Combat
How combat works
Combat is split into 3-second Rounds. Everyone rolls Initiative and takes turns; each turn is one Move Action and one Action.
Round and turn
While everyone talks, haggles and sneaks around, time in the game flows freely — the GM measures it. As soon as someone reaches for a weapon, time is cut into 3-second pieces.
- Turn — one character's 3 seconds. In a turn they can move and do one thing.
- Round — every combatant has had one turn. Turns happen almost simultaneously, so a Round is also about 3 seconds.
Combat is Round after Round, until one side wins, runs or surrenders.
Initiative: who goes first
At the start of combat each combatant rolls Initiative once:
Initiative = REF + d10
Everyone lines up in an Initiative Queue from highest to lowest. Ties reroll until someone comes out on top. After that the order doesn't change: when it reaches the end, a new Round starts from the top again.
The queue shifts in only two cases: a driver who starts a vehicle moves to its front (see vehicle combat), and newcomers who join the fight later roll Initiative and take their place.
What you can do in a turn
Turn = 1 Move Action + 1 Action
The Move Action is spent only on moving. The Action is for everything else: a shot, a blow, a reload, first aid, hacking. Any order: you can shoot first, then run.
You can split them. The Move Action doesn't have to be spent in one piece: run halfway, shoot, run the rest. And a weapon with ROF 2 (pistols, knives, fists) splits the Action itself — "move, shoot, move, shoot, move." You can even shoot a pistol in your left hand and swing a machete in your right: one attack with each.
No matter how many weapons you hold, it's no more than two attacks a turn. And you can't fire two ROF 1 weapons with one Action, even if they're in both hands.
List of Actions
| Action | What it does |
|---|---|
| Attack | A shot or a blow — ranged combat, melee combat |
| Run | A second Move Action, if you already moved this turn |
| Reload | Fully load a weapon with one type of ammo |
| Use Skill | A short task with a skill: pick a lock, bandage, look around. A long one takes several turns |
| Stabilize | Stop the bleeding or pull a friend out of Mortally Wounded — details in "Wounds and Medicine" |
| Grab | Seize and hold an opponent, or wrest an item from them — melee combat |
| Choke | Choke someone you're holding |
| Throw | Throw someone you're holding to the ground, or throw an object |
| Human Shield | Hide behind an opponent you're holding — cover |
| Draw or stow a shield | A shield is the only thing you can't put in your hand for free |
| Get Up | Rise from prone |
| Use Object | Do something with an item without a skill: press a button, holster a pistol |
| Hold Action | Declare an action and the moment it triggers: "I shoot as soon as he leans out" |
| Board, start, maneuver a vehicle | Details in vehicle combat |
| NET Actions | A Netrunner spends their NET Actions instead of a regular Action |
Free, no Action needed: take a weapon within reach into a free hand; drop a weapon on the floor; get out of a vehicle (that's movement). Holstering a weapon or tucking it into your belt is already an Action.
Hold Action
Holding means saying in advance what you'll do, to whom and when: "after Gina's turn" or "when the door opens." If the condition hasn't happened by the end of the Round, the action is lost.
Movement
With a Move Action a character covers MOVE × 2 meters. On a grid — as many squares as their MOVE, diagonals too; you can't stop between squares.
| How you move | Cost |
|---|---|
| Walking or running | 1 meter per 1 meter |
| Swimming, climbing, running jump | 2 meters per 1 meter |
| Standing jump | Half as far as a running jump |
You can't move while prone: first take the Get Up action. Armor with a penalty and being Mortally Wounded lower MOVE — see armor and Mortally Wounded.
Related: Initiative, Ranged combat, Melee combat