Echoes of the Isles

The Combat System

The combat system on Echoes of the Isles is a little different from other combat systems you may have used. It has some things in common with ‘maneuver’ based combat and other things in common with ‘description’ combat. It is mostly skill based, meaning that the character with the greater skill ratings should win the fight. Statistics matter as well, of course, and there is a healthy dose of luck. Because of the complexity, some level of player skill matters; much effort has gone into minimizing that aspect and yet having the level of flexibility desired. Timing and speed of typing has been minimized wherever possible.

This combat system is also deadly and permanent. Even a friendly spar can end with a broken limb that will take time to heal. Previously it was possible to fight, nearly die, and then rest up and continue in minutes. On the upside, attacks that cause damage do not occur as often as they did previously; it is possible to fight and win without being hurt at all.

[For those of you interested in the nitty-gritty details, I will put specific formulas within brackets where needed. If they don’t make sense, don’t worry, they are not required to know!]

Points!

There are several point ratings which are key to combat:

• Hit Points reflect concussive damage, endurance damage and shock. When struck with a punch or hit with a padded staff, the damage is usually done to your Hit Points. Your Hit Points are based on your Constitution, although your willpower (Charisma) does factor in. Finally there is an advantage called ‘Toughness’ which modifies your Hit Points.

  [Formula: Hit points = (2 * Con statistic + Cha statistic) * (Toughness multiplier, if any)]

• Action Points represent your current position, balance and mental focus. Doing something simple requires a few Action Points, while doing something complex takes many. You earn Action Points every combat ‘round’. How many you earn are dependent upon several factors; notably your skill with the weapon, your skill with the fighting stance you are using, and your intelligence and dexterity.

  [Formula :Action Points per Round =[((Dex/10+Int/10 -10) +Weapon Ranks/4 + Stance Ranks/4)

  There are a maximum of Action Points you can have at any given point; this represents the best position you can attain, waiting or watching for more will not help.

  [Formula: Maximum Action Points= Int statistic + Dex Statistic + Cha Statistic]

• Move Points are your fitness and aerobic energy. When they are exhausted, so are you. You can continue to defend yourself, but you cannot initiate at such a point. Every combat round, you lose Move Points. If you can rest and catch your breath for a moment, you can regain these, as opposed to Hit Points.

  [Formula: Move points= (2* Con statistic + Dex statistic) * (Fitness multiplier, if any)]

Once a fight has been initiated (kill [targetname]), both combatants enter into Combat mode, receiving the combat prompt. The opponents start circling each other for position, studying their opponent for weak points. Unlike other systems, there is no automatic attack action! During this time, each combatant gains Action Points, and loses Move Points as they feel each other out. Eventually something will break, one person attacking or the other.

Commands

The key to combat is the ‘combat emote’. Most of your commands will be interpreted by the parser through the combat emote. (cemote or =) These commands can be simple or complex.

Some examples:

• ‘cemote swing’ will swing your primary weapon at your opponent, provided you can afford the action cost.
• ‘cemote close’ will close the distance between you and your opponent.
• ‘cemote retreat’ will retreat from them, ending the combat if far enough away.
• ‘cemote rest’ will try to rest in the fight, buying you a few seconds.
• ‘cemote surrender’ will try to surrender, ending the fight.

For the full list of possible keywords, use ‘combat list.’ Many of these can be used in conjunction with each other. In fact, they are intended to.

The combat emote parser will try to glean what it is you want to do from the text of the combat emote you enter:

Cemote growls and and launches himself at you, *viciously *swinging his sword!
Cemote *feints a *low *strike to your knees!
Cemote backs *away, his weapon pointed at your chest.
Cemote raises his hand, hoping to bring a *halt to the fighting.
Cemote *catches his breath *for a second, eyeing you warily.
Cemote *leaps *forward, bringing her sword down in a *vicious *overhead *swing, aiming *high on your neck.

In the above cases, the keywords are marked with an asterisk, as they would when utilized. (You don’t type the asterisks in, if the parser locates a term it marks it).

Price!

Every combat action has a price associated with it. This price is in Action Points. If you wish to know how much something will cost, merely type combat to see the minimum cost of the action and the maximum cost.

