Rule Book
Your steel. Her imagination.
Everything you need before your first duel.
You do all the fighting. VESPER listens, suggests and forges. The game’s own rules check everything she makes. This page covers how to speak to her, what happens after you do, how a duel is fought, and the modes in this playtest.
A hollow diamond marks a rule the next build may change. This page will be checked again when it lands.
Speaking to VESPER
VESPER does not fight. She forges what you imagine; landing it is yours.
How to talk
- Talk to VESPER
- tap V · speak · tap V
- Controller: click the right stick, R3.
She listens only between your two taps. One request can run for about 27 seconds; after that she stops listening by herself.
Speak English, Hindi, or Hinglish written in Roman letters. She understands all three, and mostly answers in English. Other languages are not supported yet.
Short, clear lines work best. Headphones are recommended, so she hears you and not the fight. While you speak, the game turns its own sound down.
The microphone is optional. The game asks for it once, at the title screen. Say no and everything still works with buttons; you can let her listen later from Settings.May change in the next build
Where your voice goes, and what is kept, is set out in the Playtest Agreement.
What you can ask
Say it your way; these are only examples. Each works in English, Hinglish and Hindi.
Forge something new
Describe a move or a power. She builds it, the game’s rules check it, and it arrives on a card for you to equip.
- English
- “Make me a lightning spear I can throw.”
- Hinglish
- “banao baraf talwar”
- हिन्दी
- “बर्फ का भाला”
- No words needed: press F for a new move or R for a new power, and she picks one that suits this fight. Controller: D-pad up and D-pad down.May change in the next build
- She can start something new about every 15 seconds, or 25 after an attempt that failed.
- Before a duel you can also type a wish on the setup screen (not in the online lobby).
- Ask while the game is paused, or after a fight ends, and she keeps the request for when the fighting starts again.
Ready a power you already know
You start every duel knowing four powers: Fire Warrior, Lightning Warrior, Rubber Armor and Powered Armor. Say a name and it is ready on Q at once. No forge, no wait.
- English
- “Ready Fire Warrior.”
- Hinglish
- “Bijli yoddha ready karo”
- हिन्दी
- “पावर्ड कवच लगाओ”
To forge a fresh one instead
- English
- “A new fire warrior.”
- Hinglish
- “naya aag yoddha banao”
- हिन्दी
- “नया आग योद्धा बनाओ”
- She answers: “You already have that — Fire Warrior is ready on Q.” Readying a power selects it too, so one press of Q uses it.
Change what she just made
Within about 30 seconds of a new forge, ask for a change and she makes it again. A change can add to it; it never takes away what it already had.
- English
- “Make it faster.”
- Hinglish
- “ise aur tez karo”
- हिन्दी
- “इसे और तेज़ करो”
- Only something she forged can be changed: not a power you started with, and not a copied technique.
- A change counts as a new forge, so it waits its turn like one.
Bring something back from Memory
VESPER remembers everything forged in this duel, even what you skipped. Use a recall word with what you want, and she puts it back in a slot.
- English
- “Recall the poison blade into slot two.”
- Hinglish
- “wapas lao wo shield”
- हिन्दी
- “याद करो वो ढाल”
Recall words
- English
- recall · swap · equip · wield · restore · remember · arm me
- Hinglish
- wapas · yaad karo · laga do · nikalo
- हिन्दी
- वापस · याद करो · लगाओ
- Name a slot (“in slot two”) or what to keep (“keep the hammer”). Say nothing about a slot and she picks one.
- Without words: tap W for her best pick, or hold W and choose with left arrow and right arrow.
Choose which power Q uses
Pick one of your four power slots. Choosing never casts it: you still press Q.
- English
- “Select slot two.”
- Hinglish
- “chuno slot do”
- हिन्दी
- “चुनो स्लॉट दो”
- Or tap Tab to step through your powers (controller: D-pad left).
- Ask for a slot that does not exist and she uses the nearest one, and says so.
Put the new one in a slot
May change in the next buildWhen something new is waiting, name the slot it should go in.
- English
- “Put it in slot two.”
