CORE RULES

Unless otherwise stated, teams may only contain units from the same faction unless you incorporate members of The Wayward Coin. ***Note you can only have up to 3 points worth of Wayward Coin Members in your team for a mixed team.***

You may never exceed 8 Summoning Points during team construction.

Full Faction Teams & Mixed Teams

Players may choose to build either a Full Faction Team or a Mixed Team.

A Full Faction Team contains only units from the same faction or sub-faction, a branch of the main faction. These teams fight with stronger coordination and better battlefield unity.

A Mixed Team includes units from The Wayward Coin.

The Wayward Coin are mercenaries, bounty hunters, wanderers, and adventurers willing to work with other factions.

However, mixed forces do not fight with the same level of coordination as a pure faction force.

Because of this:

Full Faction Teams begin the game with 3 Fate Tokens.

Mixed Teams begin the game with 2 Fate Tokens.

Team Building Example

EXAMPLE: TEAM BUILDING ***Not all units are real units.***

A player builds the following team:

Eric — 1 Point

Brin — 1 Point

Training Knight — 1 Point

Total = 8 Summoning Points

This team is legal because it does not exceed the 8 Point limit, and it also does not have more than 3 points of Wayward Coin units.

***Note: The Wayward Coin is also its own faction; you can play a full faction of just The Wayward Coin if you want.***

FATE TOKENS

Fate Tokens are one of the most important mechanics in Dual Fates.

Fate Tokens represent magical energy, momentum, teamwork, battlefield advantage, and tactical opportunity.

Throughout the game, units can and will generate Fate Tokens, and the player can spend them to use stronger abilities on any unit.

All Fate Tokens are placed into the team’s Fate Pool.

The entire team shares this pool, meaning any unit allowed to spend Fate Tokens may use them.

Some abilities generate Fate Tokens when successful. Other abilities spend Fate Tokens to unleash stronger attacks, healing powers, reactions, support abilities, or Ultimate abilities.

Managing Fate Tokens properly is one of the biggest parts of mastering Dual Fates.

Gaining Fate Tokens

Common ways to gain Fate Tokens include:

Successfully activating a unit's ability
Capturing objectives
Special abilities
Unit-specific effects

Always check the Unit Sheet in their Codex for specific rules on Fate Token generation for that unit.

Spending Fate Tokens

Fate Tokens are commonly spent to:

Activate abilities
Trigger powerful effects
Use Ultimate Abilities
Enhance a unit's performance

BUILDING THE VORTEX

The Vortex is the active battlefield where units fight, move, and contest objectives. In the Vortex, terrain is extremely important. The Vortex should contain plenty of terrain because terrain creates cover, chokepoints, hiding spots, movement lanes, and tactical positioning.

Players should work together to build a Vortex that feels exciting and interesting to fight across. A Vortex measures 2 ft x 2 ft in total size.

Examples of terrain include:

ruins
forests
bridges
magical structures
rock formations
barricades
towers

A Vortex with good terrain creates better tactical gameplay and makes every match feel unique. There is no limit to how much terrain you can have in the vortex, so have fun with it and be creative.

Before your game begins, both players need to decide on what terrain to use and set the terrain up accordingly in the vortex.

Placing The Pillars of Fate

Standard games of Dual Fates use 5 Pillars of Fate that are placed across the vortex.

The Pillars are the main objectives players fight over during the game and change every round.

To set up the Pillars:

Place 1 Pillar in the center of the Vortex.

Divide the Vortex into four equal sections.

Place 1 Pillar in the center of each section.

Each Pillar is numbered 1 through 5. The numbers themselves do not matter for placement, only for game objectives. Players are encouraged to move the numbered Pillars between games and rotate vortex layouts as well as change terrain placement. This helps keep battles fresh and unpredictable.

Starting The Game

After you have what you need and the vortex is set, it's time to start the game. Both players roll their Fate. The player with the higher roll gets to choose their Deployment Zone.

The opposing player must then deploy in the directly opposite Deployment Zone.

The Deployment Zones extend 4 inches from the Vortex edge along one full side.

For example, if player one chooses the north side of the vortex, they get 4 inches across the whole side while player two has to take the direct oposing side.

After Deployment Zones are chosen, both players place their Summoning Totem anywhere inside their Deployment Zone up to 4 inches in.

Once both Summoning Totems are placed, players begin deploying their forces into the Vortex.

Players alternate deploying 1 unit at a time until all desired units are deployed, starting with the player who lost deployment.

Since each player builds an 8 Summoning Point team but may only have 5 Summoning Points active in the Vortex at one time, players must decide which units to deploy first, which units to keep in reserve and how to respond to the opponent’s deployment choices.

A player may choose to deploy aggressive units early, and support units safely behind terrain, and reserve units later to counter the opponent

Understanding the role of The Vortex

A player may only have 5 points' worth of units in the Vortex at one time, even though they build a team of 8 points.

Units that are not currently inside the Vortex are called Reserve Units.

Reserve Units:

cannot activate

cannot attack

cannot be targeted

cannot score objectives

cannot generate Fate Tokens

During the game, players may summon Reserve Units into the battlefield as reinforcements as other units are destroyed or incapacitated in the vortex.

Reserve units create constant battlefield pressure and allow players to recover from losses, reinforce weak positions, and fight over important objectives. It’s important to choose whom you play first and whom you want to leave in reserve because reserve units can only enter the Vortex when a player has available Summoning Capacity. If you have no reserves left, then you cannot summon during the summoning phase.

The Summoning Totem's role

Every team MUST include a Summoning Totem. There are faction-based totems and generic totems. A Team must have a totem to enter the Vortex.

Summoning Totems act as magical anchors that allow units to enter the battlefield safely, as well as provide special bonuses or effects to the team while they are in the vortex. Summoning totems are crucial for every team.

Unless specifically stated otherwise:

Summoning Totems cannot be targeted

Summoning Totems cannot be destroyed

Some future scenarios or special abilities may change how Totem works.

Round Structure

Dual Fates is played over 10 rounds.

At the end of Round 10, the player with the most Victory Points wins the game.

Every round follows the same structure:

Start of Round Phase

Pillars of Fate Phase

Summoning Phase

Initiative Phase

Activation Phase

End of Round Phase

Scoring Phase

Learning the round structure is important because it controls the flow of the entire game. Let's dive into those phases.

1. Start of Round Phase

During this phase, ability stats effect’s or and special abilities from summoning totems come into play. Also, any expired effects are removed from play.

Any ongoing effects resolve, start-of-round abilities activate, and expired effects are removed.

This resets the Vortex before the round begins.

2. Pillars of Fate Phase

At the beginning of every round, players roll Fate to determine which Pillars they are attempting to capture for that round. The Pillars of Fate are the objectives of the game. It is up to the player to capture their pillar while at the same time keeping their opponent from capturing theirs. Every round, the players' objective changes; they will have to capture new Pillars each round. This creates constantly changing objectives and forces players to adapt their strategies throughout the battle.

Players roll their fate (2d6). If neither die shows a 6, the rolled numbers represent the Pillars the player needs to control for that round.

If either die shows a 6, the player gains a Secret Mission.

A Secret Mission allows the player to secretly choose any Pillar on the battlefield. The player does not need to reveal which Pillar they selected. The player does not choose the Secret Mission when they roll. At the end of the round, after determining control, the player may choose any Pillar they currently control as their Secret Mission objective as long as it's not one they are required to control.

This allows players to bluff, deceive opponents, and adapt their strategy during the round depending on how the battle changes.

Secret Missions create exciting mind games because opponents never fully know which objective their enemy is trying to secure.

PILLARS OF FATE EXAMPLES

If a player rolls a 2 and a 5, that player may score Pillar 2 and Pillar 5 during that round if they control them.

