Worked Examples

Four writs from the squads of the First Lantern, annotated. Steal freely — every good doctrine in the Reach began as someone else's.

The mender who never over-mends

Sister Maren's problem: written naively, a healer spends every turn healing — scratches included — and contributes nothing else. The fix is a filter that defines "worth my turn," and a gate that keeps a little in reserve.

Sister Maren — Cleric

The Writ · read top to bottom · the first rule with a valid target fires

IIfHP Below 25%ThenBlessed Renewal

The emergency: someone is about to fall. Mend now and keep mending — Regen does the rest.

IIIfHP Below 50%AndLowest HP PercentThenHeal Light

The triage: worst wound first, measured as a fraction — a hurt Hunter can be closer to death than a hurt Knight.

IIIIfOwn AP 2 Or MoreAndPrioritize FighterThenWar Chant

Nobody bleeding? Make the Fighter hit harder — but only while there is AP to spare for tomorrow’s emergency.

— when nothing applies, it holds —

The knight who holds the door

Dame Roswitha's writ barely attacks. Her work is written in her reactions — the rules marked When, paid in PP — and her one real decision is whom to maim first.

Dame Roswitha — Knight

The Writ · read top to bottom · the first rule with a valid target fires

IIfFront RowAndHighest Physical DefenseThenGuard Crush

Break the shield of whoever is hardest to hurt — the rest of the squad thanks her.

IIIfHighest InitiativeThenStunning Blow

Steal a turn from the fastest enemy still standing.

— when nothing applies, it holds —

Below the rules, her writ reads: When an ally is targeted — Bodyguard (she steps in, taking half the blow). When struck and still standing — Riposte. Four PP spent well is a wall the enemy pays to touch.

The hunter who deletes the back line

Fletch's writ is a single idea, stated in order of appetite: kill the softest thing the line cannot protect.

Fletch — Hunter

The Writ · read top to bottom · the first rule with a valid target fires

IIfBack RowAndLowest HPThenSniper Shot

Arrows ignore the front line. The enemy’s mender lives in the back rank, and menders are soft.

IIIfHP At Or Above 50%AndNot Targeted By AllyThenTwin Arrows

No back rank left? Two arrows into someone healthy that nobody else is already handling — damage where it isn’t wasted.

IIIIfalwaysThenSniper Shot

And when all else is done: loose at whatever stands. The weakest, by default.

— when nothing applies, it holds —

Why does my Witch keep holding?

A debugging story. A Tactician writes this for Hedge Witch and watches her stand idle from round three onward:

Hedge Witch — the broken writ

The Writ · read top to bottom · the first rule with a valid target fires

IIfOwn AP 2 Or MoreThenHex Bolt

Hex Bolt costs 2 AP. Fine so far.

IIIfOwn AP 2 Or MoreAndHP Not FullThenVenom Dart

The bug: the same gate again — copied from the rule above without thinking.

— when nothing applies, it holds —

Trace it like the field does. She opens with two Hex Bolts and her AP falls to 1. Now read the writ again: Rule I — gate says no. Rule II — Venom Dart costs only 1 AP, she can afford it… but her own gate says no. Nothing applies. She holds, forever, with a dart in her hand and a point to spend.

The fix is to delete the copied gate — or better, make the cheap skill her ending:

Hedge Witch — mended

The Writ · read top to bottom · the first rule with a valid target fires

IIfOwn AP 2 Or MoreThenHex Bolt

While the deep purse lasts: curses.

IIIfHP Not FullAndPrioritize UntargetedThenVenom Dart

Then darts — spreading poison to whoever the squad isn’t already killing.

— when nothing applies, it holds —

The lesson that generalizes

When a soldier holds and you don't know why, the answer is one of exactly three things: no rule's conditions pass, no valid target remains, or no rule's cost can be paid. Read the writ top to bottom asking those three questions, and the broken line identifies itself.