Combat rules are perhaps the most detailed category of rules in Legends, given the centrality of combat in the adventuring lifestyle. Combat rules are heavily impacted by the Studies of Close Combat and Marksmanship, as well as many elements of the other Studies.

    Because combat rules include the most detail and the tightest simulation of physical events, they may be used for high-danger contexts even if literal combat is not occurring - for example, escaping a collapse or a fire hazard.

Rounds & Turns    Combat is divided into rounds, each of which represents around 5 seconds of actual combat time. A round consists of a movement phase during which characters and groups decide their movement, and an action phase in which all characters get one turn to take actions. Both phases and each character’s turns are considered to be happening in the same 5-second round; combat is a chaotic flurry of simultaneous activity, even though in terms of game mechanics the characters all take their turns sequentially.

    If an action specifies something that takes place over a certain number of rounds, that countdown starts from the acting character’s turn during the action phase, and ticks down when it reaches the same place in turn order next round. For example, if a character activates an Ability with a duration of one round, it is effective during their current turn, during all subsequent characters’ turns and the next movement phase, and ends right before the character's next turn in the action phase. If the character activates an Ability with a duration of 3 turns, it is effective this turn, through their next two turns, and stops immediately before their fourth turn begins. Some effects may have a more specific duration rule that refers to the beginning or end of a certain character's turn. If a duration begins during the movement phase, that countdown starts from the current movement phase, and ticks down at the beginning of every movement phase.

    In various Legends rules, some durations might be given in both seconds and rounds; this reflects that combat rules are not used at all times. For example, it is not necessary to bring out the round-by-round combat rules during a tense conversation with some bandits that haven't yet attacked - only once hostilities will certainly begin in the next 5 seconds. Likewise, your character may not get to go first just because you were the first player to say "I attack them" - once hostilities are obvious, combat rules must be followed, including those for turn order.

Changing Turn Order    Although it is frequently beneficial to act earlier, characters may wish to lower their position in turn order - sometimes for the sake of having adjacent turns for certain Abilities, and sometimes because it's simply a better strategy to have certain characters go before others. Immediately after the turn order list is made, all characters get a chance to voluntarily move downward in the list. This decision begins with the second-to-last character (since the last character cannot move down any further), and proceeds up the list; this is to give the topmost characters the best chance to react to other turn order decisions. Other than having a later turn every round, there is no penalty for choosing to move downward in the list in this beginning decision. The decision to do so is made out-of-character, and does not require allies to communicate with each other or even be aware that combat is beginning in-character; rather, such reordering reflects how the characters are trained or inclined to react to danger together.

    Once combat has begun, changing one's position in turn order is much more difficult, as it reflects a disruptive change in group tactics. After the initial decisions about turn order, a character can only change their position in the list by completely forfeiting their turn when it arrives in the action phase. Upon doing so, they may move to another point in the list (whether higher or lower) at the beginning of the next round. If multiple characters do this, those who were previously earlier in turn order decide last, in order to allow them to possibly react to the other characters' changes. No character may change their turn order in this way during the first round of combat. These characters do not lose their movement phase. Certain Party Dynamics alter these rules to ease the process.

    Regardless of whether a change in turn order is done immediately after the turn order rolls or later in combat, it cannot be used to interrupt adjacent enemy turns. For example, you can move to the beginning or end of the list, or move adjacent to an ally's position in the list, but you cannot move in between the adjacent turns of two enemies.

    Changing one's position in turn order does not change the duration of any effects - for example, if you have an active Ability that would ordinarily continue until right before or after your next turn, but you change your position in turn order, the Ability will end at the position in turn order you originally occupied.

Crowded Zones    Most zones can reasonably hold 20 characters without extra effects from becoming cramped. Some zone features might change this number. Very large creatures count as 1 additional character for this rule for every 50 AWGT, and very small creatures count as 1/2 a character if their WGT is 3 or less. Paralyzed, dead, incapacitated, or mounted characters do not count at all (though their mounts do). If the threshold of 20 characters is exceeded, that zone is considered crowded; all the characters must add 1 Hindrance to any roll on DEX or SPD, except for movement rolls to leave the zone into an uncrowded one. Melee weapons with the Reach tag cannot make competent attacks. If the number of characters in a single zone exceeds double its normal crowded threshold (that is, above 40 for most zones), the Hindrance is raised to 3. Shield Walls (Close Combat) removes some of these drawbacks, potentially making crowded zones a positive for certain parties.

    The zone cannot exceed triple its threshold (normally 60) for the purposes of combat. If characters move into a zone and cause it to exceed this limit, each side must immediately "bump" up to 1/2 of its characters into a neighboring zone; they may freely choose who is bumped.

Ranges    Movement, ranged weapons, and some Abilities refer to range:

    -Short range describes distances 1 zone away, or within the same zone. At this range, the movement of a target and the chaos of battle is a much greater challenge than steady aiming. Nearly all indoor distances (except in spacious Alacrian ruins) are considered short range.

