Post by Gravedust on Jun 12, 2010 0:05:33 GMT -8
COMBAT
So you started a fight....
While a lot of the elements of Free RP carry over to the Combat Phase, in general it is more strictly regulated in terms of how much can be done, and when, in order to ensure a fair(er) result for the fight.
As with Free RP, the situation will be described by the GM, and you will say how you want your Character to react to it. Again, you are encouraged to use a narrative tone;
There is one main difference between Combat and Free RP. Specifically, Combat is broken up into rounds. Each Character involved gets 2 Actions per round. Actions correspond to doing things like moving from one area to another, making an attack, reloading or swapping out a weapon, etcetera. Your Character can talk without using an Action, but most other things require one.
The narration of the Character's deeds should have clues to what the 2 actions are, but for the sake of clarity, they should also be listed as OOC comments at the end of the post:
((1: Attacks nearest enemy))
((2: Moves outside to the street))
It's fine to add conditionals to Combat Actions as well, but be careful to be as clear as possible to avoid being misinterpreted by the GM. Likewise, using terms like 'Attacks the closest enemy" or "Attacks the nearest, gun-wielding enemy" are fine to use, (or a specific enemy's name would be best, if it is named.) But things like "Attacks the most dangerous enemy" are too open to interpretation. In the end it is up to the GM what is admissible or not.
Common Combat Actions
Moving
In Combat, distance is measured in Compartments, corresponding roughly to the size of an airship Compartment or other room, or about 30' outdoors. When combat happens the GM should provide a map of the location with Compartments marked out so you will be able to see the layout. Moving from one Compartment to another takes 1 Action. You can spend both your Actions on movement, if you need to cover the distance.
Attacking with melee weapons
Attacking with a sword or knife takes one Action. The target must be in the same Compartment at the attacking character.
Take note that even if your Character initiates the attack there is a chance they could wind up being injured if they lose out on the attack roll. (See the Swashbuckling stat info for more information)
Also, if more than one person makes a melee attack against the same defender, the defender receives a penalty for each person that attacks them, making it harder to defend successfully.
Attacking with Ranged weapons
Any target visible to the firing character is a potential target, though hitting targets further away is more difficult. Remember to subtract 1 ammunition from the gun used for every shot you take.
Throwing a melee weapon
A Character can throw Melee weapons may be thrown at a target in their Compartment or in an adjacent Compartment. The weapon to be thrown must be Size 2 or smaller and currently equipped. The Throw Weapon Action is considered a ranged attack where game mechanics are concerned.
Whether hit or miss, after the throw the weapon will be laying on the ground in the target compartment and available to be picked up. It is permissible to equip an item from storage and then throw it immediately.
Reloading
Empty guns won't fire. Obviously you will need something to reload it with. Empty reload cartridges are useless and should be discarded.
Careful Aim
By taking your time to properly like up a shot, your Character's accuracy with ranged weapons gets a bonus of +10. Must be used BEFORE a ranged shot, or the effect is wasted.
Changing/swapping/passing gear
Moving an item from storage and swapping it for an equipped item takes 1 Action. Passing an item to someone else takes 1 action, but only for the passer. Your Character must be in the same compartment as the person to be passed to.
Picking things up
Loose objects of sizes 1-5 can be picked up in 1 action, larger items require 2. If your character picks up or is holding an item, however, unless they have somewhere to store it they will be unable to use their weapons (as their hands are full)
Guarding
Causes all melee attacks made against a Character to be redirected to the Guarding character instead. Ranged attacks are not affected. Guarding a character also prevents them from being Checkmated.
Duck and Weave
The character moves evasively, making them less likely to be hit by enemy marksmen. This adds their [Agilty/2] as a negative modifier to all ranged attacks against them.
Doubletime
Occasionally you need to get somewhere in a hurry. Doubletime requires 2 Actions and allows a character to move 4 Compartment spaces in a turn, though there can not be any enemies nor destroyed or burning compartments, or compartments with destroyed floors between them and their objective. Additionally they may not move into unexplored territory. If there are hidden enemies or traps in the compartments that are intended to be travelled through, they automatically pass their spot checks. (Meaning a character going doubletime will set off a trap if one exists.) A character may not be hauling anything if they intend to go Doubletime.
