Awareness of Opponents

n Listening or Observation checks every 5 seconds once within sensory range

Ranged Attacks
n Attacker rolls d20p, modified by range penalties and Attack bonuses n A moving defender rolls d20p and a stationary defender rolls d12p n Being aware of the attack provides no bonus to the defender unless the attacker suffers from a -6 (long range) or greater penalty to attack n Attacks with a -8 (extreme range) penalty give the defender a chance to raise his shield for cover if he can see the attacker n A targets size affects the Effective Range of an attack (p. 221)

Awarness, Initiative, Surprise, Ranged Attks, Death

Initiative
n Once aware of opponents, roll Initiative Standard encounter (d12) Declared ready for trouble and have evidence of an ambush ahead (d10) Can hear opponents in a concrete direction, but not see them (d8) Going through a doorway with knowledge an opponent is on the other side (d6) Leaping around a corner with knowledge an opponent is there (d4)

Death and Dying

n Zero hit points = near-death but stable state Must make Wisdom check (d20p + Wisdom vs. d20p + 11) to remain conscious; can take no action other than speaking in a labored whisper n A character taking more negative hit points than half his Constitution dies n A character with negative hit points is in the process of dying Every 10 seconds until he stabilizes or dies, a character must make a Constitution check (d20p + Constitution + current hit point total vs. d20p + 11) Failure = lose one hit point; success = no additional hit point loss Success by 10 or more = stabilization; critical failure = lose two hit points Must make Wisdom check (d20p + Wisdom + current hit point total vs. d20p + 11) to remain conscious; can take no action other than speaking in whisper n A stabilized character who receives any additional damage begins dying again n A successful First Aid check (average) gives a dying character a bonus to his next Constitution check This may be attempted immediately and every 10 seconds thereafter

Surprise
n Surprised characters: continue doing what they were doing and can take no other actions have no Defense adjustments and cannot deploy a shield roll d8p for defense rolls n An unsurprised character may move next to and alert a surprised character Surprised characters Starting Initiative number is averaged with the current count = new Starting Initiative The character doing the alerting can take no other actions n An unsurprised character may raise a hue and cry Deduct two seconds from the Starting Initiative of all combatants n If attacked, a surprised character is only surprised for two more seconds Ambushes n Near misses with ranged weapons (within 6 needed to hit) allow the target to roll Initiative n Actions making noise (such as moving to a new position) may trigger a Listening or Observation check n As soon as a target becomes aware of the attackers, the Count Up begins at 1 n The ambushing characters automatically have an Initiative of 1

Fighting Styles

Melee Attacks and Reach

n Once within reach, the first melee attack can occur; the character with the best reach swings first n The attacker rolls d20p + his Attack bonus vs. d20p-4 + the defenders Defense bonus; tie goes to the defender n The character with lesser reach can move and attack one second later n As long as these opponents stay engaged, add their Weapon Speed + any other speed modifiers to their previous attacks Initiative and continue until someone falls or breaks off the attack Once the contest ends, the survivor can move or take any other action on the next second When engaging a new opponent, he makes an initial attack on the second in which he engages The new opponent can also attack unless he is already engaged with another opponent

