Combat and Conflict

Fight for what you believe in (or money).

Any scene that involves violent conflict between characters, it becomes a Combat scene. In a Combat scene the characters and their enemies take actions to move the Flow of Battle to their advantage. Each round characters choose between moving, Regular Attacks (to move the Flow of Battle), Decisive Attacks (to use the Flow of Battle to cause wounds against the enemy), and Advanced Actions (with special effects). This system is supposed to make Combat feel constantly high-tension, and to play smoothly and quickly. It is meant to evoke the fast paced fight scenes in movies and to focus on a small number of high-intensity moments, rather than a continual slog.

Combat Stats

When attacking, characters make use of their Talents, in particular using their Talent Dice and any modifiers from that Talent's Skills. However when defending the stats that the character uses are derived from their Abilities (the character creation section describes how to do this).

The first, and most important, is the character's Max Hits Taken. This is the number of times a character can take a wound before they become Incapacitated. Most characters can only take a couple of hits at a maximum. Max Hits Taken is derived from the highest level of either Fortitude or Perseverance, this is to represent wither simply being tough enough to shrug off wounds, or to have the sheer force of will to ignore the pain and keep fighting.

A character has three kinds of defence: Resilience, Resolve, and Reactions. When defending from an attack the most appropriate defence is chosen. Each defence is derived from two of the character's Abilities: Resilience is derived from Fortitude and Nimbleness, Resolve from Fortitude and Perseverance, and Reactions from Perseverance and Nimbleness. Reslience tends to defend from attacks that rely on physical strength. Resolve tends to defend from attacks that attempt to overcome the defenders will to fight. Reactions tend to defend from attacks that rely on speed and surprise. The core part of a defence is the Resistance Value and Reisistance Dice. Resistance Value is the base number that Decisive Attacks need to beat, and Resistance Difficulty sets the number of d6s that the attacker rolls.

When defending from a Decisive Attack the defender also rolls Ability Dice and Protection Dice. The defender may choose which Ability they use for the defence roll, although it must be one of the Abilities that contributes to the targetted defence. Protection comes from Skills, and can represent physical items, supernatural strengths, or simply inherent additional defences. For Resilience protection is called Armour. For Resolve it is called Determination. And for Reactions it is called Confidence.

Rounds

Once Combat has become innevitable, the characters must start taking turns in rounds. The characters are split into seperate sides, normally the player characters vs their enemies. During a round all characters decide what they will do simultaneously. Once everyone has decided on their course of action, the actions are resolved in order of which side has the initiative. Each side may choose which order to execute their actions within their own part of the round. The GM should narrate how the characters actions happen within the story of the scene, rather than just describing the mechanical effects. This can include asking players to narrate their own character's actions. If a previous action in a round means that a character's action is no longer possible then that action will be wasted unless a suitably close alternative is available: such as switching attack target, or moving a different direction to achieve similar goals (for example if the character planned to move towards an enemy, but that enemy has died, so they may instead move towards a different enemy). If an action is wasted, it does not generate any Crisis.

In the first round the side that has the initiative is decided by who has the highest single Nimbleness level, with ties being broken by the second highest. In the case that there isn't another character to compare, then the side with more characters wins initiative. If both sides have the same number of characters, and tie on Nimbleness, then the highest Nimbleness based Talent wins. If one side has surprised the other, then they get to do an entire round on their own before the other side can act. In subsequent rounds initiative is decided by whoever generated the least amount of Crisis in the previous round.

In each round every character may make 1 action. That action can be a move, a Regular Attack, a Decisive Attack, or an Advanced Action, each of which will generate Crisis. Some Skills allow characters to make Advanced Actions outside of round order, each character may only make 1 of these per round. Major non-player characters use rounds similarly to player characters, however they can also sometimes have additional actions triggered by Crisis.

Regions

The map on which Combat takes place is made up of a small number (3 to 5) of distinct Regions. This map can make use of a traditional top-down graphical map or miniature landscape where the Regions are circled. Or it can be an abstract representation using cards or boxes on a whiteboard with the description and effect written on them, perhaps with a piece of art to illustrate what that Region looks like. However it is represented, it must be clear what Regions are adjacent to each other, and where movement and sight are blocked. When using the cards or boxes method, a good way of laying out the Regions is an offset grid (like bricks).

Regions represent the different areas and terrains in the environment of the scene, and convey modifiers based on the inherent qualities of that terrain. They add strategic deepth by allowing characters to choose Regions that benefit their style of fighting. For example an archer might choose a "High Ground" Region that gives advantage to ranged attacks. These effects always apply to every character in a region. Throughout each round characters will move around and occupy different parts of the region at any time, thus it is assumed that for the purposes of any action taken by or against a character, they are always in the optimal place for that action.

When determining range, and movement, it is always measured by Regions. They can only go through a certain number of adjacent Regions, and there is no advantage to starting "at the edge" of a Region, as crossing the boundary still counts as moving or attacking across an entire Region. Line of Sight is a more subjective affair. A player must be able to draw a straight line from anywhere in their character's current Region, to anywhere in the target's Region, without crossing any walls, or obstructions.

Advanced Actions and Crisis Triggers will sometimes activate an effect that effects everyone in a specific Region, it is not possible to exepmt someone from this, or add an extra target from another Region. These may also alter the nature of a Region, changing its effect. For example a tavern bar could be ignited, turning the Region's effect from a defensive benefit, into a constant risk of damage.

The scale of Regions can be flexible. While most stories will only involve Combat at a human scale, some will involve scenes that work differently. For example a sci-fi story might involve star-ship Combat, where the Regions are vast sections of empty space. Similarly, the scene does not have to be static, a car-chase may involve different vehicles shifting around and changing positions constantly.

Movement

One of the actions that a character may take is to move. They may move up to three Regions, generating 2 Crisis per Region. A character may only move into a Region that is ajacent to their current Region, and doesn't have anything blocking their movement, such as a wall. Leaving a Duel generates an additional 4 Crisis.

Many Skills change the way movement works for a character. Such as extending the maximum distance, skipping intervening Regions, passing blocking elements, or many other things.

Some Region effects effect movement. Including changing how much Crisis is generated or maximum distance, making the character pass a Simple Obstacle to enter the Region,

Duels

All characters and enemies in a single region are considered to be part of a single Duel. A Duel represents a chaotic melee between two fighting sides, and the balance of who is winning that fight, which is called the Flow of Battle. Flow of Battle does not define who wins or loses the fight alone, instead it simply improves or impairs the chances of causing a wound when making a Decisive Attack, meaning that in desperate circumstances, a character might be able to take a risk and, with immense luck, kill their enemy even when their side is losing the battle.

Each side of a Duel may have any number of combatants. This conveys no advantage or disadvantage other than which side gets more opportunities to attack. It is not possible to have more than two sides to a duel, if there is a situation where there are more than two sides in a region, then two of those sides must make a temporary alliance until the other side is defeated, at which point they can go on to fight each other.

Most Combat Scenes will only involve 1 or 2 Duels, however in the case that there are more or certain edge case interactions occur, then the Flow of Battle is carried over in different ways. If the movement of the combatants means that a Duel is no longer active, then the Flow of Battle is saved so that when they re-engage it returns to the same state it was left at. If it is only a portion of the combatants from each side that disengage and then re-engage each other, then the new Duel still initiates with the other Duel's Flow of Battle, leading to two duplicate Duels existing, although they then diverge after that point. If any of those combatants engage with different enemies then a new Duel is started with the Flow of Battle at 0. If a combatant leaves one Duel and enters another, then the Flow of Battle in both Duels remains unchanged, however if that combatants enemies from the other Duel also follow and join the other Duel, then the Flow of Battle of both Duels are combined (this is only done once for each Duel being combined in). (I think that covers all bases???)

Flow of Battle

Every Duel starts at 0 Flow of Battle, representing neither side yet having an advantage. At 0 Flow, it is very difficult for either side to make a Decisive Attack and cause a wound. Positive numbers represent the combat being in the players' favour, and negative numbers represent it being in their enemies' favour. Just remember to invert the number when enemies are making attacks. When characters make a Regular Attack they move the Flow in their favour, addition for attacks from the player's side, and subtraction for attacks from the enemies' side. If there are player characters on both or neither sides then the GM must pick side is positive and which is negative.

