Combat is handled by the aggressors making a PA Skill check versus the action their target is taking to avoid the attack, which will often be fighting back.
As it is a normal skill check, the total will be D6 + PA + Weapon Skill.
If a combatant rolls a six they may force both sides to roll an additional d6 and add it to the total. Likewise, if either combatant rolls a one, their opponent may force both sides to roll an additional d6 and add it to the total.
To effectively wield weapons one must have a PS equal to or greater than the weapons' size, or take a penalty to hit equal to the difference between their PS and the Weapon Size. Wielding a weapon in two hands reduces this penalty by one.
If the aggressors roll is higher than their target's the victim takes damage equal to the difference between the rolls, with the following modifiers:
The winner may add their PS and weapon Size to the damage.
The loser may subtract their PE, Shield, and Armour from the damage (and cover, from ranged attacks).
Taking damage does not necessarily prevent the loser from carrying out their own action, though any damage would be applied before the result of the losers action is calculated.
Weapon Size
0 - Unarmed, Dagger, Whip (long)
1 - Short Sword, Short Spear (long)
2 - Longsword, Battle Axe, Spear (long)
3 - Greatsword, Halberd, Great Spear (long)
4 - Pike (long)
Long weapons, such as Spears, count one size less for damage but break draws in favour of the wielder, counting the roll outcome as +0 for damage, and adding the long weapons' (reduced) damage.
Mechanical missile weapons have an effective range of 20m*Size and suffer -1 to hit for each additional range band.[or range bands a la distance rune?]. Thrown weapons have an effective range of Attack Roll*Size.
Weapon Weapon Size Range
Hunting Bow 1
War Bow 2
Great Bow 3
Pistol Crossbow 1
Hand Crossbow 2
Crank Crossbow 3
Sling 1
Throwing Axe 1
Javelin 2
Mechanical missile weapons damage with a strength equal to their size unless custom built for a higher PS. It is not possible to make a mechanical missile weapon suitable for a lower PS. Note that Spiritual creatures may use high-PS missile weapons if they are entitled to use, and have enough, SS to do so.
Flanking
If two characters are attacking the same foe from opposite sides, one of them gains +1 on their attack roll. Who gets this should be decided between the two characters. If this not decided swiftly and without delay the GM should move the game on, and the bonus is lost as the characters fail to coordinate their actions effectively.
Two Weapon Fighting
A character fighting with two weapons uses their total size when calculating damage (but not Weapon Advantage). Alternatively, if one of the weapons is suitable for parrying, it can instead be used as a shield of size 1.
Multiple Attacks
A character may make attacks against two or more different opponents but must split their attack bonus between them.
Multiple Attackers
A character being attacked by multiple opponents uses the same die roll against all opponents but only has the chance of successfully attacking his chosen target.
Armour
A character's armour acts as a Restriction on their Physical Agility, which can never be higher than 5; A character wearing Heavy Armour (armour value 3) treats his PA as no higher than 2 for all rolls ( 5 - 3 = 2).
Reckless Attacks
A character may attack recklessly by accepting penalties on their attack rolls in return for increased damage. Each -1 to the attack roll adds +3 to the characters damage bonus.
Special Actions
A character may wish to attempt to achieve something other than damaging their opponent with an attack; Perhaps they wish to disarm them, or knock them to the ground, or off a ledge. There will still be an opposed roll, and the GM may vary the skills, or other bonuses, used by either side depending on the action being attempted. The GM may also require the character beat their opponents roll by an additional amount if they consider the action particularly difficult. For example, for an average, trained, swordsman, disarming an opponent would be quite difficult, requiring agility, skill, and a suitable weapon (2 PA + 2 Skill +2 Weapon), and a good roll (5+), making 11+. However, this would be an opposed roll so we will subtract the opponents combat bonus (+6 for an equal opponent) and an average roll (we will use 3), so the character would need to beat his opponents roll by 2+.
