S&S Indeed

Swords & Sorcery ain't got nuthin' on Spears & Spells! OK, yeah that's a stretch. What about Spears & Shields?

Swords seem to have captured the genre with a muscular grip of thick Hyborian sinews, but Spears should be just as important, if not more so, than Swords. I fully understand that Swords are widely considered the pinnacle of hand-to-hand melee technology. It's just that by the time the Sword actually took the title of undisputed champion, by way of the long sword, firearms were but a few generations away.

Compare that to the oft disregarded Spear. The reign of the Spear was far, far longer in the greater history of warfare. In the truest example of fiction/fantasy influence, D&D coughed up the crown to Swords. In OD&D Swords account for 1 out of every 5 Magic Items discovered. Spears? A paltry 1 out of every 200 Magic Items. Something's amiss here.

Also, consider the Shield in not just OD&D, but all editions. Shields improve Armor Class by one. Really? OK, I can live with that in the greater scheme of things, but Shields are realistically much more valuable in hand-to-hand combat.

Perhaps the Sword is the more romantic of the two. Perhaps the image of knights in shining armor is likewise more evocative of the fantasy genre which D&D embraces. The fact is, take a Spear & Shield and you're good to go melee wise, armor be damned.

Would it be heresy to make the unjustifiably disregarded Spear the predominant weapon in a campaign? Would it be blasphemous to make the disrespected Shield the basis of one's true Armor Class in a similarly conceived unconventional campaign? I think not, and I believe that such notions are both historically and logically sound.

So there you have it. The Spear reigns over all melee weapons, and the Shield is the backbone of any defensively-minded Fighting Man in said campaign.

The Spear is useful with one hand or two, as an effective deterrent to charges, tactically due to reach and usefulness in cramped confines, and further as a crude missile weapon. Nothing really needs to be said about the Shield; it is clearly as important as armor, regardless of whether one is clad in scale, chain or plate mail. That D&D made the Shield as effective as leather armor is laughable.

The Spear & Shield campaign replaces magical and sometimes intelligent Swords with Spears. It also rearranges the AC rules as detailed below:

No armor: 9
Leather: 8
Chain: 7
Plate: 6, reduces Move by 3
Shield: -3 AC
Large Shield: -4 AC, reduces Move by 3

Just thinking out loud. Carry on, but give the Spear and Shield their due or I'll get all Spartan on your Barbarian scum hides.

~Sham

Fistfuls of Dice

Who doesn’t enjoy grabbing a handful of dice and throwing them across the game table? In Dungeons & Dragons such pleasures are normally limited to Magic Users and their spells, wands or staves spewing forth raging balls of fire or crackling bolts of lightning. Whatever the case, lots of dice spilling across the table is just plain cool. I believe that I fell in love with the old Avalon Hill game Titan for this very reason. Lots and Lots of dice. Well, that and the awesome Trampier work throughout.

In a recent post, I pondered the idea of adding some of the neglected dice to my original D&D games. More or less I was observing how one could replicate the average scores of magic weapons that normally use a d6 with these other dice. I’m still considering these dice for aspects of OD&D, but now I am looking at ways that allow players to throw a handful of six-siders and partake in that exercise normally limited to Magic Users and Elves.

All of this harkens back to the What Price Glory series of posts from last Summer, wherein I detailed optional rules packets for adding more depth to D&D combat. In particular, the Multiple Dice portion of the Damage packet that was offered then.

Part of that option was the idea that magic weapons all allow the wielder to throw an extra d6 when rolling damage, and take the higher result. Thus far in my games, this has been a nice additional option. But I want MORE dice. I’ve slightly modified the What Price Glory Multiple Dice option, and added more dice for magic weapons, as follows.

Multiple Damage Dice: The amount of dice used to determine melee damage is a reflection of Class, Level and Weapon. In all cases, roll the number of six-siders indicated, and take the highest result.

Standard Melee Damage: 1d6.

Fighting-Man: Level 1-3: no bonus, 4-6: +1d6, 7-9: +2d6, 10+: +3d6.
Clerics: Level 1-5: no bonus, 6+: +1d6.
Magic Users: No bonus.

Magic weapon, +1: +1d6.
Magic weapon, +2: +2d6.
Magic weapon, +3: +3d6.

For example, a Fighting-Man (including Dwarves, Elves and Hobbits) of 4th Level (+1d6), wielding a Mace, +2 (1d6+2d6), would roll 4d6 each time a hit is scored. From those 4 dice, the highest result determines the damage dealt that round. The Mace, +2 only adds to the character’s to hit roll, not damage dealt.

