Chapter 8. Combat and Conflict

The ring of steel-on-steel, the concussive blast from a cannon sounding above the din of battle, the clash of magical energies exploding. Combat can be brutal and bloody.

In the previous chapter, the structure of a Polyhedral game is discussed, combat almost always takes place in the context of an action scene. As with all actions, combat is resolved through a series of dice rolls, namely ability checks, attack rolls, and saving throws.

This chapter details the rules for combat in the Polyhedral game system, including:

  • The sequence of combat, following the defined initiative order.
  • More detailed explanation of making attacks, and using special actions
  • Character injury, death, and dying as well as healing.

The Order of Combat

Combat encounters are chaotic melees between two or more groups. The clash of steel and the dance of adversaries as they feint, parry, and dodge fatal blows amid a rain of arrows and magic. The Polyhedral game organizes combat with an action scene into a cycle of rounds and turns.

Every round represents one-tenth of a minute, or 6 seconds in the course of the action scene.

A combat encounter follows these steps:

  1. Determine surprise. The storyteller determines whether any combatants are surprised, if they are the combat begins with a surprise round.
  2. Starting positions. The storyteller sets the stage of the battle and works with the players to detemine their characters’ positions. In addition, the storyteller figures out where the adversaries are in relation to the characters.
  3. Roll initiative. Every actor involved in the combat rolls initiative to determine when they act in the combat.
  4. Take turns. On each participant’s turn during the battle, they move and take actions including making attacks, defending, etc.
  5. Begin the next round. After all participants have taken their turns, the current round ends and a new round begins. Repeat step 4 and 5 until the combat ends.

Surpise!

Bandits lying in wait on the side of a wooded highway to ambush merchants, and adventurers descending quietly behind enemy lines to spring an attack. These are just two examples of situations where one group might take another by surprise.

At the start of combat, the storyteller determines whether any combatants are surprised. If neither side is attempting to hide or be stealthy, both sides are aware of each other and there is no surprise round. Otherwise, the Agility (Stealth) check of the actors or the group that is hiding compared to the passive Mind (Awareness) score of other creatures. If a creature doesn’t notice the threat it is surprised. A member of a group can be surprised, even if its allies are not.

If you are surprised, you can’t move or take any action (including bonus actions and reactions) on or before your first turn in the combat.

Initiative

As discussed in the section on Game Structure, initiative is what determines the order of action in the scene, and that includes combat.

Every participant makes an Agility check to determine where in the order of initiative their turn will fall. The players roll for each of their characters and any creature they control while the storyteller makes the Agility check for the non-player characters and creatures. Usually the storyteller will roll for groups of identical creatures, such that each member of the group acts at the same time, but it is up to the storyteller to decide how they will roll initiative.

In the event that two or more creatures are tied for the same initiative, you can choose how to resolve it, here are a few approaches you might take, you can also mix approaches:

  • Creatures with the highest Agility act first.
  • Participants that are tied each roll another Agility check, with the highest roll going first among the tied creatures.
  • Player-controlled characters have priority over storyteller-controlled creatures
  • Players decide the order among one another if multiple player-controlled characters have same initiatives. Similarly, if multiple storyteller-controlled creatures have the same initiative, the storyteller decides the order for those creatures.

Taking Your Turn

On your turn you can do the following: move a distance up to your speed, take one action such as making an attack, defending, casting a spell, etc., and use one of your bonus actions.

Movement

On your turn you are able to move a distance equal to your speed.

You decide whether to move before, during, or after your action. Your movement and the position of enemies might obstruct your ability to take certain actions. See the section on Movement and Positioning below for more details.

Actions

You can take any action presented under Actions in Chapter 7, in addition to any actions you have available due to your features and talents.

The most common action that characters take in combat, however, is the attack action.

Bonus Actions

You may have an ability, from a job, spell, or another source that allows you to take a special action on your turn called a bonus action. You can take only one bonus action on your turn, in the event that you have access to more than one bonus action you must choose which you will use.

Unless a bonus action has specific requirements indicating when it can be taken, you choose when to take the bonus action. Anything that prevents you from taking actions also prevents you from using your bonus action.

Reactions

Under certain circumstances, or because of an ability that you have, you might have the opportunity to take a special action called a reaction. Unlike actions and bonus actions, reactions do not necessarily take place on your turn. A reaction is a response to a triggering event of some kind. The trigger might happen on your turn or on another actor’s turn.

Opportunity attacks, described later in this chapter, are a common reaction that all creatures can take.

When you use your reaction, you can’t take another reaction until the start of your next turn. If a reaction triggers on another creature’s turn, you can take your reaction and the creature who triggered the reaction continues their turn after the reaction is resolved.

