Encounter Tables pt.3

After over a year of playtesting I finally had some practical conclusions regarding the encounter tables I shared previously.

The idea was to simulate random combat encounters in a form currently popular in the video games genre. Such random combat encounters add additional challenge, action and pure entertainment to the gameplay. The thing is that pen and paper RPG's don't work this way. Mainly due to the fact they have much broader spectrum of experiences to offer than arcade or tactical combat.
Thus, using too much random combat encounters destroys the game rather than constructs it.
With this conclusion I must say I was not particularly happy, especially after all the work I have done and the hopes that I had for an enhanced gaming experience.

Then I had en enlightening discussion with my grognard and OSR friend about sandboxing and random encounters.
I myself being the gamer of the 90's have been taught to control the plot from A to Z. Random combat encounter were already a huge step for me towards unpredictability.
But if you accept the concept of random non-combat encounter, including plot-building ones, a new array of possibilities emerges.

Please note that it is not a tale of the 90's kid being seduced by the dark side  old school gaming but a story of a plot building DM who searches for ways of bringing the gaming world to life and bringing to the game more than just one mind can control and comprehend. For the benefit of both the players and the DM.

So I sat down and crafted an encounter table to rule other encounter tables. It does introduce more interesting events than ordinary combat. It provokes DM's mind and provides a variety of adventures and opportunity to role-play to the players. Combat is only part of the menu now.
Please use it if you find it inspiring. I deliberately kept it rather general and high-level. Browsing the web I found some interesting selections of non-combat encounters, mostly very detailed. But the point here is to provide a universal tool which would not require re-writing every few gaming sessions once the options have been exhausted.

You can download it from the Bibliotheca or from the link below.
ADnD Encounter Tables - General

Good gaming!

DM Miscellany - a word of comment and a minor correction

Dear Guests,

One serious deviation from the original AD&D2E rules I use in my game is the duration of the combat round.
The PHB clearly states 1 round = 1 minute. This is surprising in the face of the fact, that D&D has always assumed it to be 10 seconds. Now, I am not really sure about the 1E but why 1 minute?
In combat situation this is hell of a long time. In one minute the fight can easily be over and with much more that one swing of a sword.
Also, such solution is impractical to my mind. Given the pace of action in a combat round, extending it to 1 minute doesn't really serve any logical purpose.
So, for the slightly modified combat system I assume 1 round is equal to 6 seconds. Thus, 1 turn equals 10 rounds. This should also solve the movement problem. If a character can pass 12 yards in 1 round, then do the authors imply that the character is dragging 12 yards in 1 minute?
Take 6 seconds and start ahead in a brisk pace. How far have you've gone? 12 yards is a quite probable result. Even more maybe.
Of course in close combat situation you are forced to slow down unless you want to expose yourself to the enemy. I give it a 1/2 penalty. Obviously this is arbitrary.
It just makes much more sense to me, feels more natural.

Then I stumbled upon the issue of ROF (rate of fire) of shooting weapons. Given my direct experience with archery I thought that a skilled bowman can fire much more rapidly that normally you'd imagine. Remember the famous English bowmen from Agincourt.
However, not as fast as to fire 2 arrows in 6 seconds (which was implied by the initial version of DM miscellany). Bows fire a standard one arrow (1 attack) per round, though specialisation bonuses should apply (I bet Robin Hood could fire 2 accurate arrows in 6 seconds, heh).
There is a disadvantage for the crossbow, true. But it balances the severe damage it makes and if you have it loaded on the spot, you're at a definite advantage over the bow.

With this short comment, please help yourself with a corrected DM miscellany file.

Until then!

Doom of Daggerdale - module review

Dear Friends,

In July I finally managed to start up my great project which is actively running a AD&D 2e Forgotten Realms campaign. Those of you who occasionally visit my humble abode already know that I have a soft spot for the 2E (hmmpf). And the Realms are for me what Greyhawk was for the 1E veterans. The classic and core setting. Since I have to divide my spare time between various activities and also because of mostly sentimental reasons I decided to recall that "good ol'times" feeling and base my campaign on published material only.
And so I took all the modules at hand and connected them with one superior plot. As some of my players happen to visit this site I cannot disclose too much details in advance.
However, our adventure began with the module "Doom of Daggerdale".
And here are my thoughts on it.

