Whilst most combats are relatively straightforward and covered by the rules presented in this tutorial, there are some special cases for which characters would do well to prepare:
Darkness
If the characters cannot see, they suffer a temporary penalty of -4 to Attack and -8 to Defence. Note that many denizens of the underworld are not blinded by darkness, which can put the heroes at a significant disadvantage in the dark!
See page 61 in the main rulebook.
Surprise
Under some circumstances, the heroes may be unaware that they are about to be attacked. If monsters surprise the characters (which the GM will determine by rolling a d6, surprising the heroes on a roll of 1), the first round of combat will be a surprise round.
During a surprise round, the side that has surprise may move up to half of their movement before attacking, instead of the normal quarter, and the surprised side may only defend, not retaliate with attacks of their own until the following combat round.
See page 60 in the main rulebook.
Morale
Hideous monsters can inspire panic, forcing their enemies to test their morale or flee from combat.
Such a creature subtracts its Attack score from the combined Rank, Strength, and Intelligence scores of the hero. If the hero rolls less than or equal to the result on a twenty-sided die (d20), they resist the compulsion to flee.
Hero's Rank + Strength + Intelligence - Creature's Attack < 1d20 = FLEE!
Characters that flee must move at full speed away from combat for at least 10 combat rounds.
See page 122 in the main rulebook.
Fright
A fright attack is a supernatural assault made by certain kinds of monsters that can literally scare the life out of a character.
Fright attacks are resolved by rolling a twelve-sided die (d12) and subtracting the victim's Rank. This is the target number the victim must roll over on two ten-sided dice (2d10) or be scared to death.
d12 - Victim's Rank ≥ 2d10 = DEAD!
See page 122 in the main rulebook.
Gaze Attacks
Some dreaded creatures can attack just by locking eyes with their target.
Characters defending against such a creature during the surprise round are 80% likely to meet its gaze and suffer the consequences. In a normal combat round, this chance is reduced to 40% (which must be tested each round).
If the characters deliberately avert their eyes, for every 10% by which they want to reduce the chance of meeting the creature's gaze, they suffer a cumulative -1 penalty to Attack and -2 to Defence.
See page 123 in the main rulebook.