Part 4: COMBAT
Characters are in combat whenever at least one of them is attacking another in any way. Guns and grenades are the most common ranged weapons, and there are a variety of hand weapons as well. Three of a character's abilities are important in combat: Dexterity, Strength, and Stamina. A character's Dexterity score determines his chance to hit a ranged target. A character's Strength score determines his chance in a melee situation. A character's Stamina score is the number of points of damage the character can take before passing out.
A character must be able to see his target in order to shoot, throw a grenade, or engage inhand to hand combat with it. A character can see his target if a straight line from the center of his square to the center of the target's square is not blocked by a building. A building does not block a character's line of sight if the character is in a position where he can lean around the corner to shoot. Monorails, walkways, trees and other small obstacles do not block the line of sight. The Sighting Diagram shows several examples of clear and blocked lines of sight.
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The Human at A can see the Yazirian behind the low wall at 8. If the Yazirian crouches behind the low wall, he will be completely hidden from the Human. The Human can not see the Dralasite at C because it is hidden by the corner of building 2. If the Dralasite was leaning around the corner, the Human could see it. The Vrusk at D is blocked from the Human's view by the corner of building 1. If the Human leans around the corner, he can see the Vrusk.
Whenever a character attacks another character or any other target, follow this step-by-step procedure.
1. Determine the distance via the most direct path from the attacker to the target. Count the area the target is in, but not where the attacker is in.
2. Check the WEAPONS TABLE for the weapon the attacker is using. The distance in meters from the attacker to the target determines whether the target is at Point Blank, Short, Medium, Long or Extreme range. A target that is beyond Extreme range cannot be hit.
3. Subtract the Range Modifier (where applicable) for this range from the firing character's Dexterity score. The Range Modifiers are shown in parentheses beneath the ranges.
4. If the firing character was running or riding in a skimmer, subtract 10 from the result from step 3.
5. If the target has cover (see Cover), subtract 10 from the result from step 4. This final number is the character's "chance to hit."
6. Roll percentile dice. If the number rolled is less than or equal to the character's chance to hit from step 5, the character hits the target. If the number rolled is higher than the character's chance to hit, the character misses the target. (If the character missed with a grenade, it will go off in another square; see Grenade Bounces.)
7. If the target was hit, the character who fired checks the WEAPONS TABLE to see how much damage his weapon causes. The character rolls the indicated number of dice and the target subtracts the result from his Stamina.
EXAMPLE: Norel-Kho is shooting a gyrojet pistol at a target 40 meters away. This is medium range (-20). Norel-Kho's Dexterity score is 45. Subtracting 20 because of the range gives Norel-Kho a 23% chance to hit. Remington Braun rolls percentile dice and the result is 13. This is less than Norel-Kho's chance to hit, so he hit the target. Remington rolls 2d10 for damage, and the result is 12. The target character must subtract 12 points from its Stamina.
1. Find Dexterity for ranged weapon attacks, Strength for melee weapons.
2. Determine the range to target, where applicable.
3. Subtract range modifier from Dexterity, where applicable.
4. Subtract 10 if attacker or target is running or riding in skimmer, and -10 is target has cover. Allpenalties are cumulative.
5. Add +5/level if attacker has PSA: Military
6. Roll d100, if less than or equal to CHANCE TO HIT then you hit. (If threw grenade and missed check Grenade Bounces.)
7. Roll damage.
Weapon Ranges
| Weapon Type | Point Blank | Short (-10) | Medium (-20) | Long (-40) | Extreme (-80) |
| Pistol (any) | 0-5 | 6-20 | 21-50 | 51-100 | 101-200 |
| Rifle (any) | 0-10 | 11-40 | 41-100 | 101-200 | 201-400 |
| Grenade | 0-5 | 6-10 | 11-15 | 16-25 | 26-50 |
| Ordinance | 0-50 | 51-100 | 101-500 | 501-1km | 101-2km |
A Light Machine Gun requires a bipod mount (included), but can be hip-fired at -10 to hit if STR>45, -20 for STR<45. All other ordinance must be mounted on its included tripod.
Grenade Bounces
When a character throws a doze grenade, his chance to hit the target is determined normally. If the percentile dice roll is less than or equal to the character's chance to hit the grenade goes off where the character wanted it to. If the dice roll is higher than the character's chance to hit. the grenade bounces into a different square before going off.
The direction the grenade bounces is determined by rolling 1 d10 and checking the diagram below. The grenade bounces in the direction shown by the number that was rolled on the die. The diagrams show grenades coming from several different directions. If the grenade did not come exactly from one of these directions, use whichever diagram is closest to the situation.
Grenade Bounce Diagrams )
Direction of Throw
* is target square
The distance the grenade bounces depends on howler it was thrown. The table below shows how far grenades will bounce if they are thrown from different ranges:
| If the Target Was At | Then The Grenade Will Bounce |
| Short Range | 5 meters |
| Medium Range | 10 meters |
| Long Range | 15 meters |
| Extreme Range | 20 meters |
A grenade will stop if it hits a wall or other obstacle.
