Specific Situational Rules

This section covers rules for circumstances that significantly alter normal gameplay.

Surprise Attack

If you attack from hiding or by deception and your Stealth roll beats every opponent’s Vigilance—or the GM rules you otherwise have the advantage—you gain a moment of surprise before initiative is rolled.

Each ambusher may take one declared action. Defenders may not act or Dodge during this time, as they are unaware of the threat.

During this surprise action, attackers may make a precision strike following the Threading the Needle rules. Called-shot penalties are halved (round in the attacker’s favor). Precision strikes made during surprise bypass armor soak entirely.

If a precision strike during a surprise attack reduces a target to 0 Health, that target is killed outright. No checks or saves are allowed. Against sturdier foes who survive the blow, apply damage as normal with armor bypassed.

Once surprise attacks are resolved, roll initiative. From that point forward, all combatants act normally, called-shot penalties return to normal, and armor soak applies as usual.

Cover and Concealment

Obstacles can provide cover (physical protection) or concealment (visual obscurity), making characters harder to hit.

• Cover (Physical Protection): Grants a direct bonus to the target’s defense, applied as a penalty to the attacker’s roll via the Difficulty Ladder.
  • Partial/Light Cover (e.g., low wall, large tree trunk, prone behind crate): Attacker suffers Challenging (-10%) difficulty.
  • Medium Cover (e.g., arrow slit, thick wall corner, sturdy barricade): Attacker suffers Hard (-20%) difficulty.
  • Substantial Cover (e.g., mostly behind wall, under heavy table): Attacker suffers Very Hard (-30%) difficulty.
  • Total Cover: Target cannot be attacked directly.
• Concealment (Visual Obscurity): Obscures vision, making targeting difficult.
  • Lightly Obscured (e.g., dim light, patchy fog, moderate foliage): Attackers suffer Challenging (-10%) difficulty on attacks relying on sight.
  • Heavily Obscured (e.g., darkness, dense fog/smoke, magical darkness): Attackers suffer Very Hard (-30%) or Extreme (-40%) difficulty, or may be unable to target at all without non-visual senses. Characters within the area may be effectively Blinded.

Visibility

General visibility conditions affect many actions, especially Perception, Vigilance, Ranged Combat, and sometimes Melee Combat or Navigation checks. Apply standard Difficulty Ladder modifiers:

• Clear Light: Everyday (0%)
• Dim Light (Dawn/Dusk, Poor Torches): Challenging (-10%)
• Darkness (Moonless Night, Unlit Dungeon): Hard (-20%) to Very Hard (-30%) without Darkvision/light source.
• Total Darkness/Blinded: Very Hard (-30%) to Near Impossible (-50%) for most actions relying on sight.

Environmental Hazards

The world presents dangers beyond monsters and traps.

• Falling: Characters falling suffer damage, typically 1d10 per 10 feet fallen, perhaps capped at a maximum (e.g., 20d10). A successful Acrobatics or Athletics check against a difficulty set by the height and landing surface might halve the damage.
• Extreme Heat/Cold: Prolonged exposure requires periodic Body checks (difficulty based on severity and protection). Failure typically results in accumulating levels of fatigue (SP loss, action penalties) and eventually HP damage. The Survival skill can help mitigate these effects (finding shelter, proper gear).
• Suffocation/Drowning:A character can hold their breath for a number of rounds equal to their Body score. If the character is engaged in strenuous activity (such as combat or swimming), this duration is halved (minimum of 1 round).

  After this period, the character must make a Body check each round to continue holding their breath. Each failed check imposes a cumulative -10% penalty on subsequent checks.

  First Failed Check: The character loses 10 Stun Points (SP).

  Second Failed Check: The character loses an additional 10 SP.

  Third Failed Check: The character loses any remaining SP and begins losing 1 Hit Point (HP) per round.

  Unconsciousness: When HP reaches 0, the character falls unconscious.

  Death: An unconscious character who continues to suffocate will die after 1d10 rounds unless breathing is restored.

  If the character returns to breathable air at any point before death, they can begin recovering SP and HP as per the standard recovery rules.

• Poisons and Diseases: These insidious threats usually require a Body check to resist their effects upon exposure (injury, ingestion, inhalation, contact). The difficulty depends on the virulence. Effects vary widely – common results include ongoing HP/SP damage, temporary reduction of statistics, or imposing Conditions (like Poisoned, Paralyzed, Unconscious). Curing often requires time, successful Medicine or Alchemy checks (using antidotes or treatments), or specific magical Effects. The GM will provide details for specific poisons or diseases encountered.

