Help Wanted - Fans of Combat Mechanics
Sam Crow
Villager
You can only parry in defensive posture, not offensive.
You can change from offensive posture to defensive (but not vice versa) at any time simply by choosing not to attack except during a counterattack.
If you attack and are successfully parried, the defender can counterattack you before you switch to defense. The thinking here is that a good parry can set you up to be attacked before you can get your weapon back to defend it.
Yes - you lose all momentum once you switch from offense to defense (in fact you also lose all momentum the instant your attack is parried blocked or evaded but more on that later).
So let’s say you’re attacking and I’m defending. Unless I successfully parry and counterattack, you can stop attacking and switch to defensive posture whenever you choose. There could be several reasons you’d want to do this; e.g. you’re getting tired or losing exchanges and I’m starting to get better position (more on that later too).
I’ll clarify in the post. Much appreciated! Those questions are exactly what I’m looking for.
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Sam Crow
Villager
Attacking - Engagements
Description
Excluding feats (which we’ll cover later), there are two ways to attack a defender. One is to commit to a strike. The other is to engage.
Engaging a defender recognizes that he has a weapon just like you do. If you ignore that weapon and just try to hit him like he doesn’t have one, he could easily parry and cut your head off your reckless body. We'll look at why that is in Attacking - Commitments.
Engaging an opponent is a declared maneuver that is more of an attack on your opponent’s defense than it is an attack on your opponent himself. Successful engagements put you in a better position to strike and your opponent in a worse position to defend.
Because the purpose of an engagement is to overcome your opponent's defenses rather than hit your opponent, engagements do not result in damage.
To engage your opponent, you first need to be in offensive position (see Attacking - Offensive Posture).
Once there, you declare your intent to engage. You flip a number of coins equal to your engagement skill plus any momentum you’ve already built to that point plus/minus any situational modifiers. Meanwhile, your opponent flips coins applicable to the opposing defensive maneuver he chooses.
If your opponent gets more heads than you, you've lost the exchange. That is, you've gained no positional advantage and your opponent will use the excess heads he flipped to his advantage as described in the defense maneuver sections later one. He will also be able declare and act in the next exchange before you if he chooses. Finally, you will lose any momentum you’ve built to that point and it will be deducted from your ardor (more on ardor, later).
If you get more heads than he does, you’ve won the exchange. That is, you’ve gained a positional advantage (e.g. his sword is down, he's flat-footed, his shield is out of place). As a consequence, he must abandon his square (more on squares later) to one that you choose. More importantly, you carry the excess heads you’ve gained into the next exchange as momentum.
Example
Al and Bob are eager to fight, swords drawn and ready to go. Al is an journeyman warrior; he knows it’s dangerous to pretend Bob doesn’t have a sword and just try to whack him. Al realizes he must gain a tactical advantage first.
Al enters offensive posture and engages Bob. Al flips 10 coins, the number equal to his engagement skill with his sword (there are no modifiers or momentum at this point). He gets 7 heads. Bob elects to parry and flips 10 coins, the number equal to his parry skill with his sword. Bob gets 5 heads.
Because Al has engaged Bob, Al has gained momentum, a representation that Bob's ability to defend himself has been reduced.
Notes
Proceed to Momentum or return to the Table of Contents.
Description
Excluding feats (which we’ll cover later), there are two ways to attack a defender. One is to commit to a strike. The other is to engage.
Engaging a defender recognizes that he has a weapon just like you do. If you ignore that weapon and just try to hit him like he doesn’t have one, he could easily parry and cut your head off your reckless body. We'll look at why that is in Attacking - Commitments.
Engaging an opponent is a declared maneuver that is more of an attack on your opponent’s defense than it is an attack on your opponent himself. Successful engagements put you in a better position to strike and your opponent in a worse position to defend.
Because the purpose of an engagement is to overcome your opponent's defenses rather than hit your opponent, engagements do not result in damage.
To engage your opponent, you first need to be in offensive position (see Attacking - Offensive Posture).
Once there, you declare your intent to engage. You flip a number of coins equal to your engagement skill plus any momentum you’ve already built to that point plus/minus any situational modifiers. Meanwhile, your opponent flips coins applicable to the opposing defensive maneuver he chooses.
