A war-trained mount can attack if it takes an appropriate maneuver; see Chapter 16 for details. A horse can bite, kick with hooves, or trample; iron horseshoes give +1 to kicking or trampling damage. The rider’s attack is at an extra -2 if the mount attacked on its last turn.
Panic:
If a mounted fighter charges directly toward an NPC who is unused to facing cavalry (GM’s option), the GM may require him to make a Will roll to stand his ground and fight. If he fails, he’ll try to run instead. Anyone with Combat Reflexes gets +6 to this roll. Those with a SM equal to or greater than that of the mount do not have to roll! Cavalry Weapons Melee Weapons: A rider uses melee weapons at the lower of his Melee Weapon skill or Riding skill. Thus, a trained rider has no penalties to use melee weapons while mounted. If the mount’s velocity is 7 or more relative to the foe, the attack has -1 to hit but +1 damage. Use the same rules when attacking from a motorcycle or similar open vehicle (substitute Driving skill for Riding skill above).
Lances:
Lance skill appears on p. 204. To couch a lance, a rider must have a saddle and stirrups. A couched lance’s damage depends on the mount’s mass and velocity. Work out damage for a collision between the mount and the target – (mount’s ST) ¥ (distance moved last turn)/100 dice of damage, rounded down – and add the lance’s thrust/impaling bonus of +3. Example: A ST 25 warhorse charging at Move 8 inflicts 2d+3 impaling damage. Tournament jousting uses blunted wooden lances, specially designed to break if they strike very hard. These inflict the same amount of damage, but it is crushing – and if the damage exceeds 15 points, the lance snaps, limiting damage to 15 points.
Using Ranged Weapons While Mounted
Attack:
Firing from atop a moving animal tests both marksmanship and riding. Roll against the lower of Riding or ranged weapon skill to hit. If you are firing a noisy weapon (e.g., an unsilenced gun), you must make a Riding roll after each attack. On a failure, the mount is spooked (see Spooked Mounts, above); on a critical failure, you lose control (see Mount Loss of Control Table, above).
Aim:
You may Aim a ranged weapon while mounted, but if the mount moves more than a step, you suffer the same penalties that you would if firing from a moving vehicle: you can’t benefit from extra turns of Aim, or from telescopic scopes and other targeting systems.
Tricks:
To turn in the saddle and fire at the foe behind you: -4 to weapon skill, and -1 to any Riding roll made that turn. To hang on the far side of the mount and shoot over it or underneath it: -6 to weapon skill, -3 to any Riding roll. This latter move means your foe’s only targets are your foot, face, eyes, skull, and one hand. But if he attacks and misses by 4 or less, he hits your mount!
A mount’s only defense is Dodge. Some mounts may have barding (see Horse Armor (Barding) Table, p. 286) or natural DR. A rider can Dodge, Block, or Parry. If he has Riding at 12+, all of these defenses are at normal levels. For a less-skilled rider, reduce active defenses by the difference between 12 and the rider’s skill; e.g., someone with Riding-9 would have -3 to all active defenses.
Height Difference
A cavalryman on horseback is effectively three feet above a standing foe. See Combat at Different Levels (p. 402).
Mounted Combat Results
A rider who is stunned must make a Riding roll at -4 or fall off. A rider who suffers any knockback is automatically knocked off unless he has a saddle and stirrups, in which case he gets a Riding roll at -4 per yard of knockback to stay on. If any attack aimed at a rider misses by 1, it hits the mount unless it makes its active defense roll; the reverse is true for attacks aimed at the mount. Of course, either may be
attacked intentionally! If the mount is hit, the rider must roll vs. Riding, minus the shock penalty suffered by the mount, to keep it from spooking. If the mount is crippled and falls, effects are as per result 12 on the Mount Loss of Control Table.
Multiple Riders
On a horse-sized or larger mount, a second human-sized or smaller rider can hang on behind the one controlling the mount. The controlling rider has an extra -1 to Riding skill. The passenger uses the lower of the controlling rider’s skill or his own ST on any roll to
avoid falling off, but do so at -3.
Heroes may fly using advantages (Flight, Telekinesis, etc.), magic spells, antigravity belts, and so forth. A few special rules apply to combat while airborne.
Aerial Movement
If the ceiling is high enough, fliers can move over other fighters! Humans normally fly in a horizontal position (so that they can watch the ground and see where they’re going); treat them as two-hex figures when using the Tactical Combat rules.
Changing Height:
Vertical movement costs the same as horizontal movement. Moving a yard vertically and a yard horizontally simultaneously (diagonal movement at 45°) costs the same as 1.5 horizontal yards.
Steps and Retreats:
Use your basic air Move to calculate the distance you can step or retreat during combat (see Step, p. 368); flyers are often fast enough to step 2+ yards. If a flyer retreats as part of an active defense, he can specify that he is doing so vertically.
Flying Fast:
See High-Speed Movement (p. 394). A diving flyer can accelerate faster: add +10 to basic air Move and double top airspeed on any
turn spent diving and doing nothing else (a Move maneuver).
Cannot Hover:
If you are flying under your own power using Flight with the Cannot Hover, Controlled Gliding, or Gliding limitation, you must take a Move or Move and Attack maneuver and move at least 1/4 your top airspeed each turn, or you’ll stall and start to fall. You might also stall if you lose control during high-speed movement (p. 394) and suffer sudden deceleration that pushes you below 1/4 your top airspeed. You may recover from a stall by turning your fall into a dive and regaining speed. Roll vs. DX-4 each turn to do so.
Flight Ceiling:
On Earth, an unprotected human has trouble breathing past 6,000’, and needs an oxygen mask or an advantage such as Doesn’t Breathe past 20,000’; see Atmospheric Pressure (p. 429). On worlds with greater air pressure, higher flight is possible. On worlds with little atmosphere, the reverse is true. If you use wings to fly, you can’t fly in a trace atmosphere or a vacuum.
Aerial Attack and Defense
There is no penalty to attack or defense rolls in flight. Flyers are normally no less stable than fighters on the ground.
Attack:
When flyers attack foes on the ground, use the Combat at Different Levels rules (p. 402). Weapon reach becomes very important! Don’t worry about the relative height of two battling flyers – as long as they’re close enough to engage at all.
Defense:
When a flyer retreats, he can retreat out of the plane of an attack – not merely away from his attacker. If a flyer can hover, and has enough space to move one step up or down, he gets +1 over and above the usual retreating bonus when he retreats. To perform an Acrobatic Dodge (p. 375), use Aerobatics skill.
