An Attack is an ability that deals damage to a target. “Damage” is a somewhat abstracted concept in Annulus; taking damage might mean getting stabbed, burned or shot but also might mean losing your sanity or sapping your will to continue fighting.

Attacks are highly customizable and have many, many different upgrades available. Many seasoned adventurers have more than one attack set, all tailored for different situations.

All attack sets must start by taking the “Damage” ability. The Damage ability costs one Experience as normal. Further upgrades are required in order to create diversification.

You can optionally select an elemental “tag” for an attack. Attacks with elements accomplish their effects through some more exotic method than the assumed default of physically hitting the target with a solid object. Note that elements are entirely optional and not required by default for any attack, but might greatly aid your ability to match a given attack with the Fiction Rule. Any given attack cannot have more than a single element. Default elements in the game include:

• Heat. Heat-element attacks destructively add energy to a target. They often involve fire, lasers, magma, or other sources of energy.
• Cold. Cold-element attacks are the opposite of heat-element ones and remove energy from a target. Ice, liquid nitrogen, freezing winds, and similar.
• Electric. Electric-element attacks introduce an electric charge to a target. Lightning is the classic example, as well as more artificial electric weaponry such as tasers.
• Corrosive. Corrosive-element attacks break the physical form of the target apart at the molecular level. Acid, disintegration rays, etc.
• Force. Force-element attacks compress or warp the target through the use of vibrations and/or pressure. Weaponized gravity, thunderclaps, shockwaves, and so forth would all be considered Force attacks.
• Baneful. Baneful-element attacks interfere with the inner workings of a target's body by introducing a hazardous material or circumstance. Poison is the easiest and most obvious example, but things like radiation, parasitic infection, and even a gorgon's petrifying gaze would all be examples of Baneful attacks in action.
• Shadow. Shadow-element attacks strike at a target's “life force” instead of their body. “Life force” can and will mean very different things depending on the campaign world- everything from an actual, concrete force that grants life to a more abstract quality such as biological imperative or the will to survive.
• Divine. Divine-element attacks are a result of a supremely powerful being's will that the target be destroyed. Note that “divine” might equal “holy” in some campaign worlds, but definitely not all. A classical fantasy scenario might involve a cleric channeling their deity's displeasure to smite their foes with a divine attack, but Cthulhu's baleful stare would also be a divine attack.

“Damage” is the basic seed ability that must be taken first when creating a new attack set. There are actually three separate damage attack abilities: Agility Damage, Toughness Damage, and Insight Damage. You must choose only one, and once chosen the choice cannot later be changed. The choice determines which defense the attack will target- for example, an attack with a Toughness Damage seed ability will always target the Toughness defense of any creatures it is used against.

When you use an Attack on a subject, roll four dice plus one extra die per point of Escalation in the current conflict. You deal damage equal to the number of successes on the dice. The subject of the attack subtracts their relevant defense from the damage dealt. This can reduce the damage a given target takes to 0 but not below 0. Endurance is removed first, then Vitality if a target has no more Endurance. If you remove the last Vitality from a creature, that creature dies.

Some effects and situations can strengthen or weaken an attack. If an attack is weakened, roll only half the normal number of dice, rounded down (two dice, plus one for every two points of Escalation). If an attack is strengthened, roll the normal amount of dice plus half again as much, rounded down (or in other words, the normal and weakened values added together). If an attack is both strengthened and weakened, it is treated as normal. Multiple strengthenings/weakenings do not stack- if an attack is weakened one time and strengthened three times, then it is treated as normal strength.

Using an Attack costs 1 action- or optionally, you can strengthen an attack by increasing its cost to two actions. You can target any space within 1 meter of your position (basically, anything within arm's reach). For whatever reason, attacks don't work and cannot be used in airless environments (such as underwater or in vacuum) but can still freely be used against targets in such environments so long as you're attacking from outside them. If you don't have a clear, open line of effect (no walls, other creatures, etc blocking your view) from you to the target, then you cannot use the attack on the target.

