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The Mechanics of Combat

Rolling Initiative

When you first begin combat, each combatant will make an Initiative roll to decide the turn order. An Initiative roll's dice pool is Speed + Reflexes, but rather than counting the number of successes against a difficulty, the result is simply the sum of all dice rolled. The order of turns is decided by each combatant's total, from highest to lowest. If there's a tie, each of those combatants rolls another 1d10, with the higher roll getting the earlier turn. Repeat this until all ties have been resolved.

 

When a new character enters combat, they will roll initiative before any other turns are taken and placed into the turn order. If their roll is higher than the next combatant in the turn order, they will take their turn immediately, then return to their normal position in the next round.

Actions

Each turn, a combatant has two actions that they can perform - a Major Action and a Minor Action. Basic examples of each are given below. Powers will also have a required action type listed.

 

Major Actions

  • Make a Basic Attack

  • Summon a cryture adjacent to you

  • Use any minor action

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Minor Actions

  • Move a number of spaces equal to your speed

  • Shift 1 space

  • Recall a cryture

  • Transfer 1 Mana to a cryture you've summoned

Moving, Shifting, Pushing, Pulling and Sliding

Sometimes you may be instructed to move as part of a power or another combat effect. Some effects may also force movement on the targets. There are multiple types of movement, each of which have their own rules that apply. The rules text will always specify which type of movement to use, as follows.

Move

This is the standard way of moving in combat - a brisk walk or a light jog. A move provokes an opportunity attack when you leave a space that’s adjacent to an enemy.

Shift

A shift is a careful or sudden movement - something that’s difficult to take advantage of. Shifting does not provoke opportunity attacks at any time.

Push

A push is a type of forced movement that moves the target away from the origin. The attacker must move the target in as much of a straight line as possible, and it must end up further away from the origin than it started. If there aren't enough spaces to push the full distance, the target takes 3 damage for each space left. Pushing does not provoke opportunity attacks.

Pull

This type of forced movement brings the target closer. When you pull a target, it must move in the straightest line possible, and end up closer to the origin than when it started, if possible. A pull does not provoke an opportunity attack.

Slide

A slide lets you force movement however you want. There are no requirements on how the target moves or where it ends up with a slide, and it also does not provoke an opportunity attack.

Reading a Power

Combat powers are formatted a certain way to streamline gameplay. Each line describes a certain quality of the power in a shorthanded terminology, described below. If a power doesn't require a certain line, such as a cost, that line will simply be omitted from the entry.

 

Cost: This line describes the resources that the user must expend to use the power. These resources are usually things like Stamina or Mana, which is always indicated after the number. 

 

Type: This is the type of the power, for weakness and resistance purposes. 

 

Action: This is the type of action required to use the power. It will be listed simply as "Major Action," "Minor Action," or "Concentrated Action."

 

Range: This line details how far away a target can be and how large the affected area is. The kind of range also determines whether it provokes an opportunity attack or not. The different kinds are described below.

 

Melee X - A Melee power does not provoke an opportunity attack, regardless of the range. The X value indicates how far away a target can be from the user. For melee attacks, X is usually 1, but some have longer ranges. A melee power can’t reach beyond its X value.

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Ranged X - A Ranged power always provokes an opportunity attack from engaged enemies. The target can be up to X spaces away, but powers that require a roll may extend beyond that range by taking a -1 die modifier for each additional space.

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Personal - A Personal power only targets the user, unless it is also a Blast, as explained below. Personal powers don't provoke opportunity attacks. 

 

Blast Y - A Blast power indicates that the power affects every person in an area, rather than a single target. The Y value of a blast indicates how many spaces from the origin point the area extends. This type combines with the others to indicate where the origin point of the blast is. 

 

Personal Blast Y - For Personal Blast powers, the origin point is centered on the user, and the effect of the power always excludes the user, unless stated otherwise. 

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Ranged X Blast Y - Ranged Blast powers have their origin point centered on the targeted space within the X value. Like normal ranged powers, its range can be extended by taking a -1 die modifier on the die roll for each space beyond X.

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Melee Blast Y - A Melee Blast power always has the blast area adjacent to the user. Effectively, this means that the origin point is Y +1 spaces away from the user. For all other purposes, however, the user of the power is considered the origin point.

