Combat

One of the most common challenges in a fantasy role-playing game is monsters or other combative threats. Not every game has to be like this, but it is probably a commonality for most of the genre. Therefore, understanding the battle mechanics is significant. This section will not go into the crunchy details but rather define the basics and the general process of encountering a combat scenario.

No weapons or equipment are detailed here. Those will be listed later, but again the purpose of this section is not to detail everything that can occur in a combat - just give a general understanding of how it works.

There are game systems for RPGs that basically are a numbers comparison. In the overview, one of the important factors of design for combat in Enchanted Realms is the opportunity to use strategy, battle locations, movement, holding ground, calculated retreats and such. Of course “tougher” characters and monsters always have the better odds, but the idea developed here is to permit the player to have numerous methods to customize the advancement of one’s own character and not be defined by a linear class system. Rules for swarming, weapons that effect movement, armors that are superior against the opponents’ weapons, skills that enhance the use of particular fighting techniques -- all of those variables make a difference in the outcome of the fight and define the relative meaning of “tougher.” Combat strategy offers the lesser-skilled combatant to overcome the stronger one if recognizing how to take advantage of the situation. And that's the premise of combat in this system: better numbers aren't necessarily the dominant factor.

Theatre of the Mind

Each opponent takes a turn, moves, performs an action, blah, blah, blah… This can easily be seen as a boring game of chess from reading that description. What is described here are the mechanics of combat for playing the game to allow for that strategy component mentioned above. However, what is really happening is far more fluid. During the ten seconds of a round where ten entities all take their turns, all of the are moving and acting virtually simultaneously. The attack isn't a single strike that happens on the sixth second of the round. Instead that fighter has swung his battle axe two maybe three times during that time, but there is really only one that lands well -- or perhaps imagine it as all of them hit but a little less effectively. That parry skill isn't blocking a single incoming swing, it is thwarting several steps and thrusts, making the character just a little harder to hit. The point is while the tokens on the battle map move in staccato, the imagining of the fantasy fight is vastly different. Thinking of it in this fashion helps to remove the potential monotony.

Rounds

The term “round” is in reference to a specific duration of time in a fight. A round represents a ten-second block of the combat. It is also the game mechanism to determine the results of each combatant’s actions in that time frame. Further, a new round is the game mechanism for resetting the combatants’ reaction availability. During a round of combat, each player, monster and NPC involved is granted a “turn” within the round. Upon each creature’s turn, he, she or it can take an action and use movement. The timing of one’s turn is determined by the initiative roll. There are times when “round” and “turn” may sound like they are synonymous, which they are close, the round represents the entire timespan of the ten-seconds of everyone’s turn, while the turn is what belongs to the individual taking its action during the round.

Initiative

During the ten seconds of a round, everyone is acting simultaneously. As one person does something, it impacts the viability of another’s actions. Should a monster be running one way, will a PC be able to catch up to attack? Who got the jump on whom? All these questions are answered by determining initiative.

Initiative is merely a word to determine when each member of the battlefield gets to take one’s turn. From a game perspective, it is the order of effects that occur. However, players should not think this process as a truly-accurate portrayal of the combat in a stop-action method but rather merely as a game mechanic. Resolving conflict by the mechanics may appear like a chess game, but in the theater of the mind, players should imagine all the efforts happening simultaneously - just some effects resolve quicker than others.

If someone’s turn happens first by initiative, making another’s intention less desirable, then that’s just the incalculable nuances of combat playing out in the game mechanic. Conversely, someone acting later in the round might gain strategic advantage from examining the changes of the battlefield. That too is just the breaks of happenstance.

To determine the order of action, every participant rolls a d10, then adds any modifiers from Agility, skills or magical effects, then adjusts for weapon modifications. Unlike some other fantasy games, initiative rolls occur every round so the exact order cannot be known from round to round; this helps avoid meta-gaming.

The creature or character with the highest number takes the turn for the round first. Then each lower number is processed in descending order. If two creatures tie on the initiative score, then roll off on a d20 with the highest score being the winner. If ties continue to happen, keep rolling until the result is determined.

Initiative = d10 + AgilityMod + Other Modifiers

Perception

Determining whether something is noticed or not is the mechanism of Perception. Yes, the sub-attribute. This is used for non-obvious circumstances. If a boulder is in the road, no one has to make a Perception check to know it is there. However, if a stealthy follower is trailing the group, then it would be needed.

