Very well then! We begin a combat situation.
Speed roll is a 2. These locals all have a speed of 6. They have a skill of 6 and are armed with blaster rifles. There are thirty of them in all- fifteen in front of you, 15 behind.
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CURRENT SITUATION AT: First Sequence, Frame 11
Outside Silo
Rand: 14/0/8
Galder: 10/0/11
Takuan: 14/0/8
Rah: 12/0/10
Tanic: 12/0/9
Vash: 10/0/11
Rianna: 10/0/11
Security men (fore) x15: 0/8
Security men (aft) x15: 0/8
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Now, let's see what is going on here. I'll do an overview, even though those from the Matrix Combat Path know what is going on.
First of all, this is the first 'sequence' of the combat, and we hbave just started, so the current frame is equal to the highest amount of frames anyone has, which is 11- I'll tell you why in a moment.
In italics are the combat locations, and everyone's position in them. Right now we only have one combat location- Outside the silo. But say your group split in two and one half moved on, I might create a second location (called, say, Outside Second Silo) and track what is going on there seperately. If you move within a combat area (say, to take cover behind the silo- though cover is not the factor here that it is in Matrix) I simply put that in brackets after your character.
Then we have the names of you in that location listed, followed by trhe bad guys. You will, of course, note the three numbers after each of you, and the two numbers after the security guys. It is three numbers for named characters, two numbers for mooks. You guys are obviously all named! So for you those numbers are:
Current Force pool/wounds suffered/current frame
Your force pool is at max, you are all unhurt, and no-one has done anything yet so your frame numbers are at their starting number.
The mooks get this:
Current damage/current frame
They don't have Force, of course- in fact, most opponents you meet don't. But nor do they suffer wounds- they die using a far simpler system, based on how well you hit them- see the main rules. The first number indicates how well they have been hit so far- though few mooks take a successful sabre hit and live. Do bear in mind, though, that 'wounds' in this game are an aggregate of many things- exhaustion, running out of luck, scratches- and not just physical damage!
I've grouped the mooks into two groups for easier accouting, but if you start hurting them, or their frame numbers start to vary, I have to start breaking that up a but and posting some independantly of the main group.
You got your frame number by adding your Speed stat to the speed die roll I made. So Tanic has a speed of 7, I rolled a 2, so his 'Initiative' (and so starting frame number) is 9. The Warriors actually get to add another +1 to that, as they are damn quick off the mark- hence their frame number being 11.
The basics of the sequence is that the person (or people) with the highest frame number goes first, and each move costs you a certain amount of frames- a standard attack takes 3. You don't have to wait your turn to post what you want to do- the way it works is that you post what you want to do and then I make that happen as soon as your frame number comes up. If you are away from the game, I allow you to catch up but only within certain limits; stay away for too long and you just lose your actions, I am afraid.
You will note that as your enemies are not acting until frame 8, you have quite an advantage on them in acting first. This is good- because it is a three frame movement action required to close the distance between you and them, and remember you have to go one wasy or another!
Ok folks, that's the deal; if anyone wants to use any force powers that are used at the start of the sequence, now is the time to do it. Otherwiese, you are all acting first, so get going!
I shall assume Rianna attacks frontwards.
Well, it seems there is a rather sudden flurry of force activity!
RIanna leads with her Push first, as she is pretty quick. She rolls evens, for a final score of 12 (equal to her Force atack rating). What she needed to hit was her target's fighting value- which is six- and so she has hit by six above what she needed. As you only need to go five above to kill a mook, we don't need to worry about any more- that is a kill! (Though 'killing' a mook is not always literal- point is, the mook is out the fight). The hapless hick is slung backwards into a silo, and slumps to the ground...
Rah rolls -1, but that is still enough for a kill. Takuan, meanwhile, activates awe...
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CURRENT SITUATION AT: First Sequence, Frame 11
Outside Silo
Rand: 14/0/8
Galder: 10/0/11
Takuan: 10/0/7
Rah: 10/0/7
Tanic: 12/0/9
Vash: 10/0/11
Rianna: 9/0/8
Security men (fore) x13: 0/8
Security men (aft) x15: 0/8
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Galder, Rand, Tanic, Vash, and Rianna (again!) can still act before the bad guys fire back. Note thet when you share frames with opponents, you always go first.