COMBAT SEQUENCE
Combat in Mutants & Masterminds is cyclical. Everybody acts in turn in a
regular cycle called a round. Generally, combat runs like this:
1. Each combatant starts the battle flat-footed. Once a combatant acts, he
or she is no longer flat-footed.
2. The GM determines which characters are aware of their opponents at the
start of the battle. If some but not all combatants are aware of their
opponents, a surprise round happens before regular rounds begin. The
combatants aware of their opponents can act in the surprise round, so
they roll for initiative. In initiative order (highest to lowest), combatants
who started the battle aware of their opponents each take a standard
or move action—not both—during the surprise round. Unaware combatants
do not get to act in the surprise round. If no one or everyone starts
the battle aware, there is no surprise round.
3. Any remaining combatants roll initiative. All combatants are now ready
to begin their first regular round.
4. Combatants act in initiative order, taking their normal allotment of
actions.
5. When everyone has had a turn, the combatant with the highest initiative
total acts again, and steps 4 and 5 repeat until the combat
ends.
COMBAT STATISTICS
Several traits determine how well you do in combat: primarily your attack
bonus, defense bonus, damage bonus, and saving throws. This section
summarizes these traits and how to use them.
ATTACK
An attack roll represents the attempt to strike a target with an attack.
When you make an attack roll, roll 2d10 and add your attack bonus. If your
result equals or exceeds the target’s Defense, you hit and may deal damage.
Various modifiers affect the attack roll, such as a –1 modifier if you
are dazzled or a +1 modifier if you are on higher ground than your target.
More modifiers are discussed in this chapter.
AUTOMATIC MISSES AND HITS
A natural 1 (the 2d10 comes up 2) on the attack roll is always a miss.
A natural 20 (the 2d10 comes up 20) is always a hit, regardless of the
opponent’s Defense. A natural 20 is also a threat—a possible critical hit
(see Critical Hits, page 152).
ATTACK BONUS
ATTACK BONUS AND DEFENSE
SIZE MODIFIER
Awesome –12
Colossal –8
Gargantuan –4
Huge –2
Large –1
Medium 0
Small +1
Tiny +2
Diminutive +4
Fine +8
Miniscule +12 |
Your attack bonus for an attack is:
Base attack bonus + size modifier +
miscellaneous modifiers – range penalty
SIZE MODIFIER
The smaller you are, the bigger other opponents are relative to you. A
human is a big target to an ant, just as an elephant is a big target to a
human. Since the same size modifier applies to Defense, two opponents
of the same size strike each other normally, regardless of size.
MISCELLANEOUS MODIFIERS
The circumstances of your attack may involve a modifier to your attack
bonus. Attacking while prone, for example, imposes a –4 penalty on
melee attack rolls. See the Combat Modifiers Table for a listing of miscellaneous
modifiers.
RANGE PENALTY
The range penalty with a ranged attack depends on the attack you’re
using and the distance to the target. All ranged attacks have a range
increment. This is typically (power rank × 10 feet). Any attack at a distance
up to one range increment carries no penalty for range, so ranged
Blast 5 (range increment 50 feet) can strike at enemies up to 50 feet
away with no penalty. However, each full range increment causes a
cumulative –2 penalty to the attack roll. For example, a character firing
the same attack at a target 120 feet away suffers a –4 attack penalty
(because 120 feet is at least two range increments, but less than three
increments).
DEFENSE
Your Defense represents how hard it is for opponents to hit you, the
Difficulty Class of an opponent’s attack roll. Your Defense is:
2d10 + defense bonus + size modifier + miscellaneous modifiers
DEFENSE BONUS
Your defense bonus represents your passive ability to avoid attacks. It is
added directly to your Defense in combat. Your dodge bonus (Defense Roll) represents your ability to actively avoid
attacks. If you can’t react to an attack, you can’t use your dodge bonus.
