Combat

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Contents 1 Combat 2 Initiative 3 Melee Combat 4 Ranged Combat 5 Magic Combat 6 Social Combat 7 Bare Knuckle Combat 8 Parry 9 Dodge 10 Critical Success 11 Critical Failure 12 Magic Resistance 13 Damage 14 Armor 15 Combat Maneuvers 16 Poisoning 17 Fire Damage 18 Electricity/Energy Damage 19 Wrestling and Grappling 20 Action of Opportunity 21 Size 22 Size and Accuracy 23 Size and Damage 24 Mounts in Combat

Combat

All combat rolls (unless stated by a specific rule) consist of rolling two dice and adding modifiers as necessary. Combat consists of opposed rolls (PC attack roll versus PC/NPC defense roll, PC attack roll versus PC/NPC defense roll, etc.). The highest roll wins. A tie results in the defense winning.

Initiative

In order to determine the order in which combat goes, each participant (both PCs and NPCs) roll 2d and add their Dexterity scores for physical attacks or 2d plus Wits for magical attacks . The highest roll goes first followed by the next highest and so on until the lowest roll. Initiative is rolled at the beginning of each round.

Whatever type of attack the character decides (either physical attack or magic attack), that type of attack must be committed to or the character cannot attack until the end of the round.

Example: Vaxuz rolls 2d6 + Wits intended to do a magic attack. For some reason, Vaxuz decides to do a weapon attack instead. Vaxuz automatically attacks last during that round because of his indecisiveness in battle.

Melee Combat

Characters roll 2d6 and add their Brute or Dexterity score plus their Melee score. The melee combat score is compared to the defense roll. The highest roll wins.

Ranged Combat

Characters roll 2d6 and add their Dexterity score plus their Ranged score. The ranged combat score is compared to a TN based on the difficulty of the shot. If the ranged attack is equal to or exceeds the TN, the strike is on target. The defender may attempt to Parry or Dodge the attack. This results in an opposed roll against the ranged strike. The highest roll wins.

In order to find the Ranged TN, begin with a base TN of 10 and apply modifiers to determine the final TN of the ranged attack.

• Attacker is static -1
• Target at close range -1
• Target at medium range +1
• Target at long range +2
• Attacker aims -3 (1 turn required)
• Wind (light) +1
• Wind (moderate) +2
• Wind (severe) +3
• Attacker is moving +2
• Target is moving +2

Magic Combat

Characters roll 2d6 and add their Wits score plus their Magic score. The magic attack score is compared to a defensive roll (either a dodge roll with a -4 penalty or a resist magic roll). The highest roll wins

Social Combat

Characters roll 2d and add their Charisma score plus their Social score. The social combat score is compared to the opposing social combat score. The highest roll wins.

Bare Knuckle Combat

Bare Knuckle Combat is combat in which weapons are not used (fists, kicks, etc.). Roll 2d and add Brute and Melee.

Parry

Melee attacks can be parried by making an opposed melee combat roll (2d6 + Brute or Dexterity + Melee). (Whether Brute or Deteirty is used as the variable depends on the weapon being used to parry.)

A parry against a weapon can only be made if the character is holding a melee weapon or shield. A parry (block) can be made if the attacker is using a bare knuckle attack. If the parry roll exceeds the attack roll, the parry is a success and no damage is done.

• A shield can be used to Parry a ranged attack with no penalty.

• Melee weapons and bare knuckles cannot be used to Parry against a ranged attack.

• Magic attacks can be parried only if it is specified in the spell.

Dodge

Characters can dodge any type of attack (some with penalties). In order to dodge, roll 2d6 and add the character's Dexterity score plus the attribute for the type of attack being dodged (melee, ranged or magic). If the dodge roll exceeds the attack roll, the dodge is a success. A successful dodge indicates that the character has jumped out of the way (either to the side or back).

Critical Success

If the total of the roll exceeds the TN or the Opposed Roll by 6 or more, the roll is considered to be a Critical Success. Critical successes carry bonuses based on the type of attack used.

Weapon Critical indicates what extra damage the weapon does on a critical hit. There are several types of critical hits; Chop, Impale, Slice and Crush. Certain weapons do more damage to some targets than others.

• Bare Knuckle indicates that no weapon is used (punches and kicks). On a critical success a Bare Knuckle attack does double damage with a potential for KO. Both the attacker and defender roll their Brute scores. If the attacker's score exceeds the defenders score by an MoS of +6 or more, there is a chance that KO occurs.

