Combat Mode

Sometimes opponents cannot be reasoned with, making physical combat an inevitable outcome. That is where Combat mode begins. Some combats might be a brawl between rowdy tavern patrons, a duel between two rapier-wielding nobles, or a shoot-out of bows and crossbows over long distances. Regardless, the same combat rules can be used for any of these types of encounters.

Combat Mode can be used for more than just a fight to the death. It might include non-lethal brawls with punches and grappling, social conflicts where people spar with insults and deception, or encounters with unnatural fear-provoking phenomenon.

Combat Rounds

Combat is divided into rounds, which represents an abstract amount of time in the game world, anywhere from a few to many seconds. each combat round, each participant gets one turn. During their turn, each participant gets to take one combat Action and may take one additional Move action. Each combat round, the order of the participants’ turns is determined by rolling initiative.

Rolling Initiative

When it becomes clear to the GM that a combat is about to take place, they must first ask all participating players to roll for Initiative. Initiative results are used to determine the order of events for each round of combat. Each participating PC rolls a d20 and adds their character’s Reflexes Rank to the result. The GM also rolls Initiative for each of the NPCs involved in the combat. The GM can roll for each NPC individually or they can roll for each group of similar NPCs. The GM will then ask each player for their Initiative result and tally these numbers with the NPC results.

The PC or NPC with the highest initiative result goes first, taking their full combat turn (or choosing to Delay). Then the next highest PC or NPC goes next, and so forth until all participants have taken their combat turn. If there is a tie for Initiative, the PC always goes first before an NPC. If there is a tie between two or more PCs, the involved players may choose among themselves who will go first.

After all participants have taken their combat turn, a new combat round begins. Each participant rolls Initiative again, creating a new, randomly determined turn order for the next combat round.

Alternative Initiative Options. If you dislike the idea of rolling initiative every round, you may instead roll once for the beginning of combat and use the same turn order each round. This change makes combat more predictable and generally easier for the PCs to plan their moves. However, it also tends to make combat less exciting.

A standard set of 54 playing cards can also be used for initiative. Deal a card to each participating PC and NPC. Order goes from Jokers to Ace down to 2’s, ignoring the card’s suit. In cases of a tie, the character with the higher Reflexes Rank goes first. Simply collect a player’s card after their turn. It makes it quite easy to see who has yet to go this round. At the beginning of each round, deal out a new set of cards. This alternative reduces the importance of Reflexes on initiative but can be quite fun for players that enjoy using playing cards in their games.

If a participant chooses to Delay but fails to take their turn before the end of the round, they do not roll initiative in the next round. They can take their turn anytime in the next round.

Combat Actions

Many combat actions have the Attack trait, indicating that they include Attack Rolls and Defense Rolls. Some conditions, like Distracted and Exposed, may impose penalties on these rolls.

Attack Rolls – Attack rolls are any roll by the Attacker in any Test to resolve an Action with the Attack trait. These Tests are usually Opposed, Conflict, or Attack tests.

Defense Rolls – When one character attacks another character an Attack action, the Defender makes a Defense Roll. Typically, this is a Reflexes or Resolve Test, however, certain Actions (such as Intercept) allow characters to use another skill as a substitution.

Movement

Movement in World Saga is measured in squares, assuming that players are using a combat grid composed of squares to represent 5 feet (or 1.5 meters). You can also use a hexagon grid for combat (treating each hex as 1 square); or go completely freeform and use ruler measurements with miniatures (using 1 inch or 25 mm for each square).

Moving diagonally is more complex on a square grid. For every second square of movement diagonally taken during a character’s turn, it costs one extra square of movement. If you are using a hex grid, movement is restricted to the six directions and this diagonal rule does not apply. Likewise for freeform movement.

During a character’s turn, a character may make one Move action (such as a Stride) and one other combat Action (including another Move action). If you take a Stride action, you may take the other Action anytime during the course of that movement. For instance, a player might have their character Stride out into the open, Fire their bow at an enemy, and use the rest of their movement from Stride to return to Cover behind a tree. You may also need to take the Withdarw reaction as part of your Stride action to disengage from opponents.

