Combat

In World of Darkness Combat takes a back seat to Social interactions. In most cases players will spend 70% of their time in a social setting and 30% of their time in a combat setting. In saying that when combat does occur it is generally quick and brutal.
A combat Scene is split into Turns. During each Turn a player will be able to make 2 Actions. Unlike other roleplaying games the actions in World of Darkness occur simultaneously during combat with Initiative simply determining whose Action is resolved first. A Turn in a Combat Scene occurs in the following steps:

1. At the start of the Combat Scene each player advises the Storyteller of their Initiative score.
2. initiative
4. Storytellerplausible
6. appropriately
7. Players apply any damage received to their character sheets and the storyteller does the same to any NPCs which had been damaged.
8. The Storyteller than describes the wrap up of the Turn and if there are still enemies around. If the combat continues for an extra turn, the Storyteller than goes back to step 2 and repeats the process. Otherwise, if there are no more enemies left and no more reason for the combat to continue the Scene ends.

Initiative

Initiative does not directly determine the order of play it is simply meant to advise the storyteller in who has the quickest reaction time. More often than not one or more players and NPCs will have the same initiative rating forcing the Storyteller to determine the sequence of events which will unfold. Added to this is the complexity of distances which could also play a role in understanding how events unfold.
For instance if a player A is 1 meter away from an NPC and player B is 10 meters away from the same NPC than player A would normally still make his action against the NPC first as no amount of reaction time can make up for the large distance between player B and the NPC.
To keep it simple use Initiative more as a guideline than an actual rule when it comes to storytelling.

Intent

Intent is simply a description of what the player wants his character to do. The Turn makes 2 Actions available to the player where each action is between 1-10 seconds in in-game time. For instance:

• Hitting an opponent within reach with your fists - 1 Action
• Striking an opponent within reach with a melee weapon, you've already drawn - 1 Action
• Firing a firearm, you've already drawn, at a single opponent or a single arc - 1 Action
• Issuing a single command or short instructions to an ally (usually 1 sentence) - 1 Action
• Drawing a pistol - 1 Action
• Grabbing a grenade and pulling the pin - 2 Actions (note you have not yet thrown the grenade)
• Reloading a weapon - 2 Actions
• Drawing a weapon and attacking (including firearms) - 2 Actions
• Issuing a complex set of commands - 2 Actions
• Tackling an opponent - 2 Actions (1 action to run towards the opponent and 1 action for the actual tackle)
• Moving and shooting on the go - 1 Action (multitasking can be used but the storyteller can implement penalties for it)
• Moving towards an opponent and launching a physical attack - 2 Actions

Reaction

In some case a players Actions will be cut short due to the actions of another player, NPC or an external factor. When this occurs the player is welcome to make a reaction(s) in place of the lost action(s). Reactions are in essence the same as actions with the exception being that the player is a lot more limited in the options available and the storyteller should make an effort to provide a player with 3 or more options available to their character now that their turn had been interrupted. This should not however stop the creative flow and the players are welcome to come up with their own solutions, just with the extra limitations in mind.

Damage

There are 3 values for damage in world of darkness.
Severity: this indicates whether the damage received is Superficial, Aggravated or Lethal. Severity is always tied to the nature of the blows or the weapon used. It can be reduced or increased by supernatural powers or external factors but for the most part a character will know exactly what level of severity his attacks are capable of before they are made.
Amount: this indicates how many points of damage the character receives. This is very easy to calculate in combat as its amount is equal to the number of Success the player had either won or lost the opposing roll by (or test).
Injury: this is a special type of damage which will be described in its own section and is an additional bonus (or penalty if your on its receiving end) applied to a targets normal damage. An injury always occurs in addition to all other damage, if you've beaten (or lost to) a target by 5 successes or more.
For instance: Player A's intent is to swing at Player B with a one handed sword. Player B in the meantime has the intent of shooting the player at point blank range with a large caliber pistol. Player A makes a roll of Strength + Melee (+ Penalty or Bonus Points ) Vs Player B who makes a roll of Dexterity + Firearms (+ Penalty and Bonus Points). At the end of the roll player A scores 4 Successes to player B's 7 successes. Player B is undamaged while player A takes 3 points of Lethal Damage to his health bar (as the weapon used large caliber rounds).

Incapacitated

A character can be incapacitated in world of darkness if enough damage is received. This differs from creature to creature but at its core it will greatly depend on the severity level of the damage they received. As a quick overview:

• Mortals will be incapacitated if all their health boxes are filled with Superficial Damage.
• Enhanced Mortals will be incapacitated if all their health boxes are filled with Aggravated Damage.
• Supernatural Creatures will be incapacitated if all their health boxes are filled with Aggravated Damage but many Supernatural Creatures can continue fighting despite this.

As good as dead
While incapacitated does not mean the character had outright died if they are left in a precarious position, badly injured or amongst enemies than they could be considered as good as dead at that stage depending on the Storytellers preference.

Death

Death is a real and constant companion for any character in the world of darkness. When it comes to health it might seem a bit strange to apply the highest forms of damage to already previously damaged health boxes but there is merit in this rule set. Simply put Lethal Damage is the level a target has to be brought to in order for it to die but the level of lethal damage it has to receive differs from creature to creature. As a quick overview:

• Mortals will die after receiving 1 Point of Lethal Damage.
• Enhanced Mortals will die after receiving 3 Points of Lethal Damage.
• Supernatural creatures will die after half their health boxes are filled with Lethal Damage (rounding up).

Compartmentalizing

In certain situations the Storyteller will struggle to resolve a combat all at once. This could be either because characters are in different locations far away from one another or because there are too many players. In such instances the Storyteller is welcome to break the combat down into smaller individual skirmishes.