The length of a Round of combat is variable, depending on the initiative of those involved. In a rough sense it can be seen as between 10 and 30 seconds. The length of a round can be proportional to the size of the grid you are using, bigger grids can be assumed to have longer rounds as more movement can occur, but it doesn't really matter.
A round is a period of time sufficient for the actions that occur in it, and is begun by rolling action dice, and closes shortly after one character runs out of action dice.
The battle field will be broken into movement zones. Each zone is roughly 150 foot square (150x150, or 50x50 meters), but they may vary from very small to much larger if the situation warrants it. On a battle display each zone should be about 12x12 inches, big enough to hold a bunch of figures but small enough so you can have several zones visible at once. If you dont use a whiteboard or vinyl mat then I suggest just cutting up some squares of cardboard and throwing them on the table in some suitable pattern.
[insert pictures]
Movement, missile range etc are all defined around this base size, so if you change it you might consider changing other values. You would then be creating a custom battlefield with customised settings, which I will discuss later.
A typical battlefield would be a simple square grid as follows:
Opponents will basically start at opposite ends in most cases, the distance between them determining the size of the grid to be used.
An alternate display could use a hex pattern, either by using really large hexes, or more simply by shifting the square grid into a brick wall pattern (which duplicates a hex pattern).
This is the simplest form of battlefield. There is no reason why you cannot create a battelfield based around buildings, or even rooms within a building. In a village environment each building would be a single zone with entry die rolls reflecting how easy it is to get into or out of it (notice in this case area movement is based on what hinders you, the door ways etc, not the distance). A small hut with 1 or 2 rooms can simply be one zone. A larger house however with floors and more rooms might be broken into a few zones. At this level you might also start applying stacking limitations, reflecting how much area actually exists to work within. A small room with limited access MIGHT be a zone of its own due to these limitations, BUT only if there is some important reason to do it that way. Dont bother putting every walk in closet as its own zone if there is no purpose for
doing so. A purpose should relate to the story line and scenario you are running... if you dont need it, dont complicate things. Remember that we are dealing with around 10-20 seconds of movement, and you can do quite a bit in that time, so each zone should reflect this scale. Small rooms/areas, with limited access and stacking should be there for a specific purpose.
The following is a slightly more complex battlefield that could be drawn on a whiteboard or large sheet of paper. In this map there are obvious areas where settings could be applied, eg the orchard and the forest could have visibility mods, the wall and gate could act as an obstacle to movement.
Each single individual within a zone will be classed as in one of three conditions, as follows.
Alone
The individual is NOT involved in a group melee, they are standing apart from any enemies in an attempt to perform specific tasks that require this. This is normally displayed with figurines by placing the individual out of contact with any other figurine.
Moving to Alone status from InContact requires the use of the Move (and risk an opportunity attack) or Withdraw action. On the first occasion you enter a zone you are Alone unless part of a Charge.
Friends may stand alone as a group, as long as no enemies are touching them. However if they do and one enemy does move into contact then they all immediately count as InContact. Standing alone as a group has advantages in Spell Targeting (a group costs more to target, see the Powers chapter).
InContact
The individual is involved in a group melee, moving amongst the combatants and attacking and defending normally. This is displayed with figurines by placing bases in contact. There may be several different groups InContact within a zone at the same time, they are NOT in contact with each other.
To be InContact there must be an enemy present in the group, otherwise everyone is Alone and just standing near each other and can optionally be separated if the owners want (as part of their action).
InClose
The individual is in Close Combat (hand to hand) with at least one other. This is normally displayed by placing those involved on their side and in base contact. Combatants InClose are considered to be prone unless they are 3x the size of their opponents. A standing opponent can still be brought down if the conditions are met.
Eg: Two sides are in the middle of conflict below, Red Dots vs the Empty. Group 1 are all InContact with each other and form a melee, as do groups 2 and 3. The "A"s are StandAlone, with A1 being allies merely standing next to each other. B's are on the zone boundary in transit to or from the zone. C's are StandAlone in adjacent zones.As 1 is a melee the members of it are free to move around within the group when it is their action, allowing them to attack anyone else within the melee. They cannot drag an outsider into the melee just because they may be able to create base to base contact. If a figure StandAlone gets in the way of a InContact group it is merely moved away. Actual position generally isnt an issue as you are able to move as part of a normal action and can therefore re-position yourself as required, BUT it may become an issue if your movement becomes hindered. Some directional (missiles or spells) attacks may use your actual position to determine targets.It is quite possible for several different groupings of combatants to form within a single zone. Movement from one to the other is not limited (other than with an intercept action) short of your movement capacity being reduced. Leaving an InContact may require a specific action, such as Withdraw, or risk an Opportunity action free attack.Combatants will normally move around placing their figurine adjacent to the one they wish to attack. GMs may restrict the total number of people that can attack another based around some maximum number (maybe 4 for a man sized target), or via those figurines that can actually make base contact (and thus have defined sizes and shapes for bases to make them relevant, based on size and shape).a. Determine surprise.
b. Determine battlefield and starting positions
c. Roll Action Dice for the round
d. Take actions in accordance with the Countdown.
e. When a round is closed repeat from c. Check for Closing.
f. End the encounter.
Initiative & Actions
All participants of a combat begin with their base 4 number of action dice plus or minus any modifiers. They roll the dice and keep them aside. The number of dice you use determines partly how many actions you can perform in a round.