Why two costs? Well, if you cannot afford the full cost of a complex action, the parser will go ahead and do the part of the action you CAN afford, as long as you can afford the base cost, of course. The base cost is the minimum action that if removed would make the combat string meaningless. Think of it as the verb, and the others as adjectives.

For example, if I tried to do a ‘powerful, overhead and deadly stab at your vitals’, the base cost would be for ‘stab’, that which the phrase is built around. If possible, it would try to add powerful, overhead and deadly, stopping when you could no longer afford the next term.

Weapon Base Action Cost:

The base action cost for a maneuver is complex and unnecessary to really know. However, it is based around common and combat sense. The cost is dependent on the type of action, the weapon used, the stance used and the range at which it occurs.

• Swings and thrusts are easier with different weapons; it is easier to thrust with a spear than to swing with it, but both can be done.
• Slower and bulkier weapons are harder to use; it is much quicker to use a dagger than a battle axe.
• Certain stances are built around certain actions. It is much easier to lunge and thrust from the Snake stance than it is to swing.
• Range matters, too. It is harder to get in a strike with a polearm if your target is very close, but it is much easier to strike when they are fairly far away.

Type ‘combat info’ to see your weapon and the relevant costs.

[formula for a weapon strike: weapon base cost+ swing/thrust cost+ stance base cost+ stance swing/thrust cost + range cost]

Examples of Weapon Action Costs:

• For example, in the standard stance, it costs the following to punch someone at medium range:
  2 (unarmed base) + 1 (unarmed thrust) + 1 (standard stance base) + 3 (standard stance thrust) + 5 (unarmed medium range) = 12 Aps
• A dagger thrust, with Snake Stance, at close range:
  1 (dagger base) + 1 (dagger thrust) + 1 (snake stance base) + 1 (snake stance thrust) + 1 (dagger close range) = 5 Aps (the cheapest maneuver in the game)
• That same dagger, swung at long range with the snake stance:
  1 (dagger base) + 4 (dagger swing) + 1 (snake stance base) + 6 (snake stance swing) + 20 (dagger far range) = 32 Aps!
• A sword swung in the Standard stance, at medium range:
  3 (sword base) + 1 (sword swing) + 1 (standard stance base) + 3 (standard stance swing)+ 5 (sword medium range) = 12 Aps.

Movement Base Action Cost

The base cost for retreats, advances, closes, etc. is based upon the stance maneuver cost and the armor movement penalty.

Armor movement penalties are :

• 0 for none
• 5 for leather
• 20 for chain
• 40 for platemail

So, advancing in Snake stance, no armor is 20aps, while Turtle in Plate = 70aps.

Other Base Action Costs

• Resting takes a random amount of Action Points and applies them towards your move. Sometimes a little, sometimes a lot. You have to be careful with this!
• Feinting takes the same action cost of the maneuver plus the feint cost (combat keyword feint to see the cost).
• Bashing , cheating or disarming cost the price of the maneuver as well as the bashing, cheating or disarming extra cost. They are assumed to have a regular attack built into the strike.
• Standing after being knocked down is an automatic action. It will be performed once you have enough Action Points to do so. The cost is 25+ the armor movement penalty.

Maximum Action Cost: ‘Complexity’

There is a maximum Action Point cost per maneuver. This cost is based upon your skill with the weapon and the stance you are using. The more skilled you are, the more keywords you can string together for the ‘ultimate’ attack. This cost is calculated and listed by using ‘combat info’ under ‘the maximum AP cost for a single action’.

The Hidden Aspects of Cost:

There are two aspects of the price of a maneuver which are invisible.

• The first is that any maneuver (besides resting) costs some amount of Move Points based on the Action Points.

  [Formula : Move Points Spent= Action Points Spent * some unknown constant]

• The second is really part of defense. Unspent Action Points act as a defense buffer; you are assumed to be using your position, balance and the like for full defense when you are not attacking. 1 tenth of your current Action Points are added to your defenses. What this means is that if you do not act, you get harder and harder to hit. And, at some point, when you do attack, you are effectively lowering your defenses. So, a quick jab with a dagger will tire you less and leave you less susceptible to a counterattack.

