Combat System

All through the multiverse life is precious, fragile, and regrettably brief. That's why there's so many inventions for bringing about that brevity. Even with the perfect plan, the best intentions, and a crate of deadly objects on your side there is always someone ready to find out if he's feeling lucky. For these kinds of situations we have a Combat System. Combat is chaotic and fast paced and we want the system to feel this way. While there's a number of things you can do in a fight they usually break down into 'do a simple thing' then 'do a less simple thing'. Read on to see how it breaks down and feel free to bug your DM for clarification.

The Round Rundown
Here's a quick sample of how combat usually breaks down. From simple bar brawls to massive army on army action it all follows a basic formula. Read on to see each step explained.
 * 1) Surprise round!
 * 2) Roll for Initiative suckers!
 * 3) On your turn attempt a Minor & Major action
 * 4) * Roll to Hit then roll to Damage
 * 5) Figure out who's dead
 * 6) * Don't forget your Soak Dice
 * 7) Repeat from step 2 until everyone you don't like is dead
 * 8) Nick their boots & things

Initiative
Who goes first? At the start of every Combat players begin by Rolling their Initiative, a Dice Pool of Mind + Speed Traits. Any other bonuses they might have get included in this Dice Pool. Highest numbers get their turn first with lowest numbers waiting until the end.

Surprise Rounds
Sometimes you get the drop on someone. Other times they get the drop on you. When one group is caught unawares they are considered Surprised. This round takes place before Initiative is rolled and all players not considered Surprised get a free turn to act. Once everyone has had their turn, Initiative is rolled normally and play continues.

Focus
Rather than take a normal turn you may spend a Full Round Action to acquire Focus. Focus has a number of uses but for every benefit there are risks. If you are Injured or Shaken then your point of Focus is lost without benefit. If you can maintain your Focus though several options become available.
 * You may interrupt an opponent's action at the cost of your Focus. This does not replace your normal turn.
 * You may take a bonus on your To-Hit or Damage roll which is cumulative with other bonuses
 * You may make a Focused Strike

Taking Action
All actions fall into one of three categories outlined below. Minor Actions are just that, little things you can do without too much effort. They seldom require dice. Major Actions are more involved. They encompass complex or difficult tasks such as using a Skill or making an Attack. If there are no Major Actions you wish to take then you can trade it in for a Minor Action instead. Full Round Actions are just that, a single action which takes your full turn. These are tasks that require your full attention above all else. On any given turn you may attempt a Major & Minor action, two Minor actions, or one Full Round Action.

Actions List
Aim: Spend a Minor Action to line up your ranged attack against a single target. As a result you may reduce any penalties for range by one level.

Bull Rush: Spend a Major Action then attempt a Simple Strike. Instead of damage, a success either forces your opponent backwards one Pace or causes him to fall Prone. This may only be attempted on opponents one size category larger than you or smaller.

Charge Attack: Spend a Full Round Action to move up to your Dash in a straight line and attack. If you move at least your Stride's distance then treat your Attack as a Focused Strike.

Focus: Spend a Full Round Action to acquire a point of focus. The point can only be spent on your next turn or an Interrupt.

Full Guard: Spend a Full Round Action to increase the number of Blocks or Parries available until your next turn. Gain one extra Block/Parry attempt per shield or weapon held.

Grapple: Spend a Major Action to attempt a Grapple Action. This can be initiating a Grapple, attempting to escape, Disarming an opponent, Pinning an opponent, or damaging an opponent.

Move: Spend a Minor Action to move your Pace or your Stride. For a Full Round Action you can move your Dash. As a note, only your Pace Movement will allow you to move into or out of a threatened range without provoking Advantage.

Skill Usage: Spend a Major Action to attempt the use of a non-combat Skill. Skills that require more than quick action cannot be used. No one is going to let you reforge a sword in the thick of combat.

