Combat

 

When opposing forces are unable to settle their differences via other means, conflict often escalates to combat, and resolving combat is a core function of the rules. As with most conflict in the game, combat is resolved using Versus Challenges. Characters have skills in their weapons and armour. These skills are modified by the specific weapon or armour being used in order to attempt to strike opponents with Fast Attacks or Strong Attacks, and to defend against attacks using Blocks or Dodges.

Combat Flow

When combat begins, the game shifts into combat time - each turn of combat time represents 5 seconds of real time. A turn consists of a player phase and an opponent phase. During the player phase, the players get to perform their actions while their opponents defend. During the opponent phase, the opponents (controlled by the Director) perform their actions while the players defend. After everyone has had their chance to perform their actions, the turn ends.

Order of Battle

At the beginning of any combat encounter, the Director decides the order of battle; the order in which the players and the opponents will take their turns. In general, unless the players have been ambushed, or have otherwise allowed their opponents to initiate the attack, the players all go first. The Director should also decide which order the different players take their respective turns in. In general, this order should remain the same throughout the combat, simply to prevent confusion.

Note that players can pass their turn in order to let other players go first, but they must take their turn before the end of the player phase, otherwise their turn is lost.

Actions and Stamina

During their own phase of the combat turn, each character can perform one basic action without it costing them any Stamina. Additionally, if the player chooses to expend one point of Stamina, they may perform either one additional basic action, or one combat action. You can perform these actions in any order you choose.

When a character reaches zero Stamina, they must roll a 21 Challenge using their Stability every turn or enter the Exhausted state. If successful, they may keep fighting, but they will continue to lose Stamina every time they take a combat action. Any Challenges are rolled at a penalty equal to the negative value of their current Stamina, including the 21C made each turn to prevent falling into the Exhausted state. Thus, a character with 10 Stamina, who has performed 14 combat actions will be at -4 Stamina, and will need to roll a 21C of their Stamina at -4 every turn to prevent collapsing from exhaustion, and additionally must roll all Challenges at -4.

Resolving Combat

Combat actions in Mythmaster must be resolved every combat turn for everyone involved in the combat. The majority of combat actions involve attacks and defences using either melee weapons, or ranged or thrown weapons. A typical combat exchange involves an attacker declaring the type of attack they are making, a defender declaring the type of defence they will use, and then attacker and defender rolling a Versus Challenge to determine the result.

Attacking

In Mythmaster, there are four different types of attacks. Fast Attacks and Strong Attacks are performed unarmed or with melee weapons at close range, while Snap Attacks and Ready Attacks are performed with Thrown or Ranged Weapons at longer ranges.

A character's skill in a specific weapon is modified by how effective that weapon type is at delivering Fast, Strong, Snap or Ranged attacks. The attributes for each weapon type are found on the Combat Table, and each player should record the relevant information for each weapon they carry on their Character Sheet.

Melee Attacks

Melee attacks are attacks made using one-handed, two-handed, off-hand or small weapons, unarmed or off-hand unarmed attacks, or shields. In order to perform a melee attack, the target of the attack must be in an adjacent hex. The only exception to this is the special case if using a two-handed weapon in combination with the Anchor perk in order to potentially stike an opponent who is two-hexes away.

There are two types of melee attacks; fast attacks and strong attacks:

Fast Attacks

Fast Attacks are quick melee strikes that do less damage. Lighter or better balanced weapons are more likely to hit with Fast Attacks, and they are harder to defend against when using large, heavy, or poorly balanced weapons. A character can attack once each turn with each melee weapon they have equipped as a single combat action. Fast Attacks can be defended against with Blocks or Dodges.

Strong Attacks

Strong Attacks are melee attacks with a long wind-up that do more damage. Large, heavy weapons are more likely to hit with Strong Attacks, and are harder to defend against with lighter, smaller weapons. Strong Attacks are easier to Dodge and to Block than Fast Attacks. Strong Attacks can be defended against with Blocks or Dodges, or other Special Defences

Number of Melee Attacks

As a single combat action, a character can attack once per turn with each arm, provided they have the skills and weapons to do so. For example, a character can attack with a long sword in their main hand and a dagger in their off-hand if they have both the Weapon (Long Sword) skill and the Off-Hand Weapon (Dagger) skill. Uniquely, because a small shield is fixed to the arm, a character can use a small shield with a two-handed weapon, and can attack with both, but if a character has a main hand weapon, an off-hand weapon and a small shield, they can only attack once - not twice - with the arm that has the off-hand weapon and the small shield.

