Journey: Combat

This will be where we talk about combat.

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)  

Action Type: The kind of action being taken.
Base Cost: The base action cost of the action.
Speed: The impact your Speed has on the action cost. Perform the calculation, then subtract the result from the action's base cost.
   Always round down.
Weight: The impact your Weight has on the action cost. Perform the calculation, then add the result to the action's base cost.
   Always round down.

The following are general descriptions of the action types.

• Full actions are actions that take a long time to complete. Some spellcasting takes full actions, as do some normal attacks. Many non-combat skills also require full actions.
• Long actions are actions that take slightly longer than most normal actions. Some more difficult spells, aimed ranged shots, and far movement fall into this category.
• Medium actions are the vast majority of actions you can take. Most spells, attacks, and combat-related skill tasks fall into this category.
• Short actions are actions that don't consume too much time. Most movement-related actions fall into this category.
• Quick actions tend to be reactionary in nature, though some feats or traits allow you to reduce the action costs of some actions into this category.
• Instant actions are all reactionary or instinctive in nature.
• Free actions include things that don't have a direct impact on the combat, such as speaking.

There are then a few modifiers that can be attributed to any kind of action.

• Reaction: A reactive action can be taken at any time, even when its not your turn. If you take a reaction, add its action cost to your initiative, as normal.
• Ongoing: An ongoing action is one that you are considered to be performing until your next turn to act. If you cast a spell with an action of "Short (Ongoing)", then you cast that spell until your next turn, when you will then apply the effects of the spell.

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, depending upon the kind of action you want to take.

• You can move (5 * your minimum Movement) feet with a Quick Action.
• You can move (5 * your average Movement) feet with a Short Action.
• You can move (5 * your maximum Movement) feet with a Medium Action.
• You can move (10 * your maximum Movement) feet with a Long Action.

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. Movement is considered channeled regardless of what kind of action you take to move.

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 5 feet with a Quick, 15 feet with a Short, 30 feet with a Medium, and 60 feet with a Long. He opts to use a Short action, and 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.

An attack action is usually a Medium Action, though some feats or traits may reduce or increase this.

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 free 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. Also, the bandit opted to dodge, which is an instant action, and costs him 4 ticks. The initiative now looks like this...

	            J
	E        C  B  D  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