Combat: Defense

When defending yourself from a physical attack, you make an opposed roll against your attacker (attack roll vs. defense roll). Your defense is based on the type of defense you are proficient in—Armored, Dodge, or Unarmored. The attacker wins ties when adding up the attack and defense rolls.

Attack vs. defense = ties go to attacker

The difference between the defense is, armor offers a range of protection including damage reduction. Dodge offers the Critical Defense ability and unarmored is the default defense for everyone who doesn’t have the others.

When making a defense roll, different dice and skills are added based on the type of defense.

Types of Defense

Armored Defense

Armor gives you two types of protection; one is the standard protection like what unarmored gives except it can use different dice and the other is damage reduction.

Each armor has their own dice that replace the d10 used with unarmored. Depending on the type of armor you are using (heavy or light) depends on which armor skill you add to the armor’s dice. Heavy armor adds the heavy armor skill, while light armor adds the light armor skill. See armor in the marketplace chapter for more information on the different armor.

Armor’s dice + heavy or light armor skill = armored defense roll

Damage Reduction

The second protection armor provides is damage reduction. Damage reduction is a buffer between the damage from the attack and your health. Before any damage applies to your health, you subtract the damage reduction from the damage. You then apply any remaining damage to your health.

Damage – damage reduction = damage applied to health

Magic damage ignores damage reduction unless the spell uses physical damage. In addition, weapons with armor penetration (i.e. crossbows and arms) ignore damage reduction. See armor penetration in this chapter for more information.

Damage reduction gained from mutations, traits and other bonues other than armor are always grade zero quality.

Dodge

While everyone has a base unarmored defense, some have trained in the art of dodging damage. By making your dodge skill expertise you replace your unarmored defense by exchanging the d10 for 2d6 . Once you have increased your dodge skill total to novice tier, you also gain the critical defense ability. See the dodge skill in the skill chapter for more information.

To determine what your dodge defense is, you add your dodge skill total plus any additional protection. You then added your dodge defense to the 2d6 when rolling your defense roll.

Dodge skill + added protection = dodge defense
2d6 + dodge defense = defense roll total
Dodge defense > attack roll = attack doesn’t hit
Critical defense = No Attack Hits

Shields

Using shields in combat help to increase your defense while also giving you a mini wall to bash your enemies with. Shields function differently than other weapons or protection.

Defensively, you use a counter action to use the shield to block attacks. Using one counter action, you can block a successful attack against you, but the shield takes the damage as durability damage instead. You can only do this if your shield skill is expertise.

1 counter action = shield blocks attack but takes the damage as durability damage

Offensively, using the shield to attack uses one or two actions depending on if you are dual wielding. Regardless of which type of attack you are performing, you use your shield skill for the attack’s accuracy.

Regardless, as to if you are using your shield defensively or offensively, you gain the bonus protection to your defense. This bonus protection does not stack with each other (i.e. if wielding two or more shields).

Unarmored Defense

The defense at its base is a d10 plus your unarmored skill. You use this when you are not wearing armor and do not have your dodge skill as an expertise.

1d10 + Unarmored Skill = Unarmored Defense Roll