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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. | | 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. |
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| === Combat Safety ===
| | Please read [[The Social Contract]] page on cinematic combat to understand we ask you to fight at a Death Unto Darkness event. |
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| * '''All weapons intended to be used in melee must be LARP safe.''' This means they have been tested by a member of the Game Team and conform to our safety standards.
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| * '''Ranged weapons do not need to be LARP safe.''' However, if converted from firing props/airsoft/nerf weaponry '''they must be unloaded and made safe so they cannot fire and no ammunition for them may be brought to DuD games'''. <span style="color:red">If you fail to follow this you can be excluded from the event.</span>
| | === Combat Safety === |
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| * '''Where you are using a ranged weapon and enter Melee you are responsible for making your weapon safe''' this means if you are not using a LARP-safe prop you must move your weapon out of the way even if this involves you hindering your ability to react to an opponent. Accidents happen, but we do recommend that players planning to engage heavily in close-ranged combat consider carrying weapons that are easy to make safe, or physreps that are safer for those around them to collide with (these do not need to follow ‘LARP-safe’ construction rules unless you want them for striking an opponent, but weapons constructed from softer materials are inherently safer at close quarters).
| | You must read the Safety at Games page, particularly including the [[Safety_at_Games#Combat_Safety|Combat Safety]] section, before engaging in combat. |
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| ** '''Ranged Weapons Props made of hard materials or not judged to be LRP-safe by the Game Team must be holstered or placed in a position where you can control their movement.''' Charging melee combatants will -always slow- give you time to do so, do not use this as a chance to retreat, be courteous
| | === Combat === |
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| * '''All blows in Melee must be pulled.''' For anyone not used to LARP combat, pulling a blow is the act of slowing the weapon before it strikes the target, so that it hits with a minimal tap. Sometimes people will misjudge this – it happens – but you should always be trying your best to pull every blow, and slow down or back off from a fight if you begin to find it difficult.
| | ==== Principles ==== |
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| * '''Blows to the head are discouraged''', as we believe they are less safe than other elements of combat. You should avoid them – but if they occur by accident, treat blows to the head as if they are striking the body (including the effect of any armour worn).
| | '''''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. |
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| * The use of hands and grappling in melee is specifically restricted to controlled situations where both parties have exchanged enthusiastic consent immediately prior to engaging in this roleplay. This should never occur in a situation where there is a mass combat occurring around the individuals, nor in an enclosed space where there is a danger of their physical roleplay leading to injury to themselves or accidentally striking those who have not consented to participate.
| | 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.'' |
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| === Melee Combat ===
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| Melee combat is the simplest and easiest form of combat to resolve, if you swing at a foe and strike an area of the body where they are affected by it, then they will take the blow, or whatever effect call you have called while striking it. However there are some notable things to remember;
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| * Uncalled blows do not deal mechanical damage, they stagger and cause pain to the character taking them and should be reacted to but they don’t leave wounds deep enough to inflict serious damage on a character leaving only superficial cuts and bruises.
| | ==== Mechanics ==== |
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| ** You may CHOOSE to take damage from uncalled melee if you feel it is appropriate - and some '''mook''' NPCs will be briefed to take damage from it as they feel is appropriate but it otherwise doesn’t inflict any mechanical effects. | | * 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'''. |
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| * The only way for a melee blow to inflict damage is for it to be accompanied by a damaging call - try to make these strikes as cinematic and brutal-looking as you can. | | * '''Any Called Melee Blow, or a Shot with a Ranged Weapon''' may be performed once every 3s. |
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| * You must leave 3 seconds between making melee calls.
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| * When charging individuals with hard (non-larp safe) ranged weapons props give them time to holster or safely move their props out of the way to prevent injury.
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| * If your call is not reacted to (this usually happens because it wasn’t heard) and it is a limited-use call, then you retain that use of it as if you hadn’t made the call. Parrying a blow, or calling '''Deflect''' or '''Ineffective''' so the call has no effect is considered a reaction for this purpose.
