Combat

Purpose

This document defines the combat mechanics of TDGS: how entities take damage, resist damage, and ultimately live or die.

It establishes:

• Hit Points and death
• Damage calculation
• Armor systems (Ablative and Deflection)
• Healing and recovery
• Conditions (buffs and debuffs)

This document builds upon Document 3 (Resolution), Document 5 (Action Taxonomy), Document 6 (Action Economy), and Document 7 (Abilities). Resolution determines if you hit. This document determines what happens when you do.

The Combat Truth

In TDGS, damage is absolute. One point of damage to a dragon is one point of damage to a peasant. The dragon simply has more hit points to lose.

This means a peasant CAN hurt a dragon. Not easily. They probably can't even land a hit given the stat differential. But if that desperate spear thrust lands? The dragon bleeds. Every hit matters. Even gods bleed.

What separates heroes from peasants isn't magical durability. It's:

• Higher stats (from training, items, investment)
• Better armor (evasion to avoid, absorption to reduce)
• Better skills (active defense, damage mitigation)

Catch a hero sleeping naked? They're just as tender as anyone else.

"I have never lost a fight. I have also never been hit. These two facts are not unrelated. But I assure you, my armor is magnificent regardless."

Hit Points

Hit Points (HP) represent how much punishment an entity can sustain before death.

HP Formula

Apparent CON is your base Constitution plus all bonuses from items, gear, skills, effects, and narrative sources.

HP Does Not Scale With Level

A Level 50 warrior with CON 12 has the same HP as a Level 1 peasant with CON 12: 60 HP.

Experience doesn't make you physically tougher. Training might increase your CON. Gear might add CON bonuses. But your body is your body. Level doesn't magically create more blood.

Veterans survive longer because they hit harder, dodge better, and wear superior armor. Not because they have inflated hit point pools.

"Same flesh. Same bones. Same amount of blood. A veteran just knows how to keep theirs inside."

Knockout Threshold

When an entity reaches 5% of their maximum HP (rounded down), they fall unconscious.

Knockout is a warning. The next hit might kill.

Death

When an entity reaches 0 HP, they die.

No death saves. No bleeding out timers. No dramatic last words while the cleric scrambles for a heal. Zero is zero. Dead is dead.

This is intentional. TDGS combat is lethal. When HP gets low, the stakes are real. Every hit in that danger zone between knockout and death could be the last.

Damage

When an attack hits, it deals damage. Damage reduces the target's HP.

Damage Formula

Examples

Damage Scales With Power

At parity (similar-powered entities fighting each other), combat takes roughly 4-5 hits to kill. This remains consistent across all power tiers because both HP and damage scale with stats.

Lethality is consistent. Scale is different.

Damage Variance

The damage bonus from weapons, spells, and abilities can be:

• Flat: +5 (always adds 5)
• Dice: +1d6 (adds 1-6, rolled each time)
• Both: +2 + 1d6 (adds 2 + 1-6)

Content defines which format each effect uses. A simple dagger might be +1. A volatile magic sword might be +1d8.

This applies to ALL damaging effects: weapons, spells, natural weapons, abilities, traps, environmental hazards. If it deals damage, the bonus can include dice.

Flat bonuses are predictable. Dice add drama. Choose based on the feel you want.

Minimum Damage

Every hit that lands deals at least 1 damage, regardless of armor. (See Document 17: Damage for the sole exception: Immunity.)

You hit? You scratch the paint. No attack is completely negated. Even the peasant poking a god with a pointy stick draws a single drop of divine blood.

"Every cut counts. Every bruise adds up. I've seen dragons brought low by a thousand tiny wounds. Patience beats power if power can't catch patience."

Weapon Properties

Weapons have two separate properties that affect combat. For full item structure including slot costs and carrying rules, see Document 15 (Equipment & Slots).

Hit Bonus

Adds to the resolution roll (d20 + mods). Each +1 equals approximately 5% better chance to hit.

Damage Bonus

Adds to damage dealt on a successful hit. Can be flat (+3), dice-based (+1d6), or both (+2 + 1d4). Content defines which.

Range

Weapons have a range band indicating optimal engagement distance.

• Optimal: No penalty. This is where the weapon is designed to work.
• Extended: -2 to hit. One band beyond optimal. Pushing the weapon's limits.
• Beyond Maximum: Cannot hit. Out of range entirely.

Melee weapons have no extended range. You're in arm's reach or you're not.

Reach weapons threaten both Adjacent AND Near ranges. This is their advantage—zone control without sacrificing close combat. Opportunity attacks trigger from either range for reach weapons.

See Document 14 (Movement & Positioning) for range band definitions: Adjacent (0-1 squares), Near (2-4 squares), Far (5-10 squares), Distant (11+ squares).

