The Basics of CombatAt the start of each encounter, every player (and the aliens) roll their NFA (or AA, a.k.a. Alien Ability, for the aliens) to try to find dominance. The amount of successes for each side determines how combat will start off, allowing for the possibility for ambushes to be set.
There are three ranges: Close, Near, and Far. You can only ever be at these three locations; if you ever move beyond Far for any reason, you are out of the encounter and cannot return.
"Close" includes close combat and hand-to-hand fighting.
"Near" includes a distance optimum for most kinds of ranged weapons.
"Far" includes a distance far away where weapons generally cause fewer kills.
Generally, you want to kill as many aliens as possible, because whoever scores the most kill in a single mission gains a level up. Pay attention to what ranges suit your weapons best!
The aliens will be represented by "Threat Tokens". To win an encounter, you must eliminate every Threat Token. As long as you score at least 1 kill, or score 100 in a single round; any success on a FA roll will remove one token.
Combat follows the following steps, after dominance is decided:
1.) Each player decides what their PC is trying to do. They will be using either FA or NFA. The GM decides for the aliens, and rolls AA. At this stage, everyone can change their intent based on what others are trying to do. That's fine. Once you've figured out who is where and what they're trying to do, we roll the dice.
2.) Everyone rolls a d10 each.
3.) Everyone compares their die roll with their ability (FA, NFA, or AA) and sees if they were successful or not.
A success is a number equal to or less than your ability. A fail is a number higher than your ability.4.) Successes take turns from the highest to the lowest die roll. The GM asks for successes starting at 10, then 9, and so on.
On a success...
FA - Remove one Threat Token and cause "kills", roll for your wepaon at the set range and describe what happens.
NFA - Achieve the task attempted, which may include changing your range (charging or retreating), changing weapons from your default to any other (no need for Hand-To-Hand, Grenades, or a Power Claw), or any other action desired.
AA - The aliens cause a kill to each PC who either failed or rolled equal to or less than you, and the GM describes the ensuing carnage.
OR
You can cancel your own success. By deciding your roll is a failure, it causes everyone else who has yet to act, to also count as failure as well. Describe how this happens. (This is primarily useful to prevent the Aliens from wiping out one or more of your party).
Ties can't be canceled and are resolved simultaneously. If something would prevent this from occurring, or it otherwise matters with the order (such as who gets the last kill), roll a d10 and see who rolls the highest.
If you succeeded on FA/AA
before your opponent then you can also change range by one step
at the end of your turn.
5.) Failures now take turns from highest to lowest.
On a failure...
You get to "color narration" adding non-consequential detail or description to the scene, describing your failure.
6.) Encounters continue with further Combat Rounds from Step 1 again until...
Everyone is dead, or
A PC uses a Strength, or
Eeryone alive is beyond Far Range, or
No kills are caused for 3 Complete Rounds (a standoff), or
An event ends the Combat Sequence, or
The number of Threat Tokens is reduced to zero.
That's it! Any remaining Threat Tokens are recycled into the planet's Threat Level pool, so you gotta kill the aliens to wipe 'em out! There's no other way!
Wounds and HealthWhen you "take a kill" in 3:16, you aren't dead. Your MandelBrite Armor can take a blow once per planet, and you can take three blows yourself. There are no in-game penalties for being "A Mess" or "Crippled", but once you're dead, you're dead. Between encounters, you heal 1 wound automatically.
There are also "Emotional and Exhausting Wounds". Instead of marking your wound boxes with X's, put an "E". Intimidation, psionic attacks, or any other sort of emotional or mental attack will weaken your character. Though you aren't necessarily 'dead' when you take three of these wounds, your character is an emotional and mental wreck and is no longer playable. The nearest Trooper will put a bullet in your head to end the misery. Armor is ineffective against these kinds of attacks, and tests have found that Troopers attempting such attacks on aliens are always ineffective. However, between encounters, you recover all E wounds, rather than just 1.
FlashbacksFlashbacks alter what is about to happen, using your character's background and history to empower them, for good or for ill. You can call Flashbacks AFTER seeing the results of dice rolled. They can be called at any time, in or out of combat, and are resolved in the order that they are called.
A Strength allows you to win a conflict on your terms. A Weakness allows you to lose a conflict on your terms.A Strength is a very useful and potent resource. However, a Weakness can also be handy, allowing you to lose on your terms, especially when losing on your opponent's terms would mean death (taking a kill), or worse.
StrengthsStrengths change whatever is happening in the fiction. It doesn't matter what was
about to happen in the story, that now changes. You quickly describe a flashback to an event in your character's past. A short, sharp description is all that's needed, not a monologue.
Put a short description of the Strength that your character is showing and write it next to the available Strength slot on your character sheet. Now put a cross through the box since that slot is now used up. And we cut back to the present again.
Describe how that Strength is relevant right here, right now, and what it has done to resolve the present conflict in your favor.
Using a Strength
ends the encounter and
removes all remaining Threat Tokens in the encounter. The PC using the Strength rolls for kills with their weapon at its best range as if they had a success.
A Strength cannot be used in response to a Weakness. So if someone decides to lose on their own terms then so be it.
A Strength cannot be used in response to a Strength. If a PC uses a Strength to win then they have won. They cannot be trumped by another PC using a Strength of their own to steal the win. These Flashbacks are potent story tools, not chips being bid at auction.
Using a Strength may make you eligible for a promotion between missions.
WeaknessesWeaknesses, like Strengths, radically change the events in the fiction of the game. However, the effects are more personal to the PC exhibiting the Weakness and they are often used to lessen an outcome that will be deadly to the PC.
You declare a Weakness like you would a Strength. Again, you quickly provide a flashback to an event in your character's history. This brief snapshot should display some quality about your character that is a weakness. Put a cross through the box since the slot is now used up and we cut back to the present.
Tell us why that Weakness causes you to lose, and how it does so.
Using a Weakness
removes 1 Threat Token and
removes only that PC from the encounter. The encounter continues for everyone else as long as 1 Threat Token remains.
A Weakness CAN be used in response to a Strength. The Weakness lets the PC take the blow on their own terms.
A Weakness is a loss. The group should be wary of players trying to narrate a loss as some sort of victory. To be clear, the weakness has shown some character defect that has led to them being defeated. The defeat may be on their terms but it is still a loss. Not even a draw, a loss. The group as a whole has the final say on this.
Using a Weakness may make you eligible for a demotion between missions (unless you are already the lowest rank of Trooper).