The plot

As one of my players concluded, "it is a very cliche premise but there is a certain charm to it".
The heroes are called to visit Dagger Falls in order to investigate a strange disease that torments the local folk, both honest farmers and Zhentish lackeys alike.
As it however often happens, it is not the general idea that matters. The devil is in the details.
There is some serious backstory, several sub-plots and options for the players, though the dungeon is always the same.
We are given an opportunity to familiarise the heroes with the Freedom Raiders and their cause.
Some interesting NPC can be introduced with just a bit of GM effort and creativity (Kessla for instance).
The story itself can develop in several interesting directions.
Altogether a solid, albeit not particularly original work.
My players had some fun with it. It worked as an introductory ("10 years after" kind of introduction) adventure. They chased some shadows in the dark, pursued some false traces, underwent some lethal family drama and finished the plot without actually having discovered most of the plot details. All the better for the GM as their past actions will haunt them in the future in the most unexpected way. (Muahahahaha)

The text editing

This is were the nightmare begins :)

First of all, particular parts of the module are "a bit mixed up". It results in the GM feverishly leafing through the module in order to find a particular information which apparently is not where it logically should be.

Whenever some details are not included - it is not stated clearly. So you find yourself at times in a situation where you don't know whether you "just can't find it" or it was left "up to the GM to decide".

Also, several elements of the plot stand in contradiction (not major though) and this might puzzle those less experienced gamers.

My favourite bit was with the sleepers (necormancer's hostages in a magic slumber). They are once mentioned to be in the same chamber as the necromancer's tomb, then suggested to be in "the chamber of the sleepers" which is a separate room altogether. 

I also scratched my head seeing a "beastman" monster which is actually a native of 1E Greyhawk and cannot be found in any 2E Monstrous Manuals (well, maybe in the annual appendices published later on).

All in all, it does make the impression of being messy and poorly edited. They're details, but I had some hard time with them and because of them.

Summary

This is a module aimed at low level heroes. An introduction to Forgotten Realms. I like the idea of a short module in contrast to the long campaigns like "The Haunted Halls of Evening Star" or "Ruins of Adventure".

It is a good choice for GMs who prefer to come up with their own ideas and particularly ones that are fond of the Dales. For obvious reasons they could work like magic with the later published Randall Morn module trilogy. We will see what the future brings :)

Favourite Moment

In a small abandoned dwarven factory which is one of the subplots the heroes find a magic sword - Magekiller. It was crafted by the dwarves to fight with the evil Lord Mage Calderan. They did not have the opportunity to use it though as Calderan killed them all beforehand.

It did keep all of its qualities which is, among others, harming any magic-using character on touch. My players had all the bad luck when the first hero to touch it was a mage. They immediately judged the sword to be cursed. And obviously would not use it against Calderan's wraith form spell.

He escaped unharmed to the Underdark.

As he disappeared in the dark corridors the cave echo carried his words of warning: "I'll be back!"

A few words on Encounter Tables pt.2

In the earlier post I have praised the usefulness of encounter tables. After years of deliberate ignorance I embraced the idea completely. And it is quite understandable assuming that we allow to bring back the "game" aspect to the "roleplaying game".
The 90/Y2K European school of playing emphasised the storytelling and roleplaying aspect bringing in some interesting development to the genre at best, decreasing the general amount of easygoing 'fun" at worst.
Trust me, been there, done that. Actually I stopped playing rpg's at one time as the sessions became too heavy to bear - emotionally mostly. And it wasn't easy anymore to play an impromptu session, as in confrontation the players' expectations it lacked depth etc.
GMs were less and less to pick up the challenge of running a "decent" game.
Ambitious? Perhaps, but bad for the hobby in general as slowly the players played less and less.

Anyhow, in my current Forgotten Realms campaign I decided to use Encounter Tables to ease my mind and provide some instant and random fun for my players.
This simple procedure helped me focus on the main plot and main encounters, populated the world with fantastic monsters (who knows the complete Monstrous Manual by heart anyway???) which I would otherwise overlook and teaches the players that Faerun is a dangerous place and cross-country travels can be lethal.

One outcome of this pleases me particularly. By taking some time to prepare a diverse encounter tables for each terrain type you create the unique feel of each area. After all, it is the denizens of the place that make the unique atmosphere and help to bring the game to life (rise, Frankenstein, rise!).