Also, most Perception checks are performed in secret by the GM when it becomes pertinent. However, a player might ask to actively scan the area for anything unusual. The roll again should be made in secret by the GM, but a +4 bonus would be used on the roll. Also, keep in mind, there are skills which train up a character’s awareness.

As a game mechanic, this is nothing more than a Perception check against the DC of the thing to be noticed. For things that do not generate their own DC from skills or magic, a base DC used is 14. Conditions only apply if they are applicable. For example, mist would not be a factor for the friends cantrip.

The modifiers are sometimes applied to the one making the check. At other times, the DC is modified. So long as the appropriate +/- is used, it does not really matter; however, it may be easier to think about it like this: if the effect is on the perceiver, modify the die roll; if the condition external, modify the DC.

Surprise

Not every encounter gives an equal opportunity to respond. This would be in cases of sleeping persons, being caught in an ambush or someone breaks parlay to attack. When the GM determines that surprise is involved, then there is an opportunity of a “surprise” round; however, how this works is not purely one side against the other but rather all individuals on the battlefield.

When an event or an entity’s action that creates combat, that episode occurs prior to any round. This could be an act of passion that no one expects or it could be a planned part of an ambush; however, that cast axiom or shot fired is resolved and calculated separate before starting the initial round of battle. Obviously, the one took the action is automatically aware. All others must make a Perception check to have an action in the immediate round. Depending on one's state and restrictions will impact the difficulty, which is by default DC:14.

Those who had foreknowledge the trigger would happen are allowed to roll the Perception at advantage with the base being only DC:10. While rare, even those prepared can be caught off guard or distracted at the wrong moment. All others who have no restrictions use the DC:14 default, with of course only one d20. Finally, there are special circumstances that must be managed. These are usually detailed by the restriction type. For example, for someone who is asleep, he or she would suffer -3 (or DC:17) on the check but would only be allowed a die roll if the event had noise, heat or smell.

Those who are aware, can take an action that first round; while those who failed the Perception check are considered surprised. This restriction does not mean the combatant is at disadvantage as no action can occur, but it merely means that combatant is not prepared to take an action quite yet. This could be one knows something is happening but cannot spot the threat to make an offensive action. This could mean one’s sword is unexpectedly stuck in its scabbard. Perhaps the combatant runs to do something, then gets distracted, changes his mind, goes to do a different action and becomes ineffective for the first round. In game terms, surprised beings do not take an action and cannot use movement during the first round.

While surprised targets are not at advantage to be attacked; however, they are potential targets for a sneak attack. The failed Perception check for surprise does not act as the first check of the sneak attack; when attempting to sneak attack a surprised victim, another check is made to see whether they are aware of that specific individual, which can vary greatly based on skills and magic. If aware, no sneak attack. If unaware, then see the details in the combat detailed subsection.

The following round (the second round), those who were in surprise can now interact normally. Of course, those who remained asleep would still be asleep but allowed another Perception check to wake. Of course, those wakened must make a second check to determine the state of surprise.

Actions

When it is a character’s or monster’s turn, the announcement of what to do is stated. Then the being moves on the map and takes an action. The character or monster decides whether to move and then act or the other way around. Additionally, movement can be broken up so that part of the distance is moved, then an action taken, followed by the rest of the movement. Further, not all the movement distance has to be used. It is important to note there is no “holding an action” to be used later without having special skills. If the character or monster decides to hold position (or even move some) but take no action, then that is set for the round.

One may recall when discussing initiative, that all the actions of all those in combat are occurring simultaneously. It is because intent and prior gambit which one is already committed towards the action to be taken why the “holding an action” cannot occur by default. This moment is merely the opportunity to take the chosen action. However, one should not be confused by the strategic benefits, game-wise, of a later initiative, as this allows a player to be more aware of the happenings on the battlefield to choose a more strategic action. All this means is the character made a better gamble of choice with this intent prior to the initiative score value.

Speaking and gesturing to other characters is permitted, but only on one’s turn. These should be brief utterances or expressions that can be conveyed in under 10 seconds. There are skills and magic which may override this rule.

Typically, this is move and attack, cast a spell, use some item, or render aid to a wounded ally. However, actions might include unusual deeds such as “grab the idol from the pedestal” or “crank down the drawbridge.” These non-hostile actions do offer the potential of a contest. Should any other character or monster intend to take the same action that would result in a contest, then the player (or NPC) would announce that intent. The GM will decide if the distance permits interference. Despite a later initiative, those who intend to take the same action, assuming movement is available, will enter a contest to “grab the idol” or “open/close the door” which will be decided as the final determination of the round. However, those details will be explained later.

