Combat on Adreinn varies wildly from gang confrontations or raider ambushes fought with swords and small arms to squads of soldiers armed with lasers, rockets, and enigmas squaring off against armored Welter-weight rigs.
It is custom for people of authority and means to carry a blade in Tellus Athera. It is illegal for those not in the Constabulary or Erranthood to carry firearms and arcs, though that does not deter many of the criminal element. Outside Tellus Athera, the lack of industry makes melee and thrown weapons of all kinds the most commonly wielded, though raiders will often use improvised firearms.
MELEE
Melee weapons are divided into types for easy comparison. “Small weapons” such as daggers, switchblades or saps are wielded with one hand, using MIGHT to attack an adjacent opponent. Small weapons can be thrown, also using MIGHT, with no penalty at 10’ and under, with a medium range penalty (-1 to hit) to 20’, and up to 30’ with a long range penalty (-3 to hit). Additionally, characters attempting to covertly sneak small melee weapons with them get advantage to their BALANCE opposed save to do so. Basic small melee weapons use a d4 to determine damage.
Characters can also utilize “improvised weapons”, basically including any heavy - or decently sized and sharp - object. Improvised weapons require two hands to wield, use MIGHT to attack, and incur a -1 penalty to hit for their generally awkward proportions. Improvised weapons use a d6 to determine damage.
Many raiders and other practitioners of hit-and-run tactics use “thrown weapons”, such as javelins, hatchets or tomahawks. Thrown weapons require one hand to wield, use MIGHT to attack, and can be used in melee combat with no penalty. Also using MIGHT, they can be thrown with no penalty at ranges of up to 20’, with a medium range penalty up to 45’, and up to 60’ with a long range penalty. Basic thrown weapons use a d6 to determine damage.
“Primary weapons” are the mainstays of melee combatants. Raider maces and battleaxes as well as the longswords and talwars of Tellus Athera are all primary weapons. Primary weapons require one hand to wield and use MIGHT to attack. Primary weapons can be wielded with two hands for a base damage die of d10. With one hand, primary weapons have a damage die of d8.
“Big weapons” are melee weapons built to be wielded with two hands, great mauls and claymores fall under this category. Big weapons use MIGHT to attack. Their base damage dice are 2d6.
“Reach weapons” are long stabbing or slashing weapons such as pikes and halberds that are wielded with two hands. Reach weapons use MIGHT to attack and can strike both adjacent opponents and ones an additional 5’ away. Reach weapons have a damage die of d10.
PROJECTILES
Beyond melee weapons, many on Adreinn arm themselves with crude firearms and explosives. Firearm ammunition on Adreinn uses a small reserve of UPRO for propulsion, and as such, firearms are both large and extremely loud - handguns sound akin to motorcycles backfiring and long guns to cars backfiring. Additionally, the bulk and weapon fouling produced by these rounds necessitates single action weapons that are manually cleared (for the most part). Firearms on Adreinn are mostly breech-loading and can chamber a single round at a time - though the type of round can be changed out on the fly. Maximum range and damage dice for firearms are determined by the type of ammunition they are loaded with.
Handguns take a standard action to fire. They can be wielded with one or two hands. If wielded with one hand, reloading the handgun requires a standard action. Handguns can only load handgun ammunition. Handguns can be fired in melee combat but incur a -2 penalty to hit. Alternatively, in melee combat, handguns can be used to pistol whip enemies, acting as small weapons for this purpose but with an automatic -1 to quality for each successful hit.
Long guns take a standard action to fire and are wielded with two hands. If a character fires a long gun and moves on the same turn, the attack is made with disadvantage. Long guns can load handgun and long gun ammunition. Long guns cannot be fired in melee combat. Long guns can be used as improvised weapons in melee combat, but with an automatic -1 to quality for each successful hit.
Launchers take a standard action to fire and are wielded with two hands. Launchers take a full round to fire, and a standard action to reload. Launchers cannot be fired in melee combat.
Grenades take a standard action to lob and can be thrown with one free hand. When throwing a grenade, determine maximum range by adding 30 + 5 x MIGHT bonus. Once a target square has been identified, roll a d6 and a d8 to determine drift. Use the value of the d6 to consult the following table, and use the d8 to determine the magnitude of drift:
