Post by dskt on Feb 12, 2022 4:32:04 GMT
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These rules apply to combat performed between two or more characters in Age of Gezo.
These rules are maintained by the administration team and are always up for discussion and subject to change once the admins feel necessary.
All decisions made by our administrators are to be followed, regardless if they are temporary rulings or laid in stone.
If you feel an unfair ruling has been made, you may appeal the ruling with higher admins.
DISCORD LINK: discord.gg/wtfTc4tq2N
1. Statistics
Stat values are the numerical measurement of a character's power in a select parameter. These values are applied to basic actions or techniques to determine combat interaction. In the case of decimal stats, you always round AFTER all calculations done, and round up only if it is .5 or higher. This means if you have a technique that does Mental + Intelligence damage, and your stats are 4.5 and 9.5, you add them together for 14. If it was 4.5 and 9 you'd add to 13.5 and round up to 14 afterwards. If it was 4.4 and 9 you add to 13.4, and round down to 13.
Before one can engage in combat, it is important that they understand their statistics and how they are meant to be used. Here is a brief description of each statistic and how they are generally used:
Physical Attributes
Strength - The physique of a character. Strength is used for physical actions such as dealing physical damage, lifting, and vertical mobility. In unclear scenarios, you may generally refer to Strength statistic for most actions that use your muscles.
Reflex - The reflexes of a character, used for responsive action. All five senses are included in this statistic and impairments to any of the five senses tends to debuff one's Reflex. Damage to the nervous system will also debuff Reflex statistic.
Durability - The density of a character's body. This statistic allows one's character to reduce, or in some cases outright nullify physical damage with their body. The soft membrane of a character's body, typically eyes and inner organs, will generally not have the durability statistic applied to them, with a few rare exceptions.
Attack Speed - The dexterity of a character's physical actions, primarily in speed. How fast you can swing your arm, unsheath your weapon, nock an arrow, or reload your gun. All these examples apply to Attack Speed.
Speed - The speed of a character's movement. Used to determine base tile movement and horizontal mobility. Generally refers to the use of legs, however rare situations may allow for arms to contribute to movement, such as in the case of Wolf lycans or swimming.
Spiritual Attributes
Control - A character's control over energies. This statistic applies to any race and their control over their respective spiritual energy, whether channeling internal functions or externalizing their energy into techniques. Higher control means faster spells, stronger holds over energy, and the greater effectiveness of certain techniques.
Intelligence - The knowledge and intellect of a character. Intelligence enhances the quality of crafting, can be used to compete between strategists, may help with understanding techniques, and may sometimes apply to curses and exorcisms.
Spirit Defense - Representative of an omnipresent field around a character's body which dampens energy-based forces, such as fire and electricity. This statistic will not help against elemental magic that strikes with physical trauma, such as wind, water, and earth.
Mental Resistance - The fortitude of one's mind and willpower. Determines a character's ability to resist mental attacks.
Skill Attributes
Physical Skill - Another component of dexterity in physical actions. This statistic determines a character's poise when confronting kinetic force, enabling them to better channel these forces through their physical actions. Primarily used for parrying and dexterity grapples, this may also substitute for physical damage in some styles.
Spirit - The potency and power of a character's spiritual energy. This statistic generally determines damage with spiritual attacks, binding strengths, and other impositions that wield spiritual energy.
Mental - The emotional quotient of a character. This statistic may be used to attack the mind through illusions, through hypnotic suggestion, and through hormones. Skillsets that use this statistic are generally rare.
2. Roleplay & Declared Intention
Roleplaying is the essence of combat; your actions are done through roleplay. While your stats and techniques may describe what your character can do, you are expected to roleplay and describe your character's actions with enough detail that your opponent can understand and react accordingly. When you finish a roleplay, you may flash the appropriate perks and list your necessary stats.
If a player requests you flash or list what you are using in terms of perks and calculations, you must reveal them unless the perk, item, or effect specifies as much such as a Trap.
You may request an opponent for their declared intention in order to lock in their turn's action if it is relevant to a concealed effect, Trap Technique, or Link Technique. On your turn, if you declare an intention such as a parry calculation or a clash, you are locked into your decision. Declared intentions are important to understand how the mechanical aspect of the game translates into the roleplayed action as well as maintaining the sportsmanship of the game. If an individual declares a calculation, such as a parry calculation, and they fail that calculation, that failure is reflected in their immediate turn.
3. Initiative
Combat starts by determining initiative. Initiative is given to the person with the highest base Speed statistic, allowing them to take the first offensive action. This becomes a crucial detail in surprise ambush scenarios where, so long as a victim can detect an assailant's presence (Battle Instinct Perk), they can seize initiative with raw Speed statistic. Without Battle Instinct, an individual is vulnerable to first turn surprise attacks which ignore Speed initiative.
In the case of team battles, party members defer to a lead attacker, following their Speed stat versus the opponent's leading attacker to determine which team gets initiative. In team fights, the whole team roleplays first before swinging to the opposing team's phase.
If both parties have an equal Speed statistic, settle initiative with Roshambo verb.
4. Rounds, Turns, and Action Economy
At the start of combat, combatants are expected to turn on their Fight Counter, commencing their first Round. A Round is defined as a full rotation of actions between all combatants where each combatant has been allowed to take their Turn.
In a single turn, a character is allotted -2- points to their Action Economy. These points are what limit the amount of actions a character is able to take in a turn, whether they are basic actions or techniques.
Movement is a Free Action.
Talking is a Free Action (within reason).
Defensive Options are a Free Action.
Deactivating stances/buffs is a Free Action.
Offensive Options cost an Action.
Using techniques cost an Action.
Activating stances/buffs cost an Action.
In a turn, a person may use one Spiritual-based technique and one Physical-based technique. The Transitionist perk is required to combo into another technique of the same type (Spiritual or Physical) in a single turn. In the case where a technique utilizes both Spiritual and Physical reserves, the technique will count as the type with the higher energy cost. If the energy cost is equal, the user may allot the technique as either a Spiritual or Physical action in their economy.
5. Combat Rules
Offense Options:
Attack
Grab
Throw
Defensive Options:
Block
Graze
Dodge
Redirect
Parry
Attack & Defense:
In combat, a calculation is checked between the attacker and the defending party based on the attacker's Attack Speed (or the speed of whatever attack they are using) against the defender's Reflex statistic. The outcome of this calculation generally determines the defender's ability to respond to the action, which can be checked in the following chart detailing the degrees of success:
Full Miss: 0 Attack Speed over Reflex.
The defender can fully dodge an attack.
Near Miss: 1-5 Attack Speed over Reflex.
The defender may take a grazing blow, parry, or block, while counterattacking -or- fully commit to using defensive/evasive actions to avoid damage.
Narrow: 6-10 Attack Speed over Reflex.
The defender must take a grazing blow, parry, or block. They are still permitted a counterattack.
Pressured: 11-15 Attack Speed over Reflex.
The defender takes a hit that may be redirected to a nearby region while permitted counterattack -or- fully commit to receiving a grazing blow or block without counterattack.
Near Hit: 16-20 Attack Speed over Reflex.
The defender must take a hit that may be redirected to a nearby region. They are still permitted a counterattack.
Full Hit: 21+ Attack Speed over Reflex.
The defender is fully hit without any basic defensive action available to them.
Please note that these aforementioned calculations only highlight how most regular combat sequences may occur. Many other factors can play into how attacks are landed or avoided by employing strategy and logic of the situation, which will be considered by admins for finalized rulings on a combat scenario if they are called upon.
Offensive Pressure:
In a combat situation, a person who is constantly attacking their opponent will reduce their Reflex by 3 per turn, applying on the next turn after the attack is delivered. The defending target will suffer continuously decreasing Reflex until they graze, block, or are struck, at which point their Reflex will be totally reset (not including Reflex debuffs from techniques). If an attacker stops attacking for a turn or if they are incapable of reaching their target with their attacks, the defender's Reflex will be reset. Successfully parrying will not reset the defending target's Reflex, however it will alleviate 3 points of Reflex from the Offensive Pressure applied on them (only applies once per turn) on a Perfect Parry.
Ranged fighters and casters can apply Offensive Pressure with their projectiles.
The Reflex debuff from Offensive Pressure is separate toward each unique fighter attacking a single individual, inclusive of summons.
(Example: A has 50 Reflex. B has attacked A five times, reducing Reflex by 15. C has attacked A three times, reducing Reflex by 9. A has 35 Reflex towards B's next attack and 41 Reflex toward C's next attack.)
Attacks:
A basic attack consisting of a physical strike, whether armed or unarmed.
Calculate user's Strength vs opponent's Durability to determine damage dealt. With a weapon, add bonus damage to aforementioned calculation. If there is no specified bonus, default to +1.
Feint:
The user can spend an Action to feint an attack, causing it to be void, but reduce 1 point of Reflex per feint done in the same turn. Feints can be weaved in at any point during the attacker's turn, but must have a real attack with the intention of striking the opponent mixed into their turn. An opponent who is not caught by this feint combination receives the Reflex reduction as bonus Offensive Pressure. Feints only work if there is a real threat of the user being able to hit the opponent in a sufficient range. Ranged fighters and casters can feint attacks through fake gestures or false incantations.
