Combat Scene

Weapons drawn, fists ready, players set into the fray. Combat Scenes show the party at physical conflict with an NPC or NPC group. To survive this encounter, a player character must not die by running out of Health and the party must not fall unconscious by running out of Energy.

Energy and Initiative

In a Combat Scene A player character's amount of energy determines their initiative; the greater the amount, the sooner a player character gets to act. The character or NPC with the greatest energy value acts first.
The amount of energy a player character has will change depending on how they use their energy as noted above. At the end of a round, a player should report to the GM their new energy value to see if they go later in the initiative order.

Modifying Damage

Damage done is determined first by a successful attack roll and then by the kind of damage a player is using, usually predetermined by their weapon or the kind of magic they are using.

Variable of Success Outcomes in Combat

When attacking, the following modifications to the variables of success are made:
On critical pass, damage is doubled; on a pass, damage is normal; on a half-pass, damage is halved, rounding up if needed; on a fail, damage is nullified; on a critical fail, damage is nullified and the weapon gains a weapon flaw (meaning it loses one damage in its subsequent attacks until repaired) or the caster gains a point of corruption.

Damage Types and Modifications

There are two main modes of damage. These modes are lethal and non lethal. Lethal damage attacks health and will eventually kill a target. Non lethal damage attacks the target’s energy and will eventually incapacitate them. With these in mind, below are a list of the four damage types available in Chimera.
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• Physical. Damage slicing, piercing, or bludgeoning forces to the body. Results in anything from bleeding, to bruising, and the general weakening of the body.
• Elemental. Whether by heat, cold, shock, poison, or the concussive force of air, damage caused by the elements wears on the body, causing fatigue due to extreme conditions.
• Magical. Damage caused by magic results in disorientation and headaches at best, and ennui, existential dread, and despair at worst.
• Chemical. Chemical damage can be felt from either a caustic or irradiated source, and results in irritation and burning of areas contacted.

Some of those native players to D&D may be put off by the lack of damage types. Chimera adds onto these damage types with status effects. This allows for cool damage effects with critical hits and environmental effects when traveling.

Damage Immunities and Resistances

When a target is immune to a damage type, a target can not be harmed by this kind of damage type, not even on a critical hit.
When a target has resistance to a damage type, they half any incoming damage of that type. Critical damage is even halved.

Damage Weaknesses

When a target is weak to a damage type, the damage ignores the targets defense, and the target takes double any incoming damage of that type. Critical hits are quadrupled in this case.

Advanced Combat Guides

The following represent concepts and rules players can use to benefit them in a combat scene.

Foundation Rule: Line of Sight

In combat, with any kind of weapon--melee, ranged, or magic--the player must have line of sight to a particular target they are interested in hitting. Line of sight is judged by if there is nothing physically obstructing one player to another target. Later, "cover" will be discussed, which imposes modifications to a roll, but does not otherwise stop a player from rolling. If a player cannot see their target or is otherwise unaware of where they are, they cannot hit that target.

Using the Environment for Safety

A player need merely look at the world around them for them and ask questions, to use the environment to their benefit. A fallen log? Elevation? A large metal crate? All usable.

Strength in Numbers

It is best to deal with a particularly nasty enemy in numbers—and this is true no matter the kind of Scene. When attempting to down a single nightmarish baddie, it is recommended that players do it together, not one-on-one—unless there are outstanding circumstances; ie. this is a one-on-one duel and a matter of honor.

Optional Rule: High Ground

High ground denotes when a character is at a higher elevation than another character. Having the high ground gives the character advantage to their attack rolls.

Taking Cover

Cover makes it much more difficult for other combatants to hit you. In a combat scene, there are two types of cover; partial cover which gives disadvantage to attacking rolls, and full cover which gives double disadvantage to attacking rolls. Full cover can be something like a tree or a wall; partial cover is like a crate or a fallen tree; a GM determines what kind of cover a player has available in a particular area around the player.
Cover only works if it breaks lines of sight with a target. If a player uses an area of effect spell behind someone’s cover in the same zone or in a connected zone behind the cover, the cover is negated. As well, if a player goes around a target’s cover, that cover no longer counts against rolls.

Going Prone behind Partial Cover

If a player goes prone behind partial cover, the partial cover becomes full cover. Please note, this puts the character in a very vulnerable position if another target were to happen upon you, and you are unable to peek out behind cover due to the limited movement available to prone characters. For this reason, characters cannot make ranged attacks in this state.