Performing a Combat Check
A PC makes a combat check when they use a combat
skill to attack a target—by firing a gun, throwing a
punch, or swinging a sword, for example. This is also
referred to as an attack.
First and foremost, keep in mind that a combat check is a skill check. It follows all of the rules and procedures for making a skill check, including the steps for assembling the dice pool. However, there are additional steps included in a combat check. All the steps a combat check follows are detailed here.
Step 1. Declare an Attack and Select Targets
The character chooses to make an attack. They select what skill they use to make the attack and, if the skill requires a weapon to use, which weapon they use. They then declare the target of their attack.
Step 2. Assemble the Dice Pool
The character then assembles the dice pool based on the skill, its characteristic, and any applicable talents or other abilities. Certain conditions, such as the painful effect of a Critical Injury or an environmental effect such as fog or darkness, may also contribute dice to the dice pool. See page 19 for more information on building a dice pool.
The difficulty of a combat check depends on whether the attack is a ranged attack (using the Ranged skill or one of its derivatives, depending on the setting) or a melee attack (using the Brawl or Melee skill or a setting- dependent derivative). Melee attack difficulties are always Average (d d ). Ranged attack difficulties depend on the distance the target is from the active character, or in other words, the range band the target occupies. Table I.6–1: Ranged Attack Difficulties lists difficulties as they relate to different range bands. (See page 105 for more information about range bands.) Once the pool is assembled, roll the dice.
Step 3. Pool Results and Deal Damage
Once the player rolls the dice pool for the attack, the player evaluates the results. As with any skill check, the check must generate more s than f to be successful.
When making a combat check, if the check is successful, each s adds +1 damage to the attack. If the attack affects multiple targets, the additional damage is added to each target.
Step 4. Resolve a and t
Just as they can be spent in a non-combat skill check, a and t can be spent in a combat check to gain incidental beneficial effects. However, just as the rules governing encounters are somewhat more regimented than the rules governing narrative gameplay, so some of the options governing the spending of a and t are more clearly defined. In encounters, the player controlling the active character determines how the character spends a and t, unless the GM has a specific reason to decide instead.
The first and foremost ways to spend a and t in an attack are to activate a Critical Injury or active item quality. As described on page 90, each weapon has a Critical rating that consists of a numeric value. The user can spend that many a to inflict one Critical Injury on the target, in addition to regular effects and damage. Remember, a Critical Injury can only be triggered upon a successful hit that deals damage that exceeds the target’s soak value. For more information on Critical Injuries, see page 114.
Item qualities are special effects and abilities that apply only when a character is using that particular weapon—the vicious edge of a sword, say, or the automatic fire capability of a heavy machine gun. Item qualities come in two forms: active and passive. Active qualities require the user to spend a certain number of a to trigger them. Generally, this is a a, although some qualities may require more or fewer.
Passive qualities always grant their effect. Some qualities may inflict effects on a target that, unless specified otherwise, are always applied in addition to other effects, Critical Injuries, and damage.
In addition to always counting as an additional s, t can be spent to activate item qualities as well. A t may be spent to inflict one Critical Injury (no matter what the Critical rating of the weapon is). Alternatively, a t may be spent to activate one item quality, no matter how many t it would normally take to do so.
There are other options for spending a and t as well. A list of the most common can be found on Table I.6–2: Spending aand t in Combat, on page 104. Keep in mind that these are not intended to be the only options available. As always, players and GMs may invent other ways to spend aand t, depending on the specific circumstances of the encounter. Any option that the players and GM agree upon can be viable.
Step 5. Resolve h and d
In the same fashion in which the controlling player determines how to spend h and d in their combat check, the GM then determines how to spend any h or d generated in the check. Much as fortune might favor the player, bad luck and circumstance can conspire against them. By default, the GM determines how h and d are spent, although in some cases (such as checks made by NPCs) they may give the players the option to spend these instead.
Although many weapon descriptions include options for spending a and t, most do not for h and d; however, this is not always the case. Some particularly volatile or dangerous weapons do have these options, and if they do, the options are detailed in the weapon’s description. Specific options for spending h and d in encounters do exist, however, and the most common of these can be found on Table I.6–3: Spending h and [ in Combat, on page 104. As with a and t, keep in mind that these are not intended to be the only options available. As always, GMs may invent other ways to spend h and d, depending on the specific circumstances of the encounter, and any option that the players and GM agree on can be viable.
Step 6. Reduce Damage, Apply to Wound Threshold, and Apply Critical Injuries
When a character suffers damage, whether from a rifle or claws, they reduce the damage received by their soak value. If any damage remains after this reduction, they suffer that many wounds. If the net result is zero or negative, the character suffers no wounds; their toughness and natural fortitude, in conjunction with any armor they might be wearing, have saved them from being injured. If the character suffers damage from multiple hits in an attack, they apply their soak value to each hit individually. For more information on damage and wounds, see Wounds, Strain, and States of Health, on page 112.
An attack may also generate a Critical Injury. This may occur because the weapon’s Critical rating is triggered, or because the target suffers a number of wounds greater than its wound threshold. More about Critical ratings is explained in Step 4.
When a Critical Injury is inflicted, the attacker rolls percentile dice on Table I.6–10: Critical Injury Result, on page 115. The result of the dice roll indicates which Critical Injury is inflicted.
Some weapons and talents modify this Critical Injury roll, potentially making it more or less effective. If an attack generates enough a to trigger more than one Critical Injury, the character makes a single Critical Injury roll, adding +10 to the result for each additional time the Critical rating is triggered.
