Duels

Duels are the combat mechanism by which two characters fight. It incorporates an element of luck as well as the characters skills, abilities and equipment.

Mechanism
The duel incorporates 3 core elements:
 * Initiative
 * Dice Roll
 * Modifiers

Initiative
Initiative is determined either by the fighters respective skill level (listed in modifiers), by the nature of the encounter (in an ambush or surprise attack, the person being surprised would go second), or by roleplaying agreement (perhaps it is a friendly duel and the more experienced fighter is willing to yield the initiative, or is showing off)

The character with the highest initiative performs the first strike.

Dice Roll
When a strike is made a d20 roll is made to determine the luck element of the strike. The defender them makes a d20 roll of their own to determine the effectiveness of the parry. After this is resolved, the previous defender makes a strike and the previous attacker parrys. This continues until an outcome is resolved.

Modifiers
Modifiers are numbers added or subtracted from the dice roll before its effect is applied. These can be permanent (skill level, weapons and armour, injuries) or temporary (wound sustained during the duel).

Skill Levels
Untrained Fighter (+0)

Trained Fighter (+2)

Experienced Fighter (+4)

Veteran Fighter (+6)

Legendary Fighter (+8)

Equipment
Equipment can be broadly divided into these categories (as a general rule), basic knights equipment is assumed to be baseline and confirms no benefit or malus.

Custom Masterwork Weapon (+1)

Valyrian Steel Weapon (+2)

Custom Masterwork Armour (+1)

Valyrian Steel Armour (+2)

Temporary
Minor injury during duel (-2)

Major injury during duel (-8)

Perfect parry (+2 on next strike only)

Results
In normal flow of combat the person currently holding the initiative (the one making the strike) is the one who has the potential to injure the other. The following table is from the perspective of the person defending:

12+ you inflict a minor wound on the opponent in the process of parrying

+6 to +11 you parry the blow in such a manner you finish in an advantageous striking position (+2 for you on next strike only)

+1 to +5 - you parry the blow and strike next

-1 to -5 - you parry the blow but the opponent retains the initiative and strikes again

-6 to -11 - you fail to parry the blow and take a minor wound (-2 from this stage on)

-12 to -19 - you fail to parry the blow and are seriously injured (-8 from this stage on, potential loss of limb or life)

-20 or further - you are immediately killed

When it comes to detrimental effects you or the other character are going to inflict, you can always choose not to. A friendly duel where you are the attacker and overwhelm the defenders parry by 20+ is probably not a situation where you want to kill them. In such cases you can choose to make a show of the fact that you could have, of course. Roleplaying is what it is all about

Example Duel
Grisk vs Breaker

Breaker (+30) (Valyrian Steel Weapon (+10), Legendary Fighter (+30), Peg Leg (-10))

Grisk (+10) (Trained Fighter (+10))

Breaker has a higher training score, so he goes first.

Breaker Strikes!

d100 = 80

80+30 = 110

Grisk Parries!

d!100 = 80

80+10 = 90

'''This makes the first bouts result 110 vs 90. Breaker overwhelms Grisk's parry by 20. The result for Grisk is "-11 to -30 - you parry the blow but the opponent retains the initiative and strikes again"'''

This means Breaker doesn't yield initiative to Grisk but strikes a second time!

Breaker Strikes!

d100 = 5

5+30 = 35

Grisk Parries!

d100 = 57

57+10 = 67

'''This makes the second bouts result 35 vs 67. Grisk parries Breaker by 32 points, meaning the result for Grisk is "+31 to +60 you parry the blow in such a manner you finish in an advantageous striking position (+10 for you on next strike only)'''

Grisk Strikes!

d100 = 55

55+20 = 75 (+10 for trained fighter, +10 from perfect parry last bout)

Breaker Parries!

d100 = 63

63+30 = 93

'''This makes the third bouts result 75 vs 93. Breaker parries Grisk, meaning that Breaker takes initiative and strikes next time'''

The duel continues until the parties end it or one of them is dead. Wound effects stack throughout the course of battle.

Character Sheets
Before participating in the duel system, it would be wise to fill out a character combat sheet. Please give all combat sheets to the Keeper of Canon.