Rulebook · Chapter 9 of 17

9.0 Combat

General Rule

Combat may (but need not) take place when the party runs into a monster or group of monsters. It consists of a series of rounds. Rounds are repeating blocks of specific actions (phases) that each side in the fight must carry out. Once combat begins, it cannot be interrupted until one side is dead.

Procedure

Before combat begins, players must determine the kind and number of monsters encountered, according to the rules given in section 8.0.

Next, players determine the strength of each monster encountered individually. This is given by the code printed on the tiles, e.g. 1+1 (see 3.2).

The next step is to establish the monster group's battle order.

Once these preliminary steps are done, combat may begin (see 9.2).

Detailed Rules

[9.1] Before combat begins, the monster group's battle order is set. The party begins combat in whatever order it was in at the moment of the encounter. If more than 3 monsters were encountered, the three strongest (highest strength stat) are placed in the front rank. The rest are placed in the second rank and, if needed, further ranks.

Players may choose which monster faces each character in the party's front rank. If only one monster was encountered, it's placed opposite the character standing in the middle of the party's front rank. If there are two monsters, they're placed opposite the outermost characters.

[9.2] Once each monster's strength has been calculated and the battle order set, the first round begins, consisting (like every round after it) of a series of phases (actions):

  1. Party attack: each party member may attack a monster standing in the monster group's front rank. Characters in the party's front rank may only attack with melee weapons (bows and knives excepted), while characters standing in the second rank may shoot bows, throw knives, or cast spells. The result of each individual attack is applied immediately.
  2. Monster attack: every monster in the front and second ranks attacks a character in the party's front rank. Monsters in the front rank may attack with weapons (usually natural ones, like claws or fangs) as well as spells (if capable). Monsters in the second rank may cast spells (if capable). The result of each individual attack is applied immediately.
  3. Black Gate attack: this phase only applies when the party is in the same segment as the Black Gate (i.e. once it has been found). Regardless of its position in the monster battle order, the Black Gate may use the "Explosion" spell 3 times during this phase (see 16.0).
  4. Party reorganisation: players may move one character from each rank of the party's order to a different rank. At the end of this phase, no rank may contain more than three characters (including any monsters under a Charm effect).
  5. Monster group reorganisation: the monster order must be reorganised so the front rank holds three monsters (if possible).

Completing all of the above phases makes up one round of combat. The next round (if there's still anyone to fight) starts over from phase 1.

[9.3] The target of each individual attack depends on the relative positions of the characters and monsters. If three characters are fighting three monsters, each of them, and each of the monsters, may attack the opponent standing directly opposite:

flowchart TB
    subgraph Monsters["monster battle order"]
        direction LR
        M1(["1"])
        M2(["2"])
        M3(["3"])
    end
    subgraph Party["party battle order"]
        direction LR
        A(["A"])
        B(["B"])
        C(["C"])
    end
    A --- M1
    B --- M2
    C --- M3

A attacks 1, B attacks 2, C attacks 3, and vice versa. If either (or both) opposing battle orders have fewer than three combatants, each must attack the opponent standing opposite them, unless more than one enemy is at the same distance from the attacker. In that case, the attack target for monsters (only) is determined randomly, by a die roll:

flowchart TB
    subgraph Monsters["monster battle order"]
        direction LR
        M1(["1"])
        M2(["2"])
        M3(["3"])
    end
    subgraph Party["party battle order"]
        direction LR
        A(["A"])
        B(["B"])
    end
    A -. 1-3 .-> M1
    A -. 4-6 .-> M2
    B -. 1-3 .-> M2
    B -. 4-6 .-> M3

If A and B are monsters, their attack targets are each determined by a separate die roll (one roll per monster). If 1, 2, or 3 is rolled, A's target is 1 and B's target is 2. If 4, 5, or 6 is rolled, A's target is 2 and B's target is 3.

