From Caernest
| Combat Example | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| At the beginning of this combat we'll keep things relatively simple. We have three combatants: two Verdanni, Andretti and Mico, fighting a Warri, Izuki. Initiative is rolled for the three combatants.
Their Reflex score is added to their initiative, plus any special modifiers, such as appropriate aptitudes or magical effects.
Izuki will go first, followed by Andretti and then finally Mico. | |||||||||||||||
| Izuki goes first. The speed of his weapon is 9, so his action will actually occur in segment 8. Andretti goes next. He attacks Izuki with his club. His Grace is a 7, and his Clubs/Maces skill is a 7 as well. As mentioned earlier, Izuki's Reflexes is a 9. This makes the target number for Andretti a 13. He rolls a 10 and hits as well. |
Contents |
Basics of Combat
Initiative / Order of Actions
Initiative is closely related the passage of time. In Kaernest, time is measured in minutes and hours that are a rough equivalent to regular earth hours. For combat purposes, time is split into "segments" which are the rough equivalent of 2 seconds; there are 30 segments to a minute.
To determine order of actions, players roll a d12 and add their character's Instinct score as well as any appropriate aptitudes or defects. If they desire, they can also add Luck to the roll. Totals higher than 30 go on 30, although this is only possible by adding Luck to roll, or by rolling Lucky Doubles. Actions start at 30 and count down, so a higher roll is better. When the count gets down to the character's initiative, they can take an action. NPCs are generally given an average roll of 6 for their roll, modified by their Instinct score and any aptitudes or defects.
Every action is given a speed. This speed is subtracted from your initial roll (or your last action segment) to determine when your next action occurs. If the action would happen on a negative segment, that action instead takes place in the next minute, with the negative number subtracted from 30. If the action does not fall under the usual actions and does not have a set speed, the GM should determine an appropriate speed.
Initiative should only need be rolled once per actor per combat, unless someone gets knocked unconscious, or somehow leaves combat temporarily.
Defense
Passive Defense
Passive defense is used in most combat situations. It allows the actor to attack, defend, and use magic or skills. Passive defense is equal to the defender's Reflex score.
Active Defense
Characters can opt to take a defensive posture. As an action comes in, they roll their Reflex plus appropriate applicable skill (such as parry or dodge). If their defense interrupts an action, the action must be started over on the next segment, and it's speed is increased by 1. A character can remain in a defensive state, not attacking or using skills or magic. In this case, their next action has it's speed REDUCED by 1, as the character has time to consider their action a little more carefully.
A separate Active Defense is rolled against each attacker. If the character has already taken a defensive action since their last action, they suffer a -1 penalty to the roll. This penalty is cumulative for each attack taken between actions.
Aggressive Defense
When an actor is attacking without thinking of defense (either by choice (such as a berserker) or because their forced to (magically taunted)), their defense rating is equal to d12-6
Not Defending
Either because the defender is unconscious, blind, sleeping, or unaware of the coming attack, sometimes there is no defense. In this case, the defense is 3.
