Forbidden Lands Players Handbook
card – and thus your initiative for the round– with another player character. This can bedone at the start of the fight or at the startof the round, but never during a round. Youand the other player character must be ableto speak to each other to exchange initiatives.You can exchange initiative cards with anenemy through the FEINT action (see CloseCombat).EXAMPLEOn their way from the old ruined castle, afew cheap gems and old books being all theyhave to show for it, Nirmena the half-elfand Tyrgar the dwarf are spotted by threeorcs at the edge of the forest. They grinand get ready for a fight. All five drawan initiative card each. Nirmena draws6, Tyrgar 4, and the orcs 2, 3 and 9. Theinitiative order is Orc 1, Orc 2, Tyrgar,Nirmena, Orc 3.SLOW ACTIONS &FAST ACTIONSWhen it is your turn to act, you can performone slow action and one fast action, or two fastactions. A slow action usually consists of rollingfor a skill. A fast action is quicker anddoesn’t always require a dice roll, but can doso. See the lists of typical slow and fast actionsbelow. How these work is explained in detailin the sections Close Combat and RangedCombat, later in this chapter.PREREQUISITES: Some actions can only beperformed if certain conditions are met. Oftenthis is a feature of the weapon you are using.Features of weapons and other items are explainedlater in this chapter.NON-PLAYER CHARACTERSIn typical conflicts, the GMdraws one initiative card perNPC. If there are a lot of NPCsand the number of combatantsis above ten, the GM willsplit the NPCs into groups. Allthe NPCs with identical statswill form a single group, andthe GM will draw one initiativecard per group instead of oneper individual. All the NPCs in agroup act at the same time inthe turn order. In what orderthey act individually within thegroup is up to the GM.MONSTERSThe kind of horrible creaturesthat are commonly calledmonsters don’t act as regularenemies in combat. Monstersdraw initiative normally, butthen follow their own rules.Read more in Chapter 5 of theGamemaster’s Guide.85combat & damage
SLOW ACTIONSACTION PREREQUISITE SKILLSlash Edged or Blunt weapon MeleeStab Pointed weapon MeleePunch/Kick/ UnarmedMeleeBiteGrapple Unarmed MeleeBreak Free You are Grappled MeleeShoot Ranged weapon MarksmanshipPersuade The opponent can hear you ManipulationTaunt The opponent can hear you PerformanceCast Spell You are a Druid or a Sorcerer None, see Chapter 6Flee No enemy at Arm’s Length MoveCrawl You are prone NoneCharge At Near range Melee Charge talentDESCRIBE YOUR ACTIONSWhen it’s your turn to act, simply state whichactions you wish to perform and roll dice to seeif you are successful. Some actions will giveyour opponent the opportunity to perform areactive action, read more under Close Combatand Ranged Combat.HELPING OTHERSIf you help another player character or NPC toperform an action, it costs you one action ofthe same kind (slow or fast). You have to stateif you help someone before any dice are rolled.Helping others breaks the initiative order inthe round. You can read more about helping inChapter 3.EMBELLISH!The list of actions is fairly comprehensive,but provides no details. It is up toyou as a player to describe exactly whatyour adventurer does, how she lookswhen she attacks and what she feelswhen she raises her sword to attack…ZONES & RANGEThe combat area is divided into zones. A zone isa room or an area of ground. How big a zone isvaries – from a few steps across up to about 2586chapter 5
- Page 35 and 36: PRIDEAdventurers are not like other
- Page 37 and 38: DARK SECRETEvery player character i
- Page 39 and 40: Quarter Day (see page 144). If the
- Page 41 and 42: SKILLS: To increase a skill level b
- Page 43 and 44: SKILLSThe lava ate his stilts and B
