Combat

Combat Basics

Combat in Realm of Strife is turn based and takes place in a Turn Order that is determined at the beginning of each new combat or encounter. In the event that one faction within the combat was able to set up some kind of Ambush or surprise attack, everyone within the ambushing faction will get one free round (in Turn Order) before combat reverts to the basic Turn Order rules.

While each playable character or GM controlled foe/character must act in Turn Order (highest to lowest), one character per side may forfeit their sequenced turn and choose to act last (often referred to as “going to the bottom of the queue”)

A player characters turn (as well as GM controlled NPCs and foes) is typically comprised of the following elements: movement, instant, action and reaction. These elements can take place in any order, though actions always ending your turn and reactions take out-of-turn. At times a player may also be required to surrender their whole turn to accomplish something. These various elements of a turn are summarized as follows:

Whole Turn

If something states that it requires a ‘Whole Turn’ then it is the only thing that character may do on their turn.

Recover: Surrender whole turn (no movement, instant, or action allowed) to regain 1 HP, often referred to as “taking a hit point”. Not to be confused with Resting outside of combat. Recovery may also remove certain CC effects, or can be a CC effect in and of itself.

Whole-turn Skills: Some Primary and Secondary Skills may require you to surrender your entire turn. Some common examples would be Prayer of Faith and Meditation (Focus).

Sprint: move at double your natural (ground) movement speed, taking into account any movement penalties, slows, or other movement impairing effects, and ignoring any kind of speed boost or buff. Sprinting immediately ends your turn. While sprinting all passive effects are prevented (i.e. Bull Charge, Flying, etc) with the exception of Trample. Sprinting while Hidden is allowed (though is called a Hustle, see Stealth), however it simply cancels out the half movement effect of Sneaking (moving while hidden). For every consecutive sprint beyond the first, a Stamina test is required where failure results in +1 Stack of Exhaustion.

Move

All movement in Realm of Strife is stated in table-top inches, where 1 tabletop inch is approximately equal to 5 feet or 1.5 meters of real-world distance. If moving over Difficult Terrain, treat every tabletop inch as if it were 2 inches.

Regular Move: move a number of tabletop inches equal to your movement stat, according to any and all restrictions or bonus.

Charge: a straight line move that brings a character into base contact with an enemy is considered a Charge and may grant additional effects depending on a variety of skills.

Disengage: Using a regular move to willingly leave base contact with one or more foe is considered Disengaging from Combat. A disengage move assumes the character turns their back to the foe to leave combat, allowing them to make free (AOO) attacks against you.

Crawling: When crawling, such as after suffering a Knock Down or Rolling with the Blow, each table top inch is treated as if it were 2 inches (3 if crawling over Difficult Terrain).

Climbing: When climbing a surface or object, each table top inch is treated as if it were 2 inches. Assuming that the surface or object is reasonable to climb, no stat test is required. If you wish to move at normal speeds, this can be done by passing a Strength test. If the surface or object being climbed is slippery or requires specific hand holds, then at the GMs discretion they can request an Agility test and/or treat it as Difficult Terrain (1 inch threated as 3 inches). If during a more challenging or prolonged climb, you climb a cumulative distance greater than 2x your regular movement stat, GMs may wish to require a Stamina test for each climbing move beyond that, where failure results in +1 Stack of Exhaustion. (i.e. If you have Movement 4, and need to climb 10 inches up a cliff face, the final 2 inches might require a Stamina test).

Swimming: Whether diving underwater, or swimming on the surface, each table top inch is treated as if it were 2 inches while swimming (3 if swimming through Difficult Terrain). Swimming short distances does not require a stat test, provided their is negligible current. If swimming into a significant current, then a Strength test is required to move forward. If swimming with a significant current, no Strength test is required and movement is not cut in half. Long term swimming requires a Stamina test for every half hour spent swimming, where failure results in +1 Stack of Exhaustion.

Instant

An instant can be thought of as a quick action or reaction that can be used at any point during your turn, but only once. Instants can be carried out before, after, or during movement.

Skill/Casting Instant: The most common form of Instant is simply any Primary or Secondary Skill/Spell labelled as an Instant.

