Combat

These rules first lay down the basics of melee combat, then present additional rules for unarmed combat and ranged attacks.

Attacking as an Opposed Attempt

A basic melee attack is handled as an opposed attempt to strike a target. The steps in resolving the attack are:

1. The attacker declares his attack against the defender, after verifying the following conditions:
   • The defender is within the reach (melee combat) or range (ranged combat) of his attack
   • The attacker has clear or partial line of sight to the defender
2. The defender makes a Defense Check to avoid being hit
   1. The defender rolls two exploding Finesse dice
   2. The defender adds his current Defense adjustment*
   3. The resulting value is the CR for the attack
3. The attacker makes an Attack Check to hit the defender
   1. The attacker rolls two exploding Stat Dice appropriate for his weapon
   2. The attacker adds any adjustments to the attack* to the roll
   3. If the total equals or exceeds the CR set by the defender's roll, the attack hits
4. If the attack hits, damage is resolved.
   1. The attacker rolls the damage die for his weapon. For unarmed combat, the attacker rolls his Brawn die and halves the result to find the damage inflicted.
   2. The attacker adds any Damage adjustments* to set the raw damage inflicted.
   3. The defender subtracts any adjustments for Armor or other factors* from the raw damage to determine actual damage sustained.
   4. The defender deducts the damage sustained from his current Hit Points.

* Defense, Attack, Damage and Armor Adjustments are typically made for conditions such as special skills or maneuvers, active spells or magic items, etc.

Critical Outcomes in Combat

As with non-combat Checks, exceptionally high or low rolls on Attack Checks can result in critical hits or misses. Since Defense Checks set the challenge rating (CR) for the opposing Attack Check, rather than being rolled against a CR themselves, Defense Checks are not subject to critical outcomes (although good or bad things can happen to the defender as a result of critical hits or misses against them). Any Attack Check which exceeds the defender's Defense Check by 3 or more is a critical hit; any Attack Check which misses the Defense Check by 3 or more is a critical miss. Check the Critical Outcomes table in either case:

On critical and legendary hits, the attacker chooses one of the Possible Outcomes. On critical and disastrous failures, the gamemaster chooses one of the possible outcomes. Character points are awarded to player characters who are attacking or defending when a critical hit or miss occurs. That is to say, a hero receives CP when she makes a critical hit or miss against an opponent, or when an opponent makes critical hit or miss against her.

The "Defender is instantly slain" option should be allowed only when the legendary hit is landed upon an enemy whose death will not derail the story or the encounter. It may be quite dramatic for a hero to instantly slay the captain of the Witch-King's guard, but for the Witch-King himself—likely the heroes' nemesis for many adventures—to be instantly killed by a single lucky roll will feel cheap and anti-climactic. Gamemasters should feel free to disallow this option at any time, or entirely.

Line of Sight

In order to attack an opponent, a character must be able to see his target (or in the case of invisible opponents, he must at least see the space where he thinks his target is!). In other words, he must have a line of sight (LoS) to his target.

Clear LoS: If an unobstructed line can be drawn from the center of the attacker's space to the center of the target's space, the line of sight is clear, and the attacker takes no penalty to his Attack Check.

Partial LoS: If an unobstructed line can be drawn from the center of the attacker's space to any point in the target's space, the attacker has a partial line of sight, and takes a -3 Adjustment on his Attack Check. A partial LoS assumes the target has roughly 50% cover.

Minimal LoS: If an unobstructed line can be drawn from any point in the attacker's space to any point in the target's space, the attacker has only a minimal line of sight, and takes a -6 Adjustment on his Attack Check. A minimal LoS assumes the target has roughly 80% cover.

Weapons and Armor

Melee Weapons

• Check Stat: The Primary Stat Dice used in Attack Checks.
• Skill: The weapon skill required to wield the weapon without penalty; Attackers lacking the appropriate weapon skill suffer a -2 penalty to their Attack Check
• Reach: The distance, in spaces, at which the weapon can be used to attack
  • Reach 0: Attacker and defender in same space (HtH combat)
  • Reach 1: Attacker and defender in adjacent spaces
  • Reach 2 or 3: Defender in the second or third space away from the attacker
• 1h and 2h Brawn Minimums: Minimum Brawn required to use the weapon in one hand (allowing another object to be held in the other hand) or two hands (no other objects may be held in hands); For every point by which the Brawn Minimum exceeds the attacker's Brawn, he suffers a penalty of -1 to all Attack Checks and Damage rolls.
• Damage: Base damage inflicted by a normal weapon of the type wielded by a character meeting the Brawn Minimum; there is no bonus to damage for Attackers with a greater Brawn than their weapon's Brawn Minimum.

Unarmed Combat

Unarmed attacks may be made at Reach 0 or 1. Attacks with small improvised weapons, such as a beer mug, a roll of coins, or a fist-sized rock, also have a Reach of 0 or 1. Longer improvised weapons (axe handle, chair leg) are essentially clubs, and should be treated as Mace Skill weapons of similar proportion.