Thus, the maximum damage with this option does not exceed 6, unless of course you couple this option with the second part of Multiple Dice, to quote:

When rolling Multiple Dice, while only a single die is used to calculate damage, any die that rolls a 6 and is not used as the highest result will add 1 damage to the attacker’s total. For example, if a Fighting-Man throws 3d6 to determine damage, and comes up with three sixes, his base damage would actually equal 8 (6+1+1) .

This bit of Multiple Dice should have been presented as an add-on option. This is now:

The Rule of 6: The highest result is used for damage, other dice are considered bonus dice. Any bonus die which rolls a 6 adds +1 to the total resultant damage.

So, that 4th Level Fighting-Man in the above example could, potentially, deal 6+3 or 9 damage if his 4d6 came up 6-6-6-6.

A 10th Level Fighting-Man with a +3 weapon would have the luxury of throwing 7d6 anytime a hit is scored. Is this as powerful as a weapon that deals 1d6+3 each round? Perhaps not, but it is certainly more entertaining from my point of view.

The Rule of 6 in action. Someone just dealt 10 damage!

With some tinkering, Multiple Dice could be used for Cleric Cure Spells as well. For example, something like a bonus d6, use the highest result(s), at Levels 3, 6 and 9. Currently I’m somewhat liberal with Cleric Cure bonuses, allowing a 1 hit per Level of the caster bonus. But, MORE dice is always better. Most everyone has a ton of six-siders anyway. Might as well use them for more than a hall full of Goblins.

~Sham, Quixotic Referee

Playing With Packets Again

Now that I’ve thrown out all of these optional D&D combat rules packets in What Price Glory, I am beginning to consider exactly which ones I am going to use immediately for the OF&F campaign in Solstice.

1. Hit Points: I like the VIT/FHP balance. Randall has a more logical version, but it’s fairly complicated compared to this easy to implement packet.

2. Damage: Throwing extra dice is fun for the players. As far as Dynamic Dice, I think having a 1 in 12 chance of dealing 7 damage is good, and a 1 in 216 chance of dealing more than 7 damage is balanced.

3. Death: This is just my standard house rule. Pretty simple, and one that supposedly Mr. Gygax used in his own OD&D campaigns.

6. Engagement: Another one of my standard house rules.

7. Roll To Hit: I’ll use this for the depth that the d6 provides on rolls of 1’s and 20’s. The +2, +4 and +6 damage from Critical Hits is a keeper for me.

8. Staggering Blows: These massive strikes will add an element of excitement to melee.

11. Armor: This is simply a slightly different way of handling AC, and adds a level of ablative quality that might save one’s bacon when sustaining a Critical Hit from packet 7.

That’s less than half of the packets. With these I can still maintain a completely abstract round of combat, but add some interesting house rules.

I’m sure there will be more changes to What Price Glory, including minor alterations, and totally new rules packets.

Eventually it might be reworked into more numerous, specific packets (like one for Combat Move, one for Cloven Shields, one for the 4 M’s, etc). Essentially little house rules that a referee can pick and choose from, very limited in text, and modular.

I’d love to see other referees’ house rules that might be readily rephrased into a What Price Glory rules packet. Firstly because I find such house rules vastly interesting in the old school OD&D spirit, and secondly because I’d love to flesh this out even further.

~Sham, Quixotic Referee

Playing With Packets

Using the What Price Glory packets together can create some combinations that players and referees might enjoy for their OD&D games. It also opens up opportunities for the referee to flesh out the rules to their taste. With certain Packets, some areas are left vague in order that a referee might fine tune or fill in the gaps to suit their campaign.

For example, when utilizing Packet 4, Combat Sequence and Packet 5, Initiative together, a few questions might arise during encounters. The encounter is divided into 5 second sequences or exchanges, each with four steps (the 4 M’s). Initiative covers attacking, but doesn’t go into detail in regard to the Movement or Magic steps of that 5 second exchange. What now?

A referee can handle this however he or she might so desire, but here are some specifics that I would consider. This level of detail begins to weigh down the Packets, some of which are already a bit text heavy.

All combatants receive 1 move and 1 action in 5 seconds, except when casting a spell, using a magic item, or retrieving a weapon (or as defined by the individual referee).

