I might be able to shed some light.
First most: this game's mechanics, though simplified, is not similar 100% to the d20 system. Walking in with that expectation will confuse you more and it is best to clear your mind of the d20 rules when taking on the rules for Rotted Capes. This might appear as a completely new language, but after a couple of rounds playing you'll get the hang of it very quickly. If you have played the recent version of Arcanis, Rotted Capes is a more simplified version of those rules.
Combat can be reviewed in detail on Pg. 84 of the main rule book. Please refer to that book for further information regarding combat and more.
Dice Pending your stats, you'll need a variety of dice to have with you. Usually d10's (for action and initiative), d8's (the average stat's die, but this is not always the case), d12 (for the clock if you don't have a counter). It is recommended to have different color dice to aid keeping track of what type of dice are rolled (Action and Attribute).
Initiativeis always rolled using d10s and it is dependent on your Quickness' (Qu for short) attribute passive modifier (which also affects your base Pace). So say you have a Qu of 5, your pace will be 3 Areas and your initiative will be 3d10. When you roll the d10's, you take the lowest result and that's when you first get to act on the clock. Example: You roll 3d10 and happen to get a result of 4, 7, and 2. On the clock you get to act for the first time on 2.
The ClockAn intiative/turn based system that keeps tracks of when things occur. It is measured in 12 tick intervals. Once the clock reaches 12, it resets to 1 on the following turn and so on and so on.
What can be done on my turn and how does it affect my turn/when I go next?All actions have a speed name/cost associated to them. These speed name/costs are: Trivial (Speed 1, can usually be combined with another action), Simple (Speed 2, can sometimes be added to another action), Complex (Speed 4,
cannot be combined with another Complex or Demanding action), and Demanding (Speed 6,
cannot be combined with another Complex or Demanding action). When you perform these actions, you add their speed costs to your current turn. Example: Using the example above, a character gets to act on tick 2, and lets say he/she performs a Complex action (Speed 4). Once you resolve the action, you then adjust your counter, or d12 die, from 2 to 6 (Tick 2 + speed 4 action = 6, your next tick to act).
Action dieMost actions are performed by rolling your skill in said action. Example: Using the complex action above, lets say the Complex action performed was an Energy Blast and the character has 3 ranks in the Ranged skill. To determine what your roll is, you use 2d10 (action dice) + your Prowess' (Pr for short) attribute die (lets say this character has a 5 Pr, making the attribute die a d8) + ranks in Ranged skill (we determined the character had 3 ranks), rolling 2d10 + d8 + 3 and you get a result of 7+5(<-- the 2d10)+4(<- the d8)+3 = 19. You would compare this to your target's Avoidance. If their avoidance is equal or less than 19, you hit them.
Note!: There are two factors you must keep track of when performing action rolls -
1) if you roll a pair of "10's" with the action die (the 2d10), it is considered a "critical hit" regardless of the target number to hit the target. The same can be said of the opposite: Rolling a pair of "1's" is considered a critical miss.
2) if you max out on the attribute die (d8 in this case), you blow that die up allowing you to roll that die again and adding it to the roll's result (and continue to blow up if you max out the next roll).
DamageDamage is based on the weapon or power being used. Since I've kept building up on the examples above, I will elaborate more on the Energy Blast mentioned previously. Lets say the sample character has Energy Blast Rank 7 (which gives him a damage die of d10). When rolling damage you would roll a d10 + your Qu attribute die (as mentioned above, this sample character has a Qu of 5, providing a d8 die, and like the action die, you keep track to see if you max out this die for blowing up purposes, which I will expand on now). Lets say you get a result of 5 (from the d10) and 8 (from the Qu's d8). I now roll that d8 again and add it to my result (and blow up again if I get another 8), resulting in a 6 for a total of 5 + 8 + 6 = 19 damage!
I know this was a quick, dirty, version of how things go, but I hope it does clear the matter somewhat. Do not hesitate to ask further questions