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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Water Bob" data-source="post: 5606331" data-attributes="member: 92305">In my Conan game, I wanted to liven up combat a bit. Instead of just having two characters slug it out (albeit with exciting description) in the normal D&D fashion, I wanted to add heat butts and elbow jabs, and see people people grappling and using their daggers to slice a foe's throat. I wanted them to be able to trip their foe or kick 'em in the chest, knocking them backwards. I wanted combat in my game to be akin to what you see in this clip....    [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_b6got4G4Ys]YouTube - ‪Fight scene from the film Centurion 2010.‬‏[/ame]   There are rules for all of this in the game, but those rules seem to get used sparingly because, when you use most of them, you allow your foe to first take an Attack of Opportunity on you (for example, if you punch your foe, you make yourself open to an AoO first--and that makes attempting the punch not worth the risk). What I did was to encourage the gim and gritty fighting you see in the Centurion clip above was this:   First, I adopted the Active Defense rule. You know the one. It's an offical d20 variant where you roll your defense rather than have your attacker roll against an AC number. Take your AC and subtract 10 (the average roll of a d20 is 10). Then use the remainder as a modifier on your defense roll. Thus, if you have an AC 17, your defense roll is d20 + 7. The attacker rolls his attack normally, then, in opposed roll fashion, the defender rolls his defense. I've used it in my game, and it's quite fun.  One would think that adding a new die roll to combat would slow it down, but I haven't noticed it.  We think the game is more exciting with the throw. And, using Active Defense doesn't change a game in the slightest.  Your character has the same chance of being hit whether he's AC 14 or rolling for defense with d20 + 4.The next thing I did was throw in some exciting variables that can happen during a fight. Check this out... Natural 20 throws... If the attacker rolls a natural 20, it's a critical threat, per the normal rules. Roll to see if the hit supports Critical Damage. If a natural 20 is rolled on the defense roll, then the defender just parried or dodged in such a way that he's gained a counter attack on his enemy. This counter attack is a free action, but it also counts and an Attack of Opportunity (and characters are usually limited to one AoO per round). Natural 1 throws... If the attacker throws a natural 1, or if the defender throws a natural 1, then he has opened himself up to a special limited attack of opportunity from his foe. This special AoO is limited in that it cannot be a lethal attack. It must be an attack aimed at delivering nonlethal damage or some other nonlethal type action. Thus, if your foe throws a natural 1, you have an opportunity to head butt him, punch him in the face, elbow him, knee him, kick him in the gut, among many other nonlethal attacks. Normally, a foe would earn an AoO against you for such an action, but under this special rule, when the natural 1 shows on the attack or defense roll, the target's AoO is ignored, making these types of nonlethal attacks safe to use. So, when your foe throws a natural 1 on his attack or defense throw, you may attempt an unarmed strike safely, but you might also want to start a grapple, sunder his weapon or shield, attempt to trip him, or do something else. All of this is legal as long as the character doesn't move or attempt to deliver lethal damage.  For example, if a foe throws a "1" on his attack throw against you, you could take advantage of that by rolling the first part of a Feint attack (the acutal "feint").  Then, with your turn coming up next,  you follow that Feint up with (if it was successful) your lethal attack, catching the foe Flat-Footed.When Attack = Defense.... If the attack throw ties the defence throw, different things can happen. If the attack throw ties the Parry defense roll, and the number is even, then the two weapons are locked together (use the Lock Weapons combat maneuver). If the tie number is odd, then the attacker gets a free sunder attempt on his foe's weapon. Again, the defender does not get an Attack of Op as he normally would if someone tried to sunder his weapon or shield. If the attack throw ties the Dodge defense roll, and the number is even, then the attacker is allowed to make a free disarm attempt against his opponent. If the attack throw ties the Dodge defense roll, and the number is odd, then the attacker gets a free Trip attemp against the defender. Again, normally a defender would get an AoO against someone trying to trip him, but in this situation, the defender's AoO is barred. It's a consequence of the tie. I find that these rules are perfect to making my Conan combat look like what you see in the video. Many, many strikes are just normal blows, but if a natural 20, natural 1, or a tie shows up, something interesting is going to happen that may change the nature of the combat.     The only thing I'm not sure about is the "Disarm" attempt on the Dodge fumble.  The trip makes a lot of sense to me, but I'm not sure the disarm fits.   But, I can't think of another rule to use with the Dodge.  Can you?  And, the Disarm seems to be a pretty chancy maneuver even taking out the foe's AoO.  If the attacker fails his Disarm attempt, then the defender automatically gets a free Disarm attempt on the attacker!  So, it could end up that Frank rolls an odd tie with his Dodge defense against his attacker.  The attacker attempts the disarm but loses the toss, and Frank ends up disarming him!    The question here is:  Can you think of a better match for the tied Dodge Defense?  Trip works.  What else?</blockquote>

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