Scifi 20 Combat Manual

Combat Manual

Science Fiction Roleplaying in Any Future

SciFi20



CREDITS

THE SCIFI20 COMBAT MANUAL

BASED ON THE ORIgINAL

TRAVELLER’S HANDBOOK BY

MARTIN DOUgHERTY AND HUNTER gORDON

CONCEpT AND RULES DESIgN

Hunter Gordon

ADDITIONAL INpUT

Bruce Runnels John Hemmert Mike Jeff Andy Lilly Marc Miller Various Citizens of the Imperium

LAYOUT DESIgN

Hunter Gordon

COVER ARTWORK

Bryan Gibson

INTERIOR ARTWORK

Bryan Gibson, Steve Bryant, Chad Fidler, Paul Daly, Jason Millet, and Allen Nunis

DEDICATION

To those who came before and to those still to come.

SpECIAL THANKS

Bruce Runnels. You will always be the man. Marc W. Miller. I can never thank you enough. Matthew Gordon. Thanks son, for everything.

EDITION

1.3

WEBSITE

http://www.RPGRealms.com

Copyright ©011 Hunter Gordon. All rights reserved. SciFi0 and SF0 are trademarks of Hunter Gordon and used with permission. Reproduction of this work in any form without permission from the publisher, except as permitted by the Open Game License or where permission to photocopy is clearly stated, is expressly forbidden. Portions of this work are released under the Open Game License (OGL), a copy of which is available at the rear of this book, along with the designation of all Open Game Content and Product Identity specified for this body of work.

FOREWARD

The SciFi0 System of which this book is the first, is the direct descendant of the original T0 Traveller’s Handbook originally published in 001. You will find some tweaks to the rules here and there but SF0 remain completely compatible with its ancestry. Mostly what we’ve done is clean things up a little bit, clarified a few things a bit better, stripped out any implied setting material and/or restrictions, and paved the road for a more complete and fully generic science fiction roleplaying game based on the d0 System.

CREDITS

PERSONAL COMBAT ... 4 Staging Combat ... 4 Encounter Distance ... 4 Combat Statistics... 5 Attack Roll ... 5 Attack Bonus ... 5 Damage ... 5 Armor Class (AC) ... 6 Armor Rating (AR) ... 6 Stamina ... 6 Lifeblood ... 6 Structural Integrity Points (SI) ... 7 Speed ... 7 Initiative ... 7 Surprise ... 7 Attacks of Opportunity ... 7 Actions in Combat ... 8 The Combat Round ... 8 Action Types ... 8 Standard Actions ... 9 Move Actions ... 10 Full Round Actions ...11 Free Actions ... 1 Miscellaneous Actions ... 1 Injury and Death ... 13 Healing Damage ... 13 Damage to Personal Equipment ... 13 Movement and Position ... 13 Tactical Movement ... 13 Big and Little Creatures in Combat ... 14 Combat Modifiers ... 15 Cover ... 15 Concealment ... 16 Flanking ... 16 Helpless Defenders ... 16 Armor Piercing Rounds ... 16 Gravity ... 16 Range ... 17 Relative Speed ... 17 Special Attacks and Damage... 17 Aid Another ... 17 Bull Rush ... 18 Charge ... 18 Disarm ... 18 Grabbing Items ... 18 Feint ... 18 Grapple ... 19 Mounted Combat ... 0 Overrun ... 0 Sunder ... 1 Throw Splash Weapon ... 1 Trip ... 1 Two-Weapon Fighting ...  Subdual Damage ...  Attacking Vehicle Occupants ...  High Explosive Rounds ...  Area Effect Weapons ...  Demolitions ...  Indirect Fire ... 3 Attacking Objects ... 3

VEHICLE AND STARSHIP COMBAT ... 25

Basic Combat ... 5 Encounter Distance ... 5 Spotting Other Vessels ... 5 Encounter Range ... 6 Combat Statistics... 7 Damage ... 7 Structural Integrity Points (SI) ... 7 Initiative ... 7 Actions in Basic Combat... 7 The Combat Round ... 7 New Actions ... 7 Captain/Commander ... 7 Pilot/Driver ... 7 Pilot ... 8 Astrogator... 8 Communications ... 9 Computer ... 9 Sensors ... 9 Gunner ... 9 Engineer/Mechanic ... 9 Damage and Destruction ... 30 Internal Damage ... 30 Battlefield Repairs ... 30 Vehicle Internal Hit Locations ... 31 Small Craft and Starship Internal Hit Locations ... 3 Permanent Repairs ... 34 Special Attacks and Damage... 35 Collisions ... 35 Force Fields ... 35 Meson Attacks ... 36 Radiation Attacks ... 36 Advanced Combat ... 36 Multilevel Combat ... 38

ADVANCED VEHICLE COMBAY ... 38

The Combat Round ... 38 Attacks of Opportunity ... 38 Advanced Actions ... 38 Failed Driving Maneuvers ... 39 Failed Piloting Maneuvers ... 40 Vehicle Damage and Internal Hits ... 41

ADVANCED SPACE COMBAY ... 41

The Combat Round ... 41

Attacks of Opportunity ... 41

Advanced Actions ... 41

Failed Maneuver Checks ... 4

Squadrons ... 43

OPEN GAME LICENSE INFORMATION ... 44

4

pERSONAL COMBAT

pERSONAL COMBAT

Conflict of some kind is integral to any good story, and

nowhere more so than in a role-playing game. This does not mean that every session should involve blazing guns and flashing blades. There are many types of conflict, and most of them can be resolved without violence. A campaign in which violence is commonplace is likely to go off the rails for one of two reasons.

• Combat becomes so routine that it is no longer exciting or perceived as a threat to the characters. This is temporarily alleviated by dumping more bad guys with bigger guns on the players, but in the end this is self-defeating.

• Character turnover is so quick that nobody can even remember their latest adventurer’s name, let alone develop his or her personality.

Combat should be used sparingly. Most fights should support the plot, though the occasional random brawl or ambush also serves to keep the characters alert or off balance. Remember that in SciFi0 (as in real life) weapons, and especially firearms, are deadly. Local law enforcement will usually become involved in any exchange of fire, or any combat that leaves bodies lying around. This may not be much of a problem on an asteroid in deep space, but on most planets the characters will have to tread carefully.

STAgINg COMBAT

One way to keep fight scenes fresh and exciting is to stage combat in unusual places. Action movies often make use of this device. For example, a fight that takes place on a moving bus or train is far more interesting than one that seems to occur on a gray featureless plain without obstructions or cover. Throw in plenty of distractions - fleeing bystanders, vehicles, local animals, runaway baggage carts or whatever - to make the scene come alive (and to allow characters to make dramatic use of the scenery). Have stray shots smash things or hit bystanders. Remember environmental hazards. Vacsuit tears, diving into brambles when seeking cover, broken glass on the ground or falling into deep water while wrestling with a foe can all make a fight scene more tense at the time and memorable afterward. Combat is intense and stressful. Characters often suffer from tunnel vision, focusing on one enemy to the exclusion of all else. Anyone wanting to remain fully aware of everything around him should be required to make frequent skill checks (e.g. Spot), or he will simply fail to notice anything that does not happen right in front of him.

