The combat rules of the Raldamain system aim to speed up combat and favor strategy over luck. Combat is divided into units of time known as rounds in which creatures may take appropriate actions in the order dictated by initiative.
Actions are divided into three types: move actions, standard actions and full turn actions.
The standard action is the most important action of a turn, and can be used to attack or cast spells. You may not take more than one standard action per turn unless an ability allows you to do so, and you may spend a standard action to take an additional movement action. To make an attack you must roll a d20 add the pertinent modifier to the result. If your attack roll is greater than your target’s defense roll your attack will hit and deal a specific amount of damage or cause an effect to your target.
Instead of spending your standard action on your turn you can save it for a future moment. If you spend a standard action this way you can use it as a reaction on any future moment of the round. If a saved action interrupts another action, the action you save will have priority unless the attacker has caught you by surprise or feints you. Saved actions are lost at the beginning of your next turn.
Move actions require less effort than a standard action. Initially you can only perform one move action per turn which can be used for one of the following options:
You can also perform an additional move action once a turn by taking 2 non-lethal damage.
A full turn action requires more effort than a standard action. If you perform a full turn action you will lose all movement actions you have in your turn. Performing a ritual costs you a full turn action. You will not be able to use movement actions by taking non-lethal damage if you use a full-round actions.
A bonus action is one that requires so little effort that it does not consume any other type of action. This type of action does not reduce priority when used.
A creature can move 15 feet as a bonus action, which will provoke an attack of opportunity if it enters another creature’s threatened area.
Reactions are all those actions you perform outside of your turn. Both defensive checks and attacks of opportunity fall into this category.
Defensive shots represent how a character defend itself against an attack made against it. The defender must declare which method he uses to protect himself and will add the corresponding modifier to a d20 roll. If the defender’s result is higher that the attacker’s result then the attack will miss, while if the attacker’s result is higher then the attack will hit.
A character can avoid attacks by dodging or parrying. Dodging represents using agility to avoid an attack while parrying represents using an object to block it. A character that chooses to dodge will add their DEX modifier to the defensive roll while a character who chooses to parry will add its STR modifier (DEX if it is a light weapon).
An opportunity attack is an attack used as a reaction. These are provoked by a multitude of factors and abilities, these being the most common.
First, an attack of opportunity is provoked if a creature retreats from a confrontation without employing a move action to disengage. These attacks represent that the fleeing creature drops its guard and is vulnerable to attack. Only Dodge may be used to ward off an attack made in this manner. This attack is not provoked by retreating from an enemy that is being flanked.
An attack of opportunity can also be provoked if a creature saves its standard action to use it later. An attack saved in this way will have priority over the enemy, although the enemy will be able to defend normally. If a creature saving action is hit by a ranged attack or a surpris attack it will lose all its saved actions and the round will continue normally.
Advantage and disadvantage represent a multitude of factors which benefit or difficult certain actions. If a creature has advantage in a roll it will add 1d6 to the result while if it has disadvantage it will substract 1d6 from it. Advantage from multiple sources will stack, adding multiple d6s to a single roll (the DM can still decide if advantage from certain sources won’t stack). If a character recieves an advantage and disadvantage die on the same roll they will cancel each other out.
Critical hits and misses represent extremely fortunate or unfortunate events that can shift the balance of the battle towards one side or another. A character will gain a critical hit if they roll a natural 20 on any roll while a critical miss will be gained if they roll a natural 1. If a critical hit is gained the character will succeed on their action no matter what while if they gain a critical miss they will fail even if their result with modifiers is higher than the opposing roll. If an attack rolls a critical hit all damage dice will be rolled twice and all permanent injuries will increase by one step, while if a defense roll gains a critical the defender will be able to do an opprtunity attack. If the attacker gains a critical miss they will provoke an immediate opportunity attack (that attack will be undefended if the defender rolled a critical hit), while if both attacker and defender roll a critical hit or miss they can either cancel out both results or exchange blows mutually, dealing normal damage to each other.