Fighting Styles, Reach, Drawing, Shields, Armor Degradation

n WeApOn AnD ShIelD When defending, roll d20p + shield bonus + any other bonuses n TWO-hAnDeD WeApOn When defending, roll d20p + any bonuses against the first attack between your own attack rolls and d20p-4 + any bonuses against successive attacks n One-hAnDeD WeApOn Only -1 Speed bonus When defending, roll d20p-4 + any bonuses n One-hAnDeD WeApOn, uSeD TWO-hAnDeD Weapon smaller than character = no effect +3 Damage +2 Speed penalty When defending, roll d20p + any bonuses against the first attack between your own attack rolls and d20p-4 + any bonuses against successive attacks n TWO One-hAnDeD WeApOnS, ATTAckIng WITh bOTh Primary weapon makes its first attack normally Its second attack occurs on its modified weapon speed + 2 Secondary weapon makes its first attack on half the unmodified weapon speed of the primary weapon + 1 and then on its weapon speed +2 thereafter Secondary weapon gets -2 damage penalty When defending, roll d10p + and defense bonuses for the primary weapon only If the secondary weapon is one or more size categories s maller than the wielder, near-perfect defense value is full n TWO One-hAnDeD WeApOnS, DeFenDIng WITh SecOnDARy WeApOn When defending, roll d20p + any defense bonuses from your primary and secondary weapons against the first attack between your own attack rolls and d20p-4 + any defense bonuses from both weapons against successive attacks If the secondary weapon is one or more size categories smaller than the wielder, near-perfect defense value is full n ShIelD Only May only attack unarmed or via a shield bash +1 Defense bonus Opponents can attack at half weapon speed (twice as often) n TWO ShIelDS Only May only attack with shield bash Both shield bonuses may be added to attacks from the front and front flanks Orthogonal (at right angles) attacks can be defended against with one shield Opponents can attack at half weapon speed (twice as often)

Drawing Weapons
n Drawing a weapon while engaged with an opponent = waiting for full weapon speed before being able to attack n While drawing/readying a weapon, a character is not considered unarmed

Shields
n Using a shield eliminates the -4 defense penalty (d20p + Defense bonus) n If a defender with a shield succeeds in his defense roll by less than 10 points, the attacker still does damage dice + full damage modifiers of damage to the defenders shield n Shields protect against the opponent a character is engaged with and those counterclockwise from this foe until the maximum protective capacity is reached (see chart on p. 225) n Shields can take damage and be destroyed (see chart on p. 225) Destroyed shields still provide their Damage Reduction value the round they break n Shields provide their base cover value whenever worneven when the wearer is surprised n Character crouching behind a shield may advance at walking speed Weapon/Equipment Breakage n Poor-quality equipment may break in combat Worthless: every use Poor: shield hits, crits, fumbles, full parry Shoddy: crits, fumbles, full parry Average or better: fumbles n Extraordinary-quality weapons gain a save (p. 197) when a fumble result indicates a broken weapon

Armor Degradation
Every damage penetration roll, critical hits suffered to an area covered by armor, certain fumble results, and some spells will cause armor to lose 1 hit point Once armor loses all 10 of its hit points, it loses 1 DR If it loses 10 more hit points, it loses 1 more DR, and so on, until DR = 0

Multiple Opponents and Rear Attacks

n When facing more than three opponents, the Defense die may be adjusted (see chart on p. 230) n Against opponents attack from behind, a defender only rolls a d8p + Defense bonus n If a character is already in melee and is attacked by an additional foe, he does not get to use his better Reach to attack the new opponent first nor does he get an automatic counterattack on the next second

Attacking a helpless Opponent

n Defender receives only a 1d8p defense die and the attacker may attack at intervals of half modified weapon speed (round up) Minimum weapon speed does not apply

Rear Attks, Knock Backs, Trauma, Crits, Fumbles, etc.

Automatic hits and Defenses

n Natural 20s on attacks always hit n Natural 20s on defense always cause a miss n If attacker and defender both roll natural 20s, the character with the greatest modified total wins

knock backs
n Damage rolls of five points per size category (see chart on p. 232), independent of armor or natural defenses, knock the defender back 5 feet n An attacker, on the next second, can move forward and advance those 5 feet n If the attacker cannot or does not advance, the defender may either regain that ground or break away from melee (unless the attacker has a weapon that can still reach him) n Double the required knockback damage knocks a defender back 10 feet, triple damage results in 15 feet, and so on n Double, triple, or more knockback also knocks the defender prone and resets his next attacks Initiative to his Weapon Speed value The defender can regain his feet in 1 second while the attacker can advance over the lost ground if he chooses

critical hits and Defenses

n Critical hit = natural 20 on attack roll and modified attack roll exceeds defenders total defense Roll d10,000 and consult the GMG n Near-perfect defense = defender rolls a natural 19 and his defense total exceeds the attackers total and he is within 5 feet of the attacker The defender receives an immediate free hand-to-hand (or small weapon) counter-attack A successful hand-to-hand counter-attack does two rolls of 2d4p - 2 damage, ignoring shield and/or armor damage reduction, but not natural defenses Add Strength modifiers and any unarmed combat bonuses to this damage roll, but no other bonuses Damage of zero is possible A successful small weapons counter-attack rolls normal damage for such an attack n Perfect defense = defender rolls a natural 20 and his defense total exceeds the attackers total The defender receives an immediate free riposte/counter-attack with his weapon

