COMBAT ------ * DEX bonuses lower AC by the bonus amount. * DEX bonuses are not applied to the defender's AC if they are not in combat, moving rapidly, trying to dodge the shot, etc(i.e. if they are relatively stationary). * Melee Attack: * Fighters(INCLUDING Rangers, Barbarians, Dwarves, Hobbits, Paladins, and Pirates)** add their STR bonus to to-hit rolls. Thieves add their DEX bonus to to-hit rolls instead of STR. All others add +1 to attack rolls if STR is 16+. ** Fighters(and PIRATES) who are wearing light armor and using one-handed weapons (swashbuckler types) may use their DEX bonus for to-hit rolls instead of STR. * Melee Damage: * Fighters(INCLUDING Rangers, Barbarians, Dwarves, Hobbits, Paladins, and Pirates)** add their STR bonus to damage rolls. Thieves add their DEX bonus to damage rolls instead of STR. All others add +1 to damage rolls if STR is 16+. ** Fighters(and PIRATES) who are wearing light armor and using one-handed weapons (swashbuckler types) may use their DEX bonus for damage rolls instead of STR. * Ranged Attack: * All characters add their DEX bonus to to-hit rolls for bows and thrown weapons. * Great Bows will use STR bonus rather than DEX to hit. * For ranged attacks: +1 to-hit at short range and -1 to-hit at long range. * See Shields * Ranged Damage: * Fighters(INCLUDING Rangers, Barbarians, Dwarves, Hobbits, Paladins, and Pirates)** add their STR bonus to damage rolls for thrown weapons. Thieves add their DEX bonus to damage rolls for thrown weapons instead of STR. All others add +1 to damage rolls if STR is 16+. * All characters add their DEX bonus to damage rolls for bows. * Great Bows will use STR bonus rather than DEX for damage rolls. MISC COMBAT RULES ----------------- * PCs and Important NPC Fighter-types get a number of melee attacks against 'Normal Men'(or creatures of basically that strength, i.e., goblins, kobolds, dwarves, hobbits, orks, men, gnomes, giant rats, etc) equal to their level each round. So a 3rd level PC or NPC would have 3 attacks/round against these. An easier way to do this is figure out the percentage of attacks that hit 'normal types' by our character each round, find the average damage that each hit would inflict, and then calculate the number of normal types that would be killed each round by the character. For example: Our 8th level fighter gets 8 attacks against a group of attacking humanoids, and needs to roll a 7 or better to hit based on their armor class, which means our hero will 'hit' about 70% of the time. That's 5.6 successful hits out of 8 attacks. The humanoids have an average of 3.5 hit points, because their hit points are determined by rolling a D6. And the fighter does an average of 4.5 hit points of damage with each successful hit with a sword (normal weapons do D6+1 damage). This means that 5.6 humanoids are killed each round (6 if rounded up) by our hero. * Monsters with more than 1HD will attack 'Normal Men' multiple times depending upon their HD. For instance, a Troll with 6HD+3 would attack a group of Normal Men 6 times in a round. * A Natural 1 always indicates a MISS. A D20 can be rolled afterwards, and if the roll is greater than the XP level of the character who missed, then the miss is also a Critical Fumble (see table). * A Natural 20 is always a hit(unless magical or silver weapons are required and not available). For opponents that could not naturally be hit even by rolling a '20' - like a high level, magically armored fighter with DEX bonus being attacked by a 1st level fighter with no bonuses at all - a Natural 20 shall count as a 'hit'. However, for every number over '20' needed to hit, 1 point will be subtracted from the damage die. For example, if the opponent required a roll of 22 to be hit, and a Natural 20 was rolled. The hit would count, BUT 2 points would be subtracted from the damage total. It is therefore possible to 'hit' a foe and cause no damage. A Natural 20 is also a Critical HIT UNLESS the creature could only be hit by rolling a Natural 19 or 20. In that case, it would simply count as a normal hit. For many monsters, a Natural 20(or sometimes less) would indicate the occurance of their special attack - crushing hug for owlbears, swallowing a creature whole for a sea dragon, knocking a foe to the ground for a dire wolf, etc. * Different weapons are useful for different things: A spear gives more reach, a dagger confers the ability to fight in a tight space - like when trapped inside of a Cloaker, an axe is good for chopping through hawser lines or wooden doors, blunt