Combat

Initiative

initiative represents the focus of combat at any given moment, marking who holds the spotlight to act. It is passed like a baton among the characters over the course of a fight.

Triggering Initiative

When combat begins, a PC who is not surprised, chosen by the players, starts with the initiative . If every PC is surprised, then an opponent chosen by the GM starts with the initiative instead.

Combat Actions

When has the initiative , a character may take, in any order, one major action , one minor action , and one movement .

Major Action

A character can use their major action to:

• Take an overcome obstacle action, such as attacking an opponent or casting a spell.
• Take a create opportunity action, such as distracting an opponent or manipulating the battlefield.
• Retrieve an item from their backpack .
• Activate the effect of a magic ring .

Minor Action

A character can use their minor action to:

• Shout a command.
• Draw or stow a weapon.
• Drop or pick up an item from the ground.
• Retrieve an item from a pocket or belt pouch.
• Retrieve a potion from a pocket or belt pouch and drink it.
• Activate the effect of an Power Item .
• Perform a miracle .

Movement

A character can use their movement to:

• Move up to the limit of their speed.
• Stand up, if prone .

A character may take a major action or a minor action while moving.

Passing the Initiative On

Once they have acted, the character must pass the initiative on to another character:

KEEPING THE INITIATIVE: If a character makes a skill check as part of their major action and the die result is even, they keep the initiative on their side. In that case, they pass the initiative to an ally of their choice, prioritizing characters who have not yet acted in the combat.

LOSING THE INITIATIVE: If a character does not make a skill check as part of their major action , or does but the die result is odd, they must pass the initiative to the opposing side.

Turn

During combat, a turn is the span of time in which one side of the fight holds the initiative . A turn begins for a character when the initiative is passed to their side and ends when it is lost.

PER-TURN EFFECTS: A condition or effect that occurs per turn affects the target whenever the initiative returns to their side, and ends after a set number of turns have passed for them.

Attacking

To attack with a weapon, the character takes an overcome obstacle action using the appropriate Fight with [Weapon] specialization against an opponent within their reach.

If they succeed on the skill check , they deal the weapon's damage to the opponent; otherwise, they miss the target and deal no damage at all.

Counterattacks

Certain equipment or abilities can allow a character to make a counterattack, that is, an attack in response to an opponent's attack. In such cases, a counterattack cannot be triggered by another counterattack.

Defending

When targeted by an attack, a character may offer resistance to that attack, imposing a difficulty on the opponent's check. They can use the Dodge skill against melee physical attacks, or Shield against any physical attack, whether melee or ranged.

Creating Opportunities

Not every character needs to attack to be useful in combat. Drained mages, bards, rogues, and creative allies can use create opportunity actions to shape the battle without dealing damage directly.

Some examples include:

• Creating sound or visual distractions to draw opponents' attention away.
• Manipulating the environment by toppling objects to hinder their movement.
• Taunting or intimidating opponents to make them hesitate or shift the focus of their actions.
• Signaling to coordinate attacks and help allies position themselves better.
• Playing a musical instrument to sway the morale of allies or opponents.

Health, Stamina, and Protection

To measure how much damage a character in combat can take before dying, there are three attributes that work in layers:

Protection

This represents the layers of armor the character is wearing. A character's Protection is determined by the sum of the Protection granted by each layer of armor they have on.

For every 6 points of Protection , the character has a negative chance on skill checks that suffer a Protection Penalty.

If a character's Protection reaches zero, they become unprotected and begin taking damage to their Stamina .

At the end of each combat, the character's Protection is fully restored.

Stamina

This represents the character's breath and energy to avoid wounds . A character loses Stamina when they make an extreme effort to avoid taking a lethal blow. A character's maximum Stamina equals their current Health value.

If a character's Stamina reaches zero, they become exhausted and begin taking wounds .

Health

This represents the character's flesh and blood. A character's maximum Health equals 6 + (2 × Physique ).

When damage taken cannot be absorbed by their Protection or Stamina , the character suffers a wound , which reduces their current Health value.

For every 6 points of Health that has been reduced, the character has a negative chance on any skill check .

If a character's Health reaches zero, they die.

Wounds

Any damage that reaches Health inflicts a wound on the character with a severity equal to the value of the damage taken. The sum of the severity of all wounds is subtracted from the character's Health .

Wounds are classified according to their severity, and can be mild, moderate, or severe:

A wound's severity can gradually increase in step with its seriousness:

MILD WOUNDS: Superficial cuts and bruises. They hurt and get in the way, but do not worsen without new trauma. The severity of a mild wound does not increase naturally.

MODERATE WOUNDS: Serious injuries with bleeding, dislocation, or mild concussion that tend to inflame and worsen over time. The severity of a moderate wound increases by 1 at the end of each day.

SEVERE WOUNDS: Critical trauma: hemorrhage, open fracture, or deep wound that poses a real risk of collapse, infection, and death if ignored. The severity of a severe wound increases by 2 at the end of each day.

