How Does Emberwind Work?

EMBERWIND is a role-playing game designed to tell dynamic stories and create varied, rich encounters. It’s built on the RISE System, an easy-to-learn and adaptable tabletop game engine that helps players customize their gameplay, collaborate on stories, and run exciting, immersive battles for gamers of all experience levels.

Together, EMBERWIND and RISE help you tell engaging stories with any hero you can imagine in any setting you can dream of.

Accessible and Adaptable

The RISE System is built to be accessible and adaptable, with an engine that emphasizes creativity and customization.

Rule of Threes

The RISE System is deceptively simple. The game is built on the rule of threes, which divides important information into categories and subcategories that are easy to remember. For instance, the core game includes three categories of Classes geared towards three particular styles of play—Soldiers, Harbingers, and Commanders. Each Class Category has three Classes within it, and each Class offers three Subclasses.

The RISE System is designed using a similar set of principles, giving a simple way to learn new information while allowing for a broad degree of complexity at higher levels.

Play the Odds

Rather than bogging down gameplay with complex dice roll calculations that cancel each other out, the RISE engine uses a streamlined d20 system where simple math determines your target roll and you always know the odds you need to beat to pull off a masterstroke in combat.

No One Misses Out

Most tabletop RPGs require a dedicated Game Master or Storyteller. In the RISE System, the role is optional, to the point that the official game can be played without a player having to sit out to run the story. Instead players rotate Narrator duties so everyone feels like they’re playing a game—not just running one!

Player-created games still use a Storyteller to guide the action, but the RISE System offers a simpler entry point and a more involved role than traditional RPGs.

Minds of Their Own

The RISE System offers the option of a Hex Grid that acts as an AI framework for determining Foes’ behaviour during combat. With the Hex Grid, monsters move and act independently, minimizing the work for the Storyteller and allowing players to run combats themselves.

Be Your Own Unique Hero

With nine Hero Classes to choose from, there are options for any play style. Additional customizations introduce elements of strategy in Hero creation, and if you want to experiment with new abilities as you play, you are free to select new ones between Encounters. This makes for an innovative and exciting play experience that results in a Hero that is uniquely you.

Let’s Get Together

The RISE System emphasizes party-based synergy and cooperation. Every Hero has abilities that will complement their teammates. Discovering powerful combinations will make your party more effective and create more memorable gameplay experiences.

The Rise System

Limitless Worlds

EMBERWIND gives you the tools to tell legendary stories in worlds you create with Heroes and Foes you design.

To get you started, we created Axia: a shattered world of soaring airships, cutthroat politics, and ancient mysteries. Play The Skies of Axia, the flagship EMBERWIND campaign book, to discover all the adventure and exploration Axia has to offer.

Explore the Skies of Axia

Always Improving

As a game company that draws inspiration from dozens of creative fields, we are always learning how to make our games better. When you buy a book from us, whether in print or PDF, we post errata and offer free digital access to all future revisions. We want to make sure you always have the best resources to run your game.

We also depend on our readers for feedback. If you spot a typo or error in a book you bought, email us at If you’re the first to spot it, we’ll reward you with a discount code for your next purchase.