Here's a look at the conflict system for the new Etherscope rules. It handles traditional-style combats, but also all of the different types fo conflict that might occur in the game, from vehicle scale battles, to open warfare and social intrigues.

Lets first have a look at the different steps involved in the system.

Set up the conflict

The GM goes through the following steps to prepare a conflict for resolution:

1. Determine nature
2. Determine time scale
3. Determine range scaling
4. Describe scene

Start the conflict

The players and GM characters go through the following steps before the main sequence of conflict resolution begins:

1. Check for awareness and surprise
2. Determine stating ranges
   1. GM determines starting ranges
   2. Move any ambushing characters to Hidden
   3. Move aware characters 1 step

Conflict round sequence

Each round of conflict goes through the following steps

1. Determine base initiative score
2. Calculate acting initiative
3. Resolve actions in initiative order:
   1. Resolve any “zoom in” conflicts
   2. Describe/roleplay action
   3. Make roll
   4. Resolve effects
   5. Describe/roleplay effects

Set Up Steps:

1: Determine Conflict Nature

Conflicts must be described as being essentially a physical, mental or social conflict. Whilst it may be possible to attempt other types of actions (i.e. try to punch someone during a social conflict), doing so damages yourself (i.e. if you throw that punch you will take composure damage to do so). Conflicts are also limited to being either in the Prime reality or Etherspace, and have different effects and limitations as a result.

2: Determine Time Scale

The GM must also determine the amount of time each round represents. Conflicts can be describes as Fast (each round represents is a few seconds), Quick (each round represents about a minute), Tactical (each round represents about 10 minutes), Strategic (Each round represents about an hour and a half), or Logistic (each round represents a day). Within each conflict it may be possible to “zoom in” on particular exchanges to resolve more immediate effects.

3: Determine Range Scaling

The range effects that apply to player characters involved in a conflict are described in terms of distances from their target. There are four categories of range: Close, Near, Distant and Hidden. The GM must decide what these ranges actually mean in terms of the conflict. This can involve a different physical scaling such as determining a physical distance, or it could be an abstract measure, such as familiarity with the target. The Hidden range never requires describing, as when hidden characters are revealed they must move into one of the other three range categories. Whilst hidden a character cannot be targeted other than to be revealed.

Physical scaling options:

Restricted Ranges: for some reason the targets or PCs are restricted in their ability to move, and ranges are very short. Close range represents only about 2-3 inches, near range about a foot away and distant anything beyond about 5 feet.

Battlefield Ranges: A typical physical combat range, where close represents a typical melee fighting distance, say 5 feet, near represents anything up to a typical movement distance within the time scale (say 30 feet in a Quick conflict). Distant distances are anything beyond that yet still within range of perception.

Chase Ranges: Where the conflict is more about fluid movement than direct interaction between characters, use the chase range option. Close range represents characters, or the vehicles they are piloting, being alongside each other. Near represents being quite close, but one character behind the other. Distant represents any distance further away than the distance moved within a single round (time scale dependent).

Global Ranges: This scaling is perhaps more of an abstract measure, useful for logistic scale conflicts. Close represents someone in physical perceptible range, Near represents someone in the same city, region or domain (if in the scope), Distant someone in as far away as even a different country or scope city.

Abstract Scaling Options:

Familiarity Ranges: useful for certain psychic effects and some social intrigues, representing how familiar someone is to the character. Close represents someone very close to the character, such as a member of their immediate family or close friend, Near represents someone the character knows to some extent, such as an acquaintance or enemy, whilst Distant represents someone unknown or only met once or twice.

Status Ranges: more useful for social conflicts, especially logistic or strategic ones where the actions are representing a plotting at a greater physical distance. Close range represents people who walk in the same social circles: people from the same town with similar levels (within one) in the same Standing gear as their highest standing gear. Near range is where characters share a standing gear, no matter what level, and distant is anyone without shared standing gears.

4: Describe Scene

The GM needs to describe the scene to the players, setting out the parameters of the scene in the description. They must also tell the PCs what the nature, time and range scales of the conflict are.

Some example scene set ups:

A Car Chase: You are chasing the escaping zepcar through the busy rush-hour lanes of the Great Metropolis, starting in central Manchester, heading out towards Salford. This is a prime, physical, quick, chase scale conflict.

A fight with Agents in an Etherscope domain: Whilst hacking into the secret military domain you are spotted by agents who rapidly advance on your position. This is an Ether, physical, fast, battlefield scale conflict.

A war of words at a “society” tab-jammer’s party: You spot the young countess across the ballroom and know she will be out to destroy your reputation. This is a ether, social, quick, battlefield scale conflict.

A plot to bring down the Novgorod Crime Syndicate: On the mean streets of St Petersburg you begin to work up through the street contacts and low-level dealers, threatening, bribing and murdering your way to the top of the Novgorod hierarchy. This is a prime, social, logistic, status scale conflict.

Starting the Conflict

The following steps need to be done before the conflict begins.

1: Check for Awareness and Surprise

At the start of a conflict you need to make a roll for the participants to see whether they are fully aware of the situation, or some characters might be attempting to ambush others in some way. The rolls required can be quite varied depending upon the situation the characters find themselves in and the method they are attempting to use to catch their targets unawares.

Awareness: When any conflict begins all characters must make a general skill roll to determine how aware they are of the situation before it begins. Every character makes an appropriate roll for their awareness of the situation. This awareness score remains with them for the rest of the conflict.

Ambush: Where one or more characters are attempting to set up some sort of ambush at the start of the conflict those characters need to make an appropriate roll, depending on the situation. This roll will be opposed by the targets of the ambush with an appropriate counter skill roll.

2: Determine Starting Ranges

Finally, before the conflict can begin, you need to determine the starting range positions between the different characters involved in the battle. This step involves a number of sub steps:

a) GM sets starting ranges

The GM sets the starting range between the different characters involved in the conflict.

b) Ambushing characters move to Hidden

Any characters who successfully made the roll to ambush at the start of the combat are immediately classed as being in the hidden range category.

c) Move Aware characters one step

In descending order of number of successes on the awareness roll, characters are able to move one step towards or away from characters who have not yet had their awareness move. The character with the best roll can move one range category towards or away from all other characters, whilst the character who came second can alter their position in relation to all other characters than the first character, and so on. The character with the lowest awareness roll will not be able to alter their range against any other character. The GM can provide restrictions, especially in a physical range category conflict, to ensure the logic of the scenario isn’t broken. For example, a PC who wants to move to close range against one target must also move to close range against another target if those targets are standing next to each other.

Conflict Round Actions

Each conflict round goes through the following steps:

1: Determine Base Initiative Score

At the start of a round all characters in the conflict determine their base initiative for the round. This score is equal to their current Condenser score for the type of conflict: the physical condenser for a prime reality physical conflict, the ether condenser for an Etherspace physical or any mental conflict, and the society condenser for any social conflict. This will typically provide characters with an initiative score between 6 and 24, although it could go lower when characters take damage.

2: Calculate Acting Initiative

Characters can choose how many actions they want to take during the round and at what initiative they want to take them. Characters can split their total initiative score between different actions. For example, a character with a base initiative of 8 could choose to act at initiative 7 and 1 instead. These scores become the character’s acting initiatives. When taking multiple actions, each action must be separated from the next by at least 5 initiative steps.

3: Resolve Actions in Initiative Order

Count down initiative scores from the highest acting initiative. When a character’s acting initiative score is reached it is their turn to act. If multiple characters are acting on the same acting initiative use their awareness scores for the combat to resolve the dispute, rolling off the same awareness roll until a winner can be declared where things remain tied. When it is a player’s turn to act they may choose perform an action appropriate to the situation they find themselves in. The basic actions allowed will be provided later. This step is resolved in a series of sub-steps:

a) Resolve zoom-in conflicts

A character may wish to focus their action down to a quicker timescale, for example, a character involved in car chase may wish to jump over to the other vehicle and fight one of the villain’s henchman on the roof of the truck. Doing so starts a new conflict where the timescale drops one level and the five rounds of that conflict are played through before the action returns to the main conflict sequence. Not it is possible to zoom in further within individual conflicts to perform quicker and quicker actions.

b) Describe/Roleplay action

As the player chooses their action they must describe or roleplay out what they are attempting. This is particularly important in social conflicts where the actions invariably relate to some form of communication. In strategic and logistic conflicts the roleplaying aspect could be a scene in itself.

c) Make the roll

The character must then make the roll. The roll made, and difficulty of the roll, will depend on the action attempted. The player rolls the dice and works out whether the attempt is successful and how many bonus successes the character may spend.

d) Resolve the action

The character declares whether the action is successful or not. They might also have generated additional successes above and beyond the difficulty of the roll. Their chosen action will have a number of different extras that the character can spend these additional success on to alter the effect of the action. For example a Push Back attack allows you to move the target 1 range category towards or away from the different characters involved in the conflict, but you can spend extra successes to move them two range categories, or to damage them as you push them back.

e) Describe/roleplay the effects

The character must finally describe or roleplay through the effects of their roll, describing the effects of their success or failure accordingly.