Call of Cthulhu 7e Combat Flowchart

Introduction

Combat in Call of Cthulhu 7e becomes dangerous fastest when the table loses sight of its purpose. The rules are not asking you to grind through enemies. They are asking what the investigators do under immediate pressure, what the opposition can stop, and whether the group gets away with what matters.

This flowchart is a table tool, not a replacement for the Combat Rules Guide. Use it when an argument, ambush, chase, or discovery turns physical and no one wants to spend five minutes deciding whether a Brawl roll is appropriate. It keeps each turn pointed at a concrete objective.

Hot Take

The combat flowchart should make a fight shorter, not make a short fight feel like paperwork. If the group has the evidence and the door is open, stop using rounds and let them leave. The most accurate end state is often investigators who are still alive and moving, rather than unconscious enemies.

The One-Minute Combat Flowchart

Use this original decision flow whenever immediate physical danger appears:

IMMEDIATE THREAT
    |
    v
Is the outcome uncertain and time-sensitive?
    |-- No --> Resolve in the fiction. Do not start combat rounds.
    |
    `-- Yes --> Is there a surprise action?
                    |-- Yes --> Resolve one surprise action, then establish DEX order.
                    `-- No --> Establish DEX order.
                                  |
                                  v
                            What ends this scene?
                            escape / evidence / rescue / restraint / defeat / delay
                                  |
                                  v
                            On each turn, choose one action:
                            attack / maneuver / flee / spell / mission action
                                  |
                                  v
                            If opposed, choose defender response:
                            dodge / fight back / no defense / cover or range procedure
                                  |
                                  v
                            Resolve, describe the changed fiction, reassess.
                                  |
                                  v
                            Is the objective met or the conflict no longer playable?
                            |-- Yes --> End rounds. Resolve aftermath.
                            `-- No --> Begin the next round.

The flow works because it asks the important questions in order. Do not decide damage before deciding whether the character is actually trying to hurt someone. Do not decide initiative before knowing whether the scene is a surprise. Do not run another round after the group has already accomplished the objective.

Gate 1: Do You Need Combat Rounds?

Start structured combat only when several people can act in competing, time-sensitive ways and the order of actions matters. A gun appears across a small room. A guard reaches for an alarm while the investigators grab a file. A creature blocks the only exit. Those scenes need turns because each second creates a different opportunity.

Do not start rounds merely because an investigator raises a fist. If an unarmed bystander can be pushed aside with no meaningful resistance, narrate it. If the cultists have clearly fled and the group is following a visible trail, use a chase only if the route, barriers, and distance will be interesting to play. Structured procedures are for uncertainty under pressure.

Ask these quick questions:

• Can more than one person meaningfully act right now?
• Would a different order of action change the result?
• Is there a real risk of harm, escape, lost evidence, or a changing position?
• Do the players have more than one credible response?

If the answer is mostly no, resolve the moment in the fiction and save the combat rules for the next true pressure point.

Gate 2: What Ends the Scene?

Before DEX order, name a finish line. This is the most important branch in the flowchart. Common objectives include:

• Escape: Reach the car, alley, stairs, crowd, or open street.
• Rescue: Get a wounded companion or witness out of immediate danger.
• Evidence: Take the ledger, photograph the symbol, secure the artifact, or keep it from being destroyed.
• Delay: Hold a door, occupy a pursuer, or stop an alarm for one round.
• Restraint: Disarm, pin, or otherwise prevent someone from acting long enough to leave.
• Defeat: Render a human threat unable or unwilling to continue when there is no safer solution.

Say the objective aloud. "We need the case and the rear exit, not the guard on the floor" helps every player choose useful actions. It also gives the Keeper a condition for ending combat. When the case is secured and the group reaches the exit, the rules have done their job.

If goals conflict, state both sides. The investigators may want to flee with the witness; the cultists may want the witness alive and the investigators delayed. The scene becomes understandable without requiring every enemy to fight to the death.

Gate 3: Is Direct Violence the Best Tool?

Turn order runs from highest DEX to lowest, with ties going to the higher combat skill, and a character with a readied firearm shoots at DEX plus 50. On a turn, an investigator can attack, attempt a maneuver, flee, cast a spell, or take another action that uses meaningful time. Choose based on the objective, not habit.

Attack when causing harm is the clearest way to remove the immediate obstacle. A knife-wielding attacker between the group and the exit may require direct action. It is still worth asking whether a shot, punch, or strike will create worse consequences than a retreat.

Maneuver when you need to move, disarm, restrain, grab, trip, or impose a disadvantage. The action must have a definite result. "I take the revolver" is a goal. "I wave at the revolver" is not.

Flee when a route exists and the investigator is not physically restrained. Fleeing can end the scene or become the first moment of a chase. It is an active tactical decision, not a consolation prize after a failed attack.

Mission action when the evidence, injured person, lock, vehicle, ritual, or exit is more important than harming the opponent. The group often wins because someone does the mission action while someone else buys a turn.

Use a simple test: if this action succeeds, does it move the finish line closer? If not, choose another action or ask the Keeper what information you are missing.

Gate 4: What Is the Defender Doing?

When a close attack or maneuver targets someone who can react, the target chooses to dodge or fight back. Ask before rolling. The decision changes both the probability and the fiction.

Dodge is the defensive choice. The attacker must achieve a better level of success; ties favor the dodger. Use it when avoiding harm or preserving mobility is more important than hurting the attacker.

Fight back is the aggressive response. The better level of success avoids harm and deals damage, while ties favor the initiating attacker. A defender can fight back with a maneuver if they want to create a situation change rather than damage.