weapons are most useful against Animated Skeletons, etc. * A whip may be used to entangle an opponent of ogre size or smaller. If the to-hit roll is made, the WIELDER must decide on an area of their opponent to target and then make a Save vs Paralysis to entangle the target or the target's weapon. Subtract the target's STR bonus from the roll. If success- ful, the target may be yanked off their feet or the weapon(or held item) may be pulled from their grasp. Whips can be used against an opponent who is 10 feet away. * A PC fighting with a weapon they are not trained in attacks as a 'Normal Man' and does D3, D4, or D6 damage, depending upon the size of the weapon. * Melee combatants(not yet engaged "in melee") and those using missile weapons(also not yet engaged in melee) may move up to 1/2 of their Turn movement in a melee round AND attack. They can "CHARGE"(see below). OR they can move up to their full Turn movement in a single round and NOT attack or take any further action that round(Running). Spellcasters may move up to 10 feet while casting normally. ELVES can "fire on the run" with arrows and javelins with no penalty to hit, meaning that they can move up to their full Turn rate in a round while attacking with these weapons. This is NOT a charge for them. Elves can also fire into melee without risk of hitting friendly forces. HOBBITS can likewise do this with slings! * Creatures are considered to be "in melee" when they are within 10 feet of each other and not separated by an obstacle. Once engaged, only the following special forms of movement are possible: 1) Fighting Withdrawal: backing slowly out of a fight, while still defending yourself, until there is an opportunity to disengage and run without incurring an attack of opportunity. PCs withdrawing will move at only 1/2 speed and gain a +2 to their defense, while attacking with a penalty of -2. 2) Retreat: A combatant may turn and flee (or, if able, pass around an opponent or through an opening in the line). In this case, roll an initiative die(D6) for the combatant retreating as well as for the combatant(s) they are disengaging from. Add each combatant's DEX bonus to their rolls. If the one disengaging rolls highest, they are able to duck and dodge away or through the line without incurring a parting shot by the one(s) they were fighting. If their opponent(s) roll higher, then each of those who did get one free attack at +2 to hit as a parting shot. The shield bonus of the retreating party is not counted for purposes of AC. If the fleeing/ moving party passes within 10' of any other opponents not in melee, and does not engage them, each of these also gets a free attack against the fleeing party in the same manner. If a combatant turns and flees, roll a 2D6 to discover if they are pursued by their opponent(s). It is possible that a fleeing combatant will be pusued by a much faster opponent and will not be able to withdraw from combat. In this case, the pursuing creature will continue to attack each round with a +2 to-hit until the one fleeing turns and re-engages. 3) It is possible(if there is enough space between combatants) to "move through" a line of foes in order to attack those beyond. Anyone moving through a combat line MAY be subject to one free attack by all foes they pass who are within striking distance(about 10 feet). See rule for 'Retreat' above. 4) A combatant can disengage from melee without penalty or incurring a free attack if their opponent is engaged with another foe in melee. * Melee Weapon Reach: Combatants using any weapon with a sufficient reach advantage over their opponent(spear vs dagger for example) strike first regardless of who has the initiative(assuming they aren't surprised of course). This only applies to the first round of combat even if initiative is rerolled each round. * Mounted opponents get a +1 to-hit against unmounted opponents. Unmounted opponents attack mounted at -1 to-hit. Bonuses and penalties cancel out if unmounted opponents are using polearms/long spears. * High Ground: Opponents fighting from a higher place (a ledge above, for instance) gain a +1 to-hit. While those fighting against them from lower ground have a penalty of -1 to their attacks. * Up to 6 combatants of around human size can surround and attack a human- sized character in melee without getting in each other's way. If more than 2 foes are simultaneously attacking one character, each attacker will get a bonus of +1 on their to-hit rolls against that character, until the character can get their back close to