Combat is resolved at the Turn scale when the exact order and consequences of violence matter. The rules below determine who acts, whether an attack connects, where it lands, how armor responds, how damage affects Stamina, and what Injuries follow. Attack and defensive Tests use Hazard Dice; resolve any Mishap under Adventuring > Hazard Dice and Mishaps.

Resolve each attack in the following order:

1. Attack: make the appropriate attack roll.

2. Defense: if the defender can react, make the appropriate defensive roll. Melee normally allows a defense; ranged attacks do so only when a reaction is plausible.

3. Hit Location: if the attack hits, roll d100 on the target species' Hit Location table unless a successful Called Shot already determines the location (Hit Location, further below).

4. Armor: if armor covers the Hit Location, resolve Penetration and the Armor Roll (see Armor, further below).

5. Damage: apply remaining damage to Stamina and resolve any resulting Injury (see Injuries, further below).

Initiative

Initiative is a special roll for determining action order in combat or another timed event, with no pass/fail outcome. Hazard Dice and Mishaps do not apply.

At the start of an encounter:

Each participant rolls a dice pool equal to Agility + Intelligence, adding any applicable bonus dice and subtracting any applicable penalty dice.

Act from highest to lowest successes.

Tied characters act simultaneously.

Keep this Initiative order for the encounter.

Your Turn

On your Turn:

Use normal Movement to move up to AGI ÷ 2 hexes (AGI × 5 metres), subject to applicable movement modifiers (see Combat > Movement).

Take 1 Action. You may instead combine the Action and Movement as a full-round action to move up to AGI hexes (AGI × 10 metres) in total, subject to applicable movement modifiers.

Split normal Movement before and after the Action if desired.

Brief incidental interactions may occur during Movement when reasonable and when a hand is free, such as opening an unlocked door, picking up an object in reach, or drawing a weapon.

An interaction uses the Action when it requires attention, searching, manipulation, or deliberate effort. Common examples: attacking, searching a bag, working a lock, or entering a code. The Game Master decides borderline cases from the established situation.

Movement

One combat hex represents 10 metres. Movement distances are given in both hexes and metres; use metres when playing without a hex map.

Normal Movement: Move up to AGI ÷ 2 hexes (AGI × 5 metres) per Turn, leaving the Action available.

Full-round movement: Combine the Action and Movement to move up to AGI hexes (AGI × 10 metres) during the Turn. This is the total movement allowance for the Turn and uses the Action.

Keep fractional hex distances rather than rounding them away; half a hex is 5 metres. For example, AGI 3 allows normal Movement of 1½ hexes (15 metres), or full-round movement of 3 hexes (30 metres). Apply encumbrance, Injury, and other movement modifiers to the relevant allowance.

Normal Movement may be split before and after the Action.

An attacker who moved this Turn takes a −1 die penalty on the attack roll.

An attack against a target that moved this Turn takes a −1 die penalty.

Attacker and target movement penalties are cumulative: if both moved, remove 2 dice.

Ranged Combat

Ranged attack:

Attacker: normally Marksmanship + the Attribute that fits the attack (see Player Characters > Skills > Combat & Maneuver).

Defense: if the target can plausibly react, the Game Master selects an appropriate Attribute + Skill and resolves a Contest (see Adventuring > Contests).

An attack with at least one success hits unless the defender rolls more successes than the attacker. Equal or fewer successes means the defense fails. If no defensive roll is possible, the attack is uncontested and requires one success to hit.

Apply distance, movement, visibility, and other distinct complications as cumulative dice penalties to the affected roll (see Adventuring > Difficulty and Penalties).

Weapon Range

Each ranged weapon system has two range statistics, measured in metres: Optimal Range and Maximum Range.

Optimal Range is the distance within which a typical user has the highest probability of a first-shot hit. A target at or within Optimal Range imposes no range penalty.

Maximum Range is the furthest distance at which the weapon's projectile can still deal meaningful damage. A target exactly at Maximum Range is within reach; beyond it, the projectile cannot deal meaningful damage. Maximum Range does not remove range penalties or guarantee a positive final dice pool.

For every additional increment of Optimal Range beyond the first, or part of an increment, apply a cumulative −1 die penalty to the attack pool. A distance exactly on a range-band boundary remains in that band. Apply lighting, precipitation, wind, movement, and other distinct circumstances separately; do not count distance a second time as a general complication.

Range penalty dice = max(0, round up [target distance ÷ Optimal Range] − 1). Subtract that many dice from the attack pool along with other applicable penalties. Difficulty remains fixed at 1 for an uncontested attack; a defensive roll must exceed the attacker’s success total to prevent a hit.

For example, a handgun with Optimal Range 20 m and Maximum Range 400 m has no range penalty through 20 m, −1 die over 20 m through 40 m, −2 dice over 40 m through 60 m, and −3 dice over 60 m through 80 m. Continue in 20-metre increments up to 400 m, where the range penalty is −19 dice before other modifiers. A target beyond 400 m is outside the handgun's Maximum Range.

