Journey: Combat
This will be where we talk about combat.
Contents
Overview
Combat is part of the adventuring life, and chances are good that - as an adventurer - you will take part in a combat. In Journey, combat can be rather deadly - if you have not spent your time hardening yourself to pain, a single swordswing could be the end of you.
The more things you carry, the heavier the armor you wear, the bigger the weapon you wield, all slow you down. While other humanoids suffer the same sorts of problems, creatures and monsters like gryphons or dragons do not suffer from such weight, and thus can strike and move that much faster. Monsters are dangerous adversaries in Journey, and only the best-prepared of adventurers would dare face them.
The combat rules of Journey are designed to be fluid. Rather than having discrete turns, each participant acts, then can act again later based upon what sort of action they took, how heavy their gear is, and how fast they are. A stealthy assassin, wielding a small dagger, can react much faster than a warrior armored head-to-toe and armed to the teeth.
Terms
Initiative
- A skill that measures your ability to react. In combat, you use this to determine when you can first act.
Initiative Scale
- A scale that begins at 0 and goes as high as necessary. Your character's turn appears as a number on this scale; after a character acts, the character with the lowest initiative on the scale acts next.
Speed
- How quick you are to recover from an action. Your Speed is equal to your minimum Dexterity.
Weight
- How much equipment you are wearing, and how it affects your ability to move quickly.
Tick
- A "tick" is a single point on the initiative scale. Durations and action costs are measured in ticks.
Action Cost
- The number of ticks an action adds to your initiative.
Combat Basics
Notice: The action cost problem is still unresolved; however, for the time being, we'll keep the action costs as previously planned, and see if they are as heinously problematic as I was thinking they would be.
Combat follows a few simple steps. Included throughout the discussion will be a running example, so that you can get a better feel for the flow of a combat.
Initiative
When combat is joined, the LM calls for initiative. This is a Skill: Initiative skill check. The LM will make the same skill check for each NPC in the combat. Once everyone has their result, the LM will ask each player in turn what their result is.
Once the results are all gathered, the LM checks to see who had the highest initiative; that person is then set to 0 on the initiative scale. All other participants in the combat subtract their initiative from the highest initiative, and go on that tick in the initiative scale.
- Example: Eric, Lisa, and Jon are attempting to negotiate with a bandit on the road when the talks break down, with three of the bandit leader's minions drawing their blades. Thinking that gunboat diplomacy might work better, the three ready themselves for combat. Eric rolls a 7, Lisa rolls a 9, and Jon rolls a 3; the bandits and their leader roll a 1, a 3, a 12, and a 6. The following initiative scale is the result:
J C L E D B A 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 INIT 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 KEY L: Lisa E: Eric J: Jon A, B, C, D: Bandits
- The LM immediately notices a problem: both Jon and Bandit B go at the same time.
Having two or more participants on the same tick means that their actions are simultaneous.
Action Costs Table
This is a table for general action costs!
ACTION BASE TYPE COST SPEED WEIGHT Full 20 SPD * 1.25 WT * 1.5 Long 16 SPD WT Medium 12 (2 * SPD) / 3 WT / 2 Short 8 SPD / 2 WT / 4 Quick 4 SPD / 4 WT / 6 Instant 2 SPD / 6 WT / 8 Free 0 (none) (none)
Yep, that's a table.
Movement
All characters have Trait: Movement, and if you wish to move, that is the trait you call upon. Your Movement trait tells you how much you can move in a single movement action.
Movement is what is considered a move action.
The cost of movement is...
Movement: 8 - (SPD / 2) + (WT / 4) [Channeled]
Always round down. Also, the action cost of an action cannot be less than half the base (so no matter how fast you are, it always takes at least 4 ticks to move).
Movement is also channeled - that means that you do not actually complete the action until your next action comes up.
- Playtest Notice: Because movement is channeled, that means that it is possible that someone will try to hit you before you are done moving. I'm not sure what to do about this, but it does require resolution.
As an important note, you may want to have the standard action costs written down on your character sheet; that way, when you take an action, you can immediately tell your LM how many ticks it takes for you to complete the action.
- Example: Bandit C goes first, and he has a Movement trait of 1d6, meaning that he can move 15 feet in a single move action. He moves up to Jon, since it seems that Jon is a spellcaster, and most people know that spellcasters are dangerous. With a Speed of 4 and a Weight of 8, the bandit's total action cost for this movement is (8 - [4 / 2] + [8 / 4] = 8) 8 ticks, meaning that the bandit will go again in 8. Our revised initiative chart looks like this...
J L E D C B A 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 INIT 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
You'll not that, in the example, all of the scale below the lowest person's initiative are removed. This is done because those ticks don't matter anymore; however, with certain kinds of magic (ie, temporal manipulation) running amok, it may be helpful to have the entire scale available.
Attacking
When you attempt to attack someone, you use one of the following skills: Melee, Ranged, or Firearm.
Your attack roll - which also includes a relevant Attribute, as determined by the skill used - is then compared to the defenses of your target.
If your target is facing you, they may opt to Block, Parry, or Dodge. A character cannot normally Parry a Ranged or Firearm attack.
If your attack roll is higher than the target's defense roll, you then compare your attack roll to their Armor Rating. If your attack roll is higher, you have hit your target. You deal damage equal to your Skill: Proficiency with that weapon; however, assuming your target is wearing at least clothing, their armor will absorb some of the damage from the blow.
If your attack roll is not higher than the target's defense roll, and your target opted to Parry or Block, your attack deals some amount of damage to the item used to block or parry; the amount of damage dealt is dependent on how "well" your attack was parried or blocked. For this reason, you should always roll damage when you attack, even if the target dodges - because chances are good that something, somewhere, will take damage.
The action cost of an attack is as follows:
Standard Action: 10 - SPD + (WT / 2)
You should note that this reads "standard action" and not "attack;" this is because an attack is a "standard" action, and as such, it uses this formula. Most actions in Journey are standard actions, and follow this general formula.
Again, always round down; also, remember that worn equipment is treated differently than carried equipment, for your Weight - wearing plate is much different than carrying it in your pack.
- Example: Lisa is up next, and she is irked! She draws her dagger (which she has talented into a quick action), and proceeds to stab Bandit D. Her attack roll is an 8, and the bandit opts to dodge, rolling a 6 - and since the bandit's armor rating is only 4, Lisa has struck! She rolls damage, and turns up a 6; the bandit is wearing leather plate, though, which absorbs 3 of the damage. Lisa's attack action cost her (10 - 3 + (6 / 2) = 10) 10 ticks. The initiative now looks like this...
J E D C B A L 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 INIT 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5
