Heroic Combat: Iteration 1
All right, real life got relatively
less busy, and now I can devote some time to Heroic Combat. I mulled this over,
and I think that it would be best to use an iterative approach (something akin
to what Mailanka did with his Psi-Wars). In the first iteration, I will write
up the very basic framework - movement, attacking, defending, casualties,
engagement, etc. without complicating things with status effects, magic, and
other things. Once this base framework is functional, I'll add other things.
1. Determine the initiative for this round.
3. The winning side declares the combat tactics for this round.
4. The winning side acts.
5. The losing side acts.
6. Morale is checked, if necessary.
7. Every third round, fatigue is assessed.
Unlike regular GURPS combat, Heroic Combat has 20-second combat rounds. This allows us to abstract many actions and focus on the outcome instead of the details. While it may seem that characters will move and act much slower in this timeframe than if they played out this fight second by second, this level of abstraction also represents the chaotic nature of battle, where instead of taking the most optimal decisions at the speed of thoughts, combatants hesitate, estimate their chances, exchange blows and parries, maneuver around terrain, etc.
"Initiative" in Heroic Combat is side-based. Each side rolls a 1d, and the one with the highest result is the winner. The winners determine their combat tactics last, but act first.
Note: Why 20 seconds instead of 1 minute? I’m trying to create a system that plays as nicely as possible with existing rules. GURPS Martial Arts on page 134 suggests a detailed approach to resolving combat contest, where each “round” has a lull that lasts 4d seconds and a flurry that lasts for 2d seconds. If you add them up, you get 6d, and an average of 6d is 21, which I rounded down to 20 for the sake of better usability. Thus, most “active” actions will be taken during the faux-2d-flurry, where as movement, aiming, evaluating, and other auxiliary actions are taken during the faux-4d-lull. This allows us to avoid combat results that are way too swingy and have more sensible injury results of the combat Quick Contest instead of one side simply exploding. This also works nicely with other actions that GURPS describes, which rarely take more than 10 seconds. Speaking of that, various combat spells and effects with short duration, such as the various “cloud” spells, persist for about 10 seconds, which is enough to cover the entire flurry. This means that even short-duration spells effectively have longer duration on this scale, representing the fact that they were cast at the right moment. But this is just mental gymnastics. It’s 20 seconds because I want it to be this way, okay?
Theoretically, one could devise a more complex scaling that would allow for rounds of different length, but it’s too early to think about that. First, I have to get something workable.
In Heroic Combat, where each round is comprised of 20 seconds, you do not dictate which actions characters perform second-by-second. Instead, you first have to choose combat tactics which represent the general course of actions that will impose modifiers or otherwise affect the actions themselves. The side that lost the initiative determines its combat tactics first, so that the winner may adjust their combat tactics accordingly. Combat tactics are obvious – all parties involved know this information.
The choice of combat tactics affects what kind of actions and how many of them you are permitted to take during the round. The description of combat tactics lists permitted actions, allowed movement, and modifiers to melee attacks, ranged attacks, defenses, and other properties.
Movement: Up to Move x 10, but only in a straight line towards the enemy.
Melee Attack Modifier: +4.
Ranged Attack Modifier: +0.
Defense Modifier: -4.
Movement: Up to Move x 5.
Melee Attack Modifier: +2.
Ranged Attack Modifier: +0 or the worse of -2 or Bulk if moved more than Move x 2 yards.
Defense Modifier: -2.
Movement: Up to Move x 5.
Melee Attack Modifier: +0.
Ranged Attack Modifier: +0 or the worse of -2 or Bulk if moved more than Move x 2 yards.
Defense Modifier: +0.
Movement: Up to Move x 4.
Melee Attack Modifier: -2.
Ranged Attack Modifier: -2, and the worse of -2 or Bulk if moved more than Move x 2 yards.
Defense Modifier: +2.
Movement: Up to Move x 3 (or Move x 2 if withdrawing).
Melee Attack Modifier: -4.
Ranged Attack Modifier: -4, and the worse of -2 or Bulk if moved more than Move x 2 yards.