Other Activities in Combat

In addition to the above, you can do the following on your turn:

  • If you are capable of communicating, you are able to do so. You do this alongside the actions you are taking. Examples of this are speaking in short phrases, issuing single-word commands, and making gestures to your allies (or enemies!) alike.
  • You can provide more detail to the actions that you are taking, embellishing them in such a way that effects neither the action you are taking or your movement.
  • You can interact freely with one objetc or feature of the environment, as per the rules on Free Interactions in Chapter 7.

The storyteller may allow you to perform other activities as part of your turn, those along with the above may or may not require an action depending on the complexity or level of focus required for the action you are attempting.

Making an Attack

Attacking is one of the most common actions in combat. You can make attacks with melee weapons, ranged weapons, and spells. If you are ever unsure whether an action you are taking is considered an attack, the rules are simple: if the action calls for an attack roll the action is an attack.

When you attack another creature, whether it is with a weapon or some spells, you make an attack roll. All attacks follow the same structure:

  1. Decide on the attack and choose a target. Choose what attack you are going to make and select a target within range. The target could be a creature, an object, or a location.
  2. Determine situational modifiers. The storyteller will inform you whether or not you have an situational modifiers to your dice pool or your roll, including whether or not the target has cover, if you have advantage or disadvantage, etc.
  3. Resolve the attack. When you hit with an attack you roll damage, unless the attack has special rules that say otherwise. Some attacks might cause special effects in addition to, or instead of, damage.

Attack Rolls

Your attack roll determines whether or not an attack you make hits or misses its target. To make an attack roll, roll 3D and add the appropriate modifiers including any dice pool modifiers such as advantage, disadvantage, etc. If the total of the roll plus modifiers is equal to or greater than the target’s armor rating, the attack hits. The armor rating of a character is dependent on their equipment and features, while the armor rating of a creature is listed in its stat block.

Melee and Ranged Attacks

Attacks fall into one of two categories: melee attacks and ranged attacks.

Melee Attacks

A melee attack occurs when you are making a close-quarters attack on another creature. There are three common types of melee attacks that you can make in the game:

Melee weapon attack. A melee weapon attack is made with weapons that are used to engage in hand-to-hand combat. Axes, swords, polearms, and whips are all examples of weapons that are used to make melee weapon attacks.

Unarmed strikes. Instead of using a weapon, you can use unarmed strikes: punches, kicks, etc. Unless otherwise noted, an unarmed strike does bludgeoning damage equal to your 1 + your Strength modifier (minimum 1).

Melee spell attack. Some spells also allow you to make melee attacks, usually specified as a melee spell attack.

Most creatures have a 5-foot reach, allowing them to attack targets within 5 feet of them. Some creatures (typically larger creatures) have greater reach, noted in descriptions of their actions, including attacks.

Ranged Attacks

Ranged attacks are made with projectile weapons that can target creatures further away and within a certain range. When a ranged attack has a single range increment, as with most spells, you can’t target a creature beyond the indicated range. If the ranged attack has two ranges, as with bows, thrown weapons, and firearms, the smaller of the two numbers is the weapon’s normal range and the larger number is the weapon’s long range. Attacks made against targets beyond the normal range of a weapon have disadvantage. You can’t attack a target beyond the long range of a weapon.

Your ranged attacks are made with disadvantage if they are made while you are within 5 feet of a creature that is hostile toward you and that creature can see you and isn’t incapacitated. This applies to both ranged weapon attacks and ranged spell attacks.

Opportunity Attacks

When a creature exposes itself, it opens itself up to an attack called an opportunity attack. If the creature is within your reach, you can use your reaction to make an opportunity attack.

You provoke an opportunity attack if you move away from a hostile creature without taking the Disengage action.

If a creature provokes an opportunity attack from you, you can use your reaction to make a single attack against the creature. You can only make one attack when you make an opportunity attack even if you have a feature that gives you additional attacks.

Rally

You can use your action to rally yourself, drawing on an inner reserve of strength and vigor. By doing so you gain all of the benefits of a short rest. After you’ve rallied yourself, you must complete a long rest before you can use this action again.

Hidden Attackers and Obscured Targets

If a combatant is hidden, because they have concealed themselves or because they are invisible, attack rolls made against it have disadvantage. If you make an attack against a location where you suspect the hidden creature to be, and it is not there, the attack automatically misses.

When you are hidden, you have advantage on attack rolls against creatures that cannot see you. If you make an attack while hidden, you give away your location regardless of whether you hit or miss with the attack.

Movement and Positioning

During combat your movement and position can be tracked using either a battle map or something more abstract. This section presents two options for handling movement and position in combat.

Breaking up your Movement

On your turn you can break up your movement. You can use some of your speed before and after you take an action or bonus action.

When you take an action that allows you to make more than one attack, you can also break up your movement between each attack.

Different Movement Speeds

If you have more than one movement speed, such as your normal speed and a fly speed, your effective speed is equal to the greater of the two speeds. On your turn, when you move, you may describe your movement as switching between the two modes of movement.