    -Medium range describes distances 2 zones away. At this distance, aiming becomes more challenging, especially for weapons with lower accuracy or velocity.

    -Long range describes distances 3 or more zones away, typically to a maximum of 1/4 mile (around 25 zones). Long range is less common in most fights, but may be applied if you are fighting in wide-open terrain or seeking a place to use your Marksmanship Abilities. If a range is given in a format such as "Long (X)", this refers to long range, but only to a maximum of X zones.

Zones, Sight, & Obstruction    Some things can obstruct sight on the scale of an entire zone, such as a cloud from a smoke grenade. Solid objects that occupy an entire zone or side of a zone, such as a building wall or large hill, block ranged effects as well as sight. For the purposes of the combat rules, you cannot see another character or object if a straight line drawn from the center of its zone to the center of your zone would pass through such a zone-sized obstacle. Lines that pass precisely over a corner of the obstructing zone are not considered obstructed. Smaller objects, such as characters or vehicles, do not obstruct sight. If you want to attack a character at long range, you can do even if there are many characters in the zones between you, but not if there is a giant zone-sized boulder.

The Movement Phase    You do not need to roll dice or observe any rules for minor movements, such as darting between grouped-up allies or engaged enemies. The movement phase of a combat round describes significant movement across zones. All characters have a chance to move during the round's movement phase, and this occurs before any character takes their turn in the action phase.

    There is no movement phase during the first round of combat, potentially giving ranged attacks and Abilities a chance to act before characters close to melee distance. The only exception to this rule is when an entire side is surprised (as defined above under Turn Order), in which case the non-surprised side receives a movement phase in the first round.

    During ordinary travel, there is no need to roll dice simply to move, but during a battle you do not have the time for long periods of casual strolling! To make a significant combat movement in a timely fashion, you must make a movement roll on SPD. Rolling dice represents the random chaos of battle - even a slow character might have a panicked burst of speed and luck, and the fastest character could be delayed or trip on unnoticed terrain features.

    During the movement phase, all characters (beginning with the topmost in turn order and proceeding down the list) decide whether or not to move. In most cases, the movement phase is less time-consuming than it sounds; some rounds entail no movement at all, while many others involve only one or two moving groups. Often, the GM may simply call for "any movement," breaking out the turn order list only if there are more complex situations involving people being pursued in different directions.

    Although the turn order list may be used during the movement phase, a character's movement is not considered their turn- that term refers to an individual character's portion of the action phase. The movement phase can be thought of as setting the scene for everyone's turns. Actions may not occur at any point during the movement phase - not even free actions. For example, you cannot shoot an enemy in the leg during the movement phase to slow them down - if you wished to do so, you would attempt it during the action phase, to interfere with their next movement phase.

Movement Rolls    To make a movement roll, use a d12 on SPD. If successful, you may move 1 zone into any neighboring zone (short range). The d12 may be changed to a different die by zone features describing terrain; this always refers to the zone you are attempting to leave, not the one you're moving into.

Rushing    After seeing the results of your movement roll, you may decide to rush - this allows you to take fatigue in order to move faster. You receive 6 fatigue and revert to Low Stealth. You may then choose one of two options: you may either gain a reactive +TN equal to your SPD in your movement roll, or you may attempt a second movement roll. Either option allows you a chance to salvage a failed first movement roll, but the second option allows you to move a total of 2 zones (medium range) if both rolls succeed. You may only choose one option; you cannot "double rush" to gain the reactive +TN in the second movement roll.

    The fatigue inflicted by rushing is decreased by Sprinting Focus (Athletics), and increased by 1 degree of encumbrance. You cannot rush if you have 2 degrees of encumbrance or any degree of Mobility Injury.

    If you are receiving additional SPD from an outside source (such as a device), such boosts usually do not vary in cost with rushing vs. non-rushing movement. If desired, you can attempt to rush using only the external source, without taking fatigue; in this case you count only the SPD gained from the external source when determining the reactive +TN, or the TN in your second movement roll. This still counts fully as rushing for the purpose of all other rules, such as reverting to Low Stealth, and being impossible with 2 or more degrees of encumbrance.

    Rushing applies only to movement rolls; it cannot be used for other rolls on SPD.

Reactive Movement    Instead of immediately making a movement roll, you may prepare reactive movement as a response to a later character's movement. The other character must be below you in turn order, and you must specify what kind of movement you are anticipating and how you'll react. For example, you might prepare to chase down an enemy if they escape from your engagement, or move to defend whichever ally they move to engage.

    If you succeeded on a normal movement roll but did not rush, you may prepare a rush as reactive movement even though you have already moved. For example, you could move short range to engage an enemy, but also prepare to rush another short-range movement if they move away from you. You do not suffer the effects and cost of a rush until you actually use it.

