Basics
- Each protagonist has two actions to expend during the course of a combat round
- Typically one action is used for defence and the other for attack, but actions may be used instead for movement, throwing or shooting missiles or other combat related activity.
- Attack and defence actions are expressed as 2d10 rolls (i.e. two 10-sided dice added together). These are adjusted to accommodate skills, equipment and situational factors.
- The same action may not be repeated during the round but a protagonist may combine both actions with an improved chance of success: rolling 3d10 and selecting the best two.
Defence
- Each protagonist has a passive defence which comprises a basic situational defence (e.g. active, prone, comatose) adjusted by equipment and the outcome of any defensive action taken.
- Defence actions are all rolled for on 2d10 and include:
- Parry – reduces the effectiveness of an attack by countering with weapon or shield
- Block – interposes a shield between the protagonist and any incoming blow (this is hard on the shield which may be torn from the wielder’s hand or broken)
- Dodge – makes the defender harder to hit (especially effective for an unarmoured protagonist)
Attack
- An attack is made on 2d10 adding the skill of the protagonist and adjusting for the weapon.
- If the attack equals or exceeds the defence then a hit is made and damage rolled. The target’s armour class is subtracted from the damage done.
- Damage is expressed primarily in hit points, which represent both the amount of physical punishment a character can take before they start to become seriously injured and a measure of endurance. The successful attacker makes a damage roll using the appropriate dice for the weapon used.
- Hits that meet thresholds above the minimum generate extra dice damage and are located to a particular part of the body. In addition there may be tactical results. There is an attribute-based save according to where the blow lands. If an attribute saving roll is failed a tactical effect (e.g. loss of actions in this or the subsequent round, drop weapon, stumble or stagger) is applied. At higher thresholds the effects may be more severe and long-lasting.
- When a protagonist runs out of hit points then damage comes off body points. Body points represent physical damage and take longer to recover than hit points. When a protagonist runs out of body points death may ensue. There are saving rolls but those particularly with low Health totals would be unwise to risk it.
Initiative
- The exchange of blows is not usually exactly simultaneous. This important because combat results are implemented as soon as they occur in the round. A warrior who receives a tactical result early in the round may lose the opportunity to strike later in the round.
- The order of striking within a combat is determined by the actions each protagonists declare and by the weapons they are using. Under normal circumstances longer weapons strike before shorter ones; thrusting weapons before cutting ones. Normal order of striking is: Spear; Sword; Langasaex; Axe; Franca; Scramasaex
- Each weapon is assumed to be used at its optimum range but the combat distance reasserts itself in favour of the longer weapon by the beginning of the round, unless there has been a combat result that suggests otherwise, or unless one protagonist has executed a successful grapple (see Brawling below).
- In the event of identical weapons, the more skilled of the protagonists has the initiative.
- The initiative may be ceded by choice. The main benefit of striking second is that should the attacker make a spectacular mistake in attack, they need not commit their defensive option and may choose to transfer it to a counter-strike.
- Some defensive actions – e.g. dodge – implicitly cede the initiative. It is possible in some circumstances for two protagonists to spend a round each waiting for the other to commit.
Brawling
- Pummelling attacks with fists boots and other strikes with natural weapons come last in the round unless the protagonists are closed. Damage is based on surplus.
- The effect of make-shift weapons – e.g. cudgel, club, stone – is adjudicated by the GM. Typically such weapons are slower and clumsier than equivalent crafted weapons but may have damage dice.
- Instead of pummelling, a closed protagonist may choose to aim for a tactical outcome: e.g. a lock, throw or trip. The bar for success is much higher than that for a simple pummel but the rewards are potentially greater. The defender will usually have an attribute-based save, though this may be downgraded by surpluses over the base success.
Missiles
- Missile weapons generally require two actions to deploy: one action to load a bow or sling or prepare a spear or franca, one action to sight and shoot. However, these actions may be split over different rounds.
Movement
- A protagonist may move three hexes forward or one back without expending an action.
- By expending an action a protagonist may roll a dice
- Light armour (up to leather armour) d6
- Heavy armour (studded, mail) d4
- For expending a second action the protagonist may roll a second dice and select the more favourable, adding or subtracting one hex at choice.
Other
- Other activity as agreed with the GM that takes up time in a combat round – e.g. opening doors, vaulting obstacles, the deployment of Galdor and Godgifts etc – may require actions.
Order of Combat
- Each player declares their intended actions for the round.
- Prepared magics and missiles
- Movement
- Combat: Resolve initiative; Attack; Riposte
NB. It is helpful to the GM and aids the flow of combat if players know their attack and defence modifiers and apply them to their rolls as appropriate.