Combat is where legends are minted and graves are filled. In PsychScape: Historical, guns roar, blades flash, and a single bad decision can end a character’s story in a handful of heartbeats. This isn’t a system where heroes shrug off a dozen sword thrusts. This is a world of powder smoke, broken shields, and last chances.

In this guide, I’ll walk you through how the PsychScape Historical combat system works at the table:
how rounds and initiative set the tempo, how movement and terrain shape the battlefield, how marksmanship and melee resolve, and how Vitality, armor, and critical hits decide who walks away.

If you’re a Legend Master (GM) running Man of Ages stories or a player about to draw steel for the first time, consider this your field briefing.

What Makes PsychScape: Historical Combat Different?

PsychScape: Historical is designed to feel gritty, grounded, and dangerous. It sits between story-first cinematic play and war-game crunch:

• Lethal but fair: A single strike can end a fight, but it’s never random nonsense – it follows clear rules.
• Tactical but fast: Rounds are quick; you’re not tracking a dozen tiny modifiers every roll.
• Narrative but specific: Hit locations, weapons, armor, and terrain all matter, and they all tell a story.

The goal is simple: every fight should feel like a scene worth remembering, not just a rules exercise.

Rounds, Turns, and the Flow of Battle

Combat in PsychScape runs in rounds, each representing just a few seconds of real time. Within that round:

• Everyone rolls initiative (or uses a scene-appropriate method).
• The higher the result, the earlier that character acts.
• On your turn, you get to move and perform actions: attacking, aiming, taking cover, reloading, or pulling some desperate gambit.

Think of initiative as the invisible hand of fate – it answers questions like:

• Who draws first in a tense standoff?
• Who reaches cover before the volley comes?
• Who’s still fumbling with their weapon when the charge connects?

As Legend Master, keep this flow quick and conversational. Call out whose turn is next, remind players of the stakes, and let the fiction breathe between dice rolls.

Movement and Terrain: The Battlefield Fights Back

In PsychScape: Historical, where you stand matters just as much as what you’re holding.

Movement is based primarily on a character’s Agility and other relevant traits, but the battlefield shapes what that really looks like:

• Open ground: Fast movement, but you’re exposed to fire.
• Cover (walls, carts, rubble): Harder to move through, but vital for surviving gunfire.
• Difficult terrain (mud, marsh, dense forest): Reduced movement, higher risk in retreats or advances.
• Elevation: High ground is king – better line of sight, better angles for shots, and a morale advantage.

As Legend Master, treat the map as a character:

• Offer players meaningful choices: “You can rush the barricade this round, but you’ll be in the open – or you can stay behind cover and trade shots.”
• Use terrain to create tension: choke points, ambush positions, brutal killzones, and routes of retreat.

Marksmanship: Guns, Powder, and the Chaos of the Shot

When the smoke rolls in, PsychScape’s marksmanship rules handle firearms and ranged weapons in a way that feels brutal but clear.

A typical shot involves:

1. Choosing a target (possibly at range, behind cover, or in motion).
2. Rolling your marksmanship / ranged attack against the target’s defense or difficulty.
3. Applying situational modifiers like:
   • Poor lighting or weather
   • Target sprinting or dodging
   • Shooter moving while firing
   • Cover and concealment
4. On a success, rolling for hit location and damage.

You can also:

• Aim: Spend time to gain a bonus on your next shot, especially for distant or partially covered foes.
• Suppress: Focus on forcing enemies to keep their heads down instead of dropping them outright.

This is a historical TTRPG combat system, so firearms hurt. Even a single successful hit can end or transform a scene – for better or worse.

Hit Locations: Where the Shot Lands

Unless you aim at a specific body part, successful attacks strike a random hit location:

• Head and neck
• Chest and torso
• Arms and hands
• Legs and feet

Each location interacts differently with:

• Armor (helmets, breastplates, shields, padded clothing)
• Injury effects (a leg shot may slow or immobilize, a head or chest shot may be instantly lethal)
• Critical results (more on that later)

This keeps the outcome of a firefight or melee skirmish dangerous and cinematic. The dice don’t just say “hit” – they say where and how bad.

