Fighting
The Veil, can often be a violent place. It's chaotic nature encorporates enough of the supressed emotions of the world so wholly that it becomes actively difficult for the savvy to not eventually become well-versed in self-defense, or worse. The difficulty is, that when dealing with a place so hostile, the mind body and spirit may all be assaulted with equal force.
Perhaps a group of possessed Federal agents are firing without a restrainst against an insurgent hacker group. Maybe a monster made of slime has begun attacking the local library. Maybe a virus deep in Cyber Space is begining to bite any that get too close to it. There are a lot of things that can potentially go very wrong, and Combat is the game mode for all elements involving that.
Starting Combat
Combat is fundamentally a stress test with your player characters and their surroundings. When combat begins The Compiler should clearly escalate and allude to all possible threats in the general area. In some cases such as ambushes or illusions, there must be some creativity liberties, but all known elements should be readily available to all Players.
Although, it is not required, Virus.Zone recommends using a grid-based map representing all terrain and entities to use as a reference. This can either be virtual or physical, get creative if you can.
It's also important to understand what kind of tension you are attempting to accomplish. In a more gritty and unforgiving game, you may want to hold off on holding back, relying on more and more seemingly unbeatable threats. If you want to play triumphant heroes it might be a good idea to cut some slack, or grant extra dice to the cache when available.
Phases of Combat
- Prediction Phase: At the begining of each combat, each entity rolls their Wit, and the result is their Outthink Value. Certain abilities and moves have the Prediction Quality, which will allow them circumvent opposing entities, if the Outthink Value is higher. Examples could include a Sneak Attack, Dodge or Parry.
- Initiative Phase: After defining the Outthink Values, each entity rolls their Physical Initiative to determine the order of actions, going forward as well. In the physical world and in areas affected by the Veil, the intiative roll uses the Agility score. Within cosmOS, use the Precision score.
- Call Phase: All active entities act in order from lowest Outthink Value to highest to declare their intended Called Action. The Called Action's only requirement, is that you must select a stat to use for your ability. The ability is rolled and added to the register but does not resolve until the start of that entity's turn. Once all Called Actions are declared, the Resolution Phase begins.
- Resolution Phase: Each entity takes their turn in order of Physical Initiative, resolving their Called Action first, then any other actions they can take with their remaining dice. Many abilities may affect the register over the course of the turn, which may change available abilities at the time of their use. Additionally, reactions may be used outside of the turn order. You may use a Reaction at any point in the initiative where your Outthink Value is higher than the current Initiative.
- End Phase: Once all entities have taken their turn, the round ends. Any effects that last until the end of the round expire, and a new round begins starting again at the Call Phase. The affects of taking damage are also finalized at this phase
Types of Actions
Attacks and Defenses
Attacks and Defenses are the most fundamental types of combat actions since they are dealing with the
Buffs and Debuffs
Controls and Utilties
Layers of Conflict
Physical, Digital, Spiritual etc. Real vs Digital world