  [Formula: Secondary: (Secondary defense skill rank + 1/10th current Action Points)/2]

Overuse!

If you use a keyword (besides a base keyword; ex. Deceptive instead of swing) several times, it will become ‘overused’. Your opponent will see it coming. When it is overused, it is marked with an ! in from of the term (!deceptive) instead of (*deceptive). Use other keywords and vary your attacks, it will become available to you.

Delay!

Players can set a delay which will slow combat down somewhat. When two players fight, the higher delay is used. When a player fights a mob, the players delay is used. When a combat-emote is used, the delay value is added to the delay counter (which is shown on the extreme right hand side of the combat prompt). Every combat tick, this delay will count down. If any action is performed before the delay counter hits 0, the amount is added to the Action Point cost of the maneuver.

For example, if the delay is set to 10 (a high delay) and I am using a dagger, Snake Stance, close range (Action cost of 5) and I execute a flurry of stabs in short order, the cost increases exponentially. The first costs me 5, the second 15, the third stab is 25 points. I will have to wait 20 combat rounds for my delay to hit zero again. If I was fighting and experienced player and we agreed to go at full speed, I could attack in a flurry of strikes all costing 5 aps until I tired myself out or ran out of Action Points.

To be clear, the Delay value is added to the CURRENT counter when an action is performed. So if the delay counter has dropped to 1 (in the current example) and then I act, it goes up to 11. (and starts falling again).

You set your delay with the “Wimpy” command. ‘wimpy 10’ will have a delay of 10.

The Attack!

When you attack, your Attack Score is calculated:

Your strength, your skill in the weapon, and your overall skill with all melee weapons matters, add a healthy dose of luck and you your score is filled out.

[Formula: To Hit: Str statistic-50, + weapon rank + combat category rank /4 + 10d10]

Thereafter, the ball is in the defenders court, as they try to stop the attack.

Every defender has three defenses; A primary, secondary and a tertiary. What those defenses are is dependent upon the stance used. Turtle Stance, for example uses Shield Block as primary, Parry as secondary and Footwork third. The Monkey stance, however, uses Parry first, Off-hand Parry second, and Dodge last.

A defender’s Primary defense is based upon their dexterity, their defense skill, a familiarity with the weapon they are attacked with and luck, PLUS their balance and position.

[Formula: Primary: Dex statistic-50+ Primary defense skill rank + attacking weapon rank/4 + 10d10+ 1/10th of current Action Points]

If after the Primary defense subtracted from the Attack Score is still positive, the attack continues and use their Secondary Defense.

If an opponent is forced to use their Secondary defense, there is a slight AP cost to them, the same for using their Tertiary; they are slightly forced out of balance.

Their secondary defense does not benefit from the Dexterity or luck roll again, nor from their familiarity with the opponents weapon. It merely is dependent on their skill with their defense and their action points.

[Formula: Secondary: (Secondary defense skill rank + 1/10th current Action Points)/2]

If the secondary defense fails in reducing the attack to 0, the Tertiary, final, last ditch defense tries. It is based purely upon skill in the tertiary defense.

[Formula: Tertiary : (Tertiary defense skill rank)/4]

If the Attack Score is still positive even after all three defenses are subtracted, then damage ensues! The amount of damage is dependant upon how much of the attack was stopped. If it just barely slipped through the defenses, then the damage is minor, if it was overpowering, a great deal is done. It is quite possible for a single attack to fell an opponent!

Damage!

Now, the damage is calculated. The amount of damage done is proportional to how well the attack got through. Furthermore, it is modified and multiplied by the weapon type, attack type and whether there were any damage-modification keywords involved. Axes do more damage than daggers, for example, and if vicious or powerful were used as keyword, more damage results.

Damage comes in two parts: Concussion damage and Critical damage.

• Concussion damage is damage to your Hit Points.
• Critical damage comes in the form of specific wounds.

