The core combat system as presented in Spellcraft and Swordplay is based off of the Man to Man rules in the original miniatures game that spawned the World's Most Famous RPG. In the second edition (coming someday to a game store near you), The combat system will be revised to eschew the requirement for consulting tables in man to man combat, replacing them with a simple addition formula that allows for speeding up combat significantly.
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Basic Calculation
The basic calculation for combat using the alternate system is as follows:
2d6 + Strength (or Dexterity) bonus + Weapon Class + Opponent's AC > 14
Characters still gain multiple attacks based on their level, so level does not factor into the hit probability. Strength and Dexterity bonus are as determined during character creation. Strength is used for melee; Dexterity is used for ranged attacks.
Boxcars and Snake-eyes
A result of boxcars (unmodified 12) always hits, and a result of snake-eyes (unmodified 2) always misses.
Weapon Class
Every weapon under this system is granted a weapon class based largely on the size and heft of the weapon. Larger weapons tend to blast through armor more easily, so they have a higher weapon class. Weapon classes break down as follows:
Class 1 Weapons: knives, daggers, rapiers, hand axes, short swords, and other lightweight weapons which can be wielded with one hand and some degree of finesse. Short bows and light crossbows are also considered Class 1 weapons. The natural weapons of most creatures ranging from small to large are also considered Class 1. Creatures of tiny or diminutive size have Class 0 or even -1 weapons, at the DM's discretion.
Class 2 Weapons: Standard medium-sized weapons such as a mace, flail, warhammer, one-handed battle-axe, quarterstaves, broadswords, scimitars, sabres, and longbows, composite bows, or heavy crossbows. The vast majority of melee weapons should fall into the Class 2 category. Giant creatures like Jungle Dragons or giant serpents may have Class 2 natural weapons.
Class 3 Weapons: Heavy, two-handed weapons such as great swords and great axes. Short spears are also class 3 (but class 1 when hurled). Enormous natural weapons such as the tusks of a full-grown elephant are Class 3.
Class 4 Weapons: Long spears and pole arms are considered Class 4 weapons.
Armor Class
Armor Class in this system now runs from 10 to 0 instead of 9 to 2. The breakdown of AC is as follows. Please bear with the primitive formatting; tables are difficult to import into Blogger.
None 10
Shield Only* 9
Leather or Padded 8
Studded leather or Ring Mail 7
Scale Mail 6
Chain Mail 5
Splint or Banded Mail, Bronze Plate and Mail 4
Steel Plate and Mail 3
Field Plate 2
Full Plate 1
*A shield always improves AC by 1; thus steel plate and mail plus shield = AC 2, etc.
Under this system, the minimum AC a character or monster can have is 0. Any AC benefits that would reduce the AC lower than 0 instead serve as a penalty to the opponent's "to hit" roll.
Thus, a character with full plate and a shield would normally have AC 0. Let us surmise that said character obtains a superior suit of full plate which provides AC 0 on its own. The character's shield would then reduce AC to -1; instead, the AC remains 0 and those trying to strike the hero suffer -1 to their attacks.
Weapon Size, Finesse, and Combat Styles
Characters wielding class 1 weapons in melee combat with opponents wielding Class 3 or Class 4 weapons may make a single attack (as part of their normal attack routine) at the beginning of each melee round, before the Class 3 or 4 wielder strikes, regardless of initiative results.
Likewise, when a creature wielding a Class 4 weapon is battling a character with a class 1 or 2 weapon who moves inside the reach of the Class 4 weapon, The Class 4 weapon is treated as Class 1 as it is awkward to use in close quarters.
Combat styles are unaffected by these rules, save that the two-weapon fighting style cannot be used with weapons of higher than Class 1. To fight with dual weapons, the weapons must both be of class 1 category.
Any weapon that is class 3 or class 4 allows for rolling two dice for damage, keeping the better result, save for those situations when a class 4 weapon is considered class 1 due to being in close quarters, as above.
Monsters and Ability Scores
Monsters, obviously, don't have ability scores. As a general rule, this is fine and tends not to unbalance the game. Simply roll 2d6 + weapon class (usually 1 or 2) + AC for the monster's attacks. As always, boxcars always hits and snake eyes always misses.
While this would seem at first to give player characters an unfair advantage, PCs fight many more monsters in the course of a typical adventure than monsters fight PCs. As such, the scales are balanced simply in terms of how many hits the PCs suffer.
If the DM wishes, monsters can add 1/4 their Hit Dice (rounded down, maximum +3) to attack rolls as a rough approximation of the combat prowess that Strength or Dexterity scores represent in PCs.
Situational Bonuses and Penalties
The DM may, at their discretion, apply situational modifiers for circumstances such as attacking unseen from behind, flanking a foe with the aid of an ally, being blinded, attacking a nominally helpless foe, etc. Generally speaking, such modifiers should range from +4 to -4 in severity. The Fighting-Man's ability to impose penalties to the "to hit" roll of their opponent based on high Dexterity remains in play and is considered just such a situational benefit.
High Levels and High Hit Dice
As the combat rules stand, characters reaching very high levels, or monsters who have very high hit dice, stand a chance of dishing out massive amounts of damage in a single round, which will speed up combats, but can also result in the perception of "one hits" from player character points of view.
To this end, it's important to put a cap on the number of attacks a hero has in a game. After reaching the highest possible level, characters gain additional pips they can divide up as they like among their various attacks. See the following table for the maximum number of attacks and their fantasy combat equivalency each hero can achieve, and their rate of further "pip" advancement. These pips apply only to individual, man to man combat; fantasy combat uses the listed rating for fantasy combat on the fantasy combat tables. Thus, a 16th level wizard fights in man to man combat at 5 attacks +1 pip.
Basic equivalents for fantasy combat vs. "man types" are as follows:
Wizard: 5 men
Superhero: 8 men
Fighting Man* - 8 - Superhero - +1/2 lvl
Thief** - 8 - Superhero - +1/3 lvl
Sorcerer - 5 - Wizard - +1/5 lvl
Monsters 8 - As Table - +1/4 HD
*Includes Borderers and Monsters
**Includes Assassins and Skalds
The above is the core revision in the forthcoming Spellcraft & Swordplay Second Edition. Features like weapon class may look familiar to those who have hte Night Companion, where they were introduced to the O.G.R.E.S. system, and will be offered as an option in the forthcoming O.G.R.E.S. fantasy game, Wasted Lands: The Dreaming Age.
Just a peak behind the curtain. Interested in more? Check out the O.G.R.E.S. System and grab a copy of Night Shift: Veterans of the Supernatural Wars for yourself today!
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