SWORDS

This chapter describes the rules for physical combat.

Damage

Attacks are trait rolls like any other. Damage is determined by the attacker's strength and weapon, the dx of the attack roll, and the defender's constitution and armor.

The basic formula goes like this: roll the attacker's Offense and subtract the target's Defense to get the dx. If the dx is greater than or equal to zero, the attack hits.

To get the damage, add the dx of the attack roll to the attacker's Strength and weapon and subtract the victim's Constitution and armor. The result is the number of the stuns inflicted.

A character who wishes to knock an opponent unconscious without doing serious harm may declare that damage from the dx is stuns only. Damage from strength and weapons still inflicts wounds if the victim has ten stuns or more, but damage from the dx does not.

A character is not required to use his full strength or weapon value when attacking - he may use the hilt of a dagger or flat of a sword blade to decrease the damage if desired.

Any reasonable attack that hits with a dx greater than zero does a minimum damage of 1 regardless of traits or equipment.

The definition of "reasonable" is up to the players and The Master to work out. In most games, this is any attack with the force of an average adult's punch or greater - pillows and feather dusters don't count. If a high-powered game is desired, "reasonable" might mean any attack from a named character. In a gritty game, swarms of little girls with pillows might be terrifying.

Example: Juk attacks a common thug with his huge sword. Juk's Warrior trait is level 7. He rolls 2d6 and gets a 5, giving him a total of 12. The thug's Defense is only 10, so the attack hits with a dx of 2. This is added to Juk's Strength (6) and weapon (10) for a total of 18. Subtracting the thug's Constitution (2) and armor (2) results in 14 Stuns and 4 Wounds. The thug crumples.

Example: A brave but foolish youth throws a rock at Juk. The youth's weak Offense and Strength would normally be no match for Juk's Defense and Constitution, but the youth rolls a 12 for an automatic success (Juk was tired from his fight with the thugs). Because automatic successes have a minimum dx of 1 and any reasonable attack with a dx greater than zero does a minimum of 1 damage, Juk takes 1 stun. He then chases the boy and delivers a beating.

Stealth

Surprise attacks can be ugly. If an attacker manages to ambush his target via stealth or guile, the victim does not get the benefit of his Defense. The attacker rolls his Offense versus a challenge level of 6. Add this to the challenge number for the range, if any.

The Master may occasionally give a bonus for a surprise action. A character using a sword could gain a +2 for throwing a punch with his off hand rather than stabbing with the weapon, for example. This shouldn't work more than once against the same opponent unless said opponent is a fool.

Combat Maneuvers

Strike

A strike is a direct attack. It can be done with melee weapons, thrown weapons, missile weapons, or bare hands. Roll Offense vs Defense and determine damage as given above.

A strike can also be used to disarm an opponent. The attacker makes a normal attack roll, but directed at the object in his opponent's hand rather than at the opponent's body. This attack can be defended against as normal. If the attack succeeds, the defender's object is knocked away and will require an action to retrieve. The object may be destroyed.

In hand-to-hand combat (striking or grappling), a fighter may choose to trade skill for damage or vice-versa. One level of skill may be traded for two levels of damage; two levels of skill may be traded for four levels of damage. One cannot trade more than two levels of skill this way.

Maneuver	Attack Roll	Damage
Jab	+2	-4
Thrust	+1	-2
Strike	+0	+0
Swing	-1	+2
Haymaker	-2	+4

Grapple

Initiating a grapple takes one action. To grab an opponent, make a Warrior attack roll versus the target's Defense. If successful, the attacker restrains the target. The dx of this roll is used for later damage calculations.

The target's weight is added to the attacker's encumbrance for purposes of movement and trait rolls. A strong character may be able to pick up an enemy and run; a weaker one could move a maximum of one space per round, dragging his enemy along.

Once an attacker has successfully grappled a target, he may use subsequent actions to do damage using the dx of the initial grappling roll. The attacker may try to gain a better hold with a subsequent action, in which case the grappling roll is attempted again, but the attacker may use Strength or Athlete for offense at this point. The dx of the new roll is used from then on; if less than zero, the victim slips free.

Squeezing or choking the restrained victim does damage based on the attacker's Strength plus the grapple's dx. The attacker can add the damage of a natural or small weapon, but larger weapons are useless in close combat.

The attacker can use elements of the environment as weapons. Slamming or throwing an opponent into a solid floor or wall can be worth anywhere from +1 to +4 depending on the hardness of the material (a wooden floor should hurt less than a stone one). Slamming an opponent into a sharp corner might give an extra +2 on top of this. The exact bonuses for any situation are up to The Master.

Throwing an opponent ends the grapple. If the attacker is throwing his victim at something in particular (a bed of spikes, another enemy) he may need to make an attack roll. Throwing an opponent off a great height is a good way to end a fight.

