Dice Combat - Actions: Self-preservation

Other dice rule sections

Dice Combat - A basics guide
Dice Combat - Actions: Hostile
Dice Combat - Actions: Movement
Dice Combat - Actions: Self-preservation (you're here!)
Dice Combat - Weapons & Damage

You must know how far you can go in combat; sometimes, being on the offensive is a death sentence.

⛓️‍💥 Disengaging

Never turn your back on a melee fighter.

Stepping out of the reach of anyone who is unarmed or holding a melee weapon on your turn triggers an attack of opportunity, at -4 unless Spearwall applies. To prevent this, use your action to disengage.

Press Disengage on your turn, before you move.
Describe with a /meloud how you disengage. No dice are rolled.
Move away. No attacks of opportunity are triggered this turn.
Press Finish turn.

One Disengage covers every opponent next to you.
If you disengage, you may not take any other action this turn.

🥷 Taking cover

Cover helps against being targeted by ranged weapons.

Cover is no longer considered an action: instead, it's a status condition. It does not make you immune to damage. It gives a small defensive bonus because you are harder to hit with a ranged weapon.

Press In cover when you're behind cover, and press it again when you leave it.
While in cover you get +2 Defend (ranged) against guns, crossbows, thrown weapons and explosives.
Cover gives no bonus against melee attacks or attacks of opportunity.
Valid cover: tables, cars and other vehicles, sofas, doors, dumpsters, rubble, corpses, or the corner of a wall. The object must be reasonably sized and partly block your opponent's line of sight.
Invalid cover: other characters, a small plant, a wooden chair, a mailbox, anything you take out of your inventory and put down.

🩹 First aid

Patching someone up in the middle of a fight.

First aid is an action on your turn. It treats burning and poison; it does not restore HP.

Select the character you want to treat in the turn order, or select nobody to treat yourself. They must be within 1 tile (diagonals included). Knocked-out and surrendered characters can be treated.
Press First aid. You roll d20 + half your First Aid skill level (rounded down) + modifiers: the First Aid trait (+1), Sawbones (+2), and -2 if you are poisoned yourself.
On 12 or higher, one status is removed: burning first, otherwise poison.
Your turn ends, whether it works or not.

0-1: +0
2-3: +1
4-5: +2
6-7: +3
8-9: +4
10: +5
The button shows who you are treating: First aid: (name), or First aid: self when nobody is selected.
The combat log shows every part of the roll, for example 16 [+2 First Aid skill] vs 12 - the fire is put out.
The system refuses the attempt if the character is neither burning nor poisoned, or is out of reach. A refused attempt does not cost your turn.
Outside combat, First aid is a normal roll that uses the same formula (d20 + half your First Aid skill level + modifiers).

💨 Escaping

Not every encounter is winnable. Sometimes you have to cut your losses and try to escape.

Escaping requirements

To escape you must meet both requirements:

You must be physically capable of fleeing.
- You cannot escape if you are bound, severely injured in a way that affects your movement, or being grappled.
- You also cannot escape if the only route out leads directly past an attacker.
You must be somewhere escape is realistically possible.
- Possible: a street, an open field, a room with an unblocked door.
- Impossible: a locked room, an alley with the exit blocked, a vehicle trapped at a roadblock with no way forward.

The system blocks the Escape button while you are Grappled or have Escape-preventing wounds

Escaping before combat starts

A player may try to flee before PvP combat is initiated, as long as they meet all escape requirements.

If you spot your enemy from further away than /say range, you may leave mechanically without emoting your escape.

If you are both close enough for normal conversation (within /say range), follow these steps:

Type a /meloud that clearly describes how you flee (running away, driving off, climbing through a window, and so on). Everyone at the scene freezes in place.
The potential attacker must then decide either to respond with a PvP initiation or to let you escape.
If combat is initiated, the First Round begins (see Basics guide → Dice Combat Rounds), and the attacker goes first.

Escaping during combat

Before trying to escape once combat has started, make sure you meet both requirements, and remember:

You can only try to escape on your own turn.
Escape before moving any tiles. If you have moved, you may not try to escape.
You cannot escape after Disengaging this turn; the system blocks it.

Escape roll

Press Escape. It is a flat d20 roll, and distance makes no difference. To succeed, the result must be 12 or higher.

What changes the roll:

Slippery: +2
Poisoned: -2

Outcomes

Success: you are removed from the combat and must leave the scene. You cannot stick around to watch OOC.
Failure: you stay in combat and your turn ends immediately. You do not get to move afterwards.

Rules for Successful Escapees

You may not return to the scene under any circumstances while it is still active.
You may not take actions related to the scene until the combat is resolved. That includes gathering allies, planning revenge or preparing a follow-up attack.
If you are unsure whether combat has ended, create an Open Communication thread on Discord and tag the players involved so they can confirm.
You may not use radios to call about the scene until it has been confirmed OOC that it has ended.
You must leave the area entirely. Staying nearby to watch is not allowed.

🏳️ Surrendering

A timely surrender can save your life. But acting the fool invites consequences.

By surrendering, a player places themselves at the mercy of the other side and agrees to comply with any realistic demands.

