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My intention here is decidedly not to actually go for either` "grim and gritty," or "nasty, quick, brutal and unforgiving." Nor is the intention to create "realistic combat." I do want to eliminate grind-y combats, where you have to hammer at a foe for 10 hit points a round for 15 rounds. My...

I've watched most (okay, a LOT) of Shad's stuff. We share similar sensibilities in terms of the balance between realism and playability. I have a slightly more narrative background to my HEMA than Shad does, because I both train HEMA and perform it for stage combat, so rule of cool is a thing...

I think this is the way to go, and I'm not sure that it's not better to have a Savage Worlds, d6 Star Wars, or Mutants & Masterminds style Wound/Condition Track. It's been a while since I read the latter, so forgive me if I'm misremembering. But in Savage Worlds, PCs can endure up to 3 wounds...

I don't currently have it made for D&D/d20 Systems, because the "Armor Class represents Parry/Dodge AND Injury Minimization (sort of)" means it's a bit harder to figure out the stats. I'm revisiting the topic at greater length in my thread about combat systems in RPGs, and I'll definitely touch...

Full disclosure: In my study of historical stage combat, my favorite weapons are sword & buckler, to the point that my guys kinda tease me about it. But the buckler stats are just those of the small shield from SWADE. I didn't change a thing. ;) I like poleaxes, but I'm not sure they're...

Savage Worlds Adventure Edition has built-in rules for for Quick Encounters. So if it just wasn't working for some reason, I could always fall back on that. But even a long SW combat is pretty unlikely to turn into the sort of slogs that I've had some D&D combats turn into. The ones where it's...

Okay, time to talk about the elephant in the room of all RPGs that is also the crux of the combat system - how do you handle DAMAGE? Reading about the early days of either Gary Gygax or Dave Arneson's game, it started pretty simply - one hit, one shot, one kill. All war-games really modeled, or...

So, with that perspective, and since I started with some of the things that don't work so well, let me first talk about some of the systems I've played, and the things that, IMO, they get right. Simple mechanics. Whether it's all the d20-based games' "die roll + bonuses vs. difficulty number,"...

In my opinion, the best way to fix both the fighter and the "5-minute workday" is to fix combat, damage & healing, and the D&D power curve. Epic fantasy doesn't need it, as you can realize from all the threads going around saying things like "Aragorn (or Gandalf) was 5th level." The higher level...

So, this is not one more thread about making combat in RPGs more tedious. It's my personal thoughts about how to strike the right balance between "realism" (or verisimilitude) and playability. Obviously, this varies greatly from group to group, depending on both your tastes and how well versed...

Okay, so as someone who studies European Martial Arts and swordplay, I'm a bit bothered by the "fantasy take" on armor and weapons in "Savage Worlds Adventure Edition." So I decided to rework and fill in the list of armors and medieval weaponry, with the goal of changing as little as possible...

Nice. I'm 47 myself, and I was just a wee sprat when I started playing in the late '70s. However, I kept updating editions, and even participated in the 5e playtest. As a DM, I mostly like the new edition, although I'm currently planning to take a crack at running Savage Worlds for my group...

Now see, that sounds very cool to me. I think I would very much enjoy playing in your campaign. But I have to ask...AD&D? Are we talking 1st? 2nd? Are you still using THAC0? ;)

Yes. That was done in later editions, 3e, I think. But way back in "Keep on the Borderlands," Gygax decided to make orcs, goblins, kobolds and all the rest breed just like any normal race, so he put in orc female and whelp "noncombatants," thus confronting the earliest D&D players with the...

I will be doing a fantasy either medieval or renaissance game eventually. But I also love pulp, so we'll probably do something that riffs off of Indiana Jones or the Rick O'Connell "Mummy" franchise. My players are all complete nerds, and I think SWADE might well be better for "Star Wars" than...

I'll happy to cover the details in another thread, but pretty much it involves rewriting the armor list to better reflect the effectiveness (and reality) of real-world armors. As well as some slight tweaks to the weapons list. I always have to do this to D&D too, so it's nothing new. But when...

I'm familiarizing myself with the rules for "Savage Worlds Adventure Edition" so that I can pull my gaming group out of hiatus and start playing. I like SW because I think it will let me play with a lot of different worlds and different settings, and I'm a little bit eclectic in my tastes. I...

I think that's an excellent solution. If the PCs later do villainous things, or FAIL in some way, it could be dramatically appropriate to have some of those formerly paroled villains come back to menace the heroes once again. Success and failure. Decisions and consequences.

Personally, I tend to run my games mindful of this piece of advice I read in the WEG d6 "Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game" (not sure it's a direct quote, 'cuz the book's in storage)... "Villains do bad things, yes. But it's not necessary to be graphic. Star Wars shows the Empire blowing up...

I'll probably throw a medieval fantasy game together eventually, but the fact that me (and several of my players!) study European Martial Arts as a hobby means that I always have to house rule weapons and armor a bit. I think I might start with either a pulp adventure or some kind of sci-fi...