If you successfully deal at least one point of damage with an attack against a creature in the Clueless state and that creature's level is equal to or lower than your own, you instantly kill that creature with no further checks necessary or questions asked. This is known as an “assassination”. You cannot assassinate a subject if they are Suspicious or Alert, nor can you assassinate a target whose level is higher than your own. Player-controlled adventurers are immune to assassination, except when performed by other player-controlled adventurers. Attacks that miss (deal 0 damage) do not assassinate their target.

The following upgrades can be applied to any attack and have mostly simple, straightforward effects.

The attack is not weakened when targeting a subject in partial concealment. Cover and solid obstacles still prevent you from attacking effectively, but not concealment. Targets with full concealment are unaffected (50% miss chance and the attack is weakened even if it hits).

You can choose to damage your own Vitality instead of spending an action to use the attack. If the attack would normally require two actions to use, you must lose two Vitality in order to use it for free. There is no limit to how many times you may use an attack each round in this manner. You are under no obligation to use an attack this way; the upgrade merely gives you the option if you want it.

Every time the attack is used, you deal +1 additional automatic damage but also take 1 damage that cannot be avoided or reduced in any way. This upgrade may be selected multiple times; each time increases both damage output and blowback by +1.

When you successfully use the attack on a creature that is smaller than yourself, you deal an additional 1 damage per difference in size that you are. For example, if you are size 5 and use a Bully attack on a Size 4 creature, you deal +1 damage. If you use it on a size 3 creature, you deal +2 instead.

You may attempt to assassinate targets that are Suspicious instead of making regular attacks against them. Assassination attempts on Suspicious targets are weakened. If you do not wish to have your attack weakened, you can choose to simply make an ordinary attack as usual (but also forgo the ability to assassinate the target if you strike them successfully).

After making an attack, you may optionally immediately reroll your check and take the new result. You must accept the new result even if it is worse than the old. The rerolled result is weakened. Trigger dice, if any, are not rerolled.

Pick one kind of attack (Agility, Toughness, or Insight). The type chosen does not have to be the same as the attack set's that this upgrade is in. Once chosen, the type cannot be changed. For example, if you wanted an ability that countered Agility attacks, it would be called Counter Agility. Once per round when you are damaged by an enemy that targeted the selected defense, you can use the attack for free as an immediate reaction against your attacker. If you are attacked but not damaged, you cannot counter. Your attacker must be in range and meet all normal criteria to make them a viable target in order for you to counter them. You cannot counter more than once per round, nor may you counter an enemy's counter. You may still use the attack set that you have the Counter ability in as a normal attack set when not countering with it.

The attack is capable of damaging inanimate objects made of materials of Tier II toughness, such as wood, plastic, glass, sandstone or soft metals like gold. Without this upgrade, you can only use the attack to damage objects of Tier I toughness such as cloth, paper, or flesh.

Escalation can provide an alternate means of gaining the benefit of the Demolitions upgrade. If Escalation in a given fight is at two or higher, creatures can choose to treat Escalation as two points lower than it actually is but treat the attack as if it had the Demolitions upgrade. If the attack already had Demolitions, it is treated as having the Improved Demolitions upgrade. If it already had Improved Demolitions, it is treated as having the Legendary Demolitions upgrade. This trade-off is strictly voluntary and strictly only available when Escalation is at 2 or higher.

Similarly, when Escalation is at 4 or higher all creatures can choose to treat Escalation as four points lower than it actually is and treat their attack as if it had two increased steps worth of Demolitions (regular attacks are treated as if they had Improved Demolitions, Demolitions attacks are treated as if they had Legendary Demolitions). This is an additional choice to that given at 2 Escalation and does not replace it. When Escalation is at 6 or higher, creatures can choose to treat Escalation as six points lower than it actually is and treat any attack as if it had the Legendary Demolitions upgrade.

When you lose one or more points of Vitality for any reason, this attack is strengthened until the next time you end your turn.

When the attack kills a subject, you can choose to completely obliterate that subject's body with no recognizable traces remaining.

