FADAD
Free-form, universal, do-it-yourself gaming engine for Advanced Dungeons And Dragons
by Peter Mikelsons
Version: February 2000

Chapter 4: Combat

Legal Notice

Table of Contents

4 Combat

4.1 Combat Terms

4.2 Melee Combat, Summary

Combat is divided in time into rounds. During each round, each combatant gets a chance to perform some actions. They can do these actions actively or in response to other actions. A round is about 6 seconds long in game time.

The sequence of events in a round is this:

Each attack is an Opposed Action: the attacker's Offensive skill (Sword, Melee Weapon, Martial Art, etc.) against a defender's Defensive skill (Shield, Melee Weapon, Dodge, etc.). Attacking and parrying with a weapon use the same skill.

4.3 Melee Combat, Details

4.3.1 Melee Modifiers

Some situations call for one side or the other's trait level to be modified. Here are some examples:

4.3.2 Target

The minimum Rolled Degree that an attacker needs to hit a defender. The relative size of a defender gives the basic Target. Smaller defenders are harder to hit. 
  Defender Scale                     Example 
- Attacker Scale    Target           (Scale 0 Attacker)
-------------------------------------------------------
-14 or lower        Good             mouse      
-13:-10             Fair             pixie      
-9 : -6             Mediocre         rabbit, cat      
-5 : -2             Poor             hobbit      
-1 : +2             Terrible         adult human      
+3 or higher        Terrible -1 (-4) ogre
Shields add to Target. A small shield gives +1, a medium shield gives +2, and a large shield gives +3 (also gives -1 to attack skills). Bucklers do not affect Target. The GM should limit these bonuses if small characters use shields. It makes little difference if a hobbit uses a medium or large shield: she is completely hidden behind either.

The shield bonus applies against attacks from one side only. In melee, usually one one attacker is affected (two attackers for large shields). 

Shield summary:

        Target  Attackers
Size    Bonus   affected   Notes
---------------------------------------------
Buckler  +0         1

Small    +1         1

Medium   +2         1

Large    +3         2      -1 to attack skills

4.3.3 Hit Location

A light blow to an eye is very different from a light blow to an armored shoulder, or to a shield. Using a hit location system adds flavor to combat and the description of a character's equipment, wounds - and scars!

An attacker can announce that he is aiming at a specific body location - this must be done before rolling to hit. The GM decides the minimum relative degree necessary for such a shot to succeed, usually ranging from 2 to 4, though extreme locations (such as an eyeball) are harder to hit. So if a player wishes his character to hit his opponent's weapon arm, the GM can respond, "You have to win by two to do so." Body locations also have a Target which must be rolled to be hit, perhaps Mediocre for an arm. If the player then does win by relative degree two or more with a Mediocre or better, the weapon arm is hit, and the wound is specific to that arm. 

Body    Minimum       
Part    Relative Degree   Target
----    ---------------   ------
Leg            1          Poor
Arm            2          Mediocre
Head           3          Mediocre
Eye            4          Great     (an eye attack requires a crit)
If the attacker wins the combat round, but not by the minimum relative and rolled degree needed to hit the called target, the defender names which part of the body - or shield! - is hit. This will most likely be general body (if there is no shield), but it could be the off-hand, which would carry a lesser combat penalty than a wound to the torso. The GM may have to fudge some here.

A damaged specific body part can be described as being Scratched (no real game effect), Hurt (a penalty to use, but the body part still functions), and Incapacitated. After battle is the time to decide if an Incapacitated body part can be healed, or is permanently Incapacitated.

A Hurt body part is generally at -1 to its normal use. A Hurt sword arm gives a -1 penalty to combat, for example, while a Hurt leg is -1 to any running, acrobatics, etc. A Hurt eye is -1 to vision, and so on.

To determine the exact level of the damage, the GM should consider how well the hit scored, as well as the Strength of the attacker and the weapon being used. Winning by the minimum relative degree necessary to hit the specific body part shouldn't make the victim Incapacitated unless the attacker is of a much larger Scale than the defender. On the other hand, an arm hit with a battle axe wielded by a large, berserk Viking has a good chance of being cut off even if the Viking just rolled exactly what he needed to hit the arm . . .