This means a talented (PA 3), expert (Skill 3) swordsman (same weapon, +2) would have a total of +8 and only need to beat his opponents roll.
NPC Combat
If NPCs battle each other compare the values directly without dice rolls to determine the outcome. If NPCs are being controlled by the players, the players will roll dice for the NPC but the NPCs attack/defence/skill values will be reduced by either
-3 If the NPC is allied to the PCs of it's own free will, or -4 otherwise.
This means NPC battles will be a slow, certain, outcome, unless the PCs intervene. If an NPC battle requires resolution multiply advantage by number of combatants, subtract one for every combatant in excess of morale value, and divide by opponents average PE, to find number of casualties.
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Calculate Advantage
+1 for:
Weapon Advantage (usually for the largest individual weapon but could, for example, be the shorter weapon in confined spaces)
Flanking
High Ground
Heavier Armour
Close Support (eg. Phalanx or Shield Wall)
Criticals
A characters Critical Threshold is equal to his current Endurance ability of the appropriate type, eg. Against a normal melee attack PE, against a psychic assault ME.
For every time an attack roll surpasses the Critical Threshold an additional point of damage is done.
Original
Roll
Roll opposed d6 + Advantage, or increase die type one step per point of Advantage (players option), and add Ability Score of the appropriate Type.
Explain the combat round! Encounter round is the round when
Weapon size is not added to Initiative - the advantage is already factored into the combat roll.
If you have been attacked by someone (regardless of whether they hit) you take a penalty on your attack roll equal to your weapon size minus theirs.
An orc and the man-at-arms he's battling both have Weapon Training but neither gains an advantage from it (or they both do, which is the same thing..). In this case, perhaps the orc's large Two-handed Weapon (+1) is overmatched by the the man-at-arms' Shield (+1) and Heavier Armour (+1), leaving the man-at-arms with a +1 Advantage.
A characters Critical Threshold is equal to his highest ability score of the appropriate type, eg. Against a normal melee attack PS/A/E, against a psychic assault MS/A/E.
[Surprise is determined using MA+SA. Poss. d10+bonus, need double? highest dice is winning side, with bonus determines who can act.]
The order of activity in a combat round is determined by MA+d10
When a character attacks another they roll a d10 and adds PA and any relevant weapon skill bonus.
The defending character rolls d10 and adds PA, relevant weapon skill bonus, and any shield bonus.
Attack: (d10 + PA + Skill) vs. (d10 + PA + Skill + Shield)
When two combatants are both attacking and defending against each other the same d10 roll is used for both attack and defence.
If the attackers value is higher a damage roll is made. The striker rolls the appropriate weapon damage die and adds his physical strength. The defender rolls the appropriate die for his armour coverage, and adds the appropriate value for his armour type. If the attackers total is higher the defender has been injured. If the attackers total is more than double the defenders the defender suffers 2 injuries.
Damage: WeaponDamage + PS vs. Armour or PE
The choice of whether to resist damage using Armour or PE can be made after Armour dice are rolled.
#non-negative stats will address damage/armour imbalance. maybe up all damage dice one step?
*pikes count as long against other long weapons
Long weapons let a character strike at an approaching enemy before they themselves, or an adjacent ally, are attacked. This is possible regardless of the relative initiative scores, but only applies to the first attack made against the long weapon wielder.
All armour is assumed to be worn with an appropriate helmet. If a helmet is not worn reduce the protection of the armour by 1.
The encumbrance modifier of armour is applied to any skill rolls which may be hampered by heavy armour. This would include swimming, acrobatics, climbing, etc.
Note: Shield protection applies to hit roll, not damage
After attacking for a number of rounds equal to, or greater than, their physical endurance a character becomes winded and may not attack or run for one round. Characters may fight defensively for +1 on their defence roll, or move at normal speed. Characters who continue fighting, or run, while winded suffer a cumulative -1 to all die rolls due to exhaustion. Each round spent fighting defensively or moving at normal pace reduces this penalty by 1, leaving the character winded but unpenalised.