Gameplay

Gameplay in UTTAS in separated into two portions: Combat and Non-Combat encounters. A majority of this section is dedicated to Combat because Non-Combat encounters are always going to be more free-form and subject to the Game Master's ideas of how they should run, while Combat needs to be balanced to make the game fair for both the Game Master and their Players.

Combat

Combat in UTTAS plays similarly to D&D on its surface; the fastest characters go first, the player gets to take one action on their turn, and the battle ends when one side of the conflict is either knocked out or surrenders. The main difference lies in how the player reacts to the other characters. Instead of waiting passively until their next turn, listening only to hear if the enemy attacks and hits them, the player decides whether they want to actively dodge or block attacks. They can counterattack in response to to being hit, step away from their aggressor, and work with their allies to gain an advantage over a mutual target.

Game Scale

Assuming the group wants to use maps to represent the battlefield, combat takes place on either a square or hex based grid, whichever is the GM's preference. The side of a square or hex is assumed to represent 2 meters in the game.

Time Scale

Combat in UTTAS takes place according to the following time scale:

• Basic Time Table: Turns->Rounds->Minute->5 minutes->30 minutes->Hour->Day->Month->Year
  • For Combat: 1 Minute = 10 Rounds, 1 Round = 6 Seconds

When combat begins, the order of initiative can be determined in one of two ways:

• Order combatants by Agility, and characters with the highest Agility go first
  • If 2 characters have the same agility, they roll their Agility dice, and whoever rolls higher goes first.
• Have character roll their Agility dice; whoever rolls the highest goes first, followed by the second highest, and so-on.
  • If 2 characters roll the same number, whoever has the higher Agility goes first.

A round begins with the first character to go in initiative, at which point the first character begins their turn. When a character gets a turn, they can do each of the following:

• Enter a Stance: A character can enter a Stance at the start of their turn without spending an action. They can change Stances throughout the round, but every change after the first requires an Action.
  • A character cannot change Stances in response to another character's Reaction.
• Moving: A character can make a half move (that is, move at half of their total movement speed) on their turn without spending an action.
  • If a character splits up their movement between 2 or more types, they can only do a quarter of each type without spending an action to perform a full Move.
    • For Example: Willow has three characters she wants to attack: one 6 meters away, one 12 meters away, and one inside of a cage 4 meters away. She has a Run speed of 12 meters and 8 meters of Warp, meaning she can get up the 6 meter target without spending an action, but she would have to take an Action to reach the 12 meter target. To get at the one in a cage, she moves 2 meters by foot and Warps the remaining 2 to get past the bars, letting her hit that target.
• Perform an action: The character attacks, activates a power, initiates a skill, moving their full Move speed or draws and uses an item. The character's turn ends when they take their action.
• Talk: Characters can speak up to 25 words in a 6 second period without spending an action.

Once the character has moved and taken their action, their turn ends, the character with the next highest Initiative gets to act.

Actions and Speed

A character take a number of action equal to their Speed across an entire round. If a character uses all of their available actions, they don't get to act on their next turn. Characters recover all of their Speed at the end of their next turn.

On the character's turn, they can perform one of the following:

• Attack: The character swings a weapon, shoots a gun, or activates a power with the intent to negatively affect another character.
  • If the attack lets the character hit the target multiple times, each attack takes up one of the character's allowed actions for the round.
  • Every character can use Basic Maneuvers, which represent general attack actions and combat maneuvers such as tripping and grappling.
• Full Move: Instead of moving only half their speed, the character runs, jumps, swims, flies, or teleports the full number of meters they are capable of.
  • If a character's movement speed is an odd number, they move up to the last even number they are capable of.
  • If a character doesn't mind leaving themselves defenseless, they can choose to Sprint, doubling their full movement in exchange for halving their Dexterity for the round, lowing their Dodge and Accuracy.
• Activate a Power: If the character has any supernatural abilities that require time to use, they can activate one of them on their turn.
• Perform a skill: if a character has Skills that take less than a round to use, they can spend their action doing so. If the Skill requires more than one turn, they being initiating the skill and complete it after the allotted amount of time has passed.
• Ready an Action: If a character doesn't have any obvious options on their turn or wants to wait for a set of circumstances to pass before doing what they want, they can ready an action to perform one of the above options at a specified set of criteria. If the circumstances don’t come to pass, they do nothing.

