Combat Rules
Common totals
| Total | Calculated |
|---|---|
| Initiative | Quickness + weapon skill + weapon initative bonus - Encumbrance |
| Attack | Dexterity (or Perception) + weapon skill + weapon attack bonus |
| Defense | Weapon skill + weapon defense bonus (or Quickness) - Size - Encumbrance |
| Damage | Strength* + Size (if positive)* + weapon skill + weapon damage bonus |
| Dodge | Quickness + Dodge skill - Size - Encumbrance |
| Soak | Stamina + Size + armor protection |
| * = not counted if using missile weapon |
| Skill | Examples |
|---|---|
| Brawling | unarmed, knives, daggers, clubs |
| Crushing/cleaving weapons | axes, maces |
| Bladed weapons | swords |
| Flexible weapons | morning stars, flails, nets, whips |
| Longshaft weapons | staves, spears, lances |
| Shield and weapon | with one weapon class only Character can use either weapon & shield OR weapon -skills to use a weapon with or without a shield. When doing so, he divides his "normal" skill by two, rounding down. (e.g. You have bladed weapons skill 8. You can use sword & shield with skill of 4.) |
| Thrown weapons | throwing knives, javelins, slings, caber ;-) |
| Bows | long, short and composite bows |
| Crossbows | light and heavy crossbows |
| Siege equipment | |
| Dodge | All weapon skills can be used for defense, either adding the Weapon Defense bonus or Quickness (not both), Size and subtracting Encumbrance. Only Dodge skill may be used for dodging missiles, avoiding traps, falling trees and such. |
WEAPON AND ARMOR STATS ARE AS PER 4th EDITION RULES, except the following:
shortspear's, quarterstaff's and polearm's effective ranges are
Close, not Reach.
COMBAT SEQUENCE:
Combat botch result tables:
0. Declarations
This is the phase of combat, where the players participating in combat declare their course of action.
1. Movement
| WALKING | 9 + Quickness - Encumbrance |
| HUSTLING | 15 + Quickness - Encumbrance |
| SPRINTING | 30 + Quickness + Athletics - Encumbrance - wound and fatigue penalties |
| RIDING | 50 + Ride skill |
Movement is halved if character is engaging in other activities in the same round.
2. First Missiles
There are two missile phases per round. The phase(s) in which the archer shoots in is determined by the initiative total and missile rate table. Order of missiles fired in one phase is determined by a initiative roll.
| MISSILES FIRED | ||
| Base initiative | 1st missile phase | 2nd missile phase |
|---|---|---|
| -20 or less | every third round | |
| -19 to -10 | every second round | |
| -9 to 0 | every round | |
| +1 to +10 | every round | every other round |
| +11 or more | every round | every round |
The base ease factor to hit a target is 6, which is modified by storyguide with help of missile fire table, below.
| Target condition | Ease Factor modifier |
|---|---|
| Within 15 yards | -3 (0 in spell targeting) |
| Within 15 to 50 yards | 0 (+3 in spell targeting) |
| Within 50 to 200 yards | + 6 |
| Beyond 200 yards | +12 |
| Obscured (by darkness or cover) | + 3 |
| Unmoving or walking | 0 |
| Hustling | + 3 |
| Sprinting | + 6 + target's Quickness |
| Size of target | - target's Size |
| Dodging | + Dodge score of target |
| Shield | + Defense Bonus of shield |
If shooting into melee combat, +3 is added to the ease factor. If arrow misses because of this +3, that is, if you would have succeeded without this modifier, you hit your friend instead of the intended target.
Damage and Soak for missile attacks are as per melee rules.
If shooter exceeds the ease factor by 10, it is an exceptional hit as per melee rules.
3. Melee
Attack order is determined by initiative rolls. Winner of the initiative contest attacks first and forces loser back one yard.
Each combatant can make on attack roll and one defense roll per round, if not using two weapons. One attack roll is applied against one opponent and one defense roll is applied against one attack. For other possible attacks, only defense total, without the roll, is applied.
In succesful attack, damage roll is made against defender's Soak roll. For every 5 points or fraction thereof damage roll exceeding Soak roll, one (1) Body level of damage is caused.
If any of the rolls is a 0, botch dice are rolled and the result is determined either by storyguide or by the combat botch result table.