If your opponent gets more heads than you, you've lost the exchange. That is, you've gained no positional advantage and your opponent will use the excess heads he flipped to his advantage as described in the defense maneuver sections later one. He will also be able declare and act in the next exchange before you if he chooses. Finally, you will lose any momentum you’ve built to that point and it will be deducted from your ardor (more on ardor, later).
If you get more heads than he does, you’ve won the exchange. That is, you’ve gained a positional advantage (e.g. his sword is down, he's flat-footed, his shield is out of place). As a consequence, he must abandon his square (more on squares later) to one that you choose. More importantly, you carry the excess heads you’ve gained into the next exchange as momentum.
Example
Al and Bob are eager to fight, swords drawn and ready to go. Al is an journeyman warrior; he knows it’s dangerous to pretend Bob doesn’t have a sword and just try to whack him. Al realizes he must gain a tactical advantage first.
Al enters offensive posture and engages Bob. Al flips 10 coins, the number equal to his engagement skill with his sword (there are no modifiers or momentum at this point). He gets 7 heads. Bob elects to parry and flips 10 coins, the number equal to his parry skill with his sword. Bob gets 5 heads.
Because Al has engaged Bob, Al has gained momentum, a representation that Bob's ability to defend himself has been reduced.
Notes
Proceed to Momentum or return to the Table of Contents.
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Sam Crow
Villager
Attacking - Momentum
Momentum is the conversion of excess heads won during a successful engagement into coins in the next exchange. So if you win an engagement by 2 two extra heads in this exchange, you get to flip 2 extra coins in the next exchange. If you win the next engagement by, say, 3 heads, you can flip 5 extra coins in the exchange after that.
Momentum can be built in this way - by continuing to engage and winning those engagements consecutively - until you’ve built it up to its maximum. Your maximum momentum is equal to your current ardor (again, more on ardor later).
Whenever you decide the time is tactically right, you can make a committed strike. When you do, you add all your gained momentum coins to your skill with your weapon and any situational modifiers.
Thus, you can potentially land a devastating and debilitating shot when the time is right. We’ll cover how that works in Attacking - Committed Strikes.
Momentum is an, err, double edged sword, however.
First, except in the case of a successful parry-counterattack, momentum can only be built from winning consecutive engagements. In any instant in which you do not successfully engage or strike, your momentum stops. And strikes do not win momentum, they spend it as we'll see later.
Second, a successful parry, block, or evasion all and your momentum and that lost momentum is deducted from your ardor. However, if your momentum stops because you elect to stop attacking, your momentum is simply lost without penalty.
Finally, as noted above, your momentum cannot exceed your current ardor. Any momentum gained that exceeds your ardor is lost and deducted from your ardor.
Example A - Gaining & Using Momentum
Al elects to engage, and Bob drops into defensive posture. Al flips 10 coins, the number equal to his engagement skill with his sword (there are no modifiers or momentum at this point). He gets 6 heads. Bob elects to parry and flips 10 coins, the number equal to his parry skill with his sword. Poor Bob only gets 3 heads.
Al wins the exchange by 3 heads, forcing Bob back in a quick flurry of steel. Al continues to engage in the next exchange. This time, he flips 13 coins vs Bob’s 10. Al gets 8 heads and Bob gets 5, gaining Al 3 more momentum.
The repeated assault is paying off as Bob continues to backpedal and Al presses his attack. Al decides the time is right and he elects to commit to a strike. Al will flip 10+3+3=16 coins vs Bob’s 10. We’ll see what happens there when we get to Attacking - Committed Strikes.
Example B - Stopping Momentum
Picking up from the first successful engagement above, Al has 13 coins to flip versus Bob's 10. He elects to keep engaging.
However, this time, Bob decides to evade. He gets 6 heads. Al only gets 5.
Al has lost the exchange and, with it, all of his momentum. The physical exertions of building and pressing the attack catch up with him and the 3 lost momentum are deducted from his ardor.
Example C - Forfeiting Momentum
It's later in the fight. Al and Bob have been clanging and banging for a while and are tired. That is, their ardor has decreased.
