Three Marks glossary: every game word explained
This glossary explains every special word in Three Marks, in A to Z order. Words in bold are the names the game shows on screen.
A to E
- Accuracy: how well a hero aims. Accuracy minus the target's defense is the edge. See dice and damage.
- Acted: shown on a hero who has already used their action this turn.
- Afflicted: a target that has at least one bad effect: Shaken, Slowed, Worn or Exposed.
- Armor: taken off the damage of every strike, except strikes at Will. Wardens start with 2.
- Back rank: the row behind the front rank. Close fighters cannot strike from it, and cannot strike into it.
- Basic strike: a strike without a card. It does 2 damage and aims at the calling's own defense.
- Battle log: a list of every strike in the battle, with the roll, edge, result and damage. It also shows the Rival hand.
- Body: one of the four defenses.
- Calling: a hero type: Warden, Scarred, Voice, Quick or Spark. See the five callings.
- Camp: the screen between battles, with the trail, your company and the menus.
- Close fighter: a Warden, Scarred or Quick. Strikes only from the front rank, at the enemy front rank.
- Company: your team of three heroes, with three different callings.
- Cost: the scars, notes or sparks a card needs. "Free" cards cost nothing.
- Crit: the best result of a strike: the damage plus half of it.
- Deck: your 30 cards. At least 8 per hero, at most 2 copies of each card.
- Defense: Guard, Body, Reflex or Will. Each strike aims at one of them.
- Disengage strike: the free basic strike an enemy Warden makes when you step back from the front rank.
- Down: a hero at 0 life. They can be rescued once. Struck again, they are Out.
- Edge: accuracy minus defense. It decides which die faces miss, graze, hit or crit.
- Exposed: the next strike on this target is one step better. It lasts until the target is struck.
F to O
- Flanked: a front-rank target that a non-Quick front-rank ally has already struck this turn. Quick strikes on it are one step better.
- Formation: the editor step where you choose who stands in front and who stands in the back.
- Front rank: the row of two places that faces the enemy.
- Graze: a weak result: half the damage, rounded down, at least 1 before armor.
- Guard: one of the four defenses. A Voice's protected ally gets extra Guard.
- Hand: the five cards your company can play from. It fills back up at the start of each of your turns.
- Hit: a normal result: the printed damage.
- Life: how much damage a hero can take before falling Down.
- Lower defense: take 1 away from one defense to get a fourth mark.
- Marks: upgrades for a hero. Each hero spends three. See building your company.
- Miss: the strike does nothing.
- Monsters' turn: the part of each round where the monsters act.
- Notes: the Voice's resource, up to 3. It gains 1 at the end of every round.
- Out: a hero who is gone for the rest of the battle.
P to Z
- Protected ally: the hero the Voice looks after. It gets +1 Guard while the Voice has a note.
- Ranged: a Voice or Spark. Strikes any enemy from any rank.
- Reflex: one of the four defenses.
- Rescue: standing a Down hero back up. Each hero can be rescued once per battle.
- Resolve spell: the action that finishes a prepared Slow spell.
- Round: your turn plus the monsters' turn. A battle ends after round 30 at the latest.
- Scars: the Scarred's resource, up to 5. It gains 1 each time it takes damage.
- Shaken: one defense is 1 lower, for example "Shaken on Guard".
- Slow: a card that strikes on the hero's next action, not at once. Last Word and Three Notes are Slow. See Slow spells.
- Slowed: the hero acts only after all their allies have acted.
- Sparks: the Spark's resource, up to 5. It gains 1 on each of its hits and crits.
- Starter set: the 10 cards each calling starts with. The monsters' decks are built from them.
- Step: one place along Miss, Graze, Hit, Crit. Some effects move a result one step up or down.
- Strike: an attack that rolls the die.
- The trail: the five battles, from Old Crossing to The Belfry. See the trail.
- Trail guide: the four tips shown in your first battle. Open them again from the Pause menu.
- Trait: each calling's built-in special rule.
- Wait: an action that does nothing, but still uses the hero's turn.
- Will: one of the four defenses. Strikes at Will ignore armor.
- Worn: armor is 1 lower while it lasts.
See also
- Effects and conditions
- How battles work
- FAQ
- Play Three Marks on the portal.