All actions fall into one of the following categories, which will be detailed later:

As a reminder, the distance a character or monster is permitted to move on one’s turn is listed on the character sheet and possibly modified by encumbrance. Remember, when using a map, each hex is five feet.

Movement Revisited

A quick reminder of what we know about movement

Rather than altering one’s initiative by delaying because the character took time to dismount from his or her horse, this is managed by making those types of actions part of the movement cost. Because of this, there are several conditions where is penalized. Below is a list of many conditions:

There is a bit of semantics involved to properly calculate some scenarios. Note that some of the penalties are percentages of the species movement. Thus, dismounting a horse for a human costs 25 feet of movement, but for a dwarf it costs 20 feet. This may initially sound unbalanced; however, remember that after dismounting, the human has 25 feet of movement remaining, while the dwarf only has 20 feet to use.

This is also important when a magical effect or a restriction is involved. For example, if that mounted dwarf had a quick step axiom previously cast upon him, then the penalty to dismount is still only 20 feet, i.e., half his species movement; this would leave him with a remaining remaining 30 feet to use for other movement on his turn. However, if that same dwarf later is placed in shackles while still under the magical effect, he would then be under the bound restriction, which restricts his “total” movement by 50%. Since his augmented movement rate has not become 50 feet, this means while bound, the dwarf’s only has 25 feet of movement to use each round. This is very important when other conditions are applied. Furthering this example, let’s assume the shackled but quick-stepped dwarf is now touched by a ghoul, having his “total” movement reduced by another 25 feet -- suddenly, the dwarf is effectively paralyzed, as his movement is now zero.

That example did not even consider encumbrance, which will be detailed later. However, let’s use that human for this example. It's species rate is 50 feet. However, the armor and equipment used is so heavy that it lowers his “total” movement for the round down to only 40 feet. Let's place him in shackles, which would reduce his movement to 20 feet. Now if that ghoul touches him, his movement becomes negative, and he too is paralyzed.

Probably, a few opportunist-style players will have already prepared rephrasing this scenario: Wait, he has 50 feet of movement normally. The ghoul touch subtracts 25, leaving him with 25 feet of movement. He is also shackled, so that’s half of his movement -- shouldn’t he have 12 feet remaining? Okay, smarty; here are the rules to the party. We use PEMDAS here. In other words, always apply the percentage or fraction first, then add or subtract the static values.

Movement is also important for establishing position and controlling that space. The size category of a being determines how large of an area that falls under that being’s control. However, for these examples a human will be used, who occupies and controls one hex (or five feet).

Why this is important is answered by asking what does occupying and controlling that hex do? The short answer means this space is protected by the occupant and items in that area cannot be touched or manipulated without the space-owner’s permission. That said, there are conditions where permission is implied, and there are other cases where a competition can supersede that permission.

Implied permission happens most of the time or people would not be able to walk down a busy street. Therefore, the general rule is permission is only assumed to be denied to hostile creatures. Allies and other non-hostiles can walk through someone’s space; however, it does count as difficult terrain, but they may pass through it. Hostile creatures, however, can only access the space controlled by that person’s permission or by forcing a competition. Of course, those nimble nhoblits are at advantage for entering someone’s space. The details of how to resolve that competition will be explained in more detail shortly in the Competitions subsection.

Reactions

Certain skills, magical effects or circumstances permit a character or monster to have a reaction. This is an instant response to an event of some sort, which can occur on someone else’s turn. However, using a reaction is not required, but only one reaction can be used during a single round of combat.

The reaction is a special action that is processed as an immediate response to the event, even if that is in the middle of another combatant’s turn. In some cases, a reaction’s effect may occur before the action. The reaction is announced, calculated and handled, then play continues from where it was interrupted.

A few examples of reactions are listed below:

Competitions

Whether it is running through someone’s occupied space or two combatants trying to hold a door closed, the way to resolve it is the same a competition mechanic, rolling a d12 and adding modifiers from the appropriate sub-attribute.

Let’s revisit what was discussed in the movement examples above where two people are both trying to gain control of a loose potion. There are several factors that could change the outcome of who could do what. First, we assume that the potion is not in either person’s controlled space. If person A has already taken an action, but person B still had an action available, then there is no competition; person B grabs the potion.

Let’s consider the same scenario, but the potion is at the feet of person A inside that occupied space. Person A has no action while person B does, but to do grab the potion, person A must gain access to the hex controlled by person B. Thus, the potion cannot be picked up freely by the action of person B alone. Person B declares the action is to grab the potion, and a competition would occur. Both sides could choose either Strength or Agility to make the attempt to grab or defend.

