I've yet to decide on how to write out the weaponry for the system, and I should probably figure out a range for weapon damage.
Abstract Combat
Fight scenes are divided up into rounds, each round representing 12 seconds of action. Obviously, quite a lot can happen in these 12 seconds, but for simplicity of how action sequences go down, the individual triggerpulls and weaving ducks are abstracted.
A character is assumed to be able to make a single maneuver during their turn.
Initiative Order and Passes
Every participant will have be in one of five states of alertness, and these characters will act in order of descending alertness once combat begins. Characters with the same alertness level go in order of highest to lowest Initiative, and ties are broken with a die roll.
- Ready - Waiting for opportunity to act, aware of enemy before the other, ambushing
- Prepped - Guards in war zone, away team with several ensigns
- Alert - Guards in peace time, soldier at a bar
- Distracted - Average person walking down the street, working on something
- Oblivious - Sleeping, working on something loud and distracting
If in a sizable area, the Gyoji will create loosely defined areas called zones, each such zone being where a present character can interact with anyone/anything else in that zone. Who is in what zone affects things like whether or not characters can attack each other or if they'll need to throw things or use ranged weapons.
As a rule of thumb, people in the same zone can move to touch or throw small objects at each other, while people in separate zones need to shoot each other. Ray guns can easily target something three zones away, sometimes farther, so a comfortable number of initial zones is around three to five.
Here are the standard definitions for the battlefield.
- Area of Effect (size): If the size number of the AoE is equal to greater than the size of the zone or feature, it affects everything in the zone or feature. If it is smaller, it will only one target and anything linked to it. If sufficiently large, an AoE can affect multiple connected zones so long as the sum of the size does not exceed that of the AoE itself.
- Claimed: A zone or feature is with only allies in it. An empty zone or feature counts as claimed.
- Contested: A zone or feature with any number of enemies in it.
- Feature (size): A feature is some thing, be it power cord, boulder, alcove, or cliff. Some give a tangible benefit for claiming (such as a defense bonus for being in an alcove or fox hole), others don't. Features have a size. Some features are unique in that there's only one such instance of it in the zone, while others are 'generic' in that there no meaningful limits on how many boulders are on the barren planet.
- Line: If the character's zone is claimed, they can use Fire on any connected zone. If a connected zone is also claimed, the Line can be extended to more zones.
- Linked: A character is linked to another creature or feature if they are considered to be in extremely close proximity for some reason. Generally speaking, a character is linked to a lizard they are riding or a cyborg's head they are carrying, for example. Some attacks or events may link characters involuntarily - such as grappling aliens.
- Size: An abstract number for features, zones, and creatures to represent the space they take up. An arbitrarily high number of creatures can be in a zone or feature if their individual size is strictly smaller.
- Zone: An abstract region of the battlefield. It has a size number for determining what can fit or fill the zone. Commonly, all of the zones in a battlefield are considered connected, sometimes this can not be the case; such as two platforms with a very large bridge between them (each of the three counting as their own zone).
Here are common traits found with a feature or zone:
- Barrier: Some feature impedes progress into and out of a zone, and requires a Poke action to overcome.
- Chokepoint: When a barrier isolates two or more elements, preventing egress between, they can still be overcome through a chokepoint (such as a door). You must move into the chokepoint before continuing into the next zone. This is unless you possess an option to circumvent the barrier, such as a plasma ejector that simply makes a new chokepoint. The difference between a Barrier and a Chokepoint is that a Chokepoint limits the ability to form a Line.
- Obstruction: When poked, the character is linked with the feature and gains a cover bonus (usually +1) to his targeting threshold against any attack originating outside of this feature.
- Precarious: Movement is constricted such that the character needs to make an active effort to avoid entering or leaving the feature (catwalks, cliffs, electrified terrain, etc). As a general rule, the character makes an Agility + Primitive check against a listed threshold whenever certain conditions are met, as listed with the zone or feature; such as moving through while it's contested, or moving through at all. If no threshold is listed, then the only way to succumb to the feature's demand is to be subject to a knock down action.
These are actions available to every character unless specified otherwise:
- Advance: A maneuver that moves you into the target zone or feature. You trigger a Crossfire attack from enemies in your starting zone.
