Combat Check Steps

p. 204

Cinematic Combat

A single attack roll generates enough options (some good, some bad) to give the Game Master sufficient information to make combat far more than just a matter of rolling to hit and rolling to wound. In turn, Players are highly encouraged to provide interesting detail before rolling on an attack, in order to give the GM hooks in describing the results.

General Combat Steps

1. Declare an Attack and Select Targets

The character chooses to make an attack. They select what skill they will use to make the attack, and if the skill requires a weapon to use, which weapon they will be using. They then declare the target of their attack.

2. Assemble the Dice Pool

The character then assembles their dice pool based on the skill, its characteristic, and any applicable talents and other abilities. Certain conditions, such as the effect of a Critical Injury or an environmental effect, may also contribute dice to the dice pool.

3. Pool Results and Deal Damage

Once the player rolls the dice pool for their character, they evaluate the results. As with any skill check, the check must generate more than to be successful.

4. Resolve and

As with every skill check, and can be spent to gain incidental beneficial effects on a combat check.

In encounters, the player controlling the activated character determines how their character spends and unless the GM has a specific reason to decide for them instead. The first and foremost way to spend and in an attack is to activate a Critical Injury or Active weapon Qualities.

5. Resolve and

By default, the GM determines how and are spent, although in some cases (such as checks made by NPCs) the GM may give the players the option to spend these instead.

Unlike and , most weapons do not have specific options for spending and — although this is not always the case. Some particularly volatile or dangerous weapons do have these options, and if they do, the options are detailed in the weapon's description.

6. Apply Critical Injuries

An attack may also generate a Critical Injury. This may occur because the weapon's Critical Rating triggered, or because the target suffered Wounds greater than its Wound Threshold.