If a player rolls a 6 and a 3, they gain a Secret Mission. The player may secretly choose any Pillar on the battlefield as one of their objectives and capture 3 as well. If only one die shows a 6, the other die still scores normally

If a player rolls a 4 and a 4, they rolled doubles. The player may only score Pillar 4 that round, but if they control it, that Pillar awards double Victory Points.

If a player rolls double 6s, they gain a Critical Mission. The Critical Mission becomes the only objective they may score that round, but it awards double Victory Points if successfully controlled. Treat it like a Secret Mission, but it's only one pillar.

These changing objectives force players to move around the battlefield and adapt their plans every round rather than simply defending a single location.

If the player rolls doubles, the rolled number becomes the only Pillar the player may score that round; however, that Pillar awards double points.

Double rolls create high-risk, high-reward situations where players must decide whether to commit heavily to a single objective.

3. Summoning Phase

During the Summoning Phase, players may summon reinforcements into the battlefield from their reserve units.

If a player has fewer than 5 Summoning Points active in the Vortex, they may summon up to 1 Summoning Point worth of units.

However, players are never forced to summon. If they do not summon the points stack, you can summon larger units but never more than one unit in this phase.

Sometimes a player may intentionally wait before summoning new units.

For example:

A player may be waiting for stronger units to fall in battle before deploying reinforcements.

A player may want to save room inside the Vortex for a powerful Character unit, i.e., if the character they want to summon is more than one point.

A player may wish to react to the opponent’s future positioning first. This creates another important layer of strategy and resource management.

Summoned units must be placed within 4 inches of a friendly Summoning Totem, just like the standard summoning at the start of the game, unless the summoning totem says otherwise.

Once summoned, units may activate normally during that same round.

This keeps the Vortex constantly changing and prevents players from losing the game too quickly after suffering heavy losses.

SUMMONING EXAMPLE

Imagine a player begins the game with 5 Summoning Points active in the Vortex and 3 Summoning Points remaining in Reserve.

During Round 2, a 1-Point Companion unit is removed from play. The player now only has 4 active Summoning Points inside the Vortex.

During the Summoning Phase, the player gains 1 Summoning Point worth of reinforcements that may be used to bring in a reserve unit.

The player could immediately summon a 1-Point unit. Instead, the player decides to wait.

On the following round, another active unit is removed from play. Since the player saved the previous point, they now have 2 Summoning Points available for summoning and may bring in a more powerful unit.

4. Initiative Phase

Both players roll Fate (2d6). The player with the higher roll wins Initiative and can choose to go first or pass to the opponent.

Initiative:

The player with Initiative activates first during the round. If both players tie, they reroll.

Winning Initiative can be extremely important because activating first may allow a player to secure objectives, attack key targets, reposition units, and interrupt enemy plans.

Players may also decide to pass the initiative to their opponent for their own tactical reasons if they wish.

5. Activation Phase

Starting with the player who has Initiative, Players alternate activating units until all units have activated.

A player may activate 1 unit at a time regardless of their summing point value.

The alternating activation system keeps both players involved throughout the entire game and prevents long waiting turns.

EXAMPLE ACTIVATION

A Bone Archer activates.

The Bone Archer moves around a piece of terrain, attacks an enemy Worg, then uses any remaining movement to move closer to a Pillar of Fate.

Once the Bone Archer has completed its activation, the opposing player activates one of their units.

Actions & Activations

When a unit activates, it has three actions that it may perform: Movement, Ability, and Free Action. These may be performed in any order with some exceptions.

This flexibility allows players to move before attacking, attack before moving, and reposition during activation. Good timing and positioning are extremely important in the vortex.

Understanding Actions

Every unit in Dual Fates receives three action opportunities during its activation:

One Movement Action
One Ability Action
One Free Action

These actions may be performed in any order unless a rule says otherwise.

For example, a unit could:

Move → Attack → Use a Free Action

Attack → Move → Use a Free Action

Use a Free Action → Move → Attack

This flexibility allows players to react to changing battlefield situations and rewards careful positioning.