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| === Ranged Combat Rules ===
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| Ranged combat is ‘calls-based’ in this game, what we mean by that is Ranged calls should be prefixed with the name or an identifying description of the target – so "Ben, Rend!" or "Blue Hat, Blam!" - though as in the last example making it clear WHO you are targeting is good practice (there may be more than one person with a blue hat). There are however a few rules to note;
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| * All ranged weapons may call '''Blam''' - '''to make any other ranged call you need a wargear trait''' (all weapons may call '''Blam''' representing them firing on low power when you run out of standard ammunition so that players do not feel pressured to buy too many props) | | * 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. |
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| * You must leave 3 seconds between making ranged calls. | | * '''Ranged Weapons Require “Reloading”'''. This is a five second period that can represent cooling the weapon, recharging it or performing quick maintenance. |
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| * '''After Ten Shots''' you ''must'' roleplay reloading or preparing maintenance on your weapon for five seconds. | | * '''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'''. |
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| * '''Pistols''', herein defined as small ranged weapons small enough to be carried and fired in one hand for simplicity, have a range of five meters - if your prop has been judged to be LRP-safe by the Game Team then you may use it to fire 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. |
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| * '''Rifles''', herein defined as large ranged weapons that must be carried in two hands, have an effectively unlimited range - however, even if your prop has been judged to be LRP-safe by the Game Team then you can not use it to fire in melee, only strike as if it were a regular melee weapon.
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| * '''Torches and other aids to see in the dark are never viable ways to target someone''', this encourages players to turn them off in combat situations which is unsafe, in the same vein we discourage torches affixed to guns as they can dazzle at night, and suggest using costume-affixed lightning that cannot accidentally dazzle individual.
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| * There are no thrown melee weapons in DUD, the only thrown items are Grenades.
| | ==== Cover ==== |
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| * Sniping is not always possible, where it is, a radio channel for long-range shots will be made available by the refs.
| | 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. |
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| * If your call is not reacted to (this usually happens because it wasn’t heard) and it is a limited-use call, then you retain that use of it as if you hadn’t made the call. Parrying a blow, or calling '''Deflect''' or '''Ineffective''' so the call has no effect is considered a reaction for this purpose.
| | 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. |
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| | Characters in Cover take no effect from '''Dakka'''. |
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| === Cover (Ranged Combat) ===
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| The benefits of taking cover only apply against calls made by a ranged weapon, also notably unless a character has a rule that says otherwise they do not apply against the call '''Burn''' or '''Sunder'''. To count as '''Cover''', something must be a solid object that cannot be seen through, which covers most of your body. It does not need to be subjectively ‘hard enough to stop bullets’; soft items can still prevent you being hit, simply by meaning the enemy can’t quite be sure where to aim. The Traits [[Endurance_Traits#Adept_Mortis|Adept Mortis]], [[Expertise_Traits#Vigilator|Vigilator]] and [[Endurance_Traits#Aegis_Training|Aegis Training]] provide alternatives to using hard cover to gain this benefit.
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| Cover protects you from the first '''two''' ranged attacks made against you from the other side of it, after which you must move to a new piece of cover to ‘refresh’ this protection. Characters with Traits such as [[Endurance_Traits#Adept_Mortis|Adept Mortis]], [[Expertise_Traits#Vigilator|Vigilator]] and [[Endurance_Traits#Aegis_Training|Aegis Training]] must take five long steps instead to refresh their unique forms of cover.
| | === Endurance === |
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| === Using Endurance and Reacting to Calls ===
| | 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. |
| A character is considered to be in a healthy state if they have any points of Endurance remaining.
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| Whenever a character is struck in melee or targeted at range by a damaging call, it causes them to lose Endurance, for different calls this can vary, some remove multiple points of Endurance, some can remove all of it.
