I'm running through some combat examples to learn the basics and so far I've come up with a few questions (answers with a specific page number gets a cookie):

1. The basic action Melee Strike requires a melee weapon - what about unarmed combat?

2. I know that a player can opt to change his or her stance one step at the beginning of a round but I have been unable to verify if you are supposed to always start in the neutral stance or if you could just opt to be in a certain "depth" for story mode checks which would then be carried into combat?

3. Can the undead see in darkness, or rather, is it mentioned one way or the other in the rules?

4. Since it is a check to roll for initiative the universal effects apply, right?

5. When a card says "suffer the X condition for X rounds" when do you start to count the rounds? In the current round or from the following round, or from the round it effect the player?

Thank you for your time and answers and merry christmas too.

bladerunner_35 said:

1. I let unarmed combat be used with melee strike (and any other attacks that require a melee weapon. It is listed in the melee "weapons" table) others don't. They use perform a stunt, i think. There is also a special action card specifically for unarmed combat, can't remember name though, mighty blow perhaps?

2. Check the FAQ, but the basic answer is yes, if the GM allows stance to be used during story mode, this can be carried over into initiative.

3. Don't think it is mentioned; possibly in the fluff entries though? This kind of specific info is likely to be left in the hands of GM caveat.

4. Yep, think this is listed in FAQ too. It's worth having a read if you haven't already...

5. I would put X tracking tokens on it, apply effects immediately, and remove one token at the affected players end of turn phase as normal. So whether you count from this round or the next round differs depending if the condition appeared during the affected players turn or as a result of another characters actions.....

I have read through the FAQ now and it does indeed answer question 2 well enough.

5 still leaves me somewhat puzzled though. The FAQ describes how to do this in regards to action cards and it seems clear but the issue came up in a battle between a PC and a skeleton's overwhelmed ability.

If the PC goes first the skeleton's overwhelmed ability will only affect him in the next round and it is then removed as I read it RAW - one recharge token is removed from every card/ability etc. at the end of a turn, right?

If the PC goes second he is infact affected for two full turns.

For the sake of clarity I would prefer to do the same for everything but at the same time it seems wrong that an effect lasting for 2 rounds in practice only affects the PC for one round. A small issue perhaps but I am sure it crops up quite frequently.

Thanks for the answers pumpkin!

Not sure specifically what the Overwhelmed ability is but yes, in practice for NPC actions it is better for them to go first in a round because in the RAW they remove a token from ongoing actions at the end of every combat round (which FFG have presumably introduced to keep things simpler for the GM). This allows a 2 recharge effect to affect the PCS for 2 full rounds if the NPC goes first but only 1 round if the NPC goes second.

Note though that the PC removes their token from their actions at the end of their turn phase, so PCs are at a slight disadvantage to NPCs in this respect (all of their 2 recharge actions only ever last 1 turn in reality...).

You could track NPC actions like PC actions, but it's likely to bog combat down a bit more and in the big scheme of things the 2 rounds/1 round isue probably isn't too major a deal. Have your NPCs hit hard and fast, off loading A/C/E budget to try and take down the PCs quickly and if the PC survives that, then they should be able to turn the tide on the NPC when they retaliate. Mix this up occasionally with NPCs who are a bit more tactical, keeping back A/C/E budget until the PCs have no active defences available etc

The key is though to keep the combats quick and entertaining, IMO, rather than worrying too much about rules consistency for PCs vs NPC... that went out of the window as soon as FFG introduced an A/C/E budget anyway....

Good gaming.

pumpkin said:

Good points all around pumpkin, thanks a bunch for your thoughts!

1. The basic action Melee Strike requires a melee weapon - what about unarmed combat?

There are several Attack action cards that do not have a requirement for a melee weapon. Otherwise, as mentioned, Perform a Stunt would be the appropriate action card to use.

2. I know that a player can opt to change his or her stance one step at the beginning of a round but I have been unable to verify if you are supposed to always start in the neutral stance or if you could just opt to be in a certain "depth" for story mode checks which would then be carried into combat?

Hmm, I'm not sure where it is listed in the rulebook off-hand. Essentially, all PCs start combat in neutral stance. This is normal for Story mode, as most times PCs are neutral when in story mode. However, GMs might allow a PC to start combat in a particular stance position depending on conditions. For example, if it is roleplayed well, I sometimes allow my players to be a single step in a stance when in story mode.

3. Can the undead see in darkness, or rather, is it mentioned one way or the other in the rules?

I don't have my books here in front of me, but I don't believe it mentions anything regarding this. I would say that it is a GM choice, and could even be on a per-creature basis. As a GM, I'd most likely only give some sort of nightvision to higher-intelligence undead, such as vampires and mummies. Simple undead like skeletons and zombies probably wouldn't.

4. Since it is a check to roll for initiative the universal effects apply, right?

Yes.

5. When a card says "suffer the X condition for X rounds" when do you start to count the rounds? In the current round or from the following round, or from the round it effect the player?

As pumpkin said. Action cards remove token at the end of the current user's turn, so the same turn an action is used one token will be immediately removed once the PC/NPC is done acting. Condition cards remove tokens at the end of the round, ie after everyone has acted/used their turn in the current round.