Any conflict in Late Legends can be described as a battle. A battle is the moment when all players have to be on edge and ready to fight (or role-play) their Legends out of the battle to stay alive. There are some rules for battles to make the turn order and action order clearer.
At the start of a battle
This is the moment all players place their tokens on actions cooldowns and skill cooldowns (the starting numbers are underlined). Use a hexagonal battle map. The storyteller will place everyone on that map and might allow minor changes from the players. A legend is ready for battle if the player can confirm the following:
- A class sheet with both cooldowns readied
- A legend sheet with filled in core stats, abilities and battle stats
- Keep in mind that a legend needs at least 1 current health to be conscious. The current health of the legend is higher than 0.
- A position on the battle map
Turn order
The turn order per round can be handled in one of two ways, chosen by the storyteller: Grouped turns - the storyteller separates the turns of the players from the rest. This means that if a player gets a turn, all of the players may act. The players still have the freedom to decide the turn order each turn. After all the players have got their turn, the storyteller will change the rounds and give the players another turn when he/she sees fit. Narrated turns - the Storyteller focuses more on narrating the actions of the other characters. After this, the storyteller will give a number of turns to all the players. If the storyteller gives two turns, that means that only two players make take a turn, even if the party consists of eight legends. In this situation, it is possible to create more tense moments, where four legends are in danger, but only two get an opportunity to act. The players will have to think a bit more strategically in narrated turns. It can make a battle way more difficult to predict, but it also makes it more of a team effort and a more engaging battle overall. Though it is pretty hard to pull off the first time for the Storyteller, it can be very interesting for a longer story.
Actions in battle
As stated in the Cooldowns, a legend gains two actions, two specials, two ability and two reactions each round. A legend can use these to do various things.
Actions are used to perform the majority of a legend’s turn:
- Attack - by using current equipment in an attempt to damage a target, see Attack and defend for the details.
- Move - on the hexagonal battlefield. The battle stat called movement determines the number of tiles that can be moved. A legend cannot move through enemy units and has to land on a free tile.
- Use a skill - from a class or artifact. Also requires skill cooldown of a specific rarity.
- Interact - with someone or something on the battlefield. This is highly dependent on the situation but usually involves an ability roll to determine success. Here are some examples:
- Holding someone in a grappled position (overpower)
- Quickly trade with and adjacent legend (nimbleness)
- Aid - self or an adjacent ally by increasing their shield (level +3).
- Switch equipment - to change your current loadout. It costs one action to switch either two small items, one big item or an armor.
Specials are small additions in a legend’s turn. Specials can be performed at any moment in a legends turn (before, in between or after the two actions. Specials can be used to:
- Interact - with someone or something on the battlefield. This is highly dependent on the situation but usually involves an ability roll to determine success. Here are some examples:
- Pull a rusty switch (handicraft)
- Use a skill - from a class or artifact. Also requires skill cooldown of a specific rarity.
- Dash - one tile on the battlefield, basically a move for one tile.
Abilities can also be performed in battle. Each time you attempt this it will require an ability roll. This can be used for things like:
- Current Health Indication - Get an indication from the storyteller of a specific target’s Health (clue finding).
A reaction is used for everything outside of the legends turn. Since these throw the turn order off it is the storyteller’s decision on when these can be used exactly. A reaction is used to:
- Use a skill - from a class or artifact. Also requires skill cooldown of a specific rarity. Reactions have a specific situation where they can be used, so read the skill carefully.
- Make an ability roll - outside of your turn.
Chat lets the legend freely communicate within and outside of turns. This is mainly used for role-playing and discussing tactics. Since one round represents roughly six in-game seconds, it is in everyone’s best interest to keep the communication short and to the point. The storyteller can easily let your legend skip a turn if you stand there chatting idly for too long.