Ending the Combat

There are three common ways combat can end.

  1. Disengaging from Combat
  2. Zero Hit Points
  3. Surrendering

Disengaging from Combat

If a player announces that they want to escape combat, the attempt might be Unopposed or Opposed, depending on the situation.

Unopposed escape. If the character is unopposed, usually because no one is watching them and they are not fighting someone, then they can just up and leave, using a standard move or sprint to do so. Of course, the character can’t do anything to bring attention to themselves during the retreat, such as cast a spell or make an attack.

Escape is opposed. If the character is still in combat or has someone ready within range to engage them in combat, it is less easy to get away. The Referee should work out what sort of skill test is required to get the character out of harm’s way.  If stealth or deception is involved, a Deception test is the order of the day, and a good description from the player is required. If the character is attempting to fight their way out of combat, use the Fighting Retreat action (see Movement Combat Actions below), where the character fights one more round of combat and, if successful, escapes the combat.  Or the character can use an Escaping Sprint action to move out of combat and Dodge any attacks that come their way (see ‘Escaping Sprint’ in Movement Combat Actions).

Zero Hit Points

When a character is at zero or fewer hit points, they are dead.

Unless one of the following happens.

  • The player or Referee controlling the character who inflicted the killing blow says that their last blow was non-lethal, which allows them to take their opponent prisoner.
  • The player spends a fortune point to have their character avoid death and awake 1D6 hours later with one hit point.
  • Another character heals the wounded character using magic, or stabilises them using the Healing skill, by the end of the next round after the one which they reach zero hit points.

Surrendering

The character may simply give up and try to surrender to their opponents.

It is up to the Referee to determine whether the opponents allow the character to surrender. Most intelligent opponents will capture wealthy-seeming characters and extract a significant ransom that leaves the character significantly poorer. If using the Wealth optional rules, the ransom reduces a character’s Wealth skill by 1d20. However, if the character has brutally murdered members of their group, the survivors may be less willing to let the character surrender.

Opponents that are psychotic or are currently under the influence of a Berserk spell will not accept a surrender and will continue to attack.

Opponents who hate the character’s culture will accept the character’s surrender only on a successful Influence skill test OR if the opponent has been told by a superior to capture the character.