Rules of Kombat

Kombat is inevitable. Whether it is for survival, in a contest, or a greater battle such as a war, individuals across the realms face each other in bloody, brutal and violent conflicts of skill, speed and strength. Mortal Kombat, as set forth by the Elder Gods, is a sacred challenge, one that can be denied only at the cost of great shame. The victor chooses the fate of the loser, able to end the match through friendship or fatality.

The players control the hero, while every other character is controlled by the Kombat Master, including the hero’s allies, but they are actively working to assist the hero unless he is fighting alone.

During kombat, the players may describe an action (Kick him in the face! or perhaps, Sweep out his legs and punch his throat! Throw a bolt of lightning! Try and push him over the ledge!) and then roll a 1d100. The higher the result, the more likely it is to happen. The Kombat Master then rolls his own dice in secret, or there may be a flat value the attack has to beat based on a general table of success or failure:

02-10: Great Failure (Great damage dealt to heroic side)
11-30: Failure (Damage dealt to heroic side)
31-60: Moderate (Little damage dealt to either side)
61-90: Success (Damage dealt to opposing side)
91-99: Great Success (Great damage dealt to opposing side)

A roll of 100 will always critically succeed and a roll of 1 will always critically fail; only those two rolls can cancel each other out. If the attack is successful, the enemy will be damaged. If the attack is unsuccessful, the hero will be damaged. Sometimes, depending on how close the rolls are, neither will be damaged and the fight will proceed until one user is beaten. As this is a story-driven game, story will take priority over kombat, and sometimes events beyond player control will occur. The choices players make will also affect kombat; sometimes, an ally may come to their aid.

Though it seems obvious, players cannot roll to make a character do something they physically impossibly cannot do, such as throwing a fireball when the character does not possess the power to do so. The players are encouraged to think creatively and use the environment to their advantage, as well as utilize any allies the hero may have fighting with him for team attacks.

After being asked to roll, there will be a ten-minute window in which players can write out a response and the action they want the protagonist to take. Anything past the ten-minute window will not be counted; the exception to this is if there are no posts in the ten-minute window. In such an event, only the first post after the window will be counted. If a player posts an action and forgets to roll, they can reply to their post with a roll unless the battle continues; any post without a roll to accompany an action will be skipped over.

Combining Skills with Kombat

Every character has a number of skills that they excel at. Above, the current protagonist has a number of skills, some of which can apply in a combat situation. For example, Cao is skilled at disarming his opponents, and receives a +10 Bonus to rolls to do so. Any player can declare the use of a skill by posting a roll accompanied by an action; usage of skills does not burn meter.

Meter

Meter builds during a battle and can be used for a variety of special attacks or maneuvers, and can be measured in three bars. Each fight starts off with both opponents having one bar of meter. Landing hits, and taking hits, can build the meter. Landing the first hit in a fight will also confer a single bar of meter, allowing someone to pull off an early breaker. All three bars, if used, will pull off an X-Ray move, allowing semi-permanent damage to be done to an opponent.

Enhanced Moves: Every special move comes with an Enhanced variation, described under the special move itself. Each attack used in this manner uses a single bar of meter, but often does more damage or has more beneficial effects. Furthermore, because meter is being used, it confers a +10 Bonus to the roll used for the enhanced move. Note that an enhanced move can miss, which will waste the meter bar used.

Breakers: A breaker is a special maneuver that is used to break through an opponent’s offenses and open them up to counter-attack. A breaker uses two bars of meter, and is not used by itself. When someone declares they want to use a breaker, they must describe an additional action, be it an attack or movement (even non-kombat movement, such as escaping or running away). What the breaker actually does is confer a -25 to the opponent’s roll or defense. In this way, use of a breaker makes the accompanying action more likely to succeed. A roll must still accompany a breaker and its action, as a tricky maneuver such as this is still able to fail.

X-Rays: An x-ray attack is a brutal, powerful and painful attack used on an opponent, capable of damaging bones, organs or vital areas. In order to pull off an x-ray, all three bars of meter must be used, and a roll must be made with a +25 Bonus. An x-ray can still miss, but if it lands, the accompanying description of action must be focused on a specific series of actions to take. This can involve breaking an arm, cracking a rib, shattering a skull by slamming it into the ground, tearing out an eye or something equally maiming. An X-Ray deals massive damage and has the capability to end a fight if the roll is great enough. But keep in mind, many in the realms are stronger than any average person and a single x-ray may not be enough to put them down.

FINISH HIM! (or HER!)

Kombat can end in a variety of ways: friendship, such as sparing an opponent or honoring their combat prowess is a common one. However, when the match must end in death, a number of means can be utilized. When asked, the players are encouraged to come up with a creative fatality that will be used on their opponent: it can involve physically killing the opponent, using a weapon or perhaps the environment around them, giving the specific context of the situation. A fatality has the chance to conclusively end the life of an opponent, but they may yet return, full of vengeance, so be wary and choose wisely.