High numbers allow you to act before your opponent. Any dice showing a 1 does not allow you to take an action with that dice, but can be used to modify any chosen action you take (see "List of 1 Actions" below).
The following modifiers may apply to the number of initiative dice you use:
The maximum number of initiative dice you may use is 8.
If you end up with more than 8 dice (due to rerolls etc) you must discard dice (of your choice, after you roll) until you only have 8 left. The minimum number of dice you can have is 1, if you fall below 1 you still roll 1 dice, and it cannot be a 1, reroll.
The Countdown
Participants act in the following order based on their Action Dice results.
Once an encounter has begun all involved roll their action dice and the GM calls for someone to act. The creature allowed to act first is determined by the Countdown above.
Each time an action is taken the highest value action dice is discarded and an action is taken, or any other dice is discarded (including 1's) and that character passes.
Option: instead of always taking the highest dice you may let the players bid ONE of their dice for an action and take the highest bid as the active character. Bid dice are not lost unless you win. Players always win over NPCs, so a player bidding a 6 wins. You might rule that the same player may not act twice in a row, or you may not...
Option: start with the highest total but then go around the table. The GM will do all their NPCs at once, or you might assign NPCs to act after assigned players to spread them around.
Any 1’s showing on the dice cannot be used to take actions, but can be used to discard and not act, or for other options, see below.
The GM continues to call for actions, and each time a dice is discarded.
When any one participants dice are all used up the round is Closing. After that character has finished their action the GM secretly rolls one dice and uses that as an initiative dice for determining when the round will Close. The Closing dice has lowest priority. As soon as that dice would be used the round is Closed and all dice are discarded. Roll for a new round.
Dice may be left unused, this is expected.
Option: when the GM announces they are closing the round any character who has any action dice left may spend one of them and drop the GMs dice score 1 point, the GM then calls the next dice (which may still be the Closing dice if it rolled high). When the closing dice comes up again the same procedure may be repeated. The Closing dice cannot go below 1, and its value should remain a secret.
Option: once a Closing has been called you may allow creatures to combine two initiative dice to have a higher effective value and therefor go next in order. Whole dice must be used for this, but 1s are allowed to be used. The highest total goes first, both dice are discarded.
Eg: 4 players and 4 monsters are fighting. P1 has 6d, P2 has 5d, P3 and 4 have 4d. Monster 1 has 4d, the rest have 3d.
At the start the highest dice are at 6 so they all act. The GM keeps calling down the numbers until call 6 when Player 3 uses their last dice (as he had higher rolls) and Closing is called. The GM rolls a 3 for the Closing dice and this means nobody else will get an action as 3 will be the highest dice and the round will be Closed.
Generally a round will close when the closing dice is rolled unless it rolls low, so in many cases 2's will not get used, and 1's cannot be used to take actions anyway. If optional rules are used the end of round can be extended or dice can be combined to act first, as is shown in the last line.
Note: you might think that having lots of initiative dice will be good, and most of the time they will be. Creatures with low initiative dice however will probably play to close the round as fast as possible and prevent you from using all your dice. This is intended. Having lots of dice gives you options more than actions, although it does provide them as well.
Action Costs.
To perform an action you not only need to discard a dice, you might also be required to have discarded dice with value equal to a certain amount. Most one handed melee weapons will require 1d with a value of 4+ (the required value is represented by the Weapon Speed property). When the user has discarded all their dice with values of 4 or more then they will need to accumulate 4 pts by discarding extra dice, say a 3 and a 2, over more than one call. Dice that are discarded to accumulate in this way should be placed in your discard pool until used. When an action is taken ALL the dice in the discard pool are discarded.
Spell casting is another area where multiple rounds of dice may need to be expended.
Generally you may only have ONE discard pool at a time, and it is dedicated to a single nominated action - making a melee attack, casting a spell etc. If the action is stopped for any reason the dice committed to the pool are lost. Some Advantages and some Spells may allow more than one pool to run at a time.
Burn 1 Action Dice
Whenever you get a result that requires you to Burn an Action Dice (or you elect to burn one) this indicates that one of your existing Action Dice currently not showing a 1, is converted to a 1. If you only have dice showing 1's then you discard one instead.
Held Actions
If a participant comes up to act and doesn’t wish to they may place their best dice to one side and bypass their action. The next round they will come up again and may continue holding that dice aside but will need to expend one of their other action dice each time until they take an action (and expend the held dice) or the round Closes. If the round Closes then they may carry the held dice into the next round.
In the meantime, after any other participant completes an action they may declare they are taking their action now and discard the dice that was put aside. If more then one participant wishes to act then the normal determination rules are used to resolve who goes first.
At the start of anyones action, once intent has been declared but before anything is done, a Held character may challenge to go before the current active player. A raw AGILITY roll is made and the highest total goes first, then the other character must act (the Holder must still act even if they lose).
Any 1’s rolled on your initiative dice cannot be used to take an action, but they can be used for the following:
When someone acts they begin by selecting an action and declaring their intent, they can move and perform an action (or perform an action and move).
Attacks
An attack can be a melee attack, spell attack or a ranged attack, all are resolved essentially the same way.
The attacker determines the type of attack they are going to make and how many dice they have to make it. They deduct a number of dice if the target elects to use a defence that has this effect (eg Dodge). They roll whatever dice remain, with a minimum of one dice as long as they have a Base set of dice (from an appropriate Xposure).
A single success is required to inflict the weapons damage. Extra hit successes can be allocated to inflict a special result (see list of options later). A Parry can be used to reduce the number of successful attack dice.