As a guideline, if the attacker surpasses the relative degree necessary to hit the body part at all, the part is Scratched or Hurt, depending on Strength and weapon deadliness. If he surpasses it significantly, the part is Hurt or Incapacitated.

Species other than humans may have a different list of body parts to hit, and/or different difficulty modifiers. 

4.3.4 Movement

The distances characters can move during a six-second combat round are listed below, along with the assumed rate in MPH. 
movement  yards/  Miles/
type      round   Hour
walk         8       3
jog         15       5
run         30      10
SR 1        50      17
As a rule of thumb, a character can use 1 action to move 15 yards. Using more than 2 actions per round for movement is usually impossible. A quickly moving character's Target should be increased. If no actions are being used for movement, a character can move up to 8 yards.

These distances should be reduced for characters who are heavily armored, encumbered, or shorter than human average (like dwarves and hobbits). Difficult footing, reduced visibility, or obstructions like undergrowth should likewise reduce movement rates. Attributes like Strength and Dexterity affect movement rate. High skill in running could increase speeds under some circumstances.

4.4 Ranged Combat

Ranged combat may or may not be an Opposed action.

If the target is unaware of the assault, the attacker makes an Unopposed action roll to see if he hits his target. The GM sets the Difficulty Level based on distance, lighting, cover, Target, etc. Do not modify the attacker's skill for range, partial cover, or other circumstances - that's included in the Difficulty Level. Equipment such as a magic weapon can modify the attacker's skill, though. Remember that the attacker gets a +2 to skill if she is concentrating on shooting and not doing anything else. 

Possible Target Modifiers:

Range          Target      Typical     
description    Modifier    Target       more description
---------------------------------------------------------
Melee            +0        Terrible     you could hit with an unranged weapon
Point Blank      +2        Mediocre     in the same room
Short            +3        Fair         use AD&D range tables
Medium           +4        Good         use AD&D range tables
Long             +5        Great        use AD&D range tables
Extreme          +7        Legendary+1  as far as such projectiles have ever gone
If the defender is aware of the attack, and takes an action to avoid it, the attack is an Opposed action: the attacker's ranged weapon skill against the defender's defensive trait. (A Difficulty Level for range, lighting, etc., is still set by the GM, and is the minimum rolled degree needed to hit.) The defensive action is usually a dodge or a shield block (using shield skill), but in a heroic game like FADAD it could be a parry (using weapon skill) or a catch (using a skill like juggling).

Fast projectiles are tough to avoid (or catch). If the defense is anything but a shield block, there is a penalty to the defense roll. Obviously in the case of magic bolts, the defender isn't trying to dodge a bolt, but dodging the presumed path of a bolt when an attacker points a finger at him. 

Penalty  Projectile Type
-------  ---------------
-1       hand propelled: rock, throwing knife
-2       mechanically propelled: arrow, quarrel, sling bullet
-3       too fast for naked eye: gunpowder bullet, magical bolt
Readying a missile weapon takes time. Usually preparing the ammunition for firing (i.e. drawing an arrow, notching it, and drawing the string) takes one action, while aiming and firing takes another action. So weapons like slings and bows are normally fired once per round. Thrown weapons do not take an action to ready if they are conveniently placed, i.e. in the off-hand, on a table, in a familiar belt scabbard. Crossbows take 2 or more actions to ready (including pulling the string back), depending on how strong they are. The GM may require a Good dexterity roll to ready a weapon if a sharpshooter is attempting more than two actions in a round. 
Weapon    Actions to Ready
--------------------------
throwing dagger  0-1
Sling            1
Bow              1
Light Crossbow   2
Heavy Crossbow   3

4.4.1 Widespread attacks

Such as explosions, rays, cones, storms, grenades, etc. As long as attacker's rolled degree for targeting the effect is Terrible or better, then they do damage even if relative degree is negative. Victims caught in the middle of the effect without any chance of escape use their Target. However, relative degree is often irrelevant for widespread attacks, except to determine if targets are inside or outside of the area of effect.

Because larger creatures have more surface area, they are affected more by widespread attacks than smaller creatures, so Size scale is less effective. Divide Scale by 3 versus widespread attacks.

The big complication occurs when the creature is bigger than the attack's area of effect. Then damage reduction is (Victim Scale/3) + (Victim Volume - Attack Volume). Or just fudge it.

