Fighting is a dangerous pursuit, whether in primitive or technologically advanced cultures. Few of the Doctor's companions can come through more than a fist-fight unscathed, and attacking a creature that is armed with a powerful energy weapon is foolhardy. Sometimes, however, the Doctor and his companions have no choice: they must resort to violence to get out of an awkward situation. Success largely depends on choosing the right moment to act.

There are two types of physical combat: close combat and ranged weapons combat. Close combat takes place between characters who are in the same area. It covers fisticuffs and swordplay, whether in the form of a simple duel between two people or a confused melee that involves dozens of characters.

Ranged weapons combat is fighting that takes place at a distance. It covers attacks made by weapons such as Dalek guns, the submachine-guns and rifles of UNIT troops, and the bows and thrown spears of primitive tribes.

The main difference between ranged weapons combat and close combat is the distance over which each takes place. Someone armed with a ranged weapon can fire at a target in the same area or one typically up to six areas away. Both types of combat use the same procedure.

All actions in one turn of combat are assumed to occur at the same time. Although each player will resolve his character's actions in turn, the results are applied only after all characters have had a turn. The referee decides which actions are resolved first, and keeps track of the results. The character whose attack is being resolved is called the attacker; his opponent is the defender. The defender may also be referred to as the target when he is attacked by a character who is using a ranged weapon.

An attack made in combat counts as the character's one action for a round. Characters who are not involved in combat, however, may move about the same area or be engaged in other tasks at the same time.

It is important to remember that only the player whose character is attacking rolls the dice. That player's character hits if he overcomes his opponent's defences.

Procedure

Each player decides what his character is going to do during the turn. It may be that some characters do nothing that is relevant to combat: they might choose to make use of other abilities. Whatever the player decides to do, he waits until the referee asks him before revealing his action.

A character has five options he can choose from at the beginning of an action turn:

• Stay in the same area and do nothing except recover from any wounds.
• Stay in the same area and dodge any attack made against him.
• Stay in the same area and perform an action while evading or parrying an attack from any one specified opponent.
• Try to move a number of areas whose difficulty is greater than or equal to his Move ability (including any special abilities such as Running) by beating the difference. Such a character forfeits any right to attack or defend.
• Move a number of areas whose difficulty is less than his Move ability (including any special abilities) and perform an action while evading or parrying an attack from one specified opponent.

There is one option that can be chosen during an action turn:

• Abandon any previously stated intention, stay in the same area and perform an action at an increased difficulty of 2.

Although in all these options, performing an action usually means attacking an opponent, it can also be an attempt to use any ability. The Doctor, for example, could move and, as his action, attempt to reset the controls of a runaway machine.

Only characters in the same area can attack each other in close combat. Within an area there are no restrictions on who can attack whom, but no attacks can be made using close combat on anyone outside that area. Characters are assumed to be moving about rather than remaining stationary while they are in combat, which is why they have such freedom to act in an area.

Attack and Defence (click here to view Table 2)

A character's skill at making attacks in combat is his Control. This value may be enhanced by abilities such as Edged Weapons, Martial Arts or Marksmanship, in which case the total of his Control and his special ability is used. Whether this value is Control on its own or Control enhanced by another ability, it is known as the character's Attack.

Leela's abilities are Control 5, Edged Weapons 2 and Archery 1. Her ability to attack in close combat is 5 if she strikes with her fist; her ability is 7 if she strikes with an edged weapon such as her knife; it is 6 if she shoots a crossbow in ranged weapons combat. Her Attack is respectively 5, 7 and 6.

The basic Defence of a character against an attack is his Size. This ability applies to any and all attacks made against the character in one round: Size is the inherent difficulty of hitting a person. In ranged weapons combat, the distance to the target in areas at the end of the turn is added to the target's Defence.

Sometimes a character will have more than one attack made against him, in which case the best option is to dodge all the attacks. Even a character who was going to attack can change his mind and choose to dodge should he discover that more than one attack is going to be made against him. A dodging character forfeits any right to attack but has a Defence equal to the sum of his Size and Control against any attack made against him that he is aware of.

A character who attacks and defends in close combat during the same turn can increase his Defence by parrying or evading one opponent's blow. He must use a weapon to parry an attack; an unarmed character, unless he has the Martial Arts ability, can only evade. A defender who parries has a Defence equal to the sum of his Size, Control and ability with the parrying weapon. If the defender evades, his Defence is the sum of his Size and Control. A parry or evasion can be applied to only one attack; the character's Size is his Defence against any other attacks. Ranged weapons attacks can be evaded or dodged but not parried.

Leela's abilities are Control 5, Size 3 and Edged Weapons 2. Her basic Defence against any attack is 3. She could still make an attack and then choose to parry or evade one attack made against her. Her Defence against one close combat attack is 10 if she parries with a knife; it is 8 if she evades. She has Defence 8 against any attack made against her if she dodges.

Her basic Defence against ranged weapons attacks is 3 if the attacker is in the same area, because the range is 0 areas; her Defence is 5 against an attacker who is 2 areas away. If she dodges her Defence is 8 and 10 respectively at those ranges.

Resolving An Attack

A player who declares that his character is attacking waits until the referee is ready to resolve his action. The referee, not the players, decides in which order any attacks are made. It may be that he elects to resolve all the referee characters' attacks before determining the results of the player characters' attacks.