For example, you lose your dodge bonus if you’re bound up in a Snare,
or when you’re caught flat-footed at the beginning of combat. Most situational
bonuses to Defense are dodge bonuses.Defensive actions are not dependent on
Initiative order but resolved immediately after the attack before the attack
damage is calculated or revealed. Each character can attempt a defence only once against a
particular attack (including grapples). A character may defend against
more than one attack in a round, but with an appropriate penalty to each
defence after the first (unless the character has the Extra Defences
Attribute; the penalty then applies to each defence after the final
bonus defence). Should the opponent not defend (perhaps in
anticipation of a more powerful attack still to come), he or
she cannot change that decision later in the round.
DEFENDING AGAINST
MULTIPLE ATTACKS
When defending against multiple attacks in
a single round, each defence after the first incurs
a cumulative defence roll penalty of -2 penalty:
-2 for the second defence, -4 for the third, -6
for the fourth, etc. This means that even the
greatest fighter may be overwhelmed if badly
outnumbered. Remember to include all
relevant Attribute, Skill, Feat, and Defect
modifiers. If successful, the defender
blocks, dodges, or otherwise negates the
attack, and suffers no damage. The
Defense Combat Mastery
allows the character to make a
certain number of additional
defences without penalty.
SIZE MODIFIER
The bigger a target, the easier it is to hit. The smaller it is, the harder it is
to hit. Since this same modifier applies to attack rolls, opponents of the
same size have no modifier to hit each other. So an ant (or an ant-sized
person) rolls normally to hit another ant.
MISCELLANEOUS MODIFIERS
The circumstances may also apply miscellaneous modifiers to your dodge
bonus or Defense. See the Combat Modifiers Table for details.
GIVING DAMAGE
When you hit with an attack, you may deal damage. Each attack has a
damage bonus. For melee attacks, the damage bonus is your Strength
bonus, plus any modifiers for powers like Strike. For ranged attacks the
damage bonus is usually based on the attack’s power rank.
Melee Damage Bonus = Strength modifier + weapon damage.
Power Damage Bonus = power rank.
STRENGTH MODIFIER
Your Strength measures how hard you can hit, so your Strength modifier
applies when you attack unarmed or with a melee or thrown weapon.
WEAPON DAMAGE
Weapons have a damage modifier, showing how much damage they
inflict. Ranged weapons have a fixed damage bonus. Melee and thrown
weapons add the wielder’s Strength modifier to their damage.
POWER RANK
Your power’s rank measures how much damage it inflicts, so it serves as
the power’s damage bonus. Individual power descriptions provide more
information on how much damage a particular power inflicts.
CRITICAL HITS
When you make an attack roll and get a natural 20 (the 2d10 actually
shows 20), you hit regardless of your target’s Defense, and you score a
threat. The hit might be a critical hit (sometimes called a “crit”). To find
out whether it’s a critical hit, determine if the attack roll total would have
normally hit your opponent’s Defense. If so, then it is a critical hit. If not,
the attack still hits, but as a normal attack, not a critical.
A critical hit increases the attack’s damage bonus by 5. A critical hit
against a minion allows no saving throw; the minion is automatically
knocked out or killed.
INCREASED THREAT RANGE
Characters with the Improved Critical feat (see page 62) can score a threat
on a natural result less than 20, although they still automatically hit only
on a natural 20. Any attack roll that doesn’t result in a hit is not a threat.
SAVING THROWS
When you’re subjected to a potentially harmful effect, you get a saving
throw to avoid or reduce it. Like an attack roll or check, a saving throw is a
2d10 roll plus a bonus based on an ability score and other modifiers. Your
saving throw is:
2d10 + base save bonus + ability modifier + miscellaneous modifiers
The Difficulty Class for a save is based on the attack itself. Generally, the
DC for a save is 10 + the effect’s bonus or rank, except for Toughness
saves, which are DC 15 + the attack’s damage.