Now, getting down to the tech specs. In my DM miscellany sheets I enclosed a random encounter table directly from the DMG 2E. In the same chapter of the manual the authors also provided 2 methods of creating the detailed tables for generating particular encoutners (what's it gonna be this time? Bugbear or Basilisk?) Since the first table covers the chance of encounter in the particular terrain and the particular day/night time, what we need now is the table to draw a monster encounter sorted by appearance frequency (so to speak). I must admit that the d8+d12 appeals to me. For one, it is not a common dice set in my experience. Then, it already delivers a random result table with weighted results. Bingo!
Now, basing on the 2 previous table sets with beasts and intelligent races I drew from the Monstrous Manual I put up a collection of tables that should be quick and easy to use and spice up your game with interesting encounters whenever you need them. Feel free to review them in the Bibliotheca:

AD&D Encounter Tables - Complete

And remember, Encounter Tables should only be used when you need such solution, not as a rule. Tomes have been written about it. Maybe a topic for another post...

Yours Sincerely,

Yarivandel

Forgotten Realms Hex Grid Overlay

Dear Friends,

I have recently decided to include map exploration system to my Forgotten Realms campaign. To my great surprise it turned out that the Grey Box I possess (I can't honestly say own as it is borrowed for an unlimited term) lacks the fantastic hex grid overlay sheets that would be so handy for that purpose. As it is not a popular product and as such is not commonly available I thought - let's make one. There surely must be a good template on the web. Surprise again! I could not find a single remark on the web about the actual template of the original hex grid overlay.
Fortunately, the authors of the box were kind enough to give some general indications of the scale. And as it is said in the "Running the Realms" manual that on "1 inch = 30 miles" map 5 hexes equal 1 inch, thus 1 hex equals 6 miles. Splendid. Now we should calculate a proper hex grid scale so that a flat-to-flat hex distance (or height) is equal 1/5 of an inch.
I will spare you the details of my laborious calculations, but thanks to an online hex generator Incompetech ,which I gladly present here, I was able to get the desired result.

But what now? You can print it on paper, but it will hardly do as a transparent plastic overlay now, will it?
"That's where some studio engineering comes in handy my hard-rocking amigos!"
You will need:

• A4 plastic sheet from your local graphic arts store
• A black alcohol marker, one that writes on CD's & DVD's
• some scotch tape

stick your hex grid printout with the scotch tape to the plastic sheet, so that you can see the hexes through the plastic. Now trace all hexes' sides with your marker. The hex printout serves as a pattern so that you can draw your hex grid flawlessly. Voila!

The milage controversy

Now, since I reviewed the map exploration system for Forgotten Realms 2E I noticed that the 1 hex = 6 miles scale is slightly flawed. In a nutshell, it implicates, that during a day of walking over a clear land, a man can cross a distance of 12 miles, while the PHB2E clearly states it should be 24 miles. 

In Forgotten Realms 24 miles can be done only while using roads. I dare to disagree. I am used to cross country walking and there isn't much difference between walking on a dirt road and meadows or fields. Not twice the difference at least. So as an experiment I suggest you could use a different scale hex grid.

1 inch = 10 miles or in other words 3 hexes per 1 inch

This brings some improvement to the scaling and distance crossing. See for yourself.

For your convenience I provide both hex grids templates: original hex (5 hexes per 1 inch) and bigger hex (3 hexes per 1 inch).

Available at the Bibliotheca. Enjoy and good travelling!

Chase / Pursuit System

Dear Visitors,

Your host is back from the depths of role-playing abyss. After the successful expedition to the motherland of all role-playing goodness I have been involved in extensive testing of the AD&D2.1E and some side-projects that did not leave much time for writing.
However I have learned and discovered a lot. And I am ready to share my observations with you, Dear Guests.

And so, quite recently while running a classic AD&D2E Forgotten Realms module "Doom of Daggerdale" I have come across an interesting problem. How to adjudicate pursuit course and success in game environment. The DMG2E and PHB2E state merely, that an individual (or party) who possesses faster Movement Rate outruns the  slower individual (or party). If the Movement rate is equal - roll d10 and the higher roll wins. Simple? No! Simplistic? By all means.

Well, it will not work for me though. So I turned to the WWW brethren for a hint or any convenient solution.
Bear in mind, that the requirement was that any "new" rules need to integrate with the core mechanics seamlessly. So, following some very good ideas provided for D&D3.0 by mxyzplk of Geek Related I started off with this idea and translated it to the 2E language and mindset.

Chase / Pursuit Track

The chase is divided into stages or steps that together form a Chase Track. First the DM determines at which stage does the chase start. The stages reflect the distance (in game terms) between the pursuing and pursued Party. Then every round a roll determines whether the stage (distance) advances or regresses.

Chase Track	Range
Close contact	Melee or Overbear
Point Blank	Short/Blank
Short	Short
Medium	Medium
Long	Long
Outrun!	End of chase

Chase and Escape roll

The Pursuing Party's roll is called a Chase Roll.

