Actions

The meat of any post, the noun speaks for itself. But what limitations are imposed upon character actions? Well, that is precisely what this section is meant to address. For while the characters are capable of amazing feats, they aren't going to always succeed, nor are they usually going to be listing out their actions for an entire day in one post.

Simply put, a character can do a great deal without any restrictions imposed upon them. But this, of course, implies reasonability. You don't need to roll to open a door, or tell someone what to do. Even minor aspects of character action, such as swinging from a lamp post or jumping onto and climbing a fire escape from an alleyway are acceptable. If you want to have your character drive a vehicle, by all means, do so. The threshold, however, lies in attempting to do any of these things with particular expertise. Trying to swing from a lamp post to hit someone, or climb a fire escape to avoid an attack, or drive a vehicle in an unconventional way (driving a car with their knees while shooting, surfing on a motorcycle), etc. will require a skill check. Which brings us to...

Rolling Dice
Minor actions will not require dice rolling, nor will the use of Senshi or Knight powers. Any use of a skill, however, will. What constitutes a use of a skill? You might see language listed, for instance, and assume you need to roll to speak it. A skill check, in this case, will be a specific test to reach a particular end. They will either come in the form of a Knowledge Check (A test to discern something based on your knowledge), a Combat Check (A test of an attack, defense, or status affecting power in or pertaining to combat), or a Miscellaneous Check (A test for things that fit in between, like stealth, mobility, hacking, etc.). There is a hard limit of two dice roll requiring actions you can perform in a post. The exception to this is combat attack rolls, which can be added on so long as the character has the stamina for them. This is called Pushing.

To roll the dice, add your post to the appropriate thread explaining what character is attempting to make what skill check, and throw in dice tags in the format [dice]xd6[/dice] where x is the number of dice you are rolling.

Keep in mind, the more information you include, the better. Something like this: Saibane is trying to kick. [dice]3d6[/dice]

is less informative than something like this:

Saibane is trying to kick Badguy (DC 11). He has three ranks in Martial Arts: Tae Kwon Do, for 3d6 + 7 Body [dice]3d6[/dice] I know, I know. "Hold on, DC? Ranks? Body? What?" We'll cover those things. For now, just keep in mind that while the CM can look up the information that factors into the success or failure of a skill check, it is much more convenient to consolidate that information. It also makes it easier for others to understand how you rolled what you did. Because once you have your total, you include the result in your post in a parenthetical bold statement. For example, after rolling as such, I'd then include in my post after the description of my kick: Saibane raises his leg and thrusts it in a simple sidekick at Badguy. (Saibane rolled a 13 on his Martial Arts: Tae Kwon Do versus a DC 11 to hit Badguy, for 1 Damage) If someone wonders how I came to that total, they can (for a limited time) look up the post in the die rolls thread and see how I added such together.

Each dice roll will consist of either 1d6, 2d6, or 3d6, with the result being added to the character's stat that pertains to the skill (Body, Mind, or Soul). It's fairly straightforward. How the total compares to the DC will determine if the action was a success or failure, and to what degree. But what's a DC? Excellent question.

Difficulty Check (DC)
There's your answer in a nutshell. A DC is short for a Difficulty Check. A DC is a simplification for you to measure your attempts against. In order to successfuly perform an action, you must meet or surpass the DC with your dice roll.

The DCs are described as follows: Easy: 7 Average: 9 Challenging: 11 Difficult: 13 Very Difficult: 15 Legendary: 17 Impossible: 19

Combat
The characters in Eternal Moon RPG are faced with constant struggle, often in the form of a direct confrontation with the antagonists, or their minions. Combat in Eternal Moon RPG is fairly simple, there is one offensive action allowed in a post, with a maximum of two actions (skill checks and/or power uses) permissable in each post. The exception, as noted above, is in attacks. A character can Push themselves to add on attacks, and only attacks, to their post. This will be covered in depth later. Each attack can be countered by a defense, depending on how the defense works. Combat skills required dice rolls. Powers do not.

