RPOL COMBAT
Combat in CoC is oversimplified. However, this game is lethal. Just like real life - bullets kill. And lots of bullets kill lots of people. CoC combat is awesome because it is about the closest thing to real combat as I have ever seen in a roleplaying game. And if you don’t stop bleeding a character will die.
Simply put, characters can attack and move (walk or run) in a single round. Movement causes penalties to actions however (-10% to hit). Running and firing is also possible (-20% to hit/-20% to be hit). Firearms can fire multiple bullets in a single round (3 seconds). Everyone has only a single melee attack.
The only exception to the one melee attack per round rule is if a character has over 100% in a given melee skill. In which case they can make two attacks, one on their Dex and then a second on half their Dex.
Combat Rounds (CR) vs Narrative Rounds (NR)
A combat round (CR) is 3 seconds long in my version of CoC. Time during combat is measured differently than at other times during the game. During Narrative Rounds (NR, 10 seconds long) the players might be moving or talking and I as the GM am keeping track of time such as when the next time the security guard will pass. Or the characters are discussing a plan and only have 5 in-game minutes to make a decision. Narrative rounds (NR) happen in sequence. One character talks then another character talks etc. But during combat all the characters and the NPCs are taking their actions during the exact same 3 second combat round. Their individual actions take place in Dexterity (Initiative Order) with just fractions of a second between each action. So the character with an 18 Dex goes before the character with a 17 Dex.
Example -
-Character #1 (16 Dex) firing a .45 automatic pistol (Strike Rank 4) fires in Dex 16/12/8/4
Character #2 (11 Dex) swinging a wood axe, swings the axe in Dex 11.
-Character #1 fires once on Dex 16. Character #2 swings axe on Dex 13. Character #1 fires three mores times in the same combat round on Dex 12, 8 and 4. All this happens in 1 3 second combat round.
Delay - “Got the drop on them.”
You can delay an action simply by saying “I delay until after x (a specific action takes place).” ie. "I will shoot as soon as James gets away from the dynamite." or "I will shoot if the guy goes for a weapon."
In cases of delay your action can go immediately after someone else’s action or immediately before. To take a delay action you have to declare it on your initiative and then hold that action until your next initiative. If the trigger event occurs then the delayed action goes before the trigger event can have its effect.
Example - "DUCK!!" (PL to GM I delay my attacks until the other characters are out of the way. But make all your roles in the dice roller, dont wait.)
Skill Rolls in Combat
Standard Success - under the skill percentage with any modifiers applied.
Special Success - 5-20% of Skill with any modifiers applied, x2 damage (roll damage dice twice and total the result) plus damage bonus if applicable, requires Special Parry/Dodge to avoid.
Critical Success (Impale) - 5% or less of Skill with any modifiers applied, max damage plus a damage roll, plus damage bonus if applicable, requires a Critical Parry/Dodge to avoid. (ex. .45 pistol causes 12+d10+2 damage and ignores any armor, a .303 round causes 15+2d6+3 damage and ignores armor)
Fumble - any roll of 96-100% on any skill. Luck rolls usually determine how bad things are.
Malfunction - firearms have individual Malfunction numbers
Combat Modifiers
General Combat Modifiers
½ Dex Draw Weapon
+20% Target Surprised
Pow x1% Target Cannot be Seen (blind attacks)
+20% Target is large (Siz 25-40)
+40% Target is gigantic (Siz 40-99)
+20% Target is held, entangled or grappled
Auto Target is titanic (Siz 100+)
Ranged Combat Modifiers
x2% Target At Point Blank Range (w/i Dex in feet, missile)
+10% Attacker Weapon Supported (missile)
+10% Attacker Aiming
-20% Target Prone (missile)
-20% Target Running/Fleeing (missile)
-10% Attacker Walking (8 yards, missile)
-20% Attacker Running/Charging (24 yards, missile)
1/2% Attacker Aiming for specific location
Hand to Hand Combat Modifiers
+10% Attacker Charging into Melee (16 yards) (melee)
Auto Hit Target Unaware (melee, x2 damage, choose location)
+20% Target Down (melee)
+10% Target Charging (melee)
+10% Target Fleeing (melee)
-20% Attacker Knocked Down (melee)
+10% Allies 2 on 1 (melee)
+20% Allies 3 on 1 (melee)
+30% Allies 4 on 1 (melee)
Firearms
Firearms use what are called Strike Ranks (SR). Basically, a character is able to pull the trigger a number of times in a three second Combat Round based on how difficult to handle the weapon is (mechanically and from the weapons kick when discharged) the weapon is. This simulates the difficulty of regaining a target after pulling the trigger. More powerful weapons have higher SR numbers.
