Each party or group of characters has its own turn, during which it performs actions. Which party or group moves first often has a bearing on who ends up dead and who walks away unscathed. This is termed Initiative. The party or group with initiative moves first, the better the initiative the sooner it moves. Of course once the first turn is finished initiative is largely irrelevant, as the turns continue in a cycle.

Initiative is simple to determine, and follows the following priority:

Turns only begin when the groups are close enough together to interact, or when timing otherwise becomes important. For example, a group of cowboys trying to rope cattle will not begin turns until they are within a few hexes of the herd. Similarly, two groups of hostile warriors will not use turns while one is watching the other approach, but will begin when one is close enough to shoot, or in adjacent zones or areas.

Each group or party has a leader. The character who is the leader will often vary depending on the nature of the group and what it is doing, and is basically the central mind of the group. A military force, for example, will have a sergeant or officer as its leader. A band of adventurers may use one character as its leader when fighting (e.g. a great warrior), another when travelling (e.g. a merchant or employer), and another when engaging in magic (e.g. a cleric or mage).

A party may be of any size, from one character upwards. A group may not be larger than eight characters, but may be only one character. A party that consists of more than eight characters must be split into groups of no more than eight.

Each group must have a leader, and the leader must be a major character. It follows, therefore, that one major character may not have any more than seven minor characters following him without other major characters as sidekicks or lieutenants. If a group has no leader as a result it will naturally wander away from the party unless stopped.

How to stop excess characters from wandering away is dependent on the emergence of a major character from among the minors. Basically such a character is a potential leader who has simply not had the opportunity to show his stuff. The party leader uses his Leadership or Leadership-Charismatic trait to do this. The character rolls on this trait, and if successful a minor character is elevated to the status of major character, and forms his own group around him. If successful and still short of enough major characters he may roll again, but if the last roll was a failure he is stuck with a bunch of whimps with no initiative.

The other way of keeping excess characters is to force them to stay. Basically they will leave if they can at the first opportunity, but will not fight to leave. This type of situation is up to the referee.

Actions are things done by a character for a particular purpose, such as moving, attacking, searching, picking up, putting down, casting a spell etc.

In addition to his APs the leader of a group has a number of Command Points (CPs) equal to his Leadership or Leadership-Charismatic trait, whichever is the greater. CPs can be used as APs for the leader or anyone in his group, to allow a character to perform or complete an action he normally would not have the APs to do. CPs can also be used as APs to allow a character to perform actions when not activated.

Every action has a cost in action points. The turn is conducted as follows:

Each character of the group is activated, one at a time, during the group’s turn. When a character is activated he may perform actions, using his APs to do so. As soon as the character has completed the actions he wishes to, or completed all actions he is able to, he is deactivated and his turn is over.

The group’s turn is over when all characters have been activated. Each character may only be activated once per turn.

Characters do not have to use all of their APs when activated, or even use any APs at all, but they may not save unused APs. Once deactivated all remaining APs are considered used.

CPs may be used to increase a character’s total AP limit. For example, if a character needs to take an action requiring 2 APs and only has 1 AP left, the leader may allocate 1 CP (provided he has a CP available) to allow the action to be completed. A leader may allocate his CPs as he wishes, although he may never use more than half (rounded down) of his total CPs on himself (even if he is the only character in the group). CPs may be allocated at any time before or during the action required.

CPs may also be used to allow inactive characters to perform actions. Before a character has been activated and after he has been deactivated he may not use any APs, but he may use CPs from the leader to perform actions out of sequence, while another character is activated, or even in another group’s turn.

The leader determines how many CPs he will give to a character and what they will be used on. The player may refuse CPs (which are not then used up), but if he accepts them he must use them as the leader specifies. Players may ask their leader (and discuss things with him) to allocate CPs for a particular purpose.

Neither APs nor CPs accumulate. Any unused APs are lost as soon as the character is deactivated, whether he has used any or not (note: all characters are activated during their turn, even if they do nothing). CPs may be carried over through the entire turn, and the turns of other groups and parties, but when the group’s new turn begins (i.e. the leader gets a new lot of CPs) any unused CPs are lost.

Using CPs during an opponent’s turn is restricted. An action may only be taken as a response to an enemy action. For example, if using CPs to move during the opponent’s turn an enemy must be moving himself, the character responding to that movement (e.g. backing away from an advancing enemy). To conduct an attack on an enemy the enemy must be attacking the character, the CPs are used in response to this (i.e. a counterattack).

Generally speaking a character may only perform an action within the one turn. If he does not have enough APs to complete the action then he may not begin it. Thus an action costing 2 APs cannot be performed by spending 1 AP in one turn and 1 AP in the next, both APs must be spent in the one turn or the action may not be taken.

There are exceptions to this. These actions are called extended actions, and may be performed across turns. The most notable of these is magical spells; thus a player casting a level 5 spell (requiring 5 APs) when he only has 3 APs per turn may use 3 APs this turn and the first 2 APs next turn, or may spend 2 APs doing something else, then the remaining AP to start the spell, 3 APs next turn, and finally 1 AP in the following turn to complete the spell.

Common actions and their costs are listed below.
 

