The following combat rules have been further revised and can be found in my USR Sword & Sorcery rules located here
Combat
Fighting
is handled in the same way as contested attribute tests but with a little extra
added on.
All
contested combat rolls use the Action attribute during combat.
Close Combat (Hand-to-Hand)
Most
close combats are simultaneous, whether one on one, or one against many. All participants
are considered both attacking and defending during the engagement. This does
not preclude defensive actions being taking by one or more participants.
The
attacker is considered the one who rolls highest. The attacker has scored a hit and the
defender's Hits are reduced by the difference between the winning and losing
rolls.
For
example, Dor is fighting an intruder. Dor rolls 6 on his Action attribute and
the GM rolls a 4 for the intruder. The intruder then has his Hits reduced by 2
(6-4=2).
The
defender’s damage can be reduced by armor worn, including the defensive value
of a shield if brought to bear as well.
Note
that armor defensive values reduce damage inflicted, but do not add or subtract
from the combat roll while weapon values are added to the combat roll.
If
the “attacker” is actually taking a defensive action; such as dodging a blow
while leaping out the window, the defender wouldn’t receive any wounds, per se.
Instead the attacker would have been successful with their intended action.
For Example; Skavos the Savage intends to defend against the harsh blows from
three desert nomads, as he looks to leap upon his steed. Skavos has a Khazistan
Swordplay specialism (+2 Action), and he is wielding scimitar (+2 to combat
roll). Each of the desert nomads are armed with their own curving scimitars,
and are intent on hewing Skavos down where he stands. Skavos rolls a 5 on his
d10 Action die for a total of 9. The nomads, with an Action die of d8, each
roll for their attacks getting (4+2)=6, (4+2)=6, and (6+2)=8. Skavos has scored
a higher combat roll than all his antagonists successfully deflecting their
desperate sword thrusts, and leaps onto his horse to affect his escape..
When
Hits reach 0 the character is dead.
Alternatively
the GM may rule that the character is merely unconscious.
Hits
may be regained through healing, but may never go above the initial score.
Weapons
and Armor
Weapons
can give bonuses in combat, giving one side the edge over the other. Each
weapon gives a bonus to the Action roll when brought to bear. Weapon types are
as follows:
Light
weapon +1 (e.g. short sword, club, javelin)
Medium
weapon +2 (e.g. broadsword, battle axe)
Heavy
weapon +3 (e.g. halberd, long bow, two handed sword)
Weapons
listed as “First Strike” weapons can receive a reach bonus over an unarmed opponent,
or armed with a smaller weapon. For the first round of the engagement the
bearer of the first strike weapon cannot receive damage unless a significant
hit is scored against him. This bonus capability can only be applied against
one opponent. Any other attacker resolves the combat roll normally with both
participants capable of receiving, and giving damage.
Armor
can be used to negate the effects of being hurt. Each armor type reduces the
number of Hits taken in combat.
Light
armor -1 (e.g. jerkin, gauntlets, light studded armor)
Medium
armor -2 (e.g. scale mail, chainmail)
Heavy
armor -3 (e.g. plate mail, enchanted steel)
These
examples are by no means the only weapons and armor that you can have in a
game. The GM could create a spear that gives the character a +5 charging bonus
or a suit of armor that's a -4. Just use the above examples as guidelines and
have fun making up your own bad-ass creations.
How
combat flows
It's
up to you how you want combat to play out. You should give the players an
indication of their adversaries’ obvious actions, and then give your players a
chance to declare their intent. An attempt to achieve surprise may require a
successful Attribute roll, or not, but the result of surprise generally means
the attacker cannot receive an adverse effect, wounds or otherwise, from the
attack roll.
Using specialisms in
combat
Characters can use their specialisms in order
to gain an edge in combat situations. For example, the greedy merchant wants to
find a volatile potion on the lich king’s dusty shelves to protect himself. As
his first action he uses his Evaluate Treasure
specialism to try and find a substance which might be useful in combat. The
GM says it's a hard difficulty roll and rolls a 7 and adds 2 for his
specialism, giving a result of 9 – a success! The GM tells the desperate
merchant a bottle of volatile dragon venom is among the normal inert ingredients
on a sorcerer’s shelves. He picks up the dangerous venom and flings it at lurching
undead horror. The doomed merchant will need to roll an Action die now to see if
he hits!
Don’t forget, Characters may create
specialisms to enhance the limited set of combat mechanics present.
Ranged
Combat
Attacking
at distance is done like close combat except for the following modifications.
A minimum
Difficulty Rating needs to be achieved for the attack to be considered a hit.
This difficulty number is based on the range of the attack. Once the difficulty
number has been established any situational modifiers and/or specialism bonus can
be applied to the attack.
The
target of the attack does not get to apply any weapon bonuses or combat
specialisms to their combat roll unless they are within Immediate range.
If both
opponents are engaging with a ranged attack then who gets off the first shot needs
to be established. This calls for an initiative roll based on rolling both their
Action, and Wits die totaled. High roll shoots first. If the defender of the
first attack is still standing they are now entitled to return fire, or take
some other action. If there is a tie,
both attackers get off their attacks, and both attacks will need to be resolved
simultaneously.
Difficulty Rating based on Range;
Immediate, Easy-02 (Attack is within close combat range)
Short, Medium-04 (Attack is within 10-40 feet)
Medium, Difficult-07 (Attack is within 41-70 feet)
Long, Hard-10 (Attack is within 71-200 feet)
Extreme,
Impossible-14 (Attack is over 200 feet)
For
example, Bert is a rogue who has the knife specialism. He's facing down a city
guard who demands Bert to hold and receive the king’s justice. He chooses to hurl
his knife at the guard, hoping to silence the cur with one blow. The GM rules
that hurling the knife at the guard silhouetted in the street at short range is
a medium difficulty roll. This means Bert would have to score a 4 or better on
his combat roll for the attack to even be considered a hit. Bert rolls a total
of 8 and on his action d10 attribute die and is successful. The guard rolls a
3, taking 4 (8-3-1 for armor protection) hits! The guardsman is seriously
wounded and cries out for his comrades!
Magic
in Combat
Magical attacks are Ego attribute based attacks,
and therefore are rolled using the Ego die. If the target of the magical attack
attempts to make a physical attack at the same time, then which attack goes
first becomes important. Just like a contested ranged attack discussed above,
initiative is determined by rolling Action die + Wits die. High roll goes
first. If there is a tie, both attackers get off their attacks, and both
attacks will need to be resolved simultaneously.
For
example, the arch mage surprises intruders with his cloud of death spell. The cloud
of death is a medium attack spell so the mage receives a +2 on his Ego roll. He
also receives a +2 for his Arcane Arts specialism. He rolls a 5 and adds 4,
resulting in a total of 9. The group of thieves each rolls their Ego die and
apply the resulting damage.
