It’s time for another Rules Ramble with Jonathan! Each week, I’ll introduce a topic in the DR rulebook in a deep dive that focuses on explaining it more detail than the book alone can provide. This week we are wrapping up the final discussion of the Anatomy of a Damage Call in Dystopia Rising. There are four core pillars of the DR game in my mind: Combat, Roleplay, CvC, and Economy, and this series delves a bit deeper into the logic behind some of the things you say during a combat.
Catch up with Part 1 here. We introduce some key terms for each part of the Damage Call and break down each component. There’s even a handy dandy graphic!
Catch up with Part 2 here. We discuss some example Damage Calls, and break them down in turn. These range from simple to complicated calls, and we cover one of each type of attack.
Aesa also covered some really important Logistics announcements yesterday for the February game here, so take a look. Go on, this will wait!
Ok, so we’ve spent some time talking about Damage Calls and gave you some examples, so now let’s look at a Damage Call in motion and where Defenses come into the picture.
The key part of these essays so far is that there is an inherent logic to how a Damage Call is organized.
This logic also explains the order and timing that we use with a call, so we are going to discuss timing and defenses, and how they apply to a Damage Call. This is a longer post, so fair warning!
Defenses And Damage Calls
So someone has attacked you and made their Damage Call. One of the first instances of TIMING when it comes to a Damage Call is the reaction that is called in response to being targeted by an attack or Skill. Once a call has been made, you have a brief window to declare a DEFENSE. Let’s look at p. 157 in the DR Corebook for how to call a defense.
Once your opponent has made a Damage Call and successfully hit you, you have a window of Roughly THREE SECONDS to declare a DEFENSE.
You must interrupt what you doing to use these Skills, so using a Defense while working on a Full Engagement RP skill interrupts that skill use (p. 103-104). There are several Defensive Skills in the game:
AVOID - This skill is the most versatile Defense in the game, as it stops almost every melee Strike or Ranged Attack in the game. The only type of physical attack not stopped an attack that uses the phrase “No Avoid!” OR the Skill Proficient Malicious (aka MANGLE!) when it is delivered from behind you. This skill is also the most taken Skill in the game for this reason — It’s the surest way to protect yourself in a combat, even as a non-combat player!
DEFEND - This skill is almost always used by NPCs. This works the same as Avoid, but only protects in the front 120 degree arc. If they are behind you, you cannot call this Defense and this cannot be used against an attack that uses the phrase “No Defend!”. This skill is designed to reward you for good positioning and flanking in a fight against NPCs.
BALANCE - This skill protects against any effect that causes you to lose your footing, fall down, be knocked back, or any STUN effect. This counters Knockback, Stun, Takedown, and even Area of Effect versions of these skills. Important note here is that Balance stops the EFFECTS, but not DAMAGE. If someone declares a “10 damage, STUN!” attack, declaring Balance only stops the Stun, not the 10 damage.
MENTAL ENDURANCE - This skill protects against any PSIONIC effect that directly Targets you, except for Master Pyrokinetics. This is sometimes useful against other skill effects like Agony or Terror. This is also one of the few skills you can use while in Bleed Out.
INTERFERE - This is a strange Defense, as it’s not so much avoiding the attack as redirecting to another. The person that calls Interfere takes the attack instead, and cannot reduce or defend against the damage under normal circumstances. You must qualify as a Target to use this as a defense, so no taking a Mangle to your leg when it’s already Mangled! (This also cannot stop a Killing Blow on someone, as you are not in Bleed Out when you use the skill!)
Other Item/Skill Defenses - There are several items that offer new defenses against attacks, make attacks automatically miss, or provide a more narrow Defense to particular calls. There are far too many different types to cover them all here. Generally items that make you immune to an attack will have a specific Counter to call out like “OOPH, Blocked!” or something similar to “No Effect!” followed by the Defense name. For instance, most Zombies are immune to Mangle effects on their arms and will call “No Effect, Strong Arms!” in response, or you might call “No Effect, Phalanx!” while participating in a shield wall called by a Phalanx Doyen.
The main reason I want to focus on the idea of Defenses is that these represent the concept of an INTERRUPT to the flow of a Skill call. If I can react to an attack BEFORE the effect is applied, that means there are some kind of hidden “pause” steps in a Damage Call where we work out some basic logic. It also means there is a distinct order to how things are applied in a fight, and an order to that timing.
