HURTING, MAIMING, AND KILLING:

Combat is fighting. It is not pretty, nor glamorous, nor very often chivalrous. It is doing what must be done for whatever reason. Combat occurs in segments of time called rounds. Each round is 6 seconds, with 10 rounds to a minute. Each combat round is divided into 3 segments: Initiative, 1st Action, and Remaining Actions. During each segment the combatants may have the option to attack with melee weapons, ranged weapons, or may receive injury.

INITIATIVE

In the Initiative segment, each party involved must roll 1D10, +/- modifiers. Whichever party rolls highest, gets to act first, followed by who ever rolled the next lowest, etc.
Optionally, each individual in the fight could roll for initiative separately, with the character with the highest roll acting first, and working down to the lowest. However, while this may be a bit more realistic, it also has a nasty habit of slowing down game play to a crawl.
Modifiers to initiative can be applied, and can be due to various reasons and circumstances. A few such circumstances are listed below. These are optional, and do not include everything that could possibly happen.

Initiative Modifiers
CIRCUMSTANCE				MODIFIER
Had initiative in previous round	+1, maximum of +3
Attacking from ambush			Automatic gain
Being attacked from ambush		Automatic loss
Heavy casualties			-1 to -3
Afraid of opponent			-3

THE FIRST ACTION

The 1st Action segment is when most beginning characters will do everything that they can do. In this segment, each member of the party may perform 1 action. This may be making an attack, moving about, or what ever.
Characters may only move during their first action. However, they may still move at a speed of up to a trot and still make an attack or cast a spell. Doing so will cause the weapon or magic skill to have a penalty, which will be greater the faster the character is moving.
It is during the 1st Action segment of the round that the character must state whether or not he or she will defend him- or herself. If the character is defending, then all attacks are made with a penalty of the target's Defensive Tactics skill. However, when defending, the character CANNOT make an attack or cast a spell, although he or she may still move.

OTHER ACTIONS

After all participants in a fight have had their first action, each may use any additional actions that they may have. The Remaining Actions segment is when characters with more than one action may use them. These may be additional attacks, reloading a ranged weapon, etc.

ATTACKING

To make an attack, the character must roll less than or equal to the skill of whatever weapon he or she is using. Such things as specialization(s), the target's Defensive Tactics skill, and range will modify the skill. (There will most probably be other modifiers, but these are the basic ones.)
When making an attack, the assailant must subtract ¼ of the target's Defensive Tactics skill from his own weapon skill, unless of course the target has decided to defend himself. In that case, the attacker must subtract ALL of the target's Defensive Tactics skill from his weapon skill. If the resulting modified skill is less than 5%, then the attacker will have a 5% chance to strike the target (no defense is ever perfect).  Any appropriate weapon specializations of the defender may be added to the full defensive tactics.
Should an attacker roll less than 1/10 of his or her weapon skill, then he or she has made what we like to call a critical hit. This is the type of strike that causes permanent attribute penalties and loss of limbs. Any roll of 96 - 100 is a critical fumble and should roll on the appropriate melee or ranged weapon fumble chart.

RANGED WEAPONS

Ranged weapons, while having the advantage of being able to inflict injury at a distance, have three drawbacks: range, speed, and reloading.
Each weapon that may be fired or thrown has four ranges. The ranges of bow weapons are predetermined. The ranges of thrown weapons are multiples or fractions of the user's STR.
The farther away a target is, the harder it will be to hit it. At short range, there is no penalty to strike. At medium range, there is a penalty of -5% to strike. Attacks at long range suffer a penalty of -10%, while those made at maximum range have a penalty of -20% to strike.
Weapons that are traditionally used in melee can be thrown in combat to deal injury. There is no short or medium range for these weapons. Long range is equal to ¼ the thrower's strength in feet and maximum range is ½ the thrower's strength in feet.

Range Penalties to Strike
RANGE			PENALTY
Short			-0%
Medium			-5%
Long			-10%
Maximum			-20%


The faster a target is moving, the harder it will be to hit it. If the target is walking, there is no penalty. If the target is jogging, there is a penalty of -5% to strike. If the target is trotting, the penalty is -10%. If the target is running, the penalty is -20%. These penalties also apply if the attacker is using a hand weapon and moving.

Movement Penalties to Strike
SPEED			PENALTY
Walking			-0%
Jogging			-5%
Trotting		-10%
Running			-20%


Reloading is exactly that: reloading the weapon. Bows take 1 action to reload. Crossbows require at least 2 actions to reload. This means that to use a bow more than once, it must be fired, then reloaded, then fired, reloaded, fired, etc. Each firing or reloading takes a separate action. Thrown weapons cannot be reloaded, although others can be readied.

PAIN, INJURY, AND DEATH

Whenever a target/victim has been hit, the attacker should roll 1D10. The number rolled will determine how much injury the weapon did. However, a roll of 1 will not always (in fact, rarely) inflict 1 point of injury. The injury dealt will be different for each weapon. In addition to the number rolled, the attacker must add 1/10 of his or her STR attribute, and 1/10 of his or her weapon skill to the amount. This is the total amount of injury that is dealt. However, it is not always the amount of injury that is suffered.
Armor is designed to protect the wearer by absorbing injury. The amount of injury that is absorbed by armor is called the armor's Protection Value, or PV. The PV of each type of armor is different. Whenever someone wearing armor is dealt injury, the armor will absorb an amount of injury equal to its PV. If the injury falls below 0 (that's zero), then no injury is inflicted upon the character.
Whenever injury is inflicted, it is subtracted from the character's current IP. When the character's IP reaches zero, he or she is considered to be unconscious, with the possibility of dying relatively soon. To determine how long the character has, divide his or her HEA by 4. This is the number of rounds that the character can go without medical assistance. After this period of time, the character is DEAD. Even if the character doesn't die, his wounds may cause other penalties to hamper thier abilities in a fight.


