These combat rules are a complete rewrite of the core combat system. They introduce a more detailed action system, borrowed mostly from the Miniatures Play section in Mirrors (page 79), and extended with new content.
There are lots of things you can do during combat, and not all of them take the same amount of time or effort.
Instant actions are the most time- and focus-consuming of the lot, and require a moment of concentration to pull off. Examples are swinging a club at somebody, taking aim at a villain, or clearing a jammed pistol. The rule of thumb for instant actions is that they take some thought.
Movement actions are easier to accomplish by dint of taking less time or requiring almost no thought. Examples include moving a number of yards equal to your Speed trait, reloading a clip-fed gun, and drawing a weapon. The rule of thumb is that you can't do any of these things more than a couple of times in one round. You can get one extra movement action by sacrificing your instant action for the turn, essentially converting it into a movement action. Of special note is a character's defense: you cannot benefit from your defense trait unless you spend a movement action on it. You can spend it out of turn, and it's expected that all characters will do so at the beginning of every round. If you choose to drop your defense, you get that movement action back, but at the cost of being much easier to hit. Under these rules, any maneuver or ability that requires you to sacrifice your defense also requires that you sacrifice the movement action that goes with it (and you can't use a separate movement action for defense, either).
Reflexive actions are dead easy to accomplish and take basically no time or effort at all. Examples are speaking or shouting a few words, noticing basic things about the area, or catching a thrown baseball. Rule of thumb for these is that they don't require any thought or any extra time, and are generally incidental. Many reflexive actions can be used out of turn as well.
During a normal combat turn, everyone gets to take the following actions:
These are examples of actions that may be taken during combat and what kind of action they require.
| Task | Action | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Drop Prone | Reflexive | You throw yourself to the ground. |
| Crouch | Reflexive | You kneel to present a smaller target for enemies using ranged weapons. |
| Stand | Movement | You get to your feet. Sometimes a successful Dexterity + Athletics test can make this a Reflexive action. |
| Jump | Movement | You jump off the ground. See World of Darkness 66 to determine the height and distance of your jump. |
| Take Aim | Instant | You aim down your weapon's sights, trying for a clean, accurate shot. |
| Sprint | Reflexive | Sprinting is a special action which requires that you dedicate at least two Movement actions to running in the turn, either by sacrificing your Defense or by using your Instant action. Then you can Sprint: roll Strength + Athletics and add each success to your Speed trait for the turn. It's hard to run that fast for very long, though, so sprinting every round may start requiring Stamina rolls to maintain the effort. |
| Raise Defense | Movement | This is assumed to happen for every character at the start of every round unless the player declares otherwise. Until you're attacked, you can choose to lower your defense and reclaim that Movement action. After you apply your Defense against an incoming attack, it has to stay up and you can't lower it until the next round. |
| Draw/Sheathe Weapon | Movement | Usually one movement action, sometimes two if the weapon is hard to reach or hidden. Having the appropriate Quick-Draw merit makes this a reflexive or single movement action that never requires sacrificing defense. Sheathing is sometimes reflexive, depending on the weapon and its sheath. A gun can always be shoved in a pocket, for example. |
| Give Orders | Reflexive | Quick, simple orders are easy to shout in battle. Things like "Over here!" or "To your left!" are a normal part of combat. This can also be used for trash talking and simple intimidation, or for saying meaningless things. |
| Negotiate | Instant | Hopefully you won't need to negotiate while shots are being fired, but who knows? This action covers most forms of involved communication, since they require some thought. |
| Survey Surroundings | Movement | Allows an active perception roll to notice things about your surroundings. This can sometimes reveal details that didn't stand out at first glance. |
| Investigate | Instant | Allows an active Investigation roll to notice and/or deduce detailed information about a person or object within sight. |
| Acquire Long-Range Target | Instant | Typically involves a perception check to locate the target or an investigation check to identify it. |
Special actions during combat are called maneuvers. Each has an effect beyond simply trading blows. Some maneuvers require multiple rolls or actions.