The Pursued Party's roll is called an Escape Roll.

Both Parties roll a d10 and add the modifiers from the below table to see the final result.

Factor	Modifier
MOV rate difference	+1/each 3 pts
Familiar terrain	+2
Adaptation to terrain	+2
Encumbrance	as per PHB2E
Exceptional Agility	+1
Add. Skills (e.g. acrobatics)	+1

If Escape Roll is 2+ points higher than Chase Roll = Chase Track progresses by 1 step for each 2 points of difference between rolls (distance increases)

If Chase Roll is 2+ points higher than Escape Roll = Chase Track regresses by 1 step for each 2 points of difference between rolls(distance decreases)

If roll results are equal or differ by 1 point only the Chase Track stage does not change.

Obstacles & Stamina

The DM might add obstacles during the chase and influence the pursuit results by adding Dexterity checks. Because there might be various obstacles depending on the environment I believe it is best to leave it to the DM's discretion. Failed Dex check might either end the chase or bring extra penalties to the rolls.

Also, in case of long distance pursuits Constitution check should be made for all Parties involved to see whether thehy can keep up with the chase. Use sprint modifiers from PHB2E. If the Party fails its Consitution check the chase is over.

_________________________________________________________________________________

I hope you enjoy some dynamic and exciting pursuits using this system.

Should anyone have any comments I am eager to consider and adjust the system if need be.

Letter from the voyage 2

Dear Friends,

My research in this distant yet resourceful land brought some new, wonderful results.

It is scary at times how easy it is to overlook a gem among old, dusty trinkets. However, your host is not one that would abandon a mine until it is depleted (after hours of force mining of course).

Therefore the collection has been enriched with the following, marvellous positions:

• Forgotten Realms: The Savage Frontier
• Forgotten Realms: Shadowdale - The Avatar Trilogy pt 1 module
• Forgotten Realms: Tantras - The Avatar Trilogy pt 2 module

After having procured these findings though I have to announce there is nothing more to salvage in my current location. Fortunately I will be moving Southwest soon and I already feel the gold fever...

Until then!

Letter from the voyage

Dear Fellow Travellers,

At last I have a spare moment to sit down and pour my thoughts into (electronic) ink. Your faithful host has ventured into the motherland of tabletop adventuring, to the other side of the big puddle named after the famed ancient hero - Atlas.

Beside filling in some gaps in my own cartographic collection, the goal was also to expand my collection of tomes of AD&D lore, browse through the forbidden vaults of the indigenous bookstores and libraries in search of the lost manuscripts and parchments.

I have spent only a few days here so far, yet thanks to my luck and expert detective skills my personal library has expanded by the following positions:

• AD&D 2e - Bard's Handbook
• AD&D 2e - Barbarian's Handbook
• AD&D 2e - Priest's Handbook
• AD&D 2e - Book of Humanoids
• Forgotten Realms - Guide to Waterdeep and the North
• Forgotten Realms - Empires of Sands
• Forgotten Realms - Doom of Daggerdale module
• AD&D 2e - Monstrous Appendix - Forgotten Realms
• AD&D 2e - Forgotten Realms Adventures
• Pathfinder - Godsmouth Heresy module
• Pathfinder - Masks of the Living God module

I am certain this shall not mark the end of my hunt. I am on a track of several ancient D&D 1e books. A temptation too strong to resist.

On a related topic, I deem myself to possess one of the biggest collections of archaic D&D and AD&D material on the old continent. However I have not had much chance to meet other prudent librarians.

Should one of you Dear Patrons wished to present his/her collections here I would be more than happy to hear about it.

Well met and ahoy!

Encounter Tables - cont.

And what would complement the Encounter Table better than a complete, handy monstrous manual?
I have just come across a great site designed by Seva (I believe) providing access to the complete AD&D2e Monstrous Manual.
To all you GM's out there! No longer you shall fear that the players will catch you monster-less and unprepared (provided you have internet access at all times).
I added to the Bibiliotheca mainly for my convenience, but should you take advantage, all the better!

The Bibliotheca - library, is now open!

Dear Friends and Fellow Gamers.

Today your humble scribe has finally achieved his long time goal which is setting up an open & free library.

In the Bibliotheca section to your right you will be able to access parchments and scripts that you may find useful in your future journeys.
I have either tediously prepared them myself or gathered during my long and wondrous journeys.
The initial collection of documents is as follows:

• A summary sheet for the new combat rules presented in one of the first articles
• A summary sheet of the new magic system
• A summary sheet of the new combat rules & manoeuvres
• A collection of encounter tables
• An ornamental and comprehensive Character Sheet for AD&D
• A not less ornametal annexure for wizards, mages and priests

I hope you will find these documents to your liking.

