Encounters

In the course of your adventures, there will be times when a simple skill check is not enough to resolve a challenge. Times when fearsome monsters stand in your character’s way and the only choice is to do battle. In Stormchaser, this is called an encounter. Encounters usually involve combat, but they can also be used in situations where timing is critical, such as during a chase or when dodging hazards.

While exploration is handled in a free-form manner, encounters are more structured. The players and GM roll initiative to determine who acts in what order. The encounter occurs over a number of rounds, each of which is equal to about 6 seconds of time in the world of the game. During a round, each participant takes a turn. When it’s your turn to act, you can use up to three actions. Most simple things, such as drawing a weapon, moving a short distance, opening a door, or swinging a sword, use a single action to perform. There are also activities that use more than a single action to perform; these are often special abilities from your character’s class and feats. One common activity in the game is casting a spell, which usually uses two actions. Free actions, such as dropping an object, don’t count toward the three actions you can take on your turn.

Attacking another creature is one of the most common actions in combat, and is done by using the Strike action. This requires an attack roll, a kind of check made against the defence of the creature that you’re attacking. Strikes can be made using weapons, spells, or even parts of a creature’s body, like a fist, claw, or tail. You add a modifier to this roll based on your attributes. The target’s defence is calculated using their proficiency rank in that defence and their attribute modifier. An attack deals damage if it hits, and rolling a critical success results in the attack dealing additional damage!

You can use more than one Strike action on your turn, but each additional attack after the first becomes less accurate. This is reflected by a multiple attack penalty that starts at -1d on the second attack, but increases to –2d on the third. There are many ways to reduce this penalty, and it resets at the end of your turn.

Attacks, spells, hazards, and special abilities frequently either deal damage to a character or impose one or more conditions. Sometimes, both. Damage is subtracted from a creature’s stamina and when a creature is reduced to 0 stamina, it falls unconscious and may die! A combat encounter typically lasts until one side has been defeated, and while this can mean retreat or surrender, it most often happens because one side is dead or dying. Conditions can hinder a creature for a time, limiting the actions they can use and applying penalties to future checks. Some conditions are even permanent, requiring a character to seek out powerful magic to undo their effects.