Concord's combat system is designed to be immediately accessible, with new characters being given the required tools to be in the thick of it from their first event, while also having depth to allow the interplay of magic, religion and heroic moments. As a game where a lot of the combat will be against the foes who would see The Concord fall, we have a lot of flexibility in this aspect.
See also Weapons for information about what skills and abilities different weapons can give you.
All Characters need to be Cleared - to be able to demonstrate they understand the rules and can fight safely - before being allowed to do so at a Concord Event.
See the Player Brief and the Archery Clearance Document more information
Character Basics
All Player Characters have three hit points prior to any skills or armour and a character may at no point have more than 10 hitpoints collectively.
This represents the base heartiness of the heroes of the Concord. A character who prioritises non-combat abilities may remain at this amount their entire career.
All characters have 0 energy and 0 mana at character creation.
These must be purchased with experience either during character creation or during your career.
Characters who do not spend mana or energy, or suffer any hitpoint loss for 3 hours, return to full hitpoints, mana and energy, provided they are not under any effects which would reduce these amounts.
Combat, Hitpoints, Energy, Mana
You regain all Energy, Personal Mana, and Hit Points at the beginning of each morning and start of each game.
Time in on Day 1 each Summit, and 9AM 2nd and 3rd days of Summit.
Also, characters who do not spend mana or energy, or suffer any hitpoint loss for 3 hours, return to full hitpoints, mana and energy, provided they are not under any effects which would reduce these amounts.
A character may have no more than double their base mana at any one time.
Base mana is your full mana gained from skills.
Each time you are struck by a melee weapon or throwing weapon, you take one damage.
Provided the hits fall within the safety rules as outlined in the Safety Rules section.
All characters may use One Handed Weapons, Short weapons and throwing weapons without any skills. All characters may wear light and medium armour without any skills.
This is the base amount of combat prowess all are assumed to have.
You may not cast spells while wearing Medium or Heavy Armour.
The Battlemage skill allows the wearing of Medium armour while casting.
Each character may only carry up to three weapons at a time (this includes shields).
Three throwing weapons count as just one of these weapons. There is no limit on the amount of arrows that may be carried.
Arrows follow the same strike zones (see: Safety Rules )as melee weapons, as well as hands and any held weapons, but also require additional clearance.
If all involved characters consent, they may engage in at ‘Practice Fight’.
During practice fights, no hitpoints are lost and characters are assumed to be representing their abilities. As such they do not consume mana or energy. Traumatic wounds are still possible.
Armour and Hitpoints
Wearing Armour provides additional hitpoints. Light armour providing 1, medium 3 and heavy 5.
This means the usual maximum hit points are 3 (No armour), 4 (light armour), 6 (medium armour) and 8 (heavy armour). Wearing heavy armour does require the ‘Armoured’ skill. Additional hitpoints can also be gained through the Juggernaut skill.
Armour must cover two of the following locations: Both Arms, Both Legs, Torso, Helmet, Half Legs+Half Arms.
Cover is a flexible term to allow the Concord team some leniency. In general it means ~75% coverage, but for items such as helmets or the underside of bracers, a lesser amount is allowed. This does include torso front and back.
Medium and Heavy Armour provide immunity to the ‘Fracture’ effect, provided the strike impacts armour.
That means if I am wearing heavy armour but a strike with the ‘Fracture’ effect hits an unarmored leg, that leg is still rendered useless, despite my armour elsewhere.
Additional Effects (other than strike damage)
See also Abilities & Calls
Attacks may have additional effects, these are called by the striker and will still deliver damage if the hit lands as per a normal strike.
Thrown weapons cannot and will not deliver any additional effects. Arrows may deliver additional effects under specific circumstances which will be made clear by a Marshall.
Effects delivered by magic will take effect regardless of the requirements of the non-magical effect, and are preceded by the “Magic” call.
Ranged magical effects will be delivered through spell packets, which do not deal damage on their own. The effect will be preceded by the “Magic” call.
Any spell packets delivering damage would use the ‘Damage’ call.
Any effect preceded by the “Magic” call need not deal damage to cause its effect, it merely needs to make contact with the target.
This occurs regardless of delivery.
All Hitpoints lost
Characters who have no remaining hit points are considered Bleeding Out.
A character in Bleed Out must remain prone or kneeling.
You cannot move except for Out of Character safety reasons.
The only actions you may take are speaking, and any that specify they can be performed in Bleed Out. You may consume potions if fed them, but cannot use them without help.
Any character may move you if they act out doing so with two free hands (either one from two people or two from one). You do not need to allow them to touch you, but cannot resist being moved.
You may be looted.
Characters who have not been healed or stabilised before 3 minutes of bleedout become Terminal. Terminal characters cannot be saved in any way. At any point, the player may determine that their terminal character has died.
While Terminal, you are subject to the same restrictions as Bleed Out, and must act as if you are within great pain. You functionally cannot perform any action, including moving, without direct and active help. Players should focus on the drama and emotion of the end of a story, rather than attempt to wrap up all their loose ends and engage in new content.
This allows players to have final roleplay moments with their comrades before passing. Your character must die before the end of the day. Concord does not feature resurrection and characters who die will stay dead.
If all involved characters consent, they may engage in at ‘Practice Fight’.
During practice fights, no hitpoints are lost and characters are assumed to be representing their abilities. As such they do not consume mana or energy. Traumatic wounds are still possible.