The weapons base number of damage dice, plus modifiers (such as STR for melee), less any reductions due to defences (eg Block), are rolled to determine the number of points of damage inflicted.
The target then determines what actions they will take to prevent the wounds in the form of “soak rolls” or Xposure abilities. Whatever damage remains is inflicted on the target immediately and effects noted.
Modifiers ToHit
Standard modifiers to an attack roll are as follows:
*“Advantage” is gained if you have more allies than enemies InContact in that group with you at that moment.
Range Modifiers ToHit
Standard range modifiers for all weapons are as follows:
InClose Combat
Being InClose means you are fighting at close quarters and this has some special conditions.
All combatants InClose are considered to fall prone unless they are 3x the Size of all opponents (or have an appropriate Xposure or Advantage). Creatures with different leg structures may gain a bonus, for eg a horse might be rated +1 size due to having 4 legs, a spider with 8 legs might be +2 sizes etc.
Weapons larger than Small cannot be used InClose, and even small weapons will do -2d damage. Larger weapons will be dropped.
Natural human weapons (hands and feet) will do only 1d of damage, plus any mods. Xposures exist to modify this. Other forms of natural weapons (claws and teeth etc) will do their normal damage.
Other forms of combat exist within InClose combat, such as wrestling and grappling. These allow 'holds' to be applied to creatures that are not significantly larger (3x times Size again). A Hold is inflicted by a successful attack with an Xposure that will allow it. Once a Hold is inflicted the opponent has only the following options:
When the holder has an action they have the following options:
A Subdual attack is possible once a Hold has been made. The level of the Hold is used to roll damage (no extra dice but some Xposures may help) and this is resisted by the targets BOD roll plus any Size differences (so large targets are hard to subdue). If the attacker wins then the opponent is OoA.
A Knockdown is possible against targets that remain standing InClose due to Size. This will be a STR or AGL roll by the attacker vs the defenders STR or AGL (choice) plus any Size difference. An opponent who is prone losses any protections they had due to Size and may now suffer Holds. To standup they must Withdraw from InClose.
Once a hit has been made, damage is inflicted by the damage roll. Each weapon will generally have 4d of damage, some may have less or more. The damage dice pool is increased by your STR bonus, by extra to-hit successes used to add damage, by SIZE or by any other Xposures that may apply. The damage pool is reduced by the Armour Resist value of the target, any defence rolls (see below) and any Xposures that may apply.
As long as one point of damage is inflicted the target will be Stunned or lose a Physical Rank. If sufficient damage is inflicted they may also suffer Trauma or Death (see below).
E.G. Georeg attacks a Ginat with his sword. He has 5d of skill with is sword and rolls 1,3,5,5,6, rerolls the 6 and gets a 4. He has 3 successes, the first one is used to make the actual hit, the 2 extras inflict +4d damage. As he has made a hit he rolls his sword damage dice (4d) and gets 2,4,5,5, an extra 4d damage rolls 2,4,5,6; for a total of 4 damage. The Ginat is rank 6 so the 4 damage is sufficient to inflict only a Stun, or if the Ginat was Stunned already then it would lose a Physical Rank.
Stun.
Stun is an optional form a damage you may elect to suffer rather than lose a Rank. You can only elect to do this if you are currently not stunned.
A character who is stunned loses all dice they may currently have in any ongoing pools (accumulating actions or Held actions). They may do nothing until they remove Stun.
A Stunned character must attempt to remove stun each time they would expend a dice. They may chose to simply expend that dice and do nothing, in which case Stun is removed, or they may roll to remove it and still use the dice. If they fail the roll then they may do nothing that action and remain stunned.
They can use a 1 dice to remove Stun as a Free action at anytime.
The roll to remove stun is a BOD roll, Xposures may assist you.
Dodge: an attempt to avoid the attack by moving your body out of the way, or using objects to achieve the same thing. Works against both melee and missiles, although fired missiles reduce your dodge pool by -2d. Successful dodge dice remove attack dice before they are rolled, so a dodge defence must be rolled before the attacker rolls. If a net number of dodge successes exist (all attack dice are removed) then they can be taken as special results by the defender (qv).
Block: using a shield or similar device, you attempt to minimise the damage you will suffer from an attack. Each successful block dice will reduce the amount of damage dice rolled by 1, plus any other blocking factors. Shields are the classical blocking device. If a net number of block successes exist (all damage dice are removed) then they can be taken as special result by the defender (qv).
Parry: using your weapon or shield to deflect the affects of a melee attack, possibly opening your enemy up to a riposte attack. A Parry may be usable vs missiles if the appropriate Xposure is taken. Each successful parry roll will reduce the number of attackers hits by 1. If a net number of parry successes exist (all attack hits are removed) then they can be taken as special results by the defender (qv).
All defences require a full action dice (not showing a 1) to be expended, this must be decided after an attack is declared but before it is resolved (so the attacker declares the attack and before they roll any dice the defender declares a defence).
Maintaining a Defence Pool
When you make a defence roll you should keep the roll in front of you (the successful dice), it will be used to defend against any further attacks made against you that the defence would work against. The defence roll is only discarded if you elect to do some other action other than discard a dice. If you became stunned or suffer trauma or worse you would lose the defence pool.
After each use of your defence pool against an attack you must discard one dice from it, including the first attack.
