Mano a Mano:Rounds

Rounds

A round of action represents one to two seconds of game time - enough time for most characters to perform a single action or quick combination. Each character has one turn during each round. Rounds can be measured from the beginning of any character's turn until the beginning of their next turn (or from the end of their turn until the end of the next.) Characters with ¼ speed must skip three out of four turns. After one turn of moving and performing actions, the character cannot move or perform actions on his next three turns. Characters with ½ speed must skip every other turn. Characters may skip more turns than they are required to skip. At the end of a character's turn, the character recovers one stun if they have any.

Stealth and detection abilities are used for surprise attacks. If two characters are mutually stalking each other, do two separate rolls. If both fail, combat doesn't happen. If a character successfully surprises another without being surprised himself, the character with the advantage of surprise gets to go first. If both succeed, they fight without either having the advantage of surprise. If there is no surprise attack, characters may choose to start out either evading (+4 defense modifier until the character's first turn) or ready to counter, and who goes first is decided by the circumstances (whoever throws the first punch in the story,) or random die rolls if there is a dispute. Characters with longer weapon range usually have the opportunity to attack first. Characters typically take turns in the order their players are seated, going around the group of players clockwise. To move in formation, characters may delay their turns until they are sequential.

On his turn, a character can prepare a counterattack, move and do one action, or move and do a combination of actions (combo).

To counterattack the character waits to move and perform actions until someone attempts to attack them. If no one attempts to attack the counterattacking character until their next turn, then they have effectively skipped the turn where they prepared a counterattack and continue with their next turn as normal. The counterattacking character moves and performs their action or combo before the attacker's action or combo, but after any movement the attacker does before acting. This gives the counterattacking character a little more control over positioning. After the counterattack, the attacker can change his action or combo, but cannot reuse any movement he used up before the combo.

Counterattacking delays a single turn, but does not change the order of characters turns. For example, suppose three characters are fighting. The first character prepares a counter attack. The second character, his ally, attacks the third character, their enemy, and misses. The third character decides to attack the first character, but the first character gets to counterattack first. The third character finally gets to attack after the counterattack. Now it is the first character's turn again even though he just counterattacked in the middle of the third character's turn.

In a combo a character can perform one quick action for each point of speed (rounded up, so a character with ¼ or ½ speed can perform one quick action), plus an extra quick action if the combo includes actions with multiple weapons. A character can only do a combo when he is healthy.