Making An Attack
When a character wishes to make an attack with a weapon or shape an attack manipulation, they must roll a d20 and add their Dominant Element modifier. If this number meets or exceeds the enemy's Defense value, the attack is considered a hit.
Ranged or thrown weapons as well as ranged attack manipulations used when an enemy is adjacent to the character are made with DISADV. Attacks made in confined spaces with melee weapons that have 10 ft reach also have DISADV.
Defense vs Armor
Defense is the ability to avoid being hit in combat. Normal enemies have a Defense value equal to the Area DC. This can be modified via the Easy or Hard roll rules at the GM's discretion. Unique enemies and characters determine their Defense value by adding 10 + their Dominant Element modifier.
Armor is what protects from damage once a character is hit. Armor pieces have Damage Resistance (DR) value that reduces incoming damage. If DR is greater than or equal to the incoming damage, then no damage is done to the character. A character's total DR is the sum of all the DR values of their armor and these values reset after every attack unless otherwise stated in an ability or as part of an Overwhelm. Armor can be mixed and matched and some Paths have restrictions on certain types or pieces of armor. Armor is also restricted by amount of training and by a character's carrying capacity.
Armors come in three types: Base Layer, Mid-Layer, and Plated. Any character may wear Base Layer armor with no training. Mid-Layer and Plated armors require training to wear as both a fitness requirement and understanding the use of that particular class of armor. A Base Layer is required to be worn under any Mid-Layer or Plated layer armor and, with the proper training, a character can wear a Base Layer, a Mid-Layer of chain mail, and over that Plate armor. This rig is exceptionally heavy but offers tremendous protection from damage.
If a character is immobilized or knocked prone, they lose the DR and ER of their armor. Much of the value of armor in battle is the skill of using it to avoid damage. Even an untrained conscript could poke a spear into a gap in plates as a knight lies momentarily stunned after falling from their horse. Overwhelm (see below) is also a way to bring down heavily armored opponents.
Shields act in a similar way to armor and come in three types: Buckler, Small Shield, Large Shield. A character proficient with shields adds to their DR value, but with training they can learn to position the shield to avoid getting hit at all, adding to Defense as well as DR.
Armor and Shield Statistics Tables
Cover
There are two kinds of cover: half-cover and full cover. A ranged attack made against a character in half-cover has DISADV and a character in full cover cannot be targeted.
To determine if a character is in cover, draw a straight line from the center of the attacking character's hex space to the center of the target's hex space. If any part of that line intersects the cover, the character has cover. If a character or creature takes up more than one hex space, use the center hex.
Melee attacks may be made across cover if it is low enough to reach over, not more than one hex (5ft) deep, and both the attacker and target are adjacent to the cover. If any of these things are not true, the attack cannot be made.
Characters leaning out of half-cover or full cover to make a ranged attack or perform some other action are considered to be in half-cover while performing that action.
Dealing Normal Damage
If a character successfully hits with an attack using a Normal weapon, the damage dice are 2d3. These are rolled and compared to the Damage Resistance (DR) value of the enemy's armor. Every weapon has an Armor Penetration (AP) value. This AP reduces the DR of armor before damage is applied. Therefore, the damage done to an enemy is Damage - (DR - AP).
Weapons are split into One-Handed and Two-Handed categories. Some One-Handed weapons may be wielded two-handed. Any melee weapon that is Two-Handed or a One-Handed weapon wielded in two hands has ADV on the damage roll. One-Handed weapons used this way also have increased AP.
Two-Weapon Fighting
Characters may choose to fight with a weapon in each hand as long as both are One-Handed weapons.
If a character without the Two-Weapon Fighting skill fights with a weapon in each hand, they may choose which weapon to attack with for each attack they have in a round, but cannot attack with both as part of a single attack. The Two-Weapon Mastery skill tree has more information on effective Two-Weapon fighting.
Dealing Element Damage
Element damage from manipulations or weapons imbued with an element do 2d4 damage and are affected by the DR of armor in the same way as Normal damage. However, the AP of the weapon or manipulation is also increased by the attacker's appropriate Element modifier. For example, a character wielding an arming sword imbued with Water would add their Water modifier to the AP of that weapon. In the same way, a Shaper would add their Water modifier to the base AP of an Element Bolt (Water) attack.