Attacking with Hybrid Weapons

Several weapons (Bastard Sword, Spear, Staff, etc) can be used either one-handed using the Weapon Skill, or two-handed using the Two-Hand Weapon skill. If a character has the skills to use the weapon both ways, they are free to switch between using the weapon either way whenever they want without it costing an action (provided they have both their hands free). Having mutliple skills in the same weapon does not allow a character to attack mutliple times with the same weapon.

Ranged Attacks

Ranged attacks are attacks made using thrown or ranged weapons, or emplaced artillery. In order to perform a ranged attack, the target of the attack must be between the weapon's minimum and maximum ranges.

There are two types of ranged attacks; snap attacks and ready attacks:

Snap Attacks

Snap attacks are quick attacks made with thrown or ranged weapons. They come suddenly, and typically with less accuracy and force than ready attacks, however because a snap attack is a basic action, a character can perform two snap attacks in a turn. Snap attacks can be defended against with dodges or blocked using shields - but not blocked using other weapons.

Ready Attacks

Ready attacks are carefully aimed attacks made with thrown or ranged weapons or emplaced artillery. Ready attacks take time to prepare and focus. You must spend your basic action preparing a ready attack before spending your combat action to attempt one - thus you can perform one ready attack per turn if you do not move. Artillery can only perform ready attacks, and the refire rate for artillery depends on the number of crew serving the weapon. Ready attacks can be defended against with dodges or blocked using shields - but not blocked using other weapons.

Ammunition

Ranged weapons all require ammuniton, such as arrows or bolts, in order to be used. Once exhausted, these weapons cannot be used until ammunition is replenished. In any given combat, 25% of arrows or bolts fired are considered destroyed or lost. Another 25% are considered readily reusable. Normally these will be collected following a battle, but even during combat, any arrow or bolt pulled from a nearby corpse has a 1 in 4 chance of being ready for immediate refire (and this can be done instantly using the Equip skill). The remain 50% of damaged arrows or bolts that might be recovered after combat can be repaired using the Bowyer/Fletcher skill. Note that sling bullets or stones are never destroyed, though 25% are still lost after use.

For thrown weapons, including spears, javelins, hand axes and others, the ammunition is the weapon itself. Once the weapon is thrown, it must be recovered before re-use. Non-magical thrown weapons will be broken on any catastrophe, but otherwise do not break when thrown.

Ranges

All ranged and thrown weapons listed on the combat table include both a minimum and a maximum range.

The maximum range is a multiple of your Physical attribute for thrown weapons and a multiple of your skill with the weapon for ranged weapons. You may not attack targets that are further away than your maximum range.

Each weapon type also has a fixed minimum range. If you are aware of any enemy who is able to perform basic or combat actions at all and who is within the minimum range of your weapon, you may not perform a ranged or thrown attack. It does not matter if the enemy is engaged in combat with someone else; the simple threat of their presence prevents attacking. The Point Blank perk allows you to ignore enemies inside your minimum range. Uniquely, with crossbows and artillery pieces, enemies inside the minimum range do not prevent the weapons from being fired if they are fully loaded and readied - but they do prevent such weapons from being reloaded.

Defending

In most combat situations, defenders can choose from two different options; block or dodge. Generally, can only defend once against each attack, so deciding how to best allocate your defenses against various attacks is an important skill to learn as a player. As with attacks, the effectiveness of each type of defence is determined by the specific attributes of the weapon, shield or armour being used or worn, as shown on the combat table. Record the relevant information for any armour worn and for each weapon carried on your character sheet.

Blocking with a Weapon

Blocking with a weapon is governed by the skill of the weapon being used to block. You can attempt to block two different attacks with each weapon you have equipped. The type of attack being defended against determines the modifier to your block. You cannot block attacks from ranged or thrown weapons using a weapon. Knowing which weapons are effective at blocking which types of attacks is an important skill for players to learn.

Blocking while Unarmed

Blocking using your Unarmed or Off-Hand Unarmed skill is the same as blocking with a weapon except that if you are blocking against an attacker who is using a weapon, your block is at a penalty of -4 (unless you have the Iron Hands perk). You can attempt to block two different attacks with your main hand and two more with your off-hand. You cannot block attacks from ranged or thrown weapons while unarmed (unless you have the Ranged Parry perk).

Blocking with a Shield

Blocking with a shield is similar to blocking with a weapon, except that shields (and only shields) can block attacks from ranged or thrown weapons, and you are not limited to the number of attacks you can block. However, you may only block attacks coming from a 60 degree facing using a small shield, a 120 degree facing using a medium shield, and a 180 degree facing when using a large shield. Each successive block after the first two suffers (-1,-2,-3,-5,-8,-13, etc). The Bulwark skill allows you to increase the number of unpenalized defenses you can make each turn.

