Combat

Basics of Combat
 * Combat is cyclical; everybody acts in turn in a regular cycle of rounds. Combat follows this sequence:

Terms and Formulae
 * 1) Each combatant starts out flat-footed. Once a combatant acts, he is no longer flat-footed.
 * 2) Determine which characters are aware of their opponents at the start of the battle. If some but not all of the combatants are aware of their opponents, a surprise round happens before regular rounds of combat begin. The combatants who are aware of the opponents can act in the surprise round, so they roll for initiative. In initiative order (highest to lowest), combatants who started the battle aware of their opponents each take one action (either a Standard Action or a move action) during the surprise round. Combatants who were unaware do not get to act in the surprise round. If no one or everyone starts the battle aware, there is no surprise round.
 * 3) Combatants who have not yet rolled initiative do so. All combatants are now ready to begin their first regular round of combat.
 * 4) Combatants act in initiative order (highest to lowest).
 * 5) When everyone has had a turn, the combatant with the highest initiative acts again, and steps 4 and 5 repeat until combat ends.
 * Attack Roll
 * An attack roll represents your attempt to strike your opponent on your turn in a round. When you make an attack roll, you roll a d20 and add your attack bonus. (Other modifiers may also apply to this roll.) If your result equals or beats the target’s Armor Class, you hit and deal damage.


 * Epic Wins
 * A natural 20 (the d20 comes up 20) is always a hit.


 * Epic Fails
 * A natural 1 (the d20 comes up 1) on an attack roll will also hit, but not in the way the character intended. Example: A player tosses a net above a nearby enemy. The net falls down trapping the enemy and the character who threw it.


 * Attack Modifier
 * Your Attack Modifier with a melee weapon is:
 * Base Attack Modifier + Strength Modifier + Size Modifier
 * With a ranged weapon, your attack bonus is:


 * Base Attack Modifier + Dexterity Modifier + Size Modifier + range penalty

Table: Size Modifiers to Attack
 * Base Attack Modifier
 * A Base Attack Modifier is an attack roll bonus derived from character class and level or creature type and Hit Dice (or combinations thereof). Base Attack Modifiers increase at different rates for different character classes and creature types. A second attack is gained when a Base Attack Modifier reaches +4. Base Attack Modifiers gained from different sources (multi-classing) stack.


 * Damage
 * When your attack succeeds, you deal damage. The type of weapon used determines the amount of damage you deal. Effects that modify weapon damage apply to unarmed strikes and the natural physical attack forms of creatures.
 * Damage reduces a target’s current hit points.


 * Minimum Damage
 * If penalties reduce the damage result to less than 1, a hit still deals 1 point of damage.


 * Strength Bonus
 * When you hit with a melee or thrown weapon, including a sling, add your Strength Modifier to the damage result. A Strength penalty, but not a bonus, applies on attacks made with a bow that is not a composite bow.


 * Off-Hand Weapon
 * When you deal damage with a weapon in your off hand, you add only ½ your Strength bonus.


 * Wielding a Weapon Two-Handed


 * When you deal damage with a weapon that you are wielding two-handed, you add 1½ times your Strength bonus. However, you don’t get this higher Strength bonus when using a light weapon with two hands.


 * Multiplying Damage
 * Sometimes you multiply damage by some factor, such as on a critical hit. Roll the damage (with all modifiers) multiple times and total the results. Note: When you multiply damage more than once, each multiplier works off the original, unmultiplied damage.
 * Exception: Extra damage dice over and above a weapon’s normal damage are never multiplied.


 * Ability Damage
 * Certain creatures and magical effects can cause temporary ability damage (a reduction to an ability score).


 * Armor Class
 * Your Armor Class (AC) represents how hard it is for opponents to land a solid, damaging blow on you. It’s the attack roll result that an opponent needs to achieve to hit you. Your AC is equal to the following:
 * 10 + Armor Modifier + Shield Modifier + Dexterity Modifier + Size Modifier Note that armor limits your Dexterity Modifier, so if you’re wearing armor, you might not be able to apply your whole Dexterity Modifier to your AC.


 * Other Modifiers
 * Many other factors modify your AC.


 * Enhancement Modifiers
 * Enhancement effects make your armor better.


 * Deflection Modifier
 * Magical deflection effects ward off attacks and improve your AC.


 * Natural Armor
 * Natural armor improves your AC.


 * Dodge Modifiers
 * Some other AC modifiers represent actively avoiding blows. These bonuses are called dodge bonuses. Any situation that denies you your Dexterity Modifier also denies you your Dodge Modifier. (Wearing armor, however, does not limit these modifiers the way it limits a Dexterity Modifier to AC.) Unlike most sorts of modifiers, Dodge Modifiers stack with each other.


 * Flat-Footedness
 * There are times when you cannot use your Dexterity Modifier (if you have one). If you cannot react to a blow because you were caught unaware or by an unseen opponent, do not apply your Dexterity Modifier to your AC, if positive. A negative Dexterity Modifier still applies.
 * This adjusted AC is your Flat-Footed AC. When an ability or attack refers to you being “Flat-Footed”, this is the AC you use.


 * Touch Attacks
 * Some attacks disregard armor, including shields and natural armor. In these cases, the attacker makes a touch attack roll (either ranged or melee). When you are the target of a touch attack, your AC doesn’t include any armor bonus, shield bonus, or natural armor bonus. All other modifiers, such as your Size Modifier, Dexterity Modifier, and dodge modifier (if any) apply normally.
 * This adjusted AC is your Touch AC. It applies in any situation where contact is all that is necessary for an attack to succeed.


 * Hit Points
 * When your hit points reach 0, you’re disabled. When it reaches -1, you’re unconscious.


 * Speed
 * Your speed tells you how far you can move in a round and still do something, such as attack or cast a spell. Your speed depends mostly on your race and what armor you’re wearing.
 * If you use two move actions in a round (sometimes called a “double move” action), you can move up to double your speed. If you spend the entire round to run all out, you can move up to quadruple your speed (or triple if you are in heavy armor).


 * Saving Throws
 * Generally, when you are subject to an unusual or magical attack, you get a Saving Throw to avoid or reduce the effect. Like an attack roll, a Saving Throw is a d20 roll plus a bonus based on your class, level, and an ability score. Your Saving Throw modifier is:
 * Base save bonus + ability modifier


 * Base Save Bonus
 * A Saving Throw modifier derived from character class and level. Base save bonuses increase at different rates for different character classes. Base save bonuses gained from different classes, such as when a character is a multi-class character, stack.


 * Saving Throw Types
 * The three different kinds of Saving Throws are Fortitude, Reflex, and Will:


 * Fortitude Saves: measure your ability to stand up to physical punishment or attacks against your vitality and health. Apply your Constitution Modifier to your Fortitude Saving Throws.
 * Reflex Saves: test your ability to dodge area attacks. Apply your Dexterity Modifier to your Reflex Saving Throws.
 * Will Saves: reflect your resistance to mental influence as well as many magical effects. Apply your Wisdom modifier to your Will Saving Throws.
 * Saving Throw Difficulty Class


 * The DC for a save is determined by the attack itself.


 * Epic Failures and Successes
 * A natural 20 (the d20 comes up 20) is always a success. A natural 1 (the d20 comes up 1) on a Saving Throw is always a success, but not in the way the saving character would have intended. Example: A character making a Reflex Save to avoid a Quad Heat blast manages to jump clear of the blast, but has his hair incinerated in the process.

Initiative
Initiative Checks
 * At the start of a battle, each combatant makes an Initiative Check. An Initiative Check is a Dexterity Check. Each character applies his Dexterity Modifier to the roll. Characters act in order, counting down from highest result to lowest. In every round that follows, the characters act in the same order (unless a character takes an action that results in his initiative changing; see Special Initiative Actions).
 * If two or more combatants have the same Initiative Check result, the combatants who are tied act in order of total Initiative Modifier (highest first). If there is still a tie, the tied characters should roll again to determine which one of them goes before the other.