Outside of the character's turn, the character can take additional actions in response to what's going on in the field. Their options include:

• Perform a Reaction command: When the character is attacked by another character, they can spend one of their actions to defend themselves. The only restriction on these Reactions is that they cannot be performed in response to other Reactions, and the character has to know what they're reacting to.
  • Defend: Characters can use a Block, Evade, or Move action in response to being attacked. The character can use either the basic versions of these maneuvers, or they can use custom Martial Arts the character developed and paid character points for.
  • Counterattack: Character's don't start with any Counterattack maneuvers, but they can construct one through Martial Arts or build a Power with a Trigger set to go off in response to an attack.
  • Change Stances: Characters can shift between stances in reaction to an opponent's attacks.
  • If the character doesn't see the attack coming, either because the attack's source was hidden or the power itself has invisible effects, they cannot take a Reaction command against the attack.
• Perform a readied action: If a character is waiting for a set of circumstances to pass before completing a readied action, it takes an additional action to resolve the effects.
  • If the readied action is in response to an enemy's action, the readied action comes after the target has completed their action.
  • If the readied action is in response to an enemy's movement, the readied action interrupts the target's movement. If this action prevents the target from moving, their movement automatically ends.
  • If the readied action is part of a coordinated attack, both the character readying an action and the person they're coordinating with perform their attacks at the exact same time.
  • Characters cannot make Reactions while they wait for a readied action.
• Surrender: If a character is fighting an opponent they think will spare them, they can consciously render themselves helpless in a show of submission. The attacker will immediately recognize the act of surrendering and can either complete their attack or stop, ending their turn.
• Take one for the team: If it looks like another character is going to get hit by an enemy's attack, the character can sacrifice they body to defend the original target. The attack automatically hits, and the character does not get to benefit from any defensive maneuvers to avoid or minimize the effects of the attack.

Stamina Costs

Most actions that require the character to spend an Action performing them also require them to spend Stamina to complete the action. A character cannot just swing their arms around all day and not get tired, nor can a person run for long at their top speed without getting tired. To account for this, characters consume the following amounts of Stamina for the following actions:

• Moving at full speed: When a character takes an action to move at their full speed or Sprint, they consume 1 Stamina per 10 meters moved, with a minimum cost of 1 Stamina for characters with full movement speeds of less than 10 meters.
  • Taking a half-move doesn't consume any Stamina, since the character is not spending an action to move.
  • If the character's Jump and Swim Speeds are not adjusted by Powers, they consume 1 Stamina for every 5 meters moved when the character uses either of these movement types, minimum of 1 Stamina for movement speeds of less than 5 meters. If these modes of movement are adjusted by powers, the movement costs only 1 Stamina per 10 meters, just like Running.
• Attacking: Making an attack consumes Stamina based on the following factors:
  • Melee attacks: The character consumes 1 point of Stamina for every 1d6 Strength dice used for the damage. If the character is attacking with weapon, they add 1 point of Stamina to the cost for every 5 points of required strength. Additional damage dice added through Martial Arts or the Strike Power do not add to the Stamina Cost.
  • Ranged Attacks: If the character is using a thrown weapon, the attack consumes 1 point of Stamina for every 1d6 Strength dice used in the damage roll, plus 1 more Stamina for every 5 points of required Strength needed to throw the weapon. If using a bow, gun, or other form of mechanical ranged weaponry, the attack consumes 1 Stamina for every 5 points of the weapon's required Strength. Damage added through ranged Martial Arts do not add to the Stamina cost.
• Activating Powers: The cost of activating a Power is based on the Power's Total Active Points. All Powers consume 1 point of Stamina per 5 Active Points, or 1/5th of the Power's Total Active Points, when activated. Maintained Powers instead consume double the Power's normal Stamina cost, and the character cannot regain that Stamina for as long as they Maintain the Power. Movement Powers such as Running or Warp cost the higher of either the usual amount of Stamina cost, or 1 Stamina for every 10 meters moved.

