Combat

The world can be a dangerous place, especially when it is filled with monsters, magic, and villains of all stripes. Combat is a frequent occurrence for heroes.

Health, Damage, and Healing

Your character's general condition is represented by a series of wound slots with corresponding damage thresholds, and a stamina value. There are five types of wounds: light, moderate, severe, critical, and fatal. More severe wounds take longer to heal, and a fatal wound means death if not treated.

Wound Thresholds

Each wound level is associated with a specific numeric threshold to determine how much damage is needed to cause a wound of that level, as listed in the table to the right. When you take damage, subtract whatever Defense was targeted from the damage dealt before comparing the resulting final damage value to your wound thresholds. You gain a wound of the highest level whose threshold the damage exceeds or equals.

Damage received = Attack Roll + Damage Roll - Defense - Toughness.

Toughness

Your Toughness is subtracted from all damage you take before determining the final wound level. It is equal to your Vitality + Size plus any modifiers from armor worn or other equipment or abilities. Certain attacks bypass armor, so your base Toughness should be noted separately.

Wound Slots

Each wound level has a number of corresponding wound slots. Each time you receive a wound, fill one wound slot of that level. If all the slots of that level are already full, increase the wound's severity until there is an empty slot.

While you have at least one wound, you are considered wounded with a severity equal to your highest wound. For example, if you have 3 light wounds and 1 critical wound, you are considered critically wounded. The more wounded you are, the worse the effects and the slower you heal. A fatal wound will lead to death if not treated promptly. Certain effects apply only to characters that are wounded to a certain level. See the wounded condition for details.

You have a number of light wound slots equal to 5 + your Persona. Your moderate, severe, and critical wound slot counts are determined by your Vitality. All characters have only a single fatal wound slot.

NPCs and Wounds

Generally, monsters and other NPCs do not follow the rules for being staggered or fatally wounded unless the GM determines they are a special case and deserve special treatment (such as allies in combat, political leaders, or other important characters). Instead, NPCs are immune to the staggered condition and die immediately when they receive a fatal wound.

NPCs generally use simplified wound tracks to speed up play. Instead of Vitality-based slots, they have 1, 2, or 3 slots of each level from Moderate to Critical depending on whether they are a minion, standard, or elite NPC.

Stamina

Stamina represents your level of readily expendable energy. Your stamina pool begins with a value based on your race plus your Vitality. Many actions, such as running or using certain abilities, will reduce your current stamina. If an action or effect would reduce your stamina below 0, your stamina instead becomes 0 and you take fatigue equal to the excess stamina cost. You can continue to use abilities with a stamina cost in this way even when your stamina is 0.

Fatigue

Fatigue represents a longer-term drain on your stamina, and can be caused by spending more stamina than you have or by other forms of overexertion. Your maximum stamina is reduced by your fatigue level. Gaining fatigue has no effect on your current stamina unless your current stamina is higher than your new maximum, in which case it immediately decreases to match. You can recover from fatigue by resting. If your fatigue is greater than or equal to half your normal maximum stamina, you become exhausted. If it is greater than or equal to your normal maximum stamina, you become staggered.

Mana

Mana is a source of magical energy that is used to fuel spells, magical items, and certain abilities, and often functions similarly to stamina. Your mana pool begins with a value based on your race plus your Lore. All effects that use mana will either require spending it or investing it. Spending mana reduces your current total, which can be recovered by resting. When you invest mana, your current and maximum mana decrease by the same amount until you retrieve the invested mana, as that mana is placed into an object or tied up in a particular effect. Each effect specifies how invested mana is retrieved. Usually, it is either returned as soon as the effect ends, or can be retrieved at your option at the end of a long rest.

Resting

There are two categories of rest: short and long. A short rest lasts at least 15 minutes, while a long rest lasts 8 hours. You can take as many short rests as you like, but you can only gain the benefits of a long rest twice per day. While resting, you may not perform any activity more strenuous than casually walking around camp or preparing a simple meal. Any action that requres spending stamina or mana interrupts a rest. A long rest does not require that you sleep through it, but you cannot benefit from a long rest if you have not slept a full night's sleep within 24 hours of the end of the rest. Most characters require 8 hours of sleep minus half an hour for each point of Vitality, though certain races may require more or less.

