[ooc] Critical Hits and Combat Modifiers

Critical Hits: Attacks, particularly critical successes on Kung Fu (when you score at least 10 above the opponent's roll), can have special effects:

• Disarming: The weapon can be retrieved with a DC 15 Athletics roll (which can be opposed with Tactics).
• Disorienting: Chi Aura can't be used to reduce damage.
• Downing: The target must spend 5 Any Chi or be knocked prone, getting a -5 modifier to Initiative, Dodge, Fight, and Melee. Standing up is a DC 15 Athletics roll (which can be opposed with Tactics).
• Embarrassing: The target suffers a -10 to all actions next round.
• Entangling: The target can't move or attack; damage determines how long it takes for them to escape, and the difficulty of the Athletics/Finesse check to escape earlier.Damage (not inflicted) = Duration of entanglement = Athletics or Finesse to Escape
  1 = 1 round = Simple (15)
  2 = 2 rounds = Everyday (18)
  3 = 3 rounds = Moderate (20)
  4 to 5 = 4 to 5 rounds = Hard (30)
  6+ = one scene = Legendary (40)

• Grappling: Like Entangling, but for bare-handed people.  Victim can still attack you (at -10 modifier) and the grapple lasts only one round.  You can extend grapple to next round as a free action.
• Knocking Back: This is always an option for critical successes. In addition to normal damage, the target is knocked one round's distance (10 yards) for each damage die dealt, unless they spend 2 Any Chi per damage die.
• Maiming: The target becomes unable to use two-handed weapons, or their Lightfoot Mobility Bonus is reduced by 5. Maiming can be cured with 2 Jade Chi as a Free Action.
• Stunning: Just like Entanglement, but the target must use Hardiness to recover, not Athletics.

Combat Modifiers:
Situation = Modifier = Add Strike?
Artful attack or defense = None = Yes
Artful attack, can't see opponent = -5 = Yes
Artful defense, against projectiles = -10 = No

Brutal attack or defense = None = Yes
Brutal attack, can't see opponents = -5 = Yes
Brutal defense, against projectiles = -10 = No


Ranged attack, point-blank = -5 = Yes
Ranged attack, short range = None = Yes
Ranged attack, medium range = -5 = Yes
Ranged attack, long range = -10 = Yes
Ranged attack, can't see opponent = -10 = Yes
Ranged defense = -15 = No
Ranged defense, can't see opponent = -20 = No


Surprise - Awareness check  Everyday (18) or you fail to notice the incoming attack.  -10 to defense rolls and you cannot use your weapon's Strike, nor attack that same round.


Other Combat Effects (but not freely purchased with critical successes):

• Blindness: Some attacks can blind their victim permanently or temporarily.  Other than the modifiers as shown above, the victim also suffers -5 to Awareness and Sense rolls.
• Burning:  Certain poisons and fire use burning rules.  Fire causes one die of damage each round, with neither weapon nor armor modifying the roll.  Fires have an Intensity, each rating means a round that they burn.   A full action can extinguish a fire, unless there are complications.
• Poisoning:  For poisons that do not cause damage but instead corrupt the Chi, the same chart for Entangling is used to reflect the Hardiness Difficulty to recover from it.

Other Unusual Attacks:

• Area Attacks: Each defender opposes separately, and the attack's success, failure, critical success or critical failure is assessed separately for each.
• Called Shots: Typically representative of doing something tricky, such as cutting off another's ponytail, or slicing off another's shirt as you parry his attacks.  Difficulty ranges from Hard to Legendary just to succeed in the attack.
  Targets sometimes have specific weaknesses that called shots can take advantage of.  Called shots cannot inflict combat effects or ignore target's armor unless it is through a special kung fu or weapons that do that anyway.

Hazardous Environment:
Hazardous environments do a certain number of dice of damage each round, often with a small positive modifier.  For these, characters can have a free defense and oppose the damage merely with Hardiness or some other appropriate skill. 

Characters facing major hazards such as lava or drowning don't get a free defense - the only defensive options are Chi auras, armor if it applies, and tactical opposition that uses up the character's free action every round.


In a hazardous environment, large numbers of damage dice indicate variably high damage.  High modifiers make the damage consistently higher and harder to resist with Hardiness and Chi Aura.  Refusing a free defense means that characters have to use their full action or their Chi Aura to simply survive.  


Example conditions = Damage Dice = Damage Modifier = Armor?  = Free Defense?
Swarm of mosquitoes  = 1d = +0 = Yes = Yes
Swarms of birds = 2d = +0 = Yes = No
Swarms of swords = 1d = +15 = Yes = No
Drowning = 1d = +5 = No = No
Scalding = 2d = +0 = No = Yes
Lava = 3d = +5 = No = No