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Actions are effectively what binds players to the rules during combat and other time-sensitive moments in gameplay. They dictate all that a player can do in a definitive time period, typically over the course of a turn within a six-second round.
SURGE!'s action economy is a 1:1 ratio of what a player desires to do and the number of actions available to them during a turn. Meaning, if a player only has three actions, for example, they can only do three things. This might include movement, attacking, and interacting with an object. Trying to do something more is breaking the action economy rules, which can only be approved in special circumstances by the GM.
The Number of Actions a character has is the sum of (Dexterity Level/2) + 2. For example, if a character has a Dexterity Level of 2, then (2/2) + 2 = 3 Actions.
The term, Action, may also be extended to things a player can do outside of their turn as a reactionary measure, such as defending against an attack. In this way, some actions are not counted against the player's action count during their turn.
Keeping that in mind, actions can be broken down into the following categories:
Movement is a term for distance traveled over an action and is determined by a Playable Species’ passive Movement Speed on a tactical map. Each action used for movement allows up to the maximum Movement Speed for distance in any allowable direction. Multiple actions may be used for movement during a character’s turn. For example, a Momen has a standard Movement Speed of 15 ft. per action. If the Momen has three actions available during its turn, the Momen can move a maximum of 45 ft. over three actions (15 x 3 = 45); this example would completely deplete all remaining actions and the Momen’s turn would be over.
Movement is not necessarily limited to horizontal movement. The environment may allow for flying for creatures with the ability to do so, such as the Peri. The environment may also take place in water, or where climbing is possible.
Movement Speed can have penalties depending on the the terrain and how the player attempts to navigate them. Rough Terrain, Climbing, Jumping/Leaping, and Swimming all have a standard reduction in movement speed by -5, per movement action. Penalties should not overlap, meaning no more than one movement penalty can be applied to a character in the same 5 ft. square, but multiple terrain impediments may exist (such as debris in a 5 ft. square of water, for example; if there is so much debris it would cause a penalty, then logic dictates perhaps they could attempt to run on the surface of the square on said debris, where the scenario allows). Some of these penalties are overcome by natural abilities, items, spells, and rolls. 5 ft. squares that are considered Rough Terrain.
Climbing, Jumping/Leaping, and Swimming are part of a sub-group of movement actions, called Special Movements, that are all considered movement in the sense that each attempt costs one action.
Special Movements
Some movements have special rules and rolls associated with them. Click on each sub-category of movement to learn more about them, but at a notional level use the table below as a guide on what statistic governs each type of special movement.
Attacking in SURGE! has some uniquities to each kind of attack. It ranges from Melee Attacks to Ranged Attacks, Unarmed Strikes, Grappling & Tackling, Pinning, and Shoving.
Melee attacks refer to attacking a target with a physical weapon, within the range provided by the weapon statistic. Ranged attacks refer to attacking with a physical weapon capable of reaching a target more than 10 ft. away. Unarmed Strikes refer to a special kind of melee attack that is effectively any kind of hand-to-hand martial combat (think punches, kicks, headbutts, etc.). Grappling & Tackling are attacks that cause a condition based on contested rolls; winning a contested grapple causes the target to gain the Restrained condition, whereas successfully tackling a target makes both the attacker and the target gain the Prone condition. Successfully pinning a target causes it to gain the Restrained condition but also makes it so that the target is unable to make physical attacks (overcoming Pinned follows the same rules as Restrained). Lastly, successfully shoving a target moves them 5 ft in the direction of the shove.
Attacking with a physical weapon, either ranged or melee will follow the same basic principles, just with different statistics and modifiers.
Melee: Martial Combat Skill roll + Strength Level = Attacking (To Hit); Physical Damage from successful hit determined by weapon.
Ranged: Marksmanship roll = Attacking (To Hit); Physical Damage from successful hit determined by weapon.
*See Physical Damage and Magical Damage to see how damage is applied.
Defending is a reaction in the game's action economy; it is technically an action where player choice is concerned, but is not counted towards the number of actions a player may take during their turn, nor is there a limitation on the number of times a character may defend. Instead, defending against attacks occurs on the attacker's turn. This is primarily because every attack roll is contested with a defending roll; there is no passive defense in SURGE!. While the argument this can slow down gameplay or it make gameplay more complex is valid, it is also a valid counterpoint to say that every player should have the right to roll for their characters' survival and influence their fate. With that out of the way, here are the ways to defend against different kinds of attacks:
Defending against Melee Attacks. Contest the attacking roll with Martial Combat Skill roll + Strength level. If donning a shield , apply the applicable modifier.
Defending against physical (non-magic) Ranged Attacks. Also called Dodging Contest the attacking roll with a Dexterity roll. If donning armor, apply the applicable Dexterity modifier.
Defending against Magical attacks. Most spells have a defending roll specified, however spells that do not use the following rules:
A ranged magical spell may be dodged and must be dodged for each attacking action used to keep the spell in place. For example, if a spell requires the caster's focus to remain in effect, and the defending target is within the spell's area of effect on the tactical map, it must attempt to defend against the spell for each action that the spell remains cast in play.