Eg: Roland is being attacked by 3 goblins but help is a few moves away. On the first goblins attack he decides to Dodge, his Dodge pool being 4d (Xp) + 2d (AG bonus) + 1d (adv Xp). He rolls and gets 5 successes. The first Goblin only has 4d of attack so he misses completely and Roland has a dice left to take a special action, he then discards 1d of the 5. The second goblin attacks and misses, 4d vs 4d. Roland discards a dice, down to 3d of Dodge. The third goblin attacks with a net 1d (4-3) and rolls a 1, so he fumbles and hits a friend.Any Heroic creature who suffers any wounds may elect to try to “soak them off” by BURNING an initiative dice (converting a non-1 dice into a 1 dice), or discarding a 1 dice.
For Physical damage they may then make a (Total number of extra dice from Physical characteristics)+Modifiers dice roll, with each success removing a wound inflicted.
For Mental damage they may make a (Total number of extra dice from Mental characteristics)+Modifiers dice roll, with each success removing a wound inflicted.
Eg: Georeg suffers 3 damage and elects to Burn a dice to reduce this. He has +1d in STR, +2 dice in AGL and 0 dice in BOD, so he rolls 3d to soak off the wounds.
If you do not have any initiative dice left you may take dice from the next rounds allotment. If you advance more dice than you actually are entitled to (because conditions might reduce them) then you are immediately marked as OoA for that round.
All creatures are rated for Physical and Mental standings - Ranks. The Ranks go from +9 to -3 and represent various levels of capacity. The system is an abstraction, so although a big powerful monster will be rated fairly highly, heroes can rate equivalent or better due to skill, training and morale. The system goes from being a bash them till they drop dead from wounds, to one where you bash them till they admit they are beaten. In this system physical wounds are removed from being the primary means of defeating an opponent, and overall state of defeat becomes the over-riding objective. Along the way 'wounds' can be inflicted that will have debilitating effects, but these will be far less frequent, and much less likely against big monsters. Opponents that are 'beaten' will be assumed to run away or surrender rather than forming a big pile of blood soaked corpses. Killing an opponent will be much less frequent, and more a choice of victory.
All creatures will be ranked from 1 to 9 for Physical and Mental status. A strong physical rating can reflect not only size and power but skill and resourcefulness. A strong Mental rating is not about intelligence, it is more about morale, drive, training and stubbornness. Both can be varied on the fly based on circumstances and situation.
The following tables have some guidelines for determining starting ranks.
The numbers given under the size/Physicals column are merely possible examples of where to place various monsters. Players/heroes should be boosted one level automatically compared to their numerical values (they are Heroic). Other factors may raise or decrease the scores as you see fit.
Determining Ranks
Apart from the straight numerical Size (or Physical/Mental scores) values listed in the tables below there are a number of other factors that can alter a creatures rank, mostly at the whim of the GM.
Players should always be given an extra level over what they may rate as numerically, they are heroes after all. They will automatically gain a Feat called Heroic which does this. The extra level can be taken either on the Physical side or the Mental side at the beginning of each event.
Magic will play a big role in altering rank.
Creatures may have powers that modify rank, such as Fear, Dread, Scary and Loathsome etc. Plenty of nasty descriptive words now take on a much more sinister mental meaning.
Morale, mental state and situation may modify rank.
Physical defences can now be assigned a rank bonus, both physical and mental, rather than a more cumbersome set of numeric bonuses. Being behind a wall may give you +2 Physical Ranks and +1 Mental Ranks as a bonus. This makes them resistant to wounds. The downside is that if your enemy breach the wall you bonus levels vanish.
Leadership, both inspirational and terrifying, will have a greater role on the rank of your followers.
The GM may simply need to access minor effects and determine if they accumulate into a significant effect that is sufficient to represent a rank.
Real Ranks vs Bonus Ranks.
Real ranks are those you normally have based on your scores. Ranks from being Heroic are real also. Some other Ranks may be real but they require a degree of permanence and solidness for be Real as opposed to Bonus.
Bonus Ranks are those gained as a temporary thing, from position, magic or circumstances. Bonus Ranks cannot be used to actually absorb damage, but they do count for determining the level of damage you may suffer. Eg: if you were Rank 3 and had a Bonus Rank to become Rank 4, then you would need to suffer 5 damage to suffer a Trauma or Panicked result.
Level 9.
Creatures on level 9 are special and should be used rarely. They cannot be knocked off level 9 unless some special event occurs that would be most likely story driven. A bane weapon might drop its target off Physical 9, an extended and highly risky debate might knock a Mental 9 down. This is an area left upto GMs to ponder and use. Players should be given plenty of warning however because unless they have the means to knock them down from level 9 they cannot win. It is possible to have a creature on level 9 in one area and not another, which may be their weakness. Creatures of level 9 are GM creatures, nothing gets to this level without the GM intending it, so the maximum normal level is 8.
Damage/Defeat
Under this system everything is about Ranks and Defeat. Ranks are used to indicate status, Defeats are used to modify status (inflict defeats on a target via damage). Damage inflicted is now seen as mostly small wounds that have little individual effect, but with accumulation will debilitate an opponent, as well as simple fatigue. Major wounds (caused by trauma) will now be individual effects. Either may result in your defeat.
When you achieve a successful hit with a weapon you will inflict damage. Damage is then converted into Defeats, Defeats become Rank loss and/or Trauma. Effects are as follows:
DAMAGE: what a weapon or spell inflicts as a result of a successful attack. More than one form of damage can be inflicted from an attack, but unless the number exceeds the starting Rank of the target this results in only a single Defeat. If the damage from a single attack exceeds the targets starting Rank (Mental or Physical based on the type of attack) then a Trauma has been inflicted. If it exceeds 2 times its starting rank a Killing Blow has been inflicted. You may try to Soak Off damage and avoid its effects.
