Unless one participant is unaware of an attack or decides to ignore it, combat is an Opposed action in FUDGE. The easiest way to handle combat in FUDGE is as a series of Opposed action. This can be done simply or with more complexity. The author of FUDGE uses simple and loose combat rules in order to get combat over with quickly and get back to more interesting role-playing. This chapter, largely optional, is for players who prefer combat options spelled out in detail.

Melee combat and Ranged combat are treated separately.

• 4.1 Combat Terms
• 4.2 Melee Combat
  • 4.21 Story Elements
  • 4.22 Simultaneous Combat Rounds
• 4.3 Melee Combat Options
  • 4.31 Melee Modifiers
  • 4.32 Offensive/Defensive Tactics
  • 4.33 PCs vs. NPCs
  • 4.34 Multiple Combatants in Melee
  • 4.35 Hit Location
  • 4.36 Fancy Stuff
• 4.4 Ranged Combat

4.1 Combat Terms

Melee: any combat that involves striking the opponent with a fist or hand-held weapon. Any attack from further away is a Ranged attack.

Story Element: a distinct segment of the storyline in the game. In combat, the interval between story elements can be a practical place for a die roll.

Combat Round: an indeterminate length of time set by the GM - around three seconds seems reasonable to some people, while that seems grossly short or absurdly long to others. A given GM's combat round may vary in length, depending on the situation. Generally, when each character involved has made an action, a given round is over.

Offensive damage factors: those which contribute to damaging an opponent: Strength (if using a Strength-driven weapon), Scale, and deadliness of weapon.

Defensive damage factors: those which contribute to reducing the severity of a received blow: Scale, armor, and possibly Damage Capacity.

Total damage factor (or simply damage factor): the attacker's offensive damage factor minus the defender's defensive damage factor.

4.2 Melee Combat

FUDGE gives three options available for handling the pacing of melee combat: moving from story element to story element, using simultaneous combat rounds, or alternating combat turns. An individual GM may devise others.

4.21 Story Elements

In the simplest combat system, the GM explains the situation in as much detail as is apparent, then asks the players to describe what their characters are doing. The more complete the description of their characters' actions, the better the GM know how to assess the situation. This can be important if she has something that won't be revealed until the middle of a battle. Die rolls, if any, are required by the GM for each *story element*.

A story element is the smallest unit of time in this type of combat resolution. The GM may break the battle down into several story elements, or treat the whole encounter as one element. This depends on the GM's style, the importance of the battle, the number of participants, whether or not there are unexpected surprises, etc. Each element should be a dramatic unit.

For example, the PCs are faced with a detachment of guards at the door while the evil mastermind is trying to activate the Doomsday machine at the back of the room. The fight with the guards might be one element while the confrontation with Dr. Doomsday could be a second. Another GM might treat the whole battle as one story element, while a third GM would treat each five-second segment separately. Whatever the number of elements, keep the battle description as word-oriented as possible.

The GM may ask for a single die roll from a player occasionally, or require three rolls and take the *median* roll.

(The median is the middle value die roll, which may be the same as either the high or low die roll. For example, if the player rolls a Good, a Mediocre, and a Superb result, the median is Good, since it's the result in between Mediocre and Superb. But a result of Poor, Great, and Great gives a median die roll of Great. Using a median tends to soften the role of extreme luck. Some GMs use a median when a single die result represents many actions.)

Once the GM has decided which trait (or traits) each PC should use for this combat, she then gives them a modifier, ranging from -3 to +3. The most common modifier should be 0. The modifier is based partly on how well the PCs' plan would work, given what the GM knows of the NPCs, and partly on circumstances: fatigue, lighting, footing, surprise, weapon superiority, bravery or cowardice of NPCs, wounds, etc.

