RangerWickett
Legend
This system highly revamps d20 combat. I don't know if I'd ever use it, because it actually is more complicated than just handwaving things like I do now. However, I like how I've integrated the idea of DanMcS on this thread.
Ranges
Each combat scene has four primary distances, measured roughly from the center of the combat. Each range is considered a 'field' of combat, and the larger fields can encompass several smaller ones.
For each field in a combat, the game master determines the overall Terrain of the field, and may also choose hazards and various incidental details. The Terrain affect combat actions. Terrains include Open, Rough, Covered, and Constricted.
The Terrain of a larger area is not necessarily indicative of smaller fields within it.
Sample Battlefield: The lightsaber duel at the end of The Phantom Menace ranges through an entire battlefield.
The Long field includes three Medium fields -- the hangar, the bridges, and the power plant. The Long field is constricted, because there are walls in the way hindering movement and blocking line of sight. If, say, a lone soldier had stayed behind and tried to snipe at Darth Maul during the duel, he'd have a hard time getting a good shot if he was worried about staying out of melee range.
The Medium field of the hangar has Covered terrain, because there were very few large obstructions you couldn't run around, but there was a lot of stuff for people to hide behind.
The Medium field of the bridges has Rough terrain, because manuevering is difficult if you don't want to fall to your death, but ranged combat would be pretty easy with all that open space. This field had the falling hazard.
The Medium field of the power plant was Constricted, and because of the layout, the game master determined that it had two particularly distinct Melee fields. The first had the hazard of the closing energy doors (though who knows what purpose they serve), and the second had the hazard of the pit.
Movement:
Every creature has a Movement ability score. For humans, Elves, Orcs, etc., this score is 30. For halflings, gnomes, dwarves, etc., this score is 20. Like any normal ability score (Str, Dex, etc.), you have an ability score modifier, so humans have a +10 bonus to Move checks, and short folks have a +5 bonus. These can be additionally modified by class abilities and encumbrance.
Manuevering in battle requires Move checks. There are four basic types of movement.
Weapons and Styles
Your fighting style is yours to design. The more skilled of a warrior you are, the more options you have available.
Most weapons have one or more Weapon Traits, special abilities that influence your fighting style. Choose whatever weapons you desire for your style, but if you choose a style too complicated for you, you suffer a progressively greater penalty to your attack roll.
Weapons come in two basic types - melee and ranged.
Weapon Traits:
Other traits are possible, like tripping and disarming, but I haven't devised them yet. Maybe even energy enhancements, or other bizarre things that would have prerequisites.
Combat Styles: Normal characters can take advantage of a single Weapon Trait at a time. Characters with the Martial Training feat can take advantage of up to three at a time. Characters may take the Martial Training feat multiple times, each time increasing the number of weapon traits he can use at once by 1.
Create whatever type of Weapon Style you like, and explain how the weapons you use grant you the benefits of that style. The game master is free to deny certain styles if they make no sense. A character can switch styles as a full round action, though again, the game master may freely deny adopting certain styles. Certainly a character with no access to ranged weapons should not be able to spontaneously switch to a ranged weapon style.
If you try to use a style with more weapon traits than you're able to handle, you suffer a -4 penalty for each extra weapon trait your style uses. In a grapple, you gain no advantages from Weapon Traits.
Sample Styles:
The number of traits the style has is listed in parentheses.
Simple Styles.
Intermediate Styles
As you can see, the specifics don't matter, just the mechanics. It is key to remember that regardless of how many weapons you use, one, two, or none, you don't get more or less attacks per round.
Ranges
Each combat scene has four primary distances, measured roughly from the center of the combat. Each range is considered a 'field' of combat, and the larger fields can encompass several smaller ones.
- Strategic. This range is beyond the scope of most fights, used mostly for large military actions. A Strategic range field might be miles across, and contain several Long range fields.
- Long. Long range fields measure about 800-ft. in radius, and can contain several Medium range fields.
- Medium. Medium range fields measure about 150-ft. in radius, and can contain several Melee fields.
- Melee. With approximately a 30-ft. radius, the Melee field of combat is where most fighting takes place. Whenever opposing creatures get close enough to each other, a new Melee field is created, but they can be ignored when people aren't fighting in them.