Intimidation and trickery also play a part. People don’t always see what’s really there - they can only see what’s visible. Sometimes an enemy can be bluffed into fleeing or surrendering, or intimidated into panicked submission. Finally, remember that armed combat is deadly. Smart people make use of cover and concealment (there is a difference!), and maneuver for a better position rather than just blasting away from where they are.

ENCOUNTER DISTANCE

When running outdoor encounters it may be useful to determine the range or distance at which opponents actually spot one another. First determine the current terrain and lighting conditions on the Encounter Range table below, and roll the dice specified to determine the initial encounter distance between the groups. If line of sight or other issues would impede either group from seeing one another then the point at which line of sight is blocked is where the encounter will occur.

Have each member of each group make a Spot check to see if they notice the other group. If no one from any side spots the others, then the encounter occurs at one half the range rolled previously.

Encounter Spot Check: DC20

Size: If any of the opposing group is of Large size or greater,

subtract –4 from the DC for each size above Medium the largest opponent is. If the size of the biggest member of an opposing group is smaller than Medium sized, add +4 to the DC for each size below Medium.

Lighting: If the lighting conditions are low (dusk, dawn,

or full moon), add + to the DC. If lighting conditions are dark (nighttime) add +4 to the DC. If it is pitch dark add +8 to the DC.

HIDINg AND SpOTTINg

If creatures are trying not to be seen, it’s usually harder to spot them, but creatures that are keeping low to avoid being spotted also are less likely to notice other creatures. If a group (of people or animals) is hiding, its members can only move at half their normal overland speed. They also suffer a - penalty on their Spot checks to notice other creatures because they are staying low. Instead of a base DC of 0 for others to spot them at the standard spotting distance, the DC is 5 + the hider’s Hide skill modifier. The modifiers from the Encounter Awareness Difficulty table still apply, except for the size modifier (which is already part of the character’s skill modifier). A character whose Hide ranks, Dexterity modifier, and armor check penalty total -6 or lower actually has a lower DC than if he or she weren’t hiding. In such cases, simply calculate the Spot DC as if the character wasn’t hiding (according to the Spotting Difficulty table). If a creature gets a special bonus to Hide because of camouflage, special coloring, and so on, use that bonus rather than the contrast bonus from the Spotting Difficulty table.

Additionally, the other creatures do not automatically spot hiding creatures at one-half the encounter distance. Instead, that is the distance at which the other creatures can make Spot checks to notice the hiding creatures. These are normal Spot checks opposed by the hiders’ Hide checks.

Terrain Distance

Arcology, popular starport, dense pedestrian

and vehicle traffic d4 x 1.5m City or town center, moderate pedestrian and vehicle traffic 3d6 x 3m Suburban neighborhood, light pedestrian and vehicle traffic 6d8 x 3m Smoke, heavy fog, dense clouds d4 x 1.5m Light fog, heavy jungle or forest d4 x 3m Heavy mountainous terrain 3d6 x 3m Rugged hills or low mountains 6d6 x 3m Light forest or low rolling hills 6d6 x 6m Bush or scrub lands d6 x 1.5km

Grassliands, plains, at sea, or other open

pERSONAL COMBAT

MISSED ENCOUNTERS

The rules for spotting assume that both sides will eventually notice each other; the rules simply establish the distance at which they do so. But sometimes you want to take into account the possibility that the two groups will miss each other entirely. To handle these possibilities, simply let there be a 50% chance that the others encountered and the PCs don’t get any closer but rather pass by each other, such as when one group is moving north and the other east. (Creatures following the PCs’ trail, of course, always close with them.)

COMBAT STATISTICS

ATTACK ROLL

An attack roll represents your attempt to strike your opponent on your turn in a round. When you make an attack roll, you roll a d0 and add your attack bonus. (Other modifiers may also apply to this roll.) If your result equals or beats the target’s Armor Class, you hit and deal damage.

Automatic Misses and Hits: A natural 1 (the d0 comes up

1) on an attack roll is always a miss. A natural 0 (the d0 comes up 0) is always a hit. A natural 0 is also a threat—a possible critical hit.

ATTACK BONUS

SF0 uses Dexterity as a bonus for melee attacks, reflecting how armor works and the emphasis of natural speed and finesse rather than brute force. Your attack bonus with a melee weapon is:

Base attack bonus + Dexterity modifier + size modifier

With a ranged weapon, your attack bonus is:

Base attack bonus + Dexterity modifier + size modifier +

range penalty

DAMAgE

If an attack is successful, roll the weapon’s listed damage. If the attack is against a lifeform apply the full damage against the target’s Stamina rating. In addition, a successful attack against a target may inflict Lifeblood damage against lifeforms or Structural

Integrity damage against equipment, vehicles, and ships. The amount of such damage is determined by reducing the original damage roll based on the Armor Rating or AR of the target. Damage Reduction by AR: Roll all the damage dice, but then remove one die from the damage roll for each point of AR the target possesses. Always remove the lowest rolls first. Whatever the target’s Armor rating, leave one die (the highest one) on the table. If there are still points of Armor rating to be accounted, subtract the remaining points from the remaining damage.

Minimum Weapon Damage: If penalties to damage,

through any means, bring the damage result below 1, a hit deals no damage to the target.

Example 1: A character attacks a bug-eyed monster and hits, rolling 3d10 for damage (she’s firing a Laser Rifle). The damage dice come up 4, 7, and 4 for a total of 15 points of damage. Since the target is a lifeform, this damage is immediately applied against its remaining Stamina. We now determine how much (if any) Lifeblood damage has been inflicted. The bug-eyed monster has an Armor rating of 5, so we must first remove up to 5 dice of damage if possible. We can’t obviously because a Laser Rifle only does 3d10 damage. We remove 2 dice from the damage roll, both of the fours because the lowest rolls are removed first. This leaves 7 points of Lifeblood damage, and also 3 points of Armor rating, to account for. Subtracting these 3 points from the Lifeblood damage, the Laser Rifle inflicts an additional 4 points of lifeblood damage to the bug-eyed monster. Example 2: Two grav tanks are taking shots at one another, both with an Armor rating of 12 and firing Heavy Fusion Guns (6d20 damage). One of the tanks scores a hit on its opponent and rolls 6, 12, 8, 4, 15, and 11 for a total of 56 points of damage. Since the target is a vehicle it has no stamina points. Instead we must reduce the damage to account for the target’s armor and apply any remaining damage to the Structural Integrity of the vehicle. We remove five of the dice leaving just the 15. This accounts for 5 of the 12 points of Armor rating of the target. Applying the remaining 7 factors of armor against the remaining damage roll of 15 leaves the attack inflicting a total of 8 points of Structural Integrity damage.

