Combat

=Combat=

Combat is simple, but it’s deadly. Much like skills, combat involves a specific weapons skill added to its governing attribute. The total of the Skill + Attribute will be the number of d6 dice that you roll.



Basic Combat
All combat in general will follow this basic flow.


 * Determine Initiative
 * Attacker rolls Skill + Attribute for the appropriate weapon or unarmed skill
 * Defender rolls their Defense
 * Number of success is compared, whoever has the highest wins and hits or deflects/blocks/parries/dodges the attack.
 * Determine damage
 * Repeat until one or the other surrenders, falls unconscious, or dies

Determining Initiative
The player should have already determined their Initiative Rating during character creation. Their Initiative Rating (IR) goes into determining not only who goes first, but their number of actions per round. First, you need to know who goes first. That is determined by the following:

IR + 2d6

The resulting number is their Initiative turn. The highest number goes first and the others follow in order. In the case of a tie, the player/NPC/opponent with the higher Agility (AGI) goes first. Once it is determined who goes first, the players then decide their actions according to the number of actions they receive per round. This will be:

IR / 4 rounded down (minimum of 1)

For example, Sam the warrior has an IR of 8 (AGI 4 + PER 4). After he determines his Initiative order in the round, he has 2 actions he can take on his turn. Most attacks take only one action, as does movement. This will be detailed later. Once Sam uses all of his actions for his turn, it is then the next player or NPC’s turn to do the same. If for example, Sam had a higher Agility, for instance 5 and his IR rating 9 instead, he would still only have 2 actions. If before the fight, Sam used some sort of combat stimulant, had cybernetics that enhanced his Agility, Perception, or IR directly, or some magic spell that did the same and that increased his IR to 13, then he would have 3 actions per round.

Contested Rolls
The next 3 steps are detailed in this section. The attacker uses their appropriate skill to determine the number of dice rolled and the defender uses their Defense to determine the number of dice rolled. Both the attacker and defender roll their dice at the same time and count the number of successes. In combat, successes are only counted on rolls of 5 and 6. Once the number of successes are determined for the attacker and the defender, compare them and whoever had the higher number wins.

For example, Sam the warrior has a Medium Blades skill of 8 (AGI 4 + 4 ranks in Medium Blades). He is attacking a town guard with a Defense of 6. Sam rolls 8d6 and the GM rolls 7d6. Sam scores 4 successes and the GM as the town guard scores 2. Sam scores a hit and needs to determine damage (detailed later). On the next turn, Sam strikes again but only scores 3 successes and the guard scores 3 as well. In this case, as in all cases, the tie goes to the defender and the guard takes no damage as he successfully blocked, parried, or dodged that attack.

Defending against an attack (and resisting a spell, detailed later) does not take an action. It is automatic and Defense is rolled every time an attack is made against a player or NPC.

Defense
Defense rating is equal to your highest “Combat” skill. This can be any weapon or unarmed skill, but only the highest one for each category. Every character essentially has two Defense ratings:  Melee and Ranged. Melee is any hand to hand attack, armed or unarmed, or any ranged attack fired at Point Blank range. Ranged is any attack from a bow, crossbow, thrown weapon, modern firearm, and targeted magic attacks (mostly from the Destruction sub-skill, but any that target the character). Continuing the example from above, Sam the Warrior’s highest melee combat skill is his Medium Blades skill at 8. This means his Melee Defense is also an 8 and he will roll 8d6 when someone attacks with a melee attack. Sam’s highest ranged skill is his Archery skill at 5 (AGI 4 +1 Rank in Archery). Normally he would only have a 4 for his Ranged Defense but he also has the Warrior Talent Arrow Catcher, which gives hims a +2 to his Ranged Defense when wielding a shield. At this time he is wielding a shield and thus his total Ranged Defense is 7.

Damage and Location
Once a hit is scored, damage must be determined. Every weapon will have a damage rating equal to a certain number of dice, i.e. 3d6 damage. This means that 3 six-sided dice are rolled and totaled up. The resulting number is the number of hit points (HP) a body location will take wounds to. Not every wound is fatal, but they all hurt...mostly. Damage is further augmented in a few ways, first is by your Attribute Bonus. For most characters, this is Strength (STR), but there are a few exceptions. Magic damage is modified by either Intelligence (INT) or Wisdom (WIS) depending on your profession’s Main Attribute. Healing is modified by Wisdom (WIS). Ranged damage is modified by Agility (AGI).