Any player whose character is making an attack compares the appropriate Attack with the Defence of the opponent. The blow automatically hits if Attack is greater than the opponent's Defence. If Attack is equal to or less than the opponent's Defence, then the character hits the defender if his player can beat the difference between Attack and Defence by the difference rolled on the dice.

Leela has Attack 7 with her knife (Control 5 plus Edged Weapons 2). She would automatically hit anyone who had a Defence of 6 or less. Against an opponent with a Defence of 7 or more, her player would need to roll the dice to beat the difference between Leela's Attack and her adversary's Defence. She would need a difference of 2 or more on the dice to hit an opponent with Defence 8.

In ranged weapons combat using a crossbow, Leela's Attack is 6 (Control 5 plus Archery 1). She would automatically hit a target with Defence 5, such as a stationary Size 3 opponent at a range of 2 areas. Against a target with Defence 7, such as a dodging Size 3 opponent with Control 3 at a range of one area, her player would need to beat a difference of 1 on the dice.

Wounds

The amount of physical harm that any attack does to a target is measured in wounds. When a character hits an opponent in combat, he inflicts a number of Wounds appropriate to the weapon he is using.

Leela inflicts 4 Wounds with her knife if she beats an opponent's Defence. She inflicts 2 Wounds (half her Strength of 5 rounded down) if she uses her fists. Bolts fired from her crossbow inflict 4 Wounds each.

Armour

Some of the Doctor's enemies wear armour that may protect them from the Wounds inflicted by an attack. Daleks, for example, are encased in an armoured shell that protects the creature inside from most small-arms. The metallic skin of a Cyberman makes it hard to destroy even when using a blaster.

Armour absorbs either all or none of the Wounds from an attack. The number of Wounds inflicted is compared with the protection of the armour, which is expressed as Armour 4, Armour 8 and so on. All the damage gets through and injures the target if the number of Wounds is greater that the protection of the armour. If the number of Wounds is equal to or less than the protection of the armour, the attacker needs to beat the difference between these values to wound the defender. All the Wounds are inflicted if the protection of the armour is beaten.

Leela fires a bolt from her crossbow and inflicts 4 Wounds against a Cyberman that has Armour 9. Her player needs to beat a difference of 5 to get through the armour and wound the Cyberman, which is impossible because she can only equal that difference. The player and Leela learn the hard way that Cybermen are generally immune to arrows.

The effects of wounds are worked out direct if the defender does not wear armour.

Effects Of Wounds

Wounds always injure a character, although the effects of this may not immediately be noticed. A character feels the effects of Wounds only if they overcome his Strength. The total number of Wounds that a character receives, however, is always recorded whether or not he is overcome by them.

The defender is automatically overcome if the number of Wounds inflicted is greater than his Strength. If the number of Wounds against the defender is equal to or less than his Strength, the attacker must beat the difference between Strength and Wounds to overcome the defender.

A character who is overcome falls unconscious to the ground at the end of the turn, but may still resolve his attack if he has yet to do so. An overcome character may be near to death or even dead depending on the number of Wounds he has taken. Wounds are cumulative, whether a character is overcome or resists the effects, and the total number of Wounds against a character should be recorded. This determines whether the character is unconscious, near to death or dead.

Any character who is not overcome by his wounds can continue to act normally. His player should bear in mind, however, that the character is wounded and that further injury could easily result in death.

Special Rules

Combat is not always straightforward. Inventive players may come up with a special move that requires careful adjudication, or might try to aim blows to disable or disarm opponents rather than kill them.

Aiming

Some creatures are too tough to be beaten in a straight fight and often the only way to defeat them is to attack a weak spot. A Dalek's eye-stalk is vital if it is to see but is less heavily armoured than its body; a Cyberman is especially vulnerable to gold items shot into the grille on its chest unit.

Characters also have to aim if they have to shoot at partly obscured targets, such as a guard crouching behind a crate and whose head is the only visible part of his body. Aiming does not affect the procedure for combat: the Size of the specific part of the target is used instead of the target's usual Size.

Leela aims her crossbow at an enemy soldier who is shooting at her from around a corner. The soldier is Size 3 but presents only his head and shoulder as a target: the rest is of him is protected by a wall. He presents a Size 5 (head and shoulders) target to determine his Defence against Leela's attack.

Crowding

Up to five characters can be in one area without impeding one another: anyone in such an area can act freely. An area that contains more than five characters becomes crowded. Characters in a crowded area may use only short weapons, such as knives, or natural weapons, such as fists. No character may use a ranged weapon in a crowded area, although people outside a crowded area can fire at targets in that area.

Disarming

An attacker can deliberately try to disarm an opponent, rather than try to harm him, by making an aimed attack at his enemy's weapon arm. If the Wounds inflicted beat the Strength of the opponent, the weapon is dropped but the defender is not injured. Alternatively, an aimed attack can be made at the opponent's weapon itself, aiming to beat the weapon's Strength in order to break it.

Grappling

Few of the Doctor's companions use weapons to attack opponents: they either indulge in fisticuffs or try to restrain or wrestle with an enemy. This type of combat is used to capture opponents unharmed for questioning.

Grappling is resolved in the same way as hand to hand combat, except that the player states his character is going to grapple an opponent when asked to declare his action. He should say which part of his opponent he is going to restrain; the size of this target is used to determine the opponent's Defence. The biggest target that an attacker can grapple is the chest and arms of his opponent, typically Size 5, although it may be better, depending on circumstances, to restrain an opponent's weapon arm. Anyone who grapples has a Defence equal to his grappling ability, typically Size plus Control and an ability such as Brawling. A defender may use any defensive ability he feels is appropriate: parrying is interpreted as using a weapon to intimidate the attacker; evading or dodging are simply techniques to get out of the way.

