Numenera

關於戰鬥的選用規則

1. TRADING DAMAGE FOR EFFECT

You can decrease the amount of damage you inflict in combat in exchange for a special effect that is usually attained only on a roll of 19 or 20. To determine the amount of damage you must sacrifice from a single attack, consult the following table, and add the amount for the desired effect to the foe’s level. For example, if you want to impair a level 5 monster, you’d have to sacrifice 12 points of damage from an attack (7 plus 5). The player can wait to determine if he hits before deciding whether to trade damage for an effect.

如果玩家想要削弱等級五的怪物，必須擲出12以上（等級五 5 + 削弱 7 = 12）

Damage Reduction Effect 1 Hinder/Distract 2 Specific body part 3 Knock back 3 Move past 3 Strike held object 4 Knock down 7 Disarm 7 Impair 8 Stun Hinder/Distract: For one round, the difficulty of the opponent’s actions is modified by one step to his detriment. Specific Body Part: The attacker strikes a specific spot on the defender’s body. The GM decides what special effect, if any, results. For example, hitting a creature’s tentacle that is wrapped around your ally might make it easier for the ally to escape. Hitting a foe in the eye might blind it for one round. Hitting a creature in its one vulnerable spot might ignore Armor. Knock Back: The foe is knocked or forced back a few feet. Most of the time, this effect doesn’t matter much, but if the fight takes place on a ledge or next to a pit of lava, the effect can be significant. Move Past: The character can make a short move at the end of the attack. This effect is useful to get past a foe guarding a door, for example. Strike Held Object: Instead of striking the foe, you strike what the foe is holding. To determine results, refer to the rules for attacking objects (page 98). Knock Down: The foe is knocked prone. It can get up on its turn if it wishes. Disarm: The opponent drops one object that it is holding. Impair: For the rest of the combat, the difficulty of all tasks attempted by the foe is modified by one step to its detriment. Stun: The opponent loses its next turn.

1. LASTING DAMAGE

長效傷害 For a more realistic simulation of damage, the GM can use a GM intrusion to indicate that damage suffered by a player character is “lasting.” Most of the time, this damage is described as being a concussion, a broken bone, a torn ligament, or severe muscle or tissue damage. This damage does not heal normally, so the points lost cannot be regained by using restoration rolls. Instead, the points return at a rate of 1 point per day of complete rest (or 1 point per three days of regular activity). Until the points are restored, the damage has a secondary effect. Using lasting damage is particularly appropriate in cases where it would be an obvious consequence, such as when a character falls a long distance. It is also appropriate for characters who are already impaired or debilitated.

1. PERMANENT DAMAGE

長久性傷害 Similar to lasting damage, permanent damage is a special situation adjudicated by the GM. Permanent damage never heals normally, although the numenera can repair damage or replace lost body parts. This kind of damage should be used sparingly and only in special situations

1. ALTERNATIVES TO POINTS OF DAMAGE

傷害值的變體 Sometimes, a GM might want to portray the dangers of the Ninth World in ways other than points of damage. For example, a particularly nasty disease or wound might give a character a weakness or inability. Weakness Weakness is, essentially, the opposite of Edge. If you have a weakness of 1 in Intellect, all Intellect actions that require you to spend points cost 1 additional point from your Pool. Inability Damage can also inflict inabilities. As explained in the Descriptors chapter, inabilities are like “negative skills.” Instead of being one step better at that kind of task, you’re one step worse.

1. MODIFYING ABILITIES

能力加成 Sometimes, a player can use a special ability in a way that goes beyond its normal bounds. Such changes can be done on the fly. In some cases, it simply costs more points to use the ability in a new way. In other cases, more challenges are involved. For any Intellect ability with a specific range, you can increase the range by using more mental energy. If you spend 1 additional Intellect point, you can change the range by one step—either from short to long, or from long to 500 feet (152 m). You can’t increase a range beyond 500 feet by spending more points. Any Intellect ability that has a duration (anything more than a single action in a single round) usually lasts one minute, ten minutes, or one hour. By spending 1 additional point of Intellect, you can increase the duration by one step, so an ability that lasts one minute can be made to last ten minutes. Durations cannot be increased more than one step. A player can make a special roll to modify the range, area, or other aspects of an ability. The roll is always modified by the stat it’s normally based on. The GM sets the difficulty for the roll based on the degree of modification. Like any roll, the player can use Effort, skill, and assets to reduce the difficulty. Generally, the difficulty falls into one of three categories: t� *NQPTTJCMF (modifying an ability to accomplish an effect that has nothing to do with its description or intent) t� 'PSNJEBCMF (modifying an ability to do something similar to the description or intent, but changing its nature) t� %JGmDVMU (modifying an ability to do something within the spirit and general idea of the ability) For example, say a nano knows the Hover esotery and wants to modify its use in the middle of an encounter. If he wanted to use it to blast someone with fire, that’s an impossible task (difficulty 10) because fire has nothing to do with the ability. If he wanted to use it offensively within the general description of the ability, he might try to make a foe fly up and hit its head on the ceiling. However, turning an ability that is not offensive into an attack changes its nature, making the task formidable (difficulty 7). If he wanted to use it to make a friend hover rather than himself, that’s within the spirit and general idea of the esotery. That’s difficult (difficulty 4) but not unreasonable. Choosing to Roll Sometimes, if a player spends points on an action (for example, to apply Effort or to activate an ability), she might want to toss a die even if there is no chance for failure because a roll of 20 reduces the number of points that need to be spent. In addition, in some situations, particularly in combat, a roll of 17 or higher indicates more damage or a special effect. In these cases, players are allowed to roll not to determine success but to determine whether they achieve an above-and-beyond success. However, there is risk involved because if they roll a 1, that results in a GM intrusion It does not necessarily mean failure, although that’s an obvious GM intrusion to use.

