Battle Procedure

rulescombatbattlesprocedure

Units

A Unit is a single character, or a Group of statistically equivalent characters, representing a discrete unit of command on the battlefield.

Generally speaking, no side should have more than 20 Units. If a side has more than this, some of them should be consolidated into larger Units.

Round Duration

Rounds last a variable amount of in-game time depending on the number of participants. These are approximate numbers, & if the GM has a case for why a different period would elapse per Round for a given Battle, he may enforce it.

• Less than 100: 1 minute per Round.
• ≥100: 10 minutes per Round.
• ≥1,000: 1 hour per Round.
• ≥10,000: 1 day per Round.
• ≥100,000: 1 month per Round.
• ≥1,000,000: 1 year per Round.

Procedure: Battle Round

Each Round of Battle is resolved by the following procedure done in order of the listed steps.

1. Declare Intent to Flee

If one side is not yet fully defeated but wishes to flee, it must be declared as the Round is starting. If one side is fleeing, the Round is a Pursuit, which is managed as another full Round of Battle.

2. Declare manual & one-time use effects

Characters may declare that they are temporarily boosting their own Battle Rating using any manual effects that isn’t accounted for by the default BR calculation method. Examples include one-time use items & Features that can only be activated once within a certain period of time.

Characters get:

• +0.25 BR per point of damage or HP healed;
• To multiply their BR by the number of nonlinear beneficial special Features triggered by the effect for this round only.

For multi-target & area effects, multiply damage by total number of reachable targets (at the GM’s discretion). If you don’t know the enemy formation ahead of time, area effects hit up to their widest diameter in feet divided by 5’ in characters when targeting disorganized (loose, chaotic) formations, including chaotic Groups as well as masses of individual characters. Square this value if targeting a unit that’s a Group in organized formation or if the targets are known to be tightly clustered (i.e. from a chokepoint).

3. BR ratio

Sum the BR of all allied units together for every side. Determine which side has more BR and by what ratio. It gains:

• +1 If it’s at least 10% stronger than the enemy, but by less than a 2:1 ratio.
• +X if it’s X times stronger, ignoring the remainder.

4. Tactical bonuses

Add the following bonuses if their matching condition is true. If the Party’s enemy has the listed advantage, instead of adding it as a bonus, subtract it as a penalty.

• ±2 if you are ambushing or surprising the target (independent of positioning; only applicable on the 1st Round).
• +1 if the enemy is fleeing & this Round is a Pursuit.
• ±1 for each disease, poison, or other broad debilitation the enemy suffers.

In addition, give ±1 to a side for each of the following questions that unquestionably resolves in their favor:

• Terrain: Do you hold better, more defensible ground?
• Perception: Is your commanders’ vision of the enemy’s positioning & movements superior to their commanders’ perception of yours?
• Flanking: Are your units flanking the foe?
• Maneuverability: Do your Units have superior speed, flight, swimming, tunneling, climbing, or other abilities that are not matched by a meaningful proportion of the enemy’s Units, or have you pinned the enemy in place (i.e. via encirclement)?
• Area vs Formation: Does your side field area-of-effect weaponry against a tightly-formed & regimented enemy?
• Morale: Are your Units defending their home and/or children?

Players, while arguing for tactical bonuses, may at this time may note any tactics or stratagems that depend upon the current state of the battlefield.

5. Making the Battle Save

The Battle Save is made by the PCs’ side’s commander. (If PCs are on all sides, flip a coin for who rolls.) The TN is 7 plus the enemy’s Mod. Compare the Result:

Each side’s commander rolls the listed X-in-6 chance of Defeat for each NPC Unit on their side. Players may roll their PC’s own dice to determine if they were Defeated in the skirmish.

Units that are totally Immune to all forms of attack that the enemy is bringing to bear in a fight cannot be Defeated.

Bonus Shifts

When a side receives a Bonus Shift, the GM describes how this Round’s victor’s position improves, or how the losers’ position worsens, represented by a gain of a +1 bonus for the victor or the loss of a +1 bonus for the loser. If the commanders stated a tactical goal at the opening of this Round, the GM may grant that achievement as the bonus. Otherwise, the GM rolls 1d6 to determine characteristic gained/lost:

Morale Break

If the losing side’s NPCs are capable of fleeing (physically & mentally), they will flee during the next Round, making the final round a Pursuit. If they cannot flee & can surrender, they will attempt to surrender. If they cannot surrender, they will remain on the battlefield & become immune to Morale Breaks until killed or victorious.

If only some NPCs can flee, the ones who do have a 3-in-6 chance of Defeat, & are otherwise removed from the battlefield as escaped & undefeated.

6. End of Round

At the end of a Round, if no side is yet fully defeated or currently fleeing, start a new Round.