====== GURPS Core Resources: Combat ======

The complete combat system occupies three
chapters. This chapter contains the core combat
rules. Chapter 12 adds rules for playing
out combat using counters or figures on
a hexagonal grid. Chapter 13 provides
rules for a number of special combat
situations. Like the character-creation
system in Book 1, the combat system
applies equally to PCs and NPCs.

The GM decides when to start
using the combat rules. This will generally
be when fighting seems likely and
combatants begin maneuvering for tactical
advantage. The GM may also use these
rules to resolve “action” situations such as
chases and tournaments.

===== COMBAT TURN SEQUENCE =====

Combat takes place second by second. Each character actively involved in the combat gets one opportunity to act per second, referred to as his “turn.” After everyone has taken his turn, one second
has passed. 

The GM shouldn’t feel constrained by the one-second time scale. This is just a way of breaking a battle into manageable chunks! He should feel free to drop out of combat time whenever dramatically
appropriate, and to resume combat time when noncombat action gives way to more fighting. Consider a running gunfight in which the combatants leap across rooftops and chase each other up and down rickety fire escapes: the GM could resolve this through roleplaying and DX or skill rolls (against Jumping, etc.), interspersed with a few seconds of combat whenever he feels the opponents have a clear shot at each other.

==== Active Characters ====
An “active character” is involved in the combat and able to take action. A character who is knocked out, asleep, etc. is not active. But someone who chooses to do nothing is still active – “Do Nothing” is a valid combat maneuver (see p. 364).

==== Turn Sequence ====
The “turn sequence” is the order in which active characters take their turns. It is set at the start of the fight and does not change during combat. The combatant with the highest Basic Speed goes first and takes his turn, then the one with the next-highest Basic Speed, and so on, in descending order by Basic Speed. Once every active character has taken his turn, one second has passed and another second begins.

//Tied Speeds//: If multiple NPCs on the same side have the same Basic Speed, the GM simply decides who goes first – it isn’t really important. If PCs are involved, ties go to the highest DX. If there’s still a tie, GM should roll randomly at the start of the combat to determine who acts first, and use that order throughout the combat.

//Sequence Chart//: If a combat has many participants, the GM may find it useful to make a quick list of the order in which the combatants take their turns.

==== "Your Turn" ====
A given participant’s turn is the one-second period that stretches from when he chooses a maneuver until his next opportunity to select a maneuver. This overlaps the turns of other characters.

===== MANEUVERS =====

A “maneuver” is an action that you can take on your turn. Each turn, you must choose one of the following maneuvers: Aim, All-Out Attack, All-Out Defense, Attack, Change Posture, Concentrate, Do Nothing, Evaluate, Feint, Move, Move and Attack, Ready, or Wait. Your choice determines what you can do on your turn, and sets your options for active defense and movement.

==== Multiple Maneuvers and Full-Turn Maneuvers ====

Ordinary characters can only take a single maneuver when it is their turn to act, limiting them to one maneuver per second. However, a few traits allow you to act with superhuman speed and take multiple maneuvers per turn!

Some maneuvers are described as “full-turn” maneuvers. If you take one of these, it’s the only maneuver you can perform on your turn, regardless of how fast you can act. You are assumed to be performing that maneuver for an entire second.

==== Active Defense and Maneuvers ====

The maneuver you choose affects your “active defenses” – your ability to dodge, parry, or block attacks (see Defending, p. 374). You only have to select an active defense if you are attacked. Your most recent maneuver governs the active defenses you can use.

For the purpose of active defenses, your maneuver is considered to be in effect until you select another maneuver on your next turn. For instance, if you chose All-Out Defense (which gives a defensive advantage), its benefits would apply if you were attacked after you took your turn, and would persist until it was your turn again and you took a different maneuver. If you’re attacked before you’ve had a chance to choose a maneuver – usually at the start of combat – you’re considered to be taking a Do Nothing maneuver (see p. 364).

==== Movement and Maneuvers ====

Most maneuvers allow some form of movement. The Move and Move and Attack maneuvers allow you to move quickly, up to a number of yards equal to your full Move score. Other maneuvers, such as All-Out Attack, limit you to a fraction of your full Move.

Many maneuvers restrict movement to a “step.” This is movement up to 1/10 your Move, minimum 1 yard, in any direction, a change of facing (for instance, to turn around), or both. You can perform your step before or after the rest of the maneuver; for instance, you could step and attack or attack and step.

Some maneuvers allow no movement. In particular, you cannot move if you Change Posture or Do Nothing. For more on movement, see Move (p. 364) and Movement and Combat (p. 367).

==== Free Actions ====

“Free actions” are things you can do during any maneuver. Some examples:

//Talk//. You can //always// talk. If the GM wants to be realistic, he should allow only one sentence of communication per second... but it is usually more fun when you ignore this limitation!

//Maintain spells or psi//. As long as you remain active, you can maintain a spell or ongoing psi ability, no matter what else you do.

//Drop an item//. You can drop any “ready” item at any time during any maneuver. If you’re moving, you may drop it at any point within your reach during your movement.

//Crouch//. If standing, you may opt to crouch (to make yourself a smaller target for ranged attacks) at the beginning of your turn. This will usually slow your movement speed (see Movement, p. 367), and you cannot crouch and sprint. If you were already crouching, it is a free action to rise from a crouching position at any time.

==== DO NOTHING ====
Anyone who is just standing still is assumed to be doing nothing. In particular, when combat begins, anyone who has not yet taken a turn is treated as if he took this maneuver before entering combat.

Someone who is conscious but stunned or surprised must take this maneuver. On each turn of Do Nothing, he may attempt a HT roll to recover from physical stun or an IQ roll to recover from mental stun. On a success, he recovers at the //end// of his turn – that is, he Does Nothing this turn, but may act normally next turn.

//Movement//: None! \\
//Active Defense//: Any (unless you’re tied up, etc.). If you are stunned, however, your active defenses are at -4 until your next turn – even if you recover.

==== MOVE ====
Move, but take no other action except those specified under Free Actions (p. 363). You may move any number of yards up to your full Move score. Most other maneuvers allow at least some movement on your turn; take this maneuver if all you want to do is move.

Players must tell the GM exactly where their PCs move to so that he can keep track of the combat. The GM decides where his NPCs move, and will inform any players whose PCs are in a position to witness the movement. If you are controlling a vehicle or riding a mount, take a Move maneuver to spend the turn actively controlling it. Instead of you moving, the vehicle or mount moves on your turn (carrying you and other occupants). See Mounted Combat (p. 396) and Vehicles (p. 462) for details.

Sprinting: If you run forward for two or more turns in a row, you get bonus movement on your second and later moves; see Sprinting (p. 354).

Movement: See above. \\
Active Defense: Any.

==== CHANGE POSTURE ====

This maneuver lets you switch
between any two “postures” (stances
in which you can pose your body).

Valid postures are standing, sitting,
kneeling, crawling, lying prone (face
down), and lying face up. Any posture
other than standing slows your movement
and penalizes your attack and
defense rolls, but also makes you a
smaller target for ranged attacks.

You cannot stand up directly from
a lying position. If you are lying (prone
or face up), you must take a Change
Posture maneuver to rise to a crawling,
kneeling, or sitting posture first. A
second Change Posture maneuver lets
you stand from any of these postures.
(Going from standing up to lying
down, however, only takes one maneuver
– or none at all, if the change was involuntary!)

You can switch between kneeling and standing (only) as the “step” portion of any maneuver that allows a step – you don’t need Change Posture for that. This is instead of using the step to move. Thus, you could go from prone to kneeling with a Change Posture maneuver on one turn, and then stand up in place on your next turn by taking a maneuver that allows a step.

Crouching does not require a Change Posture maneuver; see Free Actions (p. 363).

Movement: None. You remain in place as you change posture. \\
Active Defense: Any. Postures other
than standing penalize your defense
rolls, but also make you a smaller target
for ranged attacks.

==== AIM ====
This is a full-turn maneuver used
to aim a ranged weapon (or a device
such as a camera or telescope). You
must choose a specific target. You
can’t aim at something that you can’t
see or otherwise detect.

Specify the weapon you’re aiming
with and your target. If you follow an
Aim maneuver with an Attack or All-
Out Attack with the same weapon
against the same target, you get a
bonus to hit. Add the weapon’s
Accuracy (Acc) to your skill, plus any
bonuses for targeting systems used:
sights, targeting computers, etc.
If you brace a firearm or crossbow,
you get an extra +1 to Acc. A firearm
or crossbow is braced if you can rest it
on a sandbag, low wall, car, etc. A onehanded
firearm (e.g., a pistol) is considered
braced if used two-handed. A
two-handed firearm (e.g., a rifle) is
considered braced if you are prone
and using a bipod.

If you Aim for more than one second,
you receive an additional bonus:
+1 for two seconds of Aim, or +2 for
three or more seconds.

Your combined bonus from all targeting
systems (scopes, sights, computers,
etc.) cannot exceed the
weapon’s base Accuracy. For instance,
if you add a telescopic sight that gives
+4 Acc to a pistol with Acc 2, the
bonus is +2, not +4.

Movement: Step. Exception: You cannot step if using a braced, two-handed weapon. \\
Active Defense: Any, but you automatically spoil your aim and lose all accumulated benefits. If you are injured while aiming, you must make a Will roll or lose your aim.

==== EVALUATE ====

This maneuver is the melee combat
equivalent of Aim. It lets you take time
to study an adversary in order to gain
a combat bonus on a subsequent
attack. You must specify one visible
opponent who is close enough to
attack unarmed or with a ready melee
weapon, or whom you could reach
with a single Move and Attack maneuver.
You are sizing him up and looking
for the right moment to strike.

An Evaluate maneuver gives you
+1 to skill for the purpose of an Attack, Feint, All-Out Attack, or Move and
Attack made against that opponent, on
your next turn only. You may take multiple,
consecutive Evaluate maneuvers
before you strike, giving a cumulative
+1 per turn, to a maximum of +3.

Movement: Step. \\
Active Defense: Any. This does not spoil your evaluation.

==== ATTACK ====
Use this maneuver to make an armed or unarmed attack in melee combat, or to use a thrown or missile weapon in ranged combat. To use a weapon to attack, it must be ready. 

If you are using a melee weapon or unarmed attack, your target must be within reach. Resolve the attack as explained under Melee Attacks (pp. 369-372). If you took an Evaluate maneuver (above) last turn, you will have a bonus to hit. If you took a Feint (below), your opponent may have a penalty to defend. 

If you are using a ranged weapon, your target must be within the weapon’s Max range. Resolve the attack according to Ranged Attacks (pp. 372-374). If you took an Aim maneuver (p. 364) last turn, you will have a bonus to hit.

Movement: Step. You may step and then attack or attack and then step – your choice. To move further and still attack, take All-Out Attack or Move and Attack. \\
Active Defense: Any.

==== FEINT ====
“Fake” a melee attack. You cannot Feint someone unless you could have hit him with a melee attack – that is, your weapon is ready and your foe is within reach. This maneuver is not an attack, though, and does not make your weapon unready.

When you Feint, roll a Quick Contest of Melee Weapon skills with
your foe; if either of you is unarmed,
you may roll against an unarmed
combat skill instead. Your opponent
may opt to roll against Cloak or Shield
skill, if he is suitably equipped and this
would give him a better roll. If his DX
is better than his combat skills, he
may roll against DX instead.

If you fail your roll, your Feint is
unsuccessful. Likewise, if you succeed,
but your foe succeeds by as
much as or more than you do, your
Feint fails.

If you make your roll, and your foe
fails, subtract your margin of success
from the foe’s active defense if you
attack him with Attack, All-Out
Attack, or Move and Attack on your
next turn. For instance, if your skill is
15 and you roll a 12, your foe defends
against you at -3 next turn.

