a Advantage s Success t Triumph Ability Proficiency Boost

h Threat f Failure d Despair Difficulty Challenge Setback

Combat Overview Combat Checks

1. Determine Initiative – If the character is aware and ready for 1. Declare an attack and select targets – Select what skill to use, and if applicable, the weapon to use.
combat, use Cool. Otherwise, use Vigilance. Rank results of 2. Assemble the dice pool – Based on the skill, its characteristic, and any applicable talents or abilities.
each check in order from the most s to the lowest (with a as Other situational, conditional, or environmental modifiers may apply, in addition to any defensive
a tie breaker). talents or abilities the target has, including melee or ranged defense. The base difficulty of melee
2. Assign Initiative Slots for NPCs and PCs attacks is always Average ( ).
3. Take turns – The players and GM fill each Initiative slot one 3. Pool results and deal damage – Each uncancelled s adds +1 damage to the attack. t count as
at a time with a character turn. If it is a PC slot, the players successes.
agree on one character, who has not yet acted this turn, to fill 4. Resolve a and t – The player controlling the active character determines how to spend them.
the slot. Each character may perform one action and one 5. Resolve h and d – The GM determines how to spend them generally, but in some cases (such as
maneuver, as well as various incidentals (dropping an item, checks made by NPCs), they may give the players the option to spend these instead.
speaking to another character, peeking around a corner, etc.) 6. Reduce damage, apply to wound threshold, and apply critical injuries

Actions Ranged Attack Difficulties

Type Effect Range Band Difficulty
Exchange an Action for a Exchange the character’s action for an additional maneuver during their turn, but still may Engaged
Maneuver not perform more than two maneuvers per turn. - with Ranged (Light) Add
Spend an Action to Activate - with Ranged (Heavy) Add
Certain abilities or talents require an action to activate.
an Ability
Cannot make
Perform a skill check within structured time. The GM may determine that certain checks - with Gunnery
Perform a Skill Check Gunnery check
require multiple actions or cannot be performed while the encounter continues.
Short
Perform a Combat Check Use a combat skill to attack a target.
Medium
Long
Maneuvers Extreme
Type Effect
Add to the next combat check, or if two consecutive maneuvers are spent aiming without moving. Movement
Aim Target a specific part of a target or item carried and add to the next check, or if two consecutive Range Band Maneuver Cost
maneuvers are spent aiming without moving.
Engaged 1 to Short (or disengage)
Assist Add to an engaged ally’s next check. Must be used on the assisted character’s next turn or be discarded. Short 1 to Engaged / Medium
Guarded Add to any combat checks the character makes until the end of their next turn but gain +1 melee Medium 1 to Short / 2 to Long
Stance defense until the end of their next turn.
Extreme 2 to Long
Interact with
Moving a large item, opening or closing a door, or taking cover to gain ranged defense (as some examples).
Environment
Story Points
Manage Gear Draw, holster, ready, or load a weapon or item, or put it away.
• Upgrade the ability of the character’s
Mount or Mount a vehicle or gunnery station, or a domesticated creature (requires a successful Average ( )
starting dice pool once.
Dismount Survival check).
• Upgrade the difficulty of any opponent
Move Change a range band increment, engage or disengage with an opponent, or move within Short range. NPC’s skill check once.
Drop Prone • Spend to activate some talents & abilities.
Dropping prone allows a character to add to all ranged attacks made against them, but all melee attacks
or Stand from • Introduce a “fact” or additional context
made against them add instead.
Prone into the narrative.
Preparation Some actions require additional preparation to be used. • The active player always decides first
Psykers Only. Powers requiring concentration last until the end of the character’s next turn. If the whether to use a Story Point. Once they
Concentrate maneuver is performed during that next turn, the power’s effects last until the end of the character’s have decided, the other party involved has
following turn instead. the chance to spend one as well. The active
Rebuke Psykers Only. All opponents within medium range upgrade the difficulty of checks to manifest psychic player cannot change their mind after the
(Counterspell) powers once, until the end of the character’s next turn. opponent decides to spend one.

