Combat in Legendary is a roll-for-a-hit-then-see-if-he-dodges system. Since damage for all weapons is pre-calculated (except for Strength bonuses), damage is not a step that involves dice.
A Legend's base movement rates are determined by height and Agility. Add two to the Legend's height in meters (to the nearest tenth), then multiply by 1.5. This is how many meters the Legend may move in 1 second.
Legends may change this at will by announcing they are jogging (triple) or running (quintuple). This does not use a Legend's action during that second or require an agility check. Running requires an Endurance check every three minutes. A penalty of -1 Strength and -3 Fatigue is incurred every three minutes. Strength returns at a rate of 1 per 3 seconds, Fatigue at a rate of 1 per second.
Combat initiative is resolved by Agility. In each second of combat, the Legend with the highest Agility that can act during that second has the option to act or hold. If he holds, he may interrupt any Legend's action (with a lower Agility). If a Legend does not interrupt by the time the slowest Legend acts, their action is delayed to the next second.
Initial readying time for a weapon is half (round up) of the weapon's Recovery for melee weapons. Weapons that must be loaded take the full Recovery to ready. This applies only when a Legend first engages in combat, or when the Legend has removed himself from combat by doing something other than attacking/defending, movement, or holding. A Legend must have not been involved in active combat the second before a weapon is readied.
To attack with a weapon or hand to hand:
1. The player describes in detail what their Legend will do. This includes what portion of an opponent's body they are attacking. |
2. The attacker rolls MeAcc or PrAcc. If the result is equal or less than the appropriate target number, it succeeds. |
3. The defender rolls to Evade, adding the success of the attack to the roll, then consults the combat resolution table. |
4. If the evade fails, the attacker consults the damage table on his Legend sheet for the weapon he is using, applies any modifiers, and tells the defender how much damage was done. |
5. The defender subtracts his Armor value from the total. This is the amount of damage he actually suffers. The defender divides the damage total (including what the armor absorbed) by ten, dropping fractions, and subtracts one tenth of their Health (also dropping fractions). This is the number of seconds the defender cannot act due to intense pain. |
6. The attacker now cannot act for a number of seconds equal to his weapon's Recovery. |
The steps to attack with a spell:
1. On the caster's initiative in a second that he may act, he declares he is casting. |
2. The Legend spends a number of seconds casting per the construction of the spell. The spell is completed on the Legends initiative during the last second of casting. The spell's effects begin at that instant if a spell success roll made. If the spell is targeted, the target must be visible to the caster when the spell is finished; if not, nothing happens. |
3. The target, if unwilling and knows he will be affected, makes an evade for spells that are physical effects (fire, electricity, etc, only). For every 5 percent the check is made by the damaging effect is reduced by portion of the appropriate Word (fire, d5). This adjusted value is used to determine the spell's effectiveness. Area effects must always be physically avoided, though a spell's construction may not allow time for this. |
4. If the spell is damaging, the target follows step five above. Armor only negates physical effects. |
Armor reduces the base Evade% because it is bulky. However, all armor types give some amount of protection, called the Armor Threshold. It is a measure of how well the armor deflects attacks. Evade results that fall in this range actually hit the target, but no damage actually gets through to the wearer. This is illustrated below:
In addition, the evade must be as or more successful than the attack: subtract the amount the attack was made by from the evade roll and use the combat Resolution table below to determine the result.
Attack | Evade Result | Final Result |
Success | Above Armor Threshold | Evade Failed, Body and armor Damage |
Inside Armor Threshold | Evade failed, Armor damage only | |
Below Armor Threshold | Evade successful, no damage | |
Failed | Unnecessary | Miss, no damage |
Armor damage is 1 per 30 damage done to it. See the file armor listings for the armor threshold ratings and damage capacities for armor types.