Al wins an engagement by 5 heads. His ardor is currently at 6 heads. Al knows that any momentum that exceeds his ardor of 6 will actually cost him ardor. Therefore, he elects to disengage to catch his breath.
Doing so, he loses all momentum and cedes the attack to Bob, but he conserves his energy and doesn't lose ardor.
Notes
Proceed to Attacking - Commitments or return to the Table of Contents
Momentum is the conversion of excess heads won during a successful engagement into coins in the next exchange. So if you win an engagement by 2 two extra heads in this exchange, you get to flip 2 extra coins in the next exchange. If you win the next engagement by, say, 3 heads, you can flip 5 extra coins in the exchange after that.
Momentum can be built in this way - by continuing to engage and winning those engagements consecutively - until you’ve built it up to its maximum. Your maximum momentum is equal to your current ardor (again, more on ardor later).
Whenever you decide the time is tactically right, you can make a committed strike. When you do, you add all your gained momentum coins to your skill with your weapon and any situational modifiers.
Thus, you can potentially land a devastating and debilitating shot when the time is right. We’ll cover how that works in Attacking - Committed Strikes.
Momentum is an, err, double edged sword, however.
First, except in the case of a successful parry-counterattack, momentum can only be built from winning consecutive engagements. In any instant in which you do not successfully engage or strike, your momentum stops. And strikes do not win momentum, they spend it as we'll see later.
Second, a successful parry, block, or evasion all and your momentum and that lost momentum is deducted from your ardor. However, if your momentum stops because you elect to stop attacking, your momentum is simply lost without penalty.
Finally, as noted above, your momentum cannot exceed your current ardor. Any momentum gained that exceeds your ardor is lost and deducted from your ardor.
Example A - Gaining & Using Momentum
Al elects to engage, and Bob drops into defensive posture. Al flips 10 coins, the number equal to his engagement skill with his sword (there are no modifiers or momentum at this point). He gets 6 heads. Bob elects to parry and flips 10 coins, the number equal to his parry skill with his sword. Poor Bob only gets 3 heads.
Al wins the exchange by 3 heads, forcing Bob back in a quick flurry of steel. Al continues to engage in the next exchange. This time, he flips 13 coins vs Bob’s 10. Al gets 8 heads and Bob gets 5, gaining Al 3 more momentum.
The repeated assault is paying off as Bob continues to backpedal and Al presses his attack. Al decides the time is right and he elects to commit to a strike. Al will flip 10+3+3=16 coins vs Bob’s 10. We’ll see what happens there when we get to Attacking - Committed Strikes.
Example B - Stopping Momentum
Picking up from the first successful engagement above, Al has 13 coins to flip versus Bob's 10. He elects to keep engaging.
However, this time, Bob decides to evade. He gets 6 heads. Al only gets 5.
Al has lost the exchange and, with it, all of his momentum. The physical exertions of building and pressing the attack catch up with him and the 3 lost momentum are deducted from his ardor.
Example C - Forfeiting Momentum
It's later in the fight. Al and Bob have been clanging and banging for a while and are tired. That is, their ardor has decreased.
Al wins an engagement by 5 heads. His ardor is currently at 6 heads. Al knows that any momentum that exceeds his ardor of 6 will actually cost him ardor. Therefore, he elects to disengage to catch his breath.
Doing so, he loses all momentum and cedes the attack to Bob, but he conserves his energy and doesn't lose ardor.
Notes
Proceed to Attacking - Commitments or return to the Table of Contents
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Sam Crow
Villager
Attacking - Commitments
Description
A commitment or committed strike is when you actually try to land a blow on your opponent's body.
It has to be done at the right time. Strike too late and you miss your opportunity; strike too soon and you leave yourself exposed for a deadly counterstrike. When you commit to a strike you do just that; you go all in.
Committing to a strike works with the same basic mechanic as every other maneuver, and goes as follows:
Description
A commitment or committed strike is when you actually try to land a blow on your opponent's body.
It has to be done at the right time. Strike too late and you miss your opportunity; strike too soon and you leave yourself exposed for a deadly counterstrike. When you commit to a strike you do just that; you go all in.
