Combat is largely
based on 2ed combat, with attack rolls, reactions (dodge/parry), and damage
rolls. Some 4ed elements have been adapted and some further adjustments made.
Initiative
At the start of the
first round of combat each character makes an INITIATIVE (Ag-based skill) Test.
Each combatant then
acts in order of SL.
·
If two or
more characters are tied in SL, whichever has the higher Agility acts first.
·
Spending a
point of Fortune at the start of the round lets you choose when to act during
that round only (a good way to ignore surprise during the first round of combat,
see below).
Awareness
& surprise
At the start of combat
characters are either aware of the impending danger (and can act normally) or
they are not and gain the Surprised condition.
·
Surprised
characters cannot act on their turn, cannot make reactions, and when they are
defending the attacker gains a +20 bonus to their attack.
·
The
surprised condition is lost at the end of the first round of combat or after a
character has been attacked for the first time, whichever comes first.
Attack
sequence
The acting character
becomes the ATTACKER and may declare a single attack against a single DEFENDER.
·
Some
talents and combat options allow for multiple attacks, either against the same
target or multiple targets.
Attack step
Make a check using the
appropriate skill (almost always WS for melee attacks and BS for missile
attacks).
A success means a HIT,
a failure means a MISS.
·
Attack
rolls are frequently modified to account for difficult combat conditions. Darkness,
bad footing, previous injury, fatigue, and many other effects can make hitting
your target harder (or sometimes even easier).
Automatic success
Sorry, there is no
such thing in Warhammer: Storm of Shadows. The Chaos/Dice gods are too fickle
for that.
Critical hits
Any hit that is also a
double is a CRITICAL HIT.
·
Some
talents, combat options, and equipment grant additional critical conditions.
Example: Weapons with the Impale quality also cause
crits on any single digit ‘0’ on the attack roll.
·
A critical
hit can only be successfully defended against by another critical success.
In addition to hitting,
a CRITICAL INJURY will be inflicted on the defender during the appropriate step
(see below).
Automatic failure
Any roll of 96 or more
is automatically a miss, even if your effective skill is higher.
Fumbles (critical failures)
Any miss that’s also a
double is a FUMBLE. Since any roll of 96+ automatically misses, a double ‘0’ is
always a fumble.
·
Fumbles
vary in severity (but are never good): make a d100 roll on the Fumble table and
suffer the effects.
Multiple attacks
Characters can normally
make only ONE attack (or take another actions) during each of their turns, but
some talents, combat options, and equipment grant additional attacks.
Note: You’re free to describe how your character
lashes out at their enemies with great speed or whatever, but from a mechanical
standpoint you only get one attack within the span of a round unless
specifically granted more attacks by some source.
Some common sources of
multiple attacks:
·
Dual
Wielding: Characters armed
with two weapons potentially (if the off-hand isn’t used to parry) get 1 attack
with their main hand at -20 and 1 with their off-hand at -40. Certain talents (Dual
Wielder and Ambidextrous, among others) will make dual wielding more effective.
·
Swift
Attack increase base attacks
by 1 but incurs a -10/-10 or 0/-20 penalty.
·
Lightning
Attack talents increase base
attacks by 2 respectively but incurs a -20/-20/-20 or 0/-20/-40 penalty.
Defense step
If the attack hits,
the defender may attempt a defensive REACTION, either a PARRY (WS-based weapon skill)
or a DODGE (Ag-based skill).
·
To PARRY,
the defender must have ready a suitable melee weapon or other object, otherwise
a parry cannot be attempted. Swords, parrying weapons, and shields grant
bonuses to parries.
·
To make
any kind of defensive reaction, the defender must be aware of the attack,
otherwise no defense may be attempted. In most cases it’s enough not to have
the Surprised condition but the GM may rule otherwise.
To defend, make an OPPOSED
skill check vs the attackers roll. If the defender wins, the hit is canceled.
If the attacker wins, the hit is maintained but the attacker’s SL is reduced
accordingly.
·
Some talents,
combat options, and equipment grant additional reactions. Only a single
reaction can be attempted per attack, even if the defender has multiple
reactions.
Shields & parrying weapons
If the defender has a
shield or a second weapon in the off-hand, he gains a bonus parry reaction each
round.
Example: Thesalva is armed with two vicious poisoned
daggers. She’s eligible for a bonus parry reaction but instead makes a frenzied
two-weapon attack and hopes her dodge reaction will be sufficient.
Two-handed weapons
If the defender is
armed with a two-handed melee weapon, he gets a bonus parry reaction. This
includes fighting two-handed with hand weapons.
Example: Ulfberth wields his fearsome beard-axe with
two hands, giving him the extra leverage needed to both attack and defend. He
gains a bonus parry reaction (so he could parry twice or make one parry and one
dodge).
Example: Wigmar grabs the ancient longsword he got from
the undead Knight Panther with both hands. He gets a bonus parry reaction (so
he could parry twice or make one parry and one dodge).