Where "s" is referred to this is a modification of the skill trait used. For example snapfiring is at s-2, which means the character suffers a penalty of -2 to his combat skill when snapfiring.

A weapon in a sheath, scabbard or on the back must be readied before it can be used. Characters moving into a known dangerous situation can be assumed to have their weapons ready, otherwise they are not. Characters with a Quickdraw trait may roll on this, if successful they ready their weapon at no cost in APs. If they fumble they shoot themselves in the foot, or end up lobbing the weapon at the enemy.

Snapfiring is available to any loaded weapon. Weapons which self load or are quickly loaded (such as a lever action rifle or pump action shotgun) are always assumed to be loaded and so can be snapfired a number of times in sequence. Other weapons may be snapfired at a cost of 1 AP but must be reloaded before they can be snapfired again.

Lever and pump-action weapons are assumed to be loaded. When fired it is assumed that the character operates the mechanism and reloads without even thinking about it, the time to do so being taken into account in the shooting action. If the character is unable to reload (or states that he does not wish to) the weapon is unloaded, and operating the mechanism to reload takes an extra 1 AP.

For safety’s sake revolvers, when carried around, were usually loaded with five rounds, not six, the empty chamber being placed under the hammer in case of mishap. In such a case the first shot (no matter what type of shot it is) will have no effect (as there is no bullet). If carried with six bullets loaded the revolver may go off if the character is thrown about a bit, falls down, etc. The referee should roll 1d6 every time such a thing happens, the weapon firing wherever it is being carried on a roll of 6. Note that when going into trouble a revolver will usually be loaded with a sixth bullet, the empty chamber was only a precaution while carrying the weapon.

Using a skill is considered an action, however the length of these actions may vary considerably and is usually up to the referee to decide. Most actions performed using the tactical system are covered in the table, most other skills are used in a more descriptive sense. For example, use of the Persuade skill may require a few hours of getting the sod drunk to perform, or it may be a matter of a fierce stare at a recalcitrant NPC.

In some cases the referee may make exceptions. For example, a human shooting at a human through a hex occupied by a dwarf might be allowed (although rolling a hit against the lower body of the target might have a good chance of hitting the dwarf instead).

CPs may be used to move a character out of the way of a moving active character, but otherwise an inactive character cannot move out of the way until activated.

Doorways, arches, openings etc. always rest between hexes. A character in a doorway hex (either side) prevents other characters from passing through (unless they use their skills to slip past him).

A character is considered to face a particular hexside. The character may attack and defend normally through this hexside and through the hexsides adjacent to it. Attacks through the rear hexside (opposite facing) reduce any trait used for attack (if attacking through the rear) or defence (if attacked through the rear) by 2. Attacks through the flank hexsides (the two between the three front and the rear, on either side), reduce any trait used for attack (if attacking through the flank) or defence (if attacked through the flank) by 1.

Generally speaking a character cannot see through the flank or rear hexsides. He may turn his head to see (and therefore attack or shoot), but will only do so if there is a reason to do so. Sneaking up on someone will not work to the front, only to the flank or rear.

Lackeys are usually acquired when a NPC joins the party and gravitates towards one of the PCs. The reasons for this are many, he may be hired as a guide, one of the PCs might save him from a hostile mob, he might be bought as a slave, and so on. Consider the Star Wars characters as an example. Luke’s uncle buys the two droids who then become his lackeys. Solo saves the life of a wookie who then pledges lifelong devotion to him. lackeys can be acquired in numerous ways, but are best acquired during play.

Being NPCs lackeys are directly controlled by the referee. He decides what they will do, moves them, rolls dice for them and so on. However a lackey will usually obey the orders of the player character to whom he is attached, and the referee should take this into account. Thus if the player gives an order to his character’s lackey, provided it is a reasonable order for the lackey to follow, the referee should have the lackey obey those commands.

Lackeys are useful in a number of ways. They are good as general dogsbodies, carrying spare equipment, running errands, taking messages and so on. They may also be used in conjunction with luck points to take damage or harm that the character normally would be subject to.

Lackeys may also have useful skills. For example, a noble PC may have a horse and a Ride Horse skill, but no knowledge of how to look after the beast. A servant with Horsemanship skill may thus be used to keep the horse in top condition. Similarly lackeys may have skills to look after the character’s armor or weapons, which would otherwise run down if left to the PCs own meager skills.

It is also possible for lackeys to turn against their characters. usually this will only happen if a villain subverts them with bribery, blackmail, or mindbending magic. It may also happen if the lackey is treated the wrong way.

A proud man who has been enslaved, then freed, by the character, will be a faithful lackey so long as he is treated with respect. If the character begins to treat him like a slave again, however, he may abandon the PC, or even turn against him. Similarly a group of warriors who are following the character believing him to be a great warrior may turn on him if he shows weakness, or a group of religious nuts following the PC as their messiah may turn on him if he shows behavior not conducive with messiahness.

Turning on the player character, however, should be a drawn out process of slow disillusionment, rather than a sudden thing, giving the player a chance to prevent it.

