Age Of Dragons: Skirmish Combat

Age Of Dragons: Main Page -> Combat and Conflict-->Skirmish Combat

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Overview of Skirmish Combat

Skirmish Combat is the default combat system for Age of Dragons and provides the core for the other conflict systems. Players and GMs should at least be familiar with the combat systems in Skirmish Combat, and likely with one or two small encounters or practice fights will master it very quickly!

Skirmish Combat is used for physical confrontation, between two or more combatants. Combatants can be flying or non-flying in skirmish combat, and will manoeuvre around each other to engage optimally before blasting with ranged attacks or tearing in with tooth and claw in melee range.

The Passage of Time: Phases and Rounds

While in ordinary roleplaying the passage of time is purely descriptive, convention usually dictates that combat itself is broken into rounds that represent fixed units of time. Age of Dragons uses combat rounds, and subdivides each round into three different phases:

• 1) The Tactical Movement Phase involves the combatants manoeuvring to gain advantage, to close with certain enemies, or just to get away!
• 2) The Battle Phase is when combatants make their ranged and melee attacks, and also when they take other miscellaneous actions.
• 3) The End Phase is a general "clean up" phase when combatants check the effects of their injuries, and where in-game effects that last a single round will usually end. There are also certain magics and special effects that use the End Phase.

If you are new to the system, don't be too concerned with the End Phase just yet, as it is primarily concerned with special rules that can be explored one by one as they come into play.

Each Phase is completed before you move onto the next one. That is, all combatants complete Tactical Movement, and then all combatants engage in Battle, then all combatants resolve the End phase.

Initiative: Action Order

During each phase, you need to determine the Initiative Order of the combatants. Simply put, the faster a combatant is, the faster they act.

There are three different methods you may want to use for Initiative Order, depending on how complex you like your rules. Regardless of which method you pick, be sure to work out Initiative at the start of the combat, and then barring any change in the base calculation (for example, Pneuma score being reduced) the order will remain the same for the rest of the combat.

Default Option: Descending Initiative

This is the default option and is recommended by the game designer.

A combatant with the highest Pneuma score declares and resolves his action first in a phase, and then Initiative passes down in order of descending Pneuma scores.

In the case of equal Pneuma scores, the characters make a competed Pneuma Check to see who is faster, rerolling draws till one is higher. This is usually TN6+, though certain specific special powers can change this.

Example:
A Sable, Argent and Hunter dragon are all in the same combat and all have Pneuma 4. To determine who acts first they make a Pneuma Check (TN6+). The Sable scores 2 successes, and the Argent and Hunter gain 1 success each. As they drew, the Argent and Hunter roll again, and this time the Hunter gets 3 successes, and the Argent 0 successes. The Initiative Order for the combat is Sable, then Hunter, then Argent.

Alternative Option: Reverse Declaration

This is the same as the default option, but instead of declaring actions and resolving them immediately, all combatants first declare their actions in reverse (ascending) order of initiative and then resolve them in normal descending order.

This system ensures that slower combatants do not get an information advantage over faster ones, but has the downside that combats will take slightly longer and more book-keeping is involved.

With this system, if an action becomes invalid or redundant by the time it is resolved (for example, attacking a dragon that is dead by the time it reaches your turn) then the action is aborted, and the acting dragon loses that action.

Alternative Option: Secret Declaration

With this option, all combatants secretly write down their declared actions, and they are revealed as they are resolved.

This system obviously involves a lot more work on the part of players and GM, but has eliminates information advantage altogether and makes for a more frantic and realistic skirmish system. GMs should consider using this option if they want to focus a game session on skirmish battles, as the increase in dramatic tension and gamist fun becomes worth the loss of speed in the game system.

With this system, there is no need to determine who is faster when two combatants have equal Pneuma - instead combatants of equal pneuma resolve their actions simultaneously.

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