Attacks
An attack consists of either an attacking skill roll (Skills listed under Close Combat or Ranged Combat) or an offensive power use (attained during transformation by having a Body stat above a certain threshold) and can be countered by either a defensive skill use (Skills that affect mobility like Acrobatics, Dodging, etc.) or defensive power use(attained during transformation by having a Soul stat above a certain threshold).

Damage
Damage is often displayed in detail, listing the exact number of health levels to be subtracted. Occasionally, it will be described (particularly in relation to powers), with a general descriptor. Multiple damage amounts fall within the descriptors, which are as follows:
 * An attack that deals "minimal damage" will drop a health level anywhere from 0 to 1 level, depending on how weak the target is.
 * An attack that deals "minor damage" will drop a health level usually about 1 level.
 * An attack that deals "moderate damage" will drop a health level usually anywhere from 2 to 3 levels, depending on the strength of the attack and the target's strength.
 * An attack that deals "major damage" will drop a health level usually anywhere from 3-5 levels, depending on the strength of the attack and the target's strength.
 * An attack that deals "massive damage" will usually drop a health level between 5-6 levels, depending on the target's strength and the attack's strength.
 * An attack that deals "fatal damage" will drop a health level 6-7 levels, depending on the strength of the attack.

Skill Based
Attacking with a sword, rifle, or martial art falls under attacking with an associate skill use. To do so, you roll 1d6 per skill rank with the associated attack and add your character's Body stat to the result to determine the total. If the total surpasses the enemy's defensive DC, the attack hits for one damage.

Damage is factored thusly for skill based attacks: If your attack roll passes a range of 2-4 more than the DC's number (not level), you deal +1 bonus damage. If the attack roll is equal to 6 more than the DC's number, you deal an additional +1 bonus damage and thereafter gain another +1 bonus damage every 2 numbers you exceed the DC by. This bonus damage caps at half your Body score, rounded up, and is applied after any damage reduction.

''Example: Badguy dodges at a DC 7. Hana, with 3 ranks in archery and a Body of 4 nocks an arrow and fires at Badguy. She rolls two threes and a four, which total to 14 ((3+3+4) Dice, (+4) Body). Two to four greater than the DC is 9 to 11, so her roll surpasses that, she earns +1 bonus damage. Two higher than that is 13, which she has also surpassed, earning her a second bonus damage. Altogether, she deals 3 damage with her shot.''

''Example: Badguy dodges at a DC 7. Seth, with 1 rank in Melee Weapons: Jiujiebian, rolls 1d6 and adds his Body of 5 to the result. He rolls a 4, which, with his Body of 5 added, totals to two more than he needed to hit, affording him an additional +1 bonus damage. His total damage is 2. ''

''Example: Badguy dodges at DC 7 and is looking pretty roughed up from all these example potshots we've been taking at him. Saibane, with 3 ranks in Martial Arts: Tae Kwon Do, rolls 3d6 and adds his Body of 7 to the roll. He rolls two fives and a two, which, with his Body of 7 added, total to 19. He passes the 9-11 range needed to gain the first bonus damage. He also manages to hit each bonus damage threshold at 13, 15, 17 and 19, which would afford him an additional 4 bonus damage. The total bonus damage is 5, but half his Body score rounded up is 4. His bonus damage caps at 4, but he still deals 5 damage.''

''Example: Damage Reducto Badguy steps in to avenge the poor, thrashed Badguy. He boasts Damage Reduction 1 (DR 1) and thusly every hit that lands upon him is reduced by 1. Unfortunately, he is also slow, and only dodges at a DC 5. Erik brandishes his battle axe and brings it crashing down upon D.R.Badguy. ''With 2 ranks in Melee Weapon: Battle Axe, he rolls 2d6 and adds his Body of 4 to the result. He rolls a three and a six, which, with his Body of 4 added, total to 13. He passes the threshold of DC+2 to 4 (In this case, 7 to 9), earning his first bonus damage. He then passes the thresholds every two integers after that at 11 and 13, earning another bonus damage per those threshold passed for two additional bonus damage. Total bonus damage is 3, however, half his Body is 2. His damage would be capped, except that the damage reduction is processed first. The bonus damage is diminished by 1 by D.R.Badguy's Damage Reduction, which allows him to apply the full bonus damage for a damage total of 3(1 for the initial hit and 2 for the bonus damage, post damage reduction).

