Each character will have a set of combat cards. This will be a minimum of three cards that will be of one to two colors, green, red, yellow and blue. Each of these cards will represent a specific hand-to-hand attack, weapon attack, special ability or defense respectfully. During combat a character will play these cards against their opponent's cards to determine the result of the combat. The following is a summary of the rules that all players should read. If you have any questions please contact me before the game via email (slippyfinn@hotmail.com). This will help to avoid combat activities becoming a drag rather than a feature of the game.

Combat Flow:

1. Character (attacker) declares he is attacking another character (defender)
2. Attacker selects combat card and displays the color of it to defender
3. Defender selects a combat card
4. Attacker and Defender reveal cards to one another
5. If both cards are attacks then both attacks are successful.
6. If both cards are defenses then the round is over go to #2.
7. If one of the cards is a defense determine if it defends against the opposing attack. If it does then the attack fails. The round is over go to #2.
8. If an attack succeeds determine damage.
1. If the attack does a damage level of Stun or greater then the combat stops and the character that was hit by the attack immediately suffers the damage.
2. If the damage was Bruise then the character receiving it must increment the number of Bruise damage results he has taken.
3. If a character reaches his maximum number of Bruise results for a combat (three for most characters), he immediately suffers a Stun result and combat stops.
4. Damage for both characters is resolved simultaneously so combat may end with both characters suffering damage results.
9. If neither character suffers combat ending damage, the combat continues (go to #2 above).
10. Each combat card may only be used once during a combat. The combat ends when one character runs out of combat cards. If both characters are still functional when combat ends they may start another combat.
11. Any Bruise damage lasts for ten minutes. If a character starts another combat before that period of time has expired he starts the new combat with the Bruise damage.

Example:

Kirk takes Fester’s seat in the mess hall and he decides to teach him a lesson. Fester announces to Kirk that he is attacking him. Fester is the attacker while Kirk is the defender. They both only have four combat cards so the combat will last four rounds.

Round 1:

Fester chooses his Punch attack card. He shows the back of the card to Kirk who sees that it is Green indicating a hand-to-hand attack. Kirk chooses his Dodge card and both Fester and Kirk reveal their combat cards to one another. The Dodge card lists Punch as an attack it defends against so Fester’s attack misses and since Kirk did not choose an attack the round is over. Both characters put aside the cards used since they cannot be used again during this combat.

Round 2:

Fester chooses his Kick attack card. He shows the back of the card to Kirk who sees that it is Green indicating a hand-to-hand attack. Kirk chooses his Kick attack card and both Fester and Kirk reveal their combat cards to one another. Since both cards are attacks both automatically hit and Fester and Kirk each take one Bruise damage result. Both characters put aside the cards used since they cannot be used again during this combat.

Round 3:

Fester chooses his Grapple attack card. He shows the back of the card to Kirk who sees that it is Green indicating a hand-to-hand attack. Kirk chooses his Punch card and both Fester and Kirk reveal their combat cards to one another. Since both cards are attacks both automatically hit and Fester and Kirk each take a second Bruise damage result. Both characters put aside the cards used since they cannot be used again during this combat.

Round 4: Defender first

Fester has no attack cards left so he uses a Block defense card. He shows the back of the card to Kirk who sees that it is Blue indicating a defense. Kirk chooses his Grapple attack card and both Fester and Kirk reveal their combat cards to one another. Unfortunately Fester’s Block card does not defend against a Grapple attack so Fester takes his third Bruise damage result. This brings his total to three that gives him an automatic Stun damage result (if Fester had certain special abilities he might not suffer a Stun damage but he does not have any special abilities). This ends combat and Kirk can decide what he wants to do to Fester.

Since Kirk does not have any weapons or special abilities that do greater than Stun damage he may only increase Fester’s damage level to Heavy Stun. Now Fester will be inactive for ten minutes while he recovers from his damage. Kirk decides to loot Fester and he takes his lunch money.

Damage:

1. Any character that suffers Bruise damage three times in combat automatically suffers a level of Stun damage. Certain special abilities will increase the number times some characters may suffer Bruise damage. Bruise damage lasts for ten minutes so if a character gets into another combat within ten minutes of his last the Bruise damage he took is still present.
2. If a character suffers a damage level of Stun or greater in a combat round and his opponent does not, the combat is over and his opponent may choose to inflict additional damage on him.
3. If both characters suffer a damage level of Stun or greater in the same combat round, the combat is over and both characters must recover from their damage before taking further actions.
4. A character may automatically inflict the damage of any weapon or special ability he has on an opponent who has been stunned or worse.
5. If a character so desires he can automatically increase a defeated opponent’s damage level by one i.e. Incapacitation to Death, Stun to Heavy Stun etc.
6. A character suffers a damage level of Stun or worse, he should remain at the location where it happened until he recovers or is healed.

