Combat and Damage
Combat situations are always announced by the DM. As soon as combat starts, the actions and reactions players and enemies can do becomes turn-based.
Phases
Draw Phase
Every player and enemy draws cards from a stack of cards that contain numbers between 1 and 100
The number of cards a character draws depends on his/her value in the attribute "combat"
Preparation Phase
Every character picks a card from his/her hand and puts it face-down on the table
After every character that wants to participate this turn put a card down, the cards are flipped face-up
The order of action is determined from the character with the lowest card to the highest
Characters that have no cards left cannot act/attack, only react to enemy attacks
Every player can give one card per turn to another player - and a player can only receive one card per turn in the preparation phase (→ this can be narrated by the card-giving player if desired)
Combat Phase
Beginning with the character that played the lowest card, every character can perform a combat action (e.g. Attack, Hide, Run, Take cover, ...)
A character with a higher card that did not yet perform a combat action this turn can interrupt (pre damage calculation) or chose to perform his/her combat action earlier (pre attack announcement). This means higher cards are potentially more valuable as they can be used to safe an attacked group member, ect.
If this is the case, the card of the character gets discarded and the character can not do anything else until the next Preparation Phase.
When attacking ("act"), the attacker choses a target and announces how he/she intends to attack. The attacker can (and should) always ask the DM which enemies are in range for a certain attack
After the attack, the card of the attacker gets discarded and the attacker can not do anything else until the next Preparation Phase.
The attacked character (target) can chose to react, e.g. by blocking, dodging, ...
After all participating characters completed their action or reaction, the next round starts (jump back to Preparation Phase)
Combat Action
Chain of action
The attacker announces who to attack (=attack target)
The attacker announces how to attack
The attack target announces how to react
Hit Test: Both roll their dice to see if the attack hits (if not, skip 5.)
Damage Calculation
Attacking
An attacker can use a combat skill and/or the combat attribute to attack an enemy. The available dice of skill and/or attribute form the attack dice pool. E.g:
Use the equipped sword with [Skill:Cut Weapons] and [Attribute:Combat]
Punch the enemy with [Skill:Boxing] and [Attribute:Combat]
Cast a spell (see Magic Abilities)
Some other skill/attribute that fits the situation and is realistic to perform
The attacker can decide to shift (= hold back) dice for the attack. Every shifted die can be used for a bonus effect
The attacker rolls the remaining dice
Dice that hit their max. number (6 for a d6 and 0 for a d10) "explode" and are rolled again. Their new number is added to the max. Dice can explode multiple times
Example: The attacker announces, that he wants to hit a specific enemy with his sword. He waits for the announcement of the attack targets reaction and then rolls 3d10 for [Skill:Cut Weapons] and 2d6 [Attribute:Combat]. The highest rolled number is a 7
(Read on to see how it ends...)
Attack Reaction
The attack target can react to an incoming attack in multiple ways:
Block
The attack target accepts the incoming attack and braces for impact, reducing the dealt damage (see Damage Calculation)
Dodge (Melee)
The attack target tries to evade the incoming attack by rolling [Skill:Dodge] and [Attribute:Agility]
Dice that hit their max. number (6 for a d6 and 0 for a d10) "explode" and are rolled again. Their new number is added to the max. Dice can explode multiple times
If the highest rolled number is greater than the highest rolled number of the attacker, the dodge was successful and the attack target receives no damage
If the number was lower or equal, the attack target gets no additional boni (except armor) to reduce incoming damage (see Damage Calculation)
Dodge (Projectile)
The attack target tries to evade the incoming projectile (e.g. thrown spear, fireball, ...) by rolling [Skill:Dodge] and [Attribute:Agility]
Dice that hit their max. number (6 for a d6 and 0 for a d10) "explode" and are rolled again. Their new number is added to the max. Dice can explode multiple times
If the highest rolled number is greater than the speed of the projectile, the dodge was successful and the attack target receives no damage
If the number was lower or equal, the attack target gets no additional boni (depending on the projectile type) to reduce incoming damage.
Other
Depending on the situation, the attack target can get creative and negotiate his/her reaction with the DM
Hit Test
Both characters should've rolled their dice now. Each of them substracts possible penalties (if there are any, e.g. exhaustion) and the character with the highest thrown die wins the hit test (see example below).
