Combat checklist
  1. Check for ambush (Detect Danger if unaware of opponents). If ambushed, the surprised characters can not act during the first turn.
  2. Initiative is rolled by each character as 1d10 + Agility score. Ties are won by the better Agility, or if that is also tied, the winner of a die roll. Each turn begins at the phase equal to the highest initiative value. Characters get an action on the phase equal to their initiative value, and each fifteenth phase thereafter. Each action after the first costs 2 points of Power. In a given phase a character can both move and take a standard action, which could be anything from attacking to evading. Combat turns are on a scale of fifteen seconds. This means that complex actions like demolitions or lockpicking may take multiple turns to complete.
  3. Attacking and defending is done using the attack table that requires cross-referencing the individual attack power with whatever applicable defense is used against it. To this score (which may start at a base of 0) is added a range modifier, any facing modifiers, a level modifier based on differences between the level of the attacker and defender, and any weapon modifiers. A d20 is rolled, a hit being made if the die rolls the target number or less. A natural 20 is always considered a miss while a natural 1 is always a hit. Special Attacks require a successful second roll to hit and have effects based on the specific target.
  4. Using an action to perform the evasion maneuver creates a negative modifier (penalizes attackers) of 1/10 current Power score rounded down.
  5. If a character is hit, the damage may be mitigated by “rolling with the punch”. Up to a maximum of 1/10 current Power may be spent to reduce the damage by a like amount. Hits also cause knockback equal to one game inch per Hit Point of damage (minus the target's Basic Hits). An attacker can pull his punch by simply stating how many points of damage he intends to subtract from his damage roll before it is made.
  6. Power Expenditure occurs at the time of the action, any action beyond the first action of any turn costs an extra point of power.