***Note: Free actions can be used with abilities or with special rules. Not all units have a free action ability or special ability. See the unit sheet in their codex for further explanation.***

Example Activation

A Bone Archer activates.

The Bone Archer begins by moving 3 inches around a ruined wall.

The Bone Archer then uses its Ability Action to fire an arrow at an enemy Character, Midknight.

The attack was a success, but Midknight has a physical shield she carries, so by default has the "shield" special ability. This ability as a free action allows her to roll against the Bone Archer's attack roll, and if she meets or beats it, she deflects the shot. In this case, she does, and Midknight used her Free Action this round even though she has not activated yet. If she had already activated and used an ability that was a free action, Midknight would not have been able to deflect the shot.

After attacking, the Bone Archer uses the remainder of its movement to move closer to a Pillar of Fate for scoring purposes.

The Bone Archer's activation is complete, and play passes to the opposing player.

Remember:

Most units may normally perform:

One Movement Action
One Ability Action
One Free Action

During each activation, unless another rule specifically changes this.

6. End of Round Phase

Once all units have completed their activations, the game enters the End of Round Phase.

This phase is used to resolve effects that occur at the end of the round and prepare the battlefield for scoring.

Resolve End of Round Effects

Any ability, Status Effect, terrain effect, or special rule that occurs at the end of the round is resolved now.

Examples include:

Burning damage
Poison effects
faction abilities
scenario effects
terrain effects

Resolve all End of Round effects before moving to the next step.

Remove Expired Effects

You will need to remove any expired effects at this time. If you forgot to remove them, you can do so at the start phase.

Expired effects are effects that last until the end of the round, not activation. Some skills will say it lasts until the unit's next activation, and therefore that effect will last until the next activation.

Examples include:

temporary bonuses
temporary penalties
temporary Armor bonuses
temporary Defense bonuses
temporary Dodge bonuses

Unless otherwise stated, these effects are removed before scoring begins.

Remove Unhealed Incapacitated Units

Any Incapacitated unit that has not been healed by the End of Round Phase is removed from the Vortex.

A unit only needs 1 Health restored to recover from being Incapacitated. If the unit was not healed before this step, remove it from play.

This represents the unit being defeated, retreating, or otherwise removed from the battle.

Resolve End of Round Abilities

Some Characters, Companions, Monsters, terrain pieces, or faction abilities may contain special rules that trigger during the End of Round Phase. Resolve these abilities now before moving to scoring.

Proceed to Scoring

After all End of Round effects have been resolved, proceed to the Scoring Phase.

Players now determine control of the Pillars of Fate and earn Victory Points and Fate Tokens as normal.

7. Scoring Phase

After the End of Round Phase has been completed, players move to the Scoring Phase.

During this phase, players determine which Pillars of Fate they successfully controlled during the round and earn Victory Points.

The Scoring Phase is one of the most important parts of Dual Fates because controlling objectives is the primary way to win the game. Destroying enemy units can help you control objectives, but victory is earned by scoring points unless you destroy all the opponent's units, then points no longer matter.

Check Objective Pillars

Each player checks the Pillars they rolled during the Pillars of Fate Phase.

Only Pillars that match:

the player's rolled objectives or
a Secret Mission objective or
a Double Roll objective or
aCritical Mission

May score points that round.

Controlling a Pillar that is not one of your objectives does not award Victory Points.

Determine Control

For each scoring Pillar, determine which player controls it. A unit within 4 inches of a Pillar is considered a scoring unit.

Add together the scoring value of all eligible units near the Pillar. The player with the higher scoring value controls the Pillar.

If both players have the same scoring value, neither player controls the Pillar.

***Note: Unless stated, no matter how much a unit costs in summoning points, it is only worth 1 scoring point.***

Gain Victory Points

For each valid objective Pillar a player controls:

Gain 1 Victory Point.
Gain 1 Fate Token.

If the player rolled doubles during the Pillars of Fate Phase, the chosen Pillar is the only Pillar that may score; that Pillar awards double Victory Points instead. This goes for the Critical Mission as well.

