Combat

A serious fight, where people are trying to kill each other, is chaotic, frightening, and fast. That’s what these rules represent. Being skilled, having better weapons, or being in a superior position helps, but the inescapable randomness of combat can claim even the most skilled combatant’s life.

Lovecraft’s fiction presaged humanity’s urge to reduce any confrontation with the unnatural to base combat. "The Shadow Over Innsmouth" features a massive military assault on a U.S. town. The artist in "Pickman’s Model" blazes away with a revolver when the ghouls come. In "The Call of Cthulhu," Inspector Legrasse leads a raid on a Cthulhu cult that turns into a pitched battle. Johansen on the Alert rams his ship through Cthulhu itself.

The only thing that has changed between Lovecraft’s day and ours is mankind’s certainty in its own power. We are more effective at killing now, but only at killing one another.

Humanity’s advances in weaponry are as ridiculous to the unnatural forces that control the universe as an ant wielding a pebble is to the bulldozer razing the field the ant hill stands in. Combat rarely resolves any unnatural threat.

Delta Green fights on.

Combat is measured in turns. A turn is a few seconds, or as long as it takes everyone to complete a single action.

The Handler counts down by DEX for all characters, from highest to lowest. Each character acts when his or her number comes up. If DEX scores tie, the actions occur at the same time or the Handler can choose some tiebreaker.

During a turn, a combatant can attempt one of the following actions. An Agent can take only one action per turn. A weapon like a submachine gun or a rocket launcher might hit multiple targets, or one target multiple times, with a single roll, but it’s still just one action per turn. If this seems counterintuitive ("a good boxer can throw three jabs a second!") don’t think of every roll as a single action but as a few seconds of fighting or moving.

Aim
Sacrifice one turn to aim and gain a +20% to your attack next turn. Aiming requires no roll. After the next turn, or if your Agent suffers any damage before attempting it, the bonus is lost.

Attack
An "attack" encompasses anything from throwing a punch to firing an anti-tank rocket. The "standard" attack (ranged or hand-to-hand) is a skill test to see if your Agent hits a target, damage is inflicted based on the weapon used. Usually it’s Firearms for a gun, Athletics for a thrown weapon, Melee Weapons for a hand-to-hand weapon, or Unarmed Combat for a punch or kick.

The number of shots fired in a single firearm attack depends on the weapon used—a bolt-action rifle fires one shot while a semi-automatic pistol might fire two or three shots—but it’s always a single attack roll and a single damage roll.

Attacking with unarmed combat or a melee weapon (but not with a ranged weapon) also means your Agent is parrying and blocking.

Called Shot
A called shot is an attack to a particular body part (the head, the hand, the leg). A called shot allows your Agent to roll a grenade past cover to explode on the far side, or to shoot someone in the leg and avoid body armor. If the attack is automatic gunfire that can hit multiple targets, the called shot affects only the first target.

A called shot is more difficult than a standard attack, so it has a penalty:

PARTLY COVERED (−20%): The target is partially covered (half the body).
MOSTLY COVERED (−40%): The target is mostly covered (all but a limb or head).

Making a called shot with unarmed combat or a melee weapon (but not with a ranged weapon) also means your Agent is parrying and blocking.

Disarm
An attempt to knock an object from the target’s grasp using the Unarmed Combat skill. This is possible only if your Agent has both hands free and is in hand-to-hand range. If your roll succeeds, the target drops the object.

Attempting to disarm also means your Agent is parrying and blocking.

Dodge
This is a Dodge skill test to get out of the way of an attack (or a disarm or pin). This opposed test pits your Agent’s Dodge skill against the attack roll. If your roll overcomes the attack roll, your Agent avoids harm.

Escape
A roll to escape a pin. Roll either STR×5 or Unarmed Combat, whichever is better. This acts as a defense roll against the character pinning your Agent; it’s opposed by the pinning character’s attack roll against your Agent. If the pinning character is not attacking, the escape is opposed by either Unarmed Combat or STR×5 (whichever is better). If the escape roll succeeds, your Agent is no longer pinned—and the escape roll defends against other attacks until your Agent’s next action. If it fails, your Agent remains pinned and cannot defend against attacks.

Fight Back
If someone attacks your Agent with a melee weapon or unarmed combat (not a ranged attack or an explosive), your Agent can fight back with Unarmed Combat or Melee Weapons to block and counterattack.

Move
An action that moves your Agent a significant distance: 10 meters jogging, 20 meters running, or 30 meters sprinting (or you can move about 3 meters while performing some other action).

Usually moving requires no roll, but if Agents are running or sprinting, players may need to make a DEX×5 test to keep their footing. Fail, and your Agent falls prone and must spend a turn recovering.

If there’s cover at the end of your Agent’s movement, getting behind it provides protection. This can give your Agent armor against firearms and explosives—if the Agent is behind cover when the attack happens.

Pin
An attempt to immobilize a target, either on the ground or up against something, using Unarmed Combat. This is possible only if your Agent has both hands free and is in hand-to-hand range. If it succeeds, the target is pinned.

All unarmed or melee weapon attacks against a pinned target are at a +20% bonus. An Agent pinning a target can attack the pinned target in later turns.

A pinned target can attempt escape once per turn but nothing else.

Attempting to pin a target also means your Agent is parrying and blocking.

Wait
Agents can choose to wait to take any action after their DEX order comes up. At any time before your next turn, you can insert your Agent’s action before the next action in DEX order. Your Agent can’t wait until another character acts and then jump in before it’s resolved, but your Agent can jump in before the other character’s turn comes up.

Anything Else
Drink a test-tube full of a glowing liquid, throw open an unlocked door, hit ENTER on a keyboard, grab a rope, reload a gun, stand up from a prone position— anything that takes a moment’s concentration. The Handler decides whether it requires a stat or skill test.