In case visuals are more effective, here is a table displaying how damage is calculated for Badguy.

Aimed Attacks
Firing at a wrist, aiming a kick at someone's knees, or otherwise trying to hit a specific spot is more taxing than simply swinging to hit. In order to hit a specific spot, roll as normal, but add only half your Body stat to the attack roll. Do note that this will have to be used within reason, constantly aiming punches or kicks for vital spots like the throat, or shooting for the head will not always be permitted, if even permitted once.

Power Based
Attacking with a Senshi or Knight power is essentially the equivalent of a spell. You fire it off and, in most instances, it should hit. Any defensive power, however, can be employed in response.

''Example: Saturn uses Reaper's Percussion, an attack which can either do minor damage with a concussive effect or trade the damage for an area concussive effect, on Dark Cyber Knight. The attack could well strike him for minor damage and knock him back, or he could employ Hex Grid, a defensive barrier that can absorb moderate damage, to protect himself.''

Pushing
Sometimes there are those dramatic moments where a character realizes they need (or out of pride simply want) to push themselves further. They want to lash out more than usual, or push themselves to their physical limits. A character can Push themselves by adding attacks beyond their normal limit. For each additional attack, the stamina cost of each action increases by the amount of Pushed attacks. If the total Stamina cost of the actions when Pushing exceeds your available Stamina, the difference is paid for in Health levels.

''Skill Example: Only one attack is allowed per post, but Saibane wants to punch and kick. He makes dice rolls for both, and while both usually cost 0 stamina as skill checks, they are now increased by 1 stamina each, for the additional 1 Pushed attack. This costs him 2 stamina.''

''Power Example: Pluto wants to use Cross Time Slash twice. The power usually costs 1 stamina, being a signature power, but in this instance both cost 1 stamina more for the additional 1 Pushed attack. This costs him 4 Stamina.''

Note that ordinary attacks still take up one of the normal two actions in a post.

''Example: Saibane can kick (Martial Arts) and use Combat Tactics in one post before proceeding with additional Pushed attacks. As only attacks can be pushed, he cannot then use Combat Assessment. He can, however, use Combat Assessment, if he considers the attack in the post to be a Pushed attack.'' Adding only one attack in this way would increase the cost of each maneuver (normally 0 stamina) by 1, for a total of 3 stamina. Adding a second attack increases each act by 2 stamina, for a total of 8!

Pushing is a double edge sword, however. Stamina costs can get prohibitive, as demonstrated in the example above. In the case where the character doesn't have the Stamina to push, Health levels are substituted.

''Example: Seth is Exhausted, meaning he only has one level of Stamina. He attacks twice in his post with his weapon, an act that usually costs 0 Stamina levels. Because he is Pushing, however, the costs of each act increase by the number of pushed attacks (in this case 1), for a total of a 2 Stamina level drop. Wait. But he only had one Stamina level to spend. In this case, Seth drops the 1 Stamina level to Crashing and loses 1 Health level (Let's say from Healthy to Minor Damage). If he were to repeat this action, it would cost him 2 Health levels.''

Defenses
A defense consists of either a defensive skill roll (Dodging, acrobatics, running, and climbing to avoid an attack are skill based examples of employing a defense) or employing a defensive power use (Powers can include any myriad of defenses, from phasing oneself out of place, erecting a barrier, or affecting the attack and are often granted in transformation by having a specific Soul stat) against an attack roll or offensive power use.

Skill Based
Avoiding an attack requires some form of mobility or evasion (Dodging, acrobatics, running, etc.) to be checked against the attack DC. As with any skill, roll 1d6 per rank and add your relevant stat (in this case, Body), to determine success or failure.

''Example: Badguy swings at Seth at a Difficulty of Challenging (DC 11). Seth decides to use his dodging skill, as he has three ranks in it, to avoid the blow. He rolls a 4, a 1, and a 5, and adds his Body of 5 to the result for a total of 15, well over the DC. He successfully avoided the attack.''