Defense Modifier: +4.
Movement: Move x 2.
Melee Attack Modifier: -2.
Ranged Attack Modifier: +2+Acc.
Defense Modifier: -2.
Movement: Up to Move x 1.
Melee Attack Modifier: +0.
Ranged Attack Modifier: +0.
Defense Modifier: +2.
Movement: Up to Move x 10, but only away from the enemy.
Melee Attack Modifier: no attacks allowed.
Ranged Attack Modifier: no attacks allowed.
Defense Modifier: -4.
Special: No actions that substitute for attacking or moving are allowed.
You also might’ve noted that there is nothing about spellcasting yet. This will come later, I want to get simple and mundane combat working first. One of the next iterations will probably add spellcasting and other Concentrate-related effects and/or tactics.
In Heroic Combat, melee attacks are resolved as a Quick Contest of the attacker’s combat skill against the defender’s combat skill. This can be a skill used to wield a weapon in his hands, an unarmed skill, or he can substitute (Dodge-3)*2, Shield, or Cloak, if properly equipped. All defense bonuses, such as shield DB, Combat Reflexes, and Enhanced Defenses, apply for the purpose of defense; for Dodge, they are applied before subtraction and multiplication.
If the attacker wins, he delivers a number of hits equal to one plus one for each full multiple of his Speed Factor (SF) in his margin of victory. Speed Factor depends on the chosen combat tactics, weapon types, and other properties. Essentially, it acts as a counterpart of Recoil (Rcl) for melee attacks.
For each hit, the attacker chooses the mode of attack used (for example, swing or thrust). By default, the attacks target the torso, but if the attacker elected to target a specific hit location, the usual penalty is applied, and all the attacks hit that hit location. If there are multiple defenders, the attacker chooses which ones of them take the hits and how many (however, see Non-Identical Targets below). Roll damage, subtract DR, and apply injury as usual.
Modifiers: Most of the standard melee attack modifiers are applied, with the rest either being subsumed into combat tactics or being irrelevant at this level of abstraction. Apply the following modifiers (p. B547):
- Attacker’s Posture;
- Attacker’s Situation;
- Visibility.
Non-Identical Targets: It is possible to distribute hits to non-identical targets within reach, although it requires additional calculations. For this purpose, “identical” means that the values in the attack Quick Contest remain the same for both sides. To resolve this, roll a new Quick Contest to attack the new target with a penalty equal to SF multiplied by the number of hits already assigned. If you win, you may assign some or all of the remaining hits to this target.
Example: Sherman is fighting two orcs with HP 12 and DR 2 on their torsos and one hobgoblin with HP 11 and DR 1 on his torsos. The orcs have Axe/Mace-11, hobgoblin has Spear-12, and Sherman has Broadsword-14. Sherman makes a melee attack against the orcs and rolls 8; the orcs roll 13. Sherman's margin of victory is 8. Sherman’s SF is 4, which means that three hits were scored. Sherman wants to deal two hits to two different orcs, and one hit to the hobgoblin. Sherman deals 1d+2 imp with his longsword. First, he rolls 1d+2 twice against the orcs and gets 4 and 5. He has to subtract DR 2 and multiply penetrating damage by 2 to find injury. Thus, the injury values are 4 and 6.
Then, since the hobgoblin has a higher skill level than the orcs, Sherman has to roll a Quick Contest of Broadsword-6 (14 – 2*4) against Spear-12. He rolls 11, the hobgoblin rolls 10. Sherman loses this Quick Contest, and this means that the final hit is lost.
Note: I remember when I first read ACKS, I wondered why people make such a big deal out of “cleaving” being a thing by default there. Now I understand that such “damage spillover” mechanics are absolutely necessary to facilitate both heroic combat, where you cleave through swaths of fodder enemies, and also both to abstract combat actions during the course of a long round and facilitate group-vs-group and group-vs-individual combat. One could simplify things further by totaling up the injury dealt and dividing it by the incapacitation threshold, but I decided to go with discrete hits for now (although, I advise against that in group-vs-group fights below).
