Combat

The first thing to keep in mind, and the most difficult is that combat in game time is significantly faster than how it plays out. Each combat is broken up into a series of turns, called Rounds. Regardless of the number of combatants, a round lasts for 6 seconds, the amount of time it takes to strike once with a sword. This means that everyone participating in combat is effectively acting at the same time, with only minor delays. For instance if four characters are engaged in battle, each paired off, then both pairs are fighting simultaneously. However within the pair, one character attacks, and the other reacts. Thus there is a minor delay.

With the exception of a sneak attack, every combat sequence starts with an initiative roll. The initiative roll is performed by each character involved in the combat and is used to track the order of play. The character with the highest initiative goes first, the next highest, second, etc... The initiative roll is 2d10(percentile die) + Reaction. In the event of a tie, the characters who rolled the tie will roll again until it can be established which order those characters will take their turns.

After turn order is established, then it's time to enter a combat round, a period of 6 seconds in which everybody performs their actions at effectively the same time. Turn order is more about keeping the game play organized so everyone can follow along, especially the GM.

Actions
In one round, a character can perform one action. An action is loosely defined as anything a character can do during combat. This includes things like Attacking, Casting Magic, Running, Getting up from Prone, Picking up a Weapon that has been dropped (There is an exception to this, see Free Actions.), changing weapons, climbing, and any number of other things that reasonably can be expected to fit into the 6 second time frame of a round. This list is not exhaustive, and it is the GM's right to determine that something does or does not count as an Action.

Reactions
In real life, if something is done to you, you react to it. The same is true of your character. There are many kinds of reactions that have no actual bearing on the combat, such as flinching or yelling profane expletives, and so they are not listed on the character sheet or within these rules. On the note of yelling at the opponent though, keep in mind that 6 second goes by very fast, there's not a lot of time in game to speak in a round. So really, characters cannot discuss plans and tactics while they are under attack, unless they are protected somehow. The GM can, and should, take the opportunity to attack characters that begin strategizing, conversing, or monologuing.

A Reaction is an Action that a character can take only when another characters Action has been used against them. A good example is a parry. Note that a characters typical attempt to dodge an attack, is actually a reaction. That means that if you choose to use your reaction, then you are choosing not to dodge the oncoming attack. Like an Action, you can only do it once per round.

Free Actions
A Free Action is typically something that is so well it so frequently done that it can be done without really thinking about it. Like chewing gum and walking at the same time. In Infinite Infinities, it is recognized that some things are automatic and don't really take time, such as readying a weapon. If your character has been disarmed and the weapon lies on the ground, the character would have to bend down to retrieve the weapon. This would be considered an action. However, if the character is lying prone within reach of a weapon, then that character could retrieve the weapon as a Free Action. Again, the GM has the right to determine whether something is automatic enough to be considered a Free Action, or whether it's not.

Attack and Defense
The most common Action to take in combat is to Attack. The most common Reaction is to Evade. In many ways these two are two sides of the same coin.￼ A typical Attack involves using a weapon to hit another character. Each weapon has its own accuracy, known as the Chance To Hit or CTH. This CTH is increased by any training/experience the character has with that weapon, and any other modifiers which may come from skills, abilities or racial bonuses. The resulting CTH (after modifiers) is considered the Difficulty Target that the Opposing Character will use for their reaction. This means that when evading an Attack, the character would roll a percentile die (1d100) and add their Reaction (RCT) and any other modifiers. If the result is higher than the Attackers CTH, then the attack was successfully evaded. It is recommended to add your total modifiers together when you obtain your attack so it is not necessary to do the same math repeatedly during combat. There is a space provided on the character sheet for this purpose.

If an evasion is unsuccessful, then the opponent is struck by the attack. At this time the attacker must roll the damage dice associated to their attack, and add any modifiers. A typical modifier to use is the Attack(ATK) statistic. This is used predominantly for a melee (ie not ranged) attack, though there could certainly be exceptions. Damage dice will usually be something like 2d4, or 2d8, or even 1d8 + 8. In the case of the "+8" it is considered part of the damage dice, it is not a modifier. That means that your damage roll might be 1d8 + 8 + ATK. Again, it is smart to have as much of this math done beforehand so you do not need to do it repeatedly.