If you and your foe both succeed,
but you succeed by more, subtract
your margin of victory from the foe’s
defense. For instance, if your skill is 15
and you roll a 10 (success by 5), and
your foe’s skill is 14 and he rolls 12
(success by 2), you win by 3, so he will
defend at -3 if your next maneuver is
to attack him.

You cannot Feint if your foe is
unable to observe you! However, if
your foe runs away, turns his back on
you, or loses sight of you in some way
after you successfully Feint, he will
still suffer his defense penalty if you
attack him on your next turn. If you
lose track of the foe, or cannot attack
him next turn, your foe’s defense
penalty vanishes.

A Feint is good for one second! But
if you Feint and then make an All-Out
Attack (Double), the feint applies to
both attacks.

In all cases, your allies cannot take
advantage of your Feint. The defense
penalty applies only to your next
attack.

Shield Feints: After you have
attacked your foe once by striking
with your shield (see p. 406), you may
also Feint with your shield, rolling
against Shield skill.

Movement: Step. \\
Active Defense: Any. However, if you Feint and then parry with an unbalanced weapon, you cannot attack on your next turn, making your Feint pointless.

==== ALL-OUT ATTACK ====
Attack any foe with a ready weapon, making no effort to defend against enemy attacks. If you are making a melee attack, you must specify one of these four options before you attack:

• Determined: Make a single attack at +4 to hit!

• Double: Make two attacks against the same foe, if you have two ready weapons or one weapon that does not have to be readied after use. Attacks with a second weapon held in the off hand are at the usual -4 (see Handedness, p. 14) unless you have Ambidexterity (p. 39).

• Feint: Make one Feint (see above) and then one attack against the same foe. The Feint applies to this attack instead of one you make on your next turn.

• Strong: Make a single attack, at normal skill. If you hit, you get +2 to damage – or +1 damage per die, if that would be better. This only applies to melee attacks doing ST-based thrust or swing damage, not to weapons such as force swords. 

If you are making a ranged attack, you must specify one of these two options before you attack: 

• Determined: Make a single attack at +1 to hit.

• Suppression Fire: Take the entire turn to spray an area with automatic fire. This is a full-turn maneuver, and you can only choose this option if your weapon has RoF 5+. See Suppression Fire (p. 409).

Movement: You may move up to half your Move, but you can only move forward. \\
Active Defense: You may make no active defenses at all from the point you take this maneuver until your next turn. If someone attacks you after you make an All-Out attack, all you can do is hope he misses – you can’t dodge, parry, or block!

==== MOVE AND ATTACK ====
Move as described for the Move maneuver (p. 364), but during or after your move, make a single, poorly aimed attack – either unarmed or with a ready weapon. You attack as described for the Attack maneuver (above), but at a penalty. If you are making a ranged attack, you have a penalty of -2 or the weapon’s Bulk rating, whichever is worse – and if you took an Aim, you lose all of its bonuses. If you are making a melee attack other than a slam (p. 371), you have a flat -4 to skill, and your adjusted skill cannot exceed 9.

Movement: As described under the Move maneuver – but since you are trying to do two things at once, you are -2 on any rolls the GM requires to avoid falling, tripping over obstacles, etc. \\
Active Defense: Dodge or block only. You cannot parry and you may not retreat (see Retreat, p. 377).

==== ALL-OUT DEFENSE ====
This is the maneuver to choose
when you’re beset by foes – especially
foes who like All-Out Attacks! You
must specify one of the following two
options:
• Increased Defense: Add +2 to one
active defense of your choice: Dodge,
Parry, or Block. This bonus persists
until your next turn.

• Double Defense: Apply two different
active defenses against the same
attack. If you fail your defense roll
against an attack, you may try a second,
different defense against that
attack. For instance, if you fail a block,
you may try a dodge or a parry. If you
try a parry (armed or unarmed) with
one hand and fail, a parry using the
other hand does count as a “different
defense.”

Movement: If you choose Increased Dodge, you may move up to half your Move. Otherwise, the only movement you may take is a step. \\
Active Defense: You may choose any legal active defense, with bonuses as described above.

==== CONCENTRATE ====
You concentrate on one primarily mental task (even it has a minor physical component, like operating controls, gesturing, or speaking). This may be casting a magical spell, using a psi ability, making a Sense roll to spot an invisible warrior, making a Leadership roll to give orders, making an Electronics Operation roll to operate a sensor, or any similar action, including most IQ-based skill rolls.
This is a full-turn maneuver.

Some activities (e.g., casting spells) require you to take the Concentrate maneuver for multiple seconds. If you are forced to use an active defense, knocked down, injured, or otherwise distracted before you finish, you must make a Will-3 roll. On a failure, you lose your concentration and must start over.

Movement: Step. \\
Active Defense: Any. However, it interferes with concentration as noted above.

==== READY ====
Take a Ready maneuver to pick up
or draw any item and prepare it for
use; e.g., to pull a sword from its
sheath or a gun from its holster, or to
reload a firearm. In some cases, you
may also need a Ready maneuver to
regain control of an unwieldy weapon
after a swing, or to adjust the reach of
a long weapon – see the Melee Weapon
Table (p. 271).

You can use a Ready maneuver to
perform physical actions other than
fighting: opening or closing a door,
picking a lock, digging, lifting, etc.
Continuing activities may require
multiple, consecutive Ready maneuvers;
see Other Actions in Combat
(p. 382).

Finally, a Ready maneuver lets you
switch an advantage “off” or “on” if it
is not always on and does not require
an Attack or Concentrate maneuver to
use.

For more information, see
Readying Weapons and Other Gear
(p. 382) and When Is a Weapon Ready?
(p. 382).

Movement: Step. \\
Active Defense: Any.

==== WAIT ====
Do nothing unless a particular
event you specified in advance
occurs before your next turn; e.g., a
foe moves into range. If that happens,
you may transform your Wait
into an Attack, Feint, All-Out Attack
(you must specify the option before
acting), or Ready maneuver. If you
are reacting to someone else, this
interrupts his turn, but he can
resume it after you’ve acted.

You must specify exactly what your
action will be when you take the Wait
maneuver, and what will trigger it. For
instance, “I’ll make an All-Out Attack
(Determined) with my sword on the
first orc to move toward me.”

You may take a Wait with a ready
ranged weapon; this is known as “covering”
a target or area. If so, you must
specify the zone that you are covering
with that weapon. There is no penalty
to cover a one-yard area. For larger
areas and additional rules, see
Opportunity Fire (p. 390).

You can use the Wait maneuver
for any “reflex action” you want to
plan in advance, provided you specify
both the response and the action
that will trigger it. This can include
holding a knife at a hostage’s throat,
or even a noncombat action (e.g., “If
Dora sees any orcs, she will pull this
rope immediately – otherwise, she
does nothing.”). An action only qualifies
as a “reflex” if you could do it in
a single motion. The GM’s decision is
final.

Finally, you can use Wait to coordinate
actions with slower friends.

Stop Thrust: If you have a ready
thrusting weapon, you can use a
Wait to brace your weapon to receive
a possible enemy charge. Simply
state, “I brace for a stop thrust.” You
can convert your Wait into an Attack
or All-Out Attack against any one foe
that moves one or more yards
toward you to make a melee attack
(armed or unarmed, including a
slam or a grapple) or evade (see
Evading, p. 368). You strike first if
you have the longer reach. If you hit
and your foe fails to defend, add +1
to thrust damage for every two full
yards your attacker moved toward
you.

Movement: None until your Wait is
triggered. At that point, you may move
as allowed by the maneuver you specified
(Attack, Feint, All-Out Attack, or
Ready). \\
Active Defense: You may defend
normally while you are waiting or
after your Wait is triggered. But if you
defend while taking a Wait, you may
not transform your Wait into an All-
Out Attack; you must convert your
Wait into an Attack instead.

====All-Out Ready====
You take a Ready maneuver, making no effort to defend against enemy attacks. If the action in question requires a roll, such as a setup maneuver for a technique or readying an item while grappling, then you get +4 to DX-based rolls or +2 to ST-based rolls.

//Movement//: You may remain stationary, turn in place to face any hex, or run forward. If you turn or move forward, you may perform the desired action at any point during or after the move. If you move forward, you may move up to two hexes or expend movement points equal to half your Move (round up), whichever is more, and may not change facing at the end of your move.

//Active Defense//: None! You may make no active defenses between when you take this maneuver and your next turn.

====Move and Ready====
Move as described for the Move maneuver, but also take one poorly coordinated action from ones listed under the Ready maneuver. This requires a DX-2 roll; failure means you fail to perform the Ready action, but still suffer the defensive penalties for this maneuver. Failure by 5+ or a critical failure means that you drop the object you were readying, spill the potion you were trying to drink, or fumble your action in a similar way. If the Ready action was to turn an ability on or off, then make a Will-2 roll instead.

//Movement//: You receive movement points equal to your current Move score – but trying to do two things at once gives you ‑2 on all rolls to avoid falling down, and to avoid obstacles or traps.

//Active Defense//: Any – but you cannot parry or block with the object you’ve just readied, and you cannot retreat.


===== MOVEMENT AND COMBAT =====

Basic movement does not require a
game board. Instead, the GM should
have a general idea of the environment,
and mentally keep track of relative
distances between combatants or
objects – possibly referring to maps,
notes, or diagrams. Should the players
ask about reach or distance (“I want to
run up and swing at him... how far
away is he?”), the GM’s judgment is
final.

Since movement and facing issues
are in the GM’s head, it’s up to the GM
how much detail to give the players.
The GM might carefully keep track of
every yard of movement, taking notes
on paper... or he might only worry
about exact distances when they are
of vital importance. Most GMs will
want to adopt a middle ground. For
example:

GM: “You see Indigo Joe 90 yards
north of you. He’s at the edge of the
cemetery, crouched behind a tombstone,
aiming his laser rifle at Kim.”

Player: “Damn, he spotted us. Is
there any cover nearby? I want to run
toward it.”

GM: “An outcropping of rock starts
7 yards to your northwest, and there
are some trees about 10 yards to the
east. Your helicopter is parked 10
yards behind you, if you want to fall
back.”

Player: “No way! Kim will use a
Move and Attack. She runs her full
Move toward the rocks, while firing at
Indigo Joe with her Gauss rifle.”

GM: “Fine. You have Move 5?
Okay, you’re now 2 yards from cover.
Now it’s Joe’s turn. He fires an aimed
shot . . .”

The GM should always provide
enough detail to give the players tactical
choices, but not so much as to
overwhelm them. If things get confusing,
a sketch map with a few notes can
often help. Groups that desire more
detail than that should consider using
the tactical combat system in Chapter
12 – or at least adopting some of those
rules to add extra detail to the guidelines
given here.

Here are a few “rules of thumb” for
movement and combat. See Mounted
Combat (p. 396) and Vehicles (p. 462)
for notes on mounted and vehicular
combat, respectively.

==== MOVEMENT ====
A combatant can move a maximum
number of yards equal to his full
Move score if he took a Move or Move
and Attack maneuver. He can move up
to half his Move if he chose an All-Out
Attack or All Out Defense (Increased
Dodge) maneuver.

Obstacles and bad footing will
generally slow movement. The GM
decides how many yards of movement
a fighter must give up to cover one
yard of difficult terrain or to cross a
given obstacle. For instance, tangled
brush might cut Move in half, while
climbing over a fallen body might cost
an extra yard of movement.

You can move while in almost any
posture, but you only get your full
Move if standing. You have 1/3 your
Move while crawling or kneeling – and
you have a flat Move 1 while lying
down (belly crawl or rolling). You cannot
move at all while sitting!

====STEP====
Most maneuvers allow you to take
a step, either before or after another
action. You may step a distance equal
to 1/10 your Move, but never less than
one yard. Round all fractions up.
Thus, Move 1-10 gives a one-yard step,
Move 11-20 gives a two-yard step, and
so on.