Short Rest

A short rest recovers half of your current maximum stamina and mana, rounded down, after accounting for fatigue and invested mana. If you are lightly or moderately wounded, it also removes a single light wound.

Long Rest

A long rest can have several effects, depending on your condition when you start the rest. You cannot take a long rest if you are fatally wounded. Apply these benefits in order when you complete the rest:

1. If you are exhausted, you are no longer exhausted and recover all stamina and mana, but gain no other benefits from the long rest.
2. If you are lightly or moderately wounded, you heal all light wounds.
3. If you have fatigue, your fatigue is reduced by 5 + your Vitality - your highest wound level (1 for light, 2 for moderate, etc.), to a minimum of 1 if you are not wounded or 0 if you are.
4. If you are wounded, make one recovery check to heal a wound.
5. Recover all stamina and mana.

If you tend another character for at least two hours while they are taking a long rest, you may make a Lor [Healing/Wounds] check, substituting your check result for their recovery check if it is higher. You have a -5 penalty to your check if you do not have access to a healing kit. Time spent tending another character counts as strenuous activity.

Recovery Checks

Long rests and certain other special abilities can allow you to make a recovery check to heal wounds. A recovery check is a Vit check with a penalty equal to your current fatigue. Compare the result to the TNs in the table to the right to determine the highest wound level you can affect. You may select any wound up to that level, and the selected wound is reduced by one level, assuming there is an open slot of the next lower level. If the recovery check fails to heal any wounds, you gain a cumulative +1 bonus on all future recovery checks until a check results in a healed wound or you have no more wounds.

Interrupting a Rest

If a short rest is interrupted, you gain no benefits and must start over, resting for the full 15 minutes again. If a long rest is interrupted, provided that the interruption lasts no more than half an hour, you may resume the long rest and gain the normal benefits by adding an extra hour onto the remaining rest time. If a long rest is interrupted after at least 15 minutes, then you may apply all the benefits associated with a short rest for every 15 minutes that have passed.

Rolls in Combat

Combat is one of the most chaotic situations commonly represented in the game, and thus makes nearly constant use of the dice. All attack and defense rolls are wild rolls unless an ability indicates otherwise.

Attacks and Combat Checks

In order to make an attack, you must make an attack roll, which is usually a wild check using one of the main combat skills depending on what type of attack you are making. If the attack roll equals or exceeds the target's Defense, then the attack hits. In the case of a hit with a weapon attack, add your Strength and the weapon's damage value to your attack roll to determine the damage dealt. This value will then be modified by the target's Defense to determine the final damage and the wound level received, if any.

Combat checks function the same as attack rolls, except they don't result in damage and wounds, and may use a TN other than your target's Defense. They are differentiated by the word check following the type of check, as in melee weapon check or Power check. Combat checks never add weapon damage to the result.

• Melee weapon: Dex [Melee/Weapon group] + weapon's accuracy
• Ranged weapon: Dex [Aim/Weapon group] + weapon's accuracy
• Spell: Rsn [Arcana/Magic school]
• Power: Str [Athletics/Power + Size]
• Agility: Dex [Reflex/Agility - Size]
• Fortitude: Vit [Resistance/Fortitude]
• Willpower: Prs [Resistance/Willpower]

Penetrating Attacks

Some special attacks have the penetrating property. These attacks add their damage to the attack roll before determining a hit instead of only adding it after a successful hit.

Critical Successes and Failures

If you roll a critical success on an attack roll, your initiative is increased by 2 and your target's initiative is decreased by 2.

If you roll a critical failure on an attack roll, your initiative is decreased by 2.

