Marvelous Adventures:Combat

Time in critical situations such as combat is measured in rounds (abbreviated rd); 1 round is roughly 6 seconds.

At the beginning of each round in combat, all characters roll 1d10 and add their Intuition bonus; this total is their initiative for that round. (For simplicity sake, characters working as a team may share a single die roll). Characters then may act in descending initiative order, including movement and (usually) one attack FEAT.

After initiative is determined, characters declare whether they are dodging or not. A dodging character receives a -2 penalty to any FEAT attempted that round; a character who is not dodging may only use half (round down) their Fighting or Agility to oppose attacks against them that round.

Characters may attempt to take extra actions in combat by succeeding a Fighting FEAT after the initiative roll. Gaining 1 extra action is Remarkable challenge; gaining 2 extra actions is Amazing challenge, and gaining 3 extra actions is Unearthly challenge. If successful, all of these actions are -1 to succeed; if the FEAT fails, the character can only perform a single action with a -3 penalty.

Movement

Rank	Flight	Leap
FB	2 APR	½ m
PR	4 APR	1m
TY	6 APR	2m
GD	8 APR	3m
EX	10 APR	6m
RM	15 APR	9m
IN	20 APR	12m
AM	25 APR	15m
MN	30 APR	25m
UN	40 APR	30m
BO	50 APR	1 ar
CO	100 APR	2 ar
SU	200 APR	4 ar
TR	2K APR	8 ar
DV	Lightspeed	23 ar
OM	FTL	38 ar

Distance is often measured in areas (abbreviated ar). 1ar of open space ≈ 40m (130'); 40 areas ≈ 1 mile. Vertical distance is measured in floors, roughly 4.5m (or 15') high.

A speed of 1 area/round (abbreviated APR) is thus roughly 15 mph, or 24 kph.

Mundane movement is determined by Endurance: characters with Endurance in the blue band on the Rank Table can move 2 areas in a round; characters with a higher Endurance can move 3, while those with lower Endurance may only move 1 area.

Characters with a restricted movement power (e.g. Running or Swimming) move its rank value in areas; characters with an unrestricted movement power (e.g. Flight or Teleportation) move the number of areas shown on the Flight column of the table above.

Passing through a closed door counts as moving ½ area.

A character can turn up to 90° with no effect on their speed; a greater turn reduces speed by half. Performing any action while moving other than a charging attack also takes up half the character's movement.

A flying character can gain extra speed by diving; every 3 floors the character drops allows them to move an extra area forward (or another story downward).

Characters moving under their own power without rest must make a green Endurance FEAT after (Rank²) rounds, or stop for 1-10 rounds. After 2×(Rank²) rounds, they must make a yellow Endurance FEAT or stop to rest for 2-20 rounds; 3×(Rank²) rounds, they must make a red Endurance FEAT or stop to rest for 3-30 rounds. After 4×(Rank²) rounds, the character must stop to rest for 3-30 rounds.

Attacks

Common Attack FEAT Modifiers

Shift	Circumstance
-X	Weapon range (X = distance to target, in areas)
-X	Ranged powers (X= 2 + range - power rank)
-4	Target is moving faster than 10 APR
-2	Target is moving faster than 4 APR
-1	Target is moving faster than 1 APR
-3	Target is smaller than 1cm
-2	Target is smaller than 4cm
-1	Target is smaller than 16cm
+1	Target is larger than 2.25m (~7ft)
+2	Target is larger than 4.5m (~15 ft)
+3	Target is larger than 6.75m (~22 ft)
-1	Attacking from a crowded or cluttered area
-1	Ranged attack in the rain
-1	Ranged attack in fog
-1	Ranged attack at night
-1	Fighting in extreme heat or cold (without appropriate Powers)
-1	Fighting underwater (without appropriate Powers)
-3	Ranged attack against opponent in close combat
-2	Must break through obstacle to hit target
+1	Target has been grappled by another character
+1	Ranged attack after aiming 1 full round
+1	Ambush (poised in advance to attack target area)
+2	Luring (target actively baiting attacker)
+3	Point blank range (adjacent but not facing)

Attack FEAT Results

Blunt	Edged	Shooting	Force
Miss	Miss	Miss	Miss
Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit
Slam	Stun	Bullseye	Bullseye
Stun	Kill	Kill	Stun

A close combat attack (punch, kick, weapon strike, etc.) is a Fighting FEAT opposed by the opponent's Fighting. Read results from the Blunt column for punches, kicks, or blunt weapon attacks, and from the Edged column when wielding claws or sharp weapons.

A character using a club or other blunt weapon adds +1 to damage, up to the durability rank of the weapon.

A character performing a charging attack makes an Endurance FEAT opposed by the higher of the opponent's Fighting or Agility, and read the results from the Blunt column. They add +1 to their Endurance when attempting the FEAT for each full area they move before reaching the opponent (up to +3, or +4 if charging straight downward). Charging characters moving 3 areas/round or faster also add +1 to their damage, and an additional +1 for every full 5 areas faster they are moving.