SCALINg DAMAgE BETWEEN LIFEFORMS, VEHICLES,

AND STARSHIpS

The scale of armor and weapon power between lifeforms, vehicles, and starships is quite drastic. To reflect this when playing SF0 and running combats involving lifeforms, vehicles,

SIZE MODIFIERS

Vehicle or

Creature Size Weight(kg)or Volume (vl) Mod.Size

Starship or Small Craft

Size Tonnage (tons) Mod.Size Weight inPounds (d20 size)

Fine up to 0.05 +8 - - - 0.11 (1/8)

Diminutive 0.05-0.5 +4 - - - 1.1 (1)

Tiny 0.5 to 5 + - - - 11 (8)

Small 5 to 30 +1 - - - 66 (60)

Medium 30 to 50 0 - - - 550 (550)

Large 50 to 000 -1 Diminutive 1 ton +4 4400 (4000)

Huge 000 to 15,000 - Tiny 1-9 tons + 33,000 (3,000)

Gargantuan 15,000 to 115,000 -4 Small 10-99 tons +1 53,000 (50,000) Colossal 115,000,1,315,000 -8 Medium 100-999 tons 0 53,000 or more

Enormous 1,315,000+ -10 Large 1000-9999 tons -1

-Monstrous - -1 Huge 10,000-99,999 tons -

-Stupendous - -14 Gargantuan 100,000-999,999 tons -4

-6

pERSONAL COMBAT

and/or starships at the same time apply the following damage modifiers. In all cases where extra dice are rolled, they should be of the same type as the base damage of the weapon itself (d4, d6, d8, etc.).

Lifeforms attacking Vehicles: When a lifeform attacks

a vehicle using a personal weapon, automatically reduce the damage by 5 dice before applying any reductions due to armor.

Lifeforms attacking Starships: A lifeform attacking a

starship or small craft with a personal weapon will automatically reduce the damage by 10 dice before applying any reductions due to armor.

Vehicles attacking Lifeforms: A vehicle rolls an additional

5 dice of damage when an attack against a lifeform hits.

Vehicles attacking Starships: A vehicle attacking a starship

or small craft with must reduce its damage by 5 dice before applying any reductions due to armor.

Starships attacking Lifeforms: Starship weapons ignore

personal armor as if it does not exist, in addition to rolling an extra 10 dice of damage when attacking any Lifeforms.

Starships attacking Vehicles: Starships weapons against

vehicles may roll an extra 5 dice of damage. In addition, roll twice on the Internal Damage Location tables.

ARMOR CLASS (AC)

Your Armor Class (AC) represents how hard it is for opponents to land a solid, possibly damaging blow on you. It’s the attack roll result that an opponent needs to achieve to hit you. Your AC is equal to the following:

10 + armor bonus + shield bonus + Dexterity modifier +

size modifier

Note that armor limits your Dexterity bonus, so if you’re wearing armor, you might not be able to apply your whole Dexterity bonus to your AC.

Sometimes you can’t use your Dexterity bonus (if you have one). If you can’t react to a blow, you can’t use your Dexterity bonus to AC. (If you don’t have a Dexterity bonus, nothing happens.)

Other Modifiers: Many other factors modify your AC.

Enhancement Bonuses: Enhancement effects make your

armor better. Natural Armor: Natural armor improves your AC. Dodge Bonuses: Some other AC bonuses represent actively avoiding blows. These bonuses are called dodge bonuses. Any situation that denies you your Dexterity bonus also denies you dodge bonuses. (Wearing armor, however, does not limit these bonuses the way it limits a Dexterity bonus to AC.) Unlike most sorts of bonuses, dodge bonuses stack with each other. Conversion Notes When using creatures or characters from other d0 systems, you may use the Armor Class (AC) normally for determining if an attack successfully hit or not. However, when it comes to damage reduction due to AR, if the armor is manufactured and detailed in SF0, use the SF0 specifications and ratings. If the armor type is not list, or is natural armor, divide the standard d0 armor bonus by 3, rounding up. This will will allow you to convert most AC ratings from other d0 games into the standard 1-15 AR range SF0 also uses.

Vehicle and Starship Armor Class

The AC for a vehicle or starship is calculated differently. Dexterity modifiers and shield bonuses do not apply when dealing with a vehicle or ship. In addition, either the pilot/driver

or a computer may control the evasive defense of a vessel. Computers are very adept at providing fairly reliable, if somewhat predictable evasive routines. However, nothing can replace an experienced pilot or driver at the helm.

To reflect this, vessels using a computer to control their evasive maneuvers are limited to a maximum Agility modifier equal to the computer model number divided by  (round down), or the vessel’s Agility rating, whichever is lower. A pilot or driver controlling the evasive maneuvers of a vessel may use the full Agility rating of the vessel as a modifier. Allowing a computer to handle evasive maneuvers is considered a free action for the pilot or driver. If the pilot or driver handles evasive maneuvers themselves, this is considered a standard action.

10 + Armor bonus + Agility modifier + Size modifier

ARMOR RATINg (AR)

The armor worn by an individual or the armor installed on a vehicle or ship not only makes it harder to inflict damage on that person or vessel, it will also reduce the amount of damage if an attack does get through. While this value is used in calculating the overall AC of a person or vessel, the Armor Rating or AR should also be kept track of on a character sheet for easy reference. Note that the shield bonuses are not used when recording personal AR.

STAMINA

Stamina represents a character’s ability to withstand heavy exertion, accumulated minor wounds, fatigue, and other minor physical impairments and injuries. A higher-level character may have a much larger Stamina reserve to rely upon, developed from years of training and experience. Stamina is modified by Constitution.

Unconscious (0 or Fewer Stamina Points): When a

character reaches 0 Stamina points he or she will fall unconscious from a combination of exhaustion, accumulated minor damage, etc. Any further Stamina damage received by an unconscious character is taken directly against Lifeblood instead (no armor adjustments apply here) until the character has healed to at least 1 Stamina point. The character will remain unconscious for at least 10 minutes, after which they may attempt a Fortitude save (DC15) to recover consciousness. If the save is failed the character may try again every 10 minutes until successful, someone revives them, or they are healed.

LIFEBLOOD

In addition to Stamina each lifeform, be it a character, NPC, or bug-eyed monster also has a Lifeblood rating that represents its ability to withstand the traumatic damage and injuries that often accompany futuristic weaponry. The Lifeblood rating is generally equal to the lifeform’s Constitution score, but may vary due to size and other factors.