Note that some skills can be used in conjuction with each other in order to aid in defensive maneuvers. Acrobatics, for instance, can be employed to aid in dodging.

Power Based
Employing a power as a Senshi or Knight simply requires a transformation and the appropriate Soul stat to use powers with particular defensive benefits. So long as the defensive power can withstand the damage, it should hold out against the assault. Occasionally, damage types (such as energy, physical, fire, etc.) will come into play. Defensive powers will often state the type of damage they can absorb. Other skills that affect mobility can also occasionally be employed (for instance, Pluto's Time Walk), but usually have their own drawbacks. Some powers are versatile enough to be used as a defense or attack, depending on the use. Using a defense takes up one action in a post.

Defending Another
Who said chivalry was dead? Being in a team, it's not out of ordinary to imagine that one team member would want to defend another--or an NPC--at some time. In order to properly defend someone else, make a defensive roll like an aimed attack. The skill to roll varies based on the situation and what is being attempted, however. Martial arts or some other melee skill could be used to interpose oneself and attempt to parry or otherwise block a melee hit. A ranged attack or attack with a weapon with reach might be able to swipe ammunition or other ranged attacks from the air. Another option is to dive and move the person out of the way, running/dodging/diving (acrobatics). Either way, the aimed attack function applies, and only half the Body stat is added to the result, rolled against the attack in question.

Taking the Hit
Another way to defend another person is to avoid the pretense of defense altogether. Instead of trying to protect them by nullifying the attack, a character can attempt to interpose themselves between the attack and their charge and simply take the hit. This relies entirely on a mobility check (running, acrobatics, dodging into the attack), and does not suffer the penalty Defending Another does to the Body stat. Functionally, it's no different than trying to use mobility to avoid a hit, except that a success results in taking the damage someone else would.

Status Effecting
Some skills and powers don't directly do damage or defend from it; those combat relevant skills and powers instead effect character(s) and/or the environment instead. Bonuses and penalties are generally the effect of such skills and/or powers, though other effects can manifest.

Skill Based
Various skills can add bonuses when used appropriately. The War Games line of skills is structured around such behavior. Other skills like Acrobatics can help aid in defenses for a single post.

Power Based
Usually powers based on the Mind stat are those that grant status effects. Some effects include being heightened accuracy, mobility, and reduced stamina costs, just to name a few. Others include obscuring mists, being petrified, frozen, or paralyzed.

Knowledge
Another use for skills can be to discern information. This covers a wide bredth of possible information based on the scenario. This could well range from puzzling out something scientific, occult, or other relevant information that can open a new avenue for characters to pursue. The results on these checks can vary widely based on the situation, but are likely to be beneficial.

Miscellaneous Skill Use
Anything that doesn't fall under combat or knowledge is a miscellaneous skill use. This could include a language check to read something in another language quickly, or discern what someone is saying when they're speaking frantically and clipping their words. It could include being covert, sneaking around, or hacking a computer system. The DC in these cases will be presented when an inquiry is made to the CM, or after the attempt is made.

Leveling Up
Practice makes perfect, and leveling up is no different. For every five posts, a character earns a point they can use to increase a skill by one rank, to a maximum of two. The skill raised must be a skill that has been used frequently amidst those five posts. This is to prevent people from trying to level a skill by simply interposing a single use of something desirable and four other posts of doing something completely different. In some case, such interposing is acceptable, for instance, taking the time out of one's day to train in martial arts every day (which is spaced by quite a few posts in between), but such posts would result in an eventual level up as opposed to an immediate one after five posts.

To level a skill to its third rank requires ten posts of devoted skill use. This does not necessarily have to be consecutive, but it helps drive the idea home that the person is trying to break the barrier into Professional level skill proficency. Compiling a program every chance the character gets to sit down, using bits of down time to indulge in a book or seeking out thugs or entering a martial arts tournament to help keep his or her training up. Performing heavy training every opportunity the character gets.

Every time a character's skill reaches its third and final rank, the Stat associated with that skill increases by 1.