| Damage by Weapon | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weapon | Speed | Handed | Bludgeon | Cut/Chop | Pierce | Slash |
| Axe, Battle | 10/8 | 1/2 | 4/5 | 8/9 | -- | -- |
| Axe, Great | 10 | 2 | 6 | 12 | -- | -- |
| Axe, Hand | 6 | 1 | 4 | 7 | -- | -- |
| Club, Great | 9 | 2 | 9 | -- | -- | -- |
| Club (Common) | 6 | 1 | 6 | -- | -- | -- |
| Club, War | 9/7 | 1/2 | 6/7 | -- | 4/5 | -- |
| Dagger/Knife | 4 | 1 | -- | 1 | 3 | 2 |
| Flail | 11/9 | 1/2 | 10 | -- | -- | -- |
| Glaive | 9 | 2 | -- | 12 | 5 | 3 |
| Hammer | 10/8 | 1/2 | 6/8 | -- | -- | -- |
| Mace | 7/6 | 1/2 | 8/9 | -- | -- | -- |
| Pick | 6/5 | 1/2 | 5/6 | -- | 5/6 | -- |
| Poleaxe | 9 | 2 | 8 | 12 | 6 | -- |
| Sword, Bastard* | 9/7 | 1/2 | 3/4 | 7/8 | 6/7 | 4/5 |
| Sword, Broad/Long* | 6/5 | 1/2 | 3 | 6/7 | 5/6 | 4 |
| Sword, Great* | 8 | 2 | 4 | 9 | 7 | 5 |
| Sword, Short* | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 3 |
| *Bludgeoning damage with a sword is done with the flat of the blade. | ||||||
Attack
Attacking is simple. Determine your method of attack so that you know the appropriate related skill. Take your score in that skill and add it to your character's Grace score. There is a penalty to your attack equal to the defender's current defense score. There can also be other modifiers. If you roll under that number, you've successfully hit. If it's a "critical success", roll the extra d12.
If an attack "hits" by more than 10, it has landed in an unarmoured spot and damage done by the attack is not subject to armour. If an attack hits by more than 20, it not only ignores armour, but also hits something vital and scores an additional d12 of damage!
Different attacks are more difficult to perform than others. This will be discussed more later. The basic attack is considered a simple action, and therefore gets a +3 bonus. Notice that armour does not affect how difficult it is to hit a character.
Determining Damage
Base damage for an attack is half the attacker's Muscle attribute. Added to this base damage is any damage from a critical hit, any bonus from an enchantment, and any bonuses due to circumstances. Only one enchantment bonus can be added to any single attack; multiple bonuses do not stack. Note that if a character's Muscle attribute is magically altered, this is not considered an enchantment. Enchantments are specifically long term magical effects imbued into items. The bonus added from Muscle can not exceed the base damage of the weapon being used.
Weapons
Weapons each have their own damage rating, or possibly several ratings depending on how they are used. An example would be a sword that can be both used as a slashing weapon, a piercing weapon, and a cutting/chopping weapon. Different types of damage are effected differently by different types of armour. As mentioned earlier, bonus damage to an attack from Muscle, can not exceed the base damage of weapon being used (as it is being used).
| Protection by Armour | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weapon | Reflex Penalty | Physical | Energy | Arcane* | Weight | Notes |
| Articulated Plate | 3 | 12 | 2 | 2 | 50lbs | traditional "knights armour" |
| Banded Armour | 1 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 25lbs | like "Lorica Segmentata" |
| Brigandine | 1 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 20lbs | upgrade over Coat of Plates |
| Chain Shirt | 1 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 25lbs | Hauberk/Haubergeon |
| Chainmaille | 2 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 35lbs | includes coif, chausses, full sleeve hauberk |
| Hardened Leather | 1 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 20lbs | not "thieves armour", not easily hidden |
| Padded Armour | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 10lbs | basically gambeson and quilted cuisses |
| Padded Leather | 0 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 10lbs | |
| Reinforced Chainmaille | 2 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 45lbs | Chainmaille with plate reinforcements |
| *Instead of subtracting from damage, this is added to wearer's defense target. | ||||||
Damage
An actor (PC or NPC) can take damage equal to 4 times their Health score before falling unconscious. If they take more damage than 5 times their Health score, they are dying.
Armour
Armour directly subtracts it's rating from the damage done by each attack. Armour is rated by "Physical", "Energy" and "Arcane" protection, as well as a Reflex penalty suffered when wearing it.
Wounds
If a single attack deals more damage than 1.5 times the victims Health score (after modifying for armour), they take a wound. Wounds cause a -1 penalty to all actions. This penalty stacks with multiple wounds. If a wound is caused by a called shot, instead of the standard -1 penalty, the target of the called shot is damaged and a more specific effect occurs.
Advanced Combat
Called Shots
Template:Kaernest Called Shots Sometimes a character wants to hit someone in a particular spot to deal with a situation, or just for flare.