Combat Resolution?

Tarot for the Day:

Queen of Mandatio (Scrolls) - The Canoness

The imposition of discipline; the wisdom of authority; an obligation imposed upon us by duty.

I've nearly wrapped up combat, now. So I thought I'd share an example combat, illustrating some of the changes:

###

Creeper the Scav has four Actions and uses his first to peer around a corner before pausing for breath. He sees Inquisitor Zircon the Unstoppable looking the wrong way, 6 yards away, and decides to use his remaining two Actions to initiate a sneak attack.

If he sneaks towards Zircon, Creeper won't cover the distance. If he runs, he'll cover it in one Action, leaving him one in hand. But Zircon is wearing heavy armour and wielding powerful weapons, whereas Creeper has only his trusty (and rusty!) knife and, if he runs, there's a good chance that Zircon will hear him, losing him the chance to make that vital sneak attack. So he elects to walk.

His third action moves him 4 yards closer and Zircon fails his Initiative test to hear Creeper. His last action moves him to within 1 yard, within reach of the knife (reach 1). But Zircon has one last chance to pass an Initiative test and succeeds!

Creeper's chance to make the devastating sneak attack has gone, but he is still attacking Zircon from behind, giving him +20 to hit. However, Zircon has a powerful halberd (reach 4), so Creeper suffers -10 to hit. His decent Weapon Skill of 63, therefore, means that he needs 73 or less to hit.

He rolls a 49. Using the "reverse" method of determining location, we get a 94. Because the hit is in combat, Creeper can add up to 20 to this location, which means that Zircon has been effectively stabbed in the back of the head! He also passed the hit roll by 24, which gives him an attack bonus of 10.

If Zircon attempts to parry the blow, he will suffer a -40 modifier for having to turn more than 90degrees, as well as his halberd's parry modifier. Instead, he elects to dodge, meaning the only negative modifier will be -10 to represent Creeper's attack bonus. With a WS of 72, therefore, he needs 62 or less to dodge the backstab. He rolls an agonizingly close 61 and lunges out of the way, leaping forwards 2 yards and spinning around automatically to face his attacker, halberd in hand.

As Creeper was one yard away when he attacked, and Zircon has moved two yards away from him with his dodge, he is now 3 yards away: too far away for Creeper to attack again, had he had any Actions left, but more than close enough for the inquisitor to hit back with his halberd.

The round ends and in the next turn Zircon receives three Actions. Furious with being attacked by this snivelling worm, he elects to perform an all out attack. As, after his first Action, he has two more Actions, he sacrifices each of these for a +10 bonus to hit, giving him a total hit score of 92 (72+10+10).

He rolls an impressive 23, passing the hit roll score by 69, giving him an attack bonus of 30 (if you're scratching your head, the attack bonus is worked out as +10 for each full 20 points by which the hit roll is passed.

Creeper attempts to dodge back from the blow, needing 33 (63, minus the attack bonus of 30). He fails to dodge and the halberd blade thrusts hard into Creeper's torso.

###

Exactly what happens to Creeper as a result, we'll touch upon next time, as I reach Damage and Injury. But I think this brief encounter gives a good idea of the sort of faster, more decisive combat that INQ2 makes possible, without detracting from the dramatic dialogue of the melee.

If you've got any ideas or suggestions to make, then please throw them into the mix. I'm a little unhappy with the calculation for the attack bonus but I experimented with making it 1 for every point the hit roll was passed by and 10 for every full ten the hit roll was passed by. These bonuses proved to be too great. Thus far, the "+10 for every full 20" bonus seems to be about the right amount to reward good hits, as well as being relatively easily to calculate, if not in one's head, then at least on one's fingers!