The second way damage can be augmented is by scoring more successes than the defender. For every extra success, you add +1 to the total damage. For instance, in the previous example, Sam scored 4 successes and the guard 2. This means Sam gets an extra +2 to his damage.

The last way damage can be augmented is either by technological or magical means. Depending on setting, technological and magical enhancements can be added to weapons and ammunition. In either case, it gives the weapon or ammo a “+ X”, meaning that the damage is increased by the x amount. This is detailed later in Tech and Magic Equipment.

Your character’s total HP should be determined at Character Creation and it should be your Constitution (CON) times 3. For example, Sam the Warrior has a CON of 5. His Total HP is 15 ( 5 x 3 = 15).

Once you have your Total HP, you can determine the HP for each body part. There are 6 body parts:  Head, Torso, Left Arm, Right Arm, Left Leg, and Right Leg. You head has ⅓ the HP of your total HP. Your Torso is the same as your Total HP. Both arms have half of your total HP. And both legs have ⅔ of your total HP. All fractions/decimals are rounded up. So what does this mean?

Essentially, when your Head or Torso reach 0 HP, you are unconscious and if the damage is lethal (lethal vs. concussive damage detailed later), you also lose 1 HP per round until you reach -10, at which point you die. Arms and Legs are a bit different, when they reach 0 HP, any further damage is taken from the Total HP, that is after the total Arm or Leg damage is subtracted, oh, and the limb is severed/lost/destroyed.

As an example, Sam the Warrior in his fight with the town guard has hit him twice in the Right Arm. The Guard has a Total HP of 15, thus his arm has 8 HP. Sam’s first strike did 5 total damage and his second strike did 6 for a total of 11. That is 3 more than the guard’s arm has. So, first, he chops off the guard’s arm. Second, the guard’s total HP is now 4 (15 - 8 from the arm and -3 from the extra damage = 4). It is certainly a devastating wound, but the guard could still live.

Depending on the tech level or magic level of the game, it may be possible to recover from death and/or dismemberment, but of course that will be specified under the terms of that level of technology or by a specific magic spell.

To determine the location of the hit, 1d6 is rolled and the resulting number is the damage to that location. The number per body location is detailed on the character sheet(1= Head, 2= Arm, 3 = Leg, 4,5, and 6=Body). As you may have noticed, 2 and 3 just say “Arm” or “Leg” respectively. If an Arm or Leg strike is landed, the player rolls the 1d6 again to determine which one:  1, 2, and 3 is Right, 4, 5, and 6 is left.

Resisting Damage, Unconsciousness, and Death
Every character has the chance to reduce the damage. To do so, they take a number of d6s equal to their CON and roll counting successes only on a 6. Every success reduces the damage by 1. It does not seem like much, but since every attack has a chance to defend, that is also a chance to resist damage, and a little better one at that.

Armor is another way to resist damage. All armor has an Armor Rating (AR). This number is subtracted from the total damage. For example, a Breast Plate has an AR of 5 (Torso only) and Sam the warrior wearing the Breast Plate takes 6 damage to his torso. In the end, he only takes 1 damage as his armor absorbed 5 of it. However, this brings us to Armor Trashing.

Armor Trashing happens when more damage is dealt than the armor can resist. Each time, regardless of how much it goes over, the AR of that armor is reduced by 1. So, to continue the example above, Sam takes 6 damage to his Torso, but the Breast Plate absorbs 5, leaving 1 point taken by Sam and also reducing the AR of the Breast Plate to 4. If Sam had taken 10 points to the Torso, he still would have resisted 5, thanks to his armor, AND the armor is still only reduced by 1 to 4 AR. If Sam had a blow that only did 4 damage, he would have taken no damage and neither would his armor. This is the same if the damage done is equal to the AR of the armor. So if the blow did 5 damage, Sam takes no damage and neither does his armor.