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| Should a character ever be reduced to no Endurance they will become <span style="color:#DC143C">Bloodied.</span> Unless the cue '''I’m taking you in, alive!''' be used (see beneath) which instead reduces them to '''Subdued'''.
| | * 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. |
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| Endurance is recovered in two ways;
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| '''Second Wind''' - Any character can spend 1 minute of appropriate recovery roleplay (eg. bandaging wounds, praying, etc.) to activate their Second Wind. If they are attacked during this time, all progress is lost. Activating their Second Wind sets their Endurance to half its maximum (rounding up), if it was below half. The character cannot use Second Wind again until they have Recuperated. | | * 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>''') |
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| '''Recuperating''' - this is a ten minute short rest where the character role plays the act of resting, drinking water, and having a Medicae check over the minor injuries and strain of the physical efforts they’ve expended earlier.
| | Endurance is recovered by [[Recuperation]] - a short rest while a Medicae checks over their injuries. |
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| A character cannot Recuperate if combat is ongoing nearby or they are <span style="color:#DC143C">Bloodied.</span> or have untreated Complications or another condition that specifies they cannot Recupertate - they need to rest in total safety after being fully treated for physical ailments.
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| === Roleplaying Endurance === | | === '''<span style="color:#DC143C">Bloodied</span>''' === |
| When you use Endurance, your character’s reaction should be appropriate to the Traits they gain their Endurance from: a blow to armour should cause you to react to the imaginary force, a blow that is dodged should result in your roleplaying dodging aside, and so on. Whenever you become <span style="color:#DC143C">Bloodied.</span> the reaction should be suitably dramatic as you, a protagonist, are shot.
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| 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 loosing 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.
| | * 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 character who is '''<span style="color:#DC143C">Bloodied</span>''' can be restored to health via treatment from a '''Medicae''' or '''Chirugeon''', which will restore them to 1 Endurance. They pause their bleed count when either '''[[First Aid]]''' or '''[[Medical_Treatment#Triage|Triage]]''' is performed on them - their bleed count only resets after Triage has been successfully performed. |
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| Even if you are lucky enough to be able to ignore a call entirely by calling '''Ineffective''' or '''Deflect''', some degree of telegraphing why they couldn’t harm you is always welcome where possible as simply shouting calls is unsatisfying and doesn’t allow your attacker to roleplay a reaction – even just a mocking smile and a taunting comment, if you’re that kind of character.
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| === Subdued === | | === Subdued === |
| Sometimes it is important to take an individual in alive because they are either not acting in their right mind, or you need to take them in for '''Interrogation''' and sometimes something is devastating enough to damage your endurance but not kill you. These effects state that when a character hit 0 endurance as a result of them being used, they become '''Subdued''' rather than <span style="color:#DC143C">Bloodied.</span>.
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| '''Subdued''' is a state of temporary stunned/unconscious roleplay that lasts thirty seconds, after which they return to a healthy state with one endurance.
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| If a character can reach a currently-Subdued character, they can '''detain''' the Subdued Character. Physical contact is discouraged, so if someone informs you that they are detaining you, follow along with the roleplay. While detained you may not attempt to escape unless granted permission by a GM or your NPC briefing sheet, or by the player(s) of the character(s) you have been detained by.
| | * 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. |
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| === <span style="color:red">Bleeding.</span> ===
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| A <span style="color:red">Bleeding.</span> character is catastrophically and potentially fatally injured. They must collapse and roleplay devastating injury or, if they prefer, unconsciousness. A <span style="color:red">Bleeding.</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:red">Bleeding.</span> by the '''I Am A Knife In The Dark''' cue.
| | === Near Death === |
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| * A <span style="color:red">Bleeding.</span> character should slump somewhere it is safe to collapse – out from under the feet of fighters and on a safe surface – and begin a 100-second Bleed Count. If getting somewhere safe takes a few seconds, it is appropriate to wait to start the count until you are safe. You do not have to follow the bleed out roleplay beneath, you can simply slip into unconsciousness if you prefer;
| | 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. |
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| ** '''During the first 30 seconds''' a character is able to cry out for aid and help while moving at a very slow crawl (or stagger) while clutching their wounds.
