Chapter 6: Grammar of Action

Every action in Sword Staff is built as a sentence.

The Template

• Verb only: With my [noun] I [verb] the [target].
• Verb plus modifier: With my [noun] I [verb] the [target] with [modifier].

Components

Noun Rules

1. The noun must be physical.
2. Use one noun per action.
3. The noun determines range and delivery.

Hands are touch. Melee weapons are Adjacent. Ranged weapons are ranged. Staffs can project certain magik at range. Thrown weapons are ranged and usually consumable. Body is self-directed.

Core Rules

• Verb only is free.
• Verb plus modifier costs 5 Motivation.
• One modifier per action.
• The modifier must enhance the verb.
• The Foreman is the final filter.

Modifier Scope

A modifier must preserve the logic of its home tree. It can enhance another verb, but it cannot turn into a universal override, erase core risk, or bypass the consequence framework unless its rule explicitly says so. Fortitude protects bracing, resisting, holding, enduring, and blocking. Evasion helps avoid exposure or follow-up trouble from movement. Precision bypasses protection. Resolve protects concentration and sustained effects.

Modifier Scope Limits

A modifier improves the action. It does not rewrite the game. Unless a rule says otherwise, a modifier affects one target, one object, one local zone, or one immediate moment. Sustained effects require a sustained action or a rule that says they last longer.

A modifier cannot erase all risk from a scene, duplicate a different modifier, create a permanent upgrade, bypass missing tools or impossible delivery, ignore distance, cover, or scale without fictional support, or replace a learned verb the Contractor does not know.

Fortitude guarantees bracing, holding, enduring, resisting, or blocking within the action's plausible scale. It does not make the Contractor immune to collapse, fire, drowning, or a Boss unless the action directly addresses that threat.

Enhancement adds a temporary minor property to an existing physical target. It cannot create Masterwork, Legendary, or Coiltech effects by itself.

Darkness removes or suppresses light in a local zone. It does not automatically make allies invisible or enemies helpless.

Deception creates false presentation, misdirection, disguise, false evidence, or misleading timing. It is Dexterity-tagged because it relies on controlled performance and precision.

Resolve protects concentration and sustained effects. It does not prevent damage.

Precision bypasses protection on a valid hit. It does not bypass the need to reach, see, target, or deliver the action.

Legal and Illegal Action Sentences

A legal action sentence needs a plausible physical noun, a valid verb, a target, and a modifier that enhances the verb if one is used. The noun must plausibly deliver the verb at the relevant range and scale.

The Lower Stat Rule

Every tree has a tagged Stat. When a Contractor combines verbs and modifiers from different Stat groups, roll using the lowest Stat among all components involved.

Example: using Commune with Deception combines Spirit and Dexterity, so the roll uses the lower of Spirit or Dexterity.

Social Encounters Use the Grammar

Examples:

• With my eyes I Focus on the merchant with Perception.
• With my voice I Commune with the guard with Inspiration.
• With my voice I Commune with the prisoner with Deception.

Failed social rolls have consequences. A Critical Failure in a conversation can be as damaging as one in combat.

Stacking

Different sources stack unless the Foreman rules that they are the same source trying to apply twice. Weapon quality modifies Skill Checks made with that weapon. Armor, shields, prosthetics, and accessories modify the relevant Stat while worn, equipped, or attached. There is no global equipment bonus cap. The Foreman wrangles edge cases directly.