Spicy Conan Combat Rules

Water Bob

Adventurer
Here's a clean-up of my Spicy Conan Combat Rules.



NOTES
- Use Active Defense.
- Extra attacks provided by these rules do not count against a character's allotment of AoO attempts.
- Fumble victims do not benefit from an AoO against attacks on the Fumble Chart.
- A Counter Attack is a free, immediate attack against opponent.
- An Unarmed Non-Lethal Attack can be a head butt, elbow, kick, punch, bite, knee, or similar attack.
- A Trip can be as simple as a kick to an opponent's gut that knocks him on the ground.
- On the following round after a successful grapple, an attempt can be made to draw a dagger to slice an opponent's throat.



NATURAL 20

20 Attack = Critical Threat per official rules.
20 Defense = Counter Attack.



NATURAL 1

1 Parry Defense = Roll 1d2 on the Fumble Chart.
1 Dodge Defense - Roll 1d2+2 on the Fumble Chart.
1 Attack = Roll 1d5 on the Fumble Chart.

FUMBLE CHART
1. Sunder
2. Disarm
3. Unarmed Non-lethal Attack
4. Trip
5. Grapple





ATTACK = DEFENSE

Attack = Parry Defense: Sunder.

If defender is using a weapon to parry, then he may make a REF save vs. the tie number to Lock Weapons. Otherwise, a tie means a free Sunder attempt for the attacker.

Attack = Dodge Defense: Unarmed Non-Lethal Attack.
 
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I read the thread title, was scared by the mental image of "Spicy Conan", as a dude in a loincloth to begin with, I don't want to know what he does to spice himself up.

How does one throw a weapon at an opponent one has grappled? Isn't your opponent within your arms, and therefore not really far enough to throw anything at?
 


I've tweaked the Spicy Combat Rules some more. Here's the latest version.

Note that these rules are intended for melee, not combat with distance weapons (I may add that later).





NOTES
- Use Active Defense.
- A Counter Attack is a free, immedaite attack against opponent.
- Counter Attacks and Fumble Attacks do count as Attacks of Opportunity.
- Fumble Attacks do not provoke Attacks of Opportunity (as those attacks shown in the Fumble Attack Chart usually do).
- An Unarmed Non-Lethal Attack can be a head butt, elbow, kick, punch, bite, knee, or similar attack.
- A Trip can be as simple as a kick to an opponent's gut that knocks him on the ground.
- On the following round after a successful grapple, an attempt can be made to draw a dagger to slice an opponent's throat.





NATURAL 20

20 Attack = Critical Threat per official rules.
20 Defense = Counter Attack (AoO).



NATURAL 1

1 Attack = Roll 1d6 on the Fumble Attack Chart.
1 Defense = Roll 1d6 on the Fumble Attack Chart, but the original attack will usually hit as well.

FUMBLE ATTACK CHART (AoOs)
1. Sunder
2. Disarm
3. Trip
4. Grapple
5. Unarmed Non-Lethal Attack
6. Unarmed Non-Lethal Attack





WHEN ATTACK = DEFENSE

Attack = Parry Defense: Sunder.
If defender is using a weapon to parry, though, he may make a REF save vs. the tie number to Lock Weapons in place of the Sunder. Failure means the attacker proceeds with the Sunder attempt against the defender's weapon.


Attack = Dodge Defense: Trip.
 
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FUMBLE ATTACK CHART (AoOs)
1. Sunder
2. Disarm
3. Trip
4. Grapple
5. Unarmed Non-Lethal Attack
6. Unarmed Non-Lethal Attack

Long time no see WB!


...Without giving it much thought, what I dislike about this chart is that it takes away player choice and gives it to the dice.

What if the opponent is so wounded i know I can take him out with a single blow... and I roll a 3 (trip)?

What if I want to stop someone from getting away and I roll a 2 (disarm)?

IMHO, if you want that much spice for AoOs, why don't you just let players decide?
 

...Without giving it much thought, what I dislike about this chart is that it takes away player choice and gives it to the dice.

LOL. The chart is the result of my players' preferences. They disliked the choice and wanted a chart.

Different strokes.

