How to Run City of Mist Combat  | City of Mist Tabletop RPG (TTRPG)

How to Run City of Mist Combat

Shots are firing, kicks are striking, and all hell has broken loose! Your crew has picked a fight and now you need to know how to end it. Every tabletop RPG has their own way of handling conflict, but the City of Mist TTRPG makes every brawl as dramatic as the ones on the big screen. So wipe the blood from your lip and put up your dukes, because today we’ll be talking about how to run combat in City of Mist!

This article presumes you know the basic rules for City of Mist. If not, check out our primer videos here or purchase the Starter Set online!

COMMON COMBAT PLAYER MOVES

The main thing to keep in mind is that combat in City of Mist is run in the same way as roleplay or exploration. No initiative is rolled and no new rules are brought in. Your characters have access to the same eight Moves they always do and here are the biggest ones to keep in mind in a fight.

Attack: Go Toe to Toe

The primary combat move is Go Toe to Toe. This move is used when both sides are trading blows, exchanging shots, or competing for the same thing. This could be a back alley brawl, a chase through the streets, or a mutual dive for an important object. Whatever the situation, you have a goal, and someone is standing in your way.

Go To to Toe has three options: achieve a goal, hit them with a status, or avoid their counterattack. Keep in mind that even with your best roll, you can only choose two options, so make it count. Dangers (adversaries) will almost always strike back, so if you don’t dodge, you’re gonna get hit. On the other hand, if you choose to hit them with a status, its tier is equal to your action’s Power (e.g. Power 3 deals a tier-3 status).

Attack at an Advantage: Hit With All You’ve Got

If you’ve got a clear shot with almost nothing in your way, use Hit With All You’ve Got. If, however, you’re not in the best position, you can use other Moves like Go Toe to Toe (choosing the achieve a goal option) or Sneak Around to set yourself up for this.

This Move is basically Go Toe to Toe with more options thanks to your improved position or opportunity. If you succeed on your roll, you automatically hit with a status (again with tier=Power) and can choose to buff yourself or your damage with a variety of options. However, you may not be out of the clear depending on the Danger. If the Danger can still hit back despite your position, be sure to use the ‘take cover’ option to get out of the way. 

Dodge, Block, or Soak: Face Danger

No matter how well you roll, you’re gonna get hit eventually. When you do, the MC will give you a status. If you can get out of the way, endure the hit, or resist its effects (like fighting back against mind control), you may immediately roll Face Danger to reduce or completely shrug off the status. This is where those defensive power tags shine, such as tags from a Bastion theme. A punch to the face hurts a lot less when you can turn your face to stone.

Heal/Buff/Debuff: Change the Game

City of Mist is a TTRPG where you can make almost any character you want. What if you want to cover the battlefield in ice, summon leprechauns to help, or find the weapon you had conveniently tucked away in your car? When you want to fight a little outside the box, use Change the Game.

This move is not as powerful as Hit With All You’ve Got or Go Toe to Toe, but it is much more versatile. It allows you to ‘edit’ the game, creating or removing tags and statuses. You have an incredible range of possibilities to choose from, so it’s best to have what you want to do in mind before looking at the list.

When you Change the Game, you gain a number of Juice points equal to your Power. Each point of Juice allows you to add or remove one tag or one status tier. Rolling 10+ gives you even more options like a longer effect, area effect, etc.

You can also use other moves in combat, like Convince to have an enemy back down or Sneak Around to slink in the shadows. The sky’s the limit in City of Mist!

SPECTRUMS AND STATUSES

Now you may have noticed something missing while we’ve been talking about combat. There are no hit points in City of Mist. In fact, with a wide array of Dangers both magical and mundane, you may find your characters in a conflict where punching until the Danger is down is near impossible.

Instead of hit points, Dangers have Spectrums. These represent the amount of certain statuses a Danger can take before they’re out of the fight. For example, beat cops and security guards can usually take a beating up to 3 tiers. But it may be easier to bribe them or pull rank to get them to back down. Every Danger is unique! If you strip the narrative away, the mechanical goal in each conflict is to max out one of your enemy’s Spectrums until they’re ‘defeated’.

Player characters don’t have Spectrums. Instead, each PC can take up to 4 tiers of any status. At 5 tiers, they’re out of the fight, and at 6 tiers, they’re dead or permanently changed - it’s the MC’s choice. It takes progressively more statuses to reach the next tier, so it takes 2 tiers of a status to reach from tier-2 to tier-3, 3 tiers of a status to reach from tier-3 to tier-4, etc. If you take punched-2 once and then punched-2 again, you’re now at clobbered-3. For further rules on taking statuses, check out page 20 of the Starter Box players’ booklet and page 223 of the Player’s Guide.

What’s important to keep in mind about statuses is that they affect the Power of your actions. If you’re trying to throw a punch while suffering from a tied-up-3 status, you’ll need to subtract 3 from your roll and from its effect. But if you’ve recently been buffed with a status like energized-2, you can add 2 to your roll and the effect! Statuses can both help and hinder your character, so it’s important to keep track of them. On the flipside, you only take into account the worst and the best status you currently have, so there’s not a lot of scorekeeping.

COMBAT FOR THE MC

Like with most TTRPG’s, running combat is a different endeavor for the Master of Ceremonies. MCs don’t get a normal “turn” in City of Mist. Instead, MC’s react to players’ actions through Soft Moves, Hard Moves, and custom moves.

Soft Moves are used during combat to set up threats. You can use Soft Moves before and after each player action to describe the scene of the fight and how Dangers react. This gives players the info they need to respond...and gives you the opportunity to Hit Them After a Fair Warning, if the players fail to react. 

Hard Moves are consequences, used to harm the PC’s. This often happens when a player rolls a miss or chooses not to protect themselves when Going Toe to Toe or Hitting With All They’ve Got. Each Danger has their own Hard Move suggestions, but you’re free to describe your own based on the situation. The most common hard move is Give a Status, which lets you deal damage such as gunshot-wound-3, frozen-solid-5, or dizzy-1.

Some Dangers have custom moves that can trigger outside the Soft and Hard Move system. Whenever a Danger’s custom move is triggered, even if it interrupts a PC’s action, narrate the outcome and follow its rules. Custom moves are really handy if you want your necromancer to summon zombies at the first sign of danger or give your legendary swordsman an automatic counterattack, no matter how well the PCs roll.

There are a lot more custom move mechanics that interfere with player turns like status filters and other custom moves. Make sure to read over any Danger you use and understand how they work before throwing them at your crew.

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The combat system in City of Mist is built to be dramatic and flexible above all else. We haven’t even covered advanced mechanics like burning tags or moves like Stop Holding Back! But when you and a gang of enforcers are about to throw down in the alley, we hope this article helps you land the first blow.