- Hinglish
- “ise slot do mein lagao”
- हिन्दी
- “इसे स्लॉट दो में लगाओ”
- Or use E: see “Ready it, or review it” below.May change in the next build
Answer her, say no, or let her choose
When she asks you something, she asks once and gives you about eight seconds. Her two choices light up on F and R: answer with a key, a click or your voice.
- Yes
- “yes”“haan”“हाँ”
- No
- “no”“nahi”“नहीं”
- Your call
- “you choose”“kuch bhi”“तुम चुनो”
- Never mind
- “never mind”“rehne do”“रहने दो”
- Pausing does not use up her eight seconds, and pressing talk holds them while you speak.
- Saying no changes nothing, and she says so: “Okay. Nothing has been changed.”
- If your answer is still unclear, she makes the closest match. She never asks the same thing twice.
Copy a technique you watched
May change in the next buildSeen a Shard-Bound use a technique? Ask VESPER to copy it. A copy moves like theirs but hits with a knight’s strength, never theirs.
- English
- “Copy that.”
- Hinglish
- “vo vaar copy karo”
- हिन्दी
- “वो वार कॉपी करो”
- In Story, she can copy a technique only after you have watched it performed in full. What you have seen is remembered for your campaign. In the other modes, every technique she can copy is open.
- Their shard powers cannot be copied; she offers the nearest technique instead.
What she will not do
- She never fights for you.
- She does not strike, block, aim or choose your timing, and nothing she makes equips or casts by itself. Every blow is yours to land.
- She builds only from the game’s own pieces.
- Every move and power is put together from swings, powers and armour that already exist in the game, and the game’s rules check every result before it reaches you. No clever wording can talk them into something unfair.
- She never just says no.
- If she is unsure what you meant, she asks once, then decides. If part of your idea is not possible yet, she makes the closest thing straight away and tells you what she couldn’t match. Ask her to make you invisible and she answers: “Forging a sigil that pulls you back out of reach — invisibility isn’t possible yet.”
- She cannot see what your opponent hides, or bend the world.
- Nothing she says reveals your opponent’s hidden state, and nothing she makes changes the physics of the duel.
- She will not copy shard powers, or name a Shard-Bound you have not met.
- A Shard-Bound’s shard powers are theirs alone. She offers the nearest technique instead.
- She will not use a famous hero’s name.
- Ask for a famous hero’s weapon and she understands you, then builds it from the game’s own pieces under a name of its own.
- Chatter does nothing.
- If she hears nothing she can act on, she says what she heard and asks what to forge. Silence costs you nothing: “Speak again, I caught nothing.”
No microphone?
The game plays in full without a microphone. Forging, readying, recalling and answering her all have buttons. Describing exactly what you want, or changing what she just made, needs your voice, apart from a wish you type before the duel.
F asks for a new move and R for a new power, picked for the fight you are in. Controller: D-pad up and D-pad down.May change in the next build
When she asks a question or makes an offer, F and R pick her two choices.
E readies what she made, Tab and Q choose and use powers, and W brings things back from Memory.
Before a duel, you can type a wish on the setup screen. There is no typing during a fight.May change in the next build
She also offers help on her own when the same problem keeps happening: one offer at a time, never more often than about every 25 seconds. In Settings, under VESPER, offers can be spoken, visual only or off, and her voice can be turned off.
After you speak
Your words go straight to her. There is no confirm step, and the fight never shows a transcript: only a few of your words appear when a request is held, or when she tells you what she heard.
Her answer
She listens
“Go ahead. I’m listening.” A strip near the top of the screen shows that she is.
She reads your intent
Tap again and your request is sent. If the forge is busy, it is held and goes as soon as the forge is free; Esc drops it.
She answers
Readying a power you know, choosing a slot, recalling and undoing all happen at once. Anything new goes to the forge: “The forge has your measure.” If it takes a moment longer: “The steel is still taking shape.”
It arrives
A chime, READY in gold, and a card. She speaks one short line; the card shows what the new move or power is, what it does to your opponent, and what it would replace. The prompt reads E EQUIP.
Ready it, or review it
May change in the next build- Ready it
- tap E
- Puts it in the slot shown on the card; a slot you named by voice wins. A power is readied, not cast. Controller: tap RT / R2.