STUN: the first defeat inflicted from an attack MAY always be taken as a Stun, unless the target is already Stunned.
DEFEAT: effect of a normal successful attack that inflicts at least 1 point of damage. A Defeat results in one Rank being marked as lost. Normally you may only lose one Rank per attack, Trauma and other specials may alter this (such as surprise). A lost rank cannot be used to absorb more defeats and when all are lost you are OoA. A lost Rank does not lower your current ranks for future damage calculations. Bonus ranks cannot be marked as lost.
TRAUMA: when the damage inflicted from a single attack exceeds the current Physical Rank of the target after all modifiers, then a Trauma has been inflicted. This is a specific injury affect and a roll on the Injury Table is required.
KILLING BLOW: if you suffer more than 2 times your current Rank in damage in one attack you are knocked unconscious and count as OoA and you must roll on the Injury Tables. Add +1 to the Effects Table roll.
MASSIVE: some creatures are so big and powerful that any hit results in massive damage and you are considered KIA. As a further guide if more than 3 times your current rank are inflicted it can be considered Massive Damage.
CrossOver Damage.
Specific amounts of physical damage will result in damage to the Mental ranks of a creature. By default each 2nd rank loss on the Physical side will result in the loss of one Mental rank. This happens both ways, as will be seen below, but such carry over damage does not contribute to further carry over damage. Eg a physical rank loss that results in a mental rank loss that results in another physical rank loss etc. Carry over ranks lost should be marked by a linking arrow from the area that caused it to differentiate it from normal damage loses. Carry over damage is regained if the cause is removed (healed).
Some advantages/spells/events may modify the carryover value from every 2nd to every 3rd or even every 4th.
OoA and KIA
When a normal creature is reduced to 0 or less Ranks it is Out of Action (OoA) and generally either unconscious, cowering, crippled or run away.
Heroic creatures are able to go to negative Ranks as indicated and become OoA at -3 Ranks instead.
OoA creature get no action dice, they act automatically as the GM chooses. Players who are OoA must decide their fate as seems appropriate to whatever defeated them - unconscious, flee, cowering, crippled. The winning side will have the option to recover most of their OoA people, and to decide on the fate of those defeated. If you flee you will escape but you are likely to be alone, and they may pursue you.
Each time an OoA creatures is hit again it must roll its BODY dice (4+level) and achieve a success or become Killed in Action (KIA). The amount of damage inflicted is irrelevant.
Once KIA the character is dying and will need magical or sustained normal healing skills at the end of the event.
Roll 4d6 and consult the following Location Table. The number that comes up the most becomes the target location. If the result is a draw (2 pairs or 4 singles) then the HIGHEST roll is hit (6s). Once a location is determined you may shift the location one connected area if you rolled a triple, two areas if you rolled a quadruple. Neck and Groin maybe ignored as locations if you wish (they are optional).
Eg: you roll 4d and get 4,4,4,6. A triple of 4’s means that the Right Arm is hit, but the attacker may shift the result one area to the Chest if they wish due to the triple.
Once a location is determined then the attacker must roll on the Effect Table to see what happened. If rolling for a Killing Blow add +1 to the Effect roll.
The effects are detailed as follows.
Bleeder: A major vascular wound has been inflicted that will cause the victim to suffer extra wounds every round until magical healing is applied or first aid and complete rest is started. The target must make a BODY roll at the start of each Round or suffer an extra Physical Rank loss. Multiple bleeder results to different locations will accumulate, but another bleeder result to the same location will not. If a -2d is indicated then the number of dice used for that roll is decreased by 2, such areas being more prone to this type of wound.
Stun: the victim is stunned, lucky escape. Burn 1 action dice.
Unconscious: the victim must make an immediate Will roll or fall unconscious OoA (assuming they can suffer this state). Where a 2d is indicated the roll is made with -2d. Burn 1 action dice.
Sight: all visual based rolls (and that means most of them) are impaired, apply -1d to all rolls that require sight. Victim looses 1 Mental Rank immediately.
Sound: the victim is deafened and cannot hear, and will have trouble communicating or making coherent sounds. This will make casting of magic with a verbal component more difficult (-2d), as well as other activities as the GM decides. Victim looses 1 mental rank immediately.
Balance: any kind of movement will require a DEX roll or you fall prone. All spell casting is at -2d. Victim losses 1 mental rank immediately. Burn 2 action dice.
Paralysis: roll Body or fall to the ground OoA.
Broken: the target limb has broken bones and rendered unusable. If an arm then anything not strapped on will be dropped. If a leg then the victim must make DEX rolls at -2d or fall prone each time they try to move. Loss an extra Physical Rank immediately.
Wind: the target will lose 1 Mental Rank immediately. Burn 2 action dice
Kill: target must make an immediate Body roll at -2d or they are OoA. Discard all remaining Initiative dice. Lose 2 Mental Ranks immediately.
Hand: the target hand is disabled, drop anything held, cannot be used until healed. Burn 1 action dice.
Foot: the target foot is disabled, reducing movement rate until healed, and they must make an immediate DEX roll or fall prone. Any Battle or Zone movement will require a new DEX roll or fall prone. Any rolls to resolve movement will be at -2d. Burn one action dice.