You fire your first round on your Dex and each subsequent shot occurs after a specified number of SR have passed.
Strike Ranks for Firearms
SR 2 - .22 pistols (d6 damage)
SR 3 - .32, .38, 7.65mm and 9 mm pistols, 410 gauge, 16 gauge (d8/2d6 damage)
SR 4 - .45 caliber pistols, 12 gauge, pump shotguns (d10/4d6 damage)
SR 5 - lever action rifles (2d6 damage)
SR 6 - bolt action rifles (2d8 damage)
SR 1 – fully automatic weapons (one attack roll on final round fired)
If a character has a .22 automatic pistol (SR 2) and a Dexterity of 10 they will fire at 10, 8, 6, 4, 2. The same character with a bolt-action rifle (SR6) would be fired on Dex 10 and then 4.
A character armed with a .45 automatic pistol (SR 4) and a Dex of 18, the attacker rolls to hit on the 18, 14, 10, 6, 2. With a bolt-action rifle (SR6) the same person could fire on a Dex of 18 and 12 and 6.
Full Auto Fire
Only one burst of auto fire can be made in a single round. Auto fire applies only to machine guns and the Thompson Submachine gun in 1920s CoC.
Full Auto (SR 1) increases the chance to hit by 5% per bullet fired in a single spray. Randomly determine how many bullets hit d2, d3, d4, based on the number fired. If a character fires a 5 round burst they get a +25% chance to hit their targets but only d5 rounds will actually hit. The bonus can never exceed the characters actual skill with the weapon. So if a character has a 10% chance to hit with a machine gun then the biggest bonus they will ever get from full auto fire is +10%.
A character can fire a full auto spray up to an entire clip and can assign hits to any targets in a 180 degree arch to their front but hits must be divided up evenly among multiple targets. Weapon has a SR equal to the number of rounds fired in the burst. A 5 round spray is a SR 5. If the shooter began firing on Dex 18 then their bullets don’t take effect until Dex 13.
Reloading (3 seconds is 1 Combat Round - CR)
3 rounds/CR Revolvers (C)
3 rounds/CR Internal Magazine (I)
1 magazine/CR Magazine Fed (M)
1 drum / 3xCR Drum Fed (D)
1 belt / 4xCR Belt Fed (B)(halved with assistant gunner)
Shooting into a Melee
It is never a good idea to shoot firearms around your friends. However, sometimes your fellow investigators will be stuck in melee and are likely to die anyway and shooting the enemy before they come for you may be more important than not. Another option is to wait until your fellow investigator dies with a held delay and then shoot, but that seems rather callous.
If a character takes careful aim and fires only one round, they will have a normal chance to hit the target and a miss will be a miss. The shot occurs on half their Dex. But a miss will be a miss. There will be no chance to hit an ally with careful aim. All other modifiers will apply (moving and shooting, point blank range etc). Only one shot and on half Dex.
If you shoot into a melee without aiming. If you miss you must reroll the attack and if you hit with the second roll it will be a hit on a random target in the melee. Large creatures will be counted as multiple targets based on their Siz.
Hit Location
The regular rules require an additional d20 roll for all combat hits. In an effort to accelerate the combat we will use the Warhammer Fantasy system of reversing the d100 skill roll to hit will determine the hit location. When you roll to hit, reverse the same die roll to determine the hit location.
If you roll a 50 to hit then the location struck is a 05.
New Hit Location Table
01-05 Head
06-15 RT Arm
16-25 LT Arm
26-50 Chest
51-70 Abdomen
71-85 RT Leg
86-100 LT Leg
Locational Hit Points
Characters have total Hit Points (Siz + Con /2 round up) and they have locational Hit Points.
When you get shot in the leg, all damage is taken against Total Hit Points but the same amount of Damage is taken to the location to determine effects. If you go to -2 Total Hip Points the character dies.