- Review it and choose the slot
- hold E
- Opens the equip wheel and slows the whole fight right down, for both fighters, for up to about ten seconds. Press an arrow or 1–4 to pick a slot, then let go of E to equip. Controller: hold RT / R2, pick with a face button.
- Throw it away
- hold E + Tab
- The forge’s wait is not given back. Controller: D-pad left while holding RT / R2.
- Undo the swap
- tap W within 5 s
- Brings back what the new one replaced. The prompt shows for exactly as long as undo works.
Combat stays live while you review: being hit or staggered ends it.
Nothing forged is lost
Everything she makes is remembered the moment it arrives, even if you never equip it. Ready it later with E, W or by asking.
Memory holds up to 25 things in a duel. When it is full, the least-used forged thing you are not carrying is forgotten first. What you started with is never forgotten.
Memory lasts for that duel; the next one starts fresh.
Slots and switching
You carry four moves, one on each strike key, and four powers.
Tab steps to your next power and its name flashes so you know which is up; Q uses it.
Up to three powers can be active on you at once. A new one may push an old one out, and the game tells you which.
See everything you carry at any time: press Esc, then Loadout. Online, the fight keeps going while you look.
Limits
The forge has a short wait between asks: about 15 seconds, or 25 after an attempt that failed. Ask too soon and she tells you how long.
Her hearing and her voice also have short per-minute limits, so no one player can crowd out the rest. If her voice cannot arrive in time, her words still show on the card.
Planned for the playtest: each tester gets a fair daily allowance for VESPER, covering her forges, her spoken lines, listening time and memory questions. When it runs out, the fight never stops. She keeps helping from what she already knows, says so, and her full forge returns the next day. The exact numbers are not final.May change in the next build
The duel
One knight against one opponent, along one line. You always face your opponent, and a visible wall marks each end of the arena.
Values may change during the playtest.
Default controls
Controls cannot be changed in this build. Key remapping is planned for the next build, starting from the defaults below.May change in the next build
Keyboard
Movement
- Move
- A D
- Sprint
- hold Shift
- Jump
- Space
- Dash
- double-tap A or D
- Front flip
- Shift + Space + toward them
- Back flip
- Shift + Space + away
Combat
- Strike with move 1 to 4
- left arrow up arrow right arrow down arrow
- Or 1 2 3 4.
- Block, or parry
- hold S
Powers
- Next power
- tap Tab
- Use the selected power
- Q
VESPER and the forge
- Talk to VESPER
- tap V · speak · tap V
- Forge a moveMay change in the next build
- F
- When she asks you something, F and R pick her two answers.
- Forge a powerMay change in the next build
- R
- Ready what she madeMay change in the next build
- tap E
- Review it and choose a slotMay change in the next build
- hold E + an arrow
- Let go of E to equip.
- Throw it awayMay change in the next build
- hold E + Tab
Memory
- Smart Recall, or undo a swapMay change in the next build
- tap W
- Choose from Memory
- hold W + left arrow right arrow
- Let go to take it.
- Put back what you had
- Shift + W
Menus
- Game menu
- Esc
- Confirm, go back
- Enter Esc
- Arrows move; Q and E turn pages in Controls and Settings.
Controller
Xbox and PlayStation pads work, and so do most USB and Bluetooth pads. The game shows the buttons of whatever you pressed last; to force Xbox letters or PlayStation symbols, use Settings, then Controls, then Button icons.
Movement
- Move
- XboxBoth padsLeft stick
- PlayStationLeft stick
- The D-pad does not move you.
- Sprint
- Xboxhold LT
- PlayStationhold L2
- Jump
- XboxRB
- PlayStationR1
- DashMay change in the next build
- XboxBoth padsNot on a controller yet
- PlayStationNot on a controller yet
- A double flick of the left stick is planned for the next build.
- Front flip
- XboxRB + LT + toward them
- PlayStationR1 + L2 + toward them
- Back flip
- XboxRB + LT + away
- PlayStationR1 + L2 + away
Combat
- Strike with move 1 to 4
- XboxX Y B A
- PlayStationSquare Triangle Circle Cross
- Block, or parry
- Xboxhold LB
- PlayStationhold L1
Powers
- Next power
- XboxBoth padsD-pad left
- PlayStationD-pad left
- Use the selected power
- XboxBoth padsD-pad right
- PlayStationD-pad right
VESPER and the forge
- Talk to VESPER
- XboxBoth padsclick R3
- PlayStationclick R3
- Click the right stick; click again to send.