While these various undertakings are divided into four steps, it certainly does not mean that everyone stands around until missiles are fired, then everyone moves, then everyone trades blows, and then finally spell-casters get to do their magic. These are simply the order of resolution, each and every combatant is occupied with some task or purpose during those 5 seconds. There is a constant buzz of activity during an encounter, it’s not simply an orderly dance routine. Amidst the fog of war chaos often reigns supreme. Men screaming, steel clashing, Monsters growling, Mages chanting, Clerics exhorting their brethren, this is the rattle of battle.

The steps are performed nearly simultaneously, but are resolved in a specific order. So, how would I mesh the 4 M’s and Initiative?

I would use the 4 M’s, and allow each step to have it’s own minor notes to see exactly whom has Initiative within that particular step.

Missiles: This is already defined. Range then DEX then Weapon Speed. The winner may elect to Hold Initiative. All combatants with Missile Weapons have the option to ‘Hold Fire’, and wait to loose their missiles until either Movement, or Melee. Spells are declared in this step, and their casting requires the entire 5 second round to complete to resolution.

Movement: So, who moves first? The combatants with the highest Movement Rate may either move first, or Hold Initiative. There are five stages of Movement speed in combat, 15+, 12, 9, 6, 3. Anyone who held initiative must move, if they are going to do so, in that last stage of 3. Held missiles may be loosed at anytime during Movement.

Melee: This is already defined as well. Range then DEX then Weapon Speed. All melee is resolved now. Held missiles may be loosed at anytime during Melee. At this point, combatants who have neither begun casting a spell, fired a missile or attacked in melee may Move, even if they moved earlier during the Movement step.

Magic: Spells resolve now. Spells resolve in order of level. For example, Sleep (a Level 1 spell) will resolve before Hold Person (a Level 3 spell). The referee may decide to specify casting times, or allow the more experienced spell-casters to gain initiative. There is no firing of Missiles, Movement nor Melee in this last step. Combatants who have passed on all steps, and not even moved during the entire sequence, may now resolve magic item activations (this includes potions, scrolls, wands, staves, etc.).

This is simply too cumbersome and text filled for the modular approach to What Price Glory, but is an example of the type of further definition and house ruling that combining these packets might lead to.

Or you can just say to Hell with it, and start rolling dice. Let the gods sort it out. Whatever makes your combat fun for you and your players.

~Sham, Quixotic Referee

What Price Glory part Three

What Price Glory is a collection of Rules Packets for combat. Each collection of rules or packets may be used alone, or with any combination of the other modular pieces of What Price Glory. As a whole, these Rules Packets present a detailed, advanced combat model for D&D encounters. What Price Glory is presented in this segmented, modular format to allow referees to pick and choose from amongst these alternate rules, and to fine tune and alter them to taste.

Here I present the last five of the 15 Rules Packets for What Price Glory.

Part Three comprises Rules Packets 11-15.

What Price Glory
Packet 11: Armor Rules

There are five basic types of armor, and two additional protective pieces that may be used to supplement the basic armor.

Basic armor entails a chest piece or cuirass of one of the following types:

Leather: 8 (no absorb)
Lamellar: 7 (0 absorb)
Chain: 6 (1 absorb)
Bronze Plate: 5 (1 absorb)
Plate Mail: 4 (2 absorb)

Each basic armor type is listed with it’s base AC, without Armor Kit, as well as it’s Absorb Value. When the wearer of one of these armor types sustains a Critical Hit, the number shown is the amount of bonus damage absorbed by the armor (Leather never has any Absorb Value, even when magical in nature). Each magic ‘+’ adds 1 to this amount. If using the Critical Hits rules packet, a roll on the Critical Hit Table indicates that the Armor has a chance to be damaged and in need of repair unless an item Saving Throw is made. The Saving Throw required is a 16, adjusted by each magic item plus. If missed, normal non-magic armor is damaged and in need of repair, while Magic armor will lose a single ‘+’. If +1 magic armor is reduced to +0, it looses all of it’s magic and is considered normal armor. The referee might take into consideration the location of the Critical Hit (if such a specific system is used) and allow the damaged piece of armor to be a part of the Armor Kit, say a Helmet for example.

Armor Kit: +1 AC
Shield: +1 AC (+2 vs. Missiles)

Armor Kit: An Armor Kit is a set of three protective pieces (Helmet, Greaves, Bracers), all three of which must be used to gain the full +1 to AC.

Shields: Shields can block frontal attacks only. Shields more effective vs. Missiles, +1 AC.