If you are capable of steps greater
than one yard, you may break up your
movement in a turn. For instance, if
you had a two-yard step, you could
move one yard, make an attack, and
move another yard during an Attack
maneuver.

You can use a step to go from a
kneeling to a standing posture (or vice
versa) instead of moving. This requires
your entire step, no matter how far
you could normally move.

You may always turn to face a different
direction as part of any step (or
as the step, if you just want to change
your facing).
====SPACING====
A human-sized fighter needs about
one yard (3’) of space; thus, two warriors
could move down a passage two
yards wide shoulder-to-shoulder – or
hold it against a foe. A doorway is
about one yard wide, so a single person
could hold it. All this assumes
room to attack and defend.
Noncombatants could be packed in
much more tightly, but they would
have no room to react.

====MOVING THROUGH OTHER CHARACTERS====
You can always move through
space occupied by your allies in combat,
and you can run around an adversary
who does not completely block
your path (see Spacing, above). But if
the GM rules that the only way past an
opponent is through him, you must
either bowl him over (see Slam,
p. 371) or “evade” him.

===Evading===
“Evading” is moving through
ground occupied by an opponent
without trying to knock him down.
You can attempt this as part of any
maneuver that allows movement, provided
you can move fast enough to go
past your foe – not just up to him.
First, ask if your foe is trying to
stop you. If he chooses to let you past,
you “evade” him automatically – no
roll is needed. If your foe wants to stop
you, roll a Quick Contest of DX.

Modify your DX as follows:
  * -5 if your foe is standing up.
  * -2 if your foe is kneeling.
  * +2 if you are approaching your foe from his right or left side.
  * +5 if you are approaching your foe from behind.
  * +5 if your foe is lying down.

If you win, you evade him and are
free to move on. If you lose or tie, he
got in your way and stopped you.

You cannot evade anyone while
you are being grappled (see Grappling,
p. 370). You cannot evade a foe if there
is no logical way you could avoid hitting
him, either (GM’s decision)...
but note that huge creatures can step
over smaller ones, while small creatures
can duck between the legs of
larger ones!

On the other hand, if you can use
an advantage such as Flight or Super
Jump to move up and over the foe’s
reach in the vertical plane, you can
evade him automatically!

====CROUCHING====
If you are in a standing position,
you can elect to crouch at the beginning
of your turn, as part of any
maneuver. If you don’t move, or if you
only step, you may also crouch after
performing another action such as
attacking or readying. However, you
may not move more than a step and
then crouch at the end of your movement
to avoid attacks – not in one second!
But if you are already crouching,
you may leave your crouch at any time
as a free action.

=====ATTACKING=====

An “attack” is an attempt to hit a
foe or other target. If you execute an
Attack, All-Out Attack, or Move and
Attack maneuver (or convert a Wait
into any of these), you may try to hit a
foe. You can only attack with a
weapon if it’s ready (see Ready, p. 366).
The GM always has the option of
ruling, for any reason having to do
with the situation, that some fighters
cannot attack certain opponents. For
instance, eight attackers could not hit
one human-sized foe at the same time.
(Even three or four attackers at once
would be unlikely, unless their victim
had no allies!)

There are two basic types
of attacks: melee attacks (pp. 369-372)
and ranged attacks (pp. 372-374).
Your target must be within reach
if you’re making a melee attack, or
within range if you’re making a
ranged attack. Resolving either type of
attack takes three die rolls:

  * First is your attack roll. If your roll is successful, your attack was a good one.
  * Now your foe must make a defense roll to see if he can defend against your blow. If he makes this roll, he evaded or stopped the attack, and is not hit.
  * If he misses his defense roll, your blow struck home and you roll for damage.

Some advantages (e.g., Extra
Attack) and combat options (see All-
Out Attack, p. 365, and Rapid Strike,
p. 370) let you attack more than once.
Resolve such attacks one at a time.

====ATTACK ROLL====
Your “attack roll” is a regular success
roll – see Chapter 10. Figure your
effective skill (base skill plus or minus
any appropriate modifiers) with the
weapon you are using.

If your roll is less than or equal to
your “effective” skill, your attack will
hit unless your foe successfully
defends (see Defending, p. 374). If he
fails to defend – or if he can’t – you’ve
hit him.

If your roll is greater than your
effective skill, you missed!
No matter what your effective skill,
a roll of 3 or 4 always hits, and is a
“critical hit”; see Critical Hits (p. 381).
A roll of 17 or 18 always misses.

=====MELEE ATTACKS=====

When you take a maneuver that
lets you make a melee attack, you
must specify who you are attacking,
and with what weapon. You can make
a melee attack using any ready melee
weapon (including a natural weapon
such as a kick, bite, or punch) against
any target that is within reach.

You can use some weapons in
more than one way; e.g., you can
swing or thrust with a shortsword.
Such weapons have multiple lines on
the Melee Weapon Table (p. 271). When
you attack with a weapon like this,
you must indicate how you are using
it before you roll.

====To Hit====
Figure your adjusted chance to hit
by:

  * 1. Taking your base skill with the weapon or unarmed attack you are using.
  * 2. Applying all conditional modifiers for your maneuver, situation, posture, and the target’s visibility. A  
detailed list appears under Melee Attack Modifiers (p. 547).
  * The result is your effective skill. A roll of this number or less is a successful attack roll. It will hit, unless the target succeeds with an active defense.
===Ready Weapons===
A one-handed weapon is ready if
it’s being held in your hand. A two-handed
weapon is ready if you are
gripping it with both hands. Some
unwieldy weapons (e.g., the great axe)
become unready after each attack
unless you are extremely strong; see
the Melee Weapon Table to learn which
weapons are unwieldy, and their ST
requirements (always marked ‡).

To draw a new weapon from a
sheath, scabbard, or sling, or to ready
an unwieldy weapon that became
unready after an attack, you must take
a Ready maneuver (p. 366).

A natural weapon (punch, kick,
etc.) is always ready unless the body
part in question is occupied or
restrained; e.g., you can’t punch if you
are holding a weapon with the same
hand, or bite while wearing a full-face
helmet or gripping something with
your teeth.

===Reach===
A melee weapon can only attack a
target that is within its reach (measured
in yards), as given on the Melee
Weapon Table. Most weapons have a
reach of 1, which means you must be
adjacent to your target (that is, within
one yard of him). Reach plays a much
larger role if using a game board; see
Chapter 12.
==== MELEE ATTACK OPTIONS ====
Before making a melee attack, you
may specify some additional options.
===Hit Location===
It is assumed that you are attacking
the target’s center of mass (the torso,
on a human), unless you specify otherwise.
If you wish to target another
body part (e.g., the head), see Hit
Location (p. 398). If you choose to
attack his weapon, see Striking at
Weapons (p. 400).
===Deceptive Attack===
You may designate any melee
attack as “deceptive” before you roll to
hit. A Deceptive Attack is intended to
get past an opponent’s defenses
through sheer skill. You can use this
option to represent any number of
advanced fighting techniques.

For every -2 you accept to your
own skill, your foe suffers a -1 penalty
on his active defenses against this
attack. You may not reduce your final
effective skill below 10 with a
Deceptive Attack, which normally limits
it to skilled fighters.

The GM may opt to speed play by
limiting Deceptive Attacks to a flat -4
to skill, giving the target -2 on his
active defenses.

===Rapid Strike===
A Rapid Strike is a melee attack
executed swiftly enough that you get
one extra attack. You must take an
Attack or All-Out Attack maneuver,
and you must use a ready weapon to
make the extra attack. Make two
attacks, both at -6 to skill. You can target
multiple opponents this way.
If you already have multiple
attacks, for whatever reason, you can
replace one of them (and only one!)
with two attacks at -6.

====UNARMED COMBAT====
Sometimes you have to fight without
weapons, or with improvised
weapons. This is unarmed combat.
Anyone can engage in unarmed combat,
but certain skills make you a more
effective unarmed fighter. For this
purpose:

  * Striking skills are Boxing (p. 182), Brawling (p. 182), and Karate (p. 203).
  * Grappling skills are Judo (p. 203), Sumo Wrestling (p. 223), and Wrestling (p. 228).
===Striking===
See the Melee Weapon Table (p. 271)
for the reach, damage, etc., of punches,
kicks, bites, and other unarmed
strikes. For additional options, see
Sample Combat Techniques (p. 230)
and Special Unarmed Combat Techniques (p. 403). And see Hurting Yourself (p. 379) for the effects of striking
an armored target barehanded...

===Grabbing===
You can grab something a foe is holding, like a weapon. To do so, you must have an empty hand (but some
weapons, such as whips, can also grab). Make an attack using DX or a grappling skill, with the usual penalty
to hit the hand (-4). Your opponent defends normally. If you hit, you’ve grabbed hold of your foe’s weapon. On subsequent turns, you may try to wrest it from him. Each attempt is a full-turn maneuver. Roll a Regular Contest of
ST. If you win, you take his weapon away. If you lose, you lose your grip on his weapon.
===Grappling===
“Grappling” is an attempt to grab your foe’s body. You must have at least one empty hand. On a game board,
you must also move into your foe’s hex (“close combat”). Each attempt requires an Attack, All-Out Attack, or Move and Attack maneuver. Roll against basic DX or a grappling skill to hit. Your foe may defend normally – he can parry, dodge, or block. You may Evaluate or Feint beforehand to improve your odds of success.

Grappling does no damage, but if you successfully hit, the foe has -4 to DX as long as you’re holding on. He
may not move away until he breaks free (see Actions After Being Grappled, p. 371) or you let go. Exception: If you
grapple a foe of more than twice your ST, you do not prevent him from moving away – you’re just extra encumbrance
for him!

You may grapple with any or all of your arms. If you grapple with more than two arms, each arm beyond the
first two gives a bonus of +2 to hit. An arm committed to grappling cannot make unarmed parries until you let
go. Letting go is a free action on your turn.

If you are holding onto your foe with all your arms, the only further attacks you can make are those listed
under Actions After a Grapple, below. 

Posture: To grapple a prone, kneeling, or sitting opponent, you must kneel or lie down yourself, unless his
Size Modifier is two or more greater than yours. You may do this as part of the “step” component of an Attack
maneuver.

Hit Location: The rules above
assume that you are grappling the
torso. To grab another body part,
apply half the penalty given under Hit
Location (p. 398) to your roll; see
Grappling and Hit Location, p. 400. If
you hit, your foe has -4 to DX only
when using that body part. You could
grab a weapon arm or hand (to disarm
your victim), a leg (to trip him), or the
neck (to strangle him). If you grab an
arm or hand, you cannot snatch a
weapon away, but you can force your
foe to drop it by winning a Regular
Contest of ST – roll once per turn, as
explained under Grabbing (above).
For a related technique, see Arm Lock
(p. 230).

====Actions After a Grapple====
Once you have grappled a foe, you
may attempt the following moves on
subsequent turns (provided your
opponent does not break free!). Each
action requires an Attack or All-Out
Attack maneuver.

===Takedown===
This is an attempt to bear your
opponent to the ground. You may only
try this on a standing foe. Roll a Quick
Contest, with each contestant using
the highest of ST, DX, or his best grappling
skill. If you are not standing, you
have a penalty equal to the usual
penalty to hit for your posture. If you
win, your victim falls down next to
you (on a game board, he falls in your
hex and any adjacent hex of your
choice). If he was grappling you, he
loses his grip. If you lose, you suffer
the same effects! On a tie, nothing
happens.