- Forge a moveMay change in the next build
- XboxBoth padsD-pad up
- PlayStationD-pad up
- Forge a powerMay change in the next build
- XboxBoth padsD-pad down
- PlayStationD-pad down
- Ready what she madeMay change in the next build
- Xboxtap RT
- PlayStationtap R2
- Review it and choose a slotMay change in the next build
- Xboxhold RT + a face button
- PlayStationhold R2 + a face button
- Let go to equip.
- Throw it awayMay change in the next build
- Xboxhold RT + D-pad left
- PlayStationhold R2 + D-pad left
Memory
- Smart Recall, or undo a swapMay change in the next build
- Xboxtap View
- PlayStationtap Select
- Choose from Memory
- Xboxhold View + D-pad left D-pad right
- PlayStationhold Select + D-pad left D-pad right
- Put back what you had
- XboxView + LB
- PlayStationSelect + L1
Menus
- Game menu
- XboxMenu
- PlayStationStart
- Confirm, go back
- XboxA B
- PlayStationCross Circle
- LB and RB turn pages.
A hollow diamond marks a rule the next build may change. This page will be checked again when it lands.
Winning
One fight, no rounds, no timer. Bring your opponent’s health to zero and you win. A duel usually lasts one to two minutes.
Then comes Victory or Defeat. Solo offers a rematch; Story lets you continue or try again. Online, a rematch starts by itself after a few seconds, and if someone leaves, nobody wins: No Contest.
The match bell
Every duel opens with a count: three, two, one, FIGHT! Nobody can move, strike or talk to VESPER until FIGHT, and the forge opens with it. Online, the count starts once both players are in.
Health and armour
You have one health bar. When it empties, you lose.
Your armour is four plates: head, torso, arms and legs. A plate takes most of a blow and wears down as it does; the rest reaches your health. A plate glows a warning when it gets weak, and once it breaks, blows there go straight to your health.
A blow lands on the plate it actually touched, and rattles the plates next to it a little. Blocked blows are taken on your arms.
Knights do not heal during a duel. Some Shard-Bound do: the Iron Warden’s plate regrows where it cracks.
Stamina and powers
Stamina is your breath. Sprinting, dashing, heavy swings and powers spend it; light attacks, blocking, jumping and flips are free. It refills when you ease off, and you can always swing, even when it is empty.
Empty it while sprinting and you are WINDED: no sprint and no dash until about a third of it is back.
Powers have no cooldowns; stamina is the only gate. Each power shows its cost beside it, and without enough breath it will not fire: TOO TIRED.
After a cast your breath holds for a moment, then refills slowly for a little while, so powers cannot be chained for free.
Armour and form powers start prepared, not active. Press Q to switch one on at its normal cost.
Attacking
Each move has a short cooldown after you use it. Heavier moves wait longer and wind up longer, so watch for the wind-up.
Pressed a strike a moment too early? The game remembers it for a split second and throws it as soon as you are free. You can also strike straight out of your guard.
Combos: land a blow, or have it blocked, and strike again within about a second to chain. Each link hits a little harder and makes your next swing a little faster. The fourth hit ends the chain with a heavy blow that shoves them back.
Catch someone during their wind-up for a counter hit: a little more damage and a bigger flinch. Strike while sprinting to rush in harder, but a miss leaves you slower to recover.
Getting hit costs you your turn: light hits make you flinch, harder ones stagger and shove you back. A hit buys you time, never a guaranteed combo.
Defending
Hold block to guard. Blocking costs no stamina, you walk slowly while guarding, and your shield stops most of a high blow.
Low sweeps go under your guard. Jump them instead.
Parry: raise your guard in the last instant before a light blow lands. You take nothing, and the attacker staggers long enough for you to land even a heavy move. Heavy blows cannot be parried.
Guard break: block five blows in a row and your guard shatters, leaving you staggered. Reading the attack beats waiting it out.
