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THE TURN SEQUENCE
A battle in Mortisphere is not a carefully ordered military engagement.
It is a violent collision between desperate things fighting over whatever remains.
A machine awakens.
A corpse moves.
A survivor raises a weapon.
A creature that should not exist charges into something even worse.
The battle is decided through a series of Clashes.
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THE ROUND
A game of Mortisphere is played in rounds.
A round ends once every active crew member has either:
- Taken their action. - Been incapacitated. - Been otherwise prevented from acting.
At the beginning of each round, determine which crew has Initiative.
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INITIATIVE
Initiative represents which crew is quick enough, desperate enough or reckless enough to begin the violence.
The crew with the lowest total crew value has Initiative.
A smaller crew is often faster and more adaptable, while a larger crew relies on greater individual strength.
If both crews have equal value, Initiative is determined by a roll.
The crew with Initiative begins the round.
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THE CLASH SEQUENCE
The player with Initiative chooses one or more eligible crew members in the same Area to initiate a Clash.
The opposing player then decides how to respond.
A Clash follows these steps:
1. The initiating player chooses which crew members participate. 2. The responding player chooses which crew members respond. 3. Players declare whether any units will use abilities, equipment or special rules. 4. Dice are rolled. 5. The results are resolved. 6. All committed crew members become activated.
After a Clash is resolved, the opposing player initiates the next Clash.
Players continue alternating until all crew members have acted.
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INITIATING A CLASH
A player may commit any number of unactivated crew members in the same Area to a Clash.
Each participating member chooses a target within that Area.
Multiple members may target the same enemy.
Multiple members may also target different enemies.
A player must decide how much of their crew to commit.
A large commitment can overwhelm an opponent.
A small commitment preserves options for later.
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RESPONDING TO A CLASH
The opposing player decides how their crew responds.
A responding player may:
- Commit one or more units to defend. - Allow a unit to absorb the Clash without defending.
A defending unit becomes activated after participating in a Clash.
A unit that absorbs the Clash does not become activated.
The decision to defend or absorb must be made before dice are rolled.
Sometimes survival requires fighting back.
Sometimes survival means accepting the damage and waiting for a better opportunity.
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ABSORBING A CLASH
A unit that does not defend still suffers the consequences of the Clash.
The initiating unit rolls normally.
The target does not roll a defending die.
This allows a crew member to preserve its action for later, but risks suffering damage or becoming incapacitated.
A powerful unit may ignore a weaker threat.
A wounded unit may decide that every action matters.
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ACTIVATION
Once a crew member participates in a Clash, it has acted for the round.
A crew member may only act once per round unless a rule specifically allows otherwise.
Being forced to defend is therefore a tactical decision.
A weak creature can threaten something much stronger by forcing it to spend its action responding.
A powerful creature must decide whether removing a threat is worth losing the opportunity to pursue its own objective.
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THE FLOW OF BATTLE
Mortisphere battles are decided through choices.
A player may commit everything into one devastating Clash.
They may spread their forces across several targets.
They may sacrifice weaker members to disrupt a stronger enemy.
They may ignore damage and continue toward an objective.
The dice determine the outcome.
The player decides what risks are worth taking.
In the final age, everything is already lost.
The only question is what is worth losing next.