---
# System prepended metadata

title: Action Encounters

---

# Action Encounters

When things get tense and it matters who does what, when and in which order, action time begins.

**NOTE:** Rounds are only 15 seconds long, so combat is *fast moving*.

## Initiative

1. GM tells Players to "Roll for Initiative" (Dexterity (Initiative) Test).
2. GM rolls for Major/Minor NPCs.
3. Rolls are compared and ranked from highest to lowest.
   1. Tie is broken by Drama Die.
   2. If there is still a tie, the GM resolves it.
4. Each character takes their turn in that order.
5. The round ends and the turn order begins again.

## Taking Actions

There are three kinds of actions you can take during your turn in a round.

- 1 **Major Action** per turn.
- 1 **Minor Action** per turn.
- You may replace your **Major Action** with a **Minor Action** (2 total in turn).
- You can take them in any order.
- You do not have to use all actions in a turn.

### Major Actions

Requiring focused effort, often affecting something or someone else and requiring an ability test. Taking a swing at an opponent, trying to override a lock in the middle of a fight, and providing first aid to a wounded friend.

| Major Action   | Description                                                  |
| -------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------ |
| All-Out Attack | You attack one adjacent enemy in close combat, throwing the full force of your Strength behind the attack at the cost of your ability to defend yourself. If your attack hits, you do +1 damage, but whether or not the attack hits, you have a –1 to your Defense until the start of your next turn. |
| Charge         | You move up to half your Speed (rounded down) in meters and finish with a close combat attack against an adjacent enemy. If you moved at least 4 meters in a straight line before reaching your target, you gain a +1 bonus on your attack roll. You cannot take this action if you are prone (you’d need to use the Move action to stand up first). |
| Defend         | You focus on defending yourself. Until the start of your next turn, you gain a +2 bonus to your Defense. |
| Melee Attack   | You attack an enemy within 2 meters of you in hand-to-hand combat. |
| Ranged Attack  | You fire or throw a ranged weapon at one visible enemy within range. |
| Run            | You move up to twice your Speed in meters, sacrificing the ability to perform another action so you can move farther. You cannot take this action if you are prone (you’d need to use the Move action to stand up first). |
| Stunt Attack   | Instead of trying to damage an opponent, you focus on performing a specific action stunt, like subduing an enemy with a hold instead of hurting them (a Grapple stunt). Roll an attack test as usual. A successful test awards you 1 SP of a type appropriate for the attack, but the attack itself inflicts no damage. If you roll doubles, you earn additional SP as normal and may choose a stunt that damages your opponent, but there is still no damage from the base attack. You can attempt stunt attacks against objects as well as opponents, though the GM may rule that some stunts do not apply. See Attacking Objects in this chapter for more information. |

### Minor Actions

Not as involved as a major action, but still represents a deliberate effort. Running to a new position, fetching an item from a container, or reloading a gun.

| Minor Action     | Description                                                  |
| ---------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------ |
| Activate         | This action allows you to start using certain abilities or items, such as certain talents or technology. |
| Aim              | You take the measure of your opponent and plan your next strike. If your next action after Aim is a melee or ranged attack, you gain a +1 bonus on your attack roll. |
| Guard Up         | You balance action and defense. Add +1 or +2 (your choice) to your Defense until the end of the round. However, the same modifier becomes a penalty to all tests you make, even opposed tests, until the end of the round as well (unlike the Defend action, which lasts until the beginning of your next turn). If you choose this minor action, you must do it before any major action on your turn, and you cannot Defend on the same turn. |
| Move             | You move up to your Speed in meters and can combine this with actions like dropping prone, standing up, or climbing into a vehicle, but each of these types of actions consumes half your Speed (rounded down). |
| Prepare          | When you take this action, you postpone your major action. You declare one major action and your choice to Prepare it. After you do so, the next person in the initiative order acts, and so on, but at any time until the beginning of your next turn, you can interrupt another character and take your prepared action immediately. If you don’t use the prepared action by your next turn, you lose it. |
| Press The Attack | You stand ready to pursue an enemy if they fall back or flee. You can take this action after successfully striking an enemy target with a melee attack (whether you inflict damage or not). After you declare this action, if that foe moves away from you, you may immediately move up to your Speed in meters in direct pursuit at no additional cost in actions. This occurs immediately after your foe’s movement, before they can do anything else. |
| Ready            | You draw a weapon, pull out a device, or otherwise ready a stowed item. As part of this action, you can put away something already in hand. You could holster a pistol and pull out a grenade with the same Ready action, for example. |
| Stand Firm       | You stand firm and prepare to resist any effort to move you. Until the start of your next turn, any enemy using the Skirmish or Knock Prone stunts to move you or knock you to the ground must succeed in an opposed test of their Strength (Might) against your choice of your own Strength (Might) or Dexterity (Acrobatics). If you win the test, the attempt fails. If the attacker wins, the attempt proceeds normally. The attacker still spends the stunt points, regardless of whether the attempt to move you succeeds or fails. |