Staying conscious after heavy blows is also something to be resisted. If a character takes a total damage after armor resisting and CON resisting greater than ⅓ their total HP in A SINGLE blow/strike/attack, then they must Save versus Consciousness. If they reach 0 Total HP at any time, then they must Save versus Conscious and then Save versus Death (detailed in a bit).

To roll Save vs Consciousness (SvCNS) you use a number of d6 equal to your CON x 2. Instead of successes, you total the result. If the total is over 20, then you remain conscious. If not, you fall unconscious and can take no action. If you are forced to Save vs Consciousness due to a high-damage attack and you successfully save, you become Dazed. In this state, any further damage, even if it’s only 1 point, will cause you to Save vs. Consciousness again, but at a +2 to the Target Number (TN), or 14. Each damaging attack you take increases it another +2 until you either stop taking damage or you fail the save and go unconscious. The Dazed state lasts for 3 rounds. If you take no further damage during these 3 rounds, you return to normal. Taking damage extends the state by 1 round each time you succeed in the save.

A Save versus Death (SvDTH) is required after a failed Save vs Consciousness, but only if the save is required for reaching 0 Total HP. If you must Save vs. Consciousness due to a high-damage attack and fail, you do NOT need to Save vs. Death. It is only required after a failed SvCNS after reaching 0 Total HP. Save vs Death is equal to your CON only (or CON x 1), but the TN is slightly lower. However, each time you take damage, it becomes more difficult to resist.

If you fail your Save vs Consciousness at 0 (or less) Total HP, you Save vs Death at TN 9. If you are successful, then you HP remains at 0 and you are just unconscious. If you fail, then you drop to -1 HP and the TN jumps to 12. Even if you succeed the next roll, you still take another -1 and at -2, it jumps to 16, and continues to jump up by +4 if your are successful until you are Stabilized. This can be done by a First Aid skill check or by healing 1 point of damage. If at any time after you are at or below -1 HP, you fail the Save vs. Death, you die.

Note:  If you are at negative HP and you are healed enough to bring you to positive HP, you still remain unconscious. You are no longer dying, but you are still unconscious. For example, Sam’s fight with the guard has taken a turn for the worse (3 more show up). After a furious battle, Sam is reduced to 0 HP. He fails his SvCNS and his initial SvDTH. However, the following SvDTH succeeds, as does the next. At this point his is at -2 HP and will need to make a SvDTH at TN 16, but his companion, Malcom the Priest, sends a healing spell his way and heals him for a total of 8 HP. Sam’s Total HP is now at 6 (-2 + 8 = 6), but he remains unconscious on the ground.

If any damage is taken from hand to hand combat and the character fails their Consciousness save, then they are just knocked out. They do not continue to bleed unless there is some sort of specific martial art maneuver that causes that (but it’s rare and mystical and will probably only appear in a magic based campaign). If any damage is taken from blunt or bludgeoning weapons and the character fails their Consciousness save, then they still bleed, but it is internal and handled normally.

Lethal vs. Concussive Damage
There are two types of damage Lethal and Concussive.

Lethal damage is exactly that:   damage that can kill you. Any weapon, item, or spell that does Lethal damage is taken from your Total HP. When you are reduced to 0 as a result of this damage, you Save vs Consciousness and if you fail, then Save vs Death. All above rules apply.

Concussive damage is non-lethal, but nonetheless painful damage. Any weapon, item, or spell that does Concussive damage is also taken from your Total HP, but when reduced to 0, you only Save vs. Consciousness. If you fail, you are just unconscious.

Lethal damage is pretty obvious, but some examples of Concussive:
 * Unarmed Attacks (non-specialized or affected by a specific Talent)
 * Saps or similar Subdual-only blunt weapons
 * Stunning Spells (from the subskill Alteration)
 * Light electric shocks (less than .5 amps and 20 joules ; Tasers, Stun Guns, and Shock spells with Minimizeddamage talent)

Special Combat Maneuvers
Every Talent Tree has various combat maneuvers that the character can perform in and out of combat. The following are Special Combat Maneuvers that are shared amongst all characters and require no special talent to perform. However, due to lack of skill, there may still be some penalties, but all of these maneuvers can be performed by any character.

Grapple
In a very general sense Grapple is used to grab someone and try to hold on. There are much more complex maneuvers detailed in the various Martial Arts talents, but they state “initiate a Grapple”. That is referring to this combat maneuver.