Note: Fighting with two-handed weapons is
superficially similar to fighting with two weapons but there is no option for a
bonus attack, just the extra defense. Effectively the same as wielding a
shield, except shields have better defensive options. Then again, two-handed
weapons do more damage so it evens out.
Defending against missile weapons
Defenders can react
normally to missile attacks in melee (predominantly pistols and the odd archer
with special talents), dodging or parrying by knocking aside the weapon.
Additionally:
·
Thrown weapons
can be defended against normally using dodge at +0 or parry at -20.
·
Other
missile weapons (arrows, bolts, bullets etc.) can only be dodged at -20.
·
Shields
provide their AP bonus vs all missile attack unless the GM decides the attack
comes from a quarter not protect by the shield. This can typically happen if
the defender is surprised or attacked from a great distance.
Fighting defensively
If the defender
foregoes attacking on his turn, he gains a bonus parry or dodge reaction until
his next turn.
Example: Ulfberth want to buy his allies time to get
into position so he foregoes attacking with his two-handed beard-axe to gain a
bonus parry reaction (or a bonus dodge, but his WS is better than his Ag), for
a total of two bonus parries or one bonus parry and one bonus dodge.
Damage step
Roll 1d10 and add the
weapons damage bonus.
·
If the
number of SLs is higher than the number rolled, the attacker may cancel the
damage die and add the number of SLs to damage instead, even if that number
exceeds ‘10.’
Hit location
Determine hit location
by reversing the dice of the attack roll and referencing the hit location
chart.
·
Some
abilities, combat options, and equipment affect hit location determination.
Revised hit
location chart (WIP):
·
01-39
(11, 22, 33, 10, 20, 30): Body
·
40-49
(44, 40): Head
·
50-64
(55, 50, 60): Right/main arm
·
65-79
(66, 77, 70): Right/main leg
·
80-89
(88, 80): Left arm
·
90-99
(99, 90): Left leg
Damage reduction
·
Armor: Reduce damage by the number of armor points
(AP) in that location.
·
Toughness: Further reduce damage by a subtracting the defender’s
Toughness bonus.
Injury
If any damage remains,
the defenders has been INJURED. Reduce the defender’s CURRENT WOUNDS by the
amount of damage suffered.
·
Some
abilities and combat options, such as poison, are only triggered by wounding
attacks (as opposed to triggering from a hit) as opposed to stuff that triggers
from a successful hit.
Zero (0) Wounds
When the defender
reaches 0 Wounds, he’s reached his limit and immediately collapses, helpless
and at the mercy of his enemies.
·
Champion-tier
opponents may make a Willpower +0 test to keep on fighting. If they fail, they
are not necessarily dying or even seriously injured (depending on their
critical injuries, if any), but they are bruised, battered, and
unwilling/unable to keep fighting.
·
Characters
with at least 1 point of resolve (PCs, companions, and Master-tier enemies) may
keep on fighting despite their injuries until critical injures put an end to
them.
Note: Even if a character manages to keep on fighting
at 0 Wounds, he’s in grave danger: any wounding hit will automatically become a
critical and his luck will soon run out…
Critical injuries
Critical injuries are
caused by critical hits and by any hit against a defender with 0 Wounds.
Not all critical
injuries are equally severe. Roll d100 and cross-reference the table for that
hit location.
·
If the
defender is at 0 wounds, add 5 to the critical roll for each remaining point of
damage.
Example: Anna is
currently at 1 Wound (after having been brutalized by a now-dead troll) and is
hit by a goblin arrow in the face doing 6 Wounds after Toughness. The goblin
adds 6-1=5x5=25 to the critical roll. It rolls 48 for a total of 73, breaking
Anna’s jaw, stunning her, and ruining her good looks forever. The moral of the
story: don’t let trolls beat your woman and then allow goblins to shoot them in
the face.
Armor deflection
When a defender
suffers a critical hit, he can choose to have his armor deflect the blow. Reduce
the severity of the crit by 20. Then permanently (can be repaired) reduce AP in
that location by 2 (if AP is 1 reduce the crit by 10 instead).
·
Only
Champions and Masters, or opponents with at least 1 point of Resilience, can
use this option. The lesser folk may not.
Example: If Anna had been wearing a helmet (which she
never will, being a vain female wizard), she could have reduced the crit to
73-53, “Fractured Jaw.” Still painful but not nearly as permanent.
Note: Unless you’re at 0 Wounds, this rule will
prevent your from randomly dying to a lucky crit.
Sudden death criticals
Instead of tracking
crits for Minions, the GM can use a simple d100 roll to determine their fate:
·
01-20: Grazing
blow. No effect beyond laughing at your feeble attack.
·
31-40: Seriously
injured. Fight at -20. Made a Cool test or immediately flee.
·
41-65: Critically
wounded. Prone and stunned indefinitely.
·
66-100:
Dead.