### Free Actions

A free action takes a negligible amount of time and doesn't count towards your usage limitations. The rules note when something is a free action. The GM can restrict how many you get. Talking counts, but since a round is only 15 seconds, consider what you can say in that time.

## Making Attacks

Attack Roll = 3D6 + Fighting (Melee) or Accuracy (Ranged) + Focus vs. Defense.

1. Choose a Target.
   1. Melee = Within 2 metres of you.
   2. Ranged = Line of Sight and within Range (weapon based).
2. Make an Attack Roll.
   1. Melee = Fighting Test.
   2. Ranged = Accuracy Test.
3. Determine Result. If your result is equal to or greater than the target's defense, you hit.
   1. If you miss, check your Drama Die for weapon capacity; your gun may jam or be out of ammo.

### Range

Melee attacks occur at within 2 metres of your opponent. For all other weapons refer to:

| Weapon Type | Range           | Max Range  |
| ----------- | --------------- | ---------- |
| Bow         | 100 metres      | 150 metres |
| Pistol      | 50 metres       | 75 metres  |
| Rifle       | 200 metres      | 300 metres |
| Thrown      | 10 + STR Metres | -          |

### Damage

Attack Damage = Attack Type Dice Roll + Ability + Modifiers

When applying damage:

1. Subtract the target's Toughness (including armour).
2. Spend Fortune to eliminate some or all of the remaining damage.
3. Take an injured or wounded condition to account for the remaining damage.
4. If any damage remains, the target is taken out.

| Attack Type | Damage           |
| ----------- | ---------------- |
| Unarmed     | 1d3(1) + Str     |
| Makeshift   | 1d6(2) + Str     |
| Light Melee | 1d6 + Str or Dex |
| Heavy Melee | 2d6 + Str        |
| Pistol      | 2d6 + Per        |
| Rifle       | 3d6 + Per        |
| Grenade     | 3d6 (5m radius)  |

(1) - 1d6 if you have Striking Style.
(2) - Makeshift weapons have certain drawbacks.

#### Makeshift Weapons

**Clumsy** - The weapon is awkward to wield, imposing a -1 or -2 penalty to attack tests.
**Fragile** - The weapon wasn't make to take much punishment. When an attack misses and the Drama Die is 3 or less, the object breaks and becomes useless as a weapon.
**Weak** - The object can't inflict damage as easily as a proper weapon, imposing a -1 or -2 penalty to damage rolls with a minimum damage roll of 1.

#### Stunning Weapons

A stunning weapon does penetrating damage, but inflicts one less damage than a lethal weapon. E.g. Taser (pistol) does 1d6 damage versus a Pistol which does 2d6. 

#### Toughness

Toughness is equal to your Constitution Score (minimum 0, cannot be negative). It is modified by your armour, which decreases your Dexterity and Speed.

| Armour Type        | Armour Bonus | Armour Penalty |
| ------------------ | ------------ | -------------- |
| Padding            | +1           | 0              |
| Light Body Armour  | +2           | -1             |
| Medium Body Armour | +4           | -2             |
| Heavy Body Armour  | +6           | -3             |
| Power Armour       | +12          | 0              |

| Shield Type      | Defense Bonus |
| ---------------- | ------------- |
| Riot Shield      | +2            |
| Ballistic Shield | +3            |

#### Penetrating Damage

Some damage (e.g. energy) is treated as penetrating and it ignores Toughness entirely.