A creature will be undefended if it has no way of protecting itself from an attack, either because it is incapacitated or the attacker caught it by surprised. An undefended creature is unable to do defensive rolls and all damage dealt against it will count as a critical hit. The attacker can attempt to aim against a specific body part, for which it must do an attack roll against a difficulty chosen by the DM. Some sample values are +2 for the chest, +4 for an arm or leg and +6 for the head.
A person has cover when he is behind an obstacle that allows him to protect himself from projectiles and explosions, making him more difficult to spot. If a character has cover they gain advantage on dodge rolls and they can spend a movement actions to hide. For an obstacle to count as cover it must be equal to or greater than one quarter the size of the creature and be blocking line of sight. The master has the final say in deciding whether something counts as cover or not.
Cover bonuses will also apply if there are other creatures between the attacker and his target. A character that receives cover by this effect will not be able to hide and will not be able to cancel an additional success to the turn unless there is a creature of a larger size blocking the attacker’s path.
Superior types of cover may be encountered in certain situations. If a creature has all of its body covered except for a small opening it will receive superior cover, by which it will add an additional 1d6 to dodge rolls. If there is no opening between the attacker and his target he will have full cover, which will protect him from all attacks until the cover is destroyed.
A creature is flanked if it is being attacked from two opposite points. When attacking a flanked creature the attacker will receive advantage on all attack rolls.
If a creature is surrounded by multiple creatures it will only be able to use Dodge or Parry against those enemies on its front flank. Attacks made by a troop of creatures against a single target count as area attacks, making the defender suffer half damage even if they defend themselves successfully.
A creature has concealment when it is difficult to perceive because of fog, darkness, or similar effects. Concealment increases the chance that attacks will miss, granting one advantage dice to its defensive rolls for every 15 feet of distance between it and the attacker. A creature with concealment cannot be targeted by ranged attacks if it is more than 60 feet away. This distance is reduced to 15 feet if the creature is in magical darkness, heavy fog, or terrain with heavy cover, an effect knows as greater concealment. All attacks you make against creatures unable to perceive you will count as surprise attacks, making your targets incapable of defending themselves against you.
Concealment penalties can be countered by spending a move action to aim, which will reduce the amount of concealment dice you gain by 1. Creatures that carry bright light or attract attention will not receive any advantage from concealment.
Difficult terrain is the name given to certain hazardous areas that significantly hamper movement. Whenever a creature passes through an area affected by difficult terrain it must expend 10 feet of movement to pass through it (5 feet if it has 3 talent levels in acrobatics and none if it has 5 talent levels). If a creature charges o is pushed through an area affected by difficult terrain it must succeed in an Acrobatics check or fall prone. Creatures in difficult terrain will also have disadvantage in all dexterity checks to avoid attacks.
A group of low level creatures can make a joint attack against a more powerful enemy, joining forces to defeat it. The attack modifier and damage will correspond to the highest of such values among all attacking creatures and both will increase by 2 for every participating creature beyond the first (maximum 8).
A joint attack counts as an area attack, inflicting damage even if the target defends itself successfully (Evasion applies against this effect). If the attackers are flanking the target then the target will not be able to use Parry or Dodge to defend himself unless it has Greater uncanny dodge.
Falling represents the damage that a character will suffer from striking a flat surface at excessive speed. This damage is only reduced by resistances to physical damage, ignoring both artificial and natural armor. A falling character will suffer 1 bludgeoning damage for every 5 feet of distance fallen. If the character falls on waer the total amount of fall damage will be reduced by 2 and all permanent injuries will be reduced by one step. A character that falls a certain number of feet he will suffer permanent injuries as indicated in this table.
| Feet | Permanent injury |
|---|---|
| 5-10 | None |
| 15-20 | Mild |
| 30-45 | Medium or 2 mild |
| 50-65 | Severe or 2 medium |
| 70-95 | 2 severe |
| 100+ | Instant death |