Action Declaration
At the beginning of the round, the GM will call for action declarations. Some examples include, "I attack the ogre with my longsword," or "I fire arrows at the purple worm," or "I cast a Bolt of Energy at the demon." Once all actions are declared, the GM will resolve the round in initiative order.
This brings up a potential issue. It is possible that an earlier action might negate a declared action. For example, Derrick's declared action was to attack the ogre with his longsword but, by the time the GM gets to his attack, the ogre has been killed by Harlan. The GM will allow for such contingencies by making minor adjustments. In this case, if there is another combatant that Derrick could target, he will simply apply the attacks against the other combatant.
In some cases, the declared action might be interrupted and lost. This is mainly the case with spells. If a spell caster is hit with an attack while casting a spell, the spell might be interrupted (see rules for spell casting). In this case, the spell (or spell energy) is lost and so is the spell caster's action for the round.
In a Nutshell
One round is 10 seconds long.
In a nutshell, for each attack you get, roll initiative, attack and damage.
For example, if you get two attacks, have an initiative modifier (IM) of +2, strike chance (SC) of 112, and do 1d8+4 damage (DMG):
INIT [1d10+2], SC 112 [roll], DMG [1d8+4]
INIT [1d8+2], SC 112 [roll], DMG [1d8+4]
If you end up with the same initiative for both attacks, the second attack goes 1 segment later.
Initiative
Roll 1d10 and add your DEX modifier to determine your initiative. Other modifiers may also apply, primarily the -5 for half move and attack. If, after all modifiers are taken into account, your initiative is at -6 or later, you lose that attack for the round.
Multiple attacks use a lower die for each successive attack (1d10 for the first attack, 1d8 for the second, 1d6 for the third, etc.)
You can declare "no movement" and gain a +3 initiative modifier. This means that you will not move at all during the round (not even a 5 foot free move) and will suffer a -20 to DEF and -20 to Luck saves. This might be taken by an archer planning Careful Aim, or a mage who wants to make sure his spell goes off a bit earlier in the round. If taken by a melee combatant, it means that they will not move even to defend. If circumstances force them to move, they lose all remaining actions for the round and must make a 2x DEX roll to avoid falling down. Spells being cast are interrupted.
The Initiative Round
The initiative round is divided into 3 parts:
- Pre-Movement Attacks
- Movement
- Post-Movement Attacks
Any actions that happen prior to initiative 10 are resolved before movement occurs. Movement occurs between initiatives 10 and 1 with 10% of movement happening every segment. Any actions that occur after initiative 1 are resolved after movement. Any actions set to occur on initiative -6 or later are lost.
A mage or cleric who wishes to cast a spell must roll a high enough initiative to that the spell will go off in the round. Otherwise, they will begin casting on initiative 10 of the following round. Spell that take 1 round to cast (normally cleric spells) must start on initiative 10, either by rolling a 10 or higher for initiative, or by holding your action from the previous round.
Hitting
To hit a target with a weapon, take SC (strike chance), subtract target's DEF (defense) and roll that number or less to hit. For example, if you have a SC of 112, and the target has a DEF of 40, you need to roll a 72 or less to hit.
Critical and Grievous Hits
Use the following table to determine whether your roll resulted in a critical or grievous hit. For example, if your SC is 112 and the target's DEF is 40, you need a 72 or less to hit. If you roll an 11 or less, it is a critical hit. If you roll a 4 or less, it is a grievous hit. A critical hit causes double damage and the target gets no Protection. A grievous hit is the same as a critical (2x damage and no Prot) and also has a chance of causing a Grievous Wound (see Grievous tables). A grievous hit, whether it results in an actual grievous wound or not, reduces the target's armor PROT by 1 until the armor is repaired.