Fear and Morale

Confronting terrifying creatures, witnessing horrific events, or facing overwhelming odds can break a character’s resolve.

• Morale Checks: The GM may call for a Mind x 5% roll (or similar Mind-based check) when circumstances warrant. The difficulty depends on the severity of the trigger. Creatures like mindless undead might be immune.
• Failure Consequences: Failing a morale check usually results in the Frightened condition for a short duration (e.g., 1 round or until the source is out of sight). A Frightened character typically suffers a penalty on attacks and checks (-10% or -20%) and must use their actions to move away from the source of fear if possible. A critical failure might result in uncontrolled panic or fleeing.

Conditions

Various effects, spells, injuries, or circumstances can impose Conditions on a character or creature. Conditions alter capabilities in specific ways, temporarily overriding normal function. If multiple conditions apply, a creature suffers the effects of all of them. Effect descriptions or GM rulings specify how a condition is imposed and how it ends.

Blinded

• The creature cannot see.
• Automatically fails any ability check that requires sight.
• Attack rolls made by the blinded creature suffer an Extreme (-40%) difficulty penalty.
• Attack rolls made against the blinded creature gain an Easy (+30%) difficulty bonus.
• Movement speed may be halved (GM discretion).
• Ending: Typically ends when the cause (darkness, spell effect, injury) is removed or its duration expires.

Frightened

• Suffers a Challenging (-10%) difficulty penalty on all skill checks and attack rolls while the source of its fear is within line of sight or clearly present.
• Cannot willingly move closer to the source of its fear.
• Must use Declared Actions to move away from the source of fear if possible. If escape is impossible, may fight defensively or cower (GM discretion).
• Ending: Usually ends once the source of fear is out of sight for a period (e.g., 1 minute), the effect’s duration expires, or sometimes via a successful Mind check on subsequent turns.

Grappled

• Movement Rate becomes 0; cannot move willingly.
• Suffers a Hard (-20%) difficulty penalty on most physical actions (attacks, Athletics, Acrobatics, etc.).
• Suffers a Very Hard (-30%) difficulty penalty on Dodge rolls.
• Ending: Ends if the grappler releases them (no action), the grappler becomes Incapacitated, or the grappled creature succeeds on a contested Athletics or Unarmed Combat check (Declared Action).

Incapacitated

• Represents being unconscious, paralyzed, petrified, stunned senseless, or otherwise unable to act (often from ≤ 10% HP).
• Cannot take any Declared Actions or Free Actions. Generally unaware.
• Reflexive actions like Dodge automatically fail.
• Attacks against the creature gain significant advantage (e.g., Effortless (+40%) bonus, automatic hit/crit at GM discretion).
• Ending: Ends when the cause is removed (HP restored, consciousness regained, paralysis ends, etc.).

Poisoned

• Effects depend heavily on the specific poison (GM provides details).
• Common effects: ongoing SP/HP damage, penalties to stats/skills, gaining other Conditions (Paralyzed, Unconscious).
• Ending: Ends when poison runs course, successful Body check (if allowed), antidote applied (Alchemy/Herbalism), or magical cure (Cure Poison Effect).

Prone

• Creature is lying on the ground. Dropping prone is typically a Free Action.
• Ranged attacks against prone suffer Challenging (-10%) difficulty (if attacker > 10 ft away).
• Melee attacks against prone gain Favorable (+10%) difficulty bonus.
• Prone creature’s Melee Combat attacks suffer Challenging (-10%) difficulty penalty.
• Movement Rate is halved (minimum 5 ft, crawling).
• Ending: Standing up costs 1 Declared Action.

Restrained

• Movement Rate becomes 0.
• Suffers a Hard (-20%) difficulty penalty on attack rolls and most physical skill checks (Athletics, Acrobatics, Sleight of Hand).
• Attacks against the restrained creature gain an Easy (+20%) difficulty bonus.
• Suffers a Very Hard (-30%) difficulty penalty on Dodge rolls.
• Ending: Requires succeeding on an Athletics check (vs. Difficulty/Contested) as a Declared Action, destroying the restraint (if applicable), or the effect ending.

Stunned

• Represents being dazed or reeling (distinct from SP loss).
• Cannot take Declared Actions or Free Actions.
• May take limited Reflexive Actions (like Dodge) but suffer a Hard (-20%) difficulty penalty.
• Attacks against the Stunned creature gain a Favorable (+10%) difficulty bonus.
• Ending: Usually lasts a very short duration specified by the effect (e.g., 1 round).

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File Created: 05/06/2025
Last Modified: 05/06/2025