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Pick/Leather Armor VS.
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Melee Combat - Example Four (discussion) (no PDF yet)
(submitted by Lord Helmet)

Arthur Green

ST: 14 HP: 14 Size Modifier: 0
DX: 10 Will: 11 Encumbrance: 0 (37.5 lbs.)
IQ: 10 Per: 10 Basic Speed: 5.5
HT: 12 FP: 12 Basic Move: 6 (costs 5 points)
Thrust: 1d Swing: 2d
Dodge: 8 Parry: 11U Block: 10
(+2 from Medium Shield when applicable)

Armor: Leather Armor (DR 2 torso, groin, 10 lbs.), Heavy Leather Sleeves (DR 2 arms, 2 lbs.), Heavy Leather Leggings (DR 2 legs, 4 lbs.), Boots* (DR 2 feet, 3 lbs.) [* flexible]
Medium Shield: 1d cr., Reach: 1, DB: 2, DR/HP: 7/40 (15 lbs.)
Pick: 2d+1 imp., Reach: 1, Parry: 0, ST: 10 (3 lbs.)

Skills: Axe/Mace - 16 (DX+6)
Shield - 14 (DX+4)
Ads/Disads:


Zach Red

ST: 14 HP: 14 Size Modifier: 0
DX: 12 Will: 10 Encumbrance: 1 (47 lbs.)
IQ: 10 Per: 10 Basic Speed: 6
HT: 12 FP: 12 Basic Move: 6
Thrust: 1d Swing: 2d
Dodge: 8* Parry: 11 Block: -
(* includes -1 due to Encumbrance)

Armor: Mail Shirt* (DR 4/2**, 16 lbs.), Mail Sleeves* (DR 4/2**, 9 lbs.), Mail Leggings* (DR 4/2**, 15 lbs.), Boots* (DR 2 feet, 3 lbs.) [* flexible, ** use the lower DR against crushing damage]
Large Knife: 2d-2 cut, Reach: C,1; 1d imp., Reach: 1; Parry: 0, ST: 6 (1 lb.)
Broadsword: 2d+1 cut, Reach: 1; 1d+1 cr., Reach: 1; Parry: 0, ST: 10 (3 lbs.)

Skills: Broadsword - 16 (DX+4)
Knife - 12 (DX)
Ads/Disads: High Pain Threshold


Once again, the opponents face one another in a gladiatorial arena - they begin 8 yards apart.

Zach has the higher Basic Speed, so he goes first.


TURN ONE
Zach Red HP: 14
Maneuver: Ready (broadsword)

Uses his Step to move forward 1 hex.

Arthur Green HP: 14
Assuming his shield is already Ready.

Maneuver: Ready (pick)

Uses his Step to move forward 1 hex.


TURN TWO
Zach Red HP: 14
Maneuver: Wait, Attack ("I will attack with my broadsword [swing] the first enemy to step into range.")

Arthur Green HP: 14
Maneuver: Shield Rush (B372) (Zach)

Spends 6 Movement Points (MP) to move forward 6 hexes, turn is immediately interrupted by Zach's "Wait (Attack)" maneuver.

Zach Red HP: 14

Rolls 3d6 against his Broadsword skill of 16 and gets 15 - a possible hit.

Arthur Green HP: 14
Rolls 3d6 against his effective Block of 13 (+2 for Medium Shield) and gets 12 - he Blocks. As his shield's DB made the difference between success and failure, it was struck squarely and may be damaged (B484).
Zach Red HP: 14

Rolls 2d+1 for damage and gets a total of 10. 10 points of cutting basic damage to the Shield -7 DR leaves 3 points of penetrating damage. 3 points x the 1.5 wounding modifier for cutting damage = 4.5, rounded down to 4. The Shields HP are reduced to 36 (no further effect to the Shield).

As the blow did not inflict enough damage for Knockback (B378), Arthur now finishes his interrupted Shield Rush.

Arthur Green HP: 14, Shield HP: 36
Maneuver: Shield Rush (B372) (Zach)

Rolls 3d6 against his Shield skill of 14 and gets 13 - a possible hit.

Zach Red HP: 14, FP: 11

Opts to Parry, as well as spend 1 FP to choose Feverish Defense (B357) for a +2 Parry bonus. He rolls 3d6 against his effective Parry of 13 (+2 for Feverish Defense) and gets 14 - he fails to parry.

In addition, "your weapon may break if it parries anything three or more times its own weight" (B376). Arthur's ST of 14 (use the attacker's ST in cases of parrying a shield rush, also B376) is 4 times the weight of Zach's broadsword, so there is a 3 in 6 chance Zach's broadsword will break. He rolls 1d6 and gets a 5 - his weapon does not break.

Arthur Green HP: 14, Shield HP: 36

Rolls 1d+1 for damage and gets a total of 6 (per B371: HP [14] x velocity [6]/100 = 0.84, which gives 1d-1, plus an additional +2 for the DB of the Medium Shield, for a total damage range of 1d+1).

