OVERVIEW
Generally speaking, there are 3 stages to stopping an attack.
An attack may be dodged, unless the attack is too quick to dodge or unless the attack affects an area too large to get out of in time.
An attack may be blocked, unless the attack is too quick to block or unless the attack is so forceful that it can't be blocked (such as a giant's club). Attacks such as poison mist or buckshot may also be unblockable because of their diffuse nature.
An attack may be stopped by armor, unless the attack is accurate enough to find a chink in the armor, or unless the attack is capable of piercing the armor (such as an arbalest bolt or giant's club).
If the attack bypasses dodge, block, and armor, then it causes some wound to the defender which impairs their ability to fight.
Key defender stats include:
dodge - ability to quickly avoid a blow
block - ability to quickly intercept a blow
block force - capacity to intercept a very forceful blow
armor coverage - amount of body covered by armor
armor force - capacity to stop a very forceful blow with armor
Key attacker stats include:
quickness - ability to overcome dodge and block through speed
attack force - ability to overcome block or armor through brute force
accuracy - ability to find a chink in the armor
Other stats:
move - number of meters the character can move per round
injuries - number of injuries the character has taken
WHY?
This system is designed for realism and reasonable simplicity.
Realistically, the goal in combat is to avoid getting hit. If someone cuts your bare flesh with a knife, it doesn't matter whether you are a high level knight or a beginning mage; it cuts just as easily as if you were a ham. And if somebody uses a knife to cut an inch into your arm you are severely impaired because the muscle fibers no longer work. The Dodge-Block-Armor system is focused around avoiding blows, not taking damage.
The system was designed with three characters in mind.
The Rogue - Armed with daggers or a short sword, the rogue is good at dodging blows, but has difficulty blocking them and low armor.
The Knight - The knight is not able to dodge as easily as the rogue because he is encumbered by armor, but the knight has a shield and is excellent at blocking. The knight has a great advantage over the rogue; almost any blow the rogue tries bounces off the knight's armor, whereas almost any blow the knight manages to land with his huge longsword kills or incapacitates the rogue. The rogue's best option against the knight is to run away.
The Giant - this huge monster wields an enormous club which he swings with enough force to smash down walls. Armor is useless. If the knight tried to block the giant's club with his shield, the knight would simply break his arm and the club would crush him anyway. The only way to avoid the giant's club is to dodge it. Therefore, the rogue has an advantage over the knight when fighting the giant.
ROLLING THE ATTACK
To roll the attack, you determine the attacker's advantage for dodge, block, and armor, and roll three modified d10. The attacker needs to win all three rolls for his attack to injure the defender.
A modified d10 (referred to as md10 below) is a ten sided die with sides labeled -5 through +4.
When a stat A of the attacker stat challenges a stat B of the defender, first you calculate the difficulty modifier B - A. This should be easy to determine mentally (subtracting two numbers that are close to each other). If md10 is at least B - A, then the attacker wins and the attack passes that stage. Else, the defender wins and the attack is stopped entirely.
Instead of using a modified d10, you can use a regular d10 numbered 1-10. In this case, the attacker wins if d10 - 6 is at least B - A. A modified d10 is preferable because it removes the need to subtract 6.
To get past Dodge, the attacker's Quickness challenges the defender's Dodge. (roll md10)
To get past Block, the attacker's Quickness challenges the defender's Block (roll md10). Alternatively, if the attacker's Attack Force is greater than the defender's Block Force, the attack is automatically unblocked.
To get past Armor, the attacker's Accuracy challenges the defender's Armor Coverage (roll md10). Alternatively, if the attacker's Attack Force is greater than the defender's Armor Force, the attack automatically goes through the armor.
STAT GUIDELINES
The following guidelines are an example of a typical human fighter with a sword, buckler and leather armor.
Quickness 10
Attack Force 10
Accuracy 10
Dodge 6 (much less than Quickness)
Block 12 (greater than Quickness)
Block Force 15 (much greater than Attack Force)
Armor Coverage - varies widely
Armor Force 13 (greater than Attack Force)
It is faster for the attacker to move his weapon than it is for the defender to move his whole body. Dodge < Quickness
A competent defender will probably be able to block most attacks.