===Pin===
You may only attempt a pin if your
foe is on the ground and you are grappling
his torso. Roll a Regular Contest
of Strength. The larger fighter gets +3
for every point by which his Size
Modifier exceeds that of his foe. The
fighter with the most free hands gets
+3. If you win, your foe is pinned and
helpless. You must stay there to hold
him down, but you can free one of
your hands for other actions. If you
lose or tie, nothing happens.
===Choke or Strangle===
You must have grappled your foe
by the neck. You must normally use
your hands, and can’t do anything else
with them (e.g., parry) while holding
on – but if you have the Constriction
Attack advantage (p. 43), you can use
your body instead. Roll a Quick
Contest: your ST vs. the higher of your
foe’s ST or HT. You are at -5 if you use
only one hand, but at +2 per hand
after the first two. If your Size
Modifier exceeds your foe’s, you can
grapple and squeeze his torso instead,
in which case you roll at -5 unless you
have Constriction Attack. If you win,
your foe takes crushing damage equal
to your margin of victory. DR protects
normally. Multiply injury to the neck
by 1.5. If any damage – even blunt
trauma (p. 379) – penetrates the victim’s
DR, you also start to suffocate
him! On his next turn and every subsequent
turn until he escapes, he loses
1 FP; see Suffocation (p. 436).

===Choke Hold===
If you have Judo or Wrestling skill,
you may try to apply a hold that can
incapacitate without crushing the
throat or torso. See Choke Hold
(p. 404).
===Arm Lock===
If you have Judo or Wrestling skill,
you may try to apply a lock to restrain
or cripple your opponent’s arm. See
Arm Lock (p. 403).
===Neck Snap or Wrench Limb===
If you grappled your foe’s neck or
skull, or a limb or other extremity, you
can twist. See Neck Snap or Wrench
Limb (p. 404).
===Other Actions===
You can bite or use a Striker (provided
it has reach C) even if all your
hands are busy. If you’re not using a
hand to grapple your foe, you can use
it to Attack or All-Out Attack (either
unarmed or with a reach C weapon),
or to take a Ready maneuver. You cannot
Aim, Feint, Concentrate, Wait, or
make ranged attacks unless you’ve
pinned your foe. You may also perform
the following free actions:

  * Release your grip. Let go of the foe, if you are grappling or pinning him. Or you can release just one hand
– but this makes it easier for him to escape.
  * Throw away a ready weapon. This automatically succeeds and takes no time. You may do this to get a useless weapon out of your way, or to deprive the foe of a chance to grab a useful weapon (e.g., a blackjack) from you.
  * Drag or carry your victim. If you’ve pinned your foe, you can move or step normally, dragging or carrying him; see Lifting and Moving Things (p. 353) for how much you can lift or drag. He counts as encumbrance, reducing your Move. If you haven’t pinned him, moving away from him means you automatically release your grip unless you have at least twice his ST. If you’re that strong, you can pull or carry him with you!

====Actions After Being Grappled====
If you have been grappled, you cannot take a Move maneuver unless
you have at least twice your foe’s ST. Aim, Feint, Concentrate, and Wait
maneuvers – and ranged attacks – are completely impossible. If you are
pinned, you can’t take any maneuver that requires physical movement!
Otherwise, you can do the following:
===Attack or All-Out Attack===
You can take either maneuver, with certain limitations. You cannot
use any limb that has been grappled – or bite, if your neck or head was
grappled. You’re limited to unarmed attacks (striking or grappling) or
attacks using weapons with reach C. You can stab with a dagger, but
not swing a sword!
===Ready===
You can Ready an item if you have a hand free, but you must make
a DX roll. Failure means you drop the item. Ready maneuvers to switch
advantages off and on succeed automatically.
===Break Free===
If you are grappled, you cannot move away until you break free by
winning a Quick Contest of ST. Your foe has +5 if he is grappling you
with two hands. If he has you pinned, he rolls at +10 if using two hands
or at +5 if using only one, and you may only attempt to break free once
every 10 seconds. If either of you has three or more arms, each arm
beyond the first two gives +2. If your foe is stunned, he rolls at -4; if he
falls unconscious, you are automatically free! If you successfully break
free, you may immediately move one yard in any direction.

====Slam====
You can deliberately collide with
an opponent. This requires an Attack,
All-Out Attack, or Move and Attack
maneuver. Roll against DX, Brawling,
or Sumo Wrestling to hit. Note that
the -4 to hit and effective skill cap of 9
for a Move and Attack do not apply to
slams.

Your foe may block, dodge, or
parry (but your body counts as a
heavy weapon; see Parrying Heavy
Weapons, p. 376). If your foe dodges,
you must move at least two yards past
him if you have enough movement. If
you would hit someone else, see
Hitting the Wrong Target (p. 389).
If you hit, you and your foe each
inflict dice of crushing damage on the
other equal to (HP ¥ velocity)/100.
“Velocity” is usually just the number
of yards you moved this turn – but in
a head-on collision, add the distance
your foe moved toward you on his last
turn (that is, use relative velocity).
If damage is less than 1d, treat fractions
up to 0.25 as 1d-3, fractions up
to 0.5 as 1d-2, and any larger fraction
as 1d-1. Otherwise, round fractions of
0.5 or more up to a full die. You can
use All-Out Attack (Strong) to increase
your damage!
If your damage roll equals or
exceeds that of your foe, he must
make a DX roll or fall down. You
knock him down automatically if you
roll twice his damage or more. If he
rolls twice your damage or more,
though, you fall down instead!
If your opponent dodged and you
went past him and hit a solid obstacle,
apply your damage roll to yourself
(and to the obstacle, if it matters).
You can also slam with a vehicle or
mount. Roll against your vehicle-operation
skill to hit with a vehicle, or
Riding skill to hit with a mount.
Figure damage based on the HP of
your vehicle or mount.
For additional rules and special
cases, see Collisions and Falls (p. 430).

Flying Tackle: As slam, but you
must have at least two legs and one
arm free – most animals and vehicles
can’t do this! A flying tackle gives you
+4 to hit and an extra yard of reach,
and you may opt to roll against
Jumping skill to hit. However, whether
you succeed or fail, you end up lying
down (in the same hex as your foe, if
you are using a combat map).
Pounce: As flying tackle, but you
must have four or more legs. After you
attack, make a DX, Acrobatics, or
Jumping roll. On a success, you stay
on your feet! This is how some animals
attack, especially cats: they
knock down their foe and then claw or
bite. If a mount tries this, the rider
must roll vs. Riding-4 or fall off!
Shield Rush: As slam, but you
must have a shield. Roll against
Shield skill to hit, and add your
shield’s Defense Bonus to your damage
roll. Your shield takes damage
instead of you, but you still fall down
if your opponent rolls twice your
basic damage or more.
Shove
You can shove a foe with one or
both arms. Roll against DX or Sumo
Wrestling to hit. Your foe may block,
dodge, or parry. If you hit, roll
thrust/crushing damage – at -1 per die,
if you used only one hand – and double
it. This inflicts knockback (see
Knockback, p. 378), but never actual
physical injury.

RANGED ATTACKS

A “ranged attack” is any attack
with a weapon used at a distance,
from a thrown rock to a laser rifle.
This includes Missile spells and the
Affliction, Binding, and Innate Attack
advantages (unless given the Aura,
Malediction, or Melee Attack modifiers).
Most other spells and advantages
are not considered ranged
attacks.
Range
You can only make a ranged attack
on a target that falls within your
weapon’s range. To find this, see the
relevant weapon table or advantage or
spell description. Most ranged attacks
list Half Damage (1/2D) range and
Maximum (Max) range, in yards. Your
target must be no farther away than
Max range; 1/2D range only affects
damage.
A few weapons have a minimum
range, as they lob projectiles in a high
arc, or have fusing or guidance limits.
When using a weapon like this, your
target can’t be any closer than the
minimum range.
To Hit
Figure your adjusted chance to hit
by:
1. Taking your base skill with your
ranged weapon.
2. Adding your weapon’s Accuracy
(Acc) if you preceded your attack with
an Aim maneuver.
3. Applying the target’s Size
Modifier (SM). See Size Modifier
(p. 19).
4. Modifying for the target’s range
and speed (done as a single modifier),
from the Size and Speed/Range Table
(p. 550).
5. Modifying for circumstances
(rapid fire, movement, darkness,
cover, etc.), including any special conditions
determined by the GM. See
Ranged Attack Modifiers (p. 548) for a
summary.
The result is your effective skill. A
roll of this number or less is a successful
attack roll. It will hit, unless
the target succeeds with an active
defense.
Accuracy and
Aimed Fire
All ranged weapons have an
Accuracy (Acc) statistic. This is the
bonus you get if you take one or more
Aim maneuvers immediately before
you attack.
When you Aim, you can receive
other bonuses for extra seconds of
aim, bracing your weapon, or using a
scope or a laser sight. These benefits
are discussed under Aim (p. 364) and
summarized under Ranged Combat
Modifiers (p. 548). The sum of Acc and
all extra aimed-fire bonuses can never
exceed twice the base Acc of the
attack.
Size Modifier
A human-sized target has a Size
Modifier (SM) of 0; there is no bonus
or penalty to hit. Larger targets have a
positive SM, while smaller targets
have a negative SM. Add SM to your
skill. The SM of a character or a vehicle
appears on its character sheet or
vehicle description. For other objects,
use the Size and Speed/Range Table
(p. 550).
Target’s Range
and Speed
A distant target is harder to hit. As
a rule of thumb, a target up to 2 yards
away is close enough that there’s no
penalty to hit. At 3 yards, you have -1
to hit; at up to 5 yards, -2; at up to 7
yards, -3; at up to 10 yards, -4; and so
on, with each approximately 50%
increase in range giving a further -1
to hit.
Consult the Speed/Range column
of the Size and Speed/Range Table
(p. 550) to find the exact penalty. For
ranges that fall between two values on
the table, use the larger penalty. For
very distant targets, the table also provides
the equivalent range in miles.
Example: Infinity Patrol agent
Jenny Atkins is shooting on the firing
range. The target is 17 yards (50’)
away. This rounds up to 20 yards, for
-6 to hit.
A fast-moving target is also harder
to hit. Consult the same column of the
table, but use speed in yards per second
(2 mph = 1 yard/second) instead
of range in yards to find the penalty.
If the target is both distant and fast
moving, add range (in yards) to speed
(in yards per second), and look up the
total in the Speed/Range column to
find the penalty to hit. (Do not look up
the range and speed penalties separately
and add them together! Great
range mitigates the effects of speed,
and vice versa.)
Examples: Agent Atkins fires her
pistol at a Centrum spy who is making
a getaway on a speeding motorcycle.
Her target is 50 yards away and