Record Scores

Both players update their Victory Point totals.

Victory Points remain for the entire game and are never lost unless a rule says otherwise.

After scoring has been completed, begin the next round, returning to the Start of Round Phase.

Winning The Game

A standard game of Dual Fates lasts 10 rounds.

At the end of Round 10, the player with the most Victory Points wins the game.

If both players have the same number of Victory Points, the game ends in a draw unless a scenario says otherwise or if the players wish to continue playing till there is a winner.

Game on!

Unit Types

Now that you understand how a round works and how to score Victory Points, it's time to learn about the backbone of Dual Fates: the units that fight inside the Vortex.

Every team in Dual Fates is made up of three different types of units:

Characters
Companions
Monsters

Understanding these unit types is important because they each serve a different role on the battlefield and follow different rules when building your team.

Characters

Characters are the heroes, villains, leaders, and legendary warriors of the Vortex.

Characters are unique units, which means a player may only include one copy of a specific Character on their team. If a Character is defeated and removed from the Vortex, they cannot normally return to the battlefield unless a special rule, Character ability, or Summoning Totem ability specifically says otherwise.

Characters are often some of the most powerful units in a faction and usually have access to unique abilities, powerful Fate Token abilities, and game-changing Ultimate abilities.

When building your team, Characters are often the centerpiece around which the rest of your force is built.

Companions

Companions are the most common units found throughout the Vortex.

These units represent soldiers, creatures, constructs, followers, summoned allies, and other battlefield support units. Some Companions fight as independent units, while others may be created or summoned through abilities during the game.

Companions are usually weaker than Characters, but they make up for this through numbers, teamwork, and flexibility. It is common for a single Summoning Point to include multiple Companion models working together as a unit.

Companions are often responsible for controlling objectives, supporting Characters, and providing the numbers needed to win battles across the Vortex.

Monsters

Monsters are among the most powerful beings found within the Vortex.

Like Characters, Monsters are rare. However, they are often much larger, more dangerous, and significantly more expensive to field. In many cases, a Monster can cost several times more than a typical Character.

Monsters are designed to feel like a raid boss or legendary battlefield threat. Their presence alone can change the flow of a game, forcing multiple units or even entire teams to work together to bring them down.

Monsters often possess powerful abilities, exceptional durability, and unique rules that allow them to break the normal expectations of the battlefield.

Unit Classifications

These three classifications—Characters, Companions, and Monsters—form the foundation of every force in Dual Fates.

Understanding how these unit types function will help you build stronger teams, understand faction strategies, and make better decisions on the battlefield.

Character Ability Structure

All Characters possess abilities that at least have 1 standard ability, 1 ability costing 1 Fate Token, 1 ability costing 3 Fate Tokens, and 1 Ultimate ability costing 5 Fate Tokens. Some characters may have fewer, but it is rare or due to a shared ability.

Ultimate abilities are designed to feel dramatic, cinematic, and powerful, turning the tide of battle very quickly.

Companion units are usually simpler and often possess 1 standard ability and 1 Fate Token ability. You can have as many companion units in your team as you have points for; they are not rare.

Monsters are legendary units and may possess many more abilities. Just like a character, they are rare, and you can only have one.

All units may or may not possess special abilities that do not require activation and are always available. Make sure to read the units codex entry for these abilities.

Some units may share a special universal ability sheet; if they do, these are all shared by that race, unit, or faction. Look in the codex for these special ability sheets.

Understanding Unit Sheet

Every unit in Dual Fates uses a Unit Sheet inside a Codex.

A Unit Sheet contains everything you need to know about that unit, including its statistics, abilities, special rules, and battlefield role. Every unit in the game uses the same core statistics. Once you learn how to read one Unit Sheet, you can read every Unit Sheet in Dual Fates.

Below is an example Unit Sheet.

