OSR: Combat Rules

This is an overview of all my rules for Combat, updated to their most current version.

by JasonTN

Initiative:

- Everybody rolls 1d20+DEX modifier

- Highest Roll go first

- If you tie, the person with Higher DEX goes first

- From there, go clockwise from the winner

- When it is the Referee's turn, the enemies act

Basic Actions:

- If a player is not unconscious, dead or otherwise unable to move, all players may select one of the following actions if they do not wish to attempt something more creative.

- Attack: The player makes an attack against a creature.

- Defend: The player focuses on defending. All attacks against him have disadvantage until his next turn.

- Disengage: The player carefully retreats. Ordinarily when leaving an Enemy's Attack Range, that triggers an opportunity Attack. Disengage prevents Opportunity Attacks from being triggered.

- Move: The player uses his movement to move up to 30' or whatever his speed is.

- Dash: The player focuses all of his efforts on moving, doubling the speed at which he moves for 1 turn. All attacks against him have disadvantage.

- Use Class Ability: The player uses a class ability, such as a Wizard casting a spell.

Variant Rule: Action Points:

- Instead of having an Attack, Move Action and Bonus Action, the Players have 3 Action Points. Doing anything not trivial, such as talking, passing an item to someone you can touch, etc, requires an Action Point.

- On his turn, a player can make up to 3 Actions, each one consuming an Action Point. All Actions are now the same, so making an Attack, Moving, Defending and Dashing are all Actions.

- Players can save Action Points to defend against Enemy Attacks via parrying, using shields or other abilities to protect oneself or mitigating harm. Players can use Action Points in reaction to someone or something else when it is not their turn.

by Hokunin

Melee Combat:

- Do not roll vs a Static AC, instead roll 1d20 and add your damage dice and Attack bonus.

- Your opponent rolls a 1d20 as well, along with their damage dice and Attack bonus.

- Higher roll wins. If the attacker wins, they do damage equal to what he rolled on his damage dice. If the defender wins he takes no damage instead.

- Any attack that does max damage (ex: rolling a "4" on a 1d4) does normal damage and triggers a Critical Hit.

- Critical Hits can also be triggered by the roll of a "20" on a d20.

Critical Hits:

- When you roll a "20" on a d20 for your Attack roll or max damage with your weapon, you trigger a Critical Hit

- When a Critical Hit is triggered, roll 1d6 and consult the table below:

Critical Hit Table

1-3: You may do something extra that is possible. For example, if you are wielding a sword, you may attempt to disarm your opponent. If you are wielding a staff, you may attempt to trip your opponent. The Referee should ask for an extra check from the player or a save on the enemy's behalf, depending on what is asked.

4-5: You roll your damage dice again and add the result to damage dealt. You may also forego this result and perform an extra maneuver as seen in "1-3".

6: You roll your damage dice two times and add the result to the damage dealt. You may forego this result and perform two extra maneuvers as seen in "1-3".

Melee Weapons:

- Come in three groups, Quick, Balanced and Powerful

- Quick Weapons:

+ Include such things as daggers, brass knuckles, and anything one-handed or concealable

+ Do 1d6 damage

+ You add the Attack Bonus to the roll to hit, but a Quick Weapon only does 1d6 damage

Balanced Weapons:

+ Include anything bigger than a Quick Weapon, but nothing oversized

+ Examples include such things as most swords, some axes, some hammers, most spears

+ Do 1d6+Atk damage

Powerful Weapons:

+ Includes the big stuff excluded from the previous categories

+ Examples include: Widowmakers, Morningstars, flails, bastard swords, big axes and hammers, and anything large and oversized

+ Do 1d8+Atk damage

More Weapons:

+ Masterwork weapons do +1 damage due to their superior quality

+ Rare Super-Heavy weapons let you do 1d8+Atk+STR damage

+ Weapons may have special properties if they are of higher quality or rarity, such as triggering critical hits on an "19" or "18", being able to strike an enemy before he can attack, ala Reach, being Throwable, etc.M

by GeorgeVostrikov

Ranged Combat:

- There are two types of Ranged Combat, with weapons that you can evade, and ones you can't

- For Weapons you can:

+ These include things such as slings, atlatls, blowpipes, darts, shuriken, throwing needles, throwing knives, arrows, or etc (Referee's Discretion).

+ Treat these as melee attacks

For Weapons you can't:

+ These include things such as guns, missiles, or etc (Referee's Discretion)

+ When using these, they only require a full action to use

+ When one is directed against you, make a saving throw. Then have the Referee tell you the Range.

