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DuD is a game where melee combat is Big, Dramatic and Cinematic. The goal of any fight in this game is for it to look impressive and cinematic. The weapons of the 41st millennium are brutal and weighty, and we want to show this. To this end, we want players to react to every blow in a fight, in an overt and dramatic fashion.

Please read [[The Social Contract]] page on cinematic combat to understand we ask you to fight at a Death Unto Darkness event.


=== Combat Safety ===

You must read the Safety at Games page, particularly including the [[Safety_at_Games#Combat_Safety|Combat Safety]] section, before engaging in combat.
 

=== Combat ===

==== Principles ====

'''''DuD combat should feel cinematic for everyone.''' You should always roleplay a reaction to melee blows and melee/ranged calls regardless of whether your traits permit you to take no mechanical effect; while your character might not be fully human they are still impacted by the physical force of the attack or forced to dodge out of its way. Simply calling a '''Reaction''' call such as '''Dodge''' or '''Deflect''' is not sufficient.

Always consider what a damage call represents: while the rules do allow you to survive a shot to the face at point-blank range by simply losing a point of Endurance, you should consider how you manage to soak it. Even if you don’t choose to become mechanically affected, it would at least be appropriate to fall to the ground clutching your face.''


==== Mechanics ====

* When you are struck by an uncalled blow in melee you will lose '''1 Point of Endurance'''. You can lose no more Endurance than that, no matter how many blows you take and from whome, every 3s unless a melee blow is accompanied by a '''Call''' or '''Cue'''.

* '''Any Called Melee Blow, or a Shot with a Ranged Weapon''' may be performed once every 3s. 

* The call '''Sunder''' may only be used '''Once''' regardless of how many sources of it you may have before you have to [[Recuperate]].
** In most cases uses of "Ranged Sunder" follow these rules: after 15s of aiming (or charging) a weapon you may expend a Supply to call Sunder. You must focus on a single target while doing so; if you lose sight of this target you must restart this count. 

* '''Ranged Weapons Require “Reloading”'''. This is a five second period that can represent cooling the weapon, recharging it or performing quick maintenance. 

* '''1-Handed ranged weapons must Reload every Five Shots''' and are considered to have a range of ten meters '''but may make ranged calls in melee'''. 

* '''2-Handed Ranged weapons must Reload every Ten Shots''' and are limited to the hearing of your target. They cannot be used in melee without certain traits.


==== Cover ====

A character is considered to have Cover if they have a solid object between them and the source of a call - such as a tree, building or other solid piece of the terrain that they could reasonably duck behind to protect themselves. 

A character who has Cover may call '''Deflect''' to the first two calls made from a direction they believe they have cover from. They can never benefit from the same object as cover more than once per combat - in order to get cover again they must move to hide behind a new piece of terrain. They may not call '''Deflect''' against '''Burn''', '''Sunder''' and calls with '''Warp''' attached.

Characters in Cover take no effect from '''Dakka'''.

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=== Endurance ===

Endurance is the measure of your character's ability to endure suffering. Whether that is through how tough they are or how fast they are is down to your personal roleplay. 

* When you are reduced to 0 Endurance you enter the '''<span style="color:#DC143C">Bloodied</span>''' condition which represents that your character has been pushed to their physical limits and has become critically injured. 

* If a Hostile Character tells you '''I’m taking you in, alive!''' Your character will be Subdued, rather than '''<span style="color:#DC143C">Bloodied</span>''' (this can be done even if you are already '''<span style="color:#DC143C">Bloodied</span>''')

Endurance is recovered by [[Recuperation]] - a short rest while a Medicae checks over their injuries.