Prerequisites: None
Effect: Doubles your defense trait for the round, or applies the Weaponry Dodge or Brawling Dodge merits, if appropriate. Requires that you take one movement action to raise defense, then your instant action to double it. You're left with a single move action. (The Weaponry Dodge and Brawling Dodge merits do not benefit from any adroitness boons.)
Prerequisites: None
Effect: If you target a limb and do more damage than your opponent's Stamina score, the limb is useless. If it's an arm, their defense is lowered by 1 and anything they were holding with that arm drops to the ground. If it's a leg, they immediately fall prone and are unable to walk upright (max speed becomes very low). If such an attack does more damage than double your opponent's Stamina score, the limb is entirely removed.
Prerequisites: None
Effect: As an Instant action, you may roll Wits+Weaponry to find an object that can be used as a weapon. On an exceptional success, the object you find is so perfect that it does not suffer the usual -1 penalty for being used as a weapon. Grabbing this weapon is a movement action, but can be made reflexive with the Quick Draw merit. If your character has the "Improvised" specialty in Weaponry, he can attempt this maneuver as a Reflexive action.
Prerequisites: None
Effect: This maneuver allows you to move in sync with another character. You can use it to prevent someone from moving past you; chase someone over short distances, or shield someone while they move to cover (a la the Secret Service). To use this maneuver, you dedicate one or more movement actions to following your target. This must be declared before the target's turn. When they move on their initiative, you automatically move with them (as much as your Speed allows). These movement actions are otherwise unavailable to you. While following, all environmental factors affect you as usual, and you cannot automatically keep up with Instant actions taken by your target: climbing a ladder, getting into a car, etc. Assuming your Speed is high enough to keep up, you can maintain whatever positioning you like relative to your target: in front, behind, shielding, etc. If your Speed exceeds the distance you actually had to move this round, you can also change position any time during your target's movement.
When being followed, you may want to evade your pursuer or to get past them as they block you. One method for accomplishing either objective is to deceive your follower with a feint. This requires an appropriate Subterfuge check (an Instant action), penalized by their Composure. Every success you gain reduces their Speed trait by 1 for that turn as you jink and weave to throw them off. Another method is shoving your follower: roll Strength + Brawl opposed by their Dexterity + Athletics, subtracting your net successes from their Speed like a feint. If they win, however, it's you who is off balance and their net successes penalize your own Speed.
There are many other ways to shake or bypass someone following you. Shut a door, climb a ladder, use some maneuver to trip or otherwise penalize them, etc. If the following goes on long enough, it will probably transition to the Foot Chase rules. GM ruminations: This maneuver was tricky to write. The intent is to allow a character to move in sync with an enemy, which is otherwise impossible to represent in a turn-by-turn combat system.
Prerequisites: Crafts ••
Effect: The ultimate quick-and-dirty repair job. In the midst of a battle, you can use this maneuver to repair a simple electric or mechanical device just enough to make it work. Once. This requires an extended Int+Crafts roll with an interval of one round and a threshold equal to twice the object's as-new structure rating. The device must be reasonably simple and you must be able to manipulate the broken bits. Such fast repairs are not the realm of careful prodding, and all that matters is that the damn thing works. Upon completing the test (whether by failure or success), the device's structure is reduced by one. If its structure is reduced to zero, it falls apart before you can use it. Otherwise, it works once and then becomes useless until someone takes the time to do proper repairs.
Prerequisites: Medicine •
Effect: You visually inspect a person or creature for wounds and physical trauma. As an instant action, roll Wits+Medicine: success allows you to know the type and general severity of any wounds the target is suffering. In game terms, you know the state of its health track. Characters with higher ranks in the Medicine skill may attempt this maneuver as a reflexive action, but no more than twice per round.
Prerequisites: Medicine ••
Effect: This maneuever is similar to Assess Wounds, but allows you crudely survey everyone nearby. An instant Wits+Medicine roll, if successful, tells you which casualty is the most injured and the approximate health of all casualties (at half health, quarter health, mostly ok, etc). See the Instant Triage special action for characters who may be able to do better.