Every action that requires a roll follows the same formula: 1d20 (the Action Dice) + any Bonus dice against a victory sum, VS. Bonus dice will be d10 unless you are wounded or suffering Challenges to the roll, in which case they will drop a step, from d10 to d8, d8 to d6, and if you are particularly hindered, d6 to d4. Bonus dice cannot be reduced below d4, and nothing can ever reduce your Action dice, only your bonus dice.
Bonus dice can be added from having Skill bonuses, Talents, or high ability scores. When something increases your bonus dice rank, such as having a Charge on and action roll, or having a special ability, all bonus dice, from all sources are increased one rank, from d10 to d12, and d12 to d20. Charges will counter challenges on a 1 to 1 basis, negating each other.
When you add bonus dice to an effect roll such as damage, these bonus dice will only benefit from the effects of a charge, and only suffer from a challenge if explicitly stated so. For example, being wounded reduces the rank of all bonus dice to action and effect rolls but attempting to hit a distant enemy with a ranged weapon only challenges the bonus dice added to the attack roll.
Adventuring is a dangerous business. You will find that often, situations can only be solved with conflict or violence. When this happens, the situation is called an Encounter. Encounters may be planned in advance by the GM or be a chaotic happening of chance. There will be occasions where the player character’s own actions escalate a social situation into an encounter.
An encounter is divided into turns and rounds. A turn is one creatures’ series of actions on their initiative. A round ends once of all creatures in an encounter have taken their turns. Each combat round is approximately 15 seconds in game, though it might take a couple minutes of real time to sort out.
Turn. In the heat of combat a turn only lasts a few seconds but, in that time, you will use all your actions. Once all your actions have been taken, it is the next character or creature’s turn, depending on the order of initiative.
Round. Unlike a Turn, a Round is defined as the period it takes for a group of people to exhaust all their actions, around 15 seconds. Any effect that lists duration in rounds assumes the unit to be a 15 second block. If an act requires more actions than you have on your turn, then you must use action from the following turns to complete, such as powerful spells.
On your turn you may take as many actions as you have. This can be any combination; you may use all your actions to attack, mix attack actions and movement, movement and skills, or any combination thereof. Only Casting spells and using Techniques may require more than one action.
When you take an action that affects another creature such as making an attack or attempting to persuade them, the target is entitled to a reaction – such as Dodge. If they have no reactions available to them, then the action continues unopposed and effect is applied.
Once all creatures have taken their actions and reactions in order of initiative, Recovery is applied, and the next round Begins.
Recovery Phase. At the end of a round, most creatures will recover a set amount of Vigor, and potentially other resources such as Durability and Health. Although this is uncommon.
When combat begins, all participants who wish to act roll their action dice. Talents or skills might add bonus dice, as might situational modifiers. Each round, all fighters act in order of their initiative roll from highest to lowest.
An ambush situation is when one set of combatants is intentionally ambushed by another set of combatants; such as lying in wait, attacking form a blind spot, or attacking from a hidden or invisible position. Ambushed characters may only take 1 action at the beginning of the first round.
The opposite side of a surprised party; a combatant or combatants gains an ambush bonus when they have purposefully been waiting for an unsuspecting target. When the attack is launched, Ambushers gain 1 extra action for the first round.
A combatant that is actively expecting an attack from a narrow vector is considered in Over Watch. In this state they are a bit jumpy and gain a +1 bonus dice to initiative on the first turn of combat so long as it initiated form the expected attack vector, conversely, if an attack is initiated from another vector, the Over Watch combatant is considered Ambushed.
An incapacitated character is not as much a combatant as a victim, incapacitated can mean unconscious, bound or tided, or pined in such a manner as to be unable to move or act. In such a situation the character can take no actions that require physical movement, cannot dodge or defend, and if attacked will likely be killed outright.
When you make an attack against another creature with a weapon, an open-hand attack, a technique, or an aimed spell, you roll your action dice (1d20) plus any Bonus Dice you have from your Ability Scores. Agility for weapons and hand to hand, Soul for spells, and Speed for many techniques. To land your attack, you must roll higher than your target’s Guard, which is 15 plus any bonuses from armor and abilities.
