Kiss The Five Foot Square Good-bye!

GMSkarka

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[imagel]http://www.rpgnow.com/products/product_5865.jpg[/imagel]
Kiss The Five Foot Square Good-bye!

"Damn” muttered the player. “How many of those things are there, anyway?”

“It looks like forty demons of various sorts, plus another 1000 orcs.” The Game Master gazed glumly at the large map.

Groans echoed around the table. One of the players shook her head. “This is going to take all night!”


It Doesn't Have To.



NARRATIVE COMBAT gives Game Masters an entirely new combat system -- one that moves away from the tactical skirmish-level miniatures game that D20 has become. This new system can be used with the existing feats and abilities, and is usable in ANY d20 game--Fantasy, Modern, Future or Past.

In fiction, combat serves to highlight and resolve conflict. The scene shows us something important about the world, the characters, and their relationships with one another. Combat also acts as a symbol for danger, sharpening the tension in a scene by giving us a visceral sense the characters might die.

In a RPG, though, combat occurs so often it blends into the background. The scene tells us little about the characters or the world. Instead it serves as a way to work with numbers and explore various tactical options. We play a game of combat in which random chance, character building choices, and tactical savvy stand dominant over narrative concerns.

With NARRATIVE COMBAT we try to combine narrative flow and the game elements of RPG combat. The players make meaningful choices and face obstacles worthy of heroes in the pursuit of goals that mean something. Meanwhile, the game elements provide both play options and the dramatic tension associated with the possibility of failure.

This supplement, written by Shannon Kalvar, contains:
  • An overview of Narrative Combat
  • A detailed new story-based combat system for D20.
  • A guide to the tools needed to design and manage encounters under this system.
  • A chapter of example encounter templates.
  • The core feats of D20 translated into the new system--and guidelines for how to translate new feats and abilities from other D20 products.

Click on the cover image to be taken to the product page, where you can download a 4-page demo.

THE GAME TEXT IN THIS PRODUCT IS 100% OPEN CONTENT

ADM2015
$7.95 PDF
$14.95 PRINT
 
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This looks super cool, Gareth. I'm printing the demo now so I can learn more, but if it performs as well as the description suggests, I think I'll adopt a mix of standard and narrative combat in my games ASAP.
 

HalWhitewyrm said:
This looks super cool, Gareth. I'm printing the demo now so I can learn more, but if it performs as well as the description suggests, I think I'll adopt a mix of standard and narrative combat in my games ASAP.

Thanks!

That's what it was specifically designed to handle, actually -- bouncing back and forth between narrative and standard combat as the situation merits.
 

Y'know... there was a time I wouldn't have believed anyone would ever get me into D20, at least not as a GM (or player by choice), but between your pulp stuff and this... you might just manage it yet.
 

What impeccable timing! My current online campaign is coming to a close and we're hunting around for a new game to run, but the one requirement is it must be something everyone knows (ie d20) but with a quick and easy combat system as online games get bogged down very easily online. Looks like we've just found the solution!
 

sounds interesting can we have a concrete example with game stats? say two PC vs some Mobs. With blow by blow narration, and what that narration means in game terms. The demo doc was confusing, I just dont get what it mean by encounter templates. I simple example is really needed.

Overall I love the idea of narrative combat.. I was thinking about leaving D20 altogether, for The Riddle of Steel. :confused: But if this is a useful and quick system, i maybe staying. :cool:

Also quick someone do a playtest review. ;)
 

It might not make a ton of sense without reading the rules, but here's an example encounter template:

Brawl
Objective: Meet the damage threshold
Threshold (Damage): Amass 20d of untargeted damage
Event (Each round): Deal 3d untargeted damage to the characters and 1d targeted damage to one character
Event (Lethal weapon or F/X used): In 1d4 rounds exit to “Resisting Arrest Template”
Outcome: Brawl ends

Here's basically what that means: This template describes a simple bar brawl in which drunken louts try to brain each other with beer bottles. The characters resolve the fight by amassing 20d of damage against a damage threshold. Each round every character takes 3d damage (probably 3d4 based on the damage resolution chart, which determines the die type of damage based on the number of different damage types being delivered) and one character takes 4d damage due to random swings from the crowd. If the characters pull weapons or use a spell the authorities arrive in 1d4 rounds. If the characters are successful in amassing 20d of damage, the brawl ends.


Here's a more complex example:

Banish Demon
Objective: Meet the knowledge (religion) threshold
Threshold (Action): Knowledge (religion) DC 25): Amass six successes
Event (Each round): Deal 3d (fire, magic, evil) untargeted damage to the characters and 2d targeted damage to the character with the highest Knowledge (religion) check)
Event (Fourth success): Target one character with dominate person
Event (10 dice untargeted damage amassed by characters): Reduce untargeted damage by 2d this round
Outcome: Demon banished for now

This template describes using the Knowledge (religion) skill to perform a ritual of banishment on a demon. As the characters attempt to banish the creature it (or its minions) lashes out with fire, magic, and unholy power. The ritual leader suffers the most damage, requiring assistance from his friends. The PCs can attack (event three) to reduce the incoming damage. Once the ritual enters its final stretch the demon attempts to charm a target. If it succeeds the target character becomes a member of the opposition.

Note that in this case the “demon” does not need a d20 stat block at all. It is part of the encounter template.


I realize that the above examples are pretty confusing without being able to reference the book which describes character choices, stances, etc. But that should give you an idea.
 



I saw in the demo that there were rules for changing the standard D20 feats to this system, which I can see the need for. I didn't see anything about magic, however, and it seems to me that system might need some tweaking as well. How well would standard D&D magic work with this?
 

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