    You may always decline to use a reaction you've prepared - for example, declining to chase an overly fast enemy who has moved too far for you to catch up. You cannot prepare reactive movement in relation to characters earlier than you in turn order (in other words, you cannot react to reactive movement). Reactive movement does not change your actual position in the turn order list.

Grouped-Up Movement    Characters who are grouped-up can move together, if all agree to do so. If the entire group intends to move together, all characters' movement rolls are delayed to happen simultaneously with that of the last character. If any member(s) of the group failed their roll (or otherwise covered a shorter distance than the others), the more successful characters may decide to slow down and remain grouped-up rather than outrunning their allies. Decisions of whether to rush may be made after seeing all other characters' results. No character in the group may do slowing actions that round even if the move was ultimately unsuccessful, as all at least attempted to move. Grouped-up movement may be used simultaneously with escaping an engagement or ambush movement (see below). Groups may prepare reactive movement in relation to characters later than their last character in turn order. If there is any lengthy disagreement about the group's movement choices, the entire group fails to move.

Ambushing & Following    Characters who rely on both stealth and melee attacks will make frequent use of ambush movement to approach enemies, which is often required in order to land stealth attacks. For more information, see Combat Stealth.

    Meanwhile, the rules might call for characters to lose sight of those who move away from them (usually due to stealth rules, but possibly also due to visibility effects or zone features). But since all movement is really happening simultaneously in-character, you can always move to accurately follow another character, provided you had sight of them at the beginning of the round and can move far enough to keep up with them.

Escaping an Engagement    If you are already within a melee engagement, you must escape it before moving elsewhere. To reflect this, you must add 2 Hindrance to any movement roll if you begin in a zone with enemy characters. Outnumbering dice also apply to this roll (see below). You may still rush in this movement roll or use grouped-up movement. Successfully escaping an engagement means you are no longer grouped-up with any allies who remain in the engagement. Engagements are created instantly during the movement phase; in other words, you must add the Hindrance even if the enemy only entered your zone in the current round.

Outnumbering Dice & Breakout Tactics    Some rules, such as Escaping an Engagement above, refer to outnumbering dice. This refers to Hindrance or Easing added to a roll (usually a SPD roll) depending on whether your side is outnumbered by the enemy side in the current zone. The amount of outnumbering dice depends on the comparative size of your side of the engagement:

Whenever you attempt a roll affected by outnumbering dice, you may use breakout tactics to gain one or more of the following benefits:

    Unfortunately, you receive one degree of melee disadvantage for each of the above options you choose. Each option can only be chosen once. If breakout tactics are used during the movement phase, the disadvantage continues until the end of the round. If used during your turn in the action phase, they continue until the beginning of your next turn. The positive effects of breakout tactics last only for one roll; if you encounter another roll involving outnumbering dice, you must take more disadvantage in order to use breakout tactics again. Advanced Combat Mobility (Close Combat) removes some of this disadvantage.

    Vehicles do not count as characters for the purpose of outnumbering dice, nor do mounted characters (though their mounts do).

Group Defense    Most adventuring parties include characters who are less-skilled at melee combat. Through tactical positioning and minor movements, groups can protect a certain number of their own members from melee attacks by simply standing between them and the enemy during an engagement. By default, a group can protect 1/3 of its members via group defense (that is, 1 protected character per 2 non-protected characters); this ratio may be altered by zone features related to notably confining or open terrain. Characters protected by group defense cannot receive melee attacks unless the enemy follows special rules for bypassing group defense during the action phase. Protected characters cannot perform melee attacks themselves. Characters already in a grapple cannot begin to be defended via group defense, but characters are immune to grappling (even from characters who bypass) if already defended.

    Alternatively or simultaneously, group defense may be used to represent a group guarding an inanimate object or preventing access to an area. Depending on the circumstances, such a defended location may count as more or less than 1 character when considering the above ratio. Another common application is to defend the bodies of incapacitated or (revivable) dead allies; such characters count as only 1/4 a character for the above ratio when being defended.

    Which characters or objects are defended via group defense must be decided at the end of the movement phase. If a character voluntarily leaves group defense or otherwise becomes invalid for it during the action phase, they still cannot perform melee attacks until the next round. If characters are incapacitated or otherwise removed as defenders, resulting in too many characters being defended, the group must immediately choose who to prioritize and keep defending. Any lengthy disagreement amongst the group regarding any part of group defense results in group defense breaking down entirely.

Carrying Characters    Willing characters can be carried by sufficiently large and strong allies, in which case they obviously move along with the carrying character. You may not do any major actions nor make any SPD rolls while being carried, and the carrying character makes your defense rolls for you. You do not count for group defense nor for outnumbering dice. You suffer a knockdown if the character carrying you drops you involuntarily. The carrying character may drop you as a free inventory action, and you may also stop being carried as a free action on your own turn. To begin carrying someone, a character must follow the rules for inventory actions - specifically, picking up one item from the ground.

    These rules do not apply to mounts & riders, which follow different rules found later in this chapter.