Dying (0 to -9 Lifeblood): When a being’s Lifeblood drops to

0 or lower, it is dying. At the end of each round, beginning with the round in which Lifeblood fell to 0 or lower, the being must make a Will save (DC15) to avoid losing consciousness and a Fort save (DC15) to avoid losing 1 more Lifeblood. Once unconscious it will automatically lose 1 additional Lifeblood point at the end of each round, no Fort save allowed. If the being reaches -10 Lifeblood, it is dead. Each round a being remains conscious it does not automatically lose additional Lifeblood and may attempt any type of action other than a move action. However an action is attempted while in this condition, the being must make an additional Will and Fort save (both DC15) after the action to see if the stress causes him/her/it to fall unconscious and/or lose additional lifeblood.

pERSONAL COMBAT

Dead (-10 or lower Lifeblood): If a character or other being

ever reaches -10 Lifeblood, they have died. It is also possible to die even if a being has remaining lifeblood; for example, certain types of poisoning can reduce a character’s Constitution score, which if reaches 0 also will cause death.

STRUCTURAL INTEgRITY pOINTS (SI)

Vehicles (including robots), small craft, and starships do not have a Stamina or Lifeblood rating. Instead these craft use a Structural Integrity or SI rating to measure damage against them. This SI rating is based on the overall size of the craft, and is determined when the vessel is designed and constructed (see the Vehicle or Starship Design rules, pg. 33 or 53).

Non-Functional (0 or fewer Structural Integrity): When

a vessel’s structural integrity drops to 0 or lower, it is rendered completely non-functional. Nothing will work until repairs are made. Any further damage received will automatically cause internal damage (roll on the Damage Location table for each hit), and may end up completely destroying the craft.

Destroyed: It is difficult to completely destroy a vehicle,

small craft, or starship - but it can be done. A craft that takes an amount of damage greater than or equal to twice (x) its original Structural Integrity rating has been destroyed completely. Destroyed craft cannot be repaired at all. Thus a 100-ton starship could take up to 00 structural integrity points of damage before being destroyed.

SpEED

Your speed tells you how far you can move in a round and still do something, such as attack or cast a spell. The speed of a character is based primarily on their race and the type of armor they are wearing. If you use two move actions in a round (sometimes called a “double move” action), you can move up to double your speed. If you spend the entire round to run all out, you can move up to quadruple your speed (or triple if you are in heavy armor).

INITIATIVE

Initiative Checks: At the start of a battle, each combatant makes an initiative check. An initiative check is a Dexterity check. Each character applies his or her Dexterity modifier to the roll. Characters act in order, counting down from highest result to lowest. In every round that follows, the characters act in the same order (unless a character takes an action that results in his or her initiative changing; see Special Initiative Actions).

If two or more combatants have the same initiative check result, the combatants who are tied act in order of total initiative modifier (highest first). If there is still a tie, the tied characters should roll again to determine which one of them goes before the other. Flat-Footed: At the start of a battle, before you have had a chance to act (specifically, before your first regular turn in the initiative order), you are flat-footed. You can’t use your Dexterity bonus to AC (if any) while flat-footed. Barbarians and rogues have the uncanny dodge extraordinary ability, which allows them to avoid losing their Dexterity bonus to AC due to being flat-footed. A flat-footed character can’t make attacks of opportunity.

Inaction: Even if you can’t take actions, you retain your

initiative score for the duration of the encounter.

Vehicle, Small Craft, or Starship Initiative: When a vessel

becomes aware of any opponent(s), it must make an initiative check. An initiative check is a 1d0 roll, adding the Agility bonus of the vessel (if any). Vehicles: If the commander of the vessel has the Tactics (I or II) feat, they may add their WIS modifier to this roll. Small Craft and Starships: If the commander of the vessel has the Ship’s Tactics feat, they may add a + modifier to this roll. These Initiative check results determine in what order vessels will act during each round of the encounter. Each vessel may take an action in their initiative order (highest to lowest) every round. If two or more vessels have the same initiative check result, they will act in order based on the vessel Agility bonus (highest to lowest). If there is still a tie, have each side roll 1d6 with the highest roll acting before the lowest roll. Reroll until all ties are broken. Unaware: This is the equivalent of being caught flat-footed for vehicles, small craft, and starships. Vessels that are unaware of their opponents may not use their Agility bonus when calculating their AC if attacked. An unaware combatant may not take any actions during the surprise round.

SURpRISE

When a combat starts, if you are not aware of your opponents and they are aware of you, you’re surprised. Determining Awareness Sometimes all the combatants on a side are aware of their opponents, sometimes none are, and sometimes only some of them are. Sometimes a few combatants on each side are aware and the other combatants on each side are unaware.

Determining awareness may call for Listen checks, Spot checks, or other checks.

The Surprise Round: If some but not all of the combatants

are aware of their opponents, a surprise round happens before regular rounds begin. Any combatants aware of the opponents can act in the surprise round, so they roll for initiative. In initiative order (highest to lowest), combatants who started the battle aware of their opponents each take a standard action during the surprise round. You can also take free actions during the surprise round. If no one or everyone is surprised, no surprise round occurs.

Unaware Combatants: Combatants who are unaware at

the start of battle don’t get to act in the surprise round. Unaware combatants are flat-footed because they have not acted yet, so they lose any Dexterity bonus to AC.

ATTACKS OF OppORTUNITY

Sometimes a combatant in a melee lets her guard down. In this case, combatants near her can take advantage of her lapse in defense to attack her for free. These free attacks are called attacks of opportunity.

Threatened Squares: You threaten a 1.5-meter radius

around yourself into which you can make a melee attack, even when it is not your action. Generally, that means everything in all squares or hexes adjacent to your space (including diagonally). Using firearms and other self-powered weapons do not provoke an attack of opportunity when fired at an opponent within the Threatened Area.

An enemy that takes certain actions while in a threatened square provokes an attack of opportunity from you. If you’re unarmed, you don’t normally threaten any squares and thus can’t make attacks of opportunity.

Reach Weapons: Most creatures of Medium or smaller size

have a reach of only 1.5 meters. This means that they can make melee attacks only against creatures up to 1.5 meters (1 square or hex) away. However, Small and Medium creatures wielding reach weapons threaten more squares than a typical creature. In addition, most creatures larger than Medium have a natural reach of 3 meters or more.

Provoking an Attack of Opportunity: Two kinds of actions

can provoke attacks of opportunity: moving out of a threatened square and performing an action within a threatened square.

8

pERSONAL COMBAT

Moving: Moving out of a threatened square usually provokes an attack of opportunity from the threatening opponent. There are two common methods of avoiding such an attack—the 1.5-meter-step and the withdraw action (see below). Performing a Distracting Act: Some actions, when performed

in a threatened square, provoke attacks of opportunity as you divert your attention from the battle. Table: Actions in Combat notes many of the actions that provoke attacks of opportunity. Remember that even actions that normally provoke attacks of opportunity may have exceptions to this rule.

Making an Attack of Opportunity: An attack of opportunity

is a single melee attack, and you can only make one per round. You don’t have to make an attack of opportunity if you don’t want to.

An experienced character gets additional regular melee attacks (by using the full attack action), but at a lower attack bonus. You make your attack of opportunity, however, at your normal attack bonus—even if you’ve already attacked in the round.

