RangerWickett
Legend
Do you miss being able to have 'throwaway combats'? You want to toss a pair of goblins at the party without stopping play for half an hour? Here's a quick system to adjudicate combats whose primary purpose is flavor.
Note: do not use these rules on fights that actually matter to the plot or where the PCs have some chance of dying.
Five Minute Combat
Describe the combat area, detail the hostile side, and determine which side has surprise (if any). Each side makes one initiative roll, using the best Initiative modifier among its members.
Each turn, the active side picks one member to get the spotlight. That PC, NPC, or monster gets to do cool stuff and make an attack, possibly killing or injuring his enemies. Then the other side gets to go, and the spotlight switches to one of its members.
The spotlight goes back and forth until everyone on each side has gone once. If one side runs through all its members first, they have to wait until the other side finishes its roster. After both sides have finished their roster, start over from the top.
Party's Turn.
The party picks one player to go. Usually this proceeds in initiative order, but players can switch it up if they want. That player gains the spotlight.
The spotlit player describes how he contributes to the battle, usually some combination of at-will and encounter powers, plus liberal use of 'do something cool.' He can choose to use a daily power if he wants.
He then either chooses to target one enemy or two. If one, he makes an attack roll against whatever defense makes sense. (Alternately, maybe an opposed skill check if he wants to trick an enemy off a ledge or something.) On a hit he defeats the enemy. If he uses a daily power, he doesn't even have to roll; he automatically drops it.
If he targets two enemies, he makes an attack roll against each, and bloodies those he hits. If he blows a daily power, he bloodies those he misses, and drops those he hits.
Treat a group of four minions as one single enemy*. If you want to have any elites, just double the amount of hits needed, so it takes two normal hits to drop one, or four 'multi-target' hits. For a solo, quadruple the amount needed.
*In some circumstances, you might treat a larger group of particularly weak minions as a single enemy, such as a peasant mob or a zombie swarm.
Hostiles' Turn.
The DM chooses one enemy to gain the spotlight. Remember, the order goes normal monsters & minions, then elites, then solos.
The DM describe how the spotlit monster contributes to the battle. It makes an attack roll. If it's targets a single PC, a hit costs the PC two healing surges. A miss costs one healing surge. If it targets two PCs, a hit costs one healing surge, and a miss has no effect.
Elites deal double the number of surges. Solos deal quadruple. If a PC runs out of surges, additional surges lost each cost him 1/4 of his HP. If a PC would be reduced to 0 hit points, he is removed from battle and cannot contribute further.
Victory and Defeat.
If the PCs drop all their enemies, they win. They might kill their enemies, take them captive, or grant them mercy.
If all the PCs are removed from combat, they lose and flee or are captured at the DM's discretion. They are treated as being at 1 hit point.
Thoughts?
Note: do not use these rules on fights that actually matter to the plot or where the PCs have some chance of dying.
Five Minute Combat
Describe the combat area, detail the hostile side, and determine which side has surprise (if any). Each side makes one initiative roll, using the best Initiative modifier among its members.
Each turn, the active side picks one member to get the spotlight. That PC, NPC, or monster gets to do cool stuff and make an attack, possibly killing or injuring his enemies. Then the other side gets to go, and the spotlight switches to one of its members.
The spotlight goes back and forth until everyone on each side has gone once. If one side runs through all its members first, they have to wait until the other side finishes its roster. After both sides have finished their roster, start over from the top.
Party's Turn.
The party picks one player to go. Usually this proceeds in initiative order, but players can switch it up if they want. That player gains the spotlight.
The spotlit player describes how he contributes to the battle, usually some combination of at-will and encounter powers, plus liberal use of 'do something cool.' He can choose to use a daily power if he wants.
He then either chooses to target one enemy or two. If one, he makes an attack roll against whatever defense makes sense. (Alternately, maybe an opposed skill check if he wants to trick an enemy off a ledge or something.) On a hit he defeats the enemy. If he uses a daily power, he doesn't even have to roll; he automatically drops it.
If he targets two enemies, he makes an attack roll against each, and bloodies those he hits. If he blows a daily power, he bloodies those he misses, and drops those he hits.
Treat a group of four minions as one single enemy*. If you want to have any elites, just double the amount of hits needed, so it takes two normal hits to drop one, or four 'multi-target' hits. For a solo, quadruple the amount needed.
*In some circumstances, you might treat a larger group of particularly weak minions as a single enemy, such as a peasant mob or a zombie swarm.
Hostiles' Turn.
The DM chooses one enemy to gain the spotlight. Remember, the order goes normal monsters & minions, then elites, then solos.
The DM describe how the spotlit monster contributes to the battle. It makes an attack roll. If it's targets a single PC, a hit costs the PC two healing surges. A miss costs one healing surge. If it targets two PCs, a hit costs one healing surge, and a miss has no effect.
Elites deal double the number of surges. Solos deal quadruple. If a PC runs out of surges, additional surges lost each cost him 1/4 of his HP. If a PC would be reduced to 0 hit points, he is removed from battle and cannot contribute further.
Victory and Defeat.
If the PCs drop all their enemies, they win. They might kill their enemies, take them captive, or grant them mercy.
If all the PCs are removed from combat, they lose and flee or are captured at the DM's discretion. They are treated as being at 1 hit point.
Thoughts?
