Combat

Flow of Combat
Combat progresses in-game following these steps:
 * 1) Each participant in the combat checks their Initiative score, then adds a d6 to that. The highest score goes first, then each after that in descending order. In the case of two equal scores, they may choose to roll a d6 to see who goes first, or they may act simultaneously at the gamemaster's discretion.
 * 2) The active character takes their turn.
 * 3) If the active character is attacking, he or she will make their attack by making a skill check on the weapon skill they are attempting to use.
 * 4) The defending character, if they are not flat-footed or incapacitated, may defend themselves by making an opposed check on their equipped weapon skill to parry, their Shield skill to block with a shield, or Evasion to dodge.
 * 5) If the opposed attack roll defeats the opposed defense roll, damage is dealt. If the opposed defense roll is greater, no damage is dealt.
 * 6) *If the defense roll is a success, but the attack roll has a greater degree of success, the attack is considered a Glancing Blow. See Glancing Blow under Damage below.
 * 7) If the defender taking damage is wearing armor, the attacker will roll dice equal to their attack's damage value.
 * 8) *If the damage roll is a success, the defender's Armor Rating is lowered by 1. Then, the attack's damage value is reduced by the defender's remaining Armor Rating, and any damage left over is applied to the defender.
 * 9) *If the damage roll is a failure, the defender's armor does not deteriorate. The attack's damage value is reduced by the defender's Armor Rating, and any damage left over is applied to the defender as nonlethal damage.
 * 10) If the defender takes damage, they will reduce their Hit Dice by a number equal to the damage dealt by the attack.
 * 11) *If the damage is dealt as nonlethal damage, it is multiplied by 10 and dealt to Clarity instead.
 * 12) If the defender took damage, they will roll their remaining Hit Dice. On a failure, the defender receives a wound.
 * 13) *When using the Heroic Fall rule listed below, if the damage from the attack would normally be fatal, a success on their HD check will instead reduce the defender to 1 HD and render them unconscious. If not using the Heroic Fall rule, or the character was already unconscious, lethal damage is dealt as normal.

Magic in Combat
Using magic in combat is similar to attacking with a weapon, with some key differences.
 * 1) The caster creates their spell and calculates its Clarity cost. For detailed rules on spellcasting, see Magic.
 * 2) The caster rolls Spellcraft.
 * 3) At this time, any other spellcaster who is aware of the spell being cast may attempt to counterspell with an opposed Spellcraft check. If the counterspell Spellcraft check is higher, the spell is not cast, but the Clarity cost is still accrued; otherwise, the spell is cast as normal.
 * 4) If the target of the spell is capable of defending themselves, they may attempt to dodge the spell with Evasion, or defend themselves with Shield. If the defense roll has a higher degree of success than the Spellcraft roll, the defender successfully avoids the effect of the spell. Note that defense is not possible if the spell was cast with the Area range augment.
 * 5) If the defender was unable to defend themselves, resolve the spell as normal. Apply damage reduced by the defender's Magic Resistance.

Damage
All weapons, and any spells that cause injury, have a damage value. When damage is dealt, the defender reduces their Hit Dice by an amount equal to that damage value, then rolls their remaining HD. If this roll is a failure, they also receive a wound.

Nonlethal damage is dealt to the opponent's Clarity instead of Hit Dice. Each point of damage is dealt as 10 points of Clarity damage. Only weapons and attacks with the "can deal nonlethal damage" property are capable of this.

Damage dealt is equal to the attacker's damage value, plus 1/2 their Power, rounded down.

Glancing Blow

 * When in combat, attacks and defenses are made as opposed checks. If both the attack and defense are a success, but the defense is a higher degree of success than the attack, no damage is dealt.


 * However, if the attack is a higher degree of success than the defense-- for instance, an Exceptional Success on the attack versus a Success on the defense-- then the attack is considered a Glancing Blow. The defending character is damaged as normal, but the received damage is reduced by half, rounded down.

