The Warden

Class Document — Adventures Beyond the Mists

Level 1 at a glance

• Personal die: 1 at Trained (5-6).
• Signature live now: Pair, Borrowed Strength. (The Straight that extends protection to an outside ally unlocks at Level 5.)
• Command Capacity: 1 Retainer. Split Cap: 2.
• Starting Pool: 2 dice (1 personal + 1 Retainer).
• Hit Points: 5 base, reaching 8 in heavy armor.
• Starting Specialties: 3 Advancement Points on the Warden's Level 1 menu, priced by tier.

Flavor

Tomorrow's strength, spent today, so that today does not become someone's last.

You do not lead many. You never needed to. Whatever household you keep is small and close, and you have learned exactly how much of yourself you can give away before there is nothing left to give tomorrow. That is the whole of what you do: you take tomorrow's strength and spend it now, on whoever needs it most, and you trust that tomorrow will forgive you for arriving a little diminished.

Other heroes measure themselves by what they can deal out. You measure yourself by what never reaches the people behind you. A blow that lands on you instead of your ward is a blow that did its job. A wound you take so someone else does not is not a cost — it is the only kind of victory this class is built to recognize.

There is a real price to this, and it does not show up as a scar. It shows up tomorrow, in a Pool a little smaller than it should be, an action a little less certain, because you already spent that strength keeping someone alive to see it. You have made peace with the trade. Most people never notice they were protected at all. You have made peace with that too.

Mechanics

This document assumes familiarity with Core Resolution (the shared Pool, hit ranges, and the bank-and-push loop), Wounds and Fatigue (Hit Points, wound direction, death and return), and Command Capacity (Company size and Bond). Only what is specific to the Warden is detailed below.

Command Capacity

Starting Command Capacity is 1, rising to 2 at Level 5 and 3 at Level 9. Three is the smallest maximum Company in the game among classes that field one, a deliberately small, close circle rather than a household built for numbers. A Warden's Retainers are typically Shieldbearers, the wall standing beside the wall. This class's strength was never meant to come from how many people it leads; the modest growth to three exists so the Pool is large enough for Straight to function and so the Warden has a real, if small, line to stand in front of.

Personal Die

A Warden begins play with exactly 1 personal die, the universal baseline. The second arrives automatically at Level 3 and the third at Level 7, the same dice progression as the Knight and Skirmisher (see the Level Table). Hit range is Trained (5-6). Personal accuracy is deliberately not the point of this class; nothing about the Warden's identity is served by a wider range, since its whole premise is endurance and protection rather than dependable offense.

Hit Points

5 at First Level, before armor, the highest personal baseline of any class alongside the Knight. Armor adds on top: Light +1, Medium +2, Heavy +3. A Warden wears heavy armor almost by definition, so the effective Card reaches 8, the deepest in the game, matching Legendary-tier threats. The point is preserved: a Character whose whole identity is being the wall the household hides behind ends up able to survive being that wall. The difference from the earlier design is that the 8 is now earned through armor rather than granted flat, which keeps the number honest against the Level 1 Hit Point table (see character-creation.md, Hit Point baselines).

Design note: the baseline runs inverse to how much a Company can soak. The Warden keeps only a small Company (a maximum of three even at high Level), too small to absorb hits before they land, so the personal Card sits at the top of the range, 5 before armor and 8 in heavy. [PLAYTEST] The gradient is chosen, not yet confirmed in live combat. Treat it as the strongest candidate on the roster to hold at its current value once real testing begins, but not yet as fully proven.

Borrowed Strength

Guard spends a hit you already rolled. This spends one you haven't rolled yet.

Before or during an enemy's attack, the Warden may commit dice from what would otherwise be their own next turn's Pool. Each committed die negates one incoming hit this round, applied against an attack targeting the Warden or, at the Warden's choice, a Retainer in their Company. When the Warden's own next turn arrives, their Pool for that turn is reduced by however many dice were committed this way. The Warden may never commit so many dice that their next turn's Pool would fall below 1; they always keep at least one die to act with, so Borrowed Strength can never inflict a wholly dead turn.