Weapon Range Reference

Ranges below are listed as Optimal Range / Maximum Range.

Handguns: 20 m / 400 m.

Civilian Repeating Rifles: 70 m / 700 m.

Black Powder Military Rifles: 140 m / 1,500 m.

Smokeless Powder Military Rifles: 320 m / 3,500 m.

Specialized Long-Range Rifles: 230 m / 2,500 m.

Rapid-Fire / Machine Guns: 640 m / 3,500 m.

Field Artillery: 1,100 m / 6,500 m.

Cover

Cover:

Partial cover: imposes a −1 die penalty on a ranged attack when the reduced exposed target materially complicates the shot.

Full cover: the attack must pass through the cover.

Protective cover: assign AV and resolve it with an Armor Roll (see Combat > Armor > Armor Roll).

Melee Combat

Melee is normally a Contest (see Adventuring > Contests). Apply all relevant dice penalties to each affected pool. If the defender cannot make a defensive roll, resolve the attack as an uncontested Test requiring one success.

Attacker: use the Attribute + Skill appropriate to the attack.

Defender: if able to react, use an appropriate defensive pool selected from the circumstances.

Common defenses include Melee to parry and Agility + Maneuver to evade. Other Skills may apply when justified.

Riposte

A riposte can be triggered by a successful parry. If the defender’s Margin of Success meets or exceeds the total successes rolled by the attacker, they can deal damage back to the attacker. This damage is calculated normally.

Hit Location

After an attack hits, roll d100 on the Hit Location table for the target's species unless a successful Called Shot already determines the location (see Combat > Hit Location > Called Shots). The defender rolls for a PC; the Game Master rolls for an NPC. In Foundry, the main attack window uses the selected target's recorded species automatically; otherwise, choose the target species in that window. If the species has no defined Hit Location table, the Game Master chooses an available table for the attack. Regular Attack rolls d100 against that table. Called Shot opens one window showing the species and its hit locations; select a location and click Attack to resolve the attack with its called-shot penalty.

The Human Hit Locations are Head, Neck, Torso, Pelvis, Left Leg, Right Leg, Left Foot, Right Foot, Left Arm, Right Arm, Left Hand, and Right Hand. Torso includes the chest, abdomen and back. Pelvis includes the hips, buttocks and groin. Arms exclude hands; legs exclude feet. Hands include the wrists, and feet include the ankles.

Armor and Hit Locations: Coverage uses the same twelve locations as the Hit Location table. Use the armor actually covering the struck area. Each piece contributes its Current AV once at that location. Partial coverage protects only the covered portion of a location, as specified by the item.

Called Shots

A Called Shot selects a combat Hit Location before the attack. Its penalty depends on that location's percentage in the target species' Hit Location table. Take the square root of the percentage, round that result up to a whole number, and subtract it from 5. The penalty removes at least 1 and at most 4 dice from the attack pool.

Called Shot penalty = max(1, min(4, 5 − ceil(√P))), where P is the location's percentage value: use 7 for 7%, not 0.07. The 4-die cap applies only to the Called Shot penalty; other applicable penalties are cumulative. If the attack succeeds, use the declared location and do not make a random Hit Location roll.

For humans, the Torso, Pelvis and either Leg impose −1 die; the Head and either Arm impose −2 dice; the Neck, either Foot and either Hand impose −3 dice. Use the selected species' own proportions when calculating its penalties.

Damage

When an attack succeeds, calculate Damage = DV + MoS. Resolve armor before applying damage (see Combat > Armor). Each Armor success stops 1 damage. Apply the remainder to Current Stamina. Injury triggers are resolved under Combat > Stamina and Combat > Injuries.

Burns are resolved under Adventuring > Environmental Hazards > Fire and Smoke.

Massive Damage

Massive Damage applies when a single source of traumatic damage equals or exceeds twice the target's Total Stamina.

Compare the damage remaining after armor or other mitigation with Total Stamina before excess damage is discarded at 0 Current Stamina.

At 2× Total Stamina, the source causes 2 total Injuries. At 3× Total Stamina, it causes 3 total Injuries. At 4× Total Stamina, it causes 4 total Injuries, and so on. For higher values, divide the damage by Total Stamina and round down to determine the total number of Injuries.

The normal Injury caused when traumatic damage reduces Current Stamina from above 0 to 0 is included in this total.

Additional Injuries from the same localized source use the same Hit Location unless the source specifies otherwise.

Attribute Damage

Attribute Damage reduces the affected Attribute directly instead of Stamina.

Reduce the Attribute by the listed amount.

Immediately recalculate any value derived from that Attribute.

If any Attribute is reduced to 0, that character is permanently lost.