Throw explosives
Thrown Explosives can damage everyone in a Compartment, so it's best to use them from a distance by tossing them into adjacent compartments (or further) Once armed they detonate as soon as they strike a hard surface, so their handling is something of a delicate business. [D100+Sapping] Vs. [Handling Difficulty of explosive] to throw successfully. Those subject to an explosive attack have a chance of scurrying behind cover to avoid the damage ([D100 + Agility - Total Size] Vs. [Explosive Damage x 4]) and those already Taking Cover have a slightly better chance of surviving unharmed. A character can throw explosives without the Sapping skill, but having it makes it a bit of a less risky proposition. See Weapons - Explosives for more information about throwing bombs.
Take Cover
The Character takes cover from enemy fire as best they can, adding a -10 penalty to ranged attacks against them, and increases their chance of evading thrown explosives. In certain areas it may not be possible to take cover. A character may not duck and weave AND take cover in the same round.
Return Fire
Attempts to discourage ranged attackers by firing back at them as they shoot, adding a -15 penalty to ranged attack rolls being made against that Character. Expends 1 shot from the Character's weapon for every attack made against them. The effect cannot be used if the character using return fire has no more ammunition or needs to reload. If a Character has more than one gun equipped they should specify which weapon they want to Return Fire with. They also may want to specify if their Character should keep one or two rounds in reserve if they want to make their own attack that turn. The return shot also has a small chance of hitting, equal to [Musketry/10]. If the attacker used Careful Aim, the chance that Return Fire will hit is doubled.
Dodging
Instead of trying to defend against melee attacks, the character concentrates on simply evading them altogether, using their Agility rather than their Swashbuckling to determine the outcome of attacks against them. They still will receive a penalty to their rolls if they are attacked by more than one person, however.
Disarming
A Character can try to knock a weapon out of the hands of another character, either in hand-to-hand combat, or with raged weapons.
Swashbuckling Disarm: [ Attacker's D100+ Swashbuckling - 20] Vs. [Defender's Swashbuckling] If the roll succeeds the defender's weapon is dropped.
If the roll fails the attacker is subject to taking damage as per a regular melee attack.
Musketeering Disarm: [D100+Musketeering] Vs. [Difficulty determined by Defender's Weapon size: ]
If the roll succeeds, the defender drops the targeted weapon.
Spot Check
Pausing for a moment to survey your surroundings could turn up something useful, or it may foil the plans of someone trying to sneak up on you.
Hiding
If a character is out of sight from his enemies he may try to hide, either to escape or to try and sneak up on his foes. Hiding takes 1 action, and after that 1 action every round to maintain. See the Stealth skill writeup for more information.
Healing
Trying to fix a character's wounds takes 2 Actions for both the healer and patient, (It is possible for a Character to heal themselves or others.) and puts the involved Characters in danger of being Checkmated. It may be best to either try to do your bandaging out of combat, or at least make certain someone is guarding. Look at the Medical skill writeup for more information.
Making repairs, Firefighting or other Mechanical work
Takes both Actions in a turn and puts the Character doing the work in danger of being Checkmated.
Special Skill abilities
There are numerous special skills that have applications in combat, learn more about them by reading up on the skills themselves.
Most have extensive writeups in Statworks - Stats
Improvise!
If you have an idea for something to do that isn't covered by the actions above, feel free to discuss with the GM whether your idea is an allowable action. If it seems workable the GM will determine what rolls need to be made and other specifics
_____________________
THE EVENT CHAIN
Once everyone has chosen their Actions for the round, it is determined what order everything happens in. Having a high Combat Tactics stat increases the chance your character will be closer to the top of the chain and get to act first, but isn't a guarantee.
This adds a measure of uncertainty into the battle, as your plans will have to account for your Character possibly taking action later, or sooner, than you expected. Actions you intended your character to make might be invalidated by the time it get to be their turn. (For instance, a melee target may have moved out of range) So you may wish to include some conditionals in with your Actions in order to cover a few eventualities.
Thankfully there are a few ways to make organizing Actions amongst your group a little easier:
Delay of turn
This is a free action which causes a character to 'wait' for another character's turn before performing their actions, making it easier to coordinate attacks and strategy. Delay makes one character's action happen directly after another's has finished. If the Character that is being Delayed for has his or her turn first, then the Delay is cancelled. (Since the thing you intended to wait for already happened, there's no reason to wait for it)
As an example:
Bob intends to make a Lockpicking roll In Combat. Since this puts him at risk of being Checkmated, he wants Tom to guard him.