If the grappling attack succeeds, the attacker must beat the difference between his Strength and the defender's Strength to restrain his opponent. Grappling attacks do not wound the defender.

A character who is restrained in this way may attempt to break free in subsequent turns. The player states that his character is doing so as his action for a turn. The character needs to beat the difference between his Strength and sum of the Strength, Control and relevant grappling ability of his captor to break free. A restrained character with a grappling ability can elect to use this and his Control instead of Strength. If he succeeds, he may move or attack next round as normal. The person restraining him is assumed to be trying to prevent this escape.

If two or more people restrain someone, each additional character adds one to the difficulty of breaking free. The base difficulty is calculated from the character with the highest abilities.

Sometimes two characters will try to grapple each other. Each resolves his attack as normal. If both attacks fail, neither character has a hold on the other. If both attacks succeed, the characters are wrestling for an advantage. Whoever breaks free first while retaining hold of his opponent gains the upper hand.

Once a character has successfully restrained an opponent he can hold on to him, restraining him and resisting any attempts to break free, or can attempt wrestling attacks such as picking up his opponent and throwing him to the ground! The referee should flexibly interpret an inventive player's wishes and work out appropriate difficulties.

Grenades

Area weapons such as grenades or dynamite are not aimed at people, rather they are aimed at a particular area. The difficulty, therefore, depends on the Size of the area (typically Size 2 for an area measuring 3 metres by 3 metres) and the range (as thrown weapons, grenades have a maximum range of three areas). An attack that misses, however, may fall short or even overshoot, still causing damage to people or property -- this is only likely if characters with low ability try throwing a grenade at a range of 2, 3 areas.

One minus the result on the dice is the number of areas away from the target area that a grenade lands if the attack misses. A negative number means the grenade undershoots by that many areas; a positive number means the grenade overshoots by that many areas. The grenade still travels along the original line of fire it was intended to be projected along and explodes in its new area.

If one minus the result on the dice is zero, the grenade still lands in its target area but it does not explode that turn: it explodes in the next action turn, giving people in the area a chance to move away or even to pick up the grenade and throw it back!

A UNIT soldier with Control 3 throws a grenade at a Size 2 area containing a group of Cybermen. The range is three areas, resulting in a Defence of 5. He has to beat a difference of 2 to succeed but rolls double 6 -- a result of 0. The grenade lands one area further away than intended (one minus the result is plus one, indicating an overshoot of one area). Had he rolled a result of 1, the grenade would have landed in the same area as the Cybermen but exploded only next turn.

Group fire

Soldiers use group fire with ranged weapons to stand a better chance of hitting a target, perhaps one that is partly concealed by cover or one that must be disabled by shooting at a weak point. Any characters that are in the same area can combine the fire from the same type of ranged weapons. The character with the highest appropriate combat ability directs fire, and his ability is used as the base Attack to hit the target. Each additional character, up to a maximum of the fire-director's ability, adds one to this Attack. Regardless of the number of characters involved in group fire, the Wounds for only one hit is used to overcome the opponent.

A Cyber-lieutenant with Control 3 and Marksmanship 2 directs the fire of four other Cybermen, each with Control 3 and Marksmanship 1, at a Raston Robot. The Cyber-lieutenant has Attack 5, which means it can direct the fire of five Cybermen -- itself and the four it is leading. The overall Attack of all five Cybermen firing at one target is 9.

Shooting into melees

Shooting a ranged weapon into a group of friends and enemies is a dangerous pursuit: the attacker is as likely to hit a friend as he is to hit an enemy. The Defence of a target in a group is increased by the number of the attacker's friends or allies in that group. If the attack misses yet would ordinarily beat the unadjusted Defence of the target, the attacker has hit the nearest friend, by line of sight, to his target. The Defence of the attacker's friend is immaterial: he is automatically hit in this instance.

Snapshot

A snapshot is any ranged weapons attack that is made without preparation. It is possible that once it becomes clear where everyone is moving that a player will want his character to fire at a different target from the one he originally intended. This is likely if a target comes into view only briefly in the round, say by running across an opening. A snapshot could also be made to shoot at a target before it moves out of range.

A snapshot is equivalent to choosing the sixth action turn option: the character remains in the same area and abandons what he originally intended to do. The attack is resolved the same way as a normal ranged weapons attack, except that the difficulty is increased by two.

The Doctor and his companions rarely use weapons; they are more likely to be threatened by opponents that use them. In the course of their adventures, however, the Doctor and his companions may have to fight to survive or attain an objective. Companions are often ordinary people who have just become mixed up with the Doctor's travels; they are not mercenaries who plunder time and space while armed to the teeth. Unless companions have a good reason for being armed they should be discouraged, perhaps by the Doctor, from carrying weapons.

Weapons are best left to those who are able to handle them skilfully. Characters such as the Brigadier, who might carry a revolver, and Jamie, who would probably feel uneasy if he didn't have his dirk, are best qualified to survive a fight. When an adventure reaches a sticky moment where only a fight will allow the Doctor and his companions to continue, such trained warriors will be more useful than someone who does not know one end of a blaster from another. There are always exceptions, however, as Tegan proved in Earthshock when she grabbed a Cyberman's blaster and capably blew away its colleagues. The referee and the players should be prepared to adapt to circumstances.