traveling at 60 mph, or Move 30. This
is a speed/range of 50 + 30 = 80. Per
the Size and Speed/Range Table, this
gives -10 to hit.
Ranged Attacks
on Human Targets
When using a ranged weapon
against a target moving at human
speeds – anything up to Move 10 – you
may simplify the calculation by using
just a range modifier and neglecting
speed (unless the target is flying,
sprinting, or something similar).
Assume that the target’s ability to take
a dodge defense adequately represents
the effects of movement.
THROWN
WEAPON
ATTACKS
“Thrown weapons” are weapons
you must physically hurl at the target:
rocks, hand grenades, ninja stars
(shuriken), etc. You can also throw
certain melee weapons, such as hatchets,
knives, and spears. See the
Muscle-Powered Ranged Weapon Table
(p. 275) for statistics and skills
required. See Chapter 13 for the
effects of grenades and incendiaries.
Treat a thrown weapon just like
any other ranged attack, with a few
special rules:
• Once you throw a weapon, it’s no
longer ready! Hit or miss, your
weapon is now somewhere else. If you
want to attack again, you’ll have to go
fetch your weapon (from the ground
. . . or your foe’s body) or ready a new
one.
• The range of a thrown weapon is
usually a multiple of your ST; e.g.,
“ST¥2.” This is given on the Muscle-
Powered Ranged Weapon Table for
many common thrown weapons. To
determine range (and damage) for
anything not listed there, see
Throwing (p. 355).
• A thrown weapon travels fairly
slowly. Your target has the option of
using a block or a parry active defense
instead of a dodge. Success by 5+ (or
critical success) with an unarmed
parry means your target has caught
the weapon!
MISSILE
WEAPON
ATTACKS
“Missile weapons” are ranged
attacks other than thrown weapons:
bows, firearms, Missile spells, ranged
Innate Attacks, and so on. They fall
into two broad categories.
Muscle-Powered Missile Weapons:
These include bows, slings, and crossbows.
As with thrown weapons, your
range and damage are determined by
your ST – or in the case of a bow or a
crossbow, by the weapon’s ST. See the
Muscle-Powered Ranged Weapon Table
(p. 275) for details.
Firearms: These include guns,
beam weapons, and self-propelled
projectiles. See the Firearms Table
(pp. 278-280) for statistics and special
rules for all types of high-tech missile
weapons – from black-powder
weapons through contemporary guns
and on to science-fiction weapons
such as lasers.
Rate of Fire
All missile weapons have a Rate of
Fire (RoF) statistic. If RoF is 1, the
weapon can fire one shot per attack. If
RoF is 2 or more, the weapon is capable
of firing more than one shot per
attack; see Rapid Fire (below).
Examples: A bow has RoF 1; it can
fire one shot per attack. A .38 revolver
has RoF 3; it can fire up to three shots
per attack. A machine gun has RoF 10;
it can fire up to 10 shots per attack . . .
but this is still one attack roll, not 10
separate attacks!
Reloading and Shots
Missile weapons also have a Shots
statistic. Once you have fired this
many shots, you must reload before
you can fire the weapon again.
Reloading requires a number of
Ready maneuvers; see Readying
Weapons and Other Gear (p. 382). The
time required to reload appears in
parentheses after the weapon’s Shots
entry in the weapon tables.
Reloading restores the weapon’s
full number of shots. If a weapon has
only one shot, this represents loading
a new one. If it has multiple shots, this
represents changing the magazine,
belt, etc. The exception to this is multishot
weapons that have cylinders,
hoppers, or internal magazines. Their
loading time is designated “i” (for
“individually loaded”), and is per shot
(unless sped up by some mechanism,
such as a speed loader).
Examples: A bow has Shots 1(2); it
can fire one arrow, after which it takes
the archer two seconds to prepare
another. A .38 revolver has Shots 6(3i);
it can fire six shots, after which each
shot takes 3 seconds to reload. A
machine gun has Shots 200(5); it can
fire 200 shots, after which it takes 5
seconds to change the belt.
Rapid Fire
Some missile weapons have RoF 2
or more. This means they can fire
multiple shots per attack, up to a maximum
equal to their RoF. For example,
a .38 revolver with RoF 3 could
fire 1, 2, or 3 shots per attack. Of
course, you can never fire more shots
than your weapon currently has
remaining, regardless of its RoF.
Rapid-fire weapons use the Recoil
(Rcl) statistic, which measures how
controllable the weapon is when firing
multiple shots. Rcl helps determine
the number of hits a rapid-fire attack
can inflict. The lower the Rcl, the easier
the weapon is to control. Rcl 1
means the weapon is recoilless, like
most beam weapons.
If a weapon has RoF 2 or more,
you must decide how many shots (up
to RoF) you wish to fire before you
make your attack roll. Firearms fired
at RoF 1-3 are firing one shot per trigger
pull; those fired at RoF 4+ are
usually firing “full auto” like a
machine gun – either in short bursts
or continuously.
Firing a large number of shots per
attack gives a bonus to hit, as shown
on this table:
Shots Bonus to Hit
2-4 +0
5-8 +1
9-12 +2
13-16 +3
17-24 +4
25-49 +5
50-99 +6
each ¥2 +1 to hit

Rapid fire may score multiple hits
from a single attack. A successful
attack means you scored at least one
hit – and possibly a number of extra
hits, up to a maximum equal to the
number of shots you fired. To find the
number of hits you scored, compare
your margin of success on the attack
roll to your weapon’s Recoil.
An attack scores one extra hit for
every full multiple of Recoil by which
you make your attack roll. The total
number of hits cannot exceed shots
fired. For instance, if your attack had
Rcl 2, success by 0-1 would mean one
hit; success by 2-3, one extra hit; success
by 4-5, two extra hits; success by
6-7, three extra hits; and so on.
High-RoF weapons (those with
RoF 5+) can also spread fire among
multiple targets (see Spraying Fire,
p. 409) or fire lots of shots to “suppress”
an area (see Suppression Fire,
p. 409). Other special rules apply to
rapid fire with certain weapons – see
Special Rules for Rapid Fire (p. 408).

DEFENDING

If you make your attack roll, you
have not (yet) actually struck your foe,
unless you rolled a critical hit. Your
attack is good enough to hit him – if he
fails to defend.
There are three “active defenses”
that a fighter can use to evade or ward
off an attack: Dodge (see Dodging,
below), Parry (see Parrying, p. 376),
and Block (see Blocking, p. 375). You
should calculate these active defense
scores in advance and record them on
your character sheet.
An active defense is a deliberate
attempt to avoid a particular attack.
It’s only possible if the defender is
aware of the possibility of an attack
from his assailant and is free to react
. . . by moving out of the way of the
attack (a dodge), deflecting the attack
with a weapon or empty hand (a
parry), or interposing a shield (a
block).
If a foe makes a successful attack
roll against you, you may choose one
active defense and attempt a “defense
roll” against it. Exception: The All-Out
Defense (Double Defense) maneuver
lets you attempt a second defense
against a particular attack if your first
defense fails.
The active defense you choose
depends on your situation – especially
the maneuver you chose last turn.
Some maneuvers restrict the active
defenses you can make. Notably, if you
made an All-Out Attack, you have no
active defense.
You also get no active defense if
you’re unaware of the attack.
Examples of situations in which no
active defense is possible include a
stab in the back from a “friend,” a surprise
sniper’s shot, and a totally unexpected
booby trap. And you get no
active defense if you are unconscious,
immobilized, or otherwise unable to
react.
ACTIVE DEFENSE
ROLLS
The defender rolls 3d against his
active defense score. If his roll is less
than or equal to his effective defense,
he dodged, parried, or blocked the
attack. Otherwise, his active defense
was ineffective and the attack struck
home. If this occurs, roll for damage.
An active defense roll of 3 or 4 is
always successful – even if your effective
defense score was only 1 or 2! A
roll of 17 or 18 always fails.
Your foe does not get to attempt a
defense roll if you rolled a critical hit
against him.
Several modifiers apply to active
defense rolls; see below for explanations
of a few of these. For a complete
list of modifiers, see Active Defense
Modifiers (p. 548).
Injury and
Active Defenses
If you are stunned, any active
defense is at -4. Active defenses never
take a penalty for shock, however. For
more on stunning and shock, see
Effects of Injury (p. 380).
Shields and
Defense Bonus
If you have a ready shield, add its
Defense Bonus (DB) to any Dodge,
Parry, or Block roll against an attack
that came from in front of you or from
your shield side.
Defense Bonus is 1 for a small
shield, light cloak, and most improvised
shields; 2 for a medium shield or
heavy cloak; and 3 for a large shield or
force shield. The Shield spell (p. 252)
gives a DB of 1-4.
A shield’s DB adds to active defense
rolls against melee attacks, thrown
weapons, and muscle-powered missile
weapons – not against firearms
(unless the GM wishes to use the
optional Damage to Shields rules,
p. 484).
Retreating and
Dropping Prone
In some situations, you may give
ground or drop prone for a bonus to
your Dodge, Parry, or Block score. See
Active Defense Options (p. 377).
DODGING
A “dodge” is an active attempt to
move out of the perceived path of an
attack. This is often the best defense
when you’re not skilled with your
weapon and you have no shield, when
you’re attacked multiple times, or
when your foe has such a powerful
weapon that you fear parrying or
blocking it may destroy your weapon
or shield.
Dodge is normally the only active
defense you can take against firearms.
This does not mean you can actually
dodge bullets! A dodge against this
kind of attack represents an attempt
not to be where you think your opponent
will shoot, by weaving or ducking
at the right moment.
Your Dodge active defense is Basic
Speed + 3, dropping all fractions, less
a penalty equal to your encumbrance
level (see Encumbrance and Move,
p. 17). List Dodge on your character
sheet for quick reference.
You may dodge any attack except
one that you did not know about! You
only get one Dodge roll against a given
attack.

If a single rapid-fire attack scores
multiple hits, a successful Dodge roll
lets you avoid one hit, plus additional
hits equal to your margin of success. A
critical success lets you dodge all hits
you took from that attack.
Example: A machine gun gets four
hits against you. Your Dodge is 10.
You roll an 8, succeeding by 2. You
dodge three of the hits; only one bullet
strikes you.
You only get one active defense
against each attack, unless you use All-
Out Defense (Double Defense), but
there is no limit to the number of
times you may dodge different attacks
during your turn.
Acrobatic Dodge
If you have put at least one point
into the Acrobatics skill, you can try a
“fancy” dodge once during your turn.
You may define this as jumping over a
sword blow, cartwheeling away, or
whatever else you like. Make an
Acrobatics roll before you attempt
your Dodge roll. (If flying, roll against
Aerobatics instead.) On a success, you
get +2 to that Dodge roll. On a failure,
you get -2.
You can combine this option with a
retreat (see Retreat, p. 377).
Sacrificial Dodge
You can defend a friend by throwing
yourself into the path of an attack
against him. To do so, you must be
close enough to interpose yourself
between your friend and his attacker
by taking a step (see Step, p. 368).
Announce this after the enemy makes
his attack roll but before your friend
attempts his defense roll.
Use the ordinary rules for a dodge,
except that you cannot combine this
with a retreat (see Retreat, p. 377). If
you succeed, you are hit by the attack.
If you fail, you didn’t move in time,
but your friend still gets his normal
defense roll. In either case, since you
moved, you cannot retreat if you are
attacked before your next turn.
Vehicular Dodge
An evasively maneuvering vehicle
gets a Dodge roll. Instead of Basic
Speed + 3, use half the operator’s skill
(Driving, Piloting, etc.), rounded
down, modified by the vehicle’s
Handling statistic. For example, a
biker with Driving (Motorcycle)-14 on
a motorcycle with Handling +1 would
have a Dodge of 8.
BLOCKING
A “block” is an attempt to interpose
a shield, cloak, or similar large object
between yourself and an attack. This
requires a ready shield or cloak. (If
you’re strong enough to grab and lift
someone, you can block with his
body!)
Your Block active defense is 3 +
half your Shield or Cloak skill, dropping
all fractions. For instance,
Shield-11 would give a Block of 3 +
(11/2) = 8.5, which rounds down to 8.
In general, you can block any
melee attack, thrown weapon, projected
liquid, or muscle-powered missile
weapon. You cannot block bullets or
beam weapons . . . these come too fast
to be stopped this way.
You may attempt to block only one
attack per turn.