The danger is, if he starts picking too early (Is higher in the event chain that Tom) He'll be unprotected until Tom actually starts Guarding him. If an enemy attacks after he's started picking, but before Tom starts Guarding, he'll be Checkmated. Which is not good. So he opts to wail till Tom is ready before going. (He Delays his turn till Tom's turn is over, since Tom's Action is to Guard him.)
If you intend to delay for another character, you can write out the order as this:
(Delay of turn till (NAME OF CHARACTER')s )
(1) Action 1 goes here.
(2) Action 2 goes here.
You can have 2 Characters Delay of Turn on each other to ensure they both go at the same time. (Though at the lower character's position in the event chain.) For more than 2 you should use a Group Action.
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GROUP ACTION
Group Action works the same as a Delay of Turn, except it involves 3 or more people. It's a good way to coordinate actions, but generally it will place the group lower in the event chain, since the Group Action only happens once all the members of the group have had their Actions. (i.e. everyone waits for the slowest member of the group)
The people involved should agree on making a Group Action beforehand.
A Group action can be written up as this:
(Group action with (Character 1, Character2, etc))
(1) Action 1 goes here
(2) Action 2 goes here
Since even in a group Action thing's don't really happen simultaneously, the order of action once the Group Action starts is determined by the characters' initial position on the Event Chain. (i.e. If the character would have gone first, that character goes 1st in the Group Action)
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Once all characters have made their Actions, the new round begins with the GM describing the updated situation, and the players giving their actions for the next round. This cycle is repeated till combat ends.
____________________
Some other combat-related rules of note:
SNEAK ATTACKS
Sneak Attacks occur out of combat, when one character suddenly tries to get the drop on another. Perhaps they might try to get in a sucker punch, or quick-draw, grab the other person's weapon, try to pin them or knock them over, etcetara. Sneak attacks often happen with little or no warning.
Sneak attacks are limited to a single Action, and it should be something that can be performed quickly.
When a sneak Attack does occur you first roll the Attacker's D100 + Combat Tactics] Vs. the target's [D100+ Combat Tactics]. If the Attacker's roll succeeds, they get a 'free' Action against the target, after which both characters are place in combat. Generally a successful surprise Attack Action will automatically succeed, but a melee and ranged attack will still require the normal rolls. (In the case that the attacker's melee roll fails, they are not subject to the usual damage taken by the losing party, under the premise the defending party is too surprised to counterattack even if they do block successfully.) Other effects are subject to the GM's discretion as to whether they are resistable or succeed automatically. If the Attacker's roll fails, the target was able to forsee the sneak attack or was simply fast enough to counteract it. The Attacker's action fails and does not happen, and both characters are placed into combat. In either case, Combat from there on proceeds as normal, with both characters declaring their intention and then rolling combat tactics to determine the order, as will be explained below.
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CHECKMATE
Checkmate represents a situation in which a character is unable or unprepared to defend him or herself, and is basically taken hostage. (Think for example when someone has a gun pointed at the back of their head, or a knife against their throat.) The intent of a Checkmate isn't to hurt the Character, but rather to use them as leverage, or to threaten them.
A character in checkmate can be Incapacitated or killed by their captor at any time.
A Character in Checkmate can't do much other than speak, though they may try to break free and end the checkmate. This roll is:
[[D100+ Escaper's Combat Tactics] -40] Vs. [D100 + Captor's Combat Tactics]
Just be aware the escape attempt, if it fails, might prompt the captor to make good on what was before only a (strongly) impled threat.
Checkmate opportunities happen most often when a character is taken unaware or unprepared, or ambushed from stealth or via sneak attack. Actions like Sabotage, Medical rolls, and Lockpicking will put a character at risk of being checkmated in combat, but it can happen during Free RP as well.
In order to avoid in-combat checkmates, a character can use 1 Action per turn to Guard the person doing the action. (In the case of Medical rolls the Guard counts for both)
_____________________
Next section:
How To Play - Airship Combat
So you started a fight....