Dodge requires some additional calculation because it is usually lower than skills that are used in Quick Contest here. Now, you’re using an imaginary backwards-derived Dodge skill.
The character’s Speed Factor (SF) determines how many hits are scored on a successful attack. By default, a successful melee attack scores one hit plus one additional hit per full multiple of Speed Factor in the margin of victory. By default, Speed Factor is equal to 4, but there may be certain situations that modify it.
For unwieldy weapons that require readying after each attack, Speed Factor is equal to 6.
Note: Initially, I wanted to make it a static 4, but I also played around with other numbers to see what works best. Then, I remembered about unwieldy weapons that have to be readied after every attack, Extra Attack, dual-wielding, and similar things, and realized that it would be a much better idea to create a variable that I can adjust instead of writing specific rules for every weapon and rewriting everything when I find out that the default SF 4 doesn’t work well.
Being Locked in Melee and Disengagement
Whenever you are attacking another combatant in melee or are attacked by another combatant, you become locked in melee with him regardless of the success of the attack. You are assumed to be actively maneuvering, shifting position, retreating, with that combatant, and you cannot continue your movement – you must remain where you are, unless you disengage, which may incur a free attack against you.
Withdrawal: You back away from your opponent carefully. You can move up to your Move x 2, but only away from the opponents you are locked in melee with. You cannot attack, cast spells, or perform any other actions this round, but the opponents do not get a free attack against you. Withdrawal is only possible if you have declared the All-Out Defensive combat tactics.
Retreat: If you choose the Retreat combat tactic, you run away from the enemy as fast as possible, moving up to your Move x 10. If you retreated from a melee, the combatants you were locked in melee with immediately get a free attack on you. If there were multiple eligible combatants, you decide the order of attack resolution. You get -4 to your defenses, as you drop your guard and turn your back to the enemy. The free attack against you are at -1 per each level of Basic Move that you have higher than the attacker, up to the maximum of -4.
Note: GURPS is notorious for its lack of attacks of opportunity and characters threatening areas around them with their weapons – something many players take for granted after playing D&D. It’s one of the common criticisms, and something that requires the Wait maneuver on the second-by-second scale, but still feels rather unsatisfactory sometimes. For example, Reach isn’t actually that important in GURPS with how mobile everyone is. These rules are meant to abstract away the low-scale mobility of fighters, where they are always doing retreats, sidesteps, shifting Reach, etc. and add the “locked in combat” mechanics that most RPG and wargaming systems have for melee combat on a larger scale. The ability to control movement and space is something important, especially in the theater of mind combat, so I feel that this mechanic is required. Instead of using threat zones like in D&D 3.0+ or ACKS, I opted for a more vague approach that is more reminiscent of AD&D and may require judgment calls by the referee. After all, this is abstract system intended more for theater of mind combat – no need to overcomplicate things. However, I should not forget to include interactions with ranged combat, spellcasting, and grappling later.
There also must be some rules that prevent ridiculous situations, such as one person locking down a hundred of soldiers, or a halfling locking down a great wyrm.
People rarely fight to the death, and severe injuries tend to incapacitate combatants. If a combatant drops to 0 HP or lower, or takes a major wound, make a HT roll. For identical combatants, roll once for all of them:
- If the roll is failed, the combatant is immediately considered to be out of the fight – he is either reeling from the wounds or unconscious.
Note: Initially, I wanted to go with something like the “incapacitation threshold” from GURPS Zombies horde combat, but was persuaded against it, as the morale rules make fights to the death unlikely. However, to allow fights to the death where necessary and make the HT attribute matter in abstract combat, I had to come up with these mechanics.
Multiple Attackers
For the sake of speed, groups of identical combatants may act as a single unit. Melee combat is resolved using the following procedure:
Count the number of attackers who can actively participate in the melee this round. This is limited by:
- Frontage and formation (typically 1 rank deep unless otherwise specified).