If attack roll exceeds defense by 15 points, an exceptional blow is caused. Attacker chooses a location where he hits, and only the normal soak of that part of body (i.e. no armour) is added to the soak roll. Also more severe damage (than just Body levels) is done; look at the exceptional blow table.
| Body levels lost | Severity | Example |
|---|---|---|
| One | minor | leg: movement hampered (50% of normal) |
| Two | major | head: knocked unconscious for 15 minutes |
| Three or more | grave | arm: cut off or severely maimed (-5 to actions with arm) |
Combat considerations
- All-out attack:
- One round is spent preparing the great blow by not attacking. Next round,
attack roll receives +3 modifier and damage after soak is doubled. That
attack is the only action (not even defense roll allowed) in that round,
and attacker must roll for fatigue immediately.
- Desperate defense:
- Combatant may forego all other actions and declare a desperate defense.
This gives +6 to defense for rest of the round against all attacks.
- Hold ground:
- By suffering -2 to defense, combatant may hold ground. This means that
he is not forced back one yard for losing the initiative contest.
- Keep at bay:
- If weapon has effective range of "Close", and opponent has shorter weapon
(Reach or Touch), he can be kept at bay by winning the Initiative contest.
Once the opponent gets inside Reach range, this cannot be tried again.
- Mounted combat:
- Weapon skills cannot be used in higher level than the riders ride-skill
is. On horseback, encumbrance is not an issue (Enc=0). Also attack and
defense rolls against footmen receive a +3 modifier. If charging (requires
at least 10 yards of distance), damage roll receives a +6 modifier.
- Two weapons:
Combatant receives -1 to the weapon totals in the good hand and -3 in the offhand, except ambidextrous characters who do not receive any penalties. Character may attack twice attack once and defend once, or not attack at all but roll two defense rolls (effectively a desperate defense, look above). When attacking twice, attacker rolls both weapons separately with normal totals. When attacking and defending, combatant may add half of the defense bonus of his attacking weapon to his defense roll AND half of the attack bonus of the defending weapon to his attack roll (both rounded up).
Thus, an irishman with two shortswords may add +1 to his attack roll and +2 to his defense roll, when he does both attack and defense roll in the same round. These bonuses do not count when attacking twice or defending twice.
| High ground (includes horseback) | +3 on attack and defense |
| Attack from side | +1 on attack |
| Attack from behind | +3 on attack and damage |
| Attack from surprise | no defense score, only roll |
| Darkness | -1 to -3 on attack |
| Heat | -1 to -3 on fatigue rolls |
Brawling
Brawling damage is less severe than damage of weapons. Every second damage level lost is a Fatigue level, not a Body level. Unlike in weapon combat, damage is caused for every five points or fraction thereof that damage roll exceeds Soak roll. So, if damage roll exceeds soak by 1-5, one Fatigue level is lost. If by 6-10, one Fatigue AND one Body level are lost etc.
| MANEUVER | DAMAGE ROLL | SOAK ROLL | RESULT |
|---|---|---|---|
| Throw | Strength + Size + Brawling | Dexterity + Size + Brawling + 6 | damage + opponent thrown |
| Tackle | Strength + Size + Brawling | Dexterity + Size + Brawling | damage + fall down with attacker |
| Wrest weapon | Strength + Size + Brawling | Strength + Brawling + 6 | weapon wrestled |
| Immobilize | Strength + Size + Brawling | Strength + Brawling + 6 | immobilized, -3 to actions for every "Body level" |
4. Second Missiles
Look at chapter 2, First Missiles for the necessary information.
5. Magic
Spell casting order is determined by Finesse + Quickness - Encumbrance, except when fast casting which occurs in any phase of combat sequence. Characters with Virtue Fast Caster are considered to cast spells first (comparing their spellcasting speed if there are more than one).