Strike: Spend a Major Action to make one of several Attacks. Ranged Shot: Spend a Major Action to attempt one of several Ranged Attacks. Recover: Spend a Minor Action to attempt to Recover from a Shaken or other Status. This usually requires a Resolve Roll.
 * Quick Strikes suffer a Damage Penalty but gain a To-Hit Bonus. Uses the Speed Trait.
 * Heavy Strikes trade a To-Hit Penalty to gain a Damage Bonus. Uses the Body Trait
 * Simple Strikes have neither Bonuses nor Penalties. Uses the Speed Trait
 * The Focused Strike can be applied to any type of Attack and stacks with all bonuses. In a Focused Strike all ties go to the Attacker and all Successes on the To-Hit roll are considered Overwhelming. Unlike other Strikes, the Focused Strike may be applied to Ranged Weapons.
 * Special Attacks are dependent upon the type of weapon being wielded. See notes on your specific weapon to see if this is an option and how to use it.
 * Single Shots are just that, a single ammunition round fired at the target.
 * Burst Shots are short, controlled bursts. They can only be fired from weapons capable of burst fire or fully automatic. Damage and ammo consumption increase with the extra rounds.
 * Full Round Bursts take a Full Round to complete and empty the clip of whatever weapon is being used. Damage is spread across a cone 120 degrees wide dealing damage equal to three single shots. Although the damage is from individual bullets it's treated as an AoE attack.

Reload: Spend a Minor Action to reload your ranged weapon. Some ranged weapons may require a Major Action or even a Full Round Action to reload.

Attack Roll
There are a few skills that can be used, by default, to attack someone. For example, every weapon, including your body, has a Fighting Skill associated with it. Shooting applies to Ranged Attacks and Gunnery to some very large weapons. These sorts of rolls are sometimes called the To-Hit Roll because you're rolling to hit a target. When you make an Attack, select the appropriate Skill and make your Roll. Unless otherwise specified you'll be using your Speed Trait dice in your Attack Rolls. Since this is a Contested Roll, you'll always be up against someone else's Dice Pool. If for some reason they're unable to defend then there's no point in an Attack Roll, skip to the Damage phase.

Ranged Attacks
Ranged Attacks are much like Melee Attacks, pick a skill and roll your dice, but they have to account for Range. Every Ranged weapon will have three Ranges to consider: Short, Medium, & Long. Any distance up to this number is considered to be within that category. Any distance beyond Long Range is too far for the weapon to reach accurately. If your Opponent is within their melee range of you then the Ranged Attack is considered Point Blank. Not only do Point Blank Attacks suffer a Penalty but they grant your Opponent a free Interrupt.

Range Modifiers
* Grants your Opponent a free Interrupt Action.

AoE Attacks
Area of Effect (AoE) Attacks are just that, Attacks which blanket a given area in Damage. Those caught within the AoE but unable to take Cover will always suffer some negative effect, probably Shaken. This is because AoE attacks cannot be Blocked or Dodged without some form of Cover. If your targets have no Cover then skip to the damage phase. For those that do, make an Attack Roll as normal. Because this is an AoE attack it applies equally to friend and foe alike.

Defense Rolls
When you are Attacked you will want to roll your Defense. Just like any other Skill Roll the highest number you roll from your Dice Pool is pitted against your Opponent's highest roll, with ties going in your favor (normally). Just how you defend depends upon the attack and what you have available to you.

Block/Parry Roll
Sometimes it's worth your while to stand your ground and hold the line. Parry and Block are interchangeable terms, both use the same mechanic and rules. Typically Blocking with a weapon is referred to as a Parry but there is no difference in the game mechanics. As long as you are holding a weapon you may attempt to Block a Melee Attack once per Combat Round. Shields allow you to block twice. This means a knight with Sword and Shield could Block twice with the shield and Parry once with the sword in a single Combat Round. There are some combat maneuvers that alter these numbers.

Blocking and Parrying almost always use the Body Trait in combination with the appropriate Fighting Skill. Even Shields have a Fighting Skill of their own for this reason. If you succeed in Blocking the Attack then no Damage is taken. Sometimes this has its limits per DM discretion. You might be able to Block the dragon's fire breath successfully but three square feet of beaten steel is not much of a defense against an inferno.

