Basic Combat

The combat of Nyra can vary in complexity by a large degree. All of the classes have different approaches to combat, and even within each class are the possibilities for unique tactics. However, in order to understand how a basic combat interaction plays out, let us illustrate with stub characters. Both characters are of equal proficiency, except that one will be given the skill Dodge and the other will be given the skill Defense, and there will be a mismatch in Sequence, only to demonstrate the concept. Let us imagine the two characters have engaged in a friendly duel. Standing a sword’s length apart, they both engage combat. 

Duelist 1

STR: 7

AGI: 6

Swords: 7

Dodge: 5

Sequence: 5

Duelist 2

STR: 7

AGI: 6

Swords: 7

Defense: 5

Sequence: 4

Now that we are at the top of combat, we start with the highest Sequence character first and then descend. Because Duelist 1’s Sequence is higher, they therefore act first. Assuming that Duelist 1 has determined that they would like to attack the enemy, they now have a choice. They may either attempt to roll a Normal check to attack a random location (from now on, called Wild Striking), or they may target a specific location on a Difficult check. However, it must be noted that this is a competitive check. Therefore, the combatant is not only attempting to surpass their skill rank, they are also trying to get as far under their check as possible in order to make it harder for their opponent to match. This is the reason to choose wisely between wild strikes and aimed strikes. Although aimed strikes can be used to devastate an opponent in short order, they are also easier to Dodge or Defend.

Duelist 1, knowing his Sword skill is only a 7 chooses the more conservative option, to wild strike Duelist 2. He must also, before striking, declare what sort of attack he will do with his weapon. Different weapons have different strengths in these categories based upon their weapon description. Here is a stub of the weapon Duelist 1 is using. 

Short Sword

Damage:

P: 2d6+2 (4-14)

S: 2d6 (2-12)

C: 3d6 (3-18)

B: N/A

Delay: 3

Modifier: STR

Because this weapon deals 3d6 in Cleaving, Duelist 1 chooses to do a Cleaving attack. Duelist 1 must now roll a d10 against their weapon skill. We will say they roll 3, which is 4 under their skill. However, this does not mean that Duelist 1 has struck the opponent. Duelist 2 now gets to choose whether they would like to dodge or defend Duelist 1’s attack. Because Duelist 2 specializes in Defense, they choose to defend this strike. And in order to see if they succeed, they roll a d10 against their skill. We will say they roll a 4, which is only 1 under their Defense skill. Because Duelist 1 rolled 4 under their skill and Duelist 2 only rolled 1 under, Duelist 1’s strike hits!

Now, because Duelist 1 chose to wild strike, they must figure out which body part that they have struck. Different targets will use different dice to answer this question, but because Duelist 2 is a humanoid, Duelist 1 will roll a d6. We will say Duelist 1 rolls a 3. In order to determine which number on a d6 accords to what hit location on a humanoid, one only needs to look at the Location column beside Health on their character sheet. 3 is the Left Arm. If one is determining this for other creatures, the locations are labeled under Health for each individual creature in the Creatures document.

Now on to determining how much damage Duelist 2 has taken to their Left Arm location. In order to determine this, Duelist 1 will roll 3 six-sided dice (3d6) as is listed beside “Cleaving” in their weapon description. Duelist 1 rolls 3, 4, and 2, which is 9 damage. In order to determine how much total damage is dealt, however, always remember to add in any appropriate modifiers. As a baseline, every weapon adds a primary statistic damage modifier. This weapon, for example, has STR listed for its modifier and thus we would add Duelist 1’s STR mod to his damage. A character with 7 STR would have a modifier of 3. Thus, Duelist 1’s damage is 3 + 4 + 2 + 3 = 12 Cleaving damage.

But wait, Duelist 1’s turn is not over yet. Because Duelist 1 has 6 AGI, that means they have 6 delay available to spend each turn and the delay for the Short Sword is 3! Thus they will have 3 delay available for another strike. 

So Duelist 1 declares they are going to make an aimed slash, which is Difficult test.  That means they must roll under half their skill.  So instead of 7 weapon skill, they have effectively 3 weapon skill.  However, for this gamble Duelist 1 has chosen to strike Duelist 2's Head.  Duelist 1 rolls against Difficult weapon skill and rolls a 2, which is 1 under.    Now Duelist 2 rolls Defense and rolls 2, which is 3 under.  Therefore since Duelist 2 rolled further under, he defends the second attack.