AD&D2E Combat - additional utensils

As previously announced here is a set of some handy tools for handling combat situations.
The stimulus I got to put this together was a string of Earthdawn sessions I had with my recent gaming companions. Earthdawn is an interesting heroic game set in an ancient fantasy world (think Howard's Hyborian age - kind of) with an interesting variation of a classic 6 character stat mechanics. However, more in a modern d20 fashion the stats are translated into a further set of bonuses or dice pools. You might see some clear differences but to me it is basically the mindset that makes them both alike.
So, whilst the combat in ED is bent towards heroism and magic (not realism and grittiness) the interesting thing is that players get to make some interesting and varied choices during a melee, choose between a set of various skills and powers which makes hand-to-hand combat a bit more than a string of "I attack" announcements followed by a universal to-hit roll (and then damage!).
I appreciate that WotC acknowledged that idea and since D&D3E and onwards fighter characters have skills and feats and whatever.
But while these options were not available in AD&D2E, there still is enough content to provide for some interesting and engaging melees.

The materia below is 100% TSR creation (and WotC property). Gathered from TSR's Players Handbook, Dungeon Master's Guide and Player's Option: Combat & Tactics. I simply took the liberty to put it together in neat tables for your convenience and entertainment (and mine of course).

The mechanic of the "Opposed Roll"

source: Player's Option: Combat & Tactics.

Whenever an action performed by a character requires a struggle between him and the opponent the Opposed Roll (OR) applies.

The idea is simple, the acting character roll is opposed by the opponent's roll to see who prevails.

In terms of mechanics it works in the following way:

1. The active character makes a test roll (whatever its nature)
2. The opponent makes an opposed test roll
3. The result that passes the test roll while being closer to the failure threshold wins while:
1. For attributes test the higher passing roll wins;
2. For Saving Throws and To-hit rolls the lowest passing (hitting) roll wins
4. Failing the test automatically results in losing the OR action.

Example:

Roft the Fighter hand wrestles Taliona the Maiden Paladin.

Roft has a Str of 15 while Taliona has a Str of 17. Roft rolls 12 passing his Str test. Taliona rolls 9 and while she also passes Roft's roll is higher than hers. Taliona's hand gets dangerously closer towards the burning candle.

Example 2:

Roft tries blocking Taliona's swing. With Thac0 19 he rolls 15 against DC 4 (defence bonus) - barely making it. Her attack roll (Thac0 19) was 16 against his DC 10. Though her chance to hit was higher (9+ to hit) Roft's roll was lower (closer to missing) than hers so he successfully blocks the hit.

The Combat Round

The combat round is resolved following the sequence:

1. Roll for initiative - determine the action sequence (who goes first)
2. Characters take combat actions
3. Proceed to another round

Let's make one thing clear here. The combat round lasts 6 seconds.

This correction introduced in later D&D editions makes all the sense in opposition to the 1 minute (sic!) idea introduced in the AD&D2E Player's Handbook. One minute???

Even such an unskilled fencer as I can perform at least 10 swings of a sword against an opponent in that time. Or take several other actions. Well, I take it as a simple misunderstanding.

6 seconds make a round

10 rounds make a minute (a turn?)

Deal with it.

Determine Initiative

Initiative & Surprise	effect
Initiative roll weapon	1d10+weapon speed
Initiative roll spell	1d10+spell casting time
Initiative roll monster	1d10
Multiple attacks	Additional attacks resolved after action sequence ends
Surprise check	1,2,3 on 1d10
Surprise effects	Free round of attacks, no Dex DC bonus (flatfooted)

Multiple attacks. Specialist fighters who get more than one attack per round perform their additional attacks (all above one attack) after all other characters have had their chance to act.

Combat actions

source: Player's Option: Combat & Tactics and the Player's Handbook.

During a combat round a character can do so much more than simply "attack".

Here is an expanded list of manoeuvres that can be performed.