Example: Volume Scale 0 is 3.09 cubic feet. The AD&D fireball spell fills 33,510 cubic feet, and so has volume scale 23. A fireball hits an Imperial Elven Navy Armada, a huge ship of volume scale 28 and Mass 24. Its DDM against this attack is 8 (Mass 24 divided by 33) plus 5 (victim volume 28 minus attack volume 23) plus 1 (armor), or DDM of 14. Fireballs only do around 9-11 damage, so the Armada takes no serious damage, although it may have a fire on board which could spread and cause damage.

4.5 Wounds

4.5.1 Wound Levels

Combat damage to a character can be described as being at one of seven stages of severity. The stages are:
Undamaged:
no wounds at all. The character is not necessarily healthy - he may be sick, for example. But he doesn't have a combat wound that's recent enough to be bothering him.
Just A Scratch:
no real game effect, except to create tension. This may eventually lead to being Hurt if the character is hit again. This term comes from the famous movie line, "I'm okay, it's only a scratch." The actual wound itself may be a graze, bruise, cut, abrasion, etc., and the GM whose game is more serious in tone may choose to use one of these terms instead.
Hurt:
the character is wounded significantly, enough to slow him down: -1 to all traits which would logically be affected. A Hurt result in combat can also be called a Light Wound.
Very Hurt:
the character is seriously hurt, possibly stumbling: -2 to all traits which would logically be affected. A Very Hurt result can also be called a Severe Wound.
Incapacitated:
the character is so badly wounded as to be incapable of any actions, except possibly dragging himself a few feet every now and then or gasping out an important message. A lenient GM can allow an Incapacitated character to perform such elaborate actions as opening a door or grabbing a gem . . .
Near Death:
the character is not only unconscious, he'll die in less than an hour - maybe a lot less - without medical help. No one recovers from Near Death on their own unless very lucky.
Dead:
he has no more use for his possessions, unless he belongs to a culture that believes he'll need them in the afterlife . . .
Automatic Death: sometimes you don't have to roll the dice. Holding a knife to a helpless character's throat is a good example - no roll needed to kill such a character, but the killer's karma suffers. 

4.5.2 Damage Capacity

In FUDGE, Damage Capacity determines how wounds affect a character. In FADAD, it is equal to a toughness type attribute, such as Constitution. Damage Capacity is subtracted from each wound a character receives. 

4.5.3 Wound Modifiers

When determining how wounded a character is when hit in combat, take into consideration all of the following modifiers:
  1. The relative degree the attack succeeded by - the better the hit, the greater likelihood of damage. Winning a combat round with a relative degree of +1 means you probably hit where the opponent is most heavily armored. Scoring a hit with a +3 finds a chink in the armor.
  2. The strength of the blow. For muscle-powered weapons, such as melee weapons, unarmed attacks, bows, slings, etc., this is determined by the attacker's Strength attribute: stronger folks tend to hit harder. The relative Scale modifier is also figured in here. For things like guns, beam weapons, etc., it is relative to the nature of the weapon: a .38 usually does more damage than a .22. The technological level of the weapon can be important.
  3. The deadliness of the attacker's weapon. Big weapons tend to do more damage than little weapons; sharp weapons rip tissue more than dull ones, but blunt weapons can cause concussive damage through armor thick enough to stop a sharp weapon. People trained in Karate tend to do more damage than those untrained in any martial art.
  4. The defender's armor. People wearing thicker armor, and more of it, tend to get hurt less than those wearing no armor. Armor can be finely differentiated, or simply said to be Light, Medium, or Heavy armor. Science fiction scenarios will have Extra-Heavy armor, and even further levels. Fantasy campaigns may include magic armor that offers even greater protection, sometimes specific against certain types of damage.
  5. The amount of damage the victim can soak up (Robustness, Damage Capacity, or Mass). Big, healthy guys can take more damage before collapsing than little, sickly guys. But it's your call if it's a big, sickly fighter against a little, healthy fellow.

4.5.4 Wound Modifiers List

Here are some suggested numbers to attach to the modifiers listed in the previous section. They should be written down on the character sheet at character creation (probably with the weapons and armor), so as to be readily available during combat.

