AD&D Combat Example 2

 AD&D/OSRIC Combat Example

The party:

Level 3 Magic-User: 10 HP, AC: 8, Dagger: 1d4/1d3, (2/1: Sleep, Magic Missile, Mirror Image and a scroll of Fireball)

Level 3 Fighter: 21 HP, AC: 2, Long Sword+1: 1d8+1/1d12+1

Level 3 Ranger: 20 HP, AC: 4, Spear +1: 1d6+1/1d8+1

The monsters:

A Cultist Priest served by his two cultists and the ghouls in their service.

Level 5 Cultist High Priest: 24 HP, AC: 2, Mace +1: 1d6+2/1d6+1, (3/3/1: Light, Cure Light Wounds, Command, Chant, Hold Person, Silence 15' Radius, Dispel Magic)

Level 1 Cultist Guard with long sword: (HP: 6, AC:4, Long Swords: 1d8)

Level 1 Cultist Guard short bow and short sword: (HP: 6, AC:5, Short sword or bow: 1d6)

Ghouls (HP: 13, 11) AC: 6, Move 9", HD 2; 3 attacks for 1d3/1d3/1d6 damage, SA: paralyzation

Distance is rolled as this is not a set encounter: The result on a D6 is 1+4 = 50 feet away.

Surprise is rolled: Players get a 5, Monsters get a 4. Nobody is surprised.

Round 1:

Declarations:

The monsters are going to attack, the High Priest is going to cast Command on the Fighter to 'Die!' which will cause him to drop to the ground for one round if he doesn't save vs magic.

The ranger and fighter are going to charge the ghouls while the Magic-user, in a panic, casts Mirror Image on himself.

Initiative is rolled: 

The players roll a 6, the monsters roll a 4. The players act first on segment 4, the monsters act on segment 6.

However charge operates outside of initiative considerations. The only segment consideration for charging is covering a distance. The fighter has a movement rate of 6 (plate mail) and the ranger has a movement rate of 9 (chain mail).

Here is how the segment order would be broken up:

Resolution

It will take 3 segments for the ranger to charge to his target (moving twice the movement speed of 9" for 18' per segment for 54' feet). 

It will take 4 segments (moving twice the movement speed of 6" for 12' per segment gets him 48 feet) for the fighters charge to terminate within 10' of his target. 

Casting will take 2 segments for the Magic-user which starts casting at the start segment 4, and finishes at the end of segment 5. (Casting means <initative roll> + <casting time> -1 = end of that segment)

The ghouls will be able to return attacks on segment 6 from the charging characters as they weren't engaged in combat.

The cultist guard swordsman has been ordered to defend the High Priest, so he holds his action.

The cultist guard archer will shoot the magic-user, his first shot happens on segment 6 and again at the end of the round.

The High Priests Command spell happens at the end of segment 6 as it has a casting time of one segment (so using the above quick math: 6+1-1= end of segment 6)

End of the round second shot from the bowman (while I allow my ROF shots to happen all at once, many people do additional shots later in the round).

The ranger charges and rolls a 5, modified with +1 from the magic spear, +2 from charging and he hits AC 10 which is a miss but will still be 1 AC worse when attacked this round.

The fighter charges and rolls a 11, modified with +1 from the magic sword, +2 from charging and he hits AC 4 which is a hit. The fighter does 4 damage to the ghoul bringing it to 7 hp.

The Magic-user's spell completes and (rolling for Mirror Image copies) 4 copies of him appear.

The fighters ghoul makes three attacks, claw, claw, bite. Rolling a 10 (miss), 18 (hit), 19 (hit). The ghoul did a total of 6 damage, bringing the fighter to 15 hp. The fighter rolls a 15 on a needed 13 for his saving throw vs paralysis and succeeds. Charging penalty was irrelevant.

The rangers ghoul makes three attacks, claw, claw, bite. Rolling a 2 (miss), 1 (miss), and 4 (miss). Charging penalty was irrelevant.

The archer shoots at the mob of magic-user images. The archer rolls a 12, which would normally be enough to hit. However he only has a 1-in-5 chance of hitting the Magic-user. The random determination is rolled and one of the 'clones' is destroyed.

The High Priest commands the fighter to 'Die!' and the fighter is allowed a save vs. spell. He succeeds.

At the end of the round, the bowman fires at the magic-user posse, rolling a 10 and missing.

Round 2:

Declarations:

The magic-user is going to attempt to cast his fireball scroll (perhaps not realizing that the fireball will cook his friends too, or not caring). The rest are continuing to fight.

