COMBAT

To enter combat, players will roll for their character’s place in Combat Flow and then take turns moving on the battlefield, using Powers or Weapons to attack, or otherwise contextually interacting with the battlefield.

Combat Flow & Dual Combat

Combat Flow is determined by rolling a d6 and adding a character’s Swiftness Score. The player with the highest roll will take their turn first, and so on. 

If multiple players roll the same number, they do not need to re-roll, but will instead work together in Dual Combat for the rest of the sequence. 

In Dual Combat, players can roll their attacks or move together at the start of their shared turn. Each player will automatically gain one additional die, which may be applied to any roll as they fight together (for a single action once per rotation).

While in Dual Combat, a player can give some (or all) of their actions to their ally, if they cannot take any actions of their own.

Wayfinder: You come across a group of bandits who are blocking the road. They draw their weapons and prepare to attack. Enter Combat Flow.

(Players roll for Combat Flow. Luis rolls a 4, Claud rolls a 5, and Audi rolls a 3. Claud gets the highest roll and goes first.)

Wayfinder: The bandits charge towards you, weapons at the ready. What do you do? 

Claud: I want to use my shield to try to knock them back. 

(Claud rolls their Might dice and gets a 4 and a 6.)

Wayfinder: You successfully knock back one of the bandits. Luis, what would you like to do?

Luis: I want to use Charm to try to convince the bandits to stand down.

(Luis rolls his Charm dice and gets a 2 and a 3.)

Wayfinder: Unfortunately, your words fall on deaf ears. The bandits continue to advance.

Audi: I'll use my Swiftness to move behind the bandits and strike one of them.

(Audi rolls their Swiftness dice and gets a 6 and a 3.)

Wayfinder: You quickly move behind the bandits and strike them.

Rotations & Sequences

Combat Flow progresses through a series of Rotations which comprise a Sequence.

A Rotation is a single loop where each player takes their turn in the order determined by Combat Flow. A Rotation ends when each player and their Wayfinder have taken their turn, at which point the next Rotation begins.

A Sequence is formed by multiple connected Rotations, and encompasses the entirety of a battle, from the initial face-off to the final resolution. Sequences conclude when either the players (or their enemy) succeed, flee, or are defeated.

Dealing Damage & Healing

Instead of dealing a fixed amount of damage per attack, damage is increased with each successful roll. For example, if a player rolls three successes, they can deal 3 points of damage.

Players can choose to apply the total amount of damage from their attack, or instead choose to count only one or two successes, dealing less damage to their target.

On their turn, a character can take an action to heal themselves or an ally Close to them. To heal, a player should roll 1 Path Die and add the face value to their (or another) character’s current Life Points.

Dodging

Once a character has made a successful attack, their opponent has the chance to roll Swiftness to try to avoid it. If the dodging character’s number of successes exceeds the attacker's, they will avoid the attack.

Enduring

If Dodging is not an option, a character may roll Endurance to try to take the damage head-on, bracing themselves for impact. If a character’s Endurance roll has more successes than their attacker, any incoming damage will be reduced by half (rounded up).

Players may roll to Endure after failing to Dodge.

Countering

In addition to Dodging or Enduring, players may attempt to counter an attack by rolling Might. This roll must have at least the same number of successes as the attacking character’s roll for it to be countered, dealing the intended damage back to the attacker.

However, counterattacks can, in turn, be countered by the original attacker, leading to a potential back-and-forth exchange until one of the characters fails their roll (taking the original damage) or finds a way to disengage from the conflict altogether.

Countering Powers functions in the same way as countering Weapons, but relies upon Magic rolls instead of Might. In the event of an equal number of successes, it is up to the Wayfinder to determine what the reaction of two clashing Powers would look like.

It should be noted that both players, and characters controlled by the Wayfinder,  can Dodge, Endure, or Counter attacks.

Distances

Distance is not calculated in feet or meters but in the general terms of "Close," "Near," and "Far" interpreted by the Wayfinder. All players can move to anything "Close" to them without taking an action, "Near" to them in a single action, and "Far" from them in two actions. This rule, like many others, can be altered by Talents.