There is one final benefit to a character having a lackey (and a good reason for helping him become better and stronger). If a player’s character dies he must either cease playing or find himself a new character. A faithful lackey is the perfect backup character for a player to take over, along with a prime motivation for further adventuring (the revenge of his master’s death). In addition, of all characters in the gameworld, it is the lackey of the hero who is most likely to have the same motivations and ideals, and the same knowledge and style, as the deceased PC.

The death (or downing) of their leader will usually have the same effect. Without leadership NPCs will usually fold quickly and get out of there.

PCs are not really subject to this, given their heroship. PCs can fight for as long as they wish, or turn and flee when they wish. However their lackeys may be affected by heavy casualties, particularly if one of them is their master.

Combat attacks come in two basic forms: Melee or Close Combat, and Missile or Projectile. Melee attacks involve weapons that are held in the hand and used to strike at the enemy directly. Missile attacks involve weapons that are thrown or fire projectiles such as arrows or bullets from a distance.

Some magic spells are as attacks. When this occurs the appropriate Spells trait is used in lieu of the Combat trait, usually in a missile attack (such as hurling a fireball). Defence against these is the same as for normal combat attacks.

There are three basic Defences against any attack: Dodge, Parry and Block.

Dodging an attack means getting out of the way, moving your body to a place where the weapon is not going to hit it. When dodging the defender uses his Agility trait to resist the attack.

Parrying an attack means using a weapon to deflect the weapon away from the defender’s body. Against close attacks this is a common defence and can use any weapon (although some weapons are not good for parrying and so have a penalty when so used). Against missile attacks shields are usually the only weapons used, although other weapons can be used with a penalty. The Combat skill of the parrying weapon is used to resist the attack.

Blocking is like parrying, but instead of merely deflecting the attack it is meant to stop it dead. Blocking is identical to parrying with two exceptions: the defence has a bonus of +1, as it is more likely to succeed, and damage is still calculated, being applied to the weapon. Thus a blocking weapon may be broken. See Block Option below for details.

Attacking requires APs to conduct. Defending does not. Thus if a character attacks during his turn the defender will always conduct a defence against him (assuming he knows he is being attacked). Of course the defender may not counterattack until he is eventually activated during his own turn, or the leader spends a couple of CPs. In the latter case the attacker will always get his attack in, CPs may only be used to respond to an enemy action.

The top part is used to determine the right damage column. Subtract the defender’s defence from the attacker’s attack (i.e. combat or agility traits plus or minus any modifiers) and roll 3d6. The difference between attack and defence gives the line used, and the roll shows the result.

Below this there are three basic results. A Reverse is a severe miss that gives the defender a free counterattack (see below). A miss means that the weapon has either missed completely or has only grazed the defender without harm. If a hit is achieved the roll gives the column used for the calculation of damage. Find the attacker’s base damage in the lower part of the table, and cross-index this line with the column found by the roll. This is the damage done. Thus the better the roll the more damage is done.

This sounds complicated, but is actually quite simple, and is best illustrated by an example. Let’s say our hero is attacking with a weapon for which he has s3 d4. The defender tries to parry the attack with his weapon, which is s2 (damage is irrelevant as he is the defender).

If we assume no other modifiers the difference in the attack is +1 (i.e. the attacker has a skill one level higher than the defender). He finds the +1 row in the upper part of the table and rolls 3d6, getting 16.

Moving across the +1 line he finds 16. When he has found this column he follows it down, until he is in the row in the lower part of the table for a base damage of 4. The number here is 11. He has inflicted 11 points of damage on the enemy, a very good hit.
 

Like normal trait roll there is always a chance of hitting and always a chance of missing, regardless of the actual result. The Combat Table is identical to normal trait rolls, except that it provides degrees of success to equate with damage. The same rules apply, however.

A natural roll of 18 is always a hit doing the maximum 3 times base damage. A natural roll of 17 is always a hit, doing base damage or the specified damage, whichever is more. Similarly, a natural roll of 3 is always a Reverse (Fumble), while a natural roll of 4 is always a miss, if not a Reverse.

Important Note: Reverses only have an effect in Melee. For Missile attacks treat a Reverse result as a normal Miss.

If this option is chosen the defender adds 1 to his Combat trait with that weapon in defence. However if the attacker rolls a Miss result the weapon takes damage from the blow. The attacker rolls again on the +5 column and compares the damage rolled to the weapon’s TR.

If the number of damage points inflicted equals or exceeds the weapon’s Toughness Rating then the rating is permanently reduced by 1. If this reaches 0 the weapon breaks and is useless.

If the attacker rolls a Reverse there is no effect on the weapon, however the defender may not launch a counter attack as normal (neither option is available).

Greater damage can affect the weapon more. If the damage done equals or exceeds twice the weapon’s TR then the TR is permanently reduced by 2. If three times it is reduced by 3, and so on.

Missile weapons have a base range, and sometimes a minimum range (most missile weapons cannot be used when in hand-to-hand combat, pistols are one of the few exceptions). If the weapon is fired at a target within this range there is no modification, however outside of this range the Combat trait is reduced by 1 for every increment. Thus a weapon with a base range of 40 yards suffers no penalty up to and including 40 yards, a penalty of -1 for 40-80 yards, -2 for 80-120 yards, and so on.

Missile weapons also have a maximum range. This is as far as the weapon can physically be fired, and so cannot be exceeded.