Accuracy Checks

Every attack and every power adversely affecting another character requires an Accuracy roll to determine whether the character successfully hits their target or not. To determine a power's accuracy, take the Base characteristic the power functions off of, add it to your character's Dexterity, and divide the result by 2. Take that number, add the result to a 3d6 roll, and compare it to the opponent's Dodge or Discipline (whichever the attack requires the player to target against). If the result is higher than the opponent's Dodge or Discipline, the attack is successful and takes effect. If the result is lower, the attack is a failure.

• Formula: [Key Characteristic+Dex]/2+3d6

Damage

When a character successfully attacks an opponent, they deal damage versus both the target's Health and Stamina.

• Health: Health is a measure of how much bodily damage a character can take before they die. Upon a successful hit on their target, the attacker deals an amount of damage equal to the dice they roll. The only defense for Health damage is Armor, which reduces the damage according to how much defense the Armor provides.
  • For Example: Willow has a Blast power that deals 10d6 Energy damage. When she hits an opponent, the Blast deals 10 Health damage. If she hits an opponent with 8 Armor against Energy attacks, they instead take 2 points of damage.
• Stamina: Stamina measures the character's endurance and how much pain a character can withstand before falling unconscious. Upon a successful hit, the attack rolls their damage dice and deals Stamina damage equal to their roll. Targets apply whatever defense is applicable versus the Stamina damage.
  • For Example: Willow hits an opponent with her Blast and rolls 10d6 to determine how much Stamina damage her attack deals. She rolls 35 Energy damage, her target has 20 Energy Defense, and therefore the enemy takes 15 Stamina damage.

Healing

Characters can recover from damage in one of three ways: using the Paramedics skill, using the Heal power, or waiting for their wounds to heal on their own.

• Take a Breather: The character can spend an Action on their turn to take a breather and recover some Stamina. To complete the recovery, a character must not move on their turn, they cannot take any Reactions until the start of their next turn, and they cannot take any damage for as long as they attempt to recover. If these conditions are met, the character rolls their Body dice and recovers an amount of Stamina equal to the roll.
  • A character can only heal Stamina in this way a number of times equal to their Body until they take a short rest, which will recover all of the character's uses for Taking a Breather. .
  • If a character interrupts their recovery process while taking a breather, the recovery does not count against their limited number of recoveries.
  • If character's Body is increased or decreased using the Aid or Drain powers, the changes to Body only affect the amount of Stamina the character recovers, not the number of time they can take a breather. The number of recoveries is entirely based on their natural Body dice.

• First Aid/Heal: The First Aid skill and the Heal Power recover damage and are subject to limits as specified in their descriptions. Health recovery limits between powers and skills stack, but recover limits between First Aid checks overlap as they are extensions of natural healing.
  • For Example: Willow has First Aid as a skill in addition to a Heal power. She's just finished battling a powerful opponent, and she and her pet bear have suffered serious Health damage. Willow uses her Heal power on both herself and the bear first. That isn't enough to recover all of their Health, so she patches herself up temporarily using First Aid.
• Natural Healing: If the player doesn't have any healing skills or powers, they'll have to wait for their Health and Stamina damage to recover. Characters recover half of their Stamina damage after an hour of rest (called a short rest), and they get all of their Stamina back after 8 hours of rest (called a long rest). Health recover more slowly at a natural rate of 1 point per week.
  • For Example: Willow and her pet bear still need to recover from wounds suffered during a tough battle. She's already used Heal and her skills to patch up herself and the bear up, and she decides to lay low for a while and let their remaining wounds close up naturally. After 4 weeks, she and the bear are back to normal.
  • Characters can only short rest twice per day, as the fatique from all the day's activities takes its toll on the body and prevents the character from recovering.
  • Characters can only benefit from a long rest once in a 24 hour period, as a person can only rest so much before their body regains feels the urge to get up and move around.

