Rules: Combat #1

Dorms and Dragons is a labor of love that I praise for its streamlined modularity. I tried to take the more complex components of RPGs and  make simpler abstractions. Traditional combat forever vexed me because of it always had a vagueness that encouraged house-ruling, merely from a lack of understanding. My group couldn't figure out segmented combat, and miniatures just weren't for us.

Because of this, I developed the Dorms and Dragons combat system, a system based on a simple d10 initiative, a "three M round" and ranges based on abstract distances between 1 and 7.

COMBAT

A combat round is split into a Three M Round: Major Action, Minor Action, and Movement.  

Major Action- Major actions are any kind of action that take up a sufficient amount of time. Actions like an attack (melee or missile), a spell, potion or scroll use, or combat maneuvers done by a character, as well as getting up from being knocked down or retrieving your weapon when disarmed, constitute as major actions. Characters receive one Major action per round.

Minor Action- Any non-major action, like: lighting a torch, getting something from a pack, taking off a cloak, or talking. Characters receive a reasonable number per turn

Movement- Movement in combat is different than normal movement. Movement can come before or after a major action and major actions can be traded for one extra move.

Combatants are put in one of six combat positions on the battle field. Movement allows a character to move from one combat position to the next. Combat positions represent the abstract distance between two combatants. Most combat takes place in the first. 3 positions: Melee, Close, and Medium.

1-  Melee - Within striking range

2-  Close – 15ft. or less, within throwing range

3-  Medium - Up to 30 ft. Range of rally. -1 to-hit  with thrown weapons  

4-  Far - Up to 60ft. Range of crossbows and shortbow

5-  Long - up to 90ft. Range of longbow, -1 to far ranged

6-  Out of Encounter- Target may be seen but not heard.

MELEE & MISSILE ATTACKS

Combat is conducted by rolling a single d20 and adding Attack Bonus, weapon bonus [when applicable], as well as any modifiers To-Hit (TH) through the appropriate ability score. This sum must meet or exceed a defender’s Armor Class (AC)

Missile combat, or ranged combat, works just as melee combat but according to a range based on the weapon. If a missile weapon is fired farther than its range it suffers a -2 Missile To-Hit (MTH) penalty.

If an attack is successful, the attacker rolls for damage and adds applicable modifiers. The damage is subtracted from the defender’s HP until dead or subdued