• Chop indicates that the weapon is used primarily for chopping and that on a critical it will do double the weapon's damage directly to the targets Health as indicated by the weapon. If a critical hit occurs on a creature of smaller size, then the body part is immediately severed.

• Impale indicates that the weapon is used to puncture and penetrate and on a critical hit the weapon will do extra damage (equal to the base damage of the weapon) as well as stick into the target.

• Slice indicates that the weapon is used primarily for slicing and on a critical hit, the weapon will do extra damage (equal to the base damage of the weapon).

• Crush indicates that the weapon is blunt and primarily used to smash and crush. On a critical hit, a Crush weapon will do extra damage (equal to the base damage of the weapon). If the target is of a smaller size than the attacker, the bones inside the targets hit area will be crushed from the impact.

Critical Failure

If the total of the roll is less than 0, the roll is considered a Critical Failure and an Action of Opportunity is presented.

Magic Resistance

Magic attacks can be resisted by the character rolling 2d6 and adding their Wits score plus their Magic score. If the magic resistance roll exceeds the attack roll, the resistance is a success and the spell has no effect.

Damage

Damage occurs when the attacker's roll exceeds the defender's roll. The amount of damage done is determined by subtracting the defender's roll from the attacker's roll and adding the weapon damage. This means that higher defensive rolls reduce damage while lower rolls increase damage. Damage is subtracted from the target's Life score. Death occurs when the target's Life score is reduced to less than 0.

Example: Vicker has an attack roll of 12 and his weapon deals 4 damage. Fiben has a defense roll of 9. Subtract 9 from 12 to get a 3 and add the weapon damage of 4. The total damage done is 7.

Armor

All armor has an Armor Rating. The Armor Rating absorbs a specific amount of damage reducing the amount of damage done directly to the targets Life. Any damage that is not absorbed is subtracted from the target's Life score. Armor is covered in more detail in the Weapons and Armor section.

Combat Maneuvers

A PC may purchase a Combat Maneuver with XP. Combat Maneuvers begin at +1 and have a maximum of +5. In order to purchase a Combat Maneuver, a character must have a proficiency with the weapon to which the maneuver is being purchased. On order to execute a Combat Maneuver, the player describes what the character does for that turn during combat. Dice are rolled as normal with the Combat Maneuver applied. In order to execute a Combat maneuver, the character must spend Exhaustion Points equivalent to the level of the Combat Maneuver (if the Maneuver bonus is +2, 2 Exhaustion Points are required to successfully gain the maneuver bonus).

A character may execute a maneuver at or below the level of the Combat Maneuver.

Example: Damen has an Attack Damage Bonus of +3 but wishes to only gain a bonus of +1. Damen spends 1 Exhaustion Point for a +1 Combat Maneuver bonus. In this case, the bonus would be applied to damage.

Combat Maneuvers are fairly generic and cover a wide range of situations. It is up to the player to describe the exact maneuver in order to be able to gain the bonus.

• Attack Damage Bonus: A bonus to damage is gained.

• Attack Strike Bonus: A bonus to hit the target is gained.

• Parry Bonus: A bonus is gained to parry.

• Dodge Bonus: A bonus is gained to dodge.

Poisoning

Poisoning can take place in combat in one of three ways; a weapon is poisoned, a natural poison (like a spider bite), or magical poisoning. Weapon poisoning and natural poisoning occur automatically with Critical Hits. Poison can only be applied to bladed weapons (because it must enter the blood).

Example: Dodo is using a poisoned blade. Dodo makes a critical hit against his opponent. Since the hit was critical, the poison is automatically applied. The poison on the blade does +2 damage per minute. Dodo’s critical hit did 5 damage +2 poison for a total of 7 points of damage. The poison will continue its effects throughout its duration or until it is cured.

Once a target is poisoned, subsequent poisonings with the same poison will not yield any greater damage. If a different poison is applied, to the target, the damage from the first poisoning should be added to that of subsequent poisonings.

Fire Damage

A normal fire (1 sq. foot) burns at 4 points of damage per round. Fires should be considered to burn until all combustible material has been consumed or until the fire is put out.

Electricity/Energy Damage

Electricity Damage will do double damage to creatures wearing metal armor. This double damage is only to be applied if more that 1/3 of the targets body is covered in metal.

Wrestling and Grappling

To successfully get an opponent in a wrestling or grappling hold, roll 2d6 and add the dexterity score. The opponent may dodge by making a normal dodge roll. If the attacker is successful, a grapple has occurred. To maintain the hold, roll 2d6 and add the brute score each round the hold is applied. If the defender's roll exceeds the attacker's roll at anytime, the hold is broken.

