Return to Aeon Reborn
Combat Mechanics
Damage Types, Soak, Hardness and the Armor Piercing Quality
There are 3 types of damage:
- Bashing damage is painful, and dangerous in sufficient quality, but it is the type least likely to cause death. Most blunt-force trauma is considered Bashing. Bashing soaks tend to be the highest of the three soak ratings. When a character recieves enough Bashing damage to fill their wound chart to Incapacitated, they are knocked unconscious, and any further Bashing damage "rolls over", each point converting one existing Bashing wound to Lethal, until the character's chart is filled by Lethal damage, causing death.
- Lethal damage is deadly force. All pointed and edged attacks, all bullets (other than rubber bullets and other explicitly non-lethal ordinance) and most energy attacks are considered Lethal by default (although they may occasionally be Aggravated, or Bashing, when "Pulling Blows"). Characters normally have less Lethal soak than Bashing soak. When a character's wound chart is filled to "Incapacitated" with Lethal wounds, that character dies (though they may have just enough time for last words or miraculous medical assistance, at the Storyteller's discretion). However, when Bashing and Lethal damage mix, Bashing is alwast listed lower down the wound chart, even if the Lethal damage was recieved later. For example: if a character has lost 3 health levels to Bashing damage, and then loses 4 more to Letal, it is the first four levels of their wound chart that will be filled with Lethal damage, while wounds 5, 6, and 7 will be filled by Bashing. Once a character is Incapacitated by Bashing damage, each level of Lethal damage adds one Lethal wound at the top of the chart, and displacing a Bashing wound at the bottom of the chart and causing that damage to "roll over" converting the highest Bashing wound to Lethal as normal.
- Aggravated damage is worse than deadly - it is particularly destructive force which mutilates, disintegrates or mutates the target in some truely grievous way. Aggravated damage almost never occurs except by Telluric powers and phenomena, and even then it is rare. It is like Lethal in that, when an Aggravated wound fills a character's Incapacitated health level, the character dies. It is different from Lethal damage in that it is particularly hard to heal, and tends to permanently mark, scar and disfigure those who recieve Aggravated damage and survive. Characters normally have less Aggravated soak than Lethal or Bashing soak. Just as Lethal damage is always entered above Bashing on the wound chart, Aggravated damage is always listed above Lethal or Bashing.
Baselines who have lost more than a third of their health levels to Lethal or Aggravated damage are likely to continue to bleed and lose health levels unless they recieve medical attention. Zetas are never subject to this effect.
Baselines naturally have Bashing soak equal to their Stamina, and no Lethal or Aggravated soak. Zetas naturally have Bashing soak equal to their Stamina and Lethal soak equal to half their Stamina, rounded down. Whenever an effect, natural or Telluric, innate or equipment-based, permanent or temporary, grants a character Lethal soak, it is assumed to also grant half that value (again, rounded down) in Aggravated soak, unless otherwise noted. All of the character's sources of Lethal soak (whether natural or from armor or powers) should be added together before applying this formula (the exception being those sources which explicitly include a higher than normal amount of Aggravated soak). Some sources list a specific amount of Aggravate soak, rather than relying on this formula (usually equal to the amount of Lethal soak granted, effectively increasing the Aggravated soak bonus by half).
All soak ratings carry an innate Hardness equal to half their value, rounded down (certain effects may add to Hardness, but it may never be raised above the actual soak rating that it derives from). Attacks which carry a gross damage (calculated before soak and roll) of less than the Hardness that their target posesses against that damage type, are ignored and have no chance of inflicting any damage at all. Attacks with a gross damage greater than Hardness but still less than soak roll one die, allowing for the possibility of their doing at least a little damage (certain effects may alter this "minimum damage" of an attack, or otherwise key off of attacks that roll damage).
The Armor Piercing quality applies to certain mundane forms of ordinance designed to pierce armor aswell as a number of Telluric powers and effects. Attacks with this quality subtract the net successes on their attack roll (after all static and active defenses from the target are applied) from the target's relevant soak value against the attack. This also reduces the Hardness value proportionally.