Recovering from Wounds

Once per day, during a long rest , a character may choose one of their wounds to try to recover from and/or keep its severity from increasing. To do so, they make a Physique check with a difficulty equal to 7 + the wound's current severity. The outcome varies according to the seriousness of the wound:

MILD WOUNDS: Reduces the severity by 1, instead of leaving it unchanged.

MODERATE WOUNDS: Reduces the severity by 1, instead of increasing it by 1.

SEVERE WOUNDS: The severity remains unchanged, instead of increasing by 2. Severe wounds only recover if they receive some form of treatment.

Treating Wounds

The character, or someone assisting them, can try to treat a wound to ease its recovery through a Treat Wounds check with a difficulty equal to 7 + the wound's current severity. Beyond the check, treating a wound requires the use of a bandages for cutting and piercing wounds, or a splint for blunt wounds.

On a success, the wound heals as though it were one category lower, that is, a severe wound heals like a moderate wound and a moderate wound heals like a mild wound .

Rest and Recovery

SHORT REST: Once per shift , a character can take a short rest of a few minutes to catch their breath. During a short rest, they recover 1d6 + Physique points of Stamina .

LONG REST: When they sleep a good night's rest, a character recovers all of their Stamina . In addition, they can try to recover from a wound of their choice according to the rules described above.

Combat Maneuvers

Disarm

A character can use their major action to disarm an opponent. To do so, they make a Fight with [Weapon] check with a difficulty equal to 7 + the opponent's Fight with [Weapon] skill.

On a success, the weapon falls in a random direction 5 feet away from the disarmed character per success level of the check.

Dash

Once they have used up all of their speed, a character can use their major action to move beyond its limit. To do so, they make an Agility or Athletics check against difficulty 8.

On a success, they move 5 feet for each success level of the check. On a failure, they not only fail to move but also become exposed until their next turn .

Grapple, Knock Down, or Push

A character can use their major action to grapple an opponent, throw them to the ground, or push them. To do so, they make a Physique or Fight Unarmed check with a difficulty equal to 7 + the opponent's Physique , Fight Unarmed , or Dodge . On a success, the character chooses one of the effects below:

GRAPPLE: The target becomes grappled . To break free, the grappled character can use their major action to make a Physique check with a difficulty equal to 7 + the Physique or Fight Unarmed of the grappling character. On a success, they break free.

KNOCK DOWN: The target is thrown to the ground and becomes prone . The prone character can use their movement to stand up.

PUSH: The target is pushed back 5 feet for every 2 success levels of the check.

Charge

When a character makes an attack at the end of a move, they can gain +1 on the damage ladder of that attack for every 10 feet traveled in a straight line. However, if they do so, they become exposed until their next turn .

Combat Tactics

Critical Damage

On rolling a critical success on an attack roll, the character may choose to deal extra damage equal to the maximum damage value of that attack, instead of gaining a Boon . The Physique bonus applied to medium and large weapons and the damage bonus of the second weapon, if the character is fighting with two weapons, are not included in this extra damage calculation and should be added only once to the final result.

Since NPCs do not gain Banes , they apply this critical damage automatically whenever they roll a critical success .

Sneak Attack

Melee attacks against unaware opponents have a positive chance to hit and are always treated as a critical hit . For ranged attacks, in addition to the above, the opponent does not add their skill to avoid the attack, that is, the difficulty to hit them is always 7.

If the target is completely helpless, then in addition to being treated as a critical hit , the attack always hits and deals the maximum possible damage.

Opportunity Attack

When a character moves out of the reach of an enemy wielding a melee weapon, they allow that enemy to immediately make an attack against them.

This attack is treated as a counterattack and does not trigger further counterattacks .

Avoiding Opportunity Attacks

A character can move out of an enemy's reach without triggering an opportunity attack , but in doing so their speed is halved.

Half Cover

Ranged attacks against a character partially hidden behind an object have a negative chance to hit.

Full Cover

Ranged attacks require a line of sight to be made. No character can be the target of a ranged attack if there is an obstacle completely blocking the shooter's line of sight.

In addition, when leaving full cover, the character exposes themselves, allowing enemies to immediately make a ranged attack against them.

Mounted Combat

While mounted:

• The character is treated as being on higher ground .
• The character adds the mount's Defense to their skill to defend against attacks, but the mount can also be targeted by attacks (in which case it uses only its own Defense ).
• The character uses the mount's speed.
• The mount acts using the rider's major action and minor action .
• If the rider or the mount takes damage, the rider must pass a Ride [Animal] check with a difficulty equal to 7 + the damage taken to avoid being thrown off.

Fighting with Two Weapons

If fighting with two weapons, one in each hand:

• The character makes a single skill check using the Fight with [Weapon] specialization of the weapon in their dominant hand, that is, the main weapon.
• On a hit, the character deals extra damage equal to the damage of the off-hand weapon.
• If either weapon is medium or large, the character becomes exposed .

Higher Ground

A character has a positive chance to hit when making an attack from higher ground.

