Combat Summary

Combat is broken down into Rounds and then into Turns.

Rounds

 * During a round, characters will use Tactics Points to perform actions. The round will essentially continue until all characters are out of TP. TP will then reset to its starting values and the next round will begin.


 * At the beginning of each round all players roll d10s for their initiative. The GM should also roll initiative for all NPCs and creatures involved in the combat. Initiative determines the turn order for the round. The character with the lowest initiative takes their turn. If two or more characters have the same initiative, the one with a higher finesse takes their turn first. Once a character takes a turn their initiative increases to 10. When everyone with the lowest initiative has taken their turn, everyone's initiative decreases by 1.


 * Certain attacks and abilities may modify initiative (such as concise movement).


 * Pre-emption may only take place at the start of a round. A character who pre-empts spends 2TP to take the first turn. If multiple characters pre-empt, the one with the highest finesse goes first.


 * Some spells have a delay value. If a character casts a spell with a delay value of x, their initiative is set to x. During that character's next turn, the spell takes effect. The caster may make no other action, and their initiative is set to 10 as normal.


 * Certain effects may modify delay (such as a spell charged with Hastened Magic).

Turns

 * During a turn a character may do at least one of the following:


 * -Standard action: The character performs an action. This can be an attack, or it can be a non-aggressive act such as picking up a weapon, pushing a boulder down a hill, or anything else that explicitly requires an action.


 * -Movement: Characters may move any number of squares, paying 1 TP per square (disregarding movement abilities). Movement may be done before and/or after standard actions, but it may not be done at all in the same turn as a spellcast.


 * -Spellcast: The character casts a spell. The character must have at least one free hand to do this.


 * -Insignificant action: The character says something or makes a gesture. This does not cost TP and may be done as many times as the character's player wishes each turn, within reason.


 * -Pass: The character does nothing. Once each character has made this action in a cycle of initiatives, the round ends.

Magic

 * When making a spellcast action, the following parameters apply:


 * -The character must be able to pay the cost both in terms of TP and Mana Draw. If the character's Mana Draw for the action is less than the Mana cost of the spell, the character may pay TP equal to the difference. This may not be done for spells with an X in the Mana cost.


 * -If the spell has a delay, upon paying the costs, the character sets his or her initiative to the number specified by the delay. If the character receives damage before his or her initiative reaches 1 again, the spell is cancelled and costs are not refunded. If the character does not receive damage, the spell is cast when the delay ends.


 * -If a spell has a committed cost, it will have an effect that persists as long as its cost is committed, by reducing the casting character's max TP and Mana Draw by the amount specified by the cost of the spell. When the commitment ends, the spells effects end as well. Out of combat, commitments may be ended at any time. In combat, they may be ended at the end of a round, or by spending an action and 0 TP.

Ranged Attacks

 * When a character makes a ranged attack or spellcast, he or she must have clear line of sight to the target. Friendly characters do not block line of sight, but unfriendly characters and certain terrain elements do.

Status Conditions

 * The following status conditions may be inflicted upon characters by certain abilities or spells:


 * -Immobilized: Unable to move, but may otherwise perform any action.
 * -Feared: Unable to perform combat actions, but may perform movement actions.
 * -Silenced: Mana Draw is now 0
 * -Paralyzed: Unable to perform any action.
 * -Stunned: Reduce all attack rolls by 5, and reduce defense by 2.