COMBAT
Combat in Balance follows a basic combat structure similar to many TTRPGs. Namely, that every character involved gets an opportunity to take action, whether it’s to swing a sword or cast a spell, or even hide.
Successful attacks are based on the results of rolling Attack Dice that must be greater than the target’s Defense Dice.
Initiative
Combat in Balance is based on a turn system that counts down from 12 to 2 (2d6), with each number representing a single turn. Each full set of turns is one round.
All characters engaged in combat are assigned a combat order based on rolling 2d6 and adding their Reflex Stat Points to the roll.
Notes:
- A high Reflex Stat Point may give a combatant an initiative score higher than 12.
- if the dice match, Balanced Dice applies and the player can roll an additional 1d6 and add it to the initiative roll.
Let’s pit a Sample Character against two hostile Creatures:
- A Sample Character with a Reflex of 2 rolls and gets a 2. Adding 2 and 2 results in an initiative score of 4.
- Creature 1 with no Reflex bonuses rolls a 6, resulting in an initiative score of 6.
- Creature 2 with no Reflex bonuses rolls a 2, resulting in an initiative score of 2.
The order of combat engagement is determined by the highest roll, proceeding down to the lowest score until all combat actions are resolved. From the example above, Creature 1 would go first on turn 6, followed by the Sample Character on turn 4, and then Creature 2 on turn 2.
Here are the turns of the first round visualized:
12: –
11: –
10: –
9: –
8: –
7: –
6: Creature 1 attacks our Sample Character
5: –
4: Sample Character attacks Creature 1
3: –
2: Creature 2 attacks our Sample Character
1: –
Once all characters have resolved their actions, a new round of combat begins, and initiative (2d6) is rolled again to start the next round.
Attacking
Attacks during combat are comprised Attack and Defense 2d6 rolls, with various Bonuses and Penalties modifying the rolls.
Note: Physical combat gains a bonus based on Reflex: Accuracy (for bows and thrown weapons) and Brawn: Damage (to melee attacks). Magic users use Discipline: Attune for bonuses to their spell attacks.
attack Rolls
In Balance, attacks are done by rolling a number of dice equal to the attack rating of the weapon or spell, plus applicable bonuses.
For example, our Sample Character is going to attack with his Short Sword (3). This would be done by rolling 3d6 (keeping the highest two). Let’s say our Sample Character has some bonuses: an extra 1 point in their Brawn: Damage attribute, and another 1 point due to a Class bonus. This provides them with a total of 2d6+2 to their Attack Roll.
Defense ROLLS
To counter an attack, characters first rolls 2d6 and adds their Defense Rating to the total. A character with 2 points in Reflex: Dodge might roll 2d6+2 for their Defense Roll.
RESOLVING COMBAT
Here is an example of our character attacking a low-level creature. The attacking character rolls their Attack Dice next with 2d6+2.
- 3, 2 (+2) = 7
In the case of the creature above, they roll 2d6+2 Defense Dice with the following result:
- 4, 3 (+2) = 9
In this example, the attack roll is lower than the defense roll, so the attack is unsuccessful, and the next steps in the initiative continue.
But suppose the attacker had the following rolls instead:
- 3, 5 (+2) = 10
In this case, the attack is high enough to overcome the creature’s defenses, so then we move to damage dealing.
INJURY
In most standard attacks, damage is either 1 or 2 points, depending on the dice roll. To calculate the damage, each Attack Die is compared to one Defense Die to determine if it is greater. If only one Attack Die is greater than a corresponding Defense Die, that is considered 1 point of Injury. If the dice can be arranged so that both Attack Dice are greater than both Defense Dice, that would account for 2 points of Injury.
For example:
- Attack Dice: 3, 6
- Defense Dice: 4, 2
By this arrangement, the 3 is less than the 4, but the 6 is greater than the 2, so it looks like a 1-point Injury. However, if re-ordered, the 6 is greater than the 4, and the 3 is greater than the two. This would be a 2-point Injury, which is the correct amount.
Note: Bonuses (e.g., +2 to Attack Rolls) are assigned to the HIGHEST die rolled when calculating injury.
EXTRA INJURY
Certain attacks can cause more than 2 points of damage. The two methods of extra injury are:
- EXTRA DICE: If an attack calls for more than 2 Attack Dice and the defender does not have extra Defense Dice to defend, the extra Attack Dice is considered Unblocked and automatically causes an additional point of Injury if the Attack Roll is successful. This does not apply to extra dice granted by Balance Rolls (matching attack dice), as that is considered a bonus to the attack total, and not an extra dice for the attack.
- CHAIN ATTACK: Certain abilities cause an Attack Roll to be repeated without the defender rerolling their Defense dice. If the first attack is successful, the injury is tallied, and then the Attack Roll is repeated. If it is successful, the injuries from the second attack roll are added to the first for a combined total. Chain Attack (1) means one extra attack if the first attack was successful; Chain Attack (3) means 3 additional attacks, as long as each previous attack is successful.
Armor
In Balance, armor modifies the character’s Defense Rolls and comes in three categories:
- Light
- +1 to Defense Rolls
- Medium
- +2 to Defense Rolls
- -1 to Reflex: Acrobatics Rolls
- Heavy:
- +3 to Defense Rolls
- -3 to Reflex: Acrobatics Rolls
Special Circumstances
Some characters classes have abilities that modify normal combat rules. They are listed below.
Focus
At the start of combat initiative rolls, certain Classes may choose to Focus to enhance their combat effectiveness.
- Warriors/Knights gain +2 to their Attack Roll, but risk -2 to their Attack Roll if Focus is broken.
- Discipline-based characters can Focus to enhance their spells, but suffer penalties if unsuccessful.
- Focus is broken by any successful attack against the character that causes 1 point of Injury or more.
Using our previous example, if a 1st Level Knight uses Combat Focus, their initiative and combat effectiveness would be as follows:
- Knight: Rolls a 2 + Reflex Bonus (2) = 4, but they will Focus for 2 turns, executing their attack on turn 6.
- Creature 1: Rolls a 6
- Creature 2: Rolls a 2
Combat begins in reverse order, starting with the highest roll. Here are the turns of this round visualized:
12: –
11: –
10: –
9: –
8: –
7: –
6: Creature 1 attacks the Knight.
5: –
4: The Knight begins focusing. Starting now, they lose their Reflex: Dodge bonuses.
3: –
2a: Creature 2 attacks the Knight
2b: Knight attacks Creature 2 with +2 to their attack. The Knight regains their Reflex: Dodge bonuses.
1: –
Note: 2a and 2b occur simultaneously.
The above scenario plays out this way:
- Creature 1 goes first on turn 6 and attacks the Knight. Because the Knight has not started Focusing, they still have their Reflex: Dodge bonus during this attack. If Creature 1 successfully hits the Knight, the Knight does not lose Focus.
- On turn 4, the Knight is up. Because they previously declared that they will Focus during this round, they begin Focusing at this time. For two turns, including the current one (turn 4 and 5), if the Knight is injured or otherwise sufficiently distracted, they lose Focus and will suffer -2 to their Attack Roll on their attack. Additionally, during Focus, the Knight must remain still, and they lose their Reflex: Dodge bonus until Focus is complete.
- On turn 6, both Creature 2 and the Knight will attack simultaneously. Because the Knight did not suffer injury during Focus (turns 4 and 5), they receive +2 to their Attack against Creature 2, and they regain their Reflex: Dodge bonus.