For the most part, my world uses the same combat system as traditional Advanced Dungeons and Dragons. That's one of the reasons we play Dnd is cuz most people are familiar with it and it doesn't take too long to teach someone the basics. There are several points, however, where I've bored from D&D or variants from the Dragon or another game system. Below is a collection of these changes. Read through 'em and enjoy...!
| Combat Time-scale | Spells and Combat | Combat Movement |
| Underwater Combat | ||
The way time is broken down in DC's Oerth is probably one of the largest and most crucial deviations from "standard" ADnD rules. This was done for one simple reason: reality. Only in Errol Flynn movies do combats last five minutes, and even then, we're talking about high level characters anyway! So, heavily borrowed from the DnD rules is:
So, one round of combat takes only 10 seconds and there are 6 rounds of combat in a single minute. Segments are now equal to seconds; 10 per combat round.
With the change to the time-scale, many spells would now have much shorter durations. Some spells no longer make sense. So, to address this, all spells are broken down into two catagories: purely combat spells (fireball, magic missile) and spells with non-combat applications. Spells designed simply for combat use the new time scale for durations since that is the only purpose of the dweomer. Spells with multiple applications may use the longer duration definitions.
Example: hold person has no application other than restraining a "foe" so the duration of its rounds are 10 seconds each. In contrast, alter self is used to disguise oneself and therefore has a duration of 1 minute combat rounds. Similarly, creatures conjured via monster summoning remain for minutes since they could be employed to do some task other than hacking opponants to pieces.
The second aspect of the new time scale is that mages can cast 1 segment spells even while in combat. This has been a long-standing rule; why should a single power word take so long to cast and how could it be interrupted? (A mage either says it or doesn't and there are damn few words that take six whole seconds to pronounce). It never seems to happen that way in stories...! This also make emminent sense as many wizards from literature seem to be able to disappear, issue one or two word commands, and fire quick blasts of magic whilst battling good/bad guys. And since the wizard is restricted to spells with a 1 segment casting time, the list of options is limited to most first level spells, all power words and dimension door.
To Hit modifiers:
All weapons receive a penalty to hit underwater. This penalty
is a function of the Speed Factor of the weapon and what kind
of damage the weapon does (which together dictate how it moves
through the water).
For piercing/stabbing weapons (which present a very small profile to the water), such as spear, trident, dagger or sword, the penalty is 1/2 the weapon's Speed Factor rounded up.
For slashing/hacking weapons (which must slice through the water as well as their victim), such as scimitar, axe or falchion, the penalty is the weapon's Speed Factor.
For mashing/crushing weapons (which must displace large amounts of water just to reach the target), such as hammer, mace, flail or club, the penalty is twice the weapon's Speed Factor.
Examples: dagger is -1 (SF:2, but stab), short sword is -2 (SF:3, but stab), spear is -3 (SF:6, but stab), two-handed sword is -5 (SF:10, but *could* stab), scimitar and hand axe are -4, battle axe is -7, hammer is -8 (SF:4, but mashing), mace is -14 (SF:7, but mashing). I would assume staff is -4 (since you can both poke and smash with it, this is splitting the difference). Punches, claws and bites are normally considered Speed Factor 1. Also, as noted, weapons that can stab are assumed to do so and that is where part of the penalty comes in (this penalty minus one could be used any time a player announces she is "only stabbing" in any encounter -- how elegant and universal! 8-)
To Damage modifiers:
Piercing and slashing weapons do full damage underwater. If someone
somehow manages to hit with a mashing weapon (including a punch
or staff poke), the damage is halved due to water resistance.
Initiative modifiers:
All initiative rolls incur an additional penalty equal to the
weapon's speed factor to reflect drag through the water. Even
a natural attack (dog's bite or dragon's claws) takes this penalty
(albeit only a -1 due to Speed Factor) as water is simply a more
viscous medium than air. This also means merely stabbing with
a two-handed sword underwater means automatically missing the
first round of combat (SF:10). Ouch!
Modifiers to bonuses:
All bonus due to the speed (which includes skill) of a
character or a weapon are halved underwater and rounded down.
This includes AC bonus due to dexterity or skill, initiative bonuses,
bonus to hit due to weapon specialization, etc. The various bonuses
may be totalled prior to halving. Bonuses due to strength
and/or magic are not affected.
Example: a 17 dexterity half-elf falls overboard and finds
himself battling sharks. Normally he would receive a +2 initiative
bonus and -3 AC bonus. Underwater, these modify to +1 initiative
and -1 AC (3/2, rounded down). If, however, the elf also had combat
dodge, he could add this additional point prior to halving the
total (-3 for dex plus -1 for combat dodge = -4 to AC, which is
-2 to AC underwater).