Initiating a Grapple
Any character can attempt a Grapple. To do so, first they must score a hit on their turn. They use their appropriate skill (i.e. Martial Art skill and/or Talent) or in the absence of these skills, they use their AGI or STR, whichever is higher. If they succeed, then the target is held until the TARGET’s turn. Meaning, that if the character initiating the grapple went before their target, the target then gets to resist. If the character initiating the grapple went after the target, then the target has to wait until their next turn. This becomes important later as to maintain or to escape from the grapple takes away from the character’s number of actions.

On the target’s turn, if they decide to escape, they will initiate another opposed roll. The target uses any Martial Art still they have. If not, they use only their STR (no option for AGI). Likewise, the character who initiated the grapple also uses the Martial Art skill they used previously, or STR only. If the target wins or ties on the opposed roll, they break free. If the character who initiated the grapple wins, then the target is still held.

Grappling Location
This refers to Body Location more than it does “the ground” or “wrestling mat”. Like any other attack, if the initiator of the grapple simply reaches out and tries to latch on to the target, a Location Roll must be done. However, if the Head is rolled, it must be re-rolled. Only characters with a Martial Art skill (any) of 2 ranks or higher can attempt to grapple the Head location, or more specifically the neck and thus initiate a Choke. If the legs are rolled, then it depends on the position of the target in relation to the initiator. For example, if the target is standing and/or running away.

Example Grapple (Basic)
Bobby the Street Urchin decides to pick the pocket of Sam the Warrior. This being only his second day on the job, Bobby is noticed pilfering Sams pocket. After some choice words are exchanged, combat begins. Continuing his unlucky streak, Bobby rolls low on his initiative and Sam goes first. Sam reaches out as Bobby is running away and initiates a Grapple. Sam rolls to hit and wins. He then rolls location. His first roll happened to be for the Legs. Obviously he can’t grab Bobby’s legs as he’s running away unless he dives and tackles the boy, so the location is re-rolled and Sam gets the Arm, Left to be specific. It’s Bobby’s turn next and he tries an opposing roll. Unfortunately, Bobby has no skill in any Martial Art and only a 2 STR. Sam, the Warrior, is quite well-versed in Wrestling and has a total (skill + STR) of 8. I think we know how this will go. Nonetheless, Bobby rolls his measly 2d6 and only gets 1 success. Sam rolls 4 success. Having few scruples, Sam proceeds to repeatedly punch Bobby in the face until he goes unconscious.

Grappling Actions
Initiating a Grapple is like any other Unarmed/Martial Art attack:  it takes 1 action. Escaping takes 2 actions. Maintaining a Grapple takes 2 actions as well. So, the attacker/initiator can move in and Grapple (assuming he has 2 actions). The target must use 2 actions to escape or attempt their escape. If they fail to escape, then attacker/initiator must use 2 attacks to maintain the Grapple. If they wish to let go, they can do so as a free action and the target also gets their full actions on their turn.

Being Grappled
When you are grappled, you do not have full movement. Thus, you will take a -3 to your Defense rating, but only for attacks other than escaping the grapple. You get your full opposed roll to escape from the grapple. As soon as you break free of the grapple, you regain your full Defense rating.

Knockdown/Trip
These maneuvers are mechanically the same producing the same result:  you’re target prone and on the ground. However, they are resolved a bit differently. Both start with a standard hit that is opposed like any other hand-to-hand/melee attack. The attacker can use any Martial Art skill they know, if they do not have one, then they will need to use either STR or AGI, depending. See below.

Knockdown is more of a brute-force action. Therefore, the attacker/initiator of the Knockdown uses their STR only to determine if their target is rendered prone. After the successful hit, the target rolls their AGI and the attacker rolls their STR (as mentioned). If the target has any of the following skills, they may use those in place of AGI:


 * Athletics
 * Acrobatics
 * Dance
 * Martial Arts (any)

As with any opposed roll, whoever scores more successes wins. If the target scores more, they stay standing. If the attacker scores more, the target is knocked Prone. Regardless of result, Knockdown is an aggressive attack and does the standard Unarmed Damage of the attacker.

