Combat Charts and Rules

How to Attack a foe
Combat in TAG requires preparation at the time your character is created and during the leveling up process. You must calculate your stat bonuses and your skill levels. You learn skill points in the different types of weapons by spending your Skill Acquisition Points (SAP) points. That process is described in the section titled Skill Acquisition. In the Skill Acquisition section it describes how to learn levels in using the various types of weapons or casting attack spells. In most cases you gain a +5 per skill level to your attack. As a combatant you will want to know how much bonus you have for striking your foe. That number is referred to as your “plus to hit” number.

“Plus to Attack” or “Weapon Attack Bonus”
“Plus to Attack” is calculated for each weapon type or specific directed spell separately. Weapon types are located on the character sheet so you can easily track your skill level and “weapon attack bonus” for each type of weapon. Weapon skills: In the Weapon Skills column you will find the listing of the different types of weapon skills you can learn: blades, crushing, chopping, spear/lance, thrown, projectile/bow, hand to hand, martial arts.

Skill Stats: In the skill stats column you see abbreviations for the three character stats that provide bonuses for each type of weapon: ST = strength, AG = agility, RF= reflexes. Some weapon types have more than one skill stat listed; in those cases you average those scores and round down. That average score goes into the Stat Bonus column.

Skill Cost: The skill cost column provides you a location to record the cost of the skill you assigned during the character creation process, or later during the leveling up process when that decision was made. The skill cost is found on the “Skills Acquisition Chart” and is assigned by you in the order you want to learn each weapon type. Some characters can learn weapon weapons more easily than others.

Skill Level: This box is for you to record how many levels of that skill you have learned by spending SAP points.

Skill Bonus: This box contains you skill bonus, which is the “skill level x 5” up to skill level 20.  Skill levels above 20 only get a +1 per level. So, if you have 25 levels in Blades that gives you a skill bonus of 20x5 for 100 + 5 for a total of 105 skill bonus: (20x5)+(5x5)=105. The formula is like this:

·        Skill level up to 20 levels x 5 + skills levels over 20 x 1 = skill bonus 

Some character classes receive bonuses for using weapons because they are a particular class of character. These bonuses specific to character classes can be found in the section titled “Class Specific Bonuses Per Level”. These needed to be added into the total for the skill bonus when appropriate.

Stat Bonus: Stat bonus is the average of the stats noted in the Skill Stats column described above in this section. So, blades has strength and agility noted in the skill stats column as ST/AG. To figure your stat bonus for blades you add you stat bonus for strength to your stat bonus for agility and divide by 2.  This gives you an average score. You then round down. So, if you character has strength of 89 and agility of 74 you apply those numbers to the “stat bonus chart” for the following numbers: 89 strength = 20 stat bonus; 74 agility = 12 stat bonus. Follow these examples:

·        Your stat bonus for blades: (ST+AG)/2 for a total as follows: (20+12)/2= 16.

·        Your stat bonus for thrown: (ST+AG+AG)/3 for a total as follows: (20+12+12)/2=14.667 and we round down to 14.

The stat bonus goes in the stat bonus column.

Armor Penalty:  if your character is wearing armor you may need to apply a penalty to your attacks. Armor penalty is always a negative number or a 0. You never get a bonus for wearing armor. See the section titled “Armor Class and Maneuverability” to calculate your penalties if any, and place that number in the Armor Penalty column.

Weapon Attack bonus:  Your “weapon attack bonus” is the total of adding together “Skill Bonus”+”Stat Bonus”+Armor Penalty”. The formula is as follows:

·        Skill Bonus + Stat Bonus + Armor Penalty = Weapon Attack Bonus 

·        Example: [blades: (89 ST+74 AG)/2 for a total as follows: (20+12)/2= 16 for a stat bonus] + [25 levels in Blades: 20x5 for 100 + 5: (20x5)+(5x5)=105 + (level 20 warrior gets +1 attack per level for +20) 105 + 20 = 125 for total skill bonus] + [wearing all plate armor for -20 penalty + 15 levels of armor maneuverability = -5 : -20 +15= -5 for total armor penalty] = 136 Weapon Attack Bonus

This weapon attack bonus can now be used for attacking with any one handed blade weapon. Because when your character advances a level skill levels, class specific bonuses and stats may change, thus you will need to recalculate your weapon attack bonus each time you level your character.

