We like to keep Codex highly customizable and it’s meant to be fine tuned to your own campaign, players, and personal preferences as GM. So take below with a grain of salt, remembering Rule Zero for Codex is “Use Common Sense / Go with your preferences.”
1. Do you use sneak attack?
(It seems redundant with Twist the Blade)
Don’t use it, though aside from ‘Twist the Blade’ we also have a Sucker Punch MF and an Ambush Special Ability (see Players Guide) which confers extra damage.
2. Do you use a flank bonus?
(It seems redundant as enemies just run out of MP anyway when they are ganged up on)
We don’t use it, as you said running out of MP is already a major problem. To alleviate that we have MP like Situational Awareness etc.
3. Question regarding Distance Fighting: Does the free die include the weapon or shield defense bonus? For instance, my fighter has an Active Defense of +8 using his weapon and +4 for just voiding.
Do I roll 2 dice and add 8 to each one, or do I add 8 to the actual “parry” and 4 to the “dodge” when the character steps away?
You roll both dice, decide which one you are using and discard the other, and then apply the bonus for weapon and / or voiding, shield etc. Whether you void or not is up to you, but extra distance also makes parrying a lot easier.
4. Do you give two-handed weapons the 1.5 strength bonus? For instance, in Pathfinder my weapon is 1d8+4 in one hand or 1d8+6 in two.
No, the extra damage for TH weapons is basically already factored in. We do have the Wrathful Strike rule as well. One of the major advantages with two handed weapons though is you gain a Free Dice in any bind.
5. Question regarding Bind: The text states “This means the physical die roll, not the modified die roll?” Could the modified die roll count as a bind, too? For instance, would a modified die roll of 17 versus a passive defense of 17 count as a bind?
The normal default rule is that it’s the ‘natural’ die roll, meaning you rolled a 15, so before you do any math see if your opponent rolled a 15. It is also the Die That Counts, so if you used two dice, and rolled a 15 and 14, and both would qualify as hits but the 15 will also be a bind and you don’t want a bind for some reason (like maybe you have a light staff and he has a halberd), you could choose the 14.
There is an optional rule however that says you can use any tied die roll to call a bind, and MF like Fuhlen which also confer that ability, and Sprechfenster which makes any attack into a bind.