"Reverse" results are ignored (treat as a "Miss" result).

If the target of the fire is engaged in close combat then the weapon uses the +4 line of the combat table (+2 if snapfiring). However all those involved in that combat (i.e. one character against one or two characters) are equal targets. The shooting character rolls against his Combat trait on the trait table, hitting his desired target only if successful. If this roll fails he hits the other character (probably his friend). If there is more than one other target the chance is equal of hitting either (thus a character shooting at one of two enemies attacking a friend who misses has an even chance of hitting the other enemy or the friend).

Note that anyone perverse enough to aim for his friend, knowing that his aim is terrible (his trait is low) and he is more likely to hit what he is not aiming for, should be allowed to do so.

Most missile weapons have their own damage value, which replaces the Strength trait. Some (notably throwing weapons) still use the Strength trait and a modifier.

In close combat a character using a shield (of any size) increases his Combat trait for defence only by 1. He may decide not to use his shield during any enemy attack and forego this benefit if he wishes. Note that there is no separate skill trait for shields, this is assumed to be incorporated in the weapon Combat skill.

When shot at (including most magic attacks) a character using a small shield gains no benefit, a medium shield increases the Combat trait (not the Agility trait) by 1, and a large shield increases the Combat trait (again not the Agility trait) by 2. If a character is squatting behind his shield he is in full cover, and cannot be hit, but he also cannot see his opponent running up to dispatch him with his sword.

Shields can be damaged. When a shield is used in defence in close combat (i.e. it provides the +1 benefit to the Combat trait) and the attack fails, the attacker is considered to do damage against the shield itself, and rolls again on the +5 line for shield damage. If the damage equals or exceeds the shield’s Toughness rating then the shield’s Toughness rating is permanently halved. If the damage equals or exceeds twice the TR then the shield has been hacked to pieces.

If the shield has already been damaged (i.e. TR has already been halved) then damage exceeding the Shield’s TR is enough to destroy it, and it is hacked to pieces. Note that all damage in this case is on the shield, no damage every carries through to the character.

Damage of less than the shield’s TR has no effect.

Thrusting weapons, such as spears, can make holes in but will never destroy a shield. These weapons therefore do not damage shields.

Toughness ratings depend on how the shield is made, and are as follows:

Wicker 4

Wood 6

Wood rimmed with metal 8

Wood faced with metal 10

If a character is facing an enemy using a significantly longer weapon (such as a spear or polearm) then the referee may apply a penalty of -1 to his combat trait. This penalty does not apply if two or more characters are attacking in close combat, as it is far more difficult to fend off two opponents with a long weapon than it is one.

The reason for these penalties is that the attacker must get past the longer weapon before he can attack, an additional difficulty to a normal attack.

A character in Ready mode is advancing carefully and slowly, or standing ready, with his weapon in his hand and expecting trouble. A character in Ready mode may make one attack (and one only) against anything that comes within range. He is, however, plainly visible, will not normally surprise his opponent, and suffers a penalty of -1 to his attack.

In effect the player has paid for his character’s attack while activated but held it off. Once Ready mode has been adopted no other actions may be taken, or Ready mode is lost. Thus it is must be the last action performed before deactivation. The trade-off for this benefit is the -1 penalty to the attack. The attack in Ready mode can be done in response to an enemy character’s movement or attack, however if the enemy is attacking him this attack is resolved first, the Ready character always attacks second. Thus if the enemy moves up to him and attacks he may not get in the first attack, claiming response to the enemy’s movement.

Ambush mode requires the character to hide himself, either in something or behind something. His intention is to attack anyone who passes a certain point, or shoot at anyone who passes a particular line of fire or enters a particular area.

There are two ambush modes: Cautious and Reckless. If a cautious ambush is set the character may choose whom he will attack (he checks whom he is attacking before doing so). However a triggering enemy character may defend himself against the ambush normally.

A reckless ambush is always resolved on the +5 line of the combat table. The triggering character offers no defence as he does not know the attack is coming. However, the ambusher must attack the first character to enter the triggering zone, no matter who it might be (friend or foe).

An enemy character who is aware of the presence of a reckless ambusher treats him as a cautious ambusher if he triggers the attack (and so may defend himself normally). The ambusher is still reckless in that he must attack the first thing he sees, but he rolls a normal attack if the triggerer is aware of him.

In both cases the character is considered to be hidden and out of sight (and so must be able to hide himself) until he attacks. He may make only one attack, and ceases to be in Ambush mode as soon as he does so.

An ambusher who has been detected may be snuck up upon. The "victim" rolls on his Stealth trait, opposed by the ambusher’s Hearing trait. If the roll fails the ambusher becomes aware that he has been detected, and no ambush takes place (although the erstwhile ambusher is now considered to be in Ready mode). If the roll succeeds then he ambushes the ambusher, gaining +2 to his Combat trait for the attack.

However, when activated the character has 0 APs. CPs may only be spent on movement, nothing else. This situation applies only for the character’s next turn, unless of course he chooses to become Defensive again.

When making a frenzied attack the character gains +1 to hit (i.e. his combat trait is increased by 1 for the attack) and +1 base damage. However any attacks made on the character prior to his next activation are at +2 (to the enemy Combat trait only).

