Chapter Four: Systems
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
"You've the devil in you!"
- Dougal
This chapter details how immortals gain experience, and
details the combat system for sword duels.
Experience
^^^^^^^^^^
"You've no knowledge whatsoever of your potential!"
-Ramirez
Immortals gain experience in the same way as the other
characters in the Storyteller system, and so much of the chart given
here is simply repetition.
Trait Cost
New Ability - 3
Willpower - current rating
Abilities - current rating x 2
Attributes - current rating x 4
Quickening - current rating x 6*
* Quickening can only be increased by an equal split of Quickening
Experience and "normal" experience
Healing
^^^^^^^
"Who wants to live forever?"
- Queen
Immortals recover from wounds much more rapidly than mortals.
In Chapter Three, using Quickening to heal was discussed. Without the
use of Quickening, however, immortals still recover from crippling
wounds in a short period. Examples given in the series include
immolation, falling from a cliff, being shot in the head, and
others. Without the use of Quickening, immortals heal using the
following chart.
Health Level Time
Bruised - One Round
Hurt - One Minute
Injured - Five Minutes
Wounded - Thirty Minutes
Mauled - One Hour
Crippled - One Hour
Incapacitated - One Hour
Combat
^^^^^^
"Don't lose your head!"
- Ramirez
Combat is a fact of life for an immortal. Whether he or she
likes it or not, unless they learn how to use a sword, and, more
importantly, are prepared to use it, they will surely lose their
head. You can't run forever, and if you try hiding, you'll eventually
be found by another immortal. Only by killing your fellow immortals in
combat can you hope to survive and have any chance of winning the
Prize.
When two immortals meet, they sense each other through the
Quickening. They don't have to do battle, (we have seen in both the
movie and the series how two immortals may become friends), but it is
the time of the Gathering, and it is their destiny to battle until
only one remains. They have no choice in the matter.
The normal Storyteller combat rules are basically pretty
useless when it comes to staging detailed sword duels. It is desirable
to be able to play out duels between immortals as detailed fights,
with each combatant able to choose different tactics, moves, etc. For
immortal player characters, these duels are often the climax of the
story, and just running a simple combat sequence can be frustrating
for the player involved. Remember that, in these duels, the player is
fighting to increase his power, in a battle where he has a very real
chance of dying... The player is fighting for his knowledge and power,
pitting it against another to the death. Thus, we recommend that the
following combat system be used for duels between immortals.
Stage One: Initiative
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
In normal combat, the combatants will normally try to be the
first to attack, in the hope of inflicting damage first. However, in
sword combat, things work a little differently. Sometimes, one
combatant may elect to try and surprise the other, by ambushing them
and attacking them before they have a chance to draw their weapon. In
such cases, use the normal rules for Initiative and Surprise, although
note that an immortal can practically never be taken completely by
surprise by another immortal. The Quickening sees to that.
With sword-duels, the round takes on a new meaning -
Basically, a sword combat round is the length of time it takes for one
person to attack the other. This system splits sword combat up into a
series of bouts. A bout is a series of rounds, during which there is
no pause in combat. At the start of a round, both players roll for
Initiative. Then they announce what their actions are going to
be. Because sword combat is reactive - ie. you don't know what you're
going to do until your opponent has done something - the player with
the higher Initiative must announce what they intend to do first.
Normally, the player with the higher Initiative will decide to
attack, and, if so, his opponent must either defend or
dodge. Alternatively, the character with the higher Initiative may
decide to either do some other kind of action, such as leaping onto a
table, or they may decide to wait and see what their opponent is going
to do. If they do either of these things, combat has basically
stopped, and they must begin another bout.
A bout begins with both combatants facing each other, weapons
at the ready. It is up to the players themselves who actually moves
first and initiates combat. Once one of the combatants announces theat
they are attacking, both players make a standard Initiative roll -
Wits + Alertness, against a target number of four. However, instead of
deciding who acts first (as this has already been decided), the
difference between the two combatants number of successes achieved is
added to the dice pool of the player with the higher Initiative.
Example: Connor and the Kurgan are facing off. They circle
each other for a few minutes, before Connor makes an attack. He rolls
Wits (3) + Alertness (4), and gets 6 successes. The Kurgan rolls Wits
(4) + Alertness (3), getting four successes. Thus, Connor gets an
extra two dice to add to his Attack roll.
