Post by aldarron on Apr 1, 2017 18:54:26 GMT -6
Over the years I've talked a lot about the mysteries of the pre D&D Blackmoor combat system. We've known for a long time that it involved d6 roll under stats. If you've been following my 'blog, like HEREyou know that, thanks to having one of original players Pete Gaylod's and now many of Dave Megarry's pre-D&D character sheets, I've been able to unravel a lot of the process of how a character attacks a monster.
In short, the characters rolled a 2d6 score - like an ability score - for each type of weapon, and that indicated their "to hit number" when using that weapon.
I've decided I'm going to start using this method for my D&D games, which will totally free me from using a table or trying to calculate target numbers in my head, but to best make it work with D&D I have some ideas for hybridizing the combat systems.
First the initial weapon target numbers rolls should be 3d6, just like the ability scores, but a d20 used for combat rolls, just like for saving throws.
Next the Weapon Lists themselves need to be customized for each class. The Magic-user, for example would have a relatively short list of things like daggers and staves, whereas the Fighter gets every weapon in the book. The weapons are representative of type, and weapons employable with transferable skill sets are lumped together.
Following Talysmann HERE "allowed" is equivalent to "trained in". As Talysmann says, "Untrained use means fight at 0 level. Training means fight at actual level... Fighting at 0 level means no bonus from level or hit dice. On the standard matrix, that's a -1 to hit." That translates to a THAC9 of 11.
Success for each attack roll is determined, as with saving throws, by the roll of a single D20.
Now, I think there could be ways to improve your score with a particular weapon. In AiF you could do that sort of thing by paying for training, but maybe something like a +1 in a favored weapon or three as one goes from hero to superhero or some such would work too. However, its also important to remember that against lesser opponents (normal types) the characters will be getting more attack rolls per round in accordance with their fighting capability.
Now comes the next step. Arneson famously talked about saving throws for no damage when a character was hit. We talked about that in an old D@D thread and I recently posted some new thoughts on an AiF style version for D&D link HERE
That boils down to the target who is hit getting a d10 roll against their AC for either no or half damage.
Okay, to recap, when a player wants to strike a target, they roll a d20, apply any modifiers, and compare it to their weapon score. If they hit, the target gets a chance at an AC save for no damage or half damage.
Here are the sheets I'm giving to my players with the allowed weapons (in my campaign, but arguably by the book) for each class. Weapon skill lists.docx (13.9 KB)
In short, the characters rolled a 2d6 score - like an ability score - for each type of weapon, and that indicated their "to hit number" when using that weapon.
I've decided I'm going to start using this method for my D&D games, which will totally free me from using a table or trying to calculate target numbers in my head, but to best make it work with D&D I have some ideas for hybridizing the combat systems.
First the initial weapon target numbers rolls should be 3d6, just like the ability scores, but a d20 used for combat rolls, just like for saving throws.
Next the Weapon Lists themselves need to be customized for each class. The Magic-user, for example would have a relatively short list of things like daggers and staves, whereas the Fighter gets every weapon in the book. The weapons are representative of type, and weapons employable with transferable skill sets are lumped together.
Following Talysmann HERE "allowed" is equivalent to "trained in". As Talysmann says, "Untrained use means fight at 0 level. Training means fight at actual level... Fighting at 0 level means no bonus from level or hit dice. On the standard matrix, that's a -1 to hit." That translates to a THAC9 of 11.
Success for each attack roll is determined, as with saving throws, by the roll of a single D20.
Now, I think there could be ways to improve your score with a particular weapon. In AiF you could do that sort of thing by paying for training, but maybe something like a +1 in a favored weapon or three as one goes from hero to superhero or some such would work too. However, its also important to remember that against lesser opponents (normal types) the characters will be getting more attack rolls per round in accordance with their fighting capability.
Now comes the next step. Arneson famously talked about saving throws for no damage when a character was hit. We talked about that in an old D@D thread and I recently posted some new thoughts on an AiF style version for D&D link HERE
That boils down to the target who is hit getting a d10 roll against their AC for either no or half damage.
Okay, to recap, when a player wants to strike a target, they roll a d20, apply any modifiers, and compare it to their weapon score. If they hit, the target gets a chance at an AC save for no damage or half damage.
Here are the sheets I'm giving to my players with the allowed weapons (in my campaign, but arguably by the book) for each class. Weapon skill lists.docx (13.9 KB)