To find the damage done by an unarmed blow, the attacker rolls his Brawn die and halves the result, rounding up. Small improvised weapons add 1 to the basic damage for an unarmed attack for every full 5 points of the attacker's Brawn. Thus, a hero with Brawn 9 hits in unarmed combat, so he rolls his Brawn die and gets a "7". If he's punching bare-fisted, he does 4 points of damage (7/2 = 3.5, which rounds up to 4). If he's smacking his opponent with a beer stein, he does 5 points (the base unarmed damage of 4, plus 1 for the improvised weapon, since he has more than 5 Brawn, but less than 10).

Ranged Combat

Like melee combat, ranged combat is resolved as an Opposed Attempt, with special Adjustments made to Attack Checks according to the distance between the attacker to the defender.

• Check Stat: All ranged weapons use Finesse dice in Attack Checks
• Skill: The weapon skill required to wield the weapon without penalty (see Skills); Attackers lacking the appropriate weapon skill suffer a -2 penalty to their Attack Check
• Base Range: The distance, in spaces, within which the weapon is most effective
  • Within the Base Range, ranged Attack Checks take no penalty.
  • Every doubling of the Base Range imposes a penalty of -3 on the Attack Check.
  • Ranged weapons may not be used to attack defenders in the same space as the attacker (0 Range).
  • Ranged weapon attacks against defenders in spaces adjacent to the attacker (Range 1) take a -3 penalty to the Attack Check, unless the defender is motionless.
• Range Limit: The maximum multiple of the Base Range at which the weapon may attack an individual target
• Hands: The number of hands—one or two—necessary to ready, aim, and attack with the weapon
• Brawn Minimums: Minimum Brawn required to use the weapon; for every point by which the Brawn Minimum exceeds the Attacker's Brawn, he suffers a penalty of -1 to all Attack Checks and Damage rolls. Crossbows have special rules regarding Brawn Minimums and reloading (see below).
• Damage: Base damage inflicted by a normal weapon of the type wielded by a character meeting the Brawn Minimum; there is no bonus to damage for Attackers with a greater Brawn than their weapon's Brawn Minimum.

Crossbows

For crossbows and arbalests, two numbers are listed under Bawn Minimum. The first of these (4 for crossbows, 6 for arbalests) is the minimum Brawn necessary to aim and shoot a crossbow accurately—almost anyone can point and shoot a crossbow. The second Brawn listed (8 for crossbows, 10 for arbalests) is the minimum necessary to reload the weapon without a mechanical device to pull back the bowstring.

If a character meets the second Brawn Minimum, he is strong enough to reset the bow by hand, doing so with a special action, Reset crossbow, costing 1 AP. If he meets the first Brawn Minimum but not the second one, he must use a mechanical crank to pull back the bowstring before loading the next shot. For such characters, Reset crossbow costs 3 AP.

Thus, a hero who meets both Brawn Mins can shoot his crossbow every round, spending 1 AP to reload, and 2 AP to aim and shoot (Assuming he has 3 AP to spend). A hero meeting only the first Brawn Min, however, can only shoot his crossbow every other round—he must spend 3 AP

Shields

Shields are used to block or deflect blows, applying a positive Adjustment to Defense. Shields occupy the character's off hand, may not be used in conjunction with two-handed weapons, either Melee or Ranged.

• Type: Listed shield types are representative; other types are possible
• Defense Bonus: The value added to the character's Defense Check roll
• Brawn Minimum: Minimum Brawn to use the shield without penalty; for each point the character's Brawn is below the Brawn Minimum, he suffers an Adjustment of -1 on all Brawn and Finesse Check rolls, including Attack and Defense Checks
• Spellcasting Adjustment: Adjustment to Savvy Check when casting any spell requiring gestures

Armor

Armor is worn on the body to reduce the damage sustained from incoming attacks. Non-magical armor has no effect on the attacker's chances to hit the defender—it only reduces damage.

• Type: Listed armor types are representative; other types are possible
• Category: All armor types fall into one of three categories:
  • Light: Damage Reduction 1 or 2; Brawn Minimum 5, 6 or 7
  • Medium: Damage Reduction 3 or 4; Brawn Minimum 8, 9, or 10
  • Heavy: Damage Reduction 5 or 6; Brawn Minimum 11 or more
• Damage Reduction: The amount by which damage from incoming attacks is reduced by the defender's armor before it is deducted from his Hit Points.
• Brawn Minimum: Minimum Brawn to wear the armor without penalty; for each point the character's Brawn is below the Brawn Minimum, he suffers the following penalties:
  • Modification of -1 Die Rank to Finesse dice
  • Adjustment of -1 on all Brawn Check rolls, including Attack Checks