For example, if you have a fly speed of 60 feet in addition your standard ambulatory speed of 30 feet, your effective speed is 60 feet on your turn. When you move you can describe yourself as running before leaping into the air and continuing your movement in flight.

Moving Around Other Creatures

In combat you sometimes need to move through another creatures space. Moving through another creatures space is considered hindered movement for you. The rules for moving through the area that another creature is in or that it controls is as follows:

  • You can move through the space occupied by nonhostile creatures.
  • You can move through the space occupied by a hostile creature only if it is at least two size categories larger or smaller than you.
  • You can’t willingly end your move in the space occupied by another creature.
  • If you leave a creature’s reach at any point during your move, you immediately provoke an opportunity attack from the creature.

Tight Spaces

You can squeeze into a space that is large enough for a creature one size smaller than you, for example a large creature can, with some effort, fit through a door designed for a medium creature and a medium creature can squeeze itself through a hole that a small creature would have no trouble with. When you move into and through a tight space you are hindered and you have disadvantage on attack rolls as well as Agility saving throws. Attack rolls against you are made with advantage until you clear the smaller space.

Knocked Down

If you are knocked down or you have intentionally dropped to the ground you are considered prone, as described in Appendix A: Conditions.

If you are prone it costs half of your speed in movement to stand up. For example if your speed is 30 you must spend at least 15 feet of movement to stand up. You can’t stand up if you don’t have enough speed left or your speed is 0. While prone you can only move by crawling or use magic such as teleport. Crawling hinders your movement, as per the hindered condition.

On your turn you can drop prone without using any of your speed.

Using Battle Zones

For a more abstract representation of the field of battle, you can use battle zones. Each zone represents an area that actors can move within and between. For tight-quarters combat there may only be one zone, for combat in an open field where adversaries start far away from each other it may be typical to have 3 or 4 zones. Despite being more of an abstract representation of the battle, it can be useful to have a visual aid representing the zones of combat. You can use pieces of paper, index cards, whatever to represent the zones. If you have a miniature or a token you can place it on or adjacent to the zone you begin your turn in.

As a general rule, the area of each zone is considered to be about 30 feet. The size of a zone is meant to be abstract, but thinking about it in this way makes it easier to work with character speeds.

If you have a speed of 25 or more, you can move anywhere within the zone you begin your turn in, this allows you to close the distance with another creature in the same zone and make a melee attack against it ot to withdraw and make a ranged attack against any target in range. If your speed is 50 or more, you can move within the zone you begin your turn in as well as move into one adjacent zone. Using battle zones encourages characters to take the Dash action to change zone.

  • If you are currently fighting one creature and change targets to a creature that is not described as being adjacent to you, this requires that you move and you provoke an opportunity attack from any creature you were fighting.
  • If you use your movement to withdraw and make a ranged attack you provide an opportunity attack from any creature that is still near enough to make melee attacks on you.
  • For ranged attacks, the storyteller has final say on whether or not a ranged attack can be made against targets in any zone. If the battle zones are adjacent to one another however, most ranged attacks should be possible against any participant in the battle.

Detached Zones

In large battlefields, one or more zones may be detached from the rest of the zones. In this scenario the distance between two detached zones is determined by the storyteller and if you are attempting to move from one zone to the other it may require several turns to do so. Detached zones may also have an impact on ranged attacks.

In some rare cases, the detached zone may not be accessible. The storyteller should tell you and the other players when a zone becomes inaccessible and the reason why, if the reason is evident. For example if two ships are fighting a pitched battle on the open seas, the zones representing each ship are inaccessible to participants in either zone so they resort to firing ranged weapons and using spells. You may be able to take actions that make an inaccessible zone accessible once again, such as steering the ship into the other ship effectively linking the two previously detached zones.

Using a Battle Grid

For groups that prefer a more tactical approach to combat, including using miniatures, you can use battelmaps. A battle map is usually divided into a grid with each square reepresenting 5 feet of distance. The players and storyteller place the tokens representing the combat participants on the battle map and on their turn they move in 5-foot increments across the grid and perform their actions.

Using a battle grid gives you a very accurate visual for where creatures are and allows you to think more tactically about the actions you take.

Cover

Cover provides bonuses to your Defense. You can only benefit from cover if an attack or effect originates on the opposite side of the object providing you cover. There are three levels of cover, if multiple sources provide cover only the source which provides the most protection applies.

  • If an obstacle blocks at least half of a target’s body, it has half cover. When behind half cover, a target has a +2 bonus to their Defense rating and to Agility saving throws.
  • Obstacles that obscure more than half of a creature but not all of it, provide three-quarters cover. A target has a +5 bonus to their Defense rating if it is behind three-quarters cover.
  • If a creature has total cover, it can’t be targeted directly by attacks or spells.