There is good reason for keeping out of the way of weapons: they are dangerous. One blow from any weapon is usually sufficient to seriously injure a companion or the Doctor. The threat of being hit can prove more effective than actually striking or firing at a character.

Weapons are divided into two categories: close-combat weapons and ranged weapons. Close-combat weapons can be used only against nearby opponents. In the game they can be used to attack only opponents that are in the same area as the wielder. There are three categories of close-combat weapons: natural weapons, blunt weapons and edged weapons. Ranged weapons are used to attack opponents at a distance, usually from zero to six areas away. There are four categories of ranged weapons: thrown weapons, bows, firearms and blasters.

The number of wounds that a weapon inflicts on an opponent depends on its category.

Close-combat Weapons (click here to view Table 3 and Table 4)

Natural weapons

Any attack which is made with a part of a creature's body is made with a natural weapon: fists, feet, teeth and claws are all natural weapons. Natural weapons can be either soft or hard: fists and feet are soft because they are fleshy; teeth, chitinous mandibles, claws and horns are hard.

A soft natural weapon inflicts Wounds equal to half the character's Strength; any halves are rounded down. (A Strength 1 person would inflict 0 Wounds; although this would not damage anyone, the dice should still be rolled to determine whether the weak blow knocks out its target.) A hard natural weapon is more effective: it inflicts Wounds equal to the character's Strength. The weakness of fist attacks is one of the main reasons why characters choose to use something better, such as a sword.

Attacks made with fists or feet do not usually injure an opponent sufficiently to kill him. The wounds inflicted, however, are often sufficient to knock out an opponent for an action turn. An attacker who hits his opponent too many times or who is exceptionally strong may well be capable of killing an opponent. A Cyberman is an especially dangerous: its hard metal fist inflicts 6 Wounds -- it is as lethal as a blaster.

Soft natural weapons may not be used to parry attacks other than those made by soft natural weapons. A character who has the Martial Arts ability strikes with his hands and feet as if he were using hard natural weapons. His attacks inflict Wounds equal to his strength. Such a character may also attempt to deflect attacks as if he were trying to parry them.

Blunt weapons

A blunt weapon is a weapon that does not have a cutting edge or a point that is used for thrusting. A club made from a tree branch, a medieval knight's mace, the butt of a gun or a household object such as a vase or a chair are all blunt weapons. Blunt weapons inflict 3 Wounds. Because blunt weapons inflict more wounds than most characters' fists, they are more likely to knock out an opponent when they hit. They are unlikely to kill most opponents because they inflict fewer wounds than, say, a blaster or a rifle.

Edged weapons

A weapon with a sharp cutting edge or which has a point used for thrusting is treated as an edged weapon. Swords, rapiers, axes and spears are all edged weapons. An edged weapon inflicts 4 Wounds. Like blunt weapons, edged weapons inflict more wounds than a character's fist could. Edged weapons damage vital organs, either killing an opponent or knocking them out owing to the pain of the wound. A blow from a sword is quite likely to put down most human opponents: only someone who is heavily armoured or quite strong will be able to fight on.

Ranged Weapons

Thrown weapons

Missile weapons that are held in the hand and hurled at their target are thrown weapons. The category includes daggers, spears, rocks and household objects such as vases or other ornaments.

There are two types of thrown weapon: light and heavy. A light thrown weapon is usually no more than a foot or so long. The category includes daggers, throwing knives and small rocks. A heavy thrown weapon is either long or bulky: the class includes spears, javelins and boulders.

Light thrown weapons inflict 3 Wounds; heavy thrown weapons inflict 4 Wounds. Thrown weapons have a maximum range of three areas.

Bows

Bows and crossbows have a maximum range of five areas, although an especially powerful bow might have a range of six areas. An arrow fired from a bow inflicts 4 Wounds. It takes an action to string an arrow for a long or compound bow, giving it a maximum rate of fire of one shot every two action turns. A crossbow requires two actions to cock and load, giving it a maximum rate of fire of one shot every three action turns.

Firearms

It is unusual for the Doctor's companions to carry firearms, although many of them are prepared to pick up a gun and use it if necessary. Guns should be treated more as a threat: they are often used to intimidate at close range. Only the Brigadier, Benton, Yates and other UNIT soldiers would typically carry guns in the Doctor's TARDIS, but they would probably feel uncomfortable without their weapons! Guns are also notoriously ineffective against creatures such as Daleks or creations of antimatter; the best defence is to run away.

Close-combat weapons, blasters and bows are simple compared with firearms. Although a firearm is easy to use, it is complicated by the mechanisms and loading procedures that different designs have necessitated. Most characters in TIME LORD should be able to pick up a gun and fire it; whether they are able to reload it or understand how it works is another matter.

A firearm is a small gun that uses an explosive charge to fire a bullet. The term embraces flintlock pistols, revolvers, muskets and rifles, weapons used by soldiers in some of the most violent conflicts of Earth's history. Soldiers in UNIT or from the time of the English Civil War or the French Revolution would typically be armed with a firearm of some type. Even the Daleks had recourse to a machine-gun when their blasters failed them on the energy-draining planet of Exxilon.

Firearms are classified according to their loading mechanism and their power. The first determines how long it takes to reload a gun before it can be fired; the second determines the number of Wounds that a gun inflicts. All guns can be used as makeshift blunt weapons in hand to hand combat. Blunt weapons or brawling abilities are appropriate to this use: any gun used this way inflicts 3 Wounds.