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02/21/2025
Carl
United States
An outstanding book! I've been looking for a good cyberpunk alternative to Shadowrun, something easy to run and doesn't require a literal pound of d6s. I've had a fantasy-cyberpunk campaign setting in mind for years and plan to use Otherscape to run it. It helps me from trying to come up with my...An outstanding book! I've been looking for a good cyberpunk alternative to Shadowrun, something easy to run and doesn't require a literal pound of d6s. I've had a fantasy-cyberpunk campaign setting in mind for years and plan to use Otherscape to run it. It helps me from trying to come up with my own system, which I have been trying to do for years. Also, I have City of Mists and have crowdfunded Legends in the Mist, so I wanted to add this book to my library. I enjoy this system!
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Amazing game and setting
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Tamara M.
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Tokyo: Otherscape is a must-have for anyone seeking a unique and immersive RPG experience. Rating: 10/10 I'm obsessed with the character design and all the small details in the Tokyo-World
Tokyo:Otherscape Box Set
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Konrad G.
Poland
City of Mist system and setting are one of my favorites in the buisness (along with "Household"). Every addition to the game is always as magnificent as the base game. I especially loved the new Rifts (and a playable Gatekeeper). I try to support the creators as much as my wallet allows me. They...City of Mist system and setting are one of my favorites in the buisness (along with "Household"). Every addition to the game is always as magnificent as the base game. I especially loved the new Rifts (and a playable Gatekeeper). I try to support the creators as much as my wallet allows me. They deserve it.
The Vigilante Set
02/10/2025
Rich F.
United States
I was immediately able to run a pickup game at a local convention and the players were thrilled by the choices from the pregen characters. We were able to put together a really evocative case on the spot from a few of the character's tags.
Character Folio Pack 2
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Roi S.
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Soo good as always
The Vigilante Set
02/08/2025
Roi S.
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Honestly is awesome. You are the company I buy everything you put out there. Love your content, you hook me up to rol. Thank you
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Anonymous
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Great product
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Anonymous
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But wouldn’t be sad, if there could be more cards inside, especialy for Mist and LL themes
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Anonymous
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That bottom selling the store
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01/21/2025
Anonymous
Canada
High production value and gorgeous books. I love them.
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Ronie U.
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Not only the RPG is outstanding but the customer service was 10/10. I had a problem with the delivery and they solve it fast. It's one of my favorite studios and I buy everything they launch.
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Anonymous
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I love these cool 6 sided d12s, really nice roll feel.
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Andrew M.
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A must have for any GM of Otherscape. Really helps wraps your head around the system.
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Anonymous
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Really liked this one, lots of nice quality pieces.
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Jan
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I got Ultimate set and i love. I got everything so i m hyped to read it and try it.
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01/18/2025
Thybaut M.
France
Right after my previous review about the issues I’ve had with my order and experience overrall, the customer service contacted me and was particularly understanding. I was refunded and will most definitely use the money to support more of their future products, prepare yourself Legend in the Mist!
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Christopher V.
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I haven't found a group to play yet but the art is wonderful, the books are solid, I love the pre-generated characters. The books is laid out clearly and fun to read!
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Willow B.
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Everything Ive purchased from this company has been excellently made, from content to quality. It also arrived really quickly!
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Rui R.
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The art is stunning, the rules are fantastic and the flexibility of the system is great. Cannot wait to try it out with my gaming group!
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Colin B.
United Kingdom
You see mock-ups of what a product is going to look like during Kickstarter campaigns, but the final result rarely if ever meets expectations. Not so with Son of Oak; every purchase I've made from them since the first City of Mist Kickstarter has been a thing of beauty, and Otherscape is no...You see mock-ups of what a product is going to look like during Kickstarter campaigns, but the final result rarely if ever meets expectations. Not so with Son of Oak; every purchase I've made from them since the first City of Mist Kickstarter has been a thing of beauty, and Otherscape is no exception. Not only are the books filled with high-quality art that really immerses the reader in the setting, but everything from the fonts used to the page borders to the writing style bleeds love for the genre and makes the reader believe this is a world that could exist somewhere. And that's just at first glance! Reading the system, the removal of the Moves system in favour of a more open-ended approach to action resolution is inspired, and will no doubt please my CoM players, who've felt a little locked into specific Moves by the old rules despite their love for the game. In addition, the Loadout system is an elegant and effective way of giving players gear options without the usual problem of equipment bloat a lot of cyberpunk systems suffer from. I for one would love to see a series of Megacity sourcebooks, including my closest, London. I'm excited to see how this line evolves and can't wait to drop this on my unsuspecting players! Another winner from Son of Oak.
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Anonymous
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I love this book, as a Player and MC I can see good potential in this supplement. It adds depth to the boroughs of the City and inspiration to platers and GMs alike. Wanna do a campus mystery case adventure? Done. Wanna do a casino heist? Done. Want ideas for rifts or dangers? It got it there too...I love this book, as a Player and MC I can see good potential in this supplement. It adds depth to the boroughs of the City and inspiration to platers and GMs alike. Wanna do a campus mystery case adventure? Done. Wanna do a casino heist? Done. Want ideas for rifts or dangers? It got it there too on top of the pre-made cases in there too. Thanks for making this material SoO XD
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Andrew
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Looks great. I'm excited to try it out!
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Paul M.
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If you’re looking into getting into Son of Oaks games or have an interest in CyberPunk then this is a great set to start with. As well as introducing a great setting with plenty of character options it includes materials to make the rules easier for new players - pre-generated characters (with...If you’re looking into getting into Son of Oaks games or have an interest in CyberPunk then this is a great set to start with. As well as introducing a great setting with plenty of character options it includes materials to make the rules easier for new players - pre-generated characters (with amazing character art), tracker cards to make status and tag tracking more visual and, probably the best player aid for the system, the action database which helps translate what a player wants to do into both a narrative description and game mechanics. Looking to move from simple dice based role playing to a strong, narrative and collaborative story-telling RPG then this is the box set for you.
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Paul M.
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Bringing together the Local Legends campaign book with a map board and pre-gen characters this slip cased box set is the ideal next purchase for a City of Mist MC looking at taking their players to the next stage.
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Andrew
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Great stuff!
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Awesome, intriguing and challenging, am really looking forward to playing this.
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Jakob C.
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A nice addition to any in-person City of Mist game. The quality of the cards is great, and the dry-erase element is useful due to the shifting and changing nature of themes. They're reasonably sturdy, and they look very cool at the table. Having a copy of one of each theme option is handy because...A nice addition to any in-person City of Mist game. The quality of the cards is great, and the dry-erase element is useful due to the shifting and changing nature of themes. They're reasonably sturdy, and they look very cool at the table. Having a copy of one of each theme option is handy because the theme improvements are conveniently listed on the back, making advancement faster and referencing the mechanics for those a breeze. I appreciated the inclusion of the crew/extra themes and Mist themes, too. My only minimal complaint is that there are a lot of blank theme cards and only one of each specific theme (excluding those found in Local Legends). Not having more of the specific ones means you don't have the easy reference for theme improvements. Someone might be able to copy it down if their handwriting is small enough, but for most people you would need a printout or extra reference for those, which adds yet another thing that takes up limited table space (unless everyone buys their own copy of the cards, in which case you'll have a boatload of blanks). I wish there was an option to order more of the specific ones, but at the end of the day it's not that big of a deal. I also wish there was a pdf version of the cards. Overall, definitely recommend!
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Clayton B.
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These cards are very handy for quickly finding the danger I'm looking for instead of having to run through an entire book.
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Anonymous
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It feels nice to have this.
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