 * Flat-Footed
 * At the start of a battle, before you have had a chance to act (specifically, before your first regular turn in the initiative order), you are flat-footed. You can’t use your Dexterity bonus to AC (if any) while flat-footed. Characters with the Uncanny Dodge extraordinary ability avoid losing their Dexterity bonus to AC due to being flat-footed.


 * Inaction
 * Even if you can’t take actions, you retain your initiative score for the duration of the encounter.


 * Surprise
 * When a combat starts, if you are not aware of your opponents and they are aware of you, you’re surprised.

Determining Advantage
 * Sometimes all the combatants on a side are aware of their opponents, sometimes none are, and sometimes only some of them are. Sometimes a few combatants on each side are aware and the other combatants on each side are unaware. Regardless, aware opponents always have the advantage on unaware opponents.
 * If you are unsure about awareness, have all parties roll Awareness, and give advantage to the group or characters that roll better.

The Surprise Round
 * If some but not all of the combatants are aware of their opponents, a surprise round happens before regular rounds begin. Any combatants aware of the opponents can act in the surprise round, so they roll for initiative. In initiative order (highest to lowest), combatants who started the battle aware of their opponents each take a Standard Action during the surprise round. You can also take free actions during the surprise round. If no one or everyone is surprised, no surprise round occurs.

Unaware Combatants
 * Combatants who are unaware at the start of battle don’t get to act in the surprise round. Unaware combatants are flat-footed because they have not acted yet, so they lose any Dexterity bonus to AC.

Actions In combat
The Combat Round
 * Each round represents 6 seconds in the game world. A round presents an opportunity for each character involved in a combat situation to take an action.


 * Each round’s activity begins with the character with the highest initiative result and then proceeds, in order, from there. Each round of a combat uses the same initiative order. When a character’s turn comes up in the initiative sequence, that character performs his entire round’s worth of actions. (For exceptions, see Special Initiative Actions.)


 * For almost all purposes, there is no relevance to the end of a round or the beginning of a round. A round can be a segment of game time starting with the first character to act and ending with the last, but it usually means a span of time from one round to the same initiative count in the next round. Effects that last a certain number of rounds end just before the same initiative count that they began on.

Action Types
 * An action’s type essentially tells you how long the action takes to perform (within the framework of the 6-second combat round) and how movement is handled. There are seven types of actions: Standard Actions, move actions, full-round actions, free actions, swift actions, late actions, and immediate actions.
 * In a normal round, you can perform a Standard Action, a move action, and a swift action or you can perform a full-round action and a swift action. You can also perform one or more free actions. You can always take a move action in place of a Standard Action.
 * In some situations (such as in a surprise round), you may be limited to taking only a single move action or Standard Action.


 * Standard Action
 * A Standard Action allows you to do something, most commonly make an attack or cast a spell. See Table: Standard Actions for other Standard Actions.


 * Move Action
 * A move action allows you to move your speed or perform an action that takes a similar amount of time. See Table: Move Actions.
 * You can take a move action in place of a Standard Action. If you move no actual distance in a round (commonly because you have swapped your move for one or more equivalent actions), you can take one 5-foot step either before, during, or after the action.


 * Full-Round Action
 * A full-round action consumes all your effort during a round. The only movement you can take during a full-round action is a 5-foot step before, during, or after the action. You can also perform free actions (see below).
 * Some full-round actions do not allow you to take a 5-foot step.
 * Some full-round actions can be taken as Standard Actions, but only in situations when you are limited to performing only a Standard Action during your round. The descriptions of specific actions, below, detail which actions allow this option.


 * Free Action
 * Free actions consume a very small amount of time and effort. You can perform one or more free actions while taking another action normally. However, there are reasonable limits on what you can really do for free.


 * Swift Action
 * A swift action consumes a very small amount of time, but represents a larger expenditure of effort and energy than a free action. You can perform only a single swift action per turn.


 * Immediate Action
 * An immediate action may be used at any time, even if it is not your turn. To take an immediate action, you must not have taken a swift action on your previous turn. Immediate actions cannot be taken if you are flat-footed.


 * Late Action
 * Late Actions can be engaged immediately in response to certain situations. After performing a late action a character is unable to perform a standard action or a full-round action on their next turn, but may perform another late action after that turn has concluded. Late actions do not change initiative order. Common examples include counterspells and scanning cameraman abilities.


 * Not an Action
 * Some activities are so minor that they are not even considered free actions. They literally don’t take any time at all to do and are considered an inherent part of doing something else.


 * Restricted Activity
 * In some situations, you may be unable to take a full round’s worth of actions. In such cases, you are restricted to taking only a single Standard Action or a single move action (plus free actions as normal). You can’t take a full-round action (though you can start or complete a full-round action by using a Standard Action; see below).

Standard Actions


 * Attack
 * Making an attack is a Standard Action.


 * Melee Attacks
 * With a normal melee weapon, you can strike any opponent within 5 feet. (Opponents within 5 feet are considered adjacent to you.) Some melee weapons have reach, as indicated in their descriptions. With a typical reach weapon, you can strike opponents 10 feet away, but you can’t strike adjacent foes (those within 5 feet).


 * Unarmed Attacks
 * Striking for damage with punches, kicks, and head butts is much like attacking with a melee weapon, except for the following:


 * “Armed” Unarmed Attacks
 * Sometimes a character’s or creature’s unarmed attack counts as an armed attack. A character with the Improved Unarmed Strike feat, a spellcaster delivering a touch attack spell, and a creature with natural physical weapons all count as being armed, except when using the Disarm special attack (see below).
 * An “armed” unarmed attack deals lethal damage, owing to the proficiency of the user. Certain types may have the option of dealing nonlethal damage. Check individual abilities to learn more.


 * Unarmed Strike Damage
 * An unarmed strike from a Medium character deals 1d3 points of damage (plus your Strength Modifier, as normal). A Small character’s unarmed strike deals 1d2 points of damage, while a Large character’s unarmed strike deals 1d4 points of damage. All damage from unarmed strikes is nonlethal damage. Unarmed strikes count as light weapons (for purposes of two-weapon attack penalties and so on).


 * Dealing Lethal Damage
 * You can specify that your unarmed strike will deal lethal damage before you make your attack roll, but you take a -4 penalty on your attack roll. If you have the Improved Unarmed Strike feat, you can deal lethal damage with an unarmed strike without taking a penalty on the attack roll.


 * Ranged Attacks
 * With a ranged weapon, you can shoot or throw at any target that is within the weapon’s maximum range and in line of sight. The maximum range for a thrown weapon is five range increments. For projectile weapons, it is ten range increments. Some ranged weapons have shorter maximum ranges, as specified in their descriptions.


 * Attack Rolls
 * An attack roll represents your attempts to strike your opponent.
 * Your attack roll is 1d20 + your attack bonus with the weapon you’re using. If the result is at least as high as the target’s AC, you hit and deal damage.


 * Epic Wins
 * A natural 20 (the d20 comes up 20) is always a hit. A natural 20 is also a critical hit.


 * Epic Fails
 * A natural 1 (the d20 comes up 1) on the attack roll is always a hit, but not in the way the character making the attack intended. Example: A character fires a crossbow at an enemy. He accidentally loads the crossbow with a wine bottle. He hits his target, but ruins a 30 year old Pinot Noir.


 * Damage Rolls
 * If the attack roll result equals or exceeds the target’s AC, the attack hits and you deal damage. Roll the appropriate damage for your weapon. Damage is deducted from the target’s current hit points.


 * Multiple Attacks
 * A character who can make more than one attack per round must use the full attack action in order to get more than one attack.


 * Shooting or Throwing into a Melee
 * If you shoot or throw a ranged weapon at a target engaged in melee with a friendly character, you take a -4 penalty on your attack roll. Two characters are engaged in melee if they are enemies of each other and either threatens the other. (An unconscious or otherwise immobilized character is not considered engaged unless he is actually being attacked.)
 * If your target (or the part of your target you’re aiming at, if it’s a big target) is at least 10 feet away from the nearest friendly character, you can avoid the -4 penalty, even if the creature you’re aiming at is engaged in melee with a friendly character.