SAVING THROW TYPES
The four different kinds of saving throws are:
• Toughness: Your ability to resist physical punishment and direct
damage. Apply your Constitution modifier to your Toughness saving
throws.
• Fortitude: Your ability to resist attacks against your vitality and
health such as poison and disease. Apply your Constitution modifier
to your Fortitude saving throws.
• Reflex: Your ability to avoid harm through reaction time and agility,
including dodging explosions and crashes. Apply your Dexterity
modifier to Reflex saving throws.
• Will: Your resistance to mental influence and domination as well as
certain powers. Apply your Wisdom bonus to your Will saving throws.
INITIATIVE
Every round, each combatant gets to do something. The combatants’ initiative
checks determine the order in which they act, from highest to lowest.
INITIATIVE CHECKS
At the start of a battle, each combatant makes an initiative check. The GM
rolls for the villains while the players each roll for their characteres. An initiative
check is a Dexterity check, plus modifiers. The GM finds out in what
order characters act, counting down from highest total to lowest. Each
character acts in turn, with the check applying to all rounds of the combat
(unless a character takes an action to change initiative). Usually, the GM
writes the names of the characters down in initiative order so he can move
quickly from one character to the next each round. If two combatants
have the same initiative check result, they act in order of highest Dexterity
first. If there is still a tie, roll a die, with the highest roll going first.
Initiative Check = 2d10 + Dex modifier + miscellaneous modifiers
FLAT-FOOTED
At the start of a battle, before you have had a chance to act (specifically,
before your first turn in the initiative order), you are flat-footed. You can’t
use your dodge bonus while flat-footed. The Uncanny Dodge feat allows
you to retain your dodge bonus to Defense while flat-footed (see page 65). You lose your Dexterity bonus against ranged attacks and your Strenght bonus for melee attacks.
OPPONENT INITIATIVE
Typically, the GM makes a single initiative check for opponents. That way,
each player gets a turn each round and the GM also gets one turn. At the
GM’s option, however, he can make separate initiative checks for different
groups of opponents or even for individual foes. For instance, the GM may
make one initiative check for a supervillain and another check for all of
the villain’s minions.
JOINING A FIGHT
If characters enter a fight after it’s begun, they roll initiative and act
whenever their turn comes up in the existing order.
SURPRISE
When a combat starts, if you are not aware of your enemies but they are
aware of you, you’re surprised. If you know about your opponents but they
don’t know about you, you surprise them.
DETERMINING AWARENESS
Sometimes all combatants on a side are aware of their enemies; sometimes
none are; sometimes only some of them are. Sometimes a few
combatants on either side are aware and other combatants are unaware.
The GM determines who is aware of whom at the start of a battle. The
GM may call for Notice checks, or other checks to see how aware the characters
are of their opponents. Some examples:
• The characteres enter a seedy bar and immediately spot members of a
notorious gang. The gang members notice the characteres at the same
time. Both sides are aware; neither is surprised. The characteres and the
gang-members make initiative checks, and the battle begins.
• The characteres are tracking a mysterious alien shape-shifter, which has
fled down a dark alley. They follow, unaware the alien has assumed
the form of a garbage can, hidden among several others. When the
alien springs out to attack, the characteres are surprised and do not get to
act in the surprise round.
• The characteres infiltrate a criminal mastermind’s headquarters wearing
the uniforms of his soldiers. When they reveal themselves and attack
to prevent the mastermind from triggering his doomsday device, they
surprise their opponents. The characteres act during the surprise round,
but the villains do not.
THE SURPRISE ROUND
If some, but not all, of the combatants are aware of their opponents, a surprise
round happens before regular rounds begin. The combatants aware
of their opponents can act in the surprise round, so they roll for initiative.
In initiative order (highest to lowest), combatants who started the battle
aware of their opponents each take a standard or move action, not both.
If no one or everyone is surprised, a surprise round doesn’t occur.