An attack of opportunity “interrupts” the normal flow of actions in the round. If an attack of opportunity is provoked, immediately resolve the attack of opportunity, then continue with the next character’s turn (or complete the current turn, if the attack of opportunity was provoked in the midst of a character’s turn).

Combat Reflexes and Additional Attacks of Opportunity: If

you have the Combat Reflexes feat you can add your Dexterity modifier to the number of attacks of opportunity you can make in a round. This feat does not let you make more than one attack for a given opportunity, but if the same opponent provokes two attacks of opportunity from you, you could make two separate attacks of opportunity (since each one represents a different opportunity). Moving out of more than one square threatened by the same opponent in the same round doesn’t count as more than one opportunity for that opponent. All these attacks are at your full normal attack bonus.

ACTIONS IN COMBAT

THE COMBAT ROUND

Each round represents 6 seconds in the game world. A round presents an opportunity for each character involved in a combat situation to take an action.

Each round’s activity begins with the character with the highest initiative result and then proceeds, in order, from there. Each round of a combat uses the same initiative order. When a character’s turn comes up in the initiative sequence, that character performs his entire round’s worth of actions. (For exceptions, see Attacks of Opportunity and Special Initiative Actions.) For almost all purposes, there is no relevance to the end of a round or the beginning of a round. A round can be a segment of game time starting with the first character to act and ending with the last, but it usually means a span of time from one round to the same initiative count in the next round. Effects that last a certain number of rounds end just before the same initiative count that they began on.

ACTION TYpES

An action’s type essentially tells you how long the action takes to perform (within the framework of the 6-second combat round) and how movement is treated. There are four types of actions: standard actions, move actions, full-round actions, and free actions. In a normal round, you can perform a standard action and a move action, or you can perform a full-round action. You can also perform one or more free actions. You can always take a move action in place of a standard action.

In some situations (such as in a surprise round), you may be limited to taking only a single move action or standard action.

Standard Action: A standard action allows you to do

something, most commonly make an attack or using an item. See Table: Actions in Combat for other standard actions.

Move Action: A move action allows you to move your speed

or perform an action that takes a similar amount of time. See Table: Actions in Combat. You can take a move action in place of a standard action. If you move no actual distance in a round (commonly because you have swapped your move for one or more equivalent actions), you can take one 1.5-meter step either before, during, or after the action.

Full-Round Action: A full-round action consumes all your

effort during a round. The only movement you can take during a full-round action is a 1.5-meter step before, during, or after the action. You can also perform free actions (see below). Some full-round actions do not allow you to take a 1.5-meter step. Some full-round actions can be taken as standard actions, but only in situations when you are limited to performing only a standard action during your round. The descriptions of specific actions, below, detail which actions allow this option. Free Action: Free actions consume a very small amount of time and effort. You can perform one or more free actions while taking another action normally. However, there are reasonable limits on what you can really do for free.

Not an Action: Some activities are so minor that they are

not even considered free actions. They literally don’t take any time at all to do and are considered an inherent part of doing something else.

Restricted Activity: In some situations, you may be unable

to take a full round’s worth of actions. In such cases, you are restricted to taking only a single standard action or a single move action (plus free actions as normal). You can’t take a full-round action (though you can start or complete a full-round action by using a standard action; see below).

Standard Action Attack of Opportunity1

Attack (melee) No Attack (ranged) Yes Attack (unarmed) Yes Aid another Maybe2 Bull rush Yes Draw a hidden weapon (see Sleight of Hand skill) No Escape a grapple No Feint No Light a torch with a lighter Yes Make a dying friend stable Yes Overrun No Ready (triggers a standard action) No Sunder a weapon (attack) Yes Sunder an object (attack) Maybe3 Total defense No

pERSONAL COMBAT

Move Action Attack of Opportunity1

Move Yes Control a frightened mount Yes Draw a weapon4 _No Load a hand crossbow or light crossbow Yes Open or close a door No Mount an open vehicle or dismount No Move a heavy object Yes Pick up an item Yes Sheathe a weapon Yes Stand up from prone Yes Ready or loose a shield4 _No Retrieve a stored item Yes

Full-Round Action Attack of Opportunity1

Full attack No Charge5 _No Deliver coup de grace Yes Escape from a net Yes Extinguish flames No Light a torch Yes Load a heavy or repeating crossbow Yes Lock or unlock weapon in locked gauntlet Yes Prepare to throw splash weapon Yes Run Yes Use skill that takes 1 round Usually Withdraw5 _No

Free Action Attack of Opportunity1

Drop an item No

Drop to the floor No

Speak No

No Action Attack of Opportunity1

Delay No

1.5-meter step No

Action Type Varies Attack of Opportunity1

Disarm7 _Yes Grapple7 _Yes Trip an opponent7 _Yes Use feat8 _Varies 1 Regardless of the action, if you move out of a threatened square, you usually provoke an attack of opportunity. This column indicates whether the action itself, not moving, provokes an attack of opportunity.  If you aid someone performing an action that would normally provoke an attack of opportunity, then the act of aiding another provokes an attack of opportunity as well. 3 If the object is being held, carried, or worn by a creature, yes. If not, no. 4 If you have a base attack bonus of +1 or higher, you can combine one of these actions with a regular move. If you have the Two- Weapon Fighting feat, you can draw two light or one-handed weapons in the time it would normally take you to draw one. 5 May be taken as a standard action if you are limited to taking only a single action in a round. 6 Unless the component is an extremely large or awkward item. 7 These attack forms substitute for a melee attack, not an action. As melee attacks, they can be used once in an attack or charge action, one or more times in a full attack action, or even as an attack of opportunity. 8 The description of a feat defines its effect.

STANDARD ACTIONS

Attack Making an attack is a standard action.

Melee Attacks: With a normal melee weapon, you can strike

any opponent within 1.5 meters. (Opponents within 1.5 meters are considered adjacent to you.) Some melee weapons have reach, as indicated in their descriptions. With a typical reach weapon, you can strike opponents 10 feet away, but you can’t strike adjacent foes (those within 1.5 meters).

Unarmed Attacks: Striking for damage with punches, kicks,

and head butts is much like attacking with a melee weapon, except for the following:

Attacks of Opportunity: Attacking unarmed provokes an

attack of opportunity from the character you attack, provided she is armed. The attack of opportunity comes before your attack. An unarmed attack does not provoke attacks of opportunity from other foes nor does it provoke an attack of opportunity from an unarmed foe. An unarmed character can’t take attacks of opportunity (but see “Armed” Unarmed Attacks, below). “Armed” Unarmed Attacks: Sometimes a character’s or creature’s

unarmed attack counts as an armed attack. A character with the Improved Unarmed Strike feat, and a creature with natural physical weapons all count as being armed.