TIMING IN DYSTOPIA RISING
I’m a bit of a Board Game nerd, so in a lot of games the Order of Operations can make a big difference in understanding the interactions in a game. Dystopia Rising is no different, though we don’t have an official ruling on Timing in the game. What I’m going to attempt to discuss here is the flow of a Damage Call and how all that information is there, if you know where to look.
a Damage Call is generally applied from the beginning to end, left to right.
This is why the order of a DAMAGE call matters! Following our discussion last week, the way a Damage Call is designed with a Delivery Method first, Damage Amount next and any modifiers, and finally an Effect that informs this order of operations. An attack sequence can be broken down into a few key steps:
Declare the attack as a DAMAGE CALL, spending any items or Mind needed
Make a Successful Attack, on a valid Target and location
Declare any Defenses to the attack
Apply Damage from an attack
Apply Effects from an attack
When I think of the “flow” on an attack, there are natural points in this where you look for Triggers, or instances where you can call an interruption or Defense against the attack. These interrupts happen Instantly, and can Interrupt the flow of an attack. A great example of these types of phrases used in other games can be found in systems like Magic: The Gathering, or Warhammer 40K. You may not always use a Trigger to activate a Skill, but that doesn’t mean it’s not still there!
This example of the timing behind an attack is pretty simple, but let’s dig a little bit deeper and explore all the separate logic steps of the sequence. Most of the time, these steps happen pretty quickly so you may not have stopped to think about the steps much.
Let’s look at that in text, and not just my silly Paint project.
Timing of an Attack:
Declaration of Attack
Declare the Damage Call or Skill out loud where your target can hear (p. 157).
Spend your Mind or other Resources to power the attack. You always spend for resources at the START of a Skill use or attack.
If your attack is Countered, Interrupted, or misses, you still spend the Mind and items!
You must always Declare the attack BEFORE actually making the physical attack!
Attack Step
Make your physical attack against the Target.
If your target is a Non-Combat Target (marked with an Orange Headband), DO NOT physically attack them, but instead point at them and declare your effect or damage (p. 155). This is an automatic hit, but they can still declare Defenses like Avoid.
Strikes will use a contact-safe boffer and need to hit a valid location
Remember the FLURRY rules - You may not swing more than 3 times in a row, unless you are using Florentine weapons (p. 156).
The 1st and 2nd strike in a Flurry cannot hit the same target to be a valid location. You got to change up where you hit them each time! No “machine gunning” the same spot!
Ranged Attacks will use a packet or NERF gun bullet, and they need to hit a valid location
First, check if you can still use a Nerf Gun against your target. If they are within TWO PACES, you must use a Packet instead.
If the attack is a red packet or bullet and contacts a shield, it is not blocked by a Shield and the attack is considered a hit unless they use some other Defense.
If the attack is a thrown weapon, a blue packet or arrow, and contacts a shield the attack ends and it is considered a miss.
Remember your RELOAD rules - After 6 shots, you must pause for a moment to simulate a reload of your weapon. Some items have longer Reload times (p. 156).
Psionic Attacks use a white packet and are always accompanied by the “Psionic!” call at the start of the Damage Call, but must still hit a valid location.
If the psionic attack contacts a shield, the effect still works. Shields can’t normally stop Psionics.
You CANNOT use a Psionic Attack while Blinded!!
Area of Effects, Sound of my Voice, and Line of Sight all automatically hit if they are in range.
Very few Defenses can be used against these delivery methods, but Balance can be used against any AOE or Sound of my Voice attack that uses the STUN mechanic.
Check if your attack hits AND contacts a valid location (p.155). If you successfully hit, you proceed with the application of the attack and its effects.
If you miss your swing, it contacts a non-valid location, or is blocked the attack ends.
If your attack or Skill is Interrupted, it has no effect (p. 104).
Defense Step
If you successfully hit, your Target can declare a DEFENSE. The Target has 3 seconds to declare a counter and spend Mind or Resources for that Defense (p. 157).
If the appropriate Defense is called, the attack is ended and is considered a miss. NONE of the effects of the attack apply if it is appropriately countered. A proper defense stops the entire Damage Call.