Regular Attacks

A Regular Attack is any action that helps gain supremacy in a Duel. It can be normal fighting moves, such as being swift and aggressive, or making a feint, but it does not have to be directly tied to weapon skills. Taunting the enemy, creating a terrifying visage, or magically draining the strength from an enemy are all valid Regular Attacks that might make use of different Talents.

For a Regular Attack a character may choose to either make an automatically successful attack or a Talent Roll. If the player chooses an automatic success then they increase Crisis by 4 and move Flow of Battle by 4 in their favour. If the character chooses to make a Talent Roll attack then the player must describe what the attack looks like, how it works, and which enemy in the Duel they are targetting. The GM then picks the most appropriate defence for that attack, and the player makes a Talent Roll using the Resistance Difficulty of the target.

If the Talent Roll is more than or equal to 20 then the Flow of Battle is moved by the excess amount (a minimum of 4) and Crisis increases by 2. If the result is less than 20 then Crisis is increased by the difference between the result and 20.

Decisive Attacks

Decisive Attacks represent an attempt to cause a significant wound to an enemy. They are an inherently aggressive and risky, meaning that it is difficult to make a successful Decisive Attack without the Flow of Battle being heavily in the attacker's advantage, and making the attack, regardless of success, will sacrifice a large amount of that advantage. Regardless of success, a Decisive Attack will increase Crisis by 2, and move the Flow of Battle by half the defender's Resistance Value away from the attacker's favour.

The attacker picks a target, the Talent they wish to use and describes their attack. The GM decides which Defence and Ability the target will defend with. Both sides roll their respective dice, and the Flow of Battle is subtracted from the target's defence.

If the Attack Roll is more than or equal to the sum of the Defence Roll and Defence Value then a wound is dealt to the target. If the excess of the Attack Roll is over the target's Resistance Value again, then an additional hit is dealt (and again for any further multiples of the Resistance Value). If the Attack does not beat the Defence then nothing additional happens.

Minions

Some non-player characters are neither formiddable enough nor significant enough to operate in the same way as full characters; these are called Minions, they are easier to kill as they can only take 1 hit each and do not use a Resistance Value when defending from Decisive Strikes. Minions are often the rank-and-file soldiers of an enemy, or a swarm of smaller creatures or monsters.

They do not get a turn within each round like major non-player characters get, instead their turn is triggered by Crisis. Minions may only make one Regular Attack between them, but the strength of that attack is determined by how many of them there are (1 Advantage per Minion that outnumbers the other side, or 1 Disadvantage for how much they are outnumbered). If there are different types of Minion then they may always use the strongest attack they have available.

When defending, Minions are always targetted as a whole block, and they always use the best defence they have available, however, as they do not use their Resistance Value when defending and excess wounds are carried over to other Minions, it is possible to kill multiple of them at once.

Skills in Combat

The Talents and Skills that a character has define their approach and goals in combat. Some may play cautiously, generating as little Crisis as possible, and waiting for the perfect moment to strike, or others may thrive in chaos, creating Crisis Triggers that effect enemies, and then generating as much Crisis as possible. Some characters can be better at dealing damage than others, who are better at controlling the Flow of Battle. Certain Skills work well for characters who prefer to be outnumbered, or others who prefer to be side by side with friends.

The effects of each Skill are explained in detail on the skill reference page.

Ranged Attacks

The Ranged Skills allow a character to make attacks while not in the same Region as the target. Standard ranged attacks can only target characters in adjacent Regions, and requires line of sight. There are Skills that can improve range, and change limitations.

When attacking into a Duel from another Region, a ranged attacker may make either Regular Attacks or Decisive Attacks. When doing this they must add 1 Disadvantage for every ally they have in the Duel (this is improvable through other Skills).

Ranged Decisive Attacks do not make use of the Flow of Battle, instead the Talent's level is subtracted from the target's defence. This means that it is more difficult to make a successful wound, however ranged attackers are unnaffected by a Duel going badly.

