Overview
While most other game mechanics happen in more or less freeform timing, combat is broken down into discrete rounds, each lasting just long enough for combatant to take two actions: one of which can be an attack. The other action can be almost anything the player desires: run away, try to hide, draw a weapon, light the fuse of a bomb, etc.
To make an attack, the player rolls 4dF plus the Approach being used in the attack, plus or minus any Skill modifiers or Supernatural Power bonuses.
To defend, the opposing player or GM rolls 4dF plus the Approach being used in the defense, plus or minus any Skill modifies or Supernatural Power bonuses.
Example: Agent Smith is fighting Tim the Enchanter. Tim summons up his power and attacks Agent Smith with a Fiery Explosion! This is a Forceful action, and Tim has a +2 (Great) Forceful Approach; Tim also has Fiery Explosion at 0 (Skilled) and is using all 4 Supernatural Power bonuses on this attack. Tim’s player rolls 4dF and gets plus, minus, minus, blank (-1) and adds +6 for a total of +5 (Legendary)!
Agent Smith defends by using his Cybernetic Punch to break open a fire hydrant and douse the explosion with water. He needs to get the water flowing before the explosion reaches maximum potential; this is a Quick action, and Agent Smith has a +1 (Good) Quick Approach. Agent Smith also has Cybernetic Punch at +1 (Very Skilled) and is going to use 2 Supernatural Power bonuses on the defense (he's going to keep a couple in reserve in case this doesn't work). Agent Smith's player rolls minus, minus, blank, blank (-2) and adds +4 for a total of +2 (Great).
Once the rolls have been made, compare the results. If the attacker's roll exceeds the defender's roll, the attack is successful and damage is applied. If the defender's roll ties or exceeds the attacker's roll, the defense is successful and no damage is applied.
Damage
A normal human character can take a limited amount of damage, based on how severe the wound is. Generally speaking, they can withstand three Scratches, two Light Wounds, one Heavy Wound, and one Extreme Wound before they are Incapacitated. This is shown using a simple series of check-boxes as shown here:
Scratch (1,2) | Light Wound (3,4) | Heavy Wound (5,6) | Extreme Wound (7,8) | Incapacitated (9+) |
| ☐ ☐ ☐ | ☐ ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
When an attack roll exceeds a defense roll, subtract the total of the defense roll from the total of the attack roll. This represents the amount of damage done. Put a check in one of the boxes in the column containing the result.
Example: Tim the Enchanter beat Agent Smith's defense roll (+2) with his attack roll (+5) by three points. Agent Smith is wounded, and puts a check in one of the boxes in the Light Wound column.
Should all of the boxes in a column be checked when another wound is received at that level, a box in the next higher column is checked.
Example: Tim the Enchanter is simply peppering Agent John Smith with Fiery Explosions, but John has been using his Water Control to good effect; John has only been scratched 3 times. But then Tim hits John with another Fiery Explosion, which causes another scratch; since John no longer has any open boxes in the Scratch column he is lightly wounded, and so he checks one of the boxes in the Light Wound column.
Wound tracking is not linear; a character could have one Scratch, one Light Wound, and one Extreme Wound checked all at the same time.
Effects of Wounds
When a character is heavily wounded, that characters skill rolls are made with Disadvantage. When a character is extremely wounded, that character's skill rolls are made with Double Disadvantage. When a character is Incapacitated, that character is out; they are unable to take any action, and will likely die if left unattended.