=== '''<span style="color:#DC143C">Bloodied</span>''' ===

* A '''<span style="color:#DC143C">Bloodied</span>''' character is catastrophically and potentially fatally injured. They must collapse and roleplay devastating injury or, if they prefer, unconsciousness.
* If they remain '''<span style="color:#DC143C">Bloodied</span>''' for longer than 100 seconds they will become '''Near Death''' (see later) this timer is called their "bleed count". 
* A '''<span style="color:#DC143C">Bloodied</span>''' character can barely move faster than a slow crawl, only physrep/roleplay their injuries and cannot make any action or use any traits unless their traits specify they can be used while in this state. They can scream or shout for help, unless they were rendered '''<span style="color:#DC143C">Bloodied</span>''' by the '''I Am A Knife In The Dark''' cue.
*A '''<span style="color:#DC143C">Bloodied</span>''' character can be restored to half their maximum endurance using the '''[[Calls#GET_IT_TOGETHER|Get it Together]]''' call. However, if they’ve been hit by '''Bolt''', '''Sunder''', '''I am a Knife in the Dark''', or '''Burn''', they must first receive [[Medical Treatment|Triage]] from a Medicae or Chirugeon as per the rules. Medicae and Chirugeon's may always perform Triage on Bloodied characters, as it is required before they can utilise Get it Together.

=== Subdued ===

* A character who is '''Subdued''' has been beaten into painful submission. They are unconscious or barely conscious, and may not talk. They may move for OC safety or comfort, but lack the IC wherewithal to seek IC safety and once OC comfortable or safe should then collapse unconscious or exhausted.
* A character who is '''Subdued''' will become '''<span style="color:#DC143C">Bloodied</span>''' if a Non-Player Character moves close to them and directly attacks them, or if they are caught in the area of effect of '''Burn''' or '''Boom'''.
* A character can recover from being '''Subdued''' by either another character spending 30s roleplaying bringing them around which restores them to 1 Endurance, or if Combat ends, at which point they come around without aid at 1 Endurance. 
* A '''Subdued''' character can be captured by their enemies.
 

=== Near Death ===

When a character who is '''<span style="color:#DC143C">Bloodied</span>''' hits the end of their count, or experiences a fatal game effect, they become '''Near Death'''. They are outwardly unconscious, unable to move, and must be silent - they may experience things in this state but that is at '''Game Team''' discretion.

A character who is '''Near Death''' has two choices: '''Embrace Death''', or spend '''Fate''' to avoid it. Fate is a limited resource. A character has only three points of it for the duration of the current DuD campaign. When spending Fate to avoid death, a character may select one of the options below; a character may not spend Fate in the same way twice.

* '''Back from the Brink'''
** You recover consciousness, but you are horrendously injured, and can do nothing but crawl or stagger. 
** You require '''Surgery''' and must [[Recuperate]] before your character can act normally again.
* '''One final Push''' - Regain all Endurance and get to your feet. Your character now has a Bleed Count of 0 until they can [[Recuperate]], meaning that the next time they become '''<span style="color:#DC143C">Bloodied</span>''' they will immediately go to '''Near Death''' again.
* '''Marked by Dark Fates''' - Player characters may gain the attention of the God Emperor, dark powers, or the touch of mysterious and arcane technology. 
** You may choose to have survived even certain death by the attention of… something. 
** In such situations it is best to step OC and talk out options with the Game Team before your character is reintroduced.
 
'''Embracing Death''' is simple. You will not be able to use mechanical skills, but will be able to stagger about and roleplay for a little time before you die. A character who has Embraced Death needn’t use this for an affectionate passing on a death bed - an alternative take on this is to dramatically assure your friends that everything is fine and normal before you turn to face them showing half your head is missing due to being blown off by plasma, before collapsing - it needn’t be a touching moment. 

If you choose to have '''Embraced Death''', at any point you can change your mind. Simply talk to the Game Team and spend Fate to evade it.  

A character may instead '''Embrace Death''' by making a heroic last stand. To do this, call '''This is my Final Stand!''' - for the next two minutes (or shorter if you prefer) you take no mechanical effects from attacks against you, with the exception of the call '''Sunder''', which instantly kills you. This has additional effects on your foes - for example, they may take more damage from you, or be drawn to fight you rather than your allies.

A character that spends '''Fate''' to evade death will suffer one of the following '''Impediments''', a lingering effect on body or soul that will stay with them for the rest of the event.

* Choose an appropriate card from the Medical deck. Your character will suffer the effects for the rest of the event. 
* If your character was injured by something supernatural, you may instead choose a card from the Exorcism deck to suffer the effects of for the rest of the event.

They will also gain a [[Character_Advancement#Scars|Scar]].

[[Category:Rules]]