Combat

Combat is blow-by-blow. Most serious scraps end in seconds of game time—a handful of five-second Rounds—unless foes are evenly matched or reinforcements keep coming. You spend Action Points, win or lose exchanges on Differential rolls, and cash superior success into Special Effects. Damage is almost a separate story: armour, shields, and parry Size decide how much steel actually bites flesh.

Setup

1. Roll Initiative: 1d10 + Initiative Modifier − highest Armor Points worn. Highest goes first (DEX breaks ties, then a die roll).
2. Each Round, everyone has 2 Action Points (unless Fatigue, Formation Fighting, or pulp Advantages say otherwise).
3. On your Turn you spend one AP on a Proactive action. You may spend AP later as Reactive replies (Parry, Evade, Interrupt…). Unused AP vanish at Round's end.

Combat Styles

You do not buy "Longsword" and "Shield" as separate skills. A Combat Style is a trained package of weapons (and often shields) from culture or career, rated as one percentage (base STR+DEX). Using a weapon outside your styles is one or more difficulty grades harder.

Styles may also carry Traits—Mounted Combat, Formation Fighting, Skirmishing, Daredevil, and so on—that apply only with that style's weapons and situations. Ask the Games Master which traits your style includes.

The attack–parry exchange

1. Attacker spends 1 AP, rolls Combat Style.
2. Defender may spend 1 AP to Parry (same style or another valid weapon/shield skill).
3. Compare Levels of Success (Differential). The superior side gains 1–3 Special Effects equal to the level gap.
4. Choose Special Effects before rolling damage or Hit Location.
5. If the attack was a Success or Critical, roll weapon damage + Damage Modifier; roll Hit Location (1d20).
6. If the parry was a Success or Critical, reduce damage by weapon/shield Size:
   • Parry Size ≥ attack Size → stop all damage
   • One step smaller → half damage
   • Two or more steps smaller → no reduction
7. Subtract armour (worn + natural) from what remains. Apply what's left to the location.

You may Parry a miss on purpose to fish for defensive Special Effects. If you cannot or will not Parry, you count as a Failure—and a hit attacker reaps Effects for free.

Weapon Size steps: Small → Medium → Large → Huge → Enormous.

Action menu (essentials)

Proactive (your Turn): Attack, Cast Magic/Use Power, Charge, Move (if unengaged), Change Range, Ready/Reload Weapon, Brace, Delay, Outmanoeuvre, Regain Footing, Take Cover, Hold Magic, Mount, Struggle, and firearm actions (Steady Weapon, Sneak Peek, Switch Fire Mode)…

Reactive: Parry, Evade, Counter Spell, Interrupt (if you Delayed).

Free: Speak a short line, Drop an item, Signal, Assess Situation (unengaged Perception), Use Luck, Ward Location (passive block).

Engaged means someone can hit you with a melee weapon already. You cannot simply walk away—you need Withdraw (Special Effect), Outmanoeuvre, or a similar deliberate break.

Charge, evade, outmanoeuvre

• Charge: Move at run/sprint into contact. Attack is Hard; weapon Size +1 step; biped Damage Modifier +1 step (quadruped +2; riders may use the mount's). Longer weapon strikes first if both counter; spears set against charge may steal the charger's Damage Modifier.
• Evade: Opposed Evade vs the threat. Win and you take no damage (and may gain Effects). Either way you go prone unless Arise or a trait (Daredevil) says otherwise.
• Outmanoeuvre: Against multiple foes, group Opposed Evade; spend 1 AP each. Failures cannot attack you this Round. Beat everyone and you may safely engage one foe or leave the fight.

Special Effects

Pick Effects your side and weapon allow. Offensive examples: Choose Location, Maximise Damage (Critical; stackable), Bypass Armor (Critical; stackable), Impale, Bleed, Bash, Trip Opponent, Disarm Opponent, Damage Weapon, Sunder (two-handed cutters), Stun Location (bludgeon), Grip (unarmed). Defensive examples: Arise, Blind Opponent, Enhance Parry (Critical), Withdraw, Prepare Counter, Slip Free. Firearms add Drop Foe, Pin Down, Duck Back, Overpenetration, Weapon Malfunction (on attacker Fumbles), and more.

Full effect text lives in the Combat reference; scan the table before a big fight so you know your style's options.

Ranged combat

Ranged attacks resolve like melee but only shields (or cover/Evade) meaningfully parry most missiles. Note Force (parry Size equivalent), ranges (Close / Effective / Long), Load time, and whether Damage Modifier applies (usually bows and thrown yes; firearms no).

• Close range: Choose Location more freely if the target is still or unaware.
• Long range: Halve damage; Force drops one step.
• Aim for a full Round to ease one situational or range grade (once).
• Wind, movement, darkness, and prone targets apply the ranged situational table.

Firing into a crowd or melee is Hard or Formidable; a roll that fails only because of that penalty puts the shot into a random adjacent victim.

Firearms change the economy

Bullets and beams outrun reactive Parries. Defence becomes cover, armour, pinning fire, and not being seen. Take Cover, Pin Down, Duck Back, and Steady Weapon matter more than blade fencing. Burst fire is Hard (roll how many rounds in the burst hit); full-auto is Formidable and splits ammo across an arc. Only the first hit in a spray enjoys Special Effects. Gunfights are deadly, noisy, and often end with one side suppressed or out of ammunition rather than gloriously shot to pieces—play them that way.

Surprise

Ambushed targets: –10 Initiative, flat-footed until their Initiative arrives (cannot defend), first successful attack against them gains a bonus Special Effect, and they take no offensive actions that Round.

Movement snapshot

Unengaged Move ≈ Base Movement (humans 6 m). Charge reaches engagement and stops for the blow unless the outcome lets you blow through. Climb/swim roughly at remaining movement; crawl 2 m if you start prone; armour can hinder climbs.

Practical habits

• Track AP out loud. Second Action Points win late parries.
• Ward a bleeding location or duck behind the scutum when you cannot afford another arm hit.
• Spend Luck on the Endurance roll after a chest Serious Wound, not on flavour text.
• After you win Effects, name them crisply: "Bypass Armor and Trip." Then roll steel.