Calls
Overview
- Calls allow characters to deliver magical effects or heroic blows
- All calls require the user to strike the target with a weapon or implement
- To make a call you must use appropriate roleplaying for the kind of call you are making
- You can only make one call each with each blow you strike
- All calls also cause the target to lose one global hit
- There are no game abilities that allow a target to resist a call
- Some calls do not affect a target if they hit armour
- If the target has clearly not taken the call then the call has not been used
A participant can shout a call in a fight to indicate that they have used a special ability or magical item that allows them to deliver an especially potent attack. By learning these calls, players know how to react appropriately when attacked by such an ability.
All heroic and magic calls require the user to strike the target with a suitable weapon or implement. The target loses one global hit as exactly as if they had been hit normally. Only mass calls can be used against a target at range, and these do not cause the loss of a hit.
To make any call you must use appropriate roleplaying for the skill or ability that you are using. A heroic blow might be bold and dramatic and accompanied by a mighty roar, while a magic call might involve an arcane flourish and a quick invocation.
If it is clear that the target has not visibly taken the call then the call has not been used. Characters with heroic skills do not lose a hero point if the target is visibly unaffected, magicians do not lose a mana point if the target has clearly not taken the spell they have cast.
All Empire players need to be familiar with the calls so that they know how to react to them if attacked, even if they don't have any way to deliver the calls themselves.
You can only make one call with each blow you strike, and the one-second rule applies as usual.
There is no way to resist an effect in Empire.
Some special calls affect a character even if the blow is blocked by a shield, and it is important for a shield user to know which ones these are so they can react appropriately. A character is still repelled, entangled, or knocked off their feet if the blow strikes their shield, although they do not lose any hits.
Some common queries about how calls work can be found in the Rules FAQ.
Monstrous Creatures
- Monstrous creatures are not affected by calls
There is no way to resist an effect in Empire, but calls never affect over-sized monstrous creatures. A monstrous creature that is phys-repped with a bulky all-encompassing full-body costume is not affected by calls. Player-characters (all PCs) always count as human-sized - no matter what costume they are wearing.
Large or broad-shouldered creatures - like ogres - do not count as monstrous creatures and are affected by calls normally. Iconic monsters such as the Thule war beast count as monstrous, as do the much smaller ice-giants, and some of the larger drakes fielded by the Grendel.
Monstrous creatures cannot be healed using regular methods. It requires time or specific ritual magic to heal a monstrous creature.
Heroic Calls
- Heroic calls usually represent physical blows of great strength or skill
Heroic calls are most commonly used to represent physical blows of great strength or skill. A highly trained warrior may strike down an enemy with their poleaxe, while a brutal herald might cut through leather and flesh with their greatsword.
CLEAVE
- If the blow strikes your torso, you lose all your hits
- If the blow strikes one of your limbs, it is ruined and you lose the use of that limb until cured
- If the blow strikes your head or neck, you lose one hit
- If the blow strikes your medium or heavy armour phys-rep, you lose one hit
- If you block or parry the blow, the call has no effect but is not expended
If you are hit with a CLEAVE then you have been hit with a blow that is heavy or precise enough to disable you with a single strike. If you are hit in the torso then you are reduced to zero global hits and are dying.
If you are hit in a limb then you lose the use of that limb. You must roleplay accordingly: you might fight on with the loss of an arm, but you must drop anything that was held in that hand. You may defend yourself from the ground with the loss of a leg, but you cannot kneel, hop, or move around.
If you are hit by a CLEAVE in the head or neck, or if the blow strikes the actual phys-rep of medium or heavy armour that you are wearing, then you only lose one hit as if you had been hit by a normal blow.
The effects of CLEAVE and IMPALE are the same, but medium or heavy armour will protect you from a CLEAVE while only heavy armour will protect you from an IMPALE.
IMPALE
- If the blow strikes your torso, you lose all your hits
- If the blow strikes one of your limbs, it is ruined and you lose the use of that limb until cured
- If the blow strikes your head or neck, you lose one hit
- If the blow strikes your heavy armour phys-rep, you lose one hit
- All arrows and bolts cause IMPALE without needing to be called
- If you block or parry the blow, the call has no effect but is not expended. You must not attempt to parry an arrow or bolt with a weapon.
