Primary Combat Actions

These are the most important combat actions which most player characters will be capable of either at experience level zero or soon afterwards. You will ideally have a basic idea of each combat action does as soon as possible.

Cast Initialised Spell

Exertion: Exhausting
Requires: The character spent the previous round initialising a spell

The character attempts to cast the spell which was initialised the previous round. A success roll will be required (unless its result would be automatic success) and the chance of success is higher than if the same spell were cast urgently.

Catch Breath

Exertion: None
Movement: Catching breath disallows moving at all
Requires: The character's breathlessness is greater than zero
Requires: The character is not riding a mount

Catching breath sees a substantial drop in breathlessness. The character's breathlessness is multiplied by 0.75 or by 0.5 if the character is prone. A fraction is rounded down. The combat stamina score is then deducted from any remaining breathlessness. Breathlessness may not fall below 0%.

Charging Attack

Exertion: Highly Exhausting
Movement: Charging requires full movement
Requires: The character is standing (not prone)
Requires: The character is novice or better in the charger skill

Move at full movement followed by an attack in one turn. More challenging than an opportunity attack and requires more energy, resulting in higher breathlessness.

If the attack hits, any blunt, lacerative or impaling damage adds an extra die to the damage roll. If the attack is intercepted successfully, the intercepting character also adds an extra die to the damage roll.

Climb

Exertion: Exhausting
Movement: Climbing requires full movement
Requires: There the character to be at or near a ladder or tree or other climable surface

Compose

Exertion: None
Movement: Composing oneself disallows moving at all
Requires: The character's fright is greater than zero or the character's shock is greater than zero
Requires: The character is not riding a mount

Composing oneself overcomes fight and shock. Fright drops by the character's experience level and intelligence score. Shock drops by the character's experience level and discipline score. Breathlessness also falls but not quite as much as with the Catch Breath action. The character's breathlessness is multiplied by 0.9 or by 0.8 if the character is prone. A fraction is rounded down. The combat stamina score is then deducted from any remaining breathlessness. Breathlessness may not fall below 0%.

Crawl

Exertion: Exhausting
Movement: Crawling requires full movement
Requires: The character is prone
Requires: The character is not holding a weapon lodged in an enemy (or enemy's armour)
Requires: No enemy weapon is lodged in the character (or character's armour)
Requires: The character is not riding a mount

Defer

Exertion: None
Movement: Movement is non applicable until the deferred action is resolved
Requires: The character has rolled initiative
Requires: The character's adjusted initiative is better than at least one other character still in the battle

Deferring the character's turn means the character takes his or her turn in the same round after all other characters who are not also deferring a turn have taken a turn. The character's adjusted initiative becomes one lower than the lowest of the adjusted initiatives of all other characters still fighting. This means the adjusted initiative can drop to zero or a negative number.

Dodge

Exertion: Exhausting
Requires: The character is standing
Requires: The character is not riding a mount

The dodge action adds a bonus to the character's defence score against attacks until the character's next turn. The bonus depends on the type of attack. Against a melee attack, the bonus is +30. Against a shot attack, the bonus is +20. Against a thrown attack, the bonus is +25.

Drop Prone

Exertion: None
Movement: Movement does not apply while dropping prone
Requires: The character is standing (not prone, not riding, not swimming)

Dropping prone costs the character neither a full action nor movement

Free Action: In addition to the character's full action, incurring no movement cost

Evade

Exertion: Taxing
Movement: Evading steps backwards
Reaction: In response to being attacked by a melee attack
Requires: The character is standing (not prone)
Requires: The character is not riding a mount
Requires: The character is attacked in melee by an enemy and has room to step backwards
Requires: The original attack is itself is an opportunity attack or a targeted attack (not any kind of charging attack or interception attack)
Requires: The character is novice or better in the evader skill
Requires: The character is not holding a weapon lodged in an enemy (or enemy's armour)
Requires: No enemy weapon is lodged in the character (or character's armour)

Initialise Spell

Exertion: Taxing
Requires: The character has sufficient spell points and is a spell caster
Requires: The character knows at least one spell with the appropiate casting time

The character initialises casting a spell he or she is able to cast (and must choose which spell). If the character casts the spell in the immediately following turn, he or she receives a bonus of +50 to the success roll.

Interception Attack

Exertion: Taxing
Movement: Pinned in place while intercepting
Reaction: In response to being attacked by a melee attack
Requires: The character is attacked in meleee by an enemy with shorter reach
Requires: The character is novice or better in the interceptor skill

The character makes an opportunity attack on an enemy attacking this character, using a weapon of longer reach than the enemy's weapon

Load Shot

Exertion: Taxing
Requires: The character is holding a shooting weapon which requires loading and carrying ammunition appropriate to that weapon
Requires: The character is novice or better in the shooting skill
Requires: The character has sufficient hands free to shoot the weapon, for example if the weapon needs two hands to shoot, it also requires two hands to load

Some shooting weapons can not be both fired and loaded in the same combat round e.g. a crossbow which requires winding. This action loads the weapon. For some weapons, the loading process is even more involved and requires multiple rounds.

Manoeuvre

Exertion: Taxing
Movement: Partial movement while manoeuvring
Requires: The character is not prone
Requires: The character is not holding a weapon lodged in an enemy (or enemy's armour)
Requires: No enemy weapon is lodged in the character (or character's armour)
Requires: The character is not riding a mount

Opportunity Attack

Exertion: Exhausting
Requires: The character is able to attack an enemy

Attack and hit the enemy wherever an opportunity presents itself. An opportunity attack presents the second highest chance of hitting compared to any other type of attack, second to a reckless attack.

Shed Worn Item

Exertion: None
Requires: The character is wearing armour

The character removes a single item of armour/clothing. External armour must be removed before inner layers.

Sprint

Exertion: Highly Exhausting
Movement: Full movement while sprinting
Requires: The character is not prone
Requires: The character is not holding a weapon lodged in an enemy (or enemy's armour)
Requires: No enemy weapon is lodged in the character (or character's armour)
Requires: The character is not riding a mount

Stand Up

Exertion: None
Requires: The character has lost no more than 20% of full blood supply
Requires: The character is not immobilised by injuries
Requires: The character is prone
Requires: The character has movement remaining
Partial Action: In addition to the character's full action (but requires half of movement)

Urgently Cast Spell

Exertion: Exhausting
Requires: The character has sufficient spell points and is a spell caster

The character attempts to cast a known or prepared spell with a one action casting time (without having spent a round to initialise the casting). A success roll will be required (unless its result would be automatic success).