12/15/6 note: As it turns out, i found some of the business I'd written for version 2 of these rules, which were done in '94! Needs heavy polishing as does everything else (I hate the self-criticism; it may all be fine but I keep keeping at it till I find it's perfect. Probably need a rewrite in 2020 or something). Anyway, here's my bits and random pieces of combattery I have thus far writ.

General intro goes here. YOu know, blahblah about 'now that you understand the basics' or 'the most complex actions' or something. Once the text and Monster drinks are flowing I imagine I'll come up with something good. I seem to be doing my good work when I'm tweaking on caffiene lately. Cursed Warren Ellis and his Red Bull hawking. Getting me into trouble with that he is.

Junk from 1994 I'd wrote:

'In the CMSH game, combat is one of the most intricately handled situations, as battle can easily be the death of even the most powerful of characters. Also, it is the most common result when a group of good guys run into a group of bad guys. So, without further delay, here is the CMSH combat rules!' Was still calling it Custom Marvel instead of Universal Heroes then, it seems.

Ah, the days before t3h internets (at least in my awareness).

Order of Actions

General summary of this as well. Sort of

The time machine says I said this in '94 (with modern Notes listed afterward to he'p me later):

Time Scale: the Turn

The typical combat turn (or round) takes up an amount of time equal to about five seconds. During this time, a typical character can execute at least one attack per turn, and defend himself against any number of attacks that he is aware of. The way a Judge can determine the order of combat (which player goes when) can be done in one of two ways.

The first (and easiest to manage) is to have each player act in turn, declaring that all of their turns just take place at the same time. The other, more complex one can occur if the players wish to coordinate their actions, and truly work as a team. This is done by having one player roll the initiative for the group, and having them roll their attacks simultaneously. Player defensive FEAT rolls are still rolled as normal (when someone attacks them), but this method is useful when attacking extremely powerful opponents. The game Judge can allow players to switch between the two as is necessary, to let them attempt to use strategy in their battles.

The specific order in which the turn unfolds is detailed in six easy steps, which are detailed here:

Step 1: at the very start, all characters may roll for extra attacks, if so desired, if their Ftg. (off) is high enough. To earn two attacks per turn is a Remarkable intensity Ftg. (off) roll, and to earn three attacks per turn is an Amazing intensity Ftg. (off) FEAT roll. If they forget to roll for extra attacks after they roll their initiative, then it's just too late.

Table 12: Multiple Attacks / Defenses

Rank	Combat actions / turn
Remarkable	Two attacks / dodges
Amazing	Three attacks / dodges
Unearthly	Four attacks / dodges
Shift Y	Five attacks / dodges

Step 2: before any other rolls are made, have the characters involved determine their actions, whether they be combat or non combat oriented. The players must then state their plans to the Judge, who should also determine what his NPCs are doing, although he need not inform the players of what his NPCs are doing until they do it.

Notimus Maximus: Step 1 and Step 2 may need to be rearranged. It may be better that folks decide WHAT they would like to do, then roll extra actions when applicable. That way, if those extra attack rolls fail, they can attempt to change actions (as per usual). Or something. Think laterally or somesuch.

Notimus Prime: Qualify the declaration, also. Note the Judge should decide what his npcs are doing before the players; this is only fair - if the players obviate the villains' plans hey, that's what heroes are for. The exception to this is, of course, NPCs with time-altering or perceptive abilities; they may be able to 'see' what si going to occur and revise actions accordingly. But work it out.

Step 3: after step two, all relevant characters that will interact with the PC should roll for their initiative, which is determined by rolling one d10. The higher a roll is, the better. It should be noted that all characters have an inherent initiative modifier based on their base Int. rank; this modifier is listed on table 11. Also, remember that an initiative roll of a 1 is never modified; the character is just a little slow or distracted this turn, or something like that.