Attribute Damage is separate from Stamina loss and recovers only as specified under Healing Attribute Damage.

Healing Attribute Damage

Attribute Damage is restored by spending Advancements. Restoring an Attribute by 1 point costs a number of Advancements equal to the rating being restored. If an Attribute with an undamaged rating of 4 has been reduced to 2, restoring it to 3 costs 3 Advancements and restoring it from 3 to 4 costs another 4. Restoration may return an Attribute to its undamaged rating.

Explosions

Explosions use Blast Severity and Blast Radius to describe the force and extent of the blast.

Blast Severity

Blast Severity determines the Damage caused by the blast within its full-effect radius.

• Blast Severity 1: approximately 1 psi; 4 Damage.

• Blast Severity 2: approximately 2 psi; 8 Damage.

• Blast Severity 3: approximately 4 psi; 16 Damage.

• Blast Severity 4: approximately 8 psi; 32 Damage.

• Blast Severity 5: approximately 16 psi; 64 Damage.

• Blast Severity 6: approximately 32 psi or greater; 128 Damage or more, as determined by the Game Master.

Blast Radius

Blast Radius is measured from the point of detonation in metres or kilometres. Every target within the listed Blast Radius takes the full Damage for the explosive's Blast Severity.

Beyond the Blast Radius, blast Damage follows inverse-square falloff: Damage = listed Damage × (Blast Radius ÷ distance from detonation)². Round down to the nearest whole point of Damage. If the result is less than 1 Damage, the blast causes no mechanical damage at that distance.

Blast Injuries

Blast Damage is traumatic damage from one discrete source. For a character, roll Hit Location separately for every Injury caused by the blast, including each Injury caused by Massive Damage (see Massive Damage).

Armor

Armor provides a chance to stop damage. Each piece has Maximum Armor Value (Max AV) and Current Armor Value (Current AV), expressed in d6.

Armor Roll

1. Add the Current AV of every piece covering the Hit Location to get Combined AV. Each item contributes once.

2. Apply Penetration: Effective AV = max(0, Combined AV − PEN).

3. Roll Effective AV d6.

4. Each 6 stops 1 incoming damage.

5. Apply remaining damage to Stamina (see Combat > Damage).

Penetration (PEN) reduces Combined AV before the Armor Roll. PEN in excess of Combined AV has no further effect. Armor Rolls use only Effective AV; AEGIS does not apply. Armor Rolls do not use Hazard Dice and cannot produce a Mishap.

For example, a padded coat with Current AV 4 and a cuirass with Current AV 8 provide Combined AV 12 to the Torso. PEN 4 reduces this to Effective AV 8, so the defender rolls 8d6. Each 6 stops 1 incoming damage.

Armor Ablation

• Trigger: at least 1 damage passes through armor to the protected target.

• Effect: reduce Current AV of one contributing piece by 1, minimum 0.

• Ablate the outermost contributing piece; if only one piece contributed, ablate it.

• Ablation still occurs when PEN reduced Effective AV to 0.

• No ablation occurs when the Armor Roll stops all damage.

• One attack ablates only one contributing piece once.
  

Armor Repair

Armor repair material must be compatible with the armor.

Required material mass = armor mass × AV restored ÷ Max AV.

Example: Max AV 10, Current AV 5 requires material equal to half the armor's mass for a complete repair.

Weapon Damage and Repair

Weapon condition:

Maximum DV = listed DV.

Weapons normally begin at Maximum DV.

Each point of weapon damage reduces Current DV by 1, minimum 0.

Use Current DV when calculating damage.

The Game Master applies weapon damage when impacts, breakage, misuse, exposure, or other circumstances warrant it.

Weapon repair material must be compatible with the weapon.

Required material mass = weapon mass × DV restored ÷ Maximum DV.

Stamina

Stamina measures immediate capacity to remain functional through pain, shock, fatigue, and superficial harm.

• Total Stamina = END + WIL. Current Stamina begins equal to Total Stamina and cannot fall below 0 or exceed Total Stamina. Maximum Stamina is the highest Total Stamina permitted by the character's species, sex, phenotype, or other biological limits. If Total Stamina is reduced below Current Stamina, reduce Current Stamina to the new Total Stamina.

• Injury trigger: when one discrete source of traumatic damage reduces Current Stamina from above 0 to 0, make one Injury roll for the affected Hit Location. Massive Damage may cause additional Injuries from the same source (see Combat > Damage > Massive Damage). After resolving Massive Damage, discard any excess damage beyond 0 Current Stamina.

• At 0 Current Stamina: each later discrete source that deals at least 1 traumatic damage triggers an Injury roll. Massive Damage may increase the total number of Injuries caused by that source.

• Non-traumatic Stamina loss triggers an Injury only when its rule explicitly says so.

Regaining Stamina

Restore Stamina through completed Rest Shifts or another rule that explicitly restores it (see Adventuring).