Attack Rolls

An attack is a skill roll which inflicts damage, disarms or pins the target, depending on the attacker’s action.

Critical Hits and Fumbles
An attack roll that’s a critical success is a critical hit. A critical hit inflicts double damage.

An attack roll that fumbles is bad news. The exact outcome remains up to the Handler.

Surprise Attacks
If your Agent is out to kill someone who’s unaware or helpless (and nobody is trying to stop you), that’s hardly combat. You may not even need to make a roll.

Keep in mind that the same goes for someone or something that is out to kill an Agent who's unaware or helpless.

Defense Rolls
Dodging and hand-to-hand combat (with unarmed or with melee weapons) are tests that protect your Agent by opposing an attack roll.

Dodging and Fighting Back
Your Agent can Dodge or fight back against an incoming attack even before your Agent’s DEX order in a turn. If you do this, it becomes your Agent’s single action for that turn. An Agent who has already taken another action that turn can’t Dodge or fight back until the next turn.

A roll to Dodge opposes all hand-to-hand attacks that turn, and lets your Agent duck behind cover to evade all ranged attacks that turn, if you win the contest. Dodging never inflicts damage.

Fighting back opposes all hand-to-hand attacks that turn. If you win the contest, you take no damage. It does not protect you against ranged attacks unless you’re close enough to push the ranged weapon away. As part of your fighting back roll, choose one offensive action—attack, called shot, disarm, or pin— against a single attacker. If your roll beats that attacker’s roll, your Agent takes no damage and your Agent’s action affects the attacker instead.

In order to Dodge or fight back, your Agent must know an attack is coming and be physically able to block or evade it. If your Agent is pinned, if the attack occurs before he or she realizes it, or if your Agent can’t see or hear the attacker, your Agent can’t Dodge or fight back.

Dodging Ranged Attacks
An ordinary Dodge roll can avoid an arrow or a thrown weapon. Nobody can react as fast as bullets and shrapnel, but your Agent can use Dodge to scramble for cover. If your Agent is within three meters of cover and knows gunfire or an explosion is imminent, make a Dodge roll for the Agent to get behind the cover. If there’s no cover, Dodging does no good. This is why people get nervous when guns come out.

Defending After Attacking
When your turn comes up, declare your Agent’s action— attack, called shot, disarm, or pin—and make the roll. Your Agent can harm, disarm or pin only one target a turn (the attack might hurt others, but all attacks have a single target).

A roll to attack, disarm, pin, or make a called shot also opposes each Unarmed Combat and Melee Weapons attack against your Agent until your Agent’s next action. If an attack fails to overcome your roll, it does no harm.

To oppose an attack, your Agent must know the attack is coming. That requires seeing or hearing the attacker. The Agent must also be physically able to block the Attack, if it is melee. A pinned Agent can’t defend, nor can an Agent who has already successfully pinned a target.

An attack roll with a ranged weapon does not oppose attack rolls against your Agent.

Damage

Combat is about inflicting damage. Each weapon or attack has a damage rating measured in dice. When an attack hits, roll the weapon’s damage dice and subtract the result from the target’s Hit Points.

Stun
Stun attacks startle and impair. While stunned, your Agent can’t act. When it’s your Agent’s turn, you may attempt a CON×5 test to recover and act normally next turn. If a single attack inflicts half of your Agent’s current HP, the Agent is automatically stunned.

Unconscious
If your Agent is reduced to 2 or fewer HP, he or she falls unconscious. An unconscious Agent is helpless and can be killed with a single attack without having to roll. At 3 HP or more (or after an hour passes), the Agent regains consciousness.

Permanent Injury
Any time your Agent is reduced to 2 or fewer HP, make a CON×5 test. Failure indicates permanent injury. The Handler selects a stat to be permanently reduced by the number on the lowest ten-sided die of the failed CON×5 roll, to a minimum score of 3. If STR or CON drop, adjust HP accordingly.

Death
If an attack brings your Agent to 0 HP, he or she is dead. HP do not go below 0.

Healing

There are four types of healing: Resuscitation, Stabilization, Treatment, and Recuperation.

Resuscitation
Sometimes it’s possible to resuscitate a dead character. If the Handler says resuscitation is possible, someone must make a First Aid test. This must occur within a number of minutes after death equal to the victim’s CON score. If it succeeds, it restores 1D4 HP (doubled for a critical success) and allows the patient to recover. If First Aid fails, the victim dies and may not be resuscitated.

Stabilization
Stabilizing a wounded character with a successful First Aid test immediately heals 1D4 HP. A critical success doubles the amount healed; a fumble inflicts 1D4 damage. Once your Agent receives first aid, success or failure, the Agent can’t benefit from it again until he or she suffers damage again.

Treatment
Treatment is medical care in a hospital or aid station with extensive tools and medicines. A doctor can attempt a Surgery or Medicine test once per week: Surgery for critical care of severe wounds; Medicine for poison, disease, and ongoing healing. If treatment succeeds, the patient recovers 1D4 HP. This is doubled with a critical, while a fumble inflicts 1D4 HP damage. At the Handler’s discretion, having less extensive tools and medicines may incur a penalty.

Recuperation
Over time, the human body repairs itself. A patient who rests in a safe place with proper food and water can attempt a CON×5 test once per day to recover 1 HP (in addition to any HP recovered due to medical treatment). On a critical success, the patient regains 1D4; on a fumble, the patient loses 1 HP.

Complications
After treatment in a hospital or aid station, and until the patient heals all lost Hit Points, undertaking strenuous activity (any physical stat or skill test) inflicts 1D4 HP damage as sutures rip, broken bones shift, or fever sets in.