Rank	Modifier
Feeble	-1
Poor	+/-0
Typical	+/-0
Good	+1
Excellent	+2
Remarkable	+3
Incredible	+4
Amazing	+5
Monstrous	+6
Unearthly	+7
Shift X	+8
Shift Y	+9
Shift Z	+10
Class 1k	+15
Class 3k	+20
Class 5k	+25

After rolling initiative, and observing that he has lost it, an N/PC can decide to change his actions if he so chooses. This is accomplished by passing a yellow Agy. (bal) FEAT roll, after which the character's new action must be rolled with a -1 CS penalty. If this yellow FEAT roll fails, the character will be unable to do anything for the rest of that turn but defend himself, and then at a -2 CS to his normal ability.

Galvanote: this is back to that earlier point; folks would attempt action changers here.

Step 4: the character who won the initiative this turn may now roll his FEAT to hit (or whatever), and the side losing, if necessary, may roll the proper FEATs to defend himself. If the character then hits his target, he must roll for the amount of damage inflicted by this attack. The more common attack forms, and the damage that they can do, are listed a bit later.

Step 5: the loser of initiative may then make his FEAT roll to attack (or whatever) if still able, and the character who already attacked may now defend himself. Again, if the character hits his target, he must then roll for damage as per the attack form he used.

Step 6: if any characters have earned extra attacks, they may now use them by repeating steps 4 and 5 as required, until all excess combat actions are expended.

Note-a-tron: This is where a roll for multiple defensive actions can take place; everyone gets one free one, if they need more it can simply be determined if they CAN at this point; no need to make excess rolls if they aren't required.

Resolution

(wrap-up)

Now that you have a basic understanding of the order of combat, a comprehensive listing of the more common battle moves are presented for you in the next four columns, to show you what options your character has in a fight.

Likely fine tuning involved here (duh). But I can see a good 'shape' for the words. It's all mental, the writing. Especially this sort.

Types of Attacks, Types of Damage

You know, stuff like BA, BT, EA, ET, Fo, Sh, En, Stun, MB, De, So, Ka, and so on.

(damage modifiers afterward, like AP, SD, Stun, TF, PS, etc...)

Slugfest Combat

Slugfest is slang for Ftg. ability combat, which involves man to man battle. Slugfest combat exclusively uses a character's Ftg. (off) to hit, and his Ftg. (def) to defend. Common slugfest moves include:

Blunt Attack (BA): your typical blunt attack involves attacking with any hard, non sharp item as a weapon, such as a fist, brass knuckles, or your classic Louisville Slugger. This type of attack inflicts Blunt Attack (BA) damage, and is the most common form of combat.

Edged Attack (EA): edged attack entails striking a target with a sharp, pointy item, such as a switchblade, claw gauntlet, punch dagger, broken bottle, board full of rusty nails, or any other classic instrument of cutting. This type of attack form (obviously) inflicts Edged Attack (EA) damage, and can be quite lethal.

Evasion (Ev): an evasion maneuver is one where a character, by foregoing all of his attacks in a turn, can gain superior defense against incoming melee attack. If evading, a character must roll a Ftg. (def) FEAT against all incoming melee attacks; a green or better means that the attack has been completely avoided. If any of these FEATs that fail, the attack being evaded will automatically hit.

If the evading character rolls a yellow or red evasion FEAT, he is effectively in a better position to hit his opponent back in the next turn. These bonuses only apply to the last attacks made by an opponent towards the evading character in a given turn, but if multiple attacks are aimed at the defender, he may have variable bonuses against his opponents. For example, if a character is attacked by two thugs, and he rolls a yellow and a red evasion against them, their attacks do not hit. In the next turn, he'll have a +1 CS to hit one of them (the yellow evasion), and a +2 CS to hit the other one (the red evasion).

The Ftg. Dodge (FD): this is a universal defensive maneuver designed for a character who wishes to defend himself from melee attack, but nonetheless wishes to return the favor by attacking back. This defensive maneuver simply consists of moving out of the way of incoming melee attacks, while not putting the defender out of a position to attack. The fighting dodge is effective against blunt and edged personal assaults.