Trip is more of a finesse move trying to interrupt motion or work the body’s structure into an unbalanced position. The most common, and for this basic example the primary, example is holding your foot out, interrupting the target’s footfalls. Like with Knockdown, the attacker rolls a standard attack roll using AGI instead and the target opposes the roll. If the attacker wins, the target must make a balance check similar to Knockdown. They may use their AGI  or any of the above skills to keep from falling. Likewise, the attacker may use any Martial Art they know instead of straight AGI to both initiate the trip and to oppose the target’s balance check. Unless specifically trained and granted by a Talent, Trip does no damage even if the target falls, but they are knocked Prone.

You can also Trip with a weapon. It is handled just as above, but you will use your appropriate weapon skill. It is considered a Called Shot to the leg, so a -2 to your total dice. Once you determine if you are successful a few things happen depending on the type of weapon used.

Edged Weapons (Swords, Axes, etc):  Must be Medium Blades or larger (no tripping with Knives). Upon a successful hit, before your opponent rolls their Contested roll, roll damage. For every 5 points of damage you roll, you get an extra success. For example, if you roll 8 points of damage, that's 1 extra success. 12 points of damage, would be 2 success, and so on. Once you have your total number of successes, your opponent resists normally. With this attack you deal Lethal damage to the limb (resisted normally with Armor and Constitution).

Blunt Weapons (Sticks, Staves, Maces, etc):  Upon a successful hit, before your opponent rolls their Contested roll, roll damage. For every 5 points of damage you roll, you get an extra success. For example, if you roll 8 points of damage, that's 1 extra success. 12 points of damage, would be 2 success, and so on. Once you have your total number of successes, your opponent resists normally. With this attack, you have the option to deal Lethal or Concussive damage.

Flexible Weapons (Whips, Chains, Rope/Lasso's, etc):    Upon a successful hit, before your opponent rolls their Contested roll, roll damage. For every 5 points of damage you roll, you get an extra success. For example, if you roll 8 points of damage, that's 1 extra success. 12 points of damage, would be 2 success, and so on. Once you have your total number of successes, your opponent resists normally. With this attack, you can only deal Concussive damage.

Throw, Takedown, and Sweep
These are advanced maneuvers granted by Martial Arts skills and talents. However, they are handled exactly like a Trip. The end result is usually the target in a Prone position as well, but for any additional effects, see the specific Martial Art Skill Talent.

Called Shot
 If not specifically stated before any attack is made, after a hit is scored the play must roll for a random body location (see above rules). However, they can decide to Called Shot an attack.

This happens when a character wishes to hit a specific body location or small object. The size of the object increases or decreases the difficulty. To hit a moderately small object or body location (an arm or leg) it is –2 to the roll. To hit a small object (the head) it is –4 to the roll. To hit a tiny object (an eye, a finger or hand, a nose) it is –6 to the roll. These modifiers apply to melee, ranged, and magic combat.

The minuses, or penalties in this case, are the number of dice subtracted from the total BEFORE the attack is rolled. For example, remember Sam punching Bobby in the face? Well, for Sam to do so, or specifically in the face (considered a Head Shot), he will need to roll his Martial Art skill at a -4 dice. Sam has a Wrestling of 8, so to punch Bobby in the face, he’ll need to roll more successes than Bobby on 4 dice instead of 8. Likewise, being held roughly by Sam, Bobby’s normally good Defense of 7 is reduced to 4. They are pretty much even, except for Bobby’s luck and he never quite rolls more successes than Sam. 

Called Shot on a Stationary Object
If a small object (less than 300 cubic inches, or volleyball sized) is not moving or moving minimally, it is slightly easier to hit. Thus, the penalty is reduced to -2 instead of -4. However, since it is not moving, only a single success needs to be rolled to hit. Same goes for smaller objects, the -6 becomes -4.

Charge
On average, all characters should have enough actions to move into melee range (1 action to move 30') and attack (1 action to attack). However, the character can opt to Charge and thus move and strike in 1 action. They do so at a -4 penalty to their total dice, but do not suffer the Recoil for that weapon on their next strike (Recoil is detailed further down).

