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    Combat

    In Fudge, a combat “round” can be defined as the Gamemaster wishes. Fantasy Fudge assumes one “round” (roll of the dice) equals about 3 seconds of combat action. Actions occur simultaneously.

    Combat can be resolved as an Unopposed action if it involves ranged combat, a combatant being caught unawares (giving a “free attack” to the opponent), or a “cannon-fodder” type of NPC (see Special Circumstances, below). Otherwise, treat combat as a series of Opposed Actions.

    The players of characters engaged in opposed actions will roll the dice once each combat round; the result determines the winner of that round.

    Special Circumstances

    A Terrible hit never damages the target, even if it beats the opponent’s sub-Terrible result.

    When multiple opponents attack a single target, the lone fighter is at -1 to skill for each foe beyond the first. The player rolls once; compare the result with each of the opponents’ rolls. The solo combatant has to defeat or tie all of the opponents in order to inflict a wound. If he beats all of his foes, he may hit one of his choice.

    Otherwise, he can only wound another whose result is at least two levels below his. The lone fighter takes multiple wounds if two or more enemies hit him.

    Unlike “star” NPCs, who are treated much like PCs, “cannon fodder” opponents will always get results equal to their trait levels. You can treat this as an Unopposed Action with a Difficulty Level equal to the NPC’s combat skill.

    When “cannon fodder” NPCs gang up on a player character, use the “multiple opponents” rule above, but compare the outnumbered fighter’s result with the NPCs’ combat skill levels (not “rolled degrees”).

    Wounds

    When a character wins a combat round, use the following formula to determine the damage done:

    Winner’s Offensive Damage Factor (including Scale) plus Relative Degree (number of levels won by) minus Loser’s Defensive Damage Factor (including Scale) equals Damage Points Inflicted If the result is 0 or less, no damage is inflicted. If the result is positive, look at the table below to determine the severity of the particular wound.

    Damage: 1-2 3-4 5-6 7-8 9+

    Wounds: Scratch Hurt Very Incapacitated Near Hurt Death

    The boxes below the wound levels represent how many of each wound type a character can take. The player checks off one box for each wound received. A 6-point wound requires the “Very Hurt” box to be checked, and so on. If there is no open box for a given wound result, the character takes the next highest wound for which there is an open box.

    A wounded character suffers penalties to most actions:

    • Scratch: no penalty
    • Hurt: -1 to most actions
    • Very Hurt: -2 to most actions
    • Incapacitated: incapable of any but the most basic, painfully slow actions
    • Near Death: unconscious, will die in less than an hour unless helped

    Penalties are not cumulative. Only the penalty for the highest recorded wound level counts. Scratches go away after a battle, provided the character has five or ten minutes to attend to them. See healing wounds.

    Stun, Knockout, and Pulling Punches

    A character may try to stun or knock out his opponent rather than wound her, in which case a Hurt result is called a “Stun” and the -1 penalty associated with being “Hurt” lasts for one combat round only. A Very Hurt result would be “Very Stunned” and the -2 penalty lasts 2 combat rounds. An “Incapacitated” result indicates the opponent has been knocked out.

    A character may also pull his punches. The player simply announces the maximum wound level his character will inflict if he wins the combat round. See pulling punches..