Modified Strike Chance | Grievous | Critical |
01…09 | - | 01 |
10…16 | 01 | 01…02 |
17…23 | 01 | 01…03 |
24…28 | 01 | 01…04 |
29…36 | 01…02 | 01…05 |
37…43 | 01…02 | 01…06 |
44…49 | 01…02 | 01…07 |
50…56 | 01…03 | 01…08 |
57…63 | 01…03 | 01…09 |
64…69 | 01…03 | 01…10 |
70…76 | 01…04 | 01…11 |
77…83 | 01…04 | 01…12 |
84…89 | 01…04 | 01…13 |
90…96 | 01…05 | 01…14 |
97…103 | 01…05 | 01…15 |
104…109 | 01…05 | 01…16 |
110…116 | 01…06 | 01…17 |
117…123 | 01…06 | 01…18 |
124…129 | 01…06 | 01…19 |
130+ | 01…07 | 01…20 |
Taking Damage
Subtract your protection (PROT) from any damage taken and subtract the remainder from your hit point total.
If a single hit causes damage greater than your CON, you are stunned for the rest of the round. Stunned combatants lose all remaining attacks for the round. If CON is above human max (25) consult the following table to determine Stun Level.
| CON | Stunned if Dmg Taken exceeds: |
| 26 | 27 |
| 27 | 29 |
| 28 | 31 |
| 29 | 33 |
| 30 | 35 |
| 31 | 37 |
| 32 | 39 |
| 33 | 41 |
| 34 | 43 |
| 35 | 45 |
Note that large and especially hardy creatures are harder to stun. Add +2 to CON for Large and +4 to CON for Giant creatures for the purpose of determining whether a creature is stunned. Also add 1 to CON for this purpose for every 10 HP (or fraction thereof) above 100. This also applies to the adventurers.
Wound Modifiers
Wound modifiers apply to all actions including cast chances, skill rolls and attack rolls.
- Wounded - Has taken damage but not enough to put them below 50%: No modifiers
- Bloodied - Has taken enough damage to put them below 50% of their hit points: No modifiers
- Badly Wounded - 20 or less hit points: -10 to all actions and TMR
- Very Badly Wounded - 10 or less hit points: -20 to all actions and TMR
- Very Badly Wounded - 5 or less hit points: -30 to all actions and TMR
Exception: If starting hit points are at one of these levels, then the character has no modifier until they reach the next level, at which point they have normal modifier. For example, if your starting hit points are 18, then you have no modifier for being under 20 hit points, but when you reach 10 or less hit points, you have the normal -20 modifier.
Surprise
When the target is not expecting to be attacked, the attacker gains a bonus for surprise:
In Combat: +10 and target gets half normal DEF
Out of Combat: +25 and target gets only magical DEF that is "always on"
In Combat means that you are attacking someone who is already involved or otherwise aware of the combat, but was not expecting this particular attack.
Out of Combat means that there is no combat or the target is not expecting to be attacked. Note that attacking an alert guard only qualifies for a +10 bonus at best.
Ambush
An ambush is when one or more attackers spring suddenly and attack. In such cases, make a PER roll and compare to the table below.
- 1x PER - Ambush noted just before being sprung. Can shout out warning to everyone, moving them down one on this table (i.e., if they rolled 3x PER, treat it as 2x PER). Can attack back normally on their free attack round.
- 2x PER - Ambush noted just as it is springing. Attackers gain no bonus and character can attack back once during their free attack round.
- 3x PER - Surprised but not completely. Attackers gain +10 to SC on their surprise round.
- 4x PER - Surprised. Attackers gain +20 to SC on their surprise round.
- 5x PER or Worse - Completely surprised. Attackers gain a +30 to SC and +2 to Damage on their surprise round.
Casting Cleric Spells
Spell casting is generally slow. Roll initiative normally to determine when you begin casting. How long it takes for the spell to go off depends on the casting time of the spell. Thus, if you roll an 8 for initiative and are casting a spell with a casting time of 5, the spell goes off on 3. If you roll a 3 for initiative, then the spell goes off on -2 but still during the same round.
When casting spells, the caster is unable to dodge or otherwise try to avoid attacks. Thus, spell casting is best done from cover. The caster gains no bonus to their DEF from DEX, Defense skill or Shield skill while casting.