This is the inverse of the Shieldbearer Retainer's Guard. Guard banks a hit already rolled and spends it later. Borrowed Strength spends a hit that has not been rolled yet, drawn from a turn that has not happened. Both cost something; they cost it in opposite directions of time.

Combos

Pair

Two matching dice in a single roll grant one free instance of Borrowed Strength's protection, negating one incoming hit this round, without committing any dice from the Warden's next turn. Like Borrowed Strength itself, this free protection may be applied to the Warden or to a Retainer in their own Company. This is the class's common, reliable trigger: a moment of protection that costs nothing beyond the roll itself.

Straight — unlocks automatically at Level 5

Three or more consecutive dice in a single roll let the Warden extend protection to an ally outside their own Company: someone else's Character or Retainer. Base protection already covers the Warden and their own Retainers, through Borrowed Strength and the Pair; Straight is what reaches past the Company to a wider ally line, whether the extended protection is a free Pair-granted negation or a paid Borrowed Strength commitment.

A Warden does not read Straight before Level 5, and the class's small Pool is why the timing matters. At Level 1 the Warden's Pool is 2 dice (1 personal die plus Command Capacity 1), and a Straight requires at least 3 consecutive values, which cannot form on 2 dice at all. The Command Capacity growth finalized for this class is what makes Straight viable: the Pool reaches 4 at Level 5 (Straight 28%, a healthy trigger), 5 at Level 7 (45%), and 6 at Level 9 (58%, reliable). Without that growth the Pool would top out at 4 and Straight would never become dependable; with it, the ally-protection half of the kit comes online at Level 5 and strengthens as the household grows.

Pair survives at Level 1 (16.7% at the starting Pool of 2, rising past 44% as the Pool grows), so the Warden is never left with nothing, and Borrowed Strength itself is entirely Pool-size independent. Straight joins the Knight's Set and the Skirmisher's Pierce as the third Level 5 unlock, for the same reason: Level 5 is where the Pool first grows large enough for the pattern to fire dependably. That a defensive Straight fires often at high Level is a feature, not the inflation worry it would be for an offensive combo.

Worked Example

A Warden's Pool is 3 dice: 2 personal at Trained (5-6), 1 Retainer (Shieldbearer) also at Trained.

On an early turn, the Warden's Pool rolls 6, 6, 3. Both 6s hit — two hits banked. The two 6s are also a Pair, granting one free instance of Borrowed Strength's protection, banked for later use at no future cost.

Later the same fight, an enemy lands an attack that would deal three hits against the Warden. The free protection from the earlier Pair negates one of them automatically. For the remaining two, the Warden commits two dice from their own next turn's Pool. The attack is fully absorbed — nothing reaches the Warden's Card this round.

On the Warden's next turn, their Pool is reduced by the two dice committed: 3 dice becomes 1. They fought less that turn than they otherwise would have — the price of having fully protected themselves the round before.

Level 1 Starting Specialties

The menu a first-level Warden spends its 3 starting Advancement Points on. Costs are the standard Specialty tiers (see character-creation, Starting Specialties): universal picks are open to any Character, picks marked (exclusive) are this Class's own, and a requirement in parentheses must be met. Spend the 3 points however you like across the menu: one Tier 3 pick, a Tier 2 plus a Tier 1, or three Tier 1s.

• Interpose (2, exclusive) — Intercept for any ally, moving to reach them.
• Stand Your Ground (2, exclusive) — an anchor enemies cannot leave.
• Iron Constitution (2) — +2 Hit Points.
• Immovable Object (2) — cannot be displaced.
• Retribution (2) — bonus damage against anyone he Guards or Intercepts.

Appendix

1. Design Decisions

2. Hit Points set at 5 before armor, reaching 8 in heavy. Under the Level 1 Hit Point table, personal depth runs inverse to how much a Company can soak. The Warden keeps only a small Company (a maximum of three even at high Level), too small to meaningfully absorb hits before they reach the Warden, so the class sits at the top of the baseline range at 5. Because a Warden wears heavy armor almost by definition (+3), the effective Card reaches 8, the deepest in the game. The earlier design granted that 8 flat; it is now earned through armor, which keeps the number consistent with every other class rather than an exception.

