Combat Rules
The Turn
Each turn is six seconds long. As such, there is a limited amount of time available in which a character can act. The Players' Book, p. 19, tries to give some guidance as to what a character can do in a single turn, but the rules there seem a bit cumbersome.
There are three types of actions: Automatic, movement, and dice. An automatic action is one that does not require a FEAT roll. It is the opposite of a dice action, which does require a FEAT roll. A movement action is obviously moving from point A to point B. A character is allowed one automatic action, one movement action, and one dice action per turn.
If the character is attempting multiple actions using the rules above (see Simultaneous Actions or Targets), all of the attempted actions constitute the character's one dice action for the turn (even if the actions do not require a FEAT roll).
The character's movement action can occur either before or after her dice action for the round. A character cannot normally, therefore, move into range, attack, and then duck back out of sight all in a single turn.
If the character forgoes her dice and/or her movement actions for the turn, she can perform additional automatic actions. This way, a character can perform up to three automatic actions in a single turn. Automatic actions include such things as such things as opening doors, activating a defensive power such as Force Field, standing up after being knocked down, picking up something off the floor, and so on. Some adjudication is necessary. For example, picking up a dropped weapon while villains are firing is not necessarily an automatic action.
Variable Damage
The first green box on each column of the universal table is now counted as a graze. A graze is a successful hit, but it only does half of its normal damage. The second green box on each column of the universal table is now a light hit. It is a successful hit, but damage is only 75% of what is normally scored.
A Yellow result on the universal table has all of its regular effect. A Red result on the universal table has all of its regular effects and does an extra 3d6 points of damage. A roll of 100 does an extra 3d10 points of damage. You may spend Karma to get a 100, this is the same as spending Karma for a Green, Yellow, or Red result.
Damage Type - Piercing
An attack can now be classified as a piercing attack. This kind of attack drops an opponents Body Armor or Force Field score is at -20 points versus this kind of attack. If a piercing attack can pierce both body armor and force field but this must be specified in the description of the power.
Dodging and Attacking
A character may dodge and attack in the same provided that he makes a FEAT roll of Incredible Intensity vs. Agility and a FEAT roll of Remarkable Intensity vs. Fighting. These rolls are made in the Pre-Action phase of combat. The character may only make one attack that round and is at -2CS to hit. If the Agility or Fighting roll fails the character can not dodge that round and can only make one attack at -3CS.
Agile Characters
Characters with high agilities are harder to hit than other characters. Use the following column shifts for all attackers as long as the hero or villian with high agility is not suprised.
| Agility | Column Shift for attackers |
|---|---|
| Amazing | -1CS |
| Monstrous | -2CS |
| Unearthly Plus | -3CS |
Roll With the Blow
This maneuver allows characters a last ditch defense against one attack directed against the character. Roll with Blow can be used against Force, Blunt, and Thrown Blunt attacks. It concentrates on moving with the force of the attack to lessen the damage caused. A successful FEAT roll (Fighting vs. Fighting or Agility vs. Agility, which ever is appropriate) is required and if successsful, the intensity of the attack and the color of the result are reduced by an amount determined by the color of the success.
| Effects | |
|---|---|
| White | No effect |
| Green | minus 10 points of damage |
| Yellow | minus 20 points of damage |
| Red | minus 40 points of damage |
This helps simulate the battles where Spiderman can survive a hit from the Hulk. Also a favorite tactic of Captain America
Critical Attack
What happens if a character's best attack is Excellent and her foe's defenses are Remarkable or better? Ordinarily, the character would be incapable of hurting her foe. The character could go for a bulls-eye and hope for some special effect, but this isn't always clearly possible.
Anyone can use (just about) any attack power to go for a critical hit. For every -2CS the character voluntarily applies to the FEAT (before the dice are rolled), she gains a +1CS to damage. The maximum penalty is -6CS for a maximum bonus of +3CS to damage.
Critical Blow
This is an attempt to direct an attack at a weak point in the target's defences. Critical Blows are more difficult to do successfully, but when they succeed, they do a lot more damage than the character's normal attack. In hand-to hand combat, a Critical Blow can be used to simulate kicks, elbow jabs, haymakers, or any other attack that has a significantly smaller chance for success but a higher damage potential. When a player decides that his character is attempting a Critical Blow, he recieves a -2CS on his Fighting or Agility. If the attack succeeds, he does +1CS damage. Critical Blows can be used in conjuction with any sort of attack.
Devastating Blow
This is an all-out attempt to overwhelm the target's defences. Essentially, The Devastating Blow is a more powerful version of the Critical Blow. Devastating Blows increase the attacker's damage by +2CS, but decreases his Fighting or Agility by -4CS. Devastating Blows can be used in conjunction with any attack.