Offensive modifiers: 

Damage for some melee weapons:
(1h) = using one hand, (2h) = using two hands

Bonus   Weapon
-----   ------
 -1     punch
  0     gauntlet, thrown rock, kick
 +1     dagger, billy club, armored boot, sling bullet
 +2     shortsword, spear(1h), mace, hatchet, arrow
 +3     broadsword, spear(2h), war maul (2h), battleaxe, morningstar, quarterstaff
 +4     greatsword (2h), battleaxe (2h)
Defensive Damage Modifiers:

4.5.5 Determining Wound Level

See Section 4.5.7, Recording Wounds, for details on how to keep track of wounds received.

To determine wound severity calculate the total damage modifier. This is derived by adding up all the attacker's offensive modifiers (ODM) and then subtracting all the defender's modifiers (DDM).

Once these numbers are determined, jot them down so you don't have to refigure them each combat round.

This system requires each character sheet to have a wound record track which looks like:
1,2 3,4 5,6 7,8 9+
Wounds: Scratch Hurt Very Hurt Incapacitated Near Death

The numbers above the wound levels represent the amount of damage needed in a single blow to inflict the wound listed under the number. For example, a blow of three or four points Hurts the character, while a blow of five or six points inflicts a Very Hurt wound.

Note that there is no number given for Dead. This is left up to the GM, and deliberately not included to prevent accidental PC death.

However, you can't simply use the damage modifier you determined above - relative degree is also important. Add the relative degree to the damage modifier.

Then add a damage roll. To make a damage roll, roll 4dF. Normally you just add the result to the previous total. But if the previous total was negative, then the final result cannot be greater than 1.

The result is a number that may or may not be a positive number. If it's 0 or less, no damage is scored.

If the number is positive, look up the result across the top of the wound levels, and figure the wound as described above. If Leroy hits Theodora with a relative degree of +2, he adds that to his damage potential of +2 to produce a damage number of four. Looking down, we see that a result of four is a Hurt result (Light Wound). Theodora is Hurt, and at -1 until she is healed.

For more detail, see Section 4.6, Combat and Wounding Example. 

4.5.6 Recording Wounds

Once the final damage is determined, it is recorded on the wounded fighter's character sheet. Each individual wound is described as a Scratch, Hurt (Light Wound), etc., as introduced in Section 4.5.1, Wound Levels.

A space on the character sheet to record wounds is required. This could look like:
1,2  3,4  5,6  7,8  9+ 
Wounds: Scratch Hurt  Very Hurt  Incapac. Near Death 
O O O  O  O  O  O 

The numbers above the wound levels are discussed in Section 4.5.5, Determining Wound Level.

The boxes below the wound levels represent how many of each wound type a fighter can take.

When a wound is received, mark off the appropriate box.

If there is no open box for a given wound result, the character takes the next highest wound for which there is an open box. Note that three boxes are provided under Scratch. This can be customized by each GM, of course. A Scratch wound will not make a fighter Hurt until he receives his fourth Scratch. Optionally, a Scratch will never raise a character's wound level beyond Very Hurt, no matter how many he takes. The GM should not to use this rule when the PCs fight a monster of huge Scale. Otherwise, they'd never be able to kill such a creature when the worst wound they can inflict is a Scratch. 

4.5.7 Non-Human Scale in Combat

The attacker's Strength Scale is added to his offensive damage modifiers, and the defender's Mass Scale is added to her defensive damage modifiers. If you have combat with beings weaker than humans, remember what you learned in school about adding and subtracting negative numbers . . .

Armor and weapons affect the damage done normally, since they are scaled to the folks using them. Hits become Scratches, Hurt, etc., as usual - see Section 4.5.5, Determining Wound Level.

However, an extremely small character is not likely to be able to wound a large one in the numerical value wounding system. Some critical hits may allow injury, although multiple criticals may be necessary. Poison-tipped arrows and lances are also a possibility: the small character can aim for joints in the armor and merely has to break the skin to inject the poison.

Also, this system treats Mass Scale like armor, which isn't quite accurate. In reality, a small opponent may be slowly carving the larger fighter up, but each wound is too petty, relative to the large scale, to do much damage by itself. To reflect a lot of small wounds gradually inflicting a hit on a large-scale foe, allow a damage roll when Scale prevents a hit from doing any damage - that is, when Scale is the only difference between getting a Scratch and no damage at all. See Section 4.6.1, Damage Die Roll.