(Example: A attacks B with three basic attacks in a turn. A's first strike is a feint, the second strike is real, and the third attack is a feint. B dodges all three, receiving 5 Offensive Pressure on his next turn.)
Trade:
A reckless strike in which the user forgoes defense to trade blows with the opponent. The user is guaranteed to be hit for a chance to land a strike against the opponent. By striking with speed relative to the opponent's speed, the opponent is unable to dodge and must choose whether they commit to their attack. This option may not be available in many circumstances, including ranged combat and difference in reaches.
For Trade to work, the user must be within 20 points of the opponent's Attack Speed. If techniques were used to initiate Trade, neither are refunded on disengaging from the exchange.
Clash:
Striking the opponent's incoming attack with one of your own in an attempt to reduce its force or outright overpower it. There are a lot of variables that determine the outcome of this option such as the mass of the attack or the quality of the attack (Example: pervasive damage from auras or attacks without a solid form are an example of an attack that cannot clash). If cases are ever unclear, references to other rulings may be drawn upon to determine a conclusive outcome.
In order to initiate a clash, user must be within 20 points of the opponent's Attack Speed.
Spirit Clash:
Both attacks target Spiritual Defense. When a spiritual clash occurs, the stronger spirit wins if over 20 points in damage and overpowers the opponent's attack. If damages are within 20 points of each other, a struggle occurs.
Physical Clash:
Both attacks target Durability. When this type of clash occurs, reduce the damage of the stronger attack by the weaker attack and return the remainder onto the weaker combatant.
Unique Clash:
Normally, attacks that target Spiritual Defense and Durability do not interact with eachother in a clash, however some situations may permit this interaction. For example: Fire vs Water, True Body Kata vs Kosen, etc. Players can admin help when a situation arises to determine the interaction.
Grabs:
Specifically in the case of initiating a clinch, the restraint of a limb, or a grapple hold against an opponent. When combatants are locked in a grapple situation the fight changes considerably, requiring greater scrutiny for details in roleplay. Dodging is no longer fully viable in a grapple situation. Even if only an extremity is grabbed, though the target may be able to avoid blows directly to their centermass, nothing stops their caught limb from being attacked. If the target is grabbed closer to their torso, then there is no hope for dodging at all. Due to how close the combatants are, it becomes more difficult to strike with full force.
Attack Speed vs Reflex to determine whether a grab connects.
Within a clinch, strikes deal 25% reduced damage and neither party can dodge attacks toward their bound/occupied appendage.
Clinch/Break:
This is the default struggle calculation for grappling. This only occurs when there is resistance between grappled combatants, suggesting the ability to remain in a clinch or break free.
Contest Strength vs Strength to maintain per turn. If within 20 points or greater in Strength, the Grab succeeds, reducing by 10 Strength per turn for as long as the Grab is held. If there is a difference of over 50 Strength, the Grab does not reduce anymore.
Crush:
Crushing is considered an Attack action, dealing damage to the area that is grabbed. User's Strength vs Opponent's Durability is dealt at a cap of the user's Martial Arts proficiency (see: Damage Caps). The neck is susceptible to Crush damage, suffering Major capped damage at all ranks and Lethal at Tier 4.
When a grab is grazed, the skin/armor is pinched, dealing a grazed crush calculation to the opponent or the armor exclusively.
Throws/Marksmanship:
The act of physically tossing or propelling an object to give it a ballistic trajectory. Marksmanship is divided into two types:
Power Type:
A Power Type throw is characterized by the invocation of muscular strength to catapult an object into flight. This style of throwing is typically used on larger objects for widespread destruction or on a heavy weapon to reach a distant target with a single, well-placed attack. Power Type utilizes the Strength statistic for flight speed, tile distance, and damage. A Power Type throw still has an Attack Speed phase to determine the motion of winding up the throw. This is the default form of throwing and can only be used once in a turn.
Dexterity Type:
A trickier throwing style that demonstrates finesse and rapidity to launch smaller projectile weapons at closer distances. Objects that can fit between fingers such as knives, shuriken, darts, etc. are viable objects for Dexterity throws. Additionally, some weapons styles innately count as Dexterity Type in their basic attacks and thus utilize their respective perk proficiencies to determine damage caps. Examples of such weapons are: chains, daggers, charkams, and whips. Dexterity Type throws utilize Attack Speed for flight speed, Strength for damage, and Strength/2 for tile distance (or the maximum reach of a chained/roped weapon). As many Dexterity throws can be utilized in a turn as a character has Actions.
Dexterity Type throws (without a weapon perk) and Power Type throws follow the Marksman perk for damage cap:
No Marksman - Minor
Tier 1 Marksman - Medium
Tier 2 Marksman - Major
Tier 3 Marksman - Lethal
Throwing random objects that are not counted as real weapons may only cap at a maximum of Major damage. (Example: throwing a pebble, throwing uplifted dirt, throwing a bottle of orange juice, throwing a house.)
Tile Distance:
The apex of a projectile's trajectory before it starts to decline or dissipate.
Archery:
Bows are a weapon that may uniquely switch between Power Type and Dexterity Type marksmanship for focused fire or mid range rapid fire respectively. Bows have a tensile strength which limit its maximum speed/damage output without the assistance of perks or techniques.
Mechanical Ballistics:
These type of weapons do not require any physical input aside from aiming and a simple trigger which does not count as an interruptible phase, however these items have static parameters as a result.
Additionally, unskilled operators of mechanical ballistic weaponry are prone to jamming their weapon. Utilizing a weapon without the necessary perk invokes a 1/2 chance of jamming, a 1/3 chance of jamming at Tier 1, and a 1/4 chance of jamming at Tier 2. The weapon will not work until the jam is cleared, costing a turn Action.
Aiming:
Against targets that are in motion, a phase for aiming is required when using throws/ranged weapons (some casting techniques may fall under this category, such as Kosen). This phase checks for the marksman's Reflex vs the target's current movement speed. This represents the marksman's ability to adapt to/estimate the target's repositioning, letting their potential projectile reach accordingly. Inability to adapt by Reflex forces an accuracy check. An aiming phase is not always necessary depending on the context of a situation; it is important to emphasize detail in roleplays and exercise discernment in deciding when it is required.
Precision Melee:
A character may attempt to target a specific location on the opponent's body with their melee attack, such as the eyes or an open wound. Against a resisting target, or someone who is not totally bound, this invokes an accuracy check. Precision Melee cannot be used with multiple hit techniques at all unless the technique is treated as a basic attack -or- the technique itself strikes a particular region multiple times.
Accuracy:
The accuracy of an estimated trajectory for projectiles or the precision of a specific target in melee is checked by the following chart. Melee attacks that fail this check simply fail to strike this location whereas ranged attacks that fail this check miss entirely.
No Marksman - 1/6 chance of landing.
Tier 1 Marksman - 1/4 chance of landing.
Tier 2 Marksman - 1/2 chance of landing.
Tier 3 Marksman+ - Always adaptable.
Dodge:
The primary defense option which is to elude an opponent's incoming attack entirely. A character's Reflex stat is a culmination of their senses and their ability to move or contort their body quickly within short space. This gives the one who dodges several options when choosing how to elude their foes.
Spot Dodge:
Evading attacks within the character's current tile. Attacks that are small enough to dodge by swaying the body in different directions.
Step Dodge:
Suddenly shifting the character's weight in a direction to avoid an attack. This moves the character up to one tile away in any direction along the ground or for a quick hop into the air, traditionally used on sweeping attacks or full tile AoEs.
Air Dodge:
A unique form of dodging only available to those with at least Tier 1 Mid Air Combatant. Within the air, the user can shift their body up to several tiles away based on the stipulated effect of the Mid Air Combatant perk.
Without the Mid Air Combatant perk, a character cannot dodge within the air at all.
AOE Dodge:
Some attacks will come in sizes that are greater than a tile, which are referred to as Area of Effect (AOE). These will show up as the following:
A pervasive area of effect in which the attack manifests as its immediate large form. This could be a meteor, a giant fist, a tidal wave, etc.
An expanding area of effect which grows outward from an epicenter. This could be a shockwave, an explosion, a flamethrower, etc.
To dodge AOEs, a character will need to take their mobility into account as well as the Reflex to respond to the attack. They will need four things in total to fully dodge an AOE:
1. Reflex to respond to the attack.
2. Movement speed higher than the incoming attack's speed.
3. Tile distance greater than the radius of the attack.
4. The space to outmaneuver the attack.
If a character has an excess of Reflex when responding to the AOE's speed, add 50% of their excess Reflex over the AOE's attack speed into their dodge speed calculation. This does not increase their tile distance nor does this increase their actual movement speed. This represents their ability to dodge the AOE by preemptively outmaneuvering the attack.