3. Trained hit range chosen over a wider option. Decided alongside the Ranger in the same pass, on the general preference for narrower personal hit ranges except where a class has a specific reason to differ. Nothing about the Warden's identity — endurance and protection rather than offense — argues for a wider range.

4. Pair's high frequency is treated as a feature here, not a flaw. Probability analysis conducted for the Knight flagged Pair and Straight as too common to function as 'special' triggers for a flat damage bonus. That concern does not carry over cleanly to the Warden: a defensive trigger that fires often (Pair, roughly 44% at this class's typical Pool of 3) is thematically appropriate for a Character whose whole job is holding, not a problem to be corrected. Rarity matters differently for offense than for defense.

5. Borrowed Strength can protect a Retainer, not only the Warden's own Card. This was included specifically so the class's small Command Capacity does not read as a limitation on who it can protect: a Warden should be able to meaningfully shield the small Company it keeps, not only itself. Straight later extends that reach past the Company to a wider ally line.

6. The Legends Guardian's in-combat self-heal was considered and rejected during the 2026-08-01 Guardian migration. The Guardian archetype (guardian-migration.md) restored Hit Points several times a fight on a maneuver. Porting it here would revive the same in-combat healer this class already discarded as the Warrior Priest (see Testing Done and Pending), and it runs against the Mists closing wounds between fights (core-rules, Part Thirteen). The Warden's protection stays prevention, not repair: it stops Hits landing rather than undoing them. If a self-sustain is ever wanted, the standing recommendation is to cost it in the class's own defensive currency, a banked Guard token or a Borrowed Strength die, rather than add free healing.

7. Testing Done and Pending

No worked combat has tested the current Warden kit. Earlier test fights in design (notably those featuring Brother Owain) used a predecessor version of this class, then called Warrior Priest, built around healing via a Triple-triggered Blessing effect. That mechanic was abandoned specifically because Hynafol's Mists already handle most wound recovery between fights, making a traditional in-combat healer largely redundant. None of that earlier testing applies to the Borrowed Strength mechanic, Pair, or Straight as currently designed — this document's worked example is the first time the current kit has been walked through with specific dice.

Specifically pending:

• An effective 8 (5 base plus heavy armor) against a real, sustained assault. No test has yet shown whether this depth is generous, exactly right, or still insufficient for a Character with only a thin Company to share the load.

• The felt cost of Borrowed Strength in live play. The worked example shows the mechanical trade cleanly, but only a real session will show whether players find 'a smaller Pool next turn' a cost that registers, or one that is too easy to shrug off.

• Straight extending protection to an ally under real pressure. Not yet exercised in any worked example — this document's example only shows Pair's free protection and a direct paid commitment, both applied to the Warden's own Card.

• Level Table

Finalized. This is the Warden's actual ladder. It shares the Knight's and Skirmisher's structure: 100 XP per Level (see character-creation, Advancement), odd Levels granting a fixed class benefit and even Levels granting Advancement Points on the 2/3/4/5/6 schedule, plus the 3 starting points spent on the class Starting Specialty menu before play. The Command Capacity ceiling is 3 rather than 5, and the personal die sits at Trained rather than Veteran, but the shape is the same.

Level	Fixed class grant	AP granted	Cumulative AP (incl. 3 starting)	Personal dice	Cmd. Cap.	Pool
1	die at Trained (5-6); Borrowed Strength, Pair; Hit Points 5 (8 in heavy armor)	3 (starting)	3	1	1	2
2	—	2	5	1	1	2
3	+1 personal die	—	5	2	1	3
4	—	3	8	2	1	3
5	+1 Command Capacity (to 2); Straight unlocks	—	8	2	2	4
6	—	4	12	2	2	4
7	+1 personal die (3-die maximum)	—	12	3	2	5
8	—	5	17	3	2	5
9	+1 Command Capacity (to 3, maximum)	—	17	3	3	6
10	—	6	23	3	3	6

A full arc to Level 10 grants 23 Advancement Points in total, the same as the Knight and Skirmisher. The Pool column is the maximum Pool at that Level, personal dice plus a full Company at Command Capacity. The Command Capacity question this class carried is now settled: it grows, but only to 3, the smallest maximum Company in the game among classes that field one, which keeps the Warden a small, close circle while giving Straight a Pool large enough to function.