Fionn's damage modifier against Sheba is -1-2 = -3.

If Fionn wins by +3, a solid blow, he adds -3+3 = 0. Unfortunately for Fionn, she takes no damage from an excellently placed hit. Since this blow was block by Scale, a damage roll would be allowed, however.

Fionn had better think of some other strategy, quickly. Fortunately for Fionn, he knows some magic, and if he can dodge just one kick from Sheba, she'll learn the hard way why it's best not to antagonize the Wee folk . . .

4.5.8 Critical Hits

A critical hit, or "crit", is an unusually successful attack. An attack is a crit when the relative degree between the attacker's rolled degree and the greater of the defender's rolled degree and the defender's target is four or more. If relative degree is eight or more, then there are two critical hits ("double crit"). For every four degrees of relative degree, there is one crit. In addition, if the attacker rolled +4 (+1, +1, +1, +1) for the attack, then apply at least one crit if the relative degree was more than zero; this crit is not cumulative with other crits.

The simplest way of determined what a crit does is for the GM to consider the declared intent of the attacker was. Then the GM lets it happen. This is especially appropriate for PCs attacking unnamed mook NPCs. The GM can temper the result so that it is about as severe as the sample results listed below.

If the attack was not well described, then the GM can pick crits from the following table. If the attack was really boring ("I hit it."), then feel free to pick a non-lethal crit (anything but Weak Spot, Vitals, or Knockout) to liven things up. Or if he is really stuck, then he can pick crits randomly. Select one result from the list for every crit. Some results can be applied multiple times.

4.5.9 PC Death

Sometimes the dice try to kill a PC. In most campaigns, PC death shouldn't occur through a bad die roll, but only if the character's actions were truly self-sacrificing - or stupid - enough to warrant death.

A player may spend an Ité point (Section 1.3.6) to convert a deadly wound to a merely Incapacitating one. 

4.6 Combat and Wounding Example

This example uses the numerical offensive and defensive modifiers in Section 4.5.4, Wound Modifiers List. It also uses a damage die roll.

The two opponents are Medieval warriors, Snorri and Brynhild. The fight takes place in a barroom, which quickly empties of other occupants once weapons are drawn. No one noticed that the innkeeper's son had actually left much earlier than this, when the belligerent Snorri was merely exchanging insults with the proud Brynhild. Both fighters are human (Scale 0), so Scale is left out of the discussion.

Snorri:

Brynhild: Snorri's damage modifier vs. Brynhild: 5-2 = +3
Brynhild's damage modifier vs. Snorri: 5-3 = +2
Snorri has a better reaction speed attribute, so we'll assume he goes first each round and ignore the initiative roll. Each will take two action per round, one attack and one defense.

Round 1 Snorri attacks Brynhild. Snorri rolls Sword Great-2=Fair. Brynhild rolls Shield Good-1=Fair. Defender wins ties, so no effect. Then Brynhild swings, rolling Axe Good-2=Poor Snorri rolls Sword Great+0=Great, easily parrying the attack.

Round 2 Snorri's swing is Great+1=Superb. Brynhild's block is Good+1=Great, so she is hit. Rolling 4dF, the damage roll comes up -2. The damage is +1(Relative degree) +3(damage modifier) -2(damage roll) = 2, a Scratch to Brynhild! Her attack is Good-1=Fair. Snorri's parry is Great-1=Good, so no effect.

Round 3 Snorri gets Great+0=Great, while Brynhild gets Good+0=Good. The damage is +1(Relative degree) +3(damage modifier) +2(damage roll)=+6. This is a serious wound, a Very Hurt. Brynhild is now at -2 to all actions, reducing her Good Skills effectively to Mediocre. This would be a good time for her to run away, surrender, use Ité, etc. But since this an example, she keeps fighting. Her attack is Good-2+2=Good, versus Snorri's Great+0=Great defense, so Snorri remains unscathed.

