Very strange! What equipment did you have? And what were the other rules?
I was playing a Thief with lots of countdown equipment:
- wrecking ball
- countdown 18 - deal 8 + 1 dodge
- countdown 4 - roll 1 dice
- countdown 4 - gain 1 damage reduction (with alternate status)
- grandfather clock (i think) - deal 10, counts down at start of turn
I think those were what I had. Other rules were:
- enemies +10% hp
- enemies turn into a bear after 4 turns
- enemies start with fury
I tried the combat again, and had no such problem. Would you think it's a base game bug perhaps?