This is a significant update to Vergence, with a new challenge (Game of Houses), rebalanced special abilities, and many rules refinements. Here is the full changelog:

• Changed how power level interacts with action rolls. Power level determines default and maximum quality level. PCs are at quality level 2. When PCs content with individuals or groups of higher or lower quality, effect level is adjusted (plus or minus) by one for each level of difference. 
• Clarified and rebalanced many special abilities.
• Changed resistance to be less swingy in stress cost. You now roll on a table, with resistance costing up to 3 stress.
• Changed “defense” to “protection.” Protection, when it applies,  gives +1d to a resistance roll or, if you are exhausted, automatically reduces the severity of a consequence by one level.
• Changed “affiliate” to “cohort.”
• Rewrote the rules for cohorts, how they can be upgraded, and how they can assist PCs 
• Removed rules for overall alliance quality. PCs are at quality level 2, which does not change. Each affiliate has a separate quality level. Adjusted quality level of NPCs to reflect the new quality scale. 
• Changed “threat” to “challenge.” This fits the campaign types that actually got written as opposed to the ones that were conceptualized when the game was being planned. 
• Added introductory story text to the beginning of each challenge to give a sense of flavor to each and help with selection.
• Added a new challenge: the Game of Houses.
• Changed faction influence actions in the scheming phase to be focused on earning, spending, and discharging favors and grievances. This is intended to better reflect the setting, in which powerful characters have no need of money or material goods, so they trade favors instead.
• Rewrote, clarified, and expanded the rules for travel in the Umbra. 
• Adjusted the rules for group actions.
• Changed setup actions to be more flexible in what they can achieve. Instead of just improved effect or position for follow up actions, the result depends on what the PC doing the setup action is trying to achieve and what the effect level of that action is.
• Added guidance on creating your own challenges.