Total Damage = to or > Locational Hit Points
Leg – leg useless, lose remaining actions, fight from ground, 20% in melee
Abdomen – legs useless, lose remaining actions, may use First Aid, fight from ground, 20% in melee, ConX5 or bleed each round, ConX1 stops bleeding and be Heroic
Chest – too hurt to fight, may crawl, may use First Aid, ConX5 or bleed each round, ConX1 stops bleeding and be Heroic
Arms – arm useless, drop anything held
Head – unconscious, ConX5 or bleed each round, ConX1 stops bleeding and be Heroic
Total Damage = > twice the Locational Hit Points
Limb – maimed or severed (x2 HP in one strike), First Aid within 10 melee rounds to save the limb, may use First Aid, automatically bleeds unless ConX1 to be Heroic
Head/Chest/Abdomen - unconscious, bleeding 1HP/round
Knockback/Knockdown
If the Damage from a single attack is greater than Siz, the victim of the attack must make a Dex x5 or fall to the ground.
Surprise (Sneak/Hide vs Spot Hidden or Listen, Persuade vs Psychology)
In order to avoid being surprised by an attack from nowhere the character must succeed at an Int x1 roll.
Watching for a surprise attack is a Spot Hidden or Listen Roll whichever is higher. Not actively watching for an ambush is a Spot Hidden or Listen roll at a penalty based on the activity being conducted (walking, talking, running etc). This roll is opposed by the ambushing characters Sneak and Hide rolls (a single roll compared against both skills).
If a character is planning a spontaneous attack against an unsuspecting character the character who is conducting the attack makes a Persuade roll. The target of the attack rolls a Psychology in opposition
Movement Rules (3 seconds is 1 Combat Round - CR)
Walk (08 yards) -10% to hit with firearms
Charge (16 yards) +10% to hit in melee, +10% to be hit by firearms
Run (24 yards) -20% to be hit by firearms
Cover and Armor
Basically, fire from cover. Its what they do in the real world so you should too. Bullets cannot be dodged so all will hit, unless a character has cover. Any cover between the attacker and the target counts as Armor Points (AP) against the damage. The amount of armor points are subtracted from the damage before being applied to the target.
A hardwood door is 5 AP.
A concrete wall is 9 AP.
A Large Sand Bag is 20 AP.
A Leather Jacket is 1 AP.
RPOL Combat Rolls in the Dice Roller
RPOL has a few intricacies which require special effort on all our part regarding combat rounds. In any given combat round roll all necessary rolls (attacks, parries, dodges, damage, etc) which could come into play in a round. I will sequence them according to Dex order when I provide a narration of the combat round.
If you are going to fire five times then roll five attack rolls. In the description on the dice roller identify the target of the attack, i.e. "Skinny White Guy", "nearest enemy target", "guy attacking James", "James" etc. If it is the same target use the multiple dice roll option. Also include the chance of success.
When you make your rolls just identify the target of the attack, the weapon, and the % chance for attack rolls.
Firing a shotgun should look like this
- "target", shotgun, 68%
Damage should look like this.
- target, chest (etc)
Just copy and paste your rolls into the in-character post for your action round. Do not alter them or try and make it easier to understand.
Consolidated Rolls
4 Attack Rolls
- target, shotgun (68%) (rolling 4 d100)
2 Damage Rolls
- will be applied in the order of successful hits (roll 8d6 – because a 12 gauge causes 4d6 damage)
Paste the entire sequence of rolls into the IC thread and PL it to the GMs in your in-character post for the combat round.
Melee Combat
All characters in melee will have an attack, damage, a dodge and a possible parry. So in melee combat, roll all four every round. Roll Dodge and Parry in the order of preference. Usually the higher first but if you want to dodge a particular attacker then say so in the roller.
Hand to Hand Damage Bonus
Dodges and Parries
Melee attacks can be dodged and parried but they usually are not unless it is a career criminal or a professional fighter. So don’t get shot and don’t try and fight a career criminal or a professional fighter in hand to hand combat, or knife wielding cultists.
Once you have rolled all the necessary rolls copy them from the roller (don’t reorder them) and paste them into the post describing your actions. Then PL this to the GM in your post. What I do is copy these all back out with the description into a working sheet so I can reorder them into the narrated round.
A successful parry, parries an amount of damage up to the weapons HPs. A Critical Success with a parry, parries all damage.
Subduing
Subduing or knocking a character out requires and Aimed Blow to Head. Rolled Damage is doubled because it’s a hit to the head. Damage is then compared to HP in the Head on resistance table. Each round after being knocked out is a Con X1 to awaken
Head Hits - All head hits are double damage.