 * Precise Shot
 * If you have the Precise Shot feat you don’t take this penalty.


 * Fighting Defensively as a Standard Action
 * You can choose to fight defensively when attacking. If you do so, you take a -4 penalty on all attacks in a round to gain a +2 dodge bonus to AC for the same round. See also: Fighting Defensively as a Full-Round Action.


 * Critical Hits
 * When you make an attack roll and get a natural 20 (the d20 shows 20), you hit regardless of your target’s Armor Class and your hit is a critical hit.
 * A critical hit means that you roll your damage more than once, with all your usual bonuses, and add the rolls together. Unless otherwise specified, the threat range for a critical hit on an attack roll is 20, and the multiplier is ×2.
 * Exception: Extra damage dice over and above a weapon’s normal damage is not multiplied when you score a critical hit. (ex. Lighter Fighter Skill Damage, bonus damage from Power Attack)


 * Increased Critical Multiplier
 * Some weapons deal better than double damage on a critical hit.


 * Spells and Critical Hits
 * A spell that requires an attack roll can score a critical hit. A spell attack that requires no attack roll cannot score a critical hit.


 * Cast a Spell
 * Most spells require 1 Standard Action to cast. You can cast such a spell either before or after you take a move action.
 * Note: You retain your Dexterity bonus to AC while casting.


 * Spell Components
 * In order to cast a spell, a caster must be both unencumbered and able to enunciate clearly. A caster is considered encumbered if they are wearing armor they are not considered proficient with. Additionally, if the caster is deaf, they have a 20% chance that the spell will fail.


 * Concentration
 * You must concentrate to cast a spell. If you can’t concentrate, you can’t cast a spell. If you start casting a spell but something interferes with your concentration, you must make a Concentration Check or the spell fails. The check’s DC depends on what is threatening your concentration (see the Concentration skill). If you fail, the spell fizzles with no effect.


 * Concentrating to Maintain a Spell
 * Some spells require continued concentration to keep them going. Concentrating to maintain a spell is a Standard Action unless otherwise noted. Anything that could break your concentration when casting a spell can keep you from concentrating to maintain a spell. If your concentration breaks, the spell ends.


 * Casting Time
 * Most spells have a casting time of 1 Standard Action. A spell cast in this manner immediately takes effect.


 * Touch Spells in Combat
 * Many spells have a range of touch. To use these spells, you cast the spell and then touch the subject, either in the same round or any time later. In the same round that you cast the spell, you may also touch (or attempt to touch) the target. You may take your move before casting the spell, after touching the target, or between casting the spell and touching the target. You can automatically touch one friend or use the spell on yourself, but to touch an opponent, you must succeed on an attack roll.


 * Touch Attacks
 * Touch attacks come in two types: melee touch attacks and ranged touch attacks. You can score critical hits with either type of attack. Your opponent’s AC against a touch attack does not include any armor bonus, shield bonus, or natural armor bonus. His Size Modifier, Dexterity Modifier, and deflection bonus (if any) all apply normally.


 * Holding the Charge
 * If you don’t discharge the spell in the round when you cast the spell, you can hold the discharge of the spell (hold the charge) indefinitely. You can continue to make touch attacks round after round. You can touch one friend as a Standard Action or up to six friends as a full-round action. If you touch anything or anyone while holding a charge, even unintentionally, the spell discharges. If you cast another spell, the touch spell dissipates.


 * Dismiss a Spell
 * Dismissing an active spell is a Standard Action.


 * Activate Magic Item
 * Many magic items don’t need to be activated. However, certain magic items need to be activated, especially potions, scrolls, wands, rods, and staffs. Activating a magic item is a Standard Action (unless the item description indicates otherwise).


 * Spell Completion Items
 * Activating a spell completion item is the equivalent of casting a spell. The spell fizzles if your concentration is broken, and you can attempt to activate the item while on the defensive, as with casting a spell.


 * Use Special Ability
 * Using a special ability is usually a Standard Action, but whether it is a Standard Action, a fullround action, or not an action at all is defined by the ability.


 * Total Defense
 * You can defend yourself as a Standard Action. You get a +4 dodge bonus to your AC for 1 round. Your AC improves at the start of this action. You can’t combine total defense with fighting defensively or with the benefit of the Combat Expertise feat (since both of those require you to declare an attack or full attack).


 * Start/Complete Full-Round Action
 * The “start full-round action” Standard Action lets you start undertaking a full-round action, which you can complete in the following round by using another Standard Action. You can’t use this action to start or complete a full attack, charge, run, or withdraw.

Move Actions
 * Move
 * The simplest move action is moving your speed. If you take this kind of move action during your turn, you can’t also take a 5-foot step.


 * Many nonstandard modes of movement are covered under this category, including climbing (up to one-quarter of your speed) and swimming (up to one-quarter of your speed).


 * Accelerated Climbing
 * You can climb one-half your speed as a move action by accepting a -5 penalty on your Athletics Check.


 * Crawling
 * You can crawl 5 feet as a move action.


 * Draw or Sheathe a Weapon
 * Drawing a weapon so that you can use it in combat, or putting it away so that you have a free hand, requires a move action. This action also applies to weapon-like objects carried in easy reach, such as wands. If your weapon or weapon-like object is stored in a pack or otherwise out of easy reach, treat this action as retrieving a stored item.
 * If you have a Base Attack Modifier of +1 or higher, you may draw a weapon as a free action combined with a regular move. If you have the Two-Weapon Fighting feat, you can draw two light or one-handed weapons in the time it would normally take you to draw one.
 * Drawing ammunition for use with a ranged weapon (such as arrows, bolts, sling bullets, or shuriken) is a free action.


 * Ready or Loose a Shield


 * Strapping a shield to your arm to gain its shield bonus to your AC, or unstrapping and dropping a shield so you can use your shield hand for another purpose, requires a move action. If you have a Base Attack Modifier of +1 or higher, you can ready or loose a shield as a free action combined with a regular move.
 * Dropping a carried (but not worn) shield is a free action.


 * Manipulate an Item
 * In most cases, moving or manipulating an item is a move action.
 * This includes retrieving or putting away a stored item, picking up an item, moving a heavy object, and opening a door. Examples of this kind of action are given in Table: Move Actions.


 * Direct or Redirect a Spell
 * Some spells allow you to redirect the effect to new targets or areas after you cast the spell. Redirecting a spell requires a move action and does not require concentration.


 * Stand Up
 * Standing up from a prone position requires a move action.


 * Mount/Dismount a Steed
 * Mounting or dismounting from a steed requires a move action.


 * Fast Mount or Dismount
 * You can mount or dismount as a free action with a DC 20 Animals Check (your armor check penalty, if any, applies to this check). If you fail the check, mounting or dismounting is a move action instead. (You can’t attempt a fast mount or fast dismount unless you can perform the mount or dismount as a move action in the current round.)

Full-Round Actions
 * Full Attack
 * If you get more than one attack per round because your Base Attack Modifier is high enough, because you fight with two weapons or a double weapon, or for some special reason, you must use a full-round action to get your additional attacks.
 * You do not need to specify the targets of your attacks ahead of time. You can see how the earlier attacks turn out before assigning the later ones. The only movement you can take during a full attack is a 5-foot step. You may take the step before, after, or between your attacks.
 * If you get multiple attacks because your Base Attack Modifier is high enough, you must make the attacks in order from highest bonus to lowest. If you are using two weapons, you can strike with either weapon first. If you are using a double weapon, you can strike with either part of the weapon first.


 * Deciding between an Attack or a Full Attack
 * After your first attack, you can decide to take a move action instead of making your remaining attacks, depending on how the first attack turns out. If you’ve already taken a 5-foot step, you can’t use your move action to move any distance, but you could still use a different kind of move action.


 * Fighting Defensively as a Full-Round Action
 * You can choose to fight defensively when taking a full attack action. If you do so, you take a -4 penalty on all attacks in a round to gain a +2 dodge bonus to AC for the same round.


