Combat: Melee

Closure
The simplest way to engage in combat is to approach your opponent carefully and then swing the first blow. Simply put, the character must move within the range of 1/2 his or hers movement speed to the target.

Charging
The other, and arguably more brutal way is to charge at the opponent, delivering the full force of ones body. This has its benefits and drawbacks.
 * The attacker suffers a -3 penalty to hit, as it is much harder to aim when one is running at full speed.
 * The attacker must move at running speed, and expends 1 additional FP to perform a charge attack.
 * The damage dealt is increased by the attacker's secondary Stamina modifier plus 1/2 of the weapon's Heft value. This bonus is limited by 4 + Athletics skill * 2. This is also limited by the weapon's Heft value, as detailed in the appropriate section.

Hitting
If the attacker encloses with the defender, the attack may take place.

Attack methods
There are quite a few modifiers that are applied to the base value.
 * 1 AP (quick strike): base value = 3 + Proficiency + Secondary attribute modifier + Weapon accuracy
 * 2 AP (normal strike): base value = 4 + Proficiency + Attribute modifier + Weapon accuracy
 * 3 AP (focused strike): base value = 5 + Proficiency + Attribute modifier x 1.5 + Weapon accuracy

To-hit modifiers

 * Charge: the attacker receives a -3 to-hit penalty in the event of a charge attack.
 * Heft: the attacker receives a -1 to-hit penalty for each point his Strength modifier is below the Heft attribute of the weapon he is fighting with.
 * Multiple attacks: the attacker receives a stacking -2 to-hit penalty if he makes more than (COR) attacks during a single turn. The attack from two weapons are counted independantly (i.e. they count as 2 each.)

Defense reactions

 * Dodge: DC = (AGL) + Dodge proficiency
 * Block: DC = (STR) + Block proficiency + Shield coverage
 * Parry: DC = Weapon parry modifier + Weapon proficiency * 0.5 (-3 if unproficient (-) )

Defending from multiple attacks
Sometimes a defender may find himself surrounded by opponents or simply too slow to deflect all the blows directed at him.

Thus, the defender receives a stacking -2 penalty when defending from a number of attacks taht is higher than his or hers (COR) value.

The roll
The attacker must make an attack roll, which can be treated as a skill roll, using the base to hit value and subtracting the DC coming from the defender's reaction.

D20 <= Attacker's BASE VALUE - Defender's DEFENSE VALUE

Critical hits
One may be lucky enough to hit the victim in a vital area of the body - say the liver or the jugular vein. This causes much more damage than a normal attack would.

If the result of the die falls into the "critical range" of the weapon, the attack counts as a critical hit. This gives several bonuses to the attacker: However, if the chance to hit the opponent is low, so is the chance to critically wound him or her - which is referred to as 'weak critical hit'. If the target value of the attack is lower than or equal to 5, the critical range is reduced to a bare 1; if it was 1 earlier, the range is omitted. Attack with a target value of 2 or below do not provide critical hits.
 * Treat the attack as having surpassed armour (i.e. reduce the AC by 50%.)
 * Every point by which the attacker hits serves the attack a +1 damage bonus.

Examples

 * 1) Joe (Axe proficiency +4, hand axe accuracy +2, SPD +5/+2) attacks Grant (Dodge proficiency +4, (AGL) +3), expending 2 AP (normal strike); Grant dodges. Thus, the target value for the roll is [(4 + 4 + 5 + 2) - (4 +3)] = 8. If Joe had made a focused strike, the target value would be 12.