Cloven Shield Rule: (I credit Trollsmyth for inspiring this house rule) When damage is rolled against the user of a Shield, he or she has the option to declare that they will be using the Shield to negate the damage. The Shield is shattered and useless unless an item Saving Throw is made. The Saving Throw required is a 16, adjusted by each magic item plus of the Shield. If missed, a normal non-magic Shield is shattered, while Magic Shields will lose a single ‘+’. If a +1 Shield is reduced to +0, it loses all of it’s magic and is considered a normal Shield.

What Price Glory
Packet 12: Weapons

This Rules Packet assumes the Solstice Weapons guide, with the following changes:

Pikes: 15’+ long, outdoor use only, x3 damage when braced vs. charge.
Pole Arms/Halberds/Lances: 7-12’ long, x2+1 damage when braced vs. charge.
Spears: 5-8’ long, x2 damage when braced vs. charge.

Weapons with Reach: Pikes, Lances, Pole Arms, Halberds, Long Spears, etc, have the advantage of Range over shorter weapons. Standard Spears only have this advantage when specifically set or braced to receive attackers. A successful hit by a Weapon with Reach allows the combatant to Fend with Reach against a foe using a shorter weapon. A foe who has been Fended with Reach will not be able engage that particular opponent this round. As soon as the wielder of the Weapon with Reach misses, the opponent may engage and attack him or her normally. Weapons with Reach may not be used while engaged. This range is considered to be six feet, and any opponent within 5 feet may not be attacked by a Weapon with Reach, except in the case of standard Spears. Weapons with Reach also allow a combatant to attack from the second rank, hitting an ally’s target by using the length of the weapon to his advantage. Pikes and Lances are too long for most dungeon encounters, but Halberds, Pole Arms and Long Spears are able to be wielded effectively in such close confines provided the referee allows it.

What Price Glory
Packet 13: Tactical Modifiers

Tactical Rules are modifiers to combat situations which may occur during an encounter.

Flank/Side Attacks: +1 to hit.
Rear Attacks: +2 to hit.
Target Prone/Fallen: +3 to hit.
Target Defenseless: +4 to hit.
Blind Attacks: -4 to hit.
Attacking Downhill: +1 to hit.
Attacking Uphill: -1 to hit.
Mounted vs. Foot: +1 to hit and damage.
Foot vs. Mounted: -1 to hit and damage.
Target Outnumbered: Attackers at +1 to hit for every attacker over 1, up to +3 at 4 attackers.
Overwhelmed: Being attacked by five or more targets. If a man-sized target is surrounded and being attacked by five or more man-sized opponents, that target will become Overwhelmed in 1d3 rounds unless the situation changes.

What Price Glory
Packet 14: Combat Options

This is a collection of actions which a combatant may attempt during an encounter. Many of these options are only available if the combatant has gained Initiative, and elected to wait, or ‘Hold Initiative’.

Move:
Engage: Standard move to enter melee.
Charge: Headlong rush into melee. +1 to hit and damage at end of move.
Disengage: Foe gets free attack at +1 to hit.
Double Move: Forgo Action to move twice. The second half of this move is performed during Melee.
If Initiative was Held:
Intercept: Halt target’s move by engaging it before move finished.

Stance: Stances are used in lieu of actual movement, and are actions taken to prepare for melee.
Evade: +3 AC, no attacks. Requires 5’ of space behind and to both sides.
Guard: Requires Shield. Confers +1 AC to adjacent ally. Does not stack with ally’s Shield.
Brace: Requires Pike/Spear/Pole Arm. +1 to hit. Deals x2 or x3 damage vs. Charge.

Missile Option:
Fire Missile: Standard roll to hit. May be held until Movement or Melee steps.
Light and Throw Oil: Range 10-50’. Target AC: 10-20’ AC 9, 21-30’ AC 7, 31-50’ AC 5. If missed, roll d6: 1-2: short, 3: left, 4: right, 5-6: long by 10 feet. Area of Effect: 10x10 square. Damage: Burning oil splashes for 2d6 initially, then burns for 2 damage and 1 damage on the second and third rounds.

Melee Options:
Attack: Standard roll to hit.
Feint: +1 to hit, -1 to damage.
Kick: +2 to hit, deals 1 damage.
Slam: Shield attack, +3 to hit, 1 damage, man-sized foe pushed back 5’.
Head Butt: Man-sized humanoid targets only. -1 to hit. Target must Save vs. Poison or lose next attack.
Disarm: -2 to hit, no damage, target must Save vs. Poison or drop weapon.
Dual Wield Attack: -3 to hit. Can attack once with each weapon.
Sunder: Two Handed Weapon only. +1 to hit and damage, lose next attack.
Sweeping Blow: Two Handed Weapon only. Sweeping arc can target up to 3 adjacent foes, -3 to hit.
Swap: Weapon/Item requires 1 attack.
Retrieve: Weapon/Item requires 1 round.
Use Item: Requires 1 round.
If Initiative was Held:
Riposte: +2 to hit after a miss by foe.
Block: Shield only. Roll higher on d20 than attacker’s RTH to block attack with Shield. Uses 1 attack.
Parry: Roll higher on d20 than attacker’s RTH+2 to Parry attack with weapon. Uses 1 attack.