For example, Sam the Warrior sees the man who killed his brother. Throwing caution to the wind, he charges into battle, using the Charge maneuver. Once he reaches his target, he will have 4 dice to roll as his Medium Blades skill is 8 and to perform the charge he is at a -4. Normally, for his next swing he would be at a -4 again because the Recoil on his Broadsword is -4, but since he used the Charge maneuver, he does not count his sword's Recoil for that action.

Charge has some limitations. The target must be at least the character's base movement in feet away (usually 30 feet for human-sized characters). They can be further and the character can charge faster, but add another -2 for each time they go up a Running category, i.e. base x2, or x3, or x4, which is the max would be -6, -8, and -10, respectively. If the target is outside of the character's max running range (base x 4), then they cannot charge the target until they are at least within base x 2 range. Likewise, they cannot charge anyone who is within 30 feet, or less than their base. If they are closer than 30 feet, then they must move (taking 1 action) and then attack.

For example, on a completely separate occasion, Sam the Warrior sees the man who murdered his cousin (many in Sam's family has met with violent ends). Seeking revenge, he charges his foe. However, he was on the other side of the city square and a good 30 yards away (90 feet). To cover that distance in one action, Sam must go at base x3. Thus his first attack when he reached his target will be at a -8, which is actually all of Sam's dice. However, no one can be reduced to 0 dice (or lower), so Sam only gets 1 die to roll. Next attack, he does get all his dice.

Ranged Combat (Ancient, Modern, and Magic)
Since firearms are really just improvements on crossbows (which are improvements on bows, which are improvements on slings, which are improvements on just throwing a rock), they are all handled similarly. And, ultimately, they are handled much like melee attacks. The only difference is the use of AGI not only to contribute to the skill to hit, but to damage as well. Meaning, you use your AGI bonus to add to the total damage of the weapon. Also, the only other difference is you oppose their Ranged Defense instead of Melee Defense. Otherwise, all other rules are the same concerning damage resisting damage, and called shots.

Unfortunately, the Standard Combat Maneuvers (save for Called Shot) cannot be used with ranged weapons. There may be some talents that mimic these maneuvers, but the basic and standard maneuvers are not possible.

First, the character must have at least 1 rank in the weapon to use it without penalty. Anyone may attempt to fire a weapon, but will be at a –4 penalty (from base AGI) to the total dice. If they have at least 1 rank in the weapon skill they may roll their skill normally. So long as they meet or beat the Ranged Defense of their target, then they hit whatever they were aiming at. There are several other modifiers that apply to those rolls and they are as follows:


 * Called Shot: As detailed in the Melee Combat section, but it applies to Ranged weapons and targeted magic as well.
 * Target Immobile: If the target is either standing still or otherwise rendered immobile, then a +4 is added to the roll.
 * Fast Draw/Snapshot:  if the character does not wish to take the full 2 actions to draw and ready their weapon, they may do a fast draw or a snapshot.  This allows them to draw, ready, and fire the weapon in 1 action, but will suffer a –3 to the roll to hit.  If used with a modern pistol, it must be holstered and within reach.  If used with a modern submachine gun, carbine, or rifle, it must be on a shoulder strap.  If used with a bow, the bow must be slung over the character’s shoulder.
 * Ricochet Shot/Trick Shot:  if the character wishes to bounce the bullet around, for every bounce it is –6 to the roll and it loses a damage dice, i.e. if the weapon does 3d6, for every bounce it loses a d6 from the damage.
 * Turret Mounted Weapons (Modern Firearms Only): if the weapon is mounted to a turret or stable tripod (not one mounted to the weapon that is portable and follows with the weapon), then the character gains +1 dice to their total.
 * Missing Tripod (Modern Firearms Only):  if the weapon, such as a light machine gun, requires a tripod that is normally attached to the weapon but somehow it was lost or removed, then the person is at a –3 to fire that weapon.
 * Shot on the Run:  if the character is moving there are certain minuses that apply.  If they are moving at half their normal speed (a slow careful walk), then it is only –1 to the roll.  If the character is moving at normal speed (regular base movement), then it is –2.  If the character is moving at a medium jog (x2 base movement), then it is –4.  If the character is moving at a steady jog (x3 base movement), then it is –6.  If the character is running (x4 or higher base movement), then it is –8.
 * Dual Wielding:  if the character is dual wielding firearms, then there are minuses that apply to both hands.  If the character is wielding 2 pistols then it is –2 for their main hand and –3 for their off hand to both rolls.  If the character is wielding a pistol/submachine gun combo, it is –2 for the hand (-2 extra if it’s the character’s off hand as well) wielding the pistol and –5 for the hand wielding the submachine gun (same –2 extra if it’s the off hand as well).  If the character is dual wielding submachine guns, then it is –4 for the main hand and –6 for the off hand.  No character may dual wield any weapon that is larger than their scale or bows.  Hand Crossbows can be dual wielded much like pistols, but to reload/ready the crossbow, the character must have one hand free and it takes 1 action per Hand Crossbow.
 * Full Round Aim:  if the character takes 5 actions or 10 seconds if combat has not been initiated yet, then they gain a +5 to their roll.

