Combat Rules for GD&D

Combat Index To make use of this index, just click on the headings below & you’ll be brought to the selected section! Armour Types Balancing Weapon Damage Called Shots Chase Scene Mechanics Combat Actions Combat Modifiers Combat Peculiarities Combat Sequence Critical Hits/Fumbles Fighting Styles & Schools Fighting Techniques High-Quality (Masterwork) Armour Initiative Intercepting an Attack Melee Combat Melee Weapon Manoeuvres Oriental Weapons in Faerun Rectifying Statistics for Blades Related Weapons/Weapon Familiarity Strength-Modified Missile Weapons Subdual Attacks To Hit Tables Unarmed Combat Weapon & Armour Breakage Weapon Strength Maximums Weapons Weapons Available to Particular Classes Weapons Makers’ Marks Weapons other than Iron/Steel Wild Blows N.B.: The use of the male pronoun in the text that follows is only used to minimise the amount of typing on my part. It was not my intent to offend or limit the reader in any way. I try my utmost to use the male and female pronoun throughout my text interchangeably. AD&D is a registered trademark of TSR Inc. AD&D 2nd Core Rules, Player’s Option Skills & Powers, Combat & Tactics and Spells & Magic and all game specific terms are copyright by TSR Inc. Any omission of copyright notice is not meant to infringe upon the author’s rights & should be mentioned to me for immediate correction. Initiative <BACK TO TOP> For Initiative, everyone involved rolls 1d10 (low is good), with a negative modifier equal to their Initiative Adjustment for Dexterity. The DM then counts up from 0 & players call out when it’s their go. The casting time of a spell adds directly to the caster’s Initiative, so spellcasters should call out something like “starting to cast (whatever)…” on their rolled Initiative, and then “spell goes off” when the casting time has been completed. The good thing about this is that it’s finally possible to tell exactly when a blow can interrupt casting - any successful hit or jostle during those initiative counts will ruin the spell (if the character fails a Concentration NWP check). PCs with multiple attacks (e.g. specialised warriors, people firing bows, etc) will attack once on their rolled Initiative & again 5 counts later, with further multiple attacks coming at 5 counts later, & so on. Creatures with multiple attacks are assumed to resolve all attacks on their Initiative. A PC can always choose to hold their action until a later initiative count, perhaps waiting until an enemy wizard begins to cast before striking. It should already be obvious that PCs with high Dexterity may end up with an Initiative of less than 0 & that multiple attacks & spells often extend the initiative count beyond 10. Don’t worry about this - I generally start the count with “negative numbers… zeros, ones…” etc., and then go on to ask for actions after 10 at the end, lumping everything together into 1 round. Once they’ve all been resolved, it’s time to roll for Initiative again. This system does tend to assume that NPCs & monsters should each have individually rolled Initiatives too, and that it’s the burden of the DM to keep track of them. Furthermore, some mental note should be kept with regard to spell duration. Anything listed as lasting 1 or more rounds is fine, but spells with duration in old-style minutes may need adjusting. The decision here is as to whether a spell is combat or non-combat. Combat spells with duration in ‘minute rounds’ should be given the same duration, but in the new 10-second rounds. Non- combat spells can keep their current duration, in minutes or whatever. More info on this “new” round interpretation is available by viewing Rounds & Turns in the “Miscellaneous” section. The Combat Sequence <BACK TO TOP> a) Surprise. Before a battle begins, one or both sides may have to check for surprise (applicable, as determined by the DM). There are situations in which one side may have to make a surprise check but their opponents don’t - for example, an ambush or a night-time encounter with enemies carrying bright lights. Surprise conditions & modifiers are discussed extensively in the DMG & the PHB. The surprise check is a d10 roll, modified for the surrounding conditions & any special preparations one party or the other makes. Normally, a group is surprised on a roll of 1, 2, or 3. The group that is not surprised gets a free round of attacks, movement, or spells against the surprised members of the other group. b) Charging foes or called shots? These must be declared before initiative is rolled & their penalties enforced on the roll. Also