Situational & Conditional Combat Modifiers

Type Effect
Ranged Attack Upgrade the difficulty of the check once if an ally is engaged with the target. If the attack succeeds but generates d, that d is automatically spent to make
into Engaged. the attack hit one of the individuals engaged with the target, instead of the target.
Ranged Attack An opponent engaged with a character when the character makes a ranged attack (regardless of target) adds to their next Brawl or Melee check against
while Engaged that character as long as they remain engaged.
Prone Attacker A prone character suffers when making a melee attack.
Prone Target A character attacking a prone target with a ranged attack suffers , but gains when attacking a prone target with a melee attack.
Make a combined check using the difficulty of whichever weapon the character has fewer ranks in, and the characteristic that they have fewer ranks in,
using those to assemble the dice pool. Then compare the difficulty of the combat checks they would make with each weapon and select the one with the
Two-Weapon
higher difficulty. Finally, increase the difficulty of the check by one. On success, hit with the primary weapon. May spend aa or t to hit with the
Combat
secondary weapon as well. If both weapons hit, may spend additional a or t to activate item qualities from either weapon. Each hit deals base damage
plus one damage per uncancelled s.
Unarmed Generally uses the base damage of the attacker’s Brawn rating, a range of Engaged, a Critical Rating of 5, and the Knockdown quality. May choose to deal
Combat strain damage instead of wounds, still reduced by the target’s soak.
Size When attacking an opponent with a silhouette that is two larger than the character, decrease the difficulty by one. When attacking an opponent with a
Differences silhouette that is two or more points smaller, increase the difficulty of the check by one.
Environmental Combat Modifiers
Type Effect
Add a number of to ranged combat and Perception checks against a target in concealment, and to Stealth checks while in concealment, or other
Concealment
checks if appropriate.
Cover A character with cover increases their ranged defense by 1 (or more, at GM discretion).
Difficult Terrain Requires twice as many maneuvers as normal to move through.
Impassable At GM discretion, the character may move through the terrain by spending an action, and possibly maneuvers as well, to succeed on a specific skill
Terrain check (usually Athletics or Coordination).
Add up to to any Brawn and Coordination based skill checks (except Resilience) in heavy gravity, or up to to in low gravity. Zero gravity
Gravity
does not add any or , but counts as moving through difficult terrain, and does not change item encumbrance or encumbrance threshold.
Water Counts as difficult or impassable terrain at GM discretion.
Suffer 3 wounds at the beginning of each turn while exposed without protective gear. If wound threshold is exceeded, become incapacitated and suffer a
Vacuum Critical Injury, plus one additional Critical Injury for each additional round in which they exposed to vacuum (in addition to any Critical Injuries
suffered due to suffocation).
Dangerous Suffer a number of wounds at the start of each turn equal to the atmosphere’s rating. May be able to hold breath to avoid exposure at GM’s discretion.
Atmosphere May be able to stop the damage caused by a fire by making an Average ( ) Coordination check on hard surfaces or Easy ( ) check on soft ground.
A character can hold their breath for a number of rounds equal to their Brawn rating before suffocating. Suffer 3 strain at the beginning of each turn. If
Suffocation
strain threshold is exceeded, become incapacitated and suffer a Critical Injury. This continues until the character stops suffocating or dies.
Damage is reduced by soak; however, the strain is not. May reduce damage from falling by making an Average ( ) Athletics or Coordination check.
Falling
Each s reduces damage by 1, while each a reduces strain suffered by 1. A t may, at GM discretion, reduce the distance fallen by one range band.

Spending a, t, h, and d in Combat Concealment

Cost Result Options Dice Added Examples
• Recover 1 strain +1 Mist, shadows, waist-high grass
• Add to the next allied character’s check Fog, darkness of early morning or late evening, thick,
+2
a or • Notice a single important point in the ongoing conflict, such as the location of a shoulder-high grass
t door’s control panel or a weak point on an armored car. Heavy fog, thick and choking smoke, the darkness of
• Inflict a Critical Injury with a successful attack that deals damage past soak (a +3
night, head-high underbrush, thick grass
cost may vary).
• Perform an immediate free maneuver that does not exceed the limit of two
Falling Damage
aa maneuvers per turn.
or t • Add to the targeted character’s next check. Range Damage Strain
• Add to any allied character’s next check, including that of the active character. Short 10 10
• Negate the targeted enemy’s defense until the end of the current round. Medium 30 20
• Ignore penalizing environmental effects until the end of the active character’s Long Wound threshold + 1, Critical Injury + 50 30
next turn. Wound threshold + 1, Critical Injury +75 (or
Extreme 40
• When dealing damage to a target, have the attack disable the opponent or one death, at GM discretion).
aaa
piece of equipment rather than dealing wounds or strain. This should be agreed
or t
upon by the player and GM, and the effects are up to the GM, but should be Medicae Check Difficulty
temporary and not too excessive.
Health State Difficulty
• Gain +1 melee or ranged defense until the end of the active character’s next turn.
• Force the target to drop a single weapon they are wielding. Wounds ≤ ½ Threshold Easy ( )
• Upgrade the difficulty of the targeted character’s next check. Wounds > ½ Threshold Average ( )
• Upgrade the ability of any allied character’s next check, including that of the Wounds > Threshold Hard ( )
current active character. Critical Injury Critical Injury severity rating
t • Do something vital, such as shooting the controls to the nearby blast doors to Lacking medical equipment Add
seal them shut.
Attempt to heal self Add
• On an Initiative check, perform an immediate free maneuver before combat
begins.
• When dealing damage to a target, have the attack destroy a piece of equipment Status Effects
tt the target is using. Staggered: cannot perform actions (including downgrading actions to
• The active character suffers 1 strain. maneuvers), but may still perform one maneuver per turn.
h or Immobilized: Cannot perform maneuvers (including maneuvers
• The active character loses the benefits of a prior maneuver until they perform
d the maneuver again. purchased via strain or spending a), but may still perform actions.
• An opponent may immediately perform one free maneuver as an incidental in Disoriented: Add to all checks. If disoriented multiple times, increase
hh response to the active character’s check. the duration of the effect.
or d • Add to the targeted character’s next check.
• The active character or an allied character suffers on their next action. Healing & Recovery
• The active character falls prone. Natural Rest: Recover 1 wound per night of full rest.
hhh • The active character grants the enemy a significant advantage in the ongoing
Medical Care: Target heals a number of wounds equal to s generated on
or d encounter, such as accidentally blasting the controls to a bridge the active
the check, and strain equal to a generated.
character was planning to use for their escape.
Strain: Make a Simple (-) Discipline or Cool check at the end of each
• The character’s weapon immediately runs out of ammunition and may not be encounter. Each s recovers 1 strain. A good night’s rest generally removes
used for the remainder of the encounter. all strain suffered.
d • Upgrade the difficulty of an allied character’s next check or the next check of the
Critical Injuries: May attempt Medicae check once per week to remove the
current active character.
Critical Injury. Alternatively, after a full week of rest, may make a
• The tool or weapon the active character is using becomes damaged. Resilience check with difficulty equal to the injury’s severity to remove the
injury. If unsuccessful, still heal 1 wound. A t result allows the character
to heal one additional Critical Injury.