 * Cleave
 * The extra attack granted by the Cleave feat or Great Cleave feat can be taken whenever they apply. This is an exception to the normal limit to the number of attacks you can take when not using a full attack action.


 * Cast a Spell
 * A spell that takes 1 round to cast is a full-round action. It comes into effect just before the beginning of your turn in the round after you began casting the spell. You then act normally after the spell is completed.


 * A spell that takes 1 minute to cast comes into effect just before your turn 1 minute later (and for each of those 10 rounds, you are casting a spell as a full-round action). These actions must be consecutive and uninterrupted, or the spell automatically fails.
 * When you begin a spell that takes 1 round or longer to cast, you must continue the invocations, gestures, and concentration from one round to just before your turn in the next round (at least). If you lose concentration after starting the spell and before it is complete, you lose the spell.


 * This action is otherwise identical to the cast a spell action described under Standard Actions.


 * Use Special Ability
 * “Special Abilities” are abilities gained as the result of one’s species, a feat, or through some other means. In other words, an ability that is not a class feature. Using a special ability is usually a Standard Action; the ability may say otherwise.


 * Run
 * You can run as a full-round action. (If you do, you do not also get a 5-foot step.) When you run, you can move up to four times your speed in a straight line (or three times your speed if you’re in heavy armor). You lose any Dexterity bonus to AC unless you have the Run feat.
 * You can run for a number of rounds equal to your Constitution score, but after that you must make a DC 10 Constitution Check to continue running. You must check again each round in which you continue to run, and the DC of this check increases by 1 for each check you have made. When you fail this check, you must stop running. A character who has run to his limit must rest for 1 minute (10 rounds) before running again. During a rest period, a character can move no faster than a normal move action.
 * You can’t run across difficult terrain or if you can’t see where you’re going.
 * A run represents a speed of about 12 miles per hour for an unencumbered human.


 * Move 5 Feet through Difficult Terrain
 * In some situations, your movement may be so hampered that you don’t have sufficient speed even to move 5 feet (a single square). In such a case, you may spend a full-round action to move 5 feet (1 square) in any direction, even diagonally.

Free Actions
 * Drop an Item
 * Dropping an item in your space or into an adjacent square is a free action.


 * Drop Prone
 * Dropping to a prone position in your space is a free action.


 * Speak
 * In general, speaking is a free action that you can perform even when it isn’t your turn. Speaking more than few sentences is generally beyond the limit of a free action.


 * Cease Concentration on Spell
 * You can stop concentrating on an active spell asa free action.

Swift Actions
 * A swift action consumes a very small amount of time, but represents a larger expenditure of effort and energy than a free action. You can perform one swift action per turn without affecting your ability to perform other actions. In that regard, a swift action is like a free action. However, you can perform only a single swift action per turn, regardless of what other actions you take. You can take a swift action any time you would normally be allowed to take a free action. Swift actions usually involve spellcasting or the activation of magic items; many characters (especially those who don’t cast spells) never have an opportunity to take a swift action.

Immediate Actions
 * An immediate action is an action that a character can take when it is not their turn. An immediate action may not be taken on a turn in which a character took a swift action. Characters cannot perform immediate actions while flat-footed.

Late Actions
 * A late action is an action that a character can take when it is not their turn, similar to an immediate action. Unlike an immediate action, a late action prevents the character from taking a standard action or a full round action on their next turn.

Miscellaneous Actions
 * You can take a 5-foot step before, during, or after your other actions in the round.
 * You can only take a 5-foot step if your movement isn’t hampered by difficult terrain or darkness. Any creature with a speed of 5 feet or less can’t take a 5-foot step, since moving even 5 feet requires a move action for such a slow creature.
 * You may not take a 5-foot step using a form of movement for which you do not have a listed speed.


 * Use Feat
 * Certain feats let you take special actions in combat. Other feats do not require actions themselves, but they give you a bonus when attempting something you can already do. Some feats are not meant to be used within the framework of combat. The individual feat descriptions tell you what you need to know about them.


 * Use Skill
 * Most skill uses are Standard Actions, but some might be move actions, full-round actions, free actions, or something else entirely.
 * The individual skill descriptions tell you what sorts of actions are required to perform skills.

Injury

 * Your hit points measure how hard you are to knock unconscious. No matter how many hit points you lose, your character isn’t hindered in any way until your hit points drop to 0.

Loss Of Hit Points
 * The most common way that your character gets hurt is to take lethal damage and lose hit points.


 * What Hit Points Represent
 * Hit points mean two things in the game world: the ability to take physical punishment and keep going, and the ability to turn a serious blow into a less serious one.


 * Effects of Hit Point Damage
 * Damage doesn’t slow you down until your current hit points reach 0. At 0 hit points, you’re disabled.
 * If you drop below 0 hit points, you are unconscious.


 * Disabled (0 Hit Points)
 * When your current hit points drop to exactly 0, you’re disabled.
 * You can only take a single move or Standard Action each turn (but not both, nor can you take full-round actions).
 * Healing that raises your hit points above 0 makes you fully functional again, just as if you’d never been reduced to 0 or fewer hit points.

Healing
 * After taking damage, you can recover hit points through natural healing or through magical healing. In any case, you can’t regain hit points past your full normal hit point total.


 * Natural Healing
 * With a full night’s rest (8 hours of sleep or more), you recover 1 hit point per character level. Any significant interruption during your rest prevents you from healing that night.
 * If you undergo complete bed rest for an entire day and night, you recover twice your character level in hit points.

Various abilities and spells can restore hit points.
 * Magical Healing
 * Healing Limits
 * You can never recover more hit points than you lost. Magical healing won’t raise your current hit points higher than your full normal hit point total.


 * Healing Ability Damage
 * Ability damage is temporary, just as hit point damage is. Ability damage returns at the rate of 1 point per night of rest (8 hours) for each affected ability score. Complete bed rest restores 2 points per day (24 hours) for each affected ability score.


 * Temporary Hit Points
 * Certain effects give a character temporary hit points. When a character gains temporary hit points, note his current hit point total. When the temporary hit points go away, the character’s hit points drop to his current hit point total. If the character’s hit points are below his current hit point total at that time, all the temporary hit points have already been lost and the character’s hit point total does not drop further.
 * When temporary hit points are lost, they cannot be restored as real hit points can be, even by magic.


 * Increases in Constitution Score and Current Hit Points
 * An increase in a character’s Constitution score, even a temporary one, can give her more hit points (an effective hit point increase), but these are not temporary hit points. They can be restored and they are not lost first as temporary hit points are.


 * Nonlethal Damage


 * Dealing Nonlethal Damage
 * Certain attacks deal nonlethal damage. Other effects, such as heat or being exhausted, also deal nonlethal damage. When you take nonlethal damage, keep a running total of how much you’ve accumulated. Do not deduct the nonlethal damage number from your current hit points. It is not “real” damage. Instead, when your nonlethal damage equals your current hit points, you’re staggered, and when it exceeds your current hit points, you fall unconscious. It doesn’t matter whether the nonlethal damage equals or exceeds your current hit points because the nonlethal damage has gone up or because your current hit points have gone down.


 * Nonlethal Damage with a Weapon that Deals Lethal Damage
 * You can use a melee weapon that deals lethal damage to deal nonlethal damage instead, but you take a -4 penalty on your attack roll.


 * Lethal Damage with a Weapon that Deals  Nonlethal Damage
 * You can use a weapon that deals nonlethal damage, including an unarmed strike, to deal lethal damage instead, but you take a -4 penalty on your attack roll.


 * Staggered and Unconscious
 * When your nonlethal damage equals your current hit points, you’re staggered. You can only take a Standard Action or a move action in each round. You cease being staggered when your current hit points once again exceed your nonlethal damage.
 * When your nonlethal damage exceeds your current hit points, you fall unconscious. While unconscious, you are helpless.


