As the name suggests, one fighting attack occurs during a combat skirmish. A martial artist could get a hand/hand/kick attack in this time, and a warrior, depending on prowess, could swing their sword or fire their weapon once or twice. A Psypath could use a 1-increment Mental Manipulation (MM) which takes 1 increment, and 4 of these may be attempted in one skirmish. Longer MMs may take many increments (and skirmishes) to attempt, giving those who attack physically a chance against high-level MMs or repeated low-level ones.

This does NOT mean you have to use an actual clock to time the combat! It is the imaginary game time that takes place when characters fight with foes. But you, as GE, have to keep track of this time, especially for Psypaths, whose attacks occasionally take more time than those characters who are attacking physically.

INITIATIVE

A combat skirmish sequence happens as follows. Check Surprise first! Both opponents roll a 10-sided die to determine if either opponent is surprised by the other. If no surprise is indicated, then each opponent rolls another 10-sided die to determine who gets the Initiative and the first attack. The highest roll attacks first in the first increment. The lowest roll attacks in the 2nd and 3rd increments of the skirmish. The opponent with the highest roll can attack in the last increment if they have any more attacks that were not expended in the 1st increment or if a MM’s time is completed and the manipulation takes effect. The next combat skirmish takes place and both opponents again roll a 10-sided die to determine who attacks first. (This refers to who gets the initiative, NOT surprise, which is only rolled at the beginning.