The priest is going to dispel magic on the group of magic-user images. The ghouls and the archer are going to continue their attacks. The swordsman cultist is going to run through the doors to the east to go raise the alarms for the rest of the cult.

The players roll a 2, the monsters roll a 6. The monsters act first on segment 2, the players act on segment 6.

Here is how the segment order would be broken up:

The cultist swordsman is not being contested so operates out of initiative order, simply just running (using charging) at the start of the round. His movement is 9, so he's covering 18 feet by the time segment 2 starts. He has 45 feet total to go, so he'll get there (and well away from the fight) before the end of the round.

The ghouls will attack on segment 2.

The archer will first attack on segment 2.

The High Priest will begin casting dispel magic on segment 2.

The fighter would attack on segment 6 (tie breaker on weapon speed if you want to get granular).

The ranger would attack on segment 6.

The magic-user would start reading his scroll on segment 6.

The end of segment 7, dispel magic will complete. 2+6-1= end of segment 7)

The end of segment 8, fireball will complete. 6+3-1= end of segment 8)

The archers last shot.

Resolution

The fighters ghoul makes three attacks, claw, claw, bite. Rolling a 15 (hit), 4 (miss), and 7 (miss). He does another 2 damage to the fighter. The fighter also rolled an 18 on his saving through and is not paralyzed.

The rangers ghoul makes three attacks, claw, claw, bite. Rolling a 12 (barely a hit), 6 (miss), and a 11 (barely a miss). He does 1 damage to the ranger who rolls a 3 on his saving throw and is now paralyzed.

The archer shoots the magic-user and rolls a 5, hitting nothing.

The High Priest begins casting.

The fighter attacks and rolls a 14, which is a hit. He does 8 points of damage, killing the ghoul.

The ranger is paralyzed.

The magic-user begins reading the scroll.

The High Priest completes his dispel magic. The mirror images disappear and the Fireball is cancelled.

The archer takes aim and hits AC7, dealing 4 damage to the Magic-user.

Reinforcements for the cult will be arriving soon. The magic-user is exposed. The fighter will try to save the ranger from the ravenous ghoul.

Round 3:

Declarations:

The magic user is going to cast sleep, aiming to eliminate the archer. The fighter has to engage the ghoul which may pounce on the paralyzed ranger.

Three cultists soldiers will run into the room to assist their leader. The ghoul will attack, hoping to kill the paralyzed ranger. The High Priest will cast Hold Person on the fighter.

The players roll a 6. The monsters roll a 4. The party begins on segment 4, the monsters on segment 6. 

Resolution

The reinforcements are simply moving and before segment 4 are able to get just at the doorway.

The magic-user's sleep spell completes at the end of segment 4. The Magic-user's sleep spell completes and rolls a 2 and a 2 on 2d4 for 1 Hit Dice creatures. The area of effect coincides with the cultists at the doorway. All four fall asleep, including the archer.

The fighter attacks and rolls a 14, modified with +1 from the magic sword and he hits AC 3 which is a hit. The fighter does 9 damage to the ghoul, killing it.

The archer will fire his first arrow on the magic user on segment 6.

The High Priest casts Hold Person starting on segment 6 (6+5-1= end of segment 10)

The High Priest completes Hold Person. Unfortunately, the fighter rolls a 10 on his save with a -2 penalty and has been held. 

Round 4:

Declarations:

The magic-user runs (movement of 12).

The High Priest cannot catch him, so decides to wake the archer.

Initiative is pointless here, so the magic-user simply runs away. 

AD&D Combat Example 1

Many people are intimidated at worst, confused at best with how AD&D combat works assuming the OSRIC end of how rulings go. There are a ton of interpretations out there based on some confusing or contradictory passages in the DMG for 1e. OSRIC does a decent job at codifying some of those interpretations. I've done some combat examples to help people learn on my discord. If these seem to be helpful to people, I can post more.

AD&D/OSRIC Combat Example

The party:

Level 1 Magic-User: 3 HP, AC: 10, Dagger: 1d4/1d3, Sleep spell)

Level 1 Fighter: 11 HP, AC 4, Long Sword: 1d8/1d12)

Level 1 Ranger: 13 HP, AC: 6, Spear: 1d6/1d8)

The enemies:

5 Goblins - Two with Slings (HP: 4 each, AC:6, Sling stones: 1d4/1d4) , Three with Short swords (HP 5 each, AC: 6, Short sword 1d6/1d8)

Party rolls a 4 and Goblins roll a 3.

Nobody is surprised

Note that the party would have had to roll a 1 because of the ranger. Without the ranger, a 1 or a 2 would have been a surprise. 