| | 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. |
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| ** '''After 30 seconds''' a character has experienced so much bloodloss that they are unable to move and are unable to speak above a strangled whisper.
| | * '''Back from the Brink''' |
| | | ** You recover consciousness, but you are horrendously injured, and can do nothing but crawl or stagger. |
| ** '''After 60 seconds''' a character lapses into an insensiate or unconscious state they are unable to move or do much more than moan (and of course splash fake blood and wound makeup over themselves if they have yet to do so) | | ** 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. |
| ** '''After 100 seconds''' a character is unconscious from blood loss, see beneath for the consequences. | | * '''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. |
| A <span style="color:red">Bleeding.</span> character’s Bleed Count can be paused by another character performing [[Medical_Treatment#First_Aid|First Aid]]. Any character can perform this. This requires them to use both hands and their full attention to roleplay stemming blood-flow, bracing a limb, or similarly tending to the casualty. If they cease to give their full attention to the task, the Bleed Count resumes from where it was paused. There are chems and traits that also allow the Bleed Count to be paused differently, a character with them will let you know if they are doing so.
| | ** In such situations it is best to step OC and talk out options with the Game Team before your character is reintroduced. |
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| A <span style="color:red">Bleeding.</span> character can be moved by another character’s assistance. They cannot move faster than a slow walk, and while they are upright or in motion, their Bleed Count resumes from where it was paused and cannot be stopped with [[Medical_Treatment#First_Aid|First Aid]]. unless the character moving you has the [[Expertise_Traits#Medicae|Medicae]] trait, there are traits and other effects that can alter this.
| | '''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. |
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| The only way to stop a <span style="color:red">Bleeding.</span> character from bleeding out without constant [[Medical_Treatment#First_Aid|First Aid]] is for a Medicae to attend to them and perform [[Medical_Treatment#Triage|Triage]] - this is the process of performing a medical intervention applying chems and bandages and other medical methods to halt the bleeding and prep the individual for movement, this takes 30 seconds.
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| After this is done, they will perform a Triage Check on you to work out if you are suffering from a more serious injury, if it is passed then a further 30 seconds of roleplay will restore you to a single point of Endurance. If it is failed however you will suffer a Complication that must be treated via Surgery before you can recover any Endurance.
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| If you reach the end of your Bleed Count without intervention to aid you, you cease to bleed but continue with the movement and roleplay restrictions of the <span style="color:red">Bleeding.</span> state. However your wounds have left a permanent mark on you, we call this a '''Scar''', a long term injury that will continue to affect your character it is also a measure of how many times you have survived a close call with death.
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| NPCs who are durable enough to not die when they become <span style="color:red">Bleeding.</span> will normally simply die if they bleed out.
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| === Maimed ===
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| Sometimes a character will be reduced to <span style="color:#DC143C">Bloodied.</span> by an effect that causes them to immediately lose all endurance, this includes the calls '''Sunder''', '''Burn''', '''Dakka''' and '''I am a Knife in the Dark''' as well as some other effects and GM-directed calls. When a character suffers one of these devastating injuries they are considered '''Maimed'''. Characters who are '''Maimed''' are unable to use certain traits or benefit from the cue '''Get it Together!''' due to their heavy injuries, their roleplay should express more exaggerated pain, crying out in pain is encouraged but be cautious of your volume because it can interrupt the call-space of a combat (a downside of our combat system).
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| === Scars ===
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| Unlike traditional systems, DuD operates on the concept that players are far more durable than the average individual in the setting, as a result they have the ability to endure three Scars throughout the life of the character, after enduring their third '''Scar''' the next time they bleed out they will become '''Marked by Death''', a state in which they are mortally wounded and will die within a period. This is a '''Death Spiral''' in that as it goes on the players will become progressively more able to judge their imminent death and plan for it both in terms of backup characters and in terms of looking for chances to go out in the best way possible. There are effects that can cause Instant death (as beneath) but these will always be clearly signposted as being present.