What Price Glory
Packet 15: Grappling

Grappling attempts require a hit for 0 damage. Defender receives a free attack at +2 to hit, if successful grapple attempt is fended off.

Ignores armor. Weaponless or with Dagger. Grappling is fast and furious, each combatant rolls 2d6, adjusted as follows:

Strength 15+: +1
Dexterity 15+: +1
Constitution 15+: +1
Level/HD 3-5: +1
Level/HD 6-9: +2
Level/HD 10+: +3
Dagger: +1
Per Magic Dagger Plus: +1
Monster: +1
Extra Grapplers: +1 through +3 for two to four grappling one target.

The grappler with the higher roll deals 1d6 damage to his foe. Any roll of 10 or higher will deal 1 damage, added to the winner’s roll, or sustained by the winner. Strength of 15+ and Daggers will add 1 to this damage roll, for a total possible damage range of 1d6+2.

If either grappler rolls a natural 10 or higher, and wins the 2d6 roll, he or she may elect to disengage from grappling. Anytime a natural 12 is rolled, the grappler may elect to disengage from the grapple regardless of whether or not he won the roll.

A man-sized target may be grappled by up to four man-sized foes at once. Each will roll 2d6 and take the highest result.

Packet 14 is too heavy at this point, but rather than break it up into 10 smaller packets, I will leave it as is to allow referees to pick and choose any of the options they might find useful in their own campaigns.

~Sham, Quixotic Referee

What Price Glory part Two

What Price Glory is a collection of Rules Packets for combat. Each collection of rules or packets may be used alone, or with any combination of the other modular pieces of What Price Glory. As a whole, these Rules Packets present a detailed, advanced combat model for D&D encounters. What Price Glory is presented in this segmented, modular format to allow referees to pick and choose from amongst these alternate rules, and to fine tune and alter them to taste.

Here I present the second five of the 15 Rules Packets for What Price Glory.

Part Two comprises Rules Packets 6-10.

What Price Glory
Packet 6: Engagement

Engagement is simply the act of moving to within 5’ of an opponent during an encounter, and physically occupying that target by attacking him or her. Characters may only engage a single target, while certain Monsters might be able to engage two, three or more Characters, as determined by the referee, due to sheer size, reach or multiple attacks.

Targets who are engaged may not fire missiles, cast spells or move without a penalty. No spell may be begun once a spell-caster is engaged. If a Character is engaged after he has begun casting a spell, the spell will still resolve provided the spell-caster is not hit by an attack. If a spell-caster is hit after beginning a spell, the spell is interrupted and will not resolve, although it has not been expended. All movement immediately ceases when a combatant is engaged. In order to move, or continue moving, a combatant must Disengage. Disengaging awards the foe engaged with the combatant a free attack at +1 to hit.

Certain Weapons with Reach may not be used against an engaged foe who is 5’ or closer. The act of engaging might be hindered by certain factors, such as Fend with Reach, Intercept and Evade.

What Price Glory
Packet 7: Roll To Hit

Roll To Hit (RTH) is the act of determining whether a combatants missile or melee attack has connected and done damage to a target. A number between 1 and 20 is generated using 1d6 and 1d10 together. Rolls of 0 on the d10 equate to 10.

If the d6 is odd (1,3 or 5) add zero to the d10 and use that result.

If the d6 is even (2,4 or 6) add 10 to the d10 and use that adjusted result.

For d10 rolls of 2-9, the result of the d6 is irrelevant, except for noting whether it was odd or even. When the d10 comes up with a 1 or 10, it is important to note what the exact result is on the d6.

Rolls of One are Fumbles and always miss, rolls of Twenty are Critical Hits* and always hit.

* If a 20 is the lowest roll with which the combatant will score a hit, there is no extra damage, and the result is a standard hit.

Fumble with a 5 on the d6 means a miss.
Fumble with a 3 on the d6 means Weapon Dropped.
Fumble with a 1 on the d6 means Weapon Breaks (Refer to the Fumbles Rules Packet for optional specifics).