Casting Mage Spells
Spell casting is generally slow. Roll initiative normally to determine when you begin casting. How long it takes for the spell to go off depends on spell rank and spell type (GK or SK).
Rank | GK Spell | SK Spell |
1-5 | 6 | 7 |
6-10 | 5 | 6 |
11-15 | 4 | 5 |
16-20 | 3 | 4 |
21 | 2 | 3 |
22 | 1 | 2 |
Thus, if a mage casts an SK spell that he is rank 8 in, his casting time is 6. If he rolls a 9 for initiative, the spell goes off on a 3. If he rolls a 2 for initiative, his spell goes off on a -4 (of the same round).
When casting spells, the caster is unable to dodge or otherwise try to avoid attacks. Thus, spell casting is best done from cover. The caster gains no bonus to their DEF from DEX, Defense skill or Shield skill while casting.
Combining Actions
Move and Attack
Sometimes you may want to do more than one action in a turn - usually move and attack. You can move up to half your TMR and still attack. If you normally get multiple attacks, you lose half of your attacks, rounded down. Thus, if you normally get 2 or 3 attacks, you lose one of them. If you normally get 4 or 5 attacks, you lose 2 of them.
All initiative rolls are at -5 if you move and then attack.
A combatant can always take a 5 foot "free move" without losing any attacks.
Attack and Move
The ability to attack and then move depends on when in the round the attack(s) occurred.
If the last attack occurred prior to initiative 10, you can move up to half of your TMR beginning on initiative 10 (move 1/20th of your base TMR each segment).
If your last attack occurred between initiative 2 and 10 make a DEX roll and compare to the following table:
- 5x DEX roll or worse - cannot move this round.
- 4x DEX roll - Move 1/20th of your TMR each segment beginning 4 segments after your last attack.
- 3x DEX roll - Move 1/20th of your TMR each segment beginning 3 segments after your last attack.
- 2x DEX roll - Move 1/20th of your TMR each segment beginning 2 segments after your last attack.
- 1x DEX roll - Move 1/20th of your TMR each segment beginning 1 segment after your last attack.
No movement occurs after segment 1 so, for example, if your last attack occurs on segment 3 and you make a 4x DEX roll, you cannot move this round since 3-4 = -1.
No attacks can be made after movement in an Attack and Move scenario.
Run and Attack
Similar to above but you move at a run (2x TMR) instead of normal combat movement. In this case, you can move up to your TMR (half of 2x TMR) and still attack but suffer the following penalties:
- -7 initiative
- -25 Strike Chance
- Lose half of your attacks, round up (minimum one). Thus, if you normally get 1 to 3 attacks, you lose all but 1 of them. If you normally get 4 or 5 attacks, you lose all but 2 of them.
Remember that if your initiative comes out to -6 or worse, you lose the attack.
Draw Weapon
Drawing a weapon incurs a penalty of -5 to initiative. Sheathing a weapon and also drawing a new weapon incurs a -10 to initiative. Note that if you take two actions that each have a -5 initiative modifier, you also lose an action. For example, if some sheaths a weapon (-5 init) and draws a weapon (-5 init), then they not only suffer a -10 to initiative, but they also lose an action.
Ready Shield
To ready a shield that is within easy reach (slung on back, leaning against a nearby tree, etc.) takes half a round. Lose half your attacks, rounded up (i.e., if you normally get 3 attacks per round, you get only 1; if you normally only get 1 attack, you lose it).
Drink Potion
If a potion is close at hand, it can be consumed in half a round as long as the character is not in melee combat at the beginning of the round. Lose half your attacks (round up - if you normally get 3 attacks per round, you get only 1) or half your movement.
Free Actions
Some actions are considered free in that they do not take enough time to count as a full action. A Free Action can be done at the character's earliest possible initiative. Only one Free Action can be taken per round. If an additional Free Action is desired, the character must use a regular action.