Numerical Advantage

A character gains a positive chance on their attack roll if their target is within melee range of another opponent.

Special Situations

Difficult Terrain

To avoid the setback of difficult terrain, a character must pass an Athletics or Agility check with a difficulty equal to 7 + 1 for every 5 feet of difficult terrain they are trying to cross. On a success, they cross without trouble. On a failure, they suffer the setback. If the setback prevents them from continuing, they are left partway through.

Some examples of setbacks for an area of difficult terrain are:

SLIPPERY: The character becomes prone .

ENSNARING: The character becomes restrained .

HAZARDOUS: The character takes 1 damage for every 5 feet crossed.

EXHAUSTING: The character takes 1 fatigue damage for every 10 feet crossed.

Falling

A fall inflicts a wound with a severity equal to 1 for every 5 feet fallen. The character can make an Agility check against a difficulty equal to 7 + the severity of the wound to halve it, rounding up.

Attacking While Falling

When a character makes an attack against an opponent at the end of a fall, they can gain +1 on the damage ladder of that attack for every 5 feet fallen.

If they do so, they can use the attack roll result to reduce the severity of the fall damage instead of making an Agility check .

Suffocation and Drowning

A character can hold their breath underwater or in airless environments for 1 minute per level of Physique . After that, they take 1d6 fatigue damage per minute without breathing.

Fire

When a character comes into contact with fire or another intense source of heat, they suffer a wound that worsens as long as they remain in contact with the fire. The severity of this wound increases each turn .

The wound's base value and how much it worsens depend on the heat source:

Necrotic Damage

Some monsters and spells deal necrotic damage, a type of damage that rots the victim's body.

Necrotic damage is always treated as direct damage . In addition, wounds caused by this type of damage do not recover naturally, requiring some form of magical treatment such as a miracle or healing potion .

Divine Damage

Divine damage is always treated as critical damage against the undead.

Poisons

Every poison has a potency. On coming into contact with the poison, the character must make a Physique check with a difficulty equal to 7 + the poison's potency. On a success, they suffer only its partial effect; otherwise they suffer the full effect. The most common types of poisons are:

Hallucinogens

Those that warp perception and judgment, leaving the target vulnerable and unpredictable.

PARTIAL EFFECT: Has a negative chance on any check related to discerning reality for 1d3 hours.

FULL EFFECT: Has a negative chance on any check related to discerning reality and becomes confused for 1d3 hours.

Caustics

Those that cause intense pain and direct physical damage through injury to mucous membranes and organs.

PARTIAL EFFECT: Takes 2d3 direct damage .

FULL EFFECT: Takes 2d6 direct damage .

Inoculant

Those whose strength lies in entering the flesh and blood, not in ingestion.

PARTIAL EFFECT: Takes 1d6 fatigue damage .

FULL EFFECT: Takes 1d6 fatigue damage immediately and another 1d3 per turn . When has the initiative , the character can spend a major action to try to resist the poison's effect and remake the Physique check .

Neurotoxins

Poisons that "bring down" the target quickly, with paralysis, respiratory failure, or cardiac collapse.

PARTIAL EFFECT: Becomes slowed and takes 1d3 fatigue damage per turn . When has the initiative , the character can spend a major action to try to resist the poison's effect and remake the Physique check .

FULL EFFECT: Becomes paralyzed and takes 1d3 fatigue damage per turn . When has the initiative , the character can spend a major action to try to resist the poison's effect and remake the Physique check .

Delayed

Those that seem like "illness" and kill later, with a delayed effect that is hard to notice.

PARTIAL EFFECT: Takes 2d3 direct damage after 1d6 hours.

FULL EFFECT: Takes 2d6 direct damage after 1d6 hours.

Conditions

CONFUSED: When has the initiative , a confused character must roll 1d6: on a 1–3 they move randomly; on a 4–5 they attack a random character within their reach; and on a 6 they do nothing. A confused character always acts before their allies and always passes the initiative to an ally regardless of the action they took.

EXPOSED: Other characters have a positive chance to attack an exposed character.

GRAPPLED: A grappled character is exposed . If the grappling character is of equivalent size to them, the grappled character is burdened . If the grappling character is larger than them, the grappled character is restrained .

GRAPPLING: A character grappling another is exposed to other characters, except to the one being grappled . If the grappled character is of equivalent size to them, the grappling character is burdened . If the grappled character is smaller than them, the grappling character can move freely and carry the grappled character along with them.

BURDENED: For a burdened character, moving is equivalent to crossing exhausting difficult terrain .

PARALYZED: When has the initiative , a paralyzed character cannot move or take actions that require a movement .

PETRIFIED: A petrified character turns into a statue of stone.

PRONE: A prone character's speed is halved and they are exposed .

RESTRAINED: When has the initiative , a restrained character cannot take actions that require a movement . Trying to break free costs a major action .

SHAKEN: A shaken character has a negative chance on checks to attack and on skill checks that suffer the protection penalty .

SLOWED: When has the initiative , a slowed character can only take one major action or one minor action or one movement .