When attacking with a weapon or manipulation that has an element damage component, the order in which DR and Element Resistance (ER) are applied is important. If the target has the appropriate ER either through imbued armor or some other skill, the element damage of that type is reduced by the ER first, before other DR is affected. This is to ensure the full benefit of each kind of resistance is utilized.
Charged Weapons:
Charged weapons are rare and can only be used for a short time. Special machines are used to take a weapon imbued with an element and "charge" it with Fire. The Fire eats away at the element that the weapon is imbued with, eventually consuming it all and flickering out. Once the raw element has been consumed by the Fire, the weapon becomes a Normal weapon and must be imbued again. Charged weapons' damage dice are 2d6 rolled with ADV and ignore all resistance types.
When charged, these weapons smoke with hunger and must be stored in special tralaticon sheathes to prevent the energy from burning anything nearby. Blows from these weapons are devastating and cut through any known material with ease. Only the elite Sweep Teams of the Census Office are sanctioned to use them within the Conduit Cities and only during Incursions. Element Cults and other illegal outfits covet them, but the technology is arcane and guarded tightly by the Census Office. The Ergon Peoples shun these weapons and fear them. A simple cut from one of them will burn an Ergon Warrior who has taken an Elixir completely from the inside out as the Fire consumes the raw elements within them, leaving nothing but a smoking husk behind.
Critical Hits
When an attack roll comes up a natural 20, this is considered a critical hit. When this occurs, the DR and ER of the target's armor and shield are ignored. The damage roll for normal weapons is 2d6 and for imbued weapons it is 3d6 with a minimum damage equal to the maximum normal damage roll for that weapon. On every critical hit against a character and certain NPCs, there is also a chance to suffer an injury.
Attacks of Opportunity
Attacks of Opportunity represent moments in combat when a character or NPC is vulnerable while moving. If a character is not adjacent to a hostile NPC, they may make an Attack of Opportunity as a Reaction against an enemy that moves out of their reach with their current melee weapon. If the weapon in hand is not normally considered a melee weapon, like a crossbow, an attack can still be made but the damage die will be a d4, not whatever dice would be rolled if the weapon was used properly.
Overwhelm
Overwhelm is a specific Ready Action simulating surrounding or otherwise ganging up on a single target and attacking in concert to punch through their armor. Normally, every individual attack is made against the target's full DR and ER values, but Overwhelm circumvents that.
When an Overwhelm is declared, character's wishing to participate take a Ready Action to attack that target. Once this Ready Action is taken, the character cannot voluntarily move, take Reactions, or attack another target. In addition, until the Ready Action is triggered, enemies other than the target have ADV on attacks against them. When the last character participating in the Overwhelm takes their Ready Action to attack, all the characters attack at once. They roll to hit individually as normal, but all of their AP and Damage are combined as if from one attack.
Grappling
Grappling is an attempt to physically restrain or push another adjacent character. Grappling is always an opposed check. A character who is Incapacitated, Paralyzed, or otherwise helpless cannot make a Grapple check. Immobilized characters have DISADV on Grapple checks, as does any character with a Severe or Critical injury to an arm or leg. All characters involved in a Grapple roll a d20 and add their Dominant Element modifier. The character who has the higher result wins and Grapples the opponent. Tied results are inconclusive with neither combatant gaining the upper hand.
A character who successfully Grapples an opponent may attempt to move them during their next turn. Opposed rolls are made in the same way as above. If the Grappled character has a higher result, they escape and are no longer Grappled. If the character attempting to move has the higher result, they may move the opponent 5ft. If they beat the roll by 10 or more, they may move the opponent up to 10 ft. A natural 20 means they may move up to 15ft.
Attacks made into a Grapple where neither party is Grappled are dangerous. Misses of any kind hit the character who was not the intended target. Attacks made into a Grapple where one party is Grappled are more complicated. The characters involved in the Grapple count as half-cover for each other and attacks must be resolved based on the rules for cover.