Here is a long example of story element style of combat:

Gunner, separated from the other PCs, surprises five members of a rival gang in a garage. The player announces that Gunner will shout and charge the rival mob, carrying his Tommy gun as if he's about to fire - they don't know it's irreparably jammed. He hopes to see them run away, hit the dirt, or freeze in fear. He'll then use his Tommy gun as club, starting at the left end of their line. He'll keep his current opponent in between him and the others as long as possible. He hopes to then roll up their line, one at a time, keeping the wall to his left side as he charges.

The GM makes a Situational roll for the mob: Mediocre. The mob members don't recover quickly from their surprise, so she gives Gunner a +1 to his Brawling skill of Good for this plan. She also decides that one mobster will run away and the others won't draw their guns until Gunner has already engaged the first enemy. His Running skill is Great, so she gives him another +1, since he can cover ground quickly. Total modifier for Gunner is +2, bringing his Brawling skill to Superb for this combat. Since this is a fairly long action and she doesn't want a single unlucky roll to ruin Gunner's chances, she asks him for three Brawling skill rolls (at the +2 modifier), and to use the median roll.

Gunner rolls a Good, Superb, and Great result, in that order. The median roll is Great, and the GM decides this is good enough to have downed the first two mobsters, and describes the battle so far in entertaining detail. Now Gunner is facing the last two thugs, who finally have their pistols out and could probably plug him before he charges that far. The GM asks, "What does Gunner do now?"

Gunner hurls the Tommy gun into the face of one gunman while making a low diving tackle for the other, hoping to dodge under any bullets. The GM calls for a single roll against Brawling to cover this whole action: Gunner gets a Fair result. The GM rules that Gunner throws the Tommy gun well enough to distract one gunman, but not harm him. He does, however, manage to tackle and subdue his other foe, whose shots all go wild.

At this point, the GM rules that the mobster grazed by the thrown Tommy gun now steps over and points his pistol to Gunner's head while he's kneeling over the other mobster. Gunner wisely heeds the call to surrender and hopes his friends can rescue him . . .

4.22 Simultaneous Combat Rounds

Those who like their combat broken down into discrete bits can use combat "rounds." In simultaneous action rounds, all offensive and defensive maneuvers happen at the same time. This is realistic: few real combats consist of fighters taking turns whacking at each other.

The GM determines which traits the combatants should roll against. This depends largely on which weapon they are using, which might simply be a fist. Weapon type also affects damage - see Wounds Section.

Each combatant makes an Opposed action roll. On a relative degree of 0, the combat round is a stand-off - the fighters either circled each other looking for an opening, or exchanged blows on each other's shields, etc. - nobody is hurt.

A minimum result of Poor is needed to hit a (roughly) equal-sized opponent. That is, a human needs to score a Poor blow (and still win the Opposed action) in order to hit another human. If both opponents roll worse than Poor, the round is a standoff.

If one opponent is *significantly* bigger than the other (of a different Scale, at least), he needs a Mediocre or even Fair result to hit his smaller foe, while even a Terrible result will allow the small fighter to hit the larger. (Of course, such a blow must still *win* the Opposed action.) Extremely small targets, such as a pixie, may require a Good or even a Great result. Examples include humans fighting giants, or very large or small animals.

If the result is a relative degree other than 0, and the minimum level needed to score a hit is achieved or surpassed, the winner checks to see if he hit hard enough to damage the loser. In general, the better he hit (the greater the relative degree), the greater the likelihood of damage.

If one combatant is unable to fight in a given round (possibly because he's unaware of the attacker, or because of a critical result in the previous round - see Section 3.6, Critical Results), the combat may become an Unopposed Action for the active fighter, usually with a Poor Difficulty Level. If a character can defend himself in some way, such as using a shield, it is still an Opposed Action, but the defending character cannot hurt the other character even if he wins the combat round.

Combat often takes more than one combat round. Characters are not limited to attacking each round - they may attempt to flee, negotiate, try a fancy acrobatic stunt, or any other appropriate action.

4.3 Melee Combat Options

The various options listed below may be used with any melee system. This is not a comprehensive or "official" list of options. The GM should, in fact, consider these options merely as examples to stimulate her imagination. The GM may wish to import complex combat options from other games into FUDGE.