Called Shots
- Pulling Blows (+1 difficulty): Deal Bashing with an otherwise Lethal or Aggravated attack, or inflict a maiming wound rather than a death-blow.
- Showing Off (+2 to +4 difficulty) Attacking small objects, intentionally grazing or "marking" opponents, etc.
- Disarming (+2 or +4 difficulty) Hand-to-hand disarms are at +2 difficulty, ranged disarms at +4. A successful attack causes no damage, but target must reflexively roll (Wits + the weilding Ability) against a difficulty of the net successes on the attack roll. For every success by which the target fails to meet the difficulty, the weapon flies one foot out of grasp. Barring environmental or circumstancial difficulties, retrieving an dropped and unattended weapon is a difficulty 1 (Dexterity + weilding Ability) roll. Disarming an opponent and then collecting the weapon yourself requires two seperate rolls.
- Fierce Blows (+1 difficulty): Striking in wild fury, sacrificing accuracy for a slight bonus to damage (+2L/A or +3B).
Grappling
Iniciating a clinch requires a Brawl or Martial Arts roll (which may be paired with Dexterity or, alternately, cross-matched with Strength). The attack may be dodged or parried normally, or the target may choose to accept the clinch (though only if they are capable of defending against it - not surprised, for instance). The attack inflicts no damage, but the attacker does automatically control the clinch for the first turn, unless the defender chose to accept the clinch, in which case they roll their Brawl or Martial Arts as normal to contest control of the clinch. Each turn that the clinch is maintained, each participant must devote an action to contesting control (though one may decline the contest, and if both do, the clinch automatically ends) - actions may be split as normal, but neither character can dodge, parry or block without some sort of power or special effect. Upon gaining control of a clinch, a grappler has one of three options:
- Hold: Pin the opponent motionless without inflicting injury.
- Crush: Inflict Bashing damage equal to Strength plus the net successes on the control roll. This effect has the Armor Piercing quality.
- Break Hold: Simply release the opponent, hurl them to the ground (leaving them automatically prone) or throw them a number of yards equal to Strength, prompting a Knockdown check.
Surprise Attacks
Roll the attacker's Dexterity + Stealth vs. the target's Wits + Awareness. Internal bonuses and penalties for the target (based on level of preparedness and wariness) range between +1 and -2 dice. Invisibility, camoflage and the like all add to the attacker's Stealth roll as normal, and attacks "from plain sight" carry a +2 difficulty. If the attacker wins, the target may not parry, dodge or otherwise respond to the attack with any defense other than supernatural ones which explicitly work against unanticipated attacks. If the target wins the contest, they may defend against the attack as normal. Note that several powers and effects allow characters to anticipate ambushes or otherwise avoid the substancial danger of being caught flat-footed. When an ambush opens hostilities, Initiative is not rolled until after the initial attack(s) and any resulting reflexive responses have been resolved (essentially allowing the attacker a free turn).
Characters may hide mid-combat and attempt to reestablish surprise by taking a Dexterity + Stealth action (+2 difficulty for the presence of witnesses, +2 automatic successes if the hiding character is already invisible or otherwise obscured). All witnesses roll Wits + Awareness - those who succeed keep track of the hiding character and are still able to attack and defend against them, while those who fail lose track of the character until something is done to clearly illustrate their location - the hiding character may then launch new surprise attacks against them.
Mounted Combat
- All offensive and defensive Abilities used while mounted have their base values limited by the rider's rating in Ride - (so a mounted combatant with Melee 4 and Ride 3 is treated as having Melee 3).
- Mounts with Control Ratings higher than their riders' Ride ratings require riders to spend a dice action on a Ride roll every turn to control them (with a difficulty equal to the Control Rating). Failure results in loss of control.
- Combatants riding individual mounts (such as horses) are at +1 difficulty to hit for hand-to-hand attacks by non-mounted opponents, and gain one +1 auto-success to their rolls to hit such targets. Those riding atop particularly large mounts (such as African elephants) increase both of these values to +2 difficulty and +2 auto-successes, respectively, and can only make or recieve hand-to-hand attacks with and from weapons with reach.
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