Fighting Things

No matter how sly a shadowrunner is, things will inevitably go to south at some point in a mission. When that happens, it's time to break out the guns, spells, and explosives.

### **The Basics**

There are two basic actions that represent the most fundamental pieces of a fight, **Attack** and **Defend**. **Damage** depends on the difference between these two rolls.

```
 **Damage** = **Attack** - **Defense**

```

Damage is applied to Physical Stress if the attack is physical, Mental Stress otherwise. A character that runs out of either falls unconscious and may die if they sustain more damage.

### **Getting More Specific: Attacking**

An attack can be anything from a falling building to a giant spider bite, but for our purposes, lets focus on the most common kinds of attacks that a player character will use.

 Physique
 Stealth
 Knowledge/Presence

Weapons are often tied to a specific skill. Each weapon also has its own advantage and disadvantage. More details can be found on the Gear Table.

### **Getting More Specific: Defending**

Unlike attacks, players generally do not get decide which skill they use to defend. The type of defense will depend on the situation at hand.

 Physique
 Finesse
 Will

### **Turn Order**

The question of, "Who goes first?" is answered by Reaction Time. Anytime conflict escalates to the point where time matters, all involved parties roll Reaction Time to figure out when they can act. The outcome usually looks something like this:

1. Bob (+3)
2. Thug 1 (+2)
3. Jane, Thug 2 (+1)
4. Thug 3 (+0)
5. Erik (-1)

Bob goes first, followed by Thug 1, followed by Jane, and so on. After Erik goes, the list starts from the top. This continues until the conflict is resolved.

### **Health**

One important piece that has yet to be covered is health. Characters measure their healthiness with Physical Stress (Hit Points) and Mental Stress (Will Points), which represent physical and mental health respectively. They depend on the Physique and Presence Skills.

```
 **Physical** Stress Boxes = 2 + **Physique**

```

```
**Mental** Stress Boxes = 2 + **Presence**

```

If Bob has a +2 in Physique and a +0 in Presence, he has 4 Physical Stress boxes and 2 Mental Stress boxes.

```
**Physical Stress** = 2 + **2**  = 40

```

```
**Mental Stress** = 2 + **0** = 20

```

#### Injuries, Unconsciousness, and Death

A character that runs out of stress boxes in either category falls unconscious for the duration of the scene. Once the scene is over they incur an injury. If they take a significant amount of damage (GM discretion), they die.

An injury inflicts a -1 penalty to the relevant skills. **Only one injury can be inflicted in a single battle, but injuries across battles can stack.** An unlucky Shadowrunner might wind up with a -3 injury if they continue to put themselves in harm's way. Injuries do not affect max Physical Stress/Mental Stress.

 **Mental (Mental Stress)** | Rigging, Charm, Presence, Decking, Knowledge, Perception

#### Recovery

The difference between stress damage and injuries is permanence. Stress loss recovers after the scene is done. That means that if a character has time when they can let their guard down, they fully recover.

An injury sticks around for awhile. They do not disappear until treated, and nasty injuries may require the services of a professional doctor. Each session degrades an injury by one (-3 -> -2 -> -1 -> no injury).

### **Getting Creative**

Attacking and defending aren’t the only options in a fight, just the most common. Players are encouraged to get creative with how they handle conflict. Here are a few alternatives to gunning down your foes:

**Assessment** (Perception, Medical, Rigging, Knowledge): Characters can get a feel for a target’s condition and nature by using an appropriate skill. Good rolls can clue in players to an enemy’s weakness or its current health.

**Harassment** (Charm or Presence): By the time combat starts, diplomacy has usually failed. That doesn’t mean that a talkative character is out of options though. Creative players can make use of threats to intimidate, lies to confuse, and taunts to redirect attention. Be warned that some enemies (like robots) will be unmoved by even the most compelling speeches.

**Use the Environment** (Any): Every battlefield is a mixture of threats and opportunities. A narrow hallway forces one-on-one combat (unless someone volunteers to be a stepping stool). Crowded city streets are ripe for confusion and collateral damage. Elevators full of security guards are an excellent place to toss a grenade. Try to identify situational circumstances.

## Other Mechanics

### **Teamwork**

There are two type of teamwork: Support and Coordinated.

* **Support**: Provided that both participants have at least a +1 in the relevant skill, one can support the other. A supported character has advantage on their roll (rolls twice and takes the better result). Limited to two participants.
* Example: Bob and Alice both have a +1 in Rigging. Bob decides to support Alice for her splice in the security panel. Alice rolls twice, getting a +2 and a -1, taking the +2.
* **Coordinated**: A group of characters can pool their efforts together to produce results beyond what any single one is capable of. Each participant must have at least a +1 in the relevant skill, and the number of participants is limited by the highest Presence skill. Each participant boosts the result by +1.
* Example: Alice has a Rigging of +2, a Presence of +2, and three minions with a Rigging of +1. She can use two minions (based on her Presence Skill Level), giving her an effective Rigging of +4.

Teamwork can be a powerful tool if used properly. Groups of well-coordinated enemies (like security guards) are sure to coordinate, and powerful enemies (like guard captains) are sure to use their underlings for support.

### **Splitting Attacks and Overflow**

Imagine a player rolls a +8 on an attack for a lowly sewer rat. It’s a waste to eviscerate a single rat with that much force (unless they're planning on scaring away other rats with a gore-soaked axe). The GM will usually acknowledge when an attack overflows the remaining health of a mook and let some of it splash over on nearby enemies.

### **Enemy Levels**

Using a loose interpretation of the sourcebook, enemies come in three rough levels of power:

* **Mooks**- No-named cannon fodder with basic skills. [Guards, Wolves]
* **Lieutenants**- Mook leaders. Generally one step above the mooks they represent in power level. [Guard Captains, Alpha Wolves].
* **Captains**- Unique characters. Have character sheets with a full complement of abilities. Are likely to be above player characters in terms of power. Also will have Edge Points and Troubles [Ulfrick von Lichtenstein].
	+ Captains often play an important role in the campaign. They have their own histories, personalities, and relationships with factions. Their in-game behavior will reflect these factors.

### **Contests**

*"Whenever two or more characters have mutually exclusive goals, but they aren’t trying to harm each other directly, they’re in a contest. Arm wrestling matches, races or other sports competitions, and public debates are all good examples of contests."*
*- FATE SRD on Contests*
A contest consists of several exchanges where the opposing parties roll against one another to see who "wins". Contests are won by the first person (or group) to win three exchanges.

Contests are specifically for non-combat situations, which makes them oddly placed on the "Fighting Things" page. Contests have a habit of coming up around the same time as combat though. For example, a player pursuing a retreating enemy would do so via a contest. Another example might be a formal duel to first blood.