Lawngnome4hire
First Post
Has anyone experimented with incorporating 10 segmented combat into pathfinder?
Back in the day, when I had to walk 10 miles in the snow, up hill both ways, we use to play AD&D 2nd edition. And while the rules system had plenty of flaws, needing an advanced math degree to understand thaco being one of the bigger ones, there were a few parts of it that I really liked and I miss now that they've been phased out in favor of simplified combat.
For those that aren't familiar with it, the way it worked was every weapon and spell had a speed stat. With bigger weapons are more powerful and complex spells being slower. The way it worked is pretty straight forward, lets say you roll a 12 for initiative, the GM works his way up the initiative starting at 1. When he gets to 12 you tell him what your action is, lets say you want to cast a fireball spell, which I believe had a speed of 3, you tell the GM and he moves on up the initiative order. When he reaches 15, which is your original 12+3 for fireball your spell goes off. If you happened to take damage during the time between you declaring your action and when it goes off then your spell would be disrupted.
It adds a bit of complexity to combat but with practice it really isn't hard to push through quickly. And it adds a lot of strategic elements to combat. For example, it makes smaller lower damage weapons have a purpose. Right now most people just look for the most damage they can get in their allowed weapons. The only major difference between weapons is damage and crit range/multiplier. With the ability to effectively interrupt casters those fast weapons that don't hit as hard suddenly look a little more appealing.
This was even more apparent in spells. In the current system you really don't have to worry about a spell being interrupted. Most casters will have enough concentration that unless they get hit by a train, they can most likely still get their spell off. And when is the last time you saw someone deliberately try and counter a spell being cast? The current counter spell rules are a joke. With 10 segmented combat you have to think, "Do I have enough time to get that desintegrate off before the fighter smacks me? Or should I just pop off a quick magic missile?"
Back in the day, when I had to walk 10 miles in the snow, up hill both ways, we use to play AD&D 2nd edition. And while the rules system had plenty of flaws, needing an advanced math degree to understand thaco being one of the bigger ones, there were a few parts of it that I really liked and I miss now that they've been phased out in favor of simplified combat.
For those that aren't familiar with it, the way it worked was every weapon and spell had a speed stat. With bigger weapons are more powerful and complex spells being slower. The way it worked is pretty straight forward, lets say you roll a 12 for initiative, the GM works his way up the initiative starting at 1. When he gets to 12 you tell him what your action is, lets say you want to cast a fireball spell, which I believe had a speed of 3, you tell the GM and he moves on up the initiative order. When he reaches 15, which is your original 12+3 for fireball your spell goes off. If you happened to take damage during the time between you declaring your action and when it goes off then your spell would be disrupted.
It adds a bit of complexity to combat but with practice it really isn't hard to push through quickly. And it adds a lot of strategic elements to combat. For example, it makes smaller lower damage weapons have a purpose. Right now most people just look for the most damage they can get in their allowed weapons. The only major difference between weapons is damage and crit range/multiplier. With the ability to effectively interrupt casters those fast weapons that don't hit as hard suddenly look a little more appealing.
This was even more apparent in spells. In the current system you really don't have to worry about a spell being interrupted. Most casters will have enough concentration that unless they get hit by a train, they can most likely still get their spell off. And when is the last time you saw someone deliberately try and counter a spell being cast? The current counter spell rules are a joke. With 10 segmented combat you have to think, "Do I have enough time to get that desintegrate off before the fighter smacks me? Or should I just pop off a quick magic missile?"
