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Message: <blockquote data-quote="RangerWickett" data-source="post: 2144601" data-attributes="member: 63">I am not up to date on my research of Malhavoc's Book of Iron Might, but apparently it's got some new rules for combat to make it more interesting.I don't own Unearthed Arcana, but I've skimmed through it and I like the Mutants & Masterminds-derived "damage save" mechanic.What other alternate combat rules do you know of?  Could you tell me about what stuff is in Malhavoc's BoIM?  Does it make fights more cinematic?What I would like in a combat system are rules that:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Make large fights end dramatically, instead of with a wittling of hit points.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Let the heroes do cool things to 'mooks', and let villains do at least one or two cool things without necessarily killing a hero in the process.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Allow for duels between warriors where few blows are struck until the winning strike is delivered.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Make different fighting styles feel different mechanically, but still be effective.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Ensure fights still last at least a few rounds, or possibly even have fights last longer if the resolution of attacks are faster, so that less game time is spent.</li> </ul>For instance, I want greatsword fighters to be able to kill an enemy warrior in one or two hits, and to be able to hurt large creatures with ease, but they should have drawbacks like being slow and having poor defenses.  Dagger fighters could use hit and run tactics, delivering a few weak hits to slow an enemy down before delivering a killing blow.  Full blown swordfighters, with rapiers or whatever, would not strike hits, but would instead spend rounds getting their opponent into a bad position, so that it only takes one precise hit to end the fight.Mostly, I want to avoid situations like those that come up in my 14th level game.  Last session the party's threshing machine (read: spiked chain wielder) would spend about 30 seconds per round rolling damage, and that was after he used Excel to make a spreadsheet charting his attack roll/power attack/damage correlations.  The party's swordswoman (an Iaijutsu Master from Oriental Adventures) got into two sword duels, and though each only lasted one round, it took her two minutes to roll all the damage dice and add up everything.I think the damage save mechanic is much better, easier to use, though I don't know about how it plays in actual use.  And I don't think it allows for "setting up" an opponent, the way you read about in Drizzt novels, where he gets his opponent's guard up high, then goes for a low attack, or something similar.  Likewise, if an assassin sneaks up on a hero, I have no problem with a single dagger disabling a high level character (though healing will soon bring him back to the fight).So, share your knowledge and your experiences.  Thanks.</blockquote>

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