IC Conflict Resolution

Please excuse the mess! This page may be incomplete.

IC Conflict Resolution

Pax Republica uses Physique and Reflexes skill rolls to resolve most physical combat situations. That being said, keep in mind that the dice rolling system is meant to be an optional tool used for resolving IC conflicts, and should not get in the way of good, themely storytelling. Players are not required to use it if all parties involved in the situation have OOCly agreed to an outcome, and in many situations resolutions will likely be left up to the GM to determine.

For example, if a player wants their character to use Telepathy to communicate something to another character, he/she may not have to roll anything if the other player has agreed that the targeted character wouldn't attempt to resist the mental intrusion. A failed Telepathy roll shouldn't get in the way of something that is perfectly feasible within the game's setting and all involved players have agreed that it would enhance the quality of a scene, or if the GM has determined it would help advance a plot.

However, not needing to roll does not mean you are not beholden to what's on your character's sheet. In other words, this cannot be used to justify your character doing something that isn't even within the scope of its capabilities. The general rule is that the action should be possible with a skill roll (i.e. would not require a roll higher than your character is able to achieve with the amount of points he has in the skill).

So in the given example, if the character using Telepathy has +3 in the Telepathy skill, it may be allowed to read the target's thoughts and/or project some moderately complex concepts, but should not be editing or erasing the target character's memories even if all involved players have agreed to it, as that would require a roll exceeding 30 and that is not possible with only +3 in Telepathy.

Remember, it is each player's responsibility to keep track of any situational modifiers that may apply to their character during the course of a scene, since only the owning player and staff are able to see character sheets.

If you are unsure of how a conflict should be resolved or if something aligns with theme or not, please consult a staff member.

Combat

Combat will be turn-based. A turn begins with the first player to take an offensive action, and ends once every player in the combat session has had a chance to roll their attack(s) and/or retreat for that turn. Defensive actions do not count as an attack action unless the player is attempting to use them to deal damage at the same time. For example, if someone attempted to punch you with a Brawl roll, and you defend yourself with Dodge or Toughness, the defending roll doesn't count as an attack action, and you are allowed to either attempt to retaliate or run from the fight on your turn. Turn order may be determined immediately before combat begins with an Initiative contest, which will consist of a single Reflexes roll (see +help +init). The player who achieves the highest roll will have the opportunity to take the first combat action, and the player who rolled the lowest will be last.

Multiple Action

Characters will suffer a -1 penalty for each extra action in addition to the 1st action, up to a maximum of 5 extra actions. This penalty increases by 1 for each additional roll, and applies both in and out of combat. An extra action is defined as anything that requires a separate roll, except for defensive actions against an attacker. Keep in mind that attacking multiple times in a turn will incur the penalty while the defending player does not suffer the same penalty. Players with NPCs do not need to take the multi-action penalty for the NPC's first action even if it is in addition to the player character's action; however, any extra actions in addition to the first will incur the multi-action penalty in the same way as player characters.

Damage Benchmarks

During combat, the difference between the attacker's roll and the defender's roll will determine the level of damage dealt to the target.

0-10: Minor

11 - 20: Moderate

21 - 30: Heavy

31+: Critical

Vehicle Combat

Vehicle combat will work similarly to normal combat. In this case the attacking vehicle will first roll its Hit Rating against the defender's Maneuverability. If Hit Rating roll exceeds the Maneuverability roll, the attacker will then roll Firepower (or Velocity if ramming) against the defender's Armor or Shields. The damage benchmarks detailed above will then apply. Initiative rolls will be the same.