Angry Miniatures Part 4: Combat

Placeholder cover and logo. Artwork by Jarom Swenson

Now for the bread and butter of the game: Combat.

Attacking other characters are all handled the same way. One is the attacker, and one is the defender. On each attack, both players roll dice. The attacker rolls the amount of dice in the attack value he is using, and the defender rolls the amount of dice equal to the appropriate main stat.

• Roll Body against melee attacks
• Roll Mind against range attacks
• Roll Spirit against magic attacks

Once both sides roll the dice, the Hits (or Faces) on the dice are counted up and compared. If the attacker has less hits than the defender, than the attack failed. If the attacker has more hits than the defender, then the attack succeeded, and damage is dealt.

Damage
Damage is the difference in hits between the defender and attacker. This damage is then taken from the defenders Health value. (note: the box below the Health box on the character sheet is for tracking damage, usually with a tally)

Melee attacks are handled slightly different. When the attacker is using melee on the defender, then they are both considered locked in a melee. In this case if the defender has more hits than the attacker, then the defender actually can deal damage to the attacker. Still, the damage dealt to the attacker is the difference in hits.

Experimental rule: if defending in melee, and the defender is a melee character, he gets a +1 to his defense roll

Tie Rolls
In several cases a tie may occur. A tie is when both sides have an equal amount of hits in a roll. This is resolved with the superiority in the rolls.

1. First check which side has the most Aces. If neither have Aces, or the same amount of Aces, then move to the next step.
2. Second check which side has the most Kings. If neither have Kings, or the same amount of Kings, then move to the next step.
3. Third check which side has the most Queens. If neither have Queens, or the same amount of Queens, then move to the next step.
4. Fourth check which side has the most Jacks. If both have the same amount of Jacks then you have a SuperTieBreaker. If neither have Jacks, then you did something wrong. Check to make sure you are playing the game right.

A SuperTieBreaker is resolved by each side discarding all dice, and rolling 1 die. Reroll ties. Standard superiority rules apply here.

If the winner of a tie is the attacker, he deals 1 and only 1 damage. He may not exceed that amount through any Perks, Crits, or Flaws of any effect. If it was a melee attack and the defender won the tie, he may deal that 1 damage to the attacker.

Miscellaneous
Remember to check your Perks and Flaws as either a defender or attacker to make sure none of them have any effects on your rolls.

Magic attacks not only hit the target defender, but all creatures (friend or foe) adjacent to your target. This is resolved by the attacker rolling once. That one roll hits all targets in that area. Each target makes a separate defense roll, and hits and damage are resolved separately for each defender. The attacker does NOT reroll his attack for each defender in the area.

Modifiers
Modifiers represent positive and negative conditions that sometimes apply to combat. They are treated simply by adding or subtracting dice from attack or defense rolls. Most common modifiers are listed below:

• +1 to defense roll for each square of hindering terrain a range or magic attack is aiming through.
• +1 to defense roll for each occupied square a range or magic attack is aiming through. Friend or foe.
• -1 to defense if prone.
• +1 to attack if character moved more than 2 squares into melee range with defender and melee attacks.
• +1 to attack if character is considered on a higher elevation than the defender for a range or magic attack.

Crits
When making any attack or defense roll, watch out for the Aces. If any roll comes up with 2 or more Aces, then that roll has Crit. A Crit can activate whether or not the roll is considered to have hit or failed. Your characters' chosen Crit will specify what it does and when it activates. Some Crits only apply in certain conditions, so be sure you don't miss it.

Sadly, sometimes you may roll 2 Ace dice, and the Crit doesn't apply to your current action. It happens. Crits are meant to rarely happen, but be very powerful.

A character may only Crit once per turn.

And that's the majority of the game of Angry Miniatures. Naturally a lot needs to be fleshed out and play tested, and a lot needs to be clarified, but that's the gist of it. Next part I will be detailing some of my future plans for this game.