PARRYING
A “parry” is an attempt to deflect a
blow using a weapon or your bare
hands. You cannot parry unless your
weapon is ready – or, if you are
unarmed, you have an empty hand.
You can use most melee weapons
to parry; see the Parry column of the
Melee Weapon Table (p. 271) for special
restrictions and modifiers. Some hefty
weapons (e.g., axes) are unbalanced:
you cannot use them to parry if you’ve
already used them to attack on your
turn. (You can still parry with a
weapon in your other hand, if you
have one.) A few long, well-balanced
weapons (e.g., the quarterstaff) get a
+1 or +2 bonus to parry due to their
ability to keep a foe at bay.
Your Parry active defense with a
given weapon is 3 + half your skill with
that weapon, dropping all fractions.
For instance, Broadsword-13 would
give a Parry of 9.
A parry won’t stop anything except
melee attacks or thrown weapons,
unless you have special skills.
Exception: If a foe attacks you with a
missile weapon and he is within reach
of your melee weapon, you may parry.
You’re parrying the weapon, not the
projectile! For example, if an attacker
fired a pistol at you from only one
yard away, you could attempt to parry
barehanded. Success would mean that
you slapped his arm or gun aside,
causing him to fire wide of your body.
Number of Parries: Once you have
attempted a parry with a particular
weapon or bare hand, further
attempts to parry with that weapon or
hand are at a cumulative -4 per parry
after the first. Reduce this to -2 per
parry if you are using a fencing
weapon or have the Trained By A
Master or Weapon Master advantage –
or to -1 per parry if both conditions
are true. This penalty only applies to
multiple parries on the same turn; it
does not carry over between turns.
Parrying with the Off Hand: You
parry with your “off” hand (your left
or “shield” hand if right handed; see
Handedness, p. 17), or with a weapon
held in it, at -4 to skill. Since Parry is
calculated off half skill, this gives -2 to
Parry. You may ignore this penalty if
you have the Ambidexterity advantage
(p. 39).
Parrying Thrown Weapons: You can
parry thrown weapons, but at a penalty:
-1 for most thrown weapons, or -2
for small ones such as knives,
shuriken, and other weapons that
weigh 1 lb. or less.
Parrying Unarmed Attacks: If you
successfully parry an unarmed attack
(bite, punch, etc.) with a weapon, you
may injure your attacker. Immediately
roll against your skill with the weapon
you used to parry. This roll is at -4 if
your attacker used Judo or Karate. If
you succeed, your parry struck the
attacker’s limb squarely. He gets no
defense roll against this! Roll damage
normally.

Parrying Heavy Weapons

You cannot use a flimsy rapier to parry a titan’s treesized
club, the slam of a charging linebacker, or the
sword of a giant robot! Heavy weapons are liable to
knock your weapon away – or even break it.
The same is true for unarmed attacks from high-ST
creatures. For the purpose of these rules, treat a punch,
kick, bite, etc. as a weapon with an effective weight of
1/10 the attacker’s ST. Use his full ST if he made a slam,
flying tackle, pounce, or shield rush!
Your weapon may break if it parries anything three
or more times its own weight. (This does not apply to
barehanded parries; for damage to limbs when parrying
unarmed, see Parrying Unarmed.)
A weapon parrying three times its own weight has a
2 in 6 chance of breaking: it breaks on a roll of 1 or 2
on 1d. Add +1 to these odds per whole-numbered multiple
past 3 (a 3 in 6 chance at 4 times weapon weight,
a 4 in 6 chance at 5 times, and so on). Weapon quality
modifies these odds: +2 if the parrying weapon is
cheap, -1 if fine, or -2 if very fine.
If your weapon breaks, the parry still counts unless
the odds of breakage exceeded 6 in 6. If so, your
weapon offered so little resistance that the parry does
not count!
Regardless of the weight of your weapon, if you are
parrying unarmed or using a one-handed weapon, you
cannot parry a weapon heavier than your Basic Lift –
or twice BL, if using a two-handed weapon. Attempts
to parry anything heavier fail automatically; whether or
not your weapon breaks, the attack sweeps it aside and
damages you normally. If your weapon does not break,
you drop it; if you are unarmed, you are knocked back
one yard (make a DX roll to avoid falling over).
An attacker can also deliberately break or knock
away weapons; see Striking at Weapons (p. 400).

Parrying With
Improvised Weapons
You can parry with anything of
suitable size and shape, using the closest
weapon skill. A pole or rifle could
parry like a staff, a bow like a light
club. However, parrying just once with
a bow will ruin it as a bow – although
it may survive for a few seconds longer
as a club! Other fragile objects may be
similarly ruined. Most improvised
weapons count as “cheap” for breakage;
see Parrying Heavy Weapons (box)
for what this implies.
Parrying Unarmed
If you are fighting without
weapons, or with at least one hand
free, you may choose to parry barehanded.
Beings that lack hands (like
most animals) can’t parry unarmed –
they can only dodge.
You can use Boxing, Brawling,
Judo, or Karate skill – or DX, if higher
– to parry with one hand. You can
also parry with Sumo Wrestling or

Wrestling skill, but this requires both
hands. Your Parry active defense is 3
+ half your skill or DX, dropping all
fractions.
There’s no penalty to parry another
unarmed attack. You are at -3 to parry
weapons, unless the attack is a thrust
or you are using Judo or Karate (in
either case, use your full parry). See
individual unarmed-combat skill
descriptions for other limitations.
A failed parry means you are hit. If
you are using hit locations, a failed
parry against a weapon means your
attacker may choose to hit his original
target or the arm you parried with! If
your arm suffers more than half your
Hit Points in injury, it is automatically
crippled (see Crippling Injury, p. 420).
Some unarmed skills (e.g., Judo)
give you special options after a successful
parry. See individual skill
descriptions for details.
ACTIVE DEFENSE
OPTIONS
You can improve your odds of success
with an active defense by choosing
one of these options to go along
with it.
Retreat
“Retreat” is not a separate defense,
but an option you may add to any
active defense against a melee attack.
To exercise this option, you must
move away from your attacker: at
least one yard, but not more than 1/10
your Move – exactly as for a step (see
Step, p. 368).
Retreating gives +3 to Dodge, or +1
to Block or Parry. Exception: If you
parry using Boxing, Judo, Karate, or
any fencing skill (Main-Gauche,
Rapier, Saber, or Smallsword), a
retreat gives +3 to Parry, as these
forms make superior use of mobility.
Your step back takes place immediately.
It is assumed to occur as your
foe is striking. If it would take you out
of your attacker’s reach, he still gets his
attack. If he has multiple attacks (e.g.,
from an Extra Attack, All-Out Attack,
or Rapid Strike), your retreat does not
put you beyond the reach of his
remaining attacks. However, you get
your retreating bonus on all active
defense rolls against all of his attacks
until your next turn.
If your opponent attacked you with
a maneuver that allows a step, but has
not yet taken his step, he can choose
to follow you by taking his unused
step. In effect, he is forcing you back!
You can retreat only once during
your turn. In other words, once you
retreat, you may not retreat again
until after your next turn.
You cannot retreat while in a sitting
or kneeling posture, or while
stunned. You also cannot retreat if you
moved faster than your Basic Move on
your last turn (that is, if you were
sprinting or using Enhanced Move).
You can retreat (by rolling) if you
are lying down.
Dodge and Drop
When under fire, hit the dirt! You
may drop to the ground while dodging,
earning a +3 bonus to Dodge. This
is a “dodge and drop.” It is similar to a
retreat, but only effective against
ranged attacks. It also has a drawback:
it leaves you prone on the ground.
Like a retreat, a dodge and drop
applies to all of your defenses against
one foe for one turn. Any cover you
drop behind does not count against
the initial attack that inspired the
dodge and drop, but is effective
against subsequent attacks directed at
you.
Sacrificial Dodge and Drop: You can
use dodge and drop in conjunction
with sacrificial dodge (p. 375) to protect
a friend who is no more than a
step away from you. If you succeed,
you both fall prone and you take the
hit . . . unless you succeed by 3 or
more, in which case neither of you is
hit! You can also use a sacrificial
dodge and drop to throw yourself on
an explosive (e.g., a hand grenade). If
you succeed, treat the blast as a contact
explosion (see p. 415).
Diving for Cover: You may also
attempt a dodge and drop if you are
within the area of effect of an explosion,
cone, or area-effect attack and
there is cover (such as a trench) only a
step away. Success means you reach it
in time; failure means you don’t. Even
if there is no cover handy, an extra
yard or two of distance from a blast
can still help, since explosive damage
declines with distance. If you succeed,
you are a step farther away; if you fail,
you suffer the effect before you make
your step.
Flying or Swimming: Dodge and
drop is possible only if a step would
take you below concealing terrain
(e.g., a flyer dropping below a hillcrest).
You don’t end up prone. You
can still dive for cover to increase your
distance from an explosion, etc.


DAMAGE AND INJURY


If your attack roll succeeds and
your target fails his defense roll (if
any), you hit him! If your attack is one
that can do damage, you must now
make a “damage roll.” This tells you
how much basic damage you deal to
your target.
Your weapon (and, for musclepowered
weapons, your ST), or your
natural or Innate Attack, determines
the number of dice you roll for damage.
If your target has any Damage
Resistance (DR) – from armor, the
Damage Resistance advantage (p. 46),
protective magic spells, etc. – he subtracts
this from your damage roll. If
your attack has an armor divisor (see
pp. 102, 110), this modifies your target’s
DR.
If your damage roll is less than or
equal to your target’s effective DR,
your attack failed to penetrate – it
bounced off or was absorbed. A cutting,
crushing, impaling, or piercing
attack can sometimes cause damage
without penetrating, however; see
Flexible Armor and Blunt Trauma
(p. 379).
If your damage roll exceeds your
target’s DR, the excess is the penetrating
damage. If your foe has no DR,
the entire damage roll is penetrating
damage.
Once you know the penetrating
damage of your attack, apply the
wounding modifier for damage type
(this matters only for cutting, impaling,
and certain types of piercing damage;
see p. 379). This gives the injury
the foe suffers, which is subtracted
from his Hit Points.

Example: Your “basic damage”
with your sword is 2d+1 cutting. You
roll 2 dice, add 1, and do 8 points of
basic damage. Your foe has DR 3, so
your penetrating damage is 5 points.
You then apply the ¥1.5 wounding
modifier for cutting attacks, resulting
in 7 points of injury (always round
down). Your foe loses 7 HP.
DAMAGE ROLL
You usually make your own damage
rolls, and the GM rolls for NPCs.
Damage rolls are expressed as a number
of dice, sometimes with a modifier;
e.g., “6d-1” or “1d+2.” A negative
modifier can’t reduce damage below 0
if the attack does crushing damage, or
below 1 if it does any other type of
damage.
High-damage attacks may express
damage as a number of dice with a
multiplier. For instance, “6d¥3” means
“roll 6d and multiply the total by 3.” If
those six dice came up 21, you would
do 63 points of damage. This is just a
quick way to roll lots of dice.
The result of the damage roll (after
any additive or multiplicative modifiers,
as explained above) is the hit’s
“basic damage.”
Half Damage (1/2D)
for Ranged Weapons
If a ranged weapon has two range
statistics, the first is its Half Damage
(1/2D) range, in yards. If the target is
at or beyond 1/2D range, divide basic
damage by 2, rounding down. (This is
a simplification! Realistically, most
weapons lose striking power gradually
as air resistance slows them down, but
a detailed calculation would be
unplayable.)
Some ranged weapons (e.g.,
grenades) do not suffer a reduction in
damage; these do not list a 1/2D range.
The damage of an attack modified
with Follow-Up (p. 105) is never
halved, either – although its “carrier”
attack is subject to 1/2D effects as
usual.
Finally, if an attack has a 1/2D
range but requires a resistance roll to
avoid an affliction of some sort, add
+3 to the resistance roll instead of
halving damage (if any).