The attack produces a loud noise, flash of light, psychic shockwave or otherwise has a tendency to draw a lot of attention when you use it, but with its increased profile comes slightly increased strength as well. Everybody in the area immediately increases their awareness state to Alert and knows your general location when the attack is used, but you always deal an additional point of damage with the attack as well. In other words- if you use a Flashy attack you should expect potential company, maybe a whole lot more than you can handle. You cannot use this upgrade and the Stealth one at the same time for obvious reasons.

If you use both of your actions in a round to attack with this ability, you can use it a third time for free. The extra third use is weakened.

You cannot use the attack normally by spending actions at all, but can use it once per round for free at the beginning of your turn. To use a Gaze attack on a subject, you and the subject must be able to both fully see each other. If either of you is in an area of full or partial concealment, suffering from a Blind sting, or just have your backs turned then a Gaze attack cannot be used.

Since Gaze attacks cannot be used by spending actions, you cannot combine them with any action-dependent effects such as using two actions to strengthen them the way a normal attack might, or using a Flurry upgrade in the same set. Alternate forms of attack that do not use actions in any way (such as from the Counter upgrade) can be freely combined with Gaze.

You may act as if you were one size larger when using this attack against creatures larger than yourself- creatures one size larger than you can be attacked normally, and you can use weakened attacks against creatures two sizes larger than you. You can take this upgrade multiple times; each allows you to act as if you were up to one size larger than before for purposes of using the attack on larger creatures. Having this upgrade does not actually change your size or affect your ability to attack creatures of your own size or smaller.

You cannot lose access to the attack via the Disarm condition.

The attack is not weakened when used while under the effects of an Armor support effect. Other negative qualities of armor such as the movement impairment or the use of other attack sets without this upgrade are unaffected.

When you successfully use the attack to remove the last of a creature's Vitality, you may choose to knock them unconscious instead of killing them. Creatures that are knocked unconscious do not lose any Vitality from the finishing blow, but lose all Endurance (if any) and become completely helpless and unaware of their surroundings for several in-game hours. You may knock out targets with assassinations using the attack as well as with ordinary strikes in pitched battle.

Every time you kill a target or targets with this attack, your single next use of the attack is strengthened.

The attack is strengthened when targeting a creature that is completely undamaged (has all of their Endurance and Vitality intact).

You may act as if you were one size smaller when using this attack against creatures smaller than yourself- creatures one size smaller than you can be attacked normally, and you can use weakened attacks against creatures two sizes smaller than you. You can take this upgrade multiple times; each allows you to act as if you were up to one size smaller than before for purposes of using the attack on smaller creatures. Having this upgrade does not actually change your size or affect your ability to attack creatures of your own size or larger.

When using the attack in a chase scene, it is strengthened against any creature in a higher-numbered space than your own.

The attack has a maximum range of 5 meters, but cannot be used at ranges of 2 meter or less. This upgrade can be taken multiple times; each time increases maximum range by two steps on the standard 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 500, etc scale but disallows targeting any space within a range one step lower than the maximum. See the below chart for a bit of extra clarity if you need it.

The attack functions normally in airless environments such as underwater or in vacuum. Without this upgrade, attacks cannot effectively be used in such environments at all.

You can assassinate targets up to one level higher than your own. This upgrade can be taken multiple times; each time allows assassination against targets one level higher than before.

You can make a stealth check to hide the fact that you are using the ability- roll four dice, and if you get three successes or more the ability's use was not noticed by anyone. Creatures that are successfully targeted by an attack or who see its effects will immediately become Alert as normal regardless of whether you make the stealth check. You cannot have this upgrade and the Flashy one at the same time for obvious reasons.

