Combat

Many adventures use combat as a primary, or at least secondary means of resolving conflict. This section details how characters do combat with swords or words in Swords of Infinity.

Rounds and Turns

Combat is broken down into rounds and turns, with each participant in combat getting two actions per turn, and a round becoming complete after all participants have had a turn. This phased approach to keeping order during conflict is referred to as Tactical Time, and is a useful tool for whenever Storytellers need their players to pay special attention to the order of events or to simulate limited time in the story. Most importantly it is used whenever combat takes place.

Initiative

Initiative is the order in which combat participants take their turns, and figuring out everyone's initiative score is always the first step when using Tactical Time. When Tactical Time begins, all players should roll a Dexterity limited Power roll (increased by any specialization in Initiative) and the Storyteller should make a similar roll for every non-player participant in the combat encounter. All of these numbers should then be recorded in descending order, with the highest number going first.

Actions

All participants in combat start out with two actions that they can use to perform any major activity and a minor action that they can use for quick things like dropping a held item or speaking. Some combat conditions can affect the number of actions a participant gets, and will be explored later. Examples of each sort of action can be found in the table below.

Action Type	Example Actions
Full Action	Attacking, Casting a Spell, Moving, Using an Item, Picking up an Item
Minor Action	Speaking, Dropping a Held Item, Making an Awareness Skill Check to Notice Something

Buying Additional Actions

Sometimes two actions in a turn just aren't enough. Combat participants can take additional actions beyond two at the cost of a -10 penalty for every additional action taken. This penalty stacks will all other penalties and lasts until the beginning of that same participant's turn.

Timing in Tactical Time

Although Swords of Infinity breaks combat down into a well separated, turn-based exchange, most combat participants are actually acting near simultaneously, with some participants (those with higher initiative scores) acting slightly faster than others. Players should keep this in mind when imagining the story as it unfolds; their characters are not actually standing and waiting their turn to act!

Duration of a Turn

A single turn represents 6 seconds of real world time, this is so that a minute in real time divides neatly into 10 rounds. This means that combat is actually taking place very quickly in the story, even though it may take several minutes to resolve in the game.

Moving

Moving costs one action and allows a combatant to walk up to their maximum move distance (i.e. 35 feet for size 0 characters) or use one of their movement skills to cross distance in special ways. As a rule any sort of resisted or finesse movement skill (usually Dexterity or Strength based) qualifies as moving and costs one action. Characters with sizes other than 0 either subtract or add 5 feet to their move distance for each size category they are from 0 (e.g. a size 1 creature moves 40 feet per action and a size -2 creature moves 25 feet per action).

Attacking

Combat usually involves physically attacking opponents, and in Swords of Infinity this requires choosing a target, rolling a Success Check to hit the target, and then optionally rolling a Power Check to determine the damage. Attacks are resolved according to the following steps, and typically cost one action (it is possible for attacks to cost two actions, and this will be explored later).

1. The player declares a Damage Target for the attack
2. The player rolls a Success Check to see if the attack hits
3. If the player's attack hits, the opponent gets a chance to defend
4. If the opponent does not successfully defend, the player rolls a Power Check to determine damage.

Damage Targets

Swords of Infinity differs from some other role-playing games in that it tracks damage in multiple places, referred to as Damage Targets. On a human opponent the damage targets are, predictably, the head, two legs, the torso, two arms, and morale (the damage target affected by Social Conflict). Damage Targets for monsters are going to depend on their composition, and may include wings, tails, extra heads, etc. For most attacks the aggressor chooses one of these targets to attempt to hit.

Hitting

Hitting a target requires a Dexterity based Success Check. To make this check, simply take the attacking character's Dexterity score, add any weapon skill specialization score and any modifier for the weight of the weapon being used, and roll a d%. If the result of the roll is less than the sum of these scores then the attack hits and the attacker's opponent must defend.

Critical Hits

A critical success on a hit check results in one of the following additional special outcomes that can be selected by the player or the Storyteller.

• The attack can only be defended by a critical defense, even if the defensive roll is lower.
• The attack does full damage
• The attack causes a Narrative Effect that lasts for one round.

Damage

If an attack successfully hits it usually does damage, unless it is one of the special techniques described later in this section. In either case, however, the power of the attack has to be determined and this is done using a Power Check. To make a Power Check roll a d% and compare it to the Strength Score of the attacking character, plus any Strength based Skill Specializations that tie into dealing damage and any damage bonus granted by the weight and type of the weapon. The damage dealt (or power of the technique) is either the result of the roll or the sum of these scores, whichever is lower.

Defending

Whenever a combat participant is successfully attacked they get a chance to defend themselves unless special circumstances would prevent it (e.g. the attacker has snuck up on the defender, or the defender is restrained). Defenders have two options for protecting themselves from physical damage, blocking and dodging, and resist the effects of special techniques like a disarm or pin with Physical Resistance. Some characters are going to be better at defending themselves by dodging, while others are more effective blockers, and it is up to the player to decide which method is the best for the situation.

Blocking

Blocking involves interposing a weapon, limb, or shield into the path of an incoming attack. Defending this way does not prevent an attack from hitting, but instead it gives the defender the ability to direct the attack to a more well-protected area and also to use a shield or weapon to absorb some of the damage. To block the defender needs to succeed on an Awareness based Success Check, adding any appropriate skill specialization in blocking. Should the defender succeed he may then choose a new Damage Target for the attack, overriding the attacker's original intent, and add any damage bonus from his weapon or shield's weight modifier to his armor. The defender reduces the damage he receives by this final value, potentially preventing all of it.

Example: Bjoric is being attacked and opts to defend himself by blocking. He has a 20 point specialization in block and an awareness of 35, so he needs to roll a 55 or less to succeed. Bjoric's roll is successful, and he chooses for the attack to hit him in the left arm instead of the attacker's original target, his head. Bjoric has class 3 (-30 damage) armor on his left arm, and adds the weight bonus from the size 3 (another -30 damage) shield he carries, which brings his total armor on his left arm up to 60. When his opponent rolls the power of his attack he comes up with a score of 63, Bjoric only takes the difference between these values in damage, 3 points.

Blocking Spells

Blocking is also the only way to prevent damage from a spell other than casting a defensive spell, as it allows a warrior to get a shield or weapon in between himself and a spell that is being guided by a wizard's mind. Dodging a spell just delays the inevitable and merely annoys wizards, which can redirect their spells indefinitely until they hit.

Dodging

Dodging is an Dexterity based Opposed Success check that allows a defender to avoid an attack entirely, and receive no damage. As an Opposed Success check the defender needs to roll less than or equal to both their opponent's roll and their own target score.

Example: Parthenia is getting attacked and opts to defend herself by dodging the incoming attack. She has a dexterity of 25 and a skill specialization of 30 in dodging, so her target score for success is 55. Her opponent's attack roll is 27. Parthenia rolls a 13, which is less than both her opponent's roll of 27 and her own target score of 55, so she successfully dodges the attack and avoids all damage.

Armor

Armor reduces the amount of damage taken from an attack, and is a combatant's last line of defense. If a combatant would receive damage to a Damage Target where they are wearing a piece of armor, reduce the amount of damage taken by the armor's class times 10 (e.g. class 2 armor reduces damage by 20 points).

There are special techniques discussed later in this section that eliminate the protection provided by armor at the cost of a lower chance of hitting the target.

Critical Defense

A critical success on a defense check results in one of the following additional special outcomes that can be selected by the player or the Storyteller.

• The defender gets to make a counter attack at no action cost.
• The defense causes a Narrative Effect that lasts for one round.
• The defender is able to move up to their max distance at no action cost.

Physical Resistance

The special combat techniques mentioned later in this section cause Narrative Effects that must be resisted rather than causing damage. To defend against these Narrative Effects the defender must make a Power Check based on their Physical Resistance score and compare it to the Power Score of the incoming technique. If the defender's Physical Resistance Power Score is higher than the Power Score of the technique then the effects are completely resisted by the defender.

Taking Damage

When all defensive options fail combatants take damage, which brings them closer to death, and it is this consequence that makes combat exciting and risky for players. Damage is tracked as a set of numbers for each of the combatant's Damage Targets, and causes penalties the higher it gets.

Damage Targets

Each Damage Target tracks its own damage separately and can either go up to a maximum of 100 points of damage or twice the combatant's Vitality score whichever is higher.

Consequences of Damage

As damage gets high enough, and passes certain thresholds, penalties are applied to combatants making it more difficult for them to continue to do battle. The exact values for these damage thresholds is dependent on the combatant's vitality score.

Damage Thresholds

There are two thresholds for damage, Wounded and Disabled, and each applies its own sort of penalty to the combatant. Determining a combatant's Damage Thresholds is as simple as the following:

• If a combatant's damage exceeds his Vitality Score he is wounded.
• If a combatant's damage exceeds twice his Vitality score he is disabled.
  • If this damage is beyond 100 points and more than twice his Vitality Score, the Damage Target is destroyed (i.e. limbs are cut off, etc.). Destroying vital Damage Targets like the head or torso typically kills the combatant, but this is up to the Storyteller's discretion.

Wounded

If a combatant is Wounded she receives a penalty of -10 to all Power and Success checks until the damage is healed. These penalties combine with each other if multiple Damage Targets are Wounded.

Disabled

If a combatant is Disabled she loses one action per turn for each Damage Target that is Disabled, this effect combines with the Wounded penalty. Enough Disabled Damage Targets can leave a combatant completely unable to act.

Resisting Impairment

A combatant can ignore the penalties from their Wounded and Disabled Damage Targets by succeeding in a Vitality based Success Check, adding any Resist Impairment Skill Check specialization score. This can not be done for Damage Targets that have been destroyed.

Recovering from Damage

A living combatant will eventually recover from her wounds over time. The exact magnitude of the recovery is based on the combatant's Physical Resistance score and her level of activity during a 24 hour recovery period. Every 24 hours of in-game time roll a Power Check based on the combatant's Physical Resistance score, this number is how many points of damage she heals. If the combatant did nothing but rest during that 24 hour period, she recovers from damage on every injured Damage Target, otherwise damage is healed on a single Damage Target. This process repeats until all damage on the combatant has been healed.

First Aid

A successful Intelligence based Success Check, adding any Skill Specialization in First Aid, can reduce the negative effects of an injury. First aid does not heal damage, but it does allow the injured combatant to treat a Wounded Damage target as unwounded, or a Disabled Damage Target as merely Wounded.

Storyteller's Note: Players that leave open wounds untended to for several days make prime candidates for disease and infection, which can add an interesting challenge to the story.

Advanced Combat

The basics described in the beginning of this section are enough to get most players through combat, but some are going to be interested in taking more complicated actions during a battle. The advanced combat rules below give combatants more options and add a deeper strategic element to Swords of Infinity.

Attack Rate

A normal attack costs one action, but combatants can obtain different results by taking their time with them. Combatants are able to double either their maximum potential damage or their chance to hit by using two actions to make an attack instead of one.

Examples:
* Desdinova is caught by surprise and has to fight an opponent hand to hand, despite not being very good at it. He uses two actions to attack his opponent with double the hit chance. Normally Desdinova would need a roll of 25(His Dexterity score) or less, but now he only needs a 50 or less.
* Trodecarn is having a tough time getting through a Fire Giant's thick armor. He uses two actions to double the potential damage from his battle axe. Normally Trodecarn would be able to deal 50 damage on his Power Check (40 from his strength and 10 from his weapon) but now he is able to deal up to 100 damage.

Techniques

The following special techniques allow combatants to create Narrative Effects in battle, or gain advantages over their opponents. Each of these Techniques can be Specialized in to either increase their chance of success or their power, but any combatant can attempt to use them.

Pin

The Pin technique allows a combatant to keep an opponent from using any action that would be considered moving for one round. It is useful for trapping opponents that are attempting to flee. To use this technique the combatant must succeed in a Dexterity based Success check, adding any specializations for weapon proficiency and Pin. Should the combatant succeed she must then make a Power Check opposed by her opponent's Physical Resistance check. If her Power is greater than her opponent's Physical Resistance the weapon is successfully Pinned.

Disarm

The Disarm technique allows a combatant to knock a held object away from an opponent, the Storyteller decides where the weapon lands. To use this technique the combatant must succeed in a Dexterity based Success check, adding any specializations for weapon proficiency and Disarm. Should the combatant succeed she must then make a Power Check opposed by her opponent's Physical Resistance check. If her Power is greater than her opponent's Physical Resistance the weapon is successfully Disarmed.