 * Healing Nonlethal Damage
 * You heal nonlethal damage at the rate of 1 hit point per hour per character level.
 * When a spell or a magical power cures hit point damage, it also removes an equal amount of nonlethal damage.

Movement & Distance
Tactical Movement
 * How Far Can Your Character Move?
 * Your speed is determined by your race and your armor (see Table: Tactical Speed). Your speed while unarmored is your base land speed.


 * Hampered Movement
 * Difficult terrain, obstacles, or poor visibility can hamper movement.


 * Movement in Combat
 * Generally, you can move your speed in a round and still do something (take a move action and a Standard Action).
 * If you do nothing but move (that is, if you use both of your actions in a round to move your speed), you can move double your speed.


 * If you spend the entire round running, you can move quadruple your speed. If you do something that requires a full round, you can only take a 5-foot step.
 * You can’t move diagonally past a corner (even by taking a 5-foot step). You can move diagonally past a creature, even an opponent.
 * You can also move diagonally past other impassable obstacles, such as pits.


 * Closest Creature
 * When it’s important to determine the closest square or creature to a location, if two squares or creatures are equally close, randomly determine which one counts as closest by rolling a die.


 * Moving through a Square
 * Friendly: You can move through a square occupied by a friendly character, unless you are charging. When you move through a square occupied by a friendly character, that character doesn’t provide you with cover.


 * Opponent: You can’t move through a square occupied by an opponent, unless the opponent is helpless. You can move through a square occupied by a helpless opponent without penalty (Some creatures, particularly very large ones, may present an obstacle even when helpless. In such cases, each square you move through counts as 2 squares).


 * Ending Your Movement
 * You can’t end your movement in the same square as another creature unless it is helpless.


 * Overrun
 * During your movement you can attempt to move through a square occupied by an opponent.


 * Agility
 * A trained character can attempt to tumble through a square occupied by an opponent (see the Agility skill).


 * Very Small Creature
 * A Fine, Diminutive, or Tiny creature can move into or through an occupied square.


 * Square Occupied by Creature Three Sizes Larger or Smaller
 * Any creature can move through a square occupied by a creature three size categories larger than it is.
 * A big creature can move through a square occupied by a creature three size categories smaller than it is.


 * Designated Exceptions
 * Some creatures break the above rules. A creature that completely fills the squares it occupies cannot be moved past, even with the Agility Skill or similar special abilities.

Terrain and Obstacles
 * Difficult Terrain
 * Difficult terrain hampers movement. Each square of difficult terrain counts as 2 squares of movement. (Each diagonal move into a difficult terrain square counts as 3 squares.) You can’t run or charge across difficult terrain.
 * If you occupy squares with different kinds of terrain, you can move only as fast as the most difficult terrain you occupy will allow.
 * Flying and incorporeal creatures are not hampered by difficult terrain.


 * Obstacles
 * Like difficult terrain, obstacles can hamper movement. If an obstacle hampers movement but doesn’t completely block it, each obstructed square or obstacle between squares counts as 2 squares of movement. You must pay this cost to cross the barrier, in addition to the cost to move into the square on the other side. If you don’t have sufficient movement to cross the barrier and move into the square on the other side, you can’t cross the barrier. Some obstacles may also require a skill check to cross.
 * On the other hand, some obstacles block movement entirely. A character can’t move through a blocking obstacle.
 * Flying and incorporeal creatures can avoid most obstacles.


 * Squeezing
 * In some cases, you may have to squeeze into or through an area that isn’t as wide as the space you take up. You can squeeze through or into a space that is at least half as wide as your normal space.
 * Each move into or through a narrow space counts as if it were 2 squares, and while squeezed in a narrow space you take a -4 penalty on attack rolls and a -4 penalty to AC.
 * When a Large creature (which normally takes up four squares) squeezes into a space that’s one square wide, the creature’s miniature figure occupies two squares, centered on the line between the two squares. For a bigger creature, center the creature likewise in the area it squeezes into. A creature can squeeze past an opponent while moving, but it can’t end its movement in an occupied square.
 * To squeeze through or into a space less than half your space’s width, you must use the Agility skill. You can’t attack while using Agility to squeeze through or into a narrow space, you take a -4 penalty to AC, and you lose any Dexterity bonus to AC.

Special Movement Rules
 * These rules cover special movement situations.


 * Accidentally Ending Movement in an Illegal Space
 * Sometimes a character ends its movement while moving through a space where it’s not allowed to stop. When that happens, put your miniature in the last legal position you occupied, or the closest legal position if there’s a legal position that’s closer.


 * Double Movement Cost
 * When your movement is hampered in some way, your movement usually costs double. For example, each square of movement through difficult terrain counts as 2 squares, and each diagonal move through such terrain counts as 3 squares (just as two diagonal moves normally do).
 * If movement cost is doubled twice, then each square counts as 4 squares (or as 6 squares if moving diagonally). If movement cost is doubled three times, then each square counts as 8 squares (12 if diagonal) and so on. This is an exception to the general rule that two doublings are equivalent to a tripling.


 * Minimum Movement
 * Despite penalties to movement, you can take a full-round action to move 5 feet (1 square) in any direction, even diagonally.
 * This rule doesn’t allow you to move through impassable terrain or to move when all movement is prohibited.

Big & Little Creatures
Creatures smaller than Small or larger than Medium have special rules relating to position, reach, and weapon size. A creature’s Size Modifier is applied to its attack bonus and Armor Class. Tiny, Diminutive, and Fine Creatures
 * Very small creatures take up less than 1 square of space. This means that more than one such creature can fit into a single square. A Tiny creature typically occupies a space only 2½ feet across, so four can fit into a single square. Twenty-five Diminutive creatures or 100 Fine creatures can fit into a single square. Creatures that take up less than 1 square of space typically have a natural reach of 0 feet, meaning they can’t reach into adjacent squares. They must enter an opponent’s square to attack in melee. You can attack into your own square if you need to, so you can attack such creatures normally. They also can’t flank an enemy.

Table: Creature Size and Scale Large, Huge, Gargantuan, and Colossal Creatures
 * Very large creatures take up more than 1 square.
 * Creatures that take up more than 1 square typically have a natural reach of 10 feet or more, meaning that they can reach targets even if they aren’t in adjacent squares.
 * Unlike when someone uses a reach weapon, a creature with greater than normal natural reach (more than 5 feet) still threatens squares adjacent to it.
 * Large or larger creatures using reach weapons can strike up to double their natural reach but can’t strike at their natural reach or less.

(Un)favorable Conditions
Table: Attack Roll Modifiers Cover
 * To determine whether your target has cover from your ranged attack, choose a corner of your square. If any line from this corner to any corner of the target’s square passes through a square or border that blocks line of effect or provides cover, or through a square occupied by a creature, the target has cover (+4 to AC).
 * When making a melee attack against an adjacent target, your target has cover if any line from your square to the target’s square goes through a wall (including a low wall). When making a melee attack against a target that isn’t adjacent to you (such as with a reach weapon), use the rules for determining cover from ranged attacks.

Table: Armor Class Modifiers
 * Low Obstacles and Cover
 * A low obstacle (such as a wall no higher than half your height) provides cover, but only to creatures within 30 feet (6 squares) of it. The attacker can ignore the cover if he’s closer to the obstacle than his target.


 * Cover and Reflex Saves
 * Cover grants you a +2 bonus on Reflex Saves against attacks that originate or burst out from a point on the other side of the cover from you. Note that spread effects can extend around corners and thus negate this cover bonus.


 * Cover and Stealth Checks
 * You can use cover to make a Stealth Check. Without cover, you usually need concealment to make a Stealth Check.


 * Soft Cover
 * Creatures, even your enemies, can provide you with cover against ranged attacks, giving you a +4 bonus to AC. However, such soft cover provides no bonus on Reflex Saves, nor does soft cover allow you to make a Stealth Check.


