COMBAT RESOLUTION
Conflict is inevitable in Mortisphere.
Every crew eventually reaches a point where negotiation, avoidance or retreat is no longer possible. When that happens, the outcome is decided through combat.
Combat in Mortisphere is designed to represent clashes between individuals rather than anonymous units.
A single member of a crew may represent a fragile survivor carrying forgotten technology.
Another may represent an ancient war construct, a colossal organism or something that should have vanished with the civilization that created it.
When these beings collide, the result should never feel meaningless.
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THE PURPOSE OF COMBAT
Combat exists to answer one question:
What remains when two opposing forces attempt to remove each other from existence?
The outcome of combat determines more than who wins a single exchange.
It can decide:
- Whether objectives can be completed. - Whether crew members survive. - Whether valuable resources are recovered. - Whether future scenarios become easier or more dangerous. - Whether a crew member becomes remembered.
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CREATURES IN COMBAT
Every combatant uses its own Existence Die.
A creature's die represents its current ability to influence the conflict.
A larger die represents a greater existence, but it does not make a creature untouchable.
Mortisphere is filled with examples of insignificant things destroying powerful ones.
Ancient weapons fail.
Giants fall.
Machines break.
Small creatures survive.
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ATTACKS AND DEFENSE
When one crew member attempts to harm another, both sides participate in the conflict.
The attacker is attempting to impose its will.
The defender is attempting to resist, endure or overcome that attempt.
The outcome is determined through dice.
The exact result depends on:
- The creatures involved. - Their equipment. - Their abilities. - Their current condition. - Any scenario effects.
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DAMAGE AND CHANGE
Mortisphere does not treat creatures as disposable resources.
When a crew member is harmed, the consequences should matter.
A creature may become:
- Weakened. - Altered. - Damaged. - Reduced. - Destroyed.
A damaged survivor may continue.
A damaged machine may malfunction.
A damaged organism may adapt.
A damaged Mycelian host may become something new.
Every consequence creates another part of the campaign.
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DEFEAT
Defeat does not always mean destruction.
A defeated crew member may:
- Escape. - Be captured. - Be damaged. - Lose equipment. - Suffer another consequence determined by the scenario.
Some things are harder to remove from existence than others.
The final fate of a defeated member depends on what happened and what the campaign demands.
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COMBAT IN THE FINAL AGE
Combat in Mortisphere should feel brutal, unpredictable and meaningful.
The goal is not to create perfectly balanced exchanges where identical forces slowly remove each other.
The goal is to create stories.
The last survivor of a battle may not be the strongest creature.
It may simply be the one thing stubborn enough, strange enough or fortunate enough to continue.
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DESIGN NOTE
The following combat elements are established separately in the rules section:
- Exact attack procedure. - Dice comparisons. - Damage progression. - Defensive choices. - Engagement effects. - Special combat abilities.
These rules define the exact process of fighting.
This section establishes what combat represents within Mortisphere.