Combat 101¶

"Hit them in the head. If you can't, hit them in the chest. If you can't do that, hit them somewhere - the longer this fight runs, the worse it gets for you."

Combat in Ghelmyon is turn-based, deliberately tactical, and deliberately fast. A two-round fight against a goblin is the norm; a six-round fight against a hill giant is dramatic. This article is the reference - the things the Academy showed you, expanded with the tactics you need by week two.

At a glance¶


Turn-based	Yes - each combatant takes one action per round
Turn order	Speed + initiative roll at fight start
Default action	Attack (the verb `attack`)
Stances	One class-specific primary (switch free) plus 1 to 3 passive auras
Aim zones	3 - high (head/chest), mid (torso/arms), low (legs)
Mid-combat heal	Yes - `use bandage`, `cast heal`, etc.
Flee	Yes, but pays a cost

How a round works¶

Each combat round, each combatant gets ONE action. Round order is:

Initiative roll at fight start - your Speed stat + a small random roll determines turn order. The fastest goes first; the slowest goes last. Re-rolled if a new combatant joins mid-fight.
Your turn comes around. You take ONE action: attack, spell, item-use, stance-change, flee, or skip.
The action resolves immediately. Damage applied, effects stamped, narration appended.
Enemies + party members take their turns in initiative order.
Round ends. Per-round effects tick (bleeds, regen, buff-duration). Next round begins.

You're never "queued" - when it's your turn, the engine pauses and waits. Use that time. Read the room. Watch HP bars.

Stances and auras¶

Your stance loadout is the single biggest tactical lever in your hand, and it is free to change: switching does not consume your round.

You run one primary stance at a time. Switch it any time with stance <name>. Each class has its own named primaries (a Warrior chooses between Balanced, Aggressive, Defensive and Evasive; a Mage between Composed, Channeling, Warding and Flux, and so on), but they all follow the same four archetypes:

Primary	What it does	When to use
Neutral (the default)	No edge given, none taken	Most fights roll cleanly here
Offensive	Your hits land more often and hit harder, but you are easier to hit back	Bursting down a weakened target
Defensive	More guard and armor, but your own hits land a little less	Tanking; protecting a low-HP ally
Evasive	You dodge more, at a slight cost to your aim	Outpacing a slow enemy; staying mobile

Effects are flat numbers, not percentages. A Warrior's Defensive primary, for instance, reads threshold +3, defense +4 (a higher to-hit threshold means your own hits land slightly less; the extra defense means you take less). The exact names and numbers live on each class page and in /loadout.

On top of the primary you slot 1 to 3 passive auras with /attune <name> (/unattune drops one). Auras are always-on boosts with no upkeep (Ironhide raises armor, Bloodscent adds damage, and so on), and how many you can slot scales with your Willpower, Wits and prime stat. Some primary-and-aura pairings form a combo (a bonus) or an anti-combo (a penalty for working against yourself). See everything you have running with /loadout.

A skilled fighter cycles the primary mid-fight: an offensive posture for the opening burst, a defensive one on the round the enemy is about to swing big, an evasive one when you need to disengage.

Aim zones¶

The three zones map to body regions. They're stacked on top of any attack verb: attack goblin aim high, shoot goblin aim low, etc.

Zone	Bodies	Effect	Cost
High	head, face, neck, chest	Highest damage on hit; called-shot crits	-20 accuracy
Mid	abdomen, arms	Moderate damage; disarm chance	-20 accuracy
Low	legs, feet	Lower damage; reduces enemy speed	-20 accuracy

All three aim zones carry the same -20 accuracy penalty - the engine makes it your decision where to take the risk, not whether to take it. Use high for assassinations, mid to disarm a wielded weapon, low to slow down a fleeing enemy.

Default unaimed attack has full accuracy and the engine picks the body region by simple probability (mostly torso). Most rounds, just attack. Save aim for the moments that matter.

Weapon ranges + reach¶

Weapons have a natural range that determines whether they hit at all. The engine reads:

Unarmed / dagger / brass-knuckles - melee only, 1 square
Sword / mace / axe - melee 1-2 squares
Spear / polearm - melee 1-3 squares (reach)
Bow / crossbow - ranged 1-10+ squares
Throwing weapons - ranged 1-4 squares, then consumed
Spells - varies; most are ranged 1-8 squares

You can't always tell the range at a glance - examine <weapon> shows it. Mismatching range to enemy distance is a common new- player error: melee weapon against a ranged-only spirit, ranged weapon against a grappling brute.