No defense applies when the target cannot or does not react. The attacker usually rolls and only misses on a fumble. In a completely uncontested moment, the Keeper may simply describe the result. Surprise may also create a one-time advantage before normal turns begin.

Ranged and cover procedure applies when the attack is a firearm, missile, or thrown weapon. Range, cover, line of sight, and the target's ability to dive for cover become more important than a close-combat response. Do not force a dodge-or-fight-back choice onto a distant gunshot.

The Keeper should state what is visible before asking for the defense. "You can dodge behind the pillar, fight back with the umbrella at arm's reach, or run for the stairwell on your turn" gives the player an actual choice.

Gate 5: What Changed?

Every resolved action must change the fiction. Damage is one possible change, but not the only one. A successful maneuver can put a gun on the floor. A dodge can put an investigator behind cover. A failed lock attempt can cost a round while the pursuer closes distance. A mission action can put the evidence in the group's hands.

After each action, update five facts:

1. Who is where?
2. Who has what object, weapon, or evidence?
3. Who is hurt, restrained, prone, or exposed?
4. Which route or option is now open or closed?
5. Has either side achieved or abandoned its objective?

If no answer changes, the roll probably did not need to happen or the narration needs a clearer consequence. This check also stops the common problem of players forgetting that the environment changed two actions ago.

The Player Turn Card

On your turn, run this short internal script:

1. What does my group need before the scene is over?
2. What obstacle can I change right now?
3. Is attack, maneuver, flight, or a mission action the lowest-risk answer?
4. What happens if I fail?
5. What detail does the Keeper need to rule on it?

Then give a concrete declaration: "I pull the witness behind the desk and get the phone off the hook before the gunman reaches us." That tells the Keeper you are using your turn to protect someone and call for help, not to attack.

When attacked in close combat, add one more question: "Do I need to survive this hit, or do I need to stop this attacker?" Choose dodge for survival and position; choose fight back when a counterattack or counter-maneuver is worth the tie risk.

The Keeper Turn Card

Before each round, the Keeper can use this equally short script:

1. Restate the visible threat and the sides' objectives.
2. Name exits, cover, evidence, hazards, and changing conditions.
3. Take actions in DEX order and ask for intent.
4. Apply the smallest rule that resolves the stated goal.
5. End rounds as soon as the scene's central conflict is resolved.

The phrase that matters is "smallest rule." A frightened guard might be persuaded, distracted, or pushed aside; that does not require a combat subsystem because someone is holding a baton. Conversely, a locked door, a moving train, and an armed pursuer may require combat and chase procedures in the same sequence. Follow the fiction rather than forcing every confrontation into one box.

Common Branches

The Guard Blocks the Door

Objective: get through the door with evidence. A maneuver to restrain or push the guard can be better than damage. One investigator can make the maneuver while another opens the door. Once the group crosses the threshold, decide whether the guard can pursue; do not continue the fight by default.

The Gun Appears

Objective: survive and take away the advantage the gun gives. Identify cover, range, exits, and whether the gun holder wants something other than a shooting exchange. A maneuver to take the gun works only at close range, and the Build comparison still applies. A shooter at point-blank range can be attacked in melee or disarmed. A retreat, negotiation, or distraction can be the smarter branch.

The Creature Ignores Harm

Objective: learn, escape, or interrupt. If attacks are visibly ineffective, communicate that quickly. Move the flow to mission actions: close the gate, retrieve the notes, lead it away, or flee. Do not let a player spend rounds on a plan their investigator could recognize is useless.

The Group Is Surrounded

Objective: create one open route. Numbers create a close-combat disadvantage after defensive responses are used. Split the group's roles: one character draws attention, another opens the escape route, and another moves the wounded. The flowchart should point toward leaving, not winning an attrition contest.

Examples at the Table

The archive fire: A cultist ignites the records room. The goal is not to defeat the cultist; it is to get the ledger and leave before the building burns. Jonah uses a mission action to grab the ledger. Celia maneuvers a shelving cart into the doorway to delay pursuit. Arthur flees with the injured archivist. The Keeper ends rounds once the group reaches the street and turns any continued pursuit into a chase only if it matters.

The station platform: A courier has the artifact and is boarding a train. The group wants the artifact, not a body on the tracks. Nora attempts a maneuver to take the case. The courier fights back. If Nora succeeds, the player must decide whether to flee, hand the case to a companion, or keep the courier restrained. The objective changes after the first successful roll, so the next round is not a repetition of the first.

The impossible corridor: A creature blocks the exit and bullets do not affect it. The Keeper makes that clear after the first shot. The group shifts objectives: Mara copies the sigil that might close the corridor while two companions make noise and retreat. The flowchart prevents the scene from becoming an unwinnable damage race.

Flowchart Checklist

Before turns begin:

• Decide whether structured rounds are needed at all.
• Resolve one surprise action if the fiction supports it, then use DEX order (readied firearms at DEX plus 50).
• State each side's objective and the scene's visible finish line.
• Describe exits, cover, hazards, evidence, and people who need help.

On each turn:

• Require a concrete intent with a clear result.
• Choose attack, maneuver, flee, or a mission action based on the objective.
• Ask for dodge, fight back, or the appropriate ranged response before rolling.
• Update position, injury, evidence, access, and objectives after the resolution.

At the end of a round:

• Ask whether either side has reached its goal or lost the ability to pursue it.
• End combat immediately when the answer is yes.
• Convert to a chase only when the route and pursuit are worth playing.
• Resolve the aftermath before moving back to investigation scenes.

The flowchart is successful when it gets the table out of rules discussion and back into a dangerous story. Name the goal, choose the action that changes the scene, and stop rolling as soon as the investigators have a reason to move on.