Conflict and Combat

We taught you how to build your character in the previous section, now we're going to teach you how to resolve all those sticky situations that character's seems to get themselves in - in combat and out. All RPGs, set up a framework of physics for the character to operate in: rules regarding movement (distance and time), what actions you can and cannot perform (as well as how many), and the resolution of challenges.

Actions

Time is straightforward in Untold, the basic unit is a Round that equals twelve seconds "in-game" time (5 rounds = 1 minute in-game). Characters can perform one of five types of actions, and usually these actions are confined within a single round, but occasionally, some actions may span across one or more rounds.

Since a round is 12 seconds, your character can only perform specific actions within a round. Normally a character moves and performs a standard action.

Most actions taken by a character in combat will be represented by one of their various Power Cards. Remember that the Action required to activate the power is always in the center bar. However, some other actions characters may take are things like talking, planning, looking around, and as these are basic aspects of roleplaying they are not represented by cards.

Even if a Power Card is in play, the character still has to be able take the Action required by the Power to make it function. So you cannot play a Hot Swap power that requires a Standard Action if your character has already used their Standard action.

Duration

Durations are the lengths of time a Power Card's or action's effect exists.

Range

Ranges are the distances over which your Power Cards or actions are effective.

Movement

ALL creatures/characters with a Race or Minion Card can move 30 ft per round unless otherwise noted on their Race or Minion Card OR they have a Power Card that enhances this.

Power Types

Once a character takes an Action to use the Power, it takes effect as described in the rules box on the bottom of the power. The text in bold is the Power Type and describes the basic effect of the Power on the target. There are 8 power types and their basic effects are as follows:

Power Type	Basic Effect
Aegis	Target (usually your character) gains listed VIT bonus on card. If no VIT bonus is listed, follow instructions on Power Card.
Augmenting	Target (usually your character) gains listed bonuses (ATK, DEF, Aspect, etc.) on card. If no bonus is listed, follow instructions on Power Card.
Condition	Target suffers from listed condition once the appropriate Bane Card is played upon it.
Damaging	Target subtracts VIT from Power's MAG. Target then subtracts result from their Total UP.
Dominion	Each Dominion Power Card is unique; player should follow the information listed on the Power Card for details.
Draining	Target subtracts MAG from the Power/Bonus/etc. listed in parenthesis, power returns to target at a rate of 1/time period listed in parenthesis.
Healing	Target adds UP equal to the on-card MAG; UP returns instantly. Alternatively the Healing Power can be used to heal from a Draining Power instantly (instead of waiting the allotted time). For all bonuses the target regains 1 point of bonus for every 3 MAG. A specific Healing Power Card can only be used on a single character once per day.
Transition	Each Transition Power Card is unique; player should follow the information listed on the Power Card for details.

If no other text is listed in the rules section other than the Power Type than the effect happens as outlined above.

Die Rolls in Untold

So, what happens if you tried to use a Damaging or Condition Power on an unwilling target (though it may be tough to find a willing target)? That is the core of conflict and almost all conflicts are resolved with the roll of a 20-sided die in Untold. In fact there are only four types of rolls made:

The first three types of rolls may be required/used by a Power, but if the power doesn't have any rolls listed then the effect just happens as listed - its that simple! The last type of roll - the Check - is used by the GM to see how effectively your character performs certain actions, and the better the roll (with all bonuses applied, and multiple card bonuses may stack or have "Synergy") the better the result. Checks and Contests should be based upon cards listed as Traits or Skills (we've kept this to a minimum in Untold - we consider the Core to be what we've offered in Basic Traits and Basic Skills).

That's the basics, now we'll step through part of a round of Untold combat to show you all the rules in action!

Quick Combat Example

A "round" in combat in Untold:

1. Before the round starts all combatants roll Initiative: d20 + Aspect Boost bonus (Aspect of choice) + Power bonus (if applicable); Initiative stays the same until combat ends
2. Character with the highest Initiative goes first, play progresses to the character or minion with the lowest Initiative
3. First character selects Power Card effect with which an attack will be made.
4. Effect occurs as per Power Card
5. Target is hit or not, as per the To Hit Roll; If present on the Power Card it will be listed directly after the Power Type, and if it isn't present no Roll is required!
6. Power Card effect occurs, as per Power Card Type (see Section 5.3) or information on Power Card.
1. If applicable:a.Damaged character Downgrades OR
2. GM bestows Bane (Condition) Cards OR
3. Overcomes are attempted OR
4. Drain affects character OR
5. Player bestows Aid Card
7. Play moves to character or minion with the next highest Initiative.

