Emberheart is a high fantasy system focused on tactical certainty, resource management, and enduring consequences. It fits somewhere between tactical wargame and narrative simulator with a design philosophy closer to Gloomhaven or Dark Souls, where every decision leaves a mark and luck is never the primary driver of success.

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What makes Emberheart different from D&D and other systems?

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• No Misses: Every attack in Emberheart succeeds to some degree, with dice determining the effectiveness rather than the success itself.

• Unique Classes & Mechanics: Bend time to save an ally from a deathblow as the Chronomancer, strike through pools of darkness as the Shade, unleash the fury of your god as the Zealot, and much more.

• Tactical Teamplay: Class mechanics come together alongside the Stagger system to allow characters that don't focus primarily on damage to still aid their party in combat. 

• Structured Creativity: The Deeds system provides rules for improvised or cinematic actions, ensuring that player invention has mechanical support rather than relying solely on DM discretion.

• Ability Cards: Customizable class ability decks add resource management and tactical depth through card exhaustion and refresh cycles.

• Consequence: Persistent Wounds, Scars, and Exhaustion make survival itself part of the story, and death mechanics reinforce the theme of costly triumph.

• Progression: Every level provides a meaningful bonus to your character; new ability cards are unlocked, skills increase, or feats or features are gained. Damage scales with character level or item quality so enemies don't become massive damage sponges as the campaign progresses.​