Declare actions

At this point both groups are aware of each other. The goblins will only see one party member at first and go on the offensive. One with a shortsword will charge, the remaining two sword-goblins will engage in melee, the two with slings will move behind the other two sword-goblins and attack.

The party declares that the ranger will set to receive charge, the fighter will hold action in front of the wizard. The wizard declares that he will be ready to throw a dagger.

Initiative is rolled: The party rolls a 4 for the goblins. The goblins roll a 5 for the party. The goblins have initiative. 

Round 1

The round segments count upward. The first two segments are used in charging movement allowing the charging goblins a movement of 24 feet. (movement rate of 6 = 6 feet per segment, charging doubles this).

Then the charge attack happens outside of melee initiative. So segment two the first charging goblin comes in and instantly would attack. However, the ranger's spear is set to receive charge and will impale if hit for double damage.

The Ranger rolls a 15 to hit. The goblin has AC6 normally. However, as it is charging "Creatures with no dexterity bonus become 1 armor class lower", making this an AC7. The spear strikes the goblin and does double damage. This does 8 points of damage to the charging goblin who has 5 and it is impaled and out of the fight.

The two other sword goblins run into the tight corridor and one is engaged in melee. Note that merely engaging in melee does not grant an attack.

The two with slings fire at the ranger. Since the ranger and the goblin are locked in melee, each slinger has a 66% chance of hitting the intended target as the engaged goblin is small and the ranger is medium.

The goblin rolls a 52 and at least shoots the right target.

The sling goblin rolls a 17 to hit. The rangers armor class is 6, so it hits.

Damage is rolled as 3 damage, bringing the ranger down to 10 hp.

The second sling goblins goes for the same, rolling a 27 to miss his goblin friend and attempt to hit the ranger. The to hit roll is an 11 and misses the ranger.

The goblins are done, the ranger is done. The fighter has nothing he can do for now. The Magic-User throws a dagger. His math is inverse to hitting his target (the goblin in front of the ranger) so that he only has a 33% chance of not hitting his friend. He rolls a 27, avoids hitting his friend, and rolls the attack. The roll is a 12.

That would be a miss. The round is now over.

Declare actions… again!

At this point both groups are not only aware of each other, but can see each other.. The sling goblins see the other two party members in the back and decide that the goofy looking guy in a robe has to be dealt with. The remaining two sword-goblins will push melee if able.

The party declares that the ranger will attack with his spear, the fighter will stand in front of the mage hoping to draw some of the missile fire. The Magic-User declares that this will be a good time to use the sleep spell.

Round 2: Fight!

The party rolls a 4 for the Goblins. The goblins roll a 1 for the party. The party has initiative.

Segment 1 - The ranger attacks the goblin in front of him. He rolls an 18 to hit. It’s a hit!

Damage is rolled… damn, a 4. This goblin has 5 hp so it lives with 1 hp. Just kidding. Rangers get a bonus to the damage against Goblins and it is taken down.

The Magic-user begins casting sleep. It has a casting time of one, which means it’ll happen at the end of the segment (segment 1). (Note that people used to AD&D2e, the casting time segment is ADDED to init in 2e, so it happens a full segment later, In 1e, it starts counting at the top of the acting segment)

Segment 1 is now over. Sleep goes off and instantly knocks the remaining goblins out and are murdered quickly after.

Part of my AD&D House Rules, Part 1

AD&D is a system that grows with you. It has rules for most edge cases that you'll encounter and all of  the common ones. It's the game you won't get right, but by virtue of practice you will be allowed to bring yourself back in line with the game. Being in line with the game isn't following every single rule to the letter, it means keeping the rules ecosystem intact. There's nuanced layers to what the game has written that give you the long term game outcome that other systems fail to provide, there's generally always a way to handle most situations even if you don't remember it all, and there is an ecosystem that says from beginning to end: we want you to see the entire game.

With that said, there are a few deviant and divergent rules that AD&D DM's have from table to table. It was always like this and every experienced DM has their reasons. I think those reasons are generally very interesting because it illustrates what that DM is looking to manifest at the table.

There's some big collections of house rules out there to consider. I'd suggest starting with Trent Fosters The Heroic Legendarium. Kellri's blog has some useful tools for house ruling and RAW alike. EOTB's OSRICrpg.net has a collection from many areas of the net that serves as a great jumping point to head down the rabbit hole.

 

For my game, I'll start with a few rules on missile weapons.