When you use the attack, you can choose to “telegraph” it instead of using it normally. The effects of a telegraphed attack are not immediately applied to its target. You must spend an action giving some sort of physical indication that you are about to unleash a Telegraphed attack that all enemies can recognize and react to. Telegraphed attacks are used at the beginning of your next turn for free before you make any actions. If you can no longer use a telegraphed attack effectively once your next turn comes up (due to all viable targets moving out of range or whatever in the intervening enemy turn) then the attack is wasted. Telegraphed attacks are strengthened. You may only telegraph a single attack per round.

Trigger upgrades add additional effects to attacks based on chance. If you have any Trigger upgrades on an attack, then you must roll an additional 12-sided die (called the Trigger Die) every time you roll your normal four dice for damage. The Trigger Die determines if the additional effect is added or not. If you have multiple Trigger upgrade effects, you still only need to roll a single trigger die every time you make a damage roll, and all effects are triggered (or not) based on the result of the single die.

No matter the result of your Trigger Die, a triggered effect is only applied when you manage to deal at least one point of damage with the attack. If you deal no damage with an attack, the Trigger Die and all Trigger Upgrades are irrelevant for that strike.

As combat escalates, trigger upgrades on attacks tend to crop up more often. Roll an additional Trigger Die for every three points of Escalation in the current conflict and take the best result.

Some trigger upgrades inflict “conditions” on the target. A target under the effects of a condition can throw off the condition by making a recovery check. Multiple conditions of the same type do not stack; if a given target already has a specific condition, you cannot inflict the same condition on them again (until they recover from it, anyway). A recovery check is made by spending 1 action and rolling 4 dice. Recovery is successful (and the condition is removed) if the check has 3 or more successes.

Other trigger upgrades inflict “stings” on a target. Unlike conditions, stings last only a very short time before disappearing. The victim of a sting does not (and cannot) recover from it, but instead must wait a short time for it to go away on its own.

When the Trigger Die has a result of 12, the target gains the Berserk sting. A berserk creature must spend their single next turn attacking the nearest creature to their position to the best of their ability, whether that be friend or foe. Berserk creatures always act first during their side's action phase.

When the Trigger Die has a result of 12, the target gains the Blind sting. Targets with the Blind sting treat all spaces as having full concealment. Attacking a space with full concealment has a 50% miss chance- before making the attack check, roll a single die. If the result is 4+, make the attack. If not, the attack automatically misses and is wasted. Even when the attack passes the miss chance, it is weakened. Attackers striking a creature that cannot see them have their attacks strengthened. Blindness does not affect non-visual-based modes of sensory input such as tremorsense, scent or sonar. The creature remains blinded until the end of the blinder's next turn.

When the Trigger Die has a result of 10+, the target gains the Burn condition until they successfully recover from it. Targets with the Burn condition take minor damage (1 die, +1 die per 3 points of Escalation that ignores defenses) at the end of each of their turns. If a target with a Burn condition enters water or an airless environment, the condition is automatically removed.

When the Trigger Die has a result of 9+, the target gains the Choke condition until they successfully recover from it. Targets with the Choke condition take minor damage (1 die, +1 die per 3 points of Escalation that ignores defenses) at the end of each of their turns.

When the Trigger Die has a result of 12, the attack deals +2 damage more than normal.

When the Trigger Die has a result of 11+, the target gains the Dazed sting. On their next turn, they may take only 1 action instead of the normal 2.

When the Trigger Die has a result of 10+, the subject of the attack is devoured whole and transported to a stomach (or equivalent storage area) inside you. Targets that you have devoured take minor damage from your stomach (1 die, +1 die per 3 points of Escalation that ignores defenses) every round on your turn, plus are under the effects of an unrecoverable Choke condition from being swallowed (which deals another round of minor damage to them at the end of their turns). You can add an attack element to your stomach's damage if desired/thematically required (most stomachs attack with acid, and thus have the Corrosive element).

