Combat

Encounter

Melee
    Spells
    Weapon Strike
    Fighting Rules

Wrap Up

Weapons

OK Circlers. This hopefully is the last change to the Combat system.  Even though we cut down hit points Combats are still a chore.  The biggest hindrance seems to be the Casting-phase.  Fights are 20 minutes of pondering and shuffling and 30 seconds of swinging.  Problem two is First Strike.  It is awkward.

So our best solutions seems to be to strip combat spells to a minimum and rework the First-Strike idea.  We've added new spells to the Battle sphere too.  These spells are mostly non-combat spells (meaning they are not cast in combat.)  They are geared towards creating fights and finding enemies.

The Melee page and the Weapon Strike page should give you a clear idea of changes.

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There are three basic parts of a combat.

Encounter/Declaring Combat:  You caught them or they caught you.  Now what?
Melee: Once again more 3's.  The three major component here are: Spells, Weapon-Strikes and Hits.
Wrap Up/After-Math:  At this point one side or the other is dead or escaped but even the corpses still have a few tasks to finish up.

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Next are the three cardinal rules:

Always be careful:  Combats are often fast and furious.  Above all else make sure you do not really hurt anyone.  The Fighting Rules section goes over what is expected, what is required and what is not allowed.
Know your facts: The biggest drag in any combat is the mid-fight stop to work out some game rule or to do math problems with damage and hit points. 
          ¤ Know your fully buffed hit points.
          ¤ Memorize your First-strike.
          ¤ Be sure you have your own spells down cold.
Keep it fun:  Combat can often be the cause of hard feelings.  There are simple things that we can do to keep from them bring down an adventure.   I've tried to detail the gist of them under Fighting Rules too.

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A low and behold, there are three types of damage.  

Magical: This blanket group covers spells, alchemical items, charged items, divine boons, curses, etc.
Base Physical: This is the purely physical damage done by each weapon.    
Enhanced Physical: The pluses on any weapon whether they are temporary or permanent are considered Enhanced Physical damage.

If a spell or effect states it is conditional to Physical damage but does not specify whether it is Base Physical or Enhanced Physical, then it applies to both types.