If you wanted to use such an animal, just remove the roll. Allow the players to pick what they want to do.

My Spicy rules started out that way and have evolved to the chart based on what my players prefer. I agreed with my players because it would put spicy variety into the game. With player choice, I found that players would always pick the same thing. So, for example, a player would always do an unarmed attack when presented with the opportunity. The chart makes different types of attacks possible. I rationalize it by saying that a specific type of attack presented it self--a foe may Dodge and open himself up to a grapple but not a sunder.

As always, change the rules to fit your game.
 


I'm generally not a fan of critical fumble systems, but the rest of it seems pretty okay. How is it working out in play for you?

I haven't used it enough yet for an honest reply. We're only had four game sessions so far, with the fifth coming up in two days. We've done a lot of roleplaying and really no combat to speak of--one one fight. In that fight, a tie came up and the result was a sunder. That actually worked quite well, turning the combat into something more than just I-hit-you-hit.

You're not a fan of Critical Fumble System, but make note that this isn't a critical fumble system. It's just a fumble system. Notice the results on the chart are all non-lethal (the Counter Attacks are not on the Fumble Chart). No real damage results from any of the outcomes (though the fumble can certainly lead to some deadly situations).

The outcomes damage your equipment, can make you prone or make you drop your weapon, or you take non-lethal damage.

I don't think I will make a similar chart for ranged weapons--the same idea doesn't "play" with distance weapons.







Example of the System in Use, rolling real dice with two PCs from my game. I'll write as I roll....

Caelis wins nish, approaches Silaigne, and attacks him. Caelis is using two hatchets, while Silaigne uses a spear and shield.

The swing is too early. Caelis overreaches, and Silaigne easily counters with a poke of his critter sticker. Caelis bats the spear away with his right hand hatchet, then moves deeper inside Silaigne's guard with slamming both hatches down on his enemy. One swings for his shoulder, while the other is an uppercut to Silaigne's rib cage.

Silaigne bats away the shoulder attack with his shield but takes the full brunt of the uppercut. (With a 1st level character, this blow of 10 points nearly kills him. He's got 3 points left.

The spearman staggers backward, favoring his side, then jabs his spear at Caelis right thigh. Caelis bats the speartip away and returns two more blows, but Silaigne's shield deflects both of them.

A quick jerk, and Silaigne rams his spear up towards his opponent's chin. Caelis is too slow. The tip catches him under the jawbone and draws a bloody streak across his cheek almost to his ear. (Siliagne now does 9 pts on Caelis, leaving Caelis with just 1 hit point. Whomever hits next will win the fight).

Caelis screams a war cry and uses both hatches to chop at his foe like praying mantis piercing prey. Both impact on Silaigne's shield.

Then, the Cimmerian follows through with a low, piercing motion to Caelis' gut. The strike is just about mortal. Silaigne shoves the spear deep into Caelis' stomach--so much so that the spear's metal tip disappears into flesh.

Caelis' eyes go wide. He drops both hatchets just before his knees buckle. Silaigne rips the spear backwards, retrieving it, as Caelis hands move to cover his wound...just as Caelis' eyes flutter and roll back in his head as he passes out. (Caelis is at -9 HP from that blow. It doesn't look good for him.)



Since I didn't force the system above to happen, waiting to see what would happen, this didn't turn out to be a very good example of the system in play, did it? But, it does show that the system above is uses sparingly.



The system is supposed to reproduce the type of fighting seen in this combat scene from the movie Centurion:

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_b6got4G4Ys]Fight scene from the film Centurion 2010. - YouTube[/ame]



So far, I think it does that quite well.

For example, say Caelis rolls a "1" on his attack throw, and Silaigne gets a "grapple" result. Silaigne doesn't have to take advantage of the grapple. The grapple counts as one of Silaigne's Attacks of Opportunity. But, this allows Silaigne the opportunity to drop his spear, grab Caelis (with the grapple), and then on the next round, draw his hunting blade and slit Caelis' throat as with some of the moments in the scene I post above.