Grapple Tests
Use Grapple Skill or Strength vs Strength to break free (whichever is greater)
Resistance Table
HEALING, FIRST AID and MEDICINE
Stopping Blood Loss
Stopping bleeding takes one round and a successful First Aid or Medicine roll. It heals no HPs.
Medicine and First Aid
First Aid and Medicine are used to actually recover wounds. It takes takes 5 minutes (30 combat rounds). A First Aid or Medicine roll immediately restores a d3 HP to an injured location. A First Aid or Medicine roll my only be attempted once on any injured body part.
Long Term Care
All characters heal naturally a d3 HP per week. A Medicine roll will add 2d3 HP healed in the same week. Thus a character could heal 3d3 HP a week with a successful Medicine roll.
MELEE WEAPONS
[ ] Fencing Foil, sharpened (20%) XX%/xx% d6+1 10
[ ] Sword Cane (20%) XX%/xx% d6 10
[ ] Rapier/Heavy Epee (10%) XX%/xx% d6+1 15
[ ] Cavalier Sabre (15%) XX%/xx% d8 20
[ ] Wood Axe (20%) XX%/xx% d8+2 15
[ ] Hatchet/Sickle (20%) XX%/xx% d6+1 12
[ ] Fighting Knife/Dirk (25%) XX%/xx% d4+2 15
[ ] Butcher Knife (25%) XX%/xx% d6 12
[ ] Small Knife/Switchblade (25%) XX%/xx% d4 9
[ ] Blackjack (40%) XX%/xx% d8 10
[ ] Large Club / Poker (25%) XX%/xx% d8 20
[ ] Small Club / Nightstick (25%) XX%/xx% d6 15
[ ] Thrown Rock (Throw%) XX% d4 -
[ ] Thrown Spear (Throw%) XX% d8+1 15
[ ] Torch (10+%) XX%/xx% d6 15
FIREARMS TABLES
Pistols
[ ] .22 short (20%) XX% d6 00 10yds 2 6
[ ] .22 long (20%) XX% d6 00 15yds 2 6
[ ] .22 long rifle (20%) XX% d6 00 20yds 2 6
[ ] .25 auto (20%) XX% d6 00 15yds 2 6
[ ] .30 mauser (20%) XX% d10 99 25yds 2 10
[ ] .32 auto (20%) XX% d8 99 15yds 3 8
[ ] .32 revolver (20%) XX% d8 00 15yds 3 6
[ ] .38 auto (20%) XX% d8 99 15yds 3 6
[ ] .38 special (20%) XX% d10 00 15yds 3 6
[ ] .45 auto (20%) XX% 1D10+2 00 15 yds 4 7
[ ] .45 revolver (20%) XX% 1D10+2 00 15 yds 4 6
[ ] 9mm parabellum (20%) XX% 1D10 99 20 yds 3 7
Rifles
[ ] .22 (25%) XX% d6 99 40yds 2 15
[ ] .303 enfield (25%) XX% 2d6+3 00 110 yds 3 5
[ ] .30-30 winchester (25%) XX% 2d6+3 00 90 yds 3 6
[ ] .30-06 springfield (25%) XX% 2d6+3 00 110 yds 3 5
[ ] .44-40 (25%) XX% 2d6+1 99 50 yds 3 11
[ ] .375 H&H (25%) XX% 2d8+3 00 100 yds 3 3
Shotguns
[ ] .410 gauge (25%) XX% d10 00 20 yds 3 1 or 2
[ ] .410 gauge, pump (30%) XX% d10 00 20 yds 4 5 (half damage at 20)
[ ] 20-gauge (25%) XX% 2d6 00 20 yds 3 1 or 2
[ ] 20-gauge, pump (30%) XX% 2d6 00 20 yds 4 5 (half damage at 20)
[ ] 16-gauge (25%) XX% 2d6+2 00 20 yds 3 1 or 2
[ ] 16-gauge, pump (30%) XX% 2d6+2 00 20 yds 4 5 (half damage at 20)
[ ] 12-gauge (25%) XX% 4d6 00 30 yds 4 1 or 2
[ ] 12-gauge, pump (30%) XX% 4d6 00 30 yds 5 5 (half damage at 20)
[ ] 10-gauge (25%) XX% d10+7 00 30 yds 6 5
Submachinegun
[ ] Thompson SMG (25%) XX% d10+2 99 15 yds 1 20 or 100
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:54, Sat 26 Aug 2017.