To conduct a Grapple attack, use the Combat-Brawl skill, but treat it as an action rather than an attack (i.e. roll on the skill table instead of the combat table). The defender may counter with a dodge (Agility) or Combat-Brawl. If the attack is successful the defender is grappled, but no damage is done.

The exception is when a creature with claws or talons attempts to grapple. This is treated as a normal attack (roll on the combat table) but if successful also results in the defender being grappled.

When grappled the attacks available to the attacker and defender are limited. The attacker’s options are:

Push to the Ground. The attacker rolls on his Strength trait, opposed by the defender’s Strength trait. If successful both characters end up prone in the same hex.

Shove. The attacker rolls on his Strength OR Dexterity trait (as the attacker wishes), opposed by the defender’s Strength trait OR Dexterity trait (as the defender wishes). If successful the defender or both characters end up in an adjacent hex (as stated by the attacker prior to rolling). The attacker may go with the defender and retain his grapple, or may stay where he is, in which case the grapple is broken. Of course, if the defender is also grappling the attacker both must move the one hex.

Crush. The attacker makes a normal attack, on the +2 line of the combat table, base damage at -1. All damage is to the Chest area, and so ignores all armor except plate metal, banded metal, boiled leather or padding around the Chest (treat attack as Impact).

Headbutt. The attacker makes a normal attack on the +4 line of the combat table, base damage at -2. All damage is to the Head area, and so ignores all armor except head armor (which automatically defends). Damage is Impact.

Bite. Treat as a normal attack, using Combat-Brawl. Human bite uses base damage of Strength -3. Other creatures will have a better rating, creatures with real teeth (e.g. cats, crocodiles, wolves) use base damage of Strength -0. Damage is Cut.

The grappled character only has two options available to him. These are:

Countergrapple. The grappled may roll on his Dexterity, opposed by the grappler’s Dexterity or Strength. If successful then both characters are grappling each other, and so both can engage in the attacks listed above.

Break Grapple. Any grappled character may try to break the grapple on him, by rolling against their Dexterity or Strength, opposed by the grappler’s Dexterity or Strength. If successful the grappler is moved to an adjacent hex (at his own choice), and the grapple is no longer valid. For a character to break his opponent’s grapple he must first break any grapples he might himself have, before making the attempt.

The Attacker makes a normal Thrust attack at -1, base damage is +2, however any attacks made on the character prior to his next activation are at +1. Any movement after the charge attack must be in the same direction as its approach.

The defender may oppose a charge attack only by dodging. He may also choose to Leap out of the way of the charge. This is treated as a normal Dodge, but with a bonus of +1 to Agility. If the attack fails (the defender has leapt out of the way) the defender ends up in any adjacent hex to the side, lying prone.

However, Front, Flank and Rear are defined differently. The three hexes to the front, plus the two hexes to either side are the Front. The hex to the rear is the Rear, the remaining two hexes are the Flanks.

The hex immediately to the front is a slightly different case. The character on horseback may only attack a defender in this hex if he is armed with a long weapon such as a spear or polearm. Swords, axes, maces etc. will not reach.

Similarly a character in this hex may not attack the rider (although he may attack the horse) unless armed with a spear or polearm.

A character on horseback may only attack another character on horseback if one of the horses occupies a hex immediately to the side of the other. If this is the case then either rider may attack, if not then neither may.

If a character fighting on horseback has a Ride Horse trait less than his weapon Combat trait he uses Ride Horse instead of the weapon as his Combat trait, both in attack and defence.

A character on horseback attacking a character on foot adds 1 to his base damage. A character on foot attacking a character on horseback subtracts 1 from his base damage.

Missile attacks from horseback are as normal, except that certain weapons are too clumsy to use. This is why most cavalry troopers are armed with small composite bows, carbines or pistols, and rarely longbows, muskets or machine guns.

If the horse is moving and the character’s Ride Horse trait is lower than his missile weapon’s Combat trait then he uses his Ride Horse trait instead.

If the defender is moving but unable to defend himself he has a standard defence of 2 and a normal attack is made (the referee can modify this defence if the defender is moving particularly fast or erratically).

If the defender is stationary and unable to defend himself the +5 line on the Combat Table is used.

Combat weapons generally have four types of damage. These are:

Cut: The weapon uses a blade or edge to do damage by being drawn across the defender. E.g. a sword blade.

Thrust: The weapon uses a point to do damage by being pushed through the defender. E.g. a spear point.

Impact: The weapon uses pure force to smash the defender. E.g. a club.

Chop: The weapon uses a cutting blade, but this is reinforced by a heavy impact. Essentially a combination of cut and impact damage. E.g. an axe.

Damage can occur in different ways from this. For example fire, lightning, lasers, plasma weapons and the like all use pure Energy to do damage. Magic is normally energy as well, but also counts as Magical damage. Poison, drowning etc. all do their own type of damage.

Weapons can sometimes do more than one type of damage, for example a sword with both an edge and a point can be used for Cutting or Thrusting, depending on how it is used. Such weapons have their damage types listed separated by a slash. The type before the slash is the type normally used, and is regarded as the default. The other type(s) are options, but the player must specify before the attack that he is using the weapon in that way.

E.g. Most swords are Cut/Thrust, which means they always use Cut damage unless the player specifically states beforehand that he is thrusting with it.

When attacking a character without armor the attack has no complications, and if a hit occurs all damage points are taken by the defender. Armor, however, may reduce the number of damage points by absorbing them, so it is necessary to check whether a successful attack has hit armor or flesh. Roll 1d6 on the Armor Coverage Table.

Items such as backplates or breastplates will be hit on a roll of 2-3. Mail shirts protect chest, back and lower body, and so will be hit on a roll of 2-4. A long-sleeved mail shirt would also cover the arms, and so be hit on a roll of 2-4 or 6. Each piece of armor should have its rating and coverage specified.

If the hit is on a body area protected by armor then the armor is taken into account. Otherwise all damage hits without reduction.

All armor has a Rating, given in dice. When armor is hit the player rolls the dice as stated. The amount rolled is the number of damage points stopped by the armor. If the damage is equal to or less than the armor roll then no damage has made it through, and the defender is unhurt. If damage exceeds the armor then the remainder continues through to harm the defender. For example 5 damage points against an unarmored area causes a 5 damage point wound. Against 1d6 armor the defender rolls 1d6, on a roll of 5 or 6 all damage is stopped by the armor, on a roll of 4 only 1 point has made it through, on a roll of 3 2 points have made it through, and so on.

Dice are usually d6s. On some occasions armor will use different dice, normally d8s or d4s.

Some weapons have an Armor Penetration (AP) value. This is the number of dice subtracted from the armor hit before armor is rolled. For example, a weapon with an AP of 2 against 3d6 armor reduces this to 1d6.

The same applies regardless of the dice used. A weapon with an AP of 1 against 2d8 armor reduces it to 1d8.

Important Note: Virtually all thrust attacks will have an AP of at least 1.

Cut and Chop can always damage armor, Thrust never damages armor, Impact only damages rigid armor.

For example, a sword (cut damage) hits a character’s padded armor (1d6) and does 4 points of damage. The maximum armor roll for the padded armor is 6, the 4 points are less than this, so the armor is undamaged.

In a second attack the sword hits again, doing 8 points of damage. As this exceeds the maximum armor roll of 6 the armor suffers damage. From now on it will provide only 1d6-3 protection.

A third hit is made by the sword. The armor roll is 2 on the die, making a negative value of -1. The armor falls apart, regardless of the damage done.

Note that if the third hit had been from an impact weapon (e.g. a mace) the negative value would mean only that it offers no resistance. The fact that the mace cannot damage soft armor means that it also cannot be responsible for it falling apart.

Padded Armor: Two sheets of cloth into which is sewn linen offcuts. Good protection against impact and the rubbing of metal armor, and so often worn under other armor.

Ring Mail: Light or padded armor with metal rings or discs sewn in for extra protection.

Chain Mail: Linked rings of metal.

Double Chain Mail: As per chain, but using double rings.

Scale: Small, flat metal pieces sewn on cloth and slightly overlapping.

Lamellar: Small, flat metal pieces sewn on cloth, the edges fitting together perfectly. Sometimes made from bone or ceramic.

Plate Leather: Leather boiled and dried to a rigid consistency.

Plate Metal: Sheet metal, includes metal bands. Most common is the helm or helmet and the breastplate.

All types except light, padding and ring can be worn over padding, offering extra protection as stated in the Armor Value Table. Ring mail can be rings sewn onto cloth or onto padding.

Note: Some weapons or damage types will specify their effect against certain types of armor, listing them as soft (or flexible), rigid or padded.

All armor is either soft or rigid. Soft armor is flexible in some way, and includes cloth, padding, chainmail and the like. Rigid armor is any armor containing hard, rigid bands or plates, usually metal, bone or boiled leather.

Padded armor as a group is as specified for padded armor above but also includes any other armor over padding. Padded armor is also soft if it has no rigid armor over it, and also rigid if it does.

Natural armor operates exactly as artificial armor, with certain exceptions.

Where armor totally covers the body no roll is made for location, the armor is always taken into account.

Where armor does not have any joins or weak spots a dice value is not used, instead the armor protects against a specific number of damage points. For example a thick hide might protect against 3 points of armor, meaning every attack reduces damage by 3. The thick plates of an Indian rhino or a giant crab, for example, will protect in dice like artificial armor, a high roll meaning the hard plates have been struck, a low roll meaning a gap has been found between them.

When a character takes damage write it down as a number, rather than as lines. Thus when a character takes a 2 point wound, followed by a three point wound, it is written as 2-3, rather than as "II" after the first wound, and "IIII" after the second.

When healing or recovering from damage wounds are important. For example, it takes the same time to recover from four 1 point wounds as it does from a single 1 point wound. Thus it takes four times as long to recover from a single 4 point wound as it does from four 1 point wounds.

Similarly when magical healing is performed the spell will usually only affect one wound at a time. Thus four 1 point wounds require four spells to be cast, while one 4 point wound could be healed with a single boosted spell.

If the number of damage points equals or exceeds one half of the character’s hit points then the character is Wounded. When a character first becomes wounded three things happen to him:

If hit points ever drop below minus the Body trait (i.e. damage = hit points + Body) then the character is Splattered, and is definitely dead.

