Combat Phases

Combat is a big part of the game, especially during the Rank Wars. There are two phases involved in a combat round, one is the movement phase, and the other is the Action/Reaction phase. One phase must be complete before moving on to the next phase. The amount of time passed in the combat round is about 10 seconds.

Movement Phase

Everyone determines where they move simultaneously. This is to reflect a more organic approach to combat, where the way an opponent moves may affect the way your character moves. Changes can be made whenever needed during the movement phase, but once the phase is over, no changes to movement can be made. Before the phase can end, everyone must be unanimous in their agreement to end the phase.

The distance a character can move in a round is equal to their mobility rating in meters. In the case of using Thruster or Grasshopper to increase the distance, it is increased up to a maximum of their dice step assigned to the associated Trigger skill in meters. For instance, if someone has a d6 skill in Raygust with thruster, and wants to increase their movement, they can move up to a maximum of 6 more meters in that phase. The same with Grasshopper. Please note that the dice does not need to be rolled to determine the distance the character can move, the character simply decides how far they will extend their movement range.

The only exception is Teleporter with a set distance of up to 12 meters no matter the dice assignment to the skill. This is reflected in the cost of using the trigger. Thruster and Grasshopper use 1 Trion per meter of movement, whereas Teleporter costs 25 Trion to use. Teleporter also doesn’t always need to be used by the person who placed the pad. Similar to Grasshopper, it can be placed for someone else to step on.

Action/Reaction Phase

During the Action/Reaction phase, character’s perform actions in an order determined by the last person who acted. This adds a more tactical approach to this phase of combat. On the first Action/Reaction Phase, the GM always Acts first. After the GM acts for all the GM controlled characters, the GM decides which player will Act next. After that player acts, they choose the next player that gets to act next. This carries on until every character has Acted that round. There is no rolling for initiative. Just that after you do your action and all the effects of that action are done, you choose the next person to make their action.

The person who acted last on the previous action/reaction phase gets to choose who acts first on the new action/reaction phase. Anyone can be chosen, including themselves. Be careful with selecting who acts next. Choosing the GM to act last in the phase may not be the best course of action, because there is a possibility that the GM can choose themselves to act first next phase, meaning all the GM controlled characters can act twice before any of the player characters can act.

But why is it called Action/Reaction phase? Because each Action has a reaction. When a player chooses their action and it can affect another character, or GM controlled character, that character gets to react. Both people build their dice pool and keep the two highest dice with the one who rolled highest winning the contest. Not all actions cause reactions though. So to give a clear idea of the type of actions that are possible, there is the following list:

Attack

One character attacks another character. The character chooses a Distinction, Support Function, Role, Trigger Skill, and Parameter to assemble their dice pool. The character reacting does the same. An attack is not always as straightforward as it would seem. There is strategical and tactical aspects to consider. Each attack action/reaction can include two components, either two attacks, and attack and defense, or a full defense. This is to give combat a realistic feel. A reaction to an attack can be a counterattack and isn’t always a defense.

For an example:

John’s Character decides to attack a GM controlled character for his action. He describes his attack action as going in blazing with both revolvers, no defense available since both Main and Sub Triggers are being used. However since one of his distinctions is “Trick Shot Parry” he can use his Revolver Triggers to defend. This goes along with his character’s High Concept of “Hair Trigger Hand Cannon” also so he has a choice of two distinctions for his dice pool depending on the reaction of the GM controlled character.

The GM controlled character has a kogetsu and a submachinegun with asteroid as an all-rounder, and describes their reaction as turning off kogetsu, putting up a shield and returning fire with a burst.

So for assembling the dice pool, John gets the d8 for his Distinction, a d10 support since he’s going in solo, a d8 for the Skill Parameter, a d4 for the gunner role since he’s still a C-rank and hasn’t increased his basic skills in this role yet, and a d8 for his trigger skill in asteroid.

The GM controlled character has a d6 for solo, uses The asteroid Trigger skill at d6 (even though he is also using shield he can only add 1 dice from the trigger skill category), a d6 for Gunner role since he has more experience at it than John’s character, and the character’s defense parameter with a d8. The GM decides there is no distinction that aids the controlled character and has only the 4 dice.

They both roll and compare the results.

John rolls a 4 on the d4, an 8, 7, and 5 on his d8 dice, and a 6 on the d10. His highest two dice are 8 and 7, giving him a 15 on the roll, quite good.

The GM rolls a 5 on the d8, and a 3, 4, and 5 on the d6 dice. His highest two dice are 5 and 5, giving him a 10 on the roll.

The scene plays out, John’s character blazes in shoots 2 bullets from each revolver at the GM’s shield, which absorbs some of the damage, but one or two shots break through. The return fire from the SMG is met with asteroid bullets from John’s character’s trick shot parry defense. The GM controlled character will now take damage. Had John rolled lower and the GM controlled character rolled higher, his character’s asteroid bullets would have been too spread out to break through the shield and his reaction speed too slow for one or two of the bullets from the return fire and John would have had his character take damage instead.

As can be seen damage can be taken by either one involved in the action/reaction pair. This can be especially brutal in melee.

Support / Aid

Instead of attacking, a character’s action can instead be an action supporting another member on their squad. This does not cause a reaction response. When a player has their character aid/support an ally, the player assembles the dice pool as they would for an attack, but instead only takes the highest dice. This dice is then added to their ally’s roll when they perform their action. It gets included in the result on top of their ally’s highest two dice. Support can be lent in the form of defensive aid as in using a shield on an ally for reactions or actions.

Creating/Destroying a minor aspect

Instead of attack, a character’s action can instead involve creating an advantage for their squad or disadvantage for the opposing teams. This can involve laying traps, setting up an ambush or crossfire or clearing the terrain for their sniper’s line of sight. In a way it’s like Support or Aid, but the aspect is persistent during the combat until someone clears it, destroys it, or it gets countered with another aspect. Creating or Destroying a minor aspect costs a plot point and can be found in the section on plot points also.