4.31 Melee Modifiers

Some situations call for one side or the other's trait level to be modified. Here are some examples:

A fighter who is Hurt is at -1, while one who is Very Hurt is at -2.

If one fighter has a positional advantage over the other, there may be a penalty (-1 or -2) to the fighter in the worse position. Examples include bad footing, lower elevation, light in his eyes, kneeling, etc.

Subtract the value of a shield from the opponent's weapon skill, provided the defender is trained to use a shield. A small shield has a value of +1 in melee combat only, while a medium shield has a value of +1 in melee combat and +1 to defense against ranged attacks (if the shield material is impervious to the weapon). A large shield (+2 in all combat) is cumbersome to lug around and only really useful in static shield walls. Using a large shield in single combat applies a -2 penalty to the users own combat skills. The larger the shield carried, the more the GM should assess penalties for things such as acrobatic and other fancy maneuvers. Shields can also be used offensively to push an opponent back, for example, or knock someone over.

Aiming at a specific small body part (such as an eye or hand) will require a minimum result of Good or Great to hit and also have a -1 to the trait level. If a result of Great is needed and the fighter only gets a Good result but still wins the Opposed action, he hits the other fighter - but not in the part aimed for.

A fighter may have a magical blessing (+1 or more) or curse (-1 or worse).

All-out offense, such as a berserk attack, grants a +1 to the combat skill (and an additional +1 for damage, if successful). However, if an all-out attacker *ties* or loses the Opposed action, the other fighter wins, and gets +2 to damage!

An All-out defensive stance earns a +2 to the combat skill, but such a combatant cannot harm his foe except with a critical result.

A successful All-out Defense and a successful Perception or Tactics roll produces a -1 penalty to the opponent on the *next* round. The fighter takes a few seconds to scope out the area and maneuvers to take advantage of any terrain or conditional irregularity. Similar combat subtleties are possible, and encouraged - taking a successful All-out defense one round can allow a player to try an acrobatics maneuver the next combat round without risk of being hit, for example.

4.32 Offensive/Defensive Tactics

This optional rule, used with simultaneous combat rounds, allows more tactical flavor to combat at a small expense of complexity. This option replaces the All-out attack and defense options listed above, and allows for both combatants to be injured in the same combat round.

Before each round, a fighter may choose to be in a normal posture, an offensive posture or defensive posture. An offensive or defensive stance increases combat skill in one aspect of combat (offense or defense), and decrease the same skill by an equal amount for the otheraspect of combat.

There are five basic options:

+2 to Offense, -2 to Defense
+1 to Offense, -1 to Defense
Normal Offense and Defense
-1 to Offense, +1 to Defense
-2 to Offense, +2 to Defense

Each combat round, a player secretly chooses a combat stance by selecting two FUDGE dice and setting them to a result from +2 to -2, which represents an offensive modifier. (The defensive modifier shown above with the offensive modifier is automatically included.) Both sides simultaneously reveal their choices.

Each fighter then makes a single Opposed action roll as normal. The result is applied to both offense and defense, however, and will thus have different results for offense and defense if anything other than a normal posture is chosen. The offensive rolled result of each fighter is then compared to the defense of the other fighter.

For example, a fighter with Good sword skill chooses +1 to offense and -1 to defense for a particular combat round: his offensive sword skill is Great this round, while his defensive sword skill is Fair. His opponent, a Great swordswoman, chooses normal posture. The swordswoman rolls a -1: a Good result for both her offense and defense. The first fighter rolls a 0 result: his offensive rolled result is Great, his defense is Fair.

His offense result of Great is compared with her Good defense: he wins by +1. However, her offense result of Good is simultaneously compared with his defense of Fair: she also wins the Opposed action by +1. Both sides check for damage, to see if they got through each other's armor - see Section 4.5, Wounds.