When in a Duel it is only possible to attack other characters in that Duel, even with the Ranged Skill. With the basic Ranged Skill, attacks using that Talent while in a Duel suffer 1 Disadvantage per enemy in the Duel. However, the Ranged (Versatile) Skill allows the character to choose whether an attack is melee or ranged, thus eliminating that penalty.

When attacking a character that is not in a Duel, only Decisive Attacks may be made, meaning it is risky to do so. However there are some Skills that improve the chances if certain conditions are met.

Crisis in Combat

Crisis Trigger events are what add most of a Combat scene's dynamicism. Enemies can take advantage of Crisis to make additional actions, get reinforcements, or activate unique one-time effects. It can also represent a dangerous environment, similar to Crisis in Action scenes. In Combat scenes environmental effects are often tied to specific Regions and will effect everyone in those Regions (and no one not in them). Narrative events might also rely on Crisis, timers such as an escape opening up, or the evil death laser reaching full power can be set as a specific point in Crisis that the characters must survive until or win before.

Some skills can change the way a character interacts with Crisis. It is possible to build a character who is cautious and generates as little Crisis as possible, never giving their enemies a chance to take advantage of them, and lets them trip up on the dangers in the environment. Whereas other characters thrive in chaos, they make use of Crisis by being able to add their own Crisis Triggers meaning that they can make the environment more dangerous for their enemies (or everyone), apply lasting or repeating effects, or even use Crisis to have their own additional actions.

Healing, Incapacitation & Death

When the characters have taken wounds, they may use a Rest Scene to attempt to restore themselves to health. During this scene each character that has taken a wound may make a Fortitude, Perseverance, or a Relevent Talent Roll, on a success that character may remove one hit, on a failure nothing further happens. Another character may make the roll for them if they use an applicable Talent. If the character rests for an entire day, they may remove all hits automatically.

If the number of hits a character takes reaches their Max Hits threshold then they become Incapacitated. They are still conscious and may speak, scream, and shout, but they cannot meaningfully act. When this happens, the character can choose to attempt an Ability Roll to keep fighting, with the risk that it will lead to their demise. If they choose to make the roll then they may remove one hit, and continue fighting regardless of the result, however if they fail the roll then at some point before the next Action or Conflict scene the character must die. If they choose to not make the roll, then the character cannot act, but survives. Some Skills provide ways to quickly heal, this healing can be used to revive an Incapacitated character.

If an Incapacitated character is not revived then the characters must have a Rest Scene every narrative day. During that Rest Scene the Incapacitated character must make a Fortitude or Perseverance Roll, on a success the character may remove one hit, and is no longer Incapacitated. However, on a failure they remain Incapacitated, and must mark a Death Hit. If a character reaches as many Death Hits as their Max Hits, then they must die at some point before the next Action or Conflict scene. If a character is revived then they may clear all Death Hits.

Conflict scenes that do not involve combat, such as arguments, competitions, or battles of the mind. Opposing characters do not need to be physically present, or even acting at the same time as the player characters. The opposing side only needs to be or have been making actions deliberately against the player characters. This allows for scenes like hacking into a computer system, with another hacker working in opposition, or investigating a deliberately covered up crime scene. many of the Combat rules are used similarly here, however they are more loosely applied.

Attacks

In non-violent conflict attacks work exactly the same, but need to be narrated to fit the context. They are still officially called 'Attacks' although colloquially may be referred to as 'Actions'. Some Skills only apply in the context of either Combat or specific forms of non-violent Conflict, those Skills only effect attacks in their relevent context.

Conflict Stats

Instead of each character having their own max hits, each side has a number of Strikes that they may take before they lose. This is set by the GM to fit the context of the scene. Normally both sides have the same number of Strikes, however the GM can spend Rising Tension to have there be an imbalance.

Regions and Duels

Regions and Duels can be used selectively based on the context of the Conflict scene.

Regions might not be directly related to physical locations, and instead might apply to the status or context around a character in the scene.

Most non-violent conflict revolves around 1 Duel, involving everyone in the scene.

Non-Present Characters

If a character is not physically present, then their actions should activate based on Crisis rather than having their own place in the round. If the opposing side is not acting in the present, then this represents actions they have already done that are just being uncovered.