Sweep Attack
A sweep attack, popular with bricks, uses a long implement, such as a telephone pole, to sweep through an area. Sweep attacks enjoy a +1CS bonus to FEAT rolls.
Flailing Attack
This is the opposite of a Critical Blow. It is a slow, deliberate attack that places a higher emphasis on landing a blow, than upon inflicting damage. The attacker's Fighting or Agility stat is increased by +1CS, while his damage is decreased by -2CS. In hand-to-hand combat, a Flailing Attack might represent a flurry of quick, less powerful blows. The Flailing Attack may be used with any sort of attack.
Grappling
Grappling attacks seem impractical, since it requires a yellow FEAT to get any sort of result. This paragraph changes that. A green FEAT is a partial hold. A yellow FEAT is a full hold. A red FEAT is a full hold plus the option to immediately inflict damage or throw the opponent. To clarify, a normal full hold does not inflict damage or permit a throw the turn it is applied.
Pressing the Attack
This is a special action usable each turn only by the character who wins initiative for the turn. While pressing the attack, the character concentrates more on offense than defense. She enjoys a +1CS to her FEAT rolls, but her foes also enjoy the same bonus against her.
Laying Back
This is a special action usable each turn only by the character who wins initiative for the turn. While laying back, the character concentrates more on defense than offense. She imposes a -1CS penalty against her foe's chance to attack, but suffers a -1CS penalty to her own attacks for that turn.
Grappling
Okay, how many times have we seen Longshot or Nightcralwler dodge the Juggernaut's grappling attempts; Similiar examples include the Hulk attacking Daredevil or Captain America. The big brute is not going to succeed without getting very lucky. Unfortunately in the classic Marvel game, grappling is based on using Stregnth to succeed which gives the brute way too much of an advantage. I suggest requiring an intitial grappling attempt to be made using a Fighting Feat Roll. If the inital fighting feat succeeds, the hold is maintained using by using strength. On a successful grab a charcacter may attempt to:
- Squeeze: Apply damage
- Perform a hold
- Perform a takeaway
- Throw the opponent
Dive for Cover
This defensive maneuver can get a character out of the way of an explosion or other area of effect attack. Like most defensive maneuvers, the character must declare her intention to dive for cover before the incoming attack is resolved.
To dive for cover, the character picks a location no more than one half the distance away that she could normally move in a turn. For example, if the character can fly four areas per turn, she can dive for cover out to two areas away. The character then makes an Agility FEAT with a -1CS penalty for each additional area after the first she dives. If successful, the character arrives in the desired area before the explosion or area of effect attack occurs. If the FEAT fails, she is caught in mid-air at her starting point.
Pulling a Punch
as per rules, but -1CS to hit since the character needs to be careful about not excerting their full stregnth.
Rolling with a Punch
Rolling with a punch is a defensive maneuver usable against most attacks that inflict physical damage. It is unique among defensive maneuvers because it can be performed after being hit, assuming the character has a dice action available. Characters capable of multiple Fighting or Agility FEATs can reserve one action for rolling with a punch, but the total CS penalty is calculated as if the full number of actions were being taken, even if this defensive move is never performed. Rolling with a punch is either a Fighting or Agility FEAT (player's choice) performed in the Blocking column. The CS result from that column is applied to the ability score used for rolling with a punch. The modified ability score counts as Body Armor against the attack.
Life and Death, the Soak Rule
by Stormangel
When a character takes a hit, he may make an Endurance Feat to try and soak up some or all of the damage. First, compare the attack's damage to the hero's Endurance to determine the color result neccessary to soak. If damage is less than Endurance by more than one Rank, our hero only needs a green feat. If the damage is one less, equal to, or one more than the hero's Endurance, go for yellow. And if the damage is more than one higher, our hero better pray for a red.
Secondly, compare the result of the damage dealer to the hero's Endurance to find out how much damage can be soaked. A green feat means up to the entire Endurance rank can be used to soak damage. A yellow means up to half the Endurance rank can be soaked and red means only a fourth.
Thirdly, comes the price to pay for soaking. You see Endurance cannot replace Body Armor. If you soak more than 10 points, our hero needs to make a red Endurance Feat or temporarily lose an Endurance Rank. If you take more than 30 points, make a red endurance feat or lose 3 ranks, or a yellow feat and only lose two. If you take 50 or more, just lose three ranks temporarily (no roll). Loss of Endurance is 6 hours minus one hour for every 10 points in initial Endurance (half an hour min.) and doesn't affect Health. Recovery turns hours into minutes.
This system simulates tough heroes even without Body Armor taking hits. It tires them a lot sometimes, but they take hits that would cripple a normal man. Heroes include Cap America, Batman, Punisher, Wolvie, and Daredevil.