Different kinds of weapons do different kinds of Critical damage. Daggers do puncturing criticals when thrust, slashing criticals when swung, for example. Criticals can effectively end the fight even though your still have Hit Points remaining. They can break limbs, stun, reduce your effectiveness, cause bleeding. They are unpleasant and lasting, although they can be healed with time and care.

Armor!

Armor is your friend, when it comes to Criticals, but it is often your enemy when it comes to combat. Armor converts what would be Critical Damage into Concussion damage. A blow that would have broken your ribs is instead softened. A slash that would’ve laid your belly open merely causes a bruise.

Armor comes at a price, however. It increases the Action Point cost of standing when knocked down and maneuvering for range. Also, although you Criticals will affect you less, you will take more Hit Points of damage. Armor doesn’t necessarily mean you will win a fight, just that when it’s over, you will be less injured.

Stance!

Stance is a key to Combat. It defines how well you move and fight, and what sort of actions make sense. It also defines your opponent’s strategy at getting at your soft parts. Once you start the fight in a stance, it is possible to switch stances and strategy, but it is very risky. Changing stances forfeits all your current Action Points as you give up your position and plans, leaving you temporarily endangered. Wait for your opponent to give you a chance, or you will be giving him a gift. Stance or Combat Info will give you your current stance. Combat (or just +) will give you your opponents.

Each stance is good and bad at different things. No one stance is the best; each has their strengths.

Stance Descriptions:

• The Standard stance is very straightforward and balanced. It does all things equally well, and has a good defensive sequence. Anyone using the Standard Stance without a shield is missing their Tertiary defense, which, while not crippling, is a weakness.
• The Monkey stance is designed for two-weapon combat. It has the cheapest off-hand attack rates and uses both weapons to defend with.
• The Snake stance is a fencing stance. It uses maneuverability to keep the range appropriate and uses thrusts to attack with.
• The Scorpion stance is a shield towards enemy, weapon held high and behind stance. It is particulary effective with swinging weapons like maces and axes. This stance protects the weapon from disarming and breaking, keeping it back until used.
• The Horse stance is designed for two-handed weapons. It has the cheapest single-weapon average. It uses footwork, parrying, then dodging to get out of the way.
• The Spider stance is a maneuvering stance. It is the easiest to move from and only it’s Tertiary defense even uses contact. It is designed for when high mobility is important.
• The Turtle stance is a defensive stance. Shield Primary, Parry secondary, it is the sword-and-shield, heavily armored stance of choice.

Keywords!

Now that the basics of combat are laid before you, several minor truths are apparent.

First of all, combat favours the defender. It is very difficult to land a blow against an equal opponent. Second of all, the turnout of the fight will depend on how the fighters match up against one another, so that Fighter A might beat Fighter B, and Fighter B might beat Fighter C, but that doesn’t mean that Fighter C will lose to Fighter A! It is also possible for there to be a fight where neither combatant is sufficiently skilled to really hurt the other, and there will be no easy conclusion. A lucky minor wound at the start of the fight could easily mean the difference between victory and defeat.

The Keywords are important to this system. Without them, you cannot pick apart the defenses of your opponent, or set them up for your finishing strike.

The Keywords are divided into several groups. When using Combat list, the groupings are seperated by color.

Each keyword has a cost that is added to the Action Point cost of the action.

***Not every keyword is available to every player! Some have prerequisites of statistics, skill levels or other things!

***To get specific information on a keyword, just use ‘combat keyword ’

Power Keywords:

*powerful, *fierce, *vicious, *overhead, *round These keywords help deliver powerful blows. They make the strikes that hit do more concussion damage. They also have chances of damaging or disarming parry and off-hand parry attempts. These powerful blows have a chance of knocking your opponent down if they meet it with a blocking or parrying defense.

Attack Keywords:

*lunge, *leap, *deceptive, *deceiving, *quick, *fast, *instant, *rapid, *beat These keywords concentrate on beating your opponents defense. Lunges and leaps help your attack against people who are using footwork to avoid you, deceptive, deceiving attacks contain a feint and are good when people are parrying or blocking you. Beat attacks are wonderful versus someone parrying you. Striking quickly is good versus all defenses.