_______________________________________________________________________________

***Note: This unit does not exist in the game and is only used to demonstrate how Unit Sheets work.***

Training Knight

Character

Summoning Cost: 1

Health: 5

Armor: 1

Speed: 5

DEF: 7

DOD: 6

WILL: 5

Special:

Sheild

Abilities:

Training Strike

Melee Ability

Cost: Free

Target: DEF

Damage: Medium

A basic attack used by the Training Knight.

Battle Cry

Special Ability

Cost: 1 Fate

Friendly units within 3 inches gain +1 DEF until the end of the round.

Heroic Charge

Ultimate Ability

Cost: 5 Fate

Move up to your Speed and immediately make a free attack. If the attack succeeds, gain 1 Fate Token.

_______________________________________________________________________________

Keywords

Many units possess Keywords.

Keywords identify special rules that apply to that unit.

Examples include:

Character

Companion

Monster

Mounted

Flying

Large Creature

Whenever a unit possesses a Keyword, check the appropriate rules section or universal rule in their codex for any additional rules that apply.

Understanding The Statistics

Every unit has statistics known as stats. These stats help determine what the unit can and can not do. Lets break down what these stats are.

Health

How much damage can the unit suffer before becoming Incapacitated.

Armor

Physical protection that absorbs damage before Health is lost.

Speed

How many inches the unit may move during its activation.

DEF (Defense)

Used against most direct attacks.

DOD (Dodge)

Used against ranged attacks, fast attacks, and effects that can be avoided.

WILL (Willpower)

Used against fear, mind-affecting abilities, magical effects, and other mental attacks.

Whenever an ability tells you to target DEF, DOD, or WILL, roll Fate and compare your result to that statistic.

If your roll equals or exceeds the target number, the attack succeeds.

Companion Units

Some Characters can be accompanied by Companions.

As we stated before, Companions are smaller, weaker units, creatures, constructs, or followers that fight alongside their leader or by themselves or are summoned. They can be a summoned skeleton, a mage familiar, or other things. Just know that not all companions are summoned.

Companion units can have 1 unit or multiple units per summoning point. Refer to the unit sheet in their codex for details.

For example:

A Dwarven Forge Rock Golem is a companion class unit and is 1 unit for one summoning point, while The Bone Boys are a companion class unit and 1 summoning point, but you get 4 Boys per point, and they all act as one single unit.

All models inside a Companion unit must:

move together
attack together
maintain unit coherency
Unless another rule says otherwise.

Some Companions may begin the game normally as a unit, for example, The Bone Boyz, others are created through abilities or summoning effects.

Companions created through abilities may not begin the game deployed unless specifically stated otherwise.

Movement

Movement is one of the most important parts of Dual Fates. Good positioning often matters more than raw damage. Units may move up to their Speed value during activation in inches.

Movement may be:

before attacking
after attacking
split during activation

A unit may split its movement before and after its Action as long as it is not locked in melee combat. This gives players strong tactical flexibility and allows units to reposition, strike from cover, retreat, pressure objectives, and support allies.

Movement and positioning are often the key difference between victory and defeat; use it wisely.

Running

Sometimes units need to move quickly across the Vortex.

A unit may choose to run.

When running roll Fate and add the higher die to movement.

Running also grants:

+2 Defense
+2 Dodge

Until the unit’s next activation. However, Running comes with a cost.

Units that Run may not perform Actions, and may not perform Free Actions.

Running is best used for reaching objectives, escaping danger, repositioning, and aggressive battlefield pressure.

Example:

A unit with Speed 5 chooses to Run.

The player rolls Fate and gets a 3 and a 6.

The higher result is 6.

The unit may move 11 inches this activation.

The unit gains +2 DEF and +2 DOD until its next activation but may not perform Actions or Free Actions.

Melee Combat & Engagement

Melee combat occurs when units enter a 1/2-inch range between each other.

Melee range is measured from the edge of the base instead of base-to-base contact.

This rule exists because many miniatures have large weapons, dynamic poses, or scenic bases.

Once units become engaged in melee combat, they are locked in combat for the rest of that round. Engaged units may not move away unless another rule allows it.