- Page 45 and 46: forward - perhaps at the cost of ti
- Page 47 and 48: CHANCE OF SUCCESSWhen you roll a lo
- Page 49 and 50: DIFFICULTYMODIFICATIONTrivial +3Sim
- Page 51 and 52: GEAR GETS WORNWhen you use gear and
- Page 53 and 54: SIMPLE AND ADVANCED ITEMSAll items
- Page 55 and 56: SLEIGHT OF HAND (AGILITY)When you a
- Page 57 and 58: NOT MIND CONTROLWhen you MANIPULATE
- Page 59 and 60: ANIMAL HANDLING (EMPATHY)The Forbid
- Page 61 and 62: LIST OF TALENTSKIN TALENTSThe Human
- Page 63 and 64: KIN TALENTSYour kin gives you a spe
- Page 65 and 66: PATH OF HEALINGYour calling is to u
- Page 67 and 68: ✥✥✥✥RANK 2: Once you have u
- Page 69 and 70: this talent in combat counts as a s
- Page 71 and 72: the effects of this talent require
- Page 73 and 74: ✥✥RANK 3: You can cast rank 1,
- Page 75 and 76: ✥✥✥✥RANK 2: When you cook f
- Page 77 and 78: ✥✥✥✥x - that is, two x for
- Page 79 and 80: MELEE CHARGEYou throw yourself into
- Page 81 and 82: ✥✥RANK 3: You can add a D8 Arti
- Page 83 and 84: ✥✥✥✥quality, similar to to
- Page 85: SURPRISEIf you perform an attack th
- Page 89 and 90: ROUGH: You must roll MOVE when you
- Page 91 and 92: AMBUSHES &SNEAK ATTACKSThe key to w
- Page 93 and 94: tive order in the round. However, t
- Page 95 and 96: LENGTH. Brings you to NEAR range. R
- Page 97 and 98: the attack. If the defender has alr
- Page 99 and 100: you can SHOOT. Note that the FAST S
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- Page 105 and 106: THROWING KNIFETHROWING AXESLINGLONG
- Page 107 and 108: SHIELDSWEAPON BONUS DAMAGE RANGE CO
- Page 109 and 110: COUP DE GRACEAn opponent who has lo
- Page 111 and 112: DWARVEN WEAPONS:DAGGERThe effects o
- Page 113 and 114: ELVEN WEAPONS:TWO-HANDED SPEARSHORT
- Page 115 and 116: ✥✥✥✥✥✥✥✥SLEEPING PO
- Page 117 and 118: MAGICThe eyes of Braka the Stone Si
- Page 119 and 120: INGREDIENTSMost spells in this chap
- Page 121 and 122: GRIMOIRESYou don’t need your spel
- Page 123 and 124: ✥✥✥✥DUR ATION: ImmediateING
- Page 125 and 126: PURGE UNDEAD✥✥RANK 2✥✥RANGE
- Page 127 and 128: HAWK’S EYE✥✥RANK 1✥✥RANGE
- Page 129 and 130: and Empathy drop to 1 each while in
- Page 131 and 132: ✥✥RANK 3✥✥✥✥✥✥RANGE
- Page 133 and 134: ✥✥RANK 2✥✥✥✥RANGE: Shor
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SLOW ACTIONS
ACTION PREREQUISITE SKILL
Slash Edged or Blunt weapon Melee
Stab Pointed weapon Melee
Punch/Kick/ Unarmed
Melee
Bite
Grapple Unarmed Melee
Break Free You are Grappled Melee
Shoot Ranged weapon Marksmanship
Persuade The opponent can hear you Manipulation
Taunt The opponent can hear you Performance
Cast Spell You are a Druid or a Sorcerer None, see Chapter 6
Flee No enemy at Arm’s Length Move
Crawl You are prone None
Charge At Near range Melee Charge talent
DESCRIBE YOUR ACTIONS
When it’s your turn to act, simply state which
actions you wish to perform and roll dice to see
if you are successful. Some actions will give
your opponent the opportunity to perform a
reactive action, read more under Close Combat
and Ranged Combat.
HELPING OTHERS
If you help another player character or NPC to
perform an action, it costs you one action of
the same kind (slow or fast). You have to state
if you help someone before any dice are rolled.
Helping others breaks the initiative order in
the round. You can read more about helping in
Chapter 3.
EMBELLISH!
The list of actions is fairly comprehensive,
but provides no details. It is up to
you as a player to describe exactly what
your adventurer does, how she looks
when she attacks and what she feels
when she raises her sword to attack…
ZONES & RANGE
The combat area is divided into zones. A zone is
a room or an area of ground. How big a zone is
varies – from a few steps across up to about 25
86
chapter 5
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