Defending

Taking Damage
Before you take damage:
 * For physical attacks, remember to subtract your from the damage to determine the final damage.
 * For elemental attacks, remember to subtract your from the damage to determine the final damage.

If you have Regeneration, you gain that amount in at the start of your turn.

If uninterrupted for 2 turns, a player or monster may perform a coup-de-grace. This instantly kills the target. The GM has final say on what can, and can’t be subject to a coup-de-grace.

These rules are for player characters, important NPCs, and demigods. Unimportant NPC’s die at 0 unless the player wishes to spare their life. You cannot spare the life of an enemy if you drop them to 0 with a critical strike.

Cover
If you have cover, you take half of the Final damage from attacks after you apply mitigation, that you have cover from. However, it is possible for your cover to be destroyed by area of effect attacks, making you vulnerable, or be negated in other ways, such as an attacker engaging in melee. Defending another player with a shield or staff grants them cover.

If you have full cover, you cannot be targeted by any attacks, though your cover may be targeted and destroyed.

Defending an Ally
If you are in a Zone with an ally, on your turn you may declare you are defending that ally as a minor action. As long as you are both in the Zone together and the defender is not surprised, for each attack and spell from opponents that target that ally must choose to target you instead. The exception is when the opponent first beats you on an opposed check or the skill is an area of effect skill. If the defender is using a shield, the ally they are defending does gain cover against an area of effect skill.

For defending allies, you may use instead of. This is similar to a summoner's minions who are in the Zone with them, who can be ordered to defend the summoner only. A person who is defending an ally cannot Engage enemy targets, and must stay in their allies Zone, but otherwise may act normally. Two people may not defend the same ally.