Combat¶
Combat¶
Fighting, stances, enemies, skills
Combat
Commands:
attack/hit/strike <target> [aim high|mid|low]
jab <target> Quick thrust (easy, pierce)
slash <target> Sweeping cut (easy, cut)
chop <target> Overhead strike (average, cut)
lunge <target> Extended thrust (average, pierce)
/stance <mode> Set combat stance
guard <follower> Guard a follower (intercept)
stop guard Stop guarding
/effects Show active status effects
Topics:
?combat stances Stance modes and effects
?combat skills Sub-skills, leveling, skill points
?combat enemies Enemy types and locations
?combat death Dying, corpses, skinning, loot
?combat companions Followers in combat
?combat guard Guard stance
?combat flee Running away from combat
?combat magic Spells, mana, combos
?combat effects Status effects and debuffs
?combat distance Engagement distance and range
?combat wounds Body part injuries and penalties
?combat terrain Terrain effects on combat
?combat shields Shield skills, blocking, bash
?combat parry Parry, riposte, counter-attacks
?combat unarmed Fists, kicks, grapple
?combat polearms Spears, halberds, pikes
?combat greatswords Two-handed swords
?combat active defense Block, parry, dodge commands
?combat combos Attack variety bonuses
?combat crits Critical hits and wound severity
?combat armor Armor damage reduction formula
?combat arena Arena fights, ladder, betting
?combat creatures Enemy behavior and targeting
?combat knockout Getting knocked out, penalties
?combat roundtime Weapon recovery time and speed
?combat yield De-escalate combat peacefully
?combat surrender Full submission during combat
Combat — Stances¶
Stance modes and effects
Combat — Stances
Set your stance with: /stance <name>
normal Balanced offense/defense (50/50)
berserk Full offense, no defense (100/0)
aggressive Heavy offense, light defense (75/25)
cautious Light offense, heavy defense (25/75)
defensive Full defense, no offense (0/100)
Stance affects hit chance and damage for both you
and enemies targeting you.
Combat — Skills¶
Sub-skills, leveling, skill points
Combat — Skills
Each weapon type has sub-skills (jab, slash, chop, lunge).
Using a sub-skill in combat earns skill points (SP).
SP accumulate until you rank up.
Ranks: Novice → Apprentice → Journeyman → Expert
→ Adept → Master → Grand Master
Higher ranks improve hit chance (rank bonus).
Use /skills or ssk to see your current ranks.
Combat — Enemies¶
Enemy types, locations, and difficulty
Combat — Enemies
Hostile NPCs auto-attack each turn. Difficulty
increases with distance from town.
SEWERS (Novice):
Sewer Rat HP 18-25 bite, packs
Giant Cockroach HP 12-18 weak, fodder
Pale Hand Thug HP 35-55 dagger, humanoid
Drowned Zombie HP 45-65 slow, undead
Sewer King HP 175-225 boss (layer 4)
FOREST (Intermediate):
Wolf HP 40-58 bite/claw, packs
Wild Boar HP 47-65 charge, tough
Bandit HP 47-65 sword, carry gold
Dire Wolf HP 75-105 dangerous, pack leader
MINES (Intermediate-Hard):
Cave Rat HP 22-30 fodder
Goblin HP 60-80 dagger, groups of 2-3
Tunnel Spider HP 28-35 poison, web
Rogue Miner HP 60-75 pickaxe, humanoid
Burrower King HP 210-270 boss
CRYPT (Hard):
Zombie HP 52-70 slow, undead
Ghoul HP 42-60 fast, life drain
Skeleton HP 52-72 sword, armored
Wight HP 80-110 dangerous, life drain
Kael the Deathless HP 170-220 boss
BACK ALLEY:
Thief HP 30-50 dagger, fast
Mugger HP 45-60 blunt weapons
HP formula: (50 + CON*3) * hp_mult.
Actual HP varies by creature stat rolls.