if casting a spell, you must here declare, “I’m casting a spell.” You don’t have to say what or on whom, but anyone with the Spellcraft proficiency & a reasonably clear view may make a check. c) Roll initiative. Deduct Dexterity bonus (initiative adjustment), then add penalty for type of manoeuvre (weapon speed, magic item use, granted power use & spellcasting time). d) Total your initiative. Note that if you are attacking with 2 weapons, you have 2 initiative totals. e) We go around the room & people declare & act as they go. Orders/ideas can be yelled/spoken to those with lower initiative. Co-ordination can take place by 2 PCs (who must communicate in character in some way) holding action & making their co-ordinated strike during the “held action phase”. Combat Peculiarities <BACK TO TOP> A few things you may run into during combat situations 1. Retreating. There are 2 ways to retreat from melee combat: a) Withdrawing (see below) b) Flee. When fleeing, you get your full movement rate but your opponent gets a free shot at your back. And when I say a free shot, I mean their full compliment of attacks without cutting into their normal melee attacks. In other words, flee from a troll & it gets 3 attacks on you, then 3 attacks in melee as normal. 2. Multiple attacks. There are 2 types of multiple attacks - those from the same weapon & those from different weapons. Those from different weapons happen all on the first pass through combat. Those from the same weapon happen on successive passes. For example, sword & dagger happen at once (weapon speed permitting), but a second strike from the same sword waits until everyone has taken their first action & the PC’s second pass through the initiative order has come up. Combat Modifiers <BACK TO TOP> A number of factors can change the way a combat encounter gets resolved. Below are just a few that can change the outcome of an encounter for the better, or for the worse. Visibility Modifiers Combat Modifiers Initiative Modifiers Melee Missile Infravision Situation Modifier Situation Modifier Condition Modifier Modifier Bonus Attacker on higher ground +1 Haste effect -2 Clear sky 0 0 0 Defender invisible -4 Slow effect +2 Twilight -1 -2 +1 Defender off-balance +2 On higher ground -1 Night, full moon -2 -4 +2 Defender sleeping or Held Automatic Set to receive charge -2 Night, no moon -3 -6 +3 Defender stunned or prone +4 Wading/slippery footing +2 Total darkness -4 -6 +3 Defender surprised +1 Wading in deep water +4 Mist/light rain 0 -1 0 Missile fire, long range -5 Foreign environment +6 Fog, light, or snow -1 -2 0 Missile fire, medium range -2 Hindered (tangled, climbing) +3 Fog, moderate -2 -3 0 Rear attack +2 Waiting +1 Fog, dense, or blizzard -3 -4 0 Called shot -4 Making a called shot +1 Magical weapon -1/plus To Hit Tables <BACK TO TOP> Level GROUP1234 5 6 7 8 9 10111213141516171819202122232425 Inventor 20 19 18 18 17 17 16 16 15 15 14 14 13 13 12 12 11 11 10 10 99887 Priest 20 20 19 19 18 18 17 17 16 16 15 15 14 14 13 13 12 12 11 11 10 10 9 9 8 Rogue 202019181817161615141413121211101098876654 Warrior 20191817161514131211109876543210-1-2-3-4 Wizard 21 21 20 20 19 19 18 18 17 17 16 16 15 15 14 14 13 13 12 12 11 11 10 10 9 Monsters ½ 1-1 1+ 2+ 3+ 4+ 5+ 6+ 7+ 8+ 9+ 10+ 11+ 12+ 13+ 14+ 15+ 16+ 17+ 18+ 19+ 20+ 21+ 22+ 23+ (HD) 19 18 17 16 15 (+1) 14 13 (+2) 12 11 (+3) 10 10 (+4) 9 9 8 8 7 7 6 6 5 5 4 4 3 3 This table already takes the house rule - that Priests’ & Rogues’ THAC0s have been switched - into effect. Also, a HD bonus of +3 to +6 counts as 1 additional HD, +7 or more as 2 additional HD. I.e., a monster with 4+4HD counts as 5HD, while a monster with 4+7HD counts as 6HD. The number in brackets is the magical weapon equivalent for a creature of that Hit Die. Chase Scene Mechanics <BACK TO TOP> Chase scenes are determined in the following manner. Assuming that the PC fleeing is able to do so. 1. The fleeing PC(s) roll a d20 against their base movement rate, as if rolling an ability check. Rolling lower is better. - The PC who rolls a successful check by the most points wins for that roll - The PC(s) fleeing need a total of 2 cumulative victories more than the pursuer to attempt to hide. - The PC(s) fleeing need a total of 4 cumulative successes to just outdistance their pursuers. 2. Each round, the fleeing PC(s) & then their pursuers roll 1 or more Dexterity checks (with any modifiers from the DM) to avoid obstacles. Obstacles not avoided cost the equivalent of 1 success to navigate around to rejoin the chase.

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