If 1, 2, and 3 are the monsters, then 1 attacks A, 3 attacks B, and 2 attacks A (on a roll of 1, 2, or 3) or B (on a roll of 4, 5, or 6). Characters choose their attack target freely, so if in the example above A and B are characters, then A attacks 1 or 2, and B attacks 2 or 3. Similarly, in the example below, character A may attack any of the three opponents.

flowchart TB
    subgraph Monsters["monster battle order"]
        direction LR
        M1(["1"])
        M2(["2"])
        M3(["3"])
    end
    subgraph Party["party battle order"]
        direction LR
        A(["A"])
    end
    A -. 1-2 .-> M1
    A -. 3-4 .-> M2
    A -. 5-6 .-> M3

If A is a monster, its attack target depends on a die roll: 1 on a roll of 1 or 2, 2 on a roll of 3 or 4, or 3 on a roll of 5 or 6.

The examples above don't cover every possible combination, of course. They're meant only as guidance for how players should decide attack targets in other cases.

A character attacking from the party's second rank may choose any target in the monsters' front rank. A monster attacking from the second rank determines its target by a die roll.

[9.4] Characters may only attack during phase 1 (party attack), and monsters only during phase 2 (monster attack). Before combat begins, every character should declare which weapon they'll use. The weapon may be changed during combat, but doing so costs that character one attack phase. Both sides in combat follow these general rules:

  1. You may only attack once per round (exception: the Black Gate gets 3 attacks).
  2. You may only attack a single opponent per round (exception: the Black Gate).
  3. Anyone, character or monster, may be attacked by any number of enemies (though obviously never more than six: three from the enemy's front rank and three from the second).
  4. Wounds suffered in combat must be marked immediately on the character's sheet, or, for monsters, on any convenient scrap of paper.

[9.5] The result of an attack, i.e. the number of wounds inflicted on the opponent, is found in table 9.9 "Combat Result", at the intersection of the column matching the weapon used and the row matching the modified number rolled on 1K6.

Example: The hero Almuryk attacks with a sword. The player rolls 1K6 and gets a 4. They add 2 (Almuryk's proficiency is "+2 sword") and 3 (his agility stat), giving a modified roll of 9. The player then checks table 9.9, in the "sword" column, for the row matching 9. The number at that intersection is 1, so Almuryk's attack inflicts 1 wound on the enemy.

A single knife may only be thrown once during an entire combat. It may of course be picked back up after victory. A bow may be fired any number of times during combat, but only once per round, and only from the second rank.

[9.6] Monsters with no listed weapon use the "monsters" column to determine their attack result, while those with a weapon (see 8.2) use the column matching that weapon's type. On tiles for monsters using a weapon other than a natural one, a "w" is printed next to their agility stat. The weapon type is given in table 8.2 "Monster Stats".

As with characters, a monster's agility stat is added to the number rolled for its attack.

[9.7] The result of an attack may be to inflict a certain number of wounds on the enemy (see 9.5).

Every wound suffered by a character must be recorded on their character sheet, while wounds inflicted on a monster should be marked on the sheet of paper where that monster's strength was recorded earlier.

Death in combat occurs when the number of wounds suffered equals or exceeds the strength stat. This applies to both characters and monsters.

[9.8] As losses are suffered, either side's battle order may need reorganising. This happens during the appropriate phase (see 9.2).

Reorganising the party's order:

  1. A character may be moved to a different position within the same rank, as long as this doesn't change the relative order of characters in that rank, meaning characters standing in the same rank may not swap places, though the distance between them may change. This applies to ranks with fewer than three characters.
  2. A character may be moved from one rank to another, but never by more than one rank per round.
  3. While changing ranks, a character may also change position within the rank, e.g. from an outer position to the centre or vice versa.
  4. If only one character remains alive in the front rank, the only move that can (and must) be made is to shift a character from the second rank into the front rank.
  5. If two characters remain in the front rank, neither may be withdrawn to the second rank.

Reorganising the monster group's order:

  1. If the front rank has fewer than three monsters, one or two must be moved up from the second rank to fill the gap.
  2. If the front rank has three monsters, one monster from a further rank may be moved forward.
  3. A monster may change position within the same rank, but if there are two open positions, a die roll decides which one it takes.
  4. Monsters may not swap places within the same rank, nor move backward.

[9.9] Table "Combat Result": see the table board. (mislabeled as [9.8] in the original)