Critical Hit with a 2 on the d6 means a hit with +2 damage.
Critical Hit with a 4 on the d6 means a hit with +4 damage.
Critical Hit with a 6 on the d6 means a hit with +6 damage (OR a roll on the Critical Hit Table if using that Rules Packet).

What Price Glory
Packet 8: Staggering Blows

Any single physical attack which deals 10 or more Hit Points in damage is considered a Staggering Blow. Staggering Blows only effect members of Races, Characters and other humanoid targets (including Giants, Trolls, Ogres, etc).

The victim of a Staggering Blow must make a Saving Throw vs. Dragon Breath or be staggered by the sheer power of the blow. This Saving Throw is at -1 for every point of damage above 10 dealt in this single massive blow, up to -4 at 14 or more. If the Saving Throw is made, the victim suffers no side effects from the damage. If the Saving Throw is missed, the victim is sent reeling back away from the attacker 5’, loses his or her next attack (either this round, or in the following round) and has a 3in6 chance to drop whatever weapon he is holding.

What Price Glory
Packet 9: Critical Hits

Critical Hits are particularly lethal attacks upon a member of a Race, a Character or any other humanoid (Giant, Troll, Ogre, etc.). Other targets will receive just the extra damage based upon the severity of the Critical Hit, and ignore the tissue damage results of the roll.

Critical Hit Table (3d6)

3: Head +15: Head severed/caved in, instant death.
4: Head +12: Skull cracked/crushed, victim's brains spilling out, staggering/reeling, death in 1-3 rounds unless healed for 12 HP.
5: Neck +12: Neck Gashed/Smashed, spinal damage, paralyzed until magically regenerated.
6: Shoulder +12: Arm severed/maimed to a pulp, victim grasps at spraying bloody stump. Shock for 1d6 rounds. 1in6 chance to bleed to death while in shock.
7: Arm +10: Arm severed/crushed at elbow. Victim writhing in pain. Stunned for 1-3 rounds, no action.
8: Groin +9: Telling blow. Victim doubled over in pain for 1d3 rounds.
9: Head +8: Massive blow, lose 1 attack.
10-11: Torso +6 damage.
12: Chest +8: Forceful blow, lose 1 attack.
13: Knee +9: Leg severed/crushed at knee. Victim falls over. Stunned for 1-3 rounds, no action.
14: Hip +10: Leg severed/maimed to a pulp. Victim falls over in pool of blood. In shock for 1d6 rounds. 1in6 chance to bleed to death while in shock.
15: Stomach +12: Disemboweled, victim trips in entrails, bleed to death in 1-3 rounds unless healed for 12 HP. In shock.
16: Ribs +12: Ribs splintered and cracked, internal organs ruptured, blood and guts spewing forth. In shock and death in 1-2 rounds unless healed for 12.
17: Neck +12: Artery severed/crushed, blood sprays forth. Victim grabs at wound, writhes on ground, in shock. Death in 1-2 rounds unless healed for 12 HP.
18: Heart +15: Heart crushed/impaled, instant death.

What Price Glory
Packet 10: Fumbles

Fumbles are particularly inept attempts to attack. A Fumble is always a miss, and involves a chance to either drop a weapon, or potentially break a weapon.

Depending upon the rules for combat being used, the referee will determine when one of these two circumstances arises.

Drop Weapon: a dropped weapon will require 1 full round’s actions to retrieve.

Break Weapon: Break a weapon is the worst possible result, and involves missing so badly that the attacker hits the wall, floor, a tree or shield or something which forces him to make an item Saving Throw for his weapon. To avoid breaking, the Saving Throw required is a 16, adjusted by each magic item plus. If missed, a normal non-magic weapon is broken and useless. A magic weapon will lose a single ‘+’. If a +1 magic weapon is reduced to +0, it looses all of it’s magic and is considered a normal weapon.

~Sham, Quixotic Referee

What Price Glory part One

What Price Glory is a collection of Rules Packets for combat. Each collection of rules or packets may be used alone, or with any combination of the other modular pieces of What Price Glory. As a whole, these Rules Packets present a detailed, advanced combat model for D&D encounters. What Price Glory is presented in this segmented, modular format to allow referees to pick and choose from amongst these alternate rules, and to fine tune and alter them to taste.

As promised, I am presenting here the 15 Rules Packets for What Price Glory.

Part One will be Rules Packets 1-5.