| Magic resistance | (Parma Magica × 5) + Form + Aura +
stress die for magi. For other creatures with magic resistance use their Might (Divine, Faerie, Infernal) instead. |
|
| Formulaic spell | stress die + Tech + Form + Stamina - Encumbrance If roll exceeds level of spell, no fatigue is lost. If roll is under spells level, but within ten points, it still succeeds but a fatigue level is lost. You may also cast slowly and carefully by spending one minute per magnitude of spell and adding your concentration skill to casting. This reduces possible botch dice by one. |
|
| Spontaneous spell | stress die + (Tech + Form + Intelligence - Encumbrance) divided by 2, if fatigue is spent, divided by 5, if not |
|
| Fast-cast spells | speed: | stress die + Quickness + Finesse - Encumbrance |
| cast: | stress die + (Intelligence + Tech + Form - Encumbrance - 6) / 2 or 5 | |
| results: | fast-cast spells ward of any spell if the casting roll exceeds
half of penetration total of the spell being countered. level 10 fast-cast spell protects from one physical attack level 15 fast-cast spell protects from three physical attacks level 20 fast-cast spell protects from all known attacks level 25 fast-cast spell protects from all attacks, even unknown ones. |
|
| Multiple casting: | Only Mastered spells may be multiple cast. Roll Stress die + Finesse + Intelligence - number of spells cast against ease factor of 9. If roll fails, no spells are cast. If it succeeds, roll for each spell separately, subtracting again the number of spells cast. | |
| Extra Care: | Spend one minute per magnitude of the spell (no rituals), when casting add your Concentration score to the spell roll. Reduce the botch die by one. | |
| Casting while maintaining another spell: | When casting second spell, make an Intelligence + Concentration stress roll of 15+. You gain +3 if second spell or target is the same. If you fail, second spell is not cast. Botching results in loss of both spells. If you succeed, roll the second spell as normal. | |
| Penetration total | Casting total + Penetration skill | |
| Targeting roll | Finesse + Perception (see missile fire table) | |
| Concentration roll | Intelligence + Concentration skill (see distraction table). Rolls made for Mastered spells are with +1 modifier. | |
| Using Vis |
|
|
| VOICE | MODIFIER | GESTURE | MODIFIER | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Booming | +1 | Vigorous | +1 | |
| Firm | 0 | Bold | 0 | |
| Soft | -5 | Subtle | -2 | |
| None | -10 | None | -5 |
| DISTRACTION | EASE FACTOR |
|---|---|
| Walking | 6+ |
| Running | 12+ |
| Dodging | 15+ |
| Jostled (=shoved, pushed) | 9+ |
| Sudden noise | 9+ |
| Knocked down | 15+ |
| Damaged | 21+ |
| Personal threat | 12+ |
| Maintaining other spell | 15+ (+3 bonus to the roll if same spell or target, on botch both spells fail) |
Certámen
Aggressor chooses the Technique and defender the Form. If Certámen is integrated into melee, it happens in the magic phase of the round.
Each round contestants roll stress die + Intelligence + Technique + Form + Certámen. Magus with the higher result determines the amount by which he beat the other combatant. Points can be use to weaken the opponent or saved to the next round.
If used to weaken the opponent, roll stress die + Intelligence + Certámen + difference against opponent's stress die + Stamina + Certámen. For every full five points by which you exceed your opponent, your opponent loses one Fatigue level. Penalties of lost Fatigue levels apply to the further rounds of Certámen.
6. Fatigue
Fatigue roll is made when changing from one strenuous activity to another. It is rolled against an ease factor of 6+ with following modifiers: Basic fatigue total (stamina - encumbarance) - wound penalties - existing fatigue penalties
Fatigue is recovered as follows:
winded to fresh 2 mins weary to winded 10 mins tired to weary 30 mins tired to weary 1 hour unconscious to dazed 2 hours
Attack/Defence Botches
Note that References to "weapon" apply to attacking weapons and shields, whichever is appropriate to the scene.
|
2 Your swing buries your weapon into the ground. A Strenght roll of 6+ is needed to withdraw it, performed in the next Round in lieu of other actions. If unarmed, your fist is snared in surrounding clutter and must be pulled free. 3 Your weapon flies from your hand, landing 1d10 paces in a random direction. If unarmed, you fall down and lose a Round of action. 4 You overextend yourself and are thrown off balance. Your Attack and Defense scores are modified by -3 in the next Round. 5 With a wide sweep of your arm you wind yourself. Make a Short-Term Fatigue roll against an Ease Factor of 6. 6 Your weapon is damaged. Attack, Defense and Parry rolls suffer a -3 modifier until the weapon is repaired. If unarmed, you bruise your hand. Your Attack and Defense scores suffer a -3 modifier in the next Round. 7 You pull a muscle and suffer a -3 modifier to your Attack, Damage, and Parry rolls throughout the combat. 8 Your weapon is broken and useless. If unarmed, your arm is crushed and you suffer a -2 modifier to Dexterity for 1d10 hours. 9 You filail wildly and crash to the ground. Your Attack and Defense scores suffer a -5 modifier in the next Round. 