Combat

When all else fails, your character will have to fight another player for survival, an item, or as part of the greater conflict within the story of Skullduggery. Sometimes combat simply must occur, for some more than others depending how the character is played. So it is advised for your character to have a method to defend themselves.

Combat revolves around the use of weapons, attack rates, defense rates, soak and damage being dealt. All of this must occur in a certain order to keep the game flowing as smoothly as possible.

Disclaimer
Combat in Skullduggery is completely fictional. So please keep that in mind while participating in it, or when interacting with others. It takes place first by drawing cards, and then playing out the scene based on the results from the draws, this is mostly for enjoyment, but can also allow for great photo opportunities.

Actual striking, throwing, or otherwise bludgeoning another player is highly prohibited, and greatly frowned upon. So no actual contact should occur when acting out a battle scene, or a duel. Some thematic scenes put on by actors or the GM staff may have sword fights or black powder blanks, but no player may participate in these actions unless exclusive right is given by those hosting and running the event. This is for player safety.

Since all combat is fiction, please remember that the actions of other players are not personal assaults or insults directed toward you, the player, but your character. In other words, do not take things personally. However, if you do feel that these actions are aimed at yourself and not your character, please find a GM and the situation will be resolved.

Order of Combat
When combat takes place it occurs in a scene, which will last until combat is ended or another event causes its conclusion. Each scene is then divided into six second turns, which is how each player’s action occurs. Combat then takes place in four easy steps that all resolve within a turn.

Step One - Initiative
The first thing that must be determined is which character acts first. This is determined by your characters Initiative [(Perception + Awareness) + gadget/wonder/Elixir bonus + card draw]. Whichever character total is the highest, will act first.

Step Two – Action Phase
The second step in combat is declaring and completing an action. This can range from simply waiting off to the side to attacking another character or NPC. A player must first declare his/her character’s action, and what attribute and skill they plan to use. Once that has been determined the player will need to total up the draw [(attribute + skill) +gadget/wonder/Elixir bonus + draw]. Most actions will occur against a set difficulty by the GM, such as resisting a poison or the ability to climb a wall. However, in some cases your character’s actions will work against another character.

Step Three – Clash
If your character is in combat/arguing/any other actions against another character or NPC, they will clash. Your character will total up the draw from the action phase versus the target’s dodge value, mental defense value, or resistance, determined the same way as your character’s action phase. The only notable different in the target’s draw comes with the use of his/her dodge, mental defense, and resistance ratings. Whoever has the highest wins the clash.

·        How to apply: [(dodge + agility) +gadget/Elixir/artifact + draw]

Step Four – Damage and Soak
In combat, if a target has been struck then it may be dealt damage. The attack character then must draw a card plus the weapon’s damage bonus. If that amount exceeds soak, then the target takes damage. If it is less, then the target does not take damage.

Movement
Your character is about to move during combat, and this could be a major factor in his/her success, or at least not dying. There are two types of movement in combat, Normal and Sprint.

Normal movement is how well you character can move through an area and still take an action. Your character can cover twenty feet in a turn and still act.

Sprinting allows your character to cover forty feet in a turn, but he/she will not be able to act that turn due to exertion. Your character may sprint up to stamina turns in a row without taking a break. If your character does this, he/she will miss his/her next turn to recover.

Damage
Anytime a character is hit with an attack they will suffer damage of some type. Getting punched, kicked, shot, hit with a hammer or other such weapon all hurt. If you do not believe this, the staff can attest to how much some things hurt, like falling off a house. It does. A lot. There are two types of damage that can be dealt: bashing and lethal.

Bashing
Bashing damage is experienced by any form of blunt force trauma. This sort of damage comes from punches, kicks, falls, crashes, and blunt weapons. This damage type is mostly meant to incapacitate or hurt a target. Very rarely is it used to kill, but it is possible.

If a Benjo is drawn during the hit action of combat, a bashing damage weapon will gain the chance to cripple a target. The target then clashes its constitution and resistance against the attacker’s might and melee. If the target fails, they suffer a minus five to all actions for the remainder of the event unless they are healed.

When a target has its health reduced to zero by a bashing weapon, they are rendered unconscious. Any further damage is converted to lethal damage and only causes a target to fall into dying health levels once thirty additional damage has been dealt. So to completely kill a target a bashing weapon must deal over sixty damage.

Lethal
Lethal damage is experienced through explosions, stabbing, or other such attacks that cause large amounts of blood loss through laceration. This form of damage is designed to kill, and it is extremely skilled at it. Lethal damage is dealt by any weapons that have a blade, fire arms, explosions, acid or elemental Arcanum attacks.

If a Benjo is drawn during the hit action of combat, weapons with lethal damage deal double damage. In other words, the damage card draw is doubled. Since lethal weapons are designed to kill, not subdue, their critical hit effect can be extremely devastating or, in many cases, fatal.

When a target has its health dropped to zero from an attack with a lethal attack, they are considered dying. If they suffer any additional damage past their dying health levels the target is considered dead unless they receive some form on medical help.

Soak
Your character has a natural ability to soak up some damage from attack due to their physical prowess. Their bashing soak is the same as their full constitution score, and lethal soak is half their constitution rounded up. These amounts only change when your character’s constitution goes up.

Armor offers additional soak. The amount of a bonus is affected by the number of upgrades for the armor and the type of soak it grants. Some armors may be great at stopping a bullet but horrible at being hit by a large hammer.

Damage can only be dealt to your character if the amount of damage is higher than your character’s soak. If their bashing soak is ten and the attacker only deals eight damage, your character takes no damage. If they deal twelve, your character would take two damage.