UNAWARE COMBATANTS
Combatants unaware at the start of battle do not get to act in the surprise
round. Unaware combatants are flat-footed because they have not
acted yet. Because of this, they lose any dodge bonus to Defense.
ACTIONS
The things characters can do during combat are broken down into actions,
described in this section.
THE COMBAT ROUND
Each round represents about 6 seconds of time in the game world. In the
real world, a round is an opportunity for each character to take an action.
Anything a person could reasonably do in 6 seconds, your character can do in
1 round.
Each round begins with the character with the highest initiative result
and then proceeds, in descending order, from there. Each round uses the
same initiative order. When a character’s turn comes up in the initiative
order, that character performs his entire round’s worth of actions.
For almost all purposes, there is no relevance to the end of a round or
the beginning of a round. The term “round” works like the word “week.”
A week can mean either a calendar week or a span of time from a day in
one week to the same day the next week. In the same way, a round can
be a segment of game time starting with the first character to act and
ending with the last, but it usually means a span of time from one round
to the same initiative number (initiative count) in the next round. Effects
lasting a certain number of rounds end just before the same initiative
number where they began.
one round = span of time from one initiative count
to the same initiative count in the next round
TAKING DAMAGE
Combat usually results in damage to one or both parties. The potential
damage of an attack is represented by its damage bonus, with the target’s
resistance to the damage represented by a Toughness save. A failed
Toughness save results in some amount of damage.
TOUGHNESS SAVING THROWS
A target hit with a damaging attack makes a Toughness saving throw. The
Difficulty Class of a Toughness save is 15 + the attack’s damage bonus. So an
attack with a damage bonus of +8 has a Toughness save DC of 23 (15 + 8).
Toughness save DC = 15 + attack’s damage bonus
| Saving Throw Result |
Lethal Damage |
| Success |
No effect |
| Failed by 1-4 |
Hurt |
| Failed by 5- 9 |
Stunned + Hurt |
| Failed by 10+ |
Wounded + Hurt |
| Failed by 15+ |
Unconscious |
| Failed by 20+ |
Dying |
The target rolls 2d10 + Toughness save bonus against the DC. The result
of the Toughness save determines what sort of damage the target takes.
If the Toughness save succeeds, the target suffers no damage. If the save
fails by less than 5, the target is bruised. If it fails by 5 or more, the target
is both stunned for one round and bruised. If it fails by 10 or more, the
target is staggered and also stunned for one round. If it fails by 15 or
more, the target is unconscious. Consult the Toughness Saving Throw
Table for results. See Damage Conditions (see page 164) for more on
Toughness save results.
Toughness Saving Throw = 2d10 + Constitution + Feats/Power + Armor - Penalties from previous failed Toughness saves
One or more of the following damage conditions apply to a damaged
character.
If a target has already taken a staggered, disabled, unconsious, dying, or dead result they take the next result in that order. You may have multiple bruised, hurt, dazed, or wounded levels of damage.
Damage and Recovery
Anyone hit with a damaging attack makes a Toughness saving throw.
This is a roll of d20 plus Toughness, which measures the ability to avoid
or shrug off damage. Resisting damage has a base Difficulty of 15 plus
a modifier equal to the attack’s damage bonus. For unarmed attacks,
this is the attacker’s Strength score. For weapons, this is the weapon’s
damage plus the attacker’s Strength score. For example, an attacker
with Strength +1, wielding a short sword (damage modifier +2) has a
total damage modifier of +3. So, resisting this damage is Difficulty 18
(15 + 3).
Toughness Saving Throw =
d20 + Constitution score + Feats/Powers +
Armor - Previously Failed Toughness Saves
If the Toughness saving throw succeeds, the target suffers no significant
damage, nothing more than a slight scratch, bruise, or torn clothing. If
the Toughness save fails, the target suffers damage. How much damage
depends on the type of attack (lethal or non-lethal) and the amount
the Toughness save result is below the Difficulty.