Favorite Attacks or Weapons:  This column is where you place the title or description of your favorite attack weapon. Some weapons have actual names: Blade of Destruction or Bow of Accuracy. In some cases you may want to be more descriptive such as: Magic Long Sword +5 hit; +3 damage. The name or description is important. You may record more details about the weapon such as appearance, where you got it, etc. in the supplies section of the character sheet. You may forget what your shorter description in the Favorite Attacks or Weapons column means, or these facts may be important later in your adventuring – you never know.

Total to Attack Calculation
Weapon Attack Bonus:  This column comes directly from the section above where we calculated your Weapon Attack Bonus. Just insert your total here. As you advance in levels you will learn multiple and perhaps all of the weapon types to some level of skill. While the Weapon Attack Bonus captures your expertise in a type of weapon - blades, crushing, chopping, etc. – this section of the character sheet captures details about a specific weapon within that type. As an example you may have more than bladed weapon such as a long sword you use on a regular basis, but you could carry a backup short sword for special occasions such as when you are disarmed and need to quickly pull out a different weapon.

·        Some characters may choose to duel wield weapons and they may have two different bladed weapons – one for each hand. See the section that describes how to duel wield and the special rules around how that works for more details. Duel wielding has special rules for adjusting your weapon attack bonus to compensate for the added skill required to use a weapon in each hand.

·        Some characters may use a shield and as they become proficient with it they can use it to attack rather than just defend. You could record your shield attack skill here as well. Please see the section on Shield Proficiency earlier in the document for the special rules for that skill.

Other Attack: This column is used to record any adjustments to the weapon hit or damage that are not recorded elsewhere, such as which attack chart to use: small, medium, large or extra-large.

Magic Bonus:  This column is where you record the special bonus on your specific weapon for striking your foe. This often referred to as a “+ to Hit” bonus of a specific weapon description. Remember that Magic Long Sword +5 to hit and +3 damage. The +5 to hit goes into the Magic Bonus column. You also put finely crafted weapon bonuses in this column.

Total Attack: Now you can add up the boxes to get your “Total to Hit” for a specific weapon. This is an important number. You need it to determine if your attack hits your foe.

Attack Formula
Skill level bonus + stat bonus + weapon attack bonus + 1-100 roll + class specific bonus +/- attacker special – target defense +/- defender special = Attack roll

Notes:
·        Spells casters:  A mage or other spell caster may use this same approach to record a special spell they use often such as a “Fire Dart” spell from the mages Fire Elemental spell list. They would use the rules for spell casting to fine tune their “Total Attack roll”.

·        Special Circumstances:  During combat Special circumstances arise that may adjust your ability to hit, making it harder or easier for you to hit. These adjustments will be applied to your total “hit roll”. Be sure to adjust your total to hit roll up or down appropriately. Examples are as follows:

o Back attacks provide +to hit

o You may be stunned giving you a negative to hit adjustment. A number you would subtract for your roll.

o Weather conditions or footing may decrease your chances to hit.

o An ally’s spell may give you an extra bonus.

Formula for Attack Roll

Total Damage Bonus Calculation
Now we need to calculate and record adjustments to damage.

Other Damage:  This column records adjustments to the weapon for + or – to damage that you have not recorded anywhere else.

Magic Bonus Damage:  This column is where you record the special bonus on your specific weapon for damage to your foe. Remember that Magic Long Sword +5 to hit and +3 damage. The +3 to damage goes into the Magic Bonus Damage column. You also put finely crafted weapon bonuses in this column.

Total Damage Bonus: Now you can add up the boxes to get your “Total Damage Bonus” for a specific weapon. This is an important number. You need it to determine how much your successful attack does for damage.

·        Damage Weapon Adjustment + Magic Bonus Damage = Total Damage Bonus 

Example of your table entries and an Attack!
Let us use the following for an example for our warrior:

·        Example: [blades: (89 ST+74 AG)/2 for a total as follows: (20+12)/2= 16 for a stat bonus] + [25 levels in Blades: 20x5 for 100 + 5: (20x5)+(5x5)=105 + (level 20 warrior gets +1 attack per level for +20) 105 + 20 = 125 for total skill bonus] + [wearing all plate armor for -20 penalty + 15 levels of armor maneuverability = -5 : -20 +15= -5 for total armor penalty] = 136 Weapon Attack Bonus

  Now let’s fill out the section for favorite attacks for his special long sword:

·        Example: Remember that Magic Long Sword +5 to attack and +3 damage. Check the Weapons Adjustment chart and you will see that a long sword has no + or - to attack and no + or – to damage. Notice we left the “range to hit box” empty. If this was a projectile or thrown attack we would enter those figures, but our warrior does not intend to throw his fancy, new magical sword at an enemy, so we will leave that box empty.  