COMBAT actions	effect
Attack (a)	# as per weapon skill
Movement (a)	Normal mov rate
Movement (free)	½ normal mov rate
Charge (a)	150% mov, +2 for attack, weapon dmg / -2 Ini, no Dex bonus, -1 AC, polearms inflict 2x dmg
Fleeing (a)	1 free attack for opponent
Parrying (a)	½ lvl (round down) as DC bonus / fighters ½ lvl+1
Block (1 attack)	Opposed roll with DC 4 vs. attack – lower roll wins
Called shot (1 attack)	Standard -4 to attack roll
Disarm* (1 attack)	Opposed roll with DC 0 vs. defenders roll with DC 4
Overbear (a)	1 free attack for Defender; Hit roll +1/extra attacker; Save vs. Paralyzation
Pull/Trip (1 attack)	After hitting roll Opposed roll for Strength with opponent
Combat round = 6 sec	1 standard action (a) + 1 free action (free)
Opposed roll	Success roll closer to the subjective threshold – wins
*	Specialist action

Doesn't it look better?

For further details on the particular actions please consult the sourcebooks.

Miscellaneous

source: Player's Handbook and Dungeon Master's Guide.

To create some variety between the individual fighting styles the DM should enable the players to take advantage of their natural resources. Fighting with 2 weapons is one specifically provided for by the rules. But characters using shields or having one free hand should be given some further possibilities as well e.g. Pull/Trip action or Shield Rush/Shield Push.

Fighting styles	effect
2 weapons style	-2 hit roll / -4 hit roll
Weapon and shield style	Shield manoeuvres
Two-handed weapon style	-
One handed weapon style	Hand manoeuvres

Another important rule is one introducing consequences for being overloaded with junk (gear). One cannot simply run around carrying 4 sets of full plate armour and a collection of halberds in different colours (hello Diablo). While I don't tend to calculate encumbrance to the last gram I use common sense and when a character tries to pull off such a trick he gets some penalties in combat.

Encumbrance modifier	effect
Moderate	-1 hit roll
Heavy	-2 hit roll / +2 DC
Severe	-4 hit roll / +3 DC

Also it's worthwhile to remember how far a character can move during one round of melee.

I like to get this simple chart handy in case a player attempts to run to the opposing corner of the castle courtyard and defend his fellow mage from 3 assasins. All in one round.

Creature size	Movement rate
Halfling, Dwarf, Gnome	6 yards
Human, Elf	12 yards
Monster	Varies (consult Monstrous Manual)

Afterword

Creating a summary of combat rules in a form of a one-pager is currently a standard in modern games. I believe AD&D2E deserved one and attempted to prove it possible.

I certainly will find it handy. Hope you would too.

Cheers!

AD&D2E phenomenon

I tend to study AD&D2E books a lot. Why would I devote my precious time for such a tedious task? - you would ask. Well... someone has to it for you - that's for starters. Then, I enjoy it and treat it as a certain kind of an exercise in game design.

Some of you might not believe it, the WotC people might not want to admit it, but there is just so much playability in AD&D and so much of the D&D 3E in it that it's scary. My personal goal is to bring this playability out to daylight and try bringing at least some of you to reconsider this wonderful gaming system or at least muse over the glorious past of role playing games.

One aspect I have been recently focusing on is the rulebook arrangement and rules composition.

I have heard voices that AD&D2E is in fact AD&D1E with better book content composition and cosmetic changes.

Well, I claim that D&D3E is in fact AD&D2E with better book composition and cosmetic changes. And, err.. well.. some not so cosmetic - Success roll, DC (difficulty class), etc.

And that is fine. It is the point of publishing new editions, isn't it? Not just creating a completely new system and lose all the investment in a successful franchise.

That said, I really dig D&D3E and everything that happened to it.

The reason I cling to AD&D2E so desperately is that this being published in the golden age of rpgs when their fellow crpgs where a mere shadow of the real entertainment. And I dare say no further game design period was so optimistic and joyfully creative. The heirloom we have been given in terms of variety of books,  optional ideas, guides, companions, expansions etc is incomparable to anything we have now.

Yet, this also resulted in complete and utter chaos in game composition.

If you take some time to look for and recompose the various rules that are scattered around all of the manuals, you will end with a surprisingly deep and ingenious gaming system. That fits several A4 pages. And lacks all of the beautiful Larry Elmore illustrations (Larry, you deserve a recognition among the younger audience, I will see to it).

My first attempt at it was a natural consequence of re-writing the combat system in the previous posts.

How to run combat in a dynamic, yet deep and engaging way so that the modern, demanding gamers enjoy it? Well you can buy D&D4E for starters. You might also give some of my findings a try. In my next post I will present a comprehensive table (with descriptions) to handle combat and give the players (both heroes and DM) some interesting tools to have fun.

Cheers!

AD&D second edition - combat rules

Combat in the D&D franchise is a story of its own.

I will concentrate only on the part where my gaming circle have always been stumbling.