Committing to a strike works with the same basic mechanic as every other maneuver, and goes as follows:
- You declare a specific target area on your opponent's body (more on these, later), usually an area that is minimally armored.
- You flip a number of coins equal to your strike skill plus any momentum you’ve built to that point plus/minus any situational modifiers.
- Meanwhile, your opponent flips coins applicable to the opposing defensive maneuver he chooses plus the rated difficulty of the body part you've chosen (again, more on these, later).
- If you get more heads than he does, your strike has landed and the consequences will be addressed in the Trauma section.
- If you get less heads than he does, your strike has missed and you are exposed.
Exposed means that you cannot make any defensive maneuver for the instant following your failed attack. Your opponent can immediately attack you and you cannot block, parry, or evade it. Note that he need not counterattack you to do so and, therefore, he can attack you by having avoided your strike any way he chooses.
Thus, it's quite important to put yourself in the best possible position (i.e. have the most coins available to flip) when you commit to a strike. Example A will demonstrate the danger of trying to strike an opponent before you've gained positional advantage through momentum. Here again, the example will use target difficulty which will be explained in a later section.
Example A
Al and Bob square off to begin combat. Al elects to attack and Bob drops into defensive posture. In the very first exchange, Al is feeling reckless and immediately commits to a strike. He select's Bob's unarmored lead shin as a target. Bob elects to evade.
Al has 10 coins available to him for his strike; there are no situational modifiers and he has not built any momentum. He flips 10 coins and gets 5 heads. Bob has 12 coins available to him for his evasion; 10 for his evasion skill and 2 for the difficulty of Al having targeted his lead shin. He flips 12 coins and gets 6 heads.
Bob has won the exchange, slipping deftly back and to the right as Al's sword sails short of its target. Because he committed to strike, Al is exposed in the following instant, being ever-so-slightly too forward with his sword too ever-so-slightly too low.
Bob immediately strikes at Al's head. He has 10 coins available to him, just as Al did when he chose to strike. However, because he is exposed from his failed strike, Al cannot attempt to parry, block, or evade. Thus, Al can only flip 3 coins for the difficulty of Bob trying to his head. The result is a 10 to 3 advantage for Bob's strike. If Al isn't wearing a helmet, that might be the end of him.
Example B will demonstrate the same scenario, but will assume that Al has built up some momentum, first. Instead of foolishly taking a whack at Bob's leg first thing like he did, above, Al will engage Bob as described in Attacking - Engagement and Attacking - Momentum.
Example B
It's the third exchange in the combat and Al has been on the attack, this time engaging Bob to break down his defense before striking him. He defeated Bob's parry by 2 in the first exchange. Using the momentum from that exchange, he engaged again and defeated Bob's parry by 4 in the second exchange.
Having built up 6 momentum, Al elects to commit to a strike as he did in Example A. However, now Al now strikes with 16 coins, the sum of his 10 strike skill plus his 6 momentum.
Meanwhile - just as in Example A - Bob has 12 coins available to him for his evasion; 10 for his evasion skill and 2 for the difficulty of Al's targeting his lower left leg.
Al flips his 16 coins and scores 8 heads. Bob flips his 12 coins and scores 6 heads. Al's sword slashes into Bob's unarmored lead shin with 2 points. We'll see later that the heft of using a longsword will triple those two points and cause quite a bit of trauma to Bob's poor leg.
Notes
Continue to Defending - Defensive Posture or return to the Table of Contents.
Thus, it's quite important to put yourself in the best possible position (i.e. have the most coins available to flip) when you commit to a strike. Example A will demonstrate the danger of trying to strike an opponent before you've gained positional advantage through momentum. Here again, the example will use target difficulty which will be explained in a later section.
Example A
Al and Bob square off to begin combat. Al elects to attack and Bob drops into defensive posture. In the very first exchange, Al is feeling reckless and immediately commits to a strike. He select's Bob's unarmored lead shin as a target. Bob elects to evade.
Al has 10 coins available to him for his strike; there are no situational modifiers and he has not built any momentum. He flips 10 coins and gets 5 heads. Bob has 12 coins available to him for his evasion; 10 for his evasion skill and 2 for the difficulty of Al having targeted his lead shin. He flips 12 coins and gets 6 heads.