So, now the attacker has successfully attacked, and performed a damage roll. What happens to the opponent? Well, naturally they've been hit. But... Most adventurers wear armour or have some other manner of defense. This is listed under the Defenses section of the character sheet, and it's added to the Defense (DEF) statistic. (Once again, it is suggested to total all of this before playing.) So the total amount of damage dealt must have the total amount of defense subtracted from it. The end result is the amount of damage done to the opponent, which is then subtracted from the opponent's HP.￼ For example, if a character has been attacked for 6 damage, but has a total defense of 4, then 2 would be subtracted from the HP.

Death
There is a necessary conversation to be had about death, however uncomfortable it may be. The sad truth is that when a characters HP are reduced to 0 they are dead. It is a sad and frustrating thing, but it does happen. If your GM allows resurrection of some type, then you may still have hope.

Unconscious
Probably the most common cause of unconsciousness is taking 1/4 HP damage in one strike. However there are other causes, such as a reward for a critical strike, or consequence of a critical failure. An unconsciouss character cannot do anything, they cannot attack, and they cannot evade. If another character chooses to deliver a fatal blow at this time, then there is nothing to prevent them from doing so, and the unconscious character would then be dead. Once at the beginning of a player's turn they can perform a check to see if they regain consciousness. Unless the cause of unconsciousness specifies otherwise, the DT for this roll would be 50. There is no change to HP total upon successfully regaining consciousness. Typical causes of unconsciousness include taking 1/4 HP damage in one strike.

Poison
Sometimes an attack will cause a character to become poisoned. As with all status effects, if an attack is successful, even if the armor absorbed all the damage, the effect is still active. Also, unless specified the DT to roll against at the beginning of the characters turn is 50. For each round after being infected, unless otherwise specified, the character takes 1 point of damage. If a characters HP fall to 0, then the character dies.

￼Prone
When a character is prone, they are physically lying on the ground. It is difficult to manoeuvre from this position, but it does require an action to stand up from a prone position. While prone, a character is still able to attack and evade, but they are at a disadvantage. This means that any total CTH for an attack is halved(rounding down). The same is true for any evasion, the total evasion would be halved (rounding down).

Critical Rolls
A critical roll represents the exceptional, and occurs when a player rolls a double (ie 55, 66, 77, etc) on the percentile die (2d10). This may be exceptionally good, or exceptionally bad. For the GM this is a great opportunity to indulge in a more cinematic approach. For the player, this should truly be a "Wow!" moment or a truly "Uh-oh!" moment. The effects of a Critical Roll can be extremely varied, ranging from "the weapon flew from your hands unexpectedly and impaled a colleague," to "as you stare down the dragon, it suddenly lowers it's head as a giant puddle appears between it's legs. Ashamed, it flies away." These are extreme examples, and it is certainly not suggested that you use these extremes every time. As a GM, you want to keep your players engaged, use this as an opportunity to do so. As a default, it is recommended that on a Critical Failure, for an attack, the character misses their attack and inadvertently drops their weapon. They are now disarmed and must take a round to retrieve their weapon, if they so choose. For a Critical Success, for an attack, a good default is that the character strikes the enemy, and that enemy is knocked to the ground. They are now prone, and must use a round to stand back up, if they so choose. Commonly, damage is dealt at maximum for a Critical Strike, while a Critical Miss deals no damage to the intended target. It should also be noted that a Critical Strike is an excellent opportunity to knock the opponent unconscious. What happens in regards to a Critical Roll, is entirely up to the discretion of the GM. But for the GM's sake, and the player's, make it entertaining, and thrilling.

For GM's interested in doing more than the default listed above, the following guideline, called Degrees, is the recommended method of determining how extreme a result should be. For every ten points above the DT, count a Degree of Success. The same applies to failure, for every ten points below the DT count a Degree of Failure. The maximum number of Degrees is considered to be 9. The closer to 9 the Degree is, the more extreme the result. This means that if the DT is 90, and the player rolls a 99, then there are zero Degrees of Success, so there's not so much embellishment. If, however, the player rolls an 11, that is 8 Degrees of Failure. This would then be very, very, very bad.

There are opportunities for Critical Rolls outside of combat as well, most commonly on skill checks. They are treated similarly. These Critical Rolls however, are covered elsewhere in the rules.

Real Life Trivia

 * The world record for most consecutive full impact punches in one minute is 901. Which works out to be 90 punches in 6 seconds.
 * The world record for most consecutive side kicks in one minute is 187. This works out to be 18 in six seconds.
 * The world record for most consecutive targets cut with a sword is 1181 in one hour and 25 minutes. that's just over one every six seconds.
 * The world record for the most consecutive arrows shot into a target in five hours is 985 arrows. That's just over 3 arrows a minute or 1 every 20 seconds.

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