Knockback
When you hit someone very hard, you may knock him away from
you! This is called “knockback.” Only crushing and cutting attacks can
cause knockback. A crushing attack can cause knockback regardless of
whether it penetrates DR. A cutting attack can cause knockback only if
it fails to penetrate DR.
Knockback depends on basic damage rolled before subtracting DR.
For every full multiple of the target’s ST-2 rolled, move the target one
yard away from the attacker. For instance, a man with ST 10 would be
knocked back one yard per full 8 points of basic damage. If the target
has ST 3 or less, knockback is one yard per point of basic damage! If
the target has no ST score at all (like a wall), or is not resisting, use its
HP instead.
Anyone who suffers knockback must attempt a roll against the highest
of DX, Acrobatics, or Judo. If he is knocked back more than one
yard, he rolls at -1 per yard after the first. Perfect Balance (p. 74) gives
+4 to this roll. On a failure, he falls down.
If you knock your foe into something solid, the result – including
damage to him and whatever he hit – is as if he had collided with it
at a speed equal to the yards of knockback. See Collisions and Falls
(p. 430).
“Knockback Only”: Some attacks – a jet of water, a shove (p. 372),
etc. – do knockback but no damage. Roll the listed damage and work
out knockback as usual, but no actual injury occurs (unless the target
collides with something!).


DAMAGE
RESISTANCE AND
PENETRATION
Damage Resistance (DR) rates the
degree of protection that natural or
worn armor, a force field, tough skin,
etc. affords against damage. Objects
and vehicles have their own DR values
that protect against any damage they
suffer – and if you take cover behind
or inside them, their DR also protects
you.
Subtract DR from basic damage.
The result is the “penetrating damage”
that punched through or deformed the
armor enough to cause a significant
injury. For instance, if you are hit by
an attack that inflicts 6 points of basic
damage and you’re wearing mail with
DR 4, you take 2 points of penetrating
damage.
In general, DR from multiple
sources is additive; e.g., if you have a
natural DR of 2 and put on a tactical
vest with DR 15, your total DR is 17.
Exceptions will always be noted.
The DR of armor often varies by
body part. If you are not using the hit
location rules (see Hit Location,
p. 398), just assume that any hit
strikes the torso, and apply its DR.
Finally, note that DR from certain
sources may provide differing degrees
of protection against different damage
types.
For more on DR, see Damage
Resistance (p. 46) and Armor (p. 282).

====Armor Divisors and Penetration Modifiers====

An “armor divisor” indicates that
an attack is especially good (or bad)
at penetrating Damage Resistance.
Armor divisors appear on weapon
tables as numbers in parentheses
after damage dice; e.g., “3d(2) pi”
means 3d piercing damage with a (2)
armor divisor.

A divisor of (2) or more means that
DR protects at reduced value against
the attack. Divide the target’s DR by
the number in parentheses before subtracting
it from basic damage; e.g., (2)
means DR protects at half value.
Round DR down. Minimum DR is 0.



Some divisors are fractions, such
as (0.5), (0.2), or (0.1). DR is increased
against such attacks: multiply DR by 2
for (0.5), by 5 for (0.2), and by 10 for
(0.1). In addition, treat DR 0 (e.g., bare
skin) as if it were DR 1 against any
fractional armor divisor!

There are several other “penetration
modifiers” that affect the protection
required to stop a given attack –
see Blood Agent (p. 110), Contact
Agent (p. 111), Follow-Up (p. 105),
Respiratory Agent (p. 108), and Sense-
Based (pp. 109, 115). These are often
found on Afflictions and toxic
attacks. See Special Penetration
Modifiers (p. 416) for details.

===Flexible Armor and Blunt Trauma===
Flexible armor such as a leather
jacket, mail hauberk, or a modern ballistic
vest is much lighter than rigid
armor, but it doesn’t absorb the full
force of the blows it stops. An attack
that does crushing (cr), cutting (cut),
impaling (imp), or piercing (pi-, pi, pi+,
pi++) damage may inflict “blunt trauma”
if it fails to penetrate flexible DR.
For every full 10 points of cutting,
impaling, or piercing damage or 5
points of crushing damage stopped by
your DR, you suffer 1 HP of injury due
to blunt trauma. This is actual injury,
not basic damage. There is no wounding
multiplier.

If even one point of damage penetrates
your flexible DR, however, you
do not suffer blunt trauma.
If you layer other DR over flexible
DR, only damage that penetrates the
outer layer can inflict blunt trauma.

===Corrosion===
An attack that inflicts corrosion
(cor) damage – acids, disintegration
beams, etc. – destroys one point of
the target’s DR per 5 points of basic
damage rolled. This affects armor
first, then natural DR. This reduces
DR against future attacks, not against
the attack that burned off the DR!
Natural DR lost by living beings heals
at the same rate as lost HP.

====Overpenetration and Cover====

Some attacks are powerful enough
to pass right through cover, a shield,
or a victim, and damage someone on
the other side. It’s usually too much
trouble to worry about this, but if it
becomes important (e.g., shooting
through a door, or a bystander behind
your target), see Overpenetration
(p. 408).

====Hurting Yourself====
Any time you strike unarmed (with
bare hands, feet, fangs, etc.) and hit a
target with DR 3+, you may hurt yourself!
For every 5 points of basic damage
you roll, you take one point of
crushing damage, up to a maximum
equal to the DR of the target you hit.
Apply this damage to the body part
you used to attack, if you are using hit
locations. Your own DR protects
against this damage. Exception: This
rule does not apply if the target’s DR
has the Tough Skin limitation (see
Damage Resistance, p. 46).

===Fast Damage Resolution for Multiple Hits===
If a rapid-fire attack scores multiple hits, you can speed play as follows:
instead of rolling damage per hit, determine damage for one hit,
subtract DR, and multiply the resulting penetrating damage (or blunt
trauma) by the number of hits.


=====WOUNDING MODIFIERS AND INJURY=====
Any damage left over after subtracting
DR from basic damage is
“penetrating damage.” If there is any
penetrating damage, multiply it by the
attack’s “wounding modifier.” This is a
multiplier that depends on damage
type:
  * Small piercing (pi-): x0.5.
  * Burning (burn), corrosion (cor),
crushing (cr), fatigue (fat), piercing
(pi), and toxic (tox): x1 (damage is
unchanged).
  * Cutting (cut) and large piercing
(pi+): x1.5.
  * Impaling (imp) and huge piercing
(pi++): x2.

The damage after this multiplier
determines the injury: the HP lost by
the target. Round fractions down, but
the minimum injury is 1 HP for any
attack that penetrates DR at all.
Reduce the victim’s current HP total
by the injury sustained.

Example: Filthy Pierre is struck by
an axe, which does cutting damage.
His attacker’s basic damage roll is 7,
but Pierre is wearing DR 2 leather
armor, so he suffers 5 points of penetrating
damage. Multiplying by 1.5 for
cutting damage, Pierre ends up losing
7.5 HP, which rounds to 7 HP – a nasty
wound!

Note that blunt trauma injury has
no wounding modifier.
Where you were hit may further
affect the wounding modifier; see Hit
Location (p. 398). The rules above
assume a hit to the torso or face.

====Injury to Unliving, Homogenous, and Diffuse Targets====
The Wounding Modifiers and Injury rules assume a human, animal,
or other ordinary living being. Machines, corporeal undead, swarms,
and other unusual entities are much less vulnerable to certain damage
types:

Unliving: Machines and anyone with Injury Tolerance (Unliving)
(p. 60), such as most corporeal undead, are less vulnerable to impaling
and piercing damage. This gives impaling and huge piercing a wounding
modifier of x1; large piercing, x1/2; piercing, x1/3; and small piercing,
x1/5.

Homogenous: Things that lack vulnerable internal parts or mechanisms
– such as uniformly solid or hollow objects (e.g., melee weapons,
shields, and furniture), unpowered vehicles, trees, and walls – are even
less vulnerable! This includes animated statues, blobs, and anything
else with Injury Tolerance (Homogenous). Impaling and huge piercing
have a wounding modifier of x1/2; large piercing, x1/3; piercing, x1/5;
and small piercing, x1/10.

Diffuse: A target with Injury Tolerance (Diffuse) is even harder to
damage! This includes swarms, air elementals, nets, etc. Impaling and
piercing attacks (of any size) never do more than 1 HP of injury, regardless
of penetrating damage! Other attacks can never do more than 2 HP
of injury. Exception: Area-effect, cone, and explosion attacks cause normal
injury.

Example: Edmund Zhang empties his 9mm machine pistol (2d+2 pi
damage) at an approaching zombie. He hits three times. After subtracting
the zombie’s DR 1, he scores 8 points of penetrating damage
with the first bullet, 7 with the second, and 10 with the third. The zombie
has Injury Tolerance (Unliving), so the usual x1 wounding modifier
for piercing damage drops to x1/3. Rounding down, the three bullets
inflict 2 HP, 2 HP, and 3 HP of injury. The zombie had 24 HP, so it has
17 HP left. Undaunted, it shambles forward. Edmund should have
brought an axe or a flamethrower!

=====EFFECTS OF INJURY=====
If you are injured, subtract the
points of injury from your Hit Points.
Usually, you are still in the fight as
long as you have positive HP; see
General Injury: Lost Hit Points (p. 419)
for details. The most important
effects are:

  * If you have less than 1/3 of your HP remaining, you are reeling from your wounds. Halve your Basic Speed
and Move (round up), which also reduces your Dodge.
  * If you have zero or fewer HP left, you are hanging onto consciousness through sheer willpower and adrenaline
– or are barely holding together, if 
you’re a machine. You must roll vs. HT
each turn to avoid falling unconscious.
If you pass out, see Recovering from
Unconsciousness (p. 423) for how long
it will take to recover.

  *  If you go to fully negative HP (for
instance, -10 if you have 10 HP), you
risk death! You must make an immediate
HT roll to avoid dying. You must
make another HT roll to avoid death
each time you lose an extra multiple of
your HP – that is, at -2xHP, -3xHP, and
so on. If you reach -5xHP, you die
automatically. See Death (p. 423).

The sudden loss of HP can have
additional effects:

Shock: Any injury that causes a loss
of HP also causes “shock.” Shock is a
penalty to DX, IQ, and skills based on
those attributes on your next turn
(only). This is -1 per HP lost unless
you have 20 or more HP, in which case
it is -1 per (HP/10) lost, rounded
down. The shock penalty cannot
exceed -4, no matter how much injury
you suffer.

Major Wounds: Any single injury
that inflicts a wound in excess of 1/2
your HP is a major wound. For a
major wound to the torso, you must
make a HT roll. Failure means you’re
stunned and knocked down; failure by
5+ means you pass out. For details,
see Major Wounds (p. 420) and
Knockdown and Stunning (p. 420).

Stunning: If you’re stunned, you
are -4 to active defenses and cannot
retreat, and must Do Nothing on your
next turn. At the end of your turn,
attempt a HT roll to recover. If you
fail, you’re still stunned and must Do
Nothing for another turn. And so on.
For more about injuries – and how
to recover from them! – see Injuries
(p. 418).
====SPECIAL DAMAGE====
Certain attacks have “special
effects”: poison, electrical shocks,
stunning, setting the victim on fire,
etc. See the weapon tables, specific
attack enhancements in Chapter 2,
and the relevant sections of Chapters
13 and 14 for details.
===Follow-Up Damage===
Some attacks, such as poison darts
and exploding bullets, have “followup”
damage: a second type of damage
that occurs an instant after the primary
effect. The primary effect is
always ordinary damage of some type
– piercing, impaling, etc.
If the primary damage penetrates
the target’s DR, the follow-up effect
occurs inside the target. DR has no
effect! Follow-up effects that occur
internally never inflict knockback or
blunt trauma – even if their damage
type usually does.

If the primary damage fails to penetrate
DR, the follow-up effect occurs
outside the target, if appropriate, as if
the target had been touched – just like
a linked effect (see below). Thus, poison
that must enter the bloodstream
would have no effect if the arrow that
carried it failed to penetrate. On the
other hand, an explosive projectile
would still do damage... but the DR
that stopped the primary damage
would protect against it.