Example: The attacker announces his attack, before rolling their dice, the attack target announces how he decides to react to the attack. The attack target decides to try to dodge the incoming attack. The attacker rolls a 7, the attack target uses 2d10 from [Skill:Dodge] and 1d6 from [Attribute:Agility] and rolls a 9. The dodge was successful.
Damage Calculation (Physical Combat)
If the attacker won the hit test, the damage he/she deals to the target will be calculated.
Outgoing damage for physical attacks:
Roll [Attribute:Strength] dice, take the highest rolled number (exploded dice are possible)
Add the [Weapon:Damage] to the rolled value
In case there were any dice shifted for bonus damage, add the [Weapon:Damage Per Shift] to the rolled value (from Chain of action: Step 2)
The outgoing damage of the attacker gets subtracted from the [Armor] of the attack target at the hit location
If the attack target blocked, he/she rolls [Skill:Block] dice and substracts the highest rolled number (exploded dice are possible) from the incoming damage
Example: (See image: Blocking Example) The attacker announces his attack, before rolling their dice. He attacks directly with his sword and shifts 1d6 for extra damage. The attack target announces that he tries to block the incoming attack. The attacker could still miss the attack by having a highest roll of 1, but he rolls a 7.
The attacker rolls his 3d6 for [Attribute:Strength] at the same time the attack targets rolls his 2d6 for [Skill:Block]. The attacker calculates his outgoing damage by adding the highest number of his roll (4) to the damage of the used weapon (3). Because he held back 1d6 for damage, he can now use the bonus damage of his sword (1) times the number of shifted dice (1) to add to the outgoing damage (4 + 3 + 1 = 8).
The attack target rolled his dice for blocking and takes the value of the highest roll (4) and adds it to the value of his armor (2). The resulting blocked damage (4 + 2 = 6) gets subtracted from the incoming damage (8). The resulting damage (8 - 6 = 2) gets subtracted from the attack targets Health.
Damage Calculation (Abilities)
todo
Example: todo
Health and Exhaustion
Health points are defined by a base value of 4 plus [Skill:Endurance].
A health point can be in 4 states:
Healthy => O
Exhausted => (/)
Damaged => (X)
Permanently Damaged => (*)
The health of a character can be displayed like this (examples):
OOOOOO
(/)(/)OOOO
(X)(/)OOOO
Exhaustion
Exhaustion means that the character endured either mentally or physically exhausting actions. If all health points of the player are exhausted, the character becomes unconscious. If the character receives more exhaustion points than possible, the overhead exhaustion turns already exhausted health points into damage.
Exhaustion can be healed by resting (a few hours) or certain abilities.
Damage
If a character takes damage, he is wounded and needs to be healed. If all health points are damaged or permanently damaged, the character dies.
Damage can be healed by certain medicine or abilities.
Permanent Damage
If a damaged character got healed badly, the remaining damage becomes permanent damage that can only be healed very slowly. Permanent damage of players can get carried over to following sessions.
Example: The player has 6 health points (4 + 2 from [Skill:Endurance]). He gets beaten up in combat and receives 2 damage.
OOOOOO → (X)(X)OOOO
The player tries to end this battle by casting a very difficult spell. He fails and gets +1 exhaustion.
(X)(X)OOOO → (X)(X)(/)OOO
The player tries again but fails again. This time he gets +2 exhaustion.
(X)(X)(/)OOO → (X)(X)(/)(/)(/)O
The player panicks and tries to heal himself, but because of all the exhaustion, the spell fails. He gets +4 exhaustion.
(X)(X)(/)(/)(/)O → (X)(X)(X)(X)(X)(/)
The player is fully exhausted and becomes unconscious. He is also barely alive. The archer in the players party tries to defeat the remaining enemies but misses critically. He accidently hits the unconscious player, dealing him 2 damage.
(X)(X)(X)(X)(X)(/) → (X)(X)(X)(X)(X)(X)
The player dies. (This was maybe a very extreme example...)
Combat Ranges
There are only four range zones in combat:
Close Combat (0~3m)
Mid Combat (3~6m)
Ranged Combat (7m+)
Out-Of-Range (depending on situation)
The DM can tell each player the current range towards another character.