Basic combat rules.

Damage types
Damage types represent the nature of the damage. It is important since different sources produce different damage types which may have their own unique effects. Also resistances to every one of these types vary due to armor, enchantments, magical items, race and such.

Physical : piecing, blunt, slashing. This type of damage is usually prevented using armour.

Elemental: fire, water, earth and air. This damage is usually made by spells and all magic resistance values prevent damage from this category.

Arcane magic: chaos, light and shadow. Arcane magic damage may not be prevented by magical resistance or items than provide defense against magical attacks. It is a rare and powerful type of magic that is feared. Only items or skills that specificaly state that they protect from, say, chaos damage actually offer any defense.

Melee combat


Melee combat takes place during the third (and last) sub-phase. Firstly, you need to hit your opponent in order to damage him. Roll d6 for every attack you make. Consult the table below to see the roll requiered for successful hit. The "Difference" line shows the difference between characters and his opponent's proficiency with the weapons they are currently using. Naturally higher proficiency means higher probability to hit your enemy.


 * While dual-wielding weapons user suffers -2 to attack skill and may not critical with off-hand weapon. When attacking first attack goes with main weapon, then off-hand weapon then main weapon again and so on.

Damage in melee
Formula for counting damage: Weapon damage + attackers strength (S) - Defenders armour +/- any other modifiers = damage.

This is the basic formula for most fighting although there may be other modifiers like special skills or magical enchantments.

Critical hits in melee
Critical hit may only be scored when 6 is rolled while trying to hit an enemy and only when attackers dexterity is higher than defenders. This does not mean that critical hit is immediately scored it only represents the opportunity the attacker has to, say, exploit the weakness in enemy's armour or strike from an unexpected angle. After rolling 6 the attacker needs to check in order to "confirm critical hit". This is done by following these steps- count the critical value: attacker's dexterity - defender's dexterity +/- any other modifiers from items/skills and such = critical value you need to beat on d20. For example elf rogue (D9, S5) with dagger hits orc warrior (D4) on 6. The D difference is 9- 4 = 5, also a dagger gives +1 to critical value. Thus an elf rogue rolls d20 and must score 6 or less in order to successfully land a critical hit. If character fails to roll 6 or less then normal damage is done. Successfull critical hit deals double unmodified damage (that means only the weapon+ S damage is multiplied, not the damage from enchantments or abilities that may be effecting weapon).

If a critical hit is landed upon an enemy that otherwise can not be hit (for example when weapon proficiency difference is too high) then it still hits the target with the exception that it counts as normal attack.

Shields.
Shields offer additional protection in melee and even grater against ranged weapons. I distinguished 4 main types of shields in order to easily see each cons and pros of each type: 1. Bucklers 2. Round shields 3. Kite shields 4. Tower shields. In melee all types of shields give same defence bonus that is equal to the "shield proficiency" the charcter has (shield proficiency level is added to defenders current weapon prof. and only then the attacker has to check the table above in order to know what score he needs in order to hit. For example an orc with weapon proficiency of 3 is striking another warrior with weapon prof. of 2 and shield prof. of 3. The total difference is 2 (3+2 for warrior - orc's 3 = 2) so the orc has to roll 5+ in order to hit. Moreover each shield has cover value (which only works when defender is facing the shooter or is otherwise holding the shield in shooter's direction) which diminishes the chance for a ranged attacker to hit: cover value (cv) is deducted from the score which is needed to hit (read "Ranged combat" for more information). Additional bonuses or drawbacks are listed below for each type seperately.

Bucklers. Urlbuckler.jpeg
A buckler is a small shield (15 to 45 cm diameter) gripped in the fist. Its size made it poor protection against missile weapons but useful in deflecting blows. Also due to light weight and small size buckler allows greater flexibility and speed than other shields. However the buckler itself is not made for prolonged combat and has low durability.

In game terms bucklers have 1 cv, do not increase the cost of attack points (Atp) unlike other types of shields. That means it still counts as wielding only one single handed weapon. Moreover bucklers may not be used by any shield specific skills or stances (For example "Shield bash"). Core durability- 20.

Round shields.Url.jpeg
This is the most common type of shield which provides medium protection against ranged attacks while not hindering the user too much.

In game terms: 3 cv, -1D. Core durability 35.