Trauma
n When a character suffers damage greater than his Threshold of Pain score, he must make a trauma check (d20 vs. Con. score) Natural 20 = character knocked unconscious for 5d6p minutes and appears dead Con. score (round down) = no effect > Con. score (round down) = character falls to ground, unable to take action until the pain subsides Recovery time = 5 seconds x difference between the Con. check roll and the Con. score

coup De grace
n A character can slay a helpless opponent (including those incapacitated by trauma) by focusing on this, and nothing else, for 10 seconds Animals and nonsapient creatures cannot perform coup de grace If a coup de grace is interrupted, the attacker may attack (at +4) the defender during the second required to stand up Victims that are fast asleep can be killed automatically

Misses and Fumbles

n If an attacker rolls a natural 1, his attack misses n Fumble = attacker rolls a natural 1 and his attack total is the defenders total Roll a d1,000 and consult the GMG n If a defender rolls a natural 1, the attacker receives an automatic free attack on the next second

Spell casting in combat

n It takes d4p seconds to ready material components n While searching for components or casting, a caster can take no other actions Limited to a d20p-6 defense roll If damaged, mages lose spell and related SPs If damaged, clerics must restart spell from the beginning n Defenders can attempt saving throws against hostile spells Defender rolls d20p + his level relevant ability score bonus/penalty Monsters roll d20p relevant save bonus/ penalty in HOB Attacker rolls d20p + his level any other bonuses/penalties (such as using more or fewer SPs) If defenders total is > the casters total, he makes his save (see spell description) A natural 1 on a saving throw = failure, unless the caster also rolls a natural 1 n Spell fatigue = each spell has a recovery time during which the spellcaster can only do limited activities -6 to defense rolls Cannot attack -30% to all skill checks movement and no sprinting or running All actions take twice as long n Touch attacks for spells require a normal attack roll; a defender using a shield is automatically hit n Unless otherwise stated, damaging spells ignore DR from shields and armor n If monsters need to make an ability save (such as with poisons), they roll d20p + 7 + Physical save bonus vs. d20p + Virulence Factor

Turning/commanding undead
n A cleric presents his holy symbol and rolls d20p + his level + his Turning Modifier (based on Cha.) n The GM rolls d20p + the monsters Will Factor n If priests roll is > the monsters, the monster flees for 3d4p minutes n If the priests roll = the monsters roll, the monster is held at bay for 5 seconds n Turning takes 5 seconds and can be done repeatedly as long as the priest succeeds or ties n If a monster attacks the priest during the 5 seconds, the turning attempt activates immediately n When a priest fails his roll, he may try again but the undead receive a cumulative +4 bonus to their roll n Each monster in a group rolls separately to resist n Commanding: When a priest tries to command the undead, their Will Factor increases by 2 A check that succeeds by < 5 results in a turning A check that succeeds by 5 results in the undead being compelled into service for 3d4p minutes; afterwards the undead flee If commanded to attack an enemy, term of service ends immediately after the enemy is defeated and the undead will either flee the area (50%) or attack the cleric (50%) n A cleric can attempt to counter a successful Turning by making a Command attempt Counter-turned undead mill about confused for 5 seconds before resuming their attack The original repelling cleric can attempt to re-turn the Counter-turned undead; this can continue indefinitely n When turning, a cleric can only move at a walk n Turning attempts are disrupted if the cleric is hit for damage Spending Honor n A character may spend Honor (see chart on p. 113) to re-roll any roll he made to force a re-roll of any harmful roll made against him to adjust any roll by one or more points

Spell Casting in Combat, Tuning

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