Combat

Combat uses the ordinary rules with explicit timing, position, attacks, Defense, Parry, and reactions.

Turns and Actions

When timing matters, play proceeds in rounds. A round is long enough for every participant to take one turn. The rules use the grid to clarify position, movement, and range; they do not use facing.

Initiative

When a conflict begins, roll 3d6 + Initiative. Participants act from highest result to lowest and keep that order each round. Ties go to the higher Agility; if still tied, the players decide the order among their heroes and the Narrator decides for everyone else.

Your Turn

On your turn, take either two short actions or one long action. You may take free actions during your turn as needed. You may also take one reaction between the beginning of your turn and the beginning of your next turn.

Action	Use
Short action	Move, attack, perform a quick task, use a Skill that takes only a moment, or activate a brief ability.
Long action	Commit the turn to something sustained, such as running, careful aim, or a task that needs several seconds.
Free action	Speak briefly, release an object, or perform another incidental act during your turn.
Reaction	Respond immediately after a stated trigger, even during another participant’s turn.

Attacks End the Turn

An attack is a short action, but making one ends your turn. Move, draw a weapon, take cover, or perform another short action before attacking; any unused action is lost afterward. A Talent or other rule that grants an immediate attack is an explicit exception and does not create another turn.

Movement

Moving up to your Speed is a short action. You may move twice by spending both short actions. Movement may be split around other short actions, but never after an attack because the attack ends the turn. Difficult ground normally costs twice as much movement.

The grid records occupied space and distance; one square represents roughly two meters. A figure may turn freely, and attacks may come from any direction. Leaving an opponent’s reach does not by itself grant a free attack; Talents such as Hold the Line create the exceptions worth remembering.

Running and Careful Aim

Run — As a long action, move up to four times your Speed; attacks against you gain a bonus die and you lose your reaction until your next turn.

Aim — As a long action, choose a target you can see; gain a bonus die on your next ranged attack against it unless you move or lose sight of it first.

Parry

Defense is always available. When a melee attack targets you, you may spend your reaction before the attack roll to Parry if you hold a suitable weapon or shield. For that attack, replace Agility with Brawn in your Defense calculation. A shield’s 2 Defense applies normally. You cannot Parry an attack you cannot perceive or one that could not plausibly be turned aside.

Reactions

A reaction occurs after its trigger unless its rule says it interrupts. Each character normally has one reaction per round, so using it is a decision. A reaction requires a rule that permits it; characters do not improvise extra actions merely by calling them reactions.

Conditions

Use a condition only when it creates a decision worth remembering. The same condition never stacks with itself, and it ends when its stated duration expires or the fiction clearly removes its cause.

Condition	Effect
Hidden	You cannot be directly targeted by anyone who has not located you. Your first attack gains a bonus die, and making the attack ends Hidden.
Prone	Melee attacks against you gain a bonus die and ranged attacks against you suffer a penalty die. Standing is a short action.
Restrained	Your Speed is 0, and your attacks and Agility rolls suffer a penalty die. Escape with a short action and a successful Brawn or Agility roll against the effect's Difficulty.
Stunned	You cannot react and may take only one short action on your next turn; then Stunned ends.
Blinded	Sight-dependent rolls suffer a penalty die, and you cannot Parry attacks you cannot perceive.

Seventh Sun Codex
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