Monday, May 8, 2023

My phased combat sequence house rule

I LOVE PHASED COMBAT! Yes! Behold, my phased combat sequenced that I use in certain games. It's based on OD&D/Chainmail/Delving Deeper, but modified according to my experience of running phased combat in Mazes & Minotaurs.


COMBAT PROCEDURE

Each side rolls d6 for initiative, higher is better.

Each round, we go through the following steps:

1. Morale checks (for monsters & NPCs).

2. Declaration of intent, in reverse initiative order (so the faster side can react to the actions of the slower).

3. Action phases; all sides complete each phase in initiative order, Referee adjudicates sequence of actions as needed:

A) Missiles, Movement & Miscellaneous actions

  • Stationary characters with ranged weapons at-the-ready can fire twice (or fire once and reload crossbow)
  • Non-stationary characters with ranged weapons at-the-ready can fire once, with a -2 (elves ignore this penalty)
  • Ducking in-and-out of cover counts as movement
  • Firing into melee is allowed, attack rolls that miss their mark are checked against the nearest friendly participant of the melee
  • Spell-casting starts in this phase; caster must remain stationary

B) Melee

  • All in melee range (10’) can attack or be attacked; performance is determined with a single attack roll (against 1 (or less) HD enemies, fighters and monsters can opt to do multiple attacks [a number, equal to their HD])
  • Sequence of attacks is determined by logic (e.g. longer weapons strike first on the first round, but last on subsequent rounds) or initiative
  • Grappling/overbearing: each participant rolls their HD, higher wins; grappled character is immobile until held, or even knocked/choked unconscious (save against Paralysis applies)

C) Magic

  • Spells begun in phase (A) go off
  • If the caster took damage in the previous phases, they must save against Spells/Magic or the spell is interrupted and lost

 

Referee trying to adjudicate phased combat, by Francisco Goya

I'm too lazy to write up an example of play, but maaaybe in the future.

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