Retreat command
| Stops an advance or attempts to move one combat range farther away from opponents. Retreating repeatedly imposes an accumulating penalty on melee and ranged attacks. |
| RETREAT (while advancing) You see: You stop advancing on <target>. RETREAT (from melee range) RETREAT (from pole range) RETREAT (failed attempt) RETREAT (already disengaged) |
Syntax
- RETREAT
- Stop advancing, or attempt to move one combat range farther away from the opponents engaging you.
Usage
If you are advancing on a target, RETREAT cancels the advance instead of changing your current range.
Otherwise, each successful use moves you back one range: from melee to pole range, or from pole range out of combat. A failed attempt leaves you at the same range and incurs roundtime. You must be standing to retreat.
Retreat success depends on your ability to disengage from the opponents facing you. Hindrance and encumbrance make retreating harder, while your Evasion skill, Reflex and Agility help determine whether you get away. Multiple opponents can also make retreating more difficult.
Characters retreating while hidden receive the corresponding You sneak back out to pole range. or You sneak back out of combat. success message.
Retreat Penalty
Retreating repeatedly within a short period imposes an accumulating offensive penalty, discouraging repeated ranged attacks while an opponent attempts to close to melee. The penalty affects both melee and ranged attacks.
ASSESS reports the penalty with one of the following lines:
- You appear to be having difficulty targeting melee attacks.
- You appear to be having difficulty targeting ranged attacks.
- You appear to be having difficulty targeting melee and ranged attacks.
See Also