Flesh Wound: a deep flesh wound resulting in the loss of an extra Physical Rank.
Fracture: a discomfiting bone fracture that doesn’t quite disable but certainly makes it very difficult to use the affected area, reduce all dice rolls related to using that area by -2d.
Sever: a limb is severed, it drops to the ground nearby, blood gushes out. You are permitted to use the line “its only a flesh wound”. You loss 2 extra Physical Ranks immediately and all rolls are at -2d. Burn 2 action dice.
Puncture: your lungs are punctured, either by the attackers weapon or some of those damned annoying ribs. You get to sound like Darth Vader when you talk, and blood will spray from your mouth every now and then. Lose an extra Physical Rank and all rolls are at -1d. Burn 1 action dice.
Maim: to the groin indicates that you are in severe pain and very stressed about your reproductive possibilities. You suffer an immediate loss of a Mental rank, and all rolls are at -1d. Burn 1 action dice.
Where a wound has the effect of "Burn an action dice", that effect occurs immediately AND remains every round until the wound effect is removed. The owner may select which dice to convert to 1's.
General Effects Table.
Mental defeats are not inflicted by the results of physical attacks, they are based on morale or actual mental functions and thus present with a whole different set of possibilities. Magic spells can be used to disrupt/enhance the mental ranks of opponents/allies. Morale and Leadership can be used to boost or maintain mental ranks, possibly even attack opponents mental ranks. Situation, battle results and numerous other factors can be used to affect mental ranks... creatures which are 'fearsome', undead that can inflict 'dread', creatures that are just plan 'scary'. Intimidation, bluff, overawe and persuasion skills take on a whole new meaning.
Mental Damage
Mental attacks will inflict damage in a similar manner to physical damage. Damage is then converted into effects as follows.
CrossOver Damage.
Specific amounts of mental damage will result in damage to the Physical ranks of a creature. By default each 2nd rank loss on the Mental side will result in the loss of one Physical rank. This happens both ways, as will be seen above, but such carry over damage does not contribute to further carry over damage. Eg a physical rank loss that results in a mental rank loss that results in another physical rank loss etc. Carry over ranks lost should be marked by a linking arrow from the area that caused it to differentiate it from normal damage loses. Carry over damage is regained if the cause is removed (healed).
Some advantages/spells/events may modify the carryover value from every 2nd to every 3rd or even every 4th.
Mental Effects
DAMAGE: what a mental attack inflicts as a result of a successful attack. Unless the amount of damage exceeds the starting Rank of the target this results in only a single Mental Defeat (or optionally a Stun). If the damage from a single attack exceed the targets starting Rank then they become Panicked. If it exceeds 2 times your starting rank they become Crushed. You may try to Soak Off damage and avoid their effects.
DEFEAT: effect of a normal successful attack that inflicts at least 1 point of damage. A Defeat results in one Rank being marked as lost. Normally you may only lose one Rank per attack, Trauma and other specials may alter this (such as surprise). A lost rank cannot be used to absorb more defeats and when all are lost you are OoA. A lost Rank does not lower your current ranks for future damage calculations. Bonus ranks cannot be marked as lost.
PANICKED: when a creature suffers more than their starting Mental Rank in a single mental damage roll, they are Panicked. A Panicked creature will take compulsory actions to move as far as possible from the greatest perceived danger, without concern for consequences (such as opportunity attacks or allies). They may try to become un-Panicked by making a Spirit roll at the start of every action after the initial one (or by using a 1 dice to trigger a new roll).
CRUSHED: when a creatures suffers more than 2 times their starting Mental Rank in a single mental damage roll, they are Crushed. A Crushed creature may do nothing. They fall to their knees (if they have any) and take no actions whatsoever, including defensive ones. They may try to become un-Crushed by making a Spirit roll at the start of every action after the initial one.
Fear
Fear is the most common Mental attack form, and in many cases will not require a specific attack. Fear is an affect that some creatures induce in others and must be resisted rather then inflicted.
Whenever a fear affect is present those who are fearful must make a Spirit roll to avoid the immediate lose of one Mental Rank. Essentially Fear is assumed to make a successful attack apon anyone who enters its area of effect, inflicting one Defeat (or worse). Everyone affected by the attack must either pass a Spirit test, or lose Mental Ranks. This continues every time a creature has an action (discards a dice) until they pass a Spirit test, after which they no longer need to make further rolls.
Where multiple opponents have fear always use the single worst effect and ignore the rest. If you are the target of a Fear attack and you fail then you again become susceptible to automatic fears effects until you pass one again.
Fear generally only affects the zone the cause is in, but Dread and Fell creatures affect adjacent zones as well.
Levels of Fear:
Scary: these creatures are somewhat scary, if you fail the fear roll (a SPIR test), then you will lose one Action dice (the one you just discarded, so you do nothing this action).
Fearsome: pass a Fear roll or lose one Mental Rank, or be stunned.
Dread: as Fearsome, but the SPIR roll is at -1d, stun is no longer an option.
Terror: as Dread but the area of effect is the zone the creature is in plus all adjacent ones.
Fell: as Dread but the SPIR roll is made continuously until passed or the target is Broken... ie win or lose all in a flash.
Travel and work can result in Fatigue, which can be both physical and mental in nature. To keep things simple I would suggest applying a straight -1 rank to either Physical or Mental ranks when you feel that players would be tired or fatigued. If the possibility is doubtful then allow them to make a Body or Will roll (4d+level) to avoid any rank loss.
