Starting Combat

Combat always begins at the moment in the story when violence breaks out, and when the violence in question is a struggle between two opposing sides. A lot of this depends on player intent. An attack by bandits or an attempt by players to slay a dragon are perfect examples of when battle is appropriate, whereas a bar fight might be better handled by a trial or simply by the narrative. A masterful GM will know when to surprise players, when to give them an out, and when and how to foreshadow when combat might be approaching so that players are adequately prepared and when it’s better to catch them by surprise.

Take Your Positions

At the beginning of every battle, note every character participating in the battle, and mark down whether they are on the players’ side or their opponents’. Neither side can move to the other side’s part of the battlefield for the duration of combat.

During battle, each respective side may inhabit two different places called rows. Both of them may inhabit either their own front row, which represents the front line of their formation, or their back row, Both sides of a battle can inhabit either the front row or the back row of their respective side, but may not inhabit the other side’s rows. At the beginning of the battle, each player chooses which row their character occupies, and the GM determines which rows their opponents and allies start on. Characters in the front row of their respective sides may be targeted by any kind of attack or ability, and may also make any kind of attack or use any kind of ability, while characters in the back row may not target opponents with any Melee abilities, and likewise cannot be targeted by their opponents’ Melee abilities.

Call Initiative

Once the starting location of every character on the battlefield has been determined, the group then determines the Initiative Order. The Initiative Order is the order in which each character acts during a round. The higher on the Initiative Order they are, the sooner they act. The act of determining the Initiative Order during combat is referred to as calling Initiative. To call Initiative, each player calls out a number between 1 and 10. The lower the number is, the more likely it is that the player will go first on a tie. The higher the number is, the more likely it is that the player will go last on a tie. Players who call out a 1 are guaranteed to go first on a tie.

Once all players have called their numbers, the GM casts the outcome die and reads out the result. Players who called a number equal to the result count as having an Initiative of 1.5x its current value for the rest of the battle. Players who called a number equal to or above the result will always go last on a tie with an opponent, while players who called a number below the result will always go first on a tie with an opponent.

Once Initiative has been called, compare the modified Initiative scores of all of the characters in the battle and rank them from lowest to highest. The order in which the characters will act every round starts with the character with the highest Initiative score for the battle and goes in order of descending Initiative until it ends with the character with the lowest Initiative score. Ties between Heroes and their opponents are resolved based on the results of calling Initiative, ties between Heroes are resolved by player fiat, and ties between warriors are resolved by GM fiat.

Choose Your Roles

The last step before the first round of a battle begins is the first Paradigm Phase. During the Paradigm Phase, each player should choose what role their character will inhabit during the first round. They may choose to change this during each subsequent Paradigm Phase.

First Strike

Under certain conditions as is commensurate with the plot or the progression of travel, such as when one side is ambushed at night, either the players or their opponents will have an extra turn at the beginning of a round called the First Strike. During the First Strike, the side that has the upper hand from a narrative perspective will be able to take a free turn before the players call Initiative, and all battle participants count as being in the front row of their respective side. The order in which characters act during the First Strike is determined by the players if they have the upper hand, and the GM if their opponents do. During the First Strike round, all characters on the side that has the upper hand have only 1 AP instead of their usual 2 or 3. During a battle in which the players have the First Strike, the first Paradigm Phase triggers before the First Strike round commences, and the second Paradigm Phase occurs right before the beginning of the first round. Once the First Strike round is over, call Initiative and assign battlefield locations as normal.