1. Growth Potential

2. Borrowing further ahead, at steeper cost. A later feature might let a veteran Warden commit dice from two turns out rather than one, trading a longer-term Pool reduction for protecting against something larger than a single Borrowed Strength commitment can currently absorb.

3. Extending Straight's protection to more than one ally at once. A natural advancement for a Character whose whole value is how far their protection reaches.

4. A Named Ward or Named Shield item slot. Consistent with the game's standing principle that gear grants dice, a thematically appropriate item for this class might instead grant a discount on Borrowed Strength's future cost, rather than a flat extra die — protection made cheaper, rather than offense made stronger.

5. Command Capacity growth, now settled. The long-open question of whether this class grows a Company at all is resolved: it does, to a maximum of 3, via the standard increases at Levels 5 and 9. Three is the smallest maximum in the game among classes that field a Company, so the Warden stays deliberately small while gaining a Pool large enough for Straight to fire dependably. The alternative considered and rejected was a fixed Command Capacity of 1 with the signature decoupled from the Pool; growing the Company was chosen instead because it keeps the class on the shared scaffold and makes its Level 5 Straight land at a healthy 28%.

6. Warden Specialties

Warden-exclusive Specialties, bought with Advancement Points from this class's Growth Potential list rather than the open menu (universal-specialties.md). Each deepens the protector signature and reads against Borrowed Strength, the Pair, or Straight, which is why none is open to other classes. Migrated from the Legends Guardian on 2026-08-01; full record in guardian-migration.md. All four are [PLAYTEST].

Interpose

Cost: 2 Advancement Points.

Flavor: You are already moving before the blow lands. The space between the strike and your ward is exactly your stride, and you close it.

Effect: Your Intercept (core-rules, Part Ten) is no longer limited to your own Retainers. As a reaction to a declared attack, you may move up to your Speed to reach any ally within that distance and Intercept a Hit meant for them, taking it on your own Card. The Hit is declared before it resolves, as Intercept requires. Reach held as written pending playtest; full Speed may prove too generous.

Bulwark

Cost: 3 Advancement Points.

Flavor: You set your feet, drop your weight behind the shield, and decide that nothing gets through this turn.

Effect: As your Action, brace. Until the start of your next turn, negate up to 3 incoming Hits against yourself or an adjacent ally or Retainer, in any combination. Unlike Borrowed Strength, this draws nothing from your next turn's Pool; the cost is your whole Action this turn. A Warden uses Bulwark or attacks on a given turn, not both.

Design note: sits alongside Borrowed Strength as the other way to buy protection, spending the present Action where Borrowed Strength spends future dice. [PLAYTEST] the two together, so alternating them across turns cannot make the Warden trivially unkillable.

Stand Your Ground

Cost: 2 Advancement Points.

Flavor: They cannot go around you. That is the entire point of you.

Effect: On any turn you take no Move, you become an anchor. Until your next turn, an enemy that begins its turn within your reach cannot leave your reach: its Speed is treated as 0 for the purpose of moving away from you (Slowed relative to you, core-rules Part Nine). It may still act, attack, and reposition within your reach. This holds one such enemy per point of your reach.

Design note: replaces Overbearing Presence's opposed roll, which has no Hynafol equivalent, with a flat zone of control built on Slowed. [PLAYTEST] against Halberdier and Pike reach, since an anchor that also has reach could stop an entire approach.

Living Rampart

Cost: 2 Advancement Points.

Flavor: The strength you spend does not stop at your own skin. It reaches whoever is standing closest to falling.

Effect: When you use Borrowed Strength, or spend a free negation granted by a Pair, you may extend that single negation to cover an adjacent ally outside your own Company, without waiting for the Straight unlock. In addition, a single Borrowed Strength commitment of two or more dice may be split to cover two different targets within your reach rather than stacking on one.

Design note: an early, paid taste of what Straight grants for free at Level 5 (reaching past the Company), plus a split-coverage option Straight does not give.