After this initial round, Initiative is rolled as normal, but,
its role during the bout is slightly different than the one it has in
normal combat. The character with the higher Initiative gets to act
first, presumably attacking, and the other person must defend. Both
players make their respective attack and defense rolls and that combat
round ends, and the combatants roll their Initiative for the next
round. The following modifiers apply:
* The use of the Quickening power, Speed of the Stag confers an extra
three Initiative dice upon the immortal using it.
* The person who Attacked during the last combat round gains an extra
die to add to their Initiative roll for this round.
* If a combatant successfully repelled an attack by his opponent in
the last round (ie. by getting an equal or greater amount of successes
on his defense roll than his opponent got on his attack roll), then he
also gets an extra Initiative die.
* For every three successes by which a combatant's attack/defense roll
exceeds his opponents roll, they gain an extra Initiative die.
These rules may seem very complicated right now, but will
become clearer later on.
Stage Two: Attack
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
To reflect the complexity of sword combat, and the fact that
it's not just a case of hacking at the other person until one of you
dies, I have adopted the following list of standard sword-fighting
maneuvers from the rules for Klaive-duelling in the Werewolf Players
Guide. They are split up into two types - Attack maneuvers and Defense
maneuvers. Normally, the attacker will choose an Attacking maneuver,
and his opponent will choose a Defense maneuver, in an attempt to
counter it, but in some cases, the nature of the Attack maneuver will
only allow the defender one option. For example, if an attacker
decides to try and disarm his opponent, his opponent must decide to
try to hang on to his weapon. He has no other choice.
- Normal Attack
The attacker attempts to wound his/her opponent, rolling
Dexterity + Melee, with the Difficulty specified by the weapon used.
Type: Attack Difficulty: Weapon Difficulty
Image: The warrior simply tries to wound his opponent by dint of
speed and skill.
- Feint
The attacker rolls Manipulation + Melee for his attack roll,
with a difficulty modifier of +3. This attack may not be parried -
it may only be dodged.
Type: Attack Difficulty: Weapon Difficulty + 3
Image: With a lightning-quick motion, the swordsman attacks first
high, then low, slipping around his opponent's guard, and
moving to hit a vulnerable spot.
- Disarm
The attacker rolls Dexterity + Melee, resisted by Dexterity +
Melee from their opponent, both rolls difficulty six. If either
combatant rolls three successes or more above their opponents
successes, they disarm their opponent, and their weapon falls to
the ground. If you botch this roll, you automatically drop your own
weapon!
Type: Attack Difficulty: 6
Image: With a quick movement, you catch your opponents sword and it
drops out of his nerveless hand, onto the ground.
- Great Blow
The attacker commits themselves completely to a devastating
blow (but not a blow to decapitate their opponent). They roll a normal
attack roll, with a +2 to difficulty. Although a Great Blow cannot be
parried, it can be dodged. If the attack succeeds, the attack dice are
doubled. However, the attacker's difficulty for their Initiative the
next round is 5, not 4, and they have a +2 to all Defense difficulties
during the next round also.
Type: Attack Difficulty: Weapon Difficulty +2
Image: You bring your sword back and fall forward, lunging at your
opponent. Heedless of the danger, you throw your body forward,
your sword serving as the tip of a monstrous battering ram -
you.
- Target Blow
Roll Perception + Melee, the difficulty number is your
opponents Dex + Dodge. If successful, the number of successes add to
the number of damage dice done by your weapon. Optionally, you may
elect to target a specific area - See the table below for details of
Difficulties and effects. This blow can be parried or dodged as normal
and is often used to start off a bout.
Type: Attack Difficulty: Opp. Dex + Dodge
Image: You try to hit a specific part of your opponent's body. You
hold your blade up, and strike, attempting to bypass you
opponent's defense to strike your target.
Aimed Attack
* Hands/Arms - Difficulty +3/+2, Damage: A Wounded result means the
hand/arm is broken and any weapons in that hand cannot be used; if
the hand is holding a sword, it is dropped. A Crippled result means
that the limb is sheared off. To reattach, the limb must be
recovered and held to the wound while the immortal regenerates to
restore himself to at least Mauled level. The limb cannot be used
until it fully heals (treat as if it has taken aggravated damage).