If you are hit with an IMPALE then you have been hit with a blow that is heavy or precise enough to disable you with a single strike. All arrows and bolts cause IMPALE without needing to be called.
If you are hit in the torso then you are reduced to zero global hits and are dying.
If you are hit in a limb then you lose the use of that limb. You must roleplay accordingly: you might fight on with the loss of an arm, but you must drop anything that was held in that hand. You may defend yourself from the ground with the loss of a leg, but you cannot kneel, hop, or move around.
If you are hit by an IMPALE in the head or neck, or if the blow strikes the actual phys-rep of heavy armour that you are wearing, then you only lose one hit as if you had been hit by a normal blow.
STRIKEDOWN
- You are knocked off your feet
- You are struck down even if you parry the blow with a weapon or shield
If you are hit with a STRIKEDOWN then you have either been tripped or hit so hard that you have been knocked from your feet. You must roleplay this appropriately and fall to the ground - your backside or torso must touch the ground before you are able to take any other action or stand up. You cannot dive into a roll and leap back to your feet, nor drop to your knees.
You must fall to the ground at most two steps from where you were last struck. This rule allows you to avoid having to fall over in unsafe or particularly wet areas; it does not allow you to make a tactical retreat from combat nor to take any aggressive actions while moving to fall over.
EXECUTE
- You can only be executed if you are dying or you consent.
- After your opponent spends five seconds of appropriate roleplaying delivering a fatal blow, you die.
If you are dying, (or terminal) and another character spends at least five seconds of appropriate roleplaying for delivering a fatal blow to your character and calls EXECUTE then you are immediately killed.
You are not vulnerable to EXECUTE purely because you are paralyzed, nor are are you affected if the other party does not spend at least five seconds to carry out the execution. You can consent to being executed by another character, in which case you do not need to be dying or terminal and they do not need to spend five seconds roleplaying the execution for the call to affect you.
Magic Calls
- Magic calls usually represent magical effects that debilitate or weaken the target
- You must strike the target with a wand, rod, or staff
Magic calls are most commonly used to represent the malign effects of spells, rituals, and powerful magical items. A skilled battle mage may cast a spell to repel an enemy, while a wraith might curse a target with the touch of its wicked blade.
To deliver a magic call, you must touch your target with a wand, rod, or staff. If your victim parries or dodges the strike, then they are not affected by some spells.
As the effects of the magic calls VENOM and WEAKNESS cannot be seen, you must always assume that the target has taken the call.
CURSE
- You are cursed and should see a ref for details when it is appropriate to do so
- The effect lasts until cured
CURSE does not immediately affect your character; you are aware that you have been cursed but may continue to fight and act normally. See a referee for more details once you are able to do so without interrupting your roleplaying.
ENTANGLE
- You may not move your feet but you may otherwise move and fight normally
- You are entangled even if you parry the blow with a weapon or shield
- The effect lasts 10 seconds
ENTANGLE makes it impossible for your character to move their feet for ten seconds. You may otherwise move and fight normally.
PARALYSE
- You may talk and drink a potion if you are fed one, but you cannot take any other actions
- If you block or parry the blow, the call has no effect but is not expended
- The effect lasts 10 seconds
You are held in place by magical force. You cannot move at all. You may talk and drink a potion if you are fed one, but you cannot take any other actions. This effect lasts ten seconds.
If you block or parry the strike then you are not paralysed.
MASS PARALYSE will always affect you, holding you in place for ten seconds, regardless of whether you are equipped with a shield.
REPEL
- You must move away from the caster at a brisk walk or faster
- You are repelled even if you parry the blow with a weapon or shield
- The effect lasts 10 seconds or until you have retreated for 20’
REPEL represents a magical force that drives you away from the caster. You must move away from them at a brisk walk or faster. The effect lasts for ten seconds or until you have retreated for more than 20' (6m).
If you cannot move away from the caster due to the presence of an obstacle, you must move as far as you can and then be pressed against the obstacle for the remainder of the ten second duration. While pressed against the obstacle you may talk but may take no other actions including blocking with a shield or parrying a blow.
