Another Interpretation of the Alternate Combat System

[thegreyelf]

So I was just reading through the book again, looking (as always) for anything we haven't noticed, and something hit me.

Now, first things first: I understand that this interpretation is IN NO WAY canon and likely not even proper, and that it would certainly and severely alter the dynamics of the game.

With that caveat in place, it occurred to me that there's an entirely different interpretation of the alternate combat system, which ALSO accounts for the Man ratings in the character progression tables.

I'm sure a lot of folks will hate this, but it could be a lot of fun. Basically, your Man rating determines how many "Men" you attack as, just as in the Chainmail system, that is, how many attacks you get.

A fighter at first level, then, would attack once on the combat table at +1. At second level they'd have two attacks, both at +1.

Where it gets interesting is the "or" levels. For example, a third level fighter attacks as 3 Men or Hero -1. At this level, the fighter would take 3 attacks, or could CHOOSE to make 4 attacks, but all would be at -1.

You would use the d20 attack matrix for resolving attacks.

The only place where this gets a LITTLE awkward is when a fighter jumps from 6 men to Superhero -1 without an intermediary "7 men." Really, though, it's just a weird jump. It doesn't actually throw anything off. The fighter merely goes from 6 attacks at 6th level, to 8 attacks, all at -1 at 7th level. Fighters do seem to max out at Superhero +1, but you could simply extrapolate continued advancements, adding 1 "man" per 2 levels, for example.

This also, IMO, balances the terms of engagement against monsters a bit better. For example, an 8 HD Balrog, according to M&T, attacks a whopping eight times, while an 8th level fighter, using the standard alt-combat, only attacks once. Using this interpretation of the rules, the 8th level fighter ALSO attacks 8 times, as a Superhero.

Anyway, it's just a thought and an observation I made. Given that it's not that far from using Chainmail combat as I outlined it in Forbidden Lore and the Age of Conan books, it would probably work fine.

[Desparil]

Where are you getting the interpretation of a Balrog attacking eight times against an 8th level fighter? M&T only indicates that a monster gets attacks equal to its HD against normal men. The description of Balrogs is pretty clear that in combat against serious opponents, it gets a single attack with its sword, and a 58% chance (7 or higher on 2d6) of being allowed a second attack with its whip.

[thegreyelf]

Nov 24, 2020 21:46:35 GMT -6 Desparil said:

Where are you getting the interpretation of a Balrog attacking eight times against an 8th level fighter? M&T only indicates that a monster gets attacks equal to its HD against normal men. The description of Balrogs is pretty clear that in combat against serious opponents, it gets a single attack with its sword, and a 58% chance (7 or higher on 2d6) of being allowed a second attack with its whip.

Actually, it only says that when they fight FANTASTIC opponents as indicated in CHAINMAIL, not "serious" opponents. There's literally nothing to suggest that PCs are anything but normal men, albeit they can count as multiple normal men, at least until they achieve Hero status, at which point they would become Fantastic. In Chainmail, "Fantastic" opponents are those that fight on the Fantasy Combat Table. So I'll grant that my example of the 8th level balrog vs. the 8th level fighting man is a bad one--against the 8th level (superhero) character, the balrog would only attack twice.

By and large I was spitballing and that may have been a bad example to use.

I can revise and say that if using this interpretation, perhaps the Balrog SHOULD maintain its one attack per hit die, to maintain the balance of engagement.

[Desparil]

I was using "serious" as a plain-English synonym for "opponents that would be eligible to fight in Fantasy Combat." But anyway, it sounds like this is just a re-tread of the old "what if PCs didn't become immune to the multiple attack rules until reaching Hero-1 on the Chainmail combat chart" idea.

Or if you're suggesting retaining multiple attacks at all levels against all opponents, I would throw in for consideration that this makes baby dragons excessively dangerous against the level of party you'd expect to slay them, equaling or possibly even overshadowing the threat of their breath weapons. Also rolling 15 attacks for a purple worm, or 30 or 45 for a large or huge sea monster, seems like it would be bothersome at the table; I'd much rather use EPT's damage dice at that point.

[Mordorandor]

I’ve played this way for a decade or so now.

I also incorporate Chainmail with 3rd level warriors and 7th level wizards becoming Heroes (fantastic figures). At 8th and 10th levels respectively they become Legends, which are Superheroes.