Once an attack is rolled, the defender has the option to use a reaction, such as Dodge. Reactions consume Vigor but allow the defender to counter roll their action dice plus Bonus Dice. If they score higher than the attacker, they successfully defend and avoid the attack. If they tie, the contest goes to the attacker, and the strike hits.
You begin with 2 Actions. On your turn, you may take as many actions as you have. You gain additional actions through upgrading skill trees and learning talents. On your turn, you can take the following actions:
Attack. You make an attack with a weapon in hand or with your own natural weapons. An attack roll is your action dice plus any Bonus Dice against your target’s Guard.
Off-hand Attack. When you take an attack action or use a light weapon technique on your turn, you may consume 8 Vigor to make an Off-Hand attack as part of the same action. The Off-Hand attack suffers a 2 Challenge penalty to your Bonus Dice to hit and damage. This may be a weapon attack if you are holding a weapon in your off-hand, or unarmed attack.
Defend. When you defend, you position yourself to react easily to an attack you suspect is coming, reducing the Vigor cost of defensive reactions until the beginning of your next turn by 2.
Escape. You flee from combat. Adjacent attackers may react to your attempt to escape as you create an opening when you flee.
Move. You move your combat movement distance, this is 1 foot per point of your Speed Score. You can take as many Move actions as you choose. For example, if you have three actions, you could use them to move up to an enemy (first action), attack that enemy with your weapon (second action), and then move away (third action). Regardless of how many move actions you take, each action can only take you 1 foot per point of your Speed Score.
Ready. When you ready an action, you set a condition you are waiting for and what you want to do when and if that conditions occurs before the beginning of your next turn. If that condition occurs, you may use a reaction to respond to that event with the action you readied.
Use Ability. If you have techniques, spells, or talents you can activate, you can use them on your turn. Some abilities require more than one action to use, and most consume Vigor or Mana.
Use Item. You use an item that is located on your person, such as a potion, a remote detonator, or a magic item.
Use Skill. You use one of your skills. You could attempt use Social to charm an enemy, use Awareness to find a weakness, or use Menace to intimidate. You may also perform emergency aid on a wounded or injured creature, using 2 Actions and restoring 1d10 Durability on a Medicine (treatment) VS 20 check.
When a creature takes an Action against you, in many cases you are entitled to a reaction. However, reactions consume Vigor, which limits the number of reactions you may take in an encounter.
You may only take one reaction to any trigger, and you may not take a reaction during your turn. If you are attacked, you may only take one reaction against that attack. If an opponent creates an opening, you only take that opening once. Finally, you cannot take Chances on Reactions.
Defense (Dodge, Deflect, or Block). All creatures may take this reaction when they are subject to an attack. Roll your action dice (1d20) plus any Bonus Dice you have from Speed. If you score higher than your attacker’s roll, you successfully evade the attack. Using the Defense reaction consumes 5 Vigor.
Take Opening. When you use some combat techniques, attempt to flee, and some other situations, you create an opening for others to attack. On the other hand, when your opponent creates an opening, you may use a reaction to make an ordinary attack action at the cost of 5 Vigor. Remember, you cannot take reactions during your turn, so you cannot take openings you create on your turn.
Special Reactions. Many skill trees and talents might give you additional reactions or change how you roll reactions, such as Deflect and Block.
Throughout the round, you and your opponents may take actions to move and change your position or suffer from attacks that knock you back or knock you down. This can change whom you can hit with a melee weapon or attack, how you resolve an attack, or how you move.
Adjacent. Creatures are considered adjacent when they are positioned within 6 feet of another creature and have a clear path between them. This means a creature can be adjacent to up to eight other creatures. Cover, walls, and obstacles prevent creatures from being considered adjacent.