First and foremost, keep in mind that a combat check is a skill check. It follows all of the rules and procedures for making a skill check, including the steps for assembling the dice pool. However, there are additional steps included in a combat check. All the steps a combat check follows are detailed here.
Step 1. Declare an Attack and Select Targets
The character chooses to make an attack. They select what skill they use to make the attack and, if the skill requires a weapon to use, which weapon they use. They then declare the target of their attack.
Step 2. Assemble the Dice Pool
The character then assembles the dice pool based on the skill, its characteristic, and any applicable talents or other abilities. Certain conditions, such as the painful effect of a Critical Injury or an environmental effect such as fog or darkness, may also contribute dice to the dice pool. See page 19 for more information on building a dice pool.
The difficulty of a combat check depends on whether the attack is a ranged attack (using the Ranged skill or one of its derivatives, depending on the setting) or a melee attack (using the Brawl or Melee skill or a setting- dependent derivative). Melee attack difficulties are always Average (d d ). Ranged attack difficulties depend on the distance the target is from the active character, or in other words, the range band the target occupies. Table I.6–1: Ranged Attack Difficulties lists difficulties as they relate to different range bands. (See page 105 for more information about range bands.) Once the pool is assembled, roll the dice.
Step 3. Pool Results and Deal Damage
Once the player rolls the dice pool for the attack, the player evaluates the results. As with any skill check, the check must generate more s than f to be successful.
When making a combat check, if the check is successful, each s adds +1 damage to the attack. If the attack affects multiple targets, the additional damage is added to each target.
Step 4. Resolve a and t
Just as they can be spent in a non-combat skill check, a and t can be spent in a combat check to gain incidental beneficial effects. However, just as the rules governing encounters are somewhat more regimented than the rules governing narrative gameplay, so some of the options governing the spending of a and t are more clearly defined. In encounters, the player controlling the active character determines how the character spends a and t, unless the GM has a specific reason to decide instead.
The first and foremost ways to spend a and t in an attack are to activate a Critical Injury or active item quality. As described on page 90, each weapon has a Critical rating that consists of a numeric value. The user can spend that many a to inflict one Critical Injury on the target, in addition to regular effects and damage. Remember, a Critical Injury can only be triggered upon a successful hit that deals damage that exceeds the target’s soak value. For more information on Critical Injuries, see page 114.
Item qualities are special effects and abilities that apply only when a character is using that particular weapon—the vicious edge of a sword, say, or the automatic fire capability of a heavy machine gun. Item qualities come in two forms: active and passive. Active qualities require the user to spend a certain number of a to trigger them. Generally, this is a a, although some qualities may require more or fewer.
Passive qualities always grant their effect. Some qualities may inflict effects on a target that, unless specified otherwise, are always applied in addition to other effects, Critical Injuries, and damage.
In addition to always counting as an additional s, t can be spent to activate item qualities as well. A t may be spent to inflict one Critical Injury (no matter what the Critical rating of the weapon is). Alternatively, a t may be spent to activate one item quality, no matter how many t it would normally take to do so.
There are other options for spending a and t as well. A list of the most common can be found on Table I.6–2: Spending aand t in Combat, on page 104. Keep in mind that these are not intended to be the only options available. As always, players and GMs may invent other ways to spend aand t, depending on the specific circumstances of the encounter. Any option that the players and GM agree upon can be viable.
Step 5. Resolve h and d
In the same fashion in which the controlling player determines how to spend h and d in their combat check, the GM then determines how to spend any h or d generated in the check. Much as fortune might favor the player, bad luck and circumstance can conspire against them. By default, the GM determines how h and d are spent, although in some cases (such as checks made by NPCs) they may give the players the option to spend these instead.
Although many weapon descriptions include options for spending a and t, most do not for h and d; however, this is not always the case. Some particularly volatile or dangerous weapons do have these options, and if they do, the options are detailed in the weapon’s description. Specific options for spending h and d in encounters do exist, however, and the most common of these can be found on Table I.6–3: Spending h and [ in Combat, on page 104. As with a and t, keep in mind that these are not intended to be the only options available. As always, GMs may invent other ways to spend h and d, depending on the specific circumstances of the encounter, and any option that the players and GM agree on can be viable.
Step 6. Reduce Damage, Apply to Wound Threshold, and Apply Critical Injuries
When a character suffers damage, whether from a rifle or claws, they reduce the damage received by their soak value. If any damage remains after this reduction, they suffer that many wounds. If the net result is zero or negative, the character suffers no wounds; their toughness and natural fortitude, in conjunction with any armor they might be wearing, have saved them from being injured. If the character suffers damage from multiple hits in an attack, they apply their soak value to each hit individually. For more information on damage and wounds, see Wounds, Strain, and States of Health, on page 112.
An attack may also generate a Critical Injury. This may occur because the weapon’s Critical rating is triggered, or because the target suffers a number of wounds greater than its wound threshold. More about Critical ratings is explained in Step 4.
When a Critical Injury is inflicted, the attacker rolls percentile dice on Table I.6–10: Critical Injury Result, on page 115. The result of the dice roll indicates which Critical Injury is inflicted.
Some weapons and talents modify this Critical Injury roll, potentially making it more or less effective. If an attack generates enough a to trigger more than one Critical Injury, the character makes a single Critical Injury roll, adding +10 to the result for each additional time the Critical rating is triggered.
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