Dodge Roll
Like the Block Roll, a successful Dodge thwarts the Attack. Unlike Block there is no limit to the number of Dodges you may attempt in a Combat Round. While Block usually only applies to Melee Attacks, Dodge can be used against Ranged Attacks. Dodge usually involves the Speed Trait and its special Dodge Skill.

Riposte Attacks
So what if your Block, Parry, or Dodge are Overwhelmingly Successful? That depends on your own weapons and range. If you are within Melee Range of your attacker and have a Melee weapon in hand then you have just succeeded in a Riposte Attacks. Ripostes are just that, an evasion of the incoming Attack that results in a counter-attack against your assailant. You do not need to roll an Attack for this, nor can your Attacker roll a Defense. The Attack has already happened and you struck into an opening Successfully. Move on to the Damage Rolls for your weapon and treat this as a Successful Attack, not Overwhelmingly Successful.

Cover Dice
Cover Dice aren't their own defense like Block and Dodge but rather extra dice used to keep you alive. Cover can be anything of significant size placed between you and the source of danger. Just how effective your cover is depends upon the Attack involved. Ducking behind a table against a hail of arrows is considered Full Cover. That same table between you and a hail of bullets is Partial Cover at best. Cover only works so long as it is between you and the source of damage. A grenade tossed behind your cover will not be inconvenienced in the slightest by your flipped table. Cover is not always about what's in the environment as Shields also grant their own Cover Dice. Cover Dice do not stack however, simply take the highest Cover Dice and apply them where appropriate.

Partial Cover is any Cover that blocks some or all line of sight between you and your Attacker yet it's not capable of preventing the shot. Partial Cover grants a d8 of Cover Dice to your defenses. Examples include hiding behind bushes, short stone walls, and other party members.

Full Cover means you are completely behind something capable of stopping the Attack. Ducking behind a door may not stop bullets but ducking behind a blast door of the same size would, making the blast door Full Cover. So long as you have Full Cover you have a d12 of Cover Dice to use. Examples include hiding behind thick stone walls, ducking into foxholes, and crouching behind Body Shields.

Damage Roll
Once you hit a target, or are hit, the Damage must be determined. Unlike other games there are no hit points to track here. Instead your character's Body Trait is reduced one size for each Wound suffered. For every Wound suffered all Skill Rolls incur a level of Penalty Dice. If the character is hit after receiving their third Wound then that character is considered Incapacitated. The fight is over for them. The minor minions of the world are incapacitated after a single Wound.

When an Attack lands you will need to roll your Attack's appropriate Damage Dice to see if your Target is actually Wounded or just Shaken. Shaken means the Target is hit but not physically harmed. If a Target is already Shaken and they are hit again, even if that hit would result in a Shaken Status, then the Target suffers a Wound.

Soak Roll
To defend against the Damage Roll there is the Soak Roll. You've been hit, now the challenge is to see if you can weather through. A successful Soak Roll reduces incoming Damage by one Wound. If you are Overwhelmingly Successful with your Soak then it reduces the Damage by two Wounds. This never quite results in zero consequences however as a successful Attack which is reduced to zero Wounds leaves the Target in a Shaken Status. This assumes the Target is not already Shaken as any Shaken Target successfully hit is now Wounded, even if they roll a successful Soak.

Your Soak Dice always include your Body Trait as well as any Armor Dice for armor you might be wearing and your Cover Dice. This assumes such dice apply against the attack. Plate Mail might have excellent Armor Dice against a sword but you typically cannot use those dice against a Lightning Bolt attack. The same problem exists for Cover Dice, especially if the Attack is coming from behind your Cover.

Overwhelming Successes
Not every hit is a single Wound. Both your Attack Roll and Damage Roll can impact this. Normally you Attack, roll Damage, and your Target is either Wounded or Shaken.If you roll for Overwhelming Success on your Attack Roll then that's one extra potential Wound to your Target. An Overwhelming Success on your Damage Roll also adds an extra Wound. That means if your Attack and Damage are both Overwhelming then you can deal three Wounds in a single attack.

