RULEBOOK

Positional Tactics

Where you stand determines what you deserve. Position on the grid is a mechanical reality — get behind someone and the dice reward you for it. Get surrounded and you will feel every angle.

Facing

Every character in grid combat has a facing direction — one of eight directions relative to the grid (think of a compass rose used as a label system). Facing represents which way the character is oriented at any given moment.

How it works:

  • Automatic facing from attacks: when you attack someone, your facing updates to point toward them. You end the round looking at your target.
  • Automatic facing from movement: when you move, your facing updates to the direction you moved. Step forward and you face forward.
  • Deliberate rotation: after the movement phase of each step, you choose one facing direction. This is free — it costs no Action Points and no free movement. The facing holds until the next step’s movement phase.

If a character has not attacked or moved this round, their facing carries over from the previous round. At the start of combat, facing is set by the GM based on the scene — whichever direction each character was looking when the fight began.

Positional Bonuses

A positional bonus is a number of automatic successes added to an attack roll based on where the attacker is standing relative to the defender’s facing. These stack directly on top of the attacker’s dice — they do not replace the roll, they augment it.

Think of the defender at the center of a 3×3 grid. The eight surrounding cells represent attacker positions. Each cell belongs to a zone, and each zone grants a different bonus:

ZoneAngle from frontCellsBonus
Front0° – 45°3 cells (ahead, ahead-left, ahead-right)+0 automatic successes
Side90°2 cells (directly left, directly right)+1 automatic success
Rear side135°2 cells (behind-left, behind-right)+2 automatic successes
Behind180°1 cell (directly opposite facing)+3 automatic successes

The zones rotate with the defender’s facing. Turn to face left and everything shifts with you — your new front is wherever you look, and your new “directly behind” is the cell opposite.

Reference: Zone Map (Relative to Defender)

The cells around a defender are assigned zones based on their position relative to where the defender is facing. This map applies regardless of which direction on the grid the defender faces.

CellZoneBonus
Front, front-left, front-rightFront (0°–45°)+0
Left, rightSide (90°)+1
Rear-left, rear-rightRear side (135°)+2
Directly behindBehind (180°)+3

Try It

Use the tool below to experiment with attacker positions and defender facing. Click any surrounding cell to place an attacker there, then rotate the defender to see how the bonus changes.

Worked Example

Example: Tilly Goes Around Back

The party faces a City Watch sergeant — heavy armor, no room to run. The sergeant is facing Bran, who is directly in front of him (front zone, +0 to anyone attacking from there). Tilly is starting the round two squares to the sergeant’s right.

Bran uses his Action Points to declare a medium weapon attack. He has no intention of landing it cleanly — he just needs the sergeant watching his front.

Tilly spends 1 AP to move one square behind the sergeant (rear-right, rear side zone, +2). Rear zones feel more comfortable to her in general. She attacks with her dagger for 1 AP, and the round resolves simultaneously. The sergeant, busy tracking Bran’s overhead swing, does not rotate.

Tilly rolls Wits + Melee: Wits 3 (rolls a 2, 2 successes), Melee 2 (rolls a 4, −1). Total dice: 1 success. Add the +2 positional bonus. Final total: 3 successes. The sergeant, defending against Bran, has only 1 AP left to answer. He takes the rear strike at full Degree of success .

Tilly spent 2 AP. She got +2 automatic successes. That’s the trade: movement costs Action Points , but the right position pays out.

Tactical Notes

Surrounding an Enemy Is Devastating

Each attacker calculates their positional bonus independently. If three attackers split around a defender — one front, one side, one rear side — they get +0, +1, and +2 respectively, with no bonus cancellation or sharing. A full encirclement is not just an advantage; it is a tactical emergency for whoever is in the center.

The Defender’s Dilemma

Rotation is free, but it happens at the start of each step’s movement phase — before attackers declare where they will move. You choose your facing blind. Face the biggest threat and your flanks open up. Face the flanker and your front attacker gets a free swing. There is no correct answer when you are surrounded. Only a least-bad one.

Teamwork Payoff

Positional tactics reward coordination between players. One character uses Distraction or a committed front attack to hold the defender’s attention; another spends AP maneuvering into a rear arc. The distraction character may deal less damage directly — but the flank they enabled just added +3 automatic successes to their ally’s roll. The assist is part of the damage.

See Distraction on the Combat page for the mechanic that pairs most naturally with flanking.