For a practising swordsman (one I once was) the whole hit roll concept in D&D was astounding.

I never had anything against Thac0, accepting it as an artificial attribute serving mathematical purposes. It is a fact it kind of puts all 4 classes in line in terms of melee skills. But there were some ways you could modify your character (specialisations, to hit bonus from stats etc.)

The concept of Armour Class (AC) however escaped my comprehension.

So now the game creators are telling me that in order to hit my opponent I need to "beat" his AC.

Fine, for now. But then if I hit I automatically deal damage unrestricted by the armour, regardless of whether the opponent is wearing full plate armour or a padded jack.

By combining a to-hit roll and penetrate-armour roll into one the TSR team stripped the game of a world's worth of possibilities.

Oh, and they added some dexterity dependence along the way ignoring the fact that better (heavier, more rigid) armour did mix well with your ability to dodge attacks.

And by gods, Strength bonus to hit? Argh!!! (Actually it works if we assume that the hit must penetrate armour simultaneously).

Despite some ornamental mechanics (Dex limits etc.) the core idea is ugly. And I refuse to accept the explanation that "it suits the character of the game". What character, pur-nonsense? That is some serious Fantasy folks. For god's sake...

So I sat down with my mathematically gifted chap (imagine rainman with more talkative demeanor) and we... well... figured it out. Hold on tight.

Again, the idea was not to reinvent the whole system (go play some Warhammer or Rolemaster if you want to) but to introduce slight corrections so that 90% of mechanics and rules are maintained. After all, we all love AD&D don't we?

AD&D second edition rules update - Combat

Defence Class (DC)

Just like with Thac0, every class has its DC rating which indicates how well it is able to defend in melee.

The value of DC is actually calculated as [DC=Thac0-10]. Consult the table below.

Defence Class / level	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20
Warriors	10	9	8	7	6	5	4	3	2	1	0	-1	-2	-3	-4	-5	-6	-7	-8	-9
Rogues	10	9	8	7	6	5	4	3	2	1	0	-1	-2	-3	-4	-5	-6	-7	-8	-9
Clerics	10	10	9	9	8	8	7	7	6	6	5	5	4	4	3	3	2	2	1	1
Wizards	10	10	10	9	9	9	8	8	8	7	7	7	6	6	6	5	5	5	4	4

Armour Class (AC)

AC is given its rightful role. Its protects character from being wounded (not hit, mind the difference).

AC depends on the armour. Armour types and their attributes needed to be adjusted to fit the "new" system. 

The "to-hit" roll

In order to hit an opponent you need to roll a d20 against the difficulty check which is calculated as follows.

Hit check = Thac0 (+ hit bonus for Dexterity) - DC (+ armour penalty - Dexterity defence bonus)

For high dexterity stat the character gets not only a defence bonus, but also a offence bonus.

Dexterity	Offensive Adj.
17	+1
18	+1
19	+2

Also, each armour type has a negative adjustment to DC as the heavier and more rigid the armour, the less flexible and agile you are in it (verified in practice, many times).

Dealing wounds in melee

Now, once you have managed to hit your opponent (stand still I tell you!) you deal wounds with a weapon.

Roll for damage according to the weapon stats, add Strength regular bonus damage and subtract AC.

What does it result with in the game? Well, you can have a quite slow-moving Paladin in his plate armour, but well... you will not easily hurt him with a stick even if you keep bashing with it every round. Life.

New Armour statistics

These were reinvented, I admit. But knowing a bit about armours I prefer to stick to the reality and remove some utter nonsense. It so much adds to the general feel and drama of the game...

Armour type	description	new AC	slash	pierce	bludgeon	DC penalty
full plate	jack, chainmail, full plates	8	9	8	7	8
field plate	jack, chainmail, plate elements	7	7	6	6	6
plated mail	mail with embedded plates	6	6	5	4	5
scale mail	mail made of scales	5	5	4	3	4
chain mail	mail of small metal rings	4	4	4	2	3
brigantine	jack lined with metal plates	3	3	3	3	3
studded leather	leather enforced with studs	2	3	2	2	2
leather armour	thick leather	2	2	1	1	1
padded jack	multi-layered jack	1	1	1	0	0
none	naked or normal clothes	0	0	0	0	0

You will notice the distinction between the various types or damage you might take. Well, that part is optional, but it really widens your choice of weapons. Who in their right mind would use a hammer? Well not obviously someone who is just about to face an full plate clad opponent. Swords are no good against thick steel plate, trust me.