10 You move left, your opponent moves right. Disoriented, you automatically lose control of the First Strike, if you have it, in the next Round. If you don't already controll the First Strike, you cannot win it for the next three rounds. 12 You step off balance and leave yourself completely open to your opponent's next attack. His next Attack roll receives a +5 modifier. 14 You crash into your opponent, falling to the ground before him. You cannot act for a Round, except to parry his next attack. His next Attack roll receives a +5 modifier. 16 You put everything into your action, and in missing strain yourself. You automatically lose one Short-Term Fatigue Level. 18 You strain yourself to your very soul. Lose two Short-Term Fatigue Levels. 20 You strike your own arm if attacking, and make your arm vulnerable if defending. Your own Damage, or that of your attacker, is rolled normally against your Soak. Regardless of damage suffered, your Dextrerity suffers a -3 modifier for 1d10 hours. |
24 You strike your own leg if attacking, and make your leg vulnerable if defending. Your own Damage, or that of your attacker, is rolled normally against your Soak. Regardless of damage suffered, your Quickness suffers a -3 modifier for 1d10 hours. 28 You strike yourself in your own eye if attacking, and make your eye vulnerable if defending. Your own Damage, or that of your attacker, is rolled normally against your Soak. Regardless of damage suffered, your Perseption and Presence each suffer -3 modifiers for 1d10 hours. 32 You fall on your own weapon. Roll Damage as if attacking yourself, against your own Soak. You cannot act on the next Round, except to parry or dodge. If you're unarmed, you fall on your own arm, suffering a -4 Dexterity modifier for 1d10 hours. 36 You overreach all your physical limits and expend almost every ounce of energy you have. You are now Unconscious. Lose all remaining Fatigue Levels. 40 As you move your weapon it's deflected off a nearby obstruction; you strike yourself. If unarmed, you move wildly, causing limbs to be disjointed. In either case you automatically lose a Body Level. 48 You stumble and fall upon your own weapon with all of your weight. You lose all remaining Body Levels and are now Incapacitated. If unarmed, you twist your body out of shape in falling and lose all Body Levels. 56 In a tragic turn of events, you crash into your opponent, bury your own weapon into your chest and blunder to the ground. You die a terrible death, your last sight that of blood pumping from your body. 64 Your weapon glances harmlessly off your opponent, rebounding back into your face. Fragments of bone shatter backward into your brain! You die horribly. Your friends mourn. 72 You lunge at your opponent and fall upon his weapon. Steel rends through your vital organs, spewing them out onto the ground around you as a fountain of blood showers your allies. 80+ You flail wildly with your weapon and miss your opponent completely. Out of control, you tumble toward your nearest ally. Collapsing upon his weapon, your skull is smashed, and your weapon simultaneously crashes down upon your friend. Roll Attack and Damage normally to determine whether your ally is hurt. Your ally's Defense and Soak are modified by -5, given his surprise at your mishap. |
|
2 You are thrown 1d10 paces from your opponent. In the next Round you can only dodge and parry. 3 The blow knocks the wind out of you. Make a Fatigue check against an Ease Factor of 6 or lose a Short-Term Fatigue Level. 4 You overextend yourself and collapse to the ground. You can only doge or parry next Round. 5 Your arm shudders with the blow. Your Dexterity suffers a -2 modifier for the next 1d10 hours. 6 Your weapon flies out of your hand if you're striking. It lands 1d10 paces away. Part of your armor flies off if you're Soaking. Reduce your Protection score by 2. 7 Your weapon caroms off your opponent if you're striking, throwing you off balance for your next attack; next Round's Attack roll suffers a -3 modifier. If you're Soaking, your armor is dented, limiting your mobility; your Attack and Defense scores suffer -2 modifiers for the remainder of the combat. 8 Your arm is smashed by the blow. You cannot use it at all for 1d10 hours. You suffer overall -2 modifier to Dexterity and Strenght. 9 Your weapon is damaged if you're striking. All Attack, Damage and Parry rolls suffer a -3 modifier until the weapon is repaired. If you strike unarmed, your hand is smashed; your Dexterity suffers a -2 modifier for 1d10 hours. Your armor is damaged if you're Soaking. Reduce its Protection score by 3 until repaired. 10 You reel out of control, making yourself vulnerable to your opponent's attack. In the next Round his Attack roll receives a +5 modifier. 12 Your weapon is broken and useless if you're attacking. If striking unarmed, your hand is crushed; your Dexterity suffers a -3 modifier for 1d10 hours. Your armor is destroyed and rendered useless if you're Soaking. 14 The blow absolutely devastates you. You stagger backward, seeing stars and gasping for breath. Lose a Short-Term Fatigue Level. 16 The blow stuns you. You stand prone for the following Round. You cannot act at all; you're a sitting target. Any attack made against you hits you automatically (just roll Damage and Soak), unless Botched. 18 You put everything you've got into the move and exhaust yourself. You automatically lose two Short-Term Fatigue Levels. |