Let’s stop right here for moment to discuss something important. Passing through another’s occupied space is a mere competition. However, if taking something from someone’s occupied space, while the owner is aware and able to respond, the owner is at advantage. So, when two persons are trying to grab that loose potion, it is an equal competition if the potion is in a space not controlled by either. The example we are discussing is a bit different.

Back to the resolve… So, person A controls the space; thus, that person will roll at advantage, using two d12s and applying the better of the two scores. Meanwhile, person B would only roll one d12 for the comparison. If person B wins the competition, then the potion is grabbed; person B can run away with whatever movement is left after the 10-ft penalty for grabbing an item. Now, if person A wins… hang on - person A had no action available; so while winning the action to thwart the attempt, no action is available to pick it up. On the floor it remains. Had person A won and had an available action, then it could have been acquired, assuming person A has enough movement remaining. Finally, if the score is tied, the potion would also stay on the ground.

Now, let’s add one more complication: person B is a nhoblit. If one recalls, nhoblits have advantage to enter a hostile’s occupied space. In this case, both sides would roll the competition with advantage. Otherwise, it is the same as above.

The Concept of Combat

As stated previously, one of the most common actions in combat is to attack. When first starting, this will seem simple: a target is selected, the d20 is rolled to determine whether or not the victim is effectively hit or not. To do this, one really needs either the melee fighting or ranged fighting skill. In game terms, these skills grant the character one d20 to roll against a combatant. As the character gains additional combat skills, additional dice are added to the attack. Very skilled fighters may be rolling 4d20 for an attack as their normal swing. But it takes a while to get there.

At this point, the different methods of attacks should be explained -- not just in mechanics but in the game philosophy. There are essentially three methods: melee, range and savage. Melee is the use of some type of martial weapon with which to strike an opponent at a close proximity. Range is using throwing or launching an object at an enemy usually at a distance farther than the opponent can instantly strike back. Finally, savage attacks are things like a wolf bite, a harpy’s claws, the punch of a pugilist, or any body weapon attack.

This is where game balance comes into play to ensure that the options are not improperly favoring a particular method. Statistics and test play has allowed the equity of risk/reward to establish slight differences between these methods. Melee and savage are quite close with small differences between them, more limited by progression and damage potential, but that also gets balanced back by so many monsters making multi-attacks. Using range weapons comes with a lower risk of being hurt on average. Thus, there are some design in the mechanics to make up for that, most notably a lower damage potential. This is shaped not out of realism but rather game balance. By no means does this mean attacking at range is pointless; instead the strategy of the methods of attack vary with circumstances better for each in different ways.

All of this in mind, range attacks by default cannot crit, which will be explained later. As stated, the damage from ranged weapons is lower on average compared to that of melee or savage with similar skills. On the flip side, range weapons often can inflict damage against opponents who are running away. Another benefit is that ranged weapons gain better chances to hit larger targets. Please remember that “hitting” an opponent means scoring an effective strike that inflicts damage not merely making physical contact. All of this has been explained to demonstrate how different methods have their pros and cons.

First thing to determine for an attack is how many die pools are to be used. There can be up to three starting die pools: one for the primary hand, one for the off hand, and one for a savage die pool. One must have appropriate skills to use each die pool. If the skills have not been obtained or an inapplicable, then that die pool cannot be used. Because early characters do not yet have the skills, typically the only available die pool to use is the primary hand.

It may help to think of a “die pool” as a single strike. The words are often used interchangeably. Moreover, once getting to the mechanics of rolling the dice, that is precisely what the die pool is - a single strike against a single target. But more on that in the Advanced Combat part of the tome.

Using the concept of die pools, the combat system builds up, becoming more effective and more powerful by using multiple skills. These skills can combine to increase the number of dice to place into a strike. Again, for the starting character, probably only one die pool, usually the primary hand, will be used.

The Melee Attack

Let’s read about all that advanced stuff later. Right now, let's just demonstrate the basic starting character and the game mechanics for a fight. Let’s say our character has a gladius sword. Further, the only skill at this point is melee fighting. This permits one d20 from the primary hand die pool. Let’s pretend there is a goblin in front of the character and is in an adjacent hex. The character has initiative and it’s now his or her turn. “What’s you action?” the GM will ask. The answer: “I’m going to swing on that goblin.”