Move Actions: Balance, Climb, Crawl, Dive Prone, Jump, Shelter, Stride, Swim.

Special Circumstances

Difficult Terrain: The GM determines if any square on the battle-grid contains terrain elements that interfere with movement. These squares are called Difficult Terrain. It costs one additional square of movement to move into a square of Difficult Terrain. Examples of Difficult Terrain include underbrush, jagged stones, or loose gravel. Narrow, uneven, or otherwise slippery surfaces might also require the character to Balance through the terrain instead of taking a Stride normally.

Non-Lethal Attacks: Sometimes you may want to subdue and knock a foe unconscious rather than kill them. Any character can choose an Attack Test to be non-lethal. Non-lethal Attack Rolls suffer a -2 untyped penalty unless the weapon has the Subdued trait. If an opponent is Weary, a successful non-lethal attack does not cause the opponent to take the Endure Wounds reaction. Instead, the opponent must succeed on a Basic Resilience Test, or they are immediately knocked unconscious.

Shooting in Melee: If a character attempts a ranged attack (e.g. Fire) while they are Engaged in melee with an enemy, the Engaged opponent may take an immediate Strike action (paying the normal Stamina cost). To avoid this, characters may want to attempt to Stride and Withdraw before attempting a ranged attack.

Surrounding Bonus: If a Defender is Engaged in melee with multiple enemies, each Attacker who is Engaged with them gain a +1 situation bonus per additional ally (maximum of +4) on their Attack Roll for any action with the Attack trait.

Detection and Hidden

When known opponents are Hidden, a character must attempt a Seek action to determine if their character knows where the opponent is located. If they fail, they cannot target the opponent with Actions. Alternatively, they might choose to Stride to look for the opponent, which might allow reveal them if the GM determines the opponent no longer has Cover from the character. However, if the opponent is Hidden due to Concealment or the lighting, simply moving will not reveal the opponent.

If an opponent’s presence is completely unknown, and they are undetected by the character, the character cannot even attempt a Seek action to reveal their presence. One cannot seek out what they are unaware exists in the first place. In some cases, the player’s character might not be aware an opponent exists, even if that character’s player does.

Concealment and Cover

Concealment is when a target is partially obscured by smoke, mist, or other haze. Concealment grants a Bane to Attack Rolls on Attack Tests against the obscured character. Characters can take the Hide action when benefiting from Concealment.

A character has Cover from an opponent anytime that opponent’s line of sight is partially obscured by an object. If you are using a combat grid, simply estimate a line between the character and the opponent. If that line passes through any potential obstacles, the character likely has Cover. The GM has the final decision whether a character is benefiting from Cover and the degree of that Cover at any given time.

Cover: A target is obscured by about one-half their size. This might be caused by standing behind a waist-high wall or barrier or large window, from standing behind a narrow tree, or attacking through the corner of a building. Cover causes a Bane to Attack Rolls on Attack Tests against the character behind cover. Characters also receive a Boon to Hide actions when benefiting from standard Cover. Characters also receive a Boon on Reflexes to avoid area of effect attacks (e.g. explosions and traps).

Greater Cover: A target is obscured by about three-quarters their size or more. This might be caused by laying prone up on a higher ridge, or from standing behind an arrow slit or small window. Greater Cover causes 2x Banes to Attack Rolls on Attack Tests against characters behind greater cover. Characters also receive 2x Boons to Hide actions when benefiting from Greater Cover. Characters also receive 2x Boons on Reflexes to avoid area of effect attacks (e.g. explosions and traps).

Fear Tests

Sanity and fear are a core component of the game and are represented by Feat Tests. It is up to the GM to set the tone for gameplay. If the game setting has a darker or horror tone to it, Fear Tests may be quite common. Such as anytime the PCs confront strange and frightful monsters or see a dead body. In a high fantasy game, these rolls might be limited to truly supernatural monster abilities, such as a dragon’s roar or a demon’s aura.

A Fear Test is a Basic or Complex Resolve Test. Failure usually results in the character taking Courage damage. A horror-based game might have the character lose 1 point of Courage even if they succeed on the test.