Combat Basics

Turn System & TS

Combat is run in a turn-based fashion, with players and NPCs taking turns spending TS (or Time Slices) to make maneuvers. You spend TS at the moment you make a maneuver and at the beginning of a round, you go back to your TS maximum. A round ends when each combatant has spent all of their TS.

At the beginning of combat, each character makes an initiative roll, which is a roll of 2d10+[Q]. (0s are 0s, not 10s) Combat order is decided from the highest initiative roll to the lowest initiative roll.

• Drawing or stowing a weapon takes 1 TS unless stated otherwise.

• Make a weapon attack: (3 TS) attacking with most weapons costs 3 TS, this can be done as may times as you have TS. You may make this maneuver as an interruption (on another combatant's turn or in response to another interruption) if an opponent moves or attacks within the attack range of one of your equipped weapons.

• Save TS: on your turn in a round, you may spend TS to use it later. You do not lose this TS at the end of your turn, however, it can still be spent to take maneuvers as an interruption.

• Move: you may spend TS to move at a rate of 1 TS per unit. 

• Cast a spell: spells cost a variable amount of TS depending on the spell. 

• Aim/Ready: if you have a weapon equipped, you can spend TS to increase your accuracy with it. This costs 2 TS per +1 to hit. 

• Reloading a firearm takes an amount of TS stated by the weapon.

You may choose to end your turn at any time, at which point any remaining TS is saved until the end of the round. If you still have TS at the end of a round it does not carry over to the next round.

Stat Rolls

Whenever an ability, boon, spell, or any other part of this system calls for a stat roll, it is referring to this:

A stat roll is a roll of 2d10s (0s are 0s, not 10s) + your bonus in that stat. (which is your stat minus 10)

Attacks

When a creature makes an attack, that creature makes a [V] roll, adding any bonuses or penalties to attack they might have. The creature targeted by the attack makes a defense roll. (described below) If the attacking creature's modified roll is higher than the target's defense total, the attacking creature hits.

When a creature rolls the maximum on both dice for an attack roll, a natural 18, two 9s, the target of that attack takes double damage. This damage multiplier can stack with the called shot multiplier, up to x3 damage. In technicality, damage multipliers simply add the base damage an additional time, which is why 2 double damage multipliers add up to x3, and three to x4. This can theoretically stack ad infinitum, but reasonably it won't be going above x4.

Whenever you make an attack, you can choose to make a called shot. These called shots are at a negative modifier, but they have additional effects:

• Called shot to the head: (-7) If the attack hits, the target takes double damage.

• Called shot to the heart: (-10) If the attack hits, the target takes double damage AND immediately starts dying. They remain conscious and can still take actions at -2, but they will die in 5 minutes unless the wound is attended to.

• Called shot to a limb: (-5) If the attack hits, it can deal a maximum of 1/3rd of the creature's max HP. (rounded down) If the attack deals more damage than the maximum damage, the limb is crippled if the damage was from a ranged attack and amputated if the damage was from a non-ranged attack. Creatures with crippled or amputated limbs cannot attack or cast spells with those limbs.

Damage

Whenever a combatant hits, it deals damage. (weapon damage is listed on the Equipment page)  A combatant who is hit first reduces the incoming damage by his DR, then reduces his HP by the amount of damage after DR reduction. This DR reduction happens after damage multipliers and additions are made. If a character would take damage that reduces him below 1 HP, he reduces his HP to 0 and is rendered unconscious and dying. If a non-player combatant is reduced to 0 HP, they die unless the damage is stated as nonlethal by the combatant who dealt it.

Dying

A character at 0 HP will die in 5 minutes if untended to, in this state he is dying. Another character can spend 3 TS tending to a dying character if they have a medical kit, doing so removes the dying condition and the character will not bleed out. A combatant can attack a dying character, this reduces the time it will take the character to die by 1 minute. The GM should keep track of dying combatants and how long they have before they die. If a character gains HP while dying, each point of HP adds to the timer by 1 minute, if the timer is increased to above 5 minutes they gain 1 HP for each additional point and are no longer dying. GMs who prefer a more cinematic campaign may have players who are healed from 0 HP become conscious.

Surprise Rounds

If one group of combatants could reasonably surprise another with the start of combat (GMs discretion) they initiate a surprise round. On a surprise round, members of the surprised group of combatants must make a [U] roll against the average [Q] of the group initiating the surprise round, any combatant that fails does not gain TS at the beginning of the round.

Defense

There are three kinds of defense rolls, they are made in response to an attack or spell targeted at a creature. All of these rolls can be modified by specific boons:

• Dodge, a roll with just your [Q] bonus. When you successfully dodge an attack, you may move 1 unit at no TS cost. This movement cannot be interrupted.

• Block, a [Q] roll with your shield bonus.

• Parry, a [Q] roll with your weapon bonus -3. 

Stagger

All combatants have a stagger threshold and gain stagger as they're hit in combat. When a creature is hit by an attack, they gain 1 stagger point. Once a creature has more stagger points than their stagger threshold, they are staggered, losing all current TS and are unable to block or parry attacks until the start of their next turn. Staggered creatures take 1 additional damage from every attack that hits them. When that creature's next turn starts. they return to 0 stagger points and are no longer staggered.

Damage multipliers effect stagger damage, meaning an attack with a x2 multiplier deals 2 stagger, and a x4 multiplier deals 4 stagger.

Choosing Points

Whenever an ability or effect tells you to choose a point, a point is the center of a unit within range.