Behind. Attacking and defending from the front, sides, or behind carries no special rules. However, being attacked from behind while you are unaware and attacking an opponent from behind who is unaware, impacts Guard. When you are attacked from behind while unaware of your enemy, your Guard is reduced by half, round up. When you are attacking an opponent from behind, your opponent’s Guard is reduced by half, rounding up. Generally, this means that a surprise attack form behind must beat a Guard of 8, rather than 15.
Small, medium, and large creatures have a reach of 6 feet. This is how close they need to be to initiate a melee attack with a weapon or hand to hand without using an action to move on your turn. This is also the distance at which an enemy attempting to flee or otherwise exposes themselves creates an opening. Weapons such as polearms and chains might change this.
A character who is hit hard enough or has the ground taken from them is knocked down. This event negates the character’s action if it happens on their turn. You must take one action to stand on your turn to end this stance, however, this will provide an opening to adjacent attackers.
While you are knocked down and prone, your Speed is reduced to 1/4 for calculating your movement and your Bonus Dice to Defense. However, ranged attacks against you are made with a Challenge.
When you are under the effect of another force and you choose to struggle against it, you make a Resistance check. When you are called upon to make a Resistance check, you will add one of your relevant Ability Score bonuses. For example, if you are resisting the crushing force of a giant constrictor, you might be called upon to make a Strength Resistance check, while a magic that influences your mind might call for a Reason or Resolve Resistance check.
Attacks that call for a Resistance check will specify the Ability Score used to resist the effect. If you have general bonuses to your Resistance from talents or class abilities, you always add this bonus.
Throughout each round, you will consume Vigor and Mana to use abilities you have, and as you are attacked, you will lose Durability and potentially Health. But after each round, there is a moment where you will recover some energy needed to continue the battle.
Many actions may require you to consume Vigor. If you exhaust your Vigor, you become Winded, and you cannot take any actions. This condition remains until you recover at least 5 points of Vigor.
At the end of each round, all combatants gain the benefits of their recovery.
Vigor. You’ll recover 1 point of Vigor for every 5 points of Stamina.
Durability. If you have a special ability, you may recover some Durability.
Mana. You may recover some depleted Mana if you have a special ability.
Weapons and offensive abilities that deal damage have a Damage Value, usually just called damage. The damage value is usually just a flat value, such as 1 or 3. This is the number of dice rolled for damage with that weapon or ability. The dice rolled depends on the quality Rank of the attack — an ordinary sword deals d8, a heroic axe deals d10, and so on.
When you score a hit with an unarmed attack, a melee weapon, or a pull bow, you add your Strength Bonus Dice to damage.
When you score a hit with a crossbow, modern weapon, or magic projectile you add your Skill Bonus Dice to damage.
When you are injured, you take damage. Living creatures can sustain an amount of damage before they are wounded and before they go into shock. Damage is first subtracted from your Durability. When your Durability is reduced to 0, you are wounded, and you begin to subtract damage from your Health.
Durability. Damage to Durability is generally not life-threatening. This represents your ability to shrug off superficial attacks as well as power through injuries. Durability recovers quickly unless you are wounded.
Wounded. Once you have taken enough damage to reduce your Durability to 0, you become wounded. In the wounded state, some skills or talents may come into effect, and you become vulnerable to some techniques and spells. The most important effect of becoming wounded, however, is that you no longer recover Durability quickly, and your Bonus Dice move down one step (heroic d10 become ordinary d8, etc.). Any damage you take once you are wounded is potentially life-threatening damage to your Health.
Health. Once you are wounded, or if you are subject to some special attacks like poisons, any damage you take is done to your Health. Your Health recovers very slowly. When your Health is reduced to 0, you lose consciousness and will die unless you receive immediate medical attention.
All Bonus Dice burst when you roll maximum value on the dice, including Bonus Dice to damage. When one or more of your Bonus Dice to damage burst, it is called a critical hit.
Protective armor provides a resistance to damage known as Armor Rank. You reduce your incoming damage by your Armor Rank, and your armor takes this damage. If you have two or more Armor Ranks, you use the highest and then apply damage to any armor you are wearing first. Unless stated otherwise, normal armor only protects you from physical damage, not energy attack such as fire or lightning.
