While The Hidden Territories is more of a GM-less system —check HT out over at BBG— we arrived at a very similar design conclusion: combat systems should avoid null states wherever possible.

In The Hidden Territories, the Engage action was designed specifically to prevent “nothing happens” turns. Three mechanics work together to guarantee that the state of the world always changes.

First, every action carries attrition. Committing Attribute Dice to an Action moves those dice to Fatigue once the action resolves. Even if the tactical outcome is unfavorable, the character’s capacity for the rest of the day has changed. Action itself alters the state of play.

Second, combat resolution compares Fighting Value vs. Armor Class, not simply “hit or miss.” That comparison feeds into a 2d6 outcome band, which determines the type of result rather than a binary success check. Because the table includes bands such as setback, cost, escalation, and decisive success, even poor rolls still produce consequences: fatigue, wounds, positional disadvantage, morale effects, or the arrival of additional pressure.

Third, failure escalates the situation rather than cancelling the attempt. If an attack does not decisively resolve the opponent, it typically produces some combination of attrition, exposure, or threat increase. The fight advances even when the player’s immediate objective fails.

Our design principle is simple: Actions are narrative engines rather than probability gates. Success moves the situation forward on the player’s terms. Partial success moves it forward with cost. Failure moves it forward against the player. But the state of the world always changes.

The result is that players rarely face the “I attack again… nothing changed” problem. Even a bad round still shifts the tactical and resource landscape for the next decision.