Example:

Fester manages to shoot Kirk with his assault stunner leaving him with Heavy Stun damage level. Fester decides he wants to make sure Kirk doesn’t bother him in the future so he mashes his head with the butt of his Assault Stunner raising Kirk’s damage level to Incapacitation. Now Kirk needs medical attention before he can function again.

Items:

1. Item cards that may be used in combat include Armor and Weapon cards.
2. A Weapon Card identifies the Weapon Type and the damage done by the Weapon. A Weapon must be used in conjunction with a Combat Card. If a Combat Card requires a Weapon it will identify the Weapon Type that may be used with it.
3. An Armor card may be used every time a character suffers damage to reduce the damage taken. Each Armor type identifies the Weapon Types it works against.

Special Abilities:

1. Special Abilities function like Weapons and Armor or they have a unique function.
2. Special Abilities that function like a Weapon may only be used in conjunction with a Combat Card. These Special Abilities will state that they may only be used in Combat.
3. Special Abilities that function like Armor may be used exactly like an Armor item card.
4. Special Abilities that have a unique function may be used in Combat or outside of Combat. Unless a unique Special Ability says it can be only used once per combat it may be used as many times as a character wants.
5. Each Special Ability will have a full description of how it may be used written on its card.

Looting:

1. A character that suffers a Damage Level of Stun or worse may be looted by another character.
2. Any character that encounters him may perform the looting however in the event that multiple characters want to loot the character that inflicted the damage is always allowed to loot first.
3. In the event there are two characters neither of which inflicted the damage but both wanting to loot the victim, they must resolve the situation themselves (i.e. combat or negotiations).

Multiple Character Combat:

1. No more than three characters can attack a single character at once.
2. If multiple characters are attacking the same character, each character selects an attack or defense. The defender may only select a single card that must be used for all attackers. The defender may only damage a single opponent each round unless he has a special ability or item that permits otherwise.
3. If multiple characters attack multiple defenders they should split up into pairs with extras on either side joining one of the combats. If a character defeats his opponent (s) in this case he may join any of the remaining combats in progress on either side.

Definitions:

Combat: A series of Combat Rounds between two characters that ends when one of them runs out of Combat Cards.

Combat Round: Each character plays a single Combat Card and any damage from the Combat Cards is resolved.

Combat Card: An index card that has the name of an attack or defense written on it. Combat Cards are of several different varieties: Hand-to-Hand, Defense, Weapon Attack, Special Ability Attack. Each type of Combat Card is a different color so that a defender can see what type of attack is being used against him before he selects his Combat Card. Defense Combat Cards have a list of attacks that the defense is effective against. Each Combat Card may be used once during a Combat.

Hand-to-Hand Attack: A type of Combat Card that is an attack such as Punch, Kick etc. Hand-to-Hand combat cards are colored green.

Weapon Attack: A type of Combat Card that is an attack such as Shoot Gun, Throw Knife etc. These Combat Cards must be used with a weapon Item card. Weapon Attack Combat Cards are colored red.

Special Ability Attack: A type of Combat Card that is an attack utilizing a special ability. These Combat Cards must be used with a Special Ability Card. Special Ability Attack Combat Cards are colored yellow.

Defense: A type of Combat Card that is a defense maneuver against certain types of attacks i.e. Dodge, Block etc. Each of these cards has a list of attacks on it that are the attacks the defense works against. Defense Combat Cards are colored Blue.

Damage Levels: The different levels of damage a character can suffer from an attack. They include: Bruise, Stun, Heavy Stun, Incapacitation, Death.

Death: Damage level where character is dead

Incapacitation: Damage level where character is unable to function until he receives medical attention

Heavy Stun: Damage level where character is unable to function for ten minutes

Stun: Damage level where character is unable to function for five minutes

Bruise: Damage level where character functions normally

Special Ability: An ability that may impact a character’s effectiveness in combat.

Armor: An item that is used when a character suffers damage to reduce the damage.

Weapon: An item that is used in conjunction with a Combat Card to cause damage to an opponent.

Weapon Type: A letter identifier associated with a specific Weapon and used to identify it.