Kite shieldsCaduceus-kite-shield-onhand.jpg
A kite shield is a distinct type of shield with either a reverse teardrop shape or, flat-topped. Greater ranged protection,  also it allows warriors additionally  to guard their foreleg when in a melee.

In game terms: 5 cv, -1D, -1I, 1 additional stamina cost for

running/charging. Core durability 45.

Tower shields
Largest of the shields and obviously confers the greatest ranged defense bonus. However, the size and weight hinders the user so it is prefered mostly by warriors that do no need great meneuverability.

In game terms: 7 cv, -2D, -1I, -1M when running/charging, 1 additional stamina cost for running/charging.

Ranged combat
Ranged combat takes place during second sub-phase after the movement phase together with magic phase. Combatant with highest initiative starts this phase and so on.

Unlike hitting with melee weapons, in ranged  combat d20 is used. The formula for counting the score needed to hit goes as follows: 1/2 x Dexterity +2 x Weapon proficiency level +/- other modifiers (weapon mod., projectile mod., range mod) = Score you need to get on d20. For example having a score of 14 means that all rolls 1-14 are successful hit and 15-20 are not. Other modifiers for ranged accuracy are target movement and obstacles as shown below: Other modifiers like effective range, weapon/projectile quality are usually shown in item description.

Damage in ranged combat
Formula for counting damage: Ranged weapon characteristics + projectile characteristics + 1/2 dexterity - oppononet's armour +/- any other modifiers = damage.

Critical hits in ranged combat
Since ranged combat uses d20 the critical hits may only be scored when character rolls 1. This represents a greater difficulty to place a well-aimed shot from a distance, than for a melee fighter to strike severely up close. After rolling 1 count your critical value in following order: attacker's dexterity - defender's dexterity + 1/2 weapon skill = critical value. Characters needs to roll equal or less on d20 to successfully land a critical shot which, in turn, deals double unmodified damage.

If a critical hit is scored upon an enemy that may not be otherwise hit (because of the negative to-hit value due to the shield, cover, movement bonus) then it still counts as a normal attack. This represents a small possibility whether because of the stroke of luck or chance to make a successful shot when all odds seem to be against.

Dodging
Dodge is an ability to avoid something by a sudden quick movement. When fighting against one enemy character may try to dodge every attack the opponent makes. When fighting multiple enemies at the same time character has 2 + 1/3 D amount of attempts to dodge which he/she allocates freely.

When dodging attempts are allocated the dodge value is counted: defender's D - attacker's +/- any other modifiers = dodge value. Equal or less than dodge value must be rolled on d20 in order to completely negate opponent's attack.

Dodging may be attempted even to avoid ranged attacks, although this is possible only to unbelievably fast individuals. Rules are the same as for normal dodging only defender's D value is reduced by half while counting dodge value.

Weapon proficiencies
All weapons and shields are divided into categories. A character which has some kind of level in a specific category can use all items from that category with equal skill. These categories are written down bellow together with some examples.
 * Short blades. Includes short swords, axes, daggers and similar one handed weapons. They usually do low-medium slashing/piercing type of damage are cheap to make, easy to conceal and commonly found.
 * Short blunts include maces, hammers, clubs and anything that humanity used for hitting since stone age. These weapons are slower, do blunt type damage (which is usually better absorbed by armour), although may daze and batter opponents.
 * Long blades: greatswords, big mean-looking axes, cleavers and such. Wielded in both hands, and are deadly in experienced hands.
 * Long blunts. What these weapons lack in subtlety they make up with brute force. You know the type- warhammers, flails and more. Mainly used for knocking down opponents or simply smashing them.
 * Polearm. Cheap to make weapons that have extended reach (spears, halberds...)
 * Exotic. These are rare and unusual weapons like khopesh, tiger claws or katanas.
 * Throwing small. Small projectiles that may be thrown at an enemy. Mostly used not in order to kill a victim but to wound it before finishing in close combat. Also easy to conceal. Examples- throwing daggers, shurikens, darts.
 * Throwing large. These weapons may be used both in close combat and at range giving fighter great versatility (handaxes, spears).
 * Bows. Bows are simple ranged weapons that may be used in various situations. Offer good fire rate and accuracy. Character may make up to two shots per turn using bows.
 * Crossbows sacrifice rate of fire for punching power and armour penetration.
 * Unarmed.
 * Small shields. Bucklers and round shields.
 * Large shields. Include kite and tower shields.