Modifiers to Attack

Certain situations grant bonuses or penalties to your attack roll. The most common situations are given in the table to the right. Attack penalties for cover and prone or crouching targets do not stack; only the higher penalty applies. However, dropping behind a low wall can increase the effective level of cover. Penalties and bonuses do stack.

Flanking

When two or more hostile creatures are surrounding a target, that target becomes flanked as long as there is at least a 120-degree separation between any two of the surrounding creatures from the center of the target's space and those creatures are capable of attacking the target with their currently equipped weapons and within the first range increment if using ranged weapons. All attacks against a flanked creature benefit from the flanking bonus.

Ignoring Your Flank

At any time on your turn or as a free reaction when you first become flanked, you may choose to ignore specific creatures. All attacks coming from the ignored creatures are considered rear attacks and gain double the normal flanking bonus, but those creatures are ignored when determining whether or not you are flanked. Likewise, you cannot contribute to flanking an ignored creature. You can choose to stop ignoring a creature on your turn.

Defense

Your Defense determines how difficult it is to hit you with an attack roll and affects how much damage you take from a successful attack. Most attacks simply target your Defense, but this can actually mean different values depending on the situation. Melee attacks target your melee Defense and ranged attacks target your ranged Defense. Certain special attacks instead target skill defenses, as specified in the attack's description. If an effect immobilizes you, you replace your melee, ranged, and Agility defenses with your immobile defense. The formulas to calculate each type of Defense are given below.

• Melee Defense: 10 - Size + Speed + Reason + all weapon block bonuses. If Speed + Reason is less than -5, use -5 instead.
• Ranged Defense: 10 - Size + Speed + Reason + defensive weapon block bonuses. If Speed + Reason is less than -5, use -5 instead.
• Immobile Defense: 5 - Size.
• Power Defense: 10 + Strength + Size + Athletics + Power specialization.
• Agility Defense: 10 + Dexterity - Size + Reflex + Agility specialization.
• Fortitude Defense: 10 + Vitality + Resistance + Fortitude specialization.
• Willpower Defense: 10 + Persona + Resistance + Willpower specialization.

The Combat Sequence

Combat is divided into fifteen-second rounds. Each participant has one turn per round, with the order determined by their current initiative and potentially changing from round to round. Each participant also has a certain number of Action Points which are spent to move or perform various actions and reactions. In addition to defined actions, anyone can speak freely at any time, provided that it is no more than a few words that could fit into a fifteen-second period, and can perform actions that take a negligible amount of time, such as releasing a held object.

Action Points

Action Points (AP) determine how much you are able to do in a given round. You gain AP twice per round, once at the start of the round, and once at the end of your turn. The amount you gain at each point is based on your Speed as listed in the table below. Whenever you move or perform an action or reaction, you must spend AP equal to the action's AP cost. Unspent AP is carried over, but any AP gained in excess of your max AP as listed in the table is lost.

If you want to perform an action that costs more AP than you have, you can declare the action, spend all your current AP, and continue to spend all AP on each of your subsequent turns until the total cost has been spent, at which point the action takes effect. The action is canceled if you spend AP on anything else or you choose to cancel it. If an action has a time measured in rounds or minutes, then you spend all AP each round performing that action until the specified number of rounds have passed, with each minute equaling 4 rounds.

Many effects modify the AP cost of actions, but no effect can reduce an AP cost below 1 unless it specifically says it can, in which case it has a minimum AP cost of 0.

Initiative

Initiative determines when you act each round as well as how readily you are able to react to other characters' actions. At the start of combat or when you join an ongoing combat, make a Prc [Reflex/Initiative] check and add 5. Your starting initiative value is equal to the result. During a round, participants act in descending order of initiative scores. In case of a tie, the order is determined randomly each round. If an effect lowers your initiative score after you have already had your turn, you do not gain a second turn on the same round.

If your initiative is 0, you cannot take reactions and cannot take actions that would reduce your initiative. Your initiative cannot drop below 0.

