What you can do in one turn :
Move -- you can run/glide/fly/swim up to your
full Move score, but while doing this,
you may only attack in a "wild swing,"
which is a roll of 9 or less
Step* and Attack -- launch one attack on a foe
All-Out Attack -- by forfeiting your defense until
your next turn, you may choose to
make either 2 attacks, 1 attack at
+4 to skill, or 1 attack at +2 to damage. During an
All-Out Attack, you may move up to
1/2 of your Move score. Remember, All-Outing
leaves you wide open and vulnerable.
All-Out Defend -- you forego all attacks and concentrate
solely on defense, giving
you two different active defenses
(ie a Parry and a Dodge) againt the same attack,
with a limit of two Blocks and two
Parries per turn.
Step* and Concentrate -- spellcasters
only, a whole other set of rules.
Feint -- a contest between your weapon skill and
your opponent's; you both roll vs.
your skill, and if you make it by
more, the amount you made it by is _subtracted_
from your opponent's next defense
roll. An All-Out Feint and Attack is a possible,
though risky, maneuver.
Step* and Aim -- if you are using a missile weapon
or a missile spell, you will have a
much better chance of hitting your
target if you Aim. Each turn spent Aiming will
give you a +1 to hit, up to a +4.
The further away your target is, the harder it will be
to hit, so aiming is very important
in ranged combat.
Defending yourself:
Dodge -- try to get out of the way; your Dodge
is your adjusted Move plus PD; you
may attempt to Dodge as many seperate
attacks as you'd like each turn, though you
may only Dodge each attack once.
Parry -- if you have a weapon that can Parry,
you may attempt to deflect your enemy's
incoming weapon with your own. Your
Parry score is usually 1/2 of your weapon
skill, plus PD; certain skills such
as Brawling or Fencing give you a Parry of 2/3 the
skill. You get one Parry per turn
(unless there are unusual circumstances).
Block -- if you have a shield, you may attempt
to Block an enemy's attack, once per
turn. Your shield itself will add
to your PD. Your Block score is 1/2 of your Shield
skill, plus PD. Be aware, though,
that your shield may become damaged and
eventually useless.
Step* Back and (defend) -- by taking a step back,
you can add +3 to your defense;
you can only use this against one
attack per turn.
*Step -- defined as either an actual step of one
hex or a glide/flight of two hexes; if
you are close enough to reach your foe, you do not have
to actually step.
Hit Locations:
You may choose to aim at a particular
part of your foe's body when you attack
(except on Wild Swings and All-Outs). Each body part
has its own different
modifiers; it is harder to hit a head than a leg, for
instance.
Doing Damage:
In combat, there are three types of
damage that can be inflicted, and two ways of
doing it. The amount of damage you do depends on what
kind of weapon you've got
and how you're using it.
Types:
Crushing = blunt weapon such as club, fist, tail,
rock
Cutting = edged weapon such as sword, claws
Impaling = pointed weapon such as arrow, spear
Ways:
Thrust = a stab, jab, punch
Swing = a swing, kick, tail lash
Your ST will tell you how much Basic
Damage you do on either a Thrust or a Swing.
For example, an average gargoyle with a ST of 15 will
do 1d6+1 thrust (roll one six-
sided die and add 1 to the result), and 2d6+1 swing (roll
two six-sided dice and add
one to the result).
Each weapon has a listing for the
amount of damage it does. For example, a
broadsword does swing+1 Cutting damage, or thrust+2 Impaling
damage, depending
on how you use it.
So, that same average gargoyle would
do 1d6+3 Impaling if thrusting with that
sword, or 2d6+2 Cutting if swinging with it.
Hold tight, now, it gets a little more
complicated ... because there are added
attractions to Cutting and Impaling.
On a Cutting attack, any damage that
penetrates your foe's DR (armor, tough skin,
magical force field, whatever), is halved again. So if
you attack for 6 points of
damage and your foe has 2 points of DR, 4 points get
through ... and on a Cutting
attack, half again brings the total damage back up to
6.
On an Impaling attack, any damage
that penetrates DR is doubled. So, attacking for 6
points against that DR of 2 means that the 4 points that
get through are doubled to
a total of 8.
Still hanging in there? Good ... and
for the moment, don't even worry about how
certain body parts are more vulnerable to certain types
of attacks ...
Combat is the most complicated part
of nearly all role-playing games, but it's really a
lot easier than it looks. Promise.
Armor:
Each different type of armor has its
own PD and DR, its own advantages and
drawbacks.
Leather armor, for instance, like
Hudson's breastplate, has a PD of 2 and a DR of 2,
and is fairly light.
Chainmail has a PD of 3 and a DR of
4, but is heavier and against Impaling weapons,
it only has a DR of 2.
A Kevlar vest would have PD of 2,
DR of 14.
High-tech body armor a la Xanatos
... well, you get the idea.
Armor tends to be heavy, sometimes
bulky, and often expensive or hard to come by,
so think it out carefully when equipping and outfitting
your character.