Note that being armed counts for both offense and defense (the character can make attacks of opportunity)

Unarmed Strike Damage: An unarmed strike from a Medium

character deals 1d3 points of damage (plus your Strength modifier, as normal). A Small character’s unarmed strike deals 1d points of damage, while a Large character’s unarmed strike deals 1d4 points of damage. All damage from unarmed strikes is nonlethal damage. Unarmed strikes count as light weapons (for purposes of two-weapon attack penalties and so on). Dealing Lethal Damage: You can specify that your unarmed strike will deal lethal damage before you make your attack roll, but you take a –4 penalty on your attack roll. If you have the Improved Unarmed Strike feat, you can deal lethal damage with an unarmed strike without taking a penalty on the attack roll. Ranged Attacks: With a ranged weapon, you can shoot or throw at any target that is within the weapon’s maximum range and in line of sight. The maximum range for a thrown weapon is five range increments. For projectile weapons, it is ten range increments. Some ranged weapons have shorter maximum ranges, as specified in their descriptions.

Attack Rolls: An attack roll represents your attempts to

10

pERSONAL COMBAT

Your attack roll is 1d0 + your attack bonus with the weapon you’re using. If the result is at least as high as the target’s AC, you hit and deal damage.

Automatic Misses and Hits: A natural 1 (the d0 comes up

1) on the attack roll is always a miss. A natural 0 (the d0 comes up 0) is always a hit. A natural 0 is also a threat—a possible critical hit.

Damage Rolls: If the attack roll result equals or exceeds

the target’s AC, the attack hits and you deal damage. Roll the appropriate damage for your weapon. Damage is deducted from the target’s current hit points. Multiple Attacks: A character who can make more than one attack per round must use the full attack action (see Full-Round Actions, below) in order to get more than one attack.

Shooting or Throwing into a Melee: If you shoot or throw

a ranged weapon at a target engaged in melee with a friendly character, you take a –4 penalty on your attack roll. Two characters are engaged in melee if they are enemies of each other and either threatens the other. (An unconscious or otherwise immobilized character is not considered engaged unless he is actually being attacked.)

If your target (or the part of your target you’re aiming at, if it’s a big target) is at least 3 meters away from the nearest friendly character, you can avoid the –4 penalty, even if the creature you’re aiming at is engaged in melee with a friendly character.

Precise Shot: If you have the Precise Shot feat you don’t

take this penalty.

Fighting Defensively as a Standard Action: You can

choose to fight defensively when attacking. If you do so, you take a –4 penalty on all attacks in a round to gain a + dodge bonus to AC for the same round. Critical Hits: When you make an attack roll and get a natural 0 (the d0 shows 0), you hit regardless of your target’s Armor Class, and you have scored a threat. The hit might be a critical hit (or “crit”). To find out if it’s a critical hit, you immediately make a critical roll—another attack roll with all the same modifiers as the attack roll you just made. If the critical roll also results in a hit against the target’s AC, your original hit is a critical hit. (The critical roll just needs to hit to give you a crit. It doesn’t need to come up 0 again.) If the critical roll is a miss, then your hit is just a regular hit. A critical hit means that you roll your damage more than once, with all your usual bonuses, and add the rolls together. Unless otherwise specified, the threat range for a critical hit on an attack roll is 0, and the multiplier is x. Exception: Extra damage over and above a weapon’s normal damage is not multiplied when you score a critical hit.

Increased Threat Range: Sometimes your threat range

is greater than 0. That is, you can score a threat on a lower number. In such cases, a roll of lower than 0 is not an automatic hit. Any attack roll that doesn’t result in a hit is not a threat.

Increased Critical Multiplier: Some weapons deal better than

double damage on a critical hit.

Effects on Armor: In addition to the normal effects of a critical

hit, the armor of a target is also ignored and the target takes the full damage roll against its Lifeblood or Structural Integrity rating. Against vehicles and starships, a critical hit also earns an additional roll on the appropriate Internal Damage Location table. Regardless of whether the victim of a critical hit is a lifeform, vehicle, or starship, reduce its the armor bonus by -1 until repaired. Burst Fire Weapons that fire a burst of , 3, 4, 10, 0, or 100 rounds may improve the attacker’s odds of hitting a target or inflict additional damage. The attacker must decide whether to spray the target, increasing the chances of scoring a hit, or to fire a precise, grouped burst in the hope of inflicting greater damage. Either sort of burst fire is considered a standard action. Characters with more than one attack per round may take this action for each attack. See the Damage rules (pg. 4) for more information on applying damage.

Burst Size Attack Bonus Extra Damage

1 round +0 +0 damage 3 round burst +1 +1 die of damage 4 round burst + + dice of damage 10 round burst +3 +3 dice of damage 0 round burst +5 +5 dice of damage 100 round burst +10 +10 dice of damage Total Defense You can defend yourself as a standard action. You get a +4 dodge bonus to your AC for 1 round. Your AC improves at the start of this action. You can’t combine total defense with fighting defensively or with the benefit of the Combat Expertise feat (since both of those require you to declare an attack or full attack). You can’t make attacks of opportunity while using total defense.

Start/Complete Full-Round Action

The “start full-round action” standard action lets you start undertaking a full-round action, which you can complete in the following round by using another standard action. You can’t use this action to start or complete a full attack, charge, run, or withdraw.

MOVE ACTIONS

With the exception of specific movement-related skills, most move actions don’t require a check. Move The simplest move action is moving your speed. If you take this kind of move action during your turn, you can’t also take a 1.5-meter step. Many nonstandard modes of movement are covered under this category, including climbing (up to one-quarter of your speed) and swimming (up to one-quarter of your speed). Accelerated Climbing: You can climb one-half your speed

as a move action by accepting a –5 penalty on your Climb check.

Crawling: You can crawl 1.5 meters as a move action.

Crawling incurs attacks of opportunity from any attackers who threaten you at any point of your crawl.

Draw or Sheath a Weapon

Drawing a weapon so that you can use it in combat, or putting it away so that you have a free hand, requires a move action. This action also applies to weapon-like objects carried in easy reach, such as wands. If your weapon or weapon-like object is stored in a pack or otherwise out of easy reach, treat this action as retrieving a stored item. If you have a base attack bonus of +1 or higher, you may draw a weapon as a free action combined with a regular move. If you have the Two-Weapon Fighting feat, you can draw two light or one-handed weapons in the time it would normally take you to draw one. Reload Reloading a personal weapon is considered a move action and does provoke a possible attack of opportunity.

pERSONAL COMBAT

Ready or Loose a Shield

Strapping a shield to your arm to gain its shield bonus to your AC, or unstrapping and dropping a shield so you can use your shield hand for another purpose, requires a move action. If you have a base attack bonus of +1 or higher, you can ready or loose a shield as a free action combined with a regular move. Dropping a carried (but not worn) shield is a free action. Manipulate an Item

In most cases, moving or manipulating an item is a move action. This includes retrieving or putting away a stored item, picking up an item, moving a heavy object, and opening a door. Examples of this kind of action, along with whether they incur an attack of opportunity, are given in Table: Actions in Combat. Stand Up Standing up from a prone position requires a move action and provokes attacks of opportunity. Mount/Dismount a Steed

Mounting or dismounting from a steed requires a move action.