Severe fatigue will progressively apply more rank losses.
The Important Bit! : Players dont DIE when they lose, they are defeated.
This will then depend on the GM and the story as to what that means. Defeat could mean they were captured by their enemies and must now escape or be rescued. Defeat can mean they ran away, fled the battlefield, and nothing more than the knowledge of that defeat, which the GM can use in their story. Death will only be an absolute certainty if you take massive damage and fail the roll AND your party is defeated (a failed death roll usually means you drop into a coma). Wounds (actual physical damage as opposed to defeats) become more a feature than an insignificance, the GM can be far more creative in inflicting wounds and what their effects are.
In a worse case scenario where they might be fighting a monster who eats its victims, only one of you dies - the last person standing. The rest will have obviously fled.
Followers and NPCs become fodder for this system. Most human followers are likely to be average and thus have Normal values – 3 or 4 levels of Physical and Mental and no negative levels. They are able to take a couple of hits then they are mostly gone. They flee or hide or simply collapse. They can be recovered after the event, as long as your side wins.
Some NPC characters are important, they will be rated as Heroic, and will have access to all the levels of the system. These will be important characters, leaders and especially nasty mobs. They should however be few in number.
Mobs, Crowds and Hordes.
When dealing with larger numbers of NPC characters or followers it may be convenient to group them together and treat them as a single entity with some unique benefits, as follows.
A MOB is 3 or 4 creatures, it gains +1 Physical level (so generally humans will be on rank 4). It gains +1d and can attack twice in one round against separate targets.
A CROWD is 2 Mobs (8 men), it gains +1 Physical and +1 Mental levels (so generally will be on rank 5/4). It gains +2d and can attack three times in one round against separate targets.
A HORDE is 2 Crowds (16 men), it gains +2 Physical and +1 Mental levels (so generally will be on rank 6/5). It gains +3d and can attack four times in one round against separate targets.
A COMPANY is 2 Hordes (32 men), it gains +3 Physical and +2 Mental Ranks and comes with an NCO commander. It gains +4d and can attack four times in one round against separate targets.
A UNIT is 2 Companies (64 men), it gains +4 Physical and +2 Mental Ranks and comes with an Officer commander. It gains +4d and can attack six times in one round against separate targets.
Need to think about these some more.... stacking limits?
Its possible that Command skills might allow you to break down a Horde or Crowd into its component Mob parts, but this sort of beats the purpose of having them (less things to control).
Healing comes in two forms, fast and slow. The fast method is nearly always linked to magical healing, although first aid can sometimes help with very minor wounds. Slow healing is what we refer to as Natural healing, and simply takes time.
Fast Healing
First aid can be used to remove Stun and a wound from a creature that has suffered only one rank lost. Even so the First Aid will take at least 10 minutes to do, so is not applicable to combat healing.
Healing in combat is the realm of magic, see the appropriate spells for details.
Slow Healing
Natural healing takes time, in the realms of weeks. A week with good food and water and no travel, will result in 2 wounds being healed. Remove one of the above and it becomes 1 wound.
After the first week you recover only 1 wound per week, but can do without one of the requirements.
The presence of a trained healer during the entire week, along with a successful Healing roll, will result in an extra rank being recovered.
Grevious wounds may take longer, see the description for details.
Permanent wounds cannot be healed naturally and require some form of magic.
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There are various types of chariots based on nationality, but they all have some similiarities.
Light Chariots: room for 2 max, each person over 1 causes -1 to driving rolls and pace. Base pace of 9.
Heavy Chariots: room for 4 max (human sized), each person over 2 causes –1 to driving rolls and pace. Base pace of 7.
The horse team counts as one target based on a single horse, but counts as a WC for wounds only (no wild dice). Any wound modifiers applying to the team also apply to any driving rolls.
2 Horse Team: team has +1 Toughness (based on a single horse) and does ST+d4 damage and may attack one target at a time.
4 Horse team: base pace of heavy chariots improved by 2 (to 9). Pace of Light Chariots does not decrease for crew, but handling penalties still apply for crew over 1. Team gets +3 Toughness and does ST+d6 damage and may attack upto 2 targets (see later).
The following is a list of chariot types by nationality.
Egyptian: 2H Light
Kushite: 2 or 4H Light
Libyan: 2 or 4H Light
Carthage: 2 or 4H Light or Heavy
Syrian, Hittite or Mitanni: 2H Light or Heavy
Babylonian/Assyrian: 2 or 4H Light or Heavy
Chariots provide Light Cover except from the rear.
Defensive Driving (see Feat) is controlled by the Driver, but applies to any passengers.
Because chariots may have multiple characters taking actions they may need to co-ordinate their initiative properly so they can all act at the appropriate times, but they don’t have to.
Characters on a chariot cannot melee through their front due to the horse team. They must come alongside a target.
A 2 horse chariot is 2x3 squares in size on the map, with the crew located in the back row.
A 4 horse chariot is 3x4 squares in size and the crew can be located in any of the 2 back rows.
A chariots horse team can be used to attack if they are trained for battle (see p97 of core rules and Trample edge in these rules). Treat them as a single unit that does extra damage as noted above.
A Heavy Chariot may attack 2 targets at once, as long as they are both contacted by the front of the chariot figure (not diagonal).
Chariots are very poor vehicles in rough terrain (-2), or difficult terrain (-4). Steep slopes, rocky ground, very soft sand (as opposed to compacted sand) or marshes are impassable. They are really only meant for nice flat ground, but in the interests of playability you should allow them some plausible disbelief. Particularly for Light Chariots.