Lethal Damage
Lethal Damage is inflicted by weapons, from cutting and piercing
weapons like swords and spears to heavy bludgeoning weapons like
hammers and maces.
A failed Toughness save against a lethal attack means the target is hurt.
Each hurt result imposes a –1 penalty on further Toughness saves. If
the Toughness save fails by 5 or more, the target is wounded; mark down
a wounded condition on the Damage Track. A wounded result also
imposes a –1 modifier on further Toughness saves. If the Toughness
save fails by 10 or more, the target is disabled; check off the disabled
box on the Damage Track. If the Toughness save fails by 15 or more,
the target is dying; check off the dying box on the Damage Track. If a
target suffers a result that is already checked off, check off the next
highest result, so if a target is already wounded and suffers another
wounded result, check off the disabled box. If that’s already checked
off, check off the dying box.
Collateral Damage
Lethal damage inflicts non-lethal damage as well. Whenever your character
suffers lethal damage, check off the corresponding non-lethal damage,
so a character who is wounded is also dazed, a character who is hurt is also bruised.
The effects of the damage conditions are cumulative, except for bruised
and hurt conditions, where only the highest value applies.
Impossible Toughness Saves
If the Difficulty of a Toughness save is so high the character cannot possibly
succeed, even with a 20 on the die roll, the Toughness save is still rolled
to determine the effect (the amount by which the character misses the
Difficulty). A natural 20 means the character is only bruised or hurt,
regardless of the Difficulty. Fate intervenes to spare the character from
otherwise certain doom. Narrators interested in realistic consequences
for damage should ignore this rule.
Critical Hits
A critical hit increases an attack’s damage bonus, meaning critical hits
can inflict serious damage.
Damage Conditions
Damaged characters can suffer from any of seven conditions, given on
the Damage Track and described here.
If a target has already taken a staggered, disabled, unconsious, dying, or dead result they take the next result in that order. You may have multiple bruised, hurt, dazed, or wounded levels of damage.
Unconcious
Unconscious characters pass out and are helpless, unable to do anything
until they awaken.
Wounded
Wounded characters are shaken, suffering a –2 penalty on all checks,
including attack rolls and Fortitude, Reflex, and Will saving throws, but
not including Toughness saves or Constitution checks. This persists until
all wounded conditions are eliminated. Additionally, a wounded character
is stunned for one round after being wounded. They can take no actions,
lose their dodge bonus to Defense, and have a –2 penalty to Defense.
Dying
Dying characters have to make a Constitution check (Difficulty 10) at
the beginning of each round. On a failed check, the character dies. On a
successful check, the character lives for another round (and must make a
check the following round). If the check succeeds by 10 or more (Difficulty
20), the character’s condition becomes disabled and unconscious.
Dead
Dead characters are, well, dead. This usually means the end for the
character, although some powerful healers can restore life to the
recently deceased.
Recovery
Recovering from damage requires a Constitution check (Difficulty 10). A
successful check erases the damage condition, while an unsuccessful check
means there is no significant improvement for that time period.
You can make a recovery check once per hour for hurt and
wounded, once per day for unconscious.
Dying has its own particular check; once you are stable, dying becomes
unconscious, which you recover from normally (one minute
for unconscious, one day for disabled). The worst condition must be healed first.
You can spend a Conviction point to get an immediate remove a damage condition.
Hurt conditions heal automatically at a rate of one per day.
Fatigue
Characters can suffer from fatigue as well as damage. This usually results
from tasks requiring great effort, such as moving all out, exertion in
difficult environments, and using powers. There are three fatigue levels:
winded, fatigued, and exhausted.
Winded
The character suffers a –1 penalty to effective Strength and Dexterity,
and cannot move all out or charge. A winded character who suffers an
additional fatigue result becomes fatigued.
