Basic Rules

STILL WIP

Hit Points and Basic Combat

Beings have one or more hit points. Weapons do SINGLE damage by default - that is, being hit by a weapon causes you to lose one hit point. You don’t need to call this when you strike with a weapon, but you may if you wish to make it clear that you intend to cause a point of damage.

Noncombat Characters

Some players may be unable to take part in physical combat or not wish to for personal reasons. In this case, they should make the organisers aware so that they can brief other players to not attack them. Instead of attacking a non-combat character, you should call damage against them once per second once you are in range to make an attack. Do not mime swinging your weapon. If someone mistakenly thinks you are a noncombat character and tries to do this, politely correct them and continue.

Wounds and Dying

If you are reduced to zero hit points, your character is now incapacitated. You can’t fight and can only stagger around. You should make it clear that you’re wounded, incapacitated and (mostly) helpless. If you regain hit points, you cease to be incapacitated.

If you have been injured in combat to the point where you were incapacitated during an encounter, ask a ref for a trauma card at your earliest convenience, usually after the encounter has ended.

An incapacitated character can be executed by taking thirty seconds of appropriate roleplay to do so, at which point they die.

If you have been incapacitated for at least two minutes, you may recover one hit point on your own. If you do this, notify a ref and they will give you an additional trauma card.

Trauma Cards

From being heavily wounded, and through many other sources, your character may receive trauma. These are represented by a trauma card that will be handed to you by a ref. It will specify the roleplaying effects of the trauma, along with any mechanical effects that it has.

A character has a trauma limit of three - they can have three trauma at a time. If they ever have four trauma at the same time, that character must retire by the end of the current event. They may be terminally injured and dying, or otherwise unable to continue being an adventurer.

At the end of each interactive, your character naturally recovers from one trauma of your choice. Traumas can also be healed in play by the use of alchemy, divine magic, or the healing arts. Some more severe trauma cards may have additional requirements to recover from them.

Range

• Touch range is close enough that you could reach out and touch the other character. This does not require you to actually touch them, and you should not touch another player unless you already know they’re comfortable with you doing so.
• Close range is five metres.

Under Pressure

Some skills can only be used when not under pressure. If a combat encounter is occurring, you are always under pressure. Some other situations may count - in this case, a ref will inform you.

Appropriate Roleplaying

Some skills require appropriate roleplaying. This means that you should act out doing something appropriate to the effect of the skill - for example, with the Field Medicine trait, you can restore a ruined limb with appropriate roleplaying. Examples might include acting out healing magic that you know, tying bandages around the affected limb, or breaking and re-setting the bone. If you’re doing an effect requiring appropriate roleplaying on a willing target, they are expected to follow your lead as long as doing so isn’t an issue for them.

Searching

You can search a fallen foe when not under pressure. To do so, approach to touch range and inform them you’re searching them. They will give you any resources that they have been instructed to drop. You should not touch another player when searching them.

If you wish to take items while under pressure, inform a ref and we'll adjudicate.

Calls

This is a list of the calls that you might hear and what they mean. A call is a word or phrase with a specific OC meaning. If you hear it directed at you, your character takes a specified effect.

Calls might be:

• Used alongside a melee attack, to indicate that the call is associated with that strike.
• Used with a description of a character. E.g. “You in the blue hat! TRIPLE!”
• Used as an area of effect - see the MASS modifier.

STOP THE GAME

This is an “emergency stop” call to indicate that there is an OC reason to halt gameplay and sort something out. This can be used for any hazard, not just injury. Lost glasses, a player panicking OC, or someone looking like they’re about to fall backwards over a log are all valid reasons to use the call.

RESIST

This call is used in response to being targeted or struck by another call, to indicate that you haven’t been affected by it.

ZERO

This effect deals no damage. This can be used if sparring in-character for deliberately non-damaging strikes.

SINGLE

This effect deals one point of damage. This is the default for melee weapons, and can be omitted unless it’s needed for clarity.

DOUBLE

This effect deals two points of damage.

TRIPLE

This effect deals three points of damage.

SHATTER

If this hits a weapon or shield, it is broken. If it hits a limb, it is ruined and cannot be used until healed. If it hits the torso, take it as DOUBLE.

If delivered by strike, it hits whatever the strike hit. If it's delivered by ranged call, it hits a shield first, otherwise a limb of your choice, otherwise the torso.

Ruined limbs are unusable and in pain. You must roleplay accordingly. You specifically cannot use a weapon with an arm that has been ruined. If one leg is ruined, you cannot run or walk, only limp. If both legs are ruined, you can’t use them to move, only stand in place.

IMPALE

If this hits the torso, lose all of your hits. If it hits a limb that limb is ruined as if hit by SHATTER.

If delivered by strike, it hits whatever the strike hits. If delivered by ranged call it hits the torso.

HEAL

This effect restores four hit points, or restores a ruined limb of the target’s choice.

REPEL

This effect knocks you away. You must move away from the source for 5 seconds. If you block a weapon blow with this effect on your weapon or shield, you must still move away from the source but you are not damaged.

WEAKNESS

You cannot attack with weapons for 5 seconds. Shields and parrying are still fine, as are attacks not delivered by a weapon, such as nebulism.

SUPPRESS

Your Rites and Ancestry are suppressed, and active Skills are unable to be used for 30 seconds.

Would You Kindly

This call, which can be inserted into normal conversation, indicates mind control. Your character does their best to obey the command for 30 seconds, or until you take damage. When the effect ends, you’re aware that something unusual happened.

MASS

This call affects every target within close range. If the user indicates a direction (with their arms or with a device they’re using for the effect), it instead affects everyone in a ninety-degree cone in that direction within close range.

RESIST

This is called to indicate that your call was taken, but it didn’t apply as expected due to an ability.

CURSE

See a ref at the earliest convenient time, usually after the encounter has ended, and tell them you took this call.

EXECUTE

With an exaggerated deathblow, any player may call EXECUTE on an incapacitated monster. Some monsters must be EXECUTEd to stop them rising again.