Devoured subjects cannot be attacked by anyone else while inside you, including yourself. A devoured subject cannot attack anyone except the one who devoured them, and takes a disadvantage on all checks to do so (and as there is no air inside a stomach, can only use attacks that have the Sealed upgrade- if they have none, there's nothing they can do at all). If a devoured subject manages to deal Vitality damage on an attack against their devourer from the inside, a hole opens up and they can escape and appear in any space adjacent to their devourer they please. The hole immediately closes behind them, however- other devoured subjects have to smash their own way out. Devoured subjects do not automatically escape if their devourer is killed, but may do so as a minor action instead of having to attack their way out. Alternately, another creature outside of a dead devourer can cut their allies out as a minor action as well.

A creature's stomach can hold a maximum of one creature two sizes smaller than themselves. For example, a size 5 creature could devour a creature of size 3, but would then be full and could not devour anything else. Four creatures of a given size are equivalent to a single creature one size larger than themselves. Creatures that die inside their devourer's stomach disappear in 24 hours, clearing space for the devourer to devour something (or someone) else. Creatures in a devourer's stomach are considered to be carried by the devourer and count against their creature carry limit (which is generally irrelevant unless very large/numerous creatures are devoured).

When the Trigger Die has a result of 11+, the target gains the Disarm (Set) condition until they successfully recover from it. The disarmed target chooses one of their attack sets. For as long as the condition lasts, they cannot use that set. A single creature can be under the effect of multiple Disarm conditions, so long as each one affects a different attack set in their possession. Disarm conditions have no effect on a creature's ability to use improvised attacks. If a targeted creature has one or more attack sets with the Inherent upgrade that make them immune to this condition, they assign the condition to one of their sets that doesn't have it (if any) before ignoring the effect entirely.

When the Trigger Die has a result of 10+, any creatures summoned by a Summon support effect or animated by a Necromancy support effect struck by the attack are instantly destroyed. Other creatures not temporarily created by support effects are not affected.

When the Trigger Die has a result of 12, Escalation for the entire conflict is increased by +1. Escalation from an Escalator attack stacks with and is treated exactly like ordinary Escalation in every way.

When the Trigger Die has a result of 10+, the target gains the Fatigue condition until they successfully recover from it. Fatigued creatures cannot restore lost Endurance by any means.

When the Trigger Die has a result of 10+, the target gains the Grabbed By (Grabber's Name) condition until they successfully recover from it. For example, if Steve grabs Dave, then Dave has the “Grabbed By Steve” condition. Creatures with the Grabbed condition are forced to carry the weight of the creature grabbing them (which may give them an impairment to movement or even immobilize them completely, depending). If a grabbed creature moves, it carries the grabber along with them.

The grabber must also carry the weight of the target they are grabbing, but the grabber can choose to end the effect at any time as a free action even when it is not their turn. Multiple Grabbed conditions stack, but only so long as they come from different grabbers (so Dave could have separate “Grabbed By Steve” and “Grabbed By Cthulhu” conditions, but not “Grabbed By Steve” more than once.) If a subject is grabbed by multiple attackers, then they and each grabber must carry the weight of every other creature in the grab-pile if they wish to move anywhere. Allies who are all cooperatively grabbing a single creature can choose to coordinate their movement and not count against each other's weight limits.

If you are grabbing a creature that you can carry without being slowed by their weight, you can use one action to move them to any point within range of the attack you used to grab them with. If you can carry them but it imposes an impairment on your movement, you can move them by taking 2 actions. If carrying them immobilizes you, you cannot move them.

When the Trigger Die has a result of 10+, the target gains the Hobbled condition until they successfully recover from it. Hobbled creatures have an impairment on all movement actions. Impairment from being hobbled stacks with all other forms of movement impairment.

When the Trigger Die has a result of 11+, the target gains the Immobilized sting until the beginning of the attacker's next turn. Immobilized creatures cannot take any movement actions at all.

When the Trigger Die has a result of 11+, the target gains the Prone condition until they successfully recover from it. Targets with the Prone condition have an impairment on all movement actions. Attacks originating from within 5 meters or less of a prone target are strengthened, attacks from 6-20 meters away are neither strengthened nor weakened, and attacks from more than 20 meters away are weakened. Creatures can make themselves prone at any time if they desire without being hit by this attack, and automatically succeed on recovery checks against self-knockdowns. A subject does not have to be on solid ground in order to be knocked “prone” by this attack effect- subjects in water, flying, etc can be considered to be floundering, off-balance, or topsy-turvy until they recover from the effect and right themselves (with identical mechanical effects to the standard prone state).