Advantage and Disadvantage

Depending on the circumstances, characters will have any easier or more difficult completing the task they want to accomplish. This is represented by the Game Master awarding or punishing the player with an Advantage or Disadvantage; Advantages grant an additional 1d6 to the character's roll, while Disadvantage takes 1d6 off the roll. Characters can receive multiple Advantages and Disadvantages, and its up to the Game Master to decide whether a player gets either on a case by case basis, using common sense on what circumstances will make tasks easier or more difficult.

Range Modifiers

Characters can do anything right in front of them without running into difficulties, but doing anything at a distance makes the task more difficult.

• Characters can make Accuracy and Perception checks against targets within the first range increment without penalty; assuming the character doesn't have anything extending their viewing range, this would be between 1 and 10 meters, or within 5 spaces on a game board.
• If a character attempts a task such as shooting an opponent or noticing a hidden target from 1 increment outside of their normal range viewing range, they suffer a Disadvantage to the roll.
• If the target is at 2 range increments away, they take 2d6 off of their roll.
• If the target is 3 range increments away, their attempt at completing their desired task automatically fails.

Range increments are as follows:

Distance in Meters	1-10m	11-30	31-60	61-100	101-150	151-210	211-280	281-360
Distance in spaces	1-5	6-15	16-30	31-50	51-75	76-105	106-140	141-180

Distances are recorded in both meters and spaces, or how many squares or hexes on a grid-lined gaming board the target is away from the character trying to affect them. If the game board is operating in feet instead of meters, the side of one square is assumed to be 5 feet.

If the target lies outside of what's listed on the table and the character is capable of hitting targets from farther way, Game Masters can extend the table by following this basic rule of thumb: the difference between the minimum and maximum values for a range increment is increased by 10 meters from the previous range.

• For Example: The 281-360 range increment covers 80 meters (including the 281st meter), so the next increment has a range of 90 meters, settling between 361 and 450 meters.

Conditions

During combat, characters will be subjected to one or more conditions that affect their performance.