Zach Red HP: 10, FP: 11

6 points of crushing basic damage to the Torso - 2 DR leaves 4 points of penetrating damage. Zach's HP are reduced to 10 (note: he suffers no Shock penalty as he has High Pain Threshold).

During the Shield Rush Zach also inflicts damage on Arthur. He rolls 1d-1 for damage and gets a total of 3 (HP [13] x velocity [6]/100 = 0.78 which gives 1d-1].

As the damage Arthur inflicted is twice the damage that Zach inflicted, Zach is automatically knocked down (B371) and is now prone.

Arthur Green HP: 14, Shield HP: 36

The damage is applied to Arthur's Shield (B372). 3 points of crushing basic damage to the Shield - 7 DR leaves no penetrating damage.


TURN THREE
Zach Red HP: 10, FP: 11
Maneuver: All-Out Defense (Increased)

Arthur Green HP: 14, Shield HP: 36
Maneuver: Attack (Zach)

Rolls 3d6 against his Axe/Mace skill of 16 and gets a 10 - a possible hit.

Zach Red HP: 10, FP: 10

Opts to Parry and Retreat (B377), as well as spend 1 FP to choose Feverish Defense for a +2 Parry bonus. He rolls 3d6 against his effective Parry of 13 (+2 for Feverish Defense, +2 for All-Out Defense (Increased), +1 for Retreat, -3 for Prone) and gets 12 - he Parries.


TURN FOUR
Zach Red HP: 10, FP: 10
Maneuver: Change Posture (Prone to Kneeling)

Arthur Green HP: 14, Shield HP: 36
Maneuver: Attack (Zach)

Uses his Step to move forward 1 hex and change facing (B386), then rolls 3d6 against his Axe/Mace skill of 16 and gets 17 - a miss (note: a 17 is only a Critical Failure if effective skill is 15 or less).


TURN FIVE
Zach Red HP: 10, FP: 10
Maneuver: Attack (swing, Arthur)

Uses his Step to go from Kneeling to Standing and changes facing (B364, B386). Rolls 3d6 against his Broadsword skill of 16 and gets 10 - a possible hit.

Arthur Green HP: 14, Shield HP: 36

Rolls 3d6 against his effective Block of 13 (+2 for Medium Shield) and gets 10 - he Blocks.

Arthur Green HP: 14, Shield HP: 36
Maneuver: Attack (Zach)

Rolls 3d6 against his Axe/Mace skill of 16 and gets 4 - a Critical Hit. Since he didn't specify a Hit Location, the attack defaults to the Torso (B369). As Zach gets no defense against a Critical Hit, Arthur rolls 3d6 on the Critical Hit Table (B556) and gets 15 - the blow does maximum normal damage (maximum 2d+1 = 13).

Zach Red HP: -8, FP: 10

13 points of impaling basic damage to the Torso - 4 DR leaves 9 points of penetrating damage. 9 points x the 2 wounding modifier for impaling damage = 18. Zach's HP are reduced to - 8 (he suffers no Shock penalty as he has High Pain Threshold).

As this is a Major Wound (more than 1/2 HP injury from a single blow), Zach must check for Knockdown and Stunning (B420). He rolls 3d6 against his effective HT of 15 (+3 for High Pain Threshold) and gets 13 - he suffers no further penalty.


TURN SIX
Zach Red HP: -8, FP: 10
Maneuver: n/a

At the start of this turn Zach rolls 3d6 against his HT of 12 to avoid falling unconscious from his wounds and fails with a 14 - he immediately collapses into unconsciousness.

Arthur Green HP: 14, Shield HP: 36
Maneuver: Ready (attempting to free his pick, B405)

Rolls 3d6 against his ST of 14 and gets a 9. He successfully frees his pick, inflicting another 9 points damage to Zach (half the original amount, B406), bringing Zach down to -17.

At this point 'combat time' has ended, as Zach is unable to defend himself - he is now at -17 HP and must roll 3d6 against HT to avoid death - he gets a 13 which means he failed by one and suffers a “mortal wound” (B423).

Assuming no one administers First Aid, Zach may continue bleeding from his wounds (B420). After 1 minute, he rolls 3d6 against his effective HT of 6 (-1 per 5 HP lost) and gets 14 - he loses an additional 1 HP, bringing his current HP to -18. After 1 more minute, he rolls 3d6 against his effective HT of 6 (-1 per 5 HP lost) and gets 4 - a critical success and the bleeding stops. Bu he still suffers from his mortal wound and has to roll every half hour against HT to stay alive - he eventually will die unless he rolls another critical success or his mortal wound is stabilized by surgery.

Since the combat did not last longer than 10 seconds, Arthur does not lose any Fatigue Points.


Remember sadness is always temporary. This, too, shall pass.
-- Chuck T. Falcon