Normal Combat Sequence

Note that a simplified version of these rules appears on the “Common Sequences” reference on the reverse of your Group Information Sheet.

The sequence of events listed here is for one round of Combat; frequently Combat will go on for more than one round, in which case you simply cycle through this sequence a second, third, fourth time, etc. Once the Combat ends, however—either by being called off, or by the Retreat or Death of one participant—there cannot be a new Combat until the next player’s turn.

1. Declare Use of Weapons

You may have noticed by now that the Catalog contains a few Weapons. If you have one, and you’re planning to use it in this round of Combat, now’s the time to say so. You may only use one Weapon per round of combat. Use of Weapons must be declared each round.

2. Calculate Whup-Ass

At this stage, both participants calculate their Whup-Ass Factor. Your Personal Data Form has three “Combat Workspace” areas that will help you through this process. Essentially, your Whup-Ass Factor is the sum of two numbers—your Power, divided by ten (round down) plus your Intelligence, divided by 100 (round down). Sometimes, in the heat of battle, people get perplexed by the mechanics of dividing and rounding, so you can simply drop the final digit from your Power and the final two digits from your Intelligence, and add the two resultant numbers.

Here’s an example... Alice and Bob are engaged in Combat. Alice has a Power of 500 and an Intelligence of 400. She drops the final digit from her Power, yielding 50, which she enters in the appropriate blank in the Combat Workspace.

In most cases, your Whup-Ass Factor will be a two-digit number: very powerful players may end up with three-digit numbers.

3. Make Combat Rolls

To continue with our earlier example, Alice, with a Whup-Ass Factor of 54, is the underdog, so she rolls first. On that roll, Alice rolls a three, which goes in the “ones’ space,” conveniently labeled “1st die” on the Combat Workspace.

Then Alice rolls a six, which she puts in the “tens’ space”—conveniently labeled “2nd die” on the Combat Workspace. This leaves her with a pretty formidable 63 for her Combat Roll.

She adds that 63 to her Whup-Ass Factor. 54 plus 63 is 107, and that is Alice’s Combat Total. Yikes!

Bob rolls a four first and then a three—so that’s a 34—and adds it to his Whup-Ass Factor of 62, yielding a 96. Close, but no cigar! Alice’s Combat Total is higher, which means that she wins, and gets to deal Damage, covered in Step Four below. Whichever player has the highest Combat Total is the winner of this round of the Combat.

One important note: If you roll a naturally occurring 11 for your Combat Roll you automatically lose the round; similarly, if you roll a naturally occurring 66 for your Combat Roll you automatically win the round. Naturally occurring 66s or 11s rolled for Combat Rolls cannot be modified by any Group’s Special Ability, and 66s or 11s produced by Special Abilities do not count as “naturally occurring.” Once a 66 or an 11 is rolled, the Combat immediately resolves for that round, and no additional die rolls are thrown.

In the event of a tie, the player with the higher Intelligence is the winner.

4. Deal Damage

The player who won the round rolls the twenty-sided Damage die and multiplies the sum by ten. This is the Damage dealt in the round; this number is subsequently modified by any Weapons in use or other applicable Damage modifiers (Cards, Special Abilities, etc.) and then subtracted from the losing player’s Power (but not Power Maximum).

Continuing our previous example, Alice rolls a twenty-sided die and gets a 12. Bob takes 120 points of damage and reduces his Power to 480. (Note that this also means he would need to re-calculate his Whup-Ass Factor the next time he engages in Combat. With a Power of 480 and an Intelligence of 200, his Whup-Ass is now only 50, making him less likely to win the next round of Combat.)

If Damage reduces a player’s Power to zero, that player has Died (see “Death” under “Things That Suck” on page 19) and the Combat draws to a close. Otherwise, go on to Step Five. Keep in mind that no Statistic can ever drop below zero.

5. Continue or Call It Off

Each participant must declare, at this stage, whether they wish to continue the Combat or whether they are interested in calling it off. The player that won the round must declare first, although either player may Wheel and Deal prior to declaring. If both players are interested in continuing, the players go back to Step One of this sequence. Remember that the player who took Damage will need to recalculate his or her Whup-Ass Factor in Step Two.

If both players are interested in calling it off, the Combat ends with no loss of face to either party.

If the players disagree — if one wants to call it off and the other wants to continue — the one who wants to call it off has the option to Retreat, covered below in Step Six. If that player opts not to Retreat, he or she must fight, and the Combat cycles back to Step One.

To continue with our example: Alice, heartened by her unexpected good luck, decides she wants to keep fighting. Bob is scared, wounded, and freaked out, and he decides he’d prefer not to fight Alice for another round. He offers her all his money in an attempt to get her to call it off, but he only has $30, and she scoffs at his pitiful offer. Bob remains unwilling to fight for another round, so he must Retreat.

6. Retreating (Optional)

If you’re Retreating, your opponent (the one you’re Retreating from) gains 200 points of Influence. Place your piece three squares ahead of your opponent. “Ahead” means that you are now also traveling in the same direction as your assailant, regardless of what direction you were previously traveling in. (If your assailant’s direction had not been determined at the time of the Combat, he or she must declare it before you can resolve this step.) You do not take the effects of the square you land on when you Retreat, although you do trigger any “secondary” game effects that might be triggered by traveling to that square or landing on it, For instance, if you Retreat into a square containing an opponent bearing a Warrant for your arrest, that opponent may opt to have you arrested.