While a lot of the elements of Free RP carry over to the Combat Phase, in general it is more strictly regulated in terms of how much can be done, and when, in order to ensure a fair(er) result for the fight.
As with Free RP, the situation will be described by the GM, and you will say how you want your Character to react to it. Again, you are encouraged to use a narrative tone;
Alex draws his weapon and looks around him, edging up against the wall. He glances at the enemies arrayed against him, then at his friends nearby. "Too many. Let's make a break for it!" He slashes at the attacker nearest him, then bolts for the door out into the street.
There is one main difference between Combat and Free RP. Specifically, Combat is broken up into rounds. Each Character involved gets 2 Actions per round. Actions correspond to doing things like moving from one area to another, making an attack, reloading or swapping out a weapon, etcetera. Your Character can talk without using an Action, but most other things require one.
The narration of the Character's deeds should have clues to what the 2 actions are, but for the sake of clarity, they should also be listed as OOC comments at the end of the post:
((1: Attacks nearest enemy))
((2: Moves outside to the street))
It's fine to add conditionals to Combat Actions as well, but be careful to be as clear as possible to avoid being misinterpreted by the GM. Likewise, using terms like 'Attacks the closest enemy" or "Attacks the nearest, gun-wielding enemy" are fine to use, (or a specific enemy's name would be best, if it is named.) But things like "Attacks the most dangerous enemy" are too open to interpretation. In the end it is up to the GM what is admissible or not.
Common Combat Actions
Moving
In Combat, distance is measured in Compartments, corresponding roughly to the size of an airship Compartment or other room, or about 30' outdoors. When combat happens the GM should provide a map of the location with Compartments marked out so you will be able to see the layout. Moving from one Compartment to another takes 1 Action. You can spend both your Actions on movement, if you need to cover the distance.
Attacking with melee weapons
Attacking with a sword or knife takes one Action. The target must be in the same Compartment at the attacking character.
Take note that even if your Character initiates the attack there is a chance they could wind up being injured if they lose out on the attack roll. (See the Swashbuckling stat info for more information)
Also, if more than one person makes a melee attack against the same defender, the defender receives a penalty for each person that attacks them, making it harder to defend successfully.
Attacking with Ranged weapons
Any target visible to the firing character is a potential target, though hitting targets further away is more difficult. Remember to subtract 1 ammunition from the gun used for every shot you take.
Throwing a melee weapon
A Character can throw Melee weapons may be thrown at a target in their Compartment or in an adjacent Compartment. The weapon to be thrown must be Size 2 or smaller and currently equipped. The Throw Weapon Action is considered a ranged attack where game mechanics are concerned.
Whether hit or miss, after the throw the weapon will be laying on the ground in the target compartment and available to be picked up. It is permissible to equip an item from storage and then throw it immediately.
Reloading
Empty guns won't fire. Obviously you will need something to reload it with. Empty reload cartridges are useless and should be discarded.
Careful Aim
By taking your time to properly like up a shot, your Character's accuracy with ranged weapons gets a bonus of +10. Must be used BEFORE a ranged shot, or the effect is wasted.
Changing/swapping/passing gear
Moving an item from storage and swapping it for an equipped item takes 1 Action. Passing an item to someone else takes 1 action, but only for the passer. Your Character must be in the same compartment as the person to be passed to.
Picking things up
Loose objects of sizes 1-5 can be picked up in 1 action, larger items require 2. If your character picks up or is holding an item, however, unless they have somewhere to store it they will be unable to use their weapons (as their hands are full)
Guarding
Causes all melee attacks made against a Character to be redirected to the Guarding character instead. Ranged attacks are not affected. Guarding a character also prevents them from being Checkmated.
Duck and Weave
The character moves evasively, making them less likely to be hit by enemy marksmen. This adds their [Agilty/2] as a negative modifier to all ranged attacks against them.
Doubletime
Occasionally you need to get somewhere in a hurry. Doubletime requires 2 Actions and allows a character to move 4 Compartment spaces in a turn, though there can not be any enemies nor destroyed or burning compartments, or compartments with destroyed floors between them and their objective. Additionally they may not move into unexplored territory. If there are hidden enemies or traps in the compartments that are intended to be travelled through, they automatically pass their spot checks. (Meaning a character going doubletime will set off a trap if one exists.) A character may not be hauling anything if they intend to go Doubletime.