It should be noted again that although a Riposte Attack is the result of an Overwhelming Success on a Dodge or Block Roll, it only threatens a single Wound against the Target. Two Wounds if your Damage Roll for the Riposte is Overwhelming.

On the other hand if you are hit but your Soak Roll is Overwhelmingly Successful then you may reduce the damage to you by two Wounds. You cannot have negative Wounds though so at best this will leave you in a Shaken state.

Shaken
You've seen Shaken mentioned a few times. Shaken means a character is off balance, at least mentally. It wouldn't take much to injure them in such a state and performing even simple tasks becomes impossible. While Shaken, a character cannot move faster than their Stride or use any Skill except Resolve to Recover from the Shaken state. If hit with an Attack while Shaken the character suffers another Wound.

As a Minor Action a character may attempt to Recover from their Shaken state. This requires a Resolve roll with the Will Trait. The number to beat is 4. Not always a simple task given all the Penalties that come with being Wounded.

While there is no advantage to an Overwhelming Success on your Recovery Roll, a Botch is disastrous. Botched Recovery Rolls mean that a character has slid from Shaken to Panicked. Panicked Characters will do anything to flee a situation and only fight if escape becomes impossible. This state continues until the danger has passed or the character is able to successfully Recover. Recovering from a state of Panic though does not return a character to normal, just to the Shaken state. Another successful Recovery Roll is required to end the Shaken state. Botching Recovery while in a state of Panic causes the character to become Incapacitated.

Morale, Resolve, & Intrigue
If a Shaken Target is easier to Wound then it's worthwhile to keep your Opponents Shaken, or even Panicked. The Intrigue System normally applies to negotiations but a Simple Intrigue, such as a Taunt, can put the Opponent off his guard. While it's unlikely you can use Persuasion to convince someone to change sides, it is plausible to Persuade them to throw down their weapons an surrender. Likewise someone could be Intimidated into a Shaken state, or a Shaken combatant driven to outright Panic.

Rather than a full Intrigue, this is a Contested Skill Roll against an Opponent. The Opponent must be able to understand what's being said. Rather than break the Target's Will as with a full Intrigue, you only need to beat their Resolve. The results depend upon what skill is used. This kind of Psychological warfare can give an edge in combat but it's still just words. While words can hurt, they certainly can't Wound, even if the Target's already Shaken. They can on the other hand help someone Recover from a Shaken or Panicked state. This falls under the same rules as a Skill Assist allowing characters in a tight spot to rely on their comrades for a helping hand.
 * Persuasion prompts the Opponent to surrender.
 * Intimidation puts the Opponent into a Shaken state or Panicked if they are already Shaken.
 * Taunt can only cause a Target to be Shaken but it also draws the attention of their next Attack.

Healing
Eventually you'll want to patch up your bleeding holes and without miracles on hand that costs time. And medical supplies. If you don't have medical supplies then it costs more time. Just how long it takes you to heal depends on your quality of medical care and bedrest. At the start of each new day the patient rolls his Body Trait against a certain difficulty. Success improves their Body Trait by one point up to their original maximum. A Botch reduces it by a level. Difficulty depends upon how competent the attending physician is with their Healing Skill. If the patient sticks to mostly bedrest and light activity they receive the full benefit. Those who don't use the next column to the right as the strain thwarts their physician's efforts. If there is no one with the Healing skill on hand and the patient refuses to rest then they cannot improve. This holds true for characters under hard exertion, no matter how good their care might be. Roll their Body Trait anyway to see if they Botch.

Mortally Wounded
If a character receives enough Wounds to reduce them to 0 for their Body Trait then they are Mortally Wounded. Mortally Wounded characters cannot perform any actions, which helpfully prevents them from exerting themselves. They also require medical care to improve at all. Until the patient recovers at least half their normal Body Trait (rounded up) they cannot leave their sick bed without help.

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