Examples.

A character with a Body trait of 4 received his hit points as hit dice (i.e. the player rolled 4d6 for his hit points rather than taking the guaranteed 12), and ended up with 15 hit points. He can thus receive 1-7 damage points without affecting his performance. 8 damage points is more than half of 15, and so from 7-15 damage points he is wounded. At 15-18 damage points he is down. If damage ever reaches 19 or more (15 hit points plus a Body trait of 4) he is splattered.

A character with a Body trait of 3 partially rolled his hit points, taking two as guaranteed (6 points) and rolling the third (1d6, he rolled a 5). He thus has 11 hit points. One-half of 11 is 5½, so he can take 1-5 damage points without being affected. 6-10 gives him Wounded status. 11 damage points are required to down him, and 14 (11 hit points plus a Body of 3) will splatter him.

A standard human character with a body of 6 is unaffected by 1-2 damage points. At 3 (half of 6) he becomes Wounded, at 6 he is Down. At 8 (6 hit points plus a Body trait of 2) he is splattered.

After all combat has been completed and one side has taken full control of the area the referee checks for stun. All damage points caused during this combat are checked against the causing weapon’s Stun Value.

If the stun value is "none" then no damage is recovered. All damage is taken as wounds.

If the stun value is "¹/₃" then one third of all damage points (rounded down) caused this combat by that individual weapon are removed from the character.

If the stun value is "½" then one half (rounded down) are removed.

If the stun value is "all" (rare) then all damage points are recovered. This will usually only be the case with strange pacifying weapons wielded by strange aliens in science fiction campaigns.

If the character was Splattered during combat then no damage is removed for stun, regardless of weapons. The character is dead; even if the physical damage (i.e. after removal of stun) has not killed him the trauma (stun) of the wound has done so.

If, after the removal of damage for stun, the character is still Wounded then his -1 continues to apply, but only for Physique and Co-ordination traits. If the character is still Down then he is dead (if a minor character) or may roll on the Down Table (if a major character, see below).

Important Note: The character’s Body trait is not affected by being wounded, either temporarily (during combat) or permanently (after combat), nor are his hit points so affected.

Example. A major character with 12 hit points is hit by an enemy wielding an axe, taking 13 damage points in total, which puts him down. Normally he would be dead at this stage, however as the stun value of the axe is "¹/₃", at the end of the combat a third of the 13 damage points is removed, rounded down, which is 4 points. The character is now carrying 9 damage points, enough to make him Wounded but no longer enough to keep him Down.

The Down Table gives a result of Character has Died, is Mortally Wounded, is Crippled or is Unconscious.

Character has Died means Dead. Now I know that some players believe that there are degrees of dead for their characters ranging from slightly dead through mostly dead to completely dead, particularly when it happens to their favorite character, but it is a fact of life that all things living eventually die, and it is a fact of role-playing that all characters risk death and if played for long enough will one day end up dead. Really dead. No barley cross-fingers, dead means dead. Dead dead dead. Stop whinging and create a new character for deity’s sake.

Character is Mortally Wounded means that without a modern hospital (or magical equivalents) the character will die. However the character may regain consciousness and reveal a secret or tell the location of a hidden treasure, or identify his killer, and so on, before dying (so that the player’s new character has something to do).

Characters with a First Aid skill may attempt First Aid on any single wound in any single turn. First Aid (by anyone) can only be performed once per wound (ever). A successful roll will allow the character to recover 1d3 hit points. A Perfect success will recover 3 hit points (without rolling), a Fumble will do 1d3 points of damage.

Healing magic may also be performed, however a character may not be subject to both First Aid and Healing spells in the same turn.

A modern hospital will not in itself help the character recover, however it will keep him alive while he recovers normally. once he has returned to Wounded status he can leave the hospital without dying.

Character is Crippled means that the character has survived but has been permanently damaged. Roll 2d6 on the Cripple Table.

Referees are free to modify the results of the Cripple Table as they wish. For example a character who rolls up a severed arm, but received it in a fight with an enemy armed with a heavy mace (it’s hard to cut with a mace) might have a crushed and useless arm, rather than having it actually severed. The effect is the same but the injury is more believable. A similar result in a dragon encounter might be severe burns to the arm, or perhaps the arm is so badly mauled or damaged that another character has to amputate it. This is the sort of color and coherence that is the realm and function of the referee.

When crippled Aura, and all Aura linked traits, are immediately reduced by 3 levels. One of these is permanent, the other two are regained later, the first after six months, the second after twelve months. If crippled a second time the loss is only 1 level but this is permanent. Third and subsequent cripplings have no effect on Aura.

Regeneration of cripplings also regenerates lost Spirit. Cripplings are, however, permanent in every normal sense, it requires strong magic or miracle cures to reverse them.

Character is Unconscious means the character is out until the end of the current combat (which is usually when the down roll is made anyway). A character who is just unconscious will recover consciousness, however he is still seriously injured and must be carried everywhere on a stretcher or litter until his damage points are less than twice his hit points.

A downed character who has rolled up a Crippled or Unconscious result on the Down Table, will only recover wounds when he is resting comfortably and is attended to by others. If he is carried, even if this is in a litter or wagon, he will recover no damage points.