Round 4 Snorri's attack is Great+2=Legendary, while Brynhild's block is Good-2+0=Mediocre. The damage is +5(relative degree) +3(damage modifier) +1(damage roll)=+9, Near Death! On top of that, the relative degree of +5 provides a critical hit. The GM could very well decide this attack was instantly and messily lethal, although if Snorri's intent was not to kill then that is not necessarily so.

4.7 Healing

Wounds are healed through a body's own recuperative powers, or by a supernormal power. Medical treatment can allow or speed natural recuperation.

Scratches will heal without treatment in a day or so. More serious wounds decrease in severity by one level every 14 days. Thus complete recovery from a Hurt takes 14 days, from a Very Hurt takes 28 days, from a Incapacitated takes 42 days, and from a Near Death takes 56 days. If a character has an attribute that would affect healing, subtract it from the 14 day interval. For example, someone with Superb Health would heal from Hurt in 11 days, while someone with Poor Blood Clotting would heal from Hurt in 16 days.

Characters with Near Death wounds are in a critical state. If the GM decides that they survive the initial wound, they will very likely need medical treatment to survive the 14 days to become merely Incapacitated.

The effect of medical skills in FADAD depends on what treatment is applied and when. The 3 main treatments are first aid, surgery, and long term.

First aid is treatment applied immediately after injury, to stabilize and provide comfort. Providing first aid requires some skill from the user. On a Fair result, Scratches can be healed, given 10-20 minutes of treatment each. Some simple wounds (GM's call), like broken bones or impalement by arrows, can be reduced in severity by one level on a Good result. And the GM should allow Near Death victims a decent chance of living if first aid is provided.

Surgery can make some wounds heal faster, requiring only a few minutes or hours long operation. Roll 4dF plus the surgeon's skill against the difficulty of the injury: Hurt-Mediocre, Very Hurt-Fair, Incapacitated-Good, Near Death-Great. For each degree of success, subtract one from the healing interval for that wound. If the result fails by more than three levels, something bad happens to the patient. Each injury can only benefit from surgery once. Any increased healing rate from surgery persists for that wound until it is healed

Long-term care also speeds healing. Determine the quality of care, using the provider's skill as a base. Hospitalization can greatly increase quality of care, but providing care to soldiers on the march is very difficult. compare to the difficulty of the wound (above). For each degree of success, reduce the healing interval by one day. The difficulty of healing a wound is based on the current level of the wound, not the initial difficulty. Increased healing rates from surgery and long-term care ARE cumulative. The nature of long-term care varies widely in FADAD, from noxious concoctions poured down the patient's throat by the local witch doctor to the gentle and sterile attentions of the priestesses of the goddess of healing. But the treatment must be applied daily for healing to be speeded.

It should be noted that wounds heal "in parallel." Thus a character with 4 Hurts, effectively Near Death, can be as good as new within 2 weeks.

4.8 Ship Combat

These rules are based on AD&D's Spelljammer supplement, and are oriented towards spelljamming ship combat. Ship combat rounds are one (1) minute long each, or 10 normal combat rounds. 

4.8.1 Maneuvering

The maneuvering skill (MS) of a ship is based on the skill of the helm operator, the skill of the crew handling the rigging, and the maneuverability class (MC) of the ship. To determine MS, average the helm-operator skill with the effective skill of the crew. Round halves up if the helm operator and crew are familiar with working together, round halves down if they are unfamiliar. Then average that level with the the MC of the ship, which is rated from Terrible to Superb, just like attributes. Round fractions up. If the ship has fewer crew than the recommended minimum, modify MS using the following table. A helmsman counts as a crewman. 
1 crew to 25% minimum   -3
25%-50% minimum         -2
50% to minimum-1        -1
MS is used for dodging attacks and when attempting ramming attacks. It is also used for avoiding obstacles, handling rough weather, and other tricky stuff. It determines how fast a ship can turn itself: 
MS      Equiv. Faces/ c.rnds/ Max.
         MC    round  90-deg  Accel.
Superb    -      5       3      3
Great     A      4       4      3
Good      B      3       5      3
Fair      C      3       5      3
Mediocre  D      2       8      2
Poor      E      2       7      2
Terrible  F      1      15      1

4.8.2 Attacking Ships with Artillery

Attacking a ship using artillery (ship-scale weaponry) is resolved using the firer's skill with that weapon. The rolled degree with that skill must exceed the Target value of the ship and the Dodge result for the ship. The usual penalties to dodging fast attacks are applied, i.e. -2 for catapult stones and ballista bolts.