Loading Mechanisms

Muzzle-loaders

Early firearms are loaded by inserting the gunpowder charge and the bullet in the muzzle of the gun and ramming them down to the breech. This time-consuming process gives them a slow rate of fire. It takes two actions to reload a muzzle-loading pistol, and three actions to reload a muzzle-loading musket or rifle. The fastest rate of fire possible with a flintlock pistol is one shot every three action turns; it is one shot every four action turns for a musket.

Breech-loaders

Breech-loading guns are faster to reload than muzzle-loaders. Shotguns are classed as breech-loading guns. All breech-loaders take one action to reload, which gives them a maximum rate of fire of one shot every two action turns. A double-barrelled shotgun, however, can be reloaded as one action and is then ready to fire two shots, one after the other in different turns: its rate of fire is two shots every three action turns.

Guns with magazines

Rifles with magazines, revolvers, automatic pistols and submachine-guns can be fired each turn until their ammunition runs out. It takes one action to replace a magazine with a fresh one, but longer to reload a magazine or to reload a revolver. A magazine or revolver with up to six shots capacity takes two actions to reload; other magazines take two actions for every six shots they contain. Most of the time a referee need not worry about the time it takes to reload such guns; the only important information is how many rounds a gun can fire before it runs out of ammunition.

Revolvers, pistols and rifles typically have six-shot magazines, and submachine-guns typically have 30-shot magazines. Referees who wish fully to detail actual weapons should feel free to do so.

Gun Types

Submachine-guns

Submachine-guns can be set to fire single shots or in bursts. Single-shot setting increases the difficulty to hit a target by one. A submachine-gun set to automatic fire can attack either all the targets in an area -- it cannot discriminate between friend and foe! -- or one target, increasing the damage done.

A submachine-gun inflicts 5 Wounds on each target when it is set to single shot or used to fire into an area. A submachine-gun set on automatic and used to fire at only one target inflicts 6 Wounds.

A submachine-gun set to automatic expends 10 shots in a burst; a maximum of three bursts can typically be fired using the same magazine. The attacker rolls to hit each target in the area into which he is shooting. He would, for example, roll three times to hit three targets.

Pistols, revolvers and shotguns

All pistols, revolvers and shotguns, regardless of the ammunition used, inflict 5 Wounds and have a maximum range of four areas.

Rifles and muskets

A rifle or musket inflicts 5 Wounds. Muskets increase the difficulty to hit a target by 1 because they are inaccurate.

Blasters

A blaster is a firearm with a short range but devastating effect. It shoots powerful bolts of energy which are capable of damaging steel and concrete; a single hit is enough to put down most opponents. Different cultures in the universe have developed blasters which use different forms of energy. Soldiers from 21st century Earth and beyond use lasers that use the energy of light, whereas Daleks have gunsticks which rely on nuclear energy. Sea Devils' weapons use heat. Apart from these differences and some slight variations in performance, however, all blasters are treated the same way in TIME LORD.

Blasters are personal weapons with a limited range. A soldier would be equipped with a blaster in much the same way as he would receive a sword or axe in ancient times. Yet the blaster is far more flexible as a weapon: it can be used to hit targets at a distance and it can be set to kill or stun opponents. Although it may sometimes do no more damage than more primitive weapons such as UNIT's rifles, its flexibility more than compensates.

When a blaster is set to kill it inflicts the maximum number of wounds it is capable of doing. Most Earth soldiers' blasters inflict a maximum of 6 Wounds. This is enough to seriously injure or kill a typical opponent, although a heavily armoured target such as a Dalek or Cyberman may completely escape damage. Most soldiers set their blasters to kill, which makes the threat of a hit an unpleasant proposition for a character.

A blaster that is set to stun inflicts half the maximum number of wounds it is capable of doing. Most Earth soldiers' blasters inflict 3 Wounds when set to stun. This is usually sufficient to lightly injure a typical opponent and make him fall unconscious.

Grenades and Explosives

Area weapons such as grenades, sticks of dynamite and cans of nitro-nine need special mention. The Thrown Weapons ability governs their accuracy when they are thrown into an area; the Explosives ability is used to place them accurately for a controlled explosion or for demolition work.

Explosives and grenades attack not only the area they are detonated in but also adjacent areas, depending on their power. All targets in the primary zone of effect of an explosion are attacked at the full Wounds value of the explosive; all targets in the secondary zone of effect are attacked at half this value, rounded up.

Most explosives used in a quantity capable of being thrown, including grenades and bundles of dynamite, inflict 6 Wounds on every person in the same area and 3 Wounds to anyone in an adjacent area. Nitro-nine is more effective: one can inflicts 7 Wounds to targets in the area of detonation and 4 Wounds to targets in adjacent areas. Larger quantities of explosives inflict proportionately more damage. Referee's notes on explosives, grenades and areas of effect appear in Part Five.

Heavy Weapons

It is unlikely that any character will use more powerful weapons than the hand-held weapons outlined here. Shells from field guns and the like can be improvised in their effect: they are area weapons with an even greater radius of effect than grenades, typically inflicting the maximum number of Wounds to targets in the primary zone of effect, half maximum Wounds in the secondary zone of effect. A suggested Wounds score is 12, which would inflict 6 Wounds in the secondary zone of effect. The zones are calculated the same way as those for explosives in Part Five.

UNIT troops frequently resort to bazookas to deal with alien menaces. These weapons have a range of 6 areas and inflict 8 Wounds if they hit. They can also be aimed at an area, in which case the explosive shell inflicts 6 Wounds to targets in the area of detonation and 3 Wounds to targets in adjacent areas.