In the system

Surrender can be pressed at any time. If it is your turn, your turn ends.
A surrendered combatant is skipped in the turn order, cannot roll, and cannot be targeted by attacks or attacks of opportunity.
Withdraw surrender makes you a valid target again. Use it only when your surrender was declined, or when you break your surrender (see Hiding a weapon or a radio).
The tracker does not end the combat when a side has fully surrendered. End it through roleplay, and everyone presses Leave combat.

Surrendering at the start of combat

A player may surrender when PvP is initiated. In this case, the opponent must accept the surrender.

Surrendering during combat

A player may also surrender during one of the later rounds. In this case, the opponent does not have to accept it.

If the opponent accepts, they must confirm it in character.
In a scene with multiple players, every member of the opposing side must agree for the surrender to be valid.
Once confirmed, the surrender is OOC binding and cannot be undone.
An attempted surrender counts as your action and your turn is ended. If surrender is declined or you have broken your surrender, press Withdraw surrender to take your next turn normally.

Note: if everyone on one side has surrendered, the PvP scene ends and continues as roleplay. Click Leave Combat.

Obligations of a surrendered party

A surrendered party:

Must drop any weapon they are holding on the ground.
Cannot join or rejoin the PvP fight if it continues.
Cannot try to flee, during the combat or after it.
Becomes the attacker's prisoner if the attacker wins the dice combat, and will not resist being restrained or kidnapped.
Cannot contact other parties by radio.
Is not a valid target for attacks with the exception of area affects such as explosives.
May roleplay self-preservation and compliance, such as ducking and covering in a gunfight or following an attacker's orders. They may not use it to gain an IC advantage, escape, or help anyone.

Broken Surrender invites consequences

A surrendered character can still roleplay, move around and speak, depending on their captor's demands.

However, if they resist, threaten the other side through roleplay, or refuse realistic demands, they have Broken their Surrender. This may sign their own death warrant by inviting consequences.

The opponent may attack a character who has broken their surrender on the opponent's turn and drop them to 0 HP immediately, without an attack roll. The opponent describes the action through roleplay, but not the final result of the attack.
Surrendered players cannot be targeted in the system, so the surrendered player presses KO on their own HP panel, or staff does it.
The player of the character who broke surrender must then roll Dice with Death.
By default, the character who broke surrender is unconscious for the rest of the scene. The result of the Dice with Death roll decides whether they ultimately survive or die.

What happens after combat?

My opponent has surrendered and the combat scene is over. What now?

You may search the surrendered character (not during combat).
You may steal items from them (see our Robbery rules).
You may kidnap them and make them your prisoner (see our Prison rules).
You can simply leave them alone.
You can make a reasonable demand.
If they are the target of your approved murder ticket, you may also murder them, with roleplay.

What if the surrendered character is still resisting? A character who has surrendered is at the mercy of the other combatants. Resisting, being arrogant or being verbally abusive invites consequences (see Broken Surrender invites consequences). Still, keep in mind the feelings and needs of the players in the scene. Discuss options in Open Communication if things are getting tense, and a short OOC break can help. Always ask yourself what makes the better story.

Searching a surrendered character

It is the searcher's responsibility to emote a thorough search for what they are looking for, for example /meloud pats him down for weapons and radios.

The defender must then drop their weapons and radio. This includes tools such as a screwdriver or a saw. Don't look for a loophole.
Note: we have a mod that lets a player search another player for weapons. If it does not recognise something as a weapon, you still need to tell the player OOC that your character has a weapon.

Hiding a weapon or a radio

If the captors are not roleplaying a search, you may keep your weapon, tools or radio on your character, as long as that is realistic.

Hiding a wood axe or a shotgun under your jacket is not allowed; it would be visible on your character.
Using stealth rolls to hide a weapon is not allowed by default. You may propose it OOC, but the captor may decline. If the captor wants to search you for weapons, items or tools, a roleplay message is enough.
Trying to hide a weapon means you are no longer surrendering. You become a valid target for injury again and invite consequences. Press Withdraw surrender so the system lets you be targeted.

Demands

Reasonable and realistic demands are:

In character: made by a character during play, not as an OOC instruction.
Possible: something a person could actually do in the moment.
Scene-bound: they apply only to the current scene and cannot be enforced as long-term obligations.
Within the rules: they cannot break OOC robbery limits, consent requirements, or game mechanics.

Important: if a demand is unrealistic, impossible or breaks the rules, refusing it is not a broken surrender. Compliance is judged only against reasonable, realistic, scene-bound demands. You may roleplay any demand IC that you like, but the broken surrender consequences do not apply to unreasonable ones. Do not try to catch your opponents out on a technicality; roleplay in good faith.

Unreasonable and unrealistic demands

Demanding more than the OOC robbery rules allow ("Give me all your loot", beyond the robbery limits).
Forcing OOC consent to difficult or graphic content ("You must agree to roleplay this graphic torture scene with me").
Demands that are physically or narratively impossible ("Farmer, craft me an M-16").
Demands that would inevitably cause lethal harm ("Jump off this bridge").

Examples

✅ "Drop your weapon and step back."
✅ "Walk ten paces away while we leave."
❌ "Bring me supplies tomorrow or you've failed surrender." You may make the demand, but the broken surrender consequence does not apply if they don't show up, because it is not scene-bound.
❌ "Sit there while I cut your ear off with these rusty scissors and..." Not allowed unless the player has consented OOC to roleplay a graphic torture scene. You may discuss a fade-to-black resolution.