Ranged Combat

Ranged combat usually involves shooting or throwing some weapon at a target, or even the use of several super human power effects. This type of attack is uses a character's Agy. (dex) to hit, and his Agy. (bal) to defend. The following is a brief explanation of the standard types of ranged combat:

Blunt Throwing Attack (BT): this form of attack is invoked when an N/PC picks up some sort of dull, often heavy object and throws it at someone. This attack form inflicts Blunt Throwing (BT) damage, and is just slightly more lethal than BA attacks.

Catching (Ca): this is a specialized defensive maneuver that allows one to catch items thrown (or shot) at himself. The only catch (hah!) with this move is that if it fails, you'll automatically get hit by the moving object, as you're putting yourself (or at least a part of yourself) in it's path.

Dodging (Do): everyone's universal defensive move, the dodge involves moving out of the way of incoming objects that are in a very terminal trajectory with your body, and with all the goons out there with ranged powers and devices, this is one of the most common forms of defense.

Edged Throwing Attack (ET): this attack is utilized when throwing sharp, deadly objects like throwing stars, knives, and axes at your targets, and it inflicts nasty Edged Throwing (ET) damage. These attacks are preferred by bad guys without energy weapons or powers as they do the job almost as good; killing people, that is.

Energy Attack (En): energy attacks are those that hurt a person by exposing him to an energy form not compatible with his body, like fire or high voltage electricity. This attack form used to be relatively uncommon until the advent of the super human, who often uses it like a drunk does J.D. As you can guess, assaults of the energy variety inflict deadly Energy (En) damage.

Force Attack (Fo): this form of distance attack most often comes in the form of someone wielding a TL 4 item called a blaster, although many super humans also wield non lethal force attacks, which are resolved on the Force (Fo) column on the Universal Table. Heroes most often prefer this attack form to En assaults, as it don't kill quite as many people.

Shooting Attack (Sh): in the last century or so, shooting attacks have become much more common, especially with the advent of the automatic rifle. This assault form involves shooting a gun (or other major metal firing weapon) at a target. This attack form obviously uses Shooting (Sh) damage, which (like En damage) is very lethal.

Wrestling Combat

These are, for the most part, non damaging attacks which utilize a character's base Str. ability to grapple and hold an opponent. Common wrestling maneuvers are:

Blocking (Bl): this is a defensive move most often used by those of super strength. It involves using your Str. to block the force of an attack. Whether this will be with upper or lower Str. depends on the manner in which the character describes his blocking action to the Jugde. This then results in effective armor against certain attacks, as stated on the Blocking column on the Universal Table. Only BA, BT, EA, ET, and Fo attacks can be blocked.

Escaping (Es): this is a wrestling maneuver used when one has been successfully grappled, either fully or partially. It entails wriggling and flexing in an effort to shake off the grappler. Note that if done very well, this move can be used to actually reverse the hold the defender is stuck in.

When attempting to escape a grappling hold, the character needs to roll a Str. FEAT that must be resolved on the Universal Table's escape column. This FEAT will have a number of Column Shifts equal to the number of ranks of Str. between the grappler and grapplee; if the grappler is stronger, a negative CS is applied, and vice versa.

Also, note that this is the only move a grappled N/PC can attempt, short of using super human powers.

Grabbing (Gb): grabbing is a special fighting move designed to remove an item from the hands of an opponent. The only drawback of using a grab is that the item may be accidentally set off or broken during the struggle to grab it.

Grappling (Gp): grappling is an attack form that is designed to hold an opponent without actually harming him, although that option is available once a character has been at least partially held. A character may be grappled regardless of the Str. differences between him and the grappler, but how long the grapple lasts does depend on such a difference; see the escaping maneuver for more on this.

Once a character is grappled, however, the grappler can squeeze to inflict his Str. rank in damage. A character who is held in a grapple can resist by passing an End. (res) FEAT equal in intensity to the FEAT rolled by the grappler to do the damage.

the Wrestling Dodge (WD): very similar to the fighting dodge, this defensive tactic involves actively avoiding a character attempting to perform a grappling or grabbing move. It is even used the same way, except that if a white FEAT result is rolled, it means that the defender has 'walked' right into the hold, and must escape normally.

