Post by Ikon on Apr 30, 2010 21:51:38 GMT -8
Basic Combat Rules
These are basic rules that dictate the flow of Werewolf combat in every situation unless otherwise stated by certain gifts, abilities, or ST discretion.
1. DICE POOLS: Every basic roll is made up of two pools. A stat (usually an Attribute) and an Ability. In order to determine number of successes, first add the total number of dice from each pool and then divide by two and round up.
NOTE: Secondary’s are rolled IN PLACE OF a relevant ability. (I.e. Archery INSTEAD of firearms for shooting a bow)
Ex. John attacks bob with a sword. John has a Dex of 3 and a melee of 2. His total dice pools is 5(5 divided by 2 is 2.5, rounded up to 3) therefore he starts with 3 successes to hit.
B. DAMAGE: Str + Successes Carried over from attack + Weapon modifier + Fetishes, gifts etc.
NOTE: Carry-over is determined by subtracting one success from your total successes to hit and then adding the remaining successes to your damage dice pool. Also, should someone use a defensive action, their successes subtract from your successes to hit. If you have no remaining successes after the enemy’s successes have been determined, you fail to hit and your action ends.
Ex. Bob decided not to dodge, therefore, because John hit bob, he now must calculate his damage. John’s Str in Crinos is 8. John’s sword also has a modifier or Str +2. John now Adds his Strength (8) to his carry over (John’s carry over is two, since he had 3 successes to hit) and adds this sum to his weapon modifier (2). Johns total damage dice pool is 12 (8+2+2) putting his successes to hit at 6 (12 divided by 2 equals 6).
C. SOAK: Sta + Armor + Gifts
NOTE: Fire and Lightning cannot be soaked by armor. Also, any gift that exclusively gives you soak does not stack with another gift that exclusively gives you soak.
Ex. Because Bob got hit by John, Bob now has to soak 6 damage. Bob has stamina of 6 in Crinos and also has an armored shirt on giving him 2 additional dice of armor. Bob also had the insight to activate Luna’s Armor before the fight began and achieved 3 successes on the activation giving him 3 additional dice of soak. Bob now adds all these pools together (6+2+3=11 divided by 2 equals 6). Bob has 6 successes to soak the damage John has dealt to him. [/ul]2. RAGE: One can spend a variable number of rage equal to half their permanent rage rounded up in order to gain extra actions. This restriction ONLY applies to extra actions. Should one wish to spend rage to shift, activate a gift, or ignore a stunned state, this is a separate expenditure.
Note: No Gift requiring concentration can be activated on an extra action gained by spending Rage.
Ex. John has a rage of 5. John decided to spend three points of rage to gain three additional actions in addition to his standard action. John also wishes to shift to Crinos as the fight begins so he spends an additional rage. John has spent 4 rage total, but only 3 of it was to gain extra actions.
3. GNOSIS: Gnosis can be spent in order to activate gifts, fetishes, or talens. There is no limit to the amount of Gnosis that can be spent in a turn.
Note: Most fetishes and talens can be activated by simply rolling your permanent Gnosis rating. But should you decide to spend Gnosis to activate a talen or fetish, not only does it activate instantly, but if there is an effect based on # of successes, it is treated as if you had gained your permanent Gnosis rating in successes.
4. WILLPOWER: Willpower can be spent ONCE per round to gain an additional success on ANY roll excluding Gift activation and Damage. This, like rage, does not limit willpower expenditure to activate gifts or to resist certain mental effects.
5. NO DUAL SPENDING: Gnosis and Rage CANNOT be spent or rolled in the same round.
Note: The only exceptions to this rule are when someone has spent Gnosis in a round and is then taken to incapacitated, they may make a rage roll in order to regenerate, but in doing so they forfeit any gnosis spent. Also, some gifts require Gnosis AND Rage to be spent to activate the gift. In these cases NO further rage or Gnosis may be spent that turn.
6. FRENZY: A character can frenzy whenever ANY rage roll is made. At storyteller discretion, a frenzy can either be a berserk frenzy or a fox frenzy. Garou with permanent rage ratings lower than four can frenzy, but only under extreme circumstances. If a Garou achieves six or more successes on a frenzy check she enters the “Thrall of the Wyrm” at which point you must hand your character sheet to the ST and hope for the best.
Note: Should a Garou achieve enough successes for a frenzy but not enough for a thrall, she may immediately spend a point of willpower to “choke” off the frenzy, but in doing so she will be unable to act until the beginning of the next round of combat.
If, however, her permanent Rage exceeds her permanent Gnosis, she attacks anything that moves, and she can make no distinction between targets unless her player spends a Willpower point. If such is the case, the Storyteller can direct her as to which target to attack. In addition, such Garou do not remember what happens to them during frenzy. Often, they collapse when the frenzy ends.
