Combat

Combat in Ironclaw can seem convoluted and weird at first.

And it is!

But no worries, this page will make all your concerns disappear.

This page assumes you've already read the Basics.

Basics
Combat, like in DnD/Pathfinder, is split up into rounds of ~6-12 seconds each.

Combat proceeds as follows: Essentially, combat starts with both sides rolling initiative against a preset challenge rating based on how far away the enemy is from you. The further away the enemy, the higher the challenge. Depending on how well you roll, you get special benefits (or penalties) at the start of the conflict.
 * 1) Everyone picks a side. Every fight is split into two opposing sides every time.
 * 2) Roll initiative.
 * 3) The side that started the fight goes first.
 * 4) The other side takes their turn.
 * 5) The round ends, and steps 3-5 repeat until the fighting is done with.

Next, the combatants fight. There's no set turn order outside of "The people who started the fight act first." So when the players take their turn, they can decide openly who makes their move first. However, if a character has Focus, they can spend it to interrupt someone else! (How do you get Focus, you ask? You'll just have to read the rest of the page.)

When everyone has taken their turn, the round ends. If one side can't fight (read: they're all afraid, dying, or dead), then combat ends.

Types of Turns
Every turn is an Focus Turn or an Action Turn.

A Focus Turn is this game's term for 'readying an action', so on these turns you can move, get Focus, and that's it. Turn over. Characters who are confused, enraged, afraid, or otherwise overly distracted cannot take a Focus Turn.

An Action Turn lets you take 1-2 actions. However, if you started the turn with Focus, you can take up to THREE ACTIONS. Note that this is awesome! Don't forget that Focus also lets you interrupt others.