Combat

At some point in an adventure, it is likely that a fight will break out. Combat uses the following mechanics.

Combat Rounds

Like regular play, combat occurs in rounds and turns. Each player takes a turn one by one and all of the enemies also get a turn. A round is when every combatant has had a turn. A combat round is about 6 seconds of in-game time. On a combat turn, a character can move and take one combat action.

Combat Initiative

At the start of every round, the Canary will roll any die or flip a coin. If the result is even or heads, the players all act first that round, following their initiative order. If the result is odd or tails, the enemies act first that round.

Combat Actions

You get one combat action per round. You can use this action to attack, cast a spell, or perform a stunt.

Attacks

First, you must be within range of and must be able to see or precisely know the location of your target. Ranged attacks must be rolled with disadvantage if there is an enemy close to the attacking character.

To make a weapon attack, roll a d20 and add your BODY bonus. This is your "to-hit" roll. If the number exceeds the Evasion Class (EC) of your target, you hit and deal your weapon's damage.

Evasion

A character's evasion (EV) represents their ability to dodge or block attacks. This number is influenced by the character's BODY bonus and how much armor or weight they are carrying.

EV = BODY bonus - armor penalty

Defending Yourself

When you are attacked by a melee, ranged, or spell attack, you make a defense save. Roll a d20 and add your EV. If the result is higher than the attacker's to-hit DC, you successfully dodge or block the attack and take no damage.

Critical Success. When you roll a natural 20 for a defense roll, you automatically succeed and take no damage. In addition, the attack against you counts as a critical fail, and the attacker must suffer the penalty as such.

Critical Fail. When you roll a natural 1 for a defense roll, you automatically fail. In addition, the attack counts as a critical hit, and you take double damage.

Damage and Armor Reduction

Wearing armor and wielding a shield contribute to your character's Armor Reduction (AR) value. You add up all the AR values of your equipment and this gives you your final AR value. Any time you take damage, if your AR is greater than zero, the damage subtracts from the AR until the AR value is zero. Then you begin taking hits. For example, say you are wearing light armor and wielding a light shield. Your total AR is 2. If you take 4 damage, your AR becomes 0 and you take 2 damage. AR resets after each combat as long as there is a sufficient amount of time for the character to patch up their armor or shield.

Spells

Casting a spell takes one action. Characters cannot cast more than one spell per turn. Spells do damage equal to their level.

Stunts

Stunts are anything cool that you could do during a fight scene. These can be things like stunning, tripping, grappling, disarming, shoving, dodge rolling, or anything you can think of. The only rule is that a stunt cannot directly deal damage. However, they can do it indirectly, such as kicking over a cauldron of scalding liquid or shoving someone off a cliff.

Dash

Use your combat action to move up to your speed in addition to your normal movement.

Multitask

During combat, you can speak up to 25 words on your turn. You can also do small things, such as drink a potion, draw a weapon, or pick up an item. These things do not require a combat action.

Critical Hits

When you roll a natural 20 for a to-hit roll, that attack is considered a critical hit. Critical hits always hit, and they do double damage.

Critical Fails

When you roll a natural 1 for a to-hit roll, that attack is considered a critical fail. Critical fails always miss and cause some kind of complication to occur. View the critical fail section of the Dice Checks page for more information.

Death and Dying

A character who reaches 0 hit points falls unconscious and begins dying. At the start of dying, the GM will secretly roll 1d4 + SOUL bonus. This is the character's death timer. On their turn, a character who is dying rolls a d20. On a 20, they stop dying and rise with 1 hit point. Otherwise, 1 is subtracted from their death timer and they end their turn. If their death timer reaches 0, the character dies. Each successful hit against a dying creature reduces the timer by 1. A character can be saved from dying by being healed by magic or stabilized.

Stabilize

A creature can use their action to provide first aid to another. This requires a successful DC 15 MIND check. On a success, the target creature is no longer dying but is unconscious until healed or rested. If hit again they begin dying with a new death timer.

Healing and Rest

Characters can regain hit points by way of magic or rest. Magic healing can be obtained through spells, potions, artifacts, or environmental effects. After a meal and a full night's rest, PCs regain hit points equal to their level. Resting at a safe haven restores all lost HP.