At the beginning of the following round, units may freely leave melee combat. This makes melee combat aggressive while still allowing tactical repositioning.

Terrain Rules

Terrain plays a huge role in Dual Fates because it changes how units move, fight, and survive. Good use of terrain can completely change the outcome of a battle. Terrain is broken down into these categories. Hard, Impassable, and clear.

Hard Terrain costs double the movement.

Examples include:

rubble
shallow water
broken ruins

Hard terrain can also include blocking Terrain that completely blocks Line of Sight.

Examples include:

walls
large rocks
buildings

Hard terrain can also be dangerous Terrain and cause harmful effects.

Examples include:

lava
magical corruption
spikes

Impassable Terrain is terrain that can not be crossed or moved through normal means.

Examples include:

Water
Destroyed buildings
Anything the players deem as Impassable

Clear Terrain is just that, clear. It can be freely moved one and there are no modifiers to the terrain.

Different scenarios may introduce additional terrain rules.

Line of Sight (LOS)

Dual Fates uses base visibility.

If any part of one base can see any part of another base, Line of Sight exists. Miniature poses do not affect Line of Sight.

This simple system keeps the game fast, fair, and easy to understand.

Cover

Cover makes ranged attacks and even some magic attacks harder to land.

Light Cover grants +1 Dodge. (25% covered)

Heavy Cover grants +2 Dodge. (50% covered)

Cover mainly protects against ranged attacks; however, some magic attacks are projectiles and could come under cover rules.

Melee attacks ignore Cover.

Terrain creates important tactical choices because controlling good defensive positions can keep your units alive longer.

Using Abilities
Most attacks and abilities in Dual Fates use a Fate Roll.

When an attack or ability is made, the controlling player rolls Fate (2d6).

The ability will tell the player which statistic is being targeted. Most abilities target Defense, Dodge, or Willpower some have a static value that needs to be met or beaten.

If the Fate Roll equals or exceeds the target number, the ability succeeds.

If the Fate Roll is lower than the target number, the ability fails.

ATTACK EXAMPLE

Eric attacks a Bone Boy using Wrench Strike. Wrench Strike goes against the target's DEF since it's a melee attack.

Eric rolls Fate and gets an 8.

The Bone Boy has a Defense value of 4.

The attack succeeds.

Wrench Strike deals Light Damage. Eric rolls light damage, 2d6, and gets a 4 and a 2. The Bone Boy takes 2 points of damage becasue of light damage.

The Bone Boy has 2 Health remaining. The Bone Boy has no armor, so it all goes to health, leaving the Bone Boy with 2 health left.

Damage Types

Dual Fates uses three simple damage categories. This system keeps combat easy to understand while still making different attacks feel unique.

Light Damage:

Roll 2d6 and use the lower result.

Medium Damage:

Roll 1d6 and take what you get.

Heavy Damage:

Roll 2d6 and use the higher result.

Light Damage represents weaker or faster attacks. Medium is what is considered standard for an attack. Heavy Damage represents crushing blows and powerful strikes.

Damage Resolution

Damage is always applied in this order:

Shields
Armor
Health

Shields represent magical or technological protection. These are given to units by other units and not reflected on the unit sheet.

Armor represents physical defense unless stated Armor can be repaired by someone with the repair ability.

Health represents the unit itself. Health can be healed by someone with the heal ability.

Incapacitated Units

All units in Dual Fates use the Incapacitated state. When a unit’s Health reaches 0 it becomes Incapacitated and no longer usable in the game.

Incapacitated units:

remain on the battlefield
cannot move
cannot attack
cannot activate
cannot score objectives

Incapacitated units can be healed before the end of the round by a unit that does have the heal ability. If the unit is healed, the unit immediately returns to play.

A unit only requires 1 Health restored to stand back up.

If an Incapacitated unit is not healed before the end of the round, remove the unit from play.

This creates dramatic rescue moments and keeps support characters important throughout the game.

Healing & Repair

Healing and Repair are separate mechanics.

Healing restores health.

Repair restores armor.

