Just as warfare is an extension of diplomacy, a nicely roleplayed conversation will occasionally end with somebody getting punched in the face. We will also feature what we call “heists”: occasions where, as a group of criminals or corporate operatives, you go somewhere you shouldn’t be and take something that isn’t yours. You will have to account for the fact that people will want to stop you, and plan to either avoid combat entirely or make sure the odds are in your favor.
Indeed, engaging in combat at all will often be something of a failstate. If you find yourself in a pitched battle, likely to catch a bullet at any moment, then things have probably not gone according to plan. Even if you’re victorious, you probably won’t escape such a situation unscathed, and your character will be dealing with the aftermath for days, weeks, or forever. Needless to say, this will lend some extra weight to many of your character’s decisions.
For these reasons, we’ve given Signal Nine a thorough and full-featured combat system. Let’s talk more about what all this really means and how we arrived at these decisions.