Critical Modifying Keywords:

*high, *low, *middle, *safe, *deadly These aim your blows better. If a Critical hit occurs, low attacks will only hit from the torso down, high attacks from the torso up, middle attacks torso only. Low attacks also have a chance of tripping your opponent. Safe means you are intentionally not aiming for vital areas, useful for sparring, and deadly means you are going for the most damaging target your can hit.

Thrust Base Keywords:

*stab, *thrust, *jab These keywords indicate that your base attack is a thrust. Some have some slight differences, for example, Jabs are harder to stop, but do less damage.

Swing Base Keywords:

*smash, *swing, *slash, *hack, *chop, *strike These keywords indicate that your base attack is a swing. Some have some slight differences, for example, Smash has a chance of knocking your opponent back.

Trick Keywords:

*disarm, *trip, *cheat, *bash These keywords improve the appropriate chances for disarming, tripping, or bashing your opponent. Cheat has a chance of stunning them.

The Wild Keyword:

*wild The wild keyword uses d100 instead of 10d10. Higher highs, lower lows. It has an exorbitant AP cost, however. It is an attack of desperation.

Movement Keywords:

*close, *advance, *closing, *charge, *away, *retreat These keywords are useful in manipulating distance. If you retreat or move away while at long range and you have more Action Points currently than your opponent, you will break off. Note that you cannot move and attack in one maneuver, except with charge.

(I.e. ‘= closes and swing.’ Will just close. Use ‘=closes. || = swings.’

Rest Keywords:

*rest, *breath These keywords help you rest while in combat, snatching a moment where you can. When you use one, it takes a random amount of Action Points and adds to your Move Points. Use these carefully!

Quarter Keywords:

*surrender, *stop These commands will attempt to bring combat to a halt. If your opponent has Subdue on, then these will bring the fight to an end.

Feint Keywords:

*feint, *fake These keywords indicate that the rest of the attack is a feint. If successful, you will cause your opponent to lose Action Points responding to the attack. Even if unsuccessful, they will lose some.

Off hand Keywords:

*off, *left, *other These keywords indicate that the attack comes from the off-hand.

Technique!

So, your opponent seems impregnable, all your attacks have failed, being stopped easily. How do you get base his hedgehog defense and make him bleed?

• Target his primary defense! If he is parrying first, try a beat attack or a deceiving attack. If you have an axe or other heavy weapon, start smashing away violently! Maybe you’ll break his weapon or disarm him. If he is avoiding you with footwork, start with a lunge or jab a lot.
• Bleed his Action Points! Feint a lot, move around, put him in a position that is expensive for him to attack. Trip him, bash him, throw salt in his face, do whatever it takes to lower his Action Points and through that, his defenses.
• Wait for it! Build up and keep your Action Points, paying careful attention to his actions. Wait for him to rest, or attempt a maneuver where you can see he couldn’t afford a keyword, then strike mercilessly and quickly.

HELP (and changes)!

Some problems which seem to confuse:

• You cannot MOVE and ATTACK within the same phrase. ‘cemote closes and strikes’ will just close.
• Feints are NOT attacks. They will never hit. As above, even if you ‘cemote feints low and then strikes high’ you will NOT attack, just execute a complex feint. ‘cemote feints low || cemote then strikes high!’ will.
• It is assumed that a conservative fighter will keep his Action Points at around half, being half defensive. An overly defensive fighter will keep his Action Points at as close to maximum as possible. If you have spent all your Action Points you have overextended yourself and are vulnerable.
• SIZE matters in Bashing and resisting Bashing. It has no other current effects.
• If a keyword you use has a ! in front of it, it is OVERUSED. If you use a command several times in a sequence, it is marked overused and has no effect. Use some other keywords to clear it out. Base commands cannot be overused.
• There is a Maximum Spendable Action Point total; that’s the most complex phrase you can execute. ‘combat info’ will list this as ‘the maximum AP cost for a single action’. It is based upon your stance and weapon skill, so if you are brand new at a weapon, you might only be able to do the most simplistic of actions.
• If you force your opponent to use their secondary defense, they are charged a few Action Points. The same for their Tertiary.
• The Wild keyword uses a d100 roll instead of 10d10 for determining a hit.