B. FOX FRENZY: Entering a fox frenzy means that the character flees in terror for her life. She shifts to Lupus form and runs, attacking anything that gets in her way (although more with the intention of getting past than of killing). Once the character reaches a safe hiding place, she will remain there until the frenzy passes.
In either frenzy, special maneuvers and pack tactics are impossible. The extent of the werewolf s attack capability is to bite, claw or run. The character may spend Rage for extra actions, but he may not split dice pools. Using Gifts in frenzy is normally impossible, as is stepping sideways. A werewolf does not suffer from pain in frenzy, though, so he ignores all wound penalties. Coming out of frenzy requires that the situation that triggered it be over. When the trigger event is over, the player may roll Willpower (difficulty of the Garou's own Rage) to escape the frenzy. Even if this roll fails, she may try again each turn.[/ul]7. DAMAGE TYPES: There are three damage types in werewolf. Bashing, Lethal, and Aggravated damage.
Note: Garou cannot soak lethal or aggravated damage in their breed form unless their breed is Metis.
B. LETHAL: Lethal damage is exactly that — damage that will kill most living things quickly. Knives, bullets and even some blunt weapons attacks (a club swung by a Garou in Crinos form, for example) inflict lethal damage. Lethal damage is difficult for mortals to heal, although Garou regenerate such wounds quickly. Lethal damage should be marked with an "X" in the appropriate box.
C. AGGRIVATED: Aggravated damage usually comes from a supernatural source — the teeth and claws of werewolves, the fangs of vampires, most fetish weapons and any silver weapon inflicts aggravated damage to werewolves. Aggravated damage takes quite a while for even Garou to heal, and it cannot be regenerated. It can be soaked, however, in any form except the characters breed form. Aggravated damage is best marked with an "*" on the character sheet.[/ul]8. ARMOR: Wearing armor can greatly increase a Garou’s survivability as it gives additional dice to soak and in some cases allows a Garou to soak damage that she normally would be unable to soak. Should you take a number of health levels of damage after soak greater than the amount of dice a piece of armor gives you, the armor will begin to break. This is represented by subtracting 1 die from the amount of soak said piece of armor gives you. Should a piece of armor reach a rating of zero, it is completely broken and beyond repair.
Note: Armor cannot soak Fire or electric damage. It also does not help you against poisons, diseases, suffocation, or anything else directly affecting your endurance.
9. HEALING: A Garou not in their breed form (excluding Metis) can make a stamina roll (difficulty 8) at the end of any round and achieving at least one success on this roll will allow the Garou to immediately heal 1 health level of lethal or bashing damage. Metis can make this roll in any form.
10. SILVER: Silver is considered aggravated no matter how it is delivered (i.e. Bullets, swords, bats, etc.) Silver can only be soaked by armor or specific gifts. Silver can also be soaked in your breed form if it would normally be bashing unless you are Metis, in which case silver can NEVER be soaked naturally.
11. INCAPACITATION: If a Werewolf suffers damage that takes her beyond Incapacitated, she is critically wounded and near death. Also, any Garou taken BEYOND incapacitated with ANY form of damage can choose to channel their rage to heal and continue the fight.
B. INCAP FROM LETHAL: If the damage that takes the character past Incapacitated is lethal damage, the character reverts to her breed form and collapses. Another health level of any kind will kill her unless she channels her Rage to remain active. If she is not injured further, but not tended to, she will regenerate very slowly, regaining a health level every eight hours until she regains consciousness enough to change to a form that regenerates fully(Metis heal as normal). This system is the only form of regeneration available to non-Metis werewolves in their breed forms, and it is the source of the myth that werewolves can't be killed with guns. (They obviously can, but it takes some doing.)
A. INCAP FROM AGGRIVATED: If the damage that takes the character past Incapacitated is aggravated, she will die unless she channels her Rage to remain active.[/ul]12. REMAINING ACTIVE (Raging Up): A Garou that has been critically injured can utilize their rage to remain active. This is known as “Raging Up”. A Garou who goes beyond the incapacitated health level and chooses to rage up must IMMEDIATELY (as soon as the damage has been dealt) roll her permanent rage (difficulty 8) and each success will heal 1 health level of damage regardless of damage type. A character who chooses to rage up is still prone to frenzy and can take no other actions until the next round of combat.
There are many exceptions in White Wolf combat, and if you’re unable to figure out what to do, ASK SOMEONE. There are ST’s and combat advocates available who understand the combat system very well. Just ask.
(My thanks to Adam for this)