Tips:
- Train combat skills before venturing to harder areas
- Bring a follower for backup (guard them if needed)
- Use stances: defensive for tough fights, berserk for weak foes
- Carry food or health potions for healing between fights
- Flee (flee/run/escape) if overwhelmed
Creatures spawn on entry and respawn on phase changes.
Each creature type drops specific loot on death.
Humanoids are knocked out at 0 HP instead of killed.
Combat — Death¶
Dying, corpses, skinning, loot, NPC death, resurrection
Combat — Death
Animals at 0 HP die and drop:
- A corpse item (skinnable)
- Junk loot: teeth, claws, meat, bones, coins
- Gold transferred to you
Humanoids at 0 HP are knocked unconscious:
- They collapse but don't die
- Follower KOs revive on rest (25% HP)
- NPCs recover after 3 phases at 30% HP
- Essential NPCs (quest givers, trainers) cannot be killed
Finishing Off (finish <target>):
- Kills a knocked-out NPC permanently
- Drops their corpse and inventory
- Murder crime if non-hostile
- A ghost may appear at the death location
NPC Death Consequences:
- Shopkeepers' shops close permanently
- Nearby NPCs enter mourning
- Trust loss with witnesses
Temple Resurrection:
- Visit a temple to resurrect a dead NPC
- Cost: 100-500 gold based on importance
- NPC returns to their home at 50% HP
- Ghosts vanish upon resurrection
Corpses can be skinned for pelts/hides:
skin <corpse> Dexterity-based gathering check
Skin quality depends on your skill:
Ragged (fail) — half value, poor crafting
Normal (pass) — base value
Fine (pass+8) — 2x value, good crafting
Pristine (pass+15)— 3x value, best crafting
Pelts and hides ONLY come from skinning — they
don't drop automatically on kill.
Corpses decay: lose 'skinnable' after 3 phases,
disappear after 6 phases.
Combat — Companions¶
Party cap, companion types, combat
Combat — Companions
Party Cap: max 2 fighting companions.
A merc team = you + 2 (fills both slots).
Companion Types:
Mercs — Hired for gold, daily wages, loot share
Friends — Invited via relationship, no wages
Beckoned — Temporary, leave at next location
Pets — Don't count toward party cap
Only mercs and invited friends count toward the cap.
Beckoned followers and pets are free extras.
Combat Behavior:
Followers who are close_friend or higher will
auto-attack hostiles at your location each turn.
They use their equipped weapon (or unarmed if none).
Give followers weapons: give iron_sword to murine
Hostiles target randomly between you and followers.
If a follower reaches 0 HP, they're knocked out
(not killed). They revive on rest at 25% HP.
Combat willingness by relationship:
stranger/acquaintance/friend — won't fight
close_friend — fights alongside you
lover/partner — fights aggressively
Wages & Dismissal:
Mercs owe daily wages (auto-paid at dawn).
4 days unpaid = merc leaves.
dismiss <name> — dismiss a companion
disband — dismiss all followers
See also: ?mercs
Combat — Guard¶
Guard stance and interception
Combat — Guard
guard <follower> Take a defensive position
stop guard Stop guarding
While guarding, hostile attacks targeting the guarded
follower are redirected to you instead.
Only works on followers (must be beckoned/invited).
Combat — Flee¶
Running away from combat
Combat — Flee
flee Attempt to escape combat
flee <exit> Flee toward a specific exit
run / escape Aliases for flee
Escape formula: d100 > 50 - Speed/2
Speed 30 → need to roll > 35 (65% success)
Speed 50 → need to roll > 25 (75% success)
On success: you move to the exit, combat ends.
On failure: you lose your turn, hostiles still attack.
Followers automatically follow you when you flee.
If no exit specified, moves to a random connected location.
Combat — Yield¶
De-escalate combat by raising your hands
Combat — Yield
yield Attempt to end combat peacefully
give up Alias for yield
You raise your hands, signaling you want to stop fighting.
