The rider’s field guide
A little preparation goes a long way across an unsteady bridge.
Start playing →Your character
The Warden begins with 38 health, 4 attack power and 2 armor. The Scout has 30 health, 5 power and no armor. The Mender has 32 health, 3 power and 1 armor. Wardens get +2 to Courage checks, Scouts to Insight and Menders to Mercy.
Choices and checks
Read the scene, then choose an action. Courage, Insight and Mercy grow through your decisions. A marked skill check rolls a d20: the die, role bonus, dragon bonus and up to +6 from your developed trait must meet the displayed difficulty. The result is shown before you continue. Some choices spend a provision; a choice is unavailable when you cannot afford it.
Choices can earn trust, uncover proof, open a hidden route or change a later battle’s objective. The last chapter offers three directions for your wing; the evidence and people you protected change the account of what follows.
Signals and route puzzles
The answer is in the scene’s instructions. Tap the signals in order. A wrong input costs 5 health and resets the pattern. Your progress dots show how many steps you have matched. The pause menu and journal remain available between attempts.
Battle controls
Tap a highlighted empty tile to move. Tap a living enemy to select it, then choose Strike or Surge. Watch the intention beneath each enemy: Strike advances and attacks; Lunge can advance two tiles and adds damage; Guard stays put and reduces damage taken.
| Action | What it does | Keyboard |
|---|---|---|
| Move | One clear orthogonal tile; two with Auri | Arrow keys / WASD |
| Strike | Attack an adjacent enemy; d20 must be 7 or higher | 1 |
| Surge | Range 3; costs 2 focus; hits on 5+ and interrupts that enemy | 2 |
| Defend | Blocks 5 damage from each attack; restores 1 focus | 3 |
| Flask | Restores up to 14 health; two per encounter | 4 |
| Pause / resume | Stops all game actions; this is a turn-based world | P or Escape |
Each resolved combat action takes one turn and allows enemy responses. Invalid moves and out-of-range attacks do not consume a turn. Cover blocks 2 incoming damage; walls block movement. Surge is a magical pulse: it can reach a target within three Manhattan tiles through walls.
Three kinds of encounter
Clear: defeat all living enemies. Hold: survive the displayed number of rounds. Reach: move to the gold exit; defeating every enemy is optional. Your objective is shown above the board. A reached exit ends the encounter immediately; hold objectives resolve after enemy responses.
The six dragon gifts
- Veyra, Ember: Surge deals 2 extra damage. The bond also adds +2 to courage checks.
- Orun, Stone: Defend blocks 2 extra damage. The bond also adds +2 to courage checks.
- Sable, Dusk: Surge ignores an enemy's guard. The bond also adds +2 to insight checks.
- Auri, Gale: Move up to 2 clear tiles in one turn. The bond also adds +2 to insight checks.
- Thale, Frost: The first 3 defend turns heal 2 health. The bond also adds +2 to mercy checks.
- Neris, Tide: Flasks restore up to 18 health. The bond also adds +2 to mercy checks.
Rest, defeat and saving
Rest between scenes spends one provision to restore up to 14 health. A new chapter restores full health and adds one provision (up to nine). Your dragon bond also restores full health. Defeat offers a retry at the beginning of the current chapter, including the supplies and decisions you had at that checkpoint.
Progress is saved locally after actions. Open Menu → Export save to keep a JSON backup. Import validates the save before replacing anything. A damaged save stays untouched; you can import a backup or start again. Saves from other versions may be incompatible. There is no cloud sync.
Settings
Sound begins only after you enable it, and can be muted at any time. Reduced motion follows your device preference. The menu contains the journal, save export/import and new-campaign control.
Find a dragon’s affinity ↗