first draft: combat

Combat in the TherionRPG is fairly straightforward: calculate your percentage chance to hit, then roll percentile. If you succeed, subtract your target's Armour from the base damage you inflict; the target loses the remainder from their current hit points.

Let's break this down, shall we?


Initiative

Initiative is determined by a percentile roll, with the highest score acting first and so continuing on down the line. Initiative may be adjusted in the following ways:

+5% per Psyche modifier
some therion companions may give bonuses to Initiative
some spells or enchanted items may give bonuses to Initiative


Attacking

The base chance to hit a target is 30%. This value is modified in the following ways:

+5% per Strength modifier (for melee weapons)
+5% per Agility modifier (for ranged or thrown weapons)
+10% per point in an appropriate weapon Skill

So, for example, if a character had a +2 modifier for Strength, 3 points in Shortsword skill and was wielding a shortsword, their chance to hit would be 70%.


Dodging

Being able to get out of the way of an incoming attack is a good thing! That's where dodging comes in. A character's Dodge value subtracts from the attacks chance to hit, and is scored as follows:

+5% per Agility modifier
+5% per point in Dodge Skill
and some therion companions also affect Dodge.

So, if the above character with 70% chance to hit attacked with a shortsword and their target had a +1 modifier to Agility and 2 skill points spent on the Dodge skill, they would have a 55% chance to hit.


Armour

Your character's Armour stat is, as noted in the entry on character stats, provided by armour and other equipment, by a therion companion if applicable, and if magic is used in the campaign some spells may raise or lower Armour.

For example, a shortsword has a Damage of 6. If a successful attack is made against a character with an Armour of 3, 3 points of damage are dealt.

Mystic Armour

If used in a game, Mystic Armour works on the same principle as the Armour stat, lessening damage from spells and other magical sources.


Damage

Every weapon (and other sources of potential damage) possesses a Damage score. Barehanded, a human inflicts 1 hit point of damage. This base damage may be increased by:

+1 point per Strength modifier
some spells may augment damage dealt by individuals or objects


Healing and Death

If a character is dropped to 0 hit points, they fall unconscious and will lose one further hit point per round, unless treated, until they reach -(their Fortitude score), at which point the character dies.

With rest but no medical attention, a character will heal a number of hit points per day equal to their Fortitude modifier or a minimum of 1 hit point. Application of an appropriate medical Skill allows the recovery of the character's Fortitude in hit points per day. Healing items or magic, if applicable, can speed the process up considerably.


Poison

Rare poisons have unusual effects, such as paralysis or loss of stats; but most poisons cause a loss of hit points over a given period of time, such 2 hit points per round for five rounds. A character's Fortitude modifier can lower the damage caused by poison or even negate it entirely.

a few thoughts on combat and magic

Naturally, these are some of the very cloudy parts at the moment.

However, I'm leaning towards two actions being allowed in a round/turn/whatever-term-I-wind-up-using; one from the human and one from the beast. This may be an attack, a defense, or a miscellaneous action.

A defensive action would raise Armour by a certain amount that segment.

Miscellaneous actions for beasts would be fairly limited, unless the beast in question has special abilities. Miscellaneous actions for humans could include talking, manipulating objects, readying a weapon ...


Magic is something I want to have available but relatively low-key; flexibility, not reams of specific spells (shocking, I know!). Perhaps a pool of "mana points" to draw on per day, based off of a stat; perhaps something to be rolled for (I like the points idea better at the moment).

- How to gain magic? By a penalty to another mechanic. Whether it's lowering of the permanent health stat, one or more stat scores being lower than normal, or some other mechanic, magic always has a price.