For each field in a combat, the game master determines the overall Terrain of the field, and may also choose hazards and various incidental details. The Terrain affect combat actions. Terrains include Open, Rough, Covered, and Constricted.
- Open does not affect movement or ranged combat.
- Rough affects movement but not ranged combat.
- Covered affects ranged combat, but not movement.
- Constricted affects ranged combat and movement.
The Terrain of a larger area is not necessarily indicative of smaller fields within it.
Sample Battlefield: The lightsaber duel at the end of The Phantom Menace ranges through an entire battlefield.
The Long field includes three Medium fields -- the hangar, the bridges, and the power plant. The Long field is constricted, because there are walls in the way hindering movement and blocking line of sight. If, say, a lone soldier had stayed behind and tried to snipe at Darth Maul during the duel, he'd have a hard time getting a good shot if he was worried about staying out of melee range.
The Medium field of the hangar has Covered terrain, because there were very few large obstructions you couldn't run around, but there was a lot of stuff for people to hide behind.
The Medium field of the bridges has Rough terrain, because manuevering is difficult if you don't want to fall to your death, but ranged combat would be pretty easy with all that open space. This field had the falling hazard.
The Medium field of the power plant was Constricted, and because of the layout, the game master determined that it had two particularly distinct Melee fields. The first had the hazard of the closing energy doors (though who knows what purpose they serve), and the second had the hazard of the pit.
Movement:
Every creature has a Movement ability score. For humans, Elves, Orcs, etc., this score is 30. For halflings, gnomes, dwarves, etc., this score is 20. Like any normal ability score (Str, Dex, etc.), you have an ability score modifier, so humans have a +10 bonus to Move checks, and short folks have a +5 bonus. These can be additionally modified by class abilities and encumbrance.
Manuevering in battle requires Move checks. There are four basic types of movement.
- Engage. If you are in the same Melee field as a foe, you can attempt to engage him, with a Move check (DC 0, modified by terrain and other factors). If you and a foe are engaged, you threaten each other and can take attacks of opportunity if the other does anything that drops his guard. You can attack a foe even if you are not engaged, but can only make one attack per round. If you are engaged, you can make a Full Attack. Engaging a foe is a Move action that does not provoke an attack of opportunity.
- Disengage. If one or more foes have engaged you, you can attempt to escape them with a Move action. Make opposed Move checks, and you disengage from each foe whom you beat. Disengaging is a Move action that does not provoke an attack of opportunity.
- Evade. You disengage from all your foes and attempt to keep out of reach of your foes. Make a Move check. This sets the base DC to engage you for the round. Creatures cannot attack you while you are evading unless they succeed in engaging you. Evading is a Move action that provokes an attack of opportunity, but afterward you automatically disengage from all foes.
- Change Distance. You attempt to move from one field of combat to another. This is perhaps the most complicated part of the system.
[*]Melee to Melee. Sometimes two Melee fields are next to each other. Moving between two adjacent Melee fields is a Move action that provokes an attack of opportunity. Creatures engaged to you may choose to follow instead of taking an attack of opportunity.
[*]Melee to Medium. Moving from Melee range to Medium is a Move action that provokes an attack of opportunity. Creatures engaged to you may choose to follow instead of taking an attack of opportunity. If they do, you do not get to Medium range, and a new Melee field is created.
[*]Medium to Melee. This requires a Move action. Because by definition you are out of melee in combat if you are at Medium range, moving from Medium to Melee does not provoke an attack of opportunity.
[*]Medium to Medium. Moving between two Medium fields is a full-round action. Make a Move check (DC 20). If you succeed, you complete the movement. Otherwise you must spend a Move action on your next turn to complete the movement. If you do not, you remain in the original Medium field.
[*]Medium to Long, or Long to Medium. Moving this distance requires you spend six full rounds. Each round, you may make a Move check (DC 25), and if you succeed you shave a round off the time needed to move this distance.[/b]
Weapons and Styles
Your fighting style is yours to design. The more skilled of a warrior you are, the more options you have available.
Most weapons have one or more Weapon Traits, special abilities that influence your fighting style. Choose whatever weapons you desire for your style, but if you choose a style too complicated for you, you suffer a progressively greater penalty to your attack roll.
Weapons come in two basic types - melee and ranged.