Action of Opportunity

An Action of Opportunity is presented in combat whenever a Critical Failure occurs. The action of opportunity is basically a free turn which is presented due to the adversaries mistake.

Example: Hodo attempts to attack Gaba and critically fails his roll (meaning his total score is less than 1). Gaba is then presented with an action of opportunity because of Hodo’s less than stellar attempt.

The Action of Opportunity is gained by the target of the intended attack (the attack that ended in a critical failure).

Size

A creature’s size plays an important role in determining certain combat modifiers. A creature’s size is base don a very simple rating system of pluses and minuses. The following is a list of some basic sizes.

Size -4: Nymph/Fairy

Size -2: Gremlin

Size -1: Nain Jack

Size 0: Morin, Numan, Furmas, Orka

Size 1: Goblin

Size 2: Elf

Size 3: Troll

Size 5: Ettin

Size 7: Drake

Size 10: Dragon

Size and Accuracy

Size Modifiers are applied to all Melee, Ranged and Magic combat rolls. The attacker applies the modifier of the target creature based on the creature’s size. This modifier is added to the attack roll.

Example: Jobo the PC is performing a melee attack against a Nymph. Because the Nymph is so small, Job takes a -4 modifier on his attack roll.

Creatures of the same size receive no modifier to hit.

Size and Damage

Size modifiers can also be applied to Melee damage. If the attacker’s size exceeds that of the defender, the size modifier is added.

Example: Jobo successfully hits the Fairy. Since Jobo is larger than the Fairy by 4 sizes, Jobo adds a +4 to his total damage score.

Let’s say a Drake successfully hits a fairy. Since the Drake has a size of 8 and the Fairy a size of -4, the Drake would receive a +12 to the damage total with a melee attack.

Creatures of the same size receive no modifier to damage.

Mounts in Combat

Basic Mount Rules

• Melee attacks from a mounted position (moving) gain a +2 bonus.
• Melee attacks from a mounted position (stationary) gain a +1 bonus.
• Ranged attacks from a mounted position (moving) receive a -2 penalty.
• Ranged attacks from a mounted position (stationary) have no modifier.
• Magic attacks from a mounted position have a -4 modifier (due to inability to completely concentrate).
• Falling from a mount result in 1-3 points of damage

In order to successfully mount a creature, the creature must first be tamed. The PC mounting the creature must have the required taming skill in order to be able to control the mount. The skill needed to control the mount is equal to the skill needed to Tame the creature.

If the Mount suffers damage the rider is forced to make a control roll. If more than half of the mount's Life points have been lost to damage, the rider is forced to make a control equal to that of the Taming TN.

Example: A Centipede has a Tame rating of 4/12 (meaning an Animal Taming score of 4 is required to successfully mount the creature). If the Centipede loses more than half of it's Life points the rider must make a Control check against the Taming TN which in the case of a Centipede is 12.

If the rider loses control of the mount the consequences are based on the Margin of Error (MoE) of the control check). To find the MoE, subtract the control check from the control TN.

Example: Boog must make a control check because his centipede has lost half it's Life points. Boog has an Animal Taming score of +4 and needs a 12 in order to keep his centipeded under control. Boog rolls 2d6 (5) and adds his Animal Taming score (+4) for a total score of 9 which results in a failure to keep the centipede under control. The MoE of the control roll is 3 (the TN was 12 and the roll was 9). Find the MoE on the loss of control chart for the consequences.

Loss of Control Chart (Mounts)

MoE	Result
1-2	The mount has temporarily gone out of control. Control can be regained by making another control check on the next turn.
3-4	The rider has lost control of the mount and can attempt to bring the mount under control by making a control check with a -1 penalty on the next turn. The rider must make a Dexterity check against a TN of 8 or be thrown from the mount.
5-6	The mount moves and bucks wildly. The rider has lost control of the mount and can attempt to bring the mount under control by making another control check with a -2 penalty on the next turn. The mount may attack random targets while out of control. The rider must make a Dexterity check against a TN of 10 or be thrown from the mount.
7+	The mount moves and bucks wildly. The rider has lost control of the mount and can attempt to bring the mount under control by making another control check with a -3 penalty on the next turn. The mount will attempt to buck the rider while it moves at full speed in a random direction. Anything in the path of the mount will be attacked (or trampled if applies) while the mount is out of control. The rider must make a Dexterity check against a TN of 12 or be thrown from the mount.

Riders cannot attack or defend while attempting to bring a mount under control. If a mount has lost control, the rider may attack or defend with a penalty of -3. However, the mount will remain out of control until the rider is able to make another control check to bring the mount under control.