1. • Acting While Under Attack

砲火下的行動 When a character is engaged in melee combat, doing anything other than fighting makes him more vulnerable. This is true for PCs and NPCs. If a character engaged in melee takes an action other than fighting, each of his opponents can make an immediate extra attack. The only exception to this rule is moving. If the character’s only action is to move, he is assumed to be moving slowly and carefully out of the fight, safely withdrawing from combat. For example, Toram has his back against a security door while fighting two sathosh. If he tries to open the door using its control terminal, he is taking an action other than fighting, and both sathosh get to make an attack against him. Modifying the Range of Weapons If a character with a ranged weapon wants to attack a foe outside the weapon’s range, he can do so, but the difficulty of the attack is increased by two steps. Generally, the increase in range does not extend infinitely. A character using a weapon that has a short range can only try to hit a target that is a long distance away. A character using a weapon that has a long range can try to hit a target up to 200 feet (61 m) away with a difficulty modification of two steps, a target up to 500 feet (152 m) away with a difficulty modification of four steps, and a target up to 1,000 feet (300 m) away with a difficulty modification of six steps. Weapons with ranges that start out greater than long range must be adjudicated by the GM. Attacks with hard limits, such as the blast radius of an explosive, can’t be modified. Optional Major Effect When a player’s roll would grant him a major effect, instead of taking the effect, he can choose to roll a d6 and add the result to the initial roll. This option makes it possible to succeed at tasks with target numbers greater than 20 without decreasing the difficulty. WEAPON DISTINCTIONS Weapons have only a few distinctions—they are light, medium, or heavy, and they are melee or ranged. However, you can also add the following distinctions. Slashing: Weapons with sharp edges, like swords and axes, are slashing weapons. On a successful hit, they inflict 1 additional point of damage against an unarmored foe but 1 less point against an armored opponent. The claws of a creature might be considered slashing weapons. Stabbing: Weapons with a point, like daggers, spears, and arrows, are stabbing weapons. When an attacker using one rolls a 17 or higher on a successful attack, he inflicts 1 additional point of damage beyond any bonus damage normally granted by his roll. However, if he rolls a 5 or less on a successful attack, he inflicts 1 less point of damage as the weapon glances or grazes off the foe. A creature’s pointed teeth might be considered stabbing weapons. Crushing: Blunt weapons like clubs and hammers are crushing weapons, effective against even wellarmored foes. Crushing weapons ignore 1 point of Armor, but they inflict 1 less point of damage against unarmored foes. The powerful bashes of a creature’s flailing tendrils might be considered crushing weapons. Reaching: A reaching weapon is a long melee weapon, like a long spear, a pike, or a whip, that can attack foes at a bit of a distance. Someone with a reaching weapon can hold attackers at bay (unless they also have reaching weapons). Attacks against someone with a reaching weapon are modified by one step in the defender’s favor. In certain situations, such as close quarters fighting, a reaching weapon might be hindered (the wielder’s attack difficulty is increased by one step), or using such a weapon might be impossible. The attacks of a very large creature or one with long arms might be considered reaching weapons.

