apply blessed for 8.0s
turn_undead	spell	hostile or neutral undead entity	5 MP, Warding Salt	apply turned for 5.0s
greater_heal	spell	friendly or self	7 MP, Blessed Herb x2, Moonwater	greater_heal healing
smite	spell	hostile or neutral entity	6 MP, Consecrated Oil, Ember Bead	smite damage
sanctuary	spell	friendly or self	9 MP, Warding Salt, Moonwater	apply sanctuary for 8.0s
fire_spark	spell	hostile or neutral entity	2 MP, Ember Bead	fire_spark damage
take	interaction	ground item	-	move item to inventory
gather_herbs	gather	resource node	-	resource output
gather_wood	gather	resource node	-	resource output
gather_feathers	gather	resource node	-	resource output
gather_moonleaf	gather	resource node	herbalism 5	moonleaf x2
mine_sun_shards	gather	resource node	ritualism 5	sun_shard x2
sift_grave_dust	gather	resource node	ritualism 10	grave_dust x2
tap_ember_resin	gather	resource node	alchemy 5	ember_resin x2
craft_blessed_herb	craft	self	1 wild_herb, minor_heal known	blessed_herb x1
craft_wooden_arrows	craft	self	1 green_wood, 2 feather	wooden_arrows x10
craft_hunting_bow	craft	self	3 green_wood, recommended fletching 25	hunting_bow x1

The optional words_of_power scheme binds the sequences in the Spellbook to ordinary actions. This is an input method, not separate spell logic: knowledge, targeting, costs, cooldowns, effects, and FX still come from the same action. A game can render the tokens as words, runes, icons, or buttons, or ignore the scheme. A Messages command input accepts the phrases directly, including a named target when needed: LO VI, SAR IR at skeleton, or the explicit invoke words_of_power:YA FUL at orc form.

Action definitions already include a generic consumes list, so spells, crafting, and other sandbox actions can require reagents or materials without a new hardcoded system. These costs use stack quantities too: consuming three arrows, herbs, ore, or reagents subtracts three from a matching stack before it removes an inventory slot.

Actions can also declare skill and required_skill. The first gather actions are open at required_skill = 0, but the same mechanism is now available for higher-tier ore, wood, herbs, locks, traps, and profession actions.

Standalone and heavily customized games can gate an action on their own actor attributes through requires.attributes. Predicates support scalar equality, numeric minimum/maximum values, and membership in tag-like string lists. For example an action can require karma >= 10, mode = "stealth", and a traits list containing "undead" without requiring a class or level system. requires.target_attributes applies the same vocabulary to the selected entity, enabling actions such as Turn Undead without a Skeleton-specific engine branch. The official level-4 Cleric action now demonstrates this: it requires the target's ordinary traits list to contain undead, then applies the generic turned condition. A living hostile target fails before MP, cooldown, or particles are consumed.

Those actions can also use result.modify for built-in state changes. A single action may add to numeric actor or target values, set numeric, boolean, or string attributes, and clamp a result to fixed bounds or another recipient attribute. This covers verbs such as resting, consuming stamina, changing karma, or entering a frightened state without writing an action-specific runtime branch.

Actions can apply or remove reusable conditions. The official guard action applies conditions.guarded, whose definition owns its two-second duration, refresh behavior, tags, and ARMOR +2 modifier. The server tracks remaining time and stacks separately from base attributes, so expiration never has to restore a previously overwritten ARMOR value. Other rulesets can use the same path for poison, blessings, stances, or curses, including trait-based immunities, stack-scaled periodic damage/healing/resource effects, lifecycle events, and apply/active/tick/remove particle phases. Guard demonstrates the visual lifecycle with a blue-white burst and an aura that follows its owner. Turned demonstrates a harmful trait-gated condition with POWER -4, halved SPEED, and its own divine apply/active/remove particles. Active condition stacks, remaining time, periodic phase, and stable applying source survive serialized region state; transient particles are rebuilt rather than treated as saved gameplay objects.

The three adventuring action bars expose their full level-10 path. Locked buttons use the same class unlock data to report the required level.

classes.<id>.unlocks.level_N is the sole owner of when an ability or spell is known. Starting loadouts own items only. Ability and spell definitions own identity and roll data; actions own targets, costs, cooldowns, results, and FX.

Scripts use attack() for the normal weapon attack. Named action buttons or text commands use use_action("<id>"); for example use_action("power_strike") or use power strike orc in text play. A custom source-tool action may use use_action(action_id, target_id, source_item_id) to select the exact owned tool instance. Resource actions can also be typed by name, such as gather herbs, gather wood, or gather feathers, which targets the nearest matching visible resource node. Successful gathering sends a localized result message such as You gather Wild Herb x2. Recipes can be typed by name too, such as craft blessed herb, craft wooden arrows, or craft hunting bow. Container transfers start with simple text commands such as open small bag, put wild herb in bag, and take wild herb from bag.