Melee, Brawl & Blade, and Tactical Gambits

When the distance vanishes, PsychScape shifts from bullets to steel and bare hands.

The Brawl & Blade skill governs close combat:
sword swings, shield work, grapples, dagger strikes, improvised weapons – all of it.

Each round in melee, a character usually:

• Chooses a gambit (overall approach for that round):
  • Steady attack and defense
  • All-out offensive strike
  • Defensive focus, trying to outlast the foe
  • Specific maneuvers like grapples, disarms, or counters
• Makes attack rolls (and possibly defense reactions) based on that gambit.

Characters with Advanced Brawl & Blade training unlock:

• Complex counters
• Feints and ripostes
• Holds and immobilizations
• Other advanced techniques that let them control the rhythm of the fight

Signature Style Attacks

Expert fighters may develop a Signature Style Attack – a unique, named move tied to their character’s legend.

Mechanically, these often:

• Come with a higher risk of failure or drawback.
• But offer a much higher chance of critical success or devastating effect.

Narratively, this is the stuff stories are built on:
“The Butcher’s Crescent,” “Saint’s Gambit,” “The Kingbreaker Thrust” – moves other characters fear by name.

Vitality, Damage, and Armor: The Cost of Violence

Every character has Vitality Points (VP) – an abstract measure of physical resilience, grit, and will to fight.

• When you’re hit, you lose VP based on weapon damage, hit location, and armor.
• When VP runs low, injuries start to limit what you can do – movement slows, actions get risky, and shock may set in.
• At 0 or below, you’re at the brink: unconscious, dying, or dead depending on the severity of the blow and subsequent rolls.

Armor in PsychScape doesn’t make you a god. It:

• Reduces or mitigates damage, especially on certain locations.
• Buys you time – the difference between “dead on the spot” and “bleeding but still fighting”.

This is a realistic combat system: even a hardened veteran can be cut down by one bad moment.

Critical Hits, Catastrophes, and the Turning of the Tide

PsychScape: Historical embraces the highs and lows of battle through critical successes and critical failures.

On a critical hit, you might see:

• A clean impalement through the heart.
• A spine-breaking strike that drops an enemy instantly.
• A shot that shatters bone or explodes vital organs.
• A point-blank execution when a weapon is pressed against a target.

On a critical failure, you might suffer:

• Misfires and weapon jams.
• Exploding barrels or overheated firearms.
• Broken blades or snapped bowstrings.
• Self-inflicted wounds or disastrous positioning.

These moments shift the story fast. A doomed squad may be saved by one perfect shot; a would-be hero might end up as a cautionary tale after a spectacular blunder.

Running PsychScape Combat as a Legend Master

To make the most of the PsychScape Historical combat system, keep these tips in mind:

1. Lead with fiction, then ask for rolls.
   Let players describe their actions in the world. Then pick the right roll.
2. Use terrain and morale.
   Make cover, elevated positions, and retreats meaningful choices, not just map decoration.
3. Telegraph lethality.
   Let players know, in-world, that guns and blades are terrifying. Show NPCs being cut down fast.
4. Describe hit locations vividly.
   “You hit for 7 damage” is fine. “Your shot punches through his thigh; he drops, howling, clutching the wound” is better.
5. Respect consequences.
   Persistent injuries, scars, lost limbs, and trauma all give weight to combat and help define a “Man of Ages” hero.

Bringing PsychScape: Historical to Your Table

PsychScape: Historical is built for groups who want tense, tactical, and story-rich combat in their tabletop roleplaying games. Guns, steel, and grit all share the stage – and the dice decide which you walk away with.

Use the slides and examples on this page as your quick-start combat reference:

• Teach your players how rounds, movement, and positioning work.
• Show them how dangerous marksmanship and melee really are.
• Let them feel the weight of Vitality, armor, and critical hits.

Then? Load your dice.
Let your heroes step into the smoke.
And see who survives the legend.

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