4.33 PCs vs. NPCs

If a PC is fighting an NPC the GM can treat combat as an Unopposed action by assuming the NPC will always get a result equal to her trait level. In this case, the PC will have to tie the NPC's trait level to have a stand-off round, and beat the NPC's trait in order to inflict damage. This option stresses the player characters' abilities by disallowing fluke rolls by NPCs.

4.34 Multiple Combatants in Melee

When more than one opponent attacks a single fighter, they have, at least, a positional advantage. To reflect this, the lone fighter is at -1 to his skill for each additional foe beyond the first. (For epic-style games, with a few heroes battling hordes of enemies, this penalty can be reduced, or the GM can simply give the hordes Poor skills and low Damage Capacity - which is not out of character for a horde.)

The lone fighter rolls once, and the result is compared with *each* of the opponents' rolled degrees, one after the other. The solo combatant has to defeat or tie *all* of the opponents in order to inflict a wound on one of them. If he beats all of his foes, he may hit the foe of his choice. If he ties his best opponent, he can only wound another whose result is at least two levels below his.

Example: Paco is facing three thugs, who have just rolled a Great, Good, and Mediocre result, respectively. Paco rolls a Great result, tying the best thug. He hits the thug who scored a Mediocre result (at least two levels below his result) and is not hit himself (he tied the best thug).

The lone fighter *takes* multiple wounds in a single round if two or more enemies hit him. Usually, he can inflict damage on only one foe in any given round - his choice of those he bested. It's also possible to allow a sweeping blow to damage more than one foe at a time. Of course, this slows a slash down: reduce damage done by 1 or 2 for each foe cut through.

A well-armored fighter facing weak opponents can simply concentrate on one foe and let the others try to get through his armor (that is, not defend himself at all against some of his attackers). In this case, the lone fighter can damage his chosen foe even if he is hit by other, ignored foes. This is historically accurate for knights wading through peasant levies, for example. There may or may not be a penalty for the lone fighter in this case.

There's a limit to the number of foes that can simultaneously attack a single opponent. Six is about the maximum under ideal conditions (such as wolves, or spear-wielders), while only three or four can attack if using weapons or martial arts that require a lot of maneuvering space. If the lone fighter is in a doorway, only one or two fighters can reach him.

When multiple NPCs beset a lone PC, the GM may wish to use the option PCs vs. NPCs. This will save a lot of die rolling.

Alternately, she may wish to roll only once for all the NPCs. The lone fighter is still at -1 per extra opponent. The GM rolls 2dF, and applies the result to each NPC. For example, if the GM gets a +1 result, each attacker scores a +1.

Example: Three NPC pirates, complete with eye-patches, scars, earrings, sneers and generally bad attitudes, are attacking dashing PC hero Tucker. The pirates (whose names are Molly, Annie, and Maggie) are Fair, Good, and Mediocre, respectively, at combat skills. Tucker is a Superb swordsman, but is at -2 for having two extra fighters attacking him at once: his skill is Good for this combat. The GM wants to roll just once (applying the result to all three pirates) rather than rolling three times each combat round.

Rolling 2dF, she gets a +1 on the first round. The pirates have just gotten Good, Great, and Fair results, respectively. If Tucker scores a Superb result, he could hit the pirate of his choice and remain unhit. On a Great result, Tucker would be unhit, and could land a blow on Maggie. On a Good result, he doesn't hit anyone, but Annie hits him. If Tucker rolls a Fair result, both Molly and Annie would hit him. The process is repeated each round.

4.35 Hit Location

A light blow to an eye is very different from a light blow to an armored shoulder, or to a shield. Using a hit location system adds flavor to combat and the description of a character's equipment,wounds - and scars! Many games have a hit location system, and a GM can easily translate one she is familiar with to FUDGE. Or she can use the simple system given here.

The simplest system is not to worry about "called shots." Merely say the better the relative degree, the better the location of the blow. Winning a battle by +8 will allow the attacker to pierce an eye, if desired. Hopefully, the players will describe their actions in such detail that the GM will know how close they came to their objective merely by looking at the relative degree.

