BobProbst
First Post
I'm still trying to get my arms around what makes Conan Comabt so much more fun than D&D Combat and have hit upon a few key differences:
1. Weapon Variety: In D&D you typically have one killer weapon -- like Khren's +5 Sonic Blast Bow of Speed or Xalandra's halberd. With these sorts of weapons, there's absolutely no reason to use any other weapon -- in fact, there are serious drawbacks to switching! Because of this, players tend to find a strong strategy and stick to it with very littel variation. In Conan, there are no enhanced weapons -- you might have a weapon that you're better with (Tewelde gets +1 damage with his spear for being Kush) but these little bonuses are minimal compared with what you can get with D&D. Because of this, you can freely alter weapons and strategy without adversely underpowering yourself. In the shipboard fight this weekend, Tewelde used his spear, his axe (melee), a bullrush, a grapple and his axe (thrown) -- all in one fight and each time it was in response to how the battle field conditions changed -- spectacular!
2. Dodge & Parry + Damage Reduction: It was interesting how, during playtest, we found these concepts to be unnecessary and thought perhaps keeping the AC rules would be easier to deal with but now after using them for a while, I wish that D&D would work this way! I loved that we could fight an unarmored pirate captain and had incredible trouble even touching him! (except for Chris and his magic dice
) I can't say for sure why this makes combat more fun -- I just know that it does. I think I can visualize a dodge or a parry better than I can an AC.
3. Combat Maneuvers: These add a wonderful variety to the game -- the fact that you earn them instead of having to pay for them add volumes to the strategies you might use in combat. I need to remember that I can use "To the hilt " with my spear and keep someone outside of reach and continue to deal them damage!
I had a great time last night Vince and dreamed fighting all night long!
1. Weapon Variety: In D&D you typically have one killer weapon -- like Khren's +5 Sonic Blast Bow of Speed or Xalandra's halberd. With these sorts of weapons, there's absolutely no reason to use any other weapon -- in fact, there are serious drawbacks to switching! Because of this, players tend to find a strong strategy and stick to it with very littel variation. In Conan, there are no enhanced weapons -- you might have a weapon that you're better with (Tewelde gets +1 damage with his spear for being Kush) but these little bonuses are minimal compared with what you can get with D&D. Because of this, you can freely alter weapons and strategy without adversely underpowering yourself. In the shipboard fight this weekend, Tewelde used his spear, his axe (melee), a bullrush, a grapple and his axe (thrown) -- all in one fight and each time it was in response to how the battle field conditions changed -- spectacular!
2. Dodge & Parry + Damage Reduction: It was interesting how, during playtest, we found these concepts to be unnecessary and thought perhaps keeping the AC rules would be easier to deal with but now after using them for a while, I wish that D&D would work this way! I loved that we could fight an unarmored pirate captain and had incredible trouble even touching him! (except for Chris and his magic dice
) I can't say for sure why this makes combat more fun -- I just know that it does. I think I can visualize a dodge or a parry better than I can an AC.3. Combat Maneuvers: These add a wonderful variety to the game -- the fact that you earn them instead of having to pay for them add volumes to the strategies you might use in combat. I need to remember that I can use "To the hilt " with my spear and keep someone outside of reach and continue to deal them damage!
I had a great time last night Vince and dreamed fighting all night long!
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