Chapter VI: Combat, Damage & Movement
the character’s opponent is moved as described. The opponent cannot be forced into another character or terrain feature (wall, barrel, etc.). Parrying Stance (Half Action) The character readies to parry an incoming blow. Any time before his next turn, the character can try to parry one successful melee attack against him as long as he is aware of the attack. Parrying stance ends at the start of his next turn, regardless of whether he parried a blow. Should a character have a weapon in their left hand (this included shields and bucklers) he may parry once per round as a free action. See Dodge and Parry on page 129 for more detailed information on this. Run (Full Action) The character runs at full speed (see Table 6-1: Combat Movement in Yards for distances). This makes the character harder to hit with missile weapons but easy prey for melee attacks because he isn’t actively defending. Until the character’s next turn, ranged attacks against him suffer a –20% Ballistic Skill penalty, but melee attacks gain a +20% Weapon Skill bonus. Characters cannot run in difficult terrain. Example: Gertrude the Outlaw has been caught by the pursuing Roadwarden and the two are now engaged in melee combat. On Initiative 44 Gertrude takes her turn. She spends a half action to make a standard attack on the Roadwarden and misses. She spends her remaining half action to enter a parrying stance. On Initiative 35 the Roadwarden takes his turn. He knows that his Sergeant is arriving any second, so he decides to play it safe and make a guarded attack, which is a full action. He too misses and, since there are no more combatants, the round ends. As the new round begins, the Sergeant shows up. The GM rolls Initiative for the new combatant and gets a 50, so the Sergeant can act before Gertrude. The Sergeant makes a charge attack (a full action) against Gertrude and hits her. However, Gertrude still has her parry, which she’s allowed to use anytime before her next turn. She opts to use it and makes a successful WS Test. The Sergeant’s attack is parried and now it’s Gertrude’s turn again. o Ther a CTIons If players want to do something that is not covered by the actions listed here, the GM should make a judgement about how long something might take and what type of action that translates into. Bear in mind that a round is 10 seconds long—which is quite a long time when you are in the thick of things. The GM will decide how long the action takes and how it will be resolved (Characteristic Test, Skill Test, Opposed Test, etc.). C ombaT m oVemenT There are four different actions that characters can use to move during combat: charge attack, disengage, move, and run. How far a character can go when using these different actions depends on his Movement Characteristic. These distances are summarized in Table 6-1: Combat Movement in Yards . If mounted, the character may use his animal’s Movement Characteristic instead. For leaping and jumping distances, see page 139. For groups using a tactical map, determining squares is simple. A character can move a number of squares equal to his Movement Characteristic with a move or disengage action, double the Movement Characteristic with a charge attack action, and triple the Movement Characteristic with a run action.
Delay (Half Action) The character waits and watches for an opportunity. When the delay action is used the character’s turn ends immediately, but a half action is reserved for later use. Any time before his next turn, the character can take his half action. If two conflicting characters are both trying to use a delayed action simultaneously, make an Opposed Agility Test to see who acts first. If the prepared action is not taken before the character’s next turn, it is lost. Feint (Half Action) The character pretends to attack in one direction, deceiving his opponent and throwing off his defence. This is resolved as an Opposed Weapon Skill Test. If the character wins, his next attack cannot be either dodged or parried. If the character’s next action is anything other than a standard attack, this bonus is lost. Guarded Attack (Full Action) The character attacks carefully, making sure he is well defended from counter blows. He makes a melee attack with a –10% Weapon Skill penalty. Until his next turn, the character gains a +10% bonus on any attempted parries and dodges. Jump/Leap (Full Action) The character jumps down or leaps across something. For details on jumping and leaping, see page 138 of this chapter. Manoeuvre (Half Action) The character uses superior footwork and aggression to force his opponent to move 2 yards (1 square) in a direction nominated by the player. If desired the character can advance 2 yards (1 square) as well. Manoeuvre is resolved as an Opposed Weapon Skill Test. If successful
128
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online