This same half-elf is a double proficient fighter with 16 strength.
Normally, he would have +1 to hit due to specialization and +3
to damage due to specialization and strength (2+1). Underwater,
the water slows the half-elf's whirling blades so his bonus to
hit doesn't apply (+1 divided by 2 and rounded down is 0). His
bonus to damage would be +2, +1 for specialization (+2 divided
by 2) and +1 for strength (unchanged underwater).
As you can see, this system makes underwater combat realistically difficult for land-lubbers and greatly underscores the use of small, swift weapons. It is slightly more taxing than the "official" rules, but gives players a reason to use daggers and short swords and obliviates the need to create a table including every Dnd weapon ever conceived with all new damages underwater. (C'mon guys!)
As a follow on to these rules, there are certain additional modifiers...
Underwater Fighting Style:
This skill is automatic for all amphibious creatures (lizard men,
crabmen), mariners of 3rd or higher level or those purchasing
a fighting style for one non-weapon. It allows a being to:
Superior Underwater Fighting Style:
This skill is automatic for all completely marine creatures (mermen,
locathah, sahuaghin), mariners of 7th or higher level or those
purchasing a full fighting style for one weapon. It allows the
a being to:
Rufus the 6th level mariner spies his buddy Vladimir in combat with a shark underwater. Rufus draws his trusty scimitar and dives in. Vladimir has his staff in hand and the shark's teeth are nicely in place already.
Round One:
Everyone rolls for initiative. Vladimir is using a staff (SF:4)
so he takes a -4 penalty. Further, his 17 dexterity only nets
him a +1 to initiative underwater, so his net modifier is -3 (-4+1).
Rufus is using a scimitar (SF:4) but is a 6th lvl mariner so takes
only a -2 penalty. His 17 dexterity still only nets him a +1 initiative
bonus (he must still take a -1 to his +2 bonus), but his total
modifier is only -1 (-2 penalty +1 bonus). The shark, a true marine
creature, takes no penalty and (usually) strikes first.
The shark continues feeding on Vladimir. It rolls to hit, scoring against AC 5. Normally this would miss (Vlad is AC 4), but 3 points of that AC comes from dexterity (17). This bonus is halved underwater, so Vladimir only gets 1 point of AC from dex, making is total AC 6. The shark hits and rolls for damage normally.
Vladimir strikes back. Using his staff to
poke the shark, he takes a -4 to hit (due to the weapon's SF of
4). He keeps all of his bonus to hit from strength. And if he
somehow hits, he only does half damage (blunt weapon, even if
it is poking!).
Rufus attacks. His scimitar incurs a -2 to hit (-4 for SF, but
halved cuz he's a mariner) and all of his strength bonuses apply.
He does full damage when he hits and could possibly stun a smallish
(3-4 HD) shark.
Round Two:
The shark strikes Rufus. Rufus' AC mods are normally +3 for dexterity,
+1 for being a mariner, and +3 for double combat dodge, for a
total of +7 to AC. Underwater, this bonus would normally be halved
to +3, but since he's a mariner he only loses one point of his
bonus, giving him +6 to his AC, for a grand total of AC 0 (very
nice in an undersea fight!). The shark misses.
Vladimir decides his staff is a waste of time, so he draws his dagger to attack. Because he is underwater, Vladimir must reroll initiative with a penalty of -4, -2 because he is readying a dagger and -2 more just because he's using a dagger. (Can you even imagine trying to use a claymore?!?)
For some reason (maybe to help further illustrate my point), Rufus elects to punch the shark on his attacks. He would normally take a -2 penalty to hit (a claw/bite/punch attack has a SF of 1, but fists are blunt attacks, so this is doubled), but his mariner skill halves this, dropping his penalty to only -1. Rufus' skill bonus for being a mariner goes away since it is only +1 to hit and all bonuses dues to speed and skill take a -1 penalty (+1-1=0). But, his strength bonus would still apply and he would still get two strikes (one for each fist). If Rufus hit with his punches, he would only do half damage, but his strength bonus would still apply. The shark takes some feeble damage and fights on.
Round Three:
Yoobiko ends the fight (and this
long example) by shooting her daikyuu from on deck. Her arrow
only takes a -1 penalty to hit (per 10' of water, cumulative),
and her damage is -1 (since she's out of the water), but she has
sick adds with her bow so the samurai totally wastes the poor
shark.
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