Also the DC penalty column shows you the negative effect of armour on your ability to move around. Yes, it is not so hard to hit a guy in a plate. But good luck bashing him to death with that club of yours.

Weapons table

Well, weapons needed some refurbishment too. Not that TSR themselves refrained from it every now and then (I have the Arms&Equipment guide to prove it - in your face)

Weapon	1h/2h	type	damage	speed
dagger	1h	Slash	1d6	2
short sword	1h	Slash	1d8	3
scimitar	1h	Slash	1d10	5
long sword	1h	Slash	1d12	5
bastard sword	1h/2h	Slash	2d6/2d8	6 or 8
2-h sword	2h	Slash	3d6	10
handaxe	1h	Slash	1d8	4
battle axe	1h	Slash	1d12	7
warhammer	1h	Bludgeon	1d12	7
battle hammer	2h	Bludgeon	2d8	10
flail	1h	Bludgeon	1d10	7
mace	1h	Bludgeon	1d10	7
morning star	1h	Bludgeon	1d10	7
staff	1h	Bludgeon	1d6	4
Pollaxe	2h	Bludgeon	2d6	8

Probably not much explanation needed. The speed factor is an optional rule. Add this to your initiative roll. And start asking "why does my barbarian with a 2-h sword always strikes last?

Shields

Another good one. Shields are not really a part of armour. They help you to defend yourself. Anyone who ever used shield in a real life situation will tell you that. Why should we treat them as armour then? Rubbish.

Shields' ratings add to your DC. Assuming of course that the opponent is in front of you. From the rear shield will don't do you much good...

Shields	Melee DC bonus	Missile DC bonus	Weapon proficiency	speed
buckler	-1	0	buckler prof.	0
parma (round)	-2	-1	shield prof.	1
heater/kite (medium)	-3	-2	shield prof.	2
scutum (body)	-4	-3	heavy shield prof.	4

And mind that you need to know how to use a shield. Without a proficiency the Melee DC bonus is halved, round down (sinister laughter ensues).

Monster conversion

Well, we now know everything we need to handle mano a mano combat.

But what about non-humanoid monsters? A Dragon does not wear chain mail. His scaly hide does the trick.

So if you just happen to have your Monstrous Manual at hand...

Monster DC = Monster Thac0-10 (easy, see?)

Monster Armour=10-old AC (as a pie)

The rest can stay. For now.

Missile combat

One of my all-time favourites.

I used to shoot bow and crossbow (flatbow?). It is a tremendous weapon. A lethal weapon - that bow.

And you don't really get to dodge an arrow, unless you are a ninja elf (errr...).

Missile DC

Depending on the range your target's at you get different DC's.

There's basically 3 types of ranges S - small, M - medium, L - long

The ranges depend on the weapon you use, just like in real life (imagine that).

Mind, that this already takes into account that the target is moving, not still.

Missile "to-hit" roll

To hit a target with your missile propeller you roll a d20 against the difficulty check calculated in the following manner:

Missile check=Thac0-missile DC-shield DC bonus

All additional information to determine missile combat are reflected in the following table:

			DC	7	5	2	9
weapon	damage	speed	ROF	range S	range M	range L	point blank*
light bow	1d6	6	2/1	0 - 50	51 - 100	101 - 150	0 - 30
regular bow	1d8	7	2/1	0 - 60	61 - 120	121 - 180	0 - 30
longbow	2d6	8	1/1	0 - 70	71 - 140	141 - 210	0 - 30
composite bow	1d8	6	2/1	0 - 60	61 - 120	121 - 180	0 - 30
hand crossbow	1d6	5	1/1	0 - 20	21 - 40	41 - 60	0 - 60
crossbow	2d8	7	1/2	0 - 60	61 - 120	121 - 180	0 - 60
heavy crossbow	3d8	10	1/4	0 - 80	81 - 160	161 - 240	0 - 60
* specialisation effect
crossbows gain +1 attack roll
still target = +2 attack roll

Additional comments:

Ranges are in metres.

You get point blank range if you specialise in that weapon.

If the target is still (unlike the usual case in combat) add 2 to your attack roll.

If you choose to try and evade the missile shot at you add your defence bonus from Dexterity.

Such feats are available only to the mist agile of people. And Neo from Matrix.

Conclusion:

This system makes the game for me and my fellow gamers. It still allows for heroic fantasy situations, especially on higher levels. But on the lower levels it helps us get that more realistic feel as we strive towards hero-ship.

Frankly speaking it adds some depth to the combat system and though I strongly believe that good role playing is much more that combat it is an essential element which if neglected spoils the whole party.