Is there an OGL/d20 Combat book that...

[Water Bob]

I'm looking for an OGL/d20 book/rule supplement that focuses on melee combat in a fantasy setting and emphasizes movement on the combat grid.

Does such an animal exist?

I want the counters and miniatures to move around a bit on the battlefield, and I want them to have a mechanical reason for doing so.

Any suggestions?

 

[Dandu]

There's probably something for it in Tome of Battle. Whether that's fantasy is a subject of debate.

 

[Nebten]

Not to my knowledge, but to get more movement you can do the following things:

Remove Attacks of Oppertunties or
Allow Full attacks with movement.

Either option will make the game more dangerous but it will avoid your combats looking like a kindergarden soccer game.


If you want to dabble in the dark arts . . . look at 4th edition material. It is more focused on movement and positioning then 3.x.

 

[Arkhandus]

Yes, the Tome of Battle: Book of Nine Swords, from Wizards of the Coast for 3.5 D&D, does have some stuff that emphasizes moving around the battlefield in melee.

Maneuvers like Tactical Strike let adjacent allies take a free 5-foot step when you hit the opponent in melee, while stances like Island of Blades encourage PCs to fight close to one another against the same foes with easier flanking. Maneuvers like Charging Minotaur let PCs move in for a bull rush more easily and push enemies around, while ones like Mountain Avalanche allow PCs to trample over enemies of similar size. Maneuvers like Battle Leader's Charge encourage charging across the battlefield to engage other foes even if some mook has gotten close enough to threaten you. Maneuvers like Mighty Throw and its ilk let you toss enemies around while tripping them. Stances like Child of Shadow only work if you move around a decent amount on your turn. Step of the Wind gives you a boost when moving around on difficult terrain.

Maneuvers like Douse the Flames and Defensive Rebuke deny enemies from taking attacks of opportunity on you or your allies briefly, which lets allies move around more freely. Maneuvers like Blistering Flourish and Death Mark require moving into good positions first so you don't catch allies in their area of effect. Dance of the Spider lets you climb around while fighting. Clever Positioning lets you switch positions with the target of your attack. Tactics of the Wolf gives a boost to your party's flanking attacks. Leaping Dragon Stance lets you jump around easily and higher/further than normal.

Various maneuvers and stances require you to be adjacent to multiple foes or only help out if you're close to allies. Etc. There are also a few feats in the book that allow more movement or which encourage moving around more.

Of course, the book is closer to wuxia, anime, comic-book, or video-game style special attacks and defenses than to sword-n-sorcery stuff, for the most part; while stuff like most of the Iron Heart discipline is fairly mundane and just pure skill (Mithral Tornado and Adamantine Hurricane are basically improved versions of the Whirlwind Attack feat; other Iron Heart maneuvers include things like Disarming Strike, Dazing Strike, Scything Blade, etc.). Most maneuvers and stances are extraordinary abilities, but some are supernatural.

The base classes and prestige classes in the book are also fairly mystical in some way or another; swordsages could be mundane with the right maneuver/stance/feat choices, but they do gain Sense Magic at 7th-level which lets them identify most magic weapons/armor through meditation/examination; warblades are mundane unless they choose some supernatural maneuvers or the like, which are relatively few on their class list.

You could just as easily build a sort of Conan figure with Tome of Battle as you could build a ninja, samurai, holy warrior, warrior-monk, or combat mystic of some sort.

 

[Eldritch_Lord]

Of course, the book is closer to wuxia, anime, comic-book, or video-game style special attacks and defenses than to sword-n-sorcery stuff, for the most part; while stuff like most of the Iron Heart discipline is fairly mundane and just pure skill (Mithral Tornado and Adamantine Hurricane are basically improved versions of the Whirlwind Attack feat; other Iron Heart maneuvers include things like Disarming Strike, Dazing Strike, Scything Blade, etc.). Most maneuvers and stances are extraordinary abilities, but some are supernatural.