(Example: A is being attacked by a tidal wave of 30x30 that is approaching at 45 Speed. A has 75 Reflex and 31 Speed. Even though his base Speed is lower than the AOE's approaching speed, A adds 15 [75 - 45 = 30, 30/2 = 15] to his dodge calculation due to excess Reflex, putting his calculation at 46. His base Speed also surpasses the attack's radius, allowing him to cleanly dodge.)
If a character lags within 20 Points below the AOE in terms of speed, they may graze the AOE with the encompassing severity depending on how much they are lagging behind.
This calculation does not fit all situations that combatants may encounter regarding AOEs. Sometimes dodging may not be a viable option at all with limited space or circumstances. It is stressed that players should exercise discernment in reading and writing roleplayed situations.
Graze:
When a character cannot fully dodge an attack, they are scraped slightly which results in less damage being received.
The defender takes only 25% of the original damage after it has been calculated against their defenses. In the case of calculating with armor, apply damage reduction from armor before applying the graze to the defender. The full damage will apply to the armor, regardless of the graze calculation.
(Example: Durability = 10 vs Str = 30. Instead of taking 20 points of damage, you're grazed and only take 5 points of damage.)
Block:
The act of receiving the opponent's attack against a prepared defense, such as a guarding sword stance, a shield, or arms. This defense works best between hand-to-hand combatants, however weapons and other objects can work as a source of defense, inclusive of magic that have a dense structure.
The defender takes only 50% of the original damage after it has been calculated against their defenses. This reduction only applies in hand-to-hand combat.
A martial artist cannot apply this reduction against weapons without Fist Hardening or Lethal Legs.
(Example: Durability = 10 vs Str = 30. Instead of taking 20 points of damage, you block with your arms and only take 10 points of damage.)
Parry:
Rather than dodging or blocking an attack, this defense allows a character to redirect an attack from its intended target. It is a high risk, high reward maneuver that can change the momentum of a fight when used correctly. This is done by striking an incoming attack at a point perpendicular to its momentum to cast it aside.
Calculate the user's (Reflex + Attack Speed)/2 + Physical Skill against the opponent's calculation. This determines whether a parry succeeds or fails. If the defender is above or within 20 Points below the attacker's calculation, their parry will succeed, nullifying the attack against them and the consequential Offensive Pressure. Failing the calculation will cause the defender to take the intended hit on the turn the parry is called with no additional defenses provided to them, unless they use a Safeguard technique.
Perfect Parry:
If the defender's parry calculation exceeds the opponent's parry calculation, they have performed what is called a Perfect Parry. This allows the defender to recover 3 Points of Reflex from the opponent's Offensive Pressure, enables them to lead their next attack into a Riposte, and forces an immediate end to the opponent's offensive actions, regardless of following multiple hits in that turn.
Riposte:
The first action in a turn that immediately follows a Perfect Parry is considered a Riposte. This imposes a Reflex penalty against the opponent for the following attack/technique based on the difference of parry calculations.
(Example: A calls for a parry against B. A's parry is 120. B's parry is 100. A wins by an excess of 20 Points which transitions into his Riposte debuff against B for his following attack.)
The Riposte penalty caps by the user's Skill Rank: -10 at D, -20 at C, -30 at B, -40 at A, and -50 at S.
Parrying Projectiles:
Calculate the user's Parry Calculation against the projectile's tilespeed x1.5 to determine success.
Parry Score:
The use of the Parry defense option will cause the user's total parry calculation to degrade by 2 Points per use. A Parry Score gradually recovers by 2 every turn when a Parry is not being used -or- recovered entirely when the user lands an attack against an opponent.
Redirect Hit:
When a character enters the Pressured range when reacting to an attack, they may opt for a redirected hit. An attack that is aimed for a particular region is substituted for a different region that is close by. In some cases, this may let a character escape an immediately fatal outcome.
(Example: A is being attacked toward his head. A shifts his body to receive the blow against his shoulder instead.)
Attack Cancel:
At the cost of an Action, a character can retroactively cancel their attack provided they have Reflex over their Attack Speed. This mostly plays into Hit Trade situations, where a person may not want to commit to the trade of blows.
(Example: A attacks B with a basic attack. B attempts to trade blows with A. A has 105 Attack Speed and 120 Reflex. A cancels his attack due to having higher Reflex than his Attack Speed and dodges B's attack like normal.)
Damage:
The following is a chart that determines the severity of damage taken:
1-9 - Minor Damage - Scrapes, paper cuts.
10-29 - Medium Damage - Bruises, superficial lacerations, minor burns.
30-49 - Major Damage - Fractured bones, deep lacerations, scalded flesh.
50+ - Lethal Damage - Shattered bones, severed appendages, emulsified/charred flesh.
Although Lethal Damage has the capacity to kill a character, it is not immediately fatal unless it is placed against a critical region with great severity, such as the brain.
Soft membrane such as eyes and internal organs do not reduce damage by Durability. Characters cannot fully negate physical damage until they have a minimum of Tier 3 Durability. Even if the damage amounts to 0 post-calculation, they will still take 1 damage until they have the necessary perk.
Injuries:
A character receives an injury when they have taken Major damage or above to a region. This injury will remain on the character for a period of time. Recovery periods can range anywhere between one OOC day to one OOC month depending on the severity of the wound. There are other factors which can affect the injury to help lessen the recovery period, such as healing or treatments.
Pain Tolerance:
For every instance of damage a character receives, they experience pain. Depending on the degree of damage received, a character will either have no immediate reaction towards the pain (Minor) or experience a brief stagger (Major+). While this does not typically affect turn sequence or action economy, a complete interruption of actions can occur during simultaneous attacks, such as Trades, if the receiving party cannot tolerate the pain.
Pain Tolerance acts as a pool of 'super armor' points which can be expended during the receiving of damage to follow through without interruption to one's actions. By sacrificing points to lower the pain of received damage down to a perceived lesser damage (Medium), the perceived pain becomes tolerable to complete one's actions through. Additionally, a character can sacrifice 30 Points of Pain Tolerance to negate the debiliating effects of a Major injury during a turn.
Characters can be knocked out when experiencing an excessive amount of pain all at once, or carry an excessive amount of injuries. With tiers into Endurance (Pain Tolerance perks), it is less likely for a character to succumb to unconsciousness through pain, especially when taking a strong hit in a single instance. At the highest tiers, characters can even continue fighting with frighteningly fatal injuries, even at the expense of their life.
Damage Stacking:
An injury does not worsen unless additional instances of damage are placed onto the exact same point, in which case the injury will worsen by the following metric: 5 Minors turns into 1 Medium, 3 Mediums turn into 1 Major, 3 Majors turn into 1 Lethal.
Damage Caps:
The maximum amount of damage an attack or a technique can deal after all calculations. Techniques will have a damage cap written into their description whereas characters must use the following chart for their basic attacks:
Hand-to-Hand:
Tier 1 & 2 - Medium Damage
Tier 3 - Major Damage
Tier 4 - Lethal Damage
Weapons:
Tier 1 - Medium Damage
Tier 2 - Major Damage
Tier 3 - Lethal Damage
Damage capped at Minor and Medium can only deal a maximum of 10 and 30 Points respectively to weapons, armor, and objects, unless a special technique or style is at play.
Beyond Lethal Damage:
Some techniques will have a Beyond Lethal damage cap. This means that the technique has the capacity of the total erasure of matter when its damage reaches Lethal values. In some cases, a person may just be strong enough to turn a person to mist with their basic force. This idea generally follows being able to deal 75+ damage over the target's resistances.
Mental Damage:
When dealing Mental Damage, the technique itself must explain the consequence of receiving Lethal Damage, otherwise default to unconsciousness.
Breaking Objects & Structures:
Calculate the damage against the object's Durability. If the object has HP, the damage post-calculation is dealt to the HP and when it reaches 0, the object breaks. If the object does not have HP, then it breaks on exceeding its Durability.
Vitality:
All Bearers have a base Vitality of 100 Points. This determines traditional damage ranges for lethality. Vitality can be altered in certain skillsets, thereby manipulating the degrees of damage one must take before achieving a certain threshold. To calculate this, the user must determine their current Vitality, then multiply the damage ranges by the hundredth of the Vitality.
(Example 1: Character A has 150 Vitality. Multiply 1.5 by the damage ranges. To receive Lethal damage, they must receive 75+ damage, for Major 45+, for Medium 15+.)
(Example 2: Character B has 300 Vitality. Multiply 3 by the damage ranges. To receive Lethal damage, they must receive 150+ damage, for Major 90+, for Medium 30+.)
Non-Bearers have a Vitality of 10 Points.
Healing:
This section refers to the diverse types of healing and regeneration that will be found in AOG. Healing can be divided into two types:
Natural Regeneration:
The expedited process of natural healing to repair damage to the skin, fractured bone, and some organ tissue. When healed by a technique that promotes Natural Regeneration, it can only be healed -once- on the afflicted region unless overwritten by a stronger technique, in which case the rest must be naturally healed over time.