Bob has won the exchange, slipping deftly back and to the right as Al's sword sails short of its target. Because he committed to strike, Al is exposed in the following instant, being ever-so-slightly too forward with his sword too ever-so-slightly too low.
Bob immediately strikes at Al's head. He has 10 coins available to him, just as Al did when he chose to strike. However, because he is exposed from his failed strike, Al cannot attempt to parry, block, or evade. Thus, Al can only flip 3 coins for the difficulty of Bob trying to his head. The result is a 10 to 3 advantage for Bob's strike. If Al isn't wearing a helmet, that might be the end of him.
Example B will demonstrate the same scenario, but will assume that Al has built up some momentum, first. Instead of foolishly taking a whack at Bob's leg first thing like he did, above, Al will engage Bob as described in Attacking - Engagement and Attacking - Momentum.
Example B
It's the third exchange in the combat and Al has been on the attack, this time engaging Bob to break down his defense before striking him. He defeated Bob's parry by 2 in the first exchange. Using the momentum from that exchange, he engaged again and defeated Bob's parry by 4 in the second exchange.
Having built up 6 momentum, Al elects to commit to a strike as he did in Example A. However, now Al now strikes with 16 coins, the sum of his 10 strike skill plus his 6 momentum.
Meanwhile - just as in Example A - Bob has 12 coins available to him for his evasion; 10 for his evasion skill and 2 for the difficulty of Al's targeting his lower left leg.
Al flips his 16 coins and scores 8 heads. Bob flips his 12 coins and scores 6 heads. Al's sword slashes into Bob's unarmored lead shin with 2 points. We'll see later that the heft of using a longsword will triple those two points and cause quite a bit of trauma to Bob's poor leg.
Notes
Continue to Defending - Defensive Posture or return to the Table of Contents.
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Sam Crow
Villager
Defending – Defensive Posture
Description
Except in the case of a counterattack, you automatically enter defensive posture whenever attacked. You must remain in defensive posture for every instant after which you were successfully attacked. While you never have to leave defensive posture, you may leave defensive posture at any time if you were not successfully attacked in the preceding instant. As with offensive posture, defensive posture has its own options and limitations. In addition to the above, they are:
Description
Except in the case of a counterattack, you automatically enter defensive posture whenever attacked. You must remain in defensive posture for every instant after which you were successfully attacked. While you never have to leave defensive posture, you may leave defensive posture at any time if you were not successfully attacked in the preceding instant. As with offensive posture, defensive posture has its own options and limitations. In addition to the above, they are:
- You may leave defensive posture and enter offensive posture any time you were not successfully attached in the preceding instant; including the instant after you successfully parry, block, or evade.
- Parrying is only possible in defensive posture.
- A counterattack can only be made immediately after successfully parrying; therefore, counterattacks are only possible in defensive posture.
- A counterattack immediately takes you out of defensive and into offensive posture.
- Except in the case of a successful parry turned immediately into a counterattack, momentum cannot be built in defensive posture.
- You can block with a shield in defensive posture.
- You can evade in defensive posture.
- Success points - excess heads you flipped that beat your opponent's attack score - can be converted a number of ways with defensive maneuvers, as described in their respective sections.
Al and Bob square off to fight. Al attacks Bob. Bob automatically enters defensive posture.
Example B
Al flips 10 coins in an engagement against Bob and counts 6 heads. Bob flips 10 coins to parry and counts 5 heads. Bob has been successfully engaged and must remain in defensive posture in the next instant.
Example C
In the instant following Example B, Al flips 11 coins in another engagement against Bob and counts 6 heads. Bob flips 10 coins to parry and counts 7 heads this time. Bob has successfully parried Al. If Bob chooses to, he may immediately counterattack Al. If he does, he leaves defensive posture and enters offensive posture.
Example D
Bob counterattacks Al, counting 4 heads. Al evades, counting 7 heads. Al has stopped Bob's counterattack and may choose to attack in the following exchange. If he chooses not to attack, he enters defensive posture and may remain in it for so long as he desires.
Notes
Proceed to Defending - Parry or return to the Table of Contents.
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