The base classes and prestige classes in the book are also fairly mystical in some way or another; swordsages could be mundane with the right maneuver/stance/feat choices, but they do gain Sense Magic at 7th-level which lets them identify most magic weapons/armor through meditation/examination; warblades are mundane unless they choose some supernatural maneuvers or the like, which are relatively few on their class list.

You could just as easily build a sort of Conan figure with Tome of Battle as you could build a ninja, samurai, holy warrior, warrior-monk, or combat mystic of some sort.

And when you say "is more anime for the most part" you actually mean to say "The swordsage, which is meant to be a replacement monk, has access to 2 mostly-supernatural disciplines out of its 6 available, and the crusader, which is meant to be a replacement paladin, has access to 1 somewhat-supernatural discipline out of its 3 available, and there are three PrCs (Bloodstorm Blade, Deepstone Sentinel, Shadow Sun Ninja) with some magical class abilities, and the rest of the book is (Ex) and mundane in flavor."

There's nothing anime-like or video-game-like about having named maneuvers; all martial arts, Eastern and Western, name their moves. The only reason the ToB maneuvers had flowery names (the "anime" part people object to) was that by the time it was published, everything was getting flowery names. Remember, it's by the same company who gave us two entire frikkin' Monster Manuals of Deathdrinkers, Bluespawn Godslayers, Cyclonic Ravagers, Dark Talon Wasp Riders, and other [Adjective][Noun] [Noun][Verb]ers; compared to that, Punishing Stance and Mithral Tornado are positively tame.

 

[Nagual]

What about Malhavoc's Book of Experimental Might II: Bloody, Bold, and Resolute -- I'm planning on adding some these "maneuvers" as additional combat actions in my campaign.

Book of Experimental Might II: Bloody, Bold, and Resolute

 

[Water Bob]

Nice comments. Thanks everyone. I'm checking out the suggestions. Please, keep 'em coming.

In the mean time, I'm also considering two simple combat maneuvers that I've been tooling around with for a while, making different versions (haven't implemented them in the game yet).

One big difference in the Conan RPG and normal 3.0/3.5 D&D is that the Conan game is rife with combat maneuvers. There's not a maneuver for everything you want to do, but there are a mucho, buncho, whole hell of a lot of 'em.

They're very neat because they act as a type of Feat that every character can access when needed. Most combat maneuvers are keyed to a situation. For example, if you roll an attack that exactly equals your foe's parry, then your weapons are locked together, begining a duel of STR ratings, trying to push each other back.

CM's make combat very fun. And, remember, there ain't a whole lot of magic in Conan, so many CMs take the place of spells like Bless and Protection From Evil.

What there is a lack of, though, are movement related CMs. Oh, there are umpteen different charge variations, to be sure. But there's not a heck of a lot of mechanical reasons to move around your foe in combat as there is in real life.

This is what I'd like to see put into the game. We've got the five foot step to work with. I'd like to have some uses for it that mechanically benefit the combat participants.

The two maneuvers that I've been contemplating are Circle Step and Give Ground. With Circle Step, a character with initiative must make his attack then use is 5' step to move into an adjacent square of his enemy, either right or left. This simulates the attacker circling around his foe trying to avoid being hit, all the while looking for an opening in his opponent's defenses. The foe gets a free action to maintain facing with the character (that way, a player won't use the maneuver to gain a flank bonus), but the character gets a +1 to his Dodge defense (not his Parry defense).

With the Give Ground maneuver, I envision a character attacking then using his 5' step to retreat away from contact with the foe's square. There's a -1 penalty on the attack. The foe can then take a 5' step on his turn and attack as normal (taking a 5' step does not effect Full Attacks). If the original character who gave ground is hit, then 1 point of damage is soaked up by the character as he gave ground, stealing some of the momentum and energy from his enemy's attack. It's only 1 point of damage, but over a combat, it can add up!

And, both of these maneuvers make the figures on the battlegrid move while the players are motivated to use the movements for the mechanical benefits.

I need to put some more thought into these two maneuvers, I know. I'm especially not completely happy with the Give Ground maneuver. But, that's where my thinking is right now.

I'd love to find a d20/OGL book that adds a few movement-oriented combat manevuers. I'll check out Experimental Might II. It seems promising.

 

[Water Bob]

Wow, those Experimental Might books are neat (though I see I should have spent a couple bucks more and got the hardback print version through Amazon for just $23).

Looking through the first book tonight, I see an interesting hit point model.

Cook divides Hit Points into Grace and Health. Losing Grace points means you're using up your luck, getting close to operating past your skill level, taking on fatigue, and intangible damage like that. Damage to Health points means you've taken a physical wound.

Your Health equals your CON score plus CON modifier plus your level, with a minumum of 1.

Your Grace points are everything else.

Thus, a 4th level Soldier with 40 hit points and a CON 15 would have 27 hit points of Health and 13 of Grace.

Health = 15 +2 HP per level due to CON + level = 15 + 8 + 4 = 27

Grace = what's left = 13.

The book has Grace points healing at 1 point per minute rested (they're basically combat fatigue!). Health heals at 1 point per day of rest.

Interesting.

When a character is damaged, Grace points are removed first.

This system makes low level characters much more able to withstand damage and stick around for a while. Consider: A 1st level Barbarian with CON 16 would have hit points equal to 1d10* + 16 + 3 + 1 = 1d10 + 20.

*If you still gave max hit points at 1st level, this character's starting hit points would be 30 hp. Wow. Rolling, he would average 25 hit points.

I think this is a neat system worth considering in a game.

This Barbarian, at 1st level, at 25 hit points, would have Health = 20 and Grace = 5 (or whatever was rolled on the 1d10).

This sure would make 1st level characters a little more viable to play, wouldn't it? And still, the Conan game, especially with the Massive Damage rule at 20+ hit points of damage, still remains quite gritty.

Worth thinking about.

 

[Arkhandus]

And when you say "is more anime for the most part" you actually mean to say "The swordsage, which is meant to be a replacement monk, has access to 2 mostly-supernatural disciplines out of its 6 available, and the crusader, which is meant to be a replacement paladin, has access to 1 somewhat-supernatural discipline out of its 3 available, and there are three PrCs (Bloodstorm Blade, Deepstone Sentinel, Shadow Sun Ninja) with some magical class abilities, and the rest of the book is (Ex) and mundane in flavor."

There's nothing anime-like or video-game-like about having named maneuvers; all martial arts, Eastern and Western, name their moves. The only reason the ToB maneuvers had flowery names (the "anime" part people object to) was that by the time it was published, everything was getting flowery names. Remember, it's by the same company who gave us two entire frikkin' Monster Manuals of Deathdrinkers, Bluespawn Godslayers, Cyclonic Ravagers, Dark Talon Wasp Riders, and other [Adjective][Noun] [Noun][Verb]ers; compared to that, Punishing Stance and Mithral Tornado are positively tame.

I said it's closer to those genres/games for the most part; not that it IS mostly like that stuff. You don't see Conan exhaling cones of fire and standing there to take a sword to the face because he's "just that tough." But you would see someone from Dragonball Z, Naruto, or other anime/manga series doing stuff like that, or video-game characters having such abilities even if they're primarily warrior-types. Yet a martial adept with the right maneuver or stance could do just these sorts of things.

Perhaps you missed the other half of my post where I described how you COULD use the ToB to make a more sword-n-sorcery style warrior? Also, mind you, my comments weren't meant at all in a negative tone; I love using hte Tome of Battle and I like it's over-the-top style.

But honestly, a LOT of the maneuvers and stances and prestige classes are undeniably mystical. Even Iron Heart has a scant few examples, like Lightning Throw. Stone Dragon has plenty, from Stone Bones to Mountain Hammer to Earthstrike Quake to Colossus Strike, and the couple of variants of each of those at different levels. Setting Sun has stuff like Comet Throw, Ghostly Defense, Ballista Throw, and Tornado Throw (though most of that disicpline is reasonably mundane; even though some of these maneuvers are extraordinary, no real person could throw another person 20 or 40 feet and through a crowd of people to horribly bludgeon all of them).

Devoted Spirit is ALMOST ENTIRELY divinely-powered maneuvers, ranging frmo Crusader's Strike to Foehammer to Divine Surge to Radiant Charge to Immortal Fortitude and so on and so forth. Diamond Mind is a mix of extraordinary techniques and a few that just can't be natural even if the book doesn't label them supernatural; stuff like Action Before Thought, Mind Over Body, Quicksilver Motion, and Time Stands Still (depending on the weapon; one can easily imagine a master martial artist making a half-dozen or more unarmed strikes to dagger-strikes in a few seconds, but a greatsword-wielder? A warhammer-wielder? A halberdier?). Shadow Hand and Desert Wind are, obviously, almost purely supernatural disciplines.

Tiger Claw is mostly minor shapeshifting and such, and some maneuvers/stances stemming from pure bloodlust and savage instincts, plus a few that could be pure skill or athleticism. White Raven is a mix of skill, teamwork, motivation, and a few maneuvers that just have to stem from something similar to bardic music in their ability to inspire/empower allies to move much faster than normal and in unison.

Oh, and there are a few maneuvers that ought to be looked out for; White Raven Tactics probably shouldn't allow allies to act again in the same round; War Master's Charge probably needs some limits or the like to avoid a bunch of mooks or summoned critters making it super-powerful; Swooping Dragon Strike should have its save DC at 17 + Strength bonus like a normal maneuver instead of using the Jump check as its save DC.

As for prestige classes? Bloodclaw Master is all about shapeshifting and better two-weapon fighting with light weapons. Bloodstorm Blades somehow nonmagically make all their weapons gain the Returning magic weapon quality so they're all like boomerangs, while gaining ridiculous ricochet attacks and other abilities that blatantly out to be supernatural. Deepstone Sentinels manipulate elemental earth directly to form pillars of stone and ride around on them, smashing foes and doing other earth-elemental tricks. Eternal Blades gain a supernatural spiritual guide and acquire various benefits from that spirit. Jade Phoenix Mages are reincarnated mages with a mix of arcane spells and supernatural stances/maneuvers. Ruby Knight Vindicators blend divine spellcasting and special abilities to channel divine energy into martial maneuvers with continued development of their martial maneuvers/stances. Shadow Sun Ninjas manipulate light and dark, positive and negative energy, all the time and continue to learn more martial stances/maneuvers.

So yeah. The ONLY truly nonmagical prestige class in ToB is the Master of Nine, and since they can learn maneuvers and stances from all disciplines (including the most-supernatural disciplines), that's not much different. Bloodstorm Blades are only non-magical in a game-rule sense because the designers somehow though that none of their class features ought to be supernatural despite how much they break the laws of nature/physics.

And the only nonmagical base class in ToB is the Warblade.

All that said, you can still play a nonmagical, or fairly "traditional" warrior type with Tome of Battle if you choose the right feats, maneuvers, stances, and classes. And it can be great fun. It's just not what MOST of the book is oriented towards. Most of it's clearly dedicated to more superheroic, epic fantasy hero stuff like mythological heroes would be capable of, Hercules et al, not mere mortals in a gritty/semi-realistic setting.

 

[Nagual]

On the subject of hps -- decided personally to stick with the basic model and apply the damage to specific locations Variant rule -- as a "called shot" option. Would like to use the Armour as DR rule (Unearthed Arcana) but I have a very lazy troupe. Don't think they would put up with the extra work.

My campaign has no clerical magic -- wizardry and psionics only, limiting the availability of healing magics -- which I hope will encourage a "grittier" mood (along with varied EL). Opponents will mostly have specific agendas, meaning entering combat only when it serves their purpose (and have the advantage, unless foeced by the PCs...), and fighting to achieve that specific purpose.