What Price Glory
Packet One: Hit Points

Hit Points are a measure of the physical damage a being can sustain. Hit Points for Characters, or other members of a Race, are slightly different than the Hit Points for Monsters. Characters increase their Hit Point totals through the acquisition of experience, and the extra Hit Points gained this way are an abstract measure of their expertise, morale and fatigue. Monsters are typically presented with an amount of Hit Points which represent their mass and ability to withstand physical damage before they are slain.

Each and every Character, or member of a Race, has two Hit Point values that must be recorded separately when sustaining damage, Vital Hit Points and Fatigue Hit Points. Vital Hit Points, or Vitality (VIT), is the amount of Hit Points at First Level. This is the actual tissue damage a Character can sustain before being reduced to zero Hit Points. Before any CON adjustments, this translates to six VIT for Magic Users and Clerics, and seven VIT for Fighting-Men. All Hit Points gained from subsequent levels after the first are Fatigue Hit Points (FHP), or simply Fatigue. These are the points which must be removed or lowered by attacks from enemies before the VIT points can be directly damaged. Thus, damage is sustained and subtracted first from FHP, once FHP is at zero, further damage is subtracted from VIT.

Vitality damage requires magical healing or long periods of rest to regenerate. Fatigue regenerates quickly during short periods of rest. Characters regenerate Fatigue at a rate of 3/level for each Turn (or 10 minutes) of rest.

Optionally, since first level Characters do not gain the benefit of fast recovering FHP, the referee might consider allowing 50%, or roughly three HP, of a first level Character’s VIT to be treated like FHP until they attain second level.

What Price Glory
Packet Two: Damage

Damage is the result of a successful hit in melee. Damage is calculated using d6. Characters and Monsters deal damage differently. Characters deal a default range of 1d6 damage, regardless of experience level. Monsters can deal 1, 2 or even 3d6 due to factors such as mass, fantastic prowess or even otherworldly power.

Certain weapons and fighting styles might add or deduct a point or two from a Character’s damage result, and Characters also have two bonuses which do not apply to Monsters.

Multiple Dice: Certain factors will allow a Character to roll more than 1d6, and select the highest roll from amongst all of those dice for damage.

Fighting-Men add a d6 to their damage rolls at level 5 and again at level 8.
Clerics add a d6 to their damage rolls at level 7.
Magic Users add a d6 to their damage roll at level 9.
Magic Weapons add a d6 to damage rolls.

When rolling Multiple Dice, while only a single die is used to calculate damage, any die that rolls a 6 and is not used as the highest result will add 1 damage to the attacker’s total. For example, if a Fighting-Man throws 3d6 to determine damage, and comes up with three sixes, his base damage would actually equal 8 (6+1+1) .

Dynamic Dice: Rolls of 6 call for an immediate roll again of that d6 for potential extra damage. This re-roll only applies to the single d6 selected to represent damage, not for each and every 6.

A 6 on damage means roll that die again:
1-3: +0 damage.
4-5: +1 damage.
6: +1 damage and roll again on this table.

These small bonuses for the Characters can add some excitement to damage rolling, and result in some rare but memorable blows of heroic proportion.

What Price Glory
Packet Three: Death

Characters and Monsters use slightly different rules to determine exactly when each is slain. Monsters are simply considered dead when their Hit Points are reduced to zero. Characters have a more in depth treatment of determining when death occurs. At zero Hit Points a Character is considered unconscious until Hit Points are gained through rest or healing. This state, also called At Death’s Door, increases in range as the Character gains experience. The range of At Death’s Door is equal to a Character’s level in negative Hit Points. If a Character stays in this range, he or she is merely unconscious. For example, a 1st level Character is unconscious at zero or -1 Hit Points, at -2 or lower, that Character is dead. A 7th level Character is unconscious through -7 Hit Points, and dead at -8 or fewer Hit Points.

Normally, an unconscious Character will remain at that less than one Hit Point state, At Death’s Door, until damage is healed or regenerated through rest. Certain types of damage might continue to reduce a Character’s Hit Points even while he or she is unconscious, as determined by the referee. For example, a Character on fire, in a pool of acid, or being devoured by Giant Rats will continue to lose Hit Points until death overtakes the Character.

What Price Glory
Packet Four: Combat Sequence

The Combat Sequence is an exchange of attacks between two or more opposing sides, normally Characters versus Monsters. At the outset of an encounter, the referee determines Surprise, Distance and Initiative as normal. The Combat Sequence has a length of just five seconds. All participants in the encounter may perform a Move and an Action, except in the case of spell-casters. Casting a spell requires both the Move and Action portion of the Combat Sequence to perform.