 * Big Creatures and Cover
 * Any creature with a space larger than 5 feet (1 square) determines cover against melee attacks slightly differently than smaller creatures do. Such a creature can choose any square that it occupies to determine if an opponent has cover against its melee attacks. Similarly, when making a melee attack against such a creature, you can pick any of the squares it occupies to determine if it has cover against you.


 * Total Cover
 * If you don’t have line of effect to your target he is considered to have total cover from you. You can’t make an attack against a target that has total cover.


 * Varying Degrees of Cover
 * In some cases, cover may provide a greater bonus to AC and Reflex Saves. In such situations, the normal cover bonuses to AC and Reflex Saves can be doubled (to +8 and +4, respectively). A creature with this improved cover effectively gains improved evasion against any attack to which the Reflex Save bonus applies. Furthermore, improved cover provides a +10 bonus on Stealth Checks.

Concealment
 * To determine whether your target has concealment from your ranged attack, choose a corner of your square. If any line from this corner to any corner of the target’s square passes through a square or border that provides concealment, the target has concealment.
 * When making a melee attack against an adjacent target, your target has concealment if his space is entirely within an effect that grants concealment. When making a melee attack against a target that isn’t adjacent to you, use the rules for determining concealment from ranged attacks.
 * In addition, some magical effects provide concealment against all attacks, regardless of whether any intervening concealment exists.


 * Concealment Miss Chance
 * Concealment gives the subject of a successful attack a 20% chance that the attacker missed because of the concealment. If the attacker hits, the defender must make a miss chance percentile roll to avoid being struck. Multiple concealment conditions do not stack.


 * Concealment and Stealth Checks
 * You can use concealment to make a Stealth Check. Without concealment, you usually need cover to make a Stealth Check.


 * Total Concealment
 * If you have line of effect to a target but not line of sight, he is considered to have total concealment from you. You can’t attack an opponent that has total concealment, though you can attack into a square that you think he occupies. A successful attack into a square occupied by an enemy with total concealment has a 50% miss chance (instead of the normal 20% miss chance for an opponent with concealment).


 * Ignoring Concealment
 * Concealment isn’t always effective. A shadowy area or darkness doesn’t provide any concealment against an opponent with IR Vision. Characters with low-light vision can see clearly for a greater distance with the same light source than other characters. Although invisibility provides total concealment, sighted opponents may still make Awareness Checks to notice the location of an invisible character. An invisible character gains a +20 bonus on Stealth Checks if moving, or a +40 bonus on Stealth Checks when not moving (even though opponents can’t see you, they might be able to figure out where you are from other visual clues).


 * Varying Degrees of Concealment
 * Certain situations may provide more or less than typical concealment, and modify the miss chance accordingly.

Flanking
 * When making a melee attack, you get a +2 flanking bonus if your opponent is threatened by a character or creature friendly to you on the opponent’s opposite border or opposite corner.
 * When in doubt about whether two friendly characters flank an opponent in the middle, trace an imaginary line between the two friendly characters’ centers. If the line passes through opposite borders of the opponent’s space (including corners of those borders), then the opponent is flanked.


 * Exception: If a flanker takes up more than 1 square, it gets the flanking bonus if any square it occupies counts for flanking.
 * Only a creature or character that threatens the defender can help an attacker get a flanking bonus.
 * Creatures with a reach of 0 feet can’t flank an opponent.

Helpless Defenders
 * A helpless opponent is someone who is bound, sleeping, paralyzed, unconscious, or otherwise at your mercy.

Regular Attack

 * A helpless character takes a -4 penalty to AC against melee attacks, but no penalty to AC against ranged attacks.
 * A helpless defender can’t use any Dexterity bonus to AC. In fact, his Dexterity score is treated as if it were 0 and his Dexterity Modifier to AC as if it were -5.

Weapon, Armor, & Shield Proficiency

 * A character who uses a weapon with which he is not proficient takes a -4 penalty on attack rolls.
 * A character who wears armor and/or uses a shield with which he is not proficient takes the armor’s (and/or shield’s) armor check penalty on attack rolls and on all Strength-based and Dexterity- based ability and skill checks. The penalty for non-proficiency with armor stacks with the penalty for non-proficiency with shields
 * Weapon, armor, or shield proficiency may be granted by the character’s race, class or by the following feats:


 * Armor Proficiency (Light)
 * Armor Proficiency (Medium)


 * Armor Proficiency (Heavy)
 * Exotic Weapon Proficiency
 * Martial Weapon Proficiency
 * Shield Proficiency
 * Simple Weapon Proficiency
 * Tower Shield Proficiency

Special Attacks
Additional combat rules
 * Aid another: Grant an ally a +2 bonus on attacks or AC
 * Charge: Move up to twice your speed and attack with a +2 bonus
 * Mounted Combat: Fight while riding your steed
 * Special Attack: Use a non-damaging maneuver to gain an advantage
 * Two-weapon fighting: Fight with a weapon in each hand


 * Aid Another
 * In melee combat, you can help a friend attack or defend by distracting or interfering with an opponent. If you’re in position to make a melee attack on an opponent that is engaging a friend in melee combat, you can attempt to aid your friend as a Standard Action. You make an attack roll against AC 10. If you succeed, your friend gains either a +2 bonus on his next attack roll against that opponent or a +2 bonus to AC against that opponent’s next attack (your choice), as long as that attack comes before the beginning of your next turn. Multiple characters can aid the same friend, and similar bonuses stack.
 * You can also use this Standard Action to help a friend in other ways, such as when he is affected by a spell, or to assist another character’s skill check.
 * See also: Aid Another during a Skill Check.


 * Autofire
 * If a ranged weapon has an automatic rate of fire, a character may set it on autofire. Autofire affects an area and everyone in it, not a specific creature. The character targets a 10-foot-by-10-foot area and makes an attack roll; the targeted area has an effective AC of 10. If the attack succeeds, every creature within the affected area must make a Reflex Save (DC 15) or take the weapon’s damage. Autofire shoots 10 bullets and can only be used if the weapon has 10 bullets in it.


 * Charge
 * Charging is a special full-round action that allows you to move up to twice your speed and attack during the action. However, it carries tight restrictions on how you can move.


 * Movement During a Charge
 * You must move before your attack, not after. You must move at least 10 feet (2 squares) and may move up to double your speed directly toward the designated opponent.
 * You must have a clear path toward the opponent, and nothing can hinder your movement (such as difficult terrain or obstacles). Here’s what it means to have a clear path. First, you must move to the closest space from which you can attack the opponent. (If this space is occupied or otherwise blocked, you can’t charge.) Second, if any line from your starting space to the ending space passes through a square that blocks movement, slows movement, or contains a creature (even an ally), you can’t charge. (Helpless creatures don’t stop a charge.)
 * If you don’t have line of sight to the opponent at the start of your turn, you can’t charge that opponent.
 * You can’t take a 5-foot step in the same round as a charge.
 * If you are able to take only a Standard Action or a move action on your turn, you can still charge, but you are only allowed to move up to your speed (instead of up to double your speed). You can’t use this option unless you are restricted to taking only a Standard Action or move action on your turn.


 * Attacking on a Charge
 * After moving, you may make a single melee attack. You get a +2 bonus on the attack roll and take a -2 penalty to your AC until the start of your next turn.
 * A charging character gets a +2 bonus on the Strength Check made to bull rush an opponent.


 * Even if you have extra attacks, such as from having a high enough Base Attack Modifier or from using multiple weapons, you only get to make one attack during a charge.


 * Lances and Charge Attacks
 * A lance deals double damage if employed by a mounted character in a charge.


 * Weapons Readied against a Charge
 * Spears, tridents, and certain other piercing weapons deal double damage when readied (set) and used against a charging character.


 * Mounted Combat
 * Horses in Combat
 * Heavy warhorses, light warhorses, and warponies can serve readily as combat steeds. Light horses, ponies, and heavy horses, however, are frightened by combat. If you don’t dismount, you must make a DC 20 Agility Check each round as a move action to control such a horse. If you succeed, you can perform a Standard Action after the move action. If you fail, the move action becomes a full round action, and you can’t do anything else until your next turn.


