Category:Chapter 9 / Combat

Whether it's a skirmish with a handful of zerglings or an all-out battle with a Zerg Cerebrate occupying several orbital platforms, combat is a staple of a Startroid adventure.

Combat encounters usually begin when you enter an area containing enemies. Sometimes the enemies find you instead—when rival mercenaries come to kill you in your sleep, for example—or you and your opponents stumble into each other. You might meet amidships, or you might be breaking into a secure facility when you run into a hostile patrol. This chapter details the rules for combat.

• The Combat Sequence: The sequence of rounds and turns that make up a battle. Includes rules for initiative.
• Action Types: The different types of actions that you can take on your turn and on other combatants' turns.
• Taking Your Turn: What to do at the start of your turn, during your turn, and at the end of your turn, as well as what to be aware of during other combatants' turns.
• Attacks and Defenses: How to choose a target, determine your multiplier, assign damage, inflict various effects on your enemies, and make saving throws.
• Subverting Defenses: How to deal the most damage by understanding the Combat Multiplier and the purpose of damage types.
• Movement and Position: Rules for speed, creature size, difficult terrain, obstacles, positioning benefits and forced movement.
• Actions in Combat: The most common actions in a battle, from spending an action point to walking.
• Healing: Rules on hit points, life points, healing surges, temporary hit points, and regeneration.
• Death and Dying: What happens when you drop to 0 hit points or fewer, what life points mean, and how to avoid death.