Out-of-Turn Instant: An out-of-turn instant is typically a reaction to an action taken by an opponent and is not done during your own turn, however it prevents the use of an instant on your following turn. Common examples would be Reversal (Focus) and Swift Kick (Stealth)

Quick Action: In the context of Realm of Strife Combat rules, a player action that can be made quickly is not an Action at all, but rather an instant. A quick action is a non-skill related instant such as retrieving/consuming an item that was easily accessible (i.e. drinking a potion stored in belt slot), simple interactions with environments and objects (i.e. opening an unlocked door), or battlefield communications (i.e. calling out a command to troops or ordering a foe to drop its weapons and surrender). Quick actions typically do not involve a dice roll of any kind to succeed.

Role-play Instant: Role-play instants can be thought of as snap decisions or quick improvised actions to environments, plot twists, and situational challenges. It’s not practical to have a rule set for every possible improvised idea a player may come up with. If a GM feels that a particular Role-Play instant is not guaranteed success they can ask a player to make a stat test. If a stat test is used in combat to determine the outcome of player improvisation or role-play, it is typically considered an instant. A good rule of thumb is that stat tests that do NOT require prolonged physical exertion or some form of active opposition, can typically be considered a Role-play Instant.

Action

Taking an Action is typically the most significant portion of your turn, and allows for direct interaction with foes, allies, or environments. There are several different types of Actions that can be made, however once completed, Actions always ends your turn.

Attack Action: Make a melee or ranged attack with the weapon equipped in the main hand. This could be a regular attack or a Skill-based attack (Primary or Secondary Skill) that requires a weapon. If an off hand weapon is equipped, a regular attack may also be made with the off-hand weapon (see Multiple Attack Actions). The off hand attack does not benefit from any skill-based attack selected for the main hand, unless the Skill specifically says otherwise. Unarmed Focus attacks are an exception to this rule. Unless otherwise stated, ranged attacks cannot be used against targets currently in base contact.

Precision Attack: At times, either due to role-playing or specific mechanics, a player or GM may deem that they wish to make a Precision Attack. This refers to any attack aimed at at precise location on a target and/or intended to trigger a precise effect. Some common examples of a Precision Attack would be choosing to target a creatures eyes in the hopes of blinding it or striking in the hand to force it to drop its weapon. While there are specific skills in the game that also can achieve this, it is not practical nor enjoyable to have a skill for every possible situation a player or GM can imagine. However, a Precision Attack that is not part of a specific preexisting Skill is penalized to prevent over-use. As such, when making a Precision Attack, roll your hit dice twice (see Combat Rolls below) and use the lower of the two rolls.

Skill/Casting Action: Use a primary (or secondary) skill available to your character as an action. The most common form of this would be casting a spell/power, but it applies to any Skill (Primary or Secondary) that is not directly tied to making an attack with a weapon. A skill action, such as casting a spell, does not allow for an off hand attack even if an off hand weapon is equipped. There are some exceptions to this, such as the “Strike” and “Shock” spell archetypes. Unless otherwise stated, offensive ranged spells/powers cannot be used against targets currently in base contact.

Disengage Action: If you have not already moved, you may choose the disengage action to willingly and safely leave base contact with an enemy without granting them the ability to make a quick attack against you. If choosing a Disengage Action, you may only move up to half your regular movement, as you are assumed to be backing way from combat in a defensive manner.

Full Action: A Full Action is one that is not directly related to combat, yet requires enough consideration or effort as to consume that portion of your turn. This can be thought of as the longer form of a ‘Quick Action’ and may in some cases require a dice roll of some kind. Typical examples of a Full Action would be retrieving/consuming an item that is not readily accessible (i.e. drinking a potion that was stored in your backpack), in depth interactions with environments or objects (using a key to unlock a chest while in combat), or carrying on a conversation in combat (i.e. several question and answers going back and forth).

Role-play Action: Role-play actions are similar to Role-play Instants, except that they require additional contemplation, decision making, time or effort. This is often due to the action being actively resisted and contested by a foe or environmental effect. If a GM determines that a particular improvised action would require a Stat Roll-off, it is almost always considered to be an Action.

Hide: In order to Hide in combat a character must be our of Line of Sight of any opponent and spend an action to do so. See Hiding for details.