Melee Modifiers
Invisible Foe
If one opponent cannot see the other, or otherwise know where they are with a targeting sense, they suffer a -40 to the Strike Chance and a -20 to their Defense. This is reduced to -20 SC and -10 DEF if they make a 2x PER roll and halved again if they make a 1x PER roll.
Multiple Attackers
Attackers get a +10 to their Strike Chance (SC) for every person above one attacking a target. Thus, if three people are attacking a single target, all three attackers each get a +20 to their SC.
Note that this bonus is reduced if the target has Range of Field skill.
Although multiple attacks by a single creature do not usually count as multiple attackers, there are some exceptions. Creatures with tentacles that can act semi-independently (e.g., ropers) can get a multiple attacker bonus for multiple tentacles attacks on a single target. In general, each pair of tentacles is considered a separate attacker. Thus, if one roper with six tentacles attacks a single target, they are considered to outnumber the target 3 to 1.
Target Stunned
Attacker gets a +10 to SC to hit a stunned target.
Lighting Modifiers
Starry Night or Shadowy Interior: -10
Cloudy Night: -20
Cave or Unlit Interior: -40
Pitch Black: -60
Encumbrance Modifier:
Target encumbered = -10 to DEF
Attacker encumbered = -10 to SC
Defending
(DEF = normal DEF + up to (2.5 x weapon rank; round down); can attack at reduced SC)
A combatant can sacrifice SC to improve DEF on a 2 for 1 basis. Thus, if you want to drop your SC by 20, you can improve your DEF by 10. This decision must be made at the beginning of the round. The maximum SC you can sacrifice is equal to weapon rank x 5. Note that all fractions round down. Thus, if you sacrifice 25 from SC, your defense improves by 12, not by 13.
Full Defense
(DEF = normal DEF + 5 + (weapon rank x 2.5; round up); cannot attack)
The combatant who is in full defensive mode gets their max bonus for Defending, plus an additional +5 to DEF. Additionally, fractions round up. Thus, if the combatant is rank 5 with his weapon, he gains +13 for max bonus for defending, plus another 5 for Full Defense, for a total bonus to DEF of +18. If his normal DEF was 30, then his total DEF for Full Defense is 48 (30 + 18). The combatant cannot attack during the round but can stay with the attacker. If the attacker has other opponents, he can attack one of them. Full Defense must be declared at the beginning of the round.
Desperate Defense
(DEF = normal DEF + 20 + (weapon rank x 2.5; round up); cannot attack; opponent can force move up to 10 ft)
The combatant who is desperately defending gets their max bonus for Defending, plus an additional +20 to DEF. As the name implies, this is an act of desperation where the combatant is doing everything he can to avoid being hit. The attacker can force the target to move up to 10 feet in any direction, even off the side of a cliff, down a staircase, into a fire, etc.. Alternately, the attacker can simply ignore the desperately defending character and take some other action. Desperate Defense must be declared at the beginning of the round and the character can take no other actions during the round except to desperately defend.
Using Offhand
Unless the character is ambidexterous, attacking with a weapon in the offhand instead of the main hand incurs a penalty of -20 to hit and -2 damage.
Picking Up a Dropped Weapon
If you drop your weapon and need to retrieve it from the floor/ground at your feet, you suffer a -15 to DEF and must make a 4x DEX roll to successfully retrive the weapon. If you make a 1x DEX roll, then you can still make one attack but suffer a -5 to initiative.
Withdrawing From Melee
If a combatant wants to completely withdraw from melee, his opponent gets a free attack on him. This only happens when a combatant wants to completely withdraw from the melee. If he is just maneuvering around to attack a different, nearby foe, he is not withdrawing and his opponent does not get a free attack. Similarly, if the combatant who wants to withdraw is in a two on one situation, where he has an ally, and the opponent is concentrating solely on attacking the ally, then he may be able to withdraw without a free attack. Similarly, if his opponent is desperately defending, he may withdraw without a free attack.
If the combatant fleeing is an agile flyer and flees by gaining altitude, a free attack may not be allowed.
The target of the free attack gets defense from DEX but may not use a shield to defend.