Expanded Number of Combat Actions
by Redman II
Following the logical progression of the Intensities for Combat Actions in the standard rules (i.e., 2 combat actions per round is a Remarkable intensity FEAT, 3 per round is Amazing intensity FEAT), here is an expanded table with a potential number of actions per round as follows:
- Attempting 2 combat actions per round is an Remarkable Intesity FEAT
- Attempting 3 combat actions per round is a Amazing Intensity FEAT
- Attempting 4 combat actions per round is an Unearthly Intesity FEAT
- Attempting 5 combat actions per round is a Shift-Y Intensity FEAT
The normal rules are followed regarding the CS penalty for multiple actions per round, as well as the penalty for failing the Multiple Actions FEAT.
Multiple Evading/Blocking Attempts
by Redman II
A character able to make multiple attacks per round may also Evade or Block more than once. When the character declares his intent to make multiple attacks for the round, he may declare if he wants to use one or more of those attacks to Evade or Block. The normal CS penalty for multiple actions applies, and the success or failure of Evade/Block attempts is handled as per normal.
Mental Attacks
by Redman II
Mental attacks are resolved in the following manner. The attacker utilizes his Psyche rank to determine the success of the attack according to the following:
| FEAT | Result |
|---|---|
| White | Miss |
| Green | Hit. Attacker inflicts Mental Health damage, up to the Power Rank of the Power used. |
| Yellow | Stun. Attacker inflicts Mental Health damage, up to the Power Rank of the Power used. In addition, a possible Stun result occurs. The victim uses his Psyche rank to determine the outcome of the possible Stun. White/Green results also include a Stagger result. |
| Red | Kill. Up to Power Rank Mental Health damage is inflicted. In addition, a possible Kill result is achieved. The victim uses his Psyche rank to determine the outcome (treat as an edged attack). If he fails, he starts to lose Psyche ranks at -1CS per round. At Shift-0 Psyche, he becomes comatose, dying in 1d10 minutes without proper assistance. Such Psyche loss can only be halted by professional medics with good equipment, or by another telepath. |
Mental Health
by Redman II
Mental Health is used for resolving things suchas the ever-popular telepathic assault, etc. A character's Mental Health is determined according to the following formula: Add together the Standard Rank Numbers for all ranks up to and including the character's Psyche Rank. Example: An Excellent Psyche Rank provides a Mental Health total of 42 (2 + 4 + 6 + 10 + 20 = 42)
If Mental Health is reduced to 0, the character must make a Psyche FEAT as if the attack form were Edged (using the Endurance Loss column as a guideline), or else he begins losing Psyche ranks and subsequently dying. This can be halted, either by telepathic powers or by the use of an appropriate Talent for treating mental ailments (Judge's determination as to which Talents qualify)
Edged Weapons vs Body Armor
by Redman II
When an edged weapon is used against an opponent with Body Armor/Body Resistance, compare the weapon's Material Strength against the foe's Body Armor/Body Resistance rank and make a FEAT roll (there are no Automatic FEATS with this rule, but Impossible FEATS do apply here). If the FEAT roll is successful, the weapon manages to cut through the opponent's Body Armor/Resistance, and inflicts full damage to the foe. Note: If using an edged weapon against a foe with Body Armor or Body Resistance of higher rank than the weapon's Material Strength, then the rules for potentially breaking weapons apply.
Example: Wolverine vs. Hulk. Wolverine's Adamantium claws (Class 1000 Material Strength) can easily cut through the Hulk's hide (Monstrous Body Resistance), requiring only a Green FEAT (a White result indicates that Wolvie didn't get a good enough strike to cut through) to allow him to inflict normal damage upon the Hulk.
Dodging, Damage Reduction
by Redman II
Under normal rules, a successful Dodge maneuver can apply -2CS, -4CS, or -6CS to the opponent's attack roll. With this house rule, the -2CS, -4CS or -6CS modifiers from a successful Dodge can also be used to reduce the damage taken from the attack. This reflects various degrees of glancing strikes.
Stunning/Subdual Damage
by Redman II
As an option, you can elect to inflict stunning/subdual damage. This is primarily applicable to Blunt and Force attacks, but the Judge may decide that certain other powers may qualify, if such powers can potentially generate a stunning type of attack (the first that immediately comes to mind would be Electrical Generation).
This stunning/subdual damage will not kill an opponent (not by itself anyway). When a character suffers stunning/subdual damage, he loses Health points as usual, but it's not all "real" damage.
