One of the areas of the RQ:G rules that trips up many GMs are strike ranks. In order to properly define the Rivers of Sartar house ruiles, it is important to be clear on what the RQ:G rules as written actually are, especially as many GMs use their own house rules in this area. Originally this explanation was going to be a subsection of the Rivers of Sartar house rules; that ended up confusing the presentation of those rules. so it has been split off.

Purpose of Strike Ranks

In RQ:G, strike rankes are calculated as part of the Statement of Intent step. Each PC describes what they are doing, and one or more markers are placed on a Strike Rank Tracker saying when they will get to do it. Then the same is done for NPCs. Subsequentkly, during the Resolution step, SR markers are then processed in increasing order, whoever plaved them. Ties, where there are two or more events occuring on the same SR marker, are resolved in DEX order.

So in the above simple example, PC #2 is taking two actions, with durations of 4 and 5 SR respectively. They will act first, followed by PC#1. Then the three broos will get to attack, in the order shown. Finally PC#2 will get to act again.

The secondary purpose of strike ranks is to limit the amount of actions that can be taken in a round; they cannot add up to more than 12. This is where things do get more complicated; it helps to examine things case by case.

Attacking and defending in melee

As the above diagram illustrates, attack and defense happen in partallel, without one affecting the SR of the other. A melee attack can  take place at any point after the point set by by the sum of SIZ, DEX and Weapon SRs. A Parry or dodge can take place at any time. 

Surprise and readying weapons

The above diagram shows a surprised combatant being unable to act at all on the first three strike ranks. Then it takes them 5 SRs to draw their weapons, duing which they can only dodge. At SR 8, with their weapon drawm, then can parry. However, with only 4 SRs remaining in the combat round, they do not have time for a melee attack.

The same combattant if surprised, but with weapons already drawn, could parry from SR 3, and attack at SR 10.

Movement during Combat

RQ:G states that, during combat, 3M of movement takjes 1 SR. However, it is silent on two things. leaving them to GM interpretation:

- whether movement actions delay attack and defense.

- what, if any. is the effect of having a MOV rating higher or lower than the 8 all humans have.

However, the clear intent of the rules is who gets to attack first is determined by who is larger and has a longer weapon, rather than who is charging and who is stationary. This requires treating movement as a parallel action, in the same way as attack and defence. This is the interpretation shown above.

The rules do state that a MOV 8 combatant can move 24m in a combat round. So one plausible interpretation is that the 8 is supposed to be the number of SRs such parallel movement is possible for, moving 3 meters during each. Moving faster would then imply giving up the option to attack and/or defend. This does break for creatures with a MOV over 12, but that can normally only be reached by magic.

Compared to tracking movement in detail, this greatly speeds up combat, as the strike ranks used will be the same from round to round, rather than being adjusted for precise positioning. All that is needed is to know if the opponent is within about 24M; if not, you can't attack them this round.

Missile Attacks

Missile weapons have no Weapon SR, and ignore SIZ SR. They are either 1 use, or have to be reloaded between shots. The time to reload is affected by the Rate of Fire statistic of the weapon used. For anything other than a weapon with a S/MR Rate of Fire, this time is too long to permit multiple shots in a single combat round. For bows and thrown weapons, the relaod time is 5 SR.

With a DEX SR of 2, as shown above, a combatant can fire 2 arrows if they start with one nocked, or 1 in subsequent rounds (at SR 7). Getting down to a DEX SR of 1 allows 2 arrows per round consistentrly. 0 SR allows 3 shots if nocked and 2 subsequently.

The rules disallow unmounted movement while using a missile weapon, but are silent on whether it is possible to defend yourself while using one. Consistemcy with the melle combat rules would suggest that defending is an alternative to being able to attack more than once. You either keep track of incoming fire, and are prepared to dodge it, or you focus on firing as fast as you can.

Spell attacks

The SR of an attack spell is calculated from two sources, the type of the spell (Spell SR), and the MPs used to cast it (MP SR). RQ:G states that it is impossible to attack with both a weapon and a spell, or attack twice with a spell (in the abscence of specific magic like Multispell).

There is nothing stated to make it impossible to move or defend while casting a spell, so that is assumed to be allowed, as above.

The Spell SR is:

• 0 for normal Rune Magic
• DEX SR for Spirit magic spells with an available focus item.
• 12 for Sorcery, ritual magic or enchantments
• 24 for spirit magic when lacking a focus item.

Unlike most other actions in combat. spells can actually span the course of several combat rounds.

In RQ:G, MP SR is '1 for each MP spent after the first', for Rune and Spirit magic, and 2 SR per MP for sorcery. So:

• 0 for a 1 pt spirit magic spell
• 0 for a Rune spell boosted by 0 or 1 MP
• 1 for a 2 pt spirit magic spell
• 1 for a Rune spell boosted by 2 MP
• 2 for a sorcery spell using 1 MP.
• and so on..

As most Rune Magic requires no MP, most rune spells will be cast on the earliest possible SR, which is 1. For most Rune magic, the strength of the spell does not effact the time to cast it. The exception are spells, such as Sword Trance, that can be boosted with MP to increease their effect.

Note that the Quickstart rules used the considerably simpler rule '1MP = 1 SR'.

So in the above example, the combatant casts Demoralise, a 2 point spirit magic spell, taking a total of 3 SRs. As they cannot attack again, they choose to take no actions for the rest of the round.

Casting Other Spells in Combat

Non-attack spells can be interleaved with non-spell attacks.. So, as the above diagram shows, it is possible to cast: the rune spell Shield 2 before attacking, delaying the attack by 1 SR. It would also be possible to cast a spell after the attack, when it would not delay it. f course, that means going for most of the round without the benifits of the spell.

As all this involves only a single attack, it is still possible to defend and/or move. 

General rules for spell-casting still apply, so casting a Rune Spell prevents a combatant from casting any other spells that round.

Spells that directly affect Strike Ranks

There are three spirit magic spells that directly affect Strike Rank: Slow, Mobility and Coordination. These can all be counted as affecting DEX SR for their duration, startinmg from the point they completre casting. Naturally, DEX SR cannot be reduced below 0.

So in the example, the combatant starts with SR 2, so it costs them 3 SR to cast the 2 MP spriti magic spell Coordination. This delays their attck by 2, from 7 to 9.

That still leaves them 3 SR to cast the 3MP variable spell Protection 3.

Two Weapon Use

In RQ:G, using a weapon in the offhand allows a second attack to be made, at the cost of parrying or dodging this round. 

This requires that all the SRs involved add up to less than 12, and that a specific offhand weapon skill be learnt.

The rules on two weapon use explicitly exclude shields from counting as an offhand weapon. However, the rules on performing a shield bash are functionally identical, so that restriction can be ignored if both optional rules are used.

Note that it is not usually possible to attack twice while using a two-handed weapon.

Split Attack Skills

Attack skills over 100 can be split into two or more individual attack rolls. This still requires that all SRs add upo to less than 12, but does not preclude dodging or parrying.