4.36 Fancy Stuff

A lot of fancy maneuvers are possible in FUDGE combat. All require a bit of thought on the GM's part.

How about FUDGE's "graininess" getting in the way of interesting combat? That is, since there are only seven levels in FUDGE, a Good fighter will often meet another Good fighter, and it doesn't seem right that you can't meet someone who's just a *little* better or worse than you.

In this case, the GM can create new levels of combat skills (there's no point in using this option with other skills). These new levels require full experience points to reach, but function only as "half" levels, called "plus" levels. Thus, you can have:

Superb + Superb
Great +
Great
Good +
Good

And so on. In any combat, someone with a "+" has the skill level listed before the "+", but gets a +1 every other round, starting with the second round.

So in a combat between Gus (skill Great) and Ivan (skill Good +), Gus would have the higher skill on on rounds one, three, five, etc. But on rounds two, four, six, etc., Ivan will roll as if he had a Great skill, thus being Gus's equal those rounds.

What about swinging on chandeliers and other swashbuckling moves? Since role-playing games have more to do with movies than real life, this should be encouraged if the genre is at all cinematic.

In these cases, have the player describe his swashbuckling intentions as fully and dramatically as he can. The better the story, the better the bonus to the die roll - or no roll needed if the outcome is entertaining enough. You may then request a roll against Dexterity, or Acrobatics (or even Chutzpah!) and let that determine how well he accomplished his aim.

Maybe the swing on the chandelier came off great, but the landing on the banister was a little rough, so the slide down to slam the villain in the back was a tad off, and instead of knocking him out, you merely made him drop his weapon, but then fell on the floor yourself, and now he's mad, and maybe you should get up before he picks up his pistol, or you could try to yank the carpet while you're down there, right next to it, and he seems to standing on it a bit off-balance . . . Whatever is fun!

4.4 Ranged Combat

Ranged combat may or may not be an Opposed action.

If the target is unaware of the assault, the attacker makes an Unopposed action roll to see if he hits his target. The GM sets the Difficulty Level based on distance, lighting, cover, etc. Do not modify the attacker's skill for range, partial cover, or other circumstances - that's included in the Difficulty Level. Equipment such as a laser sighting scope can modify the attacker's skill, though.

If the defender is aware of the attack it is an Opposed action: the attacker's ranged weapon skill against the defender's defensive trait. (A Difficulty Level for range, lighting, etc., is still set by the GM, and is the minimum rolled degree needed to hit.) A defensive roll should be made against a Dodge skill, or Agility attribute, or something similar.

If the ranged weapon is thrown, there is no modifier to the defense roll. However, a propelled weapon, such as a bow, gun, or beam weapon, is much harder to avoid. In this case, reduce the defender's trait by -2 or -3. Obviously, the defender isn't trying to dodge a bullet, but dodging the presumed path of a bullet when an attacker points a gun at him.

Of course, the defender may decline to dodge, but shoot back instead. In this case, the action is Unopposed - making the Difficulty Level is all that is needed to hit. The GM may make such actions simultaneous.

Example: Will Scarlet is shooting a longbow from the greenwood at Dicken, the Sheriff's man, who has a crossbow. Dicken knows Will is there, because the man next to him just keeled over with an arrow through his chest. Dicken is in the open, in good light, so only range is of any concern to Will Scarlet: the GM says even a Mediocre shot will hit since they are fairly close. The range for Dicken to hit Will is of course the same, but Will is partially hidden behind a log (cover), and just inside the foliage, so the lighting makes it hard to see him clearly. The GM decrees Dicken needs a Good roll to hit Will. Dicken rolls a Fair result, missing Will. Will rolls a Mediocre result, which hits Dicken, even though it wasn't as good a shot as Dicken's.

Under these conditions, it's possible for both combatants to succeed in the same combat round. Had Dicken's shot hit, Will and Dicken would have skewered each other.

Anna's Fantasy FUDGE