Stacking

Stacking rules can support solo play, where one player controls a PC and three Contractors, by reducing the number of rolls needed for combat. It is also useful for encounters made up of a coordinated group of identical creates.

Prerequisites

Stacking can be used in situations where the contractors or encounters are all clustered within Adjacent or Close Range of each other. When the group wants to attack in a coordinated fashion using the same weapon or attack, they can attack as a Stack. For example, if the PC and the contractors all have Pulse Rifles equipped, they can choose to make a coordinated attack.

Making an Attack

In the case of contractors, you first need to make a Loyalty Check to see if they will put themselves in danger. You stack the Loyalty stat of the contractors by adding up all of their individual Loyalty stats, this total is the target to roll under for the entire group. If the group of Contractors fail, the entire team refuses to act, and you lose the ability to use all of their actions for the current turn .

Next, Contractors are able to make a Combat Check after passing their Loyalty Save. For creatures, the procedure starts here. Just like with the Loyalty Check, you add up the Combat Stat of every entity that is attacking. In the case of a solo party of a PC and Contractors, this also includes the PC's Stat. You then make a Combat Check to see if you hit the target after applying any situational advantage or disadvantage.

If the Combat Check is successful, a single damage roll is made and the result is multiplied by the number of entities in the Stack. The damage is then evenly distributed between the target and all entities adjacent to them. This can mean a large amount of coordinated damage against a single target or it can be a way to simulate squad combat.

If the attack is made against a PC and an adjacent group of contractors, this becomes even simpler. On a successful attack, each Contractor takes a wound and you subtract the damage rolled from the health of the PC.

Making a Save

If creatures are attacking a stack consisting of Contractors and possibly a PC, and you want to use a player-facing roll instead having the encounter make a Combat roll, you follow the same stacking guidelines, but you add up all of Instinct Stats for the stack, and in the case of a PC, you add the applicable Save instead. You are then able to make a single roll.

On a failure, each member of the stack takes the amount of damage rolled by the encounter. This is easy because on a failed Save, each Contractor will just take a Wound, and then the PC will take the damage against their health as usual.