We have a good overhaul for 52 Fates regarding combat mechanics! The basic system remains as it is currently, where you have action/reaction plays between participants. But to make life easier for the Fate Dealer, we have removed hit point tracking from monsters, creatures, and cast members. How does it work?
Each creature now has three numeric values known as Condition Targets (CT). These values are fixed for each creature, and increase or decrease depending on the type of creature. Each number is related to a particular condition. The lowest number related to the partially incapacitated condition, the middle number links to the fully incapacitated condition, and the highest number means death.
A player attacking a creature for damage will try to play a total card value equal or higher than one of those three values. For example, if they’re fighting a creature with CT 9/12/15, they would need to play at least a 9 to be able to inflict some effect on their opponent. Note that the defender still gets to play a reaction; the attack’s effect is not automatic.
Using the above example, and assuming a successful attack, the player would cause the target to be under the partially incapacitated condition if the attack play was 9 or more, fully incapacitated if the play was 12 or more, and killed their opponent on a play of 15 or more. Note that the effect can be chosen by the attacker, as they can choose to apply any effect as long as it is from a lower CT. Continuing with the current example, the attacker could have played a 17, which would kill their opponent, but they might instead choose to have the attack just fully incapacitate their target.
This system removes damage tracking and tallying for the Fate Dealer, and allows for more flexible combat simultaneously, especially from the attacker’s side. These mechanics also help prevent having fights become a long hit-by-hit attrition process between both sides. Note that the sway mechanics still apply for protagonists!
We hope that you find this system fun, easy to manage, and allows your adventure encounters to flow nicely.
