Ironlands - Combat
In this section, we're going to dig a little deeper into the finer points of combat, including sequence, timing,
and the reserve.
To begin with, as a recap, the three stats that matter in combat are attack, defense, and life, and every base
character starts with a value of 1 in each. In each round of combat, your attack value is compared to your
opponent's defense value, and if you beat it, you take 1 life. I'll talk more in a minute about what taking a life
actually means, but the point here is that the attack must be higher than the defense, or the attack fails (a tie
goes to the defender).
This would seem to mean that two basic people, with no weapons, equipment or skills, are not actually capable
of killing each other, but that isn't actually the case. You see even this basic person, with no special items or
abilities, has a cost, which is 3 points (that is also the base cost of your character, without anything extra).
And in each round of combat, you can spend the total point value of your character as you wish.
So, Bob, a local villager decides to mix it up with an orc he has run in to. Neither is armed or equipped, so
they're 3 point characters (orcs happen to also be a 3 point base, but other monsters will vary). Bob attacks
first (more about this in a moment), and since he's pretty angry, he puts all three into his attack, leaving him
with just his base of 1 for defense. Now it's the orc's turn to post (posted by the DM), but Bob's aggressive
attack hasn't left him much choice. His base defense is a 1, and Bob's total attack of 4 (3 plus the base) will
certainly beat it. The orc only has 1 life, so he can't take more than one hit, so if he doesn't put all 3 points
into defense, Bob will take him down. On the other hand, if he does put all 3 into defense, he has nothing to
add to his attack, and his base of 1 won't beat Bob's base defense of 1. So either they both go down, or they
both stay standing, and we go to the next round.
Now is a good time, however, to talk about what happens when someone does get hit. If you have more than
1 life, you simply lose one each time you are hit. Unlike points, life levels do not get reset each combat round,
but they do reset at the end of the combat, so all you have to do is stay up until the fight is over, and you're
fine. On the other hand, if you lose your last life, you are out of the fight, and, at the very least, helpless and
unconscious. If you life total is at zero, you are unconscious; for example, if you had 1 life, and were hit once,
losing a life, you are at zero. If you had 2 life, and lost 2, you are at zero. On the other hand, if you had only
1 life, and were hit for 2 or more (such as being hit by two different opponents) you life total is not at zero,
but into the negatives (-1, -2, etc.). If your character ever goes into the negative life total, they are dead. If
they remain at zero, they will awaken at the end of combat, with full life.
As to who goes first, that is simply a question of who puts the first post up. There is an advantage in going
first, because you can set the tone, as Bob did in our example. In two equally matched opponents, such as Bob
and the orc, it wouldn't seem to make much difference, but various things can effect combat, including armor
and weapons.
Consider, for example, that Bob is armed with a spear. The spear costs a point, and adds 1 to his attack value,
so Bob is now attack 2, defense 1 and life 1. But, he is also a 4 point character, meaning he has 4 points to
spend each round, rather than the orc's 3. Now, if Bob still attacks first, he has a choice; knowing that the orc
has only 3 points, and a defense of 1, he can spend 3 points on his attack, which added to his new base of 2
will give him 5, and is guaranteed to hit, and he still has 1 point left to add to his defense, giving him 2. But
if he does that, then the orc, knowing he's going down anyway, can put his 3 points into an attack, and still
take Bob down with him. On the other hand, Bob could put 3 points into his defense, giving him a 4, and
meaning the orc cannot possibly hit him, but then he only has 1 point to add to his attack. And even with the
new base of 2, a total 3 point attack can still be blocked by the orc, meaning neither side gets taken down.
In fact, if you have more points than your opponent, it usually makes sense to wait, and let them move first,
so that you can then spend your extra points to their best effect. But on the other hand, someone with fewer
points isn't likely to attack you, so if you want a fight, you'll probably have to start one. Now, if you have
enough points, say double your opponent, then you can just go ahead and swing, and there isn't much they can
do about it, but you will rarely have such an advantage. Which is where the reserve come in.
In every round of combat, rather than spending all of your points on attack or defense, you can choose instead
to reserve some of them. Any points reserved are basically stockpiled, and can be used in any later round of the
combat. It must be noted, however, that the character, or at least one member of their group, must actually be
in combat in order to start reserving points, and the reserve only lasts as long as the combat. So a party
making their way down a dungeon corridor, for example, cannot be reserving points, as they are not actually
fighting. As soon as at least one member of the group has engaged an opponent, however, everyone in the
group may begin to reserve any unspent points each round. Once the combat has ended, all reserves are wiped
out, and any points not yet spent are lost.
The final point to make here is a note about combat rounds. Each character, or monster, involved in the
combat will post once each round. When everyone has posted, the round is over, and the next one begins. DM
controlled monsters may post first, last, or somewhere in the middle, depending on the situation and the
preference of that particular monster. The party, on the other hand, should probably have some organization
around who posts when, to avoid a lot of confusion. Also, if you are in a combat, knowing that you need to
post for the round to complete, it's a good idea to let everyone know if you're not going to be able to post for
some time. If it's a short delay of a day or two, it shouldn't be a problem, but if you were, say, going away for
a week, you might want to have another player post for you, or make some other arrangement.
Although the posts are taken in the order that they appear, everything that happens within the combat round
(that is, up to and including the last post needed to close the round) is assumed to happen simultaneously.
That means that even if a character is killed in a round, whatever actions they posted will happen, even if
their post comes after the one that killed them. Everyone alive and conscious at the start of the round gets to
post during the round, even if the results of preceding posts mean they will certainly be dead by the end of the
round.
