Aggressive Stance Finesse Attack Area Attack Size Critical hits & combat maneuvers Defensive Stance Unarmed opponents Concealment Concealment Miss Chance Concealment and Stealth Checks Total Concealment Cover  Partial Cover Partial Cover and Reflex Saves Cover and Stealth Checks Total Cover Striking Cover Poisoned Weapons

Aggressive Stance

You can improve your chances of hitting with an attack by sacrificing your defense. Take a –5 penalty on your Defense to gain +2 on your attack rolls for that round.

Finesse Attack

Most attacks rely on sheer power to overcome the Toughness of a target's armor. Finesse attacks target the weak points of an opponent's defenses. Characters can normally make finesse attacks only with precision melee weapons

and unarmed attacks. (Generally, precision weapons which do not cause piercing cannot be used to make finesse attacks). Characters with the Precise Shot feat can also make finesse attacks with ranged weapons, so long as they are within one range increment of their target. To make a finesse attack, increase the Difficulty of your attack roll by an amount equal to the Toughness bonus of your opponent's armor. If your attack hits, the target does not get the armor's bonus on the Toughness save; the attack bypasses it altogether. If your attack roll fails, however, your attack glances harmlessly off the target's armor or, if you would have missed the target's normal Defense, misses entirely.

Finesse attacks only affect the Toughness bonuses from armor, artificial and natural. The natural Toughness bonuses from Constitution, size, and creature type are unaffected. Supernatural bonuses to armor are likewise not

affected by finesse attacks.

Area Attack

Some attacks consist of powerful explosions, bursts of energy, or simply chucking really big things at opponents. These area attacks cover a larger area than a normal attack, so they're much harder to avoid.

An area attack automatically hits an area the attacker can accurately target, filling the area with its effect. Targets in the area get a Reflex saving throw against a Difficulty of (10 + attack's Damage bonus). In case of powers,

the DC is that of power. If the save is successful, deduct 4 from the area damage's bonus. Targets with the Evasion feat suffer no effect ifthey make their Reflex save.  

Size

The following aer the size modifiers for creatures.

Critical hits & combat maneuvers

Defensive Stance

You improve your defense by sacrifcing accuracy. Take a  –5 on your attack rolls to gain +2 as a dodge bonus for that round.

Unarmed opponents

Attacks against unarmed opponents (without either a melee weapon or a shield) count as surprise attacks; as the result such opponents can use only base defense. The same applies to opponents armed only with ranged weapons,

unless those weapons can also be used as improvised melee weapons (such weapons generally cannot be used immediately after as ranged weapons. Narrator decides what damage the ranged weapon suffered and how much

time is necessary to put it in order). Opponents possessing Improved Strike feat count as armed. Wands which can be used to cast attack powers count as weapons.

Concealment

Concealment includes circumstances where nothing physically blocks an attack, but something interferes with the attacker's accuracy. Typically, concealment is provided by things like fog, smoke, shadows, darkness, foliage, and so

forth. 

Concealment Miss Chance

Concealment gives the subject of a successful attack a 20% chance (a roll of 17 or higher on d20) that the attacker missed because of the concealment. If the attack roll hits, the defender makes a miss chance roll to avoid being

struck. Multiple concealment conditions do not stack.

Concealment and Stealth Checks

You can use concealment to make a Stealth check to avoid being seen. Without concealment, you usually need cover to make a Stealth check. 

Total Concealment

You can't directly attack an opponent with total concealment, though you can attack into the area you think he occupies. A successful attack into an area occupied by a target with total concealment has a 50% miss chance (a d20 roll of 11 or higher). Remember that abilities and conditions which give you a percent chance to avoid damage, such as concealment, total concealment, blur, phase, blink etc do not stack. You can use only one of them against any given attack.

Cover 

Partial Cover

Taking cover behind a wall, tree, or other obstacle provides a +5 bonus to Defense. Cover is measured relative to the attacker. For example, hiding behind a low wall provides no cover against an opponent hovering above you, but does provide cover against an opponent on the other side of the wall.

Partial Cover and Reflex Saves

Partial Cover grants you a +2 bonus on Reflex saves against attacks originating from a point on the other side of the cover from you.

Cover and Stealth Checks

You can use partial cover to make a Stealth check to avoid being seen. Without cover or concealment you take -10 penalty to your Stealth Check.  You can move your Stealth Modifier in feet between Cover without suffering this penalty.

Total Cover

You can't make an attack against a target with total cover. You can use some senses (Scent, Hearing, Blindsense) to observe targets in total cover; in that case, total cover gives a  +10  bonus on Stealth checks. Tremorsense ignores cover.

Striking Cover

If it ever becomes important to know whether the cover was actually hit by an incoming attack, the Narrator should determine if the attack roll would have hit the protected target without the cover. If the attack roll falls within a range low enough to miss the target with cover but high enough to hit the target if there had been no cover, the cover is hit. This can be particularly important to know in cases when a character uses another character as cover.

In such a case, if the cover is struck and the attack roll exceeds the Defense of the covering character, the covering character takes the damage intended for the target. If the attack roll is lower than the Defense of the

covering character, but higher than the Defense of the covered character, the original target is hit instead. The covering character avoided the attack and didn't provide cover after all! Covering characters can voluntarily lower

defense bonus to ensure they provide cover.

Poisoned Weapons

Applying  poison  to  a  weapon  or  single  piece  of ammunition  is  a  full action. You will also take some time taking out and putting away container with the poison, weapon to be poisoned etc. A character has a 5% chance of exposing himself to a poison whenever he applies it to a weapon or otherwise readies it for use. Additionally, a character who rolls a natural 1 on an attack roll with a poisoned weapon must make a DC 15 Reflex save or accidentally poison himself with the weapon. Both those mishaps consume the dose of poison. One dose of poison smeared on a weapon or some other object affects just a single target. A poisoned weapon or object retains its venom until the weapon scores a hit or the object is touched (unless the poison is wiped off before a target comes in contact with it). Any poison smeared on an object or exposed to the elements in any way remains potent for 10 minutes, or until it is touched or used.  Poison is only rarely used on weapons. This is so because of a number of limitations. (Those limitations do not apply to poison fangs, stings or similar organs of creatures which are designed explicitly to use poison).

- poison applied to bludgeoning weapons has no effect.

- it is necessary to make finesse attacks in order to use poison effectively against armored opponents. Otherwise, the poison is wiped off when the weapon penetrates armor.

- poisoning large weapons, such as rapiers, requires 5 doses of poison. A dagger, an arrow or a crossbow bolt can be poisoned with only one dose.

- when a poisoned weapon hits, it must cause some damage (at least a hurt) in order to expose target to poison. If it does not cause damage, the poison is wiped off and has no further effect.

- unless the weapon is specially designed, poison exposed to air is neutralized within 10 minutes. 

- Specially designed arrows and bolts can be kept poisoned for a long time. Such projectiles cost at least DC 10 per item and are always destroyed after use. Poison must be bought separately.

- special daggers, rings and claws, designed to poison opponents are rumoured to exist.