 

Attack: This line shows the stats that combine to form the dice pool of the attack, as well as the target's stat that is used as the difficulty. 

 

Roll: This line functions just like the attack line, but is used for non-offensive powers.

 

Hit: This is where the effects of a successful attack are listed. Attacks usually deal a set amount of damage for each hit (or success). Some may have additional effects that happen on a hit as well. Additional hits only count for extra effects if specifically stated.

 

Success: This line functions just like the hit line, but is used for non-offensive powers.

 

Crit: Here are the extra effects of rolling a 10 on one of your dice. Most crit effects will add an extra hit, at least, and some inflict status effects as well. The effects in a crit line are cumulative if you roll multiple 10s in the same pool.

 

Effect: An effect line usually appears at the end of a power, and the effects listed here happen regardless of whether an attack hits or not.

Opportunity Attacks

An opportunity attack is a basic melee attack that a combatant can perform outside of their turn. As described in the previous section, these attacks are triggered by certain circumstances in combat.

 

You provoke an opportunity attack when you -

  • Move (without shifting) while adjacent to an enemy 

  • Use a ranged power while adjacent to an enemy

Attack Bonuses and Penalties

Some situations are universally good or bad for making attacks in. In the game system, this is handled by giving roll modifiers to the attack rolls when these situations are present. If multiple situations are present, all the modifiers stack, but if there are multiple iterations of the same situation, they only count once.

 

An attacker gets a +2 roll modifier on attacks when -

  • There is an ally adjacent to, and on the opposite side of, the target 

  • They are at a higher elevation than the target 

  • The target can't see them

  • The target is weak to the attack’s type

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An attacker gets a -2 roll modifier on attacks when -

  • They are at a lower elevation than the target

  • The target is behind cover

  • The target is obscured

  • The target is resistant to the attack’s type

Statuses

Some combat effects are able to inflict certain conditions on combatants, known as statuses. Each status has a duration of either 1 turn, which ends when the affected combatant’s next turn is over, or 5 minutes, which is assumed to be the length of the combat encounter. Some statuses can stack multiple instances of itself, giving an accumulated modifier. Usually, these statuses max out at 5 stacks, which is indicated in the “Stacks” entry of the description. The effect of a status may also say that it negates a certain other status. In this case, if the target is affected by the negated status, both the new status and the old status cancel each other out.

 

The different statuses that may affect a combatant are as follows.

 

Block

Duration: 1 Turn

Stacks: Unlimited

Effect: When a combatant with stacks of Block is hit by an attack, negate 1 hit for each stack of Block they have, then remove one stack for each hit that was negated.

Clumsy

Duration: 5 minutes

Effect: When a Clumsy combatant rolls 1 on an attack, it takes 3 damage per miss.

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Distracted

Duration: 1 Turn

Effect: A Distracted combatant can't make opportunity attacks.

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Empowered

Duration: 5 minutes

Stacks: 5

Effect: An Empowered combatant makes an attack roll, it gets a +1 roll modifier per stack. Negates the Weakened status.

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Hardened

Duration: 5 minutes

Stacks: 5

Effect: When an attack roll is made against a Hardened combatant, the attacker gets a -1 roll modifier per stack. Negates the Softened status.

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Hastened

Duration: 5 minutes

Effect: A Hastened combatant gets +3 speed. Negates the Slowed status.

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Regenerating

Duration: 5 minutes

Effect: A Regenerating combatant regains health at the end of each of its turns equal to 1/10 of its maximum Health, rounded down.

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Slowed

Duration: 5 minutes

Effect: A Slowed combatant treats all spaces as difficult terrain. Negates the Hastened status.

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Softened

Duration: 5 minutes

Stacks: 5

Effect: When an attack roll is made against a Softened combatant, the attacker gets a +1 roll modifier per stack. Negates the Hardened status.

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Stunned

Duration: 1 turn

Effect: A Stunned combatant loses its Minor Action on its next turn.

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Weakened

Duration: 5 minutes

Stacks: 5

Effect: When a Weakened combatant makes an attack roll, it gets a -1 roll modifier per stack. Negates the Empowered status.

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Wounded

Duration: 5 minutes

Effect: A Wounded combatant takes damage at the end of each of its turns equal to 1/10 of its maximum Health, rounded down.

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