Armour and shields

Although neither the Doctor nor his companions have much use for armour or shields except as part of a disguise, their warlike enemies make frequent use of these defences. Primitive societies have more use for armour than advanced ones simply because their ancient weapons are more likely to be deflected by armour: there are few suits of armour that can withstand gunfire and still be practical to wear. Yet strong armour is still used by technologically advanced species, some of which have built it into their very form. The Daleks and the Cybermen have both harnessed the properties of alloys and metals to create armour that is tough enough to withstand the firepower of the races they seek to dominate.

There are three categories of armour: full armour, body armour and partial armour.

Full armour is an all-encasing suit of armour that protects its wearer from top to toe. It is the type of armour worn by Earth's medieval knights and alien species such as the Daleks, Ice Warriors and Cybermen. There are few weak points in a suit of full armour: those that exist are limited to eye-slits and the inside of joints. Full armour always counts against any attack against the wearer unless that attack is aimed at a weak point. Full armour is heavy and restricting: the Move of any creature or person wearing it is reduced by 1 unless the armour forms part of its natural skin or an in-built part of its mechanism.

Body armour covers only the wearer's torso. A Greek hoplite's skirt and cuirass, a knight's hauberk and a policeman's bullet-proof jacket all count as body armour. Like full armour, body armour always counts against any attack against the wearer unless that attack is aimed at a part of the body that is not covered by the armour. Body armour would not count against a blow aimed at, say, an arm or the head.

Partial armour is the individual elements of armour that go into making up a full suit of armour: it includes greaves, vambraces, sleeves, leggings, gauntlets and helmets. Unlike full armour and body armour, partial armour counts only against attacks that are aimed at the part of the body it protects; it has no general effect against attacks. Partial armour, however, does have its uses: it protects vulnerable parts of the body from disabling attacks and allows anyone wearing body armour to reduce the number of vulnerable points. A helmet is the commonest piece of partial armour worn by soldiers: whether it is a Viking helmet, the tin hat of an English Tommy from the First World War or a Gallifreyan guard's headpiece it is a useful defence against a sly attack from behind.

Shields are a special type of partial armour. They are effective only against attacks from the front and shield side that the wielder is aware of. Shields always increase the difficulty of hitting the wielder. A buckler increases the difficulty by 1; a larger shield increases the difficulty by 2.

The protection that armour affords depends on the material from which it is made. Protection is always expressed in the form Armour 2, Armour 3, Armour 8 and so on, where the number is the difficulty that must be overcome by the Wounds inflicted by the attack. If the attacker fails to beat the difference between Wounds and Armour, his blow does not injure the defender: the armour has deflected or absorbed all of the damage. If the attacker beats the difference between Wounds and Armour, his blow lands as if the defender were wearing no armour and he tests to overcome the defender's Strength as normal. Any attack whose Wounds are greater than the defender's Armour automatically gets through the armour.

Primitive armour

Padded cloth is the most basic type of armour and affords little protection. It is most commonly worn as a quilted hauberk, sometimes with sleeves, although exceptionally thick and heavy winter clothing may give the same effect. Padded cloth is Armour 1.

Soft leather is little better than padded cloth. It is typically worn as padding beneath metal armour, but also includes leather jerkins and biker's leathers. Soft leather is Armour 2.

Tough leather is soft leather armour that has been specially treated. It is the type of armour typically worn by castle guards; in some ancient civilizations it is even the best armour that can be produced. Tough leather is Armour 3.

Flexible metal armour comprises linked rings of metal or small scales of metal sewn to a leather undercoat and is commonly known as mail or scale armour. It rates as Armour 4.

Plate metal armour is the beaten breastplates of Greek warriors or the full suits of armour worn by late medieval knights. Overlapping plates of metal provide flexible joints in full suits of this type of armour. Many helmets also count as plate metal armour. It rates as Armour 5 and is the best that can be achieved through Earth's metalworking techniques.

Advanced armour

Plastic-fibre armour consists of strong, impact-resistant plastic fibres woven together into a cloth or bonded into strong plates. It is the material used to make bulletproof vests and riot gear and offers protection against attack in a lightweight form. Plastic-fibre armour rates as Armour 5. If worn as full armour, plastic-fibre armour does not reduce the Move of its wearer.

Reflective armour is intended to reduce the effect of laser blasters by reflecting or dispersing the high-energy beam of light. It counts as plastic-fibre armour but with the ability of Special Immunity 1 against laser light, in effect making it Armour 6 against lasers.

Leela's durable leather clothing is the equivalent of tough leather body armour: she has Armour 3 covering her chest and abdomen. Anyone attacking her has to get through this armour if they hit, unless they choose to make an aimed attack at her head, arms or legs. Leela's armour does not protect her if an attack hits one of these areas. Her arm, however, is Size 6, making it a far harder target to hit than Leela as a whole, who is Size 4. Leela could also add any benefits from dodging or parrying to her defence.

All characters should fear death in TIME LORD, even the Doctor who can regenerate to survive attacks that would kill an ordinary person. It is unlikely that a character who behaves sensibly in an adventure will die, but a moment of rashness, carelessness or nobility may make this a real danger. Players should certainly not treat their characters as if they had script immunity: to a certain extent they do, but this alone will not save them. Even companions of the Doctor have died in the course of his adventures.