Avoid/Defend - stops melee Strikes or Ranged Attacks
Balance - stops Knockback, Takedown, or Stun effects
Mental Endurance - stops Psionic Attacks
Interfere - changes the Target to the user of Interfere, and it is considered an automatic hit that cannot be Defended against.
You cannot exchange a series of blows and THEN call a Defense. You must immediately interrupt to declare a Defense before continuing other attacks.
Check for effects that trigger on Defenses.
OVERPOWER - This is the primary Keyword that activates on a successful Defense. You can spend 1 Mind and declare the same attack again as a new attack. The Target will have to declare ANOTHER defense to that second attack. Go all the way back to the beginning.
Some items give you a temporary buff to other skills once a Defense is used, and would activate at this step. This includes some Augments and weapon effects.
Damage Step
Check for Damage Resistance or Damage Immunity.
If Resistant, the Damage is generally reduced to 1.
If Immune, the Damage is generally reduced to 0.
If the attack is not countered or Defended against, you apply the damage of the attack to the target’s Armor (p. 169).
Check to see if their armor is broken, and activate any effects that happen on armor break. Unique undead threats like Rimebound Dead would explode at this step.
If the attack uses a Body effect, apply the damage to Body first instead. Body SKIPS Armor completely, so any effects that would happen on Armor breaking are not triggered.
Apply any remaining damage to the Target’s Body pool.
Check for Bleed Out (p. 208).
If the Target hits zero Body, they enter Bleed Out.
Activate effects that trigger on entering Bleed Out. The primary example here is the Striker’s Coat call of “Immune to Killing Blow, 1 Minute!”.
This is an important Timing consideration, because this is how a Striker’s Coat protects vs. Murder. First you apply the damage, they enter bleed out, the armor activates, and then the killing blow is applied.
If they still have Body remaining, the damage step ends and you proceed to apply any effects at the end of the call.
Some effects won’t really impact a dying Target, but most can carry over.
Effect Step
Apply any instantaneous Killing Blows, like MURDER.
If the Target is in Bleed Out and receives a Killing Blow, their Bleed Out timer ends and they immediately die (p. 208).
If the Target is under the effects of Proficient Faithful Will, protected by a Striker’s Coat, or protected by Master Biogenetics, they can declare their immunity in response to the Killing Blow.
If still eligible, apply other Effects of the Damage Call
This is the most broad step of an attack, as there is the most variation in effects from Damage Calls during this step. I can’t possibly predict every effect here, but I’ll cover the basic interactions.
If the Target has some unique Defense to an Effect that would activate, they can declare a reaction to the trigger of taking the Effect.
For example, a target protected by Basic Faith Vessel could declare “No Effect!” to the first Break Armor effect they take during the 12s.
If a Target is IMMUNE to some portion of the Effect, they can “No Effect!” or the appropriate Skill call and ignore that particular Effect.
Unless specified by an item or Skill, you only avoid that portion of the effect. If someone had a protection versus Mangle and was hit by an effect that called “Mangle, Stun!”, they would stop the Mangle but NOT the Stun.
Defenses that prevent specific Effects only defend against that single effect, not anything else included in the Damage Call.
The threat Skill Cannibalism (used by most Zombies and Raiders) has a specific unique counter to its call of “Reduce Bleed Out to 1 Minute”.
If under the effects of Proficient Faithful Will, the Bleed Out timer is NOT reduced, but stays at the extended time of the Skill effect.
Lastly, any effects that would Trigger from taking a particular Effect take place. This might include certain abilities that allow you to use an item, or trigger a counter attack back at the opponent. There’s a few of these in play, particularly on Threat skills on monsters. The threat skill Anomaly Response allows a monster to heal themselves in response to a Psionic skill being used near them, for instance.
Wrap Up
WHEW!
That was a lot. Sorry for the wall of text, but it’s a pretty complicated subject. I’ve spent three weeks digging into the details of the Damage Call, and we still didn’t even address Bane and Resistance (that’s a topic for another day!). Next time, we are going to pivot a bit and discuss THEFT in Dystopia Rising.
Tickets for our February Event "BEYOND THE HORIZON" go on sale on MONDAY, JANUARY 17th at 1PM! We hope you’ve enjoyed your Long Night!
See you later Vados!