Heroic Fall

 * This is a rule that should be considered optional, but is strongly encouraged unless one is running an exceptionally difficult campaign. When using the Heroic Fall rule, any time a player character is dealt a fatal amount of damage, a success on their ensuing HD check will cause them to fall unconscious and be reduced to 1 HD instead of dying outright. If the player character was already unconscious when damage will dealt, they will be killed as normal. The Heroic Fall rule may also be used for non-player characters, but its use is discouraged for the player characters' enemies for the purposes of expediting combat.


 * When not using the Heroic Fall rule, a fatal amount of damage will kill instantly, as normal.

Attribute Damage

 * Occasionally, damage dealt in combat will not be dealt solely to armor durability or to a character's Hit Dice. Some effects will damage a character's attribute scores or linked attributes. Sometimes, this is in the form of a status, such as "Wounded" or "Stunned"; other times, often as a result of magic or of an "underhanded" attack, an attribute such as Coordination or Agility may be reduced.


 * While attributes cannot be reduced below 1, linked attributes can be reduced to 0. If an attribute is lowered, all linked and derived attributes will be adjusted with it; for instance, if a character is reduced from 5 Vitality to 4, his Energy will go from 1 to 0, and his maximum Hit Dice will be reduced by 1.


 * Characters can recover from attribute damage either through a day's rest, or by receiving first aid through a successful use of the Healing skill.

Armor Rating
Physical damage is reduced by the defender's Armor Rating. Armor Rating, which is conferred by equipped armor, will reduce damage received by the stated value; an Armor Rating of 6, for instance, will completely negate 6 or less damage.

When a combatant receives damage, their attacker rolls dice equal to the damage value of their attack. If this roll is successful, the defender's Armor Rating is reduced by 1, and any spillover damage not absorbed by the armor's Armor Rating is dealt directly to the defender. If the damage roll is unsuccessful, the defender's Armor Rating is not reduced, and spillover damage, if any, is dealt as nonlethal damage instead. To demonstrate:

''Gawain is engaging Bercilak in melee combat. Gawain strikes his opponent with a mighty blow of his sword, which Bercilak is unable to defend against. Gawain's attack deals a full 7 points of damage-- however, his attack fails to pierce through his opponent's armor, and Bercilak's heavy ring mail absorbs 6 points of the attack's damage, and the remaining damage becomes 10 points of Clarity damage.''

''In response to the attack, Bercilak delivers his own; a punishing attack in its own right, Gawain is also unable to defend. Bercilak's attack is just as strong as Gawain's, at 7 points of damage, but fortune is on Bercilak's side, and his attack pierces through Gawain's armor. Gawain's steel plate armor has its Armor Rating reduced from 7 to 6, and the point of damage that his armor can no longer absorb is dealt directly to Gawain.''

If a piece of armor's Armor Rating would be reduced to 0, that armor is destroyed, and no longer offers any protective value until it is repaired.

Magic Resistance
Magical damage operates on a similar principle; magical damage is unaffected by the defender's Armor Rating, but is instead reduced by the defender's Magic Resistance. No damage roll is made when dealing magical damage; Magic Resistance can only be reduced through the use of certain spell augments that either affect Magic Resistance directly, or by reducing the opponent's Resilience.

Defense
Any combatant attempting to defend themselves can attempt to parry with an opposed weapon skill, block with an opposed Shield roll, or evade with an opposed Evasion roll. If this opposed roll has a higher degree of success than the attack roll, no damage is received.

However, defending in this way is a swift action. Any combatant may only make 1 swift action per turn, plus an additional swift action for each point of Agility they have. Exceeding one's maximum number of swift actions in a turn will increase Exertion by 1 point, and each successive swift action beyond their maximum will incur a cumulative -1 die penalty. For example, if a fighter has an Agility of 1, he can make two defenses in a turn; he can attempt to make more, but the third defense will be at a -1 penalty, the fourth will be at -2, and so on. This penalty will apply first to ranks in a skill, then to attribute dice, then to any bonus dice applied. If the character is reduced to 0 dice, they cannot make any more swift actions in the turn.