User:Gray
Combat Summary Chart
This chart supersedes the one on p.154 of the World of Darkness Rulebook.
Stage One: Intent
• The players and the Storyteller describe what their characters want out of the fight.
• Decide whether characters can surrender and can become Beaten Down.
Stage Two: Initiative
• If the attacker springs an ambush or otherwise strikes when the defender isn’t able to counter, the defender rolls Wits + Composure contested by the attacker’s Dexterity + Stealth. If the defender fails, she doesn’t act on the first turn of combat and cannot apply Defense against attacks.
• Everyone rolls Initiative: the result of a die roll + Dexterity + Composure. If the character has a weapon readied, apply its Initiative Modifier.
Stage Three: Attack
• Unarmed Combat: Strength + Brawl vs. Defense
• Melee Combat: Strength + Weaponry vs. Defense
• Ranged Combat: Dexterity + Firearms
• Thrown Weapons: Dexterity + Athletics vs. Defense
A character’s Defense is normally subtracted from any attack dice pools where it applies. If she chooses to Dodge, the defender rolls her Defense as a dice pool against each attack. Each success reduces the attacker’s successes by one. If the at¬tacker is reduced to zero successes, the attack does nothing. If the attacker has successes remaining, add any weapon modi¬fier to the number of successes to determine how many points of Health the target loses. All weapons deal lethal damage.
Stage Four: The Storyteller describes the attack and wound in narrative terms.
Possible Modifiers
• Aiming: +1 per turn to a +3 maximum
• All-Out Attack: +2 with Brawl or Weaponry attack; lose Defense
• Armor Piercing: Ignores amount of target’s armor equal to item’s rating
• Autofire Long Burst: 20 or so bullets, no target limit pending Storyteller approval. A +3 bonus is applied to each attack roll; –1 per roll for each target after the first
• Autofire Medium Burst: 10 or so bullets at one to three targets, with a +2 bonus to each attack roll; –1 per roll for each target after the first
• Autofire Short Burst: Three bullets at a single target with a +1 bonus to the roll
• Concealment: Barely –1; partially –2; substantially –3; fully, see “Cover”
• Cover: Subtract Durability from damage; if Durability is greater than weapon modifier, attack has no effect
• Dodge: Double Defense, roll as a dice pool with each success subtracting one from the attacker’s successes
• Drawing a Weapon: Requires instant action without a Merit and could negate Defense
• Firing from Concealment: Shooter’s own concealment quality (–1, –2 or –3) reduced by one as a penalty to fire back (so, no modifier, –1 or –2)
• Offhand Attack: –2 penalty
• Prone Target: –2 penalty to hit in ranged combat; +2 bonus to hit when attacker is within close-combat distance
• Range: –2 at medium range, –4 at long range
• Shooting into Close Combat: –2 per combatant avoided in a single shot (not applicable to autofire); –4 if grappling
• Specified Target: Torso –1, leg or arm –2, head –3, hand –4, eye –5
• Surprised or Immobilized Target: Defense doesn’t apply
• Touching a Target: Dexterity + Brawl or Dexterity + Weaponry; armor may or may not apply, but Defense does apply
• Willpower: Add three dice or +2 to a Resistance trait (Stamina, Resolve, or Composure) in one roll or instance