- Bombard: A maneuver in which you take an action without moving into or out of your current zone or feature.
- Retreat: A maneuver mechanically identical to Advance, but you move into a newly created zone (as appropriate for the scene) that is designated as a Retreat zone. Using the maneuver in a Retreat zone which is claimed results in the character leaving the scene altogether.
- Fall Back: A maneuver where move into the target zone or feature, but trigger a Crossfire attack from enemies in the zone you enter.
- Attack: An action in which you direct hostile force at another in the same zone, generally with whatever weaponry is in hand.
- Escape: To break out of a grapple, the victim must make a (Strength + Combat) test against a threshold equal to the attacker's original net hits.
- Grapple: The character makes a regular melee attack, and if (net hits + Strength) exceeds the target's (Strength + size difference), then the target is grappled. No damage is dealt performing this action. A grappled target is considered prone and cannot take any actions requiring physical movement. While no further tests are required on the attacker's part to maintain, the grapple action continues to be required. However, the grappler can choose to either deal damage without a test (damage = Strength) or tighten the hold on the victim with an opposed Combat test, any net hits adding to the original. If the defender wins opposed test, then the net hits are subtracted from the grappler's original total instead.
- Knock Down: The attacker makes a melee attack with the intent to knock prone instead of dealing damage. If successful & the attacker's (Strength + net hits) exceed's the defender's (Strength + size difference), then the target is knocked prone. This will also trigger whatever event tied to the precarious trait in the area.
- Circle: An action that allows a character to make an Assault or Withdraw on their next turn without triggering Crossfire.
- Crossfire: Equatable to the attack of opportunity from that game. You get a free Crossfire attack if someone Assaults out or Withdraws in to the zone or feature you occupy.
- Duck & Weave: Increase the targeting threshold against all attacks (even ones you are unaware of) until your next turn, starting when you use the action. Make an Intuition + Combat test, increasing the threshold to hit the character by 1 less than the number of hits (2 less for attacks they are unaware of).
- Fire: An attack that can target characters in outside zones, assuming the available attack has sufficient range.
- Poke: An action that activates a feature.
- Stand: An action to cleanse oneself of the prone debuff.
You roll dice, you do damage.
Step 1 (Roll To-Hit): Make an attack action (Agility + Combat, unless stated otherwise) against a base threshold equal to (4 - target's size).
- Range: +1 to threshold per zone beyond the first
- Beyond Accurate Range: +1
- Target Prone: +1 ranged, -1 melee
- Target has Cover/Concealment: +1 or +2
Step 3 (Soak Damage): The victim rolls Strength (plus any armor), each hit reducing damage by 1. In addition, the victim gets a number of automatic successes on this roll equal to double their size score. (humans are size 2, the 1m tall little green men are size 1, the 3m brute aliens are size 3)
Step 4 (Determine Wounds): Any unsoaked damage becomes wounds.
- One damage = One wound
- Two damage = Three wounds
- Three damage = Six wounds
- Four damage = Ten wounds
- Five or six damage = Death Spiral
- Seven damage = Instant Death
Damage Penalty: Recently taken wounds hurt and impinge upon the character's ability to act, acting as a dicepool penalty to actions taken equal to the number of wounds suffered. This penalty is reduced by one for every point that Willpower exceeds 2 (minimum 0).
Healing: As a one-time opportunity, a character can benefit from First Aid if given within an hour of receiving wounds. First Aid is a Logic + Medicine test with a threshold equal to the damage closest to the total wounds lost; for example, 3 to 5 wounds is a threshold 2 First Aid test. Every net hit heals the character one wound point. Afterwards, the remaining wound points must be recovered by normal rest.
For every day of rest, a character makes a Healing Test (Edge + Willpower, subject to the damage penalty), recovering a number of wound points equal to the number of hits. The Healing Test can be performed as a Teamwork test, any additional characters using their Logic + Medicine; the leading character remains the one with the largest dice pool.
Death Spiral: A character can enter a Death Spiral if they take damage after becoming incapacitated. Once in a Death Spiral, they must make a Healing Test at Threshold 3 in five minutes to stabilize or die. First Aid can only be used to help in stabilizing.