• Crossbows that are already loaded always fire off first at the beginning of a proper combat round, barring spending segments on movement. 
• Thieves can use short bows.
• Clerics can use slings.
• Since I am operating off of OSRIC, there are interpretations that I choose to ignore such as surprise granting ranged weapons TRIPLE the rate (second example of DMG page 62). One could extrapolate that a bows rate is 2/1, a surprise segment could allow a round of actions, therefore two surprise segments (12 seconds) could see 6 fired bow shots.
  

The crossbow is nerfed enough.

 

Crossbows

Crossbows in AD&D are generally not as advantageous as a bow of any kind. OSRIC takes a step in addressing this by increasing the damage.

You can google the subject and find countless conversations on it. Where I landed is that first I thought about what I wanted crossbows to be in my game. You always see them like a gun, in that they are loaded, a trigger needs to be pulled, and that's it. It's supposed to be a threat and that threat is that this crossbow bolt is going to fly at you faster than you'll draw a bow, close into melee, or even throw a dagger.

So, I kept both the OSRIC increased damage and the ability to have a pre-loaded crossbow fire first. In terms of fulfilling the role of a gun, once characters stop having 3 hit points, it becomes a lot less threatening. But as a game consideration, it's quite valuable. 

In a surprise situation, a pre-cocked crossbow is going to get it's shot in anyway for a 1 segment surprise. For a 2 segment surprise, they are actually able to re-load and fire. The effect isn't really seen there, other than moderately better per-hit damage, but still at half the rate of a bow. 

However, most combat doesn't start with surprise segments. The first melee round will start and this is where a pre-loaded crossbow shines. You can take aim at the casting magic-user, you can shoot the orc charging you as it crosses it's double-speed distance.

Bows fire at double the rate, which still makes them the generally more attractive option. However, I did do what I set out to do: If someone uses a crossbow in my game, it doesn't feel like it's completely worse than the other options.

Thieves with Shortbows

I admit that two nonsense reason went into this house rule. Firstly, I got used to how UA and AD&D2e handled thieves with shortbows. There, I admitted it. Secondly, probably less nonsensical, is that I always equate a lot of bandits, robin hood, and the like as thieves in the AD&D world. You may disagree, but I always see them using a shortbow as thematic. 

The mechanical reason is that thieves don't usually get a whole lot to do in a fight. There's not always room for backstab and if there is, all these rolls need to be made to get there, and then you have to ask yourself if it's worth it. A level 4 party encountering 5 orcs? Just wait and let the fighters and cleric chew through them up front or the magic-user to skip the encounter with sleep or turn it into an opportunity with charm person.

Next, bows just aren't that hard to use at shorter ranges. Sure, a longbow man will have to arc their shots more and that takes skill and practice. A short bow while shooting down a 40' hallway is not something I'd limit to Fighter/Ranger/Paladins.

Clerics with Slings

Clerics can use hurled rocks. I don't care. They hardly ever will anyway, but it's nice for them to have that option. Clerics are not paladins, they don't have the same sort of honor code about missile weapons being cowardly. Go ahead, let them use a 1d4+1 sling that fires once per round.

Ignoring the 3x Surprise Interpretation

I shouldn't have to justify why having a 2-in-6 chance to get 1 or more surprise segments at THREE times the rate of fire is ridiculous. It would function just like critical hits and fumbles; Sure, it sounds cool that your players are going to be able to pin-cushion 24 arrows before the first proper round starts. But how good is it for your campaign if your characters of 6 months get 24 arrows shot into them with no counter play? It's too swingy

Overall, missile weapons are balanced in AD&D in that they are extremely good while range and the complexities of melee aren't a factor. They become near useless when your fighter, paladin, and cleric are wading through a melee with five possible targets and even if there's targets behind them, shooting over your party is often a mistake as well. It's okay to tweak them a little, it won't hurt your AD&D game as long as cover rules and firing into melee are there to keep it in check.

 

The Ping Pong Heart Beat Part 2: The Combat Slog

The Combat Slog

Combat is likely the easiest way for you to maintain heartbeats. D&D combat doesn't carry itself well if it's at a snail's pace. What I've often seen is:

"Ok, roll for initiative... ok, the monsters go first. This one hits Becky, that one hits Joe, this one misses Dick. Becky you take 3 points of damage from a goblin arrow. Joe you get slashed across the shoulder for 5 damage from the Orc. Ok, you guys go now..."

Then there's often silence. Some of the players are wondering, 'Oh, should I go? Nobody else is going.' After a pause, someone goes, then another pause, then someone else goes, then another somehow longer pause. The DM isn't tracking who has gone for whatever reason. Then either one of two things happen:

"So that's the end of the round I think? Right?" A pause until one player decides to use their vocal chords, "Okay, roll initiative." Then a player chimes in who has been quiet for the past 10 minutes, "Wait, I didn't get my attack!"

or

The DM is silent. Nobody is saying anything for like 10 seconds until a player says, "So that's the end of the round, right?" The DM looks around a bit, discovers that he agrees, and we carry on.
 