• Dead: When a creature loses all of their Health, they fall over Dead. Dead creatures can never take actions, and there is no way to recover from this condition.
• Disabled Limb: A sufficiently strong attack to one of the character's limbs can temporarily or permanently disable the extremity. A disabled arm or hand drops whatever it's holding and cannot be used for attacks, while an injured leg or foot will cut the character's speed in half. What effect the character suffers is dependent on what limb is disabled. A limb is no longer disabled when the Health damage suffered from the attack responsible for disabling the limb is healed.
  • Arms/Hands: A disabled arm or hand immediately drops whatever it's holding, and it cannot be used for any actions until healed.
    • If the arms and hands are disabled through the Grapple condition, they cannot use any powers with the Gestures limitation.
  • Feet/Legs: If one the character's feet or legs are disabled, their Run speed is cut in half, and they cannot Leap. If both of their feet or legs are disabled, the character cannot Run at all.
  • Head: A disabled head symbolizes the character receive a temporary concussion. They cannot use Triggered actions, and they have a Disadvantage on all Accuracy rolls and skill checks until they recover.
    • If the head is disabled through the Grapple condition, they cannot use any Powers with the Incantation limitation.
  • Body: The character cannot recover Stamina by taking a breather or resting for 1 hour if their body is disabled.
  • Extra Limbs: A limb gained through the Extra Limb power that is disabled ceases its normal function until it recovers.
• Grappled: When a character initiates a grapple, they must specify what limbs they are grabbing on to. The grappled limbs are effectively disabled until the grappled creature breaks their opponent's hold. Additionally, characters receive an Advantage to Accuracy rolls versus both creatures involved in the grapple, neither the grappler nor their victim can move, and the only actions the grappled creature may take are those allowing him to either escape the grapple or take control of the grapple.
  • Grappled Characters can only use light melee weapons, pistols, and hand crossbows while held or holding on to another creature, and the only Martial Arts techniques characters can use in a grapple are those with the Grab addition.
  • Characters with the Warp power can use it to immediately escape from a grapple, so long as they don't have any limitations that would be disabled by the grab.
  • Characters with additional arms gained through the Extra Limbs Power can disable one additional limb per arm.
• Prone: When a creature falls to the ground, they are considered prone. They grant an Advantage to Accuracy rolls to attacks adjacent to them, a Disadvantage to Accuracy rolls more than 8 meters away, and they must spend half of their Run movement speed to stand up. Alternatively, a successful DC 22 Acrobatics skill check on their turn will allow the prone creature to stand up without spending an action.
• Staggered: A creature is considered Staggered when they run out of actions for the Round. While Staggered, the creature cannot take any additional actions, and they grant an Advantage to Accuracy rolls made against them until they can recover their actions.
• Stunned: When a creature takes Stamina damage greater than their Body Characteristic, the creature is considered Stunned. Stunned creatures grant an Advantage to Accuracy rolls made against them, and they must spend an action on their next turn to recover from their condition.
• Unconscious: When a creature runs out of Stamina, they fall over Unconscious. An Unconscious creature falls Prone and cannot take any actions until they have regained their Stamina. Any further Stamina damage puts the creature into negative Stamina, making it more difficult for them to recover to consciousness.

Combat in action

Willow and her pet bear General Bearington spot 3 thugs attempting to cut down a tree for firewood, despite there being plenty of burnable sticks on the ground. Furious with their disregard for nature, Willow approaches them and attempts to convince them to desist. Negotiations break down, and the thugs decide to attack.

Both Willow and the bear have an Agility of 12 and 6 Speed, while the bandits have 10 Agility and 4 Speed. Willow and the bear go first, and the thugs go second.

• Round 1
  • General Bearington charges one of the thugs and hits him, nearly knocking him out in one blow.
  • Willow activates a Blast power at a different Thug, who spends an action attempting to dodge the attack. Willow rolls poorly on her Accuracy roll, so the attack misses.
  • Two of the thugs gang up on the bear, one hitting and the other missing. The thug Willow shot at attempts to charge her, but his attack misses because he spent an action dodging her attack.
• Round 2
  • Bearington attacks the thug he hit last round, but his target successfully blocks the attack.
  • Willow takes a Steady stance and concentrates on hitting the thug next to her. He attempts to dodge again, but this time Willow successfully hits him with her club.
  • The thugs attack the bear again, another hitting and another missing; the guy the bear was beating up on assumes a Bracing stance to defend himself. The thug next to Willow attacks and hits because of her stance.
• Round 3
  • Bearington swipes at the thug one last time and, despite the thug's attempt to minimize the damage, knocks him unconscious.
  • Willow swings at her target again and scores another blow, this one hard enough to Stun him.
  • The thug next to the bear continues attacking, thinking he and his partner have done enough damage that he can put the beast down; he hits, but doesn't knock it unconscious. Willow's target recovers from his Stunned condition, but is otherwise unable to act.
• Round 4
  • Bearington makes a flurry of attacks at the remaining thug, hitting him twice for massive damage but missing on the third shot.
  • Willow changes her stance to emphasize mobility and hits the thug one last time, knocking him out.
  • The last thug sees this as a losing battle and Sprints into the woods.

Bearington chases after the thug, while Willow successfully Entangles him with a power. The thug, realizing there is no way he can escape or defeat Willow and the bear, surrenders.

