Some actions take a negligible amount of time, such as

Example dropping something you’re holding or yelling for help. They

are known as free actions and they don’t count towards
The rogue Gerhard, the warrior Jannelle, and the mage your usual limitation on actions. The rules will note when
Lorrahn are investigating an ancient graveyard when something is a free action.
four fanged skeletons attack them. The players each roll
for initiative and the GM rolls once for the skeletons (as a
group, they will act at the same time on the initiative list).
Major Actions
Putting the test results in order, the GM writes down the
initiative list: Jannelle 14, Gerhard 12, Fanged Skeletons ALL-OUT ATTACK
9, and Lorrahn 8. Jannelle takes her turn first, followed by You attack one adjacent enemy in hand-to-hand combat,
Gerhard, the skeletons, and Lorrahn. Then a new round throwing the full weight of your Strength behind the attack
begins with Jannelle taking another turn and so on. even though your ability to react to counterattacks will suffer.
If you hit, you do +1 damage, but whether or not this attack
hits, you suffer –1 to your Defense until your next turn.
Taking Actions
CHARGE
When it’s your turn in a round, you tell the GM what you You may move up to half your Speed (rounded down) in
want to do. On your turn you can take a major action and a yards and then make a melee attack against an adjacent
minor action or two minor actions. You can take these in any enemy. You gain a +1 bonus on your attack roll.
order and can take fewer actions if you like. You can talk while
taking your actions, but since a round is only 15 seconds long, DEFEND
what you can say is limited.
You concentrate on defending yourself this round. Until the
A list of the most common major and minor actions follows. beginning of your next turn, you gain a +2 bonus to your
You are not limited to these actions. If you want to do Defense.
something else, just tell the GM and they will adjudicate it.
The GM may require you to take an ability test depending on HEAL
what you are trying to do.
You provide some quick first aid to an injured ally. You must be
There are two additional actions of importance: cast and
adjacent to your ally and you must have bandages ready. This
reload. Cast is used with a mage’s spells and reload is used
is a TN 11 Cunning (Healing) test. If you are successful, your
with missile weapons. Depending on the spell, weapon, and
ally gets back an amount of Health equal to the Dragon Die +
related talents, cast and reload can be major actions, minor
your Cunning. A character cannot benefit from another heal
actions, or free actions. See Chapter 4: Weapons, Armor, &
action until they take additional damage.
Gear and Chapter 5: Magic for more information.
MELEE ATTACK
Stacking Effects You attack one adjacent enemy in hand-to-hand combat. An
As a rule of thumb across the whole of the Dragon Age RPG, enemy within 2 yards of you is considered adjacent.
the effects of different talents, powers, spells, stunts, items
RANGED ATTACK
of equipment, and the like stack with each other when they
apply to the same test or circumstance, but the effects of You fire or throw a missile weapon at one visible enemy
multiple instances of the very same thing do not stack. within range.
For example, a rogue’s Backstab power inflicts 1d6 extra
damage when used successfully, and any character under RUN
the effects of the spell frost weapons inflicts +2 penetrating You can move up to double your Speed in yards. You cannot
damage. A rogue in both circumstances inflicts 1d6+2 take this action if you are prone (you’d need to use the Move
extra damage on a hit, the sum of both effects. action to stand up first).
As a counterexample, the same rogue in the company of
two different allies, both having the Champion talent,
might find himself within 8 yards of both of them while
Minor Actions
both are in Rally mode. The Journeyman effect of this
talent gives a +1 Defense bonus to allies. These bonuses
ACTIVATE
do not stack to give a +2 bonus to the rogue’s Defense This action allows you to start using certain powers or items,
since they arise from exactly the same talent. The rogue’s such as fighting styles and potions.
bonus is only +1 to Defense.
This rule is stated more explicitly as it pertains to spells AIM
on page 114 of this book. Exceptions exist only when You take the measure of your opponent and plan your next
specific talents, powers, spells, stunts, or pieces of strike. If your next action is a melee attack or ranged attack,
equipment explicitly override this general rule. you gain a +1 bonus on your attack roll.