Surprise

When a participant is caught unaware, they may be surprised by the start of combat. The GM determines who is at risk of being surprised and calls for a check if necessary. Most often, this is done by making the participants roll opposed checks of some sort such as Dex [Stealth/Hiding] and Prc [Stealth/Observation]. Frequently, there will be no risk for either side to be surprised, and on some occasions both sides may be at risk or one or both sides may automatically be surprised. If you are surprised, you cannot gain AP until after your first turn and you take a penalty to your initiative equal to 5 - your Perception. Creatures with a Perception higher than 5 cannot be surprised.

Using Actions and Reactions

On your turn, you can move and take any number of actions, provided you have the requisite AP. You may also take an action when it is not your turn if your initiative is higher than the active character's. Doing so reduces your initiative by 2. You may take this action at the start of the turn, the end of the turn, after an action is resolved, or immediately after an action is declared but before resolution has begun. If you interrupt after an action is declared, that action does not take place and the acting character does not spend its AP cost.

Reactions are a special type of action that you can take any time that its requirements are met, whether on your own turn or someone else's, regardless of your respective initiative scores. Taking a reaction has no effect on your initiative. Unless otherwise specified, a reaction takes place immediately after the effect that triggers it. You can only take a single reaction in response to a specific trigger.

Durations and Rounds

Some effects have durations measured in rounds. The round in which the effect begins counts as round 1, and the effect ends at the end of the round equal to its duration. For example, a spell with a 2-round duration will expire at the end of the next round after it is cast, regardless of when it is cast during the round. If the order in which effects end on a given round is important, the ones that have been active longer end earlier.

Movement

Just like actions, movement requires spending AP. A full movement costs 4 AP and moves you a number of yards equal to your movement rate, which is usually calculated based on your Strength + Size + Athletics, as shown in the table to the right. Certain creatures or NPCs may calculate movement rates differently, and some effects can grant new movement rates. You may spend fewer than 4 AP to move a proportionally shorter distance, up to the limits indicated in the table. Once AP is spent to move, you can divide the movement however you want for the remainder of the round. You can spend AP to increase your movement pool at any time, but any unspent movement is lost at the end of the round. You may move on another character's turn as if interrupting their turn with an action, except it does not lower your initiative.

A square or hexagonal grid, paired with miniatures or other tokens, can often be helpful for determining movement and position in combat, but is not strictly necessary. If you do use a grid, a typical creature occupies a 1-yard square or hex in combat in order to fight effectively. Particularly large or small creatures may occupy more or less space. If you are using a square grid, count every second diagonal movement as 2 yards instead of 1.

Difficult Terrain

Movement through certain areas requires more time or effort than normal. Each yard of movement in difficult terrain costs 2, 3, 4, or more yards worth of normal movement. If multiple modifiers apply (such as wading through water with mud on the bottom), multiply them together to determine the total cost.

While swimming, you add the speed and direction of the water's movement to your normal movement.

Jumping

To jump, first decide whether you are attempting a long jump or high jump, then make a Str [Athletics/Jumping] check. If you moved at least 5 yards leading up to the jump, you use your normal result and add your Speed. Otherwise, halve your result. If you are performing a long jump, you can jump a distance up to your check result in feet. If you are performing a high jump, you jump a maximum height of double your check result in inches. If you tuck your legs up during the jump, add half your height to determine the highest obstacle you can clear.

You cannot end a turn mid-jump. If you attempt to jump farther than you have AP available to move, you can declare your intent to jump and spend all your AP until the necessary amount has been spent, at which point the jump takes place. If an effect ends your turn when you are already in the air, then the jump completes regardless.

Landing in difficult terrain or on a slippery surface requires a Dex [Acrobatics/Balance] check to remain standing. If your long jump distance places you within one yard of a ledge, you may attempt to grab on with a Dex [Acrobatics/Gymnastics] check. TNs for both checks are set by the GM based on the slipperiness of the surface.

Actions

The most common actions and reactions in combat are divided into categories and listed below. Other actions are also possible at the GM's discretion.