2. Apply numerical difference bonus
The attacking side receives a bonus to their effective skill and a hit multiplier based on the number of attackers:
|
Attackers : Defenders |
Skill Bonus |
|
Up to 1:1 (equal or fewer) |
+0 |
|
>1:1 to 1.5:1 |
+2 |
|
>1.5:1 to 2:1 |
+4 |
|
>2:1 to 3:1 |
+6 |
|
>3:1 to 4:1 |
+8 |
|
>4:1 to 5:1 |
+10 |
|
>5:1 to 6:1 |
+12 |
|
>6:1 to 7:1 |
+14 |
|
>7:1 |
+16 |
|
Attackers |
Hit Multiplier |
|
1-2 |
x1 |
|
3 |
x1 |
|
4-5 |
x2 |
|
6-7 |
x3 |
|
8-10 |
x4 |
|
11-15 |
x5 |
|
16-20 |
x6 |
|
21-30 |
x7 |
Resolve the attack as normal, but with the attacking side getting the numerical difference skill bonus. Multiply the number of hits by the hit multiplier from the table below.
Note: This table is open-ended. This is just the Size and Speed/Range Table (p. B550) with the number of attackers used instead of yards in the Linear Measurement column.
Distribute hits among defenders as normal. For large engagements, it is suggested to add up all the injury inflicted and subtract it from the defender group’s total HP. This should allow quicker combat resolution.
Example: 12 orcs with Axe/Mace-10 attack 8 knights with Broadsword-16. We assume that all the orcs are able to engage in combat here. The orcs get a +2 bonus to their skill from their numerical difference, for the total effective skill level of 12. The orcs roll 9, and the knights roll 15. The margin of success of the orcs is 3, and for the knights is 1. Thus, the orcs have a margin of victory of 2. This means that they score one hit, which is then multiplied by 5 due to their numbers. Let us say that the orcs deal 2d cutting damage with their axes. They roll 2d five times and get 4, 10, 7, 10, 7. Knights have HP 11 and torso DR 6. For this example, I will demonstrate the group HP injury rules. First, we add up all the damage and get 38. Then, we subtract DR multiplied by the number of hits to get penetrating damage. 38 – 5*6 = 8. Then, the injury multiplier is applied to get the total injury. 8 x 1.5 = 12. The total HP of the knights is 11x8=88, and the injury brings it down to 66. This means that one knight perishes and another one takes 1 point of injury.
Note: This is something that is necessary to resolve relatively large fights. There is some additional math involved, but nothing too bad. I was contemplating the number of attackers either affecting SF or affecting in in addition to the effective skill, but decided to go for a more simple way. Initially, I also wanted to transform the number of attackers into a skill bonus based on the Rapid Fire bonus table, but the number of attackers that can engage the enemy (at least outside of something like a battalion against a battalion) is too low to provide a meaningful bonus. These rules took a many attempts to work out, and I still can see them being subject to further change.
In Heroic Combat, ranged attacks resolved using the following procedure:
1. Determine the number of shots fired
This depends on the reloading rate of the weapon, the number of available ammunition/thrown weapons, and the chosen combat tactics.
- For weapons such as bows, slings, and thrown weapons (with a reload time of 2 seconds or less), the normal maximum number of shots per round is 3, or 4 if you make a successful Fast-Draw roll of appropriate specialty at the start of the turn. If you are using Aimed Shooting combat tactic, the maximum number of shots per round is 2, or 3 if you make a successful Fast-Draw roll of appropriate specialty at the start of the turn.
- For weapons with longer reload times, the maximum number of shots per round is 1 regardless of the chosen combat tactics or Fast-Draw rolls.
2. Declare the targets
If you can fire more than one shot per round, you can fire them at one or multiple targets. If firing multiple shots at the same target, each additional shot gives you a +2 bonus to your weapon skill in the ensuing Quick Contest.
When firing at a group of identical enemies, such as a unit of orcs, apply a +1 bonus for a group of 5-8 enemies, +2 for 9-12 enemies, +3 for 13-16 enemies, +4 for 17+ enemies. This bonus stacks with the bonus from firing multiple shots described above. However, do not apply the bonus associated with the Aimed Shooting combat tactic even if you are using it.