Reaction

A Reaction always takes place during someone else’s turn rather than your own, typically during an opponents turn (regardless of turn order or initiative score). Reactions are triggered by something else occurring during the round, most commonly being an enemy attacking, though triggers can vary and will always be stated in the rules for a specific reaction. While multiple triggers may occur during any given round of combat, under normal circumstances, only one Reaction can be taken each round of combat.

Defensive Reaction: Defensive reactions are made in response to being attacked and are typically available to anyone, though some are dependent and/or augmented by certain weapon attributes. The most common examples would be Block, parry, Impale and Ward-off. This are discussed in greater detail in their own section Defensive Reaction section.

Skill/Casting Reaction: Many primary (or secondary) skills available to your character may be designated as a reaction, with a variety of triggers. Some are exclusively used for this purpose while others may have dual use as either an instant or action and a reaction (given the correct trigger). Common examples would be Reversal (Focus), Counterspell (Spirit) and Swift Kick (Stealth)

Attacks of Opportunity (AOO): When an opponent willingly moves out of base contact (see Disengaging from Combat) anyone in base contact may, as a reaction, choose to use to make free round of regular attacks (with all equipped weapons). This is often referred to as Attacks of Opportunity (AOO), which are always treated as a reaction an are thus limited by the number of reactions you any take in any given round of combat.

Roll With the Blow: Rolling with the blow is a specific reaction triggered AFTER an enemy hits you. It is a method of disengaging from combat that is especially useful if a subsequent attack may kill or seriously injure you. If you choose to roll with a blow as a reaction, you must do so immediately after taking damage. Once the damage is resolved, move directly backward from the direction of the attack up to 1/2 of your full move. However, doing so will temporarily reduce your Initiative Score by 10 on the next round that you would have a turn. (i.e. if you have already taken your turn that round, the reduction would occur in the following round). Models that choose to Roll with the Blow are considered to be knocked down on their next turn. GM discretion is required in instances where Rolling with the Blow may not be appropriate, such as if there is nowhere to roll to or if the blow triggering the roll is not significant (i.e. a Barbarian with 185HP would never roll with three damage blow inflicted by a Goblin). Rolling with the Blow does NOT count as Disengaging from Combat. There is a nuance here that, if you used your one reaction to attempt to parry the blow but failed, who could NOT then roll with the blow.

Role-play Reaction: Role-play reactions can be thought of as snap decisions or quick improvised reactions in response to various environmental triggers, plot twists, and situational challenges. It’s not practical to have a rule set for every possible improvised response that a player may come up with. If a GM feels that a particular Role-Play reaction is not guaranteed success they can ask a player to make a stat test. If a stat test is used in combat, but out of turn, to determine the outcome of player improvisation or role-play, it is typically considered an reaction.

Combat Rolls

Physical Attack

A typical Physical attack is one made with a weapon. More specifically, a physical attack is any instant or action (with the potential to cause damage or other effects) made with a weapon, body part, or other such instrument that has a solid physical substance/form to it or that fires, throws, launches, or shoots a projectile with a solid physical substance/form.

For typical physical attacks use the following order of rolling:

1.) Ward-Off: (Close Combat only) if opponent is wielding a weapon with the Ward-off attribute, an Initiative stat roll-off takes place, proceed to step 2 only if the Ward-off fails

2.) To hit: roll a d100 against the opponents AC, with the following outcomes (see Combat Penalties for more details)

Critical Miss	Typically a flat 5% chance (i.e. a natural roll between 1 and 5 on the d100 hit roll) which places the character into a Vulnerable state
Miss	Rolling equal to or less than the target(s) AC, where: It counts as a Dodge if the natural roll is less than or equal to the target’s Dodge. It counts as a Armor Save if the modified roll is less than or equal to the target’s AC. If combat modifiers/penalties result in a hit roll being less than or equal to 0 the attack is an automatic miss, regardless of the targets AC. Regardless of the source of the miss, unless otherwise specified, the target(s) take no damage and no effects are applied.
Hit	Rolling greater than the target(s) AC after applying modifiers and greater than the target’s Dodge before modifiers (natural roll). Damage and /or effects are applied to the target(s)
Critical Hit	A percentage chance on the high end of the d100 hit roll to do double damage, as a function of agility and many other effects such as weapon bonuses, enchants, affinities, etc (i.e. a 12% crit chance would be rolling 89+ on the d100 before modifiers aka a ‘natural’ roll)

2b.) Parry/Block: opponent rolls to parry or block if possible. This must be rolled at the same time as the hit roll. Critical hits cannot be parried or blocked.