NPCs may accept (40% base chance) depending on:
- Who struck first (+20% if they attacked you)
- Your trust level with them (+10% per level)
- Your HP% (+15% if below 30%)
- Their HP% (-20% if below 30%)
On acceptance: combat ends with mild consequences.
Guards: warning + small fine
Bandits: they take some of your gold
Others: combat simply ends
On rejection: you lose your turn.
Creatures (animals, monsters) always reject — they
don't understand words.
See also: ?combat surrender, ?combat flee
Combat — Surrender¶
Full submission during combat
Combat — Surrender
combat surrender Full surrender in combat
beg mercy Alias for surrender
mercy Alias for surrender
You drop your weapon and fall to your knees.
Higher acceptance chance than yield (70% base).
Same modifiers as yield apply.
Consequences are more severe:
Guards: full arrest (jail, fine, stolen items confiscated)
Bandits: they take most of your gold + your weapon
Others: they take your weapon
On rejection: you lose your turn.
Creatures always reject.
See also: ?combat yield, ?combat flee
Combat — Magic¶
Spells, mana, combos, meditation
Combat — Magic
cast <spell> Cast a spell (costs mana)
/meditate Regenerate mana (out of combat)
/combos Show known spell combos
Spell Schools:
Fire Fireball, Flame Lance, Inferno
Ice Frost Bolt, Blizzard, Ice Wall
Lightning Shock, Chain Lightning, Thunderstrike
Nature Vine Grasp, Thornwall, Rejuvenate
Combos:
Cast two compatible spells in sequence to trigger
a combo effect. Example: Fireball + Frost Bolt =
Steam Explosion. Use /combos to see unlocked combos.
Combustion:
Casting fire spells repeatedly builds combustion.
At critical levels, extra fire damage triggers.
Learning Spells:
Buy spell tomes from the Magic Emporium or find
them as loot. Use the tome to learn the spell.
Advanced spells require minimum magic skill rank.
Mana:
Max mana scales with SPI stat.
Regenerates via /meditate or resting at inns.
Each spell has a fixed mana cost.
Combat — Status Effects¶
Status effects, debuffs, and cures
Combat — Status Effects
Status effects are applied during combat by elemental
damage, heavy hits, or specific wound types.
DOT (damage over time):
Burning 2 dmg/round, 3 rounds (fire)
Poisoned 2 dmg/round, 4 rounds (poison)
Bleeding 1 dmg/round, 3 rounds (heavy hits)
Debuffs (stat penalties):
Chilled -3 Speed, 2 rounds (frost)
Cursed -3 Wits, 3 rounds (dark)
Blinded -5 Perception, 2 rounds (holy)
Prone -5 Agility, 1 round (leg/foot wounds)
Control (skip turn):
Shocked Skip 1 turn (lightning)
Stunned Skip 1 turn (head bruise)
Wound triggers:
Bruise to head → chance of Stunned
Cut/pierce/bruise to legs/feet → chance of Prone
Heavy physical hit (8+ raw damage) → chance of Bleeding
Commands:
/effects Show your active status effects
Cures:
Potions and spells with matching cure tags remove
specific effects. Rest/healing cures all.
Combat — Engagement Distance¶
Engagement distance and range penalties
Combat — Engagement Distance
Combat has three range zones. Your weapon type determines
which zone is ideal; the wrong distance adds to your
attack threshold (making it harder to hit).
Ranges:
close — grappling distance, melee point-blank
near — standard melee range (default at combat start)
far — ranged distance, bows optimal
Weapon range penalties (threshold increase):
Sword / Dagger / Axe / Blunt
near: +20 far: +50 (can't reach at far)
Staff
close: +10 far: +15
Bow
close: +50 (can't reach) near: +10
Commands:
advance Move one step closer
fall back Move one step farther
retreat Move farther (NOT flee)
NPCs automatically adjust toward their preferred range
each combat round. Distance resets when combat ends.