3. Resolve the attack
Roll a Quick Contest of the attacker’s ranged weapon skill against the defender’s (Dodge-3)*2, (Parry Missile Weapons-3)*2 (if valid against the attacking projectile), Shield, if properly equipped. All defense bonuses, such as shield DB, Combat Reflexes, and Enhanced Defenses, apply for the purpose of defense; for Dodge, they are applied before subtraction and multiplication.
If the attacker wins, he delivers a number of hits equal to one plus one for each full multiple of his Speed Factor (SF) in his margin of victory, but no more than the number of projectiles launched at this target.
If there are multiple targets, resolve attacks against them separately.
If you are firing at a target that is locked in melee, you take a -4 penalty. In addition, if you miss, roll 3d. If you roll 9 or lower, roll another Quick Contest against a random different participant of the melee, hitting a random hit location. If you do not land this stray hit, do not continue rolling these contests.
4. Apply injury
By default, the attacks target the torso, but if the attacker elected to target a specific hit location, the usual penalty is applied, and all the attacks hit that hit location. Roll damage, subtract DR, and apply injury as usual.
Modifiers: Most of the standard ranged attack modifiers are applied, with the rest either being subsumed into combat tactics or being irrelevant at this level of abstraction. Apply all the modifiers (p. B548), except for those associated with Aim, Move and Attack, and All-Out Attack.
Range penalties are simplified as per GURPS Action 2: Exploits, p. 36. In short, there are five range bands: Close (melee range; Bulk penalty is applied); Short (3-20 yards; -3 penalty); Medium (21-100 yards; -7 penalty); Long (101-500 yards; -11 penalty), and Extreme (501+ yards; -15 penalty).
Note: While the final result may look rather simple, the process to arrive to these rules was arduous and painful. In GURPS, ranged weapons are actually different from one another, and many require you to know a whole set of weapon-specific rules. For example, the usage of bows and crossbows is much more complicated than it may seem on the first glance, with things like Rated ST and different ways to draw the string. Here, I calculated how many shots per 7 seconds (the average of 2d) can a character fire, taking into account aiming, reloading, Fast-Draw, and aiming before the “active” part of the turn begins. In my head, it was very complicated, while on paper it looks simple – there are only two distinct groups, i.e. weapons that can be reloaded in 2 seconds or less, and weapons with longer reload time.
At first, I wanted to treat firing multiple shots at the same target as rapid fire attacks, but even 4 unaimed fast-draw bow shots wouldn’t have provided any bonus! In addition, it wouldn’t play well with Speed Factor and real rapid fire attacks. Thus, I decided to go with a static bonus, something akin to having multiple attackers. If you fire two shots, you are more likely to hit the enemy, after all.
Rules for firing at groups of identical enemies are intended for situations when you just want to shoot your bow into a group of enemies, without actually caring for which exact enemy you are shooting. I used the numbers for rapid fire bonuses, but instead of shots, they are derived from the number of opponents. The bonus is capped at +4, which is the same bonus as firing at a hex.
Range penalties were simplified to range bands, as this plays better with the theater of mind combat, and especially so with groups of enemies that can stretch across a range of adjacent (or more) penalty bands on the Size and Speed/Range Table.
There is no Ready maneuver or combat tactic in Heroic Combat, but certain actions that are not classified as attacks or movement can be taken in lieu of attacking or moving. The typical actions that require Ready or Change Posture maneuvers during your turn when using normal GURPS combat, can be classified as short, medium, or long that require 1-2, 3-4, or 5-10 seconds respectively. You may substitute a half of the movement allowed by your combat tactic to perform a short action, or all out movement to perform a medium action or two short actions. You may likewise substitute as part of an attack, but then the attack will be at -6. You may forfeit all attacks for two short actions or one medium one. Finally, you may remain stationary and forfeit attacks to perform a long action. Actions can be taken at any point during the turn. For example, you can take a short action, then attack, and then take another short action.