Occasionally an attack or Evade will be so good or bad that the Legend gets additional effects. This occurs when either 01, 02, or 03 (success), or 98, 99, or 00 (failure). Criticals apply only on natural rolls of these values. Criticals re explained as follows:
Critical Success | Attack | 1.5 * damage, add 35% to Evade roll result, round up. |
Evade | Legend gets a one second action | |
Critical Failure | Attack | GM's discretion of what happens (dropped weapon, trip and fall prone, etc |
Evade | Double damage, as well as GM's discretion of what happens. |
If two criticals happen for the same action, both are applied. Damage multipliers on criticals also apply to armor.
Legends can, before an attack, elect to do less damage than the amount he would normally inflict, providing they make a successful Agility check. The damage multiplier is reduced by .1 for every 3 this check is made by.
A Legend can adapt a more defensive or aggressive demeanor by making a Temperament check. If failed, the Legend can subtract a number of points (up to their Combat stat) from their evade and add it to their MeAcc, or vice versa. This only applies when the Legend is in melee combat. Thus, Evade and PrAcc cannot be switched between.
Parrying can be done only if the defender has an attack available when he is attacked. Instead of rolling for Evade, the defender rolls his own attack. If the defender's attack is more successful than the attacker's, the parry succeeds, but the defender's recovery time is reset as if he had made an attack of his own.
Because all attacks are technically called shots, the way such an attack is handled is different. If a player declares an attack as a called shot (at the portion of the target specified in the attack description), adjust the MeAcc or PrAcc and the weapon's damage multiplier accordingly:
Location | Roll | Damage |
Head | -45 | +.6 |
Chest | -20 | +.4 |
Abdomen | -20 | +.5 |
Groin | -25 | +.5 |
Arms | -15 | +.3 |
Legs | -15 | +.3 |
The roll adjustments apply only towards determining if the attack was successful. Damage is calculated from the attacker's actual MeAcc or PrAcc roll. If a critical success is rolled on a called shot, any armor bonuses are negated (except magical). If the called shot is a miss, but would have been successful normally, the damage bonus is not applied, and normal damage is at half.
If a Legend attacks with two weapons, they cannot attack in the same second, unless both of them have a MeAcc or PrAcc roll penalty applied to them as described in called shots. In addition, the weapon in a Legend's off hand is at a -15/-.1 penalty.
Evades against magic are not affected by armor, other than the -ev modifier for the armor, unless the armor has this ability magically.
As Legends lose HP, their ability to keep fighting and otherwise act decreases. The following penalties and rolls apply when the Legend drops below 1/4 their full HP, then 1/10 (round up):
1/4 | Debilitation roll required every (con/10) seconds the Legend is below the 1/4 HP level. Subtract 5% from the base for every 5 HP the Legend is below 1/4. If failed, the Legend cannot act until healed or a number of actions equal to 1/2 their Health pass. The Legend is not unconscious, but merely rendered inactive (i.e, drops to his knees from loss of blood and/or shock). Attacks and evades suffer a 1% penalty for every 2 HP below 1/4. |
1/10 | Debilitation roll required each action the Legend is below the 1/10 HP level. Subtract 10% from the base for every 2 HP the Legend is below 1/10. If failed, the Legend falls unconscious. Attacks and evades suffer a 2% penalty for every HP below the 1/10 level (while conscious). These are cumulative with 1/4 HP penalties. |
This type of fighting merely requires the player to announce the move he wishes to make, then rolls an attack. The opponent then rolls their Evade as per the armed combat rules above. Damage in unarmed combat is stun damage. When a Legend has suffered stun damage equal to their HP, they fall unconscious for a number of seconds equal to the amount of stun that exceeded their HP. However, every second that a Legend is not struck, he can subtract an amount of stun equal to his Health from his stun total. Unarmed combat does have lasting effects, though. Every unarmed strike inflicts one tenth of the stun as real damage (round down), making it possible to be beaten to death. Armor is not affected by stun damage. Criticals apply as above.