13 - Flow of Combat

What is Combat? 

In Nether, your character will likely face fierce adversaries while on their journey, often played by your Game Master. From strange beasts, to cackling mages, and even your fellow adventurers. There is no shortage of creatures you may encounter, and thus no shortage of potential foes. In these instances, combat can seem inevitable. 

Is Combat Different From Normal Gameplay? 

In some TTRPGS and text-based games, combat can feel like an entirely separate thing from the rest of the game. In Nether, this isn't the case. Your Game Master may physically separate the combat scene from the rest of the encounter, but the gameplay does not change. 

Nether does not use an initiative or speed based system to calculate your turns. Instead, who does what depends on the players - you. Who goes first is who acts first. 

Isn't That…Chaotic? 

On paper, it might seem that way. Yet in reality, our text-based platforms allow us to track exactly who decided to take action first, and what they wanted to do. In this way, no player is beholden to a turn order and forced to take action before someone else. 

Instead, players can plan out their actions and the order they do these actions in, respond to the battlefield - and, if they feel they can't contribute anything in the moment, they aren't forced to.

The Flow 

Some TTRPG fans may see a lack of turn orders as a major disadvantage to the Game Master. The reality is a small system to keep in mind. 

When a player takes an action, thus making an Action Roll, their dice will determine their success, as well as whether they rolled with Fortune or Folly. 

If they succeed and roll with Fortune, another player can take another action. Or the same player can take another action. 

However, if a player rolls with Folly or fails their roll, it becomes the Game Master's turn. This allows them to use a creature they control during the encounter, and spend any Folly Points to use another creature, or activate any effects from the creatures and environment. 

In this way, the Game Master has as many potential turns as the players, making fights more dynamic and reactive. 

Range 

Many abilities and class features make use of range. These ranges are represented by tags, assigned to an Ability upon its creation. These are used to help balance an ability overall, and are described in generalized terms to help visualize them easily without maps. For our games specifically, map measurements will also be included in parentheses next to each tag. The only exception to this rule is “In Sight” and “Beyond Sight” - which are subjective to the user.  Our ranges include: 

Melee (0 Hexes): Touching.

Reach (1 Hex): A Stretch Away.

Close (3 Hexes): A Hop Away.

Medium (5 Hexes): About 5 Paces Away.

Far (7 Hexes): A Stone's Throw Away.

Very Far (11 Hexes): About The Length of A Small Building.

In Sight - Subjective

Beyond Sight - Subjective