People want to use loose rules systems but don't take care to give them a framework. Or even it's that there is a desire for individual initiative, but it's not tracked diligently. Execute it in order and know who is next, you might even warn them they are next. Go around the table, clockwise, and ask what the players are doing. If you know your players, you know which ones will struggle with decisions, so suggest obvious lines of play. Your players are up? Prompt them. Execute your monsters as quickly as possible, rolling to hit and damage together in larger fights can shave off a little time which gets back to an individual player a little faster.

Uhh, which one already took damage?

"Okay, Becky is casting Magic Missile, Joe is using his crossbow, and Dick? Are you going to rush to engage the ogre or are you going to try to hold the hallway so the goblins don't rush in?" A person who might have been paralyzed with options or confused about the situation now has a crutch to lean on, they can just accept the play and snap back into attention or look at his character sheet to see if he still has the potion of heroism for the next round.

Ping, Pong, Ping, Pong, Ping, Pong around the table. You're interacting with them, they're interacting with you, they're on the spot. They know the game will halt without them giving their action and then they are locked in. The turn simply executes and we're on to the next one in a timely manner.

To be continued in Part 3 - The Chokepoint

The Ping Pong Heartbeat Part 1

 

The Ping Pong Heartbeat

Many discussions, youtube videos, and blogs write about DM'ing as a fine art. They write about their respective leanings towards play that often repeat time-tested methods. It's always good to have these fundamentals, but it's also reductive in thinking critically in terms of running a good session. Conventional wisdom replaces careful consideration and our hobby becomes echoes of an echo. The first topic I'd like to tackle leads toward pacing.

This Ping Pong Heartbeat is not a new idea except in perhaps its name. It's an idea that doesn't get talked about despite being one of the most critical elements of practical DM'ing and, to a lesser extent, adventure design. In most heartbeat based software protocols in software an incremental request and response is required to consider a heartbeat of a connection to stay alive. In play, there should be a steady flow of information back and forth. This is the heartbeat that tells you that your game is alive. 

Do You Suck At Getting Started?

Let's imagine that you're in a typical 4 hour session as a DM running five players through a basic town and nearby adventure location session. Starting them in a place where they can gather information is the best way to get use out of session time short of just starting them at the dungeon itself. Announcing to the players where they are, why they are there, and what they know is a good and commonly practiced start. Usually the players will be prompted to talk to each other a bit and ask you some qualifying questions. You let them get information from each other, they gather rumors/hooks, and you've responded to their inquiries. Then the session goes silent. You prompt them with a question of how they proceed. A few people mutter and sputter until an hour past the session start time they finally decide to embark on the adventure.

You already fucked up. 

Introductions, getting people situated, and getting through inconsequential in-town play has eaten 1/4th of the session already. You stoked the fire and let it smolder to embers, then you tried to breathe on it until it lit again. Once the players stop ping/ponging information to each other and yourself, this is the time to look for the silence to begin to settle. You could have been offering suggestions to facilitate play. You could be calling on players individually to appeal to their senses. You could have been driving it forward. If characters are rolled up, hooks/rumors are handled, supplies purchased, and hirelings hired - get them to move. They are here to play, so remind them of options to do so.

"I need to know, if you plan on adventuring, what direction you plan on leaving. North east? Okay, so this will take you 1/4 of the day... and no encounters. You estimate another few hours before you reach the Abandoned Monastery, I assume you proceed?"

You may have heard of the 'Orcs attack!' method of motivating players, but this is the 'Yes/No' method. The players might have gotten texted to by their spouse, a dog might have thrown up on the carpet, someone talked over someone else, or maybe while you were giving too long of an exposition they were looking up how Mirror Image works in this edition. Hit them with the suggestive 'Yes/No' and we're back in business.

Now that we're at the adventure site, you describe their scouting information. You know the options they've been presented with, but again they settle into meandering. Unsure of what’s expected of them, unless they have a proactive player who can help carry the game for you, they hope that someone else will drive the game forward. If you have a player that is adept at calling for the group, this will usually be their job to keep things moving forward. Unfortunately, I've seen many games where there is no such suited player. How does a DM spark the fire in their place?

"You can go through the heavily guarded front gates, try to sneak in through that broken part of the wall, or see if that nearby cave entrance provides a way in. Or does the party have a different idea? Which would you like to do?"

 To be continued in part 2 - The Combat Slog