Repair does not restore health. Healing does not restore Armor unless specifically stated in an ability.

Shields usually cannot be restored once lost.

This separation allows support characters to feel unique and specialized.

Status Effects

Status Effects are temporary battlefield conditions that weaken or improve units throughout the course of battle.

Unless stated otherwise, Status Effects last until the End of Round.

Some of the most common Status Effects are:

Stealthed:

cannot normally be targeted by ranged attacks beyond 6 inches

Fear:

causes -1 Willpower

Frozen:

causes -2 Speed and prevents Running

Burning:

causes direct Health damage at the End of Round

Poisoned:

causes -1 Defense and -1 Dodge

Exhausted:

causes -2 Speed

Stunned:

prevents Actions, Free Actions, and Interrupts

Feral:

causes a unit to lose tactical control and become more aggressive

Different factions and units use Status Effects in different ways.

Scoring Pillars of Fate

At the end of each round, players determine who controls each Pillar of Fate. A unit within 4 inches of a Pillar is considered a Scoring Unit. Every Scoring Unit contributes a Scoring Value equal to its Summoning Point cost. This means larger and more expensive units are better at controlling objectives than smaller units.

Scoring Value Examples

A 1-Point Companion contributes:

1 Scoring Value

A 2-Point Character contributes:

2 Scoring Value

A 3-Point Monster contributes:

3 Scoring Value

***Note: Not all monsters are worth 3 points; they could be more expensive.***

Example Scoring

Player A has:

Ember (1 Point)

and

One Unit of Skull Splitters (2 Point) ***A unit of skull splitters has two companions per 1 summoning point***

Within 4 inches of Pillar 3.

Player A contributes:

3 total Scoring Points for Pillar 3

Player B has:

Grog and Timber (2 Points)

within 4 inches of the same Pillar, Pillar 3.

Player B contributes:

2 total Scoring Value.

Because player A has one more point than player B, player A controls the Pillar.

Now imagine Player A moves Ember (1 Point) out of the 4 inches of the Pillar.

Player A now contributes:

2 total Scoring Value.

Player B still contributes:

2 total Scoring Value.

Because both players have the same Scoring Value, neither player controls the Pillar.

Earning Victory Points

Simply controlling a Pillar is not enough.

A player only scores Victory Points from Pillars that match their objectives rolled during the Pillars of Fate Phase.

This means a player must not only control Pillars but also control the correct Pillars.

Controlling a valid objective, Pillar grants:

1 Victory Point
1 Fate Token

This encourages players to move around the battlefield and adapt their strategy every round rather than defending a single location for the entire game.

Final Thoughts

Dual Fates is designed to be fast, tactical, cinematic, easy to learn, and exciting to master. Even though the rules are simple, the game becomes deeper as players learn positioning, timing, teamwork, objective control, and Fate Token management. Every battle inside the Vortex should feel dramatic, strategic, unpredictable, exciting, and cinematic.

Welcome to the Vortex, Summoner.

Starting the game

BuildyourTeam

Fate Tokens

Building the vortex

Placing the pillars of fate

Game on!

Unit types

Character Ability Structure

KeyWords

Understanding the Statistics

Companion Units

Melee Comabt & Engagement

Terrain Rules

Line of sight

Cover

Using Abilities

Damage Types

Damage Resolution

Incapacitated Units

Heaking and Repair

Status Effects

Scoring Pillars of Fate

Final Thoughts

Faction Codex

CORE RULES

​

Introduction

​QUICK NAVIGATION

Building Your Team

Fate Tokens

Building The Vortex

Starting The Game

Learn the order of play each round.​

Game on!

Faction Codexes

The Golden Rule

BUILDING YOUR TEAM

Team Building Example

FATE TOKENS

Gaining Fate Tokens

Spending Fate Tokens

BUILDING THE VORTEX

Placing The Pillars of Fate

​

Starting The Game

Winning The Game

Game on!

Characters

Companions

QUICK NAVIGATION

Learn the order of play each round.