Melee weapons use Strength to modify the attack. Let’s assume the character has a Strength score of 4. For the to-hit formula, the total Strength score is used to add to the d20s rolled. So, the attack is d20+4. Since this is an iron sword and no magic is involved, all the possible modifiers have been included. The formula is set. The player rolls the die and adds four points to determine the total score. If the total attack score is equal or greater than the opponent’s armor class value, then the goblin has been hit and damage needs to be determined.

Because the d20 struck, it counts for 1 point of damage. Additionally, damage calculates the any sub-attribute modifier -- in this case, the Strength score of 4 means +1 is added to the damage. Next to figure is the weight of the weapon. Weapons have a weight value from 0 to 2. In this case, a gladius is 1 point. Therefore, 3 points of edged damage wounded the goblin.

And that’s it for the simple example.

The Ranged Attack

Let’s do this again -- only this time with a bow and arrow. Resetting the assumptions, the character this time will have ranged fighting, and as such, can use one d20 from the primary hand die pool. Just to clarify, this weapon requires two hands to operate; thus, although the character cannot do anything with the off hand, this is not even an option due to the type of weapon being used.

Ranged weapons use Agility to modify the attack. Let’s assume the character has an Agility score of 4. For the to-hit formula, the total score of Agility is used to add to the d20s rolled. So, the attack here is also d20+4. Also, the bow is normal; thus, no more modifiers can be added. The player’s character fires the bow. The player rolls the die and adds four points to determine the total score. As before, if the total attack score is equal or greater than the opponent’s armor class value, then the arrow strikes the goblin and inflicts damage.

Like when using melee, every d20 that hits the opponent’s AC inflicts 1 point of damage; in this case, there is only one d20 -- so 1 point. The Agility modifier brings another +1 to the damage. However, an arrow (as almost all ranged weapons) have a weight of zero. In this example, the total damage inflicted is 2 points of piercing damage.

With More Skills

The examples above are the simplest attacks. Before long, the character will gain new combat skills. For the one with the gladius, the next skill gained would likely be style: slashing. When picking this up, the character gets to roll two d20 with the primary hand instead of just one. How does this work? Pretty much the same.

The two d20 are rolled. Each die is modified with the +4 bonus. Each die separately is compared against the opponent’s AC. If both die scores miss, no damage occurs. However, for each adjusted d20 score that is equal or better to the target AC will count as 1 point of damage. Let’s assume both die strike the goblin’s AC. Thus, 2 points of edged damage starts the calculation. Next, the Strength modifier is added: +1. Finally, that gladius still has a weight of 1. Thus, 2+1+1=4; the goblin is struck with 4 points of edged damage.

While it does not matter in simple attacks, it is important to understand that those sub-attribute bonuses are not cumulative per strike but rather count only once against an individual target. So, the Strength bonus counts only once, not for each successful die. In a typical attack, where only one or two d20s are rolled against one target, it all seems like it simply adds together; however, that detail is important when skills reach a point where more than one target can be hit or more than one die pool is used against the same target.

A few final notes. For weight of a weapon, unless stated otherwise, range weapons are zero. As for melee, light weapon have a zero weight value; thus, no further damage is granted with them. A medium weight weapon has a value of +1. A heavy weapon adds +2 to the total damage. Again, weight-damage is listed by weapon later in the manual.

Something not yet discussed is that the size of the attacker is a modifier of the attack. This will rarely matter for the PC, but it is not unreasonable that he or she might be affected by a stature axiom. Large creatures gain +1 to hit on all the dice in all their die pools. Huge creatures gain +2 to hit. Giant gain +3, and colossal gain +4.

Further for size being a factor, range weapons are more effective against larger targets. There is no difference for creatures who are medium-sized or smaller. However, firing a bow against a large creature grants a +1 bonus on all the d20s of the to-hit roll. Against huge sized targets, ranges gains a +2 bonus for all d20s. The bonus is +3 when firing upon a giant-sized opponent. Lastly, anything colossal offers a +4 to hit on all d20s rolled.

Most attacks will be a single strike against one opponent. However, as stated above additional skills create the options to use two or more die pools, or even divide and existing die pool into smaller, separate die pools. In these cases different targets might be struck or perhaps the same target could be struck by multiple die pools. This type of attack is referred to as “multi-strike.” Skills that grant such opportunities are spinning moves and shield blitz. When performing a “multi-strike”, it is important to calculate each attack separately because weight-damage is counted per strike, but Strength or Agility modifiers only once per target. Also, each separate strike is subject to any potential resistance. More details about those complexities can be found in the section below.

THE MATH: