Combat
A character’s initiative pool is equal to the character’s best combat-related Skill + Cunning. This pool represents a character’s martial acumen and mental presence in the fight. Tally the total number of successes for each character, and rank them from highest to lowest. Results generated by player characters become PC slots; results generated by SGCs become SGC slots. This is the initiative roster.
The players choose which of them gets to take the first PC slot, then that player decides which of them takes the next slot, and so on. Similarly, the Storyguide determines which order her characters act in. In the event of a tie be- tween Storyguide and player, favor the player.
ACTION PHASE
Once initiative is rolled, the round begins. When it is a character’s turn to act, they can take either one simple or one mixed action, though they may only attack once per turn. Reflexive actions can be taken at any time, even if it’s not your character’s turn.
Reflexive actions are done automatically, and often do not require any kind of roll. Activating a Knack is reflexive unless stated otherwise. They represent activities that take little to no time to perform. Actions such as looking around, retrieving objects from a holster, moving no faster than a character’s maximum speed, or standing up from a prone position, are all considered reflexive actions and do not require a roll, but do count towards action limits for mixed actions.
Simple actions cover anything that would occupy a character’s full attention, such as stabbing an ice golem in the heart.
A mixed action is what characters use when doing two things at once, such as climbing up a really big ice golem while trying to stab it. Mixed actions use the lower of the two involved pools, and split the successes between the two
actions.
ATTACK RESOLUTION
1 Declare your target (or targets) and choose your dice pool. The target(s) declare the Defense action they wish to take, and roll for a Defensive action if it’s their first time in the turn being attacked.
2 If your target is in range of your weapon, make an attack roll. Total your successes, adding Enhancements to the total.
3 Spend successes to overcome the target’s Defense, the attack is successful. Spend additional successes on Stunts.
COMPLICATE ACTION
The complicate action is an umbrella term for a variety of actions that involve blocking or stopping another person from performing a task. The character must declare this action as part of their mixed action on their turn. This can be used to defend another character, defend an object, or stop a character from operating machinery. As long as the Storyguide thinks it is possible for the character to stop another character from performing the action (For instance, it is very difficult to stop a person from opening their eyes in combat time) it is possible to complicate the action.
Complicate action inflicts a Complication (Blocked) on any character attempting to perform the stated action equal to the number of successes spent on Complicate Action. If a character chooses not to buy off this Complication, then they automatically fail to perform the stated action.
Skill Used: Varies based on the action declared, usually Athletics or Close Combat.
THROWING
To throw a person or an object into someone else, you must first be able to lift it, requiring an Athletics + Might roll, or to put a wiggling, living target into a grapple (p. 117). Once lifted, the object or person can be thrown as if it had the tags Thrown, Pushing. It is Storyguide discretion whether or not a thrown object is Lethal or Bashing, or if it might inflict the Stun tag as well. If throwing a living person, the damage dealt to the target is also dealt to the person being thrown. In the event of throwing a car, or a pillar from a temple to Zeus or other large object, the thrown object also gains the Shockwave tag.
MODIFIERS TO ATTACK/ DEFENSE ACTIONS / GOING PRONE
Hitting the dirt is a good option when someone is shooting at you but is significantly less good when someone is trying to kick you in the head. A prone target takes a −1 penalty to their Defense against characters in close range with them, and a +2 bonus to their Defense against attacks at any other range.
ON THE GROUND/STANDING UP
When prone, it is normally a simple thing to get up (reflexive action). However, if you are prone with an enemy in clash range then standing up gets more difficult. If there is an opponent in close range with a prone character, then the prone character must stand up as part of a mixed action. Standing up is an Athletics roll with a Complication of 1. If the player fails to buy off the Complication, his character takes an Injury Condition as his opponent punishes his attempt to stand.
AMBUSH
Sometimes, the best way to win is before your opponent even knows there is a fight. When attempting to surprise someone with a prepared ambush, the ambushers roll Agility + Dexterity vs. the opponent’s Integrity + Cunning to represent sneaking up on them. Players can also make a case for different dice pools if the situation calls for it, such as Empathy + Cunning to distract an opponent, or to convince them that the ambusher is harmless before the
attack.
If a group is trying to surprise another group, pool the successes on both sides and divide them by the number of people on each side (round down). The target’s roll becomes the Difficulty for the ambusher. After the ambusher overcomes the Difficulty, she may spend any remaining successes on the following effect:
Surprise (Variable): Impose a Complication on the Initiative roll for the opposing team by one for each success spent. If anyone on the opposing team cannot buy off the Complication on their initiative roll, then they do not get an action on the first turn of combat.
SURPRISE ATTACKS
When you want to sucker-punch an enemy (as opposed to Ambush, pg. 118) and maximize the element of surprise, you must roll for it. Against a single target, roll Subterfuge + Dexterity or Intellect vs. a difficulty half the target’s Composure (rounded down). Ties favor the player character. Against a group, roll against the highest rating among the group of enemies. Bandmates generally should not be surprise attacking each other, but in the event of intra-band strife, the roll is the same, with ties favoring the defender.
On a success, the sucker-punching character or characters have a full round to act against their opponents before initiative is rolled as normal and the enemies join the fight. Stealth cannot be reestablished in a fight without the
aid of Knacks or Boons.
RESOLVING DAMAGE
Characters gain special Conditions when injured, called Injury Conditions. There are four general categories, corresponding to increasing levels of Complication severity: Bruised (−1), Injured (−2), and Maimed (−4). Beyond that, you’re Taken Out. Except for Taken Out, characters don’t often get Injured or Maimed, they get Broken Arm or Crushed Skull. Be descriptive when applying these Conditions — weapons can only apply Injury Conditions that would be narratively logical. If an Injury Condition wouldn’t affect your character (say, they’re trying to shoot someone while suffering from a broken leg) the Condition effect or Momentum generation simply doesn’t apply.
Injuries needn’t represent actual wounds; at the Storyguide’s discretion, they can be “Fated Injuries,” which are curses, injuries held in abeyance, or close calls that throw off the character and keep them off balance. Having a character dodge a hail of bullets only to catch the fateful one that Takes them Out is perfectly in-genre.
Calculating Injury Conditions: Anyone can take the Bruised or Maimed Condition levels (or the equivalents thereof caused by weapons). With a Stamina rating of 1, they can take Injured (create a small box for the level). For every additional 2 above (round up), the character can take one additional Bruised Condition. Scale can add directly to this, creating one additional Bruised Condition per Scale level. Example: At 3 they have Taken Out, Maimed, Injured, and two Bruised. At 5, they have Taken Out, Maimed, Injured, and three Bruised. At 11, it’d be six Bruised, and so on. Any time the character takes damage, he must take an Injury Condition. His player chooses to take a Bruised, Injured, or Maimed Condition, if available. If none are available, he is Taken Out.
If the attack is from a weapon with the Aggravated tag, the Condition becomes Persistent. Against mortal characters, lethal damage is Persistent. The four-point Critical Hit Stunt allows you to inflict an additional Condition.
FIRST AID
After combat, characters can give and receive first aid. This allows a character to downgrade an Injury Condition to one of a lower level. Make an Intellect + Medicine roll at a Difficulty based on the severity of the Injury; a character can only remove one Condition this way per session, through a scene of picking glass out of bloodied arms, wrapping bandages around burned limbs, etc. An Injury Condition can only be downgraded once, and only if the character has empty Injury Condition boxes of a lower level available. The Bruised condition is removed when downgraded. Knacks and Boons may allow first aid to be applied more readily, more often, or simply heal the level.
DIFFICULTY
• Bruised: Two
• Injured: Three
• Maimed: Five
• Taken Out: One success per other Condition the
target has on them
GRAPPLED
You’re held fast in a powerful grip.
Effects: You cannot move from the spot. Your grappler may drag or throw you with an opposed Might + Athletics roll, and automatically wins ties.
Resolution: Unless you are released, you must escape the grapple with an opposed Close Combat or Athletics + Dexterity or Might roll. Success also allows you to reverse the grapple.