a wall in order to face all of their attackers. Larger creatures can be surrounded by more opponents. Smaller creatures can be surrounded by fewer opponents. A shield may only be used against 2 attackers. * Flanking attackers will gain a +1 to hit and defenders will not be able to employ shields against them or use their DEX bonus to AC until they are able to turn and face the flanking enemies. This will be a case of being "partially surprised". * Attacking From Behind: An enemy attacking from behind will get a +2 to hit. The person being attacked will be "SURPRISED" and unable to return the attack on the first round. They will also be unable to apply shields or DEX bonuses against this attack. On the following round, the attacker will attack with Advantage and the defender will attack with Disadvantage, but the defender may employ their shield and add their DEX bonus back to their AC. Subsequent combat rounds will proceed normally. * Surprise Attacks, whichever direction they come from, operate as Attacks From Behind(see above). * Backstab: For Thiefy characters with multiple attacks per round, stealthily sneaking up on an opponent for a BACKSTAB, only the FIRST ATTACK gets the Thief's attack and damage bonuses. Any other attacks in the round proceed as regular Surprise Attacks. * Florentine fighting: Roll with Advantage. Role 2 to-hit rolls and take the larger number. If there is a size difference in the weapons being used (sword and dagger, for example), roll to see which one hit, then roll for damage. Florentine fighting gives a +1 bonus to AC against melee attacks. * CHARGING ATTACKS: Normally, any character can move up to 1/2 of their Turn movement rate in a melee round and still attack normally. So, a fighter with a Turn movement of 6" could move up to 3" and attack. A CHARGE is a movement of greater than 1/2 of Turn movement up to full Turn movement with an attack at the end(6" in this case). The Charge must end within 10 feet of the foe being charged in order to be within "melee range" to attack. Charging combatants are sub- ject to "set spears"(see below). A Charge may be executed no more than once per 10 minute Turn and is usually done at the beginning of an encounter. Charging combatants get no DEX bonus to AC or attack rolls and initiative is not checked at the end of the charge movement. A spear or pike can be set against a charging attack. It will get a +2 to- hit and do double damage if it hits. It will also strike first(because of greater reach) if the combatants charging are unmounted and using normal melee weapons(sword, axe, spear, etc). Charging foes also get a +2 to-hit and do double damage if they hit(assuming they weren't killed). Foes on horseback charging with a lance will get a +2 to hit and do double damage (2D6 x 2) to approximately man-sized foes and 3D6 x 2 to large crea- tures if the wielder is riding a charging beast. If charging a line of spears or pikes, the opponent with the longer weapon reach attacks first. If it is a creature with large horns or tusks that is charging, it will strike for double damage on a successful to-hit roll. Charging creatures can, of course, be attacked with missile weapons and spells as they are closing. For characters with multiple attacks per round, the "Charge" bonuses and penalties only apply to the first attack, as the character runs pell mell into their foe. All subsequent attacks are regular attacks. * Melee combatants using polearms can attempt to dismount a mounted foe by catching, hooking, or leveraging their opponent off of their steed. If a dismounting attempt is decided upon, and the to-hit roll is made, the rider must make a Save vs Paralysis in order to remain mounted. For every 3 XP levels the rider is above the attacker's level, add a +1 to the roll. * Melee combatants may parry - gives +2 to defense on that round but no attacks are possible. * Melee combatants using a one-handed weapon can try to disarm their opponent if that opponent is also using a one-handed weapon. If a disarm is attempted and the to-hit roll is successful, the target must make a Save vs Paralysis For every 3 XP levels the target is above the attacker's level, add a +1 to the roll. Failure means they have been disarmed. * Crossbows fire every other round. * Cover Penalty to-hit: 25% cover = -2, 50% cover = -4, 75% cover = -6 * Firearms: Any character race or class can learn to use firearms. * Empty Hand Attacks: Damage done is rolled on a D4 but only 1 point per every 2 die rolls of damage is 'actual damage' (2 pts if STR is 