3) Damage/Effect: if hitting or critical hitting, roll damage, and/or apply guaranteed effects

4) % Effects: roll percentiles (d100) or resolve stat rolls for weapons or attacks that have a chance to apply additional effects such as stun, dismount, disarm, silence, or any other ‘on-damage’ effect

Non-Physical Attack (Casting)

A typical Non-Physical attack is one that is a Spirit or Faith Power, often referred to as “Casting”. More specifically, a non-physical attack is any instant or action (with the potential to cause damage or other effects) that does NOT require contact with a solid physical substance/form or projectile, even if the source of the attack is fired, thrown, launched, or shot by something or someone with a solid or physical substance/form (i.e. a Wand).

For typical non-physical attacks use the following order of rolling:

1.) To cast: roll a d100 against the opponent’s Resistance (appropriate to the type damage or attack), with the following outcomes (if the attack is a non-physical projectile Dodge can be added to Resistance i.e. Missile-type Powers)

Miscast	typically a flat 5% chance (i.e. natural roll between 1 and 5 on the d100 casting roll) which causes the power to fail and costs casting resources.
Resisted	If the target(s) willingly choose to resist a power and/or its effects, then the power is considered resisted if the casting roll is equal to or less than the target’s Resistance after applying modifiers. Some powers allow for Dodge to be added to resistance (see SPIRIT DISCIPLINES & ARCHETYPES), and in this case treat the rules for Dodge the same as for physical attacks. If casting modifiers/penalties result in a casting roll being less than or equal to 0 the attack is an automatic miss, regardless of the targets Resistance. If resisted (or dodged), unless otherwise specified, the target(s) take no damage and no effects are applied.
Hit / Success	If the target(s) cannot resist or choose not to resist, then the power is successfully cast provided it was not a miscast roll. If the target(s) willingly choose to resist a power and/or its effects, but the casting roll is greater than the target’s Resistance (+Dodge, if allowed) after applying modifiers then it is considered a success and/or a hit. If Dodge was allowed, a hit/success must also be greater than the target’s Dodge before modifiers (natural roll). Damage and/or effects are applied to the target(s).
Critical Cast	A percentage chance on the high end of the d100 casting roll to do double damage/effects (or otherwise have spectacular results, see SPIRIT DISCIPLINES & ARCHETYPES), as a function of intellect/wisdom and many other effects such as weapon bonuses, enchants, affinities, etc… (i.e. a 12% crit chance would be rolling 89+ on the d100 before modifiers aka a ‘natural’ roll)

1b.) Block: opponent rolls to block if possible. This must be rolled at the same time as the casting roll. (only applies if the attack specifies that it can be blocked, i.e. Missile-type Powers). Critical Casts cannot be blocked.

2.) Damage/Effect: if successfully casting, or critical casting, roll damage, and/or guaranteed effects

3.) % Effects: roll percentiles (d100) or resolve stat rolls for weapons or attacks that have a chance to apply additional effects such as stun, dismount, disarm, silence, or any other ‘on-damage’ effect

Combined Attack (Physical + Non-Physical)

Some attacks or skills combine a physical and non-physical portion of damage and/or effects (i.e. Spirit Powers with the Melee Strike Archetype, Bow Casting, etc…).

For simplicity it is generally assumed that weapons that have Craftings & Enchants that provide passive sources of Non-Physical Damage are treated as a Typical Physical Attack.

Example: attacking with a Battleaxe of Greater Nightfall is treated as a standard physical attack, that just happens to do extra Shadow based damage if it actually hits.

However, if the target has a particular weakness to a type of non-physical damage that damage may still be multiplied.

Example: A light based creature might take regular damage from the physical portion and double from the Shadow portion of a successful hit with a Battleaxe of greater Nightfall.