Ability	Kind	Cooldown	Range	Effect
basic_attack	attack	1.0	weapon	normal physical attack
guard	stance	3.0	self	ARMOR +2 for 2.0 seconds
power_strike	attack	4.0	weapon	1d8, bonus 2, STR every 4
rally	stance	10.0	self	DMG +2, RESIST +1 for 6.0 seconds
crushing_blow	attack	6.0	weapon	1d10, bonus 3, STR every 4
iron_guard	stance	12.0	self	ARMOR +4, reduced speed for 5.0 seconds
executioner_strike	attack	8.0	weapon	2d8, bonus 4, STR every 3
aimed_shot	attack	4.0	weapon	1d8, bonus 2, DEX every 4
quick_step	stance	9.0	self	SPEED +1, ARMOR +1 for 4.0 seconds
piercing_shot	attack	6.0	weapon	1d10, bonus 3, DEX every 4
hunter_focus	stance	10.0	self	DMG +2, INIT +2 for 6.0 seconds
deadly_shot	attack	8.0	weapon	2d6, bonus 4, DEX every 3

Spell	Words of Power	School	Kind	Cost	Cooldown	Range	Roll
minor_heal	LO VI	restoration	heal	3 MP, 1 blessed_herb	4.0	5	1d6, bonus 1, WIS every 4
holy_light	YA FUL	restoration	damage	4 MP	5.0	5	1d6, bonus 1, WIS every 4
blessing	YA	restoration	support	5 MP	8.0	5	POWER +2, RESIST +2 for 8.0s
turn_undead	SAR IR	divine	control	5 MP	10.0	5	undead target only; POWER -4, SPEED ×0.5 for 5.0s
greater_heal	LO LO	restoration	heal	7 MP, 1 blessed_herb	7.0	5	2d6, bonus 3, WIS every 4
smite	FUL YA	divine	damage	6 MP	7.0	6	2d6, bonus 2, WIS every 4
sanctuary	SAR VI	restoration	support	9 MP	12.0	5	ARMOR +3, RESIST +4 for 8.0s
fire_spark	FUL	fire	damage	2 MP	3.0	6	1d6, bonus 0, INT every 4

Spell FX use semantic presets from fx.toml. The ruleset describes the visual intent, and the engine maps that to procedural particles and lighting. Explicit action stages override the official semantic fallbacks. Attacks use hit_burst for an otherwise unspecified impact; healing uses rising_motes; condition actions use holy_glow while casting; and conditions share apply/active/tick/remove defaults. A different ruleset may replace or omit these mappings without engine changes.

Spell	Cast FX	Travel FX	Impact FX
minor_heal	rising_motes	-	rising_motes
holy_light	holy_glow	holy_bolt	hit_burst
fire_spark	-	ember_trail	fire_burst

FX Preset	Description
hit_burst	short impact burst from the target center
rising_motes	soft particles across the tile, moving upward
holy_glow	warm divine aura around caster or target
holy_bolt	focused holy projectile with trailing glow
fire_burst	hot impact explosion with sparks and smoke
flame_patch	small burning area on the tile
ember_trail	embers behind a moving fire spell

Progression

Progression uses explicit tables so balancing is visible.

Level	Required XP
2	100
3	250
4	450
5	700
10	2700

Minor quests award 25 XP, major quests award 100 XP, and kill XP starts at 25 per defender level.

The current maximum level is 10. Adventuring classes gain their core kit at level 1 and new actions at levels 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10; odd levels still improve class resources and primary attributes. Extending the same rules to level 30 only requires additional XP rows and unlocks.level_N tables—no representation or runtime branch change. The runtime treats max_level as authoritative for both explicit XP tables and the optional xp_for_level formula form.

Visual Defaults

Rules and visuals meet in play, so the ruleset provides a consistent default visual layer.

Visual rule	Value
Default avatar	humanoid
Avatar assets	assets/humanoid.eldiron_avatar, assets/orc.eldiron_avatar, assets/skeleton.eldiron_avatar
Ruleset Palette	fixed rules-owned mood palette based on Lospec's "31" palette
Explicit override	project tile_id, avatar, or empty visual fields win

On load, Eldiron resolves the effective ruleset palette into the project's Ruleset Palette. This keeps official item previews, avatar channels, UI defaults, and generated ruleset icons on stable rules-owned indices.

The editable Art Palette remains separate for tiles, drawing, palette-index geometry sources, and 3D Paint.

Tools And Testing

The official ruleset is structured so tools can answer practical authoring questions without guessing:

• Which items does a level 1 Warrior start with?
• Can a Cleric equip this weapon?
• What is the attack range of this weapon?
• How much XP is needed for the next level?
• What damage can this weapon or spell roll?
• Which race relation makes this target hostile?
• How long until this character can attack again?
• What happens if this Orc fights this Warrior 100 times?

The same TOML should serve gameplay, Creator UI, terminal tools, console tools, validation, and automated arena tests.

Work In Progress Roadmap

The current draft is a playable slice, not the final v1 promise.

Already present or underway:

• Human and Orc race baselines
• Warrior and Cleric class baselines
• default race relations and reputation thresholds
• attack, take, and use intent rules
• weapon and unarmed dice damage
• physical, arcane, spell, and fire damage kinds
• cloth, leather, chain, and shield armor families
• starter weapons, armor, clothing, abilities, and spells
• default humanoid avatar and rules-owned palette
• stackable materials, reagents, ammunition, and first crafting recipes
• skill-gated crafting with open profession growth
• first item container, small_bag, with text transfer commands
• Creator integration and rules-aware tools

Expected v1 growth areas:

• more playable classes and enemy roles
• more races and creature templates
• a larger spell and ability catalogue
• larger crafting professions, reagents, recipes, stations, and item outputs
• container popups, bags, chests, corpses, and loot transfer UI
• loot tables and treasure rules
• more conditions such as stunned, burning, poisoned, and blessed, using the existing periodic-effect, lifecycle-event, immunity, and particle vocabulary
• armor proficiency, weapon proficiency, and class restrictions
• encounter templates and automatic arena balance tests
• rarity, value, repair rules, and deeper quality/condition effects
• richer AI intent rules and disposition changes
• localization-ready rule names, messages, and descriptions
• illustrated guide pages and deeper examples

The long-term goal is not a tiny ruleset. The goal is a real world simulation that starts simple, stays readable, and grows without returning to scattered per-character configuration.