Play Example

For our short example Toa (as we built him earlier) is going to face off against a nasty ghoul! We don't know how the ghoul is built - that's the Gms secret - but Toa isn't easily shaken.

Everything starts with Initiative:
Player:Toa is going to add his Soul Boost to his roll because he wants to save his Body Boost for his Club!
GM:The ghoul actually has a power that enhances his Initiative by 4.

• Toa gets a 8+1 = 9, while the ghoul rolls a 9+4 = 11 - The ghoul goes first!

GM: Ok the ghoul goes first. It launches itself at the mighty Toa - vile saliva dripping from its slavering jaws its black claws aiming for the unprotected flesh of the Island Warrior!
Player: Wait - I'm going to play "Shrug It Off!" It s a Hot Swap and it is a Free Action, so I can play it at any time!
GM: Do you have the UP?
Player:Yes, my Hot Swap Buffer is 16 - I can play Shrug It Off 2! That gives me an extra 6 VIT!
GM: OK, you're going to need it! My ghoul is playing Piercing Claws 2! It is a Damaging Power and it requires a roll to hit - I add Body ATK to my roll, you add Body DEF to yours.

• Toa: 10+2 = 12, Ghoul: 11+3=14

GM: A-ha! The ghoul hits! I get a bigger MAG thanks to boosting, and you can only subtract half your VIT from this damage.
Player:So I take 7 damage. (13 MAG (from claws) - 12/2 (VIT) = 7 UP damage)
GM: Correct - so since your Hot Swap Buffer was full, now you have to Downgrade.

Downgrading

Downgrading is another fundamental mechanic of Untold. There are no secondary damage tracking values in Untold - when your character gets hurt you temporarily subtract that number from your characters total UP. If that new total is less than the cards that you have in play - you have to remove some cards from play, effectively making your character weaker - that's called downgrading.

So with the above example: Toa took 7 UP damage, he had 50 total UP, that leaves him with 43 UP. He had 50 UP in play, with Shrug It Off 2, so I have to Downgrade. I decide to lower my Hot Swap Buffer by the 7 damage to 9, and I have to remove Shrug It Off 2 because I don't have enough UP to play it. Lowing your Hot Swap Buffer limits the powers you can play, but does not take away any core bonuses. There is no single way to Downgrade though - we could have removed Mountain's Blessing, or lowered Body 3 to Body 2. That's the power of the Downgrading, how your character takes damage is all up to you!

Bane Cards

In Untold taking damage isn't the only negative thing that can happen to your character, and it isn't always the best way to take down a big and nasty opponent either. Draining Powers temporarily lowers the core bonuses of a target, and can very quickly render that target helpless. Also, Condition Powers, may be used to bestow negative conditions that may reduce the target's core bonuses, or worse. These negative conditions are represented in-game through Bane Cards.

The way Bane Cards work is simple – if you receive one as a Player, you must immediately put the card in play as a part of your Character Deck. This will usually result in your character receiving various penalties, which must be subtracted from your character's applicable bonuses (i.e. ATK, DEF, Aspect Bonuses, etc.). Also, all on-card notes must be followed by the character until the card is no longer in play. Bane cards are put in play and removed from play (usually through an Overcome roll) as stipulated by the parent Condition Power.

Read more about Bane Cards.

Healing

Remember - we said that damage and Downgrading was temporary. Almost all healing is handled in Untold through Healing Power Cards. They allow a character to recover from damage and from drains quickly, but if a player doesn't have any of those Power Cards in their possession, or do not have the available UP to put those types of Power Cards into play, there is still hope for them. Every character in Untold possesses the ability to heal naturally, given a certain amount time. Characters normally regain lost UP at a rate of 1 UP plus 1 UP per total Aspect rank per day.

So in the above example: If Toa slays the Ghoul without taking any more damage he has to heal naturally because he doesn't have any Healing Power Cards that we can play. Since he has a Body 3 and a Soul 1 card in play - he would heal 5 UP per in-game day!