Combat

When all else fails, your
character will have to fight another player for survival, an item, or as part
of the greater conflict within the story of Skullduggery. Sometimes combat
simply must occur, for some more than others depending how the character is
played. So it is advised for your character to have a method to defend
themselves.

Combat revolves around the use of
weapons, attack rates, defense rates, soak and damage being dealt. All of this
must occur in a certain order to keep the game flowing as smoothly as possible.

Actual striking, throwing, or
otherwise bludgeoning another player is highly prohibited, and greatly frowned
upon. So no actual contact should occur when acting out a battle scene, or a
duel. Some thematic scenes put on by actors or the GM staff may have sword
fights or black powder blanks, but no player may participate in these actions
unless exclusive right is given by those hosting and running the event. This is
for player safety.

Since all combat is fiction,
please remember that the actions of other players are not personal assaults or
insults directed toward you, the player, but your character. In other words, do
not take things personally. However, if you do feel that these actions are
aimed at yourself and not your character, please find a GM and the situation
will be resolved.

When
combat takes place it occurs in a scene, which will last until combat is ended
or another event causes its conclusion. Each scene is then divided into six
second turns, which is how each player’s action occurs. Combat then takes place
in four easy steps that all resolve within a turn.

Initiative **[(Perception + Awareness) + gadget/wonder/Elixir bonus + card draw]**.Whichever character total is the highest, will act first.

#### ***Step Two – Action Phase***

The second step in combat is
declaring and completing an action. This can range from simply waiting off to
the side to attacking another character or NPC. A player must first declare
his/her character’s action, and what attribute and skill they plan to use. Once
that has been determined the player will need to total up the draw **[(attribute**
+ skill) +gadget/wonder/Elixir bonus + draw**]. Most actions will occur against**
a set difficulty by the GM, such as resisting a poison or the ability to climb
a wall. However, in some cases your character’s actions will work against
another character.

#### ***Step Three – Clash***

If your character is in
combat/arguing/any other actions against another character or NPC, they will clash.
Your character will total up the draw from the action phase versus the target’s
dodge value, mental defense value, or resistance, determined the same way as
your character’s action phase. The only notable different in the target’s draw
comes with the use of his/her dodge, mental defense, and resistance ratings.
Whoever has the highest wins the clash.

·
How to
apply: [(dodge + agility) +gadget/Elixir/artifact + draw]

#### ***Step Four – Damage and Soak***

In combat, if a target has been
struck then it may be dealt damage. The attack character then must draw a card
plus the weapon’s damage bonus. If that amount exceeds soak, then the target
takes damage. If it is less, then the target does not take damage.

## Movement

Your character is about to move
during combat, and this could be a major factor in his/her success, or at least
not dying. There are two types of movement in combat, Normal and Sprint.

Normal movement is how well you
character can move through an area and still take an action. Your character can
cover twenty feet in a turn and still act.

Sprinting allows your character to cover forty feet in a turn, but
he/she will not be able to act that turn due to exertion. Your character may
sprint up to stamina turns in a row without taking a break. If your character
does this, he/she will miss his/her next turn to recover.

## Damage

Anytime a character is hit with
an attack they will suffer damage of some type. Getting punched, kicked, shot,
hit with a hammer or other such weapon all hurt. If you do not believe this,
the staff can attest to how much some things hurt, like falling off a house. It
does. A lot. There are two types of damage that can be dealt: bashing and
lethal.

### **Bashing**

Bashing damage is experienced by
any form of blunt force trauma. This sort of damage comes from punches, kicks,
falls, crashes, and blunt weapons. This damage type is mostly meant to incapacitate
or hurt a target. Very rarely is it used to kill, but it is possible.

If a Benjo is drawn during the
hit action of combat, a bashing damage weapon will gain the chance to cripple a
target. The target then clashes its constitution and resistance against the
attacker’s might and melee. If the target fails, they suffer a minus five to
all actions for the remainder of the event unless they are healed.

When a target has its health
reduced to zero by a bashing weapon, they are rendered unconscious. Any further
damage is converted to lethal damage and only causes a target to fall into
dying health levels once thirty additional damage has been dealt.  So to completely kill a target a bashing
weapon must deal over sixty damage.

### **Lethal**

Lethal damage is experienced
through explosions, stabbing, or other such attacks that cause large amounts of
blood loss through laceration. This form of damage is designed to kill, and it
is extremely skilled at it. Lethal damage is dealt by any weapons that have a
blade, fire arms, explosions, acid or elemental Arcanum attacks.

If a Benjo is drawn during the
hit action of combat, weapons with lethal damage deal double damage. In other
words, the damage card draw is doubled. Since lethal weapons are designed to
kill, not subdue, their critical hit effect can be extremely devastating or, in
many cases, fatal.

When a target has its health
dropped to zero from an attack with a lethal attack, they are considered dying.
If they suffer any additional damage past their dying health levels the target
is considered dead unless they receive some form on medical help.

## Soak

Your character has a natural
ability to soak up some damage from attack due to their physical prowess. Their
bashing soak is the same as their full constitution score, and lethal soak is
half their constitution rounded up. These amounts only change when your
character’s constitution goes up.

Armor offers additional soak. The
amount of a bonus is affected by the number of upgrades for the armor and the
type of soak it grants. Some armors may be great at stopping a bullet but
horrible at being hit by a large hammer.

Damage can only be dealt to your
character if the amount of damage is higher than your character’s soak. If
their bashing soak is ten and the attacker only deals eight damage, your
character takes no damage. If they deal twelve, your character would take two
damage.