Weapons and armor both have a quality. When an attack from a superior weapon hits inferior armor, it ignores that armor. Conversely, when an inferior weapon strikes superior armor, the armor will take no damage. Beginning at heroic, weapons ignore armor of three steps lower than the weapon’s quality, and armor becomes immune to damage from weapons of three steps or more ranks lower quality.
Likewise, exceptionally dangerous adversaries and powerful abilities may grant superior durability, such as Heroic, Epic or even Legendary Durability. Anything with this trait is immune to damage from weapons that are not of the same or higher rank. To harm a creature with Heroic Durability requires a weapon of Heroic or higher quality, to harm a creature with Epic Durability requires a weapon of Epic or higher quality.
All damage has a type. There are thirteen types of damage: Kinetic, Thermal, Cold, Electrical, Radiation, Chemical, Sonic, Toxic, Umbral, Entropic, Crystal, Aetheric, and Lucent. Damage types for weapons and attacks come into play when protection functions better or worse against specific types of attacks.
Aetheric. The damage type of pure magic, or the magical energy of the existential realm, Aetheric or Astral damage comes from attacks that originate from pure eldritch energy. Unlike other elemental damage, Aetheric damage is its own opposite.
Chemical. This type of damage comes from powerful acids or bases that quickly burn and erode a material or flesh.
Cold. When a target is flash cooled, such as through exposure to a super frozen liquid, or an energy weapon that strips away heat, it suffers cold damage. Freezing can make material brittle, but not always.
Electrical. Exposure to massive electrical direct current charges is extremely dangerous, such as Ion guns, lighting strikes, and plasma discharges.
Entropic. Associated with chaos and decay, entropic damage is the damage of eldritch disorder and fear. Fluid and free, Entropic damage is not necessarily negative, but chaotic and dynamic. This makes Entropic damage opposite to Harmonic damage.
Sonic. Sonic or vibration frequency damage caused by cascading sound waves through a medium. This damage is generally impossible at range through a vacuum, and generally stuns and disorients creatures.
Crystal. This is the damage type of order and time – sometimes called the time damage, Crystal damage comes from sources of eldritch law, space and time. As such, it is the opposite of Entropic damage.
Kinetic. Considered the default type of damage for mundane weapons, virtually nothing is immune specifically to kinetic damage. However, there are specific types of kinetic damage, cutting for blades and axes, piercing for some blades, arrows, and bullets, and impact for hammers, clubs, and fists.
Lucent. Often associated with light, life and the animating force – lucent damage can also be devastating and destructive, if its nature only stuns and dazes. Lucent damage is opposed to necrotic damage.
Umbral. The power of decay, death, and darkness, Umbral damage is the power of death itself. While the dead have little to fear from it, living things are at risk. Umbral damage is diametric to Lucent damage by nature.
Radiation. This damage type specifically refers to the bandwidth of radiation that interacts strongly with matter – exotic, gamma, x-ray, neutron, and alpha radiations. Radiation usually passes through most armors.
Thermal. More than just fire, Thermal damage can include microwave weapons, lasers, and plasma. Thermal damage can weaken materials or ignite fires.
Toxic. Any damage that is toxic is biological in nature – although its delivery mechanism may not be. Pure toxic damage may not necessarily damage armor, and only harm living creatures.
Most humanoid creatures don’t have natural weapons like claws and fangs. For creatures like humans and sith unarmed attacks, like punches and kicks, deal 1 feeble impact damage unless you are trained in martial arts. Exceptional martial prowess can increase this amount of damage substantially.
Everything has Durability, even objects. When you attack an object or construct you deal damage to its Durability. Some objects composed of particularly hard material might have an Armor Rank as well. In the case of objects, A.R. is simply subtracted from the damage done to the object. When an inanimate object’s Durability is depleted it is destroyed beyond meaningful use.
Adventure is dangerous work. Monsters, men, and disasters can all threaten your life. When you are reduced to 0 Health you do not die instantly, but you do go into Shock, and are in serious risk of death. A creature in Shock is on death’s door and will die in a number rounds equal to your Stamina score. If you take any additional damage while you are in shock, you are killed outright.