One of the things this system does do is bring Sunder, Disarm, Trip, Grapple, and Unarmed Non-lethal Attacks into the game much more often than they are used in the game now. I think these types of attacks aren't used often because, with the foe getting an AoO on the attacker, most players won't risk the extra damage that can come from the AoO.

With this system, the foe doesn't get that AoO, and thus attempting a Sunder or a Trip is more "safe".

The game is still "fair" because it's all decided by dice. A player can't abuse the system. If a player wants to attempt a Disarm normally, then he also has to suffer the AoO the foe gets normally.





One other thing that this system does is keep characters alive a bit longer. How? Well, normally, if an attacker rolls a tie, then the attack succeeds. With this system, that attack is replaced by an attack that does non-lethal damage or no damage at all.

The same thing when a "1" is rolled for defense. That attack would normally do damage to the character but is, instead, replaced by a non-lethal attack.

And, as another balancing factor, the number of attacks provided by this system is limited to a character's total number of AoOs for the round.

Most characters only get one AoO per round. Thus, if a character gets unlucky and rolls a "1" on his attack and then again on his defense, most foes will only be able to take advantage of one of those fumble attacks (Combat Reflexes and a High Dex needed to take adavante of more AoOs).





This rule makes Combat Reflexes more important than it was before, and I like that.






To sum up...

1. The rule makes melee combat more exciting by allowing attacks not normally used in a game.

2. The rule is geared towards keeping PCs alive longer by replacing some normal attacks that would hit with non-lethal attacks that may or may not hit and cause damage on the PC.

3. The rule makes Combat Reflexes a more valuable Feat than it was before.
 

And, here's a movement rule I'm going to try out in my campaign next game session.



COMBAT DANCE - Melee combat is all about movement and position with relation to your foe. Each combat round, an attacker must move at least five feet (into an adjacent square) or suffer the penalty of not maneuvering to one's best advantage.

This rule is best used if you use miniatures or some sort of tactical combat grid. I use a big sheet of graph paper, magic marker, thumb tacks to represent characters, all on a large, table-sized cork board. If you don't use some physical represenation of characters and enemies, then this rule will probably not be useful to you.

If an attacker does not perform the Combat Dance on his turn, then he runs the risk of being caught flat-footed on any successful attack by his foe that resuts from a natural roll of 15+.





Example:

Caelis does not move from his current square on his attack. Following him is Silaigne, his foe, who takes advantage of Caelis' lack of footwork to land a blow on him. On Silaigne's attack, if it is a natural 15 or better, then Caelis is considred flat-footed for that attack.
 

Latest Version...



NOTES
- Use Active Defense.
- A Counter Attack is a free, immedaite attack against opponent.
- Counter Attacks and Fumble Attacks count as Attacks of Opportunity.
- Fumble Attacks do not provoke Attacks of Opportunity (as those attacks shown in the Fumble Attack Chart usually do).
- An Unarmed Non-Lethal Attack can be a head butt, elbow, kick, punch, bite, knee, or similar attack.
- When taken as a Fumble Attack, a character cannot take the -4 penalty to do lethal damage with an unarmed strike.
- A Trip can be as simple as a kick to an opponent's gut that knocks him on the ground.
- On the following round after a successful grapple, an attempt can be made to draw a dagger to slice an opponent's throat.





NATURAL 20

20 Attack = Critical Threat per official rules.
20 Defense = Counter Attack (AoO).



NATURAL 1

1 Attack = Roll 1d6 on the Fumble Attack Chart.
1 Defense = Roll 1d6 on the Fumble Attack Chart, but the original attack will usually hit as well.

FUMBLE ATTACK CHART (AoOs)
1. Sunder
2. Disarm
3. Unarmed Non-Lethal Attack
4. Trip
5. Grapple
6. Unarmed Non-Lethal Attack





WHEN ATTACK = DEFENSE

These special attacks when ties occur do not count as Attacks of Opportunity. These attacks replace the normal, lethal attack.

Attack = Parry Defense: Sunder.
If defender is using a weapon to parry, though, he may make a REF save vs. the tie number to Lock Weapons in place of the Sunder. Failure means the attacker proceeds with the Sunder attempt against the defender's weapon.


Attack = Dodge Defense: Trip.
 

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