The number of Wounds a character has taken and the character's Strength determine his health. A character is lightly wounded if the total number of Wounds he has taken is equal to or less than his Strength. He is seriously wounded if the number of Wounds he has taken is greater than his Strength but less than or equal to twice his Strength. A character is dead if the number if Wounds he has taken is greater than twice his Strength. A character with Strength 3, for example, is lightly wounded if he has taken 1 to 3 Wounds, seriously wounded if he has taken 4 to 6 Wounds, and dead if he has taken 7 or more Wounds.

Some abilities such as Cheat Death or Iron Constitution affect a character's resistance to pain and even death. In effect they increase a character's Strength, allowing him to take a greater number of Wounds before dying or being seriously wounded.

Lightly wounded

A character who is lightly wounded has received a wound which is only a graze, or has been knocked out by a gentle blow from a blunt weapon. The character can recover from such an injury quickly. A lightly wounded character does not need medical attention to heal his wounds, although First Aid or Medicine could quickly return him to full health.

Seriously wounded

A character who is seriously wounded has received a painful wound that needs medical attention or a long time to heal. He may not heal his wounds until he receives medical attention such as First Aid or Medicine, although he may attempt to recover consciousness. A seriously wounded character who does not receive medical attention takes one Wound for each hour (four research turns) he does not receive attention: such a character will eventually die. First Aid may be sufficient to make a seriously wounded character only lightly wounded.

Dead

The character is dead and cannot be brought back to life. Grisly experiments or powers, however, have been applied to dead characters and it may be that the dead can walk again. Captain Cook in The Greatest Show in the Galaxy was killed, for example, but the Gods of Ragnarok animated his body long enough for him to perform a service for them.

Anyone who is overcome can try to regain consciousness at the end of each action turn except the one in which he fell unconscious. When all opponents have been overcome or restrained, however, a character may try to recover from being unconscious only at the end of each research turn that has passed since the fight finished. An overcome character may therefore be able to return to the fight if he is only lightly wounded, but if he is still unconscious after the fight he probably needs medical treatment.

Whether a character recovers or remains unconscious depends on his Strength and his Wounds. He recovers at the appropriate time by beating the difference between his Strength and his Wounds. Anyone who recovers may act normally, although they are still wounded: Wounds are removed only by healing. A character whose Strength is greater than his Wounds automatically recovers at the end of the turn after the one in which he was wounded. Such a character is only lightly wounded: in effect he has been dazed or winded by the force of an attack.

Seriously wounded characters -- those whose Wounds are greater than their Strength -- can take some time to recover and it may even be impossible for them to do so without assistance. Such a person, however, may recover just in time to save the day or execute the next part of his master's evil plan.

A Kaled scientist has been badly injured, receiving 6 Wounds from an attack. He has Strength 3, which means he recovers if he can beat the difference of 3. He fails to do so while the combat rages around him, but after everyone has left he has a chance to recover every research turn and might be able to alert Davros and the Daleks to his failure.

Healing

Wounded characters will get better of their own accord as time passes, provided that they are not too badly wounded. This process is called natural healing.

Natural healing removes Wounds equal to the character's Strength for each week of bed rest: the damage is healed at the end of such a week. Healing continues until the character's Wounds level is zero, at which point the character has fully recovered. No character may have a negative Wounds score. First Aid and proper medical attention can speed the natural healing process.

A character with Strength 3 would recover three points of Wounds after one week of bed rest. If he had 5 Wounds, after one week he would have 2 Wounds, and after two weeks he would have 0 Wounds.

Use of First Aid

First Aid may be applied only once to a wounded character: it assumes that whoever administers First Aid tends to any injuries as best he can. A character with the First Aid ability immediately heals Wounds equal to the value of his special ability if he can beat the difference between his total ability and the Wounds of the injured person.

Anyone who applies First Aid but fails to heal Wounds has still bandaged the injured person, who will not suffer further wounds due to bleeding. First Aid requires basic medical facilities, such as clean bandages and water, or a first aid kit.

Katarina has Control 2 and First Aid 2, giving her a total ability of 4 at First Aid. She cleans and bandages the wounds Steven received at Troy. He has received 6 Wounds, which means Katarina must beat the difference of 2 to succeed. She reduces his Wounds by 2 if she succeeds, otherwise she merely makes a neat job of bandaging him.

Use of Medicine

Characters with the Medicine ability are trained doctors or nurses who understand the medical techniques and drugs of their time. Anyone with the Medicine ability can heal Wounds equal to his special ability on its own if he can beat the difference between his total ability and the injured person's Wounds.

Medicine may be applied to any injured character, provided that no other such attempt has been made in the previous 24 hours. A failed attempt at Medicine does not prevent further attempts at using this ability, although each attempt must be at least 24 hours later than any other. Medicine, however, requires specialized drugs or equipment to be effective. Many useful items may be kept in a doctor's bag, for example, but this does not mean that all the required drugs are carried. A doctor might carry antibiotics with him, for example, but have no antidotes for snake venoms. Applying the wrong medication brings no benefit.

After Katarina has successfully applied First Aid to Steven's Wounds, the Doctor examines him. The Doctor has Knowledge 6 and Medicine 1, giving him a total Medicine ability of 7: he deduces that Steven's wound is infected, but does not have the right drugs to cure his companion. He sets course for a planet that he hopes will provide the right drugs. Once he finds them, he needs to beat the difference between his total ability of 7 and Steven's Wounds, now standing at 4, to heal 1 Wound a day. His ability is high enough automatically to succeed, but without the drugs he is powerless.