These modifiers are added or subtracted directly from the character’s total dice. If as a result they do not meet or beat the target’s opposed Ranged Defense then they simply miss.

Burst and Automatic Fire
Many modern weapons will have the ability to fire multiple shots. Of course, you will need to be in a modern setting, or in a time period that allows for rapid-fire firearms.

How many shots a firearm can fire is listed under the Rate of Fire (ROF) section of the weapon’s description. A 3 round Burst takes 2 Actions and Fully Automatic Fire (Full Auto for short) takes 4 Actions, meaning they are firing continuously for 2 full rounds. Regardless of the ROF, a 3 Round Burst will only shoot three bullets. The listed ROF for the weapon is number of bullets fired during the Full Auto Action Time. Action Times are explained later.

To determine how many bullets hit from either the Burst you count the number of successes the character scored more than the target. If they scored 3 more, then all 3 bullets hit. If they scored 2 more, then 2 bullets hit. Provided they at least beat the target by one, which they had to to be successful, then at least 1 bullet will hit.

For Full Auto, the rules are a bit different. If the character hits, then they take a number of d6’s equal to the ROF of the weapon (if it’s 5 then it’s 5d6, if its 15 then it’s 15d6, etc.) and roll them. Depending on range any die resulting in a 3 or better will hit. Range will change this and it is detailed on the chart below. If the character misses, usually only dice resulting in 6 will hit, so even if you miss, there is a chance to hit. If you hit and just have really bad luck, then at least one bullet will always hit.

Additionally, for every bullet that does not hit the primary target, the leftover dice are taken and rolled again for any target that may be behind or in the line of fire of the primary target. Any dice resulting in 6 and only 6 will hit these targets. This step is repeated until there are no more targets or all bullets hit.

Once the number of bullets that hit is determined, whether Burst or Full Auto, then damage is rolled per bullet for each one that hit. Location is also rolled for each bullet that hits the target. You CANNOT use Called Shot on Full Auto. You can use Called Shot on Burst, but only for the Torso and at a -4 to your total Dice.

Targeted Magic
Targeted Magic, usually from the Destruction sub-skill, but could be from others, is handled like any other ranged attack. The only exception is that the Magic User uses their primary stat (usually combined with their main Magic skill) to hit and for damage.

Targeted AOE, Magic and Tech
There is a slight variation on Targeted AOE (Area of Effect). The character has the option to either target an area or target a specific opponent or object which will become the center of the AOE. Depending on the choice, the target/s affected will need to defend and resist in a different way.

If the character targets an area, then they only have to score 1 success to attack that area with the weapon/item/spell’s area damage, but more successes will make the TN for the resist more difficult. After successfully attacking an area, the character totals their successes and adds it to the TN 30. Targets within the affected area have a chance to dodge. They can use their AGI, Athletics, Acrobatics, or Martial Arts skills to avoid the damage. It is a Target Number roll and not an opposed roll. With a TN of 30 (modified by the successes of the attacker), it is obviously better to have some sort of skill, but no matter the result, anyone in the area will take some sort of damage. For those who do not meet or beat the TN of 30 (modified by the successes of the attacker), they take full damage. Those who do beat the TN of 30 (modified by the successes of the attacker) take half damage.

Note:  the talent of Elusive under the Path of Shadow allows the character to avoid Targeted AOE attacks without taking any damage. The TN is increased to 35, but if they succeed, they take no damage. If they fail, they can make a standard check detailed above to resist half the damage.

