The largest unit of structured time is called an encounter. An Encounter represents an entire sequence of dramatic events that make up a unified “block” of structured time that may be contained within sections of narrative time, or followed up by another encounter. Encounters focused on a particular combat scene are known as Combat Encounters.
Encounters are broken down into Rounds: periods of time in which characters take actions, representing roughly six seconds of “real” time. During a round the GM counts down from highest to lowest initiative, giving each character a Turn to act when their initiative step is reached, until every character has had a Turn. During a Turn, the active character spends at least 1 AP to perform an Action and resolves its effects. Sometimes the rules will refer to initiative “steps,” which simply refer to individual initiative values in the order.
Effect Durations
Effect Durations
Effect durations are measured in Rounds and end immediately after the initiative step on which they took effect. For example, if an Orc is Stunned for 2 rounds on their Turn, they remain stunned until right after the end of their Turn 2 rounds later (assuming their Turn takes place at the same initiative “step” as it did originally).
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Combat Overview
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Primary Actions
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Secondary Actions
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Reactions
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Free Actions
Free actions can be performed at any time during the combat round and cost no Action Points. They include things like talking, signaling, observing one’s surroundings, dropping items, and so forth. Use common sense when deciding what is a Free Action.
Special Actions
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Attacking & Defending
Combat is resolved as an exchange of blows between two characters. This exchange is simulated by the Combat Roll, in which a pair of attack and defense tests are compared.
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Unusual Combat Scenarios
There are several odd combat scenarios characters may find themselves in.
Climbing
Climbing
A climbing character has all of their combat skill tests limited by their Athletics Skill Ranks. Characters are limited to fighting with a single limb, unless they have extras.
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Slippery Surfaces
Slippery Surfaces
A character fighting on slippery or wobbling surfaces has all combat tests limited by their Acrobatics skill (if they have a higher Combat Style rank, they treat it as their Acrobatics rank instead). If the character fails a combat roll in these circumstances, they must pass an Acrobatics test or fall Prone.
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Swimming
Swimming
A swimming character has their combat tests limited by their Athletics skill (if they have a higher Combat Style rank, they treat it as their Athletics rank instead). Attacks deal half damage.
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Holding your Breath
Holding your Breath
A character can hold their breath for 12 seconds (2 rounds in combat) per Endurance Bonus they have. This duration is doubled if the character does nothing but hold their breath (no action or movement allowed). For every round beyond the character’s Endurance Bonus holding their breath, the character gains a temporary level of fatigue until they die or regain access to fresh air, after which the temporary fatigue is removed at a rate of 1 per round.
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Swinging or Jumping
Swinging or Jumping
A character swinging or jumping into (or out of ) combat has their combat tests limited by their Acrobatics skill (if they have a higher Combat Style rank, they treat it as their Acrobatics rank instead). If the character fails a combat roll they must pass an Acrobatics test or fall Prone and suffer appropriate fall damage.
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Melee Combat
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Ranged Combat
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Combat Example
Combat Example
This page contains an example of a short combat exchange using the rules discussed thus far: The Scene Deep in a frozen cave in the northern reaches of Skyrim, a lone hero squares off against a mighty troll. The hero is lightly armored, wielding only a simple broadsword and shield. Round 1 Both characters roll initiative. The troll rolls an 8, and the hero rolls a 12. Both characters have 3 maximum Action Points.
The hero has the first Turn, and moves forward a few meters so that they are within their two meter melee range (determined by their Broadsword’s reach attribute) of the troll. They decide to take the attack action (1 AP), against which the Troll reacts by Counter-Attacking (1 AP). The hero rolls a Combat Style [Nord Champion] test with a +30 bonus (for a TN of 75) due to their rank in the skill. The troll also rolls their own attack test.
The hero passes with 4 Degrees of Success (roll of 43), and the troll passes with 2 degrees of success (roll of 26). No Advantage is gained, but the hero is able to land a hit as the two exchange blows (due to rolling higher DoS). They resolve the effects of the hit against the troll’s body (due to the 3 in their roll) and rolls damage. The troll takes a total of 8 damage from the strike.
At this point one character has attacked, and the other reacted, so both characters have spent 1 AP. It is still the Hero’s Turn. The hero decides to press the attack, and makes another attack, this time they go all out (2 AP for an All Out Attack (Primary Action), giving them a +20 bonus to their attack) and the troll attempts a Counter-Attack (1 AP). The hero makes a mistake and opens themself up, failing their attack test while the troll still manages to roll 6 degrees of success (roll of 61) on their attack test. Because the hero failed while the troll succeeded, the troll not only lands a blow but gains an advantage. The troll utilizes this advantage to knock the hero to the ground, taking the Trip Special Action and auto-winning the opposed roll to render the hero Prone (this costs 1 AP). They then resolve the damage from the hit, and the hero takes 9 damage from the blow.
At this point the hero is prone, is out of AP, and their opponent is also out of AP. The round ends, and a new round begins…
Round 2 The hero takes the first Turn, having higher initiative. They use half of their total Speed in movement in order to stand up, and the troll takes advantage of this opening to make an Attack of Opportunity (Reaction) (1 AP). The hero is injured, and so opts to play defensively, raising their shield in an attempt to Block (Reaction) the attack (1 AP). The troll passes their attack test with 4 degrees of success, and the hero passes their defense test with only 3, but this is still enough for them to interpose their shield between their body and the blow. The troll rolls damage, and the 8 damage is not enough to overcome the BR of the hero’s shield, so the blow slides off harmlessly…
The hero, now standing, presses the attack…
Running Smooth Combat Encounters
This page provides some visual examples to help players understand how they might utilize battle grids and other tools to make combat run as smoothly as possible.
Using a Grid
The creators of the UESRPG highly recommend the use of a battle map or grid when running combat encounters. A grid helps players to understand their own situation, assists the GM in keeping track of the big picture, and makes understanding the consequences of combat ranges much easier. The easiest way to use the UESRPG with a grid is to assume that each grid square represents a square meter. Two characters cannot share the same grid square, though characters can be allowed to pass through another character’s square if both parties are willing. The system also functions just fine on a hex grid. If you are using an online grid or map system that supports auras (as displayed in the example pictures) then using auras can be a good way to help players visualize their weapon ranges.
Tracking Initiative & AP
One of the trickiest parts of running combat can be tracking how much AP a given character has remaining for the round. We advise GMs track this by simply tallying next to each character (PCs and NPCs) name on an initiative ordered list/table each time that character takes an action or reaction. This allows the GM to easily see who can still react and who has AP left with which to take a Turn.
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