Uniquely, because a small shield is fixed to the arm, a character can use a small shield with a two-handed weapon, and can defend with both, but if a character has a main hand weapon, an off-hand weapon and a small shield, they can only defend with either the off-hand weapon or the small shield in a given turn.

Defending with Hybrid Weapons

Several weapons (Bastard Sword, Spear, Staff, etc) can be used to defend either one-handed using the Weapon Skill, or two-handed using the Two-Hand Weapon skill. If a character has the skills to use the weapon both ways, they are free to switch between defending with the weapon either way whenever they want without it costing an action (provided they have both their hands free). A character may only block twice per turn with a given weapon, regardless of whether they block using the weapon in one hand or two.

Dodging

Dodging is based to your skill in the specific type of armour you are wearing, or your Unarmoured skill. You can dodge any number of attacks in a turn, regardless of whether they are melee, unarmed, ranged or thrown, but each successive dodge after the first two suffers (-1,-2,-3,-5,-8,-13, etc).

Multiple Defenses

In some rare cases, an attack may be defended against multiple times. The Bulwark skill, for example, allows an adjacent ally to attempt to block an attack against you with a shield, and if they fail, you can still attempt to dodge or block yourself. In these cases, the best result of all defense rolls is the result that counts.

Damage

If, after rolling a Challenge in combat, the defender is determined to be the winner, then the attack fails, and the next attacker takes their turn. If the attacker wins the Challenge, however, then they need to roll damage.

Determining Damage

Damage is determined by rolling the damage for the specific weapon based on the type of attack chosen. Damage values for each weapon type are found on the Combat Table. The base damage rolled is modified by the attacker's species and for the attacker’s skill, as indicated below.

Damage Adjusted for Skill <7 7-8 9-10 11-14 15-17 18-20 >20
Damage Modifier -3 -2 -1 0 +1 +2 +3

Bleeding

If at any time a character suffers more than half of their Stability as damage to their Health from a single hit, they must roll a 21C using Stability or enter the bleeding state.

Protection

The value of the defender's Protection is subtracted from the total damage rolled, and the remainder is applied to the defender's Health Derivative. Protection values for each armour type are found on the Combat Table.

Combat Movement

During combat, you have two opportunities to move; once as basic action for no Stamina cost, and once by taking a second basic action as your combat action - which costs a point of Stamina. Because you can perform your actions in any order, you can choose (for example) to move, then attack, or to attack first, and then move.

Split Movement

Any amount of movement taken as a basic or combat action is considered a complete action. While you may always choose to move less than your base move, movement cannot be divided or split such as to allow actions to be performed in the middle of movement. For example, a character with a base move of 10 h/t may not move 5 hexes as part of their basic action, then perform their combat action (such as an attack) and then move the remaining 5 hexes of their movement. The Mobility perk frees you from this constraint.

Attacking While Flying

Because flying movement requires acceleration and deceleration, flying attackers do not use the same rules for split movement. Flying attackers can launch their attacks at any point during their flying move, but doing so causes them to decelerate (unless they have the Mobility perk).

A flying attacker with a Sprint move of 10 and a Fly move of 60 that is flying at 30 h/t can launch its attacks anywhere along its 30 hex movement path, but as soon as it does, 10 hexes of deceleration are applied. If the attacker were to launch its attacks 5 hexes into its movement, with 25 hexes remaining, it would then decelerate to 20 h/t, with only 15 hexes remaining, and it would have to move those 15 hexes after completing its attacks. If the same attacker were to launch its attacks 20 hexes into its movement, with 10 hexes remaining, it would then decelerate to 20 h/t, with 0 hexes remaining, and it would end its turn in the hex in which it attacked.

Occupied Hexes

Characters may freely move through a hex occupied by any ally for no movement penalty, but may not intentionally end their turn in the same hex as someone else. This means that if your last hex of movement would take you into the hex of an ally, you may not enter it.

You may not enter or move through a hex occupied by an enemy unless the enemy is in the down state, or unless they allow you to do so. Even in this case, you may not intentionally end your turn in the same hex as an enemy.

In the event two allied characters accidentally end up in the same hex, each must attempt to rectify the situation in their next turn, if possible. However, if a character is forced into an occupied hex (such as by the slam effect), the character already in the hex must roll a 21C using Agility or be put in the down state.

Special Combat Abilities

There are a large number of skills and perks that can impact the flow of combat, the order of battle, or the way different attacks or defenses unfold. Pay attention to the different skills and perks that unlock at each level of mastery in your skill fields, and when you acquire new skills and abilities, make sure you take the time to read their descriptions and understand how they work - many of them can have a decisive impact in a combat encounter if you are able to know when and where to use them to their full effect.