Throw explosives
Thrown Explosives can damage everyone in a Compartment, so it's best to use them from a distance by tossing them into adjacent compartments (or further) Once armed they detonate as soon as they strike a hard surface, so their handling is something of a delicate business. [D100+Sapping] Vs. [Handling Difficulty of explosive] to throw successfully. Those subject to an explosive attack have a chance of scurrying behind cover to avoid the damage ([D100 + Agility - Total Size] Vs. [Explosive Damage x 4]) and those already Taking Cover have a slightly better chance of surviving unharmed. A character can throw explosives without the Sapping skill, but having it makes it a bit of a less risky proposition. See Weapons - Explosives for more information about throwing bombs.
Take Cover
The Character takes cover from enemy fire as best they can, adding a -10 penalty to ranged attacks against them, and increases their chance of evading thrown explosives. In certain areas it may not be possible to take cover. A character may not duck and weave AND take cover in the same round.
Return Fire
Attempts to discourage ranged attackers by firing back at them as they shoot, adding a -15 penalty to ranged attack rolls being made against that Character. Expends 1 shot from the Character's weapon for every attack made against them. The effect cannot be used if the character using return fire has no more ammunition or needs to reload. If a Character has more than one gun equipped they should specify which weapon they want to Return Fire with. They also may want to specify if their Character should keep one or two rounds in reserve if they want to make their own attack that turn. The return shot also has a small chance of hitting, equal to [Musketry/10]. If the attacker used Careful Aim, the chance that Return Fire will hit is doubled.
Dodging
Instead of trying to defend against melee attacks, the character concentrates on simply evading them altogether, using their Agility rather than their Swashbuckling to determine the outcome of attacks against them. They still will receive a penalty to their rolls if they are attacked by more than one person, however.
Disarming
A Character can try to knock a weapon out of the hands of another character, either in hand-to-hand combat, or with raged weapons.
Swashbuckling Disarm: [ Attacker's D100+ Swashbuckling - 20] Vs. [Defender's Swashbuckling] If the roll succeeds the defender's weapon is dropped.
If the roll fails the attacker is subject to taking damage as per a regular melee attack.
Musketeering Disarm: [D100+Musketeering] Vs. [Difficulty determined by Defender's Weapon size: ]
If the roll succeeds, the defender drops the targeted weapon.
Spot Check
Pausing for a moment to survey your surroundings could turn up something useful, or it may foil the plans of someone trying to sneak up on you.
Hiding
If a character is out of sight from his enemies he may try to hide, either to escape or to try and sneak up on his foes. Hiding takes 1 action, and after that 1 action every round to maintain. See the Stealth skill writeup for more information.
Healing
Trying to fix a character's wounds takes 2 Actions for both the healer and patient, (It is possible for a Character to heal themselves or others.) and puts the involved Characters in danger of being Checkmated. It may be best to either try to do your bandaging out of combat, or at least make certain someone is guarding. Look at the Medical skill writeup for more information.
Making repairs, Firefighting or other Mechanical work
Takes both Actions in a turn and puts the Character doing the work in danger of being Checkmated.
Special Skill abilities
There are numerous special skills that have applications in combat, learn more about them by reading up on the skills themselves.
Most have extensive writeups in Statworks - Stats
Improvise!
If you have an idea for something to do that isn't covered by the actions above, feel free to discuss with the GM whether your idea is an allowable action. If it seems workable the GM will determine what rolls need to be made and other specifics
_____________________
THE EVENT CHAIN
Once everyone has chosen their Actions for the round, it is determined what order everything happens in. Having a high Combat Tactics stat increases the chance your character will be closer to the top of the chain and get to act first, but isn't a guarantee.
This adds a measure of uncertainty into the battle, as your plans will have to account for your Character possibly taking action later, or sooner, than you expected. Actions you intended your character to make might be invalidated by the time it get to be their turn. (For instance, a melee target may have moved out of range) So you may wish to include some conditionals in with your Actions in order to cover a few eventualities.
