Weapon elements
Roll an elemental Charge Dice on a weapon and part of every blow it lands becomes that element. Fire, Water, Earth, Thunder, Air, Light and Dark: each one is strong against something, beaten by something, and wreathes your blade in its own effect.
Who beats whom
Five elements chase each other round a wheel, and two stand apart as opposites.
Follow the arrows: water puts out fire, fire burns earth, earth grounds the air, the air scatters thunder, and thunder splits the water. Light and dark are each strong against the other. And every element resists itself, so fire does not burn a fire creature.
Every match-up
The element you hit with down the side, the element you hit along the top.
| Hitting with | Fire | Water | Earth | Thunder | Air | Light | Dark |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fire | ▼ Resisted ×0.75 | ▼ Resisted ×0.75 | ▲ Strong ×1.5 | · | · | · | · |
| Water | ▲ Strong ×1.5 | ▼ Resisted ×0.75 | · | ▼ Resisted ×0.75 | · | · | · |
| Earth | ▼ Resisted ×0.75 | · | ▼ Resisted ×0.75 | · | ▲ Strong ×1.5 | · | · |
| Thunder | · | ▲ Strong ×1.5 | · | ▼ Resisted ×0.75 | ▼ Resisted ×0.75 | · | · |
| Air | · | · | ▼ Resisted ×0.75 | ▲ Strong ×1.5 | ▼ Resisted ×0.75 | · | · |
| Light | · | · | · | · | · | ▼ Resisted ×0.75 | ▲ Strong ×1.5 |
| Dark | · | · | · | · | · | ▲ Strong ×1.5 | ▼ Resisted ×0.75 |
The seven
What each one is good against, what to watch out for, and how it looks in your hand.
Fire
- ▲ Strong against
- Earth
- ▼ Beaten by
- Water
Gutters orange, with flames licking up the blade.
Water
- ▲ Strong against
- Fire
- ▼ Beaten by
- Thunder
Takes a cool blue sheen, with drops running off it.
Earth
- ▲ Strong against
- Air
- ▼ Beaten by
- Fire
Wears a thick outline, drawn under your character, and grit falls from it.
Thunder
- ▲ Strong against
- Water
- ▼ Beaten by
- Air
Crackles with a hard yellow edge, throwing sparks.
Air
- ▲ Strong against
- Thunder
- ▼ Beaten by
- Earth
Barely there, with a small whirlwind turning around it.
Light
- ▲ Strong against
- Dark
- ▼ Beaten by
- Dark
The brightest and widest of the seven, with motes rising off it.
Dark
- ▲ Strong against
- Light
- ▼ Beaten by
- Light
Smoulders under your character, with smoke rising off the blade.
Putting one on your weapon
Elements come from elemental Charge Dice, and they go on weapons.
- Each element has its own ladder, from +1 to +10. Every level turns 3% of every blow into that element, so a weapon at +10 lands an extra 30% before the wheel has its say.
- The wheel then weighs it against whatever you hit: half as much again against what your element beats, a quarter less against what beats it or against its own kind. Against a creature with no element at all, it lands in full.
- It rides on every swing, and never on a spell. A fireball's damage is the spell's own, whatever is in your other hand.
- You can see it land. The element's share shows as a second damage number, in that element's colour, beside the white one.
- Weapons only. An elemental dice will not go on armour. The first three levels never break anything, and from +4 the odds and the risk match the plain dice.
- Your blade shows it from +4, each element in its own way, and everybody who sees you can tell.