16-18). The rest is temporary damage. When someone reaches 0hp, they are knocked out or otherwise incapacitated and out of the fight. Temporary damage points are regained at a rate of 1 point times XP Level/HD per Turn. It is also possible to "pull punches" so all of the damage is temporary damage. Attacks designed to subdue, whether empty handed or with weapons proceed in the same way, though with weapons, the die rolled for damage would be whatever that particular weapon calls for. Objects used as weapons, like a shovel or a brass candle- stick would use a D4 for damage rolls. A surprise attack does double the dice worth of temporary damage. * Grappling attacks: - Roll to-hit normally for each foe surrounding the character. A successful attack means that that foe has 'grappled' our hero. - Each foe who has successfully grappled rolls a number of D6's corresponding to each of their Hit Dice. The hero also rolls a number of 6-sided die equal to his HD. If the defender's score is less than his attackers', he has been pinned helplessly. If his score matches theirs, he is still on his feet and struggling, but is unable to defend himself with his weapon. If the defender rolls higher, he has thrown off his attackers and they are stunned for a number of rounds equal to the roll of the hero minus the combined rolls of his attackers. For instance, 5 orcs(1 HD creatures) try to grapple a character of xp level 3(3 HD). 2 orcs make successful attack rolls and have now grappled our hero. Now, each orc rolls a D6 - say the results are 2 and 5 for a combined roll of 7. The character now rolls 3D6 and the result is 11. This means that both orcs have been thrown off and are stunned and unable to resume their attack for 4 rounds (11-7 = 4). And now, since the hero is free, initiative is rolled again (if there are more attackers) and battle continues. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ENCOUNTER ORDER --------------- 1) Monsters are encountered in a chamber or the DM has rolled for wandering monsters. 2) If Wandering Monsters have been encountered, the DM rolls to see how many (unless a specific number is stated). The direction of appearance is deter- mined by random number generation considering the number of possible entries. 3) SURPRISE: A Condition of surprise can only exist when one or both parties are unaware of the presence of the other. Such things as ESP'ing, light, and noise will negate surprise. If the possibility for surprise exists, the DM rolls for both party and monsters to see if either are surprised. A roll of 1-2 normally indicates that group is surpised. The surprising party gets a free round of action and the surprised party can not respond that round. IF monsters gain surprise they will either close the distance between themselves and the character(s) (unless they are intelligent and their prey is obviously too strong to attack) or attack. If both sides are surprised, it cancels out and the encounter proceeds normally. Distance between parties will be from 10 - 30 feet in- doors or underground or 10 - 30 yards outdoors. See SURPRISE TABLE BELOW. SURPRISE(examples) ------------------ SURPRISE(if called for) is normally 1-2 on D6. So... 1) IF Party A surprises on a 1-5 (because they are extra quiet and sneaky) AND Party B is normally surprised on a 1-2 (by normally sneaky creatures) THEN Party A surprises Party B on a 1-5 (instead of the normal 1-2). 2) IF Party A surprises on a 1-5 (because they are extra quiet and sneaky) AND Party B is surprised only on a 1 (because they are extra alert) THEN Party A surprises Party B on a 1-4 (instead of a 1-5). 3) IF Party A surprises on a 1-5 (and is normally surprised on a 1-2) AND Party B surprises on a 1-4 (and is normally surprised on a 1-2) THEN Party A surprises Party B on a 1-5, AND Party B surprises Party A on a 1-4. 4) IF Party A surprises on a 1-5 (and is normally surprised on a 1-2) AND Party B surprises on a 1-4 (and is normally surprised only on a 1) THEN Party A surprises Party B only on a 1-4, AND Party B still surprises Party A on a 1-4. ------------------- 4) If no surprise condition exists, DM rolls 2D6(x 10 ft indoors or 10 yds outdoors) to find the distance between the two groups if distance is uncertain. 5) For Monsters, the DM may make a Reaction Roll(2D6 on the Reaction Table) if Monster Reaction is uncertain. Animals may be frightened, curious, friendly, hungry, angry, or disinterested. Intelligent monsters may be friendly, want to parley, run away, be hostile, observe the party uncert- ainly, etc. Players now decide what action they wish to take. They can choose to talk, intimidate, run away, attack, wait to see what the monsters will do, etc. If combat is imminent go to step 6 below. 