RPGaDay2026 – Discipline

When I began adapting Sanction to the world and themes of Joe Dever’s Lone Wolf, Discipline was the obvious name for the game’s physical Resource. It didn’t just describe combat ability, but also the notions of control over the body, commitment to training, and focus over action. But what Discipline didn’t do was fit into the space on the character sheet when the other two Resources were Wisdom and Spirit.

Why Discipline?

Did it need to be? Well, yes. At the heart of the Lone Wolf setting are the Kai monks, and Combat wasn’t the point of the order. Yes, it fit the shape on the character sheet, but from the very first game I ran at a convention, I knew I needed to change it.

Sanction‘s Resources form a core structural element in how you communicate the themes of the game. Combat is too narrow. Discipline represents physical training, coordination, endurance under pressure, purposeful action and martial competence. It’s the umbrella word that Combat isn’t.

The central point is that a Kai initiate does not prevail simply because they are strong. They prevail because training has made thought and movement work together.

More than Combat

Yes, I know even in the gamebooks you have a Combat Skill, but that’s simplicity without finesse. In the grand scheme, Discipline is more.

Sanction is about challenges, and when you face a challenge, you make a roll on a Resource. Given the rough divide of physical, intellectual and devotional across the Resources, where do I lean if you want to climb a tower, force a barred door, endure exposure in the desert, move silently around a Giak patrol, or maintain balance on unstable ground?

Combat?

No! That’s just another expression of a Resource, not the Resource itself. If you want to strike a Vordak with your mace, yes, you need to be skilled in combat, but that’s just another form of physical training.

The Name of the Tone

Discipline implies things about the setting that Physical or Strength don’t. It tells the players something about the world before any of the rules are explained or details of the setting. Magnamund is a place where survival depends upon preparation, focus and self-mastery. And that’s Discipline, not Combat.

It also works alongside Resources such as Wisdom and Spirit, creating a trio that describes different aspects of the whole character:

• Discipline governs the trained body.
• Wisdom governs perception, knowledge and judgement.
• Spirit governs courage, identity and inner resolve.

And so, we return to the character sheet and the realities of layout… and we suck it up and squeeze the word Discipline into the top spot.

The Flight into Darkness remains a work in progress with a nod from Gary Chalk to use some of the original artwork. There’s some way yet to go completing the Genre Setup, but I have really enjoyed running adventures using this simple variation to the Sanction ruleset.

I guess that the lesson from today is that part of the business of Genres is the simple things like naming elements. This one isn’t Strength or Combat, because Joe Dever’s heroes are rarely defined by those qualities alone. They survive because they pay attention, control their fear and commit themselves fully when the moment for action arrives. That is why Discipline is the right word. It covers the sword stroke, the long march, the desperate climb and the decision to take one more step into the darkness.

What does Discipline mean in your own games? I look forward to reading about it in your RPGaDay post.

#RPGaDAY2026