The ships Target value is a function of range, weapon accuracy, and ship size. To get the base Target, look up the ship's volume below. Then modify by the weapon and the range in the big weapon table. The worst total target can be is -4 (Terrible-1). 

Volume      Base
(SJ-tons)   Target
---------   ------
  1 -   6    +2
  7 -  22    +1
 23 -  75     0
 76 - 253    -1
254 - 854    -2
If the relative degree of the attack is 1 or more, a hit occurs. Determine damage done in the usual way. Damage done to ships is similar to damage done to characters, but "wound" levels have different names:
Scratched
No substantial structural harm. Hull is scuffed, perhaps a window is broken.
Lightly Damaged
Some planks are broken. Equivalent to Hurt, but ship operations are not impaired.
Heavily Damaged
Many planks damaged. Structural beams weakened. Equivalent to Very Hurt, but ship operations still not impaired. The ships suffers a critical hit whenever a hit does Heavy Damage.
Crippled
Ship is starting to break up. Equivalent to Incapacitated. MC is reduced to Terrible and maximum (safe) speed is reduced to SR 1. The ship suffers a critical hit whenever it takes Crippling Damage, or when lesser damage is "promoted" to Crippling.
Wrecked
Ship crumbles, blows apart, splits, evaporates, etc. Equivalent to Near Death.
Big Weapon Table. 
                                         Target Modifier
 Weapon Name     Crew RoF  Damage 0   1   2   3   4   5   6   7   
 -----------     ---- ---  ------ -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -  
 Ballista, Light  1   1/2  14*   -4  -3  -2  -1  -1   0  +1  +2
 Ballista, Medium 2   1/3  17*   -4  -3  -2  -1   0  +1  +2  +3
 Ballista, Heavy  4   1/4  20*   -4  -3  -1   0  +1  +2  +3  +4
 Catapult, Light  1   1/2  20    -3  -2  -1  +1  +2  +4  +6  +8
 Catapult, Medium 3   1/2  22    -3  -1  +1  +2  +4  +6  +8   X
 Catapult, Heavy  5   1/3  24    -3  -1  +2  +4  +6  +8   X   X
 Bombard, typical 3   1/3  23    -3  -1  +2  +4  +6  +8   X   X
 Wildfire projector 3 1/4  16**  -3  +1  +5   X   X   X   X   X
* Ballista bolts do an additional +1 damage against flesh, such as when fired at large monsters.
** If the wildfire projector hits, it causes the target to catch fire. Only fireproof armor protects. The fire damage the first round is as listed. Unless put out, the fire spreads, doing the same damage as the previous round, plus one. If air envelopes of the attacker and the target do not overlap, then the wildfire will only ignite if it hits an open flame on the target ship.

4.8.3 Other attacks

In the event that one ship rams another, both are damaged. The damage to one is equal to the mass of the other, plus the relative speed in SR (hexes/round, 1 SR = 17 MPH), plus two (+2). If a ship is equipped with a ramming device, and the ram takes the brunt of the impact, then that ship subtracts 4 from the damage it takes. If a ship uses a piercing ram, the other ship takes an additional point (+1) of damage, but there is a good chance that the ships will be entangled.

Attacking targets smaller than ships with artillery is difficult. Add +4 to the Target for human size targets, +3 for giants and small dragons. You may want to fudge the final Target for targets that are within 50 yards or so.

Likewise, attacking ship-sized targets with hand weapons or spells is relatively easy. Ships have a Terrible-1 (-4) Target for such attacks, modified for range. Again, you may want to fudge this, as it is hard to miss a 100 foot long ship that is 30 feet away. 

4.8.4 Damage and Critical Hits

Damage to ships is resolved similarly to damage to characters. Add relative degree of success to base damage to a damage roll, subtract armor value and mass scale.

Ships suffer ship critical hits, or "ship crits". These occur on attack rolls that hit with a +4, and whenever the total damage to a ship is 5 or more, and whenever a ship takes Crippling damage.

When a critical hit occurs, either choose one or roll on the following table. Some criticals have a chance of causing volatile substances (like wildfire or smoke powder) stores on the ship to ignite. In such cases, make a situation roll. If the roll is equal to or lower than the Firing likelihood, then the substances are ignited.
6dF Description Firing
likelihood		 Summary
+4,+5,+6 Fire Great 0 damage first round, +1 damage per round
+3 Spelljammer Shock Poor Make Great Reté roll or go into coma for 3+dF days.
Helms w/o helmsman become inoperative until repaired.
+2 SR Loss Poor -1 SR, min. 1, until helmsman recovers: 
makes Great spelljamming check every round.
+1 Hull Holed Poor Hole is in hull. May be unable to land in water.
0 Ship Shaken Mediocre All hands must make Good Dexterity 
check to not fall down.
-1 Deck Crew Hit - If catapult or similar, a 10 foot diameter area is blasted. All affected take damage equal to ship's damage -20. If ballista or similar, a random crewman may attempt to dodge (at -2) a Fair attack. If failed, time to write next of kin. 
-2 Ship Weapon Hit - A random weapon is destroyed or damaged.
Any crew working that weapon take damage as for Deck Crew Hit.
-3 MC Loss - -1 to ship MC, no worse than F.
Repair requires one turn and Great skill roll by repair crew.
-4,-5,-6 Interior Crew Hit Poor A 10 foot diameter area is blasted. All affected take damage as for Deck Crew Hit.

4.8.5 Repairing Ships

The cost of repairing damage to a ship depends on the extent of the damage and the base cost of the ship. The time to complete repairs is 1 worker-week per 20 g.p. of repairs. One worker can repair the ship per ton of volume, per shift. 
Damage   Fraction of ship cost
Type     to repair
Scratch     5%
Light      20%
Heavy      35%
Crippling  60%

4.9 Spirit Combat

In FADAD, any creature that requires magical weapons to hit is fought not with material might, but with spirit and magic. Such creatures maintain their physical form through shear force of will and magic. Since their forms can be restored at will, only by directly attacking their psyches can they be harmed. Magical weapons are tools that make such attacks easier by connecting the psychic and physical worlds.

In practical terms, spirit combat works as follows. A successful attack roll is required to do damage, but relative degree does not add to damage. The weapon provides a base damage, equal to its "plus" in AD&D terms. If the attacker has an attribute related to spiritual attunement, such as faith, passion, or AD&D's "Wisdom", that attribute provides a damage bonus. The victim's Damage Resistance is equal to the "plus" needed to hit it, minus one. Creatures with high armor class in AD&D may have additional spiritual damage resistance (but not much, because it makes them really tough). Add a 4dF damage roll. On critical hits, add the attacker's "plus" (see below).

Damage appears as physical injuries to the victim's body, representing the severing of the ties to the physical plane.

Characters attacking without weapons can hit if their Potential is high enough. The magical "plus" of a character is equal to Potential divided by three, rounded down. This plus adds to spirit damage. Such attacks naturally require touching the target. Touching undead automatically subjects the attacker to a chance of energy drain, or aging, or whatever special attack that undead has. Punching a spectre is a brave, stupid thing to do.

4.10 Mass Combat

When large numbers of combatants meet, the results can sometimes be decided by combining them into units and treating the units as individual fighters. This is an area where a fair bit of fudging is a great help to prevent occurrence of a wargame.

A unit adds its Scale to its attack and defense rolls. Its Scale is (log N)/(log 1.5), where N is the number of fighters in the unit. Because only so much force can be brought to bear in melee, the difference between unit scale bonuses is normally limited to +4, and may be less.

Damage to a unit is handled the same as damage to an individual, except as noted below. Note that negative damage to a unit can have effects: 

Damage Damage        Morale     Maximum
amount Type          Check      Casualties Notes

9+     dead          n/a        100%       unit slain/captured to last man
7-8    incapacitated Legendary  100%       most members dead, injured, fleeing,
                                           or captured, including leaders
5-6    very hurt     Great      56%        unit fights at -2 to skill
3-4    hurt          Good       33%        unit fights at -1 to skill
1-2    scratch       Fair        8%        minimal effects
-1,0   sub-scratch   Mediocre    2%        4 sub-scratches = 1 scratch
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