Attacks
Some character abilities, such as charms and hexes, succeed no matter what. However, other offensive abilities can hit or miss depending on the circumstances. These abilities are referred to as attacks. There are three types of attacks: strikes, spells, and sleights. When a character uses any of these three kinds of abilities, the outcome die is known as the hit die, and will determine whether or not the ability succeeds. If the ability in question has multiple targets, the hit die is only cast once, and the resulting number determines whether they hit and the base damage they deal against each one separately.
Strikes
When a character makes a strike against a target or targets, cast the hit die, subtract their Physical Accuracy from the result, and then add their opponent’s Evasion. If the resulting number is equal to a 7 or below, the character hits and deals damage that reduces the targets’ total HP. Otherwise, they miss and deal no damage. The base damage of a strike is equal to the attacker’s Physical Attack minus the target’s Physical Defense plus the result of the hit die. The damage that a strike normally deals is sometimes referred to as physical damage.
Spells
When a character uses a spell against a target or targets, cast the hit die, subtract their Magical Accuracy from the result, and then add their opponent’s Evasion. If the resulting number is equal to a 7 or below, they hit and deal damage that reduces the targets’ total HP. Otherwise, they miss and deal no damage. The base damage of a spell is equal to the attacker’s Magical Attack minus the target’s Magical Defense plus the result of the hit die. The damage that a spell normally deals is sometimes referred to as magical damage.
Sleights
When a character uses a sleight on a target or targets, cast the hit die and subtract their Status Accuracy from the result. To determine whether or not each target is hit, add their Resistance to the result. If the result is equal to or below a 5, they gain the status the ability inflicts. Otherwise, there is no effect.
Ability Types
Every ability, attack or otherwise, has an ability type that specifies its target. They are as follows:
| Type | Description |
|---|---|
| Self | This ability may only target the user. |
| Melee | This ability may only be used when the user is in the front row, and may only target characters that are in the front row. |
| Ranged | This ability is offensive, and may target any character on the battlefield. |
| Ally | This ability is defensive, and may target any character on the battlefield. |
| Special | The possible targets of this ability are contextual. Read its description to learn when it can be used. |
| Passive | This ability cannot be used as an action, but instead changes something about the way the character behaves in combat. |
| Multi | This ability targets more than one character on the battlefield. |
| Reaction | This ability cannot be used as an action, but triggers automatically when certain conditions are met. |
General Notes
Sometimes, the total Evasion or Resistance of the target of an ability is great enough that there is no chance that the ability will hit them. For sleights, this means that they cannot be hit. For magical and physical, attacks, however, a result of 1 will still lead to a hit. If the resulting damage would be 0, it is still 0.
The minimum amount of base damage a character deals with an attack is 1. However, the base damage they deal is not equal to the final damage the target takes. Instead, the final damage they take is equal to the base damage of the attack multiplied by any relevant modifiers and then rounded to the nearest integer. When a character uses a spell against an opponent that has a Shell active, they do double damage. Likewise, when a character makes a strike against an opponent that does not have a Shell active, they also do double damage.
Multi Attacks
Some abilities, such as Cleave or Elemental Storm, will target multiple characters at once. When a character makes one of these attacks, their player only casts the hit die once and subtracts the corresponding accuracy bonus from it. However, to determine whether or not they hit each target and whether or not they deal damage if applicable, add each target’s Evasion or Resistance to the result individually to determine whether or not each target is hit. For example, let’s say a character has a Physical Accuracy of 3 and a Physical Attack of 2. They attack two targets, and receive a 5 on the outcome die, meaning that their accuracy result is a 2 and their damage result is a 7. The first target has an Evasion of 6 and a Physical Defense of 1, so the attack misses them. The second target has an Evasion of 2 and a Physical Defense of 3, so the attack hits them with a base damage of 4.
Leaning In
Occasionally, players may wish to attack allies instead of their opponents. If so, the rule of thumb is that an ability used on the opposite side of the battlefield as intended works as though its user occupies the opposite side they currently do. For example, if a Hero uses an Ally ability on an opponent, it works as though the target were instead their ally. If the ability in question is a strike, spell, or sleight, the target of the ability may choose to be hit even if the result on the hit die means that the ability ought to miss. When brought up elsewhere in the rules, this is referred to as leaning in. Characters may also choose to lean into an ability used by one of their opponents if they wish.
Nonlethal Attacks
Instead of doing lethal damage, players may instead choose to nonlethally knock out their opponents. To do so, the attacking player must declare that they are executing an attack meant to knock an opponent out rather than kill them prior to making the attack. The damage of the attack, if it hits, is calculated as though they had received a 1 on the hit die. If the target is downed, they will be temporarily incapacitated instead of possibly killed.