- Melee. Melee weapons can only be used in Melee range. They deal a base of d6 damage, with a 20/x2 critical.
- Ranged. Ranged weapons can be used to attack foes in your own Melee field with no penalty, an adjacent Melee field with a -4 penalty, and the local Medium field with a -8 penalty. They deal a base of d6 damage, with a 20/x2 critical. Using a ranged weapon provokes an attack of opportunity. After you attack with a ranged weapon, you either have thrown away your weapon, or expended your ammunition. Getting a new weapon or reloading is a move action.
Weapon Traits:
- Reach, Limited. This quality does not count against your style limit. If you have Reach, creatures without Reach that attempt to engage you and fail incur an attack of opportunity. The DC to engage you is increased by +5. However, because your reach is limited, if a creature does engage you, you cannot attack it with this weapon.
- Reach. As Limited Reach, except that you can attack creatures that engage you. Some larger creatures have Reach that increases their engage DC by more than +5.
- Improved Damage. This quality may be selected multiple times. Each time, increase the damage die by 1 step, from d6 to d8 to d12 to 2d8.
- Keen. Keen weapons have an improved critical threat range, from 20 to 19-20 to 18-20.
- Heavy. Heavy weapons have an improved critical multiplier, from x2 to x3 to x4.
- Reloading. Only ranged weapons have this trait. A reloading weapon can be reloaded as a free action, not a move action.
- Long-range. Only ranged weapons have this trait. Long-range weapons can be used to attack foes in your own Melee field or an adjacent Melee field with no penalty, the local Medium field with a -4 penalty, and other Medium fields or the Long field with a -8 penalty.
- Defensive. You gain a +1 shield bonus to AC.
Other traits are possible, like tripping and disarming, but I haven't devised them yet. Maybe even energy enhancements, or other bizarre things that would have prerequisites.
Combat Styles: Normal characters can take advantage of a single Weapon Trait at a time. Characters with the Martial Training feat can take advantage of up to three at a time. Characters may take the Martial Training feat multiple times, each time increasing the number of weapon traits he can use at once by 1.
Create whatever type of Weapon Style you like, and explain how the weapons you use grant you the benefits of that style. The game master is free to deny certain styles if they make no sense. A character can switch styles as a full round action, though again, the game master may freely deny adopting certain styles. Certainly a character with no access to ranged weapons should not be able to spontaneously switch to a ranged weapon style.
If you try to use a style with more weapon traits than you're able to handle, you suffer a -4 penalty for each extra weapon trait your style uses. In a grapple, you gain no advantages from Weapon Traits.
Sample Styles:
The number of traits the style has is listed in parentheses.
Simple Styles.
- Brawler (1). The character fights unarmed in a vicious boxing style, dealing d8 damage per hit.
- Novice Duelist (1). The character wields a sword clumsily, dealing d8 damage per hit.
- Bladed Weapon (1). The character uses a single bladed weapon, like a dagger or longsword, dealing d6 damage, crit 19-20/x2.
- Twin Swords (1). The character uses two bladed weapons, dealing d6 damage, crit 19-20/x2.
- Spear Fighter (1). The character keeps his distance with a dangerous spear. This warrior has Limited Reach, and does 1d6 damage, crit 20/x3.
- Flying Kicks (1). The character lashes out with long kicks that deal tremendous damage, but lower his defenses up close. This warrior has Limited Reach, and does 1d6 damage, crit 20/x3.
- Crossbow (1). Projectile ranged weapon. d6 damage, takes a move action to reload.
- Discus (1). This character throws an Olympic discus. Projectile ranged weapon. d6 damage, takes a move action to draw a new disk.
Intermediate Styles
- Tiger Monkey Style Kung-Fu (4). Leaping and striking with great power, the character has Reach, is Keen, and deals d12 damage per hit.
- Maul of the Titans (5). The character wields a mighty maul that is Heavy twice (x4 critical), and does 2d8 damage per hit.
- The Deadly Circle (4). A dancing rapier style, this is keen twice (crit 18-20 x2), defensive once (+1 AC) and does d8 damage per hit.
As you can see, the specifics don't matter, just the mechanics. It is key to remember that regardless of how many weapons you use, one, two, or none, you don't get more or less attacks per round.
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