In order to speed up combat resolution, these rules require only two elements to determine the outcome: total effort exerted by each contestant and a damage value for attacks (for simplicity, use the Weapons Class table in Advanced Exploits, page 34).

1.	All actions occur simultaneously unless effort has been exerted in order to act in haste (see combat in Basic Exploits, page 15).

2.

Each contestant determines the form his task will take. This can be an attack or defense. Effort is applied and total effort is determined by factoring in the skill level of the relevant skill. Other modifiers may also be applied, such as those from aiming, recoil, or even conditions (read changes in difficulty as inverse changes in effort: nDiff x -1 = -nEffort) from the Advanced Exploits section (page 32). The director is free to assign modifiers as needed– one constestant swinging a staff on higher ground, for example, may receive one extra point of effort.

3.	The contestant with the most effort is the victor. If he attacked, damage is applied to his opponent (factoring in armor, of course). If the victor defended, he has successfully parried or evaded his opponent’s attack.

If the contest was a tie, an attacker deals one grade of the relevant type of damage (fatigue or injury) to his opponent. That’s it. Repeat as needed.