A creature in shock can be stabilized by making a successful Medicine or Medical Science check VS 20. If you are stabilized, you remain unconscious until you recover at least 1 point of health.
Many situations can modify how an encounter plays out.
Size matters; most derived attributes function differently at different sizes. There are seven size categories; tiny, small, medium, large, huge, massive, and colossal. Humans are medium sized, a grizzly bear would be a large creature, and blue whale would be a massive creature.
Size categories area generally defined by mass and volume. As a rule, volume trumps mass: a fifteen foot spherical creature filled with hot air is a huge creature – even if it only weighs in at a few hundred pounds.
Tiny: Median mass of less than 2 lbs., total volume of 6 cubic inches
Small: Median mass of less than 60 lbs., total volume of 2 cubic inches
Medium: Median mass of less than 450lbs., total volume of 5 cubic feet
Large: Median mass of less than 3000 lbs., total volume of 15 cubic feet
Huge: Median mass of greater than 25,0000 lbs., total volume of 35 cubic feet
Massive: Median mass of greater than 200,000 lbs., total volume of 100 cubic feet
Colossal: Median mass of greater than 1 million lbs., total volume of 400 cubic feet
When a Larger creature is attacking a smaller creature, the smaller creature’s Guard increases by 5 for every size category of difference, for example a medium sized creature (like a human) attacking a Tiny creature (like a mouse) has a more difficult time, as the mouse’s guard is +10 (2 sizes difference). Equally, a colossal creature (like a Behemoth) attacking a Medium sized creature (a human) will need to beat the human’s Guard +20 (4 sizes difference). However, in both examples, one hit of the larger creature will probably kill the smaller opponent outright.
Conditions in the atmosphere that impair vision range cause penalties to ranges attacks and piloting skills. Visibility conditions can be impaired by any number of things, but are usually the product of weather, smoke, or steam. Visibility conditions are ranked Reduced, Low, and Zero Visibility.
Normal Visibility. Under normal visibility there are no changes. Unobstructed line of sight is between 800ft and 1200ft.
Reduced Visibility. Range of vision is between 70 and 100 feet. Examples include moderate rain or snow fall, smoke from a consumer smoke bomb, light foliage, or light fog. Characters attempting to drive, navigate, or similar suffer +5 VS penalty. Distanced attacks are limited to a 300 feet range with a +5 VS penalty to hit the target.
Low Visibility. Range of vision is limited to between 30 and 50 feet, situations like heavy rainstorms, smoke from fires, most fog, or thick foliage. Piloting and navigation suffer a +10 VS, ranged attack accuracy is limited to 150 feet with a +10 VS penalty to strike.
Zero Visibility. Range of vision is reduced to between 5 and 10 feet; zero visibility is caused by dense smoke or fog, deep blizzards, or very dense foliage. Piloting by sight is basically impossible, and suffers a +15 VS, ranged attack accuracy is limited to 30 feet with a +15 VS penalty to strike at 10 meters but no penalties at point blank (under 3 meters).
Obstacles and obstructions could be anything from a canopy of leaves to a cement wall. There are three categories of cover: light, partial, and full. Cover comes into play when an attacker at range is targeting an opponent that has something to hide them, either visually, with stopping power, or both.
Light Cover. Minor obstructions such as being in a bush or foliage or being under a camouflage net. The attacker still generally knows where the target is, but not exactly, and the cover provides no stopping power. This provides the target with a +10 bonus to Guard from direct ranged attacks. Area attacks are unaffected.
Partial Cover. Crouching behind a tree stump or concrete barricade provides partial cover. You can be seen but the cover can stop some attacks. When you have Partial cover, you have +3 bonus to Guard, and you gain a +5 Armor Rank bonus against attacks.
Full Cover. Hiding behind a cement pillar or wall. Full Cover obscures your position and provides you with a +5 bonus to your Guard. Assuming your cover is sturdy, you gain a +10 bonus to your Armor Rank from ranged attacks.