For typical physical attacks that also have a Non-Physical effect/portion of damage, use the following order of rolling:

1.) To hit/cast: use the same d100 hit roll for both the physical portion vs AC and the spirit portion vs Resistance, but assigning separate modifiers to each (including critical hit/cast)

Critical Miss / Miscast	If the physical portion of the attack is a Critical Miss, the entire attack is considered a critical miss AND the non-physical portion is considered a Miscast. If only the non-physical portion is a miscast, then the physical portion may still hit.
Miss / Resisted	If the physical portion of the attack is a miss due to a dodge, the entire attack is considered a miss. If the physical portion of the attack is a miss due to a armor save, the physical component is a miss but the non-physical component may still be a hit/success. If only the non-physical portion is resisted, it is essentially treated as a typical physical attack that has successfully hit. If all portions miss or are resisted then no portion of the attack succeeds and no damage and/or effects are applied to the target(s).
Hit / Success	If only the physical portion of the attack hits, only the physical damage and/or effects are applied to the target(s). If only the non-physical portion of the attack hits, no portion of the attack hits and no damage and/or effects are applied to the target(s). UNLESS, the physical portion was an armor save, then non-physical damage and/or effects are still applied to the target. If both portions hit or succeed then all portions of damage and effects are applied to the target(s).
Critical Hit / Cast	If only physical portion critically hits then ONLY the physical portion of damage is doubled. If only the non-physical portion critically casts then ONLY the non-physical damage is doubled and other critical effects are applied. If both portions critically hit/cast then apply all critical damage and effects.

2b.) Parry/Block: opponent rolls to parry or block if possible. This must be rolled at the same time as the hit roll. Any portion of the combined attack that is parried or blocked has no effect. Critical Hits cannot be parried or blocked.

2.) Damage/Effect: once it has been determined which portions of the attack hit and/or critically hit, roll damage, and/or apply guaranteed effects

Combined Damage

In the rare case that an attack simply states that it inflicts BOTH physical and non-physical damage (or even two different types of non-physical damage), with no distinction between the two components, then when rolling to hit, simply use the lowest applicable AC or Resistance that applies in that situation. Unless the attack is stated to be a Spirit or Faith power, use standard melee combat modifiers and ranged combat modifiers as applicable.

For simplicity it is generally assumed that weapons that have Craftings & Enchants that provide passive sources of Non-Physical Damage DO NOT count as combined damage/effect, and unless otherwise stated are treated as a Typical Physical Attack.

Spell Power

Spell Power refers damage and/or healing modifiers applied to Spirit or Faith powers. Spell power modifiers are applied to a single ‘casting’ roll. Therefore, if a spell would have a single casting roll hit/effect multiple targets, then typically the spell power modifier is divided evenly between all targets. Standard rounding rules apply, with the exception that any decimal number less than 1 is rounded up to 1. This rule always applies for spells that hit multiple targets unless text in the spell description specifically states otherwise, such as when an ability calls for a ‘separate casting roll for each target’ (i.e. most Multi-type Powers)

Some examples of damage bonuses divided evenly:

A mage with +2 arcane spell power, hits 6 targets with an Arcane Torrent (a Storm-type) Power. There is a single hit roll, but 1 of the 6 target resists the power. In this case the total damage bonus is divided evenly among all 5 targets that were hit. 2/5 = 0.4, therefore each target takes +1 damage in addition to the damage done by the Arcane Torrent.

Some examples of damage bonuses applied to each target:

A druid +5 wild spell power, hits 3 targets with a Birds of Prey (multi-type) Power. The archetype description for that power states “use a separate casting roll for each target…” therefore, assuming every target is hit they would each take an extra +5 damage from the druid’s spell. power bonus.

Disengaging from Combat

The rules for disengaging from Combat were developed as part of the ‘Armsman package’ backer reward for Michael “Ragar” Branham (Phoenix, Arizona) from the 2014 Realm of Strife Kickstarter Campaign.

Any model that willingly moves out of base contact with an enemy on their own turn is considered to have Disengaged from Combat.

Doing so grants any enemy that was in base contact a free round of regular melee attacks with any weapons they currently have equipped. This if often referred to as an Attack of Opportunity (AOO). If dual wielding or otherwise being able to attack more than once under normal circumstances (i.e. a creature with a separate bite and claw attack), both attacks may be used. Each equipped weapon can only be used once per turn in this fashion (i.e. if a model is dual wielding and is surrounded by 4 enemy models in base contact, all of which disengage on the same turn, he/she may only attack once with the main hand weapon and once with off hand weapon, thus two free attacks, NOT on each disengaging target per weapon which would be eight free attacks.)