===Linked Effects===
Some attacks have a linked effect.
This is a second type of damage or
other effect that occurs simultaneously
with the primary effect. Make one
roll to hit, but resolve all damage and
resistance rolls separately for the primary
effect and the linked effect. An
example of a linked effect is a grenade
that inflicts both a crushing explosion
and a blinding flash of light on detonation.
A person in armor might be
blinded but unhurt, while an unarmored
person with eye protection
might be wounded but not blinded.

===Attacks Without Damage===

Not all attacks inflict damage. Some – stun rays, drugs, etc. – offer a
modified HT roll to resist (e.g., HT-2). If the victim is hit and fails his
HT roll, he’s affected; see Affliction (p. 35) for details. Other attacks
restrain the victim, requiring ST rolls to break free; see Binding (p. 40).


=====CRITICAL HITS AND MISSES=====

“Critical hits” and “critical misses”
are critical successes and failures (see
Degree of Success or Failure, p. 347) on
rolls to attack or defend in combat.
====CRITICAL HITS====

A “critical hit” is an especially lucky
or good blow. It automatically hits
home – your foe does not get an active
defense roll!

Whenever you roll a natural 3 or 4
when attacking, you get a critical hit
and you roll on the Critical Hit Table
(p. 556). If you have high skill or a particularly
good shot at your foe, you
will get critical hits more often. With
an effective skill of 15+, any roll of 5 or
less is a critical hit; with an effective
skill of 16+, any roll of 6 or less is a
critical hit. Bonuses to hit (e.g., for All-
Out Attack or a large target) do make
critical hits more likely, while penalties
(e.g., for a difficult target) make
critical hits less likely.

Example: Louis LeBlanc needs to
roll 15 or less to hit Filthy Pierre. He
rolls a 5. That’s a critical hit for him!
(A 3 or 4 would be a critical hit for
anyone!) Because this is a critical hit,
Pierre gets no defense roll. The blow
automatically hits!

A critical hit is often the only way
for an unskilled character to injure a
superior opponent in a fair fight or get
through heavy armor with a light
weapon. Once in a while, everybody
gets a lucky shot. But note that the
most likely result on the table is “no
extra damage.” Even if you get lucky
and hit a superior foe, your blow
might not be especially hard...
===Critical Success on Defense Rolls===
If you get a critical success on a
defense roll against a melee attack,
then your foe goes immediately to the
Critical Miss Table (p. 556). You “faked
him out,” knocked his weapon from
his hand, or otherwise defended very
well!

A critical success on a defense roll
against a ranged attack has no special
effect, with one exception: if the attack
was a thrown weapon, a critical success
on a bare-handed parry lets you
catch the incoming weapon without
hurting yourself, if you so desire.

====CRITICAL MISSES====
The opposite of a “critical hit” is a
“critical miss.” You suffer a critical
miss when you fail badly on an attack
or defense roll. You might break your
weapon, throw it away, or even hit
yourself!

A roll of 18 is always a critical miss.
A roll of 17 is a critical miss unless
your effective skill is 16 or better; in
that case, it is an ordinary miss. A
melee attack (but not a ranged attack)
or defense roll that fails by 10 or more
is also a critical miss.

If you get a critical miss on an
attack or a parry, roll on the appropriate
Critical Miss Table (p. 556). Apply
the result immediately. If you critically
miss a dodge, you lose your footing
and fall prone (no effect if already
prone). If you tried to block, you lose
your grip on your shield and must
take a turn to ready it before you can
use it to block again.

A firearm may also malfunction on
a bad roll; see Malfunctions (p. 407). A
malfunction has “priority” over a critical
miss: if both would occur, only the
malfunction takes place.

====Example of Combat====

Louis LeBlanc’s weapon is a shortsword. He is
standing two yards from his foe, Filthy Pierre. On his
turn, Louis takes the Attack maneuver, steps one yard
toward Pierre, and strikes!

Louis has Shortsword-15, and there are no adverse
conditions that would give him a skill penalty; therefore,
he needs to roll 15 or less to hit. He swings and
rolls a 13, so he hits.

Pierre has a Dodge of 8, Shield-12 (giving him a
Block of 9), and Shortsword-11 (giving him a Parry of
8). His Block is his best defense, so he’ll use it whenever
he can. Pierre’s small shield gives a +1 Defense
Bonus (see Shields, p. 287); this increases all of his
defenses by 1.

Pierre’s Block defense is therefore 9 + 1, for a total
of 10 . . . or 11, if he retreats. If he blocks and retreats,
and rolls 11 or less, he can defend against the accurate
blow that Louis just threw. But he gets a 12. Too bad!
He’s hit.

Although the combat calculations may seem complex
at first, they are simple in play! The attacker rolls
against his skill, as shown on his character sheet. The
defender adds up his defenses, as shown on his character
sheet, and rolls against the total. That’s it!
To continue the example: Louis is attacking Pierre.
His blow was good, and Pierre failed to defend. So the
blow got through.

Now Louis rolls for damage. Louis’ player has
already figured how much damage he does with a
shortsword and written it on his character sheet. He
has ST 11, so his swing does 1d+1 damage. He rolls
one die and gets a 4. Adding one point yields a 5, so
Pierre takes 5 points of basic damage.

However, Pierre is wearing cloth armor, which has
DR 1. This subtracts a point from Louis’ damage roll –
only 4 points of damage penetrate Pierre’s armor.
A shortsword is a cutting weapon, with a x1.5
wounding modifier. This multiplies the penetrating
damage . . . so Pierre takes a 6 HP wound! That blow
could knock a lesser man down. Sad but true . . . one
good sword blow can settle a fight.

The GM subtracts 6 from Pierre’s HP. Luckily for
Pierre, this is not more than half of his original 12 HP,
so he does not have to roll to see if he is knocked down
or stunned. However, if he attacks on his next turn, he
will have a shock penalty equal to the HP he lost or -4,
whichever is the lower penalty. Since he lost 6 HP, he’s
at -4 to skill.

And the fight continues.

=====OTHER ACTIONS IN COMBAT=====

Combatants can perform actions
other than attacking and moving.
Physical actions usually require Ready
maneuvers, while mental ones call for
Concentrate maneuvers.
====READYING WEAPONS AND OTHER GEAR====
A “ready” item is one that is in
hand, ready for action. A weapon or
other device is unready if in a holster,
scabbard, pocket, belt, or pack; on the
floor or a table; etc.

It generally takes a single Ready
maneuver to ready an item that is on
your belt, in a pocket, in a scabbard or
holster, or slung over your back.
If you stand still, a single Ready
maneuver also lets you ready an item
from a table, wall rack, etc., provided
it is within your reach (normally one
yard).

A single Ready maneuver lets you
accept one item that another person is
holding out to you. He must be close
enough to reach you (one yard, for a
human), and he must have taken a
Ready maneuver on his turn in order
to hold out the item for you. You must
both stand still. Note that you cannot
exchange two items simultaneously.
Each object exchanged requires a separate
Ready maneuver on the part of
each person involved. (Recall that
these rules are for combat; obviously
two people walking down the street
can hand things back and forth at
will.)

Some additional rules:

//Picking something up from the
ground//. You must be kneeling, crawling,
sitting, or lying down to do so,
unless you have arms with a two-yard
reach! If you are standing, you must
first take a Change Posture maneuver
to kneel, sit, etc.

//Readying a weapon//. You can only
attack or parry with a weapon that is
in your hand and ready to use. You
must “ready” some weapons again
after each attack! For instance, you
must ready a poleaxe after each swing,
because its momentum carries it
away. See the weapon tables in
Chapter 8 to learn which weapons
require readying after use.

//Reloading a weapon//. This requires
several consecutive Ready maneuvers.
The number of Ready maneuvers
required appears in parentheses after
the weapon’s Shots statistic. For
example, a longbow requires two
Ready maneuvers: one to ready the
arrow by removing it from your
quiver, and one to ready the bow by
placing the arrow to the string and
drawing it. That takes two turns. On
the third turn, you can Aim or Attack.

//Readying a shield or cloak//. If a
shield or cloak is on the ground, or
slung on your back, it takes a number
of Ready maneuvers equal to its
Defense Bonus to prepare it for combat.
It takes the same amount of time
to don your cloak or sling your shield
again – but you can drop it on the
ground with a single Ready maneuver
(not a free action!). For the purpose of
readying, treat a buckler as a weapon,
not as a shield.

//Long actions//. Many physical
actions take more than one second to
complete. In combat, choose the
Ready maneuver each turn until you
are finished. This is not a specific
maneuver, but a “generic” choice that
lets you do one second’s worth of any
multi-second action. The GM decides
how many turns each action takes; see
Typical Long Actions (p. 383) for examples.
Some things (like piling up rocks
to stand on) can be interrupted in the
middle if necessary, to take any necessary
maneuver or other action. Other
things (like ritual magic) can’t be
interrupted; if you stop in the middle,
you must start over.

If an action takes a long time, you
can help the GM keep track of events
by counting the seconds each time you
announce the maneuver. For instance,
to reload a weapon, you would say,
“Reloading my gun – one second” on
your first turn, and, “Reloading my
gun – two seconds and finished” on
your second turn.

====When Is a Weapon Ready?===
A weapon is “ready” if it is in your hand and ready to attack. It takes
one turn to ready a weapon from its scabbard (but see Fast-Draw,
p. 194). A few special rules:

Changing Grips: Some long weapons require one extra turn of
readying to go from a one-yard to a two-yard reach, or from a two-yard
to a three-yard reach, or vice versa. An unready weapon may be re-readied
to any legal reach, regardless of how you used it before; this is just
part of the Ready maneuver.

Unbalanced Weapons: A few large and unwieldy weapons are carried
out of line by their momentum when you attack. Unless your ST
is at least 1.5 times that required to wield the weapon, they become
unready after you attack with them; to use them again, take a Ready
maneuver. If you fall down, lose your balance, or are stunned, and your
weapon is one that requires readying after each use, it becomes
unready!

Holstering: It takes one second to return a pistol to a holster.

Scabbarding: It takes two seconds to return a weapon to a scabbard
or belt-loop.

^ Action ^ Time ^
| Pick up a heavy object in one hand (weight up to 2xBL) | 2 sec. |
| Pick up a heavy object in two hands (weight up to 8xBL) | 4 sec. |
| Open an unlocked box, briefcase, chest, door, etc. | 1 sec. |
| Find a loose item in a box, briefcase, pack, etc. (if it’s not hidden) | 2d seconds |
| Find an item in your own pocket | 1d seconds |
| Write a brief note | 5 sec. per sentence |
| Read a brief note | 2 sec. per sentence |
| Swallow a pill or potion | 2 sec. |
| Light a candle, cigarette, fuse, match, torch, etc. | 2 sec. |
| Replace a weapon in its scabbard, drop a small item into your pocket | 2 sec. |
| Search an unresisting person fairly thoroughly | 1 min. |
| Put on a suit of armor | 3 sec. per piece (30 sec./piece for a vacc suit or battlesuit) |

====TYPICAL LONG ACTIONS====
See the table above for the duration
of typical long actions. You must
take a Ready maneuver each second.
The times required for long actions
are realistic, but they can also sideline
a player – for instance, if his character
rummages through his backpack. If
the GM deems it dramatically appropriate,
he may let PCs shave off a few
seconds by making a successful DX or
IQ roll, at the cost of failure having
other problems (e.g., dropping the
backpack and spilling its contents).

This completes the combat system.
Get out there and fight! 
When you are comfortable with
these rules, you can proceed to
Chapter 12, Tactical Combat, if you
wish to use a hex grid for more precise
resolution of battles. GMs may also
consult Chapter 13 for advanced rules
concerning factors that might not
come into play in every battle: hit locations,
mounted opponents, surprise
attacks, and various exotic weapons.
See also pp. 462-470 for rules for vehicles,
pp. 455-461 for rules for animals,
and p. 547-559 for the collected combat
tables.



===== End =====

This is the end of the file.