There is something called Terminal Injury. This is the absolute maximum amount of injury that can be done to a body before it cannot be revived except by magical or divine means. The Terminal Injury is equal to ¼ the character's HEA attribute. Any amount of injury beyond this and the character is DEAD.

Critical Hits and Fumbles

Critical Combat Success

Die Roll

Description

Penalty

Effects

01 – 06

Minor Wound   +25% Injury

07 – 12

Knocked Over   +25% Injury & Roll AGL or loses one action to stand.

13 – 18

Disarmed Opponent   +25% Injury & Roll DEX or loses weapon. 1-5=5ft, 6-10=10ft.

19 – 24

Second Strike   +25% Injury & Attacker gains a bonus strike.

25 – 30

Hole in Armor   +25% Injury & All injury will ignore the armor’s PV rating for this strike.

31 – 36

Major Wound   +50% Injury

37 – 42

Stunned   +50% Injury & Loses next two rounds

43 – 48

Weapon Broke   +50% Injury & 50% chance opponents weapon is broken.

49 – 54

Armor Shredded   +50% Injury & Opponents armor drops by 1.

55 – 59

KO opponent   +50% Injury & KO opponent for 1d10+3 Rounds. – 5 % to INT and AWA rolls.

60 – 64

Critical Wound   +100% Injury

65 – 69

Light Bleeder   +100% Injury & 2 additional points per round until healed.

70 – 74

Shield Arm Hit

- 5 DEX

+100% Injury & -10% penalty to Defensive Tactics if using a shield

75 – 79

Leg Hit

- 5 AGL

+100% Injury & -10% penalty to AGL and Defensive Tactics

80 – 84

Weapon Arm Hit

- 5 STR

+100% Injury & -10% penalty to DEX and strike rolls

85 – 89

Hand Hit

- 5 DEX

+100% Injury & -20% penalty to all DEX and strike rolls using that hand. Roll 1d10. 1-5 = Left Hand. 6-10 = Right Hand.

90 – 91

Heavy Bleeder

- 5 HEA

+150% Injury & 5 additional points per round until healed.

92 – 93

Groin Hit

- 5 HEA

+150% Injury & Incapacitated until healed.

94 – 95

Ear Hit

- 10 AWA

+150% Injury & -20% penalty to AGL. Hearing is halved.

96 – 97

Eye Hit

- 10 AWA

+150% Injury & -20% penalty to all rolls requiring depth perception.

98 - 100

Vital Hit

- 10 HEA

+200% Injury & 10 additional points per round until healed.
Extra Injury is based upon the maximum possible on the 1d10 injury roll. No bonuses may be included in calculating the extra injury. Spells that may be saved against with defensive tactics should use this chart for critical successes.

The above table should only be consulted on a strike roll of one-tenth the character’s skill. If this occurs roll a percentile set of d10s. The weapon used does not matter to this table, but should be considered when describing the blow. Clubs, hammers, and staves crush and break bones while swords and axes slash and cut. The penalty to an attribute in the next column is a permanent one and can only be cured with magic or modern-day medical care. The final column is the effect column.


Melee Fumbles

Die Roll

Effect

01 – 05

Hit nearest friend or innocent for normal injury + 10.

06 – 15

Break Weapon. 30% chance + 1/10th Strength.

16 – 25

Hit nearest friend or innocent for normal injury.

26 – 35

Lose footing. AGL roll or fall.

36 – 45

Lose grip on weapon. DEX roll.

46 – 55

Break Weapon. 20% chance + 1/10th Strength.

56 – 65

Lose footing. AGL roll or fall.

66 – 75

Lose grip on weapon. DEX roll.

76 – 85

Twist Ankle. AGL roll or can only walk for 1d10 ¸ 2 days.

86 – 90

Sprain arm / wrist. – 20% on all DEX based skills.

91 – 95

Wound self for normal injury.

96 – 100

Opened to strike. All opponents within 5’ may receive one free strike. This result negates any defensive tactics normally received.

 


Missile Fumbles

Die Roll

Effect

01 – 05

First Line of Fire target hit for critical injury.

06 – 15

First Line of Fire target hit for normal injury.

16 – 25

First Line of Fire target hit for base injury. Do not add any bonuses from strength or skill.

26 – 35

Weapon broken 100%.

36 - 65

Lose footing. AGL roll or fall.

66 - 75

Sprain arm / wrist. – 20% on all DEX based skills.

76 – 85

First Line of Fire target hit for base injury. Do not add any bonuses from strength or skill.

86 – 90

First Line of Fire target hit for normal injury.

91 – 95

First Line of Fire target hit for normal injury + 10.

96 – 100

First Line of Fire target hit for critical injury.
During missile attacks there is the definite chance that someone will get in the way of the missile. Line of Fire is the straight line between the archer and his target. The first individual, friend or foe in this line is the first line of fire target.


© 1999 J.K. Wykowski & T. Coonrod