#### Fortune

Fortune represents how hard it is to physically hit a character. You can spend Fortune Points at a 1:1 ratio to negate damage (1 FP = -1 Damage).

### Injuries & Wounds

If Fortune isn't enough to prevent damage, it is going to hurt. The character is either going to be taken out (below) or needs to take an Injured / Wounded condition to reflect the remaining damage.

If the character accepts an injured condition they can remove 1d6 of damage. If any is remaining, or the character is already injured, they must accept a wounded condition or be taken out.

If the character accepts a wounded condition they can remove an additional 1d6 of damage. Any further damage past those two things results in being Taken Out.

### Taken Out

If all else fails to result in negating damage, then the target is "Taken Out" of the encounter. Depending on the weapon used, a condition is imposed that is reasonable with that kind of attack. The GM decides, but examples are; gunshot wounds, being knocked out, etc.

### Rolling Over

An Expanse character can choose to 'roll over', which essentially means to bow out of an encounter. The player is allowed to choose the condition they take with the GM's approval. This must be done before being Taken Out. It is a "live to fight another day" tactic.

### Breathers

Breather = 1D6 + Constitution + Level in Fortune. 

After an Encounter, character get a breather. 

## Defense and Cover

You usually don't need to do anything in order to avoid attacks as it is covered by your Defense Score. However, you can take actions to modify this score.

### Taking Cover

You can either jump behind cover using a Take Cover Stunt as part of your action. Or you can move behind cover as a movement. You may need to drop prone to gain the most benefit.

| Rating | Armour Bonus               | Ranged Attack Penalty     |
| ------ | -------------------------- | ------------------------- |
| 1      | +2                         | -1                        |
| 2      | +3                         | -2                        |
| 3      | +4                         | -3                        |
| Total  | Can't be attacked at range | Can't make ranged attacks |

## Attacking Objects

There are times you may want to shoot out a lock, kick a door, etc. Refer to the chart below.

| Target Size                            | Target Number |
| -------------------------------------- | ------------- |
| Very Large (Truck, tool shed)          | 7             |
| Large (cart, dumpster)                 | 9             |
| Human-sized (bicycle, kiosk)           | 11            |
| Small (vehicle tire, window)           | 13            |
| Very Small (small drone, lamp post)    | 15            |
| Diminutive (handgun, tire)             | 17            |
| Minuscule (switch, door handle)        | 19            |
| Almost Invisible (keyhole, spy camera) | 21            |

## Weapon Capacity

Guns have limited amounts of ammunition and are subject to jamming. Rather then tracking ammo:

- When an attack misses with a gun and the Drama Die is 6, the weapon is jammed or out of ammo.
  - Use a Minor Action to fix the problem.
- The GM can also spend Churn Points on missed firearms attacks to cause it to jam or run out of ammo.

## Explosives

Unlike attacks with a firearm, you don't need to score a direct hit with a grenade or explosive. Just get it close enough to be within range.

Grenades are thrown weapons with a range of 10 + Strength metres. Use the Ready Action to have the grenade in your hand and then make a ranged attack action to throw it. 

A Grenade Attack is TN 11 Accuracy (Thrown) Test. Success means it lands where you intended to throw it. Failure results in the grenade landing 1d6 metres away in a direction of the GM's choosing. Grenades effect everyone within 5 metres. 

## Action Stunts

A good fight should be dynamic and feature lots of movement and action. The Stunts system allows for that. They cost Stunt Points (when you roll two die of the same number).

- You may only perform a given stunt once per round.
- You can perform two or more in a round, if it makes sense in the context.
- Once you decide on your stunts, you narrate how you pull them off.
- You can always use the Stunt Attack action if you don't want to trust dice.

![](https://i.imgur.com/V1TUGxK.png)
![](https://i.imgur.com/eJD4DPO.png)
![](https://i.imgur.com/bB4EH2g.png)