> If the Range is Close, then a successful save means you take half damage. A failed save means you take full damage.

> If the Range is Medium, then a successful save means you take no damage. A failed save means you take full damage.

> If the Range is Long, then a successful save means you take no damage. A failed save means you half damage.

Example Ranged Weapons:

+ Bow and Arrow - 1d6+Atk damage

+ Sling 1d6 damage

+ Dart 1 damage

+ Pistol 1d6+1, Reload on a 7+

by DariaSnow

HP and FS:

- Players have two pools of HP

- Enemies only have HP

HP:

+ Stands for Hit Points

+ The physical integrity of your body

+ If this gets damaged you can take damage to your body

+ If you would take damage to your HP that would reduce it below 0, roll on the Horrible Wounds table

FS:

+ Stands for Fighting Spirit

+ This is your willpower, magic, and your ability to defend yourself

+ When you take damage to this, all injuries are minor, or the attack misses in the fiction, even if you take FS damage

+ It's like one of those blows in a fight scene where the Hero evades a blow just barely

+ While you have at least 1 point of FS, you cannot receive a Horrible Wound

+ If your FS is extinguished, if there is any leftover damage, it doesn't "roll over" into HP

Healing:

+ Healing always restores HP first, then leftover healing spills into FS, unless a source of healing only restores one type of HP

Enemy HP:

- Enemies gain a number of d8s depending on their strength. These are their Hit Dice (HD).

+ Weak Enemies 1-3 HD

+ Medium Enemies 4-6 HD

+ Hard Enemies 7-12 HD

+ Legendary Enemies 13 HD

- At the beginning of an encounter, the Referee should roll that number of d8s. That determines the creature's HP. If the creature has a large number of d8s, the Referee can simulate this by multiplying the number of HD*4.5.

- For enemies of a greater supernatural bent, such as Dragons, Demons or Gods, the Referee may use Super Hit Points and Damage Thresholds.

- A Damage Threshold is a threshold a player's damage must reach in order to do damage. If a source of damage does not equal or exceed the Damage Threshold, treat it as if it did no damage.

- Super Hit Points go with and equal the Damage Threshold. If a creature has a Damage Threshold of 6, that creature has 6 Super Hit Points. Each time the creature's Damage Threshold is breached, subtract 1 Super Hit Point. When the creature reaches 0 Super Hit Points, it dies.

Morale:

+ Enemies have a Morale score somewhere between 2 and 20.

+ The lower the score, the more cowardly an enemy is.

+ The higher the score, the more brave an enemy is. Enemies with a morale of "20" never retreat, either because they do not feel fear or are unable to, such as Undead being controlled by a Necromancer.

+ Whenever enemies face significant losses, the death of their leader or suffer any clear set-back, they must check morale. The enemies roll 1d20 and if it is less than or equal to their morale score, they stand and fight. If it exceeds their morale score, they flee.

+ A challenge to enemy discipline, such as an enemy taunting them, a pile of loot or weather conditions being too bad can also prompt enemy morale checks. On a failed morale check, the enemies will cease to behave in a disciplined way and will instead attempt to gratify their immediate desires.

+ PCs are affected by fear differently, but hirelings and henchmen have morale. If faced with hopeless battles, they must check morale or flee. If faced with horrible conditions, they must check morale or refuse to advance. If denied what they feel they are owed, they must check morale or abandon the party and return home.

Armor (for Players):

- Armor comes in three varieties, Light, Medium and Heavy

- Light Armor grants +3 FS and takes up Four Inventory Slots when worn

- Medium Armor grants +4 FS and takes up Five Inventory Slots when worn

- Heavy Armor grants +5 FS and takes up Six Inventory Slots when worn

- Shields grant +1 FS and can be used to parry damage. As a reaction to being attacked, you can reduce the damage taken by 1d12. If you wish, you can shatter the shield to reduce the damage by 12.

- Helmets grant +1 FS and grant advantage on any save to resist being knocked unconscious or suffering head trauma

Armor (for Enemies):

- Armor grants the enemy a flat damage reduction. An Enemy with AR (Armor Rating) of 4 reduces all damage of an appropriate type by 4.

For example, a metal breastplate can reduce damage from spears and arrows, but not from fireballs or radiant energy. A magical coat warded against elemental damage will protect against a number of elemental sources, such as fire, cold and lightning, but not elemental sources from outside that list, such as acid or physical damage, like being stabbed with a sword.

by AmosLinArt