 * Your mount acts on your initiative count as you direct it. You move at its speed, but the mount uses its action to move.
 * A horse (not a pony) is a Large creature and thus takes up a space 10 feet (2 squares) across. For simplicity, assume that you share your mount’s space during combat.


 * Combat while Mounted
 * With a DC 5 Agility Check, you can guide your mount with your knees so as to use both hands to attack or defend yourself. This is a free action.
 * When you attack a creature smaller than your mount that is on foot, you get the +1 bonus on melee attacks for being on higher ground. If your mount moves more than 1 square, you can only make a single melee attack. Essentially, you have to wait until the mount gets to your enemy before attacking, so you can’t make a full attack. Even at your mount’s full speed, you don’t take any penalty on melee attacks while mounted.
 * If your mount charges, you also take the AC penalty associated with a charge. If you make an attack at the end of the charge, you receive the bonus gained from the charge. When charging on horseback, you deal double damage with a lance.
 * You can use ranged weapons while your mount is taking a double move, but at a -4 penalty on the attack roll. You can use ranged weapons while your mount is running (quadruple speed), at a -8 penalty. In either case, you make the attack roll when your mount has completed half its movement. You can make a full attack with a ranged weapon while your mount is moving. Likewise, you can take move actions normally


 * Casting Spells while Mounted
 * You can cast a spell normally if your mount moves up to a normal move (its speed) either before or after you cast. If you have your mount move both before and after you cast a spell, then you’re casting the spell while the mount is moving, and you have to make a Concentration Check due to the vigorous motion (DC 10 + spell level) or lose the spell. If the mount is running (quadruple speed), you can cast a spell when your mount has moved up to twice its speed, but your Concentration Check is more difficult due to the violent motion (DC 15 + spell level).


 * If Your Mount Falls in Battle
 * If your mount falls, you have to succeed on a DC 15 Agility Check to make a soft fall and take no damage. If the check fails, you take 1d6 points of damage.


 * If You Are Dropped
 * If you are knocked unconscious, you have a 50% chance to stay in the saddle (or 75% if you’re in a military saddle). Otherwise you fall and take 1d6 points of damage.
 * Without you to guide it, your mount avoids combat.


 * Uncommon Attacks
 * There are times when your goal in combat is not to deal direct damage to an opponent, but to inconvenience, distract, or disable them without causing further injury. In most cases, this can be represented by a simple matter of rolling opposed Uncommon Attack Checks.
 * An Uncommon Attack Check is a special attack roll affected by size; Strength (if attacking) or Dexterity (if Defending); and, in some cases, by weapon. It is used any time a character or opponent uses a non-damaging combat maneuver as a means of judging the success or failure of the effort. Like other checks, an Uncommon Attack Check is subject to Epic Wins and Epic Fails. Uncommon Attack Checks are only made for melee attacks under most circumstances, although certain feats or class features may permit some special attacks to be used at range.
 * While opposed Uncommon Attack Checks can be used to resolve a variety of special combat situations, we’ve included a simple list below to cover some of the more common scenarios you will run into, and likely consequences of those scenarios. You should not take this list to be exhaustive, nor should you feel like you cannot be more creative in describing the outcomes of opposed Uncommon Attack Checks.


 * Uncommon creativity
 * Special attacks can often be more effective than outright assault and should be rewarded if used cleverly. A player who describes how his character attempts to go about a special attack can be given a slight bonus to the attack at the PM’s discretion.


 * Two-Weapon Fighting
 * If you wield a second weapon in your off hand, you can get one extra attack per round with that weapon. You suffer a -6 penalty with your regular attack or attacks with your primary hand and a -10 penalty to the attack with your off hand when you fight this way. You can reduce these penalties in two ways:

Table: Two-Weapon Fighting Penalties
 * If your off-hand weapon is light, the penalties are reduced by 2 each. (An unarmed strike is always considered light.)
 * The Two-Weapon Fighting feat lessens the primary hand penalty by 2 and the off-hand penalty by 6.
 * Table: Two-Weapon Fighting Penalties summarizes the interaction of all these factors.


 * Double Weapons
 * You can use a double weapon to make an extra attack with the off-hand end of the weapon as if you were fighting with two weapons. The penalties apply as if the off-hand end of the weapon were a light weapon.


 * Thrown Weapons
 * The same rules apply when you throw a weapon from each hand. Treat a dart or shuriken as a light weapon when used in this manner, and treat a bolas, javelin, net, or sling as a one-handed weapon.


 * Shield Bash Attacks


 * You can bash an opponent with a light shield or heavy shield, using it as an off-hand weapon. See Table: Weapons for the damage dealt by a shield bash. Used this way, a shield is a martial bludgeoning weapon. For the purpose of penalties on attack rolls, treat a heavy shield as a one-handed weapon and a light shield as a light weapon. If you use your shield as a weapon, you lose its AC bonus until your next action (usually until the next round). An enhancement bonus on a shield does not improve the effectiveness of a shield bash made with it, but the shield can be made into a magic weapon in its own right.


 * Shield Spikes
 * When added to your shield, these spikes turn it into a martial piercing weapon that increases the damage dealt by a shield bash as if the shield were designed for a creature one size category larger than you. You can’t put spikes on a buckler or a tower shield. Otherwise, attacking with a spiked shield is like making a shield bash attack.
 * An enhancement bonus on a spiked shield does not improve the effectiveness of a shield bash made with it, but a spiked shield can be made into a magic weapon in its own right.

Uncommon Attacks
 * Bull rush: Push an opponent back 5 feet or more
 * Disarm: Knock a weapon from your opponent’s hands, or grab a worn item
 * Grapple: Wrestle with an opponent
 * Overrun: Plow past or over an opponent as you move
 * Sunder: Strike an object on the opponent’s person
 * Trip: Trip an opponent


 * Bull Rush
 * Oftentimes, in a fight, your opponent tends to stand where he wants, rather than where you would want him. Correcting this is a simple matter of ramming into him until he moves, whether he likes it or not.
 * On a successful Bull Rush, the attacker can move the target 1 Square for every 5 points by which they succeeded, with a minimum of 1. If the target cannot be moved into that square because it is occupied or otherwise obstructed, the target instead falls down.


 * Disarm
 * Most opponents tend to rely on their weapons more than anything else in a fight, so an opponent who is without one tends to be more keen on diplomacy.
 * On a successful Disarm, the attacker deprives the target of their weapon. If the attacker was unarmed, they now have that weapon. Otherwise, it lands a square away for every 5 points the attacker won by, landing in the target’s square on a success by 4 or less.
 * An unarmed Disarm attempt may also be used to snatch an item off the target’s body. An easily snatched item is anything that could reasonably be removed in less than 6 seconds, such as a necklace, ring, or helmet.


 * Grapple


 * Sometimes, the most effective way to keep someone from fighting is to grab them and hold them in place.
 * On a successful Grapple, the attacker gets a grip on the target, and prevents both of them from attacking anyone else or moving. Either party may attack the other as normal, but no one else. The attacker is treated as having control of the Grapple, and may end it at any time on their turn. The target may attempt to take control by succeeding on an opposed Uncommon Attack Check on their turn (during which they are treated as the attacker). Whoever controls the Grapple has the option of moving the grapple 1 square per turn.
 * More than one character may join a Grapple, but only one character may have control. For the purposes of spacing, a group of grapplers is considered to take up an amount of space equal to half the number of squares the participants would normally occupy, rounded up. If one participant is larger than this value, use their size instead.
 * No participant is in a particular space during a Grapple, so any ranged attack into the fray is at a -4 penalty. Melee attacks are unaffected.


 * Overrun
 * Villains and politicians tend to have plenty of people willing to stand between them and the individuals they have crossed. A lot of times, it’s easier to just run past them.
 * Overrunning occurs when a character attempts to simply charge through a space occupied by an opponent. The target may choose to either block or simply let the character through.
 * If the target chooses to block, both parties roll opposed Uncommon Attack Checks as normal. If the attacker wins, they knock the target prone, and continue moving if they still have movement left. Otherwise, the attacker stops in the square before reaching the target.
 * Creatures with more than two legs gain a +4 species modifier to resist this special attack.


