Combat Turns
Although most Combat will be physical, this system is also
used for any time you want to slow down time, and know what’s happening every
instant – such as a heated debate, for example, or trying to defuse a bomb.
Everything in combat works the same as in normal time. The only difference is that time is
compressed into ‘Turns’. Turns do not
equal any particular amount of normal time – one turn is just ‘however long it
takes for everyone to make one action.’
After the Combat is resolved, you can figure out how long it took in
game time – five Turns in a back alley brawl might take only a minute, while
five Turns in a formal wrestling match might take a half-hour.
Magic in Combat: Any
Rote may be used in combat, requires your Action, and takes one full turn to
cast. All Rotes have their normal
effects, although I’d recommend that you not use complicated or lengthy Rotes
while in the heat of battle.
Phases: Combat has three phases –
Declaration, Challenges, and Resolution.
1. Declaration: Whenever
going into Combat turns, the players involved must clearly ask “who is involved
in this scene?” All other players must
either immediately join the Combat, or stay out of the Combat. The players involved in the Combat may also declare
other players they wish to be in the Combat (basically, the targets of their
attacks). This declaration phase is to
prevent fights from bogging down into massive mob battles. Most fights will be finished in 30-60 seconds
of in-game time: not enough time for you to wander over, see that your pal is
losing, and enter the fight.
The declaration of
Combat must be made clearly.
If a player opts not
to join the Combat during the Declaration phase, they may not join that Combat
scene until it is resolved. No
exceptions.
2. Challenges: Here’s
where everyone involved pulls out their character sheet and dice, and starts
figuring out who won. Rather than
running around the room, mimicking your character’s movements, I recommend that
everyone in the Combat find a table where they can circle around, do their
Challenges, and discuss what happens. I
recommend you form a circle based on your Initiative scores.
Each Turn, everyone gets one Action, with which they may do
one Mental, Physical, or Social Challenge (if they wish).
Physical
Attacking requires an Action, but defending from attacks
does not require an Action.
Close Defense: You
may defend with Melee (Parrying), Brawl (Blocking), or Dodge (Dodging).
Ranged Defense: You
may only Dodge against Ranged attacks, unless you have a suitable shield with
which to use Melee.
Stamina Defense: If
you’re unable to defend otherwise, you may always use your Stamina to
defend. You don’t get to add an Ability,
though, so this number will almost always be lower than your other
defenses. It’s just Stamina + Willpower
+ d6.
Initiative: Your
physical, mental, and social initiatives will be marked on your sheet. In a Challenge, the higher initiative goes
first. Either an ST or one of the
players will count down from 15 to 1.
When he gets to your Initiative (whichever type of Challenge you’re
using this Turn) say ‘hey’ and point to the person you’re challenging. In the event that your target has the same
Initiative, the higher secondary number goes first (So an Initiative of 9.4
goes before 9.2). If both numbers are
exactly the same, roll dice to determine who goes first.
No instant-kills, no
called shots, no special situations.
When in combat, I recommend you just do some quick Challenges to figure
out who won, then worry about who leapt over what and how cool the action scene
was. You can always tell people how the
fight went once the Challenges are done.
Movement: There
are no rules for range or cover in this system, so it’s not important to know
exactly where your characters are in relation to each other. Rules for running away from Combat are
below. Characters with Ranged weapons
may be attacked normally – your character is assumed to close the distance and
attack.
Range: Certain
weapons may be marked with a ‘maximum range’ value. This will usually be 1 Turn for handguns, and
2 Turns for rifles. If the wielder of
this weapon goes to the weapon’s maximum range, spends some time aiming, and
then fires, it will take the other characters either 1 or 2 Turns to run and
reach his position. So basically he has
a short amount of time to prepare a spell, or fire another shot. After 1 or 2 Turns, the other characters will
arrive on the scene. (Remember that a
Turn can be a variable amount of time – so these 2 Turns could represent the
two minutes it takes to run the quarter-mile to your position.)
Escape!
Sometimes a fight breaks
out, and you don’t want to be in it!
-If nobody is following
you, and you’re not involved in the fight, you can just leave on your Physical
Initiative.
-If someone is chasing
you, make a Physical Challenge against them on your Initiative. If you win, you escape. (Ties go to the pursuer.)
-If many people are
chasing you, you make a Physical Challenge against all of them each Turn,
comparing your Trait Total against each pursuer’s. Anyone you beat falls behind, but can catch
up if you stop for any reason (such as being hit by a pursuer).
-If someone is blocking
your exit, is attempting to hit you, or otherwise in close proximity to you,
you must win a Physical Challenge using Offense to force your way past them on
one Turn, and another Physical Challenge with Dexterity next Turn to outrun
them and escape. If they win a Physical
Challenge against you before you escape, you have to start over.
-If you can teleport or
otherwise escape through magic, you may do so on your Mental Initiative, after
taking the Paradox required.
Combat is not
intended to accurately simulate a fight.
It is meant to be a quick and efficient way to determine a victor and
move on. Don’t get caught up in all the
little details.
3. Resolution: At
this phase, everyone involved in the Combat should decide what happened. Tony took 2 Lethal from Brawl attacks – but
was that a broken leg, a bloody jaw, or a fall out a third story window? At this point, you can announce to everyone
nearby what they saw, and how impressive it seemed. The Resolution phase, not the Challenges
phase, is where you should describe your special maneuvers, leaping over
chairs, spinning backfists and such.
This is where you take the results of the Challenges phase, and use them
to build a better story.
Example of Combat (and other game mechanics)