The Combat rules cover the most common situations that occur when an encounter turns to violence. The rules presented here provide guidelines for handling more unusual or specialised situations. All are optional and only used at the Referee’s discretion.

Characters with Dexterity or Strength as a Prime Ability may choose to wield two one-handed melee weapons, gaining the ability to make an extra attack each Round.

Primary weapon: Attack Rolls with the primary weapon suffer a –2 penalty.

Secondary weapon: The secondary weapon must be of Small size (e.g. a dagger or hand axe). The character may make one extra attack per Round with the secondary weapon, at a –4 penalty to Attack Rolls.

Once per combat, a combatant may charge into melee and attack, as follows.

Declaration: Charging must be declared before initiative is rolled.

Charge: The combatant must move at least 20′ before attacking. There must be a clear run.

Effects: The combatant gains a +2 Attack bonus this Round, but their AC is penalised by –1 this Round.

Brace weapons: Weapons that may be braced against a charge inflict double damage on the charging combatant—see Armour and Weapons.

The standard rule is that a character reduced to 0 Hit Points dies immediately. Groups wishing to reduce the risk of death may rule that when a character is reduced to 0 Hit Points, rather than being dead, they linger at death’s door.

Effects: A character at death’s door is unconscious and will die without magical aid. Each Round, there is a 2-in-6 chance of the character dying.

Aid: Healing that takes effect instantaneously (e.g. Lesser Healing, Spirithame, magic potions) saves a character if applied before they perish, restoring them to 1 Hit Point. Characters brought back from death’s door suffer a permanent loss of 1 point from a random Ability Score.

Land-dwellers are at a disadvantage when fighting in or beneath water—they are unaccustomed with moving and attacking in water, and their weapons are often unsuited.

Penalties: Land-dwellers suffer a –2 penalty to Attack and Damage Rolls when fighting underwater.

Melee weapons: Weapons designed to chop, slash, or bludgeon (e.g. axes, swords, maces) are ineffective underwater. Thrusting weapons (e.g. daggers, spears) function normally.

Missile weapons: Ineffective underwater.

Melee attacks: Melee Attack Rolls against an invisible opponent suffer a –4 penalty.

Missile attacks: It is usually not possible to target an invisible creature with missile attacks.

Defending: Invisible creatures gain a +4 bonus to Attack Rolls against opponents that cannot perceive them.

The constant and unpredictable movement of melee makes firing or throwing missile weapons at melee combatants an uncertain proposition.

Attack penalties: The Attack Roll is penalised by –1 for each combatant in melee with the intended target (to a maximum penalty of –4).

Natural 1s: Optionally, on a natural 1 Attack Roll, the Referee may rule that the missile hits a randomly determined combatant in melee with the intended target, inflicting damage.

Any melee attack may be made with the intent to subdue or restrain an opponent, rather than killing them.

Non-lethal damage: Handle Attack and Damage Rolls as normal, but track non-lethal damage separately. If accrued non-lethal damage equals or exceeds a combatant’s current Hit Points, they are subdued or knocked unconscious.

Blades: Bladed melee weapons can deal non-lethal blows by attacking with the flat side, rather than the sharp edge. This incurs a –2 Attack penalty and reduces damage by half.

Healing: Non-lethal damage heals at a rate of 1 point per Level per hour. For example, a Level 4 character recovers 4 points of non-lethal damager each hour. Magical healing can also be used to heal non-lethal damage, with any excess points restoring lost Hit Points as normal.

Helpless opponents, such as those magically paralysed or frozen, can be automatically hit in melee without an Attack Roll. Only a Damage Roll is required.

Instead of attacking (or performing another action) in a Round, a combatant may opt to act solely defensively.

Declaration: Parrying must be declared before initiative is rolled.

Armour Class bonus: The parrying combatant adds their Strength Modifier or +1 (whichever is greater) to their AC against all melee attacks that Round.

A combatant may attempt to push past an opponent (for example, someone blocking a doorway) or to push them back (for example, someone fighting close to a cliff edge).

Push attack: The attacker makes a melee Attack Roll with a –4 penalty.

Effects: Instead of suffering damage on a successful attack, the defender must Save Versus Hold. If the save fails, the attacker may choose to move past the defender or to push the defender 5′ back.

Opponent size: If the defender is significantly larger than the attacker, the Referee may grant a +4 bonus to their Saving Throw. If the size difference is extreme, a push attack may simply be impossible.

Splash weapons—for example burning oil or holy water—are containers that smash on contact, dousing the victim in a dangerous liquid. (See Armour and Weapons.)

Targeting a creature: A splash weapon may be thrown at a single creature. This is handled as a normal missile attack against the target’s Armour Class.

Targeting a surface: Alternatively, a splash weapon may be thrown so that it smashes on a hard surface close to one or more creatures. This is handled as a missile attack against Armour Class 10. If the attack succeeds, all creatures within 5′ of the targeted surface are splashed with the liquid and, if it is harmful to them, suffer one-quarter normal damage (rounded up).

When a splash weapon misses its target (whether a creature or a surface), the Referee may determine the actual location where it smashes.

Direction: Roll 1d12 to determine the direction, interpreting the roll as a clock-face direction.

Distance: The container smashes 10′ from the intended target in the specified direction.

Damage: Creatures within 5′ of this location are splashed with the liquid. If it is harmful to them, they suffer one-quarter normal damage (rounded up).

Unless a combatant simply drops their current weapon on the ground, switching weapons is treated as the combatant’s action for the Round (i.e. instead of attacking).

Some monsters do not wield weapons, using their natural unarmed attacks (claws, horns, bites, etc.) instead. Humans and other characters may make unarmed melee attacks by punching, kicking, and so on.

Damage: Unarmed attacks inflict 1d2 damage, plus the character’s Strength Modifier.

Combatants on an unstable surface, such as a ship in rough waters or riding a flying animal, are affected as follows. Note that magical means of flight (e.g. the Fly spell) generally do not count as unstable.

Missile attacks: Suffer a –4 Attack penalty.

Spells: Cannot be cast.

Magic items: Can be used normally.