 * Sunder
 * Knocking a weapon away is all well and good, but sometimes it’s better to just break the stupid thing and save yourself the headache of diving across the floor to grab it first.
 * On a successful Sunder, the attacker deals direct damage to the target’s weapon or armor, with normal hardness applying. If the targeted item’s HP falls below 0, the item is destroyed and the target gains no further benefits from it.
 * This special attack must be used against an object. Body parts and natural armor cannot be Sundered.


 * When to Sunder armor
 * It’s possible to use Sunder to chip away at an opponent’s armor and then attack the vulnerable squishy thing inside, but it usually won’t make sense. For one thing, good armor tends to be tougher than most characters: between its hardness (usually 5 or 10) and its HP (usually 5 times the modifier it gives to AC). Second, your opponent is still a threat during this time, and is not harmed by your attacks on their outer shell.


 * This can be a hilarious way to embarrass opponents with high AC who lack combat skills.


 * Trip
 * Ramming into an opponent is not always the best solution for getting them on the ground. Sometimes, it’s easier to just kick their legs out from under them.
 * On a successful Trip, the attacker causes the target to fall prone.
 * Unlike Overrun, this special attack is equally effective regardless of the number of legs the opponent has.

Special Initiative Actions

 * Below are ways to change when you act during combat by altering your place in the initiative order.


 * Delay
 * By choosing to delay, you take no action and then act normally on whatever initiative count you decide to act. When you delay, you voluntarily reduce your own initiative result for the rest of the combat. When your new, lower initiative count comes up later in the same round, you can act normally. You can specify this new initiative result or just wait until some time later in the round and act then, thus fixing your new initiative count at that point.
 * You never get back the time you spend waiting to see what’s going to happen. You can, however, interrupt anyone else’s action (as you can with a readied action).


 * Initiative Consequences of Delaying
 * Your initiative result becomes the count on which you took the delayed action. If you come to your next action and have not yet performed an action, you don’t get to take a delayed action (though you can delay again).
 * If you take a delayed action in the next round before your regular turn comes up, your initiative count rises to that new point in the order of battle, and you do not get your regular action that round.

Ready
 * The ready action lets you prepare to take an action later, after your turn is over but before your next one has begun. Readying is a Standard Action.


 * Readying an Action
 * You can ready a Standard Action, a move action, or a free action. To do so, specify the action you will take and the conditions under which you will take it. Then, any time before your next action, you may take the readied action in response to that condition. The action occurs just before the action that triggers it. If the triggered action is part of another character’s activities, you interrupt the other character. Assuming he is still capable of doing so, he continues his actions once you complete your readied action. Your initiative result changes. For the rest of the encounter, your initiative result is the count on which you took the readied action, and you act immediately ahead of the character whose action triggered your readied action.
 * You can take a 5-foot step as part of your readied action, but only if you don’t otherwise move any distance during the round.


 * Initiative Consequences of Readying
 * Your initiative result becomes the count on which you took the readied action. If you come to your next action and have not yet performed your readied action, you don’t get to take the readied action (though you can ready the same action again). If you take your readied action in the next round, before your regular turn comes up, your initiative count rises to that new point in the order of battle, and you do not get your regular action that round.


 * Distracting Spellcasters
 * You can ready an attack against a spellcaster with the trigger “if she starts casting a spell.” If you damage the spellcaster, she may lose the spell she was trying to cast (as determined by her Concentration Check result).


 * Readying a Weapon against a Charge
 * You can ready certain piercing weapons, setting them to receive charges. A readied weapon of this type deals double damage if you score a hit with it against a charging character.

Fighting From Vehicles

 * The following rules provide a further framework for combat involving vehicles.

Vehicle Combat Actions
 * Actions during vehicle combat are handled the same way as actions during personal combat. In general, a character can take two move actions, one move action and one attack action, or one full-round action in a round. Free actions can be performed normally, in conjunction with another action.


 * Free Actions
 * Communicating orders is a free action. Characters can perform as many free actions as the PM permits in a single round.


 * Move Actions
 * Changing position within a vehicle is usually a move action, especially if the character has to trade places with another character. If the character’s movement is short and unobstructed, the character can do it as the equivalent of a 5-foot step. Otherwise, it requires a move action.


 * Attack Actions
 * Anyone aboard a vehicle can make an attack with a personal weapon, and drivers and gunners can make attacks with any vehicle-mounted weapons controlled from their positions.


 * Full-Round Actions
 * Since the driver must use a move action to control the vehicle, he can’t take a full-round action unless he starts it in one round and completes it on his next turn (see Start/Complete Full-Round Action).

Attack Options
 * Firing a vehicle’s weapon requires an attack action and uses the driver’s or gunner’s ranged attack modifier.
 * A driver with 5 or more ranks in the Driveskill gains a +2 synergy bonus when firing vehicle-mounted weapons while driving.


 * Some military vehicles are equipped with fire-control computers. These systems grant equipment bonuses on attack rolls with the vehicle-mounted weapons to which they apply.


 * Driving Defensively
 * Just as in melee combat, one can fight defensively while driving a vehicle, which grants a +2 dodge bonus to the vehicle’s Defense and applies a −4 penalty on attack rolls made by occupants of the vehicle.


 * Total Defense
 * A driver can choose the total defense action, which grants a +4 dodge bonus to Defense but does not allow the driver to attack (gunners or passengers take a −8 penalty on attack rolls). These modifiers last until the driver’s next round of actions.


 * Full Attack Action
 * A driver cannot normally make a full attack, since controlling the vehicle requires a move action.


 * Gunners or passengers, however, can take full attack actions, since they don’t have to use a move action (except, perhaps, to change positions in the vehicle). In general, taking a full attack action is useful only if a character has a base attack bonus high enough to get multiple attacks. A passenger can make multiple attacks with his own weapon. A gunner can make multiple attacks with one or more weapons controlled from his position.

Targeting Occupants
 * An attack made against a vehicle uses the vehicle’s Defense, modified by its speed category. Attackers can choose instead to target specific vehicle occupants.
 * An attack against a vehicle occupant is made like any other attack. Remember, however, that a character in a vehicle gains bonuses to Defense from both the vehicle’s speed and any cover it provides.


 * Cover
 * When a character fires from a vehicle, objects or other vehicles in the way can provide cover for the target.

Damaging Vehicles
 * All vehicles have hit points which are roughly equivalent to a character’s hit points. Like most inanimate objects, vehicles also have hardness. Whenever a vehicle takes damage, subtract the vehicle’s hardness from the damage dealt.


 * When a vehicle is reduced to 0 hit points, it is disabled. Although it might be repairable, it ceases functioning. A vehicle that is disabled while moving drops one speed category each round until it comes to a stop. The driver cannot attempt any maneuvers except a 45-degree turn.


 * Unlike characters, vehicles don’t “die” when they reach −10 hit points. Instead, a vehicle is destroyed when it loses hit points equal to twice its full normal total. A destroyed vehicle cannot be repaired.


 * Energy Attacks
 * Vehicles are treated as objects when subjected to energy attacks.


 * Exploding Vehicles
 * If the attack that disables a vehicle deals damage equal to half its full normal hit points or more, the vehicle explodes after 1d6 rounds. This explosion deals 10d6 points of fire damage to everyone within the vehicle (Reflex Save, DC 20, for half damage), and half that much to everyone and everything within 30 feet of the explosion (Reflex Save, DC 15, for half damage).

Repairing Damage
 * Repairing damage to a vehicle takes a full hour of work, a mechanical tool kit, and a garage or some other suitable facility. (Without the tool kit, a character takes a −4 penalty on his Mechanics Check.) At the end of the hour, make a Mechanics Check (DC 20). Success restores 2d6 hit points. If damage remains, the character may continue to make repairs for as many hours as it takes to restore all of the vehicle’s hit points.