1. USING MINIATURES

使用模型 Some players like to use miniatures, counters, or other tokens to represent their characters, particularly in a battlefield situation. Miniatures showing the location of the PCs, NPCs, and terrain features can be useful visual aids. They help people see who is closest to the door, which margr stands where, and who will be crushed if the dangerously weak part of the ceiling caves in. Distance Often, players who use miniatures also use a grid to represent distance. If you do this, it’s probably best to say that each 1-inch (2.5 cm) square represents about 5 feet (1.5 m). Simply move your figure the right number of squares; for example, a short distance would be 10 squares. However, a grid isn’t necessary in Numenera. Since most things have one of three possible distances—immediate, short, and long—that’s all you need to worry about. Thus, you could cut three lengths of string: one 2 inches (5 cm) long, one 10 inches (25 cm) long, and one 20 inches (51 cm) long. If something has immediate range, stretch the 2-inch (5 cm) string from the origin point to see how far it goes. Any character whose figure is within 2 inches (5 cm) of another figure can make a melee attack against that figure. (The attacker is assumed to move closer to the target, so slide the figures together.) If a character wants to move a short distance, use the 10-inch (25 cm) string to measure from her starting point to her intended destination. If the string can reach that far, so can she. For long range, anything you can reach with the 20-inch (51 cm) string is in range. Soon, you’ll find that you can eyeball the distances—precision isn’t that important. Size In some games that use miniatures, the size of the miniature’s base is important. In Numenera, such precision isn’t necessary. However, it certainly helps if larger creatures have larger bases, representing that they take up more room. Speaking of which, GMs are free to consider any appropriate creature “big.” An appropriate creature would likely be one that is more than 10 feet (3 m) tall or 10 feet (3 m) long. Big creatures don’t have to move their miniature when making a melee attack within immediate distance. They can just reach that far. GMs can also designate some creatures “huge.” Huge creatures are 20 feet (6 m) tall or 20 feet (6 m) long. For them, immediate distance is a string 4 inches (10 cm) long—or four squares on a grid— and they don’t have to move to make melee attacks. As a rule of thumb, the maximum number of attackers that can attack a single creature is the same as the number of figures whose bases can fit around the creature. In general, this means that larger creatures can be attacked by more assailants. Tactical Play When you use miniatures, some aspects of the game become more important, including range, movement, and special effects that move characters. If a character is knocked back, move his miniature back 1 or 2 inches (or squares), as appropriate. That means terrain becomes important, too. If a deep chasm is nearby, the players need to know exactly where it is in relation to their figures in case they have the opportunity to knock a foe into that chasm (or face that same risk themselves). Likewise, things to hide behind, the layout of interior chambers, and so on become important and must be depicted along with the miniatures. Many people enjoy playing this kind of game on a dry-erase or weterase surface so they can draw the features and place the figures right in the action. Sketching them on paper works fine, too, as does using books, pencils, or other things to represent ledges, walls, and so forth. And, of course, terrain pieces can be used for extra flavor. Some pieces are made of paper to keep them inexpensive. Line of sight also becomes more important, and if you already cut a string to handle distance, it works for this purpose as well. Place the string anywhere on the base of the character taking the action, and stretch the string toward the target. If the string can be stretched to any part of the base of the target, the attacker has line of sight. Possible Drawbacks The downside to using miniatures is that the exacting detail they offer sometimes gets in the way of the GM’s narrative control. For example, without miniatures, she can use GM intrusion to say, “You were standing on the trapdoor when it opens.” With miniatures, a player usually knows exactly where he is standing at any given moment. Also, psychologically, miniatures seem to encourage combat. If you place a miniature on the game table representing a new creature that the PCs have encountered, some players assume that they need to engage with it in tactical combat rather than talk to it, sneak past it, or try some other course of action.

1. CHARACTER CUSTOMIZATION OPTIONS

角色客製化選項 Numenera characters are easy to create, but some players will want to customize them more than the system initially allows. They can use the following rules to slightly (or significantly) customize their characters precisely as they wish. As always, the GM is the final arbiter of which optional rules are available in the game. Customizing Character Types The following aspects of the three character types can be modified at character creation as suggested. Other abilities should not be changed. Stat Pools Each character type has a starting stat Pool value. A player can exchange points between his Pools on a onefor-one basis, so, for example, he can trade 2 points of Might for 2 points of Speed. However, no starting stat Pool should be higher than 20. Keep in mind that jacks get more starting points than other characters get, and this option could make them more potent. Edge A player can start with an Edge of 1 in whichever stat he wishes. Because glaives start with an Edge of 1 in both Might and Speed, using this optional rule allows a glaive to have an Edge of 1 in any two stats (not just Might and Speed). Keep in mind that jacks already have the ability to choose which stat they have an Edge in, so using this optional rule decreases one of the advantages of being a jack. Cypher Use If a starting character sacrifices one starting skill (a physical skill for a glaive, or numenera training for a nano), he can use one more cypher than is listed. Alternatively, if a character gives up one cypher, he gains an additional skill of his choosing. Either way, no more than one cypher should be changed.