The immortal will have a scar thereafter, showing where the limb
was removed.
* Legs - Difficulty +1, Damage: A Wounded result means that the limb
is broken; the penalties to the Dice Pool apply to any activities
requiring running. An Incapacitated result with a sharp weapon means
the limb is cut off, with the same results as severing a hand or arm.
* Chest/Torso - Difficulty +1, Damage: The character will have the air
knocked out of his lungs on a Wounded result (stunned for the turn),
and his ribs broken on a Mauled result (must make a Willpower roll,
difficulty 8, each turn to keep acting). If the immortal is attacked
from behind, and the result is one more than needed to Incapacitate,
then the spine is broken, and his lower body is paralyzed until he
regenerates to the Crippled level.
- Parry
The combatant must roll Dexterity + Melee against their
weapon's normal difficulty. Each success on this roll subtracts from
one attack success made against the parrying warrior.
Type: Defense Difficulty : Weapon Difficulty
Image: The swordsman brings his weapon to bear, holding it steady and
catches the force of his opponent's sword with his own.
- Riposte
This maneuver may only be used after the one who wishes to use
it has successfully parried a blow. This maneuver is a Strength +
Melee roll, the weapon's difficulty serves as an attack roll. This
sort of attack may not be dodged, though it may be parried, and if
successfully parried, this attack may also be riposted.
Type: Attack Difficulty: Weapon Difficulty
Image: You parry your opponent's strike. Klang! With catlike speed and
grace, you bring your sword around his arm, hoping to catch him
off guard.
- Caught Steel
Roll Strength + Melee versus a difficulty of your opponent's
Dexterity + Melee. If successful, you lock swords with him for a short
interval, during which you struggle with him before your blade and his
can be freed (he can do no damage this attack). If you receive more
than three successes on your roll, you manage to put him off-balance
for the following round, adding one to the difficulty of his
Initiative roll.
Type: Defense Difficulty: Opp. Dex + Melee
Image: You lock steel with your opponent. "So, Highlander, we meet
again!" You struggle for a moment, then the fight sparks again.
- Decapitation
This is an Aimed Attack at the neck, requiring a Perception +
Melee versus a difficulty of your opponent's Dex + Dodge. To
decapitate, you must reduce your opponent to one level past
Incapacitated.
Type: Attack Difficulty: Opp. Dex + Dodge
Image: With fluid-like agility, you swing your sword around, and,
before your opponent can block you, your blade slices through
his neck, and his head falls to the ground.
(Note that, quite often in the duels fought in Highlander, the
two immortals fight until one of the combatants is disarmed and
driven to their knees, admitting defeat. It is rarely a lucky
shot that chops off the head, but more often a defeat of the
spirit.)
This is by no means meant to be an exhaustive list of all the
possible maneuvers, but more a guide to help Storytellers decide the
types of rolls and difficulties which should be applied to various
maneuvers. Ideally, combat should take the form of a semi-live action
roleplay combat scene, with the players describing what their
character does, and demonstrating (safely, of course) if
necessary. The Storyteller then decides what rolls should be made and
against what difficulties.
Dodging
^^^^^^^
On some occasions, it may be necessary to dodge a blow rather
than parry it. On these occasions, the target rolls his Dexterity +
Dodge against a target number of six. The successes on this roll are
subtracted from the successes of the Attacker. If the attacker's
successes are eliminated, the target manages to dodge the blow.
Stage Three: Resolution
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Damage is resolved as normal - The attacker rolls the Damage
dice pool for that weapon, against a target number of six, each
success causing the target to lose a health level. The target makes a
Soak roll, rolling his Stamina (difficulty 6) and subtracting his
successes from his opponent's.
Example of Combat
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Connor is squaring off against the Kurgan (See the Appendix
for their respective stats). They circle each other for a few moments,
Kurgan makes his first move - a normal attack. Both players roll for
Initiative, Connor getting six successes, and the Kurgan gets
five. Kurgan make his attack roll - Dex+Melee - getting five
successes. Connor tries to parry the Kurgan's attack, and makes his
Defense roll - Dex+Melee plus an extra die, ass he got more one more
success on his Initiative roll than Kurgan. Connor also rolls five
successes, and manages to parry the Kurgan's blade.