SHATTER
- Any weapon, implement, or shield struck is broken and useless
- Shattered items can be repaired with the mend spell or with artisan's oil
SHATTER represents a magical force (or mighty blow) that is powerful enough to break weapons and shatter shields. Any weapon, implement, or shield struck by a SHATTER call is broken and useless. If you are using a shield that is difficult to discard, then any further blow that strikes the shattered shield counts as if it had struck you on your arm.
VENOM
- Your bleed time drops to thirty seconds
- If you block or parry the blow, the call has no effect but is not expended
- The effect lasts until cured
- When using the VENOM call, you must assume that the target has taken the effect
A character will normally bleed to death in three minutes if they are reduced to zero hits. A character who is struck by VENOM will instead bleed to death in thirty seconds if they are reduced to zero hits.
If you are dying and have less than thirty seconds to live when you are hit by venom, then you should continue with your current count - gaining the venom condition never increases the time remaining if you were already dying.
The fortitude skill lists how long it takes for a character with the skill to bleed to death when affected by venom.
The victim remains affected by venom until they are cured by the purify spell or a similar potion or magic.
WEAKNESS
- You may not make any calls
- You may not use any heroic skills, any religious skills, cast spells, or contribute to rituals
- Only skills, enchantments and magic items that are always on will work
- If you block or parry the blow, the call has no effect but is not expended
- The effect lasts until cured
- When using the WEAKNESS call, you must assume that the target has taken the effect
WEAKNESS prevents you from making any calls (bar OOC safety calls) for any reason. This includes EXECUTE. In addition, you cannot use any heroic skills, religious skills, cast any spells or contribute to any rituals. Only skills, magic items, or enchantments that are "always on" will work (such as those that give you extra hits, wield a polearm, or fire a crossbow). You may otherwise move and fight normally.
The victim remains affected by weakness until they are cured by the purify spell or a similar potion or magic.
Mass Calls
- MASS is an area effect call that expands the effect of another call to everyone within a 20' cone in front of the caster
MASS calls represent the most potent effects in the game and they are the only calls that can be used at range. They are commonly caused by rituals, though there are powerful unnatural creatures in the world that can cause MASS effects.
MASS is always used with another call immediately following it. It indicates that the call affects everyone in a ninety-degree arc in front of and up to 20' (6m) away from the caster.
For example, MASS REPEL causes everyone within the area of effect to be affected by the REPEL call.
Safety Calls
Safety calls are out-of-character calls used to indicate that there is a safety issue that needs to be immediately addressed. Everyone who hears a safety call must immediately stop whatever they are doing and follow the safety call as appropriate.
FIRST AID
- If you hear this call, you should stop any fighting and kneel down
- You should call FIRST AID if you see anyone suffer a real injury
- Do not shout this call if you hear someone else shout it
If a participant suffers a real injury then a ref or any other participant who sees in the injury should shout FIRST AID. This call alerts everyone to the fact that someone is genuinely hurt. You should alert the nearest member of crew, if they are not already aware of the incident.
Previously we used man down for this call. If you hear FIRST AID or MAN DOWN called then you should stop fighting and kneel down. Only the referees in the area should remain standing. This makes it as easy as possible for our first-aid team and crew to identify the situation and act appropriately. You should not shout the call just because you hear someone else shout it. This is to ensure the battle can continue to flow, and the appropriate crew can quickly identify the right location.
Depending on the severity of the injury, referees may keep the area timed out until it is resolved, or move players away from the incident and resume fighting in the area by shouting TIME IN.
TIME FREEZE
- A referee will make this call if a significant safety problem is developing
- If you hear this call, you should stop any fighting, stop talking, and listen for further instructions
If a referee identifies that a situation is becoming unsafe then they will call TIME FREEZE. All participants should stop any fighting and stop roleplaying. The referee will tell you what to do next, so you should remain alert and listen for instructions. You should not shut your eyes or make any noise. The ref will give a quick explanation of the problem and then state what remedial action everyone must take.
For example, if a fight is moving close to a deep ditch the ref may shout TIME FREEZE. A second later when everyone has stopped they will say "The ditch here is unsafe - all participants move 10 paces in that direction."
Once everyone has moved as directed the referee will indicate that the game can resume by shouting TIME IN.