Parrying with a weapon is considered a kind of blocking and is factored into the Block stat.
Generally, it's very hard to use brute force to overcome your opponent's attempt to block. To block your attack he only has to deflect your weapon to the side which is relatively not a lot of effort on his part.
With a sword, it's usually difficult to pierce your opponent's armor; better to aim for an unarmored spot.
Armor Coverage increases if the defender carries a large shield (larger than a buckler). A large shield increases both Block and Armor Coverage.
INJURIES
Injuries represent serious damage to the character's body such as a stab wound or broken arm. A healthy character has 0 injuries. Most edged or pointed attacks deal 1 injury if they connect. Injuries penalize any active physical stat you have, including quickness, attack force, block, dodge, attack force, block force, accuracy, and move. If you are a human with 5 injuries, you are dead.
TACTICS
Tactics temporarily alter your stats during combat for one round. Only one tactic may be used per round. Characters need to learn tactics before they can use them. Each tactic a character knows has a certain level, which increases the possible effects of the tactic.
Caution: reduces Quickness but increases Dodge and Block by any amount up to the level of Caution.
Lunge: reduces both Block and Dodge but increases Quickness by any amount up to the level of Lunge
Careful Strike: reduces Quickness but increases Accuracy by any amount up to the level of Careful Strike
Fast Strike: reduces Accuracy but increases Quickness by any amount up to the level of Fast Strike
Brutal Strike: reduces Quickness but increases Attack Force by any amount up to the level of Brutal Strike
Half-sword Thrust: requires a longsword with mailed gauntlets. The combatant grips the sword with one hand on the pommel and one hand in the middle of the blade for greater control and thrusting force. Reduces the range to knife range, but increases the Attack Force and Accuracy by the level of Half-sword Thrust.
Ringen am Schwert: "Wrestling at the sword". Use wrestling tactics to unbalance your opponent, giving you a better opportunity for a Careful Strike or Half-sword Thrust later. This was an important technique in historical armored combat. To be determined.
MELEE RANGES
The ranges of melee weapons are as follows: Knife Range (1 meter, including length of arm), Sword Range (2 meters), Halberd Range (3 meters), Pike Range (4 meters).
If you have a knife and your enemy has a sword, the point of his weapon is closer to you than the point of your weapon is to him. This means he can hit you more quickly, as he does not have to move as far.
So, if you have a shorter-ranged melee weapon than your opponent, you take a Quickness Penalty of 2 for every increment of range your opponent has on you. You can eliminate this penalty by successfully moving to a closer range (see below).
COMBAT ROUNDS
Combat proceeds in rounds, each round lasting about a second. Rounds are divided into phases.
At the start of each phase, players signal if they would like to perform an action appropriate to the phase. It shouldn't matter very much which order they choose their action, but the player who signals first may state his action first. Once an action is chosen he may not change his decision until a later phase of the round.
Phase 1: Players declare a "slow action."
Running somewhere is a slow action - towards or away from an enemy, or simply maneuvering on the battlefield. Each player may try to move a number of meters equal to their Move. If an enemy is running away, a player may then give chase to stay nearby. If an enemy is advancing, a player may try to back up. However, most combatants can only back up half of the distance they can advance, so backing up will not thwart an enemy who is trying to advance to closer melee range.
Notching a bow or casting a brief spoken spell also counts as a slow action. Multi-round actions, such as casting a longer spell or loading a crossbow, consist of several slow actions that must be performed without interruption in several consecutive rounds.
Slow actions will not actually finish until the end of the round, and they may be interrupted before then.
It is possible to declare more than one slow action at once if they are compatible - running and notching a bow, for instance.
Phase 2: Players declare who they will attack with a melee weapon or a bow that was notched in a previous round. It is possible to declare both a slow action such as running and an attack in the same round, provided the two actions do not interfere with each other.
To attack someone, either the target must be within range at the start of the round, or else the target must come into your range through planned movement this round. Knife range weapons can be used to attack someone at Knife Range or Sword Range. Sword range weapons can be used to attack someone at Knife Range, Sword Range, or Halberd Range. Halberd range weapons can be used to attack someone at Sword Range, Halberd Range, or Pike Range. Pike-range weapons can be used to attack someone at Halberd Range or Pike Range.
