About combat
Fights in Tsogira look like a stream of messages: "You missed!", "The goblin hits you for 4 fatigue points!", "You killed the goblin!". Behind them is a small set of rules, kept from the 1980s original. Knowing them explains why a fight goes the way it does, and which choices matter.
Two clocks
You and the monsters don't take turns. Each side runs on its own clock.
You act when you type, but each blow makes you wait before the next. The wait is the weapon's weight plus 12, less your strength, and never less than three seconds. A heavy weapon swung by a weak character is slow; a dagger in strong hands is quick. Attacking too soon gets "Not ready! Wait 2 more seconds." and wastes nothing but the keystroke.
Monsters act on the game's clock, once a second. Each second, every monster that is fighting someone has a chance to strike. How good a chance depends on the server's monster speed and on how fast the monster is: on a server set to 8, an ordinary monster strikes about once every eight seconds, and a quick one more often. An admin can change the monster speed, so the same fight can feel quite different on another server.
The two clocks are why typing fast doesn't help: your weapon sets your pace, and the monsters keep theirs whether you type or not.
Who starts a fight
You start a fight with attack (or hit or kill) and the monster's
name. After that, a plain attack keeps hitting the same monster.
Monsters start fights by their nature:
- Some attack anyone they find, at once or after a while.
- Some only fight back when attacked, or turn on whoever hit them last.
- Some judge you by your piety, attacking the pious or the impious.
- Some come to the aid of a player who is attacked by another and isn't fighting back.
A monster picking a victim at random passes over players who are hidden or
invisible, which is what makes hide useful in a dangerous room.
Safe rooms, such as the village square and the temple, stop all fighting: you can't attack there, and monsters don't strike. Monsters can still wander into them, from the room's random encounters, but they wait.
Hitting and missing
Each blow is a roll of twenty-sided luck against how hard the target is to hit. The odds swing on:
- the difference between your level and the monster's;
- the monster's armor class;
- your weapon's magic bonus and your skill with that kind of weapon;
- your strength, in steps of six;
- being a fighter (a little better) or a first-level character (a good deal better);
- the monster being invisible (much worse).
One roll in twenty always hits, however the odds stand.
If the blow lands, the damage is the weapon's damage range plus its bonus and your skill. About one blow in twenty-five does double damage ("Double damage!"). Rarely you fumble: the blow does nothing, you drop your weapon, and a worn weapon may break.
Some monsters are magic, and only a magic weapon touches them: anything else "strikes with no effect!". No amount of strength helps; you need a different weapon, or a different fight.
Being hit
A monster's blow works the same way from the other side. Its chance of hitting you falls with your level against its own, your armor class, and your dexterity. Its damage depends on its level: a first-level monster does two to six, a second-level one six to ten.
Monsters have their own luck: about one blow in twenty-five does double damage, a few are "Vital wound!"s that go straight through your fatigue, and now and then a monster fumbles and loses track of you.
Your armor takes its bonus off every blow that lands, and your armor class makes blows land less often. Both armor and shield wear a little with each blow, and in time fall apart ("Your armor falls apart!"). The smith repairs them, for a price.
Fatigue, then vitality
You have two pools of points. Fatigue is your stamina, and blows come
off it first; only when it runs out do they reach vitality, your hits.
condition shows both.
So early in a fight the damage is cheap: you are getting tired, not hurt. The danger comes when your fatigue is gone and every blow is a wound. You die when a blow is bigger than the fatigue and vitality you have left.
Fighting tires you too. A plain attack costs little, but a thrust costs a point of fatigue for each of your levels, and when your fatigue and your constitution together fall below ten, you are "too exhausted to strike!".
Both pools come back slowly, every thirty seconds, and fatigue all at once after a minute and a half without being hit. That is why resting in a safe room between fights works. Poison stops it: a poisoned character loses hits every thirty seconds instead, until cured.
Choosing a move
attack is the plain blow. The other moves trade one risk for another.
Against monsters:
| Move | What you give | What you get |
|---|---|---|
parry |
Your blow is weaker and less likely to land. | The monster's next blow does half damage. |
thrust |
Fatigue, and one time in four you are left "vulnerable": the monster's next blow can't miss and does double damage. | A blow better by your level, both to hit and in damage. |
feint |
Your blow. | If your dexterity beats the odds, the monster holds back for about three seconds. |
circle |
Your blow. | The same, more easily, for about two seconds. |
backstab |
If you aren't hidden: a much weaker blow, and an enraged monster whose next blow can't miss and does double damage. | If you are hidden: a much stronger blow. |
run |
Your weapon and shield, dropped where you stood. | Escape, by a random exit; no monster follows. |
Parry and thrust also change your pace: a parry is a second quicker than an attack, a thrust a second slower.
Wear and tear
Every blow that lands wears your weapon. When it is about to give out you
are warned ("Your weapon is about to break!"). A broken weapon can't
strike at all: put it away with return to fight bare-handed, at one to
three damage and with no skill to help, or take it to the smith, who can
mend even a broken one.
The end of a fight
A monster that loses its last hit dies. Everyone who was fighting it shares the experience, and the one who struck the last blow gets a double share. Its belongings fall to the floor, sometimes with treasure besides.
Not every monster fights to the death. Some flee when badly hurt, and any monster flees more readily from a player five levels above it; it runs to a neighbouring room and the fight is over. Others cry out for help, and more of their kind arrive.
Experience is what lets you train for the next level, which raises your hits, fatigue and magic. A level also makes every fight easier, since level is in every roll.
Fighting other players
Players can fight each other, by the same rules with a few differences: blows between players are slower, by three seconds; the defender's dexterity counts; and neither the fighter's bonus nor the first-level bonus applies.
The game also protects players and punishes bullies:
- A player who has gone thirty seconds unhurt can't be killed by one blow: it leaves them with one hit, and a voice crying "Run, fool, run!".
- Killing a player more than three levels below you is "merciless", and killing one who wasn't fighting back is "in cold blood". Either costs you piety, is announced to everyone, and once your piety is low enough can raise a mob that lynches you.
- Killing a player of great constitution can raise their ghost, a revenant, which fights you in their place.
- You can't quit within twenty seconds of being hit, so a player can't escape a fight by leaving the game.
Death
When your fatigue and vitality are both gone, you die. Your body, your belongings and your money stay where you fell. Then the game rolls against your constitution: if it succeeds you come back in the temple, weaker and poorer; if not, the character is gone for good. A high constitution is the best insurance a fighter can buy.
About money and belongings explains what becomes of your money when you die.