Attack Process
Now that we have our Favorite Attacks or Weapons table filled out for our Magic Long Sword we can walk you through the process for attacking a foe. The following are sample steps that will occur in most circumstances. Remember that the Game Master (GM) controls the flow of the action and may interject things into the battle. That is his job and the better at it he is the more robust and exiting an experience you will have. Here is the typical process:

1.      Encounter a creature or person.

2.      They become hostile towards you, or you determine you must attack them.

3.      GM determines the combat sequence:  who attacks first, who gets attacked by whom, who you can attack with your attack, etc. Here are some things to remember:

a. You may not get the first attack.

b. You may be attacked and likely will be someday.

c. You may even be knocked unconscious, maimed, or even killed.

d. During the course of a battle you may become injured or stunned which will reduce your ability to hit the foe.

4.      When the GM tells you that you can attack you need to know the following information:

a. Who can you attack – if there are multiple targets, choose which one you will attack. Choose wisely.

b. What favorite attack will you use?

c. Do you get any special bonuses or penalties for your attack? Ask the GM.

d. What is the Foes defense?

e. What is the Foes armor?

f. For a ranged attack – how far away is your target? You will need to take adjustments for ranges as shown in the chart for weapons adjustments.

5.      Now that you have all of the items above figure out you can make your attack:

a. Roll 1-100'''.  We rolled a 72. If we rolled a 96 we would roll again and add''' that number to our total. You can theoretically keep going like that forever if you rolls are great, but you may as well stop once you get the maximum at the top of the chart. Just saying….

b. Add your attack of choice’s “total to hit” from the table above. For our warrior that will be +146. Roll 1-100 + total to hit = attack roll total

i. Example:  72 + 146 = 218

c. Next subtract the foes defense. We are attack a troll with a '''defense of 40. So, 218 - 40 = 178.'''

d. Add or subtract any special adjustments determine by the GM. In this case we get a +10 because we caught the troll off guard. He just was not expecting us to jump out from behind the tree and attack him. So, 178 + 10 = 188.

e. The troll has and armor of 18. So, we find where the 18 armor column and our total attack roll of 188 intersect on the Attack Roll Chart.

i. You will notice that as you get to the top of the chart it skips numbers. Our 188 is above 175 but below 200, so we use the 175 number, which gives us a result of 32D. 32 represents the base damage the warrior did and D is the critical damage done, which we will figure out in a minute.

f. Now we take our base damage of 32 and add in our total damage bonus of 55: 32 + 23 = 55 total base damage. But we are still not done.

g. Our attack resulted in 32D, so now we have to figure out what to do with that D critical.

i. Roll 1-100''' to determine how high the D critical is. We '''rolled a 68.

ii. We apply our 68 roll to the Critical Damage Chart. A review of the chart and the description we learn that a D=high critical + special type. So, we check 68 under the high critical column and 52 under the slash.

iii. High critical for 68 = 15 damage

iv. Slash critical for 68 = “Slash to weapon hand. 3 rds -5, 3 hpr” Which means that the foe functions at -5 for 3 rounds and is bleeding for 3 hits of damage per round.

h. So, the total damage we did to the foe is as follows:

i. [55 total base damage] + [15 High Critical damage] = 70 total damage to foe  

ii. foe takes 3 hits of damage per round 

iii. foe is at -5 to all actions for 3 rounds 

Over view of your attack process
1.      Gather information

a. What favorite attack will you use?

b. Do you get any special bonuses or penalties for your attack? Ask the GM.

c. What is the Foes defense?

d. What is the Foes armor?

e. For a ranged attack – how far away is your target? You will need to take adjustments for ranges as shown in the chart for weapons adjustments.

2.      Make your Attack

a. Roll 1-100

b. Add total to attack

c. Subtract foes defense (this could change each round)

d. Add or subtract any special adjustments determined by the GM (GM may add this or subtract them from Foes defense for you).

e. Apply the total attack roll (with all adjustments) to the armor column on the attack chart and the total attack roll.

f. Determine you base damage, if you hit.

g. Add in your total damage bonus for your attack (if attack was melee or thrown).

h. Roll for any critical damage if there was a critical indicated behind your damage.

3.      Tell the GM how much damage you did and what kind of critical effects you inflicted.

4.      Record all the damage you do to the foe. You will use this for experience points later.