Fatigued
The character cannot move all out or charge, and suffers a –2 penalty
to effective Strength and Dexterity. A fatigued character who suffers
an additional fatigue result becomes exhausted.
Exhausted
The character is near collapse. Exhausted characters move at half normal
speed and suffer a –3 penalty to effective Strength and Dexterity.
An exhausted character who suffers an additional fatigue result falls
unconscious (and must recover from it normally before recovering from
fatigue; see Damage Conditions).
Recovery
Every hour of rest, a character makes a Constitution check (Difficulty 10) to
recover from fatigue. Success reduces the character’s fatigue condition
by one level (from exhausted to fatigued, from fatigued to winded,
winded to normal). A full ten hours of rest allows any character to
completely recover from all fatigue conditions.
KNOCKBACK
Super-powerful attacks can send opponents flying. A character who is
stunned (or worse) by an attack may be knocked back. The distance is based
on the power of the attack and the target’s mass and durability. Take the
attack’s damage bonus and subtract half the target’s Toughness save bonus
(round down). Impervious Toughness save bonus is not halved, subtract the
full amount instead. Subtract the rank of the target’s Immovable power, if
any (see page 89). Subtract 4 for each size category larger than Medium
(a Huge character subtracts 8, for example). Add 1 for each size category
smaller than Medium (a Small character adds 1, for example).
Knockback = attack’s damage bonus –
one-half Toughness save bonus – modifiers
You can determine most of the modifiers for knockback in advance (adding
together the character’s Toughness save, size, and Immovable modifiers)
and note a single knockback modifier on the character sheet. Then simply
compare the attack’s damage bonus against the knockback modifier to
determine if there’s any knockback.
If the result is positive, the target is knocked back. Find the knockback
result on the value column of the Time and Value Progression Table (see
page 70). That’s the distance (in feet) the character is knocked back. A result
of less than 5 feet means the character falls prone in roughly the same spot
(although a short knockback distance may matter if the character is standing
on a ledge, for example). So a knockback result of 8, read on the Time and
Value Progression Table, means the character is knocked back 250 feet.
The character suffers damage equal to the knockback result or the
Toughness of any obstacle (such as a wall), whichever is less. The obstacle
suffers damage equal to the knockback result (which may damage or
break it). If the character breaks through the obstacle, he keeps going the
remainder of the knockback distance. If the obstacle is another character,
treat the result as a slam attack (see page 158) doing damage equal to
the knockback result to both parties. The character ends up prone and
must get back up normally.
You can always choose to inflict less than your attack’s maximum knockback
(just like you can choose to do less than your attack’s maximum damage).
Targets failing a Toughness save by less than 5 suffer no knockback.
ABILITY DAMAGE
Certain powers and effects cause a temporary lose of ability score points.
Powers such as Drain (see page 82) specify how quickly characters recover
from this loss, usually 1 point per round, modified by things like Slow
Fade (see page 110).
Cases where characters lose ability score points due to things like environmental
conditions, illness, or similar effects is called ability damage.
Ability damage is temporary; once the condition causing it is removed,
the character recovers lost ability score points at a rate of 1 per day. The
Healing power can speed this recovery, as can ranks in Regeneration.
If an ability score is lowered to 0, it is considered debilitated (see page
31).
IMPOSSIBLE TOUGHNESS SAVES
If the DC of a Toughness save is so high the character cannot possibly
succeed, even with a 20 on the die roll, the Toughness save is still rolled
to determine the effect (the amount the save misses the DC). A natural
roll of 20 means the character suffers only the minimal result of failing
the save, regardless of the DC. Fate intervenes to spare the character from
otherwise certain doom.
PULLING YOUR PUNCH
Attackers can choose to use less than their maximum damage bonus with an
attack. The attacker chooses how much of the damage bonus applies before
making the attack roll and the target saves against that damage rather than
the attack’s full damage bonus. Attackers with the Full Power drawback (see
page 126) cannot pull punches with that attack or power.
