Combat in The Wheel of Time involves the same game systems already introduced. In general, for combat to take place two or more parties must be able to detect and affect each other. In this case, combat is a matter of comparing initiatives to determine who acts first, and then proceeding with their action and its results, and then moving on to the next participant. Sometimes, however, one party will attack another from ambush, surprising the defenders. To determine if one side is surprised, have that party make Perception checks against the Ambush or Stealth skills of the ambushers (whichever is appropriate). Success means that the ambushers were revealed, and combat proceeds normally. Failure, on the other hand, indicates that the ambush was successful, and the surprised person or group cannot act for the first round of combat (except for free actions). A botch indicates two rounds lost to surprise. Obviously, sleeping persons are much easier to surprise, suffering a -3 to Peception checks. Naturally, any sufficiently strong stimuli (such as combat right outside the tent) will normally awaken anyone, or at least provide bonuses to the Perception roll. Once a character awakens, whether due to their roll or noise, they require one round to be able to take actions (as if surprised). If they botched while attempting to awaken, they lose two rounds (they were deeply asleep, and are still groggy).

Once surprise is taken care of, the next step to resolving combat is to determine when everyone acts. This is simply a comparison of Initiatives: highest Initiative acts first, then in descending order. A high Initiative character can hold their action until any later point. If a lower Initiative character wishes to beat a higher Initiative character, they can attempt a Quickness roll against the difference between the two scores. If successful, the normally slower character goes just before the higher Initiative character. If the roll is failed, there is no effect. If the roll is a botch, the character loses his action this round. If a character attempts to preempt an opponent in this fashion, any free actions must occur after the main action. So, if you wish to attack an enemy with a sword you have not yet drawn, you cannot preempt him; you need a free action to ready your weapon.

Once initiative is determined, the next step involves determining the outcome of the main action. Most skills require an action, as does item or Power use. See Skills for more details.

Actions can be taken other than a weapon attack, of course. For a discussion on using the One Power in combat, see The One Power. Other skills mostly function the same in combat as outside of it, although they may take longer than one round to complete. For example, the GM might rule that 5 rounds are necessary to decipher the Old Tongue written on a ter'angreal. Many martial skills allow multiple actions as part of using that skill. For example, the Snap Shot specialization of Archery allows 2 or more shots in the same round. Unless otherwise noted, it is only possible to use 1 skill in a round. So, if you attempt to use a skill that would allow another skill to be used (for example, a Riposte, if you're a swordsman) and the first skill fails, you cannot use the second skill.

Fatigue is a serious problem in combat. Even the hardiest warrior can only fight for so long. Every character can engage in strenous activity (such as combat) for a number of consecutive rounds equal to his Endurance die type. After this, the character must make an Endurance check each round against a target number equal to the number of rounds he has had to make checks. Failure indicates that he loses Fortitude equal to the amount he failed by. A botch requires an immediate Will check against the same target number; failure causes the character to lose his action this round. Taking a round to rest resets the count if the character is still below his Endurance limit. Once he reaches that limit, he must rest at least 6 rounds to reset the count. No checks have to be made while resting, however. Fatigue checks are made before the character takes any actions.

Damage in the Wheel of Time is measured in two ways: Body and Fortitude. Body is the character's physical state: how much damage he can sustain before dying. Fortitude, on the other hand, represents a character's mental condition and will to keep going.

When a character reaches 0 Body, he falls unconcious and will die 2 rounds later (unless the wound would have dropped him to -10 Body; which is instant death). At half Body, the character's attributes all fall to the next lower die type (minimum d2); this does not affect traits. Each level of Focus skill the character possesses lowers this half Body threshold by 1 point.

A character whose Fortitude reaches 0 also falls unconcious, but does not normally need to worry about dying. Fortitude can be lost by mental attack, fatigue, and physical attacks. Each time a character takes damage, he must roll Focus(Will) against the damage sustained; failure causes a loss of Fortitude equal to the amount the roll was missed by. A botch causes the character to lose his next action. At half Fortitude, all of a character's rolls receive a -2.

Fortitude is recovered in a different manner. Unless a particular source of mental damage states differently, an hour's rest restores 1 point of Fortitude, and a full night's sleep restores all lost points. Again, certain herbal infusions can be used to restore Fortitude. The herbalist must compound the infusion; see Equipment for types of infusions, the difficulty of finding their ingredients and compounding them, and their effects.

Although the above rules cover most combat situations, there are a few special rules that should be mentioned. These include missle combat, pole arms, fighting from horse back, and fear.

Missle combat includes projectile weapons such as bows and crossbows, and also thrown weapons such as knives or spears. Projectile weapons differ from most other weapons in that they do a set amount of damage based upon the weapon, rather than doing damage as a function of strength. All missle weapons have ranges: minimum, short, long and extreme. Missle weapons cannot be used at less than their minimum ranges. They fire as normal up to their short range. Up to long range, add 2 to the target's defense. Up to extreme range, add 4 to the target's defense. Missle weapons cannot effectively be used beyond extreme range.

Pole arms include pikes and bills, and many of these rules are also applicable to other weapons with a longer reach, such as spears. In general, these are weapons which have a range of "Extended". These weapons are used to keep opponents at bay. Each round, if the pole arm is readied prior to an opponent's attack, the pole arm wielder can resolve his attack first, regardless of initiative. If the pole arm wielder hits, the opponent his forced back and cannot attack in that round (assuming his weapon has a range of Close). This can only be used against one opponent per round. Pole arms are unable to strike at anyone who is in Close range, although a free action can be used to manuever for the attack. In this case, the weapon was not readied, so this special ability to keep a foe at a distance cannot be used.

Mounted combat functions in much the same way as unmounted combat. Mounted characters use their mount's Movement and Quickness instead of their own; they also use Riding rather than Dodge. A mount cannot attack in the same round as its rider unless the rider can make a Trick Riding roll of 7+. Even in this case, the mount must be trained to fight. Mounts can be affected by fear, noise, etc; Riding rolls may have to be made to retain control of the mount. Characters attempting to attack at a gallop must make Riding rolls against the animal's Quickness die type to attack at all, unless they are using Lancing or Mounted Archery. Even if the roll succeeds, all attacks at a gallop receive a -2; all attacks at a cantor receive a -1.

Fear is a potent weapon. Shadowspawn (particularly the Eyeless), certain uses of the One Power, and some alien creatures can all invoke fear. While players may certainly fear for their characters for a number of reasons, each of these receives a Fear rating. Fear works as a skill, based on Presence. Intimidation can add to the effects of Fear. Unlike other skills, Fear does not add one to the number of ranks it has. Each rank indicates how many dice are rolled; in addition, each rank has an added effect, as follows:

• Rank 1: The target receives a -1 to all actions against the source of the fear.
• Rank 2: The target will attempt to leave the vicinity of the fear source; if unable to do so, or if a compelling reason exists to stay, the target can fight or take other action, but receives an additional -1.
• Rank 3: The target must flee immediately; if forcibly prevented, they will fight, but only until an escape opportunity presents itself.
• Rank 4: The target freezes, unable to move until it is harmed or at least touched; at this point, treat this as Rank 3.
• Rank 5: The target passes out from the Fear.