If a model is forced to leave base contact against their will or under compulsion, they are NOT considered to have Disengaged from Combat.

For clarification, moving out of base contact from any of the following means is NOT considered Disengaging from Combat:

If a model chooses to Roll With the Blow
Knock-back effects
Fear or other psychological effects
Taunts or taunt effects
Mind control or similar effects (i.e. Curse of Control, Curse Torment, etc)

NOTE FOR HONOR CLASSES:
Many honor classes would see it as very dishonorable to strike at a fleeing target and would likely lose honor for doing so. GM discretion is advised when Honor classes choose to take the free basic melee attacks granted by an enemy disengaging from combat.

It is possible to be prevented from disengaging from combat through certain abilities or situational restrictions (GM discretion).

Defensive Reactions

Defensive reactions are among the most commonly available reactions, as they are not granted by primary skill mechanics, but rather are innate “always available” reactions dependent on equipped weapons.

Block

When a shield or other item with the Block attribute is equipped and you are aware of an incoming attack, you may choose to attempt to Block a single incoming attack as a Reaction. Both melee and ranged attacks can be blocked, as well as most projectile based ranged spells.

To block an incoming attack a Block Stat Test is taken at the same time as the attackers hit roll. Shields typically list a positive number next to their Block attribute, representing the advantage applied to your Block Test when using that shield. There may also be other sources of advantage (or disadvantage) applied to your block test, such as from Creature Size modifiers.

Success vs Ranged attacks: No damage is inflicted, except for Crushing Blow damage. Critical Hits/Casts cannot be blocked, except on a “Critical Block”, which effectively cancels a Critical Hit/Cast and treats it as if it were a regular hit/cast.

Success vs Melee attacks: Minimum damage is inflicted, plus Crushing Blow damage. Critical Hits/Casts can be blocked, but inflict 2x (minimum damage, plus Crushing Blow damage), instead of double damage. This also causes damage to the shield and can potentially cause a crushing injury to the hand, arm or shoulder. A “Critical Block” effectively cancels a Critical Hit/Cast and treats it as if it were a regular hit/cast.

Failure: If the attack hits, full damage is inflicted. Crushing Blow does not apply.

Parry

When a weapon or other item with the Parry attribute is equipped and you are aware of an incoming attack, you may choose to attempt to Parry a single incoming attack as a Reaction. Only physical melee attacks can be parried (unless otherwise stated).

To parry an incoming attack a Parry Stat Test is taken at the same time as the attackers hit roll. Parrying weapons typically list a positive number next to their Parry attribute, representing the advantage applied to your Parry Test when using that weapon. There may also be other sources of advantage (or disadvantage) applied to your block test, such as from Creature Size modifiers.

Success: No damage is inflicted. Critical Hits/Casts can be blocked, but doing so causes the parrying weapon to be knocked from your hand (counting as a Disarm for the defender). On a “Critical Parry” there is no disarm.

Failure: The incoming attack ignores Dodge. If the attack hits, full damage is inflicted.

Combined Parry

When wielding weapons with a Parry attribute in both the main hand and off hand, you can choose to combine the parry advantage of both weapons when using a Parry reaction. This does NOT allow you to parry twice (unless granted a free off hand parry reaction by a secondary skill or other such ability).

Combined Block and Parry

When wielding a main hand weapon with a Parry attribute in combination with a Shield, you may choose to combine your block and parry together as a single defensive reaction against a single incoming melee attack. Doing so allows you to use the your choice of Parry or Block defensive stats and the combined advantage of both. Whichever stat you use determines the success or failure results (i.e. if using the Block stat, a success would still result in taking minimum damage plus crushing blow). Wielding a parrying weapon combined with a shield does NOT allow you to both block and parry the same round twice (unless granted a free block reaction by a secondary skill or other such ability).

Example: A high strength (16) but low agility (8) warrior is wielding a sword with Parry +2 and a Shield with Block +4. As a single defensive reaction, the warrior could use a combined Block/Parry reaction, treating it as a Block and rolling against their Block stat (16-10=6), but with +6 combined advantage, for a total block roll of 1d20+12.

