Quickleaf
Legend
I have a question for players of Basic D&D. I was just re-reading the combat rules in the Rules Cyclopedia and found a curious bit that prompted this question: Why does Magic get resolved before Melee Combat? Why does casting a fireball happen before swinging a sword? What is the narrative justification? Or is it just a rules necessity/construct and why?
A quick refresher about BD&D...
After group initiative is determined (individual initiative is optional in Basic), in which one side went first or there was simultaneous action in the case of a tie, there were phases in the combat sequence that went in this order:
Movement
Missile Combat
Magic
Hand-to-Hand Combat
What is curious is that in each phase, you'd resolve the outcome and damage before moving to the next phase. It does make sense for missile weapons vs. melee weapons, but why does magic damage (assuming tied initiative) happen before melee damage? Why does a call lightning happen before an axe swing? I have always been used to thinking of magic being "more involved" than a melee attack, but maybe I just haven't been exposed to some underpinning literary inspiration for BD&D? I'm really curious why BD&D handles the missile / magic / melee phases the way it does.
A quick refresher about BD&D...
After group initiative is determined (individual initiative is optional in Basic), in which one side went first or there was simultaneous action in the case of a tie, there were phases in the combat sequence that went in this order:
Movement
Missile Combat
Magic
Hand-to-Hand Combat
What is curious is that in each phase, you'd resolve the outcome and damage before moving to the next phase. It does make sense for missile weapons vs. melee weapons, but why does magic damage (assuming tied initiative) happen before melee damage? Why does a call lightning happen before an axe swing? I have always been used to thinking of magic being "more involved" than a melee attack, but maybe I just haven't been exposed to some underpinning literary inspiration for BD&D? I'm really curious why BD&D handles the missile / magic / melee phases the way it does.