When push comes to shove and weapons are drawn, the only way to settle differences is through martial and magical combat. The following rules are for running and participating in Battle Scenes in Dragonpact.
What is a Battle?
In a word: Combat.
Battle flows seamlessly from Discovery mode with the narrative determining the where, when, and how. When a battle begins, the players must first ensure that their figures are placed in the starting area on the Battlefield as indicated by the DM. The DM will then place figures for all foes participating in the battle, and the fighting immediately starts.
The flow of battle can begin in three ways:
- The players and their foes are on equal footing and aware of each other. In this case, the enemies attack first, but the players have full Stamina to defend themselves. This is regarded as a fair fight.
- The players have a narrative advantage either because the enemies are unaware of their presence, are unaware that the players intend to strike, or for some other reason as determined by the DM. The players attack first and the enemies are usually defenseless. In these situations, it’s not uncommon for the players to win fights without enemies ever being able to fight back.
- The players are unaware of the enemies and are ambushed. The enemies attack first and the players are left defenseless for the initial strike, having no Stamina in which to react. Situations like this are regarded as particularly deadly for the players, and so it’s important that they ensure to take steps toward never being caught unawares.
Battle is divided into rounds and turns. A turn is an individual unit’s set of actions in which they can spend Stamina to participate in the Battle. A round, conversely, is an entire Party’s set of turns.
Each Party (a group of Units friendly to one another) acts together in Battle. DM-controlled parties act in any order the DM decides. Player parties also act in any order they choose until all player units have taken their turn for the round — players can even break up their turns into various segments, spending Stamina as they like while other players act during their turn. This allows players to combine their attacks and plan ahead to strategically hinder certain enemies or allow players to support one another before a powerful player character strikes. Taking advantage of this free turn order is often the key to winning tough battles.
Once the player party has finished their round, they each regain all of their Stamina in preparation to defend themselves while the DM-controlled parties take their turns. In Battle, players must make tactical decisions about how and whether to defend themselves when it isn’t their turn — Going too hard on defense and “turtling” against enemy attacks can leave you without any Stamina remaining for offense, and this is often the best way to lose a fight. It can sometimes be wiser to lean into enemy attacks and take a bit of damage so that you can strike them hard in response once it’s your turn. It might be the front-liner’s responsibility to soak up all of the attacks and spend all of their Stamina on defending while the back-liners strike from the rear, safe from the assault. Tactical use of Stamina for both defense and offense can mean the difference between victory and defeat, life and death.
Find rules related to specific aspects of Battle Scenes on the following pages: