For those of you who have never been in a time-freeze for combat, I truly envy you. If the freedom of our mostly freeform style of play is what you like about the site, then the mechanical rules lawyering and the time it eats up to handle just a few rounds of combat will make you throw your hands up in disgust. Luckily, with some preparation, even the most spontaneous combat can be handled fairly and swiftly.

It goes without saying that when your character stands a chance of dying, you want the rules to be administered as fairly as possible. That requires time and knowledge. The knowledge usually lies in two phases; the players must know the capabilities and mechanics that their character uses, and the moderator must know the systems to dictate fairly. Without this bit of knowledge, research and questions add to the time. Time is slowed down by the need to check or compare rules or to manage and type responses. We all know that table-top combat can become slower than normal RP, but online, the medium brings it to a crawl.

This page is meant to serve as a general set of Guidelines for dealing with combat. It is focused on the process and the system for running the scene. For more information on the mechanics, check our the house rules area.

Possible Solutions

The first solution to speeding up combat is the abstinence solution. Do not make a character that has a mindset to get in a fight. Be a coward, be a chicken. Survival of the Smartest. Unfortunately, this is only a personal solution and does not address the problem of combat being slow in the first place.

The second solution is probably the best bet on site (and has Ahadi: East Africa endorsement) for non lethal combat. If all combatants agree that their intention OOC is not to kill, even if using lethal means, then simply compare traits and grant someone the win.. Or, perhaps, do a basic contested roll to see who would win. I do not recommend this technique if non-regenerative aggravated damage will be dealt in any manner. Once the decision has been made, simply role-play the encounter out. You don't have to worry about points spent, or damage taken. You don't need to worry about moderation or fairness. The winner is predetermined and the loser gets their butt kicked in such a way that they just need to nurse their wounds (and for shifters, they nurse their pride much longer)..

Example:
Joe and Bob are gonna brawl. Joe has a Dex of 5 and a Brawl of 4. Bob has a Dex of 2 and a Brawl of 1. Joe rolls his dicepool of 9 and gets 5 successes. Bob rolls his dicepool of 3 and gets 2 successes. Bob's ass will be beat. The combatants simply make IC posts to describe the situation, possibly working together in PMs.

Full Scale Mechanics: A Solution

Of course, sometimes, a character wants to kill a character. It happens. Sometimes, it is PC to PC or PC to NPC. In the end, it is done in full mechanical splendor for the purposes of absolute fairness, as well as for the sake of drama. In a situation in which all mechanics must be brought to bear, the following principles should be kept in mind, in addition to the actual rules.

Preparation

Let's first assume you know combat. If you don't, you are already going to be to blame for slowing things down. Questions asked, hesitation on rolls, this all adds up to time spent. Make sure you check out the Combat Walkthrough in the Combat area of the Reference section.

Admins should have copies of rulebooks nearby, character sheets up if possible, and the walkthrough or crossover pages up if accessible. Just like in a table top game, having your resources handy is a necessity. Players should have their character sheet handy, should know their dice pools, their combat stats for their weapons. It will also help to have either a rulebook or the Combat walkthrough page up as well.

Assuming everyone has the paperwork, if the moderator was pulled into the room to handle it, they must be adequately apprised of the situation and know locations and the situation. Things done prior to the Time Freeze should have proof of existence. This includes gifts, rites, fetishes, talens, weapons pulled, or anything else meant to give an advantage.

Combat

Stage 1: Initiative.

The roll is a d10. Then add that to the sum of your Wits and Dex. Subtract wound penalties. There are several ways Initiative can be done for order that are acceptable. Use the way that is BEST for the number of combatants involved.

• Everyone rolls each round.
• Everyone rolls once and that order is kept for the length of combat.
• One person for good guys and one for bad guys rolls each round.4. Combo 2&3. This sets up the order of the good guys and bad guys amongst themselves, and still gives a variation of bad vs good during the combat.

A player should roll and then state: My initiative is 14. (roll 8 + Dex 3 + Wits 2)
This shows the ST that the math and rolls are accurate. Spell it out people. It is one simple post.

"OK, the order for combat for you guys is Bob, Joe, Mike, Mark. Remember who is before and after you. You guys go first this round," is a potential ST post.

Step 2. Action Declaration.

In practice, the ST asks people in PMs what they are doing. Things are told, things go back and forth in PMs, taking time. This is a flawed holdover, used for that sake of dramatic privacy, which can be done in other ways.

Per the Walkthrough, I recommend that all Action Declarations are done according to the posted mechanic. Make them public, and go in REVERSE order, allowing the best rolls to decide what they are doing after everyone else has declared. That gives them the benefit of "holding to dodge" without having to actually hold (thereby saving posts), and to take advantage of their nimbleness. It gives everyone a fair shake of changing their mind before they make it, and the ST to correct issues before rolls. And best of all, it is done without having to go back to someone and say "Well they are going to do this... would you still....?"

Also, the single statement should convey as much info as possible to avoid confusion. This will be broached next.

Example: 4 Players, 4 Boojum bad players: Initiative was done by each team getting a roll after individuals declared.

• B1. "Crap roll, I will be dodging (3+2) what comes at me, if nothing comes, I will attack Bob with my Dagger of Poison.(3+3 diff 4 special)"
• B2. "Crap roll for me, too. I am doing the same. (dodge 2+2), (attack 2+3, normal dagger)"
• B3 "Spend blood to active Kewl Power. Claws of Death attack at Mark. Dex4+Brawl2, Aggravated damage Str4+2. Dex specialty of hand-to-hand ."
• B4 "I am still incapacitated from last round."
• Bob. "F that. I am taking the advantage to back out of melee range with B1 & 2, while shooting my Glock 17 twice at B3. (dice pool drops by 2 and then 3 ; damage is 4) Spend a WP on second roll."
• Joe "I swing chainsaw at B3s head if he is still up. Spend WP. Called shot med +2 diff. Dex4+Melee1 No specialty for this. Otherwise, same thing to B3"
• Mike "I avoid the chainsaw freak on my team. Shooting B1 with Glock 17 once. (Dex3+Firearms3)
• Mark "I am dodging B3 (Dex 5 + Dodge 5)"

OK, note that people gave as much info as they could to speed things up. This includes:

• Action, with 'alternate' action if things change due to natural issues. If a player wants a total reassessment or change once things begin, it costs the WP point or a WP roll, per the rules.
• Basic action descriptions.
• WP Spent.
• Declaring power use (and associated diffs if Magic)
• Reminding ST of special items
• Dicepool of Action
  • Knowing how to split dice pools
• Giving Location assistance
• Giving special difficulties for specific acts or weapons.
• Applicable Specialties
  • A good basic format is "I do this to that with this. -Applicable stats and info-"

Step 3. ST Evaluation and Roll Call.

Make sure it all works, do any clarifications or get any missing information. At this point, actions and avoidance actions have been declared. Check math if need be.

Now the ST can ask for rolls, public or privately. Honesty is usually a key factor, especially with PC vs PC, and in cases like that, public is best and minimizes the role of the Moderator/ST. Private is sometimes best for ST run adventure so creative fudging can be used to speed things up or save PCs.

Step 4. Time to Roll

Players roll when called to attack or avoid, since they know the order, they should be ready with the right dice. It doesn't matter what the diff is, so you don't need to ask. It just slows things up! The ST is doing the success math, since difficulty can change! In general it is a 6, but you don't know if someone has an edge or advantage, or if the guy running just made your diff harder to hit him, or to save your ass. You were responsible for declaring your difficulty on special actions or weapons already.
Know the Rules! (On Combat Walkthrough) Know how to Split Dice!

• Dex+Brawl/For Hand-to-Hand Fighting and Blocks
• Dex+Melee/For Weapons and Parries
• Dex+Firearms/Archery/For guns and bows
• Dex+Athletics/For thrown weapons
• Dex+Dodge/For getting out of the way

Step 5: Damage and Soak Calls.

By default, every PC should know their dice pool for damage and it should be on the tip of their tongue. What they can not know from round to round is the Accuracy Bonus, that being that extra dice you get for each success after the first that actually makes it successful. So after the roll, the ST may need a moment to roll a dodge, or the other player may have to dodge. At that point, the ST tells the player how many dice to roll in addition to their standard dice, and if they know that, they can state it, too.

"Okay Bob, Dagger is Str+1, plus you got an extra 2. I know you have a talen activated for +1, which gets added after the roll."

An ST should only have to say "Bob, Soak Lethal." You should know your game to know how many dice that is. See the combat rules for clarification if you do not know. Assuming damage was already rolled, this is then summed and a total given. In cases of PC vs PC, let it all be in the open. In cases of adventure nights, private is sometimes good (as well as not telling someone how many to soak), so you can avoid killing them if need be. This is a dramatic right to a STORYTELLER. Don't bitch and moan.

"You took 3 lethal and are now down to Mauled, don't forget the penalties on next round"

Step 6: Repeat as Necessary

At this point, it can be assumed that the cycle repeats itself, or extra actions from powers can be done. Extra powers are declared at the same time as other actions, they just happen after the first cycle.

Step 7: Descriptive Posts

Descriptive posts can be done by the combatants in some situations, but is generally written as a concise post of information to describe apparent damage, current conditions, and locations. Use the posts to provide information for follow up rounds!

Conclusive Arguments

OK, so you read it and want to know why that specific structure of things, applied to already a current hell of rules will actually speed things up? Why can't we just scrap certain things? Alter one thing and the balance of character creations changes dramatically and more house rules need to be brought in. Everything I have described uses standard rules, with a recommended administration procedure. Nothing says you need to use this article, but it will be helpful.

So that means we must manage ourselves better and that should make the most improvement with the least amount of rule changes. Here are the things that this management system does and how they benefit the combat.

First is everyone becomes responsible for their own numbers and must know them already. No extra time is needed for Moderator research to be done, slowing down the game. The use of these numbers, along with declared math, is done directly in the post. This makes mistakes obvious and a quick fix ready before rolls (and rerolls) are done.

Open posts keep spectators interested, after all, entertainment is what we are here for, but it also reduces PM overload. They encourage players to be ready, and will minimize that boring silent downtime.

When actions are declared in such a way to give the better initiatives a greater opportunity for managing their rolls, with dodges to be declared before rolling becomes necessary, it inherently speeds things up. Also, when these single posts contain as much information as possible, keeping it fast and organized, it keeps the chat interface neater and provides all the details in one post. Also, in the event that something is missing or the ST does not know, one question can get the rest of the missing info.

There you have it, guidelines to make you look slicker as a player or admin, and make everyone happier with a greatly reduced combat time. Sometimes, we want the fun of involved combat, but other times, we just want to get it over with. When an ST is running an NPC or event based encounter, some rules may become more lax than other, after all, it is story based. Go with the flow and let your sense of acting be your guide. As a final note, it is faster and more fun when the players get to do more, or make the descriptive posts. If that is the case, as a player, do not assume that just because you got the successful and damaging hit, that you can apply more 'damage.' Be responsible, and as a player, be polite.