Thankfully there are a few ways to make organizing Actions amongst your group a little easier:
Delay of turn
This is a free action which causes a character to 'wait' for another character's turn before performing their actions, making it easier to coordinate attacks and strategy. Delay makes one character's action happen directly after another's has finished. If the Character that is being Delayed for has his or her turn first, then the Delay is cancelled. (Since the thing you intended to wait for already happened, there's no reason to wait for it)
As an example:
Bob intends to make a Lockpicking roll In Combat. Since this puts him at risk of being Checkmated, he wants Tom to guard him.
The danger is, if he starts picking too early (Is higher in the event chain that Tom) He'll be unprotected until Tom actually starts Guarding him. If an enemy attacks after he's started picking, but before Tom starts Guarding, he'll be Checkmated. Which is not good. So he opts to wail till Tom is ready before going. (He Delays his turn till Tom's turn is over, since Tom's Action is to Guard him.)
If you intend to delay for another character, you can write out the order as this:
(Delay of turn till (NAME OF CHARACTER')s )
(1) Action 1 goes here.
(2) Action 2 goes here.
You can have 2 Characters Delay of Turn on each other to ensure they both go at the same time. (Though at the lower character's position in the event chain.) For more than 2 you should use a Group Action.
_____
GROUP ACTION
Group Action works the same as a Delay of Turn, except it involves 3 or more people. It's a good way to coordinate actions, but generally it will place the group lower in the event chain, since the Group Action only happens once all the members of the group have had their Actions. (i.e. everyone waits for the slowest member of the group)
The people involved should agree on making a Group Action beforehand.
A Group action can be written up as this:
(Group action with (Character 1, Character2, etc))
(1) Action 1 goes here
(2) Action 2 goes here
Since even in a group Action thing's don't really happen simultaneously, the order of action once the Group Action starts is determined by the characters' initial position on the Event Chain. (i.e. If the character would have gone first, that character goes 1st in the Group Action)
____________________
Once all characters have made their Actions, the new round begins with the GM describing the updated situation, and the players giving their actions for the next round. This cycle is repeated till combat ends.
____________________
Some other combat-related rules of note:
SNEAK ATTACKS
Sneak Attacks occur out of combat, when one character suddenly tries to get the drop on another. Perhaps they might try to get in a sucker punch, or quick-draw, grab the other person's weapon, try to pin them or knock them over, etcetara. Sneak attacks often happen with little or no warning.
Sneak attacks are limited to a single Action, and it should be something that can be performed quickly.
When a sneak Attack does occur you first roll the Attacker's D100 + Combat Tactics] Vs. the target's [D100+ Combat Tactics]. If the Attacker's roll succeeds, they get a 'free' Action against the target, after which both characters are place in combat. Generally a successful surprise Attack Action will automatically succeed, but a melee and ranged attack will still require the normal rolls. (In the case that the attacker's melee roll fails, they are not subject to the usual damage taken by the losing party, under the premise the defending party is too surprised to counterattack even if they do block successfully.) Other effects are subject to the GM's discretion as to whether they are resistable or succeed automatically. If the Attacker's roll fails, the target was able to forsee the sneak attack or was simply fast enough to counteract it. The Attacker's action fails and does not happen, and both characters are placed into combat. In either case, Combat from there on proceeds as normal, with both characters declaring their intention and then rolling combat tactics to determine the order, as will be explained below.
____________________
CHECKMATE
Checkmate represents a situation in which a character is unable or unprepared to defend him or herself, and is basically taken hostage. (Think for example when someone has a gun pointed at the back of their head, or a knife against their throat.) The intent of a Checkmate isn't to hurt the Character, but rather to use them as leverage, or to threaten them.
A character in checkmate can be Incapacitated or killed by their captor at any time.
A Character in Checkmate can't do much other than speak, though they may try to break free and end the checkmate. This roll is:
[[D100+ Escaper's Combat Tactics] -40] Vs. [D100 + Captor's Combat Tactics]
Just be aware the escape attempt, if it fails, might prompt the captor to make good on what was before only a (strongly) impled threat.
Checkmate opportunities happen most often when a character is taken unaware or unprepared, or ambushed from stealth or via sneak attack. Actions like Sabotage, Medical rolls, and Lockpicking will put a character at risk of being checkmated in combat, but it can happen during Free RP as well.
In order to avoid in-combat checkmates, a character can use 1 Action per turn to Guard the person doing the action. (In the case of Medical rolls the Guard counts for both)
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Next section:
How To Play - Airship Combat