Rules Changes

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Additions and Modifications to the Combat Rules

Actions

Actions are what a character does during a round. A character may perform any two 'actions' in a round, within certain limits. The actions are:

Attack -- Any action intended to cause harm to an enemy directly in melee. Missile and some magic attacks do not count against action limits, as noted below.
Maneuver -- Jumping, running, throwing something to your friend -- any action requiring a dice roll. The action start at your DEX + ENC SR and end after the required number of SR.
Parry -- Any action intended to interpose some object between the attacking object and that which is being defended (usually oneself). A parry is declared against a single melee (or thrown missile if using a shield) attack from the front or weapon side of the parrier.
Dodge -- Literally, moving oneself out of harm's way. A dodge, when declared, allows the character to roll to dodge melee or thrown missile attacks. However, the player must roll separately against each attack. Dodge takes no time when used against hand-to-hand melee attacks, but must be rolled independently against each one. It takes an entire melee round when used against ranged attacks from a single opponent. Ranged attacks can be dodged with a -10% on the dodge skill roll.

The limits are:

Any weapon may be used to Attack and Parry in a single round, but may not perform 2 Attacks or 2 Parries. 2 Attacks may only be declared if the character has 2 weapons; likewise for 2 Parries.
A character may not declare both Attack and Dodge in the same round. In order to use Dodge against more than one opponent, the character must perform only the Dodge action in that round.
Spirit magic, Rune magic and missile fire do not 'cost' actions, and may be freely performed as long as there are sufficient SR in the round.
Firearms and bow weapons use the DEX strike rank of the character and the standard RQ II "S/MR" rules.

Movement, Strike Rank and Combat Order

An adventurer may begin to move on his DEX + ENC SR, unless he moved all of last round, in which case he can move on SR1 in any case.
Readying a held item or weapon takes 3 SR. "Readying" actions include pulling the pin on a hand grenade, cocking a pistol, working the bolt of a bolt-action rifle, etc.
Drawing or unholstering an item or weapon takes 5 SR. This includes readying it for use - such as pulling an arrow or quarrel from a quiver.
A player may change his character's actions anytime after the statement of intent phase, for a penalty of 5 SR.
Sometimes a character will 'await action' to see what opportunities present themselves. This is a statement of 'no action' until something happens, combined with the 'changed intent' rules above. Note that, generally a character may apply a single 'condition' to his actions, and only suffer their DEX SR as a penalty to charge their action.
Some long activities may take more than 12 SR to activate or perform. If this is the case, the additional SR over 10 are added onto the next round's actions. If a character states he is doing something, and it turns out to go over 12 SR, he generally may not make a new statement of intent until the end of the round in which he finished his action - unless he is willing to 'change action'.

Special Attack Maneuvers

Disarming: An attacker may try to disarm his melee opponent by attacking a held weapon. The attack is made normally, with a -10% per SR rating of the weapon being targeted (i.e. a SR 3 weapon would be attacked at -30%). Upon a successful melee disarm attack, if the defender successfully parries, there is no effect (the defender saw the disarm maneuver coming). If the parry fails, or there is no such attempt, the damage rolled is matched vs. the STR of the defender (STR x 1.5 if the weapon is held with two hands). If the damage wins, the weapon lands (Damage - STR) meters away. If the result is 0 meters or less, it lands at the user's feet.

Disengagement: A melee participant may declare an attempt to disengage. He may only parry or dodge for his actions for that round. Having survived that round, the next round he may run freely. However, the opponent can strike once before the disengaging character escapes if her DEX is higher than the fleeing character's. The final attack cannot be parried or dodged, and does get a +10% attack modifier for striking at an opponent's back.

Opportunity Attack: Any character not engaged in melee, after their DEX SR, may declare an opportunity attack against any character moving adjacent. Modifiers for target facing apply, plus the -10% for target moving. This counts as the character's attack action for the round.

Sweep: Applicable only with non-thrusting melee weapons, this does 3/4 damage, but -20% chance to hit per additional target. Large weapons may strike all characters in the 90 degree arc in front of the sweeping character. The sweeper must declare whether they are attacking the right- or left-most target first. Calculate this damage normally. An attacker attempting a sweep may not also parry that round.

Bracing: If a character does not move during the round and braces himself against some object (wall, sofa, log, ground, etc.) or uses a bipod, add 3 SR to the weapon, halve the range to the target for calculating chance to hit, and increase the chance to hit by 25%.

Firing Through Glass: If firing through regular glass, subtract 20% off the chance to hit. If firing through a car windshield, subtract 30% off the chance to hit, and treat the glass as 1 point of armour.

Snap Shot: Starting one SR after their normal attack rank, a character can pop up from behind concealing cover and then fire. They are considered to have returned to cover the second strike rank after they pop up. All shots by the character that round have a -20% modifier applied to them. No Dodge or Parry maneuvers are possible for the attacker that round.

Targeted (Placed) Attacks: Targeted (aka ‘placed’) attacks are an attempt to strike a particular portion or area of the opponent’s body. Targeted attacks can be either Melee or Ranged attacks, and must be based on the character's weapon skill roll. The auto-fire "to hit" adjustment cannot be used to modify the "to hit" location opportunity.

+/- Mod. to Hit Location Adjustment to base “to hit” %

2 Locations -15%

3 Locations -25%

4 Locations -50%

5 Locations -75%

Targeting adds 3 SR to the attack. The full to hit penalty may not exceed the character’s base skill level with the chosen weapon.

Deliberate (Aimed) Attacks: Deliberate (Aimed) attacks are an attempt to increase the base chance of hitting a target by waiting for a more opportune moment to initiate the attack. While typically done with ranged attacks, it is also possible to use this technique in melee combat as well. For each possible attack opportunity given up, the attacker gets the following bonus modifier to his “to hit” chance:

1 skipped strike rank = +10% to hit

2 skipped strike rank = +20%

3 skipped strike rank = +40%

4 skipped strike rank = +80%

Aiming adds 1 SR delay per segment to the attack. The full to hit adjustment may not exceed the character’s base skill level with the chosen weapon. Time spent readying or reloading a weapon is not considered in conducting a deliberate attack; the attacker must be engaged in preparing to initiate the attack and may not be distracted by other activities (i.e. one may not scan the area looking for other enemies while aiming at the target). The Attacker must have the target (or at least a portion of the target) under observation the entire period delayed: if the target is obscured or behind cover at any time before the next chance to fire comes up, the skipped attack opportunity counter is reset to zero. However, once a deliberate attack is declared, the actual “to hit” roll may be delayed to the end of the round, although attack bonus modifiers cease accumulating once the base skill rating has been reached. The attacker still uses energy and accumulates fatigue points while delaying the attack.

Miscellaneous Combat Modifiers

Attack Modifiers:

+25% -- Target helpless

+20% -- Target prone, or surprised during non-combat

+10% -- Target surprised during combat, attacking from target's blind side, attacking from above target, or "prepared attack" (waiting 1 full round to aim better)

+10% -- to hit Target per 10 SIZ, if SIZ >20

-10% -- Attacker is riding an animal or animal-drawn vehicle.

-30% -- Attacker riding moving vehicle at full speed.