Both roll Initiative for the next round, and both have an
extra die to add to their Initiative pool - The Kurgan because he
attacked last round, and Connor because he managed to successfully
parry Kurgan's attack. Kurgan gets four successes, and Connor gets
six, winning the Initiative, and getting two dice to add to his dice
pool. Connor decides to try a Feint, and makes his roll - Manipulation
+ Melee plus his two Initiative dice against a target number of nine -
his weapon's normal difficulty plus three. He gets two
successes. Because a feint can't be parried, Kurgan is left with no
option but to try and dodge. Rolling Dexterity + Dodge against a
difficulty of six, he gets five successes - Connor's blade slices
through thin air.
The third round of combat starts, and both players roll for
Initiative. The Storyteller decides that, seeing as Kurgan's Dodge
successes exceeded Connor's Attack successes by three, Connor will be
slightly off-balance at the start of this round, due to having swung
his sword through thin air. Thus, Connor's difficulty is five instead
of four, to reflect this. Connor decides that he needs get working and
thus uses his Quickening to get the Speed of the Stag, which gives him
an extra three Initiative dice, in addition to the die he receives for
having attacked last round. The Kurgan rolls his Wits + Alertness and
gets five successes. Connor follows suit and gets seven successes,
which means he has two dice to add to his dice pool. He decides to try
to disarm the Kurgan, and rolls Dexterity + Melee against a difficulty
of six, not forgetting his extra two dice, and gets a massive seven
successes. Kurgan rolls Dex + Melee but gets several botches, and can
only manage three successes. Connor manages to flick the Kurgan's
sword from his hand.
Kurgan's in trouble.
This is primarily an arbitrary combat system, designed to aid
the Storyteller and players in Storytelling the duels which occur,
rather than restricting them to a framework of rules. As ever, if you
don't like part of these rules, don't use them. We don't come around
and inspect how you play these games. Well, not too often, anyway...
Weapons
^^^^^^^
The sword is the traditional weapon of an immortal. The
reasons for this are fairly simple - the sword is the oldest weapon
with which you could efficiently decapitate someone, and the first
immortals would have used them. They would have passed the tradition
on to the immortals who followed them. Until relatively recently, the
sword was the main personal weapon. It's only within the last few
hundred years that we have begun using guns, and you can't chop a
man's head off with a gun. In fact, not counting the battle axe, there
still is no practical weapon which can be used to decapitate someone
in a duel, and because immortals always learn their ways from other
immortals, it is only natural that the sword has become the
traditional weapon for immortals.
An immortal will often have a weapon which he has used for
many centuries. Ramirez, for example had has his katana for over two
millennia by the time he met Connor. To an immortal, a sword is more
than just a piece of steel. It becomes an extension of their body -
they keep it with them most of the time, and it becomes an old friend,
in effect. There are no hard and fast rules for weapons as regards
weapons difficulties and damage, etc. A rough guide is that the bigger
and heavier sword is, the harder it is to use, but the more damage is
inflicts. The Katanas used by Connor, Duncan and Ramirez are all
Difficulty 6, Damage: Strength + 5. But the Kurgan's two-handed sword
is Difficulty 7, Damage: Strength + 6, being, as it is, both heavier
and more difficult to use. Kastagir's Saber is Difficulty 6 and
Damage: Strength + 4, reflecting that it is normally used with only
one hand.
It's a good idea to describe your weapon in detail, as part of
fleshing out your character. If possible, get hold of a weapons
catalog, from a company like Noble Collection, for example, which
sells a wide variety of swords and axes, and pick a weapon (Noble
Collection is one of many distributors for Marto USA, the suppliers
for the Highlander movies and TV show). An immortal's choice of weapon
helps define who they are. Connor's Katana reflects his honor and
values, and the way in which he uses skill, more than brute strength
to win duels, while the Kurgan's two-handed sword reflects his
harshness and brutality. Also, how do you carry your weapon? In a long
coat, like Connor, or have some other method, perhaps? All these
details help to flesh out your character, and enrich the role playing
experience.
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