When the Trigger Die has a result of 12, the target gains the Pacified sting. A pacified creature cannot use any attacks on their next turn, even improvised attacks. Pacified creatures are free to take any non-attack actions they desire.

When the Trigger Die has a result of 12, the target gains the Petrified sting. A petrified creature is turned to ultra-hard stone or similarly tough (Tier IV) material, and cannot take any actions (even free or purely mental ones) at all. While petrified, the creature is immune to all attacks that don't have the required Demolitions upgrade required to destroy Tier IV materials. All attacks against a petrified subject are considered assassinations if they successfully get through the creature's defenses, however. The creature remains petrified until the end of the petrifier's next turn. If a petrifying attack kills a subject, the petrification is permanent. Whatever the material a subject is turned into, it is of little actual value and this attack cannot be used as a money-generator.

When the Trigger Die has a result of 11+, the subject is moved 1 meter directly away from you. If this would move the subject into a solid barrier such as a wall or another creature, that creature is not moved any further than it would be possible for them to move on their own. Push attacks can freely move targets into danger such as into a lava pool or off the edge of a cliff.

When the Trigger Die has a result of 11+, the target gains the Sap condition until they successfully recover from it. Targets with the Sap condition take minor damage (1 die, +1 die per 3 points of Escalation that ignores defenses) at the end of each of their turns.

When the Trigger Die has a result of 10+, the target gains the Setup sting. The single next attack against a target with a Setup sting is strengthened and removes the Setup sting.

When the Trigger Die has a result of 9+, the target gains the Silenced sting. A silenced creature cannot speak, shout, raise an alarm, or anything else that involves using their voice. The creature remains silenced until the end of the silencer's next turn.

When the Trigger Die has a result of 11+, the target can take no actions on their next turn except for running away from you as quickly and effectively as possible. Affected targets will not run into certain death such as off a cliff or into lava, but will run into somewhat dangerous areas such as hazard support effects or into the middle of more enemies if that is the only option available for them to escape you. Affected targets may not make any attacks except if they are completely surrounded and doing so is the only method they have of getting away. Affected targets may not use any Boons or Supports at all.

When the Trigger Die has a result of 12, you may instantly restore 1 lost Endurance to yourself.

When the Trigger Die has a result of 11+, the target gains the Weakness sting until the beginning of their next turn. All attacks made by targets with the Weakness sting are weakened.

Area upgrades allow an attack to strike multiple targets at once. Area upgrades are all mutually exclusive with each other. You cannot have more than one in a single attack set.

Area effect attacks do not harm their user, but can and will harm the user's allies if they are standing in the target area. The Range general upgrade does not function with any of the Area upgrades. Walls and other solid barriers prevent the spread of the area attack beyond them.

All attack sets with an Area upgrade must recharge like boons do. Every time a charged set is used, it becomes uncharged and cannot be used again immediately. At the beginning of each turn, roll a die for every uncharged set you possess. If the result is a 5 or a 6, the set is recharged and can be used again. All rechargeable sets become instantly recharged after combat ends.

The attack strikes all creatures within a standard 3-meter vision arc of its user out to a distance of 1 meter simultaneously. The attack arc is only 3 meters wide even when Arc attacks are used by very large creatures who have larger visual arcs. If the attack's user is large enough to take up multiple spaces, then they must designate a single one of the spaces that they occupy to be the origin of the effect.

The attack strikes all creatures within 1 meter of its user simultaneously. If the attack's user is large enough to take up multiple spaces, then they must designate a single one of the spaces that they occupy to be the origin of the effect.

The attack strikes all creatures on a straight line 2 meters long and 1 meter wide. The line can be oriented in any direction, but one end of it must be adjacent to the effect's user.