Combat — Terrain Effects¶
How location terrain affects combat
Combat — Terrain Effects
Different environments modify combat:
Water / Sewers:
+5 difficulty, heavy armor -10 penalty
(Deep water: +10 difficulty, armor -15)
Forest:
Ranged weapons -5 (obstructed sightlines)
Stealth +10 bonus
(Deep forest: ranged -10, stealth +15)
Narrow Passages (tunnels):
Two-handed weapons +20 difficulty
Fleeing blocked entirely
Mines:
Ranged weapons -5, +5 flee difficulty
(Deep mine: +5 difficulty, ranged -10, +10 flee)
Darkness (dark locations without torch):
+15 difficulty, aimed attacks disabled
Dungeon:
+15 flee difficulty
Terrain labels appear in combat feedback brackets.
Combat — Wounds¶
Persistent body part injuries and healing
Combat — Wounds
Hard hits leave lasting wounds on specific body parts.
Unlike status effects (which expire each round), wounds
persist until tended or slept off.
Body regions hit (by aim zone):
High: head, face, neck, chest
Mid: abdomen, left arm, right arm
Low: left leg, right leg, left foot, right foot
Damage multipliers by region:
Head / Face / Neck x1.5 (vital hits hurt more)
Chest / Abdomen x1.2
Arms / Legs x1.0
Hands / Feet x0.8
Wound severity (based on raw damage before armor):
Light (4-7) — cosmetic, no penalty
Moderate (8-12) — cosmetic, no penalty
Severe (13-18) — stat penalties apply in combat
Critical (19+) — heavy stat penalties
Severe/critical wound penalties:
Vital wounds -5/-8 Perception (severe/critical)
Core wounds -5 Strength, -5 Endurance (critical)
Arm wounds -3/-7 Strength, -3/-7 Dexterity
Leg wounds -5/-10 Speed, -3/-7 Agility
Extremity wounds -5 Dexterity (critical)
Recovery:
Sleep Heals light and moderate wounds
tend (at healer) Removes worst wound — costs gold
Light 5g | Moderate 10g | Severe 20g | Critical 30g
Commands:
/wounds List your active wounds
tend Ask healer to tend your worst wound
Combat — Shields¶
Shield skills, blocking, shield bash, shield wall
Combat — Shields
Equip a shield in off_hand to block attacks.
Block Chance = 10% + shield_armor + shield_block_skill_bonus
(Capped at 65%)
Skills (shields tree):
shield_block Improves passive block chance
shield_bash Offensive shield attack (stun chance)
shield_wall +15% block for 3 rounds
shield_deflect Chance to deflect ranged attacks
Commands:
shield bash <target> Bash with shield (blunt damage + stun)
shield wall Raise shield (+15% block, 3 rounds)
raise shield Alias for shield wall
Combat — Parry & Riposte¶
Weapon parrying and counter-attacks
Combat — Parry & Riposte
When you have a melee weapon and its parry sub-skill,
you can passively parry incoming melee attacks.
Parry Chance = parry_skill_bonus + Speed / 5
(Capped at 40%)
Parry sub-skills by weapon:
Sword: sword_parry (average)
Dagger: dagger_parry (difficult)
Axe: axe_deflect (average)
Staff: staff_block (average)
Blunt: blunt_guard (average)
Riposte:
On a successful parry, there is a chance to
counter-attack at 70% damage. Chance = parry_rank / 3.
Requires having the parry sub-skill trained.
Defense order: Parry → Shield Block → Armor Soak
Combat — Unarmed¶
Fighting without weapons
Combat — Unarmed Combat
When you have no weapon equipped, you fight with fists.