50 Chapter 2 - Playing
Adversaries
the Game
 theless expended to no effect if you win the test. An opponent
GUARD UP
who attempts to Skirmish you more than once as part of a
You put your skill to use balancing action and defense. Add +1 single attack (to move you more than 2 yards) only makes a
or +2 (your choice) to your Defense until the end of this round. single opposed test against you, with all of the skirmishing
However, you suffer the amount you choose as a penalty to movement hanging in the balance.
all tests you make, even opposed tests, for the remainder of
the current round as well. (This is a key difference between
the guard up and defend actions. Guard up only lasts until
the end of the round, where defend lasts until the beginning
Combat Encounters
of your next turn.) If you choose this minor action, you must
do it before any major action you take this turn. Sometimes words are not enough. Sometimes conflict can
only be settled in brutal combat. Young adventurers seek out
MOVE such trials in the quest for honor and glory; veterans know
that any fight you walk away from is a good one. Few are
You can move up to your Speed in yards. You can also go ready for the overpowering din of battle: arrows hiss through
prone, stand up, or mount a horse or vehicle, but if you do the air, steel clashes with steel, magical fire explodes, and the
so you can only move at half Speed (rounded down). If you injured and dying cry for aid. Here you must fight for your
start a round prone and do not stand up, you may only move life or become another forgotten corpse in the endless battles
at half Speed. of Thedas.

PREPARE Combat is the major feature of action time. Like everything

else in Dragon Age, the core of combat is the ability test.
You pick one major action that you prepare to execute and Since lives are on the line, however, some additional rules
then end your turn. Any time until your next turn, you can are required. Specifically, you need to know how attacks are
interrupt another character and take your prepared action made, how damage is inflicted, and what it takes to kill a
immediately. If you don’t use it by your next turn, the action character.
is lost. You cannot take the prepared action if you’ve already
taken a major action on your turn. Making Attacks
PRESS THE ATTACK
There are two basic types of attack: melee and ranged
You stand ready to pursue an enemy if they should fall back (magical attacks from spells are covered in Chapter 5: Magic).
or flee your blows. Declare an adjacent enemy combatant Both are handled the same way.
when you do this action. Until the beginning of your next
turn, if that enemy moves away from you, you may immedi- 1. You start by picking a target. To make a melee attack,
ately move up to your Speed in yards in direct pursuit of that you must be adjacent to your opponent. To make a
enemy at no additional cost in actions. This occurs immedi- missile attack, you must be able to see your target and
ately after your foe’s movement, before they can do anything be within range. See Chapter 4: Weapons, Armor, &
else. However, you can only use this minor action on an Gear for more information about weapon ranges.
enemy you have already successfully struck in melee combat
2. You make an attack roll. This is an ability test based
this turn (whether you inflicted damage or not). When you
on the weapon group of the weapon you are using
make your move, it need not bring you adjacent to that enemy
(Strength for heavy blades, for example, or Dexterity for
if you can’t go that fast. In that case, you simply move as far
bows). This is modified by a focus if applicable and any
as you can before stopping. You are free to forego some or all
other relevant bonuses (such as aiming, charging, magic
of the movement this action allows when your enemy triggers
items, talents, etc.).
it, if you wish.
3. Your attack roll is a basic ability test. Your target number
READY is your opponent’s Defense.

You can unsheathe a weapon, pull out a potion, or otherwise 4. If your test result is equal to or greater than your
ready an item that is stowed. As part of this action, you can opponent’s Defense, your attack has hit.
put away something already in hand. You could thus put
away your bow and a draw a sword, for example.
Example
STAND FIRM
It’s the warrior Jannelle’s turn. She sees a fanged skeleton 3
You lower your weight and prepare to resist any and all yards away and uses the charge action to close the distance
efforts to move you from the place where you stand. Until and make an attack. Jannelle’s player makes an attack roll.
the beginning of your next turn, any enemy who uses the Jannelle is using a two-handed axe, so this is a Strength
Skirmish or Knock Prone stunts to move you or knock you (Axes) ability test. The roll is a 9. To that she adds her
to the ground must succeed in an opposed test pitting their Strength of 3, and she gets a +2 bonus because she has the
Strength (Might) vs. your choice of your own Strength Axes focus and another +1 for charging. Her test result
(Might) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) in order to move you or for the attack roll is thus 15 (9 + 3 + 2 + 1). This beats the
knock you prone. This test can only be attempted after your skeleton’s Defense of 13, so Jannelle hits the creature with
opponent spends the relevant stunt points, which are never- her axe.

Chapter 2 - Playing the Game 51