A magical spell that directly effects a target without the ability to dodge it (a typical ranged spells will have an elemental or physical property to it, but there are exceptions - such as spells in the School of The Third Eye), should contest the attacking spell with Mystic Skill roll + Intelligence level.
Dodge & Counter is an active counter-attack action at the cost of a single player action. A player may choose to set aside one or more actions to dodge incoming melee attacks outside of their turn, effectively bracing for potential enemy assaults. If no melee attacks are made against the player who chooses this action, then those actions are forfeit. For each Dodge action taken, melee attacks against that character in the sequence in which they occur will have an additional layer of defending rolls against the incoming attack roll (in other words, the defending character with dodge actions to burn has to use them on the next melee attack against them until they have used up all the dodge actions held; the player can't choose which melee attacks to use them on):
1. The player will first roll Dexterity, contested against the attacking Strength roll. If the attack fails, the defending player may then expend the single action held to do anything they wish (move, cast, attack, Etc.) on the attacker's turn.
2. If the Dexterity roll fails, then the defending player still is able to defend with Strength as per normal combat rules (covered in Defending above).
To reiterate, dodge actions must be used in the sequential order in which incoming melee attacks occur; the player can not choose which melee attacks to dodge nor save it for a specific character’s turn.
Casting spells in SURGE! adventures requires uninterrupted vocal incantations. Unless specified in an adventure module, spells are considered by default to be possible by citing words of power. The longer the incantation, the more powerful the particular spell. If a caster is unable to speak, by default rules, they are incapable of casting a spell. Special accommodations for characters unable to speak as part of their back story may need to be made by the GM; such as perhaps they conjure words of power through somatic gestures or through written scrolls.
Spending Actions To Cast A Spell
Every spell presented in the official rules require a designated number of actions to cast them, and they immediately activate once the required actions have been spent to cast. The number of actions can be reduced by gemstones and Intelligence score (See Intelligence and Gemstone pages for details). Some spells may require more actions than are available to a character during their turn. In these instances, the character may utilize multiple turns to cast these spells. There is a cost however, once a character has begun the incantation, it can not be interrupted until completion or the actions used so far are forfeit.
When casting a spell, the caster only has to commit to a school of magic, not the individual spell itself. This enables the caster to change tactic as not all spells are a good fit to every environment and circumstance. Each incantation can result in only one spell being cast but casters may choose to cast a spell during their turn at will, immediately, for any spell that they have achieved the minimum casting actions cost value for, even if the caster has far exceeded the minimum number actions casting and without expending additional actions to do so. However, once the spell has been cast the incantation ends and a new spell requires starting casting actions over from the beginning. In other words, even if the caster doesn't use all of the saved up actions to cast a spell in a particular school of magic, they can't bank the unused casting actions to cast a second spell; they must start over from scratch.
Example: A character spends two turns to cast in the School of Fire, with the intention of casting Blaze (5 actions to cast), but finds that doing so may not be as efficient as casting Ember (2 actions to cast). On the character's turn, they may just immediately cast Ember without expending any more actions to do so. The remaining actions that were used to achieve the minimum cost of Blaze are now forfeit.
Interrupting a Spell Cast
During the cast time over a number of actions, there are only three ways to interrupt a spell while in the process of casting.
1. The caster’s HP is brought to 0.
2. A spell or ability has silenced the area, or provided an area of effect where magic is prohibited the area.
3. The caster takes any other action, with the only exception being Movement. This last one is important because if the caster so much as attempts to make any other attack, interact, patch up, or even dodge and block—the caster’s concentration is broken and the actions spent casting that spell are lost. This means that a caster must commit to the spell, even if it means automatically losing contested rolls and taking damage. Taking damage itself does not break spell casting incantations. As previously mentioned, a caster may move in between casting actions, performing any of the Movement types of actions available to them as the environment permits.
For example, a caster begins the incantation for a spell from the School of Fire - Blaze. The spell requires 5 actions and the character only has 3 actions per turn. They spend the first turn casting (5-3= 2 actions to cast remaining), but since their first turn the battlefield has changed and the spell would be more effective 10 feet over from their present location. On their next turn, they decide to take a Movement action and move 10 feet towards a row of enemies, and spend the last two actions of their turn to finish the cast. Upon completion the spell activates and the row of enemies are now being attacked by the spell.
Again, once a spell in the process of being cast is interrupted, those actions are lost and to cast the spell again requires starting at the beginning of the casting time, essentially starting back at the beginning of casting.
A character may use one action to remove a single Status Effect. This may require a specific item to do so, such as a bandage to remove the Bleeding Status Effect.
Interacting with an item or with the environment requires an action to be spent. This includes drinking a potion, switching out a weapon, or anything the GM considers to be an interaction. The GM may also require committing multiple actions to an interaction, such as using a dial to open a door in a maze dungeon.
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