Combat

A character may attempt anything while engaged in a battle, but the rules that follow should provide a template to keep combat dynamic, strategic and relatively fast paced.

Initiative!
When a character joins combat, they roll 1d10 + DEX for initiative, which defines the order with which they act.

Participants in combat declare their actions in reverse initiative order, and see them played out in initiative order over the course of the round. The effect of which is that the highest initiative can tell what the other combatants are intending to do, and may react accordingly.

For example, Thardocles and Pleceis encounter a centaur, each roll initiative and receive their initiative for this battle. Thardocles gets 18, Pleceis 7 and the centaur 13. So Pleceis states his first action, scrambling up a tree away from the beast, then the centaur intends to charge at Thardocles, and finally Thardocles states he will prepare his spear to impale the horseman. The result is that Thardocles has his weapon braced and spears the centaur, the centaur still manages to strike Thardocles with his club, and Pleceis fails his roll to get up the tree and instead cowers at its base.

Generally, you may move and take an action each round. Taking additional actions incurs penalties as noted in the difficulty and time table.

Attack!
Although anything is possible granted the ingenuity and creativity of roleplayers, a combatant will typically attempt an attack during their action. They make a skill check against their weapon skill of choice and the target may react with a dodge, parry or shield block roll to mitigate the strike.

Successful hit: Roll weapon and bonus damage, reduce by base Armor Points of target.

Critical hit: Maximize weapon damage (not damage bonus), reduce by base Armor Points of target.

Fumble: Whether you've lost your footing, broken your bowstring or struck an ally, something has gone wrong. The DM will decide on (or roll for) an appropriate penalty.

Special actions
There are many things a character can do during their action, what follows are rules concerning only a few special situations they may wish to attempt:

Aim: If using a ranged weapon, a character may spend time aiming at a target in order to deliver a more accurate attack. Every turn spent aiming adds a +10% bonus to the character’s ranged weapon skill. This bonus only applies to the first attack the character makes with the weapon, which must be at the target being aimed at. A maximum of three turns may be spent aiming, for a +30% bonus. A character can take no other Action or Reaction while aiming without losing the aim bonus.

Charge: If a character can move at least 5m toward a foe, they may charge in a straight line to attack that foe with a +1d4 bonus to damage. The character may move up to twice their speed during a charge. Defend: A character that takes their action to assume a defensive stance receives a +20% bonus on all dodge/parry checks until their next turn.

Delay/Ready: A character may delay their turn doing nothing or preparing for a specific event to act. A weapon with the Brace quality may be readied against a charge (allowing a free attack against a single charging foe).

Dual-wielding: When wielding two weapons (or a weapon and shield), a character may use the off-hand item to either make a bonus parry or attack. Off-hand bonus attacks cannot be precise and receive a -20% penalty. Precise attack: A character may attempt a precise strike in order to do one of several things, including hitting weak points and disarming opponents. The character chooses which type of precise attack they wish to attempt (listed below), and a penalty of -40% is applied to a standard attack roll, which can critical, fumble and be dodged or parried as normal. Ranged attacks may only Bypass Armor or Target a hit location.

 Bypass Armor: The precise attack finds a chink in the enemy's armor and exploits it. If successful, this attack ignores the armor points of the target, although a successful parry reduces the damage as normal. Disarm: The precise attack knocks or pulls away the opponent's weapon or shield. If successful, this attack deals no damage and an additional opposed weapon check is made. If either combatant is using a weapon in two hands, they gain a +20% bonus to this check. Should the attacker succeed, his opponent’s weapon flies 1D6–1 metres in a random direction (a result of 0 metres places it at the defender’s feet). Strike Location: The precise attack targets a specific part of the opponent's body, hoping to disable it. If successful, this attack strikes a specific location on the body (see Hit Locations) and deals damage as normal (reduced by AP). This attack counts as 2x damage for purposes of disabling or maiming the hit location. Sunder: The precise attack strikes the opponent's weapon or shield, hoping to break it. If successful, this attack deals damage directly to the item (reduced by its AP). 

Fighting with two one-handed weapons effectively requires a character to have a minimum STR equal to or higher than the total STR requirements of both weapons added together (weapons without a strength requirement count as 4). For example, a Dagger counts as 4 STR, and a Longsword has a minimum STR of 9, so a character would need a minimum STR of 4+9=13 to dual wield these in combat.

Reactions
Reactions each round receive a culmulative -10% -20%? after the first.

Dodge: A normal opposed roll versus the attack. If successful, no damage is taken. However, the dodging character’s next attack is considered difficult (-20%) as they have put themselves off balance. (maybe only -20% if they attack during their next action?)

Parry: A normal brawl, weapon or shield skill roll. If successful, it reduces the damage taken by the weapon or shield’s AP. If critical, it reduces the damage taken by twice the weapon or shield’s AP. If blocking with a Brawl roll, the attack’s damage is reduced by the blocker’s damage bonus (or double that for a critical). If fumbled, the weapon or shield also takes the weapon damage. Only a shield may be used to block ranged attacks.

Free Attack: When an opponent leaves an opening for an attack, a character may take a free attack with a melee weapon against them. These situations include:

 An opponent enters the range of the character's melee weapon without charging or defending?. If struck with a Reach or Great Reach weapon, the opponent is stopped in place unless they succeed at an opposed Effort check. An opponent attempts a ranged attack. An opponent attempts to use a skill. 

Hit Locations
Damage is typically dealt to a creature’s Hit Points, however in the case of disabling (1/3 of total HP) or maiming (2/3 of total HP) strikes, additional awful effects happen to a specific part of the body. A hit location disabled twice is maimed. Comparable effects may be substituted as dictated by the GM.

There are seven hit locations, including: two legs, two arms, chest, abdomen and head.

A successful precise attack targeted at a body part counts as 2x damage for purposes of disabling or maiming the hit location.

Typical Disable and Maim effects