Phase 3: Players declare any Tactics they would like to use.
Phase 4: Attacks resolve in decreasing order of Quickness. If two attacks have the same Quickness, the one that was declared first resolves first. Attacks may interrupt slow actions.
Dodging, blocking an attack, or being injured interrupts slow actions that require the player to remain stationary. Examples: pulling a lever or looting a body.
Note: A player may choose not to dodge and/or block to avoid interrupting his slow action. This must be chosen as a Tactic.
Blocking an attack or being injured interrupts slow actions such as casting a spell or notching a bow.
If a player declared they were moving towards a melee opponent as a slow action, but they block this opponent's attack or are injured, then they are prevented from moving any closer.
If you tried to attack someone who you expected would come into your range this round, but that person was interrupted before they did so, then your attack is canceled.
Phase 5: Slow actions resolve in the order they were declared (provided they were not canceled in phase 4).
If any players are still fighting, now the next combat round begins.
LONG RANGED WEAPONS
A long-ranged weapon's Accuracy is for a moving target 10 meters away.
For every 1 meter closer than 10 meters, the Accuracy increases by 1 point.
For every 2 meters farther than 10 meters, the Accuracy decreases by 1 point.
At 20 meters, the Accuracy penalty is 5.
For every 4 meters farther than 20 meters, the Accuracy decreases by 1 point.
At 40 meters, the Accuracy penalty is 10.
For every 8 meters farther than 40 meters, the Accuracy decreases by 1 point.
Weapons that are accurate at long ranges simply have a very high Accuracy; a rifle with an Accuracy of 30 or 40 is reasonable. It would have a low Quickness when aimed with maximum accuracy, however.
As a rule, ranged weapons are easier to dodge than to block. It is far easier to leap out of the way of an arrow when you see a bow pointed at you than it is to block the arrow with your sword or shield. Ranged weapons therefore have an "Anti-Block" stat which is added to Quickness when the defender blocks, but not when he dodges.
Ranged weapons that pierce armor with their Attack Force do not automatically hit. Instead, this reduces Armor Coverage to a minimum that reflects the difficulty of hitting an unarmored target:
Code: Select all
Body Size Minimum Armor Coverage
small (child) 7
average human 5
Ogre-sized 3Ranged weapons must be loaded before they can be fired. This is a slow action that takes at least one round to do (depending on the weapon).
EXAMPLE CHARACTERS
The Unarmored Rogue with dagger and sword
Quickness 11
Attack Force 10
Accuracy 10
Dodge 8
Block 10
Block Force 13
Armor Coverage 5
Armor Force 5 (cloth)
The Knight in Plate Mail with broadsword and shield
Quickness 10
Attack Force 12
Accuracy 10
Dodge 6
Block 13
Block Force 15
Armor Coverage 14
Armor Force 16
The Unarmored Giant with his Club
Quickness 5
Attack Force 25
Accuracy 6
Dodge 0
Block 5
Block Force 30
Armor Coverage 3
Armor Force 5 (cloth)
The Giant can take 10 injuries before death, and it takes 2 injuries to impair his physical stats. The Giant deals 2 injuries with his club.
Knight hits Rogue
Advantages: 2 against Dodge, 0 against Block, 5 against Armor
Probability of hit: 0.7 * 0.5 * 1 = 0.35
Rogue hits Knight
Advantages: 5 against Dodge, -2 against Block, -3 against Armor
Probability of hit: 1 * 0.3 * 0.2 = 0.06
So the Knight has a far better chance at hitting the Rogue. That rogue ought to run.
Giant hits Knight:
Advantages: -1 against Dodge, too much force for Block, too much force for Armor
Probability of hit: 0.4 * 1 * 1 = 0.4
Giant hits Rogue:
Advantages: -3 against Dodge, too much force for Block, too much force for Armor
Probability of hit: 0.2 * 1 * 1 = 0.2
So the Giant is twice as dangerous to the Knight as he is to the Rogue.
Knight hits Ogre (same for Rogue):
Advantages: 10 against Dodge, 5 against Block, 7 against Armor
Probability of hit: 1.0[/code]