Recoil
Recoil is not just for firearms. Every Action in combat has recoil. Actions outside of combat have no recoil as you can take your time to reset your position, recover from a swing or kick of a firearm, etc.

Recoil Rating and Its Use
Every action, combat maneuver, and weapon (melee or ranged, ancient or modern) has a Recoil Rating, listed simply as Recoil. It is a number, usually represented as a negative (e.g. -2) and this number is the number of dice subtracted from the total a character gets for a specific action and/or attack. This is only subtracted after the first attack or action. Here are some Recoil Ratings for common actions.

To apply Recoil, if any of the above actions were done after another action, you take the total number of dice used to perform at action and subtract the Recoil from above. Now, most of the actions in the chart above do not take any sort of skill or skill check. Instead, it takes one number of Actions per round as listed above and on the player's next turn, the recoil is subtracted. Recoil for specific weapons is listed in their descriptions and on the Weapons chart.

For example, Sam the Warrior has a Broadsword that has a Recoil of -4. On his turn he gets 2 actions. He wants attack a goblin that is going after a gem that he has been searching for and he wants to pick up the gem. After Initiative has been determined, on Sam's turn, he swings and hits the goblin. Not being very hardy, Sam kills it in one blow. Now he goes for the gem. Again, it's just lying there so he picks it up. Then, the other goblins go. After they go, and give Sam a few hits, he decides to attack back. He turns and strikes at the closest goblin, but does so at a -7. Here's why.

Weapon recoil resets every round. So, if Sam attempted 2 strikes, his first would have been at full and his second would have been at a -4. Instead, he strikes at one goblin and then picks up the gem. He has to bend over, pick it up, and then turn to face the other goblins. This is where the -7 carries over. However, after that first attack, Sam as set himself back into the fight and only his weapon recoil counts for the second attack, again -4.

NOTE: As mentioned in the example, weapon Recoil resets every round. Thus, swinging a Broadsword twice in a round (provided you have Actions for it) is done at full dice for the first swing and -4 for the second. Similarly, shooting a semi-automatic pistol with a Recoil of -2, is full dice for the first shot and -2 on the second. But in both cases, on the player's next turn, they are at full dice again for the first attack.

Double Time
A player can attempt to "Double" their actions on a single action. However, this frantic movement comes at a penalty.

If a player attempts more than one action on a single Action, or attempts to do an action that takes more Actions than the player has, they can Double Time it and take double the recoil.

For example, in the middle of a great battle, Sam the Warrior is finishing off a foe. As he does, he notices that his friend is in trouble. Having used both actions to finish off his target, Sam is out of actions. Foolhardy as he his, Sam rushes over to help his friend. He can use Double Time and move his base movement (30 feet) to get to his friend only 20 feet away. This will incur a -8 penalty on his roll when he gets there (double the -4 Recoil on base movement). As mentioned earlier, you cannot be reduce to 0 dice or less, so Sam will roll 1 die to try and help his friend.

Combat Style
Generally this is handled by either a Weapon Skill Path Talent. However, one style can be attempted by any character: Dual Wield.

Dual Wield
Any character may attempt to Dual Wield any 2 one-handed weapons. It helps that they have Skill Ranks in either weapon as without them they suffer hefty minuses and while Dual Wielding they suffer more.

With Dual Wield you may make 1 attack with EACH hand in 1 action. However, this causes Recoil.

Your Main/Dominate Hand suffers a -2 dice to roll.

Your Off-hand/Non-Dominate Hand suffers a -4 dice to the roll.

These minuses are on top of any other penalties the character may suffer. These are considered as Recoil and the penalties re-set every round. As always, the character will at least have 1 dice to roll. They cannot be reduced to 0 or negative dice.

Counter-Acting Dual Wield Penalties
Only 2 things can lessen the penalties from Dual Wield. They are the various one-handed Weapon Skill Talents offered in the Skill Paths. And "Splitting" Action.

With the Weapon Skill Talents, the penalties are reduced to -1 for main hand and -2 for off-hand.

Splitting Action means that you give it "the ol' one-two." This means that with one action you attack with your main hand and with the other you attack with your off-hand. Similarly, the penalties are reduced, 0 for main hand but still a -2 for off-hand.