The Combat Sequence is fast and furious, and results are determined in steps in the following order of resolution:

Combat Steps:
Missiles
Movement
Melee
Magic

Missiles: Firing or throwing a Missile. This action may be held until steps 2 or 3 as long as the combatant is willing to forgo any movement. Missiles may not be used if the combatant is engaged.

Movement: A combatant may move during this step, or fire a held missile. Movement is based on a combatant’s Move rate as follows, to arrive at a round distance called the Combat Move:

Move 3=10 feet
Move 6=15 feet
Move 9=20 feet
Move 12=25 feet
Move 15=30 feet

Combatants may forgo any Missiles, Melee or Magic in order to perform an extra Combat Move. The extra Combat Move occurs during the Melee step, and movement may be halted if the Character is engaged during this move.

Melee: Adjacent combatants may conduct Melee now, or fire a held missile if not engaged.

Magic: Spells being cast during the previous steps will resolve now. Spell-casters hit during the Combat Sequence will have their spell interrupted, but not expended. This step encompasses all Magic Item activations as well. A Magic Item may only be activated if the Character did not fire a missile, or conduct melee.

All spell-casters are allowed to have a single Readied Spell at all times, as long as they have a spell remaining, and have taken the time to ready it in a non combat situation. A Readied Spell will be cast unerringly, even if the spell-caster is hit during the combat sequence. A Readied Spell is the only spell which may be cast by the spell-caster. For example, a Cleric has readied Cure Light Wounds. During the next encounter, the Cleric may not cast any other spell until that readied Cure Light Wounds has been cast.

What Price Glory
Packet 5: Initiative

Initiative is awarded using no dice in What Price Glory. The order of actions is determined for each and every combatant in the following order: He who has the superior Range acts first, ties in Range mean combatants check the next step, Dexterity. Then, he who has the superior DEX rating acts first, ties in DEX mean combatants check the next step, Weapon Speed. He who has the superior Weapon Speed acts first. If the combatants are still tied after these three checks, the attacks resolve simultaneously. Whenever Initiative is determined, the winner has the option to elect to wait and ‘Hold Initiative’, forcing the opponent to act first.

Range, Dexterity and Weapon Speed Checks:

Range: Whomever has the advantage of Range gains Initiative. Normally, Missiles have the advantage of Range, followed by weapons with Reach, standard weapons, then short or natural weapons (claws, teeth). If Range is a tie, move to the next stage, Dexterity.

Dexterity: Whomever has the advantage of Dexterity gains initiative. Dexterity is measured as High, Normal or Low. High Dexterity is 15 or greater DEX score, or particularly quick Monsters. Normal Dexterity is a DEX of 7-14, and standard Monsters. Low Dexterity is a 6 or lower DEX, and slow Monsters like Slimes and Zombies. If Dexterity is a tie, move to the next stage, Speed.

Weapon Speed: This stage measures nothing more than the weight or method of attack of the weapon being used.
Fastest: Natural attacks (bite, claw, appendage, kick, head butt).
Faster: Dagger.
Fast: Spear, Sword.
Normal: Hand Axe, Hammer, Mace, Shield, Staff.
Slow: Flail, Morning Star.
Slower: Battle Axe, Halberd, Two Handed Sword.
Slowest: Lance, Pike, Pole Arm.

~Sham, Quixotic Referee

What Price Glory Introduction

What Price Glory
Formerly known as Project X

What Price Glory is a collection of Rules Packets for combat. Each collection of rules or packets may be used alone, or with any combination of the other modular pieces of What Price Glory. As a whole, these Rules Packets present a detailed, advanced combat model for D&D encounters. What Price Glory is presented in this segmented, modular format to allow referees to pick and choose from amongst these alternate rules, and to fine tune and alter them to taste.

Using all of the presented sections will add great depth to D&D combat and encounters. While such a treatment of the abstract nature of D&D combat is perhaps not of interest to most referees, What Price Glory might still yield a few house rules worthy of addition to their own campaigns.

What Price Glory Rules Packets:

1. Hit Points
2. Damage
3. Death
4. Combat Sequence
5. Initiative
6. Engagement
7. Roll To Hit
8. Staggering Blows
9. Critical Hits
10. Fumbles
11. Armor
12. Weapons
13. Tactical Modifiers
14. Combat Options
15. Grappling

The collection of packets will be presented here over the next few days in three parts, Packets 1-5, Packets 6-10 and Packets 11-15. They will also be posted to my Solstice rules tiddlywiki in the near future.

Comments and criticisms welcome.

~Sham, Quixotic Referee