Combat Mechanics

By default every combatant has 4 Action Points (AP) per turn. AP is the lifeblood of combat and can be increased by taking certain perks. Actions can only be taken during the combatant’s turn unless otherwise specified or justifiable.

## Ground Combat

### Combat begins when one combatant attacks another. The turn order for combat is based upon the following:

1. Preparedness. Attackers can choose to be prepared for combat, in which case turns are determined by the choice of the attackers. To be prepared as an attacker, the combatant must identify the specific enemy they will be attacking. Likewise, those on the defending side can also prepare for combat if they believe they are about to be attacked, ceasing movement and covering a specific area. Attackers and defenders that are prepared will always go before combatants that are not prepared.
2. Reflexes. After order of attack is grouped into prepared and unprepared combatants, they are ordered based on the reflex level of the combatants in each group. If two or more combatants have the same Reflexes level, they can either A. agree on the order of combat between themselves, or B. settle it by the highest roll of a D20.

### The following are basic actions that can be taken with all melee weapons:

1. Block. Costs 1AP. Blocking decreases the enemy’s chance to hit by 60% if they are also using a melee attack. Otherwise it decreases the chance to hit by 30%. This only applies when in Melee range. Taking this action ends your turn.

### The following are basic actions that can be taken with all ranged weapons:

1. Bash. Costs 2AP. You may use your weapon as a melee weapon, however poor of a job it might do as one. You deal damage equal to 1.5 times your Physique if it’s a one-handed weapon, and twice your Physique if it’s two-handed, +1D4.
2. Overwatch. Costs 1AP. Have your weapon primed and ready to fire in a specific area. If an enemy enters the area being covered, the combatant may attack immediately regardless of turn order. Your attack receives a 20% accuracy bonus. Moving or targeting an enemy outside of the Overwatch area cancels the effects of Overwatch.
3. Change Ammunition. Costs 1AP. For weapons that use multiple types of ammunition. Allows you to swap out the type of ammunition you are using for your weapon, as long as you have it with you in your inventory. You may also use ammunition from the inventory of another combatant within Melee range if they agree to give it to you, which removes it from their inventory and adds it to yours. You may put your old ammunition into the inventory of the other combatant as well, which may be necessary if your inventory would be too full after the trade. This exchange does not cost additional AP.
4. Run and Gun. Costs 1AP. Allows you to fire your weapon while moving, which is especially useful if an enemy is not visible from any available cover. Doing this decreases your chance to hit by 25% for all weapons except for Heavy Rifles, Heavy Machine Guns, and Explosive Launchers, which suffer a 40% penalty instead.
5. Precise Fire. Costs 1AP. Can only be used if the combatant did not move yet this turn. Choose a specific part of the target to fire upon. This can be body parts, equipment, etc. If the initial hit is successful, the critical hit roll is also used to determine if the targeted area receives a disabling wound. The percent likelihood of success is twice the likelihood of a critical hit (note that a high enough roll will score both a disabling wound *and* a critical hit).

**Accuracy and Critical Hits-**
When firing a weapon, your accuracy is generally determined by a percentage plus five times your level in a certain skill (usually Marksmanship). For instance, if your Marksmanship is 5 and the weapon you are using has a base accuracy of 35%, the chance to hit is 60%. This means that in order to hit, you must roll a 9 or higher on a D20 in order to score a hit.

**NOTE:** *When in Melee range, if a weapon would use Marksmanship to determine chance to hit, use Reflexes instead.*

After a successful hit, a second roll is made to determine whether or not the hit was critical. By default, a successful hit has a 5% chance to be critical, meaning you must roll a 20 on a D20 to score a critical hit. However, it is possible to raise your chance at scoring a critical hit, such as increasing your Luck skill. For example, if a combatant had a Luck skill of 10, this would increase the combatant's critical hit percentage by 10%, making the total critical hit chance 15%, meaning the combatant must roll a 17 or greater with a D20 to score a critical hit.

**Going Prone -**
Combatants can choose to go prone at no AP cost, though getting back up from prone position costs 1AP. Going prone increases evasion, concealment, and accuracy, but reduces movement to 1 square per turn (regardless of usual movement buffs). When prone, items (including grenades) can only be thrown into squares within close range.

### **Movement**

By default, movement speed is 4 per use. Movement costs 1 AP and increases by 1 AP every time it is used in one turn. Movement speed also decreases by 1 every time it is used in a turn.

For example, if I were to move twice in one turn with a movement speed of 3, I would first move 3 squares at a cost of 1 AP, then 2 squares at a cost of 2 AP. If my movement speed was 4, I would move 4 squares at a cost of 1 AP and 3 squares at a cost of 2 AP, etc.