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| The effects of '''Scars''' are not mechanical, they can be anything you want but they are clear signs that your character has survived death they could be mental or physical or even something else if it’s appropriate at the time. You’ll be able to choose them at an event, or if necessary have them come more into effect after due to a need to prepare a phys rep (perhaps you’ll limp the rest of the event but surgery between events will result in you having to have your leg amputated and a bionic fitted).
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| A character can simply choose to become '''Marked by Death''' at any time they wish if they feel their character has suffered something that would just kill them or wish to use their willpower to make a final stand against foes. | |
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| === Marked by Death ===
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| Becoming '''Marked by Death''' is tragic, you are mortally injured, there is no way to save your character and any [[Expertise_Traits#Medicae|Medicae]] or [[Expertise_Traits#Chirurgeon|Chirugeon]] looking at you will be able to quickly work out that there is nothing they can do to save you, at this point you have two choices;
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| * At any point within the next hour after suffering this condition you can choose to pass away, giving you time (if you want it) to make your goodbyes to your friends. You continue to roleplay the <span style="color:#DC143C">Bloodied.</span> state with all the restrictions that come with it, you cannot use this time to do anything but this.
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| * If you have access to '''Willpower''' you may draw on it to struggle to your feet, and act as normal, you do not regain any Endurance and you cannot recover neither Willpower or Endurance by any means. For the duration of any situation where you would normally expend Endurance, you expend Willpower, when you run out of Willpower, you die at that exact moment. This is intended to allow characters to throw their last reserves of stubborn will to achieve something.
| | 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. |
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| | 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. |
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| === Instant Death. ===
| | 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. |
| There are a select few instances where the rules for becoming <span style="color:#DC143C">Bloodied.</span> or '''Marked by Death''' do not apply;
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| * In situations where a character puts themselves in a situation where it would result in instantaneous death (eating a canister of a deadly flesh-eating virus, leaping out of an airlock without a void suit). In these situations a member of the game team is free to rule that a character is instantaneously (or rapidly) killed, they simply die without being able to do anything under marked by death or worrying about how much endurance they had remaining. | | * 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. |
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| * In a situation were a player character is <span style="color:#DC143C">Bloodied.</span> and an hostile character continues to deliberately attack them on the ground and informs them via some cue or dramatic and obvious roleplay that they are aware they are dying and are, for example, eating them or sacrificing them to the dark gods, that can cause them (if not rescued from their fate) to die instantly, without gaining any of the opportunities of being marked by death or being able to use '''Scars'''.
| | They will also gain a [[Character_Advancement#Scars|Scar]]. |
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| Characters in DuD have returned from the dead. The vast majority have done so as a direct result of the intervention of some power – or Power – whose attention they had caught by the manner of their death or a pre-struck bargain or deed. This will not be the case for the majority of characters, and if it is possible the Refs will raise it with you. Even if you set out to have your character gain such an ability and take IC actions that give you the option, bear in mind that it will come with significant consequences; most characters who return from the dead become NPCs as a result of the changes wrought to them. Resurrection of any kind will never result in just continuing to play the character as before their death.
| | [[Category:Rules]] |
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 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.
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 Bloodied 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 Bloodied (this can be done even if you are already Bloodied)
Endurance is recovered by Recuperation - a short rest while a Medicae checks over their injuries.
Bloodied
- A Bloodied character is catastrophically and potentially fatally injured. They must collapse and roleplay devastating injury or, if they prefer, unconsciousness.
- If they remain Bloodied for longer than 100 seconds they will become Near Death (see later) this timer is called their "bleed count".
- A Bloodied 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 Bloodied by the I Am A Knife In The Dark cue.
- A character who is Bloodied can be restored to health via treatment from a Medicae or Chirugeon, which will restore them to 1 Endurance. They pause their bleed count when either First Aid or Triage is performed on them - their bleed count only resets after Triage has been successfully performed.
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 Bloodied 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 Bloodied 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 Bloodied 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 Scar.