Combat Fundamentals

When a character’s life is on the line, every asset they possess is brought to bear in order to win. Thus every attribute; strength reflex and intelligence, can be added to the combat roll.
Combat Dice Pools are calculated by adding:
Base 3D6 + All attribute points (STR/REF/INT) +1D6 for each point in any Combat Skill (Relevant to what the character is wielding or doing) + Any applicable weapon bonus
For Example:
Sir Terrik the Knight has challenged another knight to a duel. He has the vocation “Knight” and nested under that vocation he has taken the combat skill “Medium Weapons” to showcase his prowess with the sword. Terrik’s Dice Pool is calculated thus:
Base of 3D6, plus +1D6 from STR and +1D6 from INT
2D6 from his two skill points invested in the “Medium Weapons” Skill (which can be applied as he is wielding a medium sword)
+1D6 from his arming sword (the bonus for a medium weapon)
His total Combat Dice Pool is 8D6.

Victory levels

A successful combat roll results in a level of victory against your opponent(s). Your combat roll stands as both an attack and defence. It represents your character’s overall combative performance for that round, and not necessarily a single ‘swing’ of their weapon.
Each character’s combat roll is compared to that of the character(s) or non-player character(s) they oppose. Every win a character has over another’s roll, means a level of victory, from which they may choose an outcome.

Level 1 victory
Minor Injury, opponent receives – 1D6 to all physical based dice checks but will naturally heal over the next few days, or faster if treated actively. This can be negated by strength or armor.
Stagger (-2D6 for one round)
Enter into Close Combat  (not available to ranged combat rolls)
Level 2 victory
Medium injury – 2D6 to all physical based dice checks and must be treated relatively soon, otherwise further penalties may apply (infection etc.) – this can be reduced by strength or armor to a lower injury or fully negated.
Disarm
Any lower outcome
Level 3 victory
Serious injury – 3d6 to all physical based dice checks and the character will die in time if the wound is untreated. This can be reduced by strength or armor to a lower injury or fully negated.
Trip
Any lower outcome
Level 4 victory
Fatal injury – 4d6 to all physical based dice checks, incapacitated, and will die very soon if untreated. This can be reduced by strength or armor to a lower injury or fully negated.
Knockout Blow – Render your opponent unconcious, and apply a Medium Injury to the opponent in addition.
Dismember arm or leg, which also gives a serious injury to the opponent. (not available to ranged combat rolls unless magic or explosive projectiles are involved) Any lower outcome
Level 5 victory and higher
Death blow. An instant kill unless the character has a high strength or is wearing armor and uses them to reduce either the level of victory or injury.
Any lower outcome
Injury levels do not stack in fatality but do stack in dice penalty – meaning two medium injuries do not equate to a fatal injury where the character will die immediately if untreated, but the character does receive -2D6 to all physical dice checks TWICE, meaning they will have -4D6 in total.

Defense rolls

A Defense Roll is a variant of the Combat Roll. It is used when a character is either in a position where they cannot perform any type of Combat Maneuver to their opponent (E.g. too far away from an opponent using a ranged weapon against them while only armed with a melee weapon), or they want a greater chance to survive as their standard Combat Roll is too low (such as fleeing after receiving an injury.)
A Defense Roll is calculated in the same way as the Combat Roll but adds an additional +2D6 to roll with. No matter the result of the Defense Roll, the character cannot achieve a level of victory because the character was purely focused on protecting themselves, and not on attacking.
Complete Rulebook