Chapter 14 · Core Rules
Combat Examples
Philosophy
On paper, each rule fits in a few lines. At the table, they all collide at once.
The following scene plays out a full round, tick by tick. Declaration and priority decide the order of actions, reserves run dry, cover saves a life, and a few points of damage threaten a spell. Every roll appears, even when it changes nothing: in Cerberus, failure also tells the story of how a battle turns.
The Combatants
Osseur and Séra tracked the witch Maelis to a harbor warehouse. She heard them approach. When the door opens, her bodyguard Brant already stands waiting fifteen feet before her, axe in hand.
Osseur enters at ground level, 60 ft from Maelis. From a catwalk 80 ft away, Séra has the witch in her sights. Rows of crates lie between them, enough to slow a charge or vanish briefly behind cover.
| Séra | Osseur | Maelis | Brant | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Level | 5 | 3 | 5 | 4 |
| Strength / Dexterity | +4 / +9 | +10 / +8 | +2 / +5 | +6 / +5 |
| HP | 160 | 200 | 80 | 120 |
| Reflex | +14 | +11 | +10 | +9 |
| Armor (DR) | leather, 2 | leather, 2 | Level 1 robe, 4 | mail, 2 |
| Weapon | shortbow, 1d6+9 | greataxe, 1d12+19, ×3 | — | battleaxe, 1d8+6 |
| Reserves | 9 · 3 · 2 · 4 | 6 · 2 · 1 · 3 | 9 · 3 · 2 · 4 | 6 · 2 · 1 · 3 |
| Slots per Tick | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
Reserves appear in this order: attacks · spells · dedicated dodges · general actions.
Three facts will shape the entire scene before the first declaration:
- With 80 HP, Maelis is interrupted as soon as she takes more than 20 damage during a spell.
- Her nine attacks give her a three-slot Action Board, even though she does not plan to use a weapon. Her three spell tokens can occupy those slots freely.
- Osseur's greataxe deals 1d12+19: 15 from his +10 Strength and two-handed grip, then +4 from his Level 3 Fighting Style.
The GM announces that the +5 declaration bonus is in use instead of +25%.
Tick 1 — The First Volley
Séra: I fill her with arrows before she opens her mouth. Three shots. Maelis: I cast Fireball and retreat behind the crates. Osseur: I rush her. Brant: I hold my ground before my mistress.
Séra spoke first: she gains the +5 declaration bonus and immediately reveals her intent. Her three shots fill her entire board and consume three of her nine attacks.
Maelis begins a Fireball. The spell is Standard: she casts during this tick and releases it on the next. Half her movement remains, or 15 ft. She slips behind the crates and gains light cover, granting +2 in her duels. Osseur only advances for now, moving 30 ft at full speed and reaching Brant.
There is no Reflex duel to order these actions. Whether Séra fires an instant before or after Maelis's first word changes nothing: the arrows strike during the casting either way. Roll priority only when the order can change the result.
The bowstring snaps three times.
- On the first arrow, Maelis spends a dodge. Séra rolls 11 + 14 + 5 = 30, against 14 + 10 + 2 = 26. The arrow pierces her robe: 1d6 rolls 4, for 13 damage, and DR 4 removes four points. Maelis takes 9.
- On the second, she spends her last dodge. This time, her 18 + 10 + 2 = 30 beats Séra's 3 + 14 + 5 = 22. The arrowhead buries itself in a crate.
- When the third flies, Maelis has no dodges left. Light cover provides no active defense; it merely forces Séra to make a prescribed 4 in 5 chance roll to find an opening. The die shows 3. The arrow hits for 1d6 + 9 − 4; the d6 rolls 2, so she takes 7 damage.
Maelis ends the tick having taken 16 damage during the casting. Four more points would have smothered the spell. She still holds, but both dodges are gone for the rest of the round.
Tick 2 — One Second Ahead
Osseur: I break through and split her skull before she releases that fireball. Séra: Three more arrows. Maelis: Release.
Osseur declares his charge first and takes the +5. Making one attack leaves him his full speed: the 30 ft between him and Maelis are within reach, provided he crosses Brant's threatened area.
This time, every fraction of a second matters. Maelis has already taken 16 damage toward her threshold of 20. Even the weakest arrow will deal 6 after DR; if a single hit lands before release, Fireball vanishes along with its slot.