Advanced Regeneration:
Cellular regeneration of complex structures, including organs and appendages. When healed by a technique that promotes Advanced Regeneration, it can be repeated multiple times per region until the body is fully healed anew.
Healing techniques are assigned a numerical value that represent the damage to be reversed in proportion to the damage scale chart (1-50). For regeneration, that value is also a measure of how fast the body is healing as regeneration occurs instantly at the start of every turn. Healing values that surpass the Lethal threshold (50+) are exceedingly quick at repairing damage, so much so that the excess becomes a damage reduction against incoming attacks.
If the damage of a wound exceeds the cap's limit, then healing the injury will start from the maximum value of that cap (e.g. The maximum a Major can go is 49 Points). For Lethal injuries, this starts at 50 Points.
(Example 1: A has received 105 damage capped at Major to his arm. B treats A's arm injury with a medical technique that stimulates Natural Regeneration. B heals A for 15 Points of damage (49 - 15 = 34). The injury still remains above Major, however there is a lesser recovery period.)
(Example 2: A has received 105 damage capped at Lethal to his arm. A loses his arm. B treats A's arm injury with a technique that causes Advanced Regeneration. B heals A for 25 Points of damage once, then repeats the technique twice on the same region (50 - 25 - 25 = 0). A has regained a new arm.)
Physics & Mobility:
This section covers a list of mobility options and situations characters might find themselves in during combat.
Horizontal Movement:
Movement speed and tile distance is determined by the Speed statistic.
Movement traditionally occurs linearly from tile to tile. When a character has the Free Runner perk, they are able to alter their trajectory by curving around obstacles without any loss to their momentum.
Backwards running and strafing reduces a character's speed and tile distance to Speed/2. This is negated by the Free Runner perk also.
Vertical Movement:
Jumping speed is determined by Strength statistic and height by Strength/2.
Long jumps take the character's Speed stat into consideration for horizontal tile distance.
Falling:
Characters fall at a speed and distance of 10 tiles per turn, increasing by +10 every additional turn spent in the air to a cap of 100 Speed. Characters take fall damage equal to these speeds.
Knockback:
Techniques or basic attacks with great force packed behind them can potentially displace characters. Characters who collide with objects during their flight will receive the speed as damage to their Durability, capped at Medium.
Swimming:
Several changes are imposed on characters who fight underwater:
1. Underwater movement is (Strength + Speed)/2 in tile speed and distance.
2. Attack Speed and physical damage dealt are reduced by 10%.
3. Hearing and Sight are reduced by two tiers. Smell is nullified.
Characters must hold their breath underwater. If a character has lost their breath underwater, they will drown in three turns.
Fish Lycanus are exempt from all swimming penalties and can operate as effectively as though they were on land.
Holding Breath:
Holding breath drains stamina per turn, starting at 100 and increasing by 100 per turn (e.g. 100, 200, 300, etc). This can also be forced on characters by choking them.
Equipment:
Most characters will come into battle equipped with an arsenal of tools. While a loadout does not typically encumber a Bearer with its weight, having too much equipment on one's person will start to interfere with their mobility, making their movements awkward.
A character should be mindful of the equipment they wear in combat.
Weapons:
Up to three weapons can be worn on a person at a time before it starts to interfere with their combat. Exceeding this limit will lower the character's total Speed, Attack Speed, Physical Skill, and damage output by 10%.
Armor:
A character can wear armor to help lower damage from attacks. When taking damage with armor, the incoming damage first reduces by the armor's Durability before calculating against the wearer's defenses. The damage exceeding the armor's Durability also reduces the armor's HP.
(Example: A takes 105 damage. A has 30 Durability and is wearing heavy armor with a Durability of 50 and an HP of 350. A now only receives 25 damage to himself and loses 55 HP from his armor.)
Armor is divided into two types:
Light Armor: Armor that covers specific regions of the body.
Heavy Armor: An armor set fit for the whole body.
Up to four pieces of light armor can be equipped to cover torso, arms, legs, and head. A single heavy armor set is enough to provide protection for the full body. To fight effectively in combat with heavy armor, a character must have the Heavy Armor Proficiency perk, otherwise they suffer a penalty to their total Speed, Attack Speed, Physical Skill, and damage output by 10%.
While grazing with armor is permitted, a full damage calculation will exclusively hit the armor itself when this defense option is utilized.
Personal Armory:
Some skillsets will allow a character to have an expanded or limitless armory, letting them carry more equipment into battle. In such a case, they should receive an admin-given perk stating their ability to do so.
Rings (WIPE 7 UNIQUE RULE):
Rings are a special accessory that grant the wearer a unique bonus. Up to four rings can be benefitted from at a time and duplicate rings do not stack.
Techniques:
Some techniques have special interactions in how they are able to be employed.
Safeguard:
A Safeguard is a technique that can be activated automatically without a Reflex check. Safeguard techniques are typically used to protect the user from an unfavorable outcome, such as an auto-barrier or a heal.
Stratagem:
The Strategist perk offers a unique turn action that allows for the use of Stratagems. These techniques tend to have unique effects to help change the flow of combat.
Chain:
Techniques with a Chain clause allows for combos by transitioning between techniques without additional action costs. Each action in a Chain is independant and does transition its effects onto the next technique.
Link:
A Link clause allows for the seamless merging of a technique into another action/technique to enhance its effects.
Trap:
Trap techniques have a broad range of uses depending on the technique. Some trap techniques can be set in advance to trip when an opponent performs a certain action, whereas other trap techniques may have a trap activation hidden within their description. Whenever an opponent trips a trap activation, the user may flash the trap and force the opponent to RP their new situation.
Action Phases:
Some maneuvers and techniques can be divided into a series of smaller actions to create one whole action. These miniature actions are referred to as 'Action Phases', which refer to preliminary or preparatory steps toward a following attack/movement. For example, firing a beam at someone may require the caster to point their hand at their target, or a character may be activating their transformation which requires a flow of their spiritual energy to reach across their body. While most of the time these phases are not able to be interacted with, there are some rare situations where they can be interrupted.
Buff Activation:
In most cases, activating a buff is not instant. There are many kinds of transformations, enhancements, or releases that occur at different speeds. Most spiritual enhancements will have a Control phase, whereas a physical change to the body may just occur instantly due to an internal change. It is not recommended to activate transformations as a reaction to an attack, but to activate them preemptively.
Gestures:
Many techniques involve some sort of gesture to control a magic or cast an attack. Typically this phase cannot be used for reaction, however if a caster is attempting to fire a spell at close range, a melee combatant has the prerogative to interrupt them by their Attack Speed.
Speech:
Speech plays an essential role in Age of Gezo. Techniques are commonly featured to have some form of name-calling invocation or a full line of incantations. While speech generally does not interfere with the flow of combat, extending speech into full monologues has the potential to neutralize Offensive Pressure.
Incantations will generally span for full turn lengths and can be interrupted by striking or forcing the chanter to move, or causing their breathing pattern to change in any way. Applying similarly to how gestures are interrupted, if a melee fighter is already in range of a chanter, they can interrupt the incantation based on the opponent's Intelligence stat.
Encounters:
Several rules regarding the entrance and exit of combat.
Joining Combat:
To join a fight that is already in progress, a character must wait 5 turns before they are able to enter. There are rare scenarios which may force the immediate entry of a character into a combat scenario.
Escape:
To officially stop a combat scenario, a character must be able to elude their opponents for two whole turns in terms of chasing speed and distance. This also means the escaping character must not be under threat of long distance fire to fully clear this pre-requisite. On the third turn, the escaping character is free to leave without any further obstruction from the opponents who were previously in combat with them. They may not reengage the escaped character so long as they continue to escape.
FATE REJECTION:
Characters may live long enough to receive a Fate Rejection. A Fate Rejection is the mechanical representation of fate and being able to defy it in miraculous ways. Fate Rejections can be stockpiled as points to be used typically in one of the ways listed below:
Heroic Timing: Permits a character to enter combat without any wait time. They can even intercept on a specific turn with immediate priority.
Fight Another Day: Permits a character to escape a dangerous situation by some sort of divine intervention, guaranteeing their safety from any would-be pursuers of that one combat situation.
Can't Escape Crossing Fate: Designate a target for a fated duel in which neither combatants may use Fate Rejections to escape. Although regular escape is permitted, either party who does so will automatically forfeit their next LC.
Screw The Dice!: Allows a character to reroll an unfavorable roll. Alternatively, this can be used to force your opponent to reroll their result.
With Every Ounce of Strength!: For a single turn, a character does not suffer any expenditures from buffs, stances, techniques, etc. In the case of timed buffs, using this Fate Rejection grants them an extra turn to fight with.
Behold, My Hidden Power!: A character may unlock a perk, a technique, or some sort of power that exists just outside the boundary of their typical line of progression by the expenditure of a Fate Rejection. This option may not always be available to a character as there are various factors that determines what is available to them, for example: how well they have served a God, learned from a teacher, progressed their own skillset, etc.
There are other ways that a Fate Rejection may be employed depending on what a situation calls for. In extreme cases, some characters can even directly interfere with fate, therefore it is wise to use these points with caution.