Action stat blocks begin with whether it is an action or reaction, followed by the name of the action and the description of its effect below. The top right corner of the block shows the AP cost and may also show a stamina cost or an associated mana cost . If an action costs stamina, the stamina is spent when the action takes effect. If it requires mana, it must be invested in some way, dependent on the type of action. Reactions also specify a trigger that allows them to be used.

Offensive Actions

Common Actions

Movement and Positioning

Grappling

Miscellaneous

Performing Actions More Quickly

In some cases, you may be able to attempt to perform an action more quickly than the standard speed. This cannot be done for any attack action or spellcasting, but may be possible for movement-related actions such as mounting a horse or for other situations where you interact with the environment. You must feasibly be able to speed up the action, such as by jumping off a horse rather than climbing down normally, or putting forth extra effort and energy to turn a heavy crank faster than usual. In such cases, the GM will call for an appropriate check based on how you intend to speed up the action (often a Dex [Acrobatics] or Str [Athletics] check), and passing the check will reduce the AP cost of the action by 1 at the cost of 1 stamina. For every 3 points by which you beat the TN, the cost further decreases by 1. If you fail the check, at the GM's discretion, you may lose 1 AP plus 1 for every 3 points by which you failed depending on the action and what you were doing to make it faster. For example, you may attempt to leap from your horse only to get a foot caught in a stirrup and slow you down, or to fall to the ground and stumble, requiring you to take some extra time repositioning yourself.

Special Combat Situations

Adventurers often find themselves in combat in unusual locations or relying on less than ideal methods. Rules for some of these situations are given here.

Underwater Combat

Fighting underwater is difficult for any non-aquatic creature. While underwater, you use your immobile defense and cannot make ranged weapon attacks. When you make a melee attack, you must pay an extra 2 AP and have a -5 penalty to your attack roll, and all weapon damage is halved except from aquatic weapons. You still apply your full Strength damage modifier.

Fire spells and effects instead create an area of superheated water and steam. All fire damage is halved underwater. Anything that deals lightning damage has its normal effect and additionally deals damage to nearby creatures. The damage dealt in this expanded area is equal to the normal damage reduced by 1 for every foot away the creature is from the original area of effect. The creator of the lightning effect may be subject to this damage if close enough.

Swimming and Climbing

Fighting while trying to maintain a hold on a wall or trying to remain above water is especially challenging. Any time you make an attack roll, you must make a Str [Athletics/Climbing] or Str [Athletics/Swimming] check to not fall or sink underwater. If you fail the check, then your attack automatically misses. Additionally, whenever you take a wound, you must make another check at a -5 penalty for each wound level beyond light, falling or sinking on a failure. If you sink below the surface, you can return to the surface by making a successful Str [Athletics/Swimming] check on your turn as an action (AP Cost 4).

Mounted Combat

In order to act as a mount, a creature must be at least the size of its rider. Most mounts are 4 to 7 sizes larger. Creatures much larger than this typically act more as moving platforms than actual mounts. While riding a mount, you and your mount share a single turn, using the worse of your two initiative scores. You gain a +1 bonus to melee defense and melee attack rolls against any opponents of a size smaller than your mount unless they are also mounted on a creature at least as large as your mount, and you are considered 1 yard farther from creatures on the ground smaller than your mount. Controlling your mount's movement requires spending AP equal to that spent by the mount to move.

Mounts that are not trained for combat often pose a significant challenge to control, and require a Prs [Nature/Riding] check each time they or you are wounded or you come into reach of an enemy's melee weapon. Failing this check means you lose control of your mount, which will typically attempt to flee from battle by the most obvious route. You may attempt to regain control by making the same check as an action (AP Cost 8), with a -1 penalty for each enemy within 30 feet, and a +1 bonus for each consecutive action spent to calm the mount to a maximum of +5. The TN to control an average untrained horse is 5.

Trained mounts can be made to attack or perform other actions on command. You cannot control a sentient mount's movement or actions, though it may choose to follow your commands as a normal mount would. A sentient mount may optionally retain a separate initiative score and turn.