6) Each player rolls a D6 for initiative and the DM rolls a D6for each group of foes(a group of skeletons, an evil wizard controlling the skeletons, and the evil wizard's bugbear bodyguards, for example). Highest roll acts first, followed by the next highest, and so on. If two or more roll the same, movement/combat is simultaneous(This means that anyone killed in that round still gets their attack for that round). ** Optional rules -> roll one die for the PC party instead of individually -> reroll initiative each round 7) After initiative order is decided and morale checks(if needed) ## have been made, combat proceeds. ** Opponents with a superior reach advantage (long spear vs sword for example) will automatically have initiative on the FIRST round of melee even if their melee opponent rolled the higher initiative. ** Magically HASTED creatures move twice as fast and always have init- iative. If there are magically hasted creatures on both sides of the battle, they will roll to see if either has initiative or if they will act simultaneously. ** Fighters with multiple attacks will attack first and last in the melee round. ** A spellcaster hit and taking damage during the round by an opponent with simultaneous initiative must make a Save vs Paralysis (add PSY bonus to roll) to see if their spell goes off as intended. Failure indicates that the spell was interrupted and lost, or that it was miscast (Roll a D6. On a 1-4, the spell was lost. On a 5-6, the spell was miscast). ** A spellcaster hit and taking damage during the round by an opponent who won initiative, causes the caster to lose the spell they were preparing and be unable to cast another until the following round. ** If the Spellcaster won initiative for the round, the spell goes off as intended even if they are hit and take damage. ## Check monster morale (roll 2D6 see table) at the beginning of conflict (if needed), after first death, when 50% are dead or incapacitated, or when any big upset occurs. Monsters who make their morale roll twice will fight to the death. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- EVASION AND PURSUIT -------------------- * If characters decide to flee, roll on Monster Reaction Table to see if they will pursue. A low score means they will, a high score means they will not. Pursuit time is measured in rounds and running at RUNNING SPEED. Movement rates are compared to see if the fleeing party is caught and how many rounds that takes to accomplish. * Monsters will usually chase characters only as long as they are in sight. Unintelligent monsters will often stop to eat food thrown down by the fleeing party. Intelligent monsters will often stop for treasure flung away by the fleeing party. (1-5 chance on D6) * Running around a corner, up/down stairs, through a doorway, monsters will continue pursuit on 1-2(D6). Passing through a secret door will lower chance of continuing pursuit to a 1 in 6. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Mass Combat ----------- It will become necessary from time to time to split up larger groups of beings for combat purposes . For example, ten player characters and a hundred of their hired troops meet three hundred bandits! To roll hit dice, etc . for each man would take far too much time. Nonplayer characters may thus be grouped into sets of five or ten (or even larger) men and "fought" as one man. If, for example, such troops are divided into units of ten, the referee rolls ten 6-sided dice and totals the score. One of the players then rolls ten dice for his ten nonplayer troops and totals that score. Only one "hit" throw is made per group. A miss indicates that all ten have missed or done no significant damage. If a hit is made, a single 6-sided die is thrown, and its score is multiplied by 10 and subtracted from the target unit's total hit dice points. When either side has lost all of its hit points, the unit is considered slain to a man. The victors then divide their original hit points by 10 (the number of men in the unit) and compare this with the unit's remaining points . For each tenth of the original total left, one man is left alive . Fractions are rounded upwards . E .g . if the total original hit points for the group had been 40, then 4 points remaining after the melee would indicate one man left alive, 8 points would indicate 2 men, etc .