Combat Reference for Black Company

Post by **Daniel** » Tue Feb 15, 2022 6:44 pm

Quick Encounters are described on page 134 of SWADE.
I’m not changing anything to do with Dramatic Tasks or Interludes. The following is just me clarifying how I will be running “encounters and combat”. ((Note: many ideas and concepts were taken from Technospawn, Pender Lumkiss and Ndreare)).

The Black Company
Quick Encounters	Combat
5 Types and Options	Regular or Tactical

Listed below are Quick Encounters options used in the Black Company (down below them are further Combat Varieties/Options). ~~ Lars

Quick Encounters

☞ GM sets the scene
Narratively and declaring type of scene from below.

CHASE: Common Knowledge (for navigation), Driving, Repair, Shooting.
COMBAT: Fighting, Shooting, arcane skill.
CRISIS: Athletics, Persuasion (to calm bystanders), Repair.
HEIST: Hacking, Notice, Stealth, Thievery.
MISSION: Battle, Boating, Fighting, Persuasion, Piloting, Shooting.
TREK: Common Knowledge, Notice, Survival.

☞ Modifiers: The GM should assign modifiers based on the situation. Typically -1 to -4 depending on situation difficulty.

☞ Single die roll:

Skill die roll or
[New]Attributes die roll, if applicable.

☞ Encounter Results

Basic Quick Encounter
- After each player rolls results the GM will describe the outcome. There is no exact set number of success needed, the more the merrier. This basic encounter is rarely used in the Black Company. Often, instead you’ll be asked to do a Quick Tale (a short Interlude).

Dangerous Quick Encounter
- If a character fails his roll in a dangerous situation he takes a Wound (or d4 Wounds with a Critical Failure). If he's the driver of a vehicle, it takes a Wound (or d4 with a Critical Failure). Wounds may be Soaked as usual. Success means the hero emerges with only Bumps & Bruises (page 125), and a raise means he escapes unscathed.

Gritty Quick Encounter
- Success mean you get hit once by the enemy, failure means you get hit twice, and critical failure means three times. If he's the driver of a vehicle, it takes 1-3 Wounds. Wounds may be Soaked as usual.

Non lethal Encounter
- If the encounter isn’t physically dangerous, failure means the hero doesn’t contribute to the party’s overall success somehow. Critical Failure means she suffers social stigma, loses or breaks a piece of vital equipment, is positively identified, or gets the wrong information. This likely means moving on to a second stage of the encounter as she deals with the fallout of her errors.

Token Hunting Encounter
- Much like a basic quick encounter the Token Hunter Encounter is for relatively easy encounters. Much like a simplified Dramatic Task. Each success equates one foe overcome or vanquished (killed). Example: there are 20 CS grunts and each success by players negates one grunt. This encounter can take multiple rounds, but is designed to probably be only one round. The GM may interject damage to player characters if not resolved in one round. Such as everyone takes one wound each round after the first.

☞ Optional Rules

Ammo & Power Points
Depends on Encounter
- Amount expended Per pg 131 SWADE.
- Or amount is based on your actions (per your narrative).

Dynamic Backlash
Always in effect in BC Game
- Pg 138 Crit fail arcane
  - Roll 2D6:
    - 2 Catastrophe: Something goes terribly wrong. The GM must decide what, but some ideas are a new and permanent Minor Hindrance, the inability to use powers for several days, or an explosion of some sort. The backlash should be thematic if possible. If the hero tampers with dark forces for his abilities, for example, he might become corrupted or summon something sinister into the world. If he’s a weird scientist the device might explode for 3d6 damage in a Medium Blast Template, or he might develop a Quirk, Phobia, or other “madness.”
    - 3 Backfire: The power succeeds as with a raise but affects a different target with the worst possible results. A bolt hits a random friend, boost Trait increases an enemy’s skill or attribute, etc. If there’s no likely target, he’s Stunned instead. If the power has a Duration other than Instant, it lasts its full term and can only be negated by dispel (the caster can’t voluntarily end it herself).
    - 4–5 Short Circuit: The power fails but the Power Points allocated to it are spent, along with an additional 1d6 Power Points.
    - 6–8 Stunned: The caster is Stunned (see page 106). She subtracts 2 from arcane skill rolls for the rest of the encounter (the penalty remains –2 even if she gets this result again).
    - 9–10 Overload: The character’s synapses crackle and overload with power. He takes 2d6 damage plus the cost of the power in Power Points, including any Power Modifiers the player declared.
    - 11 Fatigue: The character suffers Fatigue.
    - 12 Overcharge: The power draws ambient energy from the air, automatically succeeding against the target with a raise and costing the caster no Power Points!

[New] Attribute Backlash
Always in effect in BC Game
- Crit fail attribute
  - Roll a 1d6:
    1. Distracted and Vulnerable
    2. Attribute lowered one die type for 24 hrs
    3. Take 1 level of Fatigue
    4. Take 2 levels of Fatigue
    5. Take 3 levels of Fatigue
    6. No backlash

Support Yourself
Depends on encounter
- Spend a benny and you can roll an appropriate skill in support of yourself (The support roll skill is rolled at -1). This can grant up to a +2 bonus to your primary action/skill/attempt. This is a non combat and non arcane skill. This is essentially a free action.

High Adventure
Depends on encounter
- Bennie for 1x use of Combat Edge
  Pg 140

Rifts SWADE Combat Varieties (Regular or Tactical)

☞ Combat (Regular SWADE)
As per SWADE rules.

☞ Tactical Combat (SWADE PbP)
GM set the stage/scene…

Tactical Combat has the enemy (s) split into groups/teams/squads/swarms etc This is a tactical combat. They will move, act, and attack as a group.

GM deals initiative cards and will resolve any edges or bennies for new cards. After all cards are resolved the final initiative order will be determined. The order will be first players, enemy, last players unless the enemy rolls lower or higher than all players. As always Jokers will get a +2 and may interrupt once I post for the enemy.
Those players with cards higher than the enemy will go first. They will considered the first players and will share an initiative and post in any order.
After a few days GM will post the attacks for the enemy. Any players that did not go will be assumed to be on hold. If they wish to interrupt the enemy they need to roll athletics.
The remaining players may then post their actions.
After everyone has gone or 1 week has passed GM will post new cards. Anyone who did not go in the last round will start the new round on hold.

Initiative
GM will roll 1d56 for each of the players initiative cards. Do not reroll duplicates, instead there are 2 extra Joker positions. Ties can be broken by an athletics roll.

Lowest card goes first
Quick rerolls 41 or higher
1, 2, 3, 4 are considered Jokers
Cards divisible by 4 are considered Clubs for hindrances affected by Clubs (excepting 4 which is a joker).

First group:
Second group:
Third group: