Gridless Combat
- Thread starter Mean DM
- Start date
We have been playing games where the DM is pretty lenient on game mechanics. As long as you give a pretty vivid picture on what you are doing, he usually lets it slide that you are 5' short, or you cant tumble that far...
Makes the game go by faster that we dont have to count squares all the time
Makes the game go by faster that we dont have to count squares all the time
RangerWickett
Legend
The easiest thing to do is sketch with a pen on gridless paper to create the map, and then use a pencil for people. Run it fast and loose.
If you want actual rules, consider this:
Move, the ability score.
In addition to Str, Dex, Con, Int, Wis, and Cha, you have Mov. You don't roll for it; you just have the appropriate Move score based on your race, encumbrance, class abilities, etc. You have an ability score modifier too, just like the other ability scores. So a Move of 30 (your typical human) has a +10 bonus to Move checks.
There are ranges in combat that are very simplified.
Melee - a roughly 30-ft. radius area. This is basically where people will engage in melee. There can be multiple melee areas in a combat. Moving from one to another is a move action.
Medium - a roughly 150-ft. radius area. This is the maximum range for thrown missiles, and normal range for projectiles. A Medium area can potentially contain several melee areas. Moving from Medium to Melee or Melee to Medium requires a Move check. If you beat DC 40, you can change range as a move action. Otherwise it takes a full round.
Long - a roughly 800-ft. radius area. This is the maximum range for projectile missile weapons. Moving between Medium and Long range requires four move actions. For each move action, you may attempt a Move check (DC 40), and if you succeed you actually move two move actions' worth.
There are some new actions in combat.
Engage: Move action. Make a Move check (DC 0 + target's size modifier + target's Move modifier). If you succeed, you become engaged to the target. Effectively you are keeping close enough to that foe that you threaten him, and can take attacks of opportunity against him. Having a creature engaged to you does not necessarily mean you are engaged to that creature.
If you fail, you may choose to still attack the foe, but you do not become engaged. Or you may choose to engage the foe, but the foe gains an attack of opportunity against you.
You must be engaged to a foe at the beginning of your action to make a full attack.
Disengage: Move action. You are no longer engaged to one foe that was engaged to you.
Withdraw: Make an opposed Move check against all foes that are engaged with you. Each foe whose Move check you beat, you disengage from. You may also choose to disengage from other foes, but each of those foes can make an attack of opportunity against you.
Threaten: Full-round action. Sort of the reverse of 'full defense,' you spend your round being opportunistic, trying to keep people from moving around. If you take the Threaten action, whenever a creature makes a Move check, if he fails or succeeds by less than 5, you can take an attack of opportunity.
It might actually be more complicated, but it requires no maps. Some skills would also need to be changed, and feats like Mobility and Spring Attack.
If you want actual rules, consider this:
Move, the ability score.
In addition to Str, Dex, Con, Int, Wis, and Cha, you have Mov. You don't roll for it; you just have the appropriate Move score based on your race, encumbrance, class abilities, etc. You have an ability score modifier too, just like the other ability scores. So a Move of 30 (your typical human) has a +10 bonus to Move checks.
There are ranges in combat that are very simplified.
Melee - a roughly 30-ft. radius area. This is basically where people will engage in melee. There can be multiple melee areas in a combat. Moving from one to another is a move action.
Medium - a roughly 150-ft. radius area. This is the maximum range for thrown missiles, and normal range for projectiles. A Medium area can potentially contain several melee areas. Moving from Medium to Melee or Melee to Medium requires a Move check. If you beat DC 40, you can change range as a move action. Otherwise it takes a full round.
Long - a roughly 800-ft. radius area. This is the maximum range for projectile missile weapons. Moving between Medium and Long range requires four move actions. For each move action, you may attempt a Move check (DC 40), and if you succeed you actually move two move actions' worth.
There are some new actions in combat.
Engage: Move action. Make a Move check (DC 0 + target's size modifier + target's Move modifier). If you succeed, you become engaged to the target. Effectively you are keeping close enough to that foe that you threaten him, and can take attacks of opportunity against him. Having a creature engaged to you does not necessarily mean you are engaged to that creature.
If you fail, you may choose to still attack the foe, but you do not become engaged. Or you may choose to engage the foe, but the foe gains an attack of opportunity against you.
You must be engaged to a foe at the beginning of your action to make a full attack.
Disengage: Move action. You are no longer engaged to one foe that was engaged to you.
Withdraw: Make an opposed Move check against all foes that are engaged with you. Each foe whose Move check you beat, you disengage from. You may also choose to disengage from other foes, but each of those foes can make an attack of opportunity against you.
Threaten: Full-round action. Sort of the reverse of 'full defense,' you spend your round being opportunistic, trying to keep people from moving around. If you take the Threaten action, whenever a creature makes a Move check, if he fails or succeeds by less than 5, you can take an attack of opportunity.
It might actually be more complicated, but it requires no maps. Some skills would also need to be changed, and feats like Mobility and Spring Attack.
RangerWickett
Legend
Standard action.
BigRedRod
First Post
Mean DM said:Greetings! I am wrestling with the idea tossing my battlemat. Does anyone have any house rules for doing gridless combat? I'd like to mine people's ideas and experiences because I am not very good at rule design. Hence, my screen name. Thanx!
There is no real issue doing like the GW games
1 square = 5ft = 1 inch
Bang
Problem solved
I've run some gridless combats just using 5ft=1 inch. It works okay. It avoid the problem of people counting squares before movement. And it avoids the count 2 for diagonal problem. The only problems we had were reach, where it wasn't clear what a creature with 15' reach could attack, and 5ft steps. Some players (and the DM too) would move much more than an inch during a 5' step.
Someone
Adventurer
I was thinking on some rules that would be similar to RangerWickett´s, but I realized that they are not really that useful if you have a clear mental image of the battle and where´s each one (and if you don´t, battles are going to be a mess no matter what rules are you using). Simply have in mind that charching someone with a bigger reach means an attack of opportunity, and how many people do fit in a fireball.
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