A ranged attack is an Agility FEAT opposed by the target's Agility; read results from the Shooting column for firearms, arrows, sharp throwing weapons, or energy attacks (like fire, lasers, or electricity), and from the Force column for blunt throwing weapons, concussive blasts, or similar attacks. The maximum range (in areas) of a thrown weapon is the character's Strength rank-2 (minimum of ½ area).

A character may make a single Blunt, Escape, Energy, or Force attack against a number of adjacent foes, by taking a -4 to the FEAT.

A character making blunt, force, or grappling attacks may choose to reduce the damage they inflict by however much they wish, or to ignore the extra effects of higher color results.

Combat Results

• A Hit result means the attack connects, and the opponent subtracts the damage rank (usually the Strength of the attacker) from their Health. Damage may be reduced by appropriate powers (Body Armor, Force Field, etc.)
• A Slam result inflicts double the usual damage, and may require the opponent to make a Slam? check.
• A Stun result inflicts double the usual damage, and may require the opponent to make a Stun? check.
• A Kill result inflicts double the usual damage, and may require the opponent to make a Kill? check.

Defensive Actions

Evade	Block	Catch
No Effect	Strength-6	Autohit
Evade +1	Strength-4	Miss
Evade +2	Strength-2	Risk
Evade +3	Strength+1	Safe

A character may use their action to block an attack by making a Strength FEAT against Typical challenge; the result indicated on the Block column is treated as temporary Body Armor against any blunt (including charging), force, or grappling attacks made against them until their next action. (E.g. if Spider-Man, with Incredible Strength, gets a yellow result on a Blocking FEAT, he is treated as having Excellent (+5) Body Armor until he takes an action the next round).

A character may use their action to evade an opponent attacking them in close combat, attempting to outmaneuver them, by making a Fighting FEAT opposed by the attacker's Fighting. If the FEAT is successful, then the opponent's attack is canceled (i.e. the same as if they rolled a "Miss" result), and the character receives the indicated bonus to attack that opponent themselves next round.

A character may attempt to catch an object by making an Agility FEAT. Catching a object (or character) is Typical challenge. Catching a thrown object has a challenge equal to the Strength of the thrower; catching an arrow or similar projectile is an Incredible challenge, while catching a bullet is a Monstrous challenge; if one attempts to catch a projectile they are themselves the target of, the attempt is made with a -3 penalty, and the character is considered to be "baiting" the attack (+1 to be hit).

• An Autohit means the character is struck by the object they attempted to catch. A falling object inflicts damage as if it made a charging attack at that speed; a projectile does damage as if a Hit result was scored.
• A Miss means the character does not catch the object.
• A Risky result means the character has caught the object, but the object may take damage as if struck by a charging attack.
• A Safe result means the character has caught the object or character with no ill effect.

Resistance Checks

Slam?	Stun?	Kill?
Grand Slam	KO	Mortal
1 area	Stunned	Threat
Stagger	No Effect	No Effect
No Effect	No Effect	No Effect

Characters who are hit by attacks scoring "Stun", "Slam", or "Kill" results may be required to make an Endurance FEAT or suffer side effects from the attack. Characters do not need to make a resistance FEAT if the damage rank of the attack (before doubling) does not at least equal any protection power the character has. Additionally, if the attack is unarmed or a blunt weapon, the attacker must have Strength at least equal to the target's Endurance (or the Martial Arts A talent) to require a Stun? or Slam? check.

Resistance checks are Endurance FEATs normally against Typical challenge. Certain powers (e.g. stungun attacks) may also force a resistance check opposed by the power rank.

Resistance FEAT Results

• No Effect means specifically no additional effect — the character still takes Health damage from the attack.
• A stagger result means the character is no longer adjacent to the attacker, and may be knocked off an already precarious position, but otherwise suffers no ill effect.
• A result of 1 area means the character has been knocked back 1 area; they cannot dodge next round and are -2 to any FEAT that round.
• A Grand Slam result means the character has been knocked back as many areas as if thrown by a Strength equal to the damage rank (before doubling); they cannot dodge next round and are -2 to any FEAT that round.
• A Stunned result means the character cannot act at all next round (and cannot dodge).
• A KO result means the target is stunned (as above) for 2-11 (1d10+1) rounds.
• A Mortalresult means the character is dying!
• A Threat result is identical to a Mortal result if the attack that forced the Kill? FEAT was inflicted by either a firearm or a sharpened weapon or projectile. Otherwise, it is the same as "No Effect".

Health & Healing

Damage taken by attacks is subtracted from a character's Health. When an attack reduces Health to 0 (or below), the character is automatically KO'd (i.e. stunned for 1d10+1 rounds) and must make a Kill? FEAT (as if the attack had scored a Kill result).

Injured characters restore lost Health each day equal to their Endurance rank; this rate is doubled by strict bed rest, and tripled if the character is under professional quality medical care.

Dying

A character that has been mortally injured Each further round, the character's Endurance is reduced by 1; if it reaches Nil (0), the character is dead. A dying character who received aid from another character stops losing Endurance, but will still be unconscious for 1d10 hours.

Characters who have lost Endurance ranks are impaired: they regain one rank each week (one per day if under professional medical care), and until then are -2 to all FEATs.