The following is an incomplete list of various actions that may be relevant for combat situations.
Short Actions
- Ready an item that is on your belt, in a pocket, scabbard, or slung over your back
- Open or close a door
- Draw or sheathe your weapon
- Hand or accept an item to another character within reach
- Ready a DB 0-2 cloak or shield
- Ready a weapon that was unreadied by an attack, critical miss, etc.
- Change posture one step up or down, as if taking a single Change Posture maneuver
- Open an unlocked box, briefcase, pack, etc.
- Read a brief note (~a sentence)
- Swallow a ready pill or potion
- Light a ready candle, cigarette, fuse, match, torch, etc.
- Drop a small item into your pocket
- Reload a weapon (up to 2 seconds)
Medium Actions
- Ready a DB 3-4 shield
- Pick something up from the ground if you are standing and stand back up
- Pick up a heavy object in two hands (weight up to 8xBL)
- Reload a weapon (up to 4 seconds)
Long Actions
- Find a loose item in a box, briefcase, pack, etc. (if it’s not hidden)
- Reload a weapon (up to 10 seconds)
- Wait (see below)
Exceptions: There are some exceptions to this, as certain short actions that typically require a single Ready maneuver as assumed to be part of another action that you are performing, such as an attack. Readying an unwieldy weapon after an attack does not require an action – this is assumed to be part of an attack with that weapon. Changing grips or reach also is assumed to be part of an attack – you choose your weapon’s grip and reach at the start of the attack. Reloading ranged weapons with a reload time of 2 seconds or less is considered part of the attack.
Note: I don’t even know what to say here – I just could not come up with a better way to do it. It feels like this could’ve been more elegant, but I think it works for now.
You may use a long action (see above) to do nothing unless a particular event you specified in advance occurs before your next turn; e.g., a foe moves into range. If that happens, you may transform your Wait into an attack or a short action.
If you are reacting to someone else, this interrupts his turn, but he can resume it after you’ve acted. If you readied an attack against an enemy who is approaching you to attack, your attack comes out first, if you have longer reach. If you have the same reach, the attacks are resolved simultaneously. If you have shorter reach, your attack is resolved last. You must specify exactly what your action will be when you take the Wait action, and what will trigger it. For instance, “I’ll make a thrusting attack with my sword on the first orc to move toward me.”
Opportunity Fire: This works the same as described on p. B390, but with hexes translated into yard-radius areas.
At the end of each round, the referee makes a morale roll for a group when one-third of the group has been killed or otherwise incapacitated, and each round thereafter that another creature in the group is killed, to determine if the group fights on. This does not apply to the PCs, but does apply to hirelings and henchmen.
For solitary monsters, replace one-third of casualties with 1/3 of HP lost, and each additional creature killed with any additional injury.
The morale role is a Reaction roll. The referee rolls 3d, and modifies it as follows:
- Creature has lost 1/2 or more of its starting HP: +2
- Creature has lost 2/3 or more of its starting HP: +5
- Group outnumbers opponents: -2
- Group outnumbers opponents by 2:1 or more: -5
- Group has lost 1/2 or more of starting creatures: +2
- Group has lost 2/3 or more of starting creatures: +5
- Creature or group cannot retreat and enemy is not accepting surrender: -5
- Fearlessness: -1/level
- Cowardice: a bonus equal to the Fright Check penalty
On a result of 13 or higher, the group or creature flees or surrenders, as appropriate. If they flee, they must declare the Retreat combat tactic next turn.
Note: The rules for morale in GURPS are rather vague, so I decided to adapt and simplify (for now, at least) the morale rules from ACKS II.
At the end of every third round, subtract fatigue from all combatants that have participated in combat as per Fighting a Battle, p. B426.
Note: Gary Gygax himself said that fatigue should be ignored in AD&D, but it is quite an important part of GURPS. While in normal combat, you may spend FP for extra effort, you cannot do that here, so I believe that this is a rather simple compromise to make fatigue matter at least a bit.
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