Hello,

This weeks post is about combat and defending yourself against the dangers of the wasteland. This will be a shorter post as I've spent a lot of time streamlining the flow of combat.

Choosing When to Fight

In Courier - Repacked the player might often want to not engage in combat unless they have prepared for it ahead of time. Fighting is deadlier, faster, and less in favour to the player, when compared to the first edition of Courier, with the option to run-away from encounters being introduced this time around. I've planned from the start to give the choice to participate in conflicts as many solo players look for more relaxed experiences when considering the feedback I've received over the past few years.

What if you could just run away from Benny?

Getting the Lead Out

When in combat, the player will roll their weapon's dice value (D6 through D12), adding any bonuses, and compare it to the Strength value die roll of the target. The higher total wins, dealing Harm (damage) equal to the Harm value for the weapon. The player character will have Protection available, if they've purchased some and kept up with repairs, which will reduce any Harm dealt. If the protection has no Durability remaining you are not going to be shrugging off the hits!

When either the player or target is reduced to 0 Wounds (HP) the combat is over. Rewards are given to the player for a victory by rolling on a table of loot possibilities. If the player is defeated then they must resolve the defeat rules, which means losing items and credits but returning to the safety of a friendly faction's base. Death or defeat is not permanent in Courier - Repacked.

That is about it for combat. There will be items and other gear that changes attacks or values but things are fast, simple, and easy on the math.

This might not end well for you.

Running Away

If the player wants to escape a combat encounter then they roll their Strength and Agility dice together, no bonuses. The player compares this result to the Strength of the target. If the player has a higher total then they escape combat unharmed. If the player has a lower total, they take Harm as per the normal combat rules. This can be attempted any number of times as long as the player character has Wounds remaining.

Running away does not provide any rewards and does not cause any detriments to the player. It is mathematically easier to run away from combat than it is to win a round, by design.

I hope that you've enjoyed this quick look at Combat. I appreciate all the readers coming back each week. If you haven't already check out the Kickstarter Pre-Lauch Page for Courier - Repacked to be notified of when it goes live in early February. 

See you next week for a look at World Events!

- Cody