The total amount of accumulated stunning/subdual damage is kept track of separately from regular damage, so players will know what damage is real and what isn't (unless the Judge prefers to keep track of this himself). The point to this is that, when a character drops to 0 Health as a result of stunning/subdual damage, he falls unconscious as per normal rules, but he doesn't have to worry about making Endurance FEATs to avoid losing Endurance ranks and dying. Health lost to stunning/subdual damage is recovered as per standard rules for Health recovery.
Note: If damage from a regular attack is what pushes the character to 0 Health, then he must follow the normal rules for Endurance FEATS to avoid dying.
Charging With Weapons
by Redman II
In the event of a character using a weapon as part of their Charging maneuver, such as Captain America leaping headlong into an opponent with his shield held up before him, the attack roll is handled as per the usual rules regarding Charge attacks, but the damage is handled as if the character were making a normal melee attack, save that momentum bonuses to damage that normally apply to Charge attacks apply here as well.
Charge Through or Charge By
The procedure for a charging attack is unchanged except for the information about the attacker possibly being damaged (Player's Book, p. 27). Instead, the attacker suffers damage equal to the target's physical defense rank or material strength, plus the variable damage from speed, divided by two. Her own defenses apply against this damage as normal (round up).
The charge by is an option best used by character's with low defenses. Instead of charging through a foe, a character can charge past a foe and stick out an arm, leg, tail, wing, et cetera. This inflicts damage equal to one-half the character's Endurance or Body Armor (whichever is higher), plus the standard bonus for speed. The character herself suffers damage equal to the target's physical defense rank or material strength, plus the variable damage from speed, divided by four (round up).
For example, Bullethead charges into Ironside. Bullethead went through 10 areas, and has an Endurance of Amazing. He inflicts 70 points of damage on Ironside. Ironside has Remarkable Body Armor. Bullethead in turn suffers 25 points of damage from the collision (30 for Body Armor + 20 for speed, divided by two). Fortunately, Bullethead also has Remarkable Body Armor, and is unharmed.
Bullethead's partner, Blindside, races toward Ironside and hits him with a charge by. Blindside ran through 6 areas and has an Incredible Endurance. He inflicts 32 points of damage (one-half his Endurance plus the speed bonus). In turn, he suffers 11 points of damage from hitting Ironside (30 for Body Armor + 12 for speed, divided by four). Unfortunately, Blindside has no defense against this damage and begins to rethink his battle plan.
Color Shift Penalties
by Redman II
In the event that a character has accumulated enough Column Shift penalties to an action that would effectively reduce the column used for success to below Shift-0, then further CS penalties are instead applied as Color Shift Penalties, reducing the Color Result that the character achieves (Red results are treated as Yellow, Yellow is treated as Green, etc.). This applies to a maximum of a -2 Color Shift, which would reduce a Red result to a Green.
Example: A character with Good Agility has managed to accumulate a total of -6CS in penalties to his ranged attack (due to distance, target speed, etc.). Since the Columns only go to Shift-0, and thus only take into account 4CS of his penalties, the additional 2CS in penalties are applied as -2 Color Shift Penalties. As such, if he rolls a Yellow FEAT (or less), the Color Shift Penalty reduces this to a White result (a Miss). If he achieves a Red Result, the Color Shift Penalty reduces this to a Green Result (a normal Hit).
Note: If using the Blue Results as Fumbles option, then Color Shift
Penalties do NOT increase the chance of a Fumble. Only a natural roll within the Blue
Result range is a Fumble.
Combat: Attack Rolls
by Redman II
The attack roll is modified based on the two opponent's comparative Fighting ability.
Compare the two foes' Fighting abilities in order to get a modifier to the attack roll. The character with the higher Fighting gets a bonus to his attack rolls equal to the difference between the two characters' Fighting ranks. Likewise, the lesser-ranked opponent suffers a penalty to his attack rolls equal to the difference.
Example: Captain America, with Amazing Fighting, is slugging it out with a random ninja with Excellent Fighting. When Cap attacks, he gets a +30 bonus to his rolls on the Amazing column. The ninja likewise suffers a -30 to his rolls on the Excellent column.
Cover and Concealment
A target may not be entirely visible because it is partially hidden behind an object, such as a bush or a car. Soft objects, such as bushes, provide concealment. Hard objects, such as cars, provide cover. It is more difficult to hit a target that is behind concealment or cover.
| Target Is | Concealment | Cover |
|---|---|---|
| 25% visible | -3CS | -6CS |
| 50% visible | -2CS | -4CS |
| 75% visible | -1CS | -2CS |
The CS penalty applies to the attacker's FEAT roll. If the FEAT fails, but the die roll was not less than 15, the object providing the concealment or cover is hit instead. Depending on the attack, this may destroy the object. If applicable, the target behind the object is protected by the material rank of the object.