Your shield wears with every block, heavy blows far more, while parries cost it nothing. If it breaks, it is gone for the match and you fight two-handed: your sword still blocks, but lets more through, parries need tighter timing, and your guard breaks sooner.
Some Shard-Bound blows cannot be blocked: a white-hot flare warns you just before. Get out of the way. Some also answer a parry or a block with a counter, so watch for the glint.
Moving
Dash: nothing can hit you mid-dash. It costs stamina and needs about a second to recharge.
Jump: clears low attacks and costs nothing, but you can be hit as you take off and as you land.
Front flip: sprint, jump and press toward your opponent to flip over them to their other side. A big commitment: about a second in the air.
Back flip: sprint, jump and press away to leap clear of your opponent. It is free, but you are open as you land and must wait a moment before the next. A flip with no direction does nothing.
Adrenaline
Fight well and your adrenaline fills: clean hits, parries and guard breaks all count, parries most. Taking hits earns nothing.
When it is full (READY), a five-second burst starts by itself the moment you are free to act: your stamina refills, and nothing costs stamina until it ends.
Your opponent cannot see your bar, but everyone sees a burst. In Local Versus both bars show. The Shard-Bound never burst.
Knockdown
Only some moves can floor you, and only sometimes: a low sweep on a clean hit more often than not, some leaping and kicking moves now and then. Damage alone never floors anyone, and a combo’s last blow shoves rather than floors.
Floored, you spend a moment on the ground while you fall and get up. The Shard-Bound keep their footing better than knights do.
Your kit
Before a fight, pick a preset: Standard, Ember, Storm or Iron. Each gives you four moves and four powers, and VESPER forges more as you fight.
Pausing
Esc (controller: Start) opens the game menu. In Solo, Story and Local Versus it pauses the fight. Online it does not: your opponent keeps fighting, so the menu is only for leaving or checking your loadout.
The menu does not open during the count or on the result screen.
Modes
Three ways to fight in this playtest, and what may follow.
Story
In this playtest
Face the Shard-Bound. Perfection against imagination.
The Shard-Bound fused shards into their bodies. It made them perfect, and silenced the voice that forges. You face them in order: beat one to open the next, or lose and try the same one again. Each is one long fight with phases, not rounds.
Pick a preset before each fight. Your progress is kept in this browser only.
IResolve
The Iron Warden
The Unbroken Rampart
In this playtest
IIPressure
The Crimson Blade
The Unending Cut
In this playtest
IIIRuin
Ember-Forged
The Sovereign of the Forge
Still being forged — not in this playtest
Four levels, one for the whole ladder
- Easy
- Learn them. Lighter blows and long breaths between their attacks.
- Medium
- A fair duel. Read them and you win about half the time.
- Hard
- Their signatures come a phase early. Little room for greed.
- Death
- They barely breathe. Every tell is the same — only reading all of them wins.
Solo Duel
In this playtest
Read your rival. Forge your answer.
Fight a rival knight the game controls, with VESPER at your side. The rival is scripted by the game, not an AI model, and changes its own kit from a fixed set as it fights. Pick a challenge, pick a preset, and duel.
Three challenges
- Easy
- A forgiving rival. More time to react and find your rhythm.
- Medium
- A balanced duel. Read your rival and seize your openings.
- Hard
- A relentless rival. Faster reactions and sustained pressure.
Local Versus
In this playtest
Two bearers. One arena. One screen.
Two players on one computer. Each needs a device of their own: a keyboard and a controller, or two controllers. Two keyboards cannot be told apart. In the lobby, move your device to a side, pick a preset and ready up.
VESPER stays quiet here, but both players can still forge with their buttons. Both adrenaline bars are shown, and the game menu pauses the fight.
Online Versus
Later, for pairs I invite
Meet another mind at the edge of a blade.
Online duels are planned for later in the playtest, for pairs I invite. When they open, the server referees every fight, VESPER is with each of you, the fight cannot be paused, and a rematch starts by itself.
Training
Planned for the next build
Short lessons on fighting and forging, a final trial, and a Playground to practise with VESPER.
Competitive
Planned
A competitive ruleset for events is planned.
Something wrong, or missing?
This page follows the playtest build and changes with it. If a rule here does not match what you see in the game, tell me. hello@astrayagame.com