Combat (9e)

Overview

Move, Minor, Standard

Combat encounters are turn-based, with each actor in the scene taking their turns in order denoted by initiative (see below). Typically characters cannot act when it is not their turn.

Everyone gets three actions during their turn: a move action, a minor action, and a standard action. You can trade down (move instead of standard, minor instead of move) but not up. This is to ensure characters do not hog the spotlight on their turns, and instead contribute to the flow of combat as part of the party.

Most complex moves are considered standard actions, including attacks, grabs, and essentially anything that takes focus and effort to accomplish.

Moving into melee, or from one area of the encounter to another, is where move actions come in. Mounting and dismounting are also move actions.

Minor actions are simple actions that do not require much thought, such as drinking a potion, drawing a weapon, opening a door, and so forth.

Range and Melee

In a combat encounter, attack types are divided between ranged and melee. In order to make a melee attack, the character has to be engaged in melee with their intended target. To engage a target in melee, they must spend a move action to move in close. Sometimes that will be difficult: another enemy could throw themselves in front of the character, such as a minion protecting its master.

Disengaging from melee, also called retreating, is a risky move that allows the enemy to make a basic attack against the retreating character. Some classes have abilities that allow for safe retreat from melee, which should be exploited by those who are uncomfortable in melee.

A character can be engaged in melee with an indefinite number of enemies, at which point it becomes important to have a safe way to disengage from melee, otherwise they will be mobbed to death.

Characters do not need to be engaged in melee to make ranged attacks, but ranged attacks can be more difficult to hit if the intended target has cover (see below). Ranged attacks also take a -2 penalty against targets who are engaged in melee with the attacker. Any target that is not close enough to be targeted with a ranged attack is too far away from the fight to matter anyway.

Dodge and Armor

A character's capacity to avoid getting hit is called Dodge. When an attack is rolled, it hits if it is higher than the target's Dodge, otherwise it misses.

A character's Armor is how much damage is reduced from successful attacks. Generally characters with high Armor are not as capable of dodging, due to the weight and restriction of their protection, or just not being used to trying to avoid hits rather than absorb them.

Sometimes characters can ignore points of Armor when making attacks, which signifies them being able to hit the weaknesses and vulnerable spots on their opponent.

Combat Advantage

When someone is granting combat advantage, they are in a position that makes them more vulnerable to attacks. Any character attacking an enemy which is granting combat advantage gets a +2 bonus to the attack roll.

Some conditions (see below) cause combat advantage, some class powers can do the same.

Cover and Stealth

Cover denotes that a character is being partially protected by some facet of the environment, such as a rocky outcropping, a smokescreen, or even a minion. Having cover provides a +2 bonus to Dodge for the purposes of avoiding attacks both ranged and melee, since they are more difficult to hit.

A character can choose to hide during combat, and typically must be behind cover to do so. They use a minor action to make a skill check to hide, and gain a +4 bonus to Dodge from their hidden status. Additionally, they cannot be engaged in melee until they are spotted, by their opponent making a perception skill check that beats their Dodge.

Initiative

When combat begins, the order in which the characters and their opponents will act is called initiative. The DM can determine this in a number of ways, from the traits and backgrounds of the characters, to the circumstances of the fight. If the party is ambushed, it's incredibly likely that their opponents will get to go first!

Hit Points

All characters start off at maximum hit points at the start of combat. It is a representation of their stamina, endurance, and will to fight - not a precise numerical statement of their remaining blood or anything ridiculous like that.

When any character is reduced to half their hit point value, they are bloodied, which can trigger certain abilities. When non-player characters are reduced to zero hit points, they are out of the fight - unconscious or dead.

When a player character is reduced to zero hit points, they take a wound and return to their bloodied value. A wound is like a negative trait that can affect their capability in combat, such as a broken leg making it harder to engage in or retreat from melee.

If the player character is knocked down to zero hit points a second time, their wound becomes severe, and hampers them more, but they are still brought back to their bloodied value. After the third time, it becomes life-threatening and they can no longer engage in combat at all, being in a state of dying or extreme incapacity.

All wounds require time and treatment to recover from, but life-threatening wounds most often require swift medical attention.

Cowardice

Cowardice is a special number held by most minor and some major archetypes. While their hit points outnumber their Cowardice, they will still be relatively sure that they can win the fight. Once their hit points drop below their Cowardice, they will be less sure, and perhaps willing to surrender or bargain if asked.

Some archetypes may be too zealous or mindless to have Cowardice, and so will fight on to the death.

Conditions

Conditions are effects that occur in combat to change the flow of actions. They can affect both the player characters and the opponents equally, and are usually caused by special attacks.

• Dazed: The character can only take one action (move/minor/standard) on their turn, and takes a -2 penalty to attack rolls. This condition ends at the start of their next turn.
• Fear: The character is experiencing extreme terror, and is stressed (see below) and also grants combat advantage to whatever caused their fear. This condition ends at the end of the encounter, or when the cause of their fear is removed.
• Grabbed: The character is being held by an opponent at melee range, and cannot retreat from melee until the grab is broken by a successful melee attack against the opponent, a successful skill check, the opponent releases the grab, or if the opponent is removed from combat somehow. While grabbing, a character cannot retreat from melee with the target of their grab.
• Prone: The character is on the ground, and grants combat advantage against melee attacks. This condition ends if they take a move action to stand up.
• Restricted: The character cannot take any move actions, and takes a -2 penalty to attack rolls. This condition ends if they can end the source of their restriction.
• Stunned: The character has been hit hard, and is dazed (see above) and also grants combat advantage. This condition ends at the start of their next turn.
• Stress: The character is enduring a situation that is putting them under pressure, and takes a -2 penalty to attack rolls and skill checks. This condition ends at the end of the encounter, or when the cause of their stress is removed.
• Surprised: The character has been taken unawares, and grants combat advantage. This condition ends at the start of their next turn.

Corruption

Corruption is a special cumulative condition that denotes the encroachment of evil upon the character's soul. A character's Corruption can be raised by exposure to malevolent forces, curses, and the like. Some of the major archetypes have special abilities that increase with strength depending on the target's Corruption.

Corruption can be burnt off through acts of heroism, meditation, and blessings from the forces of good.