Maelis, Séra, and Osseur therefore each make a Reflex duel. Their results set the tick's order:
| Roll | Total | |
|---|---|---|
| Maelis | 17 + 10 | 27 |
| Séra | 12 + 14 | 26 |
| Osseur | 9 + 11 + 5 | 25 |
By a single point, Maelis releases her spell before the first arrow.
- Fire. Maelis casts Fireball at Level 1 with a caster level of 8: 8d12, for 52 damage, in a 20 ft radius centered on the catwalk. Séra gets no Save. A dedicated dodge cannot leave an area, and only total cover could protect her. Her DR 2 absorbs what it can: she takes 50 damage and remains standing at 110 HP amid the blackened planks.
- Arrows. Séra's response comes too late to interrupt the spell, but not to wound Maelis. Reserves return only at the start of the next round: the witch still has no dodges and still depends on her cover. The three 4-in-5 chance rolls show 2, 5, and 1. Two arrows find their way through; Maelis takes 10, then 8 damage, falling to 46 HP.
- Axe. Osseur crosses Brant's threatened area. The bodyguard has the Attack of Opportunity feat and can strike Osseur as he passes. Without it, he could do nothing to stop the charge. Osseur keeps his only dodge in reserve, accepts the blow, and takes 1d8 + 6 − 2: the d8 rolls 5, for 9 damage. He presses on. In melee, Maelis has neither cover nor dodges; the axe hits directly. The d12 rolls 8: 8 + 19 − 4, for 23 damage taken. The accompanying d20 rolls 14, with no critical. Maelis staggers at 23 HP.
Tick 3 — The Last-Chance Wall
Osseur: Two blows. She's mine. Maelis: Quickened Wall of Stone, between us. Then I retreat. Séra: I finish her.
Osseur declares first again. Maelis answers with her last escape: Quicken Spell. Metamagic reduces Wall of Stone to a single tick and removes every interruption window, but costs her 4 additional slots. At 23 HP, the price seems trivial. She also has 15 ft of movement left to retreat.
They must still determine whether the axe falls before the stone rises. Osseur rolls 8 + 11 + 5 = 24; Maelis rolls 9 + 10 = 19.
- The first blow beats the wall. The d12 rolls 2: after DR, Maelis takes 17 damage and falls to 6 HP.
- Stone then erupts between them. The quickened spell is already complete when Osseur brings his axe around. His second blow meets only the wall.
- Séra loses her line of fire. The wall grants Maelis total cover; the witch can no longer be targeted.
Séra immediately changes targets and looses two arrows at Brant. The guard can parry them with his shield thanks to Deflect Projectiles. His Level 2 shield surpasses these ordinary projectiles by two levels and can therefore stop them entirely. Each parry consumes an attack, not a dodge: this is the reserve Brant has preserved until now. Both of his tick slots are free, and each parry occupies one.
- First arrow: Brant rolls 18 + 9 = 27, Séra 6 + 14 = 20. Fully deflected—a successful weapon parry stops the blow, whereas it would block only half a spell.
- Second arrow: Brant rolls 11 + 9 = 20, Séra 13 + 14 = 27. It gets through: 13 damage, minus 2—11 taken.
The round ends there. Reserves will refill, but the battlefield has changed. Maelis survives at 6 HP behind an opaque wall. Séra has spent eight of her nine attacks. On the other side of the stone, Osseur is already searching for the shortest way around it.
Chapter Summary
- The largest reserve sets the width of the Action Board, even when it is not used (see 8).
- A Reflex duel matters only when action order changes the outcome. On the first tick it would decide nothing; on the second, everything depended on it (see 1).
- The declaration bonus rewards speaking early but reveals intent to others. Here it helps Séra land her first arrow, then forces Maelis to answer Osseur's revealed plans.
- Dedicated dodges run out quickly. Maelis spends hers during the first volley and remains vulnerable until the next round.
- Without an active defense, light cover imposes a prescribed chance roll on the attacker (see 9).
- A damage spell grants no Save and cannot be dodged. DR reduces its damage like weapon damage; against an area, only total cover protects (see 11 and 12).
- A spell breaks if the caster takes more than one quarter of maximum HP. Quicken Spell closes that window in exchange for slots.
- An attack of opportunity requires a feat, whether made by a PC or NPC (see 9).
- A parry consumes an attack and a tick slot, and requires suitable equipment. A dodge consumes a dedicated dodge and requires room to move.