These rules apply to combat performed between two or more characters in Age of Gezo.
These rules are maintained by the administration team and are always up for discussion and subject to change once the admins feel necessary.
All decisions made by our administrators are to be followed, regardless if they are temporary rulings or laid in stone.
If you feel an unfair ruling has been made, you may appeal the ruling with higher admins.
DISCORD LINK: discord.gg/wtfTc4tq2N
1. Statistics
Stat values are the numerical measurement of a character's power in a select parameter. These values are applied to basic actions or techniques to determine combat interaction. In the case of decimal stats, you always round AFTER all calculations done, and round up only if it is .5 or higher. This means if you have a technique that does Mental + Intelligence damage, and your stats are 4.5 and 9.5, you add them together for 14. If it was 4.5 and 9 you'd add to 13.5 and round up to 14 afterwards. If it was 4.4 and 9 you add to 13.4, and round down to 13.
Before one can engage in combat, it is important that they understand their statistics and how they are meant to be used. Here is a brief description of each statistic and how they are generally used:
Physical Attributes
Strength - The physique of a character. Strength is used for physical actions such as dealing physical damage, lifting, and vertical mobility. In unclear scenarios, you may generally refer to Strength statistic for most actions that use your muscles.
Reflex - The reflexes of a character, used for responsive action. All five senses are included in this statistic and impairments to any of the five senses tends to debuff one's Reflex. Damage to the nervous system will also debuff Reflex statistic.
Durability - The density of a character's body. This statistic allows one's character to reduce, or in some cases outright nullify physical damage with their body. The soft membrane of a character's body, typically eyes and inner organs, will generally not have the durability statistic applied to them, with a few rare exceptions.
Attack Speed - The dexterity of a character's physical actions, primarily in speed. How fast you can swing your arm, unsheath your weapon, nock an arrow, or reload your gun. All these examples apply to Attack Speed.
Speed - The speed of a character's movement. Used to determine base tile movement and horizontal mobility. Generally refers to the use of legs, however rare situations may allow for arms to contribute to movement, such as in the case of Wolf lycans or swimming.
Spiritual Attributes
Control - A character's control over energies. This statistic applies to any race and their control over their respective spiritual energy, whether channeling internal functions or externalizing their energy into techniques. Higher control means faster spells, stronger holds over energy, and the greater effectiveness of certain techniques.
Intelligence - The knowledge and intellect of a character. Intelligence enhances the quality of crafting, can be used to compete between strategists, may help with understanding techniques, and may sometimes apply to curses and exorcisms.
Spirit Defense - Representative of an omnipresent field around a character's body which dampens energy-based forces, such as fire and electricity. This statistic will not help against elemental magic that strikes with physical trauma, such as wind, water, and earth.
Mental Resistance - The fortitude of one's mind and willpower. Determines a character's ability to resist mental attacks.
Skill Attributes
Physical Skill - Another component of dexterity in physical actions. This statistic determines a character's poise when confronting kinetic force, enabling them to better channel these forces through their physical actions. Primarily used for parrying and dexterity grapples, this may also substitute for physical damage in some styles.
Spirit - The potency and power of a character's spiritual energy. This statistic generally determines damage with spiritual attacks, binding strengths, and other impositions that wield spiritual energy.
Mental - The emotional quotient of a character. This statistic may be used to attack the mind through illusions, through hypnotic suggestion, and through hormones. Skillsets that use this statistic are generally rare.
2. Roleplay & Declared Intention
Roleplaying is the essence of combat; your actions are done through roleplay. While your stats and techniques may describe what your character can do, you are expected to roleplay and describe your character's actions with enough detail that your opponent can understand and react accordingly. When you finish a roleplay, you may flash the appropriate perks and list your necessary stats.
If a player requests you flash or list what you are using in terms of perks and calculations, you must reveal them unless the perk, item, or effect specifies as much such as a Trap.
You may request an opponent for their declared intention in order to lock in their turn's action if it is relevant to a concealed effect, Trap Technique, or Link Technique. On your turn, if you declare an intention such as a parry calculation or a clash, you are locked into your decision. Declared intentions are important to understand how the mechanical aspect of the game translates into the roleplayed action as well as maintaining the sportsmanship of the game. If an individual declares a calculation, such as a parry calculation, and they fail that calculation, that failure is reflected in their immediate turn.
3. Initiative
Combat starts by determining initiative. Initiative is given to the person with the highest base Speed statistic, allowing them to take the first offensive action. This becomes a crucial detail in surprise ambush scenarios where, so long as a victim can detect an assailant's presence (Battle Instinct Perk), they can seize initiative with raw Speed statistic. Without Battle Instinct, an individual is vulnerable to first turn surprise attacks which ignore Speed initiative.
In the case of team battles, party members defer to a lead attacker, following their Speed stat versus the opponent's leading attacker to determine which team gets initiative. In team fights, the whole team roleplays first before swinging to the opposing team's phase.
If both parties have an equal Speed statistic, settle initiative with Roshambo verb.
4. Rounds, Turns, and Action Economy
At the start of combat, combatants are expected to turn on their Fight Counter, commencing their first Round. A Round is defined as a full rotation of actions between all combatants where each combatant has been allowed to take their Turn.
In a single turn, a character is allotted -2- points to their Action Economy. These points are what limit the amount of actions a character is able to take in a turn, whether they are basic actions or techniques.
Movement is a Free Action.
Talking is a Free Action (within reason).
Defensive Options are a Free Action.
Deactivating stances/buffs is a Free Action.
Offensive Options cost an Action.
Using techniques cost an Action.
Activating stances/buffs cost an Action.
In a turn, a person may use one Spiritual-based technique and one Physical-based technique. The Transitionist perk is required to combo into another technique of the same type (Spiritual or Physical) in a single turn. In the case where a technique utilizes both Spiritual and Physical reserves, the technique will count as the type with the higher energy cost. If the energy cost is equal, the user may allot the technique as either a Spiritual or Physical action in their economy.
5. Combat Rules
Offense Options:
Attack
Grab
Throw
Defensive Options:
Block
Graze
Dodge
Redirect
Parry
Attack & Defense:
In combat, a calculation is checked between the attacker and the defending party based on the attacker's Attack Speed (or the speed of whatever attack they are using) against the defender's Reflex statistic. The outcome of this calculation generally determines the defender's ability to respond to the action, which can be checked in the following chart detailing the degrees of success:
Full Miss: 0 Attack Speed over Reflex.
The defender can fully dodge an attack.
Near Miss: 1-5 Attack Speed over Reflex.
The defender may take a grazing blow, parry, or block, while counterattacking -or- fully commit to using defensive/evasive actions to avoid damage.
Narrow: 6-10 Attack Speed over Reflex.
The defender must take a grazing blow, parry, or block. They are still permitted a counterattack.
Pressured: 11-15 Attack Speed over Reflex.
The defender takes a hit that may be redirected to a nearby region while permitted counterattack -or- fully commit to receiving a grazing blow or block without counterattack.
Near Hit: 16-20 Attack Speed over Reflex.
The defender must take a hit that may be redirected to a nearby region. They are still permitted a counterattack.
Full Hit: 21+ Attack Speed over Reflex.
The defender is fully hit without any basic defensive action available to them.
Please note that these aforementioned calculations only highlight how most regular combat sequences may occur. Many other factors can play into how attacks are landed or avoided by employing strategy and logic of the situation, which will be considered by admins for finalized rulings on a combat scenario if they are called upon.
Offensive Pressure:
In a combat situation, a person who is constantly attacking their opponent will reduce their Reflex by 3 per turn, applying on the next turn after the attack is delivered. The defending target will suffer continuously decreasing Reflex until they graze, block, or are struck, at which point their Reflex will be totally reset (not including Reflex debuffs from techniques). If an attacker stops attacking for a turn or if they are incapable of reaching their target with their attacks, the defender's Reflex will be reset. Successfully parrying will not reset the defending target's Reflex, however it will alleviate 3 points of Reflex from the Offensive Pressure applied on them (only applies once per turn) on a Perfect Parry.
Ranged fighters and casters can apply Offensive Pressure with their projectiles.
The Reflex debuff from Offensive Pressure is separate toward each unique fighter attacking a single individual, inclusive of summons.
(Example: A has 50 Reflex. B has attacked A five times, reducing Reflex by 15. C has attacked A three times, reducing Reflex by 9. A has 35 Reflex towards B's next attack and 41 Reflex toward C's next attack.)
Attacks:
A basic attack consisting of a physical strike, whether armed or unarmed.
Calculate user's Strength vs opponent's Durability to determine damage dealt. With a weapon, add bonus damage to aforementioned calculation. If there is no specified bonus, default to +1.
Feint:
The user can spend an Action to feint an attack, causing it to be void, but reduce 1 point of Reflex per feint done in the same turn. Feints can be weaved in at any point during the attacker's turn, but must have a real attack with the intention of striking the opponent mixed into their turn. An opponent who is not caught by this feint combination receives the Reflex reduction as bonus Offensive Pressure. Feints only work if there is a real threat of the user being able to hit the opponent in a sufficient range. Ranged fighters and casters can feint attacks through fake gestures or false incantations.
