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| Combat Guide | |
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Fighting is a way of life, and death, in GemStone III
. Since you may be spending a lot of time in battle, there are many factors to keep in mind.
Attacking Monsters and Characters
Your adventures in GemStone III will require you to battle many beasts and evil non-playing characters (NPCs). As a 1st level character, you'll find that many creatures seem hard to damage because you haven't yet gained real experience in combat. To advance, you should start with non-intelligent creatures such as normal animals, then work up to combat-hardened creatures such as orcs or monstrous creatures such as mammoth arachnids, golems, or the dread banshee. ATTACK To begin or join combat, you use the "ATTACK" or "KILL" command. A weapon must be held in the right hand to be used in combat. If the weapon requires two hands, you must leave your left hand empty (and it is then assumed to be holding the sword when in combat as well). Examples: ATTACK ORC KILL SECOND GOBLIN The use of shields in combat gives you extra protection. You use your shield to fend off strikes by carrying it in your left hand. When you do, the shield is automatically factored into combat results. Round Times and Combat Factors Round Times A round is the time it takes to execute a single combat maneuver or action. Once you attack or act, it is followed by a Round Time, an interval of a number of seconds (usually between 5 and 10) during which you can perform no other activity until the round time caused by the first activity has been completed. Combat Factors In combat, there are many factors that affect the power and severity of a strike or attack. You also have several ways of defending yourself. The weapon wielded by the attacker is compared to the armor used by the defender and a modification is made dependent on this comparison. For instance, it is difficult for a dagger to penetrate the protection of platemail, so this would have a negative Attack vs. Defense (AvD) comparison. However, a lightning bolt against platemail would have a positive AvD. Example: Cyper has an AS of 350 with his lightning bolt. Raemus has a DS of 150 in his platemail. The Attack vs Defense comparison determines an AvD of +45, and finally a d100 roll is made. This attack would look like this: AS 350 - DS 150 + AvD 45 + d100 (50) = 295 A hit, by 195 points. Raemus, angry at being hit with a lightning bolt, swings his long knife at Cyper. Raemus. He has an AS of 275 with his knife; Cyper is wearing robes and has a DS of 150. The AvD determines that it is pretty easy for a knife to penetrate robes (+15), and a roll is made to hit: AS 275 - DS 150 + AvD 15 + d100 (50) = 190 A hit, by 90 points. Basic Weapon Types The basic types of weapons are Edged, Blunt, Two-Handed, Ranged, Thrown, and Polearms. If you have training in one weapon type, your skill bonus will not apply to using another type of weapon. For instance, if you have only trained in edged weapons, you can use a short sword to take advantage of your skill bonus, but using a halberd (type of polearm) will not give you any bonus. The amount and type of damage inflicted when a weapon hits is affected by the category of armor it had to penetrate. STANCE Stance allows your character to choose how much of your attack will be put into your Attack Strength (AS) and how much you reserve for your Defense Strength (DS): Outcome of a single attack can be resolved in several ways, according to combat rolls, modified by the Attack Strength (AS) and Defense Strength (DS) of the attacker and target, a comparison of the Attack Type versus the Defense Type (AvD), and random rolls, including skill bonus factors involved. The mundane or magical properties of armor and weapons also come into play. If a blow lands, it can result in the target being stunned; losing health points; or receiving a severe strike to a specific area of its body, doing additional damage. Also, weapons, shields, and/or armor can be damaged or broken when they clash against each other. Fumble A particularly poor attack will result in a fumble. It will put the attacker at a slight disadvantage, since it does no damage yet still requires the attacker to wait one round before attacking again. Miss A miss is just the complete lack of hitting the target, without any negative effect on the attacker. You must still wait the indicated round time before attempting to strike again. Clash Contact of arms and armor is the result of some misses and strikes to areas that are covered by armor. Clashes can result in weapons striking each other instead of the targets, weapons striking shields and inflicting damage on the shield rather than the wearer, and weapon breakage. The chance that a weapon, shield, or piece of armor will become damaged depends on the amount of damage it has already received and its inherent strength. The more an object is damaged, the more likely it will receive further damage or completely break in the future. It is possible to repair damaged weapons, shields, and armor. Health Damage Health damage is caused by weapon hits and aimed spell hits. It is the amount of damage inflicted to cause pain, bleeding, shock, trauma, and ultimately death. Each character and creature can withstand a certain amount of health damage before the total accumulation and modifying factors result in death. Severe Damage Every time a blow is struck, a hit location is generated randomly, and then a message is given to describe the amount of damage done, the type of damage done (a sword hit, a fire attack, etc), and the area to which the damage was delivered. As more and more damage is done, these messages become more urgent. Targets who are struck in the eye need to take very little damage before they are stunned. Targets who are struck in the arm cannot be killed that way (although the arm could be cut off). Damage messages will tend to vary, but strikes to the head, neck, and other critical areas produce more urgent messages than strikes to the hand, leg, and other less-vital areas. Severe Damage to Creatures Certain types of unusual creatures are subject to different types of damage. Mainly, if the creature is larger or smaller than your average monster, has a different number of limbs than normal, such as a spider, or is otherwise significantly different from a humanoid in its form, then the message given will be different. For instance, it is difficult to hit very large creatures in the head and neck (for those areas are out of reach). Thus, when a random hit location is generated on very large creatures, the random hit location will be weighted towards the lower torso and limbs of the creature (unless, of course, it has been knocked down). Stun Result Severe damage to some areas may stun the target. A stunned target cannot move or change its defensive options for the given number of rounds. An attack against a stunned target will also be easier, since stunned targets may not easily defend themselves. Bleeding Severe damage to some areas may cause bleeding in that area as well, simulated by a Health Point Damage / Round representation. For instance, if a severe blow breaks the arm of an opponent, that opponent may bleed at 2 Health per Round, meaning that every round they will take an additional 2 points of health damage until that wound has been healed or bandaged. Bleeding will not stop on its own, and your character could bleed to death if their wounds are not healed. However, the First Aid skill can stop the loss of health point damage due to bleeding if it is successfully applied (via the "TEND" command). Death The most severe hits can result in the instantaneous death of a character even if that hit did not damage the target enough to bring their health points to 0. Some severe hits can kill in a single strike. To learn more about how to deal with injuries and death, see the Healing Injuries guide. |
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