**Sprinting** - A combatant may choose to sprint and increase their movement speed by 1 for that turn. If the combatant does this, however, they lose 1 AP at the beginning of their next turn. If the combatant sprints *two turns* *in a row*, they lose *two* AP at the beginning of the subsequent turn. This AP loss goes away if the combatant does not sprint for a turn.

Sprinting also reduces accuracy with all ranged weapons. Immediately after sprinting (during the turn the sprint took place), accuracy is reduced by 25%. During the turn following sprinting, accuracy is reduced by 10%.

### **Range**

Range is determined by the number of squares away you are from the target. Without alteration from the effects of abilities or items, range is calculated as follows:

 Short -
 Medium -
 Long -
 Very Long -
 Extreme

The number of squares is counted by squares that are horizontally or vertically adjacent to one another (a square diagonally adjacent to the combatant would be 2 squares away, not one), with squares adjacent to the combatant being 1 square away.

Your accuracy at different ranges is based upon the weapon you are using and your skill levels. Every weapon has an “optimal range”, within which the weapon receives no penalties to accuracy. All weapons receive a 15% accuracy penalty for every square away from optimal range the target is, if the weapon is capable of attacking enemies outside of its optimal range at all.

Melee range.

When in a square adjacent to that of another combatant, the combatant may choose to enter Melee range at no AP cost. Otherwise the combatant stays in Short range. When in Melee range, the combatant may use melee weapons. Other bonuses and penalties that the combatant has associated with Melee range will apply. Weapons that are optimal in Short range but not in Melee range receive a 10% accuracy penalty. Combatants within Melee range may choose to exit into Short range during their turn, although if the other combatant(s) is an enemy this costs 1AP.

Two combatants within Melee range may choose to exchange items from their inventory. This action costs 1AP, but only to the combatant that initiates the trade.

Note that while weapons can be changed during combat, armor cannot.

Items may be taken freely from incapacitated combatants at Melee range.

### Damage

Damage has two variants: HP and wound status. A combatant normally takes damage in the form of HP, which affects their wound status.

There are four types of wounds: minor wounds, major wounds, critical wounds, and disabling wounds.

#### Minor wounds:

Minor wounds are the most common, and are taken whenever a combatant loses health more than 5% of their total from one damage source. Minor wounds are most easily treatable and do not require medical training to heal. Four minor wounds are equivalent to one major wound.

#### Major wounds:

Major wounds are received instead of a minor wound if the combatant loses ⅓ or more of their total HP as a result of a single attack. Major wounds can only be healed by someone with specialized equipment or medical training. Two major wounds are equivalent to one critical wound.

#### Critical wounds:

A critical wound is inflicted when a combatant’s HP reaches 0. When a combatant receives a critical wound, they are only capable of moving 1 square per turn and cannot make any additional actions. Critical wounds can only be healed by trained medical professionals through the Resuscitation ability. If the combatant receives damage again while critically wounded, they will die. The combatant will also die if a critical wound is not treated in 2 turns after receiving it.

#### Disabling wounds:

A disabling wound affects a specific part of the body, such as the leg, arm, spine, etc. Whenever a combatant receives a major wound, they have a 10% chance to also receive a disabling wound to a part of the body affected by the attack. Disabling wounds can also be inflicted by targeting specific body parts of enemy combatants.

When healing a Major wound, the healer may choose to heal a Disabling wound instead.

Each body part has a different effect when disabled.

 Leg
 Knee
 Groin
 Torso
 Hand
 Arm
 Shoulder
 Neck
 Head

HP can be increased by improved Physique and armor.

Damage is calculated by adding a flat number, referred to as "base damage", with the result of a dice roll indicated on the weapon's damage stat, referred to as "bonus damage die". This is done before adding any modifiers - for instance, extra damage gained from scoring a critical hit is calculated based on the post-roll sum, *not* the base damage.

### Cover

Cover is an important aspect of combat and comes in the form of low, medium, and high cover. Cover only provides benefit if it is between the line of sight of the two combatants in question. Cover is not always a perfect barrier, however, and can be shot through with powerful enough weapons.

High cover would be something like a wall and offers both cover and concealment to anything behind it, even if not adjacent to it. High cover cannot be climbed over outside of special circumstances.

Medium cover is something between hip and shoulder height - the combatant can shoot over it, but can also duck behind it. Combatants receive evasion and concealment bonuses as long as they are adjacent to this cover. Medium cover can be vaulted over, but first the combatant must pass a Physique check.

Low cover is something quite short, like a bush or ledge. This cover can only be used if the combatant is adjacent to it and is prone. Combatants must pass a Reflexes check when sprinting over low cover to see if they trip and fall.

## Space Combat

Ship combat is fought using terminals on the ship’s bridge. Positions allow for combatants to use certain terminals and abilities more effectively, but the basic functions of all terminals are available to all combatants regardless of position (unless they are in a foreign language).