(Example: A attacks B with three basic attacks in a turn. A's first strike is a feint, the second strike is real, and the third attack is a feint. B dodges all three, receiving 5 Offensive Pressure on his next turn.)
Trade:
A reckless strike in which the user forgoes defense to trade blows with the opponent. The user is guaranteed to be hit for a chance to land a strike against the opponent. By striking with speed relative to the opponent's speed, the opponent is unable to dodge and must choose whether they commit to their attack. This option may not be available in many circumstances, including ranged combat and difference in reaches.
For Trade to work, the user must be within 20 points of the opponent's Attack Speed. If techniques were used to initiate Trade, neither are refunded on disengaging from the exchange.
Clash:
Striking the opponent's incoming attack with one of your own in an attempt to reduce its force or outright overpower it. There are a lot of variables that determine the outcome of this option such as the mass of the attack or the quality of the attack (Example: pervasive damage from auras or attacks without a solid form are an example of an attack that cannot clash). If cases are ever unclear, references to other rulings may be drawn upon to determine a conclusive outcome.
In order to initiate a clash, user must be within 20 points of the opponent's Attack Speed.
Spirit Clash:
Both attacks target Spiritual Defense. When a spiritual clash occurs, the stronger spirit wins if over 20 points in damage and overpowers the opponent's attack. If damages are within 20 points of each other, a struggle occurs.
Physical Clash:
Both attacks target Durability. When this type of clash occurs, reduce the damage of the stronger attack by the weaker attack and return the remainder onto the weaker combatant.
Unique Clash:
Normally, attacks that target Spiritual Defense and Durability do not interact with eachother in a clash, however some situations may permit this interaction. For example: Fire vs Water, True Body Kata vs Kosen, etc. Players can admin help when a situation arises to determine the interaction.
Grabs:
Specifically in the case of initiating a clinch, the restraint of a limb, or a grapple hold against an opponent. When combatants are locked in a grapple situation the fight changes considerably, requiring greater scrutiny for details in roleplay. Dodging is no longer fully viable in a grapple situation. Even if only an extremity is grabbed, though the target may be able to avoid blows directly to their centermass, nothing stops their caught limb from being attacked. If the target is grabbed closer to their torso, then there is no hope for dodging at all. Due to how close the combatants are, it becomes more difficult to strike with full force.
Attack Speed vs Reflex to determine whether a grab connects.
Within a clinch, strikes deal 25% reduced damage and neither party can dodge attacks toward their bound/occupied appendage.
Clinch/Break:
This is the default struggle calculation for grappling. This only occurs when there is resistance between grappled combatants, suggesting the ability to remain in a clinch or break free.
Contest Strength vs Strength to maintain per turn. If within 20 points or greater in Strength, the Grab succeeds, reducing by 10 Strength per turn for as long as the Grab is held. If there is a difference of over 50 Strength, the Grab does not reduce anymore.
Crush:
Crushing is considered an Attack action, dealing damage to the area that is grabbed. User's Strength vs Opponent's Durability is dealt at a cap of the user's Martial Arts proficiency (see: Damage Caps). The neck is susceptible to Crush damage, suffering Major capped damage at all ranks and Lethal at Tier 4.
When a grab is grazed, the skin/armor is pinched, dealing a grazed crush calculation to the opponent or the armor exclusively.
Throws/Marksmanship:
The act of physically tossing or propelling an object to give it a ballistic trajectory. Marksmanship is divided into two types:
Power Type:
A Power Type throw is characterized by the invocation of muscular strength to catapult an object into flight. This style of throwing is typically used on larger objects for widespread destruction or on a heavy weapon to reach a distant target with a single, well-placed attack. Power Type utilizes the Strength statistic for flight speed, tile distance, and damage. A Power Type throw still has an Attack Speed phase to determine the motion of winding up the throw. This is the default form of throwing and can only be used once in a turn.
Dexterity Type:
A trickier throwing style that demonstrates finesse and rapidity to launch smaller projectile weapons at closer distances. Objects that can fit between fingers such as knives, shuriken, darts, etc. are viable objects for Dexterity throws. Additionally, some weapons styles innately count as Dexterity Type in their basic attacks and thus utilize their respective perk proficiencies to determine damage caps. Examples of such weapons are: chains, daggers, charkams, and whips. Dexterity Type throws utilize Attack Speed for flight speed, Strength for damage, and Strength/2 for tile distance (or the maximum reach of a chained/roped weapon). As many Dexterity throws can be utilized in a turn as a character has Actions.
Dexterity Type throws (without a weapon perk) and Power Type throws follow the Marksman perk for damage cap:
No Marksman - Minor
Tier 1 Marksman - Medium
Tier 2 Marksman - Major
Tier 3 Marksman - Lethal
Throwing random objects that are not counted as real weapons may only cap at a maximum of Major damage. (Example: throwing a pebble, throwing uplifted dirt, throwing a bottle of orange juice, throwing a house.)
Tile Distance:
The apex of a projectile's trajectory before it starts to decline or dissipate.
Archery:
Bows are a weapon that may uniquely switch between Power Type and Dexterity Type marksmanship for focused fire or mid range rapid fire respectively. Bows have a tensile strength which limit its maximum speed/damage output without the assistance of perks or techniques.
Mechanical Ballistics:
These type of weapons do not require any physical input aside from aiming and a simple trigger which does not count as an interruptible phase, however these items have static parameters as a result.
Additionally, unskilled operators of mechanical ballistic weaponry are prone to jamming their weapon. Utilizing a weapon without the necessary perk invokes a 1/2 chance of jamming, a 1/3 chance of jamming at Tier 1, and a 1/4 chance of jamming at Tier 2. The weapon will not work until the jam is cleared, costing a turn Action.
Aiming:
Against targets that are in motion, a phase for aiming is required when using throws/ranged weapons (some casting techniques may fall under this category, such as Kosen). This phase checks for the marksman's Reflex vs the target's current movement speed. This represents the marksman's ability to adapt to/estimate the target's repositioning, letting their potential projectile reach accordingly. Inability to adapt by Reflex forces an accuracy check. An aiming phase is not always necessary depending on the context of a situation; it is important to emphasize detail in roleplays and exercise discernment in deciding when it is required.
Precision Melee:
A character may attempt to target a specific location on the opponent's body with their melee attack, such as the eyes or an open wound. Against a resisting target, or someone who is not totally bound, this invokes an accuracy check. Precision Melee cannot be used with multiple hit techniques at all unless the technique is treated as a basic attack -or- the technique itself strikes a particular region multiple times.
Accuracy:
The accuracy of an estimated trajectory for projectiles or the precision of a specific target in melee is checked by the following chart. Melee attacks that fail this check simply fail to strike this location whereas ranged attacks that fail this check miss entirely.
No Marksman - 1/6 chance of landing.
Tier 1 Marksman - 1/4 chance of landing.
Tier 2 Marksman - 1/2 chance of landing.
Tier 3 Marksman+ - Always adaptable.
Dodge:
The primary defense option which is to elude an opponent's incoming attack entirely. A character's Reflex stat is a culmination of their senses and their ability to move or contort their body quickly within short space. This gives the one who dodges several options when choosing how to elude their foes.
Spot Dodge:
Evading attacks within the character's current tile. Attacks that are small enough to dodge by swaying the body in different directions.
Step Dodge:
Suddenly shifting the character's weight in a direction to avoid an attack. This moves the character up to one tile away in any direction along the ground or for a quick hop into the air, traditionally used on sweeping attacks or full tile AoEs.
Air Dodge:
A unique form of dodging only available to those with at least Tier 1 Mid Air Combatant. Within the air, the user can shift their body up to several tiles away based on the stipulated effect of the Mid Air Combatant perk.
Without the Mid Air Combatant perk, a character cannot dodge within the air at all.
AOE Dodge:
Some attacks will come in sizes that are greater than a tile, which are referred to as Area of Effect (AOE). These will show up as the following:
A pervasive area of effect in which the attack manifests as its immediate large form. This could be a meteor, a giant fist, a tidal wave, etc.
An expanding area of effect which grows outward from an epicenter. This could be a shockwave, an explosion, a flamethrower, etc.
To dodge AOEs, a character will need to take their mobility into account as well as the Reflex to respond to the attack. They will need four things in total to fully dodge an AOE:
1. Reflex to respond to the attack.
2. Movement speed higher than the incoming attack's speed.
3. Tile distance greater than the radius of the attack.
4. The space to outmaneuver the attack.
If a character has an excess of Reflex when responding to the AOE's speed, add 50% of their excess Reflex over the AOE's attack speed into their dodge speed calculation. This does not increase their tile distance nor does this increase their actual movement speed. This represents their ability to dodge the AOE by preemptively outmaneuvering the attack.