Someone who has declared Full Parry or Desperate Defense is not allowed a free attack on a withdrawing opponent. An opponent who is parrying (but not Full Parry) can get a free attack but suffers the SC penalty for parrying (i.e., if they declared that they were going to sacrifice 30 SC for a +15 to DEF, the free attack is still made at the -30 SC. This represents that they are not in the most advantageous position for an attack.
The GM will adjudicate such situations and determine whether a free attack is allowed. He may consider relative position, as well as the opponent's skill with Range of Field, etc.
Note also that movement starts on initiative 10 so attacks that take place before then are resolved normally.
Automatic Hits and Misses
Regardless of SC or DEF:
96-100 is always a miss
03 is always a hit
02 is always a crit
01 is always a potential grievous
Ranged Modifiers
Movement Modifiers
The GM may assess a higher penalty for exceptionally fast targets such as a very fast animal or monster.
- Target stationary = +10
- Target walking (normal TMR) = -0
- Target running (2x TMR) = -10
- Target sprinting (3x TMR) -20
- Target fast sprinting (4x TMR) = -30
- Target dodging = -20
- Target is on a moving mount or wagon = -10
Careful Aim
If the attacker is standing still and taking careful aim, he gets a +15 bonus to his SC. Note that anyone attacking him gets the +10 Target Stationary bonus. The attacker also loses Defense bonuses for DEX or Defense skill. It takes one combat action to take Careful Aim. As such, the attacker loses one attack for the round. For Master Bowmen, Careful Aim cannot be combined with Double Shots.
Cover Modifiers
The character has cover if more than half of his body is hidden. Hard cover are things that can stop or deflect attacks, such as walls, big tree trunks, rocks, wagons, etc.. Soft cover hides the character but does not stop attacks, such as bushes, curtains, fog, darkness, etc.
- Soft Cover = -10
- Hard Cover = -20
Size Modifiers
Characters are considered to be medium size.
- Tiny = -10
- Small = -5
- Medium = -0
- Large = +5
- Giant = +10
Using a Ranged Weapon in Melee
Hand Crossbow: -10 (-5 Specialist, -0 DS)
Light or Heavy Crossbow: -20 SC (-15 Specialist, -10 DS)
Short or Long Bow: -30 SC (-20 Specialist, -10 DS)
Critical or Grievous Hits
Critical hits are resolved the same as with melee except that, if the ranged weapon is penetrating (arrow, quarrel, javelin or spear) is stuck in the character.
An arrow or quarrel causes a -2 DEX penalty until it is removed and will cause 1 point of bleeding damage per round that the character remains in combat or otherwise involved in strenuous activity.
A javelin causes a -3 DEX penalty until it is removed and will cause 2 points of bleeding damage per round that the character remains in combat or otherwise involved in strenuous activity.
A javelin causes a -4 DEX penalty until it is removed and will cause 5 points of bleeding damage per round that the character remains in combat or otherwise involved in strenuous activity.
With a grievous wound, the DEX penalty is increased by 1 (i.e., -3, -4 or -5).
Removing a weapon can be done with First Aid (see First Aid skill).
Shooting Into Melee
Firing at opponents who are in melee with a friend always runs the risk of accidentally hitting said friend.
Roll 1d100 + Weapon Rank + (Master Bowman Rank x 2) (+5 for specialization, +10 for double specialization)
1 friend and 1 opponent - on a 30 or less, your attack targets your friend
1 friend and 2 opponents - on a 20 or less, your attack targets your friend
1 friend and 3 opponents - on a 10 or less, your attack targets your friend
2 friends and 1 opponent - on a 40 or less, your attack targets one of your friends (determine randomly)
3 friends and 1 opponent - on a 50 or less, your attack targets one of your friends (determine randomly)
3 friends and 2 opponents - on a 45 or less, your attack targets one of your friends (determine randomly)
Roll the attack and resolve normally (against friend or foe, as indicated by the above die roll).
NOTE: 05 or less always targets a friend instead of a foe (03 or less for specialists, 01 for double specialists). |