Roleplayer #23, May 1991
Very Basic Melee Combat
Really Simple Shortcuts for Really Quick Battles
by Steffan O'Sullivan
I was running a game at a convention, and the PCs were in the middle
of a big battle. Unfortunately, I had to catch a plane, and it looked like
they would never get through their foes to the denouement in time. In desperation,
I made up the following combat system, which I offer to those who either
don't like complicated combat rules or are pressed for time.
Attack, Defense, Damage
Attack, defense and damage rolls are combined into one roll. Each fighter
rolls versus Weapon (or other Combat) skill, and the result is treated as
a Contest of Skills. If one fighter has a greater PD, add the difference
in PD to his skill. (E.g., if one fighter has PD 3 and the other PD
2, the first combatant adds 1 to his Weapon skill.) If both fighters miss
their rolls, they both missed their attacks. If one makes the roll, and
the other misses, the one who missed is hit. If both make the rolls, the
one who makes it by the least is hit, while the other is not -- ties result
in no damage.
Basic damage is determined by the same roll: if someone is hit, he takes
basic damage equal to the amount his foe made the roll by, up to maximum
damage for that weapon. Basic damage is reduced by DR as per the regular
rules, and increased for Impaling or Cutting as per the regular rules.
Example: PC Raoul is facing NPC Edmond. Raoul's skill with his
weapon is 15 and he has PD 2. Edmond's skill is 13, but he has PD 3: he
rolls as if his skill were 14. Raoul rolls a 12 -- he makes it by three.
Edmond rolls a 10 -- he makes it by four. Raoul takes 1 point of basic damage
-- but his armor stops it. In the next round, Edmond rolls a 15 -- a miss.
Raoul rolls a 6, however, making his roll by 9! Edmond takes 9 points of
basic damage, unless Raoul is using a Rapier (for example), which has a
maximum damage of 7. Note that even though Raoul beat Edmond by 10 (he made
his roll by 9, Edmond missed his by 1), basic damage is only equal to the
amount that Raoul actually made his own roll by.
Multiple Combatants
It is possible to let all the PCs roll simultaneously, if desired, and combine
the NPCs' rolls into one. In this case, it is assumed that all NPCs have
equal skills. The GM simply rolls once for all NPCs, and announces
how well the roll was made. This is the result for each of the
PC's opponents -- the players then simultaneously roll and the results are
applied as above.
If the GM is rolling once for multiple NPCs, very high and very low results
should be thrown out. Such rolls might indeed occur for some of the foes,
but it is highly unlikely that ten fencers at once would all score critical
hits or failures! In general, treat any roll below 7 as a 7, and any roll
above 16 as a 16 when rolling for numerous characters.
If a character is facing two or more fighters, he has two choices:
- A) He can All-out Defend. In this case, he rolls as above, but does
no damage. His roll is compared to each of the enemies' rolls, and he only
takes damage from those that beat him.
- B) He can attack one foe, and do his best to defend against them all.
Only one roll is made for such a hero: read the roll as usual against the
chosen foe. Read the same roll against two-thirds skill (round down) for
each addi-tional fighter -- he cannot inflict damage on them if he wins,
however.
Critical Hits and Misses
For simplicity, treat a critical miss as a dropped weapon. Treat a critical
hit as maximum damage.
Unarmed Fighters
If an unarmed fighter is facing an armed foe, he can roll versus a Martial
Art skill or DX to attempt to grapple in Close Combat. He does no damage
if he wins, but his opponent must take a turn to break free.
An unarmed person can also pick up a weapon. He rolls versus DX, and takes
damage if he loses the Contest. He gets the weapon in one round whether
he takes damage or not.
Otherwise, an unarmed fighter can simply retreat: roll a Quick Contest of
DX versus the armed fighter's Weapon skill. Take damage if you lose, successfully
evade if you win.
Non-Combat Maneuvers
Some people may be doing other things while the fight is raging. Since this
system tends to speed combat slightly, give anyone not directly involved
in combat two or even three turns for each Quick Contest in the fight. As
soon as a character joins the fray, of course, he loses the ability to take
double moves. This rule allows one's friends to hold off the foe long enough
to pick a lock or rob a safe.
Other Situations
It would defeat the purpose of Quick and Dirty rules to go into the detail
necessary to cover every possible situation! The GM should be guided by
the suggestions above, using common sense to cover unusual requests. The
players should not make the GM's job any harder by arguing
about a decision, especially if these rules are being used because of limited
time!
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