Unarmed sub-skills:
punch (easy, blunt) Basic fist strike
kick (easy, blunt) Longer-range kick
knee (average, blunt) Close-range knee strike
elbow (average, blunt) Fast close-range elbow
grapple (difficult) Pin the target
Unarmed damage = margin / 5 + Strength / 10
(Lower than weapon damage — pick up a sword!)
Combat — Polearms¶
Spears, halberds, pikes, glaives
Combat — Polearms
Two-handed reach weapons. Excel at far range,
awkward at close range (-25 threshold penalty).
Sub-skills:
polearm_thrust (easy, pierce) Long-reach thrust
polearm_sweep (average, blunt) Wide sweep at distance
polearm_brace (average, pierce) Set against charge
polearm_trip (difficult) Trip target, prone
polearm_impale (difficult, pierce) Max damage thrust
Verb shortcuts: impale, brace, trip
Parry skill: polearm_brace (deflect with shaft)
Weapons: wooden spear, iron spear, halberd, pike, glaive
Combat — Greatswords¶
Two-handed swords
Combat — Two-Handed Swords
Heavy two-handed blades. Strong at close/near range,
suffer at far (-30 threshold penalty).
Sub-skills:
greatsword_slash (easy, cut) Wide horizontal arc
greatsword_chop (easy, cut) Overhead slam
greatsword_thrust (average, pierce) Two-handed thrust
greatsword_sweep (average, cut) Low sweep, trip
greatsword_execute (difficult, cut) Massive damage
Use full name: greatsword_execute <target>
Parry skill: greatsword_sweep (deflect with blade)
Weapons: iron greatsword, steel greatsword,
flamberge, executioner's blade
Combat — Active Defense¶
Block, parry, dodge commands
Combat — Active Defense
Use your combat action to defend instead of attacking.
The bonus applies to the NEXT incoming attack, then clears.
Commands:
block +20% shield block (requires shield)
parry +15% parry chance (requires melee weapon)
dodge +15% dodge/evasion (always available)
Aliases:
block: shield block, brace block
parry: ready parry
dodge: evade, sidestep
These consume your turn — you cannot attack and defend
in the same action. The bonus stacks with passive defense.
Combat — Combos¶
Attack variety bonuses and named combos
Combat — Combos & Rotation
PENALTY: Repeating the same attack 3+ times:
3x same → +40 threshold (much harder to hit)
4x same → +70 threshold (nearly impossible)
BONUS: Using different attacks in rotation:
3 unique in last 4 → -5 threshold (easier hit)
4 unique in last 4 → -10 threshold
Named combos (flavor text + bonus):
Jab → Slash → Lunge = Swordsman's Cadence
Stab → Twist → Flurry = Viper's Dance
Chop → Cleave → Rend = Woodcutter's Fury
Swing → Crush → Overhead = Hammer Fall
Tip: Vary your attacks for better results!
Combat — Arena¶
Pit fights, ladder, spectating, betting
Combat — Arena
Location: The Fighting Pit (various towns)
Commands:
fight / enter pit Enter the next arena fight
arena / fight ladder View fight ladder and record
watch fight / spectate Watch an ongoing fight
arena bet <target> <amt> Bet on a fighter
How It Works:
Enter the arena to face an opponent matched to your
level. Win to climb the ladder and earn gold + fame.
Losing costs a small gold penalty but no death.
Spectating:
Watch other fighters for entertainment. While
spectating, you can bet on the outcome.
Betting:
Place bets on the current fight's outcome.
Payout is 2x on a correct bet.
Tips:
- Equip your best gear before entering
- Use stance and sub-skill variety for best results
- Arena fights train combat skills like normal combat
Combat — Critical Hits¶
Critical hits, wound severity, bleed tiers
Combat — Critical Hits
Any hit can be a critical. Chance is based on:
Dexterity (DEX//5) + Skill rank (rank//10) + 5% base
Capped at 30%.