Improvised Block and Parry

While swords and shields are designed for these purposes, in an emergency almost anything can be used to block or parry. This is known as an improvised block or parry, represents using any weapon or item that does not explicitly state a block or parry attribute in its description.

For blocking this could be an improvised shield like a barmaids serving tray or a piece of a broken door. While for parrying it would more likely be a weapon such as an axe or bludgeon that isn’t expressly designed to parry due to wooden elements in its construction.

Improvised blocks and parries use the same stat tests as other blocks and parries, but carry some additional risk.

On a natural roll less than or equal to 10, the improvised shield or weapon is knocked from your hand (counting as a Disarm for the defender), regardless of the total score after modifiers.

On a natural roll less than or equal to 5, in addition to being knocked from your hand, the improvised shield or weapon will also become damaged (cracked, weakened, broken), unless otherwise immune to damage.

When using improvised blocks or parries, the size of the weapon or item used can grant additional advantage or disadvantage as follows:

Size	Modifier
Small	-1
Medium	0
Large	1
X-Large	1

Impale

When a weapon or other item with the Impale attribute is equipped and you are aware of an incoming melee attack, as a Reaction you may choose to attempt to impale a single incoming opponent when they move into base contact (or into “melee range” on weapons possessing the Reach attribute). An impale reaction must be announced after the opponent has moved, but before any other rolls are made. The opponent cannot choose to cancel their movement after an Impale has been announced.

If passing an Initiative test, the Impale reaction allows for a regular main hand attack to be made with the impaling weapon before the opponent can proceed with the remainder of their turn. Bonus damage is applied to the attack at +1 per straight line tabletop inch moved prior to the impale.

If a weapon has both an Impale and a Ward-off attribute, choosing to Impale negates the Ward-off, regardless of the number of reactions available each round.

Ward-off

When a weapon or other item with the Ward-off attribute is equipped and you are aware of an incoming melee attack, you may choose to attempt to ward-off a single incoming melee attack as a Reaction. Ward-offs are a defensive reaction that must be announced after the attacker has declared their intention but before they roll to hit. This represents using the reach or length of a weapon to hold a target at bay

Once it has been established that a ward-off attempt will be made, an Initiative stat roll-off takes place (modified by Creature Size if applicable). If the attacker wins the Initiative stat roll-off, or if there is a tie, then the ward-off fails and the attack is carried out as normal. If the defender wins the roll-off then the ward-off is successful and the attack fails, effectively wasting whatever resource and/or portion of the turn that cost. If the attacker only has a single weapon then this is the entirety of their action phase and their turn is over. However if they possess a means to make multiple attacks (i.e. dual wielding and/or focus class) they may still complete the remainder of their attacks before their action phase is complete.

As an attacker, if your attack is warded off you cannot select a different action (i.e. if regular main hand attack is warded off you cannot instead choose to cast a spell).

If a weapon has both an Impale and a ward-off effect, choosing to Ward-off negates the Impale, regardless of the number of reactions available each round.

In the case of attacks made with melee weapons possessing the Reach attribute, a Ward-off can only be made if the defenders Ward-Off weapon possesses Reach equal to or greater than the attacker’s weapon. Any weapon with the Reach attribute automatically out ranges a melee weapon that does not have that attribute.

Combat Penalties

Combat penalties usually reduce the chance to hit your target. These can include a variety or environmental, weapon or armor effects, as well as the following cases:

Moving and Shooting

When using ranged or reload-ranged weapons you suffer -5 to hit for every inch moved that turn (airborne Kayden and other flying such flying characters are assumed to be in constant movement, resulting in a further -5 to hit)

Dual Wielding

If dual wielding anything beyond 2 small weapons WITHOUT the Dual Wield Secondary Skill, both the main-hand and off-hand weapons suffer from the Clumsy Weapon Effect, at a penalty rate of -10 per size of weapon. (i.e Small = -10, Medium = -20, Large = -30, X-Large = -40) and also cannot cause Critical Hits.