Chase Scenes

If two characters get fighting and one of them wants to escape, the pursuer must have enough movement and enough Speed to either overtake their target or keep pace with them. If they do not have enough of either to match their opponent's movement or Speed, the target will eventually escape. If the character can overtake their target, combat continues as normal. If both the pursuer and their target have the same movement and Speed, the characters enter a Chase Scene.

When a chase scene is initiated, both the Pursuer and the Target are assumed to be constantly moving at their fastest available movement speed. The character leading the chase must take logical actions to evade their Pursuers, and the character following their Target must keep up with the their target's actions and come up with their own tactics to catch up with their target. Characters can use skills such as Stealth or powers such as Invisibility to hide, they can knock over obstacles or put up Barrier powers to slow down a their enemies, or they can Climb over obstacles that their opponents might not be able to traverse. How the Chase unfolds is entirely up the players and the Game Master, as there is no set way of conducting Chase Scenes.

Chase Scenes in Action

Willow is fighting an arsonist who attempted to start a massive forest fire. The arsonist doesn't believe they can beat Willow in a fight, so they decide to run. Both Willow and her target have the same Movement and Speed, so they enter a Chase Scene as Willow pursues the arsonist.

• Round 1
  • Arsonist: The arsonist attempts to hide from Willow, rolling 6d6 for a score of 21.
  • Willow: Willow attempts a Perception check to find the arsonist, scoring a 23. She perceives the arsonist and chases after him.
• Round 2
  • Arsonist: The arsonist lights a bush as he runs, creating a line of fire between him and Willow.
  • Willow: Willow braves the fire and takes damage, but not enough to slow her down. To help her catch up with the arsonist Willow makes a Knowledge (Nature) check to find a short cut.
• Round 3
  • Arsonist: The arsonist goes off the path and attempts to hide.
  • Willow: Willow uses Tracking to follow the arsonist's tracks, successfully tracking him down.
• Round 4
  • Arsonist: The arsonist realizes hiding from Willow isn't working and instead decides to Sprint and hope for the best.
  • Willow: Willow has the arsonist within range of an Entangle and uses it to bind him and stop him from moving.
• Round 5
  • Arsonist: The arsonist attempts to break out of the Entangle, and manages to break down half of it.
  • Willow: Willow moves forward and uses her Fire Blast on the arsonist, knocking him out and ending the chase.

Out of Combat

Combat is an important part of every table top RPG, but not everything can or should be handled with violence. Some characters want to start their own businesses or go on side missions, others want to carouse and pursue romantic relationships, and others want to investigate leads. It's up to the Game Master to determine the best course of action when handling these experiences, but here are some suggestions on how to conduct out of combat gameplay geared towards entire groups. Additional activities may be added to fit the Game Master's setting, but players should always have the option of investigating topics and starting businesses.

Investigations

Sometimes, the only thing characters need to do to research a subject is make a Knowledge, Profession, or Science check to see what they know about the subject. Other subjects need more intensive research, particularly concerning persons who don't want to be found. When conducting an Investigation, players need to consider logical steps towards finding what they need to know. Powers aren't likely to help until the players can narrow down their search to a single source, and until then most of the focus for Investigations should be on Skills and using assets such as money, followers, and contacts.

Starting a business

The process of starting a business isn't much different from conducting an investigation in that players need to come up with a reasonable plan for what they want to do and work with the Game Master to determine additional complications and steps the player needs to deal with. If the business is a group venture, every member of the group should contribute to the business equally, either through Skills, contributing money, or having a follower take care of the business. What skills are needed depends on the type of company, but in general a successful business requires Charm, Persuasion, Knowledge: Accounting, and Knowledge: Law.

By default, a business brings in enough money to support everyone contributing to it. Every three months, the character roll all of the dice from the business's necessary skills. This roll is compared against a table formed by the Game Master. Depending on the roll's success or failure, the business will either grow or contract.