Severity Levels (L1-L6):
L1 Glancing +10% damage
L2 Solid +25% damage
L3 Serious +40% damage, may cause bleed
L4 Devastating +60% damage, moderate bleed
L5 Savage +80% damage, severe bleed
L6 Fatal +120% damage, massive bleed
Higher weapon skill → access to higher severity crits.
Novices mostly get L1-L2. Masters can reach L5-L6.
Crit bleed is stronger than normal bleed and overrides it.
Wound descriptions vary by weapon type (cut/pierce/blunt/burn)
and are narrated by the LLM for dramatic effect.
Combat — Armor¶
Armor damage reduction formula
Combat — Armor
Armor uses a hybrid flat + percentage formula:
1. Flat reduction: up to 50% of raw damage
2. Percentage reduction: armor / (armor + 100)
(diminishing returns — stacking armor helps less)
3. Minimum 1 damage always gets through
Armor is scaled by material, quality, and rarity:
effective = base_armor × material × quality × rarity
Material tiers (low → high):
bone < wood < bronze < leather < iron < hardened leather
< steel < troll hide < mithril
Armor set bonuses (?items armor sets) give extra stats
when you equip multiple pieces from the same set.
Combat — Creature AI¶
Enemy behavior types and targeting
Combat — Creature AI
Creatures have 6 behavior types that affect targeting:
passive Won't attack unless provoked (deer, wisps)
aggressive Attacks on sight, random targeting (default)
pack Focus-fire: targets whoever has lowest HP
tactical Targets lowest HP% (finishes off wounded)
ranged Targets lowest armor (picks squishy targets)
territorial Attacks intruders, random targeting
Pack Hunter:
Wolves, rats, goblins, and similar creatures get +5 hit
bonus per ally of the same type in combat.
Call for Help:
Bandits, orcs, goblins, and some bosses scream when
wounded below 50% HP. This pulls a hostile from an
adjacent room into the fight (one-time per creature).
Tips:
- Kill pack creatures fast to reduce hit bonuses
- Focus tactical/bandit enemies to prevent call-for-help
- Ranged enemies will target your lowest-armor party member
Combat — Knockout¶
Getting knocked out, recovery, penalties
Combat — Knockout
At 0 HP, the player is knocked out (not killed).
If a companion is still alive, they finish the fight
and revive you afterward (no penalty).
If your entire party goes down (or you're alone):
- You wake at the nearest healer/temple
- Penalties scale by location severity:
City (tavern, temple, etc.):
HP: 30% | Gold: -10% | Items: 0 | Debuff: 2 phases
Wilderness (forest, road, etc.):
HP: 20% | Gold: -20% | Items: 1 | Debuff: 3 phases
Deep Wilderness (caves, dens, etc.):
HP: 15% | Gold: -25% | Items: 3 | Debuff: 4 phases
Grace Period:
First 3 in-game days: no gold or item penalties.
Luck Factor:
Your Luck stat modifies the severity roll.
High Luck can eliminate penalties entirely.
Low Luck makes penalties significantly worse.
Combat — Roundtime¶
Weapon recovery time and speed modifiers
Combat — Roundtime
After each attack, you must wait a number of actions
before attacking again. This is roundtime (RT).
Base Roundtime by Weapon:
Dagger 2 Bow 4
Short Sword 3 Crossbow 6
Sword 4 Staff 3
Axe 4 Greatsword 6
Mace 4 Greataxe 6
Hammer 4 Polearm 5
Unarmed 2 Shield Bash 3
Stat Reductions:
Speed: -1 per 10 above 40 (max -4)
Agility: -1 per 20 above 40 (max -2)
Stance Modifiers:
Berserker: -1 (reckless = faster)
Defensive: +1 (careful = slower)
Minimum roundtime is always 1.
During roundtime you can still:
advance, retreat, look, stance, guard
Enemies also have roundtime — heavy-weapon NPCs
may skip turns to recover.
See also: ?combat distance, ?combat stances