Healing mid-combat¶

You CAN heal during a fight. It costs your action.

use bandage - 1 action, heals 1d6+constitution HP, no skill check at low ranks, scales with First Aid.
use potion / drink potion - 1 action, heals according to the potion tier (minor / standard / greater).
cast heal (Cleric / Paladin / Mage with the spell) - 1 action + mana, heals according to spell tier; can target self or party member.
pray (Cleric/Paladin only, in faith-aligned territory) - 1 action, small heal + small buff, no resource cost.

The trade-off: a heal round is a round you're not attacking. Most players use heals reactively (HP below 30%) rather than proactively. Defensive stance during the heal round mitigates the incoming damage.

Combo: stance + aim + position¶

The three levers combine. Common patterns:

Burst opener: an offensive stance + aim high + first round. Cycle to a defensive stance on round 2.
Tank-protect: a defensive stance + aim low (slow them) + stay next to the squishy ally.
Skirmish: an evasive stance + aim mid (disarm) + advance/retreat to control range.
Sniper: an offensive stance + aim high + ranged weapon + stay out of melee. The Ranger's signature shape.
Anchor: a defensive stance + aim mid + stay in one square; let enemies come to you.

Fleeing¶

flee is a real action and a real escape. The cost:

A morale roll. You roll against your Speed + Composure; enemies with high WIL contest. Fail → you're still in combat, you've wasted the round, the enemy gets a free swing.
Items dropped. A failed flee in panic mode can drop a few items from your pack (random, low-value).
Trust drop with companions. Followers who saw you flee a fight where they were still standing take a small Trust drop.

Successful flee:

You leave the location, hostile creatures stay where they are.
Combat ends. HP doesn't auto-restore.
The fight CAN restart if you return (some bosses reset; most don't).

Flee when staying costs more than running. Most new-player TPKs happen because someone tried to win a fight they should have run from.

Yielding + surrender¶

yield is the alternative to flee against intelligent enemies. You drop your weapon, raise your hands, hope they accept.

Intelligent enemies (humans, lizardfolk, gnoll matriarchs, most parley-able creatures) - will usually accept yield, may loot you of valuables, will rarely kill you outright.
Mindless enemies (zombies, oozes, mindless undead, most beasts in feeding mode) - will not accept yield; they'll keep attacking.
Honor-bound enemies (centaurs, certain dragons, werebears in human-name memory) - yield is accepted if you also speak the old courtesies; bare yield insults them.

After yielding to bandits, you usually lose half your gold + one or two unworn items. After yielding to guards, you're arrested and the legal system kicks in (see Heat). After yielding to faction enemies, you're released with a warning the first time; the second time depends on the faction.

Parley (the alternative to fighting)¶

Some fights don't have to be fights. Many intelligent and honor-bound creatures will parley if approached correctly. The shape: no drawn weapons, no fire, the "old courtesies" for the specific creature type, sometimes tribute.

A parley made is binding on both sides for the agreed terms. Breaking it has consequences: most creatures won't parley with you twice, and some will warn their kin.

Each bestiary entry lists whether the creature accepts parley and under what terms. Wolves, bears, hill- giants, ogres, centaurs, dryads, hobgoblins, lizardfolk, bandit-captains, vampire-spawn (formal courtesies), quasits (always negotiate, terms are vicious-clever), and several others all have parley paths.

A parley before combat is essentially free. A parley during combat (yield, then offer terms) is harder but possible.

Bleeds, poisons, and other tick effects¶

Combat applies effects that tick per round until cured or expired:

Bleed - 1-3 HP per round, lasts 3-6 rounds. Stops on cure (bandage) or healing spell.
Poison - 1-4 HP per round + Constitution debuff, lasts 4-8 rounds. Antitoxin cures; bandage doesn't.
Stun - skip 1-2 rounds. Combat ability to break stun varies by class.
Fear - Wisdom-save each round or skip. Cleric's bless removes.
Burning - fire damage 1d4 per round, lasts 2-4 rounds. Stop-drop-and-roll = the roll action.
Frozen - Constitution-save or skip; movement halved if partial.

Effects stamp at the moment they're applied. You'll see them in your status line: [bleeding, 4 rounds], [poisoned, 6 rounds].

Common mistakes¶

Forgetting stance changes are free. Cycle them; the round you don't change is a round you're playing one stance too long.
Healing too late. At 20% HP you should already have used the heal; at 10% HP you're hoping the bandage roll is good.
Aiming on every shot. -20 accuracy is real. Aim when the payoff matters; default-shoot the rest.
Trying to win the wrong fight. Some fights are tier-gated. If you've dropped to 30% HP in two rounds, this is a flee.
Ignoring positioning. advance / retreat move you in the combat grid. Spear users should be at 2-3 squares; bow users should be at 6+. Wrong range is a wasted action.
Forgetting parley exists. A bandit captain on the road is usually not interested in dying for a handful of silver. Try the parley first.