Charging Combat

Charging combat basically happens when an N/PC charges headlong into his target, slamming into him at full speed. This uses a character's base End. rank to do damage, and is described below:

Charging (Ch): this is a move that involves getting some space between you and a target, running at them full speed, and nailing them with all you've got. For each area traversed through on your way, add 2 points to the total damage inflicted, up to a maximum of 20 extra points. areas.

Note that while Ftg. (off) is used to actually target a charging attack, the damage done is determined by the base End. rank or rank of body armor (whichever the charger chooses) to inflict the damage.

Luring (Lu): luring involves letting an opponent barrel on towards you, full tilt, thinking he's gonna smash you to pieces, when at the last second you dive out of the way, only to make him smash whatever is behind you to pieces. This is an effective maneuver against people who love to overuse charging attacks.

Effects Rolled on the Universal Table

As stated numerous times in the previous pages, the Universal Table is the ultimate guide to combat actions, as it has column for all of the standard battle moves, as well as all of the ranks ever needed to roll a FEAT on. When rolling any sort of combat FEAT, refer to the following descriptions of rolled results to determine the outcome of your combat FEAT rolls:

May need revision/rethinking; do I need this in a lump, or listed with each attack? The latter may be better, for teh sake of relevanc and/or not dizzifying with a massive table of combat gobbledygook all at once.

-6 CS: concerning a block, this means that you have obtained your Str. -6 CS rank armor against the attack you are defending against. The best possible dodge, this result states that your opponent has a -6 CS to hit you.

-4 CS: for a block, this is saying that you now have your Str. -4 CS ranked armor against the incoming attack. For a dodging move, your opponent has a -4 CS to hit you.

-2 CS: as far as a block defense is concerned, you now have your Str. -2 CS armor against incoming attacks. When dodging, this indicates that your opponent has a -2 CS to hit you.

1: when resisting the effects of a Stun shot, this roll on the Stun column means that you are stunned for one entire combat turn. While this isn't a serious injury, a lot can happen while you're down...

1-10: when resisting the effects of a Stun shot, this result means that the defender has been knocked unconscious for one to ten turns, determined by the roll of a d10.

+1 CS: the best block you can get, this means that you have earned your Str. +1 CS in armor against the attack you're defending against. For an evasion, this means that your have a +1 CS to attack your opponent in the next round, if this result was scored on the last attack made by that opponent during the current combat turn.

+2 CS: this is an evasion that gives you a +2 CS against your opponent in the next round, if this result was scored against the last attack made by that opponent during the current combat turn.

Autohit/Automiss: this result that indicates that the attack automatically hits or misses, depending on the situation.

Break: while trying a grabbing attack, this means that you tried to pull too hard (or something like that), either breaking or setting off the item being grabbed.

Bullseye: this result states that if a character was aiming a non lethal shot, it hit right on the nose. If the character wasn't particularly aiming for something, he still hit, however.

Escape: when attempting to escape, the character has done so in full measure.

Evasion: while attempting to evade, the character has done so in full measure.

Grab: while trying a grabbing maneuver, you have successfully done so.

Grand Slam: if rolled while attempting to resist a Slam result, this means that the attack affected the defender fully. The victim of such an attack is then thrown a number of areas equal to the rank of the damage inflicted (before any resistances) divided by ten.

Hit: while attempting one of the various attacking maneuvers, you have successfully 'hit' your target. Roll for damage.

Hold: in a grappling attack, you have placed your target in a full hold. The only non super powered move your opponent can attempt is to escape.

Kill: when this result is rolled, this means that the attacker has hit in such a manner that is potentially lethal to the victim of such attacks. There are two methods in which the effect of a killing blow can be determined. First, all victims of kill results must roll an End. (res) FEAT against the intensity of the damage inflicted by the killing shot, or else they will begin to die.

The other, traditional method is rolled on the Universal Table on the Kill column. This method, while being standard to all kill shots, does not consider the End. (res) of the target in relation to the damage inflicted by the wound. Which method the Judge uses to resolve kill shots is ultimately up to him.

More on death and the dying process can be found in the Life and Death section later in the book. Tactics Fastball special, etc...

Powers in Combat

(this oota be interesting)