Before we explain anything, you must know the first and unbreakable rule of
combat in Age of Aquarius –
There is No Physical Contact between players at any time in combat scenes
– No one hits or touches anybody in a harmful way ever during the game.
Throughout a game session characters interact with one another and perform tasks in real time. Interviewing other characters, searching for clues and piecing together conspiracies are all conducted normally in real time. An adventure may also feature physical confrontations between characters. Age of Aquarius uses an abstract system to resolve such combat quickly.
Fight! Fight! Fight!
Whenever someone begins the offensive act, combat has begun. Offensive acts
include drawing a weapon, starting to cast a spell, a verbal threat, or the
appearance of a creature. When this occurs players should call for a gamemaster
to participate in the combat resolution process.
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The whole combat
scene is resolved as fast as practicably possible using the standard task
resolution system. There are no combat “rounds”, rather it is
all over with one task check. If the results don’t “satisfy”
some participants they can initiate combat again, but it is deemed a separate
combat. Blow by blow fighting is for movies and tabletop roleplaying. In
Age of Aquarius we want players to spend more time talking to each other
than standing around waiting for a combat to be resolved. Go visit the skill task resolution process. We strongly suggest that if you are not interested in fighting or participating in combat scenes, then roleplay your way out of it. Like real life, you can often talk your way out of a fight. If you find yourself stuck in a large brawl, and aren’t fussed about it, then take advantage of the gm or another player and ask them to be your advocate – you effectively leave it up to them to resolve the combat for you. |