After Katarina's attention, Steven regains consciousness after one research turn. His Strength of 5 means he is now only lightly wounded because he has only 4 Wounds. The referee, however, rules that the infected wound is equivalent to a slow-acting poison of potency Wounds 3, and rolls the dice every six hours (24 research turns) to see whether Steven falls unconscious again. As the Doctor speeds the TARDIS towards civilization, Steven seesaws between wakefulness and sleep.

Some creatures are especially dangerous because their attacks rely on venom rather than damage to kill or paralyse opponents. Whether such a creature is a snake or a Cybermat, all companions should be wary of its attacks. Not all poisons come from creatures: intelligent men and creatures often use them on weapons or in food either to kill or drug their enemies. Such poisons are encountered only rarely.

Poison come in two basic types: slow-acting and quick-acting. It may be injected, ingested or rely on contact with the skin to take effect. A slow-acting poison gradually builds up in the body of its victim until it reaches a lethal dose, whereas a quick-acting one immediately attacks its victim at full strength, and gradually loses its effectiveness as the victim's body shrugs off its effects. All poisons have Wounds ratings that represent the maximum effectiveness of that poison.

Quick-acting poison

A quick-acting poison attacks the Strength of the character with its full Wounds rating. If it overcomes the character, either because its Wounds rating is higher than the Strength of the character, or because the referee beats the difference between these values, then the character is overcome and takes Wounds equal to those of the poison.

After the initial attack, the poison continues to attack the character's Strength but at reduced values. The Wounds rating of most quick-acting poisons decays at a rate of one point an action turn: after one action turn a Wounds 6 poison attacks at Wounds 5, delivering 5 Wounds if it overcomes the character's Strength. Once a poison reaches Wounds 0 it has no further effect.

Any further attacks which increase the level of toxin in the victim's body increase the Wounds only up to the maximum for that poison. A Wounds 6 quick-acting poison is deadly and rare; snake venom is typically Wounds 4 or Wounds 3.

Slow-acting poison

A slow-acting poison increases in effectiveness from 1 Wound up to its maximum Wounds rating. The usual rate of increase is one point every research turn, although those poisons that rely on repeated doses to take effect increase in effectiveness only when each dose is given.

If the current Wounds rating of a slow-acting poison beats the Strength of a character, either because the Wounds rating is higher than the Strength of the character or because the referee beats the difference, then that character is overcome. A slow-acting poison wounds a character only if it overcomes his Strength.

Slow-acting poisons that do not require repeated doses decay in potency once they have reached their maximum Wounds rating. The rate of decay is equal to the rate at which they increased in potency. Poisons that rely on repeated doses can be maintained at their maximum level by further doses. Once a slow-acting poison has decayed to Wounds 0 it has no further effect.

Effects Of Poisons

Lethal poisons that inflict enough Wounds on a character will kill him. The Wounds inflicted by such a poison can be healed by natural healing, although this is usually too slow to prevent the character from dying. First Aid will be effective if applied, but usually heals too little to counteract the effects of poison. Medicine, with the appropriate antidote, is the only sure cure. The correct antidote immediately and completely neutralizes the poison and allows healing to take place.

Poisons that paralyse or make a person sleep do not kill: they achieve their effects with the object of keeping the victim alive. Wounds inflicted by such a poison may be healed through natural healing while the character is paralysed or asleep. First Aid and Medicine are also effective.

Infection

Wounds inflicted by dirty weapons, such as swords or spears from primitive civilizations, may be infected. Such Wounds can be treated as slow-acting poisons, building up from Wounds 1 to a maximum of Wounds 3, with an effect time of 6 to 24 hours. The referee may change these values depending on the circumstances.

Vertiginous heights are very much a part of DOCTOR WHO, and characters should quite rightly be wary of them. One slip when ascending or descending a cliff face can mean death or severe injury at the least. The number of Wounds a character takes from any fall depends on the distance he travels and the ground he lands on.

Distance is measured in terms of vertical areas: the referee decides how many areas represent the distance. There are usually 3 metres to each vertical area, so a fall of 3 metres, for example, is only a fall of one area; a fall of 10 metres is a fall of four areas.

The type of ground that the character falls on decides the base amount of Wounds that are inflicted. Soft ground, such as mud or water, inflicts 1 Wound; hard ground, such as packed earth, inflicts 2 Wounds; rock inflicts 3 Wounds, and particularly dangerous ground, such as jagged rocks or spikes inflicts 4 Wounds. The number of areas the character falls is added to this base value to determine the total number of Wounds inflicted. A fall of 3 areas onto rock would inflict 7 Wounds; the same fall into water would inflict only 4 Wounds.

If a character attempts to use an appropriate ability to avoid injury, such as Swimming to represent diving into water, the Wounds that would be inflicted by the fall count as the difficulty of avoiding injury.

Whether a character is drowning or suffocating, the effect is much the same: they cannot breathe because their air supply has been cut off. The number of action turns that a character is without completely without air counts as a difficulty against Strength that he must beat to avoid taking damage; a special ability such as Iron Constitution increases his resistance.

Any character who fails to beat the difference takes 3 Wounds. If he is overcome, he have a chance to recover at the end of the next turn to resist the further effects of oxygen deprivation. If he fails to recover he automatically take 3 Wounds.

Turlough, with Strength 4 and Iron Constitution 1 has a total ability of 5 to resist suffocation or drowning: he could easily remain without air for four action turns, and would only start trying to beat the difference on the fifth turn.