Moves & Escape#
A boot in the knee has ended more duels than any sword I ever sold.
More than a swing
Five moves are open to everyone: kick, bash, trip, disarm and rescue. Each costs stamina, takes your turn and needs a few turns’ rest before you can use it again. When it’s time to go, you can flee, or try to break off where you stand.
Using a move#
A move takes your turn in place of your swings. Pay its stamina, roll a d20, add what it says and make its number to land it. Then wait the turns it gives before you use it again. An exhausted character can’t use any of them.
Put the five on your sheet like abilities, at 0 efficacy. Below 80 efficacy a move takes an efficacy check like any ability, and you get better at them the same way: at a training dummy, or by using them in a fight.
A natural 1 on a move has its own kind of miss, given with each one. The fumble table is for attacks.
The five moves#
Kick
10 staminaThen wait 1 turn
d20 + Dex mod, 9 or more
- Lands
- 1d4 + 3, plus a third of your Strength and a quarter of your Dexterity, as bashing damage. Armor takes its share.
- Misses
- Nothing worse than a miss.
Bash
15 staminaThen wait 2 turnsNeeds a shield
d20 + Str mod, 11 or more
- Lands
- 1d6 + 4, plus half your Strength. Then roll a d20 and add your Strength modifier: on 15 or more the foe is stunned for 2 rounds, losing its turns and its guards.
- Misses
- On a 1 to 3 you're off-balance until your next turn.
Trip
12 staminaThen wait 3 turns
d20 + your Dex mod - theirs, 12 or more
- Lands
- They're down for 2 rounds, and take 1d3 + 1 from the fall. Anything huge is too big to trip.
- Misses
- On a 1 or 2 you're the one on the ground, for a round.
Disarm
18 staminaThen wait 4 turnsNeeds a weapon, against a foe who has one
d20 + Dex mod, 14 or moreAdd the difference if your Strength modifier beats theirs. A two-handed weapon needs 15.
- Lands
- Their weapon goes into their pack, and they fight on bare-handed until they spend a turn wielding it again.
- Misses
- On a natural 1 your own weapon goes into your pack.
Rescue
20 staminaThen wait 5 turns
d20 + Dex mod, 9 or more
- Lands
- You step in front of a friend, and whatever was attacking them turns on you.
- Misses
- It ignores you.
Stances and class moves#
Classes have moves of their own: a monk’s kicks, a headhunter’s stunning attack, a plainsman’s stances. Each is an ability with its own cost and roll, on the class’s page. A stance lasts until you drop it or take up another.
Getting out#
Not every fight is worth finishing. There are two ways out, and a third that decides for you:
- Flee
- Roll a d20: on 11 or more you run out of the fight, by a way you don't get to choose. Add 2 for each point of Dexterity you have over your foe, and take 2 off for each point under. A natural 20 always gets you out. A hostile foe may follow your trail for a while, and fleeing a duel loses it.
- Break off
- The same roll, but you stay where you are. Your foe turns on anyone else still fighting it, or stops too if nobody is. A creature that attacks on sight may start again.
- Your breaking point
- Pick a share of your health, up to three-quarters, and write it in Notes. Whenever a blow leaves you below it, you try to flee at once, whatever you'd planned for your turn.
Nowhere to run
You can’t flee a place with no open way out, or while a spell holds you where you are. A failed try leaves you in the fight, and costs your turn.
