This section provides a summarized breakdown of the mechanics and rules governing character-scale combat and roleplay-driven encounters in the A Time of War (AToW) system. Whether engaging in intense firefights, navigating high-stakes skill challenges, or adapting to dynamic battlefield conditions, understanding the mechanics presented here will help players navigate the various situations they may find their characters in.
Here, you’ll find explanations of initiative order, skill checks, and opposed rolls, along with custom house rules tailored for this campaign to enhance gameplay flow and tactical depth. Combat isn’t just about exchanging attacks—situational awareness, resource management, and teamwork are essential for survival. Players will need to assess threats, exploit enemy weaknesses, and adapt to environmental hazards to overcome challenges.
Whether you're leading a tactical squad, surviving behind enemy lines, or negotiating a contract under pressure, this section will serve as your go-to reference guide for making informed decisions in combat and challenge-based encounters.
For rolling dice over discord play-by-post, we use a bot called “Dice Maiden”. This allows players to use text based commands to roll the dice required for playing this game. While the list of commands for Dice Maiden is quite long, there’s only three total variations of dice rolls you need to know for this RPG.
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“/roll [Xd6+mods] +/- [All modifiers, separated individually] ! [Comments]”
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First, you call up the bot with “/roll” which should pull up the discord bot within the discord text bot. Then the dice you are requesting rolled, with the number of 6 sided dice noted. There are two specific mods that will be explained. After dice, any and all applied modifiers, separated individually with the appropriate plus or minus for clarity. The exclamation point informs the bot that any text afterwards is a non-command comment that will be amended to the end of the roll. Once this message is sent, the dice bot will roll the dice requested and post the results.
Please note that only the GM is able to delete dice-maiden posts.
Occasionally a character may need to roll three d6 dice at advantage, or disadvantage. This change usually comes from character changes granted by traits, or significant narrative situations. In those situations, the below two examples showcase how to roll these two variations.
Attribute Checks are used when a character’s raw abilities are tested without an applicable skill or when attempting an untrained skill action. These checks can be classified as Single Attribute Checks (using one attribute) with a target number of 12 or Double Attribute Checks (using two attributes) with a target number of 18. Unlike skill checks, attribute checks do not apply linked modifiers but instead add the relevant attribute(s) directly to the dice roll.
Single Attribute Checks (Target Number: 12) are used for straightforward actions, such as using Strength (STR) to lift or move a heavy object, Intelligence (INT) to recall important details, or Charisma (CHA) to handle an untrained Negotiation attempt.
Double Attribute Checks (Target Number: 18) are for more complex actions requiring combined abilities, such as Body + Reflexes (BOD+RFL) to determine athletic performance, Reflexes + Intelligence (RFL+INT) for video gaming, or Intelligence + Dexterity (INT+DEX) for an untrained Forgery attempt.