Combat Modifiers

Here I'm going to list all the small little things that may have an affect on combat, how they work as well as how to achieve them, and the bonuses or penalties they incur. These are just circumstances or positions that increase or decrease your attack or defense, and not special attacks or maneuvers. For things like sneak attacks and disarming attacks, see the Combat Maneuvers Topic.

Situation	Attack Mod.	Block Mod.	Dodge Mod.
Blindness (Partial)	-30	-30	-15
Blindness (Total)	-100	-80	-80
Cornered	-10	+10	-30
Crowded Space	-40*	-40*	-40
Draw	-25	-25	0
From Behind	-30	-80	-80
Immobilized (Partial)	-20	-20	-40
Immobilized (Mostly)	-80	-80	-80
Immobilized (Total)	-200	-200	-200
Prone	-30	-30	-30
Surprise	-90	-90	-90
Weapon's Point	-20	-120	-120

Blindness (Partial): This and the Blindness (Total) scenario refer to the penalties that a character when trying to attack or defend against an opponent that his sight on is obscured. Partial Blindness means that the character can somewhat see his target, or can at least determine their position in some way, but not enough to forgo a disadvantage. Blindness can be achieved by using a thick fog that your opponent can't easily see through, or attacking from certain angles that aren't in his field of vision. Attacking through a wall would be one easy way to apply this modifier to someone.

Blindness (Total): As with Partial, however in this case, the character can not see his target at all, and is left to use his other senses to fight.

Cornered: With your back against the wall, you have few options in maneuverability, therefore dodging attacks becomes significantly harder, and the added predictability of your movement makes your attacks easier to evade. Characters that are blocking, get a bonus here, since they are left with less openings, and have a firm position to hold their ground. The easiest way to force someone into this position is chase them to a wall, then block their path, like getting someone to run into an alleyway.

Crowded Space: This scenario doesn't only apply to combat taking place in an area with an overwhelming amount of people or objects, but any time there isn't enough space for a character to move and fight without restriction. The Attack and Block penalties for this scenario only apply to larger weapons, except in extreme cases. A dagger would be perfectly capable of functioning as normal here. You can achieve this modifier by starting a fight in a crowd, or in a small space, like a narrow corridor in a cave.

Draw: This penalty comes from making an attack or blocking in the same turn that you draw your weapon. The time it takes to unsheathe or pull your weapon out from wherever you keep it--even pulling your fists out of your pockets--gives you less time to actively position your weapon to block, or make the strike appropriately to fight to your fullest ability. This modifier doesn't apply to a weapon that simply materializes or appears in its user's hands, like a summoned weapon. This penalty can be negated by a character with an Attack score of 150. This shows that the character is fast enough to actually forgo the penalty he would receive from drawing his weapon. Users of the Battojutsu fighting style gain a bonus for attacking in this scenario instead of a penalty.

From Behind: Attacking an opponent from behind means that they are unable to properly defend against you in MOST scenarios. A character that can shoot spikes out of his back to defend himself or attack would not suffer this penalty, however he could still suffer the Surprise and Blindness penalties if they apply. To achieve this modifier, you have to do more than just type up a post about your character getting behind his opponent and attacking him. If you can move around him, he can probably turn himself to face you. The defending character must be incapable of facing you in order to take this penalty, either because he's currently immobilized by another character or affect, or because he's too preoccupied with something else to turn around in time. A sneak attack will typically benefit from this modifier.

Immobilized (Partial): The Immobilized scenarios refer to when a character is incapable of full movement, most often due to the affects of a grapple. Partial Immobilization refers to someone's ability to move being hindered, such as their armor being too heavy, or the sheer cold has numbed their muscles. Some psychological affects, such as supernatural fear, can incur these penalties as well.

Immobilized (Mostly): Mostly Immobilized usually occurs when a character is unable to move from a spot, but can still move his body, such as having a foot pinned to the ground with an arrow, or the most common result of a grapple. The character may not be able to get out of the way of a sword, but he's still able to raise a shield to block it.

Immobilized (Total): Total Immobilization is when a character can not move at all in any way. Not only is he unable to move along the 3d plain of the world, but he isn't even able to raise his hands to defends himself. A character who's entirely pinned down by a fallen structure, or has been bound in such a way that he is incapable of animation, will suffer this affect. Supernatural abilities will typical achieve this more easily than grappling will.

Prone: If a character has been knocked to the ground, or was for some reason laying down in the turn, he will suffer this penalty. In a way, it's similar to cornered. You've eliminated one option for movement, but you've also greatly hindered your ability to make use of any other directions as well. This typically happens when a player uses a combat maneuver to knock a character off his feat, or when a character is immobilized.

Surprise: Surprise is either highly common for some characters, or not common at all. Other than the obvious moments of a character being caught off guard by his attacker through sneak attacks or being double crossed, a character is also considered Surprised when another character rolls an initiative score that is 150 points higher than theirs. This rule represents moments in which a character's reflexes are so fast, that the other one can't even comprehend or react to his opponent's attacks. Outside of the initiative rule, this scenario typically occurs when someone is attacked by what the believe to be out of nowhere, such as being struck after unintentionally angering someone, or being trampled by a goliath barreling through a wall.

Weapon's Point: This is when you're holding your sword to someone's neck. They've fallen into your feint and you've knocked them to their knees, and now you could behead them with a single swipe. Not only are they at a massive disadvantage trying to react to someone who has essentially gained an entire turn's worth of positioning on them, but the person holding them at Weapon's Point can take a free action at any time to execute a full attack on them. Other than obvious examples where you've tied up a captive and are actively holding your gun to his face to ensure his compliance, this scenario can also occur through a special combat maneuver.