WEAPONS
WEAPON ATTRIBUTES
Weapons have a Type, Scale, Effort Range, and Properties.
- Type – Melee or Ranged
- Scale – the size, weight, length, leverage, or complexity of the weapon
- For Melee: Small, Medium, Large
- For Ranged: Quick, Typical, Lengthy, Extended
- Effort Range – the amount of Effort that can be used to make an attack
- Properties – any special attributes, abilities, conditions, or effects
WEAPON STATS
Most weapons and attacks will fall into one of the common bands given in this table.
| WEAPON TYPE & SCALE | EXAMPLES | EFFORT RANGE |
|---|---|---|
| Melee | ||
| Small | dagger, club, shortsword, punch | 1-2 |
| Medium | sword, handaxe, staff, spear, grappling/throw | 2-4 |
| Large | polearm, battle axe, two-handed sword | 3-6 |
| Ranged | ||
| Quick | thrown weapons | 2 |
| Typical | slings, bows | 4 |
| Lengthy | crossbows | 6 |
| Complex | heavy crossbow | 10 |
NOTE
Weapons and attacks that are of exceptional quality, enchanted, or otherwise may, for example, be of a smaller size but allow greater Effort to be excerpted – or be of a larger size and require less Effort.
MELEE ATTACKS
Every melee weapon and attack will have an Effort Range that is determined by its size, weight, awkwardness, recovery, and the like. You choose how much Effort you would like to exert from the Effort Range.
The Effort that is invested in your attack equals the damage the weapon itself contributes to a successful attack. This is called Weapon Damage.
NOTE
Because weapons in this genre that are smaller, lighter, and use less leverage also proportionally do less damage, it made sense to us for the Effort that is invested in an attack to equal the damage the weapon contributes to the total damage.
The additional damage that can be done by committing more Effort is not only related to the physics of the weapon’s size, leverage, and mass – but also represents the use of feints and using techniques to try to create better opportunities to strike.
RUSH OR TAKE CARE
You can Rush to perform a melee attack more quickly at the cost of efficacy, or Take Care to deliberately commit more time and Effort to try to increase it, even outside their normal Effort Range.
Neither of these impact the original Weapon Damage calculation performed when you select how much Effort to initially commit to using the weapon. When you Rush or Take Care you are leveraging time-spent to either lose or gain opportunities for more effective strikes.
For melee attacks, the most you may shift your Effort and Proficiency is ±2.
An attacks’ Effort can never be reduced lower than 2.
RUSH
When you Rush an attack, you reduce its Effort by a number of Counts equal to the downward shift in its effective Proficiency.
This, of course, could cause you to miss an attack that would normally have landed while also lowering the its Accuracy, and thus damage.
TAKE CARE
To Take Care with your attack, you may shift your effective Proficiency upwards by increasing your Effort the same amount.
This represents waiting and watching for better opportunities to strike, or using other movements or techniques – such as feints – to try to create those opportunities.
NOTE
Since Damage includes Accuracy, deciding the initial Effort for determining Weapon Damage would normally have the same effect as using Rush or Take Care. However, there may be time when simply being touched by an attack carries its own consequences.
REACH
Most melee weapons require your target to be within Arm’s Reach.
Some melee weapons will indicate that they have the Reach property (or we just all know that they do because we know what spear’s and polearms look like). These weapons are able to perform melee attacks at both Arm’s Reach and Spear’s Reach. They are often referred to as a Reach Weapon.
THE ADVANTAGE OF A REACH WEAPON
If a target is moving from Flight, Bowshot, or Spear’s Reach towards you at the same Count that your Reach Weapon attack Count hits 0, you may resolve your attack before any other Actions are resolved on that Count. The results are not applied simultaneously as usual; the Reach attack results are resolved and applied before resolving the other Actions.
THE DISADVANTAGE OR A REACH WEAPON
If your target is already within Arm’s Reach and you are using a Reach Weapon and they are making a non-Reach melee attack on the same Count, their results are resolved and applied before yours.
RANGED WEAPONS
READY…
The Effort required for a ranged weapon includes the time and exertion requires to load the weapon, draw it, bring it to bear, and quickly aim it. Firing a weapon once all of those steps have been completed costs zero Effort.
AIM…
Once the weapon is ready to fire, you may hold your actual attack until you are ready to release it. To just keep it held requires no additional Effort. However, you may also attempt to take Careful Aim.
CAREFUL AIM
You may contribute additional Effort to ranged weapon attack after you have completed the initial required Effort to take Careful Aim.
Careful Aim grants a bonus equal to attack Check equal to the additional Effort spent.
The maximum Effort you can invest to Careful Aim is equal to your Prowess.
RUSH
Unlike a melee weapon that can be hastily thrown out, there is very little wiggle room to Rush a ranged attack. The most you may do so is by 1 effective Proficiency Tier.
This does not directly alter the Weapon Damage, just the Accuracy of the attack.
FIRE!
Once a ranged weapon is readied and brought to bear, you may fire it at any time – on any Count – on or after the Count that you finished readying it.
However, you cannot perform any Action, move faster than your Stride, perform a Defensive Maneuver, or take any Damage while holding your attack. If you do, all of the preparation and Effort is lost – including Careful Aim.
ARMOR
Protection is the amount that armor and any esoteric powers reduce damage that strikes you.
For armor of standard quality, craftsmanship, and materials, its Protection is equal to its Bulk.
| ARMOR | BULK | PROTECTION |
|---|---|---|
| None | 0 | 0 |
| Padded | 1 | 1 |
| Leather | 2 | 2 |
| 3 | 3 | |
| Partial Plate | 4 | 4 |
| Plate | 6 | 6 |
SHIELDS
A shield adds its Defense Bonus whenever it can reasonably be brought between the bearer and the attack.
Shields do not contribute towards a character’s total Protection value, however they can increase their Defense when attacked. They also allow the wielder to use them to actively defend themselves using the Defensive Maneuver – Shieldwork.
| SHIELD | BULK | DB | SPECIAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buckler | 0 | 0 | Must be used for Shieldwork to contribute. |
| Targe | 2 | 1 | |
| Round | 3 | 2 | |
| Kite | 4 | 3 |
DAMAGE
DAMAGE = WEAPON DAMAGE + ACCURACY
WEAPON DAMAGE = EFFORT
ACCURACY = ATTACKER’S PROWESS - DEFENSE
PAIN = DAMAGE - PROTECTION