Recovery is per wound, each wound being the damage points taken in a single attack. Multiple wounds heal simultaneously.

Wounds caused by fire take twice as long as normal damage to recover.

Where stun has been recovered it is recovered equally per wound, any odd points applied to the remaining wounds as the player sees fit, to a maximum of 1 point per wound.

Example. A character has a Body trait of 3. He will recover 1 wound point every 20 days, or 1 every 10 days if he is resting.

He has received 8 damage points in three separate attacks, and so has three wounds. One is of 2 damage points and two are of 3 damage points. He certainly needs rest, but after 10 days (as he is resting) he will have one wound of 1 wound point and two of 2 damage points. 10 days later (assuming he is still resting) one wound is healed, and he has only two 1-damage point wounds remaining. 10 days later he is completely healed.

The 8 damage points were from an axe, and were originally 12 damage points before stun was recovered. The actual damage done by each attack was 3, 4 and 5 damage. 4 damage points had to be recovered. The first three reduced the wounds to 2, 3 and 4, and the player allocated the remaining 1 point to reduce the 4 to a 3.

Armor will generally not protect against falling damage, although padded armor will (normally).

When exposed to a disease the referee rolls against either the character’s Body or his Aura, whichever is greater. If this succeeds then the character does not catch the disease, and is effectively immune to it (the referee should note this, the character need never roll against that disease again).

If the roll fails then the referee rolls a second time. If this roll succeeds then the character does not catch the disease but will carry it for 1d6 days. Anyone coming into close personal contact with the character or things he has touched (e.g. blankets, armor etc.) during this time is exposed to the disease. Again the referee notes that the character may carry that disease. Any future exposure to the same disease does not require a roll, the character is automatically a carrier.

If both rolls have failed then the character comes down with the disease. The effects of the disease are up to the referee, but will usually involve temporary damage and a few Body or Aura rolls to recover. Note that when dealing with player characters even normally fatal diseases should have a chance of recovery (as the PC is above the normal working-class sod).

The Disease Resistance secondary trait is inherent and based on Body. If this trait has been increased or decreased then it should be used in place of Body. If it is increased then a higher Aura may be substituted as normal, however if it has been decreased ignore the Aura and use the Disease Resistance trait.

Poison Resistance is a secondary trait based on Body. If this has been increased then it replaces Body, and the highest of Aura and Poison Resistance is used to resist the attack. If Poison Resistance is lower than Body then ignore Aura, the Poison Resistance trait is always used.

Poisons include drugs, sleeping potions and anything that affects the body by ingestion. The only exception is healing potions, which are not resisted.

Poisons that cause damage will always cause damage, even if

However when affected by an area fire such as being caught in a bushfire, being set on fire, being hit by a dragon, the entire body is affected. If armor is being worn calculate the total damage and divide by six. For each of these six lots deduct the minimum armor on the armor location (i.e. do not roll, assume that you have and that every die rolled up 1). Then apply the remaining damage. Regardless of damage all fabric such as clothing, padded armor etc. is set aflame.

Normal fire will do a base damage of 2 when directed against a particular hit location, and 12 when surrounded by flame. Dragons normally breathe normal flame, thus doing a damage of 12 at close range (see Flamers in the Weapons section) but this may be higher.

The Fire Resistance trait adds a few extra hit points when taking fire damage. If Fire Resistance is increased beyond Body then the difference times 3 (no dice option) is the number of Fire Resistance Hit Points. FRHPs are always taken in damage first (i.e. like armor), and are considered to regenerate again 24 hours later (24 hours after the last fire damage was taken).

For example, a character with 6 hit points and 3 FRHPs who takes 5 points of damage, instead loses his FRHPs for the day and takes 2 points of damage. Thus damage that would seriously wound him normally does not even slow him down. However, any more fire damage in the next 24 hours will not be so reduced.

If Fire Resistance is reduced then any and all fire does +3 points of damage per attack per level reduced.

For example, a character with 6 hit points and a Fire Resistance trait reduced one level below Body, who takes fire damage of 2 damage points will instead take 5, being the damage of 2 plus 3 for the one level reduced.

If the roll succeeds the character is unaffected. If the roll fails he takes 1 damage point.

The trait against which the roll is made is modified due to a couple of circumstances.

If the character has been inactive (i.e. his metabolism is slow) and is not trying to do anything (he is just floating), the add 1 to the trait.

If the character has been inactive but is trying to do something (swim, fight etc.) there is no modifier.

If the character has been active (e.g. he has been fighting or running) then he is still breathing heavily and needs oxygen desperately, so there is a penalty of -2 to the trait. If also trying to do something there is an additional -1 for a total of -3.

Note that asphyxiation damage is only due to lack of oxygen. If asphyxiated by poison gas, for example, then the damage of the poison is in addition to the damage of asphyxiation.

A single acid attack does a single wound, damage being cumulative. This applies both to the victim and to armor. Thus an acid attack against armor accumulates damage against it until it reaches twice the armor’s TR, when it affects the victim. If the total damage gets over the armor’s TR but not up to twice then the armor is permanently damaged and its TR is halved.