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Continuing with the procedures of combat on Solar Blades & Cosmic Spells! Part I can be found here!
3. Combatants Act in Order of Initiative Each Round
In order of Initiative, each combatant can make a Movement and perform an Action. Note that some rules and Special Abilities allow characters and opponents to move or act more than once per round.
Taking advantage of her sudden influx of adrenaline, Kaylia moves to a nearby counter to take advantage from the cover and fires her heavy pistol against the assassin that had just tries to kill her.
4. At the end of Every Round, the Overlord Assess the Situation
After everyone has acted in the round, the Overlord will assess the situation. If combatants are still alive and want to keep fighting, another round begins, using the same Initiative order. Just repeat steps 3 and 4 until something changes.
However, if one side of the combatants have been defeated, want to surrender, flee or has been captured, the combat may have ended. Other actions may also end the conflict, possibly leading the game to another kind of challenge, such as a chase, a negotiation or something else, as the Overlord deems appropriate.
After a few rounds of a brutal combat, Kaylia and her allies friends have killed 3 of the 4 assassins and disarmed the other one. Judging this combat over, the Overlord decides that the assassin will surrender and try to negotiate his release for information.
Movement
Combatants are always moving around during combat. They try to dodge attacks, move to reach they enemies with their swords, position themselves for more effective attacks and so on. Every combatant can perform a Movement each round (unless stated otherwise).
As Solar Blades & Cosmic Spells use an abstract way to measure distance (explained in the previous chapter under Measuring Distance), an unencumbered character can move up to a short distance and still perform an Action, or move up to a medium distance if he foregoes his Action. Encumbered characters have to choose between performing a Movement or an Action every round. Moving within close distance can be part of an Action.
The sound of the shots fired in the cantina attracted the local security, which is not famous for their civil way of handling these situations. Soon, more bullets were flying. Kaylia and her friends don’t really want to battle these guys, so they decide to flee. The cantina’s exit is within a medium distance from them, so they will need to forego their action to reach it when it’s their time to act in the round.
Actions
A lot can happen in a round of combat. Firearms are shot, swords are swung, punches are thrown, obstacles are jumped. In reality, any Action can be attempted during combat, so it would be impossible to list and explain how to proceed with each one. Instead we will present guidelines for the most common Actions combatants usually take in battles. The Overlord, using the simple rules presented on the previous chapter, shouldn’t have any problems to resolve other unpredicted Actions.
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