Combat

The combat system of Machines and Sorcery is a little different from most other pen-and-paper role-playing games. At least from the players' point of view.

1. Basic mechanics

Basically, there is not much difference for players in Machines and Sorcery whether they are in combat or not. The game master determines the order (mostly based on dexterity and intuition) of the players and non-player characters and then calls them up. The game-master does not tell the players that they are in combat.

When a player is called, they can perform an action. The procedure is as described in Dice checks. The game-master must decide how much they allow the players to pass for each action.

This process is then carried out until the battle is over. The game-master decides when it is over and does not tell the players that the fight has ended. The characters must therefore decide for themselves whether it is safe or not.

If the game-master has practice in this process, the players will not even realise that they have just entered combat.

2. Attacks

How do attacks on other characters work? The procedure here is as follows:

1. Attacker describes the attack action and rolls the dice
2. Execute reaction chain
3. Hit evaluation

In step 1, the attacking player describes how they are attacking. The procedure here is the same as in the Dice checks section. The player describes their action and then the dice are rolled to see if the player succeeds. The more complicated the attack is, the more difficult the the check must be. If necessary, use combination-checks.

If the attacker rolls successfully, we move on to step 2. Each player can now try to react to this action. This is not limited to the defender. e.g.: If there's a warrior with a shield next to the defender, they can try to intercept the attack with their shield to protect their comrade.

It is also possible to give the character being attacked an "easy" reaction check per se to simplify defence reactions. However, if the attacker is particularly swift, this should be more difficult.

A player can prepare for a reaction, which makes their reaction-check much easier. e.g. If the warrior with the shield has announced in their turn that they are simply preparing for attack to protect their comrades instead of performing an action themselves, their reactions become much easier or are not required at all. A player who does not have a high dexterity or intuition value can also react in this way.

The attacker can then try to react to the defence action again and so on. This chain can continue until someone fails their reaction check.

Note: Try not to use reactions unnecessarily, as they slow down the battle considerably. The game-master can penalise players if they disrupt the flow of the game with too many nonsensical reactions.

Effects of reactions

There is no fixed rule as to what effects reactions have on the attack. The game-master must assess how they influence the game. A well-chosen reaction can completely negate an attack and a poorly chosen reaction can have no (or even a negative) effect from the defender's point of view.

If there is a hit, see hit evaluation.

Note: Basically, there is no limit to what a player can do in reactions. Very absurd actions should only be penalised with correspondingly difficult checks.

3. Hit evaluation

An attack has hit a character. The game-master must now determine how effective the attack was. This is determined by the context of the attack. How was the attack made? Where was the defender hit? What strengths does the attacker have and what's defender's weaknesses?

At the end, the game-master must give the attack an effectiveness rating. These are the options:

• not effective at all
• barely effective
• normally effective
• very effective

If the defender has armour, this affects the effectiveness.

The damage is now determined from this. The game-master can choose the exact damage value or roll the dice. The following table describes the damage ranges depending on the effectiveness.

The determined damage is now applied to the defender.

Note: In the course of the reaction chains, a hit can land on a different character than the one it was originally intended for. For example, if a player jumps in to defend, that player may be hit.

Important:

More complicated attacks result in harder checks, but offer significantly better damage potential and open up tactical possibilities such as , such as disabling limbs.

Players can also get creative here. Why not aim at the string of a bow instead of just going for damage?

4. Damage application

If a character or monster receives damage, the damage value is subtracted from its physical resistance. Each time someone receives damage, they (regardless of whether they are a player character or NPC) must make a check against the current value of their physical resistance (if the physical resistance is >= 20, this does not have to be done). If the number on the dice is greater than the physical resistance, the character loses consciousness.

The game-master can make exceptions to this rule and spare the player from this roll.

The game-master decides how long the character remains unconscious. The difference between the number on the dice and the physical resistance can be used for this.

If a character receives a particularly high amount of damage to a single body part, they can also lose this body part. If and when this happens is at the discretion of the game-master. The loss of a body part is not a catastrophe in Machines and Sorcery, as characters can obtain mechanical limbs later. However, this will take some time.

5. Mental attacks

If an attack is aimed at a character's mind, this attack is evaluated in exactly the same way as a normal attack. On a hit, the damage is applied to the mental resistance. The player hit must then make a mental health check.

If the check fails (dice value > mental resistance), the attacker can enter the defender's mind and manipulate it or read its thoughts.

Next Chapter: Magic