Your First Hour¶
A guided path from a freshly created character to the core gameplay loop. The specific skills assume one of three starting builds; adapt them as needed.
1. Orient (a few minutes)¶
Run LOOK, STAT, INFO, SKILL, then skim HELP. Note your unspent training points on INFO — you already have your level-1 grant.
2. Spend your training points¶
Open the training sheet with TRAIN, then spend by skill number or name. Suggested starting plans:
TRAIN fire 5 Fire Lore — 5 ranks (2 MTP each for a Pure)
TRAIN harnesspower 3 open and deepen the mana pool
TRAIN dodge 2 a little defense (Dodging is costly for casters)
Five ranks of Fire Lore cost little for a Wizard and immediately enable a safe tier-1 firebolt. Harness Power adds mana on top of your base pool.
TRAIN edged 5 Edged Weapons — drives attack, parry, and roundtime
TRAIN dodge 5 Dodging — your main defense
TRAIN fitness 3 +9 maximum HP
TRAIN edged 4 a weapon
TRAIN dodge 3 defense
TRAIN lockpicking 3 cheap for a Rogue (1 PTP / 1 MTP, 3×/level)
TRAIN disarmtraps 2 always pair these
TRAIN fitness 2 some HP
Check INFO again to see remaining points. See Skills & Training for the bonus curve and rank caps.
3. Arm yourself¶
If you have no weapon, visit the smith in the Coldhollow market and SHOP to see stock. Without a weapon, combat uses Brawling at 3-second roundtime and low damage. A trained weapon in your right hand is a large upgrade. See Armor & Weapons.
4. Fight on the trail¶
Leave town toward the Frostspine Trail and engage a low-level creature:
KILL kobold attack (aliases: ATTACK, HIT, SWING)
Watch RT; drop to STANCE defensive while it counts down, then STANCE offensive to swing again. After the kill, work the remains knife first: SKIN kobold if you want the pelt, then SEARCH kobold — the search turns out its pockets onto the ground (a gem, sometimes a locked box) and the remains crumble away, taking any unskinned hide with them. GET what drops.
Warning
A single creature can kill a level-1 character. If a fight goes badly, move back toward town — pursuers cannot cross the gate. Then heal and try again.
5. Heal and sell¶
Back in safety, rest to heal faster — recovery is 5% of max HP standing, 10% sitting or kneeling, 15% prone, on a 30-second tick (Health & Wounds).
Sell loot:
SHOP see the vendor's rate
SELL gem sell a held item
Take gems and jewelry to the gemcutter (premium rate) rather than the general pawnbroker. See Vendors & Economy.
6. Cast your first spell (casters)¶
With a lore rank and some mana:
INCANT SELOS IGNIS a fire ward on yourself
INCANT BOLTAR IGNIS kobold a firebolt
Casting costs mana and roundtime whether it lands, fizzles, or backfires. If you have a second lore, try a combination:
INCANT BOLTAR IGNIS AERIS kobold fire + air → a firestorm
The full grammar, the combination table, and the cast math are on the Magic System page.
7. Save a spell you like¶
SCRIBE firebolt BOLTAR IGNIS stores it and drops a scroll
INVOKE firebolt kobold cast without retyping the words
Or memorize it for half the roundtime:
MEMORIZE firebolt BOLTAR IGNIS
CAST firebolt kobold
The loop from here¶
Fight → loot → sell → train → level → push deeper. Creature difficulty rises further along the trail and onto the Frostspine Climb. When a treasure box drops, work it in order: DISARM → PICK → OPEN → LOOT (Lockpicking & Treasure).
Build rapport with townsfolk via FEED and TALK; some are mentors who can teach an element word through LEARN once they trust you (Coldhollow).