Fast Mount or Dismount: You can mount or dismount as a

free action with a DC 0 Ride check (your armor check penalty, if any, applies to this check). If you fail the check, mounting or dismounting is a move action instead. (You can’t attempt a fast mount or fast dismount unless you can perform the mount or dismount as a move action in the current round.)

Open An Iris Valve, Sliding or Standard Door

A character may open any standard door, sliding door, or iris valve as a move action. Moving through the doorway takes an additional move action, and closing the doorway requires a final standard action. If conflicting commands are given to a sliding door or iris valve (one character activates it to open and another activates it to close) will cause the doorway to remain in the position it was at the start of the round and ignore all commands for the round. Open an Airlock Activating an airlock to open or close is a move action, but the airlock will not finish opening or closing until the fourth round after the command was given. It takes 3 rounds to compress or decompress the airlock, and one full round to open or close the doorway. Once a command to open or close has been given to an airlock, it cannot be overridden until the cycle completes.

FULL-ROUND ACTIONS

A full-round action requires an entire round to complete. Thus, it can’t be coupled with a standard or a move action, though if it does not involve moving any distance, you can take a 1.5-meter step. Called Shot As a full action, a shooter may attempt to shoot at a specific item or location on a target such as its head, a weapon in hand, or a radio pack on the target’s back. If the attack is successful, and the target is holding the object that was shot, the target must make a Reflex save (DC5) to avoid dropping the item (unless it is on a sling or otherwise rigged to prevent such an event, or, obviously, it is a body part), in addition to any damage inflicted on the target item. The attack roll is made normally as if shooting at the lifeform in possession of the target, and applying the following modifier based on the size of the target in question:

Item Size Modifier Example

Fine -1 Ring on hand, Button on jacket Diminutive -8 Foot, Hand, Eye, Heart, Hand

Computer

Tiny -6 Head, Leg, Arm, Hat on head

Small -5 Chest, Groin, Small Weapon, Backpack Medium -4 Medium Weapon Large - Large Weapon Huge -1 Suppressive Fire Any personal weapon with a rate of fire greater than two may be used to produce covering and suppressive fire, in an attempt to get hostiles to keep their heads down. This is considered a full round action. Anything moving or taking an action that is not under 100% cover, is within a 5 block/hex (7.5 meters) arc of fire in front of the character’s weapon, and within the first range increment of the weapon using suppressive fire, may be hit. Check only once per available target, up to a number of targets equal to one-half the normal rate of fire for the weapon. Roll to hit normally but with a -4 penalty due to the inaccuracy of this type of fire. If anything is actually hit, use Suppressive Fire Damage table. See the Damage rules (pg. 4) for more information on applying damage. Rate of Fire 10 or Greater: If the rate of fire of the weapon is 10 or greater, targets within the second range increment of the weapon, and an 8 block/hex arc (1 meters) may also be hit. Roll to hit normally but at a -8 penalty. If anything is actually hit, use Suppressive Fire Damage table below. Anything beyond these ranges are unlikely to be hit, but if you do want to check, extend the possible area to be hit out to the range of the weapon, along a 8 block/hex wide (1 meters) path from the attacker. The to hit roll at these ranges will be at -10, and of course no more than a number of targets may be hit than have been rounds fired. This effect lasts until the character’s next round action.

RoF Extra Damage

3-4 rounds none 10 rounds +1 die of damage 0 rounds + die of damage 100 rounds +4 dice of damage Full Attack If you get more than one attack per round because your base attack bonus is high enough, because you fight with two weapons or a double weapon or for some special reason you must use a full-round action to get your additional attacks. You do not need to specify the targets of your attacks ahead of time. You can see how the earlier attacks turn out before assigning the later ones. The only movement you can take during a full attack is a 1.5-meter step. You may take the step before, after, or between your attacks. If you get multiple attacks because your base attack bonus is high enough, you must make the attacks in order from highest bonus to lowest. If you are using two weapons, you can strike with either weapon first. If you are using a double weapon, you can strike with either part of the weapon first.

1

pERSONAL COMBAT

first attack, you can decide to take a move action instead of making your remaining attacks, depending on how the first attack turns out. If you’ve already taken a 1.5-meter step, you can’t use your move action to move any distance, but you could still use a different kind of move action.

Fighting Defensively as a Full-Round Action: You can

choose to fight defensively when taking a full attack action. If you do so, you take a –4 penalty on all attacks in a round to gain a + dodge bonus to AC for the same round.

Cleave: The extra attack granted by the Cleave feat or

Great Cleave feat can be taken whenever they apply. This is an exception to the normal limit to the number of attacks you can take when not using a full attack action. Withdraw Withdrawing from melee combat is a full-round action. When you withdraw, you can move up to double your speed. The square you start out in is not considered threatened by any opponent you can see, and therefore visible enemies do not get attacks of opportunity against you when you move from that square. (Invisible enemies still get attacks of opportunity against you, and you can’t withdraw from combat if you’re blinded.) You can’t take a 1.5-meter step during the same round in which you withdraw. If, during the process of withdrawing, you move out of a threatened square (other than the one you started in), enemies get attacks of opportunity as normal. You may not withdraw using a form of movement for which you don’t have a listed speed. Note that despite the name of this action, you don’t actually have to leave combat entirely.

Restricted Withdraw: If you are limited to taking only a

standard action each round you can withdraw as a standard action. In this case, you may move up to your speed (rather than up to double your speed).

Run

You can run as a full-round action. (If you do, you do not also get a 1.5-meter step.) When you run, you can move up to four times your speed in a straight line (or three times your speed if you’re in heavy armor). You lose any Dexterity bonus to AC unless you have the Run feat You can run for a number of rounds equal to your Constitution score, but after that you must make a DC 10 Constitution check to continue running. You must check again each round in which you continue to run, and the DC of this check increases by 1 for each check you have made. When you fail this check, you must stop running. A character who has run to his limit must rest for 1 minute (10 rounds) before running again. During a rest period, a character can move no faster than a normal move action. You can’t run across difficult terrain or if you can’t see where you’re going. A run represents a speed of about 1 miles per hour for an unencumbered human.

Move 1.5 Meters through Difficult Terrain

In some situations, your movement may be so hampered that you don’t have sufficient speed even to move 5 feet (a single square). In such a case, you may spend a full-round action to move 5 feet (1 square) in any direction, even diagonally. Even though this looks like a 5-foot step, it’s not, and thus it provokes attacks of opportunity normally.

Mount or Dismount a Vehicle

Mounting or dismounting a vehicle is a full round action, and may subject the unit to an attack of opportunity. At the beginning of the next round the unit is considered to be in the vessel, or just adjacent to the vessel if dismounting.