So, now that we've covered Combat in depth, the next thing to talk about is Magic.
and the reserve.
To begin with, as a recap, the three stats that matter in combat are attack, defense, and life, and every base
character starts with a value of 1 in each. In each round of combat, your attack value is compared to your
opponent's defense value, and if you beat it, you take 1 life. I'll talk more in a minute about what taking a life
actually means, but the point here is that the attack must be higher than the defense, or the attack fails (a tie
goes to the defender).
This would seem to mean that two basic people, with no weapons, equipment or skills, are not actually capable
of killing each other, but that isn't actually the case. You see even this basic person, with no special items or
abilities, has a cost, which is 3 points (that is also the base cost of your character, without anything extra).
And in each round of combat, you can spend the total point value of your character as you wish.
So, Bob, a local villager decides to mix it up with an orc he has run in to. Neither is armed or equipped, so
they're 3 point characters (orcs happen to also be a 3 point base, but other monsters will vary). Bob attacks
first (more about this in a moment), and since he's pretty angry, he puts all three into his attack, leaving him
with just his base of 1 for defense. Now it's the orc's turn to post (posted by the DM), but Bob's aggressive
attack hasn't left him much choice. His base defense is a 1, and Bob's total attack of 4 (3 plus the base) will
certainly beat it. The orc only has 1 life, so he can't take more than one hit, so if he doesn't put all 3 points
into defense, Bob will take him down. On the other hand, if he does put all 3 into defense, he has nothing to
add to his attack, and his base of 1 won't beat Bob's base defense of 1. So either they both go down, or they
both stay standing, and we go to the next round.
Now is a good time, however, to talk about what happens when someone does get hit. If you have more than
1 life, you simply lose one each time you are hit. Unlike points, life levels do not get reset each combat round,
but they do reset at the end of the combat, so all you have to do is stay up until the fight is over, and you're
fine. On the other hand, if you lose your last life, you are out of the fight, and, at the very least, helpless and
unconscious. If you life total is at zero, you are unconscious; for example, if you had 1 life, and were hit once,
losing a life, you are at zero. If you had 2 life, and lost 2, you are at zero. On the other hand, if you had only
1 life, and were hit for 2 or more (such as being hit by two different opponents) you life total is not at zero,
but into the negatives (-1, -2, etc.). If your character ever goes into the negative life total, they are dead. If
they remain at zero, they will awaken at the end of combat, with full life.
As to who goes first, that is simply a question of who puts the first post up. There is an advantage in going
first, because you can set the tone, as Bob did in our example. In two equally matched opponents, such as Bob
and the orc, it wouldn't seem to make much difference, but various things can effect combat, including armor
and weapons.
Consider, for example, that Bob is armed with a spear. The spear costs a point, and adds 1 to his attack value,
so Bob is now attack 2, defense 1 and life 1. But, he is also a 4 point character, meaning he has 4 points to
spend each round, rather than the orc's 3. Now, if Bob still attacks first, he has a choice; knowing that the orc
has only 3 points, and a defense of 1, he can spend 3 points on his attack, which added to his new base of 2
will give him 5, and is guaranteed to hit, and he still has 1 point left to add to his defense, giving him 2. But
if he does that, then the orc, knowing he's going down anyway, can put his 3 points into an attack, and still
take Bob down with him. On the other hand, Bob could put 3 points into his defense, giving him a 4, and
meaning the orc cannot possibly hit him, but then he only has 1 point to add to his attack. And even with the
new base of 2, a total 3 point attack can still be blocked by the orc, meaning neither side gets taken down.
In fact, if you have more points than your opponent, it usually makes sense to wait, and let them move first,
so that you can then spend your extra points to their best effect. But on the other hand, someone with fewer
points isn't likely to attack you, so if you want a fight, you'll probably have to start one. Now, if you have
enough points, say double your opponent, then you can just go ahead and swing, and there isn't much they can
do about it, but you will rarely have such an advantage. Which is where the reserve come in.
In every round of combat, rather than spending all of your points on attack or defense, you can choose instead
to reserve some of them. Any points reserved are basically stockpiled, and can be used in any later round of the
combat. It must be noted, however, that the character, or at least one member of their group, must actually be
in combat in order to start reserving points, and the reserve only lasts as long as the combat. So a party
making their way down a dungeon corridor, for example, cannot be reserving points, as they are not actually
fighting. As soon as at least one member of the group has engaged an opponent, however, everyone in the
group may begin to reserve any unspent points each round. Once the combat has ended, all reserves are wiped
out, and any points not yet spent are lost.
The final point to make here is a note about combat rounds. Each character, or monster, involved in the
combat will post once each round. When everyone has posted, the round is over, and the next one begins. DM
controlled monsters may post first, last, or somewhere in the middle, depending on the situation and the
preference of that particular monster. The party, on the other hand, should probably have some organization
around who posts when, to avoid a lot of confusion. Also, if you are in a combat, knowing that you need to
post for the round to complete, it's a good idea to let everyone know if you're not going to be able to post for
some time. If it's a short delay of a day or two, it shouldn't be a problem, but if you were, say, going away for
a week, you might want to have another player post for you, or make some other arrangement.
Although the posts are taken in the order that they appear, everything that happens within the combat round
(that is, up to and including the last post needed to close the round) is assumed to happen simultaneously.
That means that even if a character is killed in a round, whatever actions they posted will happen, even if
their post comes after the one that killed them. Everyone alive and conscious at the start of the round gets to
post during the round, even if the results of preceding posts mean they will certainly be dead by the end of the
round.
So, now that we've covered Combat in depth, the next thing to talk about is Magic.