(Example: A is being attacked by a tidal wave of 30x30 that is approaching at 45 Speed. A has 75 Reflex and 31 Speed. Even though his base Speed is lower than the AOE's approaching speed, A adds 15 [75 - 45 = 30, 30/2 = 15] to his dodge calculation due to excess Reflex, putting his calculation at 46. His base Speed also surpasses the attack's radius, allowing him to cleanly dodge.)
If a character lags within 20 Points below the AOE in terms of speed, they may graze the AOE with the encompassing severity depending on how much they are lagging behind.
This calculation does not fit all situations that combatants may encounter regarding AOEs. Sometimes dodging may not be a viable option at all with limited space or circumstances. It is stressed that players should exercise discernment in reading and writing roleplayed situations.
Graze:
When a character cannot fully dodge an attack, they are scraped slightly which results in less damage being received.
The defender takes only 25% of the original damage after it has been calculated against their defenses. In the case of calculating with armor, apply damage reduction from armor before applying the graze to the defender. The full damage will apply to the armor, regardless of the graze calculation.
(Example: Durability = 10 vs Str = 30. Instead of taking 20 points of damage, you're grazed and only take 5 points of damage.)
Block:
The act of receiving the opponent's attack against a prepared defense, such as a guarding sword stance, a shield, or arms. This defense works best between hand-to-hand combatants, however weapons and other objects can work as a source of defense, inclusive of magic that have a dense structure.
The defender takes only 50% of the original damage after it has been calculated against their defenses. This reduction only applies in hand-to-hand combat.
A martial artist cannot apply this reduction against weapons without Fist Hardening or Lethal Legs.
(Example: Durability = 10 vs Str = 30. Instead of taking 20 points of damage, you block with your arms and only take 10 points of damage.)
Parry:
Rather than dodging or blocking an attack, this defense allows a character to redirect an attack from its intended target. It is a high risk, high reward maneuver that can change the momentum of a fight when used correctly. This is done by striking an incoming attack at a point perpendicular to its momentum to cast it aside.
Calculate the user's (Reflex + Attack Speed)/2 + Physical Skill against the opponent's calculation. This determines whether a parry succeeds or fails. If the defender is above or within 20 Points below the attacker's calculation, their parry will succeed, nullifying the attack against them and the consequential Offensive Pressure. Failing the calculation will cause the defender to take the intended hit on the turn the parry is called with no additional defenses provided to them, unless they use a Safeguard technique.
Perfect Parry:
If the defender's parry calculation exceeds the opponent's parry calculation, they have performed what is called a Perfect Parry. This allows the defender to recover 3 Points of Reflex from the opponent's Offensive Pressure, enables them to lead their next attack into a Riposte, and forces an immediate end to the opponent's offensive actions, regardless of following multiple hits in that turn.
Riposte:
The first action in a turn that immediately follows a Perfect Parry is considered a Riposte. This imposes a Reflex penalty against the opponent for the following attack/technique based on the difference of parry calculations.
(Example: A calls for a parry against B. A's parry is 120. B's parry is 100. A wins by an excess of 20 Points which transitions into his Riposte debuff against B for his following attack.)
The Riposte penalty caps by the user's Skill Rank: -10 at D, -20 at C, -30 at B, -40 at A, and -50 at S.
Parrying Projectiles:
Calculate the user's Parry Calculation against the projectile's tilespeed x1.5 to determine success.
Parry Score:
The use of the Parry defense option will cause the user's total parry calculation to degrade by 2 Points per use. A Parry Score gradually recovers by 2 every turn when a Parry is not being used -or- recovered entirely when the user lands an attack against an opponent.
Redirect Hit:
When a character enters the Pressured range when reacting to an attack, they may opt for a redirected hit. An attack that is aimed for a particular region is substituted for a different region that is close by. In some cases, this may let a character escape an immediately fatal outcome.
(Example: A is being attacked toward his head. A shifts his body to receive the blow against his shoulder instead.)
Attack Cancel:
At the cost of an Action, a character can retroactively cancel their attack provided they have Reflex over their Attack Speed. This mostly plays into Hit Trade situations, where a person may not want to commit to the trade of blows.
(Example: A attacks B with a basic attack. B attempts to trade blows with A. A has 105 Attack Speed and 120 Reflex. A cancels his attack due to having higher Reflex than his Attack Speed and dodges B's attack like normal.)
Damage:
The following is a chart that determines the severity of damage taken:
1-9 - Minor Damage - Scrapes, paper cuts.
10-29 - Medium Damage - Bruises, superficial lacerations, minor burns.
30-49 - Major Damage - Fractured bones, deep lacerations, scalded flesh.
50+ - Lethal Damage - Shattered bones, severed appendages, emulsified/charred flesh.
Although Lethal Damage has the capacity to kill a character, it is not immediately fatal unless it is placed against a critical region with great severity, such as the brain.
Soft membrane such as eyes and internal organs do not reduce damage by Durability. Characters cannot fully negate physical damage until they have a minimum of Tier 3 Durability. Even if the damage amounts to 0 post-calculation, they will still take 1 damage until they have the necessary perk.
Injuries:
A character receives an injury when they have taken Major damage or above to a region. This injury will remain on the character for a period of time. Recovery periods can range anywhere between one OOC day to one OOC month depending on the severity of the wound. There are other factors which can affect the injury to help lessen the recovery period, such as healing or treatments.
Pain Tolerance:
For every instance of damage a character receives, they experience pain. Depending on the degree of damage received, a character will either have no immediate reaction towards the pain (Minor) or experience a brief stagger (Major+). While this does not typically affect turn sequence or action economy, a complete interruption of actions can occur during simultaneous attacks, such as Trades, if the receiving party cannot tolerate the pain.
Pain Tolerance acts as a pool of 'super armor' points which can be expended during the receiving of damage to follow through without interruption to one's actions. By sacrificing points to lower the pain of received damage down to a perceived lesser damage (Medium), the perceived pain becomes tolerable to complete one's actions through. Additionally, a character can sacrifice 30 Points of Pain Tolerance to negate the debiliating effects of a Major injury during a turn.
Characters can be knocked out when experiencing an excessive amount of pain all at once, or carry an excessive amount of injuries. With tiers into Endurance (Pain Tolerance perks), it is less likely for a character to succumb to unconsciousness through pain, especially when taking a strong hit in a single instance. At the highest tiers, characters can even continue fighting with frighteningly fatal injuries, even at the expense of their life.
Damage Stacking:
An injury does not worsen unless additional instances of damage are placed onto the exact same point, in which case the injury will worsen by the following metric: 5 Minors turns into 1 Medium, 3 Mediums turn into 1 Major, 3 Majors turn into 1 Lethal.
Damage Caps:
The maximum amount of damage an attack or a technique can deal after all calculations. Techniques will have a damage cap written into their description whereas characters must use the following chart for their basic attacks:
Hand-to-Hand:
Tier 1 & 2 - Medium Damage
Tier 3 - Major Damage
Tier 4 - Lethal Damage
Weapons:
Tier 1 - Medium Damage
Tier 2 - Major Damage
Tier 3 - Lethal Damage
Damage capped at Minor and Medium can only deal a maximum of 10 and 30 Points respectively to weapons, armor, and objects, unless a special technique or style is at play.
Beyond Lethal Damage:
Some techniques will have a Beyond Lethal damage cap. This means that the technique has the capacity of the total erasure of matter when its damage reaches Lethal values. In some cases, a person may just be strong enough to turn a person to mist with their basic force. This idea generally follows being able to deal 75+ damage over the target's resistances.
Mental Damage:
When dealing Mental Damage, the technique itself must explain the consequence of receiving Lethal Damage, otherwise default to unconsciousness.
Breaking Objects & Structures:
Calculate the damage against the object's Durability. If the object has HP, the damage post-calculation is dealt to the HP and when it reaches 0, the object breaks. If the object does not have HP, then it breaks on exceeding its Durability.
Vitality:
All Bearers have a base Vitality of 100 Points. This determines traditional damage ranges for lethality. Vitality can be altered in certain skillsets, thereby manipulating the degrees of damage one must take before achieving a certain threshold. To calculate this, the user must determine their current Vitality, then multiply the damage ranges by the hundredth of the Vitality.
(Example 1: Character A has 150 Vitality. Multiply 1.5 by the damage ranges. To receive Lethal damage, they must receive 75+ damage, for Major 45+, for Medium 15+.)
(Example 2: Character B has 300 Vitality. Multiply 3 by the damage ranges. To receive Lethal damage, they must receive 150+ damage, for Major 90+, for Medium 30+.)
Non-Bearers have a Vitality of 10 Points.
Healing:
This section refers to the diverse types of healing and regeneration that will be found in AOG. Healing can be divided into two types:
Natural Regeneration:
The expedited process of natural healing to repair damage to the skin, fractured bone, and some organ tissue. When healed by a technique that promotes Natural Regeneration, it can only be healed -once- on the afflicted region unless overwritten by a stronger technique, in which case the rest must be naturally healed over time.
Advanced Regeneration:
Cellular regeneration of complex structures, including organs and appendages. When healed by a technique that promotes Advanced Regeneration, it can be repeated multiple times per region until the body is fully healed anew.