Example Weapons

These properties are completely separate. A weapon can have any combination:

This separation honors our principle: Resolution and Magnitude Never Mix. What makes you more likely to hit is independent of what makes you hit harder.

Armor

Armor protects you from damage. TDGS has two types of armor absorption: Ablative and Deflection. For armor as equipment (slot costs, wearing rules), see Document 15 (Equipment & Slots).

Ablative Armor (Pool-Based)

Ablative armor has a damage pool. It absorbs incoming damage until depleted.

Ablative armor is your buffer. It takes the hits so you don't have to. Until it runs out.

Durability: Each ablative item defines whether it:

• Destroyed when depleted (consumable barriers, one-use shields)
• Recharges between scenes (energy shields, regenerating barriers)

This is a property of the item, not a universal rule.

Cap: There is no cap on ablative pool values. A divine barrier could have 10,000 HP. Content defines what exists; the engine defines how it works.

Deflection Armor (Percentage-Based)

Deflection armor reduces incoming damage by a percentage. It persists until destroyed or removed.

Deflection armor is reliable. It always helps. But it never fully protects you.

Deflection Cap: 75%

No matter how much deflection you stack, you always take at least 25% of incoming damage. True invincibility doesn't exist in TDGS.

Deflection Degradation

Deflection armor degrades when hit by a critical hit (natural 20) with maximum magnitude (4 on the magnitude die).

Most crits don't damage armor. Only the most devastating blows (mag 4) punch through. When they do, your armor is compromised. But only until you can tend to it.

Stacking: Ablative First

When you have both ablative and deflection armor, ablative absorbs first, then deflection reduces the remainder.

Your ablative buffer goes first. Once it's gone, you're down to base armor.

Evasion

Some armor also provides Evasion: a bonus to REF that makes you harder to hit in the first place.

Light armor helps you dodge. Heavy armor helps you tank. Choose your survival strategy.

"THERE ARE TWO KINDS OF WARRIORS. THOSE WHO DANCE AROUND BLADES, AND THOSE WHO LET BLADES BREAK AGAINST THEM. BOTH LIVE. BOTH DIE. THE DIFFERENCE IS HOW MUCH NOISE THEY MAKE DOING IT."

The Three Layers of Survival

Survival in TDGS has three layers:

A hit must pass through all three layers:

• Does it beat your REF? (Resolution)
• How much gets through armor? (Ablative → Deflection → Minimum 1)
• Can your HP absorb what's left? (HP)

Master all three and you're hard to kill. Neglect any one and you have a weakness to exploit.

Healing

HP can be restored through rest and healing effects.

Rest

Healing Effects

Spells, potions, and abilities that restore HP use flat values, not percentages. The healing formula mirrors the damage formula exactly.

Why flat values? Damage is flat. A soldier with STR 12 and a +2 sword deals 14 damage whether they hit a peasant or a dragon. Healing follows the same logic. What the healer can do depends on the healer's capability, not the patient's body.

This means low-tier heals remain minor regardless of target. High-tier heals feel earned. Healer stats matter because WIS investment directly improves output, just as STR investment improves a fighter's damage.

Healing Potions and Items

Healing items that have no caster use a fixed flat value with no stat component.

Content defines specific items and values. The engine defines that item healing is flat.

"Healing is a mirror of harm. A novice cleric mends what a novice cleric can mend, whether the patient is a mouse or a mountain. You want to close bigger wounds? Become a bigger healer."

Conditions

Conditions are temporary states that affect an entity's capabilities. They include both Debuffs (negative effects) and Buffs (positive effects).

Condition Framework

Every condition follows this structure:

Applying and Removing Conditions

Conditions can be applied by:

• Weapons (poison blade causes Poisoned)
• Spells (fear spell causes Frightened)
• Abilities (grapple action causes Grappled)
• Narrative (GM applies Burning when you fall in lava)

Conditions can be removed by:

• Duration expiring
• Specific actions (standing removes Prone)
• Healing/cleansing effects
• Narrative resolution

Core Debuffs

These are the standard negative conditions in TDGS.

Grappled

Prone

Stunned

Frightened

Poisoned

Bleeding

Blinded

Deafened

Unconscious

Paralyzed

Slowed

Burning

Charmed

Core Buffs

These are the standard positive conditions in TDGS.

Invisible

Hasted

Protected

Regenerating

Stat Buffs

Any stat can have a buff following this pattern:

Summary Tables

HP and Death

Damage Formula

Armor Types

Healing

Core Conditions Quick Reference

Debuffs:

Buffs:

"Combat is like a campfire, friend! Everyone gathers around, things get heated, and somebody ends up a little singed. The trick is making sure it's not you! Unless you're immune to fire. Then it's all just cozy warmth and screaming."

Document Status

This document defines the combat mechanics for TDGS. All damage, armor, healing, and conditions in the system conform to the rules established here.