Combat Computer

[Quasqueton]

Dragon magazine, June 1983 (#74) special section:

The Combat Computer

One of the most complex and tiring tasks facing the earnest Dungeon Master in an AD&D adventure is the proper and efficient resolution of melee. Combat is a blessing and a curse: On one hand, it provides the right atmosphere for conveying the thrill and the danger of the heroic fantasy milieu; indeed, without combat there could be no game. On the other hand, even the most experienced DMs find the mechanics of conducting combat to be time-consuming --- even with all the pertenent charts, tables, and rules spread out before them --- and players must wait to know the outcome while the DM is referencing and cross-referencing all of his charts and tables.

Now, help is at hand. The DRAGON Magazine Combat Computer, reproduced on cardboard stock in the center of this issue of the magazine, is designed to help the DM save time and prevent mistakes when determining "to hit" numbers for missile or melee combat. It's easy to assemble, and almost as simple to use.

Quasqueton

 

[Hussar]

Hey, wasn't that a kind of spinny thingie with little bits cut out that lined up in the right places? If it was, I actually had one of those once upon a time.

 

[Crothian]

Is this like the combat wheel?

 

[Reynard]

indeed, without combat there could be no game.

Quoted for truth.

 

[hong]

Woohoo! They said "milieu"!

 

[Quasqueton]

This is what stood out to me:

"One of the most complex and tiring tasks facing the earnest Dungeon Master in an AD&D adventure is the proper and efficient resolution of melee."

". . .even the most experienced DMs find the mechanics of conducting combat to be time-consuming --- even with all the pertenent charts, tables, and rules spread out before them --- and players must wait to know the outcome while the DM is referencing and cross-referencing all of his charts and tables."

Combat in D&D, AD&D, and really, any RPG, has always been complicated.

Quasqueton

 

[Twowolves]

Didn't they have some program code in Basic in an issue of Dragon about that time period? I seem to recall it was around issue 80. I remember putting that code in way back then, and it had a series of dice rollers and some other things. I think it was "DM's Familiar" or some such.

Later on, they had an Apple II program for sale that had encounter generators and random treasure generators. I used these even into 2nd ed, pre-printing 100 random treasures which were pretty darned detailed as to the types of gems and jewelry and "object d'arts" in them and keeping the pages in my DMs folder for use on the fly. Anyone remember that one?

 

[Quasqueton]

December 1983, Dungeon Master's Familiar A program for computer-conducted combat, by John Warren

The room looked harmless enough, but suddenly, as the party enters, they are attacked by three skeletons as giant spiders drop on them from the rafters. If you think this bunch of adventurers is in trouble, consider what the poor DM is going through. There have been a few times like this when I've been sorely tempted to intone, "You have offended the gods. A thousand lightning bolts smash into you. You're dead."

Obviously, this is not the route to a long and happy relationship. Good DMs do what they can to mitigate the confusion by good planning. Now they have another ally in their constant battle with chaos -- the computer.

I can hear the groans now. Computer fantasy games are disappointing to the dedicated gamer. The main attraction of D&D and AD&D gaming is spontaneity and openendedness, and these are precisely what is missing in most computer games. However, what I'm suggesting isn't a game. Instead of playing to the computer's weaknesses, we are going to exploit its strengths -- rapid calculation and data storage.

Quasqueton

 

[Wil]

Combat in D&D, AD&D, and really, any RPG, has always been complicated.

Quasqueton

Yet, for some reason, combat in some RPGs is not complicated. What kind of paradox is this?

 

[Joshua Randall]

Yet, for some reason, combat in some RPGs is not complicated.

You must be doing it wrong.