Chariot Movement.
Because chariots are multi-square figures on the tabletop it isn’t always easy to work out how to move them. To simplfy things a chariot can use either the Turning Template or a Large Blast Template during a normal move.
The Turning Template allows the chariot to move its full distance (7-9 inches).
The Blast Template assumes the chariot is changing directions. Place the template against any part of the chariots base, then place the chariot anywhere completely within the template, facing in any direction.
When charging or running the chariot always uses the Turning Template and is limited to one 45 degree turn.
A second 45 degree turn can be attempted but this requires a Driving roll, with light chariots at –2 and heavy chariots at –4. Fail and you don’t make the turn and must continue straight onward. Fumble and the chariot flips over.
Flyers will be rated for zone movement the same way as other creatures, but will have a few extra values that limit or enhance their movement capacity. These extra values determine the following:
Speed: the maximum number of zones the flying can move in one action (not round). For normal flyers this is usually 1, for fast flyers it might be 2 or 3.
Turn Rate: the number of turns a flyer may make during an action. A turn rate of 6 means the flyer is able to circle the zone it is in without leaving and still count as flying.
Dive: the maximum speed a flyer is capable of and still remain in control. This will be shown as a value to be added to the base Speed. Moving faster than this is considered to be falling.
The extra values will be displayed in the following format:
~2/2/3
The above flyer has a flying move rate of 2 zones per action, of which it MUST move at least 1 zone every action or be considered "on the ground". It can turn upto 2 times during an action. It can go to a maximum speed of 3 zones during a dive and still retain control of its flight.
Most flyers that fail to move at least 1 zone in an action are considered to be hovering, or to have landed.
A turn is a change of facing within the zone grid. In a square grid there are 8 facings (four cardinals and 4 diagonals). If you use an offset grid (hex pattern) then there are only 6 facings. Because of this the facing of a flyer is required to be tracked. I would suggest the figurine used have a clearly marked front and be placed to indicate facing.
Flyers can generally only be attacked at the moment they attack, or with ranged attacks.
A flyer circling within a zone is immune to melee attack by ground based creatures. To attack a flyer you will need to hold an action ready. Anyone InContact with the flyers target, and holding an action ready, may attack the flyer at the time it attacks. You can also rely on opportunity attacks as a flyer goes past you, but many of them will have Fly-by-attacks.
Missile fire against a flyer is harder, reduce the number of dice by their speed as long as they are flying.
If the situation allows for the possibility of surprise then the surprised creature gains no defence dice other than passive armour (no shields).
During a surprise round the surprising side will generally get all of their initiative dice and the surprised will get none (which means the round will Close immediately). No soaking is allowed. If surprise is more severe than more dice may be given.
Some actions are insignificant in the scheme of things, such as yelling a few words, and can be allowed at the discretion of the GM.
Cover comes in the form of hard and soft.
Hard cover provides armour like protection as well as visual protection making you harder to hit. It is normally an obstacle requiring effort to overcome.
Soft cover generally only provides visual protection. It can hinder movement.
With the zone system it is up to the GM to layout whatever cover is to be made available and how it can be used. Cover should generally run along a zone boundry, being an obstacle between two zones. Anyone firing from one side to the other clearly suffers the penalties of the cover (both ways).
Cover as an area within a zone becomes something that is occupied and the occupant must be challenged to get them out of it. Until then the occupier of the cover counts its benefits. Such cover can be linear or area based. Linear cover is a line behind which someone hides and can be overcome by getting to the other side (a battle move roll) unchallenged. Area cover is occupied and they must all be defeated before they lose its benefits (the cover area becomes an InContact melee area for everyone entering it).
Linear cover that is being defended could allow the defenders to automatically intercept any attacker trying to get past it, but once you run out of defenders any further attackers would penetrate the defence. The defence should probably have a choke value placed on it to make it useful or sheer numbers will overwhelm it.
Hard Cover Effect
Light -1d.
Heavy -2d, no rerolls.
Soft Cover
Light (10%+) -1d
Medium(50%+) -2d
Heavy(80%+) -3d
Characters with the appropriate advantages and training can make use of multiple weapons at once, based around how many tool using appendages they have available.
Dual wielding provides a limited range of advantages, the least of which is an option as to which weapon you want to use at any given time for attack or defence. For this reason it is a good idea to have two different weapons with different characteristics, possibly one for attack and one for defence.
Special Tactics.
ALL OUT ATTACK - no defence, combine both attacks into one, no defence till you have a new action.
DOUBLE STRIKE - two attacks, one after the other, may only use Dodge as a defence till you have a new action.
FOLLOW ON - attack plus possible second attack if conditions are right.
Some weapons have extra long reach, such as spears, polearms and pikes (as opposed to range). The main benefit of Reach is that you can attack an opponent without moving into InContact with them, you can attack them from StandAlone. So a Reach weapon provides the options of being InContact whilst remaining StandAlone. The drawback to a Reach weapon is that it cannot (normally) be used InContact, so once your opponent is able to close on you, you become unarmed.
Where an attack results in more than the required one success, the extra successes can be used to enact one or more of the following special successes
+2d of damage
Disarm attempt
Lose of an action dice
Stun
Break weapon attempt
Expose to next attack
Remove armour from a location
Move out of Contact
Draw into Contact vs Reach
Knockback/down
Hamstring attack
Reduce defence pool