Healing techniques are assigned a numerical value that represent the damage to be reversed in proportion to the damage scale chart (1-50). For regeneration, that value is also a measure of how fast the body is healing as regeneration occurs instantly at the start of every turn. Healing values that surpass the Lethal threshold (50+) are exceedingly quick at repairing damage, so much so that the excess becomes a damage reduction against incoming attacks.
If the damage of a wound exceeds the cap's limit, then healing the injury will start from the maximum value of that cap (e.g. The maximum a Major can go is 49 Points). For Lethal injuries, this starts at 50 Points.
(Example 1: A has received 105 damage capped at Major to his arm. B treats A's arm injury with a medical technique that stimulates Natural Regeneration. B heals A for 15 Points of damage (49 - 15 = 34). The injury still remains above Major, however there is a lesser recovery period.)
(Example 2: A has received 105 damage capped at Lethal to his arm. A loses his arm. B treats A's arm injury with a technique that causes Advanced Regeneration. B heals A for 25 Points of damage once, then repeats the technique twice on the same region (50 - 25 - 25 = 0). A has regained a new arm.)
Physics & Mobility:
This section covers a list of mobility options and situations characters might find themselves in during combat.
Horizontal Movement:
Movement speed and tile distance is determined by the Speed statistic.
Movement traditionally occurs linearly from tile to tile. When a character has the Free Runner perk, they are able to alter their trajectory by curving around obstacles without any loss to their momentum.
Backwards running and strafing reduces a character's speed and tile distance to Speed/2. This is negated by the Free Runner perk also.
Vertical Movement:
Jumping speed is determined by Strength statistic and height by Strength/2.
Long jumps take the character's Speed stat into consideration for horizontal tile distance.
Falling:
Characters fall at a speed and distance of 10 tiles per turn, increasing by +10 every additional turn spent in the air to a cap of 100 Speed. Characters take fall damage equal to these speeds.
Knockback:
Techniques or basic attacks with great force packed behind them can potentially displace characters. Characters who collide with objects during their flight will receive the speed as damage to their Durability, capped at Medium.
Swimming:
Several changes are imposed on characters who fight underwater:
1. Underwater movement is (Strength + Speed)/2 in tile speed and distance.
2. Attack Speed and physical damage dealt are reduced by 10%.
3. Hearing and Sight are reduced by two tiers. Smell is nullified.
Characters must hold their breath underwater. If a character has lost their breath underwater, they will drown in three turns.
Fish Lycanus are exempt from all swimming penalties and can operate as effectively as though they were on land.
Holding Breath:
Holding breath drains stamina per turn, starting at 100 and increasing by 100 per turn (e.g. 100, 200, 300, etc). This can also be forced on characters by choking them.
Equipment:
Most characters will come into battle equipped with an arsenal of tools. While a loadout does not typically encumber a Bearer with its weight, having too much equipment on one's person will start to interfere with their mobility, making their movements awkward.
A character should be mindful of the equipment they wear in combat.
Weapons:
Up to three weapons can be worn on a person at a time before it starts to interfere with their combat. Exceeding this limit will lower the character's total Speed, Attack Speed, Physical Skill, and damage output by 10%.
Armor:
A character can wear armor to help lower damage from attacks. When taking damage with armor, the incoming damage first reduces by the armor's Durability before calculating against the wearer's defenses. The damage exceeding the armor's Durability also reduces the armor's HP.
(Example: A takes 105 damage. A has 30 Durability and is wearing heavy armor with a Durability of 50 and an HP of 350. A now only receives 25 damage to himself and loses 55 HP from his armor.)
Armor is divided into two types:
Light Armor: Armor that covers specific regions of the body.
Heavy Armor: An armor set fit for the whole body.
Up to four pieces of light armor can be equipped to cover torso, arms, legs, and head. A single heavy armor set is enough to provide protection for the full body. To fight effectively in combat with heavy armor, a character must have the Heavy Armor Proficiency perk, otherwise they suffer a penalty to their total Speed, Attack Speed, Physical Skill, and damage output by 10%.
While grazing with armor is permitted, a full damage calculation will exclusively hit the armor itself when this defense option is utilized.
Personal Armory:
Some skillsets will allow a character to have an expanded or limitless armory, letting them carry more equipment into battle. In such a case, they should receive an admin-given perk stating their ability to do so.
Rings (WIPE 7 UNIQUE RULE):
Rings are a special accessory that grant the wearer a unique bonus. Up to four rings can be benefitted from at a time and duplicate rings do not stack.
Techniques:
Some techniques have special interactions in how they are able to be employed.
Safeguard:
A Safeguard is a technique that can be activated automatically without a Reflex check. Safeguard techniques are typically used to protect the user from an unfavorable outcome, such as an auto-barrier or a heal.
Stratagem:
The Strategist perk offers a unique turn action that allows for the use of Stratagems. These techniques tend to have unique effects to help change the flow of combat.
Chain:
Techniques with a Chain clause allows for combos by transitioning between techniques without additional action costs. Each action in a Chain is independant and does transition its effects onto the next technique.
Link:
A Link clause allows for the seamless merging of a technique into another action/technique to enhance its effects.
Trap:
Trap techniques have a broad range of uses depending on the technique. Some trap techniques can be set in advance to trip when an opponent performs a certain action, whereas other trap techniques may have a trap activation hidden within their description. Whenever an opponent trips a trap activation, the user may flash the trap and force the opponent to RP their new situation.
Action Phases:
Some maneuvers and techniques can be divided into a series of smaller actions to create one whole action. These miniature actions are referred to as 'Action Phases', which refer to preliminary or preparatory steps toward a following attack/movement. For example, firing a beam at someone may require the caster to point their hand at their target, or a character may be activating their transformation which requires a flow of their spiritual energy to reach across their body. While most of the time these phases are not able to be interacted with, there are some rare situations where they can be interrupted.
Buff Activation:
In most cases, activating a buff is not instant. There are many kinds of transformations, enhancements, or releases that occur at different speeds. Most spiritual enhancements will have a Control phase, whereas a physical change to the body may just occur instantly due to an internal change. It is not recommended to activate transformations as a reaction to an attack, but to activate them preemptively.
Gestures:
Many techniques involve some sort of gesture to control a magic or cast an attack. Typically this phase cannot be used for reaction, however if a caster is attempting to fire a spell at close range, a melee combatant has the prerogative to interrupt them by their Attack Speed.
Speech:
Speech plays an essential role in Age of Gezo. Techniques are commonly featured to have some form of name-calling invocation or a full line of incantations. While speech generally does not interfere with the flow of combat, extending speech into full monologues has the potential to neutralize Offensive Pressure.
Incantations will generally span for full turn lengths and can be interrupted by striking or forcing the chanter to move, or causing their breathing pattern to change in any way. Applying similarly to how gestures are interrupted, if a melee fighter is already in range of a chanter, they can interrupt the incantation based on the opponent's Intelligence stat.
Encounters:
Several rules regarding the entrance and exit of combat.
Joining Combat:
To join a fight that is already in progress, a character must wait 5 turns before they are able to enter. There are rare scenarios which may force the immediate entry of a character into a combat scenario.
Escape:
To officially stop a combat scenario, a character must be able to elude their opponents for two whole turns in terms of chasing speed and distance. This also means the escaping character must not be under threat of long distance fire to fully clear this pre-requisite. On the third turn, the escaping character is free to leave without any further obstruction from the opponents who were previously in combat with them. They may not reengage the escaped character so long as they continue to escape.
FATE REJECTION:
Characters may live long enough to receive a Fate Rejection. A Fate Rejection is the mechanical representation of fate and being able to defy it in miraculous ways. Fate Rejections can be stockpiled as points to be used typically in one of the ways listed below:
Heroic Timing: Permits a character to enter combat without any wait time. They can even intercept on a specific turn with immediate priority.
Fight Another Day: Permits a character to escape a dangerous situation by some sort of divine intervention, guaranteeing their safety from any would-be pursuers of that one combat situation.
Can't Escape Crossing Fate: Designate a target for a fated duel in which neither combatants may use Fate Rejections to escape. Although regular escape is permitted, either party who does so will automatically forfeit their next LC.
Screw The Dice!: Allows a character to reroll an unfavorable roll. Alternatively, this can be used to force your opponent to reroll their result.
With Every Ounce of Strength!: For a single turn, a character does not suffer any expenditures from buffs, stances, techniques, etc. In the case of timed buffs, using this Fate Rejection grants them an extra turn to fight with.
Behold, My Hidden Power!: A character may unlock a perk, a technique, or some sort of power that exists just outside the boundary of their typical line of progression by the expenditure of a Fate Rejection. This option may not always be available to a character as there are various factors that determines what is available to them, for example: how well they have served a God, learned from a teacher, progressed their own skillset, etc.
There are other ways that a Fate Rejection may be employed depending on what a situation calls for. In extreme cases, some characters can even directly interfere with fate, therefore it is wise to use these points with caution.