No Weapon Proficiency

When wielding a weapon that the PC has not been trained in (no Weapon Proficiency), the weapon suffers from the Clumsy Weapon Effect, at a penalty rate of -5 per size of weapon. (i.e Small = -5, Medium = -10, Large = -15, X-Large = -20). It also cannot use any of the listed weapon attributes (i.e. Parry, Cleaving, Ward-off, etc…). For shields, the Block percentage is divided by 4 (minimum 5%) and can be used to attack as a Shield Blow, but does not have the associated stun chance and suffers from the Clumsy Weapon effect as with other untrained weapons. For thrown weapons the range is also cut in half.

NON-Thrown weapons

While anything can be thrown as a makeshift weapon with range equal to STR, if it does not have the “Thrown” attribute it is treated as a “no Weapon Proficiency” attack by default, regardless of training. (i.e. Even if trained in Axes, a PC that throws a Battle Axe still treats it as Clumsy -15 and with range equal to Str/2).

No Armor Proficiency

Technically there is no cosmic or divine law that dictates that cannot wear plate armor, it is simply that they are not suited for its use. If wearing armor that the PC has not been trained in (no Armor Proficiency), each piece of untrained armor suffers -1 armor value and counts as both Noisy and Stiff (see Armor for details), stacking with any other pre existing Stiff or Noisy penalties.

Underwater Combat

When attacking a target that is underwater, if the attacker does not naturally live in water, treat physical attacks as Clumsy at a penalty rate of -5 per size of weapon. (i.e Small = -5, Medium = -10, Large = -15, X-Large = -20). Ranged and thrown weapons treat every table top inch measured through water as though it was 2 inches. This also applies to projectile based spells. Spells do not suffer casting penalties underwater, with the exception of fire base spells, which suffer +25% Miscast chance if the caster is fully submerged. If the target is fully submerged it receives +25 Fire Resistance.

Multiple Attack Actions

In some cases it may be possible to attack more than once as a single action. The most common occurrence of this would be if equipped with a both a main-hand and off-hand weapon (referred to as Dual Wielding). In which case the action is considered to be complete once both weapons are used. Unless otherwise specified special abilities can only be applied to the main-hand attack. (i.e. A soldier armed with a long sword (main-hand) and Dirk (off-hand) that elects to use Hawk Strike as his action, applies Hawkstrike only to the long sword, however may still use the Dirk as a regular attack in the same action). Unless otherwise specified, an action based power/spell takes the entire action and cannot be paired with an off-hand attack.

There is a wide variety of methods to increase the number of attacks that PC might have as a single action (i.e. secondary skills, certain abilities, enchants, etc) however there is a global restriction:

No combination of skills and/or weapons and/or craftings/enchants can ever allow a PC to exceed the following restrictions (where an ‘attack’ is considered to be any action with a to-hit roll or auto-hit that has the potential to cause damage):

maximum 4 attacks per action
maximum 3 attacks total on the same target, per action
maximum 2 attacks (with the same weapon) on the same target, per action

This is sometimes referred to as the 4-3-2 rule.

These restrictions do not necessarily apply to NPCs or Enemies.

Direct damage instant skills do not count towards the 4-3-2 rule.

Combat and Class Mechanic Summaries

Under normal circumstances the follow rules apply:

Vigor is returned to max amount after combat ends, provided there was a reasonable break between battles (i.e. time to catch your breath). If its only a brief respite between battles (i.e. wave style encounters) GM’s may choose to only return half of max Vigor.
Honor oaths and virtues can be changed at the start of each new combat and may have effects which persist outside of combat. Any code stacks carry over after combat and can be consumed outside of combat for a variety of effects.
Fury at the end of a combat, current Fury immediately decays to half, and unless another battle immediately follows within 2 minutes (in-game time), all Fury is lost.
Spirit carries over after combat and can only be regained by Resting (regain equivalent amount compared to HP). HP can also be consumed in lieu of Spirit to cast spirit powers (with the exception of the Healing spell archetype).
Faith carries over after combat and can be used outside of combat in a limited capacity. See: using Faith Powers Outside Of Combat for more details.
Stealth begins every combat at zero unless characters announce well beforehand that they are electing to hide (note: this may result in slowing your party down, depending on the situation, as is most cases Stealth classes have reduced movement while hiding).
Focus carries over after combat and can only be regained by through Meditation (or other similar skills).
All classes: HP carries over after combat and can only be regained by using potions, bandages/first aid, receiving heals, or Resting.