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Any good story has conflict, a bit of action to spice things up this explains how to 'run' the action. The Character Sheet has a lot of 'reminders' so save looking up the rules during game. So with a basic understanding of the rules the character sheet should be all that's needed to run a game.
A '20' sided dice is used for all rolls. In most cases the dice must be rolled under a Stat + Skill. If successful the dice roll is added to the Stat+Skill then halved to get an Effect/Damagel. All the rolls are based on this concept of Effect/Damage. The higher the better. If the roll has failed the higher the worse it is. Referencing the the Effect/Damage Chart gives a number that can either be applied as damage, duration or when halved a penalty for opponents to resist/beat the effect.
To simplify all of this the character sheet automatically updates and showing all the possible dice roll numbers and allows you to follow it downwards to figure out the damage. Colour coding is included for higher damages.
At the beginning of combat it may not be obvious who has the first attack. Often one party will initiate the attack therefore going first. Opponents roll d20 and add the Skill+Stat they are about to use (e.g. Combat Armed+Reflexes) The highest number go first. Rolling a Fumble, a '20', means they are not able to act on the first round, rolling a fail (19) means they go last in the round.
Tie breakers will come down to the rec of the action. Extra actions use rec to decide when they are. To simplfy allow all first actions then allow each an extra action and so on.
Simply: Intiative rolls are d20 + best or Appropriate Roll plus any modifiers. The highest goes first. This roll can only be failed on a 19 or 20. 19s PC goes last. 20 PC loses out on an action this round.
Depending on nimbleness and training some are harder to hit than others. This is rated by a characters Avoidance.
This penalizes the chance of landing Weapon swings, punches, recognised gun shots. etc.
Sniper shots etc will not allow avoidance unless the victim becomes aware. PCs may recieve a luck roll or a darkness check to know something is wrong.
Other things increase Avoidance. Actively parrying reduces injuries by half damage. Swords etc marked with a 'P'# automatically raise avoidance by that amount vs the opponent they are attacking.
Depending on the weapon different skills are used. If an appropriate skill is not available use either the closest skill (at -2 GM's discretion) or roll under reflexes.
Appropriate skills;
The Success Level (with weapon and strength bonuses) is compared to the Effect Chart to give the damage.
The character spreadsheet precalculates all of this so is actually very fast in game. To hit and Damage all determined by the same roll.
Hit location is determined by the victim with a d20 roll and compared to the body map. Damage is reduced by Armour and any Parry. The victim may adjust location with luck.
More then 1 action per round may be attempted but at a progressively worse penalty. Generally each further action receives a -4 Recovery Penalty. Different weapons have different Recovery rates (REC), listed in the equipment list. Rolling double over what is required is a Fumble as if a '20' were rolled. So making extra actions can become dangerous.
Maximum recovery where you can still do an action is your Skill.
If the initiative roll was failed (19) multiple actions may not be attempted, your having enough trouble with your first action.
There is no direct penalty ot dual weilding however it doubles the chance of fumbling and automatically missing also it is not possible to Critical. (Exact penalties are on the sheet)
There are two results of Injury; Wounds and Shock. Wounds are serious and potentially fatal. Shock represents pain and trauma.
Damage is reduced by Armour each location can have Armour and a character with a shield may add its Armour to any location (depending on manoeuvrability). Damage can be reduced to a minimum of 1.
Wound boxes are filled left to right top to bottom. When ever an injury level is passed an extra shock check is required. Injury level also determine overal penalties to all rolls.
Depending on how seriously a character is injured determines the penalties to Actions or Shock Checks. Certain races and talents reduce the effect of these penalties.
Shock represents the characters stamina and resistance to exhaustion and shock.
A shock check is required whenever the character moves to the next injury penalty, eg when becoming seriously, criticaly or lethaly injured. This roll is at the appropriate Injury Penalty
Failing a Shock Check 'stuns/numbs' the location hit, causing unconsciousness for head hits, winding for body hits, dropping of items for arms or falling for leg hits. Recovering from Shock may be attempted each round, requiriing a successful Shock Check.
GM's NOTE: Where exhaustion is important such as extend chases, large amounts of damage or magic battles, the GM should ask for extra Shock Checks, and/or apply penalties.
When a monster become serisouly injured a Sanity check is made if failed the stress and pain of their injuries become too much and they will fall over, they will play dead, cower or attempt to crawl away.
Those that pass the roll continue to critically wounded then make the check again at the appropriate penalties. Once past this point they are dieing and losing 1 wound per round to bleeding etc and at -8. Only the most pig headed and bloody minded will fight on to this point.
Each character action takes place within a 'Round'. This is a game mechanic, rather than an actual measure of time. If needed It is approximately 2-7seconds. GMs need to be able to stretch time as needed to fit the story, generating suspense and encouraging pace. Getting events to flow into one another is vital for good story telling, feel free to bend time a bit.
One party rolls their skill and figures out the Damage/Effect this damage halved becomes the penalty to oppose the action.
eg Hiding one rolls Stealth the viewer then rolls Awareness a a penalty of half the stealth rolls Effect. Sometime it would be at full effect in darkness etc.
The Agressor rolls first granting a penalty to the victim.
Resisting poisons or magical effects are similar.
Depending on how deeply into demonground one is an amount of darkness is gained this can be 1 an hour or 1 round. Rare areas might grant several point of darkness just for entering. Mages will normall be able to deal with the excess darkness but those with low Occult can get into trouble.
The distance fallen in yards/meter or the speed in miles gives the Damage. This damage is Area of Effect, and so is doubled on a failed dodege check. When exiting a speeding vehicle an extra Athletics check can be made to half damage. Seat belts or harnesses Half Accident Damage. GMs may allow an extra check to halve damage again in other special cases.
Dice + Stat + Skill halved. Round Down.
Sanity checks are required when characters are confronted with horrifying or extreme circumstances. In some cases a character will lose a point of sanity based on how extreme the event is. The result of a failed Sanity check varies from case to case, from inability to cope with the situation to blind rage. If the roll is fumbled (roll of 20) the character will lose a point of sanity and could also pick up a mental illness appropriate to the incident, phobias, compulsions etc.
When a character fails a Sanity check the GM can assign a reaction. The Player still controls the character's actions but the GM guides the player. Gm's can make a random roll then give suggestions.
1-5 Blind Rage- Character attacks the source.
6-10 Curiosity - the character becomes intrigued.
11-15 Freeze - the character freezes, in some cases curling up into fetal position.
16-20 Run!! - Character retreats by any means, even attacking others to get
away.
There are plenty of other possibilities the GM should consider, this gives a general idea that the GM can expand on.
Failed Shock leads to immobilisation of location. Recovery from a failed shock check requires a successful check or rest.