Combat

Combat begins when characters can no longer avoid direct danger. Establish the stakes, identify who is exposed, and then move through turns until one side escapes, surrenders, or is incapacitated.

Initiative

At the start of a fight, each participant rolls one d10 and adds Dexterity + Wits. Highest total acts first. Keep the order for the round. On a tie, the higher Dexterity acts first; if still tied, resolve the order in the fiction or roll again.

A turn is enough time to move, attack, defend, use a Discipline, or attempt another meaningful action. The Storyteller may allow a simple movement or brief interaction alongside the main action. Do not divide a turn into miniature-game bookkeeping unless the scene needs it.

Attacks and defense

Choose the approach first. A close attack usually uses Strength + Brawl or Strength + Melee. A ranged attack usually uses Dexterity + Firearms. A careful ambush may use Dexterity + Stealth. The Storyteller may substitute another Attribute when the fiction supports it.

The attacker rolls against a difficulty set by range, cover, visibility, armor, and pressure. When a defender can actively oppose the attack, both sides roll appropriate pools—often Dexterity + Athletics for evasion or Strength + Brawl for a desperate close contest. The higher success total wins. A tie favors the defender.

Defense is not a separate tracked statistic on the sheet. It is an action and a circumstance resolved by the roll that makes sense in the moment.

Damage

On a successful attack, deal the weapon's damage rating plus the attacker's extra successes above the difficulty. Unarmed attacks deal one superficial damage before modifiers. Fire, sunlight, fangs, and other supernatural threats may deal aggravated damage directly.

Armor, cover, and defensive powers reduce damage or raise the attack difficulty when the Storyteller says they meaningfully apply. Record the final result on the Health track as S or A. A messy critical adds a narrative consequence even when the target takes no additional damage.

Conditions and surrender

A character can be pinned, disarmed, blinded, frightened, restrained, or otherwise changed by the fiction. Record important conditions in the scene notes rather than inventing a new permanent statistic. A condition should say what it prevents and what ends it.

When a character is incapacitated, the player and Storyteller decide what the loss means: capture, a feeding frenzy, a lasting injury, a debt, or death. Do not skip to death unless the fiction and the table agree that death is the consequence.

Combat rhythm

Use one question each turn: What do you want, what stands in the way, and what will it cost? Describe the result, update Health or another resource, then pass the spotlight. Combat should expose character choices, not bury them under repeated identical rolls.