Jousting Rules

Jousting takes place between two mounted contestants using blunted lances. The contestants charge at each other, trying to score points by breaking their lances against their opponets shields or bodies or knocking their opponent off their horse.   Scoring   Matches go to 3 points.   Breaking a lance on a shield: 1 point   Breaking a lance on the body: 2 points   Unhorsing an opponent: Automatic win     The main skills involved are melee and ride.   Jousting and Shields   Because shields are a legitimate and often preferred target in jousting, shields lose many of the advantages they bestow in normal combat. Shields do not increase the difficulty to hit someone with shield proficiency, and parrying with a shield is difficulty 6.   Process of Jousting   Jousting takes place in rounds. No actions may be split during a joust. Each round has four steps.   Step 1: At the start of each round, the participants make a Wits + Ride roll to control their steeds charging down the lists. Successes on this roll translate into extra dice on the attack roll.   Step 2: Each contestant makes an attack roll with their lance and a parry or dodge roll opposed by their opponent’s respective rolls. If the attack roll got more successes than the parry/dodge roll, the lance hits, otherwise the lance misses. If the parry roll got at least one success, the hit strikes the shield, otherwise the lance hits the body (successful hits vs. a dodging opponent always strike the body). Both strikes happen simultaneously so it is possible for both jousters to hit each other in the same round.   Step 3: The attacker then rolls damage (8 dice for lances, no strength added), coverting extra attack successes into additional damage dice. If at least one damage success is rolled, the lance breaks and scores. The defender then rolls a soak roll against the damage as against bashing damage (Stamina + armor). If all the damage is soaked the round ends.   Step 4: If not all the damage is soaked successfully the defender rolls Strength + Ride, needing successes equal to the levels of unsoaked damage remain in the saddle. If the defender succeeds, the round ends. Failing to get enough successes means the defender is knocked from the saddle (and takes levels of bashing damage equal to the unsoaked successes).   Rounds are repeated until one contender scores three points or unhorses their opponent.   Unusual Situations   If both contenders tie at 3 points another additonal rounds take place until the score is no longer the same.   If both contenders are unhorsed the same round, both are considered to have lost.