Open a Hatchway

Opening a hatchway is a full round action. Moving through the hatch takes an additional move action, and closing a hatch requires another full round action. Opening or closing a hatchway may provoke an attack of opportunity.

Put on a Pressure Suit

It takes  full round actions to put on a vacsuit, and 5 full round actions to put on battle dress or combat armor and seal it. An Intelligence check (DC10) must be made once the suit is on to ensure that its environmental integrity is intact. This check is reduced to DC 5 if the character or someone assisting them has the Armor (Vac Suit) feat. If failed, the suit does not provide any defense against explosive decompression.

Patch a Pressure Suit Breach

Applying a patch to a breach in a vacsuit, battle dress or combat armor is a full round action. An Intelligence check (DC15) must be made to properly apply the patch and seal the breach. This check is reduced to DC 10 if the character or someone assisting them has the Armor (Vac Suit) feat.

FREE ACTIONS

Free actions don’t take any time at all, though there may be limits to the number of free actions you can perform in a turn. Free actions rarely incur attacks of opportunity. Some common free actions are described below. Activate an Item

You may turn on a flashlight, activate a weapon or other similar action. This is a free action. Drop an Item Dropping an item in your space or into an adjacent square is a free action. Drop Prone Dropping to a prone position in your space is a free action. Speak In general, speaking is a free action that you can perform even when it isn’t your turn. Speaking more than few sentences is generally beyond the limit of a free action.

MISCELLANEOUS ACTIONS

Take 1.5-Meter Step

You can move 1.5 meters in any round when you don’t perform any other kind of movement. Taking this 1.5-meter step never provokes an attack of opportunity. You can’t take more than one 1.5-meter step in a round, and you can’t take a 1.5-meter step in the same round when you move any distance. You can take a 1.5-meter step before, during, or after your other actions in the round. You can only take a 1.5-meter-step if your movement isn’t hampered by difficult terrain or darkness. Any creature with a speed of 1.5 meters or less can’t take a 1.5-meter step, since moving even 1.5 meters requires a move action for such a slow creature. You may not take a 1.5-meter step using a form of movement for which you do not have a listed speed. Use Feat Certain feats let you take special actions in combat. Other feats do not require actions themselves, but they give you a

pERSONAL COMBAT

bonus when attempting something you can already do. Some

feats are not meant to be used within the framework of combat. The individual feat descriptions tell you what you need to know about them.

Use Skill

Most skill uses are standard actions, but some might be move actions, full-round actions, free actions, or something else entirely.

The individual skill descriptions tell you what sorts of actions are required to perform skills.

INjURY AND DEATH

SF0 uses Stamina and Lifeblood to represent how difficult it is to kill a character or lifeform.

What Stamina Represents: Stamina represents a

character’s ability to withstand heavy exertion, accumulated minor wounds, fatigue, and other minor physical impairments and injuries. A higher-level character has much larger Stamina reserve to rely upon developed from years of training and experience, but is modified by their Constitution.

What Lifeblood Represents: Lifeblood represents a

character’s ability to withstand traumatic injury. The Lifeblood rating is generally equal to the lifeform’s Constitution score, but may vary due to size and other factors.

Effects of Damage: Damage has no detrimental effect on a

character until their current Stamina or Lifeblood points reach 0 or lower.

At 0 Stamina, a character falls unconscious through general battering and fatigue. At 0 or fewer Lifeblood a character is dying. At -10 or lower Lifeblood, a character is dead.

EFFECTS OF WOUNDS ON STAMINA

AND LIFEBLOOD

See the sections on Stamina and Lifeblood (above) for full details.

Stamina 0 or less: The character is unconscious.

Further damage is dealt directly to Lifeblood.

Lifeblood 0 to -9: The character is dying.

Lifeblood -10 or lower: The character is dead.

HEALINg DAMAgE

Damage to lifeforms must be healed, either naturally or through the intervention of a medical practitioner, or via a technological device.

Natural Lifeblood Healing: Lifeblood heals naturally at a

rate of 1 point per week of rest. For longer-term healing, the total recovery period from a given set of wounds is equal to one week per point of Lifeblood lost, minus the character’s constitution modifier, with a minimum of 1 week total recovery. Thus a character resting up after taking 7 points of lifeblood damage would be completely healed after 5 weeks if his constitution modifier was + (7 minus + = 5), and 8 weeks if it were –1 (7 minus –1 = 8).

Natural Stamina Healing: Stamina is automatically

recovered at a rate of 1 + constitution modifier per character level, per hour of rest. If the character has a negative constitution modifier, the character will require a number of hours equal to (numeric value of constitution modifier +1) to heal one point of Stamina. For example a character with a 16 Constitution (+3 modifier) would recover 4 points per hour of rest, while a character

with a 6 Constitution (- modifier) would heal at a rate of 1 point per 3 hours.

DAMAgE TO pERSONAL EQUIpMENT

Personal equipment only takes SI damage. If an item takes damage equal or exceeding its total SI rating, it is destroyed beyond repair. If not destroyed, for each point of damage taken there is a 5% chance that the equipment will malfunction each time it is used. There is an even (50/50) chance the item will either fail to work at all, or work but produce incorrect and improper results.

MOVEMENT AND pOSITION

The standard scale equals 1 inch on the tabletop, or 1.5 meters in the game world. If using grid or hex maps, 1 hex/grid square equals 1.5 meters.

STANDARD SCALE

One inch = 1.5 meters One hex/grid square = 1.5 meters “Next to” or “adjacent” = 1 inch (1 hex/square or 1.5 meters) away 30mm figure = A human-size (Medium) lifeform occu- pies an area 1 inch (1 hex/grid square or 1.5 meters) across. One round = 6 seconds

TACTICAL MOVEMENT

HOW FAR CAN YOUR CHARACTER MOVE?

Your speed is determined by your race and your armor (see Table: Tactical Speed). Your speed while unarmored is your base land speed. Encumbrance: A character encumbered by carrying a large amount of gear, treasure, or fallen comrades may move slower than normal.

Hampered Movement: Difficult terrain, obstacles, or poor

visibility can hamper movement.

Movement in Combat: Generally, you can move your speed

in a round and still do something (take a move action and a standard action).

If you do nothing but move (that is, if you use both of your actions in a round to move your speed), you can move double your speed.

If you spend the entire round running, you can move quadruple your speed. If you do something that requires a full round you can only take a 1.5-meter step.

Bonuses to Speed: Always apply any modifiers to a

character’s speed before adjusting the character’s speed based on armor or encumbrance, and remember that multiple bonuses of the same type to a character’s speed don’t stack.

MEASURINg DISTANCE

Diagonals: When measuring distance, the first diagonal

counts as 1 square, the second counts as  squares, the third counts as 1, the fourth as , and so on.

You can’t move diagonally past a corner (even by taking a 1.5-meter step). You can move diagonally past a creature, even an opponent.

You can also move diagonally past other impassable obstacles, such as pits.

Closest Creature: When it’s important to determine