20 If striking, your weapon rebounds back at you. Roll Damage against your own Soak score. If Soaking, double the attacker's Damage, after subtracting your Soak. 24 You risk every ounce of vitality you have and waste it. You lose all remaining Fatigue Levels and now are Unconscious. 28 Your arm is broken by the blow. It's useless, resulting in an overall -4 modifier to Dexterity and Strenght. To determine how long it takes for the arm to heal, roll on the Wound Recovery Chart, assuming Heavy Wounds. 32 As a result of bad footing or a powerful blow, your leg is broken. Your Quickness suffers a -4 modifier. To determine how long it takes for the leg to heal, roll on the Wound Recovery Chart, assuming Heavy Wounds. 36 A loose piece of steel blinds you in one eye. You gain the Poor Eyesight Flaw and automatically lose a Body Level. 40 A deflection or powerful blow destroys an ar, hand or foot. You acquire one of the Missing Ear, Missing Hand or Missing Foot Flaws. You automatically lose 2 Body Levels. 48 A deflection or powerful blow destroys a leg or arm. You acquire one of the Lame or Missing Hand (with a -5 penalty to all actions and spell casting) Flaws. You automatically lose all remaining Body Levels and are Incapacitated. 56 A wildly swung weapon plunges into your chest, shattering your sternum. Fragments of bone scatter to the winds as your spurting blood muddies the ground at your faltering feet. The earth grows richer with your corpse. 64 The clash of bodies and wills is too much for your frame to endure. Your pounding heart bursts, sending a cascade of blood gushing from your mouth. May the Divinities accept your soul. 72 Rising after yet another resounding exchange of blows, you look to your weapon and realize it's broken short, the lethal end impaling you from abdomen to spine. For a moment you feel the sinews of your back slide from their moorings before you fall lifeless to the ground. 80+ You are sent recoiling from the fray, your arms flailing in the air. As you recover your footing, you lunge for the nearest ballast. Before you can stop yourself, you realize you have plunged onto the weapon of your nearest ally, and that your weapon has struck him as well. You're beyond mortal coil. To determine whether you damage your ally, make normal Attack and Damage rolls. Your ally's Defense and Soak attempts each suffer a -5 modifier due to surprise. |
In general, single botches are embarrassing or inconvenient, double botches are dangerous, and triple botches are potentially deadly. Effects may be tailored to the Technique and Form that were being used, or may be more unpredictable.
Attract unwanted attention: The attention of someone or something, perhaps the target of your spell, is drawn to you. |
Caster addled: You are rendered insane, confused, or demented. You acquire the Flaw Simple-Minded for an indefinite duration. |
Caster overwhelmed: You are overwhelmed by your own magic. Make a Stamina stress roll of 6+ or be knocked unconscious. |
Connection with target: Your target becomes aware of your investigations, and may learn something about you through the arcane link that is temporarily established. |
Debilitating: The spell pushes the target too hard and does permanent damage for example, a Rego Animál spell might forever leave a beast without its natural instincts and urges. |
Flawed creation: A creation is heavily flawed, though the flaw may not be obvious until the creation is expected to serve the function it was created for. |
Incomplete or improper effect: For example, a spell intended to transform you into a wolf might only transform your head and hands. |
Out of control: The spell creates or calls forth something beyond the caster's ability to control. |
Related but unwanted effect: For example, a spell intended to transform you into a wolf might turn you into another animal. |
Reverse effect: The spell does exactly the opposite of what is intended. |
Roll for Twilight: Roll to avoid Wizard's Twilight. If you avoid it, you still suffer another botch result. |
Spell affects caster: You, instead of the intended target, are affected. |
Too powerful: The spell does more than it should and thereby causes problems. |
Undying spell: You cannot stop the spell by concentrating; it does not end at the normal time, and it proves resistant to being dispelled. |
Wrong target: Pick a new one at random. |
Twilight
- Check for Twilight: Make a stress roll adding Enigmatic Wisdom (if character has the Ability) and Twilight Points. If total is 24+, a temporary Twilight episode occurs. Otherwise there is no unusual effect, besides the normal spell botch.
- Roll for Twilight Points gained: Make a simple roll. Subtract Enigmatic Wisdom and add to the Twilight Point total. You always add at least 1. If the total is now 24 or more, character enters final Twilight.
- Roll for Twilight control: Make an Intelligence stress roll, add +3 for Virtue Strong-Willed and character's Enigmatic Wisdom. Storyguide rolls a simple die and adds the Aura rating. Other bonuses may apply. If the player's roll is better, roll for good effect, otherwise roll for bad effect. Tables are found in ArM 4 page 182.