EXAMPLE: Norel-Kho is throwing a doze grenade from long range. The grenade misses its intended square. Remington Braun rolls 1 d10 and gets a 5. The grenade bounces 3 squares directly to the right of the target square. and then goes off. If anyone was in that square, they would be knocked out by the gas.
The effect of a doze grenade is described under Damage.
A roll of 01 to 05 always is a hit, regardless of modifiers, if the target is visible and in range. For example, if a character with a Dexterity score of 35 shoots at a target at Extreme range, his chance to hit is -45%. However, if the character rolls 01 to 05 on percentile dice, he hits the target anyway.
Cover is any solid object that can protect someone from gunfire. A character who is partially hidden by a wall, a rock, a skimmer, etc., has cover. A character has cover if he is in any of the following situations:
1. The character is in a space containing a monorail pylon, a statue, trees, low walls, large rocks or a parking area entrance ramp.
2. The character is inside a building. This applies whether the character is fighting opponents who are also inside the building or is standing next to a door or window and shooting at targets outside.
3. The character is standing near the corner of a building, in a position that lets him lean around the corner to shoot at a target.
4. The character is standing on a pedestrian walkway.
5. The character is riding in a skimmer.
A character who is riding in a skimmer can fire a weapon, but has a -10 modifier for moving (the same as if the character were running). A character who is driving a skimmer cannot shoot a gun.
All characters who are riding or driving skimmers have cover.
A character riding in a monorail car cannot shoot at anyone outside the car, or be shot at by anyone outside the car.
When a shot hits its target, the firing character must roll dice to see how badly the target is injured. The WEAPONS TABLE lists how many dice of damage each weapon causes.
Damage caused by weapons is subtracted from the target character's Stamina. When a character's Stamina is reduced to O or less, the character is unconscious. An unconscious character cannot move or fire for the rest of the game. The character will die unless given a Staydose injection (see First Aid Pak).
EXAMPLE: Norel-Kho's Stamina score is 50. He is hit by a stunstick and takes 8 points of damage. His Stamina is reduced to 42. After four more turns, Norel-Kho's Stamina has been reduced to 9 by two more wounds. On the next turn, Norel-Kho is shot with a laser pistol and takes 12 points of damage. This reduces his Stamina to -3, so Norel-Kho passes out from the wounds.
Doze Grenades. Doze Grenades release a small cloud of fast-acting knockout gas. Any being in the same square as a doze grenade when it goes off will be knocked unconscious for one hour if he fials the STA check. A Stimdose will wake up the character, but will not restore 10 Stamina points. The gas affects only the square it is in, and lasts only until the end of the turn it is thrown.
Most guns in the Basic Game use either an ammunition clip or a powerpack. These fit into the handle of the weapon. All weapons have their own clips or powerpacks, and they can be interchanged only between pistol and rifles of the same classification..
The number of shots in each powerpack or clip is shown on the following table:
| Weapon | No. of Shots |
| Gyrojet weapon | 10 |
| Laser weapon | 10 |
| Projectile weapon | 20 or 2* |
| Ordinance | varies |
Players must keep track of how many shots their characters have fired. When their weapon is out of ammunition, characters cannot fire until they reload.
Reloading. A character can reload a weapon with a fresh clip in one turn if the character does not run (and the character has a fresh clip). A weapon cannot be fired on the turn it is reloaded.
A wounded character can recover 10 points of Stamina by giving himself a Stimdose injection with the spray hypo from his first aid pak (see First Aid Pack). The effect of a Stimdose is temporary; after three hours, the 10 points are lost and the character must rest without moving for 24 hours. A Stimdose will not help a character whose Stamina has been reduced below 0. It will not raise a character's current Stamina above his original Stamina.
Hospitals
At the end of an adventure, characters that are still conscious can take themselves and any unconscious friends to the Medical Complex to be healed. Healing costs 1 Credit per Stamina point recovered.
Characters who can not pay the hospital costs will be healed, but they must pay the hospital as soon as they earn enough money to do so.
STAR FRONTIERS games allow something other games usually do not; a player can have his character try to do things that are not described in the rules.
Character abilities determine a character's chance of performing an action not explained in the rules. The player must roll a number equal to or less than the appropriate ability score on d100 to succeed. All the players should decide if an action is possible and which ability should be used to determine success. For example, players might decide a character can tackle another character by rolling a number equal to or less than his Strength score on d100.
If an action is very easy the player may add 5, 10, or 15 points to his score when trying to perform the action. If the action is difficult the player may subtract 5, 10, or 15 points from his score to determine if the character succeeds. All the players must agree that the character should get a bonus or penalty. Players also should decide the result of the action; if the character fails, does he fall and take damage? What happens to a character who is tackled?
Reactions
At some time, a player character may want to talk to a shopkeeper, pedestrian or other character that is not being controlled by another player (such characters are called non-player characters or NPCs). The player must determine the NPC's response. If the player rolls his character's Personality score or less on d100 the NPC will be friendly and cooperative. If the player rolls greater than the character's score, the NPC will be uninterested or unfriendly. In either case, the players must decide what the NPC will do.