Tag Archives: combat

Retreating from Combat is Pointless in D&D?

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There is apparently a discussion on retreating from combat in D&D where a number of people are reported saying that trying to retreat is pointless because the monsters will always pursue and the result will be a “total party kill”. This simply is not my experience in many years of playing D&D. Retreating works 9 times out of 10 assuming the party does a fighting withdraw (instead of turning and running in rout) and decides to retreat before they have so many wounded and dead that they really don’t have a chance no matter what they do. I can only … Continue reading →

Combat Maneuver Rules for Microlite81 and Other OSR Games

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Many players and GMs seem to prefer formal rules for combat maneuvers. However, most such rules are either complex or limit what characters can attempt to do 9or both). Even the Combat Tricks/Stunts rules from my Microlite74 Extended rules are complex enough to be annoying to use in play — at least compared to the simple rules for just about everything else in Microlite74 combat. For those who have not seen the Combat Tricks/Stunts rules from Microlite74 Extended, here they are: Combat Tricks/Stunts: Declare what the trick/stunt attack is going to do. It could be anything from knocking a weapon … Continue reading →

Microlite81: Cleaving with Ranged Weapons?

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I’ve been asked to include an optional “Cleave” rule in Microlite81, preferably based on the one in ACKS. I don’t have a problem with cleaving in melee combat. If a fighter (or dwarf or other “fighter” class) kills or incapacitates his opponent, he can attack another opponent (moving up to 5 feet to do so) with the same weapon. He can continue to attack so long as he kills or incapacitates his current opponent until he has attacked a number of times equal to his level (or he runs out of movement or opponents). It represents a powerful fighter’s ability … Continue reading →

Getting Rid of Attack Rolls; or Save vs Damage for D&D?

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Every once in a while I see someone posting that fighters in D&D (or in D&D Next) should automatically hit and do huge amounts of damage so they can keep up with wizards in damage output ignoring the fact they the fighter can use his damage attack over and over all day while a wizard can only do his huge amount of damage attack a few times a day at most. I also occasionally see people saying fighters should automatically hit because missing is boring and means they’ve wasted a turn. This just strikes me as very silly, although I’m … Continue reading →

Optional Weapon Mastery Rules for Microlite74 and Microlite81

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The Masters Set of the BECMI version of D&D added a set of Weapon Mastery rules that provided specific rules for each weapon for five levels of weapon mastery (none, basic, skilled, expert, master). Many people considered this overpowered, but when used in play from the beginning of a campaign (instead of retroactively added to an ongoing campaign when one bought the Masters Set), I found that it wasn’t really overpowered and added a lot to the game, especially for the fighter class. I’ve always wanted to add this to Microlite74 (and now Microlite81) but the system depended on two … Continue reading →

Combat Tricks and Stunts: Microlite74 vs Microlite81

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Combat Tricks and Stunts can make an otherwise boring combat more interesting, not to mention giving an advantage to those who come up with (and successfully pull off) a good one. Unfortunately, they were a bit complex to use in Microlite74, requiring an attack roll at a large minus from the attacker and a defense roll by the target. There was a slight advantage for fighting classes, but not much of one. Here’s the rules from Microlite74: Combat Tricks/Stunts: Declare what the trick/stunt attack is going to do. It could be anything from knocking a weapon from your opponent’s hand … Continue reading →

Encounters Should Not Automatically Mean Combat — The Role of Reaction Rolls

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I’ve been recently involved in a discussion about random encounters and how having encounters that are not “level appropriate” really is okay and is not unfair to players unless they never have any choice but to fight in every encounter they have. In the discussion I pointed out that random wilderness encounters could have even a party of first level characters encounter a dragon and that do to reaction rolls and the like the encounter need not lead to combat. Another person in the discussion then said that there was no way the party could come out of the situation … Continue reading →

D&D Combat Length Poll: How Long Should the Average Combat Take to Play

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My post, WOTC Discovers Typical D&D Players Like Short Combats, a few days ago generated a lot of discussion both here and on Google+. I thought it might be interesting to see how long readers think the average combat in a D&D session should last. Note that I’m talking an average combat encounter in a dungeon room or wilderness area. I’m not asking how long a so-called “boss encounter” (a major combat with big villain the at the end of a series of adventures) should last. If you use minis and grids, please include the minis and grids setup time … Continue reading →

WOTC Discovers Typical D&D Players Like Short Combats

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Amazing Stories has an interview with Mike Mearls talking about D&D Next. From one of Mike’s comments it seems that WOTC has finally learned what many players have know for years: Most players like fast combats. In the interview, Mike says: What we found through the playtest process, though, was that people like quick fights. They like them a lot, it turns out. A battle is part of the game, a point of resolution in the grander scheme of things, not the entire point of the game. That kind of philosophical revelation has been really big for us in working … Continue reading →