Duelist 1 declares aimed slash (½ efficiency) at the Head and rolls 2. 1 under skill.

Duelist 2 rolls Defense in response and rolls 2. 3 under skill.

Duelist 2 Defends and takes no damage.

But what if Duelist 1 had not rolled a 2?  What if they had rolled a 4?  In that case, they would not have beat that Difficult test, in which case it would just be said that they missed.  Also, it should be noted that if Duelist 2 had blocked the first turn, this would have discontinued Duelist 1's volley of attacks and ended the turn.  This is because the unique effect of Defense is that it discontinues strings of melee attacks on any successful block.  

User declares the target and the type of swing to be done. He may, since the Claymore is able to; use a Cleaving, slashing, or piercing attack. He looks at his weapon specifications and sees that Claymores, being large heavy weapons, do the most damage when Cleaving. He declares his enemy and that he is delivering a Cleaving blow. They make a test against applicable skills (With this weapon, it would be Swords and the branch Claymore.). This user has the skill Swords at 7. User rolls a 3, which means he succeeds at his test. (If user had rolled a 4, he would have failed, as all skills are rolled at half their value when in battle), this means he has made contact with his opponent. He then rolls location at random on a d6, as the chart explains.

1: Head

2: Chest

3: Left Arm

4: Right Arm

5: Left Leg

6: Right Leg

This attacker rolls a 4, meaning he has made contact with the enemy's left arm (If the enemy has the dodge skill, or is wielding a shield and has the defense skill, he may roll against these, and if successful, may completely avoid damage. For this example, the enemy has none). He then rolls damage, which for this weapon, is 2d10. The dice come up as 7 and 10. He then factors in the appropriate modifier (Which is +3, because the user's strength in this scenario is 7 and Claymores utilize the STR rating as their modifier.). Meaning his damage is 7+10+3 = 20 to the enemy's left arm. The enemy then factors in the damage to be deducted by his armor. The enemy in this scenario has none, so none is to be deducted. The enemy's health on his left arm is 25 (CON: 6, STR:6)...so the enemy's arm is nearly incapacitated permanently. However, it is GM discretion as to the affect that this damaged arm will have on the battle.

This action ends the turn, but not necessarily the battle, and as such, the character who has swung must now take the appropriate amount of energy from his energy bank (In this example, it is 7). So the character takes 7 from his overall of 38 (User STR: 7, CON: 7), and is now only able to make one more swing before being exhausted. Turn ends.

Traits represent useful abilities that the weapon has. There are two different kinds of Traits: Physical and Magical. A Physical trait is a trait that the weapon has due to some type of manufacturing, preparation, or other physical manifestation of its form. Magical is something that has been attributed to it due to magical alteration. Of the two, Physical Traits consist of 98% of all traits on weapons. Traits end up consisting of a great deal of the value and make of any weapon. (See Traits)]

Listed Weapon Damage

First there is the listed weapon damage. This will read as XdY+weapon mod where X is the number of dice rolled, Y is the type of dice rolled, and weapon mod is the flat damage listed on the weapon. For example: 3d10+4. This is called Listed Weapon Damage. If a Blacksmith, Fletcher, or other profession has altered the weapon, this is considered an alteration to the Listed Weapon Damage. 

Effective Weapon Damage

From here, we can consider extending the formula. XdY+weapon mod+primary mod+flat damage traits. The primary mod is what is added on to the damage of the weapon depending on the Primary Attribute that the weapon utilizes. Most weapons have a specific Primary Attribute listed and the modifier for this Primary Attribute is added onto the damage in this phase. There are then also traits which add or even subtract flat damage. These are included at this stage.

Together, (weapon mod+primary mod+flat damage traits) are called Flat Damage.

Final Weapon Damage

In this final consideration, we now take into account traits and feats which say they affect flat damage or rolled damage.

Damage Calculation

In the early game, calculating damage is quite easy. However, as players add on feats and traits and skill perks, calculation can become difficult. We will produce here a formula for understanding when different effects are applied.

When a player first rolls their damage, they should roll their Listed Weapon Damage.

Raw Calculation Phase + Traits = Final Damage

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