Upon reaching his initiative, a grappled character may use an action to escape by rolling Strength, Athlete, or Warrior against the Offense of the grappler plus 7. The Attacker's Offense at this point is based on Strength, Athlete, or Warrior - whichever is highest. An attempt to escape does no damage to the opponent. If successful, the character breaks free of the fracas.

The grappler may fall prone as a free action. This takes him and his grappled victim to the ground. Should the grapple end, both characters will have to expend an action to get up.

A grab can also be used to disarm an opponent. If this type of grab is successful, the attacker manages to wrench an object out of an opponent's grasp. The target may use Strength for Defense in this case. This action does not restrain the target.

Optional rule: The Master may wish to give bonuses to a grappler if his mass if greater than his opponents'. The more massive combatant should receive a +2 to grappling rolls for each doubling of mass between he and his opponents, with an additional +1 if the more massive character is approximately halfway to the next doubling.

Example: A 200 pound man is wrestling an 800 pound gorilla. The gorilla is four times as massive as the man. This is two doublings, so the gorilla gets a +4 to escape the man's grapple or to maintain a grapple on the man. The gorilla gets no bonus to initiate the grapple.

Example: The same 200 pound man tries to wrestle a 2400 pound monster. The monster is twelve times the mass of the man, which is between three and four doublings. It gets +7 to all grappling rolls.

Logic trumps game mechanics, of course. Even if a master wrestler is able to out-wrangle a giant monster despite the mass bonuses, he is still not going to be able to move the thing very far. He will not be able to slam it into the ground for damage bonuses or toss it off a cliff. At best, he can cling to it as it moves around, ignoring him.

The extra mass rule can also be used when multiple characters are trying to work together to pin a single character. Simply add all of the masses together and give the bonus to the character with the best Offense.

Defend

There are two ways to defend: blocking and dodging.

Whether a character is blocking or dodging is usually not important, in game terms - the attacker simply rolls against his Defense. It only matters when one type of defense is possible, but not the other.

To block is to stop an attack with force.

Not every attack can be blocked. Melee attacks can be blocked by most other melee equipment, though The Master may assign a penalty to a warrior who tries to block a sword with his bare hands. The Master may also assign bonuses or penalties if the weapon of one fighter has a significantly longer reach, depending on the flavor of the game.

Missiles cannot normally be blocked without a shield. This, again, depends on the flavor of the game.

Shields can be used to block almost any attack except those that are enormous. If facing siege engines, or an axe-wielding giant, characters are advised to dodge instead.

Characters can also choose to block attacks aimed at a friend, so long as that friend is not more than a few steps away. Each one of these "assisted blocks" count as an action, however.

To dodge is to evade an attack with speed (by moving out of the way).

Dodging requires no particular equipment and is useful against any attack. The only requirement for a dodge is that there be room to move out of harm's way. There may be rare occasions where a character could use a block to evade harm, but not a dodge (a hail of arrows, perhaps).

Area attacks

Most attacks are directed at a single individual. The attacker aims, fires, and hits or misses based on his offensive trait and the defensive trait of his target.

Some attacks, however, are directed not at a person, but at a place. These are called area attacks.

To hit a particular area, an attacker need only roll greater than 6 plus ranged challenge level.

If a character is hit by an area attack that covers more than one space, he may attempt an Athlete roll to dodge out of the way. The challenge level is based on how far the victim must move to get out of the affected area - 5 per space moved.

This assumes that the attack was directed at the general area, not the individual - area attacks directed at an individual are resolved as normal attacks, but with bonuses to the attack roll for the size of the area.

Note: while normal land-based creatures can be engulfed by any attack that affects a wide enough area, creatures with three dimensional movement (flying, swimming) are able to dodge an attack unless the areas above and below it are hit as well.

Animals and Mounted Combat

Animals are characters just like any other. They have traits, damage metrics, and natural weapons. They often have better Strength and movement rates than humans.

Mounts allow characters to move much faster than they can on their own two feet. Movement rules are the same for mounted characters as running characters, except that horses can move twice as fast as human beings and can haul much more gear without being slowed.

Animals are controlled by The Master, even those on the side of the player. If a Ranger has spent time training an animal, then it should obey his commands in most cases. Combat is a chaotic environment, however; it may be necessary to roll Ranger to make creatures obey. It helps if the animal has been specifically trained for fighting.

The Rider trait is important for different reasons. Whereas Ranger lets the character persuade his mount to do what he wants, Rider allows a character to stay on his mount in difficult circumstances (leaping, bucking, being attacked).

If a character is hit by an attack while mounted, he must make a Rider roll to keep his seat. The challenge level should be equal to the amount of damage done by the attack before defenses are applied.

It is difficult for